THERE IS CRAZY . . . AND THERE IS PLAIN CRAZY.
- Key Verse
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife. (Matthew 1:24)
READ THE CHAPTER
Central Truth
God has long been in the business of doing things and calling His people to do things that only make sense if the womb of Mary was full of divine life, if the tomb of Christ was empty of her divine son, and if eternity is filled with divine promise.
Reflections
Crazy. Not a bad word to describe some of the things found in Matthew 1.God's family tree. (Matthew 1:1-17)
Crazy that we have it and crazy who is in it. Prostitutes, murderers, foreigners, liars, fools, adulterers, rebels, hedonists (and that is just on His "stepfather's" side). Crazy.
God becomes a man. (Matthew 1:18-23)
Crazy how He did it, and crazy why He did it. Prostitutes, murderers, adulterers, fools, hedonists . . . "He came to save His people from sin." Crazy.
One man marries and doesn't . . . well, let's just say he doesn't act like he is married for awhile. (Matthew 1:24-25)
Crazy to the point I need not elaborate. It was after all a virgin who gave birth.
God's radical act and Joseph's radical obedience led to our being radically blessed . . . and now it's your turn.
The Lord still calls His family to live and love in a way that doesn't make sense apart from Jesus being God. Check out 2 Corinthians 5:13-15: "[I]f we are beside ourselves [i.e. appear crazy], it is for God. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died . . . so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."
Now it's your time to join a long line of people who have lived "crazy" lives in a way that produced crazy grace.
Don't miss YOUR chance -- that would be just plain crazy.
Discussion Questions
1. What is the "craziest thing you have ever done" because you believe that the womb of Mary was full of divine life, the tomb of Christ was empty of her divine son, and eternity is filled with divine promise?2. When is the last time your obedience has been so radical that someone asked you why your life looks so "alien" to them? (1 Peter 2:11-12; 3:15-16)
3. Have you looked up 1 Peter 2:11-12 and 1 Peter 3:15-16 yet?
4. Pick up the phone, write a note, or text someone you know who has modeled radical/crazy obedience for you and encourage them today for spurring you on to love and good deeds.
5. What do you think it means in 2 Corinthians 5:13 when it says, if we are of sound mind, it is for you; and if we are beside ourselves, it is for God?
WEEKLY FAMILY ACTIVITY
MATTHEW 1-5 (JANUARY 2-6)
Read Matthew 5:13-16.
What is salt used for? (seasoning, preserving & healing)
What is light used for?
How can you be like salt and light?
Activity: Pour a small amount of oil in a saucepan and heat it up. Then pour in popcorn kernels. Be sure to keep the pan moving so as not to burn the popcorn. Once all kernels have popped, split the popcorn between the paper sacks. Put salt into only bag and shake it up. Then have a taste test of the two bags.
Can you distinctly tell which one has salt on it? How? This is just how God wants us to be. Our lives should clearly reflect that we love and serve Him.
Next, get a flashlight and a dark towel and go into a room without windows (i.e. bathroom or closet). Turn off the light. Talk about the darkness and how it feels. Then turn on the flashlight. Talk about what the flashlight did to the room. Then cover it with the towel and refer back to verse 15. What does God want us to do with the truth of Jesus in our lives?
To shine your light, take some salted popcorn to your neighbors and invite them to church!
Comments
The views expressed under “Comments” are solely
those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Watermark Community Church.
Lamp
December 31, 2011 04:56 PM
My man! As I am sending the link to my boys today to get them to sign up, I look up and there is smiling mug two days early! Great way to start the year and anytime there is talk of darkness and light I feel like I am an expert on the subject these days and I am thankful beyond words! Lamp
Todd Wagner
January 1, 2012 09:53 AM
Welcome friends...praying that we not only journey through the journey this year but praying specifically that the BIBLE makes its way deeply into our hearts and does its transforming perfecting work in us. READ IT IT THROUGH, PRAY IT IN, LIVE IT OUT AND PASS IT ON!
Scott McDougal
January 2, 2012 12:13 AM
At this evening's service, Blake told us that many people (like myself) accept God's invitation to His table but we do not sit at it. Our behavior doesn't look much different than those sitting at the world's table. I am guilty of this. I was raised in the church my whole life and have been saved many times, but have not lived as though he were my one and only Savior. I've accepted the invitation to Join the Journey and truly know God from this day forward by reading the Word daily, praying and seeking His direction for my life. With His help, I pray my 2012 will look nothing like my 2011, which was full of pain, disappointment and heartaches. However, I learned a few weeks ago from JP that adversity is a gift from God. These things all brought me closer to God and to Watermark Church. Thank you Lord.
Hayley
January 2, 2012 06:01 AM
What a blessing! My husband and I just started attending Watermark and are already thrilled with what God is doing with us because of it.. Cant wait to continue on with this journey tomorrow!
Brett
January 2, 2012 06:10 AM
Crazy to use people like us. Glad to get to do this with you friend. Always encouraging.
Jana
January 2, 2012 06:57 AM
God woke me up this morning so that I could hear this message early. 2011 was a year that I will not forget. One wrought with the kind of pain that makes you wonder how you'll get through the day, and how the rest of the world could possibly keep going, like nothing had changed. A year that taught my heart truths that I thought I knew. But it was also the year that I saw my savior's face, heard his voice, and felt his presence - his arms around me - more than ever before. I am so humbled to be his. My earnest prayer is that 2012 will be the year that I start living with the radical obedience that causes others to ask why...that my answer to question #2 is something other than ??.
KP
January 2, 2012 08:02 AM
So glad to be "back on the journey". Feel like I've wandered a little aimlessly these past two weeks without my journey guides - most of whom I only know through this venue. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to prayerfully consider and write these devotionals. I think you bless and teach more people than you realize. Looking forward to my third journey and an enlightening 2012.
Sam
January 2, 2012 08:05 AM
If the Somali pirates can make world news, several thousand crazy people in a battleship might really shake things up--"let's roll"
Truby McDougal
January 2, 2012 08:35 AM
Looking forward to what "craziness" the Lord shows me this year as we dig into the New Testament. And like Scott, I pray my, 2012 is better than 2011. That my relationship with the one who created me and then died to save me is deeper than ever. Let's go!
Elaine
January 2, 2012 08:58 AM
I have always been confounded by Jesus' geneology in Matthew. If Joseph is not Jesus' birth father, why does Matthew use it? I find the geneology of Mary to be his true geneology, so why does Matthew use Joseph's? He is writing to the Jewish nation, but would they have had a problem with Mary's lineage? I have never understood this. Any thoughts?
KRob
January 2, 2012 09:00 AM
I've been looking for a way to study my bible on a daily basis--and then I came to Watermark and heard about the Journey. I'm excited to start this! Thank you to those who put in the effort to make it happen. I pray that we would come to know our Savior intimately and passionately through the Word that he's provided; and I pray that through the influence and grace of Christ, we all would see a radically different 2012!
David
January 2, 2012 09:25 AM
PRIASE GOD! Pastor, IT is CRAZY, that He would take a garbage can like me, and turn IT into a cup of LIVING water! But based on His ancestry, I would "fit" right in! SO SO THANKFUL and GRATEFUL for HIM, how He changed my life and RESTORED my relationships! And, so thankful and grateful for your PASSION and LOVE of God, family and us! Will be praying Colossians 1:10-14 for YOU! GREAT START to the journey! AMEN!
Lee Danis
January 2, 2012 09:26 AM
I am like KP - I missed the Journey these past two weeks. It's the first thing I do in the morning and daily look forward to it. Yes, thanks to all who write them and to all who are willing to share their comments so others may profit. Nothing that I know of brings us closer to God than being in His word. The Journey is a great tool to help us do that.
Sue Bohlin
January 2, 2012 10:18 AM
LOVING the comments today--we need a "LIKE" button for the devos and the comments! ;-)
Sue Bohlin
January 2, 2012 10:23 AM
[I have a feeling my comment submission got lost on the cyber-journey again, so let me try once more.]. SO grateful to be back on the Journey again after we ran out of prophets last month! I pray for all the Scotts and Janas whose hearts are ready--whose cups are "right-side up"--to receive God's truth, grace and wisdom through His word this year. In today's chapter, my heart was thrilled to be reminded of the supernatural prophecy, "They shall call his name Immanuel...God with us." What an amazing truth: God left heaven to enter our physical world! He entered the garbage pail of this fallen, sin-sick, broken planet filled with blind, hurting and clueless people to be with us in our blindness, our pain, and our cluelessness. When our hearts cry out, "Where is God??!!" . . . the answer is always, "HE IS RIGHT HERE WITH US!" Woo-hoo Jesus!!
Todd Wagner
January 2, 2012 10:50 AM
Elaine...great question. The reason Matthew traces Jesus' lineage back through Joseph and not Mary (as Luke did) is because he was showing that Jesus, as a legal descendant of David met at least this requirement of the prophets.(genealogies were always traced back through the father) Old Testament prophecies indicated that the Messiah would be born of a woman (Gen. 3:15), of the seed of Abraham (Gen. 22:18), through the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), and of the family of David (2 Sam. 7:12–13)...notice it does not say Joseph "begot" Jesus but rather that Joseph was the husband of marry. God Himself "begot" Jesus. He was placed in the womb of Mary who was legally married to Joseph. He was w/o sin b/c His heavenly father was perfect and yet could identify with sinners as one born of a woman. Ain't God good.
Joyce Vedrenne
January 2, 2012 11:02 AM
You crazy guy!! Thanks for living so radically and calling us on to follow hard after Him
Jillian
January 2, 2012 11:43 AM
My genealogy is nothing to be proud of. I've been a Christian since 1993 and no one else in my family has yet to follow. I've always wondered who would ever want to be a part of me because of my family. At age 44 I've kept myself single because I’ve always figured that my “non-crazy” family would scare off any “crazy” person. Seeing how Jesus is my redeemer, my worldly family can't stop me from living life and I can move forward with my church family who has always loved me unconditionally and stop finding excuses’ to be accepted!
Carmen Vasquez
January 2, 2012 11:46 AM
I'm encouraged by my sister and niece who willingly joined me to do this journey. I tried last year but only made it to barely two months. My inspiration is my hubby who did a whole lot more. I pray for discipline and insight into my Lord's Word for 2012. Thank you for being a "crazy" church, Watermark!
Jennifer Sullivan
January 2, 2012 11:50 AM
This is my first time signing up for join the journey. I confessed Christ as my savior and was baptized 22 years ago at the age of 19. Though, I believed in God and tried to do the right thing, I did not understand God's grace and that only He could change and transform me by His word. I learned this at Watermark. I began attending Watermark during a divorce, that was followed shortly with a diagnoses of cancer which lead to financial ruin and bankruptcy. God transformed me in my brokenness and I have learned that God is sufficient. He is more than enough. God has healed me from both breast and brain cancer. He has restored me financially. I trust God that one day he will restore my family. I have learned to trust God at the darkest times of my life and love God for who He is, not what He does or doesn't do for me. All this I have learned in the last 3 years at Watermark. The most profound statement that I have ever heard was at a Watermark service, "Don't judge someone when you see them doing wrong. Remind yourself that without God's grace, that was you or could have been you" Puts it in perspective and makes it easier to love and forgive. I am humbled and so appreciative. Thank you.
Jacquelyn Bushnell
January 2, 2012 12:19 PM
So thankful to have found this church when I moved into my apt in Dallas! I'm a college student and started at The Porch and then started going on Sunday and now I plan on becoming a member! Going through the journey this year with my mom and some good friends! Blessed to be apart of it
Rob Thomas
January 2, 2012 02:16 PM
Thanks Todd... here's to the crazy ones.
Jeannie Lewis
January 2, 2012 05:56 PM
Todd, thanks for helping me understand the truth; I no longer have to be concerned when people tell me I'm "crazy." I can accept their comments as words of encouragement. Looking forward to this year's journey.
George Igwe
January 2, 2012 07:11 PM
Always from nothing, God always manifest Himself into something marvelous! Great in-depth simplicity of the word. Thanks Pastor Todd!
Brandon Landis
January 2, 2012 10:20 PM
Thanks for being "CRAZY FOR GOD", your "craziness" has helped me turn to God when life was just PLAIN CRAZY! Our family plans to be "CRAZY" together everyday over the journey. Glad you are in my life.
Marie
January 2, 2012 10:23 PM
Elaine and others! My husband and I had the same question so we did a little digging online. To add to Todd's comment about the 2 genealogies - one by Matthew (to Jews) and one by Luke ( to gentiles) - we discovered that in Jewish law they allowed women to be included in the ancestral line if they met two stringent conditions: 1. Num 27:8, "Therefore, tell the Israelites; If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall let his heritage pass on to his daughter." 2. Num 36:6-7, "This is what the Lord commands with regard to the daughters of Salphahad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry into a clan of their ancestral tribe, so that no heritage of the Israelites will pass from one tribe to another, but all the Israelites will retain their own ancestral heritage." So now, all we have to show is that: 1. The father of Mary had no sons. 2. Mary married within her own tribe of Judah. Check out this site: http://home.inreach.com/bstanley/geneal.htm The author does a good job - though somewhat tricky to follow - of presenting the importance of Luke's genealogy of Mary (see Luke 3:23-38) and how it was that she qualified - HERSELF- as a legitimate member of the tribe of Judah - which, in turn, adds further support to the legal basis of Matthew's genealogy in chapter 1 of his book. So interesting! I love how our Lord crosses His T's and dots His I's!
Whitney
January 2, 2012 10:40 PM
So great!!l I needed that! I love the crazy!
Summer
January 2, 2012 10:54 PM
Indeed CRAZY...thanks for your devo and crazy/radical/devoted leadership Pastor Todd :)
Bree
January 2, 2012 10:58 PM
I have to admit, my answer to #2 isn't what it ought to be! It's been a while since someone told me I had "changed" ... and that probably made me squirm a bit! I'm so thankful to have the Journey so that I can get back to where I need to be! Thankful for all these comments as well!
Stacey Cothren
January 2, 2012 11:02 PM
For two days I have been "beside myself" as I try to come to terms with the fact that what I am doing in my walk right now has people I care about calling me "crazy." You can imagine how this mornings devo affected me, then ... Like the tides of healing waters washing over me. It is so amazing how He speaks to us when we are willing to listen! How awesome the journey is when we are walking in obedience and opening our hearts to hear his call! Teachers of Watermark, you have such a gift for digging into the truth and exposing it for others to see. And that gift seems to be contagious. I have bee visiting Watermark since JP's first Thanksliving sermon, and God's Word has just been permeating the fabric of my entire life since that time. I am looking forward to learning more about membership thus month and the adventure of The Journey throughout this year!
Leonard
January 3, 2012 10:21 AM
Grateful to have been frogiven and accepted into the "asylum"! Thanks for leading us "crazys"
Greg Ray
January 3, 2012 12:09 PM
Rereading Matthew 1 and absorbing Todd and Blake's thoughts. Amazed at the genealogy listed here. Murder's, products of incest, prostitutes, liars, pagans, fools, rebels, punks, parental disasters and those that left a wake of death and destruction. Rahab wasn't even Jewish. Phillip Yancey, in the book Disappointment with God, said the Three Great Humiliations of God were the Incarnation, the Crucifixion and the Church. The Church because He gave us His name and put us in charge, a bunch of pathetic, religious, legalistic, lukewarm, competitive, lustful, jealous, murderous and disasterous people to share His likeness with a world gone mad. Humbling. Let's go to - have a great week of worship!
Ryan Martin
January 5, 2012 05:29 AM
Todd: Great crazy truth. Thank you for the encouragement and the motivation to lead out. I pray that the The Word will transform our hearts and the hearts of others in our path.