1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,600 I want to open with the scripture I shared last week, 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:07,280 Matthew 13, another parable Jesus put forth to them, saying 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,400 the Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,800 and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all 5 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,239 seeds. But when it is grown, it is 6 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,800 greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds 7 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,600 of the air come and nest in its branches. 8 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,920 Jesus reiterated what the prophets of the Old Testament 9 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:29,360 declared. And as I go through this story, 10 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,119 you're going to hear a lot of prophetic words that were spoken 11 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:36,160 in the Old Testament prophecy. And prophets have always been a 12 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:39,400 big part of what God does because God tells us ahead of 13 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,000 time what's going to happen. And He also wants us to be 14 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,080 prepared and also to be a participant in the things that 15 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,760 He's doing. Now, one of these things that 16 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,960 the Bible tells us is that #1 when God starts something, he 17 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,480 always starts small. That's why I want to call this 18 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:00,040 the divine beginnings. In this particular case, Jesus 19 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,560 said, well, I'm going to start with a mustard seed. 20 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,160 That's the way the Kingdom of God is because when you look at 21 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,080 a mustard seed, it's the smallest of the seeds. 22 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,560 But if you planted in your garden, it will grow and become 23 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,720 the biggest plant, literally it will become a tree in your 24 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:16,960 garden. And he said this is the way the 25 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:20,920 Kingdom of God is going to be. Now this is so important for us 26 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:23,920 to understand because we have to realize that if we're going to 27 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,840 walk with God and if we're going to believe him for his promises, 28 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,840 we you have to be able to see what God is doing in one sense, 29 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,520 but also know about his character, know how he does 30 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:37,520 things. The Bible tells us in the book 31 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,880 of Romans chapter one that God who created all things because 32 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:42,360 he is the God who created all things. 33 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,520 You can look at the natural world and get an insight into 34 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,760 what God is doing. That's why Jesus used principles 35 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:50,880 like this and talking about the Kingdom of God. 36 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,440 But one thing she'll find out about God is he likes to start 37 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,760 small and he always wants us to be a people that receives leave 38 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:03,000 that small thing if you would, and allow that seed to grow in 39 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,680 our hearts or grow in our life if you would, because the Bible 40 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,199 says that God is a God of big endings. 41 00:02:10,199 --> 00:02:13,880 And this is so important to understand because God starts 42 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,600 small, but his the desire is to end big. 43 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:21,040 That's why I always share that the vision of Mount Zion is 44 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,800 based on Isaiah chapter 2. It says in the latter days of 45 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,000 time, the mountain, the Lords house is gonna be established on 46 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,680 top of the mountains, exalted above the hills. 47 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,440 And people are gonna say, come us, let us go to the mountain of 48 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,120 the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob. 49 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:36,920 I believe that with all my heart. 50 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:39,840 And Jesus reiterated that when he said the Kingdom of heaven is 51 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:43,760 like a man who plants a seed. And Jesus was that seed that was 52 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,200 planted. And he says, you're going to 53 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,880 find out that this is going to be the biggest thing going in 54 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:50,960 the end. Now, a lot of people don't have 55 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:53,360 faith for that. A lot of people think, well, in 56 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,640 the latter days of time, we're going to come under great 57 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:57,600 persecution. We're going to kind of be hiding 58 00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,360 and waiting for our divine rescue. 59 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:01,920 The Lord's going to come and get us secretly and take us out of 60 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:04,040 here. No, that's not what God wants us 61 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:05,960 to think. God wants us to know He's going 62 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,720 to do something big in the earth, and He wants us to be a 63 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,120 part of it. He wants us to know that we are 64 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,240 called to be salt and light in our world, and we have to 65 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,000 believe and understand what God is doing so that we can see that 66 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,200 He wants to do that in our lives individually as well. 67 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:24,040 And I love to share our testimonies throughout the years 68 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,360 here at Mount Zion. That's why I even love telling a 69 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,040 little bit of the history as we're dedicating the children 70 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,240 because when the word, the Lord came to us back in 1978, we were 71 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,360 in the basement of a house. The Lord said go the way of 72 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:38,920 Spirit and you'll possess things that others have not possessed 73 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,920 before. We only took up a small part of 74 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,320 that basement and it was not a totally finished basement. 75 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,000 As a matter of fact, my dad had to put some carpet down. 76 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:49,880 We set up some chairs and we had church. 77 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,520 But we just knew that God had spoken and His word would come 78 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,600 to pass. And so now we stand in front of 79 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,440 a bunch of people in a very big building. 80 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:01,960 How do we know it's a little bit bigger than a basement now? 81 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:06,400 Amen and all of those. And that's why I like to talk 82 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,440 about the generations who started with us in the 83 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:10,600 beginning. We know what it's like to get a 84 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,840 seed, which is a word that God speaks and to believe it by 85 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,720 faith and literally you can see it come to pass. 86 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,519 That's why I love the fact that God put us here next to I-75. 87 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,080 He has spoke a word to me. The city sat on a hill cannot be 88 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,480 hit. And this is one of the busiest 89 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:32,440 places you can drive on I-75. And they say in this location, 90 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,840 several thousand cars an hour pass. 91 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:39,320 So how, you know, we are a visible place in that sense, a 92 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:43,480 city that sat on a hill because everybody that goes by sees it. 93 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:45,840 Now, it's interesting to me because, you know, I'm always a 94 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:48,840 person that keeps myself focused on the Word of Faith. 95 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,800 And there's a song we used to sing in the old days. 96 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,640 We often telling sing Psalms. And one is Psalm 48. 97 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:01,280 And it talks about Mount Zion, beautiful in elevation, the city 98 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:04,920 of the great God. And how many know we are 99 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,920 beautiful in elevation? But it says it sits on the sides 100 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:09,800 of the north. And it's funny to me because 101 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,120 I-75 runs North and South. The truth matter is right here, 102 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:14,880 it kind of runs east and east and West. 103 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:17,800 So how many know where on the north side, if you would, when 104 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,240 I'm driving down I-75, go, there's Mount Zion on the side 105 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:23,160 of the north, the city of our Grego. 106 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:28,160 Anyway, now you know how I live my life, always trying to keep 107 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,360 myself focused on what God has said, because God has done great 108 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:33,120 things. When we first wanted to build 109 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:35,680 this church, they said no, that's too valuable of a piece 110 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,440 of property to use for a church. It's too big, it's too visible 111 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:41,000 that we should build a hospital there. 112 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,160 We should zone it for this. And then there's all these big 113 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,360 arguments. But how many know we got the 114 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:46,520 church? Amen. 115 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,400 God is faithful. So when you come into 116 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,200 Independence Township, which is what we're evolved in part of 117 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,280 Clarkson, if you would, that's the area code of the mailing and 118 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:58,880 schools, etc. The first thing you see is Mount 119 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:00,840 Zion. And what I also love is as 120 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:04,040 you're leaving, the last thing you see is Jesus Christ. 121 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:09,200 I mean, oh, there's this picture of Jesus at the I-75 as you're 122 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,560 leaving Independence Township. And that was built in 1970 by 123 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:16,160 Pastor Paul Vanaman, who founded Dixie Baptist Church. 124 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,000 And I just have an uncle that was a part of that in the early 125 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:23,600 days of that ministry as well. And Brother Vanaman came to our 126 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:25,440 meeting when we were fighting with the Township. 127 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:29,880 And so I like to say when people are coming up I-75 this way, God 128 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,440 gets them coming and going whatever way you're going. 129 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:37,480 Hey, man, I want you to see that as a picture of, hey, when God 130 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,080 decides to do something, he can do it right, Amen. 131 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:45,280 He can give it visibility in the proper way, in the proper time. 132 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:49,160 So we have to understand what it means to walk by faith, because 133 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,960 God is a God of great things, and we have great things to look 134 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,200 forward to at all times when we put our trust in Him. 135 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:00,080 Says Then Mary said to the Angel, How can this be, since I 136 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,320 do not know a man? And the Angel answered and said 137 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,920 to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the 138 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:10,320 highest will over shadow you. Therefore also that Holy One is 139 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:15,120 to be born will be called the Son of God, for with God nothing 140 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:19,120 will be impossible. Then Mary said, Behold the maid 141 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,880 servant of the Lord, let it be to me, according to your word. 142 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,680 And the Angel departed from her again. 143 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,320 I shared the scripture as well last week and talked about how 144 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,200 the fact that there's over 2 billion Christians on planet 145 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:33,560 earth today. And of course we know it started 146 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,560 with Jesus in one sense. But how many know Jesus started 147 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:43,160 because Mary said yes, I'm sure God could have went another way 148 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,800 if he wanted to. But I love to think about the 149 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:51,040 fact that when God comes and speaks to us, church, you'll 150 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:54,440 never know what will happen when you say yes. 151 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:57,280 You know, there's people here today that God wants to speak to 152 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,320 in a very special way. And he's saying, open up your 153 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:04,200 heart, open up your mind. Let me speak a word because 154 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:08,840 you'll find out, just like Mary did, that what seems impossible 155 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:11,720 to you or to man. With God, all things are 156 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:12,840 possible. Amen. 157 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,240 Say yes to Him today, church, so that we can fully follow and see 158 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,280 the miraculous things that He wants to do in our life. 159 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,760 But I also wanted to point out I did last week how that the faith 160 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,880 journey comes with a cost. And we'll be talking more about 161 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,760 that today. Because when you say yes to God, 162 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,799 when Mary first said yes to God, it was because she had this 163 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:36,799 divine encounter. When God spoke to the Angel and 164 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:38,120 said you're going to have a baby. 165 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,760 She's like, how can I be? I've never even been with a man? 166 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,679 Well, the power of the Holy Spirit is going to come upon you 167 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,160 and it's going to over shadow you. 168 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,400 And that which is born of you will be seen as of God. 169 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,320 And she was so thrilled with that she went to her cousin 170 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,080 Elizabeth house and began to prophecy said, wow, the Lord has 171 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,000 chosen me. The Lord's going to do great 172 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,720 things in my life. He has decided he's going to 173 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,480 lift up the humble because she didn't have any great station in 174 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,320 life. And many times he's going to 175 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,760 tear down the exalted ones. But what she knew is God is 176 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,800 faithful and oftentimes when the Lord first speaks to us, we get 177 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:16,720 all excited about what He said. We hear the message that the 178 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,560 Kingdom and then we begin to live out our life and things 179 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,800 don't go exactly the way we expect. 180 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,360 Now today I want to talk about Joseph who is another part of 181 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:31,920 this story, doesn't talk about Mary, but it's about Mary in 182 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,560 this particular scripture I want to read. 183 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:36,920 Excuse me, I keep forgetting this one because I had at the 184 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,680 last minute in John chapter 3, Jesus answered and said to him, 185 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,640 most assured, I say to you unless one is born again, he 186 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:49,000 cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a 187 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,240 man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into 188 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:56,000 his mother's womb, be born? Jesus answered most assuredly. 189 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,040 I say to you, unless one is worn of water and of the Spirit, he 190 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:04,000 cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Now, the reason I put this in 191 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,640 here, and I've referenced it quite a bit lately, so when it 192 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,680 came to mind, I'm thinking, well, I've used that Scripture 193 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:10,880 so many times and that's why I personally wasn't going to put 194 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,680 in the message. But it is such an important part 195 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:16,480 of where we are in God right now. 196 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,560 And that is that we would understand concerning the 197 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:24,600 Kingdom of God that we need to have the right perception. 198 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:28,760 We need to see with a spiritual perception. 199 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,360 And that can only happen when we're born again. 200 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:35,640 And just like with Mary, when you first experienced something 201 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:38,520 for God, he gives you all kinds of excitement and all you can 202 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,440 see is the good things. There's going to be some things 203 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:42,920 to deal with. That's why we have to be 204 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,200 prepared. But even when things aren't 205 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,440 going the way we think they should go, if we carefully allow 206 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,800 ourselves to line up our ear with God, we can hear what God 207 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:58,720 is speaking and we can also see what God is doing, because what 208 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:02,840 God is doing doesn't always seem to fit right away in what we 209 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,280 have an expectation for. But we should always know the 210 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:10,880 God who says, says God over the whole earth, He's watching and 211 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,680 he's working to bring his purposes to pass, and he will 212 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:16,600 allow us to become a part of that. 213 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,160 And when we do, that's when we enter into the Kingdom of God. 214 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,760 The Bible says the Kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but 215 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,280 righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. 216 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:27,840 How do you know this is a day when we need God's 217 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:30,760 righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost? 218 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:32,920 Amen. And we can have that confidence 219 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:36,320 that we can, and we can also have faith to believe that he's 220 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,920 going to work that in our children, our grandchildren, our 221 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,040 great grandchildren to the generations, says the Lord. 222 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:46,000 Because we have to know that we have a God who's at work and he 223 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,920 wants us to be a people that can fully enter in what God is doing 224 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,920 and be a part of it. And in a place of spiritual 225 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:56,680 perception and spiritual maturity. 226 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,640 We won't have to be shaken by the signs of the times or thrown 227 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,960 off when things go in our life differently than we expect, but 228 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,720 we can get ourselves back in alignment and really be a part 229 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,080 of what it is that God is doing. So having said that, I would go 230 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,680 to the story of Joseph. It says Now the birth of Jesus 231 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:19,200 Christ was as followed after his mother Mary was betrothed the 232 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,760 Joseph. Before they came together she 233 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:23,680 was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 234 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,440 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to 235 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:31,640 make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 236 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,920 But while he thought about these things, behold, an Angel of the 237 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,840 Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do 238 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:43,600 not be afraid to take you, Mary, your wife, for that which is 239 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,320 conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 240 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:50,240 I put over this another agreement, because usually when 241 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,240 God speaks something to us, how do you know it involves other 242 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:55,520 people? And sometimes because it 243 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,320 involves other people would be very easy to think, well, how 244 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,840 can this come to pass? I believe God, but what about so 245 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:02,160 and so? How is this going to work? 246 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,040 And I want to talk a little bit about the troll. 247 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,200 In those days, I did a few weeks back as I was talking about one 248 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,080 of the parables of Jesus Christ. But it's important for us to 249 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,840 understand that that was a different world than today. 250 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,960 Today, somebody will decide they've fallen in love, they'll 251 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,120 decide they want to get married, and then eventually they get 252 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,640 married. Well, in those days it wasn't 253 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,320 that way. And those days, often times 254 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,320 marriages were arranged by the families. 255 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,520 Why? Because it was very important. 256 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,320 You're stationed in life. And what was especially 257 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,320 important, number one, is that you were Jewish because they 258 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,720 were of the natural seed of Abraham, but also they were both 259 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:46,720 of the lineage of King David. And that was a very special 260 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:52,000 designation that you could have as you were a Jew, because he 261 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,520 was a great king that everybody reverenced. 262 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,640 But also they knew that when the Messiah would come, who would be 263 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,160 there deliver, that he would be the son of David, He would be of 264 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,360 the lineage of David. And so they, you can be sure 265 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:07,840 this marriage was put together very carefully. 266 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:12,480 So you need to know that her parents would be involved. 267 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:16,800 His parents would be involved. It would be a legal agreement 268 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,800 that they would go into even before the wedding would take 269 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:24,680 place because everything had to be operating in a certain way. 270 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,760 The woman would be with her family and probably have no 271 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:31,160 alone time with the guy she was going to marry until the night 272 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,560 of the wedding. And so you can imagine when it's 273 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,640 found out that Mary's pregnant, it made her family, mother 274 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,400 especially, have a heart attack. How many moms can relate to 275 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:43,240 that? Oh, my gosh, what's going to 276 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,440 happen now? And as we're looking at the 277 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,000 situation, the dad would have been involved because he would 278 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,120 have signed the legal contracts. The parents of Joseph would have 279 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,000 been involved. And because of that, you can be 280 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,640 sure everybody would have heard about it wouldn't have been a 281 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,400 secret. And so when Joseph is getting 282 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,320 wind of all of these things that are going on, he's looking at it 283 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,320 like, wow, he had an opportunity to make a big deal out of it so 284 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:10,160 he could come out of it looking good. 285 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:14,440 But he didn't do that. Instead, the Bible says that he 286 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:19,240 decided because he was a just man that he would do this 287 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,520 secretly so that it wouldn't be as painful for her as it could 288 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:25,720 be. I want you to notice it says he 289 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:29,000 was a just man. It doesn't say he was a nice 290 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:31,160 man. The reason I say that because 291 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:35,560 this is an emotional thing that Joseph was going through for him 292 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:39,280 it actually would have been more practical because he would have 293 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:43,200 looked at the situation and because he was a righteous man, 294 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,280 he would have wanted to do things the right way. 295 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:48,960 And that would have been part of the reason why he would have 296 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:50,760 thought he would have had to put her away. 297 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:55,040 And also in his mind why he was going to do it in a Secret 298 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,680 Fashion. But then the word of the Lord 299 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:01,400 comes to him in a dream. Now, this is very interesting 300 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,480 because how many of you are going through a situation like 301 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:07,200 that and you had a dream about the situation when you woke up. 302 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,640 You think I dreamt about that? Just so traumatic in my life, 303 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:13,280 what I'm going through. If you just had a dream and 304 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,760 said, oh, that child is of the Holy Spirit, you can marry her. 305 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,720 This is all God. How do you know when you woke 306 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:22,440 up? You might wake up and say, oh, 307 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,000 that was a bad dream. No way I'm going to do that. 308 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:29,360 That was a dream. It wasn't like Mary where the 309 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,160 Angel comes and looks at you and she's afraid of him. 310 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,280 And like all the other people who see angels on the story, we 311 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,560 read today that it was such an amazing experience. 312 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:42,200 This is just something that came to him in a dream, but there was 313 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,800 a hint in what God had spoken to him in the dream that he would 314 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,800 have known as the lineage of David. 315 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:53,040 He would have been well schooled in all the things that were 316 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,680 spoken of concerning the Messiah. 317 00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:01,360 And one thing is that child has come through the Holy Spirit. 318 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,359 For most of us we would just think, Oh yeah, but if you were 319 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,319 the lineage of David and you knew the Bible, which they would 320 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:11,280 have known because that was very important for them, he would 321 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:13,760 have looked at it from a whole different perspective. 322 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:17,960 It goes on to say, and she shall bring forth the Son, and you 323 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,599 should call his name Jesus, or he will save his people from 324 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:24,000 their sins. So all this was done that it 325 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,680 might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the 326 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,520 prophet saying, behold, the Virgin shall be with child and 327 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:35,040 bear a son, and they should call his name Emmanuel, which is 328 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,400 translated God with us. And I put the other reference, 329 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,840 which is the Old Testament reference there so that you 330 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:46,080 could realize the Bible is a prophetic book and God has been 331 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:50,920 speaking about future events from Genesis chapter 1. 332 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,760 We're living in a day when a lot of those things are going to 333 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,840 come to pass. And so we need to know the book 334 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:01,520 that we read called the Bible. It's not just a a book to read, 335 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,480 but it's a book we should read with the aid of the Holy Spirit 336 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,520 and understand that it's a prophetic book because it 337 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,600 foretells some things. And we need to be aware of what 338 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,320 it's foretelling so that we can certainly be a part of what was 339 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:18,440 going on. And so it was a fulfillment of a 340 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:22,920 prophecy that a virgin would bear a child, because that's 341 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,040 what God has spoken of in His Word. 342 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:29,040 And like I said, he had a dream, but he had to confirm it with 343 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,400 the Word. And that's why I tell everybody 344 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,160 all the time, we believe in listening to the voice of God. 345 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,480 We believe in prophecy. But how do you know everything 346 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:37,840 should line up with the Scripture? 347 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:40,760 If you don't line up with the Scripture, you need to take a 348 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,320 step back. But Joseph has this dream and 349 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,200 he's reminded of the Scripture, and he knows now that he's going 350 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,800 to be a part of this supernatural event that had been 351 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,360 prophesied hundreds of years earlier. 352 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:00,200 But he was chosen to be a part of bringing forth this child he 353 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,880 would call Jesus. And I even preached a message on 354 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:05,520 that this year, because this year is kind of culminating with 355 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:07,680 the things God's been speaking throughout the year. 356 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,040 Because Jesus wouldn't just be the one who would die for the 357 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,000 forgiveness of sin. The Bible said He will save 358 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:18,440 their people from their sin. That's why we tell people you 359 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,640 don't have to be under the power of sin. 360 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,960 You can choose with God's help to be an overcomer in all 361 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:25,560 things. Can you say Amen to that church? 362 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:27,200 Give him a phrase right now on that. 363 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:33,480 Because Jesus is our Joshua to take us into the promised land. 364 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,280 And his name would also be called Emmanuel because Jesus 365 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,160 Christ wouldn't be just an ordinary child. 366 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:47,080 His body would be the temple of God, God dwelling in the midst 367 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:49,800 of his people. And that's exciting to think 368 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,120 about how he did it in a physical form. 369 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:56,040 But how you know he's here with us today, Church, isn't that 370 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,080 awesome? Isn't that awesome? 371 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,400 We need to remind ourselves when two or three are gathered 372 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,600 together in my name, Jesus said, there I am in the midst of them 373 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,280 worshipping among the worshipping congregation. 374 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,000 Wow. What a wonderful thing to think 375 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:15,040 that God has desired to live among and inside of his people. 376 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:16,880 And this is all a part of the plan. 377 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,760 And it was also the fulfillment of this prophecy from the book 378 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:24,080 of Micah, chapter 5. And it says this. 379 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,200 But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, though you are a little among 380 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,240 the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me 381 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:36,560 the one to be a ruler of Israel, whose goings forth are from old, 382 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,840 from everlasting. Therefore he shall give them up 383 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:44,120 until the time that she who is in labor has given birth, then 384 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:48,240 the remnant of his brother, and shall return to the children of 385 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:52,680 Israel. Now today, Bethlehem is the name 386 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:57,600 of a city, big part of our story, but I want you to see 387 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,800 Bethlehem as it would relate to you today. 388 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,440 That's what I love about the Bible, and I've always done when 389 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,840 I hear the Bible stories, I put myself in the story and then I 390 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,800 look at it and say, well, how can this story fit into my life? 391 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,280 The story of Bethlehem certainly fulfills something that's 392 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,600 happening in our life. We remember it as it was with 393 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:21,680 Jesus Christ, but we have to remember what Bethlehem was. 394 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:27,680 It was a prophecy given by Micah that one day the ruler would 395 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:31,960 come out of Bethlehem. The Bible teaches us this. 396 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,280 The word Bethlehem literally means it's the House of bread. 397 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:39,560 So Bethlehem represents God's provision, even though it might 398 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,080 not always look like God's provision. 399 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:47,640 And it also prophesize about how after the child is born that the 400 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,040 remnant who know the Lord will come to him. 401 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:53,560 And that was always the theme of the prophets in the Old 402 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:56,680 Testament, was there would come a time when God would not just 403 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,720 be the God of the natural seed of Abraham, but that God would 404 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,920 be the God of all the earth. Abraham, I'm going to give your 405 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,360 seed a country in the land of Canaan. 406 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:11,040 But he also said, Abraham, through your seed, all the 407 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:13,560 nations of the earth are going to be blessed. 408 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,960 You see, I always believe that God's plan is bigger than my 409 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,520 expectation. And that's why I'm expecting 410 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,840 something that's exceedingly and abundantly above all that I 411 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,760 could expect or think. Not just because it's in the 412 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:29,440 Bible, but because I've seen this is what God does time and 413 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,840 time again. And God's always had a plan that 414 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,760 his, his provision would be an increasing provision. 415 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,880 His vision would be an increasing vision, and it would 416 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,320 encompass all the earth. And we need to realize we're in 417 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,200 this great time of transition in history right now. 418 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,160 And although a lot of the change is uncomfortable for people, you 419 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:53,120 have to understand something the God who's the God of history 420 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:56,160 wants us to know. Get ready, Get ready, because 421 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,640 I'm going to do awesome things, says the mighty God. 422 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:00,920 And it might not always look like it. 423 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,600 It might seem a little fearful at times, but always know that 424 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,440 God is at work. Who are you, Bethlehem? 425 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,880 You're just a very small city in a very small country. 426 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:17,720 And yet out of you shall come a ruler who will rule over all the 427 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,160 nations of the earth. Isn't that awesome? 428 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,160 Look what it goes on to say. And it came to pass in those 429 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,840 days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the 430 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:30,160 world should be registered. This census first took place 431 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,120 while Corneas was governing Syria. 432 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,000 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 433 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,960 Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into 434 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,120 Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem 435 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,840 because he was of the house and lineage of David to be 436 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:52,480 registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with 437 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,120 child. And I put over this the dual 438 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:57,240 reality. And this is what I want you to 439 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,800 see when you think about Bethlehem today is the dual 440 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,240 reality. Now, the child Jesus had to be 441 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,000 born in Bethlehem, but they weren't living in Bethlehem. 442 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:13,040 And so he didn't just wake up one day and say, Oh, yeah, this 443 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:15,160 child is supposed to be born in Bethlehem. 444 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:20,160 What happened is Caesar Augustus, who was the head of 445 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:24,240 Rome, made a decree that everybody had to go to their 446 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,120 hometown in order to be registered. 447 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,440 Now keep in mind, the Jewish nation had an identity, but they 448 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,120 were not an independent country. They were, in the mind of the 449 00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:40,320 Romans, just a province of Rome because Rome had control of the 450 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,760 country. There's was very little time in 451 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,000 their history after the time that Babylon came in and 452 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,120 destroyed the Temple, that Israel was an independent 453 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:53,000 nation. And so they always wanted to be, 454 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,560 and they always had this aspiration because of their 455 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:59,560 father, who was Abraham. And so this was their 456 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,600 expectation and hope. And so when Caesar Augustus 457 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,120 says, OK, you got to go back to your hometown and be registered, 458 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,160 Now in the King James Version, it says you have to go back to 459 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:11,760 be taxed. And that was really the 460 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,480 implication here. Everybody had to go back to 461 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,560 their town so that they could be registered. 462 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,960 And it was all about taxation because Rome always wanted to 463 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,720 make sure that they were getting everything that they wanted to 464 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,120 get from the people. And so they had it all done out 465 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:32,000 in a very prescribed manner. And so God wanted the baby born 466 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,960 in Bethlehem. How does he get him there? 467 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:39,360 He has Caesar Augustus say I need to get more tax money. 468 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,200 So I'm going to send them back to their hometown and make them 469 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,720 get registered. That wouldn't have said, well, 470 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,880 that's why I say right away they have to realize God is at work. 471 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,000 But it doesn't feel like God's at work. 472 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,400 That's why from time to time I remember reminder of a prophecy 473 00:25:55,400 --> 00:26:01,200 the Lord gave me a March 8th of 2020 and I quoted the scripture 474 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:05,080 where Jesus said the time is now, repent for the Kingdom of 475 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,440 heaven is at hand. And the word time there in the 476 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,560 original Greek is Kairos. It's a moment of opportunity. 477 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:16,240 It might not look like a moment of opportunity, but we have to 478 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,040 believe when God says something is going to come to pass. 479 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,720 And the very next week we didn't have church because of the COVID 480 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,840 conflict that was going on. And if there was a family that 481 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,400 could have complained about COVID, it was our family. 482 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,560 Our mom was dying almost immediately and they were 483 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:33,160 shutting people out of the hospitals. 484 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,320 It was a horrible situation to be involved in. 485 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,840 And later on, my dad passed away in the year with COVID. 486 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,000 It was a rough year. But in the midst of all the 487 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:47,000 things that's going on, I've always thought, OK, I know that 488 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,400 God is the God of whole earth. He's not sending COVID notice. 489 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,320 He manipulating everybody to do things a certain way because he 490 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,080 gives a certain amount of liberty to people. 491 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,680 That's why we have a lot to complain about right, and things 492 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,760 don't seem like they're going our way but always know when you 493 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:05,960 are a Christian and you're walking in the purposes of God. 494 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,760 All things work together for good to those who love God and 495 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,680 are called according to his purpose. 496 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:12,560 Amen. Church. 497 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:17,200 We have to have the confidence even if we don't like Caesar 498 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,560 Augustus and what he's doing. And we can complain about it, 499 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,840 especially we can because if we live in a democracy, however, we 500 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,160 have to step back and say to ourselves, but wait a second, 501 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,600 there's something bigger going on that I know my God is doing. 502 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,240 Amen. And he can work in the midst of 503 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,520 all these situations to bring to pass his purposes. 504 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,520 And God has wanted to shake up planet Earth. 505 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,960 And there's oh, been so many, many changes that have 506 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,600 transpired and much of it because of actions that were 507 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:51,520 taken in 2020 and some of them not good choices that were made 508 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:55,160 that we're still feeling the reverberations from, if you 509 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,560 would. But I'm absolutely convinced 510 00:27:57,560 --> 00:27:59,840 that God is going to use this for his purpose. 511 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:04,480 I'm looking through as I pray to 2026 because I believe that 512 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:08,600 we're going to see even greater dynamics going on that we have 513 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,480 to be prepared for. And that's why I keep repeating 514 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,600 John chapter 3. And that's why I keep reminding 515 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,120 all of us how important it is that we get ourselves fixed in 516 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:21,320 the proper mindset. And I also think it's 517 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:25,080 interesting that he sent them back there to be registered. 518 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,840 Now, this is a practical consideration. 519 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:32,600 I know when you go and you apply for a government thing like a 520 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,560 passport, they want to know what city you were born in. 521 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,520 I was born in Pontiac, MI. I never lived in Pontiac, MI, 522 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:43,480 but this hospital I was born in, Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital, was 523 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:47,640 called at the time is where I was born way back in 1954. 524 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:52,000 So I say I was from Pontiac on those official documents. 525 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:57,320 Now Jesus had to be recognized as of the lineage of David and 526 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,880 coming through Bethlehem. He never lived in Bethlehem. 527 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,560 He just went there with his parents in the belly of his 528 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,040 mother. He was born there and then they 529 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,720 left. It was never really a part of 530 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:14,960 his life, but it was registered. So if anybody said, well, you 531 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:20,360 know, the Messiah has to come from Bethlehem, he wasn't in 532 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:22,720 Bethlehem. Oh, yes, there's a registration 533 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,200 here. Why? 534 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,000 Well, God always knows what he's doing. 535 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:33,360 And Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus were registered as 536 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,480 citizens of Bethlehem. Why that there would be a 537 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:40,680 confirmation that that which God has spoken is going to surely 538 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,600 come to pass because church, God always has a plan that's bigger 539 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,320 than our expectation. So it was while they were there, 540 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,800 the days were completed for her to be delivered and she brought 541 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,080 forth her first born son, wrapped him in swaddling cloth, 542 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,640 laid him in a Manger because there was no room for them in 543 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,800 the end. These are conflicting worlds. 544 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:03,520 If you would. I'm walking by faith. 545 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,320 God told me I would have a baby. It was conceived by the power of 546 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:09,880 the Holy Spirit. It's about time for the baby to 547 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:11,960 be born. Oh, you got to go on a trip. 548 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,920 You're going to be riding a very long time on a donkey. 549 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:18,720 I'm almost going to have a baby. How many know? 550 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:23,720 It seems like the time he's off. But the baby had to be born in 551 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:27,720 Bethlehem, so that's the way it had to work in order for 552 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,680 everything to be in its proper position. 553 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:35,440 And so like in for us, often times we feel like the timing 554 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,440 isn't right. I know for the many first years 555 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,160 of our ministry, I was always like God when God when God when 556 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:45,360 and I found out after a while, God doesn't wear a wristwatch. 557 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,160 I even preached a message on it. And I don't wear them anymore 558 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:53,280 either, if you notice, because I know that the time is in his 559 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,600 hands. But I can share testimony after 560 00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:01,360 testimony that says the Lord is faithful all the time. 561 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:05,280 And I'm moving forward at a light that shines in the 562 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:08,160 darkest. And I believe that there's in 563 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:13,080 this day, the dawning of a new day as we open up ourself before 564 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,640 the Lord. And she put the child in a 565 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:17,800 Manger. And I remember many years ago 566 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,520 preaching a message on this because I didn't know that the 567 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,360 Manger was a feed through when I grew up. 568 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:28,880 I just knew they laid him in a major away in a Manger, no crib 569 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:32,560 for a bit. Can you imagine singing away in 570 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:35,720 a feed through? Just doesn't go, does it? 571 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,000 You'll see that in the translations of the Bible from 572 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:41,920 time to time. They kind of color up the story 573 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,840 a little bit to make it look more easy for us to be a 574 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:47,600 partaker of. But no, it wasn't a Manger. 575 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:54,520 It was a feed through, if you would, but God does things thing 576 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,920 does things that seem so lowly, but always the plan, the seeds 577 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,240 going to grow, the child's going to grow. 578 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,400 And thus saith the Lord. You haven't seen anything yet. 579 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:07,360 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in 580 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,000 the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 581 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:12,840 And behold, an Angel of the Lord stood before them in the glory. 582 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:15,280 The Lord shone around them and they were greatly afraid. 583 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,480 Then the Angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold I 584 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,560 bring you good tidings, a great joy which will be to all people. 585 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,440 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a 586 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,240 Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to 587 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,560 you. You will find a babe wrapped in 588 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:35,200 swaddling claws lying in a Manger. 589 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,120 Now I put up here Jacob's ladder because even as I was praying, 590 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:43,040 somebody asked me before church today and do always preach on 591 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,080 Christmas themes at Christmas. And I said no, just kind of and 592 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:50,200 what the Lord's speaking. And in this particular story, I 593 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:53,160 see one of the major things I've been talking about through this 594 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,520 year, because I was talking about the descending New 595 00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:00,080 Jerusalem as a series here on Sunday morning, because we need 596 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,080 to know what it says in Hebrews chapter 12, why we're called 597 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,720 Mount Zion. Because the Bible speaks about 598 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:09,280 Zion not just as a physical location, but a spiritual 599 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,440 reality that when you come to church, you come to Mount Zion, 600 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:17,640 the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and then 601 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:21,360 know what it says to innumerable company of angels. 602 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,480 Now again, I'm not saying this is Mount Zion. 603 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,960 This is the true of our local church, Mount Zion, but the body 604 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,240 of Christ whom God says is the place of his habitation. 605 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,760 And Jacob was the first one who had this revelation because he 606 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:38,280 was running for his life, talking about bad timing. 607 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:42,560 He puts his head on a rock as a pillow, and he dreams a dream, 608 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:45,720 and he sees a ladder that's going up to heaven, and he sees 609 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,240 that the heavens are open. And he said this is none other 610 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:54,520 than the gate of heaven. This is the House of God because 611 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:59,040 church, the House of God, is the place where heaven opens to his 612 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:03,120 people and we don't see it. Like we read this story today 613 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,520 about angels being everywhere. Church angels are always 614 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:11,520 everywhere because God uses angels as his messengers to 615 00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:15,520 minister to his people and you don't see them. 616 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:17,679 And that's probably good because if you notice, every time 617 00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:20,320 somebody sees an Angel in the Bible scares them half the 618 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:23,639 death. I remember one day I was in 619 00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:25,159 prayer. I was like, Lord, I want to see 620 00:34:25,159 --> 00:34:27,040 an Angel. I was kind of laying there and 621 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:28,840 all of a sudden I like, no, I don't really want to see an 622 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:30,000 Angel. Forget that prayer. 623 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:34,320 I'm going to sleep. Might be a long scary side a man 624 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:39,040 so you have to understand that God has a spiritual reality that 625 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:41,280 involves forces working on our behalf. 626 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:45,159 In this particular case, they actually appear. 627 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:49,320 First of all, of course, we know with Mary only in a dream to 628 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,360 Joseph, but now to these shepherds because he wanted them 629 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:57,040 to know something, because he was doing something very 630 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:00,960 powerful at that moment in time. And so there are moments in 631 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:04,520 times when God gives us a glimpse of the supernatural. 632 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,800 It's not always true, but I want you to know something. 633 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:13,200 Heaven is always talking church. And if we incline our ear and 634 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:17,200 hear, we'll have the faith to believe that God is at work in 635 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:20,600 our life and our circumstance and our situation. 636 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:25,360 It says, And all those who heard from the angels being the 637 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:29,840 shepherds out the field, they came at those things which were 638 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:33,880 told them by the shepherds. But Mary, what kept all these 639 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:38,840 things and pondered them, where then the shepherds returned, 640 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,760 glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had 641 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,160 heard and seen as it was told them? 642 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:47,200 Now Mary didn't think about these things. 643 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,440 She pondered them in her heart. That's why I love to quote 644 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:54,320 Psalm, one that says that we should not stand set in the seat 645 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:58,280 of the scornful or walk in the path of sinners, but our delight 646 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,080 should be in the law of God. And in that law we should 647 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:04,240 meditate both day and night, because if we do that, we'll be 648 00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:07,000 like a tree planted by rivers of living water. 649 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:10,240 So Mary's watching all these dynamics. 650 00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:13,640 She's looking at the disappointments, perhaps, and 651 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:17,080 the uncomfortableness of the moment, wondering, should I hear 652 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:20,760 these good reports about angels or do I smell the manure that's 653 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,440 in the barn? But she didn't just think about 654 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:26,280 it, and she let it come in her heart. 655 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:30,080 And I'm sure like any mother, she would have grabbed the baby, 656 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,080 picked him up and said, well, all I know is I got Jesus here. 657 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:38,400 I know what that's like to carry the word of the Lord and, and be 658 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:42,440 filled with hope and promise and also know what it is like to see 659 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,480 it come to pass. And that's why I can continue in 660 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:49,040 a journey and say, Lord, I expect to see more because I 661 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:50,600 know that you're the faithful God. 662 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:54,360 And so today, each and everyone of us, God is saying to us now 663 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:58,880 remember in our Bethlehem, the place that's uncomfortable, the 664 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:02,240 place we don't understand, the place might be asking us 665 00:37:02,240 --> 00:37:04,240 something that we don't feel we can give. 666 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:10,440 In the middle of your Bethlehem, say, God, I want to find out 667 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:14,720 what it is that you're doing. Because like Mary, I want to say 668 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:16,800 yes. Be it on to be a corner of your 669 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,320 word. Like Joseph, I want to say I 670 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:21,640 don't care what everybody's saying. 671 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:25,040 Nobody else might believe this, but I'm going to believe it 672 00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:27,880 because God spoke to me and I know His word is always going to 673 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:31,560 be true. God is faithful at all times. 674 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:33,440 So I'm going to ask everyone to bow their heads for just a 675 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:38,480 moment because Jesus wants to speak to your heart. 676 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:47,400 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, and 677 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:56,040 He's here today and He wants to come like you did to Mary as a 678 00:37:56,040 --> 00:38:03,720 word that you can hold and find comfort in and have faith to 679 00:38:03,720 --> 00:38:08,040 believe something good is going to come out of your life. 680 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,200 Also, I want everyone to think how important it is to ponder in 681 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:15,680 our heart the things that God has for us. 682 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,320 Don't just let it be of the mind, let it be of the heart 683 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:24,800 because that's where the new birth begins and that's how the 684 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:30,040 new birth is lived out, where the heart we believe with the 685 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:32,480 mouth confession is made unto salvation. 686 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:36,920 Father, we thank you for this great day of your visitation and 687 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,840 pray Father that each and everyone of us would open our 688 00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:43,080 heart to you in Jesus name, Amen. 689 00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:46,800 This is Pastor Lauren Coverbius from Mount Zion Church. 690 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:49,800 We thank you for joining us today and invite you to connect 691 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:53,400 with our church family by visiting mountzion.org and 692 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:56,040 following us on social media. God bless you.