MARY'S SUBMISSION - SHE PRESENTS HERSELF TO THE LORD (1 OF 4)
by Brad Whitt
Scripture: LUKE 1:26-38
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Mary's Submission - She Presents Herself to the Lord (1 of 4)
Series: Mary's Christmas
Brad Whitt
Luke 1:26-38
Temple Baptist Church
Simpsonville, SC
INTRO: I want you to take God's Word now this morning and be finding your place at Luke chapter 1 if you would. We are going to begin a series of sermons for the Christmas season that I want to call, ''Mary's Christmas.'' Now, I know that in a Baptist church, when I use that title, there are going to be some people who may be a little bit bothered or uncomfortable with that title because it sounds just a little too ''catholic'' for them.
I was reading this past week the cover story for the December 2006 issue of Christianity Today that's entitled ''Incendiary Mary.'' And there is a whole lot of truth in that title. Mary is a very polarizing figure, and normally when people think about or talk about Mary, they will go to one of two extremes. On the one hand, there those who want to magnify her and give her a position that scripture does not ascribe to her. They want to say that she herself was born of a virgin and that she was taken up bodily into heaven and sits before the throne of God as a mediator for mankind. Well, that's just wrong.
But then, on the other hand, there are those who would want to minimize her, and make her into nothing more than one of the pieces of the nativity set that you unwrap and put on your coffee-table for Christmas, then rewrap and never think about again for the rest of the year. Well, that's wrong as well.
Some people seem to want to say, ''Mary Christmas'' while others don't seem to want Mary in Christmas at all.
We ought not magnify or minimize Mary; what we ought to do is honor her and give to her the respect that she deserves for being, as Elizabeth cried in Luke 1:43, ''the mother of my Lord.'' That one point right there is reason enough to honor her and respect her and study her life to see what we can learn from her.
So, over the next four Sunday ...
Series: Mary's Christmas
Brad Whitt
Luke 1:26-38
Temple Baptist Church
Simpsonville, SC
INTRO: I want you to take God's Word now this morning and be finding your place at Luke chapter 1 if you would. We are going to begin a series of sermons for the Christmas season that I want to call, ''Mary's Christmas.'' Now, I know that in a Baptist church, when I use that title, there are going to be some people who may be a little bit bothered or uncomfortable with that title because it sounds just a little too ''catholic'' for them.
I was reading this past week the cover story for the December 2006 issue of Christianity Today that's entitled ''Incendiary Mary.'' And there is a whole lot of truth in that title. Mary is a very polarizing figure, and normally when people think about or talk about Mary, they will go to one of two extremes. On the one hand, there those who want to magnify her and give her a position that scripture does not ascribe to her. They want to say that she herself was born of a virgin and that she was taken up bodily into heaven and sits before the throne of God as a mediator for mankind. Well, that's just wrong.
But then, on the other hand, there are those who would want to minimize her, and make her into nothing more than one of the pieces of the nativity set that you unwrap and put on your coffee-table for Christmas, then rewrap and never think about again for the rest of the year. Well, that's wrong as well.
Some people seem to want to say, ''Mary Christmas'' while others don't seem to want Mary in Christmas at all.
We ought not magnify or minimize Mary; what we ought to do is honor her and give to her the respect that she deserves for being, as Elizabeth cried in Luke 1:43, ''the mother of my Lord.'' That one point right there is reason enough to honor her and respect her and study her life to see what we can learn from her.
So, over the next four Sunday ...
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