Good Monday Morning! Yesterday in worship we studied the character of Joseph, and what I called the “Untold story of Christmas.” We learned that while not much is known about Joseph, a few things can be said of him. One, we learned in the same way that God calls us to be Emmanuel or a physical expression of God’s presence to people in our world, so Joseph was uniquely called by God to be this kind of presence for Jesus. In a word, Joseph was called to be an Emmanuel for Emmanuel. Wow! Second, we learned that while fulfillment of this task would be nothing less than remarkable and praiseworthy, we find no record of Joseph either pursuing or receiving any special recognition for his obedience to this task. He has no lines in the Christmas story, no recognition in church history, and no praise from the gospel writers. Finally, we learned that while the most influential and glory seeking men of the day—Herod, Pharaoh, and Pontius Pilate—did impact Joseph’s world; none influenced the world as significantly as did Joseph. This Christmas we need to decide who we are going to be—one who like Herod, Pharaoh, and Pontius Pilate constantly seeks self-glorification and praise or one who says, God use me as you will; I need no praise; I need no special recognition, just use me. If you make the latter choice, you may be the person who writes the next great untold story of Christmas! Merry Christmas, Pastor Brent
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 12:18:54 +0000