Christmas 2013
When God Jacks
With Your Plans
Plan B Lives
God's Fault
If it is God's fault
that my mother died
Isn't it also his doing
that I had the joy of knowing her
To begin with?
Our Choices
Our Choices
Their Choices
Our Choices
Their Choices
Circumstances
Our Choices
Their Choices
Circumstances
God's Decision
Redemption
{Changes Everything}
Nothing is wasted with God
Except that which is not
Yielded to God
The only thing God can't redeem
Is that which isn't given
To him
In the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent from God to a
city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David
a virgin betrothed to a man
whose name was Joseph
There's a Plan in Place
And the virgin's name was Mary.
And he came to her and said,
“Greetings, O favored one,
the Lord is with you!”
But she was greatly troubled at
the saying, and tried to discern
what sort of greeting
this might be
400 Silent Years
And the angel said to her, “Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favor with God. And
behold, you will conceive in your
womb and bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus
He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High
And the Lord God will give to him
the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house
of Jacob forever, and of his
kingdom there will be no end”
She knows!
And Mary said to the angel,
“How will this be, since I
am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her,
“The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power
of the Most High will
overshadow you…
…therefore the child to be
born will be called holythe Son of God.
And behold, your relative
Elizabeth in her old age has also
conceived a son, and this is
the sixth month with her
who was called barren
For nothing will be impossible
with God”
Pause.
The angel waits. No words.
Hopes, Dreams, Aspirations
Plans and Preparation
Her Entire Future
Out the door…
Single mom:
Beggar?
Prostitute?
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the
servant of the Lord; let it be to
me according to your word”
And the angel departed
from her
The anatomy
Of Submission and
Acting on Faith
Submission begins with
Understanding Ownership
And Choosing to Trust God
Over Circumstances
What is God calling me to?
Do I know I'm His?
Do I trust that He is good?
Young and Scared
Betrothed
Pregnant
With a story no one will believe
She does an ultramarathon
…Mary arose and went with
haste into the hill country, to a
town in Judah, and she entered
the house of Zechariah and
greeted Elizabeth
And when Elizabeth heard the
greeting of Mary, the baby
leaped in her womb. And
Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed
with a loud cry…
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your
womb! And why is this granted
to me that the mother of my Lord
should come to me?
For behold, when the sound of
your greeting came to my ears,
the baby in my womb
leaped for joy
And blessed is she who believed
that there would be a fulfillment
of what was spoken to her
from the Lord”
Consolation of Israel
Bringing Redemption:
Set things right
Magnificat:
Prophesying
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and
my spirit rejoices in God my
Savior, for he has looked on the
humble estate of his servant
For behold, from now on all
generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done
great things for me, and
holy is his name
And his mercy is for those who
fear him from generation to
generation. He has shown
strength with his arm…
…he has scattered the proud in
the thoughts of their hearts; he
has brought down the mighty
from their thrones and exalted
those of humble estate
…he has filled the hungry with
good things, and the rich
he has sent away empty
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy, as
he spoke to our fathers, to
Abraham and to his
offspring forever”
Prophecy
Past Tense= Will Happen
Plan B take Note:
- Israel
- The oppressed and victimized
- All who hurt and are in pain
Redemption is Coming
Part of the Gospel
The blind see, the lame walk
Good news is proclaimed
to the poor
Hungry are fed
And Mary remained with her
about three months and
returned to her home
- Luke 2
Plan B
Plan B
And everything
Works out smoothly, right?
Next Week:
Baby Bump
And a surprised Joseph
And taxes that really suck
Joseph wants a divorce
Danger in Bethlehem
Living in Egypt
A son who stays behind
Mary even struggles
with doubts
Now Jesus’ mother and brothers
came to see him, but they were
not able to get near him
because of the crowd
- Luke 8:19
While Jesus was still talking to
the crowd, his mother and
brothers stood outside, wanting
to speak to him
- Matt. 12:46
Then he went home, and the crowd
gathered again, so that they could
not even eat. And when his family
heard it, they went out to seize him,
for they were saying, “He is out of
his mind”- Mark 3:20-21
Mary has her doubts
And great pain
Jesus' brothers
Try to get him killed
Jesus went about in Galilee. He
would not go about in Judea,
because the Jews were
seeking to kill him
Jesus' Brothers:
“Leave here and go to Judea,
that your disciples also may see
the works you are doing
For no one works in secret if he
seeks to be known openly. If you
do these things, show yourself to
the world.” For not even his
brothers believed in him
- John 7
- Talk of plots
- The hatred of religious leaders
- The betrayal by Judas
- The torture & death of her Son
- Giving her to John
Plan B is hard
The only thing God can't redeem
Is that which isn't given
To him
The Consolation of Israel:
Redemption
The very thing
That ended Mary's Plans
for herself
The very thing
That ended Mary's Plans
for herself
Saved Mary…Gave her greater
And brought hope to our world
Magnificat
God will set all things right
Plan B
Choices, Circumstances, God
The only thing God can't redeem
Is that which isn't given
To him
Your choices- own them
Your choices- own them
Their choices- forgive them
Your choices- own them
Their choices- forgive them
Circumstances- let them
Your choices- own them
Their choices- forgive them
Circumstances- let them
God- trust him
Crying toddler
And sugary cereal
The only thing God can't redeem
Is that which isn't given
To him
Divorce
Health
Heartache and Pain
Plan B
God redeems…
Because of Christmas
Your Plan B
Is God's foreknowledge
And nothing in your life
Is beyond his Redemption
The only thing God can't redeem
Is that which isn't given
To him
Gift to Yourself:
Personal Inventory
What am I holding onto
That belongs to God?
My possession is my limitation
As a church
We can make our plans
God has the ultimate say
And can redeem anything
For his glory and our joy