Christmas Eve Service

Story: Have you ever embarrassed yourself because you didn’t know what you were doing???

First day at fair — Run over by pigs

“I know what I’m doing” — I DID NOT know what I was doing

Peru — Speaking Spanish “greetings”

“Hola, soy inepto. Necesito el bano.” (Hello, I am inept. I need the bathroom.)

Sometimes I think my life is a series of embarrassments due to not knowing what to do.

“I just smile, laugh and bumble my way through life.”

Sometimes...

We don’t know what we’re doing and we flail about anyway

We listen to the wrong voices and we make a mess of everything

Thankfully…

When we listen to God’s voice, He tells us how we can be “just right.”

(Even if His instructions don’t always make sense to us in the moment)

PRAY

Matthew 1:18–24 (NIV)

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. 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.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream

It’s ok that Joseph took some time to consider things.

He realized what was happening and paused to consider his next move.

I actually like this reaction…

Joseph was in a highly emotional moment and needed to make an important decision.

He was facing:

Doubts about the faithfulness of his fiancé

Worries about the reaction of his family and friends

Potential shame and damage to his reputation

Fears about what it would mean if Mary was telling the truth

That’s a lot to deal with and Joseph seems to recognize that he would make a better decision if he could pause, consider and think logically instead of emotionally

And it was in exactly that moment that God sent him a message…

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. 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.”

This was big news all by itself but even bigger was the next truth…

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Not only was Mary pregnant…

Not only was her baby conceived by the Holy Spirit…

Not only was the baby a son…

Not only was His name to be Jesus…

Not only would he {somehow} “save people from their sins”…

The baby would LITERALLY BE — GOD WITH US

Imagine all the implications of this…

Joseph would be raising the incarnation of God.

Joseph would be teaching the Son of God to walk.

Joseph would be protecting the Savior of the World from injury.

Joseph would be teaching Jesus Christ what the Bible said.

If I were Joseph, I might have needed another moment to consider some things at this point…

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

I love that it says… “When Joseph woke up, HE DID…”

NOT — “When Joseph woke up, HE CONSIDERED...”

NOT — “When Joseph woke up, HE THOUGHT ABOUT…”

NOT — “When Joseph woke up, HE PUT OFF…”

NOT — “When Joseph woke up, HE LOOKED FOR EXCUSES…”

NOT — “When Joseph woke up, HE WAS GRUMPY…”

It says — “When Joseph woke up, HE DID what he had been commanded to do.”

It is ok to consider things…as long as you realize that once God speaks, the time for considering your options is over.

Once God speaks, we obey His plan. Even if we don’t know or understand the whole plan.

Can I share something God has said to you???

I don’t know what burdens or worries you were carrying as you came here tonight but maybe, you’ve been carefully considering your options and now you’ve come to the moment that you’re ready to hear God tell you exactly how you can be made “just right.”

Ephesians 2:1-10 (The Message)

It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

It’s time to allow Jesus to make you “just right.”

You’ve been trying so many things to fix yourself — but just like we saw with Sneezy the Snowman — NOTHING IS WORKING.

INVITE CANDLE LIGHTERS TO BEGIN

As we end our time together…

We will hold lit candles (we have battery powered candles for our little ones)

We will pray

We will sing Silent Night together

As we have our candles lit, let me share one more thing God is saying to you tonight…

Ephesians 5:1–2,8-14 (NIV)

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

PRAY