Mission.

Steve Gentry

[0:11] We’ll go ahead and have a seat. [0:12] Welcome to Village Church. [0:13] If this is your first time here. [0:15] My name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church, and as always, I’m thankful [0:18] and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:22] If you’ve been with us for a while, you probably know that we have a tradition on the Sunday

[0:27] before our Christmas Eve services that we take part in what is called the Lottie Moon [0:33] Christmas offering. [0:34] And I’m going to ask some some friends of mine with some hats on and some. [0:39] How do you say that?

[0:42] All right.

[0:44] Well, well, good morning. [0:47] This is my this is my daughter. [0:49] This is my son. [0:51] I don’t know who the rest of them are, but they’re here. [0:55] So every Sunday, every Sunday before the Christmas Eve service, we take part in the [1:00] Lottie Moon Christmas offering.

[1:01] And so 100 percent of the offerings that we take up today are going to go to the International [1:08] Mission Board. [1:09] And so we’re not keeping any of the money that we take up today. [1:12] And of course, that also includes the money that is going that if you go on our website [1:16] or use the app and you market for the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, we’re going to give [1:20] you from today through the end of the year to give towards that.

[1:24] And 100 percent of it’s going to go to the IMB. [1:26] We’re not going to keep any of it. [1:28] And so every year we do this because we’ve been partnering with the International Mission [1:32] Board since our formation as a church. [1:35] And this is an organization that has thousands of missionaries, somewhere over four thousand [1:40] three or four thousand all over the world in parts of the world that I can’t even tell

[1:45] you where they are because they’re not supposed to be there. [1:48] And we’re reaching what’s considered unengaged, unreached people groups. [1:52] These are people who don’t live in a society where the gospel has even been there yet. [1:58] These are people that live their whole lives, have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. [2:02] And we’re working to get the gospel to as many of those people as possible in our lifetimes. [2:08] And one of the ways that we do that is every year thousands of churches all over the United

[2:13] States take part in the Lottie Moon Christmas offering named after a missionary to China [2:18] many generations ago. [2:20] And we give so that these missionaries can be fully funded so that they don’t have to [2:26] keep coming home and going from church to church, trying to raise enough money to stay [2:31] on the field. [2:32] But instead we cooperate with a team of churches in the Southern Baptist Convention and we

[2:38] do our part and we take up money so that they can just stay over there, making as many decides [2:43] as possible. [2:45] And finances aren’t something that they need to worry about. [2:48] And so what we do as a coalition of churches is every year around Christmas we take up [2:53] offerings and we give to what’s called the Lottie Moon Christmas offering. [2:57] Over one hundred million dollars will be raised this year for that offering as we cooperate.

[3:01] Now, we’re probably not going to raise one hundred million dollars here. [3:03] If anybody’s got it, I’ll take the check. [3:05] But but we want to partner so that we can take care of these missionaries. [3:09] They’re sacrificing so much of their lives to leave family, to leave homes, to leave the nation they were born in, to reach people in Asia, Europe, Africa, all over the world and reaching many people that without them wouldn’t know the name of Jesus Christ. [3:26] We have two members from our church that are serving in Mozambique right now for the International Mission Board. [3:32] This offering is going to go to keep them in Mozambique.

[3:35] We took a trip last year to help them out. [3:37] We’re going to take a trip this year. [3:39] Hopefully we’ll be able to take more, but we’re going to try to help them renovate their house so they can accept more missions teams. [3:45] We’re going to build bunks and we’re going to help them renovate rooms so they can take more mission teams. [3:49] Well, this offering is part of what keeps them over there. [3:53] This offering is part of what provides for them so that instead of worrying about where their next meal is going to come from, all that they have to focus on is reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[4:04] And because of that, we don’t take the type of mission trips where you just go and sightsee. [4:10] We don’t take the type of mission trips where we go and just tell people about Jesus and hope the best when we leave. [4:16] Instead, we’re able, because of the International Mission Board, to go on mission trips where we partner with missionaries that live in country so that when we do evangelize while we’re there, we’re not abandoning those people. [4:28] Instead, we have missionaries on the ground that can continue to disciple those people. [4:33] Friends, I’ll tell you, it’s a wonderful system that I really believe in. [4:38] And I want to tell you, our kids, that’s the reason they’re up here.

[4:40] I know they’re getting bored. [4:42] But the reason they’re up here is because our kids have been opening hot chocolate stands. [4:47] Our kids have been making Christmas ornaments and selling them. [4:50] I had a kid try to sell me a bracelet a couple of days ago, and I had to tell him I’m not that kind of guy. [4:56] And so I gave him, I gave him money, but I didn’t take the bracelet. [5:00] But we got kids that are strategizing.

[5:02] How can we as part of Village Church give to the Laudamund Christmas offering? [5:07] Because I don’t know if you know this or not, but 100 percent of our children are unemployed. [5:11] So they don’t have jobs. [5:13] And so they got to they got to get creative. [5:15] But as of right now, has anything changed? [5:18] As of as of right now, we’re at twenty four hundred dollars in village kids.

[5:23] All right. So our kids have raised twenty four hundred dollars for the Laudamund Christmas offering. [5:30] It’s going to be even more at eleven thirty by God’s grace. [5:33] I hope we get closer to three thousand. [5:35] But here’s my plea to you. [5:37] All right. They’re unemployed. [5:39] Most of you are employed.

[5:41] All right. Out of the means that God has blessed you with, I’m going to ask you that throughout the sermon today and throughout the coming weeks, I want you guys to ask, where can I sacrifice? [5:53] How can I give? [5:54] Because the way I was brought up is if you’re not going to the nations with the gospel, you better be sending people to the nations with the gospel. [6:04] And God has blessed our culture and God has blessed us as a people where we do have means that we can sacrifice with. [6:13] Some of you can give more. Some of you can give less. [6:16] It’s not about how much you give, because little is much when God is in it.

[6:20] It’s about just having a heart that gives, having a heart that wants to sin. [6:24] So at the end of our sermon today, we’re going to take up an offering and 100 percent of that’s going to go to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering. [6:31] But I want to do right now is I want to pray over our kids and I want to pray over the money that they’ve raised and ask God to bless it and use it to reach the nations. [6:40] Will you pray with me, Father? [6:42] We are so, so thankful. [6:45] Lord, you’ve blessed us with so many kids and we are so thankful for the privilege and the responsibility to disciple them in the name of Jesus Christ, to raise them up.

[6:53] As warriors for the gospel of your salvation. [6:57] Lord, we ask this morning that you would bless their efforts or that you would bless the money that they have raised, Lord, that you would bless every penny of it and multiply it tenfold. [7:10] So that someone right now that doesn’t know the name of Jesus Christ, Lord, that through this offering, you would mobilize a missionary so that they would become a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. [7:22] Who’s being discipled, who can make disciples or bless our efforts today in the name of Jesus, we pray. [7:29] Amen. [7:30] Amen.

[7:31] Thank you for joining me, guys. [7:32] Any of you want to preach? [7:34] No. [7:35] Well, I guess I’ll have to do it again. [7:38] All right. [7:38] We have a Bible.

[7:39] Go ahead and open it to Luke, too. [7:41] We’re going to be going through the Christmas narrative this morning. [7:46] Traditional Christmas narrative. [7:47] But oftentimes, even in the way that we read through the Christmas narrative every year as a culture, it’s a narrative that we go to over and over. [7:57] Oftentimes we kind of miss some of the particulars of the narrative and we just go for the overarching reality that Jesus Christ was born. [8:06] But I want to do this morning is I want to hone in on just how the specifics of the narrative of how Jesus Christ was born reveals to us the great mission that God has been on from before the foundations of the earth.

[8:24] You know, this offering is vital. [8:26] And if you’re not a Christian, I understand this morning that the things that we say kind of you miss the point. [8:32] You don’t get why we’re so intent on focusing the Christmas season on Jesus Christ. [8:38] Now, I love every part of the Christmas season. [8:41] But if you’re not a Christian, the reality is the joy that you can take part in during the Christmas season is totally subjective. [8:50] You have no objective root for your joy this season.

[8:54] And so your joy is going to be dependent on a gift that you give or a gift that you receive or maybe the reaction that you hope someone will have when you give them a gift. [9:05] Your total joy this Christmas season is only going to be based on how good a meal was or how good a party was. [9:12] And if the turkey explodes like it does in Christmas vacation, well, your Christmas is going to be ruined. [9:19] Your joy this season is going to be based totally on whether or not a family member or a loved one or someone that you want to be a loved one responds to you in a particular way. [9:30] The ebb and flow of your feelings is what’s going to dictate the joy that you have during the Christmas season, because it’s not really unlike any other season of your life. [9:39] But for the follower of Jesus Christ, the reason that we are so adamant about focusing on the gospel of Jesus Christ during the Christmas season is because that is the objective root of our joy.

[9:51] That regardless of how I feel, regardless of materially, whether this was a banner year or whether this was a year of struggle, regardless of how anybody reacts to any gift that I give or any gift that I receive, I have an objective root of joy. [10:08] I can anchor my life in the reality that Jesus Christ was born into this world to save sinners. [10:16] And I am one of those sinners. [10:18] And because of that joy, because of that joy, unshakable, regardless of what’s going on in my life right now, regardless of how I feel, regardless of my emotions, regardless of my status. [10:31] I look to Jesus Christ and I have more than enough to anchor the joy of my life to. [10:38] And that’s why this narrative is so vital.

[10:41] I want to read to you starting in verse one, the narrative of Jesus’s birth.

[11:01] To the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary is betrothed who was with child. [11:10] And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room, no place for them in the end. [11:24] I want to focus in on the three different parts of this chapter from verse one through verse 20 on the different aspects and how it correlates to the work of God. [11:35] And these first few verses, it sounds pretty incredible. [11:39] I mean, Jesus was born when a time when his parents were inconvenienced with having to go and be registered for a census by the government. [11:47] And then there’s the story of Joseph who was born in Rome, who was over all of the known world at that time.

[11:50] And so Joseph had to uproot his betrothed wife, Mary, who was with child. [11:55] They had to go to Bethlehem, which was pretty good clip from where they were. [11:58] They had to go through all of this comfort. [12:00] Then there’s no room for them in the end. [12:02] I mean, their status wasn’t really great and powerful, so they couldn’t even make hotel reservations. [12:07] And so they get there.

[12:08] There’s nowhere for them to stay. [12:09] They have to go into the stable. [12:11] Jesus is born in the stable, which sounds like a very unpleasant thing to me. [12:17] I liked the hospital I was in with all the doctors and nurses so that I could just stand there and hide my face. [12:24] But then Jesus is born and there’s no crib, there’s no bassinet, there’s no bed. [12:29] Jesus is laid in a feeding trough.

[12:32] That’s what a manger was. [12:33] All of the animals that would have been in the stable were eating out of it. [12:36] And sometimes you look at it, you know, look at the humble estate of our Lord. [12:42] But oftentimes you don’t really hone in on the particulars of the narrative to note what God was actually doing through the specific moments of the birth of Jesus Christ. [12:55] And so I want to understand number one this morning. [12:57] Jesus came on a mission of redemption.

[12:59] He came on a mission of redemption and the particulars show us the move of God in that redemption. [13:07] I mean, think about the first thing that we see. [13:10] They had to be registered. [13:12] Why? [13:13] Well, in Micah chapter five, verse two, the prophet Micah said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. [13:29] The most powerful nation in the world at that time to organize a census so that Joseph and Mary would have to go to Bethlehem just to fulfill that one prophecy.

[13:47] Everything about the birth of Jesus happened for a particular reason. [13:52] And the reason for this one to happen is because God had been orchestrating how the incarnation, this amazing miracle where God is moving an entire empire to his will to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem so that it would happen exactly the way that God said it would happen. [14:15] Exactly the time that God said it would happen in exactly every way that God had determined from before the foundations of the world that it would happen, even to the extent that the place where Jesus was born showed the lineage that God had promised that Jesus would come from. [14:35] God had promised King David under your lineage, there will be a throne over God’s people forever. [14:42] Well, you know why Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem? [14:44] Because you know, it just so happens that King David, his family was from Bethlehem.

[14:49] And so God moved an entire nation so that Joseph, who wasn’t the earthly father, but everybody under the patriarchy understood that the lineage comes from the father. [14:59] And so God moved so that Jesus would had to be born in Bethlehem so that when Jesus was of age, when he would take the sins of all humanity onto himself on the cross, we could look and say, son of David, the one who was always determined to be. [15:14] The savior of the world. [15:18] Like I said, there is a temptation to gloss over these realities and only kind of look at the sentiment of why Jesus was born of such a lowly estate. [15:29] Matthew one records for us that Jesus was to be of the line of David. [15:34] But Luke two shows us the humiliating circumstances around just how Jesus would have to fulfill that prophecy.

[15:42] I mean, do you think the creator God would be born and placed in a manger? [15:49] No fanfare. [15:52] Wasn’t the priests getting ready in the temple because the god of the temple is about to become a human being in the form of a baby? [15:59] Wasn’t Caesar who in his palace was preparing pomp and circumstance for the birth of Jesus Christ? [16:05] Instead, the hotel manager said, sorry, no vacancies. [16:08] Imagine how foolish he must have felt in eternity’s past.

[16:13] But Jesus is born of this humble estate and Luke two focuses in on it. [16:17] You understand why Jesus was born in the way that he was so that we could look at him and say. [16:24] That’s a human being.

[16:27] If Jesus came into this world, he’s in Caesar’s palace. [16:29] There’s a way to look at the birth of Jesus Christ and say, well, he’s not really one of us. [16:35] Well, he’s of a royal lineage and he’s in the kingdom. [16:38] Is he really even a human being? [16:40] Because, you know, Caesar claimed to be God. [16:42] And so if he’d come in the way that really I would have designed for him to come and he takes the glory of the Caesar,

[16:48] the world would look at that moment in time and say, not a human being. [16:52] Caesar is God. He’s born in Caesar’s palace. [16:55] So he must be just God, not human being. [16:58] But nobody looks at the birth of Jesus Christ and thinks that way. [17:01] You look at the birth of Jesus Christ and say, man, even I was born into a better status than Jesus was born. [17:08] This is a human being.

[17:11] But even in that, sometimes we miss who he really is because we can get so focused on the humiliation [17:17] of God, the son in being a human being that we lose track of the fact that he was still very much God. [17:26] In John, Chapter one, I love the way the Gospels work together. [17:30] And then they show us just a little bit different vantage point of the story, all of them equally true, [17:36] but all of them showing just a little bit of a different picture of just who Jesus Christ was in John one. [17:43] Starting in verse one, it says, In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

[17:49] He was in the beginning with God. [17:52] All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made in him was life. [17:58] And the life was the light of men. [17:59] The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. [18:04] Jesus was the word, the logos, the ultimate revelation of who God is. [18:11] And he is from the beginning.

[18:13] Everything is sourced in him because not only is he just a revelation of God, he is very much God himself. [18:21] So everything comes from him. [18:22] The text tells us he’s above everything. [18:25] And it says he’s full of light.

[18:29] But then John one fourteen summarizes everything that we see in Luke two. [18:35] Because in John one fourteen, it tells us this very important detail. [18:39] The word became flesh and dwelt among us. [18:44] This is if you’ve seen him, this insignificant birth in this insignificant town of antiquity. [18:52] So insignificant he has to go to the stable. [18:54] So insignificant he’s placed in a manger with some swaddling cloths.

[18:59] The apostle John wants us to understand. [19:01] Don’t miss the fact that if you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the very glory of God. [19:05] Don’t miss the fact that if you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen truth incarnate. [19:11] Don’t miss because of the humble beginning who he is in all eternity. [19:17] He’s the creator God. [19:18] There is nothing in this world that Jesus did not himself create.

[19:24] Don’t miss the glory. [19:26] But that’s what makes Luke two so remarkable. [19:31] Because God chose to be born into the world in this way, because the circumstances around the birth of Jesus Christ [19:41] give us a glimpse to the mission that is coming in his life. [19:46] I mean, think about if John one is true, then why would he be born this way? [19:50] I’ll tell you why, because it points to the redemption of his people.

[19:54] It points to the fact that Jesus didn’t come into this world to be above the fray. [19:58] Jesus came into this world to live a human life as a substitute for you and for me. [20:05] But the difference between me and Jesus Christ is I am fully sinful and Jesus lived completely sinless. [20:14] I mean, you think about the standard that this world has. [20:18] I mean, someone that at their birth, there’s no room for them in the end. [20:23] They’re born in a stable placed in a manger.

[20:25] You’re going to blame every problem in your life on just how you were born. [20:29] You’re going to have to go to a trauma counselor and work off all of the trauma because of the fact that you look at your life and say, [20:35] Aha, here’s the reason I can’t succeed. [20:37] I’m such a loser because I was born in a stable. [20:41] I mean, my mom placed me in a manger. [20:42] Do you know how unhygienic mangers are?

[20:45] We saw a donkey eating out of that yesterday. [20:48] All the donkey spit going all over the food. [20:51] And here we are laying swaddling cloths. [20:53] I mean, when you think about Jesus, you think about swaddling cloths that ascended from one high. [20:58] You think about swaddling cloths that are completely unstainable. [21:02] But Mary had to lay Jesus in his swaddling cloths into a manger.

[21:09] It’s a dirty swaddling cloths.

[21:13] Probably would have left a stain on me, but not Jesus. [21:16] Jesus doesn’t just transcend his circumstances. [21:20] Jesus responds to his circumstances with perfection.

[21:24] Jesus points to his lowly estate and he says, I was born that way so that I could identify with you. [21:30] I was born that way because I am a human being while I am also fully God. [21:35] I was born that way so that I could have a real human experience. [21:39] I was born that way so that you couldn’t look at me and say, you don’t know how it is, Jesus. [21:44] Jesus would say, I was born that way so that I do know what you’re going through. [21:48] I was born that way so that I could look at you and say, I have walked the path that you’ve walked.

[21:55] And then when Jesus went to the cross because he had no sin, [21:59] Jesus could substitute himself for me and take the penalty that I deserve to pay on that cross. [22:07] His birth shows our need. [22:11] Jesus was born to human parents so that he could be fully man and substitute for us and endure the penalty of sin for us. [22:24] This is our God. [22:26] This is our Redeemer.

[22:28] But that redemption purchased something for us. [22:32] There was a purpose behind all of it. [22:35] Number two, this morning, understand Jesus came to give sinners peace with God. [22:41] Jesus came to give sinners peace with God. [22:43] Sometimes when people talk about the redemption that they have with Jesus Christ, I don’t think you really talk about it accurately. [22:49] You act as though Jesus just kind of zeroed out your account,

[22:54] that you had this great debt of sin that you owed to God. [22:58] So you were in serious trouble. [23:00] You’re going to be judged for your sin. [23:02] And Jesus came to give you a second chance. [23:05] He paid off all of your debt so that you would have another chance at life. [23:10] Well, here’s the deal.

[23:11] Jesus didn’t die to give you a second chance, because I don’t know if you know how sinful you are or not, but you would ruin that one, too. [23:18] You would blow a second chance, third chance, fourth chance, fifth chance, sixth chance, thousandth chance. [23:23] So if you think about it like credit card debt, if Jesus paid off all of your credit card debt, you would be on Amazon that night, [23:31] maxing them out all over again. [23:33] All right. [23:35] So he doesn’t give you a second chance.

[23:37] He gives you a new life. [23:40] Jesus purchased something for you that you could never give to yourself. [23:44] Jesus purchased peace with God. [23:47] And that’s an amazing thing, because the fact is that that is why the gospel is so foundational to Christmas, because without Jesus, all is lost. [23:59] I believe that I believe that all of life must be formed around that reality for you to understand just how much you needed. [24:09] Peace with God and how wonderful it is that Jesus Christ came to give it to you.

[24:16] Every other joy in life is fleeting. [24:20] Look in verse eight of Luke two.

[24:24] In the same region that Jesus was born, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. [24:31] 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. [24:36] And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you great news. [24:39] 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’s Christ the Lord. [24:48] And this will be a sign for you. [24:50] You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

[24:53] 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. [25:06] It’s fascinating. [25:07] Because if you think about the scripture as a whole, you wouldn’t have picked shepherds.

[25:14] Again, you would have picked the high priest. [25:18] You would have picked the priesthood. [25:19] You would have picked a prophet. [25:22] You would have picked someone of history in the scriptures that would show just how significant the birth of Jesus is and would be able to proclaim from a position of influence and a position of prestige so that everyone would listen to the gospel. [25:37] And they would listen to the priest, Caesar, someone.

[25:42] Shepherds. [25:43] I don’t know if you know this or not, but shepherds aren’t the most social group. [25:46] Not at this point in history. [25:49] Shepherds had more in common with scoundrels than they had with religion. [25:53] These were guys that spent their entire life because it was their life’s work with sheep and always outside of town. [26:01] And so they were not.

[26:05] The cleanest of guys. [26:07] Some of you have a wrong view of sheep. [26:09] You think about sheep with this perfect white wool. [26:12] Have you ever noticed wool? [26:14] But it stains really easily. [26:16] And so sheep are pretty dirty.

[26:17] But also, have you ever noticed wool kind of traps odors? [26:22] There’s no B.O. quite like the B.O. of someone who’s been sweating in wool. [26:27] Because everything stays there. [26:29] And shepherds, their entire life was dedicated to the flocks so that they could make money. [26:34] And so sheep kind of follow the leader. [26:39] And you’d be a better leader if you smelled like the sheep.

[26:42] And so they typically sleep among the sheep. [26:44] They walk among the sheep. [26:46] They row up against the sheep. [26:47] They’re always with the sheep. [26:49] And well, in town, people kind of cross the road because sheep stink. [26:53] And so the shepherds.

[26:55] You don’t really want to be around a stinky person. [26:57] But also shepherds in that culture had a reputation of being thieves. [27:03] They would just kind of take whatever they needed for themselves. [27:06] And nobody wanted to be around them anyway. [27:07] And they were going to get away with it because they were pretty tough guys, too. [27:10] They could take on all comers because these were gruff men who spent their lives taking care of animals.

[27:16] They were stronger than everybody else. [27:17] And so you stayed away from those scoundrels for many, many, many reasons. [27:23] And Luke records that the first audience that God chooses to announce the birth of his son into this world is a band of sheep and excuse me, the band of shepherds in the countryside. [27:37] So God even sends the miraculous, an angel appears to them. [27:41] And what does the angel talk about? [27:43] The angel says, don’t be afraid, because I want to bring you peace with God.

[27:50] Here’s why I did that. [27:52] Because the first audience for the birth of Jesus, who’s going to identify himself with human beings who are sinners in need of redemption, is there really isn’t a better audience is going to understand just how much they need to be redeemed than a group of shepherds.

[28:06] These shepherds quite literally represent the height, the depth, the length, the breadth of the love of God for us.

[28:15] These shepherds are this audience of men who are completely undeserved. [28:19] And I love the way the angel band sings a song. [28:22] It says, glory to God in the highest on earth, peace among those with whom he’s pleased. [28:27] And the shepherds probably responded and said, well, that’s not us. [28:31] God pleased with us, Lord.

[28:34] We’re unclean all the time. [28:36] We can’t even go in the temple without a huge cleansing process.

[28:42] Jesus came to this earth with a mission of reconciling God and man. [28:49] While shepherds were known for being those that lived lifestyles with which God would not be pleased. [28:57] That was why God revealed to them that God had now sent the one through whom God could be pleased. [29:05] Jesus Christ. [29:06] God sent Jesus to make peace between God and sinners. [29:13] And these shepherds were great representatives of sinful men.

[29:18] God sends this amazing revelation to a group of men that would understand just how amazing a gift it is that God wanted to give peace to human beings through his own work. [29:31] And this is what was prophesied about in the Old Testament, Isaiah forty nine, six. [29:35] God tells the people of Israel that he’s going to raise his people up, but his promise would go beyond them. [29:42] Texas, it’s too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. [29:49] I’m going to make a light for the nations that my salvation may reach the end of the earth.

[29:57] See, people that think that they deserve peace with God are going to be tempted to keep it for themselves. [30:04] Because salvation or the thought of salvation kind of sounds.

[30:10] Kind of sounds like something I deserve, kind of sounds like something that makes me better than someone else. [30:15] I’m saved and you’re not. [30:16] So I’ve got the God’s pleased with me while he’s displeased with you. [30:21] So I think it’s very instrumental that God would reveal this to shepherds who would have no self-righteousness where it comes to religion. [30:29] And God looks to them and says, I’m going to give you righteousness through my son, Jesus Christ. [30:34] But even further, Isaiah fifty two seven says, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,

[30:41] who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says design your God reigns. [30:49] What Jesus really came to do is bring salvation to the ends of the earth. [30:54] And the gospel brings peace of news of happiness and salvation. [31:00] And there is no gladder reality than a right relationship with God. [31:07] See, that’s something that you can’t have on your own. [31:10] I know some of you are working really, really hard to earn righteousness.

[31:15] Some of you are working really, really hard to earn status in this world, to prove that you’re better than someone else, [31:21] to prove that you can be smarter than someone else, more powerful than someone else, better than other people.

[31:29] But the gospel is such a glad reality because it brings me face to face with this overwhelming understanding [31:37] that I think each and every one of us really have in our subconscious, even is that I am a sinner. [31:43] And that every time I think I’ve earned enough, I realize there’s always more that I need. [31:52] And these shepherds were representative of men that could do nothing to save themselves in society. [31:57] And so God goes to them because he says, I’m sending the one that’s not going to tell you to earn it because you can’t. [32:04] He’s going to give it through his own strength.

[32:07] Jesus came to be the one that would transcend the nation of Israel and take salvation to all nations. [32:14] But what I also love about this is Jesus came to be the good shepherd for all. [32:21] Friends, you may think to yourself that there’s something better than the gospel. [32:25] But when you realize the depth of need and what God has done to bridge that gap, to fill that need through Jesus, [32:35] when you’re really a Christian, when you really have faith, you realize there is nothing greater than that. [32:43] I also love the fact these men were not looking for God.

[32:47] Scripture doesn’t tell us that. [32:49] But like so much in Scripture from Abraham forward, you don’t find people looking for God. [32:57] And when they find him, say, see, I was right.

[33:02] Never do. [33:03] You find God just interceding. [33:05] You find God just interjecting himself into the middle of the lives of sinners and saying, I’m going to redeem you. [33:14] The life of a follower of Jesus is not someone who comes to the knowledge and the faith in Jesus Christ. [33:21] See how much smarter I was. [33:23] I found Jesus.

[33:24] When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, you point to him and say, how merciful was God that while I was lost, he found me. [33:35] He searched for me. [33:38] I was hopeless.

[33:41] And God became a human being so that I would have hope. [33:45] I was under judgment, deserving the wrath of God. [33:50] And Jesus came to live the perfect life so that he could substitute himself for me on the cross and pay the penalty for my sin.

[34:01] I mean, look at these shepherds. [34:02] How could these men please God? [34:06] Says he’s only going to bring peace to those with whom he is pleased. [34:11] These men do not appear to have done anything to please God. [34:14] And that’s the point. [34:17] Jesus came to be the substitute for everything I and you lack.

[34:26] He came to be the fulfillment of everything that I should have done and didn’t. [34:34] Jesus came to make up for my failures. [34:39] And he did. [34:40] And he has. [34:41] And that is why only faith in Jesus saves. [34:46] We must trust that what Jesus did in his life, what Jesus did in his death and what Jesus did in his resurrection pleases God enough.

[34:58] And the beautiful thing about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that’s the promise we have. [35:03] It’s not that I’m enough. [35:05] I can tell you from personal experience, I’m not enough. [35:08] It’s that Jesus is enough. [35:09] He’s done enough. [35:12] He’s the Savior.

[35:13] He’s the Lord. [35:14] He’s the love that I need in my life because everything that I can muster up under my own strength is counterfeit. [35:22] It’s insufficient. [35:23] It’s not good. [35:25] But everything that comes from the life of Jesus Christ is good. [35:30] It’s holy.

[35:32] It’s righteous. [35:33] It’s just. [35:34] It’s perfect. [35:34] It is love.

[35:40] Jesus is everything that I will ever need to please God. [35:46] And Jesus gives it to me, even though I don’t deserve it, even though I’ve done nothing to earn it. [35:52] He brings peace into our lives when we don’t have peace. [35:58] Jesus is the Savior. [36:02] But thirdly, this morning, Jesus also came to give us a mission from God. [36:09] Jesus came to give us a mission from God.

[36:13] God’s on mission. [36:15] Hopefully the planning of the gospel, the fruition of the gospel, the purpose of the gospel shows you God’s a missional God. [36:26] But in verse 15, it goes further. [36:30] It says, 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. [36:38] I love that. [36:39] The reason I love that is because the shepherds had stuff to do.

[36:45] You ever just have stuff to do? [36:47] The shepherds had stuff to do. [36:48] You know what the shepherd had to do? [36:51] You know, be shepherds. [36:52] If you leave the sheep, that’s a risk because sheep are stupid and the sheep will just disband and go everywhere. [36:59] They might have gone in which direction.

[37:00] So when you get back, if no one’s watching the sheep, well, when you get back, the sheep might be gone. [37:06] They might have jumped off a cliff. [37:07] They might have dropped in a river and drowned. [37:09] And you don’t see in the text them talking amongst themselves and saying, we really need to obey what God has just shown us. [37:17] But Floyd, you stay behind because someone needs to watch the sheep. [37:21] You don’t see that.

[37:22] You just have to assume Floyd went with them. [37:25] And so all of the shepherds just abandoned the sheep. [37:28] And that’s so representative of what’s holding so many of us back in our relationship with God is that we want to obey God as soon as we’ve taken care of our what we think are our responsibilities. [37:39] We want to live the calling of God on our lives as soon as we have time. [37:44] We want to do what God has called us to do. [37:47] But we’ve got a few things that we need to take care of first.

[37:50] Not these shepherds. [37:52] They knew the revelation of God was true. [37:54] They received it and believed it and said, regardless of what we’ve got to do here, I kind of want to see the baby in a manger because obeying God in that circumstance was the most urgent thing in their lives, more urgent than any other responsibility that they had. [38:10] The problem in many of our relationship with God is we think something is more urgent than what God has called us to do. [38:15] And that’s how you miss out on the mission of God for your life.

[38:21] Every time. [38:22] Shepherds don’t build a shrine in the field to angels. [38:26] No, the shepherds just leave. [38:28] It says that they leave with haste. [38:31] Continuing the text. [38:33] It said, We need to see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us and Mary and Joseph and the baby.

[38:39] They found him. [38:39] They went with haste, found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. [38:43] And when they saw it, they made known the same that had been told them concerning this child. [38:49] And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [38:54] But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. [38:59] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told to them.

[39:08] The text gives us this kind of reaction that the shepherds had to everything that they had seen. [39:14] And it says that they went. [39:16] And as they went, they returning back to the field. [39:19] So to go back to the fields, you have to go through the city. [39:22] And as they go through the city, it says that they are actively glorifying and proclaiming the things that had just happened to them. [39:31] The angel revelation, the finding the child in the manger wrapped in swaddling cloths.

[39:36] These unsocial men who avoided interaction are now interacting. [39:43] Because what God had done in their lives was so good, they had to share it with others. [39:50] And it says that their immediate response to seeing the work of God in their lives was worship. [39:57] That they lived in order to make known all that God had done in their lives. [40:05] See, friends, the birth of Jesus Christ is the highlight of the mission of God. [40:09] I mean, the scripture tells us that before the creation of the world, this moment was planned by God.

[40:16] The Book of Revelation calls him the lamb who was slain before the foundations of the earth. [40:21] In other words, God had been working from before creation for this moment, the birth of this child to happen. [40:30] And so if God worked through history to provide this exact moment, the friends I tell you, we must live to experience this with our very lives. [40:38] God came to us so that we would draw close to him, so that we could see his mission. [40:48] And yes, take the benefits of his mission, which are many, but also live to spread that mission to the world around us. [40:59] So I ask you, do you just take the benefits of redemption and consume them and keep them with you and say,

[41:07] Well, that’s just a private faith that I have. [41:12] It’s not the gospel that we see in scripture. [41:15] Scripture tells us that we must receive the life of God and then imitate the mission of God in this world. [41:25] God wants to redeem us so that we can imitate his mission in this world, because God is still on mission. [41:35] Therefore, those that have been redeemed by him will live his mission. [41:41] I mean, Christian means follower of Jesus.

[41:44] As if you’re going to be a Christian, you got to follow him in the direction that he’s going. [41:47] And Jesus is on a direction of mission. [41:50] Look at the way it’s said in Second Corinthians 5 19. [41:53] The apostle Paul writes and he says in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself. [41:58] You know what it means to reconcile the world? [42:00] It means to make peace.

[42:02] God was offended by our sin. [42:05] We were separated from him because of that offense. [42:08] And God, through Jesus Christ, heals the offense. [42:12] Now we have peace with God. [42:14] God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses, which means sins against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. [42:25] You can’t reconcile anyone with God.

[42:28] You can’t redeem anyone. [42:30] You can do it. [42:32] So what do we do? [42:33] Well, we can only tell of what Jesus has done because he can reconcile people. [42:38] He can redeem people. [42:40] My part is that I live to take the good news.

[42:45] Good news necessitates two things, ears to hear and a mouth to speak. [42:52] Someone has to hear it and someone has to say it. [42:55] So if you have faith in Jesus Christ, you are the one to say it. [43:01] That points our lives in a specific direction. [43:05] What I love about the reaction of the shepherds, though, is that they did not need an imperative command to tell what to do about the good news of Jesus. [43:15] Nobody looked at the shepherds and said, OK, now go, therefore, into all the nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit.

[43:25] Paul, I’ll be with you always. [43:26] He’s in all that. [43:28] Now, the shepherds just saw the most incredible thing that they’ve ever seen in their lives, experienced the most incredible experience they’d ever had in their lives. [43:35] And we’re so overwhelmed by the reality that God would redeem them, that God would use them, that God would reveal this to them. [43:43] They said, I got to tell somebody. [43:45] I got to tell somebody.

[43:47] I mean, think about it. [43:49] Think about the amazing things that have happened throughout the course of your life. [43:53] You like to tell people about the good stuff, don’t you? [43:56] You like to tell people about the good things that have happened in your life. [43:59] What the shepherds did was just an instinctive reaction.

[44:06] So my question for you is, is the gospel that good? [44:10] Is the reconciliation that you have with God through Jesus Christ, is it good enough for you that you just wake up in the morning and thank to yourself? [44:20] I am a sinner in need of a savior, and by his grace, God has sent that savior himself. [44:29] And he’s on everything that ever needs to be done, not just to forgive me of the sins that I’ve had, but to give me his very righteousness, to give me a new life, to give me peace with God, where I have a relationship with God, where God speaks to me through his word, where he hears my prayer and he’s active in my life. [44:49] Do you wake up knowing how good that is? [44:52] Because if you do, you will organize your life around that good news, and you will certainly at least tell someone.

[45:01] You will certainly at least share that with someone. [45:05] Here’s the overarching reality. [45:08] Without mission, people fail.

[45:11] Without mission, you can’t follow Jesus. [45:15] Without mission, have you really been redeemed?

[45:19] The reason for that is that God redeemed us for a life of mission. [45:24] He didn’t just redeem you to kind of a static state. [45:27] He redeemed you for a purpose, and that purpose is his mission in this world. [45:33] He brings us in, shows us his glory, makes peace with us at his expense. [45:40] It’s the greatest news you could ever have. [45:42] And if you root your life in the love of God, you have the greatest news ever.

[45:52] And that is a mission worth living. [45:55] And that is something worth reflecting on in Christmas. [45:58] But friend, that transcends Christmas. [46:00] That is life. [46:02] A few application points this morning. [46:04] First, personalize God’s mission.

[46:07] Jesus came to save you. [46:10] Sometimes we get stuck in this rut where we’re just like, man, those people need Jesus. [46:16] All right? [46:17] Personalize it, though. [46:18] I need Jesus. [46:20] Jesus came with a mission to save me, because that’s the great equalizer.

[46:26] That puts you into a position where you realize, well, if he came to save me, he came to save others. [46:32] And I need to share it with them. [46:33] Secondly, apply the peace of God to every part of your life. [46:37] I realize that some of you carry shame, some of you carry guilt. [46:42] And some for some of you, it is such a burden that you think that you’re kind of condemned almost maybe even a second tier experience with Jesus Christ. [46:50] Friends, that’s not the gospel.

[46:53] There are going to be earthly consequences to your sin. [46:56] But understand that in your relationship with God, Jesus brings total forgiveness. [47:01] Jesus brings complete redemption. [47:03] I don’t know what you’ve done. [47:06] I don’t know where you’ve been. [47:08] But I do know Jesus is sufficient to forgive you of any and all sin in your life.

[47:13] And so any shame that you carry, friends, take that burden off your shoulders and put it on the shoulders of Jesus Christ. [47:19] He’s strong enough to take it. [47:21] His burden is light. [47:23] He wants to give you total forgiveness. [47:26] Thirdly, live with a mission to get the gospel to other people. [47:32] Live with that mission.

[47:34] People need the gospel. [47:37] People need Jesus Christ. [47:39] Everybody does. [47:40] And we need to be the people that believe that it is good enough and it is powerful enough that we will organize our lives to take it to them. [47:46] And then finally, give generously so that more and more will know the love of Jesus.

[48:15] Thank you.