Sermon Tone Analysis

God Is Here

Matthew 1:18-25

Shaun LePage, December 18, 2005

 

I.

Introduction

A.   Children’s Sermon:

1.     Invite children to come up front.

2.     Ask several children: “What’s your name?”

3.     Then ask, “Does anyone know what a ‘nickname’ is?” “Does anyone have a nickname?”

[Note: a “nickname” isn’t your real name, but a name that describes who you are.]

4.     Well, I want to read a few verses from the Bible about a little baby.

You listen closely, then tell me that baby’s name and nickname.

Don’t shout out the answers—raise your hand and I’ll try to pick the first two to raise their hands.

5.     Read Matthew 1:18-25.

Name: Jesus.

Nickname: Immanuel.

6.     Do you know what the name “Jesus” means?

It means “God is salvation.”

In other words, God saves us.

So, the angel told Joseph to name this special baby “Jesus” because He is the Savior.

The One—the only One—who can save us from our sins.

Have any of you memorized John 3:16?

7.     Do you know what the nickname “Immanuel” means?

“God with us.”

In other words, God didn’t just send us a Savior.

God is our Savior.

Jesus is God.

God Himself somehow squeezed down into the body of a little baby and came to be “with us.”

Do you understand all that?

Know what?

I don’t understand it all either.

But I do know that’s what the Bible says.

8.     At the end of his life on earth, Jesus “ascended” into heaven.

He literally flew up into the sky and disappeared.

Does that mean Jesus is not “with us” anymore?

No. Before He left, Jesus promised He would be with us always.

He’s with you when you’re in your bed and it’s dark.

He’s with you when your parents aren’t around.

He’s with you—and me—right now.

9.     When we needed God the most, He came as a perfect little baby in Bethlehem.

And any time you need Him right now, He’s always right here with you.

You can’t see Him, but He promised He would never leave you.

10.      Let’s pray and thank God for being with us.

B.   Robert J. Morgan tells the story about a young boy named Doug who was looking at a full moon with his mother.

He asked, “Mom, is God in the moon?”

She explained that God is everywhere.

“Is he in my tummy?”

Doug wanted to know.

“Well, sort of,” his mother responded, not sure where these questions were leading.

Then Doug declared, “God wants a banana.”

(/Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations and Quotes/, p.381)

C.   Several years ago, singer Joan Osborne came out with a strange song that got a lot of attention.

It was called, “What if God was one of us?”

1.

I won’t sing it, but let me read some of the lyrics: “/If God had a name what would it be?

And would you call it to his face?

If you were faced with Him in all His glory What would you ask if you had just one question?

And yeah, yeah, God is great, Yeah, yeah, God is good, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah.

What if God was one of us?

Just a slob like one of us?

Just a stranger on the bus?

Tryin’ to make his way home?

If God had a face what would it look like?

And would you want to see if, seeing meant That you would have to believe in things like heaven And in Jesus and the saints, and all the prophets?

What if God was one of us?/”

2.     Osborne’s questions may seem offensive—in a way—to our Christian ears, but as I reread them, I realized these are legitimate.

These are the questions of the people around us: Does God have name?

Does God have a face?

If you saw His face, would you believe?

3.     As I study the book of Matthew, I realize these are the questions Matthew is answering.

Worded differently.

Maybe a little more sophisticated, but the same questions.

Matthew’s answers are: Yes, God does have a name.

Yes, God does have a face.

And, Matthew reports an astonishing fact of history: God was one of us.

Oh, He’s completely different than every other “slob” (as Osborne put it), but He chose to become one of us.

That’s the point of Matthew 1.

4.     As we ask God to use us to introduce people to Christ and reintroduce others to the Christ of Scripture, we need to remember the shocking claim of our faith: God became a man.

His name is Jesus—the God-man.

His face is the face of the Child in Bethlehem.

The angry Rabbi turning over money tables in the temple courts.

The amazing Teacher who taught multitudes in Galilee.

The Suffering Servant hanging on the cross.

The Risen Lord receiving the worship of His followers.

The face of God is the Jesus of Scripture.

II.

Body—Matthew 1:18-25 gives us a more complete picture of the identity of Jesus.

A.   “*Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.*”[1]

B.   18: “*Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.*”

1.     Matthew is now explaining the vague comment in v.16 where he told us, “*Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah*.”

On the surface, Matthew seems to be saying, “Jesus was illegitimate.”

But in this passage, he’s saying, “No, His birth was not out of wedlock, His birth was out of this world.”

2.     “*Before they came together*” is another way of saying, “Before Mary and Joseph had sexual intercourse.”

Before they did that which results in babies, Mary was having a baby!

a)     Don’t read the last phrase of this verse too quickly.

Mary was “*with child by the Holy Spirit*.”