Magnificat!

Continuing the story from the Gospels...tonight it's Luke 1:26-38...

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. Then the angel told her:
Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Now listen:
You will conceive and give birth to a son,
and you will call His name Jesus.
He will be great
and will be called the Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give Him
the throne of His father David.
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and His kingdom will have no end.
Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”
The angel replied to her:
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore, the holy One to be born
will be called the Son of God.
And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

“I am the Lord’s slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her. [HCSB]


In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,
    be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
    the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
    no end, ever, to his kingdom.”
Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
    the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
    will be called Holy, Son of God.
“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

Yes, I see it all now:
    I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
    just as you say.
Then the angel left her. [MSG]

The first thing I notice tonight in this passage is that the destiny of Jesus is first described here as being the KING. (Unless you count the name Jesus=Yeshua=Joshua=Yoshua=YHWY saves) I've been looking with our church on Wednesday nights at a possible purpose statement/mission statement for EHBC. Nothing new, really, simply a restatement of the classic "5 purposes," but we've been looking at it in terms of the church being a visible expression of the Kingdom of God.

EHBC exists to express the Kingdom of God: to worship the King, submit to His rule, keep His unity, proclaim His Gospel, and extend His blessings.

[expanded version]
Eastern Heights exists to be a visible expression of the Kingdom of God as it subverts the kingdoms of this world. We do this by worshiping the King individually and corporately, growing both in our submission to His rule and also in our reflection of His character, making every effort to maintain unity as a Kingdom community, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom to the world, and extending the blessings of the Kingdom to those in need through both natural and supernatural means as His Spirit enables us.

By the way, I'm pretty sure we can make the acronym CROWN work for this theme, but I haven't worked it out exactly:

C  community
R  reach or rehearse or relate
O  obedience
W worship
N  news or needs

umm.... don't quite have it...would like them all nouns or all verbs, too...any ideas?