Christmas Sermon Notes - Dec. 19, 2010
Here are my notes from the sermon I was blessed with sharing last weekend.
I hope you enjoy and are blessed!
Merry Christmas and God Bless!
Most of us tend to think of this as a time to celebrate with friends and family, and many of us tend to get wrapped up in all the different aspects of the holiday. Family gatherings, giving and receiving of gifts, singing Christmas carols, and some extra time off work. While these things are great, we should take some time and reflect on the first Christmas.
Let’s start our reading in Matthew 1:18
“18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
Imagine being in Joseph’s shoes. He is engaged to a beautiful woman and finds out she is pregnant and he knows he is not the father. Now his fiancé claims that she was visited by an angel and the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She is adamant that this is the truth, and Joseph is considering what any reasonable man would do. He was ready to call off the wedding. Do you blame him? I don’t.
Joseph’s world has just been turned upside down. He had his life planned out and this latest turn of events were not part of it. Verse 19 tells us that Joseph was faithful to the law, in other words He loved and honored God. Due to that love for God, Joseph put God first in his life.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
We have already touched on how Joseph was a Godly man and Loved God. In the verses we just read we can see how that love is expressed. Simply put Joseph showed his love for God by obeying what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do. Even though Joseph did not understand what was going on, or why he was chosen for this, he showed his love by obeying.
John 14:15 states “If you love Me, you will obey what I command”
Joseph did exactly what he was commanded to do by God!
Have you ever wondered why God was doing something in your life? Have you struggled with following where God was leading even though you did not understand why?
I can tell you I have had that feeling a couple of times this year. The year started off great, in January I was called to be the Senior Pastor of a church not far from our house in Michigan. I was almost done with my Masters degree, I felt God brought me to that point for a reason. It was times like this, that it was easy to obey God.
Things began to change, in February I found out I had a brain tumor and needed to have surgery. I questioned why this was happening, but out of my love for God I continued to follow where He lead. In May I had surgery to remove the tumor and returned to Pastoring in June, only to find out that I did not have the energy to work and pastor at the same time. I did not understand what was happening but felt God leading me to step down from the church. The one thing I had been dreaming about for years, God was calling me away from. I did not understand, but out of my love for God I continued to obey. A few short months later, God opened a door for to transfer to Spencer. Still not knowing why God would take us away from our first house, we loved Him and obeyed.
It is never easy to obey when you don’t understand something, but that is exactly what God wants you to do. He wants you to focus on the Love He has for you and you have for Him. If you Love God it is easy to trust Him and obey Him. We need to trust and obey God, after all He is the one in control.
Psalms 119:60 tells us “I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.”
If we look back at Matthew 1:24 “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.”
Joseph did not delay! He did not think about it for a few days, weeks, or months. He did not say, maybe I should plan on doing something about this next year. It would have been real easy for him to say, I will wait until after the baby is born then take her as my wife. I am sure to some of us this would seem very reasonable. No, Joseph did none of these things. He immediately did exactly what he was commanded to do by God. He did not wait, he did not contemplate, he obeyed.
Have you ever felt God leading you to do something, share the gospel with someone, give to a charity, to be a shoulder to cry on, volunteer at church, on countless other things? Did you act immediately or did you take time to think about it? Did you worry about if it was right, safe, or if you were prepared for it? I am sure Joseph had those some thoughts and concerns, but he did not let them get in the way. What God wants from us, is exactly what Joseph did. God wants us to act immediately on the Love, he wants us to trust Him, and obey Him.
God wants us to not hesitate, if He is calling you to do something, you need to just do it and leave all the concerns up to Him.
So as we go through this Christmas season, I want to encourage each of us to listen to God. Spend time talking to Him and see if He is calling you to do something. Once you hear God, do not hesitate, do not be afraid, trust that He is in control, trust that He will take care of everything, and ultimately obey Him and act. Obey God and do exactly what He is telling you to do. Doing so is the ultimate expression of our Love for God.
God Loves us so much that He sent His only son to us, we need to show our love by obeying Him.
I hope you enjoy and are blessed!
Merry Christmas and God Bless!
Most of us tend to think of this as a time to celebrate with friends and family, and many of us tend to get wrapped up in all the different aspects of the holiday. Family gatherings, giving and receiving of gifts, singing Christmas carols, and some extra time off work. While these things are great, we should take some time and reflect on the first Christmas.
Let’s start our reading in Matthew 1:18
“18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
Imagine being in Joseph’s shoes. He is engaged to a beautiful woman and finds out she is pregnant and he knows he is not the father. Now his fiancé claims that she was visited by an angel and the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She is adamant that this is the truth, and Joseph is considering what any reasonable man would do. He was ready to call off the wedding. Do you blame him? I don’t.
Joseph’s world has just been turned upside down. He had his life planned out and this latest turn of events were not part of it. Verse 19 tells us that Joseph was faithful to the law, in other words He loved and honored God. Due to that love for God, Joseph put God first in his life.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
We have already touched on how Joseph was a Godly man and Loved God. In the verses we just read we can see how that love is expressed. Simply put Joseph showed his love for God by obeying what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do. Even though Joseph did not understand what was going on, or why he was chosen for this, he showed his love by obeying.
John 14:15 states “If you love Me, you will obey what I command”
Joseph did exactly what he was commanded to do by God!
Have you ever wondered why God was doing something in your life? Have you struggled with following where God was leading even though you did not understand why?
I can tell you I have had that feeling a couple of times this year. The year started off great, in January I was called to be the Senior Pastor of a church not far from our house in Michigan. I was almost done with my Masters degree, I felt God brought me to that point for a reason. It was times like this, that it was easy to obey God.
Things began to change, in February I found out I had a brain tumor and needed to have surgery. I questioned why this was happening, but out of my love for God I continued to follow where He lead. In May I had surgery to remove the tumor and returned to Pastoring in June, only to find out that I did not have the energy to work and pastor at the same time. I did not understand what was happening but felt God leading me to step down from the church. The one thing I had been dreaming about for years, God was calling me away from. I did not understand, but out of my love for God I continued to obey. A few short months later, God opened a door for to transfer to Spencer. Still not knowing why God would take us away from our first house, we loved Him and obeyed.
It is never easy to obey when you don’t understand something, but that is exactly what God wants you to do. He wants you to focus on the Love He has for you and you have for Him. If you Love God it is easy to trust Him and obey Him. We need to trust and obey God, after all He is the one in control.
Psalms 119:60 tells us “I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.”
If we look back at Matthew 1:24 “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.”
Joseph did not delay! He did not think about it for a few days, weeks, or months. He did not say, maybe I should plan on doing something about this next year. It would have been real easy for him to say, I will wait until after the baby is born then take her as my wife. I am sure to some of us this would seem very reasonable. No, Joseph did none of these things. He immediately did exactly what he was commanded to do by God. He did not wait, he did not contemplate, he obeyed.
Have you ever felt God leading you to do something, share the gospel with someone, give to a charity, to be a shoulder to cry on, volunteer at church, on countless other things? Did you act immediately or did you take time to think about it? Did you worry about if it was right, safe, or if you were prepared for it? I am sure Joseph had those some thoughts and concerns, but he did not let them get in the way. What God wants from us, is exactly what Joseph did. God wants us to act immediately on the Love, he wants us to trust Him, and obey Him.
God wants us to not hesitate, if He is calling you to do something, you need to just do it and leave all the concerns up to Him.
So as we go through this Christmas season, I want to encourage each of us to listen to God. Spend time talking to Him and see if He is calling you to do something. Once you hear God, do not hesitate, do not be afraid, trust that He is in control, trust that He will take care of everything, and ultimately obey Him and act. Obey God and do exactly what He is telling you to do. Doing so is the ultimate expression of our Love for God.
God Loves us so much that He sent His only son to us, we need to show our love by obeying Him.
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