WEBVTT 00:00:00.110 --> 00:00:04.389 Praise God. Well, more of you came than I thought 00:00:04.389 --> 00:00:08.849 would be here this morning. So I'm glad that 00:00:08.849 --> 00:00:11.589 you're here. We've got a great online community 00:00:11.589 --> 00:00:14.630 this morning as well. So I want to welcome all 00:00:14.630 --> 00:00:18.329 of our people online. Can we give a big shout 00:00:18.329 --> 00:00:22.789 out to our people online today? All right. All 00:00:22.789 --> 00:00:26.179 right. We have more than usual there. And if 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:29.019 you are online at home and you have a prayer 00:00:29.019 --> 00:00:33.219 need, type that in and just type it into the 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:37.200 feed. We're going to pray for people this morning. 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:40.859 And so we're glad that you're here. We already 00:00:40.859 --> 00:00:43.280 read the verse from Luke chapter 1, but I would 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:45.640 like you to go there to Luke chapter 1 and verse 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:50.859 39. Luke is the third book in the New Testament. 00:00:51.530 --> 00:00:55.689 And so Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Luke was not 00:00:55.689 --> 00:00:59.350 one of the 12 disciples, Luke was a physician, 00:00:59.530 --> 00:01:04.170 and Luke wrote the book of Luke, and also the 00:01:04.170 --> 00:01:08.890 book of Acts. In fact, the number of verses in 00:01:08.890 --> 00:01:12.409 the New Testament, Luke wrote more of the New 00:01:12.409 --> 00:01:17.230 Testament than even Paul. Think about that, verse 00:01:17.230 --> 00:01:20.340 by verse. And so that's pretty cool. And so his 00:01:20.340 --> 00:01:26.500 account of the history of the New Testament, 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.269 the life of Christ, Christ, the ministry of Christ, 00:01:29.510 --> 00:01:33.469 and then the life of the New Testament church 00:01:33.469 --> 00:01:37.489 is incredibly vital. His perspective is unique. 00:01:37.750 --> 00:01:42.930 And so he records more of the birth story of 00:01:42.930 --> 00:01:47.609 Christ than any other author. And so a lot of 00:01:47.609 --> 00:01:50.390 things in the book of Luke that are really, really, 00:01:50.409 --> 00:01:59.200 really important. Talking about we're beginning, 00:01:59.299 --> 00:02:02.640 I have the privilege of beginning this season, 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:08.120 this Christmas season, talking about hope. These 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:11.840 are going to be the next four Sunday themes that 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:15.360 are on the wall. And so we're going to be looking 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:20.199 at hope this morning. I want to just pause a 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:22.259 moment and I want to pray and I want to ask the 00:02:22.259 --> 00:02:25.780 Lord to just help me right now. Father, we just 00:02:25.780 --> 00:02:29.009 come before you. And I thank you for your word. 00:02:29.870 --> 00:02:33.849 And I'm just acutely aware this morning that 00:02:33.849 --> 00:02:38.409 you want to speak to people right where they 00:02:38.409 --> 00:02:43.129 are. God, I believe that you have something for 00:02:43.129 --> 00:02:47.150 every single person, whether they're here, whether 00:02:47.150 --> 00:02:50.569 they're at home because of the weather or wherever 00:02:50.569 --> 00:02:55.189 they are. Lord, I ask in Jesus' name that you 00:02:55.189 --> 00:02:59.090 would speak. to our hearts. We thank you for 00:02:59.090 --> 00:03:04.530 your word. And everybody said together, amen, 00:03:04.870 --> 00:03:12.009 amen. So there was a woman named Florence Chadwick. 00:03:12.349 --> 00:03:15.870 This is not a joke, Brother Dale. He's waiting 00:03:15.870 --> 00:03:20.330 to see if I'm going to turn it to a joke. Florence 00:03:20.330 --> 00:03:26.430 Chadwick in 1952 was an amazing swimmer. And 00:03:26.430 --> 00:03:31.750 she swam the English Channel several times. And 00:03:31.750 --> 00:03:37.550 she was attempting to swim in the Pacific Ocean 00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:42.949 off the coast of California, a 26 -mile swim 00:03:42.949 --> 00:03:48.770 from Catalina Island to the California coastline. 00:03:49.289 --> 00:03:55.819 26 miles in good temperatures. is nearly impossible 00:03:55.819 --> 00:03:59.639 for most of us. I'm sure there's probably not 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:03.319 anybody in this room that could accomplish a 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:09.099 26 -mile swim. But she was trying to accomplish 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:13.180 it in the Pacific Ocean, where the temperatures 00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:17.839 were frigid. There were boats around her to watch 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:23.699 for sharks and dangers in the water. While she 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:28.939 was swimming, a fog rolled in, and she could 00:04:28.939 --> 00:04:32.360 not see more than just a couple hundred feet 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:36.459 in front of her because of the fog was so thick. 00:04:36.500 --> 00:04:39.600 On a normal day, she could see the coastline 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:43.420 from miles and miles away, even swimming low 00:04:43.420 --> 00:04:49.100 in the water. And the fog was so thick, not being 00:04:49.100 --> 00:04:57.279 able to see, she began... to lose hope. And she 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:01.800 began to think, I am never going to make it. 00:05:02.540 --> 00:05:09.339 And after 15 hours in the water, she did something 00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:19.040 that she rarely ever did. Florence gave up. She 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:25.399 gave up. And they pulled her into the boat. And 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:32.259 she was devastated when she realized something 00:05:32.259 --> 00:05:38.560 that was heartbreaking because the shore was 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:44.680 less than one mile away. She had swam over 25 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:51.959 miles and she gave up. Less than one mile away. 00:05:53.100 --> 00:05:58.600 And in a later interview, she said, I think if 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:04.060 I could just have seen the shore, I would have 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:10.439 made it. It's a powerful story, isn't it? I think 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:15.620 if I could just have seen the shore, I would 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:21.509 have made it. Hope. Hope is a precious commodity. 00:06:23.110 --> 00:06:26.949 I was on Friday with my dad watching the Bears 00:06:26.949 --> 00:06:34.889 game. Oh, hallelujah. Somebody say amen. Dale 00:06:34.889 --> 00:06:37.069 and I rarely agree, but we do agree about the 00:06:37.069 --> 00:06:43.329 Bears. And I was watching the game, and the Eagles 00:06:43.329 --> 00:06:45.769 at one point scored a touchdown in like five 00:06:45.769 --> 00:06:50.790 plays and 92 yards. And my heart began to feel 00:06:50.790 --> 00:06:55.509 the momentum shift. And in sports, one thing 00:06:55.509 --> 00:06:59.110 that you try to do early in a match or a game 00:06:59.110 --> 00:07:02.689 or whatever you're playing is you try to eliminate 00:07:02.689 --> 00:07:07.610 the hope that the other team has. If you're ahead, 00:07:07.990 --> 00:07:12.189 you try to get far enough ahead to make the other 00:07:12.189 --> 00:07:16.790 team feel like they cannot win. There's no way 00:07:16.790 --> 00:07:21.829 that you can come back. Once the opponent that 00:07:21.829 --> 00:07:25.750 you're playing against gets a spark of hope, 00:07:26.110 --> 00:07:30.649 everything can change. Isn't that right? Everything 00:07:30.649 --> 00:07:35.829 can change because of hope. You've probably heard 00:07:35.829 --> 00:07:41.290 of the rat in the water experiment that was conducted 00:07:41.290 --> 00:07:47.170 by Kurt Richter in the 1950s, demonstrating the 00:07:47.170 --> 00:07:53.430 power of hope. He was drowning rats in water. 00:07:54.129 --> 00:07:59.029 And he found out that after 15 minutes, the rats 00:07:59.029 --> 00:08:03.750 would give up and die. But he noticed something. 00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:08.319 So a rat was about to drown, and just at the 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:13.680 brink of pulling it out of the water, just at 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:15.699 the brink of death, he would pull it out of the 00:08:15.699 --> 00:08:21.420 water. And the rat realized that just at the 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:24.579 point that I thought I couldn't go any longer, 00:08:24.860 --> 00:08:29.480 rescue is coming. They would take that same rat. 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:32.820 and they would put it back in the water after 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:36.139 it had recovered, and that rat would tread water 00:08:36.139 --> 00:08:46.320 for nearly 60 hours. Why? Because it thought 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:52.759 it was going to be saved. That's crazy, isn't 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:56.100 it? This morning, I don't want to talk about 00:08:56.100 --> 00:09:04.289 hope for winning a... or hope for a rat, I want 00:09:04.289 --> 00:09:08.389 to talk about hope in life. For things that really 00:09:08.389 --> 00:09:12.669 matter, because games come and go. I've got sports 00:09:12.669 --> 00:09:16.320 stories. from my past that I still talk about, 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:19.820 times I lost that I knew looking back I could 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:22.639 have won, times where I could have done something 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:25.379 different that I wish. How many of you dream 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:29.100 about moments like that still in your life? You 00:09:29.100 --> 00:09:32.100 dream about things, oh, if I just would have 00:09:32.100 --> 00:09:37.700 made it five more yards. I have things like that 00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:41.750 that I still. dream about that I wish that I 00:09:41.750 --> 00:09:43.649 could have done differently. But you know what? 00:09:43.690 --> 00:09:47.269 Those things do not matter. I want to talk about 00:09:47.269 --> 00:09:53.009 hope that matters today. And the life story of 00:09:53.009 --> 00:09:57.409 Elizabeth, I want to read it again in verse 39 00:09:57.409 --> 00:10:01.480 of Luke chapter 1. Mary arose in those days and 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:04.519 went into the hill country with haste to a city 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:08.100 of Judah and entered the house of Zacharias and 00:10:08.100 --> 00:10:11.460 greeted Elizabeth. And it happened when Elizabeth 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:16.539 heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:21.860 in Elizabeth's womb. And Elizabeth was filled 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:25.529 with the Holy Spirit. And she spoke out with 00:10:25.529 --> 00:10:28.450 a loud voice and said, Blessed are you among 00:10:28.450 --> 00:10:31.629 women speaking to Mary, and blessed is the fruit 00:10:31.629 --> 00:10:36.250 of your womb. But why is this granted to me that 00:10:36.250 --> 00:10:40.049 the mother of my Lord should come to me? For 00:10:40.049 --> 00:10:43.210 indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting 00:10:43.210 --> 00:10:48.509 sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb 00:10:48.509 --> 00:10:54.629 for joy. Blessed is she. who believed. For there 00:10:54.629 --> 00:10:58.610 will be a fulfillment of those things which were 00:10:58.610 --> 00:11:02.970 told to her from the Lord. Thank you, Father. 00:11:03.289 --> 00:11:07.529 So this is an incredible story that relates to 00:11:07.529 --> 00:11:12.870 hope, and it connects with every single one of 00:11:12.870 --> 00:11:16.870 us because Elizabeth was a real person. She lived 00:11:16.870 --> 00:11:22.490 in a real world with real problems. She was a 00:11:22.490 --> 00:11:26.669 Jew living in a nation that was occupied by Rome. 00:11:26.950 --> 00:11:30.490 It was not an easy time for anybody to be alive. 00:11:30.929 --> 00:11:34.289 She had personal issues, and she had personal 00:11:34.289 --> 00:11:38.909 struggle. She was barren, and to be barren in 00:11:38.909 --> 00:11:42.710 a time like that was more than just not having 00:11:42.710 --> 00:11:47.029 a child. It was to be viewed as being cursed. 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:51.440 It was to be viewed as a person that had done 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:55.700 something wrong in the eyes of God. And so God 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:59.519 would not allow you to have children. And so 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:04.600 Elizabeth and Zachariah lived with a lot of pressure 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:09.139 and a lot of difficulty swirling around them. 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:13.059 Our situations in our time might be a little 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:16.080 bit different. The perspectives that people have 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:19.480 on these types of issues are not the same in 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:22.980 our culture. Perhaps your situations are different. 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:26.419 Perhaps the stuff that you are walking through 00:12:26.419 --> 00:12:31.419 is very different. But Elizabeth was transformed 00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:35.679 by the power of God. and she was transformed 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:41.259 by the power of God because she placed her hope 00:12:41.259 --> 00:12:47.700 in him. Amen? And so... I am believing this whole 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:51.139 Christmas season that God is going to do some 00:12:51.139 --> 00:12:54.559 things in your lives. I believe that God, this 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:57.379 Christmas season, is going to draw you nearer 00:12:57.379 --> 00:13:01.440 to himself. The devotional that Cammie wrote, 00:13:01.580 --> 00:13:06.440 she said, we prepared a devotional. And she used 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:09.159 that plural, and I could stand up here and take 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:12.000 credit for that. But she has been writing this 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:15.129 devotional for about two months now. putting 00:13:15.129 --> 00:13:18.490 it together. And so it is not a we thing. It 00:13:18.490 --> 00:13:20.990 is something that she put together. She probably 00:13:20.990 --> 00:13:24.549 didn't want me to say that. But this is... Why 00:13:24.549 --> 00:13:28.730 do this? Because corporately, we're seeking to 00:13:28.730 --> 00:13:30.850 draw nearer to the Lord than we've ever been 00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:33.870 before. Amen? And I'm believing that this Christmas 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:37.149 season is not going to be about decorations primarily 00:13:37.149 --> 00:13:41.250 and presents, although I love decorations and 00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:43.590 presents. I love all that stuff. I think it's 00:13:43.590 --> 00:13:47.169 a great addition to our celebration. But primarily, 00:13:47.350 --> 00:13:50.769 I'm believing that you are going to draw near 00:13:50.769 --> 00:13:55.149 to Jesus this Christmas. season. And that you're 00:13:55.149 --> 00:13:57.809 going to look back on Christmas 2025 and you're 00:13:57.809 --> 00:14:02.049 going to say, that's a season that God did something 00:14:02.049 --> 00:14:05.750 in my life. That he worked in my life. Amen? 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:11.039 And so we are believing that we together are 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:14.840 going to draw closer to the Lord. We are secondly 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:18.580 believing that as we look at these scriptures, 00:14:18.820 --> 00:14:22.259 this one particular in Luke chapter 1, that as 00:14:22.259 --> 00:14:26.600 we look at them, that we talk about his first 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:31.519 coming. that it is going to propel you to talk 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:35.779 about, to think about, and to look forward to 00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:40.500 his second coming. Because Jesus came the first 00:14:40.500 --> 00:14:43.460 time as a baby in a manger. He is coming back 00:14:43.460 --> 00:14:47.080 again as King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen? 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:50.960 And so it is, you know, we have a manger up here 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:54.700 as part of our decoration in our scene. We are 00:14:54.700 --> 00:14:58.779 not worshiping a baby that is still in a manger. 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:02.679 We are worshiping a king that is at the right 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:05.960 hand of the Father, that is alive forevermore, 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:10.100 that is working in your life and in my life. 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:13.399 We worship the King of Kings and the Lord of 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:17.240 Lords, and he is preparing to return to the earth 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:20.539 again. Hallelujah. We believe that with our whole 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:24.940 heart. I want to declare something that's not 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:29.629 in my notes right now. I am not... a Christian 00:15:29.629 --> 00:15:35.009 because I just couldn't make it through life 00:15:35.009 --> 00:15:43.429 any other way. I am not a Christian because I 00:15:43.429 --> 00:15:50.450 needed a crutch. I couldn't survive life on my 00:15:50.450 --> 00:15:57.789 own. And so things got so bad. I just needed 00:15:57.789 --> 00:16:02.610 something in my life. That is not why I'm a believer. 00:16:05.190 --> 00:16:08.730 I want to thank God for difficult seasons in 00:16:08.730 --> 00:16:11.590 people's lives because it is often the difficult 00:16:11.590 --> 00:16:14.990 season that wakes us up to the important things. 00:16:16.970 --> 00:16:20.690 But I am not a Christian because I went through 00:16:20.690 --> 00:16:26.840 a difficult season. I'm a Christian. Because 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:32.379 I came face to face with Jesus. And I realized 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:38.940 that I had stuff in my life that I was not right 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:44.440 with God. And I needed a Savior to do what I 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:51.840 could not do. Cross the bridge, the divide that 00:16:51.840 --> 00:17:00.649 was created by sin. Right? Because we're all 00:17:00.649 --> 00:17:07.869 separated from God because of sin. Can you imagine 00:17:07.869 --> 00:17:13.829 Saul on the road to Damascus saying, life is 00:17:13.829 --> 00:17:20.569 just so hard, I need a savior? You can't imagine 00:17:20.569 --> 00:17:24.279 that, can you? Because he was a... He was a strong 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:31.480 individual. He was a strong person. He was putting 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:36.500 Christians to death for their faith, thinking 00:17:36.500 --> 00:17:42.460 he was doing God a service. He was a strong person. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:48.500 We don't come to Christ just because we've become 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:53.990 so weak we can't get by any other way. But Saul, 00:17:54.130 --> 00:17:59.509 on the road to Damascus, in Acts chapter 9, you 00:17:59.509 --> 00:18:05.109 can read the story, came face to face with Jesus. 00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:11.130 And more than anything else, I'm believing in 00:18:11.130 --> 00:18:15.349 our city, I'm believing in our culture, in our 00:18:15.349 --> 00:18:20.009 time, that people will come face to face with 00:18:20.009 --> 00:18:25.559 Jesus. Hallelujah. And I realized I need a Savior. 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:30.059 I worship Jesus not because He's my crutch in 00:18:30.059 --> 00:18:33.440 life, but because He is worthy of my worship. 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:38.180 I worship Jesus because He carried the cross 00:18:38.180 --> 00:18:42.240 for me. He paid the price for my sin. Hallelujah. 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:49.880 And He's forgiven me. And I've met Him. And He 00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:54.619 walks with me. And he talks with me. I think 00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:58.700 about men of God particularly in the Bible because 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:03.539 I view, you know, being a man, I view the scriptures 00:19:03.539 --> 00:19:09.759 oftentimes through the lens of and looking at 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:13.400 other men in the Bible. And I think about King 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:18.819 David. And I think about the strength that David 00:19:18.819 --> 00:19:23.069 carried. They sang of him, Saul has slain his 00:19:23.069 --> 00:19:29.450 thousands, but David his tens of thousands. David 00:19:29.450 --> 00:19:35.910 was a warrior. He was a magnificent person. He 00:19:35.910 --> 00:19:42.750 was strong. And he served the Lord, not because 00:19:42.750 --> 00:19:47.509 he was weak. He was so weak he needed a crutch. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:51.680 And that's how people often view the church. 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:58.500 But David was a man's kind of man. And can I 00:19:58.500 --> 00:20:02.819 tell you something? It's a reflection of Jesus. 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:09.059 When Jesus walked the earth, he walked the earth 00:20:09.059 --> 00:20:16.779 with strength. He stood up. to religious and 00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:22.319 sometimes political figures, he stood up with 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:26.539 strength. Remember when he stood before the religious 00:20:26.539 --> 00:20:31.200 leaders and he said, you brood of vipers. And 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.880 they all wanted to stone him, but Jesus, in the 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:36.440 power of the Holy Spirit, walked through the 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:39.940 crowd. And they couldn't lay a hand on him, even 00:20:39.940 --> 00:20:42.970 though they wanted to. And everybody eventually, 00:20:43.250 --> 00:20:45.890 by the end of his ministry, all the political 00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:49.630 people had united against him. And they were 00:20:49.630 --> 00:20:53.109 looking to kill him, but still he taught openly. 00:20:54.269 --> 00:21:01.250 He was a strong individual. He was worth following. 00:21:02.069 --> 00:21:07.089 He was worth following. kind of overplaying the 00:21:07.089 --> 00:21:10.569 Bears illustration here, but I love watching 00:21:10.569 --> 00:21:15.450 the locker room videos they show after the victory. 00:21:16.170 --> 00:21:20.029 And Ben Johnson, I don't think he's even a believer. 00:21:20.089 --> 00:21:23.190 I don't know, but he has this thing he does with 00:21:23.190 --> 00:21:26.130 the Bears, and he says, good, better, best. And 00:21:26.130 --> 00:21:28.609 in fact, that's getting real popular. How many 00:21:28.609 --> 00:21:30.849 of you have heard that? Good, better, best. Never 00:21:30.849 --> 00:21:33.190 let it rest till your good gets better and your 00:21:33.190 --> 00:21:37.109 better gets best. And all these men in the locker 00:21:37.109 --> 00:21:42.250 room following their 39 -year -old coach because 00:21:42.250 --> 00:21:49.250 he is viewed as a man's kind of man. And they're 00:21:49.250 --> 00:21:52.950 all following him and yelling and screaming for 00:21:52.950 --> 00:21:58.369 a game. But can I tell you, Jesus was a man's 00:21:58.369 --> 00:22:04.200 kind of man. Jesus stood strong. Jesus was not 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:10.079 weak. He was not unsure of himself. He was a 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:15.599 leader of leaders. And he's worth following. 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:21.680 The King of kings and the Lord of lords that's 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:25.539 coming back again. Let me come back to my notes. 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:35.519 Hope is a precious... Commodity. When you lose 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:43.619 hope, despair and defeat set in. When you lose 00:22:43.619 --> 00:22:50.220 hope, you want to give up. When you lose hope, 00:22:50.420 --> 00:22:57.759 you forfeit your harvest. You lose your race. 00:22:59.690 --> 00:23:05.109 If you have no hope, your life begins to spiral 00:23:05.109 --> 00:23:12.650 into apathy. You drop your face. You isolate. 00:23:14.369 --> 00:23:25.349 You turn inward. You begin to merely exist. But 00:23:25.349 --> 00:23:29.750 I have good news for you today. That God wants 00:23:29.750 --> 00:23:41.970 to restore hope. The hope that Elizabeth was 00:23:41.970 --> 00:23:45.309 living in in this scripture, and really you sense 00:23:45.309 --> 00:23:49.410 a lot of things in this verse overlap in joy. 00:23:49.650 --> 00:23:52.630 You see great joy in these verses. We're going 00:23:52.630 --> 00:23:57.000 to preach about that in the coming days. But 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:02.220 the hope that she had, culminating here in the 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:09.720 birth of her child, was cultivated in her life 00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:22.000 all along. Did you know that suffering well produces 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:31.400 hope? Did you know that? We're going to see that 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:39.759 Elizabeth positioned her life in such a way so 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:46.059 that hope was her portion. Hope belonged to her. 00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:53.160 Hope starts with walking through difficulty well. 00:24:54.920 --> 00:24:59.220 And I've already described to you her life. And 00:24:59.220 --> 00:25:04.460 to have such hardship and such difficulty and 00:25:04.460 --> 00:25:12.299 still persevere through it and not give up, it 00:25:12.299 --> 00:25:17.279 produces hope. Let me read to you a verse from 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:20.539 Romans. Just so you're not looking it up, I'll 00:25:20.539 --> 00:25:23.200 give it to you at the end of my reading of it. 00:25:25.099 --> 00:25:32.359 It says this, we glory in tribulation. This is 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:38.759 kingdom talk right here. People that are normal 00:25:38.759 --> 00:25:49.559 don't say, I love it when I'm persecuted. I love 00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:54.289 it when I go through hardship. But this is what 00:25:54.289 --> 00:25:58.789 Paul said in Romans. I glory in tribulation. 00:26:00.609 --> 00:26:05.829 And Christian, you need to learn how to suffer 00:26:05.829 --> 00:26:12.349 well if you're going to walk in hope. I glory 00:26:12.349 --> 00:26:17.890 in tribulation. Now it goes on. Knowing that 00:26:17.890 --> 00:26:27.009 tribulation produces... And perseverance produces 00:26:27.009 --> 00:26:40.349 character. And character, hope. Hope. But where 00:26:40.349 --> 00:26:48.750 does it start? Tribulation. Now when you're suffering, 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:55.819 you have a choice in how you're going to respond 00:26:55.819 --> 00:27:03.819 to that suffering. We typically do one of two 00:27:03.819 --> 00:27:07.740 things when we suffer. The first thing we do 00:27:07.740 --> 00:27:15.059 is we say, woe is me. I'm going through something 00:27:15.059 --> 00:27:19.900 nobody else has ever gone through. Life is so 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:28.059 difficult. But the other response that is a response 00:27:28.059 --> 00:27:32.259 gifted to you from heaven, I believe. God will 00:27:32.259 --> 00:27:34.980 help you in it if you will take up this response. 00:27:36.839 --> 00:27:40.039 If you will say, you know what? I know this is 00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:44.200 tough. I know this is difficult. But I am still 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:48.609 going to do the right thing. I know this is difficult. 00:27:48.730 --> 00:27:51.930 I know this is tough. But I know, even if I don't 00:27:51.930 --> 00:27:54.569 have them in my life right now, I know that there 00:27:54.569 --> 00:27:56.730 are others walking through more difficult things 00:27:56.730 --> 00:27:59.670 than me. And they are surviving, and they are 00:27:59.670 --> 00:28:02.910 thriving, and they are making it. And so do you 00:28:02.910 --> 00:28:04.930 know what I'm going to do? I'm going to press 00:28:04.930 --> 00:28:09.490 through the tribulation. And you know what's 00:28:09.490 --> 00:28:12.829 happening right now? You, like in a pressure 00:28:12.829 --> 00:28:17.750 cooker, you are forming the diamond of character 00:28:17.750 --> 00:28:22.809 in your life. And that character is starting 00:28:22.809 --> 00:28:26.230 to come through. I can make it. I can get all 00:28:26.230 --> 00:28:30.109 the way to the end. I can come through this. 00:28:30.329 --> 00:28:33.009 And you begin to encourage yourself in the Lord. 00:28:33.230 --> 00:28:38.329 Your tribulation produces the perseverance that 00:28:38.329 --> 00:28:42.470 you needed to face your own limitations so that 00:28:42.470 --> 00:28:45.910 you could push beyond them and become what God 00:28:45.910 --> 00:28:51.130 had created you to be. Character. And when you 00:28:51.130 --> 00:28:54.950 have that kind of character, it does something 00:28:54.950 --> 00:29:00.619 in you. It changes your outlook so that you look 00:29:00.619 --> 00:29:03.779 at a nation called America and you say this, 00:29:03.900 --> 00:29:10.619 America is not going to fall to pieces and fall 00:29:10.619 --> 00:29:15.099 to the ground and become nothing. I'm telling 00:29:15.099 --> 00:29:18.539 you what, I have more hope for America than I've 00:29:18.539 --> 00:29:21.799 ever had. I believe that her best days are still 00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:24.619 ahead of her. I believe that there is revival 00:29:24.619 --> 00:29:28.000 coming to the United States of America. I believe 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:31.200 that the church is going to thrive again in the 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:34.779 United States of America. I believe it with my 00:29:34.779 --> 00:29:39.500 whole heart. I have hope. Now, does that mean 00:29:39.500 --> 00:29:45.509 I believe that it's perfect? No. Does that mean 00:29:45.509 --> 00:29:49.089 I agree with everything happening? No, but I 00:29:49.089 --> 00:29:54.470 have hope. That's what character gives you, a 00:29:54.470 --> 00:30:00.170 new perspective. That out of these ashes, God 00:30:00.170 --> 00:30:05.470 can do something great. That out of this difficulty, 00:30:05.509 --> 00:30:10.880 something good can come forth. And I've been 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:14.420 relating everything with Isaiah chapter 61. This 00:30:14.420 --> 00:30:20.420 is what it means that God gives beauty for ashes. 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:26.180 He takes ashes and he makes something beautiful 00:30:26.180 --> 00:30:29.960 out of them. And do you know that's where diamonds 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:36.380 come from? Ashes? Carbon. Squeezed and pressed 00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:45.460 together. In verse 5, this is Romans chapter 00:30:45.460 --> 00:30:51.640 5, by the way. Verses 3 through 5. It goes on 00:30:51.640 --> 00:30:56.779 and it says this. And hope never disappoints 00:30:56.779 --> 00:31:05.359 us. Because the love of God has been poured out 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:09.720 in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Who was given 00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:16.180 to us. Going back to Luke chapter 1. You'll notice 00:31:16.180 --> 00:31:22.740 something. In verse 13. Now this is a part of 00:31:22.740 --> 00:31:27.220 the story we haven't touched this morning. And 00:31:27.220 --> 00:31:29.799 I'm not going to touch it a lot. Except that 00:31:29.799 --> 00:31:35.750 Elizabeth became pregnant by miracle. She was 00:31:35.750 --> 00:31:38.630 beyond the age of childbearing, just like Sarah 00:31:38.630 --> 00:31:42.190 in the Old Testament. Elizabeth was the same 00:31:42.190 --> 00:31:46.730 way. And even though she was beyond the age of 00:31:46.730 --> 00:31:52.170 childbearing, she and her husband, Zechariah, 00:31:52.170 --> 00:31:57.519 did not quit believing God. And so I want you 00:31:57.519 --> 00:31:59.839 to look at verse 13. We're not going to talk 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:01.960 about this whole story. You can read the whole 00:32:01.960 --> 00:32:05.660 story because Zacharias, later on, he did have 00:32:05.660 --> 00:32:10.119 doubt and so forth. We're not going to talk about 00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:13.400 that as part of another message for another day. 00:32:13.539 --> 00:32:17.559 But look at verse 13. The angel said to Zacharias, 00:32:17.779 --> 00:32:22.859 do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer 00:32:22.859 --> 00:32:27.809 is heard. and your wife will bear you a son. 00:32:29.049 --> 00:32:34.450 Think about that. So this is Elizabeth and Zacharias 00:32:34.450 --> 00:32:38.650 together. Elizabeth passed the age of childbearing, 00:32:38.769 --> 00:32:45.950 and yet they are still standing in the place 00:32:45.950 --> 00:32:54.500 of prayer, believing God for a child. Do you 00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:58.220 know what that tells me? That even though others 00:32:58.220 --> 00:33:01.319 thought their dreams were shattered and others 00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:04.059 thought that they were cursed, that they were 00:33:04.059 --> 00:33:11.740 still standing in the place of hope. That Elizabeth's 00:33:11.740 --> 00:33:16.319 hope was not born the day she became pregnant. 00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:22.869 Elizabeth was standing in hope. All along her 00:33:22.869 --> 00:33:29.349 journey. Why? Because she had produced character 00:33:29.349 --> 00:33:36.609 in her life. That stood strong. And hope does 00:33:36.609 --> 00:33:44.250 not disappoint. Hope comes from suffering. Anybody 00:33:44.250 --> 00:33:48.049 out there in the midst of tribulation. Don't 00:33:48.049 --> 00:33:52.009 say woe is me. Don't say, oh, what's happening 00:33:52.009 --> 00:33:58.190 in my life? I'm not saying that the tribulation 00:33:58.190 --> 00:34:03.029 is fun. That fun is just an emotion. I'm not 00:34:03.029 --> 00:34:06.210 saying that you have to get ascetic about it 00:34:06.210 --> 00:34:11.769 and say, oh, just see how much I can take. I'm 00:34:11.769 --> 00:34:15.250 not saying that you have to be like that. But 00:34:15.250 --> 00:34:19.969 I am saying this, make a decision today. That 00:34:19.969 --> 00:34:22.309 in the midst of the tribulation that you are 00:34:22.309 --> 00:34:25.630 walking through, that you are going to allow 00:34:25.630 --> 00:34:31.230 God to work in your life. And in the midst of 00:34:31.230 --> 00:34:35.630 it, shape you into the person God created you 00:34:35.630 --> 00:34:41.530 to be. God created you for victory. God created 00:34:41.530 --> 00:34:45.349 you to come all the way through. God created 00:34:45.349 --> 00:34:52.659 you. He wired you. He wired you. He wired you 00:34:52.659 --> 00:35:01.159 for overcoming. Tap into that. Lord, thank you 00:35:01.159 --> 00:35:04.039 for helping me. I am coming all the way through 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:08.679 this thing. In Jesus' name. Praise the Lord. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:17.610 Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. He said, you shall 00:35:17.610 --> 00:35:21.150 call his name John, and you will have joy and 00:35:21.150 --> 00:35:26.010 gladness. That's the word of the Lord. And so 00:35:26.010 --> 00:35:28.969 the first thing that joy comes from is suffering. 00:35:29.070 --> 00:35:34.190 I'm going to wrap this up pretty quickly here 00:35:34.190 --> 00:35:37.710 and spend less time on these next points. But 00:35:37.710 --> 00:35:44.400 hope is rooted in trial and difficulty. Number 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:54.280 two, hope comes from believing the promise. When 00:35:54.280 --> 00:35:57.800 the promise is given to you. Now this is where 00:35:57.800 --> 00:36:00.280 Zacharias failed, if we would follow through 00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:04.960 his story. Zacharias expressed doubt given the 00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:08.820 promise. But when he came home and could not 00:36:08.820 --> 00:36:11.480 speak, and he sign -languaged everything to Elizabeth, 00:36:11.579 --> 00:36:15.619 and she finally understood what the angel had 00:36:15.619 --> 00:36:19.340 said to her, maybe Zacharias wrote it all down, 00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:22.920 Elizabeth didn't respond with doubt. Elizabeth 00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:28.500 responded with hope. She responded with faith, 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:34.929 believing the promise. And, friend, When God 00:36:34.929 --> 00:36:39.030 speaks to you a promise, then you have another 00:36:39.030 --> 00:36:42.110 choice to make. Your first choice was in the 00:36:42.110 --> 00:36:45.170 suffering and in the lack and in the time of 00:36:45.170 --> 00:36:49.889 difficulty to persevere and produce character. 00:36:50.670 --> 00:36:53.849 And now here's your second choice. Your second 00:36:53.849 --> 00:36:56.329 choice is this. When you're given the promise, 00:36:56.710 --> 00:37:00.170 are you going to believe the promise or are you 00:37:00.170 --> 00:37:04.250 not going to believe the promise? And that's 00:37:04.250 --> 00:37:08.750 the choice. And a person that has produced character 00:37:08.750 --> 00:37:12.449 in their life, that is walking in perseverance, 00:37:12.869 --> 00:37:16.690 a person that is walking in hope, a person that 00:37:16.690 --> 00:37:20.329 is walking in faith, will rise up and say, God, 00:37:20.389 --> 00:37:25.989 I believe your promise. Hallelujah. I believe 00:37:25.989 --> 00:37:30.110 your promise because hope is birthed in the promise 00:37:30.110 --> 00:37:37.489 of God. Hallelujah. Glory to God. And so in Hebrews 00:37:37.489 --> 00:37:44.889 chapter 11, in Hebrews chapter 11, I can't believe 00:37:44.889 --> 00:37:47.230 this isn't in my notes. I'm going to turn there 00:37:47.230 --> 00:37:51.730 real quick. Hebrews chapter 11. This is so good. 00:37:53.570 --> 00:38:00.429 It says this. Now faith is the substance of things. 00:38:02.380 --> 00:38:10.039 Hoped for. Wow. The evidence of things not seen. 00:38:10.840 --> 00:38:21.320 And so faith and hope are coupled together. They 00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:27.219 are eternally coupled together. Faith and hope. 00:38:28.650 --> 00:38:34.130 And so because I'm standing in faith, I have 00:38:34.130 --> 00:38:37.869 hope. Yeah, but pastor, you don't understand. 00:38:38.449 --> 00:38:47.130 I'm in stage four. Faith is the substance of 00:38:47.130 --> 00:38:56.190 things hoped for. Hallelujah. And so the evidence 00:38:56.190 --> 00:39:00.980 of things not seen, For by it, the elders obtained 00:39:00.980 --> 00:39:05.780 a good testimony. They carried faith in their 00:39:05.780 --> 00:39:09.500 heart, belief in God that he would come through. 00:39:09.780 --> 00:39:14.360 And so they obtained a good testimony. Think 00:39:14.360 --> 00:39:18.360 about Elizabeth's life. She had faith in God. 00:39:18.420 --> 00:39:21.940 She hoped in God. She hoped against everybody 00:39:21.940 --> 00:39:25.219 else's hope. I'm going to stand believing God. 00:39:25.300 --> 00:39:30.070 I'm still believing God for a son. I'm still 00:39:30.070 --> 00:39:35.289 believing God for a son. Everybody's cursing 00:39:35.289 --> 00:39:40.590 me, but I'm believing God for a son. And she 00:39:40.590 --> 00:39:45.409 hoped against all hope. And guess what happened? 00:39:46.449 --> 00:39:52.809 Her story is recorded in this book. Her story 00:39:52.809 --> 00:39:56.130 is recorded in the New Testament for people to 00:39:56.130 --> 00:40:01.900 read for all of time. As an example of a woman 00:40:01.900 --> 00:40:09.000 that stood strong. She obtained a good testimony. 00:40:11.320 --> 00:40:18.239 You know what else she did? Verse 6 says, without 00:40:18.239 --> 00:40:24.719 faith, it is impossible to please God. She became 00:40:24.719 --> 00:40:29.349 somebody that brought pleasure. To the Lord. 00:40:31.829 --> 00:40:36.449 Faith and hope. They're linked together. You 00:40:36.449 --> 00:40:39.570 know what God delights in? When the circumstances 00:40:39.570 --> 00:40:43.650 of life should snuff you out. The circumstances 00:40:43.650 --> 00:40:47.619 of life should just get you to quit. But you're 00:40:47.619 --> 00:40:51.000 still standing in faith, believing. You've not 00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:54.760 received the answer. And God is receiving the 00:40:54.760 --> 00:40:58.760 aroma of that faith. And it is making him happy. 00:41:00.059 --> 00:41:05.659 And that's what Elizabeth did. Look at her. She's 00:41:05.659 --> 00:41:13.260 still believing me. I want God to say that about 00:41:13.260 --> 00:41:19.199 me. Look, there's my son. He's still believing 00:41:19.199 --> 00:41:25.380 me. There's my daughter. I haven't healed her 00:41:25.380 --> 00:41:32.019 yet. But she's still believing me. There's my 00:41:32.019 --> 00:41:35.659 child. I haven't worked that miracle out yet 00:41:35.659 --> 00:41:40.079 that he's believing for. But they're still believing 00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:44.429 me. Oh, and when God looks down and he sees that, 00:41:44.530 --> 00:41:47.449 the answer hasn't come yet. But you're still 00:41:47.449 --> 00:41:50.789 standing in faith believing. Oh, he begins to 00:41:50.789 --> 00:41:54.210 take delight in that. That becomes a worship 00:41:54.210 --> 00:41:57.829 unto him. That becomes an aroma that is pleasing 00:41:57.829 --> 00:42:01.710 to him. Without faith, it's impossible to please 00:42:01.710 --> 00:42:05.469 God. But with faith, I can be one that brings 00:42:05.469 --> 00:42:09.530 pleasure to the Lord. This is what hope is all 00:42:09.530 --> 00:42:17.150 about. This is what hope is all about. This is 00:42:17.150 --> 00:42:20.809 what faith is all about. Do you know more than 00:42:20.809 --> 00:42:24.909 receiving the answer at the end, which I thank 00:42:24.909 --> 00:42:29.789 God happens, but more than receiving the answer 00:42:29.789 --> 00:42:34.389 at the end of it all, I get to bring pleasure 00:42:34.389 --> 00:42:39.489 to the Father. And I'm believing that this Christmas 00:42:39.489 --> 00:42:42.010 season, that this story of Elizabeth would become 00:42:42.010 --> 00:42:46.650 very real in your life. And that you will become 00:42:46.650 --> 00:42:51.610 a person of hope. That is not dependent upon 00:42:51.610 --> 00:42:55.320 your situation and how much money you make. But 00:42:55.320 --> 00:42:59.000 it is dependent upon you standing in faith, believing. 00:42:59.039 --> 00:43:02.659 Young people, stand in faith, believing God for 00:43:02.659 --> 00:43:05.920 your friends to come to Christ. Stand in faith, 00:43:05.980 --> 00:43:10.780 believing for the answer, for the miracle to 00:43:10.780 --> 00:43:16.820 come in the name of Jesus. Faith produces pleasure 00:43:16.820 --> 00:43:21.940 in God. God, I have the opportunity to bring 00:43:21.940 --> 00:43:28.699 you pleasure. The opportunity to stand in faith. 00:43:30.099 --> 00:43:38.320 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Glory to 00:43:38.320 --> 00:43:56.300 God. Praise the Lord. Faith. produces hope, believing 00:43:56.300 --> 00:44:02.579 Him. You know, just say one more thing here. 00:44:05.039 --> 00:44:15.440 When Mary entered the home and Elizabeth, her 00:44:15.440 --> 00:44:20.039 baby side of her, Elizabeth's own description 00:44:20.039 --> 00:44:32.239 is, He leapt in me. He leapt in me. And many 00:44:32.239 --> 00:44:36.320 of you women know what it's like to have a baby 00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:40.260 in your womb and you feel that baby move. I could 00:44:40.260 --> 00:44:43.820 later on in Cammie's pregnancies feel the baby 00:44:43.820 --> 00:44:47.119 kicking, moving, but she could feel it obviously 00:44:47.119 --> 00:44:51.119 in a totally different way. For her to describe 00:44:51.119 --> 00:44:56.199 that as the baby leaping, jumping. And in that 00:44:56.199 --> 00:44:59.639 moment, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:45:00.179 --> 00:45:10.139 It's powerful. Filled with the Holy Spirit. All 00:45:10.139 --> 00:45:17.199 of that happened because Mary came into the house. 00:45:23.500 --> 00:45:26.579 But it was more than that. It wasn't Mary so 00:45:26.579 --> 00:45:35.360 much. It's that it was the child that Mary was 00:45:35.360 --> 00:45:45.179 carrying. It was Jesus as an infant in the womb 00:45:45.179 --> 00:45:52.480 coming in to Elizabeth's house. And even as an 00:45:52.480 --> 00:45:57.960 infant, the power of God expressed through the 00:45:57.960 --> 00:46:04.519 life of Mary, the power of God came into Elizabeth's 00:46:04.519 --> 00:46:10.179 home and impacted the baby Elizabeth was carrying 00:46:10.179 --> 00:46:18.050 and Elizabeth. And she recognized without Mary 00:46:18.050 --> 00:46:20.989 even saying anything, she had a word from God. 00:46:21.110 --> 00:46:27.889 You are carrying my Lord. That's what she said. 00:46:28.750 --> 00:46:33.250 You're carrying my Lord. And you're blessed because 00:46:33.250 --> 00:46:39.489 you are his mother. Just thinking about this, 00:46:39.610 --> 00:46:47.260 the times later when Jesus, would enter homes 00:46:47.260 --> 00:46:56.579 in his ministry. It was in a home celebrating 00:46:56.579 --> 00:47:02.139 a wedding where Jesus turned the water into wine. 00:47:03.599 --> 00:47:09.599 It was in a home, Peter's home, that Jesus came 00:47:09.599 --> 00:47:13.530 in and the fever left. And Peter's mother -in 00:47:13.530 --> 00:47:17.829 -law began to get up and serve them all. It happened 00:47:17.829 --> 00:47:23.030 in a home. Jesus came in the home. It was in 00:47:23.030 --> 00:47:28.630 a home that Jairus' daughter, the Roman soldier, 00:47:28.929 --> 00:47:34.309 his daughter was dead. And when Jesus came into 00:47:34.309 --> 00:47:39.449 the home, everything changed. And that daughter 00:47:39.449 --> 00:47:44.679 who was dead, came to life. It was in a home 00:47:44.679 --> 00:47:50.699 that the crippled man on a mat that was, remember 00:47:50.699 --> 00:47:53.659 they dug through the roof, the thatched roof, 00:47:53.699 --> 00:47:56.159 they dug through and they lowered that crippled 00:47:56.159 --> 00:48:01.559 man down into that home. And that man stood up 00:48:01.559 --> 00:48:05.360 to his feet and was healed. And it was because 00:48:05.360 --> 00:48:13.469 Jesus came into a home. It was in a home where 00:48:13.469 --> 00:48:19.829 Mary sat and worshipped and poured perfume on 00:48:19.829 --> 00:48:24.769 Jesus' feet that was worth a year's wages. Think 00:48:24.769 --> 00:48:28.570 about what you make in a year. She poured that 00:48:28.570 --> 00:48:32.190 out at the feet of Jesus in one act of worship 00:48:32.190 --> 00:48:40.190 in a home. Zacchaeus. In Zacchaeus' home, salvation 00:48:40.190 --> 00:48:48.750 came to him. His life was turned around. And 00:48:48.750 --> 00:48:53.409 after the resurrection, Jesus walked on the road 00:48:53.409 --> 00:48:57.769 to Emmaus, and there were two disciples that 00:48:57.769 --> 00:49:00.190 he started walking beside, and they didn't know 00:49:00.190 --> 00:49:02.429 it was him, and they invited, they compelled 00:49:02.429 --> 00:49:06.809 him. They didn't say Jesus. They didn't know 00:49:06.809 --> 00:49:10.469 it was him. But they said, come into our home. 00:49:10.590 --> 00:49:16.110 They compelled him to stay. And in their home, 00:49:16.250 --> 00:49:21.050 Jesus ate with them and talked with them. And 00:49:21.050 --> 00:49:25.989 when he revealed himself as the Christ, he disappeared. 00:49:26.789 --> 00:49:29.909 And the two disciples were left looking at one 00:49:29.909 --> 00:49:33.789 another. And they said, this were not our hearts 00:49:33.789 --> 00:49:41.539 burning within us. It happened in a home. Here 00:49:41.539 --> 00:49:48.199 in Elizabeth's home, she's filled with the Holy 00:49:48.199 --> 00:49:54.679 Spirit. In Revelation chapter 3, Jesus said this, 00:49:55.219 --> 00:50:02.559 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Knock. 00:50:08.909 --> 00:50:12.590 And Jesus said this, if any man hears my voice, 00:50:12.889 --> 00:50:18.050 he's calling out. He's calling out your name. 00:50:20.230 --> 00:50:28.929 And if any man will open the door and let me 00:50:28.929 --> 00:50:37.070 in, I'll come in. Who knows what Jesus will do. 00:50:39.719 --> 00:50:42.059 He raises the dead. He fills people with the 00:50:42.059 --> 00:50:48.500 Holy Spirit. He turns water into wine. He makes 00:50:48.500 --> 00:50:54.739 provision where there was none. If you will open 00:50:54.739 --> 00:51:03.579 the door and say, Jesus, come in. Will you allow 00:51:03.579 --> 00:51:10.179 him in? Will you open the door of your home? 00:51:12.039 --> 00:51:21.239 Will you open the door of your heart? Elizabeth 00:51:21.239 --> 00:51:36.719 positioned herself. God, you're doing things 00:51:36.719 --> 00:51:38.860 in the hearts of people around this room right 00:51:38.860 --> 00:51:42.380 now. You're doing things in the hearts of people 00:51:42.380 --> 00:51:49.679 at home right now. There's some here that have 00:51:49.679 --> 00:51:55.900 lost hope. Do you want to restore hope to them? 00:51:58.300 --> 00:52:07.059 There's some here that... The need for you to 00:52:07.059 --> 00:52:12.880 come and just touch their heart. But there's 00:52:12.880 --> 00:52:17.179 some here that, Lord, you want to come alongside 00:52:17.179 --> 00:52:19.940 and you want to cheer on and you want to champion 00:52:19.940 --> 00:52:31.199 because they are living Elizabeth right now against 00:52:31.199 --> 00:52:36.610 everything. They are standing in faith, believing 00:52:36.610 --> 00:52:44.889 God. So I'm going to, in a moment, just ask you 00:52:44.889 --> 00:52:48.889 to stand. And I want you to stand for a couple 00:52:48.889 --> 00:52:53.650 of things. One, I want you to stand if you're 00:52:53.650 --> 00:52:55.369 here today, you're saying, you know what, I want 00:52:55.369 --> 00:53:01.570 to open up the door to Christ. I have never opened 00:53:01.570 --> 00:53:06.369 up my heart to Him. And this morning, I hear 00:53:06.369 --> 00:53:11.610 Him calling me. He wants to do a work in your 00:53:11.610 --> 00:53:14.070 life. And in a moment, if that's you, I'm going 00:53:14.070 --> 00:53:16.489 to ask you to stand and say, yes, that's me. 00:53:18.730 --> 00:53:23.429 If you're here this morning, and you're in the 00:53:23.429 --> 00:53:25.369 midst of a tribulation, and you're saying, I 00:53:25.369 --> 00:53:32.199 am standing. I am standing, but I want... I want 00:53:32.199 --> 00:53:34.639 you to pray for me because I have been tempted 00:53:34.639 --> 00:53:39.559 to lose hope. I have been tempted to not believe, 00:53:39.739 --> 00:53:44.860 to throw in the towel. In a moment, I'm going 00:53:44.860 --> 00:53:47.260 to ask you to stand. Some are already standing. 00:53:50.019 --> 00:53:53.579 Because I want to pray with you. And I want to 00:53:53.579 --> 00:53:58.739 cheer you on in your faith journey to stay strong. 00:54:01.519 --> 00:54:09.099 If you're here this morning and you're just saying, 00:54:09.179 --> 00:54:15.320 I want to grow in my faith. I want to grow in 00:54:15.320 --> 00:54:17.840 my faith because I want to bring pleasure to 00:54:17.840 --> 00:54:24.380 God. Then I want you to stand. So whatever the 00:54:24.380 --> 00:54:29.480 reason this morning, if one of those things applies 00:54:29.480 --> 00:54:33.000 to you, Just before the team begins to lead us 00:54:33.000 --> 00:54:38.159 in a worship song, I want you to stand right 00:54:38.159 --> 00:54:42.460 now in the name of Jesus. Say, yes, Lord, that's 00:54:42.460 --> 00:54:45.840 me. Here I am, God. I want you to do that work 00:54:45.840 --> 00:54:48.880 in my heart. I want you to do that work in my 00:54:48.880 --> 00:54:52.599 life. In the name of Jesus, people all over this 00:54:52.599 --> 00:55:00.809 room, thank you, Father, standing. Thank you, 00:55:00.809 --> 00:55:04.510 God, for the courage that is in this room right 00:55:04.510 --> 00:55:07.690 now. For people saying, you know what, it doesn't 00:55:07.690 --> 00:55:10.989 matter what everybody else thinks. This is me 00:55:10.989 --> 00:55:14.809 and you, Jesus. And I'm standing in faith, believing. 00:55:14.969 --> 00:55:20.190 I'm standing in the midst of my trial. I want 00:55:20.190 --> 00:55:23.190 to be a son or a daughter that brings pleasure 00:55:23.190 --> 00:55:28.269 to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Hallelujah. 00:55:31.519 --> 00:55:34.800 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You at home right now, 00:55:34.900 --> 00:55:38.579 if you want to stand up in your living room right 00:55:38.579 --> 00:55:41.099 now, come on, just stand up right where you are. 00:55:42.460 --> 00:55:45.519 And just begin to say, God, I want to be that 00:55:45.519 --> 00:55:50.679 person. I want to be that son. I can't do it 00:55:50.679 --> 00:55:54.079 without you, Lord. In and of myself, I'm nothing, 00:55:54.139 --> 00:55:58.659 but I know that with you, I can stand. And I 00:55:58.659 --> 00:56:00.579 thank you for the character that you're forming 00:56:00.579 --> 00:56:04.800 in this room right now. I thank you for what 00:56:04.800 --> 00:56:10.219 you're doing right now in Jesus' name. I thank 00:56:10.219 --> 00:56:15.699 you, Father, for your goodness. Hallelujah.