In your Bibles this morning, Luke chapter number 1. Luke chapter 1, we'll be reading in verse number 26. And we're going to see here in the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, the beginning of the Christmas story. We're going to meet up with Mary and I'll have you know that this particular day in Mary's life was not full of joy and glad tidings. It was not a day that was rich with Mary-ness. She was actually scared to death. She was full of questions. And we come and see in Luke chapter 1 the setting of the coming of Christ. I want to read with you, beginning in verse number 26, Mary is going to find out that God has a big plan for her life and she'll have some questions. It's going to end with a promise and a fact that all of us can stand on. The Bible says in Luke 1 verse 26, and in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth. to a virgin, a spouse to a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying. And cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, She hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her, who is called Baron. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. What a fascinating thing. Here's Mary. We pick up in verse 26 and we have some setting, the condition of things going on at the moment. We have a young girl who has been blessed with some concerning news. God's called on her to do something and deal with something that in her flesh seemed impossible. God is a God that does not leave us without comfort. He comforts us with His presence. He comforts us with His Word. And He says to Mary, He says, Mary, you remember something. With God, nothing shall be impossible. I'm thankful for that. Maybe this morning, this Christmas season, I like to say it like this, you're up against it. Have you ever been up against it? And I won't ask you to raise your hand this morning, but how many of you in your heart, you feel up against it right now? It's tough, it's rough, it's testing, there's questions. Mary, her Christmas message from heaven, sent by God, was just a simple reminder, Mary, with God, nothing shall be impossible. I'm thankful that at Christmas we get to share the message of hope that with God nothing shall be impossible. Now, when we come to this passage, when we come to this Christmas message in the Scriptures, we are tempted to kind of fantasize the manger scene. I want you to know I love a good Nativity scene. It encourages me. I like to see them everywhere because I'm encouraged to know that every time a Nativity scene is set up, it's bringing glory to the Lord. It's sweet. It's right. It's good. But I think sometimes we kind of make a glorious scene and setting out of a nativity scene that may not be exactly like it really was. You see, in the hearts of Mary and Joseph, there were lots of questions on Christmas Day. Society at the moment when Jesus was born was quite interesting. We talk a lot about Herod. Herod was some kind of devil. He was bad news. Herod was ruling and Herod, a Roman, had God's people in bondage. Now you can think about this for just a moment. Joseph and Mary, one of the things that transitioned Joseph and Mary into Bethlehem was because they had to go pay taxes. How many of you love to pay taxes? I'm glad I drove here on a paved road, so I'm not going to begrudge them too much. But let me just tell you how bad the tax situation was for Mary and Joseph. Guess what Joseph was commanded to do? Joseph, a Jewish man, a man that believed in Jehovah God, he was commanded by a pagan ruler, like Harry, to go and pay taxes to a country that wasn't even his. to people who had his people in bondage. How would you like that? Just imagine getting a decree from Putin or Xi that you had to go pay your taxes. I don't know about you, but it rubbed me the wrong way. But that was the situation that Joseph and Mary was in. Politically, at this moment, for the nation of Israel, it was tough for Joseph and Mary. They were living in a very oppressed moment. Some interesting things about the moment. Roman rule was a real thing. God's people weren't free. Another thing about the coming of Christ was 400 years of silence. When you take your Bibles and you turn from the last verse of the book of Malachi in the Old Testament and you turn the page to Matthew chapter 1 verse 1, it didn't happen succinctly. As a matter of fact, the last time God spoke through a prophet was 400 years previous to the message that Mary was going to bring forth a child. Now look, this was a dark time in world history. Roman rule, 400 years of silence, paganism was on the rise. The worship of a god named Molech was something that was very prominent at that time. Molech was a made-up god by man and one of the chief things that they did to worship Molech was sacrifice children. How wicked. The devil's bad. They had no regard for life, all forms of perversion. As a matter of fact, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee. The Bible says in verse 26 of our text, in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth. Now I want you to notice something. If you just said the name Nazareth at this time, I don't know about you, but I hear folks talk about Nazareth, and the first thing I think about is Jesus, and it's sweet to me, and I'm glad. But this moment, if you said the name Nazareth, Nazareth was a center for Galilean wickedness. That's why the Bible says, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Now, I'm painting an ugly picture, and I mean to. Because this is the scene. The world has gone wild. And we look at the heart of a special young lady named Mary. God has sent a messenger. She doesn't know what to do. She's confused. Things are tough and difficult. This was Christmas. The scene that's said is a scene that I want us to think about for a moment because it wasn't a scene of everybody was singing Christmas carols in warm winter clothes. This was a scene where there was lots of trouble and there was not peace on earth and there was not hope for man. It was dark because the message of hope hadn't been proclaimed for 400 plus years. This is a scene, folks, that needs a Savior. Then I think about our own lives, and I think, hmm, some folks dealing with great sorrow and tragedy this morning, but it's Christmas. Some folks, great uncertainty for the days that are ahead, but it's Christmas. I want to remind you of something this Christmas season. Christmas doesn't mean that everything is perfect. Where all people's struggles and heartaches and difficulties and uncertainties and the future is not playing. Christmas is not a Christmas because everything is perfect and the lights are flickering on the trees. Christmas is Christmas because God, in the darkest of times, sent the brightest light, His own Son, Jesus Christ, so that we could have hope for life, living and for all of eternity. And on this day, when everything was dark, Mary's heart was concerned, what did Jesus say? He sent word through his angel, with God nothing shall be impossible. I can't tell you that on my authority because I can't work out all the problems. I can't tell you that on my authority because I can't be there for everybody all the time. But I can point you to the place and the person who can help you. And God sent him as our Savior and he began his earthly ministry in Bethlehem's manger. This scene needs a Savior. Look at what the Bible says in verse number 29. The angel of the Lord spoken to Mary and says, you're going to have a baby. You're well favored. You're blessed. Verse 29. Look how Mary responds. When she saw him, the angel, she was troubled. Does that look like a Christmas message? Troubled! She was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. Here's where she's troubled and she's like, what in the world is going on? How many of you have looked at your situation lately and said, what in the world is going on? I'm going to tell you what Mary was doing. Mary was saying, God, what are you doing? God, what are you doing? I don't know about you, but there are moments in my life where I think, God, what are you doing? Because I would pick a different set of circumstances. I would pick a certain outcome that's not transpired of late. God, what are you doing? God sends word, with me all things are possible. What's God doing? What hope do you have this Christmas season when things seem to be falling apart? I'll share with you a few things that we can find in this passage of scripture. Number one is this, Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you. What hope do we have for Christmas? Jesus loves you. Look what the Bible says in verse number 27. The Bible says that an angel came to a virgin, a spouse, to a man whose name was Joseph. of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And Mary, verse 28, and the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. I want to say something that this angel sends, has this message carrying from God and says, Hey, look, here's what I want you to know, Mary. Mary, thou art highly favored. That's kind of sweet, isn't it? My first thought is, that's really nice that God highly favors Mary. But then I'm reminded of something. That God doesn't only highly favor Mary, God highly favors me. And God highly favors you. One of our favorite verses to quote when we think about Jesus loves me is John 3.16. I think most of my sermons include John 3.16, and that's okay. For God so loved the world. Who does God love? The whole entire world. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. How specific is God's love? God's love is so vast that He loves the whole world. God's love is so specific that He loves me specifically, individually. He knows everything about me and loves me anyway. And when God sent word to Mary, Mary, you're highly favored. God did not choose me to carry the Christ child. That doesn't mean that He loves me any less. Look, Jesus loves you. Jesus cares about you. Jesus has a place in His world for you. Jesus has hope for you. Jesus died on the cross for you. He loves you. And if you had been the only person that had ever lived in sin, Jesus would have died and came for you. Jesus loves you. The angel says that you're highly favored, Mary. The next phrase is this, verse 28, the Lord is with thee. If you're in my Sunday school class, we have absolutely beat this phrase to death without apology. We're studying the life of Joseph, and one of the things about the life of Joseph is multiple times the Bible says the Lord was with Joseph, the Lord was with Joseph, and God sends word today to Mary that the Lord is with thee. The Lord is with thee. What does that matter, preacher? I'm going to tell you what it matters. If God is with you, what do you have to fear? If God is with you, what can't be conquered? If God is with you, folks, I want you to know God is with you. He's there, He's present, He loves you. One of the things that proves that He loves us is that He's there, He's present. He's working in your life and wants to work in your heart. Bless you. Jesus loves you. He says, Thou art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Verse 28, the last phrase, Blessed art thou among women. Blessed art thou among women. I'm so thankful. Mary has a place of prominence in the Lord's heart, but I must say, selfishly, I'm even more thankful that you and I have a place of prominence in the heart of God. We're blessed in the sight of God. God loves me. God loves you. Don't forget it. God loves you. God is faithful. I love the fact that God has given the attribute of father to us, his children. I'm going to tell you, if you've not experienced the love of a father in your life, it's something to be gloried in. The love of father is an amazing thing. The love of father is a strong, powerful thing. But when God the Father loves you, that's a love that's not comparable to any love that a man has ever given to a child. Folks, I just want you to know that Jesus loves you. On this day, Mary's heart was concerned. The circumstances were rough, but the hope that she has is the fact that Jesus loves you. Number two, Jesus shall reign forever. Look at what the next phrase says in verse 30. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. " Folks, Jesus loves you, number one. Number two, Jesus shall reign forever. What's important about that? I'll tell you what's important about that. Jesus came to Bethlehem's manger. It's a fact. But the work that Jesus did is far greater than a childhood or a birth in Bethlehem. Jesus came and lived a sinless life and died on the cross and was buried and rose again and ascended into heaven and went to prepare a place for us. I'm going to tell you, if Jesus says, I've gone to prepare a place for you, guess what that means? There's a place prepared for us. And we're going there or not. How can I know for sure if I were to die today, I'd spend eternity in heaven? Well, you have to put your faith and trust in the Jesus who made it and made it possible. You see, Jesus is the product of Christmas. The Bible says that you'll call his name Jesus. Verse 3, when you see that, Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. That word Jesus is very important. The word Jesus, the name Jesus, it means Jehovah is salvation. Jesus came to offer salvation. You see, our sin condemns us, our sin separates us from God. Our sin declares us unrighteous, unholy, unworthy. But Jesus saved us, is willing to save us from that sin. The Bible says in verse 32, you shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob. Jesus didn't come to make us nice for the days of our lives, based on if you become a follower of Christ you'll find out to just set an example for us to follow. Though we should strive to follow the example of Jesus, there's no doubt. But I'm going to tell you something, when you try to follow the example of Jesus, you're always going to come short. Jesus didn't come to be a cute story to tell kids and be a reason to give Christmas presents on December the 25th. Jesus came to reign forever. You know what we get when we put our trust in Jesus? Everlasting life. How long does that last? Forever. It's real, folks. You and I were created in the image of God. We're eternal. Our eternity is determined by one thing. Our personal faith and relationship with Jesus Christ. Why does that bring me hope? I'll tell you why it brings me hope. Sometimes life seems terribly unfair. Sometimes lives are brought to an end way sooner than we'd ever decide for ourselves. Folks, I want you to know something. It's not all about life and living. When you put your trust in Jesus, you know that life is short, life is brief. I've never talked to anybody way up in their years who said, man, I'm telling you, my life is drug out forever. Man, I am so bored with this living stuff. I mean, it seems like I've been alive forever. Have you ever heard anybody say that? Me neither. I'm going to tell you why. Because I don't care how long you live, it's short. It's true. I don't care how long you live, it is short. So what's the answer? What's the hope? Christmas is the hope. will reign and rule forever. And when you've put your faith and trust in Christ who died on the cross for your sins, guess what? You get to glory in the promise and live in the presence of Jesus forever. Finally, number three, God is able. God is able. Now, Mary, what a mess. I mean, what questions, what concerns, what grief she bore on Christmas Day? What message did God send her when she was beginning to process all this stuff? I'll share it with you. The angels just said that the son that's going to be born to you, he'll reign forever. of his kingdom there'll be no end. Verse 34, then said Mary unto the angel, you see this, how shall this be? Seeing I know not a man, the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Can you imagine being married, being told this? My response would be, yeah, right. I'm going to have a baby without a man. I'll have a baby and it's going to be the Holy Ghost, some form of God. Yeah, right. How is this possible? And God says, I'm going to give you an example. Verse 36, he says, Behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age. Earlier in the same chapter, the Bible said that Elizabeth was well stricken in years. Abraham was 90. Elizabeth was an old lady. Mary knew Elizabeth and she said, Elizabeth is going to have a baby? She's old. The angel says, yes, Elizabeth is going to have a child in her old age. This is the sixth month with her. She's six months along with her who is called Baron. Then the angel says one last thing. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. What's the message? God sends a message to Mary. He says, Mary, I know. that this Christmas season, it's a lot. I know you're up against it. I know that you have a lot to think about, a lot to process, and I know there's so many things that are unknown, but I want to give you an example. I want to give you an example. I want you to look at Elizabeth. I want you to think about Elizabeth. You know, Elizabeth is old, and she's been bare, and everybody's talking about, poor Elizabeth, what a sweet lady, but she's never had a baby. She says, I want you to know something about your cousin Elizabeth. She's six months along with a baby. She would soon give birth to John the Baptist. He says, God has done a miracle in Elizabeth's life, and I want you to know something, the same God that's done a miracle in Elizabeth's life can do a miracle in working in your heart and life too. God says, hey look, I know this seems hard, But I've done it for Elizabeth, and I can do it for you. Now here's what I want you to know. I would ask that Christians in the crowd participate for just a moment. How many of you have been in seasons of your life where you thought, there's no way we could ever make it through this, but God proved himself faithful, and God helped you, and God did something, God worked some way, and you're able to see God do something amazing in your life? How many of you can give God the glory for a moment like that in your life? Would you raise your hand? Now look, keep it up one more moment, please. Look around, you can put your hands down. I want to remind you of something. You may be here today and you can identify with Mary. You say, this is hard. I don't know why. Maybe like Mary you're crying out in your heart, God why did you do this? What are you doing? And God just wants you to look around. And He wants you to know, by example, that God has been faithful to other folks around you. And the same God will be faithful to you if you'll put your trust in Him. And God says, I want you to know, Mary, you've not been here yet, but Elizabeth has, and she's six months pregnant. And I want to remind you, with God nothing shall be impossible. What do you need at Christmas when life is so desperate? You need the gift of Christmas, Jesus. I want to tell you something that's the most important message you'll ever hear. God loves you. You're a sinner. The Bible says that All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You're a sinner. My sin condemns me. My sin must be forgiven. The Bible says it like this, for the wages of sin is death. Here's the good news. When Jesus was born, He came and lived a sinless life. He died on the cross to pay for our sins. He's the only person that could ever forgive you of your sins. He's the only person that could ever pay the price for your sins. And He stands ready. The Bible says it like this, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. I remember as a boy, God worked in my heart and made it crystal clear that I was a sinner. I'd heard the message of the gospel and my mom cleared it up for me. As a boy, I prayed and asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins. I put my trust in Christ and God changed my life. I know because of what Jesus has done in my life that I'll spend eternity in heaven. And what's sweet is, you can know Him too. If you don't know for sure that heaven is your home, that Jesus is your Savior, I pray today that you'd receive Him. You see, the hope we have at Christmas is that Jesus die on the cross for our sins. Put your trust in Jesus. Lean on Him. Believe Him. Rest in Him. He's faithful.