Unexpected Invitations – Week 1 (11-30-25)
Unexpected Invitations
Divine Calling
November 30, 2025
God’s Long Story of Invitation
Surrender > Strength
Grace Before Calling
Luke 1:26–30
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
“You have been graced.”
The word charis means grace or favor.
Unexpected & Incapable
Luke 1:31–37
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
“The Holy Spirit will be in you, and He will overshadow you.”
Overshadowing: Tabernacle Language
Exodus 40:34–35
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
The cloud consumed the temple—the glory of God filling the sanctuary.
This is divine partnership with God.
God’s Spirit will dwell in her, and she will be the vessel through which His presence comes into the world.
Your Calling, Your Hesitations
Luke 1:38
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Mary has a Son because God is able.
She has a Son for our sake because God is gracious.
“Man plans and God laughs.”
(Yiddish Proverb)
Isaiah 55:8
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
A Community of Divine Collaborators
God’s Spirit will dwell in you, and you will be the vessel through which His presence comes into the world.