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Advent Week 1: Luke 1:26-45
Sermon: The Announcement of the Christ
First Reading: Luke 1:26–38
Part 1: When Heaven Breaks Through (Luke 1:26–28)
We begin in verses 26-28 with the divine moment: When Heaven Breaks Through.
(Luke 1:26-27 ESV) 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
1:26 “In the sixth month”: This refers to the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Earlier in Luke 1, the angel Gabriel had already announced that Elizabeth—though advanced in years—would miraculously conceive a son, John the Baptist.
1:26 Gabriel: The name Gabriel means “Man of God” or “God is my strength.”
Gabriel as God’s Messenger
The word angel comes from the Greek aggelos, meaning messenger. Gabriel identifies himself this way when he appears to Zechariah:
(Luke 1:19 ESV) I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
This highlights both his authority (“I stand in the presence of God”) and his mission (“I was sent… to bring you good news”). Gabriel has served as a long-standing heavenly messenger, carrying critical revelation from the presence of God to His people on earth. His appearance to Mary fits this pattern perfectly.
Nazareth’s Reputation
1:26 Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.
Nazareth, in particular, held an especially poor reputation. It was considered insignificant and spiritually unimpressive. This attitude appears clearly in the words of Nathanael:
(John 1:45-46 ESV) 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Joseph and David’s House
1:27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: Joseph’s connection to the house of David is a vital detail. The Messiah—Christ—was promised to come from David’s royal line.
(2 Sam. 7:16 ESV) And your house and your [David’s] kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.
God promised David a throne forever, and Jesus—born under Joseph’s legal fatherhood by adoption and Mary’s physical maternity—perfectly fulfills the long-awaited promise of the Messiah from the lineage of David.
1:27 Virgin (parthenos): Luke’s emphasis on Mary as a virgin directly connects to the prophetic promise in:
(Isa. 7:14 ESV) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us].
1:27 Betrothed (mnesteuo): While we might compare this to modern engagement, Jewish betrothal was far more serious and binding, lasting about a year. During this period, the couple were legally referred to as husband and wife, yet they had no right to sexual union until the formal wedding ceremony.
1:27 Mary: We know nothing of Mary’s background other than that she was a peasant and a resident of Nazareth. Yet this is precisely the kind of place God loves to work. In His grace, He chose a young girl from a town despised by the religious elite to be the mother of the promised Messiah. God bypassed the centers of power, prestige, and religious status. He chose the humble, the ordinary, the overlooked.
Part 2: Mary, the Favored One (Luke 1:28–30)
(Luke 1:28-30 ESV) 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
1:28 “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
Favored one in this context means:
To pursue with grace, compass with favor; to honor with blessings.
1:29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying… The appearance of an angel was overwhelming enough—but his words, calling her “favored one,” must have been even more shocking. Mary was a humble young girl from an obscure village. Nothing in her life would have prepared her to hear such an honor spoken over her.
Luke tells us she was “greatly troubled”—confused and trying to understand what this greeting meant. What was God saying? Why her?
Do Not Be Afraid
1:30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”
The first thing Gabriel tells her is Don’t be afraid! This is the same thing that happened earlier with Zechariah. This concept of not being afraid is spoken by God to His people 100-120 times in Scripture.
I think the Word of the Lord to us is Don’t be afraid. We can fear (reverence) the Lord without being afraid of Him.
(1 John 4:18 ESV) There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.
(Rom. 8:31 ESV) If God is for us, who can be against us?
If God loves us, which He does, and He is for us, which He is, then we don’t have to be afraid to come to Him. He knows you and your struggles with sin, and He wants you to come to Him for the help you need.
(Heb. 4:16 ESV) Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Favor (Charis) with God
1:30 Mary, for you have found favor with God—favor—charis
A favor done without expectation of return; the absolutely free expression of the loving kindness of God to men finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor.
Yesterday we moved into our new house. With my arm still recovering from rotator cuff surgery, I couldn’t be carrying furniture. I needed a favor. [Share moving help story.] They lifted what I could not lift. They did what I could not do.
That is exactly what God has done for every believer. He has done for us what we could never do on our own. That is favor—that is grace. This favor shown to Mary is the favor, grace, God offers His people.
(Eph 1:4-6 ESV) 4 In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace [charis], with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
The believer can join with Mary in having been found in favor with God. Through Christ, God has poured out His gracious favor upon us—freely, abundantly, undeservedly.
Part 3: The Incarnation of the Christ (Luke 1:31–38)
The Virgin Birth (Virgin Conception)
1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
This statement confused Mary a little, so she asked the question:
1:34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
Gabriel Gives the Explanation of the Virgin Birth:
1:35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”
This verse reminds us and points back to the Holy Spirit’s participation in creation at the beginning.
(Gen. 1:2 ESV) The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
It was at this point that the act of creation began. And it was when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary that the power of God was again creating a new man.
Mary had 23 chromosomes. Where did the other 23 come from? God created them. This is why the Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians:
(1 Cor. 15:45 ESV) “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
The humanity of Christ was created by the Holy Spirit, not procreated by sexual intercourse. The first Adam succumbed to temptation, and through him sin entered humanity. Everyone born who can trace their lineage to Adam has inherited a sinful nature. But Jesus’ bloodline doesn’t go back to Adam.
God created a new man without the sin nature. This last Adam (Jesus) didn’t succumb to temptation and wrought a victory for all mankind who believe in the gospel.
(Heb. 4:15 ESV) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Because Jesus was sinless, he was the perfect sacrifice for the entire human race. By believing in the work of Christ, we can be transferred from Adam to Christ, as the Apostle Paul says:
(1 Cor. 15:22 ESV) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
This is predicted in what is known as the protoevangelium (first gospel).
(Gen. 3:15 ESV) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
Referring to the descendant of a woman implies that the Messiah (Christ) wouldn’t have a natural father.
The Person of the Christ
1:31 you shall call his name Jesus—Iesous (Jehovah is Salvation or Jehovah is the Savior).
1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The phrase Son of God had two implications in reference to Jesus.
- His divinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is difficult, but it is a clear teaching of the Bible: one God in three persons.
- His humanity. In the genealogy of Jesus recorded in Luke, it says:
(Luke 3:38 ESV) the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
In the same way that Adam is referred to as God’s son because he was created by God, Jesus is referred to as God’s son. Jesus never ceased to be God, and in the incarnation, He added humanity.
1:32-33 And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
As we have seen, Jesus came from the lineage of David with a legal right to the throne. He has now been exalted to the right hand of God as King. But He is now the King of those who surrender to His Lordship.
(Col. 1:13-14 ESV) 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Second Reading: Luke 1:39–45 (ESV)
Faith is here represented as the foundation of true happiness, because it receives the fulfilment of God’s promises. Whatever God has promised, he intends to perform. We should believe whatever he has spoken—his own authority is a sufficient reason why we should believe. Let us only be convinced that God has given the promise, and then faith becomes an indispensable duty: in this case not to believe would be absurd and unreasonable—God will perform his promise, for he cannot lie.
Advent Week 2: Luke 1:46-55
Sermon: The Magnificat
Text: Luke 1:46–55
Introduction: The Tension of Nostalgia
I love Christmas. I love everything about Christmas. I love the way it makes me feel about the past. And on the other hand, I have so much to look forward to in my life, in the future. Life is good.
But you know, wasn’t life so much simpler when we were kids? It’s hard to describe this tension—this tug to look forward to the future, but the pull of remembering what was in the past.
(play the song)
That song captures it perfectly. An adult singing a song from childhood, describing the confusions of growth and change, while the music brings the past and present together.
Hold that thought—that sense of tension between past and future—because we are going to circle back to this.
Mary’s Dilemma and Act of Faith
Now, I want to shift our focus to the song of Mary, the Magnificat, the Latin word that literally means magnifies. Like the character in the song, Mary was also in a place of radical change.
She was likely only 13–15 years old, betrothed to Joseph, when Gabriel delivered the news. It was incredibly scandalous to be pregnant before marriage. She knew the cultural and societal consequences that could happen to her.
In her urgency, her haste as it says in verse 39, she leaves quickly to find Elizabeth. I don’t believe she was doubting; I think her leaving was a display of faith. She believed God was doing these things, and she needed to confirm the promise. If true, her life would never be the same.
The Holy Spirit’s Confirmation (Luke 1:40–45)
Mary enters the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth—practically unannounced, bypassing the usual customs. And that makes what happens next even more intense.
Instead of Elizabeth being taken aback by the social disruption, she recognizes something much bigger is at play. In the moment she greets Mary, the Holy Spirit reveals something that transcends any social expectation. Elizabeth declares:
(Luke 1:42-45 ESV) “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.”
And this is where we finally get to see Mary recognize and express the incredible thing that God has done, not just for her, but for the nation of Israel.
The Song of Mary: A Soul Saturated with Scripture
This leads to Mary’s Song, the Magnificat.
- Verses 46–50: A recognition of God’s graciousness to her.
- Verses 51–55: A celebration of God’s mercy toward Israel.
The thing that should truly impress us about Mary’s song is how deeply biblical it is. She is not inventing a new language. What comes out of her mouth is Scripture. She sings and gives praise the way people of God have always sung and given praise. Mary’s song is the outpouring of a soul saturated with Scripture.
When something good in your life happens, what is your response?
For Mary, she was invited to be part of the second greatest miracle to ever happen (the birth of Jesus). The words that come out of her mouth masterfully communicate:
- The faithfulness of God in the past (His provision over Israel).
- The faithfulness of God in the present (the grace bestowed upon her).
- The faithfulness of God in the future (His promise fulfilled).
When God does something good in your life, let it turn your heart toward His faithfulness, not just to you, but across the whole story of Scripture.
“The effect of this presentation of divine activity is to underscore the decisive work of God, dramatically in operation, and unmistakably in control of human affairs, as the advent of God’s peaceful, just Kingdom is realized.” (Joel Green)
In this moment, we get to see a glimmer of hope: God is the one moving this thing forward. Every detail is soaked in the activity of God. This isn’t just some personal miracle; she is standing in the middle of God’s greater plan to bring His Kingdom, His peace into the world.
Contrasts and Reversals: God and the Humble
Mary starts this beautiful Magnificat in verses 46–47:
Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
What Mary is doing here is echoing the words that Hannah prayed in 1 Samuel 2:1. Both women find themselves caught up in impossible situations—Hannah with barrenness, Mary with a miraculous pregnancy. Both are lowly, overlooked women whom God suddenly lifts into the center of His redemptive story.
In verses 48–49 we see a wonderful contrast on display. We see a mighty God who has looked on a humble servant and elevated her status.
This is the pattern of God throughout Scripture: the high and holy One bending low to lift up the humble.
Mary is not praising herself; she is praising God who takes ordinary, often overlooked people and displays His glory through their lives from generation to generation.
Then, in verses 51–55, we grab our telescope and look at the greater story of what God has done through Israel. There are three phrases that stand out:
- Scatters the proud (v. 51)
- Brings down the powerful (v. 52)
- Sends the rich away empty (v. 53)
Here is the truth: In Jesus, God overturns the values of this world—bringing down what is proud and powerful, and lifting up those who humbly depend on Him. And in doing so, He ushers in the peace His kingdom was always meant to bring.
Pride vs. Peace
Mary, as a Hebrew teenage girl, recognizes something so many of us often overlook. She sees, even in her lowliness, that God has stepped into her story in a way that redefines everything.
In our own quest for personal gain, we so often miss what is most important. Our desire for accolades, our fixation to accumulate wealth, and the pride of our opinions—whatever that thing is that’s got you trapped in a self-destructive cycle… where there is pride there can be no peace.
The reality is that God uses the least qualified person (Mary) to represent Him. The moment you stand tall in who you are and what you’ve done, God will humble you. In order to find peace in God and be at peace with God, we must lay down our self-righteousness, our ego and our pride.
God doesn’t just tear down, he also builds up. In these same verses we read of a God who fills the hungry, lifts the lowly, and meets people in their need.
Peace is not found in the lives of those who cling to their own strength, but in those who come to Him open-handed. Mary gives us a picture of the kingdom Jesus will bring:
- A kingdom where God confronts everything that destroys peace and restores everything that leads to it.
- A kingdom where the humble are welcomed, the hungry are fed, the overlooked are seen.
When Mary sings, she is announcing not just reversal, but restoration. Not just justice, but peace. Through Jesus, God is stepping into human history in a decisive way, establishing a kingdom where peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God making all things right.
Conclusion: The Tension Resolved
Do you remember how we started today? We talked about nostalgia, about how a song can bring the past and present together in a way that hits the heart.
In a very real way, that is exactly what Mary’s Magnificat does for us.
- She is singing a song that is rooted in the past (Hannah’s song, the Psalms).
- She is singing in the present (God doing something unexpected in her life).
- She is singing about the future (the world being turned right-side up by the child she is carrying).
Past, present, future… all held together in one song of praise.
God meets us in that same tension—that pull between remembering what once was and stepping into what is ahead. And He speaks peace into all of it.
Mary’s song reminds us that God has been faithful before, He is faithful right now, and He will be faithful in what’s ahead.
As we step deeper into this Christmas season, may we be a people who respond like Mary. When God does something good in our lives, may our first instinct not be to cling to the past or rush into the future, but to pause… and let our souls magnify the Lord.
The same God who was faithful in your childhood, the same God who is working in your life right now, is the God who holds every tomorrow.
I know there are many of us who struggle with pride. I think so many of us deal with a prideful heart because we want to be important. But can I tell you the truth, you are already important. You already matter and you are already loved. Stop trying to prove it. The greatest cause for celebration, the whole reason for Mary worshipping, is recognizing how God proved his love for his people time and time again.
Church, we have a reason to dance. We have a reason to sing. In this whole advent season we get to wait in glorious expectation for our God who entered our world to save us.
Advent Week 3: Luke 2:1-7
Sermon: Familiarity and Joy
Text: Luke 2:1–7
Intro: The “Whistletoe” and the Slide of Familiarity
I think of how easily I kiss my wife now before work. Just a quick kiss to let her know I still love her. But do you remember the first time you ever kissed your spouse? I do. I waited and waited for that moment.
We have mistletoe in our house now, and it’s cute to hear our boys talk about it. They call it the “whistletoe.” They tell me, “Dad, make sure you don’t get caught with Mommy under the whistletoe!” And then I make sure to get caught, and they get grossed out. Wait until they find out they weren’t immaculately conceived like Jesus was. That’ll be a shock!
Familiarity breeds contempt. Have you heard that before?
It is the human tendency to lose the sense of wonder, gratitude, and honor for things or people we are a part of every day. When something becomes common, we stop treating it as precious.
- The spouse we prayed for becomes the spouse we rush past.
- The kids we asked God for become “interruptions.”
- The God who rescued us becomes “normal.”
Familiarity doesn’t automatically create contempt, but if we don’t guard our hearts, it can. Gratefulness drifts into assumption, then entitlement, then frustration. But the invitation today is to return to wonder. Return to gratitude. Everything God has given us deserves more than passive familiarity; it deserves intentional awe.
Today we look at a familiar passage—no room in the inn—and I pray you find a familiarity that breeds joy.
Movement 1: The Story—A Real Birth in a Real World
Let’s slow down and look at the story again, not as a nativity set on a mantel, but as something that happened in our world. Luke anchors this moment in history with specific indicators:
- Caesar Augustus: The most powerful man on earth. He thinks he’s orchestrating a census to strengthen his empire, but God is moving the heart of a king to fulfill prophecy.
- Quirinius, Governor of Syria: A specific administrative moment you can verify in records.
- Real Locations: Nazareth, Galilee, Judea, Bethlehem. These are real roads.
You have a young couple and an extremely pregnant Mary making an 80–90 mile trip by foot. Why does Luke include this? Because your Savior did not enter a clean, polished holiday postcard. He stepped into your world—the real one. A world of stress, government paperwork, full hotels, noise, and chaos.
The eternal God is coordinating world empires to fulfill Micah 5:2:
“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
The Author writes Himself into the story through census lists and a carpenter’s family line. God is not an idea in the clouds; He is a Person in history. Familiarity makes us yawn at what should make us fall on our knees. A real God entered a real world to bring real salvation to real sinners.
Movement 2: The Plan—Divine Orchestration
Nothing in Luke 2 is accidental. It almost sounds like a divine oversight: “Lord, You coordinated the Roman Empire, but You forgot to book a room?” Some of us feel that way about our own lives. “God, You saved me, but did You forget about my situation?” But the same God who creates galaxies and numbers our hairs does not forget details.
The manger wasn’t a fluke; it was a preview. The humility of His birth matched the humility of His mission. Look at the plan:
- The Prophecy (Isaiah 53:2-3): “For he had no form or majesty that we should look at him… he was despised and rejected by men.”
- The Reality (Luke 9:58): “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
- The Purpose (2 Corinthians 8:9): “Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”
- The Humility (Philippians 2:6–8): “…but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
He is a servant in a trough because He will one day be a servant on a cross. The feeding trough is the first sermon preached in the life of Jesus. He came low so He could lift you high.
Movement 3: The Joy of Jesus
It’s easy to pity Joseph and Mary. A king is murdering babies; a teen girl is shamed; a husband is wrestling with the “hoax” of a miraculous pregnancy. From a human point of view, it looks like a bad joke.
But look at the true joy of this story:
- God sent His son to love us. Joy.
- A healthy baby is born. Joy.
- He is the King who restores us to God. Joy.
The author of Hebrews says this about Jesus:
(Hebrews 12:2) “…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for THE JOY that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The whole point—the birth, the ministry, the life—was Joy. I want to live in the joy of my salvation and share that joy with my community. There is no greater response to grace than living in Joy.
Conclusion: Returning to Wonder
Church, we treat this story like background noise or December decorations. But familiarity can breed joy if we remember that the God of the universe became familiar with us so we could become joyful in Him.
He entered our story. He lived the life we couldn’t and died the death we couldn’t avoid. Why? For the joy of bringing you home.
Don’t let familiarity steal your joy. Let it spill into your work, your parenting, and your hardest days. God is massively in control of empires, mangers, and your life.
I hope this Christmas you get a little moment under the “whistletoe” with someone you love. Those small, silly, magical moments are gifts from Jesus, too. They are reminders that the God who orchestrates galaxies also cares about the sweetness of your life.
He came for you. He planned it for you. And He rejoices over you.
Advent Week 4: Luke 2:8-20
Sermon: Fear, Glory, and Proclamation
Text: Luke 2:8–20
Intro: The Search for True Love
Do you remember your first Disney movie? Back then, princesses were almost always searching for true love. Growing up with three sisters, I had to grin and bear Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty or I wasn’t watching TV. They were searching for true love like it was the ultimate goal of life.
I think they were onto something. Is that not the most primal search of mankind? We search for it in parents, spouses, jobs, power, and prestige. But there are a lot of fakes out there.
When bankers are taught to spot counterfeit currency, they don’t study the fakes. They study the real thing so closely that when a fake appears, they recognize it immediately. Oh, that we would know Jesus in this way. That we would know His love so well that we can spot the counterfeits.
The world defines love as a “feeling” or “pleasure.” But Biblical love is different.
(1 Corinthians 13:4-7) “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way… Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
In our passage today, we have shepherds, angels, and a baby in a manger. What we need to learn today is this: God’s glory, revealed in Jesus, transforms our fear into love that cannot stay silent.
Movement 1: Fear—The Primal Response
Luke tells us the shepherds were “filled with great fear” (Luke 2:9). The first words out of heaven’s mouth are not “try harder,” but: “Fear not.”
Fear is the natural posture of fallen humanity. John tells us:
(1 John 4:18) “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
Notice that perfect love doesn’t cast out hatred; it casts out fear. Why? Because love is self-giving, while fear is self-protecting.
- Love gives (John 3:16).
- Love does not seek its own (1 Cor 13:5).
- Love lays down its life (John 15:13).
Fear moves inward. It asks: Will I have enough? Will I be hurt? Fear causes us to hide (like Adam in the garden), to hoard, and to control. Most everyday sins—lying, greed, manipulation—are actually rooted in fear.
But heaven does not shame the shepherds for their fear. Instead, heaven announces a Person: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
Perfect love didn’t shout at fear from a distance; it came near. Perfect love doesn’t tell us to stop being afraid; it shows us that we are safe with God. Jesus came to absorb our fear into Himself and replace it with love.
Movement 2: Glory—The Nearness of God
When the angel appears, “the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Luke 2:9). In the Old Testament, glory was a terrifying cloud on a mountain or fire in the temple. But in Luke 2, something has changed.
Glory is no longer power expressed through distance; it is power revealed through nearness. The glory of God is no longer confined to a mountain; it is wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. John 1:14 tells us: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory…”
The sending of Jesus is the glory of God. It isn’t glory because of a display of judgment, but because of a display of self-giving love.
(Luke 2:14) “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!”
Glory demands worship. A single angel starts the news, but then a multitude shows up because Glory cannot stay silent. We learn that glory is not something we manufacture; it is something we respond to. It redefines greatness: God’s glory is not found in Caesar’s palace, but in a feeding trough.
Movement 3: Proclamation—The Overflow of Love
Luke is very intentional with his language. Words keep moving in this story:
- The angel said.
- The multitude said.
- The shepherds said to one another.
- They made known the saying.
God’s glory moves us to proclaim. Notice that the shepherds aren’t trained preachers. They don’t have all the answers. Proclamation is simply overflow. It’s what happens when glory moves through your heart and out of your mouth.
We see two ways to proclaim:
- The Shepherds: They proclaim outwardly, telling everyone what they saw.
- Mary: She proclaims inwardly first. “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
Treasuring is the root of proclamation. Sitting with what God has done allows the Word to take root before it bears fruit. Proclamation isn’t pressure or winning arguments; it is simply living and speaking so that others can see what God has done. Love cannot stay silent—not because it must, but because it wants to.
Conclusion: The Real Thing
We started with Disney princesses searching for love. We are all searching for love that is real, love that doesn’t disappear when things get hard. But we often chase counterfeits: approval, success, comfort, or control.
Like the bankers, we need to study the real thing. Advent shows us the real thing: True love came chasing us.
I want to ask you:
- What have you been calling “love” that is actually fueled by fear?
- Where have you been protecting yourself instead of trusting God?
- Where have you been settling for a substitute?
Christmas is God’s glory, revealed in Jesus, transforming our fear into love that cannot stay silent. You don’t have to perform. You don’t have to clean yourself up.
You are safe with God. You are wanted. You are welcome.
