WEBVTT 00:00:03.750 --> 00:00:07.089 kecharitōmenē! You're going to hear that word. And when you 00:00:07.089 --> 00:00:18.210 do, pay attention. Hey, welcome back, friends. 00:00:18.269 --> 00:00:20.289 Tonight we begin something I've been looking 00:00:20.289 --> 00:00:24.809 forward to for weeks now. A four -part walk towards 00:00:24.809 --> 00:00:27.809 Christmas Eve. We're calling this journey, in 00:00:27.809 --> 00:00:30.989 those days, four nights at the edge of Bethlehem. 00:00:31.530 --> 00:00:33.890 And over these next few weeks, we'll sit with 00:00:33.890 --> 00:00:37.170 the people God chose long before anyone thought 00:00:37.170 --> 00:00:41.570 that they mattered. Mary, Joseph, a crowd of 00:00:41.570 --> 00:00:45.350 town with no room, a handful of night shift shepherds, 00:00:45.350 --> 00:00:48.509 ordinary folks caught up in a very holy story. 00:00:49.390 --> 00:00:52.270 If you have ever wondered whether God can start 00:00:52.270 --> 00:00:54.509 something beautiful in a life like yours, man, 00:00:54.710 --> 00:00:58.570 you are in the right place. And around here, 00:00:58.750 --> 00:01:01.920 it's Wednesday night. Our favorite night of the 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:04.879 week. Fellowship Hall still smells like supper 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.480 kids chasing each other around the coat rack. 00:01:08.939 --> 00:01:10.819 Everyone's already talking about what they're 00:01:10.819 --> 00:01:12.840 bringing to the Christmas Potluck Fellowship 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:17.599 Luncheon. Sanctuary's half -decorated. And every 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:20.159 time the front door opens, a cold wind follows 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:23.599 someone in with a casserole and a prayer. We 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:26.879 gather like this not because life is easy. Because 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:29.599 grace keeps drawing us back to the table, back 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:34.500 to each other, back to the word. So settle in, 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:38.280 take a breath, and I'll see you on the other 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:45.200 side. All right, I'm going to go ahead and begin. 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:48.019 Got the thumbs up from Mr. Wayne. I'd like for 00:01:48.019 --> 00:01:50.480 us just to pause for a second and realize if 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.079 you're still thinking about whatever. You walked 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:55.560 in carrying the conversation perhaps that went 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:57.879 sideways today, the bill you're not sure how 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:01.040 to pay, phone call you might have been avoiding. 00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:04.340 It's okay. Bring it with you. God's Word has 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:07.439 room for all of it, but let's make sure to make 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:10.740 some room for the Word tonight as well. Tonight 00:02:10.740 --> 00:02:13.780 we're beginning a four -week walk to Christmas 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:17.520 Eve, and I'm calling this series, In Those Days, 00:02:17.860 --> 00:02:22.039 Four Nights at the Edge of Bethlehem. Every week 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:24.500 we're going to land in a different nowhere place, 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:28.000 a place the world overlooked, but a place that 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.500 God chose anyway. So here's the map. Tonight 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:35.360 we started Nazareth with a girl named Mary. Next 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.659 week we sit with Joseph in the middle of a scandal 00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:42.319 he didn't cause. Week three we're going to follow 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:46.620 them to Bethlehem and the borrowed room that 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:50.680 wasn't big enough. And then... On Christmas Eve, 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:54.500 our fourth Wednesday, which, by the way, just 00:02:54.500 --> 00:02:56.879 a reminder, we will not have Bible study nor 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:59.560 dinner Wednesday, Christmas Eve. It'll just be 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:03.599 Christmas Eve service. But on that Wednesday, 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:07.960 we will end in a shepherd's field where the sky 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:12.919 cracks open. Four stops, four nobodies, four 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:16.659 moments when heaven showed up where nobody was 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:21.860 looking. I think there's a thread that runs through 00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:26.560 it, and I want you to look for it. That God does 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:30.400 not begin his work in places that we often expect. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:34.319 Not in the capital, not in the temple, not with 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:37.719 the credentialed or the connected. He actually 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:41.599 begins at the margins. He begins in the dark. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.580 God begins with people who have nothing left 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:51.030 to offer except an open door. Now, if you've 00:03:51.030 --> 00:03:53.909 been around church long enough, you've probably 00:03:53.909 --> 00:03:57.430 heard the Christmas story so often that it's 00:03:57.430 --> 00:04:03.069 kind of like wallpaper. It's pretty. It's familiar. 00:04:03.830 --> 00:04:08.270 It's also easy to ignore. We've laminated it. 00:04:08.569 --> 00:04:12.469 We've hung it on the nursery wall. And we stopped 00:04:12.469 --> 00:04:16.310 really seeing it. So I'm asking you to do something 00:04:16.310 --> 00:04:21.170 tonight. Forget the pageant. Forget the bathrobes 00:04:21.170 --> 00:04:23.910 and the tinsel halos and the kids fidgeting with 00:04:23.910 --> 00:04:27.230 their angel wings. I want you to hear this story 00:04:27.230 --> 00:04:30.610 like maybe it's the first time. Because maybe 00:04:30.610 --> 00:04:33.930 for someone in this room, it might be the first 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:38.550 time the story actually lands. We're not going 00:04:38.550 --> 00:04:41.670 to sentimentalize Advent. We're here to be wrecked 00:04:41.670 --> 00:04:46.410 by it. So let's begin. Now, before I get to the 00:04:46.410 --> 00:04:50.529 text, let me... set a scene in our minds I want 00:04:50.529 --> 00:04:55.610 you to come with me picture Nazareth at dusk 00:04:55.610 --> 00:04:59.550 a handful of oil lamps flickering behind mud 00:04:59.550 --> 00:05:04.529 brick walls a stray dog nosing his way down an 00:05:04.529 --> 00:05:08.490 alley a rooster complaining about nothing in 00:05:08.490 --> 00:05:12.769 particular somewhere a mother is calling her 00:05:12.769 --> 00:05:17.100 children in for the night Somewhere else, a man 00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:19.639 is putting away his tools after a long, hard 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:24.199 day of shaping wood into something useful. And 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:28.120 in one small house, a young girl, maybe 14 or 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:33.360 15, is finishing her evening chores. And she 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:37.459 is not on anybody's radar. No one is painting 00:05:37.459 --> 00:05:41.000 her portrait. No scribe is recording her name. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:46.269 Her whole life could fit. into the palm of a 00:05:46.269 --> 00:05:52.850 carpenter's hand. And heaven is looking at her. 00:05:54.149 --> 00:05:58.350 Heaven's whispering her name. Heaven is about 00:05:58.350 --> 00:06:02.009 to step over the threshold of her life and speak 00:06:02.009 --> 00:06:07.569 a word that will tilt the axis of history. God 00:06:07.569 --> 00:06:12.129 doesn't start in palaces. God starts with people. 00:06:13.689 --> 00:06:17.350 And the smaller the person, the louder his glory 00:06:17.350 --> 00:06:23.009 rings. Now, friends, let the poetry of Luke rise 00:06:23.009 --> 00:06:25.709 in your ears, beginning with chapter 1, verse 00:06:25.709 --> 00:06:30.129 26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was 00:06:30.129 --> 00:06:33.350 sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 00:06:33.449 --> 00:06:37.029 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph 00:06:37.029 --> 00:06:40.029 of the house of David. The virgin's name was 00:06:40.029 --> 00:06:43.819 Mary. And he came to her and he said, Greetings, 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:49.319 favored one. The Lord is with you. She was much 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:52.199 perplexed by his words and pondered what sort 00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:56.519 of greeting this must be. The angel said to her, 00:06:56.819 --> 00:07:00.800 Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:05.120 with God. And now you will conceive in your womb 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:07.319 and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 00:07:07.740 --> 00:07:10.879 He will be great. and he will be called the Son 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.959 of the Most High, and the Lord God will give 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:17.079 him the throne of his ancestor David. He will 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:20.939 reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom, 00:07:21.019 --> 00:07:25.220 there will be no end. Mary said to the angel, 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:32.139 How can this be, since I am a virgin? The angel 00:07:32.139 --> 00:07:34.199 said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you. 00:07:34.579 --> 00:07:37.199 The power of the Most High will overshadow you. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:40.259 Therefore the child to be born will be holy, 00:07:40.420 --> 00:07:45.120 who will be called the Son of God. And now your 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:48.319 relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:52.019 conceived a son. And this is the sixth month 00:07:52.019 --> 00:07:56.300 for her who was said to be barren, for nothing 00:07:56.300 --> 00:08:01.680 will be impossible with God. Then Mary said, 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:07.319 Here I am, servant of the Lord. Let it be with 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:11.939 me according to your word. Then the angel departed 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:16.600 her. The word of the Lord hums like a tuning 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:20.519 fork after it's struck. I don't feel like you 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:23.439 just read this story. We need to let it vibrate 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:28.319 through us. Greetings, favored one. Do not be 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:32.480 afraid. He will be great. The Holy Spirit will 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:37.039 overshadow you. Nothing will be impossible with 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:43.019 God. Let it be. These aren't museum pieces under 00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:46.399 glass. They're highway markers pointing to a 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:50.360 truth as old as creation, as fresh as the next 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:54.559 breath in your lungs. God loves to begin great 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:58.100 in small places. He loves to start revolutions 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:02.279 with the least likely people. He speaks destiny. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:07.220 into the ears of the overlooked. If you have 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:10.440 ever felt invisible, if you've ever wondered 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:13.679 whether your life is too ordinary to hold anything 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:19.000 actually holy, then this story is for you. So 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:23.960 let's walk it together. Now, if we were writing 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:27.960 the script for the Savior's arrival, Nazareth 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:31.919 wouldn't survive the first draft. God announcing, 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:36.120 the Messiah? No, we'd pick Jerusalem or Rome, 00:09:36.179 --> 00:09:38.960 somewhere with marble columns and diplomatic 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:42.639 credentials. Somewhere where the cameras would 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:46.179 already be rolling. We'd want press releases, 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:49.320 official channels, religious authorities signing 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:53.080 off, but God doesn't start at the center. God 00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:57.379 starts at the edges. I want to explain, when 00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:01.639 I say Nazareth, Think of the kind of town, and 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:05.039 friends, we can think of this kind of town, stick 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:08.879 with me. Think of the kind of town where the 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:12.259 only business open past 9 o 'clock is a gas station 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:15.879 with a busted ice machine. A place where you 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:19.679 have to drive 45 minutes to get to Walmart. Another 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:24.360 hour to a decent dentist. The kind with one blinking 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:28.409 stoplight. Post office that doubles as the community 00:10:28.409 --> 00:10:32.190 bulletin board. The kind of place where people 00:10:32.190 --> 00:10:38.730 move away from, not toward. And that is where 00:10:38.730 --> 00:10:43.529 the salvation of the world begins. Nathaniel, 00:10:43.529 --> 00:10:46.889 later in John's gospel, will ask the question 00:10:46.889 --> 00:10:50.809 everybody was thinking. Can anything good actually 00:10:50.809 --> 00:10:55.389 come out of Nazareth? This wasn't a theological... 00:10:55.769 --> 00:11:01.850 Objection. It was geographical snobbery. Nazareth 00:11:01.850 --> 00:11:06.090 was a punchline. And God makes it the opening 00:11:06.090 --> 00:11:12.529 scene. And then there's Mary. Unmarried, unremarkable, 00:11:12.669 --> 00:11:16.929 unknown, no pedigree, no platform, no influence, 00:11:17.009 --> 00:11:20.789 a girl whose life could be summed up in chores, 00:11:20.990 --> 00:11:24.889 family obligations, and quiet hopes. for a simple 00:11:24.889 --> 00:11:29.590 future with a carpenter. And yet God chooses 00:11:29.590 --> 00:11:34.049 her. This is for anybody who thought that the 00:11:34.049 --> 00:11:37.190 Lord only used the impressive, the credentialed, 00:11:37.190 --> 00:11:39.850 the connected, the ones who don't stumble over 00:11:39.850 --> 00:11:42.750 their own words or lie awake doubting themselves 00:11:42.750 --> 00:11:47.149 at 2 o 'clock in the morning. Mary is the counter 00:11:47.149 --> 00:11:52.070 -argument written in flesh and blood. And let's... 00:11:52.220 --> 00:11:54.320 Name something that we usually don't say out 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:59.480 loud. Most of us grew up believing, because we 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:03.059 were taught this, that God works through important 00:12:03.059 --> 00:12:09.179 people. We have been trained to think that divine 00:12:09.179 --> 00:12:14.120 favor looks like success, visibility, pats on 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:20.240 the back, applause. We imagine calling means 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:24.179 a highlight reel. God choosing the eloquent, 00:12:24.259 --> 00:12:28.220 the influential, the spiritually athletic. But 00:12:28.220 --> 00:12:30.720 underneath that Christ -polished assumption, 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:37.019 there's a wound. And that wound that rides in 00:12:37.019 --> 00:12:42.019 us is, I'm just too ordinary for God to use. 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:50.620 Or, I'm too broken for God to choose. Or maybe 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:53.720 God will get around to me after I clean up, after 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.960 I fix that habit, after I look more holy than 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:01.519 I feel. Picture God as a talent scout scanning 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:05.259 the crowd for the best and the brightest. The 00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:08.679 God who sent Gabriel to Nazareth isn't scouting 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:14.419 talent. He's just looking for openness. Mary 00:13:14.419 --> 00:13:18.399 wasn't powerful. She wasn't wealthy. She wasn't 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:23.200 connected, but she was present. She was honest. 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:28.840 She was willing. And I believe that God does 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:31.559 his finest work in people who aren't performing 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:36.559 for him. Hear me, friends. If your life feels 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:39.740 small tonight, you're exactly the kind of person 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:44.100 that heaven loves to visit. So I want to take 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:47.620 this passage slowly and let it breathe. In the 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:50.419 sixth month, the angel of Gabriel was sent by 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:54.639 God. This is verse 26. Heaven is not random. 00:13:55.500 --> 00:13:59.720 Gabriel didn't freelance this visit. He was sent. 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:03.360 He was commissioned, dispatched with intention. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:09.279 Which means Mary wasn't some sort of afterthought. 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:15.419 Mary was chosen deliberately. And I feel like 00:14:15.419 --> 00:14:17.639 if you need to hear anything tonight, please 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:21.440 hear this. God is not improvising with your life. 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:28.000 And you are not plan B. You are not the backup 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:33.379 singer in somebody else's story. Now, to a town 00:14:33.379 --> 00:14:37.440 in Galilee, this is the ancient world's version 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:42.659 of nowhere. I think in Hebrew it kind of translates 00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:48.279 to... um city of sticks so it would we could 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:51.940 say kind of like nazareth is out in the sticks 00:14:51.940 --> 00:14:57.659 gathering disciples we go to jerusalem announcing 00:14:57.659 --> 00:15:01.340 a king go to rome announcing the savior of the 00:15:01.340 --> 00:15:05.200 world apparently god says you go to a village 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:09.419 that's so insignificant it doesn't even come 00:15:09.419 --> 00:15:14.840 up in one single old testament text God is not 00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:17.320 interested in reinforcing our social ladders. 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:23.820 Instead, he subverts them. Centuries later, the 00:15:23.820 --> 00:15:27.580 prophet Isaiah told a nervous king by the name 00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:31.159 of Ahaz that God is going to give him a sign 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:34.960 that a virgin would conceive. But Ahaz didn't 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:38.379 ask for a sign, and he didn't want it. Bless 00:15:38.379 --> 00:15:42.059 you. That's what I do. But God gave it anyway. 00:15:43.699 --> 00:15:46.919 bypassing the powerful to plant promise in overlooked 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:51.600 soil. That pattern didn't start in Nazareth. 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:56.759 It just arrived there. To a virgin engaged to 00:15:56.759 --> 00:16:00.100 a man named Joseph. Mary's life is just beginning. 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:05.440 She's engaged. She and Joseph have probably talked 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:08.960 about the house they'll build, the children they'll 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:13.830 raise. where they'll plant the olive tree, and 00:16:13.830 --> 00:16:18.629 God interrupts. He doesn't wait for her calendar 00:16:18.629 --> 00:16:21.830 to clear. He walks right into the middle of her 00:16:21.830 --> 00:16:26.850 plans and says, this is where I'll begin. And 00:16:26.850 --> 00:16:31.570 some of us know that God, he doesn't schedule 00:16:31.570 --> 00:16:36.570 his calling around your convenience. Now the 00:16:36.570 --> 00:16:42.149 Greek word, kinkardikomene, means graced, gifted, 00:16:42.350 --> 00:16:48.070 or favored. Notice, Gabriel says this about Mary, 00:16:48.330 --> 00:16:53.129 but Mary hasn't done anything yet. She hasn't 00:16:53.129 --> 00:16:59.490 yet obeyed. She hasn't yet proven herself. She 00:16:59.490 --> 00:17:06.029 hasn't even said, okay. The favor comes before 00:17:06.029 --> 00:17:11.440 her response. That's Advent theology in one word. 00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:16.279 Grace precedes transformation. The gift arrives 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:19.900 before the obedience. It's not the other way 00:17:19.900 --> 00:17:24.700 around. God's blessing is not a reward for performance. 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:31.500 It's the starting point. Verse 29 into 30 says 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:37.019 she was much perplexed. Do not be afraid. Good. 00:17:38.059 --> 00:17:40.720 That's what happens when God interrupts ordinary 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:45.000 life. Grace is beautiful, but it is disorienting. 00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:49.619 When God steps into your routine, something is 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:55.380 about to change. And change is terrifying, even 00:17:55.380 --> 00:18:01.299 if it's holy. Mary isn't fearless. She's faithful 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:07.009 in her fear. And the angel beats her fear. with 00:18:07.009 --> 00:18:11.670 the first gospel word of Christmas. Do not be 00:18:11.670 --> 00:18:16.190 afraid. You could preach an entire Advent season 00:18:16.190 --> 00:18:21.470 on those four words, and I have. You will conceive, 00:18:21.869 --> 00:18:26.009 bear a son, and name him Jesus. The name Jesus, 00:18:26.130 --> 00:18:32.490 or Yeshua, means the Lord saves, not assists. 00:18:33.470 --> 00:18:36.890 not fine -tunes, not polishes up the parts you 00:18:36.890 --> 00:18:42.349 couldn't manage, saves. God isn't coming to tweak 00:18:42.349 --> 00:18:47.150 the world. He's coming to redeem it. Verse 32 00:18:47.150 --> 00:18:50.529 and 33, He will be great, the Son of the Most 00:18:50.529 --> 00:18:53.890 High, the throne of David, kingdom without end. 00:18:54.589 --> 00:18:59.650 This language, guys, is specific. This is royal 00:18:59.650 --> 00:19:07.430 language, covenant. The language used with the 00:19:07.430 --> 00:19:10.950 promise made to David a thousand years earlier, 00:19:11.049 --> 00:19:15.609 now being fulfilled, but not through a king in 00:19:15.609 --> 00:19:19.890 a palace, but through a teenage girl in a clay 00:19:19.890 --> 00:19:25.269 -walled house out in the sticks. Heaven's politics 00:19:25.269 --> 00:19:30.049 always flips the world's scoreboards upside down. 00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:36.559 And in verse 34, Mary asks, how can this be? 00:19:37.880 --> 00:19:42.359 And her question isn't rebellion, it's honesty. 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:46.359 Spiritual maturity doesn't mean pretending you 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:49.380 understand everything God is doing in your life. 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:53.240 It means trusting him enough to ask the real 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:57.640 question, how can this be? And you've prayed 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:03.470 that too. How can I carry this? How can I ever 00:20:03.470 --> 00:20:09.509 forgive this? How can I survive this season of 00:20:09.509 --> 00:20:15.849 my life? And the answer is always the same. Verse 00:20:15.849 --> 00:20:21.349 35. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power 00:20:21.349 --> 00:20:25.329 of the Most High will overshadow you. Mary... 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:32.019 is not asked to perform any miracle. She's asked 00:20:32.019 --> 00:20:37.819 to receive one. And the language there overshadow, 00:20:37.859 --> 00:20:42.200 it echoes, the cloud of God's presence that filled 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:47.119 the tabernacle in Exodus, that led Israel through 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:49.819 the wilderness, that settled on Mount Sinai when 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:53.440 Moses climbed up to meet God, that word, that 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:57.380 glory, that... presence of God you can see, smell. 00:20:57.660 --> 00:21:01.539 It's called Shekinah. That's Shekinah glory. 00:21:01.859 --> 00:21:05.759 It's presence language. It's the language of 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:11.420 the temple. The eternal word who spoke creation 00:21:11.420 --> 00:21:16.200 into existence is about to become small enough 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:24.440 to be carried in a teenage girl. Heaven. is condensing 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:29.099 itself into human cells, knitting together bone 00:21:29.099 --> 00:21:34.039 and skin in the dark. And if that doesn't make 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:37.319 you catch your breath, you should read it again. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:42.319 Your relative, Elizabeth, has also conceived. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:45.400 Now, I don't want to skip over this too quickly. 00:21:45.500 --> 00:21:47.920 Gabriel's doing something here as well. He's 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:51.140 telling Mary, hey, you're not alone in this. 00:21:52.430 --> 00:21:57.730 God's already been working. Six months ago, he 00:21:57.730 --> 00:22:02.089 visited another overlooked woman, elderly, barren, 00:22:02.190 --> 00:22:09.450 written off by everybody who saw worth measured 00:22:09.450 --> 00:22:15.549 in fertility and youth. And she's carrying a 00:22:15.549 --> 00:22:20.410 miracle too. Elizabeth's pregnancy isn't just 00:22:20.410 --> 00:22:24.390 a sign. To bolster Mary's faith, it's evidence 00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:28.710 of a pattern. God has been sneaking grace into 00:22:28.710 --> 00:22:32.890 forgotten lives for six months already. The revolution 00:22:32.890 --> 00:22:36.230 was already underway before Gabriel ever even 00:22:36.230 --> 00:22:41.250 knocked on Mary's door. And if you zoom out further, 00:22:41.529 --> 00:22:47.549 the pattern goes back centuries. Sarah, Old Testament, 00:22:47.769 --> 00:22:52.890 barren and laughed at. Hannah, mocked and desperate. 00:22:53.769 --> 00:22:57.829 Ruth, a foreign widow gleaning at the edges of 00:22:57.829 --> 00:23:03.710 someone else's field. Over and over and over 00:23:03.710 --> 00:23:08.829 again, God writes his story through the women 00:23:08.829 --> 00:23:15.210 the world would dismiss. You are not God's first 00:23:15.210 --> 00:23:20.089 unlikely choice. You are a part of a long line 00:23:20.089 --> 00:23:24.650 of people who had no business being chosen and 00:23:24.650 --> 00:23:31.369 were chosen anyway. And then verse 37, nothing 00:23:31.369 --> 00:23:37.670 will be impossible with God. That's heaven's 00:23:37.670 --> 00:23:44.750 thesis statement. Now hear me, not nothing will 00:23:44.750 --> 00:23:49.450 be easy. Not nothing will be painful, not nothing 00:23:49.450 --> 00:23:52.690 will cost you, just nothing will be impossible. 00:23:54.730 --> 00:23:59.130 And then her response, here I am, let it be with 00:23:59.130 --> 00:24:03.369 me according to your word. And this is the hinge 00:24:03.369 --> 00:24:08.029 of salvation history. One teenage girl in a forgotten 00:24:08.029 --> 00:24:12.490 town says yes, and the universe pivots. Mary, 00:24:12.609 --> 00:24:17.880 is it powerful? but her surrender is. She isn't 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:22.880 influential, but her consent is. She isn't perfect, 00:24:23.099 --> 00:24:27.900 but her openness is. Let it be is not resignation. 00:24:29.059 --> 00:24:34.960 It's courage. Story isn't about Mary being extraordinary. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:41.140 It's about God choosing the ordinary. It's about 00:24:41.140 --> 00:24:43.680 heaven knocking on a door nobody else would have 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:46.960 bothered with. It's about a God who doesn't require 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:51.259 a resume or reputation or readiness, just simple 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:55.759 willingness. And here's what that means for us. 00:24:55.900 --> 00:25:00.660 Advent is not a season of self -improvement. 00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:04.660 It's not about trying harder to feel more hopeful, 00:25:04.920 --> 00:25:10.450 mustering up that old Christmas spirit. Performing 00:25:10.450 --> 00:25:14.789 joy you don't actually feel. Advent is about 00:25:14.789 --> 00:25:18.190 receiving. It's about opening a door you didn't 00:25:18.190 --> 00:25:22.069 know God was standing behind. So let me ask you 00:25:22.069 --> 00:25:27.430 gently, where is God knocking on your nowhere 00:25:27.430 --> 00:25:31.529 door tonight? Where is the Spirit whispering 00:25:31.529 --> 00:25:37.410 something you didn't plan? Where is grace trying 00:25:37.410 --> 00:25:41.380 to begin something? You feel too small to carry. 00:25:42.859 --> 00:25:46.119 Where is the holy interrupting your ordinary? 00:25:48.779 --> 00:25:51.359 Maybe it's forgiveness you don't want to extend 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:53.940 and God keeps bringing that person's face to 00:25:53.940 --> 00:25:57.059 your mind. Maybe it's healing you don't think 00:25:57.059 --> 00:25:59.420 you deserve and the wound keeps asking to be 00:25:59.420 --> 00:26:03.579 touched. Maybe it's a calling that terrifies 00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:07.119 you because you're certain you will fail. Certain. 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:10.859 You are not qualified. Certain somebody else 00:26:10.859 --> 00:26:16.880 should do it. Maybe it's simply this. The invitation 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:19.400 to believe that God isn't done with you yet. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:25.319 That your small life isn't too small. And that 00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:30.099 the story isn't over. Hear the angel again. The 00:26:30.099 --> 00:26:36.000 Lord is with you. Do not be afraid. Nothing is 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:40.500 impossible. That's the invitation of Advent. 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:45.579 Not to manufacture hope, but to simply receive 00:26:45.579 --> 00:26:52.200 it. Not to build a kingdom, to welcome one. Not 00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:57.960 to climb up the ladder, just open the door. Mary 00:26:57.960 --> 00:27:01.880 didn't change the world by being powerful. She 00:27:01.880 --> 00:27:06.059 changed the world by simply making room. She 00:27:06.059 --> 00:27:08.549 didn't have all the answers. She had questions. 00:27:09.390 --> 00:27:12.829 She didn't have certainty. She had surrender. 00:27:13.789 --> 00:27:17.190 And that was enough. That was more than enough. 00:27:18.509 --> 00:27:24.390 And you, the weary, the overlooked, the just, 00:27:24.410 --> 00:27:27.990 barely holding on, you're exactly the kind of 00:27:27.990 --> 00:27:32.930 person God loves to begin things with. The Savior 00:27:32.930 --> 00:27:35.170 of the world was carried into history. Through 00:27:35.170 --> 00:27:38.869 an ordinary girl in an ordinary town. What makes 00:27:38.869 --> 00:27:42.390 you think that you can carry it into your situation? 00:27:43.650 --> 00:27:48.450 So, friends, may the God who sent Gabriel to 00:27:48.450 --> 00:27:52.509 Nazareth send comfort to your weary heart. May 00:27:52.509 --> 00:27:54.750 the Holy Spirit overshadow the places in your 00:27:54.750 --> 00:27:57.650 life that feel too small or too broken for heaven 00:27:57.650 --> 00:28:02.450 to bother with. Friends, may the words do not 00:28:02.450 --> 00:28:06.079 be afraid. Settle into your bones like a warm 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:11.200 fire on a winter's night. Amen? Amen. Thanks, 00:28:11.819 --> 00:28:21.000 guys. Hey, as we close tonight, let me leave 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:24.240 you with this. God still knocks on nowhere doors. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:28.420 And if we're honest, most of us have at least 00:28:28.420 --> 00:28:31.579 one room in our hearts that feels too small, 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:36.440 too cluttered. Too unfinished for him to enter. 00:28:36.539 --> 00:28:39.579 But Advent has never been about us getting everything 00:28:39.579 --> 00:28:44.160 tidy before Christ arrives. It is about Christ 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:47.259 arriving right in the middle of whatever we'd 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:51.000 rather hide. So, if something tonight stirred 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:53.579 you, pressed you, unsettled you a little bit, 00:28:53.619 --> 00:28:57.519 hey, don't shove it down. Sit with it. Let it 00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:01.680 work on you. Conviction is just grace wearing 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:06.089 work gloves. Comfort? Comfort is the whisper 00:29:06.089 --> 00:29:09.849 that says God's not going anywhere. He began 00:29:09.849 --> 00:29:12.930 with Mary in Nazareth. He can begin with you. 00:29:13.109 --> 00:29:17.289 Right here. Right now. Whatever quiet corner 00:29:17.289 --> 00:29:21.190 of life you're trying to survive. And listen. 00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:26.529 This time together meant something to you. It 00:29:26.529 --> 00:29:29.250 met you where you needed to be met. Didn't you 00:29:29.250 --> 00:29:33.140 favor? Throw a like in the offering plate. Doesn't 00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:35.380 cost a thing, but it lets me know somebody out 00:29:35.380 --> 00:29:38.240 there is tuning in, still hungry for grace in 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:41.380 the middle of the week. And if you want to walk 00:29:41.380 --> 00:29:43.940 with us through this whole Advent journey, Nazareth 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:46.759 to Bethlehem, to the field where the sky splits 00:29:46.759 --> 00:29:51.460 open, go on and tithe your subscribe. That way 00:29:51.460 --> 00:29:53.599 you'll hear at the moment the next chapter drops 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:57.420 like bells carried on a cold December wind. Till 00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:00.579 then, keep your lamp lit, keep your heart open. 00:30:01.609 --> 00:30:04.450 And as always, friend, be blessed.