Luke 1 (21st Century King James Version) – Annunciation and Magnificat

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her and said, "Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women." 30 And the angel said unto her, "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. 31 And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name JESUS. 32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, 33 and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end."

46 And Mary said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For He that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is His name.

Saying Yes to Jesus (Waiting with an Expectant Heart)

It’s the Christmas holiday season again Jesus.

Help us to know that it’s all about saying yes to you Jesus, isn’t it; as your mother Mary said yes to God?

And it’s all about learning to share your love with others and learning to wait for your coming

with an expectant heart.

How can we find the strength within ourselves to give you that yes Lord?

Every day we wake up and there is always one more thing that someone has added to our long

list of things to do, and the holiday season only makes it worse you know.

Here we go again Lord, off to buy our families’ things they can’t seem to live without; our spouse

the newest iPod, or our children the latest video game.

We rush around during the week and the weekends far too much and far too fast to even hear

the announcement of your coming birth.

It’s a wonder we don’t miss Christmas Day in the rush of it all.

This year Jesus, will you please help us to slow down and hear the angels singing?

Will you help us to hear the announcement during Advent that you, the long expected one, are

coming now? Will you help us to wait with expectation? Emmanuel – “God with us.”

Will you help us Jesus to see that now, here deep inside our hearts, not tomorrow, but now; now

is the time of your second coming and that if we blink too fast we’re going to miss it all Jesus,

we’re going to miss it all.

And when Christmas comes, will you help us to hear the sound of your voice crying as a baby and

the sound of angels in heaven proclaiming that birth?

Will you help us once again to understand the miracle and mystery of your birth and what your

birth actually means to a world broken by sorrow?

Will you help us to say yes to God, our Father, as Mary said yes?

Will you even help us to give birth to God’s love within ourselves, as Mary waited so long to give

birth to you in the little town of Bethlehem?

Will you please help us Jesus to feel and come to know the holiness of this holiday season, from

Advent to Epiphany, and beyond? Amen.

Ron Starbuck