The Gamechanger (120623)
Pastor Joseph Campbell
Wednesday Evening • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 38:00
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Announcements
Announcements
Praise - Scott Peterson
Praise - Pastor Scott
Yes and "All the time God is good!" Earlier I requested that you not share details of my diagnosis but now that we have answers, please let the church family know that we very much appreciate their prayers on my behalf.
We believe the PET Scan showing no cancer in my body is a direct result of God's people praying and God answering those prayers. The oncologist even agreed with this.
The oncologist stated that with the type of cancer that was in the lymph node there could be residual cancer cells in my body that did not show up and that is the reason he recommends having chemotherapy.
Please ask the church to pray for me to have the mind of God and do his will concerning taking the chemotherapy. Thank you again for caring and praying.
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Current Events
Current Events
Time Magazine has named their “Person of the Year.”
It is Taylor Swift!
“It’s hard to see history when you’re in the middle of it, harder still to distinguish Swift’s impact on the culture from her celebrity, which emits so much light it can be blinding,” Time magazine’s Sam Lansky wrote of Swift’s influence in the article.
“If you’re skeptical, consider it: How many conversations did you have about Taylor Swift this year? How many times did you see a photo of her while scrolling on your phone? Were you one of the people who made a pilgrimage to a city where she played?”
Application:
Doesn’t it seem to be an indication of the sad state of affairs when an entertainer is named Person of the Year?
It should cause us to consider, “What has been my impact on culture?”
It should also cause us to consider, “Has the world’s culture made an impact on me?”
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Message
Message
The popular song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” was written to celebrate some of the beloved traditions many people engage in each year during the holidays:
sledding in the snow,
spending time with loved ones,
roasting marshmallows over a fire, and
singing Christmas carols.
Recorded and released in 1963, the song is still one of the top ten most requested holiday songs and is a favorite for getting people into a festive mood.
While the Christmas season truly is a wonderful time to gather with family and friends for fellowship and encouragement, for many around the world, it is a time of despair, unrest, and hopelessness.
We live in an imperfect world where too often it seems things that are going well one minute are breaking down the next, and things that seem all but certain today are thrown into uncertainty and chaos tomorrow.
One man in the Bible knew just what it was to have a wonderful life where everything seemed to be going according to plan only to have his world turned upside down.
In Matthew 1, we read the account of Joseph being hit with unexpected news and struggling with how to handle it. His dream was falling apart, and his hope for a wonderfully rosy future seemed to suddenly dissipate. He just didn’t know what to do. But when things seemed at their most hopeless, God stepped in to deliver news about the birth of His Son, who would be the hope of the world.
About the word hope Pastor Robert J. Morgan writes,
“…in the Bible, [the word] hope is not synonymous with maybe. Biblical hope refers to sure and certain expectations, which, because they’re still in the future, create in us a sense of anticipation.”
The hope we mean here is based on the promises of God’s Word that can change our anticipation of the future.
For Joseph, this hope was a collision of his best intentions, desires, and expectations with the over-riding, eternal plan of God; a competition, if you would, between equally “good” expectations.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
1. The Eternal Plan of God
1. The Eternal Plan of God
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:
How underwhelming! We tend to make a “big deal” about the birth of a child! Yet here, in this verse, we have more than a simple birth announcement.
Within these 10 words we have the announcement of the fulfillment of the first part of the prophecy contained within Genesis 3:15.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Exploring Genesis: An Expository Commentary 3. Adam Sentenced (3:14–19)
They lifted up their heads to listen with fresh hope to the very first promise and to the very first prophecy in the Bible. It was a prophecy that embraced both comings of Christ. The second coming of Christ, to crush the serpent’s head, was mentioned first, for the triumph outshines the tragedy; the bruising of Christ’s heel was mentioned next, for only by means of the cross could the ultimate victory come.
And between both we have the birth of the Messiah!
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
“Made of a woman” is an interesting phrase.
Basic biology would say it is physically impossible for a baby to be conceived absent a man’s contribution, but the Bible is clear that Jesus had no earthly father.
Even Mary understood this:
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
We may often spend a lot of time considering the impossibility of God’s eternal plan.
Even now - in 2023 - we know that God has a plan. We know the “big picture” of that plan. And yet, as we look at the world around us, we may be tempted to say, “How shall this be?” We wonder, at times, how God is going to get from Point A - our right here and now - to Point B - the fulfillment of that plan that we see in the book of the Revelation!
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Jesus should know what’s He’s talking about; He was able to do a lot of impossible things!
All we need to know is that we can trust the eternal plan of God even when we come face to face with it in our daily lives just as Joseph and Mary did!
2. The Expectations of Joseph
2. The Expectations of Joseph
No doubt Joseph was wishing for the days of this espousal to “hurry up,” as he was eager to begin his new life with Mary.
He was in love and had already committed himself to her for the rest of his days.
We can imagine much of his free time was spent dreaming about how wonderful life would be in just a short time.
Little did he know, he was about to get far more than he bargained for.
Question: Was there anything wrong with Joseph’s expectations?
Question: Was Joseph doing anything wrong?
Joseph, being a good Jewish man, was likely quite familiar with the promises of God.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel.
Yet, if Joseph was anything like most of us, he never thought - in a million years - that God’s eternal plan would involve him!
Could we be guilty of thinking too small?
Could we be guilty of, yes, knowing that God has a plan - even a huge, earth-shattering plan - yet never seriously considering that it just might involve us?!?!?
3. The Anticipation of Joseph.
3. The Anticipation of Joseph.
We can only imagine how overwhelmed Joseph must have been upon receiving the news that his promised wife, the woman he loved and had worked to create a life for, was going to have a baby that was not his.
Illustration: Walking through Sears and walking right into a pole.
That’s probably a lot how Joseph felt! Like he had just walked into an immovable force.
Joseph, like us, wrestled with how to reconcile his expectations, his desires, his plans (which there was nothing wrong with those things) with God’s immoveable, eternal plan!
(I, for one, can attest to how difficult that can be at times.)
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
Joseph was in a quandary. What was he going to do? His dream of a happily-ever-after marriage seemed to be falling apart.
Joseph was a just man. So, it’s not like Joseph was seeking to live outside of God’s will and do the wrong thing. He truly wanted to do the right thing! He just didn’t know what the right thing was! (Ever felt that way?!?!)
Perhaps he even questioned why God would allow something like this into his life. (Ever felt that way?!?!)
But we must remember that no matter what is going on around us or how little it makes sense to us, God is always right, and His will is based on His understanding and His Word.
So Joseph had a choice: he could trust his emotions or trust his God. Which would he do?
When you find yourself in a place where you don’t understand what seems to be God’s plan, you have the same choice.
“We don’t always feel that God’s way is right, but His faithfulness doesn’t depend on our vacillating emotions, rather on His unchanging Word. It’s not a matter of how we feel but of what God says.”
3. The Game Changer
3. The Game Changer
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
But while he thought on these things…
Joseph didn’t rush to action!
Joseph didn’t rush to action!
I have given this piece of advice to countless individuals: Don’t do anything - make any decision - until you are 100% certain that it is God’s will!
…the angel of the Lord appeared…saying…
Joseph listened to God’s Word.
Joseph listened to God’s Word.
This angel - the messenger of the Lord - quoted Scripture. This angel quoted Isaiah 7:14.
Joseph obeyed God’s Word.
Joseph obeyed God’s Word.
Matthew 1:24 (KJV 1900)
Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
In verse 25 we see that Joseph believed God and accepted God’s purpose for his life by obeying the instructions he received. He didn’t divorce Mary. And when the baby was born, Joseph was obedient to name Him Jesus.
He chose to move past his confusion and uncertainty to a place of faith.
Scott Hafemann wrote,
“Hope in God’s promises…is not a wishful longing but a faith-filled confidence for the future. It is simply impossible to trust one of God’s promises and not anticipate its coming true. To know God is to trust Him. And to trust God is to trust His promises. And to trust God’s promises is to be sure of their fulfillment. This assurance concerning the future, anchored in God’s promises, is what the Bible calls ‘hope.’”
When we find ourselves in a situation where it seems that our expectations and God’s eternal plans are diametrically opposed, we must turn to God’s Word and obey God’s Word.
Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Matthew 1:18-25 is a wonderful example of the fulfillment of Psalm 37:4-5.
We may not fully know or understand how God can reconcile our expectations with His eternal plan but we must trust that He can and then live accordingly.
Prayer Requests
Prayer Requests
Scott Peterson
I’m very thankful for our church family and our staff.
You will never fully appreciate - or know what we have here at SCBC - until you fully jump in and begin rubbing shoulders with the others in this ministry.
Pastor Scott
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