The Characters of Christmas Week 2 • Faith Lessons from the Life of Mary

December 1st, 2024 • “And Mary said, 'Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her.” — Luke 1:38

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Creators and Guests

Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.

Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons podcast.

We're so glad you chose to listen today.

In this message, we explore the life of Mary and her remarkable response to God's call.

Her humility, faith, and joyful surrender reveal a powerful trust in God's promises and His plan.

Through Mary's story, we're reminded of the holiness and eternal kingship of Jesus,

the Savior who brings peace, justice, and salvation.

Join us as we reflect on the hope and grace found in Christ and the call to surrender our lives to Him.

Thanks for listening.

Well, good morning.

If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in Luke chapter 1.

Here in just a moment, we'll start in verse 26.

A couple things of emphasis.

If you are a first-time guest, my wife and I will be back here to the left.

We'd love to speak to you after the service just to thank you for being here and for worshiping with us.

And if you have any questions about our church, we'll give us the opportunity to answer those for you.

Also, we were doing these pretty consistently, and then we had our men's mission trip to Black Mountain.

But we're back in with looking at some projects, specifically with chainsaw work for Hurricane Helene.

And coming up for these next two Thursdays, we've got some jobs that need to be knocked out that we can take care of

to bless some people that the Lord has brought our way.

And so if you're interested in being a part of that, two things.

Number one, you can come back and let me know and then give you the details for this Thursday back here at the back table after the service.

But you will also get an email this week, and so you can respond.

And so I want to make you aware of that.

We'll also have a team leaving for New York City to do ministry at Coates for the city this week.

So I want to encourage you.

I believe there are six.

Brent, is that right?

Six are headed out there or headed up there this week.

So be in prayer for that team.

Also, come back tonight.

All right, there's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of laughter, a lot of joy, a lot of sugar.

And so you'll want to come back here tonight to be a part of that.

And so we want to encourage you.

Well, I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful.

I hope you weigh more this Sunday than you did last Sunday.

All right, this is that season where we need to keep ourselves warm for the winter.

And so eat up on the carbs and enjoy it.

But I hope you had a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving.

Well, we all know what happens the day after Thanksgiving.

So who here got out and went Black Friday shopping?

Raise your hand.

Now, not cyber shopping, but you got out and you did the Black Friday shopping.

Not as many as in the past.

Put your hands back up again.

It's a little disappointing, a little disappointing.

My whole family, all four of us, for the first time, we got out and we went.

We went first into downtown Columbia, the Main Street, Five Points area, and did some shopping there.

But I was on the lookout for something very specific.

At first.

At first.

We went to my parents' house for Thanksgiving.

And my dad has had this like old record player in his garage for years.

And I've always just kind of made comments like, hey, when you're ever ready to get rid of that, I'd like to have it.

My dad's the guy that he likes to decorate his garage.

Well, I don't know what happened on Thursday, but we went there for Thanksgiving.

And I left with a carjack.

I left with hedge trimmers.

I left.

He was just like, you want this?

You want this?

And I'm just saying, yes, yes, yes.

Because I feel like if I say no, then he's going to end it, you know?

So I was like, yes, yes, yes, yes.

And then there was this pause.

And I said, how about that record player?

And my dad has instantly shot me down every single time I've asked about that record player.

And he goes, why not?

And honestly, for a moment there, it felt a little bit like the prodigal son asking for the narrative, right?

And I apologize.

We worked through that.

He's like, no, you can have it.

So I'm so excited.

I'm thinking I'm going to go put this in my little office work area that I've got at the house.

And I'm going to listen to records.

We get there.

Grayson's already got a big record collection.

We get there.

We open it up.

We put a record on there.

We turn on the power switch.

And if you know, there's one thing that has to happen for a record player to work.

It's got to turn.

And we hit power.

So I'm like, okay, let me see if it just needs some help.

So I begin to spin it.

Right?

Nothing.

Nothing works on this.

Disappointed.

Kind of wondering if my dad's kind of chuckling at me because that's the kind of relationship that we have.

But I noticed on this record player, there was a space for a CD.

And there was a space for cassette tapes.

And so I thought, well, that's kind of cool.

But I gave away all my CDs.

I gave away all my cassettes.

So we got Black Friday shopping.

One of the places we like to go is Papa Jazz, downtown Columbia.

My son and my daughter are into records.

And I thought that this would be the Christmas that I'd be into records, too.

So I walked in, honestly, a little disappointed.

And then as I'm walking down the first row, looking at all of the records there to choose from,

I see a little small section about this big of cassette tapes.

And I was like, oh, here we go.

And I reached in.

I found a nice white label written in black letters, James Taylor's greatest hits for $3.

It's like, let me take that.

So I get that.

And I'm walking.

And I notice now above the records are CDs.

So this would kind of date me a little bit more with my generation.

I'm walking through.

And I look up.

And I'm in the M's.

And I see Dave Matthews under the table and dreaming.

I'm like, let me grab that, too.

So I've now got a $6 CD, a $3 tape.

And Aaron says, do you think those even work?

I'm like, I don't know.

But for $9, I'm willing to give it a try.

So I go home, pop in the CD, fire it up.

It starts to spin.

And Dave Matthews starts coming out of those speakers like it's 1992 all over again.

But then I look on the side.

And so I get the James Taylor out.

And I put it in.

And it starts to play.

Just that crystal clear sound of James Taylor playing his guitar, listening to the greatest hits.

And then I realize, now this will date some of us really well, that this cassette tape player works exactly like an 8-track.

So there is no rewind.

There is no fast forward.

There's just put it in wherever it is.

Like, you're stuck.

You've got to listen to it.

So I'm talking to a friend of mine.

And I'm so excited about my $9 purchase.

So excited about all the things that I have.

And I can listen to a CD.

I can listen to a tape.

I've got one of each now.

And he made this statement to me.

Can't you just stream all that?

And I said, yes.

Yes, you can.

But sometimes, at least for me, it feels good to look at something that's old and to appreciate it as if it's new.

And maybe I like to think of that as the older that I get, right?

That there's still some value.

There's still some worth.

There's still these pieces that are there.

So to look at the tape and to look at the CD and to see the nostalgia of all of that.

But there is this truth of the old things that are made new.

I want to kind of confess as we get into this Christmas season, sometimes when we look at God's Word and my life and yours,

we can take some of the commonality of these stories, the familiarity of these stories that we're going to read about this time of year.

And we can think, oh, those are the stories that I've heard.

Those are the stories that we always hear this time of year.

They're even in the cartoons and the movies that we watch.

But my prayer for you, and today we are going to look at the faith of Mary.

My prayer for you is that you will not look at these accounts of old and simply see them as old.

But you will look at these accounts and the truths that will stand for all of eternity

and look at the newness of what God wants to do in your life as a result of these.

That we don't just simply look at these stories and think that these are things that I've already heard before.

But we look at these stories and we ask,

God, what do you long for and desire to do with these truths of old newly in my life today?

So I want to read one of the verses to you this morning before we pray.

The Bible tells us, and Mary said,

Behold, I am a servant of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

And the angel departed from her.

Would you pray with me?

God, I thank you for the truth of your word this morning.

God, in the power of your Holy Spirit, will you communicate your truth to us?

God, may hearts be changed.

May souls be saved.

Not because of the appeal of our words.

Because of the truthfulness of your word.

God, do in us what you would do today.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

So let's begin reading in Luke chapter 1, starting in verse 26.

God's word says,

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth.

To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David.

And the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said,

Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.

But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

And 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 call his name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

And of his kingdom there will be no end.

And Mary said to the angel,

How will this be, since I am a virgin?

And the angel answered her,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God.

And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son,

and this is the sixth month with her, who is called barren.

For nothing will be impossible with God.

And Mary said,

Behold, I am a servant of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

And the angel departed from her.

Verse 39,

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah.

And she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

And she exclaimed with a loud cry,

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears,

the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.

Verse 46,

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,

and he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones,

and exalted those of humble estate.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy.

As he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham,

and to his offspring forever.

I want us to see this morning three things from the life of Mary for us to hold to,

and to use in the power of the Holy Spirit to examine our lives.

As we are journeying through this Christmas season,

we are looking at these different characters that we find from Scripture.

Last week we looked at Elizabeth's husband Zechariah,

who went in as a priest into the temple to offer the offering of incense,

and who heard from the angel of the Lord as well,

but struggled with belief,

was struggled with doubt,

and we saw what God did in him as he struck him silent,

as he contemplated over what Zechariah was his sin to bring him to this point,

to where he came after over nine months of not being able to speak to proclaim the truth of the coming Messiah and who he is.

That while Zechariah was not a perfect man,

Zechariah followed a perfect God who used all things in his life to point Zechariah to him.

And we look at the same thing with each character or group of individuals that we're going to study over the course of this.

And so there's three things that I want us to look at that are special about,

that we can learn about with Mary in our own life.

And the first thing is this.

Mary's standing.

Mary's standing.

I want us to look at who Mary is in this moment.

I read an article this week that I thought was interesting and asked the question,

have you ever wondered what Mary was doing when the angel appeared to her?

Was she quietly in her room?

Was she actively at work?

What was she doing?

We're not overly sure,

but we know that she was busy.

She was preparing to be married.

The Bible tells us that she was betrothed.

And we can sometimes say,

well, that means she was like engaged,

but it's more than engagement,

but it's not married.

There's a commitment.

There's tradition that is marked in with this.

She has been marked as the future wife,

a ceremony of sorts has taken place for Joseph.

And now she is working through in these,

in the customs and in the traditions

to make sure that everything is the way that it should be.

But yet she hears an announcement.

And we see within this announcement that Mary will be,

in what we know,

the mother of Christ.

That while a virgin,

somewhere between the ages of 13 to 16 years old,

betrothed to a man,

that God has chosen her

to be special.

That God has chosen of her

in fullness of her faithfulness

because of who God is to be the mother of our Savior,

to be the mother of Jesus.

Sometimes I believe that we can fall into two dangers

with dealing with Mary.

The first danger that I think that we can fall into,

and I think history religiously has taught us this,

is that we can elevate Mary to a status of like a God.

And that's not Mary's status at all.

I do think on the counter opposite of that,

we can belittle Mary

and not see the special features that are here,

the specialty that we heard in Elizabeth's proclamation

about how she is the mother of our Lord,

that she is blessed among women,

that we can see these types of things.

But I think what is interesting about Mary

for us to look at is this,

is Mary's standing.

You and I do not face the particular news

that Mary found.

You and I do not face the particular situation

that Mary finds herself in.

But yet you and I in Christ

can share the same standing that Mary has.

You and I, when we look at the words of the angel

and we look at the truth of God's word,

can begin to understand that Mary,

though quite special,

that Mary, though quite blessed,

that the standing that she finds her in

is the standing that you and I in Christ

that we can find ourselves in as well.

The angel appears and says that Mary was highly favored.

Well, what does that mean,

that Mary is highly favored?

Well, what that means is that Mary was specially blessed,

that Mary received an abundance of grace.

Why?

Because of her faith.

And because of her faith was found

in God and God alone.

We hear the same declaration of faith

from Elizabeth.

Last week we heard the same declaration of faith

from Zechariah.

And she spoke about who God is.

The writer of Hebrews in 11.6 says this,

Without faith,

it is impossible to please him.

For whoever would draw near to God

must believe that he exists

and he rewards

this concept of favor

for those who seek him.

While Mary definitely received

a very special reward,

you and I can be rewarded as well.

Through faith in Christ.

Not in our obedience to laws or rules

that we can earn a special favor,

but that faith in Jesus Christ,

our Lord and Savior,

where we can be found

highly favored in him

and in him alone.

God favors us

and rewards us in so many ways.

Through our sacrificial giving,

he rewards us through the peace

in our finances.

Through our physical sacrifices

that we make,

he rewards us

through spiritual contentment.

Through our relational investments

that we make with others,

he rewards us with the beauty

of lasting community.

But most importantly,

the favor of God

is most seen in the truth

that he always rewards

faith in Christ

with the presence of Christ

in our lives.

Always.

Always.

So if you think about it,

while not literal similarities

of what's there,

there is a lot of spiritual similarities.

God rewarded Mary's faith,

the presence of Jesus.

And he rewards our faith

in the same manner.

We see also in here,

in Mary's standing

that the Lord is with her.

That the Lord is with her.

The promise that rings true

in Scripture.

Matthew 28, verse 20.

Jesus in the giving

of the great commission

doesn't say to go

and do this on your own.

Jesus doesn't say

gather with a group of people

so that you can figure

this out in here.

Jesus says,

and behold,

I am with you always

to the end of the age.

I love the story

of Christmas.

I love Christmas stories,

but I love the true story

of Christmas as well.

That God comes to us,

our Savior comes to us

in a child,

in a person,

that this is who he is.

He'll grow,

he'll live.

But the story of Christmas

is that God has come to us.

That Jesus in his life,

God dwelt and walked among us.

That even in the story

of his death,

that Jesus came

and that he died for us.

That in the story

of his resurrection,

that Jesus came

and that he died

and that he is alive with us

to bring us eternal life.

The story of the ascension

is that Jesus came to us,

that Jesus died for us,

Jesus was resurrected

in the promise for us,

but that in the return,

that Jesus is leaving

and that he will come back

to us as well.

That in the greeting

that Mary got,

that in her faith

that the Lord is with her,

that in your faith,

in your standing

before the Lord as well,

when your faith

and your hope

and your trust

is put in Christ

and Christ alone,

no matter where you find yourself,

God is with you.

And then the angel declares

that she's blessed.

That she's blessed.

Echoed by Elizabeth

that she is blessed as well.

And then we might think,

oh, to be chosen

and to be blessed as Mary.

But we are.

We are.

Paul writes in Ephesians 1-3,

blessed be the God and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us in Christ

with every spiritual blessing

in the heavenly places.

I think the reality

for so many of us,

and I know this is the sin struggle

of myself as well,

is that what we look at

and what we view,

what it means to be blessed,

we look at and we view

with the things

of the material things

of this world.

But what God promises us

is that in Christ,

regardless of the country

that you find yourself in,

regardless of the layout

of your life

of what you find,

regardless of the socioeconomic,

regardless of the abilities

that you may feel

like you have

or that you do not have,

that God has blessed

all of those in Christ

with every spiritual blessing.

So regardless of where

you find yourself,

your story rings true

just like the story of Mary,

that you were chosen,

that you were free,

that you were forgiven,

that you're indwelt

with the Holy Spirit,

that you're redeemed,

that you're sanctified,

that you're pursued,

that you're loved,

that you have the promise

of peace

and the reality of joy.

And the list goes on

and on and on.

And folks,

this is possible for you

as it was possible for Mary

because the foundation

of God in her life

was the foundation of faith,

not of her own doing,

but from God through faith.

The second thing

that I want us to look at

in Mary's life

is not just Mary's standing

but Mary's reaction.

Mary's reaction.

I want to define reaction

as this.

Your reaction is

what happens

in the moment?

What happens

in the moment?

We went Black Friday shopping.

We'll go back to that.

Emma and I were together.

This has been a tradition

of ours for years.

And Grayson and Aaron

decided to go shopping together.

So we started off

at a restaurant together

and then we broke up from there.

We overlapped

a couple different places.

but Emma and I

made it to the mall

at a different point in time

than Aaron and Grayson.

And so we're walking

around the mall

and the chaos of the mall

and the people

that are all over the mall

and the people

that cut in front of you

and that take the items

out of your hand

and the whole time

I'm like,

oh God,

you're good.

Walk with me.

Guide me.

Keep my testimony right.

And as difficult as it is

to get to the mall,

as difficult as it is

to navigate around the mall

when you're there,

as difficult as it is

to get in what you think

is the line

at Bath and Body Works,

to find out that the line

actually starts

in western Tennessee

and somehow

I don't ever really think

I'm getting anything free

from there

even though it's always

a special,

right?

We made it.

And those aren't

the difficult parts for me.

Here's the difficult part for me.

when Emma says,

Dad, I'm done.

Let's go home.

And then I know

what must happen

is a journey

from in the parking lot

of death

to I-26.

I told Emma that morning,

we call her car

Little Linda.

She got a little Honda Civic

and I got my bigger truck

and I said,

Emma, we're taking

Little Linda this morning.

And she said,

why?

It's like,

it's easier to park,

it's easier to maneuver,

it's easier to navigate.

So we get in the car

and we're heading back

and you hit that point

of coming out

of the Harveston parking lot

where you know

I've got to turn

against the traffic.

Now there's three types

of people

that drive out

of the Harveston parking lot.

There's those type of people

that want to,

as hard as they can,

follow all the traffic laws.

There's two of those people.

I am not one of those,

neither are you.

And evidently,

they were not in the traffic

when we were there.

Then there's the people

who break every law

of driving.

And then there's the people

that I would just say,

we don't want to break the law,

but we're driving aggressively,

we think we're just doing

what we've got to do

to survive at the time.

That's me.

And I needed to make this turn

so that I can make very quickly

another turn

to get on the interstate.

Now, I'm in Linda.

Not in my truck.

So I'm not looking for a space

as much as I'm looking for a crack.

So I'm there.

I'm looking.

I feel like this is

the Indy 500 all over again.

I see the sliver of space.

And man, those tires chirped

a little bit, right?

As that four-cylinder just went

right in there.

Well, I thought

that my driving maneuvering

was award-winning.

The person behind me

wasn't as excited

as my driving skills

should have indicated,

and they let me know.

And my reaction in that moment,

I will say,

and you can ask Emma,

I just smiled and waved.

I'm sorry.

Because, see,

your reaction

is what happens

in the moment.

And I think oftentimes

our reaction

shows in that moment

your spiritual maturity

a little bit.

It shows what God's been working on,

what God's been doing.

I think in this story

with Mary,

what we're looking at

is an instance.

What we're looking at

is she's getting ready

for the wedding.

What we're looking at

for her

is just another day.

What we're looking at

for her is

here's the plans

that I have for my life.

Here's what she's looking at.

I can't wait

to see Joseph.

What she's looking at,

or this is what my family

is going to think.

What she's looking at,

this is what I'm going to do.

And then in that moment,

while she's blessed,

in that moment,

while she's favored,

in that moment,

while her faith

is strong in God,

everything in her life

gets turned upside down.

Everything.

Everything.

I would argue

that what we find

in this moment

is not fair for her.

But it's good.

It's good.

And I love

Mary's reaction.

I think she reacted

two ways.

The first way

that Mary react

was humility.

Humility.

I think we can take

the context

of the maturity

of this young girl's faith.

The Bible tells us

that she was troubled

at this response

and asked,

why me?

Why me?

And I don't think

that Mary's response

was with the fist

shaken to God.

But I think Mary's response

to God

was at a humbling

of her spirit.

God, I'm not worthy.

God, I'm not capable.

God, in your goodness

of who you are,

God, why me?

Why me?

Why me?

When you come before God

and your reaction

on the best

and in the worst,

is it to shake your fist

and say, why me?

Or is it humbling

before the Lord?

God, why me?

Why me?

Mary also approached God

not just in humility

but in wonder.

In wonder.

Church, I think sometimes

with God,

we're so desperate

to understand

that we don't live

in the beauty

of the wonder.

One of the things

that I love about Christmas

in the life

of the little kids

is the wonder

of the beauty

of the season

that they're being exposed to.

the beauty

of the simplicity

of the wonder

of how can this be?

How is this there?

I think sometimes

when we read the story

of this,

it's the beauty

of the wonder.

Zachariah doubted.

Mary had God-honoring wonder.

Oh God,

how can this be?

Lord,

in who I am.

God,

how can this happen?

What's your reaction

to the grace of God?

Is it arrogance

of this is what I deserve?

Is it an understanding

of will all this

just factually make sense?

But during this Christmas season,

can we be reminded

of this little girl

that we would view

as a child

in her humility

and her wonder?

And then lastly,

we see Mary's response.

So we see her reaction,

what happens in the moment,

but your response

is what happens

as you process.

and I can only imagine

that in the mind

of this girl,

she gets the news,

she reacts.

She reacts

in a godly manner

of humility and wonder.

But then her brain,

as best she can,

begins to process

all that will happen

and all that will take place.

And I think it's remarkable

that we see

that in her life,

she doesn't go,

oh no.

That she doesn't go,

what's going to happen to me?

That she doesn't go,

God, how could you do this to me?

That she doesn't go,

God, you should have chosen

someone else.

That she,

in this,

like,

as humbled

as she is,

could you imagine

a virgin

a betrothed

to be married

to find out

that she will give birth

to a son?

And that the explanation

of that

is it's a powerful

working of God.

And while so many

would argue

it's not fair,

God's word

is very clear

that it is good.

And I want us to notice

what Mary does

in response.

The first thing

that she does

in her response

is the willingness

of surrender.

She uses these phrases,

uses this phrase

to the angel,

let it be

according

to your word.

God,

may your will

be done,

a willing

surrender

before him.

God,

whatever you have

for me,

God,

whatever you choose

for me,

God,

whatever journey

that you take me down,

no matter how painful,

no matter how hard,

no matter how difficult

it is,

God,

may it be

according to your word,

my life is surrendered

to you.

but her response

also comes with

a confident profession.

She went,

she went,

she didn't stay

and weep,

she didn't stay

and try to figure it out,

she didn't stay

and begin to

allow the depression

and the stress

of the news

that she got

to consume her.

Instead,

there was confidence

in the profession

of who God is

and what God

was doing to her

and she went

and she told,

she went to Elizabeth,

she shared

and then I love this,

in Mary's

song

of praise.

Mary's response

is abundant joy.

Abundant joy.

She sang,

she declared.

You see,

the similarity

that we find

in both of these

and Zachariah

and that we find

in Mary

is that

the story

of what God

is doing

is a story

of praise.

It's a story

of hope.

It's a story

of joy.

I'm going to ask

that the worship team

make their way

up here on stage.

They're going to come

and they're going to

lead us in a song

and this season

is a season

of mangers.

This season

is a season

of stars.

This season

is a season

of shepherds

and wise men.

This season

is a story

of a baby

and I never want us

to forget that

in the humility

of the coming

of God.

Not to come

to this world

as a king

fighting to take over,

but in the humility

of a child

and he didn't come

for a moment

but he came

for his lifetime

here

and what this story,

what Mary's song

points us to

is the hope,

the servant,

the Messiah

that will come

who will not

just come

to be born

in a manger

but who will

come to die

on a cross.

After our time

of worship,

we're going to take

the Lord's

supper together.

If you're a follower

of Jesus Christ,

you'll be invited

to take this

with us,

a picture

of the love

of God

that not only

did he come

but he died.

The picture

of the power

of God

that not only

did he come

but he rose again.

And the picture

of the promise

of God

that not only

did he come

but one day

he'll return.

Would you bow

your heads

in prayer with me?

God,

we thank you

for this wonderful

beautiful opportunity.

God,

I pray

that today

that we are here

not because

we think

that we're good,

not because

we think

that we deserve

this,

but God

that we come

humbly

before you

as those

that have put

their faith,

their hope,

their trust

in Christ

and Christ

alone.

God,

as we prepare

ourselves

for our readiness

to partake

in the Lord's

supper together,

Lord,

I pray

if there is

anyone here

who does not

know Jesus Christ

as their Lord

and Savior

that today

will be the day

that they put

their faith,

their hope,

their trust

in him.

God,

I pray

for all of us

who are followers

of Jesus.

God,

that we'll examine

under the guidance

of your Holy Spirit

our heart.

God,

and if there's

unrepentant sin

or that we'll

confess and repent,

God,

if we need to

forgive others,

we'll determine

within ourselves

under the power

of the Holy Spirit

giving you all

the praise

and honor

and glory

that,

Lord,

as you have

forgiven us,

we have forgiven

them.

And that,

God,

if there's

any wrong

that we've

committed

against the

brother or sister

in Christ,

we need to seek

their forgiveness

that today,

Father,

we commit

to do so.

God,

work in us

and how

you will

to bring

praise

and honor

and glory

to your name.

And it's in Jesus'

name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

That's it

for this week's

message.

Be sure to check

back next week

for another episode.

In the meantime,

you can stay up to date

with everything

happening at Willow Ridge

by visiting us

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and online

at willowridgechurch.org.

Thanks again

for listening.

We'll see you next time.

We'll see you next time.