Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Worship Service December 19th, 2010

Dec 19, 2010 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.



Matthew 1:18-25 Pastor Waldschmidt
God Can Do Anything!
I. When It Seems Nothing Can Be Done.
II. He Did Everything He Promised.

Matthew 1:18-25 THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered 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 home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.


In the name of Jesus, the Savior, dear fellow redeemed children of God,
Last week the roof of the Metrodome in Minneapolis tore open and poured tons of ice and snow onto the field below. After playing a game the Ford Field Dome in Detroit, the Vikings made plans to shovel out the Minnesota Golden Gophers stadium in Minneapolis and play their final home game there. This past week, many players expressed their concern about playing on the frozen field. I don’t mean to make light of their concerns but it did make me think back to the days when we would shovel off the frozen tundra of our backyard for a Christmas vacation football game. We didn’t have heater coils under the field. There weren’t even heaters on the sideline. But in a young football player’s imagination anything could happen out there. There could be a record setting game winning field goal or a touchdown pass calmly delivered before an imaginary cheering crowd. Anything could happen out there in the backyard. The Bible says, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” Today in God’s Word, we see God do something that goes far beyond what anyone could have imagined. He did something so real that it s effects reach down through the ages to benefit you and me. This was no imaginary event because God can do anything. I. When it seemed nothing could be done. II. God did everything He promised.
On Monday Night Football, they use 30 cameras for their production. We had no cameras at Waldschmidt Field. Today God’s Word uses a different camera angle to record the Christmas story. It is a special “camera” angle because it showsus things from two views at once. It records things from the view of the God who can do anything and from Joseph’s point of view at a time when maybe it seemed like nothing could be done. “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph.” Joseph is a man we really know very little. He was a carpenter-that isn’t mentioned here, it’s mentioned later in Jesus’ life by the doubting citizens of Nazareth at the synagogue. Joseph was pledged to be married to Mary. He was a descendant of King David. Being in that family tree brought him to Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus. “But before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” At first that must have seemed like a terrible situation. Joseph knew he wasn’t the father of the child. He must have assumed that Mary had been unfaithful to him. We can imagine the pain and disappointment Joseph suffered during these days. He had been committed to Mary. He loved her. They had plans. But she obviously had been in the arms of another man. “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” Joseph didn’t want to heap public disgrace on Mary but he didn’t feel like he could go ahead with the plans either. It seemed like nothing could be done. But God can do anything.
“But after he had considered 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 home as your wife.” God can do anything. He sent an angel to announce his plan. He came up with that plan when it seemed nothing could be done. Remember the God who can do anything had created this beautiful world- stars in the sky, fish in the sea and dry land filled with beautiful plants and animals. God created a beautiful world for his people to live in. But Adam and Eve disobeyed God. That sin disease was passed down to you and me. Take a look at your heart and mind. Do the things in them measure up to God’s holy standards? The God who can do anything could not do nothing about that disobedience. He is holy and just. He could not let sin go unpunished. So the God who can do anything decided to do something. He would come himself to save His people. The angel told some of the details of that plan, “ because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." By a miracle of His grace God would come Himself. He took on flesh and blood to be the substitute. Mary would give birth to a Son. Joseph’s job, as legal father, was to see to it that the child would be named Jesus. This was a common name in Israel. Normally when a child was given this name it was a reminder that God promised to send a Savior. This is what the name Jesus means. But this Jesus would be no ordinary Child. He is the Son of God. He is the Savior of the world God promised. God can do anything.
That’s comforting because we sometimes find ourselves in situations where it seems nothing can be done. Doctors sometimes say, “nothing more can be done.” Sometimes it seems like our economy is so big and the problems so huge that nothing can be done. At times family problems seem like quicksand and it feels like nothing can be done. If we do this it makes things worse, if we do that it makes things worse. It seems like nothing can be done. This week even though those problems may swirl around us, while have a chance to peer into the manger again with Joseph and see that God can do anything. He helped us with our greatest problem. He will not leave us alone to face our other problems.
Isn’t it interesting that the angel gives no long explanation of the incarnation of the Son of God. He simply says that Mary’s conception is from the Holy Spirit – that’s it. He doesn’t give any detail beyond that. God doesn’t always give us all of the details of what He is planning in our lives. At times we won’t understand how he could take the bad things that happen and “work them together for good.” We can’t see how God could do what he did in the life of Joseph- how he could take the harm others intended and accomplish good things like the saving of our lives and the lives of others. We don’t need to know the details. We just need to know His loves us and does what he says. God can do anything even when it seems nothing can be done.
There is no long explanation we are told about. There is also no bright miraculous sign. Joseph is simply pointed by the angel back to the promises of God in that name Jesus. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” God can do anything! He did everything He promised.
As God waited for the time to be right to send the Savior, He gave His people picture promises of the Savior. Joseph was reminded of one of them. It was in the Scripture lesson we heard today. "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." Joseph took God at His Word. Mary was a virgin and yet conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Son born from her was to be called Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. Joseph believed the angel. History gives the proof. He took Mary as His wife. He provided a home for her and her son, Jesus.
Those promises of God in His word feed our faith. They make us strong to do what Joseph did - to cling to our God who can do anything. We cling to the God who has saved us and who can do anything when we sit at the kitchen table with our pile of bills. We cling to our God when we sit in the surgical waiting room at the hospital and when we follow the casket of our loved ones out of church. God can do anything.
Frozen turf might not be much fun for football to land on but the rock solid promises of God are comfortable to stand on. They give us peace and comfort and confidence. Let’s come again this week to hear about what our God who can do anything really did. God came to be with us. Amen.

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