The virgin will conceive…
ISAIAH 7:14
This time of year our wonder increases. It’s everywhere we look, as houses take on the glory of lights, as familiar carols and numerous performances of Handel’s MESSIAH draw us back into the story, and as we eat seasonal delights (with guilt on hiatus for two more weeks). But all these wonders are merely appetizers to the main course of what Kenny Clark will be preaching this coming Sunday.
A virgin conceiving? Isaiah introduced the idea, and Matthew’s gospel reiterates it. Impossible, you say? That’s what Mary said to the angel.
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel,
“since I am a virgin?”
LUKE 1:34
The angel’s answer is what gives us the confidence to trust in God, to look to him, and to depend on him. It is why he is our Deliverer, and our Savior.
“Nothing is impossible with God.”
LUKE 1:37
Nothing. Let that sink in. That unsaved relative, the marriage that is disintegrating, the wayward child, current employment challenges, financial hardship, getting into school, getting through school, finding a mate, you name it, God can make a way.
Armed with that confidence in a powerful, wonder-working God, let’s let Mary’s response be our response this Christmas Sunday as we worship.
“May it be to me as you have said.”
LUKE 1:38
PREACHING TEXT FOR THIS SUNDAY
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel.
ISAIAH 7:14
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel”
(which means “God with us”).
MATTHEW 1:23
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