In February 1980, the USA men’s hockey team played Team Russia in Hockey in the Winter Olympics – this was dubbed as a true David and Goliath story because the Russians had owned men’s hockey for years, having not lost a game since 1968 and capturing the last 4 Gold medals and the American team was made up of young college players – One February 22, in the semi-finals, the USA outskated and outplayed the Russians to win 4-3 – maybe you’re old enough to remember that moment, but if not, you can watch the movie on Disney – but the moment that still gives me chills is when announcer Al Michaels exclaims, “Do you believe in MIRACLES?” It is an epic moment etched in my mind.

But while winning a hockey game against great odds can seem miraculous, it pales in comparison to the miracle of the Christmas story – God, in all of his glory, saw that the way to save humanity was to become one of us – and so, by his grace, he took on the limitations of man, wrapping himself in flesh (John 1:14) and entered the world to save and restore all that was lost – And he did it through the MIRACLE of the VIRGIN BIRTH - Last week, we looked at the genealogy of Jesus, from Abraham to Jesus – if you remember, V1, gave us the thesis statement of the book – “The genealogy (Genesis) of Jesus the MESSIAH (Savior), the son of David (KING), the son of Abraham (Fulfillment of Covenant of Blessing)” – Then we traced the roots of this Savior, the Blessed King, through a lineage of brokenness.

Today, Matthew will show us the miracle of the birth of Jesus – and we will unpack three ideas:

1. God’s plan is often counter-intuitive. We saw last week that God plan to restore the world was passed on through broken people – It was not the religious elite, but the broken, sometimes downright evil that were worthy of mention in the genealogy of Jesus –

2. God is a promise keeper. His promise to both David (2 Samuel 7:16)and Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3) are fulfilled in Jesus – Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy made throughout the Old Testament – A promise made by God is a promise kept.

3. God worked through Joseph’s YES. Joseph had a lot to overcome in order to be a part of God’s redemptive story, but in the end, it was his YES, his obedience, that God used to initiate his restorative plan.

Matthew 1:18-25

V18 – Said this last week, but this is Matthew’s Genesis – Remember, Genesis 1 begins with an overview of creation – Matthew 1 begins with the family tree of Jesus – Genesis 2:4, the writer goes into more detail: “this is how it happened” – Matthew 1:18, “This is how the birth of Jesus happened…” – in Genesis 2:7, God breathes life into the first man ADAM – Breath in Hebrew is “Ruach”, which is also attributed the Holy Spirit – now, here in V18, Jesus, the second ADAM  was conceived by the Holy Spirit – 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, through the first ADAM comes death, through the second ADAM comes LIFE – but now, look at God’s counter-intuitive plan – “Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph” – The word “pledged” is translated “betrothed” – the idea here is that Mary and Joseph were in a legal relationship, basically married without consummation – and, before they consummated their relationship, she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit – Matthew is cutting to the chase here, not giving much info about how Mary found out she was pregnant – Luke 1:26-37, Luke does the opposite, giving us little about Joseph – However, when you put the two narratives together, here is what you get: Two teenagers are visited by angelic messengers and told that they will parent a miraculous child, initiated by the Holy Spirit – What we don’t know is how the conversation took place between Mary and Joseph, but piecing things together, it is obvious that Mary knew first, told Joseph, and he was left with a crisis of faith in both Mary and ultimately God.

This is the counter-intuitive plan of God – he loves to work in unlikely ways through unlikely people – Think this isn’t counter-intuitive – one question: Would you trust your teenager to manage your retirement account? God is performing the biggest miracle in all of the Bible, the virgin birth, through a couple of teenagers – and Joseph’s response should give us all hope.

V19 – Mary tells Joseph that she is pregnant, and Matthew tells us Joseph was “faithful to the law, but did not want to expose Mary to public disgrace” – Joseph loved God and wanted to walk in righteousness, but also loved Mary and wanted to protect her from public humiliation – but make no mistake: he didn’t believe her story – he planned to divorce her.

V20-21 -  God intervened – An angel appeared in a dream and confirmed the validity of Mary’s story – I love that he addressed him as “Joseph son of David” – “Joseph, you are in the lineage of Kings, and I am going to use you to be the father of the King over all kings” – God confirms Mary’s story through this dream – “Name him Jesus” – Jesus in Hebrew means “Yahweh Saves” – He tells Joseph, and you and me, the mission of Jesus is to save all people from the curse of SIN.

Matthew is doubling down on his idea from the first 17 verses: God uses unlikely people to accomplish his purposes – Abraham a polygamist and a liar, Jacob, a deceiver, Tamar, Rahab and Bathsheba sexually promiscuous, David, adulterer and murderer, several wicked kings, and now Joseph and Mary, two teenagers who were having to overcome a scandalous narrative.

If you have bought into the lie that perfection is the standard for you to be used by God, then you don’t know the God of the Bible – in fact, the church you are sitting in today was birthed out of a completely broken story – And I can still remember the morning that God gave me a vision for Restoration on April 1, 2014 – He led me to Jeremiah 33, a chapter that spells out both the brokenness of Israel and the promise of Restoration, and told me, “Your restoration is complete, now go be restoration for others” – Only God can take the unlikely and do the extraordinary.

V22-23 -  This is the second point: God keeps his promises – This is first of many times Matthew uses the phrase “This took place to fulfill what the Lord said through the prophet” – One of Matthew’s major points is that Jesus was the fulfillment of OT scripture – 2:15, 2:17, 2:23, 4:14, 8:17, 12:17, 13:14, 13:35, 21:4, 26:54,56, 27:9 -  in fact, Jesus said of himself in Matthew 5:17, that he was the fulfillment of the law – Here is the point: God made promises to his people, and Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise made – 2 Cor 1:20 – All of God’s promises are YES, affirmative, and Amen, final, in Jesus.

Some of you have been waiting on something from God, hoping and praying that he will come through for you – know this: all of his promises are wrapped up in Jesus – the life you’re looking for, all the Love, hope and peace you can choke down are found in Jesus, the one who saves. – John 14:6

But look at his second name – not only is he Jesus, “God Saves”, but Immanuel, “God With Us” – God didn’t just promise to save, but got in the dirt and details to accomplish it – God isn’t just a promise maker, he is a promise keeper and takes his promises personally – Jesus is the answer to every promise God has made.

V24-25 – Here is the 3^rd point – Joseph said YES, and God’s story of restoration passed through him – God would’ve accomplished his plan regardless, but he chose Joseph and Joseph said yes – “Joseph woke up and OBEYED” – Joseph BELIEVED – in Luke 1, Mary BELIEVED - think about that: Joseph took Mary as his wife AND did not sleep with her until Jesus was born – So, he believed this crazy miraculous story enough to follow through with the marriage, but also enough to control his physical urges as a teenage boy and wait for God’s best for he and Mary.

This would be unlikely in our culture today for so many reasons – In a culture with a permissive view of sexuality, it is uncommon today to find young people willing to wait, and Joseph not only waited, but even when he was LEGALLY and SPIRITUALLY ALLOWED, he waited – and we are celebrating his YES this morning – Both Mary and Joseph’s YES have legacy written all over it.

What could your YES mean in history? What is it that God has placed in you to do, your Ephesians 2:10 calling, that he is just waiting for your YES to activate that plan in you?

People all over Restoration living out their YES – Billie and Bob Beasley through Journey Home, Andy Cano, Jesse Shaw, Justin Alger, Sam Oelschlegel, Serena Schneider, Sam and Samantha McCabe, Brandy Williams, (look for people in congregation) whom God is using all because they said YES. God is going to accomplish his plan and purposes regardless, but he is inviting you to be a part of HIS STORY.

The greatest MIRACLE of the Christmas STORY is that God can use you and me to accomplish his plan – If you are broken (you are), you are a prime candidate for God to use, regardless of age or religious status – So, this morning, hear God speaking, as in the voice of Al Michaels… DO YOU BELIEVE in Miracles?