Why We'll Always Celebrate Christmas!
The Heart of Christmas
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, thank You for being a God who reveals Yourself to us in ways that we cannot mistake. I confess that I am not always quick to learn all the truth You have for me, or to put it into practice once I know it, but I pray this day that by the indwelling presence of Your Holy Spirit that You will conform me more to the image of Your Son, Jesus, day by day that one day I may be fully mature and fully reflect His life in my life. I ask all these things in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, my risen Lord and Savior. Amen.
Bible Verses
Luke 2:8-20
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Questions for Reflection
Today, we’re focusing on discipleship as we turn again to Luke 2:8-20. Consider the characters involved in this first Christmas story and what they learned from the message God sent to them through the angels, and then through one another. Discipleship is more than learning, though, it is becoming like Jesus. How did the message of Jesus’ birth make the shepherds or Mary and Joseph more like Jesus?
How does it make you and I more like Jesus?
Questions for Exploration
What did the shepherds learn from the angels? (8-20)
What did Mary and Joseph learn from the shepherds? (8-20)
Who else learned something in today’s Scripture, and how did they learn it? (8-20)
Questions for Understanding
If discipleship is becoming more like Jesus, of what importance is it that Jesus started out as a baby, just as we did?
What can we learn from the Christmas story that will help us grow in discipleship?
Question for Application
What is one way you will become more like Jesus as a result of reading today’s Scripture?
Just As They Had Been Told....
One of the most amazing statements in the Bible to me has always been, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." How seldom in life are things “just as we have been told.” When the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus, they found him precisely where the angels said they would. They found that he was, indeed wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger. Somehow they determined that Jesus was, indeed, the Son of David. Imagine how this one night impacted the remainder of their lives! Undoubtedly, they went back to their fields rejoicing. How long did the rejoicing last? Did they continue to rejoice into the next day, week, month, year—for the rest of their lives? If they truly learned from that night’s experience, the shepherds would never be the same again. Discipleship is so much more than learning information. Discipleship goes beyond information to transformation. Without Jesus in one’s life the world is filled with information, to be sure, and that information may even bring about positive change in one’s life, but it is only through Jesus that transformation takes place. The shepherds took the information they received from the angel and shared it with as many as would hear it the night they heard it. One wonders whether they continued on such a mission—to inform others that the Son of David had been born in Bethlehem. True discipleship not only transforms us, but causes us to tell others!
To view other studies from the Why We Celebrate Christmas series, click here.