We all know the story of the birth of Jesus well. Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem because of the census ordered by King Herod. However, when they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no room for them and they had to stay where the animals fed. There, Mary gave birth to Jesus and then laid him in a manger to rest. But this was the Son of God who was to take away the sins of the world. Why would he come this way and why does it matter? There is some speculation as to why Jesus came in this specific way. I think this was not only a fulfillment of scripture, but also a foreshadowing of what was to come. Christ not only showed his humility and fulfilled the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, he also made himself low so that he could reach those who were considered destitute and insignificant. Shepherds were one of the first people groups to be made aware of Jesus’ coming. Many considered shepherds the lowest of the low, and the religious leaders referred to them as sinners. Jesus had nothing to offer the shepherds other than his presence. He had no form or majesty for them to behold, yet this was enough for the shepherds to go away glorifying and praising God! Jesus was about to shake up all that had been known by the people of the world. But why did he appear to the shepherds on that night, and not to the rest of the people that had been waiting for his coming for generations and generations? The truth is, that many who were waiting for the Messiah had no room in their hearts for him. The majority of the Jewish people believed that the Messiah would come and be a conqueror or a warrior, and would be the one to end their oppression with a mighty hand. They thought that the Messiah would bring them hope by obliterating their circumstances and reigning over them. So, while the people were waiting for someone to end all their physical pain and suffering, they missed out. They had no room for the Savior of the world who was there to proclaim liberty to the captives and break chains of sin and death. Jesus was there to make a better kind of hope than the people expected! He would make a kingdom that would reign forever and ever. But isn’t that what we still do today? It may not be in the same ways as the people in Jesus’ day, but on some level many of us do make Jesus what we want him to be instead of who he is. We get distracted by our daily lives, our obligations, our circumstances, our comforts, and our emotions. We desire for God to just fix everything. It is so easy to just lay back and become complacent because we now know Christ has come. We make him a supplement to our lives instead of the cornerstone upon which our lives are built. So, the question that we need to ask going into this season is: “Will we be like the shepherds who realized the hope of God and in return glorified him, or are we like the rest of the people who didn’t have room for Jesus?” If you need to know or be reminded of God’s hope, remember this: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” -John 3:16-17 Let hope live in your heart and life. Make room.

Luke 2:8-20  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. 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.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying; “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! 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.” 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. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. You all know this story. When I read it, I hear the voice of Linus, speaking these words from the famous cartoon, “Charlie Brown’s Christmas.” The last verse has always intrigued me. Why were the shepherds glorifying and praising God. What had they seen and heard that had such a big impact on them? Well, I guess it is not every day you meet an angel. That must have been pretty cool. The angel announced good news of great joy for all people. That would have gotten my attention. What is this news? The angel said a baby had been born in Bethlehem. Big deal. Babies are born all the time. Wait. The angel said this baby would be some kind of savior. He would be the Christ which means Messiah. Well, that sounds important. Then suddenly there was a multitude of angels, like a heavenly choir. They were praising God and pronouncing peace on earth. OK. Now what? Well, they decided to check it out. They went quickly to Bethlehem and found the baby. They told Mary and Joseph and others what they had heard from the angel. Then the shepherds left and returned glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen. That last sentence has always intrigued me. What had they actually seen and heard? They saw a baby. Who hasn’t? They saw some angels. That’s impressive. But what had they heard that filled them with praise? They heard a message of hope. God cares about people. He has a plan for this planet. This baby was special. He would be some kind of savior. They had no idea what this meant, but it gave them hope and filled them with joy and praise. This story challenges me. We know so much more than they did. We know the identity of this baby. Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. We know that Jesus grew up, lived a perfect life, and died a perfect death, that we might be saved. Jesus rose from the dead and by faith, we are forgiven, we are adopted into God’s family, and we will spend eternity in Heaven. This Christmas, I pray that we will be filled with the wonder that those shepherds experienced. May we be filled with hope and joy, knowing that we have been reconciled to God and have a great future. Most of all, may we will be filled with praise and worship for our Savior!

“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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 My all-time favorite Christmas movie is the 1992 classic, A Muppet’s Christmas Carol. In that timeless re-telling of the Charles Dickens novel, narrated by Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. He is shown the consequences of his miserly deeds and his miserable treatment of others, in contrast with Bob Cratchit’s (Kermit the Frog) difficult yet joyful and grateful life, expressed in the Cratchit family’s stirring song, “Bless Us All.” After being confronted with his wretched reality all night, Ebenezer Scrooge wakes up a changed man – one full of joy and mirth, determined to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Oftentimes, Christmas can overwhelm us, not with joy, but with the stress of the expectations that accompany it – hosting family gatherings, places to go and people to see, buying presents, having a clean enough house – and we can unwittingly find ourselves resembling Ebenezer Scrooge. The contemporary concept of Christmas propagandizes happiness but leaves us with little joy. But, the original message of Christmas is “good news of great joy” because Christ the Lord is born! We who confess that Jesus is Lord should be full of joy! So, let us rediscover the Christian idea of mirth - social merriment; hilarity; high excitement of pleasurable feelings in company. “Then I commended mirth, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that will accompany him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 8:15 Joyfully speak with your family about Christmas. Bake Christmas cookies. Watch A Muppet Christmas Carol. Greet one another warmly with “Merry Christmas.” Sing Christmas Carols. Enjoy extra time with family, great food and gifts. Bless your family and your friends with your joyful and jocular presence! Be people of mirth this Christmas! Jesus is Lord!

We all know the story of the birth of Jesus well. Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem because of the census ordered by King Herod. However, when they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no room for them and they had to stay where the animals fed. There, Mary gave birth to Jesus and then laid him in a manger to rest. But this was the Son of God who was to take away the sins of the world. Why would he come this way and why does it matter? There is some speculation as to why Jesus came in this specific way. I think this was not only a fulfillment of scripture, but also a foreshadowing of what was to come. Christ not only showed his humility and fulfilled the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, he also made himself low so that he could reach those who were considered destitute and insignificant. Shepherds were one of the first people groups to be made aware of Jesus’ coming. Many considered shepherds the lowest of the low, and the religious leaders referred to them as sinners. Jesus had nothing to offer the shepherds other than his presence. He had no form or majesty for them to behold, yet this was enough for the shepherds to go away glorifying and praising God! Jesus was about to shake up all that had been known by the people of the world. But why did he appear to the shepherds on that night, and not to the rest of the people that had been waiting for his coming for generations and generations? The truth is, that many who were waiting for the Messiah had no room in their hearts for him. The majority of the Jewish people believed that the Messiah would come and be a conqueror or a warrior, and would be the one to end their oppression with a mighty hand. They thought that the Messiah would bring them hope by obliterating their circumstances and reigning over them. So, while the people were waiting for someone to end all their physical pain and suffering, they missed out. They had no room for the Savior of the world who was there to proclaim liberty to the captives and break chains of sin and death. Jesus was there to make a better kind of hope than the people expected! He would make a kingdom that would reign forever and ever. But isn’t that what we still do today? It may not be in the same ways as the people in Jesus’ day, but on some level many of us do make Jesus what we want him to be instead of who he is. We get distracted by our daily lives, our obligations, our circumstances, our comforts, and our emotions. We desire for God to just fix everything. It is so easy to just lay back and become complacent because we now know Christ has come. We make him a supplement to our lives instead of the cornerstone upon which our lives are built. So, the question that we need to ask going into this season is: “Will we be like the shepherds who realized the hope of God and in return glorified him, or are we like the rest of the people who didn’t have room for Jesus?” If you need to know or be reminded of God’s hope, remember this: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” -John 3:16-17 Let hope live in your heart and life. Make room.

Luke 2:8-20  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. 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.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying; “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! 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.” 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. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. You all know this story. When I read it, I hear the voice of Linus, speaking these words from the famous cartoon, “Charlie Brown’s Christmas.” The last verse has always intrigued me. Why were the shepherds glorifying and praising God. What had they seen and heard that had such a big impact on them? Well, I guess it is not every day you meet an angel. That must have been pretty cool. The angel announced good news of great joy for all people. That would have gotten my attention. What is this news? The angel said a baby had been born in Bethlehem. Big deal. Babies are born all the time. Wait. The angel said this baby would be some kind of savior. He would be the Christ which means Messiah. Well, that sounds important. Then suddenly there was a multitude of angels, like a heavenly choir. They were praising God and pronouncing peace on earth. OK. Now what? Well, they decided to check it out. They went quickly to Bethlehem and found the baby. They told Mary and Joseph and others what they had heard from the angel. Then the shepherds left and returned glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen. That last sentence has always intrigued me. What had they actually seen and heard? They saw a baby. Who hasn’t? They saw some angels. That’s impressive. But what had they heard that filled them with praise? They heard a message of hope. God cares about people. He has a plan for this planet. This baby was special. He would be some kind of savior. They had no idea what this meant, but it gave them hope and filled them with joy and praise. This story challenges me. We know so much more than they did. We know the identity of this baby. Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. We know that Jesus grew up, lived a perfect life, and died a perfect death, that we might be saved. Jesus rose from the dead and by faith, we are forgiven, we are adopted into God’s family, and we will spend eternity in Heaven. This Christmas, I pray that we will be filled with the wonder that those shepherds experienced. May we be filled with hope and joy, knowing that we have been reconciled to God and have a great future. Most of all, may we will be filled with praise and worship for our Savior!