The Message of Christmas: Give Your Voice and Go

You know, Christmas is celebrated differently throughout the world. There are some kind of unusual celebrations of Christmas when you really think about it. Like in Germany, there is this part of Christmas that is called Krampusnacht. And Krampusnacht is the night of fear. Because there is Santa Claus, and there is this creature that is like the Anticlaus. And he comes to strike fear into children who are being disobedient. And all of this stuff is kind of a demonic creature almost. It is kind of weird. In Japan, they celebrate Christmas. But Japan celebrates Christmas in an almost totally secular setting and meaning. [00:38:28] (46 seconds)  #DifferentChristmasTraditions

``He is the Savior. He is the one who came to die on a cross so that our price could be paid. So that we could be forgiven for our sins. He's Savior. He's Christ. Or the word there is a word that is translated for Messiah. He is the anointed one of Israel. He is the one who will fulfill all those 400 plus prophecies about who the Messiah would be. He is the one who comes to reign. And he is Lord. He is Kurios. He is Master. He is worthy of our worship. He is worthy of our allegiance. He is worthy of our obedience because he is our Lord. [00:42:35] (39 seconds)  #JesusIsSavior

Now that sounds romantic at Christmas time. It's not. A manger is a feed trough for animals. You don't lay a baby in a feed trough. That would be highly unusual. In other words, when they go into town, there's only going to be one of these. I mean, if there had been a dozen babies born in Bethlehem that night, no other baby is going to be wrapped in rags and laid in a feed trough. And that's where they find Jesus. [00:43:49] (26 seconds)  #HumbleBeginnings

You see, the shepherds were the first people to give voice to the Christmas story. To the good news that Jesus had come. The shepherds were the very first people to tell anybody else about the story of Jesus. And their example challenges us. So let me give you a couple of challenges this morning. Number one, give your voice no matter the size of your platform. [00:44:57] (29 seconds)  #UseYourVoice

Some people seem to think that they can't give their voice to the gospel. They can't give their voice to the story of Jesus because they just don't have a very big platform. I mean, if I just had a bigger platform, if I was up on the stage like Bob, or if I was on a football field and a reporter put a microphone in my face, or if I had this big, big platform, then I could share. Let me tell you about the shepherds. These shepherds had no platform whatsoever. None. [00:45:26] (32 seconds)  #SmallPlatformBigImpact

If a shepherd testified to something, then it had to be verified by someone else before anybody would believe it. Now, this is one of the ways, by the way, this is a little sidetrack, but this is one of the ways we know the Bible is true. Because if you're writing this story and you're making it up, you make up a witness to this who is actually trustworthy. But what God does is he sends the first message of Christmas to a bunch of guys who were the lowest of society, who had no platform whatsoever. There's a lesson in that for us. [00:47:24] (36 seconds)  #HumbleWitnesses

I think they're using the platform that has been open to them to at least say, I'm a follower of Jesus. I think that's a good thing. I think it's a great thing when people let others know, I am a follower of Jesus. While some people would say that's not necessarily a great thing, I'm going to tell you that if you will use the platform you have, sometimes God will open the door for a bigger platform. [00:48:44] (24 seconds)  #StartWhereYouAre

There's some guys down at Texas A&M. And they're hanging around just making trick shots and doing stunts. And they're videoing it on their iPhone. And they start putting it on the web. And all of a sudden, these things start going viral. And they became dude perfect. And now they're touring the country, filling up arenas, doing all these stunts and crazy things. And it's amazing, but at the end of every single performance, they tell people that they're followers of Jesus and they present the gospel. [00:49:08] (31 seconds)  #FaithOnStage

He returned to his family. But the Bible says in Mark chapter 5, verse 20, that he went all through the Decapolis. It was a series of 10 little villages in his part of the world. He went all through the Decapolis telling others what Jesus had done for him. You don't have to be a theologian. You don't have to be able to answer all their questions. But you can tell somebody what Jesus has done for you. [00:51:13] (27 seconds)  #ShareYourStory

Now, he tells them that they're waiting for the Holy Spirit. Here's what we know. After his ascension, then they wait. And then on the day of Pentecost, which was a feast, the Holy Spirit comes and fills every believer. And now, in the age of the church, every time someone trusts in Jesus, at that moment, you may not feel a thing, but you are filled with the Holy Spirit. [00:52:54] (26 seconds)  #SpiritAtConversion

The Holy Spirit of God comes. He makes you alive in Christ because you were dead in your trespasses and sins before that. He makes you alive in Christ. He seals you in Christ. He seals your salvation forever. He fills you with his power, with his wisdom, and you can rely on him. If you've ever made the statement, it doesn't feel like my prayers are getting any higher than the ceiling, don't worry about it. They don't have to. Because the Spirit of the living God, who is God himself, is in you once you become a Christian. [00:53:19] (32 seconds)  #HolySpiritWithin

Now you say, I can't go to the remotest part of the earth. No, none of us can do all of that. But here's what happens. God calls people. God places a special burden on some people's lives. And we send them out. And by our giving, by our prayer support, we undergird what they're doing. And by our supporting them, we are going. We are going through them. [00:54:40] (28 seconds)  #SupportAndSend

Every year our church receives an offering at this time of year. It's called the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. Let me give you just a brief little rundown on what that is and why that is. Lottie Moon was a Southern Baptist missionary in the late 1800s, early 1900s. She was in China. She served for 39 years. She faithfully taught the gospel. She established schools, especially for girls because they were not being educated. She, obviously, it was a Christian environment. And so she was leading them to faith in Jesus. [00:55:08] (33 seconds)  #LottieMoonLegacy

Maybe God is calling someone in our church, maybe somebody watching this, to missions. Or maybe God's calling someone to ministry. It might not be to cross a cultural line, but there's lostness all around us. So I want to challenge you today. If God's calling you to missions or ministry, that this would be a good day to take one of our pastors by the hand and say, I want to pray through this. That's not a decision to make lightly. But it is a decision that you need to make if that's what God is burdening you for. [00:59:46] (32 seconds)  #AnswerTheCall