An Angel Appears to Mary. (1:20–38)
Christmas 2021 • Sermon • Submitted
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· 23 viewsIntroduction to the Christmas Season - Mary and Elizabeth get visited by an Angel
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Order of Worship 2nd Sunday of Advent
December 5th, 2021
Call to worship: (from Malachi 3:1)
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight — indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Let us worship the Lord! Let us worship the One who is coming!
Call to confession:
God calls us to “prepare the way of the Lord” and in order to do so we are to “make his paths straight.” While we do strive to do just these things, we often find curves and bumps in the road along the way. Let us confess our sin together so that God can help us continue to prepare the way going forward.
Prayer of confession (from Luke 1:75 and Malachi 3:2)
Holy and righteous God, far too often we are a far cry from the holiness you invite us into. And often we fail to live up to your righteous standards for how we are called to live. Refine us with your righteous refiner’s fire to remove all our sinful impulses and impurities. Cleanse us with the fullers’ soap to make us pure and holy once again. Help us to live in a way that would be pleasing to
you, our Lord. Amen.
Assurance of pardon (from James 5: 15-16)
We are not perfect, but we do not need to be. God in Christ is! And God in Christ has taken care of us and this world once again: “Every valley shall be filled ... and the rough ways made smooth.” In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven and freed! May your ears hear this good news, and your eyes see the salvation of God!
Prayer for illumination
Holy, holy, holy God, just as your word came to John in the wilderness, send it once again to us now in this place. Speak to us your gospel message so that we may cry out with the good news once more. We love you, Lord. Amen.
Affirmation of faith (from The Heidelberg Catechism)
Q. 61. Why do you say that you are righteous by faith alone?
A. Not because I please God by virtue of the worthiness of my faith, but because the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ alone are my righteousness before God, and because I can accept it and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone.
Sermon
Birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Foretold
Luke 1:5-45
Luke 1:5–45 (NASB95)
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.
7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division,
9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.
11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.
14 “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.
16 “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.
17 “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”
19 The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20 “And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
21 The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple.
22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.
23 When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.
24 After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,
25 “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.”
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.
39 Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah,
40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43 “And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?
44 “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.
45 “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”
Notices: John Oberholtzer
Offering (Luke 1:68)
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.” As blessed, redeemed, and favoured people, may we share what we have been given so generously at this time.
Prayer of dedication (from Philippians 1:4)
Holy God, I thank you for these people. I thank you for this assembled body. And I thank you for their continued faithfulness. I find myself constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for each and every one of them because of their sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. Bless these our gifts and multiply them into your blessings! Amen.
Charge and benediction (Luke 3:4-6)
Cry out in the wilderness, cry out in our world:
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
Now go. Go out. Go forth with the grace and peace of God our Creator, our Redeemer and our Sustainer now and forevermore.
Amen.
© Presbyterian Outlook, 2021.
Liturgy written by Brian Coulter, pastor at
First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth,
Texas and provided for free distribution.
For more resources,
visit pres-outlook.org.