The text is:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38, ESV)

From the Sermon:

We need a savior who is just like us in every way, except sin… (Heb 4:15) so that he can take our place completely. That means, just like every other human being, it begins in the womb. As the theologian said, Jesus passed through all the stages of our life for us. He took our place from the womb to the tomb. He took our place from our sinful beginning to our sin-earned death. He replaces our polluted lives with his perfect sinless life. He was born just like us. He lived and talked and walked just like us. He scraped his knees as a little boy and cried on his mother’s shoulder like us. He studies God’s Word and worked with his earthly father like us. He ate and slept, sang and laughed… all just like us, that because he is one of us, born in a womb, a human being… and yet the Holy and Perfect God. Like us in every way… except without sin. Mary was pregnant with God… because that’s the way it had to be.

Labels: Sermon, Worship