A celebration on the hillside

Sermon notes from Sunday 24 December 2017

Luke 2 verses 1 - 20

We here so much about celebration these days.  Here we find the shepherds celebration.  We often think of parties, meals and families getting together, gifts, the decorations we put them up as we celebrate.  As we look at what the shepherds had to celebrate I want us to look into our hearts and think of the celebration that could be there just like the shepherds long ago.  As they sat minding their sheep the angels filled the sky.  The shepherds were afraid.  Verse 20 they looked at what they had seen, listened to what they had heard and were now celebrating.  There is a cause here for their celebration.  Verse 11 the cause of this celebration.  Verse 17.  Look inwards tonight.  Have we found that celebration tonight?  If so we can go out and tell others of what we have seen and heard too.  Consider how they listened.  So much happened between verses 8 and 20.  Ths message was from heaven.  For their hearts would change their lives, direction.  Sometimes we listen but do not learn.  They learned of a Saviour who came into the world, how they left the hill side, left their sheep.  Far more important than their everyday lives.  This was more important for their own lives.  They walked into that manger and saw something glorious.  It changed them.  Our lives will never be the same until we look at Christ himself, not in the manger but on the cross itself.  Let us look at these shepherds as they left that hillside, went to Bethlehem, and others were left wondering at what they were told (verse 18).  "let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us."  They left wondering but returned worshipping.  Verse 20 "they returned glorifying God."  

First of all they had to pursue - verse 15 after the angels went away, after the sky dimmed down again, they began talk about this issue.  We are not going to understand this until we go to Bethlehem.  They had to pursue it.  The angels were gone.  They were sitting out on the hillside and began to ponder anew what this message was.  Unless they pursued it they would never find out for themselves.  We can bring that right down to our gospel meeting.  Men preached the word of God.  Men and woman gathered to hear the word of God.  As the music stops, the preachers voice is quiet, as darkness falls on the church, inside the hearts of men and women there is a battle - "what must I do then with Christ?"  That battle is taking place at this moment in time, in countless mission halls tonight.  Verse 15 "which the Lord hath made known unto us."  Here were these shepherds, the poorest of people, considered outcasts yet the angels are sent down right to where they were to show them their great need.  Verse 15 "to see this thing which the Lord hath made known unto us."  You cannot be saved until the Lord makes it known unto you.  The prophet wrote about the virgin conceiving and bearing a child.  Here were the angels coming to where this message needed to be heard.  If you are saved tonight thank God from the depth of your heart.  If you are not saved pray unto God from the depths of your heart.  Lydia sitting outside at the riverside - it says "God opened up her heart."  She gave concern to what Paul was preaching about (Acts 16 verse 14).  Is God showing you something of the atoning work of Calvary?  

They had not only to pursue but they had to prove the message was true.  They had to see with their own eyes, touch with their own hands that which had been told to them by the angels.  Like the Berean believers in Acts 17 who listened to the preachers.  Paul as he preached about Christ taking them right through from Genesis to Isaiah where the Saviour had to come for the peoples sin, he took them right to the cross of Calvary and the tomb, to when he rose again.  These Bereans didn`t just listen they went home and searched the scriptures to prove that what was said was true.  The shepherds didn`t just listen to what the angels had to say, they had to prove it for themselves.  One thing for sure was they kept on going, pursuing until proved for themselves.  He is not a Saviour until we find him.  There might have been more than one manger, more than one stable and they may have had to search and find the right one for themselves.  Do you know you are accepted in the beloved?  Ephesians 1 verse 7.  They pursued and they proved.

They celebrated by publishing abroad.  Now they had a story to tell.  That is the wonderful thing about it.  They left the hillside, went down to Bethlehem, found the manger and saw the baby in the manger.  They now had a story to tell.  They made sure others heard about it.  What a story to tell.  Have you got a story tonight?  Was there a time in your life when you could say "yes it was that very night, that very moment."  There was a time when you gazed savingly at the Lord, repented of your sins, cried to the Lord that you might receive his salvation.  The apostle Paul encourages every believer to confess that you believe in your heart but with your lips you tell it.  You have a story to tell when you gaze on the Saviour.

They celebrated by their praise.  We need to be careful tonight because we cannot do this without visiting the manger.  If they hadn`t left the hillside and visited the manger then they saw the baby.  Only they could praise the Saviour.  Can we go through the motions tonight but never been to Calvary?  Never looked on Christ.  This is the very celebration not the tinsel or decorations, turkey and stuffing but remember the one who gave his life that you might be saved and for eternity spend it with him.  Is that your hope tonight?  The blessed hope that you have at Christmas time?