Sermon for December 3rd, 2023

Matthew 1:18-25 (NT p. 1)

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Bless This Mess: Joseph & Mary - Socially Messy

It was five days before Christmas, and Santa Claus was having a horrible day. By horrible, I mean his wife was sick with the flu, 23 elves were on strike; Dasher, Dancer, Donner and Blitzen had all gone missing, and nothing was getting done--so the entire operation was WAY behind schedule. Right about the time Santa was pulling his beard out by the fistfuls, someone started ringing his doorbell over and over again. Santa opened the door, with a loud and not-so-jolly "WHAT??" only to see... the tiniest angel standing next to a large Christmas tree. The angel asked Santa Claus "Where would you like me to put this tree?" Santa thought about it for a minute... And that is why we put an Angel on top of the Christmas tree.