Thank you, Jessica and Katie. Take your Bibles and turn with me to the gospel of Luke chapter 2. We heard the reading of the Christmas story just a moment ago. I don't want to read through the whole thing again, but in verse 8 of Luke chapter 2 and verse 9 and 10, so just a couple verses here, or three verses, and there we're in the same country. And that is to connect it to the first eight verses, first seven verses with Mary and Joseph traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem and the baby being born that night and being laid in a manger for there was no room for them in the inn. And in that same area, in the same region, in the same country, there were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord, one angel, came out upon them, came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. A couple Sundays in the month of December, we have been talking about the fear nots of the Christmas story. In Luke, there are two, three occasions, this is the third, where an angel has appeared to an individual, this time a group of individuals. The first time was in Luke chapter one, when he appeared in the holy place in the temple to Zacharias. And as Zacharias is there making offerings, incense in his old age, The angel appears, and he is afraid, and the angel says, fear not Zacharias, for your wife is going to bear a son, and you're going to name him John, and he's going to be the forerunner of the Messiah, the promised one from the Old Testament. And you remember at that point, he doubts in his heart, and he doesn't believe, and he asks for a sign. And he says, I don't understand this, this can't be. We're beyond the age of bearing children, and his faith was weak. Because of that, the angel pronounced upon him that he could not speak until the child was born. And then six months later, after the conception of John and the story of Elizabeth, Mary and Elizabeth meet together. and in the home and she has, Mary has seen the angel, Gabriel has appeared to her and told her that she is going to have a son and he will be the son of the highest. He will be the Messiah. He will be the king of the Jews and she will call his name Jesus and he will save his people from their sins. Mary in that spot doesn't doubt the promise of God. She questions how God is going to bring about this miracle, seeing that she doesn't know, has not known a man. And God tells her that with God, anything is possible. And then gives her the little insight of what has happened to Elizabeth, and that's where then the story picks up from last week, where the angel, or where Mary travels to Elizabeth, and then you have that interaction. And Mary sings forth the praise as Elizabeth proclaims the blessedness of that child that is in her womb. Now we move to chapter 2. We're on the fields. The baby's been born. John the Baptist has been born. The two announcements of the birth have happened. The Scripture has been fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. Now He is here, but no one's there to see it. It seems that probably Joseph and Mary are alone. Some have indicated that possibly there were some midwives there, possibly maybe there were some family from Bethlehem that came out to the stable and were serving. We don't know that. From what the scripture says is that Mary and Joseph were there and the baby was born and she laid him in the manger, wrapped him in swaddling clothes because there was no room for them in the inn. It seems to be we could probably take that they were by themselves. No one to see the birth of this King. And so God sends an angel. I like to assume that it was Gabriel again. This could be the third. He's not named here where he's named in the other two instances. Why would Luke not name him here if it is? And so this may be a sign that it is not Gabriel, that it is just an angel giving a message. But let's say if it was Gabriel and he shows up the third time, this time to a group of shepherds. Who, I don't know you, when I was sitting here, I thought Dr. Sedman said that they were washing their flocks. But I don't think that. One child said that they were washing their socks by night. As they were watching their flock. They weren't expecting anything that night. Just a normal, everyday night. Watching sheep. I want you to understand, in the Old Testament, shepherds were honored and respected in some ways. It was a very respectable profession to be a shepherd. Abraham was a shepherd. That goes all the way back to their forefather Abraham. Isaac and Jacob were shepherds. I mean, that was a noble thing to be raised. Joseph, you know, to be raised in the home and to follow in his father's footsteps, to be a shepherd and keep sheep and flock and cattle and to be a farmer in that sense, that was a very noble thing. Moses was keeping sheep for 40 years in the wilderness. David was a shepherd. So in the Old Testament, being a shepherd was a very noble thing, but somehow, in between the testimonial period between Malachi and Matthew, and the Roman Empire, Greek Empire, then the Roman Empire that comes along, shepherds in the first century, in Jesus' day, was not looked on as something that was respectable. In fact, an early writing of a Jewish rabbi in the Midrash records from Psalm 23, the Midrash is a Jewish commentary of the Old Testament that is very early. Their opinion in the first, second century of shepherding when they were making comments about Psalm 23 said that the shepherds were the lowest of low in their society. And that is true as Luke is writing this and in that day. In fact, shepherds were not allowed to come into the temple because they were unclean. they'd been dealing with animals. The other issue is the fact that they were so busy dealing with the sheep, they didn't have time to go down to the temple and often make sacrifices. By the time you get into the second and third century of the early church, the shepherds turned into Bedouins, which we very similarly see in Israel and Palestine today, as the Bedouins roam from tent to tent in the wilderness with these sheep. They don't basically have any property, any buildings or anything like that, they're just nomads. It's not a very respectable type of job in the first century. But that is the crowd that God sends the angel down to say, come see the child that's born. That is to remind us again along the theme of Luke. that God chooses the simple things, the common things, the base things of this world to confound the wise. The weak things to put down the mighty. Do you remember what Mary prayed in her Magnificat in the previous chapter, in chapter one? As she cries out in verse 46, she says, my soul doth magnify the Lord of Luke one. My spirit rejoices in my Savior. He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. Verse 49, for he that is mighty hath done great things. Holy is his name. He has shown strength with his arm, in verse 41. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, from their places of ruling, and he has exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things. Then the rich he hath sent away. Empty and so we come to these shepherds who are on the field and and just doing the normal everyday thing watching their flock and at a night and and and then all of the sudden the sky Fills with the glory of God one angel and the glory of God shone round about them. He didn't need a host of angels just needed one that had flown by the presence of the Almighty to come down into this world and the light that shone, the glory that came down and filled the night sky. And then, later in the story, after they're told, then the heavenly host appears and begins to sing glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. as these shepherds see. Funny how they were watching their flock. Then the glory of God shows all around them and they are afraid and the angel says, fear not, fear not. What do you think they were afraid of? Well, I imagine just being startled in the middle of the night is enough to get you scared for anything, all right? You know, you've got to, ever been in the room, you know, and you wake up and your wife maybe is going to the restroom or something, and I'll turn the lights on, or one of the kids walk in, turns the light on, and you just, it's there? And what's going on? Or maybe there's a crash in the house, and you're afraid, what's gonna happen? Here, these shepherds just minding their own business, and then all of a sudden, this angel, this glorious creature that shows in front of them, fear that comes upon them. The scripture says, they tell them, said, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. I wonder if they thought, why me? Why us? If this is the most glorious news in all the world, if this is the king of the Jews, if the Savior has come and the Messiah has come, why would you tell us? We're just shepherds. And yet, as he says, you'll find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. Then on top of that, suddenly, there was filled an angel, a multitude of heavenly hosts, singing and giving praise to the Lord. What a glorious sight. What a wonder that these shepherds, if you see that, as we talked about a few moments ago, the first time they hear the gospel, they accept it very readily, very quickly. I mean, God rolled out the carpet for just those men. to say that my Son is born, the Savior is born, come and see Him. It's interesting, and as we see this story, we contemplate that on Christmas morning, Christmas night, when Jesus Christ is born into this world, that God would come and allow these shepherds to take part in something that was very special. As they come to the manger and the stable, they find Bethlehem, and the Scripture says, they see the child, and there he's lying, and the Scripture says, and all they that heard it wondered at those things. So here they are spreading this news that the savior of the world, they saw the angels in the sky, and Mary and Joseph, and here in this stable, and he was laying in a manger, and there's animals around, and straw around, and they're telling everyone that they see, and they wonder, said, what a strange thing. What a strange thing to happen. And the Bible says in verse 19, Mary kept these things, and she pondered them in her heart. And then the last verse, verse 20, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them. You see, God took this group of men who he saw as very important, common, men, he knew that they would readily accept the message. By faith, they would accept the message to go to see this child that was born, and they would tell others, and then it would spread. The first gospel message to be spread about the birth of Jesus Christ from person to person would come from shepherd to shepherd. to travelers, just a lowly profession, and yet, God's glory would be revealed. As God tells them, or reveals to them, this story, and they see it for themselves, they are humbled as they bow and they worship. Someone wrote this poem, Fear Not, Little Flock, Whatever Your Lot, He enters all rooms and the doors being locked. He never forsakes. He never is gone. So count on his presence in darkness and dawn. Fear not, little flock. He goeth ahead. Your shepherd selecteth the path you must tread. The waters of Marah he'll sweeten for thee. He drank all the bitter in dark Gethsemane. As we think about the shepherds and the sheep, we see this Lamb of God who came to this world to suffer and die for our sins, to be our sacrifice, to die upon the cross, and as by His stripes we are healed, it is through His blood that our sins are forgiven, and one day He's coming back. In fact, as I was reading this earlier today, I was reminded in Revelation chapter 1. when the angels appear unto John on the Isle of Patmos, and reveal to him these wonderful things, this lampstand, and in the midst of the lampstand, the one that the Son of God clothed in this garment, and he describes his hair in chapter one, he sees these seven stars and the sharp two-edged sword that's coming out, he sees the sun, or is as like the sun that's shining forth in his strength, And he says in verse 17, and when I saw him, I fell to my feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, and he said unto me, fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. Write these things which you have seen, which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. What a scene. that John would be in a same way seeing the glory of God, much like the shepherds did, but in a different way. Now Jesus reaches out and touches John and says, fear not John, I am the first and the last. As we think about Christmas and we close our service today, when I asked you this morning, what are you afraid of? It could be that your sins are not washed away, and the fear and the worry of this Christmas season hangs over you like a burden, like a shadow, like guilt and shame over you that can be lifted if you will just by faith trust in Jesus Christ. He can save you from your sins. Maybe the worry of what the new year's gonna hold for you, Listen, if you are part of His fold, and you're following the shepherd, then you don't have anything to fret, be afraid of. We know that He is our shepherd, and He guides us, and He takes care of us, and He loves each and every one of us, and He'll never leave us nor forsake us. Can I encourage you this morning? Don't be afraid. Know the glory and the power and the strength of a God who loves and cares for you. Father, I pray as we close. Lord, with just some thoughts this morning from the Christmas story and these shepherds who were filled with fear, and the wonder and amazement at this message that was sent to them that the God of the universe would be wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, And yet the gospel message is that you humbled yourself and came to this world. You were born, your son given as a sacrifice on the cross to bear our sins. Lord, I ask that if there's someone here this morning that doesn't know Jesus Christ, what a wonderful day it would be on Christmas to receive by faith the message that Jesus Christ has died for them. He came, died for them, rose again, and he's coming again. And Lord, we need to be overwhelmed. We need to have a respectful fear to fall down before you in awe and wonder. Lord, the worry of our sin and the shame that we carry when we come before your presence, it causes us in our sinfulness to be afraid. But because of your Son and the sacrifice of your Son, we have an advocate. We have an atonement. And I pray that this Christmas morning, whether it's the children or maybe some family who are here today, just came as an invite for Christmas. I ask that they would look deep into their hearts and know whether Jesus is their Savior or their sins are forgiven. If they don't have that peace, but right now where they're seated, would they trust Christ? Would they seek repentance and forgiveness of their sins? Us as believers today on this Christmas, Would we see the wonder and the humility of Christ, the meekness, the joy and peace that comes to those who will humble themselves before your throne? Lord, as we close today, give us a blessing with family and joy. around the lunch table and this afternoon, the fellowship, and would Jesus shine forth in our life as we tell others about what you have done for us. In Jesus' name that we pray, amen. Thank you.