Month: December 2024

Imagine you were tasked with the greatest announcement in all of History. Imagine that God put you in charge of making the announcement of the birth of Jesus, the promised Messiah. How would you go about it?

Today you might launch a mass media campaign, or a viral video series, maybe spend a lot of money on TV commercials. Obviously, none of these methods were available in the first century, but God used a very unlikely method all the same.

First God used ancient prophets who wrote and taught about a coming messiah. Most of them were alive around seven-hundred years before Jesus was born.

But then God is silent for four-hundred years, until a small group of shepherds have an angelic encounter that announces the birth of the Christ child. The shepherds seemed to be unlikely candidates for a world-altering announcement.

The shepherds heard the angel’s pronouncement and saw the host of angels singing—and they believed. As they believed, they responded in four ways to the incredible news they had heard.

The angel of the Lord made the message personal for them, saying in Luke 2:11, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

This child who was born was for them, it wasn’t a child who would be disconnected from their lives. By visiting the shepherds, the angel revealed the grace of God toward all of mankind. Shepherds were really outcasts in Israel, In fact their work not only made them ceremonially unclean, and it probably kept them away from the temple for weeks at a time so that they could not be made clean. God does not always call the rich and mighty; frequently He calls the poor and the lowly (see Luke 1:51-53).  

The shepherds got it, and they responded in faith in four ways:

1: They Believed

Now it may seem obvious that they would believe. They had just had an incredible supernatural encounter the likes of which very few humans have ever witnessed. But they had to believe the word of the angel.  

But what about us? I am sure none of you have seen a mighty host of angels, but there is a promise when we believe by the power of the Holy Spirit (see John 20:29).

Do you believe?

Believing always requires a response. There is always an action or a step of faith that follows belief. The shepherds responded.

2: They Obeyed (Luke 2:15).

In verse 15a we read, “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go…”

Notice that in verse 11, the angel didn’t tell them what to do, but rather it was an invitation. When Jesus is presented, there is always an invitation. And their faith compelled them to go and see the Christ. Even as a baby, he changed lives, and he is still changing lives today.

Some people have suggested that these shepherds were some distance away, it was not a simple task to find someone to take care of their sheep. But they worked it out, they were not going to miss this opportunity.

How often we are given opportunities to encounter the Lord, but we find it too inconvenient. We know we really should go to that prayer meeting, or that life group, but we feel a bit tired. It is just a little inconvenient. And so, we miss out on what may be a special time with the Body of Christ. When the Lord gives you an invitation, always respond even if it is inconvenient, maybe, especially if it is inconvenient!

This leads to the third response:

3: They Worshipped God (Luke 2:20).

The angels praised God at the beginning of creation, now they were praising God for the new creation. The birth of God’s rescue plan of salvation.

We know from the Old Testament that God’s glory was in the tabernacle and then in the temple, but God left the temple because of the nation’s sin. But now, God’s glory had returned. Emmanuel, “God with us”. God was in that stable in the person of a little baby.

The lowly manger became the Holy of Holies because Jesus was there. And the shepherds worshipped, they glorified God.

You cannot truly worship someone or something you don’t know. The Shepherds met Jesus and bowed before him. To truly worship God, it must flow out of a personal relationship (see John 4:23-24)

If you struggle to worship the Lord, may I suggest that it is because you have never really met him. And to clarify, I am not talking about being able to sing some songs. To worship God is to give Him the place of preeminence in your life.

And then finally, the fourth response:

4: They Testified (Luke 2:17-18).

For some reason in the 1^st century Roman law, shepherds were not allowed to testify in court. They were considered unreliable witnesses.

Again, if we had an important announcement, we would never pick people who have a bad reputation or no credibility. But God sees the heart and called these shepherds to be preachers of the Gospel. They had the honor of announcing the good news of the Messiah.

Telling others about Jesus is a privilege an honor. People who encounter Jesus, are compelled by the spirit of God to tell.

But this isn’t a one-off event. By the presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Word of God, we have the invitation to encounter Jesus every day.

When you meet with Jesus, like the shepherds, people around you should see and know that you had a private meeting with the King of Kings. How often do you take advantage of the privilege to meet with Jesus?

Take a moment today, do a quick inventory and see how the Holy Spirit might be asking you to respond. If we are truthful, we could all respond more readily in obedience, in worship, and in witnessing.

How will you respond in faith today?

What is God inviting you to believe?

Last week we talked about what it means to believe in Jesus for salvation. To illustrate my point, I professed that I believed the chair could hold me, but if I didn’t act on that belief by stepping on the chair, no one would believe that I actually believed that (see Romans 10:9). Believing always requires a response, an action or a step of faith that follows belief. 

In Matthew 2, we read about a group of wise men who simply believed—and acted in response to that belief. 

Who Were the Wise Men?

To understand why the wise men’s active belief is significant, we first need to understand who they were.Our cultural and traditional Christmas scenes get two things wrong about the wise men, which are also called magi: 

1. The wise men did not arrive along with the shepherds. When they visited Jesus in Bethlehem, he was not a newborn, and Mary and Joseph were not living in a stable. Their visit likely occurred six to eighteen months after the birth of Jesus. 
2. The number of wise men. Though tradition says three, we do not actually know how many magi there were. From the three gifts listed in Matthew 2:11, many people have assumed there were three kings from the Orient, but this is not certain. What we do know is that when their caravan arrived in Jerusalem, there were enough of them to trouble the whole city.

In addition to these common misconceptions, it’s also important to understand that these wise men were not Jewish. They were Gentiles, outside the covenant people of God. By bringing these wise men to the feet of Jesus, God was revealing right from his birth that Jesus was the Savior of the whole world (see John 4:42).

Romans 15:12 says, “…The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 

What Did the Wise Men Do?

The magi responded in faith—to the sight of a star in the sky. They traveled for months, crossing thousands of miles of desert and mountain and harsh conditions, to see the “king of the Jews”, though they themselves weren’t Jews (see Matthew 2:2). 

Just consider the journey that the magi took. It was a huge undertaking to travel great distances 2000 years ago. There was no air travel or trains, no Holiday Inn Express, no Quick trip to buy a snack on the run. They had to plan and carry all their provisions. Journeys were dangerous, not to mention expensive. These men had to spend a huge sum of money to travel to a small insignificant town in Israel. 

What did the Wise Men Bring?

The wise men didn’t come empty handed. They brought gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These seem like strange gifts for a one-year old. Why not a car seat or changing table or some other culturally appropriate baby gift?

The gifts, though strange to us, were actually symbolically significant and probably provided the money for Mary and Joseph to take Jesus to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. The gifts are also prophetic. The wise men knew what many people celebrating Christmas today don’t know—the purpose and the mission of the life of Jesus. 

• Gold: the precious metal represents that Jesus is the King
• Frankincense: the strong smelling fragrance indicates that as Jesus lived, the fragrance of his life impacted many with miracles and teaching (see 2 Corinthians 2:15). 
• Myrrh: the embalming substance used at burials was a prophetic declaration that Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many. He came with the purpose of being a sacrifice for our sins. 

Why Did the Wise Men Do It?

Why did they make such a remarkable journey? Because they believed.

They had read the ancient Hebrew manuscripts; they were astronomers and scholars, who saw the signs and believed. What they saw in the sky lined up with what they read in the ancient texts. Scripture doesn’t tell us how exactly they knew that the star was “his star”; it just says that they followed it to worship him. 

We don’t know exactly what they saw. It was not a naturally occurring phenomenon. It was a light in the heavens that they noted and caused them to believe. 

Could it be that “the star” which the Magi saw, and which led them to a specific house, was the Shekinah glory of God? That same glory had led the children of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years as a pillar of fire and cloud.

When almost everyone in Israel missed the signs, these men from the East recognized the signs and believed. In faith, they responded by embarking on an arduous journey. They read, they noted, they saw, they believed, and they responded by moving into action. 

How do we respond?

Today, when God speaks, He speaks in different ways, primarily through His word and by His Spirit. But the Lord’s voice will never contradict His word. 

When God asks you to do something, how do you respond? 

Are you quick to respond, give your yes to the Lord and do what He calls you to do? That takes believing in His word and in His promises.

Maybe you, like most people, are too busy with the day to day, and you miss the signs, the call of God. 

God is still calling, inviting people today. When God directs, we are invited to respond. But in order to respond, we have to believe. 

Do you believe that God is able to provide for you where He sends you and what He calls you to do? Believing is intensely practical, 

Maybe you have never given your life to Jesus. Take that first step of believing that he is your savior today. 

Maybe you are facing a significant decision and you are not sure what to do. Or perhaps you do know what to do, but your belief is weak. 

What is God inviting you to believe today? And what action do you need to take to respond to that belief?

Click on the camera to view the full message video.

What does the word “believe” mean? The dictionary answers, “To consider to be true or honest, to accept the word or evidence of someone or something.” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/believe)

No Work Needed

By definition, a Christian is someone who believes on Jesus for righteousness. Romans 10:6-7 says, “But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

These verses sound a bit confusing, but what Paul is saying is that there is nothing we need to do to earn our salvation. We don’t need to go anywhere or do anything. This is righteousness based on faith in the risen Lord Jesus. Faith in the truth of God’s word and the Gospel.

Our salvation is through faith in Jesus alone (see Ephesians 2:8).

Confess and Believe

How do we place our faith in Jesus?

Romans 10:9 tell us, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”

We have established that it takes faith to be saved. From this verse we see that there are two things that we have do: confess and believe.

Confess

To confess Jesus as Lord, we must first acknowledge our need for a Savior, turning from our sins and repenting of them (see Matthew 4:17 and Acts 2:38). We confess Jesus’s saving Lordship privately to him and publicly to others.

A new believer’s baptism is a public confession, a testimony to others. Baptism doesn’t save you, but it is a public declaration of what Jesus has already done in your life. This is why, before someone is baptized, we always have them confess before the congregation what Jesus has done in their life. There is power in our confession.

Believe

But believing is more than simply saying a few words. Anyone can say a sentence without believing it. Faith on Jesus is believing that he can save me from my sin and then trusting him for my salvation. There is a difference between believing in something and believing on something.

One can believe in the historical Jesus, the fact that a man was born and lived in Israel 2000 years ago, without believing that he is the Christ and the only way of salvation.

Believing is more than declaring; it is evidenced in how you live. When we truly believe on Jesus for salvation, it changes the way we live so that our decisions and lifestyle flow from a Christian perspective—what we would call a Biblical worldview (see John 8:31-32). 

We must believe that Jesus died in our place, but we must go further and trust him with our lives now and in eternity. We must believe on him for salvation and for our transformation.

Belief That Saves

Salvation is not based on giving verbal ascent to certain truths. Our salvation is based on fully trusting on Jesus, leaning on him, resting on his completed work—believing that Jesus has saved you and that he will save you. This is belief that saves.

We, by nature, believe in things and people all the time, but sometimes our belief is unfounded. The person or thing we believe in lets us down.

• We believe in our strength, until it is gone.
• We believe in our wealth, only to find it fleeting.
• We believe in our medical professionals, until they have no answers.
• We believe in our friends and family, until they desert us in hard times.
• We believe in our political leaders, only to find that they don’t share our values.
• We believe in our military, until our nation, like every great nation one history, crumbles.
• We believe in our intellect and learning, until we encounter a problem we cannot solve.

Ultimately, everything we believe in is fleeting. Only Jesus remains. He is the only eternal God, who can handle all of our problems and our cares (see 1 Peter 5:7).

Does your belief match your confession?

The Role of the Church

We have the truth, and we have our belief, but what is our responsibility as the church? 

Romans 10:14-15a says, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”

Every day we interact with people who do not believe on Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Our role as the church is to declare the Gospel, to tell others about him. There is tremendous importance in speaking the truth of God’s word.

But why don’t we share the Gospel?

The excuses are plentiful, “I am not an evangelist”, “I am too shy”, “They might reject me”, “I might lose my job”, and many more.

However, may I suggest that the real reason that we don’t share the Gospel is that we don’t believe it?

If we truly believe that we are all eternal beings, destined for either heaven or hell, and that the only way to be saved—from suffering in hell and eternal separation from God—is to confess and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, then we would take every opportunity the Holy Spirit gives us to share this truth with those around us.

Do You Believe?

Are you living like you believe? Or are you living like a practical atheist? Professing to be a Christian, but in the practical issues of life—finances, career decisions, relationships, etc.—relying on your instincts, your intellect or even Google!

Do you trust Jesus in everyday life, or do you live as if he doesn’t even exist?

Do you believe the truth of the gospel enough to want to share it with others?

If you don’t believe on the name of Jesus for the every day life issues, then he is not Lord of your life, and it is an indication that you may not be not saved. 

Being a Christian is not coming to church, carrying a Bible or attending meetings; it is believing on the name of Jesus for everything. It is having a personal relationship with him that governs your every decision. And it is believing the good news of the gospel is so good you want others to believe it, too.

Do you believe? Have you confessed that belief?