Hark, The Herald Angels Sing

Today on summit with JD Greer. You think that your sin is bad you think that you mess things up. You think that you're so guilty you can't be forgiven for God said there's more power in my ability to forgive and there was a before that I spoke that caused the universe to spring into existence. There is more power in my resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and my ability to heal your wife and there wasn't anything that I have ever created. The Bible teaching ministry of JD Greer. I'm your host Molly benefits, we conclude our series titled Carol's. We are going to discuss the meaning behind the classic song.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing and trust me, you'll never hear at the same way again. And just like the other day.

We want to share an actual performance of the Carol to make sure that you stick around until the end of the broadcast is our Senate worship team shares their rendition of this Christmas classic.

Let's begin right now with Pastor JD and the message he originally preached on Christmas Eve to turn to the book of Luke as we my role this evening with you is basically to take just a few minutes to set up the very next Carol that were going to sing together. Carol is Hark the Herald Angels Park is a pretty old word word that we don't use a lot in normal conversation anymore, but all it means is simply listen. The writer of this Carol is telling us to pay attention and listen to something that he is afraid that we are going to mess he puts his message in the mouth of a shepherd. The shepherds were the only ones who actually saw and heard the angels that evening, and there are some things about what they saw that evening that the writer of this Carol wants to make sure that we do not miss the shepherd who sings this Carol seems pretty overwhelmed by three things in these three things gives you the ability to understand the secrets of the true meaning of Christmas. Here they are. First, he is amazed that the angels chose to appear to him. Shepherds had to be the least likely people on earth to receive an angelic announcement about the birth of a king. Shepherds were considered to be the lowest class in Jewish society.

They were the ultimate unskilled laborers shepherding with the job you gave to children. If you were an adult and you're still a shepherd that met a total life sale and here is why the angel's choice to appear to the shepherds at all the people in Israel why their choice to appear to the shepherds is so important for you and for me that is because while Christmas time is joyful for a lot of people. It's all calm and bright in songs of joy for others.

It reminds them of how disappointed they are with where their lives are how their lives have turned out to make some feel like we are really alone. Everybody else seems to go home to their real family and their real friends at Christmas times and Christmas time and you stay alone or maybe this season remind you of somebody who used to be in your life but is not anymore.

Father, a husband, child, friend.

Maybe a girlfriend or maybe you forget how broken and dysfunctional.

Your family is, until Christmas time comes around for some of you your entire goal over the next few days assembly for the police not to get call that would be a good Christmas season for you heard one guy say that happiness in life is having a large, close-knit family, all of whom live somewhere else in another city. Maybe this Christmas find you jobless for one of the first times.

Remember in your about the future. Maybe you're concerned this Christmas about your kids the decisions they are making or maybe you're concerned about your marriage if you're concerned about your lack of marriage prospects for yet another year maybe you find yourself in trouble. This Christmas may be in trouble. Your job, maybe in trouble with the law. These shepherds who came into that first Christmas came into it. Not feeling like their lives were awesome either. Maybe you are in exactly the same place will see the good news and what they want to make sure that you understand is that you are the very ones in whom the angels most wanted to give this message to you and submitting and all of us.

They say Hark Park. Second, this shepherd must have been amazed at all the celebration that was going on in the heavenly host about the birth of a baby. The angels proclaimed that evening.

Glory to God in the highest, which simply means that God deserves the greatest praise for the birth of this baby.

The greatest phrase, which is pretty remarkable when you think about what else these angels had seen these angels had been first hand eyewitnesses of creation were God spoke a word spoken phrase, let there be light and billions of galaxies burst into existence*astronomers tell us that there are a total of about 3000 billion trillion stars. That is three with 24 zeros after it.

Let me see you. Maybe this helps you get your mind around what what size that number is from a million seconds ago was that we can four days ago by a million seconds a milieux at hot when you think a billion seconds ago was maybe for the July maybe New Year's last year.

A billion seconds ago was in 1984 the first CD player had just been released onto the market, the Jedi had just returned for the very first time is a bunch on this room. It ain't even a billion seconds. Old yet. Raise your hand if you're not even a billion seconds old, yet you got nothing on your belt. See as a billion seconds ago gets a billion. How big a trillion seconds ago was trillion trillion seconds ago was 31,688 years ago.

Rocky one had just come out if you want to universe signs.

Astellas contains about 3000 billion trillion stars in just about every single one of those puts out the amount of energy they say that would be continued every second puts out the sunlight energy that would be in a trillion atom bombs.

These angels had see God create all of that with just a word, let there be light and all those things burst into existence.

But that is not what they thought gave God glory in the highest.

What gave God glory in the highest of a thing about they evening was this veiled in flash the Godhead see hail the incarnate deity, pleased as man with vintage while Jesus power Emmanuelle the greatest glory. They thought that God ever displayed was his decision to come to die for sinners.

The gospel is that you and I were hopelessly doomed and God the Creator came to take our place so that we would not have to suffer the penalty of what you and I have brought onto ourselves that God's son Jesus was going to suffer it in our place for the book of first Peter the apostle Peter says that the angels are amazed by this. They see God create the stars with a bit put out enough energy every second to the power trillion out of bounds but that is not what blows their minds what they want to look more deeply into the angels you see the face of God every day what they cannot get their minds around what blows their minds is the mercy that God displayed toward simple people in the gospel toward you and for me, so they say hail the heaven born Prince of these hail the son as she went of righteousness light and life to all he brings risen with healing in his wings. The angels and seeing God's power to create stars of immense energy and an immense number but what gave him unbelievable sense of wonder was God's mercy that he showed rebellious sinners in his power to heal them and to resurrect them from the curse of death you think that your sin is bad you think that you've messed things up. You think that you're so guilty you can't be forgiven for God said there's more power in my ability to forgive than there was in the world that I spoke that caused the universe to spring into existence. You think Santa start your life you think of messed up your heart you think it's destroyed your relationship God says there is more power in my resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and my ability to heal your life and there wasn't anything that I have ever created mild he lays his glory by born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth born to give them second birth see the gospel is that you and I would do in our first birth in our natural birth and so Jesus came to save us and give us a new birth see underneath all of your religious good moral makeup really just rebellious sinners really just rebellious sinners, we strip everything else away. I know that might sound harsh, but look into your heart. Deep down, have we not assumed always that we knew best how to run our lives as kids we we we thought for sure that we knew better than our parents it out. Ask any 10-year-old hearing on it is probably a number of you if you got asked is really what you think. Who knows more about life right now that you are your parents every 10-year-old that was on the subject I know more about my life and my parents as we get older we don't really and he would grow up a little bit, but we don't really change. We still assume that we are the ones you know best how to rule our lives, which is why her condition to guide our obedience to God is always conditional whenever we want to give them total control because ultimately I'm the one who knows best for my life and I know better that even God that we not preferred to make ourselves the focus and center of our lives, rather than God is about why when we can look at a picture at Christmas time we evaluate how good the picture is by how we look in that picture because life is just about awesome you want to make about the glory of God. We want to make about our glory when we want to be the focus of the center, we always thought that our will, ought to trump God's will. When the two conflicted the angels understand that that is moral insanity, and it is cosmic treason and the penalty for that cosmic treason is death. I know that it is popular today to see ourselves as basically good people. A few blind spots and maybe some weaknesses or maybe were misunderstood people was hidden potential, but just hasn't been tapped into yet, but I have to tell you that is not what the Bible says about us is that you and I are traitors to God were part of a traitor race and we are under the rightful curse of death when you see there are only two ways that curse can be resolved.

The first way is we suffer any internally ourselves, which means that were separated from God forever in a place of eternal death called Al or Jesus in his mercy and his love would be born as a baby to live the life that we were supposed to live and die the death that we were condemned to die that he would absorb the curse in our place so that we could escape and that was the cross. It was Jesus dying in your place. It was not his pride or his rebellion for his deceit or his immorality for his selfishness core.

His impurity that caused him to be nailed to the cross, for he had none of those things.

It was my sin, my pride, my lies, my exaggerations. It was was my selfishness and my crew that because there's males to go into his hands and those crowns to go up on that through storms to the crown his brow. It was the creator dying in the place of the created many angels see this and they can't understand why when you just wipe out the human race can why when you just create another one from scratch. Mild he lays his glory by born that man no more may die. I know that is popular today also say that whatever what you want to follow God is okay as long as your sincere God like a mountain after all right many roads going up to the top of the mountain for Roselle lead ultimately to the same place but I need to help you understand it is clear as the Bible says anything as clear as Jesus ever said anything that is not true.

It is not what the Bible says what the Bible says of salvation is found in nobody else. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Jesus said, John 14 six I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father unless he comes through me. You see, every other religion teaches you that you can save yourself if you will be good enough if you practice enough religious observances of you go to church enough you'll take communion if you go to the mosque. If you'll pray toward Mecca. If you'll come if you will you will sacrifice to the Buddha to follow the eightfold path and you do that enough you do it sincere enough and you can be saved, but Jesus taught exactly the opposite. He said you cannot save yourself you can never save yourself no matter what you did. So I did it for you and your enough to humble yourself and receive that as a gift and that is not the same message I see you like this if I couldn't swim and I fell off the boat and there I am in the water struggling to keep my head above water your staining on the side and in your hand you got a lifesaver in the left-hand of your right hand, you got a bagel rock can I say save me when you say which one whom you throw to you and I say good night.

As always, your sincere, just the one to be sincerely it does matter which one you throw to me.

Religion says try harder, be better swim a little bit more Jesus message is your drowning. So I did it for you. I did what you could never do I live the life that you were supposed to live but did not I die the death that you were condemned to die but could not suffer unless you did it eternally cannot offer to you is a gift that you have to receive so the shepherd say Hark Park. This is your lifesaver. Lastly, the shepherds, the shepherd was probably amazed that he was the one that was chosen to announce this to others. Thing about this the only ones. The only ones you got to see the Angels that night were the shepherds.

Everybody else had to hear about this announcement from the shepherds, the shepherds got glory and songs of Noel's and hallelujahs and everybody else got smelly.

Barely literate shepherds. And honestly, that might disappoint us. Most of us would probably prefer the Angels right but it is a very important thing that you learn about God throughout Scripture, God's primary way of speaking to people is the broken and flawed instruments through shepherds.

You see, the first time most people hear the gospel message almost always from somebody that they know pretty closely.

Most people hear the gospel message for the first time from a family member or a friend and here's something about family members and friends.

You know all their flaws and you wonder how could God possibly be speaking to me through my older brother when you heard about all this. For the first time through that annoying neighbor who is seated right beside you right now. This morning, all you can be just their dudes are totally out of control.

They got the worst dog in the neighborhood. How can they possibly grasp the mysteries of eternity and share them with me which what's what my neighbors were here this morning I think are probably say listen just because the messenger is flawed does not mean the message is flawed.

God chooses as his primary mouthpieces. Shepherds, that's how it was of the first Christmas and that's how it is today is a very famous Old Testament story that if you grew up in Sunday school at all.

You are familiar with it into a kid favorite story of a prophet named Dale and do something the God and wanted to do so. God sends an angel to impede his path and as his donkey is walking on the road. The angel stands there in the bath with little flaming sword bail can see it but God opens the donkey's eyes about the don't you can see it as an adult he will go forward.

So bail starts the cost of the donkey, don't you still go forward.

So bail and starts to take the donkey to grab a stick and start the beat the donkey and so God in mercy opens up the donkey's mouth and gives them the ability to speak of it all. He says look Jack, you better cut that out because I'm trying to save your life and the point of the story is God spoke through a daunting.

The King James version.

Of course as an ass.

And the point is that God spoke to a daunting he can speak to your annoying neighbor for me say like this, I'll use King James English. Just because the messenger is an ass doesn't mean the message is in the truth and you kids listen you is not okay to use that word and less recording from the King James version okay to Charis Allie Ryan at my kids that are similar do not use that word about your friends or your jurors or anybody else. It's only okay in the KJV, so this message.

Listen this message to you from the shepherds and for me from that annoying neighbor who invited you tonight is this park listen listen to God is been pursuing you, God is been speaking to you.

Think about it you know when the question this writer of this Carol asked you that I she was, would you stop for a minute and just listen. You let them rise from the stress of the Christmas season is gonna fade away for just a minute may even like your objections all your but what about and why didn't and then all those kind of questions would you let them be put aside for just a minute when just listen. These angels are not trying to tell you to try harder, but not telling you to be better not telling you that you're not good enough you better clean your life on God is telling you that you could never be good enough but he loves you anyway so much that he left heaven for you and me did the work of saving him say God created the stars set his love on you and 2000 years ago. He appeared as a baby in a manger so that he could live the life that you were supposed to live. Many would suffer the curse of death that you been condemned to suffer and do it in your place so that you would just listen. Just receive the order, saving you there's nothing that you need to do in the there's nothing you can do nothing except for listen to his voice, and receive the gift if you never have. Are you ready to hearken. Are you ready to listen and receive what Jesus did 2000 years ago that you can do for yourselves much about your head.

If you would make sure you understand is the gospel is that Jesus Christ is Lord, and he came to do for you what you couldn't do for yourself, be paid for your salvation, and full so that if you will receive him as your Savior and surrender to him as Lord. He will save you never made that decision, or you're not sure that you made it, I'd invite you to pray a prayer like this is not magic words whatever comes from your heart out of your God.

I know that I'm a sinner and I'm sorry for my sin and I surrender my life to you say so in your own words.

I received Jesus Christ fully and completely. Now is my Savior.

Thank you Jesus for saving. Thank you for saving me.

But I pray for the many God by faith. I know many who right now for the first time for the first time that they really understood, trusted Christ as their Savior got up early to give them clarity in the days to come. They would since this new birth and a new life that will go on into eternity that you were going to forward to rephrase Jesus name in Jesus name, amen some inserts when the shepherds first heard that announcement 2000 years ago. It says that they worshiped so with the shepherds which you are the Herald Angels Sing dualism just anything claimed as a muscle God for his gift of salvation is seen as a mere version of the Christmas Carol marked the Herald Angels thing you're listening to Pastor Jeannie Greer and this is now in the season of giving. We just want to take a minute to remind you that there's no other gift that can compare to the gift of knowing Jesus and we left for you to partner with us in bringing the gospel to the radio, TV and online so that more people can know that joy Pastor Jeannie. We know that this time of year is really critical for ministries like Senate life as we close the books on another year that I think for a lot of people that's kind of surprising because they don't really know what I was involved in finding a ministry like basketball.

I am glad you asked that because it's important to me that people understand this radio is one of those things that unless your you're in all in the industry, you probably don't realize how much actually goes into these programs. By the time it's encountering your ears in your car in your kitchen or wherever you are able to offer it to you for free and without commercials.

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Yes, but I want you to join with us today in that mission. It's enabling us to impact people all over the country and we don't take one second of it for granted Chubb love you to prayerfully consider being a part of this of this team is a gospel partner and me at if you are already giving a monthly gift as a gospel partner which you consider adding them an extra end-of-the-year gift that will enable us to capitalize on on some opportunities that we have coming up in the new year to put us in a strong position to be able to walk through this door so I love to ask you if you you are a regular giver. The best end-of-the-year, special gift as we as we close out this year going to 2022. Will you join with us today. If you're not already a gospel partner which you can enter regular monthly commitment $35 or more if you sign up today. Pastor Jeannie will personally thinking by sending you a copy latest book on the topic of air, today is the last chance for special offering. You can reserve your copy of the 2020 teams Senate might later generate To support copy 335-2866 335 or you can give online here.I'm only for events start a new teaching theory wonderful weekend right here again Monday on the rear minute