On Saturday evening, we will join millions of Christians from around the world in celebrating the birth of Christ on the eve of His birthday. The heart of our celebration will focus on the fact that in the midst of a world in conflict and in darkness, He came to offer light and hope. On the occasion of Jesus birth, He was accompanied by very few people that we know of. Besides Mary and Joseph, the only people who were there were a small group of shepherds from the hillsides surrounding Bethlehem. For some reason, God selected them to have the honor of greeting the Savior into His earthly ministry. After having visited the Christ child, they went back to their daily lives, but I suspect they were never quite the same as they had been the day before.
Not only had they seen this amazing event, but they had been warned and informed by angels of what was going to happen… and when it unfolded exactly like they had been told, they had to have been amazed. In fact, the gospel of Luke tells us they left glorifying and praising God. That posture of their heart must have been irreversible for all the days they were alive. Can you imagine what that would have been like? They knew that Messiah had come, but the implications would unfold slowly over the next 30 years. So they are left to live by faith… anticipating the redemptive events that inevitably occur someday. Some of them may have passed away before Jesus ministry was inaugurated, though some more than likely would still have been on the job, supplying sheep for the sacrifices in the Temple of Jerusalem. Little did they know that the baby in that manger would prove to be the lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.
So in the midst of the world of conflict and darkness, Jesus came to bring light… and He still does.
Join with us, in body, while we join with much of the world in glorifying and praising God for sending His Son to “be with us”, to give Himself as a sacrifice for our sin, to defeat death on our behalf and prepare to come again someday as a culmination of history and re-creation of heaven and earth. Now that is worth celebrating. We hope to see you this Saturday evening at 5pm!
Your bro,
Kevin