GOD’S SPIRIT TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
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We are studying what it means to walk through life in step with the Spirit of God. There is nothing complicated about life as a believer, it is just staying under the direction & control of the Spirit. When we do so we can live the most amazing life possible, the life God desires us to live. This morning as we look at Mary there is one truth we need to notice:
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GOD’S SPIRIT PROMPTS UN-COMMON LIVING
The Holy Spirit can make any common life to become un-common.
The Holy Spirit can make any ordinary life to be extraordinary.
The Holy Spirit can make any life headed nowhere to a life headed somewhere eternal.
Each person in God’s Word that surrendered to God’s Spirit, lived a life no one else ever lived or could live.
Today we look at a young lady with a very common name, in fact, maybe the most common name of the day where she lived. Yet this commonly named girl becomes perhaps the most famous woman in history.
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LIVING A COMMON LIFE
Mary had a very common name. In Old Testament Hebrew it is Miriam as in the sister of Moses. Some Bible scholars say that one in five were named Mary in Israel Century One . That’s common.
Even to this day the name Mary is common. How many Mary’s have there been over the years? Social Security records over the past 100 years cite Mary as the most frequently used name (3.61 million). We have 31 different ladies named Mary just here at CBC alone.
In the New Testament we have at least six Mary’s:
1. Mary Magdalene, the woman from who seven devils were expelled (Lk 8:2).
2. Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his teachings (Lk 10: 38-42).
3. Mary, mother of James and John, and witness of the crucifixion and the empty tomb (Mk 15: 40-47).
4. Mary, the wife of Clopas, whom some identify with Mary, the mother of James and John (Jn 19:25).
5. Mary, mother of John Mark, giving refuge to Peter after his escape from prison in Jerusalem (Acts 12: 12).
6. Mary, a Christian of Rome, who is greeted and praised by the apostle Paul (Rm 16:6).
So what is it that made Mary’s life stand out above all the other Mary’s of her day and since? Only one thing sets her apart:
MARY IS AN EXAMPLE OF UN-COMMON LIVING IN THE SPIRIT
Remember, the Holy Spirit can make any common life become un-common.
The Holy Spirit can make any ordinary life to be extraordinary.
The Holy Spirit can make any life headed nowhere to a life headed somewhere & like no one else.
Most scholars would agree that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was probably much like most of all other girls of her day. Of all the writers of Scripture, it is Luke who highlights Mary with 12 of the 20 verses that name her are in Luke and one is in Acts. So 65% of all that we have comes to us through Luke. From the Scripture accounts we can conclude quite safely that:
She was young: probably 14 or 15 when she was betrothed to Joseph.
She was simple: which means she grew up in a sheltered, close, family-oriented atmosphere.
She was plain: there is never any indication that she looked striking in any way.
Let’s briefly meet this incredible woman. Starting in Luke 1:26 we can find seven uncommon choices that Mary made that are each tied to God’s Spirit.
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1. IT IS UN-COMMON THAT MARY LISTENED TO GOD’S WORD
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