1
00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:06,280
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

2
00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,360
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast.

3
00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:11,639
Speaker 2: Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these

4
00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:16,400
Speaker 2: new sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today.

5
00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:30,240
Speaker 1: Ah, good morning, Elevation. Shit. I never take it for

6
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:32,680
Speaker 1: granted when I get to stand in this pulpit, because

7
00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:34,760
Speaker 1: every week our pastor stands up here and he preaches

8
00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,560
Speaker 1: God's word in a way that would set our lives free.

9
00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:39,680
Speaker 1: And as he mentioned, I'm one of the old gies.

10
00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,000
Speaker 1: It means old guys. I've been around since the beginning.

11
00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:44,800
Speaker 1: You might know this, but I feel like one of

12
00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,519
Speaker 1: my responsibilities every time I stand in the pulpit is

13
00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,120
Speaker 1: to be the storyteller, to be the old guy, reminding

14
00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:51,879
Speaker 1: you where you came from. Some of you don't know

15
00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,800
Speaker 1: your spiritual legacy. Elevation started more than seventeen years ago.

16
00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,360
Speaker 1: Our first Sunday February fifth, two thousand and six, we

17
00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,400
Speaker 1: had one twenty one people. Now we got more watch

18
00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,000
Speaker 1: parties than that around the world. Look what God has

19
00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:12,600
Speaker 1: done unbelievable. But it really didn't start February fifth. It

20
00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:14,880
Speaker 1: started actually a year before that, in two thousand and five.

21
00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,480
Speaker 1: When eight families committed to do this thing called Elevation Church.

22
00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,520
Speaker 1: I want to show you a photo of your early

23
00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,319
Speaker 1: family heritage. This on the screen here, this is this

24
00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,560
Speaker 1: is way back in the day Elevation Church. This is

25
00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,000
Speaker 1: what we call the Blue Room days from back in Shelby,

26
00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,839
Speaker 1: North Carolina. Let me give you a little context around

27
00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,480
Speaker 1: this photo. Eight families at this point are committed to

28
00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,360
Speaker 1: sell their houses, quit their jobs, moved to an unnamed

29
00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,760
Speaker 1: city in part of an unnamed part of the country

30
00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,039
Speaker 1: to be part of an unnamed church. He doesn't want

31
00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,880
Speaker 1: to sign up for that? Then, does sound amazing? We're

32
00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,000
Speaker 1: all sitting in were wondering like what is it gonna be?

33
00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:50,120
Speaker 1: And what's gonna be the name, and what's gonna be

34
00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 1: the city? And can you put that photo back up?

35
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,400
Speaker 1: Because Pastor Stephen is the on the bottom right corner

36
00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,040
Speaker 1: with the shaved head. That's Pastor Stephen, Holly next to him,

37
00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:01,240
Speaker 1: Chunks and Amy, and then that guy in the upper

38
00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:07,480
Speaker 1: corner that's not Kevin James, that's me. That's and that

39
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,600
Speaker 1: was March thirteenth of two thousand and five, and we're

40
00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,280
Speaker 1: all sitting there, what's it gonna be? Here's the notes

41
00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,160
Speaker 1: that Pastor Stephen gave us that night, and I wanted

42
00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,800
Speaker 1: to speak these over our church today, to revisit a

43
00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,680
Speaker 1: spirit that was spoken more than eighteen years ago, because

44
00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,280
Speaker 1: the timeless message that Pastor Stephen has spoken into us

45
00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,799
Speaker 1: does not outdate. Just because we flipped the calendar, this

46
00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,560
Speaker 1: would be on the screen things we must do. He

47
00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,640
Speaker 1: has him on the screen that night March thirteenth, two

48
00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,519
Speaker 1: thousand and five, he said, here are eight things we

49
00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,800
Speaker 1: must do again. We didn't have a name, had no money,

50
00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,440
Speaker 1: but we had a lot of vision. I wonder as

51
00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,919
Speaker 1: I read these what applies to you today. Number one,

52
00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,280
Speaker 1: we must get people to catch the vision rather than

53
00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,440
Speaker 1: watching the show. I think that's a good word right there.

54
00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:03,079
Speaker 1: We must call on God walkie talkie style, step by step.

55
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,240
Speaker 1: We must play our three chords loud to know what

56
00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,960
Speaker 1: makes us distinctive, not lose that. Some of you have

57
00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,240
Speaker 1: tried to imitate somebody else's sound, and God wanted you

58
00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,680
Speaker 1: to hear today. No, No, he gave you a specific note.

59
00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,360
Speaker 1: Go back to who He made you to be. We

60
00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,560
Speaker 1: must step forward like God is behind us. We must

61
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,880
Speaker 1: protect the vision like it's a newborn baby. And we

62
00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:29,280
Speaker 1: must love each other. We must think marathon, not sprint.

63
00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,280
Speaker 1: That's why we're here eighteen years later, serving in all

64
00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,400
Speaker 1: these communities because Pastor steven and knows the voice that says, guys,

65
00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:37,520
Speaker 1: we got to think about the long term, not just

66
00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,480
Speaker 1: the short term, and then we must feel the burden.

67
00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,040
Speaker 1: I am so glad that we've got a pastor that

68
00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,040
Speaker 1: eighteen years ago was saying no, no, no. I know

69
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:47,840
Speaker 1: there's a lot of things we don't know, but here's

70
00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,320
Speaker 1: what we must do. Thank you, Pastor Stephen, for faithfully

71
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,160
Speaker 1: serving God, for faithfully preaching his word. We love you.

72
00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:02,240
Speaker 1: We honor you with the privilege to preach today. Hey,

73
00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,280
Speaker 1: remain standing for just another moment. I want to read

74
00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,280
Speaker 1: God's verse for what we want to dive into today.

75
00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:08,960
Speaker 1: This is going to be out of Luke chapter one.

76
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:11,960
Speaker 1: I've been in this scripture for about six months and

77
00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,960
Speaker 1: it's really wrecking me, and I'm excited to deliver it

78
00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,000
Speaker 1: to you today. This is in verse sixty two of

79
00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:22,800
Speaker 1: Luke chapter one. It says they made signs to his

80
00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,239
Speaker 1: father to find out sorry about that what he would

81
00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:30,280
Speaker 1: like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet,

82
00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:35,240
Speaker 1: and to everyone's astonishment, he wrote his name is John.

83
00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:37,120
Speaker 1: You see, they asked him, what do you want to

84
00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,440
Speaker 1: name this child? That I would do well to remind

85
00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:41,359
Speaker 1: some of you that God has given you naming rights.

86
00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:43,800
Speaker 1: Some of you as settled for a label that a

87
00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:46,680
Speaker 1: past mistake has identified you as, and God says, that's

88
00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,240
Speaker 1: not you. I've given you naming rights. You have the

89
00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:51,720
Speaker 1: ability to rewrite some things today. And I think that's

90
00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:53,520
Speaker 1: what God wants to do in our lives today. He

91
00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:55,920
Speaker 1: wants to relabel some things today. Some of you as

92
00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,000
Speaker 1: settle for a label that somebody else gave you, that

93
00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,000
Speaker 1: is beneath you. Jesus died for you to be. You've

94
00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,520
Speaker 1: got naming rights. He goes on to say his name

95
00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,320
Speaker 1: is John. Immediately his mouth was open and his tongue

96
00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,440
Speaker 1: was set free, and he began to speak, praising God.

97
00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:13,680
Speaker 1: All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the

98
00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:18,880
Speaker 1: hill country of Judea people were talking all about these things.

99
00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,000
Speaker 1: Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking what then

100
00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,960
Speaker 1: is this child going to be? For the Lord's hand

101
00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:30,679
Speaker 1: was with him. Here's the title for the few minutes

102
00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,400
Speaker 1: we have together. What's it gonna be? Say? It allowed

103
00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,039
Speaker 1: to say? What's it gonna be. Type it in the

104
00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:39,520
Speaker 1: comments what's it gonna be? You guys can be seated.

105
00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,040
Speaker 1: Thank you Worship Team. This is a story about a

106
00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,160
Speaker 1: couple that gets the opportunity to name a child. It's

107
00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,680
Speaker 1: a pretty cool privilege. My wife, Janet and I we

108
00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,560
Speaker 1: celebrate twenty three years of marriage this year. Yes, we

109
00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:59,240
Speaker 1: do baby, and we've got four kids and ages seventeen

110
00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,440
Speaker 1: down to nine. And our youngest her name is Lenya.

111
00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,320
Speaker 1: And this is a picture of her when she was born.

112
00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,920
Speaker 1: This is her baby photo. And we remember looking at

113
00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:11,720
Speaker 1: that baby photo going, what's I know? That's what was

114
00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,440
Speaker 1: the effect I was going for. Oh, any parents here

115
00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:17,479
Speaker 1: of some newborns. You can tell me because your eyes

116
00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,320
Speaker 1: are wide open and you're not getting any sleep. And

117
00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,080
Speaker 1: that's Lenya. And now here she is as a nine

118
00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,960
Speaker 1: year old, and uh, that's that's our littlest one. And

119
00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:28,640
Speaker 1: when you meet a child, you walk up to them

120
00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:31,719
Speaker 1: and you say, what do you want to be? What

121
00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 1: do you want to be? She wants to be a YouTuber.

122
00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:37,520
Speaker 1: She has no idea what that means, but she wants

123
00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,080
Speaker 1: to have nine YouTube channels and she wants to go

124
00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,760
Speaker 1: to Barry College. She's got it. All mapped out, and

125
00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:44,040
Speaker 1: when you see a kid, you're like, what do you

126
00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:47,200
Speaker 1: want to be when you grow up? But two adults

127
00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,320
Speaker 1: they meet each other like what do you Where did

128
00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,960
Speaker 1: we go from becoming something for God's glory to doing

129
00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,080
Speaker 1: something for him? I think we've lost a little bit

130
00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,240
Speaker 1: of that wonderment that God wants. The staff, maybe you

131
00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:58,840
Speaker 1: would do well the next time you're in a business

132
00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:00,960
Speaker 1: meeting to look at your business and say what do

133
00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,359
Speaker 1: you want to be when you grow up? And I

134
00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:06,240
Speaker 1: think it speaks to the assignment that maybe God has

135
00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,920
Speaker 1: placed on her hearts today to remember some of the

136
00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:10,640
Speaker 1: things that He spoke in to us that maybe time

137
00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,720
Speaker 1: has talked us out of. In this story, it's about

138
00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:15,640
Speaker 1: the birth of a child. But to really understand the story,

139
00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:17,440
Speaker 1: he got to rewind a little bit. I want to

140
00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,120
Speaker 1: hop back to chapter one of Luke, starting in verse five,

141
00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:23,360
Speaker 1: and I want to give you that story because some

142
00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,239
Speaker 1: people see the end of a story you don't appreciate

143
00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:29,000
Speaker 1: unless you saw Whariot began. It's really easy for like, oh,

144
00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,480
Speaker 1: it must be nice be an elevation church with all like,

145
00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:33,160
Speaker 1: let me take you back to the photo where there

146
00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,000
Speaker 1: was no money, there was no name, because God is

147
00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,480
Speaker 1: faithful in those little moments, and when you stay faithful

148
00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,440
Speaker 1: in those things, you see Him do much with it.

149
00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,280
Speaker 1: In chapter one, verse five, this is in the time

150
00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,840
Speaker 1: of Herod, King of Judah. There was a priest name

151
00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,360
Speaker 1: of Zachariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah.

152
00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,320
Speaker 1: His wife was Elizabeth, and who was also a descendant

153
00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,480
Speaker 1: of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight

154
00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:04,480
Speaker 1: of God, serving all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly.

155
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,920
Speaker 1: So you have this couple that the husband is a

156
00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,280
Speaker 1: preacher man, he's a priest, he's got it going down.

157
00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,680
Speaker 1: And Elizabeth, she comes from a royal blondeline. Aaron was

158
00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,680
Speaker 1: the first high priest of Israel. He's Moses's brother. So

159
00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,120
Speaker 1: these people come from the right side of the tracks.

160
00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,920
Speaker 1: They're like the all American they're the Jewish couple. Like

161
00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,040
Speaker 1: he's the homecoming king and she's the homecoming queen, and

162
00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,400
Speaker 1: he's the captain of the football team. And they got

163
00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,320
Speaker 1: it all going on. They got the right pedigree. And

164
00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,280
Speaker 1: then verse six it says they were both blameless in

165
00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,000
Speaker 1: the side of God. It doesn't mean they were above

166
00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,160
Speaker 1: without sin. It means they were above reproach. It means

167
00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,000
Speaker 1: they were living their life in such a way that

168
00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:46,400
Speaker 1: the ordinances, in the commands that God had given, they

169
00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,240
Speaker 1: were following them. They were observing, not just they were

170
00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:51,520
Speaker 1: coming from the right place, but they were doing the

171
00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,520
Speaker 1: right things. What an example for those of us that

172
00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,640
Speaker 1: claimed the cause of Christ to run after to we

173
00:08:57,679 --> 00:08:59,600
Speaker 1: want to be the kind of person who observes the

174
00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,800
Speaker 1: decrease in the commands of the Lord blamelessly. And you

175
00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,600
Speaker 1: would expect verse seven to start with. And they all

176
00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:11,440
Speaker 1: lived happily ever after. But you see, the Bible is

177
00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:14,280
Speaker 1: not a fairy tale. It's the story of a great

178
00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,840
Speaker 1: God that we were separated from because of sin. But

179
00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,240
Speaker 1: God is long suffering, willing that none should perish. And

180
00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:22,320
Speaker 1: it's set the stage for a savior to come on

181
00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,880
Speaker 1: the scene of the world who in the form of Jesus,

182
00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,160
Speaker 1: to redeem us from our sins. But it's also the

183
00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,080
Speaker 1: story of a broken humanity and the depravity of the

184
00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,720
Speaker 1: human nature and the result of sin and what happens.

185
00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,480
Speaker 1: This is a book of great faith. I think sometimes

186
00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,960
Speaker 1: we open up God's word wanting a fairy tale, and

187
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,079
Speaker 1: verse seven shows me that this is not a fairy

188
00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:47,760
Speaker 1: tale because it says, but they were childless, because Elizabeth

189
00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:52,720
Speaker 1: was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

190
00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,520
Speaker 1: Sometimes the scripture shouts, it says, here's the answer, and

191
00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:05,000
Speaker 1: sometimes whispers, but it's never silent. I think the whisper

192
00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:11,520
Speaker 1: in verse seven is the subtle sound of disappointment. You see,

193
00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:18,400
Speaker 1: they had this deep desire to be parents, but but

194
00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:22,040
Speaker 1: they were childless. So but often speaks to a desire

195
00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:28,520
Speaker 1: that's delayed or it feels like it's been denied. It's

196
00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:32,160
Speaker 1: this place of disappointment, and it says they were very old,

197
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,160
Speaker 1: and when you read the original language, it means they

198
00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:38,520
Speaker 1: were very old. It's like you know, you've got hungry,

199
00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,400
Speaker 1: and then there's very hungry. You know you're angry, and

200
00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:46,120
Speaker 1: then there's very angry. There's old and then there's very old.

201
00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,720
Speaker 1: Zacharias ninety and Elizabeth is eighty eight, and the text

202
00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,600
Speaker 1: is showing you a story that not only was Elizabeth

203
00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,440
Speaker 1: not able to conceive, but they're past the age of

204
00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,960
Speaker 1: biological reproduction in a reasonable person's eyes, and it sets

205
00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,640
Speaker 1: the stage and but becomes a foreshadowing of God's favor.

206
00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,720
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful there's profound disappointment in this versus picture

207
00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,120
Speaker 1: them because in the culture, they would have been married

208
00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:15,560
Speaker 1: as teenagers. So picture Elizabeth being sixteen and Zachari being eighteen,

209
00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,320
Speaker 1: and they get married, like, all right, we're married. We're

210
00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,840
Speaker 1: both come from good blood lives, we're both doing it right,

211
00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:22,680
Speaker 1: we're serving God. Certainly we'll have a baby by the

212
00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:25,880
Speaker 1: time we're twenty. And now Zachariah looks at Elizabeth at

213
00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:27,679
Speaker 1: age twenty five and says, I cannot talk to your

214
00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:29,640
Speaker 1: mama one more time. Just if she says, when are

215
00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,640
Speaker 1: you gonna give me a grand by, I'm gonna slap her,

216
00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,160
Speaker 1: just keeping it real. And then thirty comes and goes,

217
00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:39,120
Speaker 1: and the whispers of the people in the community are like,

218
00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,640
Speaker 1: what's wrong with them? Why can't they get pregnant? And

219
00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,120
Speaker 1: now they're begging God, God, have you forgotten us? God?

220
00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,640
Speaker 1: We're serving you. Did we do something wrong? But no,

221
00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,440
Speaker 1: they were not being punished. And some of you feel

222
00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,400
Speaker 1: like the situation you're walking through us a punishment for

223
00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:58,480
Speaker 1: something you did. It's not. They were not being punished

224
00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:01,040
Speaker 1: in this moment. How they come to age forty and

225
00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,560
Speaker 1: Elizabeth is like, hey, why don't you go find somebody else?

226
00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:06,360
Speaker 1: Some marror so that you can have a child, because

227
00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:08,360
Speaker 1: evidently I think it's me. They say, no, no, we're

228
00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,120
Speaker 1: going to keep serving God. We're going to do this

229
00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,640
Speaker 1: thing together. But now they're fifty. They expected to be

230
00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,480
Speaker 1: holding a baby, but now they're just holding bitterness. Then

231
00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,800
Speaker 1: by the time they get to age sixty, they forgot

232
00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:24,320
Speaker 1: about the desire to become parents. And they used to

233
00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,280
Speaker 1: be praying earnestly, seeking the presence of God, give us

234
00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,520
Speaker 1: a child, give us a child. But now sixty they've

235
00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:33,280
Speaker 1: stopped praying those prayers. So by the time we pick

236
00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,920
Speaker 1: up the story here, it's been about thirty years. I

237
00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,400
Speaker 1: think since they've even thought about praying for a child,

238
00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:44,320
Speaker 1: they forgot about that deep desire. I wonder how many

239
00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:50,320
Speaker 1: desires have been buried in the graveyard of disappointment. We

240
00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,560
Speaker 1: treat God's desires like a loaf of bread. We put

241
00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,240
Speaker 1: an expiration date on it, and when it doesn't then

242
00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,280
Speaker 1: happen in our time, we disregard it and we get

243
00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,480
Speaker 1: rid of it. And I think God wants to pick

244
00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:05,920
Speaker 1: some of those things back up today. What's your butt?

245
00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:11,800
Speaker 1: But some of you at Christmas time prayed, like, Lord,

246
00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,720
Speaker 1: help my marriage get better. And if it doesn't by summer,

247
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,120
Speaker 1: I'm out. And now it's summertime and you're not left physically,

248
00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,960
Speaker 1: but emotionally and spiritually, you have left the marriage. But

249
00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:22,880
Speaker 1: I thought it was gonna get better, but I didn't

250
00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,760
Speaker 1: expect it to happen like this. How many business owners said,

251
00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:28,360
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do it right, I'm gonna do it God's way,

252
00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:30,920
Speaker 1: but you can't meet payroll. But you see everybody else

253
00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,760
Speaker 1: cutting corners, and it seems like they're getting ahead. This young, young,

254
00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:38,280
Speaker 1: young lady finished her senior year of college, and she

255
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:40,520
Speaker 1: started her senior year saying, if I don't get a

256
00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:45,600
Speaker 1: ring by spring, and now you're getting a wedding invitations

257
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,720
Speaker 1: from everybody. Ashley sends you. Ashley, she has had more boyfriends,

258
00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:55,520
Speaker 1: my gosh, and she's getting married now, Melissa. Melissa is crazy.

259
00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,520
Speaker 1: And you settle on trying to do it right. And

260
00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:00,520
Speaker 1: you were holding out for mister right, but now you're

261
00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,960
Speaker 1: subtle for mister right now. And a part of yourself

262
00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,520
Speaker 1: you said you'd keep sacred till marriage. You're willing to

263
00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,560
Speaker 1: compromise because you feel like it'll make you more loved

264
00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,000
Speaker 1: and it'll help get that ring on your finger, and

265
00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:18,240
Speaker 1: the deep desire of your hearts fades into the background,

266
00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:23,920
Speaker 1: and you feel like it's for everybody else. What's your Butt's?

267
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:25,960
Speaker 1: What is it? What's your butt? When I showed you

268
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,840
Speaker 1: that picture of our daughter, Lenya, I need to tell

269
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,000
Speaker 1: you the full story of I need to take you

270
00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,680
Speaker 1: back to Mother's Day twenty and thirteen. This is a

271
00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,920
Speaker 1: photo of my family Mother's Day twenty and thirteen. It's

272
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,040
Speaker 1: my wife, Janet and our three kids, and we're pregnant.

273
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,160
Speaker 1: In that photo. We're about twelve weeks pregnant. And my

274
00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:45,720
Speaker 1: wife wakes up that day and she starts having symptoms,

275
00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:49,000
Speaker 1: and yet she still comes to church, and yet we

276
00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:50,920
Speaker 1: still get on the stage, and yet she still holds

277
00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,400
Speaker 1: the microphone, and we're still faithfully serving God. In a

278
00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,960
Speaker 1: couple days later, we end up having a miscarriage. Like,

279
00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,000
Speaker 1: but God, Like, are you kidding me? We're serving you,

280
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,200
Speaker 1: We're standing on stage, We're doing it right. We helped

281
00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,840
Speaker 1: sacrifice for this church. We sold our house and this

282
00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,040
Speaker 1: is happening to us, and it took us to such

283
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,920
Speaker 1: a hard place. But God, what happened. And it was

284
00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,960
Speaker 1: at the end of the year, we find ourselves pregnant again.

285
00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:19,640
Speaker 1: And we had a pastor come in. Pastor Levi Lusco

286
00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:23,720
Speaker 1: came to preach at Elevation Church. And we're sitting in

287
00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,480
Speaker 1: the sermon and I haven't told anybody we're pregnant. I

288
00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,800
Speaker 1: couldn't pray for that child. And Pastor Levi's preaching a

289
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,200
Speaker 1: sermon about his daughter that had died a year before.

290
00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,720
Speaker 1: She was like four or five. And in the sermon,

291
00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,720
Speaker 1: I hear the Holy Spirit saying, pray for your daughter.

292
00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,280
Speaker 1: Open your mouth and start praising me for what I did,

293
00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:53,760
Speaker 1: rather than letting disappointment bury the desire. And he said,

294
00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:55,680
Speaker 1: you're gonna name her Lenya, because Lenya was the name

295
00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:01,600
Speaker 1: of Pastor Levi's daughter that passed away. So you see,

296
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,360
Speaker 1: when you hear this story about Elizabeth and Zachariah, this

297
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:09,120
Speaker 1: old couple, we just skip right through verse seven. What's

298
00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:13,240
Speaker 1: your button? The story continues in verse eight. It says,

299
00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,760
Speaker 1: once when Zacharai's division was on duty and he was

300
00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:19,400
Speaker 1: serving as priests before God, he was chosen by Lot,

301
00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,400
Speaker 1: according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into

302
00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,160
Speaker 1: the Temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when

303
00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:29,000
Speaker 1: the time of burning incense came, all the assembled worshipers

304
00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:33,840
Speaker 1: were praying outside. Our production team is going to bring

305
00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,280
Speaker 1: out some stage props that will help illustrate the rest

306
00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:38,200
Speaker 1: of the sermon. And as they do, would you help

307
00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:42,560
Speaker 1: me Thank all of our volunteers at all of our locations,

308
00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,680
Speaker 1: and all those volunteers that take care of your crazy

309
00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,800
Speaker 1: kids and park your cars when you don't want to

310
00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,080
Speaker 1: be in the parking lot. But thank you, and especially

311
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,560
Speaker 1: want to shout out our elevation Ashville location. Thank you

312
00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:01,240
Speaker 1: for five years faithfully serving God. We love you, and

313
00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,880
Speaker 1: we honor you, and we're so grateful for you. So

314
00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,439
Speaker 1: in the passage, Elizabeth and Zachariah are part of a

315
00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,600
Speaker 1: priestly division, and in nation Israel at this point there's

316
00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:16,639
Speaker 1: eighteen thousand priests. They're divided up into twenty four different

317
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:20,560
Speaker 1: groups or divisions. Each one of these divisions would have

318
00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,520
Speaker 1: two weeks of the year where they would make the trek.

319
00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,639
Speaker 1: Part of their duty was to go to Jerusalem and

320
00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,879
Speaker 1: help at the temple, because the central part of the

321
00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,760
Speaker 1: Jewish life at that point was the Temple. The temple

322
00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:35,800
Speaker 1: is what set everything up, and the temple had three

323
00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,720
Speaker 1: basic parts. It had this part out here the courtyard,

324
00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,600
Speaker 1: it had this part here called the Holy Place, and

325
00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:45,160
Speaker 1: it had a lamp stand, and it had an altar

326
00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,120
Speaker 1: for incense, and had a table for bread. And then

327
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,200
Speaker 1: the behind here is called the Holy of Holies. This

328
00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:54,359
Speaker 1: is once a year the high priest would go with

329
00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,520
Speaker 1: blood where he would meet with God to offer sacrifices

330
00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:02,960
Speaker 1: for Nation Israel. The duty of the priests was families.

331
00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:05,480
Speaker 1: If there was sin in their life or sin in

332
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,359
Speaker 1: their home, they would make the trek to Jerusalem. Elizabeth

333
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,439
Speaker 1: and Zachariah would walk about fifteen miles one way just

334
00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,000
Speaker 1: to get to Jerusalem. They've been making this trek five

335
00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:22,480
Speaker 1: times a year for seventy years. They've been faithfully serving God.

336
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:27,520
Speaker 1: This is their duty and they're faithfully doing it each

337
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,479
Speaker 1: and every year, five times a year. The first three

338
00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,639
Speaker 1: years they're seeing families walk up with all their kids.

339
00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,399
Speaker 1: I wonder how many years went by before they stopped

340
00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:40,440
Speaker 1: seeing that because they just didn't want to see kids anymore,

341
00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:42,960
Speaker 1: because the deepest deserve of their heart was to have

342
00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,400
Speaker 1: a kid. But they kept being faithful with their duty.

343
00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:48,399
Speaker 1: And part of the duty of Nation Israel is if

344
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:50,159
Speaker 1: there were sin in your home, you would make the

345
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,840
Speaker 1: trek to Jerusalem to the Temple to offer sacrifices for sin,

346
00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,120
Speaker 1: because there must always be bloodshed for the forgiveness of sin.

347
00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:00,399
Speaker 1: In the Old Testament, that was through the lot of

348
00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,280
Speaker 1: goats and rams and lambs, and then a New Testament.

349
00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:07,879
Speaker 1: That's why Jesus blood sacrificed all of humanity satisfied the

350
00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,360
Speaker 1: penalty of sin. But although we're reading the New Testament,

351
00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,600
Speaker 1: we're still in the Old Covenant. So what the priests

352
00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:17,600
Speaker 1: would do is a family would make their way to

353
00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:21,800
Speaker 1: Jerusalem and Zacharai would meet with the husband and the

354
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,440
Speaker 1: head of the household and he would offer a sacrifice,

355
00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:27,120
Speaker 1: and the head of the household would have to put

356
00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:30,119
Speaker 1: his hand on the head of the animal as the

357
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,240
Speaker 1: high priest would grab the knife and he would slit

358
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,399
Speaker 1: the throat and the blood would leave the body. Because

359
00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,520
Speaker 1: the family needed to feel the weight of sin and

360
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,080
Speaker 1: to realize that there's always a penalty be paid for it.

361
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:43,119
Speaker 1: That was part of the duty of the priests and

362
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,400
Speaker 1: what they would do five times a year, and then

363
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,600
Speaker 1: they would make take some of the blood back into

364
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,080
Speaker 1: the Holy Place. Back here, and the Holy Place has

365
00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:56,240
Speaker 1: got three parts. It's got the lamp stand, it's ninety

366
00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,919
Speaker 1: pounds of solid gold that's hammered out to look like

367
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,160
Speaker 1: a tree. So part of the duty of the priest

368
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:07,800
Speaker 1: is to come back and light the lamp to burn incense,

369
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,000
Speaker 1: and then there's a table of showbread. The show bred

370
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,200
Speaker 1: has got twelve loaves. This inner space is to remind

371
00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:19,320
Speaker 1: you that God is light. Your prayers come into his presence,

372
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:26,000
Speaker 1: and He is the provider. That's what this holy place represents.

373
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,720
Speaker 1: So as Zachariah was on duty, he's making his way back,

374
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,399
Speaker 1: and the first thing you must do is to attend

375
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,960
Speaker 1: to the lamp. It's ninety pounds of gold hammered to

376
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,359
Speaker 1: look like a tree. It's to remind you of the

377
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,320
Speaker 1: tree of life. Because every time they would see it, it

378
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,359
Speaker 1: would take him back to the garden of Eden, and

379
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,000
Speaker 1: it would remind them of what God intended it to be.

380
00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:52,560
Speaker 1: He intended it to be this way. So his duty

381
00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:55,280
Speaker 1: was to attend to this. He has been doing it

382
00:20:55,320 --> 00:21:01,080
Speaker 1: for seventy some years. Do you know what Eden means.

383
00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:07,200
Speaker 1: It means delight. Do you think it was a delight

384
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:10,840
Speaker 1: for Elizabeth and ZACHARII for seventy years to make their

385
00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:14,400
Speaker 1: deway to Jerusalem five times a year to serve everybody

386
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,640
Speaker 1: else but feeling their own desires unfulfilled. Do you think

387
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,680
Speaker 1: that was always a delight? No? No, no, see you see,

388
00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:27,199
Speaker 1: delight is not a feeling. It is a decision, it

389
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:31,679
Speaker 1: says of Jesus, for the joy set before him. He

390
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,040
Speaker 1: endured the cross, scorning at shame, and he sat down

391
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:35,480
Speaker 1: at the right hand of the brother. Do you think

392
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:37,520
Speaker 1: it was an emotional high for Jesus to go on

393
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,159
Speaker 1: the cross? No, what was it? It was a duty,

394
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:46,640
Speaker 1: but it was a delight. You're not getting that. It

395
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,560
Speaker 1: looks like a duty to everybody else, But it is

396
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:57,760
Speaker 1: a delight. Psal I'm thirty seven to four. Delight yourself

397
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,840
Speaker 1: in the Lord, and he will give you the desires

398
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 1: of your heart. What happens is we delight in our

399
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:18,560
Speaker 1: dreams and will eventually walk away from our duty. Pastor

400
00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:20,359
Speaker 1: Stephen preached a couple of weeks ago, I'm gonna keep

401
00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:22,879
Speaker 1: digging until he does it. Part two. I'm gonna keep

402
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,960
Speaker 1: delighting until he does it. I'm just gonna keep delighting

403
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,720
Speaker 1: in the Lord for seventy years until he does it.

404
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,080
Speaker 1: I don't know when, I don't know how, but I'm

405
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:35,560
Speaker 1: gonna keep delighting and delighting looks like duty to everybody else,

406
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,320
Speaker 1: And I want to tell you that it sometimes feels

407
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,880
Speaker 1: more like duty than it does delight. And I would

408
00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:44,720
Speaker 1: want to ask you the question, what has he put

409
00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,280
Speaker 1: in your hands? What has he given you? What has

410
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,200
Speaker 1: he entrusted to you? Are you delighting in what He's

411
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 1: placed in your hands? Or because it doesn't look like

412
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:58,159
Speaker 1: what you expected, you walk away from it. Here's what

413
00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:00,480
Speaker 1: I think real faith is to keep delight lighting in

414
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,440
Speaker 1: the Lord when the desire of my heart is unmet.

415
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,000
Speaker 1: Let me give you a husband hack on Father's Day.

416
00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:12,399
Speaker 1: Husband's when you come home at the end of the

417
00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:14,040
Speaker 1: day and you're exhausted and you're tired, you just can't

418
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,760
Speaker 1: wait to sit down and turn on the TV. And

419
00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:19,600
Speaker 1: you finally sit down and your wife's like, hey, can

420
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:22,280
Speaker 1: you go to the store? Honey? You're like, oh God,

421
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 1: I'd be delighted because I understand it's a duty. Are

422
00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:36,800
Speaker 1: you letting unmet desires keep you from being faithful with

423
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,399
Speaker 1: the duty He's placed in your hand? So when you

424
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,160
Speaker 1: see the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth, it is one

425
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:47,879
Speaker 1: of faithfulness, faithfully fulfilling their duty five times a year

426
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 1: for seventy years, and now finally, on this day, Zachariah

427
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,960
Speaker 1: gets picked. He's going to be the one, randomly to

428
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,800
Speaker 1: go into the Holy Place to offer some of this

429
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,399
Speaker 1: sacrifices to God. And it's just raindom that you clicked

430
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,560
Speaker 1: on this stream today, and it's just random that you

431
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,040
Speaker 1: walked into one of our locations today. No, it is

432
00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,040
Speaker 1: divine appointment. I believe God has ordered your steps in

433
00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:12,119
Speaker 1: such a way that he brought you to this place

434
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,680
Speaker 1: because there's something He needs you to hear. But disappointment

435
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:21,399
Speaker 1: is keeping you from embracing the duty. And the story

436
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,760
Speaker 1: goes on in verse eleven and it says, then an

437
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,040
Speaker 1: angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the

438
00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:31,640
Speaker 1: right side of the altar of incense. When Zachariah saw him,

439
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,439
Speaker 1: he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the

440
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,639
Speaker 1: angel said to him, don't be afraid, Zachariah, your prayer

441
00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:44,880
Speaker 1: has been heard. Now. Picture Zachariah ninety year old Zachariah,

442
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,760
Speaker 1: not a sixteen year old spry boy, but a ninety

443
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:53,639
Speaker 1: year old, very old man. Because at the time he

444
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:55,960
Speaker 1: goes into the Holy Place, this is a place that's

445
00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 1: covered with drapes and its dark inside and the first

446
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,320
Speaker 1: thing he had to do was to go light the lamp.

447
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,080
Speaker 1: If you walk into a dark room, what's the first

448
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 1: thing you do? Some of you are stumbling around in

449
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,719
Speaker 1: the dark, trying to find your dreams. God says, I

450
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,240
Speaker 1: need you to do this first. Seek first the Kingdom

451
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,080
Speaker 1: of God, and all these things will be added to you.

452
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,840
Speaker 1: Seek first, though desires are not bad, but there must

453
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,320
Speaker 1: be an order to it. And it says as he

454
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,359
Speaker 1: went inside to do that, all of the worshippers were

455
00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:30,720
Speaker 1: assembled outside. Now context all of you had just offered sacrifices.

456
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,760
Speaker 1: You had come because there was a sin, there was

457
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:36,199
Speaker 1: something that needed to be offered or sacrificed for the

458
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,880
Speaker 1: remission of sin. And he would go A priest would

459
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 1: go in there two times a day. This occasion is

460
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,240
Speaker 1: on the Sabbath, the busiest day of the week. I said,

461
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,200
Speaker 1: we're like, oh, my Sabbath is when I rest. No,

462
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:53,280
Speaker 1: Sabbath is when you worship. That's not work, that's worship.

463
00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:59,080
Speaker 1: To show up and they're all out there praying, and

464
00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:04,320
Speaker 1: I think there's two kinds of there's individual prayers and

465
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:08,680
Speaker 1: there's corporate prayers. The individual prayers would have been like, Lord,

466
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 1: please receive the sacrifice we just offered you. May you

467
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 1: forgive us, May you redeem us. May you look past

468
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 1: our transgressions. They would have been praying for marriages to

469
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:19,760
Speaker 1: be healed. They would have been praying for children to

470
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:21,720
Speaker 1: be healed. They would have been praying for all those

471
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,840
Speaker 1: things individually, all the individual stuff that you're praying for.

472
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,879
Speaker 1: But maybe because you didn't see it happen, you started

473
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:34,800
Speaker 1: to withhold your petition. I wonder if disappointment has disconnected

474
00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,480
Speaker 1: your vocal courts, and now you're not offering prayer to

475
00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:43,040
Speaker 1: God anymore because you didn't see it happen in your timeline.

476
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,879
Speaker 1: It didn't happen in any thought. But there'd also be

477
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,800
Speaker 1: corporate prayers going on because the nation Israel was very

478
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:53,240
Speaker 1: familiar with oppression. They were under Egyptian slavery for over

479
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:57,159
Speaker 1: four hundred years, they were in Babylonian captivity for hundreds

480
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,159
Speaker 1: of years, and then now they're under Roman oppression. And

481
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 1: they had knew the prophecies that a savior would come,

482
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,560
Speaker 1: a redeemer would come, someone would come one day. So

483
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:08,879
Speaker 1: all those prayers are being lifted up in the courtyard,

484
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:11,879
Speaker 1: And I wonder if we're complaining more about the culture

485
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: than we are praying. I wonder what the sound of

486
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 1: the courtyard of the Christian looks like. I'm wondering what

487
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,320
Speaker 1: it sounds like. Have we lost the prayer of the

488
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,040
Speaker 1: righteous or powerful and effective? What does it sound like

489
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 1: in the courtyard of your life? Is your petitioning God?

490
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 1: If the depth of my prayer is only me getting something,

491
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,399
Speaker 1: I'm in the shallow end of the faith pool, and

492
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:36,440
Speaker 1: I'm insulting God with the size of my prayer because

493
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,040
Speaker 1: I'm only wanting to get something from him. What I

494
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:42,280
Speaker 1: consider interceding for the body of Christ, what I consider

495
00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:45,919
Speaker 1: eating interceding for this generation. All those things are going on,

496
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:48,119
Speaker 1: and just at the time all those prayers are being

497
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,040
Speaker 1: lifted up, Zachara is like, now it's my day. He

498
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,280
Speaker 1: gets picked he's ninety years old, to go back in

499
00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 1: and light the lamp. And as he does, he would

500
00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,200
Speaker 1: go over and he would sprinkle some of the blood

501
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:00,960
Speaker 1: of the animals on the other. But as he does,

502
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:03,159
Speaker 1: he sees the Angel of the Lord standing there, and

503
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 1: He's like, what you freak out too? And then he says,

504
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,440
Speaker 1: the angel says to him, your prayer has been heard,

505
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,119
Speaker 1: Oh my soul, and I Asus Zachar I had to

506
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 1: like that. What is he talking about? Is that the

507
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,480
Speaker 1: prayer for the giveness of the families? Like, is that

508
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,560
Speaker 1: the prayerfer a savior? What is the prayer? What is it?

509
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 1: Because I don't think he's prayed for a son in

510
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:35,399
Speaker 1: three decades. And then he says to him, your wife,

511
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,960
Speaker 1: Elizabeth will bury you a son, and you are to

512
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 1: call him John. He will be a joy and a

513
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:48,800
Speaker 1: delight to you. And he's like, what are you talking about.

514
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,640
Speaker 1: I'm very old and my wife is very very old

515
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 1: and her wound doesn't work. And he's like, what are

516
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:05,800
Speaker 1: you talking about? My the prayer he didn't remember. God

517
00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:13,800
Speaker 1: never forgotten those tears you shed, sister, those private prayers

518
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 1: that you cried into your pillow. God heard them. He

519
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 1: hasn't forgotten them. He's not forgotten you. It might take

520
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:24,800
Speaker 1: seventy years, but God is faithful and he will show up.

521
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:27,280
Speaker 1: And I love that he's showing up on the scene

522
00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:32,000
Speaker 1: of this story. It's like, and you will be a father,

523
00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,840
Speaker 1: and she will bury you a son, and he will

524
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 1: be a joy and a delight. Remember when you're changing

525
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:49,640
Speaker 1: that diaper as a delight, that would do well for

526
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 1: some of you because the dream you had doesn't match

527
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,440
Speaker 1: up with the experience you have, and you don't see

528
00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:02,680
Speaker 1: it as a delight. It's a duty. But it is

529
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,280
Speaker 1: a delight because he's been praying seventy years for a

530
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:09,760
Speaker 1: child and they finally is going to get it. And

531
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,040
Speaker 1: I love this story. And it goes on in in

532
00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:14,120
Speaker 1: verse eighteen. It picks it up and I think the

533
00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:16,520
Speaker 1: Angel's kind of looking at Zachary, all right, Zachari, what's

534
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,240
Speaker 1: it gonna be? What's it gonna be? Man? Are you ready?

535
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:21,800
Speaker 1: You've been praying for this? Here we go? And it

536
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 1: says this in verse eighteen, it says Zachariah ask the Angel,

537
00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,400
Speaker 1: how can I be sure of this? I'm an old

538
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:32,880
Speaker 1: man and my wife is well along in years. Then

539
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 1: the Angel said him, I am Gabriel. I stand in

540
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,000
Speaker 1: the presence of God, and I've been sent speak to

541
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:42,480
Speaker 1: you and tell you this good news verse twenty. And

542
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 1: now you will be silent and not be able to

543
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,120
Speaker 1: speak until the day this happens, because you did not

544
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 1: believe my words, which will come true with their appointed time.

545
00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:57,680
Speaker 1: I picture the Angel of the Lord standing here and

546
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:00,600
Speaker 1: he's asking Zachary, all right, what's it gonna be? What's

547
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 1: it going to be? And then he hears this response

548
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:11,880
Speaker 1: and he's like, shut up, ship it. It might sound

549
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 1: like God is punishing, He's protecting. God is more committed

550
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:26,560
Speaker 1: to your desire than you are. And I will not

551
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 1: let your disbelief destroy what I'm trying to birth into

552
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,240
Speaker 1: your life. Some of us have killed in utero a

553
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,560
Speaker 1: dream and a desire because of the disbelief. We spoke

554
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:41,240
Speaker 1: over it. Some of you, if you examine your language,

555
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:47,920
Speaker 1: you have lived in disappointments so long. All that's coming

556
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:52,360
Speaker 1: out now is poison, and it is disbelief. Disbelief can

557
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,880
Speaker 1: be more corrosive to the Christian life than the devil.

558
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 1: We give him way too much credit. What we destroy internally,

559
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:01,640
Speaker 1: sometimes this is way more than he will do externally.

560
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:04,920
Speaker 1: Some of you have lived with disappointment. It has become

561
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 1: your best friend and you have made partner. But now

562
00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:14,400
Speaker 1: that disappointment has gone to the level now it's disbelief.

563
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,240
Speaker 1: And I love it because I think in this verse

564
00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:23,600
Speaker 1: it gives us a better definition of what disappointment is.

565
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,560
Speaker 1: Right at the end of verse twenty, it says, because

566
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,680
Speaker 1: you did not believe my words, which will come true,

567
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:37,280
Speaker 1: at their appointed time. God has appointed a time for

568
00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 1: that desire to be fulfilled. But when it doesn't happen

569
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:48,600
Speaker 1: on my appointed time, I've got disappointment. I wonder how

570
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:51,160
Speaker 1: many of us are schedules, are not sinking with Gods

571
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,560
Speaker 1: in ours is superseding his. And because it didn't happen

572
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:59,560
Speaker 1: on my timeline, and he wasn't disbelieving God because he

573
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,680
Speaker 1: hated God. He just didn't want to be disappointed again.

574
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:04,600
Speaker 1: The reason I couldn't pray for a child when we

575
00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 1: were pregnant at that time is I just didn't want

576
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,000
Speaker 1: to be disappointed anymore. So rather than be disappointed, I

577
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,720
Speaker 1: will lower my expectations. And some of us have lowered

578
00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 1: our expectation through the level of our experience because we

579
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:16,280
Speaker 1: never want to be disappointed again. And some of you

580
00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 1: have stopped expecting anything out of life. And I speak

581
00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:21,640
Speaker 1: the word of God over you. He's coming into your

582
00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:24,200
Speaker 1: lives and he's saying, I heard that desire. I didn't

583
00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:30,800
Speaker 1: forget it, did you? And I always say shut up.

584
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,120
Speaker 1: Some of you need to pray the spirit of shut

585
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:38,680
Speaker 1: up over your life. I don't elbow your husband. I

586
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:47,040
Speaker 1: saw that Lord give my husband that spirit. Some if

587
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,760
Speaker 1: you want something to die, you need to starve it

588
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:56,600
Speaker 1: if you want that disappointment and that disbelief to die.

589
00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:01,880
Speaker 1: Go in a twenty one day opinion fast. Some of

590
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:04,120
Speaker 1: you are so addicted to your opinion it just freely

591
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,920
Speaker 1: flows over everybody, even unsolicited. I think you should and

592
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,000
Speaker 1: I think you should, And it's coming from a place

593
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,759
Speaker 1: that you think is wisdom, but it is not. It

594
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,720
Speaker 1: is disbelief. I'm just keeping it real. No, you suck,

595
00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:24,920
Speaker 1: and you are destroying what God is trying to build.

596
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,239
Speaker 1: And you now become the thermostat for your children and

597
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:33,359
Speaker 1: it becomes generational conditioning. Is they carry your Oh I'm

598
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:45,479
Speaker 1: preaching to myself right now, damen. Because Zachariah's deepest prayer

599
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 1: was to have a child at an individual level, but

600
00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,200
Speaker 1: there was also a corporate prayer for a Messiah, a savior.

601
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:55,600
Speaker 1: Both were happening in the same place. And what would

602
00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:58,960
Speaker 1: happen with his son named John is he was supposed

603
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,640
Speaker 1: to be the one who would point people to Jesus.

604
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:03,960
Speaker 1: He would be the one to say, one coming after me,

605
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,200
Speaker 1: I'm not fit to tie his sandals. It is John

606
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:10,520
Speaker 1: the Baptist. You mean that God could answer Zachariah's prayer

607
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:15,239
Speaker 1: and the prayer of Nation Israel together. Yes, you are

608
00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:18,160
Speaker 1: settling for too shallow on the desire of your heart,

609
00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:20,160
Speaker 1: because God not only wants to do something in you,

610
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,920
Speaker 1: he wants to do something through you into the world.

611
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:27,480
Speaker 1: God mest Zachariah's deep desire and the petitions of Nation Israel.

612
00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:30,920
Speaker 1: At the same time, God says, I'm gonna see your

613
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,719
Speaker 1: desire and I'm gonna one up it because I am

614
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 1: that kind of God who can do immeasurably more than

615
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,200
Speaker 1: you can ask or imagine. And that's the kind of

616
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 1: God that we serve. And that's what he was doing,

617
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:46,319
Speaker 1: and it is beautiful. But John's whole life was to

618
00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:54,080
Speaker 1: point people to Jesus. And at the same time, the

619
00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:56,719
Speaker 1: angel Gabriel is also going to be working in a

620
00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:02,480
Speaker 1: sixteen year old virgin named Mary. In the very same story,

621
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:07,799
Speaker 1: the Angel is about to do another miraculous birth. You

622
00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:10,240
Speaker 1: realize at the same time God's doing something, it's somebody

623
00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:13,120
Speaker 1: in your row. You realize, at the same time God's

624
00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,399
Speaker 1: doing something on somebody else in your city. He's doing

625
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,360
Speaker 1: something on somebody else in your campus. And if we

626
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:19,720
Speaker 1: would take a step back and see the bigger picture

627
00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,279
Speaker 1: of what God is weaving together for his glory. It

628
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,520
Speaker 1: is absolutely beautiful. And God shows up on the life

629
00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,400
Speaker 1: of a sixteen year old virgin. And if before the experience,

630
00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,480
Speaker 1: I were to stand up here, a ninety year old man,

631
00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:35,279
Speaker 1: a priest who's observing all the decrees in commands blamelessly,

632
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,319
Speaker 1: and a sixteen year old virgin girl, which one would

633
00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:41,520
Speaker 1: you say has more wisdom? All of us would have

634
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,919
Speaker 1: started over here, because that's the human knowledge we bring

635
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,000
Speaker 1: to it. But God is of a different economy. And

636
00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:49,520
Speaker 1: I want to give you one verse. I don't have

637
00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:50,960
Speaker 1: time to unpack the whole thing, but I want to

638
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:54,960
Speaker 1: show you Mary because in the same chapter, chapter one

639
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,480
Speaker 1: of Luke, verse thirty eight, the Angel now comes. Since

640
00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 1: it's Mary, you are greatly favored. You are highly favored,

641
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:05,600
Speaker 1: and you will give birth to a child, to a child,

642
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:08,000
Speaker 1: and he will be the Messiah, and he will be great.

643
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:13,919
Speaker 1: And I love Mary's response. It says this in verse

644
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:18,040
Speaker 1: thirty eight. And Mary said, behold, I am the servant

645
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:22,000
Speaker 1: of the Lord. Let it be to me according to

646
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:26,319
Speaker 1: your word. Oh my goodness, it is beautiful. What's it

647
00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:29,040
Speaker 1: gonna be? Are you gonna be like Zachariah, I don't

648
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:31,160
Speaker 1: know how can this be? Or are you gonna be?

649
00:37:31,239 --> 00:37:37,000
Speaker 1: Like Mary? Let it be to me according to your word.

650
00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,200
Speaker 1: What's is it gonna be? What's it gonna be? Are

651
00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:43,080
Speaker 1: you gonna rely on your whole human wisdom that says

652
00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:45,920
Speaker 1: that time has passed, that desire is buried? Are you

653
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:49,360
Speaker 1: gonna have an innocent faith? What can I be? For

654
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:54,959
Speaker 1: God's glory? Let it be to me? And I believe

655
00:37:54,960 --> 00:38:01,280
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit is stepping into your life whispering about

656
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:06,279
Speaker 1: those desires that you have buried in the graveyard of disappointment.

657
00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:10,759
Speaker 1: And I believe God is calling some of you to

658
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:16,040
Speaker 1: go back and to reconsider and to pick those things up.

659
00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:26,120
Speaker 1: And the Angel said to Zachariah, you will not speak

660
00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:31,480
Speaker 1: again until this happens. That's nine plus months of silence.

661
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:39,160
Speaker 1: Elizabeth is pricing, Thank you, thank you, thank you. What

662
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:43,759
Speaker 1: would it look like for some of you to learn

663
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:48,560
Speaker 1: to be silent rather than the poison of the past

664
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:55,080
Speaker 1: and the disappointment that's now become disbelief be just spewed

665
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,239
Speaker 1: on everybody. What if you were to settle into the

666
00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:01,839
Speaker 1: spirit of silence. This says, I don't understand it, but

667
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:07,000
Speaker 1: let it be to me according to your words. So

668
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:11,080
Speaker 1: now as we get to the end of Luke fifty seven,

669
00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:15,879
Speaker 1: this is where we started. I think Zachariah is getting

670
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:20,120
Speaker 1: another opportunity. He's getting a second chance here and a

671
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:23,319
Speaker 1: verse fifty seven, it says when it was time for

672
00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 1: Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.

673
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:33,120
Speaker 1: What a beautiful occasion. She's almost ninety years old at

674
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:35,920
Speaker 1: this point. Her friends would have been holding their great

675
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:41,239
Speaker 1: great great grandchild, and she's holding her firstborn. It might

676
00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:44,400
Speaker 1: take a few generations, but it will happen in your life.

677
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:49,560
Speaker 1: I don't know when I speak over you that it

678
00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:56,680
Speaker 1: will happen at its appointed time, not your appointed time,

679
00:39:57,719 --> 00:40:04,120
Speaker 1: at his appointed time. Her relative, her neighbors, and relatives

680
00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:06,640
Speaker 1: heard that the Lord has shown her great mercy, and

681
00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:10,520
Speaker 1: they shared her joy. I don't think they shared at

682
00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:15,000
Speaker 1: the same level. She did. Think about the woman who

683
00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:19,000
Speaker 1: the whispers of the community were one that her wound

684
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,839
Speaker 1: was barren, and she wasn't a good enough wife. And

685
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:24,080
Speaker 1: if in that culture you didn't have a child, you

686
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:28,840
Speaker 1: were lower than cattle. So she walked through life feeling

687
00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:35,160
Speaker 1: unworthy by everybody, and yet she remained faithful with the

688
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 1: duty that God had given her, child of God. I

689
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:41,680
Speaker 1: know the grief is significant, but you can be faithful

690
00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:46,319
Speaker 1: with what He's put in your hands. You absolutely can.

691
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,080
Speaker 1: I don't think they fully shared in the joy that

692
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 1: she had. And when it happens in your life, people

693
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:55,399
Speaker 1: will try to be there to celebrate you. But God

694
00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:58,359
Speaker 1: is in that moment with you, and he's saying, well done,

695
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:08,000
Speaker 1: good and faithful servant. And on the eighth day they

696
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:11,319
Speaker 1: came to circumcise the child, and they were gonna name

697
00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:15,160
Speaker 1: him after his father, Zachariah, but his mother spoke up

698
00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:20,200
Speaker 1: and said, no, he is to be called John. They

699
00:41:20,239 --> 00:41:23,239
Speaker 1: said to her, there's no one among your relatives who

700
00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:29,799
Speaker 1: has that name. It's funny. Who are they? Who are they?

701
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:33,759
Speaker 1: They that said you're too stupid, They that said you'll

702
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:36,319
Speaker 1: be a statistic They that said you will be just

703
00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:38,680
Speaker 1: like your father. They that said you will never amount

704
00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:40,960
Speaker 1: to anything. They that said, you gave that part of

705
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:43,360
Speaker 1: yourself away, and you are a second rate, second class,

706
00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:45,440
Speaker 1: and you don't deserve it to see the table, just

707
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:49,160
Speaker 1: settle for crumbs on the floor. Who are they? They

708
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:51,879
Speaker 1: don't have in mind the things of God. All they

709
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 1: saw was the past and God says, I'm about to

710
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:57,400
Speaker 1: do something new. How dare you label things according to

711
00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:00,560
Speaker 1: the past. I'm about to do a new thing in you.

712
00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:04,800
Speaker 1: It's a new thing. It won't look like the past,

713
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:11,800
Speaker 1: So don't use the labels of a previous generation. Zachari.

714
00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:15,480
Speaker 1: That's that name was good for who needed it. But

715
00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:19,440
Speaker 1: the assignment on this child is different. Some of you

716
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:27,880
Speaker 1: have been labeled according to they, he is to be called.

717
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:34,600
Speaker 1: They didn't believe Elizabeth and I love this in verse

718
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,520
Speaker 1: sixty two because I think this is the second chance.

719
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:40,839
Speaker 1: I think Zachari is getting another opportunity because the first time,

720
00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,040
Speaker 1: all it was when the angel showed up to was disbelief.

721
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:45,960
Speaker 1: How could I be sure of this? That was the

722
00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:50,200
Speaker 1: last thing he said. He hadn't spoken in nine plus

723
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:55,279
Speaker 1: months Verse sixty two. Then they made signs to his

724
00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:56,799
Speaker 1: father to find out what he would like to name

725
00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:59,160
Speaker 1: the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to

726
00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:05,719
Speaker 1: everyone's astonished, he wrote, his name is John. He didn't

727
00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:10,560
Speaker 1: even say it, he just wrote it. He just wrote.

728
00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:12,640
Speaker 1: Some of you need to write something down. God spoke

729
00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:14,560
Speaker 1: something into your spirit that if you do not write it,

730
00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,560
Speaker 1: you will forget it. Don't forfeit the revelation because you

731
00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:21,840
Speaker 1: don't capture it. God is breathing something into your spirit

732
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:23,680
Speaker 1: right now. Would you capture it so that you don't

733
00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:25,799
Speaker 1: forget it? The devil wants to snatch it from you.

734
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:28,239
Speaker 1: God says, no, write it down. I needs you to

735
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:36,400
Speaker 1: be sure of it. His name is John. Immediately whoo,

736
00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:39,560
Speaker 1: his mouth was open, his tongue was set free, and

737
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:42,960
Speaker 1: he began to speak praising God. The last time his

738
00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:46,920
Speaker 1: mouth was open, poison was flowing out. Now it's all

739
00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:50,120
Speaker 1: about praise. Now I'm gonna be praising him. Now, I'm

740
00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:52,680
Speaker 1: gonna be thanking him. Now I'm gonna be worshiping. I'm

741
00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:58,399
Speaker 1: gonna be praising God. Do you mean that mouth that's

742
00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:05,719
Speaker 1: so familiar with disbelief can be switched over to speak praise? Yes,

743
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:09,839
Speaker 1: you can discipline your tongue. How do you discipline your

744
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,520
Speaker 1: tongue by remaining faithful with the duty He's put in

745
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:22,080
Speaker 1: your hands. What's interesting about the story is everything has

746
00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:25,880
Speaker 1: been pointing to Jesus. The Bible points to Jesus. John's

747
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:31,719
Speaker 1: life is pointing to Jesus. Zachariah at that time. The

748
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:34,600
Speaker 1: way that the law was written is when he was

749
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:37,759
Speaker 1: picked to go into this holy place. He would have

750
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:41,600
Speaker 1: only had the chance to do that once in his life.

751
00:44:41,760 --> 00:44:46,520
Speaker 1: It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he

752
00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:51,000
Speaker 1: would never get that opportunity again. And some of you

753
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:57,279
Speaker 1: feel like that, You feel like you forfeited the opportunity.

754
00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:05,640
Speaker 1: But Jesus, But Jesus, because John's life was pointing to Jesus,

755
00:45:05,719 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 1: the scriptures are pointing to Jesus. You need to understand.

756
00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:11,439
Speaker 1: In the courtyard of the Temple, when they would bring

757
00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:15,480
Speaker 1: in these animal sacrifices, you realize that Jesus was the

758
00:45:15,680 --> 00:45:19,360
Speaker 1: lamb slain before the foundations. All of the temple was

759
00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:22,120
Speaker 1: pointing to Jesus. Every part of it was pointing to him.

760
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:25,000
Speaker 1: His blood was offered for the forgiveness of sins. You

761
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:27,440
Speaker 1: realize that Jesus is in the Holy Place. He is

762
00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:30,440
Speaker 1: the light of the world. You realize that he is

763
00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:32,719
Speaker 1: the media, the one that gives us access to God.

764
00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:36,880
Speaker 1: You realize that he is the bread of life. It

765
00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:45,640
Speaker 1: is all pointing to Jesus. And then as Jesus is

766
00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:51,160
Speaker 1: on the cross, he says, Father, into your hands, I

767
00:45:51,239 --> 00:45:58,680
Speaker 1: commit my spirit. And he breathed his last breath, and

768
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:04,080
Speaker 1: as he did, the veil was torn, separating us from God,

769
00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:06,880
Speaker 1: and he created a way for us to come into

770
00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 1: his presence, and he says, Father, into your hands, I

771
00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:18,600
Speaker 1: commit my spirit. Why would he say that? Because the

772
00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:26,040
Speaker 1: Father delighted in the sun, and the son's duty was

773
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:29,560
Speaker 1: to be obedient for the joy set before him. He

774
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:33,040
Speaker 1: endured the cross, scorning and shame. What's it going to be?

775
00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:37,680
Speaker 1: Child of God? Are you going to keep letting disappointment

776
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:42,600
Speaker 1: keep Jesus at a distance. Are you going to keep

777
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:48,319
Speaker 1: labeling yourself according to your lowest moments? Are you going

778
00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:52,200
Speaker 1: to live in an outdated Old Testament sacrificial system that

779
00:46:52,239 --> 00:46:55,160
Speaker 1: it's all about you bludgeoning yourself and proving to God

780
00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:57,560
Speaker 1: you're good enough? Or are you going to receive the

781
00:46:57,640 --> 00:47:02,120
Speaker 1: forgiveness that's found in Jesus. What's it going to be?

782
00:47:02,239 --> 00:47:04,520
Speaker 1: Child of God? What's it going to be? Doing you

783
00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:08,120
Speaker 1: your way or coming to Jesus? Stand up here at

784
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:11,520
Speaker 1: Balancine all of our locations, and I want to give

785
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:15,200
Speaker 1: somebody an invitation to place their faith in Jesus. You

786
00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:19,800
Speaker 1: have been playing religion, You've been purposing to try harder

787
00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:24,479
Speaker 1: and do better, but you are separated from God because

788
00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:27,840
Speaker 1: of your sin, and I really want to speak to

789
00:47:27,840 --> 00:47:32,160
Speaker 1: somebody who's living in the land of disappointment. That disappointment

790
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:35,279
Speaker 1: where it didn't happen on your timeline, has made you

791
00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:39,000
Speaker 1: feel like God has forgotten you. The evidence of the

792
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:43,239
Speaker 1: scripture would suggest that he's not forgotten you. He sees you,

793
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:45,880
Speaker 1: he hears you, and he's in this moment with you.

794
00:47:46,680 --> 00:47:48,800
Speaker 1: And if you need to begin a relationship with Jesus

795
00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:51,800
Speaker 1: or you've wandered away and you need to come back

796
00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:53,920
Speaker 1: to him, I want to lead us all in a

797
00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:57,320
Speaker 1: prayer enough for someone to begin that relationship, to profess

798
00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:00,359
Speaker 1: that Jesus is Lord and be forgiven, and of all

799
00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:02,520
Speaker 1: of your sins, would you buy your heads? Would you

800
00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:05,759
Speaker 1: close your eyes? I don't want everybody praying this out

801
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:11,640
Speaker 1: loud with me. I believe that Jesus Christ is the

802
00:48:11,640 --> 00:48:15,919
Speaker 1: Son of God who died on the cross and rose

803
00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:20,440
Speaker 1: from the grave to forgive me of my sin. I

804
00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:24,279
Speaker 1: give you my life, I give you my sin, I

805
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:28,400
Speaker 1: give you my shame. Forgive me, and I'll spend my

806
00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:32,520
Speaker 1: life following you with your head still bowed and your

807
00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:34,759
Speaker 1: eyes still closed. If you just placed your faith in

808
00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:37,719
Speaker 1: Jesus or you're coming back to him. I'm going to

809
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:40,800
Speaker 1: count to three, and when I get there, without hesitation,

810
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:43,319
Speaker 1: I need you to boldly shoot your hand into the air.

811
00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:47,040
Speaker 1: This is your moment. One, two, three, shoot your hand

812
00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:50,400
Speaker 1: up all across the sauditorum. Come on, let's celebrate that,

813
00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:55,839
Speaker 1: Elevation Church, come on, celebrate that. Hey.

814
00:48:55,840 --> 00:48:58,200
Speaker 2: I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did,

815
00:48:58,719 --> 00:49:01,319
Speaker 2: make sure to share it and subscribe so we can

816
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:03,960
Speaker 2: get you all of these new messages as soon as

817
00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:06,759
Speaker 2: they're available. I also want to take a moment and

818
00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:08,640
Speaker 2: thank all of you who are a part of Elevation.

819
00:49:09,160 --> 00:49:12,520
Speaker 2: Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or

820
00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:15,600
Speaker 2: just share these messages, it's because of you that we're

821
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:18,080
Speaker 2: able to reach people all around the world.

822
00:49:18,280 --> 00:49:20,799
Speaker 1: And if you want more information on how to.

823
00:49:20,719 --> 00:49:24,000
Speaker 2: Be a part of Elevation, click the link in the description.

824
00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:25,520
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening.

825
00:49:25,520 --> 00:49:28,920
Speaker 2: Make sure to leave a review, share the message, and subscribe.

826
00:49:29,160 --> 00:49:38,600
Speaker 2: God bless you.