2 Samuel 7; Luke 2

Good morning, Saylorville! If you brought a copy of Scripture with you this morning, you can find two places; 2 Samuel chapter seven, 2 Samuel chapter seven, and Luke chapter one. We’ll be making our way… and for the balance of our time will be in Luke chapter one, but we’ll start from our David series here.

Merry Christmas, by the way! This is one of those odd years, you know, where Christmas lands in the middle of the week, and I don’t know if I’m supposed to say ‘Merry Christmas’ or you coming to our Easter….Easter?! What am I talking about here? Gee whiz! I should stop while I’m behind here. Uh… Yeah. Why don’t I just pray? How’s that? That’ll work. Let’s pray. Let’s talk to God, shall we?

Lord, it’s Christmas, and we know that it’s going to lead to Easter and hallelujah for that! We thank You that on this… during this season we can reflect upon the incarnation of Your Son, and we can give You the glory just like we just did in song, and we can have a merry Christmas. And I do realize, Lord, that most of us really look forward to this time of year, because we get together with family, and we exchange gifts, and we enjoy one another, and that’s all so good. But I also realize, Lord, that Christmas time can be a hard time for some. Milestones, when someone’s lost some of them they love… I have a friend, Lord… You know him… lost his wife this last year. It’s gonna be a hard couple of days for him. But for many others in this room… watching online, and, Lord, I just pray You would extend a special kindness to those who are hurting right now, and in spite of the heavy, they would still have a merry Christmas. Now we ask Your blessing on Your word. Send forth Your light and Your truth, Lord. Let them guide us. Let them bring us to Your holy hill to the place of Your dwelling, and there we’ll go to the altar of God, to God… our exceeding joy, and we’ll give You the praise. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Second Samuel chapter 7. When I was a little boy, I was raised in the Roman Catholic church, and this is not a shot against any of you that are Roman Catholics that are here or watching online. I grew up in the Catholic church, and that tradition believes in the doctrine of transubstantiation. We don’t believe it’s a biblical doctrine. That doctrine actually believes that at the Lord’s table, the host or the bread literally is transformed into the body and blood of Jesus. We don’t think the Bible teaches that, but I will tell you this. If you believe that, it will create a sense of holy in you. And what I mean by that… there’s… if you really believe that, that then you believe that God is in that, then it can sort of almost manipulate you.

But for me, when I was a little boy and an aspiring altar boy, my brother was an altar boy. And I remember him taking me behind the sanctuary. Now in a Catholic church, there behind the altar that they have… there’s a place where the chalice goes. The chalice is where the host goes in. And when the priest has offered a prayer and there is this belief that it turns into the body and blood of Jesus, then what they do after they’ve distributed the host, the leftover stuff they put into the chalice into this little compartment back here… And so… because, after all, it is the body of Jesus, so they believe.

And my brother took me behind the sanctuary one day and we were walking behind it, and he stopped right in the middle where that chalice would have been on the other side of the wall, and I’ll never forget it. He said, “Pat… Jesus is in there!” And I can tell you, there is a sense of awe that came over me like, ‘Awww! Wow!‘

We’ve been studying David, and where we left off in the narrative was when the ark… David has become king and the ark is coming back into Jerusalem, and it was coming back on a cart rather than being carried biblically and properly. And the oxen stumbled… if you remember that story. The ark tipped and Uzzah… who literally grew up around the ark… just instinctively reached out and touched the ark and steadied it. And if you remember the story, God struck him dead on the spot! — and the reason, at least in part, that God did that, is because Uzzah had lost his sense of the holy. And that’s my desire today, that we recapture the ‘holy’ in Christmas.

Just the other day, I was with some couples. And I’m working with a lot of new Christians. It’s  been just the joy of my life, and we were dealing with the whole ‘Santa’ and ‘Elf on the Shelf’ thing. Now listen, this is not a spoiler alert, so don’t be going, “Oh no, oh no…!’ I’m not gonna do that. But it is sort of a ‘holy’ alert. So one mom acknowledged the really precarious situation she got herself in recently. She’s a young mother with young kids, and one of them, the oldest who started to get it, confronted her the other day with his two younger siblings next to him. He said, “Don’t lie to me, Mom! Did you move that elf?” And she’s like, “What do I say?” — And we all leaned in and we said, “What did you say?!” (audience laughing) “I just changed the subject.“ (laughing) Hilarious! Right? — or is it?

We heard last week from our Pastor Jason that the problem in this, in the whole holiness of Christmas is some of us have allowed so much clutter into our life, and the Christmas story should not be cluttered. That’s all I’m saying. Don’t clutter it. Make it holy. It should be holy.

And there is a connection between David and Jesus, the greater, the Son of David. Here it is.

2 Samuel, chapter seven. First couple of verses.

2 Samuel 7:1-2

1 Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,

2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.”

‘I wanna make God a house!‘ Well, in essence, God said, ‘That’s not gonna happen.’ God basically says to David… we’ll look at this more in depth after the new year… God says, ‘You’re not gonna build a temporary house for Me. I’m gonna build an eternal house for you! — and actually not for you, but from you, from your body.’ Well, let’s look at it. Skip down to verse 12 so we can just get a taste of this.

2 Samuel 7:12-13

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom (for how long?) forever.”

So now, we fast forward as you go over to Luke chapter one… Luke chapter one, please. And we fast forward about a thousand years… the last 400 being what theologians call “the Silent Years” where there was no prophet, no revelation from God, and yet there was great anticipation that Messiah was coming!

And so, our desire for the balance of our time this morning is to recapture the ‘holy’ at Christmas. And there’s a lot of holy going on here! There are holy angels. Right? No other story in the Bible has more angels associated with it than the nativity, than the story of Jesus’ coming. If you’ve read Luke one before, you know he appears to Zechariah, the priest. He appears to Mary. He appears to Joseph. He appears to the shepherds in the very next chapter, and then again to Joseph. And Luke chapter one, the earlier part, Gabriel is dispatched from heaven to go to the temple where Zechariah the priest is literally standing in front of the altar of incense. He has a privilege that was given to a priest only one time in their entire life, and he’s experiencing it in that moment. And while he’s experiencing it, he’s pouring his heart out to God. He and his wife are old, they’re at least in their 60s, maybe 70s. They’re old, and he’s always wanted a child. And suddenly Gabriel appears, and says, ‘God has heard your prayer.’ And then he goes on and on about his child that’s to be born, John the Baptist. Almost… if you read it, you almost get a sense that Gabriel is giddy! He’s all giddy about this, this forerunner of Christ that’s coming! — and he’s gonna be great and all this and that. And then Zechariah says, ‘Can you give me like a sign or something?’ Really dumb question! Really dumb! — And Gabriel responds, ‘I mean, I am Gabriel! I stand in the presence of God! And from now on until the baby’s born, you don’t talk!’ Now six months later, Gabriel is dispatched again from heaven. He’s got to be, he’s got to be… you’ve got to wonder what was going on in Gabriel’s mind. I mean, I’m assuming angels have minds. They have intellect. But it’s not gone really good for him. I mean, Zechariah six months earlier, he’s now mute because he doesn’t believe. And 600 years earlier, he appeared to Daniel… gave him a revelation. Daniel gets sick as a dog as a result of it! And now, he’s got to come again. He’s got to be wondering, ‘Is this going to work out in our favor?’ This one’s going to work quite well, actually. So, we pick it up in verse 26.

Luke 1:26-33

26 In the sixth month (that would be of Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife’s, pregnancy) the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of (there’s our connection! Of what?) David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor (or grace) with God.

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

32 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 (Who?) David, (There’s that forever throne, the greater David, Jesus)

33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

… and I’m getting ahead of myself so we’ll stop there. I want you to notice in verse 30, the angel says to Mary, “Don’t be,” what? — don’t be “afraid.” He said the same thing to Zechariah when he appeared. He’s going to say the same… I don’t know if it’s… Gabriel could be… We’re not told when the shepherds are out there and the angel appears before the whole plethora of angels appear, that angel says the same thing. Why do they do that? — because they’re holy! That’s why. Because they’re awesome! That’s why.

If you go to Revelation 20… you don’t need to go. There in Revelation [22:9] at the end of the Bible this angel has appeared to John who’s writing Revelation, and John falls down to worship the angel! The angel says, ‘Get up! I’m just a servant.’ He’s saying, ‘Well, you don’t look like a servant.‘ I mean, they are incredible in their resplendence and their glory and their power! And you know, this is… The angel explaining to Zechariah earlier, six months earlier, that you’re going to have a kid, and he’s going on and on about John the Baptist with giddiness and excitement, and the result is Zechariah says, ‘You know, I’d kind of like to see a sign.’ He’s looking at a sign! — And that’s why Gabriel just, just, you know, blows a gasket right there! ‘I am Gabriel! — And I stand in the presence of God! You ain’t talkin’ till that baby is born!’

Have you ever dumpster dived for something? How many of you have…? Seriously, have you had to dumpster dive?… me too. It’s disgusting! It’s awful! But if you’ve lost something valuable… you’re divin’! Isn’t that true? You’re going in!

That is what Gabriel did every time he left the presence of a holy God! He was leaving the glories of heaven to come down into a sin filled… it’d be like a dumpster dive and worse! And if it was hard for him, how much more for Jesus Christ? — and yet the Son of Man came to seek and to save… to dumpster dive… for those who were lost. [Luke 19:10] And that’s some of you, maybe a bunch of you. Holy angels… There’s a holy woman here too, and I’m gonna pick it up in verse 31. I already read it, but I was just getting too excited! I read too far.

[Luke 1:31-38]

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb (Gabriel says) and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.

32 He will be great (Remember that word, “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,

33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 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.

36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, (This is for your encouragement, Mary. I’m already doing something miraculous here. Not the same as I’m doing for you) and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Can I get an, ‘amen?’)

38 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.”

Now we don’t have to… I referred to being raised as a Roman Catholic boy. I had a great upbringing! I thank the Lord for my upbringing, and even my religious upbringing to a large degree. I’ve often said that to become a Christian I didn’t have to believe more. I had to believe less. The Gospel is there. It’s there in Catholicism, but it’s so convoluted with extra biblical, non-biblical, heretical doctrine, it’s hard to get to it sometimes. But I don’t have to let… Roman Catholic’s teaching on Mary shouldn’t keep us from giving her her holy place in this story.

She was young. She could have been 15 years old. She was really young. She was godly. She was filled with truth. Did you notice when the Bible reading of the Mary’s Magnificat, which takes place between verse 46 through 55… Curtis was reading it… You notice how he kept emphasizing, “He has…” “He has…” “He has…” Mary is praying this! Eight times she gives the glory to God. God has done this! She was morally pure. We’re told repeatedly from verse 27 on… seven times in both Luke and Matthew’s Gospels… that she was a “parthenos.” That is the Greek word for “virgin” and it can only mean virgin. So, in other words, what was hard for Zechariah to believe was virtually impossible for Mary to believe. (Did my voice just crack? What is wrong with me?) What was hard… I’ll say it again… (congregation laughing) Wow! What was hard for Zechariah to believe would have been virtually impossible for Mary to believe. It was scientifically impossible! Not scientifically impossible for Zechariah and Elizabeth, albeit miraculous… but she did believe! That’s the whole point! In verse 18, Zechariah it says, ‘he questions.’ If you look at verse 18 in your Bible, Zechariah says to the angel,

Luke 1:18, ‘How shall this be for I’m an old man and my wife’s well advanced in years.‘

And in verse 34, Mary responds to the same angel:

Luke 1:34, “… How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Now the questions sound very similar, don’t they? I’d say they do. They do sound similar. But clearly, Zechariah’s question came from the place of doubt. And we know that Mary’s did not come from the place of doubt, because in verse 38, Mary said:

Luke 1:38,  ‘Behold, I am your servant. Let it be according to Your word.‘

She believed it. And just to confirm it, when she does go and hang out with her cousin Elizabeth, well along now in her pregnancy with John the Baptist, when she walks in, remember…  John the Baptist does a flip in the womb! — and Elizabeth responds to Mary in verse 45… I think we’ll put it up there for you… Where she says:

Luke 1:45, “… And blessed is she who believed (referring to Mary) that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

So she had faith… a holy faith.

Now listen, Mary wasn’t sinless. Again, by her own mouth, she declared herself to be a sinner! — when she said in verse 46:

Luke 1:46-

46 “And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my (what? my…) Savior…”

Last I checked only sinners need a Savior. And in verse 30, when the angel said:

Luke 1:30, “And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

“You found favor…” that’s our word for grace. Mary was a receiver, not a giver of grace. Only God can dispatch grace.

But she was holy. And when I say holy, what I mean by that is, the word “holy” means “to be set apart.” That’s all it means. She was set apart, ready to be used of God. Hallelujah! — And you can be too when you place your faith in the Gospel, you are made holy. Mary was made holy. Jesus was already holy. Let’s move on to the Holy Spirit.

Here’s a third aspect of recapturing the holy and Christmas Holy Spirit. He doesn’t get a lot of airtime in our Christmas celebrations, but He is referred to repeatedly in the Christmas story. Matthew and Luke… just in Luke, just in Luke one and two, seven times He’s mentioned here, and basically He becomes the very explanation if you can… I’m putting air quotes around that the explanation… for her question in verse 34:

Luke 1:34, “How can this be?”

(‘I don’t, you know, I’ve never known a man. I’m a virgin.’)

I mean, the answer that Gabriel gives to Mary is awesome! It’s mysterious. It’s supernatural. And it’s unexplainable. Did I say it was unexplainable? What I really meant was it’s unexplainable! The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary to produce the humanity of Jesus in her womb and the perfect union of two natures; The God-man, Christ Jesus.

Listen, if you believe the Gospel, if you believe the Good News that Christ came, lived, died for you, rose again for you, and you receive that, you repent and believe that, let me tell you something. The Holy Spirit will… He’ll overwhelm you, He’ll regenerate you, He’ll indwell you and He’ll turn you into the temple of God!

Last week our President eased the laws on marijuana. I’m glad I didn’t hear any ‘amens.’ (congregation laughing) I just want you to know the fact… that the very knowledge that I was the temple the Holy Spirit…

1 Corinthians 6:19, [“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”]

When I read that for the first time in my life and discovered just weeks after becoming a Christian that I… my body… was the temple of God? — that I got rid of that stuff!

Just the other day, Richard Ellis, who is a pastor at Reunion Church in Dallas, Texas, he was talking about this story. It was interesting. He said:

“You know…” (He was talking about Mary) “just think of all the shame she would have had that would be forthcoming as she was walking around having been pregnant and starting to show.” L.A.C. says: “If you’re pregnant, you can only hide it for so long. Likewise, if Jesus is in you, you can only hide Him for so long! Richard Ellis, pastor at Reunion Church in Dallas, Texas

And why would you hide it? Hide Him under a bushel? No! Let it shine! A city that’s on a hill, you can’t hide that!

[Matthew 5:16] “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who’s in heaven.”

The Holy Spirit is the One who opened up the womb of Mary. Has He opened up your heart? Some of you need to open up your heart this morning. Now, let’s move on.

We have a holy child. He’s called that… right there again in [Luke] 1:35.

Luke 1:35, “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 (what?) holy—the Son of God.“

Years ago, I talked to a pastor friend. His wife… very talented… had both written and conducted a Christmas cantata! Very impressive! And then, he said this to me in our conversation. He goes: “Her focus is on the cross. She hates those Christmas musicals that leave Jesus as a baby.”

And I got his point, but that is how He came, and that to me is beautiful. It’s humble. It’s miraculous! It’s holy, and… again, Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, “got” this when… He came and she declared to her in verse 43:

Luke 1:43, “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?“

It’s like she’s looking at Mary who’s not even starting to show yet and she’s saying, ‘My God is in you!’ That’s pretty powerful, I think.

I think a lot of the Christmas hymnity has reflected that, too. When Joseph Mohr, a priest in Austria in 1880, was getting ready to conduct the Christmas Eve services, the organ had broken down. He’d written a song. He had to play it by way of guitar. You know what the name of the song was? Silent Night. And my favorite line in that hymn that we’ll surely sing this season is:

“… Jesus, Lord, at thy birth…”

At thy birth. He didn’t become Lord. He was Lord! And look how He’s described in verses 31 through 35. Quickly:

[Luke 1:31-35

31  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

32 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,

33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 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.“]

He’s described as the Son that reflects His humanity. He’s called “Jesus.” That speaks of His purpose, because the name “Jesus” means “Jehovah saves.” He’s described as great. Look… remember I said, notice that word great in verse 32? “He will be great.” You won’t catch this in your English Bible, but that is in the middle voice in the Greek, and the middle voice means “in and of Himself.” In other words, He wasn’t made great. John the Baptist was made great. Jesus always was great! That’s the idea. His greatness was in and of Himself. That’s the idea in the word. He’s called the Son of the highest. He’s called God, and that speaks of His deity.

[John 1:14] “And the Word became flesh and…” (moved into our neighborhood, tabernacled, tented) dwelt among us,” (however you want to translate it) … and we beheld His glory…”

Amen? Worship Him, the holy.

How about a couple of holy lessons before we wrap it up from this? How about from the angels? I think the angel here, Gabriel, and all the other ones for that matter, teach us that holy servants spend time in God’s presence before spending time in God’s world. Remember what he, how Gabriel responded to Zechariah?

[Luke 1:19] “I am Gabriel and I stand in the presence of God…” I’ve done this dumpster dive for you!

And every day you leave your home, it’s a spiritual dumpster dive, is it not? So why not make a promise here and now that you will spend time in God’s presence before you spend time in His world?

And then there’s Mary… holy saints believe God in the face of human reasoning. There is no one on earth relying only on human reasoning who could believe what was told her… and yet she did! Because verse 37:

Luke 1:37, “For nothing will be (is what?) impossible (what?) with God.”

I love how Wayne Dyer… He said:

“Examine what you believe to be impossible and then change your belief.” Wayne Dyer

That’s good! She says in verse 38:

Luke 1:38, “And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

“Let it be to me according to your word.” You see that word, “word?” There’s two ways to say “word” in the Bible. It’s always translated W-O-R-D in our English Bibles. There’s the word “logos” or “logos,” however you want to pronounce it. That speaks of the entirety of God’s word, the Holy Bible, okay? Then there’s the word, “rhema”. That’s the word used here. That means a specific word, “a divine utterance,” “a specific word.” And she’s saying, ‘I’m trusting Your word.’ It’s the same word in Romans 10:17:

Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the “Rhema” of God,” this specific word, because holy saints believe God in the face of human reasoning.

And then the lesson from the Holy Spirit is this. Holy followers believe God without the need for explanations.

Just the other day I was spending about an hour with a friend of mine who’s a materialist, and in the middle of a conversation we got into the Christmas story of the incarnation and whatnot when he said, “Pat, just I can’t accept your belief without scientific proof.” A couple of days earlier I was meeting with a bunch of guys, a group rather, and we were discussing verse 35, the mystery of verse 35, of the Holy Spirit’s explanation, which you read and you go, ‘I don’t get it.’ And anyway, one in the group said, “I’m interested in your take on how Jesus was implanted in Mary.” And I replied to the group, I said, “I do have a take,” and then I said, “… but I’m probably wrong. This is too holy. It’s too awesome. It’s too mysterious.” And then I added, “I don’t need an explanation to believe.” And I believe! Do you believe in the incarnation of God? You don’t have to have an explanation.

[Deuteronomy 29:29] “The secret things belong to the Lord our God… things which are revealed, belong to us and to our children forever…“

Believe! That’s what we’re called to do. And finally, the holy child, and He’s called as such. And here’s the lesson from Jesus. His humble start led to a glorious finish! — And I just thought of this in the first service.

I was at the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Been there a couple times. And it’s, you know, it’s all … the Orthodox church has it, and it’s not all that cool, but it’s where they think Jesus was born. So, one thing is cool… You go up to the church, you’ve gotta, you’ve gotta duck to get in. Now they have their reasons for doing that. But how cool is that? In order to get to Jesus, you’ve gotta duck. You’ve gotta get low. You’ve gotta be humble. And that’s how Jesus came, right? (Philippians chapter 2) Consider Jesus, who did not think deity, His god-ness, was something He had to grasp at. He already possessed it, but virtually laid aside His glory to become our Savior.  And then to suffer the worst form of suffering… death on the cross!

Therefore, God ha highly exalted Him, and given Him the Name above every name, of things in heaven, things on earth, things under the earth. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord… to the glory of God the Father!

And Jesus said in Matthew 18, unless you’re “converted,” that’s the word. Unless you’re turned about, unless you’re converted like a child, you will by no means enter into the kingdom of God.

[Matthew 18:3-4

3 “… and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”]

Have you ever read that? You don’t become an adult to get saved. You become a child to get saved. You humble yourself before God and acknowledge all of your religion, all of your good works, all the nice things you’ve done for people, they’re not gonna save you. Only Jesus can save you. And if you start humbly, you’ll finish gloriously. How about starting today? Some of you need to start today to get humble before God, acknowledge your sin and place your faith in Christ.

And for those of you who know Jesus, how about reclaiming the “holy” today? I’m not saying take all the fun out of Christmas. That’s dumb! Christmas… we should have fun… but don’t clutter it. Let’s reclaim the holy this Christmas. Will you pray with me?

Our Father, thank You. Thank you for this wonderful story that we review every year and it’s worth. It’s so glorious, the incarnation of Jesus! — God becoming man. And it’s so holy… so holy. We’ve looked at holy angels and a holy woman, the Holy Spirit and His multifaceted work. And we looked at the holy Child, our Lord Jesus, who became so humble… to become so highly exalted.

I pray for those in this room and watching online. You know who you are. You’re not holy, yet. You’ve never, you’ve never acknowledged your sin. You’ve never repented of your pride. You’ve always heard about it and you even kind of believe that Jesus died for you and all that, but it’s never been personal to you. Never. Because it’s never… it doesn’t show… just like a woman whose pregnant starts to show. Those who have Jesus in them start to show. It doesn’t show when you… It’s not real. But today you’re saying, ‘Yeah, I need, I need to believe. I need to believe this. Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. You’re great. You died for me. You rose again for me. I believe that. I trust You as my Savior today. Can you pray that? And for those of you who do know the Savior, those of us who do know, and I put myself in there, would you commit yourself right now to reclaim the holiness in the story? And we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen. Let’s stand.