All right, if you have your Bibles, please take and turn
with me to Luke chapter 2. All
right, we're going to start in Luke chapter 2, verse 19.
And again, kids, so great to have you in here with us.
I always love the challenge, the wonderful honor and challenge of
trying to teach something that that a little child can
understand, but also profound enough to that those of us
who've been following the Lord for decades and decades still
can be inspired. So this morning, of course,
we're going to be in Luke chapter 2.
This is the the, the really the most renowned part of the
Christmas story. And I'm going to, I'm going to
read to you starting in verse 19, Luke chapter 2, verse 19.
This is the story of Jesus being born, of course, and it says,
but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her
heart. Mary treasured up all of these
things. And what are the things that
we're talking about? We're talking about the the
shepherds and the wise man and the angels.
All that has happened in the Christmas story.
The Bible says she treasured those things that I wanted to
speak to you briefly this morning about the most treasured
moments in the Christmas story, the most treasured moments in
the Christmas story. Let me pray for us, God.
We are grateful and thankful for the story of the nativity,
Jesus, your birth. And as we look to Bethlehem this
morning, as we remind our hearts and look to the parts of the
story that are so treasured, we pray God that you would help us
to treasure these parts of the story and and then help it shape
our lives. Help it to inspire us to be even
more faithful and our pursuit of you and our love for you.
We pray this in Jesus name and everyone said Amen and Amen.
All right, all that singing got me.
I'm still catching my breath. I feel like after those hymns,
man, sometimes you get excited when you're singing the old
Christmas carols. All right, so I want to talk to
you this morning about the treasured parts of the Christmas
story. Now there's a, a, a post that I
often will make in social media posts.
If you see, you know, if you see us, many of us are friends on
Facebook or Instagram. And I, I will say this.
I'll say some days are just better than others, and then
I'll post. You know, this past summer, I
went to walking the dunes with my son.
He's 17 and Sleeping Bear Dunes. And Kathy, I remember Kathy
didn't have the faith that I'd be able to make the.
Kathy, you're back there, right? Do I see you back there?
Can you wave at me, Kathy? Yeah.
Kathy, my son was saying that we were going to go hike the dunes.
And Kathy did not have confidence that I would be able
to complete this thing she expressed to my son.
Are you sure your dad's up for this?
I'm like, yes. But even the morning we go, I
got to go do this. And I just remember photos of of
him and I out by the water and I put on Facebook, you know, some
moments are just better than others, right?
And there are many moments you probably have had those.
And that's one of the reasons I like social media.
It's kind of like a a diary of sorts that help us to remember
moments that are treasures. And certainly I love that Luke
in the middle of his telling the Christmas story.
It's in the middle of Luke chapter 2 as he you could just
see Mary and you can see, I mean just the all those moments and
it says she treasured them. And then it's she's going to
remember and she's going to lean in and pondering these things.
She thought about them in her heart.
And that's what I simply want us to do this morning, kids, those
of you in the room with us, We want to ponder is a wonderful
word that means that we're just going to think about it.
We're just going to remember. And so this morning, just very
simply, I just want to go through and remind you of some
of the treasures, the things that Mary would have been
treasuring and I'm sure she would have been treasuring the
account where Gabriel comes to her to initially tell her that
she is going to have this child. She's young.
She is betrothed to ready to to engage to Joseph.
And this is not the way that she thought her life was going to
go. Look at what happens in Luke
chapter 1, verses 30 and 31. And the Angel said to her, Do
not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God, and
behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and
you shall call his name Jesus. Now why did the Angel encourage
her not to be afraid? Well, because there was there
was reason to be afraid. The culture that she was in, it
would have been scandalous that she now is going to be pregnant
with this child. What is she going to tell her
friends and family? How is it going to look on her?
And yet God gives her the strength that she needs to carry
this child and then to deliver him and to raise him to fulfill
his purpose and his plans. Mary certainly would have looked
back and remembered meeting with the Angel Gabriel.
And it's one of the most familiar encouragements in the
Bible when he says to her, do not be afraid.
And it's this, this encouragement that we find about
the Bible. Often, often, often, God is
telling his people through the angels and through the prophets
to not be afraid. And often it is because, again,
there's reason to fear. And in our lives, when we come
across occasions where we want to fear, we get to lean into the
story of Mary and say, look how she was faithful even in this
challenging situation. She remained faithful to the
Lord and she would have been remembering the encouragement
that the Angel Gabriel would have brought her.
And then #2 what are some of the treasured moments that Mary
would have been pondering? What would she have been leaning
into? Well, I think when the when she
is given the name Jesus by the Angel, the Angel tells Mary and
he tells Joseph that the name is going to be Jesus.
It's in Matthew chapter 1, starting in verse 20.
But he's going. But as he considered these
things, in other words, that the news that the Angel had brought,
that Mary was going to have this child, as he considered, behold,
an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph
son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that
which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit, and she
will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will
save his people from their sins. And all this took place to
fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and
they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with
us. Joseph also is told what the
name of the child is going to be.
And Jesus's name literally means God saves.
Yeshua would have been said that way and it meant literally God
saves. So God was coming to deliver and
to save us. Mary would have been remembering
that the Angel not only came to her, but came to Joseph with the
encouragement don't be afraid, and also bringing the name.
So every time that we say the name of Jesus, we are declaring
the truth that God does save and he's saving through the baby
that is born when God put on human skin and came to be with
us. And then the Angel reminds
Joseph that again his he shall be called Emmanuel, which means
God with us. Can we also do that together?
Emmanuel, Emmanuel, Say it even louder with me say Emmanuel.
Kids, I hope that you're able to remember and memorize that other
name of Jesus, Emmanuel. And it doesn't mean that God is
with us. He's not distant, He's not far
away, but he is dwelling. I've talked on this Christmas
Eve night. He, he has come to dwell and
live with us and the Holy Spirit now dwells in US.
God is not distant, but he is in and with us.
Mary also would have been remembering, of course, when
she's sitting there pondering and treasuring.
She would have remembered, Of course, the Manger, she's she's
looking around, she's taking these mental pictures, I would
think Luke chapter 2, verse 7. And she gave birth to her first
born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him
in a major because there was no place for them in the end.
You know the story. Parents, remember the first few
moments of your children's lives.
I was there when all of my children were delivered and just
remember how they smelled like right out of the womb, right?
It was so just magnificent. And remember when they're when
they 1st come out, just the hairs that have not seen air
yet, right? They've been in the fluid all
those months. I mean, Mary would have been,
I'm sure, just cherishing the baby in the Manger.
And we are, we're, we're reminded that that Jesus left,
he left his throne in heaven to come and be with us.
Imagine that he's reigning over all things in heaven.
We're continually receiving worship and adoration and, and
the ultimate act of humility. He comes to this earth to be
like us. He would have been so perfect.
When my kids were little, I used to sing this silly song that I
made-up for them just remembering like they're even
their tiny toes, right? Jesus would have had the most
perfect toes and I used to. I made-up the silly song I was
singing my kids. It would be like one thing's for
certain, most. Then there's a stinky toes.
If they had a contest, they'd be the stinkiest toes.
Stinky toes don't get your nose close to those stinky toes.
Stinky toes, stinky toes. I think I'll just kiss.
I would always kiss their toes, those stinky toes, right?
So now I think it's my grandkids and they call me Papa, you know.
But imagine this was God had come to be like us, perfect
toes, perfect skin. Mary would have been treasuring,
treasuring and remembering the baby in the Manger now #4 the
another thing that she would have been treasuring is she
would have been, of course, treasuring the shepherds.
And the shepherds and the angels had met up.
Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 14.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an Angel, the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the
Lord shown 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 people.
For unto you was born this day in the city of David, a Savior
who was Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you.
You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying
in a Manger. And suddenly there was with the
Angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying
glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with
whom he is pleased. It's interesting is that the
shepherds, they were not the elite, they were not the the
most educated, the most affluent, and yet they get the
news 1st that the baby has been born in Bethlehem.
And watch this. Notice that the Bible never says
anywhere that the Angel sang. We some of our Christmas carols
want us to talk about Hark the Herald angels sing.
But it says in this occasion that they said it wasn't that
they sang necessarily. Maybe they did, maybe they
don't. We don't know.
But it doesn't specifically say anywhere in the Bible that
angels sing. So some some Christians believe
that maybe singing is a uniquely it's like a unique gift that we
have. We know that God sings in the
Old Testament says that God sings over us, so we know he
sings. But maybe the angels don't have
this unique gift that we have and that is the ability to sing.
But they were there proclaiming, proclaiming, proclaiming glory
to God in the highest, in peace on earth and goodwill towards
men. So Mary would have been
remembering this moment. That was just better than lots
and lots of other moments. And then finally, what are one
of the things that she would have been treasuring?
Well, of course she would have been treasuring the eventual
visit from the wise men, likely not there in the Manger some
weeks or months later, but the wise men come and they find her.
And it's Matthew chapter 2 verses one through 6.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea and the days
of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to
Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the
Jews? For we saw his star when it
rose, and have come to worship him.
And when Herod the King heard this, he was troubled in all
Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief
priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them
where the Christ was to be born. And they told him in Bethlehem
of Judea. For so it is written by the
prophet. And you will Bethlehem in the
land of Judah, and by no means least among the rulers of Judah.
For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people
Israel. She would have been remembering,
treasuring the visit from the wise men who came and the
prophecies that had been fulfilled.
Mary pondering these things in her heart.
Now, in this occasion, the wise men are not like the shepherds.
The shepherds are just, they're just, you know, the working
people. But this wise men, they were the
elite and God draws each. He's drawing all kinds.
These moments were better when the wise men brought their gifts
and honored Jesus in the way that they did and protected him
from King Herod, who wanted to, of course, put him to death.
So just a simple message this morning, simple enough for kids
to gather. Mary treasured up all these
things, pondering them in her heart.
And my encouragement to us is that we should also treasure
these events and think about them, remember them, ponder
them. As we finish this Christmas
season, let me pray for us, Heavenly Father.
We are grateful for the story and then the treasured moments
that are found here in Luke's account of Matthew's account.
Then as we wind down this Christmas season, our hearts
remember and we are grateful. We're in awe of your great love
for us as expressed in the Manger in Bethlehem with the
shepherds and the wise men and Joseph and Mary and the baby
Jesus. We remember.
We honor you, God, for the way that you have redeemed us and
the way that you've won us back. In Jesus name we pray and
everyone said Amen, Let's all stand together.
Thank you so much for coming this morning.
And so for some of you who maybe you didn't get the news that we
only had one service today. It was at course at 10:00.
If we didn't get that news to you, then please accept our
apologies for missing getting that news to you.
And we're grateful that you made.
And I saw some people walking in a little late as if maybe they
thought the service was at a different time.
So all right, before you go, I want to say a blessing over you.
So feel, prepare your heart to receive this blessing and then
we'll see you again next Sunday. Oh, I think that's my guitar.
I'll bet there it is him all right.
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you, and may he make
his face to shine upon you. And may the joy of the Lord that
is unspeakable and full of glory, may it abound to you.
And may the peace of God that passes all understanding, may it
surprise you in the midst of all of the challenges that life
brings. And then may the mercies of the
Lord, in other words, the forgiveness of God, that is new
every morning. May it be especially new to you
now and your mornings to come. And now may the Lord Jesus
Christ guard your heart and your mind, your salt and your light.
Go now and be salt and light into the world.
You are blessed. We'll see you again soon.
Merry Christmas.