and that's Luke 1. Luke 1, we're looking this morning at the Annunciation of Christ. The Annunciation of Christ. I hope that you will rejoice in the neat things we're going to be looking at this morning about Mary, the angel, Gabriel, And the points we're gonna pull out of this, it's like the carols. You just don't get tired of hearing the Christmas story. It's just like I can hear it again and again and again and again. It's just wonderful. And that's what we're gonna do. We'll take the scriptures as they come in the message. So we'll pray. and begin this morning. Father, thank you for your goodness and your blessing. Thank you for each one who's able to come out today and to the house of the Lord. And it is a special place for a special people, the people of God, those who know Jesus and maybe some that need to. who we're so thankful to be able to be with you today in your house. And as we consider, once again, the amazing and miraculous story of the birth of our wonderful Savior, we ask for your help and direction today. We pray that you might speak to all of our hearts in some area where we can excel and grow and become better for you. And so you do that, we're asking you to do that, and I ask you, Holy Spirit, to fill me for the message and trusting and depending on you for that. And we ask you, Holy Spirit, to be speaking to all of our hearts. Please, just may we enjoy and be enthralled with the story of Jesus and his birth. and all that goes with it. It's just one miracle after another. So please guide us and direct us right now. We ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. The Annunciation of Christ. Many years ago, and I don't even know how many years ago, we went through the Sermon on the Mount. To me, that was one of the most special times, special series that I've ever done. And in that series, we learned something that's the same thing in the Christmas story today. God comes to the lowly. God comes to the humble. God comes to the oppressed. God comes to the put-downs. God comes to the forsaken. And he does great things in them and through them. That's what happens in the story of Christmas. Here we have the historic account of the Annunciation. We have this marvelous angel, Gabriel, that one day we're all gonna get to meet. And he ignores the people and the places that pop culture deemed to be important. He ignored Judea. He ignored the heartland of God's work through the centuries. And where does he come? He comes to Galilee. He comes to a land that was the subject of Jewish contempt because of its mongrelized population. Gabriel ignored Jerusalem for the village of Nazareth, a non-place. a corrupt place. Gabriel ignores the temple. He didn't go there, the most holy place in Israel. And he enters into a very lowly home, the home where this young teenage girl, Mary, lived. In the world's eyes, Mary herself was nothing. She was a nobody, a non-person. She was too young to know much about what's going on in the world or to have accomplished anything in her young life. She's only about 14 years old. And I remember the first time I preached that here, I got some guff. I got some people thinking, no, no, no. No, she was like 18. Well, you have to go into the history book and go back and see how it was when Jesus was born. An 18-year-old is old. All right? She's around 14 or even younger, as young as 12. You know, when I was in junior high school, Lebanon Junior High School on 8th Street in Lebanon, we had 800 kids in that building. We had a whole bunch of 13 and 14-year-olds running around in that building, and three of our girls gave birth that year, junior high. Yeah. In the normal world, Mary's life would be very humble. She would marry very young. She would bear many poor children. She would not travel more than a few miles from home. And one day she would die, like thousands and tens of thousands of others before her, a nobody in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere. As we probe this text this morning, we cannot miss an inescapable fact, a fact. The greatest news ever proclaimed in Israel comes to the humblest of its people. Nine months later, Christmas Day, it was to poor, humble, shepherd outcasts, that the angels came and chorused their annunciation. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. The lowly shepherds, the outcasts of society, the ones who were abused, but then everybody needed a lamb from them for Passover. Hmm, now we'll go see them. I think about the ladies who clean hotels. Who are they? They're the nobodies. They're the poor folks. They're the people that everybody kind of overlooks. When I was growing up, teenager, then going into college, I spent a lot of time in hotels in Greenville. And my dad taught me something. He said, you always leave those people a tip. They're poor people. You always leave them a tip. And so a year or two ago, my wife and I were down in Lancaster. We spent a couple days down there, and we always leave a tip. And so we're going down the hallway, and there was some ladies cleaning a room. And I went in the room, and I asked the lady in there, I said, how many people leave you a tip? And she said, almost nobody. She said, it's the senior citizens who leave a tip. You see, the seniors know what to do, and somehow we skipped the next two or three generations or something. So they're poor folks, and it is the poor who clean the hotel rooms. And whenever we consider those to whom the good news comes, we have to remember those two words, poor and humble. poor and humble. In the midst, in the minds of modern man, Gabriel would have gone to Jerusalem and he would have gone to the house of Caiaphas and got that daughter, that daughter who was fair and rich and clad in gold-embroidered raiment and attended to by all of the poor maidens. But God preferred a lowly maid. from a nothing town. That's how God works. You know, God flips the tables all the time. All the many, many things in our lives, it's just not the way the world sees it. God sees it the other way around. And if the incarnation happened today, it would not be Jerusalem. It would not be New York City. It would not be Chicago. It would not be San Francisco. It would not be San Diego or LA or any of those other horrible cities. Philadelphia? No. It would be an ordinary street in some nameless town. As we look at the Annunciation, we must accept the essential spiritual fact of the incarnation and the gospel. The Lord comes to needy people. Those who realize they can't make it without him. They will not go anywhere without Jesus. Those who acknowledge their weakness, their spiritual lack, their spiritual bankruptcy. The incarnation, salvation, the resurrection, Christmas, they are not for the proud. They are not for the self-sufficient. As we follow the course of the Annunciation, we will catch the pulse of the Virgin's heart. Because Mary is a model. for those who experience the birth of the Savior in their lives. Mary is your model. Point number one this morning, Gabriel's approach. Gabriel's approach, this is Luke 1 verses 26 to 29. And in the sixth month, now that's the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy of John the Baptist. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto 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 who art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled. She was greatly perplexed at his saying. And cast in her heart, she kept carefully considering what manner of salutation this should be. Gabriel has already approached others. on the earth. He has approached people like Daniel and Zechariah. And we don't know what kind of garb he came in to see them. Maybe it was the big angel outfit, you know, what really impressed people. You wouldn't think that's how he comes to Mary. He wasn't there to scare her to death. He did not come in coat, tie, and wingtips. But she knew, this is an angel. This is an angel. However, it was scripture that describes the encounter. It is scripture that describes the encounter. Remember, Mary is young, unread, inexperienced, no TV, no computer, no iPad, no iPhone 26 million, no Facebook, no gaming system, How do you think she felt? Probably she thought, this can't be real. I better sit down before I faint. Well, Gabriel gives her this amazing greeting. He tells her that she is highly favored by God. Whoa. He tells her the Lord is with you. She is in fact the most blessed among women on the face of the earth. Mary was the only woman of billions to carry, to nurse, to raise God's son. She is called blessed. It is quite probable that Jesus had some facial features of Mary. Jesus' face could be seen in hers. You ever think about that? You know, my kids all look like their mother. That's a good thing. They all do. Very possible that Jesus' face reflected hers. Wow, she is blessed indeed. While some people have thought too much of Mary, I don't think God is pleased with those that feel too little either. We, the subsequent generations of believers, are to call her blessed as well. Mary was the recipient of several divine favors. She was especially graced. Her humble estate and matching humility of soul made her the ideal receptor of God's greatest favor. God bypassed Judea, bypassed Jerusalem and the temple, and comes to a despised country, a despised town, and a humble, young, teenage woman. Mary's example has a practical relevance for our frenzied, uncontemplative age. Those who experience the birth of the Savior in their lives are those who take the time to ponder God's word to them. This is the perfect question for us. When do we contemplate the condition of our lives? When do we meditate on God's word? When do we focus on the course and destiny of where we are going personally? Where are we going personally? Where are we going in light of God's revelation, his word? Point number two, Gabriel's Annunciation. Gabriel's Annunciation, verses 30 to 34. And the angel said unto her, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son. and shall 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. Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be? Seeing I know not a man. Now comes the actual enunciation. It is doubtful at this moment that Mary fully understood the implications. I mean, what Gabriel said to her was unreal. I mean, that's powerful stuff. The impact had to be staggering. And as Gabriel continues, she's starting to put it together. She's getting the idea. There are messianic implications here, and they become more clear. Mary was not disbelieving at all. She was seeking enlightenment. Her question was a believing question. As saved individuals, do not we ask those same kinds of questions? We're not upset with God, we just wanna know more of him. We wanna know more about him. We ask contemplative questions. Our real desire is to know more of Jesus, our Savior. And for unbelievers, Such how-can-this-be questions often serve as a prelude to them coming to know Jesus as their Savior. Humble, reflective, Mary thought about it, and she understood it. Point number three, Gabriel's explanation. Gabriel's explanation, verses 35 to 38. And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest Almighty God 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 was called barren. 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. Just a couple things back up in verse number 35, where it says the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy, that pure, that sinless, And then a nice word to substitute for thing is Child, capital C, the Christ Child, that Holy Child which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And then one of the best verses in the Bible, number 37, for with God nothing shall be impossible. Let me ask you this morning, do you cling on to that verse in your life? Do you go for it in your prayers? Do you pray big? It says there, for with God, nothing, nothing is or ever shall be. Impossible that that is a huge huge Encouraging verse and it's a verse that you can give to other people and it is a verse that maybe someone has already given to you In your life when you were down when you didn't know what was up with God Nothing shall be impossible powerful and then in verse 35 we have the word overshadow That describes God's presence in the sanctuary. God's presence is gonna overshadow you. Mary will know that God has done a miracle in her life. She will know it. Mary understood the awesome significance. We understand our salvation to be a new birth. And the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Elizabeth is going to be a huge help to Mary. That was emphasized twice in what we read in the sixth month. This is already the sixth month with her. She's gonna help you out. You're gonna be going over there. It's gonna be a wonderful time. Mary knows her story is going to be questioned. The people are going to be talking. But what we see for Luke in this text is Luke, the theologian, Mary is a fine example of belief and discipleship. Her obedience made her at the same time the mother and a disciple of her son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As a model for those who experienced the birth of Christ in their lives, she has one word for us. You know what that word is? The word is submission. Submission. Mary submitted her life to God. Whatever God wants in my life, let's do it. I am here, I am ready. We cannot experience Christ and his ongoing power without totally surrendering ourselves to him. That's something we've got to do every day. Surrender yourself to Christ every day. Ask yourself this morning, is your life this morning submitted to God like Mary's life was submitted to God on that day when Gabriel came to her? Are we submitted to God like that right now? Can you say with Mary, may it be to me as you have said. Lord conquer me, I am yours. If you can honestly say that this morning, then you like Mary are blessed among the inhabitants of the earth. Maybe today you need to say it to God. Point number four, we're gonna look at some closing reflections. The Annunciation story is ours because of the wonderful heart of the Virgin Mary. Why? Four reasons. Number one, she was humble and poor in spirit. She was what every believer needs to be. She was humble and poor in spirit. Number two, Mary's reflective, meditative nature made her open to the word and work of God. Number three, Mary was believing concerning God's power. Nothing shall be impossible with God. All things are possible with God. And four, she gave herself in profound submission to God. For those four things, Mary was and is called blessed. Mary's heart is a model heart for all of us here this morning. for all believers all over the earth. We must cultivate a humble heart, an ongoing poverty of spirit that is not only open to God's grace, but we must desperately long for it. We must intentionally nurture a reflective heart that meditates on God's word. We must have believing hearts. being sure of what we believe and certain of what we don't see. We must have faith, Hebrews 11.1. We must have submissive hearts. We must say like Mary, I am the Lord's servant. May all that you have said come to pass. That was one young, amazing, heart. God knew where to go when he was going to pick that young lady to be the earthly mother of our Savior. So the Virgin Mary is three things. She is number one, the mother of Jesus. Number two, she's a disciple of Jesus. A disciple. What happened Jesus is crucified, he is put in the grave, he rises from the dead, he goes back to heaven. Where's Mary? She's at prayer meeting after prayer meeting after prayer meeting of the church. She is a disciple of her son. Now, I wish everybody in this country who is even a little religious understood that. got that. The mother of Jesus, a disciple of Jesus, and third and finally, she is a role model for every believer on the face of the earth. Amazing things can be done through young people. And even more amazing things can be done through you that are here this morning if we will submit ourselves to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Father, we thank you today. What a powerful, wonderful story of our Savior's birth that we're looking at and will be. May we be thrilled and encompassed with the wonder of these miraculous events of the birth of our Savior, the protection of our Savior, the protection of his family, the powerful guidance of the family. It is truly miraculous, amazing. And Father, we know that you wanna do the same kinds of things through each and every one of us here this morning. Lord, may we be looking for it. May we be ready for it. May we long for it to happen in all of our hearts and our lives here this morning. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.