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We are here to celebrate Merry Christmas.

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Merry Christmas.

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Yeah.

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We like to open our services by saying welcome.

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If you are here joining us in our sanctuary for the very first time,

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if you haven't been here in a while in the sanctuary,

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or if you're joining us online for the first time, welcome.

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We're so glad you're here to worship with us this morning at Hosanna.

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I am Pastor Nathan, and yeah, this morning we are gathering together

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to celebrate Christmas Eve.

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Today and tomorrow we're going to be looking at the Christmas story

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as we take a break from our study of Revelation.

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And to look at the Christmas story from two distinct perspectives.

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This morning we'll be looking at the Christmas story from the perspective of Joseph,

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and then tomorrow morning for our 10 a.m. Christmas day service

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we'll be looking at the story from the perspective of Mary.

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You know, there's a phrase, a Latin phrase that says this, dramatis personae.

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It's a phrase that means persons of the drama.

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It's a phrase that refers to the main characters in a story or a narrative.

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It's a phrase that today we call credits, right, at the end of the movie

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when the credits roll.

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That's the dramatis personae, if you will.

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It's the who's who in a movie or a play or a narrative,

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and it lists who played what role in all of that.

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Now, when we think of the Christmas story,

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often we think of baby Jesus, of course, right?

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It's his birthday that we are celebrating.

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We think of Mary, his mom.

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We might think of the wise men, and for years and years and years

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we would also think of the Animaniacs here at Hosanna.

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But one of the most overlooked members of the cast of The Greatest Story Ever Told

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is Joseph.

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He's not mentioned a whole lot.

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He's almost regarded by some as a background character,

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somebody that's just a bystander.

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But if it wasn't for Joseph obeying God,

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humbling himself to carry out the command that was given to him

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in the passage of Scripture we're looking at this morning,

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there wouldn't be a Christmas for us to celebrate.

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We wouldn't have this opportunity.

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And so this morning we're going to be focusing in on this very important

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member of the cast, Joseph.

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A faithful, humble man, human, just like all of us

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with all of his personal issues and challenges,

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but a man who became the adoptive father of Jesus Christ,

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God born in the flesh, a man who put obedience to God above all

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and served as a very key and critical player in bringing us

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the Christmas that we celebrate today.

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But before we get into the word this morning,

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we're going to spend time in worship.

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We're going to sing some of those Christmas songs that speak

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of what this day is all about as we celebrate our Lord,

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his coming to this earth to live as a man,

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ultimately to die as a perfect man for the sin that you and I all bear,

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the greatest gift ever given to anybody, salvation.

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Let's pray.

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Father, we love you.

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We're so grateful, God, today as we are gathered here on Christmas Eve

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as your body, Lord, to celebrate you.

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God, we want to celebrate you and who you are and what you've done, Lord.

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Lord, as we look at this story, God, there's so many elements of the story,

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and of course we know that the whole thing is about you, Jesus.

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It's about you, who you are, and what you've come to do.

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But, Lord, we also want to take a look at some of the elements around the story, God,

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to learn from these things, to be encouraged, God, to take what Christmas is,

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to apply it into our lives, and to live it every single day

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as we move forward as your people.

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God, we want to start this morning by worshiping your holy name

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and praising you because you are God Almighty.

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Jesus, you are God come in the flesh to identify with us

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and our weaknesses and our struggles in every way

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that you would relate to us like no one else could.

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And that, God, we just want to praise you, Lord, for coming, for living,

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ultimately for dying on the cross for our sins, God,

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giving us the ultimate free gift of salvation through faith in you.

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Lord, thank you. We love you so much. We worship you now.

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It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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All right. We're going to be in Matthew chapter 1 this morning

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as we look at Joseph's story.

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But as I mentioned in our intro, you know, often when we think of the first Christmas

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and the story and the details around that,

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Joseph isn't typically one of the first people we think of in the story.

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I mean, even our Christmas songs, which are beautiful,

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and we love singing those songs,

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but I don't know if you noticed in the few that we shared opening this morning,

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they usually center on Jesus as they should.

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That's what Christmas is all about.

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But typically the very next priority or person mentioned

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or focused on in the songs is Mary.

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And in many of our Christmas songs or Christmas carols,

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the focus is on Jesus and Mary.

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For example, the song Silent Night you guys are familiar with, right?

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It says, round yon virgin, mother and child, holy infant, tender and mild.

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But not a single word about Joseph in the entire song.

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What child is this who's laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping?

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Joseph had a lap too.

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What about Joseph, right?

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And I bet Jesus spent ample time in Joseph's lap

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in the earthly arms of his earthly daddy there, you know.

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And then there's the famous song Mary, Did You Know?

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You guys are all familiar with that one.

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You know, she received a revelation from Jesus,

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and there's this wonderful song about what Mary knew.

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But Joseph knew some things too, right?

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There's a lot, you know.

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And there's so many other songs, and they're beautiful,

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and they're so good to sing and to worship God with.

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But one might conclude from most of the Christmas songs out there

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that Joseph was just some background bystander in the whole story,

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but he wasn't.

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So this morning I want to stand in his sandals

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and look at the Christmas story from his perspective

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and learn from his example how to honor God this Christmas season.

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And so if you'll read with me in Matthew chapter 1,

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starting in verse 18, it says,

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The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way.

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After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph,

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it was discovered before they came together

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that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.

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So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man

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and not wanting to disgrace her publicly,

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decided to divorce her secretly.

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But after he had considered these things,

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an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,

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saying, Joseph, son of David,

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don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife,

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because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

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She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus,

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because he will save his people from their sins.

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

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through the prophet.

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See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son,

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and they will name him Emmanuel, which is translated God with us.

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When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord's angel had commanded him.

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He married her, but did not have sexual relations with her

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until she gave birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.

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It's very clear in scriptures that Joseph is very much not

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a background character to the Christmas story,

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very much not a bystander,

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although Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit

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as the word tells us that the Holy Spirit overshadowed her.

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Joseph is a very important part of the story

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because he loved her through this entire strange pregnancy.

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And as we're going to talk about, it wasn't just a strange pregnancy,

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but for many, including Joseph initially,

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it was a suspect pregnancy.

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And what we see here in Matthew chapter 1,

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Joseph really goes through five emotional stages

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that we can go through ourselves when we're just dealing with life

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as we're walking and learning about how to be a Christian

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and how to trust God and all that's taking place in our lives.

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And so the first emotion that we see Joseph go through here,

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and this is an assumption here, but I assume it to be true,

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because in verse 18, we see enthusiasm.

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It says, Mary had been engaged to Joseph.

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Now, I say assumption there because many of us understand

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the enthusiasm that comes with engagement.

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We understand the excitement that comes in those moments,

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the excitement of getting engaged, right?

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In our modern world, people get engaged, and there's a photo shoot,

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and that gets blasted all over your social media, right?

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And there's pictures of the ring and pictures of that,

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and then there's a photo shoot for every step of this marriage process today,

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and people want to share that. They're so excited.

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I had the very special privilege to be present for that engagement moment

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with a number of the most important people in my life, and it's just beautiful.

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There's such joy and such excitement there.

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But in biblical times, engagement was a thing called betrothal,

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and some of you know that word betrothal, to be betrothed.

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It was the idea, the moment in life where a promise was made

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between two people that they would be married at a future time.

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So we call that engagement today.

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But in biblical times, engagement was typically something

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that was arranged by the parents when the couple were still kids,

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were still teenagers.

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It was an arranged type of thing where the parents would make an arrangement,

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a contract with another family, that their children would be married together.

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Now sometimes this contract was drafted up when the teenagers were as young

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as 12 years old, and in our modern culture, we go,

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oh, that's so weird and so gross.

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In the time, it was a normal thing that there was this commitment made.

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Now sometimes that betrothal would happen between 13 and 14.

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It could happen all the way up until 17.

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But there was two phases to this engagement process

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and this marriage process. It's a very formal thing.

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The first phase was known as the cadusha,

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and that was typically a 12-month engagement between the couple.

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Sometimes it could be longer if it was just radically inappropriate

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for them to be married within those 12 months or at the end of those 12 months,

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but typically it was a 12-month engagement process,

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and then after the cadusha, you had what was called the huppa.

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And the huppa was this actual formal marriage ceremony,

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the actual wedding, if you will.

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Now this whole thing from the moment of betrothal

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all the way through the wedding was a formal contract.

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It was a contract that was agreed to by the parties.

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What that means is despite the formal wedding ceremony,

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having not happened yet, they were as good as married.

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Even though they were engaged, they were considered married.

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All the expectations of commitment in that were in force from the moment of betrothal.

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Now although during the engagement there was no physical intimacy of any kind,

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there was still this commitment, this promise to be together.

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So this commitment, this contract was so formal and so important

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that during the engagement, if a couple wanted to break the engagement,

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they would actually have to go through a formal ceremony of divorce

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to break the engagement.

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That's how big of a deal it was, right?

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And so, like I said, while many in a modern Western culture kind of recoil in horror

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at the idea of arranged marriages,

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there are still many cultures around the world today that follow this custom.

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And, you know, truth be told, according to modern divorce statistics,

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our way hasn't done much of a better job.

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But the idea was this is how it took place.

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And regardless of your feelings about that,

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like today, this time of engagement was a time of great enthusiasm, great excitement.

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This whole process leading up to the wedding day was full of joy.

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And it was during that time, during that engagement time,

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the lead up to the formal ceremony is where the couple would get to know each other very well.

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They would spend time talking and stuff.

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Again, no physical intimacy of any kind, but the relationship was built

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because a commitment was already made.

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And so they would talk, and they would talk about life.

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They would talk about the ceremony to come.

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They would talk about, I'm sure they would talk about the honeymoon, right?

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That's an exciting time for most people looking forward to getting married.

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And then they would talk about life afterwards and what it's going to be like

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and how many kids you want to have and all this type of stuff.

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Great enthusiasm.

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But here in the Christmas story for Joseph,

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Joseph then goes almost immediately from enthusiasm to shock.

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Verse 18, it tells us,

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It was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.

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Now that phrase came together is talking about the consummation of the marriage, right?

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On the wedding day at the tail end of the wedding ceremony,

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the couple would go into the wedding chamber, then they would be together.

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That was called consummating the marriage as they were together physically,

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the honeymoon moment.

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But it tells us here in verse 18, before that moment,

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before they had come together in the physical intimacy that marriage affords them,

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she was found pregnant.

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Now yes, the word here adds pregnant from the Holy Spirit,

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but that's more of a fast-forward summary to the end of the story

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after we know all the details.

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At first, as we're going to see, Joseph didn't know that truth.

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Joseph didn't know that.

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And you can imagine being Joseph,

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finding out that your virgin bride-to-be is pregnant.

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Well, in most instances, there's only one way to get pregnant,

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and you're supposed to be committed to me.

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We're supposed to be engaged, right?

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We're supposed to be waiting for our married moment,

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and so he goes from,

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yeah, I can't wait to be married to you to, well, hold up, what?

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You're pregnant?

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Now, we don't know where Joseph was

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or what he was doing when he got the news, right?

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We don't know if it was Mary, the one who told him specifically.

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We don't know if it was his friends, coworkers.

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But either way, we can imagine his feeling.

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We can imagine his emotion in that moment, the implications.

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The thoughts that we go through is, man, the nausea in the gut.

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What was I cheated on?

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Is she out being with other guys engaged to me?

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What will others think?

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Oh, right, people are going to say, you guys just couldn't wait.

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You're sneaking around.

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Well, Joseph, since you got the reward of marriage now,

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you're not going to go through with marrying her, are you?

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I mean, all this stuff that would come up from people.

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Sexual purity in those days was regarded very, very, very highly, very highly.

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And surprise to surprise, surprise, it still is today with God.

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The purity of intimacy, it's highly, highly regarded.

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Regardless of what our culture says, our culture has turned it into whatever.

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It's just like blowing your nose. It's nothing.

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But in those days, it was a highly valued thing.

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And there was the idea that couples would save themselves

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to be with the person they married,

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because that marriage commitment was to be a full giving of each other

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to one another for life in every way.

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Now, so he finds out.

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Now, it was supposed to be a given that you stayed pure all the way to a marriage,

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and if you broke that, it was something that was incredibly dishonoring to God,

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something incredibly dishonoring to the culture,

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incredibly dishonoring to your community,

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incredibly dishonoring to your family.

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It was really scandalous.

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I mean, getting pregnant while unmarried was a really scandalous thing in those days.

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And so Joseph, who's engaged to this woman,

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who's supposed to be holding herself and waiting for him,

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finds out she's pregnant.

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And then on top of that, Luke tells us that Joseph didn't even get the news

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immediately after she found out.

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Think about that.

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Right? Luke chapter 1, we have the story of Gabriel,

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the angel Gabriel following or visiting Mary,

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and he informs her, hey, Mary, you're going to get pregnant.

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You're going to give birth to a child, right?

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You're going to give birth to the Messiah.

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And in Luke 1, Mary says, how can this be,

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since I have not had sexual relations with a man?

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And then Gabriel says, the Holy Spirit will come upon you.

302
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The power of the Most High will overshadow you.

303
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And then to encourage her, Gabriel says, consider your relative Elizabeth.

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Even she has conceived a son in her old age for nothing will be impossible with God.

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And then it tells us there in Luke that then Mary hurried off to go visit Elizabeth

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and stayed with her for three months,

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because I would imagine surely a barren old lady

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who has become miraculously pregnant

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00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,000
could understand my situation, I believe Mary was thinking, right?

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You know, if I told her, hey, I'm pregnant, but it was God,

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I mean, surely she would get it

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00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,000
and she would help me walk through it and process all of it.

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So Mary got to process this miracle pregnancy

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00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:50,000
and all the implications and all the thoughts of what would happen

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00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,000
and what are people—she got to process all of this for three months.

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But by the time Joseph finds out about the pregnancy,

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00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,000
Mary's already a few months into it

318
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,000
and possibly showing a little bit, right?

319
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So Joseph's shocked.

320
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He goes from enthusiasm to shock.

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00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:16,000
Now we've all in our lives had moments where we've gotten shocking news,

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health issues, relationship issues, family issues.

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And when we get those—have those moments of shock,

324
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,000
we get that news that shocks us,

325
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:32,000
it leads us to the second or the third emotion that Joseph experiences here,

326
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which is confusion, confusion.

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You see, in one moment in a flash, all of Joseph's hopes and dreams

328
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:46,000
and expectations, all of it smashed by shock.

329
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,000
Now he's in the moment of, God, I don't understand.

330
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,000
I don't understand, God, why is this happening?

331
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:53,000
How is this happening?

332
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,000
My fiance is pregnant and it wasn't me.

333
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God, you know that.

334
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:58,000
It wasn't me.

335
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,000
And she's trying to tell me it was you.

336
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:02,000
Crazy.

337
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:07,000
How does that make any sense?

338
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:12,000
And so in those days, Joseph had three options as a Jewish man.

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00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:18,000
His first option is he could publicly expose her as an unfaithful woman,

340
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,000
an unfaithful wife, because again, remember,

341
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:24,000
during the engagement process, you were as good as married.

342
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,000
So his first option was to go expose her to the community,

343
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,000
expose her publicly, and since her pregnancy would constitute a breach

344
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,000
of the formal betrothal contract,

345
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:39,000
Joseph could have, according to Deuteronomy 22, publicly exposed her

346
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:43,000
and then subjected her to the penalty of breaking a betrothal contract

347
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,000
and becoming pregnant while unmarried.

348
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Guess what the penalty was?

349
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,000
Stones. Death.

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00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:54,000
Imagine if that was the penalty today.

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00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,000
It would be a very different culture,

352
00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:00,000
at least when it comes to teenage pregnancies

353
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,000
and people having children out of relationships that aren't together

354
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,000
and absentee moms and absentee dads.

355
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:08,000
I mean, it would be a different picture.

356
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:12,000
I'm not necessarily saying we should kill people who get pregnant out of wedlock,

357
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,000
but it was a different time, right?

358
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:20,000
Now, that was his first option, publicly expose her and subject her to the penalty.

359
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:24,000
The second option he had was he could privately divorce her,

360
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:28,000
which was simply in private he would give her a handwritten note of divorce, right?

361
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,000
It wasn't a public spectacle, but it was formal,

362
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,000
but he would give her a certificate of divorce.

363
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,000
It had to be witnessed by two witnesses, just like a notarized thing today, and then done.

364
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,000
They were separated, they were divorced, the betrothal was broken,

365
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,000
and then she would go about her life, and so would he.

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The third option in the culture was that he could marry her.

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00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:53,000
See, in Exodus chapter 22, it tells us that if a couple was betrothed,

368
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,000
then the woman ended up pregnant.

369
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,000
Now, the assumption there in Exodus 22 is she became pregnant

370
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:05,000
because the couple engaged in relations prior to the wedding ceremony.

371
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,000
Everything could be made right by them immediately getting married.

372
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:14,000
The problem for Joseph was that he wasn't the one that messed up.

373
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,000
She wasn't pregnant because they messed up.

374
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He's like, this wasn't me at all.

375
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,000
Now, of course, there's a fourth option.

376
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:25,000
Had they been living today, which is a very unfortunate option,

377
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:30,000
I believe he would have been pressured to have her kill it through abortion.

378
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:34,000
That travesty wasn't on the scene yet then, and so in Matthew 1 verse 20,

379
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,000
it tells us that he considered these things.

380
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,000
The word considered there means to reflect on, to ponder, to think about.

381
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,000
The idea is that all of these options were bounced around his head.

382
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,000
What do I do?

383
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,000
Do I subject her to the death penalty?

384
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,000
Do I divorce her privately?

385
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,000
Do I marry her, but it's not mine?

386
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:53,000
What do I do?

387
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:57,000
He pondered all these things, and really, his conclusion was,

388
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,000
I have to divorce her.

389
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:04,000
I have to divorce her, but should I publicly shame her?

390
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,000
What if she cheated on me?

391
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,000
That's what everybody's going to say.

392
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,000
She's claiming divine conception.

393
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,000
How can I trust her?

394
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,000
This is going to ruin my reputation.

395
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,000
This is going to ruin my career.

396
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:17,000
Right?

397
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,000
Joseph is having all of these thoughts, but verse 19 back up there,

398
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,000
it tells us that her husband Joseph, being a righteous man

399
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:30,000
and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

400
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,000
So although he's confused, although he's not sure,

401
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,000
although he's pondering his options, being a righteous person,

402
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,000
a person who wanted to do what's right, he chose option two.

403
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,000
I will divorce her in secret.

404
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:46,000
But the rest of verse 20 shows us that he was still doing this

405
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:47,000
really from a place of confusion.

406
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,000
He needed reassurance because in verse 20, it tells us that as he was

407
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,000
considering these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream

408
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:59,000
saying, Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife

409
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:03,000
because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

410
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,000
She will give birth to a son and you are to name him Jesus

411
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:10,000
because he will save his people from their sins.

412
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,000
What we see in this verse here is Joseph has gone from enthusiasm

413
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:19,000
and excitement to shock to confusion, and now he's having fear.

414
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,000
Right?

415
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:21,000
What did the angel say to him?

416
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:22,000
Don't be afraid.

417
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:23,000
Don't be afraid.

418
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,000
And what is it he's afraid of?

419
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:26,000
Well, we've talked about it a little bit already.

420
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:33,000
The future, the gossip, the slander, the talk, the blame.

421
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,000
He's worried about things that pertain to him, but I believe he was also

422
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,000
worried about things that would pertain to Mary.

423
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,000
What about Mary's future?

424
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,000
What's going to happen to her as a result of all of this, right?

425
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,000
If I publicly expose her, she'll be killed in the death penalty.

426
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,000
I don't want that.

427
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:50,000
But even if I secretly divorce her, what is that going to do?

428
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,000
Eventually people are going to know she's pregnant.

429
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,000
I mean, you can't get around that.

430
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:57,000
So what's going to happen to her?

431
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,000
I love her.

432
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:03,000
So the best option that he could come up with is a private divorce.

433
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:08,000
But even after that, what's life going to be like for her?

434
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,000
Now, I don't know if you've ever had great emotional struggle in your life,

435
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:12,000
anybody?

436
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,000
Once or twice, right?

437
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,000
And you're just roiling things around in your head, and you're trying to come

438
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,000
up with the right decision and figure out, God, what do you want me to do?

439
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,000
I'm not sure, should I do this, should I do that?

440
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,000
And especially when it's things that deal with the heart, right,

441
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,000
if it's a relational issue or something.

442
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,000
And God, I'm invested in this.

443
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:32,000
And what do I do?

444
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,000
Well, oftentimes when we're having emotional struggle, I don't know about

445
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,000
you, but it makes me tired, right?

446
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:42,000
And so that's why I find it interesting when we find Joseph here sleeping.

447
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,000
He's contemplating all these things, but he's dreaming.

448
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,000
And in that sleep, in that dream, an angel appears to him there.

449
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,000
And we all have dreams.

450
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,000
You know, some of us remember our dreams, some of us don't remember our

451
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:58,000
dreams, but the Bible tells us that God can and does speak to us through

452
00:24:58,000 --> 00:24:59,000
our dreams.

453
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,000
And so Joseph has a dream here, and this angel appears.

454
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,000
But Joseph's dream, it's not a fabrication of his brain chemistry.

455
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,000
This is an actual God-ordained appointment.

456
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,000
And Joseph is told three very important things in this dream.

457
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:15,000
Yes, Mary's going to have a baby.

458
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:20,000
But I want to reassure you, it is indeed of God.

459
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,000
She's not crazy.

460
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,000
What she told you is true.

461
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,000
The second thing he tells him is that you're going to name that baby.

462
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,000
You're going to name that baby Jesus.

463
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,000
And the third thing he tells Joseph is that baby is going to save the world

464
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,000
from their sins.

465
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:42,000
Now, if Joseph thought what Mary had told him about the conception of this

466
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:47,000
child was crazy, I imagine for a moment that what the angel is telling him

467
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:54,000
here in this dream might have sounded even crazier, at least at its onset.

468
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,000
He says, you're going to marry her.

469
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:01,000
Don't be afraid of doing that, that third option, that one that's going to

470
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:06,000
bring all kinds of talk and all kinds of reputational issues into your life.

471
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:11,000
Don't be afraid of that option because what she told you is true.

472
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,000
I mean, it was hard enough, like Mary telling him or him finding out she's

473
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:15,000
pregnant.

474
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,000
Wait, what?

475
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,000
And then, oh yeah, I'm pregnant by God.

476
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,000
Wait, what?

477
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,000
And then he has a dream that says, oh yeah, by the way, that baby is going to

478
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,000
be the Savior of the entire world.

479
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,000
Full stop, Gabriel.

480
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:30,000
What are you saying?

481
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,000
This is amazing.

482
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,000
This is too much.

483
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:39,000
Now, verse 22 and 23, it's Matthew giving us his commentary, tying the

484
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:45,000
prophecy or tying what Gabriel said to Mary back to a prophecy made by Isaiah.

485
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:50,000
And it possibly explains his response in verse 24.

486
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:55,000
Joseph, you know, being a God-fearing Jew, grew up going to synagogue, grew up

487
00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:01,000
studying the Scriptures, and most Jews in those times really studied, especially

488
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:05,000
focused in on Scriptures pertaining to the Messiah, which was the national hope

489
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,000
and the personal and individual hope of every Jew.

490
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,000
Every Jew was waiting for the Messiah to show up, so they really knew the

491
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,000
Scriptures talking about him coming.

492
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,000
So in verse 22, Matthew says, now all of this took place to fulfill what was

493
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,000
spoken by the Lord through the prophet.

494
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:26,000
See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will

495
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:30,000
name him Emmanuel, which is translated God with us.

496
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:35,000
And I believe that was the connection Joseph made in his own mind and heart,

497
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:40,000
being a man who knew the Scriptures, having this dream where the angel tells

498
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:45,000
him she is indeed pregnant, but it is indeed from God.

499
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:49,000
She is a virgin who is now with child.

500
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:55,000
And that child is indeed going to be the one that is God with us, the Messiah.

501
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,000
So verse 24 says, when Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord's angel commanded him,

502
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:03,000
and he married her.

503
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:08,000
Upon waking, he was settled.

504
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:14,000
He was settled that this indeed was a work of God, that the Messiah was about

505
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:20,000
to be born into the world through his fiancé, that she was miraculously

506
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:21,000
pregnant.

507
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,000
No, she didn't cheat.

508
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,000
No, she's not with some other man.

509
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:34,000
She is indeed experiencing a move of Almighty God upon her life.

510
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:39,000
And so, Joseph, don't be afraid to do the thing that might cause the most

511
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:44,000
difficulty in your life, because this is a God thing that is taking place.

512
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,000
This is a God moment.

513
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,000
This is indeed part of God's plan.

514
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,000
And Joseph, how could he not be a part of that, knowing that?

515
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,000
How could he just cut and run?

516
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,000
So instead of cutting and running, he will obey.

517
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,000
And that's exactly what Joseph did.

518
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:06,000
I believe Joseph, after having this dream, was relieved, grateful to be part

519
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:12,000
of God's plan to save the world, honored to play his part in God's plan to save

520
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:13,000
the world.

521
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,000
And so they get married.

522
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,000
And he follows through, because the final emotion he has here, he goes from

523
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:24,000
enthusiasm, he goes to shock, he goes to confusion, he goes to fear.

524
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,000
Now he has resolve.

525
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:35,000
He has resolved to do what God is saying, regardless of the consequences.

526
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:44,000
So verse 25 gives us a very tiny but important detail to highlight his resolve.

527
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,000
It's told that he marries her, but he did not have sexual relations with her until

528
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:53,000
she gave birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.

529
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:58,000
You know, that tells me that Joseph was as committed to this process as Mary was.

530
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:02,000
He was as committed to the plan of God as Mary was.

531
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,000
What that tells us there is that they got married.

532
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,000
They went from the engagement to the ceremony.

533
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:12,000
They were officially, formally, thoroughly, completely married at this point, but he

534
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:17,000
did not touch her physically until this child was born.

535
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:21,000
And you might go, well, why does Matthew add that detail?

536
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:22,000
Why is that detail there?

537
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:28,000
And I think it's so that we know the depth of Joseph's resolve at his first Christmas.

538
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:35,000
It's as if Joseph is saying, I don't want anybody to even be able to say I had

539
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,000
anything to do with what God is doing with you, Mary.

540
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:42,000
I don't want there to be question that this is God's work.

541
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:47,000
I don't want there to be suspicion that it isn't God doing what God is doing here

542
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,000
because what God is doing is all God.

543
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,000
And Joseph is saying, I have no part in that.

544
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,000
I have no part in the conception.

545
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:56,000
I have no part in all of that.

546
00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:00,000
And I don't want to add to the gossip and the rumor that's already going around.

547
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:06,000
And so I'm not even going to touch you until this baby is born because I want everybody

548
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:11,000
to know that this is a God thing.

549
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,000
I don't want one single person to even say, no, you were with her, and maybe the times

550
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:16,000
and the dates are off.

551
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,000
That's your baby.

552
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:23,000
He wanted to make sure the world knew who Jesus was.

553
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:27,000
And for Joseph, I imagine this wasn't an easy decision to make.

554
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:31,000
You know, it's one thing to have a dream, and in that dream you hear, you know, God

555
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,000
speak or an angel speak to you.

556
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:39,000
And it's one thing to like discern God's will and to know his word and to kind of

557
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,000
figure out, okay, I can understand God's character when he wants.

558
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,000
Really, that's the easy part.

559
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:50,000
The hard part is having the resolve to follow through once you know God's will.

560
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:55,000
The hard part is following through and obeying and putting into action, applying what God

561
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:56,000
is calling you to do.

562
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,000
That's the hard part.

563
00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,000
But that's what God calls us to do, to follow through.

564
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:06,000
And Joseph, in marrying her, followed through with what God was telling him, that this is

565
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,000
going to be the baby, this is the Messiah, this is the one born into the world to save

566
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,000
the world, that as he stepped in and married her, he was committing to raising a child

567
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,000
that looked nothing like him.

568
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:19,000
He was committing to raising a child whose conception he had no part of.

569
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:27,000
He was committing to raise a child that essentially wasn't his.

570
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:31,000
But he did it anyways, in fear and admonition of the Lord.

571
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:36,000
He did it to follow God's plan, God's will, and God's way, and that took great courage.

572
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:43,000
And in that courage, we see that same courage follow through into his life, where he ends

573
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:47,000
up then taking that very pregnant wife to Bethlehem, a very dangerous journey at the

574
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:51,000
time, to fulfill the census that was called upon the people.

575
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:56,000
And we know the story that it was in that manger where the baby was born.

576
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,000
In that manger, not being the pretty, nice little, you know, oh, look how cute the thing

577
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:01,000
is with the hay and all that.

578
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:02,000
No, it was the disgusting feeding trough.

579
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:07,000
It's where the animals' food and slop was thrown into so that the horses and the donkeys

580
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:11,000
and the animals people brought in with them to the end could feed.

581
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:15,000
And Jesus had to be born in a feeding trough because there was no room in the end, we know

582
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:16,000
the story.

583
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:19,000
Nobody would let them stay with them, and so they had to give birth to this kid out

584
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:24,000
under the open sky with the stinky, dirty, smelly animals.

585
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:29,000
And that was where the God of glory was born into this world.

586
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,000
Joseph was right there.

587
00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:37,500
Then after that child was born and started to grow, we read the story where there was

588
00:33:37,500 --> 00:33:41,300
a moment where Herod wanted to kill anybody claiming to be a king.

589
00:33:41,300 --> 00:33:45,000
He wanted to kill anybody that others claimed to be a king.

590
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:49,000
And so we know that when Jesus was around two years old and the wise men showed up following

591
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:53,000
the star, said, hey, we're looking for the one who is the king of the Jews.

592
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,000
Herod's like, what are you talking about?

593
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,000
I'm in charge.

594
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:05,000
And so he declares that every child two years and under will be slaughtered to make sure

595
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:08,000
that this king would die.

596
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:13,000
Joseph, in his courage and bravery, then whisks his family off to Egypt where they lived for

597
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:17,000
two years to protect this child.

598
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:23,000
Leaves his country, leaves his homeland, leaves his job, has to start over in his occupation,

599
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:27,000
figure out how to provide for his family in a foreign country.

600
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:32,000
And after that, he eventually brings them back to Nazareth where all his friends and

601
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,000
family and coworkers are.

602
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:39,000
And they've all been able to look at the calendar and figure out the dates of pregnancy and

603
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:44,000
the age of the baby and kind of do all this and all the talk and the gossip and all of

604
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:45,000
that.

605
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:52,000
But he comes back still committed to raising this child.

606
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:54,000
And he does it all anyways.

607
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:55,000
Why?

608
00:34:55,000 --> 00:35:00,000
Because obeying God is what a man does.

609
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:01,000
You obey God.

610
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:03,000
You do what he's telling you to do.

611
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:04,000
You go where he's telling you to go.

612
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,000
You be who he's calling you to be.

613
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,000
You serve how he's calling you to serve.

614
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:15,000
And obedience to God, it's never easy.

615
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:19,000
Sometimes the right thing to do is the hardest thing to do.

616
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:24,000
But that was Joseph's part in the Christmas story, making some very, very hard decisions

617
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:28,000
because they were the right decisions.

618
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,000
So Joseph, he's not a background character.

619
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:35,000
He's not someone that just stands off to the side.

620
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:36,000
Right?

621
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,000
We set up our manger scene and there's, you know, is there the Joseph?

622
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:39,000
And is he the guy off to the side?

623
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,000
Is he leaning over right over the baby?

624
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:43,000
Right?

625
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,000
Most of our manger scenes, we have the wise men there.

626
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:46,000
Don't get me started on that.

627
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:47,000
Right?

628
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:51,000
The wise men should be two years away, but anyways, we won't go there.

629
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,000
But Joseph is not a background character.

630
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:58,000
And his part in the Christmas story teaches us some very valuable things about what Christmas is all about.

631
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:08,000
One, I believe it teaches us very clearly and solidly that families work best when Jesus is the center of everything.

632
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:12,000
Families work best when Jesus is the center.

633
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,000
Now, that's obviously kind of a given, right?

634
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,000
Duh.

635
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:20,000
But Joseph didn't know that at first.

636
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:28,000
At first, he was thrown for a loop and his family was falling apart before it even started.

637
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,000
But he found out in a dream that this Jesus was what it was all about.

638
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:37,000
This baby, this Messiah to be born, was what it was all about.

639
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:42,000
And so he puts that baby front and center, priority over all.

640
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:44,000
I don't care what other people say.

641
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,000
I don't care what the world says.

642
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:47,000
This is Jesus.

643
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,000
He is the priority.

644
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:55,000
And when Jesus is the center, family life is always better.

645
00:36:55,000 --> 00:37:02,000
The second thing we learn from Joseph's story is sometimes the best decisions are the hardest decisions to make.

646
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:08,000
I imagine in many ways life would have been so much easier had he just gotten that private divorce.

647
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:12,000
It may not have been easier for Mary, but it would have been easier for Joseph.

648
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:17,000
If he just took the easy way out and just bailed on the whole situation.

649
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:20,000
That's what a lot of guys do today.

650
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:22,000
They bail on a difficult situation.

651
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:28,000
They do what's easy instead of what's right because they're only focused on themselves.

652
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,000
But easier isn't always right.

653
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,000
Easier doesn't always guarantee the blessing.

654
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:41,000
And the third thing we learn from Joseph is I think the world needs more Josephs.

655
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,000
The world needs more Josephs.

656
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:46,000
The world needs men of integrity.

657
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:50,000
Just men, righteous men who are followers of Jesus.

658
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:55,000
Joseph decided to obey God and to do the right thing regardless of how hard it was.

659
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,000
Regardless of how difficult it would be.

660
00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,000
This was Joseph's first Christmas.

661
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:06,000
The whole my fiance is pregnant by God.

662
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:09,000
And I'm going to love her and I'm going to take care of her.

663
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:12,000
I'm going to marry her. I'm going to stand by her.

664
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:16,000
I'm going to protect her. I'm going to provide for her.

665
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:21,000
That God's will will be done in her life and thus be done in my life and the world's life.

666
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:24,000
The right thing was to marry this woman.

667
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:27,000
The right thing was to raise this child.

668
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:32,000
The right thing is always that which honors God.

669
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,000
And so the world needs men like that.

670
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,000
Men who will choose to follow God's will.

671
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:42,000
So guys, today we're going to talk about Mary tomorrow.

672
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,000
But guys, I wanted to share this with you today.

673
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,000
Husbands, fathers, single guys, young men, old men.

674
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,000
Be a gift to your friends.

675
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:55,000
Be a gift to your co-workers.

676
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,000
Be a gift especially to your families this Christmas.

677
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:07,000
Be the gift of a God-fearing, obedient, faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

678
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,000
I guarantee you that's what they want more than anything.

679
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,000
It's not the doodad. It's not the knick-knack. It's not the gift card.

680
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,000
Those things may be fine.

681
00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:22,000
But what your families want from you is a man like Joseph.

682
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:26,000
Who will say Jesus is going to be front and center in this family no matter what.

683
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,000
And so yeah, we decorate. Awesome. I love Christmas decorations.

684
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:32,000
Just not all year I'm one of those people.

685
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:36,000
I'm like, okay, it's December 1st, now they can go up, right?

686
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:38,000
But they're beautiful.

687
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:42,000
And the Christmas songs we sing, beautiful. Love it.

688
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:47,000
And the presents and the gifts and the visiting family. Awesome. Amazing.

689
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:53,000
But the point of Christmas is Jesus Christ.

690
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,000
The birth of our Lord and Savior.

691
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,000
And so this Christmas as we remember Jesus,

692
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:02,000
guys don't forget Joseph, the one who is sometimes hidden in the Christmas story,

693
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:08,000
because if it wasn't for him, I don't think we would be celebrating Christmas as we do today.

694
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,000
It doesn't matter what you do. Life is going to happen.

695
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,000
There are difficulties, especially during this season,

696
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:17,000
where we're all trying to wrangle all the different elements of our celebrations together.

697
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,000
Things are tough.

698
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:24,000
But we can't forget that Jesus is the answer to every problem.

699
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:27,000
Jesus is the answer to every challenge.

700
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,000
He is the solution.

701
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:35,000
And so all of us keep Jesus at the center of things.

702
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:40,000
Trust God as you're working through, what should I do?

703
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,000
How do I handle this? How do I respond?

704
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:45,000
How do I fix? How do I?

705
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,000
Jesus is the answer.

706
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:51,000
He will always be the answer, and that's what we celebrate at Christmas.

707
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,000
Jesus Christ. Amen?

708
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:57,000
Let's pray. Father, we love you.

709
00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,000
We thank you, God, for who you are.

710
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:03,000
We thank you, God, for what you've done.

711
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,000
Lord, we thank you, God, that you gave us your Word,

712
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:10,000
and in your Word we have the story of Joseph,

713
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:19,000
this man who found himself up against a very, very difficult situation,

714
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:25,000
a very difficult and a personal situation.

715
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:35,000
And yet, Lord, you gave us a story that we would see the effect of Jesus on his life.

716
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:42,000
Lord, you were in the womb still, and yet you had an effect on this man's life,

717
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:50,000
that this man learned to hear you through your Word,

718
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:54,000
that he chose to obey you even when it was difficult, Lord,

719
00:41:54,000 --> 00:42:01,000
that he would do the right thing, and that's what God-fearing men do.

720
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:07,000
And that, Lord, he stepped into taking what was very difficult, Lord.

721
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:13,000
We even know that the negative comments about you went long into your adult life, Lord,

722
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:17,000
as people said, isn't that the child of fornication?

723
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:20,000
And yet, Lord, knowing that slander was to come,

724
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:23,000
and looking ahead to the life of the gossip, Lord,

725
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:28,000
he still stepped in to say, I'm going to obey God no matter what.

726
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:32,000
Jesus, that is the effect you have in the life of men.

727
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,000
That is the effect you have in the life of all who follow you, God,

728
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:43,000
that you enable us, one, by forgiving us and washing us clean, God,

729
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:48,000
and you offer that freely, God, that is the gift of your birth, Lord,

730
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:51,000
that you came to die for us.

731
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:55,000
And yet, Lord, when we receive that gift here and now in our lives today,

732
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,000
when we unwrap that present and apply all that it means to our lives, God,

733
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,000
we become different people.

734
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:08,000
We become people who want to live for the glory of God, who want to be righteous.

735
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,000
As we've got this Christmas, I pray for our church,

736
00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:14,000
but right now especially I pray for the men in our church, Lord,

737
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:17,000
that they would be the gift of a God-fearing, obedient, faithful,

738
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:22,000
resolved follower of Jesus Christ to their friends and their families.

739
00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:27,000
That, God, they would keep Jesus at the center of their families no matter what.

740
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:30,000
That obedience to you would be the priority of their lives,

741
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:35,000
the priority of their leadership, the priority of their example.

742
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,000
That, God, you would be glorified.

743
00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:40,000
Because we know life is going to happen, Lord.

744
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:44,000
We know life is difficult. We know there are struggles.

745
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:48,000
But it's all about you, Jesus. You are the answer.

746
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:50,000
We love you and we thank you.

747
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:53,000
It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

748
00:43:53,000 --> 00:44:07,000
Hey, welcome. I'm the Christmas search engine,

749
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:10,000
and I can help you find anything related to… DIY Christmas decorations.

750
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:13,000
Oh, okay. Let's jump right in. Here we go.

751
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:17,000
What date Christmas this year? December 25th.

752
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:21,000
What date Christmas next year? December 25th.

753
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:28,000
Song that goes… I think I know what you're looking for.

754
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:32,000
How cook ham. Okay.

755
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:37,000
How cook ham fast. Oh, ham flamethrower recipe.

756
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:39,000
Wait, what? Christmas present mom.

757
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,000
Nice. Cheap.

758
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:47,000
Nice. What date Christmas 2035? Are you serious?

759
00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:49,000
Is Santa Claus real?

760
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:51,000
You should maybe ask your parents about that.

761
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:54,000
Gift wrap bowling ball. Please be careful.

762
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:57,000
Costume dog Christmas. Sorry, what?

763
00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:00,000
Christmas dog custom cute. Oh, you mean costume?

764
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:03,000
Christmas dog costume cute. Gift wrap accordion.

765
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:08,000
That's going to be tricky. Can I drink expired eggnog?

766
00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:11,000
No. What happens if I drink expired eggnog?

767
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:13,000
Why did you even ask me in the first place?

768
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,000
Dealing with relatives. Okay.

769
00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:18,000
Dealing with nosy relatives.

770
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,000
Oh, well. Dealing with my nosy,

771
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:22,000
overbearing relatives who won't stay out of my business.

772
00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:26,000
Sorry. Yeah, it's pretty much all the same stuff.

773
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,000
Gift wrap a saddle. Who are you buying this stuff for?

774
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:35,000
Santa Claus riding a unicorn. Santa Claus riding a unicorn socks.

775
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:37,000
Is that a thing? Search it up.

776
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:40,000
Oh, wow. Here they are. Take my money.

777
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,000
Norwegian tree skirts. How many lights one outlet?

778
00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:48,000
Christmas carols. Pajamas. Dog singing Christmas carols.

779
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:56,000
Oh, hello.

780
00:45:56,000 --> 00:46:01,000
What is Christmas really about?

781
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:08,000
I've got just the thing.

782
00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:11,000
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream

783
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:14,000
and said, Joseph, son of David,

784
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:17,000
do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife

785
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:21,000
because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

786
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:25,000
She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus

787
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:30,000
because he will save his people from their sins.

788
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:37,000
So, Jesus? Jesus.

789
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:44,000
May I? Yeah, absolutely.

790
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:52,000
Thank you.

791
00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:55,000
Howlfix burnt ham. Okay.

792
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:58,000
You know what? Forget it. Pizza delivery Christmas Eve.

793
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:08,000
No problem.