Right. Good morning. Good morning, Church. Good to see all of you. Merry Christmas.

You know what I need down here? I'm feeling really lonely. I need some children down here sitting with me so we can read the Christmas story together. So start coming on down, children. Come on down, children.

You know who you are. Come on, come on, come on. Start moving. Wanna sit up here? Sit right here, right here.

Get close. Scoot in tight because we want room for everybody. Scoot in tight, scoot in tight. Here, sit right here. There you go.

Oh, I like that dress. I like that red. Beautiful bow. You want to sit up here? Sit up here.

Sit right here. Put your. Right there. You're doing good. You're doing good.

Okay, we got a seat right here. Somebody sit right up here. Okay, you can scoot up a seat. Everybody on the front row, see if you can sit. Front row, front row, front row.

Scoot up a seat. There you go. Help us out, Ms. Robin. And this one needs a place.

There's a seat right over here, honey. There's one right here. You okay? Okay. Scoot in the tight.

Let him in. It's okay. We'll sit sideways. Sit right here. Put your legs right there.

There you go. Here, sit right here. Sit right here behind me. Okay, we're doing good. Y'all have this much fun at home.

This is good. This is basically the way my house looks when I have everybody over. Because we have 10. We have 10. I think there's more than 10.

Is there more. More than 10 kids down here right now, you think? Huh? There's more than 10? Yeah.

Okay. Y'all look beautiful. Very festive. You look awesome. This one's looking right at me like.

Thank you so much for saying. What's that? 16. 16. Did you count them?

Really? Okay, we have 16 kids, for your information. Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to read the Christmas story from Luke, Chapter two, and we're going to talk about Jesus. And if you be really good and you're being really good so far, we have a little.

A little gift for you at the end. Okay, so let me read and then listen closely because I might ask you some questions. Okay. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered, each to his own town.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the House and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the flock, out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them.

And the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. This is God's word. Everybody say Amen. Amen.

Okay, so a couple of quick questions. What was the name of the mommy and daddy that were there? Mary and Mary and Joseph. Very good. Mary and Joseph.

That's right. And do you remember what city Jesus was born in? Bethlehem. Bethlehem. Bethlehem.

Have y'all heard this story before?

Some of you like, you're a genius, aren't you? Yeah, I thought so. And of course, a genius knows when they're a genius. That's great. Now, I have something in my pocket right here.

Can you guess what it might be? Candy cane. Candy cane. Were you at the first service? Yes.

I thought so. A candy cane. Sure enough is. Now, I want to tell you the story about a man who was a candy maker. This is called the Legend of the Candy Cane.

And he was inspired by the story of Jesus Especially how the shepherds said they heard, they saw, and they told about Jesus and he wanted to make a piece of candy that would do that, that would tell others about Jesus. So if I hold it like this, what does it remind you of in the story?

Shepherd's thing. A shepherd's. Like if cane. Like someone is holding it. Yeah, someone.

Someone's holding it like this. Like a cane? No, no, they hook the. The. The.

The who with this. The sheep. And they try to run away. Yeah. And when they.

Okay, it's a shepherd's staff. Shepherd's staff. Now what if I turn it like this? J for Jesus. It's a hanger.

It's a J for Jesus, guys. It's a hook. It's a hook. She was at the first service. And so it reminds you of Jesus.

It reminds you of a shepherd staff. The white reminds you that Jesus was without sin, that he was pure. The red reminds you of his blood, which he shed on the cross. And so that's the legend of the candy cane. Now, whose birthday are we celebrating at Christmas?

That's right. And so the most important thing that we can do for Jesus is give the gift of telling others about Jesus. Right. Okay, so, Ms. Robin, my wife's going to come over here and give you a candy cane to take back to your seat to remind you when you get home to tell your family the story of Jesus and the story of the legend of the candy cane.

How about that? So when you get your cane, go ahead and go to your seat. I kinda. I didn't count one person, so there's 17. Okay, you missed one.

Okay. Don't give him a broken one. He wants to exchange. That's what we all have to do at Christmas. We have to keep the receipt.

Okay, y'all get your candy canes. You got to keep moving. Keep moving.

You guys were so good. Give them a hand, everybody. The kids were so well behaved.

So for the past few Sundays, we've been going through a series called the Three Gifts. And the first gift was the gift of gold. The second, the gift of frankincense. And the third, which is where we're at today, we've entitled this message the Gift of Myrrh. This idea comes from the three gifts that the Magi brought to Jesus.

We read about it in Matthew chapter two. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and. And they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts. Gold and frankincense and myrrh.

The Bible says that the magi brought Jesus three wonderful gifts. And these aren't the kind of ordinary gifts you'd normally see at a baby shower, are they? These are unusual gifts. The gift of gold certainly points to the fact that he is Christ, that he is king. The gift of frankincense, that he is divine, that he's the Son of God.

And now we will consider what the gift of myrrh points to. By the way, what is myrrh? Myrrh is a resinous exudate that comes from the stems and branches from a low, shrubby tree native to the Arabian deserts and parts of northern Africa. Its gum drips from the shrub onto the ground, where it hardens to form an oily, yellowish brown resin. And then it's collected and it's included in so many different cosmetics and other preparations and in ar oils and other things.

It's been an ingredient in the holy anointing oil that you find in the book of Exodus, chapter 30. It was prized for its aromatic qualities. We can read about that in Psalm 14. It was included in cosmetic preparations. We can read about that in the book of Esther.

And it was often used to relieve pain. It had that quality. Indeed, it was offered to Jesus and the criminals on the cross at Calvary in Mark, chapter 15. And then we see that whenever Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus in preparation for his burial, that one of the prime ingredients of the spices that they used was myrrh. So if gold points to him as king, if frankincense points to him as the Son of God, what does myrrh point to?

It points to his death, it points to his sacrifice, it points to him as Savior. And all three gifts are appropriate to Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, we see the shepherd's faithful response to the message of the angels, that they heard the message, and then they went to see for themselves what the angels had told them. And then they began to tell others after they had seen the Christ child. And so, as we look at the text today, I think we can follow the example of the shepherds and faithfully respond to the good news that Christ the Savior has come.

So let's consider verse 20 of our reading today that we just read with the children. Look there, verse 20. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. You can see those three ways they responded. They heard, they saw, and they told others about what they had seen.

And so that's the Faithful way we can respond to the good news of the Savior. Notice the word heard. It has the I do. To really listen, to really listen to someone. Jesus often would be teaching.

He would say, he that has ears to hear, let him hear. I don't think there were a lot of people in those days going around missing ears. I don't think that was the problem. I think what he was really saying, he that has spiritual ears to hear, let him hear. You know, one of the challenges for us as adults is we've heard the Christmas story our whole lives.

But have you really listened? Have you really heard? Have you really allowed yourself to enter the story so that you engage with the story? Have you heard? The shepherds heard.

I wonder why the angels appeared to shepherds. Of all the people they could have appeared to, they decided to appear to this blue collar bunch of third shift workers out there keeping watch over their flocks at night. But isn't that the way God always works? He always sends his calling to the least of these, those who recognize that they need a savior. And perhaps the shepherds were more appropriate because they would recognize the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world.

And he says to them, the angel says to them, unto you, a son is given unto you Hearkens back to the book of Isaiah, chapter 9. But it also can be applied to each of us. Who was Jesus born to? Who did he come to save you? He was born unto you.

The angels declared to the shepherds, where was he born? He was born in Bethlehem, as we heard the children say, the city of David. Because Joseph and Mary both were from the lineage of David. And so he fulfills the Messianic prophecies that he was born to the line and lineage of David, born in Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means house of bread. How perfect that the bread of life would be born in the house of bread.

Notice the three titles that the angels declared in verse 11. That he is Savior, Christ and Lord. That he's Christ. That he is the anointed one. That he's the King that was to come to the line of David.

That he's Lord, which means he's the Son of God, and that he's Savior. That he's the one who came to save. Those who really hear the good news are able to hear the Spirit of Christ calling them. They can hear him knocking at their heart's door. It says in John, Jesus speaking.

He says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. Have you ever noticed a mother's ability to hear her child's cry. You ever wondered about that? When I was a young father, I remember we brought our firstborn home, and my wife would wake up. At the least little sound, did you hear the baby?

And I'd be like, what? Because apparently that gift wasn't given to me. I don't know about other fathers, but I've heard that it's specifically given to mothers. In fact, my wife began to tell me that she knew what every type of cry was. Oh, that's a hurt cry.

That's a hurt. Oh, he's hungry. Oh, he needs change. I'd go, it sounds like the same cry to me. She knew exactly like every cry meant something.

She had an ear tuned to her baby's voice. This is what Jesus says about you. If you've really heard the gospel, this is what he says about us. If you've really heard that he came as savior, as Christ, and as Lord, if you've heard that and received that into yourself, your ears will become tuned to his voice. My sheep know my voice, and I know then, and they respond to my voice.

Have you heard the story? That's one of the faithful ways we can respond to the gospel, to the good news of Jesus. Here's the second way we can respond. See it. The first is to hear it.

The second way we can faithfully respond is to see it. To see it. Look at verse 20 again. It said they had heard and they had seen. It also points out that in verse 15, they determined to go see it for themselves.

Verse 15 says, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. They weren't satisfied with just hearing the angels report. They said, let's go down and see this. Let's see it for ourselves. And there are two Greek words used here.

In verse 20, we have a Greek word that they had seen it, which means to perceive with the eyes. It has also the idea of to experience a thing. And then in verse 15, it was a different Greek word, which means to really focus on a thing. Let's go see it. Let's really get a good look at it.

I think they said, we don't want to just hear about this story. We want to see it for ourselves. And we use that word, see, not just to speak of the eyes, but to speak of the experience and to understand the thing, don't we? We say, oh, I see what you mean. Now we say, I get it now.

So when they went to see the baby and they saw him just as the angels had said, a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. We still do that today, don't we? We still wrap babies, really. It makes them feel safe. It makes them feel like they did when they were still in mama's womb.

And so you. You swaddle them tight. And there he was laying in a manger in a feeding trough, not in a palace, but in a stable. And when they saw him, they. They saw it for themselves and they were in wonder.

I think I'm just suggesting this. It doesn't say it in the scripture, but I'm thinking that some of those old shepherds, they came there and they said, would you mind if I held him? Would you mind if I put my hand on him? You know, I think they really wanted to see it for themselves. Have you really put your hand out and said, I want to know for myself?

I want to know you, Jesus. I want to know you for myself. I want to experience you. It says in Psalm, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

This idea of seeing has the idea of experiencing and understanding. It's not enough just to hear. We've heard the story over and over again, haven't we? But we must enter the story and see it and understand it and apply it to our own lives. Have you ever tried to get a child to taste something they'd never tried before?

A food they've never tried before? That can be quite a parental challenge. Have you noticed this? Like, you offer them something, they go, ew. They haven't even tasted it yet.

Ew. They're just basing it on what it looks like. But to really see it and to see what it tastes like, you have to put it in your mouth and chew and, oh, it's so hard to get children to do that today. I'm just so thankful for chicken nuggets, aren't you? Chicken nuggets?

You know, our grandchildren probably would not have survived, especially our teen. We got several teenage grandchildren now. They would not have made it to their teen years without chicken nuggets. We're so thankful for them. My wife, still to this day, she'll prepare, I guarantee you, for Christmas, we'll have them all over, and she'll have all kinds of wonderful foods and then over in a pan to itself, chicken nuggets.

They'll be there. Otherwise our grandchildren would starve to death. They won't try anything New. That's. Have you noticed this about your children?

Apparently it's always true. I. I think I was like that too when I was a little kid. I remember my parents bought one of those plates that had dividers in it because I didn't like it when my food touched each other. That was a problem.

My dad tried to explain it to me, said, son, don't you know that all that food ends up in the same place anyway? And I said, because I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, apparently when I was little. I said, but, Daddy, it doesn't have to start out that way. I'd like for it to start out apart from each other. Well, kids are picky.

They're picky. They don't always want to enter into the story. But the gospel says, taste and see that the Lord is good. Come on, come on. He says, come unto me, ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Do you see it? Have you entered the story? Have you really thought about the story that God himself came in the form of man and his name is Jesus? This leads us to the third faithful way that the shepherds replied and the shepherds responded is, tell it, tell it. We see it in verse 20 that the angels had told them.

But we see that they told others in verse 17. Verse 17 says, when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. Oh, what? So now the shepherds themselves have become evangelists.

They've become people who are carrying the message. We. We heard angels. We saw them singing and telling us about. And then we went, there he was in the stable, just like they said.

And they begin to tell everybody, all throughout the region of Bethlehem. Can you imagine this? They weren't just satisfied hearing it and seeing it. They had to tell others. You know, we can't resist telling others something if we're in the know on a thing.

Have you noticed that if we're the ones that know a thing, we can't help but tell others? Except for when it comes to the gospel, for some reason, we all tend to be kind of lips sealed on that one. Don't know why that is. Children don't seem to have that problem. We've sent them all back to their seats this morning with little candy canes.

I guarantee if you ask them, they'll tell you. They'll tell you the story. What is it about adults that. That we forget this most important step of faithfulness after we Hear it after we experience it and see it, to tell others, because that's the only way that they're going to hear the good news about Jesus. You see that the shepherds went and made known what they had seen.

And we see the way Mary responded whenever the shepherds showed up there and talked about the angels. She goes, that's four angelic visits. She'd already heard about her relatives, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zechariah had seen an angel. Her husband Joseph had seen an angel.

She had seen the angel Gabriel. And now the shepherd, she's pondering this, and she's wondering and treasuring in her heart this wondrous thing. And the shepherds went away glorifying and praising God. Jesus tells us, and he tells the disciples, to go into all the world. Mark chapter 16, go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone.

This is what Jesus commands all of his followers to do. Faithful followers of Jesus today still tell it. We tell others what Jesus has done for us, having heard and seen the good news. Will you do that? Will you go and tell others, too?

I think perhaps the greatest gift you could give to the one who owns everything. It's hard to give a gift like that to Jesus because he owns everything. But perhaps he doesn't have you. Maybe the best gift you could give him the today is the gift of yourself. And if you've done that, if you've given him your life, I would say the greatest gift after that would be to tell others.

To tell others what Jesus has done for you. The shepherds returned to their flocks. They went back to their job. I don't know who watched over the flocks while they went to see Jesus, but they returned back and they began to faithfully tell the story about this. Have you ever noticed that as you get older, the Christmas season seems to lose its mystery?

Maybe for you, this Christmas, it's been a hard Christmas. I don't know what you've been through this year. Maybe it's been difficult. Maybe you just moved here. Maybe.

Maybe there's someone who won't be sitting at the table on Christmas Day that was sitting there last year. There are many reasons that we struggle at this time of the year. But even those things, if those things haven't happened, let's just say you've grown up to adulthood and it's just kind of lost its sparkle. Yeah, I know that story. I've been, yeah, Christmas.

But there's something about it. When you focus on the little ones, you focus on you know, Christmas Eve, or whenever you have the little ones around you, read the Luke 2 story again. And as they get older and are able to read, start assigning it to the oldest one and begin to rotate it. And then do what I just did, sit with them. And they'll squirm and they'll interrupt you.

They're kids, but trust me, they hear every word. And let them read the Luke 2 story. And when you do that, guess what happens to you? Christmas gets its wonder back because you're seeing it through the eyes of children. And when you tell others about Jesus, whether they're young or old, your faith gets its wonder back because you see one that's hungry for God.

As you share it with others, would you be one who tells it? It says in the book of Luke, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. Will you hear it, see it, and tell others? And will you give him the three gifts that we talked about these past three Sundays? Will you give him the gift of gold, which is one that Christ deserves, the one who would sit on the throne of David?

Give him the gift of frankincense because he's the Lord God, the Son of God. And give him the gift of myrrh because he's the Savior who takes away the sins of the world, the Lamb of God. The gift of myrrh says, I repent of my sins. And I recognize that you died in my place so that I might have your righteousness and your eternal life. Have you given him the gift of myrrh?

Well, let's pray. Let's talk to the Lord. Lord, I thank you for your word. I thank you for Jesus. And I pray for that person that's here this morning that's never given their life to him.

Is it you, my friend? Right now, as I'm praying, you could be praying with me. It's not the words as much as it is the belief. The faith in your heart that is underneath the words. Would you pray believing like this?

Lord, I turn away from my sin. I repent of my sin. And I believe in you as my Savior. I believe you died on the cross for me, that you were raised from the grave and that you live today. I believe that.

Come and live in me. Forgive me of my sins and make me a child of God. I want to follow you as my Savior. And Lord, if you're praying that prayer, faith believing he'll make you a child of God, he'll adopt you into his family and forgive you of your sins and your ears will be tuned to his voice. Others are here and you're a believer.

You're a Christ follower. Would you rededicate your life today to telling others, especially as you go, to be with loved ones, maybe family or friends in the coming days, all of them celebrating Christmas? Lord, I pray for you that you would have a holy boldness to tell them the true meaning of the season. Tell them about Jesus. We pray it in his name.

Amen.