Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. The very purpose and mission of Jesus, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save. His people from their sins. To be saved is to be Rescue. On today's PowerPoint, Dr.
Grimm brings a message about why you can live without fear and full of great joy.
Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message: Gloria. Luke chapter 2, beginning at verse 8: the familiar story of Christmas and the song of the angels. And in the same region, there were shepherds 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 of 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 hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those. with whom he is pleased.
Angels are all around us. Every page you turn in Scripture. The effect and the impact of angels is felt, and there are over 300 references in both the Old Testament and the New Testament to these angel beings created by God Himself.
Now, Luke. Ah, and historian tells us about an incredible angel in Calvary. Angels are seen throughout the scripture, but there is an intensified activity of angels in the gospel, especially surrounding the life of Jesus. Surrounding the birth of Christ, the angels are everywhere. And then at the temptation of Christ, an angel came and ministered to him.
At the close of those 40 days of combating with Satan himself, Jesus often spoke of the angels in his teaching and the ministry of our Lord. Angels attended Jesus as he ascended up into heaven and spoke of the return of Christ, Christmas. 2. When Christ shall come again.
So angels are all around. When you get to the book of Revelation, angels, along with the saints of the ages, are praising God in heaven.
So I'm pointing out that the angel stories are true. Angels have A ministry. There are three primary roles and responsibilities of the angels. First, angels are witnesses. Witnesses.
The angels, the very name angel Angelos means messengers. And God throughout scripture assigned angels the responsibility of delivering important messages to human beings. Angels often come with messages of judgment and executing judgment as we see in the Bible. But the point is that these angels, these angel messengers deliver an important word from God. Secondly, angels are warriors.
powerful and mighty. As we're going to see in the passage in front of us, these are angel armies. that announced the birth and the arrival of our Lord. When people encounter angels, there was typically awe. And terror And fear.
Angels are powerful spiritual beings and spiritual warriors. Angels possess tremendous power and authority. As they Fight. against demon powers. This also means that we can be protected by angels.
Angels provide protection. For us. Psalm 91 and verse 11 says, For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all Your ways. Hebrews 1:14 says, Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit? Salvation.
So they are sent by God to serve the saved. This is an example in Luke chapter 2 of the angels arriving to serve this message, announcing the arrival and to serve the saints of God. Then Psalm 34, 7, the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. These are great verses which remind us that angels are warriors. They are our protectors and they watch over us even when we may not know it.
But of course angels are not only Uh witnesses. And warriors, but angels are worshipers. This is the primary Responsibility of an angel.
So angels are witnesses, angels are warriors, and angels are worshipers. And I say that because of what Christ has done in our lives, our praise and our worship should exceed the songs of angels. We have experienced great joy. because of what Christ has done for us. Yeah.
Now think about These angels who arrived. that night outside of Bethlehem. They were created by the hand of God. Present at creation. When God Fashioned the heavens and the earth.
When he spoke, life into being. But when they saw God The God that they had worshipped from eternity past. Leave his throne in heaven. and descend and condescend down to earth. to become an embryo.
In the womb of a woman. Through a birth canal. To be laid in a manger, a cattle stall. A feed trough. When the angels saw that, they must have wondered.
But no wonder. They how they worship the Lord. No wonder they praise God. The infinite. who has become an infant.
The sovereign God. who is wrapped in swaddling clothes. No wonder they lifted their voices. in rapturous and rigorous praise to God, shouting, glory to God in the highest. and on earth peace and goodwill.
To men. When you think about it, The angels had nothing to gain from the birth of God. Nothing. And yet they are excited. And they extoll.
the glory and the greatness and yes, the grace of God. They are amazed by this grace that God would become a man. They're so excited about this salvation message.
So excited that later Jesus would say, when A lost person comes to faith in Christ and comes home spiritually when a person is saved, that the angels. Rejoice in heaven. over one person who comes to faith in Christ. Amen. Interestingly enough, The announcement was not made in the courts.
Of Caesar Augustus, the most powerful. Man on earth. Nor was the announcement of the birth of Jesus made in the courts of the high priests of the religious leaders of that day. Nor was the announcement made to scholars and scribes or the educated elite of that time. Rather, God delivered the child and then delivered the message.
You know the story. to lowly shepherds. Shepherds.
Now don't romanticize the shepherds. If you get the role. Of a shepherd in a Christmas production or play, that's like the lowest role of all. All right, if you're a shepherd, oh, I thought I was a big deal because I got to be a shepherd. Not a big deal if you are truly a shepherd, because the shepherds were viewed in that society as the lowest of the low, the last.
run on the social ladder. They were ostracized. Because They were viewed as unclean. In fact, they were also viewed as untrustworthy.
So in Jewish law, a shepherd could not even be called upon to give a testimony in a court of law because they were considered crooks. And many of them were. We don't know about these shepherds, of course. They, like most shepherds, are unknown, unheralded. They're out there in the fields.
And that's another reason people didn't care for shepherds that much. They hung out with the sheep and smelled like them. Shepherds.
But when Jesus came, The announcement was made. to these outcasts.
Some would have called them lowlifes. And yet Jesus came and the announcement was made. to these Well, A prophecy, really. of the ministry that Jesus would have. He came for the outcasts.
and the irreligious. And the least. And the last and the lost. Why? Because he loves people, all people.
And you know The outcasts love Jesus. They loved him because he came for the hurting. He came for the helpless. He came for the hopeless, the broken and wounded in life and by life.
So much so that Jesus came to be known as the friend of sinners. Aren't you glad? That Jesus is the friend of sinners. Because that includes all of us. And he chooses the unknown and the unheralded.
Author to be his greatest spokespeople. when they come to faith in him like these shepherds. You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham, and the message, Gloria. We're excited to share that we have a new way for you to connect with us. It's our texting service designed to keep you connected with everything happening here at PowerPoint.
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Now let's get back to today's message, Gloria. Think about this message of angels. The angels assured the shepherds that Jesus would bring them great joy and the world great joy. and banish fear. Fear not, for I bring you good news, good tidings of great joy.
That's verse 10.
So many people live in fear. and anxiety and depression. Fear is a major problem in the world today, in people's lives today. And yet, over and over again in the scripture, we're told, do not fear. And so these men who are, of course, afraid in the presence of these angels, they're overcome by the presence of heaven all around them.
They're told, Do not fear, because I bring you good tidings. A great joy. Not just joy. But great joy. You know, fear came into the world because of sin.
Sin brought suffering. and misery into the world.
So the message of fear not I bring you good tidings. Good news of great joy is a message that He has come to banish fear in our lives. and to give us great joy. Ray Stedman said, the chief mark of a Christian should be the absence of fear and the presence of joy. We can live without fear.
and with great joy in our lives because we Have a Savior. And his name is Jesus. The message of these angels is clear. Verse 11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ.
The Lord. Three titles. given to Jesus. We already have been told that His name shall be called Jesus.
So we have his name. But his titles Our Savior Messiah or Christ. And King. Or Lord. Jesus came to destroy, to crush the power of sin and hell.
Because of his great love, God's love for us. There's no greater love. Than the reconciling, redeeming love of God in Jesus Christ. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. And our Lord came on this mission of mercy.
And the good news is that Christ has come to you and me. No wonder there's great joy. We sing, and the world sings that knows the Lord because He has come. We ask that question: what child is this? The great carol, what child is this?
We don't have to wonder who this is. late in a major. He is Savior. He has come. To save.
Deliver us, rescue us. In fact, the very purpose and mission of Jesus, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save. His people from their sins. To be saved is to be rescued. It is to be delivered, particularly in the face of some great crisis.
Even destruction. If you were drowning. And you were crying out to help, and you were going under, what would you want somebody to do? To come out there and do what? Save you.
If you were trapped in an automobile in a wreckage, And you feel as though you can't breathe, what would you want someone to do? Come to your car and get those jaws of life and do what? Save you. If you went to the doctor and the doctor said you have this terrible disease and you're probably, you could die from this disease, but the doctor treats you and you get well, what would you say? That doctor saved my life.
So, when you consider that you are on a path to destruction. You are in the grip of death. You are facing judgment and hell. That's a crisis. What would you need someone to do for you?
Something that you couldn't do for yourself, and that is to save you. And that's why God came. He is Savior. He will deliver you. Are you saved?
Because all of us have sinned, and that sin brings death and judgment. And we need to be delivered from the power and the grip of sin. And that is the message of Christmas. It's not all about the baby Jesus and dancing around the manger. This Savior came to deliver us from our sins.
But not only is he Savior, The angel said, he is. Christ Someone who is the Christ means the anointed one, or the one who is anointed. Primarily This means that Jesus is anointed as king. He is the son of David. The promised Messiah.
And The child who is born has always been king. He was king in the cradle. As surely as he was king when crowned. In eternity. He is exalted.
King. That means that God keeps his promises, and just as surely as God promised the Messiah would come, the anointed king would arrive, God still keeps his promises to us. And one day, Jesus is coming again as king of kings. But he also says The angel says, That Christ is Savior, He is King. Messiah?
and that he is Lord. And you'll note in the scriptures that the word Lord typically is. Is capitalized there because this is Yahweh God. This is the name. For God.
The personal Holy name of God. The word Lord here means something beyond leader of the pack. Or leader of the family. The word Lord means master. It means sovereign.
God. God Himself.
Now listen up. This is the meaning and the message of Christmas. That Jesus The Savior, Messiah, who is born. Is God He is Lord. Lord of life and Lord of death.
When you speak of Lord, it speaks of sovereignty and authority.
So Jesus Born that day, Lives as Lord. The question is, is Jesus the Lord of your life? Because you cannot be saved. Apart from confessing Jesus And following Jesus the Savior as your Lord. Romans 10, 9, and 10 say if we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus Christ.
And believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, we will be saved. For with the heart We believe in the righteousness, and confession to salvation is made with the mouth. And whoever calls upon the name of the Lord. will be saved. This is the great confession of Christmas.
It's the great confession of the Christian faith. Ask yourself, is Jesus my Lord? Have I confessed him as my Savior and Lord? And if I have, then is He the Lord of my time? Is He the Lord of my talent?
Is He the Lord of my treasure, my tithe? Is He the Lord of my temperament? Is He the Lord of my testimony? Is Jesus the Lord of your life? I guarantee you, one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.
That's Philippians chapter 2. The only question is, you're going to bow before King Jesus. The only question is: will you bow before him now in faith and commitment and follow him in obedience? Or will you bow before him in judgment? Because you have Walked away without faith in Christ because you've never confessed Him as your Lord and Savior.
Is He your Lord? What matters is that you confess him.
Now. The angel sang, glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace to all men and women of goodwill. You know what that means? What the angels said that night outside of Bethlehem, what they sang, and gloria to God.
Was peace. to all people. Of goodwill, who have received God's grace. This is not teaching. that we're saved because we have goodwill in our hearts.
But because God has given us His goodwill. that we have received his grace. which is God's gift. of eternal life.
So this is salvation peace. Salvation peace. Because we have peace with God and we have peace within. Because the Savior has come and we can make peace. and be peacemakers in the world because of what Christ did.
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Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? The angels didn't show up to announce a nice religious idea. They announced an invasion. heaven crashing into earth with a claim on everything. And here's what most of us miss.
Those shepherds had a choice. They could have said, That's amazing, rolled over and gone back to watching sheep. Instead they left everything and ran to find him. They let the announcement change their trajectory.
So, here's the question you need to wrestle with. What would actually be different in your life if Jesus truly had lordship over it? not management rights, full ownership. because if nothing would change, you might want to revisit what you actually believe about that manger. The Shepherds were no bodies.
socially rejected, legally untrustworthy, economically irrelevant. and God chose them to be the first evangelists of the greatest story ever told. What does that tell you about your excuses? You think you're too broken. Too far gone?
Too unqualified. Too damaged by life? God specializes in using people the world has written off. The angels proclaimed great joy. not the superficial happiness you plaster on at Christmas parties, but the deep, unshakable joy that comes from knowing the Master of the Universe knows your name and has saved your life.
That kind of joy doesn't stay quiet. It doesn't stay safe. It changes how you spend your money, how you treat difficult people, how you respond when life goes sideways. The shepherds heard the message and immediately became messengers. The angels announced a Savior that day, the one who is Christ the Lord, not was, but is, present tense, an active claim, current authority.
So this Christmas, don't just sing about the baby in the manger, but surrender completely to the one who is king today and forever. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember that when you give a gift to PowerPoint, your gift will be doubled by a generous matching grant.
So text the word match to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about why Christmas and Jesus' birth are gifts just for you. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
