A Joy-Filled Advent The Annunciation- Nothing is Impossible with God

JOY in Nazareth

Welcome to A JOY-filled Advent, Podcast #2.  It’s based on my book The Joy of Advent: Journey with the People, Events and Prayers at the First Coming of Jesus Christ.  Last week we met the Archangel Gabriel, who appeared to Zechariah in the temple after 430 years of silence from heaven. When Zechariah disbelieved his announcement, Gabriel gave him a 9-month silent retreat.  This week, we follow Luke 1: 26 to a small town in Galilee, the hometown of Mary and Joseph, to hear another announcement called The Annunciation in the Catholic Church.  Join our journey today as we visit Mary, hear of a Savior to be born, and learn that “nothing is impossible with God.”

• The powerful Archangel Gabriel brings the second announcement– this time to a young girl in Nazareth.
  
• This most important heavenly Annunciation comes to a girl in a remote village where you might least expect it to occur. BUT God causes miracles to happen in the most unlikely and even ungodly places when people are open to Him.
  
• The recipient of the Great Annunciation is Mary, a virgin teenager, engaged to Joseph in the lineage of David, which points to the Old Testament prophesies soon to be fulfilled.
  

• The Baby would be named Jesus, Yeshua in Hebrew and derived from Yahweh – the Most Holy Name of God in the Old Testament. The message is clear: Yahweh God would name His son Yeshua after Himself.
  
• Truly, Jesus would be the Son of God and fulfill  Isaiah 7: 14: Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (God with us).
  

• “Fiat” is the first word of Luke 1: 38 in the early Latin Bible translation and it means “let it be.” This was Mary’s “YES.”  
  
• Mary received the Word of God, surrendered, and entrusted herself and her life to God’s will. Mary gives us this example of how to seek and accept God’s will: Listen, Dialogue with God, and Surrender.
  

• Some may find it hard to believe in the virgin birth. But the virgin birth and incarnation are essential parts of our Christian faith.
  
• The incarnation means God became man, reaching out to mankind.  In no other religion does God “become flesh” (John 1: 14), “accept the limitations of humanity,” come to earth to show His love, and then die for the sins of all (Fulton Sheen, 1958, Life of Christ, p. 19). St. Augustine says that when we cannot understand this miracle, “Let us grant that God can do something which we confess we cannot fathom. God is the God of the impossible!” (John Willis, 2002, Teachings of the Church Fathers).
  
• For example, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli told God he felt barren in his old age and then received a great miracle!
  
• If you are unsure about God’s power to accomplish miracles or significant changes in your own life, consider this: If God can supernaturally beget the Son of God in a virgin and give an old woman Elizabeth, past her time of conceiving a child, God can fix the barrenness in your life too. If you feel unproductive or barren, ask the Holy Spirit to come upon you in new ways and to open new doors where least expected. He will give you a breakthrough! “For nothing is impossible with God!”
  

Consider hosting a weekly one-hour Cup of Joy small group study that accompanies one of the podcast series, especially this one:  A Joy-filled Advent: Journey with the People, Events, and Prayers.

Read more on hosting a CUP of JOY Women or Gathering small groups.  For information, please email karen@wrapyourselfinjoy.com

You can download a Bookmark of prayer points from A Joy-filled Advent Podcast #1 at my website: WRAPYourselfinJOY.com.

Check out more podcasts here!

Click here to find the book: The Joy of Advent: Journey with the People, Events and Prayers at the First Coming of Jesus Christ.

The post “For Nothing Is Impossible with God” – A JOY-Filled ADVENT # 2 appeared first on Ultimate Christian Podcast Radio Network.