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Sunday. Can you hear me okay? Okay, it's not every Sunday that you get to preach from a manger scene. So what a blessing that is. And, Mike, Ron, that's embarrassing, Mike, but yeah, he was, we were talking, he's on how much ability is in this church, the giftedness, and you saw that today.
There we go. All of our lives are a small story tied in with the biggest story of life. Whenever we tell someone's story, it's interesting to describe where this person was when major events happened in world history.
All of us are experiencing a major world event right now that has gone on for almost two years. I remember where I was at the end of February 2020 when the first American died from the coronavirus. I was in Racine, Wisconsin with Brianna visiting her aunt and uncle.
On the TV screen was a press conference with President Trump and Vice President Pence informing the American people of the incoming danger that was about to come on our land and, in fact, had already arrived.
At this point, we didn't know what was coming. We saw the horror videos from China where cities that had millions of people were being locked down. But we didn't know if this would happen in America. As the virus started to gain steam in our country and people started to panic, in this area, an emergency pastors meeting was called on March 16th.
At this meeting, we met with a local physician who told us about the virus. As this meeting was taking place, one of the pastors looked at his phone and noticed that Governor Evers had just limited gatherings of 50 people or less.
And before our meeting was over, it was down to 10. This obviously impacted everybody. We called a leadership meeting at our church and decided to go along with the governor's orders. We didn't know what was happening, so we decided to go along with it.
We didn't know how serious it was. But this was an interesting time. For the first time in the 140-year history of Eureka Baptist Church, there was no worship service on Sunday mornings for an extended period of time.
And this went on for two months. Now, as some time has passed, we look back at that time and we can see what a strange time it was that spring. For two months on Sunday mornings, I walked across the street to record a sermon with four others here and then walked back across the street once it was done.
That's odd. This was a strange time and it was a sad time. What this time taught us is how valuable the gatherings of Sunday mornings are and human interaction in general. When people don't get together, they go crazy.
Now, during this period, not only did we close, but so did pretty much every other church. And many businesses and schools were told by the government that they needed to close also. The United States was shut down.
A good title of a book for this period would be The Spring When the World Stood Still. When COVID -19 hit, I decided to change course in my preaching schedule. On March 8, 2020, I was going through our sermon series through Matthew.
I preached Matthew 5, verses 31 and 32. One Sunday later, a special sermon titled, How to Process the Coronavirus Biblically. This was the last time I preached to a congregation until two months later when we gathered again.
At this point, I decided to change course on my preaching schedule by starting a sermon series on the end times. Spring 2020 had an apocalyptic feel to it and we didn't know if this was the beginning of the end.
But it sure seemed like a significant birth pain, as Jesus describes, will precede the end of the world. He says this in Matthew 24, verse 8. Birth pains, right? Any woman here who's had a baby or any man who's witnessed it?
As you get closer to the end, it increases. The contractions increase. The intensity increases. And this is what Jesus said about the end of the world. As we look through our small stories, what will be told about our stories is that we lived through one of the most unique events in world history where the whole world shut down.
If Christ delays his return for a time, we will tell the next generation about what we lived through during the spring of 2020. Now as unique as these recent events have been, there are events historically that are far more unique and far more significant.
Today as we observe Christmas, we are going to look at the most important news this world has ever heard. People who lived during that time saw this news with their eyes and it was their God-given responsibility to pass this on to generations to come, including our generation.
This morning we are taking a one-week break from Matthew to take a look at the event when God came to this earth as a man. So at this time I encourage you to turn with me in a Bible to Luke chapter 2.
We'll be looking at verses 8 -20. And if you see one of those red Bibles in the pews, it's on page 1018. This sermon is titled, Titanic News. And every week what I do is every sermon calls you to do something.
And what this sermon is calling each of you to do this morning is to set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas. And we will see three reasons why. Earlier in the service, the birth of Jesus Christ was read in verses 1 -7.
In the verses following, we will see that this news gets out and this is how it happened, verses 8 -10. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
In verse 8, we see shepherds here. These are Jewish shepherds. What they're doing here is they're watching over their flock in close proximity to where Jesus was born. Of course, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, so they were somewhere in the region.
In verse 9, these shepherds get the surprise of a lifetime. A messenger from heaven, an angel, appears to them. As a messenger from the Lord, this angel brings the glory of God along with him. What happens when humans see the glory of God with their eyes is that they are dumbfounded and they're startled and they fall to their face.
This is why all throughout scripture, when an angel appears to a human, what do they say? Do not be afraid. Can you imagine that? A heavenly creature comes down. This isn't a human. This is something new.
This is a foreigner from heaven. The angel's words to them are no different in verse 10. Do not be afraid. This brings us to the main focus of our sermon today. The angel comes to share news. The most unique event in world history has happened and the angel is here to tell them what happened.
That's what news is, right? You report the news. You report the facts. We don't see that a lot in America, do we? You report the facts. Now, this is not the bad news that was delivered to the American people about the coronavirus in late winter 2020.
No, this is so much different. This is very good news. This is the greatest news. In the second half of verse 10, the angel says, I bring you good news of great joy. The angel does not just say, I bring you good news.
He says, I bring you good news of great joy. This is the best possible news these Jewish shepherds could have heard that the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah that Israel had hoped for for centuries, had finally come into the world.
You have to understand how significant this news was. We have seen this in our journey through Matthew. Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous prophecies that predicted the coming of the Messiah.
Last week, I quoted one of those prophecies, Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 and 7, which predicted that the Messiah would be born and that he would reign over his people forever. Now, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew.
In Hebrew, the word Messiah means anointed one. The word Christ is the Greek translation of that word. Jesus is not his last name. We heard Jesus Christ. Christ is a title. Christ means anointed one. Christ means king.
It's interesting, when you read the Gospels, it just says Jesus, but when you read the rest of the letters of the New Testament, the word Christ is attached to his name because the title belonged to him.
Whenever they wrote, they had to write Jesus Christ. Now, the question we must ask ourselves, is this good news only for Israel? Or is it for everyone? Is it for the whole world? Well, the end of verse 10 tells us the answer.
It says that I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. The angel says this is for everyone. This is for the world. Not just for Israel, but for Gentiles, the nations. Then the angel tells us what this news is in verse 11 and 12.
This is great news. What is the news? Verses 11 and 12. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
The angel reports the news that happened not too long before. The anointed one, the one that all Israel had hoped for, finally came into the world as the Old Testament predicted long ago. What these shepherds discovered is that he is not only the Messiah, but he is so much more.
He is God. Think about this. The one who created the stars, the galaxies, created you and me. The whole reason for existence becomes one of his creation. He becomes a man. How could there be greater news than this?
The angel in verse 11 calls him Christ the Lord. Title means God. The name for God in the Old Testament is Yahweh. This comes from Exodus 3 where God tells Moses to tell Israel that Yahweh has sent him.
Most of the time in the New Testament when the Lord is attached to the Messiah, what it means is Yahweh. There are a few times where Lord means master, but most of the time when the term Lord is attached to Jesus, it means Yahweh.
So it's a title of deity. And this is the great wonder of what we are recognizing today on Christmas. God becomes man. It's not just Jesus' birthday. God becomes man. In theology, this is known as the incarnation.
We should ponder this wonderful reality continually that God became a man. Think of all the things that go through our mind on a daily basis. How much do we ponder the reality that God became one of us?
It's a good way to spend your time thinking. And if this man is God, it is obvious why this news is important to you and to everyone in the world. Many people wonder why the birth of Jesus is so important.
Christmas is the most important holiday, the biggest holiday, not only in America, in the whole world. And it's about one man, Jesus. And if people are just asking the question, why is he so important?
Is Christmas merely marking the birthday of an important historical figure? Columbus Day? Martin Luther King Jr. Day? President's Day? Is Jesus' Day just like one of those days where we just take a day off, we don't have to go to work, we can celebrate as a family?
No. Christmas is far different. The birth of this child is so important because this baby is the only hope for the world. That's a big statement. It's a controversial statement, but it's a true statement.
What we must understand about the world we live in is that the world is on its way to hell. If you're looking for a nice, comfy, cozy sermon today, you're not going to get that, okay? The world is on its way to hell.
This world is so broken and so corrupt. People are blind to the great danger they are in because of their hardness of heart. And this baby is the answer to everyone's deepest problems. When Mary was pregnant, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and told him in Matthew 121, she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
He is the Savior not just for Israel, but for all the people. As we saw at the end of verse 10, he is called Savior because he delivers people from their bondage to sin and brings them to God. Jesus is the great abolitionist.
Think about it. What is abolition? It's to free someone from slavery. That's what Jesus does. He frees us from our bondage to sin that will send us to hell if we remain in that bondage. Sin leads to eternal destruction and Jesus rescues people from that.
Forty days after Jesus' birth, he was presented at the temple. Simeon says this to God about Jesus as he holds him in his arms. My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles.
And the rest of the New Testament gives the big picture. John 3 .16, many of you know this, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
God sent his Son into the world to become a man, to save sinners, and also to be the King. He's not just a Savior, he's also the King. The people whom Jesus saves will be the ones who populate the future earth, where Christ will reign with his people forever.
When the angel Gabriel foretold the birth of Jesus, this is what he said in Luke 1 .32, he will be great, and he will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom, there will be no end.
What Scripture tells us is that the King of the world is also the Savior of the world. When he came to this world the first time, he humbled himself by dying on the cross. The cross was the most humiliating form of death.
He humbled himself, as Philippians 2 says. But when he comes again, he's not going to come in suffering, in weakness. He's going to come in power. He's going to gather his people, and he's going to come to judge.
But the first time he came to save. That's what we're focusing on today. John 3 .17, the verse after John 3 .16, says that God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
This was accomplished at his first coming. The New Testament later tells us what will happen at his second coming. Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
That's Hebrews 9 .28. You can see how this is the most wonderful news here. This is the first reason why you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas. The King was born to offer salvation to all people, including you.
Here's the second reason why you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas, and that is, peace comes only to those who believe. We'll see this in verses 13 and 14. As the shepherds were standing outside, they went from seeing one angel to a multitude.
That's what verse 13 says. And suddenly, there was this angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God. Now, a heavenly host is literally thousands of angels. These angels are praising God for sending Jesus to the world as the long-awaited Messiah and the Savior of the world.
And this is what they say in verse 14 as they praise him. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased. Do you ever wonder what angels do? What's their purpose?
Hebrews 1 .14 tells us what their purpose is. They are ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation. They serve believers. They serve the saints. And they also proclaim praises to God continually.
In Isaiah chapter 6, there's an account where Isaiah is standing before the throne, and one angel calls to another, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. In Revelation chapters 4 and 5, we see angels worshiping God as they say, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
You get the picture. This is what they do. They praise God as they're in the presence of God. They can't help but praise him. Whenever you see something incredible in life, you just want to offer praise.
And that's what they're doing. They're doing that here. They say glory to God in the highest. This is a good example for us. Do we praise God? Do we give him the praise that he is due? Do we stop in our busy lives and give him the praise that he is due?
He is worthy of all the praise, all the honor, all the glory. And when you come to know him, you realize this. And as you grow, you come to know this more and more. This is one of the ways you know you're growing in your love for the Lord.
You're growing in your relationship with God. Do you praise him? You just can't help yourself, but you offer praises to him as you go through your day. Now, in the second half of verse 14, the angels address humanity.
This is what they say. On earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased. This verse has been interpreted wrongly by many. It's been softened. And this is no surprise in a world that cares more about how people feel than telling them the truth.
Talk about this though, right? Love always rejoices with the truth. You're not loving someone unless you tell them the truth. So here's the truth of this verse. The wrong way to interpret this is to say peace on earth and goodwill toward men.
Meaning that Christ brings goodwill to every person on planet earth. Some manuscripts say this, but what the English Standard Version says, which is the correct translation, that's the one we use here, what it says is this, peace among those with whom he is pleased.
Now, you've probably heard peace on earth and goodwill toward men in a Christmas song or a Christmas play. One of the reasons it has been interpreted wrongly is because of the universal statement in verse 10 that the salvation that Jesus brings is to everyone.
As if his salvation accomplishes the salvation for every person. But we should not take that wrongly. The offer is to everyone on planet earth, but salvation is not applied to everyone on planet earth.
That's a heresy known as universalism. It only benefits those who believe. So here's the only group that has peace on earth. Because when you come into the world, you're at conflict with God. You are a sinner.
You are by nature a sinner and by choice a sinner. And this conflict is between a sinner and a holy God. And Jesus is that bridge between you and God. So if you want peace with God, it comes through Jesus Christ.
Conflict is gone once you believe in Jesus. The enmity between you and God, the conflict, the tension is gone because you are in Christ and your sins are forgiven and your sins are not counted against you any longer because Christ paid that price when he went to the cross and he rose from the dead.
God is not pleased if you do not have a relationship with Jesus. As Romans 8 says, those who are in the flesh, which is those who are not in Christ, cannot please God. Romans 8 says that. So I ask you today, do you have peace with God?
Do you believe that Jesus died in your place and paid the penalty that you deserve for your sins? If you genuinely believe this, then God is pleased with you since once you believe, you belong to him.
If not, then you do not have peace with God. My prayer is that you would believe in the Lord Jesus this day. Obviously, if you come to know Christ at any time throughout the year, it's great, but it's really special during Christmas season because this is what Christmas is all about.
You hear about Jesus, but believe in him. Understand why he matters, why he's important. Do that this Christmas. So what will you do with the most important news you've ever heard? You cannot be indifferent to it because what you do with it will determine where you spend eternity.
Studying who Jesus is and what he has done is the most important thing that anyone can do. Let me say that again. Studying who Jesus is and what he has done is the most important thing that anyone can do.
When you take courses in school, the most important classes you take are history classes. When you study history, you learn about the key players and key events from times past. You learn events from history so that you don't make the same mistakes.
You want to take the best from the past and bring it to the present. It's important to study history. While it's important to study history, your eternal destiny does not depend on whether or not you studied George Washington.
It does not depend on studying Queen Victoria. It is good to learn about these people, but the level of importance is not that high. But with Jesus, you cannot overstate the level of importance. Jesus is the gift that God has offered to the world.
Every human needs to know this. And every human needs to respond to him. You can't be indifferent toward Jesus. He went to the cross. He was born to die. He came on a mission. And it's relevant to you.
Every one of you. The second reason why you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas is that peace comes only to those who believe. The third and final reason why you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas is that God's people treasure this news.
God's people treasure this news. After the shepherds heard this world-changing news and the angels praising God because of this child, they decided to go and see him. Where is he? When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.
So this is what they did in verses 16 -18. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. So the shepherds found him and we see that there were others there along with Mary and Joseph. As the shepherds were standing in the barn, as Jesus was lying in the manger, a manger is a feeding trough where animals eat from.
Do you want to talk about someone who came into this world with humbling beginnings? Look at this. They reported the wonderful things that the angels had told them about this baby. That he was the long awaited Messiah and the Savior of the world.
Verse 18 tells us that those who were also present heard the shepherds share this news. What this verse tells us is that those who heard this incredible news about the Messiah wondered. They wondered what the shepherds said.
The people reflected on the news they heard and saw with their eyes. But this text hints that they may have not believed. All it says is they wondered at what the shepherds said. The text leaves you hanging about whether or not they received it or rejected the message.
Rejected the news. It may have had an impact as they considered its importance, but their immediate response to this news is not what it should have been. We know this because Mary and the shepherds have the correct response.
Look at verse 19. Mary's response. Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And just saying, Mary did you know? Think about this. This is the baby that she delivered. I love that line.
The baby you delivered will soon deliver you. This is what she's reflecting on. This baby that I just delivered is not some ordinary baby. He's the Savior. He's the King. He's my only hope. He's my treasure.
She treasured who Jesus is and what he would do on her behalf. She did not just ponder its significance like the others present. She embraced it fully. In verse 20, the shepherds had a similar response as Mary.
The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. So they treasured this news about Jesus as well. And this is so important for me to stress here.
You see this all throughout the Bible. What is true Savior faith in Jesus Christ? The word belief is misunderstood by so many people. I remember having a conversation with a guy one time. I said, do you believe in God?
Do you believe in Jesus? He said, yeah, of course I believe in God. But this man didn't go to church, didn't read his Bible, didn't pray, didn't long for Christian community, which all the things I just listed are marks of a true Christian.
According to the Bible, he didn't believe in God. Intellectually speaking, he may have believed, oh yeah, God exists. Intellectually speaking, he might have believed, oh yeah, Jesus died for my sins. But did he treasure it?
No. How do I know he didn't treasure it? Look at his life. What does James say? Faith without works is dead. In this area that we live in, there's a lot of cultural Christianity. But the only Christianity that is real Christianity is biblical Christianity.
And biblical Christianity says that the ones who truly have a relationship with Christ are those who treasure Him. Do you recognize, I'm a sinner. I'm deserving of hell for my sins. Jesus is the only Savior.
And He's not only my Savior, He's my everything. Because if Jesus isn't our everything, then what is our everything? Our idols, work, play, hobbies, even good things like family, iPhones, music, sports.
Is the NFL on today? That's a big God in America. What's the number one religion in America? Probably the NFL. When we think of idols, we think of these silver things and these bronze things and this wood that was crafted.
Yeah, those are idols. But you know what else are idols? Things that have the highest priority in our lives. That's an idol. But true saving faith involves treasuring Jesus Christ above all else. He is your object of worship.
He's the one person that you can worship without committing idolatry. Because He alone is worthy of the highest praise. And if you have true saving faith in Christ, He is your treasure. You believe without Him, I'm nothing.
Without Him, life isn't worth living. Without Him, heaven wouldn't be heaven. The greatest part of heaven is that He will be there. He is the author of pleasure, the author of joy, the author of everything that you love.
Except for sin, of course. Everything that is good. And Mary had this. The shepherds had this. Do you have this? Examine your life. Does this describe me? Growing up, it was prayed prayer and you're saved.
Jesus was treated as fire insurance. Not as the greatest satisfaction of our lives, which He is. If my ministry could be focused on one thing, I'm driven by this because I grew up in this environment.
Where it was this dead Christianity. Jesus is the cherry on top of your life. He'll get me into heaven, but I just want to live life the way I want. Instead of living life the way He called me to live.
And if He is your treasure, you'll do anything for Him. And I understand here, we wrestle with sin. And sin is idolatry. We have these competitions with Jesus in our lives. These idols in our lives. Are you grieved at your idols?
If you are, you're saved. If you're not, you're not.
Okay?
He is the highest satisfaction. So the third reason you must set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas is that God's people treasure this news.
To summarize.
Set your mind on the most important news of all this Christmas. We've seen three reasons why. The King was born to offer salvation to all people. Peace comes only to those who believe. And lastly, God's people treasure this news.
We live in a world with mostly bad news. If you turn the news on, you're going to hear mostly bad news. The last almost two years has been a lot of bad news. But 2 ,000 years ago, an angel from heaven delivered the greatest news this world has ever heard.
Christ has come. And he has come to deliver his people from their sins. Are you one of those people? My prayer is that you will be, if you're not already. At this time, let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you that Jesus is the meaning of life.
And I pray that everyone here would understand that. He indeed is the reason for the season. He's the reason for the season. He's the reason for life itself. And this happened 2 ,000 years ago. And he's going to come again.
And my prayer, Lord, is that when he comes again, if it happens in our lifetime, that we would be ready. If we die before his return, I pray that we would be ready. That we'd long to be with him. The best day of a Christian's life is the day that the Christian dies.
And may we live with that focus. And may that be the story of everyone here in Jesus' name.
Amen.