Great Grace: 2016 Gospel of Luke #03
This is an exposition of Luke 1:26-38. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, February 28, 2016.
Intro:
It is the kind of thing that would make for a great headline in the National Enquirer. The is the kind of thing inquirering minds would want to know. I can see it now, “Teenage girl found pregnant – she claims God did it!” Sometimes we are so close to something that we cannot fully appreciate it. We who have been raised in the church are so familiar with the events surrounding the birth of Jesus we often fail to appreciate how outrageous they must seem to others. Such is the case of the virgin birth. Stop and think of what a startling message that must have been in first century Palestine. First century Palestine, think about how you would react if your daughter came home with a story like that today!
Shocking? Yes. Extraordinary? Absolutely. A myth? Certainly not! Granted there are many unanswered questions. There are things concerning the birth of Jesus that we can never explain – in other words, yes there is mystery surrounding His birth. And yes, man inherently wishes to dismiss that which he does not understand. If we cannot wrap our tiny little minds around it – we want to dismiss it as fable and myth. But the fact of the matter is – God has revealed this truth and God cannot lie. The virgin birth is not a story invented by the early church in order to explain the uniqueness of Jesus. It is the constant and consistent witness of God’s revelation.
Dr. Luke the historian and traveling companion of the apostle Paul took his pen in hand to write an orderly account of the life and ministry of Jesus for his friend Theophilus. His purpose was to assure his friend that he had an accurate account of the life of Jesus. Luke’s selective history was design to show that Jesus was indeed the Christ and the promised savior of the world. He was not merely the savior of the Jew but also of the Gentile. Thus Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam the head of the human race.
Luke, being a careful historian, interviewed eyewitnesses of the events in the life of Jesus to document his account. The first two chapters of his Gospel contain information that is unique to Luke. Here we find the personal accounts of Zechariah and Mary telling of their encounters with the angel Gabriel. This morning we will explore Gabriel’s visit to Nazareth and his message for Mary. Our text is found in Luke 1:26-38.
Text: Luke 1:26-38
You know this story.
You hear it every year at Christmas.
You can tell the story yourself.
But did you hear it this time?
Stop and consider its truth.
It is an extraordinary message for all of us. It is a message of grace. God is providing our redeemer. He is supplying our savior. Look at this wonderful message of grace and discover the fact that:
Thesis: God’s grace exceeds our wildest imagination.
There are three things I want you to make note of in our text this morning.
- The grace of God reaches the most unlikely places. (1:26-29)
- The grace of God accomplishes the most extraordinary things. (1:30—37)
- God’s grace provides a most profound peace. (1:38)
Do you know that grace? God’s grace is available to you today.