Skip to content Rejoicing in Faith: Lessons from Mary’s Song || Pastor Adam Mesa Dec 1 · 46 min ...more
Rejoicing in Faith: Lessons from Mary’s Song || Pastor Adam Mesa
December 1, 2024 · 46 min
Series Patria Sermons December 1, 2024 · 46 min · Patria Sermons
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Adam Mesa is Lead Pastor of Patria Church and speaks to a congregation of 12,000 about how the gospel of Jesus Christ brings purpose to every life. Patria
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The True Meaning of Christmas 0:00 So good to see y'all. I'll say 1 thing when it comes to our Christmas services coming up. We're going to have a series all month long, really leaning into the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus. But I've heard for0:12 30 years my dad say this every single Christmas season, and I'll say it to you. If there's a service that's important to go to this month, come on Christmas Eve, either at 3 or 6 PM. Pick a service to come.0:23 And what my dad has said for 30 years is remember that day is not your birthday. Okay? It's great to be with family. It's great to be with friends. But remember, the point of Christmas is not to0:35 celebrate family and friends, it's to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Now, you could do that with family and friends, but the highest priority is to honor our Savior who was born. And so, if you're0:47 traveling somewhere for Christmas Eve, that's fine. But if you're in the area, make sure it's the priority to worship the King of Kings on Christmas time. So join us either that Sunday or Christmas Eve, but0:59 we can't wait to see you as we continually honor the Lord, during this season, which we'll talk about during this month. So, if you have your Bible with you, we'll jump into the message today, and we're going to find1:10 ourselves at first in Luke chapter 19. So, if you have a Bible with you, or you simply want to follow along, we'll have it up on the screens. But as you find it, just hold your place there. We'll get to there in just a1:22 few moments. But only recently, about a couple weeks ago, I didn't have an answer for something. I was left a little speechless, which for me, who's normally a little bit sarcastic and a little bit1:34 snarky, I normally have a response to everything. And about 3 weeks ago, my youngest son Thomas, my 3 year old, so I have 2 sons, Matthias and Thomas. My youngest, Thomas, who that's his1:46 personality built into a box right there in that picture. That's him all day long. I'm sitting in a corner. I have a little nook in in in my house where I study and stuff like that. And Ashley's kind of1:58 just a little ways away from me in the living room watching TV. And Matthias, my oldest, is right next to me kind of playing on his iPad. And Thomas walks up to me, very sincere and very2:09 serious. And he looks at me and he says, daddy, I have a question. I said, yeah, son. What's your question? And he just stands there with his hands in his pockets and he goes, is Santa real?2:23 And I thought, oh man. Okay. Here's what you got to know about our family. We we don't really teach Santa at our house. So, he's on movies and, you know, like when we go to Disneyland,2:35 he's a character. But but for us, we just kind of treat Santa like Spiderman or Superman. It's just like kind of more of a pretend character. But like, on Christmas, we don't give presents on behalf of Santa2:47 to our kids. And it's not because we're Christian and it's very religious for us. It's simply because I don't want an old white fat man with a beard getting credit for what I spent money on to give my kids.2:58 Like that's, you know, like, that is going to say from mom and dad. No imaginary person came and gave you this gift. Mom and dad gave you this gift, all right? And, and3:10 Jesus supplied the blessings for mom and dad. So, that's the only reason why we do it. It's not because we're, oh, Santa. Or not in this house. No, no, no, no. Dad's getting credit. Mom's getting credit. That's really3:20 what it is. But also, there is a truth that, for us, just in our house, and it's not right, wrong, or different, but Christmas is really important to us and and we really want, as best as possible, to focus on3:32 Jesus as much as we can. Because it is very easy to get mixed up in the Christmas hype, because we do a lot of fun things with our kids. We go on drives to look at Christmas lights. We we go to the Christmas tree3:44 farm. So, we do a lot of things that are really not fully Jesus focused. And so, on Christmas day, even though we're giving our boys gifts, you know, as a family, we we sing3:56 happy birthday to Jesus on Christmas day, and and and we give presents, but then we have a conversation about Jesus being the greatest present of all, and that's why we give presents. So, that's really our focus. So, it4:07 caught me off guard that Thomas would even ask if he's real, because we don't even talk about him. Which means, either through, you know, what he has seen on TV, in a movie, or even his conversation with4:19 classmates in school, for some reason, either someone said he wasn't real and it got him to ask the question, or whatever it was. And so, if you have kids, in a few moments you can muffle their ears depending on what you4:30 have or haven't told them. That's why we have Patriot Kids. So none of our teachers there will ever break that news to them, I don't think. That'll be a mom and dad decision, you know. So he4:42 says or he says it's Santa Rosa, so I have a decision to make. Either I could be like, do you want him to be real? You know, and we, yeah, let's make believe. Or I could or I could say, okay, well, I didn't4:54 know if I told him no, like is he gonna break out in tears? Like what's gonna happen? And so, I look at Thomas and I, and I just say, and so I make the decision as a dad. You just, you're going to get, you're going to5:05 grow up fast right now at 3. We're going to break the news to you. And I look over at Matthias, who's 6, and he's mouthing to me, no he's not. He's not.5:17 So, I'm like, I think I found the culprit who told him Santa's not real. And, I don't even remember having that conversation with Matthias, but somehow he he just, and he's telling me like,5:29 no, just break it to him. Just tell him no. Just tell him no. So I just told Thomas, I said, Thomas, we, Santa is is make believe, just like Spiderman, and just like5:41 Superman, and, but, and then I tell him, but he's based off of a real person called Saint Nicholas. And Saint Nicholas was a great Christian man who gave5:53 gifts to children who were impoverished, and that's how Santa was created. So he was a real person, but the Santa we see in movies, he's like the characters, all the other characters we see in movies. And so he just6:04 looks at me and he's like, okay. And I go, but you can you can make believe that he's real. You know, we can pretend just like you, because they wear costumes every day. They love to change into little costumes and dress6:16 into characters. And I'm like, we could pretend. And he's like, okay. And then I said, you want to know who is real though? And then Matthias jumps in and he's like, Jesus. And I'm looking at him6:28 and I'm like, you you may go somewhere in life, Matthias. You you speak in truth at 6. No, he's not real. And then you know the answer. Good job. So So he says Jesus. And then what we did is I6:40 began as best as I could do a 3 year old, have a conversation on what's the difference between pretend and what is real. That Jesus is real, and Christmas is real for us because6:51 Jesus was born, but all these other characters that we see, that Frosty the Snowman and the reindeers, they may be based off of real things in life, but they're fun7:03 pretend things to partake in. Now, it's important for us to recognize that whether you you want to break that to your children, have that conversation at 3 years old or 15 years old, you7:15 know, I've met 10 year olds who still believed in sin, and that's okay. But at whatever point you want to have that conversation, it is important though to also bring in the conversation about the reality of7:27 who Jesus is. Because Christmas is a very easy time to really catapult everything into make believe. Everything into fun. We convince ourselves we need to be joyful and7:39 cheerful, and then December 20 sixth comes along, and then we go, we don't need to be that anymore. But if you recognize who Jesus really is, and that he was really born, and7:50 he really came to give us hope, he really came to give us peace, and he really came to give us joy, that's something even an adult can learn today. Not just a child can learn. And so over the next couple weeks,8:03 as we really jump into the Christmas stories, we're going to realize that not only is this important for us as adults, it's important to teach the next generation the value of who Jesus8:14 is. Not the value of a season, and not particularly even the value of a date. It's the value of the time that we recognize who Jesus is in our life, and that he was born to8:26 save us. And so if you have your finger in your Bible at Luke chapter 19, I'm just going to read a few verses with us today. And if you'd like to stand for the honor of reading God's word, this is where we'll find8:37 ourselves today. And here's what we're going to do over the next couple weeks, is we're going to read this passage at the beginning of the message every single week leading up till Christmas. Because this is important.8:49 This is just the week of Jesus' last day of week of ministry. So this, in Luke 19, this isn't a Christmas story verse. This is actually a verse that Jesus is headed to Jerusalem, that by the9:01 end of the week he would be put to death on the cross. But there's value in his words that we're going to see all throughout this Christmas season. There's values of him, there's values of us, and there's values of his9:13 desire for us. And so here's what it says. This is a moment he's going to enter Jerusalem and Jesus says this. Go into the village in front of you. Where on entering you will find a colt tied,Faith and Reflection: Lessons from Mary 9:25 which is an unbridled donkey, a colt tied on which no 1 has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you why are you untying it, you shall say9:37 this, the Lord has need of it. I want you to repeat that with me. The Lord has need of it. Let's do it 1 more time. The Lord9:49 has need of me. Of me. There you go. You're catching it. So those who were sent away and found it just as he had told them, and as they were untying the colt, its10:00 owner said, why are you untying the colt? Why are you touching my donkey? And they said, the Lord has need of it. And10:12 so presumably, the person said, oh, it's for Jesus. Take it. And they brought it to Jesus and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks10:24 on the road. As he was drawing near, already on the way down to Mount Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen.10:36 Saying, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in Heaven and in glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher,10:48 rebuke your disciples. Because they were praising Jesus. And he answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. You11:00 may be seated. You see, what happens in this moment is since the birth of Jesus 33 years prior, all of history and all of11:12 the moments of history has culminated to the moment where Jesus is going to enter Jerusalem. And so from His very birth till now, everything has anticipated11:24 for this moment. What many people were anticipating is that Jesus, in that moment, was going to take an earthly throne. But what He actually was going to do is a very human thing, which was sacrifice11:36 his life. Give his life up. Die for you and I. The reality was is in his sacrifice, he would bring us into perfect relationship with the God the Father. So11:47 Jesus was born to die. And in this moment, the disciples, not fully recognizing what Jesus was going to do on their behalf, start to worship him and praise him. And the Pharisees11:59 who are nearby judging, scoffing, looking awkwardly, going to this place to tell Jesus to say, hey, tell your disciples to stop worshiping you. Jesus says, listen. If12:11 humanity doesn't praise me, then God's creation, the very stones will erupt with praise if humanity won't do this.12:23 And so the beauty of a Christmas season is you and I have an opportunity to give God a sound of praise in our life. And here's the reality. If you and I don't, creation will do it for12:35 you. But God's call is for you and I. And God uses objects all throughout the Scriptures, and we'll see in the coming weeks that God uses12:46 things left and right. Whether it be a manger of stone, whether it be, incense, whether it be trees, whether it be any of those things. God will use all of those things to his12:58 glory. But more than that, did you know that God wants to use you for His glory? You know, He wants to use you and I for His glory. How do we know that? Well, we see that. If13:10 you have your Bible you want to see, we're going to look at Mary today a little bit. In Luke chapter 1 starting in verse 46, if you're taking notes, there's some things Mary teaches us during the Christmas season13:21 that's valuable for you and I. The first thing is Mary teaches us how important it is to rejoice during the Christmas season. Rejoice always. But in this season, we can really rejoice13:34 that Jesus was born for you and I. And she teaches us what that looks like. What happens is for the Virgin Mary, is the angel of Lord peers to Mary and tells her that she's going to13:46 give birth to a son by the power of God. A miracle, truly. She's a virgin. She is engaged to a man named Joseph. And she has never seen a man before in that13:58 way. And he says, you are going to bear a child. He's going to be the Savior of the world. Emmanuel, God with us. And how does Mary respond? Well, it, she responds in a song. It's called14:10 Mary's song. And the first thing she does is she rejoices at the words of what God is going to do. Look at this. And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit14:22 rejoices in God my Savior. What happens when God sends you on some type of journey? What happens if God14:34 asks you to do something in your life? I think most of us, we would all agree, well, it probably was easy for Mary, because an angel stood before her14:46 and told her this is the mission that God is going to send you on. And most of us, if we look at this story, we don't relate to that story because we say hey, I've never had an angel visit me14:58 like that before. And if an angel visited me in that way, life would probably be easier for me. Or trusting God would be easier for me. There have been times in15:10 my own life where I've had to make decisions, and I've thought to myself God, if you just send a message or a messenger, then I'll know and the decision will be easier, or15:22 my faith will be easier to trust you. We think that way all the time. And so, we look at Mary's story and we say, so nice of Mary. She, she gets to15:33 talk to someone from Heaven, and of course she's going to say no. Who's going to tell an angel no? But God's never sent an angel to me, so therefore15:45 it's, it's it's much more acceptable that I tell him no, in areas of my life. Well if you look at a view versus prior, what happens is is Mary has a15:57 cousin named Elizabeth, and Elizabeth has a husband named Zechariah. And Zechariah is a priest. And an angel, just a few verses, it's still in Luke chapter 1, which we'll16:09 see an angel appears, and he says you and your wife, you've been believing God for a child your whole life. And he's going to finally supply you that child. You're going to name16:21 him John, which all throughout the Gospels we know him as John the Baptist. He becomes a prophet that paves the way for Jesus to rise. And he goes out into the rivers, and he starts baptizing Israel, and16:33 he calls Israel to repentance, and he's a bold man of God. And he says, you and your wife, you're going to get that child you've been believing God for. It's an angel16:44 telling Zechariah, that very thing that you have been hoping God to supply your needs for decades, He's going to do it. And not only that, He's gonna16:56 use your son greatly. Well, let's look. How does Zechariah respond? Look at this. Here's the first thing that happens. Luke chapter 1 verse 9, verse 12. And so we17:08 read verse 46, now we're here in verse 12 ahead. And it says, and Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him. And the angel said to him, do17:20 not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and17:32 gladness, and many others will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's17:44 womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before them in spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,17:56 and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. Hallelujah. And Zechariah said to the angel, yippee. Thank you.18:08 No. And Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? You're you're an angel. What proof do I have that this is going to happen? And he says this,18:21 for I'm an old man and my wife is advanced in years. Like, he's a smart man. He calls himself old and he calls his wife advanced. That's how you know he's still a man of God. He18:33 had the right language. An angel goes to Zechariah. You're going to give birth to a son you've been dreaming about. His response18:44 is prove it. Me and my wife are old. It's not possible for us to. This is a priest. This is a man who knows the story of Abraham and Sarah like the back18:56 of his hand. And an angel appears to him and says in your old age. Now, look at the parallel. An angel appears to Mary, who's anywhere between19:08 14 and 15 years old, who's a virgin, who's engaged to a man, who by then, just remember back then, for a woman19:20 to not be married and to be pregnant, I mean, that that that is just about the worst thing that can happen for a woman back then. Immediately outcasted from society. Immediately disowned19:32 by your family. Immediately cut off from anyone you love and care about. And what happens is the angel comes to Mary and says, you are a virgin. You've never been with a19:44 man. You're not even married. And God, by the power of His Holy Spirit is going to give you a child who will be fully God and fully man. And this child will be19:55 Immanuel, God with us, and he will rescue and redeem the world. And by doing that, if you say yes, your family's gonna cut you off, your friends are gonna20:07 cut you off, your buddy, everyone you know, your community is gonna cut you off. Everything you know and love will immediately outcast you. And Mary's response is20:20 my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices and my God within me. Zechariah, a priest who's been a Christian a20:32 very long, there was no Christian back then. He was a Jewish man, but a Christian for a very long time. He's been in church. He knows all the worship songs. He's seen God through and through. He's an elder. He's a20:43 deacon. He's on the prayer team. He's done it all. God comes before him and says, you're a little old, but God's gonna give you that child. And he goes, prove it.20:57 And we tend to think God, give me a sign and I'll trust you. God gave Zechariah a sign, and he still didn't trust. God's signs don't dictate your faith. Your faith21:09 in God dictates God's ability to meet you where you're at. Mary was full of faith. How do we know? Because point number 2, she tells us. Here's the next21:20 thing she does. The first thing she does is rejoice. And then the second thing she does is she begins to reflect This is a young girl. This is a 14 year old. This is a 15 year old. This is a21:32 16 year old. This is 1 of our teenagers over in Patriot Youth who has the ability to share divine truths about who God is. And here's what she says when she reflects.21:45 Speaking of God, she says, for he has looked on the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things21:56 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 in22:08 thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of the humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.22:21 Here's what she's saying. Because in their day, if God was going to choose a daughter of Israel to give birth to the son, we'd chosen a Pharisee's daughter.22:34 A strong religious leader. Would have chose maybe someone who was wealthy, who could actually run for office for this Jesus. And if Jesus is going to take over the throne, it's22:46 like modern day politics. You can't be, as much as you want to be a politician, if you ain't got money, you ain't being a politician. It's Jesus's day too. So if this man Jesus is going to run for22:58 office and be the next King of Israel, he's got to be born into a wealthy home. He's got to be born into a religious home. He's got to be born into a priest's home. He's23:10 got to be born into the favorite family of the community's home. No. He's born in the home of a young girl named Mary, who lives in a place called23:22 Nazareth, who was the ghetto of all ghettos of the cities of Israel. So this was not a, this was not like, oh there's that 1 wealthy family in Nazareth. It was like, no,23:34 nobody's wealthy in Nazareth. They're all working class. They all have no little to no means. Yeah. How do we know that? Because immediately she has to start to rely when her23:46 and Joseph have to run away. They have to rely on as many outside people as possible. That's why she goes and lives with Elizabeth and Zechariah. That's why they flee to Egypt when he's coming after Jesus. There isn't a23:57 strong community where they're at that can financially sustain covering and caring for them. And so God chooses a young girl. Why doesn't God choose already a24:09 married woman? That would look more better in the community, at least she's married. No, he chooses someone that the community knew had never been with a man before.24:22 And God chooses her, and what does she do? She immediately starts to reflect on how she got here. She starts to say, it must be because, man I just Look at24:34 this, she says in verse 52, He has brought down the mighty from the thrones and exalted those of humble state. He has filled the hungry with good things. So what she starts to reflect on, she says,24:46 I think God chose me because I'm hungry for Him. I'm not hungry for position. I'm not hungry for power. I'm not hungry for24:58 wealth. I'm not hungry for politics. She says, I'm just hungry for God. Hallelujah. And you see, when you're hungry for God, God can do a lot withShow more In this video 0:00 The True Meaning of Christmas9:24 Faith and Reflection: Lessons from Mary25:05 Trusting God's Timing40:58 A Call to Salvation and Service
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