{"id":301734,"date":"2008-12-26T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-26T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/why-shepherds-why-now\/"},"modified":"2008-12-26T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-26T17:00:00","slug":"why-shepherds-why-now","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/why-shepherds-why-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Shepherds?  Why Now?"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shepherds\u2014that\u2019s exactly who God told first, as He made His divine birth announcement of the glad tidings of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2008-12-26.mp3","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"12.17M","filesize_raw":"12764944","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2816],"tags":[4642],"podcast_series":[7623],"cwp_profile":[3142],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301734","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","tag-christmas","podcast_series-the-divine-birth-announcement","cwp_profile-bob-lepine","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301734\/why-shepherds-why-now","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301734\/why-shepherds-why-now","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"7517xDZ40i\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/why-shepherds-why-now\/\">Why Shepherds?  Why Now?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/why-shepherds-why-now\/embed\/#?secret=7517xDZ40i\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Why Shepherds?  Why Now?&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"7517xDZ40i\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"spectra_custom_meta":{"_wp_page_template":["default"],"transcript_url":["https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2008-12-26.pdf"],"audio_file":["https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2008-12-26.mp3"],"transcript_content":["<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> [from audiotape.] All of a sudden, just like that, the angel finishes giving the good news and, all at once, the shepherds find themselves surrounded now by a myriad of angels coming out of the bright light.\u00a0 Do you get the picture here?\u00a0 This is mind-blowing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> This is FamilyLife Today for Friday, December 26th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We all know what happened in Luke, chapter 2.\u00a0 Have you stopped to think about why it happened the way it happened?\u00a0 We'll hear about that today.\u00a0 Stay tuned.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And welcome to FamilyLife Today, I know some of you regular listeners know that this is \u2013 we're kind of breaking protocol for me to introduce the broadcast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> I'm starting to feel insecure about my job, the way you keep jumping in and taking my \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You've trained me.\u00a0 But, actually, that's not really the issue, Bob.\u00a0 The issue is you're giving a message from Luke, chapter 2, that you gave at your church, Redeemer Community, here in Little Rock, and we wanted to feature it here at Christmastime and allow our listeners to be reminded of the greatest news that has ever been declared.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> We spent time looking at Luke, chapter 2, at the angel coming to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and there's a lot in this passage.\u00a0 It was interesting to stop and pull it apart \u2013 just to stop and ask the question, why did God decide to go to shepherds on a hillside to say \"The Messiah has been born.\"\u00a0 Why shepherds?\u00a0 Why \u2013 why not go into Jerusalem and go to the palace?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Well, it had to be spectacular.\u00a0 Let me read it here \u2013 \"And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.\"\u00a0 Can you imagine what that would have been like?\u00a0 \"And they were filled with fear.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> That's what that would have been like.\u00a0 You'd have been filled with fear.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> I guarantee you, I've never seen an angel.\u00a0 Maybe I've entertained one or two, according to Scripture, but this was a sacred moment that you're speaking about here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Mm-hm, and the angel shows up, and the shepherds are afraid, and the angel says what angels always say when they show up, and that's where we're going to pick up the message.\u00a0 This is part 2 of a message from Luke, chapter 2, on the divine birth announcement.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> [from audiotape.]\u00a0 I wonder if angels ever get tired of saying, \"Fear not.\"\u00a0 You know, every time they show up, the first thing they say, \"Fear not, fear not,\" and the angel is bringing good news.\u00a0 This is \u2013 the Gospel is about joy.\u00a0 The angel says, \"I'm bringing you good news, which is a great joy.\"\u00a0 And the great joy is not just for the shepherds, he says, it's a great joy for all people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd then he says, \"Here's the joy.\"\u00a0 Verse 11 \u2013 \"For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.\"\u00a0 That gelyon, it's the evangel, it's the good news, and it's going to result in a great joy for all people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, the juxtaposition is this \u2013 don't fear joy.\u00a0 Don't be afraid, I'm bringing you good news that will bring you great joy.\u00a0 It's that juxtaposition, and that's the heart of the good news that's being brought.\u00a0 Fear is going to be gone.\u00a0 Joy is in its place.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe said when we began our study of Luke that joy is one of the themes throughout the Gospel.\u00a0 Luke makes it clear that salvation and joy are connected.\u00a0 Now, is that true for you?\u00a0 Is your salvation linked to joy in your life?\u00a0 Are you a person who is characterized by joy because you've been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, hallelujah!\u00a0 That ought to be great news!\u00a0 That ought to stir you!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf the Gospel doesn't produce great joy in you, one of two things \u2013 either you don't know Jesus, or you've forgotten what you ought to remember.\u00a0 You either don't know Jesus, or you've forgotten \u2013 think about this \u2013 you were once dead in your trespasses and sins, you were in hostile rebellion to the God of the Universe, you wanted nothing to do with Him, you wanted to live life on your own, and you were estranged from Him, deserving, by the way, of His holy wrath.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd God, who is rich in mercy, full of compassion, sent Jesus to a manger in Bethlehem to rescue you, to redeem you, and to reconcile the relationship with you.\u00a0 And you don't have joy?\u00a0 What I just told you, if that doesn't produce joy in you\u00a0 \u2013 and you go, \"But you don't know my circumstances.\"\u00a0 You're right, I don't know your circumstances.\u00a0 I don't know what they are, but there's no circumstance that is more depressing than that news is joyful.\u00a0 There is nothing going on in your life that is so bad that that's not good news.\u00a0 I'm not suggesting that, as a Christian, you'll never be down or discouraged, or there will never be those moments.\u00a0 I'm suggesting that when you are down and discouraged, what you do is you remember the Gospel.\u00a0 You go to the manger and to the cross, and you find joy in your salvation.\u00a0 \"Why so downcast, O my soul?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tRemember God \u2013 that's the antidote for discouragement and depression.\u00a0 This is one of only two places in the New Testament where the title \"Savior\" is given to Him.\u00a0 Mary has already referred to God as her Savior, so when the angel says, \"He is a Savior,\" there is a deity connection there.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThen, second, Christ means \"promised\" or \"anointed one.\"\u00a0 You know that.\u00a0 But then about this word, \"Lord.\"\u00a0 The common Greek word for Lord \u2013 \"Kyrios\" can mean Lord in like a feudal situation where you're a landowner, you're a lord.\u00a0 It can mean that, but you need to know that in the Old Testament, Kyrios, in the Greek version of the Old Testament, 6,156 times, \"Kyrios\" means \"God.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo when the angel hears a Savior who is the anointed one, the Lord \u2013 the shepherds is not out there sitting thinking, \"Oh, does he mean a landowner? Does he mean a nobleman?\"\u00a0 No, he goes \u2013 \"He means God.\"\u00a0 And, by the way, the light is still shining.\u00a0 The big bright light is still shining, and the angel is still standing there, and he's saying, \"Born to you today a Savior who is Christ the Kyrios \u2013 God \u2013\u00a0 a deliverer, an anointed one \u2013 God.\u00a0 He is all of these things, and it said \"He is this for all men,\" and He is, by the way, the deliverer of all men, the Lord of all men, and you say, now, is he \u2013 when you say he is the deliverer of all men \u2013 all men are not delivered, but He is the deliverer of all men.\u00a0 He is the only one who can deliver any man.\u00a0 He is the only deliverer, He is the only Savior, and He is the only Lord.\u00a0 He has come. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd then he says, \"By the way, I've got a sign for you.\"\u00a0 He doesn't even say, \"You need to go look for Him.\"\u00a0 But he just says, \"I've got a sign for you.\"\u00a0 I guess he knows they're going to go looking, or he's just heading them off.\u00a0 \"I've got a sign for you,\" this is verse 12, \"You'll find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.\"\u00a0 The angel didn't tell them to go looking for the baby.\u00a0 I guess he assumes they'll go, and the sign confirms Isaiah 7:14, \"The Lord Himself will give you a sign,\" is what Isaiah 7:14 said.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd, just as a sidebar, let me say this \u2013 signs and miracles and wonders given in the Bible are given primarily to confirm the Word of the Lord.\u00a0 That's why God gives them \u2013 so that those who are hearing know that this is God who is speaking and not something else or someone else.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo today a messenger is not confirmed by a sign as much as he is confirmed by his fidelity to the Word of God.\u00a0 But, in those days, the sign was to confirm the Word.\u00a0 And the sign, by the way, was a striking contrast.\u00a0 The angels just said, \"Guess who's been born?\u00a0 A Savior who is Christ the Lord.\u00a0 Guess where you'll find him?\u00a0 Wrapped in cloths in a manger.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe shepherd's got to go, \"Huh?\u00a0 God just came, He's in a manger?\"\u00a0 Again, the humility of Christ coming here, and wrapped in cloths \u2013 there's nothing particularly unusual about that.\u00a0 In fact, the sign is not that He's wrapped in cloths, because all babies are pretty much wrapped in cloths, but the manger is the sign.\u00a0 So it says in verse 13, \"Suddenly, there was, with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God saying 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace among those with whom He is well pleased.'\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI'll point out a couple of things here \u2013 first of all, it happened suddenly, all of a sudden, just like that, the angel finishes giving the good news and, all at once, the shepherds find themselves surrounded now by a myriad of angels coming out of the bright light.\u00a0 This is mind-blowing. They were just minding their own business around the campfire, and, all of a sudden the light, the shepherds, now there's a whole bunch of them, and they're all around, a multitude, we don't know how many, the translation of the Greek word here means 10,000, which is their largest number that they had.\u00a0 So it's really like as many as you can count, thousands, and they were the heavenly host \u2013 that's the heavenly army of God that have come.\u00a0 God sends an army, and He brings news of peace with the army.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAt the coronation of a Roman emperor, the birth of his son or the son of the king, it would not have been unusual in the public gathering to celebrate with a choir or an orchestra to provide pomp for the event, and here God provides a chorus of a multitude of angels who are amazed at this act of condensation [sp] on God's part.\u00a0 Now, keep in mind, these angels know Jesus, okay?\u00a0 These angels have been spending a long time with Jesus \u2013 not eternity, because they didn't exist in eternity.\u00a0 God created them, but they've been with Jesus for a long time, and they remember back when Satan rebelled against God, and God kicked him out of heaven.\u00a0 And then they watched the creatures on earth rebel against God, and now they're seeing God send His Son to redeem these creatures, and the angels go, \"This is amazing.\"\u00a0 They see God's love and the sacrifice of Jesus.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd I just have to point out, they didn't sing.\u00a0 Okay?\u00a0 I know, I know, all of those songs now at Christmas are messed up for you, I understand that, but the angels didn't sing.\u00a0 There are two times in the Scriptures where the angels sing.\u00a0 Do you know where they are?\u00a0 At the Creation and at the consummation \u2013 before the fall, and when all things are righted.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI don't know if angels can sing with humanity in the state they're in, but there is no record in Scripture that they do.\u00a0 They sing before the fall, they sing when God makes all things new.\u00a0 But they're not singing here.\u00a0 They say \"Glory to God in the highest,\" and, it's interesting, the contrast, the parallelism \u2013 \"Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth to men.\"\u00a0 They're explaining the significance of the birth here.\u00a0 This is a birth that will give glory to God and will bring peace to men.\u00a0 This is not world peace, okay?\u00a0 This is not \u2013 this is peace to men in terms of reconciliation of the relationship with God.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tRomans 5:1 says, \"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God.\"\u00a0 The relationship that was fractured, we have peace with God.\u00a0 Ephesians 2 talks about how Jesus has broken down the dividing wall not only between Jew and Greek in here, but He has also broken down the dividing wall between God and Man.\u00a0 \"He is our Peace,\" Ephesians says, \"who has broken down every wall.\"\u00a0 So the peace that Jesus brings is the peace of a reconciled relationship with God.\u00a0 With whom, by the way, He brings peace to those with whom He is well pleased and you know what?\u00a0 Do you know why God is well pleased with men?\u00a0 Not because of men but because God chooses to be pleased with them.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe didn't look down and say, \"You guys are \u2013 you know, you're doing pretty well.\u00a0 I'm pleased with you, I'll send Jesus.\"\u00a0 No, He said, \"It pleases me to send my Son.\"\u00a0 Well, when the angels went away, verse 15, when the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, \"Let's go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.\"\u00a0 I don't think they said it right away.\u00a0 I think there had to be a little bit of a pause there after the lights out and the angels are gone, and they're looking at one another and eventually they say, \"I think we should go to Bethlehem,\" and they were given this sign, and I don't know if there was any discussion, you know, I don't know if any of the shepherds said, \"Well, you know, we'll go in the morning,\" or \"It's big news, but where will we ever find Him?\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere seemed to be no hesitation on the part of these shepherds.\u00a0 I just want to comment on that, as J.C. Ryle, the Anglican bishop from the 1800s, this is what he wrote \u2013 he said, \"We see in these shepherds no doubt, no questioning, no hesitation.\u00a0 Strange and improbably as these tidings might seem, at once they act upon them.\u00a0 They went to Bethlehem in haste.\u00a0 They found everything exactly as it had been told them.\u00a0 The simple faith received a rich reward.\u00a0 They had the mighty privilege of being the first of all mankind after Mary and Joseph who saw, with believing eyes, the newborn Messiah.\u00a0 They soon returned glorifying and praising God for what they'd seen.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThen Bishop Ryle says this \u2013 \"May our spirits be like theirs.\u00a0 May we ever believe implicitly, act promptly, and wait for nothing when the path of duty is clear.\u00a0 So doing will have a reward like the shepherds.\u00a0 The journey that is begun in faith will generally end in praise.\"\u00a0 That's a great statement, isn't it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut might we be like the shepherds who, when we receive God's Word, we respond.\u00a0 They went quickly, and the rest of this scene is pretty straightforward \u2013 it doesn't take a lot of explanation.\u00a0 It says in verse 16, \"They went with haste, found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the 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.\u00a0 But Mary treasured these things pondering them in her heart, and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they'd heard and seen, just as it had been told them.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, a couple of quick notes \u2013 I just imagine the scene \u2013 here are the shepherds coming into town from Bethlehem and, by the way, where are the sheep?\u00a0 They're backed up on the hillside in the pen and somebody \u2013 I don't know if they said, \"You stay and watch the sheep while the rest of us go,\" or they just said, \"You know, if God sends an angel, He can probably take care of the sheep for the night.\u00a0 Let's just all go.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo they wander into town, they're looking around, \"Okay, what are we looking for?\u00a0 A baby in a manger.\"\u00a0 Well, they're not going door-to-door saying, \"Do you have any babies in mangers?\"\u00a0 They go, \"Well, where are we going to find a manger?\"\u00a0 Well, they're going to find them at the place where the animals are kept.\u00a0 So they're going to the places where the animals are typically kept, and they're walking around, looking, \"Anybody got a baby in a manger?\"\u00a0 And they walk in and, here, Mary and Joseph, they just had the baby, they're there with Jesus, the baby is in a manger and, all of a sudden, shepherds are going, \"Pardon me, ma'am, is your baby in a manger?\"\u00a0 \"Why, yes.\"\u00a0 \"Okay, this is going to sound real strange to you, but let me just tell you what just happened out on the hillside.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know, this is how the conversation likely went, and they're \u2013 it says all who heard them, that's not just necessarily all who heard them right then, but when they went back and told this story later, everybody who heard them for the next several weeks and months as they unpacking this story, they're amazed at what the shepherds tell them.\u00a0 History is being made and only a handful of unimportant people know.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tMary, in verse 19, treasured all these things in her heart.\u00a0 How did Luke know that?\u00a0 Well, it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, but he likely had some dialog either directly with Mary or maybe with Peter, who had spoken with Mary.\u00a0 But somehow the word had been \u2013 Mary had told this story to people, and she had said, \"I remember.\u00a0 I just treasured it all in my heart.\"\u00a0 Luke got that part of history, and they go back to their field, to their jobs, but when they come back to their field, they come back different.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat do they come back doing?\u00a0 Verse 20 \u2013 \"they come back singing and praising God and saying 'Glory to God.'\"\u00a0 They've just seen the Messiah.\u00a0 So look what happened here.\u00a0 God came to the shepherds, the recipients, through an angel, the messenger, who preaches the Gospel to them, that's what he does, \"I've got good news,\" and they believe what the angel tells them, and they respond to their belief by going to Bethlehem, and, as a result, they find themselves in the presence of God Himself.\u00a0 Their faith is deepened, and when their faith is deepened, and when they've seen it, what's their response?\u00a0 They tell others.\u00a0 Hm, they see Jesus, their faith is strengthened, and they go tell others.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe shepherds praise and glorify God for all they've seen.\u00a0 Can I suggest to you that if you know Christ, you've had something like this happen to you.\u00a0 Now, you may not have been on a hillside with a bright light, but there was a time in your life when you were minding your own business, and a messenger came.\u00a0 I don't know who the messenger was, I don't know if it was a friend of yours or a parent, I don't know if it was a stranger, I don't know if it was God through His Word speaking to you by His Holy Spirit, but you were there, minding your own business, and a messenger came with a message of good news, and you believed, and you responded to that in faith.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou've had this same thing.\u00a0 Now, the question is \u2013 are you doing what the shepherds did?\u00a0 Glorifying God and telling others what you've seen and heard?\u00a0 The very first birth announcement ever made was actually the first case of sharing the Gospel in the New Testament.\u00a0 An angel comes and says, \"I've got good news.\u00a0 I shared the Gospel with you.\"\u00a0 These guys heard it, what did they do?\u00a0 They went and shared the Gospel.\u00a0 And if you're here tonight, and you don't know Christ, let me just say, you're not here by accident, I don't think, because God brought you here to hear the good news \u2013 good news of great joy.\u00a0 The question is \u2013 how are you going to respond to it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, we've been listening to part 2 of a message from Luke's Gospel, Luke, chapter 2, and that is the question \u2013 what is our response to the good news of Christmas?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And there's two kinds of people listening \u2013 those who have never heard that good news or have yet to respond to it in faith and embrace the Savior for the forgiveness of their sins and make Him their Lord and Master and become a Christ follower for the rest of their days, or a second group who have heard, have believed, and are like the shepherds \u2013 in need of going and announcing wherever they go that there is good news.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd, Bob, I'm convicted about this at a whole new fresh level because with the economic uncertainties that are in our country, I think there's need in our land for people to share hope and give them meaning for life.\u00a0 I think the people we're passing as we're checking out of a grocery store, as we're purchasing fuel for our vehicles, as we're \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> As we're returning the gifts we got for Christmas.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> There you go \u2013 or as we're visiting friends' house or neighbors.\u00a0 I think we need to give them a reason for hope, and there is no greater reason for hope than that Jesus Christ came, He lived a perfect life, He died on the cross for our sins, and on the third day He was resurrected from the grave, and He ascended, after 40 days, into heaven and, today, is seated in authority, and He can promise eternal life to any person who comes to Him.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd maybe we're just talking to one person here who needs to come to faith in the Savior, but if that's you \u2013 why waste another day of your life?\u00a0 Simply, right now, cry out to Him, confess Him as Lord and Master and ask Him to forgive your sins and place your faith in Him, and you know what?\u00a0 He will declare you not guilty, and you know what?\u00a0 That is the good news of Christmas, and that is worth sharing with other people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> That's right.\u00a0 If you'd like to know more about what it means to be a follower of Christ, if you're ready to pray that prayer and ask God to come into your life and to cleanse you and to transform your heart, there is a book that we'd like to send you called \"Pursuing God,\" and you can call us at 1-800-FLTODAY, 1-800-358-6329, and we'll have that booklet sent out to you at no cost to you.\u00a0 It explains to you what it means to be a follower of Christ, and we will rejoice with you, as well, in the spiritual decision that you have made to trust Christ.\u00a0 Again, our toll-free number is 1-800-FLTODAY, and just say, \"I want to become a Christian, and I'd like that booklet,\" and we're happy to send it out to you. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd let us also mention that this is a season of economic uncertainty, and we have heard from many of our listeners over the last several weeks who have been responding to the matching gift opportunity that has been made available to us this year.\u00a0 We have had some listeners who have offered to match every donation we receive on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to a total of $425,000, and many of our listeners have responded.\u00a0 They have called and said, \"We want to support the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\"\u00a0 We like the idea that our donation can be doubled, and we just want to say thank you to those of you who have responded.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are still a ways away from being able to take full advantage of that matching gift, so we're hoping between now and the end of the year, we will hear from more listeners who will help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> That's right, and I want to add my thank you to Bob's, just to say thanks for those of you who have responded.\u00a0 But just say to you, as a listener, if you've benefited from FamilyLife Today, and what we seek to do here every day in bringing timeless principles to your home and equip you to have a godly marriage and family, would you pick up a phone and call 1-800-FLTODAY and make a generous donation to this ministry?\u00a0 Or go online at FamilyLife.com?\u00a0 We need you to stand with us.\u00a0 As Bob mentioned, we still are short of our goal, and these are important days for this ministry to be able to continue to bring this broadcast to you on a daily basis.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Again, the toll-free number is 1-800-FLTODAY.\u00a0 You can also go online at FamilyLife.com and, again, thanks for your support.\u00a0 We appreciate your partnership with us here in the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd we hope you have a great weekend.\u00a0 I hope you and your family are able to worship together in church this weekend, and I hope you can be back with us on Monday, when we are going to consider the power of our words for good or for ill.\u00a0 We're going to hear a challenging message from Dr. Tom Elliff, and I hope you can join us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you Monday for another edition of FamilyLife Today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas \u2013 help for today; hope for tomorrow.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t_______________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>www.FamilyLife.com<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>"],"_seopress_titles_title":[""],"_seopress_titles_desc":[""],"_seopress_robots_index":[""],"duration":["00:"],"show_notes":[""],"_thumbnail_id":["294104"],"filesize":["12.17M"],"filesize_raw":["12764944"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-301734.css"],"_uag_js_file_name":["uag-js-301734.js"],"_uag_page_assets":["a:9:{s:3:\"css\";s:82560:\".wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f 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exactly who God told first, as He made His divine birth announcement of the glad tidings of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2008-12-26.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> [from audiotape.] All of a sudden, just like that, the angel finishes giving the good news and, all at once, the shepherds find themselves surrounded now by a myriad of angels coming out of the bright light.\u00a0 Do you get the picture here?\u00a0 This is mind-blowing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> This is FamilyLife Today for Friday, December 26th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We all know what happened in Luke, chapter 2.\u00a0 Have you stopped to think about why it happened the way it happened?\u00a0 We'll hear about that today.\u00a0 Stay tuned.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And welcome to FamilyLife Today, I know some of you regular listeners know that this is \u2013 we're kind of breaking protocol for me to introduce the broadcast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> I'm starting to feel insecure about my job, the way you keep jumping in and taking my \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You've trained me.\u00a0 But, actually, that's not really the issue, Bob.\u00a0 The issue is you're giving a message from Luke, chapter 2, that you gave at your church, Redeemer Community, here in Little Rock, and we wanted to feature it here at Christmastime and allow our listeners to be reminded of the greatest news that has ever been declared.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> We spent time looking at Luke, chapter 2, at the angel coming to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and there's a lot in this passage.\u00a0 It was interesting to stop and pull it apart \u2013 just to stop and ask the question, why did God decide to go to shepherds on a hillside to say \"The Messiah has been born.\"\u00a0 Why shepherds?\u00a0 Why \u2013 why not go into Jerusalem and go to the palace?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Well, it had to be spectacular.\u00a0 Let me read it here \u2013 \"And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.\"\u00a0 Can you imagine what that would have been like?\u00a0 \"And they were filled with fear.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> That's what that would have been like.\u00a0 You'd have been filled with fear.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> I guarantee you, I've never seen an angel.\u00a0 Maybe I've entertained one or two, according to Scripture, but this was a sacred moment that you're speaking about here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Mm-hm, and the angel shows up, and the shepherds are afraid, and the angel says what angels always say when they show up, and that's where we're going to pick up the message.\u00a0 This is part 2 of a message from Luke, chapter 2, on the divine birth announcement.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> [from audiotape.]\u00a0 I wonder if angels ever get tired of saying, \"Fear not.\"\u00a0 You know, every time they show up, the first thing they say, \"Fear not, fear not,\" and the angel is bringing good news.\u00a0 This is \u2013 the Gospel is about joy.\u00a0 The angel says, \"I'm bringing you good news, which is a great joy.\"\u00a0 And the great joy is not just for the shepherds, he says, it's a great joy for all people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd then he says, \"Here's the joy.\"\u00a0 Verse 11 \u2013 \"For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.\"\u00a0 That gelyon, it's the evangel, it's the good news, and it's going to result in a great joy for all people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, the juxtaposition is this \u2013 don't fear joy.\u00a0 Don't be afraid, I'm bringing you good news that will bring you great joy.\u00a0 It's that juxtaposition, and that's the heart of the good news that's being brought.\u00a0 Fear is going to be gone.\u00a0 Joy is in its place.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe said when we began our study of Luke that joy is one of the themes throughout the Gospel.\u00a0 Luke makes it clear that salvation and joy are connected.\u00a0 Now, is that true for you?\u00a0 Is your salvation linked to joy in your life?\u00a0 Are you a person who is characterized by joy because you've been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, hallelujah!\u00a0 That ought to be great news!\u00a0 That ought to stir you!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf the Gospel doesn't produce great joy in you, one of two things \u2013 either you don't know Jesus, or you've forgotten what you ought to remember.\u00a0 You either don't know Jesus, or you've forgotten \u2013 think about this \u2013 you were once dead in your trespasses and sins, you were in hostile rebellion to the God of the Universe, you wanted nothing to do with Him, you wanted to live life on your own, and you were estranged from Him, deserving, by the way, of His holy wrath.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd God, who is rich in mercy, full of compassion, sent Jesus to a manger in Bethlehem to rescue you, to redeem you, and to reconcile the relationship with you.\u00a0 And you don't have joy?\u00a0 What I just told you, if that doesn't produce joy in you\u00a0 \u2013 and you go, \"But you don't know my circumstances.\"\u00a0 You're right, I don't know your circumstances.\u00a0 I don't know what they are, but there's no circumstance that is more depressing than that news is joyful.\u00a0 There is nothing going on in your life that is so bad that that's not good news.\u00a0 I'm not suggesting that, as a Christian, you'll never be down or discouraged, or there will never be those moments.\u00a0 I'm suggesting that when you are down and discouraged, what you do is you remember the Gospel.\u00a0 You go to the manger and to the cross, and you find joy in your salvation.\u00a0 \"Why so downcast, O my soul?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tRemember God \u2013 that's the antidote for discouragement and depression.\u00a0 This is one of only two places in the New Testament where the title \"Savior\" is given to Him.\u00a0 Mary has already referred to God as her Savior, so when the angel says, \"He is a Savior,\" there is a deity connection there.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThen, second, Christ means \"promised\" or \"anointed one.\"\u00a0 You know that.\u00a0 But then about this word, \"Lord.\"\u00a0 The common Greek word for Lord \u2013 \"Kyrios\" can mean Lord in like a feudal situation where you're a landowner, you're a lord.\u00a0 It can mean that, but you need to know that in the Old Testament, Kyrios, in the Greek version of the Old Testament, 6,156 times, \"Kyrios\" means \"God.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo when the angel hears a Savior who is the anointed one, the Lord \u2013 the shepherds is not out there sitting thinking, \"Oh, does he mean a landowner? Does he mean a nobleman?\"\u00a0 No, he goes \u2013 \"He means God.\"\u00a0 And, by the way, the light is still shining.\u00a0 The big bright light is still shining, and the angel is still standing there, and he's saying, \"Born to you today a Savior who is Christ the Kyrios \u2013 God \u2013\u00a0 a deliverer, an anointed one \u2013 God.\u00a0 He is all of these things, and it said \"He is this for all men,\" and He is, by the way, the deliverer of all men, the Lord of all men, and you say, now, is he \u2013 when you say he is the deliverer of all men \u2013 all men are not delivered, but He is the deliverer of all men.\u00a0 He is the only one who can deliver any man.\u00a0 He is the only deliverer, He is the only Savior, and He is the only Lord.\u00a0 He has come. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd then he says, \"By the way, I've got a sign for you.\"\u00a0 He doesn't even say, \"You need to go look for Him.\"\u00a0 But he just says, \"I've got a sign for you.\"\u00a0 I guess he knows they're going to go looking, or he's just heading them off.\u00a0 \"I've got a sign for you,\" this is verse 12, \"You'll find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.\"\u00a0 The angel didn't tell them to go looking for the baby.\u00a0 I guess he assumes they'll go, and the sign confirms Isaiah 7:14, \"The Lord Himself will give you a sign,\" is what Isaiah 7:14 said.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd, just as a sidebar, let me say this \u2013 signs and miracles and wonders given in the Bible are given primarily to confirm the Word of the Lord.\u00a0 That's why God gives them \u2013 so that those who are hearing know that this is God who is speaking and not something else or someone else.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo today a messenger is not confirmed by a sign as much as he is confirmed by his fidelity to the Word of God.\u00a0 But, in those days, the sign was to confirm the Word.\u00a0 And the sign, by the way, was a striking contrast.\u00a0 The angels just said, \"Guess who's been born?\u00a0 A Savior who is Christ the Lord.\u00a0 Guess where you'll find him?\u00a0 Wrapped in cloths in a manger.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe shepherd's got to go, \"Huh?\u00a0 God just came, He's in a manger?\"\u00a0 Again, the humility of Christ coming here, and wrapped in cloths \u2013 there's nothing particularly unusual about that.\u00a0 In fact, the sign is not that He's wrapped in cloths, because all babies are pretty much wrapped in cloths, but the manger is the sign.\u00a0 So it says in verse 13, \"Suddenly, there was, with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God saying 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace among those with whom He is well pleased.'\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI'll point out a couple of things here \u2013 first of all, it happened suddenly, all of a sudden, just like that, the angel finishes giving the good news and, all at once, the shepherds find themselves surrounded now by a myriad of angels coming out of the bright light.\u00a0 This is mind-blowing. They were just minding their own business around the campfire, and, all of a sudden the light, the shepherds, now there's a whole bunch of them, and they're all around, a multitude, we don't know how many, the translation of the Greek word here means 10,000, which is their largest number that they had.\u00a0 So it's really like as many as you can count, thousands, and they were the heavenly host \u2013 that's the heavenly army of God that have come.\u00a0 God sends an army, and He brings news of peace with the army.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAt the coronation of a Roman emperor, the birth of his son or the son of the king, it would not have been unusual in the public gathering to celebrate with a choir or an orchestra to provide pomp for the event, and here God provides a chorus of a multitude of angels who are amazed at this act of condensation [sp] on God's part.\u00a0 Now, keep in mind, these angels know Jesus, okay?\u00a0 These angels have been spending a long time with Jesus \u2013 not eternity, because they didn't exist in eternity.\u00a0 God created them, but they've been with Jesus for a long time, and they remember back when Satan rebelled against God, and God kicked him out of heaven.\u00a0 And then they watched the creatures on earth rebel against God, and now they're seeing God send His Son to redeem these creatures, and the angels go, \"This is amazing.\"\u00a0 They see God's love and the sacrifice of Jesus.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd I just have to point out, they didn't sing.\u00a0 Okay?\u00a0 I know, I know, all of those songs now at Christmas are messed up for you, I understand that, but the angels didn't sing.\u00a0 There are two times in the Scriptures where the angels sing.\u00a0 Do you know where they are?\u00a0 At the Creation and at the consummation \u2013 before the fall, and when all things are righted.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI don't know if angels can sing with humanity in the state they're in, but there is no record in Scripture that they do.\u00a0 They sing before the fall, they sing when God makes all things new.\u00a0 But they're not singing here.\u00a0 They say \"Glory to God in the highest,\" and, it's interesting, the contrast, the parallelism \u2013 \"Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth to men.\"\u00a0 They're explaining the significance of the birth here.\u00a0 This is a birth that will give glory to God and will bring peace to men.\u00a0 This is not world peace, okay?\u00a0 This is not \u2013 this is peace to men in terms of reconciliation of the relationship with God.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tRomans 5:1 says, \"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God.\"\u00a0 The relationship that was fractured, we have peace with God.\u00a0 Ephesians 2 talks about how Jesus has broken down the dividing wall not only between Jew and Greek in here, but He has also broken down the dividing wall between God and Man.\u00a0 \"He is our Peace,\" Ephesians says, \"who has broken down every wall.\"\u00a0 So the peace that Jesus brings is the peace of a reconciled relationship with God.\u00a0 With whom, by the way, He brings peace to those with whom He is well pleased and you know what?\u00a0 Do you know why God is well pleased with men?\u00a0 Not because of men but because God chooses to be pleased with them.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe didn't look down and say, \"You guys are \u2013 you know, you're doing pretty well.\u00a0 I'm pleased with you, I'll send Jesus.\"\u00a0 No, He said, \"It pleases me to send my Son.\"\u00a0 Well, when the angels went away, verse 15, when the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, \"Let's go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.\"\u00a0 I don't think they said it right away.\u00a0 I think there had to be a little bit of a pause there after the lights out and the angels are gone, and they're looking at one another and eventually they say, \"I think we should go to Bethlehem,\" and they were given this sign, and I don't know if there was any discussion, you know, I don't know if any of the shepherds said, \"Well, you know, we'll go in the morning,\" or \"It's big news, but where will we ever find Him?\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere seemed to be no hesitation on the part of these shepherds.\u00a0 I just want to comment on that, as J.C. Ryle, the Anglican bishop from the 1800s, this is what he wrote \u2013 he said, \"We see in these shepherds no doubt, no questioning, no hesitation.\u00a0 Strange and improbably as these tidings might seem, at once they act upon them.\u00a0 They went to Bethlehem in haste.\u00a0 They found everything exactly as it had been told them.\u00a0 The simple faith received a rich reward.\u00a0 They had the mighty privilege of being the first of all mankind after Mary and Joseph who saw, with believing eyes, the newborn Messiah.\u00a0 They soon returned glorifying and praising God for what they'd seen.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThen Bishop Ryle says this \u2013 \"May our spirits be like theirs.\u00a0 May we ever believe implicitly, act promptly, and wait for nothing when the path of duty is clear.\u00a0 So doing will have a reward like the shepherds.\u00a0 The journey that is begun in faith will generally end in praise.\"\u00a0 That's a great statement, isn't it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut might we be like the shepherds who, when we receive God's Word, we respond.\u00a0 They went quickly, and the rest of this scene is pretty straightforward \u2013 it doesn't take a lot of explanation.\u00a0 It says in verse 16, \"They went with haste, found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the 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.\u00a0 But Mary treasured these things pondering them in her heart, and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they'd heard and seen, just as it had been told them.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, a couple of quick notes \u2013 I just imagine the scene \u2013 here are the shepherds coming into town from Bethlehem and, by the way, where are the sheep?\u00a0 They're backed up on the hillside in the pen and somebody \u2013 I don't know if they said, \"You stay and watch the sheep while the rest of us go,\" or they just said, \"You know, if God sends an angel, He can probably take care of the sheep for the night.\u00a0 Let's just all go.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo they wander into town, they're looking around, \"Okay, what are we looking for?\u00a0 A baby in a manger.\"\u00a0 Well, they're not going door-to-door saying, \"Do you have any babies in mangers?\"\u00a0 They go, \"Well, where are we going to find a manger?\"\u00a0 Well, they're going to find them at the place where the animals are kept.\u00a0 So they're going to the places where the animals are typically kept, and they're walking around, looking, \"Anybody got a baby in a manger?\"\u00a0 And they walk in and, here, Mary and Joseph, they just had the baby, they're there with Jesus, the baby is in a manger and, all of a sudden, shepherds are going, \"Pardon me, ma'am, is your baby in a manger?\"\u00a0 \"Why, yes.\"\u00a0 \"Okay, this is going to sound real strange to you, but let me just tell you what just happened out on the hillside.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know, this is how the conversation likely went, and they're \u2013 it says all who heard them, that's not just necessarily all who heard them right then, but when they went back and told this story later, everybody who heard them for the next several weeks and months as they unpacking this story, they're amazed at what the shepherds tell them.\u00a0 History is being made and only a handful of unimportant people know.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tMary, in verse 19, treasured all these things in her heart.\u00a0 How did Luke know that?\u00a0 Well, it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, but he likely had some dialog either directly with Mary or maybe with Peter, who had spoken with Mary.\u00a0 But somehow the word had been \u2013 Mary had told this story to people, and she had said, \"I remember.\u00a0 I just treasured it all in my heart.\"\u00a0 Luke got that part of history, and they go back to their field, to their jobs, but when they come back to their field, they come back different.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat do they come back doing?\u00a0 Verse 20 \u2013 \"they come back singing and praising God and saying 'Glory to God.'\"\u00a0 They've just seen the Messiah.\u00a0 So look what happened here.\u00a0 God came to the shepherds, the recipients, through an angel, the messenger, who preaches the Gospel to them, that's what he does, \"I've got good news,\" and they believe what the angel tells them, and they respond to their belief by going to Bethlehem, and, as a result, they find themselves in the presence of God Himself.\u00a0 Their faith is deepened, and when their faith is deepened, and when they've seen it, what's their response?\u00a0 They tell others.\u00a0 Hm, they see Jesus, their faith is strengthened, and they go tell others.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe shepherds praise and glorify God for all they've seen.\u00a0 Can I suggest to you that if you know Christ, you've had something like this happen to you.\u00a0 Now, you may not have been on a hillside with a bright light, but there was a time in your life when you were minding your own business, and a messenger came.\u00a0 I don't know who the messenger was, I don't know if it was a friend of yours or a parent, I don't know if it was a stranger, I don't know if it was God through His Word speaking to you by His Holy Spirit, but you were there, minding your own business, and a messenger came with a message of good news, and you believed, and you responded to that in faith.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou've had this same thing.\u00a0 Now, the question is \u2013 are you doing what the shepherds did?\u00a0 Glorifying God and telling others what you've seen and heard?\u00a0 The very first birth announcement ever made was actually the first case of sharing the Gospel in the New Testament.\u00a0 An angel comes and says, \"I've got good news.\u00a0 I shared the Gospel with you.\"\u00a0 These guys heard it, what did they do?\u00a0 They went and shared the Gospel.\u00a0 And if you're here tonight, and you don't know Christ, let me just say, you're not here by accident, I don't think, because God brought you here to hear the good news \u2013 good news of great joy.\u00a0 The question is \u2013 how are you going to respond to it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, we've been listening to part 2 of a message from Luke's Gospel, Luke, chapter 2, and that is the question \u2013 what is our response to the good news of Christmas?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And there's two kinds of people listening \u2013 those who have never heard that good news or have yet to respond to it in faith and embrace the Savior for the forgiveness of their sins and make Him their Lord and Master and become a Christ follower for the rest of their days, or a second group who have heard, have believed, and are like the shepherds \u2013 in need of going and announcing wherever they go that there is good news.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd, Bob, I'm convicted about this at a whole new fresh level because with the economic uncertainties that are in our country, I think there's need in our land for people to share hope and give them meaning for life.\u00a0 I think the people we're passing as we're checking out of a grocery store, as we're purchasing fuel for our vehicles, as we're \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> As we're returning the gifts we got for Christmas.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> There you go \u2013 or as we're visiting friends' house or neighbors.\u00a0 I think we need to give them a reason for hope, and there is no greater reason for hope than that Jesus Christ came, He lived a perfect life, He died on the cross for our sins, and on the third day He was resurrected from the grave, and He ascended, after 40 days, into heaven and, today, is seated in authority, and He can promise eternal life to any person who comes to Him.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd maybe we're just talking to one person here who needs to come to faith in the Savior, but if that's you \u2013 why waste another day of your life?\u00a0 Simply, right now, cry out to Him, confess Him as Lord and Master and ask Him to forgive your sins and place your faith in Him, and you know what?\u00a0 He will declare you not guilty, and you know what?\u00a0 That is the good news of Christmas, and that is worth sharing with other people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> That's right.\u00a0 If you'd like to know more about what it means to be a follower of Christ, if you're ready to pray that prayer and ask God to come into your life and to cleanse you and to transform your heart, there is a book that we'd like to send you called \"Pursuing God,\" and you can call us at 1-800-FLTODAY, 1-800-358-6329, and we'll have that booklet sent out to you at no cost to you.\u00a0 It explains to you what it means to be a follower of Christ, and we will rejoice with you, as well, in the spiritual decision that you have made to trust Christ.\u00a0 Again, our toll-free number is 1-800-FLTODAY, and just say, \"I want to become a Christian, and I'd like that booklet,\" and we're happy to send it out to you. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd let us also mention that this is a season of economic uncertainty, and we have heard from many of our listeners over the last several weeks who have been responding to the matching gift opportunity that has been made available to us this year.\u00a0 We have had some listeners who have offered to match every donation we receive on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to a total of $425,000, and many of our listeners have responded.\u00a0 They have called and said, \"We want to support the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\"\u00a0 We like the idea that our donation can be doubled, and we just want to say thank you to those of you who have responded.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are still a ways away from being able to take full advantage of that matching gift, so we're hoping between now and the end of the year, we will hear from more listeners who will help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> That's right, and I want to add my thank you to Bob's, just to say thanks for those of you who have responded.\u00a0 But just say to you, as a listener, if you've benefited from FamilyLife Today, and what we seek to do here every day in bringing timeless principles to your home and equip you to have a godly marriage and family, would you pick up a phone and call 1-800-FLTODAY and make a generous donation to this ministry?\u00a0 Or go online at FamilyLife.com?\u00a0 We need you to stand with us.\u00a0 As Bob mentioned, we still are short of our goal, and these are important days for this ministry to be able to continue to bring this broadcast to you on a daily basis.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Again, the toll-free number is 1-800-FLTODAY.\u00a0 You can also go online at FamilyLife.com and, again, thanks for your support.\u00a0 We appreciate your partnership with us here in the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd we hope you have a great weekend.\u00a0 I hope you and your family are able to worship together in church this weekend, and I hope you can be back with us on Monday, when we are going to consider the power of our words for good or for ill.\u00a0 We're going to hear a challenging message from Dr. Tom Elliff, and I hope you can join us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you Monday for another edition of FamilyLife Today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas \u2013 help for today; hope for tomorrow.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t_______________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>www.FamilyLife.com<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/301734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301734"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=301734"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=301734"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=301734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}