Theological Status: Critical Concern
Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Pergamum
❓ What do these grades mean?
🔍 Biblical Discernment: The 7 Church Parallels
The Cold Orthodox Parallel
Ephesus
Teaching that upholds doctrinal precision yet parallels the loss of the "first love"—the vital, motivating power of the Gospel (Rev 2:4).
Why strictly "Mark & Avoid"?
We do not issue this rating to attack the speaker, but to protect the listener. This church's overall teaching trend consistently deviates from sound doctrine. As per Romans 16:17, we identify these patterns so believers can guard their hearts.
We do not issue this rating to attack the speaker, but to protect the listener. This church's overall teaching trend consistently deviates from sound doctrine. As per Romans 16:17, we identify these patterns so believers can guard their hearts.
🧐 Overview
Sermon Summary: This sermon uses the story of Mary's obedience to encourage listeners to follow God's will. While well-intentioned, it raises critical questions about whether our choice or God's sovereign power is the ultimate foundation of our salvation.
Big Idea: Mary had a choice. We all have a choice to be obedient to the call of God on our lives. [00:43:14 ▶️ 📄]
Pastoral Analysis: The sermon presents a moralistic exhortation to obedience, using Mary's 'yes' as the central model for Christian living. It is built on a foundation of theological synergism, explicitly stating that Mary's free choice was the determinative factor in the Incarnation. This undermines the doctrine of God's sovereign decree and results in a message of law (human performance as the basis for peace) rather than Gospel (Christ's performance as the basis for peace).
Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Pergamum — The sermon compromises the doctrine of God's sovereign decree by blending the biblical narrative of the Incarnation with a man-centered, synergistic view of choice.
🧭 Biblical Alignment Dashboard
Overall Verdict: Fundamentally in Error
| Category | Status | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Soteriology | ❌ FAIL | The sermon teaches a synergistic model of calling, where human 'free choice' is the decisive factor rather than God's monergistic grace. This is evident in the claim that God would have found another woman if Mary had refused, making God's plan contingent on human permission. |
| Bibliology | ⚠️ WEAK | While Scripture is read, it is used pretextually to support a pre-determined moral lesson about human choice. The text is not expounded to reveal its own primary meaning, which is the sovereign enactment of God's redemptive plan. |
| Hermeneutic | ❌ FAIL | The sermon employs a moralistic and anthropocentric hermeneutic. It extracts Mary as a behavioral example ('how to make a choice') rather than seeing the narrative as God sovereignly accomplishing His redemptive plan *through* her, with her faith being a gift of that grace. |
| Theology Proper | ❌ FAIL | The doctrine of God is compromised by presenting a God whose plans are contingent upon human cooperation. This functionally denies His sovereignty as taught in Scripture (Ephesians 1:11), reducing Him to a hopeful participant awaiting a human decision. |
| Sacramentology | ⚪ N/A | No sacraments (Communion or Baptism) were observed or discussed in the provided transcript. |
📖 How they Handle Scripture & Jesus
Primary Text: Luke 1:26-55 (Pretextual (Thin))
Scripture Saturation: Verses Read: 15 | Referenced: 1 | Alluded: 0
Passages Read Aloud:
Key References: Psalm 122:1
Christological Connection: None (Moralistic): The Incarnation narrative is used primarily to extract a moral principle (Mary's choice/obedience) which is then applied as an imperative for the listener's daily life. Christ is the result of Mary's successful choice, rather than the central redemptive agent driving the sermon's application.
🧱 Sermon Outline
- Introduction: Jesus is the Reason and the Call to Obedience [00:30:21 ▶️ 📄] : Introduces the Christmas season and the theme of obedience, noting that choices affect life.
- Obedience is Better than Sacrifice [00:33:49 ▶️ 📄] : Cites 1 Samuel 15:22, arguing that obedience to God should be natural, not forced by consequences.
- Mary's Devotion and Dreams [00:37:40 ▶️ 📄] : Describes Mary's background, her engagement to Joseph, and reads Mary's Song (Luke 1:46-55) to show her love for God.
- The Choice of the Annunciation [00:41:17 ▶️ 📄] : Details Mary's fear and confusion upon hearing the angel's message, focusing on the choice she had to make regarding God's call.
- Nothing is Impossible with God [00:46:43 ▶️ 📄] : Uses the example of Elizabeth and the resurrection to emphasize that God can accomplish the impossible, urging the audience to believe this during difficult times.
- Conclusion: Choosing God's Will [00:54:55 ▶️ 📄] : Reiterates Mary's response ('Be it unto me according to thy word') as the model for accepting God's plan, even when it shatters personal dreams.
🗝️ Key Topics & Themes
- Obedience : The central theme, defined as choosing God's will over personal desires.
- Christmas Story : The context for discussing Mary's role and the incarnation.
- Choice : The human ability to accept or deny God's call.
- Impossibility : The theological concept that nothing is impossible for God.
✅ Commendations
Pastoral Heart | Encouragement Toward Faithfulness
The sermon clearly comes from a place of desiring to see people live faithful, obedient lives. The tone is earnest and aims to encourage the congregation to take God's call seriously, which is a commendable pastoral instinct.
Doctrinal Affirmation | Correctly Stated Doctrine of Grace
At 00:35:49 ▶️ 📄, the speaker correctly states that salvation is a gift and that God's grace is not something that can be earned by works. This orthodox statement is a strong foundation that, if built upon consistently, would correct the sermon's primary error.
⚠️ Theological Concerns
🔴 Synergistic View of Divine Calling
Root Cause: Semi-Pelagianism / Synergism. This view denies the biblical doctrine of Total Depravity, which states that fallen man is unable to will or choose God apart from regenerating grace. It makes salvation a cooperative effort initiated by man, rather than a divine rescue initiated by God.
"I'm sure if Mary had refused, God would have found another woman to carry the Son of God. Remember, God does give us free choice." [00:43:26 ▶️ 📄]
Correction: Scripture teaches that God 'worketh all things after the counsel of his own will' (Ephesians 1:11), not in reaction to human choice. Mary's response was not the independent cause of God's plan, but the beautiful fruit of His gracious and effectual calling upon her life (Romans 8:30).
🟠 Moralistic Application (Law over Gospel)
Root Cause: Moralistic Drift (Sardis). This is a common error where the commands of Scripture are detached from the power and motivation of the Gospel. It preaches the Law (what we must do) without the Grace (what Christ has done) needed to truly obey from the heart.
"But I can tell you if you will choose to be obedient in your life and follow God, follow the call that God has placed on your life, it will fulfill and bring peace that only He can bring." [00:58:48 ▶️ 📄]
Correction: The Gospel does not say, 'Obey, and you will find peace.' It says, 'In Christ, you *have* peace; therefore, walk in obedience.' The imperative to obey must always be grounded in the indicative of what Christ has already accomplished. Our works are evidence of salvation, not the means to it.
📜 Full Sermon Transcript (Audit)
Use the 📄 icons next to quotes above to automatically jump to their location in this raw transcript.
[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
May hope overflow in you today.
[00:00:04] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:00:07] For weary hearts to be renewed.
[00:00:10] For light to pierce the darkness.
[00:00:13] Lift up your eyes.
[00:00:15] Lift up your heart.
[00:00:17] The King of Glory is coming in.
[00:00:19] And may your life be filled with hope.
[00:00:23] Deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was
[00:00:28] and is and who is to come.
[00:00:31] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:00:44] Jesus is coming.
[00:00:46] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:00:48] The season of hope.
[00:00:52] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:00:56] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:00:59] Hope in God's unfailing love and His unshakable promise that He came, He's here with us now, and that He's coming again.
[00:01:08] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:01:12] Hope for loved ones to return to faith, for weary hearts to be renewed, for light to pierce the darkness.
[00:01:22] Lift up your eyes.
[00:01:24] Lift up your heart.
[00:01:25] The King of Glory is coming in.
[00:01:27] And may your life be filled with hope, deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:01:39] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:01:53] Jesus is coming.
[00:01:54] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:01:56] The season of hope.
[00:02:00] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:02:04] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:02:07] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:02:12] That he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:02:16] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:02:21] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:02:24] for weary hearts to be renewed for light to pierce the darkness lift up your eyes lift up your heart the king of glory is coming in and may your life be filled with hope deep steady everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come be blessed with hope this advent
[00:03:01] Jesus is coming.
[00:03:03] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:03:05] The season of hope.
[00:03:08] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:03:13] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:03:16] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise that he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:03:24] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:03:29] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:03:32] For weary hearts to be renewed.
[00:03:35] For light to pierce the darkness.
[00:03:38] Lift up your eyes.
[00:03:40] Lift up your heart.
[00:03:42] The King of Glory is coming in.
[00:03:43] And may your life be filled with hope.
[00:03:47] Deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:03:56] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:04:09] Jesus is coming.
[00:04:11] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:04:13] The season of hope.
[00:04:16] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:04:21] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:04:24] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:04:28] That he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:04:33] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:04:37] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:04:40] For weary hearts to be renewed.
[00:04:43] For light to pierce the darkness.
[00:04:46] Lift up your eyes.
[00:04:48] Lift up your heart.
[00:04:50] The King of glory is coming in.
[00:04:51] And may your life be filled with hope.
[00:04:55] Deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:05:04] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:05:17] Jesus is coming.
[00:05:19] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:05:21] The season of hope.
[00:05:24] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:05:29] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:05:32] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:05:37] That he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:05:41] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:05:45] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:05:48] For weary hearts to be renewed.
[00:05:51] For light to pierce the darkness.
[00:05:55] Lift up your eyes.
[00:05:56] Lift up your heart.
[00:05:58] The King of Glory is coming in.
[00:06:00] And may your life be filled with hope.
[00:06:04] Deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:06:12] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:06:25] Jesus is coming.
[00:06:27] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:06:29] The season of hope.
[00:06:33] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:06:37] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:06:40] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:06:45] That he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:06:49] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:06:53] Hope for loved ones to return to faith, for weary hearts to be renewed, for light to pierce the darkness.
[00:07:03] Lift up your eyes, lift up your heart.
[00:07:06] The King of glory is coming in.
[00:07:08] And may your life be filled with hope, deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:07:20] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:07:34] Jesus is coming.
[00:07:35] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:07:38] The season of hope.
[00:07:41] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:07:45] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:07:48] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:07:53] That he came, he's here with you.
[00:08:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
For more information visit www.fema.org
[00:08:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah, she needs her face mask on too.
[00:09:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Good morning, good morning.
[00:09:21] We are so glad that you are here this morning.
[00:09:25] Amen.
[00:09:25] And we want to welcome our Facebook live audience and those listening to us on 102.5 WEZG.
[00:09:34] Alright, but we are so glad that you are here.
[00:09:35] Amen.
[00:09:36] It says, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
[00:09:40] Amen.
[00:09:41] So we are thankful for you this morning.
[00:09:43] We're thankful that we are entering into that season, the Christmas season.
[00:09:47] Amen.
[00:09:48] Thankful for Christ who came and was born of a virgin.
[00:09:52] Amen.
[00:09:54] And grew, but He didn't stay that baby.
[00:09:56] Amen.
[00:09:57] So we're thankful for God and all He's doing.
[00:09:59] Just remember the things that we have going on.
[00:10:03] on the 7th and the 10th and then our blessing jar and blessing box so don't forget those things and if you have any other questions about it you can see me after so pastor is going to come and pray stand to our feet
[00:10:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this opportunity to be in your house again.
[00:10:29] Thank you for all your blessings.
[00:10:31] And Lord, we want to say happy birthday, Jesus, as we come into this Christmas season, as we help us to remember the true meaning of Christmas.
[00:10:40] And Father, we just ask for those in our church family that is sick this morning.
[00:10:45] We have several that is sick and those that are struggling with a
[00:10:49] I pray that you intervene for them and those are in the valley of decisions I pray Lord that you help them that they would make the right choices in their life Lord I pray for Juanita's family as her mother transitions I pray God that you would be with her family and touch them and strengthen them Lord we just thank you that we know that you are working all things out for our good As we come into worship let us all be reminded
[00:11:16] Amen, Amen.
[00:11:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
I've been a long year, cried some hard tears on some dark nights Tried to pray through, nothing seemed to make the wrong drive
[00:12:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I'm coming out the other side stronger One foot in front of the other Head still raising Heart still praising I made it, I made it
[00:12:37] I never left the hands of my Father Loves to breathe in, thank you Jesus I made it, I made it, I made it, I made it
[00:13:04] How faithful, how amazing that Your grace is Oh, no matter what this life may bring I know You'll bring me through And even in my suffering Lord, I can trust in You, yeah I'm coming out the other side stronger
[00:13:55] I made it, I made it, I made it, I made it I made it through more than I thought that I could I walked through the worst but it worked for my good It's a miracle that I can stand here and say I made it, oh I made it I made it through more than I thought that I could I walked through the worst but it worked for my good
[00:14:33] Yes, praise God, I made it Oh, I made it Calling out the other side stronger One foot in front of the other Hands still praising, hearts still praising I made it, I made it
[00:15:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
We made it!
[00:15:35] We made it!
[00:15:35] Thank you Lord!
[00:15:36] Hallelujah!
[00:15:36] Oh God is good!
[00:15:37] Isn't He good to us?
[00:15:37] Hallelujah!
[00:15:38] We bless the name of the Lord this morning.
[00:15:40] Hallelujah!
[00:15:41] Hallelujah!
[00:15:42] Thank you Jesus!
[00:15:43] I made it!
[00:15:44] I made it!
[00:15:45] You know one day that's going to be a reality.
[00:15:47] One day we can stand before a stone saying, I made it Lord!
[00:15:51] I made it Lord!
[00:15:52] But you know, it's a reality when we can make it through one day at a time.
[00:15:57] Sometimes we have to, we struggle even with an hour at a time.
[00:16:01] So if we can make it through every moment of life, Hallelujah, we can cry out and say, Lord, I've made it, I've made it, I've made it.
[00:16:08] Hearts still praising, hands still raising, I've made it, I've made it.
[00:16:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Hallelujah.
[00:16:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
There's no sweeter name than Jesus
[00:16:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The taste that I have seen Nothing better than His presence A friend when I'm in need There's no sweeter name than Jesus He's the Savior of my soul
[00:16:54] I will declare His goodness I will declare His goodness
[00:17:25] All that He is and what He's done All that He is and what He's done There's no greater name than Jesus At His mention darkness has
[00:18:02] I will declare His goodness I will declare His love My life will testify forever All that He is and what He's done
[00:18:33] He is worthy, worthy of our praise Hallelujah He is worthy, worthy of our praise I will declare His goodness
[00:19:20] All that He is and what He has done There's no sweeter name than Jesus And I have tasted a hasty And there's no sweeter name than Jesus
[00:19:56] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Hallelujah.
[00:20:00] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:20:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Oh, we bless you, Lord.
[00:20:02] We bless you, Lord.
[00:20:03] We bless you.
[00:20:03] Thank you, Lord.
[00:20:05] Hallelujah.
[00:20:05] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:20:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The starlit manger, Emmanuel Light of the world, here to stay Adore, come let us adore
[00:21:11] Worship Christ the Lord And all that is within Thee and has adored Wise men bring their treasures
[00:21:42] All voices sing of peace on earth What have I to offer to heaven's King?
[00:22:30] Worship Christ the Lord When all that is within us adorns Angels sing praises ring to the newborn King Peace on earth
[00:22:58] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:23:15] Amen.
[00:24:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Amen, Amen.
[00:24:04] Thank you, Lord.
[00:24:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Thank you, Jesus.
[00:24:15] I believe in Christmas I believe in Jesus I believe the story is true I believe forgiveness came down to us from heaven
[00:24:34] I believe in Christmas, do you?
[00:24:41] I believe that Virgin conceived a sin to be the Prince of Peace I believe a manger was where she laid the tiny king
[00:25:04] I believe in Jesus I believe the story is true I believe forgiveness came down to us from heaven I believe in Christmas dear
[00:25:28] I believe in angels who came to tell the shepherds the good news I believe the starlight that led the wise men all their journey through
[00:25:51] I believe in Jesus I believe the story is true I believe forgiveness came down to us from heaven I believe in Christmas do you do you believe the greatest story
[00:26:22] Believe that Jesus came to save your soul Do you believe He died upon the cross When everything seemed lost He rose again to give us victory
[00:26:44] I believe in Christmas I believe in Jesus I believe the story is true I believe forgiveness came down to us from heaven I believe in Christmas dear
[00:27:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Alright, good morning church!
[00:27:22] My name is Jessica.
[00:27:25] I worked for Jeff for a couple years, and then Jennifer and I taught together, and we were looking for a church when we came here, and I noticed one Sunday, Pastor Kenny was kind of a one-woman show, and so right over there in that queue, God said, you need to help her out.
[00:27:43] So years ago, I played at my home church in West Virginia.
[00:27:49] The Lord is with you.
[00:28:22] Hark the herald angels sing!
[00:29:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Reconciliation Reconciliation Reconciliation Reconciliation Reconciliation Reconciliation
[00:29:44] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Pentecost
[00:30:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Merry Christmas church family!
[00:30:44] Hallelujah.
[00:30:45] Merry Christmas to you as we start the season of Christmas and we have a lot of different emotions that
[00:30:56] Go on during the month and we just pray that we will, you know, keep our eyes and our focus on the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:31:06] And, you know, once we can do that, then we know that everything is going to be okay because He is truly the reason for the season.
[00:31:16] Amen.
[00:31:17] Say that with me this morning.
[00:31:19] Jesus is the reason for the season.
[00:31:22] And, you know, sadly our world has taken it and tried to make things out of it that it's not.
[00:31:28] And, you know, we have a lot of people that have issues, especially during Christmas because of that fact that the world puts so much pressure on us.
[00:31:38] And when we can just have the peace of God and just sit back and relax and know that God is
[00:31:45] is the reason he sent his son that you and I could have life and life more abundantly.
[00:31:54] Well, this morning I'm going to start talking to us concerning our Christmas story.
[00:32:01] And, you know, I think sometimes we get sort of taken the story for granted, but there's so much in the story of how Christ came to earth that we can grab so much from.
[00:32:14] Today I want to talk about us being obedient.
[00:32:19] Being obedient.
[00:32:20] And Mary was obedient.
[00:32:24] You know, we make decisions every day of our life, don't we?
[00:32:27] Every one of us do.
[00:32:28] Some of them are major decisions, but most of them are minor.
[00:32:33] We make decisions and we don't even think about it a lot of times.
[00:32:36] And then there's, when we make choices, we usually make them for what we think is right for us or what we like or we dislike.
[00:32:47] And I think that every one of us, if we could look back over our lives and we could redo some choices that we made, would we redo those?
[00:33:00] You know, some choices will have a major outcome on our life.
[00:33:04] And some, no, not so much.
[00:33:07] But, you know, some may not even have an effect on the decisions that we make.
[00:33:13] However, it is a fact that decisions will eventually have an effect on the way we live, the way we think, and the way we believe.
[00:33:24] And it all comes back to the choices we make in whom we are obedient to.
[00:33:31] One of the things that most of us was taught from our early age is to be obedient.
[00:33:36] We are taught by our parents, our elders, and those that have rule over us.
[00:33:41] And if you was raised in a Christian household, then you was also taught that you must obey God above all.
[00:33:49] The Bible teaches us in 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel 15 and 22.
[00:33:54] 1 Samuel 15 and 22.
[00:34:01] And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
[00:34:11] Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
[00:34:20] You know, God wants us to be obedient.
[00:34:24] Regardless if we are one year old or if we're a hundred years old, our responsibility in life is to be obedient.
[00:34:34] Our parents and our caregivers instilled in us at a very early age that it was our responsibility to obey them and to obey the requests that they made of us.
[00:34:47] If not, and if you came from a very strict home, if you did not, there was consequences to be paid for.
[00:34:54] But in some homes there was none.
[00:34:58] But there comes a time in life, whether it's today, tomorrow, or years ago, that we have to choose that we're going to be obedient.
[00:35:11] We are no longer under the care and responsibility of someone else in this life.
[00:35:17] When we become the sole responsibility of our own life, that decisions that we make will depend on how our life goes.
[00:35:30] So when it comes to making a choice in your life, it is better to be obedient to what God has asked of you or what He has declared to you than to make that decision based on your likes and your wants and your needs.
[00:35:49] As a Christian, we understand that salvation is a gift to us and to mankind.
[00:35:54] God's grace is shown to us towards us in love, and it's not anything that we can work for.
[00:36:01] We're never going to be good enough for God's love.
[00:36:03] We're never going to be able to pay Him for His love.
[00:36:07] He loves us unconditionally.
[00:36:10] We should obey Him because of who He is.
[00:36:15] And we know that He knows what's best for our life.
[00:36:20] But being obedient is different.
[00:36:23] Being obedient to God should be natural for us, but the flesh don't like to be obedient.
[00:36:29] The flesh don't like people telling us what to do.
[00:36:32] The flesh don't even like government making rules and laws that's hard to follow.
[00:36:37] The flesh doesn't like being obedient, but God is calling you and me to be obedient.
[00:36:44] We should obey Him not because we have to, but because we want to.
[00:36:50] And the fact is that He is God and God is in control of everything.
[00:36:54] God knows how our life should be for us.
[00:36:58] It's been all mapped out from the very beginning of time, yet we play a big part of that.
[00:37:04] We have part of the story for ourself by the choices that we make and one of those choices that we make is whether or not we're going to be obedient to the call of God.
[00:37:17] That choice can forever change our lives.
[00:37:22] In the Christmas story, the characters all have a special part of the amazing story of love to mankind.
[00:37:30] Each one of them had to make a decision to follow the call of God in their lives and to be obedient to His will.
[00:37:40] In the Scripture we find that Mary, a young teenager, while the Bible does not tell us, history states that she would have been between the ages of 14 and 16 years old.
[00:37:51] Her life was not a life of luxury.
[00:37:54] In this time period there was a lot of uncertainty.
[00:37:57] Nazareth was under the Roman rule and there was suffering politically and economically.
[00:38:04] She and her family would have experienced the same things that many of us face today.
[00:38:10] They would have faced tragedies and illnesses and death and financial worries and what-ifs of tomorrow.
[00:38:18] They had the responsibilities of jobs and paying bills just as we all face.
[00:38:25] There were so many questions and not many answers.
[00:38:30] Sometimes we're like that too.
[00:38:32] There are lots of questions.
[00:38:34] We don't understand why.
[00:38:36] But when we are obedient to God, we trust Him to show us the way.
[00:38:42] Yet with all these daily decisions, Mary was continuing her life.
[00:38:48] She was engaged to Joseph and they were in a time of planning their life together.
[00:38:53] Like most ladies or young ladies today, we have dreams of becoming a wife and married to someone.
[00:39:01] You know, hers was no different.
[00:39:03] She was engaged to Joseph and they were planning their life together.
[00:39:07] Her dreams of becoming a wife, married to someone in the line of David.
[00:39:13] Mary may even have picked out baby names and what her house would look like and what she would like her home to be.
[00:39:21] She was excited.
[00:39:22] She had hope.
[00:39:23] She had dreams.
[00:39:24] But according to the Scripture, Mary loved God more than anything else.
[00:39:31] She had a desire to follow Him and obey Him.
[00:39:34] Mary's heart was for God and she knew He was the foundation of her life.
[00:39:40] In Mary's words we find what is known as Mary's song that she said that describes her love for God.
[00:39:48] In Luke chapter 1 verses 46 through 55.
[00:39:56] And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
[00:40:08] For he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden.
[00:40:12] For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
[00:40:19] For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name.
[00:40:26] And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
[00:40:33] He has showed strength with His arm and He has scattered the proud in their imaginations of their hearts.
[00:40:40] He has put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree.
[00:40:47] He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich He has sent empty away.
[00:40:53] He has opened His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy.
[00:41:01] and He spake to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed forever.
[00:41:09] While Mary had chosen to follow God, she chose to love Him, she chose to obey Him, she chose to follow His commandments, there came a time Mary had a choice.
[00:41:26] Mary had lost her dream of what a young girl dreams about waiting to be married to have the life she had hoped for and as she thought her life would be there came a decision that she would have to make that would alter everything she had thought about the angel of the Lord comes and declares the Lord is with you and her dreams collapse and change
[00:41:54] When the angel says, Mary, God has chosen you to bear a child, Mary's response was pretty impressive.
[00:42:01] How could this be?
[00:42:03] I don't know a man.
[00:42:05] And the angel of the Lord declares that the Spirit of God will cause it.
[00:42:10] See, we can sit back and imagine the fear and confusion that Mary faced.
[00:42:17] Was she dreaming?
[00:42:19] Was this something she ate?
[00:42:21] Mary must have wondered, how in the world is this going to happen?
[00:42:25] Will this hurt me?
[00:42:27] Will this be easy?
[00:42:28] Then her mind quickly changes.
[00:42:31] Well, what's Joseph going to think about me?
[00:42:35] Joseph knows the law.
[00:42:37] Will he believe me?
[00:42:38] He could have me stoned.
[00:42:41] This is illegal.
[00:42:42] He can have me stoned to death.
[00:42:44] And it's his choice.
[00:42:47] What am I going to do?
[00:42:49] Then her mind goes to what everyone is going to think about me.
[00:42:53] What is my friends gonna say?
[00:42:56] What is my parents gonna say?
[00:42:58] What about my wedding?
[00:42:59] What about my plans?
[00:43:00] What about my family?
[00:43:01] Are they truly gonna believe this is what happened to me?
[00:43:05] I'm sure she was overwhelmed with it all.
[00:43:09] But Mary, like us, have a choice.
[00:43:14] We all have a choice to be obedient to the call of God on our lives.
[00:43:19] We can choose to do what God has called us for or we can choose not to.
[00:43:26] I'm sure if Mary had refused, God would have found another woman to carry the Son of God.
[00:43:31] Remember, God does give us free choice.
[00:43:34] And Mary was no different.
[00:43:36] But she didn't refuse the call.
[00:43:39] She followed the will of God for her life.
[00:43:42] I've thought about this a lot.
[00:43:45] You know, it was an honor and a privilege as we see it now.
[00:43:50] But there, then, at that moment, there had to be fear.
[00:43:55] There had to be disbelief.
[00:43:56] There had to be doubts.
[00:43:58] And there had to be fear in her heart.
[00:44:03] And I'm sure if she knew what this child that she was going to bear would have to go through, the pain and the suffering that her child was going to have to face, would her decision be the same?
[00:44:21] so in my eyes it wasn't all wonderful as the human perspective makes it to be there was questions about the choice it was her choice to be obedient it was her choice to make with everything else God knows
[00:44:43] God knew the times then and He knows the time of today.
[00:44:50] He knows the uncertainty and He knows the severity of this world and He knows that life in general can overwhelm us.
[00:45:00] God also knew that we would face choices every day of our life.
[00:45:04] He knew that life would be overwhelming and at times we would question everything that God had planned for us.
[00:45:13] Yet God in all His love, He knew that there would be a way for us to have peace.
[00:45:19] A peace that only a Savior could bring to us.
[00:45:23] A peace that would save us from our sins and our own destruction.
[00:45:29] God knew that we needed a new kingdom where there's hope and the real peace can be found.
[00:45:36] He knew that we needed Jesus, all human and all God.
[00:45:43] He knew that we would need a king to rule over us and be our Savior.
[00:45:49] And He knew that we needed a kingdom that we could learn and grow.
[00:45:55] And He knew we needed to learn to be obedient, a vessel that would choose to follow Him.
[00:46:03] Perhaps Mary recognized that God's blessing can be bittersweet.
[00:46:07] There is no substitute.
[00:46:10] But being favored by God is often a difficult gift to receive.
[00:46:15] It calls for great courage, great strength, great energy, and great faith.
[00:46:23] Think about the faith that Mary had to have with everything that was going on.
[00:46:30] We will often be asked to face what we'd rather not face.
[00:46:36] We will often be asked to grow through events and areas that we'd rather not grow from.
[00:46:43] However unbelievable as it is, overwhelming as it may be, Gabriel tells us nothing is impossible with God.
[00:46:55] Yes, in life we face some of the greatest trials.
[00:46:59] Remember what Luke tells us about.
[00:47:02] An old and barren woman, not Mary, but her cousin Elizabeth, who wanted children.
[00:47:09] Her husband was a priest.
[00:47:10] She desired to have a family.
[00:47:12] Yeah, in her old age.
[00:47:14] Verse 36, it tells us,
[00:47:22] and behold thy cousin Elizabeth she has also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren if God could do that for an old lady who was past her age he could do this for Mary as well
[00:47:44] God, the God of impossible, tells the impossible with the Christmas story.
[00:47:49] The Lord can enter into human history via woman's womb as a child and from a tomb came a resurrection of life and the Holy Spirit can empower the world and from a church and form a church where there was none that reaches throughout the world.
[00:48:08] Who could believe that such redemption, such a hope for sinners, who could have dared dream this fantastic story of love?
[00:48:16] Truly, nothing is impossible with God.
[00:48:19] Will you say that with me this morning?
[00:48:21] Nothing is impossible with God.
[00:48:27] Are you facing some difficult decision this Christmas season?
[00:48:30] Maybe without much hope or joy or peace, hear the words of God.
[00:48:35] There is nothing impossible with God.
[00:48:40] Now we've heard the Christmas story before.
[00:48:42] In fact, we've heard it so many times it's just a story.
[00:48:45] We're losing sight of how awesome this event really is.
[00:48:50] How God would enter human life with all this violence and corruption just to bring you and me hope.
[00:48:57] to rescue us from the sinfulness of this world and to send us a Redeemer.
[00:49:05] But He came with the obedience of one woman, Mary.
[00:49:11] If there's ever been a Christmas when we need to remember this, it's now.
[00:49:15] God loves you.
[00:49:17] God loves us.
[00:49:19] God gave His Son for us and Jesus came to be born among us.
[00:49:24] If there's ever a Christmas that we need to remember, nothing is impossible with God.
[00:49:29] It's this Christmas.
[00:49:31] For there is nothing impossible with God if you only believe.
[00:49:37] When Gabriel finished delivering the message that he had given Mary, he spoke of this miracle that was to happen.
[00:49:45] And he did his best to explain to her how this could happen.
[00:49:50] But Mary, I'm sure, thought about this miracle.
[00:49:53] And I bet she thought ahead a little, thinking of the news and how it's going to be received by everybody.
[00:50:00] I guess at that moment her mind was spinning and Lord I love you and I'm faithful to you and I want you to know that I love you so much but can I do this?
[00:50:13] She had to make a decision.
[00:50:15] She had to make a choice.
[00:50:18] And Mary listened as the angel said there's nothing impossible with God.
[00:50:24] And you know what she said in verse 38?
[00:50:26] This is what she said.
[00:50:31] Verse 38.
[00:50:36] And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
[00:50:41] Be it unto me according to thy word.
[00:50:45] And the angel departed from her.
[00:50:48] You see, I think Mary knew what being favored by God meant and what it was going to mean.
[00:50:55] Like most people, I imagine she realized that being chosen by God often meant that life's not always normal.
[00:51:03] Burdens do not just go away or get better, but sometimes the burdens get harder and the challenges get harder ahead.
[00:51:12] I guess you could say that the blessings in some ways aren't necessarily blessings on this earth.
[00:51:21] She could have said no.
[00:51:23] She could have rejected God's invitation.
[00:51:25] If it could have passed to some other girl, she could have said, Gabe, you got the wrong Mary.
[00:51:31] You got the wrong address.
[00:51:34] You got a different zip code.
[00:51:36] There's got to be another Mary down the road.
[00:51:39] But she didn't.
[00:51:41] You and I learn obedience.
[00:51:43] We're not born with the desire to obey God or anyone in authority.
[00:51:47] It's a learning process.
[00:51:50] When you're born, you grow to a certain age and then you begin to test just how far you can go.
[00:51:55] Do you remember that?
[00:51:57] You test the waters, so to speak, when your mom and dad gives you a warning.
[00:52:02] And at first you may listen when your parents say no, but sometimes you push the envelope just a little bit farther.
[00:52:11] But quickly comes another point.
[00:52:14] Even sometimes before your first birthday, one of your first words that you can speak is, No.
[00:52:22] And sometimes we ignore the fact that really the Word knows a two-letter word and it's really not a big deal.
[00:52:30] But it becomes a big deal when you continuously ignore the warning and to receive the correction.
[00:52:38] If you don't like authority, then you're going to rebel against it.
[00:52:42] And often children grow up naturally rebelling because their parents don't teach them to obey.
[00:52:47] If there is a spirit of obedience in your life, you're going to willingly and lovingly choose to be that way.
[00:52:55] Even when your fleshly human self doesn't like it, there are certain rules we've got to obey.
[00:53:01] There are some we don't.
[00:53:03] Mary did not have to obey.
[00:53:05] Think about it.
[00:53:05] She did not know what the future held.
[00:53:10] She didn't know how this choice was going to change her life, but she chose to follow God.
[00:53:19] Her love of God was proven when she chose the call of obeying.
[00:53:23] Mary was surprised by the angel's visit, and who wouldn't be?
[00:53:26] Yeah, we all should have that same faith as Mary.
[00:53:30] When she simply responds, let it be done as you have said.
[00:53:33] Mary's yes to God in Luke 1, 26.
[00:53:41] Shows us how bravely and accepted the divine appointments that we can do.
[00:53:48] And Mary said again, Behold thy handmaid of... Let's go back to that.
[00:53:58] 126.
[00:53:58] Sorry, difficulties.
[00:54:05] and behold thy cousin Elizabeth hath also conceived a son in her old age and just the sixth month who was called barren.
[00:54:12] 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
[00:54:19] 38
[00:54:24] And the angel came unto her and said, Hail, thou art highly favored.
[00:54:28] The Lord is with thee.
[00:54:30] Blessed art thou among women.
[00:54:33] Listen, you are highly favored this morning.
[00:54:37] God has called you for a plan.
[00:54:40] God has called you for a purpose.
[00:54:44] But it is your choice.
[00:54:46] And Mary said, Behold, I am made of the Lord.
[00:54:49] Be unto me according to thy word.
[00:54:51] And the angel departed from her.
[00:54:55] We can deny the call of God.
[00:54:59] And we can ask a thousand and one questions.
[00:55:01] We can hit the wall continuing asking why, where, and how.
[00:55:07] All we want.
[00:55:08] We can cling to our own power.
[00:55:10] We can look to heaven and say, no God, I don't want to do that.
[00:55:14] But there'll be no peace.
[00:55:16] There'll be no true happiness.
[00:55:20] There'll only be an easiness in our soul when we're looking for something to fill that emptiness that only Jesus Christ can fill.
[00:55:28] But Mary's way, Mary is a way of obedience.
[00:55:31] It's a way of healing.
[00:55:33] It's a way of faith.
[00:55:34] It will bring you peace when the winds and storms surround us.
[00:55:40] You see, if our trust is in God, that empowers us to make a stained glass window of beauty out of grace.
[00:55:49] We see it differently because it seemed to come from broken pieces of glass and it's nothing until it's put together.
[00:55:57] No matter what situation you find yourself in, we must hold on to Gabriel's words as a reminder in our own life, God is with you.
[00:56:07] And it's Mary's faith that leads her from the awesome call of God which seems to shatter her own dreams as a young bride into the remaking of her life.
[00:56:20] The Scripture does not sound like a woman who's hanging her head over shattered dreams or hopes defeated or plans denied.
[00:56:28] Instead, this sounds like a woman who changed and adapted her own dreams, changed her plans and recognized that hope has become new hopes.
[00:56:38] Her dreams are now new dreams.
[00:56:40] Her plans are now new plans.
[00:56:44] As she writes,
[00:56:45] and says, I am blessed.
[00:56:48] Friends, the Lord is with us whatever you are going through.
[00:56:51] Know that there is nothing impossible with God.
[00:56:56] He can bring healing to your brokenness.
[00:56:59] He can deliver you and set you free.
[00:57:02] He can encourage you.
[00:57:05] But you have to have the courage to trust God's plan.
[00:57:09] You have to have the courage to be obedient as Mary was obedient.
[00:57:13] You have to have decision and make the right choice.
[00:57:18] We've all been through seasons of life when our dreams were shattered.
[00:57:23] We've all been through seasons of times when our hopes were defeated, our plans were denied.
[00:57:30] The key word right there is our, our, our.
[00:57:34] But God has a plan for us that maybe we don't understand it.
[00:57:37] And maybe we've never had a chance to fully understand it.
[00:57:41] But God has given us something so far beyond our comprehension.
[00:57:46] But we've got to trust God.
[00:57:49] We've got to have faith in God.
[00:57:51] We've got to put our confidence in Him.
[00:57:53] And we must accept the fact that God has a plan for us even though sometimes our plan don't match up.
[00:58:01] In fact, we must embrace His plan.
[00:58:05] And we can only embrace God's plan for our life when we say, Here I am, Lord.
[00:58:12] I am a servant of Yours.
[00:58:15] Let it be according to Your Word.
[00:58:18] Your will, God, not mine.
[00:58:21] And that's hard.
[00:58:23] Mary had a hard time.
[00:58:25] We don't know that.
[00:58:27] Scripture don't tell us.
[00:58:28] But she was human.
[00:58:29] She was flesh.
[00:58:31] And she had to make a decision that I will follow God regardless of what it cost.
[00:58:38] Being obedient is not easy.
[00:58:42] And I can promise you it's not always going to be the answer that you wanted.
[00:58:48] But I can tell you if you will choose to be obedient in your life and follow God, follow the call that God has placed on your life, it will fulfill and bring peace that only He can bring.
[00:59:04] Mary had a choice.
[00:59:07] Church family, we have a choice too.
[00:59:09] We can choose to follow Him in the hard times.
[00:59:13] We can choose to follow Him when things don't seem to be falling into place.
[00:59:17] We can choose to say, not my will, but your will.
[00:59:23] And I promise you, even though it's going to be hard sometimes, He says, I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you.
[00:59:31] And I'll make something beautiful out of your pain.
[00:59:36] Let's pray.
[00:59:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
There is one name that can calm every storm.
[00:59:55] One name that can break every chain.
[01:00:01] A name that can silence every fear, remove every worry, renew every mind.
[01:00:15] A name above all other names.
[01:00:21] A name that brings light to the darkness.
[01:00:26] That awakens dry bones and heals broken hearts.
[01:00:32] A name that calls home the lost and calls the dead to life.
[01:00:40] A name that offers mercy
[01:00:45] A name that gives forgiveness.
[01:00:49] A name that brings unending peace, understanding, hope and love.
[01:00:58] The only name that resurrects.
[01:01:02] The only name that heals.
[01:01:05] The only name that saves.
[01:01:09] Today, we sing and shout aloud a name that is worthy of all our worship, worthy of all our praise.
[01:01:22] We call you Risen.
[01:01:24] We call you Savior.
[01:01:27] We call you King.
[01:01:31] We call you Jesus.
May hope overflow in you today.
[00:00:04] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:00:07] For weary hearts to be renewed.
[00:00:10] For light to pierce the darkness.
[00:00:13] Lift up your eyes.
[00:00:15] Lift up your heart.
[00:00:17] The King of Glory is coming in.
[00:00:19] And may your life be filled with hope.
[00:00:23] Deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was
[00:00:28] and is and who is to come.
[00:00:31] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:00:44] Jesus is coming.
[00:00:46] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:00:48] The season of hope.
[00:00:52] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:00:56] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:00:59] Hope in God's unfailing love and His unshakable promise that He came, He's here with us now, and that He's coming again.
[00:01:08] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:01:12] Hope for loved ones to return to faith, for weary hearts to be renewed, for light to pierce the darkness.
[00:01:22] Lift up your eyes.
[00:01:24] Lift up your heart.
[00:01:25] The King of Glory is coming in.
[00:01:27] And may your life be filled with hope, deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:01:39] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:01:53] Jesus is coming.
[00:01:54] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:01:56] The season of hope.
[00:02:00] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:02:04] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:02:07] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:02:12] That he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:02:16] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:02:21] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:02:24] for weary hearts to be renewed for light to pierce the darkness lift up your eyes lift up your heart the king of glory is coming in and may your life be filled with hope deep steady everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come be blessed with hope this advent
[00:03:01] Jesus is coming.
[00:03:03] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:03:05] The season of hope.
[00:03:08] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:03:13] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:03:16] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise that he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:03:24] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:03:29] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:03:32] For weary hearts to be renewed.
[00:03:35] For light to pierce the darkness.
[00:03:38] Lift up your eyes.
[00:03:40] Lift up your heart.
[00:03:42] The King of Glory is coming in.
[00:03:43] And may your life be filled with hope.
[00:03:47] Deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:03:56] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:04:09] Jesus is coming.
[00:04:11] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:04:13] The season of hope.
[00:04:16] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:04:21] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:04:24] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:04:28] That he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:04:33] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:04:37] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:04:40] For weary hearts to be renewed.
[00:04:43] For light to pierce the darkness.
[00:04:46] Lift up your eyes.
[00:04:48] Lift up your heart.
[00:04:50] The King of glory is coming in.
[00:04:51] And may your life be filled with hope.
[00:04:55] Deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:05:04] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:05:17] Jesus is coming.
[00:05:19] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:05:21] The season of hope.
[00:05:24] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:05:29] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:05:32] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:05:37] That he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:05:41] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:05:45] Hope for loved ones to return to faith.
[00:05:48] For weary hearts to be renewed.
[00:05:51] For light to pierce the darkness.
[00:05:55] Lift up your eyes.
[00:05:56] Lift up your heart.
[00:05:58] The King of Glory is coming in.
[00:06:00] And may your life be filled with hope.
[00:06:04] Deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:06:12] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:06:25] Jesus is coming.
[00:06:27] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:06:29] The season of hope.
[00:06:33] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:06:37] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:06:40] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:06:45] That he came, he's here with us now, and that he's coming again.
[00:06:49] May hope overflow in you today.
[00:06:53] Hope for loved ones to return to faith, for weary hearts to be renewed, for light to pierce the darkness.
[00:07:03] Lift up your eyes, lift up your heart.
[00:07:06] The King of glory is coming in.
[00:07:08] And may your life be filled with hope, deep, steady, everlasting hope in the one who was and is and who is to come.
[00:07:20] Be blessed with hope this Advent.
[00:07:34] Jesus is coming.
[00:07:35] The season of Advent, it's here.
[00:07:38] The season of hope.
[00:07:41] May it be more than just twinkling lights and gifts under a tree this year.
[00:07:45] May deep hope awaken in your hearts.
[00:07:48] Hope in God's unfailing love and his unshakable promise.
[00:07:53] That he came, he's here with you.
[00:08:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
For more information visit www.fema.org
[00:08:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah, she needs her face mask on too.
[00:09:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Good morning, good morning.
[00:09:21] We are so glad that you are here this morning.
[00:09:25] Amen.
[00:09:25] And we want to welcome our Facebook live audience and those listening to us on 102.5 WEZG.
[00:09:34] Alright, but we are so glad that you are here.
[00:09:35] Amen.
[00:09:36] It says, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
[00:09:40] Amen.
[00:09:41] So we are thankful for you this morning.
[00:09:43] We're thankful that we are entering into that season, the Christmas season.
[00:09:47] Amen.
[00:09:48] Thankful for Christ who came and was born of a virgin.
[00:09:52] Amen.
[00:09:54] And grew, but He didn't stay that baby.
[00:09:56] Amen.
[00:09:57] So we're thankful for God and all He's doing.
[00:09:59] Just remember the things that we have going on.
[00:10:03] on the 7th and the 10th and then our blessing jar and blessing box so don't forget those things and if you have any other questions about it you can see me after so pastor is going to come and pray stand to our feet
[00:10:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this opportunity to be in your house again.
[00:10:29] Thank you for all your blessings.
[00:10:31] And Lord, we want to say happy birthday, Jesus, as we come into this Christmas season, as we help us to remember the true meaning of Christmas.
[00:10:40] And Father, we just ask for those in our church family that is sick this morning.
[00:10:45] We have several that is sick and those that are struggling with a
[00:10:49] I pray that you intervene for them and those are in the valley of decisions I pray Lord that you help them that they would make the right choices in their life Lord I pray for Juanita's family as her mother transitions I pray God that you would be with her family and touch them and strengthen them Lord we just thank you that we know that you are working all things out for our good As we come into worship let us all be reminded
[00:11:16] Amen, Amen.
[00:11:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
I've been a long year, cried some hard tears on some dark nights Tried to pray through, nothing seemed to make the wrong drive
[00:12:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I'm coming out the other side stronger One foot in front of the other Head still raising Heart still praising I made it, I made it
[00:12:37] I never left the hands of my Father Loves to breathe in, thank you Jesus I made it, I made it, I made it, I made it
[00:13:04] How faithful, how amazing that Your grace is Oh, no matter what this life may bring I know You'll bring me through And even in my suffering Lord, I can trust in You, yeah I'm coming out the other side stronger
[00:13:55] I made it, I made it, I made it, I made it I made it through more than I thought that I could I walked through the worst but it worked for my good It's a miracle that I can stand here and say I made it, oh I made it I made it through more than I thought that I could I walked through the worst but it worked for my good
[00:14:33] Yes, praise God, I made it Oh, I made it Calling out the other side stronger One foot in front of the other Hands still praising, hearts still praising I made it, I made it
[00:15:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
We made it!
[00:15:35] We made it!
[00:15:35] Thank you Lord!
[00:15:36] Hallelujah!
[00:15:36] Oh God is good!
[00:15:37] Isn't He good to us?
[00:15:37] Hallelujah!
[00:15:38] We bless the name of the Lord this morning.
[00:15:40] Hallelujah!
[00:15:41] Hallelujah!
[00:15:42] Thank you Jesus!
[00:15:43] I made it!
[00:15:44] I made it!
[00:15:45] You know one day that's going to be a reality.
[00:15:47] One day we can stand before a stone saying, I made it Lord!
[00:15:51] I made it Lord!
[00:15:52] But you know, it's a reality when we can make it through one day at a time.
[00:15:57] Sometimes we have to, we struggle even with an hour at a time.
[00:16:01] So if we can make it through every moment of life, Hallelujah, we can cry out and say, Lord, I've made it, I've made it, I've made it.
[00:16:08] Hearts still praising, hands still raising, I've made it, I've made it.
[00:16:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Hallelujah.
[00:16:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
There's no sweeter name than Jesus
[00:16:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The taste that I have seen Nothing better than His presence A friend when I'm in need There's no sweeter name than Jesus He's the Savior of my soul
[00:16:54] I will declare His goodness I will declare His goodness
[00:17:25] All that He is and what He's done All that He is and what He's done There's no greater name than Jesus At His mention darkness has
[00:18:02] I will declare His goodness I will declare His love My life will testify forever All that He is and what He's done
[00:18:33] He is worthy, worthy of our praise Hallelujah He is worthy, worthy of our praise I will declare His goodness
[00:19:20] All that He is and what He has done There's no sweeter name than Jesus And I have tasted a hasty And there's no sweeter name than Jesus
[00:19:56] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Hallelujah.
[00:20:00] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:20:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Oh, we bless you, Lord.
[00:20:02] We bless you, Lord.
[00:20:03] We bless you.
[00:20:03] Thank you, Lord.
[00:20:05] Hallelujah.
[00:20:05] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:20:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The starlit manger, Emmanuel Light of the world, here to stay Adore, come let us adore
[00:21:11] Worship Christ the Lord And all that is within Thee and has adored Wise men bring their treasures
[00:21:42] All voices sing of peace on earth What have I to offer to heaven's King?
[00:22:30] Worship Christ the Lord When all that is within us adorns Angels sing praises ring to the newborn King Peace on earth
[00:22:58] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:23:15] Amen.
[00:24:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Amen, Amen.
[00:24:04] Thank you, Lord.
[00:24:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Thank you, Jesus.
[00:24:15] I believe in Christmas I believe in Jesus I believe the story is true I believe forgiveness came down to us from heaven
[00:24:34] I believe in Christmas, do you?
[00:24:41] I believe that Virgin conceived a sin to be the Prince of Peace I believe a manger was where she laid the tiny king
[00:25:04] I believe in Jesus I believe the story is true I believe forgiveness came down to us from heaven I believe in Christmas dear
[00:25:28] I believe in angels who came to tell the shepherds the good news I believe the starlight that led the wise men all their journey through
[00:25:51] I believe in Jesus I believe the story is true I believe forgiveness came down to us from heaven I believe in Christmas do you do you believe the greatest story
[00:26:22] Believe that Jesus came to save your soul Do you believe He died upon the cross When everything seemed lost He rose again to give us victory
[00:26:44] I believe in Christmas I believe in Jesus I believe the story is true I believe forgiveness came down to us from heaven I believe in Christmas dear
[00:27:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Alright, good morning church!
[00:27:22] My name is Jessica.
[00:27:25] I worked for Jeff for a couple years, and then Jennifer and I taught together, and we were looking for a church when we came here, and I noticed one Sunday, Pastor Kenny was kind of a one-woman show, and so right over there in that queue, God said, you need to help her out.
[00:27:43] So years ago, I played at my home church in West Virginia.
[00:27:49] The Lord is with you.
[00:28:22] Hark the herald angels sing!
[00:29:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Reconciliation Reconciliation Reconciliation Reconciliation Reconciliation Reconciliation
[00:29:44] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Pentecost
[00:30:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Merry Christmas church family!
[00:30:44] Hallelujah.
[00:30:45] Merry Christmas to you as we start the season of Christmas and we have a lot of different emotions that
[00:30:56] Go on during the month and we just pray that we will, you know, keep our eyes and our focus on the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:31:06] And, you know, once we can do that, then we know that everything is going to be okay because He is truly the reason for the season.
[00:31:16] Amen.
[00:31:17] Say that with me this morning.
[00:31:19] Jesus is the reason for the season.
[00:31:22] And, you know, sadly our world has taken it and tried to make things out of it that it's not.
[00:31:28] And, you know, we have a lot of people that have issues, especially during Christmas because of that fact that the world puts so much pressure on us.
[00:31:38] And when we can just have the peace of God and just sit back and relax and know that God is
[00:31:45] is the reason he sent his son that you and I could have life and life more abundantly.
[00:31:54] Well, this morning I'm going to start talking to us concerning our Christmas story.
[00:32:01] And, you know, I think sometimes we get sort of taken the story for granted, but there's so much in the story of how Christ came to earth that we can grab so much from.
[00:32:14] Today I want to talk about us being obedient.
[00:32:19] Being obedient.
[00:32:20] And Mary was obedient.
[00:32:24] You know, we make decisions every day of our life, don't we?
[00:32:27] Every one of us do.
[00:32:28] Some of them are major decisions, but most of them are minor.
[00:32:33] We make decisions and we don't even think about it a lot of times.
[00:32:36] And then there's, when we make choices, we usually make them for what we think is right for us or what we like or we dislike.
[00:32:47] And I think that every one of us, if we could look back over our lives and we could redo some choices that we made, would we redo those?
[00:33:00] You know, some choices will have a major outcome on our life.
[00:33:04] And some, no, not so much.
[00:33:07] But, you know, some may not even have an effect on the decisions that we make.
[00:33:13] However, it is a fact that decisions will eventually have an effect on the way we live, the way we think, and the way we believe.
[00:33:24] And it all comes back to the choices we make in whom we are obedient to.
[00:33:31] One of the things that most of us was taught from our early age is to be obedient.
[00:33:36] We are taught by our parents, our elders, and those that have rule over us.
[00:33:41] And if you was raised in a Christian household, then you was also taught that you must obey God above all.
[00:33:49] The Bible teaches us in 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel 15 and 22.
[00:33:54] 1 Samuel 15 and 22.
[00:34:01] And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
[00:34:11] Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
[00:34:20] You know, God wants us to be obedient.
[00:34:24] Regardless if we are one year old or if we're a hundred years old, our responsibility in life is to be obedient.
[00:34:34] Our parents and our caregivers instilled in us at a very early age that it was our responsibility to obey them and to obey the requests that they made of us.
[00:34:47] If not, and if you came from a very strict home, if you did not, there was consequences to be paid for.
[00:34:54] But in some homes there was none.
[00:34:58] But there comes a time in life, whether it's today, tomorrow, or years ago, that we have to choose that we're going to be obedient.
[00:35:11] We are no longer under the care and responsibility of someone else in this life.
[00:35:17] When we become the sole responsibility of our own life, that decisions that we make will depend on how our life goes.
[00:35:30] So when it comes to making a choice in your life, it is better to be obedient to what God has asked of you or what He has declared to you than to make that decision based on your likes and your wants and your needs.
[00:35:49] As a Christian, we understand that salvation is a gift to us and to mankind.
[00:35:54] God's grace is shown to us towards us in love, and it's not anything that we can work for.
[00:36:01] We're never going to be good enough for God's love.
[00:36:03] We're never going to be able to pay Him for His love.
[00:36:07] He loves us unconditionally.
[00:36:10] We should obey Him because of who He is.
[00:36:15] And we know that He knows what's best for our life.
[00:36:20] But being obedient is different.
[00:36:23] Being obedient to God should be natural for us, but the flesh don't like to be obedient.
[00:36:29] The flesh don't like people telling us what to do.
[00:36:32] The flesh don't even like government making rules and laws that's hard to follow.
[00:36:37] The flesh doesn't like being obedient, but God is calling you and me to be obedient.
[00:36:44] We should obey Him not because we have to, but because we want to.
[00:36:50] And the fact is that He is God and God is in control of everything.
[00:36:54] God knows how our life should be for us.
[00:36:58] It's been all mapped out from the very beginning of time, yet we play a big part of that.
[00:37:04] We have part of the story for ourself by the choices that we make and one of those choices that we make is whether or not we're going to be obedient to the call of God.
[00:37:17] That choice can forever change our lives.
[00:37:22] In the Christmas story, the characters all have a special part of the amazing story of love to mankind.
[00:37:30] Each one of them had to make a decision to follow the call of God in their lives and to be obedient to His will.
[00:37:40] In the Scripture we find that Mary, a young teenager, while the Bible does not tell us, history states that she would have been between the ages of 14 and 16 years old.
[00:37:51] Her life was not a life of luxury.
[00:37:54] In this time period there was a lot of uncertainty.
[00:37:57] Nazareth was under the Roman rule and there was suffering politically and economically.
[00:38:04] She and her family would have experienced the same things that many of us face today.
[00:38:10] They would have faced tragedies and illnesses and death and financial worries and what-ifs of tomorrow.
[00:38:18] They had the responsibilities of jobs and paying bills just as we all face.
[00:38:25] There were so many questions and not many answers.
[00:38:30] Sometimes we're like that too.
[00:38:32] There are lots of questions.
[00:38:34] We don't understand why.
[00:38:36] But when we are obedient to God, we trust Him to show us the way.
[00:38:42] Yet with all these daily decisions, Mary was continuing her life.
[00:38:48] She was engaged to Joseph and they were in a time of planning their life together.
[00:38:53] Like most ladies or young ladies today, we have dreams of becoming a wife and married to someone.
[00:39:01] You know, hers was no different.
[00:39:03] She was engaged to Joseph and they were planning their life together.
[00:39:07] Her dreams of becoming a wife, married to someone in the line of David.
[00:39:13] Mary may even have picked out baby names and what her house would look like and what she would like her home to be.
[00:39:21] She was excited.
[00:39:22] She had hope.
[00:39:23] She had dreams.
[00:39:24] But according to the Scripture, Mary loved God more than anything else.
[00:39:31] She had a desire to follow Him and obey Him.
[00:39:34] Mary's heart was for God and she knew He was the foundation of her life.
[00:39:40] In Mary's words we find what is known as Mary's song that she said that describes her love for God.
[00:39:48] In Luke chapter 1 verses 46 through 55.
[00:39:56] And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
[00:40:08] For he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden.
[00:40:12] For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
[00:40:19] For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name.
[00:40:26] And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
[00:40:33] He has showed strength with His arm and He has scattered the proud in their imaginations of their hearts.
[00:40:40] He has put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree.
[00:40:47] He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich He has sent empty away.
[00:40:53] He has opened His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy.
[00:41:01] and He spake to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed forever.
[00:41:09] While Mary had chosen to follow God, she chose to love Him, she chose to obey Him, she chose to follow His commandments, there came a time Mary had a choice.
[00:41:26] Mary had lost her dream of what a young girl dreams about waiting to be married to have the life she had hoped for and as she thought her life would be there came a decision that she would have to make that would alter everything she had thought about the angel of the Lord comes and declares the Lord is with you and her dreams collapse and change
[00:41:54] When the angel says, Mary, God has chosen you to bear a child, Mary's response was pretty impressive.
[00:42:01] How could this be?
[00:42:03] I don't know a man.
[00:42:05] And the angel of the Lord declares that the Spirit of God will cause it.
[00:42:10] See, we can sit back and imagine the fear and confusion that Mary faced.
[00:42:17] Was she dreaming?
[00:42:19] Was this something she ate?
[00:42:21] Mary must have wondered, how in the world is this going to happen?
[00:42:25] Will this hurt me?
[00:42:27] Will this be easy?
[00:42:28] Then her mind quickly changes.
[00:42:31] Well, what's Joseph going to think about me?
[00:42:35] Joseph knows the law.
[00:42:37] Will he believe me?
[00:42:38] He could have me stoned.
[00:42:41] This is illegal.
[00:42:42] He can have me stoned to death.
[00:42:44] And it's his choice.
[00:42:47] What am I going to do?
[00:42:49] Then her mind goes to what everyone is going to think about me.
[00:42:53] What is my friends gonna say?
[00:42:56] What is my parents gonna say?
[00:42:58] What about my wedding?
[00:42:59] What about my plans?
[00:43:00] What about my family?
[00:43:01] Are they truly gonna believe this is what happened to me?
[00:43:05] I'm sure she was overwhelmed with it all.
[00:43:09] But Mary, like us, have a choice.
[00:43:14] We all have a choice to be obedient to the call of God on our lives.
[00:43:19] We can choose to do what God has called us for or we can choose not to.
[00:43:26] I'm sure if Mary had refused, God would have found another woman to carry the Son of God.
[00:43:31] Remember, God does give us free choice.
[00:43:34] And Mary was no different.
[00:43:36] But she didn't refuse the call.
[00:43:39] She followed the will of God for her life.
[00:43:42] I've thought about this a lot.
[00:43:45] You know, it was an honor and a privilege as we see it now.
[00:43:50] But there, then, at that moment, there had to be fear.
[00:43:55] There had to be disbelief.
[00:43:56] There had to be doubts.
[00:43:58] And there had to be fear in her heart.
[00:44:03] And I'm sure if she knew what this child that she was going to bear would have to go through, the pain and the suffering that her child was going to have to face, would her decision be the same?
[00:44:21] so in my eyes it wasn't all wonderful as the human perspective makes it to be there was questions about the choice it was her choice to be obedient it was her choice to make with everything else God knows
[00:44:43] God knew the times then and He knows the time of today.
[00:44:50] He knows the uncertainty and He knows the severity of this world and He knows that life in general can overwhelm us.
[00:45:00] God also knew that we would face choices every day of our life.
[00:45:04] He knew that life would be overwhelming and at times we would question everything that God had planned for us.
[00:45:13] Yet God in all His love, He knew that there would be a way for us to have peace.
[00:45:19] A peace that only a Savior could bring to us.
[00:45:23] A peace that would save us from our sins and our own destruction.
[00:45:29] God knew that we needed a new kingdom where there's hope and the real peace can be found.
[00:45:36] He knew that we needed Jesus, all human and all God.
[00:45:43] He knew that we would need a king to rule over us and be our Savior.
[00:45:49] And He knew that we needed a kingdom that we could learn and grow.
[00:45:55] And He knew we needed to learn to be obedient, a vessel that would choose to follow Him.
[00:46:03] Perhaps Mary recognized that God's blessing can be bittersweet.
[00:46:07] There is no substitute.
[00:46:10] But being favored by God is often a difficult gift to receive.
[00:46:15] It calls for great courage, great strength, great energy, and great faith.
[00:46:23] Think about the faith that Mary had to have with everything that was going on.
[00:46:30] We will often be asked to face what we'd rather not face.
[00:46:36] We will often be asked to grow through events and areas that we'd rather not grow from.
[00:46:43] However unbelievable as it is, overwhelming as it may be, Gabriel tells us nothing is impossible with God.
[00:46:55] Yes, in life we face some of the greatest trials.
[00:46:59] Remember what Luke tells us about.
[00:47:02] An old and barren woman, not Mary, but her cousin Elizabeth, who wanted children.
[00:47:09] Her husband was a priest.
[00:47:10] She desired to have a family.
[00:47:12] Yeah, in her old age.
[00:47:14] Verse 36, it tells us,
[00:47:22] and behold thy cousin Elizabeth she has also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren if God could do that for an old lady who was past her age he could do this for Mary as well
[00:47:44] God, the God of impossible, tells the impossible with the Christmas story.
[00:47:49] The Lord can enter into human history via woman's womb as a child and from a tomb came a resurrection of life and the Holy Spirit can empower the world and from a church and form a church where there was none that reaches throughout the world.
[00:48:08] Who could believe that such redemption, such a hope for sinners, who could have dared dream this fantastic story of love?
[00:48:16] Truly, nothing is impossible with God.
[00:48:19] Will you say that with me this morning?
[00:48:21] Nothing is impossible with God.
[00:48:27] Are you facing some difficult decision this Christmas season?
[00:48:30] Maybe without much hope or joy or peace, hear the words of God.
[00:48:35] There is nothing impossible with God.
[00:48:40] Now we've heard the Christmas story before.
[00:48:42] In fact, we've heard it so many times it's just a story.
[00:48:45] We're losing sight of how awesome this event really is.
[00:48:50] How God would enter human life with all this violence and corruption just to bring you and me hope.
[00:48:57] to rescue us from the sinfulness of this world and to send us a Redeemer.
[00:49:05] But He came with the obedience of one woman, Mary.
[00:49:11] If there's ever been a Christmas when we need to remember this, it's now.
[00:49:15] God loves you.
[00:49:17] God loves us.
[00:49:19] God gave His Son for us and Jesus came to be born among us.
[00:49:24] If there's ever a Christmas that we need to remember, nothing is impossible with God.
[00:49:29] It's this Christmas.
[00:49:31] For there is nothing impossible with God if you only believe.
[00:49:37] When Gabriel finished delivering the message that he had given Mary, he spoke of this miracle that was to happen.
[00:49:45] And he did his best to explain to her how this could happen.
[00:49:50] But Mary, I'm sure, thought about this miracle.
[00:49:53] And I bet she thought ahead a little, thinking of the news and how it's going to be received by everybody.
[00:50:00] I guess at that moment her mind was spinning and Lord I love you and I'm faithful to you and I want you to know that I love you so much but can I do this?
[00:50:13] She had to make a decision.
[00:50:15] She had to make a choice.
[00:50:18] And Mary listened as the angel said there's nothing impossible with God.
[00:50:24] And you know what she said in verse 38?
[00:50:26] This is what she said.
[00:50:31] Verse 38.
[00:50:36] And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
[00:50:41] Be it unto me according to thy word.
[00:50:45] And the angel departed from her.
[00:50:48] You see, I think Mary knew what being favored by God meant and what it was going to mean.
[00:50:55] Like most people, I imagine she realized that being chosen by God often meant that life's not always normal.
[00:51:03] Burdens do not just go away or get better, but sometimes the burdens get harder and the challenges get harder ahead.
[00:51:12] I guess you could say that the blessings in some ways aren't necessarily blessings on this earth.
[00:51:21] She could have said no.
[00:51:23] She could have rejected God's invitation.
[00:51:25] If it could have passed to some other girl, she could have said, Gabe, you got the wrong Mary.
[00:51:31] You got the wrong address.
[00:51:34] You got a different zip code.
[00:51:36] There's got to be another Mary down the road.
[00:51:39] But she didn't.
[00:51:41] You and I learn obedience.
[00:51:43] We're not born with the desire to obey God or anyone in authority.
[00:51:47] It's a learning process.
[00:51:50] When you're born, you grow to a certain age and then you begin to test just how far you can go.
[00:51:55] Do you remember that?
[00:51:57] You test the waters, so to speak, when your mom and dad gives you a warning.
[00:52:02] And at first you may listen when your parents say no, but sometimes you push the envelope just a little bit farther.
[00:52:11] But quickly comes another point.
[00:52:14] Even sometimes before your first birthday, one of your first words that you can speak is, No.
[00:52:22] And sometimes we ignore the fact that really the Word knows a two-letter word and it's really not a big deal.
[00:52:30] But it becomes a big deal when you continuously ignore the warning and to receive the correction.
[00:52:38] If you don't like authority, then you're going to rebel against it.
[00:52:42] And often children grow up naturally rebelling because their parents don't teach them to obey.
[00:52:47] If there is a spirit of obedience in your life, you're going to willingly and lovingly choose to be that way.
[00:52:55] Even when your fleshly human self doesn't like it, there are certain rules we've got to obey.
[00:53:01] There are some we don't.
[00:53:03] Mary did not have to obey.
[00:53:05] Think about it.
[00:53:05] She did not know what the future held.
[00:53:10] She didn't know how this choice was going to change her life, but she chose to follow God.
[00:53:19] Her love of God was proven when she chose the call of obeying.
[00:53:23] Mary was surprised by the angel's visit, and who wouldn't be?
[00:53:26] Yeah, we all should have that same faith as Mary.
[00:53:30] When she simply responds, let it be done as you have said.
[00:53:33] Mary's yes to God in Luke 1, 26.
[00:53:41] Shows us how bravely and accepted the divine appointments that we can do.
[00:53:48] And Mary said again, Behold thy handmaid of... Let's go back to that.
[00:53:58] 126.
[00:53:58] Sorry, difficulties.
[00:54:05] and behold thy cousin Elizabeth hath also conceived a son in her old age and just the sixth month who was called barren.
[00:54:12] 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
[00:54:19] 38
[00:54:24] And the angel came unto her and said, Hail, thou art highly favored.
[00:54:28] The Lord is with thee.
[00:54:30] Blessed art thou among women.
[00:54:33] Listen, you are highly favored this morning.
[00:54:37] God has called you for a plan.
[00:54:40] God has called you for a purpose.
[00:54:44] But it is your choice.
[00:54:46] And Mary said, Behold, I am made of the Lord.
[00:54:49] Be unto me according to thy word.
[00:54:51] And the angel departed from her.
[00:54:55] We can deny the call of God.
[00:54:59] And we can ask a thousand and one questions.
[00:55:01] We can hit the wall continuing asking why, where, and how.
[00:55:07] All we want.
[00:55:08] We can cling to our own power.
[00:55:10] We can look to heaven and say, no God, I don't want to do that.
[00:55:14] But there'll be no peace.
[00:55:16] There'll be no true happiness.
[00:55:20] There'll only be an easiness in our soul when we're looking for something to fill that emptiness that only Jesus Christ can fill.
[00:55:28] But Mary's way, Mary is a way of obedience.
[00:55:31] It's a way of healing.
[00:55:33] It's a way of faith.
[00:55:34] It will bring you peace when the winds and storms surround us.
[00:55:40] You see, if our trust is in God, that empowers us to make a stained glass window of beauty out of grace.
[00:55:49] We see it differently because it seemed to come from broken pieces of glass and it's nothing until it's put together.
[00:55:57] No matter what situation you find yourself in, we must hold on to Gabriel's words as a reminder in our own life, God is with you.
[00:56:07] And it's Mary's faith that leads her from the awesome call of God which seems to shatter her own dreams as a young bride into the remaking of her life.
[00:56:20] The Scripture does not sound like a woman who's hanging her head over shattered dreams or hopes defeated or plans denied.
[00:56:28] Instead, this sounds like a woman who changed and adapted her own dreams, changed her plans and recognized that hope has become new hopes.
[00:56:38] Her dreams are now new dreams.
[00:56:40] Her plans are now new plans.
[00:56:44] As she writes,
[00:56:45] and says, I am blessed.
[00:56:48] Friends, the Lord is with us whatever you are going through.
[00:56:51] Know that there is nothing impossible with God.
[00:56:56] He can bring healing to your brokenness.
[00:56:59] He can deliver you and set you free.
[00:57:02] He can encourage you.
[00:57:05] But you have to have the courage to trust God's plan.
[00:57:09] You have to have the courage to be obedient as Mary was obedient.
[00:57:13] You have to have decision and make the right choice.
[00:57:18] We've all been through seasons of life when our dreams were shattered.
[00:57:23] We've all been through seasons of times when our hopes were defeated, our plans were denied.
[00:57:30] The key word right there is our, our, our.
[00:57:34] But God has a plan for us that maybe we don't understand it.
[00:57:37] And maybe we've never had a chance to fully understand it.
[00:57:41] But God has given us something so far beyond our comprehension.
[00:57:46] But we've got to trust God.
[00:57:49] We've got to have faith in God.
[00:57:51] We've got to put our confidence in Him.
[00:57:53] And we must accept the fact that God has a plan for us even though sometimes our plan don't match up.
[00:58:01] In fact, we must embrace His plan.
[00:58:05] And we can only embrace God's plan for our life when we say, Here I am, Lord.
[00:58:12] I am a servant of Yours.
[00:58:15] Let it be according to Your Word.
[00:58:18] Your will, God, not mine.
[00:58:21] And that's hard.
[00:58:23] Mary had a hard time.
[00:58:25] We don't know that.
[00:58:27] Scripture don't tell us.
[00:58:28] But she was human.
[00:58:29] She was flesh.
[00:58:31] And she had to make a decision that I will follow God regardless of what it cost.
[00:58:38] Being obedient is not easy.
[00:58:42] And I can promise you it's not always going to be the answer that you wanted.
[00:58:48] But I can tell you if you will choose to be obedient in your life and follow God, follow the call that God has placed on your life, it will fulfill and bring peace that only He can bring.
[00:59:04] Mary had a choice.
[00:59:07] Church family, we have a choice too.
[00:59:09] We can choose to follow Him in the hard times.
[00:59:13] We can choose to follow Him when things don't seem to be falling into place.
[00:59:17] We can choose to say, not my will, but your will.
[00:59:23] And I promise you, even though it's going to be hard sometimes, He says, I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you.
[00:59:31] And I'll make something beautiful out of your pain.
[00:59:36] Let's pray.
[00:59:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
There is one name that can calm every storm.
[00:59:55] One name that can break every chain.
[01:00:01] A name that can silence every fear, remove every worry, renew every mind.
[01:00:15] A name above all other names.
[01:00:21] A name that brings light to the darkness.
[01:00:26] That awakens dry bones and heals broken hearts.
[01:00:32] A name that calls home the lost and calls the dead to life.
[01:00:40] A name that offers mercy
[01:00:45] A name that gives forgiveness.
[01:00:49] A name that brings unending peace, understanding, hope and love.
[01:00:58] The only name that resurrects.
[01:01:02] The only name that heals.
[01:01:05] The only name that saves.
[01:01:09] Today, we sing and shout aloud a name that is worthy of all our worship, worthy of all our praise.
[01:01:22] We call you Risen.
[01:01:24] We call you Savior.
[01:01:27] We call you King.
[01:01:31] We call you Jesus.
