The podcast explores the emotional aspect of the Christmas story and focuses on Mary's miraculous announcement. It encourages questioning and seeking understanding when faced with God's message. The speaker discusses the misconception of the nativity scene and emphasizes the need for a supernatural encounter with God.
Encountering God through supernatural visitations can bring about change and transformation.
Saying yes to God's plan and trusting Him to provide the necessary strength and guidance.
Deep dives
Mary's Question: How Can This Be?
Mary, a 16-year-old virgin, is visited by the angel Gabriel who tells her that she will give birth to a baby boy named Jesus. Troubled and bewildered, Mary asks the question, 'How can this be?' She wonders about the supernatural phenomenon of giving birth as a virgin and the challenges and shame that will accompany it. While there is no clear answer or prescription for Mary's extraordinary faith, the message emphasizes the need for a supernatural visitation from God to ignite faith and trust.
The Significance of God's Visitations
The sermon emphasizes the importance of God's visitations in people's lives. It highlights the visitation of God through the angel Gabriel to Mary, revealing a supernatural plan and purpose for her life. It suggests that in a world filled with divisiveness and pain, encountering God through supernatural visitations can bring about change and transformation. The sermon encourages viewers to seek God's visitation in their own lives, believing that divine revelations and encounters can provide clarity, inspiration, and the strength to overcome difficult circumstances.
Saying Yes to God's Plan
The sermon addresses the fear and uncertainty that arise when God presents a call or assignment. Using Mary's response, 'Be it unto me according to your word,' the sermon pushes the responsibility onto God, emphasizing the need for divine persuasion and revelation. It downplays the idea of trying harder or having more faith, emphasizing that Mary simply responded in obedience, despite not fully understanding what lay ahead. The sermon encourages viewers to say yes to God's plan, trusting that He will provide the necessary strength and guidance.
Do you feel alone? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel abandoned? Do you feel like the rug has been ripped out from under you in this season? Whatever your questions are, Jesus can handle them. He is still Emmanuel. With you. Close to you, Near you. Alongside you.
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