The message of Christmas is everywhere in our world. We encounter it in malls while shopping for the latest toys or gadgets, in elevators rushing to get to work on time, in dental chairs trying to find emotional balm for our anxiety... Again and again, we hear lines like "Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see," "God and sinners reconciled," and "Long laid the world in sin and error... 'til he appeared." We seem to hear such things declared without any recognition whatsoever of the shocking nature of their claims. One of the biggest challenges of the Advent season for long-time churchgoers is how to hear the universe-changing message through words we have heard again and again and... Our world seems to be anesthetized to the startling allegations that fill the Christmas story.
In our weekend services, we will look at the familiar family episode involving Elizabeth, her niece Mary, and their two unborn infants recorded in Luke 1:26–45. I have learned that all mothers know that their pregnancy stories are unique in some ways, but there have surely never been two relatives whose pregnancies were like these. We will see the rather startling gift that God wants to give to these mothers and to the world through these births. We will learn a few things from Mary about how to receive unexpected gifts from God. And we will ask God to show us yet again how the receiving of his gifts always transforms our lives. (Oh... I need to warn you: That transformation will always be beautiful in the long run but sometimes confusing and challenging in the short run.)
Blessed is the one who believes that what the Lord has said will be accomplished. Luke 1:45
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor