Worshipping Christ (Christmas Cantata)

Thank you for joining us this morning…

• § We are delighted that we have the opportunity to worship the Lord in Song…

• § I am so thankful for all the men and women in the choir and orchestra and sound team that have worked so hard in order to direct our hearts toward heaven this morning…as we think about the Lord coming down to earth to save us from our sins.

If you are visiting with us for the first time we are so glad you are here…we would love to get to know you and pray for you.

• - Connection card, drop it in the offering plate… say hello in the foyer

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As we gather…It is good and right for us to think about who the Lord is…and What He has done.

…It is good for us to gather together… calm our hearts from all the business and make sure we are directing our lives to worship the Lord…

…our choir and orchestra have prepared a special morning.. to help our hearts do just that.

Lets open our time together with a word of prayer. {choir walks up while I pray}

• - Thankyou for the giftedness in body of Christ

• - May the Songs of praise exalt you, and lift our spirits as we think rightly about you Lord.

• - Help us Lord keep you at the center of Christmas, and help us to be still and know you are the Lord…

• - and help us respond with praise and worship and adoration for you.

• - Please bless our time this morning for your glory.

Message:

It is so helpful to have wonderful music to remind us of wonderful truths that direct our hearts toward the Lord.

• - Now that is only half of the Cantana…so after the message the choir and orchestra will come back for the other half of the Cantata.

This morning we will be looking at Mary’s response to God’s message that she will give birth to the Messiah.

We’ll be reading Luke 1:46-55 which you can find on page 44 in the back section of the Bible under the chair in front of you.

Before we get to Mary’s response…let me read the message that was delivered to Mary by the Angel Gabriel….

Luke 1:26-33 - Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Mary was a young girl whom the Lord chose to bless with the gift of being the one to give birth to the Messiah.

She conceived a child by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, which shows that the Child is different than all other Children and that this Child will be born for a greater purpose than all other children.

And at the culmination of all this truth, Mary gives us a hymn, a song, something quite fitting for our time here at a Cantata.

This song is often referred to as the Magnificat and it is a song of praise to magnify the Lord for what He has done.

READ PASSAGE

Luke 1:46–55 -⁴⁶ And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, ⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. ⁴⁸ “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. ⁴⁹ “For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. ⁵⁰ “And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. ⁵¹ “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. ⁵² “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. ⁵³ “He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed. ⁵⁴ “He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, ⁵⁵ As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Mary’s response should be our response…

Mary worships the Lord, she exalts the Lord, she magnifies the Lord, and the rest of her song she highlights why her heart rejoices in the Lord…

my hope is that at the end of this message you are reminded of 3 powerful truths that help you especially rejoice in the Lord throughout Christmas time.

Lets consider…

3 reasons why our hearts should worship Christ

The first reason is…

The Lord Is Powerful

Mary believes God is powerful enough to do what He said he was going to do…The Lord loves to show his power through the weak and seemingly vulnerable…

Mary views herself as a humble bondservant of the Lord, but she believes in the Lord’s power and she responds in worship…she says…

Luke 1:49-50 - For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name and His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.

God has shown His power in Mary’s life…She has conceived a child as a virgin by the power of the Holy spirt…that is amazing, and Mary is exalting in the power of the Lord at work in Her life…that she is apart of What God is doing.

She believes in His power…She says The Lords name is Holy…He is unlike anyone else, lifted up above everyone else as He can do things no one else can do…and that leads her to rejoice and exalt in the Lord.

How Has God shown His power in your life….

Has he take things that on the surface seem to just be trials and difficulty…

• - but does He use those situations to remind you of what Christ has done for you…

• - does He use those situations to refine you to become more like Christ…

• - does He use those situations to give you a platform to share the good news with others in a powerful way…

I want to encourage you to take time this month to reflect on Jesus coming to earth and showing God’s power through the virgin birth…

That will help you also look for ways the Lord is working in your life to show His power in unexpected ways.

It is easy to focus on what we want to get done especially around the holidays…

• - but God is at work drawing men and women and children to Himself…

• - He is working in and through His followers becoming more like Christ and spreading the good news of salvation….

We must daily consider the power of the Lord that is at work …

• - and that it is a blessing to be a part of what God is doing…

• - it is a blessing to be a part of something that powerful.

Mary viewed herself as blessed…

however the road to deliver the messiah was going to be very difficult…but she believed in the power of the Lord…and responded in worship.

In addition to the Lord’s power, we also worship the Lord…because….

The Lord Is Merciful

The Lord does not use His power like so many in our world do…

• - He uses His power to bring about justice, righteousness and mercy or compassion towards people.

Mary in her rejoicing says…

Luke 1:50 -⁵⁰ “And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him.

The Lord is merciful…he bring low those who are prideful,…and he raises up the Lowly, those wh fear or reverence Him…

• - He has compassion for those who are not strong…

• - He has compassion for those who do not trust in themselves…but place their trust in Him.

Mary knows the word of God…

• - she has a rich and deep understanding of who God is and what He has done historically for His people…

She says…

Luke 1:54-55 - He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.

Israel was not in a position of power in Egypt and yet God rescued them with the exodus,

• - He showed them compassion in providing for them, with rescue, food, provisions and bringing them to the promised land.

• - Likewise Mary is not in a position of power…but God’s mercy toward her is powerful, and His compassion addresses her greatest need and this leads to rejoicing…

Mary humbles herself and rests in God’s compassion, not her own strength and power.

• - Because of her response to Gabriel...”behold the bondservant of the Lord….may it be done to me according to your word”…

She humbles herself and then she is lifted up….

• - Mary is considered blessed by all generations because of how she believed God, and trusted in the mercy and compassion of God.

In her humility she emphasizes God’s compassion…that leads to blessing.

Luke 1:48 - For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.

God shows incredible mercy and compassion to all who fear Him.

Mary humbles herself… Even though Mary is going to bear the messiah, she knows she needs a messiah, she needs God’s mercy…

• - she recognizes that all Israel needed help from the Lord…and that she individually needs help from the Lord.

God showed His mercy in Mary’s life…how Has God shown His mercy, his compassion in your life….

• - How has he provided for you in small ways and in big ways….

Think about the first time you heard the gospel…

• - think about the first time someone…maybe a parent, a friend, a Sunday school teacher…talked to you about sin, and your need for a savior….

• - think about when you were low…how the Lord lifted you up with Good news of his love for you that was not and is not based on your good works…but it is based on His mercy, His compassion.

When did he show you His mercy…How did that bring you the greatest blessing in all the world….security in heaven for all time and eternal life….with Him.

[Gospel Message] - If you have never experienced God’s mercy in your life…I want to encourage you to humble yourself…and admit your need for a messiah just like Mary did…and then receive God mercy…trust that sending His son to die for you, is his compassion toward you even though you don’t deserve it…

Believing friend…I want to encourage you to humble yourself…make sure you reflect on how much you need Jesus coming to earth and need God’s mercy…

think regularly how the Lord has worked in your life…showing you mercy to salvation…and mercy and compassion each day providing for your everyday needs….

Rember the Lord is working in your life to show His mercy and to show His mercy through you…and the proper response is exalting the Lord in your life and sharing what He has done in your life with other people.

Lastly…the 3^rd reason to worship the Lord…is because….

The Lord Is the Savior

Mary starts her song with rejoicing in God character…God is a delivering God, a God who rescues…a God who sees the needy and lifts them up and places their feet on solid ground…she says…

Luke 1:47 - And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

God is the subject of every verb in this song…The question is if God the subject of every aspect of your life.

His power is unparalleled, his mercy is beyond compare….and He has a plan of salvation for all those who will place their trust in Him.

This is true for Mary, for Israel…and it even goes back to Abraham and forward all the way to us…

You see Abraham is the father of faith…

He trusted God and it was credited to him as righteousness…because of his faith in what God had said and promised, he was in a right standing before God….

Abraham trusted that he also was going to be a part of God’s plan …to miraculously have a child that points forward and connects to the ultimate miracle child…and that through that messianic line of Abraham…all those who trust in the Lord would be blessed.

But this blessing…is the ultimate blessing of salvation…

The blessing of being delivered from the power, and the penalty of sin and death…The blessing of being given new life…because of the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah.

The book of Hebrews makes a great connection to Abraham…

and How God helps the descendant of Abraham…not just his biological children…but all those who place their trust in the Lord and become children of the promise.

Hebrews 2:14-18 - Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

The Lord gives help to the descendant of Abraham…gives help in the form of defeating death…to all those who trust that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rose from the grave.

The Lord is the only one who can save…and it is not by works…not by some complicated process. But by confessing who Jesus is and believing the word of God…just like Mary did…just like Abraham did.

Romans 10:9-10 says…

Romans 10:9-10 - …because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

The Lord is powerful, the Lord is merciful…The Lord is the savior.

and he showed that most supremely through the person and work of Jesus Christ. That is why we are to worship Him.

May we exalt in the Lord today, and each day, until He returns.