We want to hear from you...
______________________
Order of Worship
Call to Worship
We offer a song of praise celebrating who God is and all He has done!
- Angels From The Realms Of Glory
Welcome and Announcements
Visit The Leaf so you can keep us with all the things to know and our Church Calendar to see all that's happening at FBC Forest Park.
Advent
- Isaiah 12:1-5
- In that day you will sing: “I will praise you, O Lord! You were angry with me, but not anymore. Now you comfort me. 2See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.” 3With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation! 4In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is! 5Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things. Make known his praise around the world.
Theme Verse
- Proverbs 3:5-7
- Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
Prayer of Illumination
We invite the Holy Spirit to minister to each of us as He intercedes on our behalf, corrects and encourages us in our relationship with The Father through The Son, and illuminates God’s word in our hearts through the reading and teaching of Scripture.
Songs of Adoration and Thanksgiving
We sing songs that extol God’s grace and truth, strengthen our faith, and encourage our love for Him and others.
The First Noel
I Believe
My Tribute/How Great Thou Art
Personal Prayer
We pause to pray and reflect on all God has revealed to us through worship, the reading of His word, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We prayerfully respond with courage, honesty, and obedience.
Family Prayer
We intercede before God on behalf of our church and our community.
Piano Special
Scripture Reading and Sermon
God addresses His people through the reading and preaching of His word to edify believers and exhort all people to make sense of, make much of, and make use of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Song of Response
We offer an opportunity for you to make public your decision to follow Jesus, your desire to be baptized, your interest in joining our church, or any other significant spiritual decision you have made during our service.
- Goodness Of God
Biblical Charge
Closing Prayer
______________________
______________________
Let us know how God is working in your life.
______________________
Sermon Notes
Divine Disruptions - Part 3
A Divine Disruption
We are all experiencing a divine disruption this year
The Christmas story is a story of several divine disruptions.
Review Last week...
Another disruption
Luke 1:26-27
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
God walks with you through the disruption.
Luke 1:39-41
A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. 41At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
- A few details you might have missed:
- Mary went to visit Elizabeth very soon after she became pregnant.
- She stayed there for 3 months.
- This means she a Jospeh were likely not together for this next part of the story.
Matthew 1 turns the focus of the story to Joseph.
The disruptions continue
Matthew 1:18-18
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Integrity alone is not enough
Matthew 1:19
Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
What we learn from this:
- Joseph was a godly man.
- Joseph loved Mary.
- Joseph had integrity.
Integrity alone is not enough
- He decided to break the engagement quietly.
- Joseph was about to make a decision EVERYONE would have supported.
- But he had not followed through with that decision
Have you ever faced a decision where you could not settle on what to do?
- You know what is right but something is holding you back
Proverbs 3:5-7
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
Jospeh’s understanding was solid.
He was wise in his own eyes.
But he was unsettled.
He needed the guidance of the Lord.
A word from the Lord
Matthew 1:20-23
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”
- God can speak however He wants to speak.
- But He will always confirm the message with His word.
The decision is made
Matthew 1:24
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.
The power of making a decision.
- We wrestle with the decision
- Once the decision is made everything else is just followthrough.
This would not be the last decision Jospeh would face…
2-3 years later…
The Lord prepares us for what is next
Matthew 2:9-11
After meeting with King Herod, the wise men went on their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
What was that all about?
Another decision is made
Matthew 2:13-15
After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
The influence of fathers
Luke 2:52
Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.
Do you think Jesus learned how to make faithful decisions by watching his father?
A great disruption
Luke 22:39-44
Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”
41He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
43Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.
The greatest decision
Luke 22:45
At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples
I Have Decided…
… what is God asking you to decide?
