WEBVTT 00:00:00.220 --> 00:00:06.020 Okay, well thanks Ben. Great to see you this morning folks. Wonderful to welcome some new people as well. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:10.800 It is so lovely to have you. Why don't you turn back to that passage in Luke chapter 1. 00:00:11.900 --> 00:00:17.059 And here's what we're going to be doing over the next couple of weeks as we build up to Christmas as a church family. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:23.820 Is we're going to be thinking about some of the songs that we find in the Bible at the very first Christmas. 00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:29.960 Because songs are really so much part of the reason why we love this time of year. 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:38.179 You know I'll admit to having a little blast in the office this week when no one was around to mock of Last Christmas by Wham. 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:42.620 Consistently voted the number one Christmas song in our culture. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:44.980 And I'll take you on if you want to argue with that. 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:49.400 But we love songs at this time of year, don't we? We love songs. 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:53.320 But I love this song in particular. It's got this line, you know the chorus. 00:00:53.480 --> 00:00:57.019 Last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day you gave it away. 00:00:57.020 --> 00:01:01.300 This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special. 00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:05.659 And what's funny when you think about the lyrics to that song is apart from that one line at the beginning, 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:08.659 it's got really very little to do with Christmas. 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:19.120 The reason George Michael wrote it was because there was a person who came into his life at that time of year who broke their promises to him. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:23.439 And we can kind of identify with what he's talking about. 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:29.760 I mean, our lives are full, aren't they, of people over-promising yet under-delivering. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:37.859 You know, the politician who promised you the world, got your vote and then didn't deliver on the thing that they said they were going to do. 00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:43.480 The car mechanic who promised you a price only for it to rise and rise with each phone call that they made to you. 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:49.660 That friend who arranged to meet you for a coffee but who cancelled at the very last minute. 00:01:49.659 --> 00:01:55.159 I wonder for how many of us here today, the most painful bits of this past year as we look back, 00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:00.700 were based upon the fact that people broke their words. 00:02:01.819 --> 00:02:08.400 Or maybe the flip side of it, maybe it's the guilt and the shame that you feel this morning because we were that person. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:15.240 And I think that's why this message that resounds from this song today, the first one we're going to be thinking about, 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.599 is such good news for all of us. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:24.939 Because let me take you from a man singing a Christmas song about a person who broke their promises 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:30.120 to a young woman singing a Christmas song about the God who keeps his. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:35.960 And here's what struck me afresh about this passage, maybe devotionally this week. 00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:41.200 There's an awful lot of joy in this passage. 00:02:42.460 --> 00:02:46.260 And my question I was asking myself this week is, where does that joy come from? 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:48.920 And here's why that's maybe important. 00:02:49.920 --> 00:02:54.800 I'd imagine I'd take an educated guess that for the vast majority of us here, 00:02:55.860 --> 00:03:01.400 the thought of this time of year actually brings more dread than it does excitement. 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:06.640 You know, for us speaking personally as a family, it was this time last year and the week before Christmas 00:03:06.640 --> 00:03:08.620 where my uncle suddenly died. 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:11.379 Really suddenly, no one saw it coming. 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:18.599 And so for every Christmas from here on in, for us as a family, this is a really bittersweet time of year. 00:03:19.939 --> 00:03:24.360 And I know for so many of us here today that something like that is the case. 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:27.320 It's not all tinsel and joy. 00:03:28.620 --> 00:03:30.980 But there's an awful lot of joy in this passage. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:40.060 Gabriel announces, okay, if you saw it, the amount of exclamation marks that come after what Gabriel says in this passage. 00:03:40.420 --> 00:03:45.360 Elizabeth, she cries aloud when she speaks there at verse 41. 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:47.940 John the Baptist in the womb. 00:03:48.620 --> 00:03:50.020 He leaps for joy. 00:03:50.300 --> 00:03:51.600 Mary in her song. 00:03:51.720 --> 00:03:53.120 She magnifies the Lord. 00:03:53.220 --> 00:03:54.800 Her spirit rejoices. 00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:59.360 And where their joy comes from, and I think this is what I found so powerful this week. 00:03:59.640 --> 00:04:03.440 It comes from not the circumstances of their lives. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.980 Because as we're going to see in a minute, it's really boring. 00:04:06.979 --> 00:04:10.780 It's not the circumstances of their lives. 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:17.699 What causes them to have joy is what God is doing in this moment. 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:21.399 It's their eyes focus on the baby in the manger. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:24.620 This baby who will come. 00:04:25.219 --> 00:04:31.819 And it's so important, isn't it, that joy is different from good times and good things. 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:37.399 Now, obviously, those good things and those good times come from the hand of a really good and generous God. 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:39.019 But don't mistake them for joy. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:42.079 Because these things in our lives, they will come and they will go. 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:43.500 They will fluctuate. 00:04:43.599 --> 00:04:44.680 They will dip in and out. 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:50.500 Whereas joy, when it's something that's based on something that's not part of us, 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.939 something that's unshakable, something that's untouchable, 00:04:55.139 --> 00:04:58.480 when our world around us crumbles, 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:02.580 joy still stays because we know who this God is. 00:05:02.780 --> 00:05:04.960 It's based on something steadfast. 00:05:05.379 --> 00:05:10.460 And so what I devotionally loved rehearsing and learning again this week 00:05:10.460 --> 00:05:14.360 is that the common source of their joy is Jesus. 00:05:17.420 --> 00:05:20.700 And so here is this first century doctor historian called Luke, 00:05:21.700 --> 00:05:26.560 who has most likely been employed by this man called Theophilus 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:29.680 to thoroughly investigate this man called Jesus. 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:31.759 That's what Luke's gospel is. 00:05:31.860 --> 00:05:33.720 I love that you get that right at the start. 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:39.319 Because into our world of fake news, into our world of fact checking, 00:05:39.780 --> 00:05:45.540 here is something that Luke is saying that we can stake our lives upon. 00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:51.980 Something that's transformed the lives of countless people across the world and down the ages. 00:05:51.980 --> 00:05:57.200 That thing is God's reliable and trustworthy words. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:02.580 And so before we get to inside Mary's song, 00:06:02.700 --> 00:06:08.400 we've got to understand what's going on outside Mary's song. 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:10.520 And you read it in Luke's gospel, 00:06:10.840 --> 00:06:15.259 and it's almost as if Luke is going out of his way to show us 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:18.060 that every character, every place, 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:23.519 everything in this original Christmas story should surprise us. 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:26.139 Right, follow with me. 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:29.279 We've got Elizabeth and Zechariah. 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:33.860 Not your young and trendy family, 2.4 children, 00:06:34.159 --> 00:06:35.579 driving the Vauxhall Sevilla, 00:06:35.980 --> 00:06:37.339 living the suburban dream, 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:40.819 the kind of family you'd expect to see on an advert for a Jet 2 holiday. 00:06:41.139 --> 00:06:42.599 That's not these guys. 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:47.439 And think about what's going on in their lives. 00:06:47.540 --> 00:06:49.540 They're a couple with pain in their past. 00:06:49.660 --> 00:06:52.600 They're a couple probably with shame in their present, 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:57.520 because they're old and they've yet to have a child. 00:06:58.060 --> 00:06:59.400 That's a surprise, 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:02.620 that God would use these kind of people. 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:03.840 Think about Mary. 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:10.379 She's not the aspiring young professional living up in the penthouse in the big city, is she? 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:15.459 She is the teenage village girl with not a lot going on in her life, 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:18.060 except the one thing that is going on in her life, 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:21.620 is that she's in love with the village carpenter. 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:25.879 What we need to understand about Mary and Joseph is this is not Posh and Becks. 00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:29.199 Hello Magazine aren't phoning up this couple, 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.100 asking for exclusive rights to their wedding photos. 00:07:32.100 --> 00:07:36.980 As far as the world is concerned, there is nothing to see here. 00:07:37.500 --> 00:07:43.439 And the cherry on the very unimpressive looking cake is the fact that she is from Nazareth. 00:07:44.400 --> 00:07:47.100 And people in the Bible make jokes about people from Nazareth. 00:07:49.260 --> 00:07:51.000 Mary's this kind of country bumpkin. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:52.240 Right? 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:55.100 I always remember it in the central belt when I was growing up. 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:57.520 People used to joke about people from the highlands. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:07:57.919 Right? 00:07:59.259 --> 00:08:01.419 They called them tchuchters, didn't they? 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:06.599 That's the kind of thing that's going on here when people speak about Nazareth. 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:09.680 What good could come from Nazareth? 00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:13.000 That's a surprise. 00:08:14.099 --> 00:08:20.959 And that's why, dear friend, I want you to hear what this is saying to us today. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:25.099 If you are here and you're hurting, if you're here and you're worried, 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:27.060 if you're here and you're burdened, 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:30.859 if you're here and your life is looking bleak, 00:08:31.500 --> 00:08:34.220 then know that you are in very good company 00:08:34.220 --> 00:08:39.379 because this is the very original Christmas cast. 00:08:41.059 --> 00:08:43.939 And it's one of the reasons that I became a Christian 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:47.360 is that I fell in love with Jesus 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:51.320 and I loved the realism of the Bible. 00:08:52.920 --> 00:08:55.260 I remember watching the one show a few years ago. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:56.700 Robbie Williams was on it. 00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:00.980 And they're asking him about how he dealt with the COVID years. 00:09:01.060 --> 00:09:02.240 Remember those times. 00:09:03.340 --> 00:09:03.540 Right? 00:09:03.780 --> 00:09:04.640 And what did he say? 00:09:04.680 --> 00:09:07.380 He said something like his approach to the COVID years 00:09:07.380 --> 00:09:08.240 is now that we're through them, 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:11.200 he said, I'm just going to pretend that that season of life didn't happen. 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:13.620 It didn't happen. 00:09:13.940 --> 00:09:19.460 And I thought to myself, it was only that simple, Robbie. 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:22.660 You could just write it off and say it didn't happen. 00:09:22.740 --> 00:09:24.800 I love that the Bible is real and raw. 00:09:25.420 --> 00:09:28.880 And it presents us with a God who didn't just look on from a distance. 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:34.180 It presents us with a God in the flesh, in the person of Jesus, 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:36.560 who entered our lowliness, 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:40.000 who entered our brokenness, 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:42.740 who became weak, who became vulnerable, 00:09:42.740 --> 00:09:47.680 who came down into our world of pain and brokenness and questions. 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:50.379 And this is the kind of God that we meet in Luke's gospel. 00:09:52.299 --> 00:09:53.940 So verse 26 onwards, 00:09:54.100 --> 00:09:55.940 do you see, if you've got it there, 00:09:56.100 --> 00:09:57.060 we'll get into the decks, 00:09:57.159 --> 00:09:58.600 that Mary is pregnant. 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:16.379 Now you see it on the screen there that Luke emphasizes in the text 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:20.700 that this pregnancy is the Holy Spirit's doing. 00:10:20.700 --> 00:10:24.500 verse 27, we get it there twice. 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:26.060 We get the words virgin. 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:28.720 Verse 34, we get it again, virgin. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:31.580 Luke's trying to communicate to us something. 00:10:33.340 --> 00:10:35.980 And let me just say, maybe at that point, I've lost you. 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:40.960 That the virgin birth is up there with Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, 00:10:41.060 --> 00:10:44.980 and the guy in that red suit and sleigh who's popular at this time of year. 00:10:45.180 --> 00:10:47.600 And I think it's right that we ask ourselves, 00:10:47.680 --> 00:10:49.120 and we think long and hard, 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:51.539 about the plausibility of the Bible. 00:10:51.539 --> 00:10:54.459 Because if you can't trust this, 00:10:56.059 --> 00:10:59.019 then can I suggest that we're all wasting our time here this morning? 00:11:01.459 --> 00:11:03.939 Let me put it to you, if you're thinking about it today, 00:11:04.059 --> 00:11:08.279 that if there is an all-powerful God who created the world out of nothing, 00:11:09.819 --> 00:11:12.620 then is this really all that hard for him to do? 00:11:14.599 --> 00:11:16.719 Well, maybe you say that's exactly it. 00:11:16.779 --> 00:11:19.279 I don't believe that there's a God who created the world. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:22.139 And I don't believe in things like miracles. 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:25.039 Well, let me ask you again lovingly 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:29.039 to think about the fact that you probably believe 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:31.379 in more miraculous stuff than you think you do. 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:35.699 Take the creation of the world, for example. 00:11:35.839 --> 00:11:37.000 This was Stephen Hawking. 00:11:37.079 --> 00:11:39.299 He says, because there is a law like gravity, 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:42.899 the universe can and will create itself out of nothing. 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:47.419 And while there are huge elements of truth there, 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:48.319 don't hear me wrong, 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:53.459 it still doesn't explain why there's something rather than nothing. 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:57.639 I remember sitting in the biology classes at school, 00:11:57.740 --> 00:12:00.159 listening to my teacher explain to us the how, 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:02.919 the how of how the world was created, 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:07.339 and really finding her argument intellectually unsatisfying. 00:12:07.340 --> 00:12:10.300 And so with no answer to the why, 00:12:10.300 --> 00:12:16.180 can I suggest that there's truth in the slightly mischievous 00:12:16.180 --> 00:12:19.820 yet thought-provoking words of Glenn Scrivener, who said, 00:12:20.980 --> 00:12:23.680 Christians believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. 00:12:26.259 --> 00:12:28.840 Materialists believe in the virgin birth of the universe. 00:12:29.800 --> 00:12:30.780 Choose your miracle. 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:33.259 Just think on it for a minute. 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:38.439 Now, make no mistake that Christianity is an evidence-based faith. 00:12:39.139 --> 00:12:40.939 Hear me loud and clear on that. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:45.360 In fact, I was hearing the story of somebody this week who said the first time that they read the Bible, 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:49.919 the Gospels, the thing that struck them most was the fact that the Gospels came with a postcode. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:54.419 In other words, this is based on geography, history, people's names. 00:12:54.500 --> 00:12:55.500 That's what you'll see there. 00:12:55.799 --> 00:12:58.360 Make no mistake that this is an evidence-based faith, 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:04.500 but make no mistake as well that straight from the off-go, from the get-go, 00:13:04.699 --> 00:13:06.240 we're dealing with the supernatural. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:11.100 But that the virgin birth happened is one thing. 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:12.740 Why it happened is quite another. 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:20.139 It's telling us that because, it's telling us that the answer to mankind's sin problem, 00:13:21.139 --> 00:13:24.360 and history is a long testimony to this, 00:13:25.159 --> 00:13:30.639 the answer was never and is never going to come from the human gene pool. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:37.319 The Savior, dear friends, that you and I need, needs to come from out with us, 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:41.179 so as not to be stained with our sin. 00:13:42.179 --> 00:13:49.980 And they need to be one of us in order to stand in our place as our representative. 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:55.600 And so the virgin birth, far from being a take-it-or-leave-it part of Christianity, 00:13:55.939 --> 00:13:58.120 is a lot more like a game of Jenga. 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:04.100 You pull out the block, and the whole thing comes crashing down. 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:10.399 Here is Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man. 00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:13.580 Here is Emmanuel. 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:16.399 And really the clues is wrapped up with his name. 00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:21.299 Verse 31, the angel says, Gabriel says, you shall call him Jesus. 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:23.740 I just love the fact that God picked the name. 00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:26.460 Do you know how that tells you? 00:14:26.460 --> 00:14:32.720 It tells you that what's going on here, there's a purpose and there's a plan behind it. 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:38.519 And his name means, and names in the Bible always mean something. 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:42.600 His name means God saves. 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:45.080 And it's not a boat from the blue. 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:47.200 And Mary gets this. 00:14:48.160 --> 00:14:50.240 Little Mary, she gets this. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:55.759 We don't deify Mary, hear me loud and clear, but neither do we underestimate her. 00:14:56.100 --> 00:14:56.960 Mary's a legend. 00:14:57.480 --> 00:14:59.060 Love hanging out with her this week. 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:00.519 She is brave. 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:02.419 She is a person of faith. 00:15:03.060 --> 00:15:04.560 She is the mother of Jesus. 00:15:06.460 --> 00:15:10.180 And we should love Mary here as we step inside her song. 00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:12.759 She understands what's going on in this moment. 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:21.960 She gets that this is God making good on the promise, the one that he made to his people centuries before. 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:25.240 Verse 55, see the name that's there. 00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:28.439 God made a promise to who in the text? 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:30.460 To Abraham. 00:15:30.460 --> 00:15:30.660 Abraham. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:33.100 So this is God. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:38.120 He's going to act, Mary understands, to bless the nations of the world. 00:15:40.220 --> 00:15:42.960 And that's what makes Mary burst into song. 00:15:43.060 --> 00:15:47.040 And as we cast an eye over the lyrics of her song, beginning at verse 46, 00:15:47.460 --> 00:15:52.180 the question that we need to ask ourselves is not, do we have her life? 00:15:52.920 --> 00:15:55.259 Because in so many ways, we don't have her life. 00:15:55.259 --> 00:16:00.899 The question we need to ask ourselves is, do we share her song? 00:16:03.659 --> 00:16:06.240 For hope has invaded her heart. 00:16:06.500 --> 00:16:09.019 Joy has burst into her soul. 00:16:09.259 --> 00:16:11.600 Let me just say that's what the God of the Bible does. 00:16:14.379 --> 00:16:20.259 Constant refrain all the way through the Bible story is that you fill my heart with joy. 00:16:20.259 --> 00:16:26.100 When we know who he is, when we consider what he's done for us. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:28.580 Here's what she exclaims, verse 46. 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:31.259 And just come with me to the text if you've got it there. 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:35.899 My soul, and feel that, it's an internal thing. 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:42.539 My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:46.159 Notice the threefold repetition of the word my there. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:50.439 This is not some kind of generic song of praise. 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:52.259 This is deeply personal. 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.500 He's my Savior, says Mary. 00:16:55.860 --> 00:16:59.199 Let me just quickly pick out two things that make her sing. 00:16:59.259 --> 00:17:00.079 And I love these. 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:01.100 Love it. 00:17:01.199 --> 00:17:02.319 Okay, she's singing. 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:05.259 To nick a phrase from the song we've just sang. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:09.220 She's singing that her king's coming with mercy in his eyes. 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:10.119 Do you see it? 00:17:10.180 --> 00:17:10.859 Verse 50. 00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:13.000 His mercy. 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:21.339 His mercy extends to those who fear him from generation to generation. 00:17:23.059 --> 00:17:25.960 That word mercy there, it's the Lord's compassion. 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:30.440 It's his love, his kindness, his undeserved favor. 00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:34.900 And this God shows it to those who do what? 00:17:35.019 --> 00:17:36.099 Acknowledge his existence? 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:36.720 No. 00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:40.299 He shows it to those who fear him. 00:17:40.299 --> 00:17:43.480 And those are two very different things. 00:17:44.879 --> 00:17:55.720 God's mercy is for those who would reorientate their lives and live them in light of who this God is. 00:17:56.220 --> 00:17:57.299 And that mercy extends. 00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:01.379 It just keeps on going. 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:07.000 I love it this time of year, the sales that you see in the shops. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.140 They always joke about the DFS sale, don't they? 00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:10.420 That it just never stops. 00:18:10.660 --> 00:18:11.440 It's that kind of thing. 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:12.619 It just keeps on going. 00:18:14.299 --> 00:18:17.759 From generation to generation, his mercy is there. 00:18:19.059 --> 00:18:26.559 And it's a constant refrain in the Bible that makes the souls of God's people sing. 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:31.519 And it thrills them that this God does not treat us as our sins deserve. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:39.119 He is not like the baseball umpire where it's strike one, strike two, strike three, and you're out of here. 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:41.500 Because I wouldn't have made it even past this morning. 00:18:43.139 --> 00:18:45.139 That's not how this God deals with us. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:46.420 Rather, he is compassionate. 00:18:46.639 --> 00:18:47.420 He is gracious. 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:49.440 He is slow to anger. 00:18:49.639 --> 00:18:54.500 And he is abounding in steadfast love. 00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:59.460 And that truth is reaching its pinnacle in the coming of Jesus. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:03.259 In the words of Jen Wilkin, sorry, I don't have the quote on the screen. 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:07.099 Mercy acquires a name. 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:13.519 He has helped his servant Israel remembering. 00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:15.480 And it's not as if God forgot. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.519 Remembering just means that God acted on his promise. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:24.879 Remembering to be merciful. 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:31.220 God is not like a politician who made a big statement, tried to wiggle out of it before the public caught them and said, 00:19:31.339 --> 00:19:32.299 Remember you said. 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:34.619 Oh, I better do it then. 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:38.619 Mary's saying, God, you said you'd do this. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:42.559 And you're doing it. 00:19:46.019 --> 00:19:49.339 Friends, the God of the Bible is always so much greater than we think he is. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:54.740 Mary's singing that her king's coming with mercy in his eyes. 00:19:56.099 --> 00:20:00.900 And she's singing that her king's coming with might in his arm. 00:20:02.639 --> 00:20:11.980 Mary's recalling verse 51 that her God always has a track record of getting the victory. 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:19.319 He saved Israel from captivity in Egypt. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:23.019 And he led them out through the Red Sea. 00:20:24.220 --> 00:20:29.819 And of course, that's the event that defines the very nation of Israel. 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:31.299 Mary's saying he's at it again. 00:20:31.639 --> 00:20:32.420 He's doing it again. 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:33.440 He's saving us. 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:35.240 An impossible situation. 00:20:36.180 --> 00:20:37.019 Nowhere to go. 00:20:37.099 --> 00:20:40.759 But somehow, somehow, he's made a way. 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:46.740 And as he does that, he scatters the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 00:20:47.819 --> 00:20:50.079 Those who think, I've made it. 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:50.960 I've done it. 00:20:51.140 --> 00:20:52.680 He brings down the mighty. 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:56.019 And he lifts up the humble. 00:20:56.140 --> 00:20:56.799 Do you not love that? 00:20:59.140 --> 00:21:06.519 If you're here today, and you're feeling like life's got you, 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:10.420 this God lifts up the humble. 00:21:10.420 --> 00:21:18.660 And of course, in Mary's world, the superpower of the day is Rome. 00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:23.820 And it's not just that they're so much bigger and mightier than us. 00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:28.560 You think about it in this day before access to travel and all that. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:30.980 You just can't escape the Roman Empire. 00:21:31.620 --> 00:21:32.840 You just can't get out. 00:21:32.839 --> 00:21:40.619 Never in a million years could she have conceived that 2,000 years later in this day, 00:21:40.740 --> 00:21:47.079 people's first thought, my first thought, when I hear the word Caesar, is salad. 00:21:50.179 --> 00:21:51.699 Do you understand the point, though? 00:21:52.659 --> 00:21:58.279 That this God has a track record of even though it looks impossible to us, 00:21:58.339 --> 00:21:59.799 we can't fathom how we do it. 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:03.799 He always comes through according to his promises. 00:22:06.099 --> 00:22:10.200 And yet here we are today and this baby to be born to this peasant girl. 00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:12.759 And not only are we still talking about him, 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:20.799 but apparently 2.7 million new people each year from all corners of the world choose to follow him. 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:26.240 And there's 2.4 billion people alive today who call him Lord. 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:27.720 Now, why is that? 00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:31.259 It's because of what the angel said at verse 33. 00:22:33.420 --> 00:22:37.559 Of his kingdom, there will be no end. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:44.420 So Mary's singing because her king's coming with mercy in his eyes. 00:22:44.420 --> 00:22:50.220 And she's singing that her king's coming with might in his arm. 00:22:51.620 --> 00:22:59.400 And both of those things will be so perfectly embodied in the child that Mary will bear. 00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:01.279 She says, do you see it? 00:23:01.300 --> 00:23:02.620 And I'd seen this before this week. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:05.519 Come and see this. 00:23:05.600 --> 00:23:06.340 I think it's pretty cool. 00:23:06.339 --> 00:23:08.740 She says, verse 38. 00:23:09.019 --> 00:23:09.679 Cue the beetles. 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:10.299 Let it be. 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:11.139 Do you see that? 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:11.859 Let it be. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:15.619 Or some of you have got the older translations of the Bible. 00:23:15.819 --> 00:23:17.939 Mary's words there are recorded as, 00:23:18.619 --> 00:23:22.240 Be it unto me according to thy words. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:34.079 And those words are so extremely close to the words that the boy in her womb would utter years later in Luke 22, 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:39.900 as he finds himself on the eve of his death in the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:23:39.900 --> 00:23:47.280 Where Jesus, with the fear of the cross pressing in on his soul, 00:23:47.740 --> 00:23:49.220 would say to God, 00:23:49.860 --> 00:23:51.120 Not as I will, 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:53.880 but your will be done. 00:23:56.259 --> 00:24:00.620 You see, Mary made great sacrifices for the baby in her womb. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:06.280 But he would make an infinitely greater sacrifice for her. 00:24:06.279 --> 00:24:10.440 Mary willingly accepts in this moment, 00:24:10.539 --> 00:24:11.899 and don't underestimate this, 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:15.799 she willingly accepts the shame that would come on her 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:17.779 for not just bearing this child, 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:20.339 but associating with this child. 00:24:21.899 --> 00:24:22.059 Right? 00:24:22.180 --> 00:24:23.619 Nazareth's not a big place. 00:24:24.619 --> 00:24:26.000 People get wind of this, 00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:30.940 that she's pregnant and Joseph's not the biological father. 00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:33.480 You can understand the rumors are going around. 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:36.620 Even watched a comedy sketch with Kevin Bridges recently. 00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:38.940 He's mocking Mary in the virgin birth. 00:24:39.299 --> 00:24:39.980 To this day, 00:24:40.099 --> 00:24:42.839 she still bears the shame of bearing this child. 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:49.539 But Jesus would bear the shame for the sin of the world on himself, 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:52.480 as he makes the greatest ever sacrifice, 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:56.819 surrendering his life on the cross for the sin of his people. 00:24:56.819 --> 00:25:02.439 And what so wonderfully here we see in Mary. 00:25:03.819 --> 00:25:04.980 Her bravery, 00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:07.019 her walking by faith, 00:25:07.099 --> 00:25:08.200 her joy in the Lord. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:12.599 That is going to be so wonderfully captured and multiplied 00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:15.299 in the life of her son-to-be. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:18.819 You look at Jesus on the cross, 00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:22.419 have a look in his eyes, 00:25:22.419 --> 00:25:28.619 and see there that we have a king who is all mercy, 00:25:29.619 --> 00:25:32.720 and we have one who is all might. 00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:36.279 And my question to you, 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:37.799 just as we bring this to a close, 00:25:37.899 --> 00:25:38.919 is do you know him? 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.460 Do you know him? 00:25:41.460 --> 00:25:46.059 You know, I've worked out the two words 00:25:46.059 --> 00:25:47.420 that get my children out of bed 00:25:47.420 --> 00:25:49.240 at the minute. 00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:51.779 If you're a parent, you'll know this. 00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:52.600 December's a nightmare, 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:53.740 trying to get kids out of bed. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:55.620 Summer, can't keep them in bed. 00:25:57.759 --> 00:25:59.579 Here's the two words that get my children out of bed. 00:26:01.579 --> 00:26:03.220 Advent, calendar. 00:26:06.840 --> 00:26:07.759 And I love Advent, 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:09.340 and I always find it interesting 00:26:09.339 --> 00:26:11.799 that everyone in our society still does this. 00:26:13.639 --> 00:26:14.500 And let me just say, 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:16.399 that's a wonderful evangelistic opportunity 00:26:16.399 --> 00:26:18.159 for you here today. 00:26:18.779 --> 00:26:19.819 Because of society, 00:26:19.980 --> 00:26:20.980 everybody still does this. 00:26:21.099 --> 00:26:21.959 That word Advent, 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:23.079 Katie said at the start, 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:24.799 it means coming. 00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:28.039 We're counting down the days 00:26:28.039 --> 00:26:32.399 till Jesus came into the world. 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:35.679 And let's just remember as we close, 00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:37.419 as we celebrate his first coming, 00:26:37.420 --> 00:26:39.960 let's remember like Mary here. 00:26:40.840 --> 00:26:42.000 We are waiting. 00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:44.620 Not for his first coming, 00:26:44.700 --> 00:26:46.560 but we're waiting for his second coming. 00:26:47.080 --> 00:26:50.500 When we won't see Jesus meek and mild. 00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:55.340 We will see Jesus as judging and victorious king, 00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:58.980 coming to make all that is wrong with our world right. 00:26:59.360 --> 00:27:00.519 And you ask yourself, 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:02.440 what have we got to go on? 00:27:02.440 --> 00:27:07.220 And the answer is that we've got exactly the same thing 00:27:07.220 --> 00:27:09.160 as Mary had to go on. 00:27:10.900 --> 00:27:12.799 The promises of God 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:16.640 calling to join her 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:19.720 in being people who live by faith 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:22.019 and not by sight. 00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:25.259 You see, George Michael wrote a song 00:27:25.259 --> 00:27:27.160 about a person who broke their promises. 00:27:27.539 --> 00:27:29.200 Mary says in her song today, 00:27:29.320 --> 00:27:30.480 come and listen to it. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:32.259 Come and listen to it. 00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:34.519 Meet the God who gave me joy. 00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:37.640 Meet the God who transformed my fortunes. 00:27:38.140 --> 00:27:42.380 Meet the God who is ever trustworthy for his promises. 00:27:42.620 --> 00:27:45.059 And let me tell you about the God who kept his. 00:27:46.180 --> 00:27:48.039 And don't just admire my song. 00:27:49.220 --> 00:27:50.720 Come and join my song. 00:27:52.299 --> 00:27:53.299 Let's pray, will we? 00:27:53.299 --> 00:28:00.899 And so, Father, I just ask particularly, Lord, 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:02.500 for those here today who, 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:06.480 for a host of reasons, 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:10.220 that this time of year, Lord, is incredibly hard. 00:28:12.639 --> 00:28:15.639 Father, thank you that as we look at this chapter in the Bible, 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:17.480 Lord, there is heartbreak 00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:20.039 all over the original Christmas story. 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:24.180 But, Father, thank you that you are the one who invaded. 00:28:25.859 --> 00:28:27.139 You are the one who came. 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:29.119 You are the one who breathed hope 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:31.119 into the most bleak of situations. 00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:34.359 And, Lord, I ask that by your Spirit 00:28:34.359 --> 00:28:36.379 that you would be particularly with those, Lord, 00:28:36.420 --> 00:28:38.079 who know the bleakness of this 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:40.139 original Christmas cast. 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:43.299 Father, we pray that you'd be with us, Lord, 00:28:43.339 --> 00:28:44.579 as we journey, Lord, 00:28:44.659 --> 00:28:46.180 more into Advent. 00:28:46.180 --> 00:28:48.759 Would you just, Lord, stir our hearts again 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:52.320 with the joy that comes from knowing Jesus? 00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:57.340 And, Father, would you stir our affections as well? 00:28:57.480 --> 00:29:00.279 Help us, Lord, to be those who are waiting faithfully 00:29:00.279 --> 00:29:01.759 for his return. 00:29:03.080 --> 00:29:05.940 So, Lord, be with us for the rest of our time 00:29:05.940 --> 00:29:06.920 by your Spirit, Lord. 00:29:06.980 --> 00:29:08.960 Would you be at work amongst us, we pray, 00:29:09.420 --> 00:29:13.000 in Jesus' worthy and in his precious name. 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:14.060 Amen. 00:29:14.060 --> 00:29:14.220 Amen. 00:29:16.180 --> 00:29:17.060 Amen. 00:29:17.660 --> 00:29:17.779 Amen. 00:29:17.840 --> 00:29:19.960 Amen. 00:29:20.220 --> 00:29:21.680 Amen. 00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:22.000 Amen. 00:29:23.940 --> 00:29:25.960 Amen. 00:29:28.100 --> 00:29:29.039 Amen. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:29.140 Amen. 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:30.240 Amen. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:36.299 Amen. 00:29:36.299 --> 00:29:37.039 Amen. 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:38.120 Amen. 00:29:42.380 --> 00:29:44.539 Amen. 00:29:44.539 --> 00:29:44.940 Amen. 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:45.560 Amen. 00:29:45.560 --> 00:29:45.820 Amen. 00:29:45.820 --> 00:29:45.900 Amen.