Teaching Notes

The Road to Christmas

We are now in December. Christmas is everywhere. You can go in the stores and you can find Christmas music playing, trees decorated and the atmosphere of festivity everywhere. Is this really Christmas or something else? Well this week and up until Christmas we will take a different road than the one we see in our modern times. We want to take the road that will lead us to the true meaning of Christmas.


MONDAY
The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced. - Matthew 1:18-19

Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant and he did not want to disgrace her. Joseph had every right to be upset. The woman he was to marry was having a baby and he knew it was not his. Yet his first concern was not about himself but about Mary. He wanted to keep her save. Mary could have been more than disgraced she could have been stoned because of her apparent sins.


Thought for the day: What lesson does Joseph teach us on our journey toward Christmas? Joseph teaches us that we must be more concerned for others than ourselves. We may have situations or things done to us that are really wrong, but we should not seek to harm others because of it. What sometimes "appears" to be wrong, doesn't have to be. This situation appear to Joseph to be wrong, but it was not it was part of God's plan. And had he reacted differently he may have been out of God's will. This lets us know that even if things do not appear right, we should seek God because he knows all that is behind the scene.


Prayer: Lord help me during this time of the year not to react to things that appear to be wrong. Help me instead seek you and find out what is the right way to handle it.



TUESDAY
While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term: Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us"). - Matthew 20-23


Yesterday we talked about Joseph having the correct response. This continues that lesson. While Joseph was thinking about what to do, he had a dream where God showed him that this was his doing. He also told Joseph to marry Mary and that the child she was carrying was the Messiah, the savior of the world.

Thought for the day: When we stop and think about what should be done before reacting we give God the opportunity to show us. Joseph shows us that when we wait for direction we will recieve it. For our journey into what Christmas is all about, we need to learn this lesson about waiting on God. Christmas is a time we share with family and friends, however God wants us to take a closer look at what it really means to him. It means you are willing to be like Joseph. Joseph was willing to take some "heat" for God. Can you image what people might have thought about him with a pregnant wife and the child was not his? For us today it reminds us that we will be willing for people to even misunderstand us if it will allow God's perfect plan to be fulfilled in our lives.


Prayer: Lord help me today to wait for you to speak clearly to me. While Joseph was thinking about what to do, you sent your answer. While I wait for you to show me your plan for my life, please send your answer. And when you do, I will walk it that way even if I have to take some heat for it.


WEDNESDAY
Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus. - Matthew 1:24-25

When God finished showing Joseph what to do, he then obeyed it. He did just as God told him to.

Thought for Today: This simple statement is important for us as we journey together. We must be willing to obey God in whatever he tells us to do, even if we do not always understand what the complete outcome will be. Joseph followed what God told him even though he does not have the complete lay out of what this will call for from his life. We often do not want to do things unless we know how much effort and sacrifice it will call for us to give. Yet we must be willing to trust God and simply follow.

Prayer: Lord help me to follow you. As I journey on this road to understand what you want me to see through Christmas help me to understand you are showing me the importance of obedience. When I am obedient to you this allows your purpose and plan to be fulfilled in my life and the lives of others. Help me to follow.


THURDSAY
Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time! They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh. - Matthew 2:9-11

The wise men or scholars as this version calls them were seeking to find where Jesus was born. The king Herod heard this and had the wise men brought to him so he could try and find out the information. When he finished talking to the men he told them to come back and tell him where the child was. After this conversation the men set off and found where the child was at that was born.


Thought for Today: King Herod was disturbed because he did not want any other king being honored besides himself. The three men when they went into see king Herod we do not hear of them bowing down and paying honor to him. Yet we see them doing differently to this child that was born. They were overcome with joy and they worshipped him. The brought him gifts. All these gifts point to him being the true king. This is a reminder for us today that we should not allow the ruler of this world to take our affections. The three wise men did not give their praises to the wrong king. They praise the true King. Jesus is the true king. We should not give our praise and our offerings (those things that are important to us) to anyone else but God.

Prayer: Lord help me to give you all the honor that is due you. Help me not allow anything else to be more important than you are in my life. Help me to see the importance of total submission to you. I want to rejoice and find joy in your presence.



FRIDAY
In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country. After the scholars were gone, God's angel showed up again in Joseph's dream and commanded, "Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him." Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod's death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: "I called my son out of Egypt." - Matthew 2:12-15


After the wise men saw the child they were warned in a dream not to go back and tell Herod where Jesus was. Herod was angry so he made a decree to have the infants killed from the age of a newborn to about 2 years old. God speaks to Joseph and tells him to take the child and go to Egypt. In Joseph's obedience this action fulfills scripture spoke of by the prophet Hosea that God would call his son from Egypt.


Thought for Today: It seems as we read the scripture that if Jesus was meant to be born why was there so much drama going on around him? Why didn't God make it easier? That is sometimes the same questions we ask about our own lives, why doesn't God make it easier if he wants to fulfill something in us? God does not promise us that life would be without conflict, but what he wants to show us through the life of his son is that even conflicts cannot stop his plan and purpose. Take comfort in this truth. There is not one thing you can face in this life that can stop God's plan for you. Jesus faced all so that you and I could have confidence in his power to help us reach his plan. This week as we journeyed on our way to Christmas we saw that God requires us to obey him even in situations that we do not fully understand. He also showed us that he wants nothing to take his place of honor. He is the true king and we must worship only him. Then he showed us that if we obey him he will protect us and help us to reach his purpose for our lives.

Prayer: Lord you have a plan that is specific for my life. Help me to hear you. Also help me to walk in the way that you have for me so that I can reach and fulfill your purpose for me. It was through this Christmas Gift of Christ that you opened up all that is available to me. Help me offer this gift to someone else.