Blessed Because You Believe (Holly Furtick)

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.360 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:22.960 Ladies and gentlemen, remain standing and welcome to our epam 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:27.680 all over the world as you continue to hug your neighbors, 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.280 your friends, your family, and complete strangers. 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:35.159 It is my great joy to announce to you. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:41.200 That today, preaching her final sermon of the year twenty 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:49.600 twenty five, it's my favorite Verdic, your favorite Fernich, everybody's 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:50.560 favorite Arnach. 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:52.280 Y'all give it up for holly. 0:00:52.400 --> 0:01:05.200 Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:07.880 Let me just get a good look at you. 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:13.800 What an amazing time we have had in worship today. 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:18.520 Feels so good in here. The Lord is present in 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:19.119 this place. 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:21.240 Amen. The Bible says that He. 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:25.080 Inhabits the praises of his people. I think that means 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.480 he's here with us today. And you made it to 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:34.840 church on the Sunday before Christmas, whether you're at one 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:35.240 of our. 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:38.280 Locations or you're joining us online. I know that that means. 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:41.679 That your heart is expectant today, that you want more 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.759 than just checking off things off your to do list 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:46.520 this week, that you want to get your heart right 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:47.520 this week? 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:49.840 Can you want to be in the presence of Jesus? 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.440 And I believe that God has a word for us 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.560 today and I'm really honored that I get. 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:56.280 To bring it to you. 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:58.840 So, okay, real quick, before you take your seats, I 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.600 just want to read our scripture for today. I'm going 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.400 to be reading from Luke chapter one if you. 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:05.040 Have a Bible. 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:12.679 And last week Pastor Stephen talked about how God provides 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:14.800 and he prompts. 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.600 It was so powerful. Were you here? Amazing? 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.480 The sermon was called Mary's Prayer, and so I want 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.359 to pick up today with a little bit more of 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.760 Mary's story and we're going to start reading. In the 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.639 middle of the passage, the Angel has come to Mary 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.560 and he's announced to her that she's going to give 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:35.200 birth to the Son of God. 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:36.880 And we're going to start reading right there. 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:40.119 In verse thirty four, Mary asked the angel, but how 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:40.960 can this happen? 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:42.320 I am a virgin. 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:47.160 The angel replied, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.200 and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.560 So the baby to be born will be holy, and 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:55.799 he will be called. 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.320 The Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has 0:02:59.360 --> 0:02:59.960 become pregnant. 0:02:59.919 --> 0:03:02.680 In her old age, people used to say she was barren, 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.200 but she has conceived a son and is now in 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:09.600 her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail. 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:16.000 Mary replied, I am the Lord's servant. May everything that 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:19.640 you have said about me come true? And then the 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:23.960 angel left her. A few days later, Mary hurried to 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.440 the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:29.960 She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:31.000 At the sound of. 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:35.560 Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:38.800 filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.320 and exclaimed to Mary, God has blessed you above all women, 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.760 and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:48.800 that the mother of my Lord should visit me. When 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.440 I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:56.280 for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:02.320 Lord would do what he said. Father, would you bless 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:03.760 the reading of this word today. 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:06.080 We love you, we want to hear from you. It's 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:08.600 in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. All right, the. 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.200 Title of my sermon don't sit Downia, don't it Donia. 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:17.200 The title of my sermon is blessed because you believed. 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:20.640 On your way to your seat, ask your neighbor, are 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:36.120 you blessed? So several weeks ago, my husband stood up 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.160 here and he told all of you about how I 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:40.359 am a terrible liar. 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:42.839 It's true. 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:46.360 I don't know why, but I am really just the 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:52.000 worst liar. And what that means is, don't ask me 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.680 if I like your haircut. Please do not put me 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:59.480 on the spot like that, because sometimes I just can't 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.600 think of anything to say, and like the best thing 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:04.960 that I might be able to come up with is like, wow, 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.159 you look so good, and then you won't believe me. 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.880 And I'm you know, I just I'm a terrible liar. 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.920 And what that means, though, also is that my inability 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:20.880 to lie it also makes me extremely gullible. I'm just 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:26.080 I'm a believer. Okay, So I am a car salesman's dream, you. 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:27.840 Know, Like I'm gonna be like yeah, like. 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.120 Oh, a little old lady drove this car. She only 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.200 drove it to church in the grocery store every week. 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:34.680 I mean, I just I just believe what people say 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.560 to me, and I also believe. I've recently come to 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:43.719 realize everything that comes into my Instagram feed, and this 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:48.640 drives my family crazy. Like I will frequently show my 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.880 kids videos and be like, look at this, this is amazing, 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.799 and my kids will look back at me and they're like, Mom, 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.440 that's not real. And so then I find another one 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:01.080 I want to show. I gotta showsting this baby. You're 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.039 not gonna believe this, and he'll look at me and 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.400 they'll be like, hell, you know that's AI right, Okay. 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:07.240 So I'm slow. 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.280 I'm learning because I just believe that things are true. 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.520 Like the other day, this video came into my feet 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:15.760 on Instagram, and I don't know if you guys saw 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:20.640 this one, but it was ring doorbell footage and which 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:25.720 means it's true. And there was a cat and a 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:30.039 baby on a front porch and a bear wanders up 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.279 and the cat hissses and like swats at the bear 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:38.719 and saves the baby. And when I saw this video, 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:46.000 I thought, wow, Dad is one amazing cat. And soon 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.200 A couple days later, another one comes into my feet. 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:53.800 Different porch, different cat, different baby, and I thought, I 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:55.080 think we need to get a cat. 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:03.279 So then a third one came, and this time I thought, 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.960 wait a minute, like, how many moms are. 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:11.520 Leaving their babies alone on a porch? This must be AI. 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:13.280 You can't fool me three times. 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:18.120 I recently saw another one of this family of dolphins 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.480 and they were like breaching the water and this tiny 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:23.000 little baby dolphin like. 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.200 Pops up out of the water. It was the. 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.240 Cutest thing I have seen in twenty twenty five, and 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.160 I was like, oh, wait, maybe this So I went 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:33.280 to the comments, because you know, in the comments, people 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.920 will let you know if this is AI. If one 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.320 of the first comments that I saw, this woman said, 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.720 if this is AI, don't tell me. I don't want 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.080 to know, And I was like, Amen, it's real. 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:46.160 How many of you would agree. 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:50.360 It's getting harder and harder to believe. When I was 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.240 in my twenties, I thought that belief was black and white. 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:55.800 This is what I believe, this is what I do 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.240 not believe, and I believe that this is what you 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.760 should believe too. I was really fun to be around you, 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.840 would have enjoyed it. As I've gotten older, though, I've 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.760 learned to let go kind of of the black and white, 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:11.000 and I've had to learn that believing God is so 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:15.480 much more about who He is than it is about 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:20.440 what I think he should do. And in our story, 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:25.560 Elizabeth told Mary that she was blessed because she believed. 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.800 And when I read this, those words just leapt off 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:29.800 of the page. 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.880 For me, the blessings in my life are directly tied 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:35.000 to my beliefs. 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:37.840 What I believe about God has. 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.959 To be at the center of everything that I say 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.439 and everything that I do. And what I want you 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:49.080 to know today is that God is not Santa. We 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.480 don't grow out of believing in him. 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:54.679 We grow into. 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:58.720 Our belief as we walk with Him, as. 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.440 We begin our journey with Him. Well, we begin it 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:02.760 with salvation, right. 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.559 Maybe you accepted Jesus as a child and you've known 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.360 him your whole life. Maybe you accepted Jesus here at 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:10.679 elevation you raise your hand and you got one of 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.720 those orange Bibles. Maybe you accepted Jesus online through our ministry. 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:19.600 We begin by knowing Jesus as our savior, but then 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.560 we get to know that God is so much more 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:26.720 than that. God never intended for us to stop with salvation. 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:29.960 The gospel is not about accepting Jesus just so that 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.040 we can go to heaven. That's the beginning and the end. 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.480 But you will be blessed because you believed in Him. 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:40.600 The Gospel is about believing in God and getting to 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.760 know Him in the middle part, in the time that 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:47.360 we have here on earth. We get to know God 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.440 when we worship him, when we bring our questions to Him, 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.600 and our sorrows and our disappointments, and when we lay 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.720 them before Him and we begin to grow in. 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.400 Our belief of who He is. 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:06.720 This February, our church is going to celebrate our twentieth anniversary, and. 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.400 I'm so excited. I just want you to know We're 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:11.040 going big. 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:15.240 I've told my husband, I was like, we're doing this right. 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:17.280 Twenty years is a big deal. 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:21.280 So I've been coming through old videos and pictures and 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:24.760 I've just been feeling all of the feelings of what 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.160 it's been like these past twenty years, and I just 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:29.920 want to tell you it has been the blessing of 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:35.400 a lifetime. To believe that God could use two kids 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:39.480 from South Carolina to be able to lead a church 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:43.600 and a ministry like this. We were twenty five years 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:47.120 old when we started this church. I don't know who 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.480 wanted to come to a church led by q twenty 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:53.120 five year old kids, but thank you for coming. And 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.120 I'm so glad that God did actually call us to 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:59.839 start this when we were young. When we started this church, 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.880 I was so naive. And Stephen tells this story. I'm 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:05.720 sure you've heard about how we were on our front 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.920 porch in Shelby, North Carolina, and I looked at him 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.120 and I said, it's time for us to start this church. 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.280 And I believed with all of my heart that God 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:18.320 was calling us to go and to do this and 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.640 to step out in faith and to follow him. But 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:25.200 I had no idea how much I would grow in 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:29.760 my understanding of who He is as we walked out 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:33.320 what we believed that He was calling us to do. 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:35.840 I want you to know that I have come to 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:40.080 know God as Jehovah Jirah, because from the moment that 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.800 we took the first step to move to Charlotte, We've 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.400 seen Him provide over and over and over again, every 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:49.280 person that he put in our path, every resource that 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:52.480 he prompted someone to give every connection that led us 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.040 to the next step. I've also come to know him 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:58.920 as Jehovah Nissi, the one who fights our. 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:03.000 Battles for us. I've come to know him as Jehovah Rafa, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:04.360 the God who heals. 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:07.800 And I've seen him bring healing and restoration to so 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.960 many people across our ministries, families that were put back together, 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:13.640 marriages that were restored. 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:16.559 I've come to know him as Emmanuel. 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.760 God with us in the ups and the downs and 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:21.400 in everything in between. 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.160 I have come to know that God is with me. 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:29.720 I am blessed because I believed, and you are blessed 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:34.160 because you believe. And the Christmas Story is about a 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:38.760 cast of characters who dared to believe that God, God 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.080 was telling them what would come to pass, and that 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.359 it was true. So my message. 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:46.640 Today is very simple. 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:50.480 It's so simple that I'm almost embarrassed. 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:51.760 That this is what I'm bringing to you. 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:55.200 It's very common sense. And in the time that we 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.040 have left, I want to show you three things that 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:01.480 I believe about God that I see in this part 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:02.760 of the Christmas Story. 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.120 And I just want to warn you my parts, my points. 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:08.360 They're not catchy, they don't rhyme, they don't spell anything 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.640 at the end, so don't be prepared to be in 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:13.960 awe at the end. We're going to leave that for 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:15.640 when Pastor Stephen comes back. 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:18.200 It's just a simple message today. 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:23.520 Three truths that we can believe about God this Christmas, 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:28.120 and the first one is I believe that God believes 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:29.080 in me. 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.120 Let's go back to our scripture, verse twenty six. 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.720 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.760 angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.920 virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.200 a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.160 appeared to her and said, greetings, favored woman, the Lord. 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:51.000 Is with you. 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:55.480 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.480 could mean. Don't be afraid, the angel told her, for 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.480 you have found favor with God. 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:04.120 Now. 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:10.480 Nowhere in this passage do we find a reason why 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:15.760 God picked Mary. God didn't pick Mary because she was strong. 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:18.760 It doesn't say that God didn't pick Mary because she 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.280 was accomplished. It doesn't say that God didn't pick Mary 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.040 because she was experienced. 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:26.200 She did not apply for this job. 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:29.120 She did not campaign for this job, and she did 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.840 not volunteer for this job. But one day an angel 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.920 comes to her and he says, you have found favor 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:40.280 with God. Now, when I think of the mother that 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:43.240 I would have picked for Jesus if I was God, 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:46.480 I would have picked a woman that already had a 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:51.880 full brood of children, a woman whose children were homeschooled 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:56.520 and responsible, like they had a chure charte that they 0:14:56.640 --> 0:15:02.360 actually used. And a woman who's children were respectful, a woman. 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:04.600 Whose children like looked after each other. 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:06.880 And you know, I would have picked a woman who 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.560 knew the difference between croup and pneumonia. I would have 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:14.160 picked a woman whose house was clean and orderly, and 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.280 especially I would have picked a woman who could cook good, 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:19.680 home cooked meals for the son of God. 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:22.080 But God picked Mary. 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:25.800 And all we know about Mary is that she was 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:29.680 a virgin who was blessed because she believed that she 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:31.240 was the one for the job. 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.000 And that's all that God requires of you as well. 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.240 And I wonder how different my day would be if 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.160 I woke up each morning and I set out loud. 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:46.720 God picked me for this. God picked me for this day. 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.920 God picked me for this job. God picked me for 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.600 this child. Whatever the circumstances were that led me to 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:57.080 this moment that I am in today, I am going 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:01.480 to operate under the belief that God believed I am. 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:04.000 The one for this now. 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:06.320 I think we all live in the tension of the 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:09.400 things in our life that we feel called to and 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.640 the things in our life that we might not necessarily 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.720 have chosen for ourselves. Like, there are things in life 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:19.960 that we go after, right. God put a desire in 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.360 your heart. He gave you a gift and a passion. 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.240 And yes it's hard along the way, and yes there 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.320 are obstacles and things that you have to overcome, but 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.720 you're going after what you feel like you are supposed 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.120 to do. Anybody ever feel that way, And it's wonderful, 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:36.080 and you should. 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.240 When you feel like you're called to do something, you 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:42.520 should go after it. But then there are things in 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.400 life that I don't know, it seems like. 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:49.720 They go after you, right, Like the things that you 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.600 didn't plan for, or the things you didn't expect, or 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.320 the things that you don't feel qualified for, the things 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:58.920 that seem to have just been like placed in your 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.800 life or in your lap that you did not ask for. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.960 And I want you to hear from me that God 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:08.520 believes in you. 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:10.320 He chose you. 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.520 He chose you to be born at this time, at 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:16.920 this place, in this family. 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:19.880 He gave you the children that you have. He gave 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.520 you the opportunities that you have. He chose you. 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:29.880 God believed in you before you believed in him, before 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:33.880 the world began. He knew the number of your days. 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:38.000 You are not an accident. You are chosen and selected 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:40.760 to glorify God with your life. 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.159 I don't care what you've done or what you have 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:45.200 not done. The only thing that. 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:49.040 Disqualifies you from being used by God is believing the 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:50.320 lie that He can't use you. 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:52.120 That's it. 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:56.800 God believes in you. You're chosen even when you don't 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.679 feel capable. You're chosen, even when you don't feel like 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:00.480 you did deserve it. 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:01.600 You're chosen. 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.520 And if you wait until you feel ready or worthy 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:12.120 or qualified or prepared enough, you're gonna miss what God 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:13.159 has for you. 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:16.600 You're gonna miss the opportunities that are right in front 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:17.600 of you today. 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:23.000 So Mary accepted the calling that God placed on her life. 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:25.679 She said, I am the Lord's servant. May it be 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:27.360 to me as you have said. 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:29.600 It's my favorite verse in the whole Bible. It's the 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:31.600 thing I want to operate from. Is the way I 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.560 want to live my life. Okay, God, I'm your servant. 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:38.560 May be to me as you have said. And then 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.120 the scripture tells us that she moved in the direction 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:45.639 that she felt that God was leading her. So the 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:48.679 second thing that I believe is I believe that God 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:56.320 leads me. Now this one is tricky because unfortunately God 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.760 does not always spell. 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:00.119 Everything out for us. 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:03.919 Right. He doesn't like write our next steps in the sky, 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:09.480 but he does strongly suggest what we should do next. 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:11.640 Look at Mary again. This is verse thirty five. 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:15.400 It says the angel replied, the Holy Spirit will come 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:17.720 upon you, and the power of the Most. 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:18.720 High will overshadow you. 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:20.919 So the baby to be born will be holy and 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.400 he will be called the Son of God. What's more, 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.360 your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant. In her old age, 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:30.119 people used to say that she was barren, but she 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.160 has conceived a sun and is now in her six months. 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:35.880 For the word of God will never fail. And Mary responded, 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.320 here it is I'm the Lord servant. May everything you 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.320 said about me come true, and then the angel left her. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:47.600 I want you to know that sometimes what's next is 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:53.440 what you already know. The angel left Mary, and I 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:55.360 imagine that she had to sort of. 0:19:55.359 --> 0:20:01.359 Like take in everything that had just happened. She was like, Okay, 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:07.320 did that just happen? Okay, what happened? And she's replaying 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:08.840 it in her mind. Okay. 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:11.280 The angel came and he said I was going to 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.920 give birth the Son of God. But then he said 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:21.600 something about my relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth is pregnant. Well, let 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.560 me go see if that's true. So verse thirty nine says. 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:28.680 A few days later, Mary hurried to the hill country 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:34.440 of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:40.600 the house and greeted Elizabeth. Sometimes the next step is 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:44.679 the thing that you already know to do, but you 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:49.840 haven't done it yet. The thing is, God's not going 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:55.760 to reveal more to you until you do that. Now. 0:20:55.800 --> 0:20:57.840 One of the ways that God leads us is through 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:00.480 the people that he puts on our path. So God 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:04.080 led Mary to Elizabeth. But when Mary got to elizabeth 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:07.120 elizabeth home, she enters the house. 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:09.159 And the moment she opens her. 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:12.679 Mouth to say hello, the baby and Elizabeth's womb jumps 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:17.320 and confirms what the angel said. And Elizabeth says to Mary, 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:19.399 why am I so honored that the mother of my 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:23.760 Lord should visit me. God will send you people when 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:30.159 you moved towards what you know. God led Mary and 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.399 Joseph to Bethlehem because of the census that was ordered, 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:35.120 and it was there that the baby was. 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:37.560 Born in a barn. But it was also there. 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.160 That the shepherds came and visited them, and they said, 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:42.840 we saw an entire host of angels, and we came 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:46.119 to worship the Christ Child. And in eight days after 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:48.199 that they took Jesus to the temple. 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:50.200 It was the custom. It was the thing that they 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:51.160 were supposed to do. 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:53.320 It was what you did with your baby when they 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:55.719 were eight days old. You came to the temple and 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:58.840 you dedicated them there. And when they were there, Mary 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:03.560 and Joseph they into two different people, Simeon and Anna, 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:07.399 the prophetess. And at the temple, both Simeon and Anna 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:11.120 confirm what God is doing, and they said, they said, 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:16.200 this is Jesus, and they became, we have seen the salvation. 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:16.800 Of the Lord. 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:21.560 The path for Mary was going to be so challenging, 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:25.760 But I believe that every time that doubt crept into 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:28.359 Mary's heart when she thought she didn't have what it 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:30.439 took to be a good mom, and she thought she 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:32.640 didn't know how she was going to protect her son 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:35.359 or how she was supposed to provide for him, I 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:39.159 believe that she could recall what God had spoken to 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:43.320 her through Elizabeth, through Simeon, through Anna, through the Shepherds, 0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:44.359 through the wise Man. 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:46.360 And I want you to know that God is going 0:22:46.400 --> 0:22:47.280 to guide you too. 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:50.520 He's going to tell you what you need to know, 0:22:50.960 --> 0:22:53.639 and as long as you keep moving and what you know, 0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:57.119 he's going to send people to confirm that you are 0:22:57.240 --> 0:23:00.119 on the right path. But it's important to know. Oh, 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:05.080 God's not gonna reveal the entire plan to you. God 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:07.680 is gonna show you what you need to see when 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:10.800 you need to see it. The Angel came to Mary 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:14.240 and said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:16.720 The Angel didn't give her a timeline. 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:19.840 He didn't say, see, we know the story, so it's 0:23:19.880 --> 0:23:23.240 easier for us, right. But the Angel didn't say to her, Okay, 0:23:23.880 --> 0:23:25.879 first you're gonna have the baby, and he's gonna be 0:23:25.880 --> 0:23:27.720 born in Bethlehem. I know that's weird, but you're gonna 0:23:27.720 --> 0:23:29.760 be there by accident kind of for the census. 0:23:29.960 --> 0:23:30.880 Then you're gonna go to. 0:23:30.880 --> 0:23:34.080 Egypt for two years because Herod's gonna kill all the 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:35.440 baby boys and it's not gonna be. 0:23:35.359 --> 0:23:37.280 Safe for Jesus to stay in Judea. 0:23:37.320 --> 0:23:39.359 But eventually you're gonna come back and you're gonna settle 0:23:39.400 --> 0:23:39.960 in Nazareth. 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:42.040 And Jesus' ministry isn't gonna even. 0:23:41.840 --> 0:23:44.359 Start until he's thirty, so you'll have him for thirty 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:46.320 years with you, and then you're gonna get to see 0:23:46.400 --> 0:23:49.400 him do this amazing ministry and he's gonna perform these 0:23:49.560 --> 0:23:53.560 incredible ministry miracles, and then the things that he's gonna 0:23:53.600 --> 0:23:55.040 do is just gonna blow your mind. 0:23:55.040 --> 0:23:56.120 But then he's gonna die on. 0:23:56.080 --> 0:23:58.480 The cross and it's gonna be awful, but don't worry, 0:23:58.520 --> 0:23:59.840 because he's gonna rise again on the third. 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:01.000 It's all part of the planet. 0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:07.359 And I think, like, as parents, we want that for 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:10.240 our kids, Like, wouldn't it be nice if they came 0:24:10.280 --> 0:24:12.840 with a timeline and we were like, it's okay, it's 0:24:12.840 --> 0:24:16.680 all part of the plan. Here's where they're going to struggle, 0:24:17.080 --> 0:24:19.520 here's where they're gonna shine, and this is what you 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:21.240 should do when this happens. And this is what you 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:23.760 should do when that happens. And you should intervene here. 0:24:23.880 --> 0:24:27.840 But don't worry here. God doesn't work like that, because 0:24:27.880 --> 0:24:31.119 God is more concerned with you than he is about 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:37.520 your situation. God wants a relationship with you. A couple 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:39.920 of weeks ago, Pastor Stephen preached something that. 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:41.439 I will never forget. 0:24:41.520 --> 0:24:44.840 It was just a small point in his sermon, but 0:24:44.960 --> 0:24:47.959 he did this visual thing that just like I don't know, 0:24:47.960 --> 0:24:50.400 it just like reached into my heart and I don't 0:24:50.400 --> 0:24:51.520 think I'll ever forget it. 0:24:51.520 --> 0:24:52.879 But I don't know if you remember this. 0:24:53.000 --> 0:24:56.560 He said, faith is more like this, and he kind 0:24:56.560 --> 0:24:58.160 of like closed his eyes and he put his hands 0:24:58.240 --> 0:24:59.720 like this out and he said, it's like. 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:01.240 Grappling in the dark. 0:25:01.680 --> 0:25:04.960 It's like feeling your way around and trusting God with 0:25:05.119 --> 0:25:09.080 each tiny step that you take. He said, it's more 0:25:09.200 --> 0:25:15.600 like this than it is like this holding tight to 0:25:15.680 --> 0:25:20.159 what I thought this was gonna be. And then he said, 0:25:21.240 --> 0:25:25.080 you hold tight to the promise, but you hold loosely 0:25:25.680 --> 0:25:26.320 to the plan. 0:25:27.359 --> 0:25:29.520 Babe. That might have been the most impactful thing that 0:25:29.560 --> 0:25:32.560 you said this year. It marked me. 0:25:32.920 --> 0:25:36.000 It helped me because how many times in my life 0:25:36.320 --> 0:25:39.960 have I thought that faith is not wavering, it's not 0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:42.520 letting go of the original plan. I have to believe 0:25:42.880 --> 0:25:44.960 if I just believe, if I just come to Him 0:25:45.000 --> 0:25:48.000 over and over again, reminding him of my plan, and 0:25:48.040 --> 0:25:51.240 eventually everything will happen the way that I thought. It's 0:25:51.280 --> 0:25:54.399 so hard to let go of what I thought was 0:25:54.440 --> 0:25:58.320 the plan. I don't even want to think about how 0:25:58.359 --> 0:25:59.800 many times I have. 0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:03.160 Said something to God that was of the nature of God. 0:26:03.200 --> 0:26:07.800 This was not the plan. Maybe you feel that way today, 0:26:08.200 --> 0:26:10.119 like God. 0:26:09.760 --> 0:26:13.639 Divorce was not in my plan, sickness was not in 0:26:13.720 --> 0:26:17.359 my plan. Job loss at Christmas time was not in 0:26:17.480 --> 0:26:21.160 my plan. And I'm not saying that God causes these 0:26:21.200 --> 0:26:23.200 hard things to happen to us in life. 0:26:23.600 --> 0:26:24.360 What I am. 0:26:24.240 --> 0:26:29.280 Saying is that faith is remembering His name will be 0:26:29.359 --> 0:26:37.520 called Emmanuel. God with us. His plan is to be 0:26:37.640 --> 0:26:43.000 with me every step of the way. His plan is 0:26:43.040 --> 0:26:46.520 to comfort us. His plan is to guide us through 0:26:46.800 --> 0:26:50.720 the difficulties. His plan is to grow us, mature us, 0:26:50.760 --> 0:26:54.040 and strengthen us in the process. That's God's plan. 0:26:55.160 --> 0:26:56.639 Jeremiah twenty nine to eleven. 0:26:56.680 --> 0:26:59.040 God says to Jeremiah, I know the plans I have 0:26:59.160 --> 0:27:01.359 for you, Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, 0:27:01.400 --> 0:27:03.840 Plans to give you a hope in the future. This 0:27:03.840 --> 0:27:06.440 this verse has gotten me through some really hard times 0:27:07.200 --> 0:27:10.520 because it helps me know that when my plans don't 0:27:10.520 --> 0:27:14.280 go my way, I hold on to the promise that 0:27:14.520 --> 0:27:21.800 He has good plans for me. The plans are his, 0:27:23.280 --> 0:27:27.840 The plans are his. He holds the plans. We hold 0:27:27.880 --> 0:27:32.760 on to him. The very first promise that was made 0:27:32.800 --> 0:27:38.160 to marry was that the Holy Spirit will come upon you. 0:27:39.720 --> 0:27:43.360 And you know you have that promise too. Jesus told 0:27:43.400 --> 0:27:47.160 the disciples this is John sixteen thirteen. He said, when 0:27:47.200 --> 0:27:50.919 the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into 0:27:51.119 --> 0:27:56.280 all truth. The promise that we cling to is that 0:27:56.320 --> 0:27:59.399 the Spirit will guide you. The promise is not a 0:27:59.440 --> 0:28:02.800 map with and by turn directions. The promise is that 0:28:02.840 --> 0:28:06.000 you're taking a journey with the ultimate Guide, who you 0:28:06.160 --> 0:28:09.520 know is going to lead you through the hard parts. 0:28:10.280 --> 0:28:13.760 Belief is not knowing how God will do it. Belief 0:28:13.880 --> 0:28:18.040 is trusting the one who will. We hold tight to 0:28:18.119 --> 0:28:20.360 the promise, not to the plan. I have to tell 0:28:20.400 --> 0:28:23.800 myself this over and over and over again. My job 0:28:23.880 --> 0:28:27.000 is not how man I wanted to be, how I'm 0:28:27.040 --> 0:28:30.960 really good at. How my job is not how my 0:28:31.119 --> 0:28:35.959 job is. Who who do I trust? And who is 0:28:36.000 --> 0:28:38.719 he calling me to be? When the plans aren't working 0:28:38.760 --> 0:28:40.240 out the way that I thought? 0:28:40.600 --> 0:28:43.560 I can't control the plan. I mean, you know what 0:28:43.640 --> 0:28:45.200 I think. We all need to say that out loud. 0:28:45.440 --> 0:28:46.160 Let's stay together. 0:28:46.640 --> 0:28:50.120 I can't control the plan. But you know what I 0:28:50.160 --> 0:28:53.720 can't control me. 0:28:55.640 --> 0:28:58.960 I can control me. I can control what and who 0:28:59.000 --> 0:29:00.840 I go to when I feel disappointed. 0:29:01.960 --> 0:29:04.120 I can control what I say and what I don't 0:29:04.160 --> 0:29:05.880 say when I feel frustrated. 0:29:05.960 --> 0:29:08.920 I can control my attitude. I can control most of 0:29:08.960 --> 0:29:11.120 the time. I can control my responses. 0:29:11.160 --> 0:29:14.920 When things don't go my way, I can do that. 0:29:14.920 --> 0:29:16.040 That's the faith part. 0:29:16.880 --> 0:29:19.760 When things don't go my way, can I release my 0:29:19.880 --> 0:29:22.680 grip on what I thought would happen? Can I cling 0:29:22.760 --> 0:29:25.560 to the one who promised to be with me and 0:29:25.760 --> 0:29:28.920 do the things that I know he has already told 0:29:28.960 --> 0:29:29.560 me to do. 0:29:30.920 --> 0:29:31.960 You don't get. 0:29:31.800 --> 0:29:35.160 The next step until you do the things that you 0:29:35.360 --> 0:29:38.000 know he's supposed to do. So maybe some of you 0:29:38.320 --> 0:29:42.240 the word for you today is attitude. God's like I 0:29:42.280 --> 0:29:45.560 just want you to work on your attitude in this situation? 0:29:45.800 --> 0:29:50.040 Can you have a better attitude? Philippians one six says 0:29:50.080 --> 0:29:51.680 he who began a good work and you will be 0:29:51.720 --> 0:29:55.640 faithful to complete it. You don't have to know the plan. 0:29:56.360 --> 0:29:59.080 You just have to stay close to the one who does. 0:30:00.240 --> 0:30:02.800 You have to stay close to the one who promises 0:30:03.080 --> 0:30:06.840 to be faithful to complete the work that he started, 0:30:07.240 --> 0:30:10.040 not the work that I started, the work that He started. 0:30:10.040 --> 0:30:11.920 And I know that so many of you came in 0:30:11.960 --> 0:30:15.080 here this Sunday before Christmas feeling like you don't know 0:30:15.120 --> 0:30:17.840 what to do next in this situation, and I want 0:30:17.880 --> 0:30:21.600 you to know that God is going to show you 0:30:21.960 --> 0:30:23.160 the next step. 0:30:23.360 --> 0:30:25.040 You don't have to solve the puzzle. 0:30:25.440 --> 0:30:28.640 You don't have to manipulate the situation. You don't have 0:30:28.760 --> 0:30:31.320 to cheat your way into it. All you have to 0:30:31.320 --> 0:30:34.680 do is take the hint, ask God to open your 0:30:34.760 --> 0:30:37.640 eyes to see where he is working and ask him. 0:30:38.240 --> 0:30:40.760 Ask him to stop asking. 0:30:40.440 --> 0:30:43.920 Him to change your situation and start asking him to 0:30:44.040 --> 0:30:47.240 clearly show you what to do next. God spell it 0:30:47.280 --> 0:30:50.640 out for me, make it plain, and I will obey. 0:30:51.000 --> 0:30:54.720 The point is, though, that you're going to him. You 0:30:54.800 --> 0:30:57.720 go to him with your problems. You go to him first, 0:30:57.920 --> 0:31:02.320 and then like Mary, Mary heard from the Lord and 0:31:02.360 --> 0:31:06.400 then she obeyed, and then God confirmed through Elizabeth. You 0:31:06.480 --> 0:31:09.200 go to God and then He might send a person 0:31:09.480 --> 0:31:11.960 to encourage you. He might give you a verse to 0:31:12.000 --> 0:31:14.280 cling to. He might give you a song to sing 0:31:14.320 --> 0:31:16.920 in this season. He might show you a tiny, little 0:31:16.960 --> 0:31:21.320 next step to take. If you believe that He leads you, 0:31:21.320 --> 0:31:26.640 you will be looking for him everywhere you go. 0:31:26.640 --> 0:31:31.640 God leads you believe that. Do you believe that God 0:31:31.680 --> 0:31:33.280 will lead you in your situation? 0:31:38.280 --> 0:31:44.200 The last thing that I believe is that God hears me. 0:31:46.000 --> 0:31:47.840 Oh, this is a hard one to accept. 0:31:49.360 --> 0:31:51.880 I think when most people read the Christmas story, they 0:31:51.960 --> 0:31:56.400 start where we started with the Angel coming to Mary. 0:31:56.480 --> 0:31:59.840 But God, in the book of Luke, he begins to 0:32:00.040 --> 0:32:06.160 Christmas story through Elizabeth, Mary's relative, and her husband Zechariah. 0:32:06.200 --> 0:32:08.000 I don't know if you've ever read the first chapter 0:32:08.160 --> 0:32:11.240 of Luke. It's really beautiful. It tells like this really 0:32:11.280 --> 0:32:14.520 beautiful story that God is weaving. And so in the 0:32:14.560 --> 0:32:17.920 beginning of Luke we find Zechariah. He was a priest 0:32:18.040 --> 0:32:22.200 and his wife, Elizabeth was Mary's relative, and she was barren. 0:32:22.920 --> 0:32:26.920 They had no children in a culture where having children 0:32:27.600 --> 0:32:31.160 was actually like a mark of how blessed you were. 0:32:31.600 --> 0:32:32.680 It was everything. 0:32:33.440 --> 0:32:36.920 And Zachariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a child, but 0:32:37.040 --> 0:32:40.360 God had not answered them. Look at what Luke tells 0:32:40.440 --> 0:32:47.120 us about them. In verse eight. It says, one day, 0:32:47.200 --> 0:32:50.880 Zechariah was serving God in the temple for his order. 0:32:50.840 --> 0:32:52.160 Was on duty that week. 0:32:53.040 --> 0:32:55.240 As was the custom of the priest, he was chosen 0:32:55.280 --> 0:32:57.840 by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and 0:32:57.880 --> 0:33:00.840 burn incense. While the incense was being burned, a great 0:33:00.880 --> 0:33:05.160 crowd stood outside praying. And while while Zechariah was in 0:33:05.200 --> 0:33:08.520 the sanctuary, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him, 0:33:09.000 --> 0:33:12.040 standing to the right of the instance Altar. Zechariah was 0:33:12.080 --> 0:33:15.720 shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him, but 0:33:15.800 --> 0:33:18.640 the angel said, don't be afraid, Zechariah. 0:33:19.520 --> 0:33:22.080 God has heard your prayer. 0:33:22.960 --> 0:33:25.800 Your wife Elizabeth will give you a son, and you 0:33:25.840 --> 0:33:28.080 are to name him John. 0:33:30.040 --> 0:33:33.520 God has heard your prayer. 0:33:35.880 --> 0:33:40.200 Now this prayer, this was a prayer Zachariah and Elizabeth 0:33:40.240 --> 0:33:44.200 had put to rest. They had come to terms with 0:33:44.280 --> 0:33:46.160 the fact that it was too late for them to 0:33:46.200 --> 0:33:49.760 have a baby, and a baby is just it's just 0:33:49.840 --> 0:33:53.120 not a part of our story. They're too old. But 0:33:53.280 --> 0:33:57.240 yet the Bible tells us that they continued to faithfully 0:33:57.720 --> 0:34:02.280 serve God. Zechariah was just doing his duty. He was 0:34:02.320 --> 0:34:05.680 a priest. Burning incense was something that happened twice a 0:34:05.760 --> 0:34:08.320 day in the temple, but this time he got chosen 0:34:08.360 --> 0:34:10.719 to go in and burn the incense. 0:34:11.400 --> 0:34:13.200 You know, I believe that. 0:34:13.200 --> 0:34:18.360 God often does the biggest work in the most ordinary 0:34:18.560 --> 0:34:23.320 parts of my life. I believe that God saw every 0:34:23.360 --> 0:34:28.800 single day that Zechariah showed up and continued his duties. 0:34:29.200 --> 0:34:35.680 Day after day. Zechariah was on duty. He was doing 0:34:36.000 --> 0:34:40.560 his job, and an angel comes to him and tells 0:34:40.640 --> 0:34:44.600 him that his son, the one he never thought he 0:34:44.640 --> 0:34:48.920 would have, the one he had given up on ever having, 0:34:49.320 --> 0:34:52.680 his son, is going to be the forerunner of Christ. 0:34:53.520 --> 0:34:56.040 All this time they had prayed for a child, they 0:34:56.160 --> 0:34:58.640 believed for a baby, and it never came to pass 0:34:59.080 --> 0:35:02.520 until the time was right and God was about to 0:35:02.520 --> 0:35:05.120 place a baby in their laps. Just it wasn't just 0:35:05.280 --> 0:35:08.560 any baby. This was a special baby. This was a 0:35:08.600 --> 0:35:12.640 baby that the prophets Isaiah and Malachi foretold. This was 0:35:12.719 --> 0:35:15.600 the baby that had to be born at this time, 0:35:15.800 --> 0:35:19.360 and God chose Zechariah and Elizabeth to raise this baby. 0:35:19.400 --> 0:35:23.080 You know who it was, right John the Baptist, the 0:35:23.120 --> 0:35:26.239 one who would prepare the way for Jesus. I mean, 0:35:26.360 --> 0:35:30.280 arguably the second most important baby born in the New Testament. 0:35:30.400 --> 0:35:34.439 Right and God chose Elizabeth, but he wanted to use 0:35:34.520 --> 0:35:38.240 her pregnancy in her old age to confirm to Mary 0:35:38.480 --> 0:35:40.200 what was going to come to pass for her. 0:35:40.600 --> 0:35:43.000 The time had finally come. 0:35:44.520 --> 0:35:47.680 I thought about calling this message he heard you the 0:35:47.719 --> 0:35:54.480 first time, because I want you to know that God 0:35:54.840 --> 0:36:03.400 hears our prayers. God hears our prayer. God here's your prayers, 0:36:04.440 --> 0:36:07.879 and just like Pastor Stephen taught us last week, he 0:36:07.960 --> 0:36:14.839 doesn't need our prompts. God has been speaking to me 0:36:14.880 --> 0:36:18.400 so much about prayer this year, about what it is 0:36:18.520 --> 0:36:22.440 and kind of more what it's not. And there's so 0:36:22.640 --> 0:36:26.920 many beautiful aspects of prayer. There's written prayers, there's spoken prayers, 0:36:26.920 --> 0:36:30.480 there's silent prayers, there's private prayers, there's public prayers. 0:36:30.560 --> 0:36:34.040 But what I am learning is that prayer is. 0:36:34.160 --> 0:36:39.319 Mostly about coming into God's presence, however you can do that. 0:36:40.080 --> 0:36:42.280 It's about bringing Him into. 0:36:42.480 --> 0:36:48.120 Your situation and as God's child, as God's children, we 0:36:48.200 --> 0:36:51.640 have so many biblical examples that tell us that we 0:36:51.680 --> 0:36:53.400 can and we should come to Him. 0:36:53.360 --> 0:36:54.480 With our requests. 0:36:54.640 --> 0:36:59.600 That is perfectly acceptable, and you should come to God 0:37:00.120 --> 0:37:01.960 your request. But I want you to know, if all 0:37:02.000 --> 0:37:05.439 you ever do is make requests, you are not going 0:37:05.480 --> 0:37:08.160 to experience the power and the presence of God in 0:37:08.200 --> 0:37:12.279 your life. If God worked like Sannah and you could 0:37:12.320 --> 0:37:15.640 just send them a letter every December and magically all 0:37:15.680 --> 0:37:18.960 your hopes and dreams would come true, there would be 0:37:19.040 --> 0:37:20.520 no faith required in that. 0:37:20.680 --> 0:37:23.839 There wud be no relationship needed in that. It's just 0:37:23.880 --> 0:37:27.400 some guy that you write a letter to. A couple 0:37:27.400 --> 0:37:28.040 of months. 0:37:27.800 --> 0:37:31.439 Ago, I was so frustrated about a situation that I've 0:37:31.440 --> 0:37:35.080 been praying about for years. I mean, I have brought 0:37:35.080 --> 0:37:39.120 this thing to God, and I've asked him to change it. 0:37:40.520 --> 0:37:44.080 I have suggested many ways that I thought he could 0:37:44.160 --> 0:37:48.879 change it. I've even been so good as to work 0:37:48.880 --> 0:37:51.799 out the times that I thought that God would move 0:37:51.840 --> 0:37:52.719 in this situation. 0:37:53.320 --> 0:37:57.759 And I found myself back in that same place of frustration. 0:37:58.680 --> 0:38:00.880 And I hope it's okay for me to tell you this, 0:38:01.040 --> 0:38:04.959 but I said to God, God. 0:38:05.640 --> 0:38:08.799 I can't talk to you about this anymore. I just, 0:38:08.920 --> 0:38:10.640 I just I just can't. I don't, God, I don't. 0:38:10.640 --> 0:38:13.320 I don't even know what to say to you anymore. 0:38:14.600 --> 0:38:17.319 When I pray about this, nothing happens. So I I 0:38:17.440 --> 0:38:21.560 just I'm just not gonna talk about it anymore. I 0:38:21.600 --> 0:38:25.520 feel like God whispered right straight into my heart. I 0:38:25.520 --> 0:38:33.239 feel like he said to me, good, I can work 0:38:33.280 --> 0:38:38.600 with that. Just come into my presence, Holly, Just you 0:38:38.600 --> 0:38:40.359 don't have to talk to me about it. Just come 0:38:40.400 --> 0:38:44.640 into my presence. Just sit in my presence. I heard 0:38:44.640 --> 0:38:48.239 you the first time. Now, Remember, there's nothing wrong with 0:38:48.280 --> 0:38:51.600 being persistent and having the faith to keep praying for 0:38:51.680 --> 0:38:53.360 God to do something in your life. 0:38:53.480 --> 0:38:54.759 The Bible supports that. 0:38:55.160 --> 0:39:02.200 But sometimes you need to exercise the faith that believes that. 0:39:02.200 --> 0:39:04.839 He hurt you and that he's working in. 0:39:04.760 --> 0:39:09.320 Your situation, the faith that believes that He is telling 0:39:09.360 --> 0:39:12.240 a story on this earth that is so much bigger than. 0:39:12.160 --> 0:39:13.799 You and your situation. 0:39:15.560 --> 0:39:18.600 And faithfulness sometimes looks like showing up to the things 0:39:18.600 --> 0:39:20.840 that we know we're called to do, just while we 0:39:21.000 --> 0:39:23.120 wait for the things that we hope for. 0:39:23.320 --> 0:39:25.960 That's what Zachariah was doing. 0:39:27.239 --> 0:39:30.680 There's a lady who's a part of our EPAM, and 0:39:31.200 --> 0:39:35.319 she sent this letter to Pastor Stephen and thank you, 0:39:35.360 --> 0:39:37.200 by the way, to all of the people who who 0:39:37.280 --> 0:39:41.120 send us letters. Your stories mean a lot to us. 0:39:41.160 --> 0:39:43.920 And this story, I just I want to share this 0:39:44.320 --> 0:39:47.960 parts of this story with you because it's just incredibly incredible. 0:39:48.000 --> 0:39:51.720 She writes this, I have been faithfully watching Elevation Worship 0:39:51.760 --> 0:39:54.640 services at nine thirty am Sunday mornings for the last 0:39:54.680 --> 0:39:55.280 six years. 0:39:55.800 --> 0:39:57.440 I wanted to write you for a long time. 0:39:57.800 --> 0:40:00.440 I've wanted to share my testimony with you and let 0:40:00.480 --> 0:40:03.680 you know how you changed this particular chapter in my 0:40:03.800 --> 0:40:07.080 life with one of your sermons. 0:40:07.120 --> 0:40:13.040 And she says, sorry. The next place that I want 0:40:13.080 --> 0:40:14.000 to read, she. 0:40:13.880 --> 0:40:18.320 Says, your sermons continue to bring me hope and comfort. 0:40:19.040 --> 0:40:25.840 And she goes on to talk about how she was 0:40:25.920 --> 0:40:28.880 raised in the church and her husband was raised in 0:40:28.920 --> 0:40:31.680 the church, and they raised their children in church. They 0:40:31.719 --> 0:40:36.520 had three boys and one baby girl after their three 0:40:36.520 --> 0:40:40.120 boys were born, and they raised their children to believe 0:40:40.160 --> 0:40:40.560 in God. 0:40:40.640 --> 0:40:43.040 They raised them in church, they taught them to love God. 0:40:43.280 --> 0:40:46.919 And then she begins to share how in twenty twenty one, 0:40:47.280 --> 0:40:52.560 their daughter became involved with some very bad influences and 0:40:52.600 --> 0:40:56.120 she began to make some really poor choices, and she 0:40:56.280 --> 0:41:00.520 eventually ended up. This is every mother's nightmare. She ended 0:41:00.560 --> 0:41:03.440 up living with a man who was an alcoholic and 0:41:03.480 --> 0:41:07.440 who was abusive to her daughter, both mentally and physically. 0:41:07.520 --> 0:41:08.640 And she says that they. 0:41:08.600 --> 0:41:12.960 Prayed fervently for their daughter, and she says that finally 0:41:13.080 --> 0:41:15.919 one day their daughter came to them and she said 0:41:15.960 --> 0:41:19.120 she wanted to come home, but she said she couldn't 0:41:19.920 --> 0:41:22.719 because she believed that this man would harm her and 0:41:22.840 --> 0:41:25.680 harm her family if she left. 0:41:25.920 --> 0:41:26.520 And the letter. 0:41:26.760 --> 0:41:30.000 In the letter, she says that the situation just felt 0:41:30.440 --> 0:41:36.160 helpless and helpless, and then she says, on July second, 0:41:36.960 --> 0:41:41.200 twenty two, we got a call that she had been 0:41:41.239 --> 0:41:43.440 involved in an accident. 0:41:44.200 --> 0:41:45.399 And she said they rushed to the. 0:41:45.360 --> 0:41:48.520 Scene and they saw where her car was totaled and 0:41:48.960 --> 0:41:51.399 found out that she had been drinking, and so right 0:41:51.440 --> 0:41:56.000 there she was charged with a felony dui and they 0:41:56.000 --> 0:41:58.520 took her to the hospital and they treated her for 0:41:58.800 --> 0:42:02.440 bruises and broken knows in a broken hand. And she 0:42:02.480 --> 0:42:06.759 writes this, She said, she said I had to help 0:42:06.800 --> 0:42:09.680 her in the backseat of the police car. Once she 0:42:09.800 --> 0:42:13.680 was released from the er. She was on her way 0:42:14.160 --> 0:42:19.839 to jail for the night. And initially my thoughts were really, God, 0:42:21.080 --> 0:42:25.040 we gave her to you to watch over her, and 0:42:25.080 --> 0:42:27.280 this is what you allow to happen. 0:42:28.120 --> 0:42:29.440 And then she says, yes. 0:42:30.280 --> 0:42:33.719 I believe he did, because she was able to get 0:42:33.760 --> 0:42:37.439 out of that man's house safely and move back home 0:42:37.480 --> 0:42:40.480 with us. And we know that without his intervention, she 0:42:40.520 --> 0:42:43.680 would not have even survived the crash. 0:42:43.719 --> 0:42:45.200 And she came home, and she spent. 0:42:45.000 --> 0:42:48.480 The next several months in AA and in therapy. She 0:42:48.600 --> 0:42:51.440 was extremely faithful to her recovery, and she made the 0:42:51.440 --> 0:42:54.320 necessary changes in her life, and they were feeling really hopeful. 0:42:54.680 --> 0:43:00.560 But her court date came around, and on February twentieth, 0:43:01.120 --> 0:43:03.839 twenty twenty three, she goes on to say that, to 0:43:03.920 --> 0:43:08.480 their utter devastation, their daughter was sentenced to one hundred 0:43:08.520 --> 0:43:12.440 and eighty days in jail. And she goes on to 0:43:12.520 --> 0:43:16.000 write she says, I was angry with God. I could 0:43:16.000 --> 0:43:18.839 not believe that he would allow this to happen. Now, 0:43:18.920 --> 0:43:22.279 after she had spent so many months turning. 0:43:22.000 --> 0:43:24.200 Her life around. 0:43:24.320 --> 0:43:28.480 Jail, she said, I spent my whole life trusting in God. 0:43:29.080 --> 0:43:32.160 And she says, side note, trust was my word for 0:43:32.200 --> 0:43:37.640 the year, but now my trust was gone. 0:43:38.120 --> 0:43:39.160 This is where it gets good. 0:43:40.840 --> 0:43:44.160 The next Sunday, I was home alone and out of 0:43:44.200 --> 0:43:45.960 habit I think, lol. 0:43:46.520 --> 0:43:49.840 I turned your service on. The songs they sang that 0:43:49.920 --> 0:43:50.640 day were all. 0:43:50.520 --> 0:43:52.920 My favorites, which I didn't want to hear, but they 0:43:52.920 --> 0:43:56.560 made me cry. God was working despite my acceptance, despite 0:43:56.600 --> 0:44:00.239 my anger. The title of your sermon was God is 0:44:00.360 --> 0:44:08.600 up to something upstream. Anybody remember that one. I kept 0:44:08.600 --> 0:44:11.520 telling myself he was up to something, but I wasn't 0:44:11.520 --> 0:44:14.120 having it. You kept giving examples in the Bible of 0:44:14.200 --> 0:44:17.080 how God was always twenty miles ahead of your situation 0:44:17.200 --> 0:44:21.160 or circumstance. He's twenty miles ahead, He's twenty miles ahead. 0:44:21.239 --> 0:44:24.240 I kept hearing it over and over again, and something 0:44:24.320 --> 0:44:28.919 hit me. I grabbed my phone and typed in directions 0:44:29.120 --> 0:44:31.400 to the county jail from my house. 0:44:34.560 --> 0:44:40.080 I'm gonna cry. Guess how far away it was? Twenty miles, 0:44:41.560 --> 0:44:47.240 she said. I dropped to the ground. Tears were flowing 0:44:47.560 --> 0:44:53.600 down my face. God was twenty miles ahead, she said. 0:44:54.600 --> 0:44:58.120 And a week or so later, in our conversation. 0:44:58.160 --> 0:45:01.359 She told me she was having Bible study in her 0:45:01.400 --> 0:45:06.360 cell and teaching and singing elevation music to all the girls. 0:45:11.480 --> 0:45:14.319 She did four and a half months time and the 0:45:14.400 --> 0:45:16.400 day we picked her up was one of the best 0:45:16.480 --> 0:45:20.240 days we have had. God gave us so much grace 0:45:20.560 --> 0:45:22.920 and so much mercy during those months I thought I 0:45:22.920 --> 0:45:24.040 would never make it through. 0:45:24.520 --> 0:45:25.319 Wasn't inner plan. 0:45:26.160 --> 0:45:28.640 She said, Please keep my family and myself in your prayers. 0:45:29.280 --> 0:45:32.000 We have learned to take one day at a time, 0:45:32.520 --> 0:45:34.880 and we just keep praising our. 0:45:34.760 --> 0:45:47.320 Father for all he does. Meant what a story. 0:45:48.680 --> 0:45:53.720 God is so faithful, He's so faithful, He hears us 0:45:54.080 --> 0:45:55.200 when we pray. 0:45:55.920 --> 0:46:00.400 He heard you the first time. He knows things that 0:46:00.480 --> 0:46:01.160 we don't know. 0:46:02.320 --> 0:46:06.040 And we have to trust the one who is working 0:46:06.400 --> 0:46:12.719 in our situation even when it doesn't make sense. I 0:46:12.719 --> 0:46:16.160 love how the letter ended with we just keep praising 0:46:16.200 --> 0:46:21.200 our Father, one day at a time, because I think 0:46:21.560 --> 0:46:26.240 that's it. Maybe if you find yourself in a place 0:46:26.320 --> 0:46:28.960 this Christmas where you're wondering if God heard your prayer, 0:46:29.560 --> 0:46:33.480 where you're feeling like nothing is happening in your situation, 0:46:35.000 --> 0:46:38.279 maybe we can take our cues from this lady who's 0:46:38.320 --> 0:46:43.000 a part of our ephan and from Mary. Because Mary 0:46:43.040 --> 0:46:47.239 didn't prompt God, she didn't list out all of the 0:46:47.280 --> 0:46:49.520 things that God was gonna need to do to work 0:46:49.680 --> 0:46:50.319 everything out. 0:46:50.400 --> 0:46:50.759 For her. 0:46:51.000 --> 0:46:52.799 She didn't remind God of all the things that could 0:46:52.840 --> 0:46:55.759 go wrong. She didn't suggest people who were more qualified 0:46:56.000 --> 0:47:03.280 for this calling. She praised her. She was blessed because 0:47:03.320 --> 0:47:06.640 she believed that God believed in her, that God was 0:47:06.680 --> 0:47:09.160 going to lead her, and that God hurt her prayer. 0:47:10.360 --> 0:47:13.000 She was blessed before she had seen any of these 0:47:13.040 --> 0:47:14.720 things come to pass. 0:47:15.800 --> 0:47:18.400 And Luke tells us he gives us her prayer. 0:47:18.480 --> 0:47:23.879 It's called the magnificat, and she says, my soul magnifies 0:47:23.920 --> 0:47:27.279 the Lord. My heart rejoices in God, my savior, for 0:47:27.480 --> 0:47:31.720 he lifts the lowly, and he has done great things 0:47:31.960 --> 0:47:32.279 for me. 0:47:32.520 --> 0:47:34.800 He hadn't even done anything for her yet when. 0:47:34.640 --> 0:47:37.560 She said that, she said, he has done great things 0:47:37.920 --> 0:47:38.239 for me. 0:47:39.600 --> 0:47:42.239 And I want you to know that praise is a reset. 0:47:43.800 --> 0:47:46.279 It enables you to take your eyes off of your 0:47:46.360 --> 0:47:49.560 situation and place them on your Savior. 0:47:51.200 --> 0:47:53.120 So I want us to follow Mary's. 0:47:52.760 --> 0:47:56.920 Example today, and I want us to magnify the Lord together. 0:47:57.080 --> 0:47:59.319 I want us to bless his name for who he 0:47:59.440 --> 0:48:01.839 is and for what he's done, so that we can 0:48:01.960 --> 0:48:04.040 trust him with what's next. 0:48:06.000 --> 0:48:08.560 Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of 0:48:08.600 --> 0:48:11.600 you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of 0:48:11.600 --> 0:48:14.560 you that this ministry is possible. You can click the 0:48:14.560 --> 0:48:18.320 link in the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch 0:48:18.480 --> 0:48:21.719 dot org slash podcast for more information and if you 0:48:21.800 --> 0:48:25.040 enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it 0:48:25.080 --> 0:48:27.399 with your friends. You can click the share button, take 0:48:27.400 --> 0:48:29.759 a screenshot and share it on your social stories and 0:48:29.800 --> 0:48:32.680 tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God 0:48:32.680 --> 0:48:38.080 bless you.