Untitled Sermon (7)

(NASB)

- I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. 36 And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Our anchoring thought for the year has been We’re Building Something that Matters. Over the course of this year, so much has been imparted to us. We’ve learned that we’ve got to Level UP generationally, spiritually, financially, and professionally because we’re gifted. We learned that God’s not judging us, He’s processing us. We faced the fact that limping ain’t easy, we got REST in the RESeT, and realized that although God could have killed us, He checked us, then He chose us. And then we started walking through Exodus, learning that the glory on our lives is going to demand the cooperation of our enemy and the collaboration of our employer, which would require an exponential and expeditious miracle. We now know that the season we are living in is supernatural and everything we desire we have got to ASK for it according to the WILL OF GOD.

All of that has brought us to this very moment making my assignment very simple. Now I want to let you know that this is not meant for the mediocre. It's not meant for the weak. I’m talking to those of us who have positioned ourselves for greatness. I’m talking to those of us who are in the right place, at the right time, in the right posture. I’ve come to encourage and remind you that God’s got His Hands and His Eyes on you. He’s seen you PRESS FORWARD, PUSH YOURSELF, RESIST YOUR FLESH, and EXERCISE YOUR FAITH. He’s heard you SAY WHAT YOU REALLY WANT, and watched you SHOUT UNTIL YOU SEE IT. He has heard your answer to the UPWARD CALL. You have stayed the course.

But sometimes you can be on course and on fire and all of a sudden a situation happens that seemingly knocks you off your game. It seems to make the sure foundation seem unstable. What we KNOW now becomes what we THINK we KNOW or what we THOUGHT we KNEW. In these moments we become perplexed and confused. But we have a blessed assurance that God will never leave us nor will He forsake us. As we walk into 2019, (many of us experienced this in 2018) I want us to understand that This is where we are in our text. Mary has lived her life as she should. She’s in the right place, at the right time, in the right posture. She’s getting ready to get married to Joseph. And suddenly this angel appears with some news she wasn’t expecting and it’s sure to be life changing. She is getting ready to be faced with MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

I’ve come to encourage you and let you know that when you come to a place in your life where it seems like you’re faced with MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, there are 2 things that you have to remind yourself that you embody, and the first one is that you’re favored. Say I’M FAVORED! Verses 28-30 say:

28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

We see here that Gabriel calls Mary favored, not once but twice. I asked myself the question why would He need to repeat to her that she had been favored? I want to present to you that she didn’t even realize that she was favored. It says right in the text that she was perplexed at the statement Gabriel made and she kept thinking about what he was saying. In other words, she was simply unaware of her status in God. Some of us are walking around with favor and we don’t even realize it. How many of us, like Mary, are walking around not realizing the WEIGHT we carry? How many opportunities have we missed because we failed to realize the favor that’s on our life? How many doors have remained closed? How many yeses are there out there waiting on the question to be asked by you? Untapped potential...dormant gifts...wasted talent...untried aptitude...Waiting on the Earth to catch up with what Heaven already knows...But I’ve come to be your Gabriel and you will not leave here today not having realized the fact that you’re FAVORED...say I’M FAVORED!

The word “favor” in the text means to regard or treat with favor. It means to do a kindness for, to oblige, to endow, to show partiality toward, to prefer. This morning I say to you GREETINGS PREFERRED ONE! God has favored you. I told you before that He sees you and He knows all about you. His word says in - For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. THAT’S FAVOR! His word says in - Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. THAT’S FAVOR! His word says in - no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. THAT’S FAVOR! His word says in - “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” THAT’S FAVOR!

But why is this favor so important? It’s favor that moves you from obscurity to prominence, from the bottom to the top, from nothing to something. Favor is necessary for the amount of weight you’re getting ready to carry. Some of you are getting ready to carry some serious weight in 2019, so you’ve got to realize the favor that’s on you so that you won’t drop or miscarry what God is about to entrust you with.

When you’re faced with MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, remember that you are FAVORED. But not only are you favored but you’re empowered. Say I’M EMPOWERED! Verses 31-35 say:

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

After telling Mary who she is in God, Gabriel the drops a bomb on her. He tells her that she has been signed up to participate in the impossible. She will be a participant in the fulfillment of the Messianic Promise in . She finds out that what she will carry will be far greater than anything she could have ever imagined. She then begins to question this new information. Her logic begins to overpower her ability to believe that what the angel is saying is real. In her mind she’s probably saying...I’m a virgin and I’m not married; sir you are talking crazy...THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! God has shown you something. He’s told you about what you’re going to carry. He’s given you a glimpse of what the future will look like. You’re up to be a part of something so big, something so great, something so massive that it’s hard to even fathom it. But like Mary, sometimes we allow what we see, or can’t see...what we feel, or can’t feel to dictate or outweigh what God said. Don’t allow your carnal mind to block what God has in store for you. What you’re getting ready to carry is great, and it’s forever, it’s got longevity. What you are going to birth is going to be a fulfillment of the promise God made to you and your family. And so now Mary has a question...After hearing Mary’s question, Gabriel doesn’t hesitate to answer her. He says “the POWER of the Most High will overshadow you”. What Mary was experiencing was more of a matter of HOW this will happen rather than IF this will happen. You may be sitting there wondering how you’re going to do it all, how you’re going to make it happen, how can this happen to me with the mess I’m in, how is this going to happen with what I’m dealing with...and I’m here to tell you that it’s going to happen because you’re EMPOWERED by Holy Spirit. Say I’M EMPOWERED...- “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you… says “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of POWER and love and discipline.” says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens [or EMPOWERS] me.” says “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,” Because you have the Greater One on the inside of you, you are EMPOWERED to do the impossible. Verse 37 says For nothing will be impossible with God. Know that you are FAVORED and you are EMPOWERED to take on MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!