21 December 2008
U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris
Fortress Chapel
F.O.B. Sykes
Tall-afar, Iraq
BIG IDEA: Understanding Elisabeth’s infertility (along with the knowledge that with God nothing is impossible) will strengthen the FAITH of believers to TRUST GOD.
REFERENCES: Fourth Sunday of Advent; James 2:14-26 (NIV) (Faith in Action)… Abraham – stumbled “not” at the promises of God – he nearly offered his son Isaac to God as a sacrifice; Romans 4:18-20 (NIV) Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his his body was as good as dead - since he was about a hundred years old – and Sarah’s womb was also dead, Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God; Jeremiah 32:17 (KJV) Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You; Matthew 19:26 (KJV) And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Barren: OT people considered childlessness a terrible curse. Thus it was very significant to Israel that God promised generations that were obedient to his law: Exodus 23:33 (KJV) “None will miscarry or be barren in your land”; Deuteronomy 7:14 (KJV) “none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young”; Later, God’s disobedient people found life itself to be barren. Isaiah 54:1-8 (KJV) But even at times of greatest despair the prophets promised the barren a song and a shout of joy, for God would surely restore those who had been rejected; Genesis 18:14 (GNB) Is anything too hard for the Lord (A Son is Promised to Abraham)?; Proverbs 31:30 (KJV) Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised; 1 Samuel 2:1-10 (of Hannah, in Thankfulness for a son); 1 Samuel 1:6 (KJV) And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb; Isaiah 7:14 (KJV) the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son;
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Luke 1:37 (ESV) For nothing will be impossible with God.
II. READ THE PERICOPE: Luke 1:37 (ESV) For nothing will be impossible with God.
III. READ THE TEXT: Luke 1:37 (ESV) For nothing will be impossible with God.
IV. PURPOSE: To strengthen the faith of believers to trust GOD.
V. SERMONIC THEME: “There’s nothing that God cannot do.”
VI. INTRODUCTION: Earlier, I was talking to my Chaplain Assistant – SSG Larry S. Johnson about Email Errors –boy, I’ve made my share of email errors. Speaking of Email Errors … there is a joke that I came across recently about Email Errors which read:
A man was on a business trip to the south of France and his wife had planned to meet him there the next day. When he reached his destination, he decided to send his wife a quick e-mail. He tried his best to type it in from memory. Unfortunately, he missed one letter and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher’s wife, whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint. Hearing the scream, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen: "Dearest Wife, missing you already, just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow. P.S. Sure is hot down here!"
We laugh about things like that because we all have made errors typing email. How many of us have also made errors concerning our Faith and Trust in God?Th his wife had planned to meet him there The writer of the Book of Hebrews says in Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) Now, faith is the substance of things hope for and the evidence of things not seen; In other words, faith is something that you cannot see; yet you still believe. If you can see it with your natural eyes then that’s “not” FAITH.
Someone else has said … the virgin birth of Jesus will only be a problem to those who have a limited perception of God. Therefore, the question for Fortress Chapel members and friends to ponder … today … is “do you have a limited perception of God?” Again, “do you have a limited perception of God?”
Move 1: Now, today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
a. During this time of the year, with Christmas less than a week away, … as we revisit “the Narrative of the Annunciation of Christ” …
b. …. - most of us can recall at least one woman, in the Bible, that was infertile. And the name that many of us … call to mind … is usually Sarah –
c. … the wife of Abraham …
d. … - or Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.
e. But, the fact of the matter is … the Bible portrays seven women as being infertile or barren.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 2: Now, the word “barren” – in the Greek language - conveys being uprooted or “torn away” from the family stock … and left to withier without children/progeny.
a. Likewise, my brothers and sisters, according to my theological research, the people of the Old Testament considered barren or “child-less-ness” …
b. … To be a terrible curse.
c. Therefore it was very significant to them … that God promised to generations that were obedient to his law … was that “none would miscarry … or be barren in the land” (as indicated in Exodus 23:33).
d. In other words … it was believed that … obedient to God’s Word would result in both the women and the land being productive and fertile.
e. Thus, no one would be left without children or real estate.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 3: Still, there were seven women (in the Bible) that were infertile or barren.
a. For don’t you remember, the First Woman to be barren or infertile is Sarai (Sarah) - the wife of Abraham.
b. The Second Woman was Rebecca - the daughter-in-law of Sarai and the wife of Isaac - the son of Abraham.
c. The Third Woman to be infertile was Rachel – the wife of Jacob, one of the twins of Isaac;
d. … and the Fourth Woman was Samson’s Mother.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 4: The Fifth Woman to be barren was Hannah – the mother of Samuel the Prophet.
a. The Sixth Woman is David’s first wife (and Saul’s daughter) Michal.
b. Finally, the Seventh Woman to be infertile is our protagonist - today – Elisabeth, the wife of Zacharias and the mother of John the Baptist.
c. However, six of the seven infertile or barren women eventually gave birth.
d. All of them had sons.
e. And all of the sons … played a vital role … in the history of Israel.
f. Which is primarily because whenever … God closes a womb, and then opens it, there is a very deep philosophical reason for doing so.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 5: Likewise, in our text, this afternoon, - in Luke 1:37 (ESV) – we find the Angel Gabriel uttering a phrase of truth to Mary, ….
a. …. and providing an example of faith in action …
b. … in order to build up her faith in God …
c. … in the midst of her natural and spiritual conflict
d. … he first says to her: “nothing is impossible with God”
e. … and then he informs her … that an example of this truth/ and FAITH in ACTION … is her aged and infertile Cousin Elisabeth … who was already six months pregnant.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 6: Likewise, my brothers and sisters, in the midst … of our own natural and spiritual battles (conflicts) …
a. … lets us also remember that with God nothing is impossible.
b. For don’t you remember, the Prophet Jeremiah (in Jeremish 32:16-25) …
c. … and the faith he displayed.
d. For the Bible declares that immediately before Nebuchannezzar (the King of Babylon and modern day Iraq) …
e. … and his brigade of bandits took JUDAH into captivity ….
f. Jeremiah – who was already incarcerated by King Zedekiah for preaching the Word of God -
g. …. intentionally requested to see his cousin (Hanamel) in order to purchase some Real Estate.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 7: Who does that?
a. Who purchases land when all indications are “It’s a Seller Market”.
b. It’s time to Sell and NOT Buy.
c. Due to the Babylonian/Iraqi Seige of JUDAH …
d. Others had no doubt already declined to purchase the property from Hanamel.
e. But, Jeremiah (kicking against all investing laws of his day – insisted on buying the land because of his faith and trust in God.
f. For the Bible says that Jeremiah believed God’s WORD which said (in Jeremiah 32:15 NIV):
g. Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.
h. I don’t know about you; but after Jeremiah purchased the property - I can almost hear him with my sanctified imagination praying (Jeremiah 32:16 NIV) …
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
CELEBRATION: Ah, Almighty God, you have made ….
the heavens and the earth …
by your great power and outstretched
arm.
Nothing is too hard for you …
In other words … my brothers and
sisters …
faith without actions
demonstrating what you truly
believe is a DEAD Faith …
If your FAITH AUDIO … doesn’t match your
FAITH VIDEO ….
Your Commo is DEAD …
For the Bible says (in Hebrews 11:1)
Now, Faith is the substance of things
hope for; and the evidence of things not
seen;
Like the Angel told Mary … “nothing is
impossible with God”
