Level Up
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Intro
When growing up, and as I began to understand more about how God created each of us for a specific role and purpose, I began to be afraid.
I began to fear
What would bizarre things would God ask me to do?
How much my life would I have to change?
How different will I have to be when compared to everyone?
How much fun was God going to take away?
How much suffering would be involved?
I was afraid God would turn my life upside down and I would be the most miserable of people
I was afraid that God would ruin my life
That’s why some people who do believe in God and do believe that God sent Jesus, don’t accept Christ as Lord and Savior . . . because they are afraid of what God will have them doing
Some of you have felt, or are feeling the same way
I have been called to remove the fear
And since is the season where we celebrate the coming of Christ, let’s look at the story of Joseph, the step-father of Jesus
and in the story of Joseph we will see a set up, level up, follow up, finish up
INTRO 2
Let me ask the men, “if the situation arose for some reason, and it was up to you to pick the step-father of your young son, what type of man would you pick to raise your child?
God was in the same kind of situation - Who would be given the role of stepfather, adopted father for His son Jesus?
God chose a man named Joseph, and there’s much we can learn from God’s choice.
and we will see a set up, a level up, a follow up, and a finish up
First, we have . . .
The Set Up
The Set Up
Our God sets everything up, he plans in advance
in fact, then end of history is already written down in the book of Revelation
we learned just a few weeks ago from Ephesians 2 that God prepares everything for our lives beforehand
God puts everything needed in place
There is a set up
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
the first chapter of Matthew traces Joseph’s lineage all the way from Abraham, down to King David, and finally to him . . . Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father of Jacob, Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers . . . .
And this verse is the last part of tracing that lineage all the way down to Joseph (note: different Jacob than the famous one)
The Messiah had to be a descendant of Abraham, and and a descendant from King David’s branch of the family tree.
And this verse is showing that even through his step-father Joseph, Jesus is a that descendant. . . there’s always the set up
Another part of the set up is the fact that David’s family comes from Bethlehem, so when Caesar tells everyone to go to their hometown to pay their taxes . . . Joseph has to take his pregnant wife Mary to Bethlehem with him . . . and this allows the prophecy to be fulfilled that the savior would be indeed born in Bethlehem
God set it up
The set up - you have a set up in your life
I don’t care how you got here, God set it all up for his purposes and plans
your family tree, your race, your gender, background, your talents, your abilities
God set it all up so that you could do what he made you to do
Yet we often use the set up as an excuse why we CAN’T succeed in life
some people don’t like their family
some people don’t like their race
some people don’t like their gender
some people don’t like their background
some people don’t think they have enough talents and abilities
But understand and trust that God knew what he was doing when he set it up . . .
Things are set up so that God can use you to be an important part of His plans
The Level Up
The Level Up
This part . . . the fear creeps in
God is going to change everything/rearrange everything in my life
God is going to take my life from level three difficulty to level 99 difficulty
I’m going to go from normal to crazy
from happy to sad
care free to burdened down
let’s continue Joseph’s story and look at his level up
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Mary and Joseph were engaged. In this culture, an engagement was just about equal to being married . . . In fact if you wanted to break the engagement, you had to get a divorce.
By studying the gospel of Luke, we know that Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she would become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit and have a child.
The angel also told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth, who had never had a child, and was way past her child bearing years, was already pregnant, by her husband Zacharias . So Mary hurries away to see the miracle of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, and she stays with Elizabeth for three months to Elizabeth’s baby is born
And when Mary returns home, SHE is about three months pregnant and that means she is about to start showing . . . and she tells her husband (we would say fiance) . . . I am pregnant . . .by the power of God
that leads us to verse 19
Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
Joseph knows that the baby is not his. If he went to paternity court, he could testify that most he had ever done is hold her hand (and maybe not even that in the culture they lived in) . . . and he definitely does not believe that Mary is pregnant by a miracle of God
So Joseph is not having it, but Joseph was a good man/kind man . . . and though he believed he had been betrayed, he decided that we would not disgrace or shame her publicly (could lead to her death) . . . just divorce her quietly and move on with his life
But a level up is coming
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
But in a dream an angel told Joseph that Mary was indeed telling the truth . . . the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit
And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Angel gave Joseph some instructions . . . this child will be a boy, and you are to name the child Jesus (meaning salvation) . . . for he shall save his people from their sins
All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ ”
God was coming to live and walk among his creation, Immanuel . . . God with us . . . All of this was a part of God’s plan to send a savior . . . so this level up in Joseph’s life was a part of this grand and eternal plan
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.
But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
When Joseph woke up, he obeyed the Lord
Joseph did not divorce her, but married her (had the ceremony) . . .
and Joseph did not sexual relations with his wife until sometime after Jesus was born.
And Joseph named him Jesus
Let’s examine this “leveling up”
If I were God, and were going to give you the honor and responsibility of raising my son . . .
the King of Kings
the Lord of the Lords
the Christ
the Messiah
the Hope of Israel
the promised seed of Abraham
the savior of the world
If I am going to let you be a first person witness to an amazing miracle that had never been done before nor will ever be done again . . . a virgin conceiving a child . . .
You are going to have to REALLY level up: you are going to have to swim across the sea . . . or climb the highest mountain . . . or walk through fire . . . recite the entire Old Testament word for word . . . pray for 40 days straight while laying prostrate before the temple walls
But what type of level up did God requireJoseph to do?
Before God revealed the plan to Joseph, Joseph was
Planning on getting married to Mary
Planning on being a father to children
After God revealed the plan
still got married to Mary
the level up: probably had to deal with people scandalizing their names, people counting months
still became a father to children
level up: it now included an adopted child who would never disobey
another level up - he had to wait longer to consumate marriage
another level up - did not get to pick his child’s name
These are worthy changes, but not life shattering
The changes God wants to make in your life, so that you can fulfill your role are real, but not life shattering
The level up will be within the framework of the talents he has given you
The level up is going to fit your personality, passion, leanings, talents, background
if God has given you height, hand-eye coordination, speed, quickness, skills, abilities, and love for the game of basketball . . . he is not going to change it up and tell you to be an architect . . . remember things are already set up
Leveling up means that God is just going to finish building on the foundation he already set up in you and for you
When it comes to leveling up, it just takes some faith and some adjustments
God used Joseph in his plan for eternal salvation, and Joseph just had to level up by making a few adjustments!
God takes our little and turns it into a lot!
God takes our small change up, and uses it to change everything
God uses our seed, and multiplies it into a harvest
Another example of leveling up in the Bible . . . a person making adjustments for God that were already in their lane
Before God called him, Abraham (the Father of Faith) was traveling with his father and his wife and his nephew, with the intent of going to Canaan but they stopped short and settled in Haran
One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there.
headed to Canaan but stopped in Haran
time passed and Abram’s father Terah died, and Abram was settled comfortably in Haran.
But God stepped in and directed Abram to level up
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.
what land did God lead him to?
He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan,
Canaan - still going to Canaan, but now by faith and with purpose
Abram had to level up, but it was right in his lane
don’t be scare . . . level up!
The Follow Up
The Follow Up
life doesn’t stop at the level up . . . you have to walk it out . . . and there will be
highs and lows
good times and challenges
and there will be just plain old regular days
there will be other related level ups
but when you allow God to level up to follow Him . . . you go through with the assurance
that you have help
that you will overcome
that you will win
that it will work for your good
that your needs will be supplied
that there is purpose and importance and significance in your life
Just in the follow up of Christmas story there were highs and lows, good times and challenges, and plain old regular days for Joseph
regular days - living in a house by the time the wisemen reached them
highs - being witness to the birth of the Savior, hearing the shepherds amazing testimony about the angels. . . getting expensive gifts from the wisemen
challenges - the night Jesus was born and having no room in the inn, having to flee to Egypt to escape King Herod
But in the follow up, God was with them all the way
couldn’t find room in the inn but did find a space
a space that made it easy for the shepherds to find them
they only stayed in that space a short time
God gave them a warning so that they could escape King Herod
Those expensive gifts from the wisemen probably helped pay for their trip and stay in Egypt
after you level up, there will be a follow up, but God is faithful in the follow up
through the highs, lows, and plain old regular days
Finish up
Finish up
There is a conclusion
Getting the job done
Joseph’s job was to be the step-father of Jesus:
protect and provide for Mary and Jesus.
Get Jesus where he needed to be
Bethlehem - prophecy
Egypt - prophecy
Nazareth - prophecy
When speaking of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus . . . .
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.
“Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”
So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.
But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee.
So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
And in this small insignificant town, Jesus was raised away from prying eyes until it was time to begin his ministry.
Joseph got the job done
set up, LEVEL UP, follow up, finish up
set up, LEVEL UP, follow up, finish up
and Jesus has a set up, level up, follow up, and finish up
set up - whole Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi (all the people, all the stories, all the prophecies pointing to his coming
level up -
coming from heaven’s glory to earth was a big things, but He didn’t change who he was, He came to earth and adjusted how he revealed himself to us
follow up - walked it out and dealt with highs and lows, good times and challenges, and just plain old regular days
highs of the miracles
lows of being talked about
regular days of going off to rest
dealt with the challenge of going to the cross
Finish up - he rose again! and part 2 he is coming back again!!!
The call this morning is for Christians, WMBC members to listen for God’s voice, be obedient to God’s direction and level up . . . . just do it . . . there will be adjustments, but it’s not going to tear your life apart . . . . fear not . . . it will be in your lane
Unsaved people
level up and accept Jesus as your as Lord and Savior . . . what are you waiting on?
Accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior is not going to stop you from being you, it will help you be the you God truly made you and set you up to be . . . it will bring fulfillment, purpose, direction, assurance . . . level up