Go Tell It | Week 1 | Sermon · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · Dec 11, 2024 · 57 min watch · 3 min read

Go Tell It | Week 1 | Sermon

Big Idea

Quoting the message: The joy of the manger is found in the gift on the cross, end quote. — Christmas and Easter are the same story, and real joy comes only by connecting them.

True Christmas joy is not found in circumstances improving or God rewarding good behavior, but in accepting the gift of grace purchased on the cross and made real by the resurrection. Pastor Bill argues that Christmas and Easter are two sides of the same story: the manger only makes sense in light of the cross, and until we move from a performance-based 'Santa theology' to resting in the completed work of Jesus, we will remain confused about Christmas and cut off from its deepest joy. That joy — available even in the darkest valleys — comes when we accept the gift, live in resurrection hope, and go tell it joyfully.

Key points

1
1Christmas and Easter are the same story — the manger and the cross are two sides of one coin, and joy requires holding both together.
2
2The shepherds recognized Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb because they spent their lives tending temple lambs — they saw in the manger what most of Israel missed.
3
3We must accept the gift: trusting in what Jesus did rather than performing to earn God's favor ('Santa theology' versus real grace).
4
4The joy of the Lord is not removed from the valley — it walks through it with us, as Psalm 23 promises.
5
5We must live in resurrection hope: Christmas celebrates the beginning of Jesus' mission; Easter declares it finished.
6
6Go tell it joyfully — just as the shepherds spontaneously told everyone, understanding grace deeply produces an unstoppable desire to share it.

Application

Pastor Bill calls every person to make a clear-eyed move in three directions. First, accept the gift: stop trying to earn God's favor through religious performance and rest in the completed work of Jesus — His death, burial, and resurrection — which is the only thing that makes you right with God. Second, live in resurrection hope: when life is hard, don't reach for circumstantial relief; reach for the hand of Jesus in the valley. Let the finished work of the cross be the thing you actually trust, not just believe in theory. Third, go tell it joyfully: think of one person who needs to know that Jesus is the answer, and invite them somewhere they can hear it — whether that is Christmas Eve service or simply a honest conversation. The deeper you grasp how much grace you have needed, the more freely and joyfully you will point others toward it.

Take it into your week

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7-day devotional

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Pastor Bill opened with a striking claim: Christmas and Easter are not two separate holidays — they are one story told in two chapters. The manger only makes sense when you know where the story is going, and the empty tomb only carries its full weight when you remember it all began with a baby born to die. Matthew 28 opens in the dark — early Sunday morning, before the sun is up — and ends with women running from an empty tomb, filled with what the text calls 'great joy.' That phrase is worth sitting with. These were women who had watched Jesus die. Their circumstances had not improved; Rome was still Rome, and grief was still fresh. Yet joy arrived anyway, not because things got easier, but because the One they loved had conquered the thing that threatened everything. This is the foundation the whole week is built on. If you have ever felt like Christmas joy is somehow supposed to appear automatically — like good cheer is the natural weather of December — and then felt guilty when it didn't, this is where to start. Real Christmas joy is not produced by circumstances. It is received as a gift from a risen Savior who is already on the other side of the worst thing that could happen. The manger and the empty tomb belong together, and together they are where joy actually lives.

For reflection

When you think about Christmas joy, are you more often reaching for a feeling or resting in a fact? What is the difference for you personally?

Pray

Pray for eyes to see Christmas and Easter as one connected story, and ask God to anchor your joy in that truth rather than in how December feels.

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Christmas and Easter can feel like two separate holidays on the calendar, but this message makes the case that they're actually one story — and that changes everything about what Christmas joy really is.

Discussion questions

1
In Matthew 28:1-9, the women come to a tomb expecting death and instead encounter resurrection. Pastor Bill connected that moment directly back to the manger. What does that connection suggest about what Christmas is actually celebrating?
2
In Luke 2:8-20, it's shepherds — people who spent their lives raising temple lambs — who are the first ones sent to see Jesus. Why do you think the announcement goes to them first, and what might they have understood about the child in the manger that others missed?
3
Pastor Bill described what he called 'Santa theology' — the idea that God's favor is something we earn through good behavior. How does John 1:29, where John the Baptist calls Jesus 'the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,' push back against that way of thinking?
4
Psalm 23 pictures God walking with His people through the valley — not lifting them out of it. Pastor Bill made the point that the joy of the Lord isn't removed when life is hard. What does it look like, practically, for a community of people to reach for the hand of Jesus in the valley rather than just reaching for circumstances to improve?
5
The shepherds in Luke 2 didn't organize a campaign — they just started telling everyone what they had seen and heard. Pastor Bill said the deeper you grasp how much grace you've needed, the more freely and joyfully you share it. What does that connection between receiving grace and wanting to talk about it say about what actually motivates people to point others toward Jesus?
6
Pastor Bill challenged us to think of one person who needs to hear that Jesus is the answer and to find a way to invite them into that conversation — whether through a Christmas Eve service or a simple, honest exchange. What might get in the way of that, and how might holding the manger and the cross together as one story make it feel less daunting?

Pray together

Gratitude for the grace we didn't earn, and courage to carry it joyfully to the people around us

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Go Tell It

Week 1 · 2 messages

Where these passages are preached

Matthew 28 Luke 2 John 1 Psalm 23

Explore related topics

Christmas and the Cross Freedom From Fear Grace and Redemption Resurrection Hope Sharing Your Faith

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