Christmas Week 3 • Luke 1:39-56

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Good morning.

As we celebrate that Christ has come,

we also want to remind ourselves of what God has given us the opportunity to do

in missions in this last calendar year,

and we look forward for the opportunities of what God's going to call us to next year.

And so we will continue on in our mission strategy.

We'll be making those opportunities available around the first of the year.

And so whether you're a middle school, high school student, or an adult,

there's going to be an opportunity and a place for you to go,

and we would love for you to join us on one of these opportunities.

If you've got your Bible, go ahead and open up to Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

Here in just a minute, we're going to start in verse 46.

This week is Christmas.

I love this week.

I love this season.

And especially with a lot of the things that we have going on around here this week.

And today is one of those days we got to see our kids up on stage singing.

And then this evening, as Pastor Dave told us about at 5 o'clock,

we're going to be gathered back out in our parking lot to have a time of worship

as we have a bunch of different musicians and artists that are going to be here playing and singing Christmas songs.

And so wonderful opportunity for us to come, be there, be together, be outdoors.

We keep checking the weather, and it does look like the weather is going to clear out after 1 o'clock,

but we know the weatherman only has to be right half the time to be good, all right?

But we are praying that that will clear out.

And if not, there will be a contingency plan.

And we'll have hot drinks and snacks, and we'd love for you to be out here with us.

And then at 5.30, on Christmas Eve, we will have our Christmas Eve service.

And we'd love for all of you to be here.

And if you haven't been to one before, it is a family service, which means it's all of us in here,

from babies all the way up to great-grandma, all right?

And so it is loud, it is chaotic, but it feels like home, and it feels like Christmas, and we love it.

So we're going to gather together, sing Christmas songs, talk about the Christmas story,

and take the Lord's Supper, and would love for you to be here and join us with that.

So let's go ahead and get into a part of the Christmas narrative this morning in Luke 1, starting in verse 46.

And Scripture says,

And Mary said, but we're going to see that Mary sang, all right?

So in Mary sang,

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

For he has looked upon 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.

And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Now, if you're wondering, Bo, like, where in the world is the Christmas story in what you just read,

this is part of it that gets left out for us from time to time.

In fact, this dialogue is happening probably somewhere about eight to nine months before the traditional Christmas story that we think of.

And it's a song that Mary sings.

And so we want to look at this song and see what God is communicating through his servant Mary, the mother of Christ.

And the first thing that I want us to look at in these verses this morning is simply Mary's response.

So let's back up a little bit to understand the story and to remind ourselves.

So Mary is a teenage girl, probably somewhere between the ages of 13 to 15 years old,

and finds out from the angel Gabriel that God's favor is on her.

Now, I think that's important.

It doesn't begin that you're going to have a son and his name's going to be Jesus.

It begins with God's favor rests upon you.

And that this virgin Mary will conceive a son as a virgin through the power of the Spirit of God,

and his name will be Jesus, and he will reign over God's kingdom forever.

And Gabriel also tells her that her relative, and we don't know how old Elizabeth is,

but the Bible says that she's an old age, has also conceived a son, even though she is thought to be barren.

And her son will be John the Baptist, the one who will go out into the wilderness,

preparing the way and declaring for the coming Messiah.

And so what we find with Mary at the end of this dialogue with Gabriel is that she trusts God.

She trusts Him.

And then she leaves to go and be with Elizabeth.

Now, this journey this teenage girl takes from her town to where Elizabeth is would have taken somewhere between 10 to 14 days.

It says that the army, when the army would march from this location to that location, it would take them 10 days.

And so let's say that Mary is at her best, could do it in 10,

but if she takes a little bit more time moving from day to day, probably somewhere more around two weeks.

And she walks into Elizabeth's house.

Couldn't send a text message.

Couldn't shoot an email.

She's not posting on Instagram her different journeys on her way there, right?

And so she walks in and the proclamation is made that Mary is there.

And the Bible tells us that when Elizabeth finds out that Mary is there, a few things happen.

Number one, the baby in Elizabeth's womb leaps with joy, right?

The power of the Spirit of God of what God is doing.

And the birth of these two kids.

And when Mary is there with Christ in her womb, very early on in her pregnancy, the baby leaps.

Elizabeth says in that moment that Mary is blessed, that her baby is blessed.

And then she says, why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Acknowledging the Savior Christ and who he is.

And then Mary goes into a song.

Now this kind of seems weird in our culture, in our context, right?

Like imagine you've got a relative that you haven't seen in a while and they come to your house and you greet them with a hug.

And you tell them how blessed you are that they've come to visit you and then all of a sudden they just go into full-blown musical, right?

And start singing, right?

Well, this is kind of what happens.

Now, we don't know if it's just spur of the moment that this song comes to Mary through the leading of the Spirit.

We don't know that on her journey, as it's already been seen, that Mary, even at her young age, is a mature woman of faith.

That as she's journeying on, she's writing as the Spirit of God leads her, the lyrics and the words to this song.

We don't know, but we know that what we gain in this is Mary's response to not only all that she had experienced since Gabriel came to her,

but this song that she sings is all that Mary has experienced in her young life as far as it comes to her relationship with the Lord.

In Mary's testimony and song, it's not just one that's writing about God's faithfulness over the last 10 to 14 days.

It's about the faithfulness of God for all of eternity, for all of existence, for all that Mary would have ever known.

And so we want to look at her song and understand these lyrics and the power of what they're communicating.

Look back at verse 46 and 47.

Literally, Mary's song says from the very beginning that she desires to enlarge God.

She wants to make God larger, make God greater.

Now, she can't, but what it means is she wants to make him known.

My soul magnifies the Lord.

Let me sing to, let me show you the greatness of God.

As if what you've seen before is hidden, but now it's under a microscope so that you can see.

My soul magnifies the Lord, she says, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

Now, I can imagine while her spirit rejoices that her days have been a little bit stressful.

I don't think it's too far of a leap to say since Mary got that news almost two weeks ago

that there's been some sleepless nights.

There's been some anxious moments.

She trusts the Lord, yes, but it's the battle and the practicality of living that out in her obedience to God.

But what she says is, in spite of all of this, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

Mary's desperation for who God is and her realization that she needs to be saved.

And what we see in this, and this is why I shared with you earlier, it's not just a song about God's faithfulness in the moment,

but it's a song about what Mary knows about God and the existence in her entire life.

And even going all the way back in the time in the life of her people, of God's faithfulness to Israel,

is what she declares.

And over the course of her song, she shares these things of where her joy can be found and why she would magnify him.

She sings of his might and his strength, that he's larger and stronger than anything in this world

and anything that you and I could imagine.

And in his power and his strength, though, she sings of and declares his mercy, his compassion, and his kindness toward all people.

She declares his holiness, that he is perfect, not like any other.

And in his perfection, that he is the helper.

That he's not just above, but he's in.

And he's in the battle, and he's with his people, and it's what he sees through.

And then her song, as she declares who God is, and I love this aspect of it.

Who, not thinking about this, Mary, who's just spoken to by an angel of the Lord,

says, but God also continues to speak.

And he has spoken to his people.

And when he speaks, not only does he make known, but by speaking, we see that he is knowable.

Right?

And it's what we find in God's word.

Not only does he speak so that he can make things known,

but God speaks so that he can be knowable.

So that we can see him and meet him and learn about him and be in relationship with him.

And all of these things is what God is for Mary.

But it's also for what God is for you and I as well.

I don't know the last few days, I don't know if you've noticed, it's been pretty foggy.

Last night, we went and had Christmas with my wife's family in Jackson, South Carolina.

And after we were done having Christmas with them,

Aaron and I had driven separately so we could do some different things afterwards.

And I started heading back to Lexington a little bit later and normally the drive takes me right

out an hour.

But right as I got into my car and started leaving Jackson, the storm came in.

And if you're wondering where that storm came from, it came from my Dodge Ram truck heading

down the interstate.

All right?

Because it landed on me and stayed on me from Jackson through Lexington.

Right?

And it got me here, all right?

And it took me, a drive that would normally take me an hour, it took me an hour and a half.

Because of the fog and because of the rain, it felt like you could barely see in front of

your, the hood of my truck as I was making my way down the interstate.

And we had a lot of days like this where we walk out and that's what we see.

But spiritually speaking, for so many of us, that's the way things feel right now.

And I can imagine for Mary, that thing seemed a little foggy, even though she had faith.

That thing seemed a little bit complicated because she could only see so far.

But in this song for, for you, as you walk through these seasons, in the song for me, as I walk

through my seasons, in the song for Mary, we realize that we can trust God beyond what

we can see, that we can trust God beyond what we can understand because he is mighty and

he is strong and he is filled with mercy and love and that he and he alone is holy and that

he loves us and he steps in with us and he speaks to us and we know him.

And so the root, the basis of this song is the depth out of who Mary is as she knows him.

But not only does Mary respond, but Mary is going to respond by, by singing about, we're

going to call kingdom blessing, kingdom blessing.

Mary says in this song that she is blessed.

Elizabeth has previously said that she is blessed.

Gabriel, the angel, when he comes to her, says that she is blessed.

And you and I, as followers of Jesus Christ, standing on this side of the birth of Christ,

would look at Mary and say, yes, Mary, the mother of Jesus, she was blessed.

But the question I have for you this morning is how?

How?

Mary doesn't get rich because of this.

Mary isn't freed from the struggles of pregnancy or childbirth.

In life, she will lose her husband and she will watch her very son be betrayed, beaten, tried, and executed.

So how was Mary blessed?

How many of us want to sign up for that?

To live the life that she would have of struggle?

To live the life that she would have of suffering?

To live the life that she would have of loss?

But we say that she's blessed.

So how was she blessed?

Look at verse 50.

She says, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

Mary's going to give us three opportunities in this song that she sings where she talks about kingdom blessing.

Of what it means to be blessed as a follower of Christ.

Of what Jesus does for us in our relationship with him.

Of what it means to be blessed in our faith.

And these are what we begin to see.

And the first thing she says is, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

And so we are blessed with mercy.

You and I, as followers of Jesus Christ, we live in God's compassion and God's kindness.

And God gives this to us from the words of Mary, from the words of scripture.

This happens when we fear him.

Fear him.

And it doesn't seem that blessing comes from fear, does it?

That's not what logic teaches us.

That's not what the world teaches us.

But the fear of God is not what we think of when you and I think of fear.

When you and I think of fear, we think of terror.

But when the fear of God is discussed, it's the awe and reverence of God.

So what does it mean to fear God?

What does it mean to be in awe of God?

Two things that I think we can draw from this passage of scripture is this.

Number one, to fear the Lord means to recognize his greatness.

To recognize his greatness.

Now, I'm a basketball guy.

I don't know if anybody else is a basketball guy, but I'm a basketball guy.

I love basketball.

I love the NBA.

I love the NBA.

I know I'm definitely in a minority of people in love in the NBA, but I love the NBA.

But an argument that exists from time to time within the NBA is, who is greater, Michael

Jordan or LeBron James?

And my statement to that is simply this.

You're asking the wrong question.

Is it Michael Jordan?

Is it Magic Johnson?

Is it Larry Bird?

I like, well, LeBron's not even in the conversation.

But we want to pick and choose and bring people in.

When we talk about, hey, what's the greatest restaurant that you've ever been to?

Well, you can pick this restaurant, and you can pick this restaurant.

What's the greatest song that you've ever heard?

You can pick this song, and you can pick this song.

But when it comes to the greatness of God, there's no one that should even be in the breath.

Because it's who he is.

And that his greatness, we're struck in awe, because there is none like him.

And it means to stand in the awe.

We've never seen, we've never experienced, nor ever we will, anything greater than God.

But the second that fear or awe should set within us is our smallness.

We pale in comparison when it comes to the things of God.

And what the Bible would define that out for us is humility.

The humility as we approach him, then humility as we come to him.

Just as Mary talks about kingdom blessing in this song,

Jesus does the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount.

And there in Matthew 5, 5, he says this,

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Jesus has got a group of his followers, a group of people who are curious that have come up to him.

And he gathers on the side of this mountain, the side of this hill,

and he's going to draw them to, and he's going to explain the kingdom of God.

And he begins by talking about in the Beatitudes of what it means to be blessed.

And he speaks to more than we're just going to look at this morning,

but everything that he says is countercultural to where they are.

Everything that Mary is declaring is countercultural to where she is,

and is countercultural to where we find ourselves today.

But the truths of both ring out in one another.

Jesus says, Blessed are the meek, not the strong, for they shall inherit the earth.

To fear God and to be meek are very similar

because they both recognize who we are in light of the gospel, right?

Who we are in light of the gospel.

Desperate sinners who need to be saved,

who've done nothing to earn or deserve,

but it is only in the goodness of God.

And he is great, and we are not, is what we find.

Mary continues on in her song.

Look down at verse 51.

She says, He has shown strength with his arm.

And then begins to talk about the difference in the blessing,

the difference in the kingdom.

She says, He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts, right?

Verse 52.

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate.

Exalted those who the world thinks less of.

Exalted of those who we would never think.

We would think the proud because of what they know,

of what they've done, of what they've accomplished.

We would think of the mighty because they have their thrones

and all that they've worked toward,

all that's been passed on to them,

all that comes from their family name.

But Mary says, no, no, no, no.

He's exalted those of humble estates.

God brings down the powerful and exalts those who are not.

And what we begin to see throughout the Christmas story,

what we see throughout Scripture,

is the men and women of God chooses.

And the question is, why does God choose who he chooses?

You ever looked at Scripture?

I heard a pastor say this this week,

and I love this three-word phrase.

He said this, God chooses afterthoughts.

God chooses afterthoughts.

God chooses the last person picked for the dodgeball team,

or maybe the person not picked at all.

God picks the person that you never knew of,

that you didn't have,

but Scripture is filled with those chosen by him.

We could stay in here from now until Christmas,

recounting those,

but I just want to draw a few of them

to your mind real quick this morning.

Rahab,

a woman in the lineage of Jesus,

who was used in a powerful way by God

to save the Israelites

and help them overtake the pagan city of Jericho.

She was an afterthought.

She was a prostitute.

David,

King David,

Warrior David,

Musician David,

of all the things that we think of

with David and Goliath.

David described in Scripture

after a man after God's own heart.

But when the prophet Samuel

came to his home,

he talked to his dad, Jesse.

And when Samuel would show up,

it was the job of the prophet

to let the people know

who the next king would be.

And so Jesse sends for all of his sons to come.

Samuel's like,

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.

I thought I asked for all your sons.

Well, oh man, nope.

Hold on, I'm sorry.

David.

Go get David.

Right?

A man so insignificant,

his own father left him out.

Moses.

Moses.

80 years old

when God called him

to lead his people

from Egypt

and then he led them

for 40 years.

Do the math.

Right?

120 years.

Moses,

a man on the run

because of murder.

But yet,

it's who God chose.

Paul,

the greatest missionary

and church planner,

wrote most of the New Testament

but also executed

before he was saved

many Christians

who professed their faith in Christ.

The afterthoughts.

We see the story of Christmas.

Mary,

the nobody girl

from a nobody town.

Joseph,

who she was betrothed

to be her husband.

A nobody man

from a nobody town.

And then on the night

that Christ was born,

the angels

didn't appear

to the kings and queens

and to the rulers

of the region

but instead

appeared to shepherds,

outcasts,

many of them thieves

in the only job

they could now have.

And gave them

the message

of who Christ is.

God exalting

those

from the lowly

estate.

All the time

God

chooses

those

whom the world

would have passed by

because they're not

deserving.

Because they haven't

earned it.

Because it's not

who you would choose

or who I would choose

but it says

so much

about the gospel.

Jesus

in the sermon

on the mount

Matthew 5

3

says blessed

are the poor

in spirit

for theirs

is the kingdom

of heaven.

You know what it means

to be poor

in spirit?

What it means

to be poor

in spirit

is to recognize

that we bring

nothing to the table.

That we bring

nothing worthy.

And so within

that creates

for us

a desperation.

And the Christmas

story

is filled

with ease.

The last thing

that we see

in these verses

of kingdom blessing

verse 53

and he has filled

the hungry

with good things

and the rich

he has sent

away

empty.

I told you guys

that we started

the Christmas celebration

with my in-laws

yesterday

which means

we ate food.

And we ate

a lot

a lot

of food.

I would tell you

how many plates

of food

that I ate

but I don't want

to have to confess

that in front

of everybody.

But I will say

that I came home

weighing five pounds

more than I did

previously.

Okay?

So got some work

to do.

Got some work

to do.

And I ate

yesterday

so much

over and over.

I walked in

and my mother-in-law

had appetizers

set out on the island

and said

but don't eat too much

because lunch

is coming.

I looked at her

and said

challenge accepted.

right?

I got this.

Don't worry

about me.

But I ate

and ate

and ate

and ate

and ate

and ate.

I passed

being full

about 30 minutes

into eating

and kept on

right?

But you know

what happened

this morning?

I woke up

hungry.

I did.

I didn't go

to bed hungry

but this morning

I woke up

hungry.

And you know

what will happen

today?

I'll eat

not as much

as yesterday

and you know

what will happen

tomorrow?

I'll wake

up hungry

and I will

do all

that I can

do within

the course

of my day

to make sure

that I'm

satisfied

only to find

out the next

day that I'm

no longer

satisfied.

And this is what

Mary's talking

about.

For he filled

the hungry

those who

hunger for him

with the good

things

but the rich

those who can

feed themselves

themselves

they sent

away.

You know

there's two

interesting

books in the

Old Testament

that to read

through them

takes some

time.

To study

them takes

some time.

There's a lot

that's there

that are

often times

difficult to

read.

It's the

book of

Job and

the book

of Ecclesiastes.

And the

book of

Job and

the book

of Ecclesiastes

both speak

to the truth

that we find

in verse

53.

In the book

of Job

Job loses

everything

and in

losing

everything

finds out

what that

God is

everything.

And in

Ecclesiastes

Solomon

gains

everything

everything

you and

I could

possibly

imagine

and then

more.

And what

is his

conclusion?

That it's

all useless

apart from

knowing God

because he

has filled

the hungry

with good

things and

the rich

he has

sent away

empty.

Jesus

says

blessed are

those who

hunger and

thirst for

righteousness

for they

shall be

satisfied.

Looks out

at a group

of broken

and hurting

people.

People that

would hunger

for money

that would

hunger for

power

that would

hunger for

influence

just like

many today.

He says

you want to

be satisfied

then hunger

for

righteousness.

So how

do we

gain

righteousness?

Well we

don't earn

it.

We don't

deserve it.

But instead

it is the

gift of

God through

the work

and life

and the

person

of Jesus

Christ.

And scripture

says blessed

are those

who hunger

and thirst

for him.

And then

lastly this

little girl

in her song

we'll close

on this.

She talks

about the

future glory.

For he

has looked

on the

humble estate

of his

servant.

In verse

48.

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.

Mary looks

and says

from now

on

moving

forward

here's

where my

blessing

will lie

and in

that

all

generations

will

call

me

blessed.

For you

and I

right now

so many

times

in these

opportunities

we get

stuck

in the

moment.

We can't

see past

today.

We can't

see past

right now.

We can't

look into

the future

but the

hope of

the gospel

is not

always found

in the

right now

but is

found in

the future

of glory

that's

promised

us.

It's

hard to

see that

in the

brokenness

that we

experience.

It's

hard to

see that

in the

fallen

and the

brokenness

of the

world

in which

we live.

The Bible

reminds us

that right

now is

not the

fulfillment

of that.

If it

was then

we'd be

okay with

it always

being here.

We'd be

okay with

what's

right now

but the

Bible

teaches us

that God

is using

all these

things in

our world

to build

up with

inside of

us a

particular

hunger

that hungers

for something

that's not

of today.

That hungers

for something

that can't

be purchased.

That hungers

for something

that can't

be fixed

right now.

It's a

future glory.

It's what

we long

for.

And I

intentionally

do not

have these

words on

the screen

because I

just want

you to

listen to

them.

But if you

want to go

back and

read Romans

8 starting

in verse

18.

Paul writes

and he

says,

for I

consider

that the

sufferings

of this

present

time

are not

worth

comparing

with the

glory

that is

to be

revealed

to us.

For the

creation

waits with

eager longing

for the

revealing

of the

sons of

God.

For the

creation

was subjected

to futility

not willingly

but because of

him who

subjected it

in hope

that creation

itself

will be set

free from

its bondage

to corruption

and obtain

the freedom

of the glory

of the

children of

God.

For we

know that

the whole

creation

has been

groaning

together in

the pains

of childbirth

until now.

And not

only the

creation

but we

ourselves

who have

the first

fruits

of the

spirit

grown

inwardly

as we

wait

eagerly

for adoption

as sons

the

redemptions

of our

body.

For in

this hope

we are

saved.

Belonging.

And as

you're going

through and

experiencing

the brokenness

of this

world,

of all

that is

busted,

of all

that is

painful,

of all

that hurts,

of all

that brings

tears,

know in

the midst

of the

struggle

that God

isn't

wasting it,

that God

is using

it,

that God

is working

in it.

And in

that where

we don't

know what

happened on

the other

end of it

and the

other end

of it

in the

immediate

might not

be good,

what God

is doing

is he

is creating

in us

something

special

that causes

us to

long for

a future

that we

see in

Revelation

where all

of this

is gone

and it's

just him

for eternity.

And it's

what God

uses.

And so

a little

young

teenage

virgin

girl

can stand

in her

relative's

home

knowing

the

shame

that

others

will

cast

at her,

knowing

the

struggles

that she

will face,

knowing

what will

lay out

in front

of her.

But

honestly,

in most

of what

her life

will carry,

she's clueless.

she's clueless.

And she

doesn't know

how it's

all going

to pan

out.

She doesn't

know all

of the

pain that's

going to

come.

But she

can look

at that

and place

her hope,

not in the

earthly

circumstances,

but in the

hope of

Christ

and the

future glory

that awaits.

Do you

have hope?

Not that

tomorrow will

be better.

Not that

this afternoon

will be

better.

But do we

have hope

in him

and in

him alone?

Would you

pray with

me?

Lord,

we thank

you for

the song

of Mary.

Lord,

I don't

know how

your spirit

worked in

her in the

moment to

declare the

truths that

were there.

Lord,

but I

thank you

that from

your humble

servant,

your obedient

servant,

you spoke

words of

encouragement,

of

obedience,

of mercy,

and of

hope that

rang true as

they came

out of her

mouth and

they ring

true today.

Lord,

today in

spite of

what all

this world

brings.

But Lord,

may we

find comfort

in the

mightiness

of your

hand and

the strength

of your

will.

Lord,

as the

world

throws

accusations,

as we

feel the

arrows

that seem

to consume

us and

surround us,

are we

reminded of

your mercy,

of your

compassion,

and of

your

kindness

for us

or for

those who

fear you?

Or can

our joy

be found

and our

hope be

secured

not because

we're

perfect,

not because

the day is

perfect,

our faith

is found

in you

and in

your

holiness.

And there's

no other

like you.

Or can we

look at the

situations and

the struggles

of our life

that we

face?

Or can we

look back

in what

you've

done and

see what

you did

and what

you're

continuing

to do

through the

battles that

we face?

Lord,

where we

can't see

past the

fog,

we don't

know what's

happening,

we don't

know where

we're even

wondering where

you are and

what you're

doing,

Lord,

but could

you just

remind us

that what

we need

in those

moments is

not knowledge,

is not

answers,

but is faith

to hope

in you.

That you

will not

leave us

or forsake

us.

And Lord,

can we

thank you

that you

speak to

us,

or not

with an

angel that

appears in

our home,

but with

your very

word of

God.

And through

that,

Lord,

we can

know you

and we

can take

it to

make you

known.

Lord,

my prayer

for us

is that we

would reflect

the song

that Mary

sang,

that our

soul magnifies

you,

and that

our spirit

rejoices in

our God,

our Savior.

And it's in

Jesus' name we

pray.

Amen.

Would you

stand as we

worship him?

thanks again for

listening to the

Willow Ridge

Church weekly

podcast.

We hope that you

enjoyed listening to

this week's message.

If you'd like to

learn more about

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