Be At The Right Place At The Right TIme
Notes
Transcript
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26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then 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 bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; 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 of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Genealogy is important to us. It proves our history. We love to know our past. My uncle once paid ancestry.com for his history. My aunt paid ancestry.com for her genetic history. The results were surprising. My uncle has dark hair and his results came back with Europe to eastern Eastern Europe including 1% Jewish. My aunt with blonde hair came back with Western Europe with a focus on Norway or Sweden.
As wonderful as knowing our past is, it still leads us all back to a garden. A beautiful garden where God walked with man in the evening. Man had the relationship with God as it should have been until one day. Sin. Sin destroys everything. It kills, steals, and destroys. We cannot deny it. It is foolishness.
Different ideas out there today try to act like nothing happened. These ideas are like when Andrew broke his foot. He was in pain and he could not move. This world is in pain. Our communities are in pain. Our families are in pain. We are in pain. If I was to respond like this world, I would say to Andrew, suck it up. You are not really in pain. You have the power within you to heal this foot. Look within. If I said that to him, he would said I was crazy and take me to the doctor.
We need to all go to the doctor. The great physician.
10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
It is not just important to us in 2020, but it was very important to the Jewish nation.
59 And these were the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not identify their father’s house or their genealogy, whether they were of Israel:
62 These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled.
Mary had a wonderful genealogy. She was a true Jewish princess. Her genealogy is laid out in the book of Luke. She goes back to royalty. She goes back to King Solomon who goes back to King David. The greatest king who reigned over Israel. One day an even greater King will take the throne of David.
5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
The day is coming when Jesus will take the throne.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; 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 of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Praise God.
This was all prophecy. God used Mary. She had a heart for the Lord. God could of used anyone. He could of used someone with no relationship to royalty because He is no respecter of persons. It was an ex-prostitute who He appeared to first after He rose from the dead.
Mary allowed God to use her. Where would we be if she was unwilling to be the mother of the Messiah and she changed the world. Where would we be if she was not willing to allow God to work through her? Look at how our life has changed. Look at how our world has changed.
What about you? Are you willing to be open to what God wants to do through you? No matter what He asks. When Gabriel appeared to Mary, Mary knew to agree to this could be a death sentence. She did not know the miracles God would work out for her future to ensure her safety.
She was willing to do what God asked of her even if it cost her life. What about us? Are we willing to do what God wants of us? It will definitely not to be the mother of the Messiah or the step-father of the Messiah. The Christ has already come. Sometimes its about being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit at the right time and the right place. Are we willing to let God use us?
Conclusion:
The pastor’s wife of the church Elizabeth goes to shared this experience at their Christmas brunch. With all this Covid-19 going on, she wanted to get out the house for a while and just see what Wal-Mart had on sale. She did not really need anything except to return one item. She is standing in line and there are 2 people ahead of her.
There is this older man at the front of the line they are trying to help. He brought in these pink totes to return. They were large and very used. The associates tried to explain why they could not accept the totes. It was evident that he had some form of dementia. He kept saying how his wife wanted red totes not pink. He was getting very angry and not understanding. He finally left the line frustrated. She began to ponder what she had just seen. It broke her heart. She did not know what to do. She returned her item and then began to look around the store. And low and behold, what did she see? The older man trying to get an associate to take the pink dirty totes in exchange for a new red one. He kept exclaiming “My wife wants a red one”.
Sometimes God puts us in the right place at the right time to be a miracle to someone else. She went up to him and pulled out a $20 bill out of her purse and said how much she wanted the pink totes. How Wal-Mart did not have any pink totes and could she buy it from him and then he could buy the red tote. He looked at her with a big smile and asked ”Did God send you”?
After the man left, a well dressed man came from the next isle. He said, “I saw what you did. I have really been struggling with faith in God. I have been very angry at God with the state of our world. I just saw the had of God at work in you towards that man. There really is a God”
6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.
The greatest gift has been given to us. Let us turn the world upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us be the willing vessels to see people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and the glory of God so strong this Christmas. The cross is the only thing to unify our world and bring everlasting peace.