The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

Murderers Liars Cheats Adulterers Prostitutes Failures

The Genealogy

 Oliver Cromwell ?

 François Hollande ?

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Betrothal Conception Revelation Prophecy Names Pledged to be married….her husband Joseph With child through the Holy Spirit An angel appeared to him The Lord had said through the prophet Called Immanuel,,, the Name Jesus

I believe in the Virgin Birth

1.

2.

Because of Mary’s reaction Because of Joseph’s reaction 3. Because Bible prophecies prove to be true 4. Because Jesus is totally credible 5. Because the Resurrection is a reality

1. Because of Mary’s reaction

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus

"How will this be,"

Mary asked the angel,

"since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, “Nothing is impossible with God.“

"I am the Lord's servant,"

Mary answered.

"May it be to me as you have said."

Because

Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because

what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit

.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to

give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

2. Because of Joseph’s reaction

“Joseph knew pregnancy is the proof of sexual activity.

Belief in miracles – far from depending on the

ignorance

of the laws of Nature – is only possible if those laws are known.

If you have not yet noticed that the suns always rises in the east, you will see nothing miraculous in its one morning rising in the west.

If Joseph had lacked the faith to trust God, or the humility to perceive the purity of his spouse, he could have disbelieved in the miraculous origin of her Son as easily as any modern man. And any modern man who believes in God can accept the miracle [of the Virgin Birth] as easily as Joseph did.”

3. Because Bible prophecies prove to be true

• Slavery in Egypt; 400 years foretold • Exodus • Exile in Babylon; 70 years foretold • Daniel prophecies World Empires: 483 years • Return to Palestine • Psalm 22 • Bethlehem: the precise Bethlehem • Jews return to Israel 1948 • The Messiah

4. Because Jesus is totally credible

“God selected one particular people & spent several centuries hammering into their heads the sort of God He was that He cared about right conduct. Those people were the Jews.

Then comes the real shock.

Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a Man who goes about talking as if he were God. He claims to forgive sins. He says he has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. This Man was a Jew. God, in their language meant the Supreme Being outside the world who made it… When you have grasped that, you will see that what this Man said was – quite simply – the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips… unless of course…”

A Man who goes about talking as if he were God.

• He claims to forgive sins:

“The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”

• He says he has always existed:

“Before Abraham was, I am”

• He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of

time: God has granted the Son …. authority to judge… for a time is comingwhen all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

GOD WITH US

"

I came from God

and now am here. John 8:42

I came from the Father and entered the world

;. John 16:28 You are from below; I am from above.

You are of this world;

I am not of this world

. John 8:23 For

I have come down from heaven

… to do the will of him who sent me. No-one has seen the Father except the one who is from God;. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. This is the bread that

came down from heaven

.

The one who comes from above

the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. is above all;

The one who comes from heaven is above all.

John 3:31

5. Because the Resurrection is a reality

“ It is an axiom in Medicine that when you see very unusual phenomena, you look for a very unusual cause.

Jesus has to be placed in a category all by himself.

The Bible does not ask us to believe in the Deity and Humanity of |Jesus Christ because of the Virgin Birth .

BUT, being on other grounds convinced…and asking in amazement

how can those things be

, we are made aware of the true facts of the one and only possible explanation”

I believe in the Resurrection

• The Tomb was empty • He ate and drank with them • The eyewitnesses were prepared to die • The Apostles and Saul were changed men • The Church survives world-wide • Countless millions follow Him

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in

the name of the Lord Jesus Christ

and by the Spirit of our God.

Another list of names

the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, … to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood .

that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.