The sermon reflects on the birth of Jesus as narrated in Luke 2, emphasizing its significance as the foundation of the gospel and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. It begins with the angel's announcement to the shepherds, a moment marked by fear due to the glory of God, akin to Isaiah's vision in Isaiah chapter 6. The speaker underscores that despite their fear, the angel brings good news of great joy for all people, heralding the birth of a Savior, Christ the Lord, in Bethlehem. This event is the culmination of God's promise from Genesis, where He vowed to send a savior to redeem humanity. The sermon highlights that Christmas matters because it is the very essence of the gospel, the moment when God's promise of salvation is realized. It is a message of peace, declaring that sin does not have the final word, and through Jesus, believers are offered forgiveness and eternal life. The speaker calls for believers to trust in Jesus, lay down their sins, and spread the joy of Christmas by sharing the gospel with others. The sermon concludes by urging the congregation to be like the shepherds who, after hearing the good news, obeyed and spread the message, glorifying and praising God.

Thus saith the Lord. Now in those days the decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Corinius was governor of Syria and everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary who was engaged to him and was with child. While they were there the days were completed for her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you.

You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, The shepherds began saying to one another let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing That has happened which the Lord has made known to us so they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and The baby as he led in the manger May God bless the reading of his word. Amen. Amen.

Let's pray together. Father, help us now in this time. Help me to rightly divide this your word. Give grace to my people, our people, that they would not just be hearers only, but doers, hopers, that they would go out from here declaring Merry Christmas. Ask these things for Jesus' sake and their joy.

Amen. You may be seated. Well it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, at least some version of it. And so this morning we are going to answer the question together, Why does Christmas matter? Why does Christmas matter?

And though there is far more to be said than what can be said this morning, an angel has a few answers to that very question. Why does Christmas matter? Answer number one, Christmas matters because Christmas is the foundation of the good news. Christmas matters because Christmas is the foundation of the gospel. Look at verse 8 with me in our text.

Let me read this again as we consider why Christmas matters. In the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people." So picture the scene. You've got the glory of the Lord shining upon these shepherds.

An angel of light has come with God's glory glowing all around him and all around these shepherds. And what is the response from these shepherds? What does the text say? The shepherds were terribly afraid. What were they afraid of?

Well, here was an angel with the glory of God surrounding him, and it undoes them. It frightens them. Why would the glory of God frighten these shepherds who have seen some lions? They've seen some bears. They've seen some tigers, Maybe not tigers, but I wanted to keep.

Oh my. They've seen a thing or two, haven't they? But in this moment, these shepherds are terribly afraid. Well, what were they afraid of? Well, these shepherds' response to the glory of God, it's the same response that Isaiah had in Isaiah chapter 6.

Do you remember Isaiah chapter 6? I only got one, uh-huh, so we probably should all turn there. Let's go there. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah chapter 6.

Let's look in verse 1. We'll read a number of verses here. We'll read verses 1 through 7. Isaiah chapter 6, beginning in verse 1. If you get to Jeremiah, you've gone too far.

Here's what Isaiah says in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 1. In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings, with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory.

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of Him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. What is Isaiah seeing there? Isaiah is seeing the holiness of God the glory of God and what does Isaiah do? Verse 5, Woe is me, for I am ruined. I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among the people of unclean lips.

For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." What was Isaiah's response? He was afraid. He was ruined. He was undone. Why?

Simple answer. Because of his sin. In light of the glory and holiness of God, this prophet Isaiah knew that he deserved condemnation and damnation sin deserves death and if you were just left with verse 5 yikes but The text in Isaiah 6 doesn't stop at verse 5. What happens? Verse 6.

Then one of the seraphim, most likely an angel, one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning cold into his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven." The holiness of God, Isaiah is ruined. Isaiah knows that condemnation is all that he deserves, but God intervenes. That's the Gospel. They say of him again, most likely an angel, flies to Isaiah who is ruined.

This angel from the Lord comes to Isaiah and tells him the good news. Your iniquity is taken away. Your sin has been forgiven. And now 700 years later after this event, 700 years after that angel encounter, another angel shows up to this group of shepherds in the glory of the Lord proclaiming the same goodness. These shepherds like Isaiah, They are undone.

They know that they're sinners. They know that they do not deserve anything but the wrath of God for their sins. God's holiness, God's glory reveals that to them. That's why they're afraid. They know that this glory, they cannot stand, they cannot sit, they cannot kneel in the midst of this glory because of their sin.

And yet again, in Luke chapter 2, again, what does an angel, this angel, say to them? What did the other angel say to Isaiah? That angel and this angel declare sin doesn't have the final word. Sin doesn't get the final word. That your sin, it need not drag you down to damnation if you but turn to the Savior.

That's the message of these angels. That's the reason that Christmas matters. Because the Savior came. Because the blessed hope came and His name is Jesus. And in Jesus, the good news is true.

I want you to look back at our passage in Luke 2 now. You'll see this really clearly. You see now why the shepherds are afraid, why they are undone. Listen to what the angel says to them. In Luke chapter 2 verse 10, but the angel said to them, don't be afraid, for behold I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.

For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Just think about this beloved, for hundreds of years, for thousands of years, from all the way back in the garden in Genesis 3, The promise had been made by God, I will send a Savior. I will send the Christ. I will send the promised one. I will send the serpent head crusher.

I will send the second Adam to redeem you from the curse. Book after book, prophecy after prophecy, God throughout the whole Old Testament was telling His people, I'm sending the Savior, He's coming, He's coming, He's coming, And He's going to come to save the world. And beloved, that's why we sing, Joy to the world. Because that Lord has come. The promised one has come.

He's the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. And so let earth receive her King. It's what we sing. Repent, believe His gospel that He has come to save His people from their sins.

What the text tells us. This Jesus, the Christ, He's the King. He's the King of the world. He has come to rescue the world. Friends I want to urge you, lay down your rebellion and trust in Him.

Right now, He comes to make His blessings flow. How far? A little bit? Most of the way? As far as the curse is found.

You sit here this morning and you find yourself trapped in sin. You cannot kick pornography. You cannot kick gluttony. You cannot kick gossip. He can't.

You come to Him, beating your breast, trust Him, He comes to make His blessings flow as far as the curse is found for you, for the world. This is why Christmas matters. That's why Christmas matters, because Christmas is the very foundation of your hope. Christmas is the foundation of the good news. God came in the flesh as the promised Savior.

He is the Christ, that word means the promised one, the anointed one, he's the Messiah, he's the promised one, the Lord. He came! For today in the city of David, the angel says, has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. The Savior, that was promised all the way in Micah 5, verse 2. Micah 5, verse 2.

The Savior was to come from the city of David, Bethlehem. And this angel is declaring to these shepherds, that which was promised has now been fulfilled. Go back up to verse 10 real quick. The angel says, I bring you good news. This is just so fascinating to me.

In my study this week, I realized that those five words are actually just one Greek word. And it's the word that we get evangelism from. So it could be translated, Behold I evangelize, I evangelize to you great joy. It's this idea of evangelism. I evangelize to you.

This is good news. Then this news, it says, will bring joy to all peoples. Why? How can it bring joy? Because again on Christmas God came.

And all of His promises came true. I mean how was it possible for God to Speak to Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6, and through the angel, tell Isaiah, I've removed your sins from you. I mean, how could a thrice holy God just take away Isaiah's sin? You should be asking that question. How's that possible?

And the answer is because the Father was going to pour out His righteous wrath due to Isaiah's sin and due to your sin Christian on his son at Calvary he was going to pour out his righteous wrath due to your sin on the promised son who would come on Christmas. If the sun doesn't come, no forgiveness, no hope. You got no Christmas, You get nothing but enmity and futility in that chair. That's all you got. On Christmas, the promises of God and His good news came true.

You think about the promise of rightness with God, promised since Genesis 3, it's laying in a manger. The promise of the curse being reversed wrapped in swaddling cloths. The promise of a king who would not fail when David had failed, when Solomon had failed. The king who would rule the world in truth and grace and be the desire of the nations made flesh and dwelt among us on Christmas. So that in him who came on Christmas in his perfect life, in his perfect life, by faith in Christ, His obedience and righteousness would be imputed to the account of redeemed sinners.

So that in His death, the penalty and power of sin would be severed in the lives of redeemed Christians. So that in this Savior who came on Christmas in His resurrection, your justification Christian would be secured forever. This is so that in His ascension, His power would be undeniable, His promise would hold true The great joy would be for all the people, including you. Including you. In his ascension, the promise of great joy for all the people would ring true for all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him who came on Christmas.

So what are we told? So therefore go and make disciples of all the nations because the nations belong to this Christ who came on Christmas. Because the world belongs to this Christ who came on Christmas. He bought it with His blood. That's what He came to do on Christmas.

Christmas is the foundation of your rightness with God. It's the foundation of the gospel. Christmas is The foundation of everything, good, true, and beautiful. And that's the first reason that Christmas matters. No Christmas, no hope.

Christmas is the foundation for everything. And Christmas matters because Christmas is for everybody. Christmas is for the world. Christmas matters because Christmas is for all peoples. The angel says it, Christmas is for all people.

Look again at verse 10. The angel said, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. All the people. Christmas is for all the people.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of rightness with God, the message of sin being forgiven, the message of God Himself taking our sin upon Himself and imputing His righteousness to the accounts of sinners, declared saints, that message has its foundation laid at Christmas. For it was Christmas that was foretold all the way back when God dealt with sin the very first time. Do you remember that? God dealing with sin the very first time. I've alluded to it already.

And God, in that moment of sin, He sought out Adam and Eve. He promised the Savior all the way back in Genesis 3. And then He dealt with Adam and Eve. He dealt with their shame. He covered their guilt, didn't he?

By enacting the very first sacrifice, right? First time we ever see in the text an animal slain. A sacrifice to cover guilt. He just promised the Savior and then he does that to cover their guilt. That's not an accident!

Someone needed to come. The blood of goats, the blood of rams is not going to be enough. One would come, and his sacrifice would be for all the peoples and the nations would be glad that sinners around the world would be converted to saints that the guilty would be declared righteous that the condemned would be made pardoned, that children of wrath would be turned to children of God. The foundation of all of that is Christmas. I want to say it really clearly, it's for you.

It's for you. Young and old. And children, this message is very much for you. Children, this gospel, this good news is for you. So I want you to come.

Let the little children come. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Come and behold Him, born the King of angels. Come, children, adore this Jesus, trust Him. Rid yourself of all of your vain attempts of trying to make yourself right with God.

Stop that. It won't work. Adam and Eve tried that. They covered themselves up with fig leaves. See what we did?

We covered our guilt. We got stripped away. And God covered them himself. That's what Jesus came to do for you children. To make you right with God.

So you should sing with all your heart as you fly to Jesus, away from your sin and flying to Jesus for salvation from your sin. Children Sing with all of your heart what we just sang. Adam's likeness, Lord, now efface. The old me, my sin, my wicked nature. Take it away.

Crucify it. Crucify the old me, Lord Jesus, with yourself. That's what you've got to sing. And sing, stamp thine image in its place. Make me new, Lord.

Make me yours. I need you. I trust you. I need you, Savior. That's how your pastor was saved.

He just said, I just popped my brother in the eye. Boy, I was somebody big. And God in His grace just showed me how rotten I was. I went upstairs thinking that punch used to always feel good. And I knew I had a bad heart.

And I very much cried out, Adam's likeness, take it away. I need the second Adam to come and make me new. And 30 years later, here I am, by the grace of God, being made new. The Gospel's for you, children. Gospel's for you.

You need to say unto the Lord, on your knees, I trust you. I trust your power. I trust your perfection, Jesus. I trust your obedience despite my disobedience. I trust you.

I turn from my sin and I trust you. And the promise is, if you cry out to the Lord Jesus, be merciful to me a sinner. Children, do you know what the promise is? The promise is that He will. The promise is great joy for all the peoples.

You're in that group. Christmas is very much for you children. The message of salvation is for you young ones. You need to go home this afternoon, you need to sit down with your father, and your mother, and you need to tell them, children, Father, Mother, I want to believe. I want the promise of Christmas to be true for me.

You need to tell them that. And then they will open up their Bibles because they love you. And they will open up their Bibles to 1 John 1, 9, and they will show you the way that You must confess your sins to Him who is faithful and just, and He will forgive you your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. They will open up their Bibles and go to Luke 18, just 16 chapters after our text this morning. They will open up to Luke 18 and they will show you that man who beat his breasts He couldn't even look up to God because he knew he was a sinner and he cried out to God simply God Be merciful to me a sinner And they will show you how that man went home saved that man went home declared righteous justified because he trusted in the Savior who came on Christmas.

That man went home justified and you gotta think that he was shouting something like Merry Christmas on the way home. God, thank you. Children, your parents, children listen to me. Listen to me, children. Your parents will show you the words of these very angels in Luke two who say to you, Jesus is both the Savior and Lord of sinners.

That's what your parents will do for you. You cannot be your own Savior. You cannot be your own Lord. Jesus must be. And if you confess Him as Lord, and you trust Him as Savior, we will baptize you as your pastors.

We will baptize you as a congregation, and you will be welcome to this table for the rest of your days. And you, I really think so, you will never ever say, if this happens today, you trust Jesus, you will never ever say Merry Christmas the same again. Children, Christmas is for you. Christmas is for all people. I just need to say that's why we go around saying Merry Christmas, isn't it?

Merry Christmas, we shout. Merry Christmas, we say. At least we should shout it. Do we? Should we shout that?

Maybe that's the better question. Should we yell out Merry Christmas? Well if you haven't, you're not, I'm gonna try to say yes if you don't got it already. Of course we should be saying Merry Christmas. We must shout Merry Christmas.

Why? Because Christmas is the reason to be merry. If Christmas isn't true, if God did not come in the flesh, deity incarnate, if Jesus did not come, if Christ was not born, then there is absolutely zero reason to be married. There is no hope, there's only futility. You're dead in your sin, there's no hope for you if Christmas is a lie.

But it's not a lie. Because on Christmas, God did come. He took on flesh, He came to the city, He came in the city of David and in the city of David the Savior Christ the Lord, He came. And so you, you need to walk into Chipotle. You knew it was coming.

You've got to walk into Chipotle this week. Do it. And you got to greet those amazing cooks with those, just bring it. And as you get all that, you greet them and you say hi to them and you need to tell them on your way out with a burrito in your hand or a bowl, I won't judge. Either way, you need to tell them on your way out, Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas because Christmas is for them. It's an invitation for them To embrace the good news of great joy in Jesus Christ alone for all the peoples. We say Merry Christmas to one another and to our neighbors and to all the world because Christmas is the reason for any merriness in the world. And Christmas is for all people. You got that?

You gotta say that more often. It's what you say when you say Merry Christmas. Let me quote to you from J.C. Ryle. Man, if you've never read J.C.

Ryle, Christmas gift idea for yourself. J.C. Ryle shows us just how important Christmas is for all people, for the world. This is what he writes. On Christmas, when Jesus Christ was born, the spiritual darkness which had covered the earth for 4, 000 years was about to be rolled away the way of pardon and peace with God was about to be thrown open to all mankind the world was to be The world was to be bought by the Savior who came with his blood.

The first stone of God's kingdom was about to be set up. If this is not good news to you friends, he writes, then there never have been tidings that have ever deserved that name. The promise is that this world that Jesus entered into, the promise from the prophets is that this world that Jesus came to buy with His blood will one day be filled with the knowledge of God as far as the waters cover the sea. Why? Because of Christmas.

Because of Christmas. Because of Christmas the Lord Jesus Christ rules and reigns over the world with truth and grace. He makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and the wonders of His love, amen? He is now, even now, According to 1 Corinthians, He's putting every enemy under His feet for the joy of all peoples. That's why Christmas is important.

That's really what you're saying when you shout out that phrase, Merry Christmas you are declaring to the peoples joys to be had peace is to be had righteousness is to be had rightness with God is to be had the Lord Jesus is king and He has come for sinners. That's what you're declaring. If you get that, you get that right now and you say, and He came for me. He came for me. You know what I want to do when I think about that.

I want to bust out the eggnog right now Merry Christmas, I say the good kind of eggnog Well this angel has told us that Christmas matters because it's the foundation of gospel hope. And that hope is for the world, bought with the blood of the Savior, born of a virgin, wrapped in swaddling cloths. And now finally, Christmas matters because it brings peace. Christmas brings peace. It's a final consideration this morning.

Look again at verse 13. Verse 13, and suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. I want you to just recognize what just happened one angel was talking at the beginning of our passage but how many now? A multitude. One angel is now replaced with a multitude and really it's as if the solo has ended and now here at the end the whole chorus is ringing out.

The whole choir has shown up. Christmas matters because one day peace will spread to all the earth. Peace will spread to the whole world. The solo has ended and we've reached the climax of our song. Christmas matters because it's the foundation of the gospel, yes.

And that gospel is for everyone. And that gospel, which is for everyone, will so win. The gospel of Jesus Christ will be so victorious that the whole world will one day be filled with peace. Man, that's good. That's why all the angels show up here at the end.

Glory to God in the highest. This is all about the glory of God. Don't miss this. If you miss anything, don't miss this. The radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of His nature.

God has come in the flesh. Jesus is His name. And He has come. Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. That's the end of verse 14.

It could be translated peace on earth, goodwill towards men. So what you have in Bethlehem in the nativity scene, with the shepherds and the nativity scene, you have this, the gospel is now clearly seen. The Savior has come. The long expected Jesus has come. Israel's strength and consolation, the hope that they had looking forward, the hope of all the earth has been realized and born.

He who was promised of the prophets has appeared. And he will win. He has won. Romans chapter 5 verse 1, Peace between God and sinners, God and sinners reconciled. How?

Through the blood of this Christ's cross who came on Christmas. Peace was accomplished. Ephesians 2, 14, peace between you and your neighbor. Peace between one another, accomplished and applied because this Savior came on Christmas. The Prince of Peace came and he secured that peace.

And as the Gospel is proclaimed and the nations are discipled in Christ, that peace is promised to rule in the hearts one day of all the peoples. Put all these things together beloved. That is quite a promise. It's quite a hope. I mean imagine the things to come.

What, I mean this is amazing. Christmas is the foundation for every reason you have to smile right now. No matter what comes your way today, no matter what phone call you get from the doctor tomorrow, no matter the news that you read in the newspaper, You know the truth. The Prince of Peace has come. The Prince of Peace has won.

He's got it. He's got you. All because of Christmas. What a reason to celebrate. J.C.

Ryle again, he sums all of this up perfectly when he writes, glory to God in the highest, now has come the highest degree of glory to God by the appearing of his son Jesus Christ in the world. By Christ's life and death on the cross, he will glorify God's attributes, justice, holiness, mercy, and wisdom as they were never before glorified. Creation glorified God, but not so much as redemption. On earth peace, the song continues, now has come to earth God's peace which passes all understanding. The perfect peace between a holy God and sinful man which Christ was to purchase with his with his own blood the peace which is offered freely to all mankind the peace which once inside the heart makes men and women live at peace with one another and will one day spread to the whole world." So you ought to be able to sing as we're going to sing in just a minute.

Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free from our fears and sins release us let us find our rest in thee Israel strength and consolation hope of all the earth Thou art dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart. You can sing that. It's true because of Christmas. Born thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a king, Born to reign in us forever, Now thy gracious kingdom bring, By thine own eternal spirit, Rule in all our hearts alone, By thine all sufficient merit. King Jesus, raise us to thy glorious throne.

And it's only because of Christmas that all that I just sang and said is a hearty yes and amen. And that can be your song too. So I do want to, and by means of closing, I do want to point out something. As we've considered why Christmas matters, I do want to ask the question, well, what did the shepherds do? So we've got some theology, got some hope.

We've answered the question, but what did the shepherds do in light of the answer to that question? Well, good news for all people, peace has come on Christmas. How do these men respond to that truth? It's really clear, they obey. You see that in the text?

These shepherds are told, here's the good news, now go and obey. Go here to Bethlehem. And what do they do? They go. They head to Bethlehem just as it was told to them.

If you look ahead just a bit, you'll see that in verse 20. That they returned glorifying and praising God. Beloved, we, my hope is that we would be like them. Right? That we would trust what God has said.

That we would take our eyes off of ourselves and look at the one we celebrate on Christmas. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God in the flesh. I want us to leave here this morning in obedience with a message to tell. With two words on your lips, Merry Christmas. And you just can't wait to unpack those two words.

Good news for sinners. Good news for the vilest offenders. Peace has been won by the virgin birth and in the perfect life and in the substitutionary death and in the justifying resurrection of this Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of righteousness who was ascended and is now reigning so you need to go out of here in obedience this morning with such a cry to your children to your neighbors indeed to all the world you need to be obedient and say to the world, Merry Christmas. And why do that? Why walk out of here obedient?

Why walk out of here glorifying God as these shepherds did? Why? Because the Son of God came and mild He lay His glory by. Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth.

Born to give them second birth. Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King. That's why. And born again, raised up sons of earth, given second birth, they can't but help to sing with the angels sing beloved sing that's why we gave you this help you sing let's play together father we are going to sing in just a moment. I ask that you would help us as we sing to be amazed at your goodness and grace, to marvel at your loving kindness towards us in Christ, give us a holy disgust with our sin and cause us right now to turn away from them and trust in Jesus.

We have already confessed our sins. We have already received pardon because of the work of Christ. May we now walk, live, and move in that pardon, all because of Christmas. We thank you. We thank you for the fact that we can look at one another and say, Merry Christmas.

Thank you, Father. We want to honor you this season with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We ask that you would work that in us, please, in Jesus' name. Amen.