Ed Young creatively presents inspirational and biblical truth for every area of life.
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#Christmas
#Shepherds
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#Ed Young Jr.
#Luke 2:7-16
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Ed Young TV | Christmas News | December 29, 2021
- male announcer: This program is paid for by the friends and
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- partners of "Ed Young Television."
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- Welcome to the International broadcast ministry of Ed Young.
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- Here at "Ed Young Television," our mission is to make the
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- complex simple as he speaks truth to people in ways they can
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- understand and apply to their everyday lives.
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- And now here's pastor, author, and speaker, Pastor Ed Young.
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- ♪♪♪
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- Ed Young: Can you believe where I'm standing?
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- I'm standing right here in the field.
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- I'm talkin' about the spot where the shepherds were hangin' out,
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- pulling an all-nighter, tending their flocks.
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- These guys were common people.
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- They were outcasts.
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- They were people that were like, "Man, yeah, yeah, I'm
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- a shepherd."
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- And here they are.
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- I've always thought about these guys, you know, sipping stale
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- coffee from 7/11 or something like that, just looking at the
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- stars, just goin', "Man, another night."
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- And a lot of people think the shepherds were actually tending
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- the sheep that were used as sacrifices in the temple, which
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- is very interesting.
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- So here they are.
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- They're just, you know, standing around.
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- And you know this is the area because obviously this is called
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- the Shepherd's Fields, and there are a number of caves in certain
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- places, and we know this is probably where Mary and Joseph
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- showed up and they made their journey to the inn and all that.
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- But I want to go back to the shepherds.
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- Jesus is born.
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- They're with their flock.
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- They receive the greatest message in the universe.
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- Now, we love to give and receive messages.
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- We're always sending people messages, text messages.
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- We direct message people.
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- We send messages to people on Instagram.
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- We even use sticky notes if you're old school.
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- We're always writing down these messages.
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- I'll be frank with you, most of the messages I receive, I mean,
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- I'll just scroll through them, whatever.
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- Okay, that's important.
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- Now and then, though, I'll get one that's like, "Wow, amazing!"
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- It'll snap my head, so to speak.
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- Well, the message that the shepherds received was the most
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- miraculous message ever.
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- This message is miraculous because these guys are out there
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- and the angels show up.
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- And if you think about angels, angels are simply
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- God's messengers.
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- They show up and they tell the shepherds the deal.
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- They give them the skinny on the whole situation.
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- They say, "Hey, Jesus has been born."
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- And I'm kind of giving you the CliffsNotes here, but when they
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- receive the message, the shepherds, the Bible says they
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- hurried off and ran to the crib.
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- I like that word "crib," a crucial relationship initiated
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- by the Savior of the world.
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- They obviously worshiped him, and all the angels, of course,
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- were worshiping during this time, during this
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- miraculous moment.
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- Then the shepherds spun on their heels and they spread the word.
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- Think about a mass email.
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- Think about just using your thumbs, texting everybody
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- you know.
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- Think about just shouting it from the mountaintops.
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- They were telling everybody about this amazing news.
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- They spread the word, and the Bible says people were amazed.
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- And we're going to talk about, over the next couple of moments,
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- this miraculous story.
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- We're going to talk about the real meaning of it and the
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- motivation of it.
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- Well, let's look at another aspect of this message.
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- Ed Young: Christmas is definitely a time of stories.
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- The story of the squad of shepherds seeing an angel, being
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- the first ones ever to hear about the good news of Jesus.
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- Speaking of stories, I heard about a 10-year-old kid and he
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- really wanted a bicycle.
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- It was several days before Christmas and he was just
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- wearing his parents out.
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- "Mom, Dad, I want a bike.
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- I want a bike. I want a bike."
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- Finally, his mom said, "Son, I've had enough.
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- I don't wanna hear another word about this Christmas bike."
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- You know, she was all stressed out with all the family being in
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- town and everything.
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- And the mom said, "You go up to your room, and if you really
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- want a bike, Son, why don't you just talk to God about it?
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- Just just pray about it."
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- He goes, "Yes, ma'am."
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- So he walks upstairs to his room.
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- He starts praying.
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- And the mom hears this screaming and yelling coming from his
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- room, "Dear God, I want a new bike!
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- I want a bike!
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- Lord, help me get a bike!"
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- She ran up to his room, opened the door, and she said,
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- "What are you doing?
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- You don't pray like that.
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- God's not deaf."
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- And the kid said, "I know God's not deaf, but Grandma is."
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- The shepherds definitely weren't deaf.
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- I want you to think about the scene change in Luke chapter 2,
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- and most of us have heard this story.
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- The Bible says matter of factly in Luke chapter 2, verse 7, "And
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- she, Mary, brought forth her firstborn Son and wrapped him in
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- swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no
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- room for them in the inn."
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- And just all of a sudden, the next verse, verse 8, "Now there
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- were in the same country shepherds living out in the
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- fields, keeping watch over their flock by night."
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- Doesn't that seem rather odd, sort of strange, sort
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- of unusual?
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- All of a sudden you're talkin' about Jesus being born of
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- a virgin.
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- That's a miracle.
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- And then the next verse, and by the way, there were some
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- shepherds, a squad of shepherds, just minding their own business,
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- pulling an all-nighter, sipping espresso, just doing what
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- they do.
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- I thought about myself.
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- So many times, I just skip over that.
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- So many times, I don't really think about that.
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- So many times, I'm thinkin', "Okay, the shepherds, all right,
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- whatever, whatever."
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- But just for a second, I want us to zoom in on the shepherds.
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- Why the shepherds?
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- I mean, what's the meaning?
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- What's the motivation behind a bunch of low-class,
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- outcast shepherds?
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- You saw me in the shepherd's fields, and when we think about
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- a field, we think about a flat field like a pasture, but over
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- there in that area outside of Bethlehem, very rocky, very
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- tough, very unforgiving.
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- These shepherds were looking to see what the situation was.
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- They were outcasts.
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- They were looking to see if any animals would come in and take
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- the sheep.
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- Shepherds, they couldn't even worship in the temple.
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- Shepherds, they buried the dead.
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- Shepherds, their witness couldn't be used in a court
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- of law.
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- Shepherds?
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- A squad of shepherds?
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- If a baby's born to British royalty, it's not first
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- announced to cab drivers or longshoreman, is it?
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- Oh no, the A-listers, man.
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- The TMZers, the multi-squillionaires.
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- They were the first ones to hear.
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- And if I'm writing the script, I'm goin', "Okay, Jesus is born,
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- well, in the Ritz Carlton, right?
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- And we were doin' this mass email and we're DMing all of
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- these major players to bring them in."
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- But shepherds?
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- The lowest of the low.
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- Why shepherds?
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- Several reasons.
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- Number one, shepherds were so low, they were so destitute and
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- downtrodden that we can connect with them.
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- In other words, they were the first responders.
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- I would argue they were the first ones to become followers
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- of Christ in this context.
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- So that tells you and me that we can come to Jesus no matter who
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- we are, no matter how high or how low, whether we're a
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- billionaire or on welfare.
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- It doesn't matter how far away we think we are from God, the
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- universality of the gospel is in play right there.
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- So that's awesome, man.
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- I think that's one of the reasons.
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- Now, another reason-- and whenever you read the Bible,
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- there's always this one meaning, and many times there's a deeper
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- surface kind of vibe going on.
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- Another reason why I believe the shepherds were the first ones
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- and the only ones to get this birth announcement was the fact
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- that there were shepherds.
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- Moses was a shepherd.
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- David was a shepherd.
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- Jesus was known as a Shepherd.
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- He was also known as a Lamb.
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- What happened when he began his public ministry?
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- John the Baptist looked at him and said, "Hey, there's the Lamb
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- of God who takes away the sin of the world."
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- So the shepherds were tending sheep that most scholars feel
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- were used as sacrifices in the temple, yet the shepherds left
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- their lambs to go and worship the Lamb.
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- So really I'm like, "No wonder."
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- That's the perfect audience to receive the birth announcement
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- of Jesus.
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- Why the shepherds?
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- The universality of the gospel.
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- Why the shepherds?
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- Because that's who Jesus compared himself to.
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- That's who he was.
- 00:10:10.956 --> 00:10:14.460
- Angels show up.
- 00:10:14.460 --> 00:10:16.696
- Now, you might be saying, "Angels?
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- Ed, in this rationalistic world, you're tellin' me angels,
- 00:10:18.030 --> 00:10:21.067
- heavenly beings, came down?"
- 00:10:21.067 --> 00:10:23.035
- Well, the Scripture tells us, again just straight up, "And
- 00:10:23.035 --> 00:10:27.573
- behold, an angel," verse 9, "of the Lord stood before them,"
- 00:10:27.573 --> 00:10:31.043
- read here in the original language, "stood over them.
- 00:10:31.043 --> 00:10:34.513
- And the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were
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- greatly afraid."
- 00:10:37.616 --> 00:10:38.951
- I love the honesty.
- 00:10:38.951 --> 00:10:40.319
- I would be freaked too, wouldn't you?
- 00:10:40.319 --> 00:10:42.655
- They're just pulling an all-nighter.
- 00:10:42.655 --> 00:10:45.858
- Gabriel shows up.
- 00:10:45.858 --> 00:10:47.626
- Gabriel always was the angel who gave messages.
- 00:10:47.626 --> 00:10:52.631
- He was like we would say, in modern-day vernacular, over
- 00:10:52.631 --> 00:10:55.334
- social media.
- 00:10:55.334 --> 00:10:57.403
- Seriously, study the angels in the Bible.
- 00:10:57.403 --> 00:10:59.238
- Now, a lot of times we go, "I have a hard time believing
- 00:10:59.238 --> 00:11:02.541
- that," but think about what the eye can't see.
- 00:11:02.541 --> 00:11:05.611
- Have you ever thought about that?
- 00:11:05.611 --> 00:11:06.946
- God just briefly pulls back the curtains of the supernatural and
- 00:11:06.946 --> 00:11:11.851
- gives them a shot of the supernatural.
- 00:11:11.851 --> 00:11:15.421
- But think about what your eye can't see.
- 00:11:15.421 --> 00:11:16.889
- My eye, your eye, we can't see atoms.
- 00:11:16.889 --> 00:11:18.758
- We can't see molecules.
- 00:11:18.758 --> 00:11:20.326
- We can't see infrared light.
- 00:11:20.326 --> 00:11:23.028
- We can't see germs.
- 00:11:23.028 --> 00:11:24.463
- We can't see the Dallas Cowboys winning the Super Bowl
- 00:11:24.463 --> 00:11:26.932
- this year.
- 00:11:26.932 --> 00:11:28.300
- We can't see a lot of things.
- 00:11:28.300 --> 00:11:31.904
- No, the Cowboys are gonna win it.
- 00:11:31.904 --> 00:11:33.572
- We're on a roll.
- 00:11:33.572 --> 00:11:35.174
- I said that for a joke.
- 00:11:35.174 --> 00:11:37.977
- And then you think about quantum physics.
- 00:11:37.977 --> 00:11:39.712
- Quantum physics suggests that past, present, and future are
- 00:11:39.712 --> 00:11:44.283
- happening now.
- 00:11:44.283 --> 00:11:46.152
- And what does the Bible say about God?
- 00:11:46.152 --> 00:11:49.155
- A year is like a thousand, or a day is like a thousand, and a
- 00:11:49.155 --> 00:11:52.591
- thousand's like a day.
- 00:11:52.591 --> 00:11:53.926
- So yeah, there are all sorts of things.
- 00:11:53.926 --> 00:11:57.396
- And I've never seen a thought.
- 00:11:57.396 --> 00:11:59.632
- Have you?
- 00:11:59.632 --> 00:12:01.000
- I've never seen determination.
- 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:02.535
- I've seen the result of it, but I've not seen it.
- 00:12:02.535 --> 00:12:04.503
- So this is not a far reach.
- 00:12:04.503 --> 00:12:07.606
- It's just an angel communicating to a bunch of first century
- 00:12:07.606 --> 00:12:13.546
- ranch hands about the birth of Jesus.
- 00:12:13.546 --> 00:12:17.249
- "Don't be afraid," it says.
- 00:12:17.249 --> 00:12:19.084
- And then in verse 10, "The angel said, 'Don't be afraid.
- 00:12:19.084 --> 00:12:21.487
- For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will
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- be,'" there's the word again, "the inclusivity of the gospel
- 00:12:25.057 --> 00:12:28.928
- for all people."
- 00:12:28.928 --> 00:12:31.363
- Now, I've flown over the word "behold" many, many times.
- 00:12:31.363 --> 00:12:34.600
- The word "behold" means to grasp, to relish.
- 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:39.939
- And the writer is saying if we grasp and relish the fact that
- 00:12:39.939 --> 00:12:45.010
- good tidings, being Jesus Christ, have arrived on earth,
- 00:12:45.010 --> 00:12:51.150
- then that should flatten any phobia or any fear that you deal
- 00:12:51.150 --> 00:12:56.789
- with or that I deal with.
- 00:12:56.789 --> 00:12:58.858
- But fear is real.
- 00:12:58.858 --> 00:13:00.526
- You read about man, and man had this perfect thing going on
- 00:13:00.526 --> 00:13:05.297
- prior to sin, and then in Genesis chapter 3 you have God
- 00:13:05.297 --> 00:13:11.036
- and man dealing with each other, and man dealing and God dealing
- 00:13:11.036 --> 00:13:15.074
- with the consequences of sin.
- 00:13:15.074 --> 00:13:16.742
- And that's the first time you have fear entering the equation
- 00:13:16.742 --> 00:13:22.114
- of human existence.
- 00:13:22.114 --> 00:13:23.749
- It's just something that we deal with, fear.
- 00:13:23.749 --> 00:13:26.785
- Fear.
- 00:13:26.785 --> 00:13:28.153
- We fear rejection.
- 00:13:28.153 --> 00:13:29.488
- We fear loneliness.
- 00:13:29.488 --> 00:13:32.091
- We fear the future.
- 00:13:32.091 --> 00:13:34.493
- It's amazing all the fears that we deal with.
- 00:13:34.493 --> 00:13:38.230
- Well, these angels are like, "Guys, I know you're fearful."
- 00:13:38.230 --> 00:13:41.567
- And anytime someone in the Bible gets near to God, boom, they're
- 00:13:41.567 --> 00:13:46.038
- gonna be fearful.
- 00:13:46.038 --> 00:13:47.406
- Because I'm reminded, you're reminded of, wow, I'm not
- 00:13:47.406 --> 00:13:52.745
- in control.
- 00:13:52.745 --> 00:13:54.847
- These angels are saying, "Focus on Jesus.
- 00:13:54.847 --> 00:13:57.917
- Focus on the Savior.
- 00:13:57.917 --> 00:13:59.318
- Focus on the Babe of Bethlehem."
- 00:13:59.318 --> 00:14:01.553
- Because prior to sin, there was no such thing as fear.
- 00:14:01.553 --> 00:14:05.658
- After sin, after we tried to gain control, that's when you
- 00:14:05.658 --> 00:14:09.862
- have fear.
- 00:14:09.862 --> 00:14:11.196
- So whenever I try to run the show and say, "I'm the man.
- 00:14:11.196 --> 00:14:15.067
- I'm doing this.
- 00:14:15.067 --> 00:14:16.435
- I'm doing that," it's just a matter of time before fear hits
- 00:14:16.435 --> 00:14:21.874
- on the coastline of my life.
- 00:14:21.874 --> 00:14:24.977
- Well, the angels say in verse 11, "For there is born to you
- 00:14:24.977 --> 00:14:28.747
- this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ
- 00:14:28.747 --> 00:14:33.218
- the Lord."
- 00:14:33.218 --> 00:14:34.586
- Christ the Lord.
- 00:14:34.586 --> 00:14:35.921
- And then it says suddenly a choir, another squad, joined
- 00:14:35.921 --> 00:14:40.693
- this squad of shepherds, but they were a squad of angels
- 00:14:40.693 --> 00:14:45.364
- singing at night in Bethlehem.
- 00:14:45.364 --> 00:14:48.500
- So I want you to note here real quick they received the message.
- 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:53.005
- They just received a message.
- 00:14:53.005 --> 00:14:54.773
- And in a crowd this size and at our 13 different locations,
- 00:14:54.773 --> 00:14:59.478
- we're receiving this message.
- 00:14:59.478 --> 00:15:02.214
- And I think that's awesome.
- 00:15:02.214 --> 00:15:03.549
- We've received the message through singing, through
- 00:15:03.549 --> 00:15:05.884
- short video.
- 00:15:05.884 --> 00:15:07.252
- You receive messages hopefully by eating the cookies and
- 00:15:07.252 --> 00:15:10.155
- drinking the hot cocoa, and coffee, and all that.
- 00:15:10.155 --> 00:15:12.624
- We have this message going on.
- 00:15:12.624 --> 00:15:15.694
- This is a place of a message.
- 00:15:15.694 --> 00:15:18.163
- And it's our prayer that you don't scroll past the message or
- 00:15:18.163 --> 00:15:21.367
- delete the message; that you take the message to heart,
- 00:15:21.367 --> 00:15:25.204
- personalize it, and do something with it.
- 00:15:25.204 --> 00:15:28.073
- What I want you to notice about this situation with the
- 00:15:28.073 --> 00:15:30.743
- shepherds is simply this.
- 00:15:30.743 --> 00:15:32.945
- This situation tells us more about God than it does
- 00:15:32.945 --> 00:15:37.116
- the shepherds.
- 00:15:37.116 --> 00:15:38.951
- In other words, God is working and it's called the sovereignty
- 00:15:38.951 --> 00:15:43.889
- of God.
- 00:15:43.889 --> 00:15:45.257
- He's supernaturally synchronizing your life and mine
- 00:15:45.257 --> 00:15:48.293
- to meet at this moment in time.
- 00:15:48.293 --> 00:15:52.297
- Yes, the shepherds were seeking.
- 00:15:52.297 --> 00:15:54.700
- God was even seeking them more.
- 00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:58.504
- You're here for a divine reason, so I pray you hear this message,
- 00:15:58.504 --> 00:16:04.743
- that you hear it and do something with it.
- 00:16:04.743 --> 00:16:07.146
- But it's easy just to hear something and not doing anything
- 00:16:07.146 --> 00:16:09.481
- with it.
- 00:16:09.481 --> 00:16:10.849
- I've done that a lot.
- 00:16:10.849 --> 00:16:12.184
- I mean, I'm married. I've done that a bunch.
- 00:16:12.184 --> 00:16:14.887
- Notice too, not only did they receive this message, but they
- 00:16:14.887 --> 00:16:17.689
- also responded.
- 00:16:17.689 --> 00:16:19.124
- And if you think about it, let me kinda jump ahead a
- 00:16:19.124 --> 00:16:21.260
- little bit.
- 00:16:21.260 --> 00:16:22.594
- When you hear the message and then respond, that equals faith.
- 00:16:22.594 --> 00:16:29.401
- So I hear something, okay, I hear you, man.
- 00:16:29.401 --> 00:16:32.404
- I got you, you know?
- 00:16:32.404 --> 00:16:34.339
- I'm picking up what you lie down, whatever.
- 00:16:34.339 --> 00:16:36.341
- I got you, all right?
- 00:16:36.341 --> 00:16:37.676
- But when I do something about it, like in this context, I
- 00:16:37.676 --> 00:16:41.513
- receive it and it move out, that's faith.
- 00:16:41.513 --> 00:16:44.283
- The shepherds didn't just stand there frozen in fear on
- 00:16:44.283 --> 00:16:47.719
- the mountain.
- 00:16:47.719 --> 00:16:49.054
- Whoa, man, dude, did you see that?
- 00:16:49.054 --> 00:16:52.191
- That was awesome.
- 00:16:52.191 --> 00:16:54.326
- A squad of shepherds seeing some angels.
- 00:16:54.326 --> 00:16:59.164
- Wow, that was incredible.
- 00:16:59.164 --> 00:17:03.202
- Let's just stand here.
- 00:17:03.202 --> 00:17:06.772
- Let's not move.
- 00:17:06.772 --> 00:17:08.474
- No, they didn't do that.
- 00:17:08.474 --> 00:17:09.842
- They hustled.
- 00:17:09.842 --> 00:17:11.643
- They cruised to the crib.
- 00:17:11.643 --> 00:17:14.580
- Let's keep cruising ourselves.
- 00:17:14.580 --> 00:17:16.014
- They responded.
- 00:17:16.014 --> 00:17:17.382
- Look at verse 15, "So it was--" Verse 15, "So it was when the
- 00:17:17.382 --> 00:17:20.185
- angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds
- 00:17:20.185 --> 00:17:23.388
- said to one another, 'Let us go now,'" like right now, don't put
- 00:17:23.388 --> 00:17:26.191
- it off, now, "to Bethlehem and see this thing that's come to
- 00:17:26.191 --> 00:17:29.361
- pass, which the Lord has made known to us."
- 00:17:29.361 --> 00:17:31.330
- And they, the Bible says, "They moved out with haste and
- 00:17:31.330 --> 00:17:35.134
- found--" and the word "found" here means after an intense
- 00:17:35.134 --> 00:17:38.837
- search, but we know who was really searching.
- 00:17:38.837 --> 00:17:41.206
- "They found Mary and Joseph."
- 00:17:41.206 --> 00:17:44.576
- Then I love the last thing.
- 00:17:44.576 --> 00:17:46.645
- After they responded, after they had received this word, they
- 00:17:46.645 --> 00:17:52.384
- retold about what had happened to them.
- 00:17:52.384 --> 00:17:54.520
- So they leave after they worship and they're telling others about
- 00:17:54.520 --> 00:17:58.557
- what happened to them.
- 00:17:58.557 --> 00:18:00.893
- That's what they did.
- 00:18:00.893 --> 00:18:02.227
- So the shepherds heard it from the angels and now the shepherds
- 00:18:02.227 --> 00:18:06.498
- are telling other people about, "Here's what happened to me.
- 00:18:06.498 --> 00:18:09.434
- No, I'm not a theologian.
- 00:18:09.434 --> 00:18:12.004
- No, I didn't go to seminary, but here's what happened to me."
- 00:18:12.004 --> 00:18:15.674
- And the Bible says people were amazed.
- 00:18:15.674 --> 00:18:21.446
- Again, the shepherds were the first ones to have faith.
- 00:18:21.446 --> 00:18:26.218
- Romans chapter 10, verse 17, "Faith comes by hearing and
- 00:18:26.218 --> 00:18:29.955
- hearing by the Word of God."
- 00:18:29.955 --> 00:18:33.192
- I'll say it again.
- 00:18:33.192 --> 00:18:34.526
- You hear, plus you're in a hurry, that equals faith.
- 00:18:34.526 --> 00:18:39.698
- And that's what happened here, faith.
- 00:18:39.698 --> 00:18:43.202
- Faith. Faith.
- 00:18:43.202 --> 00:18:45.904
- But see, I have a tough time surrendering to God.
- 00:18:45.904 --> 00:18:50.142
- It's my human nature, and so do you.
- 00:18:50.142 --> 00:18:52.477
- I have a tough time saying, "God, you're in control.
- 00:18:52.477 --> 00:18:54.546
- I'm not."
- 00:18:54.546 --> 00:18:56.448
- And here's how people do it.
- 00:18:56.448 --> 00:18:58.550
- It's sly how we do it.
- 00:18:58.550 --> 00:19:01.053
- There are two ways we show our hostility toward God ruling in
- 00:19:01.053 --> 00:19:05.490
- our lives.
- 00:19:05.490 --> 00:19:06.825
- The first way is very overt.
- 00:19:06.825 --> 00:19:09.061
- It's like, "God, I'm the man.
- 00:19:09.061 --> 00:19:11.863
- I'm going to do what I've gotta do.
- 00:19:11.863 --> 00:19:14.066
- Sorry, don't rain on my parade.
- 00:19:14.066 --> 00:19:17.369
- I am going to sovereignty rule over this universe called me."
- 00:19:17.369 --> 00:19:23.075
- And we know people like that.
- 00:19:23.075 --> 00:19:26.178
- Now, the next one is covert.
- 00:19:26.178 --> 00:19:28.914
- This is super sly.
- 00:19:28.914 --> 00:19:30.649
- This is the religious person, because they're both about
- 00:19:30.649 --> 00:19:33.552
- control, who says, "I'm going to obey the Bible and do kind of
- 00:19:33.552 --> 00:19:37.756
- what the Bible says, and because I'm doing what the Bible says,
- 00:19:37.756 --> 00:19:40.559
- God has got to bless me."
- 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:44.696
- They're both about control.
- 00:19:44.696 --> 00:19:48.800
- Becoming a follower of Christ is surrendering control.
- 00:19:48.800 --> 00:19:55.340
- Once we surrender control, then we'll gain control because God
- 00:19:55.340 --> 00:20:01.513
- is leading this show and we're made for him to live inside
- 00:20:01.513 --> 00:20:06.952
- our lives.
- 00:20:06.952 --> 00:20:09.321
- I like too how the shepherds worshipped.
- 00:20:09.321 --> 00:20:13.425
- After they had this experience, they worshiped the Lord.
- 00:20:13.425 --> 00:20:17.329
- Everybody here worships.
- 00:20:17.329 --> 00:20:19.865
- You're going to worship something or someone.
- 00:20:19.865 --> 00:20:21.667
- To worship means to put someone or something on a high level,
- 00:20:21.667 --> 00:20:25.437
- to show high esteem.
- 00:20:25.437 --> 00:20:26.905
- When I was a kid, I was 13 years old, I worshipped a boat.
- 00:20:26.905 --> 00:20:31.376
- I'm telling you, I did.
- 00:20:31.376 --> 00:20:33.145
- And it was the best Christmas of my life because we ran into the
- 00:20:33.145 --> 00:20:37.582
- living room, I got a few little things, then my mother opened
- 00:20:37.582 --> 00:20:41.019
- the curtains.
- 00:20:41.019 --> 00:20:42.354
- She goes, "Ed, look outside."
- 00:20:42.354 --> 00:20:44.556
- And there was my father dragging this 12-foot Kmart--
- 00:20:44.556 --> 00:20:49.795
- you remember Kmart?
- 00:20:49.795 --> 00:20:52.264
- Kmart, kids?
- 00:20:52.264 --> 00:20:54.466
- We have a blue light special on rowboats.
- 00:20:54.466 --> 00:20:57.135
- Anyway, drug this boat in the front yard.
- 00:20:57.135 --> 00:21:01.306
- I was like...
- 00:21:01.306 --> 00:21:04.276
- I mean, I was worshiping that boat.
- 00:21:04.276 --> 00:21:06.144
- We lived kind of out in the country.
- 00:21:06.144 --> 00:21:07.813
- We carried it through the woods to the lake.
- 00:21:07.813 --> 00:21:09.815
- I was paddling it around.
- 00:21:09.815 --> 00:21:11.183
- I loved it. I loved it.
- 00:21:11.183 --> 00:21:13.885
- Yet it wasn't enough for me.
- 00:21:13.885 --> 00:21:15.253
- I mean, I was worshiping the boat, but it wasn't enough.
- 00:21:15.253 --> 00:21:18.156
- I wanted to have the boat painted, like the professional
- 00:21:18.156 --> 00:21:20.859
- fishermen on television.
- 00:21:20.859 --> 00:21:22.828
- I said, "Dad, would you help me carry it from the bank of the
- 00:21:22.828 --> 00:21:25.931
- lake, through the woods, up our driveway so I could paint it?"
- 00:21:25.931 --> 00:21:29.167
- He goes, "Yes, I'll be home at 6 o'clock p.m."
- 00:21:29.167 --> 00:21:33.605
- I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,
- 00:21:33.605 --> 00:21:36.174
- and at about 3 o'clock I said, "You know what?
- 00:21:36.174 --> 00:21:38.276
- I'm gonna do it myself.
- 00:21:38.276 --> 00:21:40.011
- Although he told me not to, I'm going to do it myself."
- 00:21:40.011 --> 00:21:43.048
- So I grabbed that boat, pulled it through the woods, and pulled
- 00:21:43.048 --> 00:21:47.452
- it across the road, pulled it up our driveway, and I noticed some
- 00:21:47.452 --> 00:21:51.123
- sparks kind of popping out of the back.
- 00:21:51.123 --> 00:21:53.892
- I didn't think anything about it.
- 00:21:53.892 --> 00:21:55.694
- I get to the yard, began to paint it.
- 00:21:55.694 --> 00:21:57.295
- I was, you know, impressed by my artistic talents.
- 00:21:57.295 --> 00:22:00.632
- Dad shows up.
- 00:22:00.632 --> 00:22:01.967
- He goes, "Ed, what is the boat doing in the yard?
- 00:22:01.967 --> 00:22:06.104
- Didn't I tell you to wait until I could help you move it?"
- 00:22:06.104 --> 00:22:12.277
- And I said, "Yes, sir," 'cause you know dad taught me how to
- 00:22:12.277 --> 00:22:15.213
- say, "Yes, sir" and "Yes, ma'am."
- 00:22:15.213 --> 00:22:16.915
- That's something we need to adopt, you know?
- 00:22:16.915 --> 00:22:21.119
- You know what I can't stand?
- 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:22.454
- Just let me have a moment.
- 00:22:22.454 --> 00:22:24.289
- When people say this, "No problem."
- 00:22:24.289 --> 00:22:27.726
- So there's like a problem?
- 00:22:27.726 --> 00:22:30.629
- Just say, "My pleasure," okay?
- 00:22:30.629 --> 00:22:32.697
- No problem.
- 00:22:32.697 --> 00:22:34.599
- Oh, how about this, "No worries."
- 00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:37.035
- So we're worried about something?
- 00:22:37.035 --> 00:22:40.906
- Where was I?--the boat, Dad getting mad at me, yeah.
- 00:22:40.906 --> 00:22:43.542
- He said, "Son, son, son, let me look at this boat.
- 00:22:43.542 --> 00:22:48.647
- How'd you--" and I told him I drug it up the driveway.
- 00:22:48.647 --> 00:22:52.083
- "Do you realize there's a hole in the back?
- 00:22:52.083 --> 00:22:54.319
- You drug a hole in the back of the boat."
- 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:57.055
- And I looked, and to my shock, this object that I worshiped had
- 00:22:57.055 --> 00:23:00.926
- a hole in it.
- 00:23:00.926 --> 00:23:02.527
- Dad spun on his heels and went inside.
- 00:23:02.527 --> 00:23:06.865
- I tried for years to fix that hole.
- 00:23:06.865 --> 00:23:10.735
- Couldn't do it.
- 00:23:10.735 --> 00:23:12.771
- I would paddle out in the lake, do some fishing.
- 00:23:12.771 --> 00:23:16.074
- In about 45 minutes, the water level would rise in the boat.
- 00:23:16.074 --> 00:23:21.413
- I would paddle it back to the bank, Up and back, up and back,
- 00:23:21.413 --> 00:23:26.418
- up and back.
- 00:23:26.418 --> 00:23:27.786
- It never worked.
- 00:23:27.786 --> 00:23:30.255
- I didn't obey the voice of the father.
- 00:23:30.255 --> 00:23:33.658
- It's our prayer that you obey the voice of God, because maybe,
- 00:23:33.658 --> 00:23:38.296
- just maybe, you're here and you're like, "You know what?
- 00:23:38.296 --> 00:23:39.664
- I thought making my first deal and my first million, that would
- 00:23:39.664 --> 00:23:43.869
- carry me," but there's a hole in your boat.
- 00:23:43.869 --> 00:23:47.839
- Or maybe if I could be with that person, or that situation, or
- 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:53.745
- have those letters before and after my name, that would do it.
- 00:23:53.745 --> 00:23:57.582
- But you're sinking.
- 00:23:57.582 --> 00:24:02.854
- Obey the voice of God.
- 00:24:02.854 --> 00:24:05.757
- God is worthy of our worship.
- 00:24:05.757 --> 00:24:10.562
- He wants to know you.
- 00:24:10.562 --> 00:24:12.931
- He wants to have a relationship with you.
- 00:24:12.931 --> 00:24:16.434
- And those shepherds understood that.
- 00:24:16.434 --> 00:24:20.539
- But it's just a-- it's a crazy story about the shepherds.
- 00:24:20.539 --> 00:24:24.075
- On one minute-- on one hand, they were in the dark, and boom,
- 00:24:24.075 --> 00:24:27.846
- they were in the light.
- 00:24:27.846 --> 00:24:29.548
- They were unclean, yet their soul was power washed and they
- 00:24:29.548 --> 00:24:32.450
- became clean.
- 00:24:32.450 --> 00:24:34.686
- They heard the message and they saw it and appropriated it into
- 00:24:34.686 --> 00:24:41.560
- their lives as they moved from being far away to having this
- 00:24:41.560 --> 00:24:46.565
- personal relationship with the Lord.
- 00:24:46.565 --> 00:24:51.603
- So this service has left a message.
- 00:24:51.603 --> 00:24:55.674
- It's left a message, first of all, in my life and in yours.
- 00:24:55.674 --> 00:25:02.581
- Don't delete it.
- 00:25:02.581 --> 00:25:04.983
- Don't scroll past it.
- 00:25:04.983 --> 00:25:07.485
- Think about it.
- 00:25:07.485 --> 00:25:09.120
- Ed Young: It's our prayer that this message will stop you and
- 00:25:10.555 --> 00:25:15.327
- literally rock your world, that you'll be ambushed and power
- 00:25:15.327 --> 00:25:19.631
- washed by the love, and the grace, and the forgiveness
- 00:25:19.631 --> 00:25:23.535
- of Jesus.
- 00:25:23.535 --> 00:25:24.869
- Because Jesus crawled out of the crib, lived a sinless life, died
- 00:25:24.869 --> 00:25:31.876
- a sacrificial death, totally righteous for your sins and
- 00:25:31.876 --> 00:25:36.815
- mine, rose again, conquered the grave.
- 00:25:36.815 --> 00:25:40.585
- That is the good news, the gospel.
- 00:25:40.585 --> 00:25:43.755
- It's the good news.
- 00:25:43.755 --> 00:25:45.090
- That's why the angel said, "Hey guys!
- 00:25:45.090 --> 00:25:46.958
- Hey, put your coffee cups down.
- 00:25:46.958 --> 00:25:48.893
- I bring you good tidings of great joy, because unto you in
- 00:25:48.893 --> 00:25:56.334
- the city of David, a Savior is born who is Christ the Lord."
- 00:25:56.334 --> 00:26:01.506
- male announcer: To watch an extended version of today's
- 00:26:03.008 --> 00:26:04.643
- message from Pastor Ed Young, go to edyoung.com.
- 00:26:04.643 --> 00:26:12.083
- Ed Young: It's been a wonderful year at "Ed Young Television."
- 00:26:12.083 --> 00:26:14.653
- Thank you so much for allowing us to come into your home each
- 00:26:14.653 --> 00:26:17.555
- and every week.
- 00:26:17.555 --> 00:26:18.923
- You guys are absolutely amazing.
- 00:26:18.923 --> 00:26:21.459
- Thank you for your generosity.
- 00:26:21.459 --> 00:26:22.994
- Because of that, that's why we're on.
- 00:26:22.994 --> 00:26:26.097
- There's so many great things happening at
- 00:26:26.097 --> 00:26:28.133
- "Ed Young Television."
- 00:26:28.133 --> 00:26:29.501
- I think about the orphanages.
- 00:26:29.501 --> 00:26:30.835
- I think about our retreat center.
- 00:26:30.835 --> 00:26:32.504
- I think about so many other things.
- 00:26:32.504 --> 00:26:34.272
- Just go to our website, edyoung.com, and you'll see
- 00:26:34.272 --> 00:26:38.443
- what's happening.
- 00:26:38.443 --> 00:26:39.811
- So we would love for you to partner with us.
- 00:26:39.811 --> 00:26:42.547
- All of us are blessed to be blessings, and as, again, we
- 00:26:42.547 --> 00:26:46.551
- draw near to the end of the year, as we think about this
- 00:26:46.551 --> 00:26:49.654
- time of giving, make sure to include "Ed Young Television" in
- 00:26:49.654 --> 00:26:54.926
- your generosity, because next year is gonna be awesome and it
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- can only happen because of your generosity.
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- Thanks again and have a merry, merry Christmas.
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- male announcer: Creatively sharing truth while helping
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- people discover God's purpose and plan for their lives.
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- This is "Ed Young Television."
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- This broadcast is made possible by the grace of God and your
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- faithful prayers and gifts.
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