Sermon Title: Christmas Gifts That Won't Break - the Gift of Hope
"This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the Name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."
Dr David Jeremiah writes the following concerning this passage: "None of us are good all the time. We make mistakes, we say and do dumb things. We hurt others, ourselves. That fact points to the reality of sin in our lives. All of us have sinned and sinned repeatedly, against God, against others, against ourselves. God has said in the Bible that our sin is our greatest problem in life. It fills us with regret, guilt and shame. It robs us of hope, peace and joy. And it separates us from God; we're alienated from our Creator, Who made us to enjoy a love relationship with Him. But instead of love, there's now hatred between us - all because of our sin. You're familiar with the Christmas card that says, 'If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, He would have sent an entertainer. But our greatest need was to be saved from our sins, and so God sent us a Savior.' The name Jesus tells us the reason He came to earth. 'Jesus' is the Greek form of the Hebrew name 'Jeshua' or 'Joshua' and it literally means, 'Yahweh (or God) is salvation.' And so the angel's announcement to Joseph, 'You are to give Him the Name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins' (verse 21). Isn't it incredible? The Son of God comes into the world, and His point of first contact with His people is not what's best about us, it's what's worst about us. When Jesus comes to us He doesn't meet us in our goodness, but in our badness, not in our strength, but in our weakness, not in our beauty, but in our ugliness, not in our riches, but in our poverty and need. He connects with us first at the point of our sin, which the holy God hates. That's the mercy, the grace, the love of God. That's incredible!"
We will discuss this passage further Sunday, as we see how the angel's announcement brought hope to the world and to each of us individually. Hope to see you then!
