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Good News of Great Joy





We celebrate Christmas every year to celebrate that good news that it is for all the people. A group of shepherds were awakened at night by an extraordinary message: " I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord" (Luke2). The birth of Jesus was announced to the wise men of the East, who travelled thousands of miles to come and experience the good news. The good news announced to the devout man Simeon, who had the Holy Spirit on him and the prophetess, Anna (Luke 2. The birth of the Savior is good news of great joy for all people because all of us need a savior regardless of our status in society. The poor and ordinary shepherds, the wise men and philosophers and the priests and the spiritual leaders. None of us can save ourselves from the bondage of sin and death but a savior that God has sent. The good news is that the Savior has come as a little child in a manger. When you realize how much you need him, this good news will be to you the greatest joy!

God has made many wonderful promises to us in His Word, yet sometimes we can get weary in waiting for our breakthroughs. At such times, we must remember the shepherds. Little did they know that “Today” would be the day when everything would change. For anyone waiting for a change, today might be the day. Gospel is good news for the outcasts and marginalized. The gospel is not a message of hate; it is a message of hope. Just as the angel’s good news broke the darkness of that night to the shepherds, the gospel does the same today. It doesn’t matter how dark a situation may be, the good news of Jesus’s birth bursts through like a ray of light that dispels the darkness.

The good news is that God is doing a great thing among ordinary people living ordinary lives with ordinary problems. In Luke chapter 1, Zechariah and Elisabeth, the childless old couple who miraculously conceived the boy who would be the great prophet John. And with Mary, just a poor country girl chosen to be the mother of God’s son. We see the the savior of the world coming to this world in the low and ordinary as a nobody from nowhere, without even the courtesy of a clean, comfortable birthing room. Many times see our own lives in the same way as the shepherds, as ordinary and serving no special purpose. But the good news of great joy is that view through Christ coming gave eternal significance to even the most ordinary situations of our lives.

Many people today have heard the message of Christ and His favor, but they’ve never taken the next step—finding out for themselves and to be with Jesus. Their faith is secondhand, based on hearsay instead of firsthand experience. One’s relationship with God is based on personal experience and not just secondhand truths you’ve read in books or heard from preachers or friends. Go to “Bethlehem” and see for yourself what God had done. The more you see Him, the more you experience His life-changing favor, the more you will want share His grace and goodness with the people around you.  Even if circumstances aren’t perfect this Christmas, don’t give up the joy of the good news.

The good news is that God is with us today. "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophetThe virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, (which means “God with us”)” (Matthew 1:22,23 Isaiah 7:14). Among all the prevailing "bad news" around us: the random violence, terror, hatred, divisions, wars, and news of illness and loss of life among friends and family, there is one good news that God is still with us. His presence gives us the fullness of joy amidst all of this around us. Many think that God is punishing us through tragedies because God is angry with us. But the angels declare the exact opposite—and this is indeed good news! God sends Jesus, the Messiah, out of a sense of delight and love for His creation.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you when you are with God. In Psalm 16:11 David Says, "in your presence there is fullness of joy."

Blessings

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Fulll sermon audio: Mathew Philip 

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