Grace Haven Church

0:00 You know, I'm always excited at about the time of the year in this moment, leading up to Christmas.

0:09 Like for me, Christmas is actually starting as soon as the summer is over.

0:13 September, I'm up for Christmas.

0:16 And you know, you wonder who is buying all the Christmas cookies in the shops in September.

0:22 Well, one of them is me.

0:23 So basically, Christmas to me is a beautiful time.

0:26 The music is already playing in my house, the Christmas cookies on the table.

0:31 It's an exciting time.

0:33 And so it's good to know that I have some friends here.

0:36 Christmas is a wonderful time.

0:38 But I know that it's not always like that for everyone.

0:41 Some people are just like, oh, I don't actually want to be bothered about that.

0:44 I don't want the Christmas cookie.

0:46 I don't want the Christmas music.

0:48 But we're going to look at today.

0:50 I want to share actually something today.

0:51 I want to share from a scripture why it is such a great time actually, whether you like the Christmas spirit, whether you're in it, whether you want to get into it or not.

1:04 But it is a great time.

1:05 And so I want to start reading from Luke 2, verse 8 to 10.

1:11 And this is what it says.

1:14 That night in a field near Bethlehem, there were shepherds watching over the flocks.

1:20 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared in radiant splendor before them, lighting up the field with the blazing glory of God.

1:31 And the shepherds were terrified.

1:33 The angel assured them, saying, don't be afraid, for I have come to bring you good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard.

1:44 And it is for everyone, everywhere.

1:47 For today in Bethlehem, a rescuer was born for you.

1:52 He is the Lord Yahweh, the Messiah.

1:56 You will recognize him by this miracle sign.

1:59 You will find a baby wrapped in strips of clothes, lying in a feeding straw.

2:07 So what actually jumps out to me here is, basically, the shepherds were on the field and an angel appears.

2:14 And he says, don't be afraid.

2:16 And, you know, when an angel shows up, you would probably be slightly shocked, maybe if an angel would just appear.

2:23 But he shows up and he says, don't be afraid, for I have come to bring you good news.

2:29 It was good news that he brought.

2:31 And he says, in fact, it's the most joyous news the world has ever heard.

2:38 And that's the title of my message.

2:40 The most joyous, the greatest news that the world has ever heard.

2:47 And then he goes on and he says, and it is for everyone, everywhere.

2:52 It is for everyone, everywhere.

2:53 It is the greatest news.

2:55 It is the most joyous news for everyone, everywhere.

2:59 Now, when you think about it, today in our world, what would you say is what the world needs?

3:07 What news would it have to be that it is the most joyous news to the world?

3:13 You know, maybe we think of world peace.

3:16 Or maybe we think an end of all natural disasters.

3:19 That would be the greatest news for our world.

3:22 Or enormous suffering and pain.

3:24 And it's not easy to talk about it because it's so real for so many of us.

3:28 I know that, especially in this time leading up to Christmas, as exciting as it is for a lot of us, it is also not for everyone.

3:39 It is real, you know.

3:41 We go through sickness.

3:44 We maybe have lost someone.

3:46 Maybe a relationship or a marriage broke.

3:48 Maybe we lost that job.

3:50 So I understand it's not always just a great time.

3:53 So what would be the most joyous news for our world, for you, for our country, for our nation?

4:02 I think about it because, you know, the Bible has made quite some statements in that passage.

4:06 And we read it and we think, oh, what a beautiful, like for me, oh, what a beautiful Christmas message, you know.

4:11 And again, for some of you, maybe it's like, oh, gosh, no, not again about Christmas, you know.

4:16 And maybe for some of you, yes, it's nice, you know, it's beautiful.

4:19 But what are these statements?

4:21 The angels said, don't be afraid.

4:24 Who can say that?

4:25 Who can say that to you?

4:26 You do not need to be afraid.

4:28 The angels said it is the most joyous news for all the world.

4:35 You are in that world.

4:38 Your family is in that world.

4:41 I have family in America and it counts for them.

4:45 I have family in the south of Germany and it is for them.

4:48 I have friends in Australia and it is for them.

4:51 It's for everyone, everywhere.

4:55 Another statement the angels said, made.

4:58 Another statement that the Bible made for everyone, everywhere.

5:03 What a statement.

5:06 A savior is born.

5:09 A savior is born.

5:10 He is the Lord Yahweh, the Messiah.

5:14 Think about that.

5:15 What statements are these?

5:18 Incredible.

5:19 And you know, I want to start with my first point to look into these statements.

5:23 And why was this the most joyous news for everyone, everywhere?

5:28 And my point number one is because it says, do not be afraid.

5:32 We've just been singing the song, peace be still, peace be still.

5:37 You know, don't be afraid.

5:38 We don't need to be afraid.

5:41 But it's easily said, but how do we live with this?

5:44 Because we know who said it.

5:47 It is, you know, I sometimes think again, when an angel appears, you're like, you would think every time an angel appears, most of the time, and an angel also appeared, like this whole story is actually crazy.

5:58 An angel appeared to Mary because of the news that was given to her.

6:04 You know, you're going to be pregnant and you're going to be carrying the Messiah, the savior of the world.

6:10 Like you wouldn't probably just take that from anyone.

6:12 So he needed an angel to come to bring the message to her.

6:14 And she was freaked out and the angels said, don't be afraid.

6:17 An angel appeared to Joseph because imagine his position, Mary coming to him saying, hey, I'm pregnant, we're engaged.

6:23 But it wasn't because I slept with somebody else.

6:26 I don't think he would believe her.

6:28 So an angel appeared to Joseph to make sure he understood.

6:32 It was a God thing.

6:34 And they were freaked out.

6:35 But, you know, I don't think it was just about that.

6:38 The angel came to bring the message.

6:40 Don't be afraid.

6:42 And we can look through the Bible and we see that over again.

6:45 Jesus is saying it.

6:46 For example, in Matthew 10, 31, it says, so don't be afraid.

6:52 You are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

6:57 So Jesus is saying that in a time when he was teaching his disciple things and he was saying, don't be afraid.

7:03 You are so much more valuable than the birds, you know.

7:07 In Matthew 14, 27, for example, it says, but Jesus spoke to them at once and said, don't be afraid.

7:15 Take courage.

7:16 I am here.

7:17 And it was a situation where they were out in the water and the storms was going crazy.

7:22 And Jesus said, don't be afraid.

7:25 Or another one where it says in Luke 8, 50, it says, but when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, don't be afraid.

7:36 Just have faith.

7:38 She will be healed.

7:40 It's Jesus speaking.

7:41 And that's why it is the most joyous and it is the greatest news for all the world, for everyone, everywhere, because Jesus is saying, you don't have to be afraid.

7:53 Don't be afraid.

7:55 You can trust him.

7:57 There is hope.

7:58 And I remember another beautiful story at a dinner party.

8:03 At a dinner party and I had a girl sitting with me and we were just eating and we were talking and we got talking about her situation.

8:11 And it wasn't like super dramatic, but for her it was a real concern because she was afraid of speaking in public.

8:17 And she started a university course and it was also another language.

8:21 Like she isn't a native German speaker and she was afraid to speak.

8:25 But that was basically her daily bread because of the university course that she had done.

8:29 And she was literally, it wasn't just, oh my gosh, I don't want to do it and I do it anyway and it's actually wonderful.

8:35 It was literally that she couldn't eat, that she couldn't sleep.

8:37 She was terrified.

8:38 She was afraid of speaking in public.

8:41 She was afraid of doing this course that she wanted to do.

8:44 And so while we're sitting there eating and just being together, she's sharing this with me.

8:50 And then you know what, at the end we prayed for her and it was incredible to see how she changed over the months, over the years because she's been around for a while and just the confidence that rose up in her, just to get rid of this fear, you know.

9:07 And again, for us this might be a small issue in comparison to everything that's going on.

9:12 But for her it was something that she was afraid of and she was able to overcome it.

9:19 So you know, no matter how small or how big it is, you don't have to be afraid.

9:27 Take courage, have faith.

9:29 And sometimes when it's hard to rise up our faith, that's why we need to be here.

9:34 And that's why for us that have faith, let's come with our faith and build a faithful environment so that for people that it's just because of what's going on, maybe your faith is not as strong as you want it to be.

9:48 But come, keep coming and be filled with faith and be encouraged with faith.

9:54 So don't be afraid.

9:56 My second point is, why is it the greatest news for all the world?

10:01 Because it is for everyone, everywhere.

10:05 And when we look at the passage, when we look at this scripture, the angel came to the shepherds and brought the news first to the shepherds.

10:14 And shepherds in that day, they actually didn't have a very good reputation.

10:19 They were actually looked down upon.

10:22 And so the angel came to them to bring this news and basically saying, hey, this news is for you, but also this news is for everyone.

10:32 Also, a star was pointing the wise men.

10:36 They were maggi or magi or whatever you call them, like basically, you know, astrologists, and they were educated.

10:43 And an angel was sent to point them to the savior as well.

10:49 So it was made very clear in that time that this is a message for everyone.

10:54 It is for the shepherds, but it is also for the educated, for the wise, for the smart ones, for the rich, for the poor, for the looked down upon, but also for the rich, for the wise.

11:09 This message is for everyone.

11:12 In those days, that was unheard of.

11:15 It wasn't just anything for everyone.

11:18 It was often more some things for some people, you know.

11:24 But what happens here is all of this is changed.

11:29 With this event, everything is different.

11:32 The message is brought to everyone, everywhere.

11:36 In that time, you couldn't really talk as a man to a woman.

11:41 You wouldn't really talk as a Jew to Samarites, you know.

11:45 It was just, it was not like that.

11:48 So when this message came, it came for everyone everywhere.

11:53 And this is good news for us too, because this message is for you.

11:58 This message is for you.

12:00 It doesn't matter your background.

12:02 It doesn't matter what you have done or what you haven't done.

12:06 It doesn't matter whether you're rich or poor.

12:08 It doesn't matter whether you're educated or you're not so much educated.

12:14 It doesn't matter whether you are successful in your business or at work or whether you just lost your job for whatever reasons.

12:22 This message is for you.

12:31 So when we receive this message, what are we going to do with it?

12:35 Are we just going to hold onto it for ourselves?

12:37 Or are we actually going to bring it out into the world?

12:40 Because it is for everyone.

12:41 It is for us in here and it is for everyone out there.

12:44 So for us, we can actually take that message now and go out and share it.

12:49 And you know, there's many different ways that we do it.

12:51 Here, we're speaking, we're preaching, we're reading scriptures.

12:55 But at work, I would not suggest you do that, you know.

12:59 When we go to our workplaces, when we go to university, when we go to our families, or wherever it is that you do go, let's bring this message, let's live it.

13:10 And you know, when we receive that, when we receive, hey, I don't need to be afraid because Jesus has actually said it.

13:17 We're going to live in a different way and we're going to carry this message in a different way.

13:21 It actually has to be real in us.

13:24 But let's not just take it to ourselves.

13:29 Let's take it on because it is for you, but let's bring it out to everyone, everywhere.

13:35 And so my third point is, why is it the greatest message?

13:41 Why is it the most joyous message for all the world?

13:45 Because the Savior was born.

13:48 Because the Savior of the world is born.

13:52 It was the greatest message because the Savior of the world was born.

13:57 Let's read this message, let's read this passage in a different translation because this is what it says here.

14:03 They were terrified, but the angel reassured them, don't be afraid, he said.

14:07 I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.

14:11 The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born today in Bethlehem.

14:17 The Savior is born today.

14:19 The Savior of the world is born today.

14:22 And that is good news.

14:24 That is good news because we need saving.

14:27 Our world needs saving.

14:30 And what is the greatest need in the world?

14:33 What would be the greatest news?

14:35 We can't fix this world ourselves.

14:37 We can't fix ourselves.

14:39 We can't change ourselves.

14:41 Only God can move the human heart.

The Greatest News The World Has Ever Heard.

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