Looking Ahead to Christmas Eve

Greetings in the Name of our Lord,

Last Sunday was glorious! The music was awesome, and the narration of the story of Jesus' birth by Mary the mother of Jesus played by Sarah Mayberry was so moving. Several people commented that it was one of the best Lessons and Carols Stonebridge UMC has had. Thank you, choir, worship team, worship leaders, and Sarah for making this one of the best Lessons and Carols ever.  

For this Sunday, December 17, I will be preaching from Matthew 1:18-25. We will focus on the character of Joseph. Why did God choose Joseph? Further… why does God choose us? The wonder of God’s love for us is that God does choose us. God’s favor is not about what we have done, but it is all about how much God loves us. 

Here is some background on Joseph to consider before our services on Sunday.

Joseph is mentioned only a few times in the New Testament and almost exclusively in the birth and childhood stories in Matthew and Luke. Mark nowhere refers to him. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is twice said to be the “son of Joseph” (1:45; 6:42). The references to Joseph drop out early in the Gospel narratives. This is a likely inference that Joseph died before Jesus’ ministry began. Otherwise, he probably would have left a deeper imprint on the writers of the Gospels. 

Joseph is described as a just man (Matt. 1:19), by which is meant that he was a devout servant of God and regulated his life by the standards of the law. He was also kind and wise. Joseph’s deep piety is indicated by his glad response to the revelation which came to him through a dream: Mary was quite innocent of wrongdoing; she was to become the mother of the Savior of the world, through the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20-21). Joseph believes in the testimony of the angel and shows no fear in proceeding with his marriage plans.

Matthew pictures Joseph as frequently receiving guidance from angels in dreams: to take Mary as his wife (Matt. 1:20-21), to flee into the land of Egypt because of the hostility of Herod (Matt. 2:13-15), to return from Egypt after his death (Matt. 2:19-21), and to settle in Galilee rather than Judea (Matt. 2:22-23). Without questioning, Joseph obeys the messengers of God.

One final note: On Christmas Eve, we will have four services. In the morning at 10:30 am we will celebrate holy Communion. In the afternoon, we will have candlelight services at 3:00 pm in The Bridge (Robertson Activity Center), 5:00 and 7:00 pm in Celebration Hall. The morning and afternoon services will be different in content, music, and sermon.

At the 3:00 pm Christmas Eve service, we will have a special children’s time. All (even those without young children!) are invited to bring new stuffed bears/animals. They will be blessed with the children during the service and then donated to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County. If you don’t plan to attend that service, you may drop your bear off in the church office next week.

SEE YOU SUNDAY. 

INVITE SOMEONE TO WORSHIP. 

IT'S GOING TO BE A BLESSED DAY. 

Pastor John Allen