Collierville First Baptist Church

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Hey, let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly father, thank you so much that during this time of the year, we can gather and we can study about Christmas. And father, I pray that you would fill me with the Holy Spirit tonight. Help me to teach with authority. Help me to rightly divide the word of truth. Or there's a lot of stuff here, and I pray that you would help me to cover the stuff that need to be covered tonight.

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And I pray that you would be honored and glorified. Lord, teach us and help us to really appreciate the Christmas story in Jesus name. Amen. Well, there's no other story like the Christmas story. It comes to us principally. And, and the Gospels, particularly Matthew and Luke's gospel, but it's also found in Isaiah and Micah and the Old Testament.

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The opening lines of, John's Gospel. It says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And the word became flesh. Verse 14, and dwelt among us when we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. That's the Christmas story in the Gospel of John.

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And then it's also found in in the book of revelation. You can see the, the, the, the birth of Christ alluded to in the book of revelation. Now, Matthew was a tax collector when the Lord Jesus called him to follow him and to be his disciple. Luke was a medical doctor, and you might say he knew a thing or two about babies being born.

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Okay. And, he was a traveling companion of the Apostle Paul, and we might say he was Paul's personal doctor, but his scientific training came in, in into a really good, place because it helped him to, to, to really investigate the story of Jesus of Nazareth and to write it out in a sequential way. In fact, he wrote a two volume work entitled Luke and What Acts right?

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Luke in Acts. Now, let me, just listed here a few, general observations about the Christmas story. The story takes place in objective history. The story does not begin once upon a time. Now, when we read Once Upon a Time, we assume that it's a fairy tale or a myth. But the Christmas story did not begin like that at all.

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It is rooted in objective history. And Luke chapter one, verse five. I want you to see how that objective history is found in this verse. In the days of Herod, king of Judah, a legitimate king in a legitimate place, Judah Judith, there was a priest named Zacharias of the division of Abuja, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron.

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Her name was Elizabeth. And Luke, chapter two, verse one. Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. Now, the the story, the Christmas story takes place in real historical places involving real historical people and had a real historical time in history. Look, the story is the fulfillment of the promise, a promise that God made to David.

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Okay. Matthew chapter one, verse one. The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the son of Abraham in Luke. Turn to page two. The story involves angelic activity. We got Gabriel appearing in this story, and he appears twice to, to, Mary. But I believe he appears to other times also.

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So in Matthew chapter one, verse 20, in Luke chapter two, verse nine, we also notice that angelic host fill the heavens and declare the glory of the Lord. And Luke chapter two, verses 13 and 14. So we know that something very, very, very special is happening surrounding the time leading up to the birth of Christ and the birth of Christ, and even after the birth of Christ.

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Now we need to realize that there's a little bit of myth that we have brought into the Christmas story, for instance. We talk about the the wise men, the three kings that come from the East. There are no where in Scripture says there were three kings. Nowhere in Scripture says there. And it's got them coming to the manger.

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And they didn't come to the manger. They came about two years after Jesus had been born. Evidently, Joseph and Mary and Jesus were in a little house or some kind of dwelling there in Bethlehem. So we gotta make sure that now those are not not, to die for time. Failures on our part. We need to understand the truth, around the activity of the birth of Christ.

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The story's lead actor is a Holy Spirit. I tell you, I don't know what people who are not Trinitarian do with the story of Christmas. We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. We believe we are a Trinitarian people. And when you read the story of Christmas, you will notice that the Holy Spirit is mentioned several times.

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He filled Elizabeth when she heard Mary's greeting. And Luke chapter one, verse 41. He filled Zacharias in chapter one, verse 67. That's Elizabeth's husband, and he plants the seed of Messiah in Mary's womb. And he prepared Simeon for the Messiah's presentation in the temple in Luke chapter two, verse 2527. Now that's not all the references to the Holy Spirit around this story, but those are some very key references that indicates that you got the Christmas story is a Trinitarian story.

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It involves God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And the story is all about, well, we know who the hero of the story is, right? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. The spotlight is on him through the whole drama of the story of Christmas. What makes him the the, the, the hero of the story is, is because he's God's Son and God's Son became a human being.

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Now understand this when Jesus was born, I want you to understand that he was 100% God and he was 100% human. He wasn't 50% man and 50% God. He was 100% above. Now Luke is a Gentile physician, did some evidently did some very serious research on the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. And he wrote to a person by the name of Theophilus.

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Now take your Bible. Look at Luke chapter one. Verse three. It seemed fitting for me as well, having look at this, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning. Now that is a statement made by someone who is trained in research, who knows how to research church and being a physician. He gained those skills, so it seemed fitting for me as well.

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Having investigated everything carefully from the beginning to write it out for you in noticed consecutive order, he thinks logically and notice most excellent Theophilus. Now who is this Theophilus? Well, evidently we don't know for sure, but evidently he was a high ranking Roman official of some sort, and evidently he was leaning into the Christian faith and leaning into this story of Jesus.

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And Luke wrote to him in Luke's gospel. But take your Bible. Look at the book of acts, chapter one, acts chapter one.

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Notice verse one, the first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after he had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. So we see that in both of these parts of the Bible, both books of the Bible, Luke is writing to this guy by the name of Theophilus.

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Now, look, I've been around a long time, but I have never seen anybody named their little boy Theophilus. I honestly, I've heard a lot of strange names before, but I have never heard anybody named their son Theophilus. How many of you remember our junior Hale the evangelist? You remember junior Hale? I had Brother Junior preach here.

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A revival here one day. Revival here. I had him preach, I think, twice in Richland when we were there. And Brother Junior had that unique, knack of being able to tell something funny and having everybody in the floor rolling. And then while you're rolling in, the four stab, stab you with the truth from God's word. That is a unique ability.

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I wish I had it, but I don't. Am one of those services he was talking. Evidently he's preaching in Acts or Luke and and he was talking about Theophilus. And he said, when my son was born, I looked at he said he had a big old head. And I thought to myself, man, that's the awful looking thing I've ever seen.

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Hey, he built that off of the name Theophilus. He was so funny. Now. Luke unpacked the story of Jesus from his birth to his ministry, to his death, to his burial, to his resurrection, to his ascension, and to the amazing expansion of the church. His main message. Luke's main message is found in Luke chapter 19, verse ten For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

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That's the message. But that's not only the message of Luke's gospel, that's also the message of the book of acts and Acts, chapter four. Take your Bible. Look at acts chapter four for just a moment.

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Verse 12. And there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven that's been given among men, by which we must be saved. So I want you to understand that the whole message and heartbeat of Luke's writings is the salvation that only Jesus Christ can provide for the world, not just, the Jews.

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Now. To properly understand the significance of Christmas, we really need to look at through the eyes of Theophilus. So as best as we can let let's try to try to think about how Theophilus must have read this and what it must have meant to him, because I think that helps us to get a proper interpretation. Okay. In Luke chapter one, verse 26 and 27, here's what Luke wrote to Theophilus.

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Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. Now Galilee, I mean Nazareth, was about 70 miles northeast of Jerusalem. Now you would think, really you would think that God's son would be born in Jerusalem.

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The capital of Israel, the spiritual capital, the the political capital of Israel. But no, that's not what happened. Gabriel was sent not to Jerusalem to look for a young lady to give birth to the Messiah. He was sent to Nazareth. Now the Jews looked with disdain upon anybody who was born in Nazareth. Anybody?

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Remember, it was a term of derision, calling people a Nazarene. They called Jesus a Nazarene. Now, look at look at this. God chose an insignificant place and an insignificant couple for a blessing that had enormous, eternal implications. He chose Joseph. Now, what was Joseph's, career? What was a job? He was a carpenter. He wasn't the high priest of Israel.

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He wasn't a famous prophet. He was a carpenter. He was a day laborer. Okay. And and Mary was a young teenager, a young teenager. And she was a virgin. The Bible makes it very clear. Now, it's interesting how people, look with disdain upon the idea of a virgin birth. Now, look, I said all that kind of stuff a long time ago.

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Do you know when I settled it? When I read Genesis chapter one, verse one and the beginning, God created the heavens of the earth. And if I can believe that, I can believe anything else. God. God could do anything. Anything. Now, when you think about it, God has always picked out people that the, the, the intelligentsia, the, the religious folks would never pick out to do extraordinary things.

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Think about this. Who did God select to go to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage? He chose an ax murderer by the name of Moses. He chose a man who, by his own recognition, was not a good speaker. He was a stutterer. Okay. And God chose him to go and to talk to Pharaoh and to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage.

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Well, who did God choose to be the king of Israel after Saul? Do you remember Samuel going to Jesse's house and all of Jesse's boys coming by? Man, he he saw him that first when he looked like a king. He looked like a king. And one by one, they came by. And Samuel said, that's not the one. Until finally there appeared to be no other sons of Jesse and Samuel said to Jesse, do you not have any other sons?

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He said, I've got a young son out taking care of the sheep, and he's my youngest son. He's David. And he said, Samuel said, send for him. And when David walked in the room is like the Spirit of God said, that's the one, that's the one. Now nobody else. If you had been picking a king, you wouldn't have picked David.

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You would have picked some of those strapping young sons of Jesse that look good. They were strong and and and, And you would have picked one of them. You would not have picked the runt of the litter, David. But God did. God did. Do you remember when the Midianites and the enemies of Israel had come against Israel and and they needed a hero.

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They needed somebody to step up and to lead the nation against these marauding enemies. Who did God pick? He picked a guy by the name of Gideon. Where was Gideon? Gideon was hiding in the winepress because he was scared to death of these enemies. And God picked him. Now, I hope you understand that that seems to be God's mode of operation.

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If you went to sell, tell a Mississippi. And you asked people who knew me a long, long time ago, would you ever believe that Chuck herring would be a pastor? They would. They would. Darling's back there answering that question. That was a question you weren't supposed to answer, darling. But no, really, they weren't. But you know why? Because I was so shy when I was in high school.

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I was so shy. And Darlene brought me out so. But that's the way God operates. Now, now notice this. The Bible says she was engaged to be married. Now remember this. Now, you got to remember this. She had just come out of puberty. That's when a father began to look for a man for for a wife for for his son.

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And she had just come out of puberty, and she was betrothed to Joseph. Now, let me explain betrothal to you. It's like. It's like our engagement. But it's got a lot more teeth in it. In other words, is like Mary was betrothed to Joseph. That meant the only way that betrothal could have been broken was two things. Number one was that.

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And another thing that could break it was divorce, death and divorce. That's the only way you could break an engagement or a betrothal. So it was a a deeply committed thing. Now look at verse 2829 and coming in here, here's what the angel said to her. I believe this is Gabriel. And coming in he said to her, greetings, favored one.

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The Lord is with you. But she was very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of say tation this was. Now, if you're Theophilus and you're reading this and you understand Jewish culture, and you understand that this young lady is probably a teenager and she's a virgin, and an angel from heaven appears to her and speaks to her and calls her favored one.

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Now the idea of favored one, it comes from our idea of grace. Grace. Look at Ephesians chapter one, verse six. Just a minute. Ephesians chapter one, verse six. Let me show you. Give me an illustration of this.

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Look at verse five. Let's begin in verse five. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, whom said, by the way. Let me just clear up something. There is nowhere in the Scripture that it says that God predestined people to go to hell. There's nowhere in the Scripture, and yet so many people have have taken that bait and they've run with it.

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And, the devil has set that hook in their jaw and they believe that to the core of their being. There's no where in Scripture says anybody is predestined to go to hell. Nowhere. Now, look at this. What are you predestined? He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will.

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Look at verse two. The praise of the glory of his. What? His grace. Grace. How are you saved? You were saved by God's grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how you're saved. Pardon my English, I know better. So don't, don't don't write me an email or call me or text me. I know better. There ain't no way to be saved by God's grace.

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You can't be saved by being good, by being religious, by by doing a a laundry list of stuff. The only way you can be saved is when God shows favor to you by giving you his grace and bringing you into his family, his forever family. Now, I hope that helps you to understand what we're reading here, that when Gabriel came in, he said, greetings, favored one.

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Now you need. Here's how you need to read that. Greetings. One who has been received, who has received the grace of God. That's what it means. The Lord is with you. But she was very perplexed. Hey, I would have been perplexed too, if I was a teenage girl, a virgin living there in Nazareth at that time. I would have been very perplexed when you.

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In fact, I would have been scared out of my gourd if an angel came in and started talking to me. Now, having been born into Adam's race. Let me clear up something here. The. In Roman Catholicism, they believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary. That's not biblical. She and Joseph had children after Jesus was born. In fact, the the Gospels talk about, about Jesus.

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Brothers and sisters. It's in the God. It's in the Scripture. And the Catholicism teaches that Mary was sinless and remained sinless. She never committed a sin. I hope you don't believe that, because that's a direct contradiction of the Bible. The Bible says in Romans 323, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All, including Mary.

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Now I want to prove that to you. I want prove. Look at Luke, chapter one. Look at verse 46. It's called the Magnificat. This is a song that Mary composed, and it reveals some important things, that Mary understood. Look at Mary said, my soul exalts in the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God. My, what a Savior.

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Now why would she call God her Savior if she didn't need a Savior? See him down there, for he has had regard for the humble state of his bond, slave. For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. And I'm going to tell you what every Baptist all to count her blessed. She was a special young lady to give birth to the Messiah.

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She was righteous. She was godly. She was spirit filled. But she was not sinless. For the Mighty One had done great things for me. And holy is his name. Look at verse 50, and his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him. He has done mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their heart.

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He's brought down rulers from their thrones, and he has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty handed. He has given help to Israel, his servant, in remembrance of his mercy. And he spoke to to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever. And Mary stayed with her.

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That's Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her home. It's interesting. In the Magnificat that Mary calls God her Savior, her Savior. Now.

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Mary is highly favored because she received God's grace.

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Now, you think about this from Theophilus viewpoint. Let's imagine him sitting in a room somewhere with a a little oil lamp, and maybe he's got a copy of Luke's gospel and he's reading it. Okay. And he. What must he have been thinking when he read these words? So I think if we look at it from Theophilus viewpoint, it brings new meaning to the Christmas story.

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I really believe that. Maybe he said this. Maybe it's thinking this. This is one awesome God. He is not impressed by our pedigree or by what we can bring to the table. Because Joseph and Mary didn't have pedigree. They were not born with a silver spoon in their mouth. He is most glorified when he chooses to use common people for extraordinary purposes.

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When he even commands supernatural beings to carry his message to the people he's going to use. Could God grant me the same grace he granted to Mary? What an amazing God this is! I just tried to look at this from Theophilus viewpoint. This is some kind of story folks. And you know, we've gone through many Christmases. I've gone through 70.

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Well, be 70 this Christmas. I've been I've gone through 70 Christmases. And because you go through so many Christmases and you do so many things and you got your rituals and your traditions, sometimes we lose the significance of Christmas, the spiritual significance of Christmas, and we can't afford to do that. Look at Luke chapter one, verses 30 to 33.

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The angel said to her, do not be afraid. Mary. And I'm thinking, if I'm Mary, I say, you know, Gabriel, that's easy for you to say. Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. There's that word favor again. You have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.

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And he will be great, and will be called the son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end. Man I'm telling her her. Her mouth must have been gape wide open. She's going to have a child.

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She's a virgin.

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And this is not just any child. This is some kind of special child. The name Jesus literally means God saves. Several years ago, the Jews for Jesus took out a full page ad in USA Today in New York. And in that full page ad, it said this The Messiah has come and his name is Yeshua. Issue is the Jewish name for Jesus.

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God saves.

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And the angel said, he will be great. He'll be great. Now, probably Mary came from a faith oriented family, and she probably knew what the Old Testament prophets had written about the coming Messiah, a larger than life king who would one day rule the world. Listen, John Piper wrote this about Jesus. He said, Jesus is 10 million times greater in every respect than the greatest men and women history has produced.

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If you took all the greatest thinkers of every country in every century and put them in a room with Jesus, they would shut their mouths and listen to the greatness of his wisdom. There is nothing that Jesus cannot do a thousand times better than the person you admire most in any area of human endeavor under the sun.

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This is some kind of special baby. He will be called the son of the Most High. You know, the Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Some people get all messed up about what does it mean? Only begotten son. Here's what it means. It means unique, one of a kind. Unique, one of a kind.

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God only had one son. Now he's got many sons. I mean, if you're if you're a child of God in this room, you're his child. You're his child. But I'm telling you, for all of eternity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit existed in perfect unity and harmony.

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And Jesus is called the only begotten son, the unique, one of a kind son. That's what this means. The son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. Now understand this. We we read, a few moments ago about Abraham and David. You might want to remember that Abraham lived about 2000 years before Jesus was born.

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David lived about a thousand years before Jesus was born.

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Two heroes in the Jewish culture, right. And the Bible says that the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. Hey, let's take just a minute. Go to second Samuel, chapter seven. Second Samuel, chapter seven.

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All right. Look at verse 12.

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This is God's covenant with David. And this is what Samuel is saying to David. When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you. Who will come forth from you? And I will establish his kingdom.

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He shall build a house for my name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men. Obviously that's not talking about Jesus, that's talking about the descendants of David before Jesus will be born.

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But my lovingkindness shall not depart from him. As I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever, ever. And your throne shall be established forever in accordance with all these words and all this vision. So Nathan spoke to David.

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So God made a promise to David. He said, David, I promise you that you will have a descent, a descendant on your throne forever, and your throne will be a forever throne, a forever kingdom. Now the thing about the kings that followed David, Solomon and and Rebo and others who followed David. They failed morally and they failed spiritually.

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They failed all kind of ways. But I'm telling the one that this is ultimately written about the Messiah, the King of Israel is Jesus, and he never fails anybody, spiritually or morally. He's perfect. He's perfect. King. Sad thing is, the Jews are still looking for the Messiah. You sometimes I, I just I'm reading through the Old Testament again and, and sometimes I just cry out to God.

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God, would you please open the eyes of the Jewish people? Would you help them to see that Jesus is their Messiah? Would you sweep thousands and even millions of Jews into the kingdom of God? Now, the New Testament says that God has placed a veil over their eyes for right now, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

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I believe that time is getting real, real, real close. You look at what's happening in Syria. You realize that. Do you realize a prophetic significa some of the stuff happening in the Middle East at this moment? Y'all, I'm telling you, Mary, keep your bags packed. Jesus is coming up. His kingdom will have no end. That's what. That's what Gabriel told Mary.

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In Daniel chapter seven, verse 13 and 14. Need to look that up. I'm running out of time, and I would encourage you to read that because it's very significant to what we're talking about tonight. So this is a stunning announcement to this young virgin teenaged Jewish girl. Gabriel helped her to understand the identity of Jesus before Jesus was born.

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And that's important. You know, there's an idea that that is prevalent in our culture today, and that is you can honor God the Father, while at the same time cancel God the Son or dishonor God the Son. The Scripture says that's impossible. Look at John chapter five. Turn to John chapter five. Just a minute.

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Look at verse 20. For the father loves the son. Now, if you're not a Trinitarian, you've got a real problem with that, don't you? For the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing, and the father will show him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. For just as the father raises the dead and gives them life, even so, the son also gives life to whom he wishes for not even the father judges anyone, but he's given all judgment to the son.

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So that ought look at this, so that all will honor the son, even as they honor the father. He who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him.

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So if anybody ever tells you, well, you know, I reject this idea of Jesus, but I believe in God. Now, that dog will not hunt it. It will not hunt. You can't do that. And John 14, verse one, Jesus said to his disciples just before he is crucified. Do not let your heart be troubled. He said this. Listen, I say it.

00;42;32;12 - 00;43;09;24
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He said, you believe in God, believe also in me. And you know what Jesus was doing? He put himself on even level ground with God the Father, God the son, and God the Father. Listen. We believe in the Trinity. We believe in one God who is eternally existed in three persons, all of whom are co-equal. God the father, God the son, God the Holy Spirit.

00;43;09;26 - 00;43;18;18
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But they're separate persons. You say, pastor, can you explain the Trinity to me?

00;43;19;00 - 00;43;54;09
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Look, in Deuteronomy 2929, the Bible says there are some things that are mysteries, and God does not provide an explanation for them. That's something maybe after we've been in heaven for about 300 million years, we might understand the Trinity. But I would say this to you. I heard a theologian say I might not understand the Trinity, but if I don't believe in the Trinity, I can't be saved.

00;43;56;06 - 00;44;00;08
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Chew on that.

00;44;00;10 - 00;44;40;00
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All right. You can't honor God without honoring Jesus. All right. Now Mary's perplexed. All right. I mean, it's one shock after the other, right? A visit from an angel. The identity of her son. The fact that she was a virgin. Her question accents the fact that the girl would well give birth to the Messiah. And she had never been with a man ever.

00;44;40;02 - 00;45;06;16
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In her mind, it was all impossible. She. She believes, but she didn't understand. Do you see what I'm saying there? You can believe something without. I believe in the Trinity. I promise you, I believe in the Trinity. From the top of my head to the soles of my feet. But I don't want to stand it. I really don't.

00;45;06;18 - 00;45;44;25
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I've heard people try to use analogies, but every analogy that you come up with falters at some point. Now look at verse 34. Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I'm a virgin? That's a fair question, isn't it? How can this be since I am a virgin? Verse 35. The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

00;45;44;27 - 00;46;13;23
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And for that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age. And she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, look what Mary said. Remember, this is not a 28 year old young lady who's got it all together.

00;46;13;24 - 00;46;18;23
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This young virgin teenager.

00;46;18;25 - 00;46;34;29
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And she said, behold the bond slave of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.

00;46;35;02 - 00;46;45;28
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So Gabriel answered the biological question. How can this be? How can I have a baby when I've never been with a man?

00;46;46;00 - 00;47;03;00
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It's interesting. The language that Gabriel uses here. He uses language. It goes all the way back to creation. Go back to Genesis chapter one, just in Genesis chapter one.

00;47;03;03 - 00;47;18;22
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Now notice notice what he said to her. He said, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

00;47;18;24 - 00;47;25;27
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Now, now look at Genesis chapter one.

00;47;26;00 - 00;47;55;13
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And look at verse one and two. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And I say again, if you can believe that, you can believe anything else in the Bible. You can believe any miracle in the Bible. If you can believe that God spoke everything into existence. Think about Jupiter. Think about Mars. Think about the the millions of stars that you see on a clear night.

00;47;55;14 - 00;48;24;21
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And God spoke them all into existence and even gave them all names. The Bible says that God can do anything. He could do anything in Mary's life. He could do anything in your life. In the beginning, God created the heavens of the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. Now look at this.

00;48;24;24 - 00;48;57;02
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And the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Literally, that means hovering over the face of the waters. You see that kind of language that Gabriel spoke into the life of young Mary here when he she asked him, how can has this possible? She said, the Holy Spirit's going to hover over you and the Holy Spirit.

00;48;57;04 - 00;49;21;27
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Get this. The Holy Spirit in a way that I'll never understand. Jesus was reduced than the Son of God was reduced down to the size of a tiny embryo and planted into the womb of the Virgin Mary.

00;49;22;00 - 00;49;34;20
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The creator. The Bible says in John's gospel that Jesus created everything, that God planned it. Jesus created it right?

00;49;34;23 - 00;49;56;01
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And the Bible says. That Jesus was reduced down to the size of an embryo and placed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit placed the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

00;49;56;04 - 00;50;10;26
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My goodness. But Gabriel also answered the theological question the Holy Child be called the Son of God.

00;50;10;29 - 00;50;41;21
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Now look, I believe that we have given we have short sheeted Joseph. I believe we have. But Joseph was not the father, the biological father of the Lord Jesus Christ. We might say he was a step father of the Lord Jesus.

00;50;41;23 - 00;51;12;00
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Now some people say, well, how in the world could Jesus be born without a sin? Nature. Everybody's born with the sin nature. Not if you're the Son of God. Right. Not if you're the Son of God. Do you see these little interesting little details in the Christmas story? And we don't need to overlook this stuff.

00;51;12;02 - 00;51;45;21
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In in addition to all this, God told Mary. Hey, Mary, you know, Elizabeth, you're you're you're relative. She has conceived a son in her old age. She was past childbearing age. Zacharias was beyond childbearing age. Sort of like Abraham and Sarah, but maybe not that quite. Quite that far. And she who is called barren is now in her six month.

00;51;45;22 - 00;52;16;08
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She's six months pregnant, Mary. Now, who's telling her this? Is Gabriel an angel? For nothing will be impossible with God. You say? Well, why did the angel tell Mary that? To give her some comfort and reassurance that God could do this.

00;52;16;10 - 00;52;40;21
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God is not limited by the conventional laws he created in the first place. And Mary's response was remarkable. I love what she said. Behold, the bond slave of the Lord may be done to me according to your word.

00;52;40;24 - 00;52;44;16
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Which at my time.

00;52;44;19 - 00;52;53;28
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All right. You have to listen quicker. Okay. All right.

00;52;54;00 - 00;53;34;02
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So Joseph and Mary were married. After the birth of Jesus. This is very important. Now. They had other children. The other children that were born to Joseph and Mary were not placed in her womb by the Holy Spirit. It was done the conventional way. Okay. Do you understand that? You know, I think it's so important that we know our Bibles.

00;53;34;04 - 00;54;07;16
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So important. And there are a lot of religious traditions and rituals that are not based in the Bible. And we have got to recognize those. And we have got to reject those. And we've got to teach our kids and our grandkids how to discern truth from error. If we don't tell, will lose that next generation. We've got to do that.

00;54;07;19 - 00;54;26;08
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And we as a church have got to do it, man. We've got to do that. I made a little statement here. The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities a virgin's womb and an empty tomb.

00;54;26;11 - 00;54;57;21
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Jesus entered our world through a door marked no entrance and left through a door marked no exit. He is a story of a savior who became a human being. In order that we might. He might save us from our sins. Oh my goodness. Several years ago, ABC news produced a documentary. You may remember this. I remember watching it.

00;54;57;24 - 00;55;28;05
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It was entitled The Search for Jesus by Peter Jennings. And it began with a voiceover from Peter Jennings reading the Christmas story out of Luke's gospel, while a middle eastern man was carving a piece of, a block of wood and carving the face of Jesus into that block of wood. Jenny, here's how Jennings introduced documentary. He said, hello, I'm Peter Jennings.

00;55;28;06 - 00;56;07;09
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We've been searching for Jesus as reporters. That is because it's an irresistible story. And he's right. It is an irresistible story. And whatever your faith or religion, there's simply no denying the extraordinary influence that Jesus has had that he does have in people's lives. You know, the sad thing you you know what's sad when you came to the end of the documentary, Peter Jennings did not believe in Jesus.

00;56;07;11 - 00;56;12;25
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Like so many people in our world.

00;56;12;27 - 00;56;47;29
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They get close. But they don't cross the finish line in faith. I'm hoping and praying that everybody in this room and everybody watching livestream that you have believed in Jesus. I'm telling you, we're giving you enough ammunition to believe in Jesus and to build your faith into saving faith tonight, just based upon what we're going over tonight.

00;56;48;01 - 00;57;20;10
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So she was betrothed to Joseph and became pregnant. And you know what? Joseph was devastated when really gotten into Joseph. Yeah, but you get over in Matthew's gospel and Matthew tells it from Joseph's viewpoint, and he would devastate. And you know what he thought? He thought she had cheated on him. Let's just tell it like it is. He thought she had cheated on him.

00;57;20;12 - 00;57;45;16
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And you know what God did say, Gabriel? I got another job for you. You go down, you straighten Joseph out. You let him. You make sure he understands that Mary has not cheated on him with this baby in his womb is a son of the living God, the Messiah, the long awaited Jewish Messiah.

00;57;45;19 - 00;58;21;23
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Joseph was convinced. Now think about this. Joseph had the most to gain or lose in this situation, and he believed. He believed Mary. He believed that that baby in her womb was the Messiah. In amazes me that so many people in our culture today will not believe, and they don't have near as much to gain or lose as Joseph's death.

00;58;21;26 - 00;58;45;26
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Now let's move forward. Luke chapter two, verses one through seven. I'm going to have to speed up here. Now, in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. Now remember, Mary had gone to Elizabeth's house. She had spent some time with the list. Now she's back in Nazareth.

00;58;45;26 - 00;59;12;27
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Okay. So a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. By the way, this this kind of historical information is found not just in the Bible. It's found in Roman documentation. Okay. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

00;59;12;29 - 00;59;44;04
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Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David. In order to register along with Mary, who was engaged him and was with child. And while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

00;59;44;07 - 01;00;28;19
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Now you say, why did they go to Bethlehem to register? Because both of them were of the tribe of Judah. David was of the tribe of Judah. Joseph was a direct descendant of David, which fulfills biblical prophecy. Right? So Caesar Augustus, the leader of the Roman Empire, issued this ruling. And, Luke stressed the political situation to explain why Jesus birth took place at this particular time and at this particular place.

01;00;28;22 - 01;00;52;29
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In Galatians chapter four verse four, the Bible says, but when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law. Well, what made this the most opportune time for the Messiah to be born? There are a couple of reasons I want to throw out. Number one, the Roman road system.

01;00;53;01 - 01;01;23;24
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The Roman road system was what was fantastic. It was, it was, the thing of the day. Okay. Secondly, the Greek language had become almost the language that the whole world spoke. You say, why is that important? Why is that road system important? Why is the Greek language important? Because remember, Jesus, the Messiah would be born, and 33 years later he would go to a cross and he would die.

01;01;23;26 - 01;01;44;01
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He'd be resurrected from the dead in 40. 50 days later, the church would be birthed on the day of Pentecost, and the church would take the gospel to the world, and they would use the Roman roads, and they would use the Greek language. God knew exactly what he was doing.

01;01;44;03 - 01;01;51;26
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Nothing is arbitrary about this.

01;01;51;28 - 01;02;13;27
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Knowing that, a learned man like Theophilus and even the world at large would need solid proof that Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. God ordained that Bethlehem would be the place of his birth. And why is that important? Because it's a direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy that was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born.

01;02;14;00 - 01;02;46;11
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Look at Micah chapter five, verse two. But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you go, from you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. His going forth. From long ago, from the days of what? Eternity. Direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy that was written hundreds of years earlier.

01;02;46;14 - 01;03;20;29
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One of the greatest proofs of that we have the truth, the truth of God's Word. The truth of the gospel is fulfilled. Prophecy. Do you realize there's not another holy book of any religion in the world that has prophecy, prophecies that are written down hundreds of years before they are supposed to happen, and they actually happen? The Bible is the only one that does that.

01;03;21;01 - 01;03;44;04
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So Jesus was born in Bethlehem in a very humble, humble way. In Luke chapter two, verses 8 to 14. The Bible says in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock. By night.

01;03;44;06 - 01;04;13;02
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And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them. Now was this angel Gabriel. Was this angel Michael? We don't know the name of this angel, okay, but we don't need to know the name of the angel. Right here. Just something we don't need tonight. And the angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them.

01;04;13;02 - 01;04;43;11
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And they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid. It seemed like the angel is always saying, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people. For today in the city of David there was born, has been born for you a Savior, a Savior who is Christ the Lord, the word.

01;04;43;13 - 01;05;14;18
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Let me tell you that the term Christ is not the last name of Jesus. My last name is herring. Jesus Christ. Christ is not the last name of Jesus. It is a title. It means Messiah, the anointed One. Okay. So. Verse 12. This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

01;05;14;20 - 01;05;43;00
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And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. Now. I want you to picture the shepherds huddled around a campfire. Their little sheep were out there. They're bleeding by, and these shepherds are trying to keep warm.

01;05;43;03 - 01;06;11;10
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And suddenly an angel stands before them. And the glory of the Lord drench them in unapproachable light. Those guys, let me tell you, they were scared. Now they had faced wolves and bears and all kinds of danger, but they had never faced off with an angel of God.

01;06;11;12 - 01;06;39;17
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Shepherds were considered to be lowlifes. And, in the eyes of the Jewish religious people. You know why? Because they worked all the time, and they were not able to keep the temple rituals. I mean, you just can't let your sheep just run off. You got to take care of your sheep. They were considered to be ceremonially unclean.

01;06;39;19 - 01;07;41;19
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Isn't it amazing? Think about this. Isn't it amazing that God would choose to reveal this truth to folks who are considered to be ceremonially unclean? Lowlifes? Why didn't God reveal this to the high priest? Why didn't he reveal this to the the scribes and the Pharisees? He revealed it to shepherds. I'm going to tell you why I think God revealed stuff to shepherds and to to young teenage virgin Jewish girls and to carpenters like Joseph is because God wants to get the point across that his gospel is for the world.

01;07;41;22 - 01;08;11;13
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It's for the up and out. It's for the religious, the irreligious. It's for those who have made a mess out of their lives. The gospel is for everybody. And I don't know about you, but I'm glad that. So. The angels message them. They. They said he's a savior. This baby is a savior. The only savior for the human race.

01;08;11;16 - 01;08;35;24
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Let's just get this clear now. There's not a savior for Jewish people and a savior just for American people. He's a savior for the whole world. And he's the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah, and he's the Lord in the Old Testament. This was used repeatedly to refer to Jehovah. Now look at Luke chapter two, verse 15 to 20.

01;08;35;25 - 01;09;00;19
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We'll start. When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem them, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to it. Let me ask you, did the angel tell them to do this? No, the angel did not tell them to do this.

01;09;00;21 - 01;09;22;08
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The angel told them what to look for, but he didn't tell them to do this. So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby. As he lay in the manger. And when they had seen this, they made known. Look at it. They made known the statement which had been told them about this child.

01;09;22;10 - 01;09;51;08
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And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had seen and heard. And just as had been told them. You know these shepherds. Received the good news. Of the Lord Jesus Christ.

01;09;51;08 - 01;10;10;28
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The Savior's birth. And they responded to that good news by sharing the good news with others. I think they've got a message for us tonight. How can we not share the good news of Christ with others?

01;10;11;00 - 01;10;39;18
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Oh, I want to encourage you. I want you to do something for me. I want everybody in this room and everybody watching live stream. I want you to invite somebody to come to church Sunday morning. I want you to invite some body to come with you Sunday night to our big musical, our experience Christmas. Please do that. I'm telling you, they're going to hear the gospel Sunday morning.

01;10;39;20 - 01;11;07;21
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And they're going to hear and see the gospel on Sunday night. Okay. Hey, thank you for being patient with this long lesson today. I didn't know how to chop it down. Okay. I'm sorry. Let's pray. Heavenly father, we thank you for the greatest story that has ever been told about the greatest person who's ever walked on the face of this earth.

01;11;07;24 - 01;11;24;00
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We thank you, Lord Jesus, that you were born through the Virgin Mary. We thank you that you lived a sinless, perfect life. We thank you for your ministry, your miracles.

01;11;24;03 - 01;11;52;23
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Your teaching. And Lord, we thank you that you went to the cross of Calvary and you offered your body and blood as a sacrifice for our sins and you were raised from the dead, and you're alive. Lord, in this room there are many people who are believers, and we're so thankful that you have forgiven our sins and given us the gift of eternal life, and that will be with you forever.

01;11;52;26 - 01;12;10;11
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Lord, help us to cherish this story. Help us to hold it near and dear to our hearts. But Lord, help us to share this story with others in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. God bless you.