Christmas 2016

Subject - God News for All of Us

by Rick Welborne

Luke 2:814 (NKJV) 

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 

9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 

10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 

11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." 

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 

14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" 

–The message to the shepherds--"Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 

11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

–Whatever you are facing - do not be afraid - the message was to all people...you and me.

–We all face adversity and many of us are facing it right now...different areas but all of us are facing problems and challenges.

–Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other holidays have a way of bringing out a pain, our family dysfunction, or wounds that have been there for years.

–Verse 14 gives us a goal, a vision, and even a plan for our lives all because Jesus has come...Because He is Immanuel - God with us. 

–The point of this message is to hopefully show us that when Jesus comes...He makes a difference in our vertical relationship and our horizontal relationships. 

Luke 2:14 (NKJV) 

14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" 

–Today let’s look at this verse and see what God is saying to us:

1. The God news is that Jesus wants us to have goodwill toward men.

–In other words we should be desiring good toward those we are around the most. Our family...our friends...our church.

–It is easy for us as ministers (all of us) to want goodwill for those in the universal church, the community, and even in the world but it can become difficult for us to want good for those closest to us.

–Our ultimate test is not how we treat and feel about those who are outside our families but how we treat our families and those closest to us.

–We should want good for our spouses and our families...God has convinced me of this and how I speak to and of my wife is so important.

–We men love these verses is Ephesians:

Ephesians 5:2224 (NIV) 

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 

23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 

24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 

–I have seen macho men strongly insist that their “women” submit to them...it is the Bible!

–I agree that women should submit to their husbands as to the Lord but that does not mean God has given you an in house slave to meet your every whim. It works both ways:

Ephesians 5:21 (NIV) 

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 

–Oops! I guess we overlooked that passage...we are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ! Wow! There is more!

Ephesians 5:2531 (NIV) 

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 

26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 

27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 

28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 

29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church 

30 for we are members of his body. 

31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 

–Listen, Men, these verses have ouch written all over them...love her, love her like Christ loved the church, give yourself for her, help make her holy, love her like you love your own body, feed her, care for her, and be one with your her...no one else.

–A big part of the Christmas story is goodwill toward people..toward our families, toward our spouses...that is exemplified in what we say to them and what we say about them.

–Life and death are in the power of the tongue...I must speak life...as Christians we all should...we are the example and we reap what we sow. These two verses together:

Proverbs 18:2122 (NIV) 

21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. 

22 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. 

2. The God news is that Jesus wants us to have peace on earth.

Luke 2:14 (NKJV) 

14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" 

–Our goal should be peace for Israel and the middle east but also for our own families and our church.

Philippians 4:48 (NIV) 

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 

5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirableif anything is excellent or praiseworthythink about such things. 

–Let your gentleness be evident to all...the Lord is near...He is watching. The fruit of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:2223 (NIV) 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

23 gentleness and selfcontrol. Against such things there is no law. 

–Look how all this fruit could help our marriages and families and our church. Don’t say you are Spirit filled and you do not exemplify this fruit to your spouses.

–Jesus...Immanuel...came to bring peace on earth but also peace to our families:

Philippians 4:7 (NIV) 

7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

–Verse 8 gives us the “how to” in our families...we think about these things and we say this:

Philippians 4:8 (NIV) 

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirableif anything is excellent or praiseworthythink about such things. 

–The God news is that Jesus came to bring goodwill toward men and women but He also came to bring peace on earth.

–There is nothing more powerful on earth than a church that is led by Jesus, whose families are committed to Him and to one another...what goodwill and peace we can offer to a lost world...We can help put the Merry back in Christmas!!!

3. The God news is that we should be giving glory to God in the highest - live for the glory of God!

1 Corinthians 10:3133 (NLT) 

31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 

32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. 

33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved. 

–Do everything...everything...for the glory of God...how you love your spouses, your families, your church, the world!!!

–Verse 32...Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles...be gentle with your families. Don’t live in an offensive manner.

–Some of us need to stop being ourselves and start living as though Christ is in us...the hope of...listen to it...the hope of glory!!!

–What an event for these shepherds...the appearance of the angels and the announcement of Christ...wow! How awesome it would have been to be there...

Luke 2:811 (NKJV) 

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 

9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 

10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 

11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

–These shepherds were able to see and experience the awesome glory of God and they could not wait to go and share what they had experienced.

Luke 2:1518 (NIV) 

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 

17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 

18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 

–They spread the word about the glory of God (Jesus Christ)...shouldn’t we do the same.

–In such a messed up world shouldn’t we be sharing the God news...showing the world the goodwill we have toward our own families and everyone around us.

–Shouldn’t we be sharing the God news about peace that passes all understanding that starts with our families and spreads to the whole world (Missions).

–Wow, these shepherds had the privilege of experiencing the announcement of the birth of the Son of God...Immanuel...God with us...Jesus Christ and then to see Him in the manger.

–Again what about us...wouldn’t it be great for us to see the glory of God...maybe we will experience the God news of Jesus’ coming!

1 Thessalonians 4:1617 (NIV) 

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 

17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 

–Get ready for the glory of God again to show up...

Luke 2:13-14 (NKJV) 

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 

14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" 

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT) 

31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.