December 26, 2022
A Redeemed Family
By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.
Jesus came from an unusual family—a family that today would probably be called a “merged family.” This was the most unusual merged family. The firstborn was the son of Mary and of the Holy Spirit, and the four brothers and two sisters were children of Mary and Joseph.
But there were whispers of a scandal in the back streets of Nazareth. Jesus was illegitimate; there was something unusual about His birth.
This was a family with tensions. And these tensions erupted when you read in the Scripture that Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him. But out of the strangeness, out of the unusualness and tension of this merged family, the Lord brought redemption. He brought redemption such that His mother Mary knelt at the cross and waited in the upper room for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He brought redemption such that His half-brother James believed on Him and was named the bishop of the church of Jerusalem; later, he was even beheaded for the name of Jesus.
God can take our families with their brokenness and failures and patch them up in a redemptive way.
The great thing about our Lord Jesus Christ is that there is always a place to begin again. There is a place to begin again and to declare Jesus Christ as Lord, not only of your heart and mind but also of your home.
Prayer: God, I pray that today You would redeem and heal my family. I want You to be Lord of my home today. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer” (Psalm 78:35).
Learn more in Dr. Michael Youssef’s sermon The Paradox of Christmas: LISTEN NOW | WATCH NOW
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Watch Dr. Michael Youssef on this week's broadcast of Leading The Way at LightSource.com.