Let's listen to God's word together.
The birth of Jesus Christ.
In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be registered.
This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria
and all went to be registered, each to his own town.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth,
to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and lineage of David,
to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son
and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn.
And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were filled with great fear.
And the angel said to them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you.
You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts,
praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.
When the angels went away from them into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has made known to us.
And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph
and the baby lying in a manger.
And when they saw it,
they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary treasured up all these things,
pondering them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen
as it had been told them.
This is the word of God.
That was completely intentional, of course.
Well, great.
And a warm welcome also from me.
If you don't know me, my name is Niels,
part of the staff team.
I'm looking forward to speaking to you from God's word.
Yeah, about the message of Christmas.
But why don't we pray before we listen?
And the angel said,
I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
Father, I pray for each of us here
that indeed Christmas would be good news of great joy.
No matter whether we've been in church for decades
or this is our first time in church,
no matter how much we know,
would you convince us today
that Jesus is good news
and would we rejoice in that.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Great.
Well, Christmas, of course,
is a celebration of the birth of a baby.
Now, I don't know if you guys know what this is.
No, no, right.
It's some biscuits with some kind of sugar sprinkles.
I think there's one Dutch person here
who probably knows what it is.
This is a Dutch tradition.
When a baby is born,
you kind of make these biscuits
and give it to your neighbors
and to your friends
to celebrate the birth.
In this case, you can see the blue.
It was a baby boy.
Right?
So, yeah, it's a way to celebrate someone's birth.
People, different countries,
have different traditions.
Sometimes you watch an old movie
and in America, in the 30s,
there's a baby born
and so the dad goes around
handing out cigars to everyone.
Apparently, that's how you celebrate
a baby's birth back then.
Maybe, I don't know which country you're from,
you probably have some ways of celebrating
because, you know,
a birth of a baby is a wonderful thing, right?
You should celebrate it.
You should announce it.
In the past, people would put it in the newspaper, right?
Every week, there's a list of babies born
or you would send a card to all your friends
and then, of course, Facebook came along
and now people post it on Instagram.
But, yeah, you would announce it.
You would celebrate it
because you do that.
But Christmas is a little bit over the top, isn't it?
Now, my kids are really special
but I'm not sure that kind of 2,000 years later
the whole world will be celebrating their birth, right?
Why would we celebrate Christmas?
What makes this birth,
what makes actually this person
who was born so special
that, yeah, the whole world
should be celebrating his birth 2,000 years later?
That's what we're going to think about.
In a way, the story we just read is very familiar.
We saw it acted out pretty accurately,
maybe apart from Bruce Lee,
in the story just now.
They had Mary coming to Bethlehem
and giving birth
and the shepherds and the angels
and all those things.
But usually, the key to a story
in the Bible, certainly,
is in the speeches.
And we get a speech
explaining what's going on.
And so,
that's in verses 10 and 11.
It's an angel of the Lord, right?
I mean, if someone like that shows up
and gives a speech,
you listen.
And what does he say?
Verse 10,
And the angel said to them,
Fear not,
for behold,
I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day
in the city of David
a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord.
And so,
it's a birth announcement
about this baby.
And what do we learn about this baby
that makes,
well,
makes this so worth celebrating?
And the first thing
that strikes you,
of course,
is that this is a royal birth,
right?
We've heard it in the play.
It's a royal birth.
This is a king.
And not just a king.
This is like the capital K king.
So,
he is born
in the city of David.
Why not say Bethlehem?
Why mention David?
Well,
David,
in the Bible,
is the ancestor
of the royal family.
So,
emphasizing,
hey,
this is the city
where kings come from.
And here is a king.
And not just any king,
he is Christ.
Well,
Christ is a,
it's not a last name,
Jesus Christ.
It's a title.
A title for God's chosen king.
God said that one day
there would be a king
who would rule,
not just a country,
not just the world,
rule the universe.
He would be called the Christ.
And the angel says,
well,
the Christ has just been born.
He's called the Lord.
Again,
I don't know what you think
is a Lord.
Maybe you're familiar
with Britain
and you see those politicians.
They're called lords,
right,
with their wigs and stuff.
Well,
this is not a politician.
In the Bible,
the Lord is God's name.
So,
this baby
is,
according to the angel,
that's God himself
who comes down
and is born
as a human being
and to be king
of the whole universe.
Right?
This is how big this is.
No wonder
this is for the whole world.
Right?
No wonder it's,
you know,
2000 years later,
we're still remembering that.
This is someone
you can't ignore.
You know,
maybe we live our own life,
our own way.
The Bible would say
that actually
there is a king
over everything
and that's Jesus.
And yet,
if this is a king,
if this is God himself,
then this birth
is really,
really weird.
Because,
well,
we saw it a little bit
in the play,
but what does the angel
go on to say?
Well,
he's Christ the Lord
and this will be
a sign for you.
You will find a baby
wrapped in a swaddling cloth
and lying in a manger.
The baby is in a manger
and,
you know,
Luke mentioned it
three times,
in a manger.
Now,
we hear the word manger
after 2000 years
of Christmas.
And when you hear manger,
we think of
away in a manger
and we think of
Christmas trees
and mistletoe
and all those things.
It's very nostalgic.
But do you know
what a manger really is?
Right?
It's a feeding trough
for animals.
Can you imagine
the children singing that?
Away in a feeding trough.
It just,
it doesn't fit,
right?
A feeding trough.
It's not nostalgic.
That's dirty.
So,
oh,
we have some picture here.
And so,
you go to Google
and you look for feeding trough.
And you get a few sheep here.
A feeding trough.
And then one with a pig.
And,
you know,
some goats.
This is a feeding trough.
This is really
what,
where Jesus was kind of born.
And,
ugh.
All right?
I hope you feel
that's disgusting.
I mean,
I've,
I've lived in Hong Kong
for a while now.
My hygiene standards
are a lot lower
than most Hong Kongers.
Right?
For me,
germs are good.
They build your immune system.
Even I wouldn't put
a newborn baby
in a feeding trough.
Right?
This,
this disgusting.
It,
it's,
it's shameful.
Right?
Here is a,
why would you put
your newborn baby,
the king of the universe,
in a feeding trough
in the,
in this disgusting thing?
It's humiliating.
Right?
Especially,
yeah,
this is no ordinary baby.
This is a,
this is the king.
This is God himself.
He should,
yeah,
born in a palace,
as we heard,
surrounded by all the government officials
and the best doctors.
And presumably,
if he's God,
he had a choice.
Right?
But most of us don't have a choice
where we are born
and when we are born.
It just happens to us.
But if you're God
and you control everything
and you know the future
and you control the future,
surely you can make sure
there's a room at the inn
when you get born.
Right?
You can do that.
Except that Jesus didn't do that.
Jesus chose to be born
in a feeding trough.
And I think that is deliberate.
It's supposed to tell us something
about what it's like
for God to come down.
Because,
yeah,
this is a mess,
right?
The feeding trough is a mess.
But think about it like that.
Imagine you are God.
What is it like?
And so you're in heaven.
You're on a throne,
ruling the universe,
millions of angels
worshipping you.
Everything is pure
and beautiful
and love
and joy
and peace.
It's perfect,
right?
And then you come down
to this world.
What is this world like?
Well,
there's wars
and there's injustice
and there's conflict
and there's abuse
and disease
and hunger
and pain
and frustration
and decay
and suffering.
Actually,
this world is a mess,
right?
If you think about it.
Not just the world,
maybe even your life.
You look at your life
and you think,
why would God want to come
into my life?
Because my life is such a mess.
This world is such a mess.
That is what it's like
for God to come down,
to come and live with us.
It's entering
a terrible mess.
God chose to enter a mess,
our mess.
Why would you do that,
though,
right?
Why would you,
I mean,
for me,
why would I want to jump
into a pool of mud
or something like that?
I would never do that,
would I?
Well,
here is one situation
in which I would jump
into a pool of mud.
What if I'm hiking
and I'm with one of my kids
and one of them
falls into this pool?
Danger,
deep mud.
Now,
I know what I would do,
right?
I would jump into that pool
and try to get them out.
I love them.
I want to rescue them.
I'm willing to enter
the mess.
I'm willing to do this
in order to save
someone I love.
Well,
that is exactly
what Jesus did.
Christmas
is not just
a royal birth,
a shameful birth.
It's a saving birth.
Look again
at what the angel says.
Verse 11,
for unto you
is born this day
in the city of David
a savior,
a rescuer.
Jesus came
to save us.
Out of love
for us
who were sinking
in our own mess,
Jesus came.
And he couldn't save us
from a distance.
He couldn't save us
from up in heaven.
He had to come down,
which is why he came
and was born
as a baby,
so that he could
get us out.
Now,
you may wonder why.
We talked about it
a bit in the play.
How did we get
into this mess?
Well,
this world is God's world
and God made us
to know him,
to love him,
to have a relationship
with him,
but most of us,
well,
we don't live like that,
right?
We've turned away,
all of us,
and trying to live
in God's world
in a different way,
it leads to a mess.
That's why,
yeah,
we need forgiveness.
That's why Jesus
had to come.
Ultimately,
he had to die
for us.
Can you think
of anything
more shameful
than a manger?
Well,
how about
a criminal's death
on a cross,
which is ultimately
what he did,
but,
you know,
that's a big story.
I'm not going
to talk about it now,
but this is the message
of Christus.
Jesus came down
and entered our mess
to rescue us,
to get us out,
and if that is true,
well,
surely that is good news
of great joy,
right?
Being rescued,
can you think
of anything
more joyful
and more wonderful
than death,
right?
Such a joy
to be able
to get out
of the mess,
to,
Jesus promises,
you know,
that we be in a world
without pain,
without conflict,
without suffering,
right?
Wonderful.
And not just,
well,
into the world,
Jesus rescued us
to know him.
He doesn't just rescue us
and send us away,
we,
he adopts us
into our family.
Christmas is really
the most wonderful news.
At the same time,
if you're new
to Christian things,
if you're here,
you wouldn't call yourself
a Christian.
Maybe this is quite a lot
to take in,
right?
Like,
whoa,
there is a God
and he came down
and he came to rescue us
because we need rescuing.
It's quite a lot
to take in.
So,
how would you respond
to this?
How would you respond
to this,
to this news?
First,
can I encourage you,
don't ignore it,
right?
If someone says
they've come to rescue you,
you normally wouldn't
ignore it,
right?
Imagine you're hiking
and suddenly
there's this helicopter
and someone on a rope
comes down
and says,
I've come to rescue you.
What would you say?
Well,
good for you.
Very interesting.
And you go
on your hike,
right?
You wouldn't do that.
Maybe there's something
going on.
Maybe it's fake.
Maybe there's something
really going on
but you wouldn't just
ignore it,
right?
You would ask questions,
you know?
Hey,
is this genuine?
Who is this?
What's really going on?
Why do I need rescuing?
You would do something.
Well,
have you done that
with Jesus?
Maybe this is a great
opportunity.
Well,
if the Bible says
Jesus has come
to rescue,
let me look into that.
What are a few options?
You could read
a biography of Jesus.
So,
if you look
over there,
a few places
around the room,
we have
these
little biography
of Jesus.
Jesus.
This one is called
Mark.
We've read from Luke,
but Luke is very long,
so this is a shorter one.
It's more,
but,
you know,
you read through it
and you see what Jesus
is like.
You know?
It's real history.
I mean,
you've heard the reading,
right?
It's in the dead year
when Quirinius was governor,
et cetera.
It's history,
but was this man
a good teacher?
Or was this really
God's king
come to earth,
right?
You can make up
your mind
just by reading
the historical evidence.
Or maybe,
feel free to take one.
If you're here
as a visitor,
as a guest,
someone who doesn't know,
please take one.
They're free for you.
Alternatively,
maybe,
how about
that idea
that this world
is a mess?
I don't know
if that resonates
with you.
So,
on your seats,
we have this course
called Explore
that we are hosting
in a few weeks.
We're not starting
in next week
because Chinese New Year
is coming
and then everyone
goes away.
So,
we're starting
after Chinese New Year.
But this course,
Explore,
it's to explore
those questions
about the world.
You know,
is there more
to life than this?
Where can I find peace
in this restless world?
Where can I find hope?
How can I have
relationships that work?
Right?
Actually,
it's a way
to think together
about life
and actually,
maybe life
isn't really
what it should be
and maybe
we do need rescuing.
And so,
please sign up for that.
Please take this home
and that'd be a great way.
Although,
maybe for some of you,
actually,
you don't need all that.
Maybe you're here
and you wouldn't call yourself
a Christian
but now it clicks
and you kind of know,
okay,
yeah,
I know I need Jesus.
I mean,
I'd love to help you
start a Christian life.
Please come and talk to me
after the service.
Talk to the person
who brought you here.
but,
yeah,
this is really good news
of great joy
and if you want to,
you know,
want to accept that,
want to come to Jesus,
there's nothing better
in the world
this Christmas.
But how should we respond then?
How about the rest of us?
Those of us who have
come to Jesus,
those who know
that they needed rescuing
and that Jesus has done that.
Well,
I think this passage
says very clearly
how we should respond,
right?
Verse 13,
suddenly there was
with the angel
a multitude
of the heavenly host
praising God
and saying
glory to God
in the highest.
And that's what they did.
Verse 20,
and the shepherds returned
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard
and seen
as it had been told them.
I mean,
it's hard to miss,
right?
The right response
is to praise God,
right?
if God really
in his love
saw our misery
and came down
and rescued us,
well,
the most wonderful news,
yeah,
it's wonderful,
right?
Wow,
this is so great.
And we praise God,
right?
We wouldn't praise ourselves,
it's our mess,
but he came to rescue us,
so why don't we do that?
Well,
it's such wonderful news
this Christmas.
Why don't we praise God
for what he's done?
Let's give him the glory
and let's respond
with praise
and thanksgiving.
I'm going to pray
and the music team
is going to come up
and then,
yeah,
we're going to sing
that song about the angels,
Hark the Herald,
such a wonderful song of praise.
But let's pray together.
Lord Jesus,
thank you
that you came down.
Thank you
that you entered
into this mess
of this world
and that you did it
out of love
to rescue us.
Father,
we pray
that we would see
the glory of Jesus.
Father,
we pray
that we would respond,
that each of us
would know
that we need him
and that we would come to him.
Maybe some of us,
this is completely new,
something we need
to think about.
Help us to take this seriously,
to investigate
what would you lead us
back to yourself,
that we can be rescued,
that we can be with you forever
and indeed
that we could praise you
and glorify you
for what you have done
out of your love
for people like us.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.