TEXT: LUKE 2:1-20

TITLE: IS IT A BOY OR GIRL? NEITHER, IT IS GOD

INTRODUCTION

A. Whose side are you generally on?

B. Whose side is God on?

1. Joshua 1:5, 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.

2. 2 Chronicles 20:15b, Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

3. Jeremiah 1:19, 19 They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, to deliver you.

4. Psalm 1:6, 6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (NRSV)

5. Romans 8:31, 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

C. Who is on God’s side?

1. Joshua 5:13-15, 13 …Joshua…looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?” 14 He replied, “Neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” (NRSV)

2. 2 Chronicles 15:2, …The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

THE ANGELS TOLD THE SHEPHERDS!!!!

A. “For there is born to you this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”

1. A Savior is born

2. The Messiah / The Christ is born

B. “You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths”

THE ANGELS TOLD THE SHEPHERDS????

A. Shepherds were on the bottom rung of the social ladder

B. The shepherds were living out in the fields

C. The shepherds were watching their sheep at night

D. “You will find a baby lying in a manger (in a barn, feeding trough)”

1. Cows mooing, sheep bleating, donkeys braying, chickens cackling

2. The smell of animal dung and urine combined with stale straw

3. Insects and spiders flying and crawling around

WHY WAS GOD BORN, THE WAY THAT HE WAS BORN?

A. To be able to understand me

B. To be able to identify with me
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>THAT I WILL IDENTIFY WITH JESUS AT MY LEVEL</strong></p>