1 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,360 OK, Luke chapter 1, verses 26 to 38. 2 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,440 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent 3 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:15,480 the Angel Gabriel to Nazareth, the town in Galilee, to a virgin 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,360 pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,880 David. The virgin's name was Mary. 6 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,840 The Angel went to her and said, greetings to you who are highly 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:26,960 favored. The Lord is with you. 8 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,720 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,760 greeting this might be. But the Angel said to her, Don't 10 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,960 be afraid Mary. You have found favor with God. 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,040 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call 12 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:43,880 him Jesus. He will be great and will be 13 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,560 called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will give him the 14 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,840 throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob, 15 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:55,240 Jacob's descendants forever. His Kingdom will never end. 16 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:58,160 How will this be? Mary asked the Angel. 17 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,200 Since I am a virgin, The Angel answered. 18 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,840 The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most 19 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,560 High will over shadow you. So the Holy One to be born will 20 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,280 be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is 21 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,040 going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be 22 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,880 unable to conceive is in her 6th month. 23 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,280 For no word from God will ever fail. 24 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:25,560 I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. 25 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,720 May your word to me be fulfilled. 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,600 Then the Angel left her. May the Lord add his blessing to 27 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:34,880 the reading and hearing of His word. 28 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:38,840 All right now we're continuing our series Wicked for Christmas. 29 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:40,520 I'm going to start with a video clip. 30 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,640 Donna, I'm going to need you to adjust volume twice here this 31 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:45,840 morning because the video clip is really low. 32 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,600 And then in a little bit, my cousin Ida Patterson is going to 33 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,080 come up and sing a song for us. And that one's really loud, so 34 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,080 we'll need to bring it down just a little bit. 35 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,680 OK All right, So if you could turn up the volume now. 36 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,920 And we're going to watch this clip from the very early on in 37 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,720 the movie Wicked. I opened the sermon with a clip 38 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,440 from the movie Wicked. It showed Alphaba right after 39 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,240 she was born and later as a child. 40 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,840 In both scenes, Alphaba was rejected by many of those who 41 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,120 should have loved her, including her peers, but also and 42 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:17,880 especially her mother and father. 43 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:23,840 Now here's the sermon. That's Alphaba and Alphaba. 44 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,480 Elphaba had challenges. It's not easy being green. 45 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:29,400 I know she's not the one that said that. 46 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,000 That was a different green person, Kermit the Frog. 47 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,760 But Elphaba found out it was not easy being green. 48 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,760 She was rejected by nearly everyone she knew from the time 49 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,360 she was born. Now, the story Wicked, the the 50 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:44,000 movie Wicked and Wicked for good. 51 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,880 In one sense, the movies are about a conflict between the 52 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,000 forces of good and the forces of evil. 53 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,800 And, and in some senses it's an adventure, an action adventure 54 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,480 story. But there's another sense and, 55 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,680 and maybe a deeper sense in which it's not just a story of a 56 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,840 conflict between good and evil, but a love story, a love story 57 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:09,240 between Alphaba and Fiero. Alphaba love Fiero. 58 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,800 She, she, you know, as a child again, as an infant, she was 59 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,520 rejected. As a child, she was rejected. 60 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,280 As she grew into a young woman, she fell in love. 61 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:24,360 She fell in love with Fiero, but she had this real concern that 62 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:28,920 Fiero would not return her love, and that left her in a lot of 63 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:31,120 anxiety. We're going to hear a song about 64 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,920 that in just a moment, but I want to just emphasize here as 65 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:38,720 we get started. Alpha grew up used to being 66 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:43,440 rejected, and generally speaking, we tend to expect from 67 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,920 the future what we've received from the past. 68 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,480 So when someone grows up being rejected, they often expect to 69 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,320 be rejected. If they grow up being unloved, 70 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,440 it's really hard for them to trust that someone else is 71 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,640 really going to love them. And that's one of the places 72 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,040 where Elphaba found herself mentally and emotionally in her 73 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,600 relationship with others. Now I've changed, I decided to 74 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,720 change the order of things a little bit since I put the 75 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,120 slides together. So let me jump ahead here. 76 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,680 And at this point, I'm going to invite Ida up to come and sing. 77 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,000 And the song she's singing is a song called I'm Not That Girl. 78 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:25,720 And it's a moment in the story where Alphaba is really seeing 79 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,520 that she really does love Fiero and she's deeply concerned that 80 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,800 he will never return that love. So Ida, thank you for being here 81 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,080 today. Thank you for singing. 82 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,960 I wish Ida had time to stay and visit with everyone afterwards. 83 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:42,440 She's going to be rushing off with me and, and her her parents 84 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,720 can be rushing off with me to to new beginnings to sing there. 85 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:50,600 And and I'm it is my cousin, so you can think better of Maine 86 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,760 because she sings so well, you know, and and don't think worse 87 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,640 of her because I'm bald. I'm just going to put that out 88 00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:59,120 there. All right, go ahead, Aida. 89 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,880 At this point, Ida Patterson beautifully sang the song I'm 90 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,520 Not That Girl from Wicked. Due to the technical 91 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,080 difficulties of getting a good live recording with the 92 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,840 equipment I have available, I can't include it here. 93 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,280 I described the details of the song later in the sermon, so I 94 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,640 won't get into that here either. It's a wonderful song, and I 95 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,360 encourage you to listen to it. You can find it easily on 96 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,760 YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes. Now back to the sermon. 97 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:33,560 It is wonderful. Thank you thank you Ida. 98 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:37,560 Just two heads up one next weekend is the Christmas play 99 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,120 Wolf mountain Friday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. 100 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:42,160 You're going to love it. It's going to be really, really 101 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,280 cool. A super Christmas with the 102 00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:47,240 little kids playing superheroes and then it's a wonderful Life. 103 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:52,400 I'm George Bailey, Stephen Fagel is Clarence the Angel and that's 104 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:53,840 both of those are going to be a lot of fun. 105 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,960 At the exact same time as that's going on, it is going to be 106 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:02,680 dancing at The Nutcracker. Is that right at at Rio Grande 107 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,400 University out there? So I don't know. 108 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,160 I suppose if they go on lines and do some searching, they 109 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,200 might be able, you might be able to find tickets for that. 110 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:11,840 I'm assuming tickets are still available. 111 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,680 So you can go one night to see me and Steven and another night 112 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,840 to see Ida. You'll have a great weekend next 113 00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:19,640 weekend. So it's going to be really, 114 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:20,560 really good. Thank you. 115 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:27,160 Thank you, Ida. That song, that song, that man, 116 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:32,520 I must have hit the button. I'm not that it expresses it. 117 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,720 This, this tension in love stories that we see in books, 118 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,360 movies and TV where one person loves the other and they're 119 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,800 deeply concerned that they're not good enough for some reason 120 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:46,920 for that other person to love them back. 121 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:48,880 That they have something wrong with them. 122 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:53,880 Some defective of body or mind or character or personality that 123 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:55,960 will keep that other person from loving them. 124 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,320 And Alphaba, again, she's, she's spent her whole life 125 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,200 experiencing this rejection. She sees Fiero, she meets Fiero, 126 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,560 she's falling in love with Fiero and she's just convinced that 127 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:11,480 he's not, she's not the girl for him, that he will never see her 128 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,720 as that girl. Now, I think that there is 129 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,440 something true about good stories. 130 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,320 And I really believe Wicked, the, the Wicked movies in the 131 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:23,960 stage production are a very good story. 132 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,600 I really believe that good stories, all good stories point 133 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,040 to the great story, even if they're not explicitly about 134 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,360 that. And this the, the, the good 135 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,680 versus evil portion of Wicked certainly points to the good 136 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,160 versus evil story. That is this cog cosmic story 137 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,920 that we're a part of and we know about through the scripture. 138 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,600 But there's another part of this cosmic story that we know about 139 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,160 through the Scripture that we often don't think about and that 140 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,760 that we are also, we're not just in this adventure battle between 141 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,000 good and evil. We are in a love story, a grand 142 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,200 cosmic love story. And if you don't believe me, 143 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:05,040 reread your Bible because there's passage after passage 144 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:09,840 after passage that talks about our relationship with God in 145 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,320 terms of a love story. Just read Song of Solomon or 146 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:17,520 some translations called Song of Songs and you'll see that most, 147 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,240 most clearly. But there are other places and 148 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,440 we're going to look at a passage from Hosea in a few minutes that 149 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:25,360 really reflects that very deeply. 150 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:32,200 But the risk is when we think about and take the good stories 151 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:36,200 like Wicked and think about them in terms of the great story of, 152 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:40,159 of the relationship of love between God and his people is 153 00:08:40,159 --> 00:08:42,600 that we can get things backwards and upside down. 154 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:46,200 And, and, but we do that. We do that because sometimes in 155 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:50,520 our relationship with God, it feels very much like a love 156 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,320 story. And maybe you remember the first 157 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,880 time you really had that awareness of God and God's love 158 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:58,840 for you and how deeply God loved for you. 159 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,400 And there was such an overwhelming sense of God's 160 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,520 presence and God's power and God's love and God's welcome. 161 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,320 Maybe, maybe it happened at camps somewhere along the way. 162 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:10,800 Maybe it was at a vacation Bible school. 163 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,880 Maybe it was, maybe it was when you were baptized, but a time 164 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:19,160 when God felt so close and so real and you could just feel 165 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,120 like you can reach out and touch God's love for you. 166 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:30,240 But then time and life and circumstances happened and God's 167 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:35,080 love began to feel less and less real and God's presence began to 168 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,760 feel less and less real. And sin suddenly, you know, 169 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,880 because when we're in love, you're in that in love phase. 170 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,760 And a relationship is like nothing could ever disturb this. 171 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,760 This is wonderful. This is what life is all about. 172 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,320 This will last forever. And then maybe after 5 or 10 173 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,600 years of marriage, it doesn't feel that same way anymore. 174 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,640 You don't have to. Amy and I, Amy will tell you the 175 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:01,280 same. So, you know, we're not, I'm not 176 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,480 telling stories out of, you know, whatever we tell stories 177 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:09,200 out of that happens in relationships. 178 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,640 That initial in love experience always fades. 179 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:16,920 And the same is true in our relationship with God. 180 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,760 And then we can begin to have the same kind of thoughts toward 181 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:24,920 God that alphabet was having toward Fiero. 182 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,320 I just want to go back real quick and look at some of those 183 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:28,720 lyrics. The beginning. 184 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,720 Hands touch, eyes meet, sudden silence, sudden heat. 185 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:38,240 Hearts leap in a giddy whirl. Again, if you've never had that 186 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:40,400 experience with God, that doesn't mean there's something 187 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:42,920 wrong with you. But if you're one of those folks 188 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,880 that has had that kind of experience with God, where God 189 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:51,560 felt so real and so close, the memory of that, the memory of 190 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:59,480 that can be undermined by doubt and fear and worry when the when 191 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,640 the experience fades. And I tell people this a lot, 192 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,600 particularly when I baptize, you know, teenagers and, and adults 193 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,400 and, and they come out of the water and they're just on cloud 194 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:13,560 9 and everything is wonderful. And I always, I don't say it at 195 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:17,440 this time, I always tell them this before the baptism is that 196 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:22,760 that feeling will fade and the devil will whisper in your ear 197 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:27,000 that you only imagined it. That that sense that God was 198 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,440 close, that God loved you so much, That was just imagination. 199 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,480 That was fantasy, that wasn't real. 200 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,560 The devil will whisper that in your ear and be prepared for 201 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:41,920 that because the feeling fades. The feeling fades and we end up 202 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,800 with these kind of thoughts. Don't dream too far. 203 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,560 Don't lose sight of who you are. Don't remember that rush of joy 204 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:55,200 was we want to undo that. I don't want to live in that 205 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:56,360 past. I don't want to live in that 206 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:57,280 sense. You know that. 207 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,000 I feel silly about it now. Oh my goodness, how can I feel 208 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,440 that way? How could I imagine that was 209 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:04,720 real? That voice saying that it was 210 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:08,320 fake, It was all imagination. Every so often we long to steal 211 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:12,280 to the land of what might have been, but that doesn't soften 212 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:14,680 the ache we feel when reality sets in. 213 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,560 I see this so much in lives, people's lives. 214 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:21,560 I experience it in my own. We hear the promises of God. 215 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:23,840 I'll always love you. I'll never leave you or forsake 216 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:25,040 you. I love you so much. 217 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,480 I'll lay down my life for you. All of these things are true. 218 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:29,200 All of these things are out of the Scripture. 219 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,640 And then bad things happen and we wonder, where did the 220 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,240 protection go? I was told by the teacher, I was 221 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,240 told by the pastor, I was told by my grandma, my grandpa, that 222 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,160 you can always depend on God to carry you. 223 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:42,960 God will never give you more than you could bear. 224 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:48,080 Talk to a lot of people that say that is hooey because they've 225 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:54,800 been given so much to bear. One friend of mine who came to a 226 00:12:54,800 --> 00:13:00,400 deep faith in God later in life and he devoted time, he devoted 227 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,680 energy, he devoted resources to loving folks and caring for 228 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:06,800 folks and guarding folks and protecting folks at great risk 229 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:10,080 to himself, at great cost to himself was a wonderful thing. 230 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:14,160 And then one bad thing after another, after another after 231 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,080 another, and it all began to fall away and there was nothing 232 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,200 left but pain. And he said to me, I thought God 233 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:23,720 loved me. We find ourselves in that kind 234 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,640 of position as followers of Jesus. 235 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,680 And that voice whispers, you know, don't go back. 236 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,760 Don't try to imagine. Don't try to pretend. 237 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,600 Don't live in this land of what what might have been. 238 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:40,720 Stay in reality. You live in a hard, cold world. 239 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:48,720 Life hurts, then you die. Blithe smile, blithe lithe Lim. 240 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:50,960 She who's wins him, She wins him. 241 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,720 Gold hair with a gentle curl. That's the girl he chose. 242 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,240 And we start to think, you know what? 243 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,120 If there is a God, What's wrong with me? 244 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,400 That God doesn't love me? What have I done? 245 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:08,120 What's wrong with me? I see these people on, on, you 246 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:09,720 know, the Internet. I see them, I hear about them 247 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,520 singing their song, watching movies sometimes these folks 248 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,200 over whom God always seems so close and so real and they Can't 249 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,160 Sing a song about God without breaking down into tears and, 250 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,840 and they just say they always feel God all the time. 251 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:26,840 What is wrong with me that I don't experience that the God 252 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,640 has rejected me, that God doesn't show me that kind of 253 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,600 love. Maybe there is a God, but God 254 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,400 loves other people. God doesn't love me. 255 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,040 Don't wish, don't start wishing only wounds the heart. 256 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,440 I wasn't born for the Rose and the Pearl, and that voice tells 257 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,840 us, and we can begin to believe. That was never for me anyway. 258 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:50,680 And it only hurts to wish for it. 259 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:55,360 It only hurts to dream about it. I'd rather expect bad things and 260 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,240 not be disappointed than to expect, wish for, dream of good 261 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:01,440 things with God and be disappointed when they don't 262 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,760 happen. We stop wishing, we stop 263 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:11,440 dreaming, we stop even hoping, and we believe whoever God 264 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,240 loves, it isn't me. I'm not that girl, I'm not that 265 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,760 boy. I'm not that man, I'm not that 266 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:23,320 woman. If we treat our relationship 267 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:28,680 like with God, like that, we have gotten the love story that 268 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:31,840 is our story that we're in. We've gotten it backwards and 269 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,320 upside down, backwards and upside down. 270 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:43,640 Jesus, God in the flesh longs for you and would go to great 271 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:45,320 lengths. Any links to win? 272 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,560 Your love, your affection, your devotion. 273 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:56,920 You see, we never have to worry about God not being willing to 274 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:00,160 love us back. We never have to worry that 275 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,320 we're not good enough, that we're not smart enough, that 276 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:04,800 we're not pretty enough, that we're not talented enough, that 277 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,960 we're not rich enough. We never have to worry about 278 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,440 that. And this great grand love story 279 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,680 that we're in that we read about over and over again in 280 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,840 Scripture, it's God who's out there laying down His life for 281 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,040 the 1 He loves and they're rejecting him. 282 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:26,800 All the risk is on God's side. All of that is on God's side. 283 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:36,600 God is longing for us to be as loving toward Him, to be as 284 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:41,360 devoted to Him, to be as affectionate toward Him as He 285 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,720 already is toward us. Let's look at Hosea chapter 2. 286 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,400 We read a little bit of Hosea last week. 287 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,080 We're going to read a little bit more this week. 288 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,040 This is God talking again to his people through the prophet 289 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,960 Hosea. And God says, therefore, I will 290 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:59,160 now allure her. God's talking about his people. 291 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:04,680 I'm going to woo my people. I'm going to woo her and bring 292 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,520 her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. 293 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,280 I'm going to get her away from all the distractions, all of the 294 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,880 voices drawn away. We're going to go out and in 295 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:17,079 this in, in the solitude, we will find this love and romance 296 00:17:17,079 --> 00:17:19,599 for each other into the wilderness and speak tenderly to 297 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:21,720 her. And I will take you. 298 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,480 He's switching from the third person to the first person here. 299 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,480 I will take you for my wife forever. 300 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,720 I will take you for my wife in righteousness and injustice, in 301 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,600 steadfastness and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in 302 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:39,080 faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord. 303 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,280 Something occurred to me as I was preparing this. 304 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,520 These are beautiful wedding vows. 305 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,520 I've never heard anyone use Hosea chapter 2 for their 306 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:48,160 wedding vows. I think this would make 307 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:53,680 beautiful wedding vows, But hear that those are God's words to 308 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,640 His people. Those are God's words to us. 309 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:04,040 I want you to love me as deeply, as passionately, as devotedly, 310 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:09,760 as faithfully as I love you. That's what God is longing for. 311 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,360 God is the one putting his heart on the line. 312 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:18,520 God is the one putting his life on the line and hopes that we 313 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:23,840 will return that love to Jesus, who is God in the flesh. 314 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,360 You are that girl. You are that boy. 315 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,120 You are that man. You are that woman. 316 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:37,200 The one whom God loves, the one whom God wants, the one whom God 317 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:44,800 longs for, Jesus loves for you and longs for you to love him 318 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:50,480 too. And that doesn't mean there's 319 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,120 never suffering. It doesn't mean that there's 320 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:58,680 never pain, but it does mean that life never ends with the 321 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:03,600 suffering and pain. Jesus came to earth and he gave 322 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:08,520 his life to die for us so that our life would not end in death, 323 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,160 but so that our death, whatever it is, in whatever form it 324 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,240 takes, and however painful it is, so that our death would end 325 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:19,680 in life with him forever. That's the hope that we have. 326 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:22,760 Consider Mary and all of this. It's Christmas time. 327 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:29,800 Let's consider Mary. Mary, daughter of an unknown 328 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:34,680 unnamed person in the little town of Nazareth, in the 329 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,600 countryside of the region of Judea. 330 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:45,680 A small town that had it had such a bad people, had such low 331 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:50,400 expectations of the community that Mary was from that it was a 332 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,280 proverb that nothing good came out of Nazareth. 333 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:58,560 Nothing. And, and we don't know for sure 334 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:02,600 what Mary's mindset was, but I bet my next three paychecks, I 335 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:07,040 bet my next three paychecks that Mary never expected, never 336 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,080 dreamed of being the mother of the Messiah. 337 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:14,280 She would have been waiting for the Messiah, like all of her 338 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:17,240 family, all of her friends, the hope, the promise that God had 339 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,440 made generations before. That a child would be born who 340 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,960 would be from the line, the lineage of David, the greatest 341 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,560 king in the history of Israel. God had promised David, someone 342 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,040 of your descendants will always set on your throne. 343 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,960 But it had been generations since the descendant of David 344 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:37,600 had been on the throne. And everyone was longing, 345 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:42,440 Everyone was waiting for the Messiah, for God's King, God's 346 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,640 Son to come and reclaim the throne of David. 347 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,560 But I'd bet my next three paychecks that Mary never 348 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:53,040 dreamed it would be her. Who was she? 349 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,360 She was an ordinary girl from a small town that no one ever 350 00:20:57,360 --> 00:20:59,080 thought about. And if they didn't think about 351 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:00,520 it, they thought about it negatively. 352 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:06,440 She was a no one from nowhere. She could not have been more 353 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,440 ordinary. And who would God choose? 354 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:14,680 God would choose a Princess, not some random girl from some 355 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,560 random town. God would choose a Princess. 356 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,120 God would choose the one with wealth, the one with power, the 357 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:25,080 one with influence, the one with strong friends and strong allies 358 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,400 to to reclaim that throne. God would choose the one that 359 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:31,280 everyone in the world would look up to and admire and say, well 360 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:35,920 of course God would choose a palace to be born in and a 361 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:45,400 Princess for a mother. But God chose Mary, an ordinary 362 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,560 girl from an ordinary place with an ordinary life. 363 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,640 And God said no, no, no, you. I choose you. 364 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,720 You're the one I want. And God says the same to all of 365 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,480 us. I know you're ordinary. 366 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:07,400 I know, I know that you're not. You know none of us. 367 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,720 Anyone here have a million followers on, you know, TikTok? 368 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:17,480 No, me neither. We're ordinary folks. 369 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:23,920 We're ordinary people, but God chooses us to God chooses us to. 370 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,720 Now part of these love stories. I got this in parentheses 371 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:28,920 because I just want to touch on it briefly this morning. 372 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:31,800 We're going to get more into depth on this port next week, 373 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,120 but I just wanted to touch it here today because part of the, 374 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,520 the, the, the story that the classic love stories that we 375 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:40,400 have is the person like alphabet. 376 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:42,480 He'll never love me because I'm flawed. 377 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,480 There's something wrong with me. She longs to be loved for who 378 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,560 she is just as she is, not having to change in order to 379 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,440 please someone else. And and we have that longing 380 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,960 too. Spoiler alert. 381 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,560 Should I give the spoiler? Should I give? 382 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:00,480 I'll give the spoiler. Well, no, I'm not. 383 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:01,480 I'm not going to give the spoiler. 384 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:03,240 Watch the movies, you'll enjoy it. 385 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:08,240 But here's the thing, here's the thing, this longing that we see 386 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,040 in the movies to be loved just as we are. 387 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:15,120 God loves us just as we are, but in the movies, that's where it 388 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:20,560 stops. That's where it stops God. 389 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,720 It doesn't stop there. God loves us just the way we 390 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,000 are, but God never leaves us unchanged. 391 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:31,360 God is always drawing us closer. God is always shaping us and 392 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:36,200 making us more and more like Jesus so that we can love like 393 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,840 Jesus and think like Jesus and treat others like Jesus would 394 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,440 treat them. So God never. 395 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,600 God loves us just the way we are, but God never leaves us 396 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,520 unchanged. We'll get into that in more 397 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,440 depth this next week, this week, this week. 398 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,000 We know it's not easy. Like, oh, it's not easy being 399 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,120 green. And we all have those green 400 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:00,760 things about us, things that other people find difficult to 401 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,200 love and that fear that somehow that's going to keep God from 402 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,240 loving us. We can lay that aside. 403 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,520 God loves you just the way you are. 404 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:16,440 God has already laid down his life for you and has died for 405 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:20,840 you so that it's your death. You can live with him forever in 406 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,360 Jesus name, Amen. Amen.