December 15, 2019
Luke 1:39-56
“Christmas Joy”

“What Can I Bring Him?”
• Zechariah
• Mary and Joseph
• Us?
• Elizabeth and Mary…

Joy In The Christmas Story
“He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth…” (Luke 1:14)

“As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44)

“and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47)

“heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy” (Luke 1:58)

But the angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10)

Joy Is Shared
• Can we imagine joy not being shared?

Joy Erupts In A Response
• Can we imagine joy that does not lead to a response?

“As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44)

• He “leaped”! He danced?!??!

• NIV Study Bible: “John leaping in his mother womb shows that he recognized that he is in the presence of someone greater than himself—Jesus is not simply a prophet”

My Soul Magnifies The Lord—Joy Is Rooted In Something / Someone Outside Of Us
• Through her song Mary is focusing attention on what God has done

• “My soul magnifies” the Lord”
o I want to make Him great
o Conspicuous = visible, noticeable, etc

“I’m bursting with God-news;
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God” (Luke 1:46, The Message)

• As one New Testament scholar has noted: the subject of all the verbs is God Himself

“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for God has been:
…mindful
…done great things for me—
…God’s name is holy
…has performed mighty deeds with his arm
…has lifted up the humble
…has helped his servant Israel
…has remembered to be merciful


Blue Christmas

“Sorrowful, Yet Always Rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10)

 

Magnificat (Holy is His Name)
By John Michael Talbot

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
And my spirit exalts in God my Saviour
For He has looked with mercy on my lowliness
And so my name will be forever exalted
For the mighty God has done great things for me
And His mercy will reach from age to age

And holy, holy, holy is His name (2x)


Joy
• We are invited into the Christmas joy:

1. God sent Jesus to save us because cannot save ourselves
2. God has sent Jesus to defeat all our enemies—the Evil One, Death, Sin
3. God has sent Jesus for the poor, powerless and weak
4. God send Jesus not so that we would, first of all, serve Jesus but Jesus was sent to serve me (Mark 10:45)
5. God send His Son into the world not because he hated the world but because He loved the world (John 3:16)
6. God has sent His Son into the world to show us a pattern of how to live a truly human life

 

Responding with joy…