December 2, 2022

The Cast of Christmas: Joseph

I pray you’ve had a great week and that God has been using you to bless others along your journey.

As I consider the Cast of Christmas, I realize how much I can learn from each one. Like Simeon, I can learn how to wait on God to fulfill His promises, and like the Old Testament prophets, I can learn to celebrate my promise-keeping God.

This coming Sunday, we’re going to consider another member of the Christmas cast – Joseph. I love his story even though he’s the one cast member with no lines. Still, he has so much to teach us. From Joseph we learn how to trust God when it doesn’t make sense.

Here’s a portion of Joseph’s story from Matthew 1:18-25.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

I’m looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.  Remember our Christmas Cares Offering and that we’ll be celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

With anticipation,

pastor jamie