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Advent Week 3: The Way of Surprise, Day 3

Have you ever been afraid of a God-given task? If you've never been led beyond your strengths and abilities, does this mean you have not followed God to those places?

by David Joynt on December 10, 2016


OUR ROLE
LUKE 3:28-32

The shock of the angel's announcement has a very personal dimension for Mary. God was counting on her. She had a crucial role in world history, in the story of salvation, in the unfolding of God's purpose, in fulfilling the dreams of the prophets, and the hopes of Israel. God's call is always larger than our abilities. Stuttering Moses quaked at the idea of leadership, the boy Samuel was incredulous to be offered a prophet's mantle, the disciples felt unprepared to carry on the ministry of Jesus. Mary could find no manuals for Messiah mothering! But God equips the ones He calls. God enables the ones He brings forward. We were born and made to be the instruments of His purpose.

Have you ever been afraid of a God-given task?

If you've never been led beyond your strengths and abilities, does this mean you have not followed God to those places?

FAMILY TIME: Share a story of how you were stretched in a task or job. Ask everyone if there is part of their life that is difficult. Pray for one another.

Tags: advent, surprise

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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