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Luke 2:1-20 Journey to Bethlehem
Luke 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Life is a journey… we don’t look at it from on high… with the perspective of the angels and all eternity spread about before them. We live it, with our eyes, ears, noses and skin, trapped in time, desperately trying to take it in and understand. We see so little of it; it seems to just speed past like scenery from a fast moving car. As a child I remember counting the days until Christmas… We’ve almost made the journey to Christmas 2006… just 15 more days! Christmas seems to be the destination! But it too is just a journey… One of the most depressing thoughts of my childhood occurred after I had all my presents unwrapped… 365 days until Christmas! Life is a journey. I’ve realized that Christmas is not about having everything prepared and in the proper order; it is simply a wonderful part of this journey. Today we are going to take a journey… a journey to Bethlehem… and we’ll see in this story our own story and discover our need to see our lives and ourselves in a new and wonderful way… I want to present to you some truths that make sense of the journey… and allow you to find “pure joy” in it! To plum the depths of the incredible journey that is our relationship with God! To help you see the wonderful gift of Christmas! Emmanuel! 1) First of all, this is a journey that has been planned… Matthew 1:23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." Comes from Isaiah 7:14 Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." a) The prophet Micah spoke of this journey… telling us that out of this small and insignificant place would come for God a ruler whose origins came from times eternal! i) Christ was born in Bethlehem… the city of David… (1) To fulfill the will of God! (2) To fulfill a promise made to Abraham… Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (3) To fulfill the promise of God to a man after God’s own heart… David! That out of his line would come a savior… (4) To fulfill a promise made to us… (Isaiah 42) that God would never give up on us… and that he would offer us a way to be reconciled to Him… Past the offerings at the alter in the temple… to a way beyond religion and into relationship… to the relationship that Christ offers us through his sacrifice on the cross! ii) And today I want to call you to Bethlehem… to the place where you live. Bethlehem represents our lives… nothing special… an almost forgotten town… dark streets… children… families… dust… b) We’ve been told over and over again that our lives are just a cosmic accident… and I want to make sure that you know… God has this planned! i) God is calling you to trust Him! To trust His plans… To let Him have control of the things in your life… ii) Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 2) God’s Plan is bigger than the circumstances of Life! a) Caesar Augustus issued a decree! i) Caesar Augustus was 60 when Jesus was born… (1) He controlled an incredible amount of the world… and had brought peace to the world… but with a great cost to the subjects in far away lands! (2) With a wave of a finger, he could move people from place to place… disrupt lives… (a) He had brought order to the world. His empire was “like a well-lit room at night: the lamps arranged beautifully, they shed pretty patterns, but they have not conquered the darkness outside.”[i] (b) But there is a greater power, a greater light! ii) God works in the circumstances of life! God is always working! Even the mightiest king can’t get in the way of God’s purposes… b) And Joseph obeyed… he took his family down to Bethlehem… i) Mary and Joseph didn’t have all their plans in order. (1) Joseph married a woman who was pregnant with someone else’s baby. (2) Mary surely didn’t have her heart set on riding a donkey to Bethlehem while nine months pregnant. (a) In today’s world we would have used the cell phone to reserve a private labor and delivery room at a nice hospital, and ... (b) When they arrived, there was no room for them at the inn (i) Think about the discussion that Mary probably had with Joseph about not calling ahead to make reservations (ii) And Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus in a dirty, musty, corner surrounded by smelly animals. 1. Instead of a nice clean sheets and a warm blanket the baby Jesus was laid in the animal’s hay trough. 2. This wasn’t how the baby the angel had promised her was supposed to be born! This birth should have been perfect! c) There are times on the journey when we may not understand how it all is going to work out; when things don’t smell right… when pain is involved… when it seems that everything has stopped making sense… i) But God is always working! ii) God’s plan is bigger than the circumstances of Life! (1) There is a deeper magic… deeper music… a deeper rhythm of life… it began before creation and sings in the majesty of the universe, but it finds it’s most mysterious stanza in the birth of a baby… in the incarnation… (2) The Incarnation… illuminates and orders all other phenomena, explains both our laughter and logic, our fear of the dead and our knowledge that it is somehow good to die, and which at one stroke covers what multitudes of separate theories will hardly cover for us if this is rejected. (C.S Lewis in Miracles) (a) We may only see it as we look back on our lives and say, “Oh, now I see how God used that!” (b) Or we may only see it when we arrive at the destination, the destination that is only the beginning of the deeper journey into our eternal relationship with God. (3) His light shines in the darkness! Not in just a room… but in all the world… The Light Shines in the darkness! Emmanuel!!! 3) Christ’s light is meant to shine into every part of our lives! a) There are parts of our lives that don’t smell of the perfect plan… This journey to Bethlehem didn’t have the smell of a perfect plan… Joseph and Mary were POOR… they had nothing… and they had to travel just when Mary is about to have a baby… i) And they arrive at the place… and it stinks! Not a beautiful manger scene… manure is a big part of a stable! (1) But that speaks of our problem doesn’t it… we all fall short of the glory and wonder and holiness of God… (2) Basically, we stink! Our lives are full of the scent of sin! ii) And yet God’s light shines here… in the dark streets of our journey! (1) It opens a way for us to see a purpose for our lives! b) This light is the Light of Heaven! And it is meant for everyone to know! God sent word of this amazing event to the… to the… Shepherds? 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. i) God sent his very best angels to sing to the homeless watchers of the sheep… the guys who lived out on the hills… to the ones that everyone looked down on… ii) And those shepherds, they probably hadn’t bathed or shaved for weeks, were the first to hear of the Glory of God… Emmanuel, God with us! (1) The glory of the Lord Shone all around them! (2) Maybe that’s you today… maybe your journey has taken you into the hills… the glory of the Lord shines in the darkness! Go to Bethlehem! (3) Maybe you find yourself in the stable… the aroma of life isn’t so pleasant… there are parts of it that just stink! Go to Bethlehem… and be with Emmanuel, God with us! 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. c) Mary, Joseph, and these shepherds had been changed by their journey to Bethlehem! i) Will you be changed? Will you treasure the truth of God in your heart… will you let Him change your life? ii) Will you listen to His call on you… find your purpose in Him? Allow Him to use your life in ways that effect eternity? None of these people were ready for Christmas. God reached in to the world and changed everything! Emmanuel!!!
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