Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]: Hey, good evening everybody. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:03]: I did want to make one mention that it's not the financial class next week, Saturday, it's not the full Financial Peace University. That's a multiple week. You know, I think it's a ten week course actually. But even though that one day is, it's one day, it is a three hour session. And so there'll be different things covered. And if you guys have questions, bring your questions because that always makes it very, not just kind of interesting, but it makes it very user friendly. It makes it very personal for you. So it's one of those things that if you'd like to join us, we'd love to have you guys. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:39]: Hey, you know, we're starting a new series this week and it's really just a heart preparation for Christmas. Can you believe that? Christmas is three weeks away, man? It's less actually than three weeks away. And you know, and although I love all the trappings of Christmas and the music and you know, we're in town a little bit this week and you know, so you see the decorations and maybe you have your family traditions. I don't just love Christmas. I love the Christ who came and entered our world at Christmas, right? I love the God who became one of us and redeemed us, right? The light of the world, the creator of all things. He's the hope of the world and he's not just the hope of the globe, right? He's the hope of all people. And we're hoping that as we move forward in our Christmas season that God renews something in you. Sometimes in the middle of life, sometimes in the middle of the season, we get so caught up. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:36]: Maybe it's shopping, maybe it's getting ready for a family that's coming in. I had a friend who had a family that came from out of town and they, they were there all month, right? They were one month the family was in town. That was like the most wonderful time, the most exhausting, right? I can how all that works together. And so we want to take some time to prepare our hearts for this Christmas season. And so our series this week we're starting is a hope that changes the world. Because the things that God touches, right, he changes. And he doesn't just change, he makes better, right? He makes stronger. He. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:18]: He makes truer, he makes a purer, he makes a renewed that he, he heals, right? We see when Jesus touches something, someone that they never walk away the same, you know, right after Jesus heals this deaf man that it says this, that when the people Saw and all of that, that they were in Mark 7:37. It says they were completely amazed. Let's say the word amazed, right? You guys been amazed before, right? Sometimes there's somebody that you just, they never show up when they say they're going to show up. Sometimes they make the promises and everybody have like, I'll be there. And then that time comes and they're never there. And then like you might be amazed if that person actually comes sometimes right to your thing or, you know, that's a different kind of a thing. But it says this, that when they were completely amazed and said again and again, everything he does is wonderful. And, and I love that. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:19]: You know, it says he even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak. That word wonderful comes with the Greek word kalos, which just means fitting. It's, it's the right way, it's good, it's amazing, it's praise worthy. And because God, whatever Jesus touches is good. It's. It's amazing, it's praiseworthy, it's fitting, it's done the right way that we want make sure that we're preparing our hearts to say, hey, that he doesn't just want to be bring a hope that that's a false hope, he wants to bring a real hope. He wants to bring a hope that not just changes the world, but changes us. And so it says it like this in Matthew 24:14. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:03]: Can we just stand and read this together. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:08]: As a people of God? And let's read it out of our lips. This is what he says. And let's read. Ready, begin. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. And you know, every once in a while I've talked to people as I've been on mission trips and I've been in different places, not just in the world, but like just even in the US Actually, to be honest, I hear there's more in the US what I'm going to say than I do when I go in Asia or you know, in Indonesia or Philippines or I hear this argument more is that. You guys ever hear anybody say that Christianity is a Western religion? Right? I would hear that, but it's. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:55]: To be honest, where did I hear that? I hear that here, I don't hear it. Then when you go. I don't hear it. When I go overseas, I don't hear it. When I necessarily go to Japan, I don't hear that. But the thing is that what I love it. Says that this gospel, this good news, the hope isn't just for a certain kind of people. He says it's for everybody. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:15]: And it's a testimony to all nations. And that word nations, many of us know, isn't like the countries, right? There's only some 360 countries, almost like in the course of a year, right? Like a365, something like that, countries in the world. But there's over 17,432 distinct ethnic groups worldwide. And, you know, this promise is saying it's not just the people in China, like, you know, who only speak Chinese because there's people who don't speak Chinese in China. Sounds weird, but there's dialects in China, right? There's not that everybody, you know, around the world speaks the same language, even in the same country. Then that. Just the same in here in our nation, right? And so it says this, though, that now out of that 17,432 distinct people groups worldwide, God says that message needs to get to everyone because God cares about every one. And so this message, this hope, I'm thankful has been for you. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:21]: I'm thankful it's been for me. But there is a world out there that, that also needs this hope. And so before you're seated, do me a favor, just turn to your neighbor and say, jesus is the hope of your world. And the. Then you can have a seat, right? He's a hope of your world, and he's a hope for the world, right? I love that, man. And, you know, every once in a while I get asked different kinds of questions, right? You know, and I love questions because it makes for the greatest dialogue. And, you know, we, we always love questions. But one of the things that sometimes I would hear is that, like, you know, hey, what about, like, the people who came before Jesus? Like, you know, what about all those guys, right? You guys ever ask that question? You know, one of the things it says in Hebrews chapter 10 is that when Jesus died in the cross, it was enough for all time. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:18]: Not just the people who come after Jesus, but to be honest, even the people that came before Jesus, right? And so some of these people, we have these questions, right? And that. And so people start talking about, like, well, how did. Why did God choose the Jews, right? Why did God choose certain people? And we, we get all these things. But. But the reality is that God always has to start somewhere, right? That he. He moves and God cares about each people, each person, each people group. Yet at the same time, he has to just Start somewhere. Just like you, right? Whatever it is that you do that you have to start somewhere. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:50]: And this morning or this evening, what I want to talk about is the fact that God is always starting somewhere, right? That whenever he does something, it might not be where you want, it might not be where you think, it might not happen how you want or happen how you think. But when God does something, he's always going to start somewhere. And I think there's four things when I think about that and I look at the scriptures and I see how God operates. There's four things I want us to understand this evening about when God starts somewhere, right? And so the first thing I want to say is this, is that God often starts his greatest work, right? His greatest work. Unseen places. Now, if you wanted to launch a campaign called A Hope that Changes the World, where would you start, right? Some of us might want to start with, I got to talk to somebody in advertising. I got to talk to maybe a social media person. Maybe I got a. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:48]: We got to go to the biggest city, right? I was just watching this video recently about this couple that they live overseas and they love America, right? They're not American, but they love everything America. They went to New York City, they were amazed. They went to Texas, they were amazed. Everything that they loved America. So sometimes maybe we think we got to go to the biggest city, New York, or maybe we go to Tokyo, we go to Shanghai, right? We go to these places because we want the biggest platform. Maybe we do it at the super bowl, maybe we do it at the World cup, right? You know, a halftime show, right? Maybe you need the most famous person to get up there, like a famous soccer star like Ronaldo, a famous actor, like, well, I don't know, Sydney Sweeney. Seems somehow I hear that name every once in a while now, you know, just. I guess they love her jeans ad, right? But maybe it's a powerful innovator like Elon Musk. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:43]: If we had those guys, maybe we'd have a worldwide campaign. But if we tend to think that, right? Because sometimes we. We want something so big we don't know how to start, right? You guys ever been in that place? You. You have such big dreams. You do not even how to start. But God always just start somewhere. And where he starts often isn't the big splash kind of a way. Because God didn't choose the big famous broadcasting and biggest personality place. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:18]: In fact, he started in sometimes the most unseen place. He chose Bethlehem, right? He chose Bethlehem. And Bethlehem was a tiny speed bump of a town the place where there's a small manger, there's a place where an unknown teenage girl gives birth to a baby. But it was prophesied, right? It was prophesied about six or seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus. But you, O Bethlehem, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to be the ruler in Israel. Bethlehem was a place nobody expected. In fact, when Jesus was born and the wise men come, they had to do the research. They had to figure out, where is this baby going to be in Israel itself. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:05]: They searched the Scriptures and then they said, you know what? I think it's Bethlehem, this king of the Jews. But Bethlehem was anything but the big city. It was probably a few dozen families, groups, maybe a couple hundred people might have been known because of the fact that David's family and lineage were there, but it was the unsuspecting place. But God had a plan, and God always has a plan. Do me turn to your neighbor, says, God always has a plan. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:39]: He always does. 700 years before the birth of Jesus, we hear him saying, there's a plan for this town that maybe you might know a little bit about it, but nobody's ever been there, right? It's like one of those towns, a place that you always hear about maybe, but you never go. Right Here we see God mentioning that, you know what? There would be troubling times. In the book of Micah, there's troubling times that are coming, there's captivities there's going to be being brought into a foreign land. And yet at the same time, God still had a plan. And then when the angel comes and speaks to Mary, the angel says to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. And you shall call his name. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:30]: What? Jesus, right? The name above all names, right? The sweetest name, the most powerful name. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, that child will recall, will be to be born, will be called Holy. Holy. You know, I had children. I never called any of them holy, unfortunately. But you know the Son of God, right? And it says the beginning of this happens in a hidden place, a little town. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:06]: A woman's womb, something that they could never see. But God had a plan, and he's had a start. But it starts often. God often starts in unseen places. Why is that? Because God doesn't need the big stage. He creates the stage, right? He makes wherever he starts a Bigger place. He doesn't need the human spotlight because his glory is the spotlight, right? His presence is the spotlight. God always starts small. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:39]: In fact, when people ask about, well, why did God choose Israel? Why is God Israel? God's chosen people? It doesn't say because Israel was famous or because they had the most powerful army, or they had the greatest talent or the most holy people. In fact, in Deuteronomy 7, 7 says, I didn't choose you because you were the greatest. I chose you because you were the smallest, right? Why does God choose that? Because then when something amazing happens, right, we said amazing, who gets the glory? God gets the glory. Because we all know it wasn't me. We all know it wasn't us. We all know it wasn't the greatness of us, it was the greatness of God. And that's why Isaiah says this, that my thoughts are about God's ways, that he says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord. My ways are not your ways. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:33]: Because sometimes we, we think we need the big to get started. You don't need the big to get started. God doesn't need the big to get started. God doesn't need the famous to get started, right? So if at times you feel hidden, unseen, unknown, overlooked, if your situation, maybe your shopping list, you know, looks smaller than what you think, more insignificant, less expensive, you know what? God often starts in the sun, Seen places. When it feels like that, when it feels like nothing is happening, God's still moving. He just might be moving in the background and you might be standing in a Bethlehem, right? Remember that God has a plan for your life, right? And his plan is good, right? I love that his plans are good. I am reminded in Jeremiah 29:11, he says, for I know the plans I have for you. This is the Lord's declaration. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:35]: What does the rest of it say? Let's read that together. Plans for your well being, not for disaster. To give you a future and a hope. And wherever your future looks like, whatever it's facing. And sometimes we wonder, is this the time when my luck runs out? Is this the time where the blessing ends? Sometimes we get worried about things like that. Can we keep on going at this situation in this season? Right? Is my company going to make it right? There's questions all of us have at times, but he says this, it's a good plan. It takes into account your future and it's a hopeful plan. Because Jesus is the hope, your hope, my hope. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:23]: But he's the hope of the world. And you might just be Standing in the place where God is starting something new. It's just that you don't see it yet, you don't feel it yet. So as we prepare to worship the Lord of all this Christmas, don't be worried if things look different. Don't be worried if it's not what you hope. Don't be worried if it's not where you'd like it to be. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:51]: Because something good is taking place. Something world changing is happening in you and is going to happen through you. And remember, it always starts hidden, right? Starts hidden. But you know, just because it's hidden doesn't mean that it's not happening, right? So just because you can't see the movement doesn't mean that God isn't moving. You know, Christmas came at a time, that first Christmas came at a time where the people of God hadn't heard a prophetic word. They hadn't heard a word from God. They hadn't had a major movement in 400 years. I don't know about you, but when you think about it, it's like longer than we've been a country, right? It's longer than, you know. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:46]: The time. It's just about the time of the Enlightenment, right? This happened a long time ago. That's an ancient history for them. When God moved, there was 400 years, sometimes we say, of silence between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ. Christ and the word of the Lord was rare in those days. But God is at work before we see things happening. Because often God is working in the background. Scripture shows us that while sometimes people are waiting and we're looking for something, that God's arranging things moving in the background. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:25]: Sometimes he's getting things put in place. Sometimes he's getting things to be able to be available at the right time. Sometimes he's getting the right people. Sometimes it's even the conditions in the world. We understand that when Jesus was born, that the gospel, when Jesus went to the cross and the resurrection happened, that when the first movement of missions came, it says it went around a known world in that time, it would not have been possible. If it had happened a hundred years before this. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:06]: It wouldn't have happened. Why? Because even though they may have had the language of trade, which was the Greek language, this is what the New Testament is written in. And you know why that happened? It's because the Greeks conquered the Middle east as they conquered the rest of Asia. And I mean, I'm sorry, Europe, on the way from Europe to Asia, conquered that whole band all the way to India. Greek became the trade language. But you needed the Romans to come after the Greeks to build the road system and the trade system so that the gospel could happen in one generation of life, one generation of time. The gospel went from Jerusalem to Rome to Turkey, throughout Europe, and started to go into Egypt. It went through all of this known area. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:59]: Wouldn't have been able to go 100 years prior to this until the Romans came and established this whole giant road system. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:09]: God is often working when we don't see it working, he's still working. Even when you don't feel him working. We sing a song that says something like that, right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:21]: He's the way maker. Galatians 4:4 says it like this. But when the fullness of time had come, let's say fullness of time. Fullness of time. What is that saying? The right time. When the right time came, God sent his son born of. Of a woman. He was already preparing stuff way before the birth of Jesus. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:47]: They had to have been captured by the Babylonians and the Chaldeans and the Greeks later to conquer Tortum. And the Romans come after that, right? That 700 years before Jesus was born. The prophet Isaiah says, but in the future he will bring honor to the sea, to the land of the east, of the Jordan, to the Galilee of the nations. East of the Jordan is Israel. The people walking in darkness have seen a light. A light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:17]: You see, God's working. He had a plan, and he was working his plan. Hope was set in motion. Before hope shows up, before you can see it, hope is already at work. Because God works in all things. It says right in Romans 8, 28, he says, we know that all things work together for the good, right? God's working in all things for those who love him and are called according to his purpose, not just the things you notice, right? You guys ever notice, like there's things you notice as soon as it changes, right? And there's just some things that you don't notice. Like for some of you, I hope this is not true. It's like when your wife gets a haircut. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:04]: I didn't notice. Like, I hope you don't say this like I cut it three weeks ago. You don't want to hear that, right? But. But every once in a while there's something that as soon as you. One little thing happens, you notice it. And there's other things that are changing. You're changing, but you just. You don't see it at the moment until until suddenly you do. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:23]: You know, we use this. This kind of. This concept of the pre work or the work that's happening and where God's aligning things, adjusting things. I talked a little bit about it last week when I talked about the mustard seed, right? He says it's a mustard seed. It's the smallest seed in the garden, and it was at that time in Israel. But when it's planted, right, what happens? He says it grows, it dominates, it chokes out. It has this massive spread of its roots. And its root goes deep and then it goes high, right? And you know, at the same time, God's work often feels slow until it suddenly feels fast. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:12]: It's a weird phenomenon, but this is the paradox of God's timing. It often feels slow till suddenly it feels fast. You think about those 400 years of silence. That must have been incredibly slow. Must have been incredibly slow. No new scripture, no angelic visions, right? For generations, people, is God at work? Is God abandoned us? The prophets already said it's coming, right? In the appointed time. It's coming in Habakkuk 2, 3. He says this, for still the vision awaits is what appointed time? It hastens. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:52]: It's hurrying to the end. It will not lie if it seems slow, right? Ever seem slow? God's timing ever seems slow in your life when you're praying for a job, right? For some of us, when you were praying for a spouse, right? For some of us, when you were praying for a change of seasons, right? Of some kind, ever seem slow? I think we've all felt those moments where it seems slow, right? And it says this, if it seems slow, wait for it. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:25]: And if it seems like when you're a kid for Christmas to come, didn't it seem slow? Seems like it takes forever, right? When you're a kid now, it's like, oh, my gosh. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:38]: It comes so fast. You know what that means? You're getting old. No, but you know, the thing is that we need to be reminded. He's saying, you got to wait for it because it will surely come. It will not delay. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:54]: Because one of the reasons that it is is because God looks at time differently than us, right? And God works in time and sometimes differently than we work in time. Peter said it like this. This is where a day is like a thousand years, right to the Lord. And a day, a thousand years is like a day to the Lord, right? So it's God. Sometimes he has those things. But the good news part of that, and we read in verse nine, it says, that the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises. God is not putting it to the back burner of his plate. He's not putting it to the bottom of the to do list. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:36]: God is not slow. God is not slow Walking your requests. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:43]: God is not forgetful and then tell you, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it'll be done. He's not forgetful, but is patient. Let's say patient. He's patient towards you. He says sometimes it's not wanting, wishing anyone should perish, but it all should come to repentance. You see, what it's saying is this, that God's not slow. He's strategic. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:11]: And he's patient because he's working out the details. And he wants people at times who don't know him yet, people who haven't experienced his kindness yet experience his kindness, and it feels good. There's people who experience God's kindness, but they don't realize it's God's kindness. They just think, huh, it was lucky. Oh, man, right? Until later. Until later, you look back on your lives, you look back on your lives and you say, man, God preserved my life. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:45]: Sometimes in those moments, you just go, like, whoo, bro, that's a good thing. It didn't work out the way that it could have. And then later, when you come to Jesus, you go back and you look at those things, you're like, man, God. God was just working in my life because he was strategic and he was patient. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:09]: And then when God starts to move, it feels like the shepherds in the field. You know what it says about the shepherds in the field? In verse 213 of the book of Luke, it says this, and suddenly, let's say suddenly, right? Like, all of a sudden, now, bam, the sky is open. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:33]: And you know when those times happen. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:36]: You'Re praying for a door to open, and it's slow, and you're waiting and you're knocking and you're doing all that stuff, and then the door opens and you go. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:46]: I'm not ready. Right? You guys ever been in that kind of a thing? It's like, come on, come on, come on, come on. And then it happens and you're like, wait, wait, it's too fast. Too much, right? You know, it happened like that when. When I got married, you know, when it seemed forever. I got married when I was 35. How many of you guys know that when you're 35? Like, that's. That's not spring chicken and getting married years, right? And when I was. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:13]: When I was 18, I thought man, maybe I'll be old when I get married. Like 25. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:20]: Then 25 came and I go like, maybe it'll be like when I'm 28, right? When I was 28, I was thinking maybe 30. And when I was 30, I started sweating. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:33]: Right? Started praying, right? I started praying. It's like, lord, is this ever going to happen? You guys ever been in that place? Is this ever going to happen? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:42]: And then when I met my wife, we got separated for almost a year because of a visa issue. She was stuck back in Japan. She was here, but when she came here, we didn't realize. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:59]: I went to go ask my in laws for a hand in marriage and you know, honor her parents, honor her dad, honor her mom, who we have great respect for. And when we tried to come back, we didn't know her visa had kind of been cut at that time. And so she got sent back. She wasn't deported. That's a different thing. But she had to go back to Japan and we were separated. I had to file a visa and fiance visa, do all this stuff and talk with the senator's office and do all these things. And it just seemed forever to get it for her to come. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:39]: And as soon as she came, she came back in December, at the end of December. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:47]: And we got married two months later. How many of you know that? When she finally came and we had to get ready for the wedding in two months, all of a sudden it felt like suddenly, right? Because we didn't know when she was going to be able to come. We didn't know when she was going to get the visa. As soon as we got it, that's when we had to set the date and we had two months to plan the wedding. Slow, slow, slow, slow, slow. Till suddenly, right? And sometimes it works out like that. Maybe things like that in your life, right? Getting a new job, right? Having kids and then maybe having the next kid, you know, for sometimes it's this aspect of a plan that you have a dream that you have. It's like all of a sudden taking forever and you're saving, you're saving because you want a house. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:43]: And then all of a sudden it's like, man, we got to, we got to act now before the window closes, right? And so often we see God works. Often feels slow, often feels to be stagnant. Often feels at times like nothing's happening. You know, a radish can sprout in. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:14]: A couple weeks, right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:19]: A great bamboo, giant bamboo takes five years. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:25]: You can have a tree like a Pine tree. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:31]: It doesn't have a time limit. You know what it needs? It needs a fire. That thing can lay dormant. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:39]: For 20 years until a fire. And when a fire happens, the resins are unlocked and the seeds become viable. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:52]: And then it starts. We don't know. At times it feels slow, but once it goes, you'll feel it'll change, it'll come almost suddenly. This is how God works. So before the most challenging and impactful things often in your life, it'll feel slow, slow, slow. Wondering, is anything happening? Wondering, is God even listening? And then suddenly, do me a favor, turn to your neighbor and say, it's slow. And then sudden. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:34]: So if you've been waiting for great things. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:38]: Keep waiting, keep trusting, right? If you've been waiting to plant something of hope, to start something, plant now, Plant now. If it feels slow, it's because God's getting something ready. It might be you, might be the circumstance might be changing some world events. It might be because. So when it happens, we say, it's only God who could have done that. It's only God who could have done that. But hope that starts small doesn't stay small, right? Isn't that good news, that what starts small doesn't always stay small? In fact, hope that starts small will spread to the whole world. Jesus himself gave us that picture in. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:29]: The mustard seed. But you know, right after that, mustard seed, the very next verses, it says this, that, what else he's saying besides the mustard seed, the thing that's planted, that small seed, and then it grows and goes deep and wide and all that he says, what else is it like? He says this, like this. In verse 21, it is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. And even though she put only a little yeast and three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough. Any bakers in here? I know there's some, because I like what you guys make, and you guys make great stuff. And every once in a while I'll actually request. I'm not embarrassed. But you know, but the thing is that usually when you guys make stuff, it's. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:16]: I know it takes time, I know it takes a lot of energy. But for most of us when we bake, we don't make a 60 pound batch of dough, right? That's what three measures of wheat is. It's about 60 pounds of dough, right? And so it says this, that, and when you take the yeast, it says they just take a little pinch and they stick it in the dough. And the contrast is, yes, we Know that yeast will grow, and it might take time, but the thing is that it doesn't matter how small the amount of yeast that's put in. That yeast has a way of working. Giving enough time, has enough to work its way through the whole of the dough, right? It's not just because you're making sourdough bread or whatever, but it creates a richness, a flavor, a texture that only happens when this fermentation, right? When this process works its way. Did you guys know that yeast are only 3 to 4 microns. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:20]: Wide, right? So a yeast cell and the thing is that just a few snake is invisible to the naked eye. Needs to be 40 before that thing can be seen, right? But at 3 or 4, you can't see it, but it's still there. You could plant a few in there, given enough time, and thing will still permeate the whole of the dough. But it might seem slow, it might seem imperceptible, but it's working because once it's planted, it's unstoppable. Once it's planted, it transforms the whole batch. Just sometimes, we don't know when. But what does it transform? Only the things that it touches, right? Because if you had that dough separated and you put one ball here and one ball here, and you put the yeast in this, is this going to get changed? No. Right? It only touches. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:19]: It only changes the things that it touches. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:25]: So. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:28]: Yeast needs an environment to touch this dough, right? That dough, that environment is. It needs. Let me ask you this. Who's in your world? Who's near you? Where you sleep, where you eat, where you work, where you play? Right? Who you talk to, who you do stuff with, who works with you? Right? Who you go home to? Because, to be honest, you're called to be that speck of yeast. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:05]: To them. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:08]: To permeate. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:11]: To reach, to influence. Is it because you have all the answers? No. Sometimes all you have is a prayer. Sometimes all you have is a good deed. Sometimes all you have is an invitation. Sometimes all you have is a question to them. Hey, have you ever considered. Have you ever considered that God might really just be right behind where you're at? You just can't see it, but he's actually leading. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:42]: Have you ever asked anybody a question, spiritual question? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:47]: Haven't you ever looked back in your life and you go, like, man, I just know there was something greater than me that was at work in that moment, right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:59]: You're called to influence and bring the hope of Jesus to those around you. That's how. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:08]: The Whole lump of dough gets changed and transformed because somebody needs to be contagious. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:18]: That's you and that's me. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:21]: Maybe we'll pray for them, right? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:25]: Maybe we'll invite them. Maybe, you know that we don't have the invitation cards, but we do have a slide, I think, of the invitation card. Can you just put that on the thing? Do me a favor. If you want to invite somebody, take a picture of this, screenshot this, if you're watching at home, right? And invite a friend. Hey, we have service on. Are you free Saturday? And he goes, oh, man, I got a party. No problem. We got a service on Sunday, man, I gotta go golf. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:57]: Really? You gotta golf? Hey, well, how about a candlelight service on Tuesday? Whatever it is that invite that person. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:07]: Sometimes it's the person who serves you the coffee, the person who cuts your hair. Sometimes it's the person who. Who. Who's your neighbor, right? It's those people that we talk to. It's those people that when we touch. I. I worked. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:29]: On sales, and a lot of you guys know that I did sales before I came back into the ministry and after being a missionary. And I just need to make some. You know, I needed to make some money. I needed to be able to support my wife, and so that's why I was doing that. And during that time, and I had a manager, and he was like the most kind of. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:55]: Kind of a rough and. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:59]: Unkind about the faith, right? Always had a comment. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:05]: And always had some kind of attitude. And I remember people calling him out, like, other guys, just. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:13]: On the team, on the sales team. And. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:18]: You know, I could handle this. It's not a big deal. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:22]: And somebody said, hey, you should be careful. You know, don't talk to Glenn like that. He's a pastor. And like, his. His thing was he used to be a pastor. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:30]: And so I did. It was all right. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:34]: But, you know, I. I just remember getting into it with him, and one day I got real irritated with him, and he was making a comment, and I just made that one of those really cutting, super funny, like, everybody laughs at the table, right? And then I felt good for, like, about 10 seconds. And then I heard the Holy Spirit say. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:00]: Proud of yourself? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:03]: You know, just like, really? Is that what you proud of? And so I remember going to him. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:11]: When he came back from lunch, and I just said, hey, Dave, you know, hey, sorry, I shouldn't have said, you know what I said? He said, no, I'm a big boy. I can handle. I said, no, no, I know you are. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying I knew I was wrong and I shouldn't have said it. And, you know, when I actually apologize for doing that, something changed in the way that he responded to me. It wasn't the fact that. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:43]: Sometimes you feel like we got to be perfect. You guys ever feel like you got to be perfect to be a witness? It was the fact that I wasn't, and I owned up to it, that changed something in him. And he started to ask me questions. And then I invited him to church, and he came. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:04]: And then he gave his heart to Jesus. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:08]: And then when he left the company. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:11]: I got a call a few years later, and I was already back in the ministry. He says, glenn, can you do my wedding? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:22]: And, you know, is it every person I've ever worked with? No. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:29]: But it happens to the people that you plant the seed, right? And some people, you see it when it happens, and for others might seem slow. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:42]: And like nothing's happening till all of a sudden, suddenly you see that change. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:53]: But you got to plant the seed. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:56]: You got to plant the seed, make an invitation, pray a prayer, pray for people, invite people. This is how the kingdom is expanding. And so it's. It's a hope for the whole world. This is how the Christmas story works, that even the shepherds went and told the other shepherds and told their family what they experienced, and the story spread. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:25]: Isaiah saw it hundreds of years, 700 years in advance, and it said this. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:42]: This prophecy isn't fulfilled yet. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:48]: There's about 3.2 billion people, they say, in the world, that actually claim to be Christian. Now, to be honest, I think that people who really know Jesus, who really know him and don't have just a religion, it's probably a lot less than that. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:07]: But about half the world kind of knows the gospel. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:15]: They're still on a whole other half. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:19]: That they need. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:23]: That the baby that was born in Bethlehem becomes a savior on a cross. They need to know that a cross then becomes an empty tomb. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:38]: An empty tomb becomes a move of God. And when the move of God is completed, he says, when it goes throughout all the earth, then it becomes the eternal kingdom. And we seem so slow about when Jesus is coming. But guess what? It's slow and slow and slow until what? It's going to be real sudden. Isn't that what it says? In the twinkling of an eye. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:11]: Like a lightning bolt, it'll be sudden. We just don't know when. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:19]: So we plan. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:21]: We love, we invite. Right. And do you need to have the biggest platform and all the social media? No. I mean, I'm sure it's helpful. You just. You need to plant it in your friends, in your family, the people that you have in contact. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:45]: So don't despise the days of small beginnings, it says. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:50]: Because it tells us there's a rhythm to this hope. Because God starts where no one is looking. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:58]: He's working long before anything seems to be happening. And it'll feel slow. It's. You talk to your friends, you pray for your friends, until suddenly he moves quickly. And although it starts small, would you know it spreads powerfully. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:20]: I don't know if you feel small at times or you feel slow at times, or maybe you feel hidden at the moment, but this is the truth. God is always starting somewhere. Let him start now, right where you're at. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:37]: Amen. Let's bow our heads. We'll close in a word of prayer. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:44]: Father Christmas is about three weeks away. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:49]: And it might seem like it's slow or it might seem fast. I'm not sure. But we're thankful. Hope has already come. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:00]: But, Lord, would it grow? Would it move? Would it spread? Lord, would it spread in us? And, Father, sometimes we get caught up in all the things we need to do or we want to do. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:14]: Lord, but would we never forget. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:18]: That Christmas wasn't about. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:21]: Presence or it wasn't about having a perfect house? Lord, it was about people. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:29]: That you came for, people. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:33]: That the one who made us became one of us. Because you love people. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:42]: And that, Lord, hope is already here in our hearts. But sometimes we just. We don't always see it. We confess. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:52]: And if you're in that moment. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:57]: Where it's just hard to actually even just feel hopeful. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:04]: Father, we pray for our friends who are. Who might be in that situation. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:12]: Father, sometimes what we have to do is we have to look back. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:18]: Father. We have to look back how you already brought us through hard times. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:24]: Sometimes we need to look back, Lord, and how you brought us to yourself. And, Lord, how at times it seems everything was so slow until it was suddenly fast. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:39]: Maybe it was as. Lord, we're trying to get through a season we thought would never end. And then suddenly we're free. Or suddenly the job comes on the scene, or suddenly we are able to move. Suddenly we're able to get connected. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:57]: Father, would you help us to be reminded about what you've done in the past? Because you'd do it again. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:04]: Because your plans Are good. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:10]: Father, I pray, too, that with that, would it just be a rising of our faith. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:18]: And an opening of our eyes to say, lord, sometimes we feel like, I don't want to share the gospel. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:25]: Because certain things are going hard in my life. But. But sometimes it's in the sharing of the gospel that we remember the things that really matter. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:36]: That, Lord, you're not limited. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:40]: That you're strategic, and that you're patient and kind. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:46]: So, Father, I pray that would my friends experience that and would they just pass that on. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:53]: To wherever they're planted. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:57]: In their families, in their friendships, in their work relationships, in their neighborhoods? Father. In their activities? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:08]: Father, wherever we're planted, would we be agents of hope. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:15]: Not shy. To pray, to invite, to pray for, to share a good word. Father, bless us today. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:27]: Because, thankful Lord, you always start somewhere. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:32]: With our heads bowed, eyes closed. That I don't know if you're here where. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:39]: You'Ve heard about Jesus, and. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:43]: It seems slow, God doing something in your life. And maybe part of it is because you just never said yes, because you never said yes to Jesus. If that's you today. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:54]: Maybe today's your day. Today's the day where you say yes to Jesus. Today's the day where you say, God, I really need you. I really. I know it's true. I know there's something beyond what I can understand. I know there's a God. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:12]: I just don't know if he loves me. Here's the good news. He does. He loves you. He cares about you. And if you will trust in him and surrender your life and ask him. Ask him to forgive you of your sin. Ask him to come into your life. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:30]: You know what he'll do. He says this. I stand at the door and knock. And if you can sense me, you can feel me, you can. You can hear me. And you open the door, this is what he says. I'll come in. And if you've never done that before, I just love to have the privilege to pray with you. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:51]: And if you pray a very simple prayer. We're gonna pray a very simple prayer. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:56]: Basically, Lord, here I am. And I need you. Would you come inside and forgive me? Jesus. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:07]: Be my savior. Be my leader. I give you my heart and myself. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:16]: Would you lead me? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:20]: You pray a prayer like that. You pray it from the heart. Doesn't matter what your words. God hears you. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:31]: If that's you, would you just. Just hitchhike along with me? Dear God. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:38]: Thank you that you're good. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:42]: And that what you do is wonderful. It's good it's fitting it's amazing and it's praiseworthy But I recognize when I see that I've made my mistakes. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:00]: I've sinned, I've rebelled I've pushed you away but today I surrender Today I open up my heart to you Would you come be my savior Forgive me of my wrongs, my sins. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:18]: Jesus. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:21]: Would you help me to know you Because I want to follow you. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:28]: God work in me help me to grow in my faith in my knowledge of you. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:38]: I need you today. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:41]: And would you help me to become who you created me to be? Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:47]: And I might not know what to do but would you bring people around me that would help me to grow grow In Jesus name I pray God's people say Amen hey, if you prayed that prayer or something like it, would you know God heard you. Hey, congratulations guys. God bless you guys. Looking forward few more weeks and we'll get to celebrate the best day, the fact that he came. Amen. Thanks for joining us today.