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Mary: Mission Impossible (Luke 1:26-38)
41 Plays2 years ago
Mary: Mission Impossible (Luke 1:26-38)
Sunday Message recorded 18 December 2022
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Mary's Awareness and Biblical Context
00:00:06
Speaker
Wow, what a blessing. Thank you so much. It's one of my favorite Christmas Psalms. Mary, did you know? That's what we're going to be looking at this morning. We'll look at the answer to that question. Did Mary know all that God was going to do when she gave birth to her son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Would you open God's word, God's inspired, infallible, inerrant word to Luke chapter one, verse 26.
00:00:36
Speaker
This is definitely not fairy tale. This really happened. Luke 1 verse 26. We're going to read down through verse 38. How many of you know what you're going to get for Christmas? Anybody?
00:00:52
Speaker
OK, I didn't see anybody raise their hands. If you would have raised your hands, I was going to say, have you been peeking? What's going on here? Have you been looking to see? But, you know, according to the biblical text that we're about to read, Mary didn't know all that she would receive for Christmas.
00:01:12
Speaker
And so I want us to look at this passage and see how surprised that she was. You may be surprised at what the Lord is going to do in your life or through your life this Christmas.
Impossible Mission and Divine Assurance
00:01:25
Speaker
She was chosen for a very unique mission. And apart from God, just to be honest about it, it was an impossible mission. There's no way that she could have done it all by herself. It had to be the Lord.
00:01:41
Speaker
So this Christmas, the Lord may give you...
00:01:44
Speaker
a specific mission. There may be an assignment that God is going to give to you, and just like Mary's, it'll be impossible without the Lord's intervention, without God's help. So let's review Mary's call, and I want you to watch for any transferable principles that we'll see as we go through this passage on how God may equip us for what he wants to do in 2022.
00:02:14
Speaker
So would you stand in honor of God's word? Let's read the biblical text before us as Gabriel comes and announces to Mary what God's about to do. Luke 1, 26 says, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary.
00:02:43
Speaker
And he came to her and said, greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.
00:03:10
Speaker
and you shall call his name Jesus. He'll be great and will be called the son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, how will this be? Since I'm a virgin,
00:03:39
Speaker
And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son. And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren for nothing.
00:04:08
Speaker
will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her." Let's ask God to speak through his living and active word.
Significance of Jesus' Birth and Young Expositors
00:04:25
Speaker
Well, Lord, I thank you so much for this time of the year. Thank you for sending your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We realize that that's what Christmas is all about.
00:04:35
Speaker
It's a celebration of you coming here to this earth. No wonder they named you Emmanuel, God with us. So Lord, remind us what happens when we live life and you're with us.
00:04:49
Speaker
and if there are any that are here this morning that still do not have a personal relationship with the Father through Christ. I pray that today would be a turning point for them, that this would be a day that they say, I want Jesus Christ to be my Lord and my Savior. I want to commit myself to follow Him for the rest of my life.
00:05:13
Speaker
So you speak today, equip us, oh Lord. It could be that you're gonna set us up with some assignment during this Christmas season. And so help us be faithful, help us be ready, help us be prepared and equipped. So speak to us through this word, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you, you may be seated.
00:05:34
Speaker
I just want to say how blessed I was to hear Davis brag as he preached to us from Joseph's encounter with the Lord and how the Lord spoke to him about the birth of Jesus. And Davis did a great job with that passage. And then last week as Josh spoke to us about the wise men, how the wise men learned about Jesus and how
00:05:58
Speaker
where he was going to be born and where they could find him and so forth. I thank the Lord so much for young expositors, for young men who want to preach God's Word and share the truths from God's Word. I am thankful that we got it settled when Josh knew that Davis was going to open with Joseph and he knew he was going to do the wise men. Josh said, how about we dress up?
00:06:23
Speaker
as the character we're going to introduce. And I said, no, that's not going to work. And he's like, why? And I said, because I got married and I'm not a cross-dresser, so there's no way that's happening. But I do want to introduce you to this passage in terms of what's just in front of the passage that we read.
00:06:42
Speaker
Luke's prologue tells us that he wanted us to have certainty concerning the things that we've been taught. That's what he says in Luke 1, 1 through 4. This person, Luke, he was a medical doctor. He was like a scientist. He was a historian. He took a lot of time to make sure that we have it down exactly like it happened. So the Holy Spirit was inspiring him all the way.
00:07:11
Speaker
If you were to go down to verse 5 through 25, which is right before where we're going to pick up in verse 26, then you would see that the birth of John the Baptist was also recounted. And now the role of John the Baptist was very unique. He was going to prepare and make ready the people for the Messiah whenever Jesus would be born. And so now in this passage before us, Luke 1, 26 to 38,
00:07:40
Speaker
that Angel Gabriel is sent to Mary to prepare her. The Lord wants her to know what her role is in this coming. I think there's always a balance needed because there are some people in our world who make too much, they think too highly of Mary.
00:07:59
Speaker
But then you can go the other extreme and never even want to look at Mary's role, to think too little of what God did through this incredible woman named Mary. So what I want us to do is to look at the biblical Mary, to look at this passage and to think, okay, I believe every word that is written before me, I believe it happened just like we have it.
00:08:24
Speaker
But how does that make a difference for you and me in our lives as we live through the rest of 2022, as we prepare to go into a new year, 2023? There are a few different points that I want to share with you this morning that are based right here in this passage. The first one of which is found in verse 26. I want you to notice the setting for the Christmas mission.
00:08:51
Speaker
God was going to call Mary to this special mission, and so there's always a setting, there's a context. And I want you to understand that context. When it begins by saying in the sixth month,
00:09:04
Speaker
the angel Gabriel was sent from God. I want you to understand what the sixth month meant. It was the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, because just before that, if you read in verse 24, it says, after these days, Zacharias, his wife, Elizabeth, conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden.
00:09:27
Speaker
saying, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people in the sixth month.
00:09:36
Speaker
That's what it's talking about. Do you know that God always synchronizes his mission? You know, there's something that some of you may have been praying for for many years. And you don't know, but it's about to, you're about to have an open door as you go through this Christmas season going into New Year's. Suddenly a door that's always been closed in terms of your witness, your ministry, your service, it's gonna open up for you. And so you need to be ready.
00:10:04
Speaker
Sometimes we are convinced of what God's will is, the content of God's will, the heart of God's will, but we struggle with the timing of God's will because we don't like to wait. We think it should be now.
00:10:19
Speaker
But this was a perfectly synchronized opportunity whenever the Father says, now is the time that I'm going to send my son to this earth. And so I just wanted to remind you and point out that with the setting, there was this synchronization with God's timing. There's also authorization of this mission.
Mary's Humility and Divine Choice
00:10:40
Speaker
We know it was authorized by the Lord because it says in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel
00:10:47
Speaker
was sent from God. So this is something God initiates. It's God's time. And so God authorizes this. This is not something made up or make believe.
00:11:00
Speaker
As a matter of fact, it hit me as I was getting ready for this message, Gabriel. Where have I heard Gabriel, the angel Gabriel before? So I went back in the Old Testament and looked in Daniel, and I thought, that's it. He was mentioned in Daniel. He spoke to Daniel in Daniel chapter 8, verse 16, and Daniel chapter 9, verse 21.
00:11:23
Speaker
He speaks again in this chapter we're looking at, not to Mary, but also to Zacharias in Luke chapter 1 and verse 19. Then it hit me, I thought, oh my goodness, Gabriel had been around for a while because that's 500 years. So I thought to myself, this is an incredible thing. So if you wanted to, if I wanted to, we could just be so mesmerized by the angel.
00:11:51
Speaker
Because everybody that he would speak to, man, they're scared. I mean, if you saw an angel, when you go home today, if one shows up in your living room, I guarantee you, you'll hit the deck and you will not be all prideful or arrogant or whatever when the angel shows up. You could be focused on the angel.
00:12:10
Speaker
But what I want you to focus on is God. This is all about God. This is something the father wants. And so he's authorizing this mission, just like he's going to authorize something in your life, especially as we go through Christmas and into the new year.
00:12:27
Speaker
There's also a place. There's a place for what God wants to do. These are real places. It says, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. City of Galilee? Wait a minute. I thought Judah and Judea, I thought that's where Jerusalem was located.
00:12:51
Speaker
Well, Jesus wasn't sent to Jerusalem. Mary wasn't from Jerusalem. Mary was from Galilee. Mary was from Nazareth.
00:13:00
Speaker
And so it's amazing when you really stop to think about it, how, you know, this place in Nazareth, it's not even mentioned in the Old Testament. It's only mentioned in the New Testament. Some Bible scholars that look back into genealogies and so forth, look back into historical records, say there were probably an estimated 1,800 people total that lived in Nazareth at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:13:27
Speaker
Don't you think it's interesting, too, that it doesn't say that Mary was in the temple? Most likely, Mary was in her home. Don't you find that fascinating? That the greatest announcement that had ever taken place in the whole world, the most significant birth announcement ever, was going to be shared with this one lady.
00:13:50
Speaker
Does one lady marry in this place in Galilee called Nazareth where there's only 1,800 people? You know, I'm just thinking to myself, you know, there really is no insignificant person. There's no obscure place. Wherever God's called you to live and to serve,
00:14:12
Speaker
You would have to crawl down to be a king. I want you to know that the Lord God the Almighty appointed Mary to be right there at that time when He wanted her there, but also He's appointed you and me. There's a plan, Ephesians 2.10, says that God's already made a plan for us. There's good works that He intends to do through us that we might walk in them.
00:14:38
Speaker
Just here lately, I've been studying my own personal devotions, the Book of Amos. I'm really fascinated how God looked into the southern kingdom for a northern kingdom assignment. And he finds this farmer. He finds a sheep herder, a sheep raiser. He's raising sheep, but also somebody that was working with Sycamore, the fruit from Sycamore trees. And I'm thinking, this is incredible. He looks on a farm in Toccoa,
00:15:09
Speaker
for a prophet that's going to preach to kings, going to preach to nations. You ought to read through Amos sometime and see what God chooses this person. A lot of people probably never even heard of before. He just stands toe to toe with kings and nations and speaks about what God's going to do.
00:15:28
Speaker
Don't feel intimidated by who you are or what God's called you to do. We serve a great King. We serve a great and mighty God. The message that we have of Jesus Christ needs to be proclaimed to every nation, every people group, to people, high stature, low stature, all in between, men, women, every race. We have a very important role to play in what God wants to do through us as His people.
00:15:59
Speaker
But the father not only chose the place for the Christmas mission, he also selected the person. You know, today, wouldn't you think they would probably choose a celebrity? I'm pretty sure that Mary must have had several followers on Facebook and Twitter and so forth. I can't imagine how many likes she got to her life all the time. That wasn't why God chose her.
00:16:22
Speaker
No, it wasn't anything like that at all. When I was reading through verses 27 to 30, I thought, what in the world? It's like grace. It was just grace that God chose Mary. There was a few things that I thought were lined up properly and why God chose her. And if you want God to use you during this Christmas season, then I want you to listen closely to what I say about Mary.
00:16:49
Speaker
The scripture says she was a virgin. She had lived a pure life. When a holy God wants to do something in this world, you know who he looks for? He doesn't look for a dirty vessel. He looks for a vessel that's been cleansed. Of course, we are cleansed by the blood of Christ. Our righteousness is as filthy rags.
00:17:09
Speaker
But once we come to Christ, it's like we have been cleansed from our sins and so forth. And I just found it so interesting that that lines up perfectly with what Isaiah was told by the Lord in Isaiah 7.14, that there was someday going to be a virgin who was going to give birth to the Messiah.
00:17:30
Speaker
So this is right in line. Would the Lord have chosen Mary if she'd have said, who cares if I live a pure life or not? I don't think God would have chosen Mary. I think that she did her part. She was living a godly life there as much as she could.
00:17:50
Speaker
So the choice of a mate was one of the different steps in the Jewish custom that they divided the marriage process.
00:18:01
Speaker
girl, this Mary, it says that she was engaged to Joseph. So I'm thinking to myself, okay, so it had already been decided between her mom and Joseph's parents and her dad, and they probably had signed a contract in the synagogue saying someday these two are going to be married. So they entered into the second stage called betrothal.
00:18:25
Speaker
They were bound as husband and wife. They knew someday we're going to finalize this marriage. But they didn't live together, and they certainly did not have sexual relations with one another. There was no physical intimacy. As a matter of fact, to end betrothal their engagement, they would have to have like a writ of divorce that said, okay, they've changed their minds. This is not going to happen.
00:18:51
Speaker
But then someday this third stage would be the wedding, the marriage. And all during that in-between time, the groom was preparing a place that he would be able to provide for his bride.
00:19:06
Speaker
And whenever they did have the marriage, the reception lasted seven days. But you better save up the money if you're going to go seven days with a wedding reception. But how about this? The consummation of that marriage didn't happen until after the wedding. I think that's the way it's supposed to be. But I saw something else here. You know, Joseph, it says that he was of the house of David.
00:19:31
Speaker
I think that's significant because also Joseph's life and Mary's life, they lined up with the prophecies. They lined up with the plan of God and what he wanted to do. Does your life line up with God's plan?
00:19:46
Speaker
You know, that's the best way to be prepared. If you want God to use you, just try to walk with him one day at a time, saying, OK, Lord, I'm going to try to live in obedience to the plan that you have. If you'll do that, God will choose you when it comes to having a servant. But also, I think when the angel Gabriel calls her favored one, I think it was so, so humbling for Mary.
00:20:14
Speaker
I think humility was another way that she prepared. Why does it say that Mary was greatly troubled at the greeting? Because the greeting was too high for the estimation she had of herself. Mary didn't think she was somebody. Mary just humbled herself before the Lord and, you know, the word actually means troubled, disturbed, confused, perplexed, shaken, even sometimes translated as terrified.
00:20:42
Speaker
So she's saying, I can't believe what this angel is telling me. This is really hard for me to fathom. You see, Mary had no entitlement within her spiritual DNA. She was like so humble before the Lord. And when God reveals what he wants to do, she couldn't believe it.
00:21:02
Speaker
The statement of the Christian mission is what I see next. As God not only picks the place and the person, He also declares the purpose. You know, God does have a purpose. He has a plan. Sometimes things don't seem like they're working according to a plan, but He does. And so it's really not that hard what Mary's role was. Let's read it. Look with me at verse 31.
00:21:27
Speaker
Verse 31 says, and behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. So when I read that, I thought, wow, that's pretty straightforward. See, he's not calling her to be the Savior. He's calling her to bear the Savior. There's a huge difference. She's not the one that everyone's going to be looking to and saying, please, I need help. I need salvation.
00:21:57
Speaker
And so he says, what your role is, Mary, is you're going to conceive in your womb. You're going to bear a son. And here's what I want you to do. I want you to call his name Jesus. And you'll see later she did exactly what her role was. She knew the mission. And she said, I'm going to stay with it. I'm going to stay in my lane. Sometimes we wear out because we get outside of our lane.
00:22:20
Speaker
But Mary, she was comfortable inside the lane that
Proclaiming the Gospel and Jesus' Greatness
00:22:24
Speaker
God has. But isn't the whole thing in verse 31 so unusual? I mean, think about the birth announcements that you've received across the years. Usually, birth announcements come from a mother, right? Not to a mother. It's like, she's like, okay, so I'm going to have a baby here, you know?
00:22:48
Speaker
You know, Galatians 4.19 tells us where maybe this whole thing touches on our lives as it comes to this Christmas season. You know, in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 19, listen to what the Apostle Paul says to some people that he had led to Christ, but he's also wanting to
00:23:09
Speaker
ground them, developed them, discipled them further. And here's what he says in Galatians 4, 19, my little children, for whom I'm again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, until Christ is formed in you. You see, the mission that God has for you, if he were to give you a statement of it, it might be
00:23:34
Speaker
that your mission this Christmas will be, you're going to be a vessel to proclaim the gospel to somebody that's never been opened before, but their life situation's changed and now they're open. So you'd be ready to say, maybe I'm going to proclaim the gospel just like Paul did to the Galatians, but it could be that just like Paul and Galatians 4.19,
00:23:56
Speaker
There's more that needs to be done. There's more that needs to be done in your son, your daughter, your grandson, your granddaughter, someone that's a close friend that you care about, someone in your Sunday school class, someone in your life, someone you work with. But Galatians 4.19 says it's possible that your mission
00:24:16
Speaker
could be the formation of Christ-like character, the formation of Christ in that person. So in other words, you may share the gospel or you may help somebody grow. It could be either type of mission, but you need to know what it is that God wants from you. Remember when Jesus was talking to Nicodemus? He told Nicodemus, Nicodemus, you need to be born again.
00:24:42
Speaker
So he needed to hear the gospel. This guy's religious. This guy's moral. This guy's a pretty good fella, but he's just lost. He doesn't have a personal relationship with Christ. And so the Lord says, you need to be born again. But then when you see a verse like Galatians 4.19 about Christ being formed in these people who already know him, whenever you read 1 Peter 2, verses 1 through 3,
00:25:09
Speaker
where the Apostle Peter is riding on their inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and he says, look, you need to grow up in salvation. And so it could be over this holiday, the mission is grow in Christ. If you're growing in Christ already, it's happening, then what about those around you? Are they growing?
00:25:30
Speaker
Are they stifled? Are they static in their growth? Why don't you say, Lord, would you use me to somehow be an example to them to say a word? Well, we've looked at the purpose for Mary's Christmas mission, but next it's vital that we join with Gabriel in magnifying the greatness of the person.
00:25:52
Speaker
You see, this wasn't about Mary. It's still not about Mary. It's about Jesus. It's not about you. It's not about me. That's where we totally distort Christmas, right? We make it about ourselves. Christmas is about Christ. It's about Him. It's about magnifying and glorifying, sharing Him with others. I was thinking about, you know, it's almost like
00:26:16
Speaker
Mary is going to deliver a present. This Christmas, will you deliver the present of the message of Jesus Christ to someone else? So I'm thinking about how the Savior was also within this Christmas mission. Listen to verses 32 and 33. And when he talks about, he will be great.
00:26:40
Speaker
You know, in Hebrews it says, how can we expect to escape if we neglect so great a salvation? I think Jesus is a great savior. He's incredible, he's awesome. And so just think about how he will bring salvation. He will take all of our sins and all of our guilt, all of that he took upon himself on the cross. That's a message that people need to hear.
00:27:08
Speaker
It's a message that we should share, that we need to share to others, the Savior of the world. I think it's interesting how the Greek word great there, you know what it is? It's the word megas. Have you ever said, oh, I'm mega excited or I'm mega, you know, megaphone that makes your voice greater than it should be? That's the word. Jesus is an incredible Savior. No wonder in 1 Corinthians 9.15,
00:27:36
Speaker
The Apostle Paul said, thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. You see, we have an inexpressible gift, this message of the gospel about Jesus Christ that we can share. Inexpressible was a word that meant there are no words. There are no words. There are no words that can properly express the greatness of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:28:03
Speaker
But you know, it's interesting how Gabriel goes on to say he's not just the Savior of the world being great. He's the Son of God, the Son of the Most High. Sometimes you ought to go back and read Isaiah 9, 6 and 7, where we're told that this Messiah who's coming, He's going to be human, but He's also going to be divine. He's going to be God. How can He be man and God at the same time? Only Christ brought those two together. Do you know why?
00:28:33
Speaker
so that we could be brought into a personal relationship with the Father through Him. It took someone who was sinless, someone who was perfect. And so that's why it's very, very important that you believe in the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, that Mary had Jesus, the Holy Spirit overshadowed her.
00:28:55
Speaker
And so he places that baby inside of her stomach. It was an incredible miracle how the Lord did that. But no wonder he's the Son of God. Are you looking for a relationship with the God who made you?
Faith, Submission, and Readiness for God's Plan
00:29:10
Speaker
Are those around you looking for a relationship with God?
00:29:15
Speaker
They can find it through Christ. He's the Son of God. He came to make the way possible. But I think a lot of people are also looking for hope. People want to know there's got to be something better than this. There is. There's something a lot better. It's just that we have to wait just a little bit longer.
00:29:35
Speaker
You know, what's better about it is it says that Jesus is going to grow up to have—he'll be the one that will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
00:29:49
Speaker
You see, we don't know yet what it's going to be like when Jesus is king. But when he sets up his kingdom, it'll be forever, forever. So think about how there's going to be this eternal kingdom with the best king, the best leader there will ever be.
00:30:06
Speaker
See, our mission is similar to Mary's in that we're called to deliver this gift, the gift of the gospel for us, but we will need God to supply the power so we have the strength that we don't miss that mission. We don't miss that open door. Where did Mary find her strength? You know, I think her question in verse 34 was honest and sincere.
00:30:31
Speaker
She was looking at things in her life, and she was thinking, I don't think I understand. How will this be since I'm a virgin? How will this ever happen? And so I just wanted to remind you of how she was told, it's not going to be your ability, Mary. It's not going to be Joseph's ability, of course.
00:30:53
Speaker
it's gonna be God's ability. And that's why he says the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. That's how you are gonna be able to be faithful to the opportunities that you have this Christmas and into the new year.
00:31:11
Speaker
is the Spirit of God is going to help you. He will empower you and equip you, enable you, so that you don't miss those opportunities. That's why every morning when you wake up, this morning when I woke up, before I even got out of bed, I was putting on the armor of God, I was saying, Lord, I want you to fill me and give me your Spirit's power for today's opportunities that I will have. Why don't you try that as you wake up each morning?
00:31:40
Speaker
The realization of the mission only will come through God's ability, but also there's confirmation. There's confirmation of the mission by God's ability. Has anybody else ever experienced God's power? And then that made all the difference for them? Of course there is.
00:31:58
Speaker
You know, the Holy Spirit has been working in many ways. God's been working in many ways, doing things that wouldn't normally be possible. So look what he says to Mary in verse 36, and behold, your relative, Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son. And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
00:32:20
Speaker
So if you were to go back in chapter 1 and read about Elizabeth, she was getting on up there in age. This was an incredible breakthrough for her and her husband, Zacharias. See, God can help us reach things that are out of reach.
00:32:36
Speaker
That's why the declaration of God's ability for any mission is found in verse 37. If you're looking for a memory verse, if you're looking for a verse you can put in the fridge for 2023, how about this one, verse 37, for nothing will be impossible to God.
00:32:52
Speaker
What is it that you could think of that God can't do? Is there something? I mean, that's moral. You can think of immoral things that He can't do, of course. But my point is just simply that He will supply. He will supply the need for whatever your opportunity, whatever your crisis is that you're facing. But just remember,
00:33:13
Speaker
Whenever the Holy Spirit is your supply, there's always gonna be this product of holiness, and there's always gonna be the exaltation of Christ, because that's what the Holy Spirit, that's how you know He's working. Whenever you're growing in holiness, and when you're growing in putting all the focus and the honor and the glory on the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me close with one last one. I think it's key, submission to the Christmas mission, submission.
00:33:43
Speaker
There was another woman who was struggling. She couldn't have a baby. She was in the Old Testament. 1 Samuel chapter 1 and 2 tells us about her. Her name was Hannah. Hannah couldn't. For some reason, she was not able to conceive. She was having trouble. She was striving. She was so filled with sorrow and stress. She wanted to have a baby so bad that she couldn't.
00:34:08
Speaker
But whenever the Lord encounters her, what she is told is you need to submit. You need to surrender to God's plans. When I read verse 38, I couldn't help but think about Hannah back in the Old Testament.
00:34:22
Speaker
Because Mary said, okay, behold, I'm the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And then it says the angel departed from her. Wow. You know, I think there's a simple two-step process. If you want God's will to happen this Christmas and even in 2023,
00:34:41
Speaker
Then it's so simple. Surrender, surrender your life to God's ownership and step forward in obedience to his word. That's what she did. Behold, I'm the servant of the Lord. So she says, you know what? I'm going to get my identity from surrendering to you. I am your servant, Lord, whatever you want to do through me. Sometimes we're always telling God what we want him to do for us.
00:35:05
Speaker
But I think the proper way is to say, OK, Lord, I don't know. So I'm coming to you and I'm simply saying, I'm your servant. I want your plan. I want to walk each day in accordance with your word. So to obey the Lord's word, that's the best way.
00:35:23
Speaker
How are you going to simplify Christmas and the stress that can come? It doesn't have to come. Christmas shouldn't be stressful, but the invitation is simple. It's to simplify Christmas by simply following in Mary's footsteps, saying, OK, I want to surrender to the Lord and I want to walk in obedience to God's word one step, one day, one decision at a time.
00:35:51
Speaker
If we'll do this, you know what will happen? We'll be equipped for whatever God will do, whenever the door opens and there's the mission, there's the opportunity. You see, His mission is included in our sub-mission. Have you ever noticed how mission is found in sub-mission? If you want to see the mission that God has for your life, then walk in sub-mission. And if we'll do that, then here's what's going to happen. I'm going to review the message.
00:36:21
Speaker
The supplies that are needed, they're going to be there. The Savior will be exalted. Our role in the mission is going to be clarified. His selection for this assignment is going to be settled. You'll say, okay, Lord, looks like you've asked me to do this one. And then the setting for the mission is going to already be arranged.
00:36:42
Speaker
You know, I remember sharing with Jesse and Danielle a long time ago. 1 Thessalonians 5, 24. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. 1 Thessalonians 5, 24 would be another great verse for you to memorize, for you to write down in the Bible or put it on your fridge, to put it on the mirror when you're getting ready for your day to say, you know what? The one who calls me, he's faithful.
00:37:11
Speaker
And I'm not going to be able to do it apart from him, but he says he will surely do it. It doesn't mean that we can just sit around and be lazy. No, that's not what he's saying.
00:37:22
Speaker
But it's just that, really, I've got to recognize that apart from Him, just like Mary learned, you can't do this. So I want to encourage you to say, okay, Lord, I'm going to trust You. I'm going to surrender to You right now, this Christmas, as I go with this Sunday, looking forward to next Sunday, and to all the Lord will do beyond there. I'm going to surrender to You, and I'm going to make a New Year's resolution right now.
00:37:47
Speaker
And I'm going to say, Lord, I just want to walk in simple obedience to what you've already shown me in your word. I guarantee you, whatever God has, you'll be ready for it. He will bless that. But if we keep on insisting He bless our plan, this wasn't Mary's plan. This wasn't Joseph's plan. This wasn't Elizabeth and Zacharias' plan. This was God's plan.
00:38:12
Speaker
I want to encourage you to walk in His plane. Let's all stand together. You know, the first step is to surrender. Do you need to surrender to Him today?
00:38:21
Speaker
You know, the second step is to say, whatever you're telling me to do, I want to obey it, Lord. That's the second step. So let's take care of that first step as we go into this invitation. I'll be down here waiting if there's somebody that wants to surrender to the Lord. You may not need to talk to me. You may need to pray right where you are and say, okay, Lord, I'm going to surrender to you. I want what you want in my life. I want to surrender to your plan, your will.
00:38:49
Speaker
Let's pray together. Lord, I pray for those who do not have a personal relationship, that they would realize, Jesus, you already did all the work on the cross. Lord, your life was perfect and sinless. And so thank you that you can link them with the Father's love. And so I pray that God today, those who are still outside of the family of God,
00:39:13
Speaker
But come on in the inside through Christ. Your atonement on the cross, your sacrifice, your substitutionary death for us, it's more than adequate. Thank you so much for being a wonderful Savior. Lord, I pray that for those of us who know you, that we would come to a fresh surrender today, that we would come to a fresh resolve today, that we're going to walk in obedience. Perhaps we've started to drift,
00:39:41
Speaker
And it's time to come back. It's time to come back to saying, if I want God to accomplish His plan, I've got to walk with Him every day. So help us to come back to that place in repentance and confession. We love you. We thank you for this time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.