Let us start with a word of prayer. Let us come before the Lord. O Lord God of heaven and of earth, we come before Thee in the attitude of worship this afternoon, and seek, Lord, Thy presence and Thy blessing to be upon Thy sacred Word, and that Thou would magnify the Lord Jesus Christ in our midst, granting us Thy Spirit, to open up Thy Word and to attend it with power, helping us to sing Thy worthy praise, to show forth Thy praise and Thy glory here below, to have a little taste of heaven in worshipping Thee here before we get there. Lord, do help each one with their infirmities and their weaknesses, in their trials, in their temptations. Lord, those that feel low, do grant that they might hope in God, for they shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. Grant, Lord, that blessing of the Lord that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow within. We pray for each here. Bless each of the residents, bless the staff, and do be with them. Remember their loved ones and those at home. Lord, they may have left trials and troubles at home to come and minister and help here, to be with their families, to be with the families of those here. And Lord, where they may, remember that they are worshipping, to be in the house of God where they are. And remember any that have turned their backs upon Thee, who do not know Thee, who do not love Thee, O Lord, do work in their hearts, do turn them again unto Thee, and do give the friends here prayer for those that are near and dear to them. We do seek, Lord, to humble ourselves before Thee. We are sorry for the vote in Parliament on Friday regarding the Assisted Dying Bill. We pray that this might not become law, that it might not impact such homes as this and add an extra burden. Lord, we do seek Thy mercy. Make this to be indeed a Christian nation that does fashion according to Thy holy sacred word. So we do make intercession concerning that as that bill goes forward may it yet be defeated. May there good come, may there come that better care, better palliative care and better care in the homes and afford the financial aid to support the homes like this one. So now our Lord do be with us and do bless us as we seek to worship Thee We ask through thy name, Lord Jesus, Amen. Now let us sing the first hymn on our hymn sheet. Great is thy faithfulness. Now the subject today, this is the first of December, so it is the first day of Advent, and so I am following that theme. Susan has suggested that. I think she's going to use as a study theme during the week perhaps. the portion that we have this afternoon. So, our first hymn, thinking of the faithfulness of the Lord, when at last the Saviour was sent, Emmanuel God, with us. Great is thy faithfulness, The reading is on the second page of the hymn sheet, and we're reading from Luke chapter 1, verses 39 to 56. So from verse 39 to 45, there's the introduction, then there's Mary from verse 46, blessing the Lord. And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leapt in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For though as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leapt in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with His arm. He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath opened His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy. as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. Thus by the reading of God's holy word. Well, it is the verses 46 and 47, Mary's Magnificat, the praise that she has to the Lord. Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. So, I want to think firstly of what she did, and then the reason that she did it, with the things that the Holy Ghost has inspired here to tell us that were so precious to Mary at this time. So what she did, she magnified the Lord, and not just outwardly, but my soul, her very being was to magnify the Lord. Now we know that to magnify something doesn't actually change it, but our view of it becomes greater. If we would get a magnifying glass, I see one right here, and when that glass is used it doesn't make the page any bigger, literally, but it appears bigger and it's able to be seen. Without that magnifying glass sometimes you wouldn't even be able to see what is there. And so what Mary is doing here is magnifying, shining on the Lord and on His work so that we and generations can see what she can see and to make the Lord precious and great to us. And that is always going to be the work of the Holy Spirit, is to make the Lord Jesus Christ precious, and to lift Him up, and to magnify God in all that He has done. And it's a good thing if you and I can join with Mary in those things that we might see, and we might know, and that we magnify the Lord as well. You think of visitors you might have to the home, those that might come in here. You say that I am old, I'm in a home, I can't do the things I used to do. But if you're able, Wendy, to have visitors to magnify the Lord, That is a precious thing for those that are even tired of their lives at the end of their journey to magnify the Lord, the one that they are trusting in for salvation and for eternity. And so the second thing that she does, she rejoices in God. This is not just something she is saying. about God or about someone else, this has touched her heart. She rejoices. Do we? Do we rejoice in God? And can we add that second part that she says, in God my Saviour. Now of course some will say, well, They think that she was sinless, that she was the sinless virgin. No, she was a sinner just like you and I, and she needed a Saviour the same as you and I, and she rejoiced in God, her Saviour, that was in her womb, that she was to bring forth. And it's a blessed thing for us to view the Saviour and to rejoice in Him. like Mary did. Now, she doesn't only do that, but then she tells the reasons why. In the verses that follow, we have the first ones, for what he hath done, but mainly right the way through this remaining chapter, each verse is beginning with, he hath, he hath. Those things that the Lord has done. The Lord works what he has done. The first thing that she mentions is he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. Of course Mary herself, she couldn't have, well she hadn't even been, had a husband, so she, and obviously of low standing, low estate, And really, but what a picture that is of all of us as sinners, how low a state, how low we are to be regarded. Why? Why did the Lord look upon us? Why did He come to save us? Why did He pass by angels and yet He came to sinners? And you think when our Lord was on earth, it wasn't the high, it wasn't the mighty, it was publicans and sinners, it was the poor, it was those that had nothing, even literally. But spiritually, when we regard our state by nature, to think that the Lord has even thought about us, regarded us, that's the first reason that Mary gives. Then she speaks of what He has done to her. He that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is His name. really the remarkable, the birth, "...the Holy Ghost shall overshadow thee, therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." That great miracle of the Incarnation was done to Mary, and she would have realized what a unique miracle, never done before, never to be repeated, the Eternal Son of God made flesh dwelling among us. And she speaks of this way, this is a holy thing. But just think as concerning us, we can come in here as well, have done to me. great things. He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." God, the mighty God, works in us. When Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he tells those Ephesians believers the same power was wrought in them to make them believers as what raised up Christ from the dead. So when we realize that as believers, then we can say that the Mighty hath done to me great things. Then we have in verse 50, His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation. If you read Psalm 136, the end of every verse is, Mercy endureth forever. And it is mercy that has brought the Son of God, mercy that has provided a way of salvation, a way that God can be just, and be the justifier of them that believe in Him. Then in verse 57, "...he hath showed strength with his arm, scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts." How many devised and thought how the Lord would come! Some thought He would come as a King. Israel did not know the day of their visitation. The Lord did not come as they expected, and yet He came, the real Saviour, and to save, and He did. Mary, she can see this. You know, all of those that may have expected how the Lord should come, Mary, she sees, she realizes how He has come. So very different. And then you read the way everything is put, you might say, upside down. They put down the mighty from their seats, put them down, exalted the low, filled the hungry with good things, the rich He sent empty away." What a picture of the Lord's ministry, and what a picture of what Mary is seeing here. And speaking of Israel, how Israel has been helped by the remembrance of His mercy, and she views What has been done is the promise to the fathers, Abraham and to his seed forever. And so may we be like Mary, when the Lord shows us His blessing, that we are brought to magnify the Lord and to rejoice, and we have a real reason for that. we can rejoice the same as her in the provision of the Saviour, and as well as being brought to believe, and to have a good hope through grace, a hope beyond the grave. And so at this season of the year we come up to where we would remember the birth of our Lord, and we begin this season with this theme, and with joining with Mary in magnifying the Lord and in rejoicing in His name. The Lord bless you with these thoughts. You have the sheets here and read through them. Meditate upon these verses through the remainder of the day. Well let us sing the second hymn on the hymn sheet. Come thou long expected Jesus, O Lord our God, we do thank Thee for Thy Word, we thank Thee for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for Thy coming, for the Gospel, for Thy Word enduring to all generations. Bless us here, be with us on this Thy day, the day that we remember that Thou didst rise from the dead and appear unto Thy disciples, to appear for the dear friends here. Bless thy word, we ask these things through our Lord Jesus Christ. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit abide with you all now and evermore. Amen.