As we are anticipating a good number of our Grace family to be traveling this Sunday, the day after Christmas, we will have just one family service at 9am. Childcare will be available for children up through preschool age and children Kindergarten and older are invited to join us in the sanctuary.
Before we move on from Christmas though, we’ll be taking one last Sunday to ponder and celebrate our Savior’s extraordinary and unparalleled birth. The angel Gabriel explained it to Mary like this.
“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.”
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 holy—the Son of God. (Luke 1:31-35)
While Mary’s question (understandably!) was “How will this be?” our question this Sunday will be, “Why must this be?” His unique conception and birth is included in the Apostle’s Creed as an essential truth about Jesus. He was “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.”
In preparation for Sunday, take a moment to meditate on these two questions the Heidelberg Catechism asks and answers about this astounding claim.
What do you confess when you say this?
The eternal Son of God,
who is and remains true and eternal God,
took upon himself true human nature
from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary,
through the working of the Holy Spirit.
Thus he is also the true seed of David,
and like his brothers in every respect,
yet without sin.
What benefit do we receive from the holy conception and virgin birth of Christ?
He is our Mediator,
and with his innocence and perfect holiness
He covers, in the sight of God, my sin
in which I was conceived and born.
Jackson Randall will be preaching this Sunday and Walt Harrah will be leading our sung worship. Would you pray for each as they prepare? See you Sunday, Grace. Come hungry!
Song Link of the Week
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing sung by Phil Wickham
Christ, by highest heaven adored
Christ, the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold him come
Offspring of the Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail th’incarnate Deity
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell
Jesus, our Immanuel