Joe the Father of Jesus

In: 1. Some people are spectacular

a. They are talented at everything, athletic, attractive

2. Most people are average

a. A number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data

b. The average American is a white female, 32 years old, named Jessica (1989). She lives in California and is married. She’s a five-foot, four-inch brunette, and the mother of a two-year-old boy.

-She probably has an associate’s degree and works in the healthcare industry.

-Jessica drives a 12-year-old Toyota Camry, 32 miles a day, which means she spends almost one hour every day commuting between work and home

-Jessica spends nearly three hours per day watching television and over three hours per day on her smartphone, checking it 58 times every day.

-She eats around 5.5 pounds of food and drinks two beers a day.

-Financially, she earns $47,000 a year, owes debts totaling $87,000, and has a net worth of about $8,000.

-Jessica is not discouraged. Jessica still believes in the American dream, and that she can attain it, despite the rising costs of health insurance and childcare. She believes that if she works hard, she’ll succeed in life and move up the economic ladder to enjoy a standard of living as good as or better than her parents

3. The Bible is full of Average Joe’s

a. People who struggled with relationships, priorities, children, parents, purity, honesty, self-control and trusting God

b. But you and I are here today, in this service, because of these Average Joe’s

4. Most of the time we take them for granted

a. We hate reading 1 Chronicles 1-10, Matthew 1, Luke 3- The “Begats”

b. But it should remind us that God know every one of us by name

c. We are all important

d. We are all part of the story

5. What can we learn from these Average Joe’s?

6. Joe- the supposed father of Jesus

a. Really not many verses about him in the Bible

1) We hear a bunch about Mary, but Joseph is only mentioned 14 times, and we never hear him speak. Yet Joseph was probably closer to Jesus and more influential than any other man

a) Matthew the birth story from Joseph’s perspective (even though it never calls Joseph the father of Jesus)

b) Luke tells the birth story from Mary’s perspective

2) Most people assume he died sometime after Jesus turned 12 and before the beginning of his ministry

3) Carpenter can indicate any kind of craftsman working with wood, stone, or metal. Could make anything from pottery to metal to stone lamps

b. What do we know about him?

1) He didn’t want to hurt Mary and was going to divorce her in private to not embarrass her

2) God spoke to him a couple times through dreams and he immediately obeyed

a) Told him Mary was telling the truth

b) Go to Egypt and when to return to Israel

3) They were a poor family- 2 turtledoves for their sacrifice

4) He was the one God picked to raise His Son

7. Our world today is all about trying to get noticed, being an influencer, letting people know what we are up to on social media, how many people like us, follow us, friend us

a. We make too many decisions based on what’s in it for us

b. We assume the story is about us

8. But Christianity is about dying to ourselves, carrying a cross, walking the same path Jesus walked

a. Christianity is a living martyrdom. We die to ourselves everyday, living sacrifice

b. Philippians 2:3-5 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition, each of us should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than ourselves. 4 We should be concerned not only about our own interests, but about the interests of others as well. 5 We should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had (When He left heaven to humble himself as a man and serve us)

9. In a world of extra, God uses the ordinary

10. Like Joe, are we willing to be a part of the story even when we aren’t the main focus?

I. LEGACY- We didn’t get here by ourselves

A. We are standing on the shoulders of others

1. Moses had Aaron and Hur (Only time Hur is mentioned- dad Caleb, grandson Bezelel)

2. Jonathan had an armor bearer (don’t even know his name)

3. David had Jonathan

4. Elijah had Elisha

5. Daniel had Shadrach, Meshack, Abednego and that’s not even their real names, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael

6. We know Peter, James, John but what about the other 7 disciples

a. Matthias (Justus who didn’t win, Others we don’t even know their names)

7. Paul had a Barnabas, they both had Silas and Mark

8. People like Wilson & Hazel Cooper, mom and dad paved the way for me to Jesus

9. Robert Polvado, Bruce McCarty, Jim McNabb- opened doors for me in ministry

B. Pioneers blazed the trail for others to follow

1. Meriweather Lewis and William Clark followed the Missouri River to the West Coast

a. They never would have made it through the Rocky mountains without the Shoshone Indians showing them the way

b. Hebrews 12:10 Author of our faith, Hebrews 2:10 Pioneer of our salvation

2. In World War II, the U.S. Air Force took their very best pilots from the front lines and sent them home to train new pilots. Over time this strategy dramatically improved the quality and effectiveness of the U.S. Air Force. The Germans lost their air superiority because they flew all their aces until they were shot down; none of them trained new recruits. By 1944 the Allied pilots had two times the amount of training hours the new German pilots had clocked

3. Who are those silent people in the background that helped you get where you are today?

a. When was the last time you thanked them? Gave them credit?

b. We can’t get too big for our britches and think we are self-made

c. We are all standing on the shoulders of others who went before us

d. This church- Bill ? Dillard, Cal Joyce Ainsworth, Jim Vermell Reddick, Earl Martha Tiffany, Mel Masengale, Jack Nelson? Yarborough, Charlie Janet Sowle, Jerry Nancy McNeil

* We didn’t get here by ourselves

II. CONTINUITY- We find our greatest fulfillment in life helping others be fulfilled

A. Pour into others

1. Fathers are the foundation of our society- protectors, providers

a. Regardless of what our father was like, we want them to be proud of us

b. Acceptance helps with Confidence

2. God the father told Jesus he was proud of Him

a. At the beginning of His ministry (baptism- My beloved Son)

b. At the beginning of the week of passion John 12:28

3. The Fathers approval, backing, love, foundation gives us the confidence to fight our battles

B. One of the best ways to win the day is to make someone’s day

1. Who are we pouring into?

2. Encourage- to put courage into

3. How are we trying to duplicate ourselves- keep the line going

4. Who do you take with you? Bring to church? Answer their tough questions?

a. Chad/Jennifer King, Josh/Holly Jackson,

* Are we finding fulfillment in helping others be fulfilled

III. HUMILITY- Are we ok with not being the star?

A. Working behind the scenes

1. God sees and rewards our work done in secret

a. Matthew 6:1-4 Don’t work for rewards here. The Father sees what is done in secret and will reward us (Get our pat on the back now or later in heaven)

b. Matthew 20:16 The first will be last, the last will be first

c. Luke 14:8-10 If you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t always head for the best seat. What if someone more respected than you has also been invited? The host will say, ‘Let this person sit here instead.’ Then you will be embarrassed and will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table. Do this instead––sit at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place than this for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests

d. The way up is down- the servant is the leader

2. Jesus was the star- Joseph helped Him reach His potential

a. Jesus learned how to serve from Joseph, how to treat people

3. A young boy, who’s dad was a watchmaker, was watching his dad restore an old watch. One day while watching him labor over an expensive watch he said, “there’s no way you can charge the customer for the amount of time you’re investing in restoring that piece. Why do you keep doing this?” I’ll never forget his answer: “I’m not making money. I’m making clocks.” There is no substitute for taking the time to do something right. That is discipleship. It is time-consuming, tedious and can be frustrating. But we need to remember that as a church, we are not making crowds or making money. We’re making disciples

B. Promoting others

1. This service- Jordan unlocks, media setup, first impressions- greeters, coffee, teachers studied, worship team since 7:30am

2. Could we as humble leaders live a life that promotes others? That’s what Joseph did

a. That’s the essence of being a leader like Joseph (dad or mom) we suffer to help push our families forward

b. Every parent in this room wants their kids to outdo them

c. Proud youth pastor- Adam Starling- Justin Graves- Mel Masengale- Blake Edgmon, Jeremy Wyckoff, Aaron Krista Bruton- around the world

d. Over 60 students from this church in vocational ministry this morning

3. Respect single moms who work hard to push their kids forward

a. Deborah (Bee, Mother of Israel) (Judges 5:7 Deborah arose as a mother to Israel)

b. Barak gets a bad rap- chicken, afraid

1) He led 10,000 men, He’s in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11

c. Could it be that he wanted to promote Deborah? other women (Jael)?

* Are we ok with not getting all the attention

Cn: 1. In a world of extra, God uses the ordinary

2. the University of Chicago has produced ninety-eight Nobel laureates, but none of them have probably left as big an imprint on that university as its football coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg. Stagg coached the original Monsters of the Midway for four decades, winning two national titles in 1905 and 1913. After one of his winning seasons, a beat reporter congratulated the coach on a job well done. Instead of passively receiving that compliment, Stagg told that young reporter, “I won’t know how good a job I did for twenty years. That’s when I’ll see how my boys turned out.” Stagg was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. But it gets even better. Stagg was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame also. In fact, Amos Alonzo Stagg coached football, basketball, and baseball at the University of Chicago. He actually turned down six offers to play professional baseball, because he wanted to invest in future major leaguers. He did this with another one of his inventions—the batting cage. Some of his other brainchildren include the huddle, the onside kick, the T-formation, and the forward pass.

3. Who helped you get here?

4. Who are you passing it on to?

5. Who are you promoting, encouraging?

6. It’s not about us- it’s about them

Al: 1. Jesus paved the way for you to be saved, will you accept it?

2. Will you lead the way, be an example, invest in others?

a. Better example

b. Invest in others

c. Might want to grab one of your children by the hand and come pray