1 00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:04,400 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 5 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 6 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: How many are ready for the Word of God. I 7 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 1: just have a Christmas devotional thought today from Hebrews eleven, 8 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: verse three. It is not customarily seen as a Christmas scripture, 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: but let's look at the picture of Jesus Christ through 10 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: this frame today. Hebrews eleven three. King James version. Y'all 11 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: thought I was playing this holiday season, but I am not. 12 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:52,599 Speaker 1: King James version, Hebrews eleven three. Ready, through faith, we 13 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, 14 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: so that things which are seen were not men of 15 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: things which do appear. Through faith, we understand how many 16 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: know there are some things you can only understand through faith. 17 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by 18 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: the word of God, so that the things which are 19 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: seen were not made of things which do appear. Lord, 20 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: I thank you that your word is already blessed open 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: our hearts to receive it now in Jesus' name. Amen, 22 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: you may be seated. A couple of years ago, I 23 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 1: took all three of the kids on a carriage ride downtown. 24 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: Trust him, and I took them on the carriage ride 25 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: because I'm a good, good father and Holly wanted to shop. 26 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: And also another reason I took them on a carriage 27 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: ride is because I'm an idiot, and because Abby begged 28 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: me too. Was about five. Her big brothers told her 29 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: this is a bad idea. You're not gonna like it. 30 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: It's gonna be boring, but she insisted. We walked by 31 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: this picture of a carriage ride. She said, can we go? 32 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: I bought the tickets. I told the woman of God, 33 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,639 Speaker 1: I'm going to give you about an hour of shopping, 34 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: childless shopping. And she said, oh, thank you, thank you 35 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:30,519 Speaker 1: Men of God. She said, I receive it in Jesus' name. 36 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: Got on the carriage ride. Within three minutes, Abby had 37 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:42,239 Speaker 1: a full scale meltdown on the carriage drive. She was bored, 38 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: she was restless, she was disappointed, and her brothers, whoa 39 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: her brothers, took the opportunity to remind her, we told 40 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,119 Speaker 1: you that this would suck. Of course, we don't say 41 00:02:55,160 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: suck in my family. It's a preacher's family. But we 42 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: were all kind of embarrassed because of course we weren't 43 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: the only ones on the carriage ride. And within ten 44 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: minutes she was crying so loudly that I had to 45 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: go into my You know, if your parent, you have 46 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: a yelling voice that's quiet. It's louder than a scream, 47 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: and you have to use it in public when you 48 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: want to convey urgency without raising decibels. And I said, 49 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: baby girl, with a smile, I said it too, a 50 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: baby girl. You're the one who wanted to come on 51 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,839 Speaker 1: this carriage rye, and I'm gonna need you to dry 52 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: it up and enjoy this carriage drive. We got thirty 53 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: more minutes and you're the only one who wanted to 54 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: come on the carriage ride. So whatever's going on right now, 55 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: I need you to deal with it and listen to 56 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: this man tell us the history of all these houses 57 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: on this carria drive. She goes, she's trying to stop crying, 58 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: and she goes, but this isn't what I'm pictured. The 59 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: title of my sermon is, this isn't what I pictured. 60 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: Sometimes life takes you on a ride. Come on, who's 61 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: gonna be real with me? Today? Looks like we got 62 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: all angels in this section. Let me turn over here. 63 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:34,919 Speaker 1: Have you ever had life hand you a whopper? But 64 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: it didn't look like the commercial? This isn't what I pictured. 65 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: And it is a very difficult thing to adjust your 66 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: perspective when you pictured it one way and the product 67 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: turns out to be another. Some of you came to 68 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: church crying today isn't what I pictured. Because when we 69 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: started twenty nineteen or whatever year you happen to be 70 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: watching this in the time capsule in the future on 71 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: the internet. Just want this sermon to have a long 72 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: shelf life. And you started the year with a picture 73 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: of transformation, new beginnings, restoration, and this isn't what I pictured, 74 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: you know, So it's a real thing. Even to this day. 75 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: We'll tell Abby it's going to be like the carriage ride. 76 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: It's a way when she wants to do something we 77 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: don't want to do, we remind her carriage RYE carriage ry, 78 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 1: which is fine when you're only out of eighty five dollars, 79 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: But what about when it's your relationship and it isn't 80 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: what I picture or even your relationship with God. Maybe 81 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: you're saying, you know, I started one way believing that 82 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: God would do certain things for me because He is 83 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,679 Speaker 1: my provider, and yet I came into deeper relationship with God, 84 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: and this isn't Is there anybody in the whole church? 85 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: And if not, I can come to Gascon next week. 86 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,679 Speaker 1: Is there anybody in the whole church that is living 87 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: in a scene that you did not picture in this season? 88 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: And that's why Hebrews eleven three gives a contrast between 89 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: what God sees and what you see to let you 90 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,919 Speaker 1: know that the things which are seen were not made 91 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: of things which do appear. But I'm getting ahead of myself, 92 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: because the fact of the matter is everyone has a 93 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: picture of how life is supposed to go. When you 94 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: are supposed to get married, when you are supposed to 95 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: get a promotion, what kind of career your children were 96 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: supposed to be in. In some of you, you had 97 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: your child's whole career. They were going to go to 98 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: an ivy league school, be a starting quarterback and a 99 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: Magnasuma Kumalatti and all of that. And they don't even 100 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: like sports, and they don't even want to go to 101 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: community college and study and this isn't what I pictured. 102 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: Didn't you get the memo? So let me just ask 103 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: you a question. Where did you get your picture? Where 104 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: did you get your picture? Did you get it from 105 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: the Instagram? Because if you did, I'm praying for you, 106 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: real hard Catholic Pentecostal, I'll do it all because if 107 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: you got your picture for what life is supposed to be, 108 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: light from the little glimpses that other people give you 109 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: when they are posing perfectly, you will always be frustrated. 110 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: And while I'm on it, let me say something about 111 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: the show This is Us, which I love. Jack Pearson 112 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: isn't real. He's not real. I told Holly the other day, 113 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: I said, and please don't be offended. I hope you 114 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: didn't bring a relative for this to hope you're not 115 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: bringing the relatives until next weekend for the Christmas program. 116 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: But some shows that we watch, I call it emotional 117 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: porn because it is perfectly airbrushed. And then when you 118 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: compare the real thing to a picture that was surgically 119 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,559 Speaker 1: altered and cropped and filtered, how in the world are 120 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: we supposed to feel fulfilled about our real lives when 121 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: we spend so much time getting our picture from other 122 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: people's pretention. Come on and help me preach five seconds. 123 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: If you know he's a real God, He's the real thing. 124 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: So it means. But there are all these things that 125 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: I see and all these things that I don't see, 126 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: and God operates from an invisible picture. While I am 127 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: trying to make sense out of my life from what 128 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: is visible, God sees something different. Enter Jesus, Matthew, Chapter one, 129 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: verse eighteen. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ 130 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: came about. Matthew is done with the genealogy. Now the 131 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: part of the Christmas story that would put you right 132 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 1: to sleep. If I read all of those names, not 133 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: only would you be praying for my pronunciation, but you 134 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: would lose your focus. Yet all of it is important 135 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,439 Speaker 1: because it is all the backstory to help us understand 136 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: how Jesus came into the world. Now, if you don't 137 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: understand how Jesus came, you will misunderstand why Jesus came. 138 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: If we think he came like our superheroes that we 139 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: pay ticket prices to go and see, we will expect 140 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: him to come in a certain way, and we will 141 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: picture him in a way that will cause us to 142 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: miss him when he really shows up. Where did you 143 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: get your picture? Where did you get your picture of God? 144 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 1: What do you picture when you worship God? Where did 145 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 1: you get that picture? Is he white? Is he black? 146 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: Is he? Is he perfectly dialed to be an exact 147 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: representation of every ethnicity? Is he a man? Is he 148 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: not a man? It is is your God, King Triton, 149 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: off the little Mermaid? Just zapp and stuff? Where did 150 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: you get your picture? And what if he isn't what 151 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,079 Speaker 1: you picture? Now? I'm going to I'm really going to 152 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,559 Speaker 1: create some empty seats for next week. It's going to 153 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 1: be crowded for Christmas. Heaven is not going to be 154 00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:01,079 Speaker 1: like you picture it right now. Let me tell you why. 155 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: Some of the people that you can't stand are going 156 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: to be there, some of the people who don't believe 157 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 1: the right stuff, some of the people who didn't share 158 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: the same denominational dogma as you. When we get to heaven, 159 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 1: a lot of us are going to be surprised because 160 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 1: it won't look like the picture. And so this is 161 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:29,679 Speaker 1: how the Birth of Jesus Christ came about. Matthew says, 162 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: John starts it differently. He says, in the beginning was 163 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 164 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: Word was God. And he was there with God in 165 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: the beginning, and all things were made through him. Collusion says, 166 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: by him and for him. But Matthew is starting with 167 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 1: the human perspective of how Jesus Christ came about. Of course, 168 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: in verse seventeen, he says, thus there were fourteen generations 169 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: in all, from Abraham to David, from David to the 170 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: Babylonian exile, and then fourteen from the exile to Christ 171 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:59,199 Speaker 1: fourteen fourteen fourteen public school math. There's forty two generations 172 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: of faith that brought Jesus into the earth. And yet 173 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: the logos or the Word was with God, pre existent, 174 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: pre incarnate God, was the Word of God. And I 175 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 1: promise you this is important, so please stay with me. 176 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: Because before Jesus was seen, he existed. Before he appeared, 177 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:22,439 Speaker 1: he existed, just like everything in your life before it 178 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: is seen, it exists. By the time it becomes a behavior, 179 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: it was a belief for a long time. By the 180 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 1: time it becomes a feeling, it was a thought. So 181 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: just like there is a genealogy of Jesus, there is 182 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:41,679 Speaker 1: a genealogy of our emotions. There's a genealogy of our habits. 183 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: There is a pattern where where knowing how something started 184 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: can help you to trust when you don't see it 185 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 1: in the process. I'm preaching real good today. This is 186 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,959 Speaker 1: how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother, 187 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:03,560 Speaker 1: Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before 188 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: they came together, she was found to be with child 189 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 1: through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was a 190 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: righteous man and did not want to expose her to 191 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: public disgrace, he had in mind, Now I love this phrase. 192 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: He had in mind to divorce her quietly or to 193 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:32,439 Speaker 1: put her away quietly. He had in mind. So much 194 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: of the decisions that we make in our lives that 195 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:40,319 Speaker 1: cause us confusion are because we do what we had 196 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: in mind before. We consult God to see what he 197 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: has in store. Now can I keep going? But after 198 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: he considered this, now, why because the Angel appears to him? 199 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: But why did the Angel appear at this point after 200 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 1: Mary was already bound to be pregnant? In other words, 201 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: why did God let Joseph go several months without knowing 202 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: what he wanted to do and what it was all about, 203 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: and then appear after he had already made his plan 204 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 1: and had in mind what he wanted to do. After 205 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared 206 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: to him in a dream and said, Joseph's son of David, 207 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, 208 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 209 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: Why couldn't you tell me that six months ago? Why 210 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: couldn't you have told me that before I got the 211 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: papers drawn up. Why does God wait until after you 212 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: have made a plan to interrupt it? And this is 213 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 1: how the birth Jesus Christ came about, the greatest hope 214 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:08,280 Speaker 1: that the world was ever given, came through the greatest 215 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: disappointment that Joseph would ever know. And I wonder is 216 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: that happening in somebody's life today. This is how the 217 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: birth of Jesus Christ came about. When Joseph had made 218 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: up his mind how he needed to handle the situation, 219 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: and yet God interrupts Joseph's plan to fulfill a greater purpose. Now, 220 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: if you go by your picture, you will make your plan. 221 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: The only problem is God might have a different picture 222 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 1: than you. I know, y'all don't like it, but it's 223 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: the facts. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ 224 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: came about. You know, we have our nativity scene. It's 225 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: got a baby Jesus and the wise men. Well, first 226 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: of all, no record that there was three of them, 227 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: three gifts, but I don't know how many how many 228 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: magi were there, but I'll tell you this, they didn't 229 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: get there when Jesus was born. Jesus could have been 230 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: two years old by the time they got there. But 231 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: two year old Jesus is and is cute on a 232 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: nativity scene in precious moments, can't sell it, you know, 233 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,680 Speaker 1: toddlers aren't so adorable, so they had to put little 234 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: baby umbilical cord Jesus on the major scene. But he 235 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: was he was older than that. Now, now the shepherds 236 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: are there in your nativity scene too, aren't they. The 237 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: wise men and the shepherds weren't there at the same time. 238 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: Let's see. Now they want to sell you extra figures, 239 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: so they have to put them all together at the 240 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: same time. It's a profit margin issue, right, It's not 241 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: an accuracy thing. And how you pictured Christmas is probably wrong. 242 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,160 Speaker 1: He wasn't even born in a manger. That's how how 243 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 1: we translated in English. It was more of a guest 244 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: room that would have looked more like a cave. But 245 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 1: how are you going to sell a manger scene with 246 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:13,159 Speaker 1: a cave? You know, what if it isn't how you 247 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:18,399 Speaker 1: pictured it? What if how God wants to use you 248 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: is in how you picture it? What if the way 249 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: He's going to work in your marriage is and how 250 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:30,959 Speaker 1: you picture it. And Joseph has this word from God 251 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 1: to go from to understand by If he understands by 252 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: his eyes, his sight, he's going to miss it. We 253 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 1: always will. If he understands by his senses, his feelings, 254 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,239 Speaker 1: his emotions, he'll miss it emotionally and mentally. He has 255 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: already decided I'm done with this, And some of you 256 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 1: came to church today and you've already decided to quit. 257 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: I'm giving up on this. I'm given up on joy, 258 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: I'm giving up on peace, I'm giving up on hope. 259 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:57,200 Speaker 1: That's why some of you aren't in the building. You're 260 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: watching on a screen, because you gave up on even 261 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 1: being a part of a church. Because when you picture church, 262 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: you picture perfect people who would never hurt you. But 263 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: guess what, we are imperfect, just like you. So if 264 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 1: you want to hook up you got to understand we're 265 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,960 Speaker 1: screwed up too. But if you picture it as perfect, 266 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:17,880 Speaker 1: then when this is the Lord, I hear you, Lord, 267 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: I love it. When this happens, God show me exactly 268 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: what he said. He said, He said, the problem isn't 269 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:30,880 Speaker 1: your situation, it's your picture. The problem is not the situation, 270 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: The problem is the picture. Mary had her dress picked out, 271 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: but now she's not gonna get to wear it. She's 272 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 1: gonna be way too big for this dress by the 273 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: time she walks the aisle. Joseph had his plan picked out, 274 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:46,440 Speaker 1: but now he's not gonna get to do it, which 275 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: is hard for a carpenter because carpenter's plan they make 276 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: a living off of measuring and planning. But after he 277 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,639 Speaker 1: had measured it in his mind, God spoke to his 278 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 1: spirit and said, what is in her is from me. 279 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: I know it's not what you pictured, but it's me. 280 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: I know it's not what you expected, but it's me. 281 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,439 Speaker 1: I know it's not your preference, but it's me. I 282 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: know it doesn't fit your tradition, but it's me. I 283 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,720 Speaker 1: know that you feel lonely and there are some missing pieces, 284 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: but it's me. And are you trying to build your 285 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 1: life by the wrong picture of what you thought it 286 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:31,679 Speaker 1: would be or why you think you're supposed to be. 287 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:36,360 Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be dumb to try to buy a puzzle 288 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: to build it according to a picture that was on 289 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: the cover of somebody else's puzzle. Try it if you 290 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: go over to a friend's house and they have a puzzle. 291 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: This analogy is a little weak, but bear with me. 292 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 1: If you see a picture, go buy a puzzle that 293 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 1: doesn't match the picture, and try to open that box 294 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: with those pieces and build a picture, and see how 295 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,720 Speaker 1: much fun you have with it. So God says, I 296 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: gave you the pieces for the picture that I have 297 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: in mind for your life according to my purpose before 298 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: you were ever born. So I got the right pieces, 299 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 1: I've got the right gifts, I've got the right temperament. 300 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: If I submit it to the Holy Spirit and don't 301 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,119 Speaker 1: let it get out of control. But this isn't what 302 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: I pictured. Switch the picture. Switch the picture. When you 303 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,200 Speaker 1: have a picture of yourself as worthless, you will build 304 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: your life according to that picture. You will sabotage yourself 305 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: because you build by what you feel. But now God 306 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:54,199 Speaker 1: says I'm righteous. If I switch the picture to what 307 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: he sees. And if I assume that he's always working, 308 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: if I switch the picture, Joseph is me, I started this. 309 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: It's you that going to take Mary home, but it's me, 310 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: and it's hard to believe as God when it doesn't 311 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: feel good. Joseph is like, are you sure? Because he 312 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,840 Speaker 1: had to think about it, he had to ponder it. 313 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: The Beautiful verse in the Bible, it says, Joseph, son 314 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home 315 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: as your wife, because what is conceived in her is 316 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 1: from the Holy Spirit. What's in her is from me. 317 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:53,880 Speaker 1: What's in hers from me. It's in her, but it's 318 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: from me. God says, what's in you is from me. 319 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 1: What's in you is from Me. And I'm just comforted 320 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: by that because sometimes I feel pressure about what I 321 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: perceive to be missing pieces. Even as a preacher, I 322 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: always wish that I could that I could preach like 323 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,440 Speaker 1: other preachers that I see, And I tell you exactly 324 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 1: who I want to preach like. You know, the guys 325 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:25,719 Speaker 1: that stand still and they are just so profound, and 326 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,879 Speaker 1: they have one of the mics that never moves, and 327 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: they just it's just so they're so calm, and I 328 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,439 Speaker 1: like that, and I go on Amazon looking for robes 329 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 1: and I think, man, that would be cool because it 330 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,159 Speaker 1: expends a lot of energy, all this moving around. And 331 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,359 Speaker 1: even sometimes I come up and I try to preach 332 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 1: like one of them, you know, But then something just 333 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:55,440 Speaker 1: I can't. I mean, I really, I really don't plan 334 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: to freak out and out and I watch myself back 335 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:01,879 Speaker 1: and I'm like, why do you have to be like that? 336 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 1: Why can't you be dignified? But something inside of me 337 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,640 Speaker 1: when I start doing it, I just gotta do it. 338 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,919 Speaker 1: How I do it. I gotta do it like the 339 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: pieces in my box are meant for the picture. Y'all 340 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 1: won't help me breathe. What's in you is from God, 341 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 1: what's in me is from Him. I got every piece 342 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:39,440 Speaker 1: I God wisdom, I've got strength, I've got anointing. I've 343 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: got authority in the name of Jesus to overcome every 344 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 1: wicked thing that rises to oppose me. Now, show three 345 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: people say it's in you. It's in you. It's in 346 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,919 Speaker 1: you right now, and it's growing and it's kicking, and 347 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,159 Speaker 1: it's meant to be and you're not missing anything. You 348 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 1: got it all. You got every peace for the picture. 349 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,160 Speaker 1: For in the beginning, what's the word? And the word 350 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 1: was with God? And watch this the word was God. 351 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 1: So let me ask you a question. Let's take a vote. 352 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,439 Speaker 1: This is the first church vote that I remember in 353 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: the history of Elevation Church. But let's be Baptist for 354 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 1: the next thirty seconds. Who had the harder job? Mary 355 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 1: or Joseph? Before you answer this, because in just a moment, 356 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:55,199 Speaker 1: I'm gonna call on you to raise your hand at 357 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,160 Speaker 1: every location. If you are married, I want to strongly 358 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:05,359 Speaker 1: encourage you to consider carefully the cost of answering this 359 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:10,360 Speaker 1: question honestly. But who says Mary had the harder job? 360 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: You know? There they are all the women who have 361 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 1: borne children into this world. Come on, let's celebrate Mother's 362 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,479 Speaker 1: Day early. Thank God for you. Amen, raise your hand. 363 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 1: If you say it's Mary, it's Mary right because she 364 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:25,679 Speaker 1: had very little choice. She was already pregnant by the 365 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,199 Speaker 1: time she found out about the purpose. Too late if 366 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: you don't like it, and then you got Joseph. Y'all. 367 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,199 Speaker 1: My kids came up to me the other day and 368 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: they said, do you know Joe. Now here's what's hilarious. 369 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 1: I said, Joe, Mama and they said, how did you 370 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 1: know that? Because they think they started Joe Mama. Boy, 371 00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:00,680 Speaker 1: I was doing Joe Mama while you were still your 372 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:08,199 Speaker 1: unframed form was not even in the picture. Yet. I 373 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: gave him a genealogy of Joe Mama. I remember Joe 374 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: Mama from the Golden Girls. You remember the Golden Girls? 375 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 1: You too? But I promise you, Joe Mama is old. 376 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: This didn't start with you. I came to say that 377 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 1: to somebody about what God is doing in your life. 378 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:32,320 Speaker 1: This didn't start with you, and this doesn't end here. 379 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,880 Speaker 1: And Joseph has in mind to walk away. But God 380 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,960 Speaker 1: has something different in store because God is building with 381 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: a different picture. So who believes that Joseph had the 382 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:49,200 Speaker 1: harder job? Raise your head. I applaud your courage. It's 383 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: an unpopular stance. I kind of see where you're coming from. 384 00:26:55,560 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: I kind of see where you're coming from. Because twenty 385 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: one tells us Mary's job and Joseph's job. Let's read 386 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: it together, Matthew. Chapter one, verse twenty one. She will 387 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: give birth and you are to give him the name. 388 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:23,120 Speaker 1: Which one you want to do? Give birth or give 389 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: the name? And so physically there's no argument but see 390 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:36,840 Speaker 1: what is striking to me about Joseph. You never heard 391 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 1: the Christmas Carol, Joseph, did you know? Now? Mary knew? 392 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,639 Speaker 1: Mary knew because it was her body. Mary knew that 393 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: this has to be God because she knows whether or 394 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 1: not she has been with another man. And I'm gonna 395 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:57,159 Speaker 1: leave it at that. In case you didn't get your 396 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,360 Speaker 1: kids to eat kids this morning, I'm not gonna I'm 397 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: not gonna do it kind of details on this. But 398 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: Mary knew this has to be God because I consulted 399 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: my experience, and I'm a virgent and I haven't been 400 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,680 Speaker 1: with a man. So if I'm carrying something, it didn't 401 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,879 Speaker 1: come from human means. I know it because it's my body. 402 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:23,280 Speaker 1: Joseph didn't know, and he would never really know, so 403 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:29,399 Speaker 1: he had to believe. Maybe that's the hardest job of 404 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 1: all to believe what you can't see, to believe what 405 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,480 Speaker 1: you can't be sure of, to believe what you can't prove. 406 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 1: Joseph said, I I never knew. You know, the rest 407 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: of his life, he would live probably halfway wondering was 408 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: it really God? That kind of pregnant and you go right, 409 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: you go into men's group and you're like, guys, is good. 410 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: I was praying, the Lord told me, I was. I 411 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: was actually sleeping. I was in a dream and the 412 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: Lord told me, And don't worry. Mary saw a vision 413 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: two and we're gonna work this out and we're gonna 414 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: go home. Do you not think Joseph spent the rest 415 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: of his life looking cross eyed at people trying to 416 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:26,560 Speaker 1: figure out Now, your nose looks kind of like the 417 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 1: long nose with checking out those ears. You know, Ronnie 418 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: has kind of long years right there. I saw Ronnie 419 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: and Mary because Joseph didn't know. Because faith does not 420 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: operate by sensory knowledge. Because faith enables us to understand 421 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 1: that God is with us even if we do not 422 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: see him in the picture. I need you to receive 423 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: this by faith. You are to give him the name 424 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. 425 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,240 Speaker 1: Now here's the culmination of the text that I want 426 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: to share with you. All this took place, Everything you 427 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 1: didn't picture, everything you don't understand. All this took place 428 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,560 Speaker 1: to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. 429 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 1: And then he quotes Isaiah seven fourteen, which says the 430 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 1: Virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, 431 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. 432 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: And I've been listening to a song all week that says, 433 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,240 Speaker 1: even when I don't see it, you're working, and even 434 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: when I don't feel it, you're working. And I need 435 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,640 Speaker 1: you to make a declaration by faith. Every mouth in 436 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:55,600 Speaker 1: this room open up and say God is with me 437 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: right now. God is with me right now. Come on, 438 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: say it again. God is with me right now. Some 439 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: of y'all in other campus you're not saying it, but 440 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 1: you're not saying it to me. So say it out 441 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: aloud for yourself. Say God is with me right now. 442 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,840 Speaker 1: And remember that the things which are seen are not 443 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: made with things that do appear. So God does not 444 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 1: build with carpenter material that you can see and fabricate 445 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: your faith with your physical senses. When God builds something, 446 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,480 Speaker 1: it will not look like what you pictured. He has 447 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: a different picture, and he builds according to his picture. Now, 448 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:41,120 Speaker 1: the message of Christmas is about his presence, not my picture. 449 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:49,760 Speaker 1: The message of Christmas says that the worlds were framed. 450 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: Frame framed. I know they use it in a construction way, 451 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: but this is a visual term. Frame. They frame it 452 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 1: frame the world. Did you get your picture from the 453 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: world or from the Word. Did you get your picture 454 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: of what a man is supposed to be, of what 455 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: a woman is supposed to be, of what success is, 456 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,880 Speaker 1: of what fulfillment is? Did you get it from the 457 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: Word or the world? Because the Bible says that by 458 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,320 Speaker 1: faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the 459 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:27,680 Speaker 1: Word of God. Frame and are you framing this season 460 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:33,720 Speaker 1: of your life with your faith or with your fear? Honestly? 461 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,560 Speaker 1: Now answer and honestly as you look at what you 462 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 1: cannot understand in your life right now. Because every hand 463 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,360 Speaker 1: in the room that I saw went up when I said, 464 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 1: is it different than what you pictured? Is it different 465 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 1: than what you pictured? Someone? This was an insult, someone 466 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: said to me one time when I walked in. They said, Oh, 467 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,080 Speaker 1: I never saw you before I listened to your podcast. 468 00:32:54,160 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 1: You're not what I picture. What did you picture? They said? 469 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: I pictured you bigger, I pictured you bigger. I pictured it. 470 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:17,880 Speaker 1: I pictured it bigger. I pictured at this age, I 471 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:23,040 Speaker 1: would be past some certain things I picture. I pictured 472 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 1: it different. I pictured I pictured parenting way different. I 473 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: thought we'd be doing drive time devotionals from the original 474 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:38,720 Speaker 1: Greek of Philippians. I thought we'd be doing Bible sword drills. 475 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:41,640 Speaker 1: I didn't know they'd be pulling out real swords, stabbing 476 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: each other with forks in the kitchen before y'all are 477 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,200 Speaker 1: looking at me so holy. It's different than what you picture. 478 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:54,320 Speaker 1: Is better, but it's different. It's different. Ministry is different 479 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: than what I pictured. Let me go all the way. 480 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:04,120 Speaker 1: Adulthood is different than what happened picture. Can we be 481 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:07,960 Speaker 1: real with one another for a moment? It's different. They 482 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 1: sold us something that isn't real. We're supposed to have 483 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,719 Speaker 1: it figured out. I'm supposed to have good sense. I'm 484 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 1: supposed to be a fully cooked turkey by now, and 485 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: I'm coming out the oven and I'm still wrang and 486 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: I've got mouse to feet. Is different than the picture. 487 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 1: So when they put the sermon online for the video, 488 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:41,200 Speaker 1: they have to switch between different shots, and they have 489 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:45,160 Speaker 1: instructions to use of what shots they put on the screen. 490 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,960 Speaker 1: Even now while I'm preaching, and because I move around 491 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 1: so much like the spastic preacher that I am, these 492 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 1: are highly trained, competent individuals. Somehow they always keep me 493 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,239 Speaker 1: in the center of the center of the picture. But 494 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:05,359 Speaker 1: what if the switcher fell asleep? You know, just real quick, 495 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:07,719 Speaker 1: I'm gonna do an example because I want you to 496 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: see this. Imagine if the person on the switcher that 497 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:12,759 Speaker 1: goes from the tight shot to the wide shot and 498 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:16,080 Speaker 1: boost the thing on the thing that's the technical terms. 499 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:23,040 Speaker 1: What if they at first show them what you're supposed 500 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:26,000 Speaker 1: to do. Okay, let's say I do a lateral movement 501 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,439 Speaker 1: over here to the side. Look, you got a shot 502 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,120 Speaker 1: for that. But suppose they didn't put it on that 503 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:34,640 Speaker 1: other shot. Now, for the maximum benefit of this illustration, 504 00:35:34,719 --> 00:35:39,799 Speaker 1: if you are at Valentine, watch the screen. If you're 505 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,959 Speaker 1: at another campus, you've got the competitive advantage right now, 506 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:53,400 Speaker 1: because sometimes God does this. Watch the screen. Watch the screen. 507 00:35:56,360 --> 00:36:04,239 Speaker 1: Sometimes God does this. Now, the only conclusion you can 508 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: come to if you are using your eyes is that 509 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:12,880 Speaker 1: the person who was in the picture is no longer 510 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:17,279 Speaker 1: in the building. The only way for you to know 511 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:23,120 Speaker 1: I'm still here is to go not by what you see, 512 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:29,120 Speaker 1: but by what you hear. So right now, those of 513 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:32,040 Speaker 1: you who cannot see me on the screen, watch the screen, 514 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:36,440 Speaker 1: y'all a disobedient watch the screen. You can't see me 515 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:45,399 Speaker 1: on the screen, but if you know my voice. If 516 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:49,960 Speaker 1: you know my voice, you will know that I did 517 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:55,800 Speaker 1: not leave you nor forsake you in the beginning. What's 518 00:36:55,880 --> 00:37:00,680 Speaker 1: the word, And the word was here before you, and 519 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 1: the word was spoken before you saw your frame. So 520 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:09,160 Speaker 1: when I don't feel him, he's with me because his 521 00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:14,120 Speaker 1: name is Emmanuel. I can't see him, but I trust 522 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:17,680 Speaker 1: him because he's spoken, and I will see it with 523 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:27,440 Speaker 1: the eyes of my faith. He's with me on my 524 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:32,279 Speaker 1: good day. He's with me on my bad day. He's 525 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:36,160 Speaker 1: with me when I've got it. He's with me when 526 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:38,960 Speaker 1: I don't even know where to look. He's with me 527 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:43,160 Speaker 1: when they like me. He's with me when nobody will 528 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:47,640 Speaker 1: return my text. He's with me when I'm married. He's 529 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:52,080 Speaker 1: with me when I'm divorced. He's with me when I've 530 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:55,359 Speaker 1: got a job. He's with me when I don't see 531 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,040 Speaker 1: a way to pay it. He's with me when I'm well, 532 00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:03,000 Speaker 1: with me when I'm sick. He's with me with a 533 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:07,439 Speaker 1: clear sky. He's with me in the storm. He didn't lead. 534 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,960 Speaker 1: I just got a sage my frame. If he's spoke it, 535 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:21,799 Speaker 1: you will see it. I'm gonna praise him. Let you 536 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:25,680 Speaker 1: know he's with you. He's with me. He's with me. 537 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:30,360 Speaker 1: He's with me. He's with me. What's in me is 538 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 1: from me and my God. It's for me. He's with me. 539 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:44,960 Speaker 1: So don't be afraid to go home and do what 540 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 1: God told you. Don't be afraid to face your fears 541 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,120 Speaker 1: with the frame of faith. Because the things which are 542 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:57,960 Speaker 1: seen made by the things which don't appear. I know 543 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:01,319 Speaker 1: it isn't what your picture. I know it in what 544 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:05,720 Speaker 1: you planned. You remember when we were in the nursing 545 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:14,759 Speaker 1: home for Thanksgiving. My dad was sixty to something like that, 546 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:18,760 Speaker 1: sixty two years old in a nursing home, not because 547 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:21,000 Speaker 1: we didn't want to keep It was so tense in 548 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:24,040 Speaker 1: our family that he decided he wouldn't want to live 549 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:25,520 Speaker 1: with any of us. We couldn't take care of him. 550 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:27,480 Speaker 1: He had luke Garrit's disease, and we tried to take 551 00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:29,000 Speaker 1: care of him. We couldn't take care of him. We 552 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:32,640 Speaker 1: were eating microwaved Thanksgiving in the nursing home with my 553 00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:35,360 Speaker 1: dad knowing good and well. We wanted him in our house, 554 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:38,360 Speaker 1: and nobody was on speaking terms. You talk about awkward. 555 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:45,759 Speaker 1: Him doesn't taste right when you try to microwave it. 556 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:50,759 Speaker 1: None of us pictured this. I know you didn't picture this. 557 00:39:52,560 --> 00:40:09,760 Speaker 1: God isn't building your picture. He's building his purpose. So Joseph, Joe, Joe, 558 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:17,759 Speaker 1: did you know Joseph would say no, uh huh. I 559 00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:23,160 Speaker 1: just believe I had one thing in mind, God had 560 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:29,239 Speaker 1: another thing in store. I went with God. God went 561 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:36,920 Speaker 1: with me, and I have what I need in the 562 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:40,399 Speaker 1: box to be the picture that He created in his heart. 563 00:40:41,719 --> 00:40:44,320 Speaker 1: So no, I'm not trying to build somebody else's life 564 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,319 Speaker 1: or somebody else's idea of what I'm supposed to be. 565 00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:52,560 Speaker 1: Not anymore. I tried that. It is so stressful. I 566 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,239 Speaker 1: can't afford the doctor bill or the stomach medicine for 567 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:57,920 Speaker 1: that kind of living. I got to build what God 568 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:02,080 Speaker 1: put inside of me for the picture that he sees, 569 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:13,840 Speaker 1: and the world's your friend. Switch the picture. Switch the picture. 570 00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:18,160 Speaker 1: Be who God called you to be, Celebrate what he 571 00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:21,919 Speaker 1: gave you. Pull everything close that you still have left, 572 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:24,040 Speaker 1: wrap your arms around it, and make the most of it. 573 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:27,280 Speaker 1: Switch the picture. Yeah, it's going to be a different 574 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 1: Christmas for some of us. I understand that. But God, 575 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:37,320 Speaker 1: God pictured it all along. You know when Isaiah said 576 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:42,200 Speaker 1: a virgin will conceive, he saw that hundreds of years 577 00:41:42,239 --> 00:41:47,280 Speaker 1: before it happened. God was already building the picture forty 578 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 1: two generations, and God knew the picture. If you get 579 00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:54,320 Speaker 1: too tightly zoomed into this one scene, or this one moment, 580 00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:56,799 Speaker 1: or this one struggle or this one issue, you're going 581 00:41:56,840 --> 00:42:00,600 Speaker 1: to miss the bigger picture. God knows to put you, 582 00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:07,279 Speaker 1: He knows what he put in you, and he knows 583 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:11,280 Speaker 1: what he wants to do through you. So take Mary 584 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:15,080 Speaker 1: home by faith and do what the Angel of the 585 00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:17,000 Speaker 1: Lord commanded you to do. Now what you feel or 586 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:22,440 Speaker 1: what you thought, switch the picture. Everyone's standing. I want 587 00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:26,960 Speaker 1: to pray for people this Christmas season who need to 588 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:36,200 Speaker 1: switch the picture. Switch the picture and put God back 589 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:40,400 Speaker 1: in the center of the frame. Put his presence and 590 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:45,600 Speaker 1: his joy and his peace. See, when you understand how 591 00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:50,480 Speaker 1: he came, you can understand why he came. Please answer me, 592 00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:53,160 Speaker 1: who was this message? It was just for you. It 593 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:54,320 Speaker 1: was just for you. It was just for you. It 594 00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:57,239 Speaker 1: was just for you. Okay, I'm gonna tell you three 595 00:42:57,280 --> 00:42:59,719 Speaker 1: things about how he came. I'll give him to you 596 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:04,720 Speaker 1: so quick. Number one, he came through someone that everyone 597 00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:08,799 Speaker 1: else thought was insignificant. So the first word you need 598 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:12,439 Speaker 1: to know about how he came is insignificant. He did 599 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:15,680 Speaker 1: not come through a matriarch of royal lineage. He came 600 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:18,520 Speaker 1: through a little girl who was so scared that when 601 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:20,879 Speaker 1: the angel came, she said, how can this be? He 602 00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:23,520 Speaker 1: came through someone who saw no way that what God 603 00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:25,560 Speaker 1: wanted to do for the world could happen through her. 604 00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:28,839 Speaker 1: And so it has always been. I know, we get 605 00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:32,839 Speaker 1: excited when an actor or an actress, or a celebrity 606 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:35,720 Speaker 1: or a politician, or a rock star or a rapper 607 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:39,120 Speaker 1: gets excited about Jesus. But Christ is born in every 608 00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:41,759 Speaker 1: heart that will receive him by faith. And God is 609 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:44,880 Speaker 1: using you. If you are a coach, if you are 610 00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:49,839 Speaker 1: a student, if you are a businessman, you are, if 611 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:52,640 Speaker 1: you are a police officer, if you are nothing more 612 00:43:52,719 --> 00:43:55,760 Speaker 1: you like, I'm just a stop saying that God always 613 00:43:56,000 --> 00:44:00,839 Speaker 1: chooses to use what people deem insignificant. So there is 614 00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:07,279 Speaker 1: nothing insignificant about your pieces for your picture. That's number one. 615 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:12,400 Speaker 1: Number two, it was impossible. It was a virgin womb 616 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:17,160 Speaker 1: because God wanted to let you know that impossible situations 617 00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:22,719 Speaker 1: are the places where faith is born. So if that 618 00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:28,960 Speaker 1: is impossible for you, it is fertile for God. If 619 00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:31,719 Speaker 1: you understand how he came through a virgin womb. He 620 00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:33,680 Speaker 1: didn't have to do that, but he wanted you to 621 00:44:33,719 --> 00:44:37,879 Speaker 1: know if you are facing something where you don't see away, 622 00:44:38,719 --> 00:44:41,680 Speaker 1: if you don't see it, but he spoke it, and 623 00:44:41,719 --> 00:44:46,480 Speaker 1: you will believe it by faith, it will come to pass. 624 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:52,160 Speaker 1: That's how he came. He came for impossible situations, broken hearts, 625 00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:59,800 Speaker 1: broken homes, broken lives. But what I love the most, 626 00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:05,480 Speaker 1: what I love the very most, is that it was intimate. 627 00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:13,919 Speaker 1: He came in the most intimate way. He was born 628 00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:17,960 Speaker 1: of a virgin, and he comes into your heart when 629 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:21,960 Speaker 1: you receive him by faith. He longs to be personal 630 00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:27,160 Speaker 1: with you this season. But if you get somebody else's 631 00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:31,800 Speaker 1: picture and try to put something together that's not in you, 632 00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:36,400 Speaker 1: you will miss his presence. He wants to speak to you, 633 00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:41,920 Speaker 1: use you, bless you, help you. This is personal, This 634 00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:45,800 Speaker 1: is intimate. God of all grace, God of all comfort. 635 00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:47,520 Speaker 1: I have delivered your word to the best of my 636 00:45:47,600 --> 00:45:50,160 Speaker 1: ability with your help, and I thank you for what 637 00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,800 Speaker 1: you spoke in this place today. Your word is good seed. 638 00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:58,239 Speaker 1: I pray that it falls upon good soil. Today. I 639 00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 1: pray for those today who are living in a picture 640 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:05,919 Speaker 1: that they never planned for. I think we all are. 641 00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:10,959 Speaker 1: We're all moving through this life. We saw it one way, 642 00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:15,719 Speaker 1: and now we are experiencing it another. And yet you 643 00:46:15,760 --> 00:46:21,080 Speaker 1: are here, always, here, still, Emmanuel, still with us, still 644 00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:26,600 Speaker 1: for us, A good father, a faithful friend, wonderful counselor 645 00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:34,040 Speaker 1: Mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Lift your hands. 646 00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:43,719 Speaker 1: I receive your peace. God, I receive your assurance. I 647 00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:50,759 Speaker 1: receive your presence in this season of my life. You 648 00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:55,520 Speaker 1: are my King. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks 649 00:46:55,520 --> 00:46:58,080 Speaker 1: to those of you who give generously to this ministry. 650 00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:01,360 Speaker 1: Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You 651 00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:03,840 Speaker 1: can click the link in the description to give now, 652 00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:08,239 Speaker 1: or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 653 00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:11,920 Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You 654 00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:14,000 Speaker 1: can share it with your friends. You can click the 655 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:16,319 Speaker 1: share button, take a screenshot and share it on your 656 00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:19,319 Speaker 1: social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again 657 00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:25,480 Speaker 1: for listening. God bless you