Well, please turn, if you will, in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1. Luke, chapter 1. I'd like to look at Mary, the announcement to Mary of the birth of Jesus, and then the song that Mary sings or puts forth for us. Luke is actually writing his Gospel with a purpose. He wrote at the very beginning that he's writing that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught. It's a historical narrative, but it's a theological narrative. He's writing with a meaning, with a purpose that we might know, that we might understand, that we might believe, and that we might celebrate in Jesus. He's writing about very specific people, very specific places, very specific events. You note that the Gospels don't start off once upon a time in a land far, far away, or in a galaxy far, far away, do they? But Luke even mentions there's a decree from Caesar Augustus, The first year of registration when Canarius was governor of Syria. Joseph went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David. He was betrothed to a woman named Mary. This is very specific. Luke is claiming a place for Christianity on the stage of world history. It's not just something that happened out there somewhere, but something that happened here. We just confessed the Nicene Creed. We just confessed historic realities. He was born of a virgin. He suffered under pontius pilate. He was crucified. He was dead. He was buried. He was raised again three days later That makes all the difference It's not just an idea of a savior but a savior who actually came And luke is writing that we may know that we may believe that we may have certainty regarding these things Before he writes this gospel there had been 400 years of silence Between the closing of the old testament and the opening of the new testament There had been a promise of a son, of a Savior, of a Messiah that would come. But there had been 400 years of silence. And then there's a cacophony of announcements just shattering the silence. You heard about one of them from Reverend Godfrey this morning. There's the announcement to Zachariah, the announcement to Mary, the announcement to Joseph, the announcement to the shepherds. Never has there been so much going on at one time. The Lord doesn't want us to miss it. The gospel writers don't want us to miss it. This entire era is filled with songs. It's filled with announcements. It's like the ending of the fireworks where everything's going off all at once. Hey, don't miss it. This is the deal. This is the big deal. There's been a promise of a son and now he's coming. Not only specific texts, but the entire grand drama of scripture has been building to this moment. To the reality of the Son of God coming. The one that was promised to Adam and Eve, even in the garden, that he would send a seed. A seed from their own loins that would crush the head of the serpent. One who would conquer sin, one who would conquer Satan, one who would conquer death. And Luke wants us to recognize that it's Jesus. There's nobody else that it could be. If you think of it like Cinderella, right, you want to find who does the slipper fit? It only fits one person in all of human history. where all of the prophecies of the Old Testament are pointing forward and it's Jesus. It's the Christ. It's the Messiah. It's this one. And it's in this context that we hear the text today. Let me pray before we read the Word of God. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a speaking God. We thank you that you accomplish things through speech. We thank you that you brought the world into existence through your speech. We thank you that you bring us, the church, to existence through your speech. We were called, we were regenerated through the word. We are justified, we are sanctified in and through the word. We pray now that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to believe. Minds to understand and eyes to see and hands and feet that are eager and willing to do your will as you conform us more and more to the image of Jesus through your word and through your spirit. It's in the name of Jesus, washed in his blood. and clothed in his robe of righteousness and indwelt by your Holy Spirit that we pray. Amen. And so friends, into that context then, let's hear now the word of God. Luke chapter 1, starting in verse 26. It says, and he came to her and said greetings oh favored one the Lord is with you but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be and the angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus he will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the lord god will give to him the throne of his father david and he will reign over the house of jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end and mary said to the angel how will this be since i'm a virgin and the angel answered her the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you therefore the child to be born will be called holy the son of god and behold your relative elizabeth and her old age has also conceived a son and this is the sixth month with her who is called barren for nothing will be impossible with god and mary said behold i am the servant of the lord let it be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her so far the reading of god's holy word we're going to pick up her song a little bit later but let's start here let's look at three things together this evening first mary's situation second mary's son and third mary's song mary's situation mary's son and mary's song first mary's situation we note that gabriel an angel was sent from god an angel is really a messenger he's coming with a message from god himself and you'll note again that is put in a very specific historical context. The sixth month sent to the city of Galilee, to Nazareth, to a virgin, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and her name is Mary. Probably not a lot of people in the city fit that description that day, was there? Trying to highlight the reality that there's only one person. There's only one line. There's only one way that this promise could be fulfilled. And it's claiming a stage again on human history six-month Galilee Nazareth a virgin betrothed to Mary of the house of David whose name is Mary and the tone of this announcement from Gabriel is the setting of Jesus's ministry it's very humble it's very unexpected the announcement to the shepherds was loud and proud it was outside in public but this is coming humbly to Mary it's unexpected it's simple it's personal. It's private. She wasn't anticipating it or expecting it at all. And the greeting that she hears, the word that she hears from the Lord says, greetings, oh favored one, the Lord is with you. What a wonderful promise. What a wonderful reality. What a wonderful greeting to know that the Lord is with you. And when she heard these words, the Lord is with you, it points Mary to her special role in salvation history. It's similar to numerous significant other redemptive historical acts in which God announced himself in just such a way. He said basically the same thing to Isaiah. I'm sorry, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Moses, to Gideon. He said it to Jeremiah. He said it to Paul. And beloved, he says it to us. God is with you. He is for you. Greetings, O favored ones. The Lord is with you. It's a wonderful promise. You note the sandwich of the words in verse 28 and verse 30. He says, O favored one, you have found favor in the eyes of God in verse 30. He wants the reminder of his grace, of his mercy. He wants that to be the very first thing that she hears and that she knows. And not that this favor is granted here. There is no hint of request from Mary. It's just an announcement that God comes and God visits her. The word that's used here is actually one of the key terms in Luke and in Acts for what God is going to do when he is pleased to give his grace or his mercy to his people. It's about what God does from his own good pleasure as he gives favor upon his people. And note here that Mary is the recipient of God's grace, not the bestower of God's grace. She's the one who received grace. She's the one who received favor. She's the one who received mercy. Mary is really a picture of all who receive God's grace on the basis of his kindness, on the basis of his love, on the basis of his pleasure, on the basis of his goodwill and his initiative. And so then we find that Mary doesn't quite understand what's going on. So she has found favor in the eyes of the Lord and she's afraid. Can you imagine? It's not how most Hallmark Christmas cards are, are they? They don't show Mary just freaked out. They show a glow or a halo or something. But I submit to you, if an angel of the Lord appeared to you, hopefully your response wouldn't be, you know what, I was kind of expecting you to come. It's good that you came to me, right? You'd be freaked out. Hopefully you'd be freaked out. And she's freaked out. But the Lord isn't going to leave her in that. The Lord has given Gabriel to comfort her and to assure her and to promise her about what he had just said you found favor in the eyes of the lord the lord is with you and he tells her that you will bear a son which we're going to look at in a minute that's our second point but note what mary asks she said how will this be since i am a virgin she is understandably confused mary knows how these things work people in the ancient near east understood how one gets pregnant and one how one has babies and she know that this couldn't be for her she's understandably confused she doesn't doubt the word of the lord but she wonders how she's not doubting but she wonders how she's puzzled she's a virgin other births in scripture were unusual or unlikely or incomprehensible 75 year old woman having birth right that's really really unlikely but you're saying there's a chance right but a virgin that's impossible the angel elaborates to comfort her in this he says the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you therefore the child to be born will be called holy the son of god for nothing will be impossible with god now there's something to claim on to or cling on to isn't there it's really unlikely that a 75 year old woman's going to have a child it's impossible that a virgin is going to have a child unless the lord does something so in answer to her sincere question how will this be the answer that she receives is from direct involvement from the Lord God Almighty the third person of the Holy Trinity is the one the third person of the Holy Trinity who we just confessed in the Nicene Creed is the Lord and giver of life he's going to be the one that's going to give life here and the life that he's going to give is going to be the Son of God becoming man God and man united in a way unimaginable to us throughout all of scripture we see the holy spirit is the one who's actively involved in life actively involved in creation and the creation account itself it says that the holy spirit was the one who was hovering over the deep he was bringing things together he was giving life when god made adam he breathed into him the the spirit and adam became a living being the holy spirit throughout scripture is seen as the one who gives life if you think back to the valley of the dry bones in ezekiel 36 and 37 there were dry bones just scattered all about and the lord told ezekiel he saw a vision in which the holy spirit the word of god came and these bones came alive they lived and they started to come together and they had sinews and they had flesh and it was the spirit of god that gave life it's that one it's the third person of the holy trinity who's going to do something remarkable do something that's seemingly impossible and in the womb of a virgin is going to be born the son of god that phrase nothing will be impossible would most likely have sent off bells in young mary's head about the redemptive work of the lord about his power and faithfulness to his promises. There are several times in Scripture in which it's used, but I wonder if she thought in particular of Sarah. When Sarah laughed at the idea that at her age she was going to have a child. And then Genesis 18, 14 records for us, is anything too hard for the Lord? And at the appointed time, I will return to you about this time next year and Sarah will have a son. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Nothing is impossible with God. This is the one that we serve. This is the one who loves us. This is the one who created us. This is the one who redeemed us. This is the one who is with us. He's faithful and he's worthy of our praise. Note that Mary doesn't ask for a sign. So many people in redemptive history when God made a promise to them, they're like can I have a sign how am I going to know for sure Mary doesn't ask for a sign what a beautiful and trusting young woman but God provides her for a sign anyway Elizabeth's pregnancy is going to be assigned to her and when she goes and sees Elizabeth Elizabeth recognizes that Mary is the mother of the Lord and even within her womb John the Baptist recognizes the presence of the Lord as well. And those are signs to Mary that all that God said is true. And here's another one, Elizabeth, who shouldn't be having babies at her age, and yet she's pregnant in her sixth month. And she rejoices at hearing about the Savior as well. Note that Mary here has a childlike faith. It's not childish. There's a huge difference between childish, right, and childlike. Childish is irreverent and cranky and difficult. Childlike is trusting. And Mary trusts. It's beautiful and it's lovely. Mary identifies herself as a servant of the Lord. She said, let it be to me according to your word. Wouldn't it be beautiful if that was all of our response whenever the Lord called us to do something? Let it be to me according to your word. But she responds in humble submission and obedience. She responds in gratefulness and thankfulness. Her life is not going to be easy, is it? Imagine going to mom and dad and say, hey, I'm pregnant, but not through the normal channels. Or her friends, or society. It's going to be difficult. It's going to be difficult to be Mary. Her life will not be easy. The cost of discipleship is hard. She will be confused at times. She will be mocked at times. She's going to watch her son suffer. She's going to watch her son die. But she also has the privilege of watching her son, who is also her Savior, rise again from the dead. There is a marvelous example for us in Scripture of someone who heard the word of the Lord and believed. And trusted in the promises. Trusted against all evidence to the contrary. How can this be? Because nothing's impossible with the Lord. Because nothing's impossible with the Lord. And so let's turn our attention from Mary's situation to Mary's Savior, to Mary's son. Our second point, this is really a divine birth announcement, isn't it? Parents really like to name their children. And here we're actually getting God the Father naming his son. He's telling us what the name of this child will be because this text in particular is highlighting that it's his son. This son is going to be his. So like many fathers pass out cigars and love to tell you what's going on here, we have this announcement from God the Father. Listen to how this sentence builds to get to the end of it. It says, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. like a freight train wanting to get to the end let me tell you all of this his name is Jesus Jesus means savior it means Yahweh saves in Matthew's account of this Matthew adds you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins it's not just that his name is Jesus but that he is going to save his people from their sins this is the mission this is the purpose this is why he came not merely to be an example although he is that but to save his people from their sins beloved we just don't have the idea of savior we have a savior who came to pay the penalty for all of our sins and to live a life of righteousness in our stead and to save us to the uttermost and to conquer sin to conquer satan to conquer death to rise from the grave and rule and reign in heaven forever and pour out his spirit on us so that we could have life and have it abundantly. To save us from that which separates us from God, our sin. From that which fractures our relationship with others, our sin. His name is Jesus. You have found favor with God and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will call his name Jesus. And then Luke heaps up these phrases. that Gabriel says. And the rest of the Gospel of Luke and really the rest of the Gospels themselves unpack this. It says, He will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. Of his kingdom there will be no end. This one, this Jesus, he will be great. And Luke records all these amazing things that Jesus did that are great. They're recorded so that we might believe that He is God. He controlled the wind. He controlled the sea. He fed 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. He calmed storms. He made the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear. He made someone who was dead alive again. And He forgave sins. This is Cinderella. This is the one. There is no one else to whom every prophecy points forward that it's Him, it's Jesus. He is great. He's shown Himself and great in all of these things. But note in particular for our purposes this evening, He will be called the Son of the Most High. The one born of the Virgin, the one born of Mary is the Son of God. That's radical. God entering into humanity. God entering in and coming and taking upon Himself human flesh so that when He pays the penalty for our flesh, He's the perfect mediator between God and man because He is God and man. He's the one who bears the penalty on the cross for our sins and reconciles us to God. he's the one who's raised again in the flesh that we have the sure pledge of our flesh in heaven knowing that we too will be raised from the dead that we too will be like him he's the one who's going to reign on the throne of his father David forever and ever whose kingdom shall have no end in Luke's gospel he has a genealogy with 77 different names in it israel was always looking for this messiah where's the one but either a king was disqualified because they were immoral or because something happened or a bad rule or because they're a sinner or they all died but where's the one who can rule and reign forever where's the one who can rule and reign in justice and in purity and in holiness whose kingdom will have no end well now he's in the womb of a virgin he's the son of God the promised seed the promised son the promised Messiah it's a time of fulfillment the text is really making it clear in verse 32 the son of the Messiah and in verse 36 the son of God are linked and emphasized lest we miss the point this is God's unique son Jesus. It's him we proclaim. It's the news that we have to proclaim every week is the gospel that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. You sang this morning in your service, what child is this? What child is this? It's the one promised long ago. In Luke's gospel, like I said, he goes through 77 names and the last few are the son of enos the son of seth the son of adam the son of god what child is this this is the son of god the unique son of god the only son of god he is the rightful heir to the throne of david he is the long promised messiah he's the one that was promised to adam and eve he's the one who is going to crush the head of the serpent he's going to be the one who is slain for our sins he's the one from the tribe of Judah he's the lion of the tribe of Judah he's the one who's currently ruling and reigning in heaven for us interceding for us he's our elder brother who loves us and who cares for us it's not just Jesus in a manger but in the world on the cross in a tomb raised from the dead ascended, ruling and reigning, this one that's being announced that day. You've found favor. The child in your womb, his name is Jesus. He is the Son of the Most High. And he will rule and reign on the throne of his father David forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end. It's meant to be a great comfort. We're not saved by the incarnation of Jesus. We can't be saved without the incarnation. But it's this baby that grows up to be the one who perfectly obeys from womb to tomb everything that the Father had commanded him to do. It's this one who ends up on a cross as a condemned criminal for our sins. Crying out for the first time in his life, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because in that moment, all of our sin is imputed to Jesus. He's the one who came to save his people from their sins. Jesus is the Savior. And he died. The wages of sin is death. And Jesus died for us in our stead as our substitute. But he didn't stay dead. Three days later, he rose again. He is risen, beloved. You can do it. He is risen. Yes. He's risen indeed. He showed himself as the one who has command over sin, over Satan, and over death by swallowing it up. It's not just to Mary that's announced, unto you a child is born, but to you, beloved. Unto you a child is born. Unto you a son is given. And everyone and everyone who calls on the name of that Lord, of that person, of that Savior Jesus will be saved. Paul puts it this way in his epistle to the Galatians. He said, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the law, so that we might receive adoptions as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. That's remarkable. When the fullness of time had come, now, in the reign of Tiberias, in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, to the city of David, to a woman named Mary, betrothed to a guy named Joseph, in the fullness of time God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who are under the law that was us by works of the law beloved no one will be saved so there must be salvation or hopefully there's salvation another way and salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone according to the word of God alone he came to redeem those of us who are under the law so that we might receive adoptions as son and note that it says and because you are sons God has sent the spirit of his son into your hearts to cry Abba Father that same Holy Spirit that brought about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus is that same Holy Spirit that's given to you that's remarkable the third person of the Holy Trinity is the one sent to you that gives you the ability, the right, the eyes, the privilege to see the Lord and to call on Him and to call Him, to call the Father, Father in and through the Son because the Holy Spirit has been given to you. This isn't something you could do on your own. It's not a human discovery. It's not a human achievement. It's a gift. Blessed are you for your eyes have seen. Blessed are you, your sins are forgiven. Blessed are you, I have declared you righteous. Blessed are you, I have given you my Holy Spirit. The third person of the Holy Trinity dwells in you. And there's nothing in all of creation that can ever separate you from the love of God. We cry out with our hearts to our Father because of a gift that's been given to us. It's a blessing from beginning to end. And so turn now, if you will, in your Bibles back to Luke chapter 1. We'll look at Mary's song. We looked at Mary's situation. We looked at Mary's son and Mary's song. Let's start in verse 39, picking up where we left off. Luke 1, 39. It says, In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town in Judah and 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 explained 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 the 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 and mary said my soul magnifies the lord and my spirit rejoices in god my savior for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant for behold from now on all generations will call me blessed for he who is mighty has done great things 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 in the thoughts of their hearts he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty he has helped his servant israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers to abraham and to his offspring forever and mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home beloved here is mary responding to this news and then what she had seen with elizabeth mary magnifies the lord some people argue or wonder if a teenage girl of a poor and humble background could compose so rich a song of praise and we don't have the time to go into it tonight but this whole song is rich with old testament parallels it's an expression of many of the psalms which she would have grown up singing and hearing it's a powerful expression of faith in light of the revelation of the word of god and the promises she was steeped in these things of course she could and also the holy spirit was with her it reminds us of hannah's prayer when hannah heard what the lord was going to do for her she said my heart exalts in the Lord. I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord. And so note here quickly two things. Mary magnifies and praises the Lord for her salvation and Mary magnifies and praises the Lord for the salvation of others. First, Mary praises the Lord for saving her. You know how personal this is. My soul magnifies the Lord. My My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. He has looked on the humble estate of his servant. Her soul. She's the one who's magnifying the Lord. She recognizes this is personal. My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. Notice here that Mary recognizes that she needs saving. She needs a Savior. She's not the Savior and she's not a co-savior. She's recognizing and praising the Lord for the salvation that he brings to her. And she goes on to say, From now on, all generations will call me blessed. From now on is an important phrase. Like we said, Luke's writing to make a place for Christianity on the stage of human history. Everything's changing now. There's a new sheriff in town. Jesus is here. The promised Messiah is here. Everything changes. The new covenant is being inaugurated. Everything promised in the Old Testament. Everything announced in the Old Covenant is coming to fulfillment in one person. This Jesus, this Christ, from now on, everything will be different. And she recognizes that she's blessed. But she's not blessed because of her piety or her purity, though she had both. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. She's looking up and out to the Lord, isn't it? She's not looking inside saying, I'm worthy of this. I'm pretty awesome. He who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name. This is praising the Lord for who he is and for his might and what he's revealed and for his mercy. Her spirit magnifies the Lord. Her spirit rejoices in God, her Savior. It's radical that the child in her womb, the child that she is going to breastfeed will be the one to deliver her and her people and everyone who calls on the name of Jesus from their sins and from Satan and from death. But Mary praises and magnifies the Lord for her salvation. But notice that's not all Mary cares about. Mary praises and magnifies the Lord for his mercy to others. She said, his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. And Luke, in just a chapter or two, is going to unpack a genealogy that includes Jews, Gentiles, males, and females, all of them sinners, all of them looking for a savior, all of them saved in and through this one, Jesus Christ, some of them looking forward to his promise, some of them looking back on the fulfillment but his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation very specifically mary notes god's faithfulness to his covenant of grace mary gets it mary gets that we are saved by grace by the mercy of god in verse 54 she says he has helped his servant israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our father abraham and to his offspring forever the promise to abraham was while he was asleep i will do this i will do this i will do this i will do this i will make you a great name i will make you a great nation in you all the people of the earth shall be blessed i will i will i will i will and now here he is here's the promise of the i will in the womb of mary mercifully coming to save his people. The reason and the reliance for the hope is because of the mercy of God. There's no appeal to worth. It's unilateral. It's irrevocable. It's glorious. It's the promise to Abraham. I will be your God and you will be my people and I will be with you. Friends, Mary is blessed. And we should highly esteem her as the mother of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Son of God. She is a woman of faith and a dear sister that we should emulate. But Mary is not to be worshipped. Mary is not to be venerated or prayed to. She's not a co-redeemer. And I submit to you that Mary would be horrified by this. If Mary could talk to us and people were praying to her, she'd say, Don't, let me tell you about my son. Let me tell you about my son, Jesus. He's the one who hears your prayers. He's the one who answers your prayers. He's the one who died for you. He's the one who rose for you. He's the one who lives for you. Let me tell you about him. Unto us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. Not just an announcement there, but an announcement here. There's no other name. There's no other Savior. There's no other way. Christianity makes some of the most exclusive claims and some of the most inclusive claims of the religions of the world. The exclusive claim is that there's no way to the Father except through the Son. There's no other name under heaven by which one can be saved than Jesus. It's very exclusive, very narrow. But the inclusive part comes when everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. Everyone. Jew, Gentile, slave, free, barbarian, Scythian, male, female. Anyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. The Lord will be with them. Beloved, these are great promises to us. These are great truths to us. If you know and have already called on the Lord Jesus, then be comforted and assured that your sins are forgiven, that you are declared righteous, that there's nothing in all of creation that can separate you from the love of the Father in the Son through the Holy Spirit now and forever. And if tonight you're sitting here and you don't, you haven't called on the name of Jesus, then today is the day of salvation. Repent and believe and you will be saved. You will receive the forgiveness of your sins. You will receive eternal and everlasting life. Don't let another day go by. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this radical announcement to Mary. We thank you for your mercy. We thank you for sending Jesus to save his people amongst whom we are from their sins. We thank you for the embarrassment of riches that you give us in him. You've called us. You've regenerated us. You've given us faith. You've justified us. You're sanctifying us. You've adopted us. You've indwelt us. through your Holy Spirit. We're destined and bound for glory. There's nothing in all of creation that can separate us from you. Father, may we live and love and serve in light of that freedom, in light of that reality, not for it. And for any tonight who may not know you, we ask that today might be the day of salvation. Would you be merciful to them? Would you give them eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to believe and minds to understand? Would you rescue them as you have with us? In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.