Favor Over Fear

0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:03.080 Well, the Word is coming your way in just a moment. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:04.840 But I want to let you know that this is 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:08.319 the year of God's favor. I haven't heard many people 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.280 call twenty twenty the year of God's favor, but Jesus 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:13.840 said in Luke four nineteen that he came to proclaim 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:16.840 the year of the Lord's favor. And in so many 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.680 ways this year I've seen God be faithful to this 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:24.040 ministry like never before. Every year we end our year 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:27.560 by giving to God, giving to expand the Gospel through 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:30.560 the work of the local church. Well, this year, God 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.239 has made us a global ministry in ways that we 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.879 could have never imagined. And now you have the opportunity 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.280 to sow into the good ground of this ministry through 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:42.760 our twenty twenty year end offering. I'm calling it our 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.000 favor Offering Favor twenty twenty. You can go to Elevation 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:48.720 Church dot org and find out more about that and 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.920 give or set up your giving your tithing online. I 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:54.440 want to encourage you. The Kingdom of God does not 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:58.440 advance when people consume the Gospel. It advances when people 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.959 can tribute. If God God has been good to you, 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:03.120 if God has made a way for you. I want 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.640 to encourage you between now and December thirteenth to make 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.440 your best gift or your recurring gift into this ministry 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.039 so we can continue to take the gospel and the 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.720 favor of God forward together. Yeah, by God's grace, we've 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:20.200 grown more this year than ever before, and we are 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:23.560 going to continue to reach people. And we're able to 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.520 do that because of generous people like you. Like you, 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.920 it's on you, it's on me. Our mission is to 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:32.679 see what God can do through us, see what God 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.640 can do through you. That's the vision statement. This is 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:40.640 the opportunity Favor twenty twenty. Let's see what God has 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.520 in front of us. Come on, let's all stand wherever 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.760 you are. I want us to pray. In just a moment, 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:51.000 we're going to go into the word of God. But 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:54.760 how many No God has already spoken. If you know, 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:57.040 He has the final word in your life, and that 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:02.800 word is favor. Father, declare that you are good God. 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:07.760 What you started, you will finish what you spoke, You 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.919 will bring it to pass. We declare it over every family, 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:20.080 every life, every business, every community, every nation. We thank 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:23.000 you Lord that your word never returns void but accomplishes 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:25.720 the purpose for what you sent it. And we stand 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:29.480 in that purpose today, remembering the bigger picture and remembering 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.200 that we have a part Lord. I thank you for 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:37.079 everybody today who will be giving, who has given, those 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.160 who want to give but can't. Right now, we all 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:44.480 join our faith together, moving forward in the face of 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:51.360 tremendous uncertainty, confident of your favor. Everybody, say it with 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:55.120 your own mouth, say favor. May the favor of the 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:59.400 Lord be upon you a thousand generations in your family, 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:06.639 your children, their children, and their children. May His presence 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:10.800 go before you, behind you, beside you, all around you. 0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:15.160 I see the angel armies of God lining up to 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:21.240 fight for the people of God right now. And I 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.160 thank you for the Holy Spirit within us. In our 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:30.040 coming and our going moments of sadness, weeping and mourning, 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:34.240 and in our rejoicing. You've been there this year, You'll 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:38.200 be there tomorrow. We give you glory, and we thank 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:42.120 you that if you are for us, you're greater than 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:46.880 anything against us. And the gates of hell will not prevail, 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:53.000 cannot prevail. No weapon formed against your people will prosper. 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.480 We stand as a testimony and we give you praise. 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:02.520 Come on, clap your hands. Somebody put in the chat 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:09.560 I got name. Come on, let's look up the loudest 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:14.240 praise we can till the neighbors can hear it, till 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:25.760 the devil get here. All right, So we're praying for you, 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:30.160 everybody who's giving online Elevation church dot org slash favor, 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.560 and we're excited to see how God uses your generosity 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.359 He already has. Thank you for being faithful. You're the 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:38.120 best church in the world. I don't even care if 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:40.839 that's bragging to say, Lord, forgive me for bragging. Thank 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.480 you for letting me pastor the best church in the world. 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:49.800 That's how I feel about it. Praise alone. So we're 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:54.040 believing for you. One scripture for today that God drew 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.480 my attention to and stand for the word. If you're 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.560 not standing right now, then your transmission is going to 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:01.599 be blown and you go to start your car, all right, 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:10.840 all right, micaeh five Verse two. But you, Bethlehem Ephra, 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:16.159 though you are small among the clans of Judo, out 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:20.719 of you will come for me one who will be 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:28.160 ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old from ancient times. 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:37.960 But you, Bethlehem, but you Bethlehem. The title of this 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:40.919 message is but God said, let's pray thank you for 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:43.719 what you've spoken. Lord, We agree with it. And all 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:49.880 your people said together, and all your people said together, Amen, 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:56.240 you may be seated, but you Bethlehem. But God said, 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:00.880 So it's kind of a Christmas sermon that I'm preaching today, 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:04.720 but you know, probably would be good if you if 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:06.800 you're watching it another time of the year. I don't 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:11.880 think it's limited to the Christmas season. So, but what 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:15.040 drew me to the text was the idea that the 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:20.240 prophet who lived eight centuries before Christ prophesied about him 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.960 in this text. In a time and I want to 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:29.160 point this out of spiritual declension and compromise, Micah prophesied 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:34.799 a message across the span of three kings about justice 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:39.799 and mercy and humility, and it was amazing what he said. 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.400 What he said was amazing. Who he said it to 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:48.000 the rebellious nation, especially the Northern Kingdom. They were such 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:51.520 a mess. And so Micah came preaching to that and 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:54.280 he spoke about a future promise. And this is one 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:56.000 of the things that keeps me rooted in God. I 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:59.400 just saw your shirt, your rooted shirt Shantana. So one 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.120 of the things that can be rooted in God and 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:07.400 every season of my life is to know that Christ 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.800 was born to take away our sin. But he was 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:18.040 born in the least likely place. But you, Bethlehem, though 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:21.880 you are small among the clans of Judah, out of 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:25.120 you will come from me. I mean in what the 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:27.760 Christmas story is all about anyway, about God bringing the 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:32.840 greatest gift out of an impossible situation. So if ever 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.240 we needed the Christmas Story, we need it right now. 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:41.280 If ever we needed to believe that where you start 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:44.240 doesn't have to be where you finish, we need it 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:48.440 this year. If ever we needed a message that helped 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:52.360 us to believe that what you see is no match 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:56.120 for what God has spoken, we need it right now. 0:07:57.240 --> 0:07:58.920 So I went to get a sonogram the other day 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.000 for a baby, but for my heart. My forty year 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:06.760 old check up. Chunks made me go for some insurance 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:08.200 thing or something, I don't know what, but they were 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:10.600 showing me all the places that I might be blocked. 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.120 I was thinking, man, this is great, because they did it. 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:14.920 The last time I went in for a sonogram was 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:17.160 like ten years ago. To see Abbey and to watch 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.080 her moving around and all of that was cool. But 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:22.000 I thought, man, they're using this to see about my 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:25.800 cholesterol and they're checking my arteries, and I thought, this 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.680 would be great. If I had one of these for 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.960 your soul as a preacher, if I could hook up 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:36.240 some gel, put some gel and some pads. I mean, 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:37.840 you know, I have to get license and all that. 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:39.320 I'm not just gonna run around and start doing it. 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:42.440 But if they made a machine for that where I 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.880 could see the different things. Because the man was saying 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:49.040 the cardiologists were saying, you look healthy and this, and that. 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:51.880 He was complimenting that I looked like I worked out. 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.280 I felt great here in that. But then he said, 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:58.160 we got to check beneath the surface now, see what's 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.640 going on. I thought, I need that. When I preach. 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:06.160 I need one of these machines to see, you know, 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:08.920 what pissed you off this week that's keeping you from 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:14.040 hearing me while I'm preaching. I need one of these 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.440 machines so I can see whether you're still hung up 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:17.760 on the fact that I said pissed off in the 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:20.520 pulpit that you can't hear the next thing. I say, 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:23.160 I need a machine to see where's the block? And 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:25.040 I thought that would be so helpful if I could 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.800 get one of these machines. Also if I could use 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:30.760 it to see what God has put inside of you 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:35.920 that is growing that you don't know about yet. So 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:38.760 I thought, what we would have for the Christmas story 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:44.640 is a spiritual sonogram, so we can see what little 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:48.840 baby thing is growing inside of you, what little small 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:52.079 thing God is doing inside of you right now, and 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:54.720 so we can see what's blocking it at the same time. 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:57.439 In order to do this, we need to go to 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:00.880 Luke chapter one for a moment, because us eighth centuries 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:04.120 after Micah spoke this. What a great thing to remember 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.040 that God does not see our lives from where we are. 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:12.000 It's said that he spoke these things from old. So 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:15.280 as we talk about finish with favor, did you'll hear 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:19.520 the message last week? Finished with favor sounds so sexy, right, 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:23.240 But unless you understand that your life started in the 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.840 mind of God, you will not have the confidence to 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.160 know that it is going to finish with the favor 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:33.560 of God. So Micah takes us all the way back 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:37.240 eight centuries before Christ. He prophesies, Now, Mary, this is 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:40.720 the Christmas scripture that you're more familiar with, at least 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:44.360 the one I'm more familiar with. Where the angel came 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.600 to her. Do you remember this? And he does that 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:49.920 he has that sonogram mismine machine to see Jesus inside 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:54.080 of her. She's caught off guard. Look in verse twenty eight, 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:57.080 the angel went to her lukewan and said, greetings, you 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:02.480 who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Now. 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:06.640 Mary was greatly troubled at his words. So let me 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:11.360 talk for a moment about what favor feels like, what 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:15.400 favor really feels like. Let me give you a few 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:25.920 words inconvenience interruption. And in Mary's case, I think I 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:30.560 see a trace of insecurity because when the angel called 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:34.960 her highly favored, it didn't really match what she felt 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.800 and maybe gets left out a lot of the Christmas 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:43.360 story right because it says she wondered what kind of 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:45.760 greeting this might be. But the Angel said to her, 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:51.080 do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:54.280 Now look at that fear and favor in the same 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:59.800 sentence from the mouth of the same angel. The relationship 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:06.360 between fear and favor cannot be overstated because to really 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.040 follow the favor of God in your life, and to 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:13.240 step out of what's familiar in your thoughts, your pursuits, 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.679 your objectives, your goals, to really be a part of 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.600 the bigger picture of what God is doing and not 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:23.200 be so seized and sabotaged by what has been and 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:25.880 what the world says is to really is what I'm 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:28.720 trying to say. To really know that favor showed up, 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:32.240 you have to look around and see if fear is 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:38.560 there too, because until you feel fear, you really haven't 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:45.160 found favor. The Angel said, I want you to choose 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:50.880 favor over fear. That felt chatworthy. Put it in a 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:57.120 chat Favor over fear. Say it out loud, Favor over fear. 0:12:57.280 --> 0:12:59.520 That's the choice. That's the choice. That's the choice. That's 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.360 the choice. Us a choice because he said in verse 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.960 thirty one, the Angel said, you will concede and give 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:09.079 birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:12.920 You are to give him the name Jesus. He will 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:15.160 be great and will be called the son of the 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:16.960 Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:21.200 of his father David, and he will reign over Thank you. Lord. 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:28.240 Jacob's descendant y'all about to find out why I'm lasting. 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:32.960 Right in the middle of my sermon, go to Genesis 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:42.160 thirty five. He will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. Now, 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.720 if you can get any staff members of a backdoor 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:47.000 link to the sermon Balded Elevation Church. There was a 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:48.920 series we did on Jacob years ago, but it's not 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.520 currently available for public consumption because there's statute of limitations 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:55.640 on everything I say from this pulpit. But some of 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.719 that Jacob's stuff, it was so good when we were 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:03.280 preaching it that it never really left me. One of 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:05.080 the things I will never forget, I was telling my 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:08.040 friend just this past Friday, is when I first saw 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:12.760 in Genesis thirty five, verse sixteen. Remember when they speak 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:16.080 of God, they would call him the God of Abraham, Isaac, 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:22.160 and Jacob. And remember that what people called Jacob wasn't 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:24.200 necessarily what God called Jacob, because there's the name his 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:29.080 parents gave him, Jacob trickster heel grabber is the literal translation, 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:31.120 because he was literally trying to beat his brother out 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:32.600 the wound, but it didn't work, but he was so 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:34.880 sneaky about it. He cooked him a bowl of beans 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:36.560 and got them trade to birthright for the boll of 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.200 beans and all this stuff that you do when you 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:42.800 don't really know that you have your own favor from God. 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:47.600 And I think part of the reason that he was 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:51.560 so I guess you could say twisted in his motivations 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:57.640 was that his brother Esau, was his father's favorite. His 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.840 father got along better with Esau, and it created a 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:02.720 lot of complications for him. And we can't go into 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:05.160 all of it because it involves so many different things, 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:08.160 not just the stealing of a birthright, but actually the 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.240 marrying of his uncle's daughter. His uncle Laban had had 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.640 two daughters. One was called Rachel, who was pretty. The 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:17.640 other was called Leah, who had a good personality. I'm 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:20.560 gonna let you do all the translation of what I 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:24.120 just said and didn't say. And Leah wasn't the one 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.080 Jacob loved, but he's the one that Jacob labored for. 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:31.040 And so Jacob labored for Leah. This was always a 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.640 cool thing to me about this passage. He labored to 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:38.480 get to get Rachel in marriage, and his uncle Laban 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:43.960 slipped Leah, the older sister in and Jacob. The Bible 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.080 says something so funny it said that when he woke 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:54.520 up the next morning after his wedding night, there was Leah. 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:59.880 And I always thought about that. How when have you 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.600 ever have you ever gone to bed with Rachel and 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:05.440 woke up with Leah. I don't mean physically, I'm not 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:07.440 asking that much of your business. We do not know 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.560 each other like that, so you can keep that for 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.600 your therapist. But I mean, like you work for something, 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.200 and work for something, and work for something. He worked 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:20.400 seven years for Rachel and woke up and it was 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:22.920 Leah and some of the things that we chase after 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:26.240 and we strive after, and we go after and we 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.840 set our hearts on and whoops, it's Leah. And now 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:37.200 it is too late because you got Leah. You got Leah. 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.280 And then he worked seven more years and he gets Rachel. 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.040 But there was a contrast because he actually now listen 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:45.960 to this, this is so cool. He worked seven years 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:49.760 and he got Leah. Then Laban gave him Rachel and 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:53.120 he worked seven more It's the difference between working for 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:58.960 versus working from the law gets you to work for, 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:05.080 Grace gets you to work from. So we don't just 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:09.520 finish with favor like we're fighting for it. We start 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:16.040 with favor, like we're fighting from it, and so many 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:18.720 things happen in his life that he eventually ends up 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.960 not only Marion, Leah and Rachel, and Rachel's his favorite wife, 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:25.600 but Leah's the one who can have kids. And there's 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:29.080 something about loving Leah too. That God saw that she 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:31.040 was unloved and he opened her womb, and she was 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:34.160 more productive than her sister, who was beautiful on the outside, 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:38.080 but baron on the inside. There's something about the favor 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:43.560 of God. Rachel couldn't have a baby until finally, one 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.200 day series of events, she gave birth to a son, Joseph, 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.000 and she prayed for one more. And this is what 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:52.080 the Lord told me to give you. And what triggered 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:55.679 it for me was seeing that Jesus will reign over 0:17:56.080 --> 0:18:00.880 the throne of Jacob. So go with me to Genesis 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:05.200 thirty five sixteen for a moment, and let's follow Jacob's 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:08.920 caravan he set out. Now he's got many sons. God 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.320 was using all the strife and competition between these two 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:17.200 wives to birth the nation. Those same children that were 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:21.200 born out of the frustration of these two women would 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:25.080 end up becoming the nation of Israel. You know God's 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:31.440 using everything in your life, don't you. But this incident 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.680 is important and is what I wanted to ask you 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.600 about today as we talk about finishing the year with 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:41.040 God's favor. It says that after building an altar to 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:46.320 God and Bethel and remembering everything that God did, Jacob 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.480 and his crew moved on from Bethel, the house of God, 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:52.280 the place where God met with him. And while they 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:57.960 were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:03.280 birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:07.320 great difficulty in childbirth, which I think is a little 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:11.320 bit redundant, because I watched this happen three times, and 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:14.520 I think those two. I think every time there's a birthing, 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.639 there's also a breaking. But that's just me as somebody 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:22.080 who started a church, as somebody who's trying to bear 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:27.040 fruit in every season of my life. But this is extreme. Now, 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:31.240 this is not just this is not just a normal difficulty. 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:36.160 This is actually a matter of life and death. And 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.399 in the middle of this, the midwife said to Rachel, 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:44.119 don't despair, for you have another son. But watch this. 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:49.199 As she breathed her last for she was dying, she 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:54.359 named her son Ben and I. But his father named 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.960 him Benjamin. Now this is going to require a little 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:03.119 bit of explanation to to translate ben Oni, which means 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:07.560 child or son of my trouble. Ben is the park 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:11.160 that means son Ohnai is the park that means trouble, 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:15.199 or some translators put it sorrow, but either way you 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:19.359 put it is pain. And as she's breathing her last breath, 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:24.240 understandably she names the child that she is birthing out 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:29.160 of the pain that she's experiencing. Her perspective is this 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:34.159 is costing me my life. And in a very poetic record, 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:38.000 the writer tells us, the writer of Genesis, that as 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:42.679 she was breathing her last breath, this baby was breathing 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:46.080 its first breath. And we see here the confluence of 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.919 the origin of Benjamin, who would actually represent the kingly 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:55.359 tribe of Israel. But he wasn't called Benjamin because his 0:20:55.440 --> 0:21:00.480 mother named him out of her pain been or I, 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:12.000 but his father named him Benjamin. But his father, who 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:17.840 just lost the only woman he really ever loved, who 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:22.480 just lost the thing that he worked fourteen years to obtain, 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:27.520 that in the middle of his loss, watch this, because 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:30.200 this is what God is challenging us to do right now, 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:37.679 he decides to label not according to what he's about 0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:44.639 to bury, but about what was birthed out of what 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:48.919 he buried. Now, many of us, this is not a 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:52.360 cotton candy Christmas message. Have had to bury a lot 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:56.760 of things this year, even as a ministry. We had 0:21:56.800 --> 0:22:00.879 to bury every plan that we had for opening new campuses, 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:03.600 for the waste that we thought we would reach people, 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:09.240 for every elevation worship tour that we booked in NBA Arenas, 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:13.120 for everything that we planned this year. There were funerals 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:16.800 that we had to have and you did too. You 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:21.800 did too. What inspired me about the text was found 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:25.080 not in the fact that it was his favorite wife 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:28.680 that he buried, because you know, in that a is 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:31.160 a sermon. In that is a sermon. But what got 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:33.439 me about it that I never saw when I preached 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:36.680 it five years ago. You're ready, Christian. It says that 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:40.679 over her tomb, Jacob set up a pillar, and to 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:44.399 this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb. But back up 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:47.280 to verse nineteen, because I think this is powerful. So 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:52.240 Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, 0:22:53.520 --> 0:23:03.000 that is Bethlehem. So I read how Rachel, the woman 0:23:03.080 --> 0:23:11.080 that Jacob love, was buried just outside of Bethlehem. And 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:15.000 then I read how Micah said that out of Bethlehem 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:20.159 will be born a ruler who will dash the princess 0:23:20.240 --> 0:23:24.640 of men into pieces, and whose kingdom will know no end. 0:23:25.880 --> 0:23:30.320 And then I read about Mary, who was highly favored, 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:34.400 who gave birth through a virgin womb, to the world's 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:40.280 greatest salvation, and it brought to me this question, do 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:48.720 we know Bethlehem better by what was buried there or 0:23:48.800 --> 0:23:56.880 what was born there? So I want to ask this question. 0:23:57.920 --> 0:24:00.399 I want to ask this question about your Bethlamine. Remember 0:24:00.400 --> 0:24:04.160 we sing o little town of Bethlehem like it's cute. 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:10.560 Bethlehem was not where Mary's obg yn was located. Did 0:24:10.600 --> 0:24:12.760 you know that they weren't supposed to be in Bethlehem 0:24:12.760 --> 0:24:16.160 when Jesus was born. I know this sounds weird. Jesus 0:24:16.200 --> 0:24:21.640 picked a bad time to come into the world. He 0:24:21.720 --> 0:24:24.840 picked the worst time to come into the world. And 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:27.440 we think everything has to be just right for God 0:24:27.480 --> 0:24:29.680 to do something in our lives, and we think everything 0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:32.400 just has to be just right for God to do it. No, no, no, 0:24:32.400 --> 0:24:35.560 no no, they were only in Bethlehem because Joseph's family 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:37.960 was from there, and maybe they had some still some 0:24:38.080 --> 0:24:40.159 land there. The Bible doesn't say, but they had to 0:24:40.200 --> 0:24:42.920 go back under Caesar Augustus because there was a census 0:24:42.920 --> 0:24:45.160 happening and everybody had to go back to their hometown. 0:24:45.280 --> 0:24:47.840 And while they were on the way, just trying to 0:24:47.840 --> 0:24:50.680 get their business done, here comes Jesus. And I found 0:24:50.720 --> 0:24:53.760 out God is a lot like that, just like at 0:24:53.760 --> 0:24:56.399 the worst possible moment, he will give you the greatest 0:24:56.440 --> 0:25:01.240 possible opportunity. And it's almost like this year we're being 0:25:01.280 --> 0:25:05.120 presented as a question, are we going to label this 0:25:05.280 --> 0:25:11.200 year by what we buried or by what was born? 0:25:13.440 --> 0:25:15.960 Because I promise you I should have done it. I 0:25:16.080 --> 0:25:18.520 messed up, but I should have said at the beginning 0:25:18.560 --> 0:25:24.080 of the sermon, what is Bethlehem? And I guarantee you 0:25:24.119 --> 0:25:25.920 none of you would have said the place where Rachel died. 0:25:30.280 --> 0:25:33.040 That's how Jacob would have remembered it, because he buried 0:25:33.040 --> 0:25:36.960 her on the way to Bethlehem, and he renamed his son. Oh. 0:25:36.960 --> 0:25:41.760 By the way, he named his son Benjamin, which doesn't 0:25:41.840 --> 0:25:46.800 mean son of my trouble. It's a play on words, 0:25:46.800 --> 0:25:52.800 because oh, I can either mean trouble or wealth. So 0:25:53.320 --> 0:25:56.800 instead of naming the child after what he lost in 0:25:56.880 --> 0:26:02.040 that moment, he named his son Benjamin. Benjamin does it 0:26:02.160 --> 0:26:04.080 mean son of my trouble or son of my wealth. 0:26:04.080 --> 0:26:09.520 It means son of my right hand. The right hand 0:26:09.760 --> 0:26:13.399 is the hand of blessing. The right hand is the 0:26:13.480 --> 0:26:18.040 hand of authority. So the word God gave me for 0:26:18.080 --> 0:26:23.560 you today is don't bury your blessing. What happens to 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:27.000 us is as we journey along the way, we lose 0:26:27.040 --> 0:26:29.879 a lot of things, and the temptation is for us 0:26:29.960 --> 0:26:33.040 to identify with what we lost, and then we start 0:26:33.119 --> 0:26:37.240 labeling our lives according to those losses. Well, that limits 0:26:37.359 --> 0:26:39.920 us to what we can receive. But if you can 0:26:39.960 --> 0:26:43.679 make a decision at this point in the year to 0:26:43.800 --> 0:26:51.080 call his name Jesus. See, Jesus came from Bethlehem. Jesus 0:26:51.240 --> 0:26:55.120 was born in the place where Rachel was buried. Don't 0:26:55.160 --> 0:26:58.280 you see it. That's the same place David came from. 0:26:58.560 --> 0:27:02.840 From Bethlehem, little boy with a little rock who took 0:27:02.880 --> 0:27:08.200 down a big giant. That's why Micah said, out of 0:27:08.400 --> 0:27:15.920 you Bethlehem will come the salvation of the world. The 0:27:15.960 --> 0:27:21.320 salvation of the world came out of a small, impossible place. 0:27:22.720 --> 0:27:24.600 And that's why I called it the Year of the 0:27:24.640 --> 0:27:34.040 Lord's favor, because God said it was. But God said, 0:27:35.000 --> 0:27:42.680 the Father said, she named him ben On. I your 0:27:42.680 --> 0:27:46.000 facts are trying to name your your life right now. 0:27:47.080 --> 0:27:58.159 Thank you. Favor over facts, favor over facts. Let me 0:27:58.200 --> 0:28:03.400 break this down. Rachel had a baby, she died giving 0:28:03.440 --> 0:28:08.320 birth to him. Mary had a baby, and she never 0:28:08.400 --> 0:28:13.440 even had the experience of sexual intercourse. But God saw 0:28:13.520 --> 0:28:18.840 potential in Mary that was greater than her experience. In 0:28:18.920 --> 0:28:22.000 Luke chapter one, when the Bible says that the angel 0:28:22.040 --> 0:28:24.959 called her highly favored and on a one to ten, 0:28:25.080 --> 0:28:27.040 I want you to know you're a level ten favored 0:28:27.480 --> 0:28:30.800 by your Father in heaven. You don't have to clap 0:28:30.800 --> 0:28:33.840 for it. I still believe it about you. I still 0:28:33.840 --> 0:28:38.000 believe it about you. In fact, look at somebody and say, 0:28:38.000 --> 0:28:40.120 I see favor in your future. I see favor in 0:28:40.160 --> 0:28:43.040 your future. I like that kind of stuff. I like 0:28:43.080 --> 0:28:45.000 saying that kind of stuff to people. I see favor 0:28:45.040 --> 0:28:48.440 in your future. You remember when you prophesied to that 0:28:48.480 --> 0:28:50.560 girl before we wrote that song in February, and then 0:28:50.600 --> 0:28:52.800 God gave us a song that Yeah, I'm telling you, 0:28:53.360 --> 0:28:55.600 I like to believe things that my eyes can't see 0:28:55.680 --> 0:28:58.640 right now, That's why I need one of those machines 0:28:58.720 --> 0:29:01.880 like that cardiologist, because you're looking at me like, I 0:29:01.880 --> 0:29:05.560 don't feel I don't feel very highly favored. I don't 0:29:05.560 --> 0:29:08.760 feel pregnant. I feel I feel fat, but I don't 0:29:08.760 --> 0:29:11.880 feel pregnant. You know. It's like, let me tell you 0:29:11.920 --> 0:29:17.880 something right now. Out of Bethlehem, King Jacob's greatest pain. 0:29:19.800 --> 0:29:28.600 Out of Bethlehem in God's greatest purpose. So what are 0:29:28.640 --> 0:29:32.120 you going to get out of it? This is not 0:29:32.160 --> 0:29:33.680 only a year for us to decide what we're going 0:29:33.760 --> 0:29:36.760 to give to this ministry. Yeah, we're giving an offering 0:29:36.800 --> 0:29:39.600 this weekend. God's going to use that to take the 0:29:39.600 --> 0:29:41.520 gospel all over the world. And it's a privilege to 0:29:41.520 --> 0:29:44.560 do it. But what are you going to get out 0:29:44.600 --> 0:29:48.080 of it? He said, out of Bethlehem will come for 0:29:48.320 --> 0:29:55.280 me a great king, a great king. And Mary had 0:29:55.320 --> 0:29:59.080 to believe that. And I think this is the tension. 0:29:59.120 --> 0:30:00.840 I think this is why we struggle to believe that. 0:30:00.920 --> 0:30:03.800 I think this is what blocks us from believing that 0:30:03.840 --> 0:30:07.120 the favor of God is on our lives and that 0:30:07.960 --> 0:30:09.720 the purpose of God is working in our lives. Because 0:30:09.720 --> 0:30:17.880 how many struggle to believe that. Sometimes Mary experienced favor 0:30:18.000 --> 0:30:25.560 and fear favor and fear favor over fear. And then 0:30:25.640 --> 0:30:27.760 look at verse thirty four. I didn't read you this verse. 0:30:28.600 --> 0:30:35.280 How will this be? Since I am a virgin? And 0:30:35.320 --> 0:30:38.640 as I read that verse, I realized that we don't 0:30:38.640 --> 0:30:40.640 give birth to Christ in the same way Mary did. 0:30:41.720 --> 0:30:44.960 All right, this has only happened once. All right, So 0:30:45.320 --> 0:30:47.760 like if your girl tries to pull this Bible verse 0:30:47.800 --> 0:30:50.520 on you, you probably shouldn't marry her because this is 0:30:50.600 --> 0:30:55.560 just a one time thing. But Christ is being birth 0:30:55.720 --> 0:31:01.239 in all of us, and so is this purpose, and 0:31:01.280 --> 0:31:05.880 so is the fruit of the Spirit. And when Mary said, 0:31:06.840 --> 0:31:09.360 since I am a virgin, I realized that all we 0:31:09.440 --> 0:31:11.680 have to do to really understand the power of choosing 0:31:11.720 --> 0:31:16.760 favor over fear, favor over facts, is to put whatever 0:31:16.840 --> 0:31:22.440 limits us right there where she said a virgin put 0:31:22.440 --> 0:31:29.400 the verse back up. Since I am an addict, since 0:31:29.520 --> 0:31:37.000 I am divorced, since I am an orphan, since I 0:31:37.080 --> 0:31:39.680 am you know, little things that we get caught up on, 0:31:39.760 --> 0:31:41.320 like how much money we have in the bank, because 0:31:41.360 --> 0:31:43.400 they call that our net worth, it's not really your worth. 0:31:43.400 --> 0:31:45.040 But since they call it that you start to believe 0:31:45.040 --> 0:31:49.720 that since I am broke, and then you put an 0:31:49.720 --> 0:31:52.480 event and make it an identity, since I am a failure. 0:31:54.280 --> 0:31:56.840 That's what happens when you focus too much on what 0:31:56.920 --> 0:32:03.640 you bury to see what is being born. And I 0:32:03.720 --> 0:32:06.240 was telling my oldest the other day, I said, isn't 0:32:06.240 --> 0:32:11.520 it interesting how she's limited to her experience, but God 0:32:11.560 --> 0:32:16.640 speaks according to her potential. Yeah, if we experience this 0:32:16.760 --> 0:32:20.160 year so much pain, so much fear, so much loss, 0:32:20.200 --> 0:32:22.959 so much uncertainty, so many times where we bumped our 0:32:23.000 --> 0:32:24.960 head right up against the thing that we thought wasn't 0:32:25.000 --> 0:32:26.400 going to happen, and it did happen. We thought it 0:32:26.440 --> 0:32:28.400 was going to happen. When we bump our heads too 0:32:28.440 --> 0:32:32.320 many times, one too many times into disappointment, we begin 0:32:32.400 --> 0:32:39.440 to we begin to call our lives whatever we buried. Oh, Bethlehem, 0:32:39.440 --> 0:32:41.920 that's the place where oh, twenty twenty, y'all, twenty twenty 0:32:41.960 --> 0:32:47.600 got a bad rap, because all we can focus on 0:32:47.720 --> 0:32:52.200 right now is what we buried this year. But we 0:32:52.240 --> 0:32:59.560 don't yet know what is going to be born from 0:32:59.600 --> 0:33:03.760 what we've There might be a better job on the 0:33:03.800 --> 0:33:06.800 other side of this for you. You You hear me, There 0:33:07.320 --> 0:33:10.000 might be more peace on the other side of this. 0:33:10.560 --> 0:33:14.760 So God shut down some systems and some things to 0:33:14.880 --> 0:33:21.320 get you focused on your father. I love Jacob. Jacob's 0:33:21.360 --> 0:33:25.120 like God changed my name, and I'm gonna change the 0:33:25.240 --> 0:33:29.240 name of this thing that was born in pain, but 0:33:29.400 --> 0:33:37.120 it was born on purpose. Don't bury your blessing. You 0:33:37.240 --> 0:33:39.760 shut it down, and you force it down and you 0:33:39.880 --> 0:33:43.040 got disappointed. So now you just bury that. But the 0:33:43.120 --> 0:33:49.440 problem is you are burying the blessing along with it, said, 0:33:49.480 --> 0:33:53.640 Son of my right hand, I'm naming my I'm naming 0:33:53.680 --> 0:33:58.840 my I'm naming my season according to what God is 0:33:58.880 --> 0:34:02.400 bringing out of it. So I want to say about 0:34:02.400 --> 0:34:05.000 twenty twenty, not only did I have to bury a lot, 0:34:05.040 --> 0:34:08.479 but I got a lot out of it. I got 0:34:08.520 --> 0:34:11.880 a lot out of it. I learned some things about 0:34:11.920 --> 0:34:15.479 myself that I didn't like. Then I had to confront them. 0:34:15.800 --> 0:34:18.439 And guess what happened when I confront them. God gave 0:34:18.480 --> 0:34:20.799 me grace for them, and he showed me that He 0:34:20.920 --> 0:34:24.120 loves me even through all that, even some of the 0:34:24.120 --> 0:34:26.839 stuff that I don't like, that's what he wants to use. 0:34:27.000 --> 0:34:30.160 I got a lot out of it. I know that 0:34:30.239 --> 0:34:33.680 sounds funny, to say that, because we did lose a lot, 0:34:33.760 --> 0:34:35.680 and maybe you lost more than me. And I'm not 0:34:35.760 --> 0:34:38.440 saying this in some little pretty preacher way princing up 0:34:38.440 --> 0:34:41.440 here in the pulpit talking about these little you know, 0:34:41.520 --> 0:34:44.640 these little things that preachers say. But if you have 0:34:44.800 --> 0:34:48.800 faith to know that what is being born is greater 0:34:48.920 --> 0:34:51.759 than what you're burying, then say it right now. I 0:34:51.880 --> 0:34:56.480 got a lot out of it, Hey, twenty twenty. I 0:34:56.520 --> 0:35:04.000 appreciate you. You gave me my sight back. You taught 0:35:04.000 --> 0:35:08.919 me how to seek the kingdom Lord. Yeah, you taught 0:35:08.920 --> 0:35:11.879 me how to walk by faith. I got a lot 0:35:11.920 --> 0:35:14.440 out of it. I got a lot out of it. 0:35:15.719 --> 0:35:19.400 Bethlehem isn't the place where I buried Rachel. It's the 0:35:19.440 --> 0:35:26.360 place where my Savior was born. And with this bold faith, 0:35:27.680 --> 0:35:31.319 I want us to do what Mary did. And in 0:35:31.360 --> 0:35:32.960 just a moment, our worship team is going to sing 0:35:32.960 --> 0:35:34.759 the blessing over you, because I think that's what we 0:35:34.800 --> 0:35:38.239 need to sing as we focus on the favor of 0:35:38.239 --> 0:35:44.959 God this year. But my wife's favorite Bible verse comes 0:35:44.960 --> 0:35:52.279 from Luke chapter one, and he says that after the 0:35:52.360 --> 0:35:56.319 objection rises up in Mary, and she said, how will 0:35:56.320 --> 0:36:01.040 this be? Because that's the part we don't know, since 0:36:01.120 --> 0:36:06.400 I am a virgin. The Angel answered, the Holy Spirit 0:36:06.440 --> 0:36:08.200 will come on you now. I want you to notice 0:36:08.239 --> 0:36:17.720 here that Mary asks how, and the Angel answers who. 0:36:19.239 --> 0:36:26.759 But God said, it's a blessing. Mary said how, The 0:36:26.800 --> 0:36:32.680 Angel said who. If nothing else this year, maybe I'm 0:36:32.719 --> 0:36:34.839 not going to get some promotion, or maybe it's been 0:36:35.080 --> 0:36:37.839 the hardest year ever to try to lead people. And yes, 0:36:37.920 --> 0:36:43.359 it's been challenging. But I found out who I was 0:36:43.440 --> 0:36:51.080 this year. I found out he was enough. I found 0:36:51.120 --> 0:36:56.600 out who I was this year, found out I don't 0:36:56.600 --> 0:37:01.239 preach for crowds. This year, I got a lot out 0:37:01.239 --> 0:37:05.480 of it. I found out a lot of things that 0:37:05.520 --> 0:37:10.360 were just keeping me busy. A lot of the things 0:37:10.360 --> 0:37:16.240 that were cluttering up my schedule weren't making me fruitful. 0:37:17.680 --> 0:37:20.319 I got to reorder some things. Oh don't think I'm 0:37:20.320 --> 0:37:23.000 not praying for you. If you lost something significant this year, 0:37:24.040 --> 0:37:26.160 we pray for you all the time. That's why I 0:37:26.160 --> 0:37:28.120 come up here and preach, so that you can have 0:37:28.160 --> 0:37:30.600 some air to breathe as you try to navigate what 0:37:30.640 --> 0:37:34.080 it's like to live without your Rachel. I don't take 0:37:34.120 --> 0:37:38.040 that for granted, but I know that something greater is 0:37:38.120 --> 0:37:42.279 always born in the painful place where something that you 0:37:42.320 --> 0:37:52.040 love was buried. So now I hear Mary saying in 0:37:52.120 --> 0:37:57.120 verse thirty eight, Holly's favorite Bible verse, where she said, 0:37:57.200 --> 0:38:01.640 I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me 0:38:02.600 --> 0:38:09.840 be fulfilled. She said. The first time, I am a virgin. 0:38:11.160 --> 0:38:16.600 That's the facts, she said, the second time, I am 0:38:16.640 --> 0:38:26.080 the Lord's servant. That's the favor a church. The facts 0:38:26.120 --> 0:38:31.200 are bad, right, the facts are bad, But the favor 0:38:31.280 --> 0:38:40.040 is greater. The favor is greater. When I was getting 0:38:40.080 --> 0:38:44.040 my offering ready, I went over to one of our 0:38:44.080 --> 0:38:46.279 campuses where I used to preach live over there at 0:38:46.280 --> 0:38:48.600 the Blatney Campus. I went over there and I went 0:38:48.600 --> 0:38:51.040 in my old green room, and I remembered how God 0:38:51.280 --> 0:38:53.200 made away for us to get that building. It was 0:38:53.200 --> 0:38:56.799 a great memory for me. It's a favor flashback, you know, 0:38:57.719 --> 0:39:00.880 for what's out ahead of me, because I've really been 0:39:00.880 --> 0:39:02.960 struggling in this season. What is church even going to 0:39:02.960 --> 0:39:05.319 look like on the other side of this. And yet 0:39:05.320 --> 0:39:07.719 God keeps making ways and we reach more people than ever, 0:39:07.760 --> 0:39:11.080 and I'm grateful for that. But the thing about it 0:39:11.120 --> 0:39:15.640 is you're always having a funeral at the same time 0:39:15.719 --> 0:39:23.719 that you're receiving favor, Rachel is dying while Benjamin is 0:39:23.760 --> 0:39:31.719 being born. And you know, I started thinking about a 0:39:31.719 --> 0:39:34.600 lot of things. I flashed back so many things through 0:39:34.600 --> 0:39:36.520 my life when I was writing my offering check and 0:39:36.560 --> 0:39:38.920 preparing to speak to you today, because I wanted to 0:39:38.960 --> 0:39:42.640 tell you to finish with favor, but I don't want 0:39:42.680 --> 0:39:45.120 to tell you that and then not go back to 0:39:45.160 --> 0:39:48.279 the beginning and realize how far God has brought us. 0:39:49.800 --> 0:39:51.720 And for some reason I ended up in this weird 0:39:51.760 --> 0:39:56.239 mental space where in my mind I just closed my 0:39:56.280 --> 0:39:58.920 eyes and I was flashing back and God was bringing 0:39:58.960 --> 0:40:01.319 all these different things to my mind, and some of 0:40:01.360 --> 0:40:04.440 them were really big moments in my life and all 0:40:04.480 --> 0:40:06.719 of that, and then this one little weird thing came 0:40:06.719 --> 0:40:11.560 in to this song that I wrote in Shelby, North Carolina, 0:40:12.840 --> 0:40:21.239 of all places, that I wrote called I am the 0:40:21.320 --> 0:40:26.799 Righteousness of God, made holy by his sacrifice, perfected by 0:40:26.840 --> 0:40:30.560 his blood. I'm a brand new creation, remade by His hand. 0:40:30.840 --> 0:40:32.920 And I know who I am now When I tell 0:40:32.920 --> 0:40:35.520 you that song was twangy. It was twangy because it 0:40:35.600 --> 0:40:42.200 was Shelby. It was twangy. But the flashback I got 0:40:42.320 --> 0:40:46.480 was when Molly mccrawl came up to me after I 0:40:46.520 --> 0:40:48.600 finished singing it one Sunday, the first Sunday I taught 0:40:48.600 --> 0:40:50.440 it to the church. I wrote it, I sang it 0:40:50.680 --> 0:40:55.600 same day. And this song was never nominated for a Grammy, 0:40:55.440 --> 0:40:58.440 but I sang it and I was proud of it. 0:40:58.480 --> 0:41:00.520 And the song said I know who I am. Holly 0:41:00.560 --> 0:41:03.319 remembers that. Any remembers it, Chunks remembers that. Eric remembers it. 0:41:03.480 --> 0:41:05.560 He said, I know who I am. You know I 0:41:05.600 --> 0:41:07.040 am a child. This is the bridge. I am a 0:41:07.120 --> 0:41:08.759 child of my Father most High. I'm a part of 0:41:08.760 --> 0:41:11.200 his plan. I will not fall for the enemies lies 0:41:11.360 --> 0:41:15.040 because I am who God says I am. Remember it. 0:41:15.080 --> 0:41:20.800 He'll be is good. Mulley comes charging the stage after 0:41:20.880 --> 0:41:23.960 I finished the service. I say, the little invitation song, 0:41:24.000 --> 0:41:26.239 you know whatever, and we're singing it, and he comes 0:41:26.320 --> 0:41:28.480 up to the stage and Mully said. Mulley always had 0:41:28.520 --> 0:41:31.240 something to tell me after church, and usually it was positive. 0:41:31.400 --> 0:41:33.360 But he said, I like that new song. But I 0:41:33.400 --> 0:41:39.120 got a suggestion. I was like, all right, Molly, let's 0:41:39.160 --> 0:41:42.320 let's let's collaborate it. Let's correct what you got. Molly's 0:41:42.360 --> 0:41:47.640 not a musician, Molly's a carpenter, but he goes, hey, 0:41:47.680 --> 0:41:51.160 Jesus was a carpenter. But Mully goes, when you say 0:41:51.160 --> 0:41:53.279 it the last time, you know, you say I know 0:41:53.400 --> 0:41:57.440 who I am? And he says this, He looks at 0:41:57.480 --> 0:42:00.359 me so serious. He goes, last time say I know 0:42:00.880 --> 0:42:04.319 who's I am? And he walks off, like drops the 0:42:04.440 --> 0:42:07.360 mic on me. He just walks off and goes to 0:42:07.480 --> 0:42:11.160 the Chinese buffet. Molly just drops the mic and walks off. 0:42:13.920 --> 0:42:16.400 And I'm like, Lord, this is weird. I'm thinking about 0:42:16.600 --> 0:42:21.160 Molly and Shelby and Bethlehem and Mary and Mary and 0:42:21.280 --> 0:42:24.719 Mully in favor and this weird year we've had. Why 0:42:24.719 --> 0:42:28.239 am I thinking about this? And so then I saw 0:42:28.280 --> 0:42:30.040 the verses and I wanted to thank Molly. If you 0:42:30.080 --> 0:42:32.720 ever watched me preach on YouTube, thank you Molly, because 0:42:32.760 --> 0:42:37.440 Mary said in verse thirty four, I am a virgin, 0:42:38.440 --> 0:42:43.360 and that's who she was according to her experience. But 0:42:43.480 --> 0:42:48.160 in verse thirty eight she said, I am the Lord's 0:42:49.800 --> 0:42:57.279 that's whose she was. So we need to remember this 0:42:57.400 --> 0:43:03.080 year that the world can call you binone, and your 0:43:03.120 --> 0:43:08.239 emotions can call this year a waste yea. But his 0:43:08.480 --> 0:43:21.680 father named him son of my right hand. Now, if 0:43:21.680 --> 0:43:24.359 you receive this word, I want you to stand up 0:43:24.360 --> 0:43:26.279 on your feet, clap your hands, and give God the 0:43:26.320 --> 0:43:29.960 greatest phrase that you gave him since December thirty. First, 0:43:36.400 --> 0:43:40.799 let's let's do this, and then they're gonna sing the 0:43:40.800 --> 0:43:43.279 blessing and we're gonna we're gonna worship God. But let's 0:43:43.320 --> 0:43:47.239 look at let's look at Micah five to two one 0:43:47.280 --> 0:43:56.319 more time. But you, Bethlehem, but you small place, but 0:43:56.600 --> 0:44:02.000 you painful place. But you where Rachel will die. Though 0:44:02.040 --> 0:44:06.080 you are small among the clans of Judah, though the 0:44:06.160 --> 0:44:10.520 womb is a virgin womb, though Bethlehem is not even 0:44:10.600 --> 0:44:14.640 the place you intended to give birth. Out of you 0:44:15.640 --> 0:44:20.440 will call for me, Thank you for your glory, Lord, 0:44:21.640 --> 0:44:25.360 And we confess that the sufferings of this present time 0:44:26.560 --> 0:44:29.920 are not even worthy to be compared with the glory 0:44:29.920 --> 0:44:34.280 that will be revealed in your people. We are your servants, 0:44:35.680 --> 0:44:43.360 your people, your sons, your daughters. May His favor be 0:44:43.480 --> 0:44:46.359 upon you, wherever you are in the world, whatever you're 0:44:46.400 --> 0:44:49.560 going through. Out of Bethlehem, came the Savior of the world. 0:44:50.000 --> 0:44:51.640 And I believe God's going to bring some of the 0:44:51.680 --> 0:44:56.080 greatest blessings out of the most unexpected places. We believe 0:44:56.080 --> 0:44:58.120 God is working in your life, and I want to 0:44:58.160 --> 0:45:01.080 thank all of you who give to this ministry. This is, 0:45:01.600 --> 0:45:05.160 as you know, our year end offering for expansion and outreach. 0:45:05.200 --> 0:45:07.759 We help a lot of people and this offering is 0:45:07.760 --> 0:45:09.440 one way that we do it as well as to 0:45:09.520 --> 0:45:12.400 consist in giving the tithes and offerings of God's people. 0:45:12.840 --> 0:45:14.800 You can find all the ways to give it Elevation 0:45:15.040 --> 0:45:18.320 Church dot org slash favor and there you can also 0:45:18.400 --> 0:45:20.840 put your word that you're believing God for in the 0:45:20.880 --> 0:45:23.480 coming year. But mostly we just want to be a 0:45:23.520 --> 0:45:26.680 blessing because God has blessed us. And thank you for 0:45:26.719 --> 0:45:29.920 helping us grow this ministry. Every time you share a message, 0:45:29.960 --> 0:45:33.480 every time you give, every time you invest, you need 0:45:33.520 --> 0:45:38.040 to know that this ministry is good ground bearing fruit 0:45:38.800 --> 0:45:41.680 all over the world. May His favor be upon you, 0:45:42.520 --> 0:45:46.240 May God's presence go before you, and may God's spirit 0:45:47.120 --> 0:45:49.719 inside of you be greater than anything that is against you. 0:45:49.760 --> 0:45:53.359 We bless you, we love you, and see you so well. 0:45:53.400 --> 0:45:55.840 Thank you so much for joining us today for this message. 0:45:55.880 --> 0:45:58.280 We trust that God has spoken to you right where 0:45:58.280 --> 0:46:01.320 you are. If you'd like to begin partnering with us financially, 0:46:01.440 --> 0:46:03.840 or give to the Year End Favor Offering. I'd invite 0:46:03.880 --> 0:46:07.440 you to head over to Elevationchurch dot org slash favor. 0:46:07.560 --> 0:46:09.520 There you'll see a couple options to be able to 0:46:09.520 --> 0:46:11.600 partner with us or give to the year end offering. 0:46:11.960 --> 0:46:14.120 You can see the first option is to begin tithing. 0:46:14.160 --> 0:46:16.719 If you haven't done that, we would certainly encourage you 0:46:16.800 --> 0:46:19.680 to start there. Begin by placing God first in the 0:46:19.680 --> 0:46:22.440 era of your finances, in trusting what it is that 0:46:22.480 --> 0:46:26.040 He's given to you back to Him. Start with tithing. 0:46:26.120 --> 0:46:28.719 If you already tithe and are consistent in that, we'd 0:46:28.800 --> 0:46:31.000 encourage you to join us in the Year end offering 0:46:31.080 --> 0:46:33.799 going above and beyond to see what God can do 0:46:33.960 --> 0:46:36.360 in and through you. You can click on that option, 0:46:36.440 --> 0:46:38.359 select the campus that you attend, or if you don't 0:46:38.360 --> 0:46:41.560 attend one of our physical locations, select online. As a 0:46:41.560 --> 0:46:45.160 part of our extended family, our EFAM community, We're excited 0:46:45.200 --> 0:46:47.040 to see how God works in and through you as 0:46:47.080 --> 0:46:49.120 you open up your life and say God, use me 0:46:49.719 --> 0:46:51.880 right where I am. Thanks for being a part of 0:46:51.920 --> 0:46:54.719 Elevation Church. We're excited to see what God does and 0:46:54.800 --> 0:46:56.560 in through your life right where you are