"Joseph's Calling"

Come to the table

1 Corinthians 11:23 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

1 Corinthians 11:24 ESV

and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Joseph, only a few verses speak volumes

A story filled with cultural atom bombs

Matthew 1:18 HCSB

The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:19 HCSB

So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

1. “Righteous man?” How about extraordinary?

Matthew 1:20 HCSB

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:21 HCSB

She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:22 HCSB

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

Matthew 1:23 HCSB

See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”

2. Add an extraordinary command

Matthew 1:24 HCSB

When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her

Matthew 1:25 HCSB

but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus.

3. Extraordinary obedience.

Matthew 2:19 HCSB

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

Matthew 2:20 HCSB

saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, because those who sought the child’s life are dead.”

Matthew 2:21 HCSB

So he got up, took the child and His mother, and entered the land of Israel.

Matthew 2:22 HCSB

But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.

Matthew 2:23 HCSB

Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene.

4. Adding new meaning to “Follow your dreams.”

The big question - if you were entrusted this sort of stewardship, what might the outcome be?