INTRODUCTION: [This portion is read from the lecturn by the introducer or narrator.]

Of all the persons involved and related to the Advent, the coming, of Christ, there is one who is the "forgotten man" of the Nativity.

Even the great artists of the world, many of whom have lavished their imagination upon the scene of the Nativity, have been content to make him part of the dark backgrounds of their paintings.

Yet, this man was much more than just a piece of fleshly furniture. As his wife, Mary, was chosen to be the mother of God’s Son, so was this man chosen to be The step-father of God.

Actually we know very little about Joseph, yet it was he whom God called upon to believe the most unbelievable story every told! Joseph was the man who had "profoundly doubted," but he became the man who "p…