Matthew 2:13-18
¹³When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." ¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
¹⁶When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
¹⁸"A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."

The First Christmas was a difficult situation

The 4 "Up"-Christmas:

1. "Give up"(Mt.1:24) your plans God's better plans.
2. "Get up!!"- (Mt.2:13)stop feeling sorry for yourself & GET UP-do the next thing you know to do to help others.
3. "Look up"- (Mt.2:19) Get your eyes off your problems & the darkness and get your eyes up on to God's promises.
   • -Isaiah 43:18-19
     ¹⁸"Forget the former things;
     do not dwell on the past.
     ¹⁹See, I am doing a new thing!
     Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
     I am making a way in the desert
     and streams in the wasteland.
   • -Proverbs 1:33
     but whoever listens to me will live in safety
     and be at ease, without fear of harm."
   • -2 Timothy 1:7
     For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
   • -Matthew 10:29-31
     ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. ³⁰And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
   • -Isaiah 43:2-3
     ²When you pass through the waters,
     I will be with you;
     and when you pass through the rivers,
     they will not sweep over you.
     When you walk through the fire,
     you will not be burned;
     the flames will not set you ablaze.
     ³For I am the LORD, your God,
     the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
     I give Egypt for your ransom,
     Cush and Seba in your stead.
4. "Never give up!"(Mt.2:19-23)

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Preacher: Rob Flaherty | Permanent Link