THE HAND THAT ROCKED THE CRADLE
SERMON STARTER
Last few lines:
Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky--
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
William Ross Wallace
Hands that have rocked Cradles have shaped history
Take the year 1809. The international scene was tumultuous. Napoleon was sweeping through Austria; blood was flowing freely. Nobody then cared about babies. But the world was overlooking some terribly significant births.
For example, William Gladstone was born that year. He was destined to become one of England’s finest statesman. That same year, Alfred Tennyson was born to an obscure minister and his wife. The child would one day greatly affect the literary world in a marked manner.
On the American continent, Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And not far away in Boston, Edgar Allan Poe began his eventful, albeit tragic, life. It was also in that same year that a physician named Darwin and his wife named their child Charles Robert. And that same year produced the cries of a newborn infant in a rugged log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. The baby’s name? Abraham Lincoln.
If there had been news broadcasts at that time, I’m certain these words would have been heard: “The destiny of the world is being shaped on an Austrian battlefield today.” But history was actually being shaped in the cradles of England and America.
Similarly, everyone thought taxation was the big news—when Jesus was born. But a young Jewish woman cradled the biggest news of all: the birth of the Saviour.
Adapted from Charles Swindoll Source unknown
Pastor Phil Roland, Sheepfold Ministries
December 12, 2010, Third Sunday of Advent
THE HAND THAT ROCKED THE CRADLE
LUKE 1:26-35
Six Circumstances around the Hand that Rocked Jesus' Cradle:
I. MARY HAD AN APPOINTED TIME - Verse 26
“In the sixth month. . .”
A. There is an appointed time and a season for all things - Eccl. 3:1,2
"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck
what is planted. . ."
"But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born
of a woman, born under the law," Galatians 4:4
1. All things are appointed and determined by God
2. Serenity is being able to say in all of life's circumstances,
"It was my time. . ."
B. The day of your Birth and Death were appointed by God
"And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which
the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to
Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the
earth."
1. God's in Control: Our days are in His Hands
2. We can receive His Holy Spirit by an act of our own will
3. May did, she had her own appointed time
C. There was an Appointed Time for God’s First Advent
1. Now is your accepted time - 2 Cor. 6:2b
”Now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation.”
2. When your call out to Him, He hears - Isaiah 49:8 -
“In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of
salvation I will help you; I will keep you . . .”
D. There is an Appointed Time for God’s Second Coming -Matt. 24:36
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,
but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and
took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
1. For Your Personal Salvation
2. For God’s Return for His Bride
II. MARY HAD AN APPOINTED PLACE - Verse 26b
“God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. . .”
A. God Knows Your Address - John 10:27-30
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch
them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than
all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."
THE HAND THAT ROCKED THE CRADLE, cont., p.2
B. You Are Worth More Than Sparrows. . . - Matt. 10:29-31
"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to
the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many
sparrows."
III. MARY WAS HIGHLY FAVORED BY GOD - Verse 28
“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
A. Mary was a chosen, chaste young woman
1. The Good News is that God has chosen and accepted you
2. That was no hand of weakness that rocked Jesus' cradle
3. You and I are Accepted in the Beloved - Eph. 1:6
“He (Jesus) has made us accepted in the Beloved.”
a. Ephesians 1 says that just as Jesus and Mary are accepted
b. We are accepted into God's inner esteemed family
B. God has Blest Us! BLESSED - “To Be Made Happy. . .”
IV. MARY WAS TROUBLED BY GOD’S MESSAGE - Verse 29
"But when she saw him, (the angel) she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was."
A. Gabriel’s Appearance Recorded in Daniel - Daniel 10:5,6
"I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen,
whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! His body was like beryl, his
face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms
and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the
voice of a multitude."
1. Gabriel - Archangel - Annunciation Angel - Daniel 8:16
a. Specialized in Communicating God's Messages
b. Angels are called, "Messengers"
2. Three Archangels: Gabriel, Michael, Hallell
a. Terrifying appearance and sound
b. Michael, the warring angel came to Gabriel's aid
B. Mary, like Daniel, humbled herself and sought the Lord
1. She was a lowly Jesus female
2. She was the property of her father and her fiancé, Joseph
C. Reasoning the Angel’s Message Impossible - Finite vs Infinite
V. MARY WAS PROMISED BY GOD - Verse 31
“You will be with child and give birth to a son,
and you are to give him the name Jesus.”
A. Mary is given SEVEN Promises by God - Verses 31-33
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and
shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of
the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom
there will be no end."
THE HAND THAT ROCKED THE CRADLE, cont., p.2
1. She will conceive a child
2. She will bring forth a son
3. He will be GREAT
4. He will be called the Son of the Highest
5. God will give Him the Throne of His father David
6. He will reign over the House of Jacob forever
7. His kingdom will have no end
B. Still Mary Ponders, “How shall these things be?”
VI. MARY WAS EXHORTED BY GOD - Verse 37
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
A. “NOTHING” - Greek = RAY-MA
“God's specific Word to a specific person at a specific time"
B. All Good Gifts Come from the Father - James 1:17
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from
the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
1. All things are possible, Only believe
2. Ask the Father for His good and perfect gift
3. The Hand that Rocked the Cradle did and received
4. Ask Mary
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