Great joy for ALL people?

And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people Luke 2:10 (ESV)

These words spoken by the heavenly messenger to the shepherds on the hillside somewhere near Bethlehem is familiar to many of us. If you’ve been any church for a Christmas or two or watched The Peanuts Christmas Special you have heard these words. But do we believe them?

Do we believe the message of the birth of Christ the Lord is good news? Or is it just more news, other news, some news to recall once a year? Is it really good news to you and if so why?

Good news of great joy…the angel announced. So does this good news fill you with great joy? Does it bring you not just some joy or a decent portion of joy but great joy? How great? Since his coming alters our eternal destiny maybe a joy as great as if your boss said you were getting a raise, your team won the championship, you hit a hole-in-one, he proposed or she said she’d marry you. Yeah, a reverberating, life-altering great joy! Not a whimsical, passing emotion but a deep abiding sense of rejoicing that salvation has come due to the birth of Jesus.

Yet I think the words we believe the least in the angel’s announcement are the last words in Luke 2:10. We may believe it is good news of great joy for us and some other people too, but for ALL people? Do you believe that? It is good news of great joy for people in North Korea, Tibet, Iran, and the Sudan? It is good news of great joy for your co-worker, your neighbor, your classmate, your Uncle Bill and sister Susan?

Christmas is a holiday widely acknowledged in our culture. International missionaries tell us every year that it gives them wonderful opportunities to share about the life and salvation Jesus offers. Those missionaries certainly believe it is good news of great joy for all the people. In fact, they are staking their lives on it (more on that next week.)!

Yet sadly the silence of many of us each Christmas season seems to indicate we really don’t believe it is good news of great joy for ALL people. If we really believed this would we not tell person after person we interact with over this holiday season that Jesus’ coming means they can have great joy in Him? Why do we pull back from telling our unbelieving relatives and friends? This message is for them. It means joy for them, right? So why are we so hesitant to share?

Okay, you say you believe it is good news of great joy, but you are just unsure of how to start a conversation. Gotcha! Then let me just give you a couple Christmas discussion starting questions. Ready? Ask either of these:
Do you think people understand the real meaning of Christmas anymore? Why or why not?
What difference does it make to you that Jesus was born?

Both of these questions allow you to listen to what they think about Christmas and the birth of Jesus? The first is for someone who may not know of Christ’s birth and life, whereas the second assumes they know that central event of the Christmas story. Then, both allow you to share of what Christmas and the birth of Jesus means to you personally. In other words, it allows you to share the testimony of how Jesus has brought you great joy through faith in Him.

Do you really believe the coming of Jesus is good news of great joy for ALL people? Then, will you and I boldly ask these questions this Christmas? Will we share of our great joy in Christ?

I am praying we will. And I am praying we will invite people to come to services at FBC this month and/or to Christmas by the Lake (Dec. 18 & 19 – 6 PM) using the tickets available this Sunday. Let’s use the Christmas season as a chance to tell ALL people the good news of great joy!

Sharing HIS joy!
Pastor Scott