Advent: Fear Not (Matthew 1:18-25)

In this week’s message, Pastor Jenn continued our “Fear Not” series looking at Matthew 1 and Joseph’s obedient response to the angel’s message, even when it meant pleasing God rather than pleasing people. Many of us live our lives as people-pleasers, but God is calling his people, the ekklesia, to be called out—out of of comfort and into purpose. We were reminded that obsessing about what people think about you is the quickest way to forget what God thinks about you. But the good news is that the opposite is also true: obsessing about what God thinks about you is the quickest way to forget what people think about you. Joseph’s response reminds us that obediently following God’s call means that you will be criticized. Anything worth doing in life brings criticism. However, when we keep our eyes on God, it is always worth it. As we often say, following Jesus changes everything.