Treasured in Mary's Heart

Good morning again. Open up your bibles. If you would the Book of Luke Chapter 2, Quick chapter 2.

We're going to be. Can a fishing out the section that we looked at last week.

I am. I have read several of the kinds of books that are becoming dystopian, write these books that describe a lousy future.

The best-known polynice 8434, where you have this lady a big brother's watching you and the 10 minutes hate, I think it is where they scream with the TVs and Zhao, we hate this person or whatever and then the it switches, when the party decides, it's time for her to switch that we've always been at war with eastasia, right? May be familiar with some of that. The idea of 934 is, of course, that the government has to be this big overbearing thing that forces people into this dystopian future. And so I actually think that is another couple of books, like Fahrenheit, 451 and Brave New World have it a little bit more accurate because there is no big hammer in those books that forces people to do anything, they just distract you to death, right? That's the plot of Brave, New World, hate to spoil it for you or Fahrenheit 451 in Fahrenheit, 451 the ideas, they get rid of all the books and make TVs, acai The walls which in 1930 or whatever, when he wrote that book, same super unrealistic and the idea was that the cars went so fast in the future that you couldn't even see the flowers and stuff when you drove by. And so nobody appreciated anything and they became so distracted that they missed anything that mattered in Brave New World. It's the same idea that they take Medicaid and distract everybody so much that they have no consciousness of anything and that, then we'll be docile and do whatever. We are cold for the main characters in Brave New World is, which is not really. It don't read it. If you're looking for books, to find thoughtful characters, it's the characters are our stock pieces in place of that plot. I was actually writes like that. He create characters to take, whatever clever thing he wants them to say, but that's okay. I takes all kinds the I'm so sorry for the in this, this character, The Savage who comes from outside, right? He's not in this modern civilized distracts world and he goes to the corner office of the boss, in the end of the book and the bus explaining. Why? No one believes in God anymore? And the it says, but all the same insisted The Savage, it is natural to believe in God, when you're alone quite alone in the night, thinking about death, but people are never alone. Now said, Mustafa we make them hate Solitude and we arranged their lives so that it is almost impossible for them ever to have it. The Savage not in bloom Lee Do you know? I don't know. How these different what? What percentage of these different books or whatever has come true or will come true? But it does seem to me like that portrait of the world that we see in Brave New World that we see in Fahrenheit, 451 does seem to describe a lot of our modern society, doesn't it? That we are so busy and so distracted. All the time that we never think about anything for very long. Everything that happens to us, seems to be like ripples on the top of a pond, it happens. And then it's gone, right? You're the great movements of water, start way underneath, like, a tsunami starts with an earthquake on the seafloor bed. And because it starts at the bottom, and gets bigger and bigger and bigger, until it comes in our hearts do in our minds. A lot of times, we're so busy and so distracted, about the next thing in the next thing. In the next thing, in the next thing that big things happened and seldom make an impact because they replace with the next thing almost immediately. I love it to my advice to always become distracted by the next thing, got a type A personality so I was like okay where we are now and, In some ways, maybe you can consider that helpful but in other ways, it's extremely dangerous. Because there are some things that are too big to be understood completely. There's some things that are too deep to be understood now and those the kind of things that we have to treasure and hold in our hearts, We talked about this last week. Some that the shepherd's lived and died without ever seeing the Fulfillment of what the Angels had announced to them. They saw Jesus the baby, but they never got to see how it all works out. And that really bothers. That's right. We like to know how does it all work out. How is this all going to work out?

And we didn't remember to that we talked about by the time Jesus was a man. His family moved off and come back and it's all, it's all over with. They're not in Bethlehem anymore and all none of the people in Bethlehem is near as we can tell kept alive any kind of memory culturally about this moment.

Isn't it funny? How many incredible things God can do in our lives? Our life is a church, our life is a nation or life's his family's communities. And yet very quickly Like the people of Bethlehem or wherever we get distracted and we move on to the next thing. It's A Brave New World. They were addicted to new course. Again, it's on the new world. This is the problem with the Athenians. The Bible says in the book of Acts that they were, they never tired of learning something new, they never really learned anything at all. They were always on to the next thing in the next day and the next thing I wanted to hear it because it was new They wanted the iPhone 11 cuz 11 is bigger than 10, right? If you want it, still needs the next new thing and that's the addiction, right? That's never fully satisfied. And that's the Temptation that we have is what's new, what's new, what's new. And so we forget the things that we got to hold on to and so, we lose the ability to be still and know that I am God, we lose the ability to reflect and meditate and contemplate and to grow. in some ways that you can only grow in the Stillness, And I think it was telling somebody earlier that early this weekend and this morning, guess that as we've been going through here, it seems to me that although it's Thanksgiving time that and I wondered about Luke to during this time that God has provided the right thing for me each week in this text. I think it's certainly true here now because when are we busier and more distracted then during the Thanksgiving during the holidays? Say, oh, it's so good to spend so much time with your family, but actually, a lot of times, we structure our holidays, where we stay well at. So good to spend, so much time with my family, I need 143 dishes that I can cook and prepare so I don't actually spend any time. With my family right now. We loaded up, we talked about being thankful and practice being stressed. We talked about spending time together and practice more busyness.

It's when I was reading this text several weeks ago, well, several months ago actually and thinking about this, this one line that you'll see in the first 19 stuck out and has been stuck in my brain. It's going to be the heart of what we talked about this morning. The tile. The message is treasured in Mary's heart, if you're able, would you stand with me and honor the reading of God's word? As we look at, Luke chapter, 22 verse 15. The angels have just announced glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace. Goodwill toward men to the Shepherds and we pick up the seen in verse 15 and they the shepherd's. I'm sorry verse 15 and it came to pass as the Angels were going away from them into heaven. The shepherd said, one to another. Let us now. Go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass with the Lord. Hath made known unto us, and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the Babe lying in a Manger And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child and all, they, that heard it. Wondered at those things which were told them by the Shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the Shepherds returned glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen as it was told under them and 18 days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child. His name was called Jesus, which was so named of the Angel before he was conceived in the womb, and the people said, amen. You may be seated.

Is everybody this morning?

Like good news soap into your heart.

What good news. Soak into your heart. It is easy. I think for us as a habit to let bad news, soak into our heart. You hear some bad news, you hear something that frustrates you. And what do you think about for the rest of the day? I can't believe it, right? How could he, how could she how could that happen? How And that bad news soaps and gets deep roots, and we dwell in it and contemplated and soak it up.

And then good news happened. So so that's nice. You know? I'm happy for you.

The Mary here is going to let this good news. Soak into her heart. Look in verse 15 with me again. I think it says and it came to pass as the Angels were gone away from them into heaven. The shepherd said, one to another. Let us now. Go even unto Bethlehem and see the thing which is come to pack with the Lord. Hath made known unto us. The river, the Angels Came in the angel said, don't be afraid. I bring you good tidings of great. Joy. There's a baby who's been born, who will be the savior of all people. And we, this will be the sign to you. This will be the marker that you'll find him wrapped in swaddling, clothes and lying in a Manger, not an abandoned baby lying, in a Manger Butta, love baby who's been carefully swaddled, but lying in a Manger Christmas Blend of humility and love and greatness and Glory. All together here. And so as soon as the angels are gone, the shepherd says, let's go now is not amazing. The shepherd's hear Jesus has come and they don't say wow. Or first thing tomorrow. This is going to be great. We're going to go see him right? They don't say next week after we finish this work. In fact, what were they doing? They were taken care of sheep in the field, right? And a job to do. The shepherd's didn't say well in the morning we'll call in and we'll find a substitute to watch over these sheet for us. As soon as we can get somebody to cover our shift, we're going to go right over there. No, they said come. Let us go now. Because when God shows up and you really believe that God shows up, you're not going to make excuses. I'm not going to make excuses or delays or drag my feet. You know, Satan doesn't care how good your intentions are as long as yours, as long as you are resolved to do them tomorrow. Nothing that you do tomorrow is ever heard Satan. Nothing to do tomorrow has never done anything for the good of the kingdom of God. Cuz tomorrow never comes tomorrow. I'm going to kick this bad habit tomorrow. I'm going to tell my neighbor about Jesus tomorrow. I'm going to start reading my Bible.

Your how many diets have you started tomorrow?

How many conversations have you had tomorrow? Mark Twain. Famously said that if it was your job to eat a frog, you better do it first thing in the morning, right? And if you knew it was your job to eat to, you better eat the biggest one. First it if there's something in your serious about doing it and you know you're going to put it off you might as well take care of it right now. Here it's not a matter of the shepherd's, wanting to put it off. They say if what God has said is true and they believe it is, then let's go right now. Nobody has to tell them to go. No preacher has to stand up and beg them. Please, please, please do this because they believe that God has shown up in glory and Power. If we believed that Jesus came to Earth and lived a sinless life and died on the cross and that men and women around us, we're going to die and go to hell. If they don't Place their trust in him. If we really believe that what I have to stand here and beg you to invite them to church and tell them the gospel. The problem is that as human beings. We're so shallow that we believe it for a second and then we get distracted. By the next time that we can see and touch and taste. Don't we see? I believe when I'm here and then I get to lunch and suddenly I believe in fried chicken suddenly there's something else that distracts me and the truth of what really matters is like a ripple on the surface and it doesn't go deep enough. If we really believe what the Bible says, no, he's going to have to beg you to tell your neighbor about Jesus. It was going to beg you to pray or read your Bible. If you believe that God, the God who spoke and made the world spoke, and had it written down into a book. Do I have to beg you to get up and read your Bible? If I told you that you've got a phone and you can call any world leader and tell them what you think. I don't have to beg you to use that call. But I tell you that, you can pray and talk to the god of the universe and we say, well, maybe later, You're the problem. Is this that the knowledge is up here. It doesn't sink in. It's not just some people problem, this is an all of us problem, is there? Because while he wouldn't ask human beings, we're so flaky and so fickle. That thing's never Sinking Deep to us and many modern human beings. Worst of all because we're constantly stimulated constantly constantly, constantly stimulated And it gets worse all the time. The client's kindergarten teacher was talking about how she's been teaching for 25 years or something and the pattern she seen a towel over that time. Kids have less and less ability to handle being bored because you never bored Ryan. The only have to watch commercials. Moving. All right. We were watching something the other night and Anna said, you know, Dad commercials. They just tell you it's good cuz they want me to buy it. That's right baby and she said I said who told you that and she said well it all started when Mommy explained that the recent are microwave waves that Magic Chef is just cuz they want us to buy it. I'll check it's not magic at all. The the she just she grows up in a generation where this kind of entertainment is this kind of commercial stuff is really not able to her like, she's thinking about it cuz she doesn't see it all the time.

And so we are so instantly gratified all the time. Set our minds. Always moving on to the next thing, and always moving on to the next thing and always moving on to the next thing. I listen to the radio, I use my phone and if I don't like what's playing, I press the whole next thing I was in the next thing, right? I got something, I don't know. I got my oil changed or something and they gave me one of the XM free trials or whatever 3 months free or something like that. And so I said, okay, well I'll put it in and even that there's seven hundred stations or something. She's my phone one because XM radio sounds like you're in the shower or something. It sounds horrible by the Too because I'm just so you can have what you want right now. Why would you listen to something else? Why would you get something else? And maybe that's one thing when it's TV or movies or music or books whatever What's a very different thing when it means that whenever the Holy Spirit starts to show us something that we don't want to deal with. We say, okay, I'm I'm moving on to the next thing. Somebody distract me.

You're going to the dentist and they are giving you the shot in your gum or something and so they pat your face somewhere else to distract you. Weird. But they made the news. The patch, you somewhere else to do something, to distract you, when they were putting the stitches in 1 Samuel, they were the doctor, the doctors trying to distract him. You don't have the hold the phone from the watch something or whatever. So he's not thinking about the stitches on his face. They didn't Xanax or something. So, he was not thinking about the stitches on his face by hypothetically, that's what their strategy was. The. This is the way that we operate our whole lives so we could distract me. I don't want to deal with this right now. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

The shepherd's don't do this, right? The shepherd said, let's go. Now let us now, go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to past, which the Lord hath made known unto us and look, It says, and they came with haste. It means they hurry up. And found Mary and Joseph and the Babe lying in a Manger. And when they had seen that they made known abroad, the saying which was told them concerning the child, you see that nobody had to beg them to tell anybody about what Jesus had done. That we had a place, we go, tell people what God has done. That we did that, right? Nobody has two big me when I go to a restaurant to tell people if it's good, right? Surely. Nobody has to beg you when you go to a restaurant to tell people, if it's bad. We're quick to share what goes on in our lives, with the people who matter to us. Except the things that matter, most of all. And I wonder what that could possibly be except a deficiency in our belief.

But there's more it says, and when they did see it and I'm sorry when they had seen and all they that heard it wondered if those things which were told them by the Shepherds, all the people who heard what the shepherd said, wonder that they were amazed at it but married That word but but right, that's a reverse word. We were you were dead and trespassing and sins, but God, who is rich in Mercy with his great love. I wish you loved us but means I'm about to tell you something different than I told you before. If you go to a birthday party, they say you know we ordered plenty of food but you're about to hear something that you're not going to get plenty of food. If somebody comes to you and they say I love you but you're going to get some bad news right here. It says they all wondered. They were all amazed. They all said wow, angels in a baby in a manger and all this stuff. Wow. And then the next day somebody came and said I just saw a sale on camels down at the Ron Carter's livestock land and you say, wow us the text thing moves on to the next thing moves on to the next thing, right? Is that our society? It's not the 24-hour news cycle. They have to come up with something to talk about all day cuz they're on all day. And so you don't even remember what last week's crisis was, I don't remember, but last week's prices was The. And it's amazing how quickly that stuff happens at the meeting this week. So he came to me and so juicy. The Rockets fired into Poland, NATO's meeting right now. We're all about to die. Then I thought, wow. And I didn't hear anything about it cuz I didn't go back to the hotel every afternoon and watch 24 hour news like this person did. And so finally, after a couple days, I thought well haven't heard any Rockets. Let me look it up and said, oh, it was a 10-minute miscommunication. I said, no, they weren't rushing rockets at all, or whatever and ever has moved on the next thing and that's our society as we move on to the next thing. And the next thing in the next thing, and the next thing. That's what this everybody will said. Wow, that's amazing. But Mary. Kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. That word kept means guarded like I keep the castle. Kept them, guarded them protected them I put in the time, I called it treasure them, right? She held these things and she pondered them in her heart. Truth, a Biblical word for that is meditate. Do you think of meditation probably being a creature of 21st century? The 21st century West, you think of Eastern mysticism and stuff? All right. But that's not what Biblical meditation. Is biblical meditation is not emptying. Your mind. Biblical meditation is filling your mind with something on purpose. and we, I Really lousy had filling my mind with something on purpose. Because as soon as you start trying, Something else wants to pop up and then something else wants to pop up. Something else wants to pop up. If you want to remember all the things that you forgotten, the best way to do is try to concentrate

So you can't you go to the grocery store and you can wander around the grocery store for 2 hours. And not remember what your bow out of and then you sit down and you try to concentrate and immediately think I'm out of baking powder. Amelie those things that don't really matter, pop into your head. The. This biblical picture of meditation is extremely important throughout the Bible. When Joshua was getting ready to take over leadership of the land of Israel. God told him make this fall your meditation day and night, right? Soak it up. I want to hear you from someone. The first of the Psalms the Old Testament to tell you in Hebrew is broken into three sections. The law, the prophets, and the writings are they they use in a different order than we do but the law is Genesis Exodus. Leviticus number to Toronto me. The prophet is Joshua, Judges 1st and 2nd, Samuel 1st, and 2nd Kings as Isaiah Jeremiah, is Ezekiel Hosea. Drawings of it. I don't have my Canadian and back. Exactly. Hi guys. I cry Malachi. All right, so was the prophet in the writings are everything else and the first book of the writings of Psalms and it's the things that kind of reflect on what life in God's world is like, those are the first song, the first piece of this last section is this poem this him, that describes life, the life of someone who is obedience to God. Someone you, you may be familiar with it, it says it like this blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth, in the way of Sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Now, this is a progression, you know, first you walk in the wrong place, then you stand around then you sit down, right? And godly or the people, you shouldn't walk with shouldn't follow their advice, the Sinners, those that engage in deliberate ongoing, send don't stand with them and the scornful the people who are too cynical even be corrected. You sure don't want to sit down where they sit, right? It's kind of downward spiral for the cynic is the lowest level. That's not the man whose blast it says in verse two. But his Delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law, doth, he meditate day and night is the one whose blast doesn't dwell on what the ungodly say in the rejoice and the cynicism of the scornful. But instead, The Godly the man who is blast rejoices in the law of the Lord and meditate in What God Says day and night. I wonder could that describe us as well? And What God Says day and night? I think about what God says about a situation or do. I think about what somebody else says about a situation When someone gets overwhelming to me, do I think about what God says about the situation or do I think about what my friends will say about the situation. But I think about what the Cable news people say about a situation in which I think about you, sometimes it seems in our society like you hear about an issue and you've got to go watch the new so you can figure out what your team is supposed to think about it, right? Can't think for myself. So he's going to tell me what to think. What would my friends say if I did this? What would know we've got to say, what does God say about this? How do I do? Well on God's word in his law, doth, he meditate day and night? A three and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His Leaf shall not wither and whatsoever. He doeth shall prosper. Be. Tree planted by the rivers of water. We have had ongoing problems with this. Front of the church with the bushes and staff, right? Because if you may have the concrete backfill and stuff in there, in the flower beds and so when you plant in some places, The Roots can't go very deep, right? They hit the junk and so there's only surface water and so when we go, when we alternate between periods of a lot of water for a long time where it rains everyday and then. There's no water for a long time where it doesn't rain anybody ever been in a place like that, but it happens. And there's only surface water. What happens to push ties? But if you have a tree planted by a river and its roots, can go deep and there's a bandhan water underneath. Then what happens on the surface does not matter that much anymore, does it? if you got a, I got an orange tree in a pot. And it's been really stressful year for it because we've been traveling a lot, and I've been traveling a lot and so I'm not water as much as I should have, and it hasn't rained as much as it should have. And the only water that tree has access to the water in the pot, right? That's all it gets. Now, cross the street, we've got this big oak tree. Then nobody's going over there and water that big oak tree. But it has roots that go down deep and so nobody has to water it. What happens on the top few inches of topsoil do not effective that tree very much because it can go deep beneath. If I am an ungodly person, then all I've got the topsoil and everything that happens in my life. On the surface, is going to have a huge impact on me. If something happens and I some friend is upset with me and there's some Pier pressure and they pushed me into doing something that's going to have a big impact. By the bad day, that's going to have a big impact is going to make me mad is going to make me grumpy. If I have a good day I'm going to be. Oh, so happy and I'm going to ignore everything else going on everything on the surface is all that's going to matter to me because I live in this little meeting with pot. But if I'm a Godly person, does the stuff on the surface is not where I draw my strength from, its not where I draw my nourishment from the stuff that I have to draw my strength. And I'm going to be Godly is going to be the stuff that goes down deep. Write the stuff that is beneath the surface. I've got to go down like a tree that's planted by the rivers of water. I have to go down, word. God's word is and say things may not be working out today or tomorrow. But in the big picture, I know who God is and that's where I draw my refreshment from. Mary. In the thirty years from Jesus's birth to beginning of his ministry, must have had a lot of challenging days. Especially once they move back to Nazareth. Maybe it wasn't so bad in Bethlehem. But when they were in Nazareth, everybody who was in town, knew that Mary had gotten pregnant before, Mary, and just got married.

And said that they had to answer the accusations about that Lance deal with the social pressures on that, they had to deal with just ordinary poverty, right? Mary, and Joseph were very poor. They couldn't afford a lamb to sacrifice when Jesus was dedicated to the Lord. They experienced a hard life and there were lots of things that made her doubt. I'm sure in that kind of way they how could this workout Who are Mary did? It says, is she treasured? She guarded and she pondered it in her heart. She said I don't understand how this all works out, but I'm going to hold in mind what God has said. And what happens on the surface of the soil is not going to be the end-all-be-all because I've Got Deep Roots, that drawn the water that never runs dry. If we could learn to meditate on God's word, if we could learn to meditate on What God Says and think like God thinks and think what God thinks, then we would have extraordinary piece. But we live in a whole society that is carefully designed to keep us from doing that. And so we've got to choose to do it. We got to choose to do it, carefully got to choose to do it deliberately.

From a practical standpoint meditations, not an extraordinarily hard thing. Having a pain, helps write a pen and paper. And cuz if I can you write down a prayer or something, he can force me to concentrate when it's a lot easier for my mind to wander otherwise. But here's what you can do. Take something like a Psalm 6 right versus and then like that and get a piece of paper and make a list first. What is this passage show me about God? And write it down and then what is this passage? Show me about Humanity or myself and write it down and then are there any promises or Commandments or Warnings explicit teaching In this passage and write that down? And then pray through that list. So Lord, I praise you, that your word shows me that you are a b, c d. And Lord, I'm sorry that your word reminds me that I'm efgh. And I know that Jesus is the only way that I could ever age. I i j k that if you if you just read through the passage three or four times to come up with those kinds of things, you're meditating on God's word and when you find some anchors like that, it's very helpful. If we had more time and I try to show you specific examples but it's a it's a it's not that difficult. You just you start out and you read through it and say, what is this teach me about God? So when it says in verse to his Delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law, doth, he meditate day and night. What is that? Tell me about God, look at me, God has a wall. God has a way he expects us to live as a right way for us to live. That will lead us to blessing. What is that? Tell me about myself that what I love is what I'll do my his Delight is in the law of the Lord. What's the Commandment of the warning of the promise? They're well to meditate day and night on God's word and you can this kind of a simple example. But if you practice that you can practice meditating on the scripture, another way, of course to meditate on the scriptures to memorize the scripture that you can't think about what you don't know. And say, well, I can't really memorize, I've got a bad memory. Maybe, but it does seem like our memory is always best at the things that we want to do. And your memory is not. Something that is fixed, right? You can practice. You can strengthen your memory and if you practice memorizing scripture, then you'll memorize scripture. Maybe you won't memorize as much scripture as another random person. Its Deputy this. I'm not saying everybody has the same capacity for memory. But I am saying that most of us maybe I should say I I do not memorize as much scripture. As I'm capable of the cap on how much scripture I know is not my memory. It's my dedication. And maybe I'm not alone in that problem. You got to meditate on the wall towards. I'm not say you're going to be able to memorize the whole new testament but I am saying that the more you know the more the holy spirit will have to be able to bring to remembrance and the time that you need it and the more you'll be able to meditate on it and reflect on it. Mary treasured it in her heart. She rolls it over in her mind and dwells on it. One more scripture from the song about this, someone 1923 princes also did sit and speak against me, but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. By testimonies are my delight and my counselors. This powerful people spoke against me, they were talking about all the negative things about me and I wasn't thinking about them. I was thinking about you.

Your testimonies are my delight. Your words. My counselor. Isn't it amazing? How we are? So like jeroboam and I want to shop around until I find the person who's going to tell me what I want to hear. The song that says know, your word is my counselor. God, what you say is, what I'm going to do. You think of that pudding that soak in? What would our church be like what our nation's you like? What would our families be like if we took the time to sit and reflect on God's word until God's word was the first thing that brought insight to situations for us.

So I just can't do that. I'm just too distracted. Well, that's true.

But I remind you of course, if that's the whole point. Is it that's the good news that Mary had to deal with that Jesus came to solve the Brokenness of our hearts. The weakness of our minds the sinfulness of our Natures look in verse 20. It says and the Shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard, And seeing Eve as it was told in to them the Shepherds returned and say yes God kept his promise. God told us, this was going to happen and we saw it. We haven't seen it all yet, but we've seen this down payment. First, 21, and when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus. Which was so named of the Angel before he was conceived in the womb. Jesus means Jesus. There's no J sound in Greek or Hebrew. It's the American English pronunciation. The time of modern anyway, you didn't come here this morning for the Great Vowel Shift but Jesus is Joshua is the same name. Hebrew name is Joshua, a Greek name Jesus yahushua? If you read, Hallelujah, Hallelujah means praise and yeah. It's your for Yahweh or Jehovah. God's name. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Praise ya. Yahshua the Lord, she would mean saves. And so Jesus means the Lord saves Can we sing that song? We've heard the joyful sound Jesus saves Jesus Acer. That's the, the essence of that the Lord saves. Mary names A Child, Joseph names the child the Lord saves. They have not yet seen it. They couldn't possibly yet. Understand how it is that the Lord will use this baby to save their people but they believe what God has said. And they act on what God has set. You and I cannot perfectly meditate on the law of the lord. We are too sinful, even if we lived on a desert island somewhere, The Bible says, every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. There's lots of problems around us but even if you got rid of every problem around us, they would still be the problem in us when they're that's in that Temptation that weakness. That's always in me, no matter where I go, no matter what I do. But Jesus says I've come to set that, right? I've come in. If you believe in me, then I'll save you all set you free. I'll deliver you, I'll give you life. Jesus says, I've come so you can have life and have it abundantly at this baby who was born and laying in a Manger live the perfect sinless life. The thing that you and I did not do, he did dwell on the Lord's day and night. He did perfectly obey the word of God and then he died on a cross in my place in yours. And he says, if you'll fix your eyes on me, if you'll admit that you're a sinner and asked me to forgive you and I'll take care of the rest. This morning friend, if you don't know for certain that you've trusted Christ as your savior, that you've been forgiven of your sins, all you have to do is recognize that you're a sinner, who deserves God's punishment for your sin. And ask Jesus to forgive you and save you. And he will, he'll make you knew, it'll make you clean. I'll make you a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold. All things are become new. If you do know Christ as your savior, I wonder what voices are you listening to? Are you listening to what God has said? Are you so distracted? Like I often amp by so many other voices that we can't hear what God has said, do we live, like the characters in these books, who are so overwhelmed by all the noise that they're so distracted, you know, the conceit and his books, of course, that is the government or some Corporation, or whatever. That's orchestrating an organizing this distraction. That wouldn't be so bad, cuz governments can be overthrown or whatever. But it's the prince, the power this world is orchestrating all this distraction. The devil does not want you to be still long enough and quiet long enough to know what God's plan for you is. But if you reflect on God's word, God says, I want to show you, I'm going to use you. For my glory. As the musicians come forward, we're going to have him have invitation. And if you need to come and pray this morning, need to come and make some decision. I want to challenge you to do that. I want to challenge you to even if you don't understand everything that God has said to say, I'm going to treasure it and I'm going to ponder it in my heart. I'm going to store it up when I started in my heart and ponderous and I'm going to reflect on what God says like a tree planted By the Waters. I'm not going to be consumed by what's on the surface, but I'm going to go deep and say Lord, I am yours, would you stand with me and we're going to have a word of prayer and then we're going to sing together. Heavenly Father God I thank you again for this day. Thank you for your goodness and your mercy and your love. I thank you that you have given us your word that we can truly hear from you. I think you'd be on that where that you've given us your son that we can truly know you. And we can't understand everything that Jesus did for us that it's beyond our comprehension, it's too wonderful for us. But that we can know that he did love us that he did give his life for us and we can't dwell on it. Father, I pray this morning if there's anyone here who does not know you as their savior that they make that decision right now that you can pick them of their sin and draw them yourself. Does anyone here, Lord, who does know, you but they're mine. Their hearts have been listening to all the other voices. I pray that they turn to you and turns through your voice that they would be able to live for you. I pray that as a church we would not give in to the distraction of busyness, the barrenness of busyness, but would instead rest and reflect on you in a storm-tossed world. Ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.