Mary’s Story
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
Luke 1:26-37
Let it be done to me according to...
My deepest dreams
My deepest needs
My deepest desires
What makes me important
What makes me wealthy
What makes me strong
What makes me beautiful
What gives me peace
What gives me comfort
What fulfills me
And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”
Luke 1:38 (NASB)
Favor is given for service, not status.
Mary’s heart posture was complete humility.
Mary said Yes! and humbly accepted her unique calling in life.
“Often a work of God comes with two edges, great joy and great pain, and in that matter-of-fact response, Mary embraced both. She was the first person to accept Jesus on His own terms, regardless of the personal cost.”
- Phillip Yancey
There is a price to birth things in God’s Kingdom.
Both Mary and Elizabeth recognize the sovereignty and lordship of Jesus, before he was even born.
Mary simply believed what God said.
The Chosen clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4oHc4EnrmQ
Mary’s heart was full of worship, thanksgiving, and an understanding of the ways of God.
What we can learn from Mary’s example…
Heart posture of humility
Recognition of the absolute sovereignty of God
How to say YES! and accept our unique calling in life
How to simply believe what God says
How to keep our hearts full of worship, thanksgiving, and an understanding of the ways of God