Fear, Peace, And Rejoicing at Christ The Lord

amen good morning everyone nice all right some of you uh let's go ahead and dismiss our three to five-year-olds they're gonna head out to their class and uh and we will dive in so we are in week eight of our series in the book of luke and so week eight we are looking at chapter two verses eight through 21 and so if we uh if we're kind of doing the whole christmas and july thing then this is the part two of the christmas message uh where a couple of weeks ago we looked at um the angel showing up and and uh or mary and joseph

making their way to bethlehem because of the census that was established in order for jesus to be able to fulfill the prophecies of being born in bethlehem and so we looked at that and uh and now we're heading into uh really the response the response of the shepherds the response of the angels and also the response of mary and joseph and what goes on here and so what i want to do with us today is just look at a couple of things i want to look at what happened and so just historically like what is the story telling us what is luke writing about this

incredible event in history and then from there what are we to believe about god in regards to this based on what has been revealed to us what does that say about god and then lastly what what does that do for us how does that impact our lives how that how should that mold us and shape us and transform us to become more like this child who has been born and so that's what we're going to dive into and and if there's ever been a passage i don't i don't tend to try to insert myself into scripture because that would not be good for preachers to

do that but if there was ever a passage that i wish i could just like insert myself into and be one of these shepherds who's experiencing this this would be one of those passages because i would love to see what they saw i just ran out of the gate i would love to see what they saw and the reason for that is because some of you know this about me some may not but i i love a good treasure hunt or um i also love shows that are kind of those ridiculous shows about like conspiracy theories and uh it's not that i'm like a conspiracy

theorist uh but it's usually either my brother or my dad will send me a show and they're like you gotta watch this it's this crazy phenomenon of stuff that happens and there's a part of me that's like what happened you know like you gotta you gotta watch it you gotta see and so so i was sent a show called um the secret of skinwalker ranch um and it's on netflix if you wanna you know put that on the side note but um i i've been watching it and there's this part in this episode it's basically a ranch in utah where they there's alleged a bunch

of weird things happen there all right like phones will just deplete like of energy and uh or the phones will like just go crazy and start calling people and texting things and opening apps and closing apps and like just weird magnetic things happen on this ranch and at the same time they say like we see ufos here and all this stuff so there's a part of me that's like well let's just watch it and see what happens um and so there's this part in one of the episodes where they're like out and they're trying to shoot these rockets up in the air to like kind

of gauge if there's this weird medic magnetic field going on and while they're out there they all stop and pause and they just look up and they're like do y'all see that it's a ufo and it's like literally what they like kind of gather on the the footage is just this like little white ball of light that's up in the air and it's there for like 10 seconds and then it disappears now who knows what this thing is but technically it is an unidentified flying object like they've got these other things where they're looking up to see like was there airplanes in the area at

the time were there helicopters they're trying to figure this out but the funny thing is as i'm watching this and also at the same time preparing for this sermon not for like research purposes but as i'm preparing the sermon i'm thinking about these shepherds in the field as i'm watching these guys looking up at this orb and there's this sense that they have where they're like what should we do should we run and cover because there's a bit of terror that they're experiencing at the same time they're like we can't not watch it because it's amazing what is this thing we don't know what it

is and it just like kind of for me has that same type of feeling like what should these or how should these shepherds actually respond when they see something that they've never seen before and and that's really kind of what we're diving into here is is this type of response this type of thing that happens that they were not expecting they were not searching for but shows up and there's a proper response that they actually have in regards to god revealing himself and that's what i hope for us is not that we kind of walk through life believing that there's a certain way that you

should respond when it comes to how god shows himself or reveals himself but actually looking at the scripture and viewing god in light of who he says he is and what he has already done throughout the scriptures how that should actually shape us to respond when he does speak or when we read his word or when we are in conversation with someone else and they talk about how god is showing up and revealing himself in their lives that should produce something in us it shouldn't just be a that is so good for you that god is doing this like it's well there should be more

to that and that's what i'm hoping kind of comes out of this is that it disciples us on a proper response from when god shows up in our lives and how it molds us and shapes us so let's read it to see what happened and then we'll we'll continue on from there so starting in verse 8 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 claws and lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts 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 shepherd 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 and at the end of eight days when he was circumcised he

was called jesus the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb let's pray over this word and then we'll continue father we ask that your spirit right now would just guide us in this truth and these words that you have inspired luke to be able to record here and that these words were intended in order for theophilus to have certainty and to have assurance and have confidence in faith that jesus is who he says he is that he that he did come in this way in this ordinary humble birth and that that he was revealed to these shepherds and that these

shepherds were accompanied by these angels and that each of these characters that are in play here are are significant to the story and that it reveals something to us and my prayer for us is that whatever is meant to be revealed to us would be right now through the work of your holy spirit that he would open up our hearts and that he would open up our minds to be able to see the goodness of all that you're doing so that like mary we would begin to treasure this good news we would treasure it and it would lead to rejoicing in worship for it's in

your name we pray amen a couple of just kind of historical observations here that luke again wanting theophilus to be aware of and likewise us to be aware of are important for us to note the first thing is that the significance of the shepherds is not to be over emphasized all right i know sometimes and maybe we've even done this in the past but sometimes people want to over emphasize either the downtrodden or the sort of criminal reputation of shepherds in this day and age to where even like their testimonies aren't held up in court and so kind of the spin that sometimes preachers will

do with this is they're like look how good it is that god goes to those who have no reputation no one's willing to uh hold up their testimony in court they're downtrodden probably smoking crack while they're watching these you know flock at night like they kind of view the shepherds in that light and at the end of the day i would say like that's that actual reputation really didn't come around until about the 5th century so it's after this sort of event here but if we're also just using the bible as reference just the bible has cross-referenced to interpret the situation shepherds tend to have

good reputations throughout the bible um i mean they are seen as people who care for their sheep who are willing to go after the one who even jesus himself takes upon the term and phrasing of i am the good shepherd i am a shepherd and so if i'm going to compare myself to something i'm not necessarily going to try to compare myself to like jesus doesn't come in and saying i'm a tax collector all right like he doesn't say i'm the good tax collector no he says i'm the shepherd i'm the good shepherd so they tend to have a good reputation but one thing that

is good to draw out from the sense of these shepherds being in the story here is that they do come from a lowly and humble estate they come from a they they represent more of the low economic class within this or within this society to where again god is coming to pursue that which needs him that which needs him and and those who are in this sort of humble and lowly estate is one of the things that we can draw out of this but another thing and i think this is even a greater point in regards to the shepherds one that even um dr timothy

laniak who is a professor of old testament theology he states this and mentions that shepherds going to worship jesus as a baby is a fulfillment to the prophecy in micah 5 that the christ to be born is actually a shepherd ruler and so it is it is literally showing the illustration or the picture that these shepherds coming to then worship the shepherd is showing the submission of what christ is actually coming to accomplish that he is going to be the shepherd of shepherds that he's going to rule over shepherds and that it is also a fulfillment of of this sort of idea second thing i

think we should look at here is that the host of angels is not to be under-emphasized so sometimes we'll kind of walk through this passage or we'll read through this passage and we just sort of paint the picture that there was the angel there that appeared and they were terrified and the angel was like fear not don't worry about it and then as he says like i've come to uh to to declare glory to god in the highest and peace on earth to all men and so this is good news we want to celebrate that and and so with me coming is going to be

a multitude a host of angels and so you kind of just paint the picture that there's these lowly shepherds out in the field and then there's this um i mean just think about it like a sporting event there's just these thousands and upon thousands these multitude and oftentimes throughout the bible when you hear the term multitude it literally just means like a number we can't count all right a number we can't count so there's a multitude of angels showing up and we just kind of paint that as a a picture that just makes the the moment beautiful but it's greater than that it's greater than

that because up until this point throughout the the history of god revealing himself and oftentimes throughout the old testament revealing himself through the the form of an angel the angel of the lord appeared we've never seen any more than one to three angels showing up at a time this is the first time in history that a multitude of angels show up and the only other time that multitude is talked about is the promise that was given to abraham that his offspring would be a multitude so much so that you cannot count or number how many there will there there will be and that through the

offspring there will come one who will be a blessing to the multitude and so this idea of jesus being born it needs an announcement and a proclamation that is worthy of what he's coming to accomplish that he's coming to accomplish not just being a blessing to these shepherds not just being a blessing to mary and joseph but he is a blessing to the multitude that has been promised since the covenant of abraham that there will be from every type every tongue every nation there will be a multitude on that last day as we see this in revelation 7 9-12 after after this i looked and

behold a great multitude that no one could number every nation from all tribes from all peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands crying out with a loud voice salvation belongs to our god who sits on the throne to the lamb and all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures and they found their faces before the throne and worshiping god saying similar to the angels that show up here in this scene amen blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and

might be to our god forever and ever amen these angels showing up in this multitude and what they declare is also a foreshadowing of what we coming into christ jesus will be able to declare for eternity so it's not something that we should just under emphasize in saying that god wanted to just make sure that they didn't miss jesus being born but it is also him adding assurance to what jesus is actually coming to accomplish that this isn't just for those who are in bethlehem but this is for all that will come into the family of god that will be a multitude that no one

can number so those are just kind of a couple of things that we want to talk about when it comes to the the shepherds and the angels another thing to mention is that jesus was born in a manger because um there was no room for them in the end and we saw that that was the last verse in verse seven of of two weeks ago sometimes people or sometimes again we can even overemphasize this point of jesus lying in a manger uh the word for in is catalina which could also be translated as guest room and so sometimes and the reason why i'm only drawing

out this one from a historical note is because if we misinterpret what n actually means then you start to kind of pull in just just extra biblical points for what was going on in bethlehem at the time that that are just unnecessary unnecessary it tries to draw in more to the scene that actually makes it extraordinary rather than just ordinary and so for example a lot of times if we just uh interpret this as being an n which is like a hotel then that actually takes away from the fact that that's really not what it was in can be translated guest room and that's actually

the same word that luke uses for the upper room when he walks in and he says jesus wants to gather them in the guest room in order to share the passover meal with them the same word for guest room is the same word used here for in so likely what happened was again everyone's coming to bethlehem from david's lineage in order to do the census there's a lot of people there it's overcrowded houses are getting filled up when they arrive likely there was just someone already in the guest room and so what most theologians actually believe is that they just had the baby in the

family room now another thing to notice here is that what they usually did with livestock is we have garages where we park our cars oftentimes stables or mangers were sort of like just an attached room to the house and sometimes they would bring the animals into the actual family room the living room and that's where they would reside for the evening in order to protect them from the elements of weather or to protect them from thieves and robbers who would come and steal cattle and whatnot and so likely they were staying in the family room the living room um as well as then just being

placed in the hay placed in the manger of of the scene that is just normal like that's normal what we actually should do more often with the birth of jesus being wrapped in swallowing cloths and lying in a manger is normalize the ordinary ordinariness of of this situation rather than kind of creating these extra stories where it was like uh there was just no room for them in the end which shows you know the the poverty level of their class or uh there was just rejection that they were experiencing in the moment or that you know there was a harsh innkeeper that would not let

them come in like a lot of times these are points that pastors will make during christmas messages as if they're trying to impose more on it to make it seem like it's a greater deal when in all reality the irony of the birth of jesus is how normal it is and how ordinary it is and that's a beautiful thing we don't need to add to it we just need to see the ordin how ordinary it was and how normal it was for jesus to be born in a house or in some ways people will say the cave that was underneath the house because that might

have been where they put animals as well like it doesn't really matter at the end of the day other than saying it was ordinary like an extraordinary god came in the means of an ordinary birth and that is to be human that is to be human that he's not coming in some kind of um extra uh ordinary way but rather one that actually relates with us relates with us so what then are the main ideas drawing from this passage that god is revealing about himself and as we kind of looked at it again because of the uh because of how ordinary the scene was shepherds

are ordinary mangers are ordinary bethlehem is ordinary like these are are nothing to draw conclusions on to try to make those things extraordinary but rather really what we need to look at is the responses the responses that reveal to us something about god one was that god is fearful two is that god is peaceful and three is that god is praiseworthy like these are the three responses that we actually see that form for us a view of god that is right when it comes to how they saw him and so the first one is god is to be feared this is this is what we're

to believe about god now when we think about that phrase god is to be feared depending on your church background you might think of two different things and i think sometimes we'll just focus on one without the other sometimes you might come from a church background that's like we preach fire hell and brimstone god is to be feared god exacts judgment god destroys sinners god sends them to hell god should be feared because of what he does to sinners and here's the reality that's true that's true god does do that i mean we see that in sodom and gomorrah where he destroyed them because of

their sin we say that with lot's wife turned to a pillar of salt because of her disobedience we see that with adam and eve cast out of the garden because of their sin we see that with cain one of their first child or one of their sons who was cursed because of his sin murdering his brother we see that with the flood sent by god to wipe out all of humanity because of their sin except for noah and his family like that doesn't make god mean or evil it makes god just and good but because god is holy because god is just because god is

good he cannot commune with anything that is unholy sinful and evil like that's just true it's true we'll get to the reason why people don't die because of their sin here in a minute but i want you to see something god's holiness it is good for us to fear it in that way to fear it in the sense that if i were to be in the presence of god's holiness it could obliterate me it could annihilate me it could send me to hell my sin is deserving of going to hell moses as he says this in exodus 3 or 33 verses 18 through 23 moses

in having a conversation with the lord moses said please show me your glory and the lord responded i will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name the lord and i will be gracious to whom i will be gracious and i will show mercy on whom i will show mercy but he said you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live what he's saying there is there there's there's a part of man that is not like me not perfect not holy not just not good and that part if you see me if you're in that

presence you die you can't live if you come into this presence and so the lord said behold there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock and while my glory passes by i will put you in a cleft of the rock and i will cover you with my hand until i have passed by then i will take my hand away and you shall see my back but my face shall not be seen i mean like there's two things going on here one is god's protecting moses from god and that's something that you need to understand in your your theology when it

comes to working out salvation with fear and trembling is often times when it's preached the gospel it is that god is saving you from evil and the devil and and sin and all the things that are wrong in the world god's saving you from those things in order to protect you from those things but the reality is is that god is saving you from god like do we understand that like god is saving you from his wrath that's what he's bestowing upon us like heaven is not where god sits on a throne and rules and reigns for eternity and hell is this place that he's

created and allowed satan to go and rule and reign that's not what that is if you've ever seen any of the episodes of the tv show lucifer that's their theology of what heaven and hell is is that again heaven or hell lucifer is one of the sons of god that goes to hell and he rules and reigns hell that's according to the show that's what they believe it is that's not what it is heaven is a place where god rules and reigns hell is the place where god rules and reigns and god is 100 gracious good and just and is ruling heaven and the beauty

of his glory and his majesty and all those things that come with it and hell is a place where god is on the throne ruling and reigning in all of his glory and what his glory is doing there is it's punishing the disobedience of all of those who sinned against him and never accepted jesus christ as lord and savior for the removal of their sins and forgiveness and both places god is right and he's just the only reason why anybody gets into heaven is because they're accepting what jesus deserved and are receiving it as a free gift and are welcomed in and are coming coming

in stumbling with a humble estate that i do not deserve this but i have been given this and granted this by the grace of god it is a gift and those who are going to hell are stumbling going there landing there because i disobeyed and rejected the goodness and gift of god and as a result i am deserving of all that i am getting here that does not make god mean nor evil it makes him holy and just god is holy and just and so we get these phrases i mean this is just bible 101 this is we get these phrases where it talks about

fear and trembling and working these things out i mean it's why like when we come into god's presence there's just a little bit of nervousness there there's a little bit of nervousness because i know what he's capable of but at the same time for the saint for the believer there's the assurance and tenderness of god that we get to experience because there is now no for or there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus this baby changes everything when it comes to us having a conversation with god and saying are we allowed in your presence without jesus we're not allowed

in god's presence and when you do come into his presence you die and go to hell without jesus that's going to happen for every person who is alive that's what the whole judgment day is that's why sharing the gospel and introducing them to jesus the only one who gives them the ticket to get into heaven jesus has to be proclaimed in order for them to receive his forgiveness and to trust in him as lord and to and to see that he is the baby that comes as a savior as a savior so god is to be feared and that's the one side of the coin

another aspect of fear is the idea of knowing knowing god and if you only focus on the knowing god without the the his abilities and the power and his holiness and his justice um then we'll begin to belittle god honestly we make him more like us well god you know i did this little white lie again or i did this little sin you know it's not that big a deal we're tight you know we're on good terms over here and so it's just okay it's okay that i continue to do these sins it's okay that i continue to no no no like that's god does

not operate like your drug dealer it's just true like he's not operating in that way where i just i just you know still need to come get a little bit more like i'm just still trying to work this out like you're you're good and you're gracious and you're loving god is love he's never going to discipline me god is love no that's why paul says again like work out your salvation with fear and trembling god is holy the second thing here is that god is peaceful almost every letter written by one of the new testament authors begins with grace and peace to you from our

lord jesus christ some some version of that why because as the angels have declared here to these shepherds do not be afraid we have come to bring peace among those on earth whom god is pleased with that means god is establishing peace within the body of believers the church among those whom he's pleased with how do you how do you get into that group that he's pleased with is it based on how how often you read the bible is it based on how often you pray is it based on how theologically you pray is it based on how much money you give is it based

on how many people you serve is it based on any of those things that pleases the lord no who's the only person in all of the bible god said i'm pleased with jesus jesus the only other time he ever says anything about this being my servant and whom i'm well pleased and we all know it because that's what we want to hear when we get to heaven is when he's finally glorified us and there's no sin left no sin left we actually in that stage that moment of glorification we are finally like christ like christ righteous righteous so he's establishing this peace on earth among

the body among the believers and what that piece is doing is it's doing two things first of all it's establishing peace between us and god it's reconciling vertical relationship all right because when again the reason why these shepherds are fearful when the angel shows up is because to a degree they know their bible they know what happened when the angel showed up at sodom and gomorrah they know what happens when god shows up and just kills people because of their sin and so when he shows up here they're nervous are our sins being held accountable at this point because if that's the case we're dying

savior hasn't come yet we're dying they're fearful for their lives but instead what the angel says is i've come to establish peace by sending you to jesus and when you get to jesus and you meet jesus and he removes and forgives you of your sins no longer is there hostility between you and god but there's peace there's peace and then in addition to that not only is he establishing peace between the relationship of us and god no longer hostility we're not considering enemies of god anymore we don't need to run from him we can now run to him what he's also doing is he's establishing

peace among the body in which we don't have hostility anymore but we have reconciliation we have the opportunity when there's conflict with it among us to run to one another rather than run from each other to actually hold each other accountable and establish peace rather than harming one another and destroying each other's reputation or belittling one another or arguing with one another now there's going to be times for holy argument as we like to call robust dialogue there's good times for that to happen but ultimately what we want to establish is peace we want to be peacemakers within this and that's exactly what god is

doing when he's coming is there's hostility because when you put two sinners in a room what happens sin sin happens that's why marriage is such a phenomenal thing is because you get two sinners who have their own world views who have their own ideologies who have their own backgrounds and their own experiences and their own selfishness and their own ways of thinking about things and how they want to do things and and where certain things should go in the house and and how they think they should parent their children and how they think where they should live what kind of house they should live in

we are all selfish and then you mingle those two souls together and say figure it out that's an insane idea but that was god's idea and he said that the only way those mingling of souls don't separate is because of jesus and the peace that he has brought to establish among us actual reconciliation that we don't do as adam and eve did and throw each other under the bus and try to devour one another and try to destroy one another because of the curse of our sin but rather we are actually able to restore one another and build one another up and nourish one another

in the gospel because of the work of what jesus is doing with his bride the church and the peace that he is establishing there so he is a peacemaker we see this in first peter 1 2 according to the foreknowledge of god the father which just means he knows everything in the sanctification of the spirit setting us apart for obedience to jesus christ and for the sprinkling with his blood again that's the removal of our sins may grace and peace be multiplied to you be multiplied to you so it's not just like uh hey just you know give it a shot try to be at

peace with those that are very difficult to be at peace with no he's saying i'm just going to continue multiplying peace for you because you're going to need it i don't know if y'all realize people argue with one another they have disagreements with one another right like that happens frequently often and oftentimes it happens most with those who you love and care for most but we are to be peacemakers because of who god is as the ultimate peacemaker number three god is praiseworthy the angel uh declares to the shepherds that this child jesus is their savior and that alone is cause for praise and rejoicing

that alone is cause for praise and joy here i don't remember who said this i remember hearing it i was either in high school or just out of high school if god never answered any of your prayers except will you forgive me of my sins that alone is worthy of him being praised for the rest of eternity because if we're going back to big picture here and it's heaven and hell and all heaven is is us asking jesus to forgive us of our sins so that we are made righteous no longer sinners but made righteous and therefore get to spend the rest of eternity with

god jesus the holy spirit the heavenly host of angels the multitude everything that's going on there the streets of gold all those good things we're getting to experience heaven forever because here he answered the one prayer will you forgive me of my sins and he said yes if he never healed anything in your life if he did not answer the financial deficit that you have at the end of the month if he did not grant you the child that you've been asking for for so long if he does not um fix the relational conflict that you have with other people if he does not give

you the raise that you're asking for it's your job if he does not give you the perfect house if he does not give you creation but he gives you creator it's enough to be worshipped forever forever that's important that's praiseworthy again that's why c.s lewis says aim for heaven and you get earth thrown in don't worry about necessarily just what we're constantly praying for on the material side of things here but lead out with praise and adoration of jesus and what he is accomplishing for us he is a savior that has arrived a savior again it doesn't say he he's he's your dealer that's arrived

it doesn't say that he's your grocery store that's arrived doesn't say like it's none of that he's your savior now does is god the god of provision 100 percent and he's going to supply the needs that you have but that's not all that he is first peter 1 3-9 puts it this way blessed be god the god and father of our lord jesus christ that doesn't mean that he needs to be blessed god's not lacking in rejoicing all right like he he didn't create us because there was a void of praise that he's longing for and trying to be like hey guys like i'm i'm

awesome and i deserve to be praised i need someone to praise me so let's create humans well they gave me two chapters and then they stopped now i got to figure that out let me send jesus what are you doing why don't you go down there and figure this out so that we can get them praising us again because we deserve that and we want that and we're lacking in that god is not lacking in praise he's not we believe in a god who exists as father son and holy spirit they're a community and they praise each other perfectly and have been doing so for

eternity they don't need our praise but in their beauty and in their kindness and in their grace they've created us to partner in the expression of what praise does for you when you bless god and the joy that we receive when we experience his goodness and his grace and his mercy and his beauty and his love and his patience and his kindness everything that the father experienced with the sun and the sun experienced with the spirit and the spirit experience with the father and the son and how they just keep going all around everything that they experienced in one another and the joy the mutual

joy and benefit that they have in one another they said let's create humans in order for them to experience what we experience among one another and yes they broke it and they fractured it and they thought that they could worship each other and they thought that they could worship creation and they didn't realize that we created them to worship they just started worshiping the wrong things so let's fix that for them so that the best thing that they can experience is getting back to worshiping us that's the whole bible is to bring us back into praising and rejoicing in the father and the son and

the spirit because that's the greatest thing that we will ever get to experience is experiencing the father son and the holy spirit blessed be god and father of our lord jesus christ according to his great mercy he has caused us i love this if you struggle with free will i love passages in the bible like this because here's where i land with free will if it's going to be left up to me i'm really nervous i'm just it's just straight up i'm i'm really nervous i trust a god who enters into my lack of will i choose you or not he enters into that and

as it says here caused us to be born again to a living hope caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you who by god's power again not my power but god's power are being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be re revealed in the last time in this so that that's one of those josh always talked about anytime you see therefore it's there for a reason in this that's pointing to everything that was just said blessing be to god the

father who's caused us to be born again through a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to an inheritance that's imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you who by god's power are being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time through that salvation that is all god's causing and all of god's power and all this might that he's keeping for you in this you rejoice you rejoice that's the only proper response from those who have experienced jesus christ as savior is to rejoice and then even i just love this though now for a little

while if necessary you have been grieved by various trials like i don't want you to see the trials that you experience as if god's not doing all of those things in your life that's what the prosperity gospel preaches if you're experiencing loss and you're experiencing heartache and you're experiencing trials and tribulations you're not giving enough you're not praying enough you're not doing enough that sounds like job's friends and how they counseled him there must be some sin in your life for why god has taken all your family from you except for your wife who rebuked you so that the tested genuineness of your faith more

precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of jesus christ you see the three things that happened to the shepherds same things happened to mary i mean when they showed up to mary well mary was nervous she was scared and angel gabriel fear not don't be afraid i'm bringing you good news like the reason why the gospel is bittersweet is because when the news comes to you it's you're a sinner romans 3 23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god no one is righteous

not one no one seeks after god no one searches for him no one's longing for him no one's pursuing him no one's building their their case for when they get to judgment day and he's like you know do you have an attorney like who's going to speak on your behalf and they're like no i'm good i've got here's here's all the good things that i've done in my life and god's going to look at that and he's going to say it's not enough you needed jesus to plead on your behalf that all of the sins that are being held against you because even as isaiah

says even the good things that you do are like filthy rags jesus comes in and says all the sin that was because of their stupidness all of their sin i've paid for it at the cross their slate's clean we know who they are i wrote their name in the book of life and then god looks at us and i'm like uh what he said what he said and then he ushers me into the eternal family of god and the only response is praise and rejoicing the reason why it's bittersweet we fear is because when it shows up we see our sin in light of a

holy god but it's sweet because jesus is offered as savior he's offered as savior fear peace by the blood of the lamb leads to rejoicing you have to remember this entire book luke's entire purpose for recording this information was so that theophilus would have certainty concerning the gospel of jesus it's for his assurance it's for his confidence in the person and work of jesus christ theophilus may still have been wondering whether or not this was all true whether or not it's legit just like when these shepherds get to mary and joseph and they tell mary and joseph all that they just experienced back out in

the fields there are some people who wonder is this true is this real did this happen is jesus the savior but mary had the correct response again mary is an example of faith for us she had the correct response she did not as it says wonder and by wonder it's skepticism not wonder is in like being awestruck she did not wonder as a skeptic she treasured she treasured pondering all these things meditating on all that they said as a a mother in that kind of first year of a baby's life wants to record everything down and just blows up the phone and like now by

like the third child there's like three photos where it's like but in that first year you're treasuring every moment you're pondering all these things you don't want to forget any of these things that are happening mary in this moment is having this type of reaction where she is saying whatever you have to say concerning god that i'm nursing i want to treasure this and i want to rejoice in this and i want to meditate on this and ponder this and store it up forever because this isn't just another baby this is my savior my savior i don't want to miss a thing and i think

what that does for us is do we have that posture that i don't want to miss a thing i don't want to miss a thing so if that looks like people in the church who are having conversations about what god is doing in their lives i don't want to miss that it might not be happening in my life but i don't want to miss it so i want to enter into it in your life i want to rejoice with those who are rejoicing even if that's not me rejoicing but i get the opportunity rejoice by entering into your rejoicing so i want to have those

conversations and press into them if that means that there are prayer requests going on in the church and someone's really concerned about something i don't want to miss what god is doing and that's why i want to enter into that as well this is why community is so so important because if we only view our experience with god through our personal experience with god we miss out if mary only viewed it through exactly what she was doing she would not get to treasure and rejoice in what just happened with the shepherds they could have showed up and she could have said hey it's uh it's

nap time right now like jesus is don't wake him up like can y'all come back another time please this is not good right now she she could have said that but instead said oh you've got word concerning my son please come in i need to hear this share it with me we need to pursue this again so that it creates in us seeing god in the glorious state that he is to be feared and trembled at while it is also pursuing peace between us and the lord and between us and one another and lastly in the most beautiful is it allows us to rejoice and

rejoicing squelches anxiety it just does it leaves no room for worry that's why the bible at the same time talks about like don't worry worship don't worry worship if you're worrying worship your way out of the worry and that is not me saying that like being clinically diagnosed as being depressed is not an actual thing that's a thing that's a thing but at the same time lack of worship leads to worry leads to anxiety leads to depression the the thief has come to still kill and destroy and he can do that with our mind that's why romans 12 is it talks about the renewing of

your mind constantly is a mind that is rejoicing in what the lord is doing in our lives it's what he's doing in our lives i want to close with this benediction that's out of hebrews 13 20-21 and it'll lead us into our communion this now is it says now may the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant equip you with everything good that you may do his will working in us that which is pleasing in his sight remember he's like among those who god will be pleased with

he works that out he makes us pleasurable to his sight through jesus christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen let me have you guys go ahead and stand up as you stand if you do not have the elements for communion you can go back to the table and grab them this is an opportunity for us to enter into what jesus accomplished for us at the cross that this baby that was born was a this is the savior born to ultimately die for us that's how he saves us that's how he forgives us is by paying the penalty for our sins we deserve death

in hell and he he endures that for us in order for us to experience life in heaven and he does it by the removal or by the shedding of his blood the breaking of his body in the shedding of his blood this right here is is again a meal a spiritual meal that we enter into sort of like when jesus takes his disciples up to that upper room that catalina and he takes them up there and he sits down with them at passover and he's and he explains to them this is what it actually means when i pass this bread around i break it and

you partake of it it is the illustration of me going to the cross here in a few hours and i'm going to break my body i'm going to have the wrath of god punish me it's going to break me and then because the way god's economics flow is blood represents life so to spill blood is paying death so i'm going to shed my blood to remove and pay your sin and that's the cup that he then drinks with them and so we we celebrate that moment we celebrate that truth in the partaking of this together as the family of jesus as the bride of christ

we celebrate that because this is the only thing that brings peace between us and god and between us it's so powerful so whatever sins again that we have committed that we continue warring with and struggling with this is also just one of those moments that it like again you're forgiven past president and future all right your your heavenly estate is taken care of but because we're not glorified we still deal with this on a daily basis we still walk in flesh at times we still sin we're still selfish we're still dumb and stupid and this is one of those moments where we get to come

to the lord and continue affirming what he's already done in our lives he's already forgiven us of these dumb things that we keep doing and so we get to in clear conscience come and say because of your breaking of your body and your shedding of your blood i can run to you and not be afraid not be afraid and so right now whatever those things are we represent it in the body and the blood and we partake and we thank jesus for i received from the lord but i also delivered to you that the lord jesus on the night when he was betrayed he took

bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and he said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way also he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and you drink the cup you are proclaiming the lord's death until he comes let's do that now you