Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Dec. 28 sermon from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Today's scripture is Luke, chapter 2, verses 8 through 20. And the sermon is entitled A Sermon from the Shepherds delivered today by Pastor Jeffrey Campbell. Go to Luke chapter number two.
[00:00:18] Whether we realize it or not, this is the last Sunday of 2025 and we spend it in worship together. Three months ago I sat down at my desk planning through this study of Luke, trying to make it fall around the Christmas time, trying to see if it would work out right. And it did.
[00:00:36] And I'm grateful for how the Lord has used it. And indeed we will continue on in Luke chapter two in the coming weeks and continue on in the book of Luke in the coming weeks. But I'm grateful because I personally want to hold on to Christmas.
[00:00:51] It is a great story, but as Pastor Clyde prayed today, the coming of Jesus did not save us.
[00:00:59] The dying of Jesus and the raising again on the third day is what saves the Christian soul.
[00:01:07] And so we are grateful for this time of year and grateful for God coming to be with us.
[00:01:14] And that is the reminder of the season and the sermons. I hope that I've preached through the last couple of weeks and that I will continue to preach is Jesus had to come and Jesus had to die for sin filled people like you and like me that we needed a savior.
[00:01:38] A couple of weeks ago, I learned the story of mel trotter.
[00:01:43] In 1897, on a drinking binge of ten days, he discovered that his two year old son had died.
[00:01:55] He felt guilty and pledged after learning of his son's death, I will never drink again.
[00:02:03] That pledge did not last long at all. Because the next day, on his way to Chicago, in a cold town, in a cold time of year, he sold the shoes off of his feet order to buy alcohol.
[00:02:20] Barefoot, broke, losing job and family, he walked toward Lake Michigan.
[00:02:29] His intention was this, to end it all.
[00:02:34] But on his way to Lake Michigan, he passed by Pacific Garden Mission and the superintendent was helping Harry Monroe. He was leading singing as this older man walked in that night, Mel got saved.
[00:02:54] He started for the rest of his days some 60 rescue missions before he died. The biggest one, 500 children fed and clothed, evangelized this one mission. Listen to this. Church held 23 meetings a week.
[00:03:16] A building that was used 24 hours a day, seven days a week with food and clothing and lodging. He went to prisons, he went to the streets, he held Bible classes. Mel Trotter was an unlikely man to ever know the love and the grace of Jesus.
[00:03:42] Statistics say men like this don't come to Jesus.
[00:03:48] Praise God. Mel did.
[00:03:52] And praise God that he continues to use unlikely people.
[00:03:59] Some of them we have studied over the past few weeks, like Zacharias and Elizabeth. They're too old and they're past their age. They're past their prime. And yet God shows up.
[00:04:12] We look at Mary and Joseph. They're poor, and God chose them to usher in the Savior of the world.
[00:04:20] And today we pick up with another unlikely group that the Lord will use. It is those lowly shepherds, the unlikeliest group in all the world that the Savior, the message of the Savior, would come to as a group of shepherds out in the field, as the story goes, keeping their watch by night.
[00:04:45] And that's where Jesus shows up.
[00:04:48] Maybe today in this room, you're battling the thought of God can't use someone like me.
[00:04:56] You better be careful what you tell God he can't do.
[00:05:00] And here's the story from the sermon of the Shepherds.
[00:05:05] If you seek and if you share, you will be able to sing the glory of our God today.
[00:05:15] Let's join together in Luke, chapter two. Familiar verses to you, starting with verse number eight.
[00:05:24] And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 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.
[00:05:49] And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
[00:05:56] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven. The shepherds said, one to another, let us now go even into Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
[00:06:20] And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.
[00:06:29] A sermon from the shepherds. The first point today is that we need to seek the Savior.
[00:06:35] We need to seek the Savior as Mary gives birth in Bethlehem in that stable, or whether you believe it was a stable that was fashioned with boards and fences and a little trough, for probably it was a cave on the hillside that had a rock manger where our savior lay.
[00:06:55] Those shepherds are pulling the night shift. They are on the outskirts of town.
[00:07:00] They are raising sheep that would most likely be used to sacrifice in the temple.
[00:07:08] So these shepherds, their job is important, but they're on the outskirts of things. They're on the outskirts of town, they're on the outskirts of society. They're living amongst their sheep.
[00:07:19] You just let them do their job and walk on by kind of people.
[00:07:25] And as we see, they are on that night shift, working through the night. And of all people, for an angel to appear to in the middle of the night, it is these lowly shepherds. Now, I don't know how you react when you get woken up in the middle of the night.
[00:07:45] It's happened on different occasions for me. Sometimes it's been a call in the middle of the night.
[00:07:52] I think of a family that called me in the middle of night to tell me someone had just passed away.
[00:07:58] That phone call, when it comes in, you got to get your senses together. You got to make sure that you answer the phone in the pastorly way. You know, like you've been awake, but you haven't been awake.
[00:08:15] There's been the kid that cries in the middle of the night.
[00:08:20] And as parents, we go running, don't we?
[00:08:23] There was the one time my oldest son, he's going to get on me for this, but he kind of woke up and he was standing over my bed one night, he kind of sleeps, walks a little bit, and I'm like, levi, what do you want?
[00:08:41] The middle of the night when things are not supposed to happen, we see God is at work.
[00:08:50] And God is at work even in the field with the lowly shepherds as they're just kicked back.
[00:08:55] And they're watching over their sheep. Yeah, they may be in, they may be out, but they're doing their job.
[00:09:02] And what happens is these angels show up. And the Bible tells us that they were sore afraid. They were scared to death.
[00:09:11] And the first message that the angels bring is simply this, Fear not.
[00:09:16] A command that is often given by the angels on behalf of God because they want to know, hey, we know that this startles you, but God is fixing to do something. God is working through your life. And this announcement to the shepherd is one of good news. Look at verse number 10. It says this. And the angel said unto them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.
[00:09:44] The message that the angels had was one, that you don't need to be afraid as the Shepherds were fearful, and the announcement was one that brought good news. When we read in verse number 2:10, the good tidings of great joy, if you go back to the root words, there it is where we get our terminology, the good news or the gospel from.
[00:10:09] So the angel is bringing great news, good news, gospel news to these lowly shepherds as that news comes.
[00:10:23] That news would not only be for the shepherds to hold onto, but it says this, it shall be to all people.
[00:10:34] I circle my Bible a lot, and that is one that I circle a lot, because I believe that Jesus came to this world for all people.
[00:10:44] And I believe that Jesus died for all people.
[00:10:47] All people will not come to know Jesus, but Jesus gave up his life for all people and for their sin.
[00:10:55] And so what we see here is the Christmas story teaches us God has come and he comes bringing good news that we don't need to be fearful of. It is gospel news. It is news that will change the world.
[00:11:15] In verse number 11, we see that there are three titles.
[00:11:21] The angel says, there's someone special born. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the lord. There are three titles that are given in verse number 11 to address this new baby that has come into the world. The first one is Savior.
[00:11:43] That means deliverer or rescuer.
[00:11:46] And you may be sitting here this morning and say, what do I need to be rescued from?
[00:11:53] Luke 19:10 says this. For the Son of man has come to seek and save that which is lost.
[00:11:59] And here's what the Christmas story needs to remind us of. Sin is so serious that we need a savior from that sin.
[00:12:10] God saw that the world needed saving help because of the disease of sin that so infected it. And so when you see that word savior, here's what it reminds us as believers. You have been rescued from sin.
[00:12:32] There's also another title, Christ.
[00:12:35] It speaks to being an anointed one, the Messiah, one worthy of honored, anointed by God to sit on the throne as the great high priest or our mediator. That is what that word means when we say Jesus Christ. Christ is a title that Jesus carries, and he carries it as the anointed one, one worthy of honor.
[00:13:01] And verse number 11 speaks the word Lord. It is a term of respect.
[00:13:06] It is a term of ruling and of being a king.
[00:13:10] And so what we see here, as the angels are talking, they are telling these shepherds some very, very good news. That the rescuer that Israel has long waited for has come. And he's come to rescue them from their sin. He's also come to be the king, the one that sits on the throne. And he's come to be lord of the their life today.
[00:13:36] Here's my question for you. As we understand who Jesus is, who this baby is, can you relate to those titles?
[00:13:48] I look at a lot of people here this morning, many that will watch livestream. Can you relate to Jesus being your savior?
[00:13:57] Can you relate to Jesus being Christ sitting on that throne of your heart?
[00:14:03] And can you relate to him being king and ruler of your life?
[00:14:07] My prayer is that you can relate to that. But how will they find this anointed one?
[00:14:17] Here's what the angel says as they will finally, in verse number 12, and this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes line in a manger.
[00:14:30] You're not going to find him sitting in the palace, you're not going to find him sitting in a temple. You're going to find him in the lowliest of places in the manger. One that the shepherds could relate to a feeding trough.
[00:14:48] The shepherds could relate to that.
[00:14:51] You know, sometimes powerful messages don't come from behind pulpits.
[00:14:57] Powerful messages come when you tell people the story of your life that you can relate to.
[00:15:05] You see, some people will listen to you, that will never listen to me, that will never listen to a sermon, that will never Turn On, a YouTube channel, that will never watch, that will never come to church. They'll listen to you.
[00:15:17] It's amazing. The angels and God are relating to these lowly shepherds and they're going to find that baby and he's going to be in the feeding trough.
[00:15:29] And what we see that surrounds in verses 14 and 15 is glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. When I read that, I wanted to sing it like they sung the song earlier.
[00:15:42] That's how I read the story on Christmas day.
[00:15:45] But it's excitement. The angels knew that something was was different in Bethlehem on the outskirts of town.
[00:15:55] The shepherds had heard the story, but something was happening in town that the shepherds had to go and see.
[00:16:04] The first point of this sermon is they must seek out the shepherd.
[00:16:11] Look at verse number 15. It says this. The shepherds said to one another, let us go now even to Bethlehem and see this thing which, which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in the manger.
[00:16:26] How does your Bible say they went did they take their time?
[00:16:32] Did they check their calendars to see if that date was available?
[00:16:36] No, they went immediately and they went with haste.
[00:16:42] When we understand this Christmas story, it's important that we are seeking the Savior.
[00:16:51] Maybe you are a believer in this room and you need to continue to seek Jesus every day of your life, but maybe you're not a believer and this is your wake up call. This is your announcement that you need to seek Jesus in your life.
[00:17:09] When we understand that we might have to leave something, something as serious as our livelihood to go and see if this is true, is it worth doing?
[00:17:23] For the shepherds, it was. They never left the sheep.
[00:17:29] If they did that, they were failing at their job.
[00:17:33] But this announcement, the shepherds went and God watched over the sheep.
[00:17:41] That's what I believe.
[00:17:43] God took care of those sheep because the shepherds sought Jesus.
[00:17:52] What's holding you back from seeking the Savior?
[00:17:57] Is it something that you're so committed to that you think cannot happen without you, that you just stay so committed to it? No, I don't have time for that.
[00:18:07] Is it a role or is it a job that you think that you are needed at so much that it cannot run without you?
[00:18:16] If something is standing in the way between you and Jesus? Here's what the shepherds teach me. It's gotta go.
[00:18:24] And you need to go and you need to seek after Jesus.
[00:18:30] The shepherds teach me this morning that we need to seek Jesus. Look at verses 17 and 18.
[00:18:43] And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told to them concerning this child.
[00:18:49] And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told to them by the shepherds.
[00:18:57] The second point today, after you seek Jesus, is you need to be willing to share the story.
[00:19:04] Share the story.
[00:19:06] There's a little phrase in these two verses, and actually it's in verse number 17 that jumps off the pages at me. It is they made known abroad.
[00:19:16] They make things known.
[00:19:19] I sit here and I just chuckle at things that we make known when without even thinking about it, man, we pick up the phone and we make things known to people we talk to.
[00:19:32] When someone needs prayer, guess what? We raise our hand on Wednesday night and we make it known. And guess what? People pray for you.
[00:19:41] Because that's what we're supposed to do. But you've got to make it known.
[00:19:47] We make known. And maybe some things that shouldn't be made known.
[00:19:53] And we have no problem with that.
[00:19:56] But here's my question.
[00:19:59] How many of us in this room have a relationship With Jesus, we can bob our head and say, yes, and might even raise our hand and say, yeah, I've got a relationship with Jesus. But here's my second question to that. How many of us have trouble telling someone about him?
[00:20:18] Yeah, yeah, that's us.
[00:20:22] Yeah. Because our mind plays a game. And that game says, man, people are going to make fun of me and people aren't going to like me. I don't know what to say. I'm not studied up enough. I don't have the Scriptures in my mind.
[00:20:34] Those are just the excuses that I use of why I can't tell somebody what Jesus has done.
[00:20:43] When I see what the shepherds have done, they immediately go. And not only do they see Jesus, but then they begin to share their story.
[00:20:54] They make it known how many of us factor in how unlikely and how unqualified we are, but we fail to factor in how good God can make it.
[00:21:08] Every Sunday, I stand before you, I come out of that prayer room and here's my prayer. God, take this stuttering tongue and let people hear something about you.
[00:21:20] No matter what's on paper, I want people to hear about Jesus. And here's what God can do. God can take a stuttering tongue. See, I just did it again. A stuttering tongue. And he can give you a message.
[00:21:33] He can challenge you.
[00:21:36] If God can use me, he certainly can use you.
[00:21:41] And I know, looking across this room, you may say, pastor Jeffrey, I'm a very unlikely candidate to share my story about Jesus.
[00:21:52] These shepherds, they were unlikely as well.
[00:21:59] When we see what they did as they came to town and, and verse number seven, they made known abroad the saying which was told to them concerning this child.
[00:22:07] And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told to them by the shepherds.
[00:22:13] Verse number 17, look at tells us the responsibility of the shepherds to make it known. And verse number 18, it gives us the response of the people who heard it.
[00:22:30] How many of you are worried about the people's response? And so you don't do your part to share your story, I'll raise my hand.
[00:22:41] I'm worried about what people are going to say. And here's what the shepherds teach me in verse 17 and 18. If you will tell the story, the people will respond.
[00:22:52] And you're not in control of how they respond or what they do. It's not your job to twist the people's arms, but it is your job to tell the story and trust the Lord to do something with that story that you could not do by holding onto it and keeping it in.
[00:23:15] The shepherds, they did their job. They told their stories about Jesus and about the angels and about the choir that was praying about Jesus being Savior and Christ and Lord. And what does verse number 18 say? Verse number 18, verse 18 says this.
[00:23:32] All that heard it, wondered, wondered.
[00:23:39] They thought about it.
[00:23:42] Verse number 18 doesn't say anybody got saved. Does.
[00:23:47] Doesn't promise that lives were immediately changed. But what it did say is God was working in the hearts and the minds of the people who heard the story.
[00:23:58] And we've got to trust God to do his part. When we do our part, God's going to do his part.
[00:24:05] And we've got to trust God to do that.
[00:24:09] As those shepherds come out of the fields and they come into town and they're telling this crazy story that happened to them in the field, there are some people that will kick back and say, no, that's just a crazy bunch of rogue men right there.
[00:24:26] But there are some that wonder, is that baby in town?
[00:24:34] Is he the Savior?
[00:24:37] Is he who we've longed for, who we've prayed for, who we've waited for?
[00:24:44] Is this the one that scripture has promised?
[00:24:48] Before I leave this point, I need to remind you that you need to tell your story and trust the Lord to do the rest.
[00:24:57] And it's amazing what the Lord will do.
[00:25:00] Look at verses 19 and 20.
[00:25:04] But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
[00:25:09] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen. And it was told to them.
[00:25:18] As we end scripture this morning, one of the people that overheard what the shepherds were saying was Mary.
[00:25:28] Now remember, a lot has happened in Mary's life.
[00:25:31] Mary has heard the angels, seen the angels.
[00:25:35] Mary has given birth to this special child.
[00:25:38] She has contemplated of how she is to move on with her life.
[00:25:42] She has watched Joseph try to get rid of her privately.
[00:25:50] And God is working in it all.
[00:25:54] Scripture in verse number 19 says, Mary kept all of these things and pondered them in her heart. This is just another thing that God is doing that you've got to give him credit for and you've got to trust him with.
[00:26:11] She's trying to understand exactly what is going on here.
[00:26:20] How many of us savor moments?
[00:26:24] When's the last time you actually savored a moment?
[00:26:30] And here's what I mean. You just sat there and you soaked it in and you enjoyed it and you contemplated, maybe you even thanked God for it.
[00:26:41] God, thank you for what you're doing.
[00:26:45] I told you at Christmas Eve service, I was in my emotions a little bit.
[00:26:51] I'm savoring this basketball season with Levi.
[00:26:56] Unless some college comes knocking at the door, it may be his last, right?
[00:27:01] But he graduates this year. My oldest son graduates. I'm trying to savor every moment because guess what? We don't get a second chance at this.
[00:27:13] So you savor those moments.
[00:27:15] Just today, there's a young couple within our church that's coming home with a baby.
[00:27:21] And it's amazing story behind this little baby. But guess what? The baby is healthy. And that young couple is savoring this time with that baby.
[00:27:31] There's some of you who've had family visit over Christmas and your house has been full and you savored that moment because you know you may not get it until next year.
[00:27:46] Mary is savoring the moment.
[00:27:48] God is working in her life and her son's life. And this little boy is going to be special. She's holding on tight to what God is doing, doing.
[00:28:02] But there also is another response to the news. She savors the moment.
[00:28:07] But what do those shepherds do?
[00:28:09] Look at verse number 20.
[00:28:12] The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.
[00:28:20] And it was told unto them.
[00:28:24] Mary is savoring.
[00:28:26] And these shepherds, their response is there, singing God's praises, just including them into the story, coming to them as unlikely men. They're just privileged to be a small part in this story, to be able to see the Savior and to be able to tell others about the Savior. Oh, we're going to sing the praises.
[00:28:50] But you know what happens? You know what happens when the angels go away and the bright lights go down and years pass away? Guess what? These, these shepherds, they're going back to the same old fields and the same old sheep and the same old job.
[00:29:11] But they're going back changed men.
[00:29:17] You may say what happens when somebody comes to Jesus, man. It's a tremendous thing when somebody gets saved.
[00:29:26] But you and I have been saved before. And maybe we walk back into the same homes and the same workplaces and the same jobs, but we've done it in a new way because Jesus has changed us.
[00:29:42] But some of us have lost our song.
[00:29:46] Some of us have lost our story, some of us have lost our shout about how good Jesus is.
[00:29:55] And what verse number 20 challenges me to do as your pastor is not to get any louder.
[00:30:07] Just tell my story.
[00:30:11] Tell how good Jesus has been to me, what he saved me from, where he led me to where he has me today.
[00:30:23] I'm grateful.
[00:30:25] Psalm 40, verse 3 says this. He put a new song in my mouth. Even praise to our God. Many will see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord simply by your story.
[00:30:38] When they hear what Jesus has done for you, God will use that to change others lives.
[00:30:46] You know the biggest enemy of the gospel message?
[00:30:51] It's a word that starts with an S. But it's not Satan, it's silence.
[00:31:01] And it's amazing because I didn't really connect Adam's song.
[00:31:09] United States of America looks like another silent night because we're not telling our story.
[00:31:21] Friends, today you and I have the greatest news in all the world.
[00:31:27] And my prayer is that through the shepherds eyes and through their lives that you and I can be challenged.
[00:31:35] As we have received the good news. Believers, just like the shepherds, will we continue to savor and will we continue to share our story? Will we continue to sing and seek him every single day of our life?
[00:31:50] But maybe today there's somebody who like Mel Trotter, has stumbled into this place.
[00:31:59] They're looking for something and they can't figure out exactly what it is.
[00:32:05] Mel Trotter was looking for somebody to give him another drink of alcohol.
[00:32:11] And what Mr. Monroe did that night was give him Jesus.
[00:32:16] The only thing he had to give.
[00:32:19] How Jesus changed his life.
[00:32:22] And the Lord went to work today. If you stumbled in here, it's not by accident, it's not even by your plan. God has brought you here and I want you to know the good news that you need to seek Jesus Christ and a relationship with him. The good news is simply this. We are sinners and fall short of the glory of God.
[00:32:45] And the only way that we can be forgiven of that sin in God's sight is through the blood of his son Jesus.
[00:32:57] He died on the cross for your sin and for my sin. He rose on the third day to give us hope of life and a future.
[00:33:05] He gives us a relationship with a living God.
[00:33:08] And today if you need that, please do not put it off.
[00:33:14] Christians, as we close the book together today, let it be a challenge that the shepherds are not the only one telling the story of Jesus.
[00:33:26] It's up to you and me.
[00:33:29] Pray.
[00:33:30] Father God, Lord, we thank you for this day.
[00:33:34] God, as we come before you right now in a moment of invitation.
[00:33:39] Lord, there are things that we are holding to.
[00:33:42] There are things that we are savoring. There are things that might be in the way.
[00:33:47] Oh God, I just pray that you just have your way, Lord, for that one that needs Jesus. God, I pray that you will work. It's not my job to twist arms, God, I just pray, Lord, through the story of Jesus coming to this earth and dying for sin and rising on the third day, that somebody needs the hope that Jesus offers.
[00:34:06] God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would work in that heart today.
[00:34:09] God, we give you this moment of invitation. And pray, Lord, that you work now. In Jesus name, Amen.
[00:34:16] Clifford Baptist Church invites you to join us for worship every Sunday morning at 11am for more information about our church, please call our church office at 434-946-0555.
