Trinity Church Tamworth

Text: Nehemiah 3, 4, 6 Series: The God Who... Speaker: Ross Fotheringham Date: 8/2/2026

Text: Luke 17:11-19 Series: Miracles in Luke Speaker: Warwick Lyne Date: 25/01/2026

The Promise Fulfilled Luke 1:57-80 James sat alone in his dim apartment on Christmas Eve, staring at the unopened box of decorations. Last year, his harsh words had driven his sister away, and they hadn’t spoken since. Regret weighed heavier than the winter chill. Scrolling through old photos, he saw her smile and whispered, “I wish I could fix this.” Just then, his phone buzzed—a simple text: “Merry Christmas, James. Miss you.” Heart pounding, he typed back: “Miss you too. Can I come over?” Minutes later, he was driving through snow, clutching a small gift he’d bought months ago but never sent. When she opened the door, tears replaced the silence. No speeches, no explanations—just a hug that said everything. In that moment, James realised Christmas wasn’t about perfect plans or presents. It was about grace, forgiveness, and the gift of a second chance. That was a short story that won some prize somewhere, nothing notable, but somewhat controversially because, as it turns out, it was AI generated. Putting aside the ethical questions of Artificial Intelligence, I wonder what Zechariah would have thought of that story? I think he would have thought, “you know what, that’s not far from the mark. The coming of Jesus is about, amongst other things, grace, forgiveness, and second chances.” Zechariah was a good man who failed his big moment. If you turn back to the beginning of chapter 1 you see just what a good man, he was. V5, he was a priest of the division of Abijah, and not only was he a priest, but his wife was from the daughters of Aaron. She was from a priestly line. Her name was Elizabeth. We read in v6 they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. As Ross said two weeks ago, that doesn’t mean they were sinless, but it does mean they took sin seriously. Not perfection, not meriting eternal life, but they were good, obedient Jews. They followed the law. They were the sort of people that would serve in leadership at church and on committees, and they would be the sort of people you would like to have as neighbours. However, Elizabeth was barren, as often happened in Scripture to those who were about to be most blessed by the Lord, and so they prayed for a child, and in their old age, v13, God granted them a child. This was not just any child. Their child, we read, would be great before the Lord, v15. He would be filled with the power and the Spirit of Elijah, v17. I.e. he would be the one to come and prepare the way for the day of the Messiah, according to Malachi. And yet, Zechariah had a hard time believing this word. Look at v18. He said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” It sounds like an honest question, and so you might wonder, “Why so hard on Zechariah? This is a miraculous thing that’s about to happen. Part of what Luke is doing is making a contrast between Zechariah and Mary. The angel announced the good news to Zechariah about a miraculous baby, and he did not believe, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man.” Gabriel then announces the good news to Mary about a miraculous baby, and she seems to have a very similar question to Zechariah in v34, Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, since I am a virgin?” Pretty good questions. How can this be, I’m old? How can this be, I’m a virgin? It’s one of those times where we’re not told the tone or manner in which it was said, but apparently there was something different about it – something different in the heart of Zechariah from Mary. Mary’s “how can this be” was a kind of wonder, how can this be? Whereas Zechariah’s was the how of skepticism, how can this be? We see that Mary believed. If you look over in v38, after the angel says that she will have a child, her final response is “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your Word.” In v45, Elizabeth says (perhaps on the back of what had happened to her husband), “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Mary received this miraculous message and said, “that’s amazing, but I believe it.” Zechariah received a miraculous message and he said, “How can this be? I don’t believe it.” We also see contrast in their different positions. Mary: this unmarried woman, a teenager, 13 or 14 perhaps, of low estate. Zechariah: he's a godly man, a priest, married to a woman of the line of Aaron, he would have been an elite member. If anyone could believe something like this, it was Zechariah. If there was someone who would have been excused for not believing it, it's Mary. If we take it a bit further; where was Zechariah when he received this message? He was on duty in the temple when he was given a word about his special son. He’s there in the temple where all these symbols of God’s presence and glory and splendour and holiness are. He should have been reminded that this God could do such a thing. He was a good man but failed his big moment. Mary, without all those positions and all those trappings, is given an even bigger announcement, that she will effectively be a kind of temple for the Lord, as her womb will become the place where God in the flesh will dwell, in a much more glorious way than even that magnificent temple, and she does believe. As a result of his unbelief, Zechariah was rendered mute for 9 months and 8 days, which was to the date of circumcision. He's given a second chance, and he makes good on his opportunity. In v59 he proceeds with obedience, the child is presented on the eighth day to be circumcised. He and his wife are obedient to give the name that the angel had commanded. (It never occurred to me to have a Warwick Jnr.) In that culture it was common that you would be given the name of your father. If not the name of your immediate father, then one of your grandfathers. So, they’re all confused. “Why aren’t you giving him your name? You don’t even have any Johns.” They say, “No, we’re giving him the name John.” Then Zechariah writes it down and now he has passed this test. He has learned, “I am obedient now to the message that was given to me, I believe it, the child’s here, and he will be called John.” We are told that instantly his tongue is loosed, and, in v64, he begins to bless God. Have you ever stopped to think about this amazing story? It seems like a bizarre punishment. Why that? Why not disbelief, ok, give him the man-flu for nine months, we all know how husbands are with colds. Or give him a limp, give him a mark on his forehead or something. Why tie up his tongue so he can’t speak? Think about who was Zechariah’s son, this miraculous child? John. John the Baptist, as we call him. What role would John play in God’s plans? He would be the one to prepare the way for the Messiah. He would be the voice crying in the wilderness, the prophet to announce the coming of the Word made flesh. There had been 400 years of silence, since Malachi, and now God was going to speak again. Do you see the connection? Zechariah’s punishment was not cruel and unusual; it was theologically perfect. The priest’s voice was taken away until the day when the voice crying in the wilderness had arrived. Zechariah’s speechlessness was a real-life parable that the time of God’s silence was coming to an end. That God would once more now climatically speak to His people, first through John the Baptist, then and finally through his Son. You see this second chance is not just for Zechariah, but for Israel. The promises of Malachi are now here: “Behold. I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” That’s how Malachi ends… then for 400 years God had tied up his own tongue. Now, God is opening His mouth once again. By the voice of John, He will warn the people, call them to repentance. Then God himself will show up. This account means another chance for Zechariah, but more than that, it’s another chance for Israel. We can say even more than that, it reminds us that there’s another chance for you. What have you done with the Lord’s second, third, four hundredth, one millionth chance? Those times when you thought you had finally exhausted God’s mercy, or those times when you were brought through a difficulty with safety, and brought back from the brink of some diagnosis or some illness, or perhaps you can look and remember a time in your life when you were so far from the Lord, but here you are, and God’s spoken to you and God’s given you another chance. Perhaps that moment is now, this morning … you know, even if no one else knows, as you’re here looking nice, here in this nice place with nice people, singing these nice songs. You know that that’s not what’s going on in your heart right now. That if people saw you’re much more like the end of Zechariah’s song, sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death. But God extends to you another chance, another opportunity to repent, to believe, to say you don’t have to go through another year and another Christmas far from the Lord, wondering if your sins have been forgiven. You don’t have to live this way. Maybe that’s where you are. Far from the Lord, though no one knows it. Living a life of darkness, though you manage to show up on Sunday for 90 minutes with enough brightness, so no one knows. Some of us are like Zechariah, nice people, good people, then it comes to our big moment … and we blow it. That’s not the ultimate lesson from Zechariah, however, because what made him a godly, righteous man is that when he blew it and when God gave him another chance, then he listened, and he learned. It’s not that good Christians get everything right the first time, it’s that godly men and women and children learn from those mistakes as God gives a second, third, and four hundredth opportunity. Which brings us to Zechariah’s song. Is this Jesus, whom all these things are pointing to, worth worrying about second and third and four hundredth chance? I’ve mucked it up so many times … just forget about it. Why should I bother? What’s so good about belonging to Jesus and being part of his kingdom anyway? This is a great song. The second Christmas carol ever to be written. The first being Mary’s song. There are some great Christmas carols: Hark the herald angels sing, Joy to the world, O come all ye faithful. There are some bad Christmas carols: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, very confusing for children, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, just wrong on a lot of levels, even John Lennon’s So This is Christmas misses the mark completely. Let’s go back to one of the originals… Zechariah recounts that the Lord has done three things great things: 1. V68, He has visited and redeemed His people. 2. V69, He has raised up a horn of salvation from the house of David. That means a strong one will come from David’s line, that’s what a horn symbolised. 3. And third, He has spoken, v70, by the prophets of old. God says, “I have set you free, I have set up a king, and I have sent you, My messengers.” Or you could summarise this with three R’s: Redemption, Royalty, Revelation. Redemption: “I’ve purchased you; I’ve set you free from your enemies.” Royalty: “I have given you a strong one, a Messiah, a king, a horn from David’s line.” And in Revelation: “I have opened My mouth to speak.” That’s what Zechariah recounts as the best; most praiseworthy gifts the Lord has given him and God’s people. Of course, these things are all fulfilled in the one to whom Zechariah’s son will point. Revelation: in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. Royalty: Jesus is the shoot from the stump of Jesse. Redemption: by his blood we have been redeemed. Did you notice how biblical and theological Zechariah’s expression of praise is? When his tongue is finally loosed and he explodes, prompted by the Holy Spirit, this expression of praise, overflowing from his heart, is Bible and theology. If we were to explode in praise, what would it be for? If we’re honest, if we were overflowing and said, “I have such wonderful news,” what would it be? Maybe “I got the job! I got the promotion! I passed the exams! Look at these good test results from the doctor! Look at this new car in our driveway! Look at this photo of our new grandchild!” Now, I’m not saying we should feel bad for having good jobs and good grades and good health. Please don’t hear that. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of light. Yes, give thanks for those things, not less thanksgiving for those things. That’s not the point Rather, give more thanksgiving for the biggest things. It’s wonderful to come before the Lord and say, “I got a job, I have got a good relationship, I got a good test score, my health is great.” Yep, come to God. It doesn’t take a work of the Holy Spirit to be thankful for those things. You don’t have to be a Christian to be glad for those things. Everyone wants those things. It doesn’t take a miracle of grace in your life to say, “I’m feeling healthy, that’s wonderful.” This takes a miracle of supernatural sovereign grace: to rejoice not only in those circumstantial blessings, but in the big things – that whatever your health is right now, whatever your relational status, whatever you like or don’t like about your job, that if you belong to Jesus he has redeemed you, delivered you from sin, the flesh, and the devil. That’s better news! That no matter who is in power in this city or this state or in Canberra, that God has established Christ Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He never runs for re-election. No matter how lonely certain days or seasons may be, that God has not remained silent. He has spoken to you, personally, inwardly, and revealed to you the glory of King Jesus your redeemer. These are the things that explode out of Zechariah. These are the reasons to be thankful for second, third, four hundredth chance. Here’s my final question for you: What is your response to Christmas? I know, I know, busy and presents and stress and anxiety, but nostalgia and tradition and all of that, really, the message of Christmas, the coming of the Messiah, the birth of this King… What’s your response to Christmas? Elizabeth is exclaiming, Mary is magnifying, Zechariah is praising, and baby John is leaping, later the angels will be glorifying, because they know that this is good news. That this is a happy day. And they, like we, should rejoice and be glad in it. It’s possible, perhaps even likely, for some of us, to have lost something of the wonder of Christmas, of the stupendous, world-altering, universe-changing good news that’s worth shouting, singing, exclaiming, leaping, glorifying, praising, and magnifying. What is your response to Christmas? Will you be like Zechariah, Elizabeth? Even the baby got it, you can get it, too, and rejoice in this good news that is for all God’s people. Our gracious heavenly Father, we give thanks for your many blessings, but we want to give you our most thanks for your best blessings, revelation, royal King Jesus, redemption. And we pray that this old, familiar story would once again stir in our hearts, whether we need a second or third or four hundredth chance, and we would overflow and explode with praise for the good news that Immanuel has come to earth, God with us. We pray in His name. Amen.

The Promise Announced Luke 1:39-56 Turn back to Malachi 4. One of the last things the Lord said through Malachi was a promise that the Day of the Lord will come, Malachi 4:1-2, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” When the sun of righteousness comes, the Day of the Lord, there will be leaping for joy. You’ve got that thought in mind? Turn forward 400 years to Luke 1, and we pick up the story at the pre-natal conversation between Mary and Elizabeth. This conversation is something more significant than two expectant mothers comparing notes. The occasion has arisen because, with the words of the angel still ringing in her ears, Mary has chosen to make a journey of some 100km into the Judean hill country to link up with her cousin Elizabeth, who, even though in her old age, has fallen pregnant, v39. Mary hastens to the home of Elizabeth and greets her, v40. We’re told that at that very moment, v41, Elizabeth’s baby (namely John the Baptist) leaped in-utero. Again, nothing unusual about that – babies kick in the womb all the time. It’s also not unusual for an emotional response of the mother to cause a reaction in the child. It’s quite another thing for a miraculous expression of emotion on the part of the unborn child to have an impact on the mother, which is what is taking place here. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed, among other things, in v44, For, behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Sound familiar? How did Elizabeth know that? That the baby leaped for joy and it wasn’t just a normal tummy tumble? Well, it was her first child, and she was, how did Zechariah put it to Gabriel, “advanced in years”, so you can expect some excitement and reading into things. No, no. She was filled with the Holy Spirit. What Luke is doing is providing a wonderful point of continuity between OT promises and NT fulfilment. The people of God, who listened to the words of Malachi, who were tuned in to the promises of God, would be constantly on the lookout, saying to themselves, “Is this then the Day of the Lord? Is this then the day that God has promised?” What Luke is announcing here is, “Yes, that is exactly what has happened.” With the coming of Jesus, the Day of the Lord has finally dawned. Why? It is because the Lord is here. Everything that God had promised in the OT is here. Not yet in all of its fullness, but nevertheless it has arrived. Now that it’s here, what should we expect? What happens on the Day of the Lord? When Jesus comes, he turns the world upside down. Paul and Silas are preaching in Thessalonica, saying to everyone, “This Jesus, whom we proclaim to you, is the Christ.” Some jealous Jews don’t like what they’re saying, so they round up some wicked men, form a mob, start a riot, and attack the house where they were staying. Turns out Paul and Silas aren’t there, so they grab whoever is there and drag them to the city authorities shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also”. They were right. To say that Jesus is the Christ, the King, the centre of everything, is world-turning. Jesus turns the world upside down. We don’t need to wait until Acts 17 to find that out. We see that right here in Mary’s hit single, The Magnificat, (not Latin for great feline but ‘it magnifies’), which is of course a song not about Mary at all but about the Lord. We might summarise the song as a song of God’s unexpected mercy. We see God’s unexpected mercy in three different sections: God’s mercy to Mary The first thing to notice is that Mary stood in need of mercy. Why did she stand in need of mercy? It is because she’s a sinner like all the rest. That’s why she rejoices in v47 in God who is the saviour, her saviour. God’s mercy to Mary was a necessary mercy, and it was a mercy which extended to her humble circumstances, v48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. God could have come and found a noble, powerful queen to bear the Messiah. Maybe that’s what you’d expect. But Jesus comes to turn the world upside down, so instead he came to this poor, despised, lowly maiden. He’s been mindful of the humble, lowly estate of his servant, and so, says Mary, his mercy towards me will not be forgotten with the passing of generations. Luke 1:48-49 For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Mary doesn’t want to be called holy; holy is his name. Mary is looking away from herself to the Christ, which is what she would want anybody else to do. As much as it would have been a blessing to have been the mother of Jesus... and it would have been. All children are a blessing from the Lord, but a sinless child, oh what a blessing! Just imagine that. A member of the family who never once, not once, acted out of rebellion or jealousy or self-promotion, never chucked a tanty (temper tantrum), never ‘aww it’s not fair’! He always considered the needs or desires of others first, always spoke the truth to edify, always used his energy to help not hurt. (Almost unimaginable). Yeah, sure, a wonderful blessing for Mary. A wonderful blessing to be chosen to be the mother of the Messiah; Mary, a nobody from Nowheresville. No one would have expected it. There’s actually a better blessing that Jesus himself speaks of later in Luke that was also true of Mary. In Luke 11, while Jesus is teaching someone in the crowd piped up and said v27, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” Talking about Mary of course. In reply to that, do you know what Jesus says? “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” He doesn’t deny that Mary was blessed in her role, but he says there’s an even more important blessing. I think that’s the point even here when Elizabeth says to Mary, Luke 1:45, blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. If you’re someone who has heard the words of Jesus and believed them, then you’re just as blessed as Mary ever was in the things that count. Can I say that again… Who would’ve guessed? Is it true to call Mary blessed and holy? Sure. If you’re willing to substitute the name of anyone who belongs to Jesus before blessed and holy. Which brings us to the next section: God’s mercy to those who fear him Look at v50, And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. What does the word “fear” mean? The word fear is used in different ways in the Bible. When Mary uses it here it’s referring to that kind of fear which expresses itself in awe – a heart which recognises the majesty and might and holiness of the Lord. The kind of reverence that bows before his power and righteousness, and deters individuals from treating God, and therefore his words, lightly. It acknowledges that we are utterly dependent upon the Lord for everything. That’s precisely the people to whom his mercy extends. Not those who think they deserve it or can live without it, but for those who, because their hearts have been changed by the Lord Jesus, confess they deserve nothing good from God. For these individuals, he has shown the strength with his arm, v51. How? He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their heart. You’ll notice it’s in the past tense, not because it’s all already happened, but because this is what God has said will happen. So, it’s a done deal – we may as well talk about it as if it has already happened. The game’s up. As one commentator put it, “God is not impoverished by the sceptic. Nor by the hottie (attractive person) scientist who struts and frets his hour upon the stage of his laboratory mixing metaphors saying ‘there’s no god, and if there is a god I know what he’s like and where he came from.’ Well God says, ‘I know what you’re like and where you came from – the dust … and to dust you shall return.’ He has scattered the proud, and he has brought down the mighty from their thrones, v52. The great King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon stands on the roof of his palace and looks out at his kingdom and says, “Is this not the great thing I have built?” Later the servants are in the palace looking out the window across the fields asking, “Who’s that crawling in the grass out there and mooing like a cow?” Someone dares to speak up, “That’s ahh, that’s Nebuchadnezzar that’s down there.” “What’s he doing down there?” “That’s what we’ve been asking ourselves. We’ve been so used to him up here saying, ‘here I am, Nebuchadnezzar, and look what I have done,’ and now he’s mooing like a cow and eating grass.” How does that happen? God not only scatters the proud, but he brings down the powerful. In v53, the rich he has sent away empty. The point’s not that it’s always bad to be rich and virtuous to be poor. The point is that God is not partial to the rich, the powerful, or the proud. How could God be favourable to the things which in our world are, often, substitutes for God rather than pointers to God? Luke is writing to a man named Theophilus, a ranking Roman official. Luke warns him that vast numbers of people have and will perish because they are captivated by pride, power, and wealth, and, probably, Theophilus has all three. So Theophilus, look at what God is really like. The world might be impressed by your pride, power, or wealth, but not God – not in the slightest. He has mercy on those who fear him, who humble themselves. If God is God, how could it be any other way? It commends itself to be true, doesn’t it, that the great and holy God should magnify his greatness by blessing the lowly who admire his greatness and by bringing down the proud who resent his greatness? In summary, Luke says, “Jesus Christ has not come to fit in with your agenda; he has come as the mighty king to turn the world upside down. You need to fit with him.” When you do so you’ll find a mighty king who is not unkind, but absolutely merciful. He exalts, or lifts up, the humble and fills the hungry with good things. We’ve seen that personally for Mary, then more generally for those who fear him: thirdly, God’s mercy to Abraham’s descendants Luke 1:54-55 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. By looking favourably upon the young girl Mary, God has helped his servant, Israel. It’s through this girl that God has chosen to fulfil all his promises. What he had said to Abraham all those years ago about becoming numerous and the significance his offspring is being answered now through these dramatic events. You might ask, “What’s that got to do with me? I’m not a Jew.” We can only understand the song of Mary when we put it in this much larger picture. Who are the descendants of Abraham? Well Paul gives us the answer: Romans 9:6-8 For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. In other words, it’s not simply the natural children of Abraham who are God’s children, but those God mercifully chooses to include in his promise. Surprise, surprise that came as a bit of a shock to the Pharisees when Jesus told them that Abraham is not your father, your father is the devil. He’s a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies, and quite frankly you’re lying murderous threats through your teeth. They didn’t like that too much. Jesus turned their world on its head. The world says this is how you can impress God, by working hard enough, doing the right religious activities, by belonging to the right group or right race or right family. Jesus says, “No. It’s never been about those things. It’s about me and believing my word.” The world says, these are the things that are important money, education, privilege, reputation, influence, position, popularity, the best Christmas presents. These are the things you need to get to the top. These are the things you can be proud about and for which you can pat yourself on the back. When Jesus comes, all those things get flipped upside down. Jesus says, no it’s not. It’s about my mercy and about my promise and about my choice. That’s why if we declare that Jesus is the king over everything, we ought to expect shaking, because it’s world-turning. Scientists will tell you that the orientation of the earth’s axis relative to its orbit around the sun is off centre, by about 20 degrees or so. What Luke is telling us here is that it’s not 20 degrees; it’s 180 degrees. This world is orientated to have anything but Jesus at the centre. It’s completely upside down. Jesus comes to show that he is the centre, the Christ, the king who is mighty and merciful. Which is why when we declare that Jesus is the king over everything, we should expect people to be brought wonderfully to him, as Jesus mercifully changes our orientation to align with him, and reveals to us that we’re in fact starving for the glory of God, and so fills the hungry with good things by revealing himself. When we know this Jesus what should our response be? What’s our response? Mary knows these things and the only thing she can say in response is, Luke 1:46-47 My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, which is the right response. So, how does a soul magnify God? Magnifying God means magnifying Jesus, not Mary. God in v47 is the same person as Lord in v46 whom Mary’s soul is magnifying, which is the same name given to Jesus in v43. A mouth magnifies God by saying, “God is magnificent,” by speaking his praises. No one hears a soul. No one except you and God. I doubt that Mary means she is verbalizing a silent prayer. I think she means that at this moment her soul feels the greatness and holiness and mercy of God, and the feeling is primarily one of joy. “My spirit rejoices in God!” We magnify God by rejoicing in him. It is good news to learn that we magnify God by rejoicing in him. It’s good news because we are commanded to glorify or magnify God, and this command could be a terrible burden if we weren’t also told that the way to fulfil it is to rest in the sovereign, unexpected mercy of God. That is what magnifies God most. For some, Christmas time is a happy occasion. There are plenty of expectations about good things and good times. There will be many happy memories of Christmas. For others it’s not such a happy time. There will be no expectation for good things. This may be the 1st Christmas without a loved one. Christmas might be a reminder of what you don’t have that you wished you did. Christmas might just bring up sad/bad memories. How can we be happy and rejoice in times like that? We can do it by remembering the unexpected, mighty mercy of the Lord Jesus. If you’ve heard the words of Jesus and believed them, you’re just as blessed as anybody else in the things that really matter. Our heavenly Father, your promises are big and full of grace. We thank you that every one of them is fulfilled in Jesus. So, we ask now, free us from our propensity to be captivated by pride or power or possessions. Fill us with a hunger for the very things that can be filled only by Jesus. May we magnify his name as we know and enjoy, rest and rejoice in his sovereign mercy, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.