Christmas Road Trip 2 // Joseph

Introduction

• Looking at the journeys of several key Biblical figures to help us ready our lives for Christmas
• Last week we looked at Mary and surrendering our lives to God so we can be filled with The Spirit

This week: Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25 (CEB) | ¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, before they were married, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly. ²⁰ As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” ²² Now all of this took place so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: ²³ Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will call him, Emmanuel (Emmanuel means “God with us”). ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did just as an angel from God commanded and took Mary as his wife. ²⁵ But he didn’t have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. Joseph called him Jesus.

1. Joseph was a righteous man and understood love.
   
2. Joseph was open to the movement of God.
   
3. Joseph was faithful to serve God, even when it might not have made sense.
   
4. The courage of Joseph was one of the first steps in the plan for humanity’s salvation.
   
5. God saw in Joseph the kind of man he would choose for his own father.

Take-Aways

1. Be open to God’s move
2. Obey God even when it doesn’t make sense
3. Be courageous

Reflection Questions:

1. Joseph’s journey proved to be quite an emotional one. How might you have felt if you were in a position like Joseph’s? How do you think you would have responded?
2. What can you take away from Joseph’s understanding of love? How does this mirror and model the love God feels for you and me?
3. When did you feel God asking you to do something that didn’t make any sense? Did you obey right away, or did it take time? Discuss your feelings leading up to it, going through it, and looking back on it.
4. How does Joseph’s courage encourage you? What do you need to do in order to get stronger in your courage muscles?
5. When you think that God the Father saw in Joseph the man He wanted to raise His Son, what virtues and qualities come to mind? Do these reflect your life? If not, what do you think you need to do in your own Christmas Road Trip to ready your life this season and beyond?