A Christmas Day Blog Post...A month later...Luke 1:26-38

 


A great vantage point for this shot of our family have some snow fun.  More is on its way this week!  Good timing for a visit from Illinois.  It was Christmas Eve and the evening was filled with an annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.  It is always amazing who you might see at this service.  We had more than ever in this mountain chapel with about 60 and that was with about 18 of our regulars not here.  We utilized 3 videos from The Biggest Story to tell the story with a before, during, and after segment.  

Sunday we continued on with the events of the first coming of Christ.  Last week was the angel Gabriel giving doubting Zechariah the news about the messenger before the coming Messiah, John.  This week was the angel Gabriel giving willing Mary the news about the never before virgin birth of the long awaited Deliverer.  Both asked "how" but with very different outcomes.  One was to be mute for the next 9 months and the other was to face a number of possible consequences of being found "out of wedlock" with a child on the way. 

I shared the what, the so what and the now what of every good sermon.  The what is the content of the passage with my attempt to accurately describe the 1st century scene and give clarity to the words contained in these verses.  The so what was to share why this passage is important for us to know and within it are many major doctrines that we lean upon.  The now what was to give some possible applications from what we have learned and especially from the response of Mary to the angel Gabriel.  Her response was not that of Sarah of the Old Testament with a laugh and a denying of what the visitors said to her husband Abraham about another miracle baby coming.  Her response was like that of Hannah of the Old Testament who made a vow as a maidservant of the Lord.  How do we respond to the words of the Lord with a laugh or a bow?

I will post both the Christmas Eve service and the Sunday service.  We don't have the latest and greatest technology at the chapel but I am always humbled at all those who take the time to listen in and grateful for what we can do.  May you all have a very Merry Christmas and thankful to be able to approach another year with the blog.  This closes out 14 years of giving my thoughts this way.  Here is the link to the very first one!

https://pastorwolfgang.blogspot.com/2010/12/start-of-new-habit.html

Adam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3-06tTYfAM - Christmas Eve Service

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or3LgFLmcXc&t=5s - last Sunday's service

A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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