Happy Almost New Years – 12 ½ hours to go (12 hrs 40 min).

If we have not met yet, my name is Steve Muncherian.  I’m one of the Elders here at Green Hills and it is my privilege to be able to share God’s word with you this morning.

One of the questions that gets asked these days is, “What are you doing for New Year’s?”

Anyone watching the Rose Parade?  The Rose Bowl?  Alabama (#5) upsetting Michigan (#1)?  The Sugar Bowl?  Washington (#2) destroying Texas (#3)?

Anybody watching the ball drop in Times Square?

They’ve been dropping the ball in New York since 1907.  There’s like a billion people around the world – at least 100 million in the US alone – that watch that ball drop.

Back at the turn of the last century – San Francisco was planning on having a 7 story tall martini glass on the front of the St. Francis Hotel.  At the stroke of midnight a 10 foot inflatable olive was going to slide down a swizzle stick into the martini.  Sounds like San Francisco – doesn’t it?

As Christians – there ought to be something more meaningful for us – something more lasting – less trivial – than watching all the hoopla, listening to the music, and partying all night.  Yes?

Which is what we want to press into today.  What God tells us is important for us to focus on as we celebrate and move into the new year.

So, please turn, tap, or swipe with me to Numbers 29 – or you can just look up on the screen.  We’re going to look together at the first 6 verses of chapter 29.

Reality check.  Most us would probably agree that Numbers isn’t our most favorite turn to devotional reading.  But God gave us Numbers. 

Like a few Sundays back David led us into Leviticus.  If Leviticus can help us love Jesus, Numbers can help us follow God into the New Year.

Numbers 29 comes in a section of Scripture that focuses on when various sacrifices were to be offered.  Specifically at the beginning of a new year and what’s important for God’s people to focus on while they’re sacrificing. 

Numbers 29:1: “Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.  It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.”

Let’s pause there.  Notice that God – speaking to His people through Moses – God says, “in the seventh month.”  We need to understand what God means by “in the seventh month.” 

Hold onto this – the Hebrew people are using two different calendars.  Two calendars that were both operating at the same time. 

Which is something we do.  Our calendar year begins in January.  The fiscal year begins in July.  The school year begins in August or September.  So, the idea is kind of familiar.  Yes?

One calendar was God’s calendar – a religious calendar – which was used to calculate the timing of the religious festivals – the feasts – and sacrifices. 

The other calendar – was a civil calendar – which was what the Hebrews used as their official calendar of the government – of business – for official record keeping.

Both calendars have 12 months.  They just start at different times. 

The first month of God’s religious calendar begins in our month of March or April.  The people’s civil calendar begins in our September or October.

If all that’s confusing – just remember this – 7 to 1.  The seventh month of God’s religious calendar corresponds to the first month of the civil calendar.

So, when Numbers 29:1 says, “Now in the seventh month” – God’s religious calendar – He’s also talking about the first month of the civil calendar – New Years.  Which today gets celebrated as Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year.

Kinda together?

That’s not a random coincidence.  The sovereign God of creation – Who created time to serve Him – God has chosen to take His calendar – His timing of events – and to very purposefully match them up with the new year of His people.  God personally – intimately – connecting with His people.

God telling His people, “When you celebrate your new year – this is what I want you to focus on.  Here’s what’s important.”

Going on - verse 1: “Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. – stop working and come together for a special – holy – this is about God – new year’s gathering – It will be to you a day for blowing trumpets”

A ram’s horn – called a shofar – a trumpet is blown.  The day is known as The Feast of Trumpets.  All day long trumpets would blast – calling the people to come together. 

Verse 2 – when you gather: “You shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to the Lord:  one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect; also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs.  Offer one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you, besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.”

Without diving into a lot of detail, the point of these Feast of Trumpets offerings was to bring God’s people before God – to remember God – the holy God – as the sovereign and gracious and loving God who abundantly provides for His people – and for God’s people to offer themselves totally to God in worship and praise and service.

Then God gave His people 10 days to reflect – to think seriously about their lives and their relationship with God.  Essentially 10 days of soul searching and agreeing with God that they had failed in their relationship with God.

Then the 10^th day was the Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur – what comes next if we’re reading down farther in verse 7 – essentially a repeat of Day One – what we just read.  But the emphasis is on atonement.  Sinners – who’d just had 10 days to reflect on how they’d failed in their relationship with God – being atoned for.

Animals were sacrificed.  The life of the animal paying the debt owed to God by the sinner because of their sin and so the sinner’s account was made right – reconciled – again with God. The animal’s life being given in the place of the life of the sinner. 

So, visualizing that – among the sacrifices 2 goats were brought.  The first goat was sacrificed.  And along with the blood of the sacrificed bull – the High Priest would sprinkle the blood of the goat on the Mercy Seat – the seat in the center of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle.  God’s people crying out in faith that God would forgive their sin – that God Himself would make right their relationship with God. 

Then the priest laid his hands on the head of the second goat – an act of identification with the animal – a way of showing the transfer of the people’s sin to the animal.  The priest would confess the sins of the people.  Then the second goat – the scapegoat – would be sent off into the wilderness bearing away the sins of the people – they’re gone - forgiven.

Can you imagine them doing this in the middle of Times Square?  One huge bloody mess and a goat being sent off to New Jersey. 

5 days later came the Feast of Tabernacles – a feast that lasted 7 more days.  More sacrifices.  Emphasis being remembering God’s delivering His people from bondage – from slavery – in Egypt and God blessing them with the Promised Land – where God is to dwell in peace with His reconciled people. 

The bottom line of all that – God’s focus heading into the new year is a new beginning for the new year – God’s people living rightly with God because of God and living for God.  To God alone be the glory! 

The problem was that the Old Testament sacrificial system was like taking a shower with a raincoat on.  The outside gets washed but the stuff that really needs cleaning never gets touched.  The priests and people would have to repeat their sacrifices over and over again - New Year’s after New Year’s – always faithfully praying that God – once again – would forgive their sins and restore their relationship.

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If you would, turn, tap or swipe or look at the screen – look with me at Hebrews 9 – starting at verse 11. 

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation - not physical like the Tabernacle in the wilderness or the Temple in Jerusalem - but spiritual - and not through the blood of goats and calves - this bloody – annual – sacrificing that we saw in Numbers - but through His own blood - poured out on the cross for us - He entered the holy place - the Holy of Holies - the place of the Mercy Seat - entered the holy place once for all - for us - having obtained eternal redemption. 

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”  (Hebrews 9:11-14)

Jesus – our sacrificial lamb – offered Himself once – and that reconciled our sin account before God forever.  God – by His grace – has given us salvation – new life – through the blood of Jesus Christ! 

By God’s grace we live life because of God – with God – and for God.  To God alone be the glory!

And that is way more crucially important for us to focus on than some giant inflatable olive dropping into a martini glass.

Amen?!!?

Every Sunday this month we’ve been in the sermon series “New & Glorious” – revisiting Christmas Carols and focusing on the birth of Jesus – His sacrifice – the significance for our lives.  This morning we want think forward to what that can look like for us – focusing on what God has for us to focus on in the New Year. 

So, to do that – and because today we’ve got a lot of families and kids with us – we’re going to try something a little different this morning.  Hopefully this works.  If not, it will still be fun. 

We’re going to try and visualize together Luke 2:8-20 – the account of the shepherds.  For that we’ve asked some of our kids and youth to help us.

First, we need shepherds and sheep and Mary and Joseph and a group of people at the manger.  So, if you’re Mary and Joseph and a Bethlehem person you can go over there.  And if you’re a shepherd you need to come over here.  Angel & the angels can be over there.

And we’ve got our representative sheep.  We’ve only got a few sheep because the others are back in the pen taking a baaath.  With Woolite.

We all – all of us – are going to read from Luke 2 – starting at verse 8 – as we’re visualizing.  Let’s all read together: 

And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

Let’s pause.  The same region meaning near Bethlehem.  Jerusalem is about 5 miles off in that direction.  Its night.  The stars are brightly shining.  The shepherds are watching out for their flocks.

Questions: “You’re a shepherd?”  “As a shepherd, what do you do?”

Next we need our messenger angel. 

The angel stands before the shepherds.  There’s nothing in the text that says the angel was in the sky – so standing is good.

They all are surrounded by the glory of the Lord – a kazillion candles of light obliterating the darkness – a glimpse into heaven – testifying of the unimaginable awesome immeasurable greatest of THE God our creator.

Our angel is going to read for us verses 10 to 12: “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sigh for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

So now we need a multitude of angels.

All of us can read verse 13: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

Let’s all read verse 14 together with the angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.”

Thank you angels.  You can head back to your seats.

Read with me verse 15: When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has been made known to us.”  So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.

So the shepherds are off to Bethlehem to search for a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger – who is right there with Mary and Joseph.

Let’s read together: When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.  And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.  But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

The shepherds told everyone what the angel said.  They were not sheepish about it.  And so the people wondered and Mary pondered.

Verse 20:  The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

The shepherds went back to their fields – to their sheep – glorifying and praising God for all they’d seen and heard. 

You all can head back to your seats.   Let’s thank our actors.  You all did great.  Thank you.  You all can head back down. 

Pulling together Numbers 29 – Luke 2 – and New & Glorious in the New Year – I’d like to share two observations and two take aways for us.  Hang onto something.

First Observation:  The Shepherds

Shepherds were hard working, down to earth people, living the realities of real life.  Shepherds watching sheep in a field at night is the pretty ordinary stuff of life.  They’re doing what they’ve done and will do – what probably generations of their family have done – year after year. 

But what God does here is new.  It is a total game changer – rocking the world of these shepherds.

Some backfill.  Every morning and evening an unblemished lamb was sacrificed at the Temple in Jerusalem – God’s people obeying God and seeking to be right with God – over and over again.  What we saw a glimpse of in Numbers.

But the shepherds were excluded from all that.  They couldn’t keep the requirements of the ceremonial laws – the feasts and washings and so on – because they couldn’t do both – shepherd sheep in the fields and keep the ceremonial laws.

So they were despised by the orthodox Jews.  They were alienated and excluded – looked down on by the community.  Being a shepherd – socially and spiritually – was pretty hopeless.  And in the reality of where they did life – these shepherds knew it. 

Being “terribly afraid” is more than just about blazing heavenly light.  For those who see themselves as separated from God – angels from heaven can have terrifying consequences.

And yet this angel comes direct from before God to directly stand before these shepherds.

When God Himself steps into our humanity – and God gives this over the top – full on glories of heaven – multitudes of angels announcement – it isn’t to the rich and famous “in” crowd – the priests and religiously correct – but to the excluded shepherds in a field with an announcement that comes with shepherd driven specifics.

I bring you – shepherds – good news of great joy… has been born to you – shepherds… in Bethlehem is born a Savior – Who is Christ – the Messiah – the One anointed by God. 

This will be a sign for you – you will find a baby among many babies – but this one is lying in a manger – a feed trough – a sign unique for shepherds.

Christ the Lord – the One that all those year after year sacrifices is pointing towards – God Himself – born to die to deliver His people from bondage and the power of sin and death – a Savior is come to you… shepherds.

And the praise of the angels is directed Godward – but it connects to the shepherds.

Glory to God in the highest is a statement of adoration – of praise – of testimony.  God doing what God alone is able to do.  To God alone be the glory.

Peace on earth is more than the absence of conflict.  It’s a deep settled contentment within – even in the midst of conflict – of division – of exclusion.  Peace with others.  The beginning point of which is peace with God.

Glory to God and peace among those shepherds with whom He is pleased.

Pleased – the Greek word – means delighted in – taking pleasure in.  Not because of any great spiritual achievement of the shepherds but because God chooses to be pleased with them.

Good news of great joy… for shepherds.

Then the shepherds make a choice: “Let us go over to Bethlehem…”   They weren’t told by the angel to go.  They choose to go. 

They went with haste – meaning they didn’t waste time.  Priority one is responding – to go and find out the truth of what the angel told them. 

What comes next is life changing for everyone they told about the angels – what was said – about this child.

When the shepherds return to their daily lives in the fields with the sheep – they returned changed – their lives are different.  They return glorifying and praising God for all they’d seen and heard – the truth confirming the reality of what the angel had said… to them.

Observation Two:  Us.  We – you and I – are so like those shepherds

Like shepherds – we live in a field called the greater La Habra metroplex – with a whole lot of other people just trying to get through life – often confused – trying to keep up – stressed – people dealing with issues in their lives and families and work places and schools just like we deal with issues in our own lives and families and work places and schools. 

And “peace” – way too often is not a part of all that. 

A few Sundays back Pastor Jared asked us if we thought peace was even possible?

We know, the answer is… yes… in Jesus. 

Like to those shepherds – God – in Jesus – gives His peace to those He is pleased with.  To us. 

Regardless of what we think of ourselves or what others think of us or what we think others think of us God is pleased with us.

Let’s be clear.  God isn’t pleased with our sin.  But He is pleased with us.

We need to let that rattle around in our minds and sink into our hearts.  God is pleased with us – with you.  Say that to yourself.  “God is pleased with me.”  Share that with someone near you.  “God is pleased with you.”

That’s astounding.  Isn’t it?  That God – not because of any great spiritual achievement on our part – and in spite of our best efforts – God chooses to be pleased with us – to be delighted in us. 

Because of Christ – Who has come for us – Who willing gave Himself up as our once for all sacrifice on the cross – when we individually accept God’s gracious offer of salvation – by faith – turning from our sin and trusting God with our lives – God applies His salvation to us.  Not as a “rain coat” kind of covering – needing endless repetition – but at the heart level – spiritual core – of our relationship with Him – God Himself makes us to be right with Him now and forever – full stop – done.

And, in the midst of what swirls around us – because we have peace with God – we can know God’s peace.

Two Observations:  The Shepherds – who are a lot like us.

Two Take Aways – New & Glorious in the New Year

Living and celebrating what is really new – what is really glorious. 

First Take Away:  Live New.

That night God totally reset the lives of the shepherds. 

We could go around the room sharing all the ways in which our lives have been made new because of Jesus Christ.  To live new is to live that newness every day. 

In Numbers 29 - God says to stop work – just stop – and focus on our relationship with Him – what God is making new.  “You shall do no laborious work.  It will be a day for blowing trumpets. 

Which we struggle with because our lives are full of what seemingly “what must be done”.   We get off track – we get distracted – our peace gets messed with.

Maybe in our celebrations – instead of watching giant olives slide into martini glasses – maybe we can stop and be in prayer – prayers of confession – prayers of dedication and commitment – of seeking His will – prayers of thanksgiving – prayers asking for the blood of Jesus to cover every area of our lives – to purify us and make us useful for His service.

And moving forward into 2024 let’s keep that pattern.  To make sure we keep stopping to seek Him and listen to Him – to allow Him to set the pace and priorities of our lives so that every day we really are living because of Him and with Him and for Him.

Take Away number two:  Live Glorious.

To live testifying of Who God is and what God has done for us.  Like the shepherds to live praising and glorifying God.

Every Sunday this month we’ve been revisiting a Christmas Carol and today is no different.  In case you were wondering.

Today we’re going to end by singing “Go Tell It On The Mountain.”

Which back in 1907 – same year they started dropping the ball in New York – John Work, Jr. first published and popularized.

“Go Tell It On The Mountain” began as an African-American spiritual.  The song was sung by those who suffered in bondage under slavery and who longed for freedom – to live new.  Sung by those who found hope in the coming of Jesus for them and the gospel of our Savior.

The song was inspired by the Biblical narrative of the shepherds – who told those in Bethlehem what the angel said about Jesus and then went back to the fields praising and glorifying God – essentially proclaiming on the mountains and everywhere Who God is.  What God has done.  Which we – the singers of the song – are also encouraged to do.

While we’re singing – this is an opportunity for us to ask God to help us – in the new year to live testifying of Him and the new life He’s given us/you in Jesus – what it means to live life because of God and with God and for God. 

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Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.