Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good evening. Merry Christmas.  I'd like to talk with you for a few moments tonight about the topic, "The Hidden Message of the Christmas Angels."

I wonder if you have a favorite childhood Christmas memory. I have one that I love, and I'd like to share it with you this evening. When I was a little boy growing up in my very Polish home, we had certain customs that we followed. On Christmas Eve, it was always the job of the smallest child in the family to sit at the window, to look into the night sky, to find the first star. That was the signal for the evening meal to begin. And so, I took my place and sat at the window and watched, and watched, and watched for the star to come out – old Polish custom. It's occurred to me that it may have been invented to keep the littlest one out of trouble; could that be? I don't know, but it was an important job, and I took it seriously.

I saw that first star, and I told my mother that it was time to begin. We all sat down at the table. There is a special ceremony where we break bread and share it with each other and wish each other health and happiness until we break bread again next year. We enjoyed our meal together.

And then, it was getting late. It was time for me to be on a certain mission. You see, as a little kid, I wanted to catch Santa Claus. I wanted to catch him when he came into my house and brought all those presents. I was determined to stay up – every year I would do this. I'd stay up as long as I could until I just couldn't stay awake, and then I'd think I'd lie down for just a few minutes and then I'd hear Santa and I'd wake up.

Well, I guess you know what happened. The next thing I knew, it was Christmas morning. I opened my eyes, and the sun blazed awake, and the sky was a crystal, icy, December blue. I thought to myself, I wonder if he's been here. The night before, as I did every year, I took a sock and   hung it up on the door to the living room. Now most of you are probably too young to remember this, but back in those days we didn't have the elaborate red socks with the brocade and all – we had a sock which we hung up with a red thumbtack.

It was Christmas morning. I jumped out of bed. I ran down to the living room, and I looked at the door. And there it was, just like every year. That sock that had been hanging there so sadly the night before was now filled with things, overflowing onto the floor. And I looked into the living room, and there in all its splendor was the Christmas tree, bright lights shining with magical colors, and at the foot of the tree, presents everywhere. There was one big box, all wrapped up in midnight blue paper with holly leaves, and I wondered, "Who's it for?"

I walked over and looked at the label. I was so young at the time I probably needed some help. But they assured me it said "to Anthony". I said, "For me?" And they said, "Yes, for you."

Have you ever been given a present, friend, and taken it in your hand and in surprise said, "For me?" "Yes, for you." Or perhaps you've looked at a present under the tree, all pretty wrapped up, and you wonder who it's for, and you look at the tag, and there is your name.

Friend, in the Christmas gospel, we hear about some shepherds who were doing a very ordinary job keeping watch over their flocks. And in the midst of this remarkable night, they had a vision of heavenly beings. Oh, we can only imagine what they must have been like. We symbolize them with wings. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy."

The message I'd like you to take home with you tonight is just in two little words, two words that are so tiny you could miss them in this evening's gospel. But the words are these: "For unto you is born this night in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord." That's what the shepherds heard – not unto them, not unto somebody else, not unto this group of people or that group of people – unto you. Check it out! The Bible says so. It is something to be taken very personally. Unto you.

My simple prayer this night is that you would take these two words from the Bible home with you. We run with the shepherds, and we go and find the stable place. We open the door, and it's just as the angels said. Beautiful young Mary, protective Joseph, and a baby, a tiny little baby in the straw. We draw near. He's so beautiful. We look at Mary. We look to the baby, and we notice something unusual about the manger. From the manger there hangs a tag. A tag? We look at it, and we read it. It says, "To…Joe. To Joan. To Kathy. To Chris." Whatever your name may be, it says "To you. From your heavenly Father, God Almighty. Merry Christmas."

For you? This little one? Mary says to you, "Would you like to hold the baby?" Amazing. But if we do, it means we accept the gift. A gift isn't complete until you accept it. But we do. We go down, we pick up the little bundle, and we hold Him. And, as the choir sang tonight, this little bundle we're holding is the great "I Am." One that was there at the beginning of creation, the beloved One of God.

For me? For me? Yes. He's mine, and I am His, forever. He's yours, and you are His, forever. We must give Him back to her, and so we do, but His light is always in your heart. For you.

What does it mean when you say yes to this gift? It means many things. Come back through the year and I'll tell you a bunch of them, all right? But for tonight, just remember this: it means that you are part of the inner circle of God's family when you say yes to this gift. When you drive past a church, you get to say, "I'm part of that." When you hear a Christian song on the radio, you get to say, "I'm part of that circle." When you see a Christmas card with a picture of the Holy Family on it, you say, "I'm part of that fellowship." When you light a candle tonight and hold it, know that you are part of the circle of light.

It's a remarkable experience; it's a way of life that begins when you say yes to the gift of the Christ Child. Friend, if you have never said yes to that gift, tonight's the night. Tonight's the night to say yes to Jesus Christ. Become part of that inner circle of God's family of love. All you have to do in the privacy of your own prayer life is to pray that prayer. Say, "Lord Jesus, I accept that You are come to earth for me. I accept You. I'm Yours forever, and You're mine forever." It will give you purpose. It will mean you'll get to live with Jesus forever. If you find a better deal, take it! I've never found a better deal than that. May it be so for you.

This Christmas, when you look under the tree, and there's a package there, and it has your name on it, won't you think of this Bible verse? For me? Yes. "Unto you is born a savior, Christ the Lord," because God loves you. I do, too.

Merry Christmas. Amen.