Christmas

Manger

Well. Almost ready for tomorrow.

I have been preparing what I will share with those who gather for our Christmas morning service. I know that Jesus wasn’t necessarily born on the 25th of December. I guess, it’s a bit like the Queen has two birthdays; her actual birthday and her official birthday. The important thing is not when Jesus was born, it is the fact that he was born.

I’ve been thinking what I will share. It’s more than share, it’s about the ‘Great Swap’.

Watch this speace.

 ”How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Mary had just been told that God had chosen her to be the mother of his Son, the Messiah, but Mary wonders how this can be so because she is a virgin.

Mary was a virgin. This is a statement of fact, it is is not there to exalt Mary or virginity, rather the statement is there to reveal Jesus’ divinity. Jesus is uniquely God’s Son. Jesus is God - He is God the Son. Jesus’ conception was supernatural. It is unique. God, by his Holy Spirit, enabled a virgin to conceive. This child was conceived without man’s enabling. God did it!

Who can understand the dynamics? Out of faith Mary asked a profound question. “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel Gabriel had given her God’s Word of promise. Mary would give birth to the Saviour.
And in faith Mary asked, “How?”

The explanation was simple, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” So simple and yet so profound. It is an explanation for all people of all ages. You don’t require a university degree to understand this.

Then Gabriel gave Mary a Concrete Illustration. Look how the angel gave her this assurance. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.

Elizabeth’s situation is not identical to Mary’s. Yes! John’s conception was supernatural, but it was not unique, like Jesus. How gracious is this God-given assurance. It is pitched at a level that Mary can take on board. And is this not the way in which the Lord meets with us.

What follows is a Dynamic Truth. The word of encouragement is followed by the dynamic truth. Nothing is impossible with God.

Mary this is fact - it is a fact for you and I to lay hold of.  Nothing and no one is impossible for God - God is almighty! What an encouragement for us …

 Notice! Mary was not telling God what to do. God was telling Mary what he was about to do. What Gabriel did was to help Mary remain focused on God. Noting is impossible for God when you say yes to his purpose.

Read the the story for yourself in Luke 1:26-38

This is Your God.

Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o’ the pudding-race!
Aboon them a’ yet tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm
Weel are ye wordy o’a grace
As lang’s my arm.

This was followed by the Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat and canna eat;
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat;
Sae let the Lord be thankit.

The haggis was served with the traditional tatties and neeps - and it was a grand haggis - with plenty for seconds.  Then came the Clootie Dumplin’ served with a choice of custard or cream. Here the chef surpassed herself. As far as she knows this was her first clootie and what a success. But then she wisely followed “Maw Broon’s” Recipe taken from Maw Broon’s Recipe Book - a Christmas present last year.

After tea and coffee, we read about Andrew who brought his brother Peter to Jesus. And the evening was rounded off with a Scottish Trivia Quiz.

Lang Mae Yer Lum Reek

Alan and Ursula