Faith is more than a feeling or a theory. It's
a decision that moves your feet, opens your hands,
and activates God's promises. In our brand new
book, Faith Act, Jeffrey and I take you on a
powerful journey through some of Scripture's
most transforming moments, where ordinary people
dared to obey and saw heaven move on their behalf.
Order your copy of Faith Act today on Amazon.
We're continuing in our series that we've entitled
Not Mine But God's, but we are changing gears.
I don't know if you notice a difference in the
background or not. I don't know if you look that
close or not. But it was multicolored shipping
containers all stacked up. And this is Christmas
lights, right? So we've talked about, I hope
I can remember all four of them. We talked about
not my ability but God's. We've talked about
not my mind, but God's. We've talked about not
my will, but God's. And we've talked about not
my victory, but God's. Now, we are changing gears.
And it's very uncommon for us to sing Christmas
songs all four weeks, but we're going to. And
we're going to talk about the incarnation. Everybody
say incarnation. See, long before Gabriel, the
angel Gabriel, ever spoke to Mary, angels visited
the shepherds. Our wise men saw that newly formed
star. Long before all that happened, God planted
a promise in the hearts of his people. Everybody
say, planted a promise. Has God ever planted
a promise in your heart? through his word. I'm
glad three of you, God has planted a promise
in your heart. But God planted a promise in the
hearts of his people that the Messiah is coming.
For hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, even
thousands of years, if you look at the scripture,
you see that there was a Messiah coming in the
Old Testament. And it pointed to a deliverer,
a savior coming. And that happened long before
the Christmas story as we know it took place.
And according to Dean, the two most important
events in all the history of the world, according
to Dean, you may disagree. It's okay to be wrong.
Two most important events. Or the incarnation,
everybody say incarnation. And the resurrection.
Incarnation and the resurrection. Those two events,
those make the difference in our life today.
Right? Because without the incarnation, we would
be just as hopeless as without a resurrection.
Because without the incarnation, Jesus would
just be a man. With the incarnation, he's God
and he's man. And he wasn't born in sin like
we are, right? That's how important the incarnation
is. Now, I don't know how many years it's been,
but I didn't grow up having Advent services in
the church that I grew up in. Anybody grow up
with Advent services? where you had a little
wreath and had some candles and you light a candle
and read some verses every week? Only two of
us or more than that? All right. But I learned
about that when I was chaplain in Myrtle Beach.
People said, okay. So I had to do some studying
up, right? Because I'd never done that before,
growing up as a preacher's kid even. And I just
want to let you know that the word Advent This
is just a Webster's definition of the word Advent.
Here's what it is. Advent is the arrival of a
notable person or a thing. The arrival of a notable
person or a thing. I mean, we may have used the
word Advent outside of talking about... the incarnation
or even the second coming, we might have used
the word advent to say like, how many of you
remember the advent of television? I had a little
black and white TV in my house. I was the remote
control. The advent of the remote control was
a nice thing because I was the youngest, so I
was the remote control growing up. The advent
of cell phones. I mean, I remember it's like
science fiction that one day you might be able
to talk on the phone with somebody while you
look at them. How many of you remember that?
Thinking that, wow, that would just be incredibly
amazing. So we've got the advent of the internet,
good or bad, or both, right? Advent of the smartphone,
all those things. That's the arrival of something
notable in society, I would say. But when we
think about Jesus and when we think about him
stepping down out of the throne room of eternity
and adding humanity to his deity, when he showed
up, it was a big deal. Look at the person beside
you and say it was a big deal. Over the next
four weeks, we're going to be looking at the
story in Scripture. And while we look at the
story, we're going to be preparing our hearts
to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Because it's
so easy in our world today to celebrate Christmas
and not really celebrate Jesus. Does anybody
know what I'm talking about? So we're going to
prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of
Jesus. And that's not the only thing notable
that happened. Because when Jesus came, a notable
person came. There's also some other notable
things that came. Came with him coming. So we're
going to prepare to receive his hope. Everybody
say hope. We're going to prepare to receive his
peace. Everybody say peace. We're going to prepare
to receive His joy. Everybody say joy. We're
going to prepare to receive His love. Everybody
say love. Because all those things became available
to us in a greater measure when Jesus came. Somebody
smile. Somebody say thank you. Not to me, but
to Jesus. All right? So that's what we're going
to be focusing on. And I believe if we listen
with expectation, Now there's multiple kinds
of listening. Right? Hello? Come on. We talk
to each other here. There's multiple kinds of
listening. Us guys know more about selective
hearing than anybody. But there's multiple kinds
of listening. I want us to listen with expectation.
We're not just going through a religious service.
We need to listen with expectation. And if we
listen with expectation, we might just hear the
voice of God calling us out of the noise. You
know what I'm talking about? Him calling us out
of the noise. All the distractions. All the things
that replace what He has for us. I believe we
just might hear the voice of God calling us out
of the noise and calling us into his life, into
the things that are available because of the
incarnation. Luke 1, verses 26 through 38. In
the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God
sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth. a village
in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged
to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant
of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said,
Greetings, favored woman. The Lord is with you.
I want you to think about this. This is just
a teenage girl. She's at the house probably.
She's in her room. And all of a sudden, the messenger,
the main messenger angel of God appears where
she can see it. And he has a message. Everybody
say message. He has a word. Everybody say word.
And it begins with greetings, favored woman.
The Lord is with you. Now, her response is most
likely like yours or mine. If we were just in
our house, in a room by herself, all of a sudden
an angel shows up, starts talking to us, right?
She was confused. She was a little disturbed.
How many of you would be confused and a little
disturbed if an angel showed up? Started talking
to you. You could see him, hear him. I mean,
you know, this isn't just some dream that she
had. She didn't take a nap and dream this. This
is real. So she's confused. She's a little disturbed.
And she's trying to think what this angel could
mean. I'm favored. God is with me. Look at the
person beside you and tell them, I'm favored
too. Say, God is with me. God is with me, right?
We should be comfortable with that, but that
wasn't the language before Christ, before the
incarnation. We should be comfortable with that.
Then the angel said something. He said, do not
be afraid. This phrase is all throughout Scripture,
not just in one place, all throughout Scripture.
Do not be afraid. How many of you would probably
be a little afraid if an angel showed up? Do
not be afraid, Mary, the angel told her. For
you have found favor with God. You will conceive
and give birth to a son. And you will name him
Jesus. Everybody say Jesus. You will name him
Jesus. You're going to... Get pregnant, you're
going to be expecting, you're going to have a
son. You will name him Jesus. He will be very
great and will be called the Son of the Most
High. The Lord God will give him the throne of
his ancestor David. Except his reign is going
to be different than David's. David's reign was
temporal, right? And he will reign over Israel
forever. Everybody say forever. His kingdom will
never end. Everybody say never end. So he's going
to reign forever and his kingdom is never going
to end from the installment through eternity.
His kingdom will never end. Now Mary has a question.
Which is... Fine, right? It's fine for her to
have a question with this, wow, my man. Mary
asked the angel, but how can this happen? I'm
a virgin. Now, she's engaged to be married, but
how's she going to have a baby? The angel replied,
the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power
of the Most High will overshadow you. So the
baby will be born, the baby to be born will be
holy. Everybody say holy. Everybody say set apart.
The baby to be born will be holy, and he will
be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative
Elizabeth, who had wanted a baby for a long time,
now she's old, your relative Elizabeth has become
pregnant. Pregnant in her old age. People used
to say that she was barren. But she has conceived
a son and is now in her sixth month. Everybody
say a message. Everybody say a word. Not only
did it come to Mary, it came to Elizabeth. And
when they received the word from God. They became
pregnant with that word, pregnant with that promise.
This is important to where we're going, so I'm
just setting you up, all right? People used to
say she was barren, but she has conceived a son
and is now in her sixth month. You know why?
For the word of God will never fail. I think
we need to say that together. For the word of
God will never fail. His word, his promise will
never fail. Mary responded. Mary responded because
the word always calls for a response. Everybody
say this. The word, the promise always calls
for a response. Mary responded, I'm the Lord's
servant. May everything you have said about me
come true. Her response was agreement. And then
the angel left her. He wouldn't have left without
a response. He got her response. So, she became
pregnant. And when you're pregnant, we had a
baby shower last night. For those of you who
were there, it was awesome. And I know that baby
needs to stay in the oven another month, but
it looks like it's ready to come today or yesterday,
right? Nihilist expecting. But you know, It all
starts with a seed. It all starts with a word.
It all starts with a promise. And then you're
expecting a baby. So after her response to the
word and response to the message of the angel,
she was expecting. Everybody say expecting. Now
it took a while. Most likely around nine months.
I don't know how many weeks has that. Is it 36
or 40 weeks? The ladies know real quick how I
got a lot of lady responses. 40 weeks? Not 30,
40. It means more to you than it does to us.
40 weeks? You're expecting. Expecting. Jesus
came down from heaven so God could be with us.
Now, Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come
upon people for certain offices, right? Is everybody
with me? But when Jesus came and lived and died
and rose from the grave and at Pentecost, he
sent the Holy Spirit. For us, it became possible
for God to be with us, not only with us, but
in us. That's one of the main reasons that Jesus
came down. So God could be with us and God could
be in us so that we could be rescued, so that
we could experience his salvation. So we could
have the opportunity for something, and that's
the opportunity for us to live in Christ. I didn't
always know this. That Jesus came so that we
could have the opportunity to live in Christ.
Everybody say, in Christ. Some of you... I'm
hoping that you're understanding what I'm talking
about. By looking at your faces, I'm not so sure.
He didn't come just to save us. He came to be
with us. He is Emmanuel. He is God with us. So
many people just come to the point where, okay,
I accept Christ. I accept Him as being the Son
of God. I accept Him as being risen from the
grave. I accept His forgiveness because He died
for my sins on the cross. And so many people
just leave it right there and say, wow, I'm glad
I'm going to go to heaven one day. But there's
more available. We have an opportunity to live
in Christ, to live in Him today, now. It's not
just for the sweet by and by. It's for the, how
do they put it, the dirty here and now. So, we
need to live our lives. expecting his promises
to be fulfilled in our lives. Every word, every
message, every promise, we need to live in expectation.
We need to live expecting. And maybe we can get
this better when we see that Mary is now expecting
a baby. She's pregnant and she's expecting. We
need to be pregnant with the word of God and
the message of God, and we need to be expecting,
even the men, not just the ladies. Last night
at the baby shower, it's like we played a game,
and it's like you're trying to get the baby out
of the ice cube, and the winner had to shout
out, my water broke. Tom said even if he got
his out, there's no way he's going to scream,
my water broke. I was in agreement with him.
I didn't even try to get mine out quick because
I'm not going to scream that. But I want you
to get this visual when it comes to the word
or the message of God about us expecting. After
we receive the word and receive the promise and
know it and the Holy Spirit causes that truth
to come alive on the inside of us, we need to
see ourselves as expecting. expecting a promise.
Because in every area of life, we should learn
to rely on God's supply and His ability instead
of our own. Now we're tying back into the series
a little bit. And we do this not by working to
be the best person we can be. And this has been
our little illustration up here, but this is
the best we can be. See this rock right here?
That's the best we can be. And we can sand and
polish and work on it, you know. I spent so many
years of my life asking God to polish my rock.
That was my prayer. But it doesn't work that
way. God doesn't want... Us to be the best us
that we can be. To work to be the best us we
can be. He wants us to be crucified with Christ.
And it's not us living anymore. But it's Christ
living in us. So we exchange. Everybody say exchange.
We exchange. And while we talked about our mind.
Our ability. Our victory. Our will. We exchange.
Mine for His. And that's the way we're going
to know what it means to live in Christ. Because
it's not by working to be the best us we can
be, but allowing God's life to flow through us.
Because we've been crucified with Christ. We
no longer live, but it's Christ in us, the hope
of glory. God gives us the opportunity to exchange
our natural for his supernatural, to trade what
we have for what he has. So today, we're going
to talk about trading our hope. Everybody say
hope. Trading our hope for his. Trading our hope
for his. Everybody say, my hope. My hope, if
it's natural, if it's what we understand as being
hope in the world that we live in, our hope is
limited. Here's the Merriam -Webster definition,
all right? Hope is to cherish a desire with anticipation.
Listen, to want something. To happen or to be
true? Can we put this in context? We want something
to happen. We want something to be true. And
we desire it. Everybody say desire. Everybody
say want. And we hope that that happens. Natural
hope. Human hope is just having an anticipation
for something to happen that we just desire or
want to happen. We want it to be true. How many
of you know that disappointment flows in a regular
basis? Right? I mean, I wanted the South Carolina
Gamecocks to have a good team this year. Lori
wanted LSU to have a great team this year. We're
not going to talk about it. You know? I really
wanted this to be the year. I hoped. Everybody
say hoped. I hoped that this would be the year.
I talked to one of my friends in Knoxville this
week. And he's like, I really hoped. He didn't
know what I was preaching about. I really hope
that Tennessee would have a good year this year,
but you know what? I think we're set up for next
year, so I've got hope that next year is going
to be a lot better. Next year. See, natural hope
is undependable. We hope in luck. We hope in
wishes. We hope in our plans because we've got
some pretty good plans sometimes and we hope
that our plans will take us, right? We hope in
our timing. If the timing is just right, I mean,
I think this is it. So I'm going to hope in the
timing. I'm going to hope in people. How many
of you have put your hope in other people before?
We hope in ourselves. That's human hope. Biblical
hope is different. Somebody smile and say, I'm
glad it's different. Glad it's different. Glad
it's different. Biblical hope is not just blind
optimism. It's not hype. It's not looking on
the bright side. Everybody say it's more than
that. It's more than that. Here's some word studies
I did for us. Strong's Concordance. Hope is this.
Biblical hope is this. Every time you see the
word hope in the New Testament of your Bible,
it's not talking about hope, soul hope. It's
not talking about a wish. Biblical hope is to
have a confident expectation. And get this, you're
so confident that you anticipate or expect with
pleasure. It's a confident expectation that you're
already happy about even before you see it fulfilled.
Does that sound like a different hope? See, that's
what God's hope is. The other hope is our hope.
I've got some more. Topical Lexicon puts it this
way. Hope is not a tentative wish, but a confident,
forward -looking trust. Everybody say trust.
Grounded in the character and promises of God.
Hello? I see some people trying to take pictures,
so I'm leaving it up here a little bit longer
than I would. Got it? Still working. Topical
last comment. Not a tentative wish, but a confident,
forward -looking trust grounded in the character
and promises of God. Helps word studies. Hope
is an expectation of what is sure. What is certain.
See, God keeps his promises. God keeps his word.
So we can have an expectation in what is sure
and what is certain if it's connected to what
God has said. Biblical hope is confidence in
God's faithfulness. Can I ask you a question?
Do you really believe that God is faithful? I
mean, it's one thing to say that God is faithful
in church. But when you're going through life,
do you really believe that God is faithful? Do
you really believe that God will keep his promises?
Because biblical hope is a confidence in God's
faithfulness, and it's a confidence that you
can have before you see it and before it even
makes sense. Y 'all just thinking real hard today,
right? Hebrews 11, 1. Now faith is a substance.
Everybody say substance. It's a substance. Faith
is a substance. Because you hear the promise,
you believe the promise, and then now faith becomes
a substance. A substance that you can't touch
with your hands. But it's real. Now faith is
a substance of things hoped for. Everybody say
hope. Now, confident expectation. Faith is a
substance of what you have a confident expectation
in and you're already happy about because it's
grounded in the character of God. Are you with
me? Faith is a substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen. See, our hope
is limited. Everybody say limited. But God's
hope is limitless. His hope is limitless. Here
we have Mary. She's a young teenage girl. She's
receiving an announcement that humanly makes
no sense. A lot of people are like, this virgin
birth thing, that's just, there's no way that
that can possibly happen. But with God, all things
are possible. He keeps his promises. It was a
must that it had to happen. Right? Because if
not, Jesus would have been born in sin. So Mary's
a young teenage girl. She's got this announcement.
She's like, wow. It's amazing that her response
was as quick as it was. I mean, think about everything
she had to deal with. I mean, she's a real person.
What about her friends? When she starts saying,
well, you know, I'm expecting, but it's not Joseph's.
What about her fiancé? I'm expecting, but it's
not yours. I mean, sometimes we think about this
and we don't consider the reality of this happening
in Nazareth, a very small community, not even
in the thousands. Everybody knows all your business.
Hello? Is anybody in the room a private person?
You don't want everybody to know all your business.
Nobody. Everybody wants everybody to know all
their business. Some people do because you can
see all their business on Facebook every week.
See, I love it. Just think of the things that
went through her mind. Think about how it doesn't
really make sense. But her response was, may
everything you've said about me come true. See,
it seems impossible. Everybody say impossible.
But with God, Here's the New King James Version
of the same verse we just read a minute ago.
For with God, nothing will be impossible. I want
you to think about something. I want you to consider
the next time you face an impossible, what seems
like an impossible situation. Has anyone faced
some impossible situations every once in a while?
It seems impossible. The next time you face something
that seems impossible, I want you to get a word
from God, and then I want you to laugh at impossibility.
I mean, the funniest thing you can do is tell
God that you're in an impossible situation. Because
nothing's impossible with Him. Right? God, I've
got this impossible situation. No, wait a minute.
Nothing's impossible for me. Sometimes we think
that the situation is so big, it's bigger than
what God can handle. There's no such thing as
a situation that we face that God cannot handle.
Our hope says, I can't see how this will work
out. Can't see how this will ever work out. It
seems impossible. But God's hope says, my power
is not limited by what you can see. Human hope
depends on some kind of human reasoned out possibility.
But God's hope depends on his character and who
he is. Our hope is unstable. But God's hope is
an anchor. I'll say it again. Our hope, human
hope, is unstable. But God's hope is an anchor.
I'll go over this again very quickly. We all
are spirits. Say, I'm a spirit. We all have a
soul. Everybody say, I have a soul. And I live
in a body. So we are spirits. We have souls.
And we live in a body. Our soul. can be broken
down into three parts. Our mind or our thoughts,
everybody say thoughts. Our will or our desires,
everybody say desires. And our emotions. That's
our soul. And see, we spend most of our lives
learning how to live as souls when we're actually
created in the image of God and we are spirits.
So we have to learn to live, even though most
of our life we've been trying to be the best
soul we can be in our own thoughts and our desires
and our emotions. We've got to learn to be spirits
connected to God. God is a spirit. We have to
worship him in spirit and in truth if we're ever
going to worship him. So we've got to learn to
be spirits. And his Holy Spirit connects with
our spirit. So that we can experience the life
of God. Hello? We can't ever experience it in
our souls. We've got to experience it in our
spirit first, and then our spirit has to be in
charge of our souls, has to be the teacher of
our souls. Nothing shakes your soul like uncertainty
does. Nothing shakes your thoughts, your desires,
your emotions like uncertainty. Can anybody say,
I'm a witness to that. I experienced that. But
see, as spirits, we are anchored somewhere else.
Hebrews 6, 19 says this, this hope we have as
an anchor of the soul. both secure and steadfast,
so that doesn't sound like it's unstable, right?
Both secure and steadfast, and which enters the
presence behind the veil. See, our hope is attached
to things that are uncertain. But when we exchange
our hope for God's hope, There's an anchor that
extends to the real holy of holies, not the one
in the tent that was just a shadow, but this
anchor extends into the real holy of holies in
heaven. Hallelujah. Your hope is only as strong
as what it's anchored to. If your hope is anchored
to circumstances, and if your circumstances,
don't work out the way that you want them to,
all of a sudden you become hopeless. You're anchored
to the wrong thing. You can't anchor your hope
into circumstances. You can't anchor your hope
into other people. Even the people who love you
the most can let you down. So if you're anchored
in people, people will waver. If your hope is
anchored in your feelings, feelings will waffle,
shift and move. But if your hope is anchored
in God, I want to tell you something. He's going
to hold secure. His promises are going to hold
secure. His word is going to hold secure every
time. Got to make sure we're anchored in the
right place. Our hope should be anchored in the
promises of God. Everybody say promises of God.
In the faithfulness of God, everybody say faithfulness.
In the character of God, everybody say character.
That's where our hope has to be anchored. Because
if it's not, you're going to find yourself hopeless
at times. Our hope looks at what I can do. God's
hope looks at what he can do. Shouldn't have
to explain that too much, right? See, Mary didn't
say, let it be according to my understanding.
Let it be according to my ability. Let it be
according to my plan. She didn't say, let it
be unto me according to my timing. Because this
just isn't the right time. I need to get married
first, and then, you know, got to have a husband,
got to have Joseph, then I can have a baby. I
mean, that's her plan, right? Come on. Any lady
getting married, that's their plan. She's already
engaged. But she didn't say, let it be according
to my. May everything that I want be mine. No,
she said, everything that you said, I'm going
with that. I'm going with that. New King James
Version again. Let it be to me according to your
word is what she said. Not according to her plans,
but according to God's word. See, we don't need
to have a wishful expectation in ourselves. We
need to have a confident expectation in God.
That's his hope. And see, Jesus came. Part of
the reason he came was to bring us his hope in
this fallen world. To bring his. So that we could
take hold of his instead of holding on to ours
so tightly. Again, God's word is always waiting
for your response. And according to Mary in her
response, she's now expecting something. She's
expecting a baby. And she has a confident expectation.
And it's even in the confusion of how it's going
to happen and all that kind of stuff, I believe
there was a joy in that expectation. So, where
does this put us today? No matter where you are
or what you're facing, you know, this time of
year, people go through so many things, you know.
But I want you to know, no matter where you are
today, no matter what you're facing today, There's
a word from God about it. There's a word from
God. You may not know it yet, but there's a word
from God about it. Some of you may need to go
home today and pray and look in the Word. I'm
going to even go ahead and tell you this. Google
what God's Word says about whatever it is that
you're facing. They didn't have Google 2 ,000
years ago. Or 40 years ago, I don't think. Never
heard of Google. Not sure I even had internet.
If I did, it was, you know, dial up. Most of
you have never heard that sound before. Listen.
God has a word for you. God has a word for you.
If you are thinking that you're hopeless, if
you're thinking that you're facing something
impossible, I'm here today to tell you God's
got a word for you. God's made a promise that
will cover everything you face. You know, you
might need help sorting it out, but ultimately,
works down to a root of something that God has
given you a promise about. And as you look into
his word, and as you talk to him and ask him
to cause his word to come alive in you, that
promise will move from a written word or a, it
can move to revelation. Everybody say revelation.
Where it goes from, okay, I googled this promise,
but now I've spent some time with God. And the
Holy Spirit has caused this promise to come alive
on the inside of me, and now it's mine. So it
moves from an idea into a seed that's planted
into your heart. And listen, sometimes we give
up if it doesn't happen immediately. But it takes
40 weeks for a seed planted in a woman. Are you
with me? Expecting. Not losing that expectation.
Right? I mean, Nyla didn't wake up this morning
and say, well, I don't think I'm pregnant anymore.
Hadn't had a baby yet. It's been... How many
weeks is she? 35 weeks or something like that?
36 yesterday? I thought we were going to January.
34 yesterday? 33? I'm going to get her 32, 32,
30. All right. But she's not waking up today
saying, well, you know, maybe I just swallowed
a watermelon seed. Come on, somebody, laugh.
Back in the summer, I'd swallowed one of them
watermelon seeds and I shouldn't have. Yeah,
I did. I think I did. I'm expecting something.
Listen, God has made you a promise. God has made
you a promise. God has a word about what you're
facing. And my prayer for you is that that word
becomes a seed that's planted in your spirit
that begins to overwhelm your soul and in some
senses overwhelms your flesh because now you're
living by, because you're a spirit and you're
living as a spirit and you're receiving this
word and it's, and it's, you become impregnated
with it with the rest of you. To see his promise
fulfilled. But in the process, everybody say
in the process. Because it's a process. You got
to hold on to hope that's anchored behind the
veil. In heaven. You got to hold on. I know you
might feel like giving up. Everybody in this
room has felt like giving up. But hold on. Hold
on to the hope. The confident expectation that
God is faithful. His promises are true. God is
faithful. And I'm going to stand in that. And
I'm going to be happy about it. I'm going to
have joy over it. Because I know God is faithful.
Even though I can't see it with my eyes yet,
it don't matter. Because I'm expecting something.
I have a confident expectation. Hope wasn't born
in a palace. It was born in a stable. It was
born in a stable so every single one of us could
reach it. Because if it was born in a palace,
hey, we might not be able to reach it. Hope was
born in a stable so we could reach it. Not our
hope, but God's hope. God's hope is anchored.
It's steady. And it's unshakable. Look to somebody
beside you and tell them, I'm expecting. I'm
expecting. I'm expecting. Go ahead and say, I'm
looking for Tom to say, I'm expecting. Since
he won't say my water broke, maybe he'll say,
I'm expecting. I'm expecting. I'm expecting.
Let's pray together. God, thank you. for your
word. Thank you for your promises. Thank you
for this example you've given us of a young girl
having faith and putting her hope in you. Even
when it seemed impossible what was being said,
the word that she received, it was seemingly
impossible, but she decided to have faith and
confidence in you. God, help us to learn this
lesson. God, thank you for offering us your hope.
Not like the world's hope, but different than
the world's hope. Your hope. Being confident
in your faithfulness. In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen. This online worship experience was brought
to you by the friends and partners of Eulation
Church.