The heart of obedience Luke 1:34-43
WHY DO WE DO CHILD DEDICATIONS?
1. Children are a gracious gift from God that we want to thank Him for.
Psalm 127:3-5 Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, children, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in one s youth. Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them.
Mark 10:13-16 Some people were bringing little children to Him so He might touch them, but His disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, Let the little children come to Me. Don t stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to
Mark 10:13-16 such as these. I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on them and blessed them.
2. In response to God s blessing, we want families to commit to raising their kids according to His Word.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
3. As a church we want to support and encourage families in raising godly children.
Luke 1:34-43 Mary asked the angel, How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man? The angel replied to her: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Luke 1:34-43 Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. And consider your relative Elizabeth even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless.
Luke 1:34-43 For nothing will be impossible with God. I am the Lord s slave, said Mary. May it be done to me according to your word. Then the angel left her. In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah
Luke 1:34-43 where she entered Zechariah s house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she exclaimed with a loud cry: You are the most blessed of women,
Luke 1:34-43 and your child will be blessed! How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me!
Luke 1:34-43 She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled!
1. THE QUALITY OF MARY S OBEDIENCE
a. moses
Exodus 3:10-14 Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. But Moses asked God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?
Exodus 3:10-14 He answered, I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.
Exodus 3:10-14 Then Moses asked God, If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is His name? what should I tell them?
Exodus 3:10-14 God replied to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.
Exodus 4:1,10-13 Then Moses answered, What if they won t believe me and will not obey me but say, The Lord did not appear to you?
Exodus 4:1,10-13 But Moses replied to the Lord, Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant because I am slow and hesitant in speech.
Exodus 4:1,10-13 Yahweh said to him, Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say. Moses said, Please, Lord, send someone else.
b. gideon
Judges 6:11-15 The Angel of the Lord came, and He sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites.
Judges 6:11-15 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Gideon said to Him, Please Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened?
Judges 6:11-15 And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, Hasn t the Lord brought us out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.
Judges 6:11-15 The Lord turned to him and said, Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?
Judges 6:11-15 He said to Him, Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father s house.
c. jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:4-6 The word of the Lord came to me: I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. But I protested, Oh no, Lord, God! Look, I don t know how to speak since I am only a youth.
d. zechariah
Mary: Doesn t protest or argue Doesn t try to bargain for a different role Doesn t doubt God s choosing her Immediate, complete, grateful obedience
Luke 1:38 I am the Lord s slave, said Mary. May it be done to me according to your word.
2. THE COST OF MARY S OBEDIENCE
The cost of obedience: Her betrothed husband, Joseph
The cost of obedience: Her betrothed husband, Joseph Her reputation and integrity
The cost of obedience: Her betrothed husband, Joseph Her reputation and integrity Her entire future
3. THE cause for MARY S OBEDIENCE
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
The cause of obedience: The source of Mary s remarkable obedience is faith.
The cause of obedience: The source of Mary s remarkable obedience is faith. Faith is the appropriate response to God s grace.
"Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son,
the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death."508 The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.
When we respond to God s will in faith then we can experience His grace.
Application Respond to God s grace with faith-filled obedience.