He Accepts Jesus as His Son
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· 10 viewsThe real purpose of Christmas is not simply to accept gifts, but rather to accept the things in life that are truly difficult to accept such as forgiveness, fears, failures and frustrations. When the information that ushered transformation to mankind got to Joseph, he was not as completely willing as Mary. Having nothing to do with it, he was deeply bothered by the pregnancy of Mary. But after hearing from the Angel, he obeyed God over his human nature. He received peace of mind from the message that fulfilled the promise of God. He eventually accepted Jesus to be his son.
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Opening
Opening
Last Thursday I had a passenger named “Stan”
Since the Christmas season started, I always say, “Merry Christmas” at the end of every ride , so I said to Stan, “Merry Christmas!”
With a smile on his face, he replied by saying, it’s not very often that we hear that these days
And I said, “oh yeah! that’s why I’m very happy to say it all the time to my passengers, so I told him again, “Merry Christmas!”
Let’s tell our seat mates, “Merry Christmas!”
BREATHE!
How are you when it comes to waiting?
Who says they’re good at waiting, raise your hands…
Who says they’re impatient, and doesn’t really like to wait, raise your hands…
Whenever I am running, and when I am so focused at my finish line, it makes me feel that the distance is much farther than it actually is
learned to teach myself to enjoy every stride, every step as I run
Sometimes in life, we are looking way far ahead into our future, we try to figure out everything ahead of its time
Like retirement for example, while there’s nothing wrong preparing for your retirement, however, we need to make sure that it will not pluck us out from the present and into the virtual future by working super hard for it
What I mean is, never set your sight way far down the road and miss the very important things that matters around you
The Bible said in
You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.” Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud.
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.
James 4:13-15
Story about a Chinese Tycoon, his wife and chauffeur
James
BREATHE!
See, we must “enjoy every moment”.. tell your neighbor “enjoy the moment”
BREATHE!
We all know that “Advent” is “waiting” for a notable person, in our case it’s Jesus Christ our Lord
While we must focus on the second coming of Christ, we must enjoy the moment with God the Holy Spirit, because…
“Advent is Adventure!”
Let’s hear this side say “advent”
Let’s hear this side say “adventure”
BREATHE!
Last Sunday we started a month-long series we dubbed as “iShare”
As followers of Jesus, we ought to refresh our bearing towards the true purpose of Christmas
The world is trying to steal the purpose and meaning of Christmas
And if we are not careful about it, we could be sucked right into it
And so, we are encouraged to use this season to “Retreat, Reflect and Refresh” our reason for the season
We began this series by looking into how the Birth of Jesus came about
And it started when the “Sign was Given”
A sign that was prophesied by Isaiah around 700 years before the promised birth of the Messiah
When the birth of Christ was foretold, the most important “information” awaited by the universe was given by Gabriel to Mary
Information that will usher transformation to mankind
BREATHE!
But, in between information and transformation is the “preparation”
This season of advent, that we Christians celebrate since late 4th century is a time for “preparation”
And Mary’s preparation started with “willingness”
There was no tone of hesitation, resistance or whatever on the part of Mary. None at all!
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
She was absolutely willing!
No buts! No ifs! No hows! No whys!
That is a flat out, complete “willingness”
BREATHE!
She willingly accepted the challenge and the consequences
She willingly accepted the responsibility and the possible repercussions
So, one of the true purpose of Christmas is “learning to be willing”
BREATHE!
In this season of reflection, I’d like you to meditate on this question...
How willing am I to be used by God?
I know there’s a lot of competition
Family, Finances, Friends, Fitness,
Competitions that eats up our time
But the Lord has already made His statements about those things that gets into the way
He spoke about family, finances, friends and even fitness
He summarized them all in one verse
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Let me offer my personal experience as an example
After I decided to put God ahead of all
He gave me back my family
He gave me new sets of God-fearing friends
He gave me the will to stay fit
And He supplied us with our Financial needs
BREATHE!
Now, let’s look into how Joseph, the son of David, reacted when the “information” got to him
Text: Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son ()
Text: Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son ()
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 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.” 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”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
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.
Joseph’s surprise further proves the virgin birth
It shows that he has nothing to do with the baby inside Mary’s womb
Look at the plan of Joseph
Because he was “legalistic”, he was afraid of social embarrassment
Now, what is that to us today?
We too have the tendencies of being like Joseph
Sometimes, we are more concerned of what the society will tell about us, rather than what God said we must do
Christmas is Obedience to God rather than to Human Beings
Christmas is Obedience to God rather than to Human Beings
Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!
When Peter and and the other apostles was arrested and thrown behind bars
An Angel of the Lord came and opened the doors of the jail and brought them out
The Angel told them to stand in the temple courts and tell the people about their new life
When the high priest summoned for the apostles, the jail guards were astonished to find out that, despite the jail was securely locked with guards standing at the doors, the apostles are not in there
And as the apostles were preaching about Jesus in the Synagogue, they were brought back to the sanhedrin
The high priest asked them why are they preaching about Jesus despite that they were warned not to teach in the name of Jesus
And that was when Peter and the apostles replied and said, “we must obey God rather than human beings”
BREATHE!
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream 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.
Christmas Brings Peace of Mind
Christmas Brings Peace of Mind
jo
I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn’t like the peace that this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
This justifies further the “virgin birth”
The phrase “do not be afraid” was mentioned a lot of times in the Bible that we have enough number of verses for the whole year to remind us everyday, “not to be afraid”
BREATHE!
Christmas Reminds us of God’s Fulfilled Promises
Christmas Reminds us of God’s Fulfilled Promises
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.” 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”).
Matthew 1:21-
It is a Jewish tradition for the father to name his child (if it’s a boy, on the eight day, the day of his circumcision)
So Joseph gave Him the Hebrew name “Yeshua” which means “Yahweh saves”
And all this is to fulfill God’s promise through Isaiah
BREATHE!
And then finally in verse 24
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
After all these, Joseph accepted Jesus as his son
What if Joseph decided not to accept? It could be an entirely different story
Christmas is not just about willingness, it is also about acceptance
BREATHE!
What are Things in Life that are truly difficult to accept?
Forgiveness
Faith (incarnation and resurrection of Jesus, Word of God)
Failures
Frustrations
Fears
Death
Sickness
Rejection
Growing up
Separation (Divorce, child getting married)
Losing a Pet
Being alone
BREATHE!
Weaknesses
Prayer
Prayer
Forgiveness
Let’s pray and ask God to give us kind of willingness of Mary
Faith (incarnation and resurrection of Jesus, Word of God)
And the the kind of acceptance of Joseph