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God's Imperfect Family: Joseph ~ Matt. 1:18-25 ~ Carl Crouse

2/28/2019

Real Men Don’t Wear Pink! [I'm wearing a pink tie! Subtle joke, I know.] Lots of opinions out there as to what the role is of men in our society/family.

We’ve been walking through Jesus’ family tree of imperfect men and women. Today is the final character study: Joseph. Interesting the way the genealogy describes Joseph: READ Matt. 1:16. Mary, of course, is made pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Yet the line of Jesus is traced through Joseph in Matthew 1.

It’s clear Joseph knows he is in the family of David; likely he would be King if Israel were a sovereign nation….READ Luke 1:26-27. King David is part of the family heritage. [QUESTION: Who has a famous relative in their family tree from generations past?] God made a promise to David, a promise that would not die. No doubt Joseph at least had a general thought that God was not yet finished and the fulfillment of the promise was still coming, someway, somehow… who knows if he thought he’d see the promise revived or if a centuries old tradition….

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God's Imperfect Family: Zerubbabel ~ Haggai 2:21-23 ~ Carl Crouse

2/20/2019

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A person is as good as their promises!...I like this old joke:

A dying man gives each of his best friends -- a lawyer, doctor and a pastor -- an envelope containing $25,000 in cash to be placed in his coffin. A week later the man dies and the friends each place an envelope in the coffin. Several months later, the pastor confesses he put $10,000 in the envelope and sent the rest to a mission. The doctor confesses his envelope had only $8,000 because he donated to a medical charity. The lawyer is outraged, "I am the only one who kept my promise to our dying friend. I want you both to know that the envelope I placed in the coffin contained my own personal check for the entire $25,000."

A person’s character is defined by how they keep their promises. same with God….

Today and next week are the final sermons from the series, God’s Imperfect Family. I’ve learned a lot…. In Matt. 1 the N.T. opens with a genealogy of Jesus’ family tree. The character of Jesus’ family is a mixed bag of good and bad, powerful and commoners, Jewish men and gentile women, servants and tyrants. During the ups and downs, the promise of God holds the family tree together.

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God's Imperfect Family: Josiah (a beautiful contradiction) ~ 2 Chron. 34-35 ~ Carl Crouse

2/5/2019

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1989. San Francisco. Young pastor… not hard to meet the people since there were only a dozen on many Sundays. I also went out to meet former members of the church, including a man whose father had been the pastor of the church years earlier. I encouraged this man to re-join the church…. I will never forget his words: “I have no need for the church. I know where I’m going” [as he pointed towards heaven].

Today I wouldn’t be shocked, but I was then. I was committing my life to the organized church as an expression of living out the Christian life. I haven’t changed my mind! The church is the primary means for the gathering of the Christian community. The church is where spiritual gifts are practiced, believers go into the world, The church is God’s idea for the purpose of loving one another, learning who Jesus is, encouraging one another, accountability…. The mission of the church is still to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others and to provide a place where disciples gather to serve Christ by serving others.

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Story of Robert Robinson discovering his poem: "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"

2/5/2019

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This story was read to prepare our hearts to receive communion @ SACC on Sunday, Feb. 3, '19. It is our custom to receive communion every first Sunday of the month as a reminder of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Communion is a time to recommit our lives to Jesus Christ, receiving anew the forgiveness of our sins.

The testimony of Josiah is a call for recommitment to the Lord. Here’s a story about recommitment. It was a bright Sunday morning in 18th century London, but Robert Robinson’s mood was anything but sunny. Everywhere He looked there were happy people smiling and waving at one another on their way to church. But Robinson wasn’t one of them. In fact he was a very lonely and unhappy man. The sound of church bells reminded him of the time in his life when his faith was strong and the church meant so much to him. But that seemed like only a distant memory on this particular morning. It had been years since he had even set foot in a church. He had gotten away from the Lord, and spent the last several years disillusioned, wandering farther and farther away from the God that He had once loved so much. His love for God—that was once so hot and passionate—had slowly burned out leaving him dark and cold inside.

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God's Imperfect Family: Joseph ~ Matt. 1:18-25 ~ Carl Crouse

God's Imperfect Family: Zerubbabel ~ Haggai 2:21-23 ~ Carl Crouse

God's Imperfect Family: Josiah (a beautiful contradiction) ~ 2 Chron. 34-35 ~ Carl Crouse

Story of Robert Robinson discovering his poem: "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"

Carl Crouse, Pastor

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