1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:06,640 If you had to pick your favorite quality or characteristic about 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:12,320 God, which one would you choose? I'm guessing that there will be 3 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,480 some of you who would pick His Holiness. 4 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:16,960 You grew up in church. You know that the holiness of 5 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,920 God is a really big deal, and no doubt that is a good choice. 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,800 He is, after all, all together different than us. 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:30,120 Maybe some of you you would go. You know what, I think I'm going 8 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,200 to go with His might. I mean, no one is as mighty as 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,520 He is. He simply spoke our universe 10 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,640 into existence. The Bible says He holds all 11 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,520 things together with His hand. It would be a good choice. 12 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,520 Some of you, you might go, well, I'm going to elevate it. 13 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:45,920 I'm going to take it up one more notch. 14 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,720 If I was going to pick my favorite quality about God, it 15 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,600 would be His power. There is indeed no enemy that 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,480 can stand against Him. He can do all things. 17 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:01,280 Some of you, you've got a past and you'd go, my favorite 18 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:03,680 quality about God has got to be His grace. 19 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,600 There is no end to the about amount of grace that He was 20 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,600 willing to give His people and you're going, I'm a grace kid. 21 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,680 That's how I got in. I am all about the grace of God 22 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,320 and no doubt about it, that would be a good choice. 23 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:19,480 There will be some of you though, who would go. 24 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,400 You know what I think I would say my favorite quality about 25 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,720 God is His mercy and the Bible would, you know, say you've got 26 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,680 good proof for that. The Bible does say after all his 27 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:33,120 mercies are new every morning. God never runs out of mercy. 28 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,800 Some of you, you could make a really strong argument for his 29 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,480 goodness. There truly is no one like him, 30 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:48,480 righteous in every single way. My gut tells me that when I 31 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:50,960 said, what's your favorite quality about God? 32 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:58,000 Most of you thought of His love. Psalm 1:30 or Psalm 36 verse 7 33 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:03,280 says how priceless is your unfailing love? 34 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,600 Oh God. I mean, I think God would even 35 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,639 say one of His biggest characteristics would be how 36 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,360 loving He is. However, what if the 37 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:21,840 characteristic you didn't think of is the one you need the most? 38 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,200 I want to welcome all of our different locations, those of 39 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,800 you watching online and inside. We are so glad to be with you 40 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,040 this weekend. I also want to wish a very 41 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,000 special welcome to those of you who this is your first time or 42 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,920 your first time in a long time, and I want to encourage you 43 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,080 before you leave today, swing up by the concrete lobby or say 44 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,320 something in the chat because we have an incredible group of 45 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:44,320 people that would love to connect with you and help you 46 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,760 take your next step. Last week I talked about four 47 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,360 questions I would love for you to consider deeply during this 48 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,800 Christmas season. The first one is who are you 49 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,920 going to bring to our Christmas Eve services? 50 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,640 Here at The Crossing, We desperately believe that Jesus 51 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:06,280 is the answer to every major question in life, and we want 52 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:10,240 people to find and experience and discover what we have found 53 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,240 in an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 54 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,360 And so our Christmas Eve services are going to be an 55 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,120 incredible opportunity for them to hear about Jesus. 56 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,840 So take the bold fate filled risk and invite them and 57 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,240 hopefully they'll come and sit with you. 58 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,520 The second question I asked you to deeply consider is how are 59 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,160 you going to serve during this Christmas season? 60 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,600 I don't want you to watch others make a difference in this 61 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,560 region. I want you to be part of it. 62 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,800 Pay attention to the team at your different location and say, 63 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,400 hey, let them know I want to be a part of what God is doing. 64 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,200 I don't want to watch it. I want to be in the middle of 65 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,440 it. The third question I asked you 66 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,680 to deeply consider is how are you going to focus your family 67 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,960 on the real reason for the season behind all the presents 68 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,560 and all the parties and all the fun and all the travel and all 69 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,360 the wrapping paper? Our how are you going to make 70 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,240 sure that your kids understand that all of this is because 71 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:09,560 Jesus came to us and myself and a lot of our other high level 72 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,120 leaders at our church we're how we're doing that is through a 73 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:16,760 family discovery Bible study. I did mine this week. 74 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,399 It was a great time. It will take about 30 minutes 75 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,720 each week, but what I can promise you is that it will make 76 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,560 a difference in the spiritual temperature of your home. 77 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,440 And I'm willing to wager that no matter where you are on the 78 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:32,480 spiritual growth spectrum, your house could probably use a 79 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,520 little bit more of an increase of the Holy Spirit, especially 80 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:41,000 as stress increases, so must the Spirit. 81 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,120 And if you want to be a part of that, you can leverage the QR 82 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:45,920 code on the back of the seat at every single one of our 83 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,880 locations and we'll send you all the stuff you need to be 84 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:50,840 successful at leading your home spiritually. 85 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,240 The fourth thing is how will you participate in our In Your 86 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,760 Corner year end giving? Last week we announced that 87 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:00,960 we're going to be using our year end giving for the next two 88 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,560 years to finish out the multi site project. 89 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,000 And then to make sure that we fully put everything in place 90 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,000 for the production house that we'll be putting in there to 91 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,320 digitally reach our kids and our grandkids. 92 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:16,240 And hopefully say yes to each of our major capital projects that 93 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,440 our mission partners have submitted to us. 94 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:22,880 And I am blown away by how many of you have already started to 95 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:24,600 give and make a difference in this way. 96 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,560 And hear me, no matter what, where you are financially or 97 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,200 where you are spiritually, I believe that if we all partner 98 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,920 together, we could make a difference that would be 99 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,040 incredible to watch in front of us. 100 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:40,360 Now last week we started a new sermon series called Behold. 101 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,120 What happens when you claim the promises of God? 102 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,440 And if you missed it last week, let me catch you up quickly. 103 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,240 The word behold means on the count of three for those of you 104 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,800 here last week. We'll see if you guys remembered 105 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,640 anything or if you just did your online shopping while I was 106 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,080 talking. Behold means 123. 107 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,200 It means it means look. And a couple of you said it the 108 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:04,480 right way. The way you're supposed to say 109 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,680 behold is like you are woman in the car with your husband and 110 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,640 you are about to hit a deer. OK, so let's try it again. 111 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,280 Behold means look. That's exactly right. 112 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:15,640 And we say look. When we see a shooting star in 113 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,800 the night sky, we say look. When a baby begins to take its 114 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:23,280 very first steps, we say, look when there's something that we 115 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:28,760 know will be meaningful for you and we would hate for you to 116 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,480 miss it. And that is why I'm excited 117 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,520 about the sermon series because I believe that there are 118 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:39,160 tremendous promises in the Word of God and I would hate for you 119 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:44,000 to miss it. Last week we unpacked that Jesus 120 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:50,400 is not just a savior, but a king and kings come to rule. 121 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,880 Remember Luke chapter 1, verses 31 through 33? 122 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,520 It said when we're let me read that real quick, you will 123 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,800 conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus. 124 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,000 He will be great and be called Son of the Most High. 125 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,600 The Lord God will give him the throne of David and he will 126 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,400 reign over Jacob's descendants forever. 127 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:16,040 His Kingdom will never end. Hear me crossing family. 128 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:23,280 There is not a place in your life that Jesus does not deserve 129 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:30,240 to rule over, and there is not a part of your life that He does 130 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:35,360 not want to rule over. For the people of Israel, they 131 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,760 waited years for the King to arrive, and even though they 132 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:44,160 were unfaithful in their waiting for him to come, God was still 133 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,760 faithful in his coming through Jesus. 134 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,400 And when you make Jesus the King of your life, you get to be in 135 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,040 His Kingdom. And His Kingdom is a Kingdom of 136 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:00,680 victory, a Kingdom of life, a Kingdom of joy, a Kingdom of 137 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:04,800 hope, and a Kingdom of peace. And you can step into that 138 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,880 Kingdom when you begin an intimate personal relationship 139 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:13,320 with Jesus Christ. Today we move into the second 140 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:19,480 promise that you can claim. Now this promise shows up 700 141 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:23,320 years before the arrival of Jesus. 142 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,400 This promise is given by the prophet Isaiah. 143 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,200 Now you may remember Israel had a bunch of kings and then after 144 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,000 King Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel was divided into a 145 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,600 northern Kingdom and a southern Kingdom. 146 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:42,640 And Isaiah was a prophet, a truth teller to the people and 147 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,920 to the kings primarily in the southern Kingdom. 148 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:51,440 And Isaiah Chapter 7, verse 14, we find these words. 149 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,040 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. 150 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:04,160 A virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and we'll call 151 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:11,840 him Emmanuel. Fast forward 700 years and an 152 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:17,920 Angel appears to a virgin girl named Mary and the Angel tells 153 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:22,520 Mary you are going to be with child through the power of the 154 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:29,080 Holy Spirit. Small problem, she's engaged to 155 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,720 be married to a man named Joseph. 156 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:40,040 Don't miss the drama here. What would happen in your family 157 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:47,440 if somebody who was engaged to a member of your family showed up 158 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:54,200 pregnant and then when you said who's the baby daddy, her 159 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,960 response? It's God's. 160 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,240 I've been completely faithful to you. 161 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,080 I haven't cheated. I'm still a virgin. 162 00:10:13,700 --> 00:10:18,100 Moms, what would you be saying to your son about the girl that 163 00:10:18,100 --> 00:10:20,680 he's engaged to? She Cray, Cray. 164 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:32,640 OK, there is no less drama today than there would have been back 165 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,240 then. In fact, there would have been 166 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,800 more. So how bad is it? 167 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,000 Well, it takes an Angel to step in. 168 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:44,000 Matthew, fortunately zooms in and gives us the rest of the 169 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:45,360 story. Look what it says. 170 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,560 Matthew chapter 1, verses 19 through 24, and her husband 171 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:54,800 Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, 172 00:10:55,160 --> 00:11:01,160 resolved to divorce her quietly. Listen, nobody else has to know 173 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,600 how crazy you are. We're just going to end this 174 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,240 marriage quietly. But as he considered these 175 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:14,640 things, behold, look, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a 176 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,800 dream. Check out what the the Angel 177 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,000 said in his dream. Joseph, son of David. 178 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:26,920 Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is 179 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:32,840 conceived in her is indeed from the Holy Spirit. 180 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:40,360 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for 181 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:42,600 He will save his people from their sins. 182 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:47,840 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the 183 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:53,040 prophet. Behold, the Virgin shall 184 00:11:53,040 --> 00:12:00,000 conceive and bear a son, and they will call his, shall call 185 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:06,720 his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. 186 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:13,280 When Jesus or when Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the Angel 187 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:18,880 of the Lord commanded him. The apostle John, he tells the 188 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:21,520 whole story a whole lot more poetically. 189 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,480 He says it like this in John chapter one verse 14. 190 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:31,160 And the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 191 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:36,360 That word dwelling means he set up a tent, He tented with the 192 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:39,280 people. Jesus is showing up and he is 193 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,360 coming alongside of us, living alongside of us. 194 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,480 Jesus is Cousin Eddie moving into the neighborhood with the 195 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,200 RV. But to understand the 196 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:54,520 significance of this God with us of this word became flesh and 197 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,920 made his dwelling among us, we have to go back. 198 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:06,760 When I say back, I mean way, way, way back to when God tented 199 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:13,440 with his people in the desert, in the Tabernacle, in the big 200 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,080 tent. Later God does the same thing 201 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:21,680 again, only this time he dwells with them in the center of the 202 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:24,160 people. His presence is with them in the 203 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:29,640 construction of the temple. Fast forward 300 years from the 204 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,320 prophecy of Isaiah, that He will come and be with us, and the 205 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,840 mate or the virgin shall give birth to a child, and they shall 206 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,640 call Him Emmanuel. Fast forward 400 or 300 years 207 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:45,200 and the people begin 400 years of silence between the end of 208 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,920 the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. 209 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,960 And what would be the question rattling around? 210 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:59,280 Where is God? And the Angel tells Joseph they 211 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:05,640 shall call him Emmanuel, which means God is with them. 212 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,880 Don't miss the goodness of our God in this. 213 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,000 Don't miss the mercy of God in this. 214 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,480 Don't miss the grace of God in this moment. 215 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:20,600 God sees the broken world. He sees the sickness of sin and 216 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:27,360 our situation and he doesn't send a message as if we needed 217 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:32,840 to know that we had messed up. We can look around, we could 218 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,680 come to the messed up conclusion on our own. 219 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,680 He looks down and he sees the situation and he doesn't send us 220 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:46,080 a manual, as if we could open up the manual, go through it, read 221 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:51,040 it and fix it. He does not send a ladder and 222 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,280 say it looks like you have dug yourself a really big hole, 223 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,440 climb the ladder, get out of there. 224 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,600 He does something that we weren't expecting. 225 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,040 He looks down and sees the broken world and he sends 226 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:12,520 himself to the broken world. And inside of that move is the 227 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:15,840 problem. But if you look carefully, it's 228 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:19,560 not just the problem. It's also the promise. 229 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:24,560 If you pay attention, you see the problem that the people in 230 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:29,360 the Old Testament had is they kept forgetting that God was 231 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,280 always with them. You can see it from beginning to 232 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:36,040 end. If you show up in Genesis 233 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:39,920 chapter 3, you see that it was God walking in the very cool of 234 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,920 the day with Adam and Eve. He was with them in the garden. 235 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,600 It was God who spoke to Moses out of the burning Bush in 236 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:51,280 Exodus chapter 3 saying go and deliver my people from slavery. 237 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:54,600 It was God Himself who is dwelling in the pillar of cloud 238 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,960 by day and dwelling in the pillar of fire by night to guide 239 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,200 and protect the people of Israel on their journey to the Promised 240 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,520 Land. In Exodus chapter 13, it was God 241 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,040 who was with them in the Tabernacle. 242 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,760 It was God who was with Joshua in the battle of Jericho. 243 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:11,200 It was God who was with Gideon when they fought the of the 244 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,240 Midianites in Judges chapter 6. It was God who was with 245 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,040 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. 246 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:23,160 He was with them all along. No wonder David cries out in the 247 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:28,400 Old Testament. You have searched me, Lord, and 248 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:32,400 you know me. You know when I sit and when I 249 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,600 rise. You perceive my thoughts from 250 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:40,000 afar. You discern my going out and my 251 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:44,200 lying down. You are familiar with all my 252 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:48,840 ways before a word is on my tongue. 253 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:54,680 Oh Lord, you know it completely. God saw the cuss word before you 254 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:59,000 had the cuss word. He saw it coming and went. 255 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:07,640 You hem me in behind me, and before you lay your hand upon 256 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:11,119 me. Such knowledge is too wonderful 257 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,440 for me, too lofty for me to attain. 258 00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:23,200 Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your 259 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,359 presence? If I go up to the heavens, 260 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:31,440 You're there. If I make my bed in the depths, 261 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:36,680 you are there. If I rise on the wings of dawn, 262 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:41,200 if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand 263 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,680 will guide me. Your right hand will hold me 264 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,800 fast. If I say, surely darkness will 265 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,960 hide me, or surely the darkness will hide me, and then the light 266 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:00,080 will become night around me. Even the darkness will not be 267 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:04,160 dark to you. The night will shine like day, 268 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:13,200 for darkness is as light to you. David's going everywhere I go. 269 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,160 You're there. And you might be thinking, well, 270 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,920 Clayton, that's just the Old Testament. 271 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:28,560 Nope, it only gets better. God's presence shows up over and 272 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:30,880 over and over again in the Old Testament. 273 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,920 When you read the Gospels, God's presence was in Jesus. 274 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,760 And when you read everything else in the New Testament, you 275 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:44,840 find out that God has made himself a new temple, and his 276 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,680 new temple is in the heart of the saved. 277 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,640 God, through Jesus, gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit to watch 278 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:56,720 this dwell with us, to be with us. 279 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:04,440 But watch it gets better because Jesus did not just come to be 280 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:13,800 with us, He came to be with us so that we could be with him. 281 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:19,120 Turn your neighbor and say with him, Can I borrow a Bible word 282 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:22,120 for just a second? Crossing family. 283 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:30,000 Behold, in Romans 6 verse 6, the Bible says that we are crucified 284 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,600 with him. In Colossians chapter 2, verse 285 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:41,440 12, we are buried with him. In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 5, 286 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:48,800 we are made alive with him. If you're to read in Colossians 287 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,840 chapter 3 verse 1, you would find out that we will be raised 288 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,840 with him. In Romans chapter 6 verse 8, we 289 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:01,200 live with him. In Ephesians 26, we sit with 290 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,840 him. In Romans chapter 8, verse 17, 291 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:10,200 we will be glorified with him and we will inherit with him. 292 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,520 And in Second Timothy chapter 2, verse 12, the Bible says we will 293 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,000 reign with. Him. 294 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,880 He did not just show up to be with us, He showed up so we 295 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,280 could be with Him. And wherever he is, we get to 296 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,200 be. So when they lay him down and 297 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:29,280 they kill him, when we are baptized into Christ, we die 298 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,320 with Him. But three days later, when he 299 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,560 rose, we rise. And when he sits, we sit. 300 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,440 And where he goes, we go. And when he reigns, we reign. 301 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:41,560 And when he walks in victory, we walk in victory. 302 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:43,600 And when he overcomes death, we overcome death. 303 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:45,080 And we walk in the newness of life. 304 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,840 We walk in the newness of life because not only did he just 305 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,720 come to be with us, he made it so that way we could be with him 306 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,680 so that where he goes, we go. I received an e-mail this week 307 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,680 from a woman named Sue talking about her experience at the 308 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,560 crossing. I'm paraphrasing a majority of 309 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,240 her words because I don't want to give too much away, but this 310 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,720 is what she said to our team. I want to thank you for praying 311 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:10,120 with me on Sunday. While you were praying, I could 312 00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:15,840 feel a peace come over me. I took that to be God's way to 313 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:22,400 let me know that I didn't need to worry because He already knew 314 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,080 what was going on. I'm so happy to have found a 315 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,880 church and a church family that has helped me to learn and 316 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,040 follow and love God. You've opened my eyes to 317 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:35,880 understanding things in the Bible that I never understood. 318 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,160 I've been baptized several months back. 319 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:42,360 I was asked to share my testimony. 320 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:48,800 I started writing it. When I got done, I realized it 321 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:55,240 was probably too long. I have looked back on my life 322 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:08,200 and I saw where God was with me all my life, but because I 323 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:12,640 didn't think that I was good enough for Him, I refused him. 324 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:23,120 He was there for me in every wrong turn I made, and I see 325 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:34,480 that now, and He's still with me because I can feel and see where 326 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:38,920 he is. It's an awesome feeling, 327 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,440 crossing family. Like I said. 328 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:48,560 What if the characteristic you didn't think of is the one you 329 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:53,160 needed the most? No matter what problem, what 330 00:22:53,160 --> 00:23:00,360 hardship, what heartache, what promise yet fulfilled in light 331 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:04,040 of all of His might and His power and His grace and His 332 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:08,920 mercy and His love, What if what you needed the most was to know 333 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:17,360 that He is with you, and if He is with you, you get to be with 334 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:20,000 Him. And they shall call him 335 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,560 Emmanuel, which means God with us. 336 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:26,240 We're moving to a time of decision. 337 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,080 To those of you who are here today or watching online, you 338 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,680 have never started an intimate, personal relationship today. 339 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:40,720 To all the women in our church who have a story like Sue, and 340 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,600 to all of those who don't yet have a story like Sue, I have 341 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,480 good news for you. You can start a relationship 342 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:50,760 with Jesus Christ today and He will be with you. 343 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,000 To all the men in our church, specifically to all the men 344 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,400 named Sue. And I know what you might be 345 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:58,120 thinking. There's not a lot of guys named 346 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:00,040 Sue, but I know that there was 1. 347 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,920 Johnny Cash sang about him. Well, listen to me. 348 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:09,880 Even if your name isn't Sue, no matter where you are on your 349 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:16,200 spiritual journey, you can be in a spiritual journey with him and 350 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,240 it can happen. Today. 351 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,480 It is on the other side of you starting an intimate personal 352 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,840 relationship with Jesus Christ. He's been watching you, he's 353 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:28,760 seen every step, he's seen every wrong turn. 354 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,400 He's been with you every step of the way. 355 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:32,760 But he has been following you where you go. 356 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,360 And maybe it's time for you to start following him where he 357 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:40,440 wants to go because his his path leads to glory and life and 358 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,680 righteousness and peace and hope. 359 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,840 And so in just a few moments, the people around you are going 360 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:47,600 to stand and sing. Some of them are going to come 361 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:49,880 to the steps and pray. And what I want to encourage you 362 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:53,040 is to walk right over there underneath that screen next to 363 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,440 the baptistry, and talk to somebody about what it means to 364 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,000 start an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 365 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,760 Now, to the rest of you, to those of you who already have an 366 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,160 intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, can I just 367 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:07,880 remind you of a couple things? God is with you. 368 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,240 And maybe that's just the thing we forget the most. 369 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,760 And because we forget it the most, it messes with us the 370 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:18,280 most. Let me punch you for a little 371 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,000 bit. Husbands, how would you treat 372 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,200 your wife this week if you knew that God was in the house with 373 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:29,440 you? Wives, how would you speak to 374 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,960 your husband this week if you knew that God was watching the 375 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,120 words formed in the back of your throat? 376 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:42,320 What would happen to the amount of sin in your life if you knew 377 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,360 that as you were getting ready to commit that sin, you knew 378 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:50,800 that He was with you? Leaders, as you step into your 379 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:55,520 business, how would you lead or change or operate in your 380 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:59,360 business if you knew that as you walked through the doors, you 381 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:06,560 knew that He was with you? Because His present doesn't just 382 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:13,440 comfort us, His presence should convict us because there is 383 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,760 nothing that escapes His vision. There is no place for you to 384 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:22,640 hide what you and I do. Now the good news is, is he 385 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:24,280 doesn't just see what we're doing. 386 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:30,080 He died for it and he promises to redeem it. 387 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:33,080 And so maybe today there's some things that you just need to get 388 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,040 down on your knees and say, God, turn this around, change this. 389 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,760 Make me never forget that you were with me in every single one 390 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:42,800 of those situations. But I want to leave with this. 391 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,640 I want to give a final little gift this week as I was doing my 392 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,920 family DBS with my family. We were reading Luke chapter 1 393 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:55,920 verses 5 through 20 and it starts off by telling the story 394 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,240 of Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. 395 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,040 And the Bible gives a really cool. 396 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,280 I wanted to preach it like I wanted to can this sermon and 397 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,800 preach this little thing. So I just have to get it out of 398 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,200 my system, otherwise it's going to mess up the whole, you know, 399 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:14,800 the rest of the Behold series, it gives this description about 400 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:19,560 Zechariah and Elizabeth. It said that they were righteous 401 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:24,720 in God's sight and they clung to the Lord's commands where it 402 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,080 followed them. So what you have is you have 403 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:35,160 really good people. And then it goes on to say that 404 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,520 they have, they're walking with a limp, They're walking with 405 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:40,560 God, but they're walking with a limp. 406 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:47,000 They are old in age and they are childless, really good people 407 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:52,400 doing all the things right, but not everything is going right. 408 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,840 They're walking with a limp. And there might be some of you 409 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,200 right now you're thinking, man, I'm praying is more than I've 410 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:02,560 ever prayed. I'm reading my Bible more than 411 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:04,880 I've ever read my Bible. I'm showing up for church more 412 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,280 than I've ever shown up. I feel like I'm doing everything 413 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,880 right. Why am I still walking with a 414 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,880 limp? I just am telling you, you're 415 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:17,520 not alone. And the Angel shows up and he 416 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,560 tells Zechariah that his wife is going to be with child. 417 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:24,400 So this story ends up great. Your story might not. 418 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:27,600 Here's what the Angel said to him. 419 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:35,480 The Lord has heard your prayers, crossing family. 420 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:41,400 He hears every prayer. You might be a really good 421 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,240 person who's following Jesus in all the right ways, and you may 422 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:53,320 still have to walk with a limp, but God hears every prayer that 423 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,280 you pray. And when God shows up to the 424 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,240 prophet Elijah, he doesn't show up in the thunderstorm or in the 425 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,120 strong wind. He shows up in the whisper. 426 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:06,760 How close do you have to be for God to whisper? 427 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,000 So as you get ready to go through whatever it is you're 428 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,240 going through, navigate whatever it is that you are navigating? 429 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,320 What would change about your prayer life if you believed that 430 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:25,280 He was close and that He heard every single prayer? 431 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:31,440 Would you stand with me, God? I'm praying that what was just 432 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,480 spoken over our people would be a blessing. 433 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,520 God that in the areas where somebody needs hope, that God, 434 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,400 you gave them hope. In the places where we needed 435 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:49,360 conviction or nudged or moved, God that you would accomplish 436 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:53,160 that. God that you would begin to 437 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,920 divinely direct our steps and draws close to you. 438 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:02,240 God, that you would seal and cement in our minds that you are 439 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:06,600 with us and that that truth would transform us. 440 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:08,840 Your name I pray. Amen.