Hello and welcome to Give Him 15.

The title of today's post is Two Women at Christmas. As we approach Christmas,

let's consider the story of two women who were significant in the birth of our

Savior, the promised Messiah, Mary and Elizabeth.

The younger one seeking out the older, lives touching.

Mentoring, occurring.

A divine encounter.

A God set up.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is unique in history. Yet, she had a humble beginning.

Pastor Jack Hayford says, we may wonder about her. Was Mary possibly, only a plain girl with simple faith, raised in an ordinary home, scheduled for an arranged marriage,

and headed for an uneventful future married to the town carpenter. The suggestion that she was

ordinary comes from the words Mary sings, for he has regarded the lowly state of his handmaiden, her words. He has exalted the lowly

from Luke 1, verse 48. Hayford adds, God clothes himself in the ordinary, so he can come to ordinary

people like you and me.

Mary and Elizabeth both were having miracle babies who would affect history.

Both women could have been labeled, disgraced by their Hebrew peers,

as Elizabeth for being barren, Mary, for being pregnant before marriage.

Both knew God intimately. They both were worshippers, and they both were acquainted with Scripture.

The Christmas story began not in Bethlehem but in Nazareth,

when Mary received the message from Gabriel. He disclosed God's plan for her life. Rejoice,

highly favored one. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found

favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call

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