Christmas gifts. We’ve all yearned for that one gift... ya know, the one that we just had to have, those presents that were going to “change our lives!” Let’s take a little nostalgic stroll down memory lane together and think about some of those items written in crayon in our letter addressed to the North Pole. If you need help with those memories, I took some time to survey a few different people from Emmanuel. I have some great responses from our multigenerational church family. ? Transistor radio, tea set, anything delivered by the Old News Boys, boots, jacks, roller skates, record player, hula hoop, G.I. Joe, easy bake oven, tonka truck, Chatty Kathy doll, pong, transformers, cabbage patch, Atari, Barbie dream house, Tamagotchi, BMX bike, game boy, beanie babies, iPod, sports memorabilia, smart phone, tablets, ear buds, and the list goes on. Maybe your gift wasn’t on this list, but as you reminisce about that one item, what was your response when you did receive it? Did you spend every waking moment with it? Did you thank your parents or, ahem, Santa, a million times? Did you tell all of your friends about it? Do you still treasure that gift today? Was it “life-changing?”
Crack open your Bible with me if you would. You don’t want to miss this! Luke 2 records the greatest gift. Spoiler alert, Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin and guilt as our GREATEST GIFT! It’s beautiful to me that Luke devotes more details about how the people responded to the birth of Christ than the actual birth story.
“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.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Luke 2:15-20
Did you notice how the shepherds responded? They listened to the angels, they believed what had happened and then they hurried to investigate. Those actions lead them to a wonderful earth-shattering discovery just as the angels said, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” The shepherds had personally experienced a life-changing event, and they were spurred to witness, to spread the word. A little fact, did you know that shepherds were not allowed to testify in court? Yet God used these humble shepherds to be his witnesses to testify of the birth of the Messiah. I observed something here that I hadn’t seen before . . . the shepherds returned. They went back to shepherding, to the fields, to their jobs and they LIVED DIFFERENTLY. Their lives were changed as evidenced by living a life of worship; glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen!
Let’s do more than celebrate a Merry Christmas this year, let’s live differently and share the life changing news of The Greatest Gift.
Crack open your Bible with me if you would. You don’t want to miss this! Luke 2 records the greatest gift. Spoiler alert, Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin and guilt as our GREATEST GIFT! It’s beautiful to me that Luke devotes more details about how the people responded to the birth of Christ than the actual birth story.
“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.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Luke 2:15-20
Did you notice how the shepherds responded? They listened to the angels, they believed what had happened and then they hurried to investigate. Those actions lead them to a wonderful earth-shattering discovery just as the angels said, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” The shepherds had personally experienced a life-changing event, and they were spurred to witness, to spread the word. A little fact, did you know that shepherds were not allowed to testify in court? Yet God used these humble shepherds to be his witnesses to testify of the birth of the Messiah. I observed something here that I hadn’t seen before . . . the shepherds returned. They went back to shepherding, to the fields, to their jobs and they LIVED DIFFERENTLY. Their lives were changed as evidenced by living a life of worship; glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen!
Let’s do more than celebrate a Merry Christmas this year, let’s live differently and share the life changing news of The Greatest Gift.