Dec 14 - Luke 2:11

 

[The angel said]

“For there is born to you

this day in the city of David

a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:11

 

            Adults and Children’s Devotion   

 

I write this on my mother's 80th birthday. My brothers and I invited my parents to join us this weekend in our old hometown of Roanoke, Va. As we sat down in our old home church to worship, the pastor came out and said,

 

"I have the most amazing announcement:

Today ... we have no announcements!"

 

It was a nice announcement. Greatly appreciated. (Try to imagine that at Spirit of Joy!) But is wasn’t the most amazing announcement. The most amazing announcement occurred when the angels greeted the shepherds with news of the Messiah's birth. 

 

What is an “announcement”? In the first internet dictionary I found, the definition is: "a public and typically formal statement about a fact, occurrence, or intention." Let’s look at those key words …

 

·         The angel's announcement was "public" ... or at least semi-public. It was for all the shepherds in that region. All, what, fifteen of them?! Though if you tell people who'll tell other people, then even a small announcement becomes a big testimony. And the shepherds did tell. As it says in verse 17, "When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child."

 

·         It was also and certainly "formal." For example, when a king enters a ballroom, you'll often hear a formal announcement - something like, "Ladies and gentlemen please stand for his majesty." The angels announced the king as he entered the world. And they even named his proper titles: "Savior," "Christ," "Lord."

 

·         It was a "statement about a fact." The fact was that the "Savior" was "born."

 

·         It was a "statement about an ... occurrence." It literally occurred: the Savior was born.

 

·         It was also a "statement about an ... intention." What was the intention? The Savior would save. That's what this was all about. The Savior would save. 

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns ... While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains ... Repeat the sounding joy. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who loves

repeating the

sounding joy

 

Discussion Questions

 

1.    What is the best "announcement" you've ever heard?

2.    What do you think it would have been like to have been one of the shepherds who heard this announcement?

3.    Have you ever shared the announcement that Jesus is the Savior with another person? When? Why? How?