Click HERE for MP3 of Cousin and Context sermon audio.
Luke 1:26-38
If I use an opening phrase “Once upon a time”, what kind of story am I going to tell? What if the phrase was “A Long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”? Or how about “There once was a cowboy…”?
Luke 1:5-25 seems like an odd place to begin a story: not with the main character, but with the introduction of the sidekick, as it were…
The Manger Characters Are Busy
* Comprehending the Context ~ Luke 1:26-33
- 26/27 Nativity characters in Luke: Gabriel, Mary, Joseph
- 28/29 Gabriel contacts Mary first, and she doesn’t know what to make of this
- 30/31 favor with God REPEATED; specifics about Jesus’ birth and name
- 32/33 Son of God; throne of David promise
* Communing With Cousin ~ Luke 1:34-38
- 34 Mary wants specifics (don’t we all?)
- 35 “overshadow” to envelop in a haze of brilliancy; not a **hint** of fleshly interaction
- 36/37 Gabriel tells Mary that God is working with Elizabeth too; Mary is not alone in this miraculous birth experience
- 38 Mary agrees to serve (doulos); she agrees with God’s plan
Mary’s most important choice is right here: she had free will – she *could* have said no. But she reaffirmed her status as God’s servant – and she voluntarily submitted her will to God.
A Transformed Life 