Nothing is Impossible

Text: Luke 1:26-38 (NKJV)

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.

Intro:

How many of you have ever faced a siuation where you think it’s impossible:

Doctor’s Report

Financial situation

Children not serving God

Or the Cubs breaking a 108 year Championship drought

No matter what situation we face we can look at it in two different ways. We can look at situations as simply impoosible. There is no hope and no way a solution or answer will come in this situation. Or we can look at out situations as an opportunity. An opportunity for what? An opportunity to know God better. An opportunity to discover the character of God and what He is able to do. This is an opportunity for God to show up.

No matter how impossible the situation, we need to respond to God with the attitude of faith. Faith is the Christian life. Our walk with Christ is a walk of faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 records, “ For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (NKJV)

If we are going to learn that “Nothing is Impossible” then we need to learn how to walk the walk of faith

Definition of Faith

Faith involves us trusting and believing God

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV), “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Faith is confidence in who God is and confidence that He will fulfill His promises.

3 Things this passage shows us about the walk of faith is how to: Trust His Promises, Trust His Character, and Trust He Will Respond To Our Faith

I. Trust His Promises

A. Promise of the Messiah

Old Testament Prophecy concerning the Virgin Birth

Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV), 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel

God chose Mary

The Angel, Gabriel, appeared before Mary and gave her a promise that she would have a child.

B. God gives us promises

a. Walk of Faith teaches us to trust in God’s promises.

i. 2 Corinthians 1:20, “20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (NKJV)

b. God’s Promises can be found in His word

i. Romans 10:17, “17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (NKJV)

c. God’s promises are backed by God’s name

i. Psalms 138:2 (NKJV) “2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.”

d. If God promised you something, you can guarentee it that God will be faithful to bring it to pass.

i. Jeremiah 1:12 (NIV), “12 The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”

ii. Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV), “11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

II. Trust His Character

A. Natural vs. Supernatural

i. Mary questioned Gabriel on how this was going to happen since she was a virgin

ii. The reason Mary question is she, like us at times, look through the eyes of our natural understanding

iii. Gabriel simply responded with a simple statment, thatwith God nothing is impossible.

iiii. What Gabriel did in that moment was to try to have Mary get her eyes off of the natural and to the supernatural (which causes us to see things from God’s perspective_

-How are you viewing your situation?

-Isaiah 55:8-9, “8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

B. With God Nothing is Impossible

i. God’s Ability

-God hasn’t changed

-Theological Term: Immutability=never changes

Hebrews 13:8, “8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”

Malachi 3:6a, ““For I am the Lord, I do not change;”

Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

If He did it before, He will do it again for nothing is impossible with God

ii. God’s Willingness

-God’s willingness can be expressed and discovered through the phrase that Gabriel expressed, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

It could actually be read like this. It is impossible for God to do nothing

I think alot of us don’t question God’s ability but rather His willingness,

We know a lot of times God can but we actually wonder if God will.

God is willing to show up in your situation

Matthew 7:11, “11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

God’s willingness is expressed through Jesus

Romans 8:31-32, “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

The truth is God has moved already in your situation. He has done something about your situation already. BEcause of Jesus Christ I have the victory!

Because of what Jesus did on the Cross, everything I need has already been provided

Ephesians 1:3, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

2 Peter 1:3 NLT

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Trust He Will Respond To Our Faith

A. Mary’s Response

i. Mary Responded with an attutude of faith

ii.” Be it unto me according to thy word.”

B. Our Response

i. We need to respond like Mary with the attutude of Faith. The attitude of faith declares God is who He says He is and God will do what He said He will do.

-Hebrews 11:6 “6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

-Faith is simply us agreeing with God and reciving the Promise

We just need to trust God in the process

Exodus 14:13-14, “13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Altar Call/Benediction

-Play Way Maker

-”The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord [a]lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’