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Church, in this advance season, we'll be looking at some of the characters and persons that were part of the preparation for the arrival of Jesus. So in the today we'll be looking, last week we looked at the genealogy of Jesus. This week we'll be looking at two key persons, Joseph and Mary. So Matthew's gospel focuses on the birth of Jesus announced to Joseph, whereas Luke's Gospel focuses on the announcement to Mary. That's why we have two readings today. So what can we learn from the life of Joseph and Mary and their posture of faith? This week is what we'll explore. And next week we'll look at the shepherds. And why did uh God uh choose to appear and announce the birth of Jesus through lowly shepherds? That's what we'll explore. And uh the final week we'll look at Simeon and Anna, uh, and they all had a role to play in preparing for the coming of Jesus. So Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 tells of the birth of Jesus this way. Matthew 1, 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. The question that I have always been wondering is why did Matthew record the birth of Jesus in this way? Right? In this particular way, uh the birth of Jesus took place. That's what Matthew 1.18 says. In this manner. So the narrator points us to the manner of the birth of Jesus as of significance to the author. Isn't there a better way for Jesus to be born? Without the necessary uh without the fact of Mary's conception before her marriage and union with Joseph, it says that when Mary was being betrothed to Joseph before they even came together, she was found to be with child. Why not wait until Joseph and Mary were officially married, which would avoid the necessary shame and possible scandal that come that would be upon the couple who would bring forth the Savior of the world. As I pondered over these things, as I considered uh the fact that Jesus came to become flesh, to become to become like one of us, uh I came to the conclusion that I believe Jesus was conceived in this manner to show his identification with the effects of sin and shame. We saw last week that the genealogy of Jesus, according to Matthew, included four Gentile women. We saw that they were Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah. Out of the four, Tamar was accused of being immoral. Uh we read about that from Genesis 38, verse 24. And Rahab, Joshua 2:1 tells us that she was a prostitute. And the wife of Uriah, which we all know is Bathsheba, committed uh adultery with David. Yet, in one way or another, they found themselves in the genealogy and were commended for their faith or for their act of being righteous. One commentator commented that the inclusion of the women was to prepare for the more shocking and to the social world of the day a scandalous act, the birth of Jesus. Before Joseph and Mary came together, Mary was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. I believe the supernatural conception by the Holy Spirit, in a way, shows the power of God to bring about a Savior through a supernatural conception to overcome sin and its effects. So the first point of uh application I'd like to share with us in this advent season is through Christ, we all have the power to overcome sin and shame in our lives. The manner of the birth of Jesus shows God's willingness to identify with sin and shame. Otherwise, why did he choose uh to to enter into the womb of Mary prior to uh so-called them being officially married? Why did he choose to do that? Because God wanted to show that uh he has the power to for the conception of uh Mary by the Holy Spirit supernaturally, God has the power to overcome sin instead of being overcome by it. By the supernatural conception of the Holy Spirit through Mary, Jesus would save his people from their sins. That's what Matthew 1, verse 21 tells us. In this advent season, may you know the power of Christ to overcome sin and shame in your life. Are you under the dominion of sin, fear, worry, or anxiety, or are you just stuck in the rut of self-righteousness or self-blame? Jesus holds the key to set you free in this advent season. The fact that he chooses to come in such a manner means that he wants to identify with the effects of sin and shame. Though being sinless and without reproach, yet he chose to come in this manner, supernaturally, to show his power over sin, his power over darkness. So Jesus holds the key to set you free, to set us all free today. It's liberating to know the power and freedom that comes from knowing God. Many decades ago, I was once dominated by the fear of man. It was a self-consciousness that pervaded my thoughts, deeds, and actions. Through a time of prayer and ministry, in understanding the heart of God along with his greatness and power, I was one day supernaturally set free from the fear of man. I felt a burden being lifted and no longer felt the weight of self-consciousness that inhibited me. But that is not the end of my journey with God. He is constantly at work in my life and all of us, in fact, challenging us to grow. He's molding and shaping us to be more and more like Jesus. And oftentimes, our imperfections, as we read scripture, we sense we are so much, so far from that, we are not like that. But in fact, our imperfections actually reveal all the more God's perfections and draws us near to Him to experience His power to change us. For example, if uh we read if I read 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 4 to 13. Uh you know the famous love chapter. Uh I won't read it all, but it begins uh in verse 4, chapter 13, verse 4, that says, love is patient, is not and not irritated and resentful. Of course, the list goes on. Uh I realized for some quite some time I've been under this cloud or so-called this dominion or being uh impatient, uh irritable, and at times resentful. I realized through a pattern of having the desire for things to be done rightly, I've often allowed the need to be right and correct to triumph over the cardinal virtue of love. So as I seek the Lord uh this season, I pray that he will grow the fruit of patience in my life. So that when I encounter God's word, when I read 1 Corinthians 13, verses 4 to 13, I'm I'm able to come before God with a greater sense of surrender and crying out to God for a breakthrough over this area of my life. So my prayer this advent season goes something like this Lord God, I thank you for giving me a keen sense of what is right and a diligent desire to live up to my ideals. Help me to be patient and forgiving. Teach me to be tolerant of mistakes rather than to find fault in others. Show me how to accept what is good enough and above all how to lighten up, enjoy life, and gently relax in your love. So, what is your prayer and desire for God's intervention in your life? What is the dominion or the area of your life that you need power to overcome? All of us are different, you know. Some of us here may be the most patient person in the entire world. You know, even if uh someone throws stones at you, you can still smile and you know and take it without a pinch of salt. Some of us, all of us have different uh tendencies, uh propensities, personalities. But the good news of this season of Advent is there's power to overcome sin and shame. Uh Jesus came to identify with humanity, he came to be like us, yet he has the power to overcome sin because he is without sin. So, what is having dominion over your life right now? Jesus is born to deliver us from our sins. That's what uh uh Christmas is all about. You know, Christmas can be summarized in one verse, Matthew 1.21. You know, Jesus, the Savior, is born to save his people from their sins, and this is the advent hope. We are looking forward, we are seeking God for a greater deliverance in our lives. So yield to Jesus this morning. Whatever surrender, whatever difficulty you have, it may be an addiction, a habit, uh a certain propensity that you know is drawing you away from God or is affecting your family or your work situation. Why don't you take this time to submit uh this area to yield it to Jesus and see what good he can bring out of it? Because Jesus holds the power to overcome sin and shame in our lives. He chose to be born in such a manner to fully identify with humanity, even in its the effects of sin and shame. Let's now move on to speak about Joseph. Uh, we know little about Joseph in the Bible except that he is a carpenter, and as most Jewish young men would have been married at that time by the age of 20, he's probably in his teens or in his late teens when the angel came to speak to him. So he's a young man in his late teens. We don't know how uh in Matthew's gospel is silent how Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant, but when he does, he is faced with the shocking certainty that the girl he is legally engaged to is somehow not a virgin and is about to have a child that isn't his. In the culture of that day, for Mary to be pregnant with a child before marriage makes her a shameful woman, right? It's not it's a shame that uh kind of envelopes a person, right? That you can't uh divide the person from the the shame. It's almost that to be pregnant uh before your marriage in the culture of the day is shame, shameful. That means you are ashamed, you are ashamed to the family, almost. And not only that, because he is she is being betrothed to Joseph, her dishonor affects him, right? So it's not just Mary, but yeah, I'm I mean, yeah, Mary is betrothed to me, but she's having uh she's pregnant. So her dishonor affects him. So the most effective way in the day of uh in the time of Joseph is to defend his honor, right? I'm not sure how many of us how would respond the way Joseph did as we read in the story. So the most effective way for Joseph, or rather the right thing to do perhaps, the logical thing to do is to defend his honor, right? I didn't uh impregnate uh Mary, you know, but she's pregnant. So I need to defend my honor, otherwise people think you know I committed an immoral act. So the best thing, the logical thing for Joseph to do is to accuse Mary in court in a public divorce, right? That is the most logical thing to do for his own honor, right? And for himself, lah, not for Mary, but for himself, you know, so that publicly uh it's being made known. But of course, Mary will be even more shame uh uh in that situation. So Mary's conviction in the courts would publicly and permanently humiliate her, but it might save the reputation of Joseph. So, what is a just and righteous man to do? How should Joseph respond? So Matthew 1, verse 19 to 25 tells us, and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he 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, for he will save his people from their sins. Moving on to verse 24. 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. So Joseph opted for the more uh uh so-called illogical decision, but a decision that will protect Mary's honor is to have a private divorce, to divorce her quietly, in other words, which would avoid any public shaming for Mary. It is an honorable move, uh, certainly more considerate to Mary, and probably far more than the culture expected. However, Joseph, by being married to uh Mary, will probably still be suspected of being the father. So while Joseph was going through all these thoughts, God intervened. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and God demands an even deeper righteousness. He Joseph was commanded to take Mary home to be his wife, that the child is of God, and he is to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. And Joseph obeys, ignoring any allegations that he has betrayed the moral standards of his society. He takes Mary home as his wife, putting her and the child under his protection. He also names the baby Jesus. So, in doing so, in naming Jesus in the culture of the day, Joseph formally adopts the child into the family of David, giving him a name. So Jesus is legally now on the alo uh along the lineage of the kings of Israel, along the line of David. So my second point of application is this to be righteous is to be is to obey God. To be righteous is to obey God. From the example of Joseph, to be righteous is to obey God and do what is right in his sight. The hallmark of Joseph's life and the story, the few verses that we read is that he obeys and makes the right responses in the following ways. He took Mary home to be his wife, he formally recognized Jesus as his son and named him, despite the implications of sharing in Mary's dishonor. We read further in Matthew 2, verse 13, that in response to the word from the angel of the Lord to take the child and escape from Herod to Egypt, he again dutifully obeyed and is responsive to the divine word. So the point of application for us is this are we willing to obey God if he speaks, even if it doesn't make obvious sense to us now? So to Joseph, perhaps it doesn't make sense for him to bring Mary home. Yet, because it was a command, the Lord came and spoke through an angel to him. So he nevertheless obeyed, and he's called a just and righteous man because he chose to obey God. So are we willing to obey God if he speaks? Even if it doesn't make obvious sense to us now. When God speaks to us directly or in strong stirrings in our spirit, we need to obey his voice and the nudging in our spirit. God doesn't always require us to understand something fully before we act. Think about Abraham in the Bible, he did not fully understand where he was going. But when God spoke and called him from the Earl of the Chordians, from a foreign land, to say, Go to your from your country, your kingdom, your father's house, to the land that I will show you. He acted even though he did not know where he was going. He was fully persuaded that God was able to accomplish what he purposes to do. So is God speaking something in your life today that you need to respond in obedience? Do not delay in responding to God. Our obedience to God is our righteousness. So to obey God in scripture is to be called righteous. Let's now look at the account from Luke's perspective in Luke chapter 1 verse 26 to 38, which focuses on the birth of Jesus announced to Mary. So the narrative focuses on the announcement to Mary rather than to Joseph. So Luke chapter 1, verse 26 says, In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. Verse 28, and he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Moving on to verse 34. And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. Verse 38. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. So the angel Gabriel is sent with an extraordinary message to Mary, and that she will miraculously bear a child who will be the son of the Most High, the promised Messiah who will sit on the throne of David and rule over Israel. In the culture of the day, a woman had to belong to someone. Her identity is found in being married and being the wife of someone. So at a relatively young age, anything from 12 to 14, a marriage would be arranged with someone suitable. Then there will follow a legally binding engagement, the pledge to be married part, in which the girl still stayed with her parents under their supervision. Only after this engagement period was over that the formal wedding occurred. After that, she will move into her husband's house. So Mary was actually in the in-between stage of the marriage process. She was still with her parents, engaged to uh to Joseph, being legally bound to him, yet not fully married. Yet, you know, uh the announcement to from Gabriel to Mary was astonishing. And the word is you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. So similarly, uh like Joseph, Mary must be perplexed. I'm currently engaged, I'm not uh fully, I've not fully consummated the marriage, and now you say I'm going to have a child of the Holy Spirit. You know, how how could this be in the human eyes? As a virgin, how is she going to produce a baby more engaged to Joseph of this pregnancy? Even though it's a pregnancy by the Holy Spirit from on high. The many questions was perhaps going through her mind. So all these unanswered questions could have left Mary greatly troubled and doubtful. Yet, Luke records for us her final response to God was extraordinary and remarkable. Luke chapter 1, verse 38 says, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. So the third and last application is how can we learn to take God at His word? Despite and in spite of all the questions we may have, when God speaks to us, his word and his promise sometimes is beyond our human mind and understanding. Yet Mary was commended because he says, Let it be to me according to your word. In other words, Mary was a woman of faith. She took God for what he says at his word, in spite and despite of the consequences and questions in her mind still unsettled. How can we emulate Mary's faith to take God at His word today? Luke chapter 5, verses 1 to 11. We won't read that, but it records a narrative of Jesus calling the first disciples to follow him. So the setting was the disciples had uh uh fishing all night, they had been fishing all night, but they caught nothing. So why were the disciples in Luke chapter 5 fishing at night? Because uh the fishing nets were constructed from linen. So uh so in linen cloth in the day is quite visible, right? So fishing was done in the night because they they use a linen net to cast the net uh across the sea. So when they fish at night, the the fishes will be less visible. And logically, uh people usually fish at night during the day during that time because fishes during the day would dive deeper to find shade, uh to reduce light going to their eyes. So the best time to fish was in the night. So when Jesus found the disciples, he found them washing their nets, giving us a picture that the fishing had ended. They were all night fishing and yet they caught nothing. So they were checking their equipment and preparing for the next catch. Right? So in this in this time, the equipment had to be checked and uh they have to prepare for the next day of fishing. Yet the response uh of Simon Peter to Jesus was again astonishing. Jesus' word to Simon Peter was to put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. So this was remarkable because it was Simon Peter could have said, This was the wrong time to fish. We were fishing all night, and I'm an experienced fisherman. We caught nothing, and it's a bad day of fishing. Uh yet the response of Simon Peter echoes the response of Mary in Luke 138. In Luke 5, verse 5, Simon Peter answered, Master, we told all night and took nothing, but at your word I will let down the nets. And the result, uh Luke tells us, was an overwhelming catch, such that they had to fill two boats with fishes. So Simon Peter through that story uh became a follower of Jesus. He himself was an experienced fisherman. He was in some way beaten in his own game because he realized that even though being an experienced fisherman, there is a greater fisher of man, which is Jesus himself. So the story tells us that he realized his own sinfulness and eventually turned to Jesus and became a follower of Jesus. So James and John also followed him in the journey of following Jesus and being his disciples. And Jesus told them, You will be now fishes of men. Perhaps some of us here today need to trust God to take him at his word. You may be struggling in a familiar area of work, perhaps in your workplace, in your family situation, you may have certain uh roadblocks in your life, and you have been there, done that. No, yet, in this instance, even though with all your expertise and all the knowledge you have, uh you may have some difficulty handling the matter. So my encouragement to us today is to allow Jesus to beat you in your own game. The disciples were experienced fishermen, yet, you know, they discovered that Jesus holds the key. However great fishermen they are, you know, they were beaten in their own game. So Jesus is more than able to fulfill his word to us today and to all of us, even in the areas of our lives where we think we are good at, we are so-called experts, domain experts. We think that we're going through it fine and things are well. But perhaps we are facing a roadblock or struggle. Today, in this advanced season, Jesus is more and more than able to do a miracle in your life, he's more than able to so-called multiply the five loaves and two fishes. He's more than able in situations of impossibilities and extremities to bring about a supernatural breakthrough. Because he is God, because he's able to fulfill his word today. There's a song by uh Don Owen in 1995, which is many, many decades ago. That was when I was a youth, I think. There's an album called Rivers of Joy. Some of us will remember. It's an old song, but it's always been recast many times, right? It says, Be it unto me. Now, some of us may be familiar with that song. It says, uh, be it unto me, according to your word, according to your promises, I can stand secure. Carve upon my heart the truth that sets me free. According to your word, O Lord, be it unto me. So this is a chorus, right? There are different stances, but the whole song echoes the fact of singing God's word and making God's word a reality in our lives. And that's what we need every day of our lives. We need the word of the Lord to sustain us in the midst of difficulty. We need to hold God to his word in times of difficulty. In times where we don't understand uh tough situations where we can't make sense of. Like Mary, you know, those of us who are women here, imagine you were married, how would you feel? You'll probably be very confused, right? You know, you're pregnant, you're not fully uh married, you are engaged, you are pregnant, and Holy Spirit comes upon you and says, This child is from God on high. I mean, how would you even dare to share it with your father and mother? You know, how would you handle it? You know, what would be your posture if you were married? Right, and yet Mary shows us the example. He says, her response to God, to the angel was, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. Full stop, that's all. Trusting God, taking God at his word. Same with the disciples. Master, we toiled all night and took nothing, but at your word, based on what you say, your command, I will let down the nets. And a miraculous catch ensures. Are we willing to trust God in times of uncertainty to see the breakthrough and the miracle he will do as we yield ourselves to him? Let me summarize the first point: Jesus holds the power to overcome sin and shame in our lives. This is the good news of Advent. He is born to deliver us, he is born to be with us, to deliver us from sin. What is having dominion over you right now? To be under the dominion of something is to be under the cloud. You know, for example, if I if I stand here, you know, and I'm just under, let's say there's a covering, a canopy over me. So I'm under this dominion. Let's say if I'm very impatient, very frustrated, I'm under this dominion of uh impatience and frustration and maybe resentment and anger. So it just boils over and spills over everything that I do, right? So it becomes uh a stumbling block, it becomes something that you're just overwhelmed. So every day you go, you walk, uh, the people you relate to, you feel angry, you feel frustrated, you know, and and this is your manner, this is your dominion, you're under that dominion, and and and it affects you, it affects your actions, your attitude, you know, and everything. Right? So what are what is uh what are we dominated by each day? What are we bombarded by? Would you in this advanced season allow Jesus to work powerfully in your life to deliver you? Because he's born to deliver us from sin. That's the good news. You know, if you have friends around, tell them if they ask you, hey, you Christmas, your Christians, give, gifts, celebrate, have a Christmas tree. You know, is that really about Christmas? Tell them, share with them the gospel. Christmas is about Jesus coming to save us from our sins. Full stop. That is the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus was born to be our deliverer. So would you turn to Jesus this morning and allow him to be your deliverer? Second point to be righteous is to obey God. Are we willing to obey God if He speaks to us today, even if it doesn't make obvious sense to us now? So Joseph embodied righteousness because he obeyed God. He did everything right, he did all the right actions because he is a righteous man, he's a just man who acted according not to human instincts but according to obedience. Thirdly, taking God at his word. Are you facing a crunch time in your life, a roadblock, even in your own game, so to speak, in the area of your strengths? Are you facing a roadblock? Why don't we turn to Jesus and trust him? Look to scripture, look to his word. Jesus is more than able to fulfill his word for us today. We can trust him with all our hearts, with all our lives.