"GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST"
On a night some 2,000 plus years ago the lives of some shepherds on a barren, rocky hillside outside of a little town called Bethlehem were forever changed. For those who always found themselves looking up to see the bottom, something happened - something heavenly (literally). What was just another boring night watching over some sheep that probably didn't even belong to them turned into an encounter with angelic messengers from God and ultimately God Himself. Good news was offered and received. Great joy was seen on the faces of the sheep watchers. A newfound giddy was found in their giddyup! Leaving the sheep behind, the shepherds hightailed it to town and met God in the flesh, the Savior who was Christ the Lord! All of a sudden these lowlifes became evangelists telling everyone what they had seen and heard. And what was a ho-hum night on the ouskirts of town for no-names on a hillside was replaced by transformed lifes who glorified and praised God for a night where he came to them as a baby, just as the angels told them. I pray that you all experience the same transformation, the same joy and the same amazement this Christmas. God has come in the flesh in the person of His Son Jesus. Join with the shepherds in glorifying and praising God.
JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD IS COME!!
2 comments:
One of my favorite teachings was from you on Luke 2:8-20 at the Kansas Christian Ashram in 2004, so noted in my Bible. What a beautiful, awesome visual occurence for us to ponder and to cause us to act on in the interests of others. We see, we hear, we hardly believe and yet we go. We evangelize, we share, we believe, we LIVE..........Merry Christmas pastor and ML.
Yes, it is like one of the worship service visitor videos where the congregation expected a well-dressed, well-to-do person pulling into the parking lot in a shiny new car. The visitor was a single mother struggling to find a way up from the bottom.
I was also remembering this week from Christmas Vespers way back in High School. This was before "Those Who DON'T Know Best" threw God out of the public schools. We would enter in a procession singing Adeste Fidelis (yes, in Latin), symbolically on our way to Bethlehem. The last number was Joy To The World, as a recessional.
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