“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
6 sermons cite this verse
… fail. Mary replied, I am the Lord's servant. May everything that you have said about me come true. And then the angel left her. A few days later, Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said. Father, would you bless the reading of this word today? We love you. We want to hear from you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right. The title of my sermon is Blessed Because You Believed. On your way to your seat, ask your neighbor, are you blessed? …
… Okay? And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son. and watch the symmetry, the connection between this and Luke 17. Look at this. And you will conceive in your womb and bring forth the Son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord will give him the throne of his father David. Watch the kingdom language. And he will, say that word, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. Now, stop. This is what God is saying he is going to put in her. We focus, rightfully so, on what he put in her, but sometimes we miss the fact that he put it in her. Are you hearing me? Mary wants to show us how to receive something. Mary wants to show us how to have an empire within us, but not let it stay in us. She wants to show us how to birth what God puts in us so powerful things can happen in the earth. …
… and that's why the next verse is so significant verse 38 Mary said behold the maidservant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word let it be to me according to your word we used to sing this song years ago be it unto me according to your word and it was this wonderful song Dick Joyce in fact taught us who is home with the Lord now but a wonderful prophet friend that made such a huge difference in our lives in Weaverville and here at Bethel. But he taught us this song, I'll never forget it, Be It Unto Me According to Your Word. We would just sing this song where we're using scripture to sing into this place of absolute surrender. God, we want you to perform in and through us all that you intend. Now catch this thought. Jesus, almost walked in water, Jesus or air either one air or water same thing same thing Jesus in the Gospel of John the predominant feature of the Gospel of John is that Jesus came to reveal the Father. …
… no, here's the answer to your clarifying question, and Mary saying, behold, I'm the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your will. I don't know how much time passed in that moment. I don't know how much she had to reflect on this, or how much she had to process this, how much time she needed. But right now, you and I don't need any time. We just need to give our answer. We don't have to wait. God's grace has already been given. all we have to do is say yes. You know, this feast, this Immaculate Conception, is not about Mary being special. It's about God's determination to save us. It's about his ability to reach deeper than sin, reach deeper than brokenness, reach deeper than death. And he can heal before something even breaks. And that means that he can restore everything after it's broken. There's no need to wait. God's grace is greater. Sin does not have the last word. …
… But one thing she said that I thought was so powerful… And I know, Holly, your favorite verse is Luke 1.38, but my favorite verse is Luke 1.34. Let me show you her favorite verse first, verse 38. I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled. Right, that's her favorite. Here's my favorite one, verse 34. How? That's my verse. How? Don't act like you're not living with some howls in your house. How am I going to make it through this whole month without cussing somebody out in Japanese? I might learn Japanese just to cuss somebody out in Japanese acting like this. How am I going to pay for all this crap? Go back to my earlier point. Credit. How am I ever going to catch up if I keep on consuming like this? How? Now, Mary isn't asking that. She's not spending money at the mall. She's trying to give birth to the Son of God, but I thought we'd have some common ground with Mary. …
… And for with God, nothing will be impossible. Then Mary said, behold the maidservant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. Do me a favor, be a preacher for a moment and find a neighbor next to you and tell him, neighbor, oh neighbor, God is up to something. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. God is up to something. I wish you felt that in your spirit. God is up to something. Family, I'm going to ask for your sincere prayers this week. As some of you may know and some may not, both of my children have holiday birthdays. Cooper is a Thanksgiving baby. Deuce is a Christmas baby. And as of Wednesday of this week, I will have two teenage boys in my house. Y'all get ready, for there are some witnesses here that them teenage years will put you on your knees. The fun is just getting started. I have two teenage boys and I realize that my greatest responsibility for them as their father is to raise them to be good men. …