What Do You Do With the Message?

In one paragraph

This sermon, preached by Pastor Ben on December 21, 2025, traced the responses of the shepherds, Mary, and Joseph to the messages they received from angels at the first Christmas. The central question running through the whole message was simple: when God sends a word your way, what do you do with it? The pattern across all three accounts is the same, hear the message, and act on it. Pastor Ben...

Read together

1. John 3:16-17 read aloud during the fourth advent candle lighting for the candle of love
2. Luke 2:8-9 introducing the shepherds keeping watch and the angel appearing with the glory of the Lord
3. Luke 2:10-12 the angel telling the shepherds fear not and announcing the birth of a savior for them with a sign
4. Luke 2:13-14 the multitude of the heavenly host praising God, glory to God in the highest and peace on earth
5. Luke 1:26-28 the angel Gabriel sent to Mary in Nazareth, greeting her as favored one
6. Luke 1:29-30 Mary perplexed and pondering the salutation, angel telling her not to be afraid
7. Luke 1:31-33 angel telling Mary she will conceive and bear a son named Jesus who will reign forever
8. Luke 1:34-37 Mary asking how since she is a virgin, angel explaining the Holy Spirit will overshadow her and nothing is impossible with God
9. Matthew 1:18-19 Joseph a righteous man finding Mary with child and planning to send her away secretly
10. Matthew 1:20-21 an angel appearing to Joseph in a dream telling him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife and to name the child Jesus
11. Matthew 1:22-23 explanatory note that this fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy of the virgin bearing Emmanuel meaning God with us
12. Matthew 1:24-25 Joseph awoke and did as the angel commanded, taking Mary as his wife and naming the son Jesus
13. Luke 2:15-16 the shepherds saying let us go straight to Bethlehem and finding Mary and Joseph and the baby
14. Luke 2:17-19 the shepherds making known what was told them, all who heard were amazed, Mary treasured these things in her heart
15. Luke 2:20 the shepherds returning glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen
16. Luke 1:46-49 Mary's Magnificat, her soul magnifying the Lord and God doing great things for her
17. Matthew 2:13-14 angel telling Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt because Herod would seek to destroy the child, Joseph leaving that night
18. Matthew 2:19-23 angel appearing to Joseph in Egypt after Herod died, directing him back to Israel, settling in Nazareth fulfilling he shall be called a Nazarene
19. Luke 11:27-28 a woman calling blessed the womb that bore Jesus, Jesus responding blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it
20. Revelation 1:1-3 the revelation given to bond servants, blessed is the one who reads and hears and keeps the words of prophecy
21. Isaiah 61 Jesus citing his mission to share with the poor and proclaim freedom for the captive
22. Ephesians 4:11-16 God giving apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for ministry until unity of the faith and fullness of Christ
23. Galatians 4:4-5 when the fullness of time came God sent his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem us so we might receive adoption as sons

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ben talked about the joy of the Christmas season sitting right alongside real pain, grief, and loss. How have you experienced that tension this Christmas, and what does it look like to hold both honestly?
2. The shepherds were considered the lowest of the low, yet the angel's message was addressed specifically to them: 'for you, a savior.' What does it mean to you personally that the message of Christ's birth was framed as an individual word, not just a general announcement?
3. Mary said 'I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me just as you have said,' and Joseph woke up and did exactly what the angel commanded. What makes that kind of immediate, trusting obedience hard for us, and what tends to get in the way?
4. Pastor Ben pointed out that the shepherds did not linger long on worship and adoration in the text. They received a message, went, and then carried that message to Mary and Joseph. What does it look like in your own life to actually carry the message forward rather than just receiving it?
5. The sermon closed with the idea that God asks us to be part of what He is doing in the world, and that obedience to the messages He sends is tied to both our good and His glory. Is there something specific you sense God has been telling you to do that you have been sitting on?