The shepherds became very afraid....

The King's Address

READ FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES -

Luke 2:8-12

That night, some shepherds were in the fields there watching their sheep. An angel of the Lord (God) stood before the shepherds. The glory of the Lord was shining around them. The shepherds became very afraid. The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid. I have some very good news for you. It will make all the people very happy. Today your Savior was born in David's town. He is Christ, the Lord. This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box."

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WORDS OF MINISTRY -

Incredibly, when the angels of God announced the birth of God's Son, the King, they give His address as "lying in a feeding" -- or manger as we traditionally say. Luke wants us to grasp three powerful truths in this simple description.

First, God is tapping into the long line of imagery that ties Him and His work to shepherds.

 Second, even though shepherds were not respected in Jesus' day, God announces the birth of His Son to them first -- it is part of Luke's emphasis on God's desire to reach all kinds of people across every strata of life.

Third, the Savior enters the world in humble circumstances, born to an ordinary and otherwise unnoticeable family. The grand and the forgotten, the glorious and the abandoned, the promise and the hopeful are all combined into God's story of love, grace, and salvation. The needle that sews this tapestry of grace is God's love. His thread is the Holy Spirit. His good news is that Jesus, His Son and our Savior, has arrived at an address we can all find, knocking on the door of our hearts.

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PRAYER –

Holy and magnificent God… thank you for making yourself accessible and reachable through your Son. Most of all, thank you for taking away my greatest reason to be afraid by coming with your salvation for me in Jesus, in whose name I give you thanks. Amen.



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