Luke 1: 26-35
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

This is the foretelling of the Birth of Jesus to His mother Mary. I've read this passage many times before, but never before have I ever had this sense of awe for the power of the promise Gabriel is making to Mary. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end! Put yourself in Mary's shoes. you are a scared, young woman being told that your first child is going to be a son and the restorer of your people. Let's try to put this in perspective. You are a low class young woman engaged to a person of the same status. Out of the blue an Angel appears to you saying that you are going to have a child even though you're a virgin and that child will change the world forever. I know that I would have be filled with doubt. But Mary isn't. she just believes. This is the type of faith that I long for. This is the type of faith we should all long for. During this season of advent it is my prayer that you are able to reflect how great a phenomenon the Birth of Christ really was.