Archive for the ‘Luke 1’ Tag
The Most Important PERSON For Everyone Everywhere – JESUS CHRIST! (Our Christmas and Biblical Worldview)
Part A:
Part B:
Full Message:
Bible Verse: Luke 2
Introduction:
Luke 1:26-38
1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
1:27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
1:28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
1:29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
1:30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
1:31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
1:32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.
1:33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
1:34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
1:35 The angel said to 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 holy; he will be called Son of God.
1:36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.
1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
1:38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Theological Theme:
This story in Luke, noted above, is a good example of how we can preach and witness to others similarly about the Gospel!
vv.26-31 “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” You should start your witnessing with Who God is as Revealed in Jesus and who we are in Him – Favored!
v.31 “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” ONLY AFTER PROCLAIMING WHO GOD IS IN HIS WORDS AND DEEDS do you proclaim our participation with Him!
v.34 “Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’, 35 The angel said to 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 holy; he will be called Son of God.’”
All of this happens by the grace of God – from the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit!
Christ Connection:
“God loves you so utterly and completely that he has given himself for you in Jesus Christ his beloved Son, and has thereby pledged [promised and given] his very being as God for your salvation. In Jesus Christ God has actualized [made actual and real] his unconditional love for you in your human nature in such a once for all way, that he cannot go back upon it without undoing the Incarnation and the Cross and thereby denying himself. Jesus Christ died for you precisely because you are sinful and utterly unworthy of him, and has thereby already made you his own before and apart from your ever believing in him. He has bound you to himself by his love in a way that he will never let you go, for even if you refuse him and damn yourself in hell his love will never cease. Therefore, repent and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.”- (T. F. Torrance, “The Mediation of Christ,” 94)
Missional Application:
As we are filled with the Love of the Father and Son Relationship in the Holy Spirit, we participate with God, compelled to go to all and say:
“In and through Jesus, God has included all people everywhere in a particular relationship with himself for just these purposes so that what has been fulfilled for us objectively in Jesus by the Spirit, will then be fulfilled in us personally (subjectively) by the Spirit via our deliberate, purposeful participation (response) as subjects who are moral, spiritual agents. What Christ did for us, he did so that the Holy Spirit could work a response out in us. When we understand that the person and work of Christ establishes or reestablishes a living, vital, personal relationship with all humanity, then the biblical teachings concerning inviting, admonishing, encouraging, directing, commanding and warning in regard to setting forth the fitting or appropriate response make sense.” – Gary Deddo
Mary Praises The Covenant-Keeping God!
Part 1a: 16min
Part 1b: 18min
Full Message:
Main Passages: Luke 1:26-38 Luke 1:46-55
“Mary’s first experience of God’s remarkable call on her life was to be the mother of Jesus the Messiah. A young woman, probably still in her teens, Mary was confronted by the angel Gabriel with the news that God intended to use her to fulfill the greatest promise of His covenant. Mary’s response as “the servant of the Lord” becomes an example for all Christian obedience. In our own lives, we must recognize that God calls us to obedience, even when it is costly. Like Mary, we magnify the Lord through our obedience as servants of God and followers of Christ.” – The Gospel Project
Theological Theme:
From the Father, Jesus was conceived by the Spirit’s power and was born of a virgin.
Christ Connection:
In submitting to God’s plan for her life, even though it would bring suffering and heartache, Mary chose to magnify God. As a result, her faithfulness is an example to us. Likewise, Jesus magnified His Father through His obedient life, and He submitted to God’s plan, even to death on a cross, so that we could be saved.
Missional Application:
God through His Holy Spirit calls us to magnify the Lord in times of suffering so that others will see He is our treasure.
“When you find the real Mary of Scripture, the Mary of the first century, you’ll discover that she’ll be talking about Jesus and pointing us all to Jesus.” –Scot McKnight
“Mary responded with faith. She declared herself to be the slave of the Lord, her Master. This was her identity. After all, slaves have no choices; they surrender them all to their masters. Even though there was so much that she did not know, Mary had a deep-rooted faith and trust, and that was where her submissive spirit came from. She was ready to submit to God’s difficult plan for her life. The stories of church history reveal that following Jesus costs His disciples everything. With the exception of John, Jesus’ closest followers experienced execution as the ultimate price for their faithfulness. Even now, more Christians are dying for Christ than at any time in the history of the church. We should question the trend in American Christianity that casts our faith as something easy, something that solves all our earthly problems.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German martyr, famously wrote: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” As we listen to the Gospels, we should be ready to have our expectations challenged and values overturned. New life in Christ is not intended to be easy. Jesus never promised earthly security. His call is to “take up [your] cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). And here, at the start of Jesus’ story in the New Testament, we see a young woman of faith who boldly accepted the difficult call of God on her life.” – The Gospel Project
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