ADVENTure: The Loud, Noisy, Roaring, Life Changing, Not So Silent NightSample

The Adventure:

Do you love the spotlight? Do you like all eyes on you and you being the center of attention? Or does the spotlight make you break out in sweat? If someone asked you to speak in front of a room would you rather drink mashed potatoes? I don’t know exactly how Mary felt but as we see from these verses, she thinks she is not considered important. She feels unseen and left out. Do you relate to that? Have you ever felt left out, picked last, or forgotten? The people of the Bible are filled with things that are relatable. Both good things and bad things. Mistakes they’ve made and ways they worshipped God.

Mary is one of the most important people in the Bible because she raised the Son of God! She gave birth to the Son of God! That’s a big deal! But she wasn’t some celebrity before Jesus or anyone on Earth’s first pick to give birth to Jesus. She was a regular average teenage girl. Yet here’s the important thing, when everyone else looked past her God saw her. He saw the way she could change the world when she was given the opportunity.

The same is true for all of us. No matter how you feel or what you have or have not done God sees you. God sees your heart and He knows you matter. You matter because you were created by God for amazing things. I wish I knew exactly what all those amazing things are right now but the good news is God does. He knows what job you’ll end up at, what sports team you’ll be on, and anything and everything you’ll end up doing. God has big plans for your life and no matter where you are now He is preparing you for something amazing. But the big thing is those amazing things are never for our fame but for Jesus’ name. It is not about us getting a following but inviting more people to follow Jesus. Mary is so so important but her story is all about Jesus. You are so so important but all of our stories are about Jesus. He sees us, knows us, loves us, and has amazing plans planned for you and for me.

The Destination:

When Jesus was born in a barn it could have been easy to say God does not have plans for Him. It is easy to look at others and say they are not as important as you are. Yet that is not how God sees the world and we know what God actually had planned for Jesus. Jesus would save us from all of our sins and be the perfect example of love. Jesus’ birth may seem like it would lead to nothing but God has better plans than we could ever ask or imagine.

Songs For The Journey:

Mary Did You Know by Pentatonix