The song of Mary

Good morning, church family. We're going to read God's Word together now.

So if you can turn in your Bibles or devices to Luke chapter 1, starting at verse 26,

Luke 1 · chapter mention

and we're going to read up to verse 55.

So Luke 1, verse 26.

Luke 1:26

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.

And the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said,

Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you.

But she was greatly troubled at the saying,

and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

And the angel said to her,

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

and you shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

And of his kingdom there will be no end.

And Mary said to the angel,

How will this be, since I am a virgin?

And the angel answered her,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God.

And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son,

and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

For nothing will be impossible with God.

And Mary said,

Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

And the angel departed from her.

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country,

to a town in Judah,

and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,

the baby leaped in her womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

and she exclaimed with a loud cry,

Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And why is this granted to me,

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears,

the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment

of what was spoken to her from the Lord.

And Mary said,

My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.

For he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm.

He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones,

and exalted those of humble estate.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham,

and to his offspring forever.

Well, good morning everyone.

I'm one of the pastors here,

if you happen to be a visitor and don't know me.

Well, we've really heard it multiple times this morning

from the introduction from the children's address.

What makes you want to sing?

Where do you find,

when do you find yourself singing?

So, sometimes it will be out loud,

sometimes it will be in your head.

I'm always intrigued by,

some of my grandchildren tell me

that they have a song in their head all the time.

Not sure necessarily whether it's a good song or not,

but there's a song in there for them.

Sing is an expression of emotions.

We've already heard that.

A whole range of emotions can be expressed in song.

And that means the songs we sing resonate

with something in our heart,

in our innermost being,

the way we feel,

the way we think,

probably both.

And that means we'll actually get tied in most

in our private playlist

to the songs that describe how we're feeling,

that describe the longings of our heart,

the songs that reflect what we think

will answer the longings of our heart.

They're likely the ones that are to be in our head

most often,

and give an expression most often.

They're the songs that we think

will not only deal with the ache in our heart,

or the longing in our heart,

but actually help us celebrate

what we believe,

and what we think will satisfy it.

So, singing's a really big thing

in every culture.

And singing's a really big thing

in the first chapters of Luke's account

of the life of Jesus.

There's a lot of singing

around the birth of Jesus.

There's perhaps the first

and most bizarre flash mob in history.

This massive crowd of angels appear

and lead a bunch of smelly old shepherds

in song.

And then they just as quickly disappear again.

But that's not enough.

The shepherds themselves are on their feet

yahooing and praising and singing

at what they've just heard.

The storyline in the first two chapters

then is punctuated by the songs of Mary

and Zachariah and Simeon.

And I think the point of these

in the storyline

that's moving so quickly

with so much incredible stuff happening,

these songs punctuate it

and they actually cause us to pause

and reflect on what's developing

at such a great rate.

So the question then is why?

What is there to sing about?

Well, this morning as we've been told

a three week series

we're going to look at some of these

three great songs of Christmas.

And we do that to discover in depth

to dig into the songs

and see what it is that makes people sing.

And these people in particular.

And we do that in turn

to help us celebrate Christmas

as we ought to.

To come back to what we might call

the basics of Christmas.

And just before I go ahead

for those who aren't into singing

and you can read a little bit more of this

in the bulletin article.

These are called songs

but if you're a person who says

I don't sing ever

don't get left behind.

Because they probably weren't put to music.

It's more about an overflow.

You remember that kids?

That picture of overflow.

It's more about just this bubbling up

to the surface of praise and thanks

to be part of what's happening

in God's world at that time

under God's hand.

It's an expression of excitement.

And it just bubbles to the surface

in words.

And in that sense therefore

I believe that everybody here

has a song in them.

In that sense.

Something that gets you excited.

Something that gets you on your feet.

It might only be to yahoo

and cheer and stomp around.

But it's something that will

actually just cause you

to express your delight.

So let's look at what stirred Mary

to overflow in praise to God.

And I'm going to just give a bit of context

which has largely been read here

but not all of it.

just to pick up

the background

to this

magnificat

as it's called.

This praising of the Lord

by Mary.

So Luke begins

his biography

the account of the life

of Jesus

by focusing on

a group

who are

described as the faithful ones.

Ones who are waiting

patiently

for God to deliver

on his promise of salvation.

We've looked at that promise

over the last four weeks

in Malachi.

So we've got a group here

waiting patiently

for that to come true

some 400 years later.

In chapter 2 verse 25

you've got

this guy called Simeon

who's described here

as waiting for the

consolation

of Israel.

And in chapter 2 verse 38

we've got a lady called

Anna

a prophetess

and she was waiting

for the redemption

of Jerusalem.

Those two terms

I believe

are used interchangeably.

This was a group

of faithful people

people as we'll see

in a minute

people who are described

as fearing the Lord

and remember

that connects us

back to Malachi as well.

People who

were waiting

for the comfort

and healing

of God's

long promised

long awaited

Messiah

who would come

to God's

needy people

and bring healing

and restoration.

Now if you go back

to chapter 1 verse 6

we pick up the story

with Zechariah.

Again another

direct connection

into the wording

let alone

the theme

of Malachi

because Zechariah

is busy

as a priest

busy

observing

the statutes

and the commandments

of the Lord.

That's the language

of Malachi

those who feared

the Lord.

So here he is

waiting

patiently

and faithfully

with his wife

Elizabeth

as part of this

other group

setting their hearts

to honour the Lord

again

reference to Malachi

while they waited

for the Lord

to deliver

on his promise.

And suddenly

angel

Gabriel appeared

and announced

that their prayers

were answered.

Promise

would now

become reality

as they were

swept up

in a series

of incredible

supernatural events.

And then back

into the passage

that was read

to this morning

chapter 1 verse 26

through to 38

essentially

God says

he would override

the natural

process

of getting

pregnant

in Elizabeth's

cousin Mary

and she would

be with child

and she would

give birth

to the greatest

figure the world

has ever seen.

He would be

truly human

and truly God

at the same time.

He would be

God's Messiah

God's great

King and Saviour

who would rule

God's world

forever

as promised

more than

about a thousand

years earlier

to King David.

And then we pick

up the story

even closer

in verse 39

onwards.

Mary then

makes haste

to visit

Elizabeth

who we're told

is at least

six months pregnant

by this stage

and that

event

is surrounded

by more

supernatural

happenings

and that's

when the story

becomes even

more strange

because

you might

well expect

a very

God-fearing

woman like

Elizabeth and her

husband Zachariah

to have words

with Mary

who remember

is unmarried

and pregnant

at this stage.

A shameful

thing in the

society of the day.

Mary

but rather

than that

moved by the

Holy Spirit

Elizabeth actually

praises

Mary

and even

Elizabeth's baby

in her womb

supernaturally

acknowledges the

importance of

Mary's baby.

so the

background

to Mary's

song of

praise

is

full of

humanly

impossible

occurrences.

It's full

of

God's

activity

it's full

of God's

Holy Spirit

taking hold

of people

and moving

them

to do

certain things

and say

certain things

and remember

that God's

Holy Spirit

is the

enabler

and the

enforcer

of God's

plan and

purpose.

This is

exactly what

the prophets

had predicted.

They said

the age of

salvation

when it

finally came

would be the

age marked

by God's

Holy Spirit

and incredible

actions of

God's Holy

Spirit.

A radical

new work

of God's

Holy Spirit

supernaturally

in God's

world.

So everything

points to the

fact that

this is

God's

age of

salvation

coming

has arrived

in this

baby yet

to be

born.

And

it's

clearly

God's

Spirit

that

motivates

Mary's

heart to

overflow

in a

song of

praise and

thanks for

the arrival

of Jesus.

So let's

dig into it

now.

What is it

precisely

that overflows

from Mary's

heart?

I want to

just highlight

two things.

There's probably

lots more

that you could

highlight.

The first

is delight

in God's

extravagant

covenant

blessing.

So the

words grace

or favor,

if you look

back to

chapter 1

verse 28,

the angel

describes

Mary as

O favored

one.

And we

pick that up

again in

the song.

Words of

grace and

favor and

love and

mercy in

verses 46

through to

50.

If you

look at

verse 46,

Mary said,

my soul

magnifies the

Lord.

Now, the

tense of

that verb

suggests that

this is not

something new

for Mary.

This is just

a lifetime

habit of

praising God,

addressing

him in the

most personal

of ways as

Yahweh.

But now,

she overflows

with even

greater delight

as she tries

to express

her new

sense of

blessing from

the Lord.

If you

look at

verses 47

through 50

then,

47,

30,

yeah,

we've got to

say on the

one hand that

there's no way

Mary could

possibly have

understood

everything that

was happening

to her.

And that

makes the

story even

more amazing

because,

therefore,

her concept

of being

blessed was

simply being

swept up

into God's

planned

intervention

of healing

and salvation,

being swept

up into God's

long-promised,

long-awaited

time of

salvation,

salvation

intervention.

And if you

notice in

verse 47

there,

she delights

to think

that the

Lord is

committed to

being her

Savior.

Savior.

Now,

again,

step back

and just

think of

it from

a human

perspective.

Humanly

speaking,

Mary's

plight was

terrible.

Unmarried,

pregnant,

quite possibly

shamed in

her immediate

family and

local community,

and technically

in terms of

God's law,

eligible to

be stoned

to death.

Now,

I don't

think that

law was

enacted very

much at

that particular

time,

but that's

what God's

law said.

Now,

in that

light,

I think we

could easily

understand Mary

being consumed

with getting

married,

getting a

husband,

getting herself

into a position

where at least

she could start

rebuilding some

sense of

respectability in

the community.

But that's

not what we

see of Mary,

that's not

what we hear

from Mary.

Instead,

she's consumed,

I think,

with an even

greater plight,

that is,

her relationship

with her

Holy Lord.

It seems to

me that

Mary's words

reveal it.

As she fears

the Lord,

she is very,

very much

aware of

the fact that

her greatest

need is for

Savior,

without whom

she could

never be

righteous or

acceptable to

the Lord,

in spite of

her best

efforts of

fearing God

and trying to

keep his

commandments.

So,

in that

context,

therefore,

Mary accepts

the Lord's

work through

her yet-to-be-born

baby.

And I think

this is the

nub for

Mary,

thanking him

that in

this amazing,

confusing,

scary

circumstance

that's now

entered her

life,

that God

was giving

her the

Savior that

she knew

she needed.

she recognized

she was a

nobody.

No doubt,

she was scared

and overwhelmed

by her

circumstance,

but also

had total

confidence in

God's promise,

in God's

character,

his mighty

power to

save her,

his undeserved

favor towards

her,

his grace

and love

for her,

his incredible

mercy and

kindness

towards her.

In short,

my friends,

Mary was

one who

feared the

Lord,

setting her

heart to

honor him.

Again,

the language

of Malachi.

Setting her

heart to

esteem the

Lord,

to serve

him,

and she

called herself

a servant

girl.

She knew

her

Lord,

the Lord

God,

was holy.

She knew

that he

could be

trusted

to do

what was

right.

She knew

that he

could be

trusted to

act in

kindness

and love

towards her.

But even

then,

I think,

Mary's

horizon is

far,

far bigger

than

herself.

her joy

is knowing

that she

was experiencing

personally

that which

would become

typical of

God's desire

to save

his people

generally.

And it

just reflected

what God

had been

doing

through the

generations.

God loves

to see

his people

fear him

and he

loves to

save his

people.

So I

just want

to pause

there for a

minute and

sort of step

sideways by

asking the

question,

what is it

to be

blessed?

What is it

to be

blessed?

blessed?

Now,

in our

world's

terms,

blessing is

actually a

very,

very common

word.

I'm hearing

it everywhere.

But often

in a very

shallow and

self-interested

way.

I understand,

and I might

be wrong here,

I'm putting

myself out

here because

I don't know

about social

media,

but I

understand

it's a

hashtag

on social

media.

And it's

used when

things are

going well,

when people

get what

they want,

usually

associated

with health

or popularity,

material

possessions,

or just

warm,

fuzzy

relationships.

I'm

blessed.

Now,

there's no

doubt about

it,

all those

things can

be really

good.

But here's

the problem,

if we think

of blessing

primarily in

those terms,

those actual

things may

lead us away

from the

Lord into

a position

of self-reliance.

And

autonomy.

False

security.

And so,

those things

that we might

call blessings

may actually

turn out

not to be

blessings at

all.

At least

not in

terms of

scripture.

So,

I think

that's a

really important

thing to

take into

this,

because when

Mary speaks

of being

blessed,

I take it

she's not

thinking about

becoming a

famous celebrity

in history.

Now,

that's what

the Roman

Catholic Church

have made

her.

They've

said,

well,

Mary's a

special

person in

her own

right,

and she's

worthy of

worship in

her own

right.

I don't

think that's

what Mary's

trying to

say here

at all.

Quite the

opposite,

in fact.

I think

she's in

awe at

being a

total nobody,

and yet,

knowing that

she's been

swept up into

God's unfolding

salvation package

in Jesus.

I think

Mary's point

is not

that people

will praise

her in

successive

generations,

but that

successive

generations

will praise

God for

the amazing

way he

honoured her

and nobody

in his

salvation

plan.

The two

are quite

different,

I think.

I hope I've

been able to

make the

difference clear,

but they

are quite

different.

So,

I think

for Mary,

to be

blessed is

to be in

God's

hands.

To be

blessed is

to know

that God

has extended

his favour

to you

in grace,

mercy,

and love

in a

saving way.

To be

blessed is

to be

drawn towards

the Lord,

by the

Lord,

drawn to

himself,

in a

greater

understanding

of his

character,

and his

plan,

and his

promise,

in a

greater

delight

of him.

If you

look back

at verse

38 and

verse 45,

38 says,

Mary said,

Behold,

I am the

servant of

the Lord.

Let it be

to me

according to

your word.

Verse 45,

Blessed is

she who

believed that

there would

be a

fulfilment

of what

was spoken

to her

from the

Lord.

To be

blessed

is to

be enabled

by God's

Spirit

to be

all in

with God's

purposes,

no matter

how confusing,

scary,

and hard

they are

to understand.

To be

blessed is

to be

able by

God's

Spirit

to trust

God

in every

circumstance,

even those

circumstances

which have

consequences

which threaten

to

overwhelm us.

To be

blessed

is to be

so secure

in God's

care,

as Mary was,

that immediate

circumstances

of shame,

confusion,

fear,

and uncertainty

are trumped

by that

bubbling

overflow

of trust,

confidence,

in delight.

Lord, I

have no

idea what

you're doing

in my life,

says Mary,

but this I

know,

you're to be

trusted.

And in that

action in my

life, I

delight.

In your

action in my

life, I

delight.

Now, if

I'm right in

that, in

sort of

spelling out a

little bit

more about

blessing,

then surely

such blessing

is something

to sing

about,

isn't it?

Surely that

should get us

on our feet,

cheering and

yahooing,

even if we

can't sing

two notes

together.

Second thing

then, Mary

delights,

in God's

faithfulness to

his promises.

The word

mercy in

verse 50

is the

covenant

faithfulness

hesed.

God's

faithfulness,

God's

covenant

faithfulness to

his promises,

verses 53

and 55.

Mary

understands,

and in

part, I'll

just make this

point in

passing, I

don't have

time to

delve into

it, but

she understands

because she

has habit

habit,

she habitually

has studied

God's word

and she

knows it

from back

to front

and she

knows what

God's

character is

like, she

knows what

God's promises

are.

God's

love.

And therefore,

she knows

that what's

happening around

her and

involving her,

even though she

can't really

understand it at a

micro level, at a

micro level, is

God acting to

fulfill his

promises in the

age of salvation.

salvation.

And that's what

produces her

overflow of

delight.

And I think

she understands

in the

connections made

there that

her own

personal

experience

is God's

showcase

for salvation

coming to

all his

people because

the focus

on the horizon

gets bigger as

we move into

verses 50

following.

And

that's

God is

going to

bring the

same

salvation to

his servant

nation Israel,

chapter verse

54.

Remember that

servant nation

Israel we've

said over the

last four weeks

from Malachi,

failed God in

every way

imaginable.

And yet God

intends to

bring graciously,

lovingly, and

mercifully his

salvation to

that pathetic

nation.

why?

Again, another

connection back

into Malachi,

verse 54.

He has

helped his

servant Israel

in remembrance.

That's a key

word.

Remember back in

Malachi last

week, chapter

3, verse

16, 17,

18?

The Lord

remembered.

That is, it's

not as if the

Lord's got a

scratchy memory

like me, but

the Lord

remembered.

That is, he

committed

himself afresh

to delivering

on the

promises he's

made of

old.

God

remembered or

was true to

his promise,

a promise that

was made to

Abraham some

1800 years

earlier.

A promise that

said to Abraham,

one of your

descendants would

finally reverse the

effects of sin,

finally save God's

people, finally

restore the

Garden of Eden

conditions where

once again God's

people would

worship him in

spirit and in

truth.

And that would

be a global

restoration and

reversal.

So Mary's

delighted because

the stuff she's

built her life

on, the

scriptures, is

not just ancient

history.

It's reality.

And it's reality

growing in her

womb at that

very moment.

such is God's

command of

history and

commitment to

his promise.

And verses

51, 52, and

53 spell out in

Old Testament

pictures and

concepts what

this coming

salvation would

look like and

mean for God's

people.

To understand

these pictures,

we need to go

back to Isaiah

Isaiah 49:9–13

chapter 49,

verses 9 through

13.

There's many,

many places you

could go back

to.

I'm just touching

you down on one.

Isaiah, where

the spiritual

state of Israel

was described

by Isaiah in

precisely these

terms.

So these words

here are

metaphors.

The proud, the

mighty, the

exalted are

those who have

turned their

back on God

and rely on

their own

goodness for

the future.

by contrast, the

lowly, the

hungry, the

servant are

those who know

their sin, their

inability to

deal with it

themselves and

look to the

Lord alone to

deal with it.

So Mary's

delighted because

God's cabinet

faithfulness to

his promises would

bring a great

reversal.

And that great

reversal would

also be a great

restoration.

salvation, the

reality of which

would be seen in

successive generations

as King Jesus

actively rules his

world and rules his

people, gathering

them into a

relationship with

him forever.

the relationship

that he originally

created them for as

image bearers, the

relationship that he's

always intended them

to have, and the

relationship in this

age of salvation that

he now delights in

creating for them

through his own

death, which we'll

see coming in

subsequent years.

Now again, I just

stop and say,

whoa, that's

something to sing

about, isn't

it?

God's faithfulness

to his promise.

So, just let me

wrap up then by

saying that we

need to get in

the spirit for

Christmas with

Mary.

Now, hopefully,

even though I've

stumbled over my

words multiple times

already, that

wasn't a stumbling

over my words.

I meant that in

the way I said

that.

I didn't say,

let's get into the

spirit of Christmas

as advertising and

romantic nonsense

encourages us.

That's a spirit of

self-indulgence, a

spirit that actually

makes us lose sight of

the true joy of

Christmas.

things.

But we should get in

the spirit for

Christmas so that

we might overflow,

like Mary did, with

joy and praise for

all the reasons that

Mary did.

Again, I just want to

highlight two, and

there's multiple

things I could

highlight here, but

time just allows me

to highlight two.

Let's delight in the

supernaturalism of

God's intervention in

the birth of King

Jesus.

Now, this might

sound like a strange

application, and

maybe it is, but it

works in my mind.

We cannot

understand God's

world and God's

salvation plan, we

cannot understand the

gospel without

accepting God's

supernatural activity

in his world and

intervention in his

world.

God's method of

delivering his

promised Savior and

King into our

world is totally

surprising.

If it was left to

us from a human

perspective, Jesus

would have come from

a high-flying, a

Jewish, a priestly

family in Israel.

Or if he was going

to have to be a

Roman, he would

have been the

child of a

senatorial family,

somebody with

clout, somebody

with influence,

somebody who was

somebody.

God's intervention

in his world is

totally surprising.

It doesn't use any

of the categories that

we would reach for

or be comfortable

with.

And that's before we

even start talking

about the supernatural

occurrences around

about the birth of

Jesus.

God's delivery of his

promise to renew

broken, sinful

people through the

work of his Holy

Spirit is, from

start to finish,

supernatural.

Now, here's the rub

for us, you see.

As Christians, we live

in a world where

anything truly

supernatural is just

rubbish.

So our so-called

scientific world says,

unless I can see it

and explain it, then it

can't be real.

Now, of course, in

reality, behind the

scenes, our world is

just as engaged in

spiritual thinking as

ever.

It's just that we've

gone into weird

Eastern mysticism and

First Nations occult

type thinking.

But the general run of

society says, you know,

we're a scientific

age.

If you're going to

believe anything, then

it has to be fully

understandable or it

can't be real.

Well, I say to you, as

Christians, we mustn't

allow our commitment to

God's supernatural world

and God's supernatural

activity in his world,

particularly when it

comes to the events

surrounding the

gospel.

We mustn't allow that to

be eroded.

We mustn't give up on

that.

Regardless of what our

world would push us

to.

We mustn't allow our

confidence to be

dismantled by an

unbelieving so-called

scientific world.

Luke records these

events as facts.

Remember at the very

start of Luke's

biography, he says he

researched.

In other words, Luke is

claiming to be

scientific.

He's done the research,

he's talked to

eyewitnesses, and he

records these things as

those things are beyond

reasonable doubt.

They're fact.

friends, the story of

Jesus is not mythology.

And we've got to be so

careful we don't allow

all the mythology and

the romantic nonsense

that overlays Christmas

these days to rob us of

the true supernatural

reality of God's

intervention in our world

that we call Christmas,

that we celebrate as

Christmas.

we rightly reject the

sloppy sentimentality of

our world in respect to

Christmas, but we dare not

reject the supernatural

occurrences that delivered

King Jesus as a baby into

our human world.

God came into our world to

save us, to renew us, to

take up residence in us

forever by his Holy Spirit.

From start to finish, it's

about God's supernatural

intervention.

intervention.

Let's celebrate also being truly

blessed, therefore, by God in

Jesus.

Ephesians 1, the well-known

verse, we have every blessing in the

spiritual realm in Christ Jesus.

But do we believe it?

Jumping, sort of bouncing from Mary to

us, we can ask the question, are we

ashamed to be identified with either the

supernaturalism that goes around Christ,

or are we ashamed per se to be identified

with Christ?

Because to be identified with Christ, to be

identified with a brutal death,

crucifixion, to be identified with the

concept of sin and need and being bad

people in a world that ravishes all those

concepts.

It is actually easy, I think, to be

ashamed of Jesus.

I know there's been times to my shame

that I've put my head down and been

quiet, but I know jolly well there was an

opportunity, I was interacting with

somebody down the street or wherever to

speak.

Why was I so old?

Maybe lots of reasons, but one chief one

might well be tired of a shame.

The message at times can sound so weird.

The big cry of society is to be on the

right side of history.

It's a very modern cry.

The question we've got to ask is, are we

convinced, I mean absolutely convinced, that

we're in the right side of history in

Christ?

Christ.

If we are, then I take it we'll proclaim his

name and his gospel in triumph, not slink

around in defeat.

Are we convinced like Mary that we're

blessed among mankind to be called

brothers with Christ, brothers and sisters

with Christ?

Again, I would suggest that if we are, if we

do believe that, then surely we'll be singing

from the rooftops, determined also to model

God's blessings in our daily lives.

If we believe that Jesus really is the Christmas gift that

keeps on giving, keeps on giving identity and purpose and

satisfaction and security and the pathway home to heaven.

Surely then, that ought to get us on our feet, cheering and

yahoo.

Pray with me.

Lord, we're blighted by familiarity.

Stories that we have, for the likes of myself, Lord, I've

grown up with, I've never known anything other than parents

who've taught me the Bible.

And while, Lord, that's such a wonderful blessing in

itself, it puts me in danger of familiarity.

And as the saying goes, familiarity can breed contempt.

Lord, sharpen our minds, enliven our hearts to the beauty of your

salvation intervention in the birth of Jesus.

Stir us up, Lord, by your spirit to overflow with joy, to have that

private playlist in our minds that constantly thanks you for your

grace and mercy and love and commitment.

And help us, Lord, to overflow, not in words in our mind or even

songs in our lips, but help us to overflow into lives that model the

grace and love and favor we've experienced.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Thank you very much for listening.