Strong Tower Lakeland
Dealing with Disappointment | Steven Weathers | 12.01.24
Amen. Anybody remaining confident this morning that we will see the goodness of the Lord. Anybody willing to wait on the Lord? Some of us have to wait on him. He's just gonna make us wait. But at the end of waiting he'll be there. He'll meet us there. He's with us all the way. So we praise God for our God. A waymaker, a miracle worker, a promise keeper, a light in the darkness. Praise God. Praise God. I'm Stephen Weathers and one of the members here strong tower church. And we're looking today at Matthew chapter 1 verses 18 through 25. So if you have your devices or your Bibles feel free to turn there with me. Or you could follow along on the screen. We're using the English standard version. Feel free to follow us along on that version. Let me rush to praise God for the opportunity to be in the house of the Lord this morning for one. You know they said I was glad when they said unto me. Let us go into the house of the Lord. Huh? Anybody glad this morning to be in the house of the Lord? Praise God. We get to be here. We get to see new mercies every day. One of the new mercies I think God gives us. Certainly on Sundays is that we get to see again the people of God and be in here together. You worship all week. I know y'all I know you don't just worship on Sunday. You've been worshiping all week. And and you come in and you see the people of God who've also been worshiping in together. We get to put our worship together. I just want to say I'm also thankful this morning. When you get to see the people of God there's always some kind of blessing in it for us. I like the church that when you get here you know everybody every now and then people are talking to you. Not just the you're not just in and out right. So so I was walking this morning down the aisle and and young Mike walk past me. Look at here. Look young Mike. I just want to say y'all need to get his brother some extra playtime or some allowance or something. I don't know what they give you Mike some allowance. Mike said to me he said how is it that when I see you you look younger every time? This brother deserves some some extra playtime. If you got to go the time out don't give him time out. Let him do something. I'm just thank you Mike. I'm just saying being around the people of God you get blessed every now and then. So I'm thankful for that. Praise God for the people of God. And so praise God for Mike and Lacey who raised a son to be able to notice my youth I appreciate it as well. So some of you may know this is this is the first week of Advent Sunday for 2024. So praise God for Advent Sunday and some of you recognize that Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. So we're here this morning and by the way if you aren't familiar I wasn't familiar with Advent for a long time either though I was a Christian we didn't grow up talking about Advent though we may have celebrated it like every year our church had a Christian a cantata we had we had different things that celebrated the common anybody remember cantata I know I know you don't even you know y'all some of y'all don't even know what that word mean like what's that cantata is that a different language it might be I don't know but but we did it at our church and and we did things that celebrated Advent so if you aren't familiar Advent is a Latin word it means arrival arrival it's coming from the Greek word peruja means the coming the coming or the arrival and so at this time of year each year since about the fourth century now many churches across the globe they celebrate the coming of Christ in three different ways first as a child that is something we'll be we're discussing today and over the next couple of weeks they also celebrate that he is coming to our hearts and saved us for those whom he's entered our hearts and he is the ruler and the master of our souls so we thank God for that and we also celebrate and await his second coming his second coming somebody say marinata that's another word for him coming again right and his second coming is taking place so we get to celebrate that so when you hear the word Advent you need to know that we're talking about the arrival of just one the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth bringing hope and peace and joy and love to the world so as we consider that as we celebrate that and as you stand for just a few moments I just want you to start here let us let us sit up step into our practice of just being silent welcoming Christ here in our hearts for just a moment as we prepare to receive his word we thank you for the new mercy that you sent two thousand years ago when that just the right time you sent Christ father you sent him not considering that we were not worthy but you sent him marking father that we are worthy because you say it not because we actually have earned it father because you've placed upon us your image you've you've called us to yourself oh God and we are grateful this morning and you offer opportunity of all those who would be with you this morning I pray this this word this morning would also be just that one that would offer a different opportunity to continue to draw close to you to continue to hear your voice and be transformed by your father made the words of my own mouth and the meditations of my own heart be acceptable in your sight oh Lord my strength my redeemer I pray for clarity of mind concision of speech by the conviction of heart care for the soul Lord God as we bring the word of God and that you would speak to each one of us in the name of Jesus we pray amen continue standing just a bit longer as we pass through the passage with our eyes and ears and hearts right Matthew chapter 1 verses 18 through 25 now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way when his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph and before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit and her husband Joseph being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame resolved to divorce her quietly but as he's 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 all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which means God with us when Joseph awoke from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him he took his wife but he knew her not until she had given birth to a son and called his name Jesus this is the word of the Lord please do we seated for just a few moments I want to talk to you about the from the subject dealing with disappointment dealing with disappointment in fact using that topic from the happy story of Christmas the happy story of Christmas but dealing with disappointment you might even tag this text dealing with disappointment during the holiday seasons well over the next few weeks the majority of people in the United States will be celebrating Christmas the lights you've seen them they've already gone up if you like my family we've done a couple of things already in celebration gone to the ice show over at the Gaylord Palms we rolled through the Auburn Dale light show and it wasn't really much of a show but but but we drove through it because we were doing family stuff and it just so happened all my kids were at home this week so that was a real plus we got to celebrate with them I love that and so Black Friday is taking place nostalgia nostalgia for the season has already gotten underway many of us are excited and waiting for Christmas Day because unless you're the Grinch everybody loves the Christmas season everybody loves to celebrate Advent but I must be honest I must be honest while Christmas is a wonderful time of year the very first Christmas was not so enjoyable for everyone in fact the event of Jesus first Advent I mean we didn't the church didn't start celebrating Advent until about the fourth century but truthfully his parents and many around them the very first Advent a celebration of it was in the first century not surrounding you know it was not just surrounded by celebration and fun though there was celebration and fun I mean there was Mary and her meeting with Elizabeth there was Anna one of the prophetesses and Anna Nias and then the angels and the shepherds I mean there was there were moments of celebration surely but the story itself the birth of Jesus itself was surrounded by what appeared to be a scandal here here's what it says you we just read now the birth of Jesus Christ happened in this way when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together don't miss that she was found with child of the Holy Ghost okay Joseph like many of us was preparing for the day of marrying his bride instead he experienced devastating disappointment he was betrothed to Mary that is they had conducted the first part of what a betrother was and a marriage was in that culture in the Jewish culture known as the kiddishin this means that Mary was now set apart for Joseph only the word even comes from the word the Old Testament word for holy or separated Kadesh right so kiddishin is a separation it is now saying that this woman is reserved only for this person this man and this man only for this woman plans had been made money had been spent because the the husband would have to give a dowry of some sort for the wife all of these things that take in place plans made money spent a future was being built in the minds of Joseph and of Mary for that matter can you imagine what might equate to a stab in Joseph's heart when he's in the conversation with his fiance and she says Joseph I have something to tell you I'm gonna have a baby oh yeah yeah well yeah you you and I we don't have a ton of babies that's what Joseph was thinking and she says well I'm I'm gonna have a baby but not your baby I don't know about y'all I'm just trying that wouldn't that wouldn't settle it wouldn't go well over me y'all see y'all sitting there like it I didn't hear like oh like really I mean maybe because the story is so we just go is just you know what I'm saying huh y'all know the end that's why y'all cuz that's like mmm that's that soap opera stuff right there that's that's like that's like you know with with lifetime kind of stuff you know I don't know what that would you know that's okay just me um now Mary hadn't sinned friends Mary didn't sin but Joseph didn't know it yet Joseph experienced in that moment grave disappointment and loss he was sure he had experienced the death of their pure relationship and now he needed another plan by the way has that ever happened to you has that ever happened where you had a set of plans for someone or with someone about something only for it to all fall apart either that person betrayed you or they couldn't fulfill their end of the agreement or the bargain or you had a change of heart or they had a change of heart or even death took them what do you do when you experience disappointment especially at the hands of someone else when the day that you envisioned is horribly different from the day that you're experiencing what do you do this this episode in Joseph's life provides some understanding that disappointments do come they do come and the scripture doesn't really tell us how Joseph reacted emotionally but we might use our imagination and soon there was sadness and anger and broken heartedness a sense of betrayal and what would that scenario look like for you how we would react friends is a direct revealing of the kind of person we are and sometimes we don't know the kind of people we are until we're in those positions sometimes I'm standing up here now I don't know what I would do if my fiance said that she was pregnant with child from the Holy Spirit it probably wouldn't be good and I think you might you might understand me that be a strange thing to consider but however I would react it would be a revelation of what is deep inside me and the kind of the people the kind of person I am some of us would cry others of us I hope not but would lash out physically some of us would go to court to get back whatever we put into the relationship but Joseph provides us a first way of dealing with disappointment even during difficult times even what is supposed to be doing beautiful times like this verse 19 says it the scriptures say in verse 19 and her husband Joseph being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame resolved to divorce her quietly we'll respond well to disappointing circumstances when we lean into God's righteousness not our own sense of revenge not our own sense that something has to be made right for us the Bible says Joseph was a just man the word just and the word righteous are the same it's interesting that Matthew links the response of Joseph's righteousness to his reaction not to expose her publicly because because you would think it's the other way around that that because she did the deed Joseph should expose her for what she had done that's kind of in my thought what I might want to do that's kind of in my thought of what I think you might want to do but Joseph the Bible says being a righteous man some of your Bible say because he was a righteous man that is it was his righteousness that caused him not to expose her not to shame her it was his righteousness that was linked to his right actions and don't miss it friends Joseph had options Joseph had some serious options Joseph being a faithful man to the law of God he would have turned to the law and the law gave Joseph the following options according to law here's what Joseph had what could have opted to do in in in dude around in me chapter 22 verses 13 through 24 it says Mary and and her parents both Mary and her parents Joseph could have had them brought before the elders of the town and made her prove her virginity and if she or her parents could not prove that she was a virgin she could be stoned that's what the law said you could do right a second option that Joseph had was found in numbers chapter 5 this is the Torah right these are first five books of the Bible the the law that the Jewish people live by the second option was found in numbers chapter 5 verses 11 through 31 Joseph feeling that his wife had been unfaithful was opened to this particular had had an option of this particular law where this particular law actually said it actually said if your husband thinks you're jealous you could do these things Joseph this is what it said Joseph could have presented her to the priest there the priest would make her take an oath that she has not been unfaithful and then he would have to have her to drink a mixture of holy water and dust from the tabernacle floor that the priest gives to her and if she had been unfaithful then the womb would miscarry that's that was an option Joseph had he could have brought her to the priest he didn't choose that option if if not if not the other thing Joseph could have done was obviously as he was thinking to privately divorce her but then one other thing Joseph could have done is he could have married her oh by the way if she had drank it and was found not to be unfaithful then Joseph would have to marry her with no future possibility of divorce that's that's how the law worked in those days and and then and then Joseph also could have married her by the way he wound up doing that but he could have married her and who wouldn't have been able to divorce these are some of the things the scripture say the law the Jewish law said right now in a day where the law said that you could stone adulterous in a day where the law gave him lawful ability to simply say I'm done with this in a day where that time it had taken place Joseph chose not to do this by the way I know scholars will tell you that by this time in history by the first century about 2000 years ago they would say the Roman government would have actually banned people from stoning people in their own communities and that capital punishment was left only to Rome however stoning still took place even though that law was in place consider that a woman was brought to Jesus now this is 30 some years later that a woman was brought to Jesus and the people were ready to stone her consider that the first Christian martyr some years later after Jesus had died and been raised and now ascended into heaven 30 is some years later Stephen the first Christian martyr was stoned consider that the Apostle Paul survived being stoned some years later at Listra so I know that that people tell you that stoning wasn't an option but I'm telling you the Bible seems to give us indication that Mary was in some real danger that Joseph recognized stoning was still an option but Joseph didn't act on his emotions he submitted his options to the Lord so hear that first you recognize that Joseph submitted his options to the Lord and when we're disappointed by things we have emotions involved we have problems involved the thing that we must do is submit our options to the Lord the Bible says he quote unquote considered these things to consider it's another word for pondered we see it in another place in New Testament when when the people have we're talking about Jesus the priest the high priest the priest and the and the priestess were talking about Jesus and and and Mary his mother was there this is when she was young and the Bible says she pondered all these things in her heart she she molded over she thought about it is she meditated on it wow she she's remembering like wow they said this about my son Joseph was doing the same thing with the law he considered these things he considered the law he considered he pondered what should he do he thought about them he reflected on them what's supposed to happen is that when trauma comes our way we're supposed to reflect on godly options before us we're supposed to do that yet what often happens is we normally reflect on how we can satisfy our own hurt in the shorter term and I think when we're disappointed it's easy to do that Joseph was disappointed but he didn't take disappointed disappointment and operate out of the disappointment operate toward the disappointment out of his emotions and because he didn't act on his emotions right away because he waited because he sought the law he had an opportunity to hear from god verse 20 says 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 take do not fear to take mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is from the holy spirit and and as he heard from god these were some of the things that were revealed in first of all it was revealed to him that he was reminded of who he was the angel said joseph son of david now god reminded joseph that his life mattered by calling him according to his lineage jesus needed to be born through someone or through a lineage of abraham and david and juda joseph you were specifically chosen to go through what you went through because you my friend fit the task perfectly and the truth is friend sometimes god sets us up in certain disappointing circumstances because no one else could do it quite like you that's a hard truth but but we and we only on the back end can see why we went through it and we prefer not to go through it but it's not always easy to know what god wants us to do what we can know is god has our best interests at heart no one else could do it quite like you and i want you to i hope that you and i will be able to see god in our most disappointing circumstances and recognize that god sees us he knows that that this is a circumstance that's put together for you i i don't know why god does it like that i don't know why god would have a conversation with the devil and and tell him about joe and say look you know just go ahead and handle joe how you want to just don't touch his soul and take his children and take his health and all of those i don't know why god would do that except to show his glory i don't know why god would look at the other joseph and and the the joseph that was hundreds of the thousand a couple of thousand years earlier and and say you know about his brothers let them put him in prison let them let them do what they want i don't know why god was okay with that except to say that at the end of it that joseph who's also in in these the in the one of the children of isra was able to say you know what you meant for bad god meant for good i don't know why god would do it just seems like god would put me through pain for his purposes you know i guess that's it isn't it god would put us through the pain for his own purposes friend he was reminded of who he was nobody will be able to handle it like you he was encouraged for the task of head ahead the angel said do not fear to take mary as your wife the fact is joseph's response to this crisis was crucial to many others experiences with god if joseph couldn't do it if joseph wouldn't have done it we would all be in trouble today god wants you to go through what you're getting through because many others are depending on your testimony so my friend i'll tell you what i'm having to tell myself these days be encouraged and keep going god's goddess in the away maker in the a miracle worker in the a promise keeper in the alight in the darkness my god that is who you are i'm not telling you something that i'm not telling myself these days i'm i'm telling you i'm i'm working toward making sure i keep faith in a god who has pointed out to me that he's got my back because he knows what i'm experiencing he was also informed that his circumstances were not blind then to god's plan the scripture say this that which is conceived is from the holy spirit that is it was the holy spirit who empowered this child to be birthed through mary and the holy spirit knew that joseph would have this experience of hurt and needing to feel in need to divorce it was the holy spirit it was god himself who put this child in mary friends god is not blind to what you were experiencing in fact why don't you look at somebody right now encourage them say just look at somebody just look at somebody right now in the eye just look at him in the eye i know it's strange just look at him anyway and just say god sees you yeah you can look at one more person look at one more person just tell him god sees you god sees you he's not blind friend to your plight he knows us and he sees us so friends stay true to trusting god and he'll help us to understand that there are godly purposes even to our earthly pain finally it was revealed to joseph that by using joseph god was dealing in fact with his own disappointment and working out the solution in joseph's life the disappointment you may remember that took place in genesis chapter three where adam and eve ate the fruit of the garden that they were not supposed to eat and the disappointment that came there where adam and eve were found to be in shame now where god had to cover them god was dealing with his own disappointment but he made a promise he said you'll crush his head and he'll bruise your heel and and god was now bringing to fruition the promise that he had made now he was using joseph to do it but he was bringing about a promise for all mankind look at verse 21 she will bear a son and you shall call his name jesus for he will save his people from their sins all this took place to fulfill what the lord had spoken by the prophet behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which means god with us joseph a faithful person knew he was a son of david and he understood that god was bringing about a promise to the people of israel that would indeed be god israel would be his own people i hope you hear that this morning uh joseph's problem was a secondary problem in in in the grander scheme of sin that god was using joseph and even the pain he went through to bring more and more people to see god to see jesus christ and it was it was it was through joseph had joseph not taking his assignment seriously we would have been in a world of trouble we wouldn't have been great jesus wouldn't have been raised by a a merciful man a person who could look at the law and determine that that that there should be forgiveness and perhaps it might have caused them not to say on the cross forgive them father for they know not what they do joseph was that kind of man that he led that example left that example for jesus and jesus comes and he gets on that cross and he remembers and he himself goes through the disappointment because he knew he had an example of someone who did the bible says jesus endured the cross despising the shame and now he's sat down at the right hand for of god right and so i would say to you this day that your disappointments are they're important god sees them god knows you he has not left you and if you have disappointment in your life if you if you thought the day that you envision has turned out to be horribly wrong i want you to know god sees you he knows you and he has a plan even in your pain he knows the plans he has for you plans to prosper you not to harm you to give you hope and a blessed future that is what joseph did friends that being said i pray that you and i would be able to see our pain see our disappointment and realize that god himself went through the greater disappointment of watching us sin but he went through the greater work of sending his son jesus and advent is about that friend that god fulfilled his promise and he saw you even though you were still in sin christ died for you and now you can live eternally with him i pray that in this moment i know that there are times where we can't see all that you experience during this time of year but what i'm praying is that god would be meeting you in the moments of your disappointment so that you can be mindful that he also experienced it that he also understands disappointment and he sees you he loves you you're not alone that is why he's called the manual god with us you're not alone but today you get to celebrate that god sent his son and he's with you in your disappointment in jesus name father we thank you that you love us that you care for us that you used joseph in his disappointment so that we might be able to experience your faithfulness in ours lord god that you used him to especially carry out the healing of our sin so that if you can do that father god you can handle every other disappointment that we have i pray for anyone right now who is downtrodden heavy lord god needing your your come alongside is needing the holy spirit to walk next to them and sense his presence i pray that they will do it today that that you would make yourself clear today not just through this message but even through one of another as we're in this place even through their family members as they lead this place when they go home uh through their co-workers father i pray that this time of year will be one where people could see and celebrate that you came and you love them in the name of jesus we pray amen amen we come down to our lord's table this morning and before we partake together at the table we confess our faith or affirm our faith using the apostles creed so together we will profess our faith and uh this is a creed if you're not familiar that is is from the ancient church this is a creed that's been used for over 1500 years 1600 years by the global church so this is a summary of what we believe when we say i believe in the gospel this is what we mean by that together we profess our faith from what we believe in the gospel. you so. You
Dealing with Disappointment | Steven Weathers | 12.01.24 by Strong Tower Church