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Introduction to Lindsey's new book "The Three Marys.. women of grace and faith"

THE THREE MARYS.. WOMEN OF GRACE PREAMBLE Probably the three most important women in the history of Christianity and we call them all Mary. One gave birth to the Saviour of the world. One gave us a real lesson on commitment. One shows us how we can be truly transformed. Each was a tremendous woman of faith who was obedient to the Lord and gave Him their all in love. Mary, Maria or Maryam seems to mean “fat one”. Not very flattering at all, and yet there are at least six women of the New Testament who are recorded as having this name. I want to look at each one of the women of God individually and also see some of the things which bring them together. I am not so interested in the myths surrounding them or their historical background. I am really trying to put their biblical stories into some sort of context within the wider picture. There are many lessons in each of their stories. All of us, men and women, can learn so much from these great women of grace and faith. MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS A young girl, perhaps as young as fifteen years, is visited by the Angel, Gabriel. Now, that is already enough supernatural for anybody. But this girl would also be impregnated by the Holy Spirit, give birth to the sound of angels praising God, meet magi who were sent by a star, watch her son perform miracles, see Him crucified, but also be a witness of His resurrection and then watch as He ascends into heaven. She was even present at the Day of Pentecost miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit. She not only needed a Saviour, she even needed the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Mary was a child of Nazareth which seems to have had a very negative reputation in Israel. Why this is so is uncertain, but if true we can say that where sin abounded so did grace. This young lady became the bearer of the Grace which is Jesus Christ. Some say that she is full of grace, but the truth is she was full of grace when she bore the Son of God in her womb. Both she and her husband were descended from King David. As adoption in Israelite custom was very powerful, this meant that Jesus had a rightful claim to the throne of Israel through both of His parents.

UNITY THE SECRET OF SUCCESS

UNITY THE SECRET OF SUCCESS

Introduction

Unity is so very important, but we sometimes manufacture unity when, in fact, it is supposed to be something which comes from the heart. Unity was something Jesus prayed for. He wanted unity among His brethren more than nearly anything else. Paul assumed we would live in unity no matter what else took place, and instructed the church to endeavour, to fight hard, to keep unity.

Unity comes from a heart of love.

Love is slow to judge and quick to forgive. It seeks to make allowances for the weaknesses and failings of others.

David wrote this psalm. We have no real idea why, but we do know that it was later taken up by the Hebrew people as one of the victorious, "Songs of Degrees," or "Songs of Ascents," sung by all the people as they made their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the various feasts throughout the year.

WHAT UNITY BRINGS

It was King David who had a great insight as to what unity would bring if we would only do our best to keep that unity. Perhaps the king received this insight through the bitterness of himself having such an unhappy family life. He had foolishly married at least eight women and the infighting amongst his family brought great tragedy, not only in his own life, but also in the life of his nation.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (Psalm 133:1-3)

Within the words of this psalm there are so many riches which can be easily missed. As we look at it in some depth we will see some glorious truths which will help us to be slower to make judgements and quicker to see that God is glorified when we show unity and manifest the life of God.

TAKE A LOOK!

Behold. This means, "Take a look at this". It means that it is something astonishing! Something amazing happens when we truly live in the unity of the Holy Spirit. We become truly attractive and the world will want what we have. People will be truly envious of us as they see that we are disciples of Jesus and really do love one another.

UNITY BRINGS THE MANIFEST PRESENCE OF GOD

How good. Jesus said, "Only God is good." He meant what He said, so we can consider this as meaning that when we are in true unity the presence of God always manifests. It may not always be spectacular, but it will always be evident. And it also means that true unity comes from the very heart of God.

Seeking and maintaining unity at high cost is a very important part of church life. It is the springboard to successful evangelism and proper church growth. It is not something which can be legislated for.. but it is something which can be yearned for, prayed for and ultimately achieved. Sadly, so many of us are taken up with our own selfish ambitions we do not have the heart to seek the presence of God in any reality because it would get in the way. If God is hanging about our lives and meetings He may make some suggestions which make us feel uncomfortable. He may ask us to do some things which werent in the usual programme and get in the way of true progress. This is so clear in some of our church meetings. There is no novelty. Everything has become mechanical and predictable. We can't break away from our self-imposed liturgy because, if we do, God may take us by surprise. We may attract the wrong kind of people and that would never do.

The thing about unity is that it requires sacrifice.

We may need to pay a price for unity. And sometimes, many times that means we will have to crucify our own desires and inclinations for the greater good of Kingdom growth. It is so easy to get into the situation where we put ourselves first. The praise and worship has to be in a style that satisfies me. The length of sermon has to be such a length for such a reason: a substantial time, because I need to be fed; or very short because I have a short attention span. For so many of us, in church life, things have to revolve around ME! The seating arrangements have to suit me, the service times have to fit in with my plans, the music has to be trendy/old fashioned/hymns/choruses (delete as appropriate). Many of us are too selfish to seek the Lord and ask Him what is His plan for the growth of our church. If He says introduce a particular kind of music then we should simply ask Him when and how much. And if we all did then there would be no problem. Everyone of us would be agreeing with the will of God, we would be in unity and the results would be great.

Why do so many of us have a different agenda to what the Holy Spirit has for our churches? Let's put to death our selfishness and seek to do what the Lord requires of us...