Sermon Tone Analysis

Christmas Anxiety

Last Sunday Angel encounter with Mary: produced anxiety over the things God asks of us… we looked at God determines to use people regardless of their status; and when God decides to use us, we aren’t responsible for the outcomes, God is.

We are responsible to follow him.

This Sunday angel encounter with the shepherds and how their lives were changed.

Tonight I want us to look at the encounter the angels had with Joseph and how that encounter with angels caused him to sense fear as well.

For Mary, the source of Mary’s fear was the result of a conversation she had with herself, telling her she couldn’t be used for such a thing by God.

For Joseph, anxiety comes when he considers what people might think of him.

I remember when we were pregnant with our first child… people were excited, people offered advise, people gave you that look.... there you go!

Like I had really done anything.

It was a season of excitement for all of us.

Anxiety, but anxious excitement.

For Joseph, he finds himself in a difficult situation.

He’s struggling between what’s right and what’s easy.

Between what others want for him and what God wants.

So for some background, He and Mary have been engaged.

Now in their time an engagement was an official thing.

The only way out of an engagement was death or divorce.

It was all the marriage but it wasn’t consummated; they hadn’t moved in together yet.

She was still at home and Joseph was out building a home for his new family.

Imagine Joseph hearing this news the first time.

We don’t know if Mary told him or someone else, but imagine Mary telling him.... “Joseph, I’ve got some news.

Now don’t react, let me explain before you interrupt.

Joseph, I love you, I can’t wait to be your wife, but you need to know, I’m pregnant.”

What how did this happen?

Never mind I know how it happens.

Why Mary?

Joseph, it was the Holy Spirit.

oh yea right.

I’ve heard about that happening to other people… no Mary that never happens.

Seriously Joseph, it was God… I’m pregnant with the son of God.

We are to call him Jesus.

I don’t want to hear it…just tell me the truth Mary, who is it?

Who is the father?

I’ve seen how other guys look at you.

Who was it?

Mary I can’t believe you did this to me… to us.

That’s how Joseph probably saw things.... either she’s a liar or she’s crazy.

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It’s a scene out of a modern day drama right.

Some things were different back then, but some things were like they are now.

Back then, Mary could be convicted of a serious crime breaking the engagement as it seeemd she had.

And Joseph; you can jus timagine what he waas thinking about himself.

My family will be marked for life.

His family would have a stain.

There’s no way his father would bless this marriage.

No one is going to hire him.

He waas going to be a joke, a punchline to everyone...

“There’s Joseph, did you hear about his wife?

That’s not really his son you know...”

All these thoughts are swirling around in his head.

What should he do?

Should I stay or should I go?

We should just break up.... but I love her.

What am I going to do?

You see Joseph was a righteous man.

He was faithful to the law, sure he could make a stink of what she had obviously done, but he loved her.

The best thing to do, was just to keep things quiet.

We aren’t sure, but it seems that he genuinely doesn’t believe her.

In this is his Angel Encounter

This promised Messiah for centuries, it would be awesome if it were true.

Do you think it could be true?

The angel seems to make it seem so right?

But If I do this, If I marry Mary, this is going to be hard.

It’s hard to focus on what God thinks about us when we are consumed about what people think about us.

Well we know how the story ends.

Joseph did mary Mary.

He did name Jesus, an act of taking resonsibility for Jesus.

Even still, everything wasn’t happier ever after.

In fact Joseph was right, all throughout the Gospels, Jesus is referred to as Mary’s son… you know Mary… wink wink.

This reveals a principal that you will find true in the life of a being a disciple.

That’s why this Angel Encounter was a blessing to Mary and Joseph.

The encounter reminded Joseph that when he stays focused on what God think, what others think doesn’t really matter.

PLEASING GOD OFTEN MEANS DISAPPOINTING PEOPLE.

This might apply to your life as well.

You might face troubles for following God at your workplace, your school, in your family.

The choices you make because of your faith often result in the jokes, or gossip of others.

When I first became a Christian.... fasting lunch every day to memorize scripture.

But it didn’t matter because I was spending time with

But everything the Angel promised came true as well.

Their son changed the world.

In life, nothing of real significance comes without difficulty, so there is no reason to expect it to be any different when it comes to doing things of faith.

Think of it, through the faithfulness of Mary and Joseph, the world has been changed forever.

A baby born in a manger to an unmarried teen mom would be the savior of the world.

If you tried to script out God’s plan for salvation, you would never come up with the way God has done it.

And in real time, Mary and Joseph had no idea until they had an Angel encounter, An encounter that led them to simply obey a call from God that would change the world.

ORDINARY OBEDIENCE PRECEDES EXTRAORDINARY ACTS OF GOD

Like we said on Sunday, the outcome is God’s responsibility—Obedience is mine!

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The Angel gave Joseph a preview, but that’s not the way we always get it.

Often times, you have no idea what you are setting into motion when you obey what God puts on your heart.

When I went to church in April of 1999 to pray, I had no idea God would call me into ministry.

We had no idea what would happen on Wednesday nights when we began to gather with kids.

We had no idea what would happen when we invited our neighbors to attend Ageless Wonders.

ORDINARY OBEDIENCE PRECEDES EXTRAORDINARY ACTS OF GOD

Before the first Christmas Joseph was invited to take his part in this angel encounter; Joseph responded and walked into Christmas

Christmas is an invitation, not just for Joseph and Mary to be a part of what God is doing, but to each and every one of us.

It’s an invitation to trust, to believe, to follow Jesus.

No matter where he calls you.

Christmas is about celebrating the reality that God came to earth and invited us to believe… not in mistletoe and trees; not in gift giving and family gatherings; but in the son of God who came to be the invitation for you to live into a relationship with God.

This Christmas might be an invitation for you to simple obedience and you have no idea what it might lead to.

Maybe God is calling you to believe.

Not believe in your head, but a life changing belief.