DEVOTION: Luke 1:39-56
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be[a] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."
Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat
46 And Mary said,
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever."
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
(Spoiler alert: This is a bit of the sermon for this weekend.)
Why do you magnify something? You magnify it to make it bigger so you can see it better, don't you? Why then does Mary say, "My soul now magnifies the Lord"?
Mary, never wanted the spotlight. She never wanted people to praise her or to put her up on a pedestal. She was simply a woman whose soul magnified the Lord. She became less so Christ could become more. Here in this passage she is both overwhelmed with joy and maybe even a little bit of fear. She was going to give birth to God's Son. Can you imagine the thoughts and wonder that would be going through her head? That's why it says several times, "Mary kept all of these things and pondered them in her heart". She didn't go around boasting about it. She didn't really even let anyone know anything about it.
What about you? Does your soul magnify the Lord, or are you more prone to try to magnify yourself? When I think of this I think of certain politicians who, because of the nature of running for office, have to magnify themselves. Nothing could be more of a put off for me. I wish Ben Carson would and could be our president, but he is too quiet and hasn't magnified himself enough.
Our souls should magnify the Lord, not ourselves. When people see our hear us, they should hear or see Jesus. The biggest compliment I get is when little kids call me Jesus, because that means the He is what they hear and see from me.
Plan on magnifying Jesus today! In your dealings with people, share Jesus. Give a simple "Peace be with you" or "Jesus loves you" or even just "A blessed Christmas" to everyone you meet.
Prayer: Lord, make my soul magnify you today and every day. Amen.
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CALENDAR:
Thurs- GARMS FAMILY CONCERT 6pm!!
Fri- Bible Study at Hendershot's 7pm
Sat- Men's Breakfast 8am; Sunday school Christmas program practice 9-11; Worship 5
Sun- Worship 8:30; Sunday school 9:45; Sunday School Christmas Program 11am
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- Sarah Cluver ; 11- Alaina Heitgerd
Ushers- Sun- Figura Family
Altar- Set Up- Cheri' Hofeldt; Clean up- Pam Linke
Elders- Sat- Randy Fischer; 8:30- Steve McDowell; 11- Charlie Figura
Greeters- 8:30- Lew and Dianne Feldkamp; 11- Marv and Molly Hendershot
Lay readers- Sat- Marcia Sevier 8:30- Sandra Perricone 11- Steve Robine
Sat. Pianist- Kathy Barrow
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Projectionists: Sat. Perricone 8:30- ???? , 11- ????
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YESTERDAY'S BIBLE QUIZ: Find a prophecy about Jesus in the book of Micah?
Biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage and some sort of Christmas treat.
If you'd like it to go to the DCE fund you need to mark it for that! Please make sure you mark the ENVELOPE clearly for the DCE PROGRAM!
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DO YOU HAVE A KROGER CARD? ENROLL IT IN THE COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM!!!
Register it online www.krogercommunityrewards.com and have it swiped each time you shop to earn money for Little Lambs.
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