All right, let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for your goodness. We thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to be here. We thank you, Lord, for our Sunday school time here. We pray that you would just speak to our hearts, that you'd help us to apply what we learned in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, we are live, right? Been live for a while? We've been rambling on live, all right. Very good. We can do it in five minutes. I mean, I can just tell you to read Luke chapter two, one through eight and call it a day. But I really don't feel like God's glorified in that manner either. And I mean, anything that we do for the Lord, we're on his time, not our time, amen. Luke chapter two, turn with me. Luke chapter two, verse number one. I don't really need to recap what we went over, right? Where we're at right now, the last thing was basically, So what? I thought you said John's brother. I was like, John's brother. Right. And so where we're at now, we're looking at the birth of Jesus. OK. And it's not so much the whole birth, but kind of like the scenes leading up to birth. And it talks about the born in humility is the title today. The sovereign God brought his son into the world through a humble means to fulfill prophecy and offer salvation, right? And it's the manner in which that God chose to do these things and as we as we go through it I mean, you'll see that I mean just like our lives like it's not There's so many things that are not ideal. There's so many things that are out of control, but at the same time, God's in control, amen? And so as we get in here, let's keep that same thought in our head. Chapter two, verse number one, it says, and it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Man, that's crazy. You could tax the whole world. You got that much power, you can just tax the world. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius, the governor of Syria, and all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up into Galilee out of the city of Nazareth to Judea and unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, to be being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. All right, so that's what I'm saying, we're kind of looking at the context of this verse, not so much the birth itself, but what we're looking at here in the first part is the sovereignty, God's sovereignty over history, okay, and how, you guys understand what sovereignty is? Sovereignty is God's authority, God's plan, and although all these things get in the way and happen, it can't interfere with God's plan, right? Like in Romans it says, all things work together for good to those that are called according to his purpose, right? And that's how God works, is that he can use the wicked people, he can use the righteous people, he can use all of this to work for his plan, amen? the sovereignty of God says his will be done amen but in the first part here in verse number one it says it came passing those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus right this decree is this it's a it's it's a calling it's a law that's put in place right and this decree it was that um that all the world would be taxed, all right? In other versions and stuff, it actually says registered, okay? And so this is, there's two reasons for this taxing is registration or census, basically. There's two reasons for this, usually, is that so the Romans would know how much money they should be making, what they should be taking in, who owes them what, and so forth. But then also readiness for military service. All right? And as you know, I mean, the Roman Empire, as I said, he, that the world would be taxed, right? This is the world empire, okay? And so he's trying to, he's taking count of who owes him what, and at the same time, where he can make money. But the Jews, they had a, military exempt and I didn't really look into that too much more on that as far as why but they were exempt to being part of the military probably because they wouldn't be part of it the Romans military anyways but so when the the time came because the Jews knew that they were not enlisting a war they understood it as time to pay taxes right it's what they were going there to do and to report their family and to register who's living with them and how many people they have but as far as the historical context here Caesar Augustus census serves God's purpose to move Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem okay where were they at before this Nazareth right All right, we're going to get to that also. But the custom for the Roman Empire, again, this is the world power, required citizens to return to their original place of their family origin. All right, they're in Nazareth. Where do they have to go? Bethlehem to pay taxes, right? Now, there's no real reasoning why behind this, but as you can see, this would be difficult task, especially a man and his pregnant wife, amen? But Joseph, he was, as it said in verse number four, he was a descendant of King David, right? Which meant traveling 80 to 100 miles from Nazareth and Galilee all the way to Bethlehem in Judea, right? Go with me to Micah chapter... Five real quick, or I can just, yeah. Go with me, Michael Five, it's good for you too. Amen. Jonah, Mike, Nahum, Habakuk, Zephaniah. Micah 5, 2, right? But because Joseph was a descendant of King David, it meant he was going to have to travel 80 to 100 miles just to go pay these taxes, right? And this was a fulfillment of prophecy in Micah chapter 5, verse number 2. It says, but thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is, to be ruler in Israel. Those goings forth have been from old, from everlasting. Amen. The land that was slain before the foundation of the world. Amen. Before Abraham was, I am. Amen. Jesus. It said this was a fulfillment of privacy. And again, as we had talked about the sovereignty of God and how he can use the wicked and how he can use people to try to intervene with things. Think about how inconvenient this was for Joseph and Mary, that this king would call everybody to be taxed. And so they got to travel 100 miles, right, to go pay these taxes. But As Jesus said, that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Amen. Go with me to Matthew chapter two also. I like this because this is a reference to this prophecy also. Matthew chapter two. It says, now when Jesus was in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. When Herod the King had heard these things, he troubled all of Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief and priests and scribes and people together, he demanded to them where Christ should be born. And he said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet. Amen. What prophet? Micah, we just read it, right? Micah. It says, and they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, and thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah. For out of these shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the young child. And when we have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. Who's going to worship this kid? The king, right? Right, OK. And who else? Wise men, right? They traveled just as far as they did just to come and see him. Amen. But the thing is is that they knew this prophecy. Amen. They knew where he was going to be born. And that star, it was a sign that it's like, you know, you say you follow the North Star and you always find your way north or something like that. It's like you see that star, you know, that's where it is. We just got to get over there. Right. But Because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to travel from where he was to Judea just to be taxed, but really the reason for him being taxed was so Jesus could be born in Bethlehem. Amen? This scripture could be fulfilled. And so, with this, we see that God uses even the ungodly rulers to fulfill his plans. Amen? In Proverbs 21.1, it says, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. In the rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. Praise God for that, right? But nonetheless, the king was in charge. Or was he? Amen? You guys see that? That's the sovereignty of God. The king's in charge. He's the ruler of the world, right? But his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts. But let me tell you that Satan works that same way. Amen? Amen? But when you understand and acknowledge the sovereignty of God, I mean, life in general just becomes a whole lot easier, amen? Because you study His will, you learn His ways, and you follow His lead in all circumstances, and you trust Him. Amen. That is the key to life, y'all, is to trust God. Amen. You trust Him with your eternity. Great, you got saved. But trust Him with your life as well. Amen. Trust Him with all circumstances. Trust Him in all situations and all that ways. Acknowledge Him and He will direct thy path. Amen. It's really all like, I mean, your life will change when you understand that God is actually in control, in all circumstances. Like, I don't care if the ceiling fell down and three people in here died, I mean, or were handicapped, I mean, God's still in control. Amen? But this is, even so, Joseph and Mary, they had to go to Bethlehem to register to pay taxes, right? And this is their faith and action, just showing obedience, that cat out. But this is their obedience in action, right? And by submitting to God, they automatically have to submit to the world powers also, amen? Because God put these people in place, whether they are holy or unholy, he uses them to govern. And so in verse number four here, let me go back to, where are we at, Luke? Yes, I was in Matthew still. Yep, and no, I was in Matthew from the previous text, but, and go to chapter two, verse four of Luke. It says, and Joseph went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth unto Judea unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house lineage of David. How inconvenient. To be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. Amen. So even though she's pregnant, even though it's 100 miles away, they're traveling. Joseph and Mary submit to civil authority and God's plan despite how difficult it was. Long, difficult journey. Again, 80 to 100 miles while Mary is full-term pregnant. She wasn't just pregnant. When she got there, she had a baby. Amen. Mary was pregnant. But according to Google Maps, you know how you can search stuff and you can put if you're walking or driving or whatever. From Nazareth to Bethlehem, 80 to 100 miles would take roughly four days walking eight hours a day. Amen. Let me speak to the few in here that are the fathers of kids that have wives, baby mamas, whatever. I don't know about you, but when my wife was pregnant, especially like full term pregnant, she's not walking across the desert. Amen. She had to have Popsicles she had to have the AC she had to have Oreos. I mean it was she had to have comfortable clothes, right? I mean she was pregnant She had to have her I had a rubber feet because her feet and calves be swollen at the end of every day I mean we had a you know, I mean like it takes some Parenting or not parenting pampering for a full-term pregnant woman, not to mention what they're about to do. I mean, I had to rub lotion on her belly, you know what I'm saying? There's some stuff that goes into a woman being full-term pregnant, but Mary, she's traveling 100 miles. On the back of a donkey or a camel at best, alright? Even if she's not walking the whole way, like she didn't have a vehicle that she just hopped in and traveled in, you know what I mean? She couldn't just start it up and roll out and hit cruise control or none of that. I mean, she was walking or on some kind of animal in the heat through the desert. I mean... Right? and to do all that and to find out they get there to pay taxes at that. Yeah. To have to pay taxes and not even have nowhere to stay. Amen. You want to talk about following God and things not working out. I mean, but this don't mean the guy's not in control. Amen. It's inconvenient. It's not really, man, I know that she was giving Joseph all of it the whole way there. Like, why can't I just stay at home? You know, why can't you go pay taxes? Like, do you really need me? I mean, I don't know if they had to travel with their whole family had to be there if they could just write down their names or what, but You guys think about that. Like, I mean, it's just not, like we read it from verse to verse, but this was a real life journey. I've never walked 100 miles in my life. I mean, maybe altogether, but not in one distance anywhere. Amen? But this obedience, often obedience to God in any way will recommend some kind of sacrifice, right? And it requires trust. And think about like even Paul, whenever Jesus had called Paul, Or, uh, yeah. And he was, um, he told Ananias that Paul was coming and he needs to welcome him and, uh, show him this and that. And Paul or Ananias was like, he's like, do you know who you're talking about? He's like, this is Paul. You know, he's like, I, I've heard a lot of things about this man and I, I really don't want you to even deal with them. I don't even see how you're trying to use them for anything. Like he's persecuted your church. He's persecuted your people. He's hunting them right now. You know what I mean? And. And Jesus told him, I'll show him what things he must suffer for my name's sake. Right? And that same charge is held to all of us sinners. Amen? The reason why Christ died was because of our sins. And for our light affliction. Amen? We get to serve God. Things aren't always going to work out. Things aren't always going to be perfect, but that's not the way that God has ordained our lives to be. But he's created it. He's created our salvation, our relationship in such a way that we remain humble to him. Amen and sensitive to his leading and the need for his leading and the need for his guidance and the need for his wisdom and his word and answering our prayers. And you know, I mean, if we're not, on our knees praying to God, then we're in a bad spot, honestly, amen? But just because it's difficult and not smooth sailing doesn't mean God is not working, amen? Romans 12 wanna tell this, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, amen, because of the mercy of God, because of what he's done for you, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Amen. It's reasonable. It's reasonable that we was dead in our trespasses and sins. We was on our way to hell. There's nothing we could do about it. But God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son. Amen. That Mary and Joseph had to travel 100 miles just so prophecy could be fulfilled that he would be born in the right place. Amen. That Mary walking honor or riding in her camelack or whatever it is to be able to have yeah pastor said that one day and i've like hung on to it ever since but but it's you guys think about all i mean not even just his birth but you think about everything prior to that And everything that had to happen for Christ to be born, for us to have a Savior, right? Like, you look through, man, I've been going through the minor prophets, and it's, there's a lot of stuff in there. But everything had to happen. Everything had to happen. All of it. Every single bit of it, right? I mean, Christ always has been. But for him to be born, there was a lot of time leading up to that. There was a lot of events leading up to that. There was a lot of correction. There was a lot of births. There was a lot of leadership. There was a lot of fallen men. There was a lot of fallen armies. There was a lot of raised armies. There was a lot of events and things that had to happen for this to come to place. But let's move on here. Verse number, where we at? Five, six? OK. No, yeah, we kind of covered five cities to be taxed with. Or let me just start in one and we'll get to where we're at. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world would be taxed. And this taxing is first made when Cyrenius was the governor of Syria. And all was to be taxed, everyone in his own land or city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth under Judea into the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was born of the house lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. All right, verse number six. It says, and so it was that while they were there in those days, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she was brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. She brought forth her firstborn son. All right. I got to pick on you, Heather. You're the only woman in here. How special was your firstborn? Did you have plans before that? Like how you wanted to go? How did you? Did you have bags ready for the hospital? Did you have a room made up for the baby? Did you have all this these plans and ideas and thoughts and? Right, you had your ideal. Pregnancy your ideal delivery your ideal. This is what this has to be done at the house before we had the baby This has to be done at the house before we had the baby right this car has to be we need a new car Actually, we need car seats. We you know all of this But she brought forth her firstborn son Laid in a manger where mangers located in a barn. Some people think that it wasn't necessarily a barn, but a cave where the animals stayed. But at the same time, I mean, right, I know that like Christmas Christians or Christmas in general, I guess, it likes to make the manger scene look like real cute and comfortable and sweet, this little basket with these pillows and these blankets and all this. But really think about this, all right? There's no room in the end, right? The king of kings enters into the world in a stable. The king of all kings. Amen? In a stable. Not a palace, right? His mom gave birth to him on the floor of a barn, not in a comfortable hospital bed, right? Think about this barn, all right? Think about any barn. What do you think about when you think about a barn? Dirty. Dirty. All right, keep going. Smells. Think about smells. Think about what else lives in the barn. Why is the barn there? What else lives there? OK, you want to give birth there? I mean, I know you don't, but I mean... I'm saying, would anybody want to have their child here? Like, if there's any other option in the world, would you pick this? I mean, really, I would rather have my kid in my backyard compared to where she had her kid at. Amen? And this is the birth of our Savior, y'all. He was laid in some animal's feeding trough. That that's that's the manger. Amen. It's not some little fluffy basket. These things are usually concrete Okay, there's some form of concrete or stone if they were carved out or poured or whatever. But the fact is They eat out of it. There was food remnants. There was animal slobber. There's all kinds of stuff inside of this thing. Probably had flies flying around it and stuff, you know. I'm sure that Joseph or Mary, they have some kind of cloth they sat in there or whatever, you know, to put him on, to protect the barrier or whatnot. But the, exactly, the fact is like that and their immediate surroundings is just like, It don't get no more. The terms here are poverty and obscurity. It don't get no more than that, right? But this is by design from a sovereign God. Amen. Even though they had to follow this, and it didn't work out for them. They had to do all this traveling. Even though they go to this inn, and there was no room for them. And I'm sure that wasn't their only place they went to. You don't just go to one place and then end up in a barn somewhere. You go to this place. You go to that place. You go to this place. Amen? You go to these different places. But they ended up at this stable giving birth. on the floor of a barn and setting their son, our savior, in a manger. Again, this isn't some cute, fluffy basket manger. Isaiah 53.3, he is despised and rejected of men. Amen? There's no room. He's despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows. acquainted with grief. Y'all know what acquainted means? It means he's real familiar with that. He understands it real deep, real thoroughly. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. Nope, no room for you here. He was despised. And we esteemed him not. There's no room for you here, Joseph. Figure it out, bro. Sorry. Sorry, Mary. Nope. I see you're pregnant, man. You're about to pop any moment, aren't you? No, sorry, I know you had a long journey, too. You had them feet look swollen, your shoes look wore out. No room here. No, it's a busy time, you know? We have a lot of people in town and a lot of things to take care of and family's here. The sad truth is that this is a state at many people's heart today. No room for Jesus. Amen. No room for Jesus. I didn't think I'd get a lot of amens, because y'all immediately start thinking about what your heart's filled with. I did, too. Too busy. Got to work. Got family to take care of, right? I promised this person I'd be over here. I promised them I'd do that. I promised them I'd be there for when this happens in their life. No room for Jesus. This is the Son of God, y'all. I mean, If they knew who Mary was pregnant with, they would have gladly let her in, right? The son of God, the Messiah. Amen? Yes, come in. I mean, think about the wise men seeing her. They knew who she was. They knew who she was giving birth to. But it's the son of God, right? It's the Lord. Man, it makes me think of that Yonder Stall song, right? Who is he in yonder stall? Tis the Lord, the King of glory. Amen. At his feet we humbly fall. Crown him, crown him, Lord of all, right? Amen. That's beautiful, y'all. And it's not just, it's Lord of all, right? Lord of your heart, Lord of your life, Lord of your job, Lord of your family, Lord of all of it, amen? Crown him Lord of all. everything crown him with many crowns the lamb upon his throne hark how the heavenly angel anthem drowns all music but his own you guys ever think about that like when you're really connected with god how everything else just kind of disappears drowns all music but its own. I mean, it's, man, I love God. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee, and hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity. Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave, and rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save. His glories now we sing, who died and rose on high, who died eternal life to bring. And lives that death may die. But God values this humility. Amen. Jesus could have been born of a king's wife. He could have been in a palace. He could have been pampered his whole life. He could have rose up just blessed and highly favored, right? He could have been born with a robe and a crown and horses and land and gold. And I mean, he could have had that. But he is born of a poor family in Nazareth who walked or traveled in some form away 100 miles just to pay taxes, which most likely threw Mary into labor, I'm guessing. Right? I mean, Jesus obviously wasn't premature, because I don't think that's possible. But it's the fact that what they went through I mean, praise God, right? I mean, things aren't always what we deem we deserve for whatever reason, right? We deserve better. This shouldn't be working out this way. Why is this so hard? Why don't nothing work out? I'm pregnant. Why do I have to travel 100 miles to go give this guy some money? We're the same people live with us as they did last year. We don't have to register again, right? We didn't make no money. Why are we paying taxes? Go with me to the Philippines real quick, sorry. I just get lost in my thoughts sometimes. Yo, the word of God is, it's deep y'all, especially like once you start placing yourself there and understanding the surroundings of things and understanding the context and what was going on and such and man, it's just... when you believe the word of God for what it is, that it's actually God's word, and that you start understanding that the whole book is about His sovereignty, right? That although all these things are happening, His will is done, and that we see in Revelation, there's still more to come, right? Which means, based off of all this, that this is going to happen too. Amen. Every single word of it, every single bit of it, it's all going to come to pass. Philippians chapter two, verse number, let me get there, I guess, five. Let's go forward. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not rivalry to be equal with God, but made himself no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant. Right? He wasn't born in a palace. He wasn't born with He was born with power, but people didn't know about it. He was, I mean, he was as humble as it came, right? Made himself no reputation, took on the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Think about that humbling factor. Made in the likeness of men. Made in the likeness of creation. That's the humbleness that Jesus took on. And being found in a fashion of man, he humbled himself. and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Christ humbled himself. Amen. Christ did. Jesus. Jesus humbled himself to us and for us. Think about that. But at the same time, we won't humble our lives to him. Yeah, Paul beseeches us, brethren, that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. It's our reasonable service, yeah. It's cool to read, it's cool to understand that, but to truly humble yourself before God. And Lord, I'm here. Do with me as I will. Not my will, but thy will be done. Amen, like that's a, It's one thing to understand it in church and to realize that, but then to take that with you. That's where the power of God really starts to work. Because it's not in here. God works in here, but he works in here with you being willing to take something from this. Amen? And the takeaway from this is that The birth of Jesus, although it was very inconvenient, it was no accident, right? The level of poverty that they was in, it was a divine display of humility, grace, and the sovereign power of God, right? That God is in control in all circumstances, right? And that God can use every single situation to bless you, right? Or to work for his glory. It's not even about us being blessed, right? Think about, it reminds me of, Elon Musk, he's really interesting. I mean, he really is. But the mindset that he has is that his purpose is to advance human civilization, by whatever that means. That's what he feels his purpose is. Like, he don't even have a patent on Tesla, because he says, if you can take this and make it better, do it. Because his purpose is to advance human civilization, right? and that needs to be our purpose, not human civilization, but to advance the gospel, to advance God's glory, amen, to what he has given us, the salvation that we have, it doesn't die with us, that the knowledge that we have and the appreciation for God's word and the depth of it, and I mean, you can't even understand the depth of it, but just to comprehend and take some of it, and give it to the next. And although the world interferes with our lives and God's plans, the sovereignty of God says that he is in control. And he always will be. Like I said, I mean, we're still looking forward to Revelation. We're still looking forward to the rapture, the second coming, all this stuff that's going to happen that, I mean, people look at it and they're like, there's no way, this is fairytale and this and that. And I mean, I would say that a lot of people don't believe the Bible because of Revelation, honestly, because of the beasts and the things and stuff that's in there that is to come and the world being destroyed and this and that. But then at the same time, that's also why they believe it. is because they see the end times, and they see things going downhill. But y'all, this is not our end place. This is not our home, right? And the word of God that we have is to, it's to, I don't wanna say insure us of that, but it's to show us that we have a lot more to look forward to. Amen. Like it was saying Hebrews were compassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses. Amen. That's that's these are the cloud of witnesses. Amen. Moses and Abraham. And I mean, everybody who has ever lived, they see the world today for what it is, and they had their part in it again to advance the kingdom of God. Amen. And that that's where we're at as Christians is to advance that. And what we looked at today is just the the humbleness that Christ had in his birth, not just his birth, his life. You guys want empathy? Look at the birth and the life of Jesus Christ. Amen? Despised by men, stricken. I mean, by his stripes, we are healed. Amen? Not by our stripes, not by anything that we can do. He is bruised for our transgressions. Amen? Like, he suffered his whole life for us. His whole life, even from the birth. You think he was comfortable in that concrete horse trough? No. You think his mom was comfortable? You think his dad was comfortable hearing his wife complain for the past 100 miles and pregnant and can't do nothing about it? You know what I mean? Like, none of it was convenient, man. You think Moses was comfortable when an army was chasing him? Y'all, I lived a wild life for a while, and I've had some people chasing me, but I've never had a whole nation after me. I'm serious. You think that was comfortable? You think it was ideal? No, but God was in control, wasn't he? Praise the Lord. Amen. Like God is in control in all areas of our life. I'm trying to get away from here. I closed my Bible already, but I'll let Pastor come up and close it, but praise God. All right. We are a little over on time, so I'm not going to do a full recap. It was a good, it was a good, uh, you know, covered everything. I'll just throw a little side interesting thing in there. In those days, does anybody know where you usually would have a baby? At home. That's right. At home. In the comfort of home. In a place that you have had months to set up for having that baby. That was normal. So the ideal scenario would have been that they get to Bethlehem and they get a place that they can be to set up for it. Does anybody know, now we think about, when we think about the inn, we think about like a hotel or a motel today. An inn is nothing like that. Nothing like that. Has anybody ever been to Conner Prairie? You ever been in the inn in Conner Prairie? Y'all know how the inn works? It's like going on a mission. You've got one room upstairs, the sleeping room, and it's got beds. And you usually, they rent a space on the bed to as many people as will fit on the bed. So you go to an inn and you put your little inn rent down And you pay your fee. Oh, it's also not charging because it was tripped. You pay your fee, and they say, all right, you've got bed number three. Fit however you can. What's that? And hey, there's two other people in that bed, too. So either you take sleeping shifts, or everybody sleeps in that bed. and keep your hands to yourself, you know? I mean, that's the way an inn would be. Yeah, so, I mean, but that's the way inns were. It was just, you just sleep, and if there wasn't room, now when they say there's no room in the inn, they don't just mean there's no spaces in the beds, because people would pay a reduced rate to sleep on the floor. So, you know, just to be out of the weather for the night. So like an N, it's not what you think. So even if they had gotten in the N, she'd have been having a baby in a room full of people. Full of people. And then on top of that, you know, now the N was full, so conveniently, she had some privacy. But. a room full of animals. You know, you got the spiders and the crickets and the ticks and all of the creeping things. And you've got the little barn owls and the, I don't know if they had barn owls. I don't know if they had, I don't know what animals, but we know that they had, that there were animals and there was, it wasn't a clean spot. And so that's the biggest emphasis really with the lesson today was the humility. the humble situation. And I mean, there's these different levels of comfort in, you know, they could have had the baby on the way there. You know, in the comfort of their Camelac, you know, just kidding. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the nice thing is she did get a good while of writing something. And so that helps sometimes if you're if you're getting close to term. Yes, sir. Yeah, imagine doing that pregnant. Yeah, and with kids, you know. No, no, no, they walked it. No, they had a big hanging bridge that boards were flopping everywhere. Mm-hmm. It was like a real mess. Sketchy. It was really bad. Boards were flopping, and you had to step on every other board and watch your step. Mm-hmm. And then you'd cross five rivers, and then you'd go across six rivers, where there's filming, and my flip-flop got stuck on a rock. Oh, yeah, and he's in flip-flops. Man. That's how I was told to wear it. Yeah. I'd have worn some hiking boots or something. Wow. Brother Joe, what you got? Yeah. Amen. Hey, we didn't even think about that, but it lined up. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, down the road. Yeah. Brother Bella. Yeah. Yeah. Man, I'll tell you what, God regularly just points stuff out to me. And he's like, look at that. You see that? Like, just people and life and stuff. And he's like, I've blessed you. They don't have what you have. Or, you know, just relationship with God and all that. Amen. We got to call it quits here. We got a couple minutes. Well, we're late. We're supposed to start the next service right now. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for your goodness. Pray that you'd help us to take these things to heart.