Luke, turn your Bibles to Luke, chapter 2, if you would, please. To Luke, chapter 2. We're gonna direct your attention to the Christmas story, and like Brother Snodaskie was saying, we gotta love this Christmas season, amen? Not only the Christmas songs, but we get to look at things in the Word of God about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And what an amazing thing that that is. It's something we should never take for granted. It's something we shouldn't just celebrate this time of the year, by the way. Just because it's the Christmas season doesn't mean we can't celebrate the birth of Christ in July or October or April or February. It doesn't matter. It's all those things. All right? Now, you look at Luke chapter 2. Look at an interesting group of people in Luke chapter number 2, verse number 8. This group of people many times is found at the manger scene, but many times they're overlooked. Yes, they're there and you see them at the scene, but you see many times people just look, oh, look, it's the shepherds. They look nice. But I believe there's a reason why God chose those shepherds that night. I believe there's a reason why it's even mentioned in the Christmas story and in the word of God, because it's important. I think it's very important. Luke chapter number 2 beginning in verse number 8 if you would please. And the Bible says this, And there were in the same country, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore 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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, and you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. This evening I want to preach a message very simply entitled, Christmas from the View of the Shepherds. What did they see? What did they feel? What was it like to be a shepherd at this particular time in history? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this evening. What a joy, what a privilege it is to be here tonight. And when we do pray for our pastor, that you'd touch his body and heal him and those others that might not be feeling well. Lord, I pray for Brother Bob Grant. I know he had surgery yesterday. Lord, I pray for him as he recovers as well and others that are feeling under the weather, that you'd be with them too. Lord, bless our time here together. May you illuminate their scriptures to us. And Lord, we thank you for the Christmas story and all the things we can learn from it. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, there's a lot of things about the Christmas story, but again, one group of people that's many times overlooked just a little bit are the shepherds. Many times they're just kind of mentioned in passing. You see them at the manger scene, but you don't usually hear a whole lot mentioned about the shepherds. Well, that's gonna change here, and I got a whole message about the shepherds, and they are an important part of the Christmas story. You actually find throughout scriptures shepherds have an important part in the place of the things of God. For example, David, well, guess what he was? A shepherd. He was the second king of Israel. He was the one who was in the lineage of Jesus Christ, but he was a shepherd. The nation of Israel as a whole was full of individuals who understood agriculturally things, but they also understood what it meant and the work that was behind being a shepherd. Shepherds are so important that the Word of God calls Jesus Christ himself the Good Shepherd. And it's so important. And when I say, why does he call him the Good Shepherd? Because he's the one in charge of us. And he watches over his sheep, does he not? And I thank God for that. But shepherds have an important part in the Word of God, and they definitely have an important part here in the Christmas story. I want you to see number one, as we look at this Christmas from the viewpoint of the shepherds, I want you to see number one, they were plain. They were plain. There's not a whole lot of fanfare that's behind a shepherd. A shepherd isn't considered a glamorous, well-to-do job by the world's standards. I'm pretty sure maybe there wasn't anyone in the world applauding these people for being shepherds, or when they walked into a town square, no one said, here comes the shepherds. I'm pretty sure that didn't happen. It was a job that, while often important for those who had flocks, it often carried an aura of insignificance with it. And I can prove this because when Samuel went by the house of Jesse that day to anoint the next king of Israel, all his brothers were lined up, Jesse was there, and Samuel went to them one by one, but guess who wasn't there? The shepherd. David, oh well, he's young, he's just tending to the flocks. They didn't even think he was important enough to be there that day. They're often called insignificant. See, the thing is this, shepherding often required a great knowledge of the natural environment around them. For a shepherd would be required to navigate even treacherous terrain, bad weather, et cetera. And with doing those things, it ended up being quite a dirty job at times. You gotta think, if it's a night like tonight and there were shepherds out in the field with some flock, and sheep aren't the smartest animals, by the way. No, they're actually one of the dumbest. They need a shepherd. And so if you had a night like tonight that was a little cold and damp, you know, that shepherd would get a little wet and muddy and with all the smells and things that come with those different things, that shepherd would be it. It wasn't a very alluring job. It was one that kind of just, oh, you're a shepherd. Oh, all right. Well, they were plain individuals. Not only do they have the job of watching the sheep going over the different terrains, they had to watch over the sheep and keep them protected from the predators that may be about and might be lurking behind the scenes. Wolves and other different animals and creatures that might seek to have a sheep for a dinner or something like that. But it was often a job that they need to be alert at all times for, to protect the sheep. They couldn't doze off or maybe they took shifts or something like that. But there was always somebody watching the sheep. So it was demanding. It was demanding. It was hard work. These were individuals, though, again, by the world standards, no one looked at a shepherd and said, man, that's a high member of society. That's an individual I'm going to look up to. That's someone I'm going to count on. Oh, many times they were kind of brushed aside and thought of and overlooked. But you'll find, you'll find many times in the word of God, that's exactly what God uses. Bible says God uses the insignificant things of this world to confound the wise. Throughout the Word of God, we see God taking the insignificant and the small and the things that the world would just brush aside and using them over and over and over again for His glory. Let me tell you something, Christian, the shepherds are no different. Sometimes we might think, well, you know, I'm working my job and I'm going through life and I don't have a lot of fanfare, I don't have a lot of accolades, I'm kind of going through the motions. Let me tell you something, God notices you. God cares about you. And if God cared about some shepherds, he cares about his children. Why? Because like I said before, he is the good shepherd. And I'm thankful for that tonight. As you know, Satan might whisper in our ear and tell us we're insignificant and we're not doing much and we're all this and we're all that. God says, I still love you. I care for you. I'm here for you. Don't ever forget that. If I hear these plain shepherds, God had a purpose for them. I said number one, they were playing. I want you to say number two, they were puzzled. I said, what do you mean by they were puzzled? Well, it says in verse number nine, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. Can you imagine? Now, they didn't have the nice electricity we have back in Bible times. I guarantee you this, on a night When it was just a bunch of sheep and some shepherds, it was dark. I mean, pitch black dark. Couldn't see a thing. And then all of a sudden, they're minding their own business. Maybe they're starting to doze off just a little bit. They're settling in on the night. Maybe the sheep aren't behaving badly and they're kind of behaving. And shepherds think, man, this is going to be an easy night tonight. We could stretch back, relax. It's going to be easy. And then, whoa! The glory of the Lord showed up and shone round about them. That would kind of frighten me if I was there. All of a sudden it's pitch black and all of a sudden this giant light just appears. I mean, wouldn't you have the same idea as the shepherds? When the Bible says they were sore afraid, I can, if I put myself, many times when I read the Bible, or I go through Bible stories, I try to picture myself there. How would I react? If the angel of the Lord appeared to me and when it was pitch black dark and the glory of the Lord shone round about me, would I be afraid? The answer is 100%. Yeah, I would. Because at the time, the shepherds didn't know what it was. And if you didn't know what it was, you'd be afraid too. You would think some UFO, some alien's coming to snatch you up out of planet Earth or something like that. There's the UFO coming to take me away. But that's not the case here. You see, the shepherds, they were puzzled at first. This glory of the Lord, this bright light appears to them in the pitch black darkness, startles them, completely startles them. The Bible says they were sore afraid. Not just afraid, they were sore afraid. And it's just a compound of the puzzlement just a little bit. Not only was there this bright light that appeared to them, Now the angel starts speaking. They're maybe doing one of these. Is this a dream? Is this real what's happening right now? This can't be real. What does the angel start saying? And the angel said, and then fear not. First thing the angel says, fear not. I couldn't, you couldn't imagine. They probably looked white as a ghost. They probably looked pale, they were probably shaken, like what in the world is going on? And so the angel had to say, calm down, fear not, fear not. The first two words out of the angel's mouth, not hello, not hey, how you doing, but fear not. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. I say, why did the angel say that? Again, he's talking to some group of shepherds. They're scared out of their boots. They're afraid, all right? Understand, if I was in this area and the angel was speaking to me, I would want the angel to be a little assuring to me. And he does that. Fear not. I'm bringing you good tidings of great joy. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm not here to do something to you. I'm not here to take you away. I'm here to tell you the greatest news anyone's ever heard. Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Then the angel begins telling them of the greatest announcement anyone has ever heard, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Here are these shepherds, plain, insignificant shepherds, and that the angel of the Lord appears to them. Of all people to appear to, the angel appears to them front to you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord and this shall be a sign unto you ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger and suddenly so after the angel says all that the Bible says and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts I don't know how many multitude is here in this passage of scripture, but I just picture innumerable amounts of angels up here. And what do they start doing? They start praising the Lord. You know what that is to me? A glimpse of heaven. This right here is exactly what heaven's gonna be like. A multitude singing and praising to the Lord. It says in the book of Revelation that we're gonna be talking about the Lord and saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And you find here all the way back at the announcement of the Christ child's birth, just a little glimpse, a little glimmer of what heaven is going to be like. And guess who it was shown to? It was shown to those shepherds. A multitude of the heavenly host. What were they doing? They were praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Oh, I couldn't imagine being there on that day, that night. Not just hearing the angels speak, but seeing the multitudes of the heavenly host. Just praising God, proclaiming his name, worshiping the Lord. Could you imagine? If I was a shepherd, I'd just be speechless. I wouldn't have words for it. Wouldn't be able to, I just, what is going on? And yet God chose to appear to them. Yeah, they were puzzled. Yeah, they were plain. But watch number three, they were purposeful. They received this message right after the angels proclaimed glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill to men. You see verse number 15, and it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven. That could have been a sight, huh? Seeing the angels go into heaven. I wonder what that looked like. Who knows? I have no idea. I can't comprehend that, but that's what the Bible says. It says, the shepherd said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. Now this is interesting. Okay, so what were the shepherds doing? They were doing their job, weren't they? They had a bunch of sheep. They were out in the fields with their sheep. They all get together after this and say, hey, you know what? I think the sheep will be all right. Let's go. You might say, wait, didn't they have to watch the sheep? Let me tell you something. At that point in time, Jesus was more important than the sheep to them. They wanted to see the Christ child. They said, hey, if we lose our jobs, that's OK. Hey, you know, maybe maybe they owned these sheep. They said, hey, we lose a couple of sheep. That's OK. We're going to see Jesus. That took a lot. This was their livelihood. This was their life. And they left it all to go see Jesus. That's important. That's so significant, because here you have some shepherds that did not hesitate one bit. They didn't talk amongst themselves and say, hey, you know, we got all these sheep, you know, maybe we should make sure they get back safe. We'll go in the morning. We'll go tomorrow. We'll go a couple of days from now. You know, I'm really tired. I don't think I can make that journey right now, man. I don't think that's going to happen to me. No, they didn't hesitate. They were purposeful. And the thing is, how we can apply that to our life is very simply this. If the shepherds saw purpose to forsake everything they had to follow Jesus, what's stopping you and I? Their job didn't stop them. Their livelihood didn't stop them. Their goals, their dreams, their aspirations did not stop them. They just went and saw Jesus. One of the biggest things that prevents us from serving God is our own selves. One of the biggest things that prevents us and prevents teenagers and young people and Christians in general for fully selling out to God is our own selves. It's our own pride. It's our own way of life. We can't get past the fact that we just need to surrender all and so go follow Jesus. I mean, didn't Jesus proclaim this many times in his ministry? Take up your cross and follow me. Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Over and over again you find in recorded scripture the Lord Jesus Christ saying those words, follow me, follow me, follow me. Why? Because he just wants people to follow him. Are we doing that? Do we have the purpose that the shepherds had? They didn't hesitate. They didn't blink an eye. They didn't question it. They said, we are going. Let us now. This is right after they hear this message. Let us now go. There was no hesitation. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. Look what it says in verse 16. And they came with haste. I guarantee you this. As I already mentioned about them being plain, they didn't smell good. They probably didn't look good. They probably looked like a bunch of, just a big mess. I'm sure shepherding makes you look like that after tending to some sheep for several hours and you're tired and you're exhausted and you're getting little sleep and all these things. They didn't say, hey, you know what? Let me go clean up first. They said, we're going, we're going to go see Jesus. And they went with haste and they got all the way there. And they found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. What an amazing testimony. And again, the question begs to be asked, what is our excuse to not fully following God and committing to his ways in our life? Well, you know, I don't know, you know, my job, my life, my goals, forget all that. Where's Jesus? He's the one out to be getting the number one spot. Many times we have a list of what we wanna do in our life and then we try to piece Jesus into that. That's not the way it ought to be. Let's put Jesus first and then fill everything in the blanks. Or even better, put Jesus first and ask him to fill in the blanks. That's the way it ought to be done. Man, it's convicting, seeing how purposeful the shepherds are. And then I look at my life and say, man, there's times I'm not as purposeful as they. It's convicting if you think about it. I said, number one, they were plain. Number two, they were puzzled. Number three, they were purposeful. Number four, I want you to see they were proclaiming. They were proclaiming. After verse 16, they come to the manger scene, they see Mary and Joseph, And the babe lying in the manger, is that right after the birth of the Christ child? And it says, when they had seen it. So they get to the manger, they see the child. They spend a few moments with him, but they don't linger there. So why didn't they linger there and take in the moment and spend time with Jesus? Because there was a greater job to do. And you say, what's that? It says in verse number 17, when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying, which was told them concerning this child. What'd they do? They went around telling everyone about what was taking place. Didn't matter who they were. Didn't matter what walk of life they were from. If they were a higher society person or lower like them, they went and they told everybody they could. They saw the greatest thing they could ever see. Can you imagine being one of these people on the other end of the conversation of the shepherds? I mean, they're exhausted, but they're wired. They've traveled I don't know how many miles to get to the manger scene. They see the babe and Mary and Joseph and everything the angel said that was going to be theirs there. And they start telling, hey, this angel came to us. And he said, the Messiah is going to be born. He told us to go here. And this was the sign. We're going to see him. We found the child. There he is. You need to go see him. And they're telling everybody, hey, did you see Jesus yet? Hey, did you know over there? There was no room for him in the inn, but they're over there in that manger. Did you go see Jesus yet? Did you know he was there yet? They're telling everyone they can. Christian, I ask you something. When's the last time you told someone? about Jesus. When's the last time you told someone about that Christ child? One of the greatest, the two greatest times of the year, the easiest times to talk to someone about Jesus are Christmas and Easter. Two easiest times of the year. Why? Because it's everywhere. It's everywhere. What are we doing in telling people about Jesus? Romans 1 16 says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God and salvation to everyone that believeth, the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Many times, we don't proclaim like the shepherds did because we get ashamed, we get fearful. Satan starts whispering in our minds saying, hey, I know you wanna go talk to that person, what are they gonna think about you? What's that family member gonna say? What's that coworker gonna think? What's your boss gonna say if you're telling people about Jesus? Hey, you knock on that door, they might not like you. Don't do it. Can I just say, don't listen to the lies of the devil. Keep telling people about Jesus. Don't be ashamed of what Jesus has done for you. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Oh, let me tell you something, the shepherds, they didn't care. They didn't care, they probably smelled. They didn't care, they probably looked, now I'm not saying, you know, don't shower and look presentable when you go sowing, okay? That's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is they used it as an excuse to not tell people about Jesus. They didn't care that they were shepherds and people might look down on them for it. They proclaimed what was taking place. And they weren't ashamed of it, they didn't bat an eye. No, and actually, on the other hand, they were excited about it. They were thrilled, they were happy. We have to be thrilled and happy that God's given us a job to share with the lost and dying world around us that there is a savior for them. There is one that died on the cross to pay for their sins. Do you realize how much of a privilege it is to be a child of the King and be one that can bear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to this lost and dying world? That's a privilege. What an amazing thing, what an amazing opportunity that you and I have. We have to be joyful as we do it. Psalm 96.3 says, declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people. Declare it, let people know who Jesus is. Don't stop proclaiming. You know, when people say to me, happy holidays, you know what I say to them? Merry Christmas. That's what it's about. It's not about a happy holiday. It's about Merry Christmas. That's what it's about. It's about the Lord Jesus Christ. When someone asks you, well, why do you say Merry Christmas? They just gave you a loaded gun and put it in your hand. Because now you have an opportunity to give them the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. And you can start with the birth, but you can also get to the death, burial, and resurrection from there too. Praise God for the opportunities. But look for those opportunities and keep proclaiming the gospel. So you find the shepherds again, the angel appears to them, then they forsake their flocks and they go. And they get all the way there, they see the Christ child, then they start spreading it. They proclaim, then they didn't stop there. I wanna see number five. I said number one, they were playing. Number two, they were puzzled. Number three, they were purposeful. Number four, they were proclaiming. And number five will be done, they were praising. You find in verse number 18, and all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. Verse number 19 is interesting. You could preach a whole message on this one verse, by the way. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them. in her heart, thought about them, dwelled on all the things going on, how God chose her and God used her and all the things happening in her life. She kept it all in, in the way that she was dwelling on it constantly. How quickly we forget to dwell on Christ. How quickly do we forget to ponder what Jesus has done for you and I. We could read the whole message on verse number 19, but I'm not going to give you a whole other message tonight. Verse number 20, and the shepherds returned. glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told of them. Many times after Christmas, some people experience what many people call the after Christmas blues. Decorations come down, kids go back to school, the Christmas music is switched to non-Christmas music. The stores don't look as festive anymore, Walmart doesn't have all their decorations, the lights of all around the neighborhood come down. Kids go back to school, work's back to normal, no more eggnog and Christmas parties and all that wonderful stuff that we like. Back to normal. And that transition of going from that joyful Christmas season back to everyday life puts people in that after Christmas blues at times. But can I just say this? Christmas doesn't have to end in the heart of a Christian. It doesn't have to. And it sure didn't in the hearts and the minds of these shepherds They returned. Yeah, they had to go back to their flocks. They had to go back. They had to leave the manger scene. They had to leave Bethlehem. They had to go back to where they were from. They had to go gather their sheep. They had to get back to work as being shepherds. And they could have had some after Christmas blues, but they didn't. On the contrary, the Bible says this. After they returned, it says, and the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God. for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told to them. Just because the Christmas season's over doesn't mean we need to stop praising and thanking God for what He's done. Just because the decorations come down and the lights go off and all those stores put away their Christmas decorations, doesn't mean Christian sees the end in January and February for the hearts and minds of Christians. He understands something. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for my sins. He was born to die. That's something I can live with every single day of my life. That's something I can praise God for. That's something I can thank Him for. Every morning when I wake up and I have breath to breathe and hands that move and feet that'll move and do the work, I can praise God for it because He's given me purpose every day. Not just during the Christmas season. I can praise him in January. I can thank God in February. I can worship him in March. We have every opportunity, Christian. Keep praising God. Psalm 103, verse 2, it says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. What happens after Christmastime? What do we very quickly do? We forget all his benefits. Bible says, don't forget. Don't forget all the things God has done for you. Yeah, the Christmas tree might be put away and the lights might go off and, you know, might be a little bit before we see family and friends again, no more parties and back to work and back to school. And, oh, it's kind of sad, but it doesn't have to be for you and me. Because we still have a God to praise. We still have a God to be thankful for. Keep praising the Lord. Isaiah 25 verse 1 says, O Lord, thou art my God, I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things. Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Psalm 150 verse 6 says, Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. See, the shepherds got back to their flocks, but they weren't in the doldrums. Now instead, they kept praising and glorifying God for everything that had taken place. When December 26 rolls around and after even New Year's and that week after New Year's hits, take some time, just praise God. Just praise God. And then a week later, praise God again. And then a week later, praise God again. And don't stop praising the Lord. Shepherds didn't. Let me tell you something. Many times this passage of scripture sometimes is overlooked in the Christmas story. And those shepherds aren't mentioned as much as maybe we would think at all. But can I just say this, Christian, they're an important part. And if you really dig into this passage, as we've done tonight a little bit, you can see actually a lot of the things found that they did, it's convicting. Do I praise God as much as the shepherds did? Do I proclaim the Lord as much as the shepherds did? Do I have purpose in my life as much as the shepherds did when they went to go see Jesus? There's a lot of questions I can ask myself just looking at these several verses about a group of people that many people would think they're not significant. You know, many times, sometimes during the Christmas season, a lot of study is done to the wise men. Oh, where'd they come from? Who were they? You don't hear a lot about the shepherds, but they're important. Let's not forget Jesus. Let's not forget God had a purpose in coming to these individuals. God had a purpose in putting this in written scripture, not so we can read and brush it aside, so we can apply it to our lives and realize this is an important part. Let's not forget it. Next time we think of the Christmas story and the years to follow, let's not forget the Christmas from the viewpoint of the shepherds.