Let's just open up with another word of prayer. Father, we bend our hearts in worship before the God of all creation. And we thank you that it is by your power and your strength that you have rescued us from sin. We thank you that your sovereign plan is far beyond what our minds can comprehend. and that we are the benefactors of all that you've done. And this Christmas season, Lord, please just prick our hearts to be renewed in the joy of the birth of your son for us. And what that means, please help us to humanize the situation that occurred and help it to impact us so that we are renewed in our love, and admiration for him and that we would learn to adore him more for the great things you have done for us. We commit this to you and pray this in your son's name, amen. All right, you may be seated. When I was 11 or 12 years old, my sisters and I were required by my dad to watch the entire 11 and a half hour long Ken Burns Civil War documentary for school. And there was one story among a few that stood out and it held my attention and it was about a man that you likely haven't heard of named Willmer McLean. Wilmer was a retired grocer who had bought a beautiful plantation near Manassas Junction in Virginia, and he refused to participate in the Civil War. Unfortunately for him, one of the first battles of the Civil War that involved about 50,000 soldiers occurred at Manassas Junction, and it was known as the Battle of Bull Run. Some of that fighting occurred in Wilmer's front yard. A cannonball destroyed his chimney. His stone barn was completely demolished. Wilmer wanted nothing to do with this war, and yet it found him, and it had cost him nearly everything. So, he decided to move 120 miles south to escape the war entirely, to flee. And there he bought a house in a little town that was out of the way called Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Poor Wilmer. For that is exactly where one of the last battles of the war occurred. It was fought four years later. And in fact, it is the exact place where Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant signed the terms of surrender. And they needed a place to meet. to agree to the terms, and so they chose the parlor of a man's house. That man's name was Wilmer McLean. On April 9, 1865, that meeting took place. It lasted two and a half hours, and when it was finished, the Union soldiers wanted mementos of this once in a lifetime event. So they took the pictures from his walls, the silverware in the settings. They took his furniture and they pulled down his drapes. And when everyone was gone, so was everything from Wilmer McLean's home. Wilmer had just wanted to steer clear of the war, to stay uninvolved. But it seemed to hunt him down. It started in his front yard and it finished in his parlor. and it cost him nearly everything he owned. There was no place for him to go where he wasn't impacted. If you ask the average Christian about Joseph, no, not the dream interpreting Joseph, the one with the technicolor coat, If you'd ask about Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus, and what was his involvement in the Christmas narrative, it will evoke responses of pity, a reminder that that poor guy just couldn't stay out of harm's way. The average person thinks of Joseph as kind of an unwilling or barely there participant who is somewhat out of the picture. Have you ever been to a Christmas play? Joseph gets what, maybe one or two lines? He essentially acts as a passive bystander, sitting in the corner and observing once he's done fluffing the manger hay. In the classic children's book, which is now a movie, The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever, the role of Mary and Joseph in the church play was to, and I quote, simply stand there and not say anything. That is until the unruly herdman children land the role, and they start to depict what it actually was maybe like for Mary and Joseph. To the chagrin of many, but the joy of my boys who love the herdmans. Joseph seems to get thrust into the spotlight of human history with a minor role, and then he's gone. He doesn't have much of a reputation, even to this day. So this morning, I want to zoom in on the days preceding the birth of Christ, and then those immediately following, and I wanna focus our lens on Jesus's earthly parents, with a special concentration on Joseph, the son of Jacob, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah. He did much more than lead a donkey and fluff manger hay. I want you to put yourselves in Joseph's sandals this morning, the best you can, a very real man, and just imagine what he was thinking, what he was feeling, try to humanize what it was like when he found out that his betrothed was somehow pregnant without a believable explanation. When an angel appeared to him in a dream with unimaginable news that he was to adopt an improbable son that he didn't expect. And then wake up the next morning having to make some of the most impactful decisions upon his life, Jesus' life, and ultimately our lives. Ask yourself the question Joseph likely asked himself many, many times. Why, God, did you choose me to be the Messiah's earthly father? And it's my prayer that through our consideration of Joseph this morning, it will change our perception when we realize that he was much more than an innocent bystander. He wasn't just trying to escape the war like Wilmer McLean. Who was Joseph? Well, there's only 44 verses in the entire Bible that have anything to do with Joseph, that mention him by name or he's a character within those verses. So our general knowledge of him is somewhat limited. What was his station in life? He was an uneducated carpenter, a tecton is the Greek word by trade, who likely worked with his hands for lower wages. Contrasted against in those days there were architectons, those were the master builders or architects. But we are told that he was a basic tecton, a craftsman. He was poor. No, he was not Douglas County, middle class. He was Roman occupation, blue collar. Even though he was from Bethlehem, he was living in a place called Galilee, in Galilee called Nazareth. This place was on the wrong side of the tracks. It didn't have a good reputation. People would question, can anything even good come from that place? From all outward appearances, he was a common man. He was as common as common can be. He wasn't on anyone's radar other than God's to be the Messiah's earthly father. The very man who would educate the sovereign teacher, who would watch over the one that watches over us. who would model fatherhood to the very son of God the Father. Joseph was betrothed, or essentially married, to a young girl, maybe in her teens, named Mary, who we learn was a woman of deep character, understanding of scripture, and faith, which begs the practical question, why were they likely arranged to be married? And we don't know how long Joseph lived, although we have enough detail to believe he lived well into Jesus' 33 years on earth, because Jesus was known by many as the carpenter's son. And we suppose he wasn't alive when Jesus died on the cross, because the Lord asks John, his disciple, to look after Mary, his mother, before he passed. But none of these are the primary motives for why I wanted to focus on him today, this kind of pre-Christmas Sunday. Turn with me, if you will, to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter one, verse 18. And let's read together. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together or before they consummated the marriage, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. A very familiar verse that we have heard many times. But in this verse and the verses that follow, I want to focus on five extraordinary surrenders of Joseph to the will of God. in order to facilitate the gift of God, eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, becoming an actual reality. The first surrender is that Joseph surrendered his pride and his reputation. In our culture today, we struggle to understand how devastating Mary's announcement was. She was pregnant out of wedlock, yes. But if we know something about the Jewish culture and the customs for marriage, we begin to grasp that this was actually crushing news to Joseph. You see, there were three stages to a Jewish marriage. The first stage was called engagement. And this is when the man went out and sold his livestock, and he took the shirt off his back, and he emptied his bank account, and he bought a diamond ring for his fiance. Wait. Sorry, that's the American custom. 2,000 years ago, the Jewish parents normally picked the spouse for the child. And when they were older, it moved into the second stage. The second stage was called betrothal. This is where they existed when we meet them. And this was actually a formal event and it was considered legally binding. There was a ceremony and at the ceremony, the bridegroom, Joseph and his family would pay an expensive bride price or a dowry to the bride's family. A legal marriage contract was drawn up and it was signed. The betrothal period lasted a year, during which the bridegroom would go and prepare a home for the bride. The Bible uses this analogy for the Lord Jesus, our bridegroom, who paid a price for us, his bride, with his own blood, and now we wait while he prepares a home for us. In Joseph's day, betrothal was considered fully binding, They were legally married, although they had not reached the third stage yet. And the only way out of betrothal was through death or legal divorce. The third stage was the wedding ceremony. And after the year was complete, this social event would last several days with feasts and celebrations and the consummation of the marriage. So with that background, we have to step back and fully understand what it meant to Joseph, the devastation that would come with Matthew 1.18. Mary, who was betrothed, stage two legally bound wife, was found with child. How could this be? His betrothed was now pregnant without a reasonable explanation. At this point, they were legally contractually married, which is confirmed because Matthew refers to Joseph as what? Mary's husband. In Luke's gospel, we are told that an angel had come to Mary and explained exactly what was going on. But Joseph had no such visitation at this point. He was in the dark. And as her legal husband, he was presented with a choice. He had to make a choice. He couldn't just call her up and end the relationship like you can now. He had two legal options to work with. Choice number one, was bring Mary before the elders and visibly accuse her of sexual sin with another man. This option had the advantage of clearing his name publicly. His reputation, which was now on the verge of being destroyed, would be clean. Or choice number two. Joseph, being a righteous man or a just man, and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to put her away secretly, as noted in Matthew 119. It's clear from the passage that Joseph did not believe Mary's story. However, he loved her. The rabbinical writings allowed him to either accuse his betrothed publicly, clear his name, which would result in Mary's shame, or end the marriage contract privately through a divorce, which would lead to Joseph's future shame. Why is this? because everyone would assume that he was potentially the father and had abandoned Mary and the child. Joseph believed that Mary was in the wrong and he was in the right. He was justified to feel that way at the moment with the cards that were on the table and yet, He chose to sacrifice himself to public shame in order to spare Mary, his wife. He chose discretion over revenge. It is one thing to remain quiet when you are wrong, and it is a wholly different thing to remain quiet when you're actually right. The will of God in this situation involved the breaking of Joseph's heart and the surrender of his personal pride and his reputation. But that was not all Joseph was being asked to forfeit. Secondly, Joseph was asked to surrender his privacy. Matthew 1.20 says, but when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Spilling myself here. Essentially, this is a verse that we've all heard so many times. Many of us probably have it devoted to memory. But let's put it into human terms. What was the angel really telling Joseph when he said this? He was really telling him, even if you want to go back to a quiet, normal life that you once knew, God wants you to make a decision, and that decision will launch you into anything but a quiet, normal life. In fact, the decision will cause you to become unpopular, a refugee, likely unemployed at times, and it will place the responsibility of raising the Savior of mankind on your uneducated and inexperienced shoulders. From regular carpentry guy, betrothed to marry normal girl, to instant adoptive father of the Messiah. Your son is going to be your savior. Let that ruminate for a second. I cannot fathom what Joseph must have felt at that moment. Have you ever experienced a whirlwind year in your life? Or maybe a couple years where it feels like things are kind of unraveling? My family in 2017 experienced this to some extent. I changed my employment. We had a major rental home debacle with litigation and a crazy tenant. We adopted Luke, my oldest son from Ethiopia. We moved our primary residence to a different location and we moved our church residence to LBC. And at that moment, we couldn't deal with any more major life changes. We felt overwhelmed. And I'm sure many of you have experienced similar. Joseph and Mary were catapulted into seriously tumultuous years immediately following the divine birth of Jesus. Their privacy was instantly invaded when shepherds showed up wanting to see the child, proclaiming the angel's message. As great as that must have been, it also must have been interesting. Immediately after the shepherds left, they spread the news throughout the little town of Bethlehem. So rumors were already flying. The angel appeared to Joseph at least four times, and three times in three years, he relocated his family, reestablished his carpentry business, set up their home. Three times in three years, that we know of, Joseph had to make new contacts, figure out how to feed his family, once as a refugee in a foreign country, running for their lives. That's a whirlwind. And if I were to highlight with big neon lights one of the most important and practical lessons from the study of Joseph and Mary, it would be this. The good and perfect will of God for Joseph and Mary was inconvenient, uncomfortable, surprising, dangerous, confusing, demanding, expensive, and very public. Joseph and Mary were living directly inside of God's perfect will. And yet they had to embrace these difficulties as part of that experience. I personally step back and I wonder if at times they didn't lament. If God is sovereign and this is his plan, Why is it so hard? Farewell to the easy life. Welcome to the life of faith. It is no wonder that the angel that first appeared to both Mary and Joseph had the same words for both of them at the very start. What did he lead off with? Do not be afraid. This young couple needed those words from God for all that lay ahead of them. Joseph was asked to forfeit his pride, his reputation, and his privacy to help facilitate salvation entering the world. Thirdly, he surrendered his personal priorities. Read with me what the angel says to Joseph in Matthew 1 verse 21. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Now, Mary had surely told him what the angel had said to her, which is recorded in Luke chapter one verses 32 and 33. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there will be no end. Joseph chose to fully give his life to the care of Mary, Jesus, and ultimately the additional children who came later, as noted in the Gospels. Joseph had to wrap his head around not only becoming a father earlier than he desired or intended, but an adoptive father of a son who wasn't fully his own. There was no dink years for Mary and Joseph. Dual income, no kids. As an adoptive father, I know firsthand of the emotions the fears and the sacrifice involved. And so does God our Father, who as Dave discussed so well last week, has adopted us in love as his sons and daughters. But when your adoptive son is the Messiah incarnate, how do you act around him? As a parent, we complain that our children don't come with instruction manuals, and they change day by day and we don't know how to adjust. But can you imagine the sense of inadequacy and intimidation Joseph potentially experienced? Think about it. Think about it. He was a man with little to no education. And he was now responsible to educate The one instructor, as Jesus calls himself in Matthew 23. Jesus uses it as a title, I am the one instructor. And that was on Joseph's shoulders. He was to teach the prophecies of scripture to the one who would fulfill the prophecies of scripture. He was to teach the law to the one who would fulfill the law. Based on Jewish customs, we know that from the time a son was the age of three until the age of 12, his father was responsible to pass down the traditions, customs, ordinances, and laws of God. Jesus' mind, we must understand, was not pre-downloaded with Bible software. Luke chapter 2, 12 tells us that what? He grew in wisdom. I imagine Joseph spent a significant amount of time with his son, Jesus. Potentially, more time than anyone else on planet Earth during Jesus' 33 years. There is some evidence in scripture that before he began his outward ministry, Jesus was employed as a carpenter in his father's footsteps. Mark 6, Verses two through three. And on the Sabbath, he, Jesus, began to teach in the synagogue. And many who heard him were astonished, saying, where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, and Joseph, and Judas, and Simeon, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense of him. This means that Jesus was likely his father's apprentice, working side by side together for many years. It's bizarre to me to stop and think that God incarnate spent many hours in a workshop being taught to build things by human hand. But it also kind of seems right because in all other aspects of his earthly life, Jesus submitted himself to the humility of being fully human. He was fully God and he was fully man. And if I step back and I think, who better to teach Jesus of his humanity than a man like Joseph, who knew what it was like to put himself under the will of his heavenly Father. Can you imagine the conversations they might have had? During this time, I imagine Joseph had some level of influence on his adopted son. I know as a parent, you have a level of influence on your children. And as I grow up, I see the more influence that my parents had on me as it comes out in my life. But I also imagine God's son had some influence on Joseph. The dynamic of their relationship is not something we can really comprehend. Nor did scripture intend to elaborate on it. But I think it is worth considering when we look at the character parallels that play out in their lives. Whatever Joseph's dreams and aspirations were, we weren't told. He was asked to fully surrender those. His personal priorities were surrendered to God's will. Fourth, Joseph surrendered his prospects. And the word prospects here, for our purposes, defined by Webster, is the possibility or likelihood of some future event occurring. Turn to Luke chapter two verse 21 with me. Luke chapter two verse 21. And when eight days had passed before his circumcision, his name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Eight days after birth, every Jewish boy would be circumcised if the parents cared about God's commands and they wanted to identify their son as part of Abraham's household. This practice was commanded in Genesis chapter 17 as a sign of God's covenant. If Jesus had not been circumcised, he would not have been identified with his people even though Mary and Joseph were descendants of Abraham. The act was a statement of Joseph and Mary's faith. The pain-filled cry of the Son of God was one of Jesus' first moments of suffering at the hands of mankind. But Joseph and Mary were also probably suffering at this point. They were likely ostracized for the scandal of fornication. There was potentially no wedding ceremony in their village to celebrate their union. They were undoubtedly alone and confused. Their lives had been completely upended. And they had traveled to Bethlehem under a cloud of suspicion, all because of the will of God. And the birth of this child was an exclamation point on their apparent guilt Yet, even though they were not viewed by the Jewish community around them as credible, godly, or obedient, they were determined to identify their son with Abraham's people and follow the requirement of the law. They determined to do the right thing regardless of the discomfort. It was at this ceremony that his name was called Jesus, the name chosen before the beginning of the foundations of the world, and the name that the angel had told them to both select. As we learned last week with Dave, that name developed from the Old Testament name Yehoshua, meaning Jehovah is salvation, and then was shortened to Joshua. The Greek version is Yeshua, or Jesus, and it carried with it the implicit idea that the person so named would be the agent of God's salvation, the deliverer. Did the rabbi present at the circumcision ceremony shake his head in disapproval at the audacity of this lowly couple giving their illegitimate son such a name? Did Joseph earnestly believe their child, who from all outward appearances was conceived in sin, would actually deliver his people? And I believe it was at this time that Joseph, who was responsible for giving his son a name, surrendered his prospects to God. He put all his eggs in one basket. He bet it all on one outcome. He spent his life savings on Bitcoin. The boy born out of such unique, inconvenient, uncomfortable circumstances was both Jehovah and salvation. And it appears that Joseph had a large degree of belief. in the angel's prophecy, and he entrusted their future to God's confusing plan when he courageously and obediently named his son Jesus at that ceremony. From that moment on, everything in his life would change based on that decision. Everything should change in our life from that same decision of belief. Fifth and lastly, Joseph surrendered to poverty. Luke 2 verses 23 through 23 says, and when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses was completed, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. God had a special claim on the firstborn Jewish boys. They were to be holy, which means to be separated out unto God. And this ties to Israel's preservation of Israel's firstborn during the plagues in Egypt. And the parents had to redeem or purchase their son back from priestly service. They effectively had to buy their son back from God. Therefore, Joseph had to pay a redemption tax to redeem Jesus back from God. When he did this, he probably didn't realize the irony in what was happening, did he? He was purchasing Jesus back from God when Jesus had come to purchase a people for God. He was redeeming the Redeemer. But note that by obeying the law, this only added to his poverty. They had already paid a census tax in Bethlehem, and now they had to pay five shekels, which was about two weeks worth of wages, to fulfill the condition of the law. Joseph and Mary knew who Jesus was, the Messiah, the Deliverer, and their salvation. So in faith, they surrendered to financial poverty to God and followed the requirement of the law the best they could. So far this morning, we've kind of looked at the hardship of what they experienced. But I also do want to focus on the encouragement. Even though Joseph and Mary were asked to do many hard things that involve sacrifice and surrender, we can't forget that it was a great honor Many had been waiting their entire lives for this news. Joseph and Mary, especially Joseph growing up in Bethlehem, knew that it was from Bethlehem that the Messiah was to come. And he probably had those verses, those prophecies from Micah committed to heart. The magnitude of what was occurring was not lost on them, nor were they left without help. When the shepherds invaded their privacy, yes, they also brought affirmation that the child was indeed the Savior, Christ the Lord. In the temple, Simeon would take the little boy in his arms and declare out of nowhere that his eyes had seen salvation, as would Anna. And Joseph and Mary, I would say, would marvel at what was said about him. and Magi would come from the Far East to worship the child and bring valuable gifts to help supply their need. I don't doubt that God's sovereign path to Mary and Joseph was confusing and emotionally taxing, but I also don't doubt that they received amidst the difficulty what Paul penned from jail to the Philippian church. My God will supply every need of yours according to the riches in glory in Christ Jesus. But for the last couple of minutes we have this morning, I want to pivot our focus from Joseph and his surrender to God of his pride, privacy, personal priorities, prospects and poverty, to his adopted son Jesus, who to be quite frank is the purpose of our Christmas season. I cannot help but see rich parallels between the record of Joseph's character and Jesus's attributes. Was Jesus asked by his Father in heaven to surrender his pride and his reputation? John 5.19. Jesus tells his followers he does what his heavenly father does, surrendering his will to his father's will. John 13. To their amazement, the king of kings became a servant and knelt to the ground and washed the filth and dirt from his disciples' feet after walking the dusty roadway. We can't fathom this magnitude of humility. Philippians 2, Jesus emptied himself or made himself of absolutely no reputation and became a servant, born as a human, humbling himself to the point of humiliation and excruciating death on a cross. Did Jesus surrender his privacy The creator became the creation. God incarnate became Emmanuel, God with us. For eternity passed, he did whatever he desired, and nobody questioned his sovereign will. And then, in an instant, he was an exposed, naked baby, wrapped in strips of cloth, laying in a feeding trough, in an animal shelter, dependent upon inexperienced humans for his care. As he entered this world of sin, the stable perhaps serves as a metaphor for the filth of the sin of humanity which now utterly surrounded him. His privacy was erased from that moment on. and it culminated in his unjust crucifixion on a Roman cross, where he was once again naked and exposed, this time lifted up for all to watch his humiliation and suffering. Did Jesus' personal priorities and prospects get surrendered, or were they spared? Mark chapter nine. Jesus knew and communicated the prospect and the outcome of his incarnation, that it would result in what? His death at the hands of men. Luke 22, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane determined to do the right thing regardless the discomfort. And he surrendered his personal priorities for his heavenly fathers and our benefit. And lastly, did he surrender to poverty? It's been said that Jesus left behind the wealth of heaven and chose the rags of humanity. And that amazing verse in 2 Corinthians 8, 9, which says, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you by his poverty might become rich. Yet Jesus, who is creator God, was Joseph's maker. God's fingerprint was on Joseph's DNA. Joseph was exactly the man God had built for this specific job. The parallels between Joseph and Jesus's core character attribute that underpin their willingness to surrender caused me to reflect and ask the question, how much was God the Father's influence primary to the molding of both of these men? When Joseph and Mary lost Jesus in Luke chapter two and found him in the temple, young Jesus's words were a reminder to them of who Jesus was. Did you not know that I would be, I must be in my father's house? Jesus is a reflection of both his heavenly father and his adoptive father, where we see what true love is, sacrifice, surrender, and laying down one's life for another. So to utterly hopeless people sitting in darkness, we might become the benefactors of the unspeakable gift and adopted into Jehovah's family. And by learning who Joseph is, I think we understand more of who Jesus was and the attributes of God the Father, who loved the world so much that he gave his only son. which is Christmas. Stephen Davies, one of my favorite authors and preachers said it like this. Perhaps the most significant words in Matthew one, at least in regard to Joseph are these. And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. It was as simple as that. Joseph obeyed the word of God But make no mistake, that decision would cost him everything. When Joseph folded his blanket and put on his tunic that morning, he said farewell to the bliss of a predictable life. He handed God his pride, his plans, his priorities, his options, and his calendar. And he said the same thing his adopted son would one day say, Not my will, but yours be done. If you are here this morning, and God has asked you to do something hard, and you don't have experience, you don't have deep pockets, or an elite education, that's fine. God values surrender, faith, and trust in his sovereign capabilities far beyond those things, and he will provide exactly what you need. This message is meant as motivation to you. And if you are listening and God has asked you to surrender areas of your life to him, and it has cost you dearly, and it's unclear why things are hard, this message is meant as encouragement for you. And if anyone is here and you plan on waking up on Christmas morning with the choice in your heart to avoid surrendering to Jesus, who gave up everything when he entered this world as a child and poured out his life for you on a cross, this Christmas message is intended as hope for you. Let's close with a word of prayer. Father, We thank you so much for your word. And Lord, we know that you have revealed to us everything we need to know in it for life. And we thank you that it's full of hope. Father, we are just amazed when we can open it up and we can try to humanize what actually happened 2,000 years ago, that God incarnate was Emmanuel, God with us, that you came and you pitched your tent in our midst, that you lived life as a man, and then you gave up your life on a cross to rescue us from an eternity of suffering and payment that we could never accomplish. We thank you so much, Lord, that you give us these little pictures of people that you interacted with, of people like Mary, like Joseph. And you gave us examples of what it means to walk in faith, of what it means to turn your life over to God and see what he does with it. And Father, we just pray that you would do that for everyone here this morning. that if there's anyone here who has not turned their life over to God, put their hope and trust in Jesus the only way that they would do so. And for those of us who have trusted you, that we would turn our day-to-day life over to you, that we would turn our calendar, our conveniences, our finances, our life over to you and surrender. because you are good, and because we see that in your sovereign plan, you will work all things out for good. Please give us faith in that. Thank you for the Christmas season, and we ask that we would learn to adore you more. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you for listening to this sermon from Littleton Bible Chapel. At LBC, we are passionate followers of Jesus proclaiming Christ and his word. For more information about LBC, please go to littletonbiblechapel.org.