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| Rev. Brian Wilkie |
By Rev.
Brian Wilkie
Pastor of St. Andrew's Christian Community
Rockland, Ontario
|
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PODCAST LINK for Sunday, January 5th, 2020:
http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/10378/good_news_032_dec23.mp3
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(This is a re-broadcast of a Program first aired on CFRA, December 23rd, 2012.)
Broadcast Notes:
Broadcast Notes:
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‘Good News of Christmas Morning’
Segment 1: This
program is sponsored by the Good News Christian Ministries, 96 Pheasant Run Drive, Ottawa, ON K2J 2R5, Canada, (new address). This is Brian Wilkie speaking.
Today
our theme is “Good news of Christmas
morning”
You
know our show is called good news in the morning, and there are two mornings in
all of history that stand out as “Good News.” The morning of the Resurrection,
when Mary found Jesus risen from the dead, she spread the good news to the
other disciples. The other morning is what we celebrate at Christmas, the birth
of the Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
I want
to read to you from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, about that
first evening and morning when Christ was born.
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a
decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the
first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And
everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth
in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the
house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged
to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the
time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a
son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no
room for them in the inn.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the
fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord
appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good
news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of
David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a
sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly
host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace to men on
whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into
heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this
thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and
Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him,
they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18
and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But
Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke
2:1-20, NIV)
Now
would you listen with me to a carol written and performed by Carolyn Arends “Come
and See “ from her Christmas Album, “An Irrational Season.”
Segment 2: (introduction of Message)
The Good news of Christmas morning is good news
indeed. It is not just about a baby being born, it is about the Son of God,
coming into his creation to save the world, given to us for our salvation. From
the very beginning of the prophecies concerning the Christ, it is emphasized
that saviour came to give his life to deliver us from sin. And so as we
celebrate Christmas morning, it needs to be celebrated in light of Jesus
gift. He came “not to be served, but to
serve and to give his life as a ransom to many.” Now how can we say that Jesus
dying is good news? We can say it because he accomplished what he came to do. He
came to take upon himself the burden of our sin in this conflict that has
spanned the ages from the first human to the present day, In this conflict
between humanity and God has decide to bear the pain, sorrow and wickedness of
humanity upon himself. He has decided to cancel the debt against us, and he
invites us to come to him and receive a new life, a life that lives out the
holy goodness of God overcoming sin with all its pain. What good news this is!
We often find ourselves burdened but in this season of Christmas we remember
the great promise and purpose of God to bring joy and peace to his earth. Just last week as I participated in the
Capital City Chorus Christmas Show, and it is just a delight to sing and hear
the stories of Jesus birth, and life and love. And it is wonderful that in your
churches you are celebrating with pageants, carols, cantatas and communion,
with beautiful music and candle light, feeling the joy and the love of God’s
gift.
Isn’t it a gift to be able to gather together with
others, and feel the warmth that God intends for us to have eternally. Let’s
not forget those that in their relationship with God who find this season
difficult. How is it good news for them, as they face loneliness, while others
join with family, who face need while others celebrate abundance. Who face
loss, illness, or financial crisis while all the world seems to smile and
laugh? How is it good news for them?
It is good news that God overcomes all these things,
so that someday all these burdens will pass... But I’d like to challenge you,
our listeners, and challenge myself with the challenge of the Gospel, that we
should share God’s blessing with others,
by offering our love, compassion,
generosity and hope to others who are troubled. Whether the troubles are
circumstantial- financial, loss of employment, stress, or personal illness,
emotional hurt or physical injury, or loneliness, distance from home, or mental
distress, let’s ask ourselves- or better yet let’s ask God, how we might bring
some light into another’s life this
Christmas.
I’m sure that if we just take a little time to pray, God will show
us something extra-ordinary for another. And by extraordinary, I don’t mean
something grandiose, rather just something beyond your normal Christmas
routine. It might be a telephone call you’ve been putting off, or sending a
card to someone you haven’t written to in a long time. It might simply mean
listening a little more carefully when you ask someone how they’re doing, and
they say they’re fine.
This Christmas can be good news for more people;
this Christmas must become good news for more people. What we do as Christians to celebrate
Christmas is so different than what the world does. It might be alright for
others to think only of their joy, their comfort, their own kin and their own
friends; and we do that as well, but the Lord we worship calls us to a wider,
greater love. Jesus taught us to go beyond loving only those who love us, and
to reach out to those who cannot repay us.
We can help to make Christmas good news for others.
And as we are being transformed by the Holy Spirit, we can become people who
find our joy in bringing blessing to others. Is this the difference that Christ
is making in you?
Let’s think about that as we listen to the beautiful
hymn
Silent night, sung by the Cape Breton Chorale.
Segment 3: (Conclusion of Message)
Now I want to change direction somewhat and talk
about the meaning of Christmas and the sensibility of the events. I this day
and age there is abundant criticism and attack on the historic record of
Christmas and the life of Jesus. There are people who dispute the every
miraculous event, every teaching of Jesus, and the nature of the God revealed
in Scripture. Christmas reminds us that
God has made his nature and power very clear. He is a God who spans the heavens
and the psalmist can say “the earth is his footstool,” yet he can also declare
“what is man that you are mindful of him?”
There was a book written in the 1960s, by J.B.
Phillips, titled “Your God is too
small.” The theme of the book was to address those who thought of God
in very narrow parochial ways: who merely confirmed their own attitudes,
prejudices and concerns. For such people their god is not big enough to change
their lives. Their god can be just a national mascot, or just a reflection of
their own culture. And Dr. Phillips was
right, that it is possible to believe in a God who is too small.
But at Christmas we see that for some, their god is
too big. What do I mean by this? We have people today who have become overawed
by their knowledge of science and the universe, and think that they are the
first generation to appreciate how immense the universe is, and how small our
planet, and our species is in the grand scheme of space and time. It is true that our solar system is too small
to be visible in a model of our galaxy, and that our galaxy can be lost in the
vastness of the billions of light years of the universe. It is inconceivable to
them that God could be concerned about individuals on this little planet.
Is it ridiculous to think that God could be mindful
of humanity? Is God too big to be concerned about us, about you and me, made of
dust on this little speck of dust? Is God too big to love us?
Well the Gospel says, “NO!” God is not too big to
love us. God is not too great to notice what is going on in each person’s
life. In fact the Gospel tells us that
God is extremely attentive to our plight. It’s hard to believe! It’s
astounding! But it is historical fact that God became flesh: a few pounds of
dust in vast universe in order reveal his love, and save our helpless race.
It’s refreshing that even in the wisdom of Dr.
Seuss, a children’s author, the truth that the very great can hearken to the
cry of the very small is the centerpiece of “Horton hears a Who.” In fact it is
Horton alone who has ears big enough to hear the tiny inhabitants of a speck of
dust.
We in our pride and “bigness” often dismiss the weak,
the small, the “unimportant.” But God isn’t that kind of big. He cares for the
sparrow, and he cares for you. He sees the humble and contrite. He loves those
who are at the bottom as well as at the top, and he became small for our sakes.
He made us, small as we are capable of responding to him and living in
relationship with him. He made us for himself, and seeks to bring us into
eternity with him.
Ours is not a speculative religion of armchair
philosophers, but conclusions drawn from the public working and speaking of
God, through his prophets, apostles, and above all in Jesus Christ. In the
deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and in the ministry of Moses, Judges, Kings,
Priests and prophets, and now, finally, in giving his Son, God has made it
clear that his love is real his concern is great, his salvation is offered at
great cost.
Our confidence in this is confirmed in the testimony
of those who saw the miracles of Christ from his birth to resurrection, and in
the gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples, by which he confirmed their
testimony over and over again. Remember that Peter wrote to early Christians, ‘We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told
you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the
Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard
this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.’
(2 Peter 1:16–18) God the
Father deigned to reveal unmistakably that he was in Christ revealing his will
to the world.
I want to remind you that if your God is too big to
fit into a manger, he is not the God who created the universe. IF your God is
too grand and grandiose to care about the individual person, he is not the only
true God, who sent Jesus Christ to save sinners. Many people want to say “all
gods are the same.” But far from it! Here is a God who loves us, HE is the only
God, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that his character and love are
anything other than the character and love shown in Jesus Christ and declared
in Scripture. This is the only true God, and He loves you. This is the real and
living God, and he calls you. This is our God, the servant King, and he died so
that you can live. Trust in this Good
News, that God is not too big to hear you as you cry out to him, whether in
pain or need, or in thankful love.
Would
you pray with me?
Loving God, Thank you for the
Good News of Christmas. Thank you for your love.
Lord, receive us. Fill us
with your spirit and lead us into the life that you have prepared for us in
Jesus Christ.
In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thank
you, listeners, for your encouragement, prayer and financial support. You keep
us on the air week by week. If you can,
please make out a cheque payable to Good News Christian Ministries, and send it
to 96 Pheasant Run Drive, Ottawa, ON K2J 2R5, Canada, (new address). We will send you a receipt at income tax
time. Please also tell others about this program, and don’t forget to visit our
website. You will find several of our programs available on podcasts.
Don’t
forget to worship in a church where the gospel is soundly proclaimed and lived
out with compassion, integrity, and resolve.
Now to
conclude our program here is Joy to the World sung by the University of
Manitoba Singers
May you
know Jesus Christ personally and profoundly. May the Holy Spirit reside deep
within your heart. And may the heavenly Father surround you with his constant
and abiding and accompanying love.
Rev. Brian Wilkie
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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the
following link:
