MESSAGE #1. This children’s book we’ve just read told how the children AND the adults all had definite desires for what should go into the abandoned shop that mysterious stranger in town was remodeling to re-open. The women dreamed of dresses. The men saw visions of saws and hardware. The children contemplated CANDY.

     A.  SO…how well were their dreams fulfilled? I believe all of us have ONE particular Christmas when our longings were large. Can you remember that Christmas? Maybe it was that special gift, like Ralphie [RALPHIE PIX HERE] who wanted that Red Ryder BB gun. But why couldn’t he get it?

     B.  I’ve already told you about my Fanner 50s by Mattell. Another year it was an air rifle. It’s a wonder I became such a peace-loving Quaker.

     C.  Some long for new loves at Christmas as they start looking for that date for the big Christmas party or for the all-important New Year’s Eve.

     D.  Maybe it was that certain special ring you dreamt about, that often is given at Christmas, a certain sign of a deepening bond that is supposed to last ‘til death do us part.

     E.  Some hope the holidays will provide that spark or jump start to a relationship where the old engine is really sluggish.

          1.  I was asking one guy about that in his marriage. He told me he’s thinking more about jet fuel than jumper cables. A couple’s “car” can start to sputter and their road gets bumpy. Their dream trip suffers breakdown. Christmas is a time where longings of family restoration loom larger than at other times of the year.

     G.  Joseph had a longing for a family that was not coming together well (Matt 1:18-19).

MESSAGE #2.  The famous carol “O Little Town’s” most remembered refrain talks about “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.” The author, pastor Phillips Brooks’ visit to this special little historic town was the inspiration for this carol. A.  The focus of many hearts, hopes and fears when he wrote this had to do w/ the horrors of the Civil War which had just ended. Many of the tragedies were just starting as S had to reconcile w/ N, families broken in two by that war had to heal. Let’s not forget the men who had to mend; in body, soul & spirit. We’ve been hearing lots of reports about the high cost of the wars in which we’ve been involved in terms of maimed soldiers. So we have lots of longings for them to be whole, and our broken world to be whole and at peace.

     A.  But world peace is not enough. We also crave in for city councils, school boards, factories, offices, and neighborhoods.

     B.  Then there’s the matter of our families. What’s the matter there? Why can’t mommy and daddy have peace?

     C.  Longings come in as many shapes and sizes as Christmas presents [OBJECT LESSON]. We’re going to shake a few of those packages tonight and see what’s in them; see how they match the deepest longings of our hearts.

     D.  God’s people had longed for a Deliverer from cruel foreign oppressors for over 600 years. But that longing had not been fulfilled (Is 9:2-3, 6-7).

MESSAGE #3.  The Christmas story is loaded w/ longings.

     A.  Joseph longed for a wife who was pure and he could be proud of. Instead he had a child on the way and they weren’t married. [The crime of adultery, which this was called if you were betrothed, was punishable by death, though not often enforced.] That’s why he sought to divorce her quietly (Mt 1:18-19).

     B.  Joseph desperately wanted a nation, a marriage & Christmas without fear--what the angel promised could happen (20-21).

          1.  This nation, Joseph’s, called God’s chosen people, had longed for a mighty Deliverer they would call “Messiah,” God’s anointed one. “Christos” was the Gk word that meant the same. But instead they got this baby. They didn’t see that coming in the prophecies even though Isaiah’s was clear & quoted here (7:14).

          2.  Joseph, being a righteous man, longed to do God’s will. And God had clearly revealed His will to him, so Joseph chose to do just that.

          3.  What a challenge and convicter Joseph’s and Mary’s obedience is to us. Sometimes our deepest desires don’t match God’s for us. Sometimes God’s will says go this way and we go that way. Will we do His will, not our own with the help of His empowering Holy Spirit who lives in us who call on His name (22-25)?

     C.  One of the things we need to be clear on—we often know the will of God; we just don’t do it. We need to stop fooling ourselves saying: “I don’t know what God wants.” Most of the time, we do. There are times it’s cloudy, but so much of His will is revealed in His Word and in those deep impressions of the Holy Spirit in our heart.

     D.  That’s what was going on with Joseph and Mary. They knew what God wanted. The choice was there’s whether to do it. Just like us (Lk 1:30-38).

     E.  Aren’t you glad they chose to do God’s will? All sorts of good things happen to us (+others) when we choose to do what God wants vs. our human longings which can leave us empty. GOSPEL.

God's great blessings (Eph 3:20)
Pastor Rick Sams