Rarely Told Origin Stories of Jesus: The Odd Way He Got His Name

Father, you know how sometimes we're very afraid of questions.

Sometimes we're very afraid of our own questions.

You know, Father, that some of us are afraid to let people around us know that we follow Jesus.

Father, you know that some of us have problems with addictions or with bills

or just things in our life that make us very, very fearful.

Father, you know that some of us are just fearful about the way society is.

And Father, we give you thanks and praise that you know our fears.

And we ask that you would gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us

so that your word, Father, might enter deep into us,

that we might be free and courageous as your word enters into us

and we might live not only in this city but to the ends of the earth,

free and full of courage to bring you glory.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

Some of you have been to my house over the years and for 14 and a half years

we've had a little, a tiny little white dog named Pixie,

only weighed about three and a half pounds.

We have two other dogs that are far bigger but we have this little dog, Pixie,

that we've had for 14 and a half years.

He's been part of our family and on Friday night he died.

She died, I should say.

Her name was Pixie and she died and it was very sad.

She has been sick for a couple of months and we could see her fading

and she'd probably become blind and probably become deaf and wasn't eating

but it's still very sad when she dies, when she died.

And yesterday my daughter Emma dug a hole in the backyard and we buried her.

And last night I had a dream.

And in my dream, and I wasn't always the biggest Pixie fan, by the way,

but in the dream, I had a dream about Pixie last night.

And in the dream it was like Pixie on steroids.

She wasn't three and a half pounds, she was at least 10 pounds or maybe even 11.

So quite big for Pixie and quite muscular and frisky and I had a dream about her.

And that's all very, ah.

But what on earth does that mean?

I mean, what does it mean?

So I had a dream about Pixie.

You know, if you think about it, on one hand, if we were to go to a party

and start telling people about our dreams and maybe what they mean and all of that type of stuff,

you know, our neighbors would actually think,

wow, you know, you Christians aren't quite as anal as I thought.

Like, you know, you have cool dreams and stuff and you talk about them.

On the other hand, like what's going on with this in the story?

Like if one of you was engaged to be married to somebody,

like I would, you know, you're engaged to be married to a woman,

you're a guy and you're engaged to be married to a woman,

and she's pregnant.

She gets pregnant after you're engaged,

and you know that the baby's not yours.

I mean, you probably wouldn't go ahead and marry her.

And if you told your buddies that you'd had a dream the night before

and because of the dream you were going to marry the woman,

they'd go, oh, come on, dude, bro.

Like, it's just a dream.

Like, the dream just means you like her.

It doesn't mean, it means you still have some feelings for her.

It doesn't mean you marry her.

I mean, she's pregnant with another guy's baby,

and she did that when she was engaged to you.

How on earth could you go ahead?

Like, the dream just doesn't cut it.

I mean, and the other thing about this story which we just read,

which is also very odd if you think about it,

like, what's going on with Joseph?

Like, I don't know.

Like, he never had a dream before in his life,

and this was a complete surprise, so he went ahead and did it.

Like, did he move every time he had a dream that told him to move?

Like, did he name every one of his kids, you know, like, after a dream?

Like, what's going on with Joseph?

Like, why on earth would he take a particular dream

and think that that means he has to do something like,

go against his own inclinations

and the inclinations of all of his friends and all of his family

and probably all of the village?

And like, why on earth, out of all the dreams,

would this particular dream be any type of significance for him?

Like, you know, apart from the fact

that there's sentimental attachments to this story,

it's like it's really odd and weird if you think about it.

So we're going to look at it.

Like, what was it that in this dream

that would have changed Joseph's complete and utter life?

So let's look.

If you have your Bibles, it's Matthew 1, verse 18.

Matthew 1:18

If you don't have your Bibles, there's at least one Bible there.

We can get more as well.

If you'd like, you can just get up and get it.

And if you have a phone with data and you're on YouVersion,

you go to events, the notes and all are there as well

if you want to follow along.

But here's how it goes.

Just look.

Like, is there some hint or clue within the biblical narrative

as to why on earth Joseph did something which,

if we're frank, like if it was your brother,

if it was your best friend, if it was your son,

and he came and told you that it was because of a dream

that he was going to go ahead and marry the girl,

like, you'd give him a hard time, right?

So is there some hint in the biblical text about this

that helps us try to understand what's going on

so it's not just weird?

And so here's how it goes.

Matthew 1.18.

Now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,

and some of you, if you're a guest here

and you have never come to a Christmas service before,

in the ancient world, there were sort of two very formal events.

It's not like today, where basically the big thing

is just the wedding.

In Jesus' time, there was like a very formal ceremony

that made you engaged.

And it was so formal that if you broke the engagement,

you'd actually have to have a divorce procedure.

And it was so formal that if your fiancé died

after this ceremony, you'd actually be considered

a widow or a widower,

even though you hadn't actually been married.

So Mary and Joseph had the first solemn event,

but the second solemn event where they actually live together,

have sexual relations with each other,

where they're, you know, in a sense, in our sense, fully married,

that hasn't happened yet.

Okay?

So that's just a bit of background.

So we'll say it again.

When his mother Mary, in verse 18 still,

had been betrothed to Joseph,

before they came together,

she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And just pause there again for a second.

There isn't, if you're wondering,

there's no ancient category of people claiming

to have children from the Holy Spirit.

Basically, it's a summary of what,

Matthew just giving a very short summary

of what Mary told him.

You can hear more about that if you read Luke.

But Mary has obviously,

she's probably about four months pregnant,

so she's starting to show.

And it can't be kept secret.

And she's come back to the village.

And she goes and she has what must have been

the world's most awkward meeting imaginable,

where she tells Joseph that she's four months pregnant,

or five months or whatever,

she's four or five months pregnant,

and that she'd never slept with another man,

and that in fact God had come to her

and asked her permission for him

to do a miracle of creation in her womb,

and in our language to put a fetus in her womb.

And that would have been a very, very awkward conversation.

And Matthew just very touches by saying

a child from the Holy Spirit.

And then we see in verse 19,

and her husband Joseph being a just man,

that means he was fair, he was just.

Everything that we take with this idea

of being a just person,

that also would include for us a sense of compassion.

That's how Joseph's described.

And unwilling to put her to shame,

resolved to divorce her quietly.

Now just sort of pause here for a second.

This is one of the things which is really important

for us to remember is just because Joseph

didn't have BuzzFeed in Instagram

doesn't mean he's stupid.

In fact, you could even say that

if you use too much Instagram in BuzzFeed,

it makes you stupid.

So he might have been smarter.

But just because he didn't use flush toilets

doesn't mean he's stupid.

Those are just technological things.

It doesn't mean they, you know,

it's very, very interesting.

If you go and try to read old books,

like if you go try to read Augustine

or older writing,

it's hard for us to read it.

And part of the reason it's hard for us to read it

is that they're so logical.

And they think so deeply upon

slight nuances in words.

And we don't realize it,

but in fact, we've lost something

that they were very smart.

And he knew how babies came about.

And basically he didn't buy it.

Yeah, right.

God came to you.

We're here in Nowheresville.

And you're nobody.

Your parents are nobodies.

Your grandparents are nobodies.

You're a nobody.

I'm a nobody.

We're in Nowheresville.

And God came and spoke to you

and said he was going to make

an act of creation in your womb

to make you pregnant.

And Joseph didn't believe it for a second

because he's not a dumb guy.

But he's a just guy.

I don't know what he was thinking.

And it doesn't tell you whether he ranted

and all that type of stuff privately

or how depressed he was.

Maybe he wanted to, I don't know,

whatever he wanted to hurt her.

But he comes to his senses

because fundamentally he's a just guy

and he decides I'm going to divorce her.

That's the right thing to do.

But I'm going to do it quietly

and to try to minimize her embarrassment and shame.

And then verse 20.

But as he considered these things,

behold, an angel of the Lord

appeared to him in a dream saying,

Joseph, son of David.

So this is with the angel.

This is Matthew's,

Joseph's summary

that Matthew would have learned much later.

Joseph, son of David,

do not fear to take Mary as your wife

for that which is conceived in her

is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son

and you shall call his name Jesus

for he will save his people

from their sins.

Now,

look again here how it says,

look at verse 20 again,

an angel of the Lord

appeared to him in a dream saying,

now it's,

you can sort of see it in English.

It's more obvious

in the original language.

But if you could put the first point up,

that would be very helpful.

Here's the point.

Joseph did not dream about an angel.

The angel of the Lord

took over Joseph's dream

and spoke to him by name.

Joseph did not dream about an angel.

The angel of the Lord

took over Joseph's dream

and spoke to him by name.

In the original language,

all of the language is passive.

It's not about Joseph

waking up the next day

and saying,

I had a dream

and in my dream,

I saw an angel

and in my dream,

I heard an angel say this.

Everything that mentions Joseph

is in the divine passive sense,

which is a tense

in the original language,

that something or another,

Joseph,

rather than being the dream

coming from Joseph's mind

or his unconscious

or his subconscious

and emerging out of it,

all of a sudden,

he becomes passive.

And the active person

in the dream

is the angel of the Lord.

The implication is

that Joseph isn't dreaming

of an angel.

The angel takes over

Joseph's dream.

Now, it doesn't describe

psychologically what that's like,

but it would be a little bit like

if you watch certain types

of movies,

of which I am prone to watch,

I must confess,

where there's a terrorist

or some evil criminal mastermind

who happens to have

an unbelievable computer hacker

who can effortlessly

take over systems

or it's an alien invasion.

And, you know,

you've seen those types of movies

that all of a sudden,

I don't know,

they're watching the NFL

or they're watching The Crown

on Netflix

or something like that.

You know,

maybe your wife's upstairs

watching The Crown

on Netflix,

you're downstairs

watching the NFL

and all of a sudden

you see some crazed

Russian megalomaniac

giving you some message

about how he's going

to destroy the society.

And you see that

in the NFL game

and your wife upstairs

watching The Crown

on Netflix,

she sees it as well

and then you kind of

change the channel

and every channel you go to,

just like in the movies,

all of a sudden

every single channel

it's the same guy.

And then you go

to turn the TV off

and you can't turn the TV off,

it's the same guy.

And this megalomaniac terrorist

has taken control

of your television

and every single

television channels

and even the internet feeds

that give you news flick

and you know,

and in the movies

they go,

it's on every channel.

And then you all

look panicked.

And of course,

there's some,

you know,

former loser,

drug addict,

alcoholic with his

nerdy buddy

who'll save the movie

at the end of the day.

But that's the movie.

Here's the real thing.

But the implication is,

right,

if you saw that TV,

you'd know that somebody

had taken over

the television

and taken over

all of the feeds.

Impossible in real life,

by the way,

but that's a separate thing.

In this thing,

the language is

that the angel

takes over Joseph's dream

and while it doesn't tell you

all the psychological

things about it,

I mean,

I'm sure he had all these

conversations with Mary

and his buddies about it,

the scriptures are very,

very sparse.

But the angel

takes over the dream.

And Joseph,

who's probably had

many,

many,

many dreams,

hundreds,

thousands of dreams,

this is not like

any other dream,

all of a sudden

he's passive.

The angel

has taken over

the dream

and Joseph

knows it.

Why would Matthew

believe this,

do you think?

And why should you

and I maybe

believe this?

You know,

here's the thing

about Matthew.

Those of you

who are long-term

Christians

might know

a little bit

about it,

but Matthew,

he was a hard-headed

businessman.

He was a tax collector

and in those days

that meant

he would have

had staff,

he would have

had to work,

he would have

been literate

because he'd

have to read

financial documents

and he was

one who would

have gone around

to the different

people in the region

to collect the taxes

from them.

It means he would

have been very,

very shrewd

in telling when

a person's giving

him a whole pile

of,

you know,

bull

and he would

be very,

very shrewd

at trying to look

at and figure out

just from the way

you were living

in your house

how much money

you had

and how many

crops you had

and be able

to get the right

taxes

and he would

have been able

to understand

that he had

to get a,

you know,

the more he could

get,

the more he would

pocket because he

just gives a lump

sum to the Romans

and that's Matthew

and in the Gospels

it never goes into

too much about

how it is

that Jesus,

there was just

something remarkable

about Jesus

that was so remarkable

that Matthew

was willing to

leave his tax

collector stuff

to follow Jesus

but then,

you know,

when it came time

at the end

when Jesus dies

upon the cross,

Matthew,

who's a shrewd

guy,

he knows how

the world works,

he knows how

money works,

he knows how

people work,

he's literate

but he doesn't

believe that Jesus

rose from the dead

and so Matthew

just like all

of the other

apostles,

he leaves Jesus,

it's the complete

end of all

of his dreams.

Matthew has taken

a sabbatical

from making his money,

he's probably thinking

I'm just going to

go back to making

money because I

thought Jesus

was special,

he was special,

there was something

real about him,

something that was

sane about him,

something that was

compassionate about him

and now he's dead

and what changed

Matthew is the

resurrection.

It changed Matthew

so much that the

records are that

Matthew never went

back to making

lots of money

and rather than

making lots of money

he spent the rest

of his life

telling people

that Jesus

came from God

and that Jesus

had died upon the

cross and he rose

and he defeated

death and not only

does Matthew do

this in Jerusalem

but he eventually

does it in what

we now call Iran

and he does it

in what we now

call Ethiopia

and it's in Ethiopia

that because of his

proclamation he's

murdered as a direct

order from the king

who didn't want him

disturbing their

pagan society.

What changes it for

Matthew is the

resurrection.

That's what should

change it for you

and me.

The resurrection

changes everything

and it's not just

that there's this

odd conjuring trick

with bones that's

done to the body

of Jesus but

the resurrection

Jesus tells us

that in his

all of the historical

documents record

how Jesus tells

people that he's

coming he's come

to earth to die

upon the cross

and after he dies

on the third day

he will rise from

that he tells his

disciples that he

tells people that

and it's not just

that there's this

odd conjuring

trick with bones

but it all takes

place Jesus said

he's fulfilling

what we call the

Old Testament and

Jewish people call

the Tanakh that it

fulfills the Tanakh

in other words that

it's not just some

idle prophecy that

just may it's not

like Jesus is some

type of David Blaine

but that there's

this there's thousands

hundreds centuries

and centuries of

stories and of

narrative and of

philosophy and of

theology and of

wisdom and of

insight and it's in

all of this context

that Jesus says he

comes to fulfill it

I'm going to die

on the cross I'm

going to rise from

the dead even though

the cross is a sign

of shame I'm going

to rise from the

dead and it vindicates

Jesus it vindicates

its message and it

means that Matthew is

willing to completely

and utterly turn his

life around because

he's an actual

witness on many

occasions of the

resurrected Jesus

and so these stories

that he would have

heard from his early

days of following

Jesus that Mary never

knew a man that God

did a work of a

miracle in Mary's

womb and now these

stories of Joseph of

how he was because

you know Matthew

would have said come

on dude why on earth

did you marry her when

she was pregnant and

Matthew would have

said I mean Joseph

would have said or

told people you know

and Matthew would have

heard eventually that

it was all you know

that the angel took

over my dream and he

spoke to me by name

and he told me what's

gone on

angel took over my

dream and Matthew

then would have

believed it

Matthew would have

believed it that's

that's in a sense why

why we can believe it

as well

now just one other

little thing here this

is really more of a

bit of a timeout I

just want to share

something with you

you know I one of the

things which is so

wonderful for this

story if you're a

Christian

when I get asked to

pray for somebody who

has dementia when I

get asked to pray for

somebody who's in a

coma and they're

unresponsive stories

like this give me so

much hope I can have

the people I can have

the family members and

I can say you know

what we cannot reach

this person but Jesus

can reach them wherever

wherever they are lost

in dementia lost in the

coma Jesus can speak to

them in their dreams so

why don't we pray we'll

pray for healing of the

body we'll pray for

healing of the mind we'll

pray for healing but let's

also pray that Jesus will

meet them where they are he

can do what we can't and I

find that a profound comfort

when I have to pray for

somebody who's lost in

Alzheimer's or lost in a

coma that Jesus could speak

to Joseph the angel in a

sense could take over the

dream and speak let's pray

that God will do this for a

loved one but back to this

one of the problems that

many of us have with what

the angel said is that the

word saved is corny like you

don't think it's corny go to

an office party this week and

say hi I'm George I'm saved

the whole room would probably

stop talking everybody's

eyeballs would hit the top of

their right through the eyes

heads would all shake

chiropractors would have to

be visited within the next few

days because people would go

oh you're saved and if you

wanted to make sure that you

went to a party and nobody

talked to you for the rest of

the night just begin by

saying hi I'm George or

whatever your name is I'm

saved and you can have a

nice quiet party for the

rest of the evening because

nobody will talk to you

because it's corny it's the

sort of thing that if a comic

wants to get a laugh he can

talk about yeah I met this

guy at a party said he was

saved oh the whole room

laughs so it's corny so it's a

bit of a problem for us

Canadians if we're honest about

this language let's but you

know let's look look again at

this at the text and we'll see

what we can do with it look

again at verse 20 but as he

that's Joseph considered these

things behold an angel of the

Lord appeared to him in a dream

saying Joseph son of David do

not fear to take Mary as your

wife for that which is conceived

in her is from the Holy Spirit

she will bear a son and you

shall call his name Jesus and

Jesus by the way means God

saves for he will save his

people from their sins all this

took place to fulfill what the

Lord had spoken by the prophet in

the prophets Isaiah it's about

700 years earlier behold the

virgin shall conceive and bear a

son and they shall call his name

Emmanuel which means God with us

so part of that's what the angel

said and part of that's what

Matthew said right but here's the

first thing if you could put it up

Jesus alone I'm going to make it

worse for you okay I'm going to

make it weirder for you because the

Bible here doesn't actually leave us

any option Jesus alone saves me from

my sins and he alone saves you from

your sins Jesus alone saves me from

my sins and he alone saves you from

your sins he doesn't come along and

say I'm going to work with you as you

get saved from your sins he doesn't

say I'm going to help you get

saved from your sins he doesn't say

I'm going to inspire you to get saved

from your sins and he's not saying

I'm just going to help you get saved

from sin in general, as if somehow or another you're some noble soul trapped amongst a whole

group of idiots in the world, although you might feel like that day after day. He's not saying,

you're a noble soul trapped in a world filled with idiots, and I'm going to save you from it.

No, the message is very, very clear, very, very simple, very, very pointed, very, very angular,

and for us Canadians, very, very uncomfortable. But if it actually is God saying it,

and you see, that's the implication here. It's not just that there's some interesting spiritual

being called an angel. It's the angel of the Lord. The implication is that all the angel is

is God's mouthpiece to say what God wants to say to Joseph. And then Matthew makes it clear by saying

that God actually does the same thing through the prophet Isaiah and says something very,

very similar, that it's one God who speaks, that this is God. And the significance of it is that

it's God interpreting the meaning of the action that he has done. So the text is saying that God

is the one who does a miracle, a miracle of creation in the womb of Mary, so that Mary,

who has never known a man sexually, now she becomes pregnant. It's a miracle of creation

within the womb of Mary, that God does this. He does it completely. And then he gives the

interpretation, the meaning, the significance, what was going on in his mind, what was going on in his

heart, what is his understanding of why he did what he did. And he said, I'm doing this so that you,

George, will be saved not from sin in general, but from your sins.

Now, when I share about Jesus with people, I don't usually use the language of save from their sins,

because for many people, that's a bridge too far. It's too hard for them to understand.

But it, and when I became a Christian, when I was in grade 12 and I became a Christian,

what led me to becoming a Christian wasn't the sense of my sin, but it was a sense of,

in my case, it was a sense of profound emptiness and probably a large dose of despair.

And a sense that as I came to know some Christians, and as I came to understand more about Jesus,

that there was a type of fullness and wholeness that I needed,

that I could only get from Jesus. And that's what led me to go to give my faith to Jesus.

And so often when I talk to people, but here's why the language is so important for us.

You see, eventually we need to be gripped with this language, even though it's something that

would cause people to mock us. The thing about sin, which is significant, is it specifically entails God.

You see, I might be very conscious of the different ways that I've wronged my wife,

or the different ways that I've wronged my children. And I might think that I've done something wrong.

I might say that I've done something bad, and I might feel guilty about it, but it's very easy for me

to go through life feeling bad about things that I've done, but God is still completely and utterly absent.

It's entirely a universe of me thinking I've done things wrong, or me thinking I've done things right,

but it's an universe where there is no God, or if there is a God, he's very distant,

he has no particular views on anything. But the language of sin specifically entails God.

It's the language of saying that there are things that I do that either cause me to turn my back on God,

or ignore God, or push God away, or resent God, or just continually live my life as if God does not exist.

And the language of sin encompasses that, and that's why it's so important for us to keep it,

even if it becomes something that it's hard for us to share with another person trying to become a Christian,

but it's important for us to always keep that before ourselves,

that we don't live in a universe where God doesn't exist.

We don't live in a universe where God is off on a vacation, and everything is running on its own.

We live in a universe where God created all things, and where God sustains every single atom,

every single molecule, every single planet. God sustains everything in existence.

He keeps it going. It's ordered, and it's not closed to him.

And that's why he can speak through angels, and that's why he can speak through his word,

and that's why in this universe that he keeps ordered, he can do acts of creation within it.

It's how he has to come to do something to save us.

Why do I have to be saved?

I'm not just being saved because I live in a world filled with idiots.

I mean, you're saying that about me, right?

I mean, you know, just, you know.

It's that I live my life in such a way that my posture towards God

means that I am in the greatest possible danger,

and I cannot do anything to deliver myself from that greatest possible danger,

and that God needs to do everything that's required to be done

for me to be delivered from the grave danger that I personally am in.

And that's what the angel says.

That's why Jesus is coming into this world

to do what only God can do,

because Jesus is also God.

See, that's why some of you say,

I've heard people say to me, you know,

when I talk to people in coffee shops and stuff like that,

you know, the Bible is so full of contradictions, George.

Like, you know, I was in church, like, last Christmas,

and they say, yeah, and you shall call his name Emmanuel,

and then he named him Jesus.

Like, is there some way in Greek or something

that Jesus and Emmanuel are the same thing?

Like, and then they'll say, you know,

gosh, you religious people and spiritual people can be so annoying.

You don't even notice contradictions, you know?

But just look at it again.

Look at it again.

What does it say?

Verse 21,

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus,

for he will save his people from their sins.

That's the end of the angels thing.

And then Matthew starts speaking.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Emmanuel.

It actually says not that Joseph's going to call him Emmanuel.

Notice that?

It's what people will say.

And what does Emmanuel mean?

It means God with us.

I mean, that's going to be what leads Matthew

to leave making piles of money.

And he would have had to not only,

if he didn't already know,

he probably would have already known Greek and probably Latin,

but he would have gone to Persia,

and he would have been,

probably like good missionaries today,

he would have learned what Persians speak

so he could speak their heart language.

And then he would have been felt,

led by God to leave there

and go to what we now know of as Ethiopia

and to not only speak Greek,

but to learn their heart language,

to tell people that the one God

who created all things,

that God in the person of his Son

came and walked with us,

that he's with us,

that he is not against us,

that he doesn't hate us,

that he hasn't abandoned us,

but that he's with us,

and he came to be with us,

and because he's with us for us,

he died for us.

He died for you in Ethiopia.

He died for you in Persia.

Can you put up the next thing?

Jesus is God with us

to justify, sanctify, and glorify.

Jesus is God with us

to justify,

that sort of theological language for me,

make you and me right with God,

to give us new life,

to be spiritually reborn,

so that we're now God's child.

Sanctify means that he's with us

as we do our day,

to become more holy,

to start to live a life

that's more pleasing to him,

where we don't keep him at a distance,

but we recognize that Jesus

redeems us,

and then we live our lives,

our 24-7 lives with him.

And glorify means

that Jesus,

who comes into our life

to be the Savior,

to reconcile us to God,

and then he walks with us

throughout the life,

and then when we come to the valley

of the shadow of death,

and we enter into death,

that he's the one who glorifies us,

that it's all Jesus.

It's all grace.

It's all something that he does.

And so there's no contradiction here.

There's this just wonderful,

God comes among us

to save us.

He's with us.

He doesn't despise us.

He doesn't hope we fail.

He knows us because he's with us,

and he's with us.

Just one thing now

in closing,

a question to you and me.

Are you brave enough

to be a Christian?

Am I brave enough

to be a Christian?

You know,

the reason many people

don't give their lives

to Jesus,

and if you're here

and you're not a follower of Jesus,

I really don't,

I mean,

you might have lots

of very, very good objections

and questions

and stuff that you need

to be answered,

and hopefully there's Christians

in your life

who are never afraid

of questions

and will answer them

and will love you,

but you know what?

It's very countercultural

to say that you're going

to give your life

to Jesus,

and a lot of people,

the problem they have

in becoming Christians

is they lack the courage

because they're afraid

of being mocked.

Is that you?

Look what happens

to Joseph in the dream.

Verse 22,

and all this took place

to fulfill what the Lord

had spoken by the prophet.

Behold,

the virgin shall conceive

and bear a son,

and they shall call

his name Emmanuel,

which means God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep,

he did as the angel

of the Lord commanded him.

He took his wife,

but knew her not

until she had given birth

to a son,

and he called his name Jesus.

The very way

that the angel opens

is in verse 21.

Joseph, son of David,

do not fear

to take Mary as your wife.

But often what keeps us

from giving our lives

to Jesus is we're afraid.

We're afraid

of looking

like we're stupid,

like we're corny.

We're afraid

that if we say to somebody,

I've become a Christian,

they're going to say,

oh, are you saved?

And you're worried

about how red

you'd get

and how embarrassed

you'd be.

Jesus died for you.

He will be with you.

And he will be with you

to walk towards your fear.

And just as Joseph found,

even though it didn't necessarily

make him richer

or happier,

definitely didn't make Matthew

richer or happier,

but it was worth it.

It was worth it.

Because Jesus is real.

He really did die.

He really did rise

from the dead.

He really can be the one

to reconcile you to God

and he really will

do your day with you.

And for those of us

who are seekers,

there's nothing you've done

in your life

that will make Jesus

want to turn

his face away from you

because he is with you.

He loves you.

Give your life to Jesus.

Don't be afraid.

And for Christians

who are here,

for many of us Christians,

we live in fear.

We live in fear

that people will find out

that we give our lives

to Jesus.

We live in fear

of other types of things

that we have to face

with economics

or maybe things within us.

We're very, very fragile

and we get hurt

very, very easily.

And this is the profound

message of the gospel.

You don't have to do

your life on your own strength.

The weight of the world

is not resting

on your shoulders.

Jesus is with you.

He wants to make you

courageous and brave

and free

to walk towards

those things

that you need to deal with

because he is Emmanuel.

He is with you.

Can you put up

the final slide, please?

And could you all

stand, please?

This is a form

of a prayer.

Lord, please make me

brave and courageous.

The text is asking us

to pray this.

God wants you to pray

to be brave and courageous.

If you have not given

your life to Jesus,

this is a great prayer

to give your life to Jesus.

To begin by saying,

Lord, please make me

brave and courageous.

Make me a disciple of Jesus,

gripped by the gospel,

growing in freedom

and courage

as I live for your glory.

as the gospel grips us,

as we're aware

of what Jesus did

to save us,

it grows freedom in us.

As we're gripped

by what Jesus did

for us on the cross,

it will grow,

it should grow,

it will grow courage

in you

and a desire

like Matthew

to no longer live

for his own enrichment

but to be willing

to go to the ends

of the earth

for the glory of God.

I invite you to pray

it with me in closing.

Lord,

please make me

brave and courageous.

Make me a disciple

of Jesus,

gripped by the gospel,

growing in freedom

and courage

as I live for your glory.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Father, pour out

your Holy Spirit upon us.

In Jesus' name we pray,

amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.