The Christmas We Need | Part 1 – A Courageous Christmas | Jordan Brawner

Matthew 1:18-19 (NIRV)

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary and Joseph had promised to get married. But before they started to live together, it became clear that she was going to have a baby. She became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Her husband Joseph was faithful to the law. But he did not want to put her to shame in public. So he planned to divorce her quietly.

Matthew 1:20-21 (NIRV)

²⁰ But as Joseph was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She is going to have a son. You must give him the name Jesus. That’s because he will save his people from their sins.”

[1] Not all the fears we face are !

• There are life fears

• There are life fears

[2] Courage isn’t so much about the words we speak, or the feelings we feel, as it is about the we take!

Matthew 1:24-25 (NIRV)

²⁴ Joseph woke up. He did what the angel of the Lord commanded him to do. He took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not sleep with her until she gave birth to a son. And Joseph gave him the name Jesus.

[3] The purposes and plans of God for your life will not happen until you your courage!

Galatians 6:7b, 9 (NLT)

… You will always harvest what you plant… ⁹ So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

[4] You must your courage!

• We can cultivate our courage… because he is the God who to us

Matthew 1:20-21 (NIRV)

²⁰ But as Joseph was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She is going to have a son. You must give him the name Jesus. That’s because he will save his people from their sins.”

• We can cultivate our courage… because he is the God who us

Matthew 2:13-14 (NIV)

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” ¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt…

Matthew 2:19-21 (NIV)

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

Matthew 2:22-23 (NIV)

²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth… 

• We can cultivate our courage… because he is the God who what’s ahead of us

Matthew 2:5-6 – Micah 5:2 “ ‘But you, Bethlehem… A ruler will come out of you.’”

Matthew 2:15 – Hosea 11:1 “I brought my son out of Egypt.”

Matthew 2:17 – Jeremiah 31:15 “ It’s the sound of crying and deep sadness”

Matthew 2:23 “he would be called a Nazarene”

• We can cultivate courage… because he is the God who is us

Matthew 1:22-23 (NIRV)

²² All this took place to bring about what the Lord had said would happen. He had said through the prophet, ²³ “The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) The name Immanuel means “God with us.”

• We can cultivate courage… because he is the God who us

1 John 4:18 (NIRV)

¹⁸ There is no fear in love. Instead, perfect love drives away fear.