Centennial Park Baptist Church - Christmas Sunday December 20^th, 2009 – 10:30 am

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

What do we see in the beautiful and familiar words of the Christmas story?

1. The SOVEREIGNTY of God – Luke 2: 1,3,4

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ³And everyone went to his own town to register.

⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

* Caesar Augustus had a title: The Saviour of the World

* Caesar Augustus ordered the tax

* Caesar Augustus was a puppet in the hands of a sovereign God

* Micah 5:2 * Psalm 115: 3

2. The SPEAKING of God – Luke 2: 8-12, 15

⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

¹⁵When 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."

Why did God choose shepherds?

* Shepherds had no social status

* Shepherds had great risk and responsibility

But – “ Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

– I Samuel 16:7

What did God see?

* HUMILITY - God speaks to humble people

* DILIGENCE - God speaks to us as we fulfill our responsibilities

* OPENNESS - God desires to make His guidance clear

* OBEDIENCE - God expects obedience to follow revelation.

III The STABLE - Luke 2:16

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

The stable was God’s vivid way of showing us that a different kind of king had come to earth, one at home with the impoverished and downtrodden. He came to live among us, whatever our status or situation.

IV The SPONTANEOUS Response of the Shepherds – Luke 2:20

²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

* Praise becomes natural and continual when we experience Jesus

* Once you have experienced Jesus, you’ll want to tell others.

* Great spiritual experiences must bring us back to everyday life

V SIGNALS “For Today”

* Are you willing, today, to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over your life?

* God is with you, in your family, your circumstances. He is kind, loving, understanding, forgiving.

* 3 hallmarks of the Shepherds and Mary and Joseph:

1. OBEDIENCE- to Almighty God

2. SUBMISSION - to the will of God

3. PERSEVERENCE - in spite of difficulty

Some Ideas:

This Christmas think of several of your non-Christian friends, or friends of other faiths. Write down their names. After you’ve done that, ask yourself how the good news of Jesus’ birth is good news to them. How might true joy enter their lives if they accept this good news themselves? Ask God to show you a way to communicate this good news to them, not only through spoken words, but also through acts of love and kindness. Make it your goal this year to find a creative new way to share the good news of great joy with those Jesus loves.

Remember God’s love displayed for you already. Remember that He knows your sufferings and joins you in them. If your life is truly blessed and comfortable this year, seek out someone who is going through difficult or even tragic circumstances, perhaps divorce or separation, sickness or financial difficulties, or some other trial. Send them a letter, give them a call, pray for them, and in this way display the spirit of compassion that Christmas calls forth in us.