Episode Transcript
[00:00:14] Speaker A: Welcome to the Kids Advance Podcast. And Heaven and Nature sing and Heaven and nature sing and in nature.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Village Kids in five, six Advent podcast. We are so excited that you are spending these first couple of days with us, just trying to understand all of the good gifts that the God of amazing gifts has given to us. Today. I have a special guest with me who's going to help us sort through, like, who even is this person? What sort of giver is this person?
And talk about that. So before we get any further into our material, would you introduce yourself? What's your first name?
[00:01:00] Speaker A: Nico.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: And what grade are you in, Nico?
[00:01:03] Speaker A: Third.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: And what's your favorite thing about third grade?
[00:01:05] Speaker A: My friends.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Your friends? Yeah. Friends make everything a little bit more fun, don't they? Yep, that's for sure.
So tell me, what are you looking forward to most about Christmas this year?
[00:01:17] Speaker A: Jesus's, birth and playing with my family.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Do you guys have any fun Christmas? Do you do anything special at Christmas to play or just kind of like hanging out around the house?
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Hanging out. And right when we wake up, we don't go straight downstairs. We just wait for a little bit, like, upstairs.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Yeah, that sounds very fun.
Tell me a little bit about what is your favorite gift that you have ever received.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: I get a lot, but my sister gives me a lot of personalized books that say my name and stuff.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: That's fun. So you're like a character kind of in it?
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Yeah, like that.
[00:01:56] Speaker B: I've heard your sister is pretty fantastic at giving gifts. She's known for that, right? Yeah. That's super sweet. What is a favorite gift that you have given someone else?
[00:02:07] Speaker A: I get my daddy's and I get a Star Wars coffee cup.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: OOH, a Star Wars coffee cup. That sounds pretty fun. That sounds like that would be pretty special. And so if you were in charge of giving one gift to every person in the entire world, what would you love to give them?
[00:02:25] Speaker A: $300,000 each.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: Well, no one has said that answer yet. I bet everyone could probably make that go pretty far, right?
[00:02:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:36] Speaker B: So if you got that money, what would you use it for? Because you should be included in your own gift giving, don't you think? Maybe.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: $300,000, what you're going to do with it?
[00:02:47] Speaker A: Buy books.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: Books? Yes. I see a theme here. You're a big reader, aren't you?
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: All right, so let's go ahead and read into our material. We have a couple of questions and thoughts and scripture passages we want to look at today. And so I'm just going to go ahead and open us in prayer. If you'll pray with me, God of amazing gifts, please show us what you are like so that we can have confidence to trust in you as Mary did. Lord, we pray that we would just see you for who you are today. Amen.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Amen. All right.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: So, Nico, I have a question for you. What would you learn about someone if they gave you the most expensive, nice phone there ever was for Christmas? What would that tell you about that person?
[00:03:29] Speaker A: They're probably a little rich.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Now, what would you think about a person if they gave you a piece of string that was already used to hold their shoe together for Christmas?
[00:03:41] Speaker A: I think they would be a little poor.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: And what would you think about someone who gave you exactly what they said they were going to give you, like, they promised you $300,000 and then they gave it to you? What would you think about the person who gave you exactly what they said they were going to do?
[00:03:59] Speaker A: They're nice.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: They're nice.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:01] Speaker B: I'd say the same thing, too. I feel like I'd trust them. I'd be like, oh, my goodness. You actually followed through on what you said you were going to do.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:08] Speaker B: Does it ever make you feel, like, safe with people if they do what they say they're going to do?
[00:04:13] Speaker A: Yeah, kind of.
[00:04:14] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. Sometimes if people don't do what they say they're going to do, it can sometimes make me feel hmm. Are you?
[00:04:21] Speaker A: Hmm.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: We need to be thinking through, right?
[00:04:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: Yeah. And so the gifts that we receive from people can tell us something about the person who gives them to us. Today, we join the Christmas story at the point where an angel announces to Mary that she will be the first to receive God's Christmas gift. The announcement of this gift will teach us a lot about the giver of that gift. So we're going to read from Luke, chapter one, and as we read the first section, listen out for the idea that's at the beginning that starts with the letter F that the angel mentions twice.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: Pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The Virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, greetings. You are the highly favored. The Lord is with you.
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: And that was Luke, chapter one, verses 26 through 30. So we were looking out for the word that was started with an F and came up twice. What word is that, Nico? Yeah, that's exactly right. And so when someone does you a favor, is it because you deserve it, or is it because they are kind?
[00:05:47] Speaker A: It's undeserved kindness, basically.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: Exactly right. Favor is undeserved kindness. We didn't do anything to deserve it. The Lord was just like, I'm going to do this for you. If you do a favor for someone, it's not because you're like, oh, you're so great. I'm going to do this for you. Right. You're like, no, it's an undeserved kindness. If God's Christmas gift came because of God's favor, what does that show us about God?
[00:06:14] Speaker A: That shows Him that he's kind of trustworthy.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: Trustworthy, that's exactly right. Right. And he's willing to give us he's, like, going to do exactly what he said he's going to do, which makes him trustworthy. And he gives us a lot of kindness right. That we don't deserve. So what does it tell us about us? So that's what it tells us about God. He's trustworthy, he's kind, he's generous. Kind of. What does it tell us about us that he would be like, I'm going to give you this favor?
[00:06:44] Speaker A: It would be like he wants you to go somewhere or something like that. He wants you to do something. But you have to believe Him. Because he's God.
[00:06:56] Speaker B: Because he's trustworthy. Right?
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: It shows us about us that we didn't do anything to earn this Christmas gift that he's giving us. Right?
[00:07:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: And so Jesus comes as kind of like this Christmas gift, and then we see Jesus live a perfect and a sinless life. He grows up, he becomes a man. We see that he is God in the flesh, that he is living this life. Right. For us to be able to take away our sins, to be able to make us right with God again, that is not up to us. It's not because we're good people, right. It's not because we deserved the kindness. Mary here didn't do anything to deserve God's kindness. He was like, no, I have favor upon you. It's not because of something that you did. It's because of who I created you to be and the story that I'm working out by what I do. So let's go on to see what happens next. Go ahead and read the next part of the passage.
[00:07:45] Speaker A: Next angel, you will be with a child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end.
[00:08:19] Speaker B: And that's Luke, chapter one, verses 31 through 33. And if you think about it, that's kind of like a crazy announcement, right?
[00:08:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: Mary points out a problem. She's like, Virgins can't have babies, and I am one of those. So let's listen carefully for who will enable Mary to have this special baby.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: How will this be? Mary asked the angel. Since I'm a virgin, the angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age.
And she who was said to be barren in her 6th month, for nothing is impossible with God.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: And so that word barren, it's kind of a word we don't use often anymore, but it means that she's unable to have children. And so here the angel is telling her even about her cousin, right? She's like, yeah, that cousin of yours who's in her old age, she's actually already six months pregnant, because nothing is impossible with God. And so why would Mary's child be called the Son of God? What do these verses tell us? It says, because the Holy Spirit, right, will come upon her and the Most High will overshadow her. And so therefore, the child that she's going to have is not just going to be hers, it's also going to be God's child.
And when we think about this, we see that God is going to achieve this because he's powerful. Right? Because what does the verse end with saying, what is impossible for God?
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Nothing is impossible.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: Right? No. He can do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants.
And so the angel's announcement showed Mary that God is gracious and that he's all powerful. And so she responded like this. Go ahead and read her response for us in verse 38.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: I am the Lord Servant. Mary answered, may it be to me as you have said, mary was willing.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: To trust and obey God because his Christmas gift showed her the character, the purposes, and the power of the giver.
So all of our listeners and Nico, think of something that might make you feel nervous or unhappy. Okay, got it. What do you know about what God is like that can help you trust and obey Him in that situation?
Because that's probably how Mary was feeling right, when she was, um, what is happening right now?
But she knew who God was.
So who do you know God to be that could help you when you're nervous or maybe something's just uncomfortable? You don't like it that he'll help.
[00:11:05] Speaker A: You and he'll be with you?
[00:11:08] Speaker B: Love it super important, because sometimes when we're nervous, we can think, oh my goodness, I'm all alone. Who's going to take care of me? Who's going to protect me? I have to figure this out on my own. Right? That's not true, though, because he's always with us, like you just said, and he's going to help us in that situation. And I'm sure that's actually how Mary felt, too, when she was in that moment, right?
[00:11:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:30] Speaker B: This didn't make sense to her. This was confusing. And yet at the same time, she was like, I'm not going to be alone in this. I'm your servant. I'm here to do what you want to do because I trust you, because I know about how trustworthy you are. And that isn't just some big statement, but it actually applies to these little things and these big things in our life.
So, Nico, I would love for you just to close us in prayer today. As we think about this giver, we see that the giver of the gifts, that he's good, he's trustworthy, he's powerful, he's with us. Will you just pray for us and for our listeners that right now we would just remember that.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: Yes.
God, please remind everybody that you are powerful and best and you're the only God. In Jesus name.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Amen. All right, Miko, can you close us out today by wishing our listeners a Merry Christmas?
[00:12:24] Speaker A: Merry Christmas.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: All right. Merry Christmas, everybody. We'll see you back here again tomorrow.
