Speaker 1: I want to pray one more time before I preach.
Speaker 1: I want to pray for something specifically. Everyone's standing at
Speaker 1: every location in your home. Stand in your kitchen, stand
Speaker 1: get out the bed, and stand up in your Tommy Johns.
Speaker 1: If you have to put a robe on, robes of
Speaker 1: righteousness and stand up, and I want to pray. I
Speaker 1: don't have long to really talk about it, but I
Speaker 1: want to pray about it. About our offering next Sunday,
Speaker 1: December twelfth. This is a tradition, and more than it's
Speaker 1: a tradition, because some traditions are empty. This is not
Speaker 1: an empty tradition like a turkey or something like that
Speaker 1: that's going to put you to sleep anyway. This is training.
Speaker 1: This is how when we trust God, when we bring
Speaker 1: him the first fruits of everything that he's given us,
Speaker 1: which thousands of people will commit to do here between
Speaker 1: now at the end of the year and set it
Speaker 1: up online and all that, and many people giving above
Speaker 1: and beyond. I've already got my offering ready. I got
Speaker 1: a head start. I started on this, started praying about
Speaker 1: this in October, so I'm ready. But we're calling the
Speaker 1: offering better. That's the word that we associated with the offering.
Speaker 1: I took it from where he said the glory of
Speaker 1: the latter house would be greater than the glory of
Speaker 1: the former house. And so many people right now are
Speaker 1: in seasons of rebuilding. But the Lord doesn't just want
Speaker 1: to rebuild what we had before. He wants to take
Speaker 1: us to a new place with new priorities and new perspective.
Speaker 1: So now the key to all of this. Do you
Speaker 1: really trust that he's your provider? Do you really trust
Speaker 1: that he is Jehovah jiro The Lord provides, the Lord sees.
Speaker 1: So when I bring my offering, it's not just oh
Speaker 1: so we can keep paying staff members. Oh so we
Speaker 1: can keep changing guitar strings on Joey's less pallback there.
Speaker 1: Oh so we can keep buying goldfish crackers for the
Speaker 1: kids over any kids so they don't freak out while
Speaker 1: I'm preaching too long for me's training is teaching me
Speaker 1: to trust God. And it also does something amazing because
Speaker 1: then I get to see the fruit of preaching the
Speaker 1: gospel all around the world. I want to thank all
Speaker 1: of you who tithe to this ministry, who give to
Speaker 1: this ministry. We preach Jesus all over the world daily
Speaker 1: I mean, every hour of every day, there's somebody being
Speaker 1: blessed somewhere by this ministry, and we get to do
Speaker 1: that together. So I'm excited, really excited. I'm grown up now,
Speaker 1: so I'm more excited about giving than receiving because I'm
Speaker 1: grown up now. I'm grown up now. And so we're
Speaker 1: going to pray for all who are praying and asking God.
Speaker 1: God want me to give above and beyond the type
Speaker 1: again to tithe both. Let me pray because only God
Speaker 1: can speak these things to you. By your head, Father,
Speaker 1: I thank you for what you've already done. I don't
Speaker 1: want to skip that if you never did anything else
Speaker 1: for Stephen Ferdy, for Elevation Church, for the people that
Speaker 1: I'm looking at. You already gave us this many breaths,
Speaker 1: this many days, this many blessings, this many breakthroughs, this
Speaker 1: many victories, this many slain giants, this many crumbled walls.
Speaker 1: You've already done enough to be worthy because you saved
Speaker 1: us and you loved us, and you came to tabernacle
Speaker 1: and live in us. So it's already enough. But you
Speaker 1: promise that you're able to do immeasurably more. I declare
Speaker 1: that over your children today that their best is not
Speaker 1: behind them, and the devil is a liar. That the
Speaker 1: glory of the present house, what you're building right now,
Speaker 1: by your spirit, in the name of Jesus, it will
Speaker 1: be greater. Say it. It will be greater. In the chat,
Speaker 1: it will be greater. Riverwalk, it will be greater. Valentine,
Speaker 1: it will be greater. And we give you praise by
Speaker 1: faith in Jesus' name. If you believe that, give God
Speaker 1: a mighty shout of praise. Yeah, all right, So they'll
Speaker 1: give you the details how to get that offering. I
Speaker 1: need everybody participating on the level where God has blessed you.
Speaker 1: I'll be sneaking out of here will The church is big.
Speaker 1: They don't need my money. It's not about the church
Speaker 1: needing your money. It's about you needing God. So it
Speaker 1: will be grateful. And if you never ever give, we'll
Speaker 1: still be here for you. Isn't that cool? The restaurant
Speaker 1: doesn't tell you that, Hey, we'll still feed you. Man,
Speaker 1: Just keep on coming. We'll keep on whatever you want, free,
Speaker 1: refill as long as you want. They'll kick you out,
Speaker 1: But this is a ministry that will be here for you,
Speaker 1: be here for you. One dude told me he left
Speaker 1: the church for four years. He said, I was mad
Speaker 1: at you. I said mad at me. I had never
Speaker 1: met him before. He said, yeah, you were preaching some
Speaker 1: things that I didn't want to hear. But he said,
Speaker 1: I came back because what God said through you was right.
Speaker 1: And he said when I finally reminded me of the
Speaker 1: prodigal son, when he went off in the pigpen and
Speaker 1: stuff and he came to a census. I didn't tell
Speaker 1: him that he looked like you've been in the pig pen, buddy.
Speaker 1: But he said, when I finally got my got my
Speaker 1: mind back right, I knew where I could come back
Speaker 1: to with elevation because I knew I'll be accepted and
Speaker 1: welcome and e grace. And that's what I like about
Speaker 1: this church. I love this church. Man. Oh come all
Speaker 1: ye faithful, I'll come. Oh come all ye faithless. Oh
Speaker 1: come all ye heathen, Oh come all ye pagans, Oh
Speaker 1: come all ye addicted. Oh oh come all ye pretty.
Speaker 1: I'll come all ye ugly. I'll come with you buff.
Speaker 1: I'll come ye skinny, scrawny, fat. I don't care. Oh
Speaker 1: come just calm, just calm, so it'll be amazing. I'm
Speaker 1: glad you came. Hey, Todd, at least five people on
Speaker 1: your way down, don't touch them, don't touch them. Don't
Speaker 1: touch them, because's how legal. I forgot. I'm sorry. Oh
Speaker 1: have it, I'll have it. I'll have it. Just look
Speaker 1: at five people, untell them. I'm glad you came today.
Speaker 1: Put it in the chat online. I'm glad you came
Speaker 1: today when you found five people. Take your seat. Let's go,
Speaker 1: let's go. Take your seat. I am giving you your
Speaker 1: Christmas sermon Early. I know how you are, and I
Speaker 1: know they're shipping delays in the natural, and I know
Speaker 1: also the closer it gets to Christmas, the less docking
Speaker 1: room at the docks, You're going to have to hear
Speaker 1: God's word because your life's going to be so busy
Speaker 1: and crowded. You be around all these people. You don't
Speaker 1: like cleaning up your house to impress them, and don't
Speaker 1: even like them buying them stuff, and they don't even
Speaker 1: wear what you bought them last year, and you have noticed.
Speaker 1: But so I'm gonna give you your gift Early. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get out of head. I got out of head
Speaker 1: on all of Holly's gifts this year. I've got them
Speaker 1: all there already. I bought them early, that's right. And
Speaker 1: Abby knows everything that she's getting. Holly doesn't. So that's
Speaker 1: because I trust Abby now, trust her, I can tell
Speaker 1: her honestly. Y'all, all of my kids when they were little,
Speaker 1: they all spoiled presence. One time, Elijah came back from
Speaker 1: South Park with me, and he told Holly because I
Speaker 1: took him shopping and he saw Santa. And I know
Speaker 1: you think Santa's pagan, but he is five, okay, And
Speaker 1: so I took him to go sit on Santa's lap.
Speaker 1: And he came back and told Holly, I'm not allowed
Speaker 1: to tell you that we got you sweatpants from Juicy
Speaker 1: oh Man. But I trust Abby now, so I don't
Speaker 1: keep her in the darkening. He go to Matthew chapter two.
Speaker 1: I told Graham's sitting on the front road, this sermon
Speaker 1: keeps getting bigger in me the longer we sit here.
Speaker 1: They need to stop singing so I can preach, because
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm about to give birth, which is
Speaker 1: exactly what Mary said in Bethlehem. She wasn't planning to
Speaker 1: give birth in Bethlehem, but she had to anyway. And
Speaker 1: that's where we're going to pick up today in Matthew
Speaker 1: chapter two. You ready, You're ready or not? Here comes
Speaker 1: Jesus Matthew chapter two. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem
Speaker 1: in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from
Speaker 1: the east came to Jerusalem and asked, where is the
Speaker 1: one who has been born King of the Jews. We
Speaker 1: saw his star when it rose and have come to
Speaker 1: worship him. When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed.
Speaker 1: Uh oh, and all Jerusalem with him, because if Herod
Speaker 1: gets mad, he's going to do crazy stuff to them.
Speaker 1: Because he's this provincial governor, he's not really in charge.
Speaker 1: He's appointed by the Roman government. So you know, Caesar
Speaker 1: Augustus is really the headman, but he's got Herod watching
Speaker 1: out for all of these Jewish people. So Versport says,
Speaker 1: when he had called together all the people's chief priests
Speaker 1: and teachers of the law, he asked them where the
Speaker 1: Messiah was to be born? In Bethlehem and Judea. They replied,
Speaker 1: for this is what the prophet has written. But you
Speaker 1: Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are by no means
Speaker 1: least among the rulers of Judah. Now I love that
Speaker 1: verse because it comes from Michael five to two, and
Speaker 1: it lets me know, o little town of Bethlehem, big
Speaker 1: things can come from small places. Y'all need to drink
Speaker 1: your coffee thirty minutes earlier next week, because big things
Speaker 1: can come from small all places. Look at your neighbors,
Speaker 1: say be nice to me. I'm carrying something big. I
Speaker 1: know you can't see it right now, but out of
Speaker 1: me it's gonna come something that can change the world. Yeah,
Speaker 1: let's go Merry Christmas, y'all, for out of you will
Speaker 1: come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Shepherd
Speaker 1: my people Israel. Then Herod called the Magi secretly found
Speaker 1: out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
Speaker 1: He sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search
Speaker 1: carefully for the child. As soon as you find him,
Speaker 1: report back to me so I can go worshiping too.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm gonna go worshiping too, just to kill him,
Speaker 1: but he's threatened by him. After they heard the king,
Speaker 1: they went on their way, and the star they had
Speaker 1: seen when it rose a thousand miles back where they
Speaker 1: came from in Persia. When ahead of them five more
Speaker 1: miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem until stopping the place where
Speaker 1: the child was. When they saw the star, they were
Speaker 1: over joy. Came a long way to see this. It
Speaker 1: validated their instinct that something big was happening. And on
Speaker 1: coming to the house, they saw the child. A child
Speaker 1: means Jesus is a little bigger. Now he's not. I
Speaker 1: know you've got that Precious Moments thing on the credenza,
Speaker 1: but he's not a baby. He's not in a barn
Speaker 1: at this point. He's in a house. And there weren't
Speaker 1: three of these guys, the three wise men. They brought
Speaker 1: three gifts. Gold represents divinity, Frankenson's represents priesthood, murder represents
Speaker 1: Jesus burial at his death. It's all symbolic, and it's
Speaker 1: also about to finance the trip that Joseph doesn't even
Speaker 1: know that he's going to have to take yet, because
Speaker 1: God is already working even before you realize it. So
Speaker 1: they presented him, they opened their treasures, they bowed down
Speaker 1: and worshiped him. It said they saw the child with
Speaker 1: his mother Mary, They bowed down and worshiped him. Then
Speaker 1: they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of
Speaker 1: gold Frankensonson Mermer, and having been warned in a dream
Speaker 1: not to go back to Herod, they returned to their
Speaker 1: country by another rue. Now let's prepare for our scripture
Speaker 1: landing here. When they had gone, an angel of the
Speaker 1: Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said,
Speaker 1: take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.
Speaker 1: Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going
Speaker 1: to search for the child and kill him. So he
Speaker 1: got up, took the child and his mother during the night,
Speaker 1: and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death
Speaker 1: of Herod, and so was fulfilled what the Lord had
Speaker 1: said through the prophet. Out of Egypt, I called my son.
Speaker 1: This sermon is called kept in the Dark, Kept in
Speaker 1: the Dark. Here we are again with the same familiar
Speaker 1: cast of Christmas characters, and the challenge of reading the
Speaker 1: Christmas Story as a pastor is you just want to
Speaker 1: skip ahead to the part where he gets up from
Speaker 1: the grave and skip past all this stuff where he
Speaker 1: had You also understand that we're watching these characters as
Speaker 1: they are walking through what we are watching with knowledge
Speaker 1: of where they end up. So that's why it's hard
Speaker 1: to really grasp the meaning of a scripture is because
Speaker 1: we're watching something that they're walking through, but we are
Speaker 1: watching with knowledge what they are walking through, and we
Speaker 1: know how. So you kind of want to pull him aside.
Speaker 1: You want to be like, hey, Joseph, Mary's not lying.
Speaker 1: It really was the Holy Spirit that got her pregnant.
Speaker 1: You're not crazy, you're not simping. She really really, she
Speaker 1: she really when she told you that it was the
Speaker 1: Lord who came to her, and you kind of wonder
Speaker 1: was it really the Lord or was it was it
Speaker 1: was it Leroy and and and and so. So Joseph,
Speaker 1: y'all please be good. This is a Christmas sermon. Is
Speaker 1: It's kind of like you want to pull him to
Speaker 1: the side and be like, hey, Joseph, because Joseph had
Speaker 1: it rough right, like he really never knew. He died
Speaker 1: not knowing if this was really the message. I'm sure
Speaker 1: he saw stuff that made him think, Okay, okay, this
Speaker 1: kid's pretty special, you know. I'm sure in the carpenter shop,
Speaker 1: Jesus would do something every now and then, maybe make
Speaker 1: a two by four pop up and levitate in the
Speaker 1: shape of a cross, just to give Joseph a little
Speaker 1: bit of confidence that this is real, but he didn't
Speaker 1: really know all he had to go on watch this.
Speaker 1: I didn't read this scriptures. The Lord came to him
Speaker 1: in a dream. Do you believe your dreams? I don't
Speaker 1: believe my dreams. I'd be in jail. I'd be on
Speaker 1: so many pill prescription pills for anxiety if I believe
Speaker 1: my dreams. So he has to hold on to something
Speaker 1: that he saw in his sleeve and walk it out
Speaker 1: in his life. We are watching with the knowledge. Hey Joseph,
Speaker 1: just hang in there, man, Just do the best you
Speaker 1: can to raise the kid. You know, show him a
Speaker 1: few things. You really can't mess this up. He's like
Speaker 1: he's kind of got a little special protection agency. He
Speaker 1: got a little heavenly secret service around him. Even if
Speaker 1: you lose him at the temple when he's twelve, you
Speaker 1: know he'll find his way back. He kind of pays
Speaker 1: the roads with gold in heaven so he can find
Speaker 1: his way through the streets of Jerusalem. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: all riot. You gotta want to tell him that he
Speaker 1: didn't know. And if you hang in there, they're going
Speaker 1: to be every middle aged man in every little Methodist
Speaker 1: church in America is going to be pretending to be
Speaker 1: you and dressing up like you in the month of
Speaker 1: December one day. Right, you kind of tell them, Madgie,
Speaker 1: because they come so far, right, they come from Persia.
Speaker 1: These are not even preachers, they're astrologers. These are not
Speaker 1: even Jews, they're gentiles. They are following something that they
Speaker 1: shouldn't even be following to see the will of God.
Speaker 1: And it still got them there. And they had to travel,
Speaker 1: as I think I mentioned, a long way. How far
Speaker 1: is a long way five miles, ten miles, twenty miles,
Speaker 1: fifty miles, one hundred miles. How many times did they
Speaker 1: have to recharge the tesla to get one thousand miles
Speaker 1: from Persia with these heavy gifts estimated to be worth
Speaker 1: like four million dollars? And then it was all worth it?
Speaker 1: And you kind of want to tell them that, like, hey,
Speaker 1: just so you know that star it's got you five
Speaker 1: miles within. Sometimes you want to tell somebody you are
Speaker 1: so close. Don't quit right now. You are so close.
Speaker 1: They were five miles from where Jesus was, So you
Speaker 1: kind of want to tell them because you have the
Speaker 1: knowledge if you go five more miles, you are going
Speaker 1: to see the Savior of the World. Now we're reading
Speaker 1: it right with the knowledge of where it ends up.
Speaker 1: They aren't watching themselves travel a thousand miles. They are
Speaker 1: walking a thousand miles. So here's the thing that'll keep
Speaker 1: you humble. Be careful who you judge when they're walking
Speaker 1: through something that you are only watching from a distance.
Speaker 1: You've never walked through the age that your mom is before.
Speaker 1: You've never well, you have walked through the age that
Speaker 1: your kids were before, but you never walked through it
Speaker 1: with a snapjack Ah, I got you right. You were like,
Speaker 1: I have been a teenager, I've seen it all. You
Speaker 1: hadn't seen anything, but TikTok. Passage of Time will teach
Speaker 1: you sometimes that you gotta be careful that when you're
Speaker 1: watching someone else go through something. It's interesting, isn't it,
Speaker 1: Because everybody in the passage is walking through something that
Speaker 1: they don't know where it ends up, whether it's the
Speaker 1: Magi or even Herod. You kind of want to pull
Speaker 1: Herod to the side, right because he's trying to keep
Speaker 1: Jesus from being the king, and you got to want
Speaker 1: to be like, don't bother, Like really, man, save your book.
Speaker 1: Is you're not gonna. You can search all you want
Speaker 1: to kill Jesus, but you won't succeed, I felt the
Speaker 1: Holy Ghost. I want to tell the devil this morning.
Speaker 1: You can search all you want want, but it won't work.
Speaker 1: You can come at the Child of God with everything
Speaker 1: you got in your arsenal and keep flying at him
Speaker 1: in the middle of the night. But I read to
Speaker 1: the back of the book, and you can search all
Speaker 1: you want, but it won't succeed. For the Lord's purpose
Speaker 1: will prevail. The Lord's purpose will prevail. I'm gonna herald
Speaker 1: it from the mountain top today. It won't work, Herod.
Speaker 1: You can search all of Bethlehem, you can kill every baby,
Speaker 1: you can lie all you want to, but it won't
Speaker 1: work because of Jeremiah one twelve. See Jeremiah one twelve
Speaker 1: is a Christmas scripture that never got preached on Christmas.
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna give it to you today. The Lord
Speaker 1: said to Jeremiah, you have seen correctly watched this, for
Speaker 1: I am watching over my word to see that it
Speaker 1: is fulfilled. Now you ought to shout about Jeremiah one twelve.
Speaker 1: He said, I'm watching to see that my word is fulfilled.
Speaker 1: And this scripture only made so much sense until Jesus
Speaker 1: was born in Bethlehem. Now, I want you to look
Speaker 1: at Jeremiah chapter one in the light of Matthew chapter two,
Speaker 1: that after Jesus was born, Remember Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
Speaker 1: but he didn't come from Bethlehem. In the beginning was
Speaker 1: the Word, and the word was with God, and the
Speaker 1: word was God. That's John chapter one. So when the
Speaker 1: Bible says that God is watching over his words to
Speaker 1: fulfill it, it means that no matter how much Herod
Speaker 1: searched for the baby called Jesus, God was watching over
Speaker 1: the sea of his son that would bring forth the
Speaker 1: harvest of salvation. Yeah, oh, y'all missed the six thirty
Speaker 1: am service today. That's when God gave all this to me.
Speaker 1: Y'all miss the good service today. Oh my God, he's
Speaker 1: watching over Yeah. And yet you wonder, like if you
Speaker 1: could tell Herod hey man. In the end, Josephus said
Speaker 1: that in Herod's later years he couldn't stop eating and
Speaker 1: there were worms in his intestines. You kind of want
Speaker 1: to tell him, man, stop trying to kill Jesus. This
Speaker 1: is not the path you want to go down. But
Speaker 1: see you know how it ends. He did. You kind
Speaker 1: of want to tell Joseph, have faith, man, it's gonna
Speaker 1: because everything in the passage I just read you, from
Speaker 1: a human perspective was a problem, but from a heavenly perspective,
Speaker 1: it was a prophecy. So Christmas gives me this perspective
Speaker 1: that God disguises prophecy as problems. Verse one said he
Speaker 1: was born in Bethlehem. That was not where they had
Speaker 1: the reservations. It was a problem. It also says, if
Speaker 1: you notice, they had to escape to Egypt because they
Speaker 1: were trying the king of their region was trying to
Speaker 1: kill him. That is also a problem. It says later
Speaker 1: that when Joseph got up to leave for Egypt, he
Speaker 1: had to go back to Galilee. He couldn't even go
Speaker 1: to Nazareth, where he was from, for a little while.
Speaker 1: He had to wait in Egypt. That's also a problem.
Speaker 1: But the same things that I read in that passage
Speaker 1: that problems. We're designed to fulfill a prophetic word, because
Speaker 1: he watches over his word to fulfill it. In Micah
Speaker 1: five to two it says he will be born in Bethlehem.
Speaker 1: So maybe this is why Mary's water broke early because
Speaker 1: she had to give birth in the place that the
Speaker 1: prophet spoke. And at the same time that they are considering,
Speaker 1: where are we going to do this? There's no room
Speaker 1: in the end. This is not on our plan. Look
Speaker 1: at this. God is not protecting your plan. He's protecting
Speaker 1: his promise. He's not protecting your preference of how you
Speaker 1: wanted it to go, how you wanted it to be,
Speaker 1: who you wanted to stay. He's not protecting any of that.
Speaker 1: In fact, he's disguising the prophecies. See we know that
Speaker 1: these are prophecies, but but the mag I didn't know that.
Speaker 1: They didn't even quote a single scripture and they found Jesus,
Speaker 1: yeah weird. And the one the chief priests and describes,
Speaker 1: and the teachers of the law, they know every scripture
Speaker 1: and they don't even see the Savior. The ones who
Speaker 1: should have seen God first were kept in the dark.
Speaker 1: I don't like being kept in the dark, do you do? You?
Speaker 1: Then you would not have liked to have been a
Speaker 1: disciple of Jesus Christ of Nazareth because his communication skills
Speaker 1: were suspect at best. You could have told me to
Speaker 1: feed five thousand men and their wives and children before
Speaker 1: you were on the third hour of your sermon, Jesus,
Speaker 1: why did you wait until now to ask us if
Speaker 1: we have any food for these people? All the times
Speaker 1: that the disciples were and we think about everything that
Speaker 1: Jesus taught is to sciples, but all how about other things?
Speaker 1: He didn't tell them, Hey, go over in that boat
Speaker 1: to the other side. I'm gonna see you there in
Speaker 1: little wall. He didn't say anything about the storm that
Speaker 1: they would spend the next six hours rolling through. Why
Speaker 1: would you love somebody and keep them in the dark.
Speaker 1: I'm telling my staff one time, I said, do not
Speaker 1: play God with information that you were waiting to give
Speaker 1: me until I'm in a good mood, because by the
Speaker 1: time you're figuring out how to tell me how to
Speaker 1: tell me, it's gonna get three times worse. I need
Speaker 1: to turn off the sink or unhooked the pips, or
Speaker 1: burn down the house or whatever I need to do.
Speaker 1: So tell me now. I don't want to be kept
Speaker 1: in the dark. I used to go on Twitter was
Speaker 1: this was BC, but it would say on Twitter. I
Speaker 1: was at the so and so campus today at elevation
Speaker 1: and the the sermon went down in the middle of
Speaker 1: the sermon, and nobody on my team and told me,
Speaker 1: and I'm I'm like, I'm calling a meeting Monday. I'm like, y'all,
Speaker 1: if the video for the sermon cuts out at the
Speaker 1: at the Matthew's campus, you gotta tell me. I can't
Speaker 1: find out on Twitter. I'm gonna find out because I'm
Speaker 1: trolling the internet to see all these problems. Y'all are
Speaker 1: trying to hide from me. So tell me, and I
Speaker 1: should I say this, I've told God before. You gotta
Speaker 1: tell me stuff. You can't let me get out of
Speaker 1: here with a sling shot and a bag lunch and
Speaker 1: put a delith in front of me. Tell me that's
Speaker 1: gotta be a giant so I can do some bicep
Speaker 1: carls and some ju jitsu training. Tell me, don't keep
Speaker 1: me in the dark if you love me. The Bible
Speaker 1: says that in him was light, and that life was
Speaker 1: the light of men. And so why would God, who
Speaker 1: is the Way, the Truth and the Life, whose life
Speaker 1: is the light of men, whose light shineth in the
Speaker 1: darkness and the darkness comprehendith and not John one to five,
Speaker 1: King King James version, Why would the God who dwells
Speaker 1: in ineffable light keep his children in the dark. Why
Speaker 1: didn't he just tell Joseph when he said, Hey, Mary's pregnant,
Speaker 1: it is the Holy Spirit. Why didn't he tell him
Speaker 1: that before Mary started to show? Why is she got
Speaker 1: to be six months along? Before you give me a dream?
Speaker 1: Don't keep me in the dark. Just tell me. Tell
Speaker 1: me when I meet somebody, they are lying through their
Speaker 1: teeth and you will not even want to see their
Speaker 1: name on your phone three months from now. Just tell me, God,
Speaker 1: I could save a lot of texts back and forth.
Speaker 1: I could just block them on day one if I
Speaker 1: had some advanced planning, strategic knowledge. Just tell me. Just
Speaker 1: tell me, Hey, by the way, you're gonna have the
Speaker 1: baby's birth in Bethlehem, so get a room. Why I
Speaker 1: got to trick me into going to bettle him with
Speaker 1: the census that Caesar called for to get me there,
Speaker 1: So I wasn't even expecting it. Why ain't you telling
Speaker 1: me God before we had multiple kids. No, I'm kidding.
Speaker 1: I love all my kids. But I'm saying I could
Speaker 1: have planned for it. I could have saved for it.
Speaker 1: I could have got ready for it. Maybe I went
Speaker 1: to build all these campuses. If I had known about covid. Ah.
Speaker 1: Maybe God doesn't keep you in the dark all the
Speaker 1: time because he's cruel. Maybe sometimes he keeps you in
Speaker 1: the dark because he's getting something ready inside of you.
Speaker 1: Like right now in our house, Holly has a little
Speaker 1: room right off the kitchen, and the door is shut
Speaker 1: all the time, right now and shut last month. Let's
Speaker 1: see all this stuff that's coming through our house right now,
Speaker 1: all these boxes giving me gray hairs in my beard.
Speaker 1: How many boxes come in my house this time of year,
Speaker 1: all these boxes? And Holly, Holly, Holly's a wonderful wife.
Speaker 1: She's always happy to see me. But she's been telling
Speaker 1: me lately on the other side of the door, in
Speaker 1: that little office where she's got all these Christmas gifts,
Speaker 1: she says, stay out. And I'm like, who are you
Speaker 1: talking to right now? This is not Graham knocking on
Speaker 1: the door. This is not one of your children, This
Speaker 1: says your husband. No, stay out, because I'm getting something
Speaker 1: ready for you. Stay out right now. I'm not in
Speaker 1: this room, no, man. That's kind of a silly illustration.
Speaker 1: Is it? Is Holly not like God? You like that? Ah?
Speaker 1: Is she not like your God? Who sometimes you say God,
Speaker 1: show me this, and tell me that, and give me
Speaker 1: your direction for this and that. And does God not
Speaker 1: sometimes in his silence send you the message I need
Speaker 1: you to stay out because my ways are not your ways.
Speaker 1: Who thank you, Jesus, I didn't even think of Isaiah
Speaker 1: fifty five. And my thoughts are not your thoughts. And
Speaker 1: as high as the heavens are above the earth, so
Speaker 1: are my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above
Speaker 1: your thoughts. And sometimes God, because He's got these See,
Speaker 1: he's got these boxes that have been coming in of
Speaker 1: something that he ordered before time began from eternity, he
Speaker 1: spoke a word, a prophecy concerning your life, not just
Speaker 1: the life of Jesus. No, No, there's a prophecy over
Speaker 1: your life. And the prophet said, before you were born,
Speaker 1: I knew you when you were in the darkness of
Speaker 1: your mother's womb. I set you apart, and I kept
Speaker 1: you in the dark. And no eye has seen, and
Speaker 1: no ear has hurt, and it hasn't even in your
Speaker 1: heart what God has prepared for those who love him
Speaker 1: and trust him enough to follow him, even when he
Speaker 1: keeps you in the dark. Do you trust the one
Speaker 1: who's behind that door you think he's wrapping up interaction
Speaker 1: in those boxes trying to hurt you. He said, I
Speaker 1: know the plans I have for you, plans to pross
Speaker 1: for you, not to harm you. I'm a good God.
Speaker 1: The irony of the passages, everybody was kept in the dark,
Speaker 1: all of them. Mary didn't know, Mary, did you know? No,
Speaker 1: that's the remix. That's the Stephen Verdick remix. Y'all put
Speaker 1: that on Spotify for me. No, she didn't know. She hoped,
Speaker 1: she carried. She didn't know. You don't know. Merry Christmas.
Speaker 1: That's the message of Christmas. That's the message I'm getting
Speaker 1: from this passage. We saw a star, we came to worship,
Speaker 1: and where is he? They didn't know. The ones who
Speaker 1: should have known didn't know. Because of their knowledge that
Speaker 1: kept them from knowing what they were supposed to know.
Speaker 1: They knew the Bible too good to believe it. Ah,
Speaker 1: God said, I'm gonna leave the Pagans to a place
Speaker 1: that a priest wouldn't even go. Oh, my God, you
Speaker 1: mean what I think I know about God could keep
Speaker 1: me from seeing him for who he really is. Yes,
Speaker 1: you mean I don't know God in all of his
Speaker 1: fullness No, he's omniscient. You are not. I'm not even sumniscient.
Speaker 1: I'm no niscient. I don't know nothing. I don't even
Speaker 1: know grammar. Can't you tell you? See now, you're kind
Speaker 1: of in the Christmas story cause you're like the magi.
Speaker 1: You don't know, you don't know where this is going.
Speaker 1: You came to Charlotte for a job and then they
Speaker 1: fired you eight months in What if God got you?
Speaker 1: What is the problem is the costume for a prophecy? God?
Speaker 1: Why did you keep me in the dark. Why didn't
Speaker 1: you tell me that that relationship would fail? Maybe he
Speaker 1: wanted the relationship to surface some stuff in you that
Speaker 1: he could work on, so your relationship with him could
Speaker 1: get better. If he had told you how it would end,
Speaker 1: you wouldn't have taken the first step. So now I
Speaker 1: know why God didn't call a committee meeting before Christmas. Okay,
Speaker 1: Shepherd's angels, you know, like he's running a Christmas pageant
Speaker 1: or something like that. All right, come on, mad joh,
Speaker 1: here's how it works, Joseph, here's what's going to happen.
Speaker 1: Mary's gonna come up. Yeah, we read it. We're so
Speaker 1: smug and honestly, like if I can be real, I
Speaker 1: spent all of my thirties hating Christmas as a pastor
Speaker 1: because people come in and it's like they don't really
Speaker 1: even want to hear a sermon. It's just like, especially
Speaker 1: when it comes to Christmas and people are coming in
Speaker 1: because they're supposed to, you can't say much to somebody
Speaker 1: who's there because they feel like they're doing God a
Speaker 1: faith or to come to church. People have to have
Speaker 1: need that they're aware of to really receive from God.
Speaker 1: That's why I push my Christmas message early to avoid
Speaker 1: the shipping delays so you could get this word. And
Speaker 1: God is thank you Jesus watching over his word. We
Speaker 1: are watching what they are walking through. We know where
Speaker 1: they end up. They don't and that takes faith. Man.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you know the whole twenty third song, yeay,
Speaker 1: though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death,
Speaker 1: I will fear no evil for that with me that
Speaker 1: run that stuff they come from me. You know it
Speaker 1: ends with the wolves getting driven off by the staff.
Speaker 1: But if you're right in the middle of the valley
Speaker 1: you think it's your new mailing address. Oh, I guess
Speaker 1: that's just how it is. Shadow of death. Well, that's
Speaker 1: an allusion to Galilee, where Jesus ended up being raised.
Speaker 1: That's what Isaiah prophesied. He said, those of you in
Speaker 1: what was it helped me out Zebulen and nephtilly Man.
Speaker 1: Galilee was so sprawny to the Jewish people. When Solomon
Speaker 1: was paying off his debts and he had to give
Speaker 1: the King of hear him something, he gave him twenty
Speaker 1: cities in Galilee. Just roll them over here. You can
Speaker 1: have this the northern part of the kingdom. Part they
Speaker 1: didn't want, the part where a lot of the Canaanites
Speaker 1: still lived because it was still overrun by enemy. Oh,
Speaker 1: you can have Galilee. And the King of Tiger got
Speaker 1: it and he said, what did you give me, my brother,
Speaker 1: you can have this back. That's where Jesus did his
Speaker 1: ministry in the land of those dwelling in darkness. Galilee
Speaker 1: where Jesus based his ministry. Now, please don't think this
Speaker 1: is a geography lesson. This is a word for you.
Speaker 1: The place that was associated with darkness, that's what Jesus
Speaker 1: did the most. It was known as the land of
Speaker 1: shadow and death, Shadow and death. And the thing is,
Speaker 1: you don't know which it is when you're walking through it.
Speaker 1: Is this gonna kill me? Or is this just a shadow?
Speaker 1: And God doesn't tell you you ever? Wish God would
Speaker 1: give you an age you're gonna die at so you
Speaker 1: can know how much to save and how much to enjoy,
Speaker 1: because I would spend it all. If God told me
Speaker 1: I had till forty three, I wouldn't leave the kids
Speaker 1: a die. I probably wouldn't come preach again either. Honestly,
Speaker 1: if I only had till forty three, I might do
Speaker 1: one more message, you know, and put it out there
Speaker 1: and see if you want to see. I don't know
Speaker 1: about Definitely, I'd spend all the money. And God knows that.
Speaker 1: That's why. If God told me when I was gonna die,
Speaker 1: or God told you when Ah, did you notice what
Speaker 1: the angel told Joseph go to Egypt. Herod's trying to
Speaker 1: kill your kid, But watch us. I'm gonna keep him
Speaker 1: in the dark. I'm not gonna let him find him.
Speaker 1: He can search all he wants to kill Jesus, but
Speaker 1: I am watching over my word to fulfill it. So
Speaker 1: no weapon formed against the Word of God that is
Speaker 1: in your arms will prosper before I forget. Let me
Speaker 1: tell you this God set to tell you that he
Speaker 1: is keeping your kids. God set to tell you that
Speaker 1: as they walk through the darkness of the valley of
Speaker 1: this cultural shadow of death, the hand of the Lord
Speaker 1: is upon your children. And I want you to shout
Speaker 1: if you receive this prophecy by fame. Herod can look
Speaker 1: all he wants, but he won't kill mine. He won't
Speaker 1: get soords. The blood is on my house, the blood
Speaker 1: is on my life. Hey, hey lord, ha ha ha.
Speaker 1: Y'all settle down, silent night, Holy night. All is calm ya,
Speaker 1: all is bright, All is not bright, All is not bright,
Speaker 1: All is not bright. That's pretty to sing, is a
Speaker 1: nice image. It helps the Christmas light tree light manufacturer
Speaker 1: sell a lot of merchandise. But all is not brightant
Speaker 1: he said, I was so distracted by the star in
Speaker 1: Matthew too, and how bright it had to be to
Speaker 1: lead them a thousand miles because I like the bright stuff,
Speaker 1: don't you. I like the bright spots when I can see.
Speaker 1: I like when God gives me light, let there be life.
Speaker 1: I love when God says let there be light and
Speaker 1: he shows me something clearly. I loved Saturday morning when
Speaker 1: God gave me this message I love this morning. When
Speaker 1: he gave me even more, I'm not gonna I love
Speaker 1: it when I have to think about all this stuff
Speaker 1: I didn't get to. I didn't love Thursday. Thursday, I
Speaker 1: was groping around in the dark. ELOI lama shabaktany, My God,
Speaker 1: My God, why had that forsaken? I'm so sorry. Lord,
Speaker 1: whatever I did, I won't do it again. Just give
Speaker 1: me a message. I don't even feel like the Bible's
Speaker 1: in English right now. Oh God, I don't like that,
Speaker 1: you know, like I try to give you what God
Speaker 1: gives me and regifted. Now I'm coming to a point
Speaker 1: in my life where I try to give you what
Speaker 1: I would give to my own kids. And that's deeper
Speaker 1: than giving you a lesson from the Bible. So pushes
Speaker 1: me to go deeper. But deeper means darker, h to
Speaker 1: look low for God, not always up here in the clouds.
Speaker 1: Somewhere on some inspirational feeling, he said, you're gonna find
Speaker 1: the child on the ground in little old bedlamb Oh,
Speaker 1: little town of Bedlam. Wasn't a compliment, it was an insult.
Speaker 1: And from that place, God, wherever you feel the most insecure,
Speaker 1: wherever you feel the most insulted. Wherever it is the darkest,
Speaker 1: wherever it is your galilee, that's where God's glory is
Speaker 1: the greatest. Elijah told me the other day during her workout,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, my energy is low. I slept horrible last night.
Speaker 1: I messed up and listened to this music that got
Speaker 1: me in this dark mood, and then I just was
Speaker 1: like I couldn't get it out of my head, and
Speaker 1: I'm laying there and I'm sitting there like I can't sleep,
Speaker 1: and then I try to look at my phone because
Speaker 1: that's what I normally do, but that made it worse. Well, yes,
Speaker 1: you ever have nights like that? Dad, The guy in
Speaker 1: me that wants to be so admired and respected wanted
Speaker 1: to say, of course not, son, I don't count sheep.
Speaker 1: I talked to the shepherd. You know what, I don't
Speaker 1: think you should keep your kids all the way in
Speaker 1: the dark about what you struggle with. You don't need
Speaker 1: to tell him everything. No, don't don't hate. Please, don't
Speaker 1: tell him everything. That's going to build up a therapy
Speaker 1: build that you know, be bigger than their college fund.
Speaker 1: But I am saying, I am saying there's moments where
Speaker 1: I realize, you know, he already sees me preaching. He's sixteen.
Speaker 1: I said, nights like that, I've had months like that. No,
Speaker 1: I had no nights like that. I've had I've had
Speaker 1: a year like that, not this year. And that's when
Speaker 1: the Lord took me back to my passage. I thought
Speaker 1: the passage was about the star. I had a message going.
Speaker 1: It's pretty good too. I don't know why the Lord
Speaker 1: won't tell me to write message the first time. Why
Speaker 1: does he keep me in the dark. I'm studying about
Speaker 1: the star, like how it's God's GPS system. That's what
Speaker 1: I was going to tell you, God is your GPS.
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas Ler said, that's a look at Matthew two fourteen.
Speaker 1: It said that after they saw the starbout down in
Speaker 1: worshiped him, an angel came and he took the child
Speaker 1: and his mother during the night. And that's what I realized.
Speaker 1: That God does a lot of things at night that
Speaker 1: he can't do during the day. They left for Egypt
Speaker 1: they would stay for a year. Wasn't their plan. They
Speaker 1: weren't packed for it. It wasn't your plan to be
Speaker 1: right now? Are you exactly where you plan to be?
Speaker 1: Right now, because if so, I want to worship you, Jesus.
Speaker 1: I want to give you gifts of gold and Frankinson's
Speaker 1: and Mr. They left her in the night. You got
Speaker 1: to follow at night? Sometimes? Are you following God in
Speaker 1: the night? Right now? What I mean is you can't
Speaker 1: really see what's two steps ahead, and you keep bumping
Speaker 1: into stuff that makes you want to cuss, and you
Speaker 1: can't even hardly find the bathroom at night, and you
Speaker 1: don't really know. You're just like Joseph. You're just like Mary,
Speaker 1: You're just like the Magi. You're even just like Herod.
Speaker 1: There was only one in the passage who knew where
Speaker 1: this was headed, and he couldn't even walk yet nobody
Speaker 1: else knew. So I tell my sons about my daughter,
Speaker 1: about my church, about nights like that. I don't want
Speaker 1: to just tell him about the God of nine point
Speaker 1: thirty on Sunday morning. It's got too much makeup on.
Speaker 1: Then they won't realize God when he has to show
Speaker 1: up at four am. I want to pastor a church
Speaker 1: and to be a person who has four am faith
Speaker 1: during the night, because I want my kids to see
Speaker 1: me do great things from God and write great songs
Speaker 1: for God and preach great messages and make good decisions,
Speaker 1: and love their mom and be a memory making dad
Speaker 1: and give them all of these wonderful experiences. But I
Speaker 1: want them to know that I had some nights where
Speaker 1: I didn't know. I didn't know, I didn't know if
Speaker 1: the church would keep going, especially when it was a baby.
Speaker 1: I would walk out every week, not knowing if anybody
Speaker 1: would be out there. I hate when God prompts me
Speaker 1: to tell you stuff that's embarrassing to me. I'd rather
Speaker 1: keep you in the darks. I would rather roll out
Speaker 1: on the stage. Hey, praise the Lord, everybody. God is
Speaker 1: your GPS, and he's gonna rerupt you. Am I right?
Speaker 1: But Lord said to tell you the things you doubt
Speaker 1: about I doubt about you. Hear me, Son, I've had
Speaker 1: nights like that. I had nights where I wished I
Speaker 1: could throw up, but I couldn't because it wasn't physical
Speaker 1: what was making me sick. There's no sickness like night sickness.
Speaker 1: I never had morning sickness like Holly did. But let
Speaker 1: me tell you something. He's not just the God of
Speaker 1: nine thirty Sunday morning. He led Joseph teeth at night
Speaker 1: so if you ever see me do anything great, boy,
Speaker 1: it's not because I always walked in the light. It's
Speaker 1: because I was kept in the dark. Everybody who God
Speaker 1: ever used, he didn't use them because they always had
Speaker 1: so much light, so much knowledge, so much goodness. You
Speaker 1: see all this other stuff everybody's posing on Instagram, and
Speaker 1: they got all these lights that are so flattery and
Speaker 1: all these filters. But the God of four Am, the
Speaker 1: God of four Am, the God who got up from
Speaker 1: the grave in the physical body of a man named Jesus.
Speaker 1: In John twenty, verse one, it says, while it was
Speaker 1: still dark Mary Magdalene went to the twob what he
Speaker 1: didn't get up when the light came out. Easter didn't
Speaker 1: start with a sunrise. It started in the dark. So
Speaker 1: if you are in the dark today and you don't know,
Speaker 1: and you can't feel, and my God, why have you
Speaker 1: forsaken me? And how does this end? And why does
Speaker 1: it hurt? And when does it stop? And when can
Speaker 1: I leave? I need you to know that He's watching
Speaker 1: you and keeping you and holding you and with you
Speaker 1: in the fourth watch of the night. Yes there's a
Speaker 1: star that guides you. Yes there's a light that guides you. Yes,
Speaker 1: there are blessings that attend you. Yes, there is favor
Speaker 1: that you can feel, and you will experience all of
Speaker 1: those things. But sometimes he's gonna tell you things in
Speaker 1: the night and lead you through things at the night.
Speaker 1: And what he does at the night you will be
Speaker 1: shouting about in the day. Because this is why you
Speaker 1: gotta hold on. This is why you can't give up.
Speaker 1: This is why you gotta get help. This is why
Speaker 1: you gotta work through it. This is why you can't
Speaker 1: accept the feed. This why Hair is searching for you.
Speaker 1: But he couldn't find you yet. He couldn't kill you yet.
Speaker 1: What he couldn't kill is Christ. You the hope of glory.
Speaker 1: And he leads me not just with a star, not yet,
Speaker 1: not yet, not yet. Y'all don't want to go yet,
Speaker 1: do you? Ya? Don't wanna go yet, do you? Y'all
Speaker 1: got enough battles at home. Just stay with me for
Speaker 1: a minute, get under this blessing for a minute. The
Speaker 1: night is coming when Roman can work. Let us work
Speaker 1: the works of him who sent us, watch him over me.
Speaker 1: Yes he is because I got something in common with
Speaker 1: Mary and Joseph. I'm carrying Jesus. I got Jesus on
Speaker 1: the inside of me. Everything that God spoke to Joseph
Speaker 1: that confirmed his word, he did it at night in
Speaker 1: a dream. Take Mary home in a dream. Go to
Speaker 1: Egypt in a dream, Go back to Nazareth. Everything God
Speaker 1: did in Joseph's life, he did it at night. What
Speaker 1: is he doing on the night? Watch for you right now?
Speaker 1: What is he doing? I'm telling you we're gonna be
Speaker 1: shouting about it tomorrow, but right now it's night. Right
Speaker 1: now it's night. I always feel like coming out here
Speaker 1: to preach is a little bit like a detective novel.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to find who are you? Who are you
Speaker 1: that God gave me this word for that? He just
Speaker 1: stirred me up till, like I told Graham, I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm about to give birth. Who are you? What
Speaker 1: are you carrying? What does Herod know about you that
Speaker 1: has him trying to track you down and kill you?
Speaker 1: Why has the attack been so strong? If you were
Speaker 1: not carrying Jesus, if you were not sent for purpose,
Speaker 1: if there was not a prophecy over your life, you
Speaker 1: wouldn't be feeling any pain. The pain is a labor pain.
Speaker 1: You're about to break something forward and it made me
Speaker 1: think that this is not the only Joseph, that there's
Speaker 1: another Joseph who had to go to Egypt. Y'all know
Speaker 1: the other Joseph. Y'all know ot joseph old Testament Joseph.
Speaker 1: Y'all know Joseph put it in the chat. I know Joseph.
Speaker 1: I know Joseph. I know what you're talking about. I
Speaker 1: know what you're doing. You're not talking about Joseph who
Speaker 1: married Mary. You're talking about Joseph who was promised that
Speaker 1: God would raise him up to feed his whole family
Speaker 1: and save his whole nation in a time of family.
Speaker 1: That Joseph who saw the stars and saw the grain.
Speaker 1: But God didn't show him everything he would go through.
Speaker 1: God him in the dark. He didn't tell him, your
Speaker 1: brothers are gonna betray you, the very ones you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to feed. You're going through something right now. And
Speaker 1: you didn't see this coming. He didn't see himself pushed
Speaker 1: into a sister. He didn't see himself sold into slavery.
Speaker 1: He didn't see himself running away in a prison while
Speaker 1: he was forgotten by the cup bearer and the baker.
Speaker 1: But you know what Joseph told me to tell you.
Speaker 1: God kept me in the dark. He was with me.
Speaker 1: He kept me. He held me steady, he held me down,
Speaker 1: He held me level, he kept me safe. He preserved
Speaker 1: my mind. He walked with me through the valley of
Speaker 1: the shadow of Death. I will fear no evil. He's
Speaker 1: with me. That's how I'm here. He kept me. Everybody,
Speaker 1: God kept giving price right here. Ah. He kept me.
Speaker 1: He kept me in the dark. He kept me in
Speaker 1: the dark. He kept me from killing myself. He kept
Speaker 1: me from walking away. He kept me from giving up
Speaker 1: my dream. He kept me from turning my back on
Speaker 1: my Fathe I'm not here because I always walked in
Speaker 1: the light. I'm here because He kept me in the dark.
Speaker 1: That's how I got here. He kept me in the dark.
Speaker 1: He didn't tell me everything. That's how he got me here.
Speaker 1: He told me one thing at a time, and that's
Speaker 1: how He's gonna speak to you. One thing at a time,
Speaker 1: One thing at a time. Give us this day, our
Speaker 1: daily bry. He kept me in the dark. If God
Speaker 1: told you everything, you start spazzing out. We have to
Speaker 1: call the ambulance to your gammis. I used to pray,
Speaker 1: and I still pray. God give me light but this
Speaker 1: is a Christmas prayer. God keep me in the dark
Speaker 1: when I got you, don't let me tonight. Well, one
Speaker 1: man said from the nineteen twenties, don't forget in the
Speaker 1: darkness what you learned in the light. He got up
Speaker 1: at night, Joseph went to Egypt. You're following God right
Speaker 1: now to a strange place. I know you are. He
Speaker 1: spoke to me about you. He said, to tell you,
Speaker 1: I'm keeping you in the dark. You got to turn
Speaker 1: it over. You gotta trust in the Lord with all
Speaker 1: your heart and lean not on your own understanding in
Speaker 1: all your ways. Acknowledge him and he will direct your past.
Speaker 1: What's he saying? He will keep you in the dark,
Speaker 1: keep you You remember when God's people came out of
Speaker 1: Egypt in the Old Testament, and the Bible says that
Speaker 1: they had believe and the firstborn of all of Egypt
Speaker 1: was struck down. So committed was God to the freedom
Speaker 1: of his people. God has committed to your freedom. Yeah.
Speaker 1: God is committed to his children. He is watching over
Speaker 1: his word to perform it in your life. In this
Speaker 1: moment at night. He neither sleeps nor slumbers. And one
Speaker 1: time I heard a fella say, well, if God never
Speaker 1: sleeps nor slumbers, then I'm going to get some rest,
Speaker 1: because one of us should. The Bible says that the
Speaker 1: people of Israel, and look at this, HOLLI this cling
Speaker 1: to me in the last minute. How God does it?
Speaker 1: The first Joseph who went to Egypt in the Bible
Speaker 1: was Joseph who went to preserve the nation of Israel.
Speaker 1: And watch what it says in age of this chapter twelve,
Speaker 1: verse forty. And this is the word I want to
Speaker 1: leave you with today. Now, the length of the time
Speaker 1: the Israelite people lived in Egypt was four hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty years. Y'all, I don't care who you are. That's
Speaker 1: a long night. That's a long time to wonder. Where
Speaker 1: are you God? Now, it's been eighty one generation since
Speaker 1: the birth of Christ that we live in, and I
Speaker 1: think we have completely messed up the message of Christmas
Speaker 1: in those eighty one generations because we only associate God
Speaker 1: with the light, and He is the light. There's no
Speaker 1: darkness in him. However, look what the Bible says to
Speaker 1: the people. This is thousands of years before Jesus. And
Speaker 1: watch how the prophetic word alives. God is watching over
Speaker 1: his word to perform it. Next verse, at the end
Speaker 1: of four hundred and thirty years to the very day,
Speaker 1: all the Lord's divisions left Egypt, Go go go, because
Speaker 1: the Lord kept vigil that night. Somebody say, that night,
Speaker 1: do you know the one I'm talking about, the one
Speaker 1: where the anxiety was beating, the breakers were pounding. You
Speaker 1: know the one I'm talking about where all the memories
Speaker 1: came flooding back. You know the one I'm talking about,
Speaker 1: all the regrets that four am devil that you fought,
Speaker 1: that was searching to kill you, like Herod was searching
Speaker 1: like Pharaoh wanted to kill the Israelites. He like he
Speaker 1: wanted to kill like he wanted to strike them down.
Speaker 1: But he couldn't watch why because the Lord kept vigil
Speaker 1: that night. And this is what the scripture says, to
Speaker 1: bring them out of Egypt on this night. Somebody say,
Speaker 1: this night, now follow me, follow me. Receive this word.
Speaker 1: How many of you received this word that I'm appreciate
Speaker 1: to you today. That is a weak response. If you
Speaker 1: have heard this word, if you receive this word, maybe
Speaker 1: it's for somebody on the Epham. Maybe it's you that
Speaker 1: this word is coming for. All right, So give me
Speaker 1: the scripture again, he said, on this night because the
Speaker 1: Lord kept vigil that night. I want you on this
Speaker 1: night to keep vigil, to honor the Lord for the
Speaker 1: generations to come. Aren't you glad that Joseph followed in
Speaker 1: the dark so we could have Jesus in our hearts
Speaker 1: and our lives. What are you carried? What is the
Speaker 1: important thing on the other side of this night? That night,
Speaker 1: the night they left Egypt with the blood on their doors,
Speaker 1: so that the angel of Death passed over their houses.
Speaker 1: That night God stayed up and watched. And now so
Speaker 1: he said, you keep it. If you were kept in
Speaker 1: the dark, then don't you get in the dark and
Speaker 1: lose your faith. Don't you let this knock you off
Speaker 1: of what the solid rock you've been standing on. Don't
Speaker 1: you let this snatch your prophecy. This is bigger than
Speaker 1: you you hear me. This is bigger than how you
Speaker 1: feel right now. This is for generations to come. That's
Speaker 1: why you have to make it through the night. That's
Speaker 1: why I had to make it through the night so
Speaker 1: I could tell my sixteen year old, so he can
Speaker 1: tell his sixteen year old I've had nights like that.
Speaker 1: But watch this. No matter how dark the night. God,
Speaker 1: God never stopped watching. God never stop keeping. God, never
Speaker 1: stop working. God never stop sustaining. Because they were in
Speaker 1: the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch
Speaker 1: over their flocks by night. God is a good shepherd.
Speaker 1: He watches his flock at night. He doesn't only like
Speaker 1: you in the light of day. He watches you in
Speaker 1: the grimy place. He's a grimy God. He'll roll up
Speaker 1: his sleeves and come down, born of a virgin, dressed
Speaker 1: like a man, to set his people breed. He never
Speaker 1: stop watching me, never stopped. He never stopped watching. He
Speaker 1: never stopped watching. Gis God worship. He never joke his
Speaker 1: I cap you, ay, that's great to have promises that
Speaker 1: God made you in the light. But the promises that
Speaker 1: God makes in the light have to be kept in
Speaker 1: the dark. The whole church missed it, but you do.
Speaker 1: It has to be kept in the dark. That's where
Speaker 1: you need Jesus. That's where you need Jesus. That's where
Speaker 1: you need light. And I think, I think, I think,
Speaker 1: no matter how long the light is, the day is
Speaker 1: going to be greater. I do, I do. God never
Speaker 1: remember when he came out walking to the disciples on
Speaker 1: the water. It was the fourth watch of the night.
Speaker 1: What I love about it say, watch this, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get out of y'all. Wait a minute. I know it's late,
Speaker 1: but it's late in your life too. Huh, it's late
Speaker 1: in your life too. He said that Jesus came walking
Speaker 1: to them on the storm in the water. What I
Speaker 1: love about it is before he walked out to them,
Speaker 1: he never stopped watching them. He saw him the whole
Speaker 1: time they were in the storm. God is watching over
Speaker 1: his worth, whether it's herod, whether it's depression, whether it's
Speaker 1: your dumb decisions. They are not stronger than the prophecy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and until Christ has brought forward, God is watching. Oh God,
Speaker 1: I thank you that you're watching over my house. I
Speaker 1: thank you that you're watching over my gift. I thank
Speaker 1: you that you're watching over my spirit. I thank you
Speaker 1: that you're watching over my broken heart, so that nothing
Speaker 1: seeps in that would keep me from seeing you. God.
Speaker 1: I thank you that you are watching over these men
Speaker 1: and women. I thank you that know storm that they
Speaker 1: are in reduces your visibility, for you have an all
Speaker 1: seeing eye. You are the all knowing God. You are
Speaker 1: the living Word in the beginning was the Word, and
Speaker 1: the word was with God, and the word was God.
Speaker 1: That same word that came forth through forty two generations
Speaker 1: and past state these generations to come to us today.
Speaker 1: We have our eyes on you now. Watch God, watch God.
Speaker 1: Watch God. Keep your focus even in the door. Watch God,
Speaker 1: watch God, watch his word. Meditate on in your bed,
Speaker 1: remember it, play it in your Watch God. Watch God
Speaker 1: bring you out. Watch God do a miracle. Watch God
Speaker 1: give you a testimony. Watch God turning around. Wat's God
Speaker 1: use this very thing. Watch God, watch God, Watch God,
Speaker 1: watch God turn around. Tell five people watch God, watch God,
Speaker 1: watch God, watch God, watch God, watch God. Heyy, stop
Speaker 1: watching the news for five minutes and watch God. God
Speaker 1: doesn't watch the news. Please good news. Yes, glad tidings,
Speaker 1: it breaks great story and he watches over his flock
Speaker 1: by night. Give him praise. If you received this one,
Speaker 1: thank you, loving, Thank you Jesus. Well, if you enjoyed
Speaker 1: today's podcast, there are a couple of things I'd love
Speaker 1: for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and
Speaker 1: review this podcast. You can also help us reach others
Speaker 1: by investing today at Elevation Church dot org, slash and
Speaker 1: give and thanks again for joining us on the Elevation
Speaker 1: Podcast inst