THE HOLY FAMILY
December 2022
Since childhood I have always loved Christmas! Last year in London Christmas was good, but still with restrictions. This year it is very exciting to be in London for Christmas with so much going on, the decorations, the lights, the music…
Like so many others I love all the Christmassy feelings – but there’s something more wonderful than all of that…
During the forty years that I was leading the Church on the Way in Thetford, every year I preached on the Christmas message - sometimes starting a series at the beginning of December and going on to Christmas Day.
Every year I found something new to say, which is quite amazing since the accounts in Matthew and Luke take just 143 verses between them!
One year I did a series entitled: The Miracles of Christmas, then another year: The Angels of Christmas, and then The Journeys of Christmas and so on. (If you are interested a shortened version of these can be found on…
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https://www.ymforum.org.uk/resources38/miracles-of-christmas
https://www.ymforum.org.uk/resources37/angels-of-christmas
https://www.ymforum.org.uk/resources36/journeys-of-christmas1
After I retired and did not have to preach at Christmas any more, just when I thought I had exhausted all angles on the story I realised I had never preached on the Holy Family.
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My wife and I were visiting Barcelona in Spain, shortly before she went to be with the Lord, and we did a tour of the La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family) church which is a most amazing building that began to be built in 1918 and is still in the process of completion.
Inside the church they had banners that were all on the theme of the Family and I must admit to my shame, that I had never thought in terms of Joseph, Mary and Jesus being a family!
I could easily have done another Christmas series with that title.
So here goes - a short meditation on: THE HOLY FAMILY
Joseph and Mary were a couple up until Jesus arrived - and then they became a Family.
This was in fulfilment of God’s GREAT ETERNAL PLAN – not only in sending the long-promised Messiah which was fantastic, but something REALLY BIG was beginning to happen…
Taking the whole story of the Bible, starting with Adam and Eve, God created mankind in His own image.
His purpose in doing that was to have a great eternal FAMILY.
God is love and He cannot be selfish – He wanted to share all His wonders - all His creation with others.
In creating mankind in His own image, He also took a tremendous risk – He gave us freewill (just like He has) because He wanted His family to love Him because we wanted to, not because we had to.
Very quickly things went wrong, that relationship Adam and Eve had with God was broken when they exercised their freewill.
God, the Father Son and Holy Spirit, knew what giving us freewill would cost Him personally, but in LOVE He paid the price to reconcile us back to Himself:
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“God so LOVED the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son
that whoever believes in Him
should... have eternal life.”
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When Jesus came into the world, God’s ORIGINAL PLAN
– to have an eternal FAMILY began to happen.
Jesus is the FIRSTBORN SON of God’s HOLY FAMILY!!
From that little family unit of Joseph, Mary and Jesus began a family which numbers billions in heaven and earth today and which in the end no man can number…
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“I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9)
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Each person who truly believes, is joined to that ETERNAL FAMILY and here’s the mind-blowing truth:
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We are the brothers and sisters of Jesus
in the Holy Family
of which He is the firstborn:
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“For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of ONE (family), for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” (Hebrews 2:11 New King James Version)
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And here’s another mind-blowing truth:
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As members of the HOLY FAMILY
we are HEIRS of all God’s riches and wonders
which He originally wanted to share with us forever!
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“And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Romans 8:17)
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My mind knows it’s true but I really can’t take it in.
When we are finally there – and God’s original plan is completed, together as His HOLY FAMILY, we will have all eternity to enjoy God Himself and all of His love and inheritance for us forever!
THAT IS WHY I LOVE CHRISTMAS!
If any of these thoughts inspire you – feel free (as always) to incorporate them in your own preaching!
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