{"id":5027,"date":"2015-12-03T10:12:55","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T15:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/?p=5027"},"modified":"2015-12-03T10:12:55","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T15:12:55","slug":"the-excitement-of-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/2015\/12\/the-excitement-of-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"The Excitement of Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"deck<\/a>SERIES:\u00a0 Deck the Halls
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

TITLE:\u00a0 The Excitement of Christmas
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

I.\u00a0\u00a0 THE COURTSHIP \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Players: Joseph and Mary<\/p>\n

\n

The Town: Nazareth was (Jewish<\/strong><\/span>) by birthright, (Roman<\/strong><\/span>) by claim, and (Greek<\/strong><\/span>) by influence.<\/p>\n

\n

The Situation:\u00a0 Two stages of a relationship:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Kiddushin<\/strong><\/span>)- We would call this the engagement stage. All legally binding except no sexual.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Huppa<\/strong><\/span>)- Officially married stage.<\/p>\n

\n

The Problem: Mary\u2019s pregnancy during Kiddushin stage<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

II.\u00a0 THE MIRACLE \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cNo other fact in the Christmas story is more important than the Virgin Birth. The VB must have happened exactly the way Scripture say. Otherwise, Christmas has no point at all. If Jesus is simply the illegitimate child of Mary\u2019s infidelity, or even if he is the child of Joseph\u2019s natural marital union with Mary, He is not God. If He is not God, His claims are lies. If his claims are lies, His salvation is a hoax. And if His salvation is a hoax, we are all doomed.\u201d MacArthur in God With Us<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

What does the Virgin Birth mean?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus was born by direct action of God. Lk.1:35a<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No man was involved in the process. Lk. 1:34<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus had a human mother and no human father. Lk.1:35b<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Lk.1:31-32; Jn.1:14<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He is without sin. He has no inherited sin from Adam. Heb.1:1-3<\/p>\n

\n

Through the Virgin Birth, God became (man<\/strong><\/span>) without ceasing to be (God<\/strong><\/span>).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NEXT WEEK:\u00a0 Series: Deck the Halls!<\/p>\n

Title: The Highlight of Christmas- Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:35-38<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SERIES:\u00a0 Deck the Halls TITLE:\u00a0 The Excitement of Christmas Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38   I.\u00a0\u00a0 THE COURTSHIP \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Players: Joseph and Mary The Town: Nazareth was (Jewish) by birthright, (Roman) by claim, and (Greek) by influence. The Situation:\u00a0 Two stages of a relationship: 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Kiddushin)- We would call this the engagement stage. All … <\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon-notes","nodate","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5028,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5027\/revisions\/5028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}