Shepherds Sermon Notes

Luke 2:8-20 says:

In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock.

Most scholars agree that the time of Jesus’ birth was probably not Dec 25th. In his commentary, Adam Clarke suggests a fall time frame due to the fact that the sheep were in the fields at night.

It is very possible that these Bethlehem shepherds were watching over the temple flock – taking care of the sacrificial lambs. I think it’s cool that some of the first to see the true Lamb of God were the humble folks who took care of the sacrificial lambs from the temple.

 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, 

Angels are NOT little babies with wings.

for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

14 Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to people he favors!

In ancient Jewish culture, when a boy was born, local musicians congregated at his home to greet him with music. Since Jesus was born in a stable, the angelic choir had to take the place of the local musicians.

15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.

Personal story: Depression – feeling like I wasn’t making a difference. I felt like a failure. The things I had dreamed about weren’t happening and I was beginning to feel like maybe they never would. I was coming to terms with my average Joe identity. Mid-life crisis? Covid?

I took this pic from our bus in Israel. A shepherd leading his sheep.

Shepherds probably felt this way. It wasn’t the most glamorous job. Some of them were young, but the old guys who were there probably felt even more of this.

They did the same thing every day.

Moved sheep from field to field bringing them to food and water

Went after lost sheep and protected them from predators

They were lonely most of the time and probably talked to the sheep

The sheep knew the shepherds voice

To the sheep, the shepherd was important, (even life and death) but no one else thought much of them. It was a humble job.

This is how teachers feel. The world doesn’t think too highly of us (partly due to some bad teachers.) It’s not a glamorous job and certainly doesn’t pay very well. Definitely not highly regarded. However, our hope and prayer is that we can make a difference for our sheep, our students.

Anyway, the shepherds probably felt some of the same things I was feeling earlier this year – like they didn’t matter much. No one really noticed them or patted them on the back very often. They probably hadn’t dreamed about being shepherds and thought their lives could have been something more.

But think about it. No matter what they felt, this is more than 2000 years later and we’re still talking about them.  This is the message I needed during my dark moments earlier this year. Why did God choose to reveal His Son first to these shepherds? What are they like? What is it about them that God makes this choice? What does He see in the lowly shepherds that no one else sees? What did they do? What made them stand out?

  1. They listened to God. (vs 15)

15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

When the angel appeared that night in the field, there were lots of voices

1) The voice of Doubt saying “You must be hallucinating. It was something you ate.”

2) The voice of Duty “You can’t go into Bethlehem. You’re responsible for these sheep.”

3) The voice of Laziness “You’re tired. It’s been a long day. Just stay here and rest.”

4) The voice of the angel. “The Messiah is here! He is a baby!”

Last night:

Voice of Chad “I’ve got Covid. I need you to preach.”

Voice of fear “Tell him to come preach anyway and just stay away from people.”

Voice of Doubt “Tell him to take another test. He’s not really sick.”

Voice of Inadequacy “I’m not prepared for that.”

Voice of Laziness “You’ll be up all night trying to get something together.”

Voice of God (By the way, this one is more of a whisper) “I’m still in control. I know what I’m doing and I want you to do this. I’ve got your back. I’ll be with you.”

God’s voice later on “I’ve orchestrated this whole thing so someone can hear this message.”

I’m hanging on to that one and praying that is why I’m standing before you today. I believe God can use me in spite of my own insecurities and quirks. As His tool, my only goal is to be open and to remain in His hands so He can do with me whatever He chooses.

 

  1. They hurried to Jesus. (vs 16)

16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. 

Once they decided they were going to listen to God, they had a sense of urgency. They didn’t waste time. They allowed their own Godly curiosity to dictate their pace.

Lately, I’m the slow one in our family. I’m not sure when it happened. I was always the first person ready when the kids were younger, but now. . . I just don’t know what’s happened. Can I say I’m just getting old? I still hate being late, but

“When Harry Met Sally” Quote

“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

Miranda and I got engaged in September, and were married in January. We wanted to begin our life together as soon as possible.

A relationship with Jesus is even more sure than our love for one another. If you haven’t begun a relationship with Him, you should start it today!

  1. They told everyone about Jesus. (vs 17-18)

17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 

When they had seen Jesus, they didn’t keep it to themselves. News spread quickly ’cause they were so excited. Matthew 12:34 says “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” The shepherds couldn’t contain themselves.

A woman’s engagement – You can’t contain the excitement. News spreads quickly.

People were “amazed” at what they heard. Shepherds in that culture were considered to be unreliable and weren’t even allowed to give testimony in court, so you see a picture of God’s sovereign hand when they believed them and were amazed. Shepherds may have been thought of as unreliable, but these were not just shepherds. They were shepherds who were following the Word of God

  1. They worshiped Jesus. (vs 20)

 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.

The shepherds worshiped with their mouths, but also with their lives as they told others and spread the news of Jesus.

Calvin says “If the cradle of Christ had such an effect upon them, as to make them rise from the stable and the manger to heaven, how much more powerful ought the death and resurrection of Christ to be in raising us to God?”

This is how we should respond. I wonder what our lives would look like if we truly listened to God and God alone, if we felt an urgency to be with Him, if we told others about Him, and if we worshipped Him with both our mouths and our lives?

Here’s the good news!

Jesus, the object of the shepherds worship, truly is the promised Messiah! He is savior! Ancient and strong! Holy and anointed one! He is light and He has come into our darkness! He is here among us! Although we celebrate Him as the baby, He is also the Healer of the brokenhearted, the living water, the bread of life, and the Lamb who died in our place! He is the One who has conquered death and sin! He rose from the grave and offers us new life in His name! He is worthy of our worship.

He is the one we can trust and should listen to.

He is the one who deserves our sense of urgency.

He is the one we should tell others about.

He is the one who is worthy of our worship.

He is Jesus.

He is Jesus.

He is Jesus.

 

Extra pics/info:

A manger was made of stone, rather than the hay-filled wooden thing in most American nativities.
A shepherds field in Israel is much more rocky than the fields we usually imagine.
Notice the shepherd with his sheep just beyond the field in this pic.

36″

I wore a pair of shorts with a 36 waist yesterday!! I can remember exactly, but it’s probably been at least 10 years since I was in a 36. Right before we left for our vacation last week, I went to get some more shorts. The first 36s that I tried on fit great!! I was excited. Too bad the next pair I had to go back to my regular 38s. Oh well – at least I’m moving in the right direction. It’s now week 14 of this lifestyle change and the scale said I weighed 229lbs this morning. When I started, I was 240lbs and my goal is 190lbs. I’ve still got a long way to go, but according to Andy Stanley, it’s “direction that determines destination” and I’m moving in the right direction. In all honesty, I figured I would have weighed much more this morning, ’cause last week was vacation. I ate all kinds of “bad” (and good) things and I didn’t get the exercise in that has become my routine.  I was happy with 229lbs.

Another milestone occurred during this vacation. I actually showed up at the beach and got in the water with no shirt. I have worn a shirt for years when I swim ’cause I’ve always been too ashamed of my big belly. (And it always feels awkward to have my shirt off when I’m doing youth ministry stuff around pools, etc.) I think I’ll still wear a shirt for youth stuff, but I crossed some sort of line this past week that I think is notable. Of course, I still don’t look all that different than I did when I started, so maybe this has more to do with me not caring what other people think anymore – of course the fact that there were other guys on the beach who were fatter than I helped too.

Here are the pics this week:

Week 1 - 240lbs - Yuck!
Week 1 - 240lbs - Yuck!
Week 14 - 229lbs
Week 14 - 229lbs

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A Bump in the Road

I’m 9 Weeks into this whole weight loss/exercise/diet thing and I guess I hit a bump in the road. Last week I weighed 227.5lbs and this week I was back @ 230lbs. I don’t really think I gained 2.5 lbs. I think it has to do with when I weigh myself. I didn’t eat as well this past week (and I have no excuses – well, maybe I could blame Shana’s visit for one meal, but. . .well. . . that’s just me playing the “blame game” that I learned from my ancestors back in Genesis.) Anyway, I think there are probably gonna be weeks where I feel like I’m getting nowhere. This is one of them, but regardless of what the scales say, I can still say I feel better. I feel like I’m really doing well. I’ve been on the cholesterol medication for just over a month now and taking “fish oil” for about as long. The lifestyle change that I’m really seeking is well underway and it really hasn’t been as difficult as I had imagined. If I can just make my feet hit the floor in the mornings, then after that, the exercise part comes easy. Eating better will always be difficult, but I’m finding more things that I enjoy that are “healthy.” (By the way, Miranda made some great pork chops last night!)

Here are the pics:

Week 9 - 230lbs
Week 9 - 230lbs

Week 1 - 240lbs - Yuck!
Week 1 - 240lbs - Yuck!

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Seven Pounds

burger
A 60lb Burger!!

Here’s another pic of what I’ve gotta lose. This burger is 60 lbs. So far, so good.

This week I weighed in at 233! I lost 7 pounds in my first week with this new lifestyle of exercise and better eating.

I also have an appointment to see my doctor this coming Thursday. I’m sure he’s gonna tell me I gotta eat more vegetables and salads and rabbit food, but he’ll probably also want to check my cholesterol again. (It was actually too high to measure the last time.) This time, I’m gonna request the pills to get it down though.

Anyway, keep prayin’ and encouraging me. This is not easy. I’m constantly hungry. And every time my stomach growls, I’m tempted to have a chicken fried steak! My body is simply not used to surviving on “just enough.” It’s used to having all kinds of extra fuel in the tank – and to be more accurate, I probably shouldn’t even call it “fuel” – the junk I’m used to eating, is really more garbage than fuel. (Tasty garbage, but garbage nonetheless.) A sidenote: I’ve noticed that when I exercise, it benefits me spiritually and emotionally too – the sermon podcasts I listen to on the ipod help me to grow in tons of different ways too. I’ll do a post with some of my favorite podcasts later. Here are my pics for this week.

Week 1 - 240 Lbs - Yuck!!
Week 1 - 240 Lbs - Yuck!!
Week 2 - 233lbs
Week 2 - 233lbs

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Lost Kid

60 Lb KidThe kid in the picture weighs 60lbs. That’s how much I’ve got to lose.

Right now I weigh 240lbs and according to some website that Miranda got on, at my age and height, I should be 178 to be healthy. That means I’ve gotta lose that kid and a couple more pounds.

I decided that if I blogged about my progress – my ups and downs – I might be more motivated to actually stick to this whole lifestyle change. If I know you guys are watching me and I have to update you every week, then I’ll feel a little positive peer pressure to do well. So. . .I guess this is the beginning of a weekly series of blogs where I’ll update you on my progress. Also thought I’d post a picture each week. (Maybe I’ll actually see the difference and be motivated too. – Of course that could work against me too, but. . .well, I’m gonna give it a shot.)

240 Lbs - Yuck!!
240 Lbs - Yuck!!

The good news is that Miranda is doing this with me, but she doesn’t want to be quite so public with it all.

I’m already an “old dad,” and I’m not willing to risk being a “dead dad” so I’ve got to do this. I want to be a part of my kids lives and well. . .I haven’t been so motivated before.

So the plan is – eat more healthy, exercise regularly, and enjoy life. (Oh – I’m also using a cpap now and hopefully sleeping better.) My goal this week is simply to get up and exercise, eat better, and make an appointment with the doctor. I’ll let you know how it goes.

So there’s my first pic. 240 lbs. Yuck!!
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