The Christmas Story
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As we look at the Christmas Story it has been good my family has been going through a study on the Bible App that has looked at the many different parts of the Christmas Story
The Greatest news the world has ever heard
This morning we will do just that look at the greatest story about the greatest news ever heard
The most exciting news and life changing news that you have every heard
It is probably a story you have heard your entire life
The birth of Jesus
The Coming of the savior
See Mary and Joseph were engaged to be married
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
Mary and Joseph were engaged to married
And unlike other engagements right in the middle an Angel visits Mary
This is a normal engagement up to this point and right in the midst of it an angel visits Mary and then we will see and angel visit Joseph
The Angel visits Mary
28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. 36 “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
As Mary is quietly being engaged and like normal engagements
Maybe she is helping to plan the wedding or she is preparing to be a wife and life with Joseph
In the midst of all that the Angel of the Lord appears to her
When an angel appears from the Lord to someone it most often says do not be afraid
Because the seeing of an angel might scare people I know it would be for me
Something you wouldn’t expect to see
Just going about your life and then the angel visits
This angel tells you are favored and that the Lord is with you
This wouldn’t have been a normal thing
The Angel explains that she is going to have a baby
And she is a bit taken back because she knows how you have babies and she is still a virgin so she shouldn’t be pregnant
And yet the Angel explains how she will become pregnant
The Holy Spirit will come over her and she will be with Child
She reminds Mary that nothing is impossible with God
When the Angel first visits Mary it says that Mary ponders what is going on
She let it marinate
Let it settle in her heart what is going to happen
That the baby she is going to have is to be the King of the World
He will sit on the throne and there will be no end to His kingdom
To sit and think that you are now going to be pregnant with the King of the World
And to finish it with nothing is impossible with God
Even been presented with a situation where your flesh is saying no but your Spirit is saying nothing is impossible with God
The virgin birth is what sets the Birth of Jesus apart
I mean some 700 years before His physical birth it is foretold by the Prophet Isaiah
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
This is what sets the birth of Jesus apart is the fact that Mary was a virigin
The angel has appeared to her and she has pondered on it
She is reminded that nothing is impossible with God
But church I want us to look at how Mary responds
That is exactly where Mary was
38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
And in the midst of facing outcast and being ostracized by her community
In the midst of facing being looked down upon being disowned and outcast
What does Mary do
Her response to the call of the Lord is an example for all of us
In the midst of all of that Mary is obedient to the call of the Lord
What a great example of how we should be in the midst of facing amazing and awesome calls that can only come from the Lord
We are to be just like Mary
When God has given you and I a command we have an opportunity to respond
We will either be obedient or we will be disobedient
And please don’t think you don’t know what God has called you to do
Don’t do the well let me pray about it
If you have been walking with Jesus for sometime you have a pretty good idea of what God has called you to do
God has primarily called you to share the greatest news with those around you
You are to be used of God to reach people right where you are
Church we are to be obedient no matter what it will cost us
Mary gives us that example during the birth of Jesus
Joseph also had a visit with an angel
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. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
Joseph was also faced with a similar situation and wanting to do the a righteous thing in his own eyes
Joseph hears his fiance is now pregnant and not wanting to disgrace her because he still likes her and loves her
He comes up with a plan to send her away far away and sort of forget the whole matter
This is the people pleasurer how can I keep everyone happy and not rock the boat
I can send her away so she wont be ridiculed
I won’t marry her so I won’t be ridiculed
If she isn’t hear then people won’t talk and neither of our families will have to go through the difficulty
And in the midst of facing troubles and a whole lot of awkwardness and being looked down upon
He is visited by an angel
20 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. 21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “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.”
Joseph is visited by an angel and says the same thing
Don’t be afraid
Don’t fear because I am from God
For the child is not from anyone except the Child of God
She conceived by the Holy Spirit
She will have a son and the Angel gives Joseph the name of the child
Jesus is his name and what He will be
The savior of the World
Think this through
Your fiance is pregnant and the Angel says that she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit and she will give birth to a son and He will save people from their sins
In the midst of all that
I think we would have to asked ourselves
What would our response be
And heres the thing only you can answer
I can’t answer it for you, your spouse can’t answer it for you
Joseph’s response in all of this
24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Another example for us to follow
Joseph is obedient to the call of the Lord
I wonder have you ever been in a situation where you had planned to do the nice then and then were confronted with the Word of God
Like Joseph we need to be obedient
To live our lives in such a way that we are different from the world
and what makes that possible and able to do is obedience to the call of the Lord
See we live in a world as Roman’s 1 describes it
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
This particular verse I believe describes our current world situtaiton
Which is directly in contrast to what we have been called to do
See this is the world we are currently living in
This is what God has called us to do
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
This is how we are to live our lives
And the only thing that makes is possible is to be obedient
To simply say may it be like Mary
To say Yes I will do what you have told me to do
Like Joseph
The Christmas story is a story of obedience
I have read Luke 2, as I am sure you have in your life
In our family we read it before we open presents
And let me tell you that story is very very long when you are young, and the old I got the shorter it got
Funny how that works
But it is all about obedience
8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” 15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
These normal guys at work
Not a very prestigious job by the way
But they are at work and in the midst of their work
They are interrupted by and angel of the Lord
A host of angels telling them about the good news that a savior has been born for you in the city of David
The Angel even gives them directions as to where you will find the savior of the world
They talk amoung themselves and decided we should leave our jobs and go and find the savior of the world
They go and tell everything to Mary about the angels
Church they were obedient
How many times have you and I been at work and because it is work we have said now is not the right time
We have even tried to justify it by saying that God wouldn’t want me to lose my job so I had better not say something or do something
And look at what the shepherds did
20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
They went back to work and they were different
I would bet they were glorifying God in such a way people took notice
Because they were obedient to the call of the Lord
So church as we come to this Christmas Season
As we talk about the Christmas Story
We have to ask ourselves are we willing to be obedient
And church we are going to give you and opportunity to respond to that question
The band will come up
Maybe you don’t know Jesus personally and their act of obedience is to walk to the front and speak with someone about being saved
They will show you through scripture how you are to repent of your sin and trust Jesus
You can follow after Jesus for the first time this morning
Maybe it is something else you need to be obedient about or maybe you need to spend sometime in prayer
Maybe you need to join this church this morning
This is your opportunity to respond this morning
The alter is open
