1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,880 Some time ago we met for a beautiful banquet at a hotel nearby here and on that evening 2 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:21,320 we received commitments from the church family of about $2.7 million for the construction. 3 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,040 We knew at the time that wasn't going to be enough to pay for it. 4 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:29,040 We were grateful for that wonderful commitment to get us started. 5 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:34,840 And as the construction has taken place over this last year and a half or so, the vision 6 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,560 for what we have done has grown. 7 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:45,280 And the vision we've ended up with is so much better than where we started the process. 8 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:53,080 But the result of that is that we have a cost of this worship center of about $4.5 million. 9 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,800 And we still have the atrium to do out there in the front. 10 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:02,800 And so we believe, Dave and I believe that it's time for all of us to get on board to 11 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:10,600 help make possible paying for the place that we meet and finishing this phase one of renovation. 12 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:15,040 And as you can see in your worship folder this morning, we're going to have a just a 13 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:21,640 brief mini capital campaign the first three weeks of January, kicking it off on January 14 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,000 4th, culminating on January the 18th. 15 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:30,440 And on that day we're going to give the opportunity for all of us to make a commitment, a three-year 16 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:38,320 commitment to the payment for the renovation work for our facility here. 17 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:44,200 We do that with a heart overwhelmed with gratitude for those of you who are maintaining your 18 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,000 commitments made some time ago. 19 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,080 We thank God for you. 20 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:54,920 We just couldn't have done this if it hadn't been for your first commitment to this project. 21 00:01:54,920 --> 00:02:00,760 And by the way, we're coming in not only on time with those commitments, but actually 22 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:02,360 ahead of time. 23 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,400 So we praise God for that. 24 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:09,520 But now it's an opportunity for all the rest of us to come on board and help make possible 25 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,480 this place that God has blessed us with. 26 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:19,800 What a wonderful place to come for us to worship, but also a wonderful place to invite our community 27 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:26,240 to come for various kinds of programs and events where we can share with them the good 28 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,040 things of God. 29 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:29,040 So thank you. 30 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:36,000 Be praying, please, about what God would have you to do to be a part of that. 31 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:41,800 One of the things I enjoy about Christmas season is the music on the radio kind of changes. 32 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:43,520 My favorite station is KDFC. 33 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,540 Do any of you listen to KDFC? 34 00:02:46,540 --> 00:02:48,440 It's a classical station out of San Francisco. 35 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,680 It's one of the best classical stations in the country. 36 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,040 It is a commercial station. 37 00:02:54,040 --> 00:03:03,120 They always have good music, in my opinion, but in the last 36 hours or so, they've actually 38 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,360 become a Christian radio station. 39 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:07,360 Did you know that? 40 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:08,360 Isn't that wonderful? 41 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:09,680 Let me explain to you what I mean. 42 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:11,720 They don't know it. 43 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:13,400 They don't know it. 44 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:18,920 But they have begun playing Christmas carols in all of their programs. 45 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:24,920 And the result is that several times every hour, I mean, there's the kind of holiday 46 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:31,720 music also, but every hour, there are many times during the hour when Christmas carols 47 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:38,480 are being sung and the gospel of Jesus Christ is being laid out for their listeners. 48 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:39,520 Praise God for that. 49 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,200 That's a marvelous thing. 50 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:51,840 I love Christmas carols because the carols that we sing encapsulate so much of the truth 51 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:53,420 about this season. 52 00:03:53,420 --> 00:03:54,760 We sang some this morning. 53 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:59,480 And boy, we're going to have a great time on Wednesday evening at the Christmas Eve 54 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,640 services singing more of the carols and being together. 55 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:10,280 I hope you'll be with us at 4.30, 6, or at 11 o'clock on Christmas Eve. 56 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:12,520 But I have a little test for you this morning. 57 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,920 I want to find out how much you know about Christmas carols and if you're able to recognize 58 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:22,880 them from some generic kinds of statements, descriptives that I will make about them. 59 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:24,440 They're going to be on the screen. 60 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:29,680 And as soon as you can identify the Christmas carol that is on the screen, just blurt it 61 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:30,680 out. 62 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:32,680 Let's go with number one. 63 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,340 Wanted in December, top forward incisors. 64 00:04:37,340 --> 00:04:38,480 There you go. 65 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:39,480 There you go. 66 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:40,480 Great idea, right? 67 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:41,880 Okay, so let's go to number two. 68 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:47,760 The lad is, I don't even get a chance to tell you. 69 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:49,160 Somebody's passed around a cheat sheet. 70 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:50,720 Who is it? 71 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,560 See, before I even look, you give me the answer. 72 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:56,840 Let's go to the next one. 73 00:04:56,840 --> 00:04:59,760 We are Kong, Lear, and Nat Cole. 74 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,520 We three kings, exactly. 75 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:03,520 Far off in the hay bin. 76 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:04,520 So farmers? 77 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,520 Correct, away in the manger. 78 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:08,520 Listen. 79 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,960 You're good. 80 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,280 Try the next one. 81 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:16,680 Jubilation to the entire world. 82 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,800 That doesn't quite ring the same, does it? 83 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:21,960 All right. 84 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:27,320 Do you perceive the same vibrations which stimulate my auditory senses? 85 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,040 Yeah, I think I like that title better. 86 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:40,280 May the deity bestow an absence of fatigue to good mannered male humans. 87 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:41,280 God bless you. 88 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:45,640 By the way, God bless you, Mary, gentlemen. 89 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:46,640 It's not Mary, gentlemen. 90 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:48,520 Did you know that? 91 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:50,560 God bless you, Mary, gentlemen. 92 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,960 Okay, let's go to the next one. 93 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:54,960 Somebody's already said it. 94 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,240 Angels, we have heard from an elevation. 95 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:58,240 There we go. 96 00:05:58,240 --> 00:05:59,240 All right. 97 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:05,920 Next one, as the guardians of the wooly animals protected their charges in the dark hours, 98 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:12,960 shepherds, exactly, watching over their sheep, and Sir Lancelot with laryngitis. 99 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:14,960 Silent night. 100 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:16,680 Exactly. 101 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:17,680 You got it. 102 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,680 Well, now I have another one. 103 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:25,680 Which of the Christmas carols is titled Benedictus? 104 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:31,640 Benedictus, Zachariah's song. 105 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:32,640 Exactly right. 106 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,800 It's the Christmas carol written by Zachariah, and it's the one we're looking at this morning. 107 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:42,280 So would you open your Bible with me, please, to Luke chapter one. 108 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:43,680 Luke chapter one. 109 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:52,680 As we think about the original Christmas carols and today, Zachariah's song of hope. 110 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:57,480 Only Luke gives us this information we're going to look at today. 111 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:03,160 Only Luke tells us about John the Baptist's birth announcement, and what an announcement 112 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:04,840 that was. 113 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:09,020 The angel Gabriel appeared to him in the temple. 114 00:07:09,020 --> 00:07:12,920 Only Luke tells us about his birth. 115 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:18,880 Only Luke tells us about his dedication, his being named John by his father, and then his 116 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:23,000 father breaking out in song. 117 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:28,000 Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth were a couple who lived without a lot of hope. 118 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:29,320 Personally, that was true. 119 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,000 They were childless. 120 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:36,680 They were well along in years now, and having no child was a grief to them. 121 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:41,560 Furthermore, they lived in a time in Israel when there was a lot of oppression because 122 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:46,400 of the Roman domination of Palestine in those days. 123 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:54,280 In fact, at the end of his song, he talks about living in darkness, living under the 124 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,760 shadow of death. 125 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:58,880 They really did. 126 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,000 It was a tough time to be alive. 127 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:08,880 There wasn't a lot of hope among the Jewish people on a lot of levels, but God brought 128 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:13,440 them hope in this song. 129 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:19,920 The theme of this song is one of eager anticipation for what God is about to do, and because of 130 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:25,600 that, hope flows out of this original Christmas carol. 131 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,880 Now hope is an emotion. 132 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:34,320 It's more than that, but it's an emotion that we feel that is based upon divine commitment. 133 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:38,120 I want you to understand that with me. 134 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:44,360 Hope is not spelled H-O-P-E and then a question mark. 135 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:49,040 It's H-O-P-E and an exclamation point. 136 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:56,040 You see, hope in the Bible is not about wondering if something might happen. 137 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:03,440 It's about having absolute confidence and certainty that something is going to happen. 138 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:09,040 Hope is based upon divine commitment. 139 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:14,040 Hope fills the heart of the one who anticipates by faith what God is about to do, and that's 140 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:16,120 Zechariah. 141 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:21,880 This man who didn't live with much hope is now filled with hope in the song that he sings. 142 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:30,640 By the way, this song that he writes for us here is probably more like a prophecy than 143 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,840 it is a song of praise. 144 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,920 He certainly praises the Lord, but if you would go back to the book of Isaiah, you would 145 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:45,600 find statements very similar to what Zechariah says here. 146 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,880 Zechariah had hope. 147 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:54,800 Hope empowers you to press on in the tough times. 148 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:56,720 Hope empowers you to press on. 149 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:04,640 Folks, if you don't have hope, motivation is drained from your life. 150 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:09,560 We all need hope to exist. 151 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:12,840 Hope is an emotion that is based upon divine commitment. 152 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:19,960 Now, Zechariah tells us in this song how to experience hope, how to live with hope. 153 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:24,360 I'd like you to think about that theme with me, because to live with hope, you need to 154 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:26,680 do two things. 155 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:33,280 First of all, you need to understand what God is committed to. 156 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,680 If hope is based on divine commitment, then you need to understand what it is that God 157 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:43,400 is committed to, and Zechariah gives us an answer in this song. 158 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:48,360 First of all, he tells us that God is committed to his people. 159 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:50,160 Look at verse 68. 160 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:55,040 Praise be to the Lord, the God of... What? 161 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,280 By the way, you have the scripture there in your notes. 162 00:10:57,280 --> 00:10:59,120 You don't have a Bible with you. 163 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,560 Oh, you don't have this one though. 164 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:03,960 You have other scripture, so pull out your outline. 165 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,860 But if you have your Bible, open it. 166 00:11:06,860 --> 00:11:10,400 Then you'll know how to answer questions like I just asked. 167 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:13,440 Praise be to the Lord, the God of who? 168 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:18,640 Israel, because he has come and has redeemed what? 169 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:19,640 His people. 170 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:21,240 Notice that. 171 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,360 Israel, his people. 172 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:29,640 Who are his people? 173 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:35,000 The answer to that is that it's the people with whom God is in relationship. 174 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:41,520 God is in relationship with people based upon covenants or agreements that he makes with 175 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:42,520 them. 176 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,680 And in history, there have been a number of these agreements or covenants. 177 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:52,040 Now, these are required because God is holy. 178 00:11:52,040 --> 00:12:00,000 So whatever he is going to do is based upon certain moral principles. 179 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:08,120 These principles give God a legal basis for doing everything that he does. 180 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:16,440 So when God makes a commitment, it's based upon an agreement, a covenant with his people. 181 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,660 And as we see here, Zechariah belonged to the people of Israel. 182 00:12:20,660 --> 00:12:23,240 He was a Jew. 183 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,600 They're called God's people. 184 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:33,720 They were God's people because of a covenant God had made specifically with Israel. 185 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:38,520 We call it very often the covenant of the law. 186 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:44,760 Some call it the Mosaic covenant because Moses is the one who mediated it. 187 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:50,800 It's a covenant that God made with them as a nation at Mount Sinai in the desert after 188 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,520 they had been delivered from Egypt. 189 00:12:54,520 --> 00:13:06,520 Moses reminds the people of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 7, you are a people holy to the Lord. 190 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:12,720 The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be 191 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:15,760 his people. 192 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:20,200 Verse 7, the Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more 193 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,680 numerous than other peoples. 194 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:23,680 You were the fewest. 195 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:28,960 But it was because the Lord loved you that he did what he did. 196 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:33,940 Verse 9, know therefore that the Lord your God is God. 197 00:13:33,940 --> 00:13:45,200 He is the faithful God keeping his covenants, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand 198 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:53,000 generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 199 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:57,160 God is committed to his people. 200 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:07,360 Now today in these last days in which we live, God has a new chosen people. 201 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:13,920 God has related himself to us on the basis of a different covenant. 202 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:18,760 It's not the covenant of the law at Mount Sinai. 203 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,120 It's the covenant of what? 204 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:22,320 How would you put it? 205 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,200 The covenant of grace. 206 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:36,200 Based upon not the sacrifices of animals, but the sacrifice of his son on Mount Calvary. 207 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:41,840 You and I today are the people of God in this age for the last two thousand years. 208 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:46,000 We are part of what's called the church. 209 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:54,600 And out of all the world, those who relate to God based upon Christ's sacrifice are the 210 00:14:54,600 --> 00:15:00,920 people of God and no one else. 211 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:06,440 Peter says, you know that it was not with perishable things that you were redeemed, 212 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,760 but with the precious blood of Christ. 213 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:16,120 As of a lamb without blemish or defect, he was chosen before the creation of the world, 214 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,780 but was revealed when? 215 00:15:18,780 --> 00:15:22,240 In these last times for your sake. 216 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:27,040 Through him you believe in God who raised him from the dead and glorified him. 217 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:28,920 So that your faith and hope are in God. 218 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:34,020 And then he says in chapter two, a little bit later he says, you are a chosen people, 219 00:15:34,020 --> 00:15:41,360 a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. 220 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:46,120 You are a people belonging to God. 221 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:54,720 In verse 10 he says, once you were not a people, but now you are the people of whom? 222 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,640 The people of God. 223 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:04,280 God is committed to his people. 224 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:10,660 Now God remains committed to his chosen people, the Jews. 225 00:16:10,660 --> 00:16:17,720 They were set aside for this period of time because of their, as a nation, because of 226 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,720 their disobedience to Christ. 227 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:26,280 And therefore God has gone into the Gentile nations of the world and he's calling out 228 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,360 a people for his name's sake. 229 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,040 Acts chapter 13. 230 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:38,940 You need to understand that God is still committed to the people of Israel as well. 231 00:16:38,940 --> 00:16:42,120 God remains committed to his chosen people. 232 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,340 And God is committed to you. 233 00:16:44,340 --> 00:16:46,760 He will never leave you or forsake you. 234 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:52,640 Peter says, and the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ after you 235 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:58,280 have suffered a while will himself restore you and make you strong and firm and steadfast. 236 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:03,440 In other words, the God who has called you to be his people. 237 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:08,080 Even though you may suffer, even though you may go through times of darkness and times 238 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:11,620 when the shadow of death is over you too. 239 00:17:11,620 --> 00:17:17,480 Even though there may be gloomy times, God is going to take care of you. 240 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:22,140 He's going to restore you and make you strong and firm and steadfast. 241 00:17:22,140 --> 00:17:24,520 He's committed to his people. 242 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:29,320 God's committed to his plan in your life. 243 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,040 He's not going to fail you. 244 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:37,300 I don't know what it may be that is shadowing you this morning. 245 00:17:37,300 --> 00:17:41,080 If you've come to church and you feel a little gloomy, a little down like the clouds that 246 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,600 are outside, I want to tell you something. 247 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:49,840 You can live with hope if you will simply remember that God is committed to you. 248 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:52,760 Absolutely. 249 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:57,560 Faithful is he who called you who will also do it. 250 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:02,200 What God has begun in you, he will complete at the day of Jesus Christ. 251 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,000 He is committed to you. 252 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:09,920 Secondly, Zechariah tells us that he is committed to his plan. 253 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:14,600 Verse 69 says, for God has raised up a horn of salvation. 254 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:20,920 A horn is a poetic term meaning something that's strong like the horn of an animal. 255 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,280 Some translations therefore put it this way. 256 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:29,360 He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David. 257 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:35,600 David's royal family as he has said through his holy prophets long ago, salvation from 258 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,260 our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. 259 00:18:39,260 --> 00:18:44,820 God is absolutely committed to his plan as well as his people and his plan can be summarized 260 00:18:44,820 --> 00:18:49,320 in this one word, verse 71, salvation. 261 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:51,600 Salvation. 262 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:57,600 God brought the Messiah right on time and in the fullness of time he was born made of 263 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:02,800 a woman under the law that he might redeem us and save us. 264 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:10,600 Zechariah himself foresaw the ultimate restoration of his people. 265 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:17,560 Zechariah did not comprehend in Luke chapter 1, Zechariah did not understand that the Messiah 266 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:27,200 that his son was going to announce would one day be rejected by the people of God. 267 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:29,600 He did not understand that they would be set aside. 268 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:31,440 Zechariah did not see that. 269 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:37,600 But what he does see here is God's ultimate salvation for the people of Israel. 270 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:42,120 This ties together exactly with what John said for example. 271 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:47,880 God was in the world and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize 272 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:49,280 him. 273 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:57,520 He came to that which was his own, his own people did not receive him. 274 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,720 That's the story of Christ's rejection. 275 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:06,120 And Paul says in Romans chapter 11, we should not be ignorant about this. 276 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:12,280 Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has 277 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,200 come in. 278 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:20,040 In other words, this plan of God for salvation was not just for the Jews, it was for all 279 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:26,000 nations of the world as promised through Abraham. 280 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:31,480 And even though the Jewish nation as a whole has been set apart, there are still some Jews 281 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,640 who believe on Christ. 282 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:40,240 And during this time God is especially working among the Gentiles, the non-Jews, calling 283 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,660 out a people for himself. 284 00:20:42,660 --> 00:20:48,880 But he says there is a time coming when the fullness of that call will be realized. 285 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:50,700 It will be completed. 286 00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:55,040 And then he says all Israel will be saved. 287 00:20:55,040 --> 00:21:00,400 As far as election is concerned, they, the Jews, are loved on account of the patriarchs 288 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:05,920 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. 289 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:13,200 Zechariah couldn't have seen this, but we see it in retrospect, exactly what happened. 290 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:18,560 God's plan of salvation was accomplished through the rejection of his son by the people of 291 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,180 Israel. 292 00:21:21,180 --> 00:21:24,720 As a nation they were then set aside in their unbelief. 293 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:30,920 And God's call to believe on his son went out to the Gentiles, and it still is today, 294 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,100 2,000 years later. 295 00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:38,220 But one day that's going to be finished. 296 00:21:38,220 --> 00:21:43,480 The church will be complete, and God is going to turn back to his people Israel and finish 297 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:44,480 his plan for them. 298 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,400 I want to tell you why. 299 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,560 Because God is committed to his plan. 300 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,920 He's committed to it. 301 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:57,120 And nothing is going to keep his plan from coming to pass. 302 00:21:57,120 --> 00:22:07,000 Whether that be in the world, in our nation, in this church, in your family, or in your 303 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,280 life. 304 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:11,120 God is committed to his plan. 305 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:18,080 Now that ought to give you hope on the gloomiest of days. 306 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:23,040 You also need to understand that God is committed to his promises. 307 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:29,360 Verse 72, God has done this to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant 308 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:33,160 he swore to our father Abraham. 309 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:37,360 God's promises are absolute and they cannot fail. 310 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:42,680 They cannot fail because God's own reputation is at stake. 311 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,440 If he makes a promise, he has to keep it. 312 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:53,720 God made promises to the fathers of the Jews, to Abraham, and he will keep them. 313 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:58,280 Zechariah knew what you and I need to remind ourselves, and that is that God will never 314 00:22:58,280 --> 00:22:59,960 lie. 315 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:01,320 God will never deceive. 316 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,380 God will never mislead. 317 00:23:04,380 --> 00:23:07,560 God is truth. 318 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:12,520 Therefore the writer of Hebrews says, because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of 319 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:20,720 his purpose very clear to the errors of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 320 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:27,880 God did this so that by two unchangeable things, his promise and his oath. 321 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:33,600 Two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. 322 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:42,120 We who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 323 00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:51,280 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. 324 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,720 God is committed, my friend, to his promises. 325 00:23:54,720 --> 00:24:04,620 He not only promised, he gave his word on an oath that he would keep what he has promised 326 00:24:04,620 --> 00:24:06,380 to do. 327 00:24:06,380 --> 00:24:14,720 You and I, if we will live in the hope of God's commitments, will be a people of great 328 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,200 encouragement and hope in the world. 329 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:22,200 Our world today is desperate for hope. 330 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:27,000 Zechariah knew also that God is committed to his purposes. 331 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:35,260 Verse 74, he says, God has made this promise to rescue us from the hand of our enemies 332 00:24:35,260 --> 00:24:42,240 and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all 333 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:43,240 our days. 334 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,240 What is God's purpose? 335 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:52,920 It is that he might rescue us, that he might enable us to serve him, that we might live 336 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:59,640 without fear of him, might live in holiness and righteousness. 337 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,000 But it all boils down just to two words and really to one word. 338 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,560 It's a preposition in these two verses. 339 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:11,560 It's the word before. 340 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,200 What is God's purpose? 341 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,960 It is that you and I might live before him. 342 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:30,620 The word before means in the face of him, in the direct sight of him. 343 00:25:30,620 --> 00:25:36,400 You see what God really wants to do is to have a relationship with you and with me through 344 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:48,840 Jesus Christ in which we live right before him, his eyes upon us with pleasure and love. 345 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:54,400 And we living in such a way through Christ and holiness and righteousness that God is 346 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,640 in continual relationship with us. 347 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:02,800 That's God's purpose and God is committed to that. 348 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:08,920 He wants us to be right before him, not off somewhere straying and walking around without 349 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:14,880 aim and purpose, but living right before him. 350 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,240 God has made that possible through the sacrifice of Christ. 351 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,880 Paul reminds us of this in Ephesians 4. 352 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:31,480 It says he chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless where? 353 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,680 In his sight. 354 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:40,560 The very same idea in the face of God. 355 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,640 God's purpose is that we might live and dwell with him. 356 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,040 And folks, that's what heaven is all about. 357 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:48,840 That's what the New Jerusalem is all about. 358 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:53,120 That we might dwell in the very presence of God. 359 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:55,800 That's God's purpose. 360 00:26:55,800 --> 00:27:02,280 God's committed to that. 361 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:08,640 Whatever may be your disappointment, whatever question mark may be upon your life today, 362 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:17,360 whatever shadow of death, whatever darkness may be looming over your shoulder so that 363 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:25,880 your hope is being drained out of your life, understand what God has committed himself 364 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:26,880 to. 365 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:31,320 And if you will understand that, you will live with hope. 366 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:37,360 You can't help but live with hope. 367 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:38,360 But the song goes on. 368 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:40,800 There's another verse here. 369 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:41,800 Tone changes a little bit. 370 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:47,280 It's like verses often do. 371 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:51,680 You only need to understand what God has committed himself to, but you need to observe where 372 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:56,640 God is at work if you want to live with hope. 373 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:02,400 It's possible for you and me just to close our eyes or to be so busy we miss what God 374 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,320 is doing. 375 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:10,840 If we want to live with hope, we have to open our eyes and observe what God is doing around 376 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:12,480 us, where he is at work. 377 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,320 Now Zachariah did this. 378 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,040 We're going to read the rest of the song. 379 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:23,760 It says, and you, my child, who is he talking to? 380 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,360 John. 381 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:31,920 He's holding his little baby son, John, in his arms. 382 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,160 He has just named him John. 383 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:37,540 And then he's broken out into this song. 384 00:28:37,540 --> 00:28:45,560 And so now Zachariah looks down at this little baby and he says, and you, my child, will 385 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,640 be called a prophet of the Most High. 386 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:56,160 For you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge 387 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:03,160 of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God 388 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:10,520 by which the sunrise will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness 389 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:18,160 in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace. 390 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:25,080 Zachariah observed, he said in verse 68, God has come. 391 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,620 He has come. 392 00:29:27,620 --> 00:29:34,520 And now he tells us that he's observing what his son's role is going to be in God's work. 393 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:42,920 In the first place, he talks about God's vocation for John, his calling. 394 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:49,800 And he says, John, my son, my child, you will be a prophet of the Most High. 395 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,000 Question. 396 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:57,960 Where did Zachariah get this information? 397 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:05,080 The answer is he got it from the angel Gabriel who appeared to him nine months before this 398 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:09,200 and told him he was going to have a son. 399 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:14,920 If you look at what he says here about his boy, you see that Zachariah has been thinking 400 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,320 about what Gabriel had said to him. 401 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:25,880 Now he's had some time to think because he couldn't talk for these nine months. 402 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,920 The Lord shut his mouth so that he could not speak because he did not believe what the 403 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:33,200 Gabriel had said to him. 404 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:37,920 And so he thought a lot. 405 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:45,560 And now he has named his son and he breaks out into this song, this Spirit-inspired song. 406 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,880 And he begins to talk about his boy and he says, you're going to be the prophet of the 407 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:50,600 Most High. 408 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:58,000 John is the fulfillment of what Malachi had said. 409 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:03,440 Malachi who had written 400 years before this and more. 410 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:11,160 Malachi had said, behold, I am going to send my messenger and he will clear the way for 411 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:12,520 me. 412 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,240 God's speaking there through his prophet. 413 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:19,000 I am going to send my messenger. 414 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,200 Zachariah connects this. 415 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:26,720 My son, you are going to be the prophet of the Most High. 416 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:31,880 He also observed God's commission for John. 417 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:38,680 He says you're going to go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him. 418 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:40,800 He's been thinking. 419 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:46,000 Isaiah the prophet said that there would be a voice arising in the wilderness who would 420 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:51,160 say clear the way for the Lord. 421 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:54,080 Make the high places low and the low places high. 422 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,480 Smooth out the pathway. 423 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,080 Get the freeway ready. 424 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,720 The Lord is coming. 425 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:11,160 Zachariah says that's God's commission for you, my son. 426 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:15,560 He also reveals to us here God's intention through John. 427 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:23,200 It was to give his people the knowledge of salvation. 428 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:27,280 The salvation would come through the forgiveness of sins. 429 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:32,360 The forgiveness of sins would come, he says, through the tender mercies of God and God's 430 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:41,320 tender mercies would provide the sunrise on people who are living in gloom and hopelessness. 431 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:46,800 The sun would rise upon the people in the land of the shadow of death. 432 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:58,040 These are words from Isaiah the prophet again that John was thinking about. 433 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,300 You and I will have hope. 434 00:33:01,300 --> 00:33:06,720 If we also will learn where God is working and get busy working with him. 435 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:08,840 That's what's happening here to Zachariah. 436 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:15,720 He understood God's commitments and then he observed where God was at work and he began 437 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:22,480 to live with hope and talks about it here in this song. 438 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:30,040 Now frankly most of us are not going to have an angel appear to us like he did. 439 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:33,240 How does it work that way all the time? 440 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:34,520 Occasionally. 441 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,600 If you have an angel appear to you, come and tell me. 442 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:38,960 I want to know what he said. 443 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:44,880 I've had people who've told me this and I believe them. 444 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:46,720 God does use angels. 445 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:53,040 But how do you and I who are more normal, more ordinary let's say, who experience the 446 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,760 more common way, how do we know where God is at work? 447 00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:01,640 I just have some things I want to work down through very, very quickly. 448 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:06,960 Here's how you can know where God is at work and where he is assigning you to work with 449 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:07,960 him. 450 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:15,200 Number one, discover from the Bible how God works. 451 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:20,960 Discover from the Bible how God works and then make any decisions based upon biblical 452 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:22,960 principles. 453 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,320 That's the most important thing that you can do. 454 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:32,240 Secondly, realize that God is always at work around you. 455 00:34:32,240 --> 00:34:35,000 Always. 456 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:40,120 I didn't say you would always understand it, but he is always at work around you. 457 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:44,080 Are you missing it? 458 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:50,280 The point is to learn where he wants you to join him in his work. 459 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:54,960 So realize he's always at work around you. 460 00:34:54,960 --> 00:35:00,320 And as you're doing that, number three, pursue what God wants most and that is a loving personal 461 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,520 relationship with you. 462 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:04,480 That's what he wants above everything else. 463 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:10,320 More than your work, he wants your heart. 464 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,760 Focus on pursuing that relationship with God. 465 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:15,680 Number four, listen to your heart. 466 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:17,160 Listen to your heart. 467 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:22,160 You've got to be quiet long enough to hear it. 468 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,080 Listen to your heart. 469 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:35,280 Be alert to God's voice by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, in prayer, in circumstances, 470 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:40,080 and through the counsel of godly people in the church. 471 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:41,760 Listen. 472 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:51,000 Number five, ask him to show you where he's working and where he wants you to join him. 473 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,360 As you're looking around you and you're seeing God at work, just say, Lord, where are you 474 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:58,400 working and where do you want me to participate with you? 475 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:02,660 Because God will speak to you. 476 00:36:02,660 --> 00:36:08,120 Number six, recognize that you are to work with, if you are to work with God, it will 477 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:16,760 require, are you ready for this, major adjustments in your life. 478 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:17,760 Major adjustments. 479 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:22,240 Think there was a major adjustment in the life of Zechariah and Elizabeth when they 480 00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:24,600 had a baby in their old age? 481 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:32,560 Now, please God, may that not be an adjustment I have to make. 482 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,280 If you're going to work with God though, it means you're going to have to give up some 483 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:40,440 things and add some other things. 484 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:47,080 It may mean for you you're going to sell your home and move somewhere else, or you're going 485 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:53,600 to have to live on a different level, a different kind of lifestyle than you've had before. 486 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:57,040 It's going to require adjustments. 487 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:02,400 Number seven, act by faith on what God shows you to do. 488 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:03,400 Act by faith. 489 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:04,400 It always requires faith. 490 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:07,560 If God says build a boat, build a boat. 491 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,720 If he says go over to this mountain, go over to that mountain. 492 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:13,280 Whatever God says, do it. 493 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:14,280 Act by faith. 494 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:20,240 Act by faith, you can do nothing apart from God, but with God you can do what? 495 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:21,240 That's right. 496 00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:25,320 Did you hear that? 497 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,280 Some of you are sitting there today saying, I could never do that. 498 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:29,800 I can never do what God wants. 499 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:31,820 Yes, you can. 500 00:37:31,820 --> 00:37:36,760 You can do nothing apart from God, but with Him in your life, you yielding to His control, 501 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:41,480 you can do anything through Christ Jesus who strengthens you. 502 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:46,080 Now I want to summarize this by just a couple of statements. 503 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:49,720 When you understand God's commitments, and I hope you understand them a little better 504 00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:51,600 this morning. 505 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:54,560 When you understand God's commitments, you live with hope. 506 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,060 Why is that? 507 00:37:56,060 --> 00:37:58,800 Because God is faithful. 508 00:37:58,800 --> 00:37:59,800 God is faithful. 509 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,240 He will not fail. 510 00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:07,020 He always keeps His commitments. 511 00:38:07,020 --> 00:38:15,700 Number two, when you see God at work and join Him in it, you also live with hope. 512 00:38:15,700 --> 00:38:18,700 Why is that? 513 00:38:18,700 --> 00:38:24,600 Because you are now engaged in what cannot fail. 514 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:32,380 It cannot fail because God has committed to His work. 515 00:38:32,380 --> 00:38:35,840 Your labor is never in vain in the Lord. 516 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:40,520 So let your heart be filled with anticipation of what God is going to do. 517 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:46,200 Let it be filled with expectation of the worth of what He's calling you to be a part of. 518 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:52,440 Just like Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. 519 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:55,440 Let nothing move you. 520 00:38:55,440 --> 00:39:00,120 Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor 521 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:03,440 in the Lord is not in vain. 522 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:13,360 Ever, ever, ever. 523 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:15,320 You living in hope this morning? 524 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,120 God wants us all to live in hope. 525 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:22,900 If we will only understand what God is committed to, if we will only observe where God is working 526 00:39:22,900 --> 00:39:31,320 and get busy there and join Him, we will live with hope no matter what comes against us, 527 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:35,560 no matter how gloomy the threat. 528 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:41,720 No matter what shadow it is that's fallen in our lives, we will still live with hope. 529 00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:44,960 That's the way God wants us to live. 530 00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:47,800 Reminds me of a story I heard, true story about a preacher. 531 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:57,360 Went to visit on Mother's Day in a nursing home. 532 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:02,280 And he observed there an older woman in her 80s sitting in a wheelchair. 533 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:07,840 She had a large corsage on, someone had given her. 534 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:13,520 And so he said to her, oh, I see you're a mother. 535 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,360 She said, no, not yet. 536 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:22,600 Now friends, that's hope. 537 00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:28,000 That's Abraham's kind of hope, hoping against hope. 538 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:32,880 Whatever it is in your life today that may be draining the hope from your life, will 539 00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:38,120 you turn away from that and see what God's committed to and get busy working with God 540 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:43,280 where He's working and know that nothing is ever in vain in your life? 541 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:44,280 Nothing. 542 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:46,600 Because God's there. 543 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:50,920 And He is the God of hope. 544 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:52,920 Let's pray together. 545 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:59,000 Father, I especially want to pray for some friend who has come this morning under the 546 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:08,840 load of a burden, who may be experiencing some level of hopelessness, gloominess. 547 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:11,080 I pray that you would lift those clouds. 548 00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:15,080 Lord Jesus, be the sunrise for them. 549 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:17,200 Chase the clouds away. 550 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:27,160 And today, because of your commitments to them, because of the joy of working with you 551 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:33,720 in the world and knowing that it will never fail, I pray that you will cause hope to be 552 00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:39,760 reborn, hope to fill the heart. 553 00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:42,960 May they abound in hope through the Holy Spirit. 554 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:50,400 Father, if there be someone here today who doesn't know Jesus, who's not one of your 555 00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:57,640 people, Lord help them today to believe, to enter into that relationship with you that 556 00:41:57,640 --> 00:42:08,160 you so long for and you've provided for through the sacrifice of your Son, who is our hope. 557 00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:12,960 In His name I pray, amen.