The Promise of Christmas

[00:00:01] Well, good morning. Good morning, Christchurch. It's good to see you. [00:00:05] Good to see that sun, too. Amen. Man, that is refreshing. [00:00:11] So glad that you're here. It's. It's amazing to me that we are coming to the end of this year. Christmas, New Year's, 2024 is coming to a close. And, you know, I've been thinking about that because 2025 is going to be an awesome adventure for our campus. Yeah. Amrin, so many of you know, some of you might not, but we are working towards breaking ground next year and beginning to build our new facility. Yeah, I need you to be praying for that. We're praying that that could happen this summer. So we got a lot of things to figure out. We're going to be, you know, having a rental location. So would you just be committed to praying? God has opened up every step so far, and we completely need him to open up every coming step. And so obviously, I've been thinking a lot about this. We've been meeting and planning and praying, and it also kind of has put me in this little nostalgic place because I've been thinking about all God has done in this room, in this building since we've been here. And I've been thinking about the relationships that have been built, the baptisms, the weddings, the funerals, the loved ones that we've lost, the services. And as I've thought about all that, my overwhelming sense has just been gratitude. [00:01:48] And I'm like, man, God, I'm really thankful for how you've blessed us in this space. I'm thankful for all that you've done. I'm. Thank you for you guys that are here that have served and loved and prayed and been God's people. I'm just really, really humbled and grateful. [00:02:08] And, you know, our attitude here has always been we're going to make the most with what we've got. We're not going to make excuses if we can't park in the lot. We're going to park on the grass. And many of you did today, and many of you do every week, because we're not going to allow the space to stop us from doing what we think God wants us to do. And that's always been my attitude and the attitude of this church. But it makes me excited to think about all God is going to do in our next space. [00:02:43] It makes me excited to think about the people that he's going to reach there that we don't even know yet, the families that he's going to heal, the People that are going to find their giftedness and find their calling and find their purpose. And I want to go in there with the same heart that just says, man, we're going to work hard. We're going to adapt. We're going to do everything we can to best utilize what God has given us and church. I'm looking forward to creating more memories that glorify God and doing it together. And so as we end this year, we do a end of year offering, a Christmas offering. And if it's on your heart to give to that project, a lot of our Christmas offering here will go to that. You can also just give directly to it under the new building. [00:03:34] But every gift counts. All of it matters. Everything's expensive, as you well know. So the more that we can get done in this initial build, the better, you know. So if it's on your heart to give, pray about that and let's go into this meaningful future together. Sound good? Church? Let's pray. Father, I thank you. [00:04:00] I thank you, Lord, for every good work you've done in this place. And Lord, we give you glory. I thank you for the faith that, Lord, fills our hearts as we think about the next chapter of our church. [00:04:16] And Lord, I pray as you've opened every door this far. Lord, we trust in you and we hope in you for every door to come. And Lord, all the glory is yours. Father, I pray that you would bless us in this season of change, of transition. [00:04:34] And Lord, I pray specifically today that you would bless us this Christmas season with a heart of faith towards you. Thank you for these good people. Thank you for this time. Thank you for the privilege. It is, Lord, to know you and to serve you. And I ask all these things in the good name of Jesus. Amen. [00:04:56] Well, every week through December, we're talking about the Christmas story. Not a Christmas Story, that's a great movie, but the Christmas Story. And we're looking at the accounts in the New Testament that talk about the different scenes and elements of the Christmas story. We're going to continue that today. And as I was thinking about this, there was a British novelist named Dorothy Sayers in like the early 1900s, 1930s, right around that time. And she wrote a detective, a series of detective novels. She was a British novelist. And her detective novels, they were kind of like Sherlock Holmes esque. And the main character was a man named Lord Peter Wimsey. So he's British, so he's gotta have a Lord title to him, you know. And so he was the main character. And he in the story was a really good detective. He was very good, very smart, very capable. But he was also very unhappy, and he was very broken. And so she wrote several of these books. And in the stories, you would see the great detective that he was, but you would also see the very broken and unhappy life that he had. Well, several novels. In following this detective, a new character emerged in the story, and it was a woman, and her name was Harriet Vane. [00:06:28] And Harriet Vane was this very unique woman in the story. She was an author. She was the first female graduate of Oxford. She's this very intriguing character. And her and Lord Peter Wimsey fall in love and they get married. And Lord Peter Wimsey's life begins to get healed and begins to change, and he begins to find happiness and he begins to find wholeness. Now, what's really cool about this story is that people who read it know about Dorothy Sayers. They say that ultimately Harriet Vane was Dorothy Sayers, that that character was her, that Harriet Vane was a representation of her because she was an author. Obviously, she was the first female Oxford graduate. All the ways that the character is represented is just her. And so it's this really cool dynamic where the author of the story writes herself into the story. Isn't that neat? And she not only writes herself into the story, but she writes herself into the story to save Peter Wimsey. [00:07:52] And through her love, Peter Wimsey is saved. [00:07:58] Now, that dynamic church is exactly what happens in the Christmas story that the author of life. And this is why Christmas is such a big deal. And this is why we celebrate it, and this is why we talk about it, because it is a story unlike any other. The author of life, the Almighty God, writes himself into the story. [00:08:26] And in the story, there's a lot of brokenness. And that's not from God. That's from us. And there's a lot of unhappiness and there's a lot of pain. But God writes himself into the story because he loves us and he wants to redeem us. [00:08:44] And this story is so important that it demands a certain response from us. We can't just go through Christmas and just go through it apathetically. We can't just go through this season and be like, yes, the lights are cool and the songs are cool and the food is good and the movies are good. But this, this story is too important. It's too significant to each of our lives. We need to respond to it in a certain way. And today we're going to talk about what that response Looks like. And the Bible gives us a model for it. And it is from Mary, Jesus mother. And we're going to talk about her story today. So Luke, chapter one. And I'm going to begin at verse 26. And here's how it goes. [00:09:35] It says this. 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 favored one. The Lord is with you. So this woman is just going about her normal life. We don't know anything about her up until this point. She lives in this place called Nazareth. It's not a real significant or known or popular or busy place. And an angel shows up. [00:10:20] And she looks at the angel and she says, bob Vandemark, is that you? [00:10:30] And the angel says, no, my name's Gabriel. But I get that all the time. Sorry, I was thinking about that joke all morning. I'm sorry. [00:10:43] But she was greatly troubled, and maybe you are, too. This morning. She was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. Now, if you have a copy of the scripture with you, just note that she was troubled by the greeting. Not so much the presence of the angel, but by the message that he carried. And it goes on. The angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. And you shall call his name Jesus. [00:11:20] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give to him the throne of his father, David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And his kingdom, there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I'm a virgin? The angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. 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 is called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God. [00:12:00] Now, this is an overwhelming experience. [00:12:05] I cannot imagine how Mary's mind was racing. I can't imagine what questions, what, you know, level of shock she was in here. But I just want you to look at her response to all of this. [00:12:20] And Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed. Now Mary shows us an example of what real faith looks like. She shows us how we should respond to the message and the truth of Christmas. Now, in the history of Christianity, sometimes we don't know what to do with Mary. [00:12:54] And Mary is a woman. She's normal. She's not divine. Mary's not someone we should pray to, but she is certainly someone we should learn from. [00:13:06] And what Luke is doing here is he is really showing us what makes Mary so special and unique is not that she's different from us, but her faith is so solid and so open and so trusting to God. And she is someone to see as an example in our lives. Now, this whole story is actually a contrast in Luke, chapter one. And I don't have time to read to you the story before that, but let me just give you the highlights of it. The story before it. It's a parallel story to what we see happen to Mary. In other words, an angel shows up and tells another person that they are gonna have a child. But it's a little bit different. The angel here shows up in Jerusalem, which Jerusalem was a very happening place. Jerusalem was where you would expect the center of God's activity to happen. Like Elyria, Ohio. That's where everybody's like, this is where it's at. Amen. Like Grafton, like Lagrange, right? Like these kind. It's that kind of place. Ridgeville. It's a happening place. That was Jerusalem. And so, yeah, the angel showing up there, you're like, okay, that's where he would show up. Because this is the spiritual center of the world. And not only does he show up in Jerusalem, but he shows up in the Temple in Jerusalem. And the Temple was the place where God's presence dwelt, or that's what it represented. And the Temple was this place where. [00:14:50] Where people would go to worship and they would go in pilgrimages and all this kind of thing. And the angel shows up at the altar of the temple. So very powerful, very significant, very symbolic place. And then he shows up to a man named Zechariah. And Zechariah is a priest. And so he has a very significant role. He has a role with sort of, you know, prestige and authority and leadership and all these kinds of things. And he tells Zechariah, he says, you're gonna have a son, too. And he's gonna be part of what God's purpose will be in this world, and his name will be John. [00:15:34] Now, these stories are A contrast. What we see with Mary is we see a story that has way more humility to. [00:15:45] Mary is not a priest. She's a young woman who's engaged, which means if the priest is at the top of the social ladder, Mary's at the bottom of the social ladder. Mary's not in Jerusalem, the happening spot. She's in Nazareth. It's the outskirts. It's kind of that place where people are like, where are you from again? They're like, nazareth. Yeah. I haven't heard of that place. It's kind of one of those sorts of places. Mary is. Everything about her story, it reeks of way more humility. [00:16:25] But even more than that, her response shows an even more humble heart. [00:16:33] See, when we see the story of Zechariah, they're very similar, but a little bit different. Zechariah sees the angel, and he's troubled and scared and surprised that there's an angel right there, which I would be, too. I can understand that, right? Like, you know, I don't know about you. There's only one angel that showed up in my life, and I married her. [00:16:59] Let's go. I love you, babe. [00:17:03] Can I play pickleball later? Cause of that. No, just kidding. [00:17:09] And I know some of you guys just, you know, turn to your wife and just say, I saw an angel, too. You know, Go ahead, go ahead. [00:17:20] But anyway, let's get. Let's stay on track here, guys. All right? [00:17:26] And Zechariah sees this angel, and he's troubled by that. He's like, what is this guy doing here? You know, what is happening? And certainly we would all understand that Mary is troubled by what the angel said. Luke makes that clear. [00:17:41] And what the angel said was, mary, you are favored by God. [00:17:48] The Lord is with you. [00:17:52] Well, why would that trouble Mary? Because she has a humble heart. [00:17:57] Because she's hearing this message and she's thinking, who am I that God would love me? [00:18:08] Who am I that God would send his messenger to me? That's a humble heart, Church. [00:18:16] Her heart is in touch enough with her own brokenness and inadequacy and shortcomings. And she still has a sense of awe of God's favor on her life. It's a humble heart. And what I want you to know today, Church, that the way we respond to Christmas, the way we should respond, is with a humble heart, too. See, what that story shows is what we'll see. Zechariah is the dud. [00:18:53] You think, like, oh, well, this guy's gonna be the one that knows what's up? He's a priest, he's in the temple, he's in Jerusalem, he's all these great things, but his heart wasn't humble like Mary's. And Zechariah actually gets chewed out a little bit by the end of the story because of his response. Mary gets a completely different response. Cause she has a humility in her heart. And as we close this year and as we enter this Christmas season, I want to encourage you to pursue a humble heart or a more humble heart. [00:19:33] And you know, the best way that I know how to do that is to have some moments where you humble yourself under God. And here's what I mean by that. To have a moments of prayer where you just go to God, you say, lord, I want to have a humble heart because I know that prepares me for what you want to do in my life. And go to God and say this prayer. And I'm going to tell you, this is a dangerous prayer to say. But say this prayer, say, lord, if there's anything that does not please you in my life, help me to see it and change. [00:20:14] And this is a prayer of repentance. [00:20:17] And it's inviting God to do in inventory in our souls. Since we've had kids, every Christmas season, Allie goes through their toys and throws out a bunch of them. Our kids are spoiled and she's, you know, and there's always like truckloads of that or gives them away and she gets them all out of the house because we know grandparents are coming, family is coming. There's going to be a lot more toys that come in. But you have to make room for the new by getting out the old. [00:20:55] And church in our hearts, we have to make room for the new work of God that he wants to do by getting rid of the junk in our souls. And to be ready for Christmas is to move towards that humility of heart. And I want to encourage you to do that season, this season, say, lord, just help me to see and let me take it one step further and say, ask God this. Say, lord, and if there's any relationship in my life where I need to ask for forgiveness, I need to apologize or I need to make it right. Would you make that clear to me? And church, you will find humility really quickly. See that that was from God. You don't know that you thought you say, what is up? Right? [00:21:48] The Lord wanted to get someone's attention today. I don't know. [00:21:54] But church, hear me out on this. [00:22:03] It can be. It's a challenging thing to move towards humility. But it prepares us. It prepares us for what God wants to do. And this is the beauty of Mary. She has a humble heart. Now, the second big thing I want to show you in this text is that there is a great anticipation that comes. And the angel comes and he says, mary, this is what's going on. You're going to bear God's son. And everything he says is a moment where he is building a deep sense of anticipation. Now, if you compare the words of the angel with 2 Samuel 7, which is a promise that we talked a little bit about this last week. I'm sure you haven't forgotten it, but it's a promise that God gave to the ancient King David about a thousand years before Mary and before this moment. And in it, God promised that he would provide a leader for his people that would be like this and that would do these things. Now, when the angel shows up in Luke 1, he is reiterating the words of that promise. [00:23:15] And in other words, he's saying everything God promised to do. The leader that God promised to bring to the world, Mary, that is your son. [00:23:27] That is Jesus. That is. That is the one you are going to give birth to. [00:23:33] And so what I just love about that is, number one man, the Bible is one big story. [00:23:40] And it is all deeply connected, and it is interwoven, and it is so cool to see and to see these moments come together, and this comes together here in this passage. Now, the second thing that is unique about this is that the angel says, you're gonna be his mom. He's gonna be your son. In other words, and this is part of the miracle in the Mystery of Christmas that God himself becomes one of us. The author writes himself into the story. And I read this story from Plutarch. Plutarch was a Greek historian, and he talked about Alexander the Great. If you remember hearing about him, he conquered large parts of the world. And Alexander the Great was this great military leader. And they were at a point in the far, Far east where they were in the desert. They, you know, they were. The men were exhausted, and they hadn't had water for an incredibly long time. And so they're all just kind of in this long, long convoy, marching through the desert, discouraged, dehydrated. It wasn't a good scene. And all of a sudden, a scout comes running to King Alexander, and he says, I found a spring of water, and I have a helmet filled with water. And he's running to Alexander, and he runs up and he brings it to Alexander, and This is in view of all the men. The whole army can. And Alexander does not hesitate at all. He takes a helmet of cool water and he dumps it out. And all the men go crazy. They're inspired by it. And they look at it and they say to themselves, this is a king who is one of us. This is a king who will suffer with us. And this is a king who, with him, we will never lose. [00:25:49] And they see that he did not see himself above those men, but he was willing to suffer with them. And part of the power of Christmas is that we have a God who knows what it's like to be in pain. [00:26:07] He knows what it's like to experience the frailty and brokenness of human relationships. He knows what it's like to bleed. He knows what it's like to experience injustice and the ugliness of this world. He is one of us. And with a king like that, you will never lose. Now, here's the other cool thing about this. The angel says that his kingdom will never come to an end. [00:26:40] And I love. I just want you to let that image sit in your soul for a second. He's saying, this king, his kingdom only will expand. It will never retract. [00:26:53] My son Teddy, he's one, and we have this, like, little, like, kind of a stool thing. And so he can climb up in it, and he can be at counter level. And all the kids have always loved this. Cause when they're little and they climb up there, like, they're like, what's up? You know, I can see up here, too. [00:27:13] So they always kind of were drawn to this thing. But the problem with Teddy is he can go up into it, but he can't get down out of it. He can only go one way. So it gets annoying because about every five minutes he's up in it. And then he gets upset because he wants down. So I take him down, and then he goes back in. And then we do this dance. Anybody? And I'm like, bro, you gotta learn how to get out of this thing. [00:27:40] Cause I'm gonna leave you there. [00:27:45] You with me? [00:27:48] He can only go. He can only go one way. He can't go the other way. Now, what the angel tells us is the kingdom of God can only go one way. It can only expand. [00:28:00] It has no end. Now, I know that we look at the news and we look at events in the world, and we think, like, oh, my gosh, it's all so terrible. It's all. But we need to remember, friends, Christ's kingdom can Never be shaken. It can never be defeated. [00:28:19] It can never. It can only expand, and it will only expand. I just. I read several articles this week, and they said Bible sales are up 20%. [00:28:32] People are buying the Bible, up 20%. Why? Because people are hungry for God. Because the kingdom can only ever expand. [00:28:45] And that we can look at the ugliness of this world. And sure, it is there, but there is another story behind the scenes, and it is God accomplishing his purpose in every epoch of time. And he's doing it today. And we need to have the confidence and the hope and the faith in that. Because the angel says his name will be Jesus. And you know what the name of Jesus is? It's the Hebrew name Joshua, just made into Greek. And Joshua means the Lord saves. [00:29:21] The Lord saves. [00:29:23] And when you look at the life of Jesus, if you had to summarize it, you might say that it is the salvation of God. [00:29:32] The Lord saves. [00:29:35] And I don't know about you, I've been a Christian for a minute now, and I look at my life, and I'm thankful for what God's done. I'm thankful for a sense of forgiveness in my life. I'm thankful for a sense of grace in my life. [00:29:51] But the older I get, the more I just long for more of his work to be accomplished in me. Like, Lord, you have saved me. [00:30:01] You are saving me. You will save me. And I just want you to be more at work in me because I need it. Anyone feel that way? I'm not Lord. We're just beginning. It feels like every year, we're just beginning this journey afresh in some way. But I long for it more. I anticipate it more. [00:30:21] I'm looking into this year and church. I'm getting more sick and tired of doing things my way. [00:30:30] I'm getting more sick and tired of the parts of me that are always wrestling and fighting with God and. And I just. I want more obedience. I want more trust. And I want more of Christ to be formed in me. [00:30:48] And I anticipate that. And I look at the people I know and love, and I want Christ in their life, too, because the Lord saves. And can I tell you, this Christmas season is such a great opportunity to invite someone to church. People are open. People are hungry. The kingdom of God is at work. It's thriving, whether you can see it or not. And I'll tell you, this Christmas Eve, I'm gonna try to just share Christ in the most simple and clear way so that you can have an opportunity to bring your friends and to bring your family, and they can at least get, by God's grace, a clear hearing of God's love for them in Christ. [00:31:36] And I want to encourage you to pray and to invite, because we all need that work of Christ in our lives. And then here's the last part. Mary's process through hearing all of this. [00:31:49] Now, Mary responds, and she wrestles with this a little bit. [00:31:56] She struggles with this, and I can't blame her for that. The angel shows up, shares all this. I would have questions, too. And Mary's like, how is this biologically possible? Good question. [00:32:11] And the angel begins to explain her. Now, again, here's what's really interesting about this. Zechariah, remember him from the beginning? He asked that, too. [00:32:22] He had questions, too. But the angel doesn't act generously towards Zechariah. He says, zechariah, you're a knucklehead, and you're not gonna be able to talk until John is born. He gets rebuked for it. Mary gets assured. Now, why is that? And I think just the very. The simple reason is it's okay to wrestle with the things God is calling us to do. [00:32:49] It's okay. It's going to happen. [00:32:53] God's plan and purpose for our life. It's going to create some internal wrestling. But there is a type of wrestling that honors God, and there is a type of wrestling that doesn't. [00:33:04] And you just want to make sure you're doing the former. Here's what Tim Keller says. This is the best way to explain it. He says, there are people like Mary who are open to the truth and are willing to relinquish sovereignty over their lives if they can be shown that the truth is other than what they thought. And there are those like Zechariah who use doubt as a way of staying in control of their lives and keeping their minds closed. [00:33:35] Which kind of doubts do you have? [00:33:38] Mary's doubt. That's good. Yeah. All right. Lord, like, she. She's truly. It's not coming from a place of avoidance. She's not trying to run away from it. [00:33:50] And so the angel's like, all right, well, let me help you with this. [00:33:54] And he says, look, this is gonna be done by the power of God and church. Can I just remind you that every good thing in your life and my life can only be done by the power of God. [00:34:06] Says, yeah, Mary, this is biologically impossible, But God is the God of biology. [00:34:14] God can do the impossible. [00:34:16] That's part of who he is and what he does. So, yes, Mary, this can only be done by God. But God will do it. And in your life and my life, we're gonna face those things. [00:34:28] And they're a lot more than we think. They can only be done by God. And our role is to trust God. Mary does that. And then the angel also says, and, Mary, by the way, Elizabeth, your cousin is going through the same kind of thing. [00:34:45] And I love that the angel says that. Cause you know what it shows us that whatever God is calling you to do in your life, he has already prepared other people to walk with you on that journey. [00:34:59] God is. He's so good. [00:35:02] They're like, hey, Mary, I've got a partner for you in this. Yeah. This is crazy. I mean, could you imagine when they got together, like, hey, we're both pregnant. Gabriel, he showed up. Like, that's a crazy little story. [00:35:18] You're not impressed by that? I mean, come on, dude. That's insane. I can't imagine their conversations, but they got to do it together. [00:35:31] And, Church, there are people that God has in your life to walk with. He's prepared them. [00:35:37] They're the right person for the right season. Know those people. Find those people, but be those people, too. Cause you might be the Elizabeth to a Mary and a Mary to Elizabeth. You got me? [00:35:50] If that makes sense. God provides partners. But then here's the best part. Here's the best part, Mary, where she ends, I am the Lord's servant. [00:36:03] Do you know what that is? That is a complete relinquishment of control. [00:36:11] All right, Lord, this is beyond me. [00:36:16] This is overwhelming. [00:36:20] This is unbelievable. [00:36:24] But I. [00:36:25] I'm the Lord's servant. Let it be according to your word. Church, have you ever had a moment in your life where you just really relinquished it all to God and said what Mary said? [00:36:42] How do we go through this Christmas? I think the best way is to do what Mary did and say, lord, I'm your servant. Whatever you have for me this coming year, this next season of my life, let it be according to what you want. [00:36:59] And I'm your servant. I'll follow, I'll listen, I'll obey. [00:37:04] In the army, there's a lot of people are in and out, and the leadership is usually in and out only for a couple years at a time. And when the leaders of a unit changes, there is a ceremony that signifies that change. It's a change of command ceremony. And at the center of the ceremony is the former leader passing the unit flag, or it's a guidon to the incoming leader. And the flag is just kind of this little flag, and it has the unit's emblem on it, and it symbolizes who has control and authority, who is the leader of the unit. And so in the ceremony, you know, it's very orchestrated, and there is a part at the center of it where the old commander does this, and he puts his arms out, and the new commander grabs the guidon, and they're both holding it together. [00:38:02] And while they're holding it together, words are being said, talking about the passing of authority. And then the old commander lets go. And the new commander has it. It symbolizes that now he's the new commander. He's in charge. He has the authority. He's the boss. [00:38:17] And I love that image because I think so many times, if you're a follower of Jesus, we get in this stuck place in life where we're like, all right, Lord, here's my life. [00:38:30] Here's my hopes, here's my dreams. Here's the relationship, Lord, here, just everything. Here's my life right here. And we're like, all right, Lord, I give it to you. And the Lord places his hands on it, but then we don't let go. [00:38:47] We're like, oh, Lord, it's yours. But I'm going to kind of hold on here, too, if that's all right. [00:38:56] It's like, well, then it's not really mine. [00:38:59] And we. And we get stuck here. And being stuck there is the most miserable place to be. [00:39:07] It's the most miserable place to be because it's meant to pass through our hands and into his. And I'll tell you, he's a lot better leader in your life than you are. [00:39:17] He's a lot wiser than you are. He's a lot stronger than you are. He actually wants even more for you than you want for yourself. [00:39:25] And he is absolutely trustworthy. So here's what I'm asking you to do today. Would you just relinquish your command? [00:39:33] Would you just, like, merry this Christmas Eve, say, all right, Lord, once again, I'm humbling myself before you, and I'm trusting you, and I'm trusting. And I'm gonna let go of the guidon because it is yours and yours alone. Let's pray. Father, you are the good and perfect leader, Father. Only when we lose our life can it be saved. [00:40:07] Only, Lord, when we relinquish control, can we experience the freedom and the full purpose that you have for us. Father, thank you for Mary. Thank you for her example. [00:40:20] And, Lord, help us to respond in a better way this Christmas. [00:40:27] Help us, Lord, to not just respond to the fun and the family events and all that, but help us to respond deep in our spirits that this season, Lord, would be the season of relinquishment that we would declare in our hearts. I am the Lord's servant, God. Whatever you want for my life, I trust you. I follow you, for you are good. Help us in this, Lord. In Jesus good name we pray. Amen.