What’s It Gonna Be? (Larry Brey)

0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:11.639 Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:16.400 new sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today. 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:30.240 Ah, good morning, Elevation. Shit. I never take it for 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:32.680 granted when I get to stand in this pulpit, because 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:34.760 every week our pastor stands up here and he preaches 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:37.560 God's word in a way that would set our lives free. 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:39.680 And as he mentioned, I'm one of the old gies. 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.000 It means old guys. I've been around since the beginning. 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:44.800 You might know this, but I feel like one of 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:47.519 my responsibilities every time I stand in the pulpit is 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:50.120 to be the storyteller, to be the old guy, reminding 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:51.879 you where you came from. Some of you don't know 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.800 your spiritual legacy. Elevation started more than seventeen years ago. 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:59.360 Our first Sunday February fifth, two thousand and six, we 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:02.400 had one twenty one people. Now we got more watch 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:06.000 parties than that around the world. Look what God has 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:12.600 done unbelievable. But it really didn't start February fifth. It 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:14.880 started actually a year before that, in two thousand and five. 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.480 When eight families committed to do this thing called Elevation Church. 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:20.520 I want to show you a photo of your early 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.319 family heritage. This on the screen here, this is this 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:26.560 is way back in the day Elevation Church. This is 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.000 what we call the Blue Room days from back in Shelby, 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.839 North Carolina. Let me give you a little context around 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.480 this photo. Eight families at this point are committed to 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.360 sell their houses, quit their jobs, moved to an unnamed 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:40.760 city in part of an unnamed part of the country 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.039 to be part of an unnamed church. He doesn't want 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.880 to sign up for that? Then, does sound amazing? We're 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:48.000 all sitting in were wondering like what is it gonna be? 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:50.120 And what's gonna be the name, and what's gonna be 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:52.080 the city? And can you put that photo back up? 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:56.400 Because Pastor Stephen is the on the bottom right corner 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:59.040 with the shaved head. That's Pastor Stephen, Holly next to him, 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.240 Chunks and Amy, and then that guy in the upper 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:07.480 corner that's not Kevin James, that's me. That's and that 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:10.600 was March thirteenth of two thousand and five, and we're 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:13.280 all sitting there, what's it gonna be? Here's the notes 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.160 that Pastor Stephen gave us that night, and I wanted 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.800 to speak these over our church today, to revisit a 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:21.680 spirit that was spoken more than eighteen years ago, because 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:25.280 the timeless message that Pastor Stephen has spoken into us 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:29.799 does not outdate. Just because we flipped the calendar, this 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:34.560 would be on the screen things we must do. He 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:37.640 has him on the screen that night March thirteenth, two 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:40.519 thousand and five, he said, here are eight things we 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:44.800 must do again. We didn't have a name, had no money, 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.440 but we had a lot of vision. I wonder as 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:49.919 I read these what applies to you today. Number one, 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:52.280 we must get people to catch the vision rather than 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:56.440 watching the show. I think that's a good word right there. 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:03.079 We must call on God walkie talkie style, step by step. 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:07.240 We must play our three chords loud to know what 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.960 makes us distinctive, not lose that. Some of you have 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.240 tried to imitate somebody else's sound, and God wanted you 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:15.680 to hear today. No, No, he gave you a specific note. 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:19.360 Go back to who He made you to be. We 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:22.560 must step forward like God is behind us. We must 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:24.880 protect the vision like it's a newborn baby. And we 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:29.280 must love each other. We must think marathon, not sprint. 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.280 That's why we're here eighteen years later, serving in all 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.400 these communities because Pastor steven and knows the voice that says, guys, 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:37.520 we got to think about the long term, not just 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:41.480 the short term, and then we must feel the burden. 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.040 I am so glad that we've got a pastor that 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.040 eighteen years ago was saying no, no, no. I know 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:47.840 there's a lot of things we don't know, but here's 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:52.320 what we must do. Thank you, Pastor Stephen, for faithfully 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:56.160 serving God, for faithfully preaching his word. We love you. 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:02.240 We honor you with the privilege to preach today. Hey, 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:04.280 remain standing for just another moment. I want to read 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.280 God's verse for what we want to dive into today. 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:08.960 This is going to be out of Luke chapter one. 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:11.960 I've been in this scripture for about six months and 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.960 it's really wrecking me, and I'm excited to deliver it 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:19.000 to you today. This is in verse sixty two of 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:22.800 Luke chapter one. It says they made signs to his 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.239 father to find out sorry about that what he would 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:30.280 like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:35.240 and to everyone's astonishment, he wrote his name is John. 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:37.120 You see, they asked him, what do you want to 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:39.440 name this child? That I would do well to remind 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:41.359 some of you that God has given you naming rights. 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:43.800 Some of you as settled for a label that a 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.680 past mistake has identified you as, and God says, that's 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.240 not you. I've given you naming rights. You have the 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:51.720 ability to rewrite some things today. And I think that's 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:53.520 what God wants to do in our lives today. He 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:55.920 wants to relabel some things today. Some of you as 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.000 settle for a label that somebody else gave you, that 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:01.000 is beneath you. Jesus died for you to be. You've 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:04.520 got naming rights. He goes on to say his name 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:07.320 is John. Immediately his mouth was open and his tongue 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:11.440 was set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:13.680 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:18.880 hill country of Judea people were talking all about these things. 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:23.000 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking what then 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:27.960 is this child going to be? For the Lord's hand 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:30.679 was with him. Here's the title for the few minutes 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:34.400 we have together. What's it gonna be? Say? It allowed 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.039 to say? What's it gonna be. Type it in the 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:39.520 comments what's it gonna be? You guys can be seated. 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.040 Thank you Worship Team. This is a story about a 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.160 couple that gets the opportunity to name a child. It's 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:48.680 a pretty cool privilege. My wife, Janet and I we 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.560 celebrate twenty three years of marriage this year. Yes, we 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:59.240 do baby, and we've got four kids and ages seventeen 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:02.440 down to nine. And our youngest her name is Lenya. 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.320 And this is a picture of her when she was born. 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.920 This is her baby photo. And we remember looking at 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.720 that baby photo going, what's I know? That's what was 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:15.440 the effect I was going for. Oh, any parents here 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:17.479 of some newborns. You can tell me because your eyes 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:20.320 are wide open and you're not getting any sleep. And 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.080 that's Lenya. And now here she is as a nine 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:26.960 year old, and uh, that's that's our littlest one. And 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:28.640 when you meet a child, you walk up to them 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.719 and you say, what do you want to be? What 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:33.440 do you want to be? She wants to be a YouTuber. 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:37.520 She has no idea what that means, but she wants 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.080 to have nine YouTube channels and she wants to go 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:42.760 to Barry College. She's got it. All mapped out, and 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:44.040 when you see a kid, you're like, what do you 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:47.200 want to be when you grow up? But two adults 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.320 they meet each other like what do you Where did 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:52.960 we go from becoming something for God's glory to doing 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.080 something for him? I think we've lost a little bit 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:57.240 of that wonderment that God wants. The staff, maybe you 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:58.840 would do well the next time you're in a business 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:00.960 meeting to look at your business and say what do 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.359 you want to be when you grow up? And I 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.240 think it speaks to the assignment that maybe God has 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:08.920 placed on her hearts today to remember some of the 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:10.640 things that He spoke in to us that maybe time 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.720 has talked us out of. In this story, it's about 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:15.640 the birth of a child. But to really understand the story, 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:17.440 he got to rewind a little bit. I want to 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:21.120 hop back to chapter one of Luke, starting in verse five, 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.360 and I want to give you that story because some 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:25.239 people see the end of a story you don't appreciate 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:29.000 unless you saw Whariot began. It's really easy for like, oh, 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:31.480 it must be nice be an elevation church with all like, 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:33.160 let me take you back to the photo where there 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.000 was no money, there was no name, because God is 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.480 faithful in those little moments, and when you stay faithful 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.440 in those things, you see Him do much with it. 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:44.280 In chapter one, verse five, this is in the time 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.840 of Herod, King of Judah. There was a priest name 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:51.360 of Zachariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:55.320 His wife was Elizabeth, and who was also a descendant 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.480 of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:04.480 of God, serving all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:07.920 So you have this couple that the husband is a 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:11.280 preacher man, he's a priest, he's got it going down. 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:14.680 And Elizabeth, she comes from a royal blondeline. Aaron was 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.680 the first high priest of Israel. He's Moses's brother. So 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.120 these people come from the right side of the tracks. 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:23.920 They're like the all American they're the Jewish couple. Like 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.040 he's the homecoming king and she's the homecoming queen, and 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.400 he's the captain of the football team. And they got 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:32.320 it all going on. They got the right pedigree. And 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.280 then verse six it says they were both blameless in 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:38.000 the side of God. It doesn't mean they were above 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:42.160 without sin. It means they were above reproach. It means 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.000 they were living their life in such a way that 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:46.400 the ordinances, in the commands that God had given, they 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.240 were following them. They were observing, not just they were 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:51.520 coming from the right place, but they were doing the 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.520 right things. What an example for those of us that 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.640 claimed the cause of Christ to run after to we 0:08:57.679 --> 0:08:59.600 want to be the kind of person who observes the 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:02.800 decrease in the commands of the Lord blamelessly. And you 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.600 would expect verse seven to start with. And they all 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:11.440 lived happily ever after. But you see, the Bible is 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:14.280 not a fairy tale. It's the story of a great 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.840 God that we were separated from because of sin. But 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.240 God is long suffering, willing that none should perish. And 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:22.320 it's set the stage for a savior to come on 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:24.880 the scene of the world who in the form of Jesus, 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:27.160 to redeem us from our sins. But it's also the 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.080 story of a broken humanity and the depravity of the 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.720 human nature and the result of sin and what happens. 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:36.480 This is a book of great faith. I think sometimes 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.960 we open up God's word wanting a fairy tale, and 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:43.079 verse seven shows me that this is not a fairy 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:47.760 tale because it says, but they were childless, because Elizabeth 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:52.720 was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.520 Sometimes the scripture shouts, it says, here's the answer, and 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:05.000 sometimes whispers, but it's never silent. I think the whisper 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:11.520 in verse seven is the subtle sound of disappointment. You see, 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:18.400 they had this deep desire to be parents, but but 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:22.040 they were childless. So but often speaks to a desire 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:28.520 that's delayed or it feels like it's been denied. It's 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:32.160 this place of disappointment, and it says they were very old, 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.160 and when you read the original language, it means they 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:38.520 were very old. It's like you know, you've got hungry, 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.400 and then there's very hungry. You know you're angry, and 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:46.120 then there's very angry. There's old and then there's very old. 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:50.720 Zacharias ninety and Elizabeth is eighty eight, and the text 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.600 is showing you a story that not only was Elizabeth 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.440 not able to conceive, but they're past the age of 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:00.960 biological reproduction in a reasonable person's eyes, and it sets 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:04.640 the stage and but becomes a foreshadowing of God's favor. 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.720 It's a beautiful there's profound disappointment in this versus picture 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:11.120 them because in the culture, they would have been married 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:15.560 as teenagers. So picture Elizabeth being sixteen and Zachari being eighteen, 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:18.320 and they get married, like, all right, we're married. We're 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:20.840 both come from good blood lives, we're both doing it right, 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:22.680 we're serving God. Certainly we'll have a baby by the 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.880 time we're twenty. And now Zachariah looks at Elizabeth at 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:27.679 age twenty five and says, I cannot talk to your 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:29.640 mama one more time. Just if she says, when are 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.640 you gonna give me a grand by, I'm gonna slap her, 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.160 just keeping it real. And then thirty comes and goes, 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:39.120 and the whispers of the people in the community are like, 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.640 what's wrong with them? Why can't they get pregnant? And 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:45.120 now they're begging God, God, have you forgotten us? God? 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:47.640 We're serving you. Did we do something wrong? But no, 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:51.440 they were not being punished. And some of you feel 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:54.400 like the situation you're walking through us a punishment for 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:58.480 something you did. It's not. They were not being punished 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.040 in this moment. How they come to age forty and 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.560 Elizabeth is like, hey, why don't you go find somebody else? 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:06.360 Some marror so that you can have a child, because 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:08.360 evidently I think it's me. They say, no, no, we're 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:10.120 going to keep serving God. We're going to do this 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.640 thing together. But now they're fifty. They expected to be 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:17.480 holding a baby, but now they're just holding bitterness. Then 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.800 by the time they get to age sixty, they forgot 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.320 about the desire to become parents. And they used to 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.280 be praying earnestly, seeking the presence of God, give us 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:30.520 a child, give us a child. But now sixty they've 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:33.280 stopped praying those prayers. So by the time we pick 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.920 up the story here, it's been about thirty years. I 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.400 think since they've even thought about praying for a child, 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.320 they forgot about that deep desire. I wonder how many 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:50.320 desires have been buried in the graveyard of disappointment. We 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:53.560 treat God's desires like a loaf of bread. We put 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.240 an expiration date on it, and when it doesn't then 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.280 happen in our time, we disregard it and we get 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:00.480 rid of it. And I think God wants to pick 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:05.920 some of those things back up today. What's your butt? 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:11.800 But some of you at Christmas time prayed, like, Lord, 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.720 help my marriage get better. And if it doesn't by summer, 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:18.120 I'm out. And now it's summertime and you're not left physically, 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:20.960 but emotionally and spiritually, you have left the marriage. But 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:22.880 I thought it was gonna get better, but I didn't 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:25.760 expect it to happen like this. How many business owners said, 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.360 I'm gonna do it right, I'm gonna do it God's way, 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:30.920 but you can't meet payroll. But you see everybody else 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.760 cutting corners, and it seems like they're getting ahead. This young, young, 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.280 young lady finished her senior year of college, and she 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:40.520 started her senior year saying, if I don't get a 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:45.600 ring by spring, and now you're getting a wedding invitations 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.720 from everybody. Ashley sends you. Ashley, she has had more boyfriends, 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:55.520 my gosh, and she's getting married now, Melissa. Melissa is crazy. 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.520 And you settle on trying to do it right. And 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:00.520 you were holding out for mister right, but now you're 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:04.960 subtle for mister right now. And a part of yourself 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:08.520 you said you'd keep sacred till marriage. You're willing to 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.560 compromise because you feel like it'll make you more loved 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.000 and it'll help get that ring on your finger, and 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:18.240 the deep desire of your hearts fades into the background, 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:23.920 and you feel like it's for everybody else. What's your Butt's? 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:25.960 What is it? What's your butt? When I showed you 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.840 that picture of our daughter, Lenya, I need to tell 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.000 you the full story of I need to take you 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.680 back to Mother's Day twenty and thirteen. This is a 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:36.920 photo of my family Mother's Day twenty and thirteen. It's 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.040 my wife, Janet and our three kids, and we're pregnant. 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:43.160 In that photo. We're about twelve weeks pregnant. And my 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:45.720 wife wakes up that day and she starts having symptoms, 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.000 and yet she still comes to church, and yet we 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:50.920 still get on the stage, and yet she still holds 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:53.400 the microphone, and we're still faithfully serving God. In a 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.960 couple days later, we end up having a miscarriage. Like, 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:01.000 but God, Like, are you kidding me? We're serving you, 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:03.200 We're standing on stage, We're doing it right. We helped 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:05.840 sacrifice for this church. We sold our house and this 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.040 is happening to us, and it took us to such 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:12.920 a hard place. But God, what happened. And it was 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.960 at the end of the year, we find ourselves pregnant again. 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.640 And we had a pastor come in. Pastor Levi Lusco 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.720 came to preach at Elevation Church. And we're sitting in 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:27.480 the sermon and I haven't told anybody we're pregnant. I 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:30.800 couldn't pray for that child. And Pastor Levi's preaching a 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.200 sermon about his daughter that had died a year before. 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.720 She was like four or five. And in the sermon, 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:40.720 I hear the Holy Spirit saying, pray for your daughter. 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:44.280 Open your mouth and start praising me for what I did, 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:53.760 rather than letting disappointment bury the desire. And he said, 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:55.680 you're gonna name her Lenya, because Lenya was the name 0:15:55.720 --> 0:16:01.600 of Pastor Levi's daughter that passed away. So you see, 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:05.360 when you hear this story about Elizabeth and Zachariah, this 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:09.120 old couple, we just skip right through verse seven. What's 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:13.240 your button? The story continues in verse eight. It says, 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:16.760 once when Zacharai's division was on duty and he was 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:19.400 serving as priests before God, he was chosen by Lot, 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:22.400 according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.160 the Temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:29.000 the time of burning incense came, all the assembled worshipers 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:33.840 were praying outside. Our production team is going to bring 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.280 out some stage props that will help illustrate the rest 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:38.200 of the sermon. And as they do, would you help 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:42.560 me Thank all of our volunteers at all of our locations, 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:48.680 and all those volunteers that take care of your crazy 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.800 kids and park your cars when you don't want to 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.080 be in the parking lot. But thank you, and especially 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.560 want to shout out our elevation Ashville location. Thank you 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:01.240 for five years faithfully serving God. We love you, and 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:04.880 we honor you, and we're so grateful for you. So 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:08.439 in the passage, Elizabeth and Zachariah are part of a 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:11.600 priestly division, and in nation Israel at this point there's 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:16.639 eighteen thousand priests. They're divided up into twenty four different 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:20.560 groups or divisions. Each one of these divisions would have 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.520 two weeks of the year where they would make the trek. 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:26.639 Part of their duty was to go to Jerusalem and 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.879 help at the temple, because the central part of the 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:33.760 Jewish life at that point was the Temple. The temple 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:35.800 is what set everything up, and the temple had three 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.720 basic parts. It had this part out here the courtyard, 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:42.600 it had this part here called the Holy Place, and 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:45.160 it had a lamp stand, and it had an altar 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.120 for incense, and had a table for bread. And then 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:52.200 the behind here is called the Holy of Holies. This 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.359 is once a year the high priest would go with 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:57.520 blood where he would meet with God to offer sacrifices 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:02.960 for Nation Israel. The duty of the priests was families. 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.480 If there was sin in their life or sin in 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:09.359 their home, they would make the trek to Jerusalem. Elizabeth 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.439 and Zachariah would walk about fifteen miles one way just 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:16.000 to get to Jerusalem. They've been making this trek five 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:22.480 times a year for seventy years. They've been faithfully serving God. 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:27.520 This is their duty and they're faithfully doing it each 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:31.479 and every year, five times a year. The first three 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:33.639 years they're seeing families walk up with all their kids. 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.399 I wonder how many years went by before they stopped 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:40.440 seeing that because they just didn't want to see kids anymore, 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.960 because the deepest deserve of their heart was to have 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:46.400 a kid. But they kept being faithful with their duty. 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:48.399 And part of the duty of Nation Israel is if 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:50.159 there were sin in your home, you would make the 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:54.840 trek to Jerusalem to the Temple to offer sacrifices for sin, 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:58.120 because there must always be bloodshed for the forgiveness of sin. 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:00.399 In the Old Testament, that was through the lot of 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:03.280 goats and rams and lambs, and then a New Testament. 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:07.879 That's why Jesus blood sacrificed all of humanity satisfied the 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:11.360 penalty of sin. But although we're reading the New Testament, 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:15.600 we're still in the Old Covenant. So what the priests 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:17.600 would do is a family would make their way to 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:21.800 Jerusalem and Zacharai would meet with the husband and the 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:24.440 head of the household and he would offer a sacrifice, 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:27.120 and the head of the household would have to put 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:30.119 his hand on the head of the animal as the 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:32.240 high priest would grab the knife and he would slit 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:35.399 the throat and the blood would leave the body. Because 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:38.520 the family needed to feel the weight of sin and 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:41.080 to realize that there's always a penalty be paid for it. 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:43.119 That was part of the duty of the priests and 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:46.400 what they would do five times a year, and then 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:48.600 they would make take some of the blood back into 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:51.080 the Holy Place. Back here, and the Holy Place has 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:56.240 got three parts. It's got the lamp stand, it's ninety 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:59.919 pounds of solid gold that's hammered out to look like 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:03.160 a tree. So part of the duty of the priest 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:07.800 is to come back and light the lamp to burn incense, 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.000 and then there's a table of showbread. The show bred 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:14.200 has got twelve loaves. This inner space is to remind 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:19.320 you that God is light. Your prayers come into his presence, 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:26.000 and He is the provider. That's what this holy place represents. 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:30.720 So as Zachariah was on duty, he's making his way back, 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.399 and the first thing you must do is to attend 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:36.960 to the lamp. It's ninety pounds of gold hammered to 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:39.359 look like a tree. It's to remind you of the 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:42.320 tree of life. Because every time they would see it, it 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:45.359 would take him back to the garden of Eden, and 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:48.000 it would remind them of what God intended it to be. 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.560 He intended it to be this way. So his duty 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:55.280 was to attend to this. He has been doing it 0:20:55.320 --> 0:21:01.080 for seventy some years. Do you know what Eden means. 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:07.200 It means delight. Do you think it was a delight 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.840 for Elizabeth and ZACHARII for seventy years to make their 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:14.400 deway to Jerusalem five times a year to serve everybody 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:17.640 else but feeling their own desires unfulfilled. Do you think 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:20.680 that was always a delight? No? No, no, see you see, 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:27.199 delight is not a feeling. It is a decision, it 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:31.679 says of Jesus, for the joy set before him. He 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:34.040 endured the cross, scorning at shame, and he sat down 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:35.480 at the right hand of the brother. Do you think 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:37.520 it was an emotional high for Jesus to go on 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.159 the cross? No, what was it? It was a duty, 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:46.640 but it was a delight. You're not getting that. It 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:50.560 looks like a duty to everybody else, But it is 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:57.760 a delight. Psal I'm thirty seven to four. Delight yourself 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.840 in the Lord, and he will give you the desires 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:13.000 of your heart. What happens is we delight in our 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:18.560 dreams and will eventually walk away from our duty. Pastor 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:20.359 Stephen preached a couple of weeks ago, I'm gonna keep 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:22.879 digging until he does it. Part two. I'm gonna keep 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:25.960 delighting until he does it. I'm just gonna keep delighting 0:22:25.960 --> 0:22:28.720 in the Lord for seventy years until he does it. 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:31.080 I don't know when, I don't know how, but I'm 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:35.560 gonna keep delighting and delighting looks like duty to everybody else, 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:39.320 And I want to tell you that it sometimes feels 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:42.880 more like duty than it does delight. And I would 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:44.720 want to ask you the question, what has he put 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:48.280 in your hands? What has he given you? What has 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:51.200 he entrusted to you? Are you delighting in what He's 0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:54.040 placed in your hands? Or because it doesn't look like 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:58.159 what you expected, you walk away from it. Here's what 0:22:58.240 --> 0:23:00.480 I think real faith is to keep delight lighting in 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:04.440 the Lord when the desire of my heart is unmet. 0:23:07.600 --> 0:23:10.000 Let me give you a husband hack on Father's Day. 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:12.399 Husband's when you come home at the end of the 0:23:12.480 --> 0:23:14.040 day and you're exhausted and you're tired, you just can't 0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:17.760 wait to sit down and turn on the TV. And 0:23:17.800 --> 0:23:19.600 you finally sit down and your wife's like, hey, can 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:22.280 you go to the store? Honey? You're like, oh God, 0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:32.280 I'd be delighted because I understand it's a duty. Are 0:23:32.359 --> 0:23:36.800 you letting unmet desires keep you from being faithful with 0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:40.399 the duty He's placed in your hand? So when you 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:43.160 see the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth, it is one 0:23:43.200 --> 0:23:47.879 of faithfulness, faithfully fulfilling their duty five times a year 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:53.760 for seventy years, and now finally, on this day, Zachariah 0:23:53.760 --> 0:23:56.960 gets picked. He's going to be the one, randomly to 0:23:57.040 --> 0:23:59.800 go into the Holy Place to offer some of this 0:24:00.000 --> 0:24:02.399 sacrifices to God. And it's just raindom that you clicked 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:04.560 on this stream today, and it's just random that you 0:24:04.600 --> 0:24:07.040 walked into one of our locations today. No, it is 0:24:07.160 --> 0:24:10.040 divine appointment. I believe God has ordered your steps in 0:24:10.080 --> 0:24:12.119 such a way that he brought you to this place 0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:15.680 because there's something He needs you to hear. But disappointment 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:21.399 is keeping you from embracing the duty. And the story 0:24:21.440 --> 0:24:25.760 goes on in verse eleven and it says, then an 0:24:25.840 --> 0:24:28.040 angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the 0:24:28.119 --> 0:24:31.640 right side of the altar of incense. When Zachariah saw him, 0:24:31.840 --> 0:24:34.439 he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the 0:24:34.480 --> 0:24:38.639 angel said to him, don't be afraid, Zachariah, your prayer 0:24:39.720 --> 0:24:44.880 has been heard. Now. Picture Zachariah ninety year old Zachariah, 0:24:45.080 --> 0:24:47.760 not a sixteen year old spry boy, but a ninety 0:24:47.800 --> 0:24:53.639 year old, very old man. Because at the time he 0:24:53.680 --> 0:24:55.960 goes into the Holy Place, this is a place that's 0:24:55.960 --> 0:25:00.280 covered with drapes and its dark inside and the first 0:25:00.280 --> 0:25:02.320 thing he had to do was to go light the lamp. 0:25:02.920 --> 0:25:05.080 If you walk into a dark room, what's the first 0:25:05.080 --> 0:25:08.520 thing you do? Some of you are stumbling around in 0:25:08.560 --> 0:25:11.719 the dark, trying to find your dreams. God says, I 0:25:11.760 --> 0:25:14.240 need you to do this first. Seek first the Kingdom 0:25:14.240 --> 0:25:17.080 of God, and all these things will be added to you. 0:25:17.080 --> 0:25:19.840 Seek first, though desires are not bad, but there must 0:25:19.880 --> 0:25:23.320 be an order to it. And it says as he 0:25:23.400 --> 0:25:26.359 went inside to do that, all of the worshippers were 0:25:26.359 --> 0:25:30.720 assembled outside. Now context all of you had just offered sacrifices. 0:25:31.320 --> 0:25:33.760 You had come because there was a sin, there was 0:25:33.800 --> 0:25:36.199 something that needed to be offered or sacrificed for the 0:25:36.240 --> 0:25:38.880 remission of sin. And he would go A priest would 0:25:38.880 --> 0:25:42.080 go in there two times a day. This occasion is 0:25:42.080 --> 0:25:45.240 on the Sabbath, the busiest day of the week. I said, 0:25:45.240 --> 0:25:48.200 we're like, oh, my Sabbath is when I rest. No, 0:25:48.480 --> 0:25:53.280 Sabbath is when you worship. That's not work, that's worship. 0:25:53.359 --> 0:25:59.080 To show up and they're all out there praying, and 0:25:59.119 --> 0:26:04.320 I think there's two kinds of there's individual prayers and 0:26:04.320 --> 0:26:08.680 there's corporate prayers. The individual prayers would have been like, Lord, 0:26:09.040 --> 0:26:11.840 please receive the sacrifice we just offered you. May you 0:26:11.920 --> 0:26:14.840 forgive us, May you redeem us. May you look past 0:26:14.880 --> 0:26:17.560 our transgressions. They would have been praying for marriages to 0:26:17.600 --> 0:26:19.760 be healed. They would have been praying for children to 0:26:19.840 --> 0:26:21.720 be healed. They would have been praying for all those 0:26:21.720 --> 0:26:24.840 things individually, all the individual stuff that you're praying for. 0:26:24.920 --> 0:26:28.879 But maybe because you didn't see it happen, you started 0:26:28.920 --> 0:26:34.800 to withhold your petition. I wonder if disappointment has disconnected 0:26:34.840 --> 0:26:38.480 your vocal courts, and now you're not offering prayer to 0:26:38.520 --> 0:26:43.040 God anymore because you didn't see it happen in your timeline. 0:26:43.080 --> 0:26:45.879 It didn't happen in any thought. But there'd also be 0:26:45.920 --> 0:26:48.800 corporate prayers going on because the nation Israel was very 0:26:48.800 --> 0:26:53.240 familiar with oppression. They were under Egyptian slavery for over 0:26:53.280 --> 0:26:57.159 four hundred years, they were in Babylonian captivity for hundreds 0:26:57.200 --> 0:27:00.159 of years, and then now they're under Roman oppression. And 0:27:00.200 --> 0:27:03.000 they had knew the prophecies that a savior would come, 0:27:03.119 --> 0:27:06.560 a redeemer would come, someone would come one day. So 0:27:06.600 --> 0:27:08.879 all those prayers are being lifted up in the courtyard, 0:27:09.359 --> 0:27:11.879 And I wonder if we're complaining more about the culture 0:27:11.920 --> 0:27:15.320 than we are praying. I wonder what the sound of 0:27:15.359 --> 0:27:18.000 the courtyard of the Christian looks like. I'm wondering what 0:27:18.080 --> 0:27:20.320 it sounds like. Have we lost the prayer of the 0:27:20.400 --> 0:27:24.040 righteous or powerful and effective? What does it sound like 0:27:24.080 --> 0:27:27.320 in the courtyard of your life? Is your petitioning God? 0:27:28.680 --> 0:27:31.560 If the depth of my prayer is only me getting something, 0:27:31.560 --> 0:27:34.399 I'm in the shallow end of the faith pool, and 0:27:34.440 --> 0:27:36.440 I'm insulting God with the size of my prayer because 0:27:36.440 --> 0:27:39.040 I'm only wanting to get something from him. What I 0:27:39.080 --> 0:27:42.280 consider interceding for the body of Christ, what I consider 0:27:42.359 --> 0:27:45.919 eating interceding for this generation. All those things are going on, 0:27:46.359 --> 0:27:48.119 and just at the time all those prayers are being 0:27:48.200 --> 0:27:51.040 lifted up, Zachara is like, now it's my day. He 0:27:51.119 --> 0:27:54.280 gets picked he's ninety years old, to go back in 0:27:54.520 --> 0:27:57.240 and light the lamp. And as he does, he would 0:27:57.280 --> 0:27:59.200 go over and he would sprinkle some of the blood 0:27:59.240 --> 0:28:00.960 of the animals on the other. But as he does, 0:28:01.080 --> 0:28:03.159 he sees the Angel of the Lord standing there, and 0:28:03.200 --> 0:28:09.560 He's like, what you freak out too? And then he says, 0:28:09.560 --> 0:28:13.440 the angel says to him, your prayer has been heard, 0:28:14.400 --> 0:28:17.119 Oh my soul, and I Asus Zachar I had to 0:28:17.160 --> 0:28:19.600 like that. What is he talking about? Is that the 0:28:19.600 --> 0:28:22.480 prayer for the giveness of the families? Like, is that 0:28:22.600 --> 0:28:25.560 the prayerfer a savior? What is the prayer? What is it? 0:28:26.080 --> 0:28:29.320 Because I don't think he's prayed for a son in 0:28:29.400 --> 0:28:35.399 three decades. And then he says to him, your wife, 0:28:36.080 --> 0:28:39.960 Elizabeth will bury you a son, and you are to 0:28:40.000 --> 0:28:44.440 call him John. He will be a joy and a 0:28:44.480 --> 0:28:48.800 delight to you. And he's like, what are you talking about. 0:28:49.320 --> 0:28:51.640 I'm very old and my wife is very very old 0:28:51.920 --> 0:28:57.880 and her wound doesn't work. And he's like, what are 0:28:57.960 --> 0:29:05.800 you talking about? My the prayer he didn't remember. God 0:29:05.840 --> 0:29:13.800 never forgotten those tears you shed, sister, those private prayers 0:29:13.840 --> 0:29:17.760 that you cried into your pillow. God heard them. He 0:29:17.800 --> 0:29:21.360 hasn't forgotten them. He's not forgotten you. It might take 0:29:21.440 --> 0:29:24.800 seventy years, but God is faithful and he will show up. 0:29:25.480 --> 0:29:27.280 And I love that he's showing up on the scene 0:29:27.320 --> 0:29:32.000 of this story. It's like, and you will be a father, 0:29:33.080 --> 0:29:35.840 and she will bury you a son, and he will 0:29:35.840 --> 0:29:42.160 be a joy and a delight. Remember when you're changing 0:29:42.360 --> 0:29:49.640 that diaper as a delight, that would do well for 0:29:49.680 --> 0:29:53.040 some of you because the dream you had doesn't match 0:29:53.120 --> 0:29:55.440 up with the experience you have, and you don't see 0:29:55.480 --> 0:30:02.680 it as a delight. It's a duty. But it is 0:30:02.720 --> 0:30:05.280 a delight because he's been praying seventy years for a 0:30:05.360 --> 0:30:09.760 child and they finally is going to get it. And 0:30:09.800 --> 0:30:12.040 I love this story. And it goes on in in 0:30:12.120 --> 0:30:14.120 verse eighteen. It picks it up and I think the 0:30:14.120 --> 0:30:16.520 Angel's kind of looking at Zachary, all right, Zachari, what's 0:30:16.520 --> 0:30:19.240 it gonna be? What's it gonna be? Man? Are you ready? 0:30:19.400 --> 0:30:21.800 You've been praying for this? Here we go? And it 0:30:21.880 --> 0:30:25.560 says this in verse eighteen, it says Zachariah ask the Angel, 0:30:25.680 --> 0:30:28.400 how can I be sure of this? I'm an old 0:30:28.480 --> 0:30:32.880 man and my wife is well along in years. Then 0:30:32.920 --> 0:30:35.680 the Angel said him, I am Gabriel. I stand in 0:30:35.680 --> 0:30:38.000 the presence of God, and I've been sent speak to 0:30:38.080 --> 0:30:42.480 you and tell you this good news verse twenty. And 0:30:42.520 --> 0:30:45.960 now you will be silent and not be able to 0:30:46.000 --> 0:30:48.120 speak until the day this happens, because you did not 0:30:48.280 --> 0:30:52.160 believe my words, which will come true with their appointed time. 0:30:54.680 --> 0:30:57.680 I picture the Angel of the Lord standing here and 0:30:57.720 --> 0:31:00.600 he's asking Zachary, all right, what's it gonna be? What's 0:31:00.640 --> 0:31:02.640 it going to be? And then he hears this response 0:31:02.680 --> 0:31:11.880 and he's like, shut up, ship it. It might sound 0:31:11.960 --> 0:31:22.720 like God is punishing, He's protecting. God is more committed 0:31:22.720 --> 0:31:26.560 to your desire than you are. And I will not 0:31:26.720 --> 0:31:30.880 let your disbelief destroy what I'm trying to birth into 0:31:30.920 --> 0:31:34.240 your life. Some of us have killed in utero a 0:31:34.360 --> 0:31:37.560 dream and a desire because of the disbelief. We spoke 0:31:37.600 --> 0:31:41.240 over it. Some of you, if you examine your language, 0:31:42.960 --> 0:31:47.920 you have lived in disappointments so long. All that's coming 0:31:47.920 --> 0:31:52.360 out now is poison, and it is disbelief. Disbelief can 0:31:52.400 --> 0:31:54.880 be more corrosive to the Christian life than the devil. 0:31:56.400 --> 0:31:59.240 We give him way too much credit. What we destroy internally, 0:31:59.600 --> 0:32:01.640 sometimes this is way more than he will do externally. 0:32:02.760 --> 0:32:04.920 Some of you have lived with disappointment. It has become 0:32:04.960 --> 0:32:10.360 your best friend and you have made partner. But now 0:32:10.360 --> 0:32:14.400 that disappointment has gone to the level now it's disbelief. 0:32:15.840 --> 0:32:18.240 And I love it because I think in this verse 0:32:18.280 --> 0:32:23.600 it gives us a better definition of what disappointment is. 0:32:23.680 --> 0:32:26.560 Right at the end of verse twenty, it says, because 0:32:26.600 --> 0:32:29.680 you did not believe my words, which will come true, 0:32:29.840 --> 0:32:37.280 at their appointed time. God has appointed a time for 0:32:37.360 --> 0:32:41.440 that desire to be fulfilled. But when it doesn't happen 0:32:41.560 --> 0:32:48.600 on my appointed time, I've got disappointment. I wonder how 0:32:48.600 --> 0:32:51.160 many of us are schedules, are not sinking with Gods 0:32:51.560 --> 0:32:54.560 in ours is superseding his. And because it didn't happen 0:32:54.680 --> 0:32:59.560 on my timeline, and he wasn't disbelieving God because he 0:32:59.600 --> 0:33:01.680 hated God. He just didn't want to be disappointed again. 0:33:02.800 --> 0:33:04.600 The reason I couldn't pray for a child when we 0:33:04.600 --> 0:33:06.320 were pregnant at that time is I just didn't want 0:33:06.360 --> 0:33:09.000 to be disappointed anymore. So rather than be disappointed, I 0:33:09.040 --> 0:33:11.720 will lower my expectations. And some of us have lowered 0:33:11.720 --> 0:33:14.320 our expectation through the level of our experience because we 0:33:14.360 --> 0:33:16.280 never want to be disappointed again. And some of you 0:33:16.320 --> 0:33:19.400 have stopped expecting anything out of life. And I speak 0:33:19.440 --> 0:33:21.640 the word of God over you. He's coming into your 0:33:21.640 --> 0:33:24.200 lives and he's saying, I heard that desire. I didn't 0:33:24.240 --> 0:33:30.800 forget it, did you? And I always say shut up. 0:33:32.280 --> 0:33:34.120 Some of you need to pray the spirit of shut 0:33:34.240 --> 0:33:38.680 up over your life. I don't elbow your husband. I 0:33:38.720 --> 0:33:47.040 saw that Lord give my husband that spirit. Some if 0:33:47.080 --> 0:33:49.760 you want something to die, you need to starve it 0:33:52.920 --> 0:33:56.600 if you want that disappointment and that disbelief to die. 0:33:57.760 --> 0:34:01.880 Go in a twenty one day opinion fast. Some of 0:34:01.920 --> 0:34:04.120 you are so addicted to your opinion it just freely 0:34:04.160 --> 0:34:07.920 flows over everybody, even unsolicited. I think you should and 0:34:08.000 --> 0:34:10.000 I think you should, And it's coming from a place 0:34:10.000 --> 0:34:12.759 that you think is wisdom, but it is not. It 0:34:12.880 --> 0:34:15.720 is disbelief. I'm just keeping it real. No, you suck, 0:34:19.719 --> 0:34:24.920 and you are destroying what God is trying to build. 0:34:25.920 --> 0:34:29.239 And you now become the thermostat for your children and 0:34:29.360 --> 0:34:33.359 it becomes generational conditioning. Is they carry your Oh I'm 0:34:33.400 --> 0:34:45.479 preaching to myself right now, damen. Because Zachariah's deepest prayer 0:34:45.520 --> 0:34:48.640 was to have a child at an individual level, but 0:34:48.719 --> 0:34:52.200 there was also a corporate prayer for a Messiah, a savior. 0:34:52.719 --> 0:34:55.600 Both were happening in the same place. And what would 0:34:55.640 --> 0:34:58.960 happen with his son named John is he was supposed 0:34:59.000 --> 0:35:01.640 to be the one who would point people to Jesus. 0:35:02.080 --> 0:35:03.960 He would be the one to say, one coming after me, 0:35:04.120 --> 0:35:06.200 I'm not fit to tie his sandals. It is John 0:35:06.200 --> 0:35:10.520 the Baptist. You mean that God could answer Zachariah's prayer 0:35:10.719 --> 0:35:15.239 and the prayer of Nation Israel together. Yes, you are 0:35:15.360 --> 0:35:18.160 settling for too shallow on the desire of your heart, 0:35:18.280 --> 0:35:20.160 because God not only wants to do something in you, 0:35:20.400 --> 0:35:22.920 he wants to do something through you into the world. 0:35:23.520 --> 0:35:27.480 God mest Zachariah's deep desire and the petitions of Nation Israel. 0:35:27.840 --> 0:35:30.920 At the same time, God says, I'm gonna see your 0:35:30.920 --> 0:35:33.719 desire and I'm gonna one up it because I am 0:35:33.760 --> 0:35:35.920 that kind of God who can do immeasurably more than 0:35:35.960 --> 0:35:39.200 you can ask or imagine. And that's the kind of 0:35:39.239 --> 0:35:41.640 God that we serve. And that's what he was doing, 0:35:42.280 --> 0:35:46.319 and it is beautiful. But John's whole life was to 0:35:46.360 --> 0:35:54.080 point people to Jesus. And at the same time, the 0:35:54.160 --> 0:35:56.719 angel Gabriel is also going to be working in a 0:35:56.840 --> 0:36:02.480 sixteen year old virgin named Mary. In the very same story, 0:36:03.680 --> 0:36:07.799 the Angel is about to do another miraculous birth. You 0:36:07.880 --> 0:36:10.240 realize at the same time God's doing something, it's somebody 0:36:10.239 --> 0:36:13.120 in your row. You realize, at the same time God's 0:36:13.160 --> 0:36:15.399 doing something on somebody else in your city. He's doing 0:36:15.400 --> 0:36:17.360 something on somebody else in your campus. And if we 0:36:17.400 --> 0:36:19.720 would take a step back and see the bigger picture 0:36:19.760 --> 0:36:22.279 of what God is weaving together for his glory. It 0:36:22.360 --> 0:36:25.520 is absolutely beautiful. And God shows up on the life 0:36:25.520 --> 0:36:28.400 of a sixteen year old virgin. And if before the experience, 0:36:28.440 --> 0:36:30.480 I were to stand up here, a ninety year old man, 0:36:30.840 --> 0:36:35.279 a priest who's observing all the decrees in commands blamelessly, 0:36:35.880 --> 0:36:38.319 and a sixteen year old virgin girl, which one would 0:36:38.400 --> 0:36:41.520 you say has more wisdom? All of us would have 0:36:41.520 --> 0:36:44.919 started over here, because that's the human knowledge we bring 0:36:44.920 --> 0:36:48.000 to it. But God is of a different economy. And 0:36:48.040 --> 0:36:49.520 I want to give you one verse. I don't have 0:36:49.520 --> 0:36:50.960 time to unpack the whole thing, but I want to 0:36:51.000 --> 0:36:54.960 show you Mary because in the same chapter, chapter one 0:36:55.000 --> 0:36:58.480 of Luke, verse thirty eight, the Angel now comes. Since 0:36:58.480 --> 0:37:02.960 it's Mary, you are greatly favored. You are highly favored, 0:37:03.120 --> 0:37:05.600 and you will give birth to a child, to a child, 0:37:05.600 --> 0:37:08.000 and he will be the Messiah, and he will be great. 0:37:09.080 --> 0:37:13.919 And I love Mary's response. It says this in verse 0:37:14.280 --> 0:37:18.040 thirty eight. And Mary said, behold, I am the servant 0:37:18.160 --> 0:37:22.000 of the Lord. Let it be to me according to 0:37:22.160 --> 0:37:26.319 your word. Oh my goodness, it is beautiful. What's it 0:37:26.360 --> 0:37:29.040 gonna be? Are you gonna be like Zachariah, I don't 0:37:29.080 --> 0:37:31.160 know how can this be? Or are you gonna be? 0:37:31.239 --> 0:37:37.000 Like Mary? Let it be to me according to your word. 0:37:37.239 --> 0:37:40.200 What's is it gonna be? What's it gonna be? Are 0:37:40.239 --> 0:37:43.080 you gonna rely on your whole human wisdom that says 0:37:43.120 --> 0:37:45.920 that time has passed, that desire is buried? Are you 0:37:46.040 --> 0:37:49.360 gonna have an innocent faith? What can I be? For 0:37:49.440 --> 0:37:54.959 God's glory? Let it be to me? And I believe 0:37:54.960 --> 0:38:01.280 the Holy Spirit is stepping into your life whispering about 0:38:01.320 --> 0:38:06.279 those desires that you have buried in the graveyard of disappointment. 0:38:08.080 --> 0:38:10.759 And I believe God is calling some of you to 0:38:10.840 --> 0:38:16.040 go back and to reconsider and to pick those things up. 0:38:18.200 --> 0:38:26.120 And the Angel said to Zachariah, you will not speak 0:38:26.160 --> 0:38:31.480 again until this happens. That's nine plus months of silence. 0:38:32.400 --> 0:38:39.160 Elizabeth is pricing, Thank you, thank you, thank you. What 0:38:39.160 --> 0:38:43.759 would it look like for some of you to learn 0:38:43.760 --> 0:38:48.560 to be silent rather than the poison of the past 0:38:50.880 --> 0:38:55.080 and the disappointment that's now become disbelief be just spewed 0:38:55.160 --> 0:38:58.239 on everybody. What if you were to settle into the 0:38:58.239 --> 0:39:01.839 spirit of silence. This says, I don't understand it, but 0:39:02.120 --> 0:39:07.000 let it be to me according to your words. So 0:39:07.040 --> 0:39:11.080 now as we get to the end of Luke fifty seven, 0:39:11.120 --> 0:39:15.879 this is where we started. I think Zachariah is getting 0:39:15.920 --> 0:39:20.120 another opportunity. He's getting a second chance here and a 0:39:20.200 --> 0:39:23.319 verse fifty seven, it says when it was time for 0:39:23.360 --> 0:39:27.200 Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 0:39:28.560 --> 0:39:33.120 What a beautiful occasion. She's almost ninety years old at 0:39:33.120 --> 0:39:35.920 this point. Her friends would have been holding their great 0:39:35.960 --> 0:39:41.239 great great grandchild, and she's holding her firstborn. It might 0:39:41.239 --> 0:39:44.400 take a few generations, but it will happen in your life. 0:39:45.400 --> 0:39:49.560 I don't know when I speak over you that it 0:39:49.600 --> 0:39:56.680 will happen at its appointed time, not your appointed time, 0:39:57.719 --> 0:40:04.120 at his appointed time. Her relative, her neighbors, and relatives 0:40:04.160 --> 0:40:06.640 heard that the Lord has shown her great mercy, and 0:40:06.680 --> 0:40:10.520 they shared her joy. I don't think they shared at 0:40:10.520 --> 0:40:15.000 the same level. She did. Think about the woman who 0:40:16.200 --> 0:40:19.000 the whispers of the community were one that her wound 0:40:19.000 --> 0:40:21.839 was barren, and she wasn't a good enough wife. And 0:40:21.880 --> 0:40:24.080 if in that culture you didn't have a child, you 0:40:24.120 --> 0:40:28.840 were lower than cattle. So she walked through life feeling 0:40:28.920 --> 0:40:35.160 unworthy by everybody, and yet she remained faithful with the 0:40:35.280 --> 0:40:39.279 duty that God had given her, child of God. I 0:40:39.320 --> 0:40:41.680 know the grief is significant, but you can be faithful 0:40:41.880 --> 0:40:46.319 with what He's put in your hands. You absolutely can. 0:40:46.520 --> 0:40:48.080 I don't think they fully shared in the joy that 0:40:48.120 --> 0:40:52.600 she had. And when it happens in your life, people 0:40:52.640 --> 0:40:55.399 will try to be there to celebrate you. But God 0:40:55.440 --> 0:40:58.359 is in that moment with you, and he's saying, well done, 0:40:59.200 --> 0:41:08.000 good and faithful servant. And on the eighth day they 0:41:08.040 --> 0:41:11.319 came to circumcise the child, and they were gonna name 0:41:11.400 --> 0:41:15.160 him after his father, Zachariah, but his mother spoke up 0:41:15.200 --> 0:41:20.200 and said, no, he is to be called John. They 0:41:20.239 --> 0:41:23.239 said to her, there's no one among your relatives who 0:41:23.320 --> 0:41:29.799 has that name. It's funny. Who are they? Who are they? 0:41:30.360 --> 0:41:33.759 They that said you're too stupid, They that said you'll 0:41:33.800 --> 0:41:36.319 be a statistic They that said you will be just 0:41:36.440 --> 0:41:38.680 like your father. They that said you will never amount 0:41:38.719 --> 0:41:40.960 to anything. They that said, you gave that part of 0:41:41.040 --> 0:41:43.360 yourself away, and you are a second rate, second class, 0:41:43.440 --> 0:41:45.440 and you don't deserve it to see the table, just 0:41:45.480 --> 0:41:49.160 settle for crumbs on the floor. Who are they? They 0:41:49.200 --> 0:41:51.879 don't have in mind the things of God. All they 0:41:51.960 --> 0:41:54.440 saw was the past and God says, I'm about to 0:41:54.480 --> 0:41:57.400 do something new. How dare you label things according to 0:41:57.440 --> 0:42:00.560 the past. I'm about to do a new thing in you. 0:42:01.400 --> 0:42:04.800 It's a new thing. It won't look like the past, 0:42:06.640 --> 0:42:11.800 So don't use the labels of a previous generation. Zachari. 0:42:11.880 --> 0:42:15.480 That's that name was good for who needed it. But 0:42:15.560 --> 0:42:19.440 the assignment on this child is different. Some of you 0:42:19.560 --> 0:42:27.880 have been labeled according to they, he is to be called. 0:42:29.960 --> 0:42:34.600 They didn't believe Elizabeth and I love this in verse 0:42:34.640 --> 0:42:36.520 sixty two because I think this is the second chance. 0:42:37.800 --> 0:42:40.839 I think Zachari is getting another opportunity because the first time, 0:42:40.920 --> 0:42:43.040 all it was when the angel showed up to was disbelief. 0:42:43.320 --> 0:42:45.960 How could I be sure of this? That was the 0:42:46.040 --> 0:42:50.200 last thing he said. He hadn't spoken in nine plus 0:42:50.800 --> 0:42:55.279 months Verse sixty two. Then they made signs to his 0:42:55.320 --> 0:42:56.799 father to find out what he would like to name 0:42:56.840 --> 0:42:59.160 the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to 0:42:59.200 --> 0:43:05.719 everyone's astonished, he wrote, his name is John. He didn't 0:43:05.719 --> 0:43:10.560 even say it, he just wrote it. He just wrote. 0:43:10.640 --> 0:43:12.640 Some of you need to write something down. God spoke 0:43:12.719 --> 0:43:14.560 something into your spirit that if you do not write it, 0:43:14.600 --> 0:43:18.560 you will forget it. Don't forfeit the revelation because you 0:43:18.600 --> 0:43:21.840 don't capture it. God is breathing something into your spirit 0:43:21.920 --> 0:43:23.680 right now. Would you capture it so that you don't 0:43:23.719 --> 0:43:25.799 forget it? The devil wants to snatch it from you. 0:43:26.080 --> 0:43:28.239 God says, no, write it down. I needs you to 0:43:28.280 --> 0:43:36.400 be sure of it. His name is John. Immediately whoo, 0:43:37.360 --> 0:43:39.560 his mouth was open, his tongue was set free, and 0:43:39.600 --> 0:43:42.960 he began to speak praising God. The last time his 0:43:43.040 --> 0:43:46.920 mouth was open, poison was flowing out. Now it's all 0:43:46.960 --> 0:43:50.120 about praise. Now I'm gonna be praising him. Now, I'm 0:43:50.120 --> 0:43:52.680 gonna be thanking him. Now I'm gonna be worshiping. I'm 0:43:52.680 --> 0:43:58.399 gonna be praising God. Do you mean that mouth that's 0:43:58.440 --> 0:44:05.719 so familiar with disbelief can be switched over to speak praise? Yes, 0:44:06.880 --> 0:44:09.839 you can discipline your tongue. How do you discipline your 0:44:09.880 --> 0:44:12.520 tongue by remaining faithful with the duty He's put in 0:44:12.520 --> 0:44:22.080 your hands. What's interesting about the story is everything has 0:44:22.120 --> 0:44:25.880 been pointing to Jesus. The Bible points to Jesus. John's 0:44:25.880 --> 0:44:31.719 life is pointing to Jesus. Zachariah at that time. The 0:44:31.760 --> 0:44:34.600 way that the law was written is when he was 0:44:34.680 --> 0:44:37.759 picked to go into this holy place. He would have 0:44:37.880 --> 0:44:41.600 only had the chance to do that once in his life. 0:44:41.760 --> 0:44:46.520 It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he 0:44:46.560 --> 0:44:51.000 would never get that opportunity again. And some of you 0:44:51.120 --> 0:44:57.279 feel like that, You feel like you forfeited the opportunity. 0:44:57.960 --> 0:45:05.640 But Jesus, But Jesus, because John's life was pointing to Jesus, 0:45:05.719 --> 0:45:08.160 the scriptures are pointing to Jesus. You need to understand. 0:45:08.160 --> 0:45:11.439 In the courtyard of the Temple, when they would bring 0:45:11.440 --> 0:45:15.480 in these animal sacrifices, you realize that Jesus was the 0:45:15.680 --> 0:45:19.360 lamb slain before the foundations. All of the temple was 0:45:19.400 --> 0:45:22.120 pointing to Jesus. Every part of it was pointing to him. 0:45:22.280 --> 0:45:25.000 His blood was offered for the forgiveness of sins. You 0:45:25.080 --> 0:45:27.440 realize that Jesus is in the Holy Place. He is 0:45:27.480 --> 0:45:30.440 the light of the world. You realize that he is 0:45:30.480 --> 0:45:32.719 the media, the one that gives us access to God. 0:45:32.960 --> 0:45:36.880 You realize that he is the bread of life. It 0:45:36.960 --> 0:45:45.640 is all pointing to Jesus. And then as Jesus is 0:45:45.680 --> 0:45:51.160 on the cross, he says, Father, into your hands, I 0:45:51.239 --> 0:45:58.680 commit my spirit. And he breathed his last breath, and 0:45:58.800 --> 0:46:04.080 as he did, the veil was torn, separating us from God, 0:46:04.680 --> 0:46:06.880 and he created a way for us to come into 0:46:07.360 --> 0:46:16.560 his presence, and he says, Father, into your hands, I 0:46:16.600 --> 0:46:18.600 commit my spirit. Why would he say that? Because the 0:46:18.680 --> 0:46:26.040 Father delighted in the sun, and the son's duty was 0:46:26.080 --> 0:46:29.560 to be obedient for the joy set before him. He 0:46:29.680 --> 0:46:33.040 endured the cross, scorning and shame. What's it going to be? 0:46:33.160 --> 0:46:37.680 Child of God? Are you going to keep letting disappointment 0:46:37.760 --> 0:46:42.600 keep Jesus at a distance. Are you going to keep 0:46:42.680 --> 0:46:48.319 labeling yourself according to your lowest moments? Are you going 0:46:48.400 --> 0:46:52.200 to live in an outdated Old Testament sacrificial system that 0:46:52.239 --> 0:46:55.160 it's all about you bludgeoning yourself and proving to God 0:46:55.160 --> 0:46:57.560 you're good enough? Or are you going to receive the 0:46:57.640 --> 0:47:02.120 forgiveness that's found in Jesus. What's it going to be? 0:47:02.239 --> 0:47:04.520 Child of God? What's it going to be? Doing you 0:47:04.520 --> 0:47:08.120 your way or coming to Jesus? Stand up here at 0:47:08.160 --> 0:47:11.520 Balancine all of our locations, and I want to give 0:47:11.560 --> 0:47:15.200 somebody an invitation to place their faith in Jesus. You 0:47:15.239 --> 0:47:19.800 have been playing religion, You've been purposing to try harder 0:47:20.680 --> 0:47:24.479 and do better, but you are separated from God because 0:47:24.480 --> 0:47:27.840 of your sin, and I really want to speak to 0:47:27.840 --> 0:47:32.160 somebody who's living in the land of disappointment. That disappointment 0:47:32.200 --> 0:47:35.279 where it didn't happen on your timeline, has made you 0:47:35.320 --> 0:47:39.000 feel like God has forgotten you. The evidence of the 0:47:39.000 --> 0:47:43.239 scripture would suggest that he's not forgotten you. He sees you, 0:47:44.000 --> 0:47:45.880 he hears you, and he's in this moment with you. 0:47:46.680 --> 0:47:48.800 And if you need to begin a relationship with Jesus 0:47:49.680 --> 0:47:51.800 or you've wandered away and you need to come back 0:47:51.840 --> 0:47:53.920 to him, I want to lead us all in a 0:47:53.920 --> 0:47:57.320 prayer enough for someone to begin that relationship, to profess 0:47:57.360 --> 0:48:00.359 that Jesus is Lord and be forgiven, and of all 0:48:00.360 --> 0:48:02.520 of your sins, would you buy your heads? Would you 0:48:02.560 --> 0:48:05.759 close your eyes? I don't want everybody praying this out 0:48:05.800 --> 0:48:11.640 loud with me. I believe that Jesus Christ is the 0:48:11.640 --> 0:48:15.919 Son of God who died on the cross and rose 0:48:15.920 --> 0:48:20.440 from the grave to forgive me of my sin. I 0:48:20.520 --> 0:48:24.279 give you my life, I give you my sin, I 0:48:24.400 --> 0:48:28.400 give you my shame. Forgive me, and I'll spend my 0:48:28.440 --> 0:48:32.520 life following you with your head still bowed and your 0:48:32.560 --> 0:48:34.759 eyes still closed. If you just placed your faith in 0:48:34.880 --> 0:48:37.719 Jesus or you're coming back to him. I'm going to 0:48:37.800 --> 0:48:40.800 count to three, and when I get there, without hesitation, 0:48:41.000 --> 0:48:43.319 I need you to boldly shoot your hand into the air. 0:48:43.480 --> 0:48:47.040 This is your moment. One, two, three, shoot your hand 0:48:47.120 --> 0:48:50.400 up all across the sauditorum. Come on, let's celebrate that, 0:48:50.520 --> 0:48:55.839 Elevation Church, come on, celebrate that. Hey. 0:48:55.840 --> 0:48:58.200 I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, 0:48:58.719 --> 0:49:01.319 make sure to share it and subscribe so we can 0:49:01.360 --> 0:49:03.960 get you all of these new messages as soon as 0:49:03.960 --> 0:49:06.759 they're available. I also want to take a moment and 0:49:06.880 --> 0:49:08.640 thank all of you who are a part of Elevation. 0:49:09.160 --> 0:49:12.520 Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or 0:49:12.880 --> 0:49:15.600 just share these messages, it's because of you that we're 0:49:15.640 --> 0:49:18.080 able to reach people all around the world. 0:49:18.280 --> 0:49:20.799 And if you want more information on how to. 0:49:20.719 --> 0:49:24.000 Be a part of Elevation, click the link in the description. 0:49:24.520 --> 0:49:25.520 Thanks again for listening. 0:49:25.520 --> 0:49:28.920 Make sure to leave a review, share the message, and subscribe. 0:49:29.160 --> 0:49:38.600 God bless you.