Matthew 1:21

 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 ~ Matthew 1:21


It would have taken great faith for Joseph to believe Mary’s story of her conception, for she had been away for several months and now returns very pregnant. I wonder how many of us would have had his faith. There is not much in the Bible mentioned about Joseph. When the Wise Men come to the child, only Mary is mentioned. When Jesus grows into a man and begins his preaching, it is only his mother and brothers who come calling him to come home. When Jesus dies on the cross, there is no father there but his heavenly Father. Yet Joseph believed and had faith and taught his son the skills of a carpenter. God knew this would be a difficult path for him to raise the Son of God and that encouragement and a promise would be necessary for Joseph to raise this child as his own. “Give him the name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” That indeed was a promise and it was one fulfilled for not only Joseph, but for you and for me. We have been saved by God’s grace to live in freedom without the chains of sin. We are blessed by our God, and we are blessed by a human man which trusted in the Lord’s words to him through a dream.  

Pastor Julia

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