November 15th 2026 Luke 1:26-1:38
Where did all of this gift giving begin? What are you giving this Christmas? I didn’t say getting, I said giving. Before you know it, Christmas day will have come and gone and then we can start counting how many shopping days till Christmas, Christmas of 2027!
So what are you giving? Have you got something for everyone on your list? You haven’t left anyone off have you? What a catastrophe it would be if you forgot Uncle Fred’s third wife, How embarrassing!
Gift giving has become such a big deal to some people that they spend half of their summer vacation searching for Christmas presents. Some buy their gifts for next year at the after Christmas sales this year. Then they put them away and hope that they can remember where they hid them when Christmas rolls around again. You know what I think, I believe that the ideal Christmas present is money.
The only trouble is you can’t charge it to a credit card! You know that there are only two kinds of Christmas presents: those that you don’t want….. and those that you don’t get!
So where did all of this gift giving begin? How did it get started? Some say it started somewhere in Europe. Others say it was the early merchants who were just trying to make money. And others go all the back to the Magi, who visited Jesus and presented Him with gold, frankincense and myrrh after He was born.
But I believe that it was even before that. The first instance of gift giving at Christmas happened in the Bible. It wasn’t between the Wise Men. …..It happened between Mary and God. Luke 1:26-38
V 26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
This was the first Christmas gift exchange. Only two individuals attended. One came ready to give and was loaded down with present. The other was caught off guard and had to make do with what she had.
Look at the gifts that God and Mary gave that first Christmas. This is how it started.
So what did God give? Well first of all He gave
1) An Angel, This was not a cute, cuddly, chubby little person. This was not a Clarence kind of character like in “It’s A Wonderful Life.” This was Gabriel – a messenger sent straight from the throne of God!
What is an angel? They’re great mysteries to us, and the bible gives us only a glimpse of them every now and then. This much we do know and can say for certain, though; “angel” means “messenger” and specifically God’s messenger – a being who arrives in our midst directly from the presence of God Himself!
If Mary was a young girl today, she might have not even noticed Gabriel standing there.
Life is so busy – and so noisy, I’m not sure if any of us would notice. And, if we did, would we recognize Gabriel as an angel? I don’t know.
But I do know this. Sometimes God sends His gifts to us in some pretty unusual packages – and if we’re not paying attention,….. if we’re not looking, …….if we’re not listening – we can miss them!
2) He also gave Mary A Scare! How else could you describe her reaction in verses 28-29-30? The Bible says that ,”Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid…”
There seems to be this idea that when God steps into our lives, everything will be “merry and bright.”
But, sometimes God’s intervention in our lives can be unsettling, disturbing, even frightening. That’s why angels tend to begin their conversations with us humans by saying, “Fear not! Don’t be afraid!”
God gave Mary and angel. …God gave Mary a scare. And then, God gave Mary A Mystery!
Look with me at verses 30-34. “Don’t be afraid, Mary you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” God was going to squeeze his overwhelming greatness into human flesh – and He wanted her to help. IS it any wonder that she asked, “How is this going to happen?”? Mary asked God a question that people have been asking ever since, “How?” She wanted to know whose idea this was, and exactly how it was going to happen. She was trying to make sense out of something that made no sense to her at all. And that is where we, in today’s society get into so much trouble ourselves. We constantly attempt to fit God into our nice little boxes of explainable things so that we can have some measure of control over our lives. We all have questions for God don’t we.
Have you ever wondered what other questions went through Mary’s mind that she never voiced out loud?
Things like,
a) “Will Joseph stick around after the birth?
b) Will my parents still love me?
c) Will my friends’ stand by me or will I be dragged into the middle of town and stoned for sleeping around?
d) Will the labour be hard?
e) Will there be someone to help me when my time comes?
f) You say the child will be the King of Israel, but what about me, will I survive the birth?
g) What about me?”
News from the Church New dates
18th November ……. Knit and Natter group, all welcome, bring your own project or come to learn a
new one. Starts at 1 pm, come along any time after that
21st November………Christmas Fayre at 2-30pm
2nd December..………Friendship Group, (this covers all ages and the lonely people)
ANSWERS TO 8th November QUESTIONS
1) The weeping Prophet 2) because of the wicked sin of the people 3) Yes there are 7 others
4) Hilkiah, a priest. 5) Yes on various occasions 6) Jerusalem 7) Because of the evil of King Manasseh 8) ch 17 v 9 9) Israel 10) He encouraged Idol worship 11) A woe or curse is pronounced upon him 12) Nebuchadnezzar 13) He killed his sons in front of him then they put his eyes out
14) In the gates of the city 15) at the Potters house 16) They cast him into a Dungeon, there was no water but he was in thick mire.
Bible Quiz this week’s Quiz is about Lamentations, and Ezekiel
1 Who wrote Lamentations?
2 Why is it called Lamentations?
3 What was the reason for Lamenting?
Ezekiel
4 Who is the father of Ezekiel?
5 Where was he when writing the book?
6 By which river did the Jews live while in Babylon?
7 The quote, “the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children teeth are on edge” what does it mean?
8 Is it true the bible says “the soul that sinneth, it shall die”?
9 is it true the bible says “the son shall bear the iniquity of the father?
10 in ch. 37 the prophecy of dry bones, what does it mean?
11 Repent and turn yourselves, from what.?
12 God said “I will make the land desolate” Why did he say that?
13 Who did Ezekiel say was “the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers”?
14 The man with a measuring rod, What was he measuring ?
15 What was the second building he measured with the rod?
16 What elements did he finish up measuring in c h47?
God Bless