[0:00] to the Lord's table. So we'll come to God's word, come to the message, then come to the Lord's table this morning. There are many readings that I'm going to be reflecting on in the New Testament, but the main reading I think we'll take from Psalm 2, since that it is the promise of the Son who is to come, and it falls very much in line with their other Old Testament reading of Isaiah 9 in the government shall be upon his shoulders.
[0:43] So Psalm 2, now hear God's word, and then we'll come to God in prayer. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their crowns cords from us. He who sits in the heavens last, the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy heel. I will tell of the decree.
[1:30] The Lord has said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Let me pray. Father God, we know it's all about Jesus. We recognize that Christ is the one whom we worship. We are called to come before you and worship you as the triune God of scripture.
[2:33] Father God, we thank you. We thank you, Father God, that your word tells us what to believe. It tells us how to think. It shows us how we ought to see the world. And so, Father God, we ask this morning that your reading declares the Son who has been given, the one who we must come before and take refuge in.
[2:56] We recognize, Father God, that this Son is the Savior of the world. And so, Father, we ask that as we come, that you would enlighten our minds and change our hearts and bring us to the place where you love us and where you care for us, where we are known, where we are assured of your love and your care for us this day. In Jesus' name, amen.
[3:20] Amen. Every Jew would have heard of truth doesn't work in that way. And so, it doesn't make any sense that the kings of the earth and the nations would set themselves in rage against God. And so, the psalm begins with a question, but it's not a question that's seeking an answer. The question is the answer.
[3:49] Why? Why does this happen? Why do people rage against God? And of course, the question itself is the answer. And the answer is searching your heart to see whether or not that you can truly appreciate the foolishness in rebellion against God. And to warn you that any such rebellion on your part would be a foolish thing to do also. Why does it happen? Given everything that we know about God, given what he has planned and has done in his son, why would you rage against him?
[4:27] Why would you pursue failure? Why would you rebel? Because if you rebel, you cannot remain standing. Why? The why isn't a question seeking an answer. The why is drawing attention to people's foolishness of rejecting the Lord God, their savior. Why do you do it? When you know better, why do you do it? Why do you rebel from the one who can provide you with the refuge you need from God? The lesson behind this question is one that I think that we should make every effort not only to remember, but to remember well and to remember often. And so, I want to perhaps explain my way into this with a few illustrations. The first would be this. The reason we have a Bible study is so that we can grow in our knowledge of God and the world. And what I mean by that is, is that the moment you think studying God's word is independent from what happens in the world, world. Then it becomes very difficult to work out those things which are happening in the world.
[5:43] That while none of us have got the gift of prophecy because that went away with the early church, you know, that's gone. The foundation has been laid. We recognize that we still have the ability to be able to interpret things, to be able to recognize how things in the world are from God. Now, of course, we ought to be able to do this better than what we do. And one of the reasons I think we don't do that well on it is because we sometimes read the world separately from reading the word of God, or we read the word of God and know that it has a connection to the world, but not quite sure what it is.
[6:22] But we, every time we give thanks for our food, why do you do it? Well, I would assume, hopefully, it's because you recognize that this is given to you by God.
[6:34] What you're doing is you're marrying what the word of God teaches with the word world that you live in and recognize that they both have something to do with each other, that one affects the other.
[6:47] And so this question of why, given what you know about God, given what you know that God has done, why would you rage against him? If you're able to work out that God's word always works its way out into God's world, why do you think that you can escape his word in the world?
[7:09] God. And the invitation here is not run as fast as you can because God is going to come and get you, but run as fast as you can to God in order to be saved, to take refuge in him.
[7:27] This is the plea that we make with those who rebel against God, either in small ways or in big ways. God's word works out in God's world.
[7:41] I'll put it in a slightly different way, and I'm sure you can follow me with this. It seems to me that if you get on a plane to London, you will end up in London.
[7:56] Now, it doesn't seem all that difficult. And therefore, it follows that if God speaks his word into his world, then what he speaks is going to turn up in his world.
[8:08] That if you get on a plane to London, you're going to end up in London. And yet, of course, this is the very connection, this simple connection that so many people fail to see.
[8:20] That if God has promised that he's going to send his son into the world, at some point his son is going to come into the world. That if God has promised that he's going to send a savior in which you can take refuge in, so that you no longer have to rebel against God, because God's not rebelling against you.
[8:36] He's sending his son to bring you to him. And the son that we come to is one that we worship. So the why is not a question that's looking for an answer.
[8:49] The why is the answer. Why do you do it? You can think of those that you know and love. And it puzzles you.
[9:00] Why? Why, after everything that I have told you, everything that I've told you about God and his son, why do you still refuse? Why do you still?
[9:11] And you know that your why is not a why that's looking for an answer. It's a why that is brought to you out of the clarity of their foolishness, out of the clarity of just how foolish they are being.
[9:25] You're not looking for an answer. You're expressing reality. And so God's invitation is this. Kiss the son.
[9:38] Worship him. Bow before him. And so this psalm, like the birth narrative, allows us to see that the king has come. And with the king having come, the kingdom has come.
[9:51] The government shall be upon his shoulders. That God is the defender of his kingdom. And the king is the one through whom the blessings will come.
[10:01] The king is the savior. The king is the son. The king is the one whom we take refuge in. And so the kind of rebellion that people have, in whatever form it may appear, cannot stand against the king who is to come.
[10:19] In many ways, God has his hand on the forehead of children swinging their arms at him. And as this child is lashing out at God, though never being able to reach him because God's hand is too strong and too long, that what God is wanting is for that child to surrender so that he can then be brought into the arms of God.
[10:44] That's Psalm 2. Stop flailing. Stop swinging your arms around. Stop and listen. Surrender.
[10:54] And the moment they surrender, God doesn't raise up his arms, but actually wraps his arms around. That's the invitation of Psalm 2. Kiss the son and be blessed and take refuge in him.
[11:10] And so we can appreciate what it means to be able to look at a baby, a human baby, and understand that we're not breaking any commands as we bow in worship before him.
[11:23] That is, we recognize that this is our God, our Savior, that indeed, this is our King, and the kingdom has come. That our relationship with God is dependent, is contingent on our relationship with the Son.
[11:40] That everything, everything, everything, in our relationship with God depends on our relationship with his Son. And so the question must be asked is, if we are to take refuge in the Son, what are we taking refuge from?
[11:58] If we're seeking shelter from the storm in a house, it's very clear what we're sheltering from. You know, you've been out, you're walking down the street, and suddenly this great thunderstorm and rain comes, and you perhaps run into the nearest shop without any intention to buy something, but just to show you want to keep dry.
[12:18] Or you go under the nearest shelter. It's very clear what you're doing. You're taking shelter from something. So what is it here that God is encouraging us to take refuge in Jesus from?
[12:32] And of course, it is from the Son. We take refuge in the Son from the Son, from the judge of all the earth, from the one who will judge both the living and the dead.
[12:47] In the same way, we look at the cross and understand that by being in the Son, we are protected from the wrath of God. We are protected from the world, of course, but we're actually protected from God's wrath.
[13:02] And this is the invitation. That what God is saying to the world is that the way to be protected from me, that it is dangerous to meet God without first belonging to Jesus, is to actually come to me in the person of my Son.
[13:21] It is to lay your life down and to worship the Lord, to worship Jesus. And so the right response, the only response, is to worship Christ, to repent, to believe, to turn to him.
[13:40] That what God is giving to the world the day he gave his Son is protection from the wrath of God to come. Well, here's the conclusion.
[13:54] The church is made up of those who worship the Lord their God. The church is made up of those who have been blessed with refuge, that nothing can touch us.
[14:07] Nothing can touch us. There is nothing in the world that can touch us that can bring us to an end. And there is nothing in God that can touch us that can bring us to the end because in God, we are protected from both.
[14:19] We are protected from his wrath and we are protected from every enemy of God that currently exists in this present world. And therefore, to kiss the Son is to bow before your King.
[14:34] To kiss the Son is to come to Christ, the Savior, and worship him. In other words, he has his place, we have ours, and we know our place before him because he is the King.
[14:49] He is the Lord. And so come and worship your King. Amen. Well, as we come to communion this morning, we'll be led into it with this next carol.
[15:11] And as you know from now, hopefully, we will just do communion as we've normally done, starting on this side, Ian and Celia, and then crossing over until we get to the back.
[15:25] Thank you. Thank you, Phil. Thank you. O come, ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come, ye, O come, ye to Bethlehem.
[15:57] O come, ye to Bethlehem. Come and be haunt here, born the King of angels. O come, let us adore him.
[16:11] O come, let us adore him. O come, let us adore him. Christ the Lord.
[16:25] Lord, O come, let us adore him. Lord, Lord, light of light, Lord, he oppose not the burden too.
[16:45] O come, let us adore him.
[17:15] Sing, chorus of angels. Sing in exultation. Sing, holy citizens of heaven.
[17:31] Glory to God in the highest.
[17:43] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[17:57] Christ the Lord. May God be grateful for this happy morning.
[18:13] Jesus, to be your Savior. Lord of the Father, now in passion here.
[18:31] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[18:45] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[19:02] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[19:13] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. which means, according to God's word, that you are no longer your own, but you're his. There is nothing better than to be God's possession, however much it may frustrate us at times, that God will do everything according to his will and not ours.
[19:34] But there is no better place than to be in the possession of God. It's the very definition of refuge. And so you are the children of God, and therefore you have a right to eat at his table and to drink at his table.
[19:49] And so as we come to eat and drink this morning, we do so in light of the second advent of when Christ will return. So please remember that as you come, take a cup, take the bread, and we will eat and drink together.
[20:08] Thank you. Thank you.
[20:43] Thank you. Thank you.
[20:56] Thank you.
[21:26] Thank you.
[21:56] Thank you.
[22:26] Thank you.
[22:56] Thank you.
[23:26] Thank you.
[23:56] Thank you.
[24:26] Thank you.
[24:56] Thank you.
[25:26] Thank you.
[25:56] Thank you.
[26:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[27:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[28:26] Thank you.
[28:56] Thank you. Thank you.
[29:56] Thank you. Thank you.
[30:28] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[31:00] Thank you. Thank you.
[32:00] Thank you. Thank you.
[33:00] Thank you. Thank you.
[34:00] Thank you. Thank you.
[35:00] Thank you. Thank you.
[36:00] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[36:32] Our God says There is hope In your name You rule the world with truth and grace And make the nations prove The glories of your righteousness The wonders of your love The wonders of your love The wonders, wonders of your love Hear the joyful sound of our offering As the saints bow down As your people sing We will rise with you
[37:34] Lifted on your wings And the world will see that Our God says Our God says There is hope In your name Morning turns To songs of praise Our God says Our God says Yeah Oh Joy to the world
[38:49] The Lord is come Joy to the world The Lord is come Joy to the world The Lord is come Joy to the world You rule the world With truth and grace You rule the world With truth and grace To His name To a andна And stack The Lord is come Would y in the life Say To your profilingõe To a andna To a andna O come on ye faithful
[40:01] Joyful and triumphant O come ye, O come ye To their friends Come and behold him Born the King of angels O come let us adore him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him We am Christ the Lord Sing, quarts of angels
[41:11] Sing in exaltation Sing, holy See the sins of hate Glory to God Glory in the highest Christ, O come let us adore him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him
[42:18] O come let us adore him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him We worship Christ the Lord And we will come and adore We worship Christ the Lord And we will come and adore We worship Christ the Lord And we will come and adore And we will come and adore We worship Christ the Lord And we will come and adore We worship Christ the Lord
[43:24] And we will come and adore We worship Christ the Lord Yang one we grieve thee We greet Thee on this happy morning.
[43:50] Jesus, to Thee be all glory.
[44:02] Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
[44:17] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[44:31] O come, let us adore Him. Christ the Lord.
[44:44] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[44:57] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[45:11] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[45:25] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[45:39] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[45:53] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[46:04] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[46:18] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[46:32] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[46:44] O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him.
[46:58] O come, let us adore Him. He is Christ the Lord.
[47:33] O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here.
[48:01] Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel.
[48:31] O come, desire of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind.
[48:46] Be thou our sad division cease, and be thyself our King of Peace.
[49:04] Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel.
[49:20] Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel.
[49:42] Rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee.
[50:12] Rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee. Rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee. Rejoice, Emmanuel, shall come to thee.
[50:24] Red the night wind to the little lamb. Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb.
[50:39] Do you see what I see? A star, a star Dancing in the night With a tail as big as a kite With a tail as big as a kite Mm, yeah Say the little lamb to the shepherd boy Do you hear what I hear?
[51:16] Bringing through the sky shepherd boy Do you hear what I hear? A star, a star High above the trees With a voice as big as the sea With a voice as big as the sea Yeah, yeah Send a shepherd boy to the mighty king Do you know what I know?
[51:57] In your palace, almighty king Do you know what I know?
[52:09] Oh, a child, a child Shivers in the cold Let us bring him silver and gold Oh, let us bring him silver and gold Come on now Gonna bring him silver Do you know what I know?
[52:35] Oh, a child, a child Send the king to the people everywhere Listen to what I say Listen to what I say Pray for peace People live Listen to what I say Hey, the child The child, a child Sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light He will bring us so much goodness and light presidents All revive
[53:39] You You . . .
[53:50] . .
[54:00] . . . . . .
[54:14] . . . Thank you.
[54:46] Thank you.
[55:16] Thank you. Thank you.
[56:16] Thank you. Thank you.
[56:48] Thank you. Thank you.
[57:48] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[58:00] Thank you. We'll be right back.
[58:54] We'll be right back.
[59:24] We'll be right back.
[59:54] We'll be right back.
[60:24] We'll be right back.
[60:54] We'll be right back.
[61:24] We'll be right back.
[61:54] We'll be right back.
[62:24] We'll be right back.
[62:54] We'll be right back.
[63:24] We'll be right back.
[63:54] Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Well, good morning.
[64:09] Well, good morning. Let's go.
[64:24] Well, good morning. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Okay. We're going to be right. We're going to be right. We're going to be right. We're going to be right. I don't know.
[64:35] I don't know. I don't know. Gordon Taylor. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. We're going to be right. but we're going to be right. We're going to be right. I don't know.
[64:46] We're going to be right. to present our whole selves and to do so, we will be brought to God in worship with the very words of God himself.
[64:59] This is taken from one of the Psalms, Psalm 56, saying, Look before God in the light of life.
[65:35] Let me pray for us this morning. We have some carols, which is great, so we have the opportunity to listen to something a little different, a little bit more seasonal, I guess, is probably the best way to put that.
[65:50] Father God, we would ask this morning that you would bless and keep your congregation here, that you would love and care for them, that I would ask, Father God, that as we seek to follow you, that you would give us great counsel and guidance as we do.
[66:07] Allow us to see that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and Father God, cause us to follow him all our days. In Jesus' name, amen.
[66:20] Amen. Well, let's listen to our first carol for this morning. God and sinners reconciled.
[66:55] Joyful, all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies. With angelic hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem.
[67:13] Hark, the herald angels sing, Glory to the blue-born King. Christ, my highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord, Late in time behold him come, Offspring are the virgin's womb.
[67:45] Veiled in blessed, O Godhead sing, Hail the incarnate deity. Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
[68:04] Hark, the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King. Hail, the herald angels sing, Hail the heaven, born Prince of Peace, Hail the Son of Righteousness, Light and life to holy Prince, Risen with healing in his peace.
[68:36] Mild he lays his glory by, All that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of God, Born to give them second love, Hark, the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.
[69:04] I said in the first service, it seems a little odd that, especially with carols, perhaps more than other songs, just we should be singing these, shouldn't we?
[69:24] We should be singing these nice and loud. Yes, that's great. Now, can I just say that if you're able to make it here next week on, whatever next Sunday is, 20th, I encourage you because there's next Sunday, it's very different because, as you know, this is the last week in crew, the last week in Sunday school, because next week is different.
[69:49] You get to receive something if you're here. We're not going to tell you what it is. And you also get to see something which is a little different. It's going to be, hopefully, as best as we can, a blessing for the whole church, an encouragement, and just something different, something, again, in many ways, brought to the church by the whole church.
[70:12] So, please remember to come next week, not just to receive something, though you will. If you don't, then I just, me and Paul said that we'd have them between us.
[70:26] More of them. More of them. Well, I'm going to pray, and then I think, will the Sunday school go out, simply because, if the Sunday school can go out first again, simply because I think they need to do a few things out there, and probably need more time.
[70:47] So, let me pray, and then the crew can leave after. Father God, I ask that you would bless the children, from the youngest to the oldest, those in Sunday school, and those in crew, those in creche.
[70:59] Love them, and care for them. Father God, show them Jesus, and show them that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and to trust him is to do the very best thing in the world.
[71:10] So, help them, and guide them, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay. I'm not too sure where Susan is, Gordon, to be, didn't she?
[71:22] She's already in the hall. Okay. Yep, okay.
[71:38] If that's okay, just so they can go, yeah. Yeah. Okay.
[72:00] Kez, did it make you work to Sunday school? Yeah. Ready when you are, Jack? Crew, yeah.
[72:21] And crew. And Daniel, yeah. Thanks, Daniel. Thank you. Thank you.
[72:55] So, there were 200 of these cards this morning, and I think there are only a few, a few left. So, if I can encourage you, I think they're still, I think they're still in the box on the purple chair, are they?
[73:13] 16. Yeah, 16. Still there. Carol's spraying them individually, look. She's got her spray in her hand. It's very thorough, Carol, to individually sanitize each one.
[73:29] If you're able to take them, inside there's a short message from the church to, well, to the people who receive the card. Written by Gerald.
[73:41] Gerald's very, very good at writing things out. And then, of course, on the other side is a QR code which you can scan on which there will be a message from me to the people that you give it to.
[73:53] The message is simply a greeting more than anything else to, to sort of, to say, have a happy Christmas, a great new year. I speak about two and a half minutes on Advent and then finish with have a great Christmas and a great new year.
[74:09] I even asked permission for them to listen but the video, as you'll see, there's nothing else on the page. It is just a video on the page.
[74:22] On top of the page, it will say Advent but it's, there's nothing else around it. It is, they just get taken to basically a blank page with a video on and so, if you're able to hand these out as a means of facilitating the gospel, that would be great.
[74:39] As I said last week, I understand that you may not be all that forward in sharing the gospel yourself but if you're able to facilitate the sharing of the gospel by handing these cards out and, and if someone says they wanted to know more then you could perhaps, perhaps just say, well, there is a course called, or an introduction to knowing God in the Christian faith which that man runs.
[75:11] So you could, something like that, I don't know. But, but yeah, there's only 16 left so if you can take, only take the ones that you know that you can definitely hand on and give, that would be, that would be really, really great.
[75:26] this is not a notice but this is an item for the church to know as the first service knew.
[75:39] I'll share it again with the second. In many ways, this is one of the drawbacks of perhaps different people coming to different services but you'll know that Carrie has passed away and as I said in the first service that while we, while we know and we know all the right things, we know, we know exactly everything that God has done for her and where she is but of course the church was very much muted this morning and I expect it to very much be muted now.
[76:19] something like this doesn't put any of us I think in, in a place where we're necessarily joyful.
[76:32] You know, we rejoice with those who rejoice and we sorrow with those who sorrow and this just happens to be one of those times and there's nothing wrong with that to come to church and be sad and sorrowful and that is something to recognize and look, we all know that Carrie was loved by you.
[76:54] She's clearly loved by the Lord and she's gone to be with him and we simply have to wait our time until we see all these good people that have gone to be with the Lord over these past year, 18 months, two years.
[77:09] There's been a lot of wonderful people in this church that have passed and gone to be with the Lord and it's not been easy so I'm going to pray for you as I pray for the first service that God would just steady your heart or to put it in the words of Elizabeth Elliot to give you a quiet heart that you would just know God's presence and Father, I would ask on behalf of your people and for myself that you would give them a quiet heart that you would give them peace and also for the children in the church who knew Carrie who played with Carrie and Carrie who played with the children and Father God that they've been hit by the loss of her as well and I ask that you would protect their young hearts and give them a quiet and steady and peaceful heart full of assurance that as they think about the passing of Carrie that she has gone to be with you and that she's not here but she is in a wonderful place and position because of what you did for her so Father God
[78:25] I ask for your people that you would love them and care for them and steady their heart at this time of mourning and sorrow but also rejoicing at the fact that your promises always prevail and that Carrie is absent from the body and present with you and for this we do not rejoice as those without hope we do not sorrow as those without hope but we have that rejoicing because of that hope in Christ Jesus Amen Amen Well it is communion this morning and we will come to communion so we need to do things just a little differently but I don't want to overrun the readings that we have this morning because they they sort of play into both messages and both studies as it were the first Old Testament reading or for this case the only Old Testament reading the next reading is from the New Testament reminds us of who it is that is coming to the world taken from Isaiah 9 we read for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called
[79:43] Wonderful Counselor Mighty God Everlasting Father Prince of Peace of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this and in Isaiah 9 what Isaiah is introducing the people of God to and it's something that I think we perhaps need to remember at this time more than ever is that there is a difference between government and politics that often the church and people today link the two together as if they are the same that the government and politics they're really not the same politics is really the discourse between policies but the government is the rule and the rule belongs as in the ruling power the governing power belongs to the one who has come
[80:53] Christ Jesus and so the outlook that Isaiah is seeking to give to his people and this is an outlook that you will find all the way through Proverbs Proverbs is often referred to as a very practical book it's rather a book that teaches how to develop a person if you want to make a person how you make a person where's the manual for making people well Proverbs is the manual that God gave us for making people at least the people he wants them to be and often in Proverbs we have to have our mind altered by God's word to remind us that what we see in the world is often not what is real it is it doesn't reflect what is truly happening as it were behind the scene and of course as you read Revelation the next we get to see the scenes that are about to take place on earth we are standing in God's word backstage as it were knowing what the next scene is going to be where everyone else in the world only gets to see it as it happens and that's the privileged position of knowing that the government belongs to God and knowing that his government is one that has been revealed to the people of God we know what's coming next and that's why when we eat of this bread and drink of this cup we proclaim his death until he comes we're doing it in the light of what we know is going to happen in the future so if I can turn your attention to the second reading for this morning as we come to our reflection and then as we come to the table this is found in Luke chapter 1 verse 46 to 55 often known as the
[82:48] Magnificat or Mary's Song so Luke chapter 1 verse 46 through to verse 55 and Mary said my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant for behold from now on all generations will call me blessed for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation he has shown strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away he has helped his servant
[84:04] Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers to Abraham and to his offspring forever well one of the benefits I think in being able to share in the same lessons that crew are doing or crew are sharing in almost the same lesson that we have in here it's the same passage it's tailored a little differently for them because we like to encourage discussion in crew to look at the passage discuss and to sort of iron sharpens iron as the scriptures say to sort of build one another up and in the same way we perhaps could do the same in here what is absolutely remarkable about Mary's magnificat or Mary's song is that we have to go back again to Genesis the reason for this is because we need to figure out who Mary is now it's very clear who Mary is in in the line of scripture it's very clear that she's a very poor woman as we understood last week and Joseph also is very they're just a very poor family and you know they're a young couple but who is she that God would decide to bring forth a savior into the world through her and the answer is from
[85:36] Mary's own mouth is that she like everyone else is someone who needs to be saved and so she begins my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior Mary is in need of salvation like everyone else and this is a reminder of how God does things now what is the beauty of this well the beauty is that if you read the book of Genesis every now and then in the gospel in the gen in the first three chapters spanners are thrown into the works to make us question why are why are things done the way that they are and if you will read Proverbs you can understand that we need a certain amount of wisdom to understand things and the mistake that the Adam and Eve made was that they were trying to do things of trying to get things ahead of time and this is why children often look at parents as those parents as people who have limitless freedom they can eat what they like when they want they can go to bed when they want and they don't understand why they live under constraints and this is part of growing up and Adam and Eve were trying to grab for that parental freedom which is not really a freedom it only looks like that from immaturity they don't see the responsibility all they see is the sort of freedom you get to do this you get to do that and of course
[87:23] Adam and Eve tried to grab for that ahead of time and that's why it all went wrong what is surprising is after they sinned everything died everything now is under a curse of God and as you know that Adam blames God for the fall he's he he when God questions Adam he turns to God and says well the woman you gave me most people think it's funny that he blames his wife he doesn't actually blame his wife at all he blames God for giving him a wife that's the that was the so it wasn't a this is a it's all the woman's fault it's much more serious than that he's saying God this is all your fault you're the one who gave her to me but then as you read the account Adam does something unusual and that is he calls his wife because up to this point she doesn't have a name right you have man and you have woman and
[88:27] Adam simply means man it means mankind that's where we get the name Adam from but then he calls her Eve and which is a very odd name to call his wife when she has brought death into the world and he's brought death into the world through disobedience because Eve means the mother of all living so how is it that Adam can have the confidence and the assurance to be able to come before God and call his wife Eve the mother of all living when everything is dying when the wages of sin is death when the curse is death when the ground is how can he then where does he get the it almost seems outrageous that he would call his wife Eve and of course she is a type of the one who is to come now we have seen over the past few weeks that there's no salvation without representation that either we are represented by the first Adam or we are represented by the last
[89:42] Adam Christ we are either fallen and unsaved in Adam or we are saved and redeemed and forgiven in Christ and okay so well if that's the type with Adam is there a type with Eve and the answer is yeah because Eve for Eve to be the mother of all living she has to be able to produce something which then gives life and of course the first Eve cannot do that but the first Eve is given the promise that through her the Saviour would be born of the seed of a woman and it is through Eve that Mary comes who is the second Eve that then gives birth to the Saviour of the world that then gives now we can understand why she's the mother of all living now we can understand what God is trying to tell us in in giving us Mary a virgin why is Mary the virgin so important well it is because that in the same way
[90:53] Adam came into this world he came into this world without a human father so would Christ he would be born of the seed of a woman that was the promise and so Mary is the new Eve Mary is the mother of all living and she is the mother of all living because natural birth from natural parents only leads to death it's a terrible thought to think that you give birth to a child and or you yourself have been born into a world that you then grow up to know that you're going to pass away and that's because we live in a fallen world and God has to do something if that's going to be sorted out then life has to be injected life has to come and so Mary is the new Eve Mary is the one who will be the mother of all living Eve is the type of the one who is to come and she will bring the
[92:01] Savior the seed into the world now the other thing that we notice about Mary's prayer here or Mary's song is that it's almost a direct parallel with Hannah's prayer I mean this is a woman who understands her Bible incredibly well I mean if you were to read back in 1 Samuel and you look at Hannah's prayer when Hannah prays she says this my heart exalts in the Lord my horn is exalted in the Lord my mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation Mary says my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior there's this direct parallel between Mary and Hannah and the reason there's a parallel between Mary and Hannah it is because Hannah understood which is what every parent should understand regardless of of of regardless of who you are is that every child that is born into the world doesn't ultimately belong to parents they belong to the
[93:16] Lord so every okay this is so so important so every child we think well this is a product of our doing and it really isn't because what Mary understands this is what Hannah understands is that actually that children we are only stewards of what God gives us and Hannah understood that that she was only a steward of what God gave her and sometimes we put tremendous weight behind the ideas that this is of our doing and it really isn't we have to be reminded that everything is of the Lord's doing and we are stewards and God uses us to steward both ourselves and the lives of others and the and the lives of those that he gives us and so I've met a few people as perhaps you have who have in many ways adopted old people who are on their own that don't have any children to look after them and so they now have someone else's children who then look after them and this is what we look at as stewardship and so
[94:35] Mary understands as did Hannah understand this principle of stewardship that we don't they don't think in terms of my right or this is mine but we are all vehicles we are all vessels in which the Lord uses and the Lord uses us in different ways for different purposes but there is no advantage to any one of us we're just different types of stewards and so as the Lord as Mary magnifies the Lord her God draws attention to God is what she is what she is doing here she's drawing attention to the fact that she is nothing more or very much so a servant of the Lord that the Lord's purposes will be served in the world through her and that in many ways is what we all are if we think of ourselves properly before
[95:35] God we are stewards and servants of the Lord doing what the Lord would have done and so the one who comes into the world Christ the saviour is one who comes into the world by the initiative of God in the same way the first Adam came into the world via the initiative of God and was then stewarded by God's laws and purposes and plans he rebelled of course the second Adam the last Adam would be brought into the world and he would be looked after by Eve the new Eve Mary and Mary would understand that this child when she heard what was spoken of him would be a light to the Gentiles and glory to his people Israel that he would be the very one who would bring salvation in other words he she really is the mother of all living she really is the one who has brought life into the world as a steward of
[96:46] God it is Christ who gives life but Christ came into the world through Mary and this is really the proper way that we are meant to think of Mary Mary throughout history has been thought of in ways that are not consistent with scripture that she was sinless that not only was she sinless she didn't die but that she just was assumed into heaven which is what Catholics believe at least Catholics who hold to Catholicism would believe and of and of course she didn't have any other children after Jesus and of course we would strongly disagree with that because that is not what the scriptures teach so Mary though will be remembered as she is being remembered here she has to be remembered rightly that she is the she is the second
[97:46] Eve she is the one who will be used by God to bring one into the world without the initiative of man just like the first Adam because the focus is not on them but actually on the one who is to come it's on God's promises being fulfilled so number one as in a point she draws attention to God she draws their attention by this idea of magnification doesn't make something appear as if it wasn't there before but rather draws her attention by enlarging what is there in the same way a magnifying glass does Mary in verse 48 considers her humble estate that she knows what God has done for her and for the generations that will follow that they will call her blessed because we're remembering her not because she is different than any other woman but that she has been set aside to serve a particular purpose of
[98:49] God at this present at that present time and also verses 50 through to 55 that through this promised one Mary is able to understand that God will fulfill his promises but she speaks as though he already has so verse 51 he has verse 52 he has verse 53 he has verse 54 he has but he has done none of these things at least not yet but Mary understanding what the promise means of the coming Messiah that she's able to speak in a way that by the very arrival by the very birth of Jesus we can say that all of these other things that are now completed they are a done deal they are fulfilled there is nothing that we need to now live in anxious about as if we're not sure they're going to turn no Mary understands that with the coming of the
[99:50] Messiah all of these other things will also be true as we said in the first service that every promise of God is yes and amen in Christ Jesus meaning that we're able to say with certainty that not only has God fulfilled all those things in the past but he has come he has saved he has rescued us from the judgment of God to come which is a very strange thing to say that the greatest problem that faces this world is the coming judgment but God has rescued us from that judgment well how has he if it hasn't come yet but we can speak in the has we can speak in the past tense because we recognize the accomplishment of Christ we recognize that all living all life is in this person of Jesus so here's a few here's a few lessons just as we come into communion as well the first thing is that while this is a very personal account of
[100:52] Mary and that we can listen to her song it is unique but it's not so unique that it is unique in the fact that she is a virgin the conception happened via the Holy Spirit and she brought a son into the world as a steward but that would be the same for all of her other children and it would be the same for Hannah's children as well what Mary is showing us here is that she though the mother the human mother as it were of God that she is indeed in need of saving she calls God her savior she doesn't put herself in any other position than one who needs redemption herself the other thing here is that while it is true that God is saving us from our sins and we can say that the focus here is not actually being saved from our sin the focus here is that
[101:58] Jesus has come yes to save us from our sin but Jesus has come to bring a kingdom with him Mary understood this that this is we think that God's perhaps kingdom doesn't encapsulate the whole world that there's a worldly kingdom that there's like two kingdoms and history has shown that Christians have believed in like a two kingdom theology and one has nothing to do with the other I don't think this is true for the simple reason that we know in Matthew 13 that the wheat and the tares they grow together in the same place that the Christian kingdom is in the place where we have the unbelievers existing at the same time and Mary understands that this is something that is going to change everything that this has altered everything now with the king having come so it's not just a savior but a kingdom because of what is promised now this allows us to understand one thing at least that we must get our head around and that is what you may feel may be contrary to what
[103:10] God is actually telling you so it may not feel as if you live in a world where God controls things to your benefit and then the follow-on from that is well if God doesn't control things to benefit me then I then fall into the trap of thinking that God may not actually be in control of things that are out in the world because if he were why doesn't he do things and the illustration that I've often tried to use to point this out is that everything has to be seen in the right frame so if I asked you 10 o'clock this morning can you go outside or 10 o'clock on the summer's day in the morning or 12 in the afternoon or whatever it may be it doesn't matter to go outside and look at the stars you would say I can I need to the stars can only be seen at a particular time in other words it takes the right conditions to be able to see the right to see what you're trying to tell me and so what
[104:20] Mary's song allows us to do it's basically showing us the stars at night time and what I mean by that is is that the things that it is telling us we can only see by faith so in the same way it takes night time to see the stars it takes faith in God to see what Mary is singing to see what Mary is saying and so it's totally understandable why things cannot be seen because even the disciples struggled with faith the reason they didn't get it is because Jesus as Jesus pointed out why he rebuked them on several occasions for their lack of faith faith is what allows us to see what God says to be true and it allows us to see it in such a way we were actually convinced by what we're being told because if we weren't convinced by it then we wouldn't be able to live by it we have to be convinced by what we're told or we won't have any commitment to it we won't share any the reason people is because they're not convinced by what they hear they they've read it they've understood it heard sermons illustrations coloring in books whatever it is to get the point across but if the conviction doesn't come then the commitment doesn't follow and so
[105:53] God I'll close with this God shows mercy to us and mercy to the world but he shows us this in the same way he shows us stars he does it at night time and these things can only be appreciated in its full capacity in the act of faith before God that we get to see what God is saying with the blessing of faith and faith is simply hearing God's word receiving God's word and that produces faith in us in the same way that when you explain something to someone and they say just quite casually I see what you're saying now I see what you're saying well how can an explanation cause you to see well because you know and I know that that any explanation that enlightens the mind changes the heart it changes our whole being that it has to make a difference to the way we think and feel and everything and so
[106:59] God gives us his word because it is impossible to follow Jesus without a renewed mind without being able to see and so we see by hearing not by seeing we see by hearing that's how God has designed his people to see by hearing which is very opposite to the way we do it down here but that is how it works with God so if you want to see more if you want your children to see more then they have to hear more because sight comes from sound it comes from words it comes from God's word Amen Well we're going to come to this next carol before we come to the table and I'll lead us into it after that point come ye faithful joyful and triumphant
[108:17] O come ye O come ye to Bethlehem come come and be warned here born the king of angels O come let us adore him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him Christ belong God O God light of light Lord he oppose not the virgin too Mary God be
[109:19] God and not created O come let us adore him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him Christ the Lord sing choirs of angels sing in exultation sing holy citizens of heaven glory to God in the highest O come let us adore him O come let us adore you
[110:21] O come let us adore him Christ the Lord Lord let us pray on this happy morning Jesus to be your King Lord of the Father now in Christ the Lord come let us adore him O come let us adore him O come let us adore him Christ the Lord Lord come as you come to the table this morning remind yourselves that you are sons and daughters of God you have been bought with a price and therefore the scriptures declares that you are not your own you belong and that sense of belonging is this very place of refuge it is the place where
[111:56] God has you and keeps you safe and because you are sons and daughters you are welcome to eat and drink at the Father's table and as you eat and drink at the Father's table we do so recognizing that this is of spiritual significance that this is not simply a memorial this is not simply an act of remembrance but it is an act of remembering in Christ and that Christ will come that we do this in the new covenant in his blood and we do so doing it remembering that that was accomplished by Christ so what I would like us to do is that if we can come starting with Johnson and Maureen if we can come to the table from you first what I would like us to do is take a cup and the bread and what we'll do is we'll eat and drink together and we will hear the words that Jesus speaks that have been handed down as leading us into our eating and drinking together so if you would like to come to the table first please and then just take it back to your seats you can take them off Johnson and yeah the bread's underneath in little cups yep you can yeah
[113:13] I'll take these off things each have to go back Ooooh Thank you.
[114:06] Thank you.
[114:36] Thank you.
[115:06] Thank you.
[115:36] Thank you.
[116:06] Thank you.
[116:36] Thank you.
[117:06] Thank you.
[117:36] Thank you.
[118:06] Thank you.
[118:36] Well, what we'll do is before we come to the exhortation, I think Sunday school, they might be finishing on time. It's hard to say. They've got always a bit to do over these last couple of weeks. We'll listen to this hymn.
[119:16] Gloria, Gloria, in excelsis, shepherds, Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
[120:21] In ex-Chelsea's day. Come to Bethlehem and sing him whose birthday angels sing.
[120:40] Commodore, unbend with me Christ the Lord, the new King Gloria In excelsis Deo Gloria In excelsis Deo Sing in a major race Loon the flies of angels praise Mary Joseph, let your aid While our hearts in love remains Gloria In excelsis Deo
[121:44] Gloria In excelsis Deo Let's remember that the King that came, the son that Mary gave birth to, is one who is to be worshipped and adored.
[122:23] He is our savior and Mary as the mother of all living is not a reference as much to her, but is the one who brings life to all. And so the one who brings life is the one who also brings peace with God.
[122:38] And may that peace, the peace which surpasses all understanding, guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen. Well, as you parents who know the procedure when it comes to the children, if I can also remind you, if you can pick these cups up and dispose of them in the bin on your way out, just makes it easy on everyone when it comes to...
[123:05] Thank you so much, the one I love, my word the code says.
[123:18] Please come to stand for a while, take the wine hour and reallymemetry to koydneteer. The people have a wonderful baby Region Nются at the scene in the t chest .