1 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:11,040 Thank you so much for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 2 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:14,680 Riverbend Church exists to bring people to Jesus, grow 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,400 generations in Jesus, and send disciples for Jesus. 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,400 We hope that you enjoy this message. 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,080 I love, I love Christmas, don't y'all? 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,040 I love the season, I love the music, I love the lights, I love 7 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,680 the decorations. I love other people's 8 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:35,000 decorations for, for Christmas, just absolutely love it. 9 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,960 Do y'all remember as a kid just kind of that high, high 10 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:44,200 excitement and anticipation of Christmas morning that as a kid 11 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,880 you got so anxious, You, you, you thought that it would never 12 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,360 come, right? You thought that it would never 13 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:51,640 come. Like, when's Christmas ever 14 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:53,760 going to get here? Now I know that if you're a 15 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,760 teacher, you still have that high level of anxiousness. 16 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:01,400 When will Christmas break ever get here right, But you know, if 17 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:03,680 you think about it kind of as adults, we kind of look back at 18 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,240 that time when we, when we were kids with with kind of a, a, a 19 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,080 smirk on her face, right. Because every single year we 20 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,320 would get highly excited and highly anxious like Christmas is 21 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:15,760 coming, but will it ever get here? 22 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,040 And yet every single year it it got here and we would do the 23 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,480 same thing the next year. We would get really excited, 24 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,720 we'd get really anxious. We'd wonder like, is Christmas 25 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,000 ever going to get here? And it got here every single 26 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,040 year. But can I ask you a question, 27 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:34,400 just to use your imagination, Can you think what would, what 28 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,080 it would be like is if you were a kid and, and you had that high 29 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:42,000 degree of excitement, high degree of anxiousness about and 30 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,040 anticipation about Christmas getting here. 31 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,160 And, and on Christmas morning, you, you went into the living 32 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,360 room or you went into the family room and there were no trees. 33 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,120 There were, there were no lights, there were no gifts, 34 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,960 there were no presents. It was just a, it was just a, a 35 00:01:55,960 --> 00:02:01,800 normal, a normal Thursday and, and Christmas Day just so 36 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,880 happened to fall on that normal Thursday. 37 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:06,320 But there was really nothing different for you. 38 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,919 Listen, I, I really, really hope that I didn't describe anybody's 39 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,560 childhood at all or anybody's experience. 40 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,520 As a matter of fact, at Riverbend, we're so committed to 41 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,960 making sure that that's no kids experience during the Christmas 42 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,840 season, that that's why we do everything that we do with, with 43 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,160 Project Hope and, and with the Hope tree. 44 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,000 And I just want to thank you so much for your incredible 45 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,080 generosity as a church, making sure that that's no kids 46 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,240 experience in our community. But Can you imagine if that was 47 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,880 you where year after year you had that high degree of 48 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,240 anticipation and excitement, yet year after year you were just 49 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,040 kind of let down? I, I think at the very least, 50 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,960 you know, we would be, we'd become bitter. 51 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,280 And, and I think if we're really honest with ourselves there, 52 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,640 there's a high degree of probability that we would 53 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:55,720 probably start to feel forgotten. 54 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:00,120 And we would be looking around it like the other kids in our 55 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,040 class or the other kids in our neighborhood or the, the other 56 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,840 families that we're aware of and go, why, why are they able to 57 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,960 celebrate Christmas? And, and, and I'm not, we just 58 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,640 feel forgotten. Like I said, I hope that that's 59 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:15,440 nobody's experience, that's been nobody's experience with us this 60 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,840 morning in the room or online. And as a church, we're committed 61 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,800 to making sure that that's no kids experience in our 62 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:28,360 community. But maybe as I was thinking 63 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,440 through Christmas, maybe there there's someone in this room or 64 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,800 maybe there's someone that you know of that if you're really 65 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,680 honest, you feel forgotten this Christmas. 66 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,440 Maybe maybe it's you, maybe it's maybe somebody that you know, 67 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:48,960 but you kind of you kind of feel forgotten. 68 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,440 And as long as we're really being honest with ourselves, 69 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:57,720 about ourselves, it's OK to be completely honest with God. 70 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,120 It's more than OK. We kind of feel forgotten, 71 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,560 Forgotten by God. You know, one of the things that 72 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,680 talk a lot about and I, I would, I would just encourage us to 73 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,120 hang on to this. If you, if you call Riverbend 74 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:14,600 home, you know, this is our heart. 75 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,839 If you're new to Riverbend, I want you to hear our heart. 76 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,720 God, God doesn't want to bring healing to a version of you. 77 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:25,640 God wants to bring healing to the real you. 78 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,560 So you don't, you don't have to dress yourself up. 79 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,720 You don't have to put on a facade or a mask or a happy face 80 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,600 to, to, to come to church. You, you, you don't have to, you 81 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,080 don't have to cover up like if, if you feel that you've been 82 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,480 forgotten by God through the loss or the grief of someone or 83 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,880 or or through life just haven't turning out being turned out the 84 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,880 way that you thought that it would or some unmet 85 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,360 expectations. I will tell you you're, you're 86 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,960 in the right place this morning. And here's here's where I want 87 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:03,280 to start because really the key question for us is how do we 88 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:07,280 navigate the Christmas season with feelings of feeling 89 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,600 forgotten? And I want to start with with 90 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,760 the a big truth, a core truth, a big idea this we're going to be 91 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,080 exploring throughout this Christmas season. 92 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,400 And if you're taking notes with us, I want to encourage you to 93 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:21,880 jot this down. Christmas isn't just a story of 94 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:24,480 Jesus birth. It's the story of God's heart. 95 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:30,000 It's not just a story of Jesus's birth, although it is the story 96 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,600 of the coming Messiah. It's the it's the story of, of, 97 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:38,960 of God stepping down into this world, taking on flesh, never 98 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:44,360 giving up an iota of divinity, still maintaining 100% God, yet 99 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:49,080 now taking on 100% man. He may say so Jesus was 200%. 100 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:50,760 I don't know how the math works out. 101 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,920 I just know he was 101 hundred, not 5050. 102 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,920 And as we celebrate Christmas, it's not simply the story of 103 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,320 Jesus birth. It's really the story of God's 104 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,600 heart for us. And if you were with us last 105 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,760 week, Pastor Nathan did an incredible job of walking us 106 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:10,240 through what I would call typically a fly over passage in 107 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:11,480 our Bible. You, you know, the, you know, 108 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,520 the pages or the passages or their chapters of the Bible that 109 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,160 we sit there and go, I can't pronounce those words, therefore 110 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,040 I need to skip over it. Nathan not only did a great job 111 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,240 of pronouncing the names there in Matthew chapter 1, but 112 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,720 walking us through how generation after generation 113 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:32,240 after generation, God proved his heart for us and, and, and what 114 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:37,400 Christmas is really about is this heart of God for us. 115 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:42,720 You know why, why do we support a mission like Rahab's wrote? 116 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:47,480 Because it reflects God's heart for people that may be very far 117 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:49,600 from him. It reflects God's heart for 118 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,200 people that that need him. And this morning what we're 119 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,200 going to be talking about is maybe this is for you, or maybe 120 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,000 it's for somebody that you're close to or that you know that 121 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,360 they may feel forgotten during this Christmas season. 122 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,480 So here's what I want to do. We're going to read a little bit 123 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,080 together and we're going to read in the the book of Luke, Luke 124 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:11,920 chapter 1. So if you have a Bible with you, 125 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:14,560 I'd encourage you to find Luke chapter one with me. 126 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,840 And we're going to talk about or we're going to read about two 127 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:23,240 women, Luke chapter 1. We're going to see how an entire 128 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,680 people, an entire nation, it would have been easy for them to 129 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:29,160 feel forgotten. And then we're going to see how 130 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,880 an individual, it would have been very easy for her to feel 131 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,720 forgotten. And we're going to take a look 132 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,280 at Luke chapter 2. And we're going to start in 133 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:43,720 verse 26 and we're going to see God's comfort to us. 134 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,160 For those of you that may feel forgotten, like I said, this may 135 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,000 be for you or this may be for you to take to somebody else in 136 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,560 your world, in your sphere of influence, in your circle of 137 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:55,960 friendship or family this morning. 138 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,160 But here we go. Luke chapter 1, starting verse 139 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,400 26. In the sixth month the Angel 140 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:04,080 Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 141 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,880 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the 142 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:10,040 House of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 143 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,320 And Gabriel came to her and said, Greetings, O favoured one, 144 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,160 the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at 145 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,560 the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might 146 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:21,160 be. And the Angel said to her, Do 147 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,920 not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God. 148 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,240 And behold, you will conceive in your womb a bear son, and you 149 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:32,039 shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be 150 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:35,240 called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to 151 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,320 him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over 152 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,799 the House of Jacob Forever. And of his Kingdom there will be 153 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,320 no end. And this is kind of a 154 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:48,360 culmination of where Nathan left off last week as he walked us 155 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,560 through Matthew chapter one in the genealogy of Jesus. 156 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,920 And Mary said to the Angel, how will this be, since I'm a 157 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,200 virgin? And the Angel answered her, The 158 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,480 Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High 159 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,240 will over shadow you. Therefore the child to be born 160 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,080 will be called holy, the Son of God. 161 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:09,000 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has 162 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,560 also conceived a son, and this is the 6th month with her who 163 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:16,760 was called barren. For nothing will be impossible 164 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:18,880 with God. And Mary said, behold, I'm the 165 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,120 servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. 166 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:26,000 And the Angel departed. Verse 39 is going to be a pivot 167 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,240 to where Mary then goes and visits her cousin Elizabeth. 168 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,520 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the Hill 169 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,920 Country to a town in Judah. And she entered the House of 170 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,800 Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the 171 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,480 greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. 172 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:44,960 And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 173 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:46,520 And she exclaimed with a loud cry. 174 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,360 Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your 175 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,080 womb. And why is this granted to me, 176 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,000 that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? 177 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,640 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, 178 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,800 the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 179 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:04,400 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a 180 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,000 fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. 181 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,360 So what we're going to do is we're going to look at Luke 182 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:15,160 chapter 126 through 45, and we're going to see together what 183 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:20,080 are some common reasons that we can often feel forgotten during 184 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,800 this season and then outside of the season. 185 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:25,400 Again, if you're taking notes with us, here's what I believe 186 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,040 to be the first one common reasons why we feel forgotten. 187 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,440 It's when the fulfillment of a promise feels delayed. 188 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:35,120 It's when the fulfillment of a promise feels delayed. 189 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,280 When the fulfillment of a promise feels delayed. 190 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:42,440 A main Bible verse that we often hang on to and hold on to and is 191 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,120 often quoted and used throughout the Christmas season is actually 192 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,720 Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 14. This is actually the key verse 193 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,040 of this entire series. I want to show you what Isaiah 194 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,440 714 says, says, therefore, the Lord himself will give you a 195 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:57,480 sign. Behold, the virgin shall 196 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,760 conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. 197 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,160 And if you know the Christmas story, you grew up in church, 198 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:09,280 you know that Emmanuel means God with us. 199 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,360 But here's something that you may not know about this verse. 200 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:18,040 That promise from Isaiah that was prophesied, that was 201 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:19,920 written, that was given to the people of Israel. 202 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:24,680 It was given somewhere between, some scholars say 700 years 203 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:28,920 before the birth of Jesus and others say 730 years before the 204 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,840 birth of Jesus, 700 years before the birth of Jesus. 205 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,720 It was almost like God was saying, hey, Israel, my people, 206 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,800 the Messiah is coming. And then 700 years of nothing. 207 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:45,800 Hey, the Messiah is coming, but not yet. 208 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:53,320 And for 700 years, not yet. Let me kind of let me kind of 209 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:58,920 put some 2025 boots on that. That would be like a US holding 210 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:03,480 on to a promise now that was made in the year 1325. 211 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:08,640 Now in case you forgot what happened in the year 1325, let 212 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:14,040 me kind of spark our spark our memory a little bit. 1325 is 213 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:19,480 when most scholars believe that the Aztec empire started. 13/25 214 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:26,240 was was a few years before the bubonic plague ravaged Europe. 215 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:34,200 1325 is about 150 years before North America was quote UN quote 216 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,520 discovered by Christopher Columbus, which I know was 217 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:38,480 exciting news for the indigenous people. 218 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:41,280 They were already here that they've been discovered, right? 219 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:50,120 13251325 was about 300 years before Galileo invented the 220 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:54,800 telescope and up until that point in time everybody believed 221 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:59,840 that the that the the earth, not the sun, was the was the center 222 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:03,680 of the universe. 1325 that is long, long before corn dogs were 223 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:06,280 ever invented. It is a long time. 224 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:13,080 Can you imagine us holding on to a promise that was made in 1325? 225 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:16,920 We have a hard time hanging on to a promise that was made six 226 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,480 months ago. Can you imagine if you were the 227 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:27,080 Jewish people 700 years after this promise was made? 228 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,240 Nothing. And, and to actually double down 229 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:36,480 on that, if you if you go to the page in your Bible, most Bibles 230 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,640 have this page right before Matthew, right between Malachi, 231 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,560 the end of Malachi and the beginning of Matthew, there's a 232 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:44,800 page that just says the New Testament. 233 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:47,800 That page represents 400 years of silence. 234 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,440 The last time God had spoken to his prophets, to his people was 235 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,280 through the last words of the prophet Malachi, 400 years 236 00:13:55,280 --> 00:14:02,440 before the birth of Jesus. It would be so easy, so easy for 237 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,680 the people of Israel to feel forgotten by God. 238 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:08,360 Why? Because of the of the delayed 239 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,240 promise. If that's you this morning, have 240 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,800 you, have you ever felt like that to where you're, you're 241 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,920 holding on to a promise of God And, and, and even though you've 242 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,320 prayed and you've prayed and you've prayed, it seems like 243 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:23,320 nothing's changed. Even though you are, you are 244 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,280 striving to be obedient to God's word and his will and his ways. 245 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,960 It seems like your situation may be going backwards. 246 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,680 You ever you ever done it for an extended period of time to where 247 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,360 you often feel forgotten. If that's you, let me give you a 248 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:41,600 word of encouragement. Never mistake God's timing for 249 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:47,080 God's absence because 700 years before this prophet or after 250 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,960 this prophecy was made, God fulfilled His word. 251 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:53,200 Because God is always faithful. He fulfilled His word in a way 252 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:58,720 that was never anticipated. You see, everything changed when 253 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:03,600 Gabriel came to Mary on that seemingly random day, when a day 254 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,040 that most Jews that were holding on to that promise if if they 255 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,520 were still were holding on to that promise, most Jews that 256 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,360 they were just going about their day, day after day. 257 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,080 Everything changed when the Angel Gabriel came to Mary and 258 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:21,080 said, Mary, you have found favor with God through you. 259 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:24,240 God is going to bring his Son, the Messiah into this world. 260 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,840 Never mistake God's timing for God's absence. 261 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,520 I think there's a second reason or second way that we can all 262 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,480 very easily become discouraged and feel forgotten. 263 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,000 It's when life unfolds differently than we once thought 264 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,240 that it would, when life unfolds differently than we once thought 265 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,040 that it would. You see, when we read, by the 266 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:49,360 time we get to Luke chapter 1 and we we start reading to where 267 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,000 Mary and Elizabeth are are talking with one another, we're 268 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,000 reading a passage about two pregnant women kind of 269 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,920 celebrating and being happy for one another, right? 270 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:01,680 But I would encourage you in your own time with God this 271 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,800 week, go back to the very beginning of Luke chapter 1 and 272 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:06,600 at the very beginning of Luke chapter 1. 273 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,560 I believe it's around in verse 5. 274 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:14,000 We're we're able to read about this woman, Elizabeth, who 275 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:18,280 wasn't able to bear children. Now here's something that you 276 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,800 and I should know about the time of Mary and Elizabeth. 277 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:26,880 In that time in history, childbearing for a woman, it was 278 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,120 everything. It was everything. 279 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:33,160 You see, if a if a woman wasn't able to conceive and and have 280 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:36,960 children of her own, culturally she was seen as broken or lesser 281 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,680 than. And it is cruel as it is even in 282 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,920 the Jewish culture, if a woman was seen as as barren, she was 283 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:48,400 often labeled as cursed by God. And here you have Elizabeth. 284 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:52,120 You know that she dreamed growing up of having children of 285 00:16:52,120 --> 00:17:00,160 her own and yet up until her old age, she was she was barren. 286 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,520 Life hadn't turned out the way that she thought that it would. 287 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,920 You ever felt that way? You ever feel forgotten or you 288 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,760 ever felt lesser than because life hasn't turned out the way 289 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,640 that you thought that it would. Maybe by now you thought that 290 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:15,640 you would be married. Maybe by now you thought that 291 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:17,800 you would have grandkids or you would have kids. 292 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,680 Or maybe by now you thought that you would be further along 293 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:26,319 financially. Is kind of chasing a rabbit 294 00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:30,680 here, but is it just me or the older you get, the more your 295 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:35,600 definition of old changes? Like I'm at the age I was at the 296 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,320 age several years ago that I once thought was old. 297 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:45,760 So it is crazy how like life doesn't always turn out the way 298 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,680 that we thought, but when life's often doesn't turn out the way 299 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:50,920 that we thought that it would, so many times we can feel 300 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:56,080 forgotten. And then to add to that, I think 301 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,480 there's a third reason that we often feel forgotten, and it's 302 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:04,840 when other people around us seem to be living out our dream, when 303 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:06,920 someone else is living out our dream. 304 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:12,720 Again, going back to Elizabeth, you have a woman who's married 305 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,080 to Zechariah. By the way, Zechariah is a 306 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,880 priest. He's a priest. 307 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,840 And by all accounts, they're faithful, they love God, they're 308 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:24,720 devoted, they're obedient to God. 309 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:30,760 Yet after trying and trying and trying, she can't conceive. 310 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:32,400 And they have no kids of their own. 311 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:39,240 Yet during that entire time, Elizabeth's friends and family 312 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:44,120 members, they're announcing, hey, we're having a baby, we're 313 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:47,000 having a baby. Another, another friend or 314 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:48,960 another family member. Hey, we're having a baby. 315 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,440 We're having another baby, we're having another baby. 316 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,320 And she, she's, she's trying to be happy and she's trying to 317 00:18:55,320 --> 00:19:00,280 celebrate that. But deep down there's a there's 318 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:06,400 a hurt and there's a pain maybe that you can resonate with that 319 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:09,160 maybe, maybe your story involves infertility. 320 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,600 So there's that personal pain. You know, exactly what Elizabeth 321 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,960 probably went through until God miraculously provided. 322 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,040 Maybe for others of us this morning, that pain point is 323 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,360 triggered by something else, but you know exactly what I mean, 324 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:25,960 that there's something that that your heart has been yearning 325 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:27,760 for. There's something that has has 326 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,400 been at the very beginning and the very tip and the very end of 327 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,400 your prayers to where you've gone to God over and over and 328 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:39,600 over and over and over again and nothing's really changed yet. 329 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,320 The people around you, they're actually living out what you're 330 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:46,760 praying for that that that other person at work gets the 331 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,160 promotion or gets the recognition. 332 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,200 Maybe that other person, they're the ones that get married. 333 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,080 It could be, it could be 1,000,008 different things. 334 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,800 But we can so often feel forgotten when we see and when 335 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,480 we look and when we compare our lives up against somebody else 336 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,680 and they're living out what we have prayed for. 337 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,800 So I don't know, Again, I don't know if I described your story 338 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,480 or the story of somebody that you're close to this morning. 339 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,040 But I just want to tell you that there is hope. 340 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,240 And as we pivot this morning, I want to start off with a word of 341 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,160 encouragement to you. And then I want to give you some 342 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,600 handles to help navigate this Christmas season and to help 343 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,600 anchor us in this Christmas season. 344 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,200 If you're taking notes with us, here's the word of hope to you. 345 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,320 Here it is. Even though it may feel like it, 346 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:48,040 God hasn't forgotten you. And even though it may not feel 347 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:53,800 like it, God loves you. Listen, even though it may not 348 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,080 or it may feel like it, God has not forgotten about you. 349 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,080 Your prayers. You ever been, Let's just get 350 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,880 really honest, You ever been in that mode of prayer to where you 351 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,200 are praying urgently and it just feels like your prayers are just 352 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,640 bouncing off the ceiling? They're not going anywhere. 353 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,440 If you find yourself in that season, if you find yourself 354 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:20,200 kind of walking through, walking that path, it can so easily feel 355 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:23,000 like God has forgotten you. Let me encourage you, He has not 356 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,560 forgotten about you. And in those times and in those 357 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,520 seasons, it is so easy to feel like God doesn't love you. 358 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:31,440 Let me assure you, God loves you. 359 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,680 God still loves you. And one of the things that we're 360 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,760 going to look at in just a moment are these handles for us 361 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,960 to hold onto while we're in those seasons and while we may 362 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,640 be walking those paths. So again, if you're taking notes 363 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:48,320 with us, I want to give you 3 anchors for us to help us 364 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,640 navigate this Christmas season. And the reason the anchors are 365 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:56,440 so important for us is, is, is because we are either anchored 366 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:01,440 by something solid or we are tossed around by our feelings. 367 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:05,720 And listen, our feelings are very powerful, but our feelings 368 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:09,240 will lie to us, right? So our feelings, they, they, 369 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,120 they can go up and they can go down. 370 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,400 They, our feelings, if you think about them as waves, they can 371 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:16,160 get rough and they can get choppy. 372 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:19,000 We don't, I think that we would all agree, we don't want to be 373 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,840 tossed around by our feelings. We want to be anchored to 374 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,640 something that is real and something that is true. 375 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,520 In this Christmas season, God does not just want you to 376 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,920 celebrate the coming of Jesus, of baby Jesus and looking with 377 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,240 awe and wonder at a nativity. God wants every single one of us 378 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,520 to discover and to rediscover his heart for you. 379 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,720 So in that journey of discovery and rediscovery, I want to give 380 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:48,600 you 3 anchors, 3 anchor points for us as we are navigating this 381 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,160 Christmas season. Here's the first one. 382 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:53,520 Anchor yourself. In God's love, we've got to 383 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:59,800 anchor ourselves in God's love. The first thing that our 384 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,680 feelings will do, the first thing that our feelings are due 385 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,160 is they will get us to doubt God's love. 386 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:08,640 You ever been in a mode, or maybe you've heard somebody 387 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:13,080 around you been in a mode to where they feel so hopeless or 388 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,320 so forgotten, or they they don't know which way is up to where 389 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,480 they start to question, hey, is God even there? 390 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,600 Does God even care? Has God forgotten about me? 391 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:27,120 You, you. You have to believe that the 392 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:32,760 Jewish people, after 700 years of promise and 400 years of 393 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:39,600 solace, 4 centuries of silence from God, they had to have felt 394 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:44,040 forgotten. Yet the entire time God was 395 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:48,280 loving them, God was loving them, and God was preparing the 396 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,440 way for them. Don't believe me? 397 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:54,760 Let me tell you from the from the Jewish people's standpoint, 398 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:58,040 let me tell you what God was doing in those 400 years of 399 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,920 silence. In those 400 years of silence, a 400 00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:04,200 military leader by the name of Alexander the Great conquered 401 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,200 the known world and then died in his early 30s. 402 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,840 But before he died, Alexander the Great had basically been 403 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,840 conquering the known world, brought about Greek culture and 404 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,120 Greek language to the entire known world. 405 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,280 So Greek was pretty much the international language of the 406 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:22,960 known world. And then after Alexander the 407 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,800 Great, there's a couple other small military dynasties. 408 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:28,640 And then the Romans came to power. 409 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,680 And through the rise of the Roman Empire, you have something 410 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,280 called the Pax Romana or the Peace of Rome. 411 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:40,240 And Rome began to construct Rd. systems or the Roman roads that 412 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,400 connected all the known world in the Roman Empire. 413 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,600 Why was that so important? Because God was setting the 414 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:51,240 stage the perfect time, He was setting the perfect time for his 415 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,640 Son to come to bring the Messiah into this world. 416 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,400 Did you know that in the Old Testament, by the New Testament, 417 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,920 we read about these, these this group of religious leaders, the 418 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,880 Pharisees and the Sadducees? We don't read about those groups 419 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,760 in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament we're we're 420 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,320 reading about these ultra, ultra legalistic religious people, the 421 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,120 Pharisees and the Sadducees and how did God use them? 422 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,160 God used them to communicate widely to the people. 423 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,480 There's got to be something more than just empty, hollow, 424 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:27,560 legalistic ritual and religion. There's got to be something more 425 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:32,000 to worshipping and loving God the entire time. 426 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,600 Just because God was solid doesn't mean that God wasn't 427 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,520 working. Now how does that translate to 428 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,800 us? How do we anchor ourselves to 429 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:45,400 God's love for us? It's how we anchor ourselves in 430 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,360 all things is through Scripture is through Scripture. 431 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,360 If you look at your note sheet, I would highly encourage you to 432 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:56,520 take this note sheet home because out beside each of these 433 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:00,520 points, you're going to see some, you're going to see some 434 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:02,520 scriptural texts or some passages. 435 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:07,400 I want to encourage you to read through and to, to write these 436 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,360 verses down and to remind yourself. 437 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,800 So when you go home tonight or when you wake up in the morning, 438 00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:16,320 anchoring yourself in God's love, anchoring yourself in 439 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:20,280 God's love for you, you're going to go back to Psalm 139 and 440 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,560 you're going to be reminded I am fearfully and I am wonderfully 441 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:24,960 made. You're going to go back to 442 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,440 Jeremiah 29. God has a plan for me, for my 443 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,760 welfare. You're going to go to John 112. 444 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,760 I have been given the right to be a son or a daughter of God. 445 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,840 John 316 God loves me so much that he sent his only son into 446 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,760 this world for me. That is the heart of Christmas, 447 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:46,120 that God loves me so much that he sent Jesus. 448 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,600 Ephesians 2. You're going to read that and 449 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,040 you're going to be reminded and encouraged and anchored by the 450 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:56,360 fact that I am God's masterpiece created 4 good deeds to point 451 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:59,880 other people to Him. We've got to anchor ourselves in 452 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:02,880 God's love for us. The second anchor point is this 453 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,760 is we got to anchor ourselves in God's proven faithfulness. 454 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:11,200 We've got to anchor ourselves in God's proven faithfulness again, 455 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:15,680 kind of going back, people of Israel, 700 years of between 456 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:20,080 promise and pay off, between Isaiah and Jesus, 400 years of 457 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:21,560 silence. We've already talked about 458 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:26,640 everything that God was doing in that time period, even even in 459 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:31,440 Elizabeth's life, even in Elizabeth's life before God 460 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:37,520 allowed her to conceive in her old age, The baby within her 461 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:43,400 when he was born, he would grow up and, and he would become a 462 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,200 man. And this man would be the one 463 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,080 that would, would pave the way for, for Jesus. 464 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:52,120 This man, Elizabeth's child, Elizabeth's boy would grow up to 465 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:55,520 become John the Baptist. And if you know anything about 466 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,560 John the Baptist, John the Baptist, he was just an all out 467 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,120 wild man. The Bible describes him as 468 00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:03,560 dressing in camel hair and eating locusts and honey. 469 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,600 And I'm not sure if that was out of necessity or just his unique 470 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,240 flavor palette. He was just a wild man. 471 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,480 So what was God doing in Elizabeths life? 472 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:16,000 And Elizabeth Hart, the entire time that she was barren, she 473 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,800 was, he was preparing her to be the woman and the resolute 474 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:25,000 mother that He knew that she needed to be to raise such a man 475 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:29,440 as John. God was always faithful even in 476 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,160 her barren years. God was always faithful even in 477 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,160 the silent years. God was always faithful for you. 478 00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:37,600 And I. Again, coming back to this 479 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:41,440 point, never mistake God's timing for God's absence. 480 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:49,200 Isn't it amazing how 1 little thing goes wrong or one big 481 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:53,040 thing goes wrong in our lives and it causes us to question 482 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,000 God's faithfulness over our entire lives. 483 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,440 It causes us to question and bring into question God's 484 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:03,800 perfect track record. Let me tell you God, God is 485 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:06,600 never ever early. God is never ever late. 486 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:10,080 God is always on time. God is always on time. 487 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,880 He is always faithful. He has always been faithful. 488 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:16,680 He is always faithful. He always will be faithful. 489 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,000 So when we've got to anchor ourselves in God's faithfulness, 490 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,880 we've got to come to passages like Deuteronomy 31 in that 491 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:29,680 chapter twice, it reminds us God will never leave me. 492 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,760 God will never forsake me. And Psalm 23, four, it reminds 493 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,960 me, let come what may, even if it's the worst, even though I 494 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:41,240 walk through the valley of the shadow of death, You are with 495 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,440 me. I will fear no evil, for you're 496 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:45,800 with me. Your rod and your staff, they 497 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,520 comfort me. By the way, do you know what the 498 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:50,160 difference between the shepherd's rod and the 499 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:54,800 shepherd's staff is? A shepherd's rod was a weapon 500 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:56,840 that he would use to keep away the enemies. 501 00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:00,040 He would beat off the wolves, He would beat off the wild animals. 502 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,240 A shepherd's staff with something had a crook on it to 503 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:07,200 where he would gently bring and guide the sheep back into the 504 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:11,160 right direction. And I love that imagery that 505 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,400 David gives us in Psalms about even though I walk to the 506 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,440 valley, the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because God, 507 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,280 you are with me. You're rod and your staff, they 508 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,600 comfort me. There's a Hebrew word, my 509 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:25,880 favorite word in all the Bible is a word just said and she said 510 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:29,960 is given 250 times in the Old Testament. 511 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:34,560 It literally means steadfast love. 250 times in the Old 512 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:40,760 Testament, 127 times in the book of Psalms alone just said, 513 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,000 steadfast love God. You've always been faithful to 514 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:45,640 me. Here's my encouragement to you, 515 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:50,280 Church. Pick one of the 270 and hold on 516 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:53,320 to it. The words fear not are given to 517 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:57,720 us in Scripture. 365 times, pick one. 518 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,560 You can pick one a day. Pick one and hold on to it. 519 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:05,960 But we've got to anchor ourselves in God's perfect track 520 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:07,880 record in his faithfulness to us. 521 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:12,640 And then the third anchor point, man, I love this one, is anchor 522 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,040 yourself in knowing that the story isn't over. 523 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,800 Anchor yourself in, in knowing that the story isn't over. 524 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:23,080 People of Israel, 700 years between promise and pay off, 525 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,880 story ain't over. Guess what's going to Pierce the 526 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,200 silence? A baby's cry. 527 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:36,000 A baby's cry, it ain't over. Elizabeth in her old age, after 528 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,920 trying over and over and over and over after, her and 529 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:40,720 Zechariah have probably come to grips. 530 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,880 Hey, I guess we're just going to have to be lesser than or I 531 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:45,400 guess this just isn't going to happen. 532 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,560 It ain't over. It ain't over. 533 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:51,760 Can I, can I remind you something? 534 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,840 If you've been praying for a son or a daughter for years, it 535 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,840 ain't over. If you've been praying for a 536 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,000 spouse for years and years, it ain't over. 537 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:07,880 If you have been praying for a deeper walk with God, it ain't 538 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,440 over. As a matter of fact, not good 539 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,000 English, great theology. As long as God's still in it, it 540 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,440 ain't over. I want to leave you. 541 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:20,120 And these are two verses that I want us to hang on to 1's 542 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:24,600 printed at the one's printed at the bottom of our note sheet, 2 543 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:26,480 verses. And I call these kind of the end 544 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,480 verses of the passage that we just read together in Luke 545 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,440 chapter 1. I want you to hold on to these 546 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:32,240 verses. Go home. 547 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:34,280 I would challenge you. Highlight them in your Bible. 548 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:35,760 Go home. Write them in your journal. 549 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,840 Write them over and over and over and over and over. 550 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:44,640 Speak God's truth over yourself. Here's the first one. 551 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:49,440 These are Gabriel's last words to Mary. 552 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:54,560 Mary, nothing will be impossible with God, period. 553 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,160 Nothing will be impossible for God. 554 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,080 If God's still in it, it ain't over. 555 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,160 Nothing will be impossible for God. 556 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,040 There's no financial situation. There's no relational situation. 557 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,040 You may feel like your marriage is on the rocks. 558 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,120 Listen, if God's still in it, it ain't over. 559 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:14,800 You may feel like emotionally or mentally that you are just 560 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:17,480 crumbled. If God's still in it, it ain't 561 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:19,720 over. Nothing will be impossible for 562 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,960 God. I don't care about the odds. 563 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:23,560 I don't care about the statistics. 564 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,040 I don't care about how we may feel about something. 565 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:31,880 Nothing, nothing will be impossible for God. 566 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:36,760 The second verse that I want to leave us with this morning is 567 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:41,360 Elizabeth's last words to Mary. Check this out And blessed is 568 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:45,120 she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what 569 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:49,600 was spoken to her from the Lord. Here's what that means. 570 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:54,240 You and I, we will be blessed if we hold on to the promises of 571 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:56,480 God when we can't see them fulfilled. 572 00:33:56,480 --> 00:33:59,400 Yet you want to be blessed by God. 573 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:03,640 You want a peace and a comfort and a hope that supersedes all 574 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,560 situations and circumstances in your life, that supersedes your 575 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,480 feelings. Hold on to the promises of God 576 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,120 even when you may not see them yet. 577 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:17,800 Faith always comes before the fruit. 578 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:23,960 Being a man or a woman of faith means that saying God, I believe 579 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:27,239 you still are who you say that you are, and you will still do 580 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:30,679 what you say that you will do, even when my situation speaks 581 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:32,840 otherwise. That's faith. 582 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:38,120 That's the definition of faith. Blessed is she or blessed is he. 583 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,639 Blessed are you, blessed are me blessed are US, blessed are we 584 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,120 who believe that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken 585 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,600 to us from the Lord. Here's my question to you, 586 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:53,320 Church, Where do you or where does somebody that you know, 587 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,480 where do you need to be anchored this morning? 588 00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:58,800 Where do you need to be anchored? 589 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:00,760 What do you need to be reminded of? 590 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:02,760 What do you need to come and ask God? 591 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:07,320 God, remind me of your love for me, 'cause God, I just don't 592 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:09,800 feel like it right now. I don't feel like you love me. 593 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,440 Remind me of your love. God, allow the presence of your 594 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:18,080 Holy Spirit to over shadow what I may feel like. 595 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:20,720 God, remind me of your faithfulness. 596 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,560 God, there's some junk going on in my life and there's some 597 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,160 situations that are out of my control or maybe there's some 598 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,640 situations that are consequences and some actions that I that I 599 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,800 unwisely took before. But God, I don't see any way 600 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:34,960 out. And, and God, I don't, I don't 601 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,240 see how any of this is going to work for the good. 602 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:41,320 God, would you remind me of your faithfulness that you have not 603 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:45,240 brought me this far just to leave me here just to drop me? 604 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:47,280 Would you remind me of your faithfulness? 605 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,720 God, would you remind me that when I'm right on the verge of 606 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,120 I'm just going to give up praying, I'm just going to give 607 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:55,840 up showing up, I'm going to give up trying. 608 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:57,280 I'm going to give up giving. I'm going to give. 609 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,080 I'm just going to give up of pouring myself out. 610 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:05,640 I'm just going to give up. God, would you remind me that 611 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:09,920 the story isn't over yet? Would you remind me not to 612 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,600 mistake your timing with your absence? 613 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,840 So here's what that means. That means for some of us, 614 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:21,880 because we're about to stand and and sing there, there's a great 615 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,440 song that we're about to sing together and it's a song that 616 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,200 that if you've been a part of Riverbend that you know it was 617 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:31,160 something familiar to you as faithful now just as he's always 618 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:32,920 been faithful. He's faithful now and he will 619 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:36,880 always be faithful. Some of us are are at our our 620 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:40,440 time of response is just to stand and to to bro boldly 621 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:45,360 proclaim and to sing that almost as a prayer back to God for 622 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:48,120 others of us. It's to come down and to pray. 623 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,320 Maybe it's to pray over ourselves. 624 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:52,040 Maybe it's to pray over someone else. 625 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:56,280 Maybe this morning resonated very, very specifically with you 626 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:00,080 to where some area of your life you feel you felt forgotten. 627 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:03,480 Maybe there's somebody in your life that you know that they're 628 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,720 struggling with feeling forgotten again. 629 00:37:06,720 --> 00:37:11,080 Christmas, this Christmas, God does not want us just to have a 630 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:12,840 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 631 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:17,680 God desires deeply for us to rediscover and for some of us to 632 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:21,440 first time for us to discover His heart for us. 633 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,880 But that heart is always found in a posture of surrender. 634 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,320 God, here I am pouring my heart out to you. 635 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,560 God, would you heal? Would you take what I'm pouring 636 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:35,080 out to you? And would you heal it? 637 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,880 Would you use it? Would you encourage me through 638 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,320 it? So what we're going to do is I'm 639 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,400 going to pray, We'll stand, we'll sing. 640 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:45,480 Give you a chance to respond this morning. 641 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:47,960 God, we love you and we thank you for who you are. 642 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:54,000 God, you are a God that not only loves us, but God, your love 643 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:58,600 pursues us. God, your love pursues us 644 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:05,160 through the generations. God, if we ever doubt your love, 645 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:10,920 God, I pray that you would remind us of your Son coming 646 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:21,360 into the mess for our mess. God, you gave everything for us. 647 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:25,280 God, some of us, we need to be anchored in your love for us. 648 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,800 God, some of us need to be reminded and anchored in your 649 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,480 faithfulness towards us. God, some of us need to be 650 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:32,800 reminded and encouraged. The story ain't over. 651 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:34,960 If you're still in it, it ain't over. 652 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,320 So God, I pray that you would do a work in each and every one of 653 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:40,480 us in a way that only you can do. 654 00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:44,520 Because God, there are places in our lives, in our hearts and our 655 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:48,600 minds and our souls that you can, that only you can go to. 656 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:52,160 So God, I pray that you would go to the deep places within us to 657 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:55,160 bring about your deep healing. And it's in Jesus name that we 658 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:56,400 pray. Amen. 659 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:04,120 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 660 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:07,480 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 661 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,840 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.