Jesus is born

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.

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.