Nine months before the birth of Jesus, God launched His plan by sending Gabriel to a young teenager named Mary who lived in Nazareth. Gabriel announced God wanted her to be the mother of His Son. Can you imagine the fear and the confusion that must have filled Mary’s heart? When she figured out exactly what Gabriel was saying, Mary pointed out the obvious problem with this idea. In Luke 1:34-38Luke 1:34-38
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ³⁵ And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. ³⁷ For with God nothing shall be impossible. ³⁸ And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.  

WP-Bible plugin we read: “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “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.” … “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

Gabriel told Mary nothing is impossible for God. In faith Mary submitted to God and gave her permission to proceed with the plan. God never forces His plan on anyone. Mary surrendered her will to God when she said, “May it be to me as you have said.” In every spiritual transaction there are three important forces at work: 1. The Word of God (what God promised Mary) 2. The Will of the Person (Mary chose to follow God’s plan) 3. The Work of the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she became pregnant).

Our role in the process is to choose God’s will for our lives. That’s what happens when you trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You heard God’s Word and you believed it. Then, we submit our will to God’s, and then the Holy Spirit brings about regeneration in our lives. Like Mary, we must all say to God, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.” When you do that, you don’t have to worry about how God will accomplish it, because that’s His job, not ours!

THE MANGER – When Jesus was born, Mary laid Him in a manger. Because of the Christmas story, some people think a manger is a nice little baby-bed with a soft bottom and fancy, decorated ribbons. A manger was nothing but a common feed trough for cattle and other livestock. It was a crudely constructed piece of barn furniture–ordinary in every way. But because of the baby in that manger a simple piece of furniture has been transformed into an icon! Why? Because when Jesus was in the manger, it was God in the flesh – the MAN-GOD.

The manger is a wonderful symbol of what can happen to an ordinary man or woman when Jesus Christ lives in them. It’s what’s happened to thousands of us ordinary people – God’s presence has made our lives extraordinary. Just as feed can become a cradle for a king, a very average person can become beautiful, useful and extra- ordinary when they have Jesus Christ in their lives!

Announcement:

CHRISTMAS GIFT-GIVING to CCD OUTREACHES:

• Everything is covered except for 2 sacks of rice.
• Women’s Fellowship will meet tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 19 at 9 am to pack for the Gift-giving for the  outreaches.

There will be no VISAYAN SERVICE on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.  Our visayan congregation is requested to join in any of our two English services in the morning so they have more time to spend with family in celebrating Christmas Day and the New Year.

No. This is not about the boxing match between Manny Pacquaio and Joshua Clottey dubbed as “The Event.” It is about the next great event that will take place in the world – the rapture of the church! Just to remind us as His people of that blessed hope that will soon come – lest we are caught sleeping when He comes. What is the rapture? It’s the church being “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air –1 Thess.4:15-17 – “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be CAUGHT UP together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

…we who are still alive and are left will be CAUGHT UP together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Now that word “caught up” is the Greek word harpadzo. We got the word “rapture” from the Latin word, ”rapare” which means “to take away” or “snatched out”, which is the literal meaning of the word, “caught up.” It’s a snatching away with force – by the collar, like what the angels did to Lot. Beloved, there’ll be a great snatching away that will occur anytime! And it’s going to be quick! 1 Corinthians 15 describes it like the twinkling of an eye. That’s how fast it’s going to happen. Blinking and twinkling are not the same. See how fast you can blink your eye. It’s not that. That’s about one four hundredth of a second. The twinkling of an eye is the time it takes your eye to see someone you are looking for and recognize them–that’s the twinkling of an eye.

Some people think when Jesus comes to rapture the church, they are going to have time to get on their knees and repent. They think He’s going to come floating down on a parachute. “Hello, Lord. I want to get saved!” No it’ll be so sudden. 1 Thess.5:9 – “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” What an awesome truth! The word “appoint” means “a destiny, an appointed end.” You know we all plan for the future. Most of you have already planned where you will eat lunch after church today. Our plans don’t always work out the way we intend, but God’s plan for us is so certain that we can call it a destiny, or an “appointment.” And if you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, we have nothing to fear because God didn’t save us from our sin and call us to follow Jesus only to pour out His wrath on us. No. He died to save us not only from hell but from the God’s judgement that will upon the earth! Rom.5:9 – “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus come!

Beloved, the coming of Jesus for His bride is indeed our blessed hope! With all what’s going on in the world today, there is hope for us who believe in Jesus. It may look bleak and black but the brightness of His coming will change all that! Nobody knows the day nor the hour of His coming for His bride, but we know it is coming soon and very soon! Don’t fall asleep. Be watchful. Be faithful. Be light and salt. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus come!