Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E37 | Everyday Eurasia | Tanja Baum

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S1-E37 | Everyday Eurasia | Tanja Baum · Eurasia Region Podcast

• 0:06
  Welcome to the special advance series of the Everyday Eurasia
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  podcast, Inspiring Fate, or every day.
• 0:13
  In the coming weeks, they'll be journeying together toward
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  Christmas, A season of anticipation, reflection and
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  light. In the darker days.
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  During this special season of Advent, we will journey through
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  the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love.
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  In these last days of the Advent season, we will join Tanya Baum.
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  She's living in Germany near Frankfurt, together with her
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  husband Martin and family. For the last two years, she
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  served as a pastor in the Church of the Nazarene in North
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  Frankfurt. He's also helping the Germany
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  District, European Nasrin College, and the Eurasia region
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  with finances and data protection.
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  She will share with us about Team Advent Love.
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  Like a diamond, God's love has many facets.
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  Today we will look at another of these facets and read a passage
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  from Luke 1 verses 30 to 34. Here the Angel of the Lord
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  speaks to Mary. Do not be afraid, Mary, for you
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  have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth
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  to the Son, and you are to call him Jesus.
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  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
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  The Lord God will give him the throne of his Father David, and
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  he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever.
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  His Kingdom will never end. The Angel begins his
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  announcement with do not be afraid because he knows, of
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  course, that Mary is very afraid.
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  And then the Angel explains to Mary what will happen.
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  The Angel paints a picture for Mary of what the future will be,
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  and this future is something that Mary could certainly not
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  have imagined in her wildest dreams.
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  Her son will be called the Son of God, will sit on the throne,
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  and will reign forever. The Angel summarizes the entire
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  Old Testament expectation of the Messiah and relates it to the
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  child that Mary will bear. Mary has only a brief response
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  to the news of her upcoming pregnancy and the overwhelming
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  information about her child. She says, I am the Lord's
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  servant, May your avert to me be fulfilled.
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  And so it happens. Mary becomes pregnant and
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  eventually gives birth to her baby Jesus in a small stable in
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  Bethlehem. And her husband Joseph, whom she
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  was not yet married to at the beginning of her pregnancy,
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  remains by her side all the time.
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  Several shepherds and three wise men come to visit them in the
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  stable. Don't you sometimes wonder about
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  the story of Jesus birth? Of course, everything in this
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  story has its reason and is exactly as it should be.
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  But sometimes I ask myself, was it really necessary for this
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  child to be born in a stable instead of a bed?
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  Did the birth of Jesus really have to be so uncomfortable,
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  cold and lonely, not to mention risky and unhygienic?
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  Couldn't Mary and Joseph have had it a little easier for me?
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  Mary's answer to the Angel expresses that she did not
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  expect anything special. I am the Lord's servant, she
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  says. God had chosen her, A simple
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  woman, an unmarried young girl, completely unimportant socially
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  and in the Society of that time, to give birth to the Saviour and
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  King of this world. Her rank, her age and her status
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  were irrelevant. Her lowliness and as she herself
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  puts it in verse 48, her humble state played no role here.
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  Neither did the place of Jesus birth.
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  A simple stable where animals lived was sufficient and Mary
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  was exactly the right person for God's plan.
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  The nativity scene with Mary, Joseph, the stable, the animals,
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  and everything else our imagination adds to this picture
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  is itself a message to us. It is a message of love.
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  God's love needs nothing more. Jesus is the love of God in
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  person, and this love did not need to be born of a Princess on
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  a soft clean bed with a whole team of midwives in a golden
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  palace. I call this facet of God's love
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  the unglamorous love of God. God's unglamorous love needs no
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  fancy stuff, no glitter, and no big fuss.
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  It comes in all simplicity to very ordinary people.
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  To Joseph, who would have preferred to run away but then
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  was obedient and supported Mary in everything.
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  To three wise men who just wanted to satisfy their
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  curiosity and then fell on their knees before the newborn king.
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  To simple shepherds who could hardly believe what was
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  happening and then became the first witnesses of the Messiah.
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  To Mary, who considered herself too insignificant, but then
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  selflessly made herself available to God's plan, to me
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  and to you. Open yourself today to the
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  unglamorous love of God, which can and wants to be present in
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  every place, no matter how simple, and in every person.
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  Let us pray. Father in Heaven, you do not
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  need palaces or special personalities to give us Your
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  love. Thank You that Your love is free
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  of expectations, and that is for every single person.
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  Let Your love flood our simple hearts today.
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  Amen. Thank you for listening to the
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  everyday Eurasia podcast, Inspiring Faith for Every Day.
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  For more Everyday stories, subscribe on this podcast
• 7:17
  channel, follow our social Facebook and Instagram or our
• 7:21
  newsletter snapshots. For our newsletter and further
• 7:24
  information about the Eurasia region, visit our website,
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  eurasiaregion.org.