Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

The Christmas Story has been in existence for over 2000 years.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Christmas Story is not about boy named Ralphie, but rather about a baby named Jesus.

His birth changed the world and has provided eternal life!

Christmas

Even though most of us were not around to see the original nativity take place, there is much to learn by looking at its characters and how we can learn from them the attributes they demonstrated, and apply those attributes to our lives today!

Outside of the Baby named Jesus, we probably think of Mary more than any other character in this story.

We could do well to learn much about Mary as we begin this Season of Advent.

Listen to Mary’s story:

This Sunday of Advent we have lit the Candle of Hope.

In scripture, Hope is a confident expectation for the future, describing both the act of hoping and the object hoped for.

When grounded in God, hope provides the motivation to live the Christian life even in the face of trouble.

Biblical hope is hope in what God will do in the future with an understanding of what He has done for us in the past!

We see that evident in the portrayal we have read of Mary.

First we see

Hope Intrigued

Mary was young woman, probably a teenager.

She was a virgin and had been engaged to a man named Joseph.

Both Mary and Joseph were devout Jewish people that had heard and studied prophecies that portrayed Hope for the nation of Israel.

They had to have heard a passage like

Mich

And they had to have heard Isaiah’s prophecy

Isaiah

So we recognized that Mary would have been hopeful about the coming of the Messiah because her customs and traditions all pointed to this.

She would have been intrigued at the mystery of such prophecies.

Our word intrigue comes from a French background that helps us in our language which means to have interest, to be fascinated, or perhaps puzzled.

Hope can be intriguing in that we can have an interest or fascination in the mysterious ways God reveals Himself to us.

No doubt Mary would have been intrigued by the appearance of an angel to tell her this news.

She was greeted as “You who are highly favored” and comforted with “the Lord is with you” in the same sentence.

This had to intrigue Mary further because she had seen many instances in her Jewish tradition where others before her had sought favor from God:

Moses sought it:

So Mary was greatly troubled at these words.

I am sure she asked in her mind, “What have I done to get this favor?”

“Why me?”

Perhaps you and I can relate to this!

Perhaps you have heard all your life that God is our source of Hope and He is our redemption, but we never fully understood that we could experience it personally.

You think, I have read about God and His love for the world, but I am not sure it was meant for me.

Maybe it was meant for that other person, but not for me.

Mary was reassured by the angel Gabriel, “Do not be afraid, Mary you have found favor with God.”

You and I can also be reassured, “Do not be afraid, (INSERT YOUR NAME HERE), you have found favor with God!”

The Hope that was intriguing to Mary and the hope that is intriguing to you and me comes from the same Big God that loved us enough to have sent His Son that we can have abundant life!

We have Hope Intrigued, and we also have HOPE INSTILLED.

Hope Instilled

The word instilled means to infuse slowly or gradually.

I have learned that in my life with Christ, I was changed instantly when I asked Jesus into my heart.

I have also learned that when instill the word of God in my life daily, it changes me and gives opportunity to grow slowly and gradually.

You see, the Christian life is not a sprint, but it is a marathon and we must train accordingly.

I see this in Mary’s life!

I believe her parents, who we know nothing about, had instilled in her the word of God.

Proverbs 22:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

It seems that Mary had this instruction and it was instilled in her.

When this angel came to greet her, it was surprising that it was her he was talking to, but it wasn’t surprising that the angel was talking about prophecy being fulfilled.

Because of the Hope Instilled in Mary, she was able to understand that God was at work.

Even in the mystery of an angel standing before her, telling her this incredible news, and she was able to accept it!

You and I can learn many thing if we allow hope to be instilled in our lives.

I am reminded that the word of God does not return void.

We

We can be assured that our Hope, in what God will do in the future with an understanding of what He has done for us in the past, can be instilled in us.

The mystery of the Gospel indeed is intriguing.

The more we instill it into our lives, it becomes ingrained.

Hope Ingrained

Ingrained means deep rooted.

Mary’s hope had become ingrained in her life.

Psalm 118:22

Mary knew that her Hope was ingrained deep within her.

She had faith God would do what He promised!

A few verses earlier in this chapter we learn about the same angel Gabriel appearing to Zecharias foretelling the birth of John the Baptist.

Zecharias did not have the same faith as Mary.

He asked, “How can this be?”

Mary asked, “How will this be?”

One asked with doubt, the other asked with assurance!

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine!

Mary understood the prophecy from

Isaiah

This prophecy affirms both the Humanity of Jesus as Mary’s Son.

It also affirms the Deity of Jesus as God’s Son!

Mary knew that this emphasis was on the greatness of the Son not the greatness of the mother!

Mary’s HOPE INGRAINED gave her an understanding that God’s Timing is Perfect!

This portrayal also shows that God’s location is perfect!

Just as we see hope intrigued, and hope was instilled in Mary, God has also instilled hop in me and in you!

As a result, it is ingrained in me, it is ingrained in you!

Just like Mary, I am assured that He is faithful and trustworthy and will meet our needs!