Luke 1:46

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord...


Luke 1:46 is the first verse of what is known as Mary's Magnificat, the song of praise in which Mary glorifies God for granting her the blessing of being the mother of the Messiah.  Here, in one of the darkest times in Israel's history, Mary has reason to sing praise to God.  The fact that the Jewish people are under Roman bondage, the fact that she is poor, the fact that she lives in a small, obscure village....None of this bothers her.  She is going to be the mother of God's Son!  In Luke 1:49 Mary says, "For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name."  Deeply moved and extremely excited, she proclaims these words with all her soul.  Today I hope you are moved to the point that you, too can say "my soul doth magnify the Lord."   Pastor John

Luke 1:37

The first chapter of Luke is full of miracles.  God had been silent for over 400 years before the events Luke describes.  Now, all of the sudden, God dispatches the Archangel Gabriel to herald the amazing news to Zacharias, Elizabeth and Mary concerning the births of their sons.  God is miraculously at work again!  This time He is bringing the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.  We are at the threshold of a New Testament and the Messiah is coming to bring salvation to the world.  Think about the impossible things that become possible at the beginning of God's new dispensation!  In Luke 1 alone, a barren couple, stricken in years, is having a baby!  A Virgin conceives by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Son of God will soon be born!  The good news of the Gospel is coming to light up a dark world!  The words of Luke 1:37 are from Gabriel, who has been in the very throne room of God and knows the truth of all that God can do.  They are still a comfort to all who know Christ...God makes the impossible possible!  Pastor John

Luke 1:4

...to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.


In this passage Luke, the blessed physician, addresses a friend about the life and gospel of Jesus.  His purpose is to express all he can to make sure that Theophilus, his addressee, is informed and knows the truth.  Theophilus is obviously a good friend of Luke's.  His name literally means "a friend who loves God."  Luke most likely gathered much of his information from Matthew and Mark's writings.  He had never traveled with Jesus but was knowledgeable of the gospel and wated to accentuate every truth he could gather.  The Gospel of Luke is a perfect example of how God moves upon people to do great things for His kingdom.  Luke's literary works (his gospel and the Book of Acts) comprise one quarter of the New Testament.  He was good friends with Paul who wrote more books of the bible than any other writer.  Luke, however, wrote more volume...and it's interesting to note that Luke is the only non-Jewish Biblical author.

Pastor John