The Announcement of the King

Introduction

Explanation of Christmas topic

The Upside-Down - the effect that Jesus has on those within the Nativity story.

But, also, the effect that Jesus has on us who follow Him.

But, when we enter into a saving relationship with Jesus, we go from a broken world to His Kingdom of Light.

Where He ultimately brings hope, love, and forgiveness.

Jesus turns despair, hate, and brokenness upside-down.

The Who

Gabriel - mighty one of God. It goes quickly downhill from here.

Galilee - backwater area of Israel, looked down upon because of their close proximity to Gentiles.

Nazareth - Absolutely looked down upon.

John 1:46 ESV

Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Mary - This young woman, in her teenage years, engaged to a good and honorable man.

An unlikely person for God to use in such a powerful way.

God specializes in using the unlikely person to do the extraordinary.

Walt Disney. Laid off from first job as an artist. Started first company, Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists, which failed. Established Laugh-O-Grams Studios, which went bankrupt. Started the Disney Brothers Studio, which also failed. He then thought he would start the Disney Corporation with a brand new character for his short cartoons and so finally, in 1927, he created the “peppy, alert, saucy and venturesome” character that we all know and love…Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. But then lost the rights to him along with most of his animation staff. Finally, following that, he created Mickey Mouse, who first appeared in 1928. Of course we know the success he and the company that bears his name have had. He personally won 22 Academy Awards. He founded the theme parks. The Disney brand continues to move forward, acquiring some of the most popular brands in entertainment history, including Marvel Comics and Star Wars. Their new streaming service kicked-off with over 10 million subscribers.

Maybe you feel like a failure, completely unimportant, insignificant, forgotten. You aren’t any of those things, especially to God.

God knows you, He sees you, and He loves you!

The What

This message that she is going to be a mom…THE mom.

“Great...Son of the Most High...sitting on the throne of his father David...reign over the house of Jacob forever...of his kingdom there will be no end...holy...Son of God."

So…no pressure there.

Add to that, the weight of being pregnant. The accusing looks. The whispered rumors. The fantastic story that few people would probably believe.

Mary knew that something major was going to happen…after all, it wasn’t every day an angel showed up with such a greeting...”Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

Uh oh...”she was greatly troubled at the saying...”

But, aren’t you glad God did what He did!

We aren’t always going to understand what God is up to! But, because we know the nature of God,

We can trust God.

You may find yourself in a situation where you aren’t sure exactly what to do or how to respond. Upside-down!

But, we trust God and look for how this can glorify God and help us to grow in our faith.

The How

It is a most natural question for Mary to wonder how in the world would this thing happen.

“She believed the promise, but she did not understand the performance.”

-Warren Wiersbe

Her own admission is that physically this was an impossibility because of the purity of her relationship with Joseph.

Gabriel explains that the Spirit would “overshadow” her.

This is the same description given to the relationship between the presence of God in the holy of holies in the tabernacle and in the temple. Mary became like a holy of holies for the Son of God.

When God moves in, things improve.

Hope for the hopeless, love for the unloved, restoration for the broken.

This is what God offers to you!

The Why

This seems like a lot of trouble that God went through. Why would He do that?

God provided for us that which we could neither provide for ourselves nor fix what we had broken.

Through the perfect life of Jesus and His sacrificial death, God provides for you forgiveness.

The reality is every single one of us in here today, we have broken God’s perfect design for our lives.

Only through Jesus can we find hope for this life and for eternity.

So, how should we respond? Mary’s response...

I am God’s servant.

Confession of complete submission to God’s will.

Conclusion

The difficult holiday season.

Even families in this church since I first typed out those words.

Some have had a difficult year…and as we get close to the end of a decade.

Difficult life without much hope. That’s what Jesus offers you today. It’s why He came.

Christmas lights. Something about seeing that bright light bursting through the darkness.

Christmas is a reminder that God loves you.