It is a privilege to be with you on this most holy of nights.

This is my favorite worship

service of the year. And its the hardest sermon to write. There is so much on our minds. You
and I have just gone through the busiest time of the year. A lot has happened in the last month?
For how many people did you buy presents? It wouldnt surprise me if the number was over 20.
How many times did you go to a Mall in the last month? How many Christmas celebrations will
you enjoy in the next week?
There is a lot to keep track of. And I have a sermon to share. I have a deal to make. My
part of the deal is to speak for 15 minutes. Your part of the deal is to listen for a word from God.
I believe that this message might make your Christmas and even your New Year better for you.
Whether that happens is up to God. I have great hope. Lets pray
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Have you ever been in a group and someone asked you this question. If you could have
dinner with anyone in history, who would it be? Its a fun question. You might even ask the
question at your Christmas celebrations during the next few days.
The traditional answers are Jesus or a famous President of the United States like George
Washington or Abraham Lincoln. Or depending on our interest, a famous author or actress or
maybe someone from our own family. Id love to have dinner with the husband and wife on my
moms side of the family who came to the United States from England.
In addition to these two I came up with a new answer to this question. Id like to have
dinner with the shepherds who learned about Jesus birth and then went to Bethlehem. .
Were familiar with the shepherds. But I wonder if we know them. I want to ask you
some questions. Dont hesitate to be wrong.
The story of Jesus birth appears in two gospelsMatthew and Luke
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Do the shepherds appear in:

Matthew
Luke
Matthew and Luke
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After the story of Jesus birth do the shepherds ever appear again in the Bible?
Yes
No
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How many shepherds were in the story?
2
10
At least 2
We dont know
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Did the older shepherd receive his social security check?

Yes
No
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Youll have to ask Dave Nyberg

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Id like to hear from the shepherds. Id like to know the fullness of what they felt

when they encountered the angel, who many think was Gabriel. Id like to know how it felt to
watch the heavenly host singing to God. Id like to know how fast they ran to Bethlehem to find
baby, Jesus. Id like to know what Jesus looked like as a baby. How much did he weigh, how
long was he? What color was his hair?

Theres a lot about the shepherds we dont know, there is one thing we do. They had a
new beginning. Their encounter with the angel and then Jesus, Mary and Joseph changed their
lives forever.
I think that memory stayed with them for the rest of their life. They had a new beginning.
This year the people at Chain of Lakes had a new beginning. I think the memory is going
to stay with us for the rest of our lives. This past June Gary Long and I received an E-mail
saying that we would no longer worship at Da Vinci Academy. That started a process that has
resulted in us worshiping here. Yay, God! The people in our congregation have worked
extraordinarily hard over the past five months. Weve learned things about acquiring a facility
that we never thought we would have to know. And were here; we made it; the future is
incredibly bright; we are on the verse of experiencing a terrific growth spurt. Theres no doubt
in my mind that we are going to go even deeper into being an authentic Christian community
where strangers become friends; friends become disciples; disciples impact the world. Weve
had a new beginning
This phrase, new beginning is a popular phrase. I googled it and found 144 million
results. I didnt have time to look at each one. But I found two that were interesting.
Rick Warren, one of the most famous pastors in the United States said this about a new
beginning.
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the more we let God take over, the more truly ourselves we becomebecause [God] made us.
[God] invented us. [God] invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be
It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to [Christs] personality, that I first begin to
have a real personality of my own. Rick Warren
This is the level four type of love that I shared last Sunday in a sermon.
The noted theologian, I mean pop singer, Carrie Underwood said this about a new beginning:

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I guess its going to have to hurt, I guess Im going to have to cry, And let go of some things,
Ive loved to get to the other side
I guess its going to break me down, Like fallin when you try to fly,
Sad but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life starts with goodbye.
I think a new beginning involves two parts. The first is God. God has deep desires for
each of our lives. God wants us to find what I call the Inspirational Intersection. This is the
intersection between what God wants us to do and be and what we want to do and be. At this
place we discover ourselves, we know who we are, we are able to say with confidence, this is
what I was made to be and do.
If we havent found this place, I encourage you to come here starting January 4 as Im
going to start a sermon series called Identity. We are going to help everyone who comes to this
series be clear about their own identity.
We need God. We could try to discover a new beginning without God, but why would
we want to do that. God is on our side
The second part of a new beginning is a community. The best way is to be connected to a
church community. Whether its this one or another terrific church in tarea. is community. The
people in a church can provide such help and guidance. They can be such role models to help us
with our new beginning. I cant imagine life without a church. I would never be able to become
who God wants me to be without a church.
A new beginning could be a complete overhaul of our life, but it doesnt have to be. It
could be what I call the one new thing. And I realize those four words arent that elegant, but I
hope they communicate the point. A new beginning could be one new thing:
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In my faith life
In my family
In my marriage

In my work
With a friend
With a hobby
With an interest.
What is the one new thing that could be our new beginning?
The story of Jesus prompts us to discover this new beginning. God loved the world so
much that God sent a helpless child to be born of a peasant girl. This boy was the Messiah. He
grew up to save the people from their sins, from themselves. Jesus taught his followers and us a
new way to live and relate to God. He taught us how to love. When Jesus was unjustly accused
of sedition he obediently went to the cross and died. His death opened up a pathway for all of us
to enjoy relationship with God. After Jesus was dead for three days God took him from death
and put him at his right hand so all of us might enjoy eternal relationship with him.
Because of this story we have a faith journey. To grow on our journey were always
looking for a new beginning.
I want to start to close by sharing a story of a man who is experiencing a new beginning.
The man is John Thiessen. He passed away last week, and we celebrated his funeral yesterday.
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I only had the privilege of knowing John for the last five years of his life. He was

a pastors dream-- smart, full of faith, flexible, open-minded, always willing to go the extra mile
for another person.
Ive had the privilege of spending a lot of time with his wife, Juanita, and family over the
last week. One thing they mentioned over and over was his passion for life. No matter what he
was doing, John loved doing it. Whether it was sharing rhubarb with the neighbors, or riding his
tandem bike with Juanita, or fixing something for his grandchildren, John loved doing it.
John was always interested in new beginnings.

He was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. A couple months after his diagnosis I was
talking to him on the phone. He shared with me one of his new beginning. He developed a hope
box. I shared this story yesterday. John had a box and asked his friends and family to share with
him Bible passages that would give him hope during his treatment. I would often ask him about
his hope box. He wrote down all of these passages and put them in his hope box. This past
Saturday when Juanita and Johns family got together we looked through all the pieces of paper
in the hope box. One stood out. It was Isaiah 41:10.
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Do not be afraid for I am with you. Dont be discouraged, for I am your God. I
will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
John always had hope. A couple weeks before his passing he was talking with his sister
about what he was going to do this spring. The rest of us were thinking about his funeral and
John was thinking about spring. He always had hope. He always looked forward to a new
beginning.
Today John is with the angels. In fact if God asked for angel duty I think John would be
the first one to raise his hand. He would love to be a messenger of God with people here on
earth. He is an example of a faith journey that always had a new beginning.
Just like the shepherds. God loved them so muchthese poor, homeless shepherdsthat
God chose to tell them first about the birth of Jesus. God loved them so muchthese poor,
homeless shepherdsthat they were the first humans outside of Mary and Joseph to see baby,
Jesus. God loved them so muchthese poor, homeless shepherdsthat God gave them the
opportunity to have a new beginning.
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Soon were going to sing the song What Child is This. The author of the words

was William Chatterton Dix. He wrote these words in 1865, 149 years ago. He was the manager
of an insurance company. He was afflicted by an unexpected and severe illness that resulted in

him being bedridden and suffering from severe depression. He almost died. His experience of
almost dying brought within him a spiritual renewal. Out of this he wrote What Child is this.
As you are singing this song in a moment, think about a new beginning.
Ive been encouraging our congregation this Advent to make a memory. Ive been
encouraging us to do something based on the themes of hope, love and joy that we will still be
talking about in ten years. Maybe the memory we make will be a new beginning.
Friends because of the birth of Jesus you and I are on a journey. As we go farther on this
journey may we discover the one new thing, a new beginning. Who knows maybe people will be
talking about our new beginning in 149 years.