Podcasts about because joseph

Matthew 1:18-2318 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. 19 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.20 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. 21 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.”22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

“Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately.”Matthew 1:19 NET

Daily Dose of Hope January 19, 2025 Day 1 of Week 43   Scripture:  Ezekiel 1-3; John 1   Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.  Happy Sunday!  I do hope I will be seeing you in worship this morning.  Our sermon is on growing faith.  It seems appropriate to mention that here because reading the Bible is one of the main ways we can grow our faith and grow in our walk with Jesus.  So great job to all of you!    Today, we are starting the Old Testament book of Ezekiel.  Ezekiel was a priest living in Judah during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem.  He was part of the first wave of refugees taken to live in Babylon.  Ezekiel's book opens up by telling us that he is living in an Israeli refugee camp of sorts in Babylon and it's his 30th birthday.  This is important because it's the day he would have officially been installed as a priest if he were still in Jerusalem.  But God has other plans for Ezekiel.   It's on this day, the day he turned thirty, that God shows up to call Ezekiel into his service.  But, not surprisingly, it's a bit unconventional.  He sees this highly unusual vision.  It was a large cloud with four large, winged creatures and each creature has four faces. Under each creature is a sparkly wheel.  And the creatures wings were supporting a throne with a human-like figure who was full of light.  Ezekiel realizes this is the glory of God.  And this is kind of surprising.  What is God's glory doing in Babylon?    These first three chapters are really Ezekiel's commissioning as a prophet.  God has called him to warn the Israelites that there are consequences coming.  They have broken covenant, they have worshiped other gods, and they are oppressing the poor.  God has allowed one successful Babylonian attack but there are more coming.  Everything will be destroyed and God wants Ezekiel to boldly share this with his people.   One interesting piece is when God has Ezekiel eat the scroll.  The scroll represented the words of God that Ezekiel was going to share with the people.  It tasted like honey.  I can't help but draw a comparison between Ezekiel eating God's words and our need to digest God's words too.  Unless we consume the Word of God, we can't live it or share it with those who need to hear it.  Does God's Word taste like honey to you?   Ezekiel is a very interesting prophet.  I think we are going to find it fascinating.  I'm not saying you will like it but you will find it fascinating.   We are also starting the Gospel of John in the New Testament.  We are looking at chapter one. God's Word in the Old Testament was his self-expression. Here, the apostle John is referring to the Word as God's ultimate self-expression, Jesus Christ. If we are to know God, we need to look at Jesus. Jesus is God and God is Jesus. God loved the world so much that he provided a way for all of us to know him and be reconciled to him. God took on human form and moved into our neighborhood. God walked and talked among his people, demonstrating the full extent of his love. We have seen the Father through the life of the Son.   Let's take a moment and read this classic Christmas text from Matthew 1:18-24 and then we will return to John 1, 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”).   Jesus was Immanuel, meaning God with us. Christmas is not simply about a little baby being born and laid in a manger. Christmas is about God coming down to be with his people, to live among us, and to demonstrate the full extent of his love. Everything that Jesus did, from healing people, feeding people, loving the poor and the outcast, dying on a cross, and defeating death through the resurrection, illustrated God's incredible, amazing love for his people. We could go much deeper than that, there is certainly a great deal more to say, but I'm going to stop there for today. Spend some time in prayer and simply think about the wonder of the incarnation.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

Teaching Text: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-3818 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. 20 When he had contemplated 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 as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord told him. He took his wife, 25 but did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus.26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting. 30 So the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God! 31 Listen: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will 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 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.36 “And look, your relative Elizabeth has also become pregnant with a son in her old age—although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 So Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. Apostles' CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Islington Baptist is a church for the Islington and wider Newcastle community sharing the life-changing message of Jesus. Our sermons / Bible teaching is a central part of our gatherings. Matt 1:18-25 18 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. 19 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. 20 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. 21 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Peace on Earth  // Week 3 // Misconceptions of God With UsDecember 15, 2024Pastor Ashley WilkersonLuke 2:13-14 NIV13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest heaven,and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”Isaiah 7:14 NIV 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (which means ‘God with us').1. Our PLANS - JosephMatthew 1:18-19 NIV18 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. 19 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.Romans 8:28 NIV28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Matthew 1:20-23 NIV20 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. 21 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:24-25 NIV24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.Proverbs 16:9 NASBThe mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.Luke 1:26-28 NIV26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 1. Our PLANS - Joseph2. Our PAIN - Mary3. Our Pursuit - The MagiMatthew 2:1-2 NASB1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:10-12 NIV10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.Psalm 119:105 NIV105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.1. Our PLANS - Joseph2. Our PAIN - Mary3. Our Pursuit - The Magi

Characters of Christmas: Joseph of NazarethMatthew 1:18-2518 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. 19 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.20 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. 21 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.”22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

Matthew 1:18-23 18 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. 19 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. 20 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. 21 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. 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means God with us).

Dr.  Brian Hill (Senior Pastor), "An Advent Series:  Through the Eyes of Joseph and Mary". Modern Worship Praise Team (11:15 Service).       18.  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.  19.  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.       20.  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.  21.  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.”       22.  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  23.  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).       24.  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.       Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)       26  In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  27.  to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  28.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”       29.  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  30.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  31.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  32.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  33.  and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”       34.  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”       35.  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[ the Son of God.  36.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  37.  For no word from God will ever fail.”       38.  “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.       Luke 1:26-38  (NIV)

Dr.  Brian Hill (Senior Pastor), "An Advent Series:  Through the Eyes of Joseph and Mary". Handbells, Choir, Blended Worship Praise Team (8:45 Service).       18.  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.  19.  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.       20.  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.  21.  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.”       22.  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  23.  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).       24.  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.       Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)       26  In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  27.  to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  28.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”       29.  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  30.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  31.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  32.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  33.  and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”       34.  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”       35.  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[ the Son of God.  36.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  37.  For no word from God will ever fail.”       38.  “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.       Luke 1:26-38  (NIV)

Dr.  Brian Hill (Senior Pastor), "An Advent Series:  Through the Eyes of Joseph and Mary".       18.  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.  19.  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.       20.  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.  21.  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.”       22.  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  23.  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).       24.  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.       Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)       26  In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  27.  to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  28.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”       29.  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  30.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  31.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  32.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  33.  and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”       34.  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”       35.  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[ the Son of God.  36.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  37.  For no word from God will ever fail.”       38.  “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.       Luke 1:26-38  (NIV)

Dr.  Brian Hill (Senior Pastor), "An Advent Series:  Through the Eyes of Joseph and Mary". Modern Worship Praise Team (11:15 Service).       18.  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.  19.  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.       20.  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.  21.  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.”       22.  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  23.  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).       24.  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.       Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)       26  In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  27.  to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  28.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”       29.  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  30.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  31.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  32.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  33.  and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”       34.  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”       35.  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[ the Son of God.  36.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  37.  For no word from God will ever fail.”       38.  “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.       Luke 1:26-38  (NIV)

Dr.  Brian Hill (Senior Pastor), "An Advent Series:  Through the Eyes of Joseph and Mary". Handbells, Choir, Blended Worship Praise Team (8:45 Service).       18.  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.  19.  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.       20.  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.  21.  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.”       22.  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  23.  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).       24.  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.       Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)       26  In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  27.  to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  28.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”       29.  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  30.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  31.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  32.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  33.  and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”       34.  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”       35.  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[ the Son of God.  36.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  37.  For no word from God will ever fail.”       38.  “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.       Luke 1:26-38  (NIV)

Dr.  Brian Hill (Senior Pastor), "An Advent Series:  Through the Eyes of Joseph and Mary".       18.  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.  19.  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.       20.  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.  21.  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.”       22.  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  23.  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).       24.  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.       Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)       26  In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  27.  to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  28.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”       29.  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  30.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  31.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  32.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  33.  and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”       34.  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”       35.  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[ the Son of God.  36.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  37.  For no word from God will ever fail.”       38.  “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.       Luke 1:26-38  (NIV)

·      When you feel betrayed, what next?  ·      Matthew 1:18-19 - 18 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. 19 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. ·      More curiosity, less judgment.  ·      Deuteronomy 22:23-2423 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man's wife. You must purge the evil from among you. ·      Matthew 1:20-21 - 20 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. 21 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.” ·      How many times does your fear stop you from following Jesus? ·      Peace comes from following Jesus, not understanding.  ·      Matthew 1:22-23 - 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). ·      Will you obey without knowing the outcome?  ·      Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ·      Do you have confidence that God knows your biggest need more than you do? ·      Will you say yes to God?  ·      Matthew 1:23-25: 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. ·      When God gives you a clear message, more messaging is not needed.  Obedience is. ·      Mark 6:3 – Isn't this Mary's son…  ·      Is your faith larger than your hurt?  ·      Your obedience speaks louder than your words. ·      What words is your obedience speaking?    LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS  Starter Question: Do you find it easy to obey or hard to obey?  Why?  1.      Read Matthew 1:18-19 2.      What emotions do you think Joseph experienced?  3.      Read Matthew 1:20-21 4.      If you were Joseph, how would you know you could trust this dream from God? 5.      Read Matthew 1:22-23 6.     Matthew pulls Isaiah 7:14 into the story of Jesus' verse.  He is writing this after Jesus' death and resurrection.  What do you think Matthew is trying to point out? 7.      Read Matthew 1:24-25 8.     Joseph obeyed.  As the years went buy, what price do you think he paid for his obedience?

https://youtu.be/Si0KSWRA7t8?si=-XTeVwWOdcqadgnc Family30 - 3 - Blessings for Blended, Mended, and Extended Families Welcome – Chris Fluitt | Redemption Church Plano Family 30   Families are important. We need to get back to God's design. Words matter. Speak life and not death According to scripture… Marriage is a blessing.Children are a blessing. …but sometimes life gets complicated.   Divorce happensSeparation… Death…Difficulty and pain, but God's promise still remains true. Blessings for Blended, Mended, & Extended Families.   No matter what … God has blessing for you.   Blessing for you kids…Future relationships…Blessing as you heal from past hurt.   Blended Families   In Genesis 1 marriage shows up and it is “very good!”   But in Genesis 3 other things show up…LyingGuiltBlameShameSin & death   Very good, blessed marriages are always damaged by bad behavior. It is important that we follow God as a family.   Some of this breakage causes what we call blended families.   When two come together in marriage but bring children from previous marriages… The Brady Bunch! There are blended families in the Bible. Blended Families DeathPolygamy (God was never for polygamy) Adoption Jesus was raised in a blended family. Jesus had a mother named Mary.Jesus had a father named God. But Jesus also had an earthly father. Joseph treated Jesus as his own son. Joseph is a man of great character in Scripture. Matthew 1:18-19 18 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. 19 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 and Mary are pledged to be married… But Mary becomes pregnant! The son is not Joseph's. V-19 Joseph was faithful to the law. The law and culture of the day made it traditional for the woman to be put to public shame. …Often to be executed by stoning. Joseph was faithful to law, but He chose grace and was going to divorce her quietly to save her shame and death. Joseph was unusual. He covered someone he thought was unfaithful with mercy and love. Love covers! 20 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. 21 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.” Joseph made his blended family work 1 Honor and respect for his familyHe honored Mary even when he was not sure… 2 Follows GodHe had a dream and trusted God!DOES NOT ARGUE! OBEYS! Can you do that? Can God speak to you in His word… a message… a dream… and you obey? Do it God's way! 3 Sacrifices for others. Laid down his rep - Faced ridicule. Laid down his plan –   Receives dream to go to Egypt.    Leaves home, carpenter business… trusts      God's plan.   Names the son Jesus. Culture named the   first son after the father… but God's plan   was different. Blended families are not easy.Friction and dis-ease – requires sacrifice. 4 Patience in the process Joseph waits to consummate the marriage. Joseph waits to return from Egypt. You must have patience. Blended parenting - “You're not my dad…”   Adoption Surprise This is a picture of a step daughter serving her step father with adoption papers…   I want to take your name.I want you to be my dad.Not just blended… but family.   5 Great outcomes are possible It is not a coincidence that Jesus became a carpenter. The greatest man in Jesus' life, Joseph, was a carpenter and taught him the skill. God has blessings for blended families.   Mended Families We live in a time where divorce is too frequent. Divorce is painful and leaves behind wreckage. -Children-Emotions-Finances Remarriage after divorce has less chance of succeeding statis...

Series: StoriesJoseph's Turn to TrustChristmas in July! ~~PrayDillon dance lessons for his birthday giftVIDEO“I feel like you're trying to lead!” Don't let overthinking, timing, or temptation make you detach from or distrust God. Joseph is a man who has a brain, he was obviously a skilled carpenter, has been entrusted with a wife and now needs to make it all happen. When you put your trust in the One True God, you're deciding to let Him decide!Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.Keep in step with the Spirit - it doesn't say make up your own stepsMatthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said…When we read or retell the Christmas story, often Joseph's faithfulness fades into the background behind Mary's miraculous pregnancy, the shepherds' exuberant joy, and the glory of Jesus Himself. Matthew 1:18 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. 19 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.Don't understand how God could ask you to To forgive when someone doesn't ask for forgivenessTo refrain from certain activities or entertainmentTo keep loving someone who doesn't seem to deserve itWhen we allow our limited understanding of our situations to steer us, we risk missing the miraculous provision and purposes of God.Joseph was thinking: How can I make this work? “God still has ways of making His will known, hints of providence, debates of conscience, advice of faithful friends - apply the rules of the written word and we can get direction from God” - Matthew Henry Commentary20 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. 21 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.”22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.Joseph's obedience was key to fulfilling God's promises. God will take your brave obedience and use it for His glory and the salvation of others.But first, there's actually an enemy to our obedience. And there's one in the Christmas story. New upgrade you can get for your nativity**PHOTO Herod statue Matthew 2:2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.Matthew 2:13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”Joseph didn't delay, he immediately took them and fled in obedience in the night. This time it wasn't Joseph's logic that was steering him, there was a real enemy!God knows the projects and purposes of the enemy. The safest route for you and those in your care is to follow His lead!But when Joseph's mind was quiet and not busy scheming. Do you have a time or allow the Lord to speak to you? Or are you always in charge and making the plans?Take time to listen and learn to followAnd as we've seen in Joseph's life, God can use dreams to warn usBackground: childhood home in DC had metal bars PHOTO - Leah on stepsShut the door on darknessWORSHIP TEAMAnd that Jesus says “Behold I stand at the door and knock”Jesus brings peace instead of poisonRomans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.Look at the nativity differently when you see Joseph and think about his choices to turn from his plans to God's way.God can take the most precarious situation and turn it around.We can pray for God to turn around hard situations but really most of the time we need His help to turn OUR hearts around. Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things

Series: StoriesJoseph's Turn to TrustChristmas in July! ~~PrayDillon dance lessons for his birthday giftVIDEO“I feel like you're trying to lead!” Don't let overthinking, timing, or temptation make you detach from or distrust God. Joseph is a man who has a brain, he was obviously a skilled carpenter, has been entrusted with a wife and now needs to make it all happen. When you put your trust in the One True God, you're deciding to let Him decide!Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.Keep in step with the Spirit - it doesn't say make up your own stepsMatthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said…When we read or retell the Christmas story, often Joseph's faithfulness fades into the background behind Mary's miraculous pregnancy, the shepherds' exuberant joy, and the glory of Jesus Himself. Matthew 1:18 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. 19 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.Don't understand how God could ask you to To forgive when someone doesn't ask for forgivenessTo refrain from certain activities or entertainmentTo keep loving someone who doesn't seem to deserve itWhen we allow our limited understanding of our situations to steer us, we risk missing the miraculous provision and purposes of God.Joseph was thinking: How can I make this work? “God still has ways of making His will known, hints of providence, debates of conscience, advice of faithful friends - apply the rules of the written word and we can get direction from God” - Matthew Henry Commentary20 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. 21 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.”22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.Joseph's obedience was key to fulfilling God's promises. God will take your brave obedience and use it for His glory and the salvation of others.But first, there's actually an enemy to our obedience. And there's one in the Christmas story. New upgrade you can get for your nativity**PHOTO Herod statue Matthew 2:2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.Matthew 2:13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”Joseph didn't delay, he immediately took them and fled in obedience in the night. This time it wasn't Joseph's logic that was steering him, there was a real enemy!God knows the projects and purposes of the enemy. The safest route for you and those in your care is to follow His lead!But when Joseph's mind was quiet and not busy scheming. Do you have a time or allow the Lord to speak to you? Or are you always in charge and making the plans?Take time to listen and learn to followAnd as we've seen in Joseph's life, God can use dreams to warn usBackground: childhood home in DC had metal bars PHOTO - Leah on stepsShut the door on darknessWORSHIP TEAMAnd that Jesus says “Behold I stand at the door and knock”Jesus brings peace instead of poisonRomans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.Look at the nativity differently when you see Joseph and think about his choices to turn from his plans to God's way.God can take the most precarious situation and turn it around.We can pray for God to turn around hard situations but really most of the time we need His help to turn OUR hearts around. Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things

Because Joseph of Arimathea courageously approach Pilate and asked to bury Christ, the Myrrh Bearing women were able to see where Christ was buried. Because the Myrrh Bearing women went courageously to His Tomb to anoint Christ, the entire world heard the Good News of Christ's resurrection. Now it is our turn to act with courage and let everyone we know about the Resurrection of Christ and bring the Good News of a better life.

Welcome to Day 2289 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Characters of Christmas-1 Joseph, The Unsung Hero of Christmas – Daily Wisdom Putnam Church Message – 11/27/2022 The Characters of Christmas: Joseph, the Unsung Hero of Christmas Last week, we studied one of the most miraculous historical events in a message titled A Miraculous Resurrection. The focus was on the three essential principles of the resurrection: The resurrection of Jesus assures us of God's forgiveness. The resurrection of Jesus assures us of God's power. The resurrection assures us of God's ultimate triumph at the end of history. We will break from our series of the Good News according to John the Apostle, where we have three more messages to finish up the entire book of John. Starting today, we begin an Advent series exploring five characters of Christmas, beginning with Joseph, The Unsung Hero. Our scripture for today is Matthew 1:18-25, on page 1497 in the pew Bible. Follow along as I read.  Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: 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. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 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. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” [d] (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage...

Matthew 1:18-25 New International Version (NIV) Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: 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. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 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. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d] (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Merry Christmas folks from Sharon and I. This morning I want to share with you the Word of God .....Let is turn our Bibles to Matthew 1:18.....This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. Hos 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. Did you know that? A recent polling shows many Americans do not.........

An Unlikely Choice - Joseph                                                                                              Matthew 1:18-25 (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 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.” God isn't looking to use heroes He's looking for humble servants.  Genesis 3:15 (NIV)And I will put enmity                         between you and the woman,                         and between your offspring and hers;       he will crush your head,                         and you will strike his heel.” Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” What Paul is saying is that the son of God and the seed of the woman are the same thing. God does something in humanity to rescue humanity.    2.      Whatever God asks of you, He will give you the ability to do it.  Matthew 1:24 (ESV)“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him” Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel [GOD WITH US]” Micah 5:2 (NKJV)“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,Yet out of you shall come forth to MeThe One to be Ruler in Israel,Whose goings forth are from of old,From everlasting.”

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from JosephDevotional: 3 of 5Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” (Genesis 41:15-16)Joseph was in prison unjustly. So when the guards told him that the Pharaoh needed his skills, Joseph must have sensed some hope that maybe, just maybe, his talents as a dream interpreter could earn him a literal get out of jail free card.With that context, we almost expect Joseph to trumpet his own abilities to Pharaoh. But when Pharaoh gives him that opportunity, Joseph deflects the glory that could have so easily been his.What remarkable humility! Even though he was in the fight of his life where the temptation to glorify himself through his work must have been strong, Joseph recognized that it is God, not us, who produces results through our work. And thus, he alone deserves the glory.Ironically, it was that humility that led Joseph to be so bold. The biblical text implies that Pharaoh had already asked countless other wise men to interpret his dream before concluding that “no one” could do it. But Joseph walks up and essentially says of Pharaoh's request, “No problem.” Because Joseph recognized that it was God working through him, he knew that God could use him to do work others deemed impossible.Whether you're an entrepreneur, a writer, a teacher, a stay-at-home-mom, or a designer, you have an unfair advantage. You have the God who is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” living inside of you (see Ephesians 3:20). Let that truth inspire you, like Joseph, to boldly take on the problems nobody else will touch. Because when you succeed, God alone will get the glory!

“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…”  (Matthew 1:18-25) Part 3 of 3 Welcome to Walk in Truth! These are the Bible teachings of Pastor Michael Lantz. Equipping you to reach out with God's truth to all people. And how to apply that truth to today's issues, trends, and culture.  Leave your question or comment contact@walkintruth.com   Donate: www.walkintruth.com  Produced by Newton Productions

“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…”  (Matthew 1:18-25) Part 2 of 3 Welcome to Walk in Truth! These are the Bible teachings of Pastor Michael Lantz. Equipping you to reach out with God's truth to all people. And how to apply that truth to today's issues, trends, and culture.  Leave your question or comment contact@walkintruth.com   Donate: www.walkintruth.com  Produced by Newton Productions

“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…”  (Matthew 1:18-25) Part 1 of 3 Welcome to Walk in Truth! These are the Bible teachings of Pastor Michael Lantz. Equipping you to reach out with God's truth to all people. And how to apply that truth to today's issues, trends, and culture.  Leave your question or comment contact@walkintruth.com   Donate: www.walkintruth.com  Produced by Newton Productions

(Matt 1:18-19) This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. (Matt 25:1-13) At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. .... "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. Open the door for us! "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you. "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Heavenly Father, we thank you that you, the great God of the universe, holy, perfect, you demand absolute perfection and holiness from us. And Lord, we thank you that you offer us grace to do that which you command us to do. You call us to repentance and we can't repent apart from your grace. You call us to faith in Christ, we can't do that either apart from your grace. You call us to live a life of love toward God and toward people from the heart, and Lord, we can't do that apart from you. Lord, today convict us of sin. Reveal any guilt that we are still carrying from our sin. And I pray, Lord, don't just relieve us of that guilt, but remove it from us. Eradicate it from us so we as your children can live lives of good conscience.Lord, bless our time in the holy scriptures today. Holy Spirit, we pray, minister to us, reveal the words to us, reveal the words that you would have for each of us individually. And Lord, magnify your son Jesus Christ through the preaching of your word. Jesus, we thank you that you provided a way for us to be reconciled with the Father, for that sin to be removed, for that guilt to be assuaged. And we thank you that for those who are in Christ now today, there is no condemnation. Zero whatsoever. We believe that. We love that and we receive that word. Bless our time in the holy scriptures. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.We're continuing our study through Genesis 37 through 50. We've entitled it Graduate Level Grace: A Study in the Life of Joseph. Today, we're in Genesis 42 and the title is Grace for the Guilty. Why do we call it Graduate Level Grace? Well, we need grace as much today as we did the very first day that we trusted in Jesus Christ. We need grace to be justified of our sin, but we also need grace to be sanctified then also shaped by God to be ever more useful. In his confessions, Augustine wrote around the year 400 AD, he said, "God, give me the grace to do as you command and command me to do what you will." What he's saying is, God, you can command whatever you want, but unless you give me the power to do it, unless you give me the grace to do it, I can't do it. But if you give me grace, you can command whatever you will of me. Meaning we're incapable of obeying God's commands, of doing God's will unless He grants us the ability to do so.Jesus commanded us, repent and believe. How? By God's grace. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. How? By God's grace. Marry this person, raise these children. Do your job as unto the Lord. How? By God's grace. God's grace is God's unmerited favor, but it's also fuel. Grace saves us and it sanctifies us. It trains us, it hones us, it strengthens, it grows us, and grace graduates us. And we see the same grace, it's on every single page of this narrative of the story of Joseph. This is the supreme lesson which meets us and impresses us at every stage of his history. He was a man of God and he walked in the presence of God knowing that he needed the grace of God. Everything he did, he did under the conscious realization that he's living under the watchful eye of God who loves him and will carry him through no matter what. In seasons of adversity, 13 years in prison, sold by his brothers into slavery, doesn't know a person in Egypt. In adversity, he trusted his God and waited for God's timing.And then last week, we learned that God raised him up. By God's grace, now he's second in command to only Pharaoh. And in prosperity, Joseph did not forget his God. No, he leaned upon his God and found his grace sufficient. His heart wasn't tried by humiliation nor his head turned by exaltation. He didn't let the disappointments of life break his heart, nor did he allow the victories of life go to his head. He's even-keeled, composed knowing that God is sovereign. So before the Lord exalts Joseph to this position of importance, He prepared him with discipline. And this discipline did not feel like grace. But then again, what does grace feel like? If you think about what does grace feel like?Well, what did it take for grace to be procured by God, for grace to be offered to us? Well, grace took a bloody cross, a crucifixion. That's how grace was procured. So sometimes, yes, grace comes as soothing balm to our soul, but sometimes grace comes as surgical tool slicing us open to cut out the rot. In moments which might feed human pride and self-sufficiency, what do we need? We need grace, God's grace to humble us, to keep us simple, to keep us faithful. Because Joseph walked with God in the darkness of prison, he's ready for the spotlight of the palace and that's where we find ourselves. And what kind of man is he when his brothers who sold him into captivity stand before him, bowing down before him. He holds all the power to do whatever he wants with them. What does he do? Well, we see a tender heart. How does his heart remain tender despite the hardness of the obstacles around him? Well, it was God's grace. So God's grace to Joseph made him a gracious leader, ready to forgive those who wanted harm for him.As we walk through the text together in Genesis 42, four points to frame up our time. First, your sin will find you out. Second, the slow burn of a guilty conscience. Third, now there comes a reckoning. And for fourth, the Father who won't sacrifice His beloved son. First, your sin will find you out. It's a biblical principle. Numbers 32:23. "But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out." We worship a holy God and God is omniscient. He sees anything and everything and it's against His holy character to allow sin to go unpunished. Your sin will find you out.Luke 8:17, the words of Christ. "For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light", either in this life or when we stand in the judgment before Christ. So this is exactly what happens. Joseph's brothers, 10 of them, they sold him to captivity and in their minds they already think he's dead. That's the lie they told their father, Jacob, that your son was eaten, torn apart by wild animals. And for two decades, they lived with this guilt that they had murdered their brother. Later on, in the same text, twice they say the brother who was no longer with us, the brother who was no more, they thought Joseph was dead. And here, God reveals their sin and makes them reckon with it on a glorious stage. And thanks be to God that He included this narrative in scripture for us to see, for the world to see for time immemorial.Remember, Joseph is out of prison. He's appointed to second in command only to Pharaoh. God has given him incredible wisdom for not just to interpret Pharaoh's dreams but also put a plan in place to capitalize on the abundance of seven years. So he's second in command, he's shaved dressed, married, he's got two sons and he's been busy capitalizing on seven years of bountiful harvest in preparation for the seven years of debilitating famine. So that brings us to Genesis 42. We begin with verses one through five."When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, 'Why do you look at one another?' And he said, 'Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.' So 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan."The famine had engulfed all the earth in including Canaan. So God sends of famine in order to awaken the brothers, in order to get them to act and to do something with the guilt that is upon them. Their father looks at them and says, "Why do you look at one another?" And he sounds exactly like my dad, my dad's Slavic. This is exactly how he parented us. Very direct. "Why you look at one another?" That's what Jacob is doing. And what is he saying? He's not just saying, you guys are lazy bums. He's saying, we got to protect our household. We got to provide for our household. You have children and you have wives, you have cattle, you have to provide. Now go and do something or else we're all going to die.Jacob heard that there was grain for sale in Egypt and he has no idea, absolutely no idea how that grain came to be. He has no idea that God had been working behind the scenes for over two decades, 13 years that Joseph was in prison, the seven years of abundance, that's 20. And time has passed with the famine. So God has been using this, overriding the sinful intentions of the brothers, the slave traders, Potiphar and Mrs. Potiphar, the forgetful butler. God was busy turning their evil into good and to shape Joseph and place him in the number two spot. Why were the brothers just sitting around? They too must have heard that there was grain for sale. Everyone heard. No one was prepared for this famine, not one of the countries. How could you be prepared? You'd have to know the future in order to build the infrastructure to farm, to gather, to store, to distribute all the grain and mountains and mountains of grain it was. And in famine that grain was as good as gold.Why were they sitting around knowing this, that if they went to Egypt they could solve all their problems? Well, because even the word of Egypt, the thought of Egypt sent a shutter down their spine and sent a cold sweat down their back. Every time they thought of Egypt, they couldn't but remember the anguished cry of their brother, Joseph, right before they sold him to the Midianites and he was sent to Egypt. Now, imagine their trip to Egypt. Imagine the silence, the deafening silence as they're all thinking the same thing, recalling the events of 20 plus years ago. Now, they're traveling the same path as Joseph did except he was in chains. Jacob, we see, hasn't changed much. His favoritism has only grown as he poured out his love on Benjamin, his youngest son, perhaps overcompensating for having lost Joseph.He wants to protect him and fear that harm might happen to him, perhaps because he never trusted the brothers, perhaps because he didn't believe their lies and the story that they told him. And later in the text we see that he did blame them for the death of Joseph. The fact that he kept Benjamin behind must have stung their consciences. It had to have. And we don't know much about Benjamin's character just yet, but Joseph's brother, we know a lot about. They were sinful. They were wicked, violent, lust-driven men. Sons two and three, that's Simeon and Levi, were guilty of premeditated genocide in the slaughter of the unsuspecting Shechemites. Son number one, Rubin, committed incest with his father's concubine in an attempt to secure ascendancy over his father. And next, all 10 of the brothers beat Joseph, stripped him, threw him into a pit with violent rage and then sold him into slavery.Son number four, we read in Genesis 38, was Judah, who impregnated his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who had disguised herself as a Canaanite prostitute. The family was not just dysfunctional, this is a family of egregious sinners and these were the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is supposed to be the family of God, the chosen people of God. God was going to bless all the families of the world through this one family. The Messiah, the promised conquerer of Satan, he was supposed to come from this family. And as you read this narrative, you're like, "What? These people, these wicked sinners?" Well, yes, all of that will come true, but God first has to do spiritual surgery upon them.These men, who are guilty of sin and had attempted to hide it for 20 years, just imagine doing that, all 10 of them maintaining the same story for two decades. These men were guilty and the time of reckoning has come and it's time that they were confronted with their sin, deal with their guilt, repent and seek forgiveness from God, from Joseph, and also from their father, Jacob. They did everything they could to forget their sin, but they couldn't. They tried to live as if nothing had happened, thereby searing their consciences all the more. And now it's time, by God's grace, their consciences are awakened by the light of God's providence.Point two is the slow burn of a guilty conscience. God has given every single one of us a conscience. This is great proof of the existence of God. And the conscience is given to us to guide us between choosing good and evil. The conscience serves as a witness to what we already know about God's law that's written upon our hearts. It's like an independent witness within, examining and passing judgment on one's conduct. Sometimes the conscience is seared through sinful living licentiousness. Sometimes the conscience is seared through legalism where we bring in manmade rules that then inform our conscience, that then sears our conscience from what is true according to God's work. Therefore, it's important, friends, to educate your conscious, to inform your conscious, to make sure your conscious is calibrated to the law of God, the word of God and nothing else.First Timothy 4:1 through five, for example. "Now the spirit expressly says in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer." Romans 2:14 through 16 testifies to the fact that God's law, his commandments are written on our hearts. Verse 14, "For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they're a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus."So the conscious is like an internal sensor that goes off when it senses that we're moving away from God's will. It beeps and then it beeps again. It's like when you're not wearing a seatbelt in your car and it beeps and it beeps and it beeps. After a while, it just stops beeping. And that's how the conscience works. That's the searing of the conscious, burnt to the point where it's not effective anymore. And at that point, the conscience needs to be awakened by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's only the Holy Spirit that can bring a person to a realization that we have sinned. Our conscience is defiled. We need a cleansing. We need the guilt removed. Titus 1:15 through 16, "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They're detestable, disobedient and unfit for any good work."Joseph's brothers grew up in a Christian family, so to speak, a family of believers. They're supposed to know God, they're supposed to represent God to the world. And maybe that's how they even presented themselves, but their works, their life denied the fact. With their mouth they espouse that they love God, but their hearts are far from him. So Genesis 42, verse three. "So 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt." And it's fascinating that the text does not call them Jacob's sons. The text calls him Joseph's brothers. Why? Because the relationship between Joseph and his brothers is in focus in this chapter. So the brothers make the trek across the Sinai and down to the Nile Valley.Verse six, it says, "Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him and their faces to the ground." Never in their wildest dreams or in their worst nightmares, would they imagine that they would meet Joseph again. They thought, and just in all probability, that he was dead. And if he was alive, most likely is just an obscure slave. But meet Joseph, they certainly did. And when they met him, they didn't recognize him. He was virtually unrecognizable, beardless, clean-shaven, likely dressed in flowing white linen, decorated with gold, speaking Egyptian. And so they did what all the foreigners were doing. They bowed themselves before this man, to the ground, faces to the ground. It was a sign of subordination, of course, and the only means of surviving the famine.I think this is a scene that Joseph had visualized in his mind a thousand times plus over the course of the last 20 years. Why? Because he had been given a prophetic dream years before that he had shared with them and with their father. This is the dream that kicked off the narrative in Genesis 37:5. "Now, Joseph had a dream and when he told it his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, 'Hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.' His brothers said to him, 'Are you indeed to reign over us or are you indeed to rule over us?' So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words."So the first dream had come to pass and Joseph knew it was from God the whole time, that dream actually sustained him through his darkest years. Now, the prophetic dream was happening in reality in real time. His brothers come here looking for grain and they, like the sheaves of grain in the dream, bow down before Joseph's sheaf. He is indeed reigning and ruling over them however much they hated him for it. Genesis 42:7. "Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. 'Where do you come from?' he said. They said, 'From the land of Canaan to buy food.' And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him."He recognized them immediately. How could he not? He had seen their faces emblazoned on his mind and his heart and nightmares for years. He remembers them. And then there's 10 bearded brothers speaking Hebrew. How often do you see that? Time had left its mark on them as on him, but he still recognized them. Joseph didn't show any outward emotion, goes about his job with stoic precision and all the power is absolutely in his hands. He has all the leverage to do whatever he wants. If he says, "Dance", they're going to dance. If he says, "Jump", they say, "How high, sir?" Not only does he have the power to withhold grain from them, he has the power to take their freedom and even their very lives. So he begins to interrogate them, speaking roughly as the strangers, verse nine."And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, 'You are spies. You have come to see the nakedness of the land.' They said to him, 'No, my Lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.'" It says that Joseph remembered the dreams, plural. There was a first dream, but there was also a second dream. And in the second dream, his dad was included, meaning that his whole family would come down, bow down before him. So he knows that this isn't the full revelation of God just yet. In Genesis 37:9 through 11, the second dream, "Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, 'Behold, I've dreamed another dream. Behold the sun, the moon, and 11 stars were bowing down to me.' But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, 'What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?' And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind."So this part of the interrogation, Joseph knows the whole story, it has not been completed. He interrogates them, accuses them of espionage, on mission to find weak points in the defense in Egypt. And by the way, this was a legitimate concern. Egypt had all the grain in the world of that time. Obviously, there were threats to them. So he accuses them of this. They try to remove doubt and in doing so they divulge more information than they should have. In Genesis 42:11, they say, "We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies." And the irony, of course, isn't lost on us. These men were not honest, although they claim to be so. And here you got to pause and say, what is Joseph doing here? Why is he testing? Why is he speaking to them as strangers harshly? Why this tone, Joseph?Well, it's because he's testing them to see if they have changed, to see if their hearts have been awakened by the spirit of God. Were they the same lying, conniving, callous, jealous, murdering sinners that they still hate him? And he's wise in doing this because of his position of influence and also he's figuring out how much am I going to help this family? He could have just said, okay, I don't trust you guys. I'm going to send grain to you and to your households and that's it. That could have been the end of the story, but it's not. He understands there's more. Genesis 42:12, "He said to them, 'No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.' And they said, 'We, your servants, are 12 brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is this day with our father and one is no more.' But Joseph said to them, 'It is as I said to you, you are spies.'"I think here Joseph's cool, icy persona, complexion, projection I think here begins to melt a little bit. They don't just say there's 10 of us. They don't just say there's 11 of us, 10 living and one still at home, Benjamin. No, they say 12. And I wonder how Joseph felt when he heard the number 12, that they considered that the family was still intact, not withstanding their brother's death. Perhaps it's a hint here of an improvement in their spiritual condition. And then they say one is no more. Are their consciences becoming awake, unseared, coming back to life? They give Joseph more information about their family to establish credibility. And Joseph continues to accuse them like a seasoned interrogator. When the accusation doesn't stick, he just progressively repeats it louder and more emphatically till the person cracks. It is as I said, you are spies.And I think Joseph here is having a little fun because he remembers back in the day, the brothers, what do they accuse him of? What do they call him? They called him a spy. "'Did you come here again to spy on us, to bring a bad report of us to our father?" And here Joseph turns the tables. Genesis 42:15. "By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there's truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.' And he put them all together in custody for three days." He puts them in prison, in the pit, in the dungeon. I wonder if it's the same prison that he was in just to give them a taste of their medicine. He does enslave them for three days, but he's not doing it to enslave them. He's giving them time to think. He's giving them time to think about their guilt, to experience the guilty conscience.And three days in an Egyptian prison would've been plenty of time to come to their senses, think things through and talk things over. What were they talking over? Which of us is going back home to Canaan to tell dad that we had lied for two decades? Who's going to go back and tell him that, no, Joseph is actually alive, he wasn't torn by wild animals. He was sold into captivity by wild animals, the brothers themselves. And not only that, they would have to convince Jacob to let Benjamin go to Joseph. Who's doing that? They would've probably all preferred to stay in prison to the thought of that task.And this is point three. Now there comes a reckoning. Verse 18. "On the third day, Joseph said to them, 'Do this and you will live, for I fear God. If you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households and bring your youngest brother to me so your words will be verified and you shall not die.' And they did." So Joseph proposes a new plan, probably because he understood how emotionally daunting and painful the first one would be. Plus, Joseph did care for them. And here we see Joseph's heart toward them, his real heart toward them.He knew that if one of them goes back with a sack of grain or as much as he could carry, that's not going to hold the family over for much time. So he comes up with a new plan, leave one brother here, the nine of you can go back. Just make sure you come back here with Benjamin. Though they don't deserve this grace, Joseph says, "I fear God." This Egyptian standing before them proclaims the name of God and that he doesn't just worship God, he fears God. God had extended grace toward Joseph. Now Joseph is extending grace toward the brothers.The way in which God is associated with the life of Joseph is paramount to the narrative. At every single most important juncture in Joseph's life, he brings in the name of God. Why? It shows us that he was a God-centered man and that he knew that everything in this world is controlled by God. And if he is to make the right decision, he has to lean upon God. For example, when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph, he said, "How can I do this great wickedness?" Against whom? Not Potiphar, God. "Do not interpretations belong to God?", he said to the cup bearer and to the baker in prison. When he stands before Pharaoh, he says the same. And he says, "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. God will shortly bring it to pass." And when he has a son and he remembers God and he remembers the pain of his past, he says, "God has made me forget the pain of my father's household."Everything in Joseph's life was guided and controlled by the thought of God. Not one of the brothers has thus far mentioned God, but this Egyptian seemingly is talking about God. One brother was supposed to remain and here's the big test. Was the talk of the 12 brothers just that? Was it talk, or would they really come back for their brother, Simeon? The thought of their brother remaining in prison breaks their heart. They understand the pain and anguish that their father would feel hearing that Simeon was left in prison. And hear these words that erupts from a broken heart, these anguished words pouring from a guilty conscience beginning in verse 21."Then they said to one another, 'In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.' And Reuben answered them, 'Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen, so now there comes a reckoning for his blood." In truth, we are guilty concerning our brother, they say. Not the dreamer, not Joseph. No, this is our brother. Time does not blot out the guilt of sin, nor does time have any power over the conscience. And God, in His great providence, brings these men face to face with their sin and its due punishment. And isn't it fascinating how God does this, how God forces them to face the reality, to reckon with their sin?God brings them to Egypt on the same path that the Midianite merchants walked with Joseph. They were together in a strange land. They were in the power of a stranger whose force was infinitely greater than their own, which in turn may have had the effect of reminding them. Oh, remember that time when Joseph was defenseless, when we had all the power over him? And how do we use that power, used that power to harm him even though we heard the anguish of his soul. We see the elements of true repentance here. They say, "In truth, we are guilty." We are guilty. There's no question that we're guilty. Guilty for what? Guilty for the sin of attempting to murder our brother. We saw the distress of his soul. They remember that moment and they say, "This is why this distress has come upon us."Joseph learned here that Reuben had not consented to the sale and Joseph also learned that they had been haunted for years by his cries. And they knew that they were guilty, deserving of death. God had written this law on their hearts, on each of our hearts. Thou shall not murder. That's written on every single one of our hearts. We can all agree upon that. If you murder, an image bearer of God, you deserve the condemnation of God. We all know that. Thankfully, not many of us are murderers here in the room, but Jesus did say in Matthew five, in the Sermon on the Mount, "Whoever hates a brother in his heart, whoever hates another human being in his heart has already committed murder." Hatred in our hearts toward another human being is commensurate to murder. Genesis 9:6, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." So God has them reckoned with their guilt in this moment of honesty and true guilt is grace when it brings us to repentance.And Joseph's brothers here are wracked with guilt and they are now prepared for repentance. In verse 23, "They did not know that Joseph understood them for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept. He returned to them and spoke to them and he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes." Joseph sees that they've been anguished by their guilt, they've acknowledged their sin. "Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy?" They've sinned against him. He hears their acknowledgement that he hears that they know they deserve a reckoning. They know they deserve to pay for their sins. And Joseph's so moved by this confession, this is all he wanted to see. He's been begging for this moment where these brothers finally understand the egregious sin that they committed against him.He's so moved by their confession that he goes into a side room and he weeps. He couldn't contain his emotion anymore. He weeps. Although they did not weep the moment that they sold him, they sold him to captivity. They put him in that pit before they sold him to captivity. And as he's crying out in that pit, "Brothers, don't do this to me, don't kill me." They sat down for a meal. They sat down to enjoy a meal that he had brought them from Jacob. Incredible callousness, just indifference. At that moment, they were dead to God. God was dead to them. God's law to not murder my ... No, no. Their jealousy and their hatred were God at that moment. And now, these same men, two decades later, are repenting, seemingly remorseful. Joseph weeps here and there would be more tears when he first saw Benjamin in chapter 43. And when Judah offers to take Benjamin's place, in chapter 45, and finally when he meets his father in chapter 46, he weeps on his father's neck.The first great revelation of his tears here was that Joseph knew that these brothers were changing. The last thing that they see, what they see before they leave, they see Simeon bound before them probably in chains. Why? This is all part of the test. Is their repentance over having sold Joseph into slavery true? Will they come back for Simeon? Will they come back for their brother? Will they show him sympathy? Genesis 42:25. "And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to replace every man's money in his sack and gave them provisions for the journey. And this was done for them." And this here is an indication of his true feelings toward them. He had all the reason the world to bring down vengeance upon them, to have revenge upon them, just like he could have brought revenge upon Potiphar or Mrs. Potiphar or even the cup bearer for forgetting Joseph.But you see none of that, you see no desire for vengeance or revenge in his actions in his heart. And yet he still does probe them. He does test. He puts the money in their sacks. Why? Because he wants to know, will they be happy with the money instead of Simeon? Not only did he return one of them individually, but he returned all of their money. Will they be fine keeping the money and leaving their brother? Verse 26, "Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed as one of them opened his sack and gave his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of the sack. Then he said to his brothers, 'My money has been put back. Here it is in the mouth of the sack.' At this, their hearts failed them. They turned trembling to one another saying, 'What is this that God has done to us?'" Not what is this that the second in command in Egypt has done? No, they understand that it's God in control of every single detail that has transpired in this narrative.They understand that God's arresting hand is upon them. For the first time in the narrative, they mention God. Their guilt leads them to God. That's the goal. Their awareness of God and their awareness of his holiness, their awareness that they've sinned against the holy God, that is what is awakened in them. They have a terrifying awareness of the divine and they're reading providence correctly. Yes, we are guilty before God. Initially, they realized they had sinned against Joseph. Now, they realize they've sinned against the living holy God of the universe.If you fear God over the penalty that your sin deserves, which you should, well, friend, the very second you begin to feel that fear of God, that I am guilty, not just guilt, I'm guilty because I've transgressed the law of God. I've sinned against God. The very moment you begin to feel that, that is God's grace. God does not give that to every single human being. To awaken you from your spiritual death, to give you spiritual life, and we were dead in our sins and trespasses, He made us alive. That's a miracle of the Holy Spirit. Godly fear and godly grief over our sin should lead us to repentance before God.Second Corinthians 7:8 through 13. St. Paul writes, "For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it, for I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment. At every point, you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it's not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore, we are comforted."Friends, perhaps you're in a situation, circumstances in your life where you clearly feel the arresting hand of God's spirit convicting you of sin, where things begin to happen in your life where you say, yes, I deserve this. I deserve this for the sins I have committed. Well friend, that's God's gift. And let this awesome awareness lead you to repentance. That's the whole goal. God wants to you to come to Him in contrition of heart, beg for forgiveness, and ask for grace. Fear alone, like guilt alone is of little use. In fact, it can be debilitating. But godly fear is a fear that God blesses, for He comes to those who fear Him. To understand that you deserve eternal condemnation for your sins, for having transgressed the perfect law of a holy God. And when you feel that fear, friend, that's grace.We sing this in the great hymn, Amazing Grace by John Newton. It goes like this, "Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed." Look, Joseph Joseph could have forgiven his brothers the very second they showed up. He could have said, "Fellas, it's been too long. Come on in. Let's enjoy, party, grain. Forget the grain. We're going to have cows, fat, sumptuous, pleasant looking cows." No, he allows them to feel to awaken their consciences so that they repent. It's God's gift. A lot of people, they want the grace to relieve the guilt before you've actually experienced the grace that leads us to fear God and tremble at His holiness. Grace teaches us to fear and grace relieves that guilt.Point four is the Father who won't sacrifice His beloved son. Genesis 42:29, "When they came to Jacob, their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them saying, 'The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. But we said to him, 'We are honest men. We have never been spies. We are 12 brothers, sons of our father. One is no more and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. Then the man, the lord of the land said to us, 'By this, I shall know that you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households and go your way and bring your youngest brother to me then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men and I will deliver your brother to you and you shall trade in the land.'.As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob, their father, said to them, 'You have bereaved me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more. And now, you would take Benjamin, all this has come against me.' Then Reuben said to his father, 'Kill my sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands and I will bring him back to you.' But he said, 'My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he's the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.'"The gray hairs are an indication of the toll that Jacob's grief and sorrow had taken upon him at the loss of Joseph. And he says that if Benjamin dies, that's it. I'm dead. And here we also see that Jacob has blamed the brothers for the death of Joseph. "You have bereaved me of my children. You are responsible for Joseph's death as much as Simeon's imprisonment." Did he believe their story over these decades? No, he did not. He watched them. He listened to them. No, he knew exactly what happened. You did it. You sinful, wicked men. You killed my son. And here, the oldest, Reuben, felt his father's pain and made an absurd promise. "Kill my sons if I don't bring your son back." But nothing could lessen the pain of losing a son. Jacob says, 'All this has come against me." Jacob is wracked with sorrow and he's so wracked with sorrow, he's become self-centered.He suffers from main character syndrome, as it's known, where everything that's happening around him, he says, how is it impacting me? And everything going wrong in the world is going wrong against me. He's stuck in his selfish pity party. And he couldn't even imagine that, God, yes, despite the suffering, he has been working behind the scenes to provide salvation for the family. And finally he says, "My son shall not go down with you." Jacob had loved his son, Joseph, above all the others. And then with Joseph gone, most likely he just poured out all of that love on his son, Benjamin. Would he risk the life of his beloved son, Benjamin, in order to save Simeon, in order to save the other nine? Would he give up his son to save the family? For whom? Who's asking this? The wicked, sinful brothers, selfish, proud, self-absorbed, violent murderer, sexually deviant.You want me to give up Benjamin for one of you? Of course, he wouldn't. As he looked at them, "Judah, would I give up my son, Benjamin, for you? Reuben, would I give up my son, Benjamin, for you? No, of course not. I love him more than I love any of you." Of course, he wouldn't. They don't deserve it. They're sinners. They're wicked sinners. And then, friends, this is what makes the gospel so powerful. It makes the gospel so awesome, so amazing, so shocking, so provocative, so scandalous that the God of the universe, the perfect loving Father, there's never been a greater father than Him. He gave up His perfect son, beloved son, who had never sinned. He said, "You go, I'm not just going to protect you from them, I'm going give you up." And that's what happened on the cross. On the cross, whose wrath is Jesus Christ bearing? The son of God, in whom the Father delights.Well, at that moment, Jesus Christ was bearing our sin, our guilt, our condemnation was upon Him. That's all the Father saw as He was pouring out His wrath upon the son. Romans 8:31 through 32. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He now also with Him graciously give us all things?" Not only did God the Father, not spare God the Son, but it says that He gave him up for us all. God the Father gave up God the Son, to save us from our sins and to cleanse our guilty conscience. So this is why grace is to teach us to fear. Because when you see the cross and you say, "Oh, this is what it takes for my sin to be forgiven, this is what it takes for my guilty conscience to be cleansed." It takes the death of the beloved Son of the Father. And the Father did that for us.So friends, this is the great news. If you're not a believer, if you're new to the faith, you don't know where you stand before God, this is the great news. Whatever guilt you feel right now, that's God's grace. Whatever conviction you feel, that's God's grace for whatever sins you've ever committed. And if you are a believer and you're still carrying around your guilt of past sins, today, receive grace. Let that grace not just relieve you of the guilt, but let that grace completely remove it. Look to the cross of Jesus Christ today. See the love of God the Father for you, and see the hatred, the wrath of God for sin. And thank God that He had made a way for us to be saved.A lot of people ask, well, how do I pray? How do I receive Christ? How do I become a Christian? And usually, people come up with some kind of manmade prayer, pray this. Jesus, I repent of my sins, forgive me, et cetera, et cetera. I think one of the greatest prayers of repentance in all of scripture is Psalm 51. In Psalm 51, we see the psalm of a man who knew God's will. It was a man after God's own heart. It was a man who actually committed murder to cover up the adultery that he had committed. And then he was brought to reckon with his sin when the prophet Nathan comes to him and calls him out. And by God's grace, David does repent. He bears the consequences of his sin, but he does repent. And this is his prayer of repentance. And if you're not a believer, even if you are, meditate on this text and pray often.And I'll close with this Psalm 51. "To the choir master: a Psalm of David. When Nathan, the prophet, went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly for my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgments. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken, rejoice.Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence. And take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgresses your way and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken heart, a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise. Do good in Zion in your good pleasure build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices and burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered up on your altar."Let us pray. Lord God, we thank you that you, a holy God, a just God are also a merciful God. We thank you for your long suffering and your loving kindness. Lord, we thank you that you have provided a way for each one of us to be reconciled with you. And Lord, we thank you for the grace that you offer us the very moment that we repent. And we thank you for the grace you offer us on a daily basis as you tell us to follow you. Lord, if there's anyone here who is not yet reconciled with you, I pray, Lord, convict their hearts and draw them to yourself. And I pray for us as believers, I pray, continue to make us people who are sensitive to your spirit and sensitive to your guidance. Continue to inform our consciences with your word and continue to make us a people who serve you from a good conscience. And we pray all this in Christ's holy name, amen.

John 1:1-5;9;14a NIV 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 14a The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Matthew 5:14-16 NIV 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 1:18-23 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: 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. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 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. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”). “I used to think that God's gifts were on shelves one above the other; and that the taller we grew in Christian character, the easier we could reach them. I now find that God's gifts are on shelves one beneath the other. It is not a question of growing taller but of stooping lower; that we have to go down, always down to get His best gifts.” - F.B. Meyer

The Christmas Gifts: LIFE The message of Christmas is the message of new life.In the midst of this Advent season in 2022, we will seek to grow deeper in our understanding of the free gifts available to us through Christ and his coming. Gifts we cannot earn and do not deserve.Today we focus on the gift of Life.‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭21 ‬‬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.” Why did Jesus come? Why was the ultimate gift of Christmas given? To save people like you and me, so that no one would ever have to be lost in sin ever again. Perhaps one reason the Messiah came as a baby is because, each year, we would peer into the manger, celebrate His birth, and think about new life.‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬‬The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Ask Jesus why He came?“…so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." "If Christmas is just a nice legend, in a sense you are on your own.But if Christmas is true, then you can be saved by grace."-Timothy Keller

Today we focus on the gift of Life.‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭21 ‬‬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.” ‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬‬ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Ask Jesus why He came?“…so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of."

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son as told in Matthew Chapter 1, Verses 18–25   “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.”   Let's pray.   Lord, help us to be grateful for the miracle you delivered to us through Mary in a humble stable in Bethlehem. You sent your Son to live among us in the form of the most perfect gift possible, and we are grateful for how much you love us, that you would give your own Son to purchase our forgiveness. Amen.

Matthew 1:18-25   New International Version     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.  But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph 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 […] The post Jesus Is God Our Savior appeared first on Cary Alliance Church.

Hello, and welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I'm Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington, a congregation of the ELCA. Faith is learning how to be a welcoming community, energized by God's amazing love. We want to make Christ known in the world, we want to grow closer to and more like Jesus. We want to joyfully serve our neighbors, each other, and the whole world. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithshelton.org. This is the fourth and final Sunday in Advent. Thanks for listening.Today we tell the Christmas story as recorded in Matthew 1. Admittedly, it lacks the manger, the angel choirs, and the shepherds watching their flocks by night that we hear about in the more familiar account in the gospel of Luke. On the other hand, it does give us a concise summary of why Christmas is such good news. “[Mary] will bear a son,” the angel tells Joseph, “and you will give him the name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Christmas celebrates the birth of the Savior, who is Christ, the Lord! Let's read the gospel according to Matthew 1:18-25. We'll set a little bit of context, define a couple of terms, then imagine how Jesus saves us: first as a tragic hero; next as a romantic comedy lover; and finally as Iron Man in the final battle with Thanos.Matthew 1:18-2518 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. 19 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.20 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. 21 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.”22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.This is the word of God. Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Support the show

Join Pastor Dave with a beautiful message about Joseph, and the importance of his role in welcoming our savior, who would be named Jesus. Thank you Lord for our dads, and now important they are in our lives. Matthew 1: 18-25Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: 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. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.20 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. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d] (which means “God with us”).24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.Support the showSupport us here:https://www.bpcusa.org/financial-ministry/ BPC Youtube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/BrentwoodPresbyterianChurch

Joseph's Journey Joseph was a SON (& HEIR) of David. Joseph was PASSIONATE about the LIBERATION of Israel. Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Because Joseph her husband was…

Joseph's Journey Joseph was a SON (& HEIR) of David. Joseph was PASSIONATE about the LIBERATION of Israel. Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Because Joseph her husband was…

[00:00:03.090] Hi there. My name is Preston Pouteaux. Welcome to the Lake Ridge Community Church Podcast. This is where we share some of our messages from Sunday mornings. So we're glad you're here to listen. We'd love for you to join us in person. We meet on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m at Our Lady of Wisdom School here in Chestermere. At our core, we're a community of people, so we gather on Sundays, but we also do a lot in the week together. We are people learning to follow Jesus and love our city. So to learn more, visit. Hope to check in and visit with you soon. Take care. Thanks for listening.[00:00:40.390] Good morning. Nice response. Cool. So a couple of days ago, on Friday or Thursday, Friday, I was showing my sermon to Marilyn. If you don't know this Marilyn King, I actually live in her basement. It's actually kind of nice, me and her look after the dog together. And it's great. It's actually been a really great time. But I was showing her my sermon because she was unable to be here today. And she was inspired after listening to it and was like, I'm going to put something together. And so the sheets that were on your chairs, she just kind of took all the scriptures that I was using and put them onto a sheet and put through some images on there and made it look kind of nice and printed it off and be like, here, give this out. And I'm like, oh, that's so kind of you, Marilyn. Thank you. So these sheets put together are brought to you by Marilyn, who's not even here today. So anyway, I thought it was really nice of her. Anyway, a few I'm going to read opening Scripture right away. It's actually on your sheet. The top there, Luke 20 414, it says this he said to them, Jesus, Jesus is talking here.[00:01:58.710] This is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms. So everything that was just to explain a little bit, even though it's pretty self explanatory, I guess, but everything was already foretold about who Jesus is, including our Christmas story. And you can find that through the prophets, through the law of Moses, and through the Psalms. A few months ago, I did a sermon on Psalm 22 and we talked about it is finished. And we talked about how that was when Jesus said it is finished on the cross. That was actually a look back into the psalms in Psalm 22. And he was actually then referencing the entirety of Psalm 22 and what he was doing on the cross to finish. He was completing a prophecy found in Psalm 22. So you can find prophecy in the Psalms, but also in the prophets, in the law of Moses. And today I'm going to look at a place in the law of Moses. And I'm going to look at some places in prophets where we can find that it was actually foretold of Jesus is coming, and it just matches up ever so nicely.[00:03:19.210] So today we're going to look at look back in this Advent season because we're talking about Jesus, we're going to be talking about his birth, and we're going to talk about the beginning stages of his life and what that looks like and how we can have a posture towards Christmas this season. So the New Testament opens up in the Book of Matthew with a genealogy. I didn't put that in there because it's a whole bunch of names. And if you would like to know these names, you can go to Matthew, chapter one, verse one, and you can start reading all of the names found at the beginning of Matthew all the way. The first 17 verses are this genealogy. And for one thing that I learned when I was kind of going through this is I was like, oh, what? I found out that genealogy has kind of the same root word, the Hebrew root, root word that the word Genesis does. So in fact, the first 17 verses of Matthew isn't just like a list of names. So you can see Jesus great great great granddad for no reason at all. What Matthew is immediately doing here is he's saying, this is the genesis of Jesus.[00:04:36.340] This is the beginnings, the origins of Jesus. And so we're starting right away the very first chapter of the New Testament, matthew with, okay, the genesis of Jesus. And it's interesting, you can see famous if you look through the names, you'll see different names in there that you've recognized through the Old Testament. I know Rahab's in there. I know Solomon's in there, david's in there. There's a lot of names in there that kind of bring us back to the stories that are shared through the Old Testament. And so Matthew immediately is telling us, hey, this is actually a continued story. We're not starting something completely new here. This is a continuation of the story of God. And then after the first 17 verses, it continues into verse 18, which I have right on your sheet if you want to follow along. And I'm going to read through the Scripture and I'm going to stop and kind of explain a little bit. But this is the beginnings of Jesus. Verse 18 says, this is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. 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.[00:06:02.210] Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in his mind to divorce her quietly. Flip open your Bible. I don't know about you. I was told to start in the New Testament when I picked up my Bible. So actually the first thing I read when I read the Bible for the first time on my own was, well, I mean, I guess I read Genesis, the first two chapters and I got bored. But then I was told, maybe start in the New Testament, learn about Jesus first. So I get there and you're opening up this book, and the first thing we're learning is that Joseph wants to divorce Mary. This is the beginnings of who Jesus is. The story of Jesus starts off with a genealogy and goes straight into Joseph wanting to quietly divorce Mary. What I want you to do through this story is I want to invite you into Mary's shoes. So, Mary, I did a little bit of research on this. No one actually knows how old Mary was. I've heard people say different things and the youngest I've seen is Mary was twelve or 13.[00:07:24.000] That seems a little bit young, but a few people have said that. And the oldest I've seen is 17. So what we do know for sure is Mary was a teenager, youngest twelve at the oldest, 17. Now, I don't know about you guys, but some of you might have teenagers in this room. Some of you guys might remember being a teenager. Now, I don't know about you, but being divorced at 16 seems a little rough. But that's seemingly what's happening here. Anyway, put yourself in Mary's shoes as I go through the scripture. What are you feeling? What are you experiencing? Because here's the thing. We actually don't know much about how Mary processed all of this. And I'm going to keep going. It's going to get rough. You've read the story, you'll know that. It's a bit of a roller coaster, but we do know if we look into a Luke 146 to 55, notice that the Magnificent, or Mary song, you can see how she prayed. You can see that her prayers are worded in a way of putting such trust in God through all of her circumstances. She uses phrases like how her soul magnifies the Lord.[00:08:51.680] And then this is I read one verse from that Luke section. I read it and I was and she says, generations after her will see her as blessed. And I read that in light of reading this section here. And I'm like, Whoa, that is some strong faith because let me continue, just continue in verse 20. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, Joseph 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 his 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 his son, and they will call him Emmanuel. First Old Testament. Another Old Testament reference. Emmanuel means God. With verse 24 continues 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 the marriage until she gave birth to his son.[00:10:14.780] He gave him the name Jesus. It continues in chapter two. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, during the time of King Herod, magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. So this is the story of the wiseman, these are the magi, the people who came bringing bearing gifts to Jesus, and a whole sermon series can be unpacked out of just that alone. This idea that God using astrologers to point out where Jesus is anyway, I'm just going to leave it at that. Interesting. I'm not condoning anything, but I'm just like what I think comes out of this is God is using someone and we know that they might be a little bit different than regular people. Anyway, when King Herod heard this, he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. When he had come together, all the people's, chief priests and teachers of Allah, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, in Judea. They replied, for this is what the prophet has written.[00:11:37.500] But you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, where out of you will come a ruler will shepherd my people Israel. This is another prophecy referring to Micah five. This is a prophecy that directly fits in line with who Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Check. In the line of Judah. Check. We could see that through the genesis of Jesus. The first 17 verses, check out of this a baby will become a ruler. Check. Yes. Will shepherd Israel. So this is all things that are just being foretold and what Matthew is doing is being like just so you know it's coming. Yeah. And this book that is for telling the coming of Jesus was written half a millennium before he showed up. This is a story that was being written generations before Jesus was born, hundreds and hundreds of years ago. I bet you maybe someone in this room who took like a 23 and me might be able to tell me who their 500 years removed grandparents are. But that's a big chunk of time. And then the next few verses talk about how Herod tricks these magi or wise men to search for the child and to report back to him.[00:13:10.180] So these magi, these wise men, they found him, they gave gold, frankincense and merck, but then they received a dream from God to not report back to Herod. So they went back another way. So God was with them the whole time. And by the way, just so you know, this is actually a couple of years after Jesus is born. I think one thing that I knew that I was like surprised of and maybe you guys know this, maybe it's common knowledge, but when I look at the nativity scene, I see little baby infant Jesus. I forget that when the wiseman showed up, jesus is practically a toddler. And also there probably wasn't three wise men. There was three gifts. We know that. There was gold, frankincense and myrrh, but there's probably actually a whole caravan of people, like a traveling group of they made a scene, I'm sure. Yeah. This isn't just three wise men, this is a group of people. So anyway, this group of people, when they the wise men or magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, get up, take the child and mother and escape to Egypt.[00:14:22.180] Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. Verse 14 it says, he got up. Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt where he stayed until the death of Herod. So let's go back to Mary. You're a young teenage woman. You are told if we bring it to today's time that the government is trying to murder your kid. Really put yourself into the feelings and the experience of this woman. The government is trying to kill your newborn kid. So what do you do? You run. And I don't have kids, so I can't say that I know from experience, but I can know from witnessing and being a part of different families and seeing that it can't be easy to take a toddler and run across the country away from the government. And yet Mary says in her song pounded luke, the generations will see her as blessed. This is the prayer of Mary. Despite, despite all that's going on, how is this a blessing? How is any of this, how could any of this could be considered a blessing?[00:16:08.880] If this was me, I would be terrified. I don't know how I would handle it. They don't have cars, they have a bunch of money. I guess because they were given all of this stuff from these wise men. But the fear I couldn't imagine living then I would certainly be questioning the goodness of God. I just know me. If all of this is happening, it's like Joseph's, like, I want to divorce you. Okay. Just kidding. Okay. Now we're going to go here and we're going to have a baby. But we're going to have to have a baby in like pretty much a cave or something or a place that's not really a good place to have a kid. And then we find that we have to be running away from the government. We're essentially vigilantes trying to run away from all of these things. And I would be questioning the goodness of God, but Mary does not. In fact, she takes it as blessing. And that's a little attention here. And here we find in what I think is the pinnacle of Matthew two and the origin story of Christ. The writer of Matthew corrects the course and says, no, my plan is here.[00:17:47.530] What's happening here fits into a larger story, and actually Matthew invites us into that larger story. And here's what I want to ask. Have you ever heard of a story where God let's remove thinking about Jesus. Have you ever heard of a story in the Old Testament where God raises up a deliverer and then an insecure, power hungry king tries to use violence and oppression to combat God's presence? Moses. Matthew says this in verse 15. The second half of verse 15, it says, and so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet. Out of Jesus three, out of Egypt I called my son, which is actually directly referencing Hosea eleven. And one thing that is often what we forget is Matthew or any of the New Testament writers specifically assume that you actually know your whole Bible very well, that when a sentence is said, you'll be like, oh yeah, of course he's meaning exactly that. But today, if you don't actually know that, if you don't know the Old Testament like the back of your hand, like a lot of the good Jewish people at the time did, you might not immediately pick up on the reference.[00:19:11.430] So I did some research, and here's the reference. So out of Egypt I called my son. I'm not going to read you all of Jose eleven. We don't have time. But I'll read you the first few verses. It says, When I, Israel with a child loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the balls and they burned incense to images. It was I, God, who taught ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms, but they did not realize it was I who yielded them. This is the prophet Hosea, reflecting on the past while pointing towards the future. Let me continue reading here. It says verse 16. When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said in the prophet of Jeremiah was fulfilled. Another prophecy. A voice is heard in Rama, weeping in great morning, rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because there are no more.[00:20:33.700] Matthew wants us to see something here. He's pulling two stories together. Is this the first time a selfish I've asked this question before. Is this the first time a selfish, powerful human has tried to thwart God's purposes? No. Has that happened in the Old Testament several times? Yes. Has it happened in the New Testament? Yes. Is that happening today? Yes. You want to see? This is the pattern of Israel is continuing even in this story. Matthew is choosing a pattern here that recreates the Exodus story. He starts with the genesis of Jesus and then paints a picture of a recreation of the story of Israel from here. And here's how it's played out. So there's the journey to Egypt as played out in both the beginning of Exodus and Matthew. The Israel journeys. So do marry Joseph Jesus. Then an oppressive king tries to kill babies. Found in Exodus, found in Matthew beginning of Jesus, God's son, called out of Egypt as highlighted and connected in Hosea eleven, connecting the two stories in Matthew two. And even if you want to continue this trend, you'll see that the Israelites then spent 40 years in the desert.[00:21:58.880] Well, straight before going to Jesus ministry, jesus spent 40 days in the desert. This is a story that Matthew was trying to say, like, this is actually like, this is not unfamiliar. And any Jewish person reading this would be like, Holy smokes, this is the same story. We've read this before we know this. Mary a smart Jewish girl who knew her scriptures probably better than you or I probably saw it too. And there's that knowledge and dedication to God that likely got her through this. Essentially, herod had become the new pharaoh. Amongst the most horrific circumstances. Is God surprised by the evil of Herod? Herod is trying to kill babies. I can't think of many more evil things you could possibly do. Is God surprise? No, we've seen this story before. Did God okay the evil of Herod, though? Let me ask that question just because God was not surprised, did God think it was okay for this evil to come across? What do you think? No, he didn't stop it. God is not surprised, though, because he has given us as human the choice whether to follow what is good or what is not.[00:23:43.940] And he leaves that to the hands of humanity. Yes, he intervenes from time to time, but for the most part, he is not surprised when evil occurs. Not surprised, but nor does he condone it, nor is it okay. In the midst of this terror, Matthew reminds us that God is still here. Yes, this is an evil experience. But despite that, God is still working his redemptive purposes this Christmas, even tease. And here's something we can reflect on. When money may feel tight, when tragedy seems to occur, when evil happens in your life, does God think that that is okay? I don't know. I don't think so. Does he condone it? I don't think so. But he's not surprised by it. And he walks with us through it. This Christmas will reflect on the truth that God, as Emanuel God, with us, is with us through it and not surprised by the evils of this world. That's what I have for you guys today. So let me pray. Let's take a stand and I'll pray for you guys. God, we know that there are hard things in this world. We know that tragedy occurs. We know that different people are going through really tough circumstances.[00:25:43.630] And it can be confusing to why it doesn't seem that you don't intervene. But this story tells us that you are not surprised by all everything that goes around and that despite all that, you are still here loving us. So may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you his peace this Christmas Eve. In thanks, guys.

http://bible.com/events/48992092 Church of the Nazarene - Harrisonburg The Christmas Gifts - Part 1Christmas Gifts Part 1 "Presence" As we enter the Advent season for 2022, we will seek to grow deeper in our understanding of the free gifts available to us through Christ and His coming. Gifts we cannot earn and do not deserve. Christmas is a time to celebrate the presence that came at that first Christmas, and it's an opportunity for all to receive the greatest gift in Christ. It is no accident that gift giving is a part of Christmas since Christmas itself is a great gift! ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭23 ‬‬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”).‭‭ Isaiah‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬‬ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.-His name, Jesus, specifies what he does (“God saves”), and Immanuel specifies who He is (“God with us”). -Part of Jesus' saving activity is indelibly connected to His presence with us. You don't get one without the other. -It's difficult to imagine the presence of God unless you know what it's like to be away from His presence, which is what the people in Isaiah's time would have known. They knew darkness and despair and what seemed hopeless. Thus, the reason for the promise. Immanuel is coming! ‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬-‭14 ‬‬The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Bottom Line: He was born in that manger so He could be with you. It's not that Jesus came to be with you (past tense), it's that His presence is still with us now! Verses for further study/reflection: Philippians 2:6-8 Isaiah 41:10 Isaiah 8:8-10

Church of the Nazarene - East Rock The Christmas Gifts Part 1Christmas Gifts Part 1 "Presence" This year, as the UPS and Amazon delivery drivers are taking up residence at our houses and the wrapping gets under way- let's make time and space to receive and appreciate the true gifts of Christmas. The Christmas gifts that we couldn't earn, yet are free and available to everyone, and that last forever-As we enter the Advent season for 2022, we will seek to grow deeper in our understanding of the free gifts available to us through Christ and his coming. Gifts we cannot earn and do not deserve. Christmas is a time to celebrate the presence that came at that first Christmas, and it's an opportunity for all to receive the greatest gift in Christ. It is no accident that gift giving is a part of Christmas since Christmas itself is a great gift!‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭23 ‬‬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”). In naming him Jesus, which means “God Saves”, we are given a picture of what he will do. And in being called Immanuel, it is revealed who he is- “Immanuel- God with us” Immanuel- The gift of presence! In this beautiful portrait Matthew ties together two important ideas, to show the significance of this Christmas announcement. God has come to be with us, to save us. That's the gift of presence. That's the promised Christmas Gift. As we enter this season, we were very intentional to begin with the idea of presence because that's where the story of the Messiah begins in the Book of John. When Jesus' close friend John, began to write a letter to share the story of Jesus- he interestingly doesn't begin with details you might expect. No details of the angels, the shepherds in the fields, no bright star, no magi, not even the manger. No, John begins with presence! ‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬-‭14 ‬‬The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. To a first century audience, that would immediately take them back to the Tabernacle in the wilderness set up by Moses. In Exodus 25 God begins to give Moses details on how to erect this special tent where the presence of God would dwell among his people. This tabernacle was an ornate structure, with precious metals, jewels, and fabrics throughout. And you didn't just go waltzing in there either- to come into the presence of God was a reverent and sacred thing. John is taking up that idea of tabernacle and saying that in Christ- rather than us going to the tabernacle to encounter God, God has brought the tabernacle to us. This is literally a history-changing move on God's part. My prayer is that whether Christmas is already hard, or it's the highlight of the year, that you will experience the true gift of Christmas. The gift of Presence, the gift of Emmanuel, God with us. Carry it with you everywhere you go. Take the story to bed with you as you lay down to rest. Get in the story. And as we do that- I also pray that we would give ourselves to him. Vance Havner says "Christmas is based on an exchange of gifts, the gift of God to man – His unspeakable gift of His Son, and the gift of man to God – when we present our bodies a living sacrifice." Friends it is in this gift exchange that we can experience new life- Life as part of God's family. Merry Christmas! Christ has come!

The story of Joseph is in Matthew 1: 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her privately. So, we learn 2 things about Joseph's ...

http://bible.com/events/48976245 Church of the Nazarene - Harrisonburg What We Believe What we believe: Jesus Christ What do you believe about Jesus? Have you really thought that question out in your life? No matter how you would answer that question today- I would suggest that your answer, is shaping your life. What we believe influences our relationships, it sets our priorities, it shapes our lives, in all kinds of ways…Over the next few weeks as a church we are going to explore what we believe, a few of the key doctrines and concepts of scripture, that shape our life individually as well as our life together as the Church. Together we want to get a clearer picture of the nature of our faith as the Church of the Nazarene, not just to gain knowledge, but to value the freedom and joy found in living out the way of Jesus of Nazareth. I welcome you to our new teaching series “What we believe” Today we begin in what perhaps is the obvious place to start in a series addressing what we believe- and that's with Jesus. What we believe about Jesus will shape every aspect of our lives, and every aspect of our Church.‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭23 ‬‬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”). Matthew has included theological clues and testimony of who this child was. He links this announcement to the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Matthew understood that Jesus being born in a stable in Bethlehem was important, but he knows the most important thing was who this child was-This is the Messiah born in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. God had come in the flesh, on a mission to save his people from their sins. So what do we believe as a church? We believe that Jesus Christ is eternally one with the Father We believe the angel's announcement that Jesus was born, became flesh/incarnate, by the work and creative power of the Holy Spirit upon a young virgin girl named Mary. We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins- This is the mission the angel announced at his birth. God was intervening in our human story in a new way that we could experience freedom from sin and new eternal life in him. We believe that Jesus arose from the grave, taking on his resurrected body, and he now is engaged in intersession for us at the right hand of the father. Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at a few key aspects of Nazarene faith based on the scriptures. Next week we will seek to understand that in bringing people to salvation, God has acted first, going ahead of us, providing the grace and power that we need to choose him. Then we will seek to understand that we no longer need to be slaves to the sin nature and its destructiveness when we are in Christ. In Christ, we can be free from the power of sin in our lives. And we will conclude our series looking ahead with joy, knowing that death doesn't hold the final answer for those who are in Christ. For them, a great resurrection is coming to eternal life in paradise. At this point you might still be wondering, “So what?” What's the big deal about this Jesus thing- Why is that where it all begins and ends? I would propose to you today “The life you are seeking is only found in Christ”‭‭ John‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭7 ‬‬“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Friends, Jesus is the only way to the father. He is the truth And he is the life. That's what it means to believe in him. Verses for further study/reflection: Luke 1:26–35 John 1:1–18 Acts 2:22–36 Romans 8:3, 32–34 Galatians 4:4–5 Philippians 2:5–11

The virgin birth, does it really matter?  Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” [which means “God with us”]. Matthew 1:18-25 (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 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.”Genesis 3:15 (NIV)“I will put enmity    between you and the woman,    and between your offspring and hers;he will crush your head,    and you will strike his heel.” Galatians 4: 4-5 (ESV)“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Genesis 2:15-17 (ESV)“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

We have all experienced the pain of betrayal, unkind words spoken, and possibly even more serious hurts inflicted by someone against us. What is the natural response when people wrong us? Retaliation is often our first instinct. But is that the loving, Christian response? When someone wrongs us, God calls us not to do them harm in return. Instead, we are to do them good. Now, that sounds hard. What “good” can we do to someone who has hurt us? Take a look at the life of Joseph in the Bible. Because Joseph was his father's favorite son, Joseph's brothers hated him and continually spoke harshly to him. They hated him so much that they sold him into slavery to get rid of him, and Joseph was taken to Egypt. That is a very serious offense, and, for many years, the brothers thought they had gotten away with it. Joseph was gone, and no one would ever know why. Fast-forward a few years. A famine came to the land where Joseph's brothers lived. They showed up in Egypt looking for food. Ah! Here was Joseph's chance! Joseph, though once a slave, now had great power in Egypt and could imprison his brothers or require grave consequences for their actions against him. Instead, Joseph forgave them! And he met their need for food with abundance. He returned love for their spiteful sin, and his loving actions led to a restored relationship with his brothers and the survival of their entire family. Joseph's actions foreshadowed the radical forgiveness that Jesus gives us. We have all done wrong, but God Himself took the punishment for our sin when Jesus died on the cross. And Jesus rose from the dead, so now everyone who puts their trust in Jesus is restored to relationship with God! Though we all deserve death, He gives us life. When someone sins against us, we can forgive them as God has forgiven us— because the Holy Spirit empowers us to do so (Romans 8:9-12). In response to evil, we give good. We act in love. We let go of anger and resentment. With God's help, we hope and pray that the offender will repent, and we choose to retaliate with good. • Rebecca Moore • How could you do good to someone who has wronged you? (Remember, when people hurt us deeply, forgiving them doesn't mean we have to form close relationships with them.) See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. 1 Thessalonians 5:15 (NLT)

Title: Joseph is More than a Colorful CoatDescription: Today we are joined by frequent guest of the History of the Papacy, but first time guest on Beyond the Big Screen, Gil Kidron of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions. We talk about the year 2000 animated film Joseph: Man of Dreams. Is this movie another kids film that misses the point of a biblical story or does it get the story more right than it even should have? Original Publication Date: 6/30/2022Learn More About our Guest:Gil Kidron, host of: A Podcast of Biblical Proportionshttps://podcastofbiblicalproportions.com/You can learn more about Beyond the Big Screen and subscribe at all these great places:www.atozhistorypage.comwww.beyondthebigscreen.comClick here to support Beyond the Big Screen!https://www.subscribestar.com/beyondthebigscreenhttps://www.patreon.com/beyondthebigscreenClick to Subscribe:https://www.spreaker.com/show/4926576/episodes/feedemail: steve@atozhistorypage.comwww.beyondthebigscreen.comhttps://www.patreon.com/historyofthepapacyParthenon Podcast Network Home:parthenonpodcast.comOn Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/groups/atozhistorypagehttps://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfThePapacyPodcasthttps://twitter.com/atozhistoryMusic Provided by:"Crossing the Chasm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Image Credits:Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6375668Begin Transcript:Thank you again for listening to Beyond the Big Screen podcast, where we talk about great movies and stories so great they should be movies Of course, a big thanks goes out to Gil Kidron, host of a Podcast of Biblical proportions. Links to learn more about Gil and A Podcast of Biblical Proportions at https://podcastofbiblicalproportions.com/ or in the Show Notes. You can now support beyond the big screen on Patreon. By joining on Patreon, you help keep Beyond the Big Screen sustainable and get many great benefits. Go to patreon.com/beyondthebigscreen to learn more.A special thanks goes out to Alex at the Executive Producer level!Another way to support Beyond the big screen is to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. These reviews really help me know what you think of the show and help other people learn about Beyond the Big screen. We are a member of the Parthenon Podcast network. Featuring great shows like: Josh Cohen's Eyewitness History podcast. You can learn more about Beyond the Big Screen, how to contact me, the Parthenon Podcast network and how support the show by going to our website atozhistorypage.com. I thank you for joining me again, Beyond the Big Screen.[00:00:00] Hi, Gil. Thanks again for coming on with me, me coming on your show. I'm really excited about today. Hi Steven. Yeah, this is a collab about maybe my favorite story of all time. The story of Joseph who shh. Such a good. It's really growing on me too. I it's, it's raising up through the ranks of my favorite story.I'm in, there's so many good stories, but I think this one is definitely top 10, maybe top five, this field that we're going to talk about. An excellent job. And I'm really happy with what the, so this movie, Joseph King of dreams, it's really amazing how closely it's stuck to the biblical story from Genesis, uh, 37 to about 50 51.So Joseph [00:01:00] doesn't get his own book, but he gets a solid chunk of Genesis to himself. So apparently the makers, the creators of the movie in their first showing of the movie to all the producers, there was like deafening silence. And the bottom line was, this is horrible. This is not a story. It doesn't mean.Nothing fits. It makes no sense. And then they had to go to the drawing board to go back to the drawing board. Actually, now that I think about it, the D even do like a drawing board, like a, you know, the, what you might call it, a storyboard or the storyboard. Sorry. Went back and looked like what's the actual story, because there are several layers of editing and additions and stuff that doesn't really fit.And they just found the core of the story, the vision of the story, hang on to it and just ignored everything that didn't fit. And as I was watching the movie. Yes, you got it. You found it just like all the, all the things in those chapters [00:02:00] that just interfere with the natural organic progression of the story are not in the movie.So just like, you know, I have a Bible podcast have a podcast about films. This could be like a great opportunity for me to just say they didn't understand this movie at all. Let me tell you what it's all about now. The story, not the movie that just stood the story, the gut story story about a family feud about forgiveness, about opening, and you leave, it's an it story with a happy ending, with a happy ending.Yeah. And that's amazing. And not so many of these biblical stories, there is no happy ending or there is an, uh, an ending that wraps it up into a night and sneaky. And we'll talk so much too, about some of the ideas that you've developed in your podcast, a biblical proportions about how this book was written.So we're going to be going to movies and literature and literature review. There's going to be a lot [00:03:00] going on and I can't really wait to talk about this. Just a quick refresher for those of us who have forgotten the main plot of Joseph, the film is called Joseph Kingston. Because Joseph's superpower is at the beginning, dreaming the future and then interpreting other people's dreams to see the future.He is the favorite son of the third, a Hebrew patriarch. Jacob Yacov also named the Israel that fatherly love makes Joseph's brothers jealous. Throw him into a pit. They sell him into slavery. In Egypt, it starts out as a service in Egypt, climbs through the ranks, becomes the number two person in the entire land.Second, only to the Pharaoh. And then when his brothers come, he recognizes, they don't recognize him. And there's a lot of. And then by the end, he tells them who is he forgives them, asks for their forgiveness. They bring their father and they're very [00:04:00] prosperous and successfully Egypt. And they're happy family again, the end, it's a happy.With a little bit of extra singing because it's Dreamworks. So you got to have some show tunes in there, but for the most part, that is the story of the movie, Joseph Manoj dreams, and then Joseph from Genesis, the aunt and the last couple of sections of Genesis. We talk about how the show, the dream like van Gogh painting.Wonderful. Yeah. That's I mean, I think if you read it, you might. I have a different imagery for the dreams, but I think that that's really how they portray them in the movie is probably how somebody would have dreams like that. It's not going to be a literal or. Uh, film type. It's going to be that the stocks of wheat, and then they fall there's one in the middle and they're all swirling around.That's how you're going to have the dream of that sort of thing. Right. They really, I think are there all of their [00:05:00] dream sequences really do justice to the biblical story. You know, it's not easy to do justice to an iconic biblical story. So really kudos for that for the visuals because the visuals, no, I can't say that.I imagined it as a Vanguard, but it doesn't matter. The descriptions in the, in the biblical story are very colorful, very grand and wonderful. That's really apt the way that, uh, that they did it. Kudos. Clearly Jacob prefers Joseph over the other 11 ish of brothers, 10, 11 brothers. And he does him a disservice.Yeah. Which exactly does them, this survey. Jacob gives Joseph a beautiful coat. They call it the coat of many colors, the tunic of many colors. We'll get into a little bit of the symbolism of that, but, and really, I guess then the high level, this coat really makes the other brothers jealous and just a whole bunch of [00:06:00] these dreams.Jacob has. Are these genes that Joseph has really says that Joseph is going to be above all the other brothers. He's like me, me, me, me, me, the brothers really hate it. And they can cock this scheme to get rid of Joseph where they, uh, trick Joseph into getting separated from everybody. They sell Joseph into slavery, the throw into a pit for Roman to a pit.They sell them into say slavery, the hen to make it look to Egypt, to make it look like Joseph has just been killed out in the field by wild wolves. They take the coat of many colors, put some blood onto it, give it to Jacob, Jacob. So upset. Then the narrative takes over as Joseph. Through being sold as a slave and to Egypt, I think he gets sold to the may a lights for 20 pieces of [00:07:00] silver man.He's sold to the . 30 pieces. Yeah. And this is was, uh, it was sold at 4:30 PM, which that, and we can talk about some of the symbolism of the 30 pieces of silver, because that kind of set off alarm bells for me. Yeah. That stands out. They make a really good job at making it, you know, uh, seem reasonable. Every, everybody is reasonable, all their motives and motivated.Uh, reasonable. So first of all, we have to say, Joseph, you're safe yourself. The reason that his name that this is his name is added like added on. He is like the added child. That's the explanation that we'll give him earlier in Genesis. And also Joseph is like an added son to Jacobs Sans, which are in the Bible, are all upon him, upon him as characters, which means that they have the name of.Uh, so Judah, the character, Judah is a character named [00:08:00] after the tribe, the kingdom of Judah, just given, uh, as a character, you have levy and all that. Those are. You know, we read it in the Bible as if that came first, but that didn't come first.

You know I love a good project and a good plan. But sometimes, we get caught up in checking off the tasks and lose sight of what God is trying to do. In Episode 56 of Just One Simple Thing, we'll learn to find God's purpose in our plans.Welcome, friends! I'm so glad to have you hanging out with me today as we talk about two of my favorite things ... projects and plans.In his book, Getting Things Done, David Allen defines a project as anything that takes more than one action to complete. So almost EVERYTHING is a project! Which makes my project manager heart so happy.Over the next few episodes, we'll talk about some tips and tools you can use to complete your projects. But before we do, let's talk about why it's so important to complete our projects well. Friend, God has a profound purpose for yourvery practical projects.Sometimes, he shows you that purpose before your start. Sometimes, you discover it along the way. And other times, you don't really understand what he is up to until long after the project is complete.God gave Noah a big project ... build an ark and repopulate the earth.God said to Noah, “I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.” Gen 6:18. For Noah, it was all about saving his family.Nehemiah thought God was sending him to rebuild a wall. But when he got there, Nehemiah found not only a broken wall, but a broken people.So as he was leading them to rebuild the wall, he was also leading them to rebuild their confidence and their identity as God's chosen people. And being the great leader that he was, Nehemiah was able to steward both parts of his projects well.Joseph had a big project ... save Egypt from a famine.Says in Gen. 41that he stored up so much grain, he stopped even trying to keep up with how much he had. Not only did he have enough grain to save Egypt from the famine, but he had enough for the surrounding countries as well.What if Joseph had only completed his project halfway? His brothers would not have come to Egypt to get grain, and they may never have reunited. Because Joseph executed his practical project well, God was able to complete his profound purpose.So as we get wrapped up in our projects, checking the boxes and closing out the Trello boards, let's keep our hearts and minds open to God's profound purpose. Even the smallest, most mundane two-step projects can be used in ways we can't imagine. So let's do them well.ACTION STEP:Look at the projects you have on your plate. Can you see God's profound purpose in them? Watch for the Lord to start revealing more about His purpose as you cross things off the list. Be sure to join me in the next episode when I'll share some tips for breaking your projects down into small steps so you can make a plan to get them done. You'll learn the process and the tools I use for all of my projects. So if you haven't already, follow the podcast where ever you listen so you don't miss a thing.RESOURCES: Learn more about Noah and his ark project in this blog post: Find Your Next Right Step to Build Your Ark Book Recommendation: Loyal Judas: “What If ...” Biblical Fiction by Lila Diller++++++++++Are you tired from trying to share your God-inspired message while working your full time job? Do you wonder if it's worth it, or even possible, to build a ministry or business on the side?I have good news for you. It is possible. It is worth it. You can do it. Download the Honor System Guide, to help you honor all the work God has given you to do.

Joseph Kajy's family moved to the United States from Iraq in his early teens. Not only did he leave friends and a culture he was accustomed to, but he came to a country where they spoke a different language and he didn't know anyone. Joseph chose to be angry with his Dad for moving their family to America. Because Joseph had a difficult time fitting in and he held so much resentment towards his Father, he found himself drinking and doing drugs to fit in and dull his pain. Joseph began stealing to feed his drug habit which landed him in prison on two different occasions. God blessed Joseph by putting a man in his life that became a mentor to him. Between the example and words of wisdom this man had on Joseph and his ability to humble himself, Joseph found himself seeking the Lord for help. Joseph accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into his life, and he now has a wife and two beautiful little kids, three other children from his wife's previous marriage.  Joseph is a successful entrepreneur. He started his first business, Top Fence LLC, just four years ago. Top Fence is on track to do $3.5 million dollars in revenue in 2022. If you are struggling and don't have much hope, Life After Addiction and Indictment podcast has guest after guest who lost everything and felt hopeless just like you do. The only difference between you and them is their mindset and time. If you're tired of letting your pasts get in the way of your future and you're ready to reclaim your life through entrepreneurship, contact Steve at steve@lifeafteraddictionandindictment.com