Open it up to us.
So Luke chapter 1, starting at verse 26.
26 is actually on 1026.
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.
The virgin's name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said,
Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you.
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
But the angel said to her,
Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God.
You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
His kingdom will never end.
How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin?
The angel answered,
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age,
and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.
For nothing is impossible with God.
I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered.
May it be to me as you have said.
Then the angel left her.
Thanks, Charlie.
Thanks very much, Connor.
There's notes being handed out.
If you'd like to follow along,
it's a way of just helping to process and think through
what we're looking at this morning.
And if you've got questions,
please feel free to ask after.
So we're going to look at a section of what we might traditionally call
the Christmas story.
And it's a story not only to hear,
it's a story to tell.
And with that in mind,
let me just encourage you
and remind us all that on Wednesday,
we'll be giving out calendars.
And through the calendars each month,
there's verses from the Bible,
and throughout the calendar,
there's readings,
which tell people the story,
the true story of Christ coming into the world.
And then next Sunday,
just to remind you again,
that at five o'clock is our carol service.
And again,
it's a way of telling the story to people,
inviting people to come.
So these little invites that I'm holding up here at the table,
please avail of them
and do invite people to come along.
Well, let's pray.
Let's pray.
Our Father God,
we thank you for your word.
We thank you for this account of the coming of Christ into the world.
We thank you that just as Luke has written,
that we can now read it
and hear your truth being spoken to us.
And we pray that it will be a truth that changes us,
a truth that sets our hearts on fire,
that reveals to us afresh
the wonder of God the King
coming into this world.
we pray, Father,
that not one of us will leave
without you doing a work in our lives
and showing us Christ more fully
so that we may delight in him,
love him,
and serve him more and more.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, do you really believe this story,
the story that was just read to us?
Don't you think it's a little bit far-fetched,
all this talk of angels appearing
and virgins conceiving?
No one really believes this stuff anymore.
It's a nice story,
but it's not really a true story,
is it?
Richard Dawkins,
formerly Oxford University's professor
for the public understanding of science,
so a very well-respected man in these fields,
says what many people believe.
He says this,
it's supernatural nonsense
to believe in the virgin birth.
You cannot be an intellectual,
scientific thinker
and still hold religious beliefs.
It seems that for many,
unless something can be explained scientifically,
it simply can't be true.
Science, we are told,
has proved that there's no such thing
as the miraculous.
Angels do not appear
and virgins do not conceive.
Well, before we write this story off
as a simple fairy tale
or as just a legend,
let's consider this.
If God is going to say something,
and if God is going to do something,
why should we be surprised
if it does not fit
the normal boundaries of science?
What kind of God would he be
if he were confined
to the natural laws of science?
God is not constrained
to the tests and formula
of a laboratory.
If God created these laws,
is he not free to act outside
these laws?
So when God says something,
when God does something,
we should not be surprised
if it doesn't fit
our everyday experience.
You see, God speaks
and God acts
in an extraordinary way
to get our attention.
First,
God speaks
to announce his grace.
Look at verse 26.
In the sixth month,
God sent the angel Gabriel
to Nazareth.
When God sends an angel,
something big
is about to happen.
You see, angels appearing
is not an everyday experience.
When Mary saw
and heard the angel,
she doesn't say,
oh, it's Gabriel again.
How are you?
No, Mary's in complete
and utter shock.
Look at verse 29.
Mary was greatly troubled
at the words
and wondered.
The wonder is not
in kind of awe
and amazement,
but am I seeing things?
Is this really an angel?
Verse 30.
But the angel said to her,
do not be afraid, Mary.
Mary is terrified.
She's scared.
The visit of an angel
is not a normal experience.
So when God sends an angel,
it demands our attention.
God has something important to say.
When we were growing up,
we didn't have a TV in the home,
but my father had a wireless radio.
And at the dinner table,
it would always be on
in the background
and with all the noise
and all the talk,
no one could ever hear it.
But then just before six o'clock,
you would hear this
beep,
beep
from the wireless.
It was the cue
that the news
was just about to come on
and we all had to shut up
so Dad could listen.
Now the sending
of an angel
is God's way
of interrupting
the normal run of life.
It's God's megaphone
into the noise
of this world.
God's way of saying,
shut up and listen.
I have some news
and I want you to hear it.
Because what the angel
has to say
is what God
has to say.
So what is it
that God
has to say?
Well,
he speaks in grace.
Verse 28.
The angel
went to Mary
and said,
greetings,
you who are
highly favoured.
the Lord
is with you.
Mary
is favoured.
Literally,
it means
grace
has come
to you
or grace
has come
upon you.
Not because
Mary was
special
or sinless,
but simply
because of
God's
amazing grace.
God could have
chosen
anyone.
But,
look at verse 30,
the angel
said to her,
do not be afraid,
Mary.
You
have found
favour
or you
have found
grace
with God.
Mary's not even
looking for God.
She's not even
expecting any kind
of visit.
But yet,
God
intervenes
into her life
and that's what
grace is.
God's goodness
and generosity
and kindness
intervening
invading
our lives.
Not because
we've earned
it or deserve
it,
but because
God
loves us.
You see,
we can be so
familiar with
this story
that we can
miss the point
of the story.
Look at how
Luke
begins
his introduction
to this
story in
verse 26.
In the
sixth month,
that is the
sixth month
of Elizabeth's
pregnancy,
that's the
cousin of
Mary,
God sent
the angel
Gabriel to
Nazareth,
a town in
Galilee.
Now,
Galilee was
a region
that was at
the very
edge of
the nation
of Israel,
the northern
edge.
and Nazareth
was at the
very edge
of Galilee.
It's like
talking about
Ballyhillon.
You know
Ballyhillon?
It's at the
very tip of
Midden Head,
at the very
top of
Donegal.
It's kind
of who
goes there
kind of
place.
Nazareth
is not the
centre of
the universe.
It was a
small,
backward
town.
Archaeologists
can tell us
that it
was a
town of
no more
than just
50 houses.
In fact,
one disciple
would later
make the
derogatory
comment,
Nazareth,
can anything
good come
from there?
You never
went to
Nazareth.
You left
there as
quick as
possible.
But that's
where God
chooses to
go and
announce his
message.
And if
that doesn't
seem strange,
look at
who God
chooses to
talk to,
verse 27.
To a
virgin
pledged
to be
married to
a man
named
Joseph,
a descendant
of David,
the virgin's
name was
Mary.
Who's
Mary?
Well,
that's the
point.
Nobody
knows who
Mary is.
She's a
small-time
girl in a
small-time
town.
In fact,
she's probably
not much
older than
15 years
of age
because that's
when marriage
arrangements would
happen.
She's a
nobody.
We don't
have any
background or
any recording
of who she
is or
anything about
her family.
Now,
doesn't all
this strike
you as
odd?
God
chooses an
ordinary
person in
an ordinary
place to
announce
to announce
his grand
message?
Surely God
could do much
better than
that.
Why not
announce it
in Jerusalem,
the capital,
somewhere really
important?
Why not
choose someone
wealthy or
well-known,
someone from
a religious
establishment?
Why does
God deliberately
and intentionally
go to this
back-a-beyond
town and
speak to
an unknown
trembling
teenage
girl?
Because
God
comes
and speaks
in grace.
You see,
what God
has to say,
he has to
say to
people like
you and
me.
God has
come to
ordinary
people in
ordinary
places.
You see,
the point
of this
great story
is that
no one
is off
limits
from God's
grace.
You don't
have to be
important
or wealthy
or well-known.
You don't
have to come
from a certain
address and
have studied
at a certain
college.
You don't
even have to
have it
together.
You just
have to be
undeserving
and that's
what we
are.
God
could have
chosen
anyone
in any
place,
but in
his grace
he chose
Mary
in
Nazareth.
And so
God chooses
to intervene
into our
world and
into our
lives by
his son,
the Lord
Jesus
Christ,
speaking
his truth
through his
word and
calling people
like you
and me,
ordinary
individuals,
nobodies in
this world,
calling us
to come and
serve him,
to love him,
to obey him
because no
one is
off limits
from God's
grace.
But what is
this news?
What is
God announcing?
What is he
going to
do?
Well,
God acts
to establish
his king.
Verse 31.
The angel
said to
Mary,
verse 31,
you will be
with child,
give birth to
a son and
you're going
to give
him the
name Jesus.
Now,
women get
pregnant all
the time.
There's
nothing
extraordinary
about that.
Except in
Mary's case,
it is a
supernatural
act of
God.
Verse 34,
how is
this going
to be?
Mary asked
the angel.
I'm a
virgin.
Mary didn't
doubt that
she could
have a
son.
After all,
she was
soon to
be married
to Joseph
and like
every young
girl,
she dreamed
of being
a mother.
The problem
for Mary
was,
how can
I have
a son
when I
am still
a virgin?
It's
impossible.
This is
nonsense.
Virgins
do not
conceive.
Unless,
of course,
God chooses
to act
in a
supernatural
way.
Verse 35,
the angel
answered,
the Holy
Spirit will
come upon
you,
and the
power of
the Most
High will
overshadow
you.
This is
unique in
the history
of the
world.
No other
child has
been born
in this
way.
Millions of
children have
been born.
Billions have
been born.
children have
been born.
But no child
has been
born this
way.
God, by the
power of
his Holy
Spirit,
caused Mary
to be
pregnant
without the
normal means
of sexual
intercourse.
This is not
ordinary.
This is
extraordinary.
This is
supernatural.
This is
God's way
of getting
the world's
attention and
saying,
I am
going to
do
something
grand and
amazing and
I want
you to
pay attention
to what
I am
going to
do.
So what
is God
going to
do?
Well,
look at
verse 31
again.
You will
have a
child,
you'll give
birth to
a son,
and you're
to name
him
Jesus.
The name
Jesus means
the Lord
saves.
So this
child born
to be
Mary is
God's
means of
saving this
disordered
world and
its broken
people.
At this
stage of
the story,
we're not
told exactly
how it's
all going
to happen,
but simply
that this
child,
Jesus,
is going
to save.
four things
were told
by Luke
at this
point.
First,
he is the
promised
king.
In the
chronicles
of Narnia,
the land
of Narnia
is frozen
in ice
and snow,
ruled by
the wicked
white witch.
But then
as you read
through the
story,
the land
begins to
thaw,
and the
ice begins
to melt,
and the
animals
of the
forest
recognize
the
sign.
Aslan,
the king,
he's
coming.
Now,
the first
readers of
Luke's
gospel,
as they
read this
text,
would have
said the
same.
The king,
he's
come.
You see,
all through
the Old
Testament,
God had
been promised,
the whole
story of
the Old
Testament,
is God's
great promise
that he
would establish
his king.
king.
Listen to
this from
the prophet
Isaiah,
speaking all
those hundreds
of years
before,
700 years
before the
birth of
Christ.
This is
what he
says,
Therefore,
the Lord
himself will
give you a
sign.
The virgin
will be with
child and
give birth to
a son.
So as these
first readers,
as they began
to read Luke's
gospel,
and they come
across Mary,
a virgin,
giving birth,
they would
recognize the
sign and
they would
declare God's
promised king
has come.
God is
ruling all of
history and
all of time
and bringing
to fulfilment
his promise
to bring his
king.
But he's not
just a promised
king, he's
the ruling
king.
Nations
today, like
Britain,
they have
kings, but
they're largely
symbolic.
They don't
have any
real power.
But God's
king is the
one who will
rule with
absolute power
and supreme
authority.
Look at
verse 32.
He will be
great and
will be called
son of the
most high.
God's
king sits
on the
world's
throne.
He rules
over all
people and
all things.
He holds
the reins of
all power.
He decides
what is right
and what is
wrong.
He will
determine the
course of
history and
the decisions
of man.
But he's
more than
that.
He's the
eternal
king.
Some rulers
and kings
reign for a
long time
over a
nation.
king.
We know
of one
recently,
Fidel
Castro.
For years
he ruled
over Cuba.
But eventually
they die
and someone
else comes
and takes
their place.
But not
with God's
king.
Verse 33.
He will
reign over
the house
of Jacob
forever.
His
kingdom will
never end.
this king
is not
going to
be pushed
out or
overthrown
or replaced.
Yes,
he will
die but
he will
rise again.
He will
be king
forever
over all
time and
over all
people and
over all
history.
And he
is God
the king.
Kings in
the past
as rulers
do today
behave as
if they
are a
god.
Dictating,
ruling,
just like
we want
to do
with our
own lives.
We think
we're
God.
But this
child is
God the
king.
Look at
the end
of verse
35.
As the
angel says
to Mary,
so the
holy one
to be
born will
be called
the son
of God.
You see
the virgin
conception
is not
just to
get our
attention.
It's
there to
tell us
that this
child born
to Mary
doesn't have
an earthly
father.
He has
a heavenly
father.
In other
words,
his nature
is divine.
He is
fully God.
He will
be called,
end of
verse 35,
the son
of God,
a title
making him
equal or
one with
God.
So God
acts in
a supernatural
way to
show us
that this
child is
nothing less
than the
eternal God
come in
human form
into our
world to
save.
This is no
ordinary
child.
In fact,
this supernatural
conception
proves to
us his
supernatural
role.
He is
God's
saving
king.
And he's
not voted
in by
popular
demand,
but he
has been
installed
among the
nations of
the world
by God.
His rule
doesn't depend
on the
will of
the people,
whether they
like him
or not,
but he
is there
by the
will of
God.
And that
will will
not be
overturned.
His
kingdom is
built,
not by
our
support.
His
kingdom
is
established
by God
because
he
is
God.
Now,
we might
have trouble
with a
God who
acts and
intervenes
in this
way.
But if
God is
truly
God,
does he
not have
the right
to install
his
king?
and
establish
his
rule
over
all
people
and
over
all
nations?
You see,
this child
born to
Mary is
your
king
and my
king.
He is
the world's
king,
whether we
like it,
whether we
bow to
him or
not.
He is
our
king.
So,
God
announces
speaking
his
grace
into
this
world
and
God
acts
to
establish
his
king.
Now,
again,
because this
story is
just so
familiar
to us,
we could
write about
it,
we could
tell it
to people.
It can
be so
familiar that
we might
think,
you know,
this was
just easy
for Mary.
Oh,
yeah,
have a
baby,
God's
son,
no problem,
what's
next on
the agenda?
But it
wasn't.
Mary is
deeply
troubled.
She's
terrified.
She's
doubting.
She's
questioning.
An angel
has just
appeared
telling her
that she's
going to
give birth
to God
the king.
How
can this
be?
I'm not
even
married.
What am
I going
to tell
Joseph?
What if
he doesn't
believe me?
I'm just
a young
girl living
in a
small town.
This
can't be
happening.
This is
not
possible.
Well,
listen to
what the
angel said,
verse 37.
For
nothing
is
impossible
with
God.
It's
not saying
that God
will do
anything
and
everything,
but
literally
it's
saying
no
word
of
God
will
fail.
Mary,
everything
God
says
he is
going
to
do,
he
will
do,
and it
will
not
fail.
It
will
come
to
pass.
So
Mary,
what God
has said
is going
to happen
in your
life,
will
happen.
In a
sense,
it's a
call for
Mary
to
obey
God's
word
and
trust
God's
actions.
And
that's
exactly
what
Mary
does.
She
surrenders
to
God
the
King.
Verse
38.
I
am
the
Lord's
servant,
Mary
answered.
May
it be
to me
as
you
have
said.
then
the
angel
left
her.
You
see,
let's
get
ourselves
into
the
feet
of
Mary.
Mary
might
not
like
everything
that
is
asked
of
her,
but
yet
she
obeys
despite
all
her
doubts
and
all
her
questions.
I
am
the
Lord's
servant.
And
Mary
might
not
understand
everything
that is
asked
of
her,
but
she
trusts
despite
all
her
troubles
and
all
her
fears.
May
it
be
to
me
as
you
have
said.
I
don't
understand
everything
that is
going
on.
I
can't
see
how
all
this
is
going
to
work
out,
how
I'm
going
to
tell
people,
how
they're
going
to
respond.
I
just
don't
know
what's
going
on
here,
but
I
will
obey
you.
And I
will
trust
you
because
what
you
say
and what
you
do
and how
you
act
is
always
right.
now
as we
hear
this
true
story
of
God's
King
coming
into
the
world,
intervening,
invading
by his
grace,
the same
response is
required from
you and
from me.
Thinking
and studying
about this
this week
and reading,
I came
across one
writer who
put it
like this.
he asks
two
questions
which I
think get
behind the
response of
Mary.
And here's
the two
questions that
we're going
to settle
on and
reflect on.
Here's the
first one.
As we
think of
God coming
the King
into the
world,
speaking
his grace,
establishing
his King.
Here's the
first question.
are you
willing to
obey anything
God says
in his
word,
the Bible,
whether you
like it
or not?
Are you
willing to
accept the
King's
commands
on how
we should
live?
Mary was
called to.
Are you
willing to
submit to
his word
in regards
to marriage?
not how I
think marriage
should be,
but what
does God
say?
Are you
willing to
submit to
his words
in regards
to church?
Not what I
think about
church,
but what
does God
say?
Am I
willing to
submit to
his every
command and
live under
its authority?
Can we
say, as
Mary said
in verse
38,
I am
the Lord's
servant.
I will
obey.
Here's the
other question.
Are you
willing to
trust God
with how
he acts
in your
life,
whether you
understand
it or
not?
Mary didn't
understand
everything that
was going
on.
Are you
willing to
accept the
things that
God brings
into your
life, the
circumstances
that you
must go
through?
Are you
willing to
surrender to
his gracious
interventions in
your life,
whether that
is a path of
suffering or
a path of
honour?
can we
say, as
Mary said
in verse
38,
may it
be to
me as
you have
said.
I will
trust you.
I can't
actually see
the point of
why I'm
going through
this or
why I have
to go
through this,
but I will
trust you.
you see,
I think we
all want to
be in
control of
our lives.
We all
want to
decide what
is best.
We don't
want God
intervening or
interfering with
what we
should do.
We don't
want people
telling us
how to
live.
But if
God the
King is
King,
does he
not have
the right
to say
to us
what we
should do
and what
should happen
in our
lives?
Who are
we to
speak back
to this
God who
spoke through
the angel,
who establishes
his King?
What right
have I to
say, you
should do
this and
you shouldn't
do that?
my life
and your
life
belongs
to God.
What you
say to me,
Father,
through your
word,
I will
obey.
And what
you do
in and
through my
life,
Father,
I will
trust.
are we
the
Lord's
servant?
Can we
say, may
it be to
me as
you have
said?
This is
God's
King.
He demands
our life.
Obey
him.
Trust
him.
Let's
pray.
adds
him to
him.