Heaven Meets Earth Week 2

This powerful message takes us deep into Luke chapter 1, where we encounter Mary—a teenage girl from an insignificant town who receives an impossible calling. The beauty of this narrative lies not in Mary's qualifications, but in God's grace. We're reminded that the word 'favor' used by the angel Gabriel is the same word we translate as 'grace'—unmerited, undeserved, freely given. What strikes us most is the order of Gabriel's announcement: first, he tells Mary who she is in God's eyes ('favored one'), and only then does he reveal what she's called to do. This sequence matters profoundly for us today. We must see ourselves as God sees us—beloved, chosen, graced—before we can embrace what He's calling us to accomplish. Mary's initial response mirrors our own: 'How can this be?' We fill in our own disqualifications—too young, too old, too sinful, too busy, too unqualified. Yet the angel's answer remains timeless: 'The Holy Spirit will overshadow you.' That word 'overshadow' connects back to the Old Testament tabernacle, where God's presence descended as a cloud. The same divine presence that filled the Holy of Holies now dwells within us through the Holy Spirit. Mary's ultimate response—'I am the Lord's servant'—represents her movement from fear to faith, from impossibility to possibility. Her story challenges us to stop focusing on our inadequacies and start trusting in God's adequacy working through us.