Skip to main content

Sunday, the 3rd Week of Advent: Mary, What Did You Hear?

I awoke this morning to thunderstorms.  It isn't snowing outside, and the ground is green...but this is Wisconsin and it's suppose to be cold and white with snow!
Sometimes life feels like it's upside down...sort of a "what's going on here?" time.

I thought about that this morning as I read the passage in Luke of the angel Gabriel's visit to Mary.

Luke 1:26-38
26  In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27  to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28  And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29  But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30  And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
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 father David,
33  and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34  And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35  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.
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.
37  For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38  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.

 There is so much in these few sentences that I wondered "Mary, what did you hear?"  
We've all had these times where things come at us at such a fast clip that we walk away and start to think..."what did he/she say?"  

 Mary:
You're favored...
God is with you...
You have found favor with God (ok, so that's twice he said that)
Conceive???
A Son???
Jesus
A Son of the Most High
The Lord is giving him the throne of his great Israel King, King David???
Forever
A Kingdom!

 What?, How? When?  the thoughts come flooding with the words echoing in her mind.

 Mary, did you know?

 That's impossible!!!  NO, it's not...just look at Elizabeth's pregnancy...everyone said that was impossible...
You're right...Nothing is impossible with God....

 For all of us, be blessed, be at peace...Our God comes and reassures us that indeed, he is at work in our lives and around us...be open, be aware, be ready, and like Mary...say,

 YES!  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but let us not forg
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tabernacle

The readings today are Exodus 36, 37, 38 I wanted to post some pictures of what these various parts of the Tabernacle looked like. It's not the easiest read in the world, but if you persevere through it, you can get a picture of all the different pieces that made up the tabernacle. It is a replica of the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: First thing in the chapter listed is the outside of the tabernacle which consisted of curtains tied together and put on cross bars through loops. Next at the beginning of 37 is the table and lampstand: Also, the altar of incense: And, the altar for the burnt offering which was in the courtyard: Finally, the courtyard which made it all come together: Hope that helps with what it might have all looked like. Most importantly, this was their "place" of worship they were building. I hope you have a great day of worship. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
1 comment
Read more

The difference between defending and explaining

The news of recent has focused the suffering of Christians in the middle east who have been martyred for their faith in Christ at the hands of Islamic Terrorists. Through the centuries many Christians have lost their lives as a result of their faith. For us, who live in America, there is little chance that we would have this happen here - but it's entirely possibly that terrorism will strike out at Christians sometime.  But, for many Christians in the western world - especially here in the U.S. - being a Christians who believes God's word there is a form of persecution that is defined by words like "ostracized", "passed over", "ridiculed", and more. What do we do in the face of opposition to faith? When the Apostle Peter writes to the early believers who are undergoing great pressure, even persecution for their faith in Jesus, he gives them this charge. 1 Peter 3:8-18 8  Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly lov
1 comment
Read more