Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20091206.htm

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: GOD'S GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY
Part I: God's Joyful Good News Regarding Our Physical Welfare
(Luke 2:1-14)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    This Christmas, we face broad concerns about physical needs:

    (1) Fear exists that Congress is becoming a corrupt oligarchy to serve the interests of special interests versus the will of the electorate like our nation's forefathers intended in founding a republic: an expert on the "Talk of Connecticut" warned Congress may omit the abortion and public option parts of the health bill to get it to pass this year and stick these measure back in it next year when voter opposition abates!

    (2) Many fear the growth of a centralized government: in the November 30, 2009 USA TODAY, p. 19A, Al DiLascia of Chicopee, Massachusetts critiqued a federal task force suggestion that women not get mammograms until age 50, writing, "This should be a warning... about...a federal health care system in which panels or task forces make decisions that...could adversely affect...health and longevity."

    (3) We face the threat of a financially unbearable tax burden: (a) Paul Davidson's article, "Businesses reluctant to spend" (Ibid., p. 6B) noted business leaders are "worried about... government policies that could saddle them with new costs."

    (b) U. S. Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut opposes a "public option" in the Senate health care bill since it "'would create a government-run insurance company whereby the taxpayer would be liable for the unanticipated costs.'" (Ibid., p. 14A, "Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.: Refuses to support any government-run option")

    (c) The President's announcement last week to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan has some talk show callers fearing the cost of that long war will financially trouble us in this recession!

    (4) The need for jobs is huge: Americans now use food stamps "in cities and suburbs once flush with money that are now pocked with foreclosure signs," Ibid., p. 3A, "Food stamps shaking stigma."

    (5) The health care crisis and Congress' debate over it is so big, the USA TODAY issue cited above devoted pages 14A and 15A to it!

    (6) On the housing crisis, though the government began 650, 994 loan revisions, not one had been converted to a permanent plan through October, Ibid., p. 1B, "Lenders pushed to finish home loans."

    (7) Such issues affect our Church: last Sunday, two of our members told me of similar significant physical crises they are facing!

    Need: "In view of our extensive needs for physical welfare this Christmas, what 'good news of great joy' would GOD provide?!"

  1. At His birth, Jesus' family faced all the issues in our introduction:
    1. Jesus' family faced a growing centralization of governmental power as Rome shifted from a corrupted republican to a dictatorial form of rule:
      1. Caesar Augustus ruled Israel when Jesus was born, Luke 2:1.
      2. He craftily shifted Rome from a corrupt republic to a dictatorship:
        1. Augustus' original name was Octavian, he was Julius Caesar's adopted son, and he rose to power after a self-serving, elected Roman Senate slew Julius Caesar, Z. P. E. B., v. One, p. 418f.
        2. Octavian took the name, "Augustus", a divine title to centralize Rome's power in himself, and he gave the Senate face-saving rule over the provinces while remaining dictator, Ibid., p. 419; J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible, 1983, vol. IV, p. 252.
        3. Then, since Israel's local king Herod had fallen out of favor with the emperor at Jesus' birth, Augustus himself led Israel's census, Harold Hoehner, Chron. Asps. of the Life of Christ , 1979, p. 17.
      3. Thus, Jesus' family faced a subtle shift from a corrupt republic to a dictatorship like many Americans fear is occurring to them today!
    2. Jesus' family faced heavy taxation, Luke 2:1-4: Augustus levied taxes on lands like Israel to finance the "cost of the army and of the wars" he faced (The Cam. Anc. Hist. , v. X, p. 194) like Americans fear tax increases that finance war and government debt in a recession!
    3. Jesus' family faced an employment crisis at His birth, Luke 2:5-6:
      1. Joseph's Matthew 1:22 effort to return to Bethlehem reveals he had planned to move there since Messiah was associated with the town, A. Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jes. the Mes. , 1972, i, p. 183.
      2. Joseph also may have feared that if Mary bare Jesus in Nazareth when Joseph was in Bethlehem for the census, as she was with child before marriage, she would face insults, Ibid., Hoehner, p. 16.
      3. Joseph thus likely aimed to move to Bethlehem and get a new job.
    4. Jesus' family faced a health care crisis at His birth, Luke 2:7a: Mary's need to use a manger for Jesus shows she gave birth in a cave stall with its high risk of infection, Ibid., Z. P. E. B., vol. Four, p. 67.
    5. Jesus' family faced a housing crisis at His birth, Luke 2:7b: Caesar's census led to crowding in the town that forced them to stay in a cave!
  2. Yet, the angel's "good-news-of-great-joy" countered these issues:
    1. The angel of God told the shepherds that Messiah the Lord had been born unto them in nearby Bethlehem, the city of David, Luke 2:10-11.
    2. This reveals that God had sovereignly used Rome's Caesar who had tried to gain deity status by adopting the name, "Augustus" to move Jesus' family to Bethlehem so the TRUE Messiah and GOD would be born there! This shows the heartening rule of God over Augustus!
    3. The angel's Luke 2:10 phrase, "For unto you is born", recalls the Isaiah 9:6-7 prediction of Messiah's arrival, and that passage's context shows Jesus would overcome all the physical needs the world faced:
      1. Jesus would rule in place of all other governments, Isaiah 9:7a.
      2. Jesus would produce everlasting peace and justice in His reign opposite oppressive taxation to finance wars, Isaiah 9:7b.
      3. Employment, health care and housing problems would cease in the world as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace ruled in a world of lasting plenty, order and great peace, Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV; Amos 9:13-15.
  3. Then, so Jesus could fulfill this long-term goal that God planned for Him, God met His earthly family's short-term physical needs:
    1. Offsetting Caesar's oppression, God's angels told of peace on earth for those rightly related to Him, Luke 2:13-14 NIV and Philippians 4:6-9.
    2. Offsetting Caesar's taxes, God gave Jesus' family gold after taxes:
      1. Mary gave a poor woman's sacrifice 40 days after Jesus' birth (Lk. 2:24 with Lev. 12:1-8; Matt. 2:11), so she then did not have gold!
      2. Then, right after the magi gave them gold, the family had to flee to Egypt, so the gold was God's gift after taxes, Matthew 2:11-14!
    3. Offsetting their employment crisis, God gave the family gold via the magi to finance their stay in Egypt (Matthew 2:11-14), and had Joseph then return to his former job back in Nazareth, Matthew 2:15-23.
    4. Offsetting their health care threat, God gave frankincense and myrrh to the family via the magi, spices that notably counter infection, Matt. 2:11; Anne McIntyre, The Complete Woman's Herbal , 1995, p. 42-43, 150. [Such spices were "strangely inappropriate" as gifts to Jews, but the foreign magi felt Jesus was a king, so they gave of their country's products as ambassadors (Ibid., Edersheim, p. 214), showing God led in the gift selection to meet any health needs of Jesus' earthly family!]
    5. Offsetting the housing crisis, God put the family in a house, Mtt. 2:11.
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ as Savior and enter God's plan, John 3:16; Eph. 1:4-5. (2) Then, may we obey God and see Him provide all we physically need to reach the goal He sets for us!

Lesson: God planned for Jesus one day to rule the world, so at His birth, God met His earthly family's physical needs so He could reach that goal.

We may ask, "With such great PHYSICAL needs, what 'good news of great joy' would God have for us this Christmas?!"

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 These sermon notes will be read by people worldwide via our web site, so I have two closing illustrations: one is applicable to Third World folk, and another for people in Developed nations (as follows):

(1) First, we have an illustration for Third World peoples.

A missionary we support in the Philippines sent us an e-mail last Wednesday telling of God's supply for one of his national teachers.

This Bible teacher, Nilsun, had felt called of God two years ago to move to his island's lowland to disciple people there. However, he did not own any land there so as to raise crops to support his family, meaning Nilsun would have to trust God for his livelihood to make the move! He faltered in his trust of God, postponing his move!

Sickness in his family forced Nilsun to move to the lowlands to seek medical treatment in a hospital, but, once he was there, he ran out of money, so he could not afford to move back to the hills!

Well, Nilsun had taken with him an old truck battery given to him by our missionary, and it had died with Nilsun's use. Yet, a man he met in the lowlands saw the battery and wanted to buy it. Nilsun objected, claiming the battery was dead, but the man insisted, and offered to trade some land for this battery! Thus, Nilsun got the land he needed to raise his crops in exchange for a dead truck battery!

Speaking of the lesson he had learned in all of this, Nilsun told our missionary, "When God says 'do it' - just DO it!"

(2) For folk in Developed nations, we have another illustration.

Twenty-eight years ago this week, my total net worth was the lone dollar bill I had left in my wallet! I had no job, and was still mentally reeling from the crisis that had led to my job loss!

Nevertheless, my wife encouraged me to trust the Lord! Taking her advice, I was given my job here at Nepaug Church, and without any credit history and without yet having received any salary, a Connecticut bank set aside the money for me to buy a house!

Today, I figure our mortgage will be paid off in 4 1/2 years. In addition, all of the money or services that have been given to us by God above salary and after taxes (legally of course) these last last 28 years, all to meet critical livelihood needs that arose due to medical or material needs, approximately equals the dollar value of the house!

God knows about our physical needs, and He plans to meet them PROVIDING we HEED HIS WILL! May we do His will!