Dave looked last night at the character of Joseph, another supporting character in the birth stories of Jesus.

Joseph was a skilled carpenter in Nazareth. Doubtless he learned his trade from his father, Jacob, and would have expected his family to continue in this trade. He was pledged to be married to Mary and was probably envisaging a quiet future with his wife. The angelic visit, confirming Mary’s confusing words to him, must have come as quite a shock!

Mary’s news would have devastated Joseph and rocked his world. Tales of angels and miraculous conceptions must have seemed too incredible to be believed. He loved Mary and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, but could not cope with the news she had given him. Into the tumult of this confusion, an angel appeared to him in a dream (Matt 1:18-25) with startling confirmation and direction.

Joseph was required to embrace a mystery. A different role was required from him than that which he had perhaps envisaged for himself. He has to accept by faith the impossible, learning that with God, nothing is impossible. He learns the all-important lesson that salvation is what God does for us, not what we do for God.

Joseph has to go about the child’s business from now on. His function is to provide the child with a home and give Him a name, thus linking the lineage of Jesus to that of David. Joseph is there at His birth in the humble stable and eight days later takes Him to be circumcised according to the law, giving Him that all important name, Jesus, ‘for He shall save His people from their sins.’ He is a powerful example of obedience to us.

Joseph’s sensitivity and obedience are reflected in his willingness to flee to Egypt when commanded and to return when instructed. He has learned, in the words of the old hymn, to ‘trust and obey’.

Joseph accepted the mission of embracing the child and going about His business. We too need to be about the business of the Son, seeking to do His will in everything we do.

John preached this morning on 5 promises God makes to us:

(1) Divine relationship: “I will build my church.”
In Matthew16:1-20, Jesus says that it is God’s divine intention to build His church. That church is built upon our relationship with Jesus (see Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah). The church is not necessarily about numbers, but about those who have a relationship with God. The church is not built on human wisdom or human values but is based on the cross of Christ.

(2) Divine instruction: “I will make you fishers of men.”
Those who follow Jesus are given the promise that He will make us fishers of men. The church is built not by following our own agenda but by following God. We are to take our cross and deny ourselves and follow Jesus, showing compassion and love to others (as Paul did to the Philippian jailer, resulting in his conversion to Christ.)

(3) Divine infilling: “I will pour out my Spirit.”
The promise of the Holy Spirit is given so that we can effectively witness to Christ. The Holy Spirit does not come to make us look good or for ‘spectacle’, not for our vanity but to give us the power to witness for Christ. He is not for show but for sanctification.

(4) Divine insurance: “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
God promised His ongoing presence to people. Those who follow Jesus hear the Shepherd’s voice and have God as our helper and protector (see Psalm 121).

(5) Divine inheritance: “I will come again.”
We have the promise that Christ has gone to prepare a place for us (see John 14) and that He will return for His church, His bride. We are not deceived and led astray because we are listening to His voice and hear Him leading us in the everlasting way. We can be sure that He will come again, just as He promised.

Yesterday was the first of the Christmas parties which will make this such a fun time of year. The Parent & Toddler group met for their Christmas party:

We have just handed over December’s clothes and food for the poor and needy:

This project, working with the Salvation Army to supply the poor and needy with vital food and clothing, has been a phenomenon this year. We started off with a small box that grew to a large one that grew to two and as you can see from the photos, our church was overflowing with goods when it came to the time to pass them on to the Salvation Army for distribution. This is one month’s collection! People’s generosity and kindness are overwhelming.

Paul talks about our duty to others in 2 Corinthians 8: “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”” Over and over again this year, we have seen the plenty that we have be given generously to help those in need. God has provided so much for us that there has been an abundance of giving.

Our giving is always a response to God’s giving: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9) As we meditate on the gift of God’s Son at Christmas, let’s be grateful for all we can give to help others and offer thanks to all who have given so generously.

This is the pantomime season and Aladdin’s cry of ‘New lamps for old!’ came to mind as we have been having more work done at church. This time, it was a new front doors to replace the old ones.

The old doors:

The new doors:

Stephen spoke last night about the wonders of creation, especially looking at the starry host.

Genesis 1:14-18 tells us that God made the sun and moon and the stars. That simple statement does not do justice to the amazing creation of God. No matter what man has built to explore the galaxies, he has not come to the end of discovering all that God has made.

Psalm 8 dwells on the glory God has set in the heavens and how magnificent His creation is, yet reminds us that we are individually known and loved by God as well. Psalm 147:4 reminds us that God has determined the exact number of stars and calls each one by name, yet even the number of hairs on our head is also known by God! Isaiah 40:26 reminds us that because of God’s great power and mighty strength, not one star is missing.

The stars act as signs to sacred events, as in the star which led the wise men to Jesus (Matt 2:1-10). Numbers 24:19 prophesied that a star would come out of Jacob and this star led the magi to Jerusalem, and ultimately to Bethlehem. We don’t believe in astrological star signs that predict our day-to-day lives, but we do believe that God uses different methods to speak to us and guide us to Him! Psalm 148:3 tells us that everything should praise God – even the sun, moon and stars!

When we ponder the Christmas story afresh, we are reminded how God worked all things together to announce the birth of His Son. Even the stars did His bidding! Let us also be quick to obey the One who is the mighty Creator and do His will in all things.