Recently, we have been looking closely at Mary, the natural mother of our Lord and Savior. Mary was chosen by God to conceive and give birth to Jesus Christ.
We studied and found her to be a Woman of Grace and a Woman of Power. While Mary is not someone we pay homage to, we can learn a great deal from her story.
Like Mary, we have the life of Christ living within us.
Each of us has an awesome responsibility with the life of Christ.
As we look at the Christmas Story, we should recognize the important part that the Holy Spirit had in bringing the world our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we have found, the Holy Spirit “came upon” Mary. As a result of this, the power of the “Most High” over shadowed this young teenage girl, named Mary.
The Christmas story is filled with excitement and promises of hope for all of mankind. Let’s see what happens next.
Text: Luke 1:39 thru 41
Prayer:
Our story tells us that young Mary hurried to meet with her cousin, Elisabeth, in the nearby town of Hebron.
There is scriptural evidence here that Mary is not yet with child, and is physically capable of making the long journey. Verse 45 says -
"Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."
Verse 39 says -
Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,
I can almost see Mary running through the hills of Judah with excitement.
What’s your hurry Mary? What’s all the excitement?
There is joy and anticipation that day for Mary. Mary has purpose for her life. Mary was eager to get to her cousins home and tell Elizabeth what the angel, Gabriel, had told her.
Often the Lord works on folks with excitement. Any one of us can be consumed with this kind of excitement. When we find out the Lord is coming to live in us, we will naturally want to tell everyone.
The Lord may speak to us about what He is going to do for us.
And we believe Him!
Or, we may read a particular scripture where we find a promise for our lives. And we believe god’s Word for us!
We get so excited about what the Lord is about to do that we take off running across the hillside. We want to go and tell someone…anyone…exactly what has happened to us.
We may not fully understand everything that is going on, but we are determined to find out. When we the Holy Ghost “comes upon us…and the Power of the Most High overshadows us”, we gotta’ get u p and run and tell somebody. Amen?
Mary was given her confirmation from the angel, Gabriel.
And now she wanted to find out more about what was going on.
Mary wanted to know everything that the Lord was going to do in her life.
Mary had to run to her cousin, Elizabeth, right away.
Mary had a tremendous responsibility on her life and she wanted to make sure that she would be doing everything she needed to. She had to make preparation for the Lord’s coming.
And this is how the Lord wants to deal with us.
2 Tim 3:17
That the man/woman of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Mary needed to be thoroughly equipped for the coming of Christ.
Likewise, we must make ourselves ready for what God is about to do!
We must do this quickly.
We have to get ready for the coming of the Lord!
How many of you know that Jesus is coming soon?
During the Christmas Season, we all have so many things going on in our lives. Nevertheless, there are times that the Lord wants our full attention in what He has for us. There are times when God wants us to focus on just one thing. Forget about everything else. Those things can wait.
Maybe you need to run and tell your relatives to get ready.
Jesus is coming soon!
God wants you and I focused this evening.
Ps 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
My friend, don’t leave God out when making your plans for the holidays.
Mary was excited and she wanted Jesus. She wanted Him NOW!
There was only one place that she might find Him.
At the home of her cousin, Elizabeth.
Mary remained within the home of Elizabeth for 3 months.
Waiting for Jesus to begin to live inside of her.
She wasn’t going anywhere until she felt the presence of the Lord.
Verse 45: Mary knew “…there would be a fulfillment...."
I am certain that Mary could not have understood everything that was going on in her life. None of us can. But Mary was determined to see the plan of God fulfilled in her life.
Why was this? Because Mary was focused and determined.
Mary had purpose for her life.
Likewise, we must have purpose for our lives.
I have known the joy of the Lord for many years. But I must tell you there have been times of frustration, boredom and even depression in my life. The most miserable I have ever found myself was when I didn’t know if there was any future for me in serving the Lord.
There was no purpose for my life. I had no future.
My life was empty without the Lord.
It was in a hotel room on a cold wintry night in Wisconsin that I had a long talk with myself. Afterwards I had a longer talk with Father God. That night, I decided that if the Lord would ever use me again, I would be a man of purpose in fulfilling His sovereign plan for my life.
I decided (that night) that I would begin to pursue God!
You see, I knew what it meant to set business goals for myself.
But until that night, I didn’t know what it meant to have:
God’s Purpose for my life.
Like most people, I have some things that God has to keep a check on in my life. Such as the stubborn streak to get my way. I know must daily surrender to the Lord. There are times when I want to do things my way.
Over the years, God has reshaped me time and time again.
We all are a lot like Mary. We really don’t know what is going to happen next. But what is important is I must go after, pursue, (like Mary) run after what God has for me.
You may not agree with what I am about to say, but hear me out.
God has allowed my own will (or, way) to be an influence on what direction my ministry has taken. Regardless, He has control of my will and my ways. What do I mean?
Keep in mind that God did create me a little differently than He did you. God’s will/ways has joined itself with my will/way and now He has control over my future and my purpose. God is controlling the reins in my life.
I am still the –
Tenacious guy that wants everything done now.
Insecure guy that isn’t always satisfied with how things work out.
I know that sometimes I am frail and weak. I am human.
But listen to what God has to say:
Col 3:23-24
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all YOUR heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Many of us may think we know what it means to give ourselves to knowing and serving the Lord. We may be heading in a direction that God has planned for our lives. Or, we may not.
I have found that Many Christians:
· Don’t have a clue what the Lord is wanting for their life.
· Are just hoping they will know (what that plan is) when they get there.
Some Christians are like Mary in that they do have a final destination in mind. They know exactly what the Lord wants for their life.
But there are also others who are out there just running all over the hills.
Going no-where fast. These Christians really don’t know where they are going or what they are doing.
Mary was one who may not have known what she needed to do, but at least she knew where she was going.
Mary had purpose for her life.
She was willing to learn and run after God at the same time.
She would run to Elizabeth to find out what she would needed to do.
Allow me to tell you a short story and illustrate what I mean.
There was once a man named Walter living in Salt Lake City, UT. Walter decided one day that he wanted to get into the automobile business. This new business was a fast growing business and would now be Walter’s heart’s desire.
Walter surprised his friends by going out and purchasing a new automobile for $4,000.00. (That was a lot of money in those days) Walter shocked his friends when he began dismantling this new car in his shop. Auto parts were scattered everywhere.
And then he took piece by piece and put the car back together again. Walter was considered a lunatic when he finally got the car put back together again only to repeat this whole process over and over again.
What was Walter doing? Walter was defining his purpose for his life by discovering and rediscovering the in and outs of an automobile. He became an authority in what would become his purpose in life.
Walter knew what this purpose for his life was, and he was pursuing that purpose.
This is because Walter’s last name was Chrysler.
I don’t know that there is anyone here this morning that has a calling on your life to become another Walter Chrysler.
I am not sure building Chrysler cars ever saved Walter’s soul.
But what is important in this story is that the Lord is waiting for many of us to decide what is important to us.
Closing:
Is the Lord important to us? Is the Lord our reason for living?
Perhaps you consider your life uneventful, or boring.
Or, on the other hand, perhaps like Mary, you are expecting something supernatural to take place in your life.
Have you ever realized that the Lord has a plan and purpose for your life? This is true. The Lord does have a plan for each of our lives that is as important as the plan He had for young Mary.
Many of you need to decide what is important for you.
That is, what is the desire for your heart?
Are these desires godly or worldly? Do your desires exalt the name of the Lord? Or do your desires satisfy only you?
Perhaps you have tried and found yourself failing again and again. The problem you have may very well be within your own desires. Gabriel said it so well when he told Mary that,
"For with God nothing will be impossible."
Let me share with you a promise that Mary could have found for herself in the Psalms of King David:
Ps 37:4-5
4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
This passage clearly tells us (in verse 5) to commit your way. Did you hear that? Your way.
This may come as a surprise to you, but the Lord doesn’t mind you having your way, as long as, you commit your way to His Ways. His ways are always better than our ways.
Each of us has different interests in how we do things. But if we allow Him, God will send His Holy Spirit to change us all.
God can and will change us as He changed Mary and Elizabeth.
The Holy Spirit will come upon you and overshadow you.
When this happens, God will begin to mold and shape you into being, and doing, exactly what He has purposed for your life.
To the Sound Team:
Thank you for your expertise and your commitment to Christ with everything you do. You all are a huge blessing!
Pastor
Power Point Text for 12.07.03 PM Service
Luke 1:39 thru 41
II Timothy 3:17
Psalm 27:4
Colossians 3:23 & 24
Psalm 37:4 & 5
