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Are you hungry? You can be … more about that later.
Faith is man trusting God.
Grace is God trusting man.
When we trust God, we give Him a chance to work in our lives. When God trusts us, it’s not because we have earned it or that we deserve it … it’s because of His unmerited favor. Grace is our chance to choose God.
Philippians 2 NKJV
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Today we are going to take a brief look at the lives of two key figures in the Christmas story. God hand-picked these two individuals because He saw something in them and knew something about them.
These two people will teach us about grace and faith. Let’s read from the traditional Christmas story as recorded in the Gospel of Saint Luke.
Luke NKJV
26 ¶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Greek: charis = grace) Mary found God’s grace …
31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
32 “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
37 “For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mary had extreme faith in God because she found the grace of God. She trusted God with her life, her future, the future of her family, and the salvation of her nation. When we trust God it opens a door to the storehouse of His grace. That’s where the impossibilities are kept.
God didn’t choose Mary because she believed Him … rather … Mary chose God because He believed in her. Mary became able to conceive because her faith accessed the grace of God. It was because of His gift of grace.
God often asks people to do something because He wants it done and He knows they can do it if they will trust Him.
The second person we are going to learn from this morning is Joseph, the husband of Mary. Let’s read from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew.
Matthew 1 NKJV
18 ¶ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,
25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
It is evident that Joseph was full of God’s grace. What other source could bestow such love, such devotion, and such grace at a time like this. Joseph trusted God and God trusted Joseph. God chose Joseph because:
- · Joseph was connected to someone who was connected to God.
- o Who you allow in your inner circle can be a blessing or a curse.
- o The spouses of Noah’s three sons were saved from the flood for no other reason than who they married. Talk about the favor of God! Favor changes everything.
- o How did Noah build the ark? By faith. It was a choice to trust God and by faith he accessed the grace to get it done.
- · Joseph was a humble person.
- o He did not react selfishly, nor was he cruel, critical, or brutal in his response to Mary’s considered betrayal.
- o He wanted to minimize her pain and not add to her problems.
- o He was gracious.
- o You can afford to be humble and gracious when you trust God..
- · Joseph embraced the supernatural.
- o He believed in dreams and visions and angels and the voice of God. All things are possible to him who believes! (Mark 9:23)
- o He allowed one word from God to change everything in his life.
- · Joseph was unafraid to go against public opinion.
- o His trust in God’s Word and the grace of God to sustain him enabled Joseph to swim against the tide.
- o God trusted Joseph and asked Him to take care of Mary and her son and when Joseph said yes to God, then God gave Joseph the grace and the resources to do it.
This is the story of God. God enables us to trust Him by His grace and then He rewards our faith with more grace and resources. But it is still a choice.
- · Do you trust God?
- · Can He trust you?
- · Can He entrust you with His plan?
- · God is looking for someone to help Him fight this war.
You might say, “Who am I? What can I do? How can I do anything for God? I’m too weak or poor and I’ve failed God too many times.” He will say to you what he said to one of the greatest persecutors the Church has ever known … Paul wrote:
2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
If you don’t know where to start, let me invite you to begin your grace-filled faith journey on Monday, January 5th, followed by the First Monday of each month in 2026. God needs help and I am asking you to join with me in First Monday’s Fasting, Prayer, and Praise. Are you hungry? You can be!
- · Fast one meal each 1st Monday and use the 15 to 20 minutes you would normally be eating to pray for our nation, your family, and our Church.
- · Then join me at 6:3pm for 30 minutes of praise and corporate prayer right here in our sanctuary or online each First Monday of the month.
- · We are going to offer our services to God and dedicate ourselves as soldiers of the cross.
But you don’t have to wait until January to begin dedicating time to God in prayer for our nation, your family, and our Church. God will do His part if we will do ours. He said:
2 Chronicles 7:14 If My people, who are called by My name shall humble themselves and pray; seek My face and turn from their wicked ways – then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land.
