Initiating The Turn-12(2024)

‘INITIATING The TURN’-XII—Luke 1:24b-25(:5-25)

Attention:

Whenever it becomes obvious that Fall is near, I will end-up baking a few Pumpkin Pies. We begin stockpiling the ingredients for multiple pies. I will bake two pies at a time. I use the recipe printed on the Libby’s brand canned pumpkin label(‘Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie’), but I add two teaspoons of nutmeg for the two pies.

The recipe calls for

1 ½ C Sugar

¾ tsp. Salt

2 tsp. ground Cinnamon

1 tsp. ground Ginger

½ tsp. ground Cloves

*2 tsp. ground Nutmeg*

4 Eggs(beaten)

2 15oz. cans Pumpkin

2 12 oz. cans Evaporated Milk

2 Pie Crusts

•Set oven to 425º.

•Place pie crusts in pie pans.

•Combine dry ingredients until uniform color.

•Add wet ingredients & combine until uniform consistency.

•Pour mixture into the pie crusts.

•I cheat for the pie crusts: I use refrigerated ‘Pillsbury Pie Crusts’(‘Like Homemade Without The Hassle’) from the grocery store. They come two to a box. You simply unroll each one, & shape them like you want, for a regular or deep dish pie.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Turn heat down to 350º & bake for 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out ‘clean’ from the center of each pie.

Let the pies sit in oven until cool.

*Pumpkin Pie is good, but you also need some Whipped Cream to make it Fall Perfection!

2Cups of Heavy Whipping Cream. Whip on high till it holds a firm peak. Fold in one-+ teaspoons of sugar. ‘INITIATING The TURN’-XII—Luke 1:24b-25(:5-25)

**Having all those ingredients handy, along with the glass pie plate ready for the crusts, & having an oven available to bake them in, will NEVER make a pie!

BUT, taking the initiative to actually put the recipe to work, will make 2 uniformly consistent pies.

**As with baking a Pumpkin Pie, there is a lot of interconnection & involvement in any process.

But the process has to be ‘INITIATED’ at some point!

Likewise, God accomplished the promised ‘turning of people’ to Himself, by INITIATING the actions that were necessary to bring about mankind’s eventual salvation & glorification in Christ Jesus(Eph. 1:6-8, 13-14; Rom. 8:17-21, 30; Heb. 2:9).

God INITIATED the process of ‘turning people’ back to Himself, thru Zacharias & Elizabeth in Israel, over two thousand years ago.

*The title of this sermon series ‘turns’ on Lk. 1:16-17.

Need:

Every person has a deep-seated God-ordained need for certainty, settled peace, & confidence in their lives. And most never experience those things! But they can indeed be yours!....

But ONLY IF you willingly & unconditionally TURN to God, by trusting Christ Jesus as Savior & Lord. ‘

Luke informed his audience of the initial steps that God took to turn His people toward Himself.

God began the process of turning of His people toward Himself.

And we are answering the question...

...?What principles does God use to begin turning people toward Himself?

12 principles God used & uses to begin turning people toward Himself.

So far in Luke’s Gospel, we have found that:

In initiating the Turn to Himself, God uses...

1. RIGHTEOUS FAITHFULNESS(:5-7)

2. PRIVILEGED DUTY(:8-9)

3. CONCERTED & DUTIFUL PRAYER(:10)

4. HEALTHY FEAR(:11-12)

5. DIVINE COMFORT(:13a)

6. DIVINE PARTNERSHIP(:13b-17)

7. DIVINE CHASTISEMENT(:18-20)

8. An ENHANCED PERSPECTIVE(:21)

9. An ENHANCED Or SPIRITUAL SENSITIVITY(:22)

10. An ENHANCED CONTINUANCE(:23)

11. CONFIRMING FULFILLMENT(:24a)

Today we’ll find that:

12—In Initiating the Turn to Himself, God ALSO uses...

TRANSFORMATIONAL APPRECIATION(:24b-25)

Explanation:(:24b-25)Thankfulness

:24b—“... & she hid herself five months, saying,”

:25—“Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

:24b—“... & she hid herself five months, saying,”

Why would Elizabeth “hide herself” these “five months”?...

...Elizabeth ‘probably’ did so until it would have been OBVIOUS to others that the spoken or verbally shared prophecy(from the angel Gabriel) about John’s birth was true. That is, It seems that Elizabeth “hid” until ‘the evidence’ was apparent...Until she was ‘showing.’

•Without tangible ‘evidence’(sight/observation/sound/touch/taste/smell) of Christian ‘works’, whatever we ‘say’ to others about Jesus, comes across as just empty, vain, confused, & idle ramblings born of ignorance, & a ‘powerless’ God!

•This holds true for all Christians...Again, Without the ‘LIFE’ lived out, to back up who & what we claim we love(Jesus), no one will respect Jesus, as God deserves & requires them to.

•That is why it’s vital for every true Christian to exhibit ‘works’—actions, a lifestyle, personal choices, speech, decisions— that display the actual trust & belief of a heart that is centered on Christ Jesus.

Js. 2:14-17, 21-22, 26—“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?[the answer is ‘No, it cannot!’] If a brother or sister is naked & destitute of daily food, & one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed & filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”.....“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, & by works faith was made perfect?”.....“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”