Good morning, church family. We're going to read God's Word together now.
So if you can turn in your Bibles or devices to Luke chapter 1, starting at verse 26,
and we're going to read up to verse 55.
So Luke 1, verse 26.
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 favoured one, the Lord is with you.
But she was greatly troubled at the saying,
and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
And the angel said to her,
Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall call his name Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
And of his kingdom there will be no end.
And Mary said to the angel,
How will this be, since I am a virgin?
And the angel answered her,
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God.
And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son,
and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
For nothing will be impossible with God.
And Mary said,
Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.
Let it be to me according to your word.
And the angel departed from her.
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country,
to a town in Judah,
and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,
the baby leaped in her womb.
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
and she exclaimed with a loud cry,
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And why is this granted to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears,
the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment
of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
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 away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham,
and to his offspring forever.
Well, good morning everyone.
I'm one of the pastors here,
if you happen to be a visitor and don't know me.
Well, we've really heard it multiple times this morning
from the introduction from the children's address.
What makes you want to sing?
Where do you find,
when do you find yourself singing?
So, sometimes it will be out loud,
sometimes it will be in your head.
I'm always intrigued by,
some of my grandchildren tell me
that they have a song in their head all the time.
Not sure necessarily whether it's a good song or not,
but there's a song in there for them.
Sing is an expression of emotions.
We've already heard that.
A whole range of emotions can be expressed in song.
And that means the songs we sing resonate
with something in our heart,
in our innermost being,
the way we feel,
the way we think,
probably both.
And that means we'll actually get tied in most
in our private playlist
to the songs that describe how we're feeling,
that describe the longings of our heart,
the songs that reflect what we think
will answer the longings of our heart.
They're likely the ones that are to be in our head
most often,
and give an expression most often.
They're the songs that we think
will not only deal with the ache in our heart,
or the longing in our heart,
but actually help us celebrate
what we believe,
and what we think will satisfy it.
So, singing's a really big thing
in every culture.
And singing's a really big thing
in the first chapters of Luke's account
of the life of Jesus.
There's a lot of singing
around the birth of Jesus.
There's perhaps the first
and most bizarre flash mob in history.
This massive crowd of angels appear
and lead a bunch of smelly old shepherds
in song.
And then they just as quickly disappear again.
But that's not enough.
The shepherds themselves are on their feet
yahooing and praising and singing
at what they've just heard.
The storyline in the first two chapters
then is punctuated by the songs of Mary
and Zachariah and Simeon.
And I think the point of these
in the storyline
that's moving so quickly
with so much incredible stuff happening,
these songs punctuate it
and they actually cause us to pause
and reflect on what's developing
at such a great rate.
So the question then is why?
What is there to sing about?
Well, this morning as we've been told
a three week series
we're going to look at some of these
three great songs of Christmas.
And we do that to discover in depth
to dig into the songs
and see what it is that makes people sing.
And these people in particular.
And we do that in turn
to help us celebrate Christmas
as we ought to.
To come back to what we might call
the basics of Christmas.
And just before I go ahead
for those who aren't into singing
and you can read a little bit more of this
in the bulletin article.
These are called songs
but if you're a person who says
I don't sing ever
don't get left behind.
Because they probably weren't put to music.
It's more about an overflow.
You remember that kids?
That picture of overflow.
It's more about just this bubbling up
to the surface of praise and thanks
to be part of what's happening
in God's world at that time
under God's hand.
It's an expression of excitement.
And it just bubbles to the surface
in words.
And in that sense therefore
I believe that everybody here
has a song in them.
In that sense.
Something that gets you excited.
Something that gets you on your feet.
It might only be to yahoo
and cheer and stomp around.
But it's something that will
actually just cause you
to express your delight.
So let's look at what stirred Mary
to overflow in praise to God.
And I'm going to just give a bit of context
which has largely been read here
but not all of it.
just to pick up
the background
to this
magnificat
as it's called.
This praising of the Lord
by Mary.
So Luke begins
his biography
the account of the life
of Jesus
by focusing on
a group
who are
described as the faithful ones.
Ones who are waiting
patiently
for God to deliver
on his promise of salvation.
We've looked at that promise
over the last four weeks
in Malachi.
So we've got a group here
waiting patiently
for that to come true
some 400 years later.
In chapter 2 verse 25
you've got
this guy called Simeon
who's described here
as waiting for the
consolation
of Israel.
And in chapter 2 verse 38
we've got a lady called
Anna
a prophetess
and she was waiting
for the redemption
of Jerusalem.
Those two terms
I believe
are used interchangeably.
This was a group
of faithful people
people as we'll see
in a minute
people who are described
as fearing the Lord
and remember
that connects us
back to Malachi as well.
People who
were waiting
for the comfort
and healing
of God's
long promised
long awaited
Messiah
who would come
to God's
needy people
and bring healing
and restoration.
Now if you go back
to chapter 1 verse 6
we pick up the story
with Zechariah.
Again another
direct connection
into the wording
let alone
the theme
of Malachi
because Zechariah
is busy
as a priest
busy
observing
the statutes
and the commandments
of the Lord.
That's the language
of Malachi
those who feared
the Lord.
So here he is
waiting
patiently
and faithfully
with his wife
Elizabeth
as part of this
other group
setting their hearts
to honour the Lord
again
reference to Malachi
while they waited
for the Lord
to deliver
on his promise.
And suddenly
angel
Gabriel appeared
and announced
that their prayers
were answered.
Promise
would now
become reality
as they were
swept up
in a series
of incredible
supernatural events.
And then back
into the passage
that was read
to this morning
chapter 1 verse 26
through to 38
essentially
God says
he would override
the natural
process
of getting
pregnant
in Elizabeth's
cousin Mary
and she would
be with child
and she would
give birth
to the greatest
figure the world
has ever seen.
He would be
truly human
and truly God
at the same time.
He would be
God's Messiah
God's great
King and Saviour
who would rule
God's world
forever
as promised
more than
about a thousand
years earlier
to King David.
And then we pick
up the story
even closer
in verse 39
onwards.
Mary then
makes haste
to visit
Elizabeth
who we're told
is at least
six months pregnant
by this stage
and that
event
is surrounded
by more
supernatural
happenings
and that's
when the story
becomes even
more strange
because
you might
well expect
a very
God-fearing
woman like
Elizabeth and her
husband Zachariah
to have words
with Mary
who remember
is unmarried
and pregnant
at this stage.
A shameful
thing in the
society of the day.
Mary
but rather
than that
moved by the
Holy Spirit
Elizabeth actually
praises
Mary
and even
Elizabeth's baby
in her womb
supernaturally
acknowledges the
importance of
Mary's baby.
so the
background
to Mary's
song of
praise
is
full of
humanly
impossible
occurrences.
It's full
of
God's
activity
it's full
of God's
Holy Spirit
taking hold
of people
and moving
them
to do
certain things
and say
certain things
and remember
that God's
Holy Spirit
is the
enabler
and the
enforcer
of God's
plan and
purpose.
This is
exactly what
the prophets
had predicted.
They said
the age of
salvation
when it
finally came
would be the
age marked
by God's
Holy Spirit
and incredible
actions of
God's Holy
Spirit.
A radical
new work
of God's
Holy Spirit
supernaturally
in God's
world.
So everything
points to the
fact that
this is
God's
age of
salvation
coming
has arrived
in this
baby yet
to be
born.
And
it's
clearly
God's
Spirit
that
motivates
Mary's
heart to
overflow
in a
song of
praise and
thanks for
the arrival
of Jesus.
So let's
dig into it
now.
What is it
precisely
that overflows
from Mary's
heart?
I want to
just highlight
two things.
There's probably
lots more
that you could
highlight.
The first
is delight
in God's
extravagant
covenant
blessing.
So the
words grace
or favor,
if you look
back to
chapter 1
verse 28,
the angel
describes
Mary as
O favored
one.
And we
pick that up
again in
the song.
Words of
grace and
favor and
love and
mercy in
verses 46
through to
50.
If you
look at
verse 46,
Mary said,
my soul
magnifies the
Lord.
Now, the
tense of
that verb
suggests that
this is not
something new
for Mary.
This is just
a lifetime
habit of
praising God,
addressing
him in the
most personal
of ways as
Yahweh.
But now,
she overflows
with even
greater delight
as she tries
to express
her new
sense of
blessing from
the Lord.
If you
look at
verses 47
through 50
then,
47,
30,
yeah,
we've got to
say on the
one hand that
there's no way
Mary could
possibly have
understood
everything that
was happening
to her.
And that
makes the
story even
more amazing
because,
therefore,
her concept
of being
blessed was
simply being
swept up
into God's
planned
intervention
of healing
and salvation,
being swept
up into God's
long-promised,
long-awaited
time of
salvation,
salvation
intervention.
And if you
notice in
verse 47
there,
she delights
to think
that the
Lord is
committed to
being her
Savior.
Now,
again,
step back
and just
think of
it from
a human
perspective.
Humanly
speaking,
Mary's
plight was
terrible.
Unmarried,
pregnant,
quite possibly
shamed in
her immediate
family and
local community,
and technically
in terms of
God's law,
eligible to
be stoned
to death.
Now,
I don't
think that
law was
enacted very
much at
that particular
time,
but that's
what God's
law said.
Now,
in that
light,
I think we
could easily
understand Mary
being consumed
with getting
married,
getting a
husband,
getting herself
into a position
where at least
she could start
rebuilding some
sense of
respectability in
the community.
But that's
not what we
see of Mary,
that's not
what we hear
from Mary.
Instead,
she's consumed,
I think,
with an even
greater plight,
that is,
her relationship
with her
Holy Lord.
It seems to
me that
Mary's words
reveal it.
As she fears
the Lord,
she is very,
very much
aware of
the fact that
her greatest
need is for
Savior,
without whom
she could
never be
righteous or
acceptable to
the Lord,
in spite of
her best
efforts of
fearing God
and trying to
keep his
commandments.
So,
in that
context,
therefore,
Mary accepts
the Lord's
work through
her yet-to-be-born
baby.
And I think
this is the
nub for
Mary,
thanking him
that in
this amazing,
confusing,
scary
circumstance
that's now
entered her
life,
that God
was giving
her the
Savior that
she knew
she needed.
she recognized
she was a
nobody.
No doubt,
she was scared
and overwhelmed
by her
circumstance,
but also
had total
confidence in
God's promise,
in God's
character,
his mighty
power to
save her,
his undeserved
favor towards
her,
his grace
and love
for her,
his incredible
mercy and
kindness
towards her.
In short,
my friends,
Mary was
one who
feared the
Lord,
setting her
heart to
honor him.
Again,
the language
of Malachi.
Setting her
heart to
esteem the
Lord,
to serve
him,
and she
called herself
a servant
girl.
She knew
her
Lord,
the Lord
God,
was holy.
She knew
that he
could be
trusted
to do
what was
right.
She knew
that he
could be
trusted to
act in
kindness
and love
towards her.
But even
then,
I think,
Mary's
horizon is
far,
far bigger
than
herself.
her joy
is knowing
that she
was experiencing
personally
that which
would become
typical of
God's desire
to save
his people
generally.
And it
just reflected
what God
had been
doing
through the
generations.
God loves
to see
his people
fear him
and he
loves to
save his
people.
So I
just want
to pause
there for a
minute and
sort of step
sideways by
asking the
question,
what is it
to be
blessed?
What is it
to be
blessed?
Now,
in our
world's
terms,
blessing is
actually a
very,
very common
word.
I'm hearing
it everywhere.
But often
in a very
shallow and
self-interested
way.
I understand,
and I might
be wrong here,
I'm putting
myself out
here because
I don't know
about social
media,
but I
understand
it's a
hashtag
on social
media.
And it's
used when
things are
going well,
when people
get what
they want,
usually
associated
with health
or popularity,
material
possessions,
or just
warm,
fuzzy
relationships.
I'm
blessed.
Now,
there's no
doubt about
it,
all those
things can
be really
good.
But here's
the problem,
if we think
of blessing
primarily in
those terms,
those actual
things may
lead us away
from the
Lord into
a position
of self-reliance.
And
autonomy.
False
security.
And so,
those things
that we might
call blessings
may actually
turn out
not to be
blessings at
all.
At least
not in
terms of
scripture.
So,
I think
that's a
really important
thing to
take into
this,
because when
Mary speaks
of being
blessed,
I take it
she's not
thinking about
becoming a
famous celebrity
in history.
Now,
that's what
the Roman
Catholic Church
have made
her.
They've
said,
well,
Mary's a
special
person in
her own
right,
and she's
worthy of
worship in
her own
right.
I don't
think that's
what Mary's
trying to
say here
at all.
Quite the
opposite,
in fact.
I think
she's in
awe at
being a
total nobody,
and yet,
knowing that
she's been
swept up into
God's unfolding
salvation package
in Jesus.
I think
Mary's point
is not
that people
will praise
her in
successive
generations,
but that
successive
generations
will praise
God for
the amazing
way he
honoured her
and nobody
in his
salvation
plan.
The two
are quite
different,
I think.
I hope I've
been able to
make the
difference clear,
but they
are quite
different.
So,
I think
for Mary,
to be
blessed is
to be in
God's
hands.
To be
blessed is
to know
that God
has extended
his favour
to you
in grace,
mercy,
and love
in a
saving way.
To be
blessed is
to be
drawn towards
the Lord,
by the
Lord,
drawn to
himself,
in a
greater
understanding
of his
character,
and his
plan,
and his
promise,
in a
greater
delight
of him.
If you
look back
at verse
38 and
verse 45,
38 says,
Mary said,
Behold,
I am the
servant of
the Lord.
Let it be
to me
according to
your word.
Verse 45,
Blessed is
she who
believed that
there would
be a
fulfilment
of what
was spoken
to her
from the
Lord.
To be
blessed
is to
be enabled
by God's
Spirit
to be
all in
with God's
purposes,
no matter
how confusing,
scary,
and hard
they are
to understand.
To be
blessed is
to be
able by
God's
Spirit
to trust
God
in every
circumstance,
even those
circumstances
which have
consequences
which threaten
to
overwhelm us.
To be
blessed
is to be
so secure
in God's
care,
as Mary was,
that immediate
circumstances
of shame,
confusion,
fear,
and uncertainty
are trumped
by that
bubbling
overflow
of trust,
confidence,
in delight.
Lord, I
have no
idea what
you're doing
in my life,
says Mary,
but this I
know,
you're to be
trusted.
And in that
action in my
life, I
delight.
In your
action in my
life, I
delight.
Now, if
I'm right in
that, in
sort of
spelling out a
little bit
more about
blessing,
then surely
such blessing
is something
to sing
about,
isn't it?
Surely that
should get us
on our feet,
cheering and
yahooing,
even if we
can't sing
two notes
together.
Second thing
then, Mary
delights,
in God's
faithfulness to
his promises.
The word
mercy in
verse 50
is the
covenant
faithfulness
hesed.
God's
faithfulness,
God's
covenant
faithfulness to
his promises,
verses 53
and 55.
Mary
understands,
and in
part, I'll
just make this
point in
passing, I
don't have
time to
delve into
it, but
she understands
because she
has habit
habit,
she habitually
has studied
God's word
and she
knows it
from back
to front
and she
knows what
God's
character is
like, she
knows what
God's promises
are.
God's
love.
And therefore,
she knows
that what's
happening around
her and
involving her,
even though she
can't really
understand it at a
micro level, at a
micro level, is
God acting to
fulfill his
promises in the
age of salvation.
salvation.
And that's what
produces her
overflow of
delight.
And I think
she understands
in the
connections made
there that
her own
personal
experience
is God's
showcase
for salvation
coming to
all his
people because
the focus
on the horizon
gets bigger as
we move into
verses 50
following.
And
that's
God is
going to
bring the
same
salvation to
his servant
nation Israel,
chapter verse
54.
Remember that
servant nation
Israel we've
said over the
last four weeks
from Malachi,
failed God in
every way
imaginable.
And yet God
intends to
bring graciously,
lovingly, and
mercifully his
salvation to
that pathetic
nation.
why?
Again, another
connection back
into Malachi,
verse 54.
He has
helped his
servant Israel
in remembrance.
That's a key
word.
Remember back in
Malachi last
week, chapter
3, verse
16, 17,
18?
The Lord
remembered.
That is, it's
not as if the
Lord's got a
scratchy memory
like me, but
the Lord
remembered.
That is, he
committed
himself afresh
to delivering
on the
promises he's
made of
old.
God
remembered or
was true to
his promise,
a promise that
was made to
Abraham some
1800 years
earlier.
A promise that
said to Abraham,
one of your
descendants would
finally reverse the
effects of sin,
finally save God's
people, finally
restore the
Garden of Eden
conditions where
once again God's
people would
worship him in
spirit and in
truth.
And that would
be a global
restoration and
reversal.
So Mary's
delighted because
the stuff she's
built her life
on, the
scriptures, is
not just ancient
history.
It's reality.
And it's reality
growing in her
womb at that
very moment.
such is God's
command of
history and
commitment to
his promise.
And verses
51, 52, and
53 spell out in
Old Testament
pictures and
concepts what
this coming
salvation would
look like and
mean for God's
people.
To understand
these pictures,
we need to go
back to Isaiah
chapter 49,
verses 9 through
13.
There's many,
many places you
could go back
to.
I'm just touching
you down on one.
Isaiah, where
the spiritual
state of Israel
was described
by Isaiah in
precisely these
terms.
So these words
here are
metaphors.
The proud, the
mighty, the
exalted are
those who have
turned their
back on God
and rely on
their own
goodness for
the future.
by contrast, the
lowly, the
hungry, the
servant are
those who know
their sin, their
inability to
deal with it
themselves and
look to the
Lord alone to
deal with it.
So Mary's
delighted because
God's cabinet
faithfulness to
his promises would
bring a great
reversal.
And that great
reversal would
also be a great
restoration.
salvation, the
reality of which
would be seen in
successive generations
as King Jesus
actively rules his
world and rules his
people, gathering
them into a
relationship with
him forever.
the relationship
that he originally
created them for as
image bearers, the
relationship that he's
always intended them
to have, and the
relationship in this
age of salvation that
he now delights in
creating for them
through his own
death, which we'll
see coming in
subsequent years.
Now again, I just
stop and say,
whoa, that's
something to sing
about, isn't
it?
God's faithfulness
to his promise.
So, just let me
wrap up then by
saying that we
need to get in
the spirit for
Christmas with
Mary.
Now, hopefully,
even though I've
stumbled over my
words multiple times
already, that
wasn't a stumbling
over my words.
I meant that in
the way I said
that.
I didn't say,
let's get into the
spirit of Christmas
as advertising and
romantic nonsense
encourages us.
That's a spirit of
self-indulgence, a
spirit that actually
makes us lose sight of
the true joy of
Christmas.
things.
But we should get in
the spirit for
Christmas so that
we might overflow,
like Mary did, with
joy and praise for
all the reasons that
Mary did.
Again, I just want to
highlight two, and
there's multiple
things I could
highlight here, but
time just allows me
to highlight two.
Let's delight in the
supernaturalism of
God's intervention in
the birth of King
Jesus.
Now, this might
sound like a strange
application, and
maybe it is, but it
works in my mind.
We cannot
understand God's
world and God's
salvation plan, we
cannot understand the
gospel without
accepting God's
supernatural activity
in his world and
intervention in his
world.
God's method of
delivering his
promised Savior and
King into our
world is totally
surprising.
If it was left to
us from a human
perspective, Jesus
would have come from
a high-flying, a
Jewish, a priestly
family in Israel.
Or if he was going
to have to be a
Roman, he would
have been the
child of a
senatorial family,
somebody with
clout, somebody
with influence,
somebody who was
somebody.
God's intervention
in his world is
totally surprising.
It doesn't use any
of the categories that
we would reach for
or be comfortable
with.
And that's before we
even start talking
about the supernatural
occurrences around
about the birth of
Jesus.
God's delivery of his
promise to renew
broken, sinful
people through the
work of his Holy
Spirit is, from
start to finish,
supernatural.
Now, here's the rub
for us, you see.
As Christians, we live
in a world where
anything truly
supernatural is just
rubbish.
So our so-called
scientific world says,
unless I can see it
and explain it, then it
can't be real.
Now, of course, in
reality, behind the
scenes, our world is
just as engaged in
spiritual thinking as
ever.
It's just that we've
gone into weird
Eastern mysticism and
First Nations occult
type thinking.
But the general run of
society says, you know,
we're a scientific
age.
If you're going to
believe anything, then
it has to be fully
understandable or it
can't be real.
Well, I say to you, as
Christians, we mustn't
allow our commitment to
God's supernatural world
and God's supernatural
activity in his world,
particularly when it
comes to the events
surrounding the
gospel.
We mustn't allow that to
be eroded.
We mustn't give up on
that.
Regardless of what our
world would push us
to.
We mustn't allow our
confidence to be
dismantled by an
unbelieving so-called
scientific world.
Luke records these
events as facts.
Remember at the very
start of Luke's
biography, he says he
researched.
In other words, Luke is
claiming to be
scientific.
He's done the research,
he's talked to
eyewitnesses, and he
records these things as
those things are beyond
reasonable doubt.
They're fact.
friends, the story of
Jesus is not mythology.
And we've got to be so
careful we don't allow
all the mythology and
the romantic nonsense
that overlays Christmas
these days to rob us of
the true supernatural
reality of God's
intervention in our world
that we call Christmas,
that we celebrate as
Christmas.
we rightly reject the
sloppy sentimentality of
our world in respect to
Christmas, but we dare not
reject the supernatural
occurrences that delivered
King Jesus as a baby into
our human world.
God came into our world to
save us, to renew us, to
take up residence in us
forever by his Holy Spirit.
From start to finish, it's
about God's supernatural
intervention.
Let's celebrate also being truly
blessed, therefore, by God in
Jesus.
Ephesians 1, the well-known
verse, we have every blessing in the
spiritual realm in Christ Jesus.
But do we believe it?
Jumping, sort of bouncing from Mary to
us, we can ask the question, are we
ashamed to be identified with either the
supernaturalism that goes around Christ,
or are we ashamed per se to be identified
with Christ?
Because to be identified with Christ, to be
identified with a brutal death,
crucifixion, to be identified with the
concept of sin and need and being bad
people in a world that ravishes all those
concepts.
It is actually easy, I think, to be
ashamed of Jesus.
I know there's been times to my shame
that I've put my head down and been
quiet, but I know jolly well there was an
opportunity, I was interacting with
somebody down the street or wherever to
speak.
Why was I so old?
Maybe lots of reasons, but one chief one
might well be tired of a shame.
The message at times can sound so weird.
The big cry of society is to be on the
right side of history.
It's a very modern cry.
The question we've got to ask is, are we
convinced, I mean absolutely convinced, that
we're in the right side of history in
Christ?
Christ.
If we are, then I take it we'll proclaim his
name and his gospel in triumph, not slink
around in defeat.
Are we convinced like Mary that we're
blessed among mankind to be called
brothers with Christ, brothers and sisters
with Christ?
Again, I would suggest that if we are, if we
do believe that, then surely we'll be singing
from the rooftops, determined also to model
God's blessings in our daily lives.
If we believe that Jesus really is the Christmas gift that
keeps on giving, keeps on giving identity and purpose and
satisfaction and security and the pathway home to heaven.
Surely then, that ought to get us on our feet, cheering and
yahoo.
Pray with me.
Lord, we're blighted by familiarity.
Stories that we have, for the likes of myself, Lord, I've
grown up with, I've never known anything other than parents
who've taught me the Bible.
And while, Lord, that's such a wonderful blessing in
itself, it puts me in danger of familiarity.
And as the saying goes, familiarity can breed contempt.
Lord, sharpen our minds, enliven our hearts to the beauty of your
salvation intervention in the birth of Jesus.
Stir us up, Lord, by your spirit to overflow with joy, to have that
private playlist in our minds that constantly thanks you for your
grace and mercy and love and commitment.
And help us, Lord, to overflow, not in words in our mind or even
songs in our lips, but help us to overflow into lives that model the
grace and love and favor we've experienced.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
Thank you very much for listening.