Welcome to the Cross Power Church podcast.
You're listening to a service from our church in Campbell, TX.
We pray this message strengthens your faith and points you to the
cross. Now let's join the service.
Heavy Bibles this morning going to ended in Malachi last week
going to take off in Matthew. Talking about the 400 years that
seem to be silent but yet they were anything but silent.
Talked about how we go through dry seasons of our spiritual
life and how many times we feel God is distant.
We feel like maybe God has not answered.
Maybe God does not sometimes care about our situation.
The truth is you will feel like that in this Christian walk at
times. But when God answers, He answers
big. As we stand and read this today,
I just want to get the setting of it because sometimes you got
to tear down our thoughts and what we've been taught in this
life to really get the picture of Christmas.
Many put AX in it where Christ is supposed to be and we get
tied up, we get busy, we get forgetful of what it really
means. It should be a wonderful time.
It shouldn't be a stress time. Amen.
Christmas should take the stress away because when you look at
what Christmas man, we've blown it so, so out of proportion of
what it is. It's about a savior.
It's about the blood that we just sing about coming to a lost
and dying world. What a glorious time it should
be because see for the for the time that we celebrate this
year, it was an impossible situation.
I when God looked down, you know, how could I?
I don't wiped them away once I wiped out the human race, all
except the few obedient people that got on the ark and I just
can't imagine what God was looking.
It looked impossible. I look at Joseph and what they
were about to go through when we read this scripture.
It looked impossible. Maybe you're here this morning
and whatever situation you're facing, it may look impossible,
but I come by to tell you He's still the God of the impossible.
Amen. Maybe you're here and your backs
against the wall. There's no other way to turn.
That's a good thing because you'll turn to God and God will
begin to work an impossible situation in your life.
But say that with me, you got to get that this morning.
He's still the God of the impossible.
In Matthew chapter 1 and verse 18, we read the Christmas story.
We read about the birth of Christ being born to Mary.
But I want to look back at some of this and preach to you today
about the God of the impossible, the birth of Jesus Christ in
Matthew 1 and 18. It was as follows.
As His mother Mary was, they trotted the Joseph before they
came together. She was found with child of the
Holy Spirit. Can you imagine being Joseph?
You've got a virgin lady, you hear you're fixing to marry the
woman of your dreams, a young beautiful lady and and somewhere
between the engagement and the wedding, she becomes pregnant.
Then Joseph, her husband being a just man.
I think that's a key right here to the plan of God.
He found a just man not wanting to make a public example man, we
would make a public example today.
I dare say most young people that happened that they would be
posting, they would be trying to figure out who the father was
and and condemning and throwing stones and it was an impossible
situation and he was minded to put her away secretly.
But while he thought see, there's something about the
thought process. While you think so many people
today think about serving God. They think about what church
they go to. They think about what they give
of their time and their talents to to God.
But while you think something can happen, while he thought
about these things, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, Do not be afraid
to take to you Mary as your wife, for that which is
conceived in hers of the Holy Spirit.
And she will bring forth the Son, and you shall call his name
Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Can somebody say man, so all this was done, that it might be
fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet
saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is God
translated God with us. Then Joseph being aroused from
sleep did as the Angel of the Lord commanded him and took to
him his wife and did not know her till she had brought forth
her first born son and he called his name.
Say it with me, Jesus. Father, we just want to come
before you and thank you for Jesus.
We want to thank you this busy time of year that that we can
get our minds off the presents and off all the things and the
schedules and put our mind on Jesus and realize that grace had
come to planet earth this season that we celebrate.
We thank you for that grace. We thank you for your blood.
We thank you for the anointing to preach the word once again in
Jesus name and everybody said when we look at his role, I
often preach around Christmas time.
Been doing this a while now. I I preach on Mary and and what
she had to go through. But I guess it's kind of fitting
today because see the women left on a trip and all the men didn't
come to church. Maybe they'll listen to that in
the morning on the way to work. Hey, man, I thought about it.
I said, well, it's gone. I ain't got to go to church.
No, I didn't. I don't think that way.
I got to go to church. I got to worship God because I
know when I stop, I know what the devil does to my mind.
I know when I begin to think the wrong thoughts.
I know that I got to touch the Master.
Amen. But when we look at the life of
Joseph and his role in the birth of Christ, I wonder what was
going through his mind, the events of the conception of
Christ that began to churn and unfold in his mind.
He he wanted to put her away. I want the natural thing to do.
I mean, I, I, I've been trotted to a virgin here and she's with
child it it's impossible. It has never happened in the
history past and it and it will not happen in the future.
But men, they we we put ourself in this place and put yourself
in the place of Joseph this morning.
Women, put yourself in the place in the situation that Mary was
in a beautiful girl with dreams had had been faithful to the
Lord had not known a man had not slept with a man, but yet she's
pregnant has never happened before.
But yet Joseph was facing something that he could not even
how would the mind conceive that how many people could go forth
in this relationship? And it's a great lesson for us
today because how we respond to our trials Stay with me this
morning. How we respond to our trials in
this life greatly effects others that are around us.
Not only just effects them, but it could affect them for
eternity because you may be the only Bible they ever read.
Our children, how do they see us when trials come?
When impossible situations come, how do we respond?
How do we respond when the situation looks impossible?
Do we run to the House of God or run from the House of God?
Matthew 19 and 26 says it best. Jesus said this to the
impossible, but he can't say. He said with men it is
impossible, with men it is impossible.
He was talking to a rich man the day he said that he he said, but
it he was talking to the rich young ruler.
His disciples said how can this be?
He said with men it is impossible, but with God all
things are possible. In Luke 21 and 28, it says lift
up your head because your redemption draws nigh.
So we live where where we look at this story now and the wise
man had came and worshipped and the Angel of the Lord appears
again to Joseph in Matthew chapter 2 verse 13 and 15, he
appears again and it says when they when they had departed,
behold an Angel, you know God. God sent the Angel to Joseph to
say do not do away whether this is of God, this is of the Holy
Spirit. And while Joseph thought upon
these things wasn't very long, he didn't have a lot of time.
You know, some Christians spend a lifetime trying to figure out
if they're going to serve God or not.
Joseph had what, probably nine months, if that here to figure
out what I'm going to do. How am I going to how, how is
this going to affect me? All the dreams and all the plans
we just had, they got shot down because of a pregnancy.
How do we respond to our trials? How do we do this?
And in verse 2, chapter 2 and verse 13, it says Now when they
had departed, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph
in a dream. I began to think about this that
Angel had done came and give Joseph some crazy news.
Hey, the virgin that you're that you're engaged to is pregnant.
I bet Joseph is saying hold on Angel.
Last time you come to me, you rock my world.
You told me something and and it put me in an impossible
situation. I had to believe like I've never
believed before because you told me it was of God and it was of
the Holy Spirit. And now you know, this had to be
a hard thing because they had been raised under the law of
sacrifice. They had been raised, everything
that they believed had been shaken.
What would happen to the body of Christ today if we done away
with all the old religion and all the old doctrines and all
the old things? What would happen?
I love what my sister told me
this week. She said, I got invited to a
little, a little shindig and she said I went there and she said I
told them I really didn't want to go because I knew some of the
I used to party with them said I didn't want to go because I, I
used to party with him and I knew what was going to be going
on. And they looked at, they told
her on the phone. They said, well, we're religious
too. Look out.
We're religious too. So she said, I went ahead and
went and as I sat there, she said here in a minute they begin
to pass the bottle and she said, I can't take of that bottle.
Didn't your sister said I didn't take of that bottle because I
know Jesus now? And she said, you know, all of
them walked out beside the two boy.
I was in the truck because I've kind of mentored her.
I've kind of prayed with her a few times.
We come through some hard things.
So I said by God, I just give me some faith, you know, and man,
the Holy Ghost begin to well up with me and I said, let me tell
you something sister, religion will pass you the bottle, but
Jesus will pass you over the bottle.
Can I get a witness? See, that's the blood of Jesus.
Say, man, religion is what killed Jesus.
Religion. Joseph had to get out from under
the religion that he had been taught.
What would happen to us if we just got out from under religion
and begin to look to the author and the finisher of our faith?
But he says here's this Angel. I bet Joseph was shaking my God,
what's he going to want? What does he want me to do?
I see Christian all the time. Oh, if God would just send me an
Angel. I got news for you.
If God does send you an Angel, your Angel might require
something of you. It might be a little impossible
for you to do so quit just praying for the Angel and pray
for strength to hear from God and do what the Angel of the
Lord told you to do because he told Joseph he said arise, he
didn't fix his problem. He give him a another problem.
He said I want you to arise and I want you to get out of here
because they're trying to kill the child and it's your
responsibility to take this child that you really aren't the
father of and I want you to get out of Bethlehem and I want you
to get to Egypt. Well, that was a little bit of a
problem because he didn't have the heaters and the vehicles
that we go out here and complain about not finding the keys to
that. We have the luxury of getting in
Bethlehem to Egypt, 450 miles. I want you to carry this child.
I want you to lead this donkey. I want you to feed this donkey.
There's a lot more than just leading the donkey care.
The donkey's got to eat. The donkey's got to drink, and
they had a lot of water from Bethlehem to Egypt, a man.
But I'm telling you, if you want to get from Bethlehem and get to
the promise that God has promised you, you know, Joseph
had to be. Thank you, man.
God, you done took us out of Egypt.
You done took your people out of Egypt.
Now you want me to go back to Egypt?
Oh, if God would just send me an Angel.
I'm going to tell you something. Your Angel will come with an
impossible insignment. I've had one visit me in my life
and it was with an impossible insignment.
Your Angel will bring an impossible assignment, but I
come by to tell you he's the God of the impossible.
But I bet Joseph was like, man, last time I saw you, you told me
that my virgin white girlfriend was going to have a baby.
I had to believe like I've never believed in this life.
I had to believe the impossible. And now you want me to carry my
wife and this baby to Jerusalem? Oh, yeah.
By the way, Joseph, he's going to save the world.
How do you raise a kid when God comes to you?
You know, today we try to raise a kid and hope they don't get
addicted to their phone, hope they don't get addicted to video
games, hope they don't get evicted, addicted to all those
things. But yet God placed this up on
Joseph. And you know what?
Joseph only had him 12 years. I found that ironic after Jesus
is 12 years old, teaching in the temple.
You ever caught that? Joseph is not mentioned at the
cross. He's not mentioned at the tomb
From 12 to 30 to 30 years of age.
What did Jesus do? They're known as the silent
years. The last account of him was in
the temple, listening to those that were educating and shooting
down their doctrine and trying to tell them that something
greater than your doctrine has came.
It's the freedom of the blood that's going to be shed on a
cross in a few years. Don't you think?
Joseph was telling this Angel thinking these two had to be.
He was human. He was human.
I want you to carrier and I want you to go 450 miles from
Bethlehem to Egypt. Why?
Well, this got me when I read this.
Why did it have to go back? Because it was prophesied that
and it says right there as you read on, that it might be
fulfilled out of Egypt. I called my son, so I want you
to go back to the place that you were in slavery, that you were
promised to land over here in Canaan and you seen generations
die out in the desert. And I want you to go back to
that place. Why?
Because I prophesied that. Doesn't that tell you how
important God's promises are? Doesn't that tell us that that
he will go through hell and high water to to do what he says he
will do from Bethlehem to Egypt? So a prophecy might be fulfilled
saying out of Egypt I call my son.
So see Joseph departs. You know the coolest thing about
this story when I was studying it, no questions asked,
Christians would have been full of questions.
It would have took them probably the better part of 70 years that
most would have probably died before they ever left Bethlehem.
Jesus would have been grown. What would have happened to the
plan of God? My boy, God told me to get out
of here and go back over there. And we've already been over
there and they already died over there.
And, and Christians, they got more excuses.
Whoa, boy, I could preach right there.
I got to work. I got on to you for that this
week, didn't I? I got to do this.
I ain't got to do nothing but serve Jesus.
Amen. And He'll take care of the rest.
We look at it backwards. But you want me to carry this
Son? What an obedient servant.
Can I tell you if God speaks it through a prophet or through His
Word, He can fulfill it. He will fulfill it.
What's God calling you to do? Whatever He's spoken, when He
speaks it, it becomes possible, right?
Your impossible situation this morning only seems impossible.
It's not impossible. Do like Joseph.
What did Joseph do? He didn't complain.
He didn't tell God what he didn't have to do what God had
called him to do. He didn't complain.
The Bible says in Scripture and translations you read, it says
arise and he began to walk. Well, I like that.
Arise and begin to walk. You see child of God when you
get up and you arise and you begin to walk in the direction
of the cross, the impossibility these begin to fall off of you.
All things are possible with God.
Begin to walk with me and it's impossible but with God nothing
is impossible. See when you begin to arise and
you begin to walk Isaiah 60 and one said y'all ain't helping me
this morning. Isaiah 60 and one says arise and
shine for the glory of the Lord has risen upon you as we
celebrate the birth and we remember the chat this you need
to remember this as a child of John God Jesus came so you can
arise, so you can get up, so you you can begin to walk as Joseph
thought it seemed impossible, but what did he do?
He went forward no matter what the circumstance.
See, when we get up and we begin to arise and let the glory of
the Lord shine up on us, something great happens.
Your impossible situation becomes possible because I'm
walking, I'm not wallering. We like to Waller.
We like to talk about the
situation. I see a lot of people, they
really don't want through the situation.
They want to Waller in the situation, right?
Like the pig, it don't matter. You can clean him up and you can
give him a bath and the first mud hole he sees, he's going
back to it because he likes to Waller.
We like to Waller instead of go through, but if you're God's
child, wallering is not an option because you serve a God
that is the God of the impossible and he takes people.
Say it with me through. You will get through it.
I know it may seem impossible, but you will get through it.
We will get through it, whatever it is.
I look back at all the things that God's brought me through.
I went through it. Hey man, through it all.
I want to know that He's taking care of me.
I've been through a lot of stuff.
Many of you have been through a lot of stuff and I think many
people, God gets them through it.
Are you ready for this? I said God gets them through it.
God gets them through it. I love testimonies about going
through, but a lot of testimony services you hear today they got
through it, but they really acting like they want to go back
and go through it again. What happens when God gets us
through it? What happens?
We got to get over it. See, God always going to get his
children through. It may be scarred up, it may be
banged up, it may be spiritually wounded, but God will always get
us through it. But we in our responsibility is
to get over it, right? We can either way, if it works
out great and God performs a great miracle and we, we talk
about what God did way back then, that's great.
He got us through it. And we need to get over it and
build on faith to go through something else.
Because see, something happens when we don't do that.
I think of Joseph, he went on and had a lot of kids with Mary.
Jesus had brothers and sisters, but they were married.
Amen. You spend a lot of time with
your spouse and things come up, things that God has already got
you through. In relationships, they come up.
They don't get quiet. We got through it, but did we
get over it? When something arises and you're
losing an argument, come on. You don't got through it a long
time ago but you have to bring it back up because you never got
over it and it's no different and it ruins relationship.
Come on, y'all been there boy. It doesn't like bringing it up
when you know they was wrong and they're winning the argument and
it's in the heat of the battle. After 34 years I've done learned
there ain't no need to argue. It's going to affect me when I
walk. Just let them win.
But it's hard. I know she was wrong, God, but
I'm going to get over it. I'm going to get through it and
I'm going to walk home because it's not only going to just
affect me and her, I'm going to see you.
It's going to affect me and you. Because gosh, she was wrong.
I got it right here on a text on the phone.
She didn't tell me to pick that brand up at the store.
She told me to get this brand Christmas presents.
I told her a long time ago. I said you got me.
You don't need a present. You got my love, you got my
faithfulness. Don't base a relationship on a
present. But everybody does it.
Walk around mad for days. Well, can I just preach this
this morning? Because it was the wrong size.
It didn't fit. I'm not A5 no more.
No, you're a SIM. But I I got to buy you a 5 so
you can take it back and figure out for your own self that you
that you ain't A7 no more. I thought you was a 2, but I got
a 5 just in case. Come on, I got to preach to the
men. See, it's hard thing up here.
I can't pick on one side, but we got to get through it.
But when you get through it, you got to get over it to be what
God wants you to be and to do what God wants you to do.
So you got to get through it. And when the God of the
impossible that you're serving get you through it, I see a lot
that have never got over it, never get over it.
I see it all the time. Look at somebody and say, I got
through it. Now I got to get over it.
Now I got you ever look at your spouse?
They get over it. You know, women are women and
men are really good at doing that.
When they know they're wrong. That means I know you're right
and I'm wrong, but just get over it.
Is that what it means? Can you picture Mary?
I bet Mary was, I don't know. Was she lecturing Joseph?
I didn't do anything wrong. You got to get over it.
I heard a preacher preaching one
time face the same situation. He said he he did revivals and
he said a lady come up she couldn't have a child.
He said anointed with oil. We believed and he said I
preached A revival there every year and he said I went back the
next year, said she come running down the aisle, said she was big
and waddling the next year said look what you did.
He said, hold on, God did that. I prayed for you.
The tabloids are feeling they go, wow, I didn't do that.
Can you imagine being in Joseph's shoes?
It's unbelievable. But see, here's the kicker.
You ready for this? If I don't get over it, say it
with me. By not getting over it, I
actually place it back in front of me to go through it again.
So I got to get over it. I don't need it back in front of
me only to have to go through it again.
I bet Joseph's never brought it up.
He had Jesus for 12 years of his life.
That is recorded possibly up until he was a late teenager or
in his 30s. But you know, at at a young age,
at 12 years, Jesus was already in the temple educating those
that were educated, reeducating them.
But we do not only do this in relationships, we do it to God.
We do it to God. We bring up the time that he
didn't do what we thought we should do.
So now we're not going to do what he's told us to do.
And we said around God, if you just send an Angel, your Angel
will have an assignment and the assignment will be impossible.
I tried that church stuff. I've heard, I hear it all the
time. Number one, you tried it.
You tried the church stuff. Try and don't get it done.
It takes a made-up mind.
It takes getting you want to in line with you can do.
You can't try it. Somebody needs to grab their
ears and say I can't try it. I've got to do it.
Hey man, I've tried that stuff God, and here's the here's what
they said. The next thing comes out of
their mouth. Nothing changed.
You know my question Did you change?
Did you give God more time? Did you read the word?
Did you put him first place in your life?
Did did you make him the Lord of your life and give him the
lordship of your life? Did you do those things?
If not, guess what? It don't matter how many pews or
how long you sit. Because if you haven't changed,
if you haven't made him the Lord of your life and made him Lord
of all, odds are it's nothing going to change.
Sure, He'll give us glimpses and things ahead, but he, he'll put
you in a situation that you got to cut that looks impossible so
you can come through it. And then when you come through
it, you got to get over it. Joseph got over it.
I've quit all my old habits and God still hadn't changed
anything. We get real dignified.
You know why? Because you did it.
And if you did it though habits likely to stick its head up
again and come back and separate you from God again and become
the Lord of your life again. The impossible situations I'm
preaching to you this morning. Yes, we get through it, but we
must get over it. When we look at a as Joseph, as
a parent of a child that he had for possibly 12 years, maybe
more. Joseph was picked by God just as
Mary at the most crucial time of Jesus life to keep him alive
upon this earth. Because why were they running?
Why was they to journey from Bethlehem to Egypt?
Because, because Herod was trying to kill him.
Were they already praying? Were they already seeking God?
Maybe he had prayed that prayer. God just send me an Angel and if
and, and if I see the Angel, I'll know what to do.
Were they praying that prayer? What were they doing?
I have, I have those, I have those questions.
What about you? But see, all that Joseph done to
bring eternal life to planet earth seemed impossible.
We know that he was the son of Jacob through the lineage which
Jesus would come. We know that he was the earthly
father of Jesus, mentioned in only three accounts, Matthew,
Luke and John. But his presence centers on the
birth of Jesus, earthly life, but disappearing from the
narrative of the birth of Christ being last mentioned when he was
12 years old. It's a mystery.
But Joseph faced impossible situations.
But he got through it. He could say through it all.
Can you imagine the testimony years later?
I don't know how long he lives, but when he's an old man, when
he's looking back, you know when when David was an old man,
looking back, how many know the story of David what happened?
He was dying and he was cold and he was freezing to death.
And they put a young lady in the bed with him not to not to do
anything but to keep him warm just to try the body just to try
it. And yet David, all he could do
in his last song was talking about how God had had brought
him through the troop, how God had brought him through.
And they even all the look at they go back and read the life
of David. He had somebody murdered,
committed a poultry, and his son had all the things that David
did. David, God brought him through
it, but David had to get over it to keep going forward.
If you don't get over it, you will not go forward.
You will not go forward. He faced impossible situations,
not even mentioned the dad, the earthly father of Jesus Christ,
not mentioned at the tomb. Where was he?
What was he doing? I think it was a strong prayer
warrior. I don't know what you're facing
this morning. That seems like an impossible
situation. But I dare say with this many
people, somebody's facing something that seems impossible.
But with God, all things are possible.
Joseph had an impossible task to believe that what the Angel of
the Lord said to him was of God. You know the same thing we do,
we we hear things, but we have to discern, we have to know, is
that of God or is that a world? Is it a good idea?
Is it a God idea? What's going through my mind
this morning? But you know the the key text
there. Joseph said while he thought,
don't let what you do know. Don't let what you don't know
get in the way of what you do know.
It even may have seemed insignificant, but by arising
and by obeying God as you stand to your feet and keeping Jesus
safe, He fulfilled prophecy. God knows no boundaries when it
comes to fulfilling that which He has spoken.
Whether it's through His word or through a prophet, He's the God.
Say it with me of the impossible.
Maybe you're down to nothing this morning.
Maybe your back's against the wall.
That could be the best place you've ever been because you
turn your total dependence upon God and you allow Him to work in
your life. Because when you're down to
nothing, remember God is up to something.
That's the testimony I want this morning is through it all
because I figured out all the prayers I can pray in this life.
It's not going to keep me from going through some stuff.
It ain't going to keep you from going through some stuff.
I want to come to the place that I say.
Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus.
Thanks for listening to the Cross Power Church podcast.
May you know that true hope, peace, and salvation can only be
found in Jesus. If you're near Campbell, TX, we
would love for you to join us in person.
You can find service times at crosspowerchurch.com.