Unfiltered Christmas: Mary & Gabriel – 12/5/21

Mary and Gabriel 

Luke 1:26-38

Matthew 1:23 The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel. 

Long before the Christmas story took place God had a plan.

Genesis 12:2-3

Vs 2 I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you…

Vs 3 and all people on earth will be blessed through you…

Matthew 1:17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen generations from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the exile to Christ.

How does God choose to enter our story?

1. God enters into low places to be with us.

Luke 1:26 (NIV)

• Romans 3:23 says we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
• Have you ever been in a low place in your life?

2. God enters into our ordinary lives to be with us.

Luke 1:27 

The real hero in all of our stories is not us, it’s God! 

1 Corinthians 1:27 …God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless, (Like a teenage girl living in a hole in the wall town to have the son of God) to shame those who are powerful.

God wants to enter into our ordinary so he can make our life extraordinary!

3. Inviting God into our ordinary is often disturbing and uncomfortable.

Luke 1:28-33

What does your ordinary look like and are you open to God entering into your ordinary?

To invite Jesus into your life is to never live another ordinary day in your life. 

4. Sometimes God enters into our stories in a miraculous way.

Luke 1:34-37

The great faith killing, miracle killing question for us is, “what will people think?”

Are you open to God doing a miracle in your life?

A huge reason not much of anything happens in our lives in the realm of faith is that we don’t expect much to happen. 

5. God wants our annunciation not our resignation.

Luke 1:38 

Mary moves from fear to faith, from curiosity to submission. 

She believes the message of Gabriel and believes it with courage.