Keith Battle - I Think I'm Pregnant

I’m in Luke chapter 1, and I’m going to begin reading at verse 26. What’s up to everybody joining us from the DC jail? God bless all of you, and we’re grateful for this opportunity to share with you guys and ladies right now. Verse 26 of Luke chapter 1 from the New Living Translation says, «In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary.» Everybody say «Mary.» She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel, verse 28, appeared to her and said, «Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.» Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. «Don’t be afraid, Mary,» the angel told her, «for you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David, and he will reign over Israel forever. His kingdom will never end.» Mary asked the angel, «But how can this happen? I am a virgin.» The angel replied, «The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age. Just elbow somebody and say, ‘We still have time! ’» People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. Can you imagine being eighty and six months pregnant? That’s what’s going on here! I think that would be a wonderful birthday gift, Bobby, for nothing is impossible with God. I’m all in the book; God is speaking to somebody on your row.

Verse 38: Mary responded, «I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.» And then the angel left her. Verse 39: A few days later, Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, «God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.» That’s interesting: Elizabeth was carrying John; she’s six months pregnant and eighty years old, and when Jesus’s mother shows up at the door carrying Jesus, the baby jumped. The baby isn’t even here yet, but in the presence of Jesus, he jumped for joy. How do we get so lackadaisical in His presence? Verse 45 again says, «You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.» My subjective thought today is, I think I’m pregnant. So there are several guys in here; I need to tell you that this has all been planned. I’ve been told to tell you what the lady next to you has been waiting to surprise you with: she’s expecting. So if you look at her right now, she’s smiling because that’s you. It’s about ten of y’all, so go ahead and glance; they don’t even smile at me. [Music] I’m only serious. My subtitle is «Lamaze Class.» When Vicky was pregnant with our children, they said something called Lamaze class. I don’t know if they still have it; we haven’t had a child in a while. Has anybody ever heard of Lamaze class? Let me preface this message by saying I’m not an advocate for Lamaze class. I’m not against it; I’m not protesting them or supporting them. I’m just a preacher trying to come up with a little cute title, that’s all. I don’t know that you can’t say anything about women. Boy, say something about women or men—wow. I went to the bathroom; we went out to dinner with a couple the other day, and the men and women went into the same bathroom. I’m like, «Things have changed.» So I decided I didn’t have to go anymore. I mean, there were doors closed, but everybody was in the same area. This is the world we live in. I don’t know if Lamaze is something politically incorrect. I don’t know; the women’s movement is great, right? Don’t write me any emails! I’m not an OB/GYN; I’m not a doctor; I’m not a woman. I’m just a preacher who’s trying to figure out how to preach to the same people for 19 years and come up with something different to say every year. I’m just trying to make this up as I go. Let me get on with my little sermon; don’t email me about that.

Now, my understanding of Lamaze is that it focuses on helping women prepare for childbirth, how to manage childbirth, how to turn pain into productive labor, and techniques involved in what they intend to be natural childbirth. So I’m going to get to that in a moment. First, I want to walk through this passage a bit because the Bible says that Eve, the first mother, her name Eve means «the mother of all living things,» which lets me know that if you have the capacity to be the mother of all living things, then giving birth to children is not the only thing you can give birth to. And if you can give birth…