When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them. Luke 2.15-20

“Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about!?!” If you have watched any movies around Christmas during the last 50 years I am sure you know where this quote came from. Yesterday we read the words that Linus quoted after he said “sure Charlie Brown I can tell you what Christmas is all about.” Today we take a trip to one of the most infamous scenes in the bible, what we call the nativity scene, and one I would be willing to guess you have set up in your house. We have a veggie tales one that sings and every year I think there is no way that battery will last another season, but time after time little hands come into our house and push the star and off it goes. As familiar as this story is, today we will look at it in a little different manner than you may be used to. We will look at the response of the Shepherds to the word that they were given and to the savior Jesus Christ the Lord.

The Shepherds were given a message by an Angel, a messenger of God, and they responded in faith that it was true by immediately going to Bethlehem to see what the Angel had told them about. When they arrived in Bethlehem and saw Christ, they responded by telling others what they had heard and seen. The final response of the Shepherds to what they had heard, seen, and experienced was worship. They glorified and praised God for the work he had done and was doing. It is likely that there was a song involved.

It is my prayer that we respond to the Word of God and to Jesus the same way the Shepherds did. That when we are given a word by a messenger of the Lord (Pastor), or when we read God’s word and are spoken to by the Holy Spirit we immediately, as John Calvin says, “let it take deep root in us and manifest its power through us.” That by faith we tell others about what we have heard, seen, and experienced so others will know Christ the Savior the same way we do. Finally, I pray we would respond to the works of God through Jesus Christ in our lives, and the lives of those around us, by glorifying and worshiping Him. One of the ways we worship is in song, just like the angels when they sang “Glory to God in the highest.”

May the words of the Christmas Song, Mary Did You Know, help you remember who Jesus was and is, and what he has done, as you worship God today.

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

Weekly Memory Verse: For nothing will be impossible with God. Luke 1.37