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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation

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Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank

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Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope

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Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to

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Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message

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Speaker 1: God is Great, which you turn to the person next

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Speaker 1: to you and tell them God is with you today.

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Speaker 1: Look at him again and say I can tell and

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Speaker 1: ask them would you like a hug? And if they

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Speaker 1: don't cuss at you, give them a big hug. I

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Speaker 1: want you to turn around and give about four or

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Speaker 1: five hugs all over the room. Hey, congratulations Elevation Columbia

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Speaker 1: on your new building. Congratulations to all of our locations.

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Speaker 1: You made it to church. Congratulations to you. You made

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Speaker 1: it through another week, You made it to another day.

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Speaker 1: Come on, how many are grateful to be in the

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Speaker 1: number one more day? That's my section right there. I

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Speaker 1: found my section right there. Who better be glad they're

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Speaker 1: not on the front row. We would never get out

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Speaker 1: of worship. I saw some rowdiness over and here too.

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Speaker 1: It was weird because you know, Christmas season is supposed

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Speaker 1: to get stuffy everybody gets real busy and hateful. No

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Speaker 1: greater way to tell Jesus Happy Birthday than to run

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Speaker 1: up our credit cards, get stressed out and hate everything.

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Speaker 1: So we kind of try to make it countercultural. And

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Speaker 1: I like to take a little extra time during worship

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Speaker 1: before I preach as we lead to the holidays, just

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Speaker 1: because the seed of the Word of God is always pure.

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Speaker 1: But if the soil of your heart is not plowed,

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Speaker 1: you can't receive it. And one thing that I do

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Speaker 1: understand is that sometimes it takes us a lot to

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Speaker 1: get to church. And you know, if you're watching online,

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Speaker 1: Oh man, you've already had three distractions, haven't you. You

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Speaker 1: already had a virus pop up on your PC? And

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Speaker 1: what are you gonna do about that? Well, let's just

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Speaker 1: block it all out, because all the hell that you

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Speaker 1: have to go through when you get home doesn't stand

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Speaker 1: a chance. In this place. For the next few minutes,

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Speaker 1: while we preach God's words, I want to bring Heaven

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Speaker 1: down to your heart for a few minutes. So just

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Speaker 1: for the next half hour or so, half hour or so,

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Speaker 1: I want to preach a thought to your heart today

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Speaker 1: from the Christmas story. And I do also want to

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Speaker 1: say what JJ said, I assume all of the campus

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Speaker 1: pastors and our online team thank you for your remarkable generosity.

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Speaker 1: Of course, our year end offering comes all the way

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Speaker 1: to the end of the year, but I want to

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Speaker 1: thank all of you who already stepped up and gave

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Speaker 1: artrificially faithfully. Man, God's gonna use that in a great way.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. Always feels weird saying thank you

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Speaker 1: because I know you didn't give it to me or

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Speaker 1: for me. You gave it to God. And one thing

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Speaker 1: I know about God, he will not be outgiven. So

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Speaker 1: be expectant for Him to do things in your life

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Speaker 1: over the next few weeks. I don't know who this

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Speaker 1: is for, man, I got to get to my scripture.

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Speaker 1: I'm just taking so much time doing this. But God

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Speaker 1: can do something at the end of this year that

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Speaker 1: will make all the hell you went through all year

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Speaker 1: long irrelevant in the scope of it. And I don't

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Speaker 1: even know what it's gonna be. It could be a perspective.

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Speaker 1: I noticed that God has been blessing me with better

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Speaker 1: perspective the last few days. I can't explain it, just

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Speaker 1: been opening my eyes, like look at that. Woke up

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Speaker 1: this morning super early to pray for you, humble brag,

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Speaker 1: and saw both of the boys vehicles still in the

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Speaker 1: driveway and thought, thank you Lord for bringing them home

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Speaker 1: safe again. Another day, another night, and you have to

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Speaker 1: stand next to my daughter during worship today. Y'all don't

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Speaker 1: know this, but Abby was a co writer on that song,

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Speaker 1: same God. I'm not giving her any royalties. Here's our contribution.

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Speaker 1: When we wrote the song, Originally it was I'm calling

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Speaker 1: on the God of David, I'm calling on the God

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Speaker 1: of Jacob, I'm calling on the God of Moses. And

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Speaker 1: I always wanted to put a woman in the song,

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Speaker 1: but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I

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Speaker 1: thought it was kind of, you know, kind of lopsided

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Speaker 1: to just have all men in the song. And I

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Speaker 1: showed Abby the demo and she said, I love that song.

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Speaker 1: Why isn't there a woman? And it was a confirmation.

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Speaker 1: I didn't even tell her that I'd felt bad about

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Speaker 1: it too. And I called my buddy Pat Barrett, and

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Speaker 1: we had already recorded the song that was the bad

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Speaker 1: part about it, and we decided we needed a verse

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Speaker 1: about I'm calling on the God of Mary, whose favor

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Speaker 1: rests upon the low ly, and I love what it says.

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Speaker 1: I know with you, all things are possible, big things,

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Speaker 1: little things, pretty things, ugly things, things seen, things unseen.

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Speaker 1: All things are possible. And we're going to share from

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Speaker 1: a scripture that coincides with that. In Luke chapter one,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to read a very lengthy part of this

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Speaker 1: Verses twenty six through forty one, but you can handle it.

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Speaker 1: I also leaned over to Abby and said, next year,

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Speaker 1: me and you were singing O Holy Night together as

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Speaker 1: a duet. Get ready, She rolled her eyes. We'll see,

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Speaker 1: we'll see. It's a voluntary offer. Pray about it. Wasn't

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Speaker 1: the music beautiful? Today? We got the best. Oh, we

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Speaker 1: got singers that sing so good. You can't even tell

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Speaker 1: if they prayed or not. They just sound so good.

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Speaker 1: I think that's the Holy Spirit, or it was the

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Speaker 1: vocal chords or both. But I thank God for our team.

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Speaker 1: I'm excited about the Christmas services December twenty second through

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Speaker 1: twenty four. That's Christmas at Elevation dot Com. Now it's

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Speaker 1: time for the scripture. Luke chapter one, verse twenty six.

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Speaker 1: In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the

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Speaker 1: angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: come back to that. You'll forget it because I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: read so much, but that verse is coming back. He

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Speaker 1: sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, the town in Galilee,

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Speaker 1: to a virgin pledged to be married to a man

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Speaker 1: named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

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Speaker 1: The angel went to her and said, greetings, you who

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Speaker 1: are highly favored. The Lord is with you. That's why

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Speaker 1: I had you tell your neighbor the Lord is with you.

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Speaker 1: I want you to see how it felt to talk

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Speaker 1: to an angel. And verse twenty nine says I could

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Speaker 1: preach that goodn't I? Mary was greatly troubled. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

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Speaker 1: I thought he said something that was nice. In a

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Speaker 1: compliment with the abill says Mary was greatly troubled. Did

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Speaker 1: you know you can be highly favored and greatly troubled

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Speaker 1: at the same time. Come on, not let you know

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Speaker 1: what I'm talking about her. I'm gonna start citing specific

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Speaker 1: things in this room. You can be anointed and addicted.

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Speaker 1: You can be saved and struggling. Yeah, you can be

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Speaker 1: grateful and a gossip. You can be favored and afraid,

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Speaker 1: and just because you feel afraid sometimes doesn't cancel out

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Speaker 1: the favor in your life. I want to tell somebody today,

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Speaker 1: the favor doesn't care about your feelings. When God has

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Speaker 1: a purpose for your life, He's going to do his

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Speaker 1: work what he's gonna do, no matter how you feel

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Speaker 1: about it, no matter you're mood about it. But you

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Speaker 1: get to decide if you want to be a willing participant.

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Speaker 1: So Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered

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Speaker 1: what kind of greeting this might be. But the Angel

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Speaker 1: said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, you have

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Speaker 1: found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth

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Speaker 1: to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.

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Speaker 1: You are to call him Jesus. He will be great

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Speaker 1: and will be called the son of the Most High.

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Speaker 1: The Lord God will give him the throne of his

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Speaker 1: father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever.

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Speaker 1: His kingdom will never end. What an interesting beginning for

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Speaker 1: a kingdom that will never end. The virgin womb of

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Speaker 1: a woman change the world. Now watch this, she hears

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Speaker 1: all that. In Verse thirty four says, how will this be,

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Speaker 1: Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin, and

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Speaker 1: the Angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come on you.

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Speaker 1: The power of the most High will overshadow you. So

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Speaker 1: the holy one to be born will be called the

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Speaker 1: Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to

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Speaker 1: have a child in her old age, And she who

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Speaker 1: was said to be unable to con is in her

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Speaker 1: six month. Watch God do stuff that people said he

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Speaker 1: couldn't do. Watch God do stuff that people said he

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Speaker 1: couldn't do, she who was said to be unable to

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Speaker 1: conceive his in her six month. For no word from

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Speaker 1: God will ever fail. Well, since you put it like that,

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Speaker 1: I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered, may your word

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Speaker 1: to me be fulfilled. Then the Angel left her, and

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Speaker 1: at that time Mary got ready and hurried to a

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Speaker 1: town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered

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Speaker 1: Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth less verse. When Elizabeth heard

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Speaker 1: Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth

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Speaker 1: was filled with the Holy Spirit. All right, now, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna give your title. I got good news for you today.

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Speaker 1: This is gonna be the best holiday message you've ever

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Speaker 1: heard in your life. Look at your neighbor and tell

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Speaker 1: him my title. You don't have to. Didn't that feel

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Speaker 1: good to hear that? All the stuff you gotta do

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Speaker 1: between now and December twenty fifth. Look at your other neighbor,

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Speaker 1: the one you really wanted to talk to all along,

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Speaker 1: but you were just being nice to that guy, and

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Speaker 1: tell them you don't have to. Let's give God praise

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Speaker 1: in the place. Come on, if you want to, you

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Speaker 1: don't have to. You may be seated if I start

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Speaker 1: preaching in a minute. You want to stand back up,

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Speaker 1: you can, but you don't have to. Now. The Lord

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Speaker 1: was convicting me recently because I was going through a

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Speaker 1: list of responsibilities. And the responsibilities I was listing were

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Speaker 1: formerly prayer requests that I had prayed. It was little

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Speaker 1: baby prayers that I prayed that were now full grown jobs.

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Speaker 1: And I noticed something in my language, and the Lord

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Speaker 1: really checked me on it. Everything had got to in

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Speaker 1: front of it, everything everything, And I would love to

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Speaker 1: tell you that it was just the things that I

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Speaker 1: didn't want to do. You know, I've got to and

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Speaker 1: I'm not going to say something I don't want to

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Speaker 1: do because it might offend somebody in the room. You know,

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Speaker 1: I would never say I've got to preach, but well,

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Speaker 1: sometimes it does feel like that. You know the people

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Speaker 1: are coming, and as you know, I gotta, I gotta

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Speaker 1: get ready, I got to. And sometimes I want to

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Speaker 1: go watch my kids play volleyball or wrestle and and

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Speaker 1: I say I got to go to Grandstattional. I don't

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Speaker 1: think there's anything you know wrong about that the semantics

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Speaker 1: of stating things. I don't ever want to be one

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Speaker 1: of these vocabulary police Christians that when you say I

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Speaker 1: got lucky, I got a parking space, they say there's

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Speaker 1: no such thing as luck. You're blessed in highly favored.

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Speaker 1: It's like, no, listen, Actually, if God probably wants me

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Speaker 1: to get some extra walking, so he probably did not

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Speaker 1: give me the parkings base close to the front door

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Speaker 1: at the gym, that doesn't even logically make sense. It

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Speaker 1: was just luck. But in all of the got tos,

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Speaker 1: I realized, sometimes I lose my get to spirit. Okay,

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Speaker 1: And I don't know if the season and the pressures

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Speaker 1: and demands thereof have stripped some of the delights for you,

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Speaker 1: But I just found recently that everything felt like a

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Speaker 1: got to, even stuff that I love preaching to you

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Speaker 1: supporting my kids. I even said to my barber, I

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Speaker 1: gotta go uh, because I got date night with Holly,

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Speaker 1: and I got to go on this date night. Got

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Speaker 1: to go on date night with Holly. I would have

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Speaker 1: killed seventeen men to go on a date with her

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Speaker 1: when we were in college. I would have slipped their

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Speaker 1: throats and prayed for resurrection. But you like that? Why

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Speaker 1: did you like that? That's the loudest applause We've got

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Speaker 1: all days for throats slitting imagery. Well, maybe you need

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Speaker 1: this message too, because there can come a point in

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Speaker 1: all of our lives where the God, who has graciously

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Speaker 1: given us so many good gifts, begins to feel to

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Speaker 1: us either like a silent benefactor that we forget to think,

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Speaker 1: or an obligator rather than a bringer of the good

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Speaker 1: news of the Gospel, who has set us free from

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Speaker 1: the law of sin and death, and has graciously given

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Speaker 1: us all things richly to enjoy. For if He gave

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Speaker 1: his own son for us, and did not spare him,

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Speaker 1: but gave him up for us, how will he not

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Speaker 1: much more give us all things? But a lot of

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Speaker 1: the gifts that God gives us become prisons. Because our

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Speaker 1: perspective is so overwhelmed by the pressure. Everybody say pressure,

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Speaker 1: because I know you got some pressure. I got some pressure.

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Speaker 1: And what we're trying to establish in our time together

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Speaker 1: today in my sermon, and what I thought I would

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Speaker 1: try to help you to do before you go into

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Speaker 1: the next few weeks, this YEurope, and see what God

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Speaker 1: has for you in twenty twenty five, look alive in

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Speaker 1: twenty five, before you get all that going, I thought

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Speaker 1: I would try to get you back to realizing that

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Speaker 1: you've got a God who didn't have to give you

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Speaker 1: anything that he gave you. And it's not good to

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Speaker 1: have a god to spirit when you serve a get

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Speaker 1: to God. One of the things I love about the

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Speaker 1: passage that we read today was the sense of privilege

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Speaker 1: that Mary seemed to receive this invitation to carry the

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Speaker 1: Son of God with And I know that it must

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Speaker 1: have also felt like pressure, But somehow she was able

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Speaker 1: to view the pressure of carrying the sinless son of

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Speaker 1: God in her virgin womb as a privilege, and so

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Speaker 1: she accepted that assignment. But one of the things that

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Speaker 1: pressure will do in your life is not only turn

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Speaker 1: things that you used to delight in into things that

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Speaker 1: you actually dread, which I could preach a whole sermon

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Speaker 1: about that, but it could also if you're not careful,

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Speaker 1: it can turn things that you ought to praise God

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Speaker 1: for into things that you feel pride about. That is

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Speaker 1: often when we feel the heaviness of our responsibility. You know,

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Speaker 1: somebody's got to put these Christmas lights up, somebody's got

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Speaker 1: to make all the plans. Somebody's got to decide whose

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Speaker 1: house we're going to eat at. Somebody's got to figure

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Speaker 1: out who's going to bring the macaroni. And I don't

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Speaker 1: really want Susan to bring it because I don't like

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Speaker 1: her macaroni, and I think it's kind of dirty and

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Speaker 1: it's kind of a little too cheesy. Somebody has to

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Speaker 1: keep the cheese ratio in the macaroni together. I mean,

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Speaker 1: the whole universe is kind of hinging on it, isn't it.

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Speaker 1: And then we come to something like this And it

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Speaker 1: only takes one sentence to shift Mary from how in

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Speaker 1: the world to let it be? And I thought that

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Speaker 1: was so powerful when I read it. I thought it

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Speaker 1: was it was so amazing and so admirable of Mary

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Speaker 1: to go from how are we going to do this?

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Speaker 1: To let it be just like you said. And I

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Speaker 1: think there is something powerful about when you get a

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Speaker 1: real word from God that you can't explain it. It's subtle,

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Speaker 1: it's usually not visible to other people's eyes, but something

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Speaker 1: shifts in a moment when God speaks and you go

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Speaker 1: from I've got to to He's got this, and you

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Speaker 1: can't even explain how you got there. It's an invisible

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Speaker 1: path you take, and you've been there before. You've gone

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Speaker 1: from there's no way I'm going to do this to

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Speaker 1: I don't really know how I did it, but it's done.

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Speaker 1: You've been in seasons of your life where you've looked

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Speaker 1: at your schedule and thought, I'll be dead at the

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Speaker 1: end of this. Breathe in, breathe out in the devil's face,

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Speaker 1: just to let him know he was a liar for

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Speaker 1: everything he said. You weren't gonna make it through. In

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, there were some things, Oh, I feel

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Speaker 1: like preach him that you look got out in front

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Speaker 1: of you, and when they were in front of you,

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Speaker 1: you were afraid. But now they're behind you. If you

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Speaker 1: were afraid when they were in front of you, shouldn't

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Speaker 1: you give God praise now that they're behind you. And

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Speaker 1: the truth is, you wouldn't believe what I'm standing on

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Speaker 1: today because I could have tripped over it. But somehow

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Speaker 1: God turned what I could have tripped on into something

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Speaker 1: that I'm standing on and I have a testimony. Free

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Speaker 1: Pentecostal people give God a tambourine praise because I'm saying.

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Speaker 1: I'm saying that if Jesus came into the world through

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Speaker 1: a virgin wound, there's nothing he can't do. Now, it's

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Speaker 1: important theologically speaking for Jesus to be born of a virgin,

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Speaker 1: first of all. And you want to take down notes

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Speaker 1: to show your friends that you actually came to church

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Speaker 1: like a doctor's excuse or something, write down this. He

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Speaker 1: came through a virgin because he had to be clean.

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Speaker 1: He had to be clean, and if he were born

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Speaker 1: with a human father, he would carry the seed of

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Speaker 1: the sin of Adam. So it had to be a virgin.

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Speaker 1: That's not just a Catholic thing, that's a clean thing.

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Speaker 1: The unclean cannot be redeemed by the unclean. The only

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Speaker 1: thing that can redeem the unclean, that's me, that's you,

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Speaker 1: is a clean thing that's not me, that's not you.

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Speaker 1: So in order for God to redeem you. He had

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Speaker 1: to send a clean thing into the earth, and the

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Speaker 1: only way for it to be a clean thing was

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Speaker 1: for it to not come from Joseph. It had to

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Speaker 1: come from God. Jesus, if he had been born through

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Speaker 1: Joseph in Mary's womb, would not have been able to

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Speaker 1: pay the price on the cross. So he had to

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Speaker 1: be clean. And then he also had to be born

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Speaker 1: of a virgin, not only because it was prophesied that

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Speaker 1: he would be, but because he wanted to come close.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you do understand that Jesus could have come

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Speaker 1: repelling from the staircase of Heaven, gone straight to the cross,

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Speaker 1: and skipped all the storms on the Sea of Galilee.

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Speaker 1: There was no rule that said God had to send

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Speaker 1: Jesus as a baby. But I think one of the

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Speaker 1: reasons that he sent Jesus as a baby to a

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Speaker 1: virgin womb is not only because Jesus had to be

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Speaker 1: clean and because Jesus wanted to be close, but because

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Speaker 1: He also wanted Jesus to get credit clean close credit

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Speaker 1: the Three Seeds of Christmas. That Jesus was clean, born

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Speaker 1: of a virgin, not of the seed of a man,

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Speaker 1: but the seed of God. The perfect, spotless lamb of

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Speaker 1: God who takes away the sin of the world. The

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Speaker 1: lion of the tribe of Judah, who rolled back the

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Speaker 1: stone and stood up with the keys of death, hell

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Speaker 1: and the grave. He was clean, he was close. And

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Speaker 1: the thing about a virgin having a baby is she

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Speaker 1: can't take any credit, and neither can the man. Why

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Speaker 1: ain't taking time to explain about a virgin having a baby?

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Speaker 1: Pastor Stephen on Christmas? Because obviously God thought it important

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Speaker 1: enough that he started the entire Gospel story with it.

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Speaker 1: And I wonder if it's because he wants you to

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Speaker 1: realize that this thing did not start with you, so

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Speaker 1: this thing doesn't have to be sustained by you. I

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Speaker 1: wonder if why you feel so much unnecessary pressure is

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Speaker 1: because you're trying to sustain something that you didn't even start.

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Speaker 1: I mean, how much did you have with being born

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Speaker 1: the first time? Not too much. I mean, you came

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Speaker 1: on out eventually, but you didn't take much credit, did you.

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Speaker 1: I don't even know why we're singing happy birthday to you.

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Speaker 1: We'll I'll be singing happy birthday to the one who

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Speaker 1: pushed you out. But see, we like to take credit

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Speaker 1: for stuff and then that spills over into our Christianity

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Speaker 1: because we didn't have anything to do with being born

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Speaker 1: again either. If you want to get down to it,

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Speaker 1: I mean most of us in here we tried so

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Speaker 1: hard to push God away. It's not like we had

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Speaker 1: some awesome resume to present to the redeemer of the universe,

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Speaker 1: all the reasons why he should recruit us for his service.

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Speaker 1: Now that's not your story. The matter of the fact

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Speaker 1: is you were dead in your sin, but God. And

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Speaker 1: so we come to the Cradle of Christmas realizing that

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Speaker 1: the reason Jesus was born as a baby from the

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Speaker 1: womb of a virgin and a place called Galilee of

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Speaker 1: the Gentiles, was so that when God got done doing

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Speaker 1: what he was going to do through Jesus, nobody else

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Speaker 1: would get the glory, and nobody else would get the praise,

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Speaker 1: and nobody else would get the credit. Because I'm not

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Speaker 1: clean and I wasn't close. But here came Jesus and

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Speaker 1: just the right God. This is my Christmas devotion. Let

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Speaker 1: me preach it like I feel it. I was lost

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Speaker 1: without anyone to guide me. I was blind and couldn't see.

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Speaker 1: I was nobody. I had nothing to bring to the

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Speaker 1: king that was of word. I had no crown to

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Speaker 1: place on his head, and he took a crown of

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Speaker 1: thorns for me. For you see, he deserves all the credit,

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Speaker 1: all the credit. By the way, if you start giving

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Speaker 1: God all the credit, he'll start taking more of the stress.

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Speaker 1: All right, let me really preach to y'all. Now. There

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Speaker 1: was a group of preachers who came to visit us

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Speaker 1: about a year ago, and one of them wanted to know,

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Speaker 1: what do I do about critics? What do I do

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Speaker 1: about critics? What do I do about critics? I said,

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Speaker 1: I have no idea, I've never had one. What are

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Speaker 1: you speaking of these critics? I find people loving and

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Speaker 1: generous in their interpretation of all of your No, actually,

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Speaker 1: what I said is if you want to survive criticism,

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Speaker 1: you have to change your relationship with praise. He said, No,

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Speaker 1: I'm not asking about praise. I'm asking about critics. I said, yeah.

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Speaker 1: But if they have the power to praise you, then

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Speaker 1: they also have the power to pull you down. So

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Speaker 1: when people praise you, don't take it too seriously. They

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Speaker 1: just hadn't got close enough yet. When people criticize you,

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Speaker 1: don't take it too personally. They just don't want you

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Speaker 1: to see that big old plank sticking out of their

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Speaker 1: right eye. So they're talking about a speck in yours.

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Speaker 1: And either way you slice it, it's the same principle.

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Speaker 1: I thought we were talking about Christmas. We are. Remember

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Speaker 1: that what started in the cradle ended on the cross,

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Speaker 1: And we know so much about Mary that Mary doesn't

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Speaker 1: know about Mary yet. We know that she initiated Jesus's

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Speaker 1: first miracle when she said, get ready and turn this

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Speaker 1: water into wine. And Jesus said, woman, my hour is

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Speaker 1: not yet come. And she said, well, you don't have

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Speaker 1: to remember my title. You don't have to. But she

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Speaker 1: turned to the servants and said, do whatever he tells you,

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Speaker 1: and man, the wine started flowing when that woman spoke. Wow.

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Speaker 1: We know about Mary that she became frustrated with Jesus's

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Speaker 1: popularity because she felt that it kept him from being

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Speaker 1: intimate with his family, and stood outside the door saying,

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Speaker 1: he's going crazy. Go in there and tell him he's

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Speaker 1: going crazy. We know that although Mary was frustrated, though,

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Speaker 1: she would not forsake Jesus, for she was there at

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Speaker 1: the foot of the cross with one disciple named John

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Speaker 1: when her son died. There are some things about Mary

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Speaker 1: that Mary doesn't know yet, and yet she accepts. Ah,

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Speaker 1: this was beautiful for me to see the promise of

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Speaker 1: God to her virgin womb. Now, I don't know what

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Speaker 1: you noticed when we read, and I don't know how

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Speaker 1: close you pay attention. When I read the scripture, I

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Speaker 1: noticed sometimes we have to go back to it because

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Speaker 1: when I'm reading it the first time, you're kind of

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Speaker 1: getting oriented. Go back to verse twenty six for a moment.

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Speaker 1: Can we study. We're gonna do a lot of singing

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Speaker 1: next Sunday, so I'm gonna get all the study part

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Speaker 1: in this Sunday so you'll be ready. This word's gonna

429
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 1: help you get ready for everything you got coming up

430
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,800
Speaker 1: this week. To elbow your neighbor and say you don't

431
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:17,520
Speaker 1: look ready yet, this word's gonna get you ready. Though. Now,

432
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:22,600
Speaker 1: in the sixth month, in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy,

433
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:27,000
Speaker 1: verse twenty six, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth,

434
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 1: a town in Galilee. We need to talk about two

435
00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,360
Speaker 1: things in this passage. We need to talk about who

436
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,679
Speaker 1: is Gabriel and what is Galilee. I'll do it in

437
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:42,160
Speaker 1: reverse order. Galilee is the place where Jesus is going

438
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,320
Speaker 1: to do the majority of his ministry. He will not

439
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:48,359
Speaker 1: die in Galilee. He will die in Jerusalem, but he

440
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,400
Speaker 1: will minister and base his operations thirty years from now

441
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,240
Speaker 1: out of Galilee. He will calm storms on the sea

442
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,639
Speaker 1: of Galilee. He will heal the blind eyes in the

443
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 1: region of Galilee. It's going down in Galilee in just

444
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,000
Speaker 1: about thirty years. And God is setting all of this

445
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:10,359
Speaker 1: up through a girl, and he sends an angel named Gabriel.

446
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:19,400
Speaker 1: Gabriel is not a minimum wage angel. There's only two

447
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,400
Speaker 1: angels in the whole Bible that we know the names of. Michael.

448
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 1: Michael is the fighting angel. Michael is the Mma angel.

449
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,160
Speaker 1: Michael choke you out. Michael is a cauliflower ear angel.

450
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 1: Michael is a guy you don't want to mess with.

451
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,040
Speaker 1: And Gabriel, he's not the fighting angel. He's to fill

452
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:47,160
Speaker 1: you in angel. He's the angel. You'll remember this who

453
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:50,280
Speaker 1: came to Daniel and explained to him about the prophecies.

454
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,240
Speaker 1: He brought him clarity in Daniel chapter eight and nine.

455
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,600
Speaker 1: And then we don't see him again for a long time,

456
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:02,040
Speaker 1: and we see him go to Galilee. But before he

457
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:05,199
Speaker 1: goes to Galilee, he goes to Jerusalem. That's why I

458
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 1: read you the verse where it said it was the

459
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:11,200
Speaker 1: sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy. Now Elizabeth was a relative

460
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 1: of Mary, and her husband was named Zachariah. And Zachariah

461
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:16,720
Speaker 1: was a priest. And one day Zachariah, the priest, who

462
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,080
Speaker 1: was very old, went into the temple to burn incense,

463
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 1: as it was his duty to do by the lots

464
00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,360
Speaker 1: that were cast. And as he's there burning incense, an

465
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:29,199
Speaker 1: angel shows up right there by the altar and said, Zachariah,

466
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,880
Speaker 1: I know you, I know you hadn't felt like your

467
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:36,480
Speaker 1: old self in quite some time, buddy, But get ready,

468
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:39,920
Speaker 1: you're about to have a baby. And Zachariah said, but

469
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:45,880
Speaker 1: I'm old. And Gabriel said, but I'm Gabriel. Ooh, ooh ooh.

470
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,600
Speaker 1: I felt that on my spine spinal column when I

471
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 1: said it. But I'm Gabriel. I stand in the presence

472
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:55,720
Speaker 1: of God, and I don't care how old you are,

473
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 1: and I don't care if you've put all the baby

474
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,600
Speaker 1: clothes away from all the times you tried before. See

475
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 1: Zecharia and Elizabeth had never had a baby. Her wound

476
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,000
Speaker 1: was barren. She was advanced in age, even though she

477
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 1: was of the line of Erin, even though she was

478
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,680
Speaker 1: a very significant person. As her husband stood in Jerusalem

479
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 1: burning incense, the angel Gabriel showed up to say, you're

480
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,280
Speaker 1: about to have a baby. Zechariah said, it cannot be.

481
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,520
Speaker 1: I'm old, And he said, because you said that, and

482
00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 1: because I'm Gabriel, and because I stand in the presence

483
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:28,720
Speaker 1: of God and you don't, and because I come from

484
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,840
Speaker 1: Heaven and you don't shut your mouth. You're not speaking

485
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 1: again until the baby is born. And when the baby's born,

486
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,080
Speaker 1: you're gonna name him John. When everybody asks you, why John, say,

487
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,000
Speaker 1: because I'm Gabriel and I came with a message from God.

488
00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,960
Speaker 1: And Zechariah came out of the temple smelling like incense smoke,

489
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,959
Speaker 1: but not able to say very much. And Zachariah had

490
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,840
Speaker 1: to learn sign language real quick coming out of that temple,

491
00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,000
Speaker 1: because everybody wanted to know what happened, and why were

492
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,680
Speaker 1: you in there so long? Kind of weird. You were

493
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:57,560
Speaker 1: in there a long time, Zachari don't take that long,

494
00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:01,040
Speaker 1: delight incense? What was going on in there? Zachar isiser,

495
00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,920
Speaker 1: But that's been six months ago, And that makes sense

496
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:14,960
Speaker 1: because of course, the angel Gabriel, the messenger, Abriel, the

497
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,520
Speaker 1: clarifying angel, Gabriel to fill you in and tell you

498
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,600
Speaker 1: what God's about to do. Angel. Of course he would

499
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,160
Speaker 1: show up to a priest in a place like Jerusalem.

500
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 1: Why Jerusalem was the center point of Jewish worship. I

501
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:36,000
Speaker 1: expect to see Gabriel at the temple in Jerusalem speaking

502
00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:40,160
Speaker 1: to a priest. I expect to see Gabriel standing at

503
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:42,800
Speaker 1: the threshold of the place where the offerings and the

504
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,880
Speaker 1: sacrifices were made. You expect to see Gabriel in a

505
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 1: place like that. What I didn't expect was six months

506
00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,680
Speaker 1: later to see that same Gabriel, one of only two

507
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:58,240
Speaker 1: angels whose names we know in scripture, one of the

508
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,080
Speaker 1: arch angels in scripture. Sure, what I didn't expect was

509
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:06,120
Speaker 1: to see Gabriel show up in a place like Galilee.

510
00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:11,640
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Galilee. Galilee is seventy miles from Jerusalem.

511
00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,479
Speaker 1: Galilee is not considered very significant by the people who

512
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:19,320
Speaker 1: live in Jerusalem. Galilee is mixed with Jews and Gentiles,

513
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:23,320
Speaker 1: so the religious customs are questionable at best. It was

514
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,960
Speaker 1: referred to as the land of Darkness. I'm not surprised

515
00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 1: to see Gabriel show up in the temple where the

516
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 1: priest is burning incense. That seems like something worthy of

517
00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:37,880
Speaker 1: Gabriel's time. But I am surprised to see Gabriel show

518
00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:41,680
Speaker 1: up six months later for a special appointment with a

519
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 1: girl whose name would not even be known had Gabriel

520
00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:49,120
Speaker 1: not shown up to tell her what she was carrying

521
00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 1: in a place called galilee, where nobody even found worth

522
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 1: putting on their itinerary when planning an important trip. All

523
00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:00,560
Speaker 1: that I said to say this, God's to show up

524
00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,760
Speaker 1: in some unexpected places in your life in this season,

525
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,920
Speaker 1: and don't be too surprised, because God is not bound

526
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,640
Speaker 1: to the customs and traditions that people are bound to.

527
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,880
Speaker 1: And God doesn't just show up in holy families and

528
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,360
Speaker 1: holy knights and silent nights. For the king that we

529
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,880
Speaker 1: served before he went to a throne, he stopped by

530
00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,720
Speaker 1: a manger. And I want to speak to somebody this

531
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 1: Christmas season who is going through a galilee in your family.

532
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,040
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly what that means to you, but

533
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,000
Speaker 1: perhaps you do. Maybe it's a galilee in your relationship

534
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,480
Speaker 1: with your children. Maybe it's a galilee in your relationship

535
00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,360
Speaker 1: with your wife. Maybe it's a Galilee in your own

536
00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:48,479
Speaker 1: emotional despondency. Galilee can be a dark place. Galilee can

537
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:52,560
Speaker 1: seem like an insignificant place. Galilee can become an insecurity,

538
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,240
Speaker 1: so that you begin to think that no one as

539
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:59,840
Speaker 1: important as God would have time for someone as in

540
00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,520
Speaker 1: significant as me. Which is why I read you Luke,

541
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 1: Chapter one, verse twenty six. Now God sent an angel

542
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 1: named Gabriel to a place called Nazareth, in a region

543
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:19,000
Speaker 1: called Galilee. I announced to you this day, Gabriel is

544
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:28,840
Speaker 1: coming to Galilee. You hear me. At Dove's nest. You

545
00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:31,160
Speaker 1: hear me. You can't be with your children this Christmas

546
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:39,720
Speaker 1: because you're in recovery. Gabriel is coming to Galilee. You

547
00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:41,480
Speaker 1: hear the voice of the Lord. Now don't listen to

548
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 1: my voice. Listen to the voice of the Lord. Some

549
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,960
Speaker 1: of you are bereaved this season. Gabriel is coming to

550
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:52,600
Speaker 1: your grieving. Some of you have been betrayed in this

551
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:57,040
Speaker 1: season of your life. Gabriel is coming into the betrayal

552
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:02,960
Speaker 1: because God is sending him. And when God sends Gabriel,

553
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:07,120
Speaker 1: Gabriel has got to go. See. I want you to

554
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:10,239
Speaker 1: understand that when God speaks a word he does not

555
00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:15,239
Speaker 1: consult circumstances. When God speaks a word, he does not

556
00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,080
Speaker 1: consult circumstances. I'm gonna say it again for the lady

557
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:22,200
Speaker 1: in the back of the room. When God speaks a

558
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,319
Speaker 1: word over your life, when God speaks a word over

559
00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,640
Speaker 1: your destiny, when God speaks a word over your future,

560
00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,479
Speaker 1: when God speaks a word over your relationship, when God

561
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,560
Speaker 1: speaks a word over your baby, when God speaks a

562
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,560
Speaker 1: word over your life span, when God speaks a word

563
00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:43,640
Speaker 1: over your generational impact. When God says Gabriel, go, Gabriel

564
00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:46,600
Speaker 1: doesn't get to say to God and not go into Galilee.

565
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:51,920
Speaker 1: That's only humans that do that. That's only humans that

566
00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:56,399
Speaker 1: do that. We disobey, We get stubborn, we don't want

567
00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,359
Speaker 1: to forgive because we've been heard. Gabriel goes where God

568
00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:02,920
Speaker 1: says God. So what I'm trying to get you to

569
00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:07,040
Speaker 1: see is that the miracle of Christmas is that I

570
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:12,760
Speaker 1: could not get to God. My sin was great. Christmas

571
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,960
Speaker 1: is not just sentimental for me. It is salvation to me.

572
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:19,920
Speaker 1: My life is on the line.

573
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:25,719
Speaker 2: I cannot walk straight, I cannot be clean, I cannot

574
00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:30,279
Speaker 2: come close, I cannot take credit for my righteousness was

575
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:32,560
Speaker 2: as filthy rags, so.

576
00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,360
Speaker 1: You cannot get to God. You say, how is that

577
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:39,680
Speaker 1: good news? That I can't get to God? You don't

578
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:46,759
Speaker 1: have to That's what makes it good news. And the

579
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,759
Speaker 1: more you realize that, you're gonna start praying faster when

580
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,320
Speaker 1: you mess up, because I don't have to get it

581
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:56,200
Speaker 1: right to come to God. I don't have to be clean.

582
00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:58,840
Speaker 1: He was clean. I don't have to be clean to

583
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,799
Speaker 1: come close. He was clean. He came close. He gets

584
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,719
Speaker 1: the glory, and I feel like giving him twenty four

585
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:14,040
Speaker 1: seconds of Christmas Craine with the symbols, with the organ.

586
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:24,600
Speaker 1: I'll give you ten more seconds to praiser, all right,

587
00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:33,200
Speaker 1: let's practice ten more seconds to praise him, eight seconds

588
00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:38,040
Speaker 1: to give him credit. Top seconds to let the stress

589
00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:47,960
Speaker 1: going freaks who won hot five your neighbor and say,

590
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:57,759
Speaker 1: Gabriel's coming, Yeah, Yeah, Gabriel's coming. Gabriel's coming. God is

591
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,800
Speaker 1: gonna give you clarity about that thing in your darkness.

592
00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:04,040
Speaker 1: God is going to give you perspective about that thing

593
00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 1: in your darkness. God is going to give you provision

594
00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:13,520
Speaker 1: for that thing in your darkness. Gabriel came to Galilee.

595
00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,200
Speaker 1: Aren't you glad about that? It makes me think if

596
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:19,240
Speaker 1: I get a little depressed, I can call on Jesus,

597
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:23,320
Speaker 1: I can call on Heaven, I can call on the angels.

598
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:26,840
Speaker 1: I can call on the light, even in the darkest place.

599
00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 1: Because Gabriel, this is it. Gabriel came to Galilee, and

600
00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:36,520
Speaker 1: he came to Galilee to get it ready for somebody greater.

601
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:42,440
Speaker 1: Y'all don't like good preaching anymore. Oh that's delicious right there.

602
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:48,240
Speaker 1: He came to Galilee to get it ready for something greater.

603
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 1: And yet isn't it amazing of God to start something

604
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:57,680
Speaker 1: so great as the salvation of the world. Think of

605
00:37:57,719 --> 00:37:59,359
Speaker 1: all the great things that would happen in Galilee, Think

606
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,120
Speaker 1: of all the great things that would happen at the cross,

607
00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:02,960
Speaker 1: think of all the great things that would happen on

608
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,759
Speaker 1: the other side of the empty tomb. And yet he

609
00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:11,800
Speaker 1: started something so great in something so small as a baby.

610
00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:18,800
Speaker 1: As a baby makes me think that God wanted me

611
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:26,000
Speaker 1: to know that He can hold me too. I mean,

612
00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 1: think about it. We'll give it to you like the

613
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,279
Speaker 1: Lord gave it to me this morning. Think about the

614
00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:33,960
Speaker 1: fact that the Angel told Mary not that God would

615
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:39,720
Speaker 1: descend from the skies like thor But we'll wrap himself

616
00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:44,279
Speaker 1: in a little baby flesh and all of the attendant

617
00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:49,240
Speaker 1: idiosyncrasies of a baby, and he came like a baby.

618
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:54,000
Speaker 1: He came like a baby, which means that he had

619
00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:57,880
Speaker 1: to be held by humans. Now, sometimes we need a

620
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:01,000
Speaker 1: practical sermon. Sometimes we just need to revel and marvel

621
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 1: in the glory of God. Watch this, that heaven was

622
00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:14,920
Speaker 1: held by humanity. That's amazing. And he didn't have to

623
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:20,960
Speaker 1: do it. Jesus was fully God and fully man. So

624
00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,520
Speaker 1: the choice that he made to be held by human

625
00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:29,400
Speaker 1: hands was not of necessity. It was of love. The

626
00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:35,799
Speaker 1: heavenly King, the most High God, held by human hands. Oh,

627
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:38,600
Speaker 1: I wish you could see it like I see it,

628
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:42,160
Speaker 1: because I see that the reason that Heaven had to

629
00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:46,040
Speaker 1: be held by humans was so that humans could be

630
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:55,840
Speaker 1: held by Heaven. The Lord wanted you to remember that

631
00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:03,600
Speaker 1: you are held. This season that you are held. You're like, yeah,

632
00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:07,200
Speaker 1: I've been held. Hell has been all up in my life.

633
00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:12,759
Speaker 1: I have been No. No, I'm saying, held by the

634
00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:15,600
Speaker 1: hand of God. When I look back, I see it

635
00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:18,440
Speaker 1: so clearly. Satan came from my soul. But the Lord said, no,

636
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:23,560
Speaker 1: I've been held by the hand of God. I've been

637
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:27,560
Speaker 1: hidden by the hand of God. And this is what

638
00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:31,400
Speaker 1: we call the invitation of incarnation and theological terms is

639
00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 1: that heaven was held by humanity so that humanity could

640
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,239
Speaker 1: be held by it. And just to remember, as you

641
00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:42,520
Speaker 1: walk through your life that you are being carried. Give

642
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:46,960
Speaker 1: him the credit for carrying you. Thank you, Thank you

643
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:53,600
Speaker 1: every step and arrival, every step and announcement that God

644
00:40:54,239 --> 00:41:01,040
Speaker 1: is not through with me yet. Hell this Mary would

645
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:09,000
Speaker 1: hold heaven in her arms. She held heaven. But I

646
00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:12,719
Speaker 1: think that the secret to Mary, and I thought about

647
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:19,279
Speaker 1: calling this sermon I make Mary moves And it was

648
00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:21,560
Speaker 1: so dumb. I shouldn't have told you that I thought

649
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:24,759
Speaker 1: about calling it. That might as well have has let

650
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:28,200
Speaker 1: that out. But one thing she said that I thought

651
00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,040
Speaker 1: was so powerful. And I know, Holly, your favorite verse

652
00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:35,440
Speaker 1: is Luke one thirty eight, but my favorite verse is

653
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:37,440
Speaker 1: Luke one thirty four. Her favorite Let me show you

654
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 1: her favorite verse, verse verse thirty eight. I am the

655
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:44,440
Speaker 1: Lord's servant. May your word to be me be fulfilled? Right,

656
00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:50,560
Speaker 1: that's here my favorite one, verse thirty four. How that's

657
00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:55,880
Speaker 1: my verse. How don't act like you're not living with

658
00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:01,680
Speaker 1: some howls in your house? How am I gonna make

659
00:42:01,719 --> 00:42:07,799
Speaker 1: it through this whole month without cussing somebody out in Japanese?

660
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:12,200
Speaker 1: I might learn Japanese just to cuss somebody out in

661
00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:18,320
Speaker 1: Japanese acting like this? How am I gonna pay for

662
00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:22,880
Speaker 1: all this crap? Go back to my earlier point credit?

663
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:30,239
Speaker 1: How am I ever gonna catch up if I keep

664
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:33,560
Speaker 1: on consuming like this? How now Mary isn't asking that

665
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:36,440
Speaker 1: she's not spending money at the mall. She's trying to

666
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:37,880
Speaker 1: give birth to the Sunna came? But I thought, get

667
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:40,680
Speaker 1: have some coming grundm with Mary. How let me ask

668
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:43,600
Speaker 1: a question, how many of you are living in a

669
00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:48,160
Speaker 1: how right now? In a how right now? Anybody online? Honest?

670
00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:53,960
Speaker 1: I think the purpose of the Christmas story is not

671
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:58,400
Speaker 1: just in being held, but it is in being humbled,

672
00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:05,080
Speaker 1: humbled that Jesus, being in very nature God, did not

673
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,719
Speaker 1: consider equality with God something to be grasped Philippians two

674
00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:13,799
Speaker 1: five through ten. He emptied himself, He humbled himself, taking

675
00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:18,040
Speaker 1: on the form of flesh of a servant. So Jesus

676
00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:22,640
Speaker 1: humbled himself, and so did Mary, and so must you

677
00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:28,439
Speaker 1: and I? How will this be? How am I gonna

678
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:31,400
Speaker 1: do it? Without drinking again? How am I gonna do

679
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:34,720
Speaker 1: it without having a nervous breakdown? How am I gonna

680
00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,400
Speaker 1: do it when I wasn't raised and taught? How am

681
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:39,799
Speaker 1: I gonna do it when nobody in my family ever did?

682
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:42,320
Speaker 1: How am I gonna do it at this age and

683
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:44,920
Speaker 1: stage of life? How am I gonna do it when

684
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:47,960
Speaker 1: I can't even feel God when I'm in church? How

685
00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:50,799
Speaker 1: will this be merry? Ask the Angel, since I am

686
00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:58,400
Speaker 1: a virgin, valid question? Powerful answer verse thirty five. The

687
00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:02,759
Speaker 1: Angel answered, how many of you would like to have

688
00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:04,680
Speaker 1: an appointment with an angel so you could get some

689
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:09,359
Speaker 1: answers for your how today? Come on, say, I want

690
00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:13,160
Speaker 1: an appointment. I want an appointment with Gabriel so he

691
00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:15,040
Speaker 1: can tell me how I'm supposed to put up with

692
00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:17,719
Speaker 1: this mess. I want an appointment with Gabriel so he

693
00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:19,719
Speaker 1: can tell me how I'm supposed to fix this mess.

694
00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,080
Speaker 1: I want an appointment with Gabriel so he can tell

695
00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:24,200
Speaker 1: me whether I should stay or go. I want an

696
00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:26,320
Speaker 1: appointment with Gabriel so I can ask him what to

697
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:29,120
Speaker 1: do about this trauma that happened a long time ago,

698
00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:31,439
Speaker 1: and it stayed in my life even though the trial

699
00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:34,200
Speaker 1: is over. I want an appointment with that angel. And

700
00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:37,480
Speaker 1: I thought it was crazy that when the Angel answered

701
00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:44,080
Speaker 1: verse thirty five, he didn't really say how, He just

702
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:52,920
Speaker 1: said who. Thank you Jesus. The answer to how is

703
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:56,080
Speaker 1: a who. Put the verse on the screen and let

704
00:44:56,120 --> 00:45:00,760
Speaker 1: me preach us home. Now, the Angel answered, holy Spirit

705
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:07,080
Speaker 1: will come. Now we got something better than Gabriel. Now

706
00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:10,560
Speaker 1: we got something better than an angel. Because I don't

707
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:13,960
Speaker 1: have an angel standing next to me today. Touch your

708
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:17,800
Speaker 1: neighbors say you're not an angel, But I do have

709
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:23,560
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is my answer

710
00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:28,480
Speaker 1: to the question called how. The Holy Spirit speaks up

711
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:32,120
Speaker 1: when the lies are raging in my mind, and the

712
00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:35,960
Speaker 1: Angel answer, the Holy Spirit will come on you, and

713
00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:38,680
Speaker 1: the power of the Most High will overshadow you. I

714
00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:41,520
Speaker 1: read it again, The Holy Spirit will come on you.

715
00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:45,880
Speaker 1: This promise is for you, baby, This promise is for you, man.

716
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:49,239
Speaker 1: This promise is for you. The Holy Spirit will come

717
00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:52,160
Speaker 1: on you, and the power of the most High will

718
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:56,160
Speaker 1: overshadow you. The power of the most High will overshadow you.

719
00:45:56,760 --> 00:46:04,279
Speaker 1: The power of the most High will overshadow you. So

720
00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:08,320
Speaker 1: I hear you saying I don't know how, and I

721
00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:12,960
Speaker 1: hear God saying you don't have to see you do

722
00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:16,319
Speaker 1: not not have to know how. If you can get

723
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:22,120
Speaker 1: a glimpse of who. Everybody's saying like an owl, SAYO,

724
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:27,640
Speaker 1: that's what I know. That's what I'm hope in. That's

725
00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:31,680
Speaker 1: what I stand on, that's what I rejoice in. Help

726
00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:34,200
Speaker 1: me preach, and I'll get you home in time for lunch.

727
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:40,560
Speaker 1: That's what I know. That's what I'm talking about. That's

728
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:44,080
Speaker 1: why I'm worshiping. That's why my hands are lifting, not

729
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:50,840
Speaker 1: because I know how, because I know ooo oooh, the

730
00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:53,120
Speaker 1: Lord's bringing it back to my mind everything I studied

731
00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:55,239
Speaker 1: to preach to you this week. He was telling me

732
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:57,719
Speaker 1: how sometimes in your life you get so caught up

733
00:46:57,760 --> 00:47:02,279
Speaker 1: in how that you miss the power of who, and

734
00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:05,360
Speaker 1: you get hung up on how, and you're gonna end

735
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:09,600
Speaker 1: up like Zechariah, old bad knee Zechariah incense burn and

736
00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:15,120
Speaker 1: stay in the bathroom temple too long. Zachariah talking about

737
00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:19,759
Speaker 1: I should have kept my mouth shut because God knows how,

738
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:24,359
Speaker 1: and you don't have to. Wouldn't that be wonderful news.

739
00:47:24,560 --> 00:47:27,040
Speaker 1: Let's put ourselves in Mary's shoes for a moment. Can we,

740
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:29,960
Speaker 1: just for one moment, pretend that this has happened to us?

741
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:33,640
Speaker 1: We are not expecting an angelic villa visitation. We haven't

742
00:47:33,640 --> 00:47:37,239
Speaker 1: even got our wedding registry set up yet. And God

743
00:47:37,360 --> 00:47:40,680
Speaker 1: is talking about a baby, and the Lord says, you're

744
00:47:40,719 --> 00:47:43,000
Speaker 1: pregnant and you're gonna give birth to the Son of God,

745
00:47:43,239 --> 00:47:48,920
Speaker 1: no pressure. And Mary's like, I got to, No, I

746
00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:56,000
Speaker 1: get to. Oh, I get to. So I appreciate you

747
00:47:56,080 --> 00:47:58,279
Speaker 1: giving me these kids to raise God. I appreciate you

748
00:47:58,320 --> 00:47:59,920
Speaker 1: giving me this church. I appreciate you giving me the

749
00:48:00,120 --> 00:48:02,040
Speaker 1: because I appreciate you giving me this department. I appreciate

750
00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:04,279
Speaker 1: you give me this opportunity. But what do I do

751
00:48:05,239 --> 00:48:10,080
Speaker 1: with the pressure? And this is so powerful? Man? Oh,

752
00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:15,040
Speaker 1: it's so powerful to me going through her mind or

753
00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:20,200
Speaker 1: a million questions because she's already engaged to Joseph. How

754
00:48:20,239 --> 00:48:26,359
Speaker 1: do you tell your fiance, Yeah, I met this guy

755
00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:28,719
Speaker 1: named Gabriel, but he's an angel. Don't worry. He's an

756
00:48:28,719 --> 00:48:36,560
Speaker 1: angel named Gabriel. How do you tell your husband that

757
00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:40,080
Speaker 1: you're pregnant and he knows it wasn't him. How am

758
00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:44,480
Speaker 1: I going to tell him? Well, look over in Matthew

759
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:49,320
Speaker 1: chapter one when you get home, because Mary, I know

760
00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:51,200
Speaker 1: you can't figure out how you're going to tell Joseph,

761
00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:58,320
Speaker 1: but you don't have to a little bit after Gabriel

762
00:48:58,360 --> 00:48:59,880
Speaker 1: got done telling Mary she is going to have a

763
00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:03,840
Speaker 1: another angel popped up and told Joseph, hey believe her.

764
00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:09,600
Speaker 1: You don't have to convince anybody. You don't have to

765
00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:16,480
Speaker 1: prove anything to anybody. You don't have to stop trying

766
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:20,880
Speaker 1: to defend yourself to people who aren't even paying attention.

767
00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:31,799
Speaker 1: Stop having imaginary arguments with hypothetical opponents. You keep your

768
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:35,440
Speaker 1: heart right with God in this season. You don't have

769
00:49:35,600 --> 00:49:38,600
Speaker 1: to tell them anything about red states, blue states, none

770
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:41,040
Speaker 1: of that. That doesn't even have to come up. Let

771
00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:42,719
Speaker 1: me tell you something about the arguments that are gonna

772
00:49:42,719 --> 00:49:44,840
Speaker 1: happen around your table this holiday season. All right, this

773
00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:48,759
Speaker 1: holiday holiday season, around your house. Let me tell you

774
00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:52,680
Speaker 1: about the arguments that you want to win. You don't

775
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:57,719
Speaker 1: have to You don't have to win an argument. All

776
00:49:57,760 --> 00:50:01,680
Speaker 1: you gotta do is complete your assignment. Man. I was

777
00:50:01,719 --> 00:50:03,879
Speaker 1: so stressed out one day having a bunch of people over,

778
00:50:03,960 --> 00:50:06,320
Speaker 1: and my friend said, what do you think they're expecting

779
00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:08,600
Speaker 1: when they come over to the house. I said, I

780
00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:12,560
Speaker 1: don't know. They said, you have one job. Nobody drowns

781
00:50:12,600 --> 00:50:16,520
Speaker 1: in the pool. I said, it's that simple. They said, yeah,

782
00:50:17,400 --> 00:50:19,320
Speaker 1: you have to create some magical moment, but you know

783
00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:22,319
Speaker 1: it was I figured out what it was. I feel

784
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:27,879
Speaker 1: pressure to perform because in my job, in my line

785
00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:30,080
Speaker 1: of work, you expect me to have something to say,

786
00:50:31,160 --> 00:50:34,239
Speaker 1: and it needs to kind of make sense, and it

787
00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:36,359
Speaker 1: needs to be something that you probably couldn't have thought

788
00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:38,239
Speaker 1: of on your own or else. Why did you get

789
00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:40,520
Speaker 1: the ice off the windshield to come hear this stuff?

790
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:46,560
Speaker 1: But wouldn't it be prideful of me to think that

791
00:50:46,719 --> 00:50:51,040
Speaker 1: a good God who has angels like Gabriel would need

792
00:50:51,120 --> 00:50:53,520
Speaker 1: a messenger like me to be perfect to speak his

793
00:50:53,640 --> 00:51:00,560
Speaker 1: word to you? Wouldn't it be stupid? Wouldn't it be wrong?

794
00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:04,200
Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be crushing for you to live under the

795
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:09,040
Speaker 1: debilitating weight of how when it's never been about how,

796
00:51:10,120 --> 00:51:14,680
Speaker 1: It's always been about who. And here's what God has

797
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:16,600
Speaker 1: been doing in our lives. Some of us in this

798
00:51:16,680 --> 00:51:24,439
Speaker 1: season we have been humbled by how. That's it. We've

799
00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:27,520
Speaker 1: been humbled by how because we thought it was going

800
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:29,920
Speaker 1: to turn out one way and it's going a completely

801
00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:32,800
Speaker 1: different way. And it doesn't mean God isn't doing what

802
00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:35,160
Speaker 1: he's going to do, He's just not doing it. How

803
00:51:35,239 --> 00:51:38,919
Speaker 1: you want it, and you are being humbled by how

804
00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:44,800
Speaker 1: You need another example, Okay, think about the nation of

805
00:51:45,160 --> 00:51:48,960
Speaker 1: Israel who was standing before a giant named Goliath with

806
00:51:49,120 --> 00:51:52,640
Speaker 1: swords and spears. And when it came time for God

807
00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:55,800
Speaker 1: to take out Goliath, he did not use a sword

808
00:51:55,960 --> 00:52:00,800
Speaker 1: or a spear. He used a slingshot. Why so that

809
00:52:00,960 --> 00:52:03,760
Speaker 1: the army would know that it is not by sword

810
00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:08,160
Speaker 1: or spear that God saves. So he used a shepherd

811
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:13,000
Speaker 1: with a slingshot to bring down a giant. Because God

812
00:52:13,080 --> 00:52:17,560
Speaker 1: will use the how to humble you. God will put

813
00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:20,399
Speaker 1: you up in front of a red sea. He will

814
00:52:20,440 --> 00:52:23,440
Speaker 1: put a stick in your hand. You will be looking

815
00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:27,239
Speaker 1: at a sea, hearing the clatter of chariot wheels behind you,

816
00:52:27,400 --> 00:52:31,040
Speaker 1: wondering like Mary wondered, how how am I gonna make

817
00:52:31,080 --> 00:52:34,640
Speaker 1: it across? And God will speak to the insignificant thing

818
00:52:34,719 --> 00:52:37,280
Speaker 1: in your hand, and he will cause you to stretch

819
00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:39,440
Speaker 1: the thing in your hand over the thing that you

820
00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:43,200
Speaker 1: can't go through, because He wants to humble you in

821
00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:47,160
Speaker 1: the how Jesus could have come to the earth anyway

822
00:52:47,280 --> 00:52:51,800
Speaker 1: he wanted. Jesus could have come to the earth like Simba.

823
00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:55,839
Speaker 1: Jesus could have come to the earth in a supernatural way.

824
00:52:56,719 --> 00:53:00,279
Speaker 1: But the hands that hung the stars in space were

825
00:53:00,440 --> 00:53:03,799
Speaker 1: held in a virgin womb. We're held by Mary's hands.

826
00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:07,560
Speaker 1: We're held by the nails of the cross. Why God

827
00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:12,239
Speaker 1: humbles you by how so that when he does it,

828
00:53:13,120 --> 00:53:17,840
Speaker 1: there will be no confusion about who's doing it, because

829
00:53:17,880 --> 00:53:20,360
Speaker 1: if you do it, you got to keep doing it.

830
00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:25,680
Speaker 1: But if He began a good work in you, help

831
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:30,879
Speaker 1: me breach now, because I feel somebody's help coming. God said,

832
00:53:30,920 --> 00:53:38,080
Speaker 1: I'm using the how to humble you. And that is

833
00:53:38,280 --> 00:53:42,200
Speaker 1: why he came as a baby, so that you would

834
00:53:42,239 --> 00:53:47,000
Speaker 1: be humbled by the how. And when you are humbled

835
00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:55,160
Speaker 1: by the how, now you can be helped. Yeah, I

836
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:56,800
Speaker 1: feel like help is going to come to you this

837
00:53:56,920 --> 00:54:03,160
Speaker 1: Christmas season. You didn't count on help that you forgot about.

838
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:10,840
Speaker 1: I don't know how. You don't have to. And some

839
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:13,440
Speaker 1: of you have been saying I can't do this alone.

840
00:54:13,800 --> 00:54:19,040
Speaker 1: And God is saying you don't have to. For what

841
00:54:19,160 --> 00:54:21,760
Speaker 1: the Angel said to marry God, I feel your presence.

842
00:54:22,680 --> 00:54:26,640
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit is saying to you, the Lord is

843
00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:32,600
Speaker 1: with you, and I have to do this alone. You

844
00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:35,040
Speaker 1: don't have to make these decisions alone. The Holy Spirit

845
00:54:35,120 --> 00:54:40,880
Speaker 1: will help you. The spirit who brought Jesus to Mary

846
00:54:41,880 --> 00:54:46,479
Speaker 1: is the spirit that lives in you, and the Holy

847
00:54:46,560 --> 00:54:49,719
Speaker 1: Spirit will help you. And I want to pray for

848
00:54:49,840 --> 00:54:53,359
Speaker 1: people today who are hung up on how right now.

849
00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:57,360
Speaker 1: That's fine, but just remember that God isn't going to

850
00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:00,600
Speaker 1: show you how, because he wants to show you who.

851
00:55:03,080 --> 00:55:05,440
Speaker 1: So I want us to flip our prayer everybody's standing

852
00:55:05,520 --> 00:55:11,400
Speaker 1: at every location. As the Lord instructed me, I have

853
00:55:11,560 --> 00:55:16,759
Speaker 1: imparted to you today this great revelation of grace that

854
00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:23,080
Speaker 1: you don't have to You get to carry Christ this

855
00:55:23,239 --> 00:55:26,759
Speaker 1: Christmas season. And I dare you to go back to

856
00:55:26,840 --> 00:55:29,960
Speaker 1: this week with a little bit different attitude. I mean,

857
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:31,960
Speaker 1: don't go back quoting dis sermon to your wife or

858
00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:33,759
Speaker 1: your boss. Tell me the word of the Lord is,

859
00:55:33,800 --> 00:55:40,200
Speaker 1: I don't have to Well, you're gonna get fired and

860
00:55:40,280 --> 00:55:42,160
Speaker 1: you can't tie, and we have to shut the church down.

861
00:55:42,239 --> 00:55:47,879
Speaker 1: Don't do that. Listen to me. Listen to me. There's

862
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:50,040
Speaker 1: some stuff that you are carrying that you are not

863
00:55:50,200 --> 00:55:54,319
Speaker 1: meant to carry, and it's causing you to forget about

864
00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:58,719
Speaker 1: the Christ that you are called to carry. And I

865
00:55:58,880 --> 00:56:01,000
Speaker 1: love being practical and I love breaking it down. And

866
00:56:01,080 --> 00:56:02,880
Speaker 1: one of my friends asked me the other day. I

867
00:56:03,040 --> 00:56:05,200
Speaker 1: love when you preach stuff. It gets me excited. You

868
00:56:05,280 --> 00:56:08,640
Speaker 1: tell me about Galilee, you tell me about Gabriel, but

869
00:56:08,800 --> 00:56:11,920
Speaker 1: tell me how and see the thing about it is.

870
00:56:12,719 --> 00:56:15,560
Speaker 1: I don't have to, because if you would get still

871
00:56:15,680 --> 00:56:18,279
Speaker 1: for just one moment in the presence of God and

872
00:56:18,600 --> 00:56:24,880
Speaker 1: humble your heart, the Holy Spirit will overshadow you and

873
00:56:25,040 --> 00:56:28,440
Speaker 1: the hand of God will hold you. Now this is optional.

874
00:56:28,760 --> 00:56:32,440
Speaker 1: You don't have to give your next few weeks to

875
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:35,200
Speaker 1: God at the end of this year, but his hands

876
00:56:35,200 --> 00:56:38,239
Speaker 1: are ready if you want to. You don't have to

877
00:56:38,320 --> 00:56:41,080
Speaker 1: take any time over the next few weeks to thank

878
00:56:41,160 --> 00:56:43,680
Speaker 1: God for the promotions that he brought in your life

879
00:56:43,719 --> 00:56:46,000
Speaker 1: this year, for the friends that he brought in your

880
00:56:46,040 --> 00:56:48,759
Speaker 1: life this year, for the enemies that he held back

881
00:56:48,800 --> 00:56:51,400
Speaker 1: from destroying you this year, from the sickness that he

882
00:56:51,520 --> 00:56:54,040
Speaker 1: left it lifted off of your life this year, From

883
00:56:54,080 --> 00:56:56,520
Speaker 1: the way that he averted the situation this year that

884
00:56:56,600 --> 00:56:58,759
Speaker 1: it could have gone another way. You don't have to

885
00:56:58,840 --> 00:57:02,279
Speaker 1: thank God for any You don't have to, But the

886
00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:08,200
Speaker 1: Gospel says, you get to. This is our privilege to

887
00:57:08,400 --> 00:57:12,640
Speaker 1: carry the presence of God. And I was just thinking

888
00:57:12,680 --> 00:57:15,880
Speaker 1: about another Mary. You remember in scripture where Mary and

889
00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:17,720
Speaker 1: Martha had Jesus in their home. Do you know this

890
00:57:17,800 --> 00:57:24,040
Speaker 1: story in Luke chapter ten? And Mary was sitting at

891
00:57:24,040 --> 00:57:27,280
Speaker 1: the feet of Jesus and Martha was trying to get

892
00:57:27,320 --> 00:57:32,160
Speaker 1: some work done around here, and Jesus was teaching, and

893
00:57:32,360 --> 00:57:37,200
Speaker 1: Martha was bossing, and Martha thought Jesus would take her side, said,

894
00:57:37,240 --> 00:57:39,200
Speaker 1: tell my sister Mary to help. No, this is a

895
00:57:39,240 --> 00:57:42,320
Speaker 1: different Mary. But look what Jesus said about this Mary

896
00:57:42,720 --> 00:57:44,840
Speaker 1: in Luke ten forty two. And I think this will

897
00:57:44,840 --> 00:57:49,080
Speaker 1: be a pretty good mission statement for you and I too. Martha, Martha,

898
00:57:50,560 --> 00:57:53,280
Speaker 1: you are worried and upset about many things, but few

899
00:57:53,400 --> 00:57:56,520
Speaker 1: things are needed. Wait a minute, don't you see all

900
00:57:56,520 --> 00:57:59,800
Speaker 1: this work I have to get done. You don't have to.

901
00:58:01,400 --> 00:58:05,200
Speaker 1: You don't have to. Ninety eight percent of your list

902
00:58:05,560 --> 00:58:12,320
Speaker 1: is optional. Yeah, you get to, you get to And

903
00:58:12,480 --> 00:58:15,520
Speaker 1: watch this. He said, There's only one thing necessary, and

904
00:58:15,760 --> 00:58:19,800
Speaker 1: Mary has chosen what is better and it won't be

905
00:58:19,960 --> 00:58:22,440
Speaker 1: taken away from her. So I'm just gonna beg you

906
00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:25,400
Speaker 1: and implore you on behalf of Christ. Do not give

907
00:58:25,520 --> 00:58:28,560
Speaker 1: yourself over to things at the end of this year

908
00:58:28,880 --> 00:58:37,480
Speaker 1: that can be taken away so easily. So easily. So, Lord,

909
00:58:37,680 --> 00:58:40,960
Speaker 1: as we come to you today, I am aware that

910
00:58:41,040 --> 00:58:43,040
Speaker 1: there are some who are under the sound of my voice,

911
00:58:43,040 --> 00:58:47,160
Speaker 1: whether in person or separated by miles, who are in

912
00:58:47,240 --> 00:58:50,040
Speaker 1: a galilee of sorts. And we thank you today that

913
00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:54,040
Speaker 1: your message knows no bounds. You can enter any situation,

914
00:58:54,240 --> 00:58:57,880
Speaker 1: you can enter any dysfunction, you can enter any trial.

915
00:58:59,040 --> 00:59:02,480
Speaker 1: But Lord, for some of us just running around with

916
00:59:02,560 --> 00:59:05,880
Speaker 1: the spirit of obligation when we serve the God of

917
00:59:06,040 --> 00:59:10,320
Speaker 1: good news and grace. So I thank you, Lord for

918
00:59:10,400 --> 00:59:14,040
Speaker 1: the way that you are resetting our hearts in your presence.

919
00:59:15,720 --> 00:59:20,800
Speaker 1: Recalling on you, God, the God of Mary, whose favor

920
00:59:21,000 --> 00:59:24,960
Speaker 1: rests upon the lowly. We know with you all things

921
00:59:25,840 --> 00:59:29,360
Speaker 1: are possible. We lift our hands to heaven. Now go

922
00:59:29,400 --> 00:59:31,240
Speaker 1: ahead and lift your hands to heaven right now. If

923
00:59:31,280 --> 00:59:35,200
Speaker 1: you know that you are held by the hands of God.

924
00:59:36,080 --> 00:59:41,320
Speaker 1: Oh God, my God, I need you, Oh God, my God,

925
00:59:42,240 --> 00:59:47,760
Speaker 1: I need you now, how I need you now? Thank

926
00:59:47,800 --> 00:59:50,200
Speaker 1: you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you

927
00:59:50,280 --> 00:59:53,240
Speaker 1: who give generously to this ministry. Is because of you

928
00:59:53,400 --> 00:59:56,360
Speaker 1: that this ministry is possible. You can click the link

929
00:59:56,400 --> 00:59:59,840
Speaker 1: in the description to give now, or visit Elevation Church

930
01:00:00,640 --> 01:00:04,280
Speaker 1: Slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast,

931
01:00:04,600 --> 01:00:07,280
Speaker 1: you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends.

932
01:00:07,600 --> 01:00:09,880
Speaker 1: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and

933
01:00:09,960 --> 01:00:12,000
Speaker 1: share it on your social stories and tag us at

934
01:00:12,080 --> 01:00:14,600
Speaker 1: Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.