”A [person] can no more take in a supply of grace for
the future than [they] can eat enough
today to last [them] for the next [six]months, nor can [they] inhale sufficient air into [their] lungs with one breath to sustain life for a
week to come. We are permitted to draw upon God's store of grace from day to
day as we need it." (Dwight L. Moody)
Matthew 1:1-3, 5-6, 18-21, 24-25 (International
Children’s Bible, ICB)
This is the
family history of Jesus Christ. He came from the family of David. David came
from the family of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the
father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of
Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez
and Zerah. (Their mother was Tamar.) Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was
the father of Ram. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz.
(Boaz’s mother was Rahab.) Boaz was the father of Obed. (Obed’s mother was
Ruth.) Obed was the father of Jesse. 6 Jesse was the
father of King David. David was the father of Solomon. (Solomon’s mother had
been Uriah’s wife, [Bathsheba].)
18 The mother
of Jesus Christ was Mary. And this is how the birth of Jesus came about. Mary
was engaged to marry Joseph. But before they married, she learned that she was
going to have a baby. She was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Mary’s
husband, Joseph, was a good man. He did not want to disgrace her in public, so
he planned to divorce her secretly. 20 While Joseph thought
about this, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said,
“Joseph, descendant of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife. The
baby in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will
give birth to a son. You will name the son Jesus. Give him that name because he
will save his people from their sins.” 24 When Joseph
woke up, he did what the Lord’s angel had told him to do. Joseph married
Mary. 25 But he did not have intimate relations
with her until she gave birth to the son. And Joseph named the son Jesus.
The book of Matthew depicts Jesus as King
with a royal genealogy going back to King David. The regalness of the Wise men connects
into the narrative of the scripture. The book of Luke intends to show the
humanity of Jesus. The manger bed, the excited shepherds, and the celestial
angels helped to reinforce that this gentle boy child was both fully God and
fully man.
For this
holiday season, how can fill your life with plenty of God’s grace?
1.
Believe in God’s grace to shape you
into who you need to be-(Matthew 1:1-3, 5, 6 above) Women
were not usually included in a genealogy. It went through the men in that time
period. It was an
exception for these five incredible, brave, and
ordinary women (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary, the mother of Jesus)
to be included in the lineage of Christ.
(I believe Jesus was the humble, dynamic man He was because of these
women.)
2. Offer God’s grace to those who hurt you deeply-(Matthew 1:18-19 above) Joseph believed the
spectacular story Mary told him (with the help of an angel) of her impending
pregnancy. Instead of casting Mary out (to eventually be stoned), he chose out
of love to show her grace.
3.
Trust God’s grace to make the truth evident
to you- (Matthew 1:20-21 above) One of Satan’s greatest lies is that you have control
over your eternal destiny. Your good deeds do not outweigh your bad ones, and
eventually grant you entrance into Heaven. We can’t save ourselves. Relying in
Jesus’ atoning death on the cross makes this possible. Trust Jesus’ grace
because it makes you acceptable in your heavenly Father’s sight.
Ephesians 2:8-9, The Voice- For it’s by God’s grace that you
have been saved. You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is
God’s gift, pure and simple. You
didn’t earn it, not one of us did,
so don’t go around bragging that
you must have done something amazing.
4. Rely on God’s grace to strengthen you-(Matthew 1:24-25 above) By agreeing to be Mary’s husband, the community would
most likely believe He was the father of her Baby. Joseph took responsibility
for the situation. His reputation was at risk if he stayed connected with Mary.
Though you may not know what you will deal with this holiday season (things may
be more difficult internally than how they appear externally), your heavenly
Father has the power to get you through what will not go away.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9, International
Children’s Bible, ICB-But I must not become too proud of the wonderful things that were shown
to me. So a painful problem was given to me. This problem is a messenger from
Satan. It is sent to beat me and keep me from being too proud. I begged the Lord three times to take this
problem away from me. But the Lord said to me, “My grace is enough for you. When
you are weak, then my power is made perfect in you.” So I am very happy to brag
about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can live in me. (Paul)
God’s grace is your one and only parachute when the world is about
to throw you out of their airplane (high up, and in the middle of nowhere).
Your heavenly Father’s grace can rescue you from those who treat you unfair and
incorrectly. Rely on His strength by strapping on your parachute, and jumping.
GRACE stands
for “God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.”
God’s grace transforms us from the centerpoint out.[i]
[i] Inspired by the sermon
“Stuff with Grace: Stocking Stuffers,” (installment four) Sunday
December 20, 2020, Pastor Dave Jansen (CPG). All CenterPoint churches
have returned to an online format because of the increase in COVID-19 cases in
central Ohio. Sunday morning online services can be viewed at
facebook.com/centerpointchurches or centerpointchurches.com/live.
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