WEBVTT - Blessed Because You Believe (Holly Furtick) 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.360 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:22.960 Ladies and gentlemen, remain standing and welcome to our epam 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:27.680 all over the world as you continue to hug your neighbors, 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.280 your friends, your family, and complete strangers. 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:35.159 It is my great joy to announce to you. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:41.200 That today, preaching her final sermon of the year twenty 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:49.600 twenty five, it's my favorite Verdic, your favorite Fernich, everybody's 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:50.560 favorite Arnach. 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:52.280 Y'all give it up for holly. 0:00:52.400 --> 0:01:05.200 Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:07.880 Let me just get a good look at you. 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:13.800 What an amazing time we have had in worship today. 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:18.520 Feels so good in here. The Lord is present in 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:19.119 this place. 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:21.240 Amen. The Bible says that He. 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:25.080 Inhabits the praises of his people. I think that means 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.480 he's here with us today. And you made it to 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:34.840 church on the Sunday before Christmas, whether you're at one 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:35.240 of our. 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:38.280 Locations or you're joining us online. I know that that means. 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:41.679 That your heart is expectant today, that you want more 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.759 than just checking off things off your to do list 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:46.520 this week, that you want to get your heart right 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:47.520 this week? 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:49.840 Can you want to be in the presence of Jesus? 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.440 And I believe that God has a word for us 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.560 today and I'm really honored that I get. 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:56.280 To bring it to you. 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:58.840 So, okay, real quick, before you take your seats, I 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.600 just want to read our scripture for today. I'm going 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.400 to be reading from Luke chapter one if you. 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:05.040 Have a Bible. 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:12.679 And last week Pastor Stephen talked about how God provides 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:14.800 and he prompts. 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.600 It was so powerful. Were you here? Amazing? 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.480 The sermon was called Mary's Prayer, and so I want 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.359 to pick up today with a little bit more of 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.760 Mary's story and we're going to start reading. In the 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.639 middle of the passage, the Angel has come to Mary 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.560 and he's announced to her that she's going to give 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:35.200 birth to the Son of God. 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:36.880 And we're going to start reading right there. 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:40.119 In verse thirty four, Mary asked the angel, but how 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:40.960 can this happen? 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:42.320 I am a virgin. 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:47.160 The angel replied, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.200 and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.560 So the baby to be born will be holy, and 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:55.799 he will be called. 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.320 The Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has 0:02:59.360 --> 0:02:59.960 become pregnant. 0:02:59.919 --> 0:03:02.680 In her old age, people used to say she was barren, 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.200 but she has conceived a son and is now in 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:09.600 her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail. 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:16.000 Mary replied, I am the Lord's servant. May everything that 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:19.640 you have said about me come true? And then the 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:23.960 angel left her. A few days later, Mary hurried to 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.440 the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:29.960 She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:31.000 At the sound of. 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:35.560 Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:38.800 filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.320 and exclaimed to Mary, God has blessed you above all women, 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.760 and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:48.800 that the mother of my Lord should visit me. When 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.440 I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:56.280 for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:02.320 Lord would do what he said. Father, would you bless 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:03.760 the reading of this word today. 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:06.080 We love you, we want to hear from you. It's 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:08.600 in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. All right, the. 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.200 Title of my sermon don't sit Downia, don't it Donia. 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:17.200 The title of my sermon is blessed because you believed. 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:20.640 On your way to your seat, ask your neighbor, are 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:36.120 you blessed? So several weeks ago, my husband stood up 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.160 here and he told all of you about how I 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:40.359 am a terrible liar. 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:42.839 It's true. 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:46.360 I don't know why, but I am really just the 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:52.000 worst liar. And what that means is, don't ask me 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.680 if I like your haircut. Please do not put me 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:59.480 on the spot like that, because sometimes I just can't 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.600 think of anything to say, and like the best thing 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:04.960 that I might be able to come up with is like, wow, 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.159 you look so good, and then you won't believe me. 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.880 And I'm you know, I just I'm a terrible liar. 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.920 And what that means, though, also is that my inability 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:20.880 to lie it also makes me extremely gullible. I'm just 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:26.080 I'm a believer. Okay, So I am a car salesman's dream, you. 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:27.840 Know, Like I'm gonna be like yeah, like. 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.120 Oh, a little old lady drove this car. She only 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.200 drove it to church in the grocery store every week. 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:34.680 I mean, I just I just believe what people say 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.560 to me, and I also believe. I've recently come to 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:43.719 realize everything that comes into my Instagram feed, and this 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:48.640 drives my family crazy. Like I will frequently show my 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.880 kids videos and be like, look at this, this is amazing, 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.799 and my kids will look back at me and they're like, Mom, 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.440 that's not real. And so then I find another one 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:01.080 I want to show. I gotta showsting this baby. You're 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.039 not gonna believe this, and he'll look at me and 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.400 they'll be like, hell, you know that's AI right, Okay. 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:07.240 So I'm slow. 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.280 I'm learning because I just believe that things are true. 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.520 Like the other day, this video came into my feet 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:15.760 on Instagram, and I don't know if you guys saw 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:20.640 this one, but it was ring doorbell footage and which 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:25.720 means it's true. And there was a cat and a 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:30.039 baby on a front porch and a bear wanders up 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.279 and the cat hissses and like swats at the bear 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:38.719 and saves the baby. And when I saw this video, 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:46.000 I thought, wow, Dad is one amazing cat. And soon 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.200 A couple days later, another one comes into my feet. 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:53.800 Different porch, different cat, different baby, and I thought, I 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:55.080 think we need to get a cat. 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:03.279 So then a third one came, and this time I thought, 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.960 wait a minute, like, how many moms are. 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:11.520 Leaving their babies alone on a porch? This must be AI. 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:13.280 You can't fool me three times. 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:18.120 I recently saw another one of this family of dolphins 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.480 and they were like breaching the water and this tiny 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:23.000 little baby dolphin like. 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.200 Pops up out of the water. It was the. 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.240 Cutest thing I have seen in twenty twenty five, and 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.160 I was like, oh, wait, maybe this So I went 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:33.280 to the comments, because you know, in the comments, people 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.920 will let you know if this is AI. If one 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.320 of the first comments that I saw, this woman said, 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.720 if this is AI, don't tell me. I don't want 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.080 to know, And I was like, Amen, it's real. 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:46.160 How many of you would agree. 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:50.360 It's getting harder and harder to believe. When I was 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.240 in my twenties, I thought that belief was black and white. 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:55.800 This is what I believe, this is what I do 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.240 not believe, and I believe that this is what you 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.760 should believe too. I was really fun to be around you, 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.840 would have enjoyed it. As I've gotten older, though, I've 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.760 learned to let go kind of of the black and white, 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:11.000 and I've had to learn that believing God is so 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:15.480 much more about who He is than it is about 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:20.440 what I think he should do. And in our story, 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:25.560 Elizabeth told Mary that she was blessed because she believed. 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.800 And when I read this, those words just leapt off 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:29.800 of the page. 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.880 For me, the blessings in my life are directly tied 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:35.000 to my beliefs. 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:37.840 What I believe about God has. 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.959 To be at the center of everything that I say 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.439 and everything that I do. And what I want you 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:49.080 to know today is that God is not Santa. We 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.480 don't grow out of believing in him. 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:54.679 We grow into. 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:58.720 Our belief as we walk with Him, as. 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.440 We begin our journey with Him. Well, we begin it 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:02.760 with salvation, right. 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.559 Maybe you accepted Jesus as a child and you've known 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.360 him your whole life. Maybe you accepted Jesus here at 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:10.679 elevation you raise your hand and you got one of 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.720 those orange Bibles. Maybe you accepted Jesus online through our ministry. 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:19.600 We begin by knowing Jesus as our savior, but then 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.560 we get to know that God is so much more 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:26.720 than that. God never intended for us to stop with salvation. 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:29.960 The gospel is not about accepting Jesus just so that 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.040 we can go to heaven. That's the beginning and the end. 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.480 But you will be blessed because you believed in Him. 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:40.600 The Gospel is about believing in God and getting to 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.760 know Him in the middle part, in the time that 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:47.360 we have here on earth. We get to know God 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.440 when we worship him, when we bring our questions to Him, 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.600 and our sorrows and our disappointments, and when we lay 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.720 them before Him and we begin to grow in. 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.400 Our belief of who He is. 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:06.720 This February, our church is going to celebrate our twentieth anniversary, and. 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.400 I'm so excited. I just want you to know We're 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:11.040 going big. 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:15.240 I've told my husband, I was like, we're doing this right. 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:17.280 Twenty years is a big deal. 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:21.280 So I've been coming through old videos and pictures and 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:24.760 I've just been feeling all of the feelings of what 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.160 it's been like these past twenty years, and I just 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:29.920 want to tell you it has been the blessing of 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:35.400 a lifetime. To believe that God could use two kids 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:39.480 from South Carolina to be able to lead a church 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:43.600 and a ministry like this. We were twenty five years 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:47.120 old when we started this church. I don't know who 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.480 wanted to come to a church led by q twenty 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:53.120 five year old kids, but thank you for coming. And 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.120 I'm so glad that God did actually call us to 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:59.839 start this when we were young. When we started this church, 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.880 I was so naive. And Stephen tells this story. I'm 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:05.720 sure you've heard about how we were on our front 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.920 porch in Shelby, North Carolina, and I looked at him 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.120 and I said, it's time for us to start this church. 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.280 And I believed with all of my heart that God 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:18.320 was calling us to go and to do this and 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.640 to step out in faith and to follow him. But 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:25.200 I had no idea how much I would grow in 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:29.760 my understanding of who He is as we walked out 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:33.320 what we believed that He was calling us to do. 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:35.840 I want you to know that I have come to 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:40.080 know God as Jehovah Jirah, because from the moment that 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.800 we took the first step to move to Charlotte, We've 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.400 seen Him provide over and over and over again, every 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:49.280 person that he put in our path, every resource that 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:52.480 he prompted someone to give every connection that led us 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.040 to the next step. I've also come to know him 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:58.920 as Jehovah Nissi, the one who fights our. 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:03.000 Battles for us. I've come to know him as Jehovah Rafa, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:04.360 the God who heals. 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:07.800 And I've seen him bring healing and restoration to so 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.960 many people across our ministries, families that were put back together, 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:13.640 marriages that were restored. 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:16.559 I've come to know him as Emmanuel. 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.760 God with us in the ups and the downs and 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:21.400 in everything in between. 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.160 I have come to know that God is with me. 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:29.720 I am blessed because I believed, and you are blessed 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:34.160 because you believe. And the Christmas Story is about a 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:38.760 cast of characters who dared to believe that God, God 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.080 was telling them what would come to pass, and that 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.359 it was true. So my message. 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:46.640 Today is very simple. 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:50.480 It's so simple that I'm almost embarrassed. 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:51.760 That this is what I'm bringing to you. 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:55.200 It's very common sense. And in the time that we 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.040 have left, I want to show you three things that 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:01.480 I believe about God that I see in this part 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:02.760 of the Christmas Story. 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.120 And I just want to warn you my parts, my points. 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:08.360 They're not catchy, they don't rhyme, they don't spell anything 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.640 at the end, so don't be prepared to be in 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:13.960 awe at the end. We're going to leave that for 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:15.640 when Pastor Stephen comes back. 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:18.200 It's just a simple message today. 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:23.520 Three truths that we can believe about God this Christmas, 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:28.120 and the first one is I believe that God believes 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:29.080 in me. 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.120 Let's go back to our scripture, verse twenty six. 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.720 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.760 angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.920 virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.200 a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.160 appeared to her and said, greetings, favored woman, the Lord. 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:51.000 Is with you. 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:55.480 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.480 could mean. Don't be afraid, the angel told her, for 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.480 you have found favor with God. 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:04.120 Now. 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:10.480 Nowhere in this passage do we find a reason why 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:15.760 God picked Mary. God didn't pick Mary because she was strong. 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:18.760 It doesn't say that God didn't pick Mary because she 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.280 was accomplished. It doesn't say that God didn't pick Mary 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.040 because she was experienced. 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:26.200 She did not apply for this job. 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:29.120 She did not campaign for this job, and she did 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.840 not volunteer for this job. But one day an angel 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.920 comes to her and he says, you have found favor 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:40.280 with God. Now, when I think of the mother that 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:43.240 I would have picked for Jesus if I was God, 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:46.480 I would have picked a woman that already had a 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:51.880 full brood of children, a woman whose children were homeschooled 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:56.520 and responsible, like they had a chure charte that they 0:14:56.640 --> 0:15:02.360 actually used. And a woman who's children were respectful, a woman. 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:04.600 Whose children like looked after each other. 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:06.880 And you know, I would have picked a woman who 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.560 knew the difference between croup and pneumonia. I would have 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:14.160 picked a woman whose house was clean and orderly, and 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.280 especially I would have picked a woman who could cook good, 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:19.680 home cooked meals for the son of God. 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:22.080 But God picked Mary. 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:25.800 And all we know about Mary is that she was 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:29.680 a virgin who was blessed because she believed that she 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:31.240 was the one for the job. 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.000 And that's all that God requires of you as well. 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.240 And I wonder how different my day would be if 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.160 I woke up each morning and I set out loud. 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:46.720 God picked me for this. God picked me for this day. 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.920 God picked me for this job. God picked me for 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.600 this child. Whatever the circumstances were that led me to 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:57.080 this moment that I am in today, I am going 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:01.480 to operate under the belief that God believed I am. 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:04.000 The one for this now. 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:06.320 I think we all live in the tension of the 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:09.400 things in our life that we feel called to and 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.640 the things in our life that we might not necessarily 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.720 have chosen for ourselves. Like, there are things in life 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:19.960 that we go after, right. God put a desire in 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.360 your heart. He gave you a gift and a passion. 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.240 And yes it's hard along the way, and yes there 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.320 are obstacles and things that you have to overcome, but 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.720 you're going after what you feel like you are supposed 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.120 to do. Anybody ever feel that way, And it's wonderful, 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:36.080 and you should. 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.240 When you feel like you're called to do something, you 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:42.520 should go after it. But then there are things in 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.400 life that I don't know, it seems like. 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:49.720 They go after you, right, Like the things that you 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.600 didn't plan for, or the things you didn't expect, or 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.320 the things that you don't feel qualified for, the things 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:58.920 that seem to have just been like placed in your 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.800 life or in your lap that you did not ask for. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.960 And I want you to hear from me that God 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:08.520 believes in you. 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:10.320 He chose you. 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.520 He chose you to be born at this time, at 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:16.920 this place, in this family. 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:19.880 He gave you the children that you have. He gave 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.520 you the opportunities that you have. He chose you. 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:29.880 God believed in you before you believed in him, before 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:33.880 the world began. He knew the number of your days. 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:38.000 You are not an accident. You are chosen and selected 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:40.760 to glorify God with your life. 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.159 I don't care what you've done or what you have 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:45.200 not done. The only thing that. 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:49.040 Disqualifies you from being used by God is believing the 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:50.320 lie that He can't use you. 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:52.120 That's it. 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:56.800 God believes in you. You're chosen even when you don't 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.679 feel capable. You're chosen, even when you don't feel like 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:00.480 you did deserve it. 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:01.600 You're chosen. 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.520 And if you wait until you feel ready or worthy 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:12.120 or qualified or prepared enough, you're gonna miss what God 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:13.159 has for you. 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:16.600 You're gonna miss the opportunities that are right in front 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:17.600 of you today. 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:23.000 So Mary accepted the calling that God placed on her life. 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:25.679 She said, I am the Lord's servant. May it be 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:27.360 to me as you have said. 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:29.600 It's my favorite verse in the whole Bible. It's the 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:31.600 thing I want to operate from. Is the way I 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.560 want to live my life. Okay, God, I'm your servant. 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:38.560 May be to me as you have said. And then 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.120 the scripture tells us that she moved in the direction 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:45.639 that she felt that God was leading her. So the 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:48.679 second thing that I believe is I believe that God 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:56.320 leads me. Now this one is tricky because unfortunately God 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.760 does not always spell. 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:00.119 Everything out for us. 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:03.919 Right. He doesn't like write our next steps in the sky, 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:09.480 but he does strongly suggest what we should do next. 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:11.640 Look at Mary again. This is verse thirty five. 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:15.400 It says the angel replied, the Holy Spirit will come 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:17.720 upon you, and the power of the Most. 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:18.720 High will overshadow you. 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:20.919 So the baby to be born will be holy and 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.400 he will be called the Son of God. What's more, 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.360 your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant. In her old age, 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:30.119 people used to say that she was barren, but she 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.160 has conceived a sun and is now in her six months. 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:35.880 For the word of God will never fail. And Mary responded, 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.320 here it is I'm the Lord servant. May everything you 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.320 said about me come true, and then the angel left her. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:47.600 I want you to know that sometimes what's next is 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:53.440 what you already know. The angel left Mary, and I 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:55.360 imagine that she had to sort of. 0:19:55.359 --> 0:20:01.359 Like take in everything that had just happened. She was like, Okay, 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:07.320 did that just happen? Okay, what happened? And she's replaying 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:08.840 it in her mind. Okay. 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:11.280 The angel came and he said I was going to 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.920 give birth the Son of God. But then he said 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:21.600 something about my relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth is pregnant. Well, let 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.560 me go see if that's true. So verse thirty nine says. 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:28.680 A few days later, Mary hurried to the hill country 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:34.440 of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:40.600 the house and greeted Elizabeth. Sometimes the next step is 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:44.679 the thing that you already know to do, but you 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:49.840 haven't done it yet. The thing is, God's not going 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:55.760 to reveal more to you until you do that. Now. 0:20:55.800 --> 0:20:57.840 One of the ways that God leads us is through 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:00.480 the people that he puts on our path. So God 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:04.080 led Mary to Elizabeth. But when Mary got to elizabeth 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:07.120 elizabeth home, she enters the house. 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:09.159 And the moment she opens her. 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:12.679 Mouth to say hello, the baby and Elizabeth's womb jumps 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:17.320 and confirms what the angel said. And Elizabeth says to Mary, 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:19.399 why am I so honored that the mother of my 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:23.760 Lord should visit me. God will send you people when 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:30.159 you moved towards what you know. God led Mary and 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.399 Joseph to Bethlehem because of the census that was ordered, 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:35.120 and it was there that the baby was. 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:37.560 Born in a barn. But it was also there. 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.160 That the shepherds came and visited them, and they said, 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:42.840 we saw an entire host of angels, and we came 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:46.119 to worship the Christ Child. And in eight days after 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:48.199 that they took Jesus to the temple. 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:50.200 It was the custom. It was the thing that they 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:51.160 were supposed to do. 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:53.320 It was what you did with your baby when they 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:55.719 were eight days old. You came to the temple and 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:58.840 you dedicated them there. And when they were there, Mary 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:03.560 and Joseph they into two different people, Simeon and Anna, 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:07.399 the prophetess. And at the temple, both Simeon and Anna 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:11.120 confirm what God is doing, and they said, they said, 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:16.200 this is Jesus, and they became, we have seen the salvation. 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:16.800