Craig Cassel 12/1/2024

For [Music] ch [Music] [Applause] [Music] to e [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] go [Music] for [Music] for [Music] [Applause] [Music] e for [Music] in for [Music] I [Music] spe for [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning welcome to First Baptist kemon we're so glad you guys are here with us I trust that you've had an enjoyable Thanksgiving celebrating with your family and friends and here we are first week of Advent so here we come Christmas if you're a visitor with us I would invite you or a regular attender or guest I would invite you to take advantage of this resource in front of you it's our way of connecting with you and for you to share with us any prayer request or needs you might have by way of announcements this Friday December 6th is the Children and Youth Ministries volunteer Christmas banquet if you've not already signed up on Planning Center or spoken with

Thomas and you would like to come please by all means talk to him today December 14th is Angel Tree Ministry and it starts today on December 14th it will be when we collect the gifts and those are for the Weare families children's Min Christmas presentation December 15th and that'll be during our morning worship at 10:30 children will be participating in the worship service that morning our goal for the lmon Christmas offering this year is $7,500 I would invite you if you've not already begun to do so and that's pray and be looking to the Lord how you might participate and come prepared that morning to bring your offering for that above and beyond your tithe December 2nd that's Tuesday women on Mission will be meeting and they're going to be meeting to pack cookies for The Shins so you're asked to bring two dozen to pack and share Family Resource Center I meent we mentioned it for the first time last week but it's just on the other side of that wall there and it's a center where you might find resources that will help you in your faith Journey all we ask is that you sign what resource you take out please sign it out so that we know who has it and then when you're finished with it bring it back and cross your name off Weare is hiring if they are taking applications at this time for a part-time staff member if you're interested please contact Susie Jennings and her number there is pro is provid Ed there and then Christmas poinsettas if you'd like to participate in that in remembering a loved one they're $20 a piece and you're going to need to have that order in by Tuesday of this week finally the deacons will be delivering the food baskets on this

Saturday they're going to be meeting at the South End Atrium the welcome area out there at 9:00 if you have never participated in that it's a cool opportunity you'll be paired up with a deacon usually we send them out in twos and you'll probably be given two or three boxes to deliver around the community and it's a great way to be the hands and feet of our fellowship here I feel like I'm forgetting something so I ask forgiveness in advance if I have but let me pray now as we enter into worship father I thank you and praise you just for the continuation of our worship this morning we thank you that we get to be here together with brothers and sisters and I pray that Lord as we worship with music with the reading of your word with celebrating your body that was broken for us Lord all of these parts of worship this morning that we get to participate in Lord they're just so such a blessing and I just thank you and praise you that we get to do freely I pray that Lord it would not just be things that we just do out of petition but that we do them authentically Lord with hearts that are prepared and hands that are open and that we are just willing to allow you by your Holy Spirit to do whatever pleases you and Lord we invite you we invite you now as we worship in music in a little while as Craig brings the message Lord all of these things we pray that you would Just Have Your Way in our hearts we ask this in your name amen I invite Maggie and Craig to come up now all right good morning church family good and high you can hear all right as was mentioned we're the Advent season so today we celebrate the beginning of Advent and Advent means

Coming it's a season of expectancy as we prepare to celebrate the first coming of Jesus and anticipate his second coming the candle today that we're lighting is the Hope candle God's promise of a Savior brings light to a world in darkness Jesus the promised King fulfills this hope through his incarnation and then I'm going to read from Isaiah 9 veres 2-7 the people who walk in darkness will see a great light for those who live in a Land of deep Darkness a light will shine he will enlarge the nation of Israel and its people will rejoice they will rejoice before you as people rejoiced at the Harvest and like Warriors dividing the plunder for you will break the Yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders you will break the oppressor rod just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian the boots of the Warriors and the uniforms Blood Stained by War will be burned they will be fuel for the fire for a child is born to us a son is given to us the government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of Peace his government and its peace will never end he will rule with fairness and Justice from the Throne of his ancestor David for all eternity the passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's armies will make this happen okay I'm going to be reading through Luke 1 26 through 38 in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy God sent the angel G Gabriel to Nazareth a village in Galilee to a Virgin named Mary she was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph a descendant of King David Gabriel appeared to her and said greetings favored woman the Lord is with you confused and Disturbed Mary tried to think what the

Angel could mean don't be afraid Mary the angel told her for you have found favor with God you will con conceive and give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus he will be very great and will be called the son of the most high the Lord God will give him the Throne of his ancestor David and he will reign over Israel forever his kingdom will never end Mary asked the angel but how can this happen I'm a virgin the angel replied the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you so the baby to be born will be holy and he will be called The Son of God what's more your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age people used to say she was Barren but she has conceived a son and now in her sixth month for the word of God will never fail Mary respond I am the Lord's servant May everything you have said about come true and then the angel left her so let's pray Sovereign Lord you are our source of Hope in Christ you have provided the Fulfillment of every promise and as we remember the darkness in the world we praise you for sending the light in the world your son Jesus Christ help us trust in your unch changing faithfulness and proclaim the hope of the Gospel to the Lost strengthen our faith as we wait for Christ's res return and we may live as people of Hope amen please stand and sing with us this [Music] morning glory to the newn kingace on Earth and mercy s re joyful nations rise join the trium of with Proclaim Christ is Bor in bethleem the her Angels Sing glory to the newborn king Christ Christ by highest Heaven Christ the Lord L in Behold

Him offing Up The Virgin WB fil Ines the God sea de with to D [Music] Jesus Angels Sing glory to the newborn king ha the of the of righteousness light and light to all we br with healing in his wings his glory no die to Sons of earth born to give the second birth theal Angels Sing glory to the morning church one of the ways we are able to worship our God is by returning just a portion of the many blessings he have given to us so we just want to go with him in prayer thank him for this opportunity and all that he's done for us let's pray God father as we just come today we just want to come worshiping you thanking you for who you are for what you've done for us and how you guide us and your word thank you for this opportunity to give cheerfully just a portion of the blessings you have given to us financially we just ask that you use it for the spreading of your word throughout the world we pray this in Christ's name amen our catechism for this morning is what is God John 4:24 tells us God is spirit and those who worship Him must Worship in spirit and Truth job 11: 7-9 tells us can you find out the Deep things of God can you find out the limit of the Almighty it is higher than Heaven what can you do deeper than Shaw what can you know its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea Psalm 110 ver2 says the Lord sends forth from Zion your Mighty scepter rule in the mid of your enemies and James 1:17 says

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or Shadow due to change Psalm 1475 gives us he gives to all of them their names great is our Lord and abundant in power his understanding is beyond measure Revelation 48 and the four living creatures each of them with six wings are full of eyes all around and within and day and night they never cease to say holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come Exodus 34:6 the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord the Lord a God merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness [Music] Oh [Music] Come and R captive that in L the EG of until the Son of God appear REO [Music] shall come to the Oh Come and Che our Spirits Byers the GL of night and our shadows toly [Music] reuel shall come to the oh the wi from high and Order of far and to us the path of know Anda us in our way to go re in the shall come to the of Oh Come Des are of Nations

Alles in one heart and mind stri and SE fill the whole world with Heaven [Music] peace reu [Music] shall come to the oh Isel re [Music] reuel sh come to the [Music] you guys can be seated okay all right it's time for the children's lesson all right okay be careful around that candle guys let's shift over here let's let's let's shift over here yeah come this one let we're going to stay off the stage we're going to stay down here okay all right okay I got now you guys are really smart so you guys probably know what this is right yeah what is it's a calendar okay Emilia I need you to come and hold the mic for me yeah this is a calendar and we have calendars because we want to keep track of the days right well in every month there's usually some sort of a an event or something from the past that we remember right can you guys think of some things before I show you what are some things that are really important to us that we remember every year yes yeah Christmas Christmas that's right Easter he made us a share yeah we reminded to share yeah sure thanks Thanksgiving that would be a good one right the natives shared food with the pilgrims right anise birthdays oh right now well you know I was going to go through these I had some circled you know January we celebrate the New Year okay what else have we got here we got February of

Course we celebrate Valentine's Day right okay in March March are some really special ones March 5th that's my birthday okay right and sometimes it's Easter but in April most of the time that's when we celebrate Easter okay right let's see what do we celebrate in May well may we have of course fall Father's Day right no we got Mother's Day we also have Memorial Day okay all right June we have Father's Day and your birthday very good was it really okay so July we have July the 4th what do we celebrate July the 4th that's Independence Day right okay August there's nothing really in August right back to school back to school okay yeah back to school there we go okay September we have Labor Day okay yeah we get a day off for that lab you would think right okay and then October we have October 31st which is Reformation day that's right we wouldn't be in a Baptist Church Without Reformation day okay and then November we have veteran day and we have Thanksgiving but you notice something with all of these feasts or shouldn't say feasts all these days that we remember they're one day they one day that we take time to remember them right and we might have our own little Traditions here hold it again but when we get to December we all know the big one in December right it's Christmas it's the Advent of Jesus's first coming okay but we are already talking about Christmas and Advent today in fact we lit a candle do you guys remember what that candle Hope was for Hope good job you guys are listening I'm impressed yes it's the candle of Hope and we read a passage from Isaiah I'm going to read it again but this Advent this is a time where we get to spend 24 days remembering and expecting

And celebrating Jesus's first coming it is a wonderful time that we get to prepare our hearts in remembering the true meaning of Christmas okay so I do I have it here my Bible's upside down okay we're in Isaiah we're in Isaiah chapter 9 okay so this we lit the candle cuz it's a candle of hope okay and this one of the first prophecies talking about this coming hope specifically in the Advent of the Messiah is found in Isaiah 9 and here's what it says the people who walk in darkness can you guys see in the dark no the people who walk in dark darkness they will see a light okay those who live in the land of the shadow of death for a child will be born to us that's the light you know what's interesting about that light Jesus is a it's kind of like he's the light of the world but it's also interesting because God put a very special light over top of the M over top of the stable what light was that it was a star yeah for a child will be born to us a son will be given to us and the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called wonderful counselor Mighty God Eternal Father Prince of Peace and so you can see here's the first Advent hope then there's love Faith joy and then we have Christmas and those those are four five weeks that we Mark out to celebrate specific truths specific truths of the Bible that bring us into the True Religion the true faith and it's a wonderful thing now I told I didn't tell pastor Cody I was going to do this but Pastor Cody's been working working real hard on something and you know our family we're going to do this year and I'd like to share this with you and maybe you guys will enjoy it as well but he put together a really neat cute little 24 day Advent calendar okay and it's got little truths in it that your parents can read to with the Scripture and it also has little activities Oh let's see

If I can get one little activities that remind you about that truth and you can color them and you're supposed to cut them out and put them on a string so that you can see each one and be reminded and counting down now do you guys count down the dates of Christmas yes I a lot until my birthday oh yeah I love counting I remember waking up oh it's December 1st it's officially Christmas time and the toys are under the presents are under the tree and I'm waiting every day for that gift we all do that right think about about Advent this way though we always say what the true meaning of Christmas is about it's about Jesus right it's about Jesus's birth well Advent is like celebrating and being and expecting that Christmas day that day when Jesus finally came okay on December 25th you're preparing and you're eagerly waiting in expectation for the true light to come and celebrating Advent is how we do that okay so I want to I want to just encourage you guys to think about the true meaning of Christmas this year as we have often need reminding every year okay that it's not about the gifts that we get because who's the greatest gift that we get that we get Jesus Jesus that's right he's the greatest gift all right let's pray dear heavenly father thank you so much for this time thank you for all these little boys and girls thank you for hope and giving us your word and that prophecy and ultimately fulfilling it all with the birth of Jesus Christ the light of the world Lord thank you so much for sending him to die on the cross for our sins that we may have eternal life and Lord I just ask that you would help us out as we head into the service that we would be able to learn and from your word and that you would help Mr Craig as he delivers us your word this morning pray your sings in Jesus name amen good

Morning make sure I don't run over a kid okay last week PJ said that he's doesn't have issues with speaking in front of people I got it I thought I got it on can you not hear me I got green light all right I think we're good are good they want it up a little more all right all right okay so last week PJ mentioned about he doesn't have problems being in front of people and speaking but he's not real good with technology well guess what not that I'm not real good with technology I just don't know how to use it so we're not going to worry about it you're not going to see anything on the screen to the best of my ability or my knowledge I have no idea what those guys in the back might do but I am not planning on using anything up there so this is your opportunity to be like back in the day when you were in school and you had a pencil and paper and you just had to listen and take notes so get those pen out of your pocket you can take or you can just go back and watch YouTube later on and go through it again before Sunday school of next week how many planners do we have out here people that like to plan yeah I know my wife's hand was going to go up what do you like about planning organization organization you like organization okay what else say again expectation expectations so you know what you're getting into maybe what expectations are control control okay control so I don't forget so I don't forget that was my wife who said control I am not a planner my wife is a planner that's why we're married I mean that's one of the reasons I mean God brought us together knowing that I needed a planner right and brought us together knowing that she needed somebody to help loosen up that plant for those of you that are not planners why don't you like

Planning it go sideways anyways too much work it go sideways anyways it go sideways anyways so why bother everything you can't anticipate everything my wife does my wife does it okay yeah so I'm with you I'm with you on that well though I'm not a planner I think we always have plans those who plan have plans and those who don't plan actually do have some plans right they may not have it all written out on the calendar you can look at our calendar and it'll tell you where we're going when we're supposed to go there and sometimes I even get my stuff on there and she helps me to remember that which is really good but we all should have some sort of plans we had some plans we had family plans share a little bit about our family plans we've been married for 37 and A2 years so 37 and A2 years ago when we got married our plan was at least in my mind and I think we kind of talked about it was that we would be married for two years and then we would have our first kid then two years later we'd have our second two years later we'd have our third another two years later we'd have our fourth and then we'd stop and think do we want more we talk about it but that was our plan was to start out every two years and have a child and up to four I had this plan for those of you that don't know we are missionaries with ethnos 360 formerly new tribes Mission I had a plan to have a castle Dynasty in the mission it was it was going to be known from now until eternity or at least until something else happens that was my plan God had different plans God's plan was for my wife to hear from a doctor that she'll never hear anyone call her mom kind of harsh God's I that was that was God's

Not that wasn't part of God's plan I don't think but what happened was for nine years we were told that we would not have any children and then God's plan was different than our plan nine years later we had our first blessing Cody who's now 28 5 years we figured he would be the end if we weren't supposed to have any 5 years later God brought Another Blessing Cheyenne Cheyenne Joy she still brings joy to my life most times who's Now 23 our plan was for four God's plan was for two and not in the time frame that we expected we had Ministry plans our ministry plans originally were to we'd finish we finished up the training in Kentucky we came here to Roach Missouri when it was Language School it used to just be the language school and then after that we didn't know what else to do so we made plans to go to Mexico they could use us in Mexico the day before we left the training we got a phone call asking us if we'd go up to Pennsylvania and teach at the training center in Pennsylvania which then that lasted for about three years Mexico was no longer in our plans no longer in God's plans then we were asked by the same the same leadership guy if we would be willing to go to Indonesia so we said why not why wouldn't we all we had was a dog and we found a nice he became a missionary to a girl's home and then he retired on a farm up in Nova Scotia I'm assuming he's there somewhere buried then we figured we got to the one spot in Indonesia monado we were there for 17 years figured we'll stay here until we retire God had other plans then I made my first Five-Year Plan we'll go to Papua Indonesia for

Three years we'll come back to the States for two years after that we'll see figuring we'd go back to Indonesia God changed those plans brought us into the States before we left Indonesia God just worked in my heart and said hey you need to consider Cheyenne it would be good in thinking about her in high school being in one place so we made plans we came out here and we've been at the training center and we are now n and a half years into a fouryear commitment original plan was a four-year commitment God had other plans and I'm just saying all this thing all this to just to think about planning Proverbs 169 says a person plans his course but the Lord directs his steps right so it's it's not wrong to make plans for those of you who do make plans yes they may go AR but it's not wrong to make those plans that Scripture says a man makes his plans a person makes his plans but God directs the steps so we need to realize that if we don't make any plans we'll just be tossed to and fro like a boat out in the water without a motor or without a sail just kind of going here and there it actually happened to a friend of ours in Indonesia he had a Commerce boat and he was up in the Philippines him and his crew they were coming back down to Indonesia if you don't know geography Australia is down here Indonesia stretches across on top of it and the Philippines is somewhere up above and he was coming down and they lost their motor have the radios they floated and drifted for two weeks in the middle of the ocean until they eventually made it to some off Island out of Malaysia and we're able to get some help that would be like us if we don't have any kind of plans we would just go here and there but we need to remember that in making our plans we need to realize and accept the fact that God is Sovereign he guides and directs

Our steps and he guides and directs our lives Proverbs 35 and 6 another passage that we're all very familiar with says trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding knowledge him in all your ways and he will make your path straight so yeah we need to remember when we're making our plans even that we're not just leaning on our own understanding we need to lean on God's understanding we need to be trusting him as we're making plans I think James I'm not sure what the verse is says you know instead of saying I'm gonna go here and do this I'm gonna go here and do this as the Lord Wills I will go and do this or looking into him but usually we have a problem or we get into trouble when we're not ready or we're not willing to accept God's plans over our plans we're often wanting God to adjust himself we're wanting God to adjust his plans to fit into our plans rather than the other way around adjusting our plans into his and that's what we need to do now I want to look at two people in the Bible that has some plans so if you'd open your Bible actually just read the passage earlier Luke 1: 26 through 38 Mary and Joseph they had plans for themselves but God had different plans so let's read about those plans and if you are able and you would like to stand for the reading of this morning then please go ahead and stand Luke 1 26- 27 in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betro to a man whose name was Joseph of the House of David and the virgin's name was Mary and he came to her and said Greetings oh 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 Hero 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 he will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give to him the Throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end 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 will be born will be called holy the Son of God and behold your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son and this is the sixth month with her who was called Baron for nothing will be impossible with God 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 let's pray Father in Heaven thank you for this morning thank you for the opportunity that we have to begin the month of December just thinking about celebrating looking forward to the coming of Christ yeah who're celebrating the first Advent we're waiting for the second father we thank you for it we thank you for your word God and I just pray that as we look at your word that you would use it in our lives the way that you want to in Jesus name amen please be seated so Mary and Joseph they had regular plans I'd like to read verse 26 and 27 again in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betroth to a man whose name was Joseph of the House of David and the virgin's name was Mary they had good old regular plans they had plans to have the engagement in a normal Jewish way to have a marriage and whatever they do for those I know like there there was these parties and it was kind of long it

Wasn't just a one day type thing and then probably according to what Scripture said planned on having a quiver full right probably planned on just being married having kids Joseph opening up and having a continual carpenter shop Mary being at home raising the kids well the carpenter shop was probably right at home that was their plans just a normal plain old thing good old regular plans but somebody came in I forgot to tell you the message title when God messes with your plans yeah when God messes with your plans the angel came in Gabriel with some news that was truly going to mess up their plan they had plans maybe similar to ours get married every two years have a kid and then on and on do work and all these type of things but God had different plans and if we were to continue to read we'd know that news was at the son of the most high God was going to be born from Mary a virgin not normal plans I think maybe every Jewish woman maybe thought maybe it's me maybe it's me maybe I will be the mother right of the king that will sit on the throne of David but I don't know that they were thinking that I think they were having normal plans this was Joseph and Mary's plans have the kids what God was doing had nothing to do with what their plans were but God had better plans God had amazing plans for Mary and Joseph I want to look at her response what was her response when she was there she had it all figured out Joseph had it figured out how are they're going to do this and then when the angel Gabriel came in with God's message and totally messed up their plans what was her response verse 34 is her first response and Mary said to the angel how will this be since

I am a virgin so her first response was question somewhat of a normal question I would think I mean I would expect that would be a good normal question it wasn't it wasn't a question of rebellion but it was a question of clarification you know she knew that what Gabriel was telling her was not normal that this was not the way that things were supposed to happen and God gave her the best answer that all would happen according to his plan man now what was her second response after she had the question the second response is in 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 wow how many times when you have plans and you've got them all laid out just think of maybe a recent plan that you had laid out and the way it was supposed to go and then it didn't go that way what was your response yeah you don't have to answer I kind of might have an idea of what your response might have been you got to rep plan that you are going somewhere I still remember one day in Indonesia going to church it's hot we've got everything ready we're going to church we got a carload of people us and some students and we're going and we got a flat tire that was not in my plans I still remember my response because it wasn't a very churchy holy response I was very frustrated extremely frustrated it's hot I've got church clothes on and I've got to change the tire and I still remember my wife saying something that at the time did not help my response I think it was like it'll be okay honey just calm down some something similar to that but often times my response when my plans get messed up is

A response of frustration it's a response of God what in the world are you doing don't you know what I had planned out don't you know that I know God what I doing and what's the right way to do it now I may not say those exact words but that often is what I am portraying in my response but Mary's response you could see in her attitude her mindset I am a servant of the Lord let it be done as you said let it be done as you've said let it happen to me God according to your word according to your plans often times we have the mindset not I am a servant of the Lord but the Lord is my servant instead of the Lord is my shepherd and he leads me and guides me we have the mindset again we will never say it out loud but we have that mindset the Lord is my servant he shall guide me in the way that I want to go okay I don't know if you've ever had that mindset but I know that I have Mary's mindset was Lord I am your servant let it be done to me as you have declared she was a servant ready to do what the master said and she had contentment not in her plans but she had contentment in God's plans for her so what were Mary's response she questioned a legitimate question and then it was Lord as you will as you wish I am your servant what about Joseph what about Joseph's response let's look at Matthew chapter 1 verses 18- 25 Matthew Chapter 1: 18- 2 now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way when his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came up together before they came together she

Was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit and her husband Joseph being a just man and an and unwilling to put her to shame resolved to divorce her quite 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 and this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet behold the Virgin shall receive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which means God with us when Joseph woke up from sleep he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and he took his wife but knew her not until she had given birth to a son and he called his name Jesus couple responses that I see as I read this passage I see fear says he was the angel of the Lord said don't be afraid so apparently he was afraid apparently there was fear in his heart and I think probably be It Was Fear for what would happen to Mary because of an apparent adultery because here's a woman married out of wedlock in a sense it was that betol through but they had not consummated the marriage yet and she was pregnant so according to Old Testament law there were things that needed to happen to her and he was fearful of that he knew that she would receive the death penalty there was also I just put that there there was also love and honor because he loved her he wanted to act honorably towards her and just divorce her quietly not make a rightness so that there wouldn't be all the possibilities that could have happened but yet then he got the real news right it says that she was that she had she' be found with child from the Holy Spirit but he didn't know that yet so

Then in his dream he got the real NOS the real news and he found out that this pregnancy was not normal that this was something that God was doing this was something that God had done it was from the Holy Spirit and this changed his response once he realized that God had changed his plans once he realized that God had changed their plans he had a different response Joseph wakes up and he adjusts his plans so that they line up with God's plans he didn't say God I need you to change your plans to line up with mine but he was willing to change and adjust to what God had laid out now was all this again according to Joseph's plans no was it according to Mary's plans no it was all according to God's plans but they were both ready and willing to change their plans or to adjust their plans to God's plans they had that mindset again not God you are my servant but God I am your servant do as you shall now three things that we can learn from this or at least there's probably more but I have three things that we can learn from this one God did not ask Joseph and Mary if he could change their plans he didn't ask them he did it he didn't ask for their permission he told them how it was going to go he is God he is The Sovereign Lord and he has the right to tell Mary and Joseph how things were going to be he is the creator we are the created right he is the master we are the servant not the other way around so we need to be the ones to adjust our plans to his he doesn't have to ask permission because he's God and we are not the second thing that I think we can learn from this is that God's plan for them was not easy it was not easy in fact it was very difficult Not only was the pregnancy not a normal pregnancy because it was something that the Holy Spirit had done not in the normal human way but there's

Also the social stigma that would come with it that they may have to deal with they had to travel very far in the midst of being pregnant if they had gone according to their plans they still would have had to travel to Bethlehem but she wouldn't have been pregnant Jesus wasn't born in a in a house like normal he was born in a stable sometime after the birth they had to run off to Egypt to protect their lives because of Herod these are not easy things these are difficult things and I think the thing that we can learn from this is that we need to realize that God never said his plans for us would be easy in fact there are Scripture passages that we could go through that tells us that if we walk with him follow him there will be trials there will be difficulties it won't be all peaches and cream or ice cream cream and whipped cream if you like that better we need to realize that God never said his plans for us would be easy third thing that I feel we could learn from this is that even though there are difficulties God does bless us just think of Joseph and Mary the blessing that they had with their first child to raise the Son of God who became a blessing to them because he never disobeyed I mean he never did and then think of the blessing that they had they were able to raise the Savior of the world who through his death burial and Resurrection became salvation for us what a blessing through the difficulties that they had and then each and every one of us who have placed our trust in Christ what a blessing that is that we get eternal life something that we can do is realize that as God changes our plans as I will am willing to say Lord I am your servant as you wish please let it happen then we will be blessed and then others will see us they'll see how we are reacting and

Then we will be a blessing for them as well as we adjust our plans according to his plans so in conclusion it's not wrong for us to make plans right in fact we probably should make some plans right it's not wrong but we need to be ready and not just ready but ready and willing to adjust our plans to God's plans not the other way around we need to have that mindset that Lord I am your servant not Lord you are my servant and then again it will not be easy all the time in fact we will experience difficult times as we follow God's plans and adjust to his plans and then the last thing as his servants let's be ready to make adjustments to his plans for our lives let God bless us in this that we also may be a blessing to others let's pray Father in Heaven again we thank you for this opportunity Lord to read your word to see it to see the things that you have done the things that you did with Joseph and Mary Lord totally messing up their plans thank you Father for their hearts their attitudes their willingness Lord to adjust to you because they saw that you are the Sovereign Lord and they are your servants God I pray that you would help us as this week I am pretty sure that probably all of our plans will probably be messed up in some way Lord help us to see you in this help us to submit to you this help us to see ourselves father humbly as your servants in Jesus name amen Craig thank you so much for reminding us that God's plans are always better than our plans and we need to be adjustable we're going to take a moment now and observe the Lord's Supper we observed Thanksgiving this week Thomas thanks for the great illustration for the kids showing them how many times we

Observe things one of the things this church observes every month it's on every one of those pages is communion and that's because Jesus gave us an object lesson and Living Color to follow and that was communion every part of it has a meaning and we're going to share that together this morning let's pray and then we'll begin father thank you for Craig and the word and his delivery of that word pray that we would hold our plans Loosely pray that we would adjust as quickly as Mary adjusted that if we need clarification we'll go to you for clarification and be willing to be honorable in our responses help us to not be frustrated to be willing instruments in your hands and Lord as we take time now and pause to take these elements we just trust that you would be the center of this moment in Jesus name amen you can disperse the bread while they're passing out the elements particularly the bread want to stop and think about the three things that Jesus told them to do you can go ahead and begin passing them out the three things that Jesus told his disciples to do before they took the bread he told them he took the bread and you have to take this bread for those of you who aren't here and you're not a believer maybe you haven't yet taken him as your Savior but it's important that you take the bread and then once you have it the next thing he did was he prayed over the bread he blessed it and then final thing that he did was he took that bread and he broke [Music] it and I don't know if this is a habit of yours but if you want to you can consider before we partake of the bread today take that piece of bread and after giving thanks for it break that bread because that was part of the

Original illustration he was broken for us and that was the picture that he was communicating when that bread was fractured he is that living bread the bread that gives us life and that came at a [Music] cost so I'll leave that up to you if you want to break the bread and then as you break that bread you'll feel you'll hear a sound and you'll see a split or fissure to remind us of the fissures or the cuts that he received in his hands and in his feet and in his side [Music] he took the bread and when he had given thanks that's where we get the word Eucharist from a Greek word me made up of good you and Caris Grace good grace he that's what the word he has given thanks means let's give thanks right now father we thank you for this bread which represents your body which was broken for us without that we were separated from you and even in eternity away from you could not pay the debt that we owed thank you Lord for paying that for us for being broken for us and after he prayed he broke it take [Music] eat okay dist [Music] in the same way after he took the bread he also took the cup and for those gathered around that table that day the Cup held meaning that for us it's hard to associate with the disciples around him were from the Jewish culture and that culture used the cup in a way that's not common in our culture they Ed the cup to seal a covenant we just mentioned the betrothal of Mary and Joseph when that betral took place the family of Mary and the

Family of Joseph sat down together with cup and they committed to each other and shared that cup representing the commitment that they had between each other and the disciples would be seeing this in this cup the commitment that Jesus was making to his bride that's us that cup was the cealing of that Covenant the new Covenant the covenant made in Blood and this every time that they saw this process repeated as often as we do it is designed to remind us to make thankful and to Proclaim his death until came [Music] again the proclamation that he was talking about doesn't happen often in our culture either but in that time in the marketplace there were commonly made proclamations which were declarations that were given with authority and conviction [Music] and this process that we're doing today is a proclamation a declaration with authority and conviction that what he did accomplished something and that we are grateful for what he accomplished [Music] this is the cup of the Covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes [Music] father it's with grateful Hearts filled with joy that we participate in this communion service right now we think of the cup that was shared between the betro parties and it just reminds us of your commitment to us and we think of the bread and just reminds us of the cost to you thank you for what you've done for us help to go from here with that in

Mind and to keep that in the foremost part of our mind until we come back to do the same thing next month in Jesus' name amen [Music] you're