Unwrapping Christmas-2-The Glory Of Christmas

Today we continue with the Christmas Unwrapped Series. Pastor teaches us about the Glory Of Christmas.

Pastor's Notes:

Luke 2:8-15 NKJV

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And [a]behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a [b]manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill[c] toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”

INTRODUCTION

Good morning, everybody!

I hope you enjoyed last week as we looked at “A Scary Christmas”. I hope after you looked at it, you see now that indeed it would have been frightening at least at first.

This morning, I want to talk to you about an often missing piece in the Christmas story: The Holy Spirit. Specifically, I want to talk to you about the Glory of God.

ILLUSTRATION

There’s no secret that us pentecostal people are no stranger to the Holy Spirit. We like the tongues, the gifts, the lively music and worship, and everything that comes with it.

The Holy Spirit plays a vital role in the Scripture, and even in our lives today.

However, the Holy Spirit has always played a roll in Israel’s history, From Genesis chapter one, all the way through.

One of the ways the Holy Spirit, or shall we say “The presence of God” was manifested in the Old Testament was through a holy piece of furniture called the Ark of the Covenant.

Before the permanent temple was built, the children of Israel would move the tabernacle from place to place, carefully moving this piece of holy architecture. The presence of God rested upon the mercy seat, and if someone touched it or handled it incorrectly, death happened.

We see an interesting piece of information in Ezekiel 8.

The Lord is looking inside the temple. There’s much idolatry happening there. Idols are set up in it. The Lord becomes jealous.

Ezekiel 10 gives us a sad picture.

The glory of God lifts up off of the mercy seat and stopped. No one noticed. They continued. Then, the presence of God went out to the door of the temple. Once again, no one noticed. Then, it went out to the Eastern Gate and stopped. No one noticed. Then, it stood over the Mt. of Olives. Nothing.

Then, it departed completely. How sad!

It’s possibly for people to lose the presence of God and not know it. Just ask Samson

It’s clear that there were between 400-600 inter-testamental years where there is no glory in Israel. But why am I telling you this?

BECAUSE THE GLORY DIDN’T REAPPEAR UNTIL IT APPEARED IN THE SHEPHERDS FIELD!

This is the first time the glory has been seen in Israel in about 600 years!

BACKGROUND

Luke 2 tells us about the shepherds who receive a divine message in the night. Let’s look at these three elements in the city of Bethlehem.

APPLICATION
1. The Shepherds

- These Shepherds were in the fields being faithful at what they were doing.

- This was not an uncommon thing for people to do.

- Bethlehem was the place that was known for raising lambs.

2. The Salutation

- These angels came with the Glory, but also with an announcement: TODAY a child is born....

3. The Sign

- He would be in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

- Do you know how many mangers there are in Bethlehem?

- How would there know where to go?

- The clue is in this sign: Swaddling clothes.

- What I didn’t tell you about these shepherds is that they weren’t normal shepherds.........

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CONCLUSION

Why Bethlehem? These shepherds were Levitical shepherds, and what that means is they were tasked with raising the Passover lambs.....

When a lamb was born and examined and deemed pure, he was wrapped in a swaddling cloth to protect him from blemish until he can be be presented to the temple for offering.

That’s Jesus, folks!
He’s the “Lamb of God”, who takes away the sins of the world!