This Isn't What I Pictured

0:00:01.880 --> 0:00:04.400 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:06.920 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:10.280 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:12.320 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:17.160 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:23.079 How many are ready for the Word of God. I 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:28.479 just have a Christmas devotional thought today from Hebrews eleven, 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:32.199 verse three. It is not customarily seen as a Christmas scripture, 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:37.120 but let's look at the picture of Jesus Christ through 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:43.400 this frame today. Hebrews eleven three. King James version. Y'all 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:45.960 thought I was playing this holiday season, but I am not. 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:52.599 King James version, Hebrews eleven three. Ready, through faith, we 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.560 understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:00.760 so that things which are seen were not men of 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:05.880 things which do appear. Through faith, we understand how many 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.000 know there are some things you can only understand through faith. 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:13.640 Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:16.319 the word of God, so that the things which are 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:21.480 seen were not made of things which do appear. Lord, 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.320 I thank you that your word is already blessed open 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.880 our hearts to receive it now in Jesus' name. Amen, 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:37.920 you may be seated. A couple of years ago, I 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:42.040 took all three of the kids on a carriage ride downtown. 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:46.360 Trust him, and I took them on the carriage ride 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:51.480 because I'm a good, good father and Holly wanted to shop. 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:54.680 And also another reason I took them on a carriage 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.600 ride is because I'm an idiot, and because Abby begged 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:01.880 me too. Was about five. Her big brothers told her 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:06.360 this is a bad idea. You're not gonna like it. 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:10.600 It's gonna be boring, but she insisted. We walked by 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:13.480 this picture of a carriage ride. She said, can we go? 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.560 I bought the tickets. I told the woman of God, 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:21.639 I'm going to give you about an hour of shopping, 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:26.320 childless shopping. And she said, oh, thank you, thank you 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:30.519 Men of God. She said, I receive it in Jesus' name. 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:37.120 Got on the carriage ride. Within three minutes, Abby had 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:42.239 a full scale meltdown on the carriage drive. She was bored, 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:47.640 she was restless, she was disappointed, and her brothers, whoa 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.040 her brothers, took the opportunity to remind her, we told 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:55.119 you that this would suck. Of course, we don't say 0:02:55.160 --> 0:03:01.200 suck in my family. It's a preacher's family. But we 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.680 were all kind of embarrassed because of course we weren't 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:08.200 the only ones on the carriage ride. And within ten 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:11.640 minutes she was crying so loudly that I had to 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:13.720 go into my You know, if your parent, you have 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:20.680 a yelling voice that's quiet. It's louder than a scream, 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:23.440 and you have to use it in public when you 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:29.160 want to convey urgency without raising decibels. And I said, 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:31.440 baby girl, with a smile, I said it too, a 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:35.400 baby girl. You're the one who wanted to come on 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.839 this carriage rye, and I'm gonna need you to dry 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:43.280 it up and enjoy this carriage drive. We got thirty 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:47.280 more minutes and you're the only one who wanted to 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:52.040 come on the carriage ride. So whatever's going on right now, 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.680 I need you to deal with it and listen to 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:59.080 this man tell us the history of all these houses 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:05.160 on this carria drive. She goes, she's trying to stop crying, 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:14.920 and she goes, but this isn't what I'm pictured. The 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:19.040 title of my sermon is, this isn't what I pictured. 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:25.640 Sometimes life takes you on a ride. Come on, who's 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:29.600 gonna be real with me? Today? Looks like we got 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:31.840 all angels in this section. Let me turn over here. 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:34.919 Have you ever had life hand you a whopper? But 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:42.360 it didn't look like the commercial? This isn't what I pictured. 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:47.160 And it is a very difficult thing to adjust your 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:52.800 perspective when you pictured it one way and the product 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:56.520 turns out to be another. Some of you came to 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:02.080 church crying today isn't what I pictured. Because when we 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:04.960 started twenty nineteen or whatever year you happen to be 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:06.640 watching this in the time capsule in the future on 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.440 the internet. Just want this sermon to have a long 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:14.080 shelf life. And you started the year with a picture 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:20.960 of transformation, new beginnings, restoration, and this isn't what I pictured, 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:25.240 you know, So it's a real thing. Even to this day. 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.320 We'll tell Abby it's going to be like the carriage ride. 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:30.960 It's a way when she wants to do something we 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:36.320 don't want to do, we remind her carriage RYE carriage ry, 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.279 which is fine when you're only out of eighty five dollars, 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:46.680 But what about when it's your relationship and it isn't 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:53.680 what I picture or even your relationship with God. Maybe 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.520 you're saying, you know, I started one way believing that 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.520 God would do certain things for me because He is 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:05.679 my provider, and yet I came into deeper relationship with God, 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:13.440 and this isn't Is there anybody in the whole church? 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:15.320 And if not, I can come to Gascon next week. 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.679 Is there anybody in the whole church that is living 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:23.760 in a scene that you did not picture in this season? 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:32.839 And that's why Hebrews eleven three gives a contrast between 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:37.000 what God sees and what you see to let you 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:40.919 know that the things which are seen were not made 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:44.800 of things which do appear. But I'm getting ahead of myself, 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:48.120 because the fact of the matter is everyone has a 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.920 picture of how life is supposed to go. When you 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:55.279 are supposed to get married, when you are supposed to 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:58.880 get a promotion, what kind of career your children were 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:02.120 supposed to be in. In some of you, you had 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.719 your child's whole career. They were going to go to 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:08.400 an ivy league school, be a starting quarterback and a 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:11.920 Magnasuma Kumalatti and all of that. And they don't even 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:14.320 like sports, and they don't even want to go to 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:18.160 community college and study and this isn't what I pictured. 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:20.160 Didn't you get the memo? So let me just ask 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:27.360 you a question. Where did you get your picture? Where 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:29.720 did you get your picture? Did you get it from 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:34.120 the Instagram? Because if you did, I'm praying for you, 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:38.960 real hard Catholic Pentecostal, I'll do it all because if 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.600 you got your picture for what life is supposed to be, 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:46.080 light from the little glimpses that other people give you 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:50.760 when they are posing perfectly, you will always be frustrated. 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.240 And while I'm on it, let me say something about 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:57.400 the show This is Us, which I love. Jack Pearson 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:04.640 isn't real. He's not real. I told Holly the other day, 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:06.400 I said, and please don't be offended. I hope you 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.480 didn't bring a relative for this to hope you're not 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.160 bringing the relatives until next weekend for the Christmas program. 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.600 But some shows that we watch, I call it emotional 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:25.600 porn because it is perfectly airbrushed. And then when you 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:31.520 compare the real thing to a picture that was surgically 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:35.559 altered and cropped and filtered, how in the world are 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:39.000 we supposed to feel fulfilled about our real lives when 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:42.600 we spend so much time getting our picture from other 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:48.000 people's pretention. Come on and help me preach five seconds. 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:52.000 If you know he's a real God, He's the real thing. 0:08:55.760 --> 0:09:01.360 So it means. But there are all these things that 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:03.760 I see and all these things that I don't see, 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:08.760 and God operates from an invisible picture. While I am 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:10.920 trying to make sense out of my life from what 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:16.200 is visible, God sees something different. Enter Jesus, Matthew, Chapter one, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.440 verse eighteen. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:28.080 came about. Matthew is done with the genealogy. Now the 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:30.079 part of the Christmas story that would put you right 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:33.440 to sleep. If I read all of those names, not 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:36.760 only would you be praying for my pronunciation, but you 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.920 would lose your focus. Yet all of it is important 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:43.439 because it is all the backstory to help us understand 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.720 how Jesus came into the world. Now, if you don't 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:50.120 understand how Jesus came, you will misunderstand why Jesus came. 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.280 If we think he came like our superheroes that we 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:56.640 pay ticket prices to go and see, we will expect 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.320 him to come in a certain way, and we will 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:01.080 picture him in a way that will cause us to 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:04.520 miss him when he really shows up. Where did you 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:07.800 get your picture? Where did you get your picture of God? 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:12.480 What do you picture when you worship God? Where did 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:17.600 you get that picture? Is he white? Is he black? 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:23.080 Is he? Is he perfectly dialed to be an exact 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:29.520 representation of every ethnicity? Is he a man? Is he 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:36.560 not a man? It is is your God, King Triton, 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:40.800 off the little Mermaid? Just zapp and stuff? Where did 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:46.920 you get your picture? And what if he isn't what 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:51.079 you picture? Now? I'm going to I'm really going to 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:53.559 create some empty seats for next week. It's going to 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.080 be crowded for Christmas. Heaven is not going to be 0:10:56.160 --> 0:11:01.079 like you picture it right now. Let me tell you why. 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:04.360 Some of the people that you can't stand are going 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:10.640 to be there, some of the people who don't believe 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:13.840 the right stuff, some of the people who didn't share 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:18.000 the same denominational dogma as you. When we get to heaven, 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.439 a lot of us are going to be surprised because 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:25.720 it won't look like the picture. And so this is 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.679 how the Birth of Jesus Christ came about. Matthew says, 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.680 John starts it differently. He says, in the beginning was 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:35.080 the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:37.520 Word was God. And he was there with God in 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:39.600 the beginning, and all things were made through him. Collusion says, 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:42.280 by him and for him. But Matthew is starting with 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:46.080 the human perspective of how Jesus Christ came about. Of course, 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:49.240 in verse seventeen, he says, thus there were fourteen generations 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:51.720 in all, from Abraham to David, from David to the 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:55.000 Babylonian exile, and then fourteen from the exile to Christ 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:59.199 fourteen fourteen fourteen public school math. There's forty two generations 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:03.720 of faith that brought Jesus into the earth. And yet 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:06.640 the logos or the Word was with God, pre existent, 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.280 pre incarnate God, was the Word of God. And I 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.560 promise you this is important, so please stay with me. 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:17.720 Because before Jesus was seen, he existed. Before he appeared, 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:22.439 he existed, just like everything in your life before it 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:27.440 is seen, it exists. By the time it becomes a behavior, 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:31.600 it was a belief for a long time. By the 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.760 time it becomes a feeling, it was a thought. So 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:37.600 just like there is a genealogy of Jesus, there is 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:41.679 a genealogy of our emotions. There's a genealogy of our habits. 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:45.760 There is a pattern where where knowing how something started 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:48.960 can help you to trust when you don't see it 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:54.840 in the process. I'm preaching real good today. This is 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.959 how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother, 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:03.560 Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:07.800 they came together, she was found to be with child 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:12.840 through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was a 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:16.280 righteous man and did not want to expose her to 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:21.960 public disgrace, he had in mind, Now I love this phrase. 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:26.800 He had in mind to divorce her quietly or to 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:32.439 put her away quietly. He had in mind. So much 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:36.160 of the decisions that we make in our lives that 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:40.319 cause us confusion are because we do what we had 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:44.440 in mind before. We consult God to see what he 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:51.760 has in store. Now can I keep going? But after 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:58.160 he considered this, now, why because the Angel appears to him? 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:02.160 But why did the Angel appear at this point after 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:06.320 Mary was already bound to be pregnant? In other words, 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:11.840 why did God let Joseph go several months without knowing 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:15.280 what he wanted to do and what it was all about, 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:18.920 and then appear after he had already made his plan 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:23.160 and had in mind what he wanted to do. After 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:25.360 he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.400 to him in a dream and said, Joseph's son of David, 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.560 do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:35.440 because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:45.720 Why couldn't you tell me that six months ago? Why 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:49.000 couldn't you have told me that before I got the 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:54.640 papers drawn up. Why does God wait until after you 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:59.360 have made a plan to interrupt it? And this is 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:03.760 how the birth Jesus Christ came about, the greatest hope 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:08.280 that the world was ever given, came through the greatest 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:15.680 disappointment that Joseph would ever know. And I wonder is 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:21.160 that happening in somebody's life today. This is how the 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:26.320 birth of Jesus Christ came about. When Joseph had made 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.120 up his mind how he needed to handle the situation, 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:37.400 and yet God interrupts Joseph's plan to fulfill a greater purpose. Now, 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.280 if you go by your picture, you will make your plan. 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:45.600 The only problem is God might have a different picture 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:56.320 than you. I know, y'all don't like it, but it's 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.960 the facts. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:03.680 came about. You know, we have our nativity scene. It's 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:07.760 got a baby Jesus and the wise men. Well, first 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.600 of all, no record that there was three of them, 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:14.560 three gifts, but I don't know how many how many 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:16.840 magi were there, but I'll tell you this, they didn't 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:19.200 get there when Jesus was born. Jesus could have been 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:22.360 two years old by the time they got there. But 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.440 two year old Jesus is and is cute on a 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:28.120 nativity scene in precious moments, can't sell it, you know, 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:30.680 toddlers aren't so adorable, so they had to put little 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.440 baby umbilical cord Jesus on the major scene. But he 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.960 was he was older than that. Now, now the shepherds 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:39.320 are there in your nativity scene too, aren't they. The 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.280 wise men and the shepherds weren't there at the same time. 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:44.520 Let's see. Now they want to sell you extra figures, 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.160 so they have to put them all together at the 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.760 same time. It's a profit margin issue, right, It's not 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:55.400 an accuracy thing. And how you pictured Christmas is probably wrong. 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:00.160 He wasn't even born in a manger. That's how how 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:03.160 we translated in English. It was more of a guest 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.760 room that would have looked more like a cave. But 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:08.439 how are you going to sell a manger scene with 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:13.159 a cave? You know, what if it isn't how you 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:18.399 pictured it? What if how God wants to use you 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:22.720 is in how you picture it? What if the way 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:24.560 He's going to work in your marriage is and how 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:30.959 you picture it. And Joseph has this word from God 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.560 to go from to understand by If he understands by 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.879 his eyes, his sight, he's going to miss it. We 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.840 always will. If he understands by his senses, his feelings, 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.239 his emotions, he'll miss it emotionally and mentally. He has 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:46.840 already decided I'm done with this, And some of you 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.840 came to church today and you've already decided to quit. 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.000 I'm giving up on this. I'm given up on joy, 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:55.600 I'm giving up on peace, I'm giving up on hope. 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:57.200 That's why some of you aren't in the building. You're 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.520 watching on a screen, because you gave up on even 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.399 being a part of a church. Because when you picture church, 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:04.879 you picture perfect people who would never hurt you. But 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:08.240 guess what, we are imperfect, just like you. So if 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:10.040 you want to hook up you got to understand we're 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.960 screwed up too. But if you picture it as perfect, 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:17.880 then when this is the Lord, I hear you, Lord, 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.040 I love it. When this happens, God show me exactly 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.280 what he said. He said, He said, the problem isn't 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:30.880 your situation, it's your picture. The problem is not the situation, 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:35.480 The problem is the picture. Mary had her dress picked out, 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:38.040 but now she's not gonna get to wear it. She's 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.679 gonna be way too big for this dress by the 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:44.240 time she walks the aisle. Joseph had his plan picked out, 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:46.440 but now he's not gonna get to do it, which 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:49.760 is hard for a carpenter because carpenter's plan they make 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:52.560 a living off of measuring and planning. But after he 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:56.639 had measured it in his mind, God spoke to his 0:18:56.760 --> 0:19:00.639 spirit and said, what is in her is from me. 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.359 I know it's not what you pictured, but it's me. 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:07.960 I know it's not what you expected, but it's me. 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:11.439 I know it's not your preference, but it's me. I 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:15.080 know it doesn't fit your tradition, but it's me. I 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:18.720 know that you feel lonely and there are some missing pieces, 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.560 but it's me. And are you trying to build your 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:26.159 life by the wrong picture of what you thought it 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:31.679 would be or why you think you're supposed to be. 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:36.360 Wouldn't it be dumb to try to buy a puzzle 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:38.840 to build it according to a picture that was on 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:44.119 the cover of somebody else's puzzle. Try it if you 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:46.960 go over to a friend's house and they have a puzzle. 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:49.560 This analogy is a little weak, but bear with me. 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:52.639 If you see a picture, go buy a puzzle that 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:55.359 doesn't match the picture, and try to open that box 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:57.800 with those pieces and build a picture, and see how 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.720 much fun you have with it. So God says, I 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:06.600 gave you the pieces for the picture that I have 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:11.800 in mind for your life according to my purpose before 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:19.560 you were ever born. So I got the right pieces, 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:23.760 I've got the right gifts, I've got the right temperament. 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:25.600 If I submit it to the Holy Spirit and don't 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:28.119 let it get out of control. But this isn't what 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:35.600 I pictured. Switch the picture. Switch the picture. When you 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:39.200 have a picture of yourself as worthless, you will build 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:44.000 your life according to that picture. You will sabotage yourself 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:51.000 because you build by what you feel. But now God 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:54.199 says I'm righteous. If I switch the picture to what 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:57.600 he sees. And if I assume that he's always working, 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:06.760 if I switch the picture, Joseph is me, I started this. 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:14.119 It's you that going to take Mary home, but it's me, 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:17.960 and it's hard to believe as God when it doesn't 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:31.040 feel good. Joseph is like, are you sure? Because he 0:21:31.080 --> 0:21:34.840 had to think about it, he had to ponder it. 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:40.600 The Beautiful verse in the Bible, it says, Joseph, son 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:43.480 of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:45.560 as your wife, because what is conceived in her is 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:47.840 from the Holy Spirit. What's in her is from me. 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:53.880 What's in hers from me. It's in her, but it's 0:21:53.880 --> 0:21:57.840 from me. God says, what's in you is from me. 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:02.760 What's in you is from Me. And I'm just comforted 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:07.080 by that because sometimes I feel pressure about what I 0:22:07.160 --> 0:22:12.160 perceive to be missing pieces. Even as a preacher, I 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:14.840 always wish that I could that I could preach like 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:17.440 other preachers that I see, And I tell you exactly 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:19.359 who I want to preach like. You know, the guys 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:25.719 that stand still and they are just so profound, and 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:28.879 they have one of the mics that never moves, and 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:33.680 they just it's just so they're so calm, and I 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:37.439 like that, and I go on Amazon looking for robes 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:40.280 and I think, man, that would be cool because it 0:22:40.320 --> 0:22:43.159 expends a lot of energy, all this moving around. And 0:22:43.200 --> 0:22:45.359 even sometimes I come up and I try to preach 0:22:46.400 --> 0:22:49.159 like one of them, you know, But then something just 0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:55.440 I can't. I mean, I really, I really don't plan 0:22:57.080 --> 0:22:59.840 to freak out and out and I watch myself back 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:01.879 and I'm like, why do you have to be like that? 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:06.000 Why can't you be dignified? But something inside of me 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:09.640 when I start doing it, I just gotta do it. 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:12.919 How I do it. I gotta do it like the 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:17.480 pieces in my box are meant for the picture. Y'all 0:23:17.520 --> 0:23:27.399 won't help me breathe. What's in you is from God, 0:23:29.119 --> 0:23:33.720 what's in me is from Him. I got every piece 0:23:34.280 --> 0:23:39.440 I God wisdom, I've got strength, I've got anointing. I've 0:23:39.480 --> 0:23:44.280 got authority in the name of Jesus to overcome every 0:23:44.359 --> 0:23:48.800 wicked thing that rises to oppose me. Now, show three 0:23:48.880 --> 0:23:51.600 people say it's in you. It's in you. It's in 0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:54.919 you right now, and it's growing and it's kicking, and 0:23:55.000 --> 0:23:58.159 it's meant to be and you're not missing anything. You 0:23:58.320 --> 0:24:01.760 got it all. You got every peace for the picture. 0:24:02.200 --> 0:24:05.160 For in the beginning, what's the word? And the word 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:14.639 was with God? And watch this the word was God. 0:24:20.600 --> 0:24:24.840 So let me ask you a question. Let's take a vote. 0:24:25.560 --> 0:24:29.439 This is the first church vote that I remember in 0:24:29.480 --> 0:24:33.040 the history of Elevation Church. But let's be Baptist for 0:24:33.200 --> 0:24:45.240 the next thirty seconds. Who had the harder job? Mary 0:24:46.920 --> 0:24:53.440 or Joseph? Before you answer this, because in just a moment, 0:24:53.440 --> 0:24:55.199 I'm gonna call on you to raise your hand at 0:24:55.200 --> 0:24:58.160 every location. If you are married, I want to strongly 0:24:58.280 --> 0:25:05.359 encourage you to consider carefully the cost of answering this 0:25:05.480 --> 0:25:10.360 question honestly. But who says Mary had the harder job? 0:25:10.480 --> 0:25:13.000 You know? There they are all the women who have 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:16.200 borne children into this world. Come on, let's celebrate Mother's 0:25:16.280 --> 0:25:19.479 Day early. Thank God for you. Amen, raise your hand. 0:25:19.520 --> 0:25:22.359 If you say it's Mary, it's Mary right because she 0:25:22.400 --> 0:25:25.679 had very little choice. She was already pregnant by the 0:25:25.880 --> 0:25:29.199 time she found out about the purpose. Too late if 0:25:29.240 --> 0:25:34.960 you don't like it, and then you got Joseph. Y'all. 0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:37.199 My kids came up to me the other day and 0:25:37.240 --> 0:25:42.000 they said, do you know Joe. Now here's what's hilarious. 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:46.960 I said, Joe, Mama and they said, how did you 0:25:47.080 --> 0:25:55.440 know that? Because they think they started Joe Mama. Boy, 0:25:55.520 --> 0:26:00.680 I was doing Joe Mama while you were still your 0:26:00.840 --> 0:26:08.199 unframed form was not even in the picture. Yet. I 0:26:08.240 --> 0:26:13.840 gave him a genealogy of Joe Mama. I remember Joe 0:26:13.840 --> 0:26:16.320 Mama from the Golden Girls. You remember the Golden Girls? 0:26:17.520 --> 0:26:19.920 You too? But I promise you, Joe Mama is old. 0:26:20.600 --> 0:26:25.320 This didn't start with you. I came to say that 0:26:25.359 --> 0:26:28.359 to somebody about what God is doing in your life. 0:26:28.359 --> 0:26:32.320 This didn't start with you, and this doesn't end here. 0:26:33.440 --> 0:26:36.880 And Joseph has in mind to walk away. But God 0:26:36.880 --> 0:26:39.960 has something different in store because God is building with 0:26:40.080 --> 0:26:43.600 a different picture. So who believes that Joseph had the 0:26:43.600 --> 0:26:49.200 harder job? Raise your head. I applaud your courage. It's 0:26:49.240 --> 0:26:53.560 an unpopular stance. I kind of see where you're coming from. 0:26:55.560 --> 0:27:00.440 I kind of see where you're coming from. Because twenty 0:27:00.520 --> 0:27:05.560 one tells us Mary's job and Joseph's job. Let's read 0:27:05.600 --> 0:27:10.320 it together, Matthew. Chapter one, verse twenty one. She will 0:27:10.320 --> 0:27:14.800 give birth and you are to give him the name. 0:27:17.440 --> 0:27:23.120 Which one you want to do? Give birth or give 0:27:23.160 --> 0:27:30.720 the name? And so physically there's no argument but see 0:27:32.359 --> 0:27:36.840 what is striking to me about Joseph. You never heard 0:27:36.840 --> 0:27:42.800 the Christmas Carol, Joseph, did you know? Now? Mary knew? 0:27:44.400 --> 0:27:48.639 Mary knew because it was her body. Mary knew that 0:27:48.720 --> 0:27:52.560 this has to be God because she knows whether or 0:27:52.640 --> 0:27:55.960 not she has been with another man. And I'm gonna 0:27:56.000 --> 0:27:57.159 leave it at that. In case you didn't get your 0:27:57.200 --> 0:27:59.360 kids to eat kids this morning, I'm not gonna I'm 0:27:59.400 --> 0:28:02.480 not gonna do it kind of details on this. But 0:28:02.720 --> 0:28:07.040 Mary knew this has to be God because I consulted 0:28:07.080 --> 0:28:09.280 my experience, and I'm a virgent and I haven't been 0:28:09.280 --> 0:28:12.680 with a man. So if I'm carrying something, it didn't 0:28:12.680 --> 0:28:15.879 come from human means. I know it because it's my body. 0:28:17.080 --> 0:28:23.280 Joseph didn't know, and he would never really know, so 0:28:23.359 --> 0:28:29.399 he had to believe. Maybe that's the hardest job of 0:28:29.440 --> 0:28:35.200 all to believe what you can't see, to believe what 0:28:35.240 --> 0:28:38.480 you can't be sure of, to believe what you can't prove. 0:28:41.560 --> 0:28:45.160 Joseph said, I I never knew. You know, the rest 0:28:45.200 --> 0:28:51.000 of his life, he would live probably halfway wondering was 0:28:51.040 --> 0:28:55.040 it really God? That kind of pregnant and you go right, 0:28:55.360 --> 0:28:58.840 you go into men's group and you're like, guys, is good. 0:28:58.920 --> 0:29:03.440 I was praying, the Lord told me, I was. I 0:29:03.480 --> 0:29:06.320 was actually sleeping. I was in a dream and the 0:29:06.360 --> 0:29:09.240 Lord told me, And don't worry. Mary saw a vision 0:29:09.280 --> 0:29:11.480 two and we're gonna work this out and we're gonna 0:29:11.480 --> 0:29:15.040 go home. Do you not think Joseph spent the rest 0:29:15.360 --> 0:29:19.560 of his life looking cross eyed at people trying to 0:29:19.560 --> 0:29:26.560 figure out Now, your nose looks kind of like the 0:29:26.640 --> 0:29:31.560 long nose with checking out those ears. You know, Ronnie 0:29:31.560 --> 0:29:33.920 has kind of long years right there. I saw Ronnie 0:29:33.960 --> 0:29:39.440 and Mary because Joseph didn't know. Because faith does not 0:29:39.760 --> 0:29:50.040 operate by sensory knowledge. Because faith enables us to understand 0:29:51.200 --> 0:29:54.800 that God is with us even if we do not 0:29:55.080 --> 0:29:58.680 see him in the picture. I need you to receive 0:29:58.760 --> 0:30:03.040 this by faith. You are to give him the name 0:30:03.480 --> 0:30:08.360 Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. 0:30:08.400 --> 0:30:11.240 Now here's the culmination of the text that I want 0:30:11.280 --> 0:30:15.600 to share with you. All this took place, Everything you 0:30:15.680 --> 0:30:21.240 didn't picture, everything you don't understand. All this took place 0:30:21.320 --> 0:30:24.560 to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. 0:30:25.920 --> 0:30:30.400 And then he quotes Isaiah seven fourteen, which says the 0:30:30.480 --> 0:30:34.320 Virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, 0:30:34.920 --> 0:30:41.360 and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. 0:30:42.360 --> 0:30:44.760 And I've been listening to a song all week that says, 0:30:44.800 --> 0:30:48.240 even when I don't see it, you're working, and even 0:30:48.280 --> 0:30:51.200 when I don't feel it, you're working. And I need 0:30:51.240 --> 0:30:53.640 you to make a declaration by faith. Every mouth in 0:30:53.680 --> 0:30:55.600 this room open up and say God is with me 0:30:55.720 --> 0:30:59.760 right now. God is with me right now. Come on, 0:30:59.800 --> 0:31:02.840 say it again. God is with me right now. Some 0:31:02.960 --> 0:31:04.760 of y'all in other campus you're not saying it, but 0:31:04.760 --> 0:31:06.320 you're not saying it to me. So say it out 0:31:06.320 --> 0:31:08.640 aloud for yourself. Say God is with me right now. 0:31:10.440 --> 0:31:13.840 And remember that the things which are seen are not 0:31:14.120 --> 0:31:18.080 made with things that do appear. So God does not 0:31:18.320 --> 0:31:22.360 build with carpenter material that you can see and fabricate 0:31:22.440 --> 0:31:26.960 your faith with your physical senses. When God builds something, 0:31:27.240 --> 0:31:30.480 it will not look like what you pictured. He has 0:31:30.520 --> 0:31:35.400 a different picture, and he builds according to his picture. Now, 0:31:36.080 --> 0:31:41.120 the message of Christmas is about his presence, not my picture. 0:31:45.440 --> 0:31:49.760 The message of Christmas says that the worlds were framed. 0:31:50.760 --> 0:31:54.360 Frame framed. I know they use it in a construction way, 0:31:54.400 --> 0:31:58.800 but this is a visual term. Frame. They frame it 0:32:00.640 --> 0:32:04.120 frame the world. Did you get your picture from the 0:32:04.160 --> 0:32:08.280 world or from the Word. Did you get your picture 0:32:08.320 --> 0:32:10.440 of what a man is supposed to be, of what 0:32:10.480 --> 0:32:13.360 a woman is supposed to be, of what success is, 0:32:13.720 --> 0:32:16.880 of what fulfillment is? Did you get it from the 0:32:16.920 --> 0:32:19.160 Word or the world? Because the Bible says that by 0:32:19.200 --> 0:32:22.320 faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the 0:32:22.360 --> 0:32:27.680 Word of God. Frame and are you framing this season 0:32:27.760 --> 0:32:33.720 of your life with your faith or with your fear? Honestly? 0:32:33.760 --> 0:32:36.560 Now answer and honestly as you look at what you 0:32:36.600 --> 0:32:39.480 cannot understand in your life right now. Because every hand 0:32:39.480 --> 0:32:41.360 in the room that I saw went up when I said, 0:32:42.000 --> 0:32:46.040 is it different than what you pictured? Is it different 0:32:46.080 --> 0:32:49.120 than what you pictured? Someone? This was an insult, someone 0:32:49.160 --> 0:32:51.560 said to me one time when I walked in. They said, Oh, 0:32:51.600 --> 0:32:54.080 I never saw you before I listened to your podcast. 0:32:54.160 --> 0:33:01.480 You're not what I picture. What did you picture? They said? 0:33:01.520 --> 0:33:12.800 I pictured you bigger, I pictured you bigger. I pictured it. 0:33:13.720 --> 0:33:17.880 I pictured it bigger. I pictured at this age, I 0:33:17.920 --> 0:33:23.040 would be past some certain things I picture. I pictured 0:33:23.040 --> 0:33:28.600 it different. I pictured I pictured parenting way different. I 0:33:28.640 --> 0:33:34.320 thought we'd be doing drive time devotionals from the original 0:33:34.400 --> 0:33:38.720 Greek of Philippians. I thought we'd be doing Bible sword drills. 0:33:38.960 --> 0:33:41.640 I didn't know they'd be pulling out real swords, stabbing 0:33:41.680 --> 0:33:44.760 each other with forks in the kitchen before y'all are 0:33:44.800 --> 0:33:48.200 looking at me so holy. It's different than what you picture. 0:33:48.760 --> 0:33:54.320 Is better, but it's different. It's different. Ministry is different 0:33:54.320 --> 0:33:55.840 than what I pictured. Let me go all the way. 0:33:56.200 --> 0:34:04.120 Adulthood is different than what happened picture. Can we be 0:34:04.240 --> 0:34:07.960 real with one another for a moment? It's different. They 0:34:08.480 --> 0:34:11.920 sold us something that isn't real. We're supposed to have 0:34:12.000 --> 0:34:15.719 it figured out. I'm supposed to have good sense. I'm 0:34:15.760 --> 0:34:18.719 supposed to be a fully cooked turkey by now, and 0:34:18.760 --> 0:34:21.600 I'm coming out the oven and I'm still wrang and 0:34:21.680 --> 0:34:25.200 I've got mouse to feet. Is different than the picture. 0:34:32.280 --> 0:34:36.560 So when they put the sermon online for the video, 0:34:37.560 --> 0:34:41.200 they have to switch between different shots, and they have 0:34:41.320 --> 0:34:45.160 instructions to use of what shots they put on the screen. 0:34:45.200 --> 0:34:48.960 Even now while I'm preaching, and because I move around 0:34:49.000 --> 0:34:53.560 so much like the spastic preacher that I am, these 0:34:53.600 --> 0:34:58.120 are highly trained, competent individuals. Somehow they always keep me 0:34:58.200 --> 0:35:01.239 in the center of the center of the picture. But 0:35:01.280 --> 0:35:05.359 what if the switcher fell asleep? You know, just real quick, 0:35:05.400 --> 0:35:07.719 I'm gonna do an example because I want you to 0:35:07.719 --> 0:35:10.759 see this. Imagine if the person on the switcher that 0:35:10.800 --> 0:35:12.759 goes from the tight shot to the wide shot and 0:35:12.800 --> 0:35:16.080 boost the thing on the thing that's the technical terms. 0:35:18.800 --> 0:35:23.040 What if they at first show them what you're supposed 0:35:23.040 --> 0:35:26.000 to do. Okay, let's say I do a lateral movement 0:35:26.040 --> 0:35:28.439 over here to the side. Look, you got a shot 0:35:28.480 --> 0:35:31.120 for that. But suppose they didn't put it on that 0:35:31.160 --> 0:35:34.640 other shot. Now, for the maximum benefit of this illustration, 0:35:34.719 --> 0:35:39.799 if you are at Valentine, watch the screen. If you're 0:35:39.800 --> 0:35:42.959 at another campus, you've got the competitive advantage right now, 0:35:45.680 --> 0:35:53.400 because sometimes God does this. Watch the screen. Watch the screen. 0:35:56.360 --> 0:36:04.239 Sometimes God does this. Now, the only conclusion you can 0:36:04.320 --> 0:36:08.680 come to if you are using your eyes is that 0:36:08.760 --> 0:36:12.880 the person who was in the picture is no longer 0:36:13.080 --> 0:36:17.279 in the building. The only way for you to know 0:36:17.680 --> 0:36:23.120 I'm still here is to go not by what you see, 0:36:23.920 --> 0:36:29.120 but by what you hear. So right now, those of 0:36:29.160 --> 0:36:32.040 you who cannot see me on the screen, watch the screen, 0:36:32.120 --> 0:36:36.440 y'all a disobedient watch the screen. You can't see me 0:36:37.160 --> 0:36:45.399 on the screen, but if you know my voice. If 0:36:45.440 --> 0:36:49.960 you know my voice, you will know that I did 0:36:50.040 --> 0:36:55.800 not leave you nor forsake you in the beginning. What's 0:36:55.880 --> 0:37:00.680 the word, And the word was here before you, and 0:37:00.719 --> 0:37:05.200 the word was spoken before you saw your frame. So 0:37:05.360 --> 0:37:09.160 when I don't feel him, he's with me because his 0:37:09.239 --> 0:37:14.120 name is Emmanuel. I can't see him, but I trust 0:37:14.200 --> 0:37:17.680 him because he's spoken, and I will see it with 0:37:17.840 --> 0:37:27.440 the eyes of my faith. He's with me on my 0:37:27.600 --> 0:37:32.279 good day. He's with me on my bad day. He's 0:37:32.440 --> 0:37:36.160 with me when I've got it. He's with me when 0:37:36.200 --> 0:37:38.960 I don't even know where to look. He's with me 0:37:39.400 --> 0:37:43.160 when they like me. He's with me when nobody will 0:37:43.200 --> 0:37:47.640 return my text. He's with me when I'm married. He's 0:37:47.760 --> 0:37:52.080 with me when I'm divorced. He's with me when I've 0:37:52.080 --> 0:37:55.359 got a job. He's with me when I don't see 0:37:55.360 --> 0:37:59.040 a way to pay it. He's with me when I'm well, 0:37:59.719 --> 0:38:03.000 with me when I'm sick. He's with me with a 0:38:03.120 --> 0:38:07.439 clear sky. He's with me in the storm. He didn't lead. 0:38:08.000 --> 0:38:12.960 I just got a sage my frame. If he's spoke it, 0:38:13.320 --> 0:38:21.799 you will see it. I'm gonna praise him. Let you 0:38:21.880 --> 0:38:25.680 know he's with you. He's with me. He's with me. 0:38:26.200 --> 0:38:30.360 He's with me. He's with me. What's in me is 0:38:30.440 --> 0:38:41.120 from me and my God. It's for me. He's with me. 0:38:43.120 --> 0:38:44.960 So don't be afraid to go home and do what 0:38:45.000 --> 0:38:49.000 God told you. Don't be afraid to face your fears 0:38:49.000 --> 0:38:52.120 with the frame of faith. Because the things which are 0:38:52.160 --> 0:38:57.960 seen made by the things which don't appear. I know 0:38:58.040 --> 0:39:01.319 it isn't what your picture. I know it in what 0:39:01.400 --> 0:39:05.720 you planned. You remember when we were in the nursing 0:39:05.760 --> 0:39:14.759 home for Thanksgiving. My dad was sixty to something like that, 0:39:15.760 --> 0:39:18.760 sixty two years old in a nursing home, not because 0:39:18.760 --> 0:39:21.000 we didn't want to keep It was so tense in 0:39:21.040 --> 0:39:24.040 our family that he decided he wouldn't want to live 0:39:24.040 --> 0:39:25.520 with any of us. We couldn't take care of him. 0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:27.480 He had luke Garrit's disease, and we tried to take 0:39:27.480 --> 0:39:29.000 care of him. We couldn't take care of him. We 0:39:29.000 --> 0:39:32.640 were eating microwaved Thanksgiving in the nursing home with my 0:39:32.719 --> 0:39:35.360 dad knowing good and well. We wanted him in our house, 0:39:35.560 --> 0:39:38.360 and nobody was on speaking terms. You talk about awkward. 0:39:43.520 --> 0:39:45.759 Him doesn't taste right when you try to microwave it. 0:39:46.400 --> 0:39:50.759 None of us pictured this. I know you didn't picture this. 0:39:52.560 --> 0:40:09.760 God isn't building your picture. He's building his purpose. So Joseph, Joe, Joe, 0:40:10.840 --> 0:40:17.759 did you know Joseph would say no, uh huh. I 0:40:17.840 --> 0:40:23.160 just believe I had one thing in mind, God had 0:40:23.200 --> 0:40:29.239 another thing in store. I went with God. God went 0:40:29.280 --> 0:40:36.920 with me, and I have what I need in the 0:40:36.960 --> 0:40:40.399 box to be the picture that He created in his heart. 0:40:41.719 --> 0:40:44.320 So no, I'm not trying to build somebody else's life 0:40:44.920 --> 0:40:47.319 or somebody else's idea of what I'm supposed to be. 0:40:47.640 --> 0:40:52.560 Not anymore. I tried that. It is so stressful. I 0:40:52.600 --> 0:40:55.239 can't afford the doctor bill or the stomach medicine for 0:40:55.320 --> 0:40:57.920 that kind of living. I got to build what God 0:40:58.160 --> 0:41:02.080 put inside of me for the picture that he sees, 0:41:02.640 --> 0:41:13.840 and the world's your friend. Switch the picture. Switch the picture. 0:41:14.960 --> 0:41:18.160 Be who God called you to be, Celebrate what he 0:41:18.239 --> 0:41:21.919 gave you. Pull everything close that you still have left, 0:41:21.920 --> 0:41:24.040 wrap your arms around it, and make the most of it. 0:41:24.200 --> 0:41:27.280 Switch the picture. Yeah, it's going to be a different 0:41:27.360 --> 0:41:32.160 Christmas for some of us. I understand that. But God, 0:41:32.920 --> 0:41:37.320 God pictured it all along. You know when Isaiah said 0:41:38.160 --> 0:41:42.200 a virgin will conceive, he saw that hundreds of years 0:41:42.239 --> 0:41:47.280 before it happened. God was already building the picture forty 0:41:47.320 --> 0:41:51.480 two generations, and God knew the picture. If you get 0:41:51.480 --> 0:41:54.320 too tightly zoomed into this one scene, or this one moment, 0:41:54.400 --> 0:41:56.799 or this one struggle or this one issue, you're going 0:41:56.840 --> 0:42:00.600 to miss the bigger picture. God knows to put you, 0:42:03.320 --> 0:42:07.279 He knows what he put in you, and he knows 0:42:07.320 --> 0:42:11.280 what he wants to do through you. So take Mary 0:42:11.680 --> 0:42:15.080 home by faith and do what the Angel of the 0:42:15.080 --> 0:42:17.000 Lord commanded you to do. Now what you feel or 0:42:17.040 --> 0:42:22.440 what you thought, switch the picture. Everyone's standing. I want 0:42:22.440 --> 0:42:26.960 to pray for people this Christmas season who need to 0:42:26.960 --> 0:42:36.200 switch the picture. Switch the picture and put God back 0:42:36.200 --> 0:42:40.400 in the center of the frame. Put his presence and 0:42:40.440 --> 0:42:45.600 his joy and his peace. See, when you understand how 0:42:45.640 --> 0:42:50.480 he came, you can understand why he came. Please answer me, 0:42:51.120 --> 0:42:53.160 who was this message? It was just for you. It 0:42:53.200 --> 0:42:54.320 was just for you. It was just for you. It 0:42:54.360 --> 0:42:57.239 was just for you. Okay, I'm gonna tell you three 0:42:57.280 --> 0:42:59.719 things about how he came. I'll give him to you 0:42:59.760 --> 0:43:04.720 so quick. Number one, he came through someone that everyone 0:43:04.760 --> 0:43:08.799 else thought was insignificant. So the first word you need 0:43:08.840 --> 0:43:12.439 to know about how he came is insignificant. He did 0:43:12.440 --> 0:43:15.680 not come through a matriarch of royal lineage. He came 0:43:15.960 --> 0:43:18.520 through a little girl who was so scared that when 0:43:18.560 --> 0:43:20.879 the angel came, she said, how can this be? He 0:43:20.920 --> 0:43:23.520 came through someone who saw no way that what God 0:43:23.560 --> 0:43:25.560 wanted to do for the world could happen through her. 0:43:25.760 --> 0:43:28.839 And so it has always been. I know, we get 0:43:28.920 --> 0:43:32.839 excited when an actor or an actress, or a celebrity 0:43:32.920 --> 0:43:35.720 or a politician, or a rock star or a rapper 0:43:35.760 --> 0:43:39.120 gets excited about Jesus. But Christ is born in every 0:43:39.160 --> 0:43:41.759 heart that will receive him by faith. And God is 0:43:41.840 --> 0:43:44.880 using you. If you are a coach, if you are 0:43:44.920 --> 0:43:49.839 a student, if you are a businessman, you are, if 0:43:49.880 --> 0:43:52.640 you are a police officer, if you are nothing more 0:43:52.719 --> 0:43:55.760 you like, I'm just a stop saying that God always 0:43:56.000 --> 0:44:00.839 chooses to use what people deem insignificant. So there is 0:44:01.000 --> 0:44:07.279 nothing insignificant about your pieces for your picture. That's number one. 0:44:07.760 --> 0:44:12.400 Number two, it was impossible. It was a virgin womb 0:44:13.280 --> 0:44:17.160 because God wanted to let you know that impossible situations 0:44:18.480 --> 0:44:22.719 are the places where faith is born. So if that 0:44:22.880 --> 0:44:28.960 is impossible for you, it is fertile for God. If 0:44:29.000 --> 0:44:31.719 you understand how he came through a virgin womb. He 0:44:31.760 --> 0:44:33.680 didn't have to do that, but he wanted you to 0:44:33.719 --> 0:44:37.879 know if you are facing something where you don't see away, 0:44:38.719 --> 0:44:41.680 if you don't see it, but he spoke it, and 0:44:41.719 --> 0:44:46.480 you will believe it by faith, it will come to pass. 0:44:46.760 --> 0:44:52.160 That's how he came. He came for impossible situations, broken hearts, 0:44:52.520 --> 0:44:59.800 broken homes, broken lives. But what I love the most, 0:45:01.920 --> 0:45:05.480 what I love the very most, is that it was intimate. 0:45:09.160 --> 0:45:13.919 He came in the most intimate way. He was born 0:45:13.960 --> 0:45:17.960 of a virgin, and he comes into your heart when 0:45:18.000 --> 0:45:21.960 you receive him by faith. He longs to be personal 0:45:22.120 --> 0:45:27.160 with you this season. But if you get somebody else's 0:45:27.200 --> 0:45:31.800 picture and try to put something together that's not in you, 0:45:31.800 --> 0:45:36.400 you will miss his presence. He wants to speak to you, 0:45:36.480 --> 0:45:41.920 use you, bless you, help you. This is personal, This 0:45:42.040 --> 0:45:45.800 is intimate. God of all grace, God of all comfort. 0:45:45.800 --> 0:45:47.520 I have delivered your word to the best of my 0:45:47.600 --> 0:45:50.160 ability with your help, and I thank you for what 0:45:50.200 --> 0:45:53.800 you spoke in this place today. Your word is good seed. 0:45:54.840 --> 0:45:58.239 I pray that it falls upon good soil. Today. I 0:45:58.320 --> 0:46:01.440 pray for those today who are living in a picture 0:46:02.200 --> 0:46:05.919 that they never planned for. I think we all are. 0:46:06.600 --> 0:46:10.959 We're all moving through this life. We saw it one way, 0:46:12.200 --> 0:46:15.719 and now we are experiencing it another. And yet you 0:46:15.760 --> 0:46:21.080 are here, always, here, still, Emmanuel, still with us, still 0:46:21.120 --> 0:46:26.600 for us, A good father, a faithful friend, wonderful counselor 0:46:26.680 --> 0:46:34.040 Mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Lift your hands. 0:46:36.440 --> 0:46:43.719 I receive your peace. God, I receive your assurance. I 0:46:43.800 --> 0:46:50.759 receive your presence in this season of my life. You 0:46:50.840 --> 0:46:55.520 are my King. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks 0:46:55.520 --> 0:46:58.080 to those of you who give generously to this ministry. 0:46:58.440 --> 0:47:01.360 Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You 0:47:01.400 --> 0:47:03.840 can click the link in the description to give now, 0:47:04.360 --> 0:47:08.239 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 0:47:08.760 --> 0:47:11.920 and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You 0:47:11.960 --> 0:47:14.000 can share it with your friends. You can click the 0:47:14.000 --> 0:47:16.319 share button, take a screenshot and share it on your 0:47:16.320 --> 0:47:19.319 social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again 0:47:19.320 --> 0:47:25.480 for listening. God bless you