The Joy of Christmas

                              The Joy of Christmas
                                                         by Stan Coffey
                                              Luke 2:8-20

God has so richly blessed us this year. And part of the joy of Christmas for me is the joy of being the pastor of this church. It seems that almost anytime we open the doors we have a great crowd and it is because our people love the Lord and that is why they come. Because they want to serve Jesus and they love Him so very much. And I can't tell you how much joy that gives me as a pastor to share this message with about "The Joy Of Christmas". I want to refer to the passage where the Bible says "fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord".

The Bible says "there were in the same country shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night." It was night on that first Christmas. It was night when Jesus was born into this world and I want you to know that not only was it night by the sun because the sun had gone down, but it was night in many other ways.

It was night politically when Jesus was born. For the world was under domination of the Roman hand. Those Romans who ruled with hand of iron, those Romans who said you will do it our way, which conquered the world. It was night politically. The world was ruled by a mad man. The Bible tells us in the days of Caesar Augustus it came to pass that all the world should be taxed. Imagine living in a world ruled by a tyrant, by a dictator. It was night politically.

Not only was it night politically but also it was night morally. Sin had so taken the grip of the Roman Empire that someone has said it was the most immoral day that the world has ever seen. It was night morally; it was night in the hearts of men and women in whose lives sin had come to rule and to reign ruthlessly.

But not only was it night politically and morally, but it was night spiritually. For it had been four hundred years since a prophet of God had stood to speak words from the Lord. The world had heard no message for four hundred years. There was blackness and a silence from heaven for God had not spoken. It was night when Jesus came.

It was night socially when He came, for there were only two classes of people. It is hard for us to understand here in America but you see there were not a lower class, a middle class, and an upper class. There were only those who had and those who had not. There were only the poor and the rich. And there were just a few who were rich and there were many thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people who were poor, whose backs were bent under heart breaking labor. It was night when Jesus came.
 

I. THE JOY OF GOOD NEWS  
But I want you to know that the Bible says 
the light shined in the darkness
  and the darkness could not overcome it; 
bride brings you good tidings of great joy. 
       I want you to notice 
what the angel said in this message of the gospel....