Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast and I wanted to
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you.
Speaker 1: Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective
Speaker 1: to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1: And I want to share a brief Christmas message with
Speaker 1: you today. And don't get me wrong, just because I
Speaker 1: said brief, for me, brief means something different than it
Speaker 1: may mean at other churches. But don't want to take
Speaker 1: too long understand the demands of this season. And so
Speaker 1: let me just share with you from Luke chapter one,
Speaker 1: verse sixty seven through seventy nine, his father Zechariah was
Speaker 1: filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, Praise be to
Speaker 1: the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come
Speaker 1: to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up
Speaker 1: a horn of salvation for us in the house of
Speaker 1: his servant David, as he said, through his holy prophets
Speaker 1: of long ago, salvation from our enemies and from the
Speaker 1: hand of all all who hate us, show mercy to
Speaker 1: our ancestors, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath
Speaker 1: he swore to our Father Abraham to rescue us from
Speaker 1: the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to
Speaker 1: serve him without fear, and holiness and righteousness before him
Speaker 1: all our days. And you, my child, would be called
Speaker 1: a prophet of the most High, for you will go
Speaker 1: on before the Lord to prepare the way for him
Speaker 1: to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the
Speaker 1: forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of
Speaker 1: our God, by which the rising sun will come to
Speaker 1: us from heaven. Somebody say, here comes Heaven. Tell your
Speaker 1: neighbor to watch out here it comes. Forty percent of
Speaker 1: you participated when I asked you to touch your neighbor.
Speaker 1: You don't like them, look at him and say, here
Speaker 1: it comes. The priest Zechariah is speaking of the prophet
Speaker 1: John the Baptist, and he's now talking about Jesus, whom
Speaker 1: John the Baptist was pointing to. He said that he
Speaker 1: will shine on those living in darkness and in the
Speaker 1: shadow of death, in the shadow of death, in that
Speaker 1: place of despair, to guide our feet into the path
Speaker 1: of peace. That's my title for today, the path of peace.
Speaker 1: And I won't make you talk to your neighbor one
Speaker 1: more time after this, but look at him and say,
Speaker 1: you look like you need some of that peace that
Speaker 1: he's preaching about. We have a challenge today to try
Speaker 1: to calm our minds and receive the message. My brother
Speaker 1: comes to church. He's here right now. He comes to
Speaker 1: church whenever he can, lives in New Jersey's He's like,
Speaker 1: I bet you love preaching at Christmas. Everybody's in the spirit,
Speaker 1: And I was like, no, it's not my favorite time
Speaker 1: to preach because people are so stressed out and you
Speaker 1: have to work three times as hard because it's stuffy.
Speaker 1: Sometimes people brought a relative and they don't want that
Speaker 1: relative to see how they normally act in church, and
Speaker 1: so they tense up and then they've got so much
Speaker 1: going on. It's actually you would think it would be,
Speaker 1: you know, Jesus's birthday would be an easy occasion to preach,
Speaker 1: but I actually find it more challenging, not less, because
Speaker 1: it's just stress levels are higher. Happy Birthday, Jesus, we
Speaker 1: created chaos and commercialism that drives us all to the
Speaker 1: brink of insanity. In your name, thank you for being
Speaker 1: born the spirit of season. But I always wished as
Speaker 1: a preacher that I could have a metaphysical power to
Speaker 1: read your mind. I would think that would be so
Speaker 1: helpful to do my job if I could see your
Speaker 1: stress level, or even if you had a number like
Speaker 1: the beds that have the sleep number. What if I
Speaker 1: could see your stress number on today, I could. I
Speaker 1: could do it so much better because I can see, Like,
Speaker 1: are you at a seven or a three? Matter of fact,
Speaker 1: right now, what would you give your stress level? One
Speaker 1: to ten? Just in this moment? So I'm hearing a three?
Speaker 1: Who said three? You're not old enough to have a
Speaker 1: three stress level. You're supposed to be like eighty before
Speaker 1: you realize that all the crap you worry about isn't
Speaker 1: worth worrying about. And then you can have a three
Speaker 1: stress level where you just don't care. I can't wait
Speaker 1: to get old and just not care. That'd be great.
Speaker 1: You're too young for that. But somebody said ten? Did
Speaker 1: you say ten? And I'm not going to ask you why?
Speaker 1: In fact, I don't even have to. All right, here's
Speaker 1: what we'll do. We'll do another one real quick. I
Speaker 1: know this is personal, but at every location, play long,
Speaker 1: just close your eyes, get the thing on your mind
Speaker 1: that is the greatest source of stress in your life
Speaker 1: at this very moment, and you better not be picturing me.
Speaker 1: All right, get it on your mind. What is the
Speaker 1: single greatest source of stress in your life. We'll broaden
Speaker 1: it a little bit, not in this very very moment,
Speaker 1: but in this season of your life. All right? Got it?
Speaker 1: Now open your eyes. You're gonna be shocked. But I
Speaker 1: know what you were thinking. I know what you're I
Speaker 1: know I know this much. I know that the thing
Speaker 1: that you thought of fell into one of the following
Speaker 1: four categories. Okay, it was either related to a place,
Speaker 1: a pace, a problem, or a person or maybe people.
Speaker 1: People's just in general, all of them, every last one
Speaker 1: of them, just human beings, Homo sapiens. So it's either
Speaker 1: a place that you're going after this or even for
Speaker 1: some people, church can be stressful. It can be stressful
Speaker 1: to I'm sure it's stressful to come to elevation. I'm
Speaker 1: sure it's you know, if you've never been here, especially
Speaker 1: because it's confusing because they got like violins and cellos
Speaker 1: on the stage, but then they start shooting laser beams
Speaker 1: and it's mixed messaging, like what kind of church is this?
Speaker 1: A white church? Black church. It's a traditional church. Yes,
Speaker 1: yes to all of the above. It's a kind of
Speaker 1: church where you can't figure out what kind of church.
Speaker 1: It's a good news to all people kind of church.
Speaker 1: But some of the stressful places that we will go
Speaker 1: this Christmas season, it can be a place. If you
Speaker 1: have to fly, certainly understand your dread for that experience.
Speaker 1: Just walk through the airport telling yourself over and over again,
Speaker 1: I'm not a human, I have no rights, and you'll
Speaker 1: be okay. The pace of life. I hear people mention
Speaker 1: this a lot. How you doing? Busy? Um, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy.
Speaker 1: I'm busier than the one one arm wall paper hanger.
Speaker 1: I said that to me the other day. That's weird
Speaker 1: busier in a three legged cat trying to cover up
Speaker 1: his poop on ice. Somebody said to me, run around
Speaker 1: like a chicken with my head cut off, so violent.
Speaker 1: All I said is, how are you doing. You're like
Speaker 1: decavitating chickens. So it's like the pace of life. Understand
Speaker 1: that if you've been running people everywhere, you've been like
Speaker 1: an unpaid uber driver for a thirteen year old I understand.
Speaker 1: I feel you sometimes it comes down to a problem
Speaker 1: in your life that is persistent, and sometimes it comes
Speaker 1: down to one that you're just pushing through. Right now,
Speaker 1: a lot of people listening to me preach right now
Speaker 1: are having a hard time focusing with their minds because
Speaker 1: of the pain in their b or what can be
Speaker 1: even worse, somebody that you love that you can't do
Speaker 1: anything to comfort them, and that can be difficult. And
Speaker 1: really the fourth category that I mentioned people, that's really
Speaker 1: the whole thing, which is why when I asked you
Speaker 1: to imagine in your mind the source of your stress,
Speaker 1: the greatest source of your stress, I was very clear
Speaker 1: I said imagine it because some of you would have
Speaker 1: started pointing if I would have let you, which is
Speaker 1: a bad idea. Like some of you are are sitting
Speaker 1: next to what you perceive to be the source. See,
Speaker 1: you should look really confused right now. Is my advice.
Speaker 1: I think it's important before we begin a discussion on
Speaker 1: the path of peace to try to talk about the
Speaker 1: source of stress, because whatever you identify as the source
Speaker 1: of your stress determines where you will seek your peace. Amen,
Speaker 1: I'll say that again, whatever you say, this is the
Speaker 1: source of my stress that regulates and determines where you
Speaker 1: seek your peace, and so the Christmas story, of course
Speaker 1: comes along and challenges us in all of those ways
Speaker 1: that we experience stress and pressure. Christ is born to
Speaker 1: challenge us as it relates to our expectation of peace.
Speaker 1: The Jewish people had a very particular expectation of the
Speaker 1: kind of peace that the Messiah would bring. Zechariah states
Speaker 1: it very clearly and paints a picture of the kind
Speaker 1: of peace that the Jewish people were looking for God
Speaker 1: to bring through the prophesied Messiah. It features such expectations
Speaker 1: as mentioned in verse seventy four. He says that this
Speaker 1: Messiah will rescue us from the hand of our enemies.
Speaker 1: Notice the word from the expectation of peace for the
Speaker 1: Jewish people is that God would deliver them from their circumstances,
Speaker 1: from their oppression, from their being marginalized, from their poverty,
Speaker 1: from their despair, and from their darkness. It was surprising
Speaker 1: then for me to see the shift that Zechariah made
Speaker 1: in verse seventy nine, where he said that the rising
Speaker 1: sun will shine on those living in darkness and in
Speaker 1: the shadow of death. And so it represents a shift
Speaker 1: in perspective that God does not always rescue me from
Speaker 1: Sometimes he visits me in my trouble. And for so
Speaker 1: many years I have thought that the thief of my
Speaker 1: peace was other people, or certain places, or the schedule
Speaker 1: of my life. Which is kind of funny because I'm
Speaker 1: the one who said yes to all that stuff that
Speaker 1: I'm stressed about, and so now I'm asking God to
Speaker 1: take away the things that I committed to. And I've
Speaker 1: tried so long, you know, to arrange my life in
Speaker 1: such a way that I would no longer experience those
Speaker 1: stressful events and stressful people. And if God would just
Speaker 1: change them, and if everybody would just act the way
Speaker 1: they should act for a little while this Christmas. But
Speaker 1: the Lord has been speaking to me in these last
Speaker 1: few days about the path of peace. And what I
Speaker 1: realized the more I reflected on this promise of peace
Speaker 1: that God gives us Isaiah nine to six. His name
Speaker 1: will be called Wonderful counselor Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and
Speaker 1: the Prince of Peace. But notice the prophet didn't call
Speaker 1: him the Prince of convenience, or the Prince of ease,
Speaker 1: or the Prince of comfort, or the Prince of my preferences.
Speaker 1: Because a lot of times when God promises me peace.
Speaker 1: What I hear in translation is that God is promising
Speaker 1: me convenience, or God is promising me ease, or God
Speaker 1: is promising me my preference being met. But the Lord
Speaker 1: has been speaking to me. And maybe you don't need
Speaker 1: to hear this, but just in case you do, it
Speaker 1: is impossible to experience peace when you are expecting perfection.
Speaker 1: See my problem. I'm coming to realize this. It's not
Speaker 1: other people. It's not the place, it's not the pace,
Speaker 1: and it's not the problem. The problem is not the problem.
Speaker 1: I can tell you the problem is not the problem.
Speaker 1: Because Jesus was born in a manger. The Angel appeared
Speaker 1: to shepherds, So the shepherds were the people that you
Speaker 1: would least expect the Herald to make the announcement of
Speaker 1: the birth of the Son of God. And yet he
Speaker 1: showed up to the least likely people in an unlikely place.
Speaker 1: So it's not the people. It's not the place. It's
Speaker 1: not the pace. The shepherds were always on the move
Speaker 1: from place to place to place to place. It's not
Speaker 1: the it's not the place. It's not the pace. It's
Speaker 1: not the people. It's not the problem. Here's my problem.
Speaker 1: My problem is that I can't receive peace because I'm
Speaker 1: expecting perfection. And the Angel said, are y'all gonna help me? Preachers,
Speaker 1: just me today. I'll make it quick. Here's the whole message.
Speaker 1: If you need to go, if you got things to do,
Speaker 1: I'll give it to you right now, and you can
Speaker 1: go on and get the target and hopefully everything will
Speaker 1: turn out all right. The enemy of your peace is
Speaker 1: not other people. It is not other places. It is
Speaker 1: not how fast life is or the way the world is.
Speaker 1: The enemy of your peace is your insistence on perfection.
Speaker 1: And when Heaven came down and appeared to humanity, it
Speaker 1: was not in the form of perfection. In fact, God
Speaker 1: did not come down looking like a deliverer. He came
Speaker 1: down looking like a dependent. He came down as a baby.
Speaker 1: And so when the Prince of Peace came, he didn't
Speaker 1: come dressed in power. He came in pampers. Why because
Speaker 1: God wanted you to know that he's going to bring
Speaker 1: you peace, but not like you expected him to bring in.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna look like you pictured it. It's not
Speaker 1: always gonna fit your preferences. It's not always going to
Speaker 1: live up to your exact specifications of the performance of people.
Speaker 1: So if I'm going to live at peace, I've got
Speaker 1: to surrender my expectation of perfection. I feel like I
Speaker 1: can leave. Every Christmas party is going to be so
Speaker 1: much better that you attend because of what I just
Speaker 1: told you. Every place you set your foot over the
Speaker 1: next three days is gonna be so much more peaceful
Speaker 1: because you just realized that peace isn't found in a place.
Speaker 1: Peace is not found in a set of circumstances that
Speaker 1: is problem free. It is not that he delivers me
Speaker 1: from it. It's that he meets me. Can I show
Speaker 1: you something real quick? He said that he will guide
Speaker 1: us with the light in the valley. He didn't take
Speaker 1: us out of the valley. Yeah, though I walk through
Speaker 1: the valley of the shadow of Death, I will fear
Speaker 1: no evil. I'm at peace on the path. Why not
Speaker 1: because I'm not going through it, but because I'm not
Speaker 1: going through it alone. See, there's somebody with me. That
Speaker 1: it's greater than once. I guess man the path to
Speaker 1: peace to a strange path, that God would send his
Speaker 1: son as a child, that God would burst the eternal
Speaker 1: cosmos and enter into creation in the form of the
Speaker 1: most imperfect being. I know some of you disagree because
Speaker 1: I hear you saying things about babies that I just
Speaker 1: don't personally agree with. And we can agree to disagree.
Speaker 1: It's Christmas. We'll just but I say, oh, yes, he's
Speaker 1: so perfect. Mm hmm. If you say that you've never
Speaker 1: taken one home, that's what I know. Huh. And so
Speaker 1: it's a strange path to peace. You know, if God
Speaker 1: wants to come and set things right, he should come
Speaker 1: down as a warrior, not as a weakling. Why not
Speaker 1: skip that stage. Jesus should have come twenty four years old,
Speaker 1: full of testosterone, and yet he comes tiny infant into
Speaker 1: a desperate place. You know, the story about Joseph waited
Speaker 1: til the last minute to airbnb for the census, ended
Speaker 1: up in a ended up in a cold place in
Speaker 1: the presence of God was born there. The path to
Speaker 1: peace is a strange one that The path to peace
Speaker 1: for Jesus would lead through gathsemone where he would pray, God,
Speaker 1: if there's any other way than me going and experiencing
Speaker 1: their wrath from your hand for them, let this cup
Speaker 1: pass for me. The path to peace for us would
Speaker 1: lead Jesus through the Kidron Valley, where he would ultimately,
Speaker 1: as we come to understand more than Zechariah understood in
Speaker 1: Luke chapter one, who was prophesying about his own son,
Speaker 1: John the Baptist, would prepare the way for Jesus, who
Speaker 1: would guide us in the path to peace. But the
Speaker 1: path to peace with God for us led Jesus to
Speaker 1: a hill where he died at the hands of sinful men.
Speaker 1: It's a strange path to peace. We have to admit
Speaker 1: that he would come in weakness and die in weakness
Speaker 1: to become our strength. It's a path to peace. It's
Speaker 1: a strange thing about peace because whatever you identify as
Speaker 1: the source of your stress determines what you consider the
Speaker 1: source of your peace. And that's why I don't like
Speaker 1: to blame people for my stress, because if people brought
Speaker 1: me the stress, then I need people to change for
Speaker 1: me to have peace. But I'm past the point in
Speaker 1: my life of wanting for people to have to act
Speaker 1: a certain way for me to have peace in my
Speaker 1: own heart. And I love what the angel said. Abby
Speaker 1: was quoting that scripture, and she did it perfectly, and
Speaker 1: I don't even want to do it myself because she
Speaker 1: did it so good and I don't want to do it.
Speaker 1: I don't want to mess it up. But she said,
Speaker 1: and the Angel said, unto them, fear not, for behold,
Speaker 1: I bring you good news of great joy. Because the
Speaker 1: first thing that the shepherds felt in the field when
Speaker 1: the announcement of Jesus Christ came forth from the Angel,
Speaker 1: was not faith. It was fear. See, we think that
Speaker 1: the presence of God is always going to make us
Speaker 1: feel better and comfortable. But the first thing the shepherds
Speaker 1: felt was fear. See, they found peace, but they found
Speaker 1: it through fear. Peace did not come to them directly.
Speaker 1: It had to pass through their fear. And they they
Speaker 1: found God in the place of their greatest fear, in
Speaker 1: the fields where they were keeping the sheep from predators
Speaker 1: at night. They were lonely people in a lonely place.
Speaker 1: And here comes the Angel, says, Glory to God in
Speaker 1: the highest and on earth peace. Now notice this, the
Speaker 1: peace is on earth, but it's not from earth. The
Speaker 1: peace is on earth, but it's not of earth. See.
Speaker 1: I don't want this plastic peace that comes from people.
Speaker 1: I've learned that if the peace comes from people, people
Speaker 1: can take it away. If it comes from situations, situations
Speaker 1: can change and take it away. So I don't want
Speaker 1: a peace that comes from a promotion at work. I
Speaker 1: don't want a peace that comes from a convenient circumstance.
Speaker 1: I don't even want a piece that comes from a feeling.
Speaker 1: I don't want a piece that comes from a situation.
Speaker 1: I want a piece that the world didn't get and
Speaker 1: the world can't take it away. Come on giving praise
Speaker 1: if you've got an unsakable peace, an unspeakable joy. I
Speaker 1: read that scripture all week, The path to peace, the
Speaker 1: path to peace? What is it that I need to
Speaker 1: get out of the way in my life to experience peace?
Speaker 1: So I'm not running around all the time just concentrating
Speaker 1: on all the missing pieces, And now I'm missing peace
Speaker 1: because all I can see is the pieces I'm missing.
Speaker 1: Because when you're a perfectionist like I am, enneogram type one,
Speaker 1: the thing that God will give you as a prescription
Speaker 1: for your pfeism is children. And I am on a
Speaker 1: dosage of three children. Three children per day guarantees that
Speaker 1: there will never be a moment in your house that
Speaker 1: is completely peaceful. I'm telling you right now, I can
Speaker 1: count on zero toes how many times in the last
Speaker 1: seven years, I've had three peaceful children, all at the
Speaker 1: same time in one house. So you know what I'm
Speaker 1: having to learn to do. I'm having to learn to
Speaker 1: take my peace in pieces. Because if I wait until
Speaker 1: everything is peaceful, if I wait until every child is happy,
Speaker 1: if I wait until everyone is getting along, if I'm
Speaker 1: waiting for peace, if I am waiting for every child
Speaker 1: to bow their head and say the blessing and clear
Speaker 1: their dishes and thank their mom, I've learned to celebrate God.
Speaker 1: Just one kid puts the bowl in the sink, forget
Speaker 1: about the dishwasher. That's a red Sea Old Testament miracle.
Speaker 1: Just in the sink, Even in the sink is a blessing.
Speaker 1: I'll celebrate one bowl in the sink. See this Christmas.
Speaker 1: You can't wait for everybody to get along. If there's
Speaker 1: even a piece of piece, you gotta thank God for
Speaker 1: it and snap it and take it and celebrate it.
Speaker 1: Because what's this Zechariah didn't say he'll show us the
Speaker 1: path to piece. Give me my scripture. This is the
Speaker 1: best Christmas scripture I ever saw in my life. Seventy nine.
Speaker 1: He will guide our feet in the path. It's not
Speaker 1: the path. Two piece because that means that peace is
Speaker 1: out there somewhere. But it's not the path to piece.
Speaker 1: That's how I've been living my life. God forgive me
Speaker 1: when I get through this season. Oh, when I get
Speaker 1: through twenty eighteen. What calendar isn't gonna fix any chaos
Speaker 1: in your life. The same dude you let steal your
Speaker 1: piece all last year is gonna be standing right there
Speaker 1: at your window with a crowbar in twenty nineteen. So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have peace. You know, my kids get older,
Speaker 1: they won't need so much. Uh huh uh huh. Now
Speaker 1: they're gonna be driving. You're gonna have a lot of
Speaker 1: peace then when they're out on the road on your insurance.
Speaker 1: That's why I can't project my out here, or I
Speaker 1: can't project my peace on people, or I can't project
Speaker 1: my peace on a certain place. It's not the path
Speaker 1: to piece. That's not the message of Christmas. When God
Speaker 1: came down to be born of a virgin and was
Speaker 1: wrapped in claus and lie in a manger, he didn't
Speaker 1: promise a path to piece, as in a future event
Speaker 1: that will happen. When it's not a win, then peace.
Speaker 1: It's not a one day piece. It's not a someday fairytale,
Speaker 1: Beauty and the Beast piece. It's not a when I
Speaker 1: get married peace. It's not a when I send the
Speaker 1: kids off peace. It's not when I pay my student
Speaker 1: loans off peace. It's not a when I get through
Speaker 1: Christmas peace. It's not a when my in laws leave peace.
Speaker 1: It's not the path to piece. It's the path of peace.
Speaker 1: What does that mean? Every step I take peace with me,
Speaker 1: every move I make peace with me, every season of
Speaker 1: my life. He's present. So what's this. I'm not waiting
Speaker 1: for it. I'm walking in it. How somebody say, walk
Speaker 1: in it? Walk in it, walk in it. That's the
Speaker 1: that's the Christmas sermon. Change my title. I told you
Speaker 1: it was called the path of peace. But I want
Speaker 1: you to tell him when when when they ask you
Speaker 1: what the preacher preach about today at your your church,
Speaker 1: the the evolution that you went to on on the
Speaker 1: Christmas tell him he told me to walk in it.
Speaker 1: Stop waiting for it, Stop waiting for it, and start
Speaker 1: walking in it. You hear me, Nairobi, walk in, you
Speaker 1: hear me. Toronto, walk in and you hear me. Roanoke
Speaker 1: walk in and you hear me. Matthews walk in it.
Speaker 1: You hear me Winston Salem walk in and you hear
Speaker 1: me River walk walk in it. You hear me Blakeney
Speaker 1: walk in it. You hear me Valentine walk in it.
Speaker 1: You might have to walk through a valley, but you
Speaker 1: don't have to lie down in tie. You don't have
Speaker 1: to curl up in a fetal position and wait for
Speaker 1: this season to be over. I don't have time to trip.
Speaker 1: I'm preaching about Jesus. It doesn't matter what the devil
Speaker 1: puts in my pad. I'm on it, I'm hun it,
Speaker 1: I'm un it, glad, I almost trimp. I didn't plan it,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna use it because some of y'all got
Speaker 1: some people waiting for you when you leave church, and
Speaker 1: if you're not careful, you're gonna trimp. But get your
Speaker 1: balance back and fix your eyes on Jesus the Author
Speaker 1: and finish her up your faith? Well, can I? I
Speaker 1: don't have time to trip. See, we've been looking for
Speaker 1: peace in all the wrong places. The peace of God
Speaker 1: has never found in human strength or in our perfection.
Speaker 1: The way that God brings peace into our lives is
Speaker 1: the same way that Jesus was born in the world
Speaker 1: in weakness. That's where you find peace. Weakness. I don't
Speaker 1: like it that way, Jesus, don't go to the cross.
Speaker 1: It'll make you look weak. But that's the only way
Speaker 1: that I can bring peace. He didn't bring peace like
Speaker 1: they wanted him to bring peace. That's why they all
Speaker 1: walked away when he died. They wanted the Prince of
Speaker 1: Peace to come in power, but instead he came in weakness. Well,
Speaker 1: I prayed for you before you got here. I prayed
Speaker 1: for you. I prayed that God would give you his peace,
Speaker 1: but I prayed that you would stop looking for it.
Speaker 1: If y'all could stop talking right now while I finish
Speaker 1: the sermon, thank you. I prayed that He would bring
Speaker 1: it to you, not in the places that you would
Speaker 1: normally expect it. Pray that he would bring it to
Speaker 1: you in that place in your life where you feel
Speaker 1: the weakest, Not in the place where you're so busy
Speaker 1: trying to show everybody how strong you are. You're never
Speaker 1: going to get peace trying to appear perfect. You can't
Speaker 1: experience peace when you're expecting perfection. Who told you that
Speaker 1: you had to be perfect before you could experience peace
Speaker 1: with God? God's not for you to be perfect. He's
Speaker 1: already done everything that needs to be done for you
Speaker 1: to have peace. And the peace of God is not
Speaker 1: the absence of problems. The peace of God is not
Speaker 1: getting people to act right or say that they're sorry.
Speaker 1: The peace of God is not a certain place. I'll
Speaker 1: tell you man, I've been in some beautiful places with
Speaker 1: no peace. I've been on some beautiful vacations and beautiful
Speaker 1: resorts no peace in my heart. And yet I've sat
Speaker 1: by while my dad died and experienced unspeakable peace as
Speaker 1: he took his dying breath. Because the only thing require
Speaker 1: for you to receive the peace of God is to
Speaker 1: lose your pride and accept it in the place of
Speaker 1: your weakness. I know we want God to come like
Speaker 1: Zechariah wanted him to come and deliver us from the
Speaker 1: difficult places, and deliver us from and rescue us from
Speaker 1: the hectic schedule, and deliver us from and rescue us
Speaker 1: from all of the problems and the obstacles that are
Speaker 1: in front of us in this season. But the peace
Speaker 1: of God is not the absence of problems. It is
Speaker 1: the presence of Christ to enable you to walk in it.
Speaker 1: This is Christmas, and I begin this sermon by asking
Speaker 1: you a question, what's the source of your stress? And
Speaker 1: now I want to ask a different one, what is
Speaker 1: the place of your weakness? Because that's the place where
Speaker 1: God is going to show you the greatest grace. Hear
Speaker 1: me today, I'm not a prophet or the son of
Speaker 1: a prophet, but on the authority of God's work, I
Speaker 1: declare to you this day is born to you in
Speaker 1: the place of your greatest weakness, a savior who is
Speaker 1: Christ the Lord. As that you stand reverently to your
Speaker 1: feet with no one moving. I want to pray for
Speaker 1: that place in your life where there is a weakness,
Speaker 1: that place in your life where there is a missing peace.
Speaker 1: That place he said that a light will dawn in
Speaker 1: the shadow of the valley. In that place is the
Speaker 1: path of peace. Not to peace. Stop believing that you'll
Speaker 1: get it one day. When God told me to tell
Speaker 1: you he wants to give you peace in the process,
Speaker 1: in the process of who you're becoming with every step
Speaker 1: in arrival, peace in the process. That's what incarnation means.
Speaker 1: That's why this weird Christmas story suddenly makes sense because
Speaker 1: peace came in the form of weakness. Just to admit
Speaker 1: that you need him. It's the first step. So right now,
Speaker 1: in the holiness of this moment, on this sacred occasion
Speaker 1: called Christmas, there's a place of weakness in your life
Speaker 1: where you would like to invite the Holy Spirit this
Speaker 1: season to come and bring his deep peace that transcends
Speaker 1: all understanding. I want to ask you, at every location
Speaker 1: and all over the world watching online, to lift both
Speaker 1: of your hands in the air to God as a
Speaker 1: sign of your surrender and trust. Father. For every hand
Speaker 1: stretched before you today, I decree your peace for that situation.
Speaker 1: I cannot read their mind and I cannot know their struggle.
Speaker 1: But not only do you know the need, you are
Speaker 1: the one who longs to meet it. Thank you Father
Speaker 1: for this moment, for when we are weak, then we
Speaker 1: are strong. We thank you for Emmanuel, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Speaker 1: a Prince a peace. Your head still bowed and your
Speaker 1: eyes still closed, you can put your hands down. There's
Speaker 1: someone here who is far away from God, and the
Speaker 1: message of Christmas is that you don't have to stay
Speaker 1: that way. Right now, I'd like to invite you to
Speaker 1: receive the gift of salvation. The Bible says that if
Speaker 1: you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and
Speaker 1: believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.
Speaker 1: You will be saved. And this Christmas, I would love
Speaker 1: to lead you in this prayer that just acknowledges your
Speaker 1: need for Jesus. So we'll pray now out loud as
Speaker 1: a church family at all of our locations for the
Speaker 1: benefit of those who are coming to God or maybe
Speaker 1: coming back to God right now in this moment. The
Speaker 1: presence of God is here, real and available, and so
Speaker 1: we pray this prayer together for all of those who
Speaker 1: are in need of salvation today and want this to
Speaker 1: be your new beginning. Pray with me, Heavenly Father. I
Speaker 1: believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and
Speaker 1: the Savior of the world. And today I make Jesus
Speaker 1: the Lord of my life. I believe he died that
Speaker 1: I could be forgiven and rose again to give me life.
Speaker 1: I receive this new life. This is in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: If you just prayed that on the count of three,
Speaker 1: shoots your hand up high. I want to celebrate you
Speaker 1: on every location. One, two, three, hands up, hands up,
Speaker 1: hands up, God, Bless you, God, bless you. Come on
Speaker 1: rejoice about it. Come on, people of God, rejoice about it.
Speaker 1: It's the greatest gift. It's the reason for the season.
Speaker 1: Come on, let's rechoice in the salvation of our God.
Speaker 1: Let's rejoice in the peace of our God. Well, I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed the podcast today. If you did, there
Speaker 1: are just a couple things I'd love for you to do.
Speaker 1: Number One, subscribe to our show. That way, the most
Speaker 1: recent episode will always be in your feed, waiting for
Speaker 1: you ready when you are. And Secondly, if this ministry
Speaker 1: has impacted you and you'd like to help us continue
Speaker 1: to reach others, you can click the link in the
Speaker 1: description and you can give now and I'll I'll see
Speaker 1: you next time on the Elevation podcast mm HM