ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY SAVIOR

“The calling of God is not based on qualifications. It’s based on God.” — Pastor Matthew

This message opens the Christmas series Patchwork Christmas, where Pastor Matthew teaches how God takes ordinary people and weaves their stories together to reveal something beautiful. The passage for the day is Luke 1, and the focus is the calling God placed on Mary. Her story helps us understand the purpose God has for every believer. What seems ordinary or disconnected in our lives becomes meaningful in the hands of God.

Pastor Matthew begins by sharing childhood memories of visiting his grandparents each summer. He remembers the freedom of driving in a field, sleepouts that sounded more fun than they were, and the meals his grandmother lovingly prepared. One of the most vivid moments was watching her sew army berets for him and his brothers. As a child, the process looked random. The fabric pieces spread across the table didn’t resemble anything useful until they were stitched together, shaped, and completed.

That image becomes the backdrop for this Christmas series. In the same way fabric becomes something whole and purposeful, God takes the separate pieces of our lives and forms something meaningful from them. Mary’s story is the first example, and her willingness to say yes becomes the foundation for what God would do through her.

Luke introduces Mary simply and plainly. She was a young teenager, likely between thirteen and fifteen years old. She came from Nazareth, a small and insignificant town with at most five hundred people. No one expected anything influential to come from a place like that. She was poor, uneducated, and unknown outside her community.

Pastor Matthew teaches that this matters because God intentionally chose someone who had nothing notable to offer on her own. She did not come from privilege or power. She was not someone people would naturally look to. She was simply an ordinary young woman living an ordinary life.

Yet the angel Gabriel greeted her with a message that changed everything. She was favored by God. She was not chosen because of ability or résumé. She was chosen because God wanted her. That same truth applies to every believer today. God calls us not because we have earned it, but because of His love and His purpose.

Many people hear the idea that God has a calling for them but quietly dismiss it. Pastor Matthew acknowledges how easy it is to feel unqualified. When he first felt called into ministry, he doubted he could ever teach adults. He compared his lack of knowledge to others and felt the gap was too wide. Many in the room can relate to that same tension.

But Mary’s story reminds us that God’s calling does not depend on personal achievement. The angel declared God’s favor over her. It was grace, not merit. Pastor Matthew points out that Jesus affirmed this same truth in His first recorded sermon. He called His listeners the salt and light of the world before they had done anything at all. Their calling was based on what God would do in them and through them, not what they had already achieved.

This becomes an invitation to ask ourselves whether we believe God has a purpose for our lives. Do we trust that His love is not something we can disqualify ourselves from? Scripture shows again and again that God chooses ordinary people and fills their lives with eternal meaning.

When the angel announced that Mary would give birth to Jesus, she responded with a natural and understandable question. She was a virgin. She was not yet married. How could this possibly happen?

The angel answered by explaining that the Holy Spirit would do something supernatural. He pointed to Elizabeth’s pregnancy as a sign of God’s power. Elizabeth had been barren her entire life, yet God gave her a child. Gabriel then spoke the words that carry across the whole narrative. Nothing will be impossible with God.

Pastor Matthew teaches that our questions often work the same way. When God calls us to lead, serve, give, forgive, or step into something unfamiliar, we immediately list every reason it will not work. But the answers we need are found in the same truth Gabriel spoke. God is able. God is present. God will do what we cannot.

Some answers come quickly. Others come with time. Some remain unanswered in this lifetime. Even so, we are invited to trust the character of God, who sees more than we can and works beyond what we understand.

Mary responded with faith. Her words are simple and full of surrender. She said she was the servant of the Lord, and she asked that God’s word be done in her life. Pastor Matthew pauses on this moment and explains that this statement reflects the heart God desires from us.

Many people miss out on the life God wants to give because they cannot say what Mary said. They know what God asks, but they hold back. They weigh the cost and step away. They hold tightly to their schedule, finances, comfort, or control. But Mary opened her hands and trusted God more than she trusted her own understanding.

The moment she responded with yes, her life changed. And her yes came with sacrifice.

Pastor Matthew walks through what Mary faced and reminds us that her story was not gentle or glamorous. She was a teenager explaining a miraculous pregnancy to her fiancé, family, and community. She carried the risk of being accused of adultery and even the possibility of death by stoning. She likely hid her pregnancy for as long as she could.

Then, at the end of her pregnancy, she traveled roughly one hundred miles to Bethlehem. Pastor Matthew describes how difficult that journey would have been on foot or donkey. When she arrived, she gave birth in a place meant for animals, not mothers. Instead of family, shepherds arrived to celebrate with her. They were considered the lowest members of society.

Later, her family fled to avoid Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus. When Jesus grew up and began His ministry, Mary rarely saw Him. And in the end, she watched Him die on a cross in the most painful and humiliating way. Even after His resurrection, her earthly relationship with Him changed when He ascended to heaven.

Through all of it, Mary remained faithful. Pastor Matthew highlights that every great figure in Scripture walked through sacrifice. Abraham left his homeland. Moses returned to the place he once fled. The prophets risked their lives. Following God always involves surrender, but that surrender leads to something greater than we can imagine.

Mary’s yes changed the world. Through her obedience, God brought Jesus into the world to bring salvation to humanity. While Mary’s role in history is unique, Pastor Matthew emphasizes that God still uses surrendered lives today in supernatural ways.

Sometimes God uses someone to change nations. Sometimes He uses them to change one life. But every world changer has someone behind them who first said yes to God. Pastor Matthew shares several examples. Dwight Moody came to faith because of his Sunday school teacher. Henrietta Mears discipled Bill Brightite, who founded Campus Crusade for Christ. Augustine’s mother prayed and fasted for years before his conversion.

He also shares examples within our own church family, including Pastor Phil, Miss Tiff, and Pastor Chris, each shaped by someone who invested in them long before anyone knew the impact they would have.

God often works through small moments of faithfulness that ripple through generations.

The message ends with Mary’s words of praise from Luke 1. Her soul magnified the Lord. Her spirit rejoiced in her Savior. She saw how God looked on her humble life and transformed it with purpose.

Pastor Matthew invites every listener to imagine themselves saying those same words. God has a calling for each person willing to respond. He desires to use ordinary lives in extraordinary ways. Pastor Matthew shares his own story of growing up in Detroit and never imagining he would someday pastor a church in Ohio. Yet he also knows why he has experienced the life he now lives. Twenty-six years ago he said the same words Mary said. He told God he was the servant and God was the Lord.

God offers the same invitation today. He wants to take the pieces of our lives and form something meaningful through them. We simply need to be willing to say yes.

The Tree Church is a community of believers with two campuses in Lancaster and Logan, Ohio. Every Sunday at 9 and 11 AM, people gather for worship, biblical teaching, and meaningful connection. Each campus provides a welcoming place for families and individuals looking for a church in Lancaster or a church in Logan where they can grow in faith.

Lancaster: 721 N Memorial Dr, Lancaster, OH 43130
Logan: 36 Hocking Mall, Logan, OH 43138