Luke 1:39-45 Baby's First Prophecy

You're listening to the podcast of Recast Church in Matawan, Michigan. This week, Pastor Don Filsack preaches from his series,

King Over All from the Gospel of Luke. Let's listen in. Good morning and welcome to Recast Church.

I'm Don Filsack. I'm the lead pastor here and I'm really glad that we get together to worship the

Lord on this Lord's Day. I look forward to Sundays. The gathering over the past 15 years has been a significant source of growing my faith.

I hope it has been for you as long as you've been coming here that it's been a source of your faith increasing.

I find joy in this gathering. I find encouragement here. I am grateful for the love that we have for God that I've seen expressed here, but also the love that we have for each other.

Jesus told us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself and I've seen that happen over the years here and so I'm really grateful for that.

We all need to be growing in three areas in order to be on a good trajectory in our spiritual lives and that's kind of what we're about in our simple model of growth here.

We need to be growing in faith, growing in community and growing in service. A local gathering of God's people into churches is the primary method that God has given to us for the purpose of our growth and so the fact that you're here is more is at least half the battle that you actually arrive and show up in the gathering.

We need his word proclaimed. We need love and encouragement from others who love him.

That's that community piece and we need an outlet to serve each other and that is another fundamental reason that the church exists.

This morning we're going to be going back in the gospel of Luke and we're kind of getting a head start on Christmas and many of you have maybe identified that already.

The gospels just begin with the Christmas accounts and so I decided to begin our march through this gospel of Luke corresponding with the season that leads up to Christmas, but Luke has a long runway.

I don't know if you guys realize that or not, but Luke has a really long runway. Chapter one is 80 verses and so we had to start before Halloween to get to the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas week.

I mean that's how long it is and so today we encounter a text and I'll just say it directly.

It seems a bit extra. Taken by itself, it might appear to be just a transitional story bringing

Elizabeth and Mary together, greetings, baby leaps in her womb, you know that kind of stuff. And we might encounter some texts of Scripture and if we're honest in our hearts, if we state what we really think or state what we really feel, we might ask ourselves is there really anything in here that will direct our hearts toward God?

Is this just a transition piece? Is this just a paragraph in the middle that moves the story along?

Is our faith able to grow as a result of hearing even this short transitional passage here this morning?

And I want to tell you I mean this with all sincerity. I live and breathe the conviction that all of Scripture is

God breathed and is profitable for teaching and for reproof and for correction and for training in righteousness.

All of it exists, hear me carefully church, all of Scripture exists to fix something in us.

It all exists to fix us. There might be some discouragement in your heart right now that needs to be fixed.

There might be some lack of faith that needs to be bolstered. There might be some encouragement that you need.

There might be some conviction. Maybe you have something wrong that the text wants to correct, but all of Scripture exists to fix something in us.

And Luke took the time to record this because it was valuable and is valuable for our faith.

The Spirit revealed it so that we might be encouraged, corrected, and trained by this very text. So let's come to the text this morning with humility.

It actually requires humility to some degree because we're about to be schooled by an unborn baby. That's what's going to happen in this text.

We're about to be schooled by a young lady. We're about to be schooled. The Spirit is about to speak through a pregnant lady far beyond her childbearing years to testify.

And all of these will point our hearts. Their intention is to point our hearts to our

Lord. All will call our hearts to believe in Him this morning. So are you ready to learn from a baby?

Are you ready to hear from God's Word this morning? Let's open up our Bibles or your Scripture journals or your devices to Luke chapter 1.

We're going to start in verse 39, and we're going to read just a little chunk there through verse 45.

Again, Luke chapter 1, verses 39 through 45. Find your way there so that you can follow along and give honor to God's Word.

This is His holy Word that He desires to communicate to us this morning, what He's picked out for us. So Luke 1, 39 through 45, says this,

In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town in Judah.

And she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the

Holy Spirit. And she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And why is it granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the

Lord. Let's pray. Father, I thank you that we have the opportunity to gather in your name, the name of Jesus, the hope, the one who was sent into the world, and His name means

Yahweh saves. And we hear here at the start of Luke, so many angles of people who would testify and witness to His unique arrival, would witness to His unique position as Lord and as King.

This little baby, not yet born in our text, who others are already calling Him Lord, others are already testifying to the very honorable place that He holds in the universe.

Father, we know the rest of the story. We know that He will go to the cross for us. We know the purpose for which

He arrived here. And yet as we look at these texts and we see faith beginning to unthaw in people's hearts and lives, a trust and a hope being born of the reality of the things that you did in history and are doing in the midst of these people's lives that we read about.

Father, we think about our own lives and we think about the things that you're doing here in our midst, the things that you're doing in our hearts, the unthawing that you desire to do here in this place where we have had a variety of temperatures in our heart over the week.

And you desire through your word to bring up the temperature in our hearts through faith, through trust in the things that you will communicate about your

Son through your word. Father, I pray that that would be the reality for all of us and that even now as we have an opportunity to lift our voices together in song,

Father, that that would be genuine worship that comes from a place of recognizing what we deserved in light of what we have received, deserving eternal condemnation, deserving punishment for our sins, and receiving the righteousness of your

Son and hope for eternal life. Father, I pray that those two things taken in account would result in praise and worship that would propel us out, not just for singing this morning, but a joy and a gladness, a skip in our step, not leaping in the womb, but leaping, leaping with joy and gladness and following the model and the example of this unborn baby who leaps in his mother's womb of gladness in encountering the

Messiah, the King, the Savior. Father, I pray that that would be the place of our worship this morning in Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. Thanks to the band for leading us.

Yeah, you can go to be seated and get comfortable and open your Bibles or your devices to Luke chapter 1, verses 39 through 45.

You guys, the last couple of weeks, I don't know if you guys realize this, but you are like migrating. Some of you are not sitting where you normally sit.

You see that too? Dave sees it too. So like, I'm seeing like, wait, you're not usually there.

You're not usually there. So yeah, there's some migratory things going on this fall here. And you know, that's pretty cool.

So far in the gospel of Luke, we've seen the angel Gabriel meet with two different people to tell them that they would have a child.

He met with a priest named Zechariah while he was on duty in the temple. And he told that man that his wife would conceive and give birth to a unique young man, a baby that would grow up to be a unique man.

And he was to be named John. And he was to be the forerunner of the Messiah as the Old Testament had prophesied.

Then last week, we saw the angel Gabriel meet with a young lady in a backwater town about a hundred miles north of there, north of Jerusalem.

She was betrothed to be married to a man named Joseph. She was young. And the messenger of God told her in no uncertain terms that she would miraculously conceive a baby boy, and he would be the eternal king that was promised in the

Old Testament. And she would give him a name, and the name would be Jesus. And verse 39 of our text starts with a time stamp on it.

In those days is the way that the English Standard Version translates it. But it might be another way to say that is right around the time of these events.

Around that time, Mary decided to go on a road trip. Well, the reason she goes on that road trip is that you must remember that last week the angel has just told

Mary that her much older childless cousin has conceived. Elizabeth is six months pregnant, proving that nothing is impossible for God.

Now, I want to point out that in all of these things, all that he's doing, all that God is providing for Mary in these circumstances, in all of this, we can learn at least one simple but helpful truth about our

God, the way that he works with Mary. And that is simply this, that he is concerned for our faith in him.

He is concerned for our faith in him. He likes to do things out of the ordinary for the purpose of stretching our faith, yes.

And yet, he is also faithful to give evidences to us along the way. Why did the angel mention

Elizabeth's pregnancy back in verse 36 last week? You can see it there in the text. Back in verse 36, he mentioned it, and then in verse 37 he gives us the reason, because he wants to reveal something very important to Mary, and that's found in verse 37.

Nothing, nothing, nothing is impossible for our God, right? It's not impossible.

This is the very foundation, by the way, of our faith. If we believe that God is creator, if you believe that, then it's not a far leap to the conclusion that he who created us can do anything he wants with it.

But God is not driving us all here this morning and through this account down through the ages.

He's not driving us all to mere mental assent that he's awesome and powerful. Now, raise your hand if you would agree that God is awesome and powerful.

And I think that by definition, even if you were an atheist, you would have to raise your hand and say the definition of the word

God means all -powerful, awesome, and almighty, right? Even an atheist would agree with that definition.

They might not think he exists, but they would say, that is God. That's what's meant by the word God. So, God isn't just merely driving us to some kind of assent that he's awesome, some kind of assent like, okay, yeah,

I admit it, God's powerful. He wants Mary and Elizabeth to trust him.

He wants them to trust him. Why does he draw near to show his power in these events?

To show he can provide, to show that he cares, and to show that he can fix.

How many of you know we need that? We need to remember that. We need that in our lives, in our personal lives, to remember he can provide, he can care, or he does care, and he can fix our circumstances.

He is not trying to merely get Mary's attention. He is seeking to get Mary's trust.

And consider in your own life that all that God has been doing in you for however many years he's let you live on his planet has been driving toward your trust in him.

Faith in him is the bedrock of a relationship with our God. And I wanted to start there because I'm going to break down the text into testifying to his goodness, declaring that truth.

That's what the text does. So, two points in our text, the prophecy of baby John, verses 39 through 41, and then the prophecy of Elizabeth, verses 42 through 45.

So, we start with the prophecy of baby John. This passage is so utterly unique that we ought to perk up our ears and sit up a little straighter and listen because it's a very unique and strange text.

Right out of the gate I'll tell you that there are two distinct things that show what kind of the point is that God is making.

First, by God orchestrating this acrobatic leap of joy by John in the womb of his mother

Elizabeth, God is teaching us through the smallest and least powerful of humans.

Isn't that not what he's doing? He's testifying to the glory of his son through the smallest and least powerful of people.

This ought to result in an application, at least in our minds, ought to start going there right away. So, I'll just take us there.

If an unborn baby can challenge our faith, is there anyone God can't use? Is there anyone that God can't use?

The leaping in the womb is a testimony. Granted, it's a quite simplistic testimony, right?

Like, I mean, it's not a treatise on the hypostatic union of Jesus as both

God and man. He isn't proclaiming substitutionary atonement. He hasn't even breathed a breath yet.

So, what can he teach us? What can he tell us? But without speaking, the unborn baby is used to shine a spotlight on the

Messiah who is coming into the world. Luke records this for us because it is a testimony, because the

Spirit means to use it, to forge within us here in Matawan in 2024, to forge within us a stronger trust in Jesus as the

Son of God who came into the world to rescue us. And this little unborn baby is going to be our teacher.

Second, Jesus draws attention wherever he goes. That's the second unique thing here. The Messiah and Son of God gets the attention.

He draws people to himself. Mary has traveled in haste to get to Elizabeth, the text tells us.

She's able to get away. By the way, this is a bit of a blessing to her. She's able to get away from her immediate context.

She's pregnant. She's betrothed. The baby isn't his. How many of you see some tension building?

God's grace has her moved out of her small and gossipy community, at least for a little bit of time here.

Now, I don't want to take too—I don't want to make too much of her travels and spend too much time on that, but travel was dangerous during this time and era.

And without the mention of Joseph at all in this narrative, she has likely traveled a three to five -day journey with some other extended family or some trusted family friend or someone.

Women didn't travel alone during this era, and the image in the picture of her kind of like on a donkey alone traveling to go visit her cousin 100 miles away is just…that's a fiction in our minds.

She didn't jump on her moped. She didn't, you know, take the family car and head down there.

She is traveling, and she's likely traveling with family. Don't don't picture people traveling alone during this time.

If they did, it was very dangerous. But she would state this as the obvious.

Where she goes, the baby goes to travels with her. There goes Jesus 100 miles south to Elizabeth's house and or Joseph's house.

I mean, Zachariah's house, but it's stated in the text. But in her womb, she carries

Jesus wherever she goes. And when Mary arrives, she offers a formal greeting to Elizabeth, and at the sound of her voice, we know what happens.

Little baby in utero John leaped in Elizabeth's womb, the text tells us.

Jesus is drawing attention before he is born.

John is testifying before he is born. Jeremiah the prophet in the

Old Testament was called into prophetic ministry before he was born. You and I were knit together in our mother's wombs before we were born.

Jacob was chosen by God for the promise from his mother's womb before he was born.

When does human life begin? When does it begin?

Any scientific statement about this that's going to give you any number other than conception is arbitrary, and I would suggest to you unbiblical.

In Scripture, unborn babies minister, unborn babies testify, unborn babies are called.

In Scripture, unborn babies are blessed. God knows, by the way, there's something a little strange in all of this.

God knows the timing, and he times all things, and some might wonder why this message comes this week instead of last week.

I don't know. I follow the Scripture wherever the text and the spirit leads, and this is what he desires us to be talking about this morning.

But know for sure that this is not a topic that we can chalk up to mere politics. You've got your political opinion, and I've got mine.

Scripture declares the value of unborn life, and this text, this very text that we're looking at today, this text is a good place to turn to consider the humanity of a baby in the womb.

Oh yeah, that's adorable. Couldn't cue that up if you wanted, right? Like, God knows.

Thank you so much, Kearney. I appreciate that. Testifying, testifying the mouths of babes.

We might also at this point be tempted to say, though, like, you might be tempted to think, like,

I kind of think this way a little bit at times, and just confession, but babies move around and get active for a whole bunch of reasons, right?

Like, how many of you ever felt like a baby moving in utero? Like, this is kind of a cool thing, right?

And they move around for a whole bunch of reasons. Maybe she had some spicy hummus the night before, or the grape leaves were sour.

I don't know. You know, you kind of think this, and maybe, you know, I even think in my mind a little bit, like, maybe Elizabeth and Mary are reading the tea leaves a little bit here.

Maybe they're not being superstitious, but just a little bit stitious, okay? Maybe just a little stitious there.

Some of you get that. It's there in case you didn't get it, but yeah.

So, I mean, you know what I'm saying? Like, the coincidence. Just at that time, the baby happens to roll, and it's like, oh, whoa, whoa, the timing of that.

What a coincidence. And you can believe that that's what's happening here, is that it's just coincidence, but you must believe that against what

Luke says is happening here, because Luke says this is with intention. Luke declares it as intentional in fact, because the text is emphatic that this is more than mere coincidence that happens here.

And under the filling of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth even declares the reason that baby John jumped in her womb.

In verse 44, it is revealed to her, and she declares that it was out of joy.

What? An unborn baby can have joy? The text says so.

Scripture says so. That little brain has a whole bunch of connections before birth. The little brain has little signals firing, responding to mom's voice, responding to dad's voice, responding to all types of stimuli.

There are studies done that actually prove that in utero babies actually show preference for certain tastes.

They like their mom to eat certain foods and dislike others. My goal isn't, by the way, that science would prove

John's ability to testify to Jesus by leaping for joy here. My goal is to commend to all of us the ministry of this little tiny unborn baby

John, to learn in meekness from him, to take by faith this incredible, incredible, incredible testimony of an unborn baby.

And further, to commend to you the incredible gravity of Jesus Christ the Messiah, the King of kings, the

Son of God, the Savior of the world. He draws all people to himself, and that gravity will finally be realized in one final day of judgment, where every single soul will land before the throne of this one.

All, all, all people from all time and all eras will be drawn to that unavoidable place on that unavoidable day, all drawn to him for judgment, but some drawn to him in this life for grace and mercy and forgiveness and hope and worship and love.

All drawn to him, though, every human. Now, does

John say all this in the womb? Are we getting all that from him? He doesn't utter a word, but this amazing leap for joy shows the attention that Jesus draws.

It is recorded that we would know that God intends to draw attention to Jesus Christ, his

Son, and that God can use any means he wishes to draw attention to his Son.

And it is reasonable to ask the question here, are you taking seriously the calling to find more worshipers for his name?

That's our mission, to worship him and find more worshipers for his name. And are you taking that calling seriously? God can use an unborn baby to testify and draw attention to his

Son, so he could certainly use you, right? He could definitely use you. Point to Jesus, recast.

Let your joy in him overflow in you so that it's contagious to others around you. The baby in the womb could only leap.

And so, so John did what he could in this moment, but I'm convinced you could at least do that and probably more.

You could at least jump for joy. You could at least have a skip in your step this week. You could at least rejoice and be glad and be happier than those around you, right?

Not just merely due to circumstances, but because of what Christ has done for you. But like I said,

I'm convinced you could do more. I think you could probably do much more that includes even words about the love and kindness of your

King to those around you, right? Amen? But the testifying isn't over here.

I love the way that Luke records just for us snapshots and snippets of people who just out of the blue, just step up and testify to Jesus Christ.

You have this account with a baby, you have Elizabeth coming, but you also are going to encounter in a few chapters

Simeon and Anna, who will seem to just randomly testify to Jesus in the temple later in this gospel.

People moved by the Spirit are regularly called to just speak up about him. They just start talking about Jesus.

They just start uttering things about him. They start making declarations of him. This is the one, says people. And that leads us to the second movement of the text, now the prophecy of Elizabeth, verses 42 through 45.

In verse 41, by the way, it tells us that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit at the end of verse 41, and that results in exclamations of revelation.

According to the flow of this text, all of this comes prior to any discussion between Mary and Elizabeth about their pregnancies.

So there's a greeting, hey cuz, and boom, all this stuff just happens. And this stuff pours out of Elizabeth.

And they haven't had a conversation about their pregnancies yet. Elizabeth has no reason to even know that Mary knows she's pregnant.

The angel told her. She hasn't said anything about that yet. And all of a sudden, this stuff flows out of Elizabeth through the

Spirit. And what Elizabeth says in these four verses are credited to the Spirit of God, who fills her to testify of the amazing things that God is doing in their midst, through them, through Mary and Elizabeth.

It is given to Beth to know that Mary has been blessed among all women, and she is preggers with the blessed child.

The word that is used here for blessed, by the way, is not one of declared hopefulness. Like I might say at the end of an email,

I often will sign off blessings to you. That's a wish prayer. That's hopeful. I don't know whether you feel unblessed.

I don't know whether you are blessed. I am declaring it over your life in a way that's hopeful, a cordial greeting, you know.

But this is declarative, a declarative word that's used twice in verse 42, this word blessed, much like I might find out you got a promotion and then say, wow, you are blessed.

It's like a declaration, a fact. It's something that's happened. The Spirit has revealed that Mary is blessed.

And in the Spirit, Beth declares it for Mary's benefit, but also for ours. Again, God is testifying to us through the voice of another here.

These events do not merely happen for the benefit of Mary and Beth here, but they are recorded so that we can read them and be built up in our faith through these accounts.

God is multiplying miracles here at the advent of His Son so that we might trust in Him all the more.

Now, as mother's cousin, Elizabeth calls Mary blessed and calls the child she bears blessed before she even knows she's pregnant, and all of that is coming at her through the

Spirit. And then this beautiful declaration, still in the Spirit in verse 43, why is it granted to me, says

Elizabeth, why is it granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Elizabeth is astonished and humbled and glad and in awe that she is being caught up in this huge movement of God in human history.

And here, in this awe and wonder, we have, by the way, the very first human voice. I heard just this morning,

I was listening to, I listen to other preachers sometimes on Sunday morning, and I was listening to another pastor, and he said,

Jesus Christ is called Lord 750 times in the New Testament. 750 times in the

New Testament. Guess who says it first? The first person to ever call Jesus Christ Lord is

Mary's cousin Elizabeth here in this text. From the womb, Beth acknowledges that Mary is carrying her

Lord. This is an infant. This is a baby. In what way is this someone who's over her?

Can you imagine what this is doing to Mary, by the way? You put yourself in Mary's shoes, confirming, building, strengthening, encouraging.

This very brief event during this routine greeting had to be a strong step forward in the faith of Mary toward all these things that God is doing through her.

To her cousin Elizabeth, it is revealed that she is pregnant and that she has been uniquely blessed.

It is revealed to her that Mary's son will be Elizabeth's Lord. The word Lord, by the way, can be used to just mean one who is over me.

It can be kind of a formal word of respect that's used all throughout the Greek -speaking world during this time, but all the scholarly works

I read this week about this text highlight the unique nature of this word here on the lips of Elizabeth about an unborn baby.

James Edwards, in his commentary, says this about the use of the word Lord here that I thought was helpful, and I'll go ahead and read it to you.

In the birth, infancy narrative of Luke, Jesus's life cannot be thought of apart from the power of the

Most High, because it is the Holy Spirit who begins the new baby's life as the

Lord. God's life is now bound up with Jesus's life to such a great extent and with such intensity that they share the name slash title kurios, which means

Lord. The sharing of that title is certainly at least a preliminary nod to his divinity.

Mary was already told that he will be called the son of the Most High God, and here her older cousin

Beth says, in the Spirit, through the Spirit, revealing this to her, your son is my Lord, and he's not even born yet.

But here we find another great point of application for our lives in this response of Beth, Elizabeth here. She's astonished that she would be included in this epic salvation narrative that's unfolding in her little home in the hill country of Judah.

And consider along with Elizabeth the astonishment that we would be included, that you would be included in God's plan.

This ought to be a lifelong practice for us. If we become cold to the love He has given, or take for granted the grace and forgiveness we've received, or cease to wonder at His costly sacrifice, we are at risk of losing our first love.

I found that my consistent time of connecting with God through His Word has kept stoking the fires of awe and wonder over what

He has done. Keep going back to it time and time again. Keep in the Word. Not because it's a mandatory checklist of get through the

Bible in a year or something like that, but because this is the source of fuel that keeps our awe and our wonder and astonishment alive.

And further, what it also does is it also gives us an honest assessment of ourselves, of my situation, my own sinfulness, and that has produced within me a humble awe of why me?

Why me? Why would you save and rescue me?

Both my sin and the glory of what He has done helps me to walk in more wonder and awe throughout my days in this world.

And by the way, that's one of the first things that goes when you're an adult, right? Wonder and awe. What comes in to replace that?

Routine and monotony, right? How many of you would like to get rid of some routine and monotony in your life?

Honestly, dig in to see what He has done for you and remember what you deserved. And I really genuinely believe that that's a big key to infusing your life with significance and value and understanding and hope and even adventure.

But as far as applications go, consider with all humility, why you? Why would

He come to your life and rescue you? Why break into your sinful life with salvation and hope?

The way of salvation is a way of extreme humility, church. Why would He consider me?

Why is His attention granted to me? Know what is absent. This is really fundamental. Know what is absent from Elizabeth's statement in verse 43.

What we know about her history, what we know about her past, her struggle with barrenness, inability to have a child. Her husband is a priest.

They travel back and forth to Jerusalem a couple times a year to do the services in the temple.

Can you imagine her saying this? It makes sense to me that you would finally give me a little attention,

God. Can you imagine somebody saying that? After all I've done for you, it's about time you gave me a blessing.

Me and Zechariah have sacrificed our whole lives in service to you. The travel back and forth to Jerusalem has been taxing on our resources and our time and our energy, but we did it all for our breakthrough and you finally, finally, finally, we've got your attention.

No, that's not what she says at all, is it? Why me? Why me?

And Elizabeth testifies in the Spirit the significance of the unborn baby

John's leap for joy. And then lastly, she testifies to the blessed state of anyone who trusts in God's promises.

In verse 45, we find our last application and kind of the landing point of the text, and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from our

Lord. Still in the

Spirit, Elizabeth testifies that Mary is blessed because she believed that God would do what

He said He would do. She is blessed, in other words, for trusting God's message.

The way that this is stated in Greek, by the way, makes it a generic application utilizing Mary as a model for us.

It could be translated in a more teaching kind of way like, blessed is the one who believes that God keeps

His Word. That would be a good way to state this. Blessed is the one, happy is one, joyful is the who believes that God keeps

His Word. This formulation in the Greek language is going to be used by Jesus in what we know as the

Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5, where He declares a blessed state for those who are in specific situations.

And in this case, in our text, the situation is trust in God's promises.

Blessed, happy, joy -filled is the one who believes that God is a God who keeps His promises.

And this is a great place for us to land this plane this week. The end of this testimony fest this morning is

Elizabeth declaring the very core of our salvation. The core of the Christian faith is a promise of God that must be believed.

The promise? Here's the promise. He sent forth His Son to pay the penalty for the sins of any and all who would come to Him by faith and ask for His salvation.

He offers salvation if you come to Him by faith. That's the promise. And of course, we know that this is not the only promise given to us in Scripture.

There are many more. He will always be with us. He will raise us up on the last day. He is preparing an eternal kingdom for us.

He will indeed return for us. He will make all things new. He is able to keep us. Amen?

What is our part after finding the favor of God? Keep believing it.

Keep believing it. How will we keep believing it? I would suggest to you it's studying Him.

Keep connecting in His Word. Keep the promises in front of you. Keep praying to Him. Cease trusting self.

Cease serving self. Cease worshiping self. We cannot trust in promises, by the way, that we haven't heard.

If you haven't heard them, you haven't read them, you can't trust in them. You have to hear them first.

God's Word is a treasure to God's people because it is in the pages of Scripture that we encounter the precious promises of God toward His people.

Unborn baby John testified. He testified. Elizabeth testified.

Next week, we will see Mary in a song that the Spirit gave to her testify. And now we, church, are also all called to testify.

Communion is a time of testifying. Don't get up and stand in these lines if you don't mean something by it.

If you don't mean something by it. If you are trusting in the promises of God that He accepts the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to cover your quite specific sins, and you believe by faith that Jesus is very

Son of God worthy to be king over your life and your unruly heart, if that's true of you, then come.

Come in line to testify. Why don't we do this alone? Why isn't this a private thing in your quiet time on Monday morning?

Why didn't Jesus say, do this as often as you're alone in remembrance of me? Do this in your personal devotions in remembrance of me.

Why? Because we testify to one another. I'm not alone in my brokenness. I find comfort.

That's what I mean when I say I love this gathering, because I recognize that I'm not the only busted one that Jesus had to die for.

It's all of us. It's all of us. When we get up in those lines, I delight to see you there.

I rejoice to make eye contact with you there. I'm glad to see others testifying to the glory of what

Christ has done. Come get in line this morning to testify.

And this is what we should all mean when we go to those tables. I'm broken, but in Christ he has promised me his love.

I'm not worthy, but he has loved me and given me worth through his sacrifice.

And maybe even most importantly, go to the tables because you recognize the magnetism of the king himself. He has shown up in your routine life.

He has captured you with his grace and love. And you come to the tables to remember that love expressed in a body broken for you.

So you take the cracker and you remember that love expressed in his blood shed for us.

And so you take that juice. And then I encourage you to come back at 12 30 to hear people testify.

Well, you hear a message about baby John testifying and Elizabeth testifying. And then we're going to get to hear

Rachel and Aiden and Lexi testify as well after the second service at 12 30.

Come back please if you want to hear real people testify about what Jesus Christ has done for them.

And then let's be a people ready and eager to point to our Lord this week. Let's be a people in awe and wonder that he would include us in his plan of salvation.

And let's be a people who believe and trust his promises to us. Let's pray.

Father, I rejoice and am thankful for the testimony of others. I'm thankful for the routine that we've developed here, a cadence of testifying to your mercy and grace, our brokenness and your kindness and your grace toward us in Christ, the sacrifice that was made to make us whole.

Father, I pray that this morning as we participate in communion and then later today have an opportunity to see people testify of your glory and see them honor you through obedience in the waters of baptism.

Father, I pray that we would be refreshed and renewed in our thoughts about what you have done for us and how you can use us, you using the unborn baby

John to testify, to point to Jesus. And then the magnetism of Christ, let that magnetism impact our daily lives, that we would come to him in the morning and come to him throughout the day and come to him in the evening as we lay our head on our pillows to end our days, that we would be drawn to him, fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Father, I pray that you would renew within us a desire to be bold with our faith to others, to be those who join

John and Elizabeth and Mary next week, to be those who join this chorus here at the start of the gospel of Luke in testifying, even as we go into a holiday season where we're going to be interacting with a variety of family members and some might even be fearful of political discussions entering this holiday season.

Father, I pray that you would give us boldness to might as well just enter into the religious too. So, Father, I pray that you would help us to be people who are quick to testify of your goodness, your mercy, your kindness, your grace toward us, not thumping others over the head with their sinfulness, but pointing a light, a spotlight on the glory of the righteousness of the

Son of God who died for us and gave himself up for us. Father, I thank you that we have an opportunity now to come into these lines to testify as we do every week, that we are broken, you are healer, we are sinners, you are righteous, and that great exchange has happened in our lives so that we can participate in this with joy and gladness this morning.