Looking At The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

Looking At The Genealogy of Jesus Christ Matthew 1.1 The genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David , the son of Abraham. Advent/ The Church Calendar does bring up some interesting points... Jewish and Christian, tied to the agricultural year, to a progression to each other... for instance there is a reason why The Festival of Lights (Hanukkah) and Christmas are in December, why The Resurrection and Passover are in the Spring... So to this morning's message... Names meaning. Jesus= God is Salvation Christ= The anointed one David= beloved Abraham= Father of a multitude Amazing genealogy Jesus Christ= God's Salvation Coming Through His Anointed One, a descendant of His beloved, a descendant of the Father of a Multitude Jesus Christ =The Anointed One Bringing God's Salvation Verified/Confirmed/Affirmed a number of times: *The Announcement to Mary Luke 1.35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. *Mary's Song Luke 1.46 "My soul glorifies the LORD 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, Mary was overwhelmed that God chose her. The LORD committed His Kingdom to very young people. Amazing! *Baby Jesus in the Temple Simeon's Word Luke 2.29 “Sovereign LORD as You have promised, You may now dismiss Your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 which You have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” * Jesus At His Baptism Luke 3.21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.” *Jesus In The Beginning of His Ministry Luke 4.16 He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the LORD is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor.” *Jesus At The End of Ministry on Earth Just Before His Death Mark 14.6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” And it would be proclaimed in Acts and the rest of the Bible would be about this! Verse one loaded with insight. I love how God's Word does that! 1. The Genealogy of Jesus Shows The Word Became Flesh. John 1.14 I told you about my cousin, Lynn, looking up our family genealogy here on Long Island and Brooklyn. Jesus entered the world as a baby and had a human genealogy. I was talking to my sister-in-law yesterday and telling her you could look at that genealogy and see where the turn was toward Christ on my Mom's side. Melchizedek before He became flesh. Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. Hebrews 7.3 Jesus He was born to Mary. The Holy Spirit brought about the pregnancy. Luke 1.34“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be calledb the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37For no word from God will ever fail.” 38“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. He was born into a family line. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Judah... David... Mary 2. David was a Descendant of Abraham. David's line David was a descendant of Abraham through Judah Luke 1.31 You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you are to call Him Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The LORD God will give Him the throne of His father David, 33and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.” God's Promise to build him a house... God's Kingdom II Samuel 2.11 "‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD Himself will establish a house for you: 12When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before meb ; your throne will be established forever.’ ” King David anointed by Samuel. 3. Abraham was the Father of the Faithful. Works or faith He is our example. James 2.21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. The beginning here in Matthew is this man Abraham. His legacy is faith. Jews and Believers and Muslims trace their ancestry to him. His story. Miraculous birth of Isaac. Christ has been born!!! Even more miraculous! Isaiah 53.Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life an offering for sin, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand. You are in the spiritual line of Jesus Christ. He had no earthly descendants, only spiritual ones. You're A Child of the King! Our Father- both Jesus and us! Step out in boldness and watch the family multiply! What He did for Betchina's mother, Solange, He wants to do here.

Giving Thanks To The LORD For What We Know

Giving Thanks To God For What We Know Psalm 106.1-2 1 Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. 2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare His praise? Beyond measure. Psalm 107 1 Give thanks to the LORD for He is good; His love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story— those He redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. This is Thanksgiving Week in he United States. It is part of our heritage, our heritage as a nation which acknowledged from before its inception that God Almighty had blessed this land we call America. President Abraham Lincoln's First Thanksgiving Declaration: Washington, D.C. October 3, 1863 By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation. The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth. By the President: Abraham Lincoln William H. Seward, Secretary of State There are many material blessings we enjoy here in our country. We live in abundance, sometimes wretched excess. This year the LORD has drawn me to give thanks for the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. Like Peter wrote in his first epistle to the church : Praise be to the God and Father of our LORDJesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, (I Peter 1.3-4) Or Paul wrote the Church at Ephesus: Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1.3) The Psalmist leads us in giving thanks to God for what we know about Him. No one can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD- Infinite, but give Him thanks for what we know. 1. Give Thanks For His Goodness and His Love. v.1 Good= *Pleasant- It is pleasant to be with Him, sing to Him, share His Word. We see His goodness and we are deeply blessed. *Delightful and Joyful- Zephaniah 3.17 The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior Who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” *Beneficial Psalm 103.2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits— His goodness is seen in the benefits He gives. We are urged here not to forget them. How easy it is. How easy to get caught up with life even ministry and serving Him and to forget all His benefits. The LORD is good. He is pleasant, delightful and joyful. Morning by morning new mercies I see. Psalm 68:19King James Version (KJV) One of my Nana's favorite verses. Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. love= *Kindness He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities *Faithfulness To all His Promises Psalm 145.13 Forever Even when we are faithless II Timothy 2.13 2. Tell Your Story: Psalm 107.2 Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story: Sheets in your bulletins this morning. Use them this week, perhaps during the time we would normally meet in Bible Studies, before Thanksgiving Day. It is a busy week for many. Take some time out to just give Him thanks. This will help you 3. Give Thanks for those redeemed from the hand of the foe. You and others Jesus has saved. Romans 5.15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Give thanks for those you know who have come to Christ. They will enjoy heaven with you forever. 4. Give Thanks for What He is doing around the world today East and West, North and South. Haiti Peniel All over the world! *Chicago Cub Ben Zorbrist, World Series MVP, spoke out about Jesus, his LORD -Jon and Margaret Scott in their 70's in Angola right now. * In the least likely places today, God is at work! -Think of where the Shoeboxes are going! So much we do not know about the work of God around the world right now Psalm 106.2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare His praise?

Personal Thanksgiving

Personal Thanksgiving

Psalm 103.8-12

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

    slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse,

    nor will He harbor his anger forever;

10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve

    or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is His love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

    so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

There are blessings that are personal to each of us and blessings that are common to all followers of Jesus/lovers of God. One of the reasons I like to journal is that it helps me remember (make a record) of the personal blessings in my life. Photos do that as well. I have a church file in my photos and I can put it up and remember people who served the church, people I knew and who loved me and it is a blessing.

The psalmist here is remembering by writing a song to the LORD. Some of us can express our thanks that way, others through art, others by serving around the facilities, by giving, by helping others, by talking about it.  Do you know how much a text or phone call can mean? Whatever is your hand use it to take the thanks that is in your heart and make it personal and productive. 

This Psalm is a good starting place to make your thanksgiving personal. One commentator said it was so complete it didn't need any commentary. I will try to do it anyway this  morning. 

1. This is a Psalm of Thanksgiving/Gratitude

Unlike the other nine lepers in Luke 17.15-18, who took the LORD's blessing for granted,  this a Psalm of recognizing the goodness of God in the Psalmist's life. It is personal. He was very thankful for the blessings of God in his life.

The writer of this Psalm was delivered from serious illness which would have resulted in a premature death. God has healed many. Yet we must balance scripture with scripture as we shared last week...  

Isaiah 57.1 NLT Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.

57.1-2The righteous perish,

    and no one takes it to heart;

the devout are taken away,

    and no one understands

that the righteous are taken away

    to be spared from evil.

2 Those who walk uprightly

    enter into peace;

    they find rest as they lie in death.

God knows what is coming in a person's life and I am convinced that He takes people home who would have lost their way, wandered from the path, departed from the faith or possibly have endured suffering that was beyond them.

Our thanksgiving should focus on the Giver more than the gifts. We ought to be thankful for the gifts. We ought have gratitude that we live in such abundance.

We should focus on where they came from and Who sent them.

James 1.17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows.

Exalt Him in thanksgiving. Praise Him for Who He is...

2. The LORD is a God of mercy, love, forgiveness and grace.

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. Thank God for that! 

Compassionate= love deeply, have mercy, tender affection

If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? Psalm 130.3

Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"? Proverbs 20.9

The thing we ought to be the most thankful for is our salvation.

Luke 10:20 (NIV) However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

We really need to give thanks to the LORD for saving our souls, for writing our names down in heaven.

Being thankful for your forgiveness by God. 

3. Jesus took our sins.

*As high as the heavens are above the earth...

Infinite

Oh, we've just discovered a new quasar, or galaxy that is beyond anything we've ever known before. It is out there, eight billion light years away, ten billion light years away." All right, keep searching man; you're only expanding the mercy of my God. 

*Interesting that he said as far as the east is from the west, rather than as far the north is from the south. Because the north is only about 12,500 miles from the south. You can only go north until you get to the North Pole, then you are going south. And as soon as you get to the South Pole, you are going north again. The distance of about 12,500 miles, that is, unless you are going straight through. But you can start off tonight flying east, and you'll fly east the rest of your life, if you don't change directions. Or you can start flying due west, and you'll be flying west the rest of your life. So I'm glad that he said as far as the east is from the west, rather than as far as the north is from the south, because I want my sins farther away than the north from the south. I like the east and the west bit. I like God just removing completely my sins, my guilt from me. Because of His mercy.- Pastor Chuck Smith

Psalm 107.10-22

Ezra 9.13

Let me end with this note of praise for your patience and grace this past year with all the changes we have worked through.

God bless you.

Yelssy encouraged me on Wednesday after the election to reach out to our Spanish brothers and sisters. I did.

This afternoon If you know of anyone who is here in the United States illegally and is concerned about the future please invite them to attend the Spanish Service at our church this Sunday at noon. Mayor Joe McDermott, Attorney Rudy Migliore and I will be speaking to the congregation through a translator to separate facts from fiction in articles that speculate like the one below. God is control. We will be helping folks become legal residents over the years ahead. Bay Shore Church of the Nazarene, 1314 Pine Acres Blvd. Bay Shore, NY 11706

We can do this because you persevered, because you through many changes have brought a new day to the ministry of this church. People have shared this post. Yelssy told me it could be used as a model for all the churches on our district. I already wrote a letter to President Elect Trump to tell him what we are doing and asking him to let the church help with the illegal immigration problem. Rudy directed me to wait until he is in office, but to begin with the Congressman from New York. Who knows what God is going to do?! Only God knows. Romans 8.28 remain usable and open to His Work.

As you thank God for forgiveness continue to forgive as the LORD forgave you. Keep short accounts. Forgive others. Love each other deeply for love covers a multitude of sins. Live a life of forgiveness. It has such a sweet smelling fragrance!

Only God Knows

God Only Knows

Romans 8.18-28

Phrase many times used without much thought but so true! There are things that simply, "God only knows."

Who our next president will be...

When Jesus will come back...

Where my keys are...

Or something else I have lost...

Or what a person who did something stupid was thinking...

Only God knows... Many things we do not know.

But this we know:

*God is in control.

*God is at work. 

*He has a Grand Plan, more wonderful than you can imagine!

*We are part of it.

*Our faith will be tested, sometimes severely.

*One day our faith will be sight.

Romans 8.28 And we know that in all things, God works for the good  of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

*New King James Version (NKJV)

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

*Philipps

Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to His plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good. 

1. There is a Negative Side to this.

All things/ everything

Why people, especially children suffer.

The questions of the prophets.

Habakkuk 1.1-4

Natural Disasters

Haiti

Someone said, "Haiti can't catch a break."

People dying "prematurely"

Lord of the Rings "No parent should have to bury their own child."

Jim Elliot, missionary to Auca Indians, killed by them at age 29, wrote in his journal just a few years before, "I must not think it strange if God takes in youth those I would have kept on earth till they were older. God is peopling  Eternity, and I must not restrict Him to old men and women." 

Oswald Chambers "Death profoundly alters life." My Utmost For His Highest

Dietrich Bonhoffer

Keith Green

Jesus Himself

Isaiah 57.1 NLT Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.

Yet that does not give us the full understanding of why it had to be them. God only knows.

There are great mysteries in life and if we dwell on them we will get spiritually depressed! 

Proverbs 25.27 It is not good to eat too much honey,

    nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep.

We need to hear God's Word over our thoughts: 

Isaiah 55:8-9 New International Version (NIV)

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways My ways,”

declares the LORD. 

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are My ways higher than your ways

    and My thoughts than your thoughts."

I made myself miserable at several times in my life when I was younger because I was comparing how God was working in my life with how He was working with others. I missed the blessings He had given me because of comparisons. I was looking more at what I did not have rather than what I did have from Him. Why is this guy more blessed? Only God knows! Stop trying to figure it out. Enjoy the LORD!

Become like little children...

Like a weaned child with his mother..

Psalm 131.1 My heart is not proud, O LORD,

    my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

    or things too wonderful for me.

2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul,

    like a weaned child with its mother;

    like a weaned child I am content.

2. There is a huge eternal positive side to this.

He works  wonders.

He sets His footstep on the sea and rides upon the storm.

We don't know. He does and works through all kinds of things to bring people to heaven.

All things- it is harmonious working by God. And though this wrong seems oft so strong God is the Ruler yet.

I'm certain that there... when we get to heaven, we're going to learn a lot of things that we were spared from. And maybe at the time we looked at it as bad luck or misfortune or, "Oh, man," you know. And yet, God was watching over. God was keeping us. "He shall give His angels charge over thee. To bear thee up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone."

When I look at what has happened and is happening in Haiti in relief and trips and all the churches involved now it is amazing.

With our work for the LORD we never know all He  will do or how He is using our "boy's lunch" to feed multitudes!

Great to welcome readers of The Sunday Morning Message this week from France, Germany, India, Israel, Poland, Romania, Australia, England, China and Brazil. This is the first time we have had readers and hearers from 5 Continents on the same day. Praise God. 

3. This we do know:

Romans 8.28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

We know He does. Sometimes that is all we know!

We know because He tells us it is so. I cannot believe all those twisting the Word of God to say something it never said.

We know because His faithfulness is great and we have experienced it in our lives. 

We know because God actively faithful to all His Promises. His faithfulness in the sky.

We know because of the peace of God in our hearts.  

We do not how He does it

Oswald Chambers wrote, "Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children."

We do not know How He will

For our good! 

We know the mystery, just not the details!

Pastor Russell Metcalfe told this story when I was at the Wollaston Church on the campus of ENC, bringing my daughter, Theresa, there for her freshman year (1997). He did not know I was in the congregation that day.

Millie Crawford was having a very difficult pregnancy. She and her husband Tom were members of the Bay Shore (then called Brightwaters) of the Nazarene. She was ordered to bed rest or she would lose the baby. Henrietta Stark moved in to the house so she could stay in bed and literally took care of the family. Henrietta and her husband John were members of the church. Joy was born and grew up and married Mark Metcalfe, Dr. Metcalfe's son. It doesn't stop there. John and Henrietta had twin boys, Jim ad John. Both became PhD's. Jim taught chemistry at ENC for many years. John moved to Warwick where he and the Crawfords help plant the church back in 1965.  (Yelssy Manza's Church). She put a picture up of "her little church on the hill" this week and I had to tell her this story. Tom retired from being a NY State Trooper and pastored the Butler Church of the Nazarene for many years. My daughter, Theresa had Jim Stark as a professor at ENC. She was a PreMed Student. She has gone on mission trips to Africa, India, the Dominican Republic and Haiti with me. She has run and participated in Medical Clinics. The work of God continues in amazing ways! Helen and Bob taught the Stark boys, Theresa in Sunday School. John, Tom and Millie help start that church in Warwick Valley and today Yelssy from Peru is a member there and the mission director of our district... Things done for Him are eternal. The Master will multiply them!

We are wondering how He will while knowing with certainty He will!

Proverbs 3.5-6