But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:20 (CSB)
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.
Hebrews 4:15-16 (CSB)
2) HIS BIRTH—Jesus is humble
While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:6-7 (CSB)
3) HIS NAMES—Jesus is with me and saves me
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”
Matthew 1:21-23 (CSB)
But if this accusation is true and no evidence of the young woman’s virginity is found, they will bring the woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her father’s house.
Deuteronomy 22:20-21 (CSB)
The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
Matthew 1:18-19 (CSB)
2. Fear of will I have enough
Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:7 (CSB)
3. Fear of where is this going
After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.”
Matthew 2:13 (CSB)
4 Things God says to help you overcome fear…
1. You are highly favored
And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”
Luke 1:28 (CSB)
2. You Are Not Alone
And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”
Luke 1:28 (CSB)
3. I have a plan
Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:31-35 (CSB)
4. I have given you the Holy Spirit
The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:35 (CSB)
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:41 (CSB)
What we can learn from the enthusiasm of the shepherds…
1. Hurry and Find
In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors! When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.
Luke 2:8-16 (CSB)
2. Worship and Celebrate
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.
Luke 2:20 (CSB)
3. Go and Tell
After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
Luke 2:17-18 (CSB)
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:1-2 (CSB)
I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites.
Numbers 24:17 (CSB)
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
2. Abounding Joy
When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.
Matthew 2:10 (CSB)
3. Fervent Worship
Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him.
Matthew 2:11 (CSB)
Then the angel told her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
Luke 1:30-32 (CSB)
4. Extravagant Generosity
…Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11 (CSB)
5. Vigorous Protection
And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
Matthew 2:12 (CSB)
“One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy. 31 If you want to buy back the Lord’s tenth of the grain or fruit, you must pay its value, plus 20 percent. 32 Count off every tenth animal from your herds and flocks and set them apart for the Lord as holy. 33 You may not pick and choose between good and bad animals, and you may not substitute one for another. But if you do exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be considered holy and cannot be bought back.”
Leviticus 27:30-33 (NLT)
What Is A Tithe?
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God.
Exodus 23:19 (CSB)
Why Should I Tithe?
A. It Belongs To The Lord
The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
Haggai 2:8 (NIV)
…but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth.
Deuteronomy 8:18 (CSB)
B. It’s Holy To God
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I TITHE?
A. Keeps me from becoming selfish
“In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35 (CSB)
B. Empowers my church
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.
Matthew 28:19-20 (CSB)
C. Puts me in the place of blessing
Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38 (CSB)
But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:18-19 (CSB)
D. Challenges me to live by faith
Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 (CSB)
Aaron will present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household. 7 Next he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
Leviticus 16:6-7 (CSB)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23 (CSB)
2. God Eliminates
When he slaughters the male goat for the people’s sin offering and brings its blood inside the curtain, he will do the same with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it. He will make atonement for the most holy place in this way for all their sins because of the Israelites’ impurities and rebellious acts. He will do the same for the tent of meeting that remains among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities.
Leviticus 16:15-16 (CSB)
Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the Israelites’ iniquities and rebellious acts―all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the man appointed for the task. The goat will carry all their iniquities into a desolate land, and the man will release it there.
Leviticus 16:21-22 (CSB)
Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
Hebrews 10:11-12 (CSB)
But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 (CSB)
He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (CSB)
3. We Reciprocate
Atonement will be made for you on this day to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
Leviticus 16:30 (CSB)
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12 (CSB)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10 (CSB)
You are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and each of you to his clan.
Leviticus 25:10 (CSB)
1. I Have Freedom In Christ
You are to make the purchase from your neighbor based on the number of years since the last Jubilee. He is to sell to you based on the number of remaining harvest year
Leviticus 25:15 (CSB)
The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn.
Isaiah 61:1-2 (CSB)
He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”
Luke 4:16-21 (CSB)
The land is not to be permanently sold because it is mine, and you are only aliens and temporary residents on my land. Leviticus 25:23 (CSB)
2. I Have Mercy In Christ
If your brother becomes destitute and cannot sustain himself amongyou, you are to support him as an alien or temporary resident, so that he can continue to live among you. Do not profit or take interest from him, but fear your God and let your brother live among you. You are not to lend him your silver with interest or sell him your food for profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
Leviticus 25:35-38 (CSB)
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
Ephesians 2:4-5 (CSB)
3. I Have Rest In Christ
The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee; you are not to sow, reap what grows by itself, or harvest its untended vines. It is to be holy to you because it is the Jubilee; you may only eat its produce directly from the field.
Leviticus 25:11-12 (CSB)
Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest.
Hebrews 4:1-3 (NIV)
4. I Have Provision In Christ
What God provided on the 6th year was to cover you for the 7th year. If you wonder: ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we don’t sow or gather our produce?’ I will appoint my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating from the previous harvest. You will be eating this until the ninth year when its harvest comes in.
Leviticus 25:20-22 (CSB)
Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25-33 (CSB)
