WEBVTT - Something Good Is Coming From This! 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 All right, we're going to get into the message very soon, 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:07.240 but first an important message for you. This is our 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:11.440 twenty twenty one year end offering. I love this time 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.440 of year, an amazing time of year, because every year 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:18.520 we end with appreciation for what God has done, expectation 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:20.759 for what He's going to do. This has been a tradition. 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:22.880 Like right now, they're going to put up a few 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:25.959 graphics of all the offerings we've had through the years. 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:28.680 I can't even remember them, all Game Change or Waymaker, 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:33.159 beyond Life. But this year, you don't even know the 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.080 word that God gave me. I don't. This is not stage. 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:38.559 I should reveal it to me. Yeah, this is not scripted, 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:40.640 and we're doing our own camera work, So I apologize 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:43.680 that the angle is off. But this year the Lord 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:49.000 led me to the word better. Everybody say better better, 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:52.239 like put it in the chat. And we don't mean 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:56.040 better than another person, or we don't necessarily mean that. 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.600 You know, we're never content, And what we mean by 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.520 that is is Hag II two nine says that the 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:06.119 glory of this present house, what God is doing, will 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.959 be greater than the glory of the former house. We 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.800 believe God is always doing something greater. We just have 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:14.600 to see it. So I want to thank you in 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:17.040 advance for your gifts. Those of you who already support 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.319 this ministry, you're the reason. You're the reason we get 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:23.160 to preach the gospel. You're the reason that thousands of 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.600 testimonies that we hear in this ministry are made possible. 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:28.800 And for those of you who are beginning to give, 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.759 either through a one time year end donation to help 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:34.560 us with our expansion, or the best way really through 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.600 recurring giving, through putting God first with the tide, or 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.080 maybe an above and beyond offering to say thank you 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:43.119 to Him and believe Him for better things in faith, 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:45.959 we want to say thank you, and we're standing with 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:49.160 you right now as we begin this season of giving 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:51.720 called Better Now through the end of the year. Yeah, 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.240 thank you so much. Every time you give, it helps 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.880 us to spread the Gospel to the world and beyond, 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.200 and we are so thankful for your partnership with us 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:05.160 in the gospel. It's going to be an amazing holiday 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:07.480 season and I can't wait to hear more about better. 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:09.320 It's going to be better, better than you ask her. 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:12.960 Imagine if in three twenty we're believing God for you. Now, 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:16.560 let's go go to Matthew chapter two. I didn't get 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:18.800 to this part last week, but we're gonna pick up 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:21.360 a verse. Well, let's review a little bit of what 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:23.320 I did get to. We don't stand the whole time, 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:26.400 just stay standing, know while we read the scripture. It'll 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:30.360 help you stay awake and it will honor God. So 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:35.600 you kill two birds with one stone the scripture in 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:40.239 Matthew chapter two. You remember the astrologers we call the 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:45.280 wise men, but they were considered pagans by the religious 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:51.519 people came to worship this new king. And so they 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:53.840 come and they bring him gifts gold. Frankensens, you know, 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.960 you know this part Christmas story, but you know it's possible. 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:02.760 You can you can have a sentimental feeling about Christmas 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.639 and completely missed the significance. I've been falling in love 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:10.560 with the Christmas story all over again this season, because 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:16.560 really it's about faith. It's about faith, and so it's 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:19.280 so much more than just Jesus came so you don't 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.000 have to go to Hell. It's so much more than that. 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.160 It's so much more than scented candles. It's so much 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:28.520 more than that. If they sold scented candles that smelled like, 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:34.000 really what the first Christmas smelled like? With placenta scent 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:39.760 and barnyard scent and all that. I'm just trying to 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:43.600 tell you the significance of Christmas is often missed by 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.800 our need you just caught it, Zeke, that was like 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:54.320 fifteen seconds late. Man, wake up. But listen, it's complete chaos. 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:58.040 Mary and Joseph, the astrologers who aren't even religious people, 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:00.280 they're the ones that are bringing the gifts. You know. 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:02.680 It is a crazy story. But let's pick up right here. 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.080 It says when they verse thirteen Matthew chapter to verse thirteen, 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:10.720 when they had gone the Magi, an angel of the 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.880 Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said this, 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:19.000 get up, take the child and his mother, and escape 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:23.760 to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.080 is going to search for the child to kill him. 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:30.679 So he got up, took the child and his mother 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:34.640 during the night, and left for Egypt, where he stayed 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:38.960 until the death of Herod, and so was fulfilled what 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.719 the Lord had said through the prophet. Out of Egypt, 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:46.880 I called my son. Let's go. Now to verse nineteen, 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:48.400 this is the part I didn't get to. Last week. 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:52.440 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:56.160 a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, get up, 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:59.040 take the child and his mother, and go to the 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:03.760 land of Israel, for those who were trying to take 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:10.520 the child's life are dead. So he got up, took 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.480 the child and his mother and went to the land 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:18.080 of Israel. But when he heard that Archelais was reigning 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.359 in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:24.679 afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.480 he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:36.400 and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.159 what was said through the prophets that he would be 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:46.120 called a Nazarene. Here's the prophetic declaration. Today. The Lord 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:49.000 said to tell you, I don't know who you are, 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:53.480 but God said you needed to hear this. Something good 0:05:54.520 --> 0:06:03.360 is coming from this, all right, you all ready something 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:13.080 good is coming from this. I'm not saying it to 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:15.800 be cute. I'm not saying it to be positive. I'm 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:18.320 not saying it to be optimistic. I'm not saying it 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.400 to hype the crowd. But if you believe this. I 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:26.320 need you to shout at say something good is coming 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:39.240 from this, Something good is coming from this. Who thank you? 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:47.159 Y'all be seated. Let's talk about what that means. Something 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:55.599 good is coming from this. If anything, the Christmas story 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.640 completely flips the script on what we think is and 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:05.200 is significant. If you read the Christmas story and only 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:11.360 see objects, you have missed the intention of Christmas. If 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:15.480 you see the Christmas story and only think of angels, wings, 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:20.000 you have missed the message of Christmas. If you read 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.760 the Christmas story and only think about what it was 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:26.280 like to be Joseph, you've missed the message of Christmas. 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:30.520 Because the message is meant to go much deeper than history. 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.400 It is meant to give you significance for the areas 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:41.040 in your life that may not seem significant. I don't 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:47.280 really know what significant is when you're in it. It's 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:52.000 true I read this passage at least I've been a 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:57.000 pastor sixteen years, at least sixteen times every Christmas and 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:04.160 paid attention to everything in the passage except where stuff happened. 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:08.440 It was only in preaching last week that I noticed 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.880 this parallelism in the passage. I'm going to show to 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.360 you real quick. Just let me teach for a minute. 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.600 And now I'm gonna declare over your life what God said. 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:25.920 Something good is coming from this, But first let me 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:30.080 teach you. It said in verse one of Matthew, Chapter two, 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:32.840 verse one, and I bet you knew this already, Jesus 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:38.480 was born in Bethlehem. But then it said, if you 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:42.200 go all the way to verse fifteen out of Egypt, 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:46.000 I called my son. And then if you go even 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:47.760 further than that, yeah, go all the way further that 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.600 all the way to verse twenty three, that one says 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:55.760 he was called a Nazarene. Now I highlighted all of 0:08:55.800 --> 0:09:00.160 those for you because I know you've got a lot 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:03.160 on your mind, and I know you've still got a 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:05.480 big list of things that you have to do over 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:07.760 the next couple of weeks. But I don't want you 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.800 to miss this that you can read the Bible, I mean, 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.040 just all your life here about the Christmas story and 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.000 missed the significance of Now you probably know what happened 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.800 Jesus was born. You even know what happened after that 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:24.240 he died, even know what happened after that. He didn't 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.600 stay dead very long. You can know all of that, 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:34.040 and completely missed the significance of born in Bethlehem, out 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:38.480 of Egypt and called inn Azarine. And maybe the reason 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:40.440 I skipped all of this so long in reading the 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:46.440 story is I, this confession, have no sense of direction whatsoever. 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.800 I turn on my GPS to get to my mom's 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:52.360 house for dinner on Wednesday night, and she lives in Charlotte, 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:54.679 and just in case, just in case, I could do 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:56.080 it without it, but it just comforts me to have 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.079 the GBS. And I remember a time before christ when 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.040 there was no GPS. I remember, I remember the first 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.280 time that Holly and I got in a big fight 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.959 in our marriage was her navigating to me over the phone. 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.560 It was in that dark period right between when you 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.240 had a phone in your car but you didn't have 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.839 GPS in your car, and that was a very dark. 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:18.199 It was like the Advent season for us as we 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:23.600 were waiting for the deliver And then she bought me 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:27.720 a tom Tom for Christmas. Not a tom Tom. We 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.440 don't have time for all this historical background. The tom 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:32.720 Tom was a GPS system, but the maps had to 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:36.640 be manually loaded, so there were occasions where the map 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.440 would not update, and you were driving according to an 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.360 old map. I don't even have time to preach about that, 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:45.280 because that is some of y'all right now, going off 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:48.760 of an old map of who you used to be 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:54.440 before christ and still acting like you anyway. Let's see, 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:58.320 let's see last Christmas. This is what I was going 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:00.920 to say. Last Christmas. We have a holleyen. I have 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:04.480 a little tradition. We do Christmas with the kids and 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:13.200 then we go have Christmas for ourselves, and we usually 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:16.120 like to go to Charleston. It's close enough where I'm from. 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:21.199 I feel the low country vibes and get some fried 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.240 shrimp Hymen's. I don't order fried Trump. I just eat 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:26.360 half of hers and order a grill Trump makes me 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:30.400 feel like I've ordered healthy. And we spend a few 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:32.640 days in Charston last year, and we're driving home and 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:34.719 I set the GPS. I know I should go on 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:37.240 my way back to Charlotte from Charleston by now, just 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:41.199 to be sure. I set my GPS, but it has 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:44.360 a thing on it that if you if you don't. 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:46.680 I don't even know how this happened. It was an accident, 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:54.440 but we told it to avoid all major highways and 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.640 you know, I'm so enjoying talking to my bride about 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:01.079 deep spiritual things and you know, contemplating the mysteries of 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:05.439 God or whatever, that I don't even notice we are 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:11.400 doing this whole trip on back roads, and you know, 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:13.600 it's about twenty thirty minutes in, and I'm like, when 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.640 are we getting on? I twenty six? And we figured 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:18.320 out we had said it to no back roads, and 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:20.400 instead of following the fact that I grew up near 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:22.800 Charleston and I live in Charlotte for over fifteen years 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:25.840 and I should know my way, I'm following blindly following 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:33.040 this this God called GPS, and I'm on these back roads. Now. 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:38.240 I'm glad it happened because while we were driving on 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:40.240 those back roads and I just remembered this. I don't 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.640 know if you remember. This is when I turned to 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.280 Holly and said, you know what I'd like to write 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:47.240 a song about, because we're driving through the country, all 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:50.960 these little towns and little churches, and it was a 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:52.840 thought that it had come to me, but I didn't 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:55.040 think to say it until this moment. We're driving through 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:57.160 these back roads, and I looked at her and said, 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:00.520 I've been thinking I kind of want to write a 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:07.840 song called Old Church Basement. What do you think about that? 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:11.520 She said, I think that would be awesome. She said, 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.080 you mean like describing Yeah. I said, yeah, like going 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:18.040 back to the roots of worship. Like I don't know 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:19.480 how the song would go yet. I'm gonna have to 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:21.520 get Chris to help me and Brandon to help me, 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:23.320 and I'm gonna have to figure out how to write it. 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:27.000 But it's gonna say something like the lights and stages. 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.520 I know they're all great, but I remember when we 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:35.760 used to praise God in the old church basement. That's 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:37.120 why I told her I was gonna I said, I 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:41.160 have an idea, and she said, I love it. She 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:46.480 said I can smell it because before we pastored a 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:51.400 global Etham, we traveled around on a little ministry team 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:54.400 all over little towns like we were driving through in 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.680 South Carolina, and so while we were driving, we talked 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.959 about all the things in the old church base, folding 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:10.319 metal chairs, watered down punch stale zebra cookies, and things 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:17.000 like this. A few weeks later, the idea would become 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.600 a song. The song would become the title of an 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:23.040 album that we recorded with our friends from Maverick City 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:27.200 Music in this room where I'm preaching today, which at 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:31.040 the time was empty because we were still in the 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.680 stages of the pandemic when we couldn't have people in 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:37.200 the church regularly, and back in that corner of the 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:41.480 room we recorded an entire album that just a few 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:54.360 weeks ago was nominated for a Grammy. But when I 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:58.960 was on the back roads talking to Holly about a 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.360 song I hadn't written, not even knowing who would help 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:03.840 me write it or what we would use it for, 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:09.320 I was not thinking about a Grammy. I was not 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:12.240 thinking about an album. I wasn't really thinking about a 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:14.320 song at first. I was just thinking, how could you 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:18.920 be so stupid to follow a GPS down these back roads. 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.040 But it serves as a lesson, and I'm kind of 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:24.400 glad that it malfunctioned or whatever she did to it 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.240 while I wasn't looking to make it go down the 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.200 back roads. I'm kind of glad because it taught me 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:38.360 there are blessings on the back roads. There are blessings 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:44.560 on the back roads. There are blessings in Bethlehem that 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:49.680 you don't get in Jerusalem. There are blessings and obscurity 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:54.480 that you don't get in popularity. There are blessings in 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.720 the old church basement. There are blessings and empty rooms. 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:02.920 There are blessings in seasons of uncertainty. There are blessings 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:07.080 in times of your life that you're characterized by darkness, 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:12.680 and you don't always get in the bright lights. Back 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:18.760 roads blessings. They come all the way to Jerusalem following 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.760 a star. They have traveled for months, these wise men, 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:25.960 and they get there just to be told, you're five 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:33.480 miles from Bethlehem. You gotta take the back roads. You've 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:38.840 been on the back roads this year, hadn't you the 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.760 back roads where you don't know any of the good restaurants, 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.000 The back roads where all of your cliches don't work, 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.240 and all of your conventional wisdom has been proven to 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:52.880 be subject to the sovereignty of God. The back roads. 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:56.920 My mom loves this message because she only drives the 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.520 back roads. This is her favorite sermon that I've ever 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:09.520 preached before in my life. Merry Christmas. Bethlehem was not 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:14.160 only on the back roads, but it wasn't big enough 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:18.600 to contain the savior of the world. But listen, listen 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:23.919 to me. Bigger isn't always better. When I got up 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:28.800 and announced we're offering this year, called better, a lot 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:36.760 of us immediately thought bigger, more followers, more infant. No, no, no, 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:41.000 I didn't say bigger. I purposely didn't say bigger, because 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.359 God didn't tell me to call the offering bigger. That's 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:45.560 what got the Israelites in trouble. When they were building 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.399 the temple again in ha God, they thought, because it 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:52.200 wasn't bigger, it couldn't be better. And so then when 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:55.280 you go through a downsize in any area of your life, 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:59.600 you give credit to the devil for that because you 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.480 think that Jesus should be in Jerusalem, where the temple is, 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:08.280 where the chief priest are, where the center of religious 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:11.240 life is happening. I mean, that would be the obvious 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:14.119 place to go. But they said to the magi, you 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:19.480 gotta go five more miles. Some preacher watching this preach 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.240 a whole sermon called five more miles. I want you 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:24.000 to do it, because sometimes we get so close to 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:26.720 the place, but because we won't go from the place 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:29.200 that we thought was the place. This is what I'm learning. 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:31.760 This is what I'm learning. Okay, you have to have 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:40.159 flexible expectations in order to have strong faith. If you 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:45.760 don't have flexible expectations, your faith will break the first 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:48.400 time that you carry a load that you weren't expecting 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:52.240 to carry. I mean, think about how flexible Mary had 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:57.000 to be to give birth in Bethlehem. She didn't go 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.520 to Bethlehem because there was a good birthing center in 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:04.120 Belin with essential oils in Bethlehem and Adulah in Bethlehem. 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:06.480 She wasn't going to Bethlehem because she had heard about 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:09.800 the spas in Bethlehem. She was going to Bethlehem because 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:12.639 they had to go because Caesar Augustus, who ruled the 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:15.520 Roman Empire, had called for a census so they could 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:19.879 have higher taxes and more military support. That's why they 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:26.760 went to Bethlehem. And yet even the decree of Caesar 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:33.520 was subject to the sovereignty of God, because it really 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:36.000 was in Caesar's decreed that they be registered in the 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:39.280 census that brought him to Bethlehem. It was the sovereignty 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:43.040 of God because that's where the Savior had to be born. 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.680 When you understand this, you can trust a little bit 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:53.960 better that God is working all things together in your 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:58.480 life for the good of those who love him. And 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:03.879 are called according to His purpose, so subtraction is not 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:08.920 always bad. We chose our word for this year, called fruitful, 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:12.000 And the next day the Lord spoke to me about pruning. 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:19.400 I said, oh Lord, I didn't say pruning. I said fruitful, oranges, 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:26.120 apples come quots kiwi's fruitful, banana's great. But he said, 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:32.119 the root to fruit is pruning. R O U t 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:34.520 e root the root like the route the root the 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.880 root rerouting, rerouting, rerouting, rerouting. That's all God is doing 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:43.080 when he's pruning your life. He is rerouting. Not the 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:46.000 place you expected anyway. I don't want to preach about Bethlehem. 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:50.399 I don't talk a little bit about Egypt because for 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:54.640 Jesus to have to go to Egypt to escape Herod 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:58.399 would have to a Hebrew audience. At least maybe not 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.840 to ospital to a Hebrew audience. Have been the last 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:05.840 place that we expected God to keep his son safe, 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.639 because it was the place that they spent four hundred 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:16.919 years as slaves. Now Jesus is going back to the 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:20.919 place that God brought them out of to fulfill the 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:23.959 prophecy in Hoseiah eleven, verse one, Do you like all 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:27.680 this stuff from the Bible. Out of Egypt, I called 0:21:27.840 --> 0:21:31.840 my son. Out of Egypt. Give me verse fifteen one 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:37.400 more time. Out of Egypt, I called my son. Jesus 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:42.320 had to go through Egypt because the prophet Hosea said, 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:46.040 out of Egypt, I have called my son. So on 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:49.520 one hand, it looks like Jesus is going to Egypt 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:53.879 to escape hero it. But on the other hand, it 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:57.840 looks like Jesus is going through Egypt to fulfill prophecy. 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:04.360 And it's really both. It's really both. It's not one 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:06.639 or the other. You know how we try to figure 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:08.880 out in our lives. Is this random? Is this God? 0:22:09.000 --> 0:22:11.520 Is this the devil? Is this me? What if it's 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:14.639 all of the above, And what if God is bigger 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:19.679 than all of it? And see, not only did I 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:22.560 want to preach the Christmas Sermon early this year in 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:25.040 case we have another strain of something that comes through 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:27.600 and I can't preach anything. I'm just getting ahead on everything, 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:30.080 all right. I'm just making sure if something bad happens, 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:32.159 you got the word that you need to get through it, 0:22:32.160 --> 0:22:34.040 because I love you that much and I don't want 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:37.399 you to have to fight mountain nourished. So now I 0:22:37.440 --> 0:22:39.760 want to give you your New Year's message. Just in 0:22:39.800 --> 0:22:42.760 case anything bad happens. I'm planning to preach more in 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:45.000 twenty twenty two. I'm planning to be here, but just 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:47.560 in case something bad happens to either one of us, 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:49.760 I want to give you. I want to give you 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:56.280 this message. Don't leave Egypt without first exiting through the 0:22:56.320 --> 0:23:03.040 gift shop. You know, when you go visit somewhere, they 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:05.920 put the gift shop where you have to walk through 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:09.159 it before you leave, so that if the admission price 0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:13.240 wasn't enough, that they can shake you down for a 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:17.000 little bit more on the way out. You'll notice where 0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:19.680 I'm preaching right now, so they can shake you down 0:23:20.000 --> 0:23:22.040 for a little bit more, because God knows you need 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:28.440 another coffee mug. Okay, love your baby. That's my back 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:31.760 robe girl right there. Don't worry about it. In twenty years, 0:23:35.240 --> 0:23:39.280 when the Bible says out of Egypt I have called 0:23:39.400 --> 0:23:45.040 my son is speaking to you too. It's letting you 0:23:45.200 --> 0:23:47.240 know that from the place I didn't pay attention to 0:23:47.280 --> 0:23:49.360 any of this. All I thought about when I felt 0:23:49.400 --> 0:23:53.680 Christmas was Bethlehem, Oh little town of Bethlehem, Oh evil 0:23:53.960 --> 0:24:00.000 land of Egypt, the place that God delivered his people 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:03.120 from with plagues. He sent his son to to protect him. 0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:08.240 Why why did Jesus go to Egypt because Herod was 0:24:08.240 --> 0:24:10.640 trying to kill him. That's not what I'm asking, that's 0:24:10.680 --> 0:24:13.879 the human perspective. See, we get stuck on the level 0:24:13.920 --> 0:24:16.000 of our minds. We're trying to figure out, well, why 0:24:16.000 --> 0:24:17.720 did they leave me, Why did they say that, Why 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:19.639 did they do that? Why am I sick? Why is 0:24:19.680 --> 0:24:21.960 this happening? Why didn't it work? Why did it fail? 0:24:22.240 --> 0:24:26.080 You are stuck trying to answer level questions at the 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:28.720 level of Harod that can only be answered at the 0:24:28.840 --> 0:24:38.440 level of Heaven. So before this year ends, Oh man, 0:24:38.480 --> 0:24:41.200 I'm excited for a new year. I just can't wait 0:24:41.240 --> 0:24:43.119 for the old year to be. It's been such a 0:24:43.200 --> 0:24:46.400 hard year. As if I don't know what's wrong with us, 0:24:46.720 --> 0:24:50.080 as if we think somehow it's like the new iPhone 0:24:50.119 --> 0:24:52.359 is gonna make life better, the new year is gonna 0:24:52.359 --> 0:24:54.960 make life better. You are gonna have the same stupid 0:24:54.960 --> 0:24:57.080 people in your iPhone thirteen that you had in your 0:24:57.080 --> 0:25:07.159 iPhone ten. Nothing about the number changing changes you. Twenty 0:25:07.200 --> 0:25:09.080 twenty two. I'm just ready for a new York. I 0:25:09.200 --> 0:25:12.879 tell you, mil who I'm ready for it, like the 0:25:12.920 --> 0:25:19.439 Lord is waiting on a calendar. So that's why I'm 0:25:19.440 --> 0:25:24.159 getting near you think early, to let you know you 0:25:24.200 --> 0:25:27.840 don't have to be in a certain place for God 0:25:27.840 --> 0:25:31.600 to fulfill his promise over your life. And I'm going 0:25:31.680 --> 0:25:34.920 to break that down. When my kid starts acting right, 0:25:35.480 --> 0:25:41.840 I'll be happy. No, I'm saying no. The Lord spoke 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:48.040 in Egypt. He brought his son out of Egypt. He 0:25:48.200 --> 0:25:53.840 spoke to Joseph in Egypt. You still missed it. You 0:25:54.000 --> 0:25:58.600 think that God is waiting for stuff to change. You 0:25:58.720 --> 0:26:01.959 think that joy is going to be when things change, 0:26:02.160 --> 0:26:08.480 by won't You have got to get it out of Egypt. 0:26:09.280 --> 0:26:11.439