I want to open with the scripture I shared last week,
Matthew 13, another parable Jesus put forth to them, saying
the Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took
and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all
seeds. But when it is grown, it is
greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds
of the air come and nest in its branches.
Jesus reiterated what the prophets of the Old Testament
declared. And as I go through this story,
you're going to hear a lot of prophetic words that were spoken
in the Old Testament prophecy. And prophets have always been a
big part of what God does because God tells us ahead of
time what's going to happen. And He also wants us to be
prepared and also to be a participant in the things that
He's doing. Now, one of these things that
the Bible tells us is that #1 when God starts something, he
always starts small. That's why I want to call this
the divine beginnings. In this particular case, Jesus
said, well, I'm going to start with a mustard seed.
That's the way the Kingdom of God is because when you look at
a mustard seed, it's the smallest of the seeds.
But if you planted in your garden, it will grow and become
the biggest plant, literally it will become a tree in your
garden. And he said this is the way the
Kingdom of God is going to be. Now this is so important for us
to understand because we have to realize that if we're going to
walk with God and if we're going to believe him for his promises,
we you have to be able to see what God is doing in one sense,
but also know about his character, know how he does
things. The Bible tells us in the book
of Romans chapter one that God who created all things because
he is the God who created all things.
You can look at the natural world and get an insight into
what God is doing. That's why Jesus used principles
like this and talking about the Kingdom of God.
But one thing she'll find out about God is he likes to start
small and he always wants us to be a people that receives leave
that small thing if you would, and allow that seed to grow in
our hearts or grow in our life if you would, because the Bible
says that God is a God of big endings.
And this is so important to understand because God starts
small, but his the desire is to end big.
That's why I always share that the vision of Mount Zion is
based on Isaiah chapter 2. It says in the latter days of
time, the mountain, the Lords house is gonna be established on
top of the mountains, exalted above the hills.
And people are gonna say, come us, let us go to the mountain of
the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob.
I believe that with all my heart.
And Jesus reiterated that when he said the Kingdom of heaven is
like a man who plants a seed. And Jesus was that seed that was
planted. And he says, you're going to
find out that this is going to be the biggest thing going in
the end. Now, a lot of people don't have
faith for that. A lot of people think, well, in
the latter days of time, we're going to come under great
persecution. We're going to kind of be hiding
and waiting for our divine rescue.
The Lord's going to come and get us secretly and take us out of
here. No, that's not what God wants us
to think. God wants us to know He's going
to do something big in the earth, and He wants us to be a
part of it. He wants us to know that we are
called to be salt and light in our world, and we have to
believe and understand what God is doing so that we can see that
He wants to do that in our lives individually as well.
And I love to share our testimonies throughout the years
here at Mount Zion. That's why I even love telling a
little bit of the history as we're dedicating the children
because when the word, the Lord came to us back in 1978, we were
in the basement of a house. The Lord said go the way of
Spirit and you'll possess things that others have not possessed
before. We only took up a small part of
that basement and it was not a totally finished basement.
As a matter of fact, my dad had to put some carpet down.
We set up some chairs and we had church.
But we just knew that God had spoken and His word would come
to pass. And so now we stand in front of
a bunch of people in a very big building.
How do we know it's a little bit bigger than a basement now?
Amen and all of those. And that's why I like to talk
about the generations who started with us in the
beginning. We know what it's like to get a
seed, which is a word that God speaks and to believe it by
faith and literally you can see it come to pass.
That's why I love the fact that God put us here next to I-75.
He has spoke a word to me. The city sat on a hill cannot be
hit. And this is one of the busiest
places you can drive on I-75. And they say in this location,
several thousand cars an hour pass.
So how, you know, we are a visible place in that sense, a
city that sat on a hill because everybody that goes by sees it.
Now, it's interesting to me because, you know, I'm always a
person that keeps myself focused on the Word of Faith.
And there's a song we used to sing in the old days.
We often telling sing Psalms. And one is Psalm 48.
And it talks about Mount Zion, beautiful in elevation, the city
of the great God. And how many know we are
beautiful in elevation? But it says it sits on the sides
of the north. And it's funny to me because
I-75 runs North and South. The truth matter is right here,
it kind of runs east and east and West.
So how many know where on the north side, if you would, when
I'm driving down I-75, go, there's Mount Zion on the side
of the north, the city of our Grego.
Anyway, now you know how I live my life, always trying to keep
myself focused on what God has said, because God has done great
things. When we first wanted to build
this church, they said no, that's too valuable of a piece
of property to use for a church. It's too big, it's too visible
that we should build a hospital there.
We should zone it for this. And then there's all these big
arguments. But how many know we got the
church? Amen.
God is faithful. So when you come into
Independence Township, which is what we're evolved in part of
Clarkson, if you would, that's the area code of the mailing and
schools, etc. The first thing you see is Mount
Zion. And what I also love is as
you're leaving, the last thing you see is Jesus Christ.
I mean, oh, there's this picture of Jesus at the I-75 as you're
leaving Independence Township. And that was built in 1970 by
Pastor Paul Vanaman, who founded Dixie Baptist Church.
And I just have an uncle that was a part of that in the early
days of that ministry as well. And Brother Vanaman came to our
meeting when we were fighting with the Township.
And so I like to say when people are coming up I-75 this way, God
gets them coming and going whatever way you're going.
Hey, man, I want you to see that as a picture of, hey, when God
decides to do something, he can do it right, Amen.
He can give it visibility in the proper way, in the proper time.
So we have to understand what it means to walk by faith, because
God is a God of great things, and we have great things to look
forward to at all times when we put our trust in Him.
Says Then Mary said to the Angel, How can this be, since I
do not know a man? And the Angel answered and said
to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the
highest will over shadow you. Therefore also that Holy One is
to be born will be called the Son of God, for with God nothing
will be impossible. Then Mary said, Behold the maid
servant of the Lord, let it be to me, according to your word.
And the Angel departed from her again.
I shared the scripture as well last week and talked about how
the fact that there's over 2 billion Christians on planet
earth today. And of course we know it started
with Jesus in one sense. But how many know Jesus started
because Mary said yes, I'm sure God could have went another way
if he wanted to. But I love to think about the
fact that when God comes and speaks to us, church, you'll
never know what will happen when you say yes.
You know, there's people here today that God wants to speak to
in a very special way. And he's saying, open up your
heart, open up your mind. Let me speak a word because
you'll find out, just like Mary did, that what seems impossible
to you or to man. With God, all things are
possible. Amen.
Say yes to Him today, church, so that we can fully follow and see
the miraculous things that He wants to do in our life.
But I also wanted to point out I did last week how that the faith
journey comes with a cost. And we'll be talking more about
that today. Because when you say yes to God,
when Mary first said yes to God, it was because she had this
divine encounter. When God spoke to the Angel and
said you're going to have a baby.
She's like, how can I be? I've never even been with a man?
Well, the power of the Holy Spirit is going to come upon you
and it's going to over shadow you.
And that which is born of you will be seen as of God.
And she was so thrilled with that she went to her cousin
Elizabeth house and began to prophecy said, wow, the Lord has
chosen me. The Lord's going to do great
things in my life. He has decided he's going to
lift up the humble because she didn't have any great station in
life. And many times he's going to
tear down the exalted ones. But what she knew is God is
faithful and oftentimes when the Lord first speaks to us, we get
all excited about what He said. We hear the message that the
Kingdom and then we begin to live out our life and things
don't go exactly the way we expect.
Now today I want to talk about Joseph who is another part of
this story, doesn't talk about Mary, but it's about Mary in
this particular scripture I want to read.
Excuse me, I keep forgetting this one because I had at the
last minute in John chapter 3, Jesus answered and said to him,
most assured, I say to you unless one is born again, he
cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a
man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into
his mother's womb, be born? Jesus answered most assuredly.
I say to you, unless one is worn of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Now, the reason I put this in
here, and I've referenced it quite a bit lately, so when it
came to mind, I'm thinking, well, I've used that Scripture
so many times and that's why I personally wasn't going to put
in the message. But it is such an important part
of where we are in God right now.
And that is that we would understand concerning the
Kingdom of God that we need to have the right perception.
We need to see with a spiritual perception.
And that can only happen when we're born again.
And just like with Mary, when you first experienced something
for God, he gives you all kinds of excitement and all you can
see is the good things. There's going to be some things
to deal with. That's why we have to be
prepared. But even when things aren't
going the way we think they should go, if we carefully allow
ourselves to line up our ear with God, we can hear what God
is speaking and we can also see what God is doing, because what
God is doing doesn't always seem to fit right away in what we
have an expectation for. But we should always know the
God who says, says God over the whole earth, He's watching and
he's working to bring his purposes to pass, and he will
allow us to become a part of that.
And when we do, that's when we enter into the Kingdom of God.
The Bible says the Kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
How do you know this is a day when we need God's
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost?
Amen. And we can have that confidence
that we can, and we can also have faith to believe that he's
going to work that in our children, our grandchildren, our
great grandchildren to the generations, says the Lord.
Because we have to know that we have a God who's at work and he
wants us to be a people that can fully enter in what God is doing
and be a part of it. And in a place of spiritual
perception and spiritual maturity.
We won't have to be shaken by the signs of the times or thrown
off when things go in our life differently than we expect, but
we can get ourselves back in alignment and really be a part
of what it is that God is doing. So having said that, I would go
to the story of Joseph. It says Now the birth of Jesus
Christ was as followed after his mother Mary was betrothed the
Joseph. Before they came together she
was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to
make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
But while he thought about these things, behold, an Angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do
not be afraid to take you, Mary, your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
I put over this another agreement, because usually when
God speaks something to us, how do you know it involves other
people? And sometimes because it
involves other people would be very easy to think, well, how
can this come to pass? I believe God, but what about so
and so? How is this going to work?
And I want to talk a little bit about the troll.
In those days, I did a few weeks back as I was talking about one
of the parables of Jesus Christ. But it's important for us to
understand that that was a different world than today.
Today, somebody will decide they've fallen in love, they'll
decide they want to get married, and then eventually they get
married. Well, in those days it wasn't
that way. And those days, often times
marriages were arranged by the families.
Why? Because it was very important.
You're stationed in life. And what was especially
important, number one, is that you were Jewish because they
were of the natural seed of Abraham, but also they were both
of the lineage of King David. And that was a very special
designation that you could have as you were a Jew, because he
was a great king that everybody reverenced.
But also they knew that when the Messiah would come, who would be
there deliver, that he would be the son of David, He would be of
the lineage of David. And so they, you can be sure
this marriage was put together very carefully.
So you need to know that her parents would be involved.
His parents would be involved. It would be a legal agreement
that they would go into even before the wedding would take
place because everything had to be operating in a certain way.
The woman would be with her family and probably have no
alone time with the guy she was going to marry until the night
of the wedding. And so you can imagine when it's
found out that Mary's pregnant, it made her family, mother
especially, have a heart attack. How many moms can relate to
that? Oh, my gosh, what's going to
happen now? And as we're looking at the
situation, the dad would have been involved because he would
have signed the legal contracts. The parents of Joseph would have
been involved. And because of that, you can be
sure everybody would have heard about it wouldn't have been a
secret. And so when Joseph is getting
wind of all of these things that are going on, he's looking at it
like, wow, he had an opportunity to make a big deal out of it so
he could come out of it looking good.
But he didn't do that. Instead, the Bible says that he
decided because he was a just man that he would do this
secretly so that it wouldn't be as painful for her as it could
be. I want you to notice it says he
was a just man. It doesn't say he was a nice
man. The reason I say that because
this is an emotional thing that Joseph was going through for him
it actually would have been more practical because he would have
looked at the situation and because he was a righteous man,
he would have wanted to do things the right way.
And that would have been part of the reason why he would have
thought he would have had to put her away.
And also in his mind why he was going to do it in a Secret
Fashion. But then the word of the Lord
comes to him in a dream. Now, this is very interesting
because how many of you are going through a situation like
that and you had a dream about the situation when you woke up.
You think I dreamt about that? Just so traumatic in my life,
what I'm going through. If you just had a dream and
said, oh, that child is of the Holy Spirit, you can marry her.
This is all God. How do you know when you woke
up? You might wake up and say, oh,
that was a bad dream. No way I'm going to do that.
That was a dream. It wasn't like Mary where the
Angel comes and looks at you and she's afraid of him.
And like all the other people who see angels on the story, we
read today that it was such an amazing experience.
This is just something that came to him in a dream, but there was
a hint in what God had spoken to him in the dream that he would
have known as the lineage of David.
He would have been well schooled in all the things that were
spoken of concerning the Messiah.
And one thing is that child has come through the Holy Spirit.
For most of us we would just think, Oh yeah, but if you were
the lineage of David and you knew the Bible, which they would
have known because that was very important for them, he would
have looked at it from a whole different perspective.
It goes on to say, and she shall bring forth the Son, and you
should call his name Jesus, or he will save his people from
their sins. So all this was done that it
might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the
prophet saying, behold, the Virgin shall be with child and
bear a son, and they should call his name Emmanuel, which is
translated God with us. And I put the other reference,
which is the Old Testament reference there so that you
could realize the Bible is a prophetic book and God has been
speaking about future events from Genesis chapter 1.
We're living in a day when a lot of those things are going to
come to pass. And so we need to know the book
that we read called the Bible. It's not just a a book to read,
but it's a book we should read with the aid of the Holy Spirit
and understand that it's a prophetic book because it
foretells some things. And we need to be aware of what
it's foretelling so that we can certainly be a part of what was
going on. And so it was a fulfillment of a
prophecy that a virgin would bear a child, because that's
what God has spoken of in His Word.
And like I said, he had a dream, but he had to confirm it with
the Word. And that's why I tell everybody
all the time, we believe in listening to the voice of God.
We believe in prophecy. But how do you know everything
should line up with the Scripture?
If you don't line up with the Scripture, you need to take a
step back. But Joseph has this dream and
he's reminded of the Scripture, and he knows now that he's going
to be a part of this supernatural event that had been
prophesied hundreds of years earlier.
But he was chosen to be a part of bringing forth this child he
would call Jesus. And I even preached a message on
that this year, because this year is kind of culminating with
the things God's been speaking throughout the year.
Because Jesus wouldn't just be the one who would die for the
forgiveness of sin. The Bible said He will save
their people from their sin. That's why we tell people you
don't have to be under the power of sin.
You can choose with God's help to be an overcomer in all
things. Can you say Amen to that church?
Give him a phrase right now on that.
Because Jesus is our Joshua to take us into the promised land.
And his name would also be called Emmanuel because Jesus
Christ wouldn't be just an ordinary child.
His body would be the temple of God, God dwelling in the midst
of his people. And that's exciting to think
about how he did it in a physical form.
But how you know he's here with us today, Church, isn't that
awesome? Isn't that awesome?
We need to remind ourselves when two or three are gathered
together in my name, Jesus said, there I am in the midst of them
worshipping among the worshipping congregation.
Wow. What a wonderful thing to think
that God has desired to live among and inside of his people.
And this is all a part of the plan.
And it was also the fulfillment of this prophecy from the book
of Micah, chapter 5. And it says this.
But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, though you are a little among
the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me
the one to be a ruler of Israel, whose goings forth are from old,
from everlasting. Therefore he shall give them up
until the time that she who is in labor has given birth, then
the remnant of his brother, and shall return to the children of
Israel. Now today, Bethlehem is the name
of a city, big part of our story, but I want you to see
Bethlehem as it would relate to you today.
That's what I love about the Bible, and I've always done when
I hear the Bible stories, I put myself in the story and then I
look at it and say, well, how can this story fit into my life?
The story of Bethlehem certainly fulfills something that's
happening in our life. We remember it as it was with
Jesus Christ, but we have to remember what Bethlehem was.
It was a prophecy given by Micah that one day the ruler would
come out of Bethlehem. The Bible teaches us this.
The word Bethlehem literally means it's the House of bread.
So Bethlehem represents God's provision, even though it might
not always look like God's provision.
And it also prophesize about how after the child is born that the
remnant who know the Lord will come to him.
And that was always the theme of the prophets in the Old
Testament, was there would come a time when God would not just
be the God of the natural seed of Abraham, but that God would
be the God of all the earth. Abraham, I'm going to give your
seed a country in the land of Canaan.
But he also said, Abraham, through your seed, all the
nations of the earth are going to be blessed.
You see, I always believe that God's plan is bigger than my
expectation. And that's why I'm expecting
something that's exceedingly and abundantly above all that I
could expect or think. Not just because it's in the
Bible, but because I've seen this is what God does time and
time again. And God's always had a plan that
his, his provision would be an increasing provision.
His vision would be an increasing vision, and it would
encompass all the earth. And we need to realize we're in
this great time of transition in history right now.
And although a lot of the change is uncomfortable for people, you
have to understand something the God who's the God of history
wants us to know. Get ready, Get ready, because
I'm going to do awesome things, says the mighty God.
And it might not always look like it.
It might seem a little fearful at times, but always know that
God is at work. Who are you, Bethlehem?
You're just a very small city in a very small country.
And yet out of you shall come a ruler who will rule over all the
nations of the earth. Isn't that awesome?
Look what it goes on to say. And it came to pass in those
days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the
world should be registered. This census first took place
while Corneas was governing Syria.
So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into
Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem
because he was of the house and lineage of David to be
registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with
child. And I put over this the dual
reality. And this is what I want you to
see when you think about Bethlehem today is the dual
reality. Now, the child Jesus had to be
born in Bethlehem, but they weren't living in Bethlehem.
And so he didn't just wake up one day and say, Oh, yeah, this
child is supposed to be born in Bethlehem.
What happened is Caesar Augustus, who was the head of
Rome, made a decree that everybody had to go to their
hometown in order to be registered.
Now keep in mind, the Jewish nation had an identity, but they
were not an independent country. They were, in the mind of the
Romans, just a province of Rome because Rome had control of the
country. There's was very little time in
their history after the time that Babylon came in and
destroyed the Temple, that Israel was an independent
nation. And so they always wanted to be,
and they always had this aspiration because of their
father, who was Abraham. And so this was their
expectation and hope. And so when Caesar Augustus
says, OK, you got to go back to your hometown and be registered,
Now in the King James Version, it says you have to go back to
be taxed. And that was really the
implication here. Everybody had to go back to
their town so that they could be registered.
And it was all about taxation because Rome always wanted to
make sure that they were getting everything that they wanted to
get from the people. And so they had it all done out
in a very prescribed manner. And so God wanted the baby born
in Bethlehem. How does he get him there?
He has Caesar Augustus say I need to get more tax money.
So I'm going to send them back to their hometown and make them
get registered. That wouldn't have said, well,
that's why I say right away they have to realize God is at work.
But it doesn't feel like God's at work.
That's why from time to time I remember reminder of a prophecy
the Lord gave me a March 8th of 2020 and I quoted the scripture
where Jesus said the time is now, repent for the Kingdom of
heaven is at hand. And the word time there in the
original Greek is Kairos. It's a moment of opportunity.
It might not look like a moment of opportunity, but we have to
believe when God says something is going to come to pass.
And the very next week we didn't have church because of the COVID
conflict that was going on. And if there was a family that
could have complained about COVID, it was our family.
Our mom was dying almost immediately and they were
shutting people out of the hospitals.
It was a horrible situation to be involved in.
And later on, my dad passed away in the year with COVID.
It was a rough year. But in the midst of all the
things that's going on, I've always thought, OK, I know that
God is the God of whole earth. He's not sending COVID notice.
He manipulating everybody to do things a certain way because he
gives a certain amount of liberty to people.
That's why we have a lot to complain about right, and things
don't seem like they're going our way but always know when you
are a Christian and you're walking in the purposes of God.
All things work together for good to those who love God and
are called according to his purpose.
Amen. Church.
We have to have the confidence even if we don't like Caesar
Augustus and what he's doing. And we can complain about it,
especially we can because if we live in a democracy, however, we
have to step back and say to ourselves, but wait a second,
there's something bigger going on that I know my God is doing.
Amen. And he can work in the midst of
all these situations to bring to pass his purposes.
And God has wanted to shake up planet Earth.
And there's oh, been so many, many changes that have
transpired and much of it because of actions that were
taken in 2020 and some of them not good choices that were made
that we're still feeling the reverberations from, if you
would. But I'm absolutely convinced
that God is going to use this for his purpose.
I'm looking through as I pray to 2026 because I believe that
we're going to see even greater dynamics going on that we have
to be prepared for. And that's why I keep repeating
John chapter 3. And that's why I keep reminding
all of us how important it is that we get ourselves fixed in
the proper mindset. And I also think it's
interesting that he sent them back there to be registered.
Now, this is a practical consideration.
I know when you go and you apply for a government thing like a
passport, they want to know what city you were born in.
I was born in Pontiac, MI. I never lived in Pontiac, MI,
but this hospital I was born in, Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital, was
called at the time is where I was born way back in 1954.
So I say I was from Pontiac on those official documents.
Now Jesus had to be recognized as of the lineage of David and
coming through Bethlehem. He never lived in Bethlehem.
He just went there with his parents in the belly of his
mother. He was born there and then they
left. It was never really a part of
his life, but it was registered. So if anybody said, well, you
know, the Messiah has to come from Bethlehem, he wasn't in
Bethlehem. Oh, yes, there's a registration
here. Why?
Well, God always knows what he's doing.
And Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus were registered as
citizens of Bethlehem. Why that there would be a
confirmation that that which God has spoken is going to surely
come to pass because church, God always has a plan that's bigger
than our expectation. So it was while they were there,
the days were completed for her to be delivered and she brought
forth her first born son, wrapped him in swaddling cloth,
laid him in a Manger because there was no room for them in
the end. These are conflicting worlds.
If you would. I'm walking by faith.
God told me I would have a baby. It was conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit. It's about time for the baby to
be born. Oh, you got to go on a trip.
You're going to be riding a very long time on a donkey.
I'm almost going to have a baby. How many know?
It seems like the time he's off. But the baby had to be born in
Bethlehem, so that's the way it had to work in order for
everything to be in its proper position.
And so like in for us, often times we feel like the timing
isn't right. I know for the many first years
of our ministry, I was always like God when God when God when
and I found out after a while, God doesn't wear a wristwatch.
I even preached a message on it. And I don't wear them anymore
either, if you notice, because I know that the time is in his
hands. But I can share testimony after
testimony that says the Lord is faithful all the time.
And I'm moving forward at a light that shines in the
darkest. And I believe that there's in
this day, the dawning of a new day as we open up ourself before
the Lord. And she put the child in a
Manger. And I remember many years ago
preaching a message on this because I didn't know that the
Manger was a feed through when I grew up.
I just knew they laid him in a major away in a Manger, no crib
for a bit. Can you imagine singing away in
a feed through? Just doesn't go, does it?
You'll see that in the translations of the Bible from
time to time. They kind of color up the story
a little bit to make it look more easy for us to be a
partaker of. But no, it wasn't a Manger.
It was a feed through, if you would, but God does things thing
does things that seem so lowly, but always the plan, the seeds
going to grow, the child's going to grow.
And thus saith the Lord. You haven't seen anything yet.
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in
the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And behold, an Angel of the Lord stood before them in the glory.
The Lord shone around them and they were greatly afraid.
Then the Angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold I
bring you good tidings, a great joy which will be to all people.
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a
Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to
you. You will find a babe wrapped in
swaddling claws lying in a Manger.
Now I put up here Jacob's ladder because even as I was praying,
somebody asked me before church today and do always preach on
Christmas themes at Christmas. And I said no, just kind of and
what the Lord's speaking. And in this particular story, I
see one of the major things I've been talking about through this
year, because I was talking about the descending New
Jerusalem as a series here on Sunday morning, because we need
to know what it says in Hebrews chapter 12, why we're called
Mount Zion. Because the Bible speaks about
Zion not just as a physical location, but a spiritual
reality that when you come to church, you come to Mount Zion,
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and then
know what it says to innumerable company of angels.
Now again, I'm not saying this is Mount Zion.
This is the true of our local church, Mount Zion, but the body
of Christ whom God says is the place of his habitation.
And Jacob was the first one who had this revelation because he
was running for his life, talking about bad timing.
He puts his head on a rock as a pillow, and he dreams a dream,
and he sees a ladder that's going up to heaven, and he sees
that the heavens are open. And he said this is none other
than the gate of heaven. This is the House of God because
church, the House of God, is the place where heaven opens to his
people and we don't see it. Like we read this story today
about angels being everywhere. Church angels are always
everywhere because God uses angels as his messengers to
minister to his people and you don't see them.
And that's probably good because if you notice, every time
somebody sees an Angel in the Bible scares them half the
death. I remember one day I was in
prayer. I was like, Lord, I want to see
an Angel. I was kind of laying there and
all of a sudden I like, no, I don't really want to see an
Angel. Forget that prayer.
I'm going to sleep. Might be a long scary side a man
so you have to understand that God has a spiritual reality that
involves forces working on our behalf.
In this particular case, they actually appear.
First of all, of course, we know with Mary only in a dream to
Joseph, but now to these shepherds because he wanted them
to know something, because he was doing something very
powerful at that moment in time. And so there are moments in
times when God gives us a glimpse of the supernatural.
It's not always true, but I want you to know something.
Heaven is always talking church. And if we incline our ear and
hear, we'll have the faith to believe that God is at work in
our life and our circumstance and our situation.
It says, And all those who heard from the angels being the
shepherds out the field, they came at those things which were
told them by the shepherds. But Mary, what kept all these
things and pondered them, where then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had
heard and seen as it was told them?
Now Mary didn't think about these things.
She pondered them in her heart. That's why I love to quote
Psalm, one that says that we should not stand set in the seat
of the scornful or walk in the path of sinners, but our delight
should be in the law of God. And in that law we should
meditate both day and night, because if we do that, we'll be
like a tree planted by rivers of living water.
So Mary's watching all these dynamics.
She's looking at the disappointments, perhaps, and
the uncomfortableness of the moment, wondering, should I hear
these good reports about angels or do I smell the manure that's
in the barn? But she didn't just think about
it, and she let it come in her heart.
And I'm sure like any mother, she would have grabbed the baby,
picked him up and said, well, all I know is I got Jesus here.
I know what that's like to carry the word of the Lord and, and be
filled with hope and promise and also know what it is like to see
it come to pass. And that's why I can continue in
a journey and say, Lord, I expect to see more because I
know that you're the faithful God.
And so today, each and everyone of us, God is saying to us now
remember in our Bethlehem, the place that's uncomfortable, the
place we don't understand, the place might be asking us
something that we don't feel we can give.
In the middle of your Bethlehem, say, God, I want to find out
what it is that you're doing. Because like Mary, I want to say
yes. Be it on to be a corner of your
word. Like Joseph, I want to say I
don't care what everybody's saying.
Nobody else might believe this, but I'm going to believe it
because God spoke to me and I know His word is always going to
be true. God is faithful at all times.
So I'm going to ask everyone to bow their heads for just a
moment because Jesus wants to speak to your heart.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, and
He's here today and He wants to come like you did to Mary as a
word that you can hold and find comfort in and have faith to
believe something good is going to come out of your life.
Also, I want everyone to think how important it is to ponder in
our heart the things that God has for us.
Don't just let it be of the mind, let it be of the heart
because that's where the new birth begins and that's how the
new birth is lived out, where the heart we believe with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Father, we thank you for this great day of your visitation and
pray Father that each and everyone of us would open our
heart to you in Jesus name, Amen.
This is Pastor Lauren Coverbius from Mount Zion Church.
We thank you for joining us today and invite you to connect
with our church family by visiting mountzion.org and
following us on social media. God bless you.