1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:03,800 You're listening to the Bridgetown Church Podcast with 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,840 Pastor Casey Kendall, where our vision is Jesus, our mission is 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,760 people, and our cause is love. Thanks for tuning in. 4 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:12,680 Let's dive in. We've been in a three-week 5 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:15,640 Christmas series. Last week we did the God of the 6 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:19,280 unconventional, how God reached the shepherds with the message 7 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,640 of the gospel and the good news. This this week we're doing that 8 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,480 that God is the God of the impossible in the gospel of 9 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:29,280 Luke. Luke chapter 1, if you have your 10 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:32,920 Bible handy, Luke chapter 1 beginning in verse 6, if you 11 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,440 would follow along with me in the Bible. 12 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,360 Now in the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to a 13 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:44,360 city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a verge betrothed to a man 14 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:49,000 whose name was Joseph of the House of David. 15 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,320 Interesting. The virgin's name was Mary. 16 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,280 And having come in, and the Angel said to her, Rejoice 17 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:03,640 highly favored one, the Lord is with you, Blessed are you among 18 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,800 women. But when she saw him, she was 19 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:12,480 troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of 20 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:15,880 greeting this was. Then the Angel said to her the 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,440 same thing that the Angel said to the shepherd. 22 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:26,440 Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and 23 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:31,160 behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, 24 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,920 and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be 25 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,320 called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will give him 26 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:44,160 the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the House 27 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:48,720 of Jacob Forever, and his Kingdom, and of his Kingdom 28 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,800 there will be no end. And then Mary said to the Angel, 29 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,920 How can this be, since I do not know a man? 30 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,600 And the Angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will 31 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,560 come upon you, and the power of the highest will over shadow 32 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,600 you. Therefore also the Holy One who 33 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,759 is to be born will be called the Son of God. 34 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:13,320 Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative has also conceived a 35 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:19,760 son in her old age, and this is now the 6th month of for her, 36 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:26,040 who was called Baron. For with God nothing will be 37 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,520 impossible. I want to read that to you 38 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,320 again. For with God nothing will be 39 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,520 impossible. And then Mary said, Behold, the 40 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:42,080 maidservant of the Lord, let it be to me, according to your 41 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,840 word. And the Angel departed from her. 42 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:48,840 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the Hill Country with 43 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:53,440 haste to a city of Judah and entered the House of Zacharias 44 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,600 and greeted her cousin Elizabeth. 45 00:02:57,040 --> 00:02:59,880 And it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that 46 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:05,560 the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the 47 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,360 Holy Spirit. And then she spoke out with a 48 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:12,640 loud voice and said to Mary, Blessed are you among women, and 49 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:16,960 blessed is the fruit of your womb. 50 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,720 Father, we thank you for the power of your word. 51 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,440 Thank you and just reading your word, God, you continue to feed, 52 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:31,720 you continue to fill, You continue, Lord, to strengthen us 53 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,680 to follow after you. Lord, we pray that we would be 54 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:41,560 men and women of your work, that at your word we would believe 55 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:47,600 that at your word we would act, that at your word we would trust 56 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,800 in what you have shared with us. So God, we commit ourselves to 57 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,040 you and we ask that you would move with power. 58 00:03:55,040 --> 00:04:01,480 Now I'm revealing to us the person of Jesus and we ask this 59 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,080 in Jesus name and everybody said Amen. 60 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:10,400 If you could for me as we always do, it's the it's the custom as 61 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:12,840 you come to Bridgetown, if you could just look at your neighbor 62 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:18,120 and say, neighbor, my neighbor. Nothing is impossible with God. 63 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,960 Yep, nothing is impossible with God. 64 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:29,560 It was just this past Wednesday that we had joined together with 65 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:37,080 my Multiply community and Ron and Rachel had hosted us for a 66 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,800 Christmas dinner. I was tremendous. 67 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:45,200 We had prime rib. We had potatoes. 68 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,080 Not just mashed. I'm talking about red potatoes. 69 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,840 And you know Rachel, she takes it up to another level. 70 00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:55,440 She just didn't make it. She just didn't make green 71 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:57,160 beans. She actually made green beans 72 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:03,200 with roasted almonds. Before the meal would ever 73 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:07,640 start, Rachel had decided and Ron that we would play this game 74 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,480 and this game had to do with a kazoo. 75 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,040 And this was the goal of the game. 76 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,800 The goal of the game was that you would pick out a card and 77 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,640 with that card you would get a song. 78 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:26,280 And with that song you actually had to kazoo the song. 79 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,880 In kazooing the song, you couldn't sing the song, you 80 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:40,480 couldn't hand gesture the song, you actually had to kazoo the 81 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,040 song. Now if any of you have ever used 82 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:48,960 a kazoo, it is rather an embarrassing and it's hard to 83 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:53,280 use a kazoo. Some of you don't think so. 84 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:57,320 You're shaking your head no, but I have not practiced with a 85 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:03,000 kazoo in my entire life. And the point of the game was 86 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,560 this. You actually had to kazoo the 87 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:12,720 song, not sing the song, and the people had to guess the song as 88 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,840 you're kazooing. So while you're kazooing, 89 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:20,200 they're guessing and laughing and pointing at you. 90 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:29,320 But what I have found with this kazoo is that sometimes kazooing 91 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:36,000 could be rather perplexing because I could sing the song 92 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:42,200 and make it clear, but when I can kazoo the song it seems more 93 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:42,960 confusing. So. 94 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,120 So if I was to kazoo the song for you? 95 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:25,120 Evangelia is just on fire today, guessing these songs. 96 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:34,080 There are moments in your life where it feels as if the season 97 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,560 that you are in is more confusing than it is clear. 98 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:45,120 It is not really matching because what God is telling you 99 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,720 is not the reality of what you're going through. 100 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:55,720 And sometimes in life we are LED in situations a lot like Mary 101 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,560 this morning where it seems like the thing that God said was 102 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,840 unattainable to you. It is something in your life 103 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,240 that's unsolvable and simply it's undoable. 104 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:10,120 And it is left it rather questionable because God is 105 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,320 asking you to do something that does seem unreasonable. 106 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,360 He is asking you to bear something that seems unbearable 107 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,320 in your life. And God this morning is asking 108 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:25,760 you to expect something that seems impossible in your life. 109 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,000 I want you to know this morning, Merry Christmas. 110 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,400 When everybody else might say happy holidays, I just want to 111 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,400 tell you today, Merry Christmas. And I, I want to, I want to give 112 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:40,520 you a message today, a Christmas message. 113 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,159 And here is my message to you this morning. 114 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,560 I want you to know this morning that in every journey with the 115 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:50,160 Lord, every child of God will reach a moment in their life 116 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:52,560 where you have to take everything that you own, 117 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,600 everything that you trust, and put it into the hands of God. 118 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,000 You will have multiple moments this morning in your life where 119 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,840 you have to trust God with everything. 120 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:12,800 You have to trust God with everything because there's 121 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:17,920 nothing else for you to do. There is no more phone calls 122 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,680 that you can make. There's no more checks that you 123 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:23,120 can write. There's no more doctors that you 124 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,840 can visit. There's no more friends around 125 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,080 or appeals to be made. There's moments in your life 126 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,920 where you have to fall on your knees and lift up your hands and 127 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:37,040 cry out to God and tell him that if you don't fix this, if you 128 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,760 don't fight this, if you don't move in this, if you don't heal 129 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,800 this, if you don't breathe on this, if you don't make a way, 130 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,480 if you don't answer this prayer, if you don't fight this battle, 131 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:55,600 I will be lost. Have you ever wanted to be in a 132 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:02,560 position to meet God at a place where God does what only God can 133 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:08,560 do? I have prayed to see in my life 134 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:13,840 the situations of God turn into the miracles of God. 135 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:19,160 But although I'm seeking a miracle, many times I don't want 136 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:24,120 to put myself in a place like Moses, where he's standing at 137 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,720 the Red Sea and at the Red Sea. Egypt is coming from behind and 138 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,360 the Red Sea is in front. I don't want to put myself in 139 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,960 that place because that place is hard to be in. 140 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,360 And many times I find in my own life that I might pray for a 141 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,800 miracle, but I never put myself in a position to experience the 142 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:48,960 miracle because it's hard to be in that place. 143 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:51,400 But God still does the impossible. 144 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,800 God still works in all of our lives. 145 00:10:54,800 --> 00:11:00,080 And maybe you've come into this place today, and maybe you just 146 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,240 need to hear this Christmas conversation, the Christmas 147 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:08,040 conversation between Gabriel and Mary. 148 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,040 And I wanted us to give our ear to this conversation. 149 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:15,480 I want us to hear what happens in this conversation because 150 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:20,920 nothing is impossible with God. And if there is a Christmas 151 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,440 message that we need to hear and that is that there's nothing 152 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:29,400 impossible with God. I just received a text on Friday 153 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,080 from a couple in our church and the wife, the husband said, can 154 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,440 you please pray for my wife? She has pneumonia and she's in 155 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,560 the hospital. Those those moments at Christmas 156 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:44,760 that you find yourself in where it is just hard to understand 157 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:50,120 what God is actually doing. Come with me and just hear the 158 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:52,720 story. If you're a seasoned St. 159 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,760 You remember that the story just didn't begin with Mary and 160 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,560 Gabriel and Mary hearing this message from this Angel. 161 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,920 If we were to back up a little bit, the story actually would 162 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:08,720 begin with a couple, an older couple by the name of Zechariah 163 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,320 and his wife that was barren named Elizabeth. 164 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,520 You remember that with message that they had heard left 165 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:23,320 Zechariah in such disbelief that Zechariah was muted by the Lord. 166 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:29,240 But what was in Elizabeth's womb would be the forerunner to the 167 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,760 person of Jesus Christ, a man that you know, his name they 168 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:38,000 would call John, John the Baptist who would prepare the 169 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,560 way of the Lord. Now, this is so important that 170 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:46,320 we cover this moment because we'll come back to this at the 171 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:52,840 very end of our story together. But the Angel Gabriel moves from 172 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:59,040 this place where he is at now with Elizabeth and Zachariah, 173 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:06,160 and he moves now 70 miles north to a region of Galilee, to a 174 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:13,480 little city called Nazareth. And there he finds the Bible 175 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:19,040 says in verse 26 that now in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel 176 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:26,560 was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 70 177 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:30,120 miles. The Angel is sent by the Lord. 178 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:36,440 Notice this to a virgin, to a virgin, and the Bible says who 179 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:40,680 was betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, who was at the 180 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:43,640 House of David and noticed this twice. 181 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:49,280 The virgin's name was Mary. Notice the people in our story. 182 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:54,080 We have Zechariah and Elizabeth. We have an Angel by the name of 183 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:59,360 Gabriel, who goes now to a city in a region of Galilee, to a 184 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:04,680 city called Nazareth. And there he meets a virgin 185 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:12,720 named Mary, who's betrothed to a man by the name of Joseph, who 186 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:17,200 is coming from the House of David. 187 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:22,360 Now, as you know, as we studied for Samuel, the first king of 188 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:28,040 Israel was a man by the name of King Saul who bled into now a 189 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:32,160 man by the name of King David. But God promised that the 190 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,440 Messiah would come through this reign. 191 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,480 And David was pointing us to another king whose name was, 192 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,320 look at how First Samuel's connecting into the Gospel of 193 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,280 Luke. Well, that was a good spot for 194 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,760 an Amen. Notice the story of redemption 195 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,600 throughout scripture. The Bible says that God met a 196 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:59,040 woman by the name of Mary through the person of Gabriel. 197 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:05,720 Now the name Mary means beloved of the Lord or loved by God. 198 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,280 And notice how the Bible describes her. 199 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,480 The Bible says that she is betrothed. 200 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:16,560 She is now connected to Joseph, but not yet married, and she's 201 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:21,560 also a virgin. She's a virgin. 202 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:29,600 You know what that means? She has not yet known a man. 203 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:35,000 She has not had any relations with a man and all of a sudden 204 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:41,400 Gabriel shows up and he gives her some news that is too hard 205 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:50,960 to believe. Mary, you are about to have a 206 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:55,760 baby. But twice in verse 27, the Bible 207 00:15:55,760 --> 00:16:03,840 says that Mary is a virgin. Nothing is impossible with God. 208 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:10,880 This this is hard to believe. This will not be some ordinary 209 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,480 baby. No notice the Bible tells us a 210 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:19,920 little bit about this baby in verse 31 and behold, you will 211 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:25,200 conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, a capital S the son 212 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:29,760 of God and you shall call his name Jesus Yeshua. 213 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:36,320 He is God is our salvation and, and he will be great Mary notice 214 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:40,720 this and he will be called the son of the highest Mary notice 215 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:45,360 in verse 32 and the Lord God will give him the throne of his 216 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,040 father David. Let's pause, stop, hit rewind if 217 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:53,080 you can for a moment. Notice all of this information 218 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:58,080 that that that Mary is getting your child will be the Son of 219 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,240 God. He will be the Savior of the 220 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,800 world. This baby will sit on the throne 221 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,240 of David. David, your baby will rule over 222 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,720 the House of Jacob. Your baby Mary will be the King 223 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:12,640 of kings, and he will be the Lord of Lords. 224 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:17,839 Mary, you are about to have God's child. 225 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:27,160 But Mary, you're a virgin. Nothing is impossible with God. 226 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:34,760 Nothing is impossible with God. Mary hears it, but she doesn't 227 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,520 believe it. It's kind of like a kazoo 228 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:43,880 moment. You heard it, but it really 229 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:49,840 didn't seem to match up with logical explanation. 230 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:54,680 Because, Mary, you're actually a virgin. 231 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:06,880 I know you know how all of this happens, but Mary's at a spot 232 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:12,480 where she's hearing this message and she's a virgin. 233 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,000 Now. To make a baby, the egg and the 234 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:24,200 seed have to come together. And so listen, there is no way 235 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:29,800 that this could actually happen. So Mary asked the question to 236 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:36,800 the Angel in verse 34. How can this be? 237 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:49,160 Since I do not know a man I know I know putting yourself in this 238 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,960 place sometimes it's it's hard to do, but I don't want to judge 239 00:18:53,960 --> 00:19:00,120 Mary and maybe we have judged Mary with our sanctified selves 240 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,400 when we've heard messages like Mary that just seem so 241 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:10,640 outlandish. They seem so unbelievable in 242 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,640 this moment. I think can I tell you today 243 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:18,000 that we get ourselves into situations where it's hard to 244 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,280 believe what God said is actually what God will do I I 245 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:24,800 know as you've come in here this Sunday morning. 246 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,360 I, I know you, you want your neighbor to believe that you 247 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:30,440 speak in tongues all day. I know you want your neighbor to 248 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,840 believe that all you that you do is read your Bible every hour 249 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,840 and every minute of the day. I know you want your your 250 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,680 neighbor to believe here at church that you have no problems 251 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:41,800 in your life at all. But here's the problem with 252 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:45,040 church people is we seek to be holy, but we don't seek to be 253 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,680 honest. And I think a lot of times if we 254 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:54,800 were to put ourselves in Mary's spot, we would find that in this 255 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:59,440 moment of time that there are moments where you have actually 256 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:04,080 doubted what God has told you. If we were honest today, there 257 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:08,920 are moments that you have a lot like Mary, doubted what God has 258 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:14,160 actually said to you. And in this moment, I want to 259 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:19,760 bring us to the spot where we understand that sometimes it's 260 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:23,280 hard to believe that everything will work out for our good when 261 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:24,880 everything seems to be going wrong. 262 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,280 It's hard to believe that God will heal, even though the 263 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,320 doctors have given us a, an explanation of our disease. 264 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:38,320 It's hard to believe many times as we go through the things that 265 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:41,720 we're going through that there is really a reason and a season 266 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:47,160 for our trial, and God will not allow this to last forever. 267 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,600 It's hard to believe in moments that we're in that weeping might 268 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,800 endure for the night, but joy will come in the morning. 269 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,960 It's hard to believe sometimes that when you've been planning 270 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,280 everything that that you feel like it's all working against 271 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,880 you, but that God is actually with you and he's for you and 272 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:08,200 he's in you in the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead 273 00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:11,600 actually lives in you. It's hard to believe sometimes 274 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:13,640 that there will be days that are brighter. 275 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:15,960 There will be days that are a blessing. 276 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,120 There will be days that when you come out of the season of 277 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:23,280 struggle that you're actually going to be better for it. 278 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:28,560 Sometimes we, we hear it, but we just don't believe it. 279 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:36,520 And Mary says, but I'm a virgin. I'm a virgin now, now, now I 280 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:41,480 know we often we, we, we have the definition in place that 281 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:45,040 Mary had no relations with a man. 282 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:48,120 But I want to give you a second definition of the word virgin. 283 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:52,400 The word virgin also means that she was young. 284 00:21:54,280 --> 00:22:00,360 Sometimes in our American culture and Western Christianity 285 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:08,040 we have in our Christmas plays we have painted Mary as this old 286 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:13,880 seasoned St. She has a blue cloth over her 287 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,400 head. She's probably in her mid 20s, 288 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,800 late 20s at the time. She's always already finished 289 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:24,960 her degree. She's already gone through all 290 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,000 of her schooling that she could ever go through. 291 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,360 And she sits up there and calmly is holding the baby Jesus in her 292 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:34,440 hands. But the word virgin doesn't 293 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:39,640 paint that picture for us. The word virgin can also mean 294 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:45,120 that she was young, that she was young. 295 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:52,680 Scholars believe that Mary at this time is 12 to 13 years old, 296 00:22:55,800 --> 00:23:02,600 12 to 13 years old. Now imagine if you were 12 or 13 297 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:09,760 and an Angel appears in your room and all the sudden the 298 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:15,120 Angel says to you, You will bear the Son of God, the King of 299 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:20,920 Kings and the Lord of Lords at 12 or 13 years old. 300 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:26,760 Would you be afraid? I don't think you'd be hopping 301 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,080 on Instagram going I just met an Angel. 302 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,320 I don't think you'd be going on TikTok and or on X or whatever 303 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:42,960 it might be and sending out your post and you would be in 304 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:46,520 disbelief and dumbfounded. So I want you to think through 305 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:51,920 this just for a moment with me. Mary says she's just a virgin. 306 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:57,960 I just want, I want this to sink in to our lives that maybe at 307 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:08,360 this time, Mary is just 12 to 13 years old and an Angel comes to 308 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:14,280 her and says you will bear the Messiah. 309 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:20,320 That's like my daughter Claire I. 310 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:28,040 It's hard to grasp what must have been going through Mary's 311 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:30,760 mind and heart. She's a virgin. 312 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,280 She's not known a man. She's young. 313 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:38,360 And here's the other problem. Kings don't come from people in 314 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:42,680 Nazareth. Kings come from Queens and 315 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:47,080 princesses. But not only that, notice this 316 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:51,840 that Mary is from. The Bible says a region of 317 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:56,680 Galilee, but the Angel finds her in this little city called 318 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:01,080 Nazareth. Nazareth. 319 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:06,200 The Bible says that can't be because the Messiah will be born 320 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:11,680 in Bethlehem. But in this moment, the Angel 321 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:17,680 finds Mary in Nazareth. Nazareth, as you might know from 322 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:22,040 the Gospel of John, is not a good city. 323 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,000 Nazareth would equate for where I grew up in San Bernardino. 324 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,240 If you're not from there, you don't go there. 325 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,320 And you're not like, I'm like, hey, everybody, come down 326 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,800 baseline with me. Come down East St. let's go to 327 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,080 Central City Mall. I'm not inviting people into San 328 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:45,200 Bernardino, CA. Nazareth is the same. 329 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:52,280 It's the same place. And Mary comes from this place. 330 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:57,280 She's 12 or 13 years old. She's from the wrong place, the 331 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:02,360 city of Nazareth. And notice this, Mary doesn't 332 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:07,960 have a husband yet. She doesn't have a husband. 333 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:11,520 She's from the wrong place. She has the wrong age. 334 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:17,680 She's at the wrong town and I believe in this moment Mary is 335 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:22,560 not wrestling with if God can, but if God will. 336 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,040 I think as we read this, there's a bit of unworthiness in Mary's 337 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:32,400 heart, in her life, and sometimes in our lives. 338 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,200 What we have found in each of our hearts is this. 339 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,760 The issue is not God's ability. Many times the issue is my 340 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:43,160 identity. Can I just say that again to 341 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,280 you? The issue when it comes to 342 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:50,040 something that is impossible is not God's ability. 343 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:55,800 The issue is my identity. Because the greatest tactic of 344 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,800 the enemy is to let you be focused simply upon your 345 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:04,960 mistakes, your thoughts, your problems, your sins. 346 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:10,440 And how could you be worthy enough to allow God to really do 347 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:15,600 that for you? Oh, I have AI have faith for 348 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:20,000 every person in this room, but when it comes often times to 349 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:25,440 myself, I lack the faith because not that God is able to do it, 350 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:30,800 but I'm unworthy to receive it. And here is the issue. 351 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,760 The issue is maybe you're too old. 352 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:37,360 You might say you're too young, you're too large or too small. 353 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:40,320 You don't look right, you're not from the right school, you're 354 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,680 still struggling with something. You're not holy enough, you're 355 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,080 not at church enough, you don't read your Bible enough. 356 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:52,240 You come from a broken home. You've had not enough men. 357 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,080 Maybe some of you've had too many men, too many women. 358 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,040 Maybe you find yourself at a place where you think that God 359 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:05,560 could never do this because there's a stain of sin upon your 360 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,880 life. And Mary asked, why me? 361 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,760 What a great question. Why us? 362 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:19,160 Why me and why us? And here's the answer. 363 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:24,920 You ready and having come in. In verse 28, the Angel said to 364 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:32,160 her, Rejoice highly favored one, notice that the Lord is with 365 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,280 you, Blessed are you among women. 366 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,320 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and 367 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,080 considered what manner of greeting this was. 368 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,720 Then the Angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you 369 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:51,000 have found favor with God. Why me? 370 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:59,760 Why US? One word, favor, favor not now. 371 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:03,760 Now you might be asking, why US today? 372 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:08,400 Why did God choose us? It's because you have found 373 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:12,840 favor, and it's not because you were necessarily good. 374 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,280 You found favor. You see, It's not because you 375 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,760 were perfect. It's because you found favor. 376 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,040 Yes, you messed up, but you found favor. 377 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,600 You weren't holy enough, but you found favor. 378 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:32,080 The only reason why is because you found favor. 379 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:36,640 Can I push it a little bit? Worthy You ain't. 380 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,240 You don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. 381 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:46,360 We're not worthy enough for it. But in this place you found 382 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:51,280 favor. God is so good that He has 383 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:57,160 allowed us to find favor. He we, we found favor with the 384 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,600 Lord. The word favor in the Greek is 385 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,400 karis. Karis. 386 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,000 Thank you. I need my Greek interpreter up 387 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:16,320 here. It can also be defined as grace. 388 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:28,960 You found grace. Rejoice, highly graced one. 389 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:34,160 Listen, if you're a graced 1, you should be able to rejoice. 390 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:40,880 If you are a graced 1, you should be able to rejoice. 391 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,360 Listen, listen, please, I want you to understand this. 392 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:50,280 You should be able to rejoice because God has poured out His 393 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:54,080 grace upon you. Grace not only allowed me into 394 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:58,160 salvation, but grace opens doors that you never thought ever 395 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,280 existed. Grace puts you in rooms that you 396 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:02,800 never thought you would ever be in. 397 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:07,320 Grace allows you to build a life that you were never able to 398 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:13,720 build. Grace of God brings me into this 399 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:19,560 spot. It is in this room that God has 400 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:29,320 graced us. I am, I was, I planned for my 401 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:34,720 dad for his birthday and for a couple of my kids to go to the 402 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:40,560 Phil Wickham Christmas concert. And so our friend at Downey 403 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,880 Calvary Chapel, Downey Art Reyes, said, Hey, come on, come 404 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,680 on over. And I want you not just to come 405 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,440 over. I'm going to actually save you a 406 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,360 seat. Not just you, but your whole 407 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,120 family. I'm going to save all of them 408 00:31:55,160 --> 00:32:03,040 seats right in the center. Graced And then he said, I want 409 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,520 you to go back into this room because in this room, Casey, I'm 410 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,720 going to provide your whole family with dinner. 411 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:15,400 Graced Phil Wickham gets up there. 412 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,120 He begins to lead us in song. You know, Phil, with his 413 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:23,800 vibrato, he begins to sing all of these Christmas songs and 414 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:28,040 we're just, yeah, thank you, Lord, holy forever. 415 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:29,800 He's singing that Chris Tomlin song. 416 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:35,440 And at the end of it, at the end of it, he said, Art said, come 417 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:40,600 here, come here. My dad had left and Andre had 418 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,880 left. And he said, come here. 419 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:49,760 And we ran with Art into the back of the back of the back of 420 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,160 the back rooms. In that room. 421 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:59,280 Phil Wickham was there, said Casey. 422 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,840 He said you look like AUFC fighter now. 423 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:09,480 What happened to you? Just enough about that. 424 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,520 I want you to meet my daughter Hudson. 425 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:15,280 And I want you to meet my son Evan. 426 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:19,280 He's all Evan. I remember Evan, I remember you 427 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:26,480 when you were nine years old, I actually copied your haircut and 428 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:28,520 Evan said, can we get a picture with you, Phil? 429 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,480 And they all grabbed arms together and they they took the 430 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:33,360 picture. It was Phil Wickham in the 431 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:35,600 middle, Evan on one side, Hudson on the other. 432 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,760 And I, I didn't know. I didn't know Hudson was excited 433 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:43,680 about this, but but one of her friends said you went to the 434 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:50,320 Phil Wickham concert, Grace, you went and had food. 435 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:56,440 Grace, you went to the back of the back of the back of the back 436 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,600 back rooms. You didn't really meet Phil, did 437 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:02,080 you? She said, I have proof. 438 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:05,880 So she said, Dad, show me your phone. 439 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,159 So I got out my phone and the little girl with her, it's like, 440 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:17,120 Oh my word, she said. The good little girl said, how 441 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,199 did you get to the back of the back of the back of the back 442 00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:24,760 rooms? She said these words because I 443 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:31,000 was with my father. I want you to hear that for a 444 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:36,280 minute. When you are with the Father, he 445 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:40,199 graces you to be in positions that you never thought you would 446 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:46,960 ever imagine being in. And I think Ron's the only one 447 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,840 who's excited about this. Do you know how we know how, 448 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:54,400 how, how you've experienced grace is you don't come in here 449 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:57,760 as sour. You don't come in here. 450 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:02,040 You come in here rejoicing. But but, but listen, I want you 451 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:06,320 as Mary did, to rejoice in this grace. 452 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:08,560 But but I want to just break it down a little bit further. 453 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:12,680 If I could push it in the Greek. This isn't the passive voice. 454 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:19,680 And if you have remembered in the passive voice in the English 455 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:24,120 grammar, the verb is not being directed by the subject, but the 456 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:28,360 subject is being directed by the verb in the passive voice. 457 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:34,840 We, we don't always get this. You didn't find favor, favor 458 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,720 found you. I just want to say that again, 459 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:44,480 you didn't find favor. Favor found you. 460 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:51,280 Grace found you. God pursued you. 461 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:56,560 God was after you. Now, now, now, if we could go a 462 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:58,720 little bit further. No, notice this. 463 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:03,320 This is the Christmas gift and the Christmas gift is here for 464 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:05,640 you. Is it Favor found you? 465 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:11,720 But but, but this is also in the Eros tense, AORIST. 466 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:14,960 Now we have the past tense, the present tense and the future 467 00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:17,360 tense. But in the Greek, there's the 468 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,560 arrows tense that is not connected to time. 469 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:25,640 It didn't just happen yesterday or right now or nor is it 470 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:29,240 limited to tomorrow. Wherever grace gets a hold of 471 00:36:29,240 --> 00:36:30,800 you, grace will not let go of you. 472 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:40,200 This is this is listen, real miracle is not the pregnancy. 473 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:49,840 The real miracle is the grace. If you understand the grace, if 474 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,480 I can favor you, the miracle is easy. 475 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:55,680 If I could choose you, the blessing is easy. 476 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,440 If I can save you, I can also provide for you if I could 477 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:02,760 deliver you. Listen, it's easy to delight in 478 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:06,200 you, trusting in God that He actually found you. 479 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:09,840 Notice this. The Holy Spirit will come upon 480 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:14,040 you, he says, and the power of the highest will over shadow 481 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:16,720 you. Here is Mary in this moment. 482 00:37:16,720 --> 00:37:21,480 And when she saw him, she was troubled at 12 or 13, coming 483 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,920 from the city of Nazareth. And in this city, she's not a 484 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:29,000 queen, she's not a Princess. She's just an average teenager 485 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:35,640 that is out walking through the night and the Angel finds her 486 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:38,280 there and says do not be afraid you found favor. 487 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:42,600 And behold you will conceive your in your womb and bring 488 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:46,560 forth a son and shall call his name Jesus and he will be great 489 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:48,760 and he'll be called the Son of the highest. 490 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:51,400 And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David 491 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:54,840 and he will reign over the House of Jacob Forever and ever in his 492 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:59,000 Kingdom there will be no end. So Mary said, well OK Angel, how 493 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:03,680 can this be since I don't know a man because with God nothing is 494 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:09,080 impossible. And the Angel answered and said 495 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:13,200 to her, notice these words, the Holy Spirit will come upon you 496 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,160 and the power of the highest will over shadow you. 497 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:22,840 Do you get that? Don't, don't just don't just fly 498 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:25,640 by this verse. Listen to this. 499 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:30,000 This is Old Testament language. The Angel said the Holy Spirit 500 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:34,880 will come upon you. How did God move in the Old 501 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:38,440 Testament? The Spirit of God came upon 502 00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:41,680 people. How did God move through Samson? 503 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:45,480 The Spirit of God came upon him. Do you see the Old Testament 504 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:48,000 now? I want you to see something 505 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:52,000 else. Notice he says that the power of 506 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:53,800 the highest will over shadow you. 507 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:59,120 The word power is the same word that's used in Acts chapter one 508 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:03,920 verse 8 when Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem 509 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,720 for they will be their witness. He will be they will be his 510 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:14,240 witnesses in Jerusalem when the power of the Spirit comes upon 511 00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:18,400 them. This is pre Pentecostal 512 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,280 language. Old Testament, the Spirit's 513 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:25,560 coming upon you. New Testament, the Dunamis 514 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:31,280 power, the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit will over shadow 515 00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:34,120 you. Who was the first person to get 516 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:43,360 this pre Pentecostal language? A young teenage girl named Mary. 517 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:47,440 Now this is interesting because with Elizabeth, the Bible says 518 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:51,400 that you will have a son that's through the natural means of her 519 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:55,680 husband, Zechariah. But with Mary, this will be 520 00:39:55,840 --> 00:40:02,600 supernatural. Let's move on your and this 521 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:04,040 might be going over your head a little bit. 522 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:06,240 We want it to hit your heart also. 523 00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:09,960 Listen, you're going to experience the same thing. 524 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:15,440 And God chooses a teenager named Mary. 525 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:24,480 He chose a woman, chose this woman, this young girl. 526 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:29,120 Notice this message didn't come to Pastor Peter first. 527 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:33,000 It didn't come to Pastor Paul or Barnabas. 528 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:37,240 No, it came to Mary. Ladies, can I just speak to you 529 00:40:37,240 --> 00:40:43,920 for a moment? We are so thankful for you that 530 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:48,480 you have chosen to do the work of God and fulfill the will of 531 00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:51,600 God and being obedient to the Word of God. 532 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:59,160 God's grace is upon your life and nothing ladies, that you are 533 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:03,400 doing is in vain. You might be going well, Casey, 534 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,080 you don't understand what's happening at my house. 535 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:09,120 My kids aren't even thankful for my presence. 536 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:12,680 Not your, your, your. Not just the presents you're 537 00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:16,320 buying, but your presence. I'm wrapping all of these gifts 538 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:18,600 and my husband's oblivious to all of this. 539 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:25,600 I, I listen ladies, God is at work in your heart. 540 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:32,360 Nothing about Nazareth could determine Mary being surrendered 541 00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:37,560 to the Lord, her city, her past, none of it. 542 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:44,680 God was working in all of it. And isn't it interesting that it 543 00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:46,800 says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph? 544 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:49,560 Now understand during that time they didn't have pregnancy 545 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:52,880 tests. You can run to the $0.99 store 546 00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,800 and grab a test and Mary comes out and says, Joe, look at I 547 00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:59,720 have, I'm pregnant. No, they're not even married 548 00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:06,280 yet. Can you imagine Joseph hearing 549 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:15,480 that Mary is pregnant? Guys, can I just speak to you 550 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:18,720 men for a minute? Sometimes we're like, no way 551 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:22,040 your wife says something to you. You're like, no way. 552 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:25,800 But it was actually a bit prophetic that she shared it 553 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:28,720 with you. And sometimes as men, we have a 554 00:42:28,720 --> 00:42:33,640 hard time holding what our wives are saying. 555 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:44,640 Let me be careful on this because we just have a hard time 556 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:48,320 believing it. It doesn't fit into the box of 557 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:53,120 logic, but it does fit into a life that's obedient to God. 558 00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:57,600 And Joseph, through the angels message would also hear. 559 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:01,720 Don't put Mary aside, but notice this if you would. 560 00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:08,480 The language here gives to us that Mary is now being told that 561 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:11,040 the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the 562 00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:14,800 Highest will over shadow you. Therefore also the Holy One who 563 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:17,440 is to be born will be called the Son of God. 564 00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:21,440 Now indeed Elizabeth your relative has conceived, notice 565 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:25,000 that word, a Son in her old age, and this is now the 6th month 566 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:29,800 for her who is called barren. For with God nothing will be. 567 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:33,280 I want to take that Lord. We believe in that. 568 00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:36,560 Then Mary said, Behold, the maidservant of the Lord, let it 569 00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:39,560 be done to me according to your word. 570 00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:43,040 And the Angel departed from her. Notice it if you would. 571 00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:48,400 This is not divine impregnation. This is divine conception. 572 00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:58,880 Divine pregnation would come from the Greek mythology and in 573 00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:02,280 that Zeus would have relations and then produce Hercules, 574 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:07,520 right? This is divine conception giving 575 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:17,320 life and value to the womb. And in that moment notice this, 576 00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:20,120 they use the word you will conceive. 577 00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:23,880 Now, Dora, I don't know if I'll pronounce this right, so you 578 00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:29,880 could correct me when you want. Silimbano, Silimvano. 579 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:32,880 Let's all say that together with our teachers today. 580 00:44:33,240 --> 00:44:39,640 Silimvano, thank you. This word conceived literally 581 00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:44,280 means to seize or to take hold of or to take control of. 582 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:51,920 Notice this and behold, you will conceive in your womb. 583 00:44:52,840 --> 00:45:00,160 God will take control of this, He will take hold of this, and 584 00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:02,240 you're going to bring forth a son and you're going to call his 585 00:45:02,240 --> 00:45:11,480 name Jesus. The impossible happens when the 586 00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:15,320 control of it is given over to God. 587 00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:19,160 We don't, we're not told that the timing of it. 588 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:23,040 Did it happen in this moment? Did it happen when Mary was on 589 00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:25,080 her way walking somewhere? No, no, no. 590 00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:27,680 It it just says that Mary said this. 591 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:32,120 Let it be to me according to your word. 592 00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:39,000 And so I want to encourage you with this this Christmas. 593 00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:46,760 The impossible happens when we release control of what's 594 00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:50,280 plausible and possible back to the Lord. 595 00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:57,920 Now that is not always the story that I desire because God 596 00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:02,560 doesn't move in the way often times that I desire because His 597 00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:07,120 ways are higher than my ways. I asked for healing for my mom. 598 00:46:07,720 --> 00:46:10,040 He did heal her, but He'd healed her in heaven. 599 00:46:11,240 --> 00:46:14,160 I asked for healing for my mother-in-law brain cancer, but 600 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:17,600 he didn't heal her on that bed. He healed her in heaven. 601 00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:20,520 I asked for healing for my father-in-law. 602 00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:23,920 He didn't heal him then He healed him in heaven. 603 00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:27,520 And God's ways are higher than our ways, and I don't fully 604 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:33,360 understand all of them. But when Mary goes to see 605 00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:40,000 Elizabeth, the Bible says that John in her womb would leap. 606 00:46:41,560 --> 00:46:45,840 Now I just want to connect this and that is with this. 607 00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:51,960 God gave the message first to a woman by the name of Elizabeth. 608 00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:57,360 Then six months later he gives the message to Mary. 609 00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:04,560 We all need Elizabeth's in our lives that have already 610 00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:10,120 experienced the promise of God to encourage the Mary position 611 00:47:10,120 --> 00:47:15,440 that we might be in to hear all that God has called us to do and 612 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:19,560 in this moment. Notice the Bible says Elizabeth 613 00:47:19,560 --> 00:47:22,280 looks at Mary and says blessed are you among women. 614 00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:27,080 Blessed is the fruit of your womb. 615 00:47:28,920 --> 00:47:34,200 Nothing is impossible with God. And if I could encourage you 616 00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:40,960 with anything today, and that is to surrender the control of it 617 00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:46,960 all back into the hands of God, He is sovereign. 618 00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:50,600 He is the one who works at His will according to His time. 619 00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:57,520 And so I was closing this out as I was studying and this song 620 00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:02,440 came into my mind. It's not a Christian song. 621 00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:12,080 Well, by a band called Journey. And so I kept thinking of this 622 00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:18,000 song, Don't stop believing. You remember that song? 623 00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:23,240 Some of you that are all a little bit older don't stop 624 00:48:23,240 --> 00:48:25,760 believing. So I'm like, what's this song 625 00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:28,400 all about? Well, one of the band members 626 00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:33,200 was so discouraged in his musical career, so upset, so 627 00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:37,080 despondent he was ready to throw in the towel, that on a phone 628 00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:43,680 call with his dad, the dad said to him, don't stop believing. 629 00:48:48,520 --> 00:48:57,200 And then they wrote this song about this small town boy and 630 00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:01,440 tagged it with this ginormous chorus at the end. 631 00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:05,160 Don't stop believing. The Bible says that the just 632 00:49:05,160 --> 00:49:09,360 shall walk by faith. And we're not just saying 633 00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:12,080 believe in yourself. We're not saying believe in your 634 00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:15,640 heart. We're saying believe in the Lord 635 00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:20,760 and Savior Jesus Christ. We hope you enjoyed this message 636 00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:23,880 and we'd love for you to join us in person every Sunday at 10:30 637 00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:25,560 AM. For more information and 638 00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:27,760 updates, visit wearebridgetown.com. 639 00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:30,040 Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next week.