Gadsden First United Methodist Church- Changing Lives by

Sharing Christ, Making Disciples, Serving People, and Giving Hope

Weekly Sermon Notes
ThursdayWorship 5:30 PM

Sundays:
Celebration Worship: 8:45 AM   In the Gym
10:00 AM Sunday School
Traditions Worship: 10:55 AM    

Sermon - December 2, 2013 - Sermon Title - “According to Your Word”

Scripture – Luke 1:35-38 John 1:1-14

Luke 1:35-38 (NKJV) 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.” 38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

John 1:1-14 (NKJV) (Verses 12-14) 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Do you believe in Christmas? You believe in the real one…Don’t you? I am talking about the “Christmas” that proclaims that God became a human. The “Christmas” that Gabriel said, the “Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. John summed up the Christmas story that we believe in when he said, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Mary was a very young woman. (She was very likely a teenager or at least in her early twenties.) Yet this young woman made one of the most profound statements in the entire Bible. “Let it be to me according to your word.” What if she had said, “I just really don’t believe what you are saying? I know you’re an angel and all … but you’ve got to be kidding?”  If she had not believed would it have changed history?

If you believe in the real Christmas…If you believe in Jesus Christ…Then somewhere along your journey, you also stepped out in faith and said, “Let it be to me according to your word.”  Because you have believed, He has given you the right to become a child of God.

Pastor Harvey Beck