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Alright well, I'm doing part two of the short series called the stable family and obviously that's a play on words but the Lord Jesus Christ was born to Mary and Joseph with was a stepdad I preached on Thursday night the stable family and I went through the story of Joseph and and he kind of Drifts off and and we don't really see much of them after the first few chapters of the book of Luke and in the first couple chapters of Matthew but I Proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that Joseph was a great man of God And tonight we're gonna cover Mary in the stable family So this is obviously a message for the family. It's a message for moms and for ladies But it's also these verses can be applied to men too. And so again don't think that this is just only for the ladies I'm definitely gonna be focusing on the ladies tonight and and so but hopefully you get a blessing out of this ladies and also men you can apply a lot of this to yourself and it's Definitely Mary was a great woman of God also and the Lord picked her to be the virgin that would bring forth Jesus Christ and and again, I mentioned this in my sermon earlier that Mary was not the mother of God because God doesn't have a mother All right, and hopefully that makes sense to you even though Jesus was God manifest in the flesh He was still a human being he was born as a human being and God became man and He picked Mary for that prophecy and there's a reason why he picked her because she was a great woman Mary was blessed Mary was strong and she was godly and She was a woman that had to see her son mocked beaten tortured spit on nailed to a cross and She is Known to a lot of people as you know, obviously just a great woman of God. She wasn't sinless Like the Roman Catholics want to teach she did have other children. She was not a perpetual virgin We're not Catholic. We're Baptist. We don't believe that junk But yet she still was a great woman of God and God picked her because she was a great woman of God so there's much we can learn about this type of Christian mother and just a Christian lady in general and This is how and she she can be a great example to us of how to raise your children and how to be a good wife so Number one tonight Mary was a woman of Profound faith number one tonight Mary was a woman of Profound faith and we're gonna be dealing mostly in Luke chapter 1. Sorry CJ about the 80 verses I didn't realize that at first but and we're gonna go into Luke chapter 2 and some other stuff So I gave him a present the other night and then I took it back from so Anyway, let's look at verse number 26. Mary was a profound a woman of profound faith verse 26 in Luke chapter 1 says and in the sixth month The angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin espoused To a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the Virgin's name was Mary And the angel came in unto her and said hail thou art highly favored. The Lord is with thee blessed art thou Among women so God had a pretty high, you know regard for her. He thought she was a great woman She's highly favored for sure and she was blessed among women Why because she was the one that was chosen to bring forth the Christ the Son of Living God and verse 29 says and when? She saw him. She was troubled at his scene And cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be and the angel said unto her fear Not Mary for thou hast found favor with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son And shall call his name Jesus He shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord shall give Unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom There shall be no end then Mary said unto the angel. How shall this be? Seeing I know not a man And the angel answered and said unto her the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God So she does ask a question here and I think that it's a legit question. She didn't quite understand What was gonna happen here how this could be because she's not, you know, because she was a virgin And verse 36 says and behold thy cousin Elizabeth She hath also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren for with God Nothing shall be impossible. Of course. We know that that was John the Baptist that she was with child with and The babe leaped in her in her womb and there were cousins So Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins. And anyway, it says and Mary said behold the handmaid of the Lord Be it unto me according to thy word and the angel departed from her So after hearing all these things, you know, I I think she was a woman of profound faith because She heard all these things and what she believed it. She believed what the angel was telling her and She believed everything that that she that the angel had said a Gabriel and Mary said behold the handmaid of the Lord What does that mean? Well, I believe Mary was saved already before the angel came to her and As evidence in her response where she said behold the handmaid of the Lord Not the mother of God by the way And so what does the handmaid of the Lord mean? Well, just a handmaid means a female servant someone that would work for somebody else And so she said I'm gonna be working for God. That's basically what she's saying here, right? Mary had the faith to believe what the angel told her to do and what did she say? I'm yours. I'm your servant Lord I'm your handmade Lord and I I think that unfortunately a lot of times There's people that wouldn't say that There's people out there that are saved that they're like, you know what? I know I'm saved, but I'm just gonna go do my own thing But Mary had faith and that faith caused her to have some action, you know I'm not saying you have to have action to be saved. That's not what I'm saying at all I'm just saying that her faith drove her to say, you know what? I'm the handmaid of the Lord I'm gonna do whatever it is that you say that you want me to do and so I think that You know if we get into that ladies if you get into that attitude where you're like, well, you know, I've done enough You know, I I'm tired of being this servant. I already served my husband already served my kids You know what God wants you to be his servant also And so just because you have that you feel like you're serving all the time. Look. Hey, I feel like I'm serving all the time, too right, so But Mary was a woman of profound faith and I think that that's evidence in the way and obviously Everything that she said you could I mean we read through the whole chapter and she said a lot of great things in there Which I don't have time to cover but I believe that Mary was saved I believe that she was a woman of faith and that her attitude was hey I'm gonna be a servant of the Lord and that's what we all should be like we should all be servants of the Lord and Ladies, I think that that's a great calling to be the servant of the Lord and hey just because men Like how do the preaching and we are mainly the ones in leadership doesn't mean that God doesn't want you working for him, too It's just not the same capacity. It's not the same thing. Say women can preach to All a lot of women preaching my church and whenever she wants but not at the pulpit I'm talking about preaching the gospel to people that come to visit when we go knock on doors hey, you can preach just make sure you're preaching what the Bible says and You're allowed to preach and and things like that just not in the pulpit. Okay, so Women can do lots of different things for God and Mary was she just said hey, yeah, go ahead Give me this baby, you know, that's that's a pretty I think that's a pretty big sacrifice, you know I think that's something that she did that what that showed her faith number two. Mary was a woman of prevailing obedience Mary was a woman of prevailing obedience Look again at verse number 38 says Mary And Mary said behold the hand of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word So not only was she have a servant's heart to do the things that God asked her to do But she said be it unto me according to thy word So she was a woman of prevailing obedience. Hey God said this is what I'm gonna do and she was like, alright go ahead be it according to your word and the angel departed from her So Mary was surprised at the situation she was in but after receiving all the instructions She accepted it and just said hey, let it happen I'm good with that And unfortunately, that's not the way people always are is it that's not the way all ladies respond That's not the way all Servants of God respond, right? They don't always say hey be it according to thy word A lot of times there's things in God's Word that we don't we look at and we're like, oh man, I don't know That's hard there's things that say like Your hand shall be the first upon the person that's a false prophet Even if your husband or wife or your kids or anything You know in the millennium if they blaspheme God like if some family blasphemes God and it's their wife They're gonna be thrust through with a dart. I mean, those are hard sayings And or your your kid if your kids are false prophet and they get what are they supposed to happen to them They're supposed to get stoned to death. Okay, how many people would be like, all right Well be it according to thy word Lord not a lot of people and So we're good at following the basic things that God tells us to do But when it's something hard people like well, I don't know about that You like carrying a baby that's not yours for nine months You Know that's that was a hard thing to ask for but she said, you know what be it according to my word She was married at this point And she probably knew that Joseph was gonna think something was weird going on. I would think that Anybody in their right mind would think that? But God came to Joseph also and told him what was going on and he believed and didn't question anything either So obviously God chose the right two people to raise the Lord Jesus Christ and Mary was a good a good lady She was she was obedient to God's Word and she had prevailing obedience So what's the application to us? Well It'd be nice to have women in 2019. They would say about the Bible be it unto me according to thy word Be it unto me You know, like there's some hard sayings in the Bible for women and there are things that they don't like to obey It's like it's almost like God just you know, there's specific things that he just said to them but Satan wants to turn you aside from those things and One of those things is being subject unto your own husbands Say a lot of women want to say, you know what? I just want a career. I don't want to raise my kids I don't want to take care of the kids. I don't want to guide the home and So they buck against their husband and say hey, I'm gonna go off back to nursing school and I'm gonna have it myself a career What are you gonna do about it? You're not supposed to divorce me. So blah blah blah And hopefully nobody in that in this church would have that attitude but the Bible says in Ephesians 5 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything Does it say some things or does it say everything? Does it say some things or everything? It says everything And a lot of even Christian women have a problem with this. Well, it's 50-50. No, it's not Where does the Bible say that? Show me the verse it shall be 50-50. It doesn't say that It said what does it say? It says that you're supposed to that your wives are supposed to be subject unto their own husbands Now I know there's some clowns that would say well every man is is every woman's boss, that's ridiculous Okay over and over again in the Bible. It says that you're supposed to be subject to your own husbands So tell me this when you say hey, I just want to go have my own career I just want to go do my own thing. I want to make my own money. It's gonna be 50-50 You're gonna do half the dishes. You're gonna do half the laundry. You're gonna do this you're gonna do that and you're a Christian woman That's wicked And God said to be said it says therefore as the church is subject to Christ So let the wives be subject to their own husbands in everything So the church is supposed to be something we're supposed to be subject to Christ. We're supposed to obey Christ We're supposed to be under his subjection So that means and Christ is saying in the same way that wives are supposed to be to their husbands And what do we call what do we call Jesus we call him the Lord so It's not that big of a deal to call your husband. I mean, I'm not saying you have to call your husband's Lord Okay, I'm just saying I'm gonna get to that later. But But people get upset about that you know the first time I ever heard somebody knock Hiles Anderson College is because There was this guy that went to the church that we were going to and he made his wife call him Lord So there's one thing to make your I mean but if he did is it wrong to for him to do that It sounds weird to us But hey, he's the husband. He's the man. He should if he that's what he if he wants to force his wife to call him Lord That's his prerogative and we might think it's weird But that's why they thought it was weird and when I heard that I was like I kind of sounds weird but You know, there's women in the Bible called their husband's Lord and Sarah was one of them and she was a great woman of faith And so, you know what what I see today is women not wanting to obey their husbands and they and and whatever You know when it comes to these hard sayings in the Bible that they don't like like hey, you're supposed to grow your hair long You know, I would flip out of Sherry cut her hair off. I would she knows it too There'd be some smoke in the city There would be worlds colliding Why and I've always felt that way. It wasn't just like when I was saved. I like her hair long the whole time. I've known her but You know Women will not obey that verse in 1st Corinthians 11 where it says that you're supposed to have long hair That's their glory unto them. And then when you show it to them in the Bible and it's like well, I just like the bobcat What's that lady the soccer lady with a pastor McMurtry always talks about the Karen the Karen cut, you know what I'm talking about Well, my hair just looks good short. Well, that's not what the Bible says though The Bible says that your hair is your glory and if you cut that off you're cutting off your glory You might as well just shave your head bald. That's what God says So Why would we you know? What you know Mary was a woman that was subject and she was a woman of prevailing obedience She was a woman of faith and you know what? I bet you she didn't chop her hair off when she got pregnant I bet you know, the thing is is that she actually Carried another person's child. It was God's child. You know, it was a great privilege But you know, what would the people in modern day 2019 think of that? You know what they call it. They call God that like a rapist because of that But Mary said be it unto me according to thy word So, how is that being a rapist? God said hey, this is what it's gonna be and she's like, okay. I'm fine with it so That's a ridiculous thing for people to say and so we also have today women playing the horror instead of doing God's will women playing the horror young women playing the whore and Wanting to leave their parents house and go off to their boyfriend who's the this dreamy guy Listen, you're supposed to stay with your parents until you get married. That's what the Bible teaches Okay, and people are like, well, that's so that's that's outdated. No, it's not It's not outdated. Look this book is timeless And you're not supposed to be at what happened to Dinah She wanted to spy out the land and see the daughters of the land right and what ended up happened to her she ended up getting Taken aside and she fornicated with some man and then her brothers ended up killing every single one of them because you know They freaked out back then. It was a big deal to be a fornicator and You know, they overreacted big-time for sure But still they were upset because what it was a great sin to do that sin First Timothy 5 14 you can turn over there real quickly first Timothy 5 14 the Bible says I'm sorry. This isn't much of a Christmas message, but I preached that one earlier today first Timothy 5 14 I will therefore that the younger women marry The younger women not go off and live your dream and go to college and waste your money on college You know, I just so weird to me when Christian women like I'm I gotta finish college And it's like why Why So you can fulfill some great dream that your parents had for you So, you know, it's just it's weird to me because you know The Bible says I will therefore that a younger woman women marry Bear children guide the house give none occasion to the adversary to speak Reproachfully, that's the will of God and you're like, well, that's not the will for every woman. Really? That's what it says I therefore that the younger women marry their children. You're like, well, I don't want to do that. Well, then you're a feminist You're you're disobeying what God's plan for your life is what does he want he wants you to have a godly seed He wants your family you he wants you to have a family of saved people and then that generation will reach the next generation and so on and so forth Look, there's not a lot of people doing it anymore A lot of people have flipped the gender roles have flipped so crazily that people don't even know what gender they are anymore supposedly It's called genderfluid you ever heard of that? Stupidest thing I've ever heard of Today I'm a guy tomorrow. I'm a girl and they look like Andrew Sluiter It's disgusting it really is This says for some are Already turned aside after Satan. So what if you don't do what that verse is saying? Then you've already turned aside after Satan. Isn't that what it's saying? Am I wrong about that? See when younger women don't want to do that there's something wrong And you know what parents are the reason why that crap happens in the first place because they don't put their children in Subjection to them. They just let what their kids do whatever they want Sometimes you got to grab your kid by the nap of the neck and and show them what's up Show them that you know, I don't care how old they are. I'm sure you think I'm joking about that Oh, I will spank my kids till the time they leave the house. I got one left. He's back there I'm already spanking right now, but I'm just kidding He's a good kid though, but you know why he's a good kid because I put him he's under subjection And this is he perfect sorry Josh always use it for sermon illustrations, but he's not perfect He does things wrong sometimes, but you know what he gets in trouble for it, too And so when people just let their kids go off and do whatever they want You should never ever let your daughters go out by themselves with a bunch of men. That's super weird. I Don't understand that mentality doesn't matter if you're 21 doesn't matter if you're 25 You got no business hanging around a bunch of single men and going off and doing these little trips with single men Hey dads, you better get a hold of your daughter's heart because someone else is gonna take it from you And so I love Christian weddings when the the father, you know gives the woman away, you know, obviously Nikki's dad wasn't here to be able to do that. But brother Joe did it and so You know from you move from house your father's protection to the protection of your husband There's no there's never a time when a woman shouldn't be under the protection of either their dad or their husband Okay, and you can get mad about that all you want and get all feminist on me and me. I don't care It's the Bible says There's another thing that women like to do for some weird reason I'm looking these are strongholds in women's lives for some reason It's just because Satan works overtime to try to get women to turn aside after Satan Women that wear men's clothes instead of garments that pertain to them Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 5. I'll be out of this in a second ladies It's got one more thing That's on the next thing Deuteronomy 22 verse 5 The Bible says the woman what why does it address the woman first? Well, look at 2019. Why do you think it addresses at first? Because you don't see I mean there are women that go around wearing dresses. They're called transvestites They're disgusting but it's not a normal thing that you see every day. What's the normal thing you see every day women dressing like men? Says the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man Neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that do so our Abomination unto the Lord thy God and people look bring up your culottes Bring up your own there. It looks like a skirt. Why don't you just wear a skirt then? Culottes are not a skirt Why don't you wear a dress You know when I was in Hawaii, I actually used the women's bathroom I got to tell myself right now and I'll tell you why because they have a faggot culture over there of Men wearing these little skirt things in Hawaii And you know, I've been told don't say that to a Samoan. Well, I probably I might say it in a church service I'm not gonna walk up and go you're wearing a dress You know Here's the thing though. It was dark outside and we were preaching. I was preaching at it We were at a park and I walked up and I had my cell phone flashlight on and I looked at the pic You know because their pictures are different, you know here it's pretty clear It's a dress with a woman right and man and pants on a man and I came around the corner and it's like It looked like like a little skirt like maybe this short Well, I thought well, you know, they're just at least it's a dress right and then like a little flowery thing on their head And I was like, okay. I didn't know what can't cane cane meant or whatever. I guess I should have known But it meant men and so I skipped that one and just automatically thought He's wearing a dress. He's wearing flowers in his hair. It's a girl But it wasn't it was the guy So I went to the and I went in there and I was I was going and I was like Why isn't there any urinals in here? That's so weird I'm glad nobody like caught me. I'm shocked. I mean there's other people that weren't with our church. So we're over By the other beach part, but I was like they probably thought well that was really weird. I was identifying, you know, whatever But Hey, don't make it confusing for me. All right Put some pants on They're a little faggot picture of some, you know Guy in a hula skirt or whatever Look, that's I don't care what culture says the Bible says what it says and it says that you know That man should not put on a woman's garment and a dress is a woman's garment It's been that way for thousands of years and no woman's not supposed to put on pants, which is a man's garment And again, it's not it's culottes. Whatever. That's just pants that look like a skirt. That's what it is Quit trying to blur the lines. Why is why is that such a big deal to women? You know every woman that wears a dress in here, you know, it feels more comfortable after you get used to it It's got to feel more comfortable But you know men have pants and So that's what the Bible teaches. I'm not gonna go into the whole doctrine of it, but look Mary if God told Mary to put on a dress I guarantee she would put on a dress And she probably always had a dress. We probably didn't even know what pants were for women supposedly well look and What was Moses and Aaron supposed to wear when they went and did their priestly duties? They're supposed to wear. Yeah, they're supposed to wear linen britches, right? They're supposed to wear Britches breeches whatever you want to call them That means they have a leg on one side a leg on another so that would be our modern-day word for shorts So if that's a man's garment then it's not a woman's garment does that make sense Okay, number three tonight. Mary was a woman of personal worship Personal worship, so let's look at verse 46 in Luke chapter 1 it says and Mary said okay You can breathe easy now Mary said my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior See he proves that she was saved for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generations Shall call me blessed for he that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy is his name And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation He has showed strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud and the imagination of their hearts He has put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away or empty away He hath hoping His servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy He as he spake to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed forever so this is a moment where Mary's just like personally worshiping the Lord and blessing his name and talking about the Great blessings in her life And that's kind of what we do when we pray when we're thankful and prayer and things like that And so Mary had a personal moment here where she was worshiping the Lord and so she was a woman of personal worship And I doubt that this was her first time doing it I don't think that she just spontaneously done at this one time and that was it I think Mary was a probably a woman of prayer. I think she was a spiritual lady and she Had her own time of personal worship with God How do we apply that to us? How do we apply that today? Well? Do you have a time when you worship the Lord? Ladies, are you so busy that you've just? Spaced off all of your personal worship time, you know, you got the new babies you got seven babies You got seven children You got all this stuff to do you got cooking and cleaning and taking care of the home Like you're supposed to be doing that's great But hey, have you forgot about your time? You're supposed to worship the Lord have you forgot about your personal time that you're supposed to be spiritual with God Because it gets it gets easy to be so busy that you forget to do things and at the end of the day I Haven't read my Bible At the end of the day. I haven't prayed one time to God at the end of the day I haven't sung one song to him. I haven't done anything that's spiritual at any level But you know because the thing is you can do all the things that God commands you to do in the Bible But if you're not spiritual with that then you're just like the world You know and it's easy to get out of you know you get there you we get busy look. It's been a busy week And I've had a busy weekend But you know I still have to spend time with God in prayer. I still have to spend time in this book That's been a lot of hours in this book this weekend because I it takes a lot of stuff to write a sermon It takes a long time. I can't just Regurgitate something I found off YouTube or copy some other pastors sermon on there So I have to write my you know there's a lot of pastors that just get theirs off the internet Sword of the Lord copy and paste I'm preaching it like you know Bob Gray did or I'm preaching it like Jack house And a lot of people don't even know the difference All right there was a pastor that we went to his church and Ryan checked he googled the the sermon and It was from it came up as a hit from the sword of the Lord He copied the whole sermon from the sword of the Lord website So anyway can't be doing that but Ladies do you have a Time of day that you worship the Lord is there time that you spend with God and men, too Hey, we can get busy We can you know you're working overtime. You're working hard. You know find some time to get your spiritual time in I'm not saying get on your knees for six hours a days and pray like what's that guy's name Justin like Tom Williams The old man of the faith or whatever six hours on it. You'd be dead That's ridiculous. I don't believe that for a second But the Bible says in Ephesians 5 18 be not drugged with wine Wearing his excess, but be filled with the Spirit speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord you want to get spiritual Sing songs of God sing the psalm book sing sing hymns Sing get those hymns in your heart, and that's how you're gonna get filled with the Spirit Hey, the Bible says in Joshua 1 8 the this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth But thou shalt meditate therein day and night That thou mayest observe to do according to all that's written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous And then thou shalt have good success See if you don't if if you like this is day and night doesn't that So there should be a time in the day that you read the Bible There should be a time in the night you read the Bible look and this is shotgun I know this is geared toward lady, but this is a shotgun blast for everybody Hey, don't act common act spiritual, and you've never read your Bible cover to cover one time You should as a man leading your home. You should have already read the Bible by now most of you You got to get it done because Every word is important every word in this whole, but it's a big book. It takes a long time to read the whole thing and The older you get the more responsibilities you get the more children you get the less time you have to read So a lot of these young guys. They'll read through it like really fast and many different times but When you get more responsibility you get less time to do things you get less time to go soul winning you get less time So and then speaking of soul winning in Acts chapter 5 verse 42 It says and daily in the temple and in every house. They cease not to teach and praise Jesus Christ ladies Have you quit soul winning? Has anybody in here quit soul winning completely? I really hope not You know we got to be out there. We got to be you know it says daily in the temple. They were in every house Hey weekly is good Weekly is good But it says in every house they cease not cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ Look, I know ladies. You know you have the baby, and you got the time you got to heal up and rest I get that but you got to get back out there you can't just keep putting it off and You got to be soul winning read your Bible and praying also so look if you're gonna be a spiritual woman of God you got to do these things and Not just because You know the Bible commands it that should be a reason, but it's also do you love God? Have you lost your love for God? Has Satan turned you aside? I hope not Because Satan can't turn us aside. He can't possess us his Devils can't possess us but you know what he can do he can get us focused on other stuff and Then you start to fall away If that happens the next thing you know you're like oh, I'm backslidden. How did this happen? Because you stopped doing these major components in the Bible that were commanded to do turn to Matthew chapter 6 Matthew chapter number 6 Matthew 6 6 Obviously this is talking about the Lord's Prayer, and how we're supposed to pray they asked Jesus How do we praise he's giving them an example here? I'm not gonna read the whole thing I'm just gonna go to verse 6 it says But thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door Pray to thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth thee in secret shall reward thee openly So God wants us to have a time where we have a private time with him to pray So I don't know if you have a closet that's fit for doing that. I'll tell you what it's not. It's not your jacket It's not a prayer shawl. I don't know where they get that from But you're not in secret if you just pull something over the top of your head people could still see you It's not hide-and-seek pray Alright, that's dumb. I don't know where I mean people like when people I've seen that preach at Baptist churches before and they're like And then you you go into your prayer closet, and they like shut the door on their shawl or whatever. That's like I see you That's not in secret Anyway skip down to verse 11 It says give us this day our daily bread So what does this tell what does this verse jump out and tell you right there? Give us this day our daily bread that means you haven't had it yet So before you start your day That's when you would ask for your daily bread. Hey Give us this day our daily bread Lord. We don't know what's gonna happen in a day lots of things can happen And hey you can go We could lose our lives at any time We're not guaranteed tomorrow. We're not guaranteed tonight You know we could go any minute the Lord can't come back any money, but we can go to him any minute That's the truth of the matter Ladies are you taking the time to have a personal worship with God like Mary did? Can you remember the last time you got on your knees and prayed? When's the last time you went soul winning or we're happy to go soul winning. What's the last time? That you were you know I can't wait to go soul winning Verses oh, man. I gotta go soul winning Hey, you should you still should go for duty, but why don't you be happy about it? We should be happy that we get to serve the Lord, right How's your Bible reading going? Are you still stuck in Genesis chapter 3? From the beginning of after you know from the beginning of the year. I hope not Are you one of those people just like? I'm just gonna get one thing today, and then you just like open up your Bible like Jesus saith unto him You never did you never read the scriptures the son which the builders rejected the same has become the head of the corner And this is the Lord's doing it's marvelous to our eyes all right. I got my spiritual reading for the day That's not just how we're supposed to read the Bible Are you being filled with the Holy Spirit are you actually seeing with melody in your hearts the Lord and hey even if it's not at home What about here? Are you just falling along? You know with nothing in you hey, so we're supposed to sing out to the Lord You know we all get our Where we're thinking about something else, and we kind of think well. This is the buffer time before the preaching It's not the way it's supposed to be though. We're supposed to sing With melody in our hearts to who not to each other to the Lord And that's how we're filled with the Holy Spirit Hey, you want to be filled with the Spirit during the preaching service why don't you follow along and and and and sing with all? Your heart to the Lord and hey Maybe he'll open up your wicked heart and let you have the Holy Spirit filled within you so that when you hear the preacher You're like hey. I'm dialed into the preaching tonight. Hey. This is for me. You know so-and-so should have heard that sermon Hey, it's for you Number four tonight Mary was a woman of private reflection number four tonight. Mary was a woman of private reflection Let's look at Luke chapter 2 Don't be mad ladies if you were weren't here on Thursday. I got on the guys too didn't I I Always feel like I have to say that for some reason, but I really don't but It's just to make you feel better anyway Luke chapter 2 verse 15 says and it came to pass as the angels were gone away from Them into heaven the shepherds said one to another let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing Which has come to pass which the Lord hath made known? unto us Talking about the shepherds in the field the day that the Lord Jesus was born it says and they came with haste and found Mary And Joseph and the babe lying in a manger When I read this last night, I was like they were all laying in it must have been a big manger You know what a manger is it's a it's a big trough for feeding animals So they must I don't know cleared up was you always think you always see the straw like in the in the pictures or whatever But there probably was some straw in there like they didn't have sleep numbers back then it was They had to have the hay, but anyway So It says they're lying in the manger and verse 17 and when they had seen it They made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child And all they that heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds But check this out. It says in verse 19 but Mary kept all these things and Pondered them in her heart So Mary didn't blurt out Well, I can't believe this is happening or you know anything like that she pondered she privately pondered these things in her heart Now look at verse 47 Says and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers is talking about when Jesus, you know went back to He's to actually he stayed in Jerusalem. He never left and like went back He stayed there. Okay, and it says and when they saw him they were amazed and his mother Said unto him son why I saw thus dealt with us the old thy father and I have sought these sorrowing He said unto them How is it that you sought me wish to not that I must be about my father's business and they understood not the same Which he spake unto them and he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them But his mother kept all these things where in her heart privately So she thought about the things and mold over the things that Jesus was saying to her and she kept them in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature in favor of God with God and man Now back up and look at verse number 33 in Luke chapter 2 See Mary was a woman that privately mold over the things that she was told she she didn't just she wasn't like a loud obnoxious Woman she kept those things in her heart. She pondered those things in her heart now Look at verse 33 says and Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him So she Joseph and his mother and says in Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother so here he's directly speaking to Mary This is Simeon behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and For a sign which shall be spoken against Yea a sword Shall pierce through thy own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed So she's telling he's telling her the prophecy that that basically hey it swords gonna pierce through your heart Also because your son is gonna die That's what I think he's saying to her. I think that he's saying hey your heart's gonna be broken But It said and then it says hey, and then Mary said no it doesn't say that does it what's the next verse say Does it say and Mary no she didn't say anything did she? Why does what does Mary say back? She doesn't say anything you know because she probably was pondering those things in her heart also Right so Mary you have these three different times when she's told specific things And she doesn't just blurt out and get loud and you know hey, I got a question about this She's just quiet and keeps those things in her heart And you know why I believe that God picked Mary because she was a meek and quiet woman. Yeah, I see Mary's private reflection as a great quality in her and Ladies it might benefit you to just privately reflect on things in your own life also Instead of you know scattering abroad everything that you that happens to you having to Comment on everything having to be the loudmouth in the room And look I'm not saying don't talk okay like No, I'm not saying that I'm just saying that overs on certain things. Maybe you should just be quiet sometimes Maybe we all need to be quiet sometimes Maybe we all need to just shut our mouths sometimes instead of blurting out the first thing that comes to our brain Turn to 1st Timothy chapter 3 verse 1 1st Timothy or excuse me 1st Peter 3 verse 1 is that what I said 1st Peter 3 1 It says likewise you wives be in subjection to your own husbands that if any obey not the word They also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives It's talking about hey You know if if you have a husband basically that won't that's not saved that hey you can obey And obey your husband and that they might be won over by the lifestyle that you live Lifestyle evangelism, but it doesn't say they're gonna get saved by that They said they're gonna be won over by that and then you can give them the gospel Look there's a lot of ladies and hey Christ divides homes Sometimes a woman gets saved and she's already married and she's with a man. That's an unbeliever, and he won't get saved But you know what you don't do you don't just sit there and just beat him down, and you know hey He's not saved and so how are you gonna win him over well by being in subjection to your husband and notice again It says your own husband It's so funny to me that Women just want to run out and work in the workforce You know and they're willing to go obey somebody else's husband They're willing to obey some other man But they won't obey their man that they have at home And they'll put on their pants and go do their service job or whatever it is that they're doing But you won't obey Christ you won't obey your husband you just want to go and do whatever you want That's turning aside after Satan Anyway, let me move on verse 2 and while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear So that again that word Conversation means your lifestyle the way you live your life. Are you obeying your husband? Are you in subject? Subjection to him it says who's adorning Let it not be the outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing gold or putting on of apparel but let it be The hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God a great Christ what is the Bible saying right here? It's saying hey Having a meek and quiet spirit is a great price to God and that and and really what that tells me is that that's what? God wants Christian ladies to be like And so instead of the outward appearance in the plating of gold and being loud and stubborn and Being just a big mouth. You're always talking over the top of your husband You're the one that has to jump in and give your theological perspective when men are talking Right, it's it's annoying And it really shouldn't be done. It's kind of disrespectful I'm not saying ladies can't give their opinion I'm not saying that but to jump over the top of your husband say no, this is what I believe Shut up Keep your mouth shut and let your husband talk Because that's not being meek and quiet is it being meek and quiet is being meek and quiet. All right, so But again, I'm not saying don't talk I'm just saying there's times when it's time to just be quiet listen to your husband and And be a good wife Verse 5 for after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God Adorn themselves being in subjection unto their own Husbands there's that word that term again even as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him what? What you call? I'd say say it ladies, but I can't do that Lord Calling him Lord Whose daughters you are as long as you do well and are not afraid with any amazement Again I'm not saying call your husband Lord my wife calls me Lord But I don't tell her she has to and she does it as an endearing term But she doesn't go Lord May I bring you dinner? She goes hear me Lord something like that, you know But look Sarah was a great woman of God She had a meek and quiet spirit and you know who else had a meek and quiet spirit Mary had a meek and quiet spirit she pondered the things in her heart, and hey, that's a good thing to do Why do you think it shows that so many times in the Bible? Because it's an example of a godly woman That's why and we need some godly women today that are not loud and obnoxious but meek and quiet And look if you think I'm wrong about this show me the verse Come up and show me the verse where it says God is pleased with big mouth women that promote their outward appearance show me I'll wait It's not there You know why it's not there because that's not what God wants And look the feminist in you is screaming right now. I understand that But you need to knock that feminazi out and hey just be in subjection to God's Word Be in subjection to your own husband have a meek and quiet spirit. Don't be the first one to talk Don't be the first one to you know to blurt something out But when I see obnoxious women just shut up. It's annoying And look if that if that's your personality I'm not saying don't have your personality. I'm saying just work on it. Can you work on it? Can you work on not talking over the top of your husband? Can you work on not trying to boss them around when it comes to the finances? Looking up no Hey look if your husband wants to control the finances you know what you should give it to him And if he sucks at it, then you guys are gonna starve but The husband should have you know if he wants to now if the husband says hey I want you to take care of the finances because I'm starving us to death by my bad money management That's okay, too But look learn to trust your husband God gave them to be the head of the home for a reason and If they're not doing better, you know what you should do don't go call Pastor Anderson and say my husband's not doing this Don't call me and and say hey my husband's not doing this You know what you should do get on your knees and pray for them And say hey God would you please help my husband to be a better husband? You don't have to run them into the ground to everybody around you. I hate it when people just bash their husbands I can't handle it. I would tell you I would say just stop So anyway, so Mary Had a meek and quiet spirit and she kept she pondered things in her heart And I think that this is an important lesson for ladies Hey, you know don't don't be that quiet or that loud obnoxious person be the quick the meek and quiet one Number five tonight. This is our last point Mary was a woman of painful Experience Mary was a woman of painful experience. Let's look at Luke chapter 2 verse number 34 Luke chapter 2 Verse number 34 Bible says in verse 34 and Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother behold this child Is set for the fall and rising Again of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against yea a sword shall pierce through thy Own soul also That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed Mary did you know? Yes She knew She knew who he was she knew that Jesus was gonna end up dying Mary. Did you know yeah, she knew Okay, the song is okay But it's really not that biblical because she did know Look at John chapter 9 or 19 excuse me John chapter 19 verse number 25 John chapter 19 verse 25 I read this scripture Earlier today a lot of these are bleeding together, but Making different points here, so John chapter 19 verse 25 Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce through her own soul also John chapter 19 Verse number 25 the Bible says now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister married the wife of Cleophas Mary Magdalene when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved which was John He saith unto his mother woman behold thy son Then saith he unto the disciple Behold thy mother and from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home The last thing that Jesus did before he died was make sure his mom was taken care of And that's a good thing to do hey we need to make sure we take care of our parents, too But that's literally the last thing that Jesus did is make sure that his mom had a place to be You know why because he loved her because she raised him because she loved him And she was there when he died just like Simeon said that a Sword would pierce through her side through her also through her heart And it says in verse 28 after this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished That the scripture might be fulfilled saith I thirst Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on hyssop and put it in his mouth And when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost So how how awful would that be to have to watch your son? Go through a death like that, and I didn't even read all the gruesome details but she was there and Had to witness all that stuff How would you feel How would that feel to you? The Son that she was chosen to bear who she swaddled and nursed and picked up When he fell picked him up when he fell down and fed and taught and laughed with him and cared and died Brutally for her she knew she knew and she knew that pain and Yet this great woman of God is still raised And she still raised him without fear Didn't she The Angel told her fear not Earlier that's what she was told What about you Christian ladies? Our children are the next generation Do you have the faith to raise your children as a Christian Knowing it's possible that they're gonna go through something like this But You know what that's what we're called to do We're supposed to reach the next generation and the and after Joshua died is the Bible says that there rose up a generation That knew not God. I don't want our kids to be that generation But it took toughness for Mary to raise Jesus the way she did and she loved him There's no doubt about that and he loved her As a matter of fact it was the last thing he did Let's make sure she was taken care of But what can you raise your kids knowing that they might pay the ultimate price in persecution Can you raise your kids that way? There's a reason why God picked Mary to be the mother of Jesus and we see the whole thing play out and She went to church. She's one of the people that was counted as the people that went to church You know everybody else forsook Jesus and fled and that first church that that next church meeting was 120 people And you know what she's named in that church meeting she loved him, and she carried on until the day She died I'm sure and John was the one that took her into his home There's a reason God picked Joseph to be the stepdad of Jesus why because he was a great man of God Mary is a great woman of God and she knew sorrow and So some of us hey you might be raising the next John the Baptist, and you don't even know it You might be raising You know some prophet some preacher the next missionary to so-and-so, and you know what they might grow up And preach and then get killed for their faith, but you know what? You can see in Mary the toughness that she had and the strength that she had to still raise her son and still beat the cross when he died and She was a faithful mother And I'm thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for my salvation I'm thankful for great women of God in the Bible to do great things for God Women can do great things for God And I pray that our church are the women here know that they can do that and look I'm I support you a hundred percent Let's pray Lord. We thank you so much for a great day in church. I pray that you just bless everybody as they go home and pray that you would bless them with the Merry Christmas Lord to pray for the ladies at the the ladies and the men at the Assisted living ministry I pray Lord that you would bless their hearts and help them be prepared for the message and the great fellowship Lord Prayed take us home safely. We pray for brother Ryan Holmes who's in the hospital right now Let's pray that you'd help him to feel better in Jesus name we pray. Amen