What people are saying about …

Do You See What I See?

“Thanks to Ross Parsley for bringing his insight and worship-filled sensitivity to the inexhaustible theme of the wonder of Christmas.”

Dr. Jack W. Hayford, chancellor of The King’s College and Seminary and founding pastor of The Church On The Way

“The story of the first advent can become so commonplace, so predictable and ho-hum. But Ross Parsley captures the magnificence of the season and places ordinary people in extraordinary situations. After walking with Ross during his December 2006 journey, I know for a fact that he encountered and embraced an exceptional Presence.”

Rev. H. B. London Jr., Pastor to Pastor, Focus on the Family, and coauthor of the best-selling The Heart of a Great Pastor

“An encouraging view of the Christmas story that brings the mystery down to earth and reminds us that God uses ordinary people to accomplish great things.”

Paul Baloche, Dove award–winning songwriter and worship artist

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

Published by David C. Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C. Cook Distribution Canada

55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

David C. Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

David C. Cook and the graphic circle C logo

are registered trademarks of Cook Communications Ministries.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-4347-9939-5

eISBN 978-1-4347-6516-1

© 2008 Ross Parsley

The Team: John Blase, Steve Parolini, Amy Kiechlin, Jack Campbell, and Susan Vannaman

Cover Design: Rule29

Cover Photo: iStockPhoto

Interior Design: Boswell Idea Group

First Edition 2008

Acknowledgments

I want to thank the family of New Life Church for your strength, encouragement, humility, and perseverance! This Christmas story belongs to everyone, but it has special meaning for our church family now. I love you and appreciate your example as an amazing group of genuine Christ-followers.

For Aimee … you are the love of my life. Without you I would not have made it through the dark moments. You are the brightest light in my life, and your optimism and strength have been God’s grace to me! Thank you. You have all my love.

To my kids: Zachary, Taylor, Grace, Ethan, Owen—I am so proud to be your dad. You are what makes Christmas so special at our house. Decorating the tree and listening to Mannheim Steamroller’s “Stille Nacht” will always be my favorite memory of Christmas with you! I love you.

Dear Friend,

The book you hold in your hands is a story within a story. One is well traveled and the other is a new path. It is an account of the ancient Advent of Christ as seen through the eyes of a challenge unlike any other I’ve faced in my life.

I shared these stories as messages to New Life Church in December 2006, when we were in the throes of disappointment and discouragement after our beloved pastor of twenty-two years was removed as a result of a moral failure.

We were trying to put on a brave face. After all, Christmas was coming. As we prepared for a Christmas production at our church called “Wonderland,” we felt as though we were wandering in the wilderness without many answers.

We didn’t necessarily feel like celebrating, nor were we in a position to be giving out gifts. We were reeling from our own world suddenly being turned upside down. We seemed to be conquerors one moment and then unexpectedly shamed by our own disgrace and arrogance the next. It was not fair. It did not seem right. As a church of some national prominence, we were now joke fodder for late-night talk-show hosts and the second story on every cable news program.

We didn’t really understand what was happening to us.

But then … the story came alive. Joseph and Mary’s story and our story intersected. The shepherds were revealed as real people who represented something truly humble. The star over Bethlehem shined brighter than ever before … and we followed.

God began revealing Himself to us during that December through the weak and lowly story of a virgin birth in a dirty stable. The incarnation was never more authentic. Christ became Emmanuel … again! He was with us in our pain, our shame, our struggle, and our crisis of faith. We could identify with this story like never before!

We were filled with wonder again—the wonder of a God who comes to us. We witnessed the miracle of ordinary people experiencing an extraordinary presence of God that sustained and strengthened us during our most trying time.

God had come!

I pray that you will let Him come to you as you read. Let this tiny little book you now hold in your hands be an instrument of God to share this timeless story in a brand-new way this Christmas. Let the truth of God’s words come alive in you again, to heal the past, to bind up your wounds, to renew your faith, and to reveal Himself to you.

He is Emmanuel … and we are all part of His extraordinary story!

Merry Christmas,

Ross Parsley

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

When 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.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

—Luke 2:8–20

Introduction

BIG SKY

Have you ever been outside at night under a sky that’s so full of stars that it’s almost as if you can reach out and touch them?

I love camping, because out in the wilderness, away from glare of the city lights, it’s easier to find those star-filled skies. As you turn off the camping lamps and the fire dies down to a red glow (and if you’re fortunate enough to have cloud-free skies), the pitch-black canvas overhead begins to reveal the vastness of space.

It’s in moments like these—when the impossible-to-comprehend scope of the universe floats above us, inviting our reverence and awe—that we are compelled to acknowledge the bigness of God.

These are amazing moments. Transcendent moments. Peaceful moments.

That is, of course, if you’re not distracted by the snickering, punching, hollering, and other unique bodily sounds coming from the group of preadolescent boys in the sleeping bags around you. As a father of five children, I am helping to create these kinds of memories all the time. You know, those really meaningful moments that always seem to be intermingled with the distracting and messy world we all live in.

Back to the campfire.

When the kids finally settle down, I do love the wonder of these quiet moments. I love the conversation that ensues under the stars.

Upon first glance, those star-dots seem small—mere pinpricks in the fabric of space. But subtly and slowly, a powerful, beautiful, and amazing truth begins to seep into the soothing sounds of the night, a truth that often prompts a single word of wonder:

Wow.

Those are not tiny dots at all. They are huge balls of energy and light, some hundreds of times bigger than the star we call the sun.

They are not insignificant. Psalm 147:4 reminds us that God has named them. He placed them there for a reason. They have purpose.

And so do we.

I wonder if the shepherds tending their sheep on the outskirts of Bethlehem were watching the stars on that very special night over 2,000 years ago. Did the serenity and enormity of the night sky lead them to consider the greatness of God’s glory? Did they think about the significance of their own lives in relation to the vastness of the heavens? Did they wonder about God’s purpose for their lives?

No matter what they thought, I don’t think they could have imagined the role they were about to play in that first ever Christmas pageant that lit up the night sky.

What do you see?

What does the vastness of God mean to you? How does catching a glimpse of God’s “bigness” impact the way you relate to Him?

Verse One

NATIVITY

The nativity is probably the most familiar and iconic image of Christmas. Perhaps you have a crèche of your own that comes out of hiding every year along with flattened red-ribboned door wreaths and prancing-reindeer mugs and tangled strings of half-working Christmas lights. Do you place your manger scene on the fireplace hearth? Next to a picture window? At the base of the tree?

In our house, we place it on a table where each of my five children have at one time or another played with the wooden nativity purchased at a tourist shop in Bethlehem. Each year it has become a unique tradition at the Parsley household to search under couch cushions and in toy boxes to locate the baby Jesus who becomes detached from the set.

How do you arrange all those pieces? If you follow a traditional setting (the one pictured on the long-discarded box that used to hold the nativity set), you start by putting the manger in the middle and then lay the swaddled baby Jesus gently onto the bed of hay. Next come Mary and Joseph. They need to be closest to the manger, in case the baby cries for his mother. What then? Well, you’ve got a whole bunch of animals to spread around the scene, a donkey here, a couple of sheep there, here a cow, there a cow, everywhere a … sorry, right now it’s my three-year-old’s favorite song. Just put the animals wherever they look best and allow them to wander as animals do.

Now the wise men—the “three kings” of which we sing—they ought to be close to Jesus too, since they have all of these wonderful, glittery, valuable, sweet-smelling gifts. These three have names, too: Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar. (At least according to tradition. You won’t find these names in the Bible.)

But what do you do with the shepherds? The nameless shepherds. Did your manger set include shepherds? Perhaps you should place them just outside of the manger, looking in, hoping for a better view of the Christ child. That seems about right. They won’t mind waiting their turn to see Jesus. They’re a humble bunch, after all.

Humility.

Hmm … I think we need to back up a bit and visit another scene in the Christmas story before we can understand where the shepherds fit. Let’s go all the way back to that moment when Mary first learned the news—the big news—from an angel named Gabriel.

JUST A COUPLE OF KIDS

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

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. 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. For nothing is impossible with God.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

—Luke 1:26–38

Okay. This is a really wonderful story, but we have to look a little closer. We have to think through what’s really happening here. I don’t know what your family or hometown is like, but where I’m from, if an angelic being shows up and says you are blessed and highly favored and then describes how you’ll be having a baby who is going to be called the Son of God and sit on a throne over the nation of Israel, people would think you were nuts! I mean, think about it. For us today, it would be sort of like an alien from outer space showing up and telling you that God is going to supernaturally impregnate you with a baby who will grow up to become president of the United States, cure cancer, and lead the greatest end-time revival in the history of the world. Oh, and by the way, you’re only fifteen years old when you get the news, you’re not a U.S. citizen, you have no education, and your family is dirt poor. Nuts, right?

Mary must have been disturbed enough for the writer of the story to indicate she was troubled. I think she was saying to herself, “Okay, he said I’m blessed and highly favored. This is good, right?”

Then there is that curious question in the middle of the conversation. You can imagine sweet, innocent Mary asking, “How will this be?” Then the angel, with a slight smile, knowingly describes how the Holy Spirit will come upon her and gives her some evidence of the miraculous power he is speaking of when he shares the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy in her old age. Strangely enough, he leaves out almost all the details of the experience, which we’ll discuss later, but I think God often works like this in our lives. He sends us a message, giving us a hint of the miraculous with small confirmations along the way, but provides none of the particulars of how it will all take place. I think we call this faith.

We must remember that Mary wasn’t someone of particular significance or importance in Nazareth. She was no daughter of privilege, no sister of success, no cousin to royalty. She was just a kid—a young woman betrothed to a young man named Joseph. An ordinary woman expecting to live an ordinary life.

But God had other plans.

And He sent an angel to deliver them.

“You’re going to have a son,” Gabriel said, “and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.”

This is no small thing; in fact, it’s probably the most important event the angel could have told Mary about. She would have understood the significance of the language the angel was using to describe the Messiah. As part of a Jewish family and community, she most assuredly would have grown up with a deep appreciation of Jewish history and anticipation of a Messiah who would save them from hundreds of years of tyranny.

The amazing thing about Mary is that in the face of this dramatic, angelic visitation, her initial response to the angel was one of humility and obedience. She did not question Gabriel’s intent and ask, “Why me?” or pause to consider the consequences. She simply replied, “May it be as you have said.” Later, when visiting her cousin Elizabeth, Mary would witness the confirmation of the angelic message. Rejoicing and celebrating all that God had done for her, Mary expressed a humble thanksgiving to God for choosing her to serve Him in this a rare and powerful way.

Truly, Mary was a special woman; she just didn’t know it yet. But let’s stop for a moment to see what was going on around her. First, there was the whole “pledged to be married” thing, what many of us remember as “betrothed.” This was a one-year commitment before marriage that was just as meaningful as Mary and Joseph’s impending nuptials. They actually belonged to each other at this point in the story. Picture their first discussion about this. Talk about an awkward conversation. Joseph must have been so confused: angelic sightings, King of Israel, virgin birth? Sure enough, Joseph was more than a little taken aback to discover the woman he was going to marry had suddenly become pregnant. Can you imagine what must have gone through his mind? Well, you don’t need to. It’s recorded in Matthew.

Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

—Matthew 1:19

We don’t know if Joseph “bought” Mary’s angelic visitation explanation, but let’s be honest, he could have responded in anger.… Certainly he must have been confused, frustrated, and distressed. But do you see his heart? Notice the depth of character. He didn’t want to expose Mary to public disgrace. Even though his heart was breaking, he was thinking of Mary’s well-being.

This says a lot about the kind of man Joseph was and also gives us a hint of the greater challenges that both Mary and Joseph would face if they went through with the marriage.

Of course Joseph didn’t divorce her. Another encounter with an angel helped him see the truth of her story.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

—Matthew 1:20–25

Do you see how Joseph responded to the angel’s words? He simply did what the angel commanded. (Angels clearly can be quite convincing.) But it is also the way he did it that’s so significant. He honored Mary, protected her, and took care of her. Notice how he had no union with her and how he kept her from public disgrace. While Joseph had the benefit of an angel’s words to explain Mary’s story, the rest of the community would still have been skeptical at best and accusatory at worst.

What do you see?

With the benefit of hindsight, what follow-up questions might you have asked the angel were you in Joseph’s or Mary’s sandals? Would those questions have changed your response? Why or why not?

You see, by acting according to God’s wishes, both Mary and Joseph were destined to suffer. I had never seen this in the Scriptures before reading this story, but they were both given a word from God—a gift. They received an awesome and glorious visitation with remarkable words of encouragement and instruction. They would struggle soon enough, but right now they would say yes. Without all the details and without a clear path, they still answered with an unequivocal yes.

Life wasn’t easy for Mary and Joseph, and we see this truth played out in the Christmas story. Can you see them? There they were, traveling along the dusty road to Bethlehem for the census—doing the right thing according to the culture and the law. Travel certainly wouldn’t have been easy—especially for the very pregnant Mary. Have you ever traveled with a very pregnant woman? I have—five different times. They may glow, but they are not enjoyable travel companions!

I know, we want to keep Mary right there in the nativity scene as this little, cute, unquestioning girl. But I’m tellin’ you, pregnant women are uncomfortable, always overheating, their backs constantly ache, and they have strange cravings! This was really difficult for Mary … and consequently, for Joseph.

As the time of the birth approached, I believe they were just like parents-to-be are today. They started wondering and questioning what God was really up to. I think they must have had dark moments when the physical reality of their unusual circumstance pressed up against God’s promise, presenting them with doubts to match the derision they would have endured for months.

They were alone, isolated, and homeless at the worst possible moment in their lives.

What were those words from the angel? “Blessed and highly favored”? “Save his people from their sins”? Mary and Joseph couldn’t even find a place to rest their weary bodies.

We often lose sight of God’s dreams for us in the darkness of disappointment or the distraction of discouragement. It is all too common to forget the promises in the midst of the problems. But every significant biblical figure has a story of waiting for the promises of God to be revealed. We see many stories in the Scriptures where it seems the dream has died, only to be resurrected solely by the power of God. Think about it—Abraham, Moses, David, Jeremiah, the apostle Paul—they all had to trust God in the darkness, waiting for the light to be revealed.

Mary and Joseph were no different. They had to hold on to God’s words to them in the middle of a dark night of desperation. I can hear Mary wondering, God, where are you? A King … born here … in a stable? This couldn’t have been how Mary imagined it on that night when the angel visited her.

And then …

In the darkness … a light appeared. Jesus arrived.

A little miracle came into their lives and nothing else mattered. That’s what birth is, you know—a miracle. I wept at the birth of each of my children. My wife, Aimee, was relieved and overjoyed just to get the baby out of her womb, but I was an ocean of tears. In those kinds of moments, nothing else matters. Priorities come into focus and dreams come alive again.

Jesus came to Mary and Joseph as He comes to us. In seasons of great pain, despair, and disappointment, He comes. Just when you’re at the end of yourself, He comes. He appears at just the right moment—never early, but always at the right time. And it is at this moment that you realize it’s not the end. It’s the beginning!

There is much we can learn from Mary’s response to God. And from Joseph’s obedience. The lessons there are clear and powerful. But I think there are even greater lessons to be learned from another group of people. They are also humble and ordinary, but unlike Mary and Joseph, they are quiet sideline players in the Christmas drama.

I’m talking about the shepherds.

Chorus

Do you see what I see?

Verse Two

THE STINKING MEN

Shepherds don’t smell so good. Shepherds would spend all day out in the fields under the hot sun, then watch over their flocks by night, herding them this way and that, chasing down a wayward sheep here and there. It’s demanding, sweaty business being a shepherd. Washing wasn’t something they got to do all that often to begin with. And it’s not like they could run off to Walgreens or Target between shifts and pick up some Right Guard or Old Spice to help mask the smell.

What do you see?

In what ways are you like the shepherds? What makes you “ordinary”?

Shepherding was an important job, but it wasn’t all that respectable. Shepherds were pretty low on the social totem pole. They were a dedicated group, always out in their fields taking care of the sheep, showing care and concern for their work. I’ve always wondered, though, why did God reveal Himself to them? Why the stinking men? Why didn’t God open up the skies over Bethlehem and give the entire “little town” an awesome light show?

Maybe that is what happened. Could it be that the skies over the little town of Bethlehem were packed with angels? Could it be that the lights and sounds playing in the night sky created a virtual billboard announcing the Savior’s birth, and all it took to see it was looking up? And what about Jerusalem? Could angels have been celebrating Jesus’ birth above that holy city? Could it be that the invitation to Jesus’ birth was right there for all to see and yet only a few saw it? We don’t know for sure.

But we do know that the shepherds looked up.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men on whom

his favor rests.”

—Luke 2:8–14

My Bible is ripped right there, right in the middle of that passage. That’s because I’ve spent a lot of time there, studying those verses, reading them. And haven’t we all? Don’t we hear this same story year after year after year? It’s a wonderful, inspiring, and ultimately life-changing story, but I wonder if we miss some of the lessons in this passage simply because we are so familiar with it. It’s sort of like the night sky. The same sky appears every night, but it’s not until we slow down and get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s not until we lie back while the campfire fades and then look up into the star-dotted blackness that we can really begin to see the incredible, awe-inspiring beauty of God’s creation.

God reveals Himself to people who are available. The shepherds were about as available as anyone can be. Their lives were simple, open, and uncluttered. The night sky was clear for them, away from the bright lights of the nearby town. But so many in our culture are consumed with busyness. Their lives are overrun, overscheduled, and overwhelmed. They go from one event to the next: work functions, kids’ school gatherings, hobbies; even church can become the fog that blinds us to the revelation of God’s little miracles in our lives.

A STABLE FAMILY

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

—Luke 2:1–7

So here’s a young couple—Mary and Joseph are barely adults—and they’ve traveled miles to fulfill their legal responsibility for the census. Did you notice the verse that begins “He went there …”? Joseph “… went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” This might seem like a rather bland sentence upon first glance, just a statement of facts, but if you look closely, you’ll see it’s loaded with implications. Not only does the verse give us clues indicating how difficult Mary and Joseph’s trip would have been physically, it also hints at the emotional challenges they likely would have faced. Joseph was returning to his “own town” with a pregnant woman at his side. Surely the news that this wasn’t Joseph’s child had already reached Bethlehem. I wonder if Mary and Joseph had gotten used to the hushed whispers and the accusatory stares by the time they arrived.

What do you see?

What sort of challenges do you think Mary and Joseph had to endure after it became obvious Mary was pregnant? What are some of the challenges you face by choosing to obey God?

Since it was a busy season, they couldn’t find a place to stay, and so they ended up in a stable. This isn’t news to you. The stable is a staple of the Christmas story, but take a moment and recognize the multiple ironies here. Mary and Joseph’s lives were anything but “stable” in our American understanding of the word. They’d been tossed into a worldly turmoil for a spiritual purpose by the God of the universe Himself and given a role to play in the greatest story ever told—and where did they end up? In a stable. Not the Cedars-Sinai birthing center to the stars. A smelly, dirty stable.

It wasn’t so long ago that after a baby’s birth the couple would be moved to what was then called a recovery room to … recover. These days, the birthing room and recovery room are often one and the same. But no matter what you call the room, it’s a space for mother and father to unwind after the excitement and anxiety of the actual birth, a place to bond with their newborn and contemplate the implications of adding a member to their family. The recovery room is also the place where relatives and friends congregate, bearing gifts and offering the requisite “oohs” and “aahs” to the infant and occasionally a “you look great” fib of kindness to the mom.

“Oh, isn’t he sweet!” “How precious!” “What a beautiful baby!”

Guests say these things even though the infant looks like a prune. It’s true, new babies just aren’t that pretty. Well, ours always were, of course. But most babies are not.

When visitors bring flowers and kind words, it’s a wonderful time (even if your baby isn’t as cute as ours). It’s a happy time. A joyful time. And perhaps the last semipeaceful time the parents will have for many years to come. The recovery room and all it brings provides comfort in the aftermath of the birth … which is nothing like what happened to Mary and Joseph. There were no flower deliveries, no smiles, no effusive relatives waiting for their chance to hold the little one. Mary didn’t have a Craftmatic Adjustable Bed to recuperate in; there was no white button to push that would summon a nurse, and no TV hanging from the ceiling playing reruns of I Love Lucy. Mary had her baby in a stable. And who were her first visitors? Toothless, smelly, awe-struck shepherds.

THE ANGEL

Here’s what happened. It was a pitch-black night and the shepherds were out in their fields doing what shepherds do best … shepherding. At night, this would consist of keeping close watch over the sheep, making sure none wandered off or fell victim to predators. On calm nights, they probably sat around a campfire roasting marshmallows.

I think it had to be one of those calm nights. The sheep and the wolves had called a temporary truce. And the shepherds were enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet.

Then, out of the pitch-black night, an angel appears. Now, this wasn’t one of those cute-and-feminine angels with lacy white wings and a shiny gold halo you see on Hallmark cards every Christmas. The angels of Scripture are awesome creatures. Pretty much every time they appear, they announce their arrival with these familiar words: “Do not be afraid.” Why? Because when they show up, they scare you to death!

Sure enough, the angel says to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid.”

What do you see?

Why do you think God chose to send the news to the shepherds (as well as to Mary and Joseph) via angels? What would your response be if an angel appeared to you right now and gave you an assignment from God?

How do you think that went over? If a fearsome creature appeared suddenly, glowing bright and speaking in a commanding voice, “Don’t be afraid,” would that calm your racing heart and stop your knees from knocking?

The shepherds were terrified.

“Do not be afraid,” the angel said.

“You’re kidding, right? Um … then why don’t you stop scaring us? We were just minding our own business enjoying some flaming marshmallows, and then … bam! You show up. What do you expect us to do, invite you to take a seat and have a s’more with us?”

But the next words out of the angel’s mouth must have done the trick. Even as they were still taking in the awesome, terrifying sight, the angel said, “I’ve got some good news—great news. News about a joy for all people.”

All people.

Hmm … I find those words intriguing. The message is for all people—not just the elite or the successful or those who can afford to bathe every day. All people. And whom did God tell first about this news?

The shepherds. Just your average, everyday, ordinary shepherds.

Now that the angel had grabbed the shepherds’ attention, he continued. He said, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Now if the first bit about the “good news for all people” didn’t get their attention, surely this tidbit did.

“A Savior has been born.”

This was indeed the best news anyone could have heard. The Jews had been awaiting the Messiah for generations. And if this angel was to be believed, that day was finally here!

Except … wait a minute.

“Did you say … a Savior has been born?”

The angel continued, “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

“Did you say a baby?”

This news might have been a bit of a surprise to the shepherds, but not nearly as surprising as it would have been to the priests and religious leaders of the time. They, too, awaited a savior, but more than were likely expecting their savior to appear on a chariot wearing the armor of a warrior and leading an army of angels who then would swiftly defeat the enemies of God’s people.

But before the shepherds could ask for clarification, the already strange night got even stranger.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men on whom

his favor rests.”

When 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.”

—Luke 2:13–15

Don’t miss the significance of this. The shepherds were still processing the appearance of the angel and the words from his mouth when all of a sudden the sky became a stage for the most amazing concert—a concert celebrating the God of the universe and the birth of His only Son. And it came complete with a brilliant angelic lightshow! This surely would have taken the shepherds’ breath away (if they had any left by this point).

As the choir finished its song of praises, the shepherds would have begun trying to comprehend the otherworldly experience. I would love to have been there for the postpraise analysis.

“Um … Bartholomew [or some other biblical name] … did you just see what I saw?”

“Yeah …”

(Together in unison) “Wow.”

“I mean … really, like wow.”

“The angel was talking about the Messiah … the Messiah! We’ve been waiting for the Messiah for so long!”

“Yes! Um … and He’s a baby …”

“Yeah …”

“I mean, I guess a Messiah has to start somewhere, right?”

“Right.”

“I think we’re supposed to go see this baby.”

“Really?”

“Sure. The angel told us where to find Him. I think that means we’re supposed to find Him.”

“But we’re just shepherds.”

“Maybe the Savior is going to grow up to be a shepherd too!”

What do you see?

What doubts do you have about how God can use you? In what ways do you say, “But I’m just a shepherd”? How can you overcome those doubts?

They would have been silent for a moment, drinking in the impact of the angel’s words. But I don’t think it would have been long before the shepherds turned to each other and said, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go welcome the Savior!”

So they drew straws and said to the guy with the short stick, “Don’t lose any sheep! We’re going to town!”

THE SEARCH

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

—Luke 2:16

You may have noticed that the angel didn’t provide the actual street address where the shepherds could find the Christ child. They knew the town—Bethlehem—but not much more.

I can see them formulating a plan of attack as they approach the town.

“Okay, you check out all the homes down that way, you go the other way, and I’ll check all the inns, just in case they’re not from around here.”

“Um … didn’t the angel say something about a manger?”

“Right … well, that was a bit odd, wasn’t it. We’ll check those after we rule out everything else.”

And so off they ran, going door to door.

Knock, knock.

“Yes?”

“Um … do you have a baby in there?”

[From inside the home] “Who is it, Jacob? Who’s at the door?”

“Some shepherds. They’re looking for a baby.”

“Shepherds? Baby? Nope … no babies in here.”

Finally, after what must have been an exhausting search, they stumbled up to a stable, hearing the cries of a newborn that renewed a fading hope.

“Hello? Can we come in? We’re seeking a baby.…”

“Come in, come in.” Joseph and Mary were probably a bit confused at first. “Who are you? And why are you here?”

Gap-toothed smiles would have spread across their dirty faces and tears would have poured from their eyes as they entered Jesus’ presence. This was the One they had been told about since they were shepherd boys. This was the baby the angel was talking about. And get this … He’s in a stable, probably the only place in town where the smelly men wouldn’t have felt out of place. Only God can put the pieces together like this.

They would have told their story to Mary and Joseph. They would have explained about the appearance of the angel, the choir concert, and the exhaustive search.

Think about what previously had happened to both Mary and Joseph. Remember? An angel appeared to them, too. That angel gave them confidence, told them without a doubt that God was speaking to them and that they would face the world and all its challenges with God on their side.

Their enthusiasm and hope would have sustained them for a while, but eventually that confidence would have faded. And I wouldn’t be surprised if right there in the humble surroundings of the stable, even as Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph began to wonder where God was in all of this.

“An angel appeared to us,” the shepherds said, “and told us that today, right here in this stable, the Savior was born.”

The shepherds came to see the baby Jesus as they had been commanded, but they also brought God with them. They brought Mary and Joseph a beautiful reminder, another confirmation of their hope and their belief that God had not left them or abandoned them.

This is how God is. He sends us signs, little messages that let us know he’s still with us. This is who God is too. Emmanuel—God with us.

Have you ever wondered what the shepherds did while there with Mary and Joseph? Did they kneel like in those nativity sets? Did they walk up to the manger to get a better look? Did they ask to hold the baby? Ooh! That would have been awkward. And who was more surprised at this God-directed encounter, Mary and Joseph or the shepherds?

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

—Luke 2:17–18

After a time, perhaps a time to pray or simply to stand or sit in silence and awe, the shepherds left. They went out into the world, these humble, smelly men, to spread the word.

“You won’t believe what we’ve just seen! The Savior! The Messiah Himself! He is born today in Bethlehem!”

And all who heard their message were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

Simple, smelly shepherds.

What do you see?

Do you think it was easy or difficult for the shepherds to go about sharing the news of Jesus’ birth? Explain.

Bridge

THE COMMISSION

Okay. Let’s take a breath here. This really is quite a story. First God chose a virgin named Mary to carry the Christ child in her womb. He chose Joseph to be her understanding, supportive husband. And then God chose the lowliest of messengers, the shepherds, to witness the miracle and tell everyone about what they had seen.

The shepherds were given a great responsibility. But why shepherds?

Because God uses ordinary people to accomplish His plans.

What do you see?

What are other examples from your experience that illustrate how God uses ordinary people to accomplish His plans? Why would God choose ordinary people to share extraordinary news?

Though Joseph was from David’s lineage (fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy), he wasn’t a man of great stature. He wasn’t particularly well connected in political circles or a member of any royal family. Mary and Joseph were just regular people.

These aromatically challenged shepherds were about as ordinary as people come. If the religious leaders of the time had been making a list of “most likely category of people to see the baby Jesus and pass along the good news of the Messiah’s birth,” shepherds wouldn’t even have made the top 100. So why did God choose them to take on such a monumental responsibility? Why not kings or priests or even scribes?

God was trying to point us to an important truth in the middle of this familiar story we read every year. It’s not an obvious truth. In fact, it takes a little digging to uncover it. But are you starting to see it? What God is trying to tell us? We have a critical role to play in this very same unfolding story.

Verse Three

WHAT DID MARY SEE?

Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

—Luke 2:19–20

After the shepherds went out to share the good news of Jesus’ birth, Mary spent a little time reflecting on their visit. Her first reaction upon their arrival would have been surprise: “Who are these people and how did they know about my baby?” But as the truth of God’s hand in their arrival settled into her soul, Mary began to see the beauty of God’s decision to send them.

Perhaps there was a brief moment of disappointment when the shepherds first showed up. Did Mary wonder why God didn’t send kings or religious leaders to welcome the promised Messiah? If this indeed was God’s own Son, where were the throngs of faithful followers? Where was the celebration? The parade of well-wishers? The gifts for the Christ child?

What do you see?

What sort of expectations do you have of God when He asks you to do something for Him? Do you hope for a blessing? Are you hesitant to say yes to God after reading what Mary had to go through? Why or why not?

Of course, we have the benefit of hindsight and know that King Herod would have been the last person God would want to greet His only begotten Son. Even though he claimed to be a Jew, Herod’s jealousy over the birth of a king who might someday usurp him prompted a brutal and horrifying act that eventually resulted in the death of every male child under the age of two in Bethlehem and the surrounding area.

We also know in hindsight that three “important” people—three wise men—did come to celebrate the baby’s birth, bearing gifts worthy of a king, worthy of the Messiah. But Mary didn’t know this yet. All she knew was that a bunch of strange shepherds showed up out of the blue to greet her humbly born baby.

The Scriptures say Mary “treasured up all these things.” We’ve already seen one reason why Mary would have come to appreciate the shepherds: Their angel-prompted arrival was a confirmation of God’s unfailing presence. But I wonder if there was something else that caused her to treasure this unlikely group of recovery-room visitors. Perhaps her own humble circumstances helped her to see the beauty of God’s decision to bring ordinary, humble people to the stable. Perhaps the shepherds underscored the very truth she and Joseph were living out: God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.

I think Mary must have smiled when she thought of those rough, smelly men heading out to spread the news about what they’d heard and seen.

This idea of “hearing and seeing” is key to the shepherds’ role and what that means for you and me. The concept is found throughout the Bible. Take a look at this passage in Isaiah:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

—Isaiah 6:1–5

Isaiah’s vision expresses just how powerful a meet and greet with the God of the universe can be. How could anyone who stands in the presence of God, who is given a message or a testimony, not respond by sharing what he’s seen and heard with those he meets?

What do you see?

In what ways have you seen God show up in your life? What did that look like? What did you hear God calling you to do?

God shows Himself to people throughout the Scriptures. He doesn’t ask for much—just for us to share with others what we’ve seen and heard. Look at the gospel of Luke:

John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”

When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

—Luke 7:18–23

Jesus not only gave the men something to see and hear, He gave them a command to do something with what they’d learned. “Go and tell,” He told them. And so they did.

In the book of Revelation, John offers this passionate description of what it was like to “hear and see” things from God.

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me.

—Revelation 22:8

It’s interesting to note that John’s response was so powerful that he didn’t even realize his mistake (of bowing down to worship an angel instead of God) until the angel corrected him. Clearly, when God shows us something important, it changes us.

What do you see?

What does John’s response tell you about the power of God’s call on a life? About the present-in-all-places-at-all-times quality of God?

Here’s the crux of the message I’m trying to convey: God allows us to see, hear, and experience things for a reason. They are important to God’s overall plan, and we have a role to play in helping God accomplish that plan. In the final analysis, this is all we’re really responsible for: to respond to what God lets us see and hear. We want to create complexity out of this simple responsibility, but it needs no great explanation. You and I are not responsible to make miracles happen. That’s God’s job. But we are responsible to participate in the experiences God presents us with, to watch and listen, and then tell others about what we’ve seen and heard.

This is where evangelism comes from. The shepherds were unconventional evangelists, telling everyone about Jesus’ birth even though they didn’t fully understand their role or comprehend the full meaning of what they’d seen or heard.

When God touches your heart, He reaches something deep inside. Remember the first time you heard the message and finally understood that God came into the world through Jesus Christ to die for your sins? that He took your place? that you didn’t have to pay the penalty of sin any longer? Remember the first time you realized what a miracle God had done in your life?

Did you want to keep it to yourself? No!

You were compelled to tell others! You were so excited about the changes in your life that you just couldn’t keep the news to yourself! That was the work of the Holy Spirit within you, leading you, guiding you to share that which you have seen and heard.

Chorus

Do you see what I see?

Verse Four

SURPRISING DISCOVERIES

There is a story in Acts that illustrates many of the aspects of “seeing and hearing.” Let’s peek in on Peter and John as they head to the temple.

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

—Acts 3:1–10

There’s a lot to discover in this passage. First, did you see that the crippled man called out to Peter and John? Here is a man who had been brought to the temple gate every day for forty years. Every day he begged for money, just so he could survive. And even though Peter and John (and even Jesus Himself) had likely walked through that gate many times before, it wasn’t until this particular occasion that they heard and saw the crippled man begging for money. They didn’t offer him money. Instead, they offered him healing!

What do you see?

Why do you think God chose not to heal the man by the temple entrance until Peter and John’s encounter? What does this tell you about God’s “perfect timing”?

This (and the fact that Peter and John were teaching about the resurrection power of Jesus) didn’t sit well with the Sanhedrin—the ruling branch of the Jews that liked to hog all of the “truth” and make a big stink out of things they didn’t agree with—so they decided to toss Peter and John in jail and then give them a little talking-to.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,

which has become the capstone.’

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.

—Acts 4:8–14

The Sanhedrin noted not only Peter and John’s courage, but also that they were “unschooled, ordinary men.” (Remind you of anyone? Shepherds, perhaps?) The ruling know-it-alls also had a bit of their own “heard and seen” going on—the healed man was standing right there as evidence of God’s role in Peter’s and John’s lives, and yet they could not (or chose not to) see or hear what God was really saying. What did the Sanhedrin do instead? They formed a holy huddle and mumbled among themselves for a bit to decide the proper punishment for Jesus’ disciples.

So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”

Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

—Acts 4:15–20

Isn’t that the craziest thing you’ve ever heard? The Sanhedrin admitted Peter and John had done an outstanding miracle. They couldn’t deny it. (Of course they couldn’t—the healed man was standing right there in front of them. Surely they’d stepped around him a time or two previously on their way to the temple.)

What do you see?

In many ways, Peter and John were the object of persecution in this story. What are some modern-day examples of persecution? Why are some people afraid of the life-changing power of God?

I can imagine the insane conversation they had in that huddle.

“They really healed that guy good.”

“Yeah. He looks like he could run a marathon.”

“Um … we’re going to have to put a stop to this.”

“Absolutely. It would be horrible if miracles started popping up all over the place.”

“Right. And every time they do a miracle in Jesus’ name …”

“… they’re challenging our authority.”

“We’re losing our influence!”

So sure enough, the Sanhedrin call Peter and John back in to share their screwy logic—to tell them not to teach or heal in Jesus’ name. But Peter and John weren’t about to go quietly. Do you see why? Because unlike the Sanhedrin, they couldn’t help speaking about what they’d seen and heard.

They couldn’t help it!

They couldn’t keep it to themselves! Nothing could stop this tidal wave of joy and power coming out of them. Not persecution, jail, beatings, or anything else could stop them from telling the story.

That’s the kind of power and confidence I want coming out of me.

There’s an even more dramatic story of seeing and hearing just a few chapters later. It’s another familiar story—the story of Saul’s conversion. Remember how that went? Saul was a devout Jew—a man with authority and power who was vigilant in his attacks against anyone who defied Jewish teachings. (This would include anyone who followed Jesus, of course. Saul was a witness to the stoning of Stephen—an act commissioned by the aforementioned Sanhedrin by the way.)

Well, after Saul’s little Damascus-road incident—where God confronted him and asked, “What’s up with all this persecution of Me?”—Saul was struck blind for a time. It wasn’t until he met Ananias that he finally got his sight back. Paul describes the meeting as recorded in the book of Acts:

A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. He stood beside me and said, “Brother Saul, receive your sight!” And at that very moment I was able to see him.

Then he said: “The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”

—Acts 22:12–16

Ananias was indeed a wise man. I love how he speaks to Saul (now Paul): “You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard …”

What do you see?

God used Ananias to help Paul “see” again. Who are some of the people in your life whom God uses to help you see what God is doing? What are some ways they’re doing this in your life?

Can you hear the enthusiasm in Ananias’s voice and in Paul’s retelling of the story?

“Get moving, Paul! You’ve got places to go, people to teach!”

I don’t think Paul needed a whole lot of encouragement though. When God opened his eyes, he had no choice but to respond with his actions.

This is what we’re responsible for: seeing and hearing like Peter and John and Paul. And like the shepherds—men who were unlearned, untrained, and unskilled. Now I think I should add a little note here—you don’t have to be unlearned, untrained, or unskilled to be used by God. The point is this: Whatever your education, training, or skill set, God can use you. Just because you feel “ordinary” doesn’t mean God won’t choose to do extraordinary things through you.

These men were just trying to be obedient to God by keeping their eyes open to whatever God might bring their way. God is inviting you to see and to witness and to experience amazing things too. I’m telling you the invitation is open. Will you come? Or will you repeat familiar excuses like “I don’t have the right skills” or “I don’t know why God would want to use me like this” or “I’m not sure I have what it takes” or “I’m not qualified” or “I don’t really know the Bible as well as I should” or “Surely there’s someone else who could do a better job.” That’s not what the shepherds did. They witnessed something, and then they glorified God and praised him by sharing what they’d heard and seen.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

—1 John 1:1–4

Right now, you can ask God to come into your life in a greater way. Ask Him to open your eyes and unplug your ears. Just pray the same simple prayer that Mary prayed: “May it be to me as you have said.” It may not be exactly what you expect, but you will most definitely experience a miracle!

Chorus

Do you see what I see?

Verse Five

BIG IDEAS

I want you to hold on to three big ideas from this book. Are you ready? Here’s the first: Ordinary people witness extraordinary events. This is God’s purpose, this is God’s plan, this is His idea. Have you ever wondered why God sent His Son to the earth as a baby? He could have sent the people an adult Jesus—One who could step right into the fray and use His God-given authority to shake things up.

But there’s something significant and amazing about God’s decision to send Jesus to be born of Mary. He wanted to reach ordinary people. He wanted to touch the hearts and minds of the “regular folk,” and what better way to start that process than to send the Savior as a tiny baby—someone who could grow up in the culture and listen and learn and then, one day, surprise everyone with the truth of His godly nature. This is exactly what happened in Luke 4 when Jesus stood up in the synagogue and read from Isaiah 61.

All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

—Luke 4:22

What do you see?

What is most surprising to you about the way God uses ordinary people? What is most exciting about it? Most daunting?

Look at the disciples. Most were fisherman, just a bunch of average joes who, like the shepherds, didn’t smell all that good at the end of the day. And yet Jesus came to them and said, “Come to me and I’ll make you fishers of men.” They didn’t hesitate to join Jesus and because of that, they got to witness some extraordinary things.

They were there when a blind man kneeling on the road said, “Jesus, heal me,” and watched as Jesus reached down, took some dirt and made a little bit of mud, and put it on the man’s eyes. They witnessed the man’s sudden ability to see. The disciples were right there!

“Did you see that? He just opened up that guy’s eyes.”

“Yeah. With mud!”

“Have you ever seen anything like that before?”

“Never.”

But they would see many miracles as they traveled and ministered alongside Jesus. When they followed Jesus to Jairus’s house and found that his daughter was dead, do you think they had a clue what was about to happen?

“Wow, that’s sad.”

“Yeah, if we’d only gotten here sooner, Jesus might have been able to do something.”

Pause.

“You don’t think He …”

“Nah … I mean, how could He …”

And then, to the surprise of all who were there, Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead.

Ordinary people get to witness extraordinary things. That’s why God sent these shepherds to witness this extraordinary event. He was making a statement. He was saying, “I want you to get it. I’m not talking to the city people. I’m not talking to the religious elite or only to those who know the Scripture from cover to cover.… I want you to understand, to see. I speak to the lowly. I speak to the ordinary. You don’t have to have all these skills. You don’t have to have all these qualifications. You don’t have to know more than you do right now. I want to use you right where you are. Today.”

What do you see?

What are some of the extraordinary things you’ve witnessed in your life? Are there some miracles you’ve missed, only to realize later what they were? What does it take to have “eyes to see” these miracles?

What about you? Are you too busy to witness some miracles? Or are there other issues? Is your faith weak? Are you afraid? God wants to change that today. And He wants to give you hope and courage and assurance.

I am learning to keep my eyes wide open to the miracles that God wants to send my way. I’m not talking about Red Sea–parting sorts of miracles (though I think we should always be ready for God to act in surprising ways). I’m talking about little miracles here and there. And I’ve watched as difficult events have unfolded in my family and in my church. As we’ve wandered through the challenges, I’ve seen God show up in unexpected ways. I’ve heard God whispering to me in a moment of discouragement or a moment of hopelessness. I’ve seen God renew people’s hearts and restore their hope. I’ve seen miracles.

One day when I was finishing my work on a message, I walked out of my office into the hallway and was surprised to find a woman sobbing nearby. I was startled and thought maybe I should leave her alone and not interrupt. But I felt the Lord nudge me to ask if everything was all right. She turned to me and said that God was speaking to her. She explained how the Lord was palpably touching her life. She was experiencing the miracle of God’s touch right there in that moment. And I was granted a great gift in observing this miracle. The backstory is that I walked out of my office discouraged about my message. I was struggling with doubt and frustrated that I couldn’t seem to sense God’s direction. This was not just a moment where God was ministering to her. It was an instance when God reminded me that He is always at work, whether I see it or not. He is always around the corner, whether I know it or not. He is touching people, and He let me in on this moment. This woman was a confirmation to me that God was at work during a time when I was wondering, God, where are you?

Sometimes we just don’t see the miracles because we’re not watching. We’re not looking. We’re just too consumed by life to see God’s hand in the living.

And then there are the everyday miracles.

During a particularly difficult time in my church’s history, I was putting in long, eighteen-hour days (yes, you read that number right). But at the end of those exhausting days, I would go home and pick up my little baby, my brand-new, blue-eyed, blond-haired baby, and sit in our rocking chair. And as we would rock, I would stare deep into the eyes of my new son. And do you know what I saw? What I still see every time I look into his eyes? A miracle.

In the eyes of my child I see God telling me that life is okay; that whether I’m buried under the burden of work or enjoying a precious moment with those I love, God is always near. There is a miracle here, and it’s available to me every day. All it takes is being open to God’s presence—and taking the time to look for His miracles.

You have miracles all around you, too. You just have to open up your eyes to see them. Here, I’ll tell you about one you can see every single day. Fair warning, though—it requires getting out of bed. Early.

Try this sometime (how about tomorrow?). Get up before sunrise. If it’s cold outside, put on a coat or wrap yourself in a quilt. Then go outside and look to the east. As the sun rises and golden rays wash over the landscape blanketing it with warmth, you will see one of God’s everyday miracles. When I watch the sunrise, I am compelled to pray, “Your mercies are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.”

Ordinary people get to experience extraordinary events. That’s how God set it up. That’s His message to you.

Here’s the second big idea: Ordinary people do extraordinary things.

Let’s look again at our friends the shepherds. The stinky men. And then turn your gaze down a little lower—see all the sheep? Yeah, that’s a lot of sheep to oversee. Shepherds earned their living by watching those sheep, making sure none were lost or devoured by wolves or stolen by, um … sheep stealers. Sheep were extremely important to the Israelites, not only as a source of food and clothing (wool sweater anyone?), but also because they were often used as sacrifices offered in the temple. Here’s an important fact about sheep: They’re not too bright. They need a shepherd to lead them, to guide them. (Now do you see why Jesus refers to us as sheep?)

What do you see?

What are some ways God could use you in your job? How might God speak to you through your everyday life?

So here are all these shepherds doing their job, tending the sheep, when angels show up. So what do they do? Complain about having to work? Say, “Thanks for the invitation to the birth of the Messiah and all, but we’re on the clock”? Nope, they just go.

I don’t know if they left a scrawny kid with all the sheep or just left them all alone to wander, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t take them along as they went in search of Jesus. (Sound familiar? Remember a few fishermen who left their nets to follow Jesus?)

Here’s the bottom line: The shepherds took a risk. This might not seem like a very wise thing to do—at least if they were concerned about keeping their jobs. Actually, it was an incredibly wise thing. They not only saw an extraordinary God-written event, but they also acted on it. They left the sheep and went to find out what the angel excitement was all about. They did an extraordinary thing.

Up to this point, I’ve not said much about the wise men, but I think it’s appropriate to talk about them here. Of course the wise men weren’t ordinary folk like the shepherds. But they also did extraordinary things because of what they heard and saw—and at great risk to themselves.

Not only did they pack up and leave their homes on an uncertain journey (quite possibly to the confused stares and shaking heads of their peers), but they spent considerable time and money in their search. Some scholars say it could have been up to a two-year trek to find the Christ child. It was a costly trip that was somehow deemed worthy of their time and resources. And then, of course, they took an even greater risk after finally finding Jesus by defying King Herod’s demand to report back to him about the child’s whereabouts.

These were magi from the East who were well acquainted with the Old Testament prophecies. They were learned men of means who wanted to take a risk. They somehow needed to take the risk. Why? Because even though they had all the money, resources, wisdom, and learning that they could ever need, something drove them on. Something greater than material wealth became a priority for them.

If you think about it, we as twenty-first-century Americans can identify. We’ve got everything we want; every whim and craving can be satisfied with a credit card and a Web site. But we may be missing the most extraordinary thing we need … a miracle!

There was a cost to the wise men’s decision to follow the star. Following God often costs us. Mary and Joseph paid a price. The disciples paid a price. The shepherds paid a price. What price might you have to pay? I want to challenge you to take a risk. I want to challenge you to think about what it is that makes a miracle in your life. What it is that makes a miracle in another person’s life. Take the risk and go for it.

What do you see?

What is your reaction to the statement that following God costs us? What are those costs?

Jesus told us this would be a good thing for us to do. In fact, He challenges us to do great things in His name.

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

—John 14:8–14

Did you see it? Jesus said that if you’ve seen Him, you have seen the Father. He was telling His disciples to just look. “Watch what I do, listen to what I say, and then you will do greater things than I have done.” This is huge. This is monumentally significant! Jesus is giving you His name. He is giving you authority. He is giving you His word. He is giving you the Holy Spirit to live and breathe inside of you.

He is giving you the ability to risk!

So why not take a risk and peer around the cubicle wall one Monday morning to ask if you can talk with the woman who’s been hurt so many times that she’s developed a hard exterior shell where no one can get in. Perhaps she’s going through a divorce or struggling with finances or hurting because of a loss of some kind. And what if she said, “Yes, I would like that,” and you talked with her and listened and allowed God to speak through your words or even your silence? And what if you asked if you could pray with her and she said yes?

What do you see?

What are some specific areas of your life where God might be tapping you on the shoulder to take a risk? Who are the people God might be asking you to reach? How will you do that?

Or what about the guy you play hoops with every Saturday? The guy who sounds like he’s got it all together when he’s in a crowd but falls apart when he has a moment alone—a moment when you happen to stumble upon him? (Isn’t this an example of a divine appointment?) What if you invited a conversation? What if you met for breakfast or lunch and allowed him to share the hurts in his life—perhaps estrangement from a child or a parent, perhaps stress from a job.

Why wouldn’t you take the risk? What is holding you back from asking the Lord to do something wonderful and amazing in the people around you? Are you too busy … too afraid?

And what about your own life? Do you kneel down before God every day to ask Him to heal your marriage? To give you the words to say to your spouse or to your children?

We’re called to be the kind of people who will watch and listen with readiness. In the Bible, 2 Peter 1:3 tells us that God provides everything we need for life and for godliness. But to do these extraordinary works—these amazing wonders that Jesus Himself speaks of—we have to take a risk. Sure, it might seem a little less risky if a chorus of angels appeared to give you a few clues on what to do and where to go. But angels or no angels, God is speaking to you. Think of it: Why would you need angels when you have the Holy Spirit, God Himself, speaking to you?

God spoke to Moses more than a few times. But take note of this particular conversation—while Moses was tending a flock of sheep:

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

—Exodus 3:1–14

That’s right. Moses was one of the stinking shepherds when God spoke to him. Moses was also a stutterer. Take a moment to think about that. If you were looking for someone to present a potentially contentious speech to a group of hostile enemies, would you choose a stutterer?

What do you see?

What sort of excuses do you toss at God for why you’re not such a good choice to do what He asks? How can the biblical account of Moses’ life encourage you to set aside those excuses?

Gideon believed himself to be a coward, but God saw a man of valor and that is what he became. Peter—the rock, the stolid supporter of Jesus—denied Christ in His time of greatest need. And yet, Peter went on to preach his first sermon a few weeks later and saw three thousand people come to believe in Christ. The Samaritan woman at the well had been divorced. A lot. Timothy was too young. Esther was just an average Jewish girl who had no right to speak to a king. The boy with the loaves and fishes didn’t have a seminary degree. The list goes on and on and on … and it includes your name.

Jeremiah’s story gives us important clues that can help us see just why we ordinary people ought to take the risks to do extraordinary things.

The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”

But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

—Jeremiah 1:4–10

Jeremiah’s complaint was that he didn’t know how to speak, that he was merely a child. Perhaps you’ve said similar words. But look closely at this passage. Do you see how it begins? God knew Jeremiah before he was even born. He knew who Jeremiah would become, what he could do for the kingdom. And not only that, but God also promised Jeremiah that he would not even have to come up with the words to speak! Granted, Jeremiah went on to be a great prophet, but the lessons here are applicable to you and me.

What do you see?

What about Jeremiah’s story inspires you? How are you just like Jeremiah?

God knows us. He knows what we are capable of. He promises to be with us wherever we go, in whatever we do. But the amazing part of the story is that He gives us the power, He gives us the words, and He’s the One who makes a way in the wilderness! He is the One who provides the miracle!

We merely act on what we have seen and heard.

I know a sweet lady in our church. Her name is Doris. Doris was married to Art for many years. Art was lovingly referred to as the “hankie man” by those who knew him, because he would walk around during worship waving his hankie. This was a celebration—an act of worship because he was so thankful he’d been delivered from alcoholism thirty-five years earlier.

Art went home to be with the Lord a few years ago, which was incredibly painful for Doris. But her pain was doubled when her son was killed a year later. Not only was she widowed and alone, but she was living in a little house that had all sorts of problems. It was literally falling apart.

And yet she continued coming to church with family and friends. She kept serving God in whatever ways she could. One day, a man named Deon walked up to her at church and asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?” And she said, “Well, my bathroom doesn’t really work because the floor is kind of giving in and, well, nothing really works very well.”

Deon said, “I can help with that,” and then proceeded to fix Doris’s bathroom. Keep in mind, the bathroom was just one of many needs the house had.

So after Deon fixed the bathroom, he moved on to the living room. And then the kitchen. And then … well, the projects just kept getting bigger and bigger. At one point, the contractors told Doris they’d have to jack the home up off the foundation to replace pieces of it. This would lead to damaged walls in need of immediate repair and the whole process was going to cost more than $7,000. During that time, the city had actually condemned the property. Doris had only Art’s social security to live on, and there was no way she’d have been able to afford this.

So what did Deon do? He organized a fund-raiser at our church to help cover the cost of the repairs.

Deon is not a contractor. He’s not a guy who fixes bathroom floors or kitchen sinks for a living. He is just an ordinary man who took a risk and asked Doris, “Is there anything I can do to help you?” I’m sure you’re aware of the television show that does home makeovers in a week. Well, Deon became part of an extreme home makeover that lasted for more than a year and a half. It wasn’t necessarily timely. But it was a miracle!

The day Doris moved back into the house, our local news carried the story of a community coming together to help a widow in need. It was an awesome display of love and hope.

What do you see?

What would it take for you to do what God asks of you, even knowing that you’ll still face trials in the midst of that obedience?

There’s a story behind that story. Deon was a car salesman, just trying to make his way through life like all of us. But then he got heel spurs and lost his job. He didn’t have enough money to pay his rent. On his forty-third birthday, he told me that he was evicted from his house and that he didn’t have enough money to pay his phone bill. He was driving a borrowed car (his daughter’s) and life was really falling apart … just like the house he was trying to fix up.

All of this happened as he was working on Doris’s house, as he was acting on what he’d seen and heard.

Does this sound familiar? It should. Remember the hardships that Mary and Joseph endured after responding to God?

Deon’s doing great today. He’s got a new job, a new house, and a better car. Sure, he’ll probably face trials again—we can’t know what tomorrow will bring. But this is what I want you to see: Deon was just an ordinary guy, facing ordinary problems, and yet he still was able to accomplish something extraordinary. It was an extraordinary act of kindness that was recognized and celebrated by our whole community.

This is the body of Christ in action. This is who we are. Sometimes we succeed; sometimes we fail. But God asks of us this one thing: to watch and listen. And then? Once we have seen and heard? We are called to act.

That’s what Deon did. He took a risk.

He didn’t know anything about contracting. He didn’t know anything about the tools needed to do the work. But he did know one thing—he knew God could use him.

He asked, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”

This is what you and I are called to do. This is who we’re called to be: light and life for the community around us.

We have to be willing in our ordinariness, in our woundedness, to say I’m going to reach out to those around me. I’m going to serve them. I’m going to do everything I can to express the love of Christ. Our communities need it. Our world needs it. We all need it.

What do you see?

What are some examples you’ve witnessed of God’s “extraordinariness”?

And that leads us to big idea number three: Ordinary people tell extraordinary stories.

Let’s look at the shepherds again. Just what did they say to the people they met?

“Do you know what’s going on right now? Have you heard the news? A baby was born in Bethlehem. Well, this isn’t any ordinary baby. I mean, He looks ordinary and He was born in a manger in a stable, so I guess that is about as ordinary as you get … but this is the One we’ve been waiting for! This baby—He is the Savior, the Messiah. He’s finally come to us! I know what you’re thinking: How do we know this is the One? Well … angels appeared to us. The sky opened up and at first we were freaked out and afraid, but then we went to Bethlehem, and, sure enough, there He was.…”

The Scriptures tell us that when people heard the shepherds’ story, they were amazed. They didn’t slam doors in the shepherds’ faces. They didn’t laugh at them or chase them away.

They were amazed.

I have several stories in my life that other people say are simply amazing. I want to share a couple of them with you.

I was raised in a pastor’s home—born on Saturday and in church on Sunday, if you know what I mean. I lived a pretty charmed life in an average middle-class family where my dad served small churches of two hundred people or less. Life was pretty innocent until the age of seventeen when everything that I knew as solid and foundational began to crumble around me. My parents’ marriage had fallen apart. No immorality, no physical abuse, just poor communication and a slow slipping away of the priorities of family. Ministry became consuming and my parents’ relationship eroded without anyone noticing, least of all my two younger brothers and me.

I remember the ache in my stomach at every meal as our family fell apart. I felt the same way at every church service where deacons began to side with one parent or the other. Everything I thought of as foundational and steady now became a tornado of destruction in my church and in my family: elders fighting, Mom and Dad squaring off, board members threatening, people leaving our church, and a deafening silence at the dinner table with my brother and father.

These are still incredibly painful memories. But there are two miracles that rose from the ashes of my own heartache and perseverance. The first is the fact that God met me in the midst of my young struggle to find my own faith. I found Him for myself in the most tangible and meaningful way during that year of weakness and pain.

The second miracle is that today, both of my brothers and I are in full-time local church ministry. Somehow God protected us from the cynicism and woundedness that typically occurs in a story like ours. We all have ministered together for several years in the same church, and we’re each committed to loving, healthy marriages (our first and only marriages). The truth is all three of us should have a deep mistrust of “church people.” We should believe that the church is full of hypocrites and hidden agendas. I know these types of people do attend our churches, but God has given us grace and insight into the way humanity is made, and He has turned it all around in our lives for His purposes. We love the local church and the family it represents. We love serving in the house of the Lord. It’s a miracle!

Lastly, in seventeen years of local church ministry, I have seen countless marriages saved as a result of my story. I’ve been able to confidently and lovingly pastor many struggling couples through dysfunction, estrangement, and even adultery. I’ve seen marriages healed, put back together, and pulled back from the brink of destruction because of the wisdom and context of my own personal story. My experiences in walking through the difficulty of divorce and the pain of a broken family, as well as the challenges of a blended family, have given me great insight and understanding. I’m thankful that God took what was so bad in my life and changed it into something useful in His hands.

I’m just an ordinary kid who grew up in a small church and went through some difficult times in his family. However, when I tell my story, people are amazed! You could say I didn’t see that coming. But then, it’s all in the way you look at it. Do you see God’s miraculous grace or simply a suffering family?

Fast-forward twenty years …

The last two years of my life have again been filled with disappointment, heart-wrenching sadness, embarrassment, perseverance, and pain.

On November 2, 2006, my pastor, mentor, and friend was dismissed because of a scandal involving drugs and an extramarital homosexual encounter. I remember the feeling of dread and fear washing over me as it became painfully obvious that some of the accusations were true. There, in the middle of that fateful day, I was the one to address our church staff to let them know that we were entering into a strange and unfamiliar process. I was sick to my stomach—grief-stricken. My memory jogged to those same feelings twenty years earlier when my own family had fallen apart.

Once again, it seemed everything around me was crumbling.

That same agonizingly long and painful day, after an emotionally draining elders’ meeting, I went home to try to sleep. My wife, Aimee, was nine months pregnant with our fifth child. At 2:00 a.m. that very night, she went into labor. I remember when she woke me up and said, “Honey, I think we have to go.” I said, “No, we don’t, you’ll be all right.” She responded with, “No, we need to go now!”

We were beyond exhausted from the emotional upheaval, but as we all know, babies come when they want to. We got up and went to the hospital. Consequently, while the scandalous story was carried that next morning on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, and a host of other networks, we were cocooned in our little hospital room … overwhelmed, isolated, disappointed, dejected … waiting for our little miracle. While the world outside swirled with uncertainty and confusion, we were safe in the hands of our Father’s plan.

Of course, we had no idea how big the miracle was that God was getting ready to reveal to us.

On November 3, Pastor Larry Stockstill, one of the overseers for our church, called me at the hospital. By then, we were the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy, Owen Alexander (10 lbs, 22 inches long … can you say my wife is amazing!). He asked me to come to the office where he and the other overseers were meeting. I showed up in my jeans and a baseball cap, having stayed up all night through labor (my wife’s). I wondered what he would say to me.

It was surreal. I remember sitting there with those godly men discussing the church’s future when Pastor Larry turned to me and said, “Can you lead this church through this?” It was such a big question that it seems silly now to think back on how quickly I answered. I was already feeling the supernatural grace that comes during these kinds of life-changing moments. I looked him straight in the eye and said, “Yes, sir.”

I was on the phone from the hospital most of the next thirty-six hours while our church campus swarmed with broadcast trucks and satellite uplink dishes all over our parking lot. It was a crazy weekend. I ended up with Aimee in our hospital room late on Saturday night. I was typing out the message that I was to give the next morning to our congregation while our sweet baby, Owen, slept in one of those little rolling plastic bins beside my rocking chair. I was sleep deprived, so I went home about midnight. My other four kids were in bed and their godparents were sound asleep in our bedroom. I would be sleeping in the guest room tonight. As I trudged downstairs to the spare bedroom to sleep, I realized I didn’t have any underwear or socks for the next day. In approximately eight hours, I would speak to more people than at any other time in my entire life because of the national broadcast … and I couldn’t find my socks. That was pretty much a defining picture of what was happening to me.

I became the interim senior pastor of New Life Church that next day. I spoke of forgiveness. I shared in the sadness. I articulated the gospel message with all of the emotion and fortitude I could muster. I encouraged our church family to pull together like never before.

And they listened!

We cried. We worshipped. And we prayed that God would visit us in our hour of need.

He did.

For the next ten months, this son of a preacher man from a little town named Grand Junction, Colorado, led our church with the most overwhelming and overcoming sense of grace. I was challenged like never before in my life, but God’s hand sustained me. I was not especially prepared in any way for this moment in my life and yet I had been equipped as a very ordinary man to participate in something extraordinary.

Our church was battered and broken, but we realized, as we began a very unlikely journey, that we were also blessed and highly favored … just not the kind of “blessed and highly favored” we thought we were.

The conventional wisdom held that the church might fold. People would scatter. Our building should probably be the sight of a giant used-car parking lot today.

But God had other plans.

Our church came together like the family we had become. We continued with strength and courage and remained committed to reaching out to our community. It wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t always pretty, but God was at work among us, and our church body not only survived, it thrived.

It was a miracle!

In the midst of the darkness, in the middle of the storm, God came to us.

It’s an incredible story of triumph over tragedy. It is the story of God’s empowering grace in a time of great pain, struggle, and challenge. God kept us together for His purpose and His glory, and I am so grateful to be part of this miraculous story!

Today our church has a new, loving senior pastor, and we’ve continued to face unique and unbelievable challenges. But we have a story to tell … a story of God’s incredible faithfulness and mercy. We know what God can do with a group of ordinary people.

It’s extraordinary!

Chorus

Do you see what I see?

Verse Six

STORY

We all have stories to tell. Perhaps your story isn’t as dramatic as Mary and Joseph’s or as surprising as the shepherds, but you have one.

Are you watching? Do you see it? We’re all part of this incredible story.

Just as God was there to help Mary and Joseph endure the hard times; just as He was there with the shepherds and the wise men; just as He gave Moses and Jeremiah the words to speak; He has been with us as well. And because of that, we’ll continue to tell the stories God has given us.

What do you see?

How have you seen God work through other ordinary men and women? In what ways did God use their ordinariness to do something extraordinary?

I want to challenge you to be open to recognizing these stories. It’s much too easy to crowd out the uncommon with the mundane. It’s much too typical to focus on the everyday and miss the incredible. We’re all susceptible to allowing the negative influences to define our lives. Financial concerns, job worries, family relationships, disappointments … they all seem to find their way to the front and center of our lives. Don’t let it happen to you. Let the Scriptures speak to you every day. Look into the eyes of your children or your spouse or a friend and realize the incredible gift you have in them. Give thanks for the blessings of your life. Find the miracles, watch for them, look for them, be ready for them, take the risk, and then go for it. Remember, you have a purpose. If God knows each of the stars by name, He has an extraordinary plan for your life.

We are ordinary men and women. But we serve an extraordinary God.

Do you see what I see?

Outro

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

—Luke 2:16–20

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Table of Contents

Cover

Endorsements

Title

Copyright

Acknowledgments

Dear Friend

Luke 2 8-20

Introduction

Verse One

Chorus

Verse Two

Bridge

Verse Three

Chorus 2

Verse Four

Chorus 3

Verse Five

Chorus 4

Verse Six

Outro

Ad

Table of Contents

Cover

Endorsements

Title

Copyright

Acknowledgments

Dear Friend

Luke 2 8-20

Introduction

Verse One

Chorus

Verse Two

Bridge

Verse Three

Chorus 2

Verse Four

Chorus 3

Verse Five

Chorus 4

Verse Six

Outro

Ad