1st Lesson - Genesis 3: 14 (After Adam and Eve had been tempted into sin by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." 17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

Pastoral teaching: The reason we are here tonight is because of sin. Sin came into the world through Adam and Eve and the serpent. The result of sin was the curse, the curse of death, pain, toil. In the very next generation, Cain and Abel, we see brother murdering brother. We still see the results of sin everyday on the news. Another company where executives have cheated. More deaths by terrorist attacks. Rumors of wars and weapons of mass destruction. We see the results of sin in our everyday lives. Disease and injury. Temptations to sin. Adam and Eve first disregarded God's Word, thinking that doing things their own way might be interesting. We disregard God's Word, thinking if we just do things our own way, we will make it happen. "Did God really say�?" was the first temptation. Do we still question His wisdom as well?

But even from the beginning, our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, had a plan, a plan to no longer let sin and sorrow grow, to stop the effects of the curse of sin, to make his blessings flow. Here even as early as Genesis 3 we hear the first prediction of Christmas. God will send the "Offspring", the "Seed" of the woman. The serpent will continue to strike at his heel, trying to inflict pain on the Chosen One. But the Seed, the one who is to come, the Christ, will come to crush the head of the serpent. On that we can be sure.

2nd Lesson Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,

4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Pastoral teaching: Adam and Eve first heard the curse and the promise of God. God's human creation continued to struggle with the curse of sin and to forget the promise. By the time of Noah, it was so bad that the Lord destroyed all but 8 people saved in the Ark, but he promised to never send such a flood again. By the time of the Tower of Babel it was so bad that the Lord confused the people with various languages. By the time of Abraham, the people of the world worshipped all sorts of idols, not the one true, promising God. So the Lord came to one man, one particular man and made another promise. The Lord established a covenant, a promise with this one man Abraham, to make him the father of many nations. The people of the world would be blessed through him and his descendants and through His Seed.

This Promising God continued to chastise his people when they forgot Him and quit listening to His Word. But He continued to make and keep promises, to Jacob and Moses and David. He continued to speak through His prophets and promise to send the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God (Isaiah 9). He promised to send Immanuel, which means "God with us." Only Immanuel, begotten of the Father's love before all time, only Jesus Christ could be the Savior of the world.

3rd Lesson � Luke 1: 26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. ��28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God." Pastoral teaching: The world is greatly interested in angels. Tons of books and TV shows about angels are out and popular. Here we have Gabriel, one of the chief of God's angels, being used as an errand boy. Imagine for a minute if the President asked General Metz or even General Tommy Franks to go and personally tell a poor young girl here in Junction City that the results of her pregnancy test were back and that she was pregnant. This seems to be a pretty menial task for such an important angel. But yet it's not. Gabriel is given this great honor to announce the coming of the Messiah, the Son of the Most High, the Mighty God Himself, coming in human flesh.

In a very real sense, Gabriel is announcing it again here to us tonight through this text. We hear this heavenly proclamation of who Jesus truly is and that his kingdom will last forever. Earthly kings and princes, presidents, generals and governors might be able to be trusted for a short time, but even if they are good, their reigns will last only a time. In Jesus we have a king in whom we can put our trust forever.

4th Lesson -- Micah 5: 2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. ��

4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.

Pastoral teaching: The little town of Bethlehem was chosen as the birthplace of the Christ. The name Bethlehem means "house of bread." From this "house of bread" came the "Bread of Life," Jesus Himself (John 6).

Tomorrow many of us will find ourselves around family meals, blessed by God with wondrous banquets that would rival those of the kings of old. Jesus said (John 6: 27) "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

Tomorrow, enjoy the bounty that God has given you. But take the time to remember the eternal Bread of Life. Just as surely as we need earthly food and earthly bread to sustain our earthly bodies, we need Christ, come in a manger to the town called "house of bread" to sustain our eternal lives. He invites you to fill yourself with Him through His Word regularly.

5th Lesson Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place (before) Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Pastoral teaching: God is at work here. It had been prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. But Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, some 90 miles to the north. What would motivate them to walk for days across dangerous ground to go to Bethlehem? Nothing more than an act of Caesar, pre-arranged by God. They had to go. They were compelled to go, to be registered. And there Mary gave birth to Jesus. She wrapped Him in cloth bands and laid him resting in a manger, a feeding trough in a stable, because there was no regular room for them, no place prepared for them. We often see this stable pictured as a little lean-to, open-faced shed with a roof on it. It might have been. But it might also have been some sort of cave, also commonly used as stables then, places where animals might have naturally gone for protection from rain and wind, perhaps with a little stone fence around it. Jesus first cradle, his first earthly resting place may have been simply an indentation in the rocks, a place where hay and grass could be stuffed to keep it off the ground. "She brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in cloth bands, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn"

Some 33 years later, probably with Mary looking on, a different Joseph helped arrange for Jesus last earthly resting place. "Going to Pilate, he (Joseph of Arimathea) asked for Jesus' body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped him in a cloth sheet and laid him in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid."

Yet God is in control. This same Jesus who was laid, helplessly, into a manger, this little God-man, gave his life on the cross, allowed his human body to be wrapped once again in cloth and laid in the rock cave not prepared for Him. We always want to remember that this Christmas day, when Jesus was born for us, is tied to Good Friday, when Jesus died for us. But God is in control. Just as the stable and manger did not hold Jesus permanently, neither does the tomb. We always want to remember that this Christmas Day, when Jesus was born for us, is tied to Easter, when Jesus rose again from the dead for us. 6th Lesson -- NKJ Luke 2: 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ��

10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

11 "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." ��

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace (to men on whom his favor rests)!" Pastoral teaching: Last month I bolted down out of the chancel during the sermon hymn and sent your hearts racing. For those of you not here, I shouted "Stop the music. Stop the music!" and then announced "Jesus is coming!" One member later told me that he thought I had lost my mind, would have to be put in a mental hospital, and that all of you would have to start looking for a new pastor.

The shepherds may have thought they were losing their minds when the angels appeared to them. They were certainly alert. Their hearts were racing. They heard this wondrous Good News of the Savior's First Coming and went to learn more about him for themselves. His First Coming brought salvation to all those who hear it and respond to it, to all who become his disciples, his "students". All those who are alert and prepared for His Second Coming won't have to be shocked like the shepherds were.

You were alert on that Sunday that I came bounding out. Have you continued to be alert? Are you watching for Jesus Second coming? We always want to remember that just as Jesus first coming in the lowly manger was tied to his cross and resurrection, so too is His first coming tied to His Second Coming. Just as the shepherds did not know when the "Good Shepherd" was first coming, we do not know the times and dates of His Second Coming. But as sure as His First Coming brought Life and Salvation to all who turn to Him in repentance and faith, so to will his Second Coming bring everlasting joy to all who are alert and waiting for Him. His Second Coming will be the culmination of all the promises made in His Word.

7th Lesson -- NKJ Luke 2: 15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."

16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.

18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. ��

20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Pastoral teaching: Things returned to relative normality after the angels came. Jesus didn't start performing wondrous 'baby' miracles. The shepherds were not empowered to be spectacular preachers and teachers. Granted the Wise men were still to come and the star of Bethlehem was to appear, perhaps it had already. The Shepherds told the story, and people were amazed and wondering "what does this mean?" But for the next 30 years of Jesus life, things went on with relative human normality. This Jesus, fully God and fully man, appeared for years to be simply human, common, ordinary. Like us.

Does your life sometimes feel common, ordinary, normal? If Jesus is in your life, that ordinariness is good. God chose the ordinary, the humble in which to enter this world: Abraham, Mary, a baby, a stable, shepherds, then a cross and a tomb. To those who stand humbly before Him, He gives the "right to be called the children of God" (John 1: 12). Before our Lord Jesus we kneel humbly, amazed at His great love shown for us. Before our Lord Jesus, we stand confidently, trusting that his love shown in the manger and on the cross. Before our Lord Jesus we come joyfully, preparing room for him and his salvation in our hearts! We sing that joy in the words of the hymn "Joy to the World."

The Scriptures of Luke 2 are taken from the New King James Version (1984) by Thomas Nelson, Inc. The other readings are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV (1973, 1984). Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.