1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:05,560 Good morning, Happy Mother's Day to all your mom's out there. 2 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:09,800 There's nothing like Mother's Day celebrations for getting all 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,480 the moms up super early to get all their young kids up super 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,320 early to be at church to sing for them. 5 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,640 Sure, that works out somehow. My name is Daniel. 6 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:21,040 I am the lead pastor here at REST Church. 7 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,080 Welcome. My wife and I got a phone call 8 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:30,280 at about 6:20 on Tuesday morning, and we looked at our 9 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,160 phones and we realized that our daughter Avery, who was driving 10 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:36,120 up the Grapevine to go to school at Cal State Northridge on 11 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,600 Tuesday, had got into a car accident. 12 00:00:40,080 --> 00:01:01,580 And well, here I'll show you. And so as the car rolls to the 13 00:01:01,580 --> 00:01:07,040 stop at the centre of the I5, up the Grapevine in the rain before 14 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,240 it probably had fully stopped, she was on the phone calling 15 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:15,600 mom. That's how a lot of us feel 16 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:21,920 about moms. I was, I was trying to figure 17 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,920 out this week, like, how many times does the average kid say 18 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,080 mom by like the time they're 5? And so, you know, I'm like 19 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:32,520 looking at this stuff up and I end up on this, this TikTok 20 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:37,440 video of this mom who decided to count how many times her kids 21 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,960 said her name like in a single day. 22 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,200 It's pretty hilarious. It's better because she has an 23 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,240 accent. But here, check. 24 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:44,720 Good. Morning. 25 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:48,280 Let's see how many times I hear the word mom in one day. 26 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:49,880 Mom. Here we go. 27 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:57,560 Comment below with your guesses. It is 8:50 and we are at 88 moms 28 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,440 lunchtime. 127 kids are sleeping. 29 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:06,800 This gets a little bit of a breakdown. 30 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:17,120 It's 341. So we wonder why mums are sick 31 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:29,000 of hearing their name 234 times today from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM. 32 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,240 Also, just did some quick math. If that's the daily average in 33 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:40,520 one year I'm hearing it 85,410 times. 34 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,960 Good night. Some of you can relate to that. 35 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,600 The best part of being a dad is when your kid walks by you four 36 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,320 or five times and finally looks and goes, where's mom? 37 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,040 You know, for Mother's Day, I was, I was thinking about all of 38 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:08,640 the, all of the attributes about mothers that we really 39 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:13,720 appreciate the, the loyalty, sacrifice, patience, 40 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:18,400 faithfulness, just the, the presence of a mom when, when, 41 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,520 when a mother is around. The way for many of us, our, our 42 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,520 moms have prayed for us for so long, the love and tenderness. 43 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:27,520 And so, you know, I was like, man, there's so many different 44 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:32,600 things and it's trying to pick one to even do a message on 45 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:33,600 today. And I thought, you know, what 46 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:39,680 we'll do instead is instead of picking one, let's go look at 47 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:44,000 the most honored mother in the Bible and see what God 48 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,840 highlights about that woman that was worthy of honor and praise. 49 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:49,840 And so we're going to do that today. 50 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,520 We're going to be in Luke chapter 1 here near the end. 51 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,000 And before we we start our reading, I'll just give you some 52 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,840 back story. The Angel Gabriel has just shown 53 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:06,600 up to this betrothed virgin teenage girl named Mary. 54 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:11,120 And he tells her that she's been chosen by God to have a son and 55 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,160 she will call his name Jesus, and he will be the son of the 56 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,519 Most High and he will reign over the House of Jacob and his 57 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:23,200 Kingdom will have no end. And she says would probably most 58 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,800 of us in her place would, would say she goes, and how how is 59 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,040 that going to happen? Because I'm a virgin. 60 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:36,200 And the Angel has just has just told her just an impossible 61 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,920 miracle that she's going to have a son, this Immaculate 62 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:43,080 Conception, even though she's never been with a man. 63 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,200 And she's asking for an answer. OK, well, but how? 64 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,880 And this is we'll pick this up in Luke chapter one, verse 35. 65 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:53,200 This is the angel's answer. The Holy Spirit will come upon 66 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,080 you, and the power of the Most High will over shadow you, and 67 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,960 therefore the child to be born will be called holy. 68 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:08,760 That means set apart the Son of God, and behold, your relative 69 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,840 Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a Son, and this 70 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:17,040 is the 6th month with her who was called barren. 71 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:19,680 For nothing will be impossible with God. 72 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:25,400 And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be 73 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,920 to me according to your word. And the Angel departed from her. 74 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,320 The first thing that the Bible shows us about the most honored 75 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:40,560 mother in all of Scripture is actually in Mary's response to 76 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,200 the Angel. The Angel doesn't give her a 77 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,320 detailed explanation of how any of this is going to work. 78 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,320 His answer is pretty vague. She says how and he gives her, 79 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,640 oh, the Holy Spirit, there's no, there's no scientific 80 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:55,200 explanation. He doesn't walk her through the 81 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,120 biological. I mean, like there's there's no 82 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,320 logistics. Any of your planners are very 83 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,120 unsettled right now. How is this going to happen? 84 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,320 The Holy Spirit. And then he leaves. 85 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,120 And yet Mary, we see from her response, the first thing is she 86 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:15,160 chooses to believe that God is who he says he is and that he 87 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,440 will do what he says he'll do. Now she's just been told that 88 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,760 her entire entire future is about to change, to be 89 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,360 rearranged by this impossible miracle in ways that she 90 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,480 probably doesn't even understand yet, and she chooses to believe. 91 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:35,760 She chooses to believe belief, and you can see it in this 92 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,440 moment in Scripture. Belief is not the absence of 93 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:40,920 shock. She's clearly shocked. 94 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:46,040 Belief is choosing the word of God over the logic of your own 95 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:53,160 circumstances and feelings. Christian, for the the next time 96 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:58,680 your circumstances are loudly telling you one thing and God's 97 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:03,720 word is quietly telling you another, you slow down and you 98 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,560 ask yourself, which one am I going to let win? 99 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:10,280 Because this is where belief lives. 100 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,920 Not in the easy moments, in the loud hard moments. 101 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,360 So the first thing that God shows us about the most honoured 102 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,560 mother in history is that is her belief. 103 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,840 But the second is this, it's her identity. 104 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:23,720 Because look at her response to the Angel. 105 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:24,960 Even without details, her response. 106 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:31,960 I am a servant of the Lord and that shows us something even 107 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,960 deeper. It shows us who this 108 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:40,480 impoverished teenager viewed herself as. 109 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,560 You know, at the root of everything, you and I, we all 110 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,360 have an identity. We have an identity, a way we 111 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:50,720 see ourselves. And it's actually how we we wrap 112 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,600 value and self worth around ourselves. 113 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,680 It's in fact that will lead us to it will impact how we see the 114 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:00,880 world and how we move in the world around us. 115 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:04,960 Mary's identity is I am a servant of the Lord. 116 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,280 Now I want you to understand how remarkable that is. 117 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:10,880 Like this isn't a stage response. 118 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,000 This is in the moment in the shock and angels there, it tells 119 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,360 her about this impossible miracle doesn't really answer 120 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,360 her question. And she says I am a servant of 121 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,080 the Lord and she could have identified herself in 100 122 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:24,400 different ways. She could have said, well, I'm a 123 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,280 Jew or I'm a teenage girl. She could have said, well, I'm a 124 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,159 I'm betrothed or, or I'm the daughter of Joey Kim. 125 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:34,960 She, she had lots of ways to identify herself. 126 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,840 We do this. We identify ourselves via 127 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:42,320 different, different things about ourselves. 128 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:46,600 I'm a Millennial or I'm a Gen. X. 129 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,320 I'm an American or I, I'm a Republican. 130 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:52,040 I'm a Christian. I'm from Bakersfield. 131 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,720 I'm a Texan. We have identities built around 132 00:08:55,720 --> 00:09:00,880 some of these things, built around a career choice or an 133 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,840 education status or a relationship status, a zip code, 134 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,040 a political tribe, social circles. 135 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:15,040 But but Mary, in the moment, in the shock, the overflow is I am 136 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:21,000 a servant of the Lord. It's so rooted in her that even 137 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,520 in the moment, in real time, it's what comes out. 138 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:27,920 Now. I just just consider that for a 139 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:31,200 moment because because like just about everybody that sings as an 140 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,000 Angel in the in the Bible is pretty scared, right? 141 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:35,400 Because it's almost always a first response. 142 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:37,800 It's always like, don't be afraid, which tells you it's 143 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:42,440 probably pretty scary in a moment of shock. 144 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:47,160 Who are you? When you introduce yourself, 145 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,680 when you're worried, when you're anxious, when you're stressed, 146 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:56,400 when you're angry, who are you? What what, what bubbles up when 147 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,400 you can't exactly control it and put on that church face? 148 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:07,240 Is it about your reputation, about how people perceive you? 149 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:11,440 Because her reputation was about to be ruined. 150 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:16,240 And maybe she didn't realize that yet, but her response is I 151 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:20,920 am a servant of the Lord. It's a it's a question worth 152 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:25,680 taking home today. What's that identity that comes 153 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:27,200 bubbling out when you're under pressure? 154 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:30,600 Because the thing that comes out of your mouth when you're scared 155 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,800 is probably closer to your real identity than you want to let 156 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,040 on. That's the real 1, not the one 157 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:41,840 on your Instagram bio, the one that surfaces at 6:20 in the 158 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:45,440 morning when the phone rings. That's the one worthy of working 159 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:51,680 on. She believes we see her 160 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:55,080 identity, but third, we see her submission. 161 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:58,400 Listen to what she says right after this. 162 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:05,200 She says let it be to me. According to your word, that is 163 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:09,400 a costly sentence. She doesn't understand 164 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:11,360 everything that that's going to cost her in the moment. 165 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:13,280 She doesn't know the scandal that's coming. 166 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,400 She doesn't know that Joseph's first response when he finds out 167 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:18,160 it's not going to be great. She doesn't know anything about 168 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,560 the the flight to Egypt that they'll take later to escape 169 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:22,640 Herod. She doesn't. 170 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,040 She doesn't know about the sword that Simeon will later say will 171 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,200 Pierce her own soul. She doesn't understand about the 172 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,320 grief or the suffering that is coming. 173 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:33,600 She says yes before she even sees the full picture. 174 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:38,240 Submission to God is not passive. 175 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:44,240 It's actually, it's the most active theological posture in 176 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:49,160 the Christian life because they're always going to be 177 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:58,160 things you don't understand. The decision to let God's word 178 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:02,040 be more authoritative than your own understanding as a choice. 179 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:12,160 And, and as Christians, they're always going to be mysteries 180 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:16,960 that we don't fully understand here on earth when it comes to 181 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:19,280 the mind of the Father. They're always going to be 182 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:22,560 things that are unseen, things that are unknown, things that 183 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:25,400 are confusing, things that are unexplained. 184 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,280 Yet the Bible calls us who are in Christ to submit to his will. 185 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,120 Jesus would actually say the same thing when he teaches his 186 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:37,480 disciples how to pray. He'll say your will be done on 187 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:44,760 earth as it is in heaven. And here's this teenage girl, in 188 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,320 the shock of the moment, told about an impossible miracle 189 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,520 without a lot of answers. She believes she identifies as a 190 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,040 servant of the Lord, and then immediately she submits to the 191 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,680 will of God. Do you want to know why she's 192 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:59,040 the most honored mother in history? 193 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:04,720 Christian submission is practiced in the small things 194 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:07,400 before it's possible in the big ones. 195 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:13,480 You practice it every time you you read something in Scripture 196 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,280 that doesn't agree with how you feel. 197 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,600 Anytime you read something in the Bible that you don't want to 198 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,680 do when you do it anyways. Every time you choose God's 199 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:30,440 definition of forgiveness over your own feelings about it. 200 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,200 Every time you say your will be done out loud about something 201 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:35,880 that is genuinely going to cost you something. 202 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:42,160 That's where we start and, and, and actually belief and identity 203 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:43,960 and submission, they're actually connected. 204 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,880 They're all inseparable. Did you realize, Christian, that 205 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,520 you only actually believe the parts of the Bible that you live 206 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:55,600 out? See, if you say you believe it, 207 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,200 but you're not willing to live it out, that's not actually 208 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,040 belief. That's lip service. 209 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:08,320 To really believe it is to live it out, particularly when you 210 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:14,440 don't agree with it. This is the fourth part to this 211 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,720 little story. You see Mary's given 212 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,760 confirmation from God. The Angel tells her not only is 213 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:26,080 this going to happen to you, but your relative Elizabeth, in her 214 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,360 old age, who's been barren her whole life, has conceived a son 215 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,080 and she's already 6 months pregnant. 216 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,040 Because nothing is impossible with God. 217 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,200 That's if you you read down in the story to see what happens 218 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,640 next. Mary actually goes. 219 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,920 Elizabeth lives in another town. We find out and Mary travels to 220 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,960 see Elizabeth. And as she does, she gets this 221 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:52,440 confirmation of what's occurring. 222 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:57,080 Not only is Elizabeth pregnant, but you, you see this this 223 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,120 reaction from Elizabeth when Mary walks in the door. 224 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,800 Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your 225 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:05,320 womb. And why is this granted to me, 226 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,160 that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 227 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:10,880 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, 228 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,520 the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 229 00:15:19,750 --> 00:15:24,390 Elizabeth in another town through another miracle confirms 230 00:15:24,390 --> 00:15:27,590 this angels word about Mary in this miracle. 231 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,240 But notice that the confirmation comes after the belief and the 232 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,360 identity and the submission, not before. 233 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,480 God doesn't give you the proof to say yes. 234 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,200 He gives you the promise and then when you say yes he shows 235 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,800 you the confirmation. That's almost always how it 236 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:48,840 works in the Bible and in the Christian life. 237 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,400 Notice this about the confirmation is swell. 238 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,360 Mary had to go find it. Mary had to get up and she had 239 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,560 to travel. This teenage, impoverished, now 240 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:08,440 pregnant girl had to travel to another town on her own to seek 241 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:13,160 out Elizabeth, to see the confirmation of God's promise 242 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:19,720 with her own eyes. Not because she doubted it, but 243 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,840 because we should all desire to see God at work. 244 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,200 We should push into where God is confirming things in our lives 245 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,280 and in our families. We should be proactive about it, 246 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,440 leaning in, moving toward the evidence of God at work. 247 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:38,120 And she does. She goes, this is the pattern 248 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,560 again and again and again. Belief, identity, submission, 249 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,840 and then confirmation. That's not just Mary's story. 250 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,720 That's the, that's the shape of every life after Jesus. 251 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,720 Jesus said it this way. Whoever loses his life for my 252 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,840 sake will find it. And Mary is the first person in 253 00:16:57,840 --> 00:16:59,560 the New Testament that gets to live that out. 254 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:05,119 And he's not even been born yet, you know, for, for a lot of us. 255 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:09,160 I had someone I was texting with this last week and I said, Hey, 256 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,319 how can I pray for you? And they said, I, I really like 257 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:15,920 to, I really like to hear from the Lord hear, hear about 258 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,280 direction in my life and hear where God's leading me and get 259 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,640 some clarification. And, and I hear that a lot. 260 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:23,200 But I think that the opposite is often true for us. 261 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,760 I think God is often already confirmed things in our life. 262 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,360 We just haven't gone to pay attention and see it yet. 263 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:37,640 God's already at work. He's already confirming 264 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,280 promises. We're just really busy. 265 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,240 And then you get a change in the story. 266 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,320 In this moment, you get one of the most beautiful passages in 267 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:50,280 Scripture. It's called Mary's song or the 268 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,960 Magnificat. And it's if you see in your 269 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,800 Bible, it's kind of listed like a like song lyrics, like a poem, 270 00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:59,760 and it just kind of naturally pours out of Mary and it's 271 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,600 recorded here in Luke 1. I want to read it to you. 272 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,200 That is absolutely beautiful. And I want to show you that in 273 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,600 it is this pattern that we should pay attention to. 274 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:13,680 It's kind of the kind of the key to unlock what's happening with 275 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,480 Mary. Verse 46, it says this and Mary 276 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:21,200 said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in 277 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,720 God my Savior. For he has looked upon the 278 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:28,560 humble estate of his servant from behold, from now on, all 279 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:32,120 generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty 280 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:37,760 has done great things for me. And holy is His name, and His 281 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:42,120 mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation. 282 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:44,800 He has shown strength with His arm. 283 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,520 He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 284 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:51,480 He has brought down the mighty from their Thrones and exalted 285 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,120 those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with 286 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:56,720 good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. 287 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:00,440 He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy, as 288 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,400 He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his offspring 289 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,040 forever. I want you to see three things 290 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,880 about how Mary describes God in this song and why this is so 291 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,120 important. The first thing in the in by 292 00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:19,360 verse 49, she is describing who he is, who he is. 293 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,360 She calls Him holy, she calls him mighty. 294 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:24,880 This is where she starts. She didn't start with her 295 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:26,200 situation. She didn't start with her 296 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,560 circumstances. Here is a impoverished, teenage, 297 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:34,160 unwed pregnant girl and she's talking about who God is, not 298 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,240 her feelings, not her fears, some of the nature of God. 299 00:19:41,120 --> 00:19:45,480 By verse 50, she begins to talk about what God does, what he 300 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:49,240 does. He's a God of mercy. 301 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:54,200 He's a God of justice. He's a God who provides. 302 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,640 He reverses everything in this fallen world that he has 303 00:19:57,640 --> 00:19:59,640 established. He lifts the lowly. 304 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,160 He fills the hungry, He scatters the proud. 305 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:08,960 And she wraps up in verses 54 and 55 by explaining what he 306 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:14,080 keeps. She talks about his faithfulness 307 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,640 that he keeps, His promises that he remembers, He always 308 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:22,080 remembers. Think about what, what, what 309 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,200 Mary's doing this moment. She's describing God, his 310 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:28,480 nature, his works, his faithfulness as she's carrying 311 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:34,480 Jesus inside her body and singing about God. 312 00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:38,320 The fullness of everything that she's actually saying out loud 313 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:43,080 is about to walk on earth in human flesh, and she's singing 314 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:44,880 about what Jesus is about to go do. 315 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:49,040 Because Jesus will lift the lowly, He will fill the hungry. 316 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,880 He will remember His mercy. The Magnificent is not just a 317 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,480 worship song. It is a preview of the gospel. 318 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:01,920 Now, why is this song such a big deal? 319 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:03,800 It almost feels like the thing that, you know, you're reading 320 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,680 the, the story and you kind of skip over, Oh, it's just a song. 321 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:08,160 But I want you to see something else. 322 00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:11,120 See, when I read about these things about Mary, when I, when 323 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:15,040 I read about her belief and, and her identity and her, her 324 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:16,960 submission. And I think to myself, like, how 325 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,680 do you become a person that can believe like that? 326 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,880 How do you become a, a person who can submit who, who has an 327 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:27,120 identity that is rooted? How do you how do you do that? 328 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,360 How do you get an identity that is so rooted in being a child of 329 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,840 God that we don't get swept away by every identity that the world 330 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,040 offers? How do you become willing to 331 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,800 submit so radically that that even when things are hard, even 332 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,160 when they're costly, even when they're counter intuitive, like 333 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:57,760 love your enemies as yourself, turn the other cheek, 334 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:05,560 unsubscribe, serve others before yourself? 335 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,200 How do you become a person who wants to do that? 336 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:12,560 The answer is actually in her song. 337 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:18,560 You see, Mary had a clearview of who God is, a clearview of what 338 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,680 He does, a clearview of what He keeps. 339 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:28,680 If you take nothing else away from today from this message, if 340 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,400 you take nothing else, take this one idea away that's nestled in 341 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,120 Luke 1. You cannot be the best version 342 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:37,520 of you if you don't see the real version of God. 343 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,920 You cannot be the best version of you if you can't see the real 344 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,960 version of God. Mary didn't produce all of these 345 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,920 things in her life by trying harder. 346 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:53,880 She didn't produce them through self effort. 347 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:57,400 I'm just going to try really hard to be good. 348 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:03,880 She produced it because of what she saw in God's nature, in His 349 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,320 faithfulness, in his history, in his work, in her life, in the 350 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,040 lives of people around her. Her praise was an overflow of 351 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,920 her theology. Theology is just the study of 352 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:20,160 God. It bubbled up out of her because 353 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,040 she could see God clearly, she could see herself clearly, and 354 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:25,760 because she could see herself clearly. 355 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:30,360 We see these responses. And I think it's important to to 356 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:33,760 sit here for just a minute and talk through that. 357 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,280 The idea that, listen, I think most of us can trace the 358 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,040 problems that we're going through, the struggles that 359 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:44,240 we're having, back to this idea. We don't actually see God 360 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,400 clearly and therefore we don't see ourselves clearly. 361 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,000 When you see a distorted view of God, you will see a distorted 362 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,200 view of yourself. For instance, if you don't 363 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,840 understand how mighty God is, if you don't understand how 364 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:02,800 faithful God is, if we don't understand how loving God is, if 365 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:07,400 we don't fully grasp his omnipotence, that's that he is 366 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:09,720 all powerful or his omnipresence, that he is 367 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,520 everywhere at once, that he is timeless and outside of time 368 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,920 itself entirely, that he's omniscient and he knows all 369 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:20,560 things. God is so great that you cannot 370 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:26,040 fully wrap your mind around him. And So what we have a tendency 371 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,200 to do in our fallen broken state is we begin to reduce God. 372 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,880 We begin to begin to shrink him down into something that we can 373 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:35,440 contain and understand fully because we don't like mystery 374 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,720 and he can't be that powerful. And so we, we, we put him in a 375 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,800 box, we contain him in some, some way. 376 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:46,040 We, we reduce him to a caricature or an idol or a 377 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:50,960 concept or a meme. And when we do, we we not only 378 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,920 lose sight of the real God, we begin to not be able to see 379 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:57,760 ourselves clearly either. This is actually what happened. 380 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,440 The whole story of the Bible starts in the very beginning in 381 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:06,520 a garden, and there's two people, Adam and Eve, and Eve 382 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,840 eats this apple. She buys this lie, but there's 383 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,240 no way that she disobeys God in that moment if she could see God 384 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:14,800 clearly. Because the first thing she does 385 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,440 is she buys a lie that God is hiding something from them. 386 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:18,960 He's holding something good back. 387 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,920 She's already begun to see a distorted version of God, and 388 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:26,040 because she sees a distorted version of God, she begins to 389 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:27,360 see a distorted version of herself. 390 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,840 I could be like God. I shouldn't be a servant. 391 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,080 I shouldn't be a worshipper. I should be like God. 392 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,160 I should reign and rule. I should be in charge. 393 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,760 Because the moment you begin to see a distorted version of God, 394 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:40,960 you begin to see a distorted version of yourself. 395 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:48,040 And that sin that follows leads to every piece of devastation 396 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,000 that has ever happened in this broken world. 397 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,120 Christian, you who profess Christ. 398 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:03,520 Much of your struggle is rooted in a distorted view of who God 399 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:07,360 is. This is why the Bible says that 400 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:11,840 the beginning of all wisdom is fear of the Lord. 401 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:15,680 You get fear of the Lord. What you need to fear the Lord, 402 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:22,240 because to truly see who God is, is to respond in reverence and 403 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,800 fear to His might and His Majesty and His greatness. 404 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,800 It's like standing next to a giant waterfall. 405 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:31,560 It's beautiful, but it's powerful and therefore 406 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:33,800 dangerous. Or standing next to a rocket 407 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:40,960 launch and watching this tonnage of machinery go to space. 408 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,480 It's beautiful, but it's powerful. 409 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:46,800 We're standing 10 feet away from a lion. 410 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,640 It's beautiful, but it's powerful. 411 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:57,200 To begin to see a clearview of God is also to begin to fear 412 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,680 him, because there's a reverence in that power. 413 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,600 And to fear God means you've begun to see him clearly. 414 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,080 And so much of our struggle with submission and with with 415 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,600 identity and with belief comes down to the fact that we've lost 416 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,000 sight of who God really is. We've gotten busy. 417 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,240 This world is loud and noisy. Amen. 418 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:22,040 There's so many things that want your attention. 419 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,360 Do you know I was reading the statistics recently Says the 420 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:27,920 average person in America now spends 39 hours a week on social 421 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:36,400 media. Yo, that's a full time job and 422 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:41,040 they're not paying you for it. Some of you are paying for it. 423 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:54,200 It's not how jobs are supposed to work 39 hours, you know, some 424 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:59,480 of us now 39 hours we're we're being discipled by an algorithm 425 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,000 built by a man or a machine on a little glass screen. 426 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:09,480 See, couldn't have set that up better. 427 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:16,440 Thank you, Lauren. It's no wonder that the average 428 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,800 American has a distorted view of God. 429 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:20,960 We're not. We're not being discipled by 430 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:22,840 Bibles. We're being discipled by phones. 431 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:24,280 You're not being discipled by the word of God. 432 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:25,600 You're being discipled by TikTok. 433 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,920 Can you imagine if the average American spent 39 hours a week 434 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:41,280 in their Bible? Some of you get to 39 minutes 435 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,600 and you're sweating. I'm messing with you. 436 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:52,960 How do you fix this? It's actually two things at the 437 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:58,480 same time. To fix this in One Direction, we 438 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:00,520 increase the amount of time that we spend with the Lord. 439 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,280 If you want to improve our relationship, you spend. 440 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,000 You just increase the amount of time you spend with them. 441 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:08,680 But you know, the other thing that you can do is you can also 442 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,160 remove some of the distractions that actually create those 443 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,720 distortions. And so if, if you will increase 444 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,360 the amount of time you spend with the Lord and you will 445 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,520 decrease some of the time and the attention that you're giving 446 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,680 to the noise of the outside world, it actually begins to 447 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:24,320 help. Now, it's not enough to just do 448 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:26,080 1. You can't, you can't simply 449 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:29,600 remove some of the distractions. That's not it. 450 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,160 You have to do both, put some things in place to remove some 451 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,840 distractions and give the Lord some of our time, some of our 452 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:38,640 attention, some of our affection. 453 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:44,800 We have to steep ourselves in Scripture. 454 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,720 That's a that's a word we don't use very often. 455 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:51,960 Steep to steep in the Bible they use a Greek word called 456 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,000 epignosis and it means to this deep experiential knowledge, not 457 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,120 knowledge, not going to school and knowledge that you've 458 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:00,560 experienced at such a level. I like to say that it's not 459 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,880 simply that you've you've consumed something that's that 460 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,320 you've digested and metabolized it. 461 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:11,320 If the steep in the word of God. We don't use steep a lot. 462 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:13,800 Steep. Is anyone ever made a cup of 463 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:19,320 tea, you traitors? We don't drink tea. 464 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:22,080 We're American. I like my tea in the harbour 465 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:31,460 like every other patriots. These are horrible jokes. 466 00:30:31,460 --> 00:30:36,060 Do you've ever, do you ever gotten a really hot cup of, of 467 00:30:36,060 --> 00:30:38,900 water and you've taken that tea bag and you've you've put it in 468 00:30:38,900 --> 00:30:42,140 the water and you've watched it? You actually can watch all the 469 00:30:42,140 --> 00:30:46,400 flavour and the colour and everything to come out of the 470 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:51,160 tea bag and it turns a simple cup of water into a cup of tea. 471 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,760 And you know, crazy after, after a little while, if you, if you 472 00:30:55,760 --> 00:31:03,680 let it steep enough, it smells different, it looks different, 473 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:09,440 it tastes different. Do you know if you just popped 474 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:10,920 it in and popped it out, I wouldn't do a lot right? 475 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:14,520 You know, some of us are wondering why our Christianity 476 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:18,520 is weak, and I would just tell you, maybe we could leave the 477 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:23,800 tea bag in longer, just a little longer, just a little more, a 478 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,640 little more, just a little more. If you're wondering why there's 479 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:31,400 a lack of flavour in your life, maybe we could just leave the 480 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,040 tea bag in. Just just just a little more. 481 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:41,200 Just a little more epignosis to metabolize a knowledge of God, 482 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:44,200 to know more about who He is, to be able to see him a little bit 483 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:45,600 more clearly. Because if you could see him a 484 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,000 little bit more clearly, you'd begin to see yourself a little 485 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,600 more clearly. For me, it works like this. 486 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,480 Even after all these years of following God and spending time 487 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,920 with the Lord, I still have a Bible plan that tells me what to 488 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,880 read every day. Yes, yes, yes I do. 489 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,360 I need it. It tells me read this chapter, 490 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:07,040 read this chapter. I have a little thing and I do 491 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,000 everyday. In fact I do this when I wake 492 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:10,320 up. I have tried to train myself to 493 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:11,800 do this. When I wake up in the morning 494 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,520 and I open my eyes, I try. The first thing I try to say is 495 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:21,240 God is good. And I try to think of two or 496 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:25,400 three things as soon as I wake up that are just blessings that 497 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,400 I can say thank you for just to be grateful for. 498 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:31,640 So I can start my day remembering who God is before I 499 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,680 get to the task list. And there's always a task list 500 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:35,720 And I always want to do the task list and I always want to get 501 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:39,200 anxious about the task list. So I want to start with just 502 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:45,400 who's God, because if I find that my view of God gets 503 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,120 distorted really quickly, it gets misaligned so fast. 504 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:51,880 And so I spend time during the day, I open up my Bible and I, I 505 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:54,320 spend some time talking to the Lord and, and walking with him 506 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,000 and thinking about him and praying sometimes for you, 507 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:58,840 sometimes for things that are going in my life and writing 508 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:02,600 down as God reminds me of truth. So I like to write those things 509 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:04,280 down. I tend to learn what, why am I 510 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:05,360 doing that stuff? There's no box. 511 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:10,280 I'm checking, trying to see the Lord more clearly. 512 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:14,520 These aren't spiritual superpowers. 513 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:16,680 That's not religious check boxes. 514 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,160 It's just the practical habits of someone trying, trying to see 515 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,880 God clearly. In the past two or three months 516 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:27,120 have been some of the just worst months of my life in terms of 517 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:30,360 dealing with some really deep emotions and feelings like 518 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:37,920 overwhelmed, hurt, abandoned, doubting God's plan in my life 519 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,080 and in this season, questioning everything about what's going 520 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,320 on. And it has been those those 521 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:45,960 simple little habits that have been saving my life, my 522 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,560 spiritual life, at least saving my life. 523 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:52,160 Why? Because I I spend time with the 524 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,840 Lord. Even then it's the pain and 525 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:58,520 confusion. And it is that habit that lets 526 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:00,840 him, through His word and through prayer and through wise 527 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:02,600 counsel and through other Christians and through 528 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:08,520 meditation, change me, realign me back to a clearview of who He 529 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:14,480 is. And I guys, I, I cannot do this. 530 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:19,520 I cannot be a good pastor for that matter. 531 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:26,000 I can't even be a good person. I need God to show up over and 532 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:31,040 over and over and over and over again. 533 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,800 And you do too. You do too. 534 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:44,760 We need the Holy Spirit to do this transformative work. 535 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,199 The the Spirit is active in your life as a believer. 536 00:34:47,199 --> 00:34:50,000 Here's the The problem is not that the Holy Spirit is not 537 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:52,520 working in transformation in your life. 538 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,120 It's that we often times are working against His work. 539 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,560 Can you imagine if you would turn toward the work the Spirit 540 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,200 is doing and participate in the work He's trying to do in your 541 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,760 life? If you'd give him the time and 542 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:09,560 the space and the medium to really do work, to receive that 543 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:15,080 work. Verse 47, the beginning of 544 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,920 Mary's song. I don't want you to miss this. 545 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,560 This is pretty beautiful. She says. 546 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:26,800 My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, God my Savior. 547 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:30,400 Mary needed saving and she knew it. 548 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:36,240 The woman carrying the very salvation of the world inside of 549 00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:39,240 her body confess that she needed it herself. 550 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:43,760 So we don't put Mary, the the most honoured mother in all the 551 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:46,360 Bible, on a pedestal and say she was perfect. 552 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:52,240 She was a woman who saw God clearly enough to know that she 553 00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:59,040 was not sufficient on her own. Tuesday morning when the phone 554 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:04,920 rings and Avery's got the car smashed up backwards on the I-5. 555 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:06,160 It's raining. She's scared. 556 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:12,840 Mom, we you know what we do? Marina goes. 557 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:14,080 Marina goes. What happened? 558 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:16,280 And she goes. I flipped to the car. 559 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:18,080 Marina goes. You flip. 560 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:19,680 You flipped the car. She goes. 561 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:22,960 Well, it's spun and she goes. Those are very different words, 562 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:30,000 Avery. Yes. 563 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:35,240 Yes, they are. She's scared and she's on the 564 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:37,520 side of the middle of the freeway and the big rigs are 565 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:39,240 zooming by. And So what do we do? 566 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:41,280 We do what you would do. We jump in the van and we start 567 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,120 driving up the I5 and we're making phone calls to work. 568 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:46,800 I'm not going to be in and, you know, calling people and you 569 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:48,200 know, we didn't do though. You know what's kind of 570 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,160 interesting, You know, we didn't do on the way to go get her. 571 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:57,080 We didn't call her and ask her whether or not she deserved our 572 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:02,800 response. We we didn't go back and do a 573 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,160 little inventory of her 21 years as our child and evaluate 574 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:11,440 whether or not she'd earned it. We didn't. 575 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,960 We didn't put out a checklist and count how many of the boxes 576 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,000 she checked it, you know, to see whether or not she was a 577 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:19,520 daughter worthy of our love or of us coming to get her. 578 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,960 She called. She was in need. 579 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:26,520 We got in a car and drove to her. 580 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:34,600 Guy is that that's the gospel of Jesus Christ, That everyone of 581 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:43,080 us hopelessly broken, born into sin, rebelled against God with 582 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:45,400 no ability to fix the problem on our own. 583 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:56,830 Maybe that's you today. You don't know God as your 584 00:37:56,830 --> 00:38:02,280 Savior yet, or you do, but you've gotten a distorted view 585 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:06,080 of Him and you are spinning out of control. 586 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:08,280 Maybe not on the I-5, but maybe in life. 587 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:15,840 Here's what I want you to hear about Jesus. 588 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:20,160 Jesus didn't wait until you had it all figured out. 589 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:26,720 He came to you while you were still terrified in the ditch on 590 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:31,120 the side of the road. Because Jesus came for us while 591 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:38,360 we were still his enemies. And if the most honoured mother 592 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:43,040 in all of the Bible will open her mouth and say, God my 593 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:51,120 Saviour, you can too. Maybe some of you in this room 594 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:58,440 today or online, you've put your faith in Christ before, but you 595 00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:01,720 have allowed your view of God to become so distorted that you 596 00:39:01,720 --> 00:39:04,160 can't even see yourself clearly anymore. 597 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:07,480 And you have the same opportunity granted to all of us 598 00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:14,120 to cry out to God and allow Him to do work in your life. 599 00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:16,760 Maybe some of you in this room are online today, have never 600 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:21,800 placed your faith in Christ. You never surrendered your will, 601 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:23,280 the control of your life, to Him. 602 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,560 The Bible says you must believe in your heart and declare with 603 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:29,680 your mouth that Jesus was raised from the dead and is your Lord. 604 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:37,160 Guys, every single person in this world will one day bend a 605 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:39,960 knee to Jesus, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. 606 00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,560 The only question is whether or not you'll be happy when you do 607 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:47,200 it. Because we're either going to be 608 00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:50,560 overjoyed that our King has come back to make all things right, 609 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:52,520 or we're going to be mortified that He has come to judge the 610 00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:56,960 guilty. And I have stuck my nose up and 611 00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,640 shaken my fist at God in rebellion. 612 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:05,080 And He was loving and merciful enough to outlast my outbursts, 613 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:10,800 my rebellion, and my running. That's His unending grace. 614 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:13,480 And if you will let Him, He will save you too. 615 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:19,080 Would you bow your heads and close your eyes as we finish up 616 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:22,680 our service today? I'm going to give you the 617 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:24,520 opportunity to come to the Father. 618 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:29,640 The invitation is granted to you from Christ in Scripture to 619 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:33,440 taste and see if He is good. And I'm going to lead you in a 620 00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:35,880 simple prayer of surrender. And if you are ready to follow 621 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:42,000 Christ as King, I would ask you simply repeat after me Jesus. 622 00:40:44,720 --> 00:40:50,120 I know I'm a Sinner who cannot save myself. 623 00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:59,280 I need you to save me. I want you to adopt me into your 624 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:02,400 family, so I surrender everything. 625 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:10,000 Be my Lord. Please, Jesus, if you said that 626 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,960 prayer, if you gave your life to Christ for the first time, would 627 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,240 you be brave and raise your hand for me to see? 628 00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:19,200 Thank you. Thank you. 629 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:26,440 Can you put your hands down if you know Christ? 630 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:30,120 But you have found yourself in this moment in the season of 631 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:33,160 life with such a distorted view of the world and yourself. 632 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:40,560 You also can cry out to God to ask Him to stir up your 633 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:46,160 affection for Him, to help you to lean into knowing Him more so 634 00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:48,800 you can see Him clearly, so that you can see yourself clearly. 635 00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:52,320 And if you'd like to do that, I'm going to give you an 636 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:54,760 opportunity to just pray to him for just a moment and ask for 637 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:57,040 his help. I believe. 638 00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:01,680 Help my unbelief in Jesus name, Amen. 639 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:06,520 Amen. Real quick, if you've given your 640 00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:09,720 life to Christ moments ago or recently and you haven't told 641 00:42:09,720 --> 00:42:12,120 anyone yet, welcome to the family. 642 00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:21,840 If you find yourself in a season where you've been struggling to 643 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:27,520 see God clearly, I want you to know he is a good, good God and 644 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:29,000 he loves it when you cry out to him. 645 00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:31,920 So in a few moments, our prayer team is going to come up. 646 00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:35,560 We love praying for you, praying with you, praying over you. 647 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:40,040 So we invite you to come up. If you gave your life to Christ 648 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:42,720 moments ago or recently and you haven't told anyone yet, there 649 00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:45,560 are tables in the back. They say I raised my hand. 650 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:47,920 We would love to celebrate with you and talk to you about 651 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:49,440 discipleship and give you a gift. 652 00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:52,840 Will you stand? We're going to sing a song. 653 00:42:53,240 --> 00:42:56,680 Everyone that is ready to get baptized already signed up. 654 00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:58,760 You can just go over there to the corner where by that exit 655 00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:01,680 sign. If you have given your life to 656 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:05,120 Christ moments ago or recently and you've not taken the very 657 00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:08,280 next step of obedience that the Bible would tell you, which is 658 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:13,400 believers baptism, we would invite you to come and talk to 659 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:16,840 us and be baptized today. We have towels and clothes and 660 00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:18,440 everything else. What a wonderful Mother's Day 661 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:21,600 celebration to celebrate meeting the Father. 662 00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:24,640 And so if you'd like to be baptized, we'd love for you to 663 00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:27,680 walk right over there and talk to somebody and we'll get you 664 00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:29,560 dunked. The Oildale water is very warm. 665 00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:32,880 I swear you move as the Lord leads you. 666 00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:34,520 Thank you Church, I love you.