1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your Daily Bible Verse, 2 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: the podcast that examines one verse each day to learn 3 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: more about God and his will for our lives. I'm 4 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: your host, Kyle Norman. After a brief message from one 5 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: of our sponsors, we will continue our advent series experiencing 6 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: Christ this Christmas with a discussion of today's verse. Today's 7 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: verse can be found in Luke two, verse fifteen, when 8 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the 9 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: shepherd said to one another, let us go to Bethlehem 10 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: and see this thing that has happened that the Lord 11 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: has told us about. We all get notifications on our phones, then, 12 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: maybe a blinking light or a number beside your favorite 13 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: social media app. These notifications tell you that there is 14 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,839 Speaker 1: something that demands attention, either an email or a text 15 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: message or a phone call. And of course the more 16 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: notifications you get, the more important the message, and the 17 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: more important the message, the more demanding of a response. 18 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: It is because messages demand response. If they didn't, well, 19 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: it would just be junk mail, fit to be ignored 20 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: and discarded. Last week, Jennifer led us in a reflection 21 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: on the message of the angels to the shepherds. The 22 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: host of Heaven fills the sky, proclaiming that the Savior 23 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: has been born. What if the shepherds didn't do anything 24 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: about it? What have they considered the angelic message just 25 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: junk mail? Just think about what they would have missed 26 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: out on the ultimate question for us today is quite simple. 27 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: What is our response to the angelic message? Can we 28 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:21,639 Speaker 1: join the shepherds as they journey to the Manger. When 29 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: the angels filled the sky, they didn't simply announce news 30 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: in their declaration. There was an invitation for the shepherds 31 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: to experience Christ in their midst and recognized that the 32 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: angels didn't come to the spiritual elite or to those 33 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: in power, but to shepherds. These were people who bore 34 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: the weight of real world life. They were people on 35 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: the margins, and it was to them, and it was 36 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: for them that Christ had come. And these shepherds, these 37 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: ragtag group of shepherds, were invited to journey to the 38 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: Manger and gaze upon God in flesh. One of the 39 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:08,079 Speaker 1: dangers that we face during Christmas is our familiarity with it. 40 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: We know the story so well that we forget that 41 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: this amazing news demands a response from us. The news 42 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: of our savior, the news that a savior has been 43 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: born for us, is too good to remain ungrasped the shepherds. 44 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: They turned to each other and they say, let us 45 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: go to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place. 46 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: As the angelic host left the night sky, there was 47 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: something within them that said that the manger was worth experiencing. 48 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: They had to check it out. Now. Of course, they 49 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: probably still had a lot of questions, and they didn't 50 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: have all the answers, and by no means were these 51 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: people sophisticated theologians in that moment. But there was a 52 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: burning within them that said that if it was true 53 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: that the Savior had come into their lives, if it 54 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: was really true that the light of God shone in 55 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: the places of darkness and unrest, then they needed to 56 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: see it. And so they leave the sheep and they 57 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,920 Speaker 1: journeyed to the manger, and they see what had taken place. 58 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 1: Just think about that moment. They take a step in 59 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 1: faith to journey to Bethlehem, and they don't really know 60 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: what they'll find, but when they see that child lying 61 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: in a manger, wrapped and torn pieces of cloth, just 62 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: as the angels had said it would be. It confirmed 63 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: that God had come to them salvation and new life, 64 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,679 Speaker 1: and the assurance of God's presence and love was made real. 65 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: And the sight of that Christ child confirmed in a 66 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: profoundly new way that God was with them. And so 67 00:04:55,600 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: they explode in joy, and they tell everybody what they 68 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: had seen and heard. They tell Mary and Joseph, and 69 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: as they go back to the field, any person that 70 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: they come across, they relay the news. Luke says, when 71 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,479 Speaker 1: they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what 72 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:17,160 Speaker 1: had been told them about this child. It is this 73 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: beautiful moment in the text where the shepherds begin sharing 74 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 1: the message that they were given. They become angels. The 75 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: word angel is simply taken from the Greek word for messenger, 76 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: and that's who they become. They begin to share the 77 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: message that they had received. And so again I ask you, 78 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:43,039 Speaker 1: what is your response to the message of the angels. 79 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: Will you walk with the shepherds. There's two ways that 80 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: we do this. Firstly, we walk with the shepherds to 81 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: the manger. We dare to recognize that the Christ comes 82 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: into our lives and is found in the fragility and 83 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: frail of our own existence. We look into the Manger 84 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: and we know that there is no place in life 85 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: where the love of God cannot be known. His presence 86 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: testifies to it. And because this testimony is stamped in history, 87 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: it is one that we can count on. But secondly, 88 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: we walk with the shepherds as we tell out the 89 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: good news of Christ. And so, who can you tell 90 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: the news about Jesus birth? To to whom can you 91 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: pass on the invitation to grace and new life? To 92 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: whom can you invite to join you as you journey 93 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: to the manger. Because the Christmas message it's not an 94 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: ancient text, nor is it modern junk mail. It's a 95 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: message that demands a response.