WEBVTT 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:04.600 All right. 00:00:04.600 --> 00:00:05.364 Good morning. 00:00:06.345 --> 00:00:07.641 Oh, love it that you're here. 00:00:07.641 --> 00:00:09.833 I feel like I hadn't started this Sunday unless I go. 00:00:09.833 --> 00:00:10.073 All right, 00:00:10.073 --> 00:00:10.449 ready? 00:00:10.537 --> 00:00:11.089 One, two, 00:00:11.089 --> 00:00:13.041 three. Thank you. 00:00:13.113 --> 00:00:14.433 How'd you get here? 00:00:15.465 --> 00:00:18.145 See, that's one of those questions I love to start out asking. 00:00:18.145 --> 00:00:19.361 And everybody goes, 00:00:19.553 --> 00:00:20.873 what do you mean? 00:00:20.993 --> 00:00:21.721 Right. I say, 00:00:21.721 --> 00:00:22.513 how did you get here? 00:00:22.513 --> 00:00:23.505 And some of you will say, 00:00:23.505 --> 00:00:27.245 car. Some of you will tell me where you lived last. 00:00:27.765 --> 00:00:28.197 Right. 00:00:28.261 --> 00:00:30.765 Some of you will tell me who invited you. 00:00:30.765 --> 00:00:34.917 Some of you will tell me how you feel really confined this morning. 00:00:34.917 --> 00:00:35.789 But anyway. 00:00:35.917 --> 00:00:41.141 But the question really goes to trying to figure out sort of where we are 00:00:41.293 --> 00:00:43.205 and why God has us. 00:00:43.285 --> 00:00:45.589 Where we are in this place, 00:00:45.677 --> 00:00:47.025 in this time. 00:00:47.565 --> 00:00:48.333 That idea, 00:00:48.389 --> 00:00:51.981 right? Last week we began our Advent wreath. 00:00:52.053 --> 00:00:56.673 And last week we were discussing the fact that the conditions at the time 00:00:56.693 --> 00:00:59.663 that the prophets wrote were not the best conditions. 00:00:59.773 --> 00:01:04.333 And the people of God were in and out of obedience and disobedience and 00:01:04.333 --> 00:01:06.381 idolatry and turning to God. 00:01:06.413 --> 00:01:08.493 And God would go through a good king and a bad king, 00:01:08.493 --> 00:01:10.143 and the prophets would speak. 00:01:10.037 --> 00:01:12.421 And all of a sudden you'd see things would go well for a while, 00:01:12.421 --> 00:01:14.101 then they'd go bad for a while. 00:01:14.101 --> 00:01:16.165 And so God's people were up and down, 00:01:16.165 --> 00:01:16.653 up and down. 00:01:16.653 --> 00:01:24.269 And God would send a message to his people of how to redeem his blessing 00:01:24.317 --> 00:01:25.317 and that sort of thing. 00:01:25.317 --> 00:01:29.937 And so we talked last week about the prophets and the fact that Isaiah 00:01:30.021 --> 00:01:35.149 promised that God promised through the prophet Isaiah that he was going 00:01:35.157 --> 00:01:37.105 to send a child. 00:01:38.205 --> 00:01:40.749 And so that kind of told him what to be looking for, 00:01:40.749 --> 00:01:41.425 right? 00:01:42.125 --> 00:01:44.225 And then the idea of, 00:01:46.215 --> 00:01:47.351 would they see it? 00:01:47.351 --> 00:01:53.235 Would they know what God had done to get them where they were? 00:01:53.575 --> 00:01:55.079 That's what we're talking about today. 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:57.439 Alrighty, we're in Luke, 00:01:57.487 --> 00:01:58.087 chapter two, 00:01:58.087 --> 00:01:59.855 just verses four to seven this morning. 00:01:59.855 --> 00:02:04.471 There are a number of passages that we could have read from to share this 00:02:04.471 --> 00:02:12.511 particular candle of the Advent and the idea of the anticipation of 00:02:12.583 --> 00:02:13.103 Christmas. 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:16.527 Or really more the anticipation of the birth of our Savior. 00:02:16.527 --> 00:02:17.747 Verses four to seven. 00:02:17.747 --> 00:02:18.299 Here we go. 00:02:18.299 --> 00:02:20.975 Joseph also went up from Galilee. 00:02:21.635 --> 00:02:22.427 Why? 00:02:22.611 --> 00:02:23.091 I'm sorry. 00:02:23.091 --> 00:02:23.803 No, I'm supposed to read. 00:02:23.803 --> 00:02:24.443 All right. 00:02:24.443 --> 00:02:28.355 Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea 00:02:28.355 --> 00:02:29.683 to the city of David, 00:02:29.683 --> 00:02:30.971 which is called Bethlehem, 00:02:30.971 --> 00:02:32.955 because he was of the house and lineage of David, 00:02:32.955 --> 00:02:34.683 to be registered with Mary, 00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:36.043 his betrothed wife, 00:02:36.099 --> 00:02:37.419 who was with child. 00:02:37.475 --> 00:02:39.275 So it was that while they were there, 00:02:39.275 --> 00:02:42.003 the days were completed for her to be delivered. 00:02:41.723 --> 00:02:43.427 She brought forth her firstborn son, 00:02:43.427 --> 00:02:44.755 wrapped him in swaddling clothes, 00:02:44.755 --> 00:02:49.223 laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. 00:02:49.223 --> 00:02:49.815 All righty, 00:02:49.815 --> 00:02:50.567 let's pray. 00:02:50.711 --> 00:02:54.775 God, today we want to thank you and praise you that we're here. 00:02:54.775 --> 00:02:57.279 God, you brought us together for the purpose of worship, 00:02:57.279 --> 00:02:58.527 for celebration. 00:02:58.711 --> 00:02:59.263 But God, 00:02:59.263 --> 00:03:00.703 indeed, you brought us together. 00:03:00.471 --> 00:03:04.839 So we might be in a place where we turn down the noise of the world and 00:03:04.839 --> 00:03:07.823 listen to what it is you have to say to us. 00:03:07.823 --> 00:03:08.255 So God, 00:03:08.255 --> 00:03:09.575 help us to acknowledge, 00:03:09.631 --> 00:03:15.165 but also discern and understand what you are doing, 00:03:15.665 --> 00:03:17.485 what you are preparing, 00:03:18.105 --> 00:03:18.889 and God, 00:03:18.977 --> 00:03:21.725 what our part might be in that. 00:03:22.665 --> 00:03:27.345 Help us to look at Joseph and Mary and the birth of Jesus and understand 00:03:27.345 --> 00:03:31.085 God. You had been at work on this for centuries. 00:03:33.225 --> 00:03:34.685 And like we're told, 00:03:35.985 --> 00:03:38.257 when the time was perfect, 00:03:38.441 --> 00:03:40.125 the fullness of time, 00:03:41.505 --> 00:03:43.137 God sent his son. 00:03:43.241 --> 00:03:43.665 Thank you, 00:03:43.665 --> 00:03:46.065 God, for sending us Jesus. 00:03:46.105 --> 00:03:47.505 And we pray it in his name. 00:03:47.505 --> 00:03:50.161 Amen. Bethlehem, 00:03:50.313 --> 00:03:51.657 little bitty place. 00:03:51.841 --> 00:03:52.729 You know, 00:03:52.897 --> 00:03:56.385 there's a Christmas card that we always would get at Christmas time, 00:03:56.385 --> 00:03:57.969 and it would show the sort of. 00:03:57.969 --> 00:03:59.617 The kind of the, 00:03:59.761 --> 00:04:00.465 you know, 00:04:00.585 --> 00:04:04.521 hillside. And then off in the distance you see this little glowing little 00:04:04.521 --> 00:04:06.905 town. And I'm wondering where they got street lights. 00:04:06.905 --> 00:04:08.129 But anyway, 00:04:08.257 --> 00:04:08.601 you know, 00:04:08.601 --> 00:04:09.591 it was Bethlehem. 00:04:09.665 --> 00:04:12.161 This quiet little village, 00:04:12.273 --> 00:04:13.365 really. I mean, 00:04:14.065 --> 00:04:17.645 statistics tell us it's about 1,000 people maybe living there. 00:04:18.145 --> 00:04:24.505 Probably wasn't more than a couple square miles of space that made up 00:04:24.545 --> 00:04:32.329 Bethlehem, but indeed it was the birthplace and the home of King David 00:04:32.377 --> 00:04:33.417 and his family, 00:04:33.521 --> 00:04:35.233 and the lineage of David. 00:04:35.289 --> 00:04:41.545 And. And so it had an important place in part among God's people. 00:04:41.885 --> 00:04:45.105 Technically, it's about six miles south of Jerusalem. 00:04:46.005 --> 00:04:48.785 It's on the edge of the desert there. 00:04:49.565 --> 00:04:54.425 And the word Bethlehem actually means house of bread. 00:04:55.245 --> 00:04:58.541 Okay, now here's what we know. 00:04:58.693 --> 00:05:00.585 Naomi was from Bethlehem. 00:05:01.005 --> 00:05:02.029 She left Bethlehem, 00:05:02.077 --> 00:05:05.993 went to Moab because there was a famine in the land, 00:05:06.169 --> 00:05:08.393 right? Her daughter in law, 00:05:08.449 --> 00:05:10.257 Ruth, comes back with her. 00:05:10.401 --> 00:05:12.051 Guess who else is from. 00:05:12.225 --> 00:05:13.625 Boaz is from Bethlehem. 00:05:13.665 --> 00:05:14.655 There you go. 00:05:14.945 --> 00:05:17.169 Just got right ahead of myself there. 00:05:17.169 --> 00:05:17.921 So, Boaz. 00:05:17.993 --> 00:05:20.993 So we see the lineage of David, 00:05:21.049 --> 00:05:24.369 we see the lineage of ultimately Jesus, 00:05:24.417 --> 00:05:28.217 and it all happens right here in Bethlehem. 00:05:28.401 --> 00:05:29.705 And so I started looking at this, 00:05:29.705 --> 00:05:30.193 I thought, 00:05:30.193 --> 00:05:32.173 why did they go to Bethlehem? 00:05:32.445 --> 00:05:33.973 Whose fault is it, 00:05:34.149 --> 00:05:34.629 right? 00:05:34.717 --> 00:05:35.933 Why'd they go there? 00:05:35.933 --> 00:05:36.493 They go there. 00:05:36.493 --> 00:05:37.861 Cause Caesar Augustus said, 00:05:37.893 --> 00:05:39.645 I need to count everybody. 00:05:39.765 --> 00:05:43.733 So I need to know how much tax I'm gonna collect from you and how many 00:05:43.733 --> 00:05:46.269 soldiers I can count on to fight for me. 00:05:46.269 --> 00:05:47.259 What was it? 00:05:47.285 --> 00:05:51.189 Because somebody somewhere read Micah chapter 5, 00:05:51.237 --> 00:05:52.589 verse 2 and said, 00:05:52.637 --> 00:05:53.869 oh, Bethlehem, 00:05:53.917 --> 00:05:57.093 Ephrathah, we gotta be there, 00:05:57.229 --> 00:05:58.693 honey. You're about to give birth. 00:05:58.693 --> 00:06:00.221 We got to run down. 00:06:00.221 --> 00:06:02.201 Right? You see what I mean? 00:06:01.955 --> 00:06:02.775 I mean, 00:06:03.795 --> 00:06:08.155 what orchestrated their being in Bethlehem? 00:06:08.235 --> 00:06:09.139 The census? 00:06:09.267 --> 00:06:12.237 Was it all because they needed to be counted? 00:06:12.515 --> 00:06:15.255 Maybe it was family reunion. 00:06:16.595 --> 00:06:17.291 Right? 00:06:17.443 --> 00:06:18.571 You see what I mean? 00:06:18.571 --> 00:06:18.891 I mean, 00:06:18.891 --> 00:06:21.195 I want to ask you why you're here. 00:06:21.195 --> 00:06:21.683 Ask you, 00:06:21.683 --> 00:06:23.315 how did you get here? 00:06:23.315 --> 00:06:24.971 But that's not the big question. 00:06:24.971 --> 00:06:25.975 You're here. 00:06:26.455 --> 00:06:28.591 Yay. And I'm saying that, 00:06:28.703 --> 00:06:30.911 really, I'm glad you're here. 00:06:30.943 --> 00:06:32.567 I'm glad we get to hang out together. 00:06:32.567 --> 00:06:33.903 This has been a huge week. 00:06:33.903 --> 00:06:35.223 Did y'all know that? 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:35.639 I mean, 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:37.727 we've had some big things going on. 00:06:37.727 --> 00:06:42.551 Like, we were all about Wednesday night getting ready for the big family 00:06:42.623 --> 00:06:49.495 celebration and business meeting and leadership nominations and budget. 00:06:49.535 --> 00:06:49.799 And, man, 00:06:49.799 --> 00:06:51.303 we had a big time, 00:06:51.303 --> 00:06:52.071 matter of fact. 00:06:52.071 --> 00:06:52.871 And some of you know, 00:06:52.871 --> 00:06:53.631 Angie Fussell. 00:06:53.663 --> 00:06:57.011 Angie said that was the most people I've seen at a business meeting at 00:06:57.011 --> 00:06:59.099 Surf City Baptist Church in all my life. 00:06:58.955 --> 00:07:01.115 And she's been here all her life, 00:07:01.115 --> 00:07:01.779 you know, 00:07:01.867 --> 00:07:04.955 and yet nobody would have realized it was a business meeting, 00:07:04.955 --> 00:07:07.643 and nobody would have realized it was Surf City Baptist Church. 00:07:07.643 --> 00:07:08.395 But anyway, 00:07:08.555 --> 00:07:09.795 all that aside, 00:07:09.955 --> 00:07:12.411 it was a grand celebration. 00:07:12.563 --> 00:07:14.235 Not of business, 00:07:14.315 --> 00:07:18.795 but it was a grand celebration of the things that God has done in our 00:07:18.795 --> 00:07:19.945 midst. And. 00:07:19.975 --> 00:07:22.261 And we get to be a part of it. 00:07:21.965 --> 00:07:23.765 Now, why do we get to be a part of it? 00:07:23.765 --> 00:07:24.749 Because, honestly, 00:07:24.797 --> 00:07:31.317 we're paying attention to what God's doing and allowing God to 00:07:31.421 --> 00:07:37.581 orchestrate and to lead our lives so that we can be in the place where he 00:07:37.613 --> 00:07:41.373 wants us to be so that we can enjoy the blessing that he wants us to 00:07:41.373 --> 00:07:46.653 enjoy, so that we can be a part of the advance of his kingdom and the 00:07:46.711 --> 00:07:48.475 proclamation of the gospel. 00:07:48.855 --> 00:07:50.199 That's why we're here. 00:07:50.287 --> 00:07:52.151 Yay. And see, 00:07:52.223 --> 00:07:52.883 I'm just. 00:07:52.695 --> 00:07:55.463 I'm having a blast because I've been putting this together in my mind. 00:07:55.463 --> 00:07:56.103 I'm going, 00:07:56.103 --> 00:07:57.423 why am I here? 00:07:57.695 --> 00:07:58.183 I mean, 00:07:58.183 --> 00:07:59.431 Angie and I were talking about this morning. 00:07:59.431 --> 00:08:00.263 You want me to tell you? 00:08:00.263 --> 00:08:00.583 All right, 00:08:00.583 --> 00:08:00.913 first. 00:08:00.911 --> 00:08:01.151 All right, 00:08:01.151 --> 00:08:02.303 so Zach Spratling. 00:08:02.359 --> 00:08:03.575 Nobody knows Zach Spratling. 00:08:03.575 --> 00:08:06.231 I don't know if his mom and dad in Georgia be watching me right now, 00:08:06.231 --> 00:08:07.039 but here you go. 00:08:07.039 --> 00:08:08.551 Zach Spratling was a little boy. 00:08:08.551 --> 00:08:09.655 And I've told y'all back and forth, 00:08:09.655 --> 00:08:13.945 he's the one I used to trade sour candy with in my office. 00:08:13.875 --> 00:08:15.011 I was the youth pastor, 00:08:15.011 --> 00:08:16.667 and Zach would come and hang out in my office, 00:08:16.667 --> 00:08:18.227 and we'd trade sour candy. 00:08:18.227 --> 00:08:20.283 This was back when sour candy was first invented, 00:08:20.283 --> 00:08:20.939 Just so you know. 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:22.939 Anyway, so we would exchange it. 00:08:23.027 --> 00:08:25.971 And so I get ready to leave First Baptist Beaufort, 00:08:25.971 --> 00:08:28.283 Georgia to go to Town Baptist Church in Maryland. 00:08:28.283 --> 00:08:29.915 And I read my resignation. 00:08:29.659 --> 00:08:30.091 Everything. Well, 00:08:30.091 --> 00:08:30.603 Zach and I, 00:08:30.603 --> 00:08:31.579 we were kind of like buddies, 00:08:31.579 --> 00:08:32.239 you know, 00:08:32.267 --> 00:08:33.587 we were candy traders. 00:08:33.627 --> 00:08:36.315 Anyway, and so Zach's in the back seat of his mom and daddy's car, 00:08:36.315 --> 00:08:36.975 she says, 00:08:37.003 --> 00:08:37.827 and he goes, 00:08:37.827 --> 00:08:43.825 mom, how does Bobby know he's supposed to go to Maryland? 00:08:44.245 --> 00:08:48.837 And mom gives the answer that good church mamas are supposed to give. 00:08:48.941 --> 00:08:50.077 Well, God told him, 00:08:50.077 --> 00:08:50.705 son. 00:08:51.525 --> 00:08:52.645 Well, Zach, 00:08:52.805 --> 00:08:56.765 who ends up graduating from Georgia Tech University with a degree in 00:08:56.805 --> 00:08:59.861 engineering, asks this question. 00:09:00.013 --> 00:09:01.621 Well, how did he tell him? 00:09:01.621 --> 00:09:02.893 Did he just say, 00:09:02.893 --> 00:09:05.335 bobby, I want you to go to Maryland? 00:09:05.335 --> 00:09:06.639 Right, right. 00:09:06.687 --> 00:09:07.015 I mean, 00:09:07.015 --> 00:09:12.175 these are the questions that a kid who's about to lose his sour candy 00:09:12.215 --> 00:09:14.475 trader wants to know. 00:09:15.535 --> 00:09:21.951 See, so then I'm pastoring in western North Carolina and we would take a 00:09:21.983 --> 00:09:23.303 vacation to the beach. 00:09:23.415 --> 00:09:25.391 And so a six year old kid, 00:09:25.391 --> 00:09:27.295 years later named Eli goes, 00:09:27.415 --> 00:09:29.215 dad, can we move to the beach? 00:09:29.215 --> 00:09:29.823 And I went, 00:09:29.823 --> 00:09:32.085 no, we live in the mountains. 00:09:32.425 --> 00:09:33.817 Well, there you go. 00:09:34.001 --> 00:09:34.673 You know, 00:09:34.769 --> 00:09:35.577 I don't know. 00:09:35.433 --> 00:09:35.881 I mean, 00:09:35.881 --> 00:09:37.673 I look back over my life and I go, 00:09:37.673 --> 00:09:40.745 God, you have positioned us for this place, 00:09:40.865 --> 00:09:41.929 this time. 00:09:42.097 --> 00:09:44.965 Why? Why are you here? 00:09:45.385 --> 00:09:48.905 What is it God wants to do in you, 00:09:48.985 --> 00:09:49.633 through you, 00:09:49.633 --> 00:09:50.569 with you? 00:09:50.737 --> 00:09:51.993 Not for your sake, 00:09:51.993 --> 00:09:56.761 not for the sake of your accumulation or your portfolio or any of that 00:09:56.793 --> 00:09:57.783 kind of stuff. 00:09:57.625 --> 00:09:59.497 Why does God have you here? 00:09:59.497 --> 00:10:03.819 And what is his purpose for what you're supposed to be doing for his 00:10:03.819 --> 00:10:04.683 kingdom's sake? 00:10:04.739 --> 00:10:05.995 Man, I look at this and I'm like, 00:10:05.995 --> 00:10:09.747 wow, Joseph also went up from Galilee, 00:10:09.851 --> 00:10:12.963 why out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, 00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:14.955 why to the city of David, 00:10:14.955 --> 00:10:16.403 why? Which is called Bethlehem? 00:10:16.403 --> 00:10:18.563 Well, we're looking back over 2,000 years. 00:10:18.619 --> 00:10:19.775 We know why. 00:10:20.475 --> 00:10:22.219 We can tell why. 00:10:22.387 --> 00:10:24.531 Now the challenge for us is to take. 00:10:24.531 --> 00:10:27.585 Now I could just stand up here and tell you the story. 00:10:27.585 --> 00:10:29.895 Jesus and the birth and the Bethlehem. 00:10:30.465 --> 00:10:34.905 And that this next candle is the Bethlehem candle of peace, 00:10:35.025 --> 00:10:38.761 right? That's what I'm told by a lot of the little outlines and things we 00:10:38.761 --> 00:10:39.241 use. And I go, 00:10:39.241 --> 00:10:40.361 okay, peace. 00:10:40.553 --> 00:10:41.905 And then we think of this. 00:10:41.905 --> 00:10:44.125 O little town of Bethlehem, 00:10:44.465 --> 00:10:45.329 how still, 00:10:45.417 --> 00:10:47.645 how peaceful we see thee lie. 00:10:48.065 --> 00:10:49.473 You see my point? 00:10:49.649 --> 00:10:59.427 Why? And if we don't acknowledge and seek to discern what God's doing in 00:10:59.491 --> 00:11:00.707 this story, 00:11:00.851 --> 00:11:05.915 how God brought about the fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies for the 00:11:05.955 --> 00:11:07.275 birth of his son, 00:11:07.371 --> 00:11:08.515 our Savior, 00:11:08.595 --> 00:11:09.523 our Lord, 00:11:09.619 --> 00:11:10.467 the Messiah, 00:11:10.531 --> 00:11:11.883 the anointed one. 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:12.571 And we say, 00:11:12.571 --> 00:11:12.931 wait a minute, 00:11:12.931 --> 00:11:19.615 guys, you work all those little Bitty kinds of details together to do 00:11:19.955 --> 00:11:21.891 that to what? 00:11:21.963 --> 00:11:23.455 To save the world. 00:11:24.395 --> 00:11:31.419 Right. How is it that God might be directing details in your life that he 00:11:31.467 --> 00:11:35.215 expects you to discern so that what? 00:11:37.555 --> 00:11:40.525 I can't answer that question for all of you. 00:11:40.595 --> 00:11:46.501 Can't. But it might be because there's one person that needs to know the 00:11:46.533 --> 00:11:47.825 Jesus. You know, 00:11:49.085 --> 00:11:53.705 it might just be one intersection in your life that God puts you in. 00:11:53.717 --> 00:11:55.677 And I don't mean road intersection, 00:11:55.677 --> 00:11:57.327 because those are dangerous places. 00:11:56.957 --> 00:12:01.025 But it might just be one passing conversation. 00:12:02.805 --> 00:12:03.981 You see what I mean? 00:12:03.981 --> 00:12:09.385 Where you're supposed to express somehow your hope, 00:12:10.285 --> 00:12:11.945 prophecy, candle of hope, 00:12:12.615 --> 00:12:13.391 your peace. 00:12:13.463 --> 00:12:16.271 Because Jesus said my peace I leave with you. 00:12:16.271 --> 00:12:18.911 Not the peace that comes from the world. 00:12:18.735 --> 00:12:19.991 Because guess what? 00:12:20.183 --> 00:12:24.495 The world translates peace and treaties in the absence of conflict. 00:12:24.535 --> 00:12:26.287 You know what God's peace is? 00:12:26.287 --> 00:12:33.791 God's peace is a contentment and well being that it doesn't matter what 00:12:33.823 --> 00:12:36.751 the circumstances of you are going on, 00:12:36.903 --> 00:12:38.555 you have peace, 00:12:39.095 --> 00:12:41.191 see. And guess what? 00:12:41.223 --> 00:12:43.271 There are people you're going to run into today, 00:12:43.271 --> 00:12:44.195 I imagine, 00:12:44.735 --> 00:12:45.915 that need peace, 00:12:47.735 --> 00:12:50.399 that need an assurance that you know what, 00:12:50.527 --> 00:12:52.439 I can count on God. 00:12:52.607 --> 00:12:58.687 And the thing is that your peace is dependent on the fact that God 00:12:58.751 --> 00:13:03.293 orchestrated all of these little things together to bring about the birth 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:04.505 of his son, 00:13:04.625 --> 00:13:05.769 our Savior, 00:13:05.897 --> 00:13:07.505 Jesus, the Christ, 00:13:07.625 --> 00:13:08.769 the anointed one. 00:13:08.857 --> 00:13:11.827 And they had to be in the right place. 00:13:12.665 --> 00:13:18.849 Bethlehem, a couple of square miles in the middle of a desert with sheep 00:13:18.897 --> 00:13:22.045 and goats and stuff on the hillsides around them. 00:13:22.545 --> 00:13:24.841 And probably a couple what they used to. 00:13:24.625 --> 00:13:29.489 In one of the dictionary things I was reading this week, 00:13:29.577 --> 00:13:31.609 they didn't call them inns or hotels. 00:13:31.609 --> 00:13:32.809 It was not like the, 00:13:32.809 --> 00:13:34.725 the holiday in Bethlehem, 00:13:35.305 --> 00:13:39.085 okay? They were called caravaneries. 00:13:40.225 --> 00:13:45.825 Caravaneries. So when caravans would travel from point A to point B in a 00:13:45.865 --> 00:13:49.925 desert setting and they would stop off where there was water available, 00:13:50.945 --> 00:13:54.657 where there were certain resources for them to make each leg of the 00:13:54.657 --> 00:13:55.161 journey. 00:13:55.273 --> 00:13:59.449 A caravanery would just be kind of a little stopover place, 00:13:59.497 --> 00:14:00.329 not a hotel. 00:14:00.329 --> 00:14:00.945 There was, 00:14:00.945 --> 00:14:04.615 there was no Gideon's Bible in the bedside table, 00:14:05.275 --> 00:14:09.175 okay? It was just a place to stop, 00:14:09.875 --> 00:14:11.859 to sort of refresh, 00:14:12.027 --> 00:14:15.575 restock before going the rest of your journey. 00:14:15.915 --> 00:14:16.643 And so no, 00:14:16.643 --> 00:14:19.315 it wasn't like there were 300 rooms at the Holiday Inn. 00:14:19.315 --> 00:14:20.195 And they got there and said, 00:14:20.195 --> 00:14:22.505 sorry, we just booked our last room. 00:14:22.715 --> 00:14:23.375 You know, 00:14:23.427 --> 00:14:26.779 we put it in our context like Joseph and Mary walked up to the check in 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:29.089 desk, could we get a room please? 00:14:29.235 --> 00:14:31.215 No, that's not how it worked. 00:14:31.715 --> 00:14:32.243 You know, 00:14:32.243 --> 00:14:35.731 because Caesar Augustus had called this census, 00:14:35.883 --> 00:14:40.371 people were converging on their family's birthplace, 00:14:40.483 --> 00:14:41.763 town, lineage, 00:14:41.859 --> 00:14:43.963 place. It's like in the summertime in June. 00:14:43.963 --> 00:14:44.891 I used to look forward to it, 00:14:44.891 --> 00:14:45.221 man. 00:14:45.083 --> 00:14:45.743 In June, 00:14:45.827 --> 00:14:49.475 our family would go to Lake Greenwood for family reunion. 00:14:49.595 --> 00:14:52.075 And the food would stretch from here to the back of the room. 00:14:52.075 --> 00:14:52.815 And, man, 00:14:53.965 --> 00:14:55.945 that's where I learned to eat, 00:14:56.085 --> 00:14:57.061 you see, 00:14:57.253 --> 00:14:59.757 I used to look forward to family reunion time. 00:14:59.757 --> 00:15:00.405 And I imagine, 00:15:00.405 --> 00:15:00.733 you know, 00:15:00.733 --> 00:15:03.665 Joseph gets to Bethlehem and there's Uncle Bill. 00:15:04.605 --> 00:15:05.285 Probably not, 00:15:05.325 --> 00:15:07.305 but you know what I mean? 00:15:07.085 --> 00:15:09.317 And so they're all converging on this little place, 00:15:09.317 --> 00:15:12.665 and the time came for her to deliver. 00:15:13.365 --> 00:15:14.125 That's what it says. 00:15:14.125 --> 00:15:14.453 It says. 00:15:14.453 --> 00:15:15.765 So it was that while they were there, 00:15:15.765 --> 00:15:18.735 the days were completed for her to be delivered. 00:15:19.135 --> 00:15:22.355 She brought forth her firstborn son. 00:15:22.935 --> 00:15:23.591 Guess what? 00:15:23.591 --> 00:15:26.555 Wrapped him in whatever a swaddling cloth is. 00:15:27.015 --> 00:15:28.047 Just stripped of cloth, 00:15:28.047 --> 00:15:29.367 they wrap them up. 00:15:29.615 --> 00:15:30.383 What do you call that? 00:15:30.383 --> 00:15:31.471 Swaddle them. 00:15:31.663 --> 00:15:33.151 They swaddle the baby, 00:15:33.303 --> 00:15:36.351 set him in a little hay trough kind of thing. 00:15:36.351 --> 00:15:37.951 And then the angels shout, 00:15:37.951 --> 00:15:38.823 we're not there yet. 00:15:38.823 --> 00:15:39.943 That's two weeks away. 00:15:39.943 --> 00:15:40.879 No, that's next week. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:42.199 Angels are next week. 00:15:42.975 --> 00:15:51.265 But the idea is that God put the pieces in place to accomplish what? 00:15:51.345 --> 00:15:53.085 His design, 00:15:54.265 --> 00:15:55.497 his purpose, 00:15:55.641 --> 00:15:56.925 and his plan. 00:15:57.865 --> 00:16:01.649 And I can't even begin to tell you how many people come to me as their 00:16:01.649 --> 00:16:03.977 pastor and say, 00:16:04.001 --> 00:16:05.937 I don't know what God wants me to do. 00:16:05.937 --> 00:16:07.209 Well, can I just be. 00:16:07.209 --> 00:16:09.519 Oh, this is going to sound horrid, 00:16:09.945 --> 00:16:11.925 but I got to say it. 00:16:11.825 --> 00:16:14.313 If you don't know what it is that you're supposed to be doing, 00:16:14.313 --> 00:16:15.963 then you're not paying attention. 00:16:19.425 --> 00:16:21.193 Because every day, 00:16:21.329 --> 00:16:27.565 God gives you opportunity to be his hands and feet, 00:16:28.585 --> 00:16:29.885 his voice, 00:16:31.185 --> 00:16:32.049 you see, 00:16:32.177 --> 00:16:33.205 every day. 00:16:35.545 --> 00:16:37.525 To be in the right place. 00:16:38.035 --> 00:16:41.495 Yes. At the right time. 00:16:42.795 --> 00:16:43.695 Yes. 00:16:46.915 --> 00:16:52.611 The right way to proclaim the word of God. 00:16:52.803 --> 00:16:53.735 You see? 00:16:54.715 --> 00:17:00.135 See, if we're not the ones telling others what's going on, 00:17:00.715 --> 00:17:03.491 if we're not the ones telling others that, 00:17:03.603 --> 00:17:06.903 yeah, all this stuff that you see in the news, 00:17:07.555 --> 00:17:10.403 all this stuff that we are told is. 00:17:10.459 --> 00:17:13.963 So the word that comes to mind is stinking. 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:15.379 But here you go. 00:17:15.875 --> 00:17:19.755 All this stuff that's in front of us that we're being told is so stinking 00:17:19.755 --> 00:17:27.347 important, doesn't even approach the importance of what we're talking 00:17:27.371 --> 00:17:28.299 about this morning, 00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:36.597 y'all. It doesn't even come close to be in the right place at the right 00:17:36.661 --> 00:17:44.557 time, to be living out the right way that God has given you to live so 00:17:44.581 --> 00:17:46.185 that you can be. 00:17:48.285 --> 00:17:48.701 I mean, 00:17:48.701 --> 00:17:49.149 I remember, 00:17:49.149 --> 00:17:49.525 you know, 00:17:49.525 --> 00:17:50.515 everybody's asking me, 00:17:50.597 --> 00:17:51.945 how's the baby? 00:17:53.045 --> 00:17:54.277 Baby's fine. 00:17:54.421 --> 00:17:56.731 Two and a half weeks old now. 00:17:56.755 --> 00:17:58.467 Yes. When my phone is in my hand, 00:17:58.467 --> 00:17:59.935 I have grandpa pictures. 00:18:00.355 --> 00:18:03.515 Okay? Can you imagine Joseph standing outside the manger? 00:18:03.555 --> 00:18:04.067 Oh, yeah. 00:18:04.067 --> 00:18:05.717 We just had a baby. 00:18:06.875 --> 00:18:08.525 We just had a baby. 00:18:08.555 --> 00:18:09.215 Oh, really? 00:18:09.219 --> 00:18:10.195 Tell us about it. 00:18:10.195 --> 00:18:12.505 Well, you're not going to believe this, 00:18:13.155 --> 00:18:14.419 but not too long ago, 00:18:14.419 --> 00:18:16.729 an angel showed up in my bedroom. 00:18:18.435 --> 00:18:19.443 You see, 00:18:19.619 --> 00:18:23.181 God takes these and puts them together. 00:18:23.253 --> 00:18:23.677 And folks, 00:18:23.677 --> 00:18:24.709 I promise you, 00:18:24.837 --> 00:18:29.589 he's doing the same things in your life to put you in the right place, 00:18:29.589 --> 00:18:30.905 the right time, 00:18:31.285 --> 00:18:35.705 so that you can share the right way to him. 00:18:36.605 --> 00:18:40.709 Okay? We've got some cool opportunities and I got a couple minutes to 00:18:40.709 --> 00:18:41.733 tell you about it. 00:18:41.733 --> 00:18:43.269 20, 25 is going to be exciting. 00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:43.501 All right, 00:18:43.501 --> 00:18:45.221 so we did our Wednesday night meeting, 00:18:45.221 --> 00:18:49.611 right? And the choir was been getting ready for weeks so they could do 00:18:49.611 --> 00:18:51.699 this morning's meeting and then, 00:18:51.747 --> 00:18:54.255 and then Saturday. 00:18:54.555 --> 00:18:56.131 Oh, my parents day out. 00:18:56.131 --> 00:18:57.135 There's some parents. 00:18:57.555 --> 00:18:58.715 I had one mom, 00:18:58.715 --> 00:18:59.495 she said, 00:19:00.515 --> 00:19:03.015 don't often get a morning like this, 00:19:03.595 --> 00:19:05.507 right? And then, 00:19:05.571 --> 00:19:12.375 man, you walked in here and it looked like it was a T and I left. 00:19:14.125 --> 00:19:15.445 But it was beautiful. 00:19:15.325 --> 00:19:20.145 Ladies had a blast in this place yesterday with the Christmas tea. 00:19:20.525 --> 00:19:21.509 And guess what? 00:19:21.509 --> 00:19:24.265 The whole birth of Jesus was proclaimed. 00:19:24.645 --> 00:19:27.933 And the hope and the promise and the peace that we have in Christ was all 00:19:27.933 --> 00:19:29.253 proclaimed. And guess what? 00:19:29.101 --> 00:19:32.877 Because we want to seek and do the things that God sets before us to do 00:19:32.877 --> 00:19:38.133 and to be obedient and to come together as the body of Christ and be 00:19:38.189 --> 00:19:41.087 faithful to what God's entrusted to us, 00:19:41.111 --> 00:19:46.275 we've been asked in the new year to come alongside a church up in Burgo 00:19:48.375 --> 00:19:51.295 to adopt a baby church. 00:19:51.375 --> 00:19:52.351 Well, they're not a baby church. 00:19:52.351 --> 00:19:54.001 They've been around a while. 00:19:54.975 --> 00:19:59.551 But I'm going to be meeting with the two elders on Saturday morning to 00:19:59.551 --> 00:19:59.991 discuss it. 00:19:59.991 --> 00:20:01.719 Here's what I need to know. 00:20:01.471 --> 00:20:02.175 I need to know, 00:20:02.175 --> 00:20:06.795 are there any worship leaders in the room you might be hiding from me? 00:20:07.625 --> 00:20:11.033 I found out this week that there's a guy that I know in the gathering 00:20:11.033 --> 00:20:14.993 that I didn't know that he was once a full time pastor. 00:20:15.545 --> 00:20:16.129 I told him, 00:20:16.129 --> 00:20:16.369 I said, 00:20:16.369 --> 00:20:17.713 aha. Now that I know, 00:20:17.713 --> 00:20:20.353 I get to ask God why you're here. 00:20:20.585 --> 00:20:21.525 You see, 00:20:21.825 --> 00:20:25.857 I think that as we take these steps of faith, 00:20:26.041 --> 00:20:26.673 God says, 00:20:26.673 --> 00:20:29.965 okay, since you were faithful in that little thing, 00:20:30.585 --> 00:20:34.121 we're going to hand you more things and more big things. 00:20:33.817 --> 00:20:35.377 So that's the challenge this morning. 00:20:35.377 --> 00:20:36.113 You ready? 00:20:36.249 --> 00:20:38.209 If you've led worship, 00:20:38.257 --> 00:20:39.561 you've been a worship leader, 00:20:39.561 --> 00:20:41.801 I need you to come down here Right after we finish. 00:20:41.801 --> 00:20:42.281 And tell me. 00:20:42.281 --> 00:20:45.581 So I write your phone number and your name down. 00:20:45.905 --> 00:20:50.441 If you've been in pastoral ministry sometime in the past, 00:20:50.553 --> 00:20:56.689 I need your name and number because God didn't bring any of us here for 00:20:56.737 --> 00:20:57.405 nothing. 00:21:00.225 --> 00:21:02.885 Okay? That's our challenge. 00:21:03.385 --> 00:21:04.913 And so now it's your challenge, 00:21:04.913 --> 00:21:06.873 and I just offered it to you. 00:21:06.873 --> 00:21:10.445 The Bethlehem candle is a candle of peace. 00:21:12.785 --> 00:21:15.425 You know why it's a candle of peace? 00:21:17.585 --> 00:21:22.245 Because God was at work in making Bethlehem important, 00:21:23.115 --> 00:21:28.535 and he's at work today and calling us. 00:21:29.635 --> 00:21:32.171 Okay? My candle lighter quit. 00:21:32.283 --> 00:21:33.603 Oh, there it is. 00:21:34.635 --> 00:21:36.795 Anyway, if I don't get it lit, 00:21:36.795 --> 00:21:39.435 I'll clean it out before the next time, 00:21:40.075 --> 00:21:40.779 okay? 00:21:40.907 --> 00:21:42.887 It's the only chance you get. 00:21:44.715 --> 00:21:46.035 Why are you here? 00:21:47.925 --> 00:21:55.397 What did God do to put you in this place at this time to accomplish his 00:21:55.461 --> 00:21:57.117 kingdom purpose? 00:21:57.301 --> 00:21:59.693 Okay, that's our challenge, 00:21:59.789 --> 00:22:01.205 folks. It starts with Jesus. 00:22:01.205 --> 00:22:02.325 And if you don't know Jesus, 00:22:02.325 --> 00:22:03.437 you need Jesus. 00:22:03.581 --> 00:22:04.397 We're going to sing. 00:22:04.397 --> 00:22:05.133 It's quite doing, 00:22:05.133 --> 00:22:06.123 this last one. 00:22:06.133 --> 00:22:06.421 All right, 00:22:06.421 --> 00:22:07.717 y'all, come on up here. 00:22:07.717 --> 00:22:08.733 It's going to take a minute, 00:22:08.733 --> 00:22:11.043 so I'm going to get y'all moving. 00:22:13.415 --> 00:22:14.567 I'll get out of your spot, 00:22:14.567 --> 00:22:18.951 darling. Did y'all notice the dock was gone? 00:22:19.103 --> 00:22:20.753 Didn't know if you noticed. 00:22:21.215 --> 00:22:24.845 I can jump right off the front of the platform again. 00:22:27.175 --> 00:22:28.559 You may be asking yourself, 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:29.199 okay, God, 00:22:29.199 --> 00:22:30.519 why am I here? 00:22:30.567 --> 00:22:33.159 That's the same question I'm asking God for you. 00:22:33.159 --> 00:22:34.479 Why are you here? 00:22:34.487 --> 00:22:36.137 God, why are they here? 00:22:36.735 --> 00:22:38.799 What is it that you have in store? 00:22:38.655 --> 00:22:41.195 What is it that you're calling us to? 00:22:41.195 --> 00:22:41.855 You know, 00:22:41.915 --> 00:22:45.907 I can tell you stories of how God has started stuff around here, 00:22:45.907 --> 00:22:47.255 and it's amazing. 00:22:48.075 --> 00:22:53.187 It's amazing to see God creating worship opportunities. 00:22:53.371 --> 00:22:55.067 One of the few things that we said, 00:22:55.067 --> 00:22:58.195 this is what we're going to do as a gathering. 00:22:58.195 --> 00:23:00.495 We're going to create worship opportunities. 00:23:02.035 --> 00:23:03.015 Right, Tim? 00:23:03.755 --> 00:23:04.515 Where did you go? 00:23:04.515 --> 00:23:05.505 There you are. 00:23:05.915 --> 00:23:07.245 Worship opportunities. 00:23:07.355 --> 00:23:09.137 Ask Tim about worship opportunities. 00:23:09.201 --> 00:23:10.185 He'll tell you. 00:23:10.185 --> 00:23:11.081 All righty. 00:23:11.233 --> 00:23:13.017 Pray with me as we get ready to sing. 00:23:13.017 --> 00:23:14.161 Father, thank you for today. 00:23:14.161 --> 00:23:14.937 And God, 00:23:14.961 --> 00:23:16.281 that you're at work. 00:23:16.001 --> 00:23:19.285 God help us to be where you are. 00:23:20.185 --> 00:23:22.145 God help us to get there. 00:23:22.145 --> 00:23:22.873 And then God, 00:23:22.873 --> 00:23:28.649 help us to pray and listen as you give leadership and guidance to our 00:23:28.697 --> 00:23:31.161 lives. And we pray it in Jesus name, 00:23:31.161 --> 00:23:31.465 Amen.