a) Then the angel says this intriguing thing, "Here’s the sign, the tip-off, the dead giveaway; this will enable you to recognize the real deal when you get to him."

b) And if you’re a shepherd, you most likely expect that this sign is going to be pretty impressive. If this is a royal child, you’re expecting the angel to say that you’ll recognize the baby because you’ll find him wrapped in silk, lying in a golden crib, living in a fabulous palace because that’s how kings do it in this world.

c) But the angel doesn’t say anything like that. The angel says, "You’ll find this baby born in a barn, wrapped in rags, laid in a feed trough" (Luke 2:12).

2) The baby got laid in a manger, not a high-end crib. A manger is a feed trough. The fact that Jesus was born in a barn is not an accident. This is a sign. This is a dead giveaway that this Jesus is no ordinary king.

3) Here’s the clue: you can recognize him because he will show up in the messiest place you can imagine.

a) No power. No money. No fanfare. No applause. No newspapers. No headlines.

b) Born in a barn, wrapped up in rags, surrounded by animals, entrusted to this poverty-stricken young couple, wrapped in obscurity and poverty and humility– because this is Jesus’ signature.

4) Jesus’ humble birth is a sign that there is no place that he won’t go, no thing he won’t do, and no depths to which he will not descend in order to bring God’s power, presence, and love to anyone who will have him. Here is the good news of Christmas: Our God is not afraid of a mess! The reason this is good news to us is because we’re messy people – we live in a messy world. Every day it gets a little messier.

5) Newspapers tell us the world is a messy place. But, it is not just messy out there. We all contribute to the mess in our own little ways. It’s kind of a funny thing about us. You take the stuff we treasure in life the most– people that we love, families that we cherish– and they often get more messed up than anything else.

6) So the angel says, "Here’s the good news." Here is the good news of Christmas. Our God is not afraid of a mess. The God who was born in a stable and laid in a manger will come right into the middle of our lives, no matter how messed up they are, if we just ask him.

7) That is his signature, his sign; it is a dead giveaway that it’s Jesus.

a) Sometimes people think to themselves, "I’ve got to get my life cleaned up first. I’ve got a mess somewhere and I have to do some kind of moral improvement job first. Then I can come to God."

b) But God says, "No, it’s not that way at all."

c)If that’s your condition, you came to the right place. This is a room full of people who, apart from God, just keep messing stuff up. That’s what we do.

8) Here is the good news about Jesus. He really doesn’t care how messy your life is. It doesn’t scare him at all.

a) Because he started his life in a mess, dressed in rags, laid in a manger, and he ended his life in a mess wrapped in rags and hung on a cross.

b) Between the first day and the last day, he mostly just hung out with some pretty messed up people.

c) He kept loving them, embracing them, and teaching them about a better way.

9) That’s what he does. That’s his signature. The reason he went to the cross was that he was taking on the whole mess of this world– the mess that you and I can never straighten out. That’s what he took upon himself.

10) It makes God’s face beam when somebody just comes to him and says, "God, I know I’m messed up apart from you. Just come in and help me, would you?" There is a decision for you and me to make. I hope that today, whatever that decision looks like for you, you’ll make it.

11) The Shepherd’s decision: I am going to get serious about spiritual things.

a) Some of you may be in a seeking mode spiritually. You’re searching for God. I think that the decision God is inviting you to make is similar to what the shepherds faced.

b) When the angels came, the shepherds didn’t know Jesus at this point. Their decision was to say, "I’m going to take this seriously and I’m going to check this out."

c) For some of you, that decision is going to change your life-- to say, "I’m going to get serious about spiritual things."

12) A Mary and Joseph Decision: I’m going to get committed to God’s family.

a) For others, maybe you made a commitment in your spiritual life some place but you’ve been in kind of drift mode. Maybe your decision is a Mary and Joseph decision.

b) When they knelt by that manger and they said, "You know what– from this day forward we’re committed to this child, to this Jesus. We’re part of his family."

c) And for some of you the decision maybe is to say, "I’ll honor that commitment that I’ve made. I want to get serious about growing spiritually."

13) A Manger Decision: I’m going to be available for God to use me.

a) For some who’ve been walking closely with God for a long time, your decision is the manger decision.

b) "God I know you love to surprise people. I would love for you to surprise me. I’m wide open. But I want to surrender for you to use me to surprise others with your love. I’m available. If there’s some mess or some place that you could use me, you say the word. I would love to be used."

14) I don’t know what last year was like for you. I believe this to the core of my being: this next year could be the greatest year with God you’ve ever had. You’re invited to start right now, right this second.

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