Go Tell It | Week 1 | Sermon

The big idea

The joy of the manger is found in the gift on the cross — Christmas and Easter are the same story, and only by connecting them can we find real joy.

Christmas can feel confusing when it's disconnected from the cross, but the baby in the manger and the risen Jesus are the same story of grace. Real joy isn't found in getting what we want from God like a cosmic Santa, but in accepting the gift of Jesus, resting in His finished work, and living out that hope even in hard seasons.

Point 1 of 7

Pastor Bill reads Matthew 28's resurrection account and then Luke 2's shepherd account side by side, showing the parallels: an angel appears, people are terrified, they're told 'go tell,' and they respond with joy. Words like 'savior' and 'messiah' spoken to the shepherds are, he points out, really Easter words.

Point 2 of 7

Pastor Bill explains that these particular shepherds cared for the temple's sacrificial flocks, so when told the Messiah was a baby in a manger, they immediately understood He was the lamb born to die for sin, unlike the disciples, who took years to grasp it. He ties this to John 1:29 and explains the sacrificial system always pointed forward to grace, not to earning God's favor.

Point 3 of 7

He unpacks how kids (and adults) treat God like Santa: be good, get rewarded; be bad, get coal. He shows how this system leads either to arrogance when things go well or to hopelessness and anger at God when they don't, and argues this is the real source of Christmas depression.

Point 4 of 7

He walks through the psalm's imagery of sheep being foolish and easily led astray, needing to be made to rest and led to loud, moving water they'd otherwise fear. He stresses the psalm never promises we'll avoid the valley of the shadow of death, only that God will be present in it, which he contrasts with the Santa-theology expectation of getting what we want.

Point 5 of 7

He defines sin using the archery term hamartia — missing the mark, going our own way — and explains that real faith means confessing that distance from God and trusting the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus rather than a system of earning blessing. He leads the congregation in a prayer of response at this point.

Point 6 of 7

Drawing on Jesus' words 'it is finished,' Pastor Bill says Christmas begins the mission that Easter completes, and that our call now is to actually live from that finished work day to day, not just believe it intellectually. He quotes Max Lucado's line about the cradle and the cross to reinforce that both halves of the story matter.

Point 7 of 7

He tells the story of John Newton, a slave ship captain converted at sea, who kept working the slave trade for years before leaving it, becoming a pastor, mentoring William Wilberforce, and writing Amazing Grace. Pastor Bill highlights Newton's line 'grace that taught my heart to fear, but grace my fears relieved' to show that embracing grace, not avoiding it, is what relieves our fears.

Take it into your week

Pastor Bill's charge is to stop living by Santa theology and instead accept the gift, live in resurrection hope, and go tell it joyfully.