Jesus and Shepherds
Merry Christmas, and welcome to our worship time today! I know that every Sunday is good, because we gather to worship God, encourage each other, and rededicate ourselves to the Lord’s service in the taking of communion. But some Sundays to bring extra blessings, because on days like today we always have additional family and friends worshipping with us. We are so thankful for that, and I pray that everyone here today will hear a message from the Word that opens our eyes to the goodness of God.
Normally, you’d probably expect me to read this morning from Matthew’s gospel or Luke’s gospel where they tell us about the birth of Jesus. You might expect to hear that story we tell almost every Christmas about the shepherds watching over their flocks at night or the angelic proclamation that Mary was chosen by God to carry his son. Or maybe you expect to hear about wicked King Herod’s murder of all the baby boys in Bethlehem when he heard that a new king had been born there. There are powerful lessons in all those accounts, but I suspect you’ve heard them all before. Even those who may only worship with us a couple of times a year have heard some of those stories—multiple times. Because of that, I’m going to share something different with you today.
I want you to know not only what Jesus was when he was born in Bethlehem; I want you to know what he became when he grew up into his full ministry. One of the titles he uses for himself in John 10 is “the Good Shepherd,” and this morning we’ll see what he meant by that. Hopefully we’ll also consider what that means for us and what it means for the ministry we should live out in service to one another. God bless.
Jesus and Shepherds 12/25/2022
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