Today, we began our three part sermon series for Christmas. The Christmas story is all about when God comes and interrupts common people with expectations and miracles that at first they don’t understand.
Here was the passage that we looked at together this morning.
Luke, 1:26-38, In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[c] the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God."
38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Three simple discoveries from this verses about how God preforms miracles:
God doesn’t need a special setting.
God uses ordinary people.
We must be open to God’s unlimited possibilities.
At the end of service I talked a little about that it's not enough to just to believe we must trust. What good is belief in God if you can’ trust him. Simple stated to trust God means:
to believe his word.
to count on his character
to rely on the soundness of his decisions
to anticipate his love and loyalty
So, that’s it…a very simple message for a special time of year. Really believe God used this message to speak to a lot of people today.
Already can’t wait for next week! My prayer for our community is that we will be open to more than we have ever dreamed of…more than we ever could realize by yourself this Christmas Season!