WEBVTT

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chapter 1 verse 46 in the verses leading up to

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this Zechariah and Elizabeth were about to have

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a child even though they had gone for some time

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and were not able to conceive the Lord had revealed

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to Zechariah that they would have a child and

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Zechariah kind of questioned how is this going

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to be and the Lord said well you're not going

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to speak until the child is born and so When

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John was eventually born, Zechariah was able

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to speak again. But during the time of Elizabeth's

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pregnancy, the angel appeared before Mary and

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said, Mary, you are about to give birth to the

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Son of God. Now, this was pretty big news. I

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think maybe sometimes we've probably read these

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scriptures and... And likely, if we've gone to

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church our whole life, you can just count up

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how many times you've heard it. If you're 40

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years old, you've probably heard it 40 times

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in your life. I mean, we hear this story so much,

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and maybe with any story we hear or any song

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that we sing, it becomes so familiar to us that

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sometimes we just don't really comprehend or

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think about. exactly what's taking place but

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this would have been a pretty big deal i mean

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mary would have been a young woman here she she

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wouldn't have been very old some have suggested

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a young teenage girl maybe 14 15 maybe a little

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older uh but regardless of her age she was young

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and this is pretty big news to get at any age

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it wouldn't matter if you were 45 and an angel

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of the lord came to you and said oh by the way

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uh you're about to give birth to a child I mean,

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that's a pretty amazing experience. If an angel

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appears to you and don't say nothing, that in

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and of itself is scary. And then when a message

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like that is revealed to you, we can only imagine

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how Mary must have felt. Of course, she said,

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well, how is this going to be? I mean, I understand

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how giving birth goes, and I haven't been with

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a man, so how is this going to take place? And

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it took place through the Holy Spirit. And she

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conceived, and soon she would give birth to Jesus

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Christ, the Savior of the world. And Mary says

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one of the most beautiful lines, I think, in

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all of Scripture. Back in verse 38, when the

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angel tells her this, she responds with, I am

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the Lord's slave. What a great response. I don't

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know that the Lord will ever send an angel to

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you to speak something to you. I won't say that

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he will not. He may. I will say be careful. There's

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a lot of false teachers in this world that would

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say that God sent an angel to them and reveal

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things to them. Of course, the things that they

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say reveal to them do not go along with Scripture.

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So I won't say that God cannot or does not send

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angels to people. Perhaps he would. Regardless

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of whether God sends an angel before us, I think

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that there are times in our life that God does

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speak to us, that God does want to use us. Maybe

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not quite in the same way that he used Mary.

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I mean, it's kind of a one -time thing, a pretty

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big deal to give birth to the Savior of the world.

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But nonetheless, God does want to use us in some

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way sometimes. And it may be something as simple

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as helping your neighbor down the road or helping

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somebody you see that's in need. Or maybe it's

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serving in some ministry capacity that God's

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kind of tugging on you in that way. Whatever

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it is, when God calls on us, what is our response?

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Well, we probably make excuses. We're probably

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more like Moses than we are Mary. We probably

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say, well, God, I don't really speak good. God,

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I'm not the man for the job. But God does call

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us for jobs that we don't feel like we're equipped

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for. But God equips us for those jobs. And God

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knows what he's doing when he says, I want you

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to do this or I want you to do that. So when

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we feel those things kind of placed on our heart,

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then we need to look at Mary's response. She

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didn't make excuses, but she said, okay, God,

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this is what you're saying. And as crazy as this

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sounds, she said, God, I am your slave. I am

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the Lord's slave. Elizabeth is already with child,

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and that's the relative of Mary. Some suggest

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cousin, perhaps. It doesn't matter. Maybe she

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was a cousin. But in some way, they were related.

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And Mary goes to visit Elizabeth in the verses

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before the ones we're about to look at. And when

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Mary arrives, Elizabeth, she says, the baby inside

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of me is leaping for joy in my womb at the very

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presence that the mother of the Savior of the

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world has just entered. And so Mary is obviously

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ready to take on this role as giving birth to

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Jesus Christ. And listen to what she says in

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verse 46. And Mary said, my soul proclaims the

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greatness of the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced

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in God my Savior. Because he has looked with

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favor on the humble condition of his slave. Surely

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from now on all generations will call me blessed.

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Because the mighty one has done great things

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for me. And his name is holy. His mercy is from

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generation to generation on those who fear him.

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Now, this is a very popular praise of Mary. refer

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to it as the Magnificat. Mary's Magnificat. Perhaps

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you've heard that term. You might even, this

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section in your Bible might even have that title

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before it. Some may do that. But this is Mary's

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Magnificat. This is Mary's praise that God has

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called on her, that God is going to use her.

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And she recognizes, to some degree at least,

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the significance to this. She says, all generations

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are going to call me blessed. God has looked

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down on the humble, not just on Mary, but on

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all who are poor and lowly and who are needy.

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God has looked down on us in our sinfulness.

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God has looked down on us in our weakness. God

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has chosen... us to spread the gospel of Jesus

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Christ, to help grow the kingdom of God. Now,

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we don't give birth to the Messiah, but if we

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know Jesus Christ, God calls those who are in

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Christ to be his hands and feet and to do the

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work of God. So even still today, God is calling

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on the weak and the powerless and the humble.

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God wants to use us today. Will we be as willing

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as Mary was? Well, we rejoice in the same way

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that Mary did. My soul proclaims the greatness

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of the Lord. The Lord said, I want to use you

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to do this great thing. I want to work through

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you, Mary. And Mary praises him. What about you

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and I? When God wants to use us to do something.

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great thing. And you say, what's a great thing?

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Well, I don't know. Maybe we're thinking about

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a great thing as just something really big and

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wonderful that everybody in the world sees. But

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maybe a great thing is just going to check on

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your neighbor and saying, I haven't seen you

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in a while. How you doing? Maybe a great thing

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is going to that person at Christmas that doesn't

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have any family, that's going to be home all

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alone. They're not going to be eating a big meal.

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They're not going to be opening a gift. Maybe

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a great thing is knocking on their door saying,

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hey, we got some turkey and dressing here and

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my wife made some cookies. Merry Christmas. Maybe

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that's a great thing. It's a great thing for

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somebody who can't get out of the house, who

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doesn't have any family left. And so God calls

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us to do great things. And sometimes we overlook

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the great things. And we think they're the insignificant

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things. Or, oh, there's nothing to that. That's

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no big deal. That wasn't nothing. But it is something.

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It may not be nothing for you to go see somebody

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for five minutes, but it may be everything to

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them. So when the Lord calls us to do great things,

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then we need to rejoice in the Lord and we need

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to proclaim the greatness of the Lord and say,

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thank you, God, for this opportunity. And how

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many opportunities are before us and we say,

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boy, I should do that. I should do that. I've

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got to do that. I need to do that. And we don't

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ever do that. And the greatness of the Lord that

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he wants to use us for, we just push it back.

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And Mary proclaims the greatness of the Lord.

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I'm the Lord's slave. Here I am, Lord. I'm your

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slave. I'm ready to do what you've called me

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to do. Are we ready to do what God calls us to

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do? Hopefully we are, but maybe we're not. Maybe

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there are some things on your list. Maybe tomorrow

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is a good time to do them. Not this weekend.

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Maybe tomorrow is a good time to do them. Maybe

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it's a good time to take that five minutes. Maybe

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tomorrow is a good time to make that phone call,

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to reach out to that person, to reach out to

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that family member. Maybe it's somebody that

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ain't answered your phone call in 20 years. Call

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them again. Maybe they'll answer this time. Maybe

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they won't. But maybe there's something that

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we can do. Maybe there's something that's on

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our heart. Maybe there's some way that God wants

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to use us. Maybe there's somebody we can go visit

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this Christmas season. And maybe we can keep

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visiting them on into the new year. Maybe we

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can visit them every month, every week. Maybe

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we can give them a phone call. Maybe there's

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some way that God wants to use you. Maybe God's

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calling you to serve in this church in some capacity.

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Whatever it may be. It may not be that God came

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to your room last night and at the foot of your

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bed stood the bright and shimmering glowing angel

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before you saying, here I am, here's what I want

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you to do. Maybe God doesn't speak to you in

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that way. But I think the Holy Spirit speaks

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to our heart. And sometimes we just get that

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feeling, man, I should do this. I should help

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that person. I should buy them a meal. I should

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pay for their groceries. I should go see them.

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I should give them a call. Maybe it's nothing.

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But then again, maybe it's God. Maybe it's something.

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So maybe God's calling you today. Maybe he wants

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to use you in some way. Just as he used Mary

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in some way. Pretty major way. But you never

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know in the way that God wants to use you. You

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never know how it might change somebody's life.

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Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you

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for these good words. We thank you for Mary.

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And we thank you even more so for Jesus Christ

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for sending him into the world. And we thank

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you for the example of Mary for being one who

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was ready to serve, dear Lord, and just humble

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herself before you as our slave. And I pray,

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God, that we would do so tonight, that we would

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do so tomorrow, that maybe there are some ways

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that you've been wanting to use us, some things

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that even now, God, that you're just kind of

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saying you need to do it. So, God, If you're

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saying that to us tonight, I pray that we just

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say, God, I'm your slave. I'm ready to serve.

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And that we would go and do and be used by you

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in the way that you want to use us, dear Lord.

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And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.