advent-december-3-2023

The speaker begins by expressing excitement and gratitude for being together to worship. They mention some practical matters, such as filling out connect cards and making specific requests. They also read a passage from Luke 1 known as Mary's Song of Praise. They ask for prayers for missionaries in Granada and talk about the challenges they face. The speaker highlights the importance of the Advent season and the anticipation for the second coming of Christ. They lead the congregation in singing various Christmas carols. There is a prayer for generosity and wise stewardship, and the speaker addresses the topic of the virgin birth, addressing skepticism and explaining the significance of Mary's virginity. Very excited to be here this morning together, so blessed to be here and worship the Lord together. A few things that we do just want to cover, we do have the connect cards, if you have any information that's changing, any specific requests for the season that you'd like to connect with the deacons or the elders on, any specific changes to addresses or whatever else, please note all of that and then you can drop that to the offering plate or find a deacon after the service. Very glad to have everybody here, as we do, we are going to read through Luke 1, 46 through 50 together. This is Mary's Song of Praise, often known as Mary's Song of Praise, and if you could read the underlying portion with me. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant, for behold, from now all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation. We're very blessed to be in one of those generations, aren't we? We're also going to be praying this morning for Jason and Carrie Crickler, they're missionaries to Granada. They had come and presented to us before, I believe just once in the past. Granada is an island, tropical island, there's different types of witchcraft, as you can imagine, lots of kind of tribal thought process on that, and alcoholism kind of stirs the island. So we just want to be in prayer for them as they're trying to be witnesses and testimonies of earthly good graces, wisdom, right, but also just that the righteousness of Christ would pervade throughout their entire region as they come to understand his goodness coming to us and saving us from our sins through his death and resurrection. So as we do that, we're going to prepare our hearts for the Lord, we're so thankful that Jesus did come, greatest gift, right, this is Advent season, we're so excited that he came. We're walking through this right now with our kiddos and there's some resources in the back actually, just want to make sure that's pointed out, everybody knows those Advent resources in the back, stop and grab those, but a season of anticipation for what the Lord has done and now that we're in the season that we're in, we have an anticipation for his second coming. So we're so grateful. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we love you so much. We thank you for the way that you care for us deeply, that you see the details of our lives, that you comfort us, God, that you give us relational understanding and wisdom for your kingdom purposes that are here now and to come later. We do thank you so much for Christ being sent as a gift and his sacrifice and his humility, God, and as his resurrection is our king, Lord, and savior, we pray that you would just continue to stir our hearts to align with yours, God, as we seek and anticipate a coming again where all new things come. God, we do just lift up the cricklers right now as they're in a season of life where they are ministering to those around them in a way that might seem depressing, might seem difficult, might seem anxious because a lot of the environment that they're in, God, but I pray that you would just give them peace and comfort to see your glory be resurrected throughout that area as they continue to share the goodness of Jesus with those around them. We thank you so much that we can trust you in days ahead as we have in the days behind us. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Morning. This Advent season we're going to be singing a lot of familiar songs and some new Advent songs as well. I just wanted to mention that if you have any questions about these new songs we're singing or if you'd like to know where to find them so that you can learn them better, just come see me off the service and I'll be happy to point you in the direction of some good resources for gospel-centered Advent songs. So I invite you to stand, let's sing together. By the herald angels singing, Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies. With angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. By the herald angels singing, Glory to the newborn King. By highest heaven adorned, Christ the everlasting Lord. Made in time behold him come, offspring of the virgin's womb. Filled in flesh the Godhead see. Filled in heart and spirit see. Jesus, Lord, Emmanuel. Jesus, Lord, Emmanuel. By the herald angels singing, Glory to the newborn King. To Bethlehem, born Prince of Peace. Filled with song of righteousness. Light and life to all degree. Risen with healing in his wings. Highly raised his glory by. Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the Son of Earth. Born to give the second birth. By the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King. Glory to the newborn King. Glory to the newborn King. Glory to the newborn King. Instrumental Sing a praising song of Emmanuel. Lift her right to a song foretold. Glow in the shadows of Bethlehem. Promised of dawn, now her eyes behold. God will find a manger laid. Lift your voices now for praise. Great and glorious, love has come to earth. Joy now with a host of heavens. Instrumental Come we to welcome Emmanuel. King who came with no crown or throne. Helplessly laid he is in the ball. Maker of heaven, your very Son. Oh, all the sins that you've paid of all. Shepherds, angels, before him call. Praise that man, he's one of humanity. Come on, give him the adoration. Instrumental Go spread the news of Emmanuel. Joy and peace for the weary heart. Lift up your head for you'll see him come. Sing for the light over whence he's gone. Instrumental Glory shine for all to see. Oh, the light that the stars will bring. God has made a way, he will have a way. Tell the world his name is Jesus. Glory shine for all to see. Oh, the light that the stars will bring. God has made a way, he will have a way. Tell the world his name is Jesus. Instrumental Gloria, Gloria Gloria, Gloria Gloria, Gloria Gloria, Gloria Instrumental Instrumental Oh, holy night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of the dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error binding, Till he appeared and the soul found its way. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Oh, wonder me, oh, hear the angels' voices. Oh, night divine. Oh, night when Christ was born. Oh, night, oh, holy night. Oh, night divine. Led by the light of victory, Deep, deep with glory mine, By his cradle we stand. So let the light of the stars Be gleaming. Here came the wise man, This glorious man. The King of kings Raised us in lowly manger. And all our trials For to be a friend He knows our need. To witness his no stranger Behold, Behold, Behold, In lowly bed. Behold, Behold, In lowly bed. Truly he taught us To love one another. His law is love And his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break For the slave is a brother. And in his name All oppression shall cease. He gives us joy In grateful glory raise we. Let all within us Praise his holy name. Christ is Lord. Oh, praise his name forever. His power in lowly bed. The Lord God praise his power In lowly bed. The Lord God praise. Children can be distracting. My apologies. Let's pray as we come to this time in offering. Heavenly Father, you are so generous with us. You provide for us, you care for us. May God we pray that you would just ignite our hearts in a way that is generous thinking. God, it's not based on figures in any way. We pray that you would just posture our heart in a way that is congruent with yours. We thank you so much for the way that you have cared for us, you have delivered for us. And we pray that you would help us to be wise with any gifts that we can bring that they would go to further your kingdom the way that you see fit. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Now, I want to just say something briefly here as we move on. You'll hear skeptics. A lot of people struggle with the virgin birth. We'll talk about it some more. A lot of people struggle with that. And one of the things you'll hear skeptical people say, they'll point to Isaiah and they say, well, virgin just means a young woman. It just means a woman of marriable age. Well, I just want to highlight, church, there's two problems with that. That is what it means in Isaiah 7. When the prophecy in Isaiah came, it said, there will be this young maiden who will have a child. But when Mary says, I'm a virgin, she actually says, the word says, I have not known a man. So she doesn't say, I'm a young woman of marital age. That's not what she says. She says, how is this possible? Also, if we're just tracking the story, she's shocked. She's shocked for a reason because she has not known a man. So this is a genuine virgin birth that's being told, a virgin conception. This is not unusual, by the way, for the revelation of Scripture to move like this. In Scripture, this will help you in your study of Scripture, we have something called progressive revelation. Often God plants seeds of prophecy that later we understand how big they are, how full they grow. So in Isaiah, when it said, this woman, this young maiden of marital age will have a child, it does not surprise us to see, oh, it is more than just that. It is a woman who has never known a man. So she's shocked at this miracle, the virgin birth. And because she's shocked, Gabriel responds and he says to her, nothing is impossible with God. That's how he answers her. He says, but nothing will be impossible with God. He says, here's proof. Look at your family member, your relative, Elizabeth. She's with child for six months. Indeed, Mary will go to Elizabeth and see that to be true, but the angel Gabriel offers her proof of this miracle that God is already at work. In a woman who was said to be barren. It's a miracle. The virgin birth is a miracle, and we're going to talk some more about that in a little bit. But I believe, and we've talked about this before, the true miracle of Christmas, friends, is the incarnation. God could, if he wanted to, miraculously cause someone to conceive. But that the second person of the Godhead, that God himself became flesh, carried by Mary and born of Mary. That is the miracle of miracles. The incarnation. And we see that Mary, in the end, she says, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. I want to highlight something I think the Scripture is highlighting here, if we were to have read a little more. There's a real tension between Zachariah's response and Mary's response. Zachariah, again, was this older, godly man, a priest, who should have had a great response of faith, and he had a response of doubt. One that really disappointed and upset Gabriel. Gabriel said, This is not a response of faith. But yet, with Mary, he is happy with her response. This young girl, who would probably not be looked to as a religious leader, has a faithful response. I think this is something that we should be thinking about, church, that we would humbly believe and accept the news about Christ. We would not think we are too smart or too knowledgeable to accept and receive and embrace the wonder of Jesus' conception. So first, again, just today, as we study this, as we think about the wonder of Christmas, let me again encourage us to embrace this wonder of Jesus' conception. This is a critical piece of our faith, the virgin conception and birth of Jesus. One of the most ancient creeds that we have is called the Apostles' Creed. I know you've heard it. Here's a line, just to remind you, the opening line. I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. If you're here and you doubt that, you doubt the virgin birth, I would just encourage you, the same words that Gabriel said, is anything too hard for God? And if you think that's too much, think about what we believe, who God is, what He does. The virgin birth should not feel unbelievable or too far from the reach of God. Again, this is, friends, the miracle of Christmas. That the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Let's embrace the wonder of Jesus' conception and birth this year. But the second part of this text, and probably the one that moved me the most personally this week, because I studied and just wrestled with the text, was this, and I'll give it to you as a second action for us, is to receive Jesus with humility and joy. Receive Jesus with humility and joy. So this story we read is about the conception of Jesus, but also the reception of Jesus. We see how the news was received by Elizabeth and by Mary. And I want to talk just for a few more minutes about that. Mary, after she gets this news in very short order, goes to the household of her relative Elizabeth, and when she walks in the door, you remember Elizabeth, it says, basically screams, it says in a very loud voice, she says, And then Mary freaks out, and she does her song of praise, the Magnificat. So you've seen this, you know, when two women are together, and one's like, I'm pregnant, and the other's like, I'm pregnant, like, ah! That's it. But the Holy Spirit's involved. Mary walks in, and John the Baptist is leaping in her womb, and Mary feels the Holy Spirit's like, I already know. Like, Mary hasn't even told her. She's like, hey, Elizabeth. She's like, I already know. It's Jesus, and I can't even believe I'm in your presence. That's the response to Jesus coming. That's what we see, just this incredible joy. And then Mary has her response. We read it, it's this song of praise and joy, and we're going to read it again in a minute just to get our head back in it, but I want to tell you something about this. This is actually a psalm of thanksgiving. If you were to go read the psalms and read the thanksgiving psalms, you'd be like, oh, Mary didn't just, like, make this up whole cloth on the spot. I've read this where I'm like, man, I just can't make up prayers and psalms like this. Mary has been trained in this stuff since her birth. She's heard these read. She's responding in faith with the Word of God to this news. It's also, by the way, from 1 Samuel 2, the Song of Hannah, almost verbatim. Again, she's heard this before. She's thought about it. She's meditated on joy and thanksgiving to the Lord. I just want to give an encouragement before we read this again. Let this be a lesson to us. She learned these songs in Sunday school, and the psalm should guide our responses to God. Scripture should pour out in praise and prayer. We don't have adequate words for these things. When we look at the coming of Christ, when we think about what he's done for us, it's okay that you don't just have all the time, like, whole cloth, magnificent words to say to God. The psalms are meant to guide us in these things. Her response shows us what does it look like to biblically respond to this kind of good news. The call here to respond to joy to Jesus. Let's read it one more time, verses 46 to 55. Just this brief section, the song or response of Mary. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their throne, and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. And he has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. And as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. And Mary's response, we could say a lot about it, but I just want to say a few things this morning. It's filled with worship. How should we respond to this news about Jesus? With worship. She says, my soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices. This is the response to the news about Jesus. Again, as we think about this miracle and magic of Christmas, it's a response we need to find in our hearts to get. Not because it's this particular date, but because we're choosing to focus on this news. And our hearts should respond with the same joy that we see here. The kind of worship. But Mary also responds with an incredible humility. She says that God has looked on the humble estate of his servant. She talks about how God casts off the proud. Again, we see this over and over through scripture. When we think about the coming of Jesus, we shouldn't think, well, it's about time. Or didn't we deserve it? We should see in humility what a grace that God would come to us. And that he comes to the humble. We could talk about a whole sermon on this, that God looks for the humble in our hearts. He's seeking to strengthen the weak. It is in his incredible grace he came. And her response is one of faith. When she ends, she said, he's kept his promise to David and Abraham. She's saying messianic things. She understands 2 Samuel 7. She understands these are the promises, and God has not forgotten us. After all this time of silence and years and hundreds of years, centuries of waiting for these promises, they're here. She responds in faith. These are responses that we should have. Worship and humility and faith as we think about the conception and birth of Christ during this Advent season. I want to highlight one more time Zechariah, because I think the Bible contrasts them very clearly. Luke contrasts them very clearly. Mary had this spirit of faith and humility before God, and it brought her joy. Zechariah's part was exactly opposite. He was prideful and skeptical, and it brought sorrow and difficulty to his life. Now later, Zechariah sings his own songs of praise and worship, but he's not able to do it until after John is born. And he had a long time to sit and think about how he wished he had responded to the news from the angel. So, church, just a reminder this morning, let's receive Jesus with humility and joy and faith. Luke 1 and 2 is full, so I would encourage you, you know, this week, maybe read over Luke 1 and 2. It is full of responses. There's people that are going to respond in the temple, and we're going to get Zechariah's response and Elizabeth's. All these responses to Jesus, and they are all just overflowing with joy and praise as we should respond. Again, this text is sort of a primer for us. It's a tutor for our heart that we would know how to respond to the news of Jesus. Like Mary saw the songs of praise and knew how to respond, we should be looking at these songs and know how to tune our heart to respond to Christ. How should we respond to this amazing birth of Jesus? It's modeled right here in the text. Church, can you believe and receive the incarnation of Jesus today with fresh humility, joy, and wonder? I think that's our job today as we think about the text. The first thing to do is to believe. I thought this week of Jesus speaking to Thomas when he said, Do not disbelieve, but believe. Believe in the miraculous incarnation of Jesus, the virgin birth, the virgin conception of Jesus. Believe what God says at this time. One of my mentors taught me something really important in preaching. They always teach you, like, find the application, find the application, and preach the application. He said, David, sometimes the application is to believe. There's texts that simply are there that you would believe them. I believe this text about the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit is to be believed. There's something we can do about it. We accept it. We believe the word of God. It's not too hard. I just want to highlight that again because I don't know if anyone here struggles with this. For some reason, the virgin birth, think about all the miracles in the Bible. There's some, like, wacky stuff. It's like, that's a lot. But the virgin birth is the one that people just can't get past. But I want to say it is not that hard to believe. We believe that God made us out of dust. We believe he created the entire universe ex nihilo. Is it hard for God to cause a virgin to conceive? It is not hard to believe. I don't want to get too far off on this, but I'll tell you this morning what I find hard to believe. That the world is a freak coincidence hurtling through the universe. I find it hard to believe. I'm being honest with you. I'm not just doing my job as a pastor. Like, that's hard for me to believe. I learned recently, I told you this, I learned recently that one of our planets, I'm not a science guy, so excuse me for this, but one of our planets, I forget which one, acts as like, its location and everything, it acts as like a gravitational foil to keep all the space junk from crushing our planet. So everything comes into our solar system and goes like, whoosh, around us like this. It's amazing that we're here and that we're alive. And that out of the entire universe, that this little blue dot of a planet said, God sent his own son to be born here for us. That is miraculous. And it's not hard to believe. I read someone once said, I couldn't find the quotes to, I'm just going to get my best attempt. Someone said, if you reject the virgin birth, you will trip over every stone in the New Testament. It's just going to get harder for me. But if we accept the God of the universe is in control and loves us and sent his son, it all becomes very clear. There's something else to be believed in the virgin birth, something else important about it, not just that it's miraculous and cool. That Christ in this became our second Adam. That he can represent us. That he is just like us, but different. Where we have sinned, he doesn't sin. There are implications in the headship of Christ and the sinlessness of Christ. It's so important to our salvation. One person wrote to this extent, the extent Jesus was not human is the extent to which he cannot save us. He came and was born of a virgin, so that he could be our complete representative. So I would encourage you this week to believe this truth, but also to receive it. Again, we're seeing the conception of Jesus, but also the reception of Jesus. Believe it, receive it. Like Elizabeth, let's yield our hearts to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit informs her. This is miraculous. This is incredible. We should let the Spirit in us move us in the same way. This is wonderful news that Jesus has come for us. We should respond like Mary, in humility and joy and praise, being tutored by the scriptures on how to do that. Again, last time, we should not respond like Zachariah. He has a warning about skepticism and high position and regret when it comes to spiritual things. We would become too comfortable in the things of the Lord. Jesus' birth gives us hope to sing the song of Mary, to sing her song of praise. Church, I want to encourage you to do two things this week. Take just this simple text, Mary's song. It's verses 46 to 55, and pray it and sing it and think it and meditate on it. It's not cheating. It's what Mary did. It's how we are meant to express our thanks and joy for Christ. I would encourage you to do that. I would encourage you to take Josh up on his offer to find some of these songs. As I was listening to the songs you guys chose this week, I appreciate Josh carefully curates the songs we use. He chooses them very intentionally. I thought, man, these are the sermons. These are so worshipful and they're so clear. They're truths about what we believe. I would encourage you also maybe find and listen to those songs this week. Maybe you're in the car. We think about Mary's songs. We think about these songs. If you're ever in the car and a song comes on that you love, or maybe even better, like a nostalgic song from your past, and you just let your emotions get caught up in it. You're just singing it out and you're just feeling all the emotions of the song. It's something you give into, isn't it? It didn't just take you over. You're like, I love this. You let your emotions sweep you up in that song. That's what we're supposed to do with this song, Mary. That's what we can do with the songs we sang today, is to let our hearts be swept up in the joyful, worshipful emotions of Christ's conception and coming. Believe Jesus' conception. Believe it. It's a simple fact in Scripture, and I think it is very believable. Embrace Him. If you're here and you're not a Christian, I think that's not the majority here. I think most here are faithful believers. But if you're here and you're not, receive and believe what Christ has come to do for you. But Christians, this is even for us. Our hearts can grow cold or callous to this. I would encourage you to lean into a reception of Jesus that is filled with joy and praise and humility. Embrace the wonder of Jesus' birth. His birth gives us the hope to sing the song of Mary, the song of praise. Let's pray. God, we do celebrate. We do rejoice. In many ways, it's just too wonderful for us to set our hearts on. We can't even fully understand the grace we have in Jesus. But we ask that our hearts would be tuned a little closer to that today, that we would understand just a little more fully how wonderful Jesus is, how every promise in the Old Testament, every single one of them, finds its place in Jesus' path. Oh, Jesus, we praise you that you were humble enough to come to us. You didn't have to. We didn't deserve it. Lord, like Mary, you looked our lowly estate, and your grace came to us. I pray our salvation would not be something we take for granted. It's your birth, your sinless life, your work, would not be taken for granted, but we would rejoice and give you all the glory of Jesus. Amen. I want to remind you this morning, as we get ready for participating in communion together, there would be no salvation without the Incarnation. If Jesus did not come in the flesh, there would be no hope of salvation for us. If he was not our second Adam, if he did not come able to represent us. So this time when we come, we announce, we proclaim the death of Christ for us, but we also celebrate it. We're celebrating and pronouncing something very tangible, that Jesus took on flesh, that he in the body died on the cross for our sins, that his body was broken, that he had a body to be broken, that his blood was shed, a body and blood that came about through the story we read today, through the miraculous inception of Mary. So as you come, thinking, celebrating what Jesus has done for us, remember the Incarnation, remember the humility, the incredible humility of Christ that he came in the form of our Jesus Christ. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. Come with the music together. I hope it's a blessing to you as you learn it together with me this Advent season. Please stand. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. Let's sing Mary's song. He who's mighty, Son of great things, Taken on flesh, Conquered death and sin, Shattered in righteousness, And lifted high in shame, Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. Holy is His name. The Better Man's Men's Breakfast is going to be this coming Saturday, December 9th at 8.30 a.m. Next, Jamie Hurt. Jamie Hurt's going to be retiring as an elder here, has served here as many years. Do we have the count? Twelve? Yes. Faithfully. We've been blessed to have him serve this role. We just want to be so thankful and aware of that. If you'd like to put together a letter or a card as he's refocusing with his wife, Dede, a new season of ministry in their lives, just the thankfulness and how that's been so beneficial and valuable to us. Dusty will be collecting those, so please get those to Dusty. Of course, everyone can send something directly to Jamie, but we'd like to collect everything to Dusty if possible so that we can do a little appreciation there for him. The manger shop is going to be open this Wednesday, December 6th from 4 to 6 p.m. If you've never volunteered, please see Mickey Bird today to help out. If you would like to volunteer, please see Mickey Bird to help out. Our benediction comes from 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 through 24. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Thank you.