Sunday, December 19th • Beau Bradberry
"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” — Luke 1:45
–
Podcast: https://pod.link/willowridgechurch
Website: https://willowridgechurch.org
Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowridgechurch
Facebook: https://facebook.com/willowridgechurch
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@willowridgechurch
Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.
Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.
This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.
We hope that you enjoy this week's installment,
and be sure to check back next week to hear the latest message.
Thanks for listening.
Good morning.
As we celebrate that Christ has come,
we also want to remind ourselves of what God has given us the opportunity to do
in missions in this last calendar year,
and we look forward for the opportunities of what God's going to call us to next year.
And so we will continue on in our mission strategy.
We'll be making those opportunities available around the first of the year.
And so whether you're a middle school, high school student, or an adult,
there's going to be an opportunity and a place for you to go,
and we would love for you to join us on one of these opportunities.
If you've got your Bible, go ahead and open up to Luke chapter 1.
Here in just a minute, we're going to start in verse 46.
This week is Christmas.
I love this week.
I love this season.
And especially with a lot of the things that we have going on around here this week.
And today is one of those days we got to see our kids up on stage singing.
And then this evening, as Pastor Dave told us about at 5 o'clock,
we're going to be gathered back out in our parking lot to have a time of worship
as we have a bunch of different musicians and artists that are going to be here playing and singing Christmas songs.
And so wonderful opportunity for us to come, be there, be together, be outdoors.
We keep checking the weather, and it does look like the weather is going to clear out after 1 o'clock,
but we know the weatherman only has to be right half the time to be good, all right?
But we are praying that that will clear out.
And if not, there will be a contingency plan.
And we'll have hot drinks and snacks, and we'd love for you to be out here with us.
And then at 5.30, on Christmas Eve, we will have our Christmas Eve service.
And we'd love for all of you to be here.
And if you haven't been to one before, it is a family service, which means it's all of us in here,
from babies all the way up to great-grandma, all right?
And so it is loud, it is chaotic, but it feels like home, and it feels like Christmas, and we love it.
So we're going to gather together, sing Christmas songs, talk about the Christmas story,
and take the Lord's Supper, and would love for you to be here and join us with that.
So let's go ahead and get into a part of the Christmas narrative this morning in Luke 1, starting in verse 46.
And Scripture says,
And Mary said, but we're going to see that Mary sang, all right?
So in Mary sang,
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For he has looked upon 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 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.
And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
Now, if you're wondering, Bo, like, where in the world is the Christmas story in what you just read,
this is part of it that gets left out for us from time to time.
In fact, this dialogue is happening probably somewhere about eight to nine months before the traditional Christmas story that we think of.
And it's a song that Mary sings.
And so we want to look at this song and see what God is communicating through his servant Mary, the mother of Christ.
And the first thing that I want us to look at in these verses this morning is simply Mary's response.
So let's back up a little bit to understand the story and to remind ourselves.
So Mary is a teenage girl, probably somewhere between the ages of 13 to 15 years old,
and finds out from the angel Gabriel that God's favor is on her.
Now, I think that's important.
It doesn't begin that you're going to have a son and his name's going to be Jesus.
It begins with God's favor rests upon you.
And that this virgin Mary will conceive a son as a virgin through the power of the Spirit of God,
and his name will be Jesus, and he will reign over God's kingdom forever.
And Gabriel also tells her that her relative, and we don't know how old Elizabeth is,
but the Bible says that she's an old age, has also conceived a son, even though she is thought to be barren.
And her son will be John the Baptist, the one who will go out into the wilderness,
preparing the way and declaring for the coming Messiah.
And so what we find with Mary at the end of this dialogue with Gabriel is that she trusts God.
She trusts Him.
And then she leaves to go and be with Elizabeth.
Now, this journey this teenage girl takes from her town to where Elizabeth is would have taken somewhere between 10 to 14 days.
It says that the army, when the army would march from this location to that location, it would take them 10 days.
And so let's say that Mary is at her best, could do it in 10,
but if she takes a little bit more time moving from day to day, probably somewhere more around two weeks.
And she walks into Elizabeth's house.
Couldn't send a text message.
Couldn't shoot an email.
She's not posting on Instagram her different journeys on her way there, right?
And so she walks in and the proclamation is made that Mary is there.
And the Bible tells us that when Elizabeth finds out that Mary is there, a few things happen.
Number one, the baby in Elizabeth's womb leaps with joy, right?
The power of the Spirit of God of what God is doing.
And the birth of these two kids.
And when Mary is there with Christ in her womb, very early on in her pregnancy, the baby leaps.
Elizabeth says in that moment that Mary is blessed, that her baby is blessed.
And then she says, why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Acknowledging the Savior Christ and who he is.
And then Mary goes into a song.
Now this kind of seems weird in our culture, in our context, right?
Like imagine you've got a relative that you haven't seen in a while and they come to your house and you greet them with a hug.
And you tell them how blessed you are that they've come to visit you and then all of a sudden they just go into full-blown musical, right?
And start singing, right?
Well, this is kind of what happens.
Now, we don't know if it's just spur of the moment that this song comes to Mary through the leading of the Spirit.
We don't know that on her journey, as it's already been seen, that Mary, even at her young age, is a mature woman of faith.
That as she's journeying on, she's writing as the Spirit of God leads her, the lyrics and the words to this song.
We don't know, but we know that what we gain in this is Mary's response to not only all that she had experienced since Gabriel came to her,
but this song that she sings is all that Mary has experienced in her young life as far as it comes to her relationship with the Lord.
In Mary's testimony and song, it's not just one that's writing about God's faithfulness over the last 10 to 14 days.
It's about the faithfulness of God for all of eternity, for all of existence, for all that Mary would have ever known.
And so we want to look at her song and understand these lyrics and the power of what they're communicating.
Look back at verse 46 and 47.
Literally, Mary's song says from the very beginning that she desires to enlarge God.
She wants to make God larger, make God greater.
Now, she can't, but what it means is she wants to make him known.
My soul magnifies the Lord.
Let me sing to, let me show you the greatness of God.
As if what you've seen before is hidden, but now it's under a microscope so that you can see.
My soul magnifies the Lord, she says, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.
Now, I can imagine while her spirit rejoices that her days have been a little bit stressful.
I don't think it's too far of a leap to say since Mary got that news almost two weeks ago
that there's been some sleepless nights.
There's been some anxious moments.
She trusts the Lord, yes, but it's the battle and the practicality of living that out in her obedience to God.
But what she says is, in spite of all of this, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.
Mary's desperation for who God is and her realization that she needs to be saved.
And what we see in this, and this is why I shared with you earlier, it's not just a song about God's faithfulness in the moment,
but it's a song about what Mary knows about God and the existence in her entire life.
And even going all the way back in the time in the life of her people, of God's faithfulness to Israel,
is what she declares.
And over the course of her song, she shares these things of where her joy can be found and why she would magnify him.
She sings of his might and his strength, that he's larger and stronger than anything in this world
and anything that you and I could imagine.
And in his power and his strength, though, she sings of and declares his mercy, his compassion, and his kindness toward all people.
She declares his holiness, that he is perfect, not like any other.
And in his perfection, that he is the helper.
That he's not just above, but he's in.
And he's in the battle, and he's with his people, and it's what he sees through.
And then her song, as she declares who God is, and I love this aspect of it.
Who, not thinking about this, Mary, who's just spoken to by an angel of the Lord,
says, but God also continues to speak.
And he has spoken to his people.
And when he speaks, not only does he make known, but by speaking, we see that he is knowable.
Right?
And it's what we find in God's word.
Not only does he speak so that he can make things known,
but God speaks so that he can be knowable.
So that we can see him and meet him and learn about him and be in relationship with him.
And all of these things is what God is for Mary.
But it's also for what God is for you and I as well.
I don't know the last few days, I don't know if you've noticed, it's been pretty foggy.
Last night, we went and had Christmas with my wife's family in Jackson, South Carolina.
And after we were done having Christmas with them,
Aaron and I had driven separately so we could do some different things afterwards.
And I started heading back to Lexington a little bit later and normally the drive takes me right
out an hour.
But right as I got into my car and started leaving Jackson, the storm came in.
And if you're wondering where that storm came from, it came from my Dodge Ram truck heading
down the interstate.
All right?
Because it landed on me and stayed on me from Jackson through Lexington.
Right?
And it got me here, all right?
And it took me, a drive that would normally take me an hour, it took me an hour and a half.
Because of the fog and because of the rain, it felt like you could barely see in front of
your, the hood of my truck as I was making my way down the interstate.
And we had a lot of days like this where we walk out and that's what we see.
But spiritually speaking, for so many of us, that's the way things feel right now.
And I can imagine for Mary, that thing seemed a little foggy, even though she had faith.
That thing seemed a little bit complicated because she could only see so far.
But in this song for, for you, as you walk through these seasons, in the song for me, as I walk
through my seasons, in the song for Mary, we realize that we can trust God beyond what
we can see, that we can trust God beyond what we can understand because he is mighty and
he is strong and he is filled with mercy and love and that he and he alone is holy and that
he loves us and he steps in with us and he speaks to us and we know him.
And so the root, the basis of this song is the depth out of who Mary is as she knows him.
But not only does Mary respond, but Mary is going to respond by, by singing about, we're
going to call kingdom blessing, kingdom blessing.
Mary says in this song that she is blessed.
Elizabeth has previously said that she is blessed.
Gabriel, the angel, when he comes to her, says that she is blessed.
And you and I, as followers of Jesus Christ, standing on this side of the birth of Christ,
would look at Mary and say, yes, Mary, the mother of Jesus, she was blessed.
But the question I have for you this morning is how?
How?
Mary doesn't get rich because of this.
Mary isn't freed from the struggles of pregnancy or childbirth.
In life, she will lose her husband and she will watch her very son be betrayed, beaten, tried, and executed.
So how was Mary blessed?
How many of us want to sign up for that?
To live the life that she would have of struggle?
To live the life that she would have of suffering?
To live the life that she would have of loss?
But we say that she's blessed.
So how was she blessed?
Look at verse 50.
She says, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
Mary's going to give us three opportunities in this song that she sings where she talks about kingdom blessing.
Of what it means to be blessed as a follower of Christ.
Of what Jesus does for us in our relationship with him.
Of what it means to be blessed in our faith.
And these are what we begin to see.
And the first thing she says is, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
And so we are blessed with mercy.
You and I, as followers of Jesus Christ, we live in God's compassion and God's kindness.
And God gives this to us from the words of Mary, from the words of scripture.
This happens when we fear him.
Fear him.
And it doesn't seem that blessing comes from fear, does it?
That's not what logic teaches us.
That's not what the world teaches us.
But the fear of God is not what we think of when you and I think of fear.
When you and I think of fear, we think of terror.
But when the fear of God is discussed, it's the awe and reverence of God.
So what does it mean to fear God?
What does it mean to be in awe of God?
Two things that I think we can draw from this passage of scripture is this.
Number one, to fear the Lord means to recognize his greatness.
To recognize his greatness.
Now, I'm a basketball guy.
I don't know if anybody else is a basketball guy, but I'm a basketball guy.
I love basketball.
I love the NBA.
I love the NBA.
I know I'm definitely in a minority of people in love in the NBA, but I love the NBA.
But an argument that exists from time to time within the NBA is, who is greater, Michael
Jordan or LeBron James?
And my statement to that is simply this.
You're asking the wrong question.
Is it Michael Jordan?
Is it Magic Johnson?
Is it Larry Bird?
I like, well, LeBron's not even in the conversation.
But we want to pick and choose and bring people in.
When we talk about, hey, what's the greatest restaurant that you've ever been to?
Well, you can pick this restaurant, and you can pick this restaurant.
What's the greatest song that you've ever heard?
You can pick this song, and you can pick this song.
But when it comes to the greatness of God, there's no one that should even be in the breath.
Because it's who he is.
And that his greatness, we're struck in awe, because there is none like him.
And it means to stand in the awe.
We've never seen, we've never experienced, nor ever we will, anything greater than God.
But the second that fear or awe should set within us is our smallness.
We pale in comparison when it comes to the things of God.
And what the Bible would define that out for us is humility.
The humility as we approach him, then humility as we come to him.
Just as Mary talks about kingdom blessing in this song,
Jesus does the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount.
And there in Matthew 5, 5, he says this,
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Jesus has got a group of his followers, a group of people who are curious that have come up to him.
And he gathers on the side of this mountain, the side of this hill,
and he's going to draw them to, and he's going to explain the kingdom of God.
And he begins by talking about in the Beatitudes of what it means to be blessed.
And he speaks to more than we're just going to look at this morning,
but everything that he says is countercultural to where they are.
Everything that Mary is declaring is countercultural to where she is,
and is countercultural to where we find ourselves today.
But the truths of both ring out in one another.
Jesus says, Blessed are the meek, not the strong, for they shall inherit the earth.
To fear God and to be meek are very similar
because they both recognize who we are in light of the gospel, right?
Who we are in light of the gospel.
Desperate sinners who need to be saved,
who've done nothing to earn or deserve,
but it is only in the goodness of God.
And he is great, and we are not, is what we find.
Mary continues on in her song.
Look down at verse 51.
She says, He has shown strength with his arm.
And then begins to talk about the difference in the blessing,
the difference in the kingdom.
She says, He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts, right?
Verse 52.
He has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate.
Exalted those who the world thinks less of.
Exalted of those who we would never think.
We would think the proud because of what they know,
of what they've done, of what they've accomplished.
We would think of the mighty because they have their thrones
and all that they've worked toward,
all that's been passed on to them,
all that comes from their family name.
But Mary says, no, no, no, no.
He's exalted those of humble estates.
God brings down the powerful and exalts those who are not.
And what we begin to see throughout the Christmas story,
what we see throughout Scripture,
is the men and women of God chooses.
And the question is, why does God choose who he chooses?
You ever looked at Scripture?
I heard a pastor say this this week,
and I love this three-word phrase.
He said this, God chooses afterthoughts.
God chooses afterthoughts.
God chooses the last person picked for the dodgeball team,
or maybe the person not picked at all.
God picks the person that you never knew of,
that you didn't have,
but Scripture is filled with those chosen by him.
We could stay in here from now until Christmas,
recounting those,
but I just want to draw a few of them
to your mind real quick this morning.
Rahab,
a woman in the lineage of Jesus,
who was used in a powerful way by God
to save the Israelites
and help them overtake the pagan city of Jericho.
She was an afterthought.
She was a prostitute.
David,
King David,
Warrior David,
Musician David,
of all the things that we think of
with David and Goliath.
David described in Scripture
after a man after God's own heart.
But when the prophet Samuel
came to his home,
he talked to his dad, Jesse.
And when Samuel would show up,
it was the job of the prophet
to let the people know
who the next king would be.
And so Jesse sends for all of his sons to come.
Samuel's like,
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
I thought I asked for all your sons.
Well, oh man, nope.
Hold on, I'm sorry.
David.
Go get David.
Right?
A man so insignificant,
his own father left him out.
Moses.
Moses.
80 years old
when God called him
to lead his people
from Egypt
and then he led them
for 40 years.
Do the math.
Right?
120 years.
Moses,
a man on the run
because of murder.
But yet,
it's who God chose.
Paul,
the greatest missionary
and church planner,
wrote most of the New Testament
but also executed
before he was saved
many Christians
who professed their faith in Christ.
The afterthoughts.
We see the story of Christmas.
Mary,
the nobody girl
from a nobody town.
Joseph,
who she was betrothed
to be her husband.
A nobody man
from a nobody town.
And then on the night
that Christ was born,
the angels
didn't appear
to the kings and queens
and to the rulers
of the region
but instead
appeared to shepherds,
outcasts,
many of them thieves
in the only job
they could now have.
And gave them
the message
of who Christ is.
God exalting
those
from the lowly
estate.
All the time
God
chooses
those
whom the world
would have passed by
because they're not
deserving.
Because they haven't
earned it.
Because it's not
who you would choose
or who I would choose
but it says
so much
about the gospel.
Jesus
in the sermon
on the mount
Matthew 5
3
says blessed
are the poor
in spirit
for theirs
is the kingdom
of heaven.
You know what it means
to be poor
in spirit?
What it means
to be poor
in spirit
is to recognize
that we bring
nothing to the table.
That we bring
nothing worthy.
And so within
that creates
for us
a desperation.
And the Christmas
story
is filled
with ease.
The last thing
that we see
in these verses
of kingdom blessing
verse 53
and he has filled
the hungry
with good things
and the rich
he has sent
away
empty.
I told you guys
that we started
the Christmas celebration
with my in-laws
yesterday
which means
we ate food.
And we ate
a lot
a lot
of food.
I would tell you
how many plates
of food
that I ate
but I don't want
to have to confess
that in front
of everybody.
But I will say
that I came home
weighing five pounds
more than I did
previously.
Okay?
So got some work
to do.
Got some work
to do.
And I ate
yesterday
so much
over and over.
I walked in
and my mother-in-law
had appetizers
set out on the island
and said
but don't eat too much
because lunch
is coming.
I looked at her
and said
challenge accepted.
right?
I got this.
Don't worry
about me.
But I ate
and ate
and ate
and ate
and ate
and ate.
I passed
being full
about 30 minutes
into eating
and kept on
right?
But you know
what happened
this morning?
I woke up
hungry.
I did.
I didn't go
to bed hungry
but this morning
I woke up
hungry.
And you know
what will happen
today?
I'll eat
not as much
as yesterday
and you know
what will happen
tomorrow?
I'll wake
up hungry
and I will
do all
that I can
do within
the course
of my day
to make sure
that I'm
satisfied
only to find
out the next
day that I'm
no longer
satisfied.
And this is what
Mary's talking
about.
For he filled
the hungry
those who
hunger for him
with the good
things
but the rich
those who can
feed themselves
themselves
they sent
away.
You know
there's two
interesting
books in the
Old Testament
that to read
through them
takes some
time.
To study
them takes
some time.
There's a lot
that's there
that are
often times
difficult to
read.
It's the
book of
Job and
the book
of Ecclesiastes.
And the
book of
Job and
the book
of Ecclesiastes
both speak
to the truth
that we find
in verse
53.
In the book
of Job
Job loses
everything
and in
losing
everything
finds out
what that
God is
everything.
And in
Ecclesiastes
Solomon
gains
everything
everything
you and
I could
possibly
imagine
and then
more.
And what
is his
conclusion?
That it's
all useless
apart from
knowing God
because he
has filled
the hungry
with good
things and
the rich
he has
sent away
empty.
Jesus
says
blessed are
those who
hunger and
thirst for
righteousness
for they
shall be
satisfied.
Looks out
at a group
of broken
and hurting
people.
People that
would hunger
for money
that would
hunger for
power
that would
hunger for
influence
just like
many today.
He says
you want to
be satisfied
then hunger
for
righteousness.
So how
do we
gain
righteousness?
Well we
don't earn
it.
We don't
deserve it.
But instead
it is the
gift of
God through
the work
and life
and the
person
of Jesus
Christ.
And scripture
says blessed
are those
who hunger
and thirst
for him.
And then
lastly this
little girl
in her song
we'll close
on this.
She talks
about the
future glory.
For he
has looked
on the
humble estate
of his
servant.
In verse
48.
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.
Mary looks
and says
from now
on
moving
forward
here's
where my
blessing
will lie
and in
that
all
generations
will
call
me
blessed.
For you
and I
right now
so many
times
in these
opportunities
we get
stuck
in the
moment.
We can't
see past
today.
We can't
see past
right now.
We can't
look into
the future
but the
hope of
the gospel
is not
always found
in the
right now
but is
found in
the future
of glory
that's
promised
us.
It's
hard to
see that
in the
brokenness
that we
experience.
It's
hard to
see that
in the
fallen
and the
brokenness
of the
world
in which
we live.
The Bible
reminds us
that right
now is
not the
fulfillment
of that.
If it
was then
we'd be
okay with
it always
being here.
We'd be
okay with
what's
right now
but the
Bible
teaches us
that God
is using
all these
things in
our world
to build
up with
inside of
us a
particular
hunger
that hungers
for something
that's not
of today.
That hungers
for something
that can't
be purchased.
That hungers
for something
that can't
be fixed
right now.
It's a
future glory.
It's what
we long
for.
And I
intentionally
do not
have these
words on
the screen
because I
just want
you to
listen to
them.
But if you
want to go
back and
read Romans
8 starting
in verse
18.
Paul writes
and he
says,
for I
consider
that the
sufferings
of this
present
time
are not
worth
comparing
with the
glory
that is
to be
revealed
to us.
For the
creation
waits with
eager longing
for the
revealing
of the
sons of
God.
For the
creation
was subjected
to futility
not willingly
but because of
him who
subjected it
in hope
that creation
itself
will be set
free from
its bondage
to corruption
and obtain
the freedom
of the glory
of the
children of
God.
For we
know that
the whole
creation
has been
groaning
together in
the pains
of childbirth
until now.
And not
only the
creation
but we
ourselves
who have
the first
fruits
of the
spirit
grown
inwardly
as we
wait
eagerly
for adoption
as sons
the
redemptions
of our
body.
For in
this hope
we are
saved.
Belonging.
And as
you're going
through and
experiencing
the brokenness
of this
world,
of all
that is
busted,
of all
that is
painful,
of all
that hurts,
of all
that brings
tears,
know in
the midst
of the
struggle
that God
isn't
wasting it,
that God
is using
it,
that God
is working
in it.
And in
that where
we don't
know what
happened on
the other
end of it
and the
other end
of it
in the
immediate
might not
be good,
what God
is doing
is he
is creating
in us
something
special
that causes
us to
long for
a future
that we
see in
Revelation
where all
of this
is gone
and it's
just him
for eternity.
And it's
what God
uses.
And so
a little
young
teenage
virgin
girl
can stand
in her
relative's
home
knowing
the
shame
that
others
will
cast
at her,
knowing
the
struggles
that she
will face,
knowing
what will
lay out
in front
of her.
But
honestly,
in most
of what
her life
will carry,
she's clueless.
she's clueless.
And she
doesn't know
how it's
all going
to pan
out.
She doesn't
know all
of the
pain that's
going to
come.
But she
can look
at that
and place
her hope,
not in the
earthly
circumstances,
but in the
hope of
Christ
and the
future glory
that awaits.
Do you
have hope?
Not that
tomorrow will
be better.
Not that
this afternoon
will be
better.
But do we
have hope
in him
and in
him alone?
Would you
pray with
me?
Lord,
we thank
you for
the song
of Mary.
Lord,
I don't
know how
your spirit
worked in
her in the
moment to
declare the
truths that
were there.
Lord,
but I
thank you
that from
your humble
servant,
your obedient
servant,
you spoke
words of
encouragement,
of
obedience,
of mercy,
and of
hope that
rang true as
they came
out of her
mouth and
they ring
true today.
Lord,
today in
spite of
what all
this world
brings.
But Lord,
may we
find comfort
in the
mightiness
of your
hand and
the strength
of your
will.
Lord,
as the
world
throws
accusations,
as we
feel the
arrows
that seem
to consume
us and
surround us,
are we
reminded of
your mercy,
of your
compassion,
and of
your
kindness
for us
or for
those who
fear you?
Or can
our joy
be found
and our
hope be
secured
not because
we're
perfect,
not because
the day is
perfect,
our faith
is found
in you
and in
your
holiness.
And there's
no other
like you.
Or can we
look at the
situations and
the struggles
of our life
that we
face?
Or can we
look back
in what
you've
done and
see what
you did
and what
you're
continuing
to do
through the
battles that
we face?
Lord,
where we
can't see
past the
fog,
we don't
know what's
happening,
we don't
know where
we're even
wondering where
you are and
what you're
doing,
Lord,
but could
you just
remind us
that what
we need
in those
moments is
not knowledge,
is not
answers,
but is faith
to hope
in you.
That you
will not
leave us
or forsake
us.
And Lord,
can we
thank you
that you
speak to
us,
or not
with an
angel that
appears in
our home,
but with
your very
word of
God.
And through
that,
Lord,
we can
know you
and we
can take
it to
make you
known.
Lord,
my prayer
for us
is that we
would reflect
the song
that Mary
sang,
that our
soul magnifies
you,
and that
our spirit
rejoices in
our God,
our Savior.
And it's in
Jesus' name we
pray.
Amen.
Would you
stand as we
worship him?
thanks again for
listening to the
Willow Ridge
Church weekly
podcast.
We hope that you
enjoyed listening to
this week's message.
If you'd like to
learn more about
who we are or
explore additional
resources,
visit us online
at www.willowridgechurch.com
or by searching
for Willow Ridge
Church on
Facebook and
Instagram.