WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:00.959 Amen. 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:01.840 Well, good morning. 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:02.959 Merry Christmas. 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:06.000 Have y'all been busy with your Christmas wrapping? 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.320 Is anybody finished with their Christmas wrapping? 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:09.279 Anybody finished? 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:10.160 Stop bragging. 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:11.359 Why are you bragging? 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:14.800 Is anybody plan on not wrapping a single present? 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:15.679 That's me. 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:16.800 That's me. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:20.719 I pay my I pay my children to wrap my presents. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:21.600 Just an idea. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:23.760 As your children age, you can do this. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:28.480 Advent week four, we're three days from Christmas. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.920 Advent week one, we talked about the darkness that is in us. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.200 Advent week two, we talked about in God's kindness, we get to repent of that darkness. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:42.399 Advent week three, last Sunday, we talked about that is called rejoicing Sunday. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:46.159 We begin to turn our gaze on Jesus and how good He is for us. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:52.320 And then this Sunday, week four of Advent, we get to ponder Mary. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:01:03.039 And we're pondering Mary as to ponder the favor that we have in Jesus and how that favor turns us, empowers us to be a person of praise. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:08.560 Because perhaps you've heard you should praise God, you should be a person of praise, and you think to yourself, that sounds great. 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:10.159 But how do I do that? 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:12.959 How do I even want to do that? 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:16.079 Well, Mary was not from a prestigious family. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:17.840 She had no impressive resume. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:20.079 She was just really completely ordinary. 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:20.879 She was a girl. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:29.359 She was probably somewhere 13, 14, 15 years old, because that was the age that these girls married in the ancient Mideast. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:30.799 We know she was a virgin. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.280 We know she was engaged to a guy named Joseph. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:52.079 Then in Luke 1, we learn that this angel comes to her and speaks to her, this girl, and says, Don't be afraid, you're favored by God, you're gonna have a baby, this baby's gonna be the Messiah of your people, the one your people have been waiting for, who has come to know you, to love you, and to save all sinners. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:02:00.799 So the miracle of Christmas begins with this announcement from God to her in her ordinary life. 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:03.519 Let's read Luke 1, 26 through 30. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:18.800 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary, and he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:23.280 But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:28.400 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:33.919 So this passage is known as the Annunciation, because it's an announcement into Mary's life. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:40.800 And point number one is this God's unmerited love is the defining word of our lives. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:46.800 We all need an announcement, and this is the announcement that actually resonates with our needy heart. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:48.960 Verse 30 don't be afraid. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:50.159 You're favored. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.879 You are favored, you have found favor with God. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:59.520 Last week I watched the movie The Grinch with one of my kiddos, the animated version 2018. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:04.000 Remember, Grinch was gonna steal Christmas from the people. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:06.960 This is how he was going to save himself. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:11.520 He was gonna deal with all his issues by stealing Christmas from these people. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:18.560 So he dresses up as Santa Claus, he gets a sleigh, he goes down into town and he's stealing all the Christmas stuff. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:20.000 This is gonna save him. 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:30.400 This is gonna solve his inner anxiety, his shame, his guilt, his wounds, everything inside of him that's a mess was gonna get solved by this. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:36.479 So he's down there stealing Christmas, and Cindy Louhu catches him in her house. 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:44.479 And as he's scooting her back to sleep, she says to him, I wish you could celebrate with us tomorrow. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:52.560 We all get together and sing it's so beautiful that if you close your eyes and listen, all of your sadness just goes away. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.199 So she announces something into his miserable life. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:02.479 She says, I wish you, I wish you could be with us. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:09.039 And he's amazed because he hadn't heard anything like that before, that she would want to be with him. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.360 And then she runs toward the Grinch and she hugs him. 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:15.759 And this is the turning point in the movie. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:17.839 Everything changes from this point on. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:24.000 This announcement of welcome, even while he's a mess, and something happens in his heart. 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:26.639 His hard heart is softened. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:32.639 After returning all the Christmas stuff to the people, he says, It was me. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:34.959 I stole your Christmas stuff. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:39.839 I stole it because I thought it would fix something from the past, but it didn't. 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.800 Like we could fix it on our own, that we could be our own saviors. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:54.079 That we're gonna fix ourselves. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:57.360 We're gonna become our own Jesus in this way. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:10.319 Which is incredibly difficult, impossible to do for the insecure sinful self to speak into the insecure, sinful self, forgiveness and meaning. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:13.680 We need a word from outside of ourselves. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:15.600 And that's what we see here with Mary. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:17.519 A word comes to her. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.560 She didn't cause it, she didn't even ask for it. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:21.680 It came to her. 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:23.120 You are greatly favored. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:28.000 And I'm just wondering: not condemnation on you or guilt on you, but grace on you. 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:30.800 Where do you go for that word? 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:34.639 Where do you go for a word of favor? 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:38.000 We are all ordinary people. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:41.120 Unique, unique, but ordinary. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:44.160 And we need an extraordinary word. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:49.439 We're all constantly asking on the inside, even though we dress up pretty good. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:52.959 We're all asking, am I loved? 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:53.600 Do I matter? 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:54.879 Am I enough? 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:58.399 If I was known, do I matter? 00:05:58.879 --> 00:05:59.759 Am I loved? 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:03.600 Could I be loved in my sin, in my mess, and my imperfection? 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:07.439 If God knew me, could he love me? 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:13.600 Well, back in Luke, Mary goes and visits her cousin Elizabeth, and she bursts out in a song. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:15.839 This song is known as the Magnificant. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:19.519 Her entire future is unknown. 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.319 It's been disrupted, and yet Mary sings. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:23.839 Luke 1 46. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:32.240 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:36.879 For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:42.000 For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:49.600 I love what Martin Luther, theologian in the 1500s, 500 years ago, wrote about verse 48. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:55.120 The stress should not be on the low estate, but on the word regarded. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:07:07.920 Mary's low estate is not to be praised, but God's regard, as when a prince gives his hand to a beggar, the meanness of the beggar is not to be praised, but the graciousness and the goodness of the prince. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:17.360 You must not only think and speak of lowliness, but come into it, sink into it, utterly helpless, that God alone may save you. 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:21.600 Or at any rate, should it not happen, you should at least desire it, not shrink. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:32.000 For this reason we are Christians and have the gospel, that we may fall into distress and lowliness, and that God thereby may have his work in us. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:39.360 And this is point number two, as we become aware of our helplessness, we grow secure in God's unmerited love. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:46.319 As we become aware that we're more broken than we originally thought, more sinful than we originally thought, more of a mess than we originally thought. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:48.399 We can't quite get it all together. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:50.000 We can grow secure. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:52.639 We can become secure people and secure Christians. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:56.560 Because God's love to us is secure. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:01.439 It's to say that God's office is at the end of our rope. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:03.199 And isn't that good news? 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.160 Because we all end up at the end of our rope. 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:12.560 In our passage, Mary refers to a prayer of Hannah in the Old Testament from 1 Samuel. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:17.920 Hannah was childless, desperately wanted a baby, and couldn't have one. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:25.120 And then her husband, this moron, he goes and he marries a second wife and has children with her, right? 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:25.920 Moron. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.639 Horrible, what a horrible, what a horrible thing. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:36.240 And if that's not enough, this second wife, let's just call, to be polite, let's just call her a brat of a woman. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:41.679 She begins to mock Hannah and her pain. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:48.720 So Hannah's hurting, she's lonely, the future's unknown, and yet she's resting in the Lord. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:53.360 Because her joy is not in her circumstances, her joy is in the Lord. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:56.879 And we have this beautiful prayer of Hannah's in 1 Samuel. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:00.080 And by the way, one day Hannah's prayer is answered. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.440 And Samuel the prophet is born. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:07.279 So Mary knows this story and this prayer. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:09.600 Listen to just two verses of Hannah's prayer. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:11.120 1 Samuel 2, 1 and 2. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:19.600 And Hannah prayed and said, My heart exalts in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord, my mouth derides my enemies. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:27.279 You know, that other wife, that other woman, my mouth derides my enemies, her, because I rejoice in your salvation. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.440 See, Hannah has nothing, but Hannah has God. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:36.639 It's to say, where do we find our joy? 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:42.399 And does that thing actually deliver? 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.879 Like, is it giving you security, stability? 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:49.200 Is it giving you forgiveness? 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:51.120 Is it giving you righteousness? 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:54.320 Now listen to Mary in Luke 1, verse 50. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:56.399 And this is her singing. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:57.679 I won't sing it. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:59.039 This is her singing. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:02.960 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:04.879 He has shown strength with his arm. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:07.519 He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:11.919 He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:16.799 He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:24.639 He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his offspring forever. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:29.919 Point number three is this we live in God's constant mercy while in a changing world. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:35.519 This is what Mary turns to where she finds her joy in the constancy of God's mercy. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:37.360 It's reliable, secure. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:39.840 I love verse 50 and 51. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:44.000 There's the stability that God's mercy and strength give. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:48.399 Because our world and our individual worlds are constantly changing. 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:55.440 When I went to college a very long time ago, I didn't have an email address. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:58.159 Anybody else didn't have an email address when you went to college? 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.679 They gave us an email address my freshman year of college. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.559 And we had, my friends and I, we had this conversation. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.159 Why in the world would we ever need this? 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:09.600 This was the dumbest. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:12.799 I mean, we this was, you know, we're smart, young, 18-year-old. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:19.679 This is the dumbest idea we had ever heard of that we're gonna go and type messages to each other? 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:21.679 Why would we ever do that? 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.639 I had a brick of a cell phone at that time. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:26.559 I had 30 minutes a month. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:29.279 I thought I was happening. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:31.360 I had a minute a day. 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:34.080 And you had to be fully aware. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:42.879 If you're my age, you knew fully, you're like 50 seconds, and you don't want that to hit 101 because there goes your second minute, there goes tomorrow's minute. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:46.720 I mean, think how different today is. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:49.039 Things change. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.759 Your health was horrible, now your health's better. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:56.720 Finances were tight, now things are better, but things can change the other way. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:58.720 Work was great, now it's tough. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.039 Family was peaceful, now it's chaos. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:03.440 I was great, now I'm a mess. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:04.559 I'm a mess, now I'm great. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:08.480 Now I'm a mess again, but then I become great again, and then I'm filled with a little bit of both, right? 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:13.279 Like things change, and next year something else will change, and we'll have to adapt. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:17.039 And all of that brings anxiety. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:20.799 There's no stability for us. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:24.240 We're always having to adapt and change and learn and keep up. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:31.600 But Advent reminds us this constancy of mercy in a changing world, we have God's mercy. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:33.600 It's constant for us. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:36.480 Listen to Ephesians 2, 4, and 5. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:46.720 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive with Christ. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:48.159 By grace you have been saved. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:59.120 Ligineer Ministries explains God's mercy this way: mercy, unexpected love and generosity, cannot be showered upon us as something owed. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.320 Because mercy that is owed is not mercy but obligation. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:09.519 It can be given only to those in a desperate situation who cannot help themselves and lack the capability to earn or pay it back. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:23.360 And there's no better way to describe our situation apart from Christ than utterly and helplessly desperate, which would be horrible news if Jesus did not come to this world and die for us. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:26.960 That God's office actually is at the end of our rope. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:35.519 That when we become aware that we actually are more hopeless, that we want to admit, that God is right there with us. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:41.759 And the reason why God's office is at the end of our rope is we're just too prideful when we're at the top of our ropes. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:44.399 We have to be broken first. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:51.840 Now, most of the time in this poem, the song, Mary's just describing how how good God is. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:53.039 She's just praising God. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:53.759 I mean, look at it. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:14:00.399 Verse 47, God my Savior, 48, he has looked on me, 49, for he is mighty, holy is his name. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:05.759 50, his mercy, 51, he has shown strength, 52, he humbled the proud. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:07.600 53, he filled the hungry. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:09.440 54, he helped his people. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.000 55, he spoke to us. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:17.440 Mary's response to God's mercy is to praise God. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:21.039 And that's point number four. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:25.440 Growing in praise is gazing more on the promises we have in Christ. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:30.480 Luke weaves praise throughout the early chapters of his gospel. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:31.759 He's making a point. 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:33.919 Mary's shown mercy and she praises. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.639 Chapter 157, Elizabeth gives birth. 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:38.879 She, her neighbors, and family praise God. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:45.200 168 through 72, Zachariah praises God for remembering his covenant to bring a Savior. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.320 Chapter 2, a heavenly host, praise God when Jesus is born. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:50.480 Shepherds praise, as they all seen and hear. 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:52.639 Simeon praises God for the Christ child. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:54.559 And maybe we say, great, fantastic. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:54.960 I get it. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:55.840 I'm supposed to praise God. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:57.679 My life is supposed to be a praise to God. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:14:59.519 How do I do that? 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:08.240 How do I do that when life is hard, busy, when it's a mess, when I'm lonely? 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:11.279 Well, think where it all started. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:11.840 Right? 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.759 We don't get the magnificent if we don't have the annunciation. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:19.360 The announcement becomes before the praise. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:24.159 It all starts with an announcement of favor into the life of an ordinary person. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:27.840 Just a few thoughts of favor that we have in Jesus. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:31.440 In Christ, we are forgiven and righteous, sons and daughters of God. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.480 1 John 1.9, 2 Corinthians 5, 21. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:37.679 This is the gift of forgiveness and righteousness we have. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:43.360 In Christ, we are deemed godly while still becoming godly. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:44.879 Isn't that amazing? 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:47.759 That you are deemed something you haven't even become yet. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:49.600 That's the position you have in Jesus. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:51.600 Titus 2, 11 through 14. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:54.399 This is the freedom we have to grow in Jesus. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:16:00.639 Lastly, in Christ, we are secure, forever accepted, sons and daughters of God. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:01.840 Romans 5.1. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:04.879 This is the security we have as saints. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:11.120 The security we have as sons and daughters of God because of Jesus, not because of our work for Him. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.919 This is announcement from God is clear. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:23.440 And Christian faith becomes about allowing God's unconditional loving regard of us to become the defining word of our lives. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:31.919 In 1898, Henry Tanner, he painted an artwork called The Annunciation of Mary, of this Luke 1. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:38.879 Now, most of the art created from Luke chapter 1 focuses on the magnificant, the praising of God. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:45.360 And it shows Mary's response and it shows Mary very angelic, she's like glowing. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:49.440 And it's nothing like I feel like most days. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:56.399 I've never looked at any of those artworks and thought to myself, boy, that's just a real representation of my inner life. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:01.600 Just glowing, just walking, just glowing, waking up on Tuesday, glowing. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:04.640 That doesn't feel like me. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.480 But this 1898 Henry Tanner created the Enunciation. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:11.200 Here's an image of this painting. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.160 And I love how ordinary she is. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:20.720 It just feels much more like how I feel most days, and I'm gonna guess how you feel. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:24.880 And then there's this disruption of glory and grace. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.519 And you can see the contrast here, right? 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:33.920 The ordinary, lowly Mary, and then this glory, God's greatness. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:35.519 But she isn't ashamed. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:41.200 Like if you look at her face, there's not shame there, there's intrigue. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:44.640 She's captivated in some way. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.480 See, she's receiving before she's praising. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:53.759 You don't get Mary praising without Mary first hearing God's loving regard to her. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:57.039 The annunciation gives us the magnificant. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:03.839 If you want to be a person of praise, which we're called to be, then we become receivers. 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:09.039 We live in postures of receiving who we are in Jesus. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:12.319 And out of that is empowered a life of praise. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:14.960 That you do have an announcement over you. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:19.119 You have a word spoken to you, and it was spoken 2,000 years ago. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.480 The God who created the world came into the world. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:30.480 So we don't have a distant God, but we have a creator who knows us, who knows you, and loves you. 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:37.440 And he taught us and he lived for us, and he died on a cross, took our sin upon him, and gave us his righteousness. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:39.920 So we are forever forgiven and forever righteous. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.400 This is the word spoken to you. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:45.519 Beloved, you may feel ordinary. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:47.359 You most likely do. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:53.359 But you have an extraordinary, an extraordinary word spoken to you. 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:55.920 That in Jesus you are favored. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:00.960 Now, perhaps you're here and you have a question about that, or you have some other spiritual question. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.640 I'll be down front afterwards. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:04.400 I would love to speak to you. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:06.240 Let's pray together. 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:22.079 Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are enough for us for the forgiveness that we need, for the guilt that we hold, for the righteousness we need, for all the self-striving that we put ourselves through. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:24.799 That the gift of Jesus is enough. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:34.319 Help us to embrace even more that we are lowly, more of a mess, more sinful than originally thought, but in Jesus, more love than we could ever dare to dream. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:40.480 Help us to see that we are sons and daughters of God before we are your servants. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:50.799 May we praise you because we live receiving this word spoken to us, the word of relief Christ for us. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:54.559 In Christ's name we pray. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:55.279 Amen.