Introduction
Hello church and welcome to week two of our Advent journey!
We pray these devotions have helped you to focus your heart and settle your mind on the Joy that is Christ’s coming! If you missed last week, that’s ok - you are here now! Onward!
Just a reminder, the Christmas Hymn Joy to the World is our chosen theme for this year’s advent season and our format for this devotional includes our week’s scripture, a short summary, a stanza from our carol, time for prayer, and wrapping up with a few closing thoughts. Our three audio devotions are designed for listening Friday to help you prepare for Sunday’s worship. And again on Monday and Wednesday as touch points to take the passage deeper.
We are so glad you are here!
Let’s begin with a brief pause to settle our thoughts and prepare our hearts so we can be refreshed with God’s word.
We pray these devotions have helped you to focus your heart and settle your mind on the Joy that is Christ’s coming! If you missed last week, that’s ok - you are here now! Onward!
Just a reminder, the Christmas Hymn Joy to the World is our chosen theme for this year’s advent season and our format for this devotional includes our week’s scripture, a short summary, a stanza from our carol, time for prayer, and wrapping up with a few closing thoughts. Our three audio devotions are designed for listening Friday to help you prepare for Sunday’s worship. And again on Monday and Wednesday as touch points to take the passage deeper.
We are so glad you are here!
Let’s begin with a brief pause to settle our thoughts and prepare our hearts so we can be refreshed with God’s word.
Opening Prayer
Sovereign Lord, thank you for arranging time to spend focused on You. Please open our hearts to receive Your word and the Peace You have for us today. Restore us with Your presence and rest us with Your peace, oh Lord.
Today's Scripture - Luke 1:26-56
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her.
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the LORD and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, For He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant, From now on all generations will call me blessed, For the Mighty One has done great things for me -- holy is His name. His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as He said to our fathers.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her.
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the LORD and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, For He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant, From now on all generations will call me blessed, For the Mighty One has done great things for me -- holy is His name. His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as He said to our fathers.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
God's word to us, a lamp for our feet, a light on our path. Thanks be to God.
Reflection
When Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” it was not a Pollyanna rejoicing. Mary’s soul would be pierced through often as she carried Jesus to term and during the following years as He walked this earth as the Son of God and Son of man. No, hers is a rejoicing that transcends --that exists outside of-- the glorious and beautiful, the pleasant and desirous gifts we have in abundance here on earth. It must. For only then can it also exist outside of the horrors, the destruction, the oppressive and corrupt kingdoms, the selfishness and the evil that seems in abundance here on earth too. If we are to employ the song of joy Mary did we must start in the same place -- with God our Savior. Even as the mother of Jesus, Mary was not without sin or the need of a Savior and she knew it!
We have the privilege of knowing the full extent of this salvation – that is the defeat of sin and the separation from God which Jesus won through His death and resurrection. If we are honest about our faith journey, we walk with the limp of many questions, confusions, and doubts. We don’t understand what God is, and seemingly is not, doing. We need a transcendent joy and peace. A peace that strengthens, a peace that perseveres, a peace that stills our doubts and quiets our fears. Calvary is the place that peace is found. A love that loves like that can be trusted. A victory like that can be counted on. An overcoming like that can be hoped for.
Let us be men and women who let a new song reign in our hearts. A new song of praise for the marvelous work of salvation that God’s steadfast love and faithfulness made possible. This is the song we need to sing to ourselves again and again and again on repeat. For He has been mindful of our plight and our pleas, of our distress and desperation. Such great things He has done to make a way for us to be His people, to know Him as Father, and to have victory over the power of sin in our lives. If that is all He ever does for us -- it is enough.
We have the privilege of knowing the full extent of this salvation – that is the defeat of sin and the separation from God which Jesus won through His death and resurrection. If we are honest about our faith journey, we walk with the limp of many questions, confusions, and doubts. We don’t understand what God is, and seemingly is not, doing. We need a transcendent joy and peace. A peace that strengthens, a peace that perseveres, a peace that stills our doubts and quiets our fears. Calvary is the place that peace is found. A love that loves like that can be trusted. A victory like that can be counted on. An overcoming like that can be hoped for.
Let us be men and women who let a new song reign in our hearts. A new song of praise for the marvelous work of salvation that God’s steadfast love and faithfulness made possible. This is the song we need to sing to ourselves again and again and again on repeat. For He has been mindful of our plight and our pleas, of our distress and desperation. Such great things He has done to make a way for us to be His people, to know Him as Father, and to have victory over the power of sin in our lives. If that is all He ever does for us -- it is enough.
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.
Let men their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.
Closing Prayer
As you go about your day, carry this short prayer with you:
Lord Jesus, I rejoice in Your salvation.
In my distress, Help me to remember that You reign.
In my distress, Help me to remember that You reign.
Take a few moments now to pray to God, our Savior and King.
Thank you for joining us for our Advent reading of Mary’s praise. For your further growth, and to prepare your heart for Sunday’s message, take time with the preparation questions found in this week’s Sermon Notes. (These are updated each week on Friday)
We will be back again on Monday to celebrate God and His character. Until then, may the Lord keep you, may He make His face shine upon you, and may He give you His peace.
We will be back again on Monday to celebrate God and His character. Until then, may the Lord keep you, may He make His face shine upon you, and may He give you His peace.
