We're going to go to the Lord in prayer.
I want to preach to you on a thought this morning.
The theme for myself this Christmas season has been the light.
So this morning we're going to look at for a few moments the light that overcomes fear.
The light that overcomes fear.
Now, I'll pray for you if you pray for me.
Since last Sunday I have been down and thankful for the Lord's strength to be here this morning.
How many of you ever heard the saying, weak is water?
Well this is water's standing week.
So I'm going to be totally dependent upon my helper this morning.
But I think the Lord's given me a little nugget for us today.
Earlier on in the month getting to this Sunday I thought, well we'll just sing.
Then we'll just have communion and we'll just go to house and everybody can do what they got to do.
Well you're still going to do what you're going to do regardless if we just hurry up and got out of here.
So I think you got up, got cleaned up, got ready for a little bit more than a hurry up.
I mean come on.
Pardon the pun but it took some of you longer to get your face on.
Then it would have took us to have service and if I'd have let you go
quicker than it took you to get it all on you'd have been disappointed.
So I don't want to disappoint you. I do that enough.
So the Lord's given me a little nugget for us today and I'll pray for you if you pray for me.
Father I love you. I thank you for your mercy and your grace.
I thank you for the strength to be in your house today Lord.
Thank you for your grace, your mercy and your love.
And truly Lord we do adore you. We adore you.
And we adorn you today with the worship of our heart, with our hands and the worship of our lips.
We love you. I love you Lord.
Bless our time together. In Jesus name everybody say amen and amen.
As you're being seated just real quickly when I finish preaching this morning
they're going to get the lights turned down and we're going to get the real candles lit
and we're going to have communion.
Y'all can sit down. I already let everybody else sit down.
Since you're jovial I'll tell you before I get started with the laughter.
The reason I mentioned lighting the real candles, yesterday morning was the first day
that we'd been out of the house all week other than a real quick trip to town for medicine and back home.
And so Sister Kathy and I was here trying to get the table set up.
I couldn't find what I was looking for and got about half frustrated.
And I told her, I said, I cannot set the Lord's table frustrated. Let's go and come back and do it later.
So the later never happened. By the time we left my sisters and our family Christmas and we got home
the water wasn't even weak enough to stand.
So I hit my chair and as far as I got, turned that over to Sister Eric and Sister Robin.
They come in and did a wonderful job.
So this is one of the things that I love to do. I love to set the Lord's table.
Forever minister in the house, it just means something when you do that.
It just seems as though it's one of our priestly duties to sit the table.
But I wasn't able to sit the table.
So Sister Erica, I remembered this morning after a terrible occasion.
She told me last week she had some of those pretty electric candles with the batteries in them.
We wouldn't have to use the real one. I forgot that. I barely got here.
So this morning when I got here, about twenty-half to six, I came in and everything was sitting just lovely.
Years ago I learned a lesson the hard way.
You have to pre-light candles if you want them to light quickly when you need them.
Ladies, you with me?
So I had my lighter and I started on that end and I was trying to get the lights the way I wanted them.
So it was about a little dark down here.
So I start over here and I start lighting candles, three on each table all the way across.
So I get over here and I got that last candle lit and I look back and black smoke is just a bullet.
And them candles are flaming about that high.
I didn't have my glasses on when I lit them.
And it looked like there was just a lot of wax around the wick and I thought, well, it will melt off.
Honey, I'm telling you, I set them plastic candles on fire this morning.
The time I got to that when that first one down there had a flame at high.
Black smoke rolling.
So if you need an itemized report next year, if I do a report, there will be a slot on our sister Erica's candles.
Replaced.
I'm still in a fog. It's still foggy where I'm living.
And I'm going down each table and there's batteries laying on each table.
I thought, well, they left batteries laying on.
So if you smell something, smell like burnt plastic, it is.
How many of my Lord most people wouldn't want you to know that.
But hey, you were laughing. I thought, well, it's going to happen right now.
It's the time to do it.
That's my world. I've been in this week.
I'm talking about a fog. Oh, thank you, Lord.
It's clearing, though. Amen.
If you have your Bibles, let's look at that passage where Pastor Brian started reading in Luke,
Luke two this morning.
Matter of fact, we're just going to be skipping around a bit.
And we just ask the Lord to help us today as we preach what he's laid on our heart. Amen.
We'll be bouncing around through the story.
But Brian's ready to get this thing over with. I wouldn't even go have you stand up.
Yeah.
I was about to say, if you would just remain seated and pray with me, I'm not going to bounce all over and read the text.
And read all the text.
I'm going to preach on the thought.
Oh, the light that overcomes fear through the Christmas story.
Let's let's pray again.
Hey, Lord, we got to get serious now.
We're going to sit at the table.
But, you know, sometimes a merry heart do good like a medicine. Amen.
And I needed a good dose this morning, even though most of it was on me.
That's all right. Father, I love you today.
Oh, for the joy that's in the house, the joy, your joy,
full of glory, unspeakable.
And we realize that, Lord, as we've we've have sang the song and the declaration joy to the world.
And, Lord, we experience and encounter the Christ like joy this morning.
The household of faith, the family of God together.
Now, Lord, help us in our time as we endeavor to minister that which you've laid upon our heart.
We'll be quick to praise you for it all. Christ's lovely name.
The church said, a man and a man.
There's an often a message that is often kindly overlooked of Christmas.
And that that message is the fear not that you discover as you read the various narratives of the Christmas story.
One of the most frequent commands of scripture that you'll find is the phrase fear not in one fashion or another.
Be not afraid. Fear not. And over and over it is mentioned that command is given three hundred and sixty five times throughout scripture.
So I think with a command that is given that often and mentioned that often for our calendar, it's one fear not for every day of the year.
Amen. It's one for every day that we arise and every day that we face what's going on in front of us.
This this multiplied command in its forms that are given.
The reason being is that we as humans are very much prone to forget the fact that we don't have to be afraid.
And that being because we live in a world that is very dangerous and that we face a relentless foe that is out to seek to kill and to destroy.
So, pastor, I thought you was going to preach a Christmas message. I am.
But even though that we get caught up in the joy and we should and even though we declare peace on earth.
Amen. And even though we think about the silent night that was not so silent for the heavens were filled and a host was declaring and angels were giving messages out that the son of God was born.
He meant. But we live in a world that is inundated with evil and many are overcome by evil.
But I'm here to tell you, the light came into the world to dissipate evil.
Amen. That's been my whole theme this whole time. This whole season is that the light shines in the darkness.
The more you watch the news every day, the darker our culture seems to be getting.
The darkness seems to be invading. But that's OK.
Let the enemy try. Let the enemy endeavor. He's been as dark as it's ever going to be and then never be as dark as it has been.
We've come through the dark ages when the voice of God was silent.
And through those dark ages now, the voice of God lifts a clarion call.
Let those who are on earth realize and realize that there is peace available for them.
So it doesn't matter how much darkness the enemy tries to invade your life or my life with.
God has already given the light. The light has come.
We started out with Isaiah when they when Isaiah would prophesy about that.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
And those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has the light shown.
Can I tell you, we've been in dark times, but the light is now shown and the world can see it if they desire to look for it.
Here is the dilemma that we live in too many in the world today are desiring darkness over the light.
And I just want to declare something this morning. They can have it. They can have it.
God is not going to go against their heart. God's not going to go against their will.
And he's not going to force them into the light.
He will let all of mankind dwell in the darkness of their heart and that which they so desire.
But they do not have to dwell in that darkness because the light of man has shown already.
And we're declaring that on this Christmas Eve, the night the cross child was born, the light came into this world.
There was the glory of God that shined and prevailed over the darkness of the hillside where the shepherds dwelt.
And the light has come not only to them, but the good news of great tidings of great joy has now proclaimed.
Mankind can live in darkness if he desires, but he does not have to.
It's not a forced darkness just like it's not a forced light.
It is a will of a man's heart.
But I am so grateful that God the Father, who is the light and the radiant one, has so desired
that he dispatched and placed and dispensed upon this world his only begotten son.
But not only that, his only begotten son who gave his life on Calvary's hill.
He said, it's expedient that I go away because if I don't go away, the spirit cannot come.
But when I'm gone, he's coming back.
There is another just like me.
There's a comforter about to make his way.
I'm here to tell you that the comforter is the one who radiates the light to lost humanity.
And Christmas is the reason the war is against Christmas is because it's against the light.
Man would rather dwell in darkness than to dwell in light.
But I'm here looking at some people this morning on a Christmas Eve Sunday.
Instead of staying at home with the bacon and the pancakes, have God got your due on
and got yourself prepared.
And you've come to the house of the Lord that we may adore him in the glory of his light
and the light of his son who is the light of men.
Oh, John declared it, amen.
In that beginning was the word and the word was light and the word was life.
And the light of men was in them deposited because of that wonderful incarnating fact
when the Holy Ghost moved upon a virgin.
Well, hallelujah.
The Christmas story is filled and inundated with encouragement
over and over to fear not.
And it's there for a reason.
And I emphasize the word for.
All the characters of or in or around the narrative were given the same instruction.
Fear not.
It is part of our church and the liturgical church is part of the tradition
to do the advent candle.
And there is a various lighting.
There's four candles.
There's three purple or two purple, one pink and one white in the traditional advent candles
as they are lit.
That purple is there to represent repentance.
It's there that is to remind us that there was a sacrifice that was given.
So we light that first candle and that first candle is lit with the repentance
and the repentance of our reminding of the Old Testament prophets.
And we can go back and we've already touched on Isaiah.
And there were so many more who would let us know that the Christ was coming,
that the Christ child was coming, that the Redeemer would be on his way.
That second candle is Bethlehem's candle.
It's a purple candle as well.
It is a reminder that we need to repent.
And it is a reminder of God's sacrifice for us, but also our sacrifice for him.
We are to be living sacrifice.
Can I get a witness?
There are to be living sacrifices today.
And that's you and I who would bring about the fruit of our sacrifice
with the joy that is on our lips and the applause that is on our hand
that we would glorify him.
We come before him with a sacrifice of praise.
Could somebody offer him up a sacrifice of praise this morning?
Could somebody give him an audible thank you, Jesus?
Could somebody give him an audible praise, Lord?
Could somebody give him that which is due him?
These candles are lit as a reminder constantly to you and I.
And I'm not one to get into the liturgical things of church.
I fight against some of that sometime.
But it is that tradition that is brought in to ever be a reminder for the church.
The reason I kick against some of those traditions is because we'll fall in love
more with a purple candle or a pink candle and we lose the central message
of what it's all about.
And I've seen more of that than the positive side.
So I lean a little bit to the other side of the liturgical traditions of the church.
That third candle is lit is the pink candle, known as the shepherd's candle.
The shepherd candle represents joy.
It's the color pink to remind us of a rose and that roses bring joy.
February's coming, gentlemen.
Write that down as a note.
Roses bring joy.
As Bethlehem's candle reminds us of the journey,
that pink candle reminds us of the joy.
Can I tell you the joy was not only ours, it wasn't only received of the shepherds,
but the joy was his.
For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross.
We don't hear him talk about enduring a manger.
We don't hear him talking about enduring the journey to Bethlehem,
how rough it might have been on his mother getting there or getting home.
What we hear about is the joy that was set before him, which was the cross of Calvary.
And I'm so thankful today that he made his way to a manger through Galilee and beyond
and all the way to Galgotha's hillside.
And from Galgotha's hillside to that old borrowed tomb,
and from the borrowed tomb back from where he came,
he's now again at the right hand of the Father.
And if there's a candle lit for joy, it's joy unspeakable and full of glory.
The fourth candle being the white candle for purity, which represents Christ himself.
And I don't know that I have to go into that too deep,
because I truly think we all realize that he was the sinless sacrifice.
He had no sin, and he bore in his own body the sin that you and I are bidding about.
We come into this world with and we commit from day to day.
But I'm so thankful that there is a call in which we can have,
and that is that repentant purple reminder that we repent on a daily basis.
Oh, I'm here to encourage you.
You keep on repenting. You keep on asking for forgiveness.
Because when you do that, that joy of that pink candle will begin to illuminate in your heart.
And that illumination of joy will always remind you of the purity of Christ's sacrifice for you and for your sins.
I don't know about you, but I know what I was.
I know who I was. I know what price he had to pay.
And it truly took his purity to cover the sins and to wash my sins away.
I'm grateful today they're not just covered, but my God, they've been removed.
Hey, I'm telling you, it's better than any Mr. Clean Scrub sponge.
He got a hold of me with the purity of his royal blood.
And because of that wonderful night in Bethlehem, because of the stars shining,
and because of the angels singing, it was about the message from the messenger.
His purity is upon the earth.
So here we are with our liturgy of how we go about understanding who Christ is.
And it's a constant reminder of the Christmas story.
And again, I say it is filled with the insightful instruction and encouragement to not be afraid.
If we look at our world today, it isn't hard to kind of get a little anxious thought from time to time.
Hello? Oh, I know some of the E's on people's mind now that the trumpet hadn't already sounded
since Jerusalem has been at war, since Israel's been at war.
Oh, I can remember those first few weeks after that first shot was fired,
after Hamas come in, everybody began to think, is this it? Is this it? Is this it?
Is it going to happen? Is it going to happen? Is the Lord coming right now?
Is this good? It could be tomorrow.
And so we get anxious about the events of prophecy.
But no, it's more than that.
We get anxious about the events of our surrounding.
We see how dark and how dim our country's topsy-turvy,
our country's political realm is upside down and getting crazier by the day.
And the more I look at it, yes, I begin to get a little bit anxious,
not worried over it, but anxious for His coming. Hallelujah.
I get a little more anxious every day. Amen.
I'd rather watch the green arrow as to watch Fox News.
Because all it is is the enemy now again trying to inundate with fear.
Oh, you're not going to make it. You're not going to have this.
You're not going to take your job. Your job's going away.
This is going to happen. That's going to happen.
Let me tell you, all of that can happen,
and it still won't change the fact that God still sits upon the throne.
We have our liturgy to remind us of the faithfulness of God.
It's the faithfulness of the prophecy.
It's the faithfulness of repentance and cleanliness given.
Amen. It's the faithfulness knowing that on our journey,
He will always be present, and always not only present,
of our time, joy can come in spite of happiness.
Oh, I'm here to tell you, you can be full of joy and not be happy.
Oh, my, my, my, happiness is a circumstance
related to events that take place around us.
But joy has nothing to do with the events of my day tomorrow
or how sick I was last week.
The joy that I have in my soul is in this knowing
that He bought the price and paid it for me.
I am saying that I may be full of joy in knowing
that this Christmas yuletide season is a proclamation of His birth,
and His proclamation of His advent and His birth
gives me hope for the prophecy of the advent of His return,
because I'm here to tell you, He is coming back,
and He's coming back in glory.
He's coming back full in power, and I don't have to be afraid
of whatever may come.
All of the characters around the story heard fear not from the messenger.
In Genesis 1.13, we have the story and the narrative.
Zacharias, a priest, and his wife Elizabeth.
You say, well, that's not part of the Christmas story.
Oh, yes, it is, because you see, she's about to bring John,
the last of the Old Testament prophets, into the world,
who was not the light, but was the forerunner of the light.
About six months prior to Mary's conception,
old Zacharias, the lot was drawn.
It was his time.
It was his division of the family, and he was going in,
and the lot was drawn for him to go in and offer incense in the temple.
My Lord, that's an honor.
Probably only come once, maybe twice in the lifetime of a priest
as it's rotated around, but the lot fell on him.
Can I tell you, God doesn't do anything by accident.
Everybody needs to hear that in this house this morning.
The favor that's about to come your way isn't an accident.
God, who orders the steps of a good man every day,
of a good woman every day, he's got your steps ordered.
It just so happened that it was ordered that Zacharias,
it would be his time to come in and offer up the incense.
Can you imagine coming before the altar of the Lord,
and you're setting a blaze and setting a flame,
and bringing the incense unto Jehovah God?
Oh, come on, somebody.
Oh, and that's what we do on a weekly basis.
We come in here, and we offer the incense of praise.
We come in here, and we offer the incense of prayer,
and we lift it up before the Lord, but he's there with incense,
the sweet smelling savor, and he's come before the Lord.
And while he's there, all of a sudden, Gabriel appears,
this angel appears before him, and let's read here just a little bit.
Let's read just a little bit.
As that angel comes and stands before him,
as the angel comes and stands before him,
as he's there at the altar, there's something that happens.
Zacharias, the priest, encountered Gabriel, God's messenger.
He was troubled, and fear fell on him,
but the angel said unto him, fear not.
Now, you've got to get a little understanding here.
What he saw was not what we portray as angels today.
He's not some little Tinkerbell angel with wings on his back.
Gabriel come, if you'll read the account,
Gabriel come from standing in the presence of the Lord.
Gabriel is a warring angel, and all of a sudden,
here's a man of war standing in the temple
who had been in the presence of the Lord.
And here's old Zacharias, he's an old man,
and he's lighting the incense,
and now there's something that begins to happen.
Here stands the angel, the messenger of the Lord.
He was not no wink-whiplish-de-thing.
He was a man, he was a man-angel, my God.
He was a warring angel, and he stands,
and all of a sudden, he gives a message to an old man.
Fear not.
Now, I don't know if that calmed his nerves or not.
I'd probably still been shaking.
He wasn't seeing no little old weak something.
He's seeing the angel of the Lord.
Gabriel, who had been standing in the presence of the Lord,
got from the lips of the Father, go down and talk to Zacharias.
I've got a message for him,
and the first thing I want him to know is
is he does not have to be afraid of you,
and he doesn't have to be afraid of me.
And then that little three-letter word,
four, fear not.
Here comes the context.
He said, four, your prayer has been heard.
My God, somebody in here needs to hear
a Christmas message this morning.
You don't have to be afraid.
You don't need an angel to tell you.
God himself is telling you there's something
that's already been declared in your life and in your spirit,
and you don't have to be afraid,
for your prayer has been heard.
My God, you've been praying.
You've been seeking God this live long year,
but I'm here to tell you today that God has heard your prayer.
I'm here to tell you today that God knows what you're going through.
Oh, listen to me, my brother, while I got you on the phone.
God is going to send you a word.
God has already sent you a message.
The angel of the Lord has come from the presence of God,
and he said, fear not, four, your prayer has already been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth is going to have a baby,
and you're going to call him John.
Scripture said that Zechariah was troubled.
He was troubled.
Fear fell on him, but then he got his answer,
fear not, four, thy prayer has been heard.
Somebody need to know that this morning.
Don't be scared.
You don't have to be scared.
Your prayer has been heard.
You don't have to let the trouble of life weigh you down and overwhelm you.
I saw some of you translating that word scared.
If you need help, y'all go ahead and help them, it's around you.
Translate that redneck, the vine knackler.
I wasn't known as a redneck theologian at seminary for nothing.
You don't have to be afraid anymore.
God's heard your prayer.
What does that mean, act like it?
Don't pull a Zechariah.
He was troubled and he stumbled in a little bit of doubt.
Well, how can this be?
Hey, I'm old and she's old.
My Lord, if anybody ought to knew the story,
Zechariah ought to knew the story of Abraham and Sarah.
And if God can do it once, he can do it again.
And let me just tell you something,
if you've never heard of yours being done,
he can do yours and it be the first one.
Hallelujah.
There's nothing impossible for those that believe,
but the key to this is believing.
You got to keep on believing.
You got to keep on trusting.
Even though trouble is all around you,
even though trouble is set in on your life,
get yourself up and get yourself out.
And don't be afraid because he's already proclaimed it over your life.
Your prayer has been heard.
Zechariah had one job to do.
It was get home to Sister Elizabeth.
Should have had children's shirts to date.
Well, at least they're hearing it from up here, not on their phone.
He had one job to do.
The light that overcomes fear.
You don't have to be afraid.
You continue on in that passage in Luke,
that first chapter you make your way to verse 30.
And in that 30th verse you hear Gabriel's visit to Mary.
That little maid, that little handmaid,
that little visit to that little handmaid.
And when God visits the little handmaid,
when the messenger stands before her, she too is troubled.
I'll read it.
Verse 29, when she sees him, she is troubled.
When she sees Gabriel, she is troubled.
She gets shuddered.
She gets fearful.
What is it that I've done?
You got to remember the day and time in which Mary is in.
Oh, she's in an anti-woman world.
That's what the feminists say today.
But there she was and something was about to happen to her.
And she heard the message from the messenger.
Let me tell you, God never sends a messenger
unless he sends him with a message.
If an angel ever stands up in front of you,
shut your mouth and listen to what he's got to say.
Because God has dispatched him in your direction.
Here's this little handmaid.
And now she's troubled because standing before her is Gabriel.
The same guy that scared Zacharias
is standing in front of this little teenage maiden.
And now she's about to hear something
that's going to rock her world.
The first message he gives her is,
Hell, oh, pay attention, listen closely.
Oh, you who have found favor in the eyes of God,
my, my, my, my, what has that got to do with me?
Who am I?
Here, Mary, is what's going to happen to you.
The Holy Ghost is going to come upon you.
And after the Holy Ghost has come upon you,
you're going to conceive, and that which is conceived in you
is going to be the Son of the living God.
And you're going to bring him in.
And you're going to, come on now.
It's that wonderful message of fear not.
The angel said to her, fear not.
But now we get her what for.
Her what for is this,
for thou hast found favor in the eyes of God.
Oh, let me tell you something this morning.
You have found favor in the eyes of God
by virtue of you being in his house today.
His favor is extended over your life.
The Greek word there, charis, denotes understanding
and disposition, an undeserved disposition toward someone.
Undeserved actions, listen, of love and compassion
that originate from within the heart and the will of the giver.
Let me do that one more time.
This charis, this favor, it denotes
undeserved disposition toward someone.
Undeserved actions of love and compassion
that originate from within the heart and will of the giver.
And the angel's message was heard to her this,
for thou hast found favor with God,
the one whose will is about to be bestowed upon her.
This undeserved favor, this undeserved love,
oh, my, my, my, he said you have found favor.
God is going to denote to you his will.
He has chosen to bless your life.
He has chosen you.
Can I tell somebody, if you're here this morning
under the sound of my voice, and if he's calling you as a sinner,
oh, my Lord, favor has come your way this morning.
If you feel the sin of your heart echoing through the chambers of your soul,
it's because the hand of the Spirit of God
is knocking and drawing your attention
that lets you know favor is being extended towards you.
Now, to those of us this morning who have already accepted
the favor that has been denoted upon us,
can somebody give him a good praise in his house
because we have heard the declaration,
fear not, folks, somebody needs to know it today.
You don't have to be afraid of life.
You don't have to be afraid of the events of life
and the circumstances of life because favor is being put upon you.
His will is the will of the giver.
It's the will and the favor of the giver,
and it is God with God.
He is the giver.
You don't have to be afraid.
Well, I'm going to be an unwed pregnant lady in a society
that may stone me to death.
Don't be afraid.
Can I tell you if the messenger tells you that, you can take it.
And if the messenger tells you you have found favor,
don't worry about any stones
because they're not going to come against you.
Doesn't mean you may not get thrown down in the street.
Oh, do I have to preach a little of that this morning.
That woman who was caught in the very act of adultery,
not in the aftermath of it, not in what had taken place,
but who was caught in the very deed at the very moment,
they drug her out and they cast her at the feet of Jesus.
And they said to the Lord,
the law of Moses says that we ought to stone her.
What do you say?
And this is what I love about the Lord.
He didn't say a word.
He knelt down with a finger that come from the throne of heaven.
He began to trace something in the sands of the earth.
Amen.
The same finger that may have carved out the seas of Galilee.
I don't know, but there he was and he began to write
and he began to trace on the ground.
And then he would stand up and wipe his hands and knock the dust off.
And the next thing she hears is he that is without sin,
you go ahead and cast the first stone.
My God.
All we heard was the echoes through eternity of every stone
falling from the hand of those who had been convicted of their own sin
and it fell to the ground.
Oh, and he says, get up, young lady, get up out of that dirt.
Oh, where are the accusers?
She said, I don't know.
He said, go, go somewhere else.
You depart from before me because they haven't accused you
and neither can I accuse you.
Go and sin no more.
That is the reality of the moment.
It's to go without sin.
Fear not.
I guess he heard enough of that.
They won't call me much at church time.
Fear not.
The light brings favor.
Favor.
You don't have to be afraid because he is the giver,
compassion that originates from within the heart and the will of the giver.
That's the Lord.
It's God himself.
It's from his heart.
I'm running out of gas and we've got two more to go.
You got a few minutes?
Matthew 1 20.
We have Joseph in the narrative now.
I think the sequence of events had to have been Zachariah and Elizabeth,
then Mary, then made his way to Joseph.
Verse 20, Joseph, the scripture says,
while he fought on these things,
you got to read into the story, into the narrative here.
Mary's already told him.
She's expecting.
And Gabriel hadn't showed up yet.
The messenger hadn't come yet.
And Joseph is pondering what to do.
And man knows what pondering is.
He's sitting over there with a couple goats milked,
figuring out what am I going to do?
I really love this girl.
If he hadn't already loved Mary, it wouldn't have been a second thought.
So he's pondering.
He hadn't went and got his bride yet.
They're betrothed.
Don't have time to get into that betrothal.
It was a time span.
So he's thinking, what's he going to do?
What am I going to do about this situation?
And he'd already pondered to the point.
He loved her enough that he didn't want to make a public spectacle out of her.
And he was going to take her away secretly until that come to pass.
You ever wondered why God chose Joseph?
Right there it is.
He made the right decision before the messenger showed up.
He made his right decision head on in the face of fear.
Oh, my God, I ain't got the strength to preach that.
He made the right decision before the messenger appears.
So let's pick up where the messenger comes on the scene.
Well, he thought on these things, behold, the angel appeared unto him.
Listen to this greeting, this salutation.
Joseph, thou son of David.
See, that don't mean a whole lot.
That don't mean a whole lot to most of us.
But when Gabriel stands before Joseph and he identifies him by his lineage,
his lineage is traced out all the way through in Matthew's gospel
so that there could be no doubt even on that side of the earthly things
that Christ would be the Christ.
Ah, come on.
He said, fear not.
But then that follow up four.
Fear not. That should be enough for us, right?
For behold, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Now, look here.
We ain't even got to Pentecost yet.
They ain't even been anywhere near enough a room.
But there's an Old Testament doctrine of the Holy Ghost.
He'd been around a long time.
He didn't just show up and act.
You see, it'd be the Holy Ghost, it'd be the Spirit of God
that would sit upon the prophets and then lift up off, sit down, pick up.
When the Spirit moved on them,
when Isaiah felt that, I call it the uncha,
when he felt his help show up,
when you ever hear me say, well, my help just showed up,
what I'm telling you is the Holy Ghost had just started bearing witness
in my spirit and something's about to come forth.
When Isaiah's help showed up, when Ezekiel's help showed up,
when Amos' help showed up, when Daniel's help showed up,
come on with me now, when Jeremiah's help showed up,
when the Holy Ghost sat on them,
they would stand in whatever state they were in,
whatever condition they were in, whatever circumstance they were in
and speak forth the word and the wisdom and the prophecies of God Almighty.
Here we have it now.
The Holy Ghost has done this thing.
Now look who he's talking to.
He's talking to Joseph.
Mary's encounter with Gabriel, I don't know how that's going to happen.
I haven't known a man.
Don't be afraid, it's going to happen.
Joseph, you're a good man.
You made the right decision before my messenger got there.
But now that he's here, we're just going to give you some explanation.
How many of you have ever pondered that why me scenario?
Oh, come on now.
Why is this happening to me?
Huh?
How come I'm in trouble?
How come this has to happen to me?
Well, why not me?
There's some things that's happened in my life that I don't wish on anyone else.
Come on.
So here's Joseph while he's thinking on these things.
He's thinking a lot of stuff that came to the right conclusion.
And by virtue of coming to the right conclusion,
the messenger said, well, we'll just go ahead and explain it to you, Joseph.
Don't be afraid, fear not, for that that's in her is of the Holy Ghost.
That settled it for him.
That settled it for you.
Joseph, we never see him question again, never see him think about anything after.
We just see him being the father that Jesus needed on the earth.
Amen.
Lastly, further in that second chapter, shepherds are abiding on the hillside.
The glory of the Lord shines.
And the angel said, fear not, fear not.
And then he gets his what for?
They get their what for?
For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people for unto you.
They got a double for.
They got a two for one.
They got a two for.
For unto you is born.
This day.
A savior.
Which is Christ the Lord.
You know, there's something about that impending.
Sakurai had to wait and because of his doubt, he was stricken dumb.
He couldn't speak.
You go back and read that story, that part of the narrative.
He was in there longer than he should have been in there.
And the people outside were getting worried about it.
He's an old man, you know.
They were worried about him being in there so long.
He took his time with the messenger.
We're about to take our time with the message.
For unto you is born.
This day.
Sakurai had to wait for John.
Mary and Joseph had to wait for Jesus.
The shepherds just got to go right in.
This day.
And what's born to you is good news.
And it's not just good news to you.
It's good news to all people.
Fear not.
You don't have to be afraid.
We don't have to live in fear.
We don't have to live under the threats of anxiety overwhelming us.
You don't have to have panic attacks.
I know how the enemy works.
Probably many of you in this room find yourself in enclosed places
and it just overwhelms you.
You may even find yourself in crowded places and all of a sudden you're overwhelmed
with a fear of anxiousness.
I'm here to encourage you this morning to fear not.
For that day our Savior was born.
Why are we so passionate?
Why am I so passionate about Christmas?
Because I know how the enemy works.
I know how he works in God's people.
I know how he works against you.
How he works against your mind.
I know how you get troubled.
I know how you feel overwhelmed.
I don't have to know the need.
I don't have to know the circumstances.
I can read it on your faces.
I'm just here to tell you the light that overcomes your fear is still on.
Stand with me.
I'm going to pray an Indian prayer.
Pastor Brian, if you'll get the light set and start getting ready,
we'll get ready for communion.
When you come to the tables this morning, several years ago the Lord laid this on my heart,
how to go about communion.
There's something wonderful and something special about sitting at the table.
That's why we fellowship.
That's why fellowship is important throughout the church, venues,
because we learn each other.
We grow closer to each other at the tables.
My mind goes to the disciples that first night as they were seated with the Lord.
He's instructing them of the events that are about to take place.
So to be seated at the table, when you come to the table with your family or the church family,
there's going to be ministers at your table.
Brother DeWayne and Brother Ron Wood, would you all come and just stand over here.
Brother Mills and if you and Brother Carter would stand over to my right where Pastor Brian's at now.
Pastor Terry, I want you to be in one of the first waves of communion so then you can swap out
with Sister Robin on the piano, Brother Terry's going to play for us in worship.
So what they're going to do when you come and sit at the table,
they're going to ask you if you have any prayer needs, prayer requests.
And you're going to share that at the table.
And then you're going to pray together over everybody's need.
Then when that prayer is concluded, they're going to distribute to you the elements
and pray over the elements.
And so by virtue of being at the table, you don't have to be in a hurry.
I'm going to have a dismissal prayer this morning at the conclusion when you finish,
if you want to sit in the presence of the Lord, by all means.
But after you finish with communion, you consider yourself dismissed
and have a wonderful Christmas Eve and a wonderful Christmas day.
Sister Kathy and I wish you a Merry Christmas from our heart, from our home, from our family to you.
Merry Christmas. Father, I love you.
I thank you for your help today for this wonderful message you've given me.
I feel it in my heart. I needed to hear it to fear not, to not be afraid,
no matter what's going on or what's going on around us.
Then we can sit at your table and thank you for the gift.
Your greatest gift was not the manger, not Calvary, but your resurrection,
because you rose from the dead.
And I thank you today, Lord.
I thank you for those who are here and I pray over our church family that they fear not.
In Jesus' lovely name.