1 00:00:03,636 --> 00:00:04,170 thank you for being here. 2 00:00:04,170 --> 00:00:06,373 Family. That was fantastic, man. The little. 3 00:00:06,373 --> 00:00:11,344 Anytime you get kids up front, too, it just makes people go, oh, it a great job. 4 00:00:11,911 --> 00:00:14,881 Great job. 5 00:00:15,048 --> 00:00:17,150 In this in the series that we're in, I'm 6 00:00:17,150 --> 00:00:20,620 introducing you every week to some of our church planters 7 00:00:21,488 --> 00:00:25,792 and network leaders who plant in churches all around the world and locally in. 8 00:00:26,226 --> 00:00:29,829 And this week, I want to introduce you to Pastor Freddy and Nancy. 9 00:00:31,164 --> 00:00:32,065 We got a picture of them. 10 00:00:32,065 --> 00:00:35,802 Pastor Freddy and Nancy, you are leading the very first church 11 00:00:35,802 --> 00:00:38,805 that our church started when we were only three years old. 12 00:00:39,105 --> 00:00:42,108 We started a church in the lucky 13 bar, 13 00:00:42,742 --> 00:00:45,845 which was over on Ashland in 99. 14 00:00:47,247 --> 00:00:51,017 And one of our staff members, John Brian Koski, and his wife, 15 00:00:51,017 --> 00:00:55,955 Charity, helped lead that pastor Freddy and his wife became a part of that church. 16 00:00:56,790 --> 00:00:58,491 John was called to other things. 17 00:00:58,491 --> 00:01:02,095 And so, Pastor Freddy became the pastor of that church 18 00:01:02,095 --> 00:01:03,863 and kind of took over, has been leading ever since. 19 00:01:03,863 --> 00:01:06,666 And doing a great, great, great job. 20 00:01:06,666 --> 00:01:09,335 Pastor Freddy and Nancy are dear to our hearts. 21 00:01:09,335 --> 00:01:12,772 We have a long relationship with them. 22 00:01:14,274 --> 00:01:17,644 And as we take this offering where I'm asking you 23 00:01:17,644 --> 00:01:21,181 to give over and above your regular tithes and offering to, 24 00:01:22,348 --> 00:01:26,052 by Christmas Eve, we're going to split that amongst these six 25 00:01:26,453 --> 00:01:29,889 church planters and network of leaders that I've been introducing you to, 26 00:01:30,457 --> 00:01:33,693 Pastor Freddy and Nancy are the ones that have been with us the longest. 27 00:01:33,693 --> 00:01:36,396 And so they will be part of the recipients of that. 28 00:01:36,396 --> 00:01:39,265 I'm really proud of these two. 29 00:01:39,265 --> 00:01:40,700 God has delivered them. 30 00:01:40,700 --> 00:01:44,571 And Freddy from, incredible, 31 00:01:45,872 --> 00:01:48,842 difficulty in his life. 32 00:01:48,842 --> 00:01:52,345 At every level you can imagine and done an incredible work 33 00:01:52,745 --> 00:01:55,682 of rejuvenation and restoration 34 00:01:55,682 --> 00:01:58,651 and renewal and giving him new life. 35 00:01:58,952 --> 00:02:02,021 And he's given his life to Christ as a result of it, in the work of Christ 36 00:02:02,422 --> 00:02:05,091 there in a very underserved, 37 00:02:06,059 --> 00:02:06,626 part of 38 00:02:06,626 --> 00:02:11,331 Fresno, deals with a lot of addiction, a lot of unhoused people, 39 00:02:11,631 --> 00:02:12,832 a lot of turmoil. 40 00:02:12,832 --> 00:02:15,902 And, and they just continue to be faithful to the call 41 00:02:15,902 --> 00:02:18,905 to the what God's called him to in that area. 42 00:02:19,272 --> 00:02:22,642 They've opened up a new outreach center that deals with, people 43 00:02:22,642 --> 00:02:25,812 going through addiction and homelessness to serve them well. 44 00:02:27,113 --> 00:02:28,815 All the while, Pastor 45 00:02:28,815 --> 00:02:31,985 Freddie is going through his own health difficulties. 46 00:02:32,685 --> 00:02:35,688 He's been on dialysis for, 47 00:02:35,822 --> 00:02:38,992 a year now, and he needs a kidney 48 00:02:38,992 --> 00:02:42,462 transplant, and he's just got approved to be on the list. 49 00:02:42,462 --> 00:02:45,231 But that approval can take about three years. 50 00:02:45,231 --> 00:02:47,834 And so in the midst of all of that 51 00:02:47,834 --> 00:02:50,837 and all of the health struggles and the unknown future, 52 00:02:51,638 --> 00:02:55,408 they have said, we're not backing off on the call in the work one bit. 53 00:02:55,408 --> 00:02:59,379 And so he goes, he does his ministry, and then it goes to dialysis, 54 00:02:59,379 --> 00:03:01,614 and then he gets back to work. 55 00:03:01,614 --> 00:03:04,851 And that's just the type of man he is. 56 00:03:04,851 --> 00:03:07,854 It's the type of couple they are, the type of faith that they have. 57 00:03:08,655 --> 00:03:12,759 And it's tireless and it is strong and it is valiant. 58 00:03:13,259 --> 00:03:14,928 And we want to bless them, 59 00:03:15,962 --> 00:03:17,430 at the end of this year with that offering. 60 00:03:17,430 --> 00:03:22,669 So thank you in advance for your over and above generosity. 61 00:03:23,102 --> 00:03:26,072 These are some of those that is going to 62 00:03:26,973 --> 00:03:27,540 pray with me. 63 00:03:27,540 --> 00:03:30,076 Father, thank you for Pastor Freddie and Nancy. 64 00:03:30,076 --> 00:03:34,247 Thank you for, pursuing him when he was running away from you. 65 00:03:35,348 --> 00:03:38,418 And thank you that he turned his life to you and Nancy. 66 00:03:38,985 --> 00:03:41,788 Thank you for delivering them. 67 00:03:41,788 --> 00:03:45,925 From addiction, from violence, from homelessness, from all the things 68 00:03:46,492 --> 00:03:49,862 that you were so good at to deliver them from. 69 00:03:49,862 --> 00:03:52,932 And thank you for their response out of gratitude 70 00:03:53,433 --> 00:03:55,535 that they've given you their lives and their future. 71 00:03:55,535 --> 00:03:56,736 Thank you for their work. 72 00:03:56,736 --> 00:04:00,540 Thank you for your provision for them in their call. 73 00:04:01,441 --> 00:04:04,444 Thank you that they have not allowed, 74 00:04:05,011 --> 00:04:08,514 difficulty to be an excuse to back off and and not 75 00:04:09,215 --> 00:04:12,919 thank you that they have seen difficulty as a reason to press in harder. 76 00:04:13,553 --> 00:04:17,423 Father, we collectively pray for Pastor Freddy's health, 77 00:04:19,025 --> 00:04:19,626 as he 78 00:04:19,626 --> 00:04:22,629 serves your kingdom as he and as serve your kingdom. 79 00:04:22,762 --> 00:04:26,666 I pray that you grant health so they can continue to serve your kingdom. 80 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,669 And however 81 00:04:29,669 --> 00:04:32,672 you work it, by your providence and your sovereignty. 82 00:04:33,239 --> 00:04:37,110 I pray, protection over Pastor Fred as he goes through dialysis 83 00:04:37,110 --> 00:04:40,346 and all these things as he waits and ultimately for a kidney, 84 00:04:41,447 --> 00:04:44,450 for your glory, for your kingdom sake. 85 00:04:44,517 --> 00:04:47,253 You know, he has said 86 00:04:47,253 --> 00:04:49,489 that he wants nothing from another life. 87 00:04:49,489 --> 00:04:52,659 If that life isn't first attached to you, he'd rather go be in heaven, 88 00:04:54,327 --> 00:04:57,363 than for someone who doesn't know you to give him what he needs 89 00:04:58,064 --> 00:05:01,067 and so honor his request. God. 90 00:05:02,435 --> 00:05:04,070 And somehow, by your sovereignty 91 00:05:04,070 --> 00:05:07,073 in your providence, work this together for your glory. 92 00:05:07,373 --> 00:05:09,709 We love you. We trust you. 93 00:05:09,709 --> 00:05:11,377 Thank you for Freddie and Nancy. 94 00:05:11,377 --> 00:05:12,278 In your name I pray. Amen. 95 00:05:13,980 --> 00:05:15,114 We're in this series where 96 00:05:15,114 --> 00:05:18,117 we're looking at different characteristics of the Christmas story. 97 00:05:18,451 --> 00:05:20,153 And we've looked at, Joy. 98 00:05:20,153 --> 00:05:21,821 I know we looked at peace and 99 00:05:21,821 --> 00:05:24,991 and today we're going to look at joy through the context of Mary. 100 00:05:25,658 --> 00:05:27,760 And we're going to be in Luke chapter one. 101 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:29,762 And so if you have the Bible and you brought with you, 102 00:05:29,762 --> 00:05:31,764 if you go to Luke chapter one, 103 00:05:31,764 --> 00:05:34,767 we're going to look at the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus. 104 00:05:36,135 --> 00:05:39,539 And, what the news of, 105 00:05:40,340 --> 00:05:44,677 of the pregnancy by the Holy Spirit must have sounded like to her 106 00:05:45,411 --> 00:05:48,014 what she went through 107 00:05:48,014 --> 00:05:50,683 and what she committed to. 108 00:05:50,683 --> 00:05:53,553 But before we get there, I want to share a little bit of background 109 00:05:53,553 --> 00:05:56,756 culturally, politically, spiritually, 110 00:05:56,756 --> 00:06:00,626 as far as what Mary was or what the culture of the time 111 00:06:00,626 --> 00:06:04,464 and what Mary and Joseph were living in culturally. 112 00:06:04,464 --> 00:06:06,499 And there in a place called Nazareth 113 00:06:07,533 --> 00:06:08,601 and Nazareth was a 114 00:06:08,601 --> 00:06:11,604 very, very, very small, unimpressive village, 115 00:06:11,704 --> 00:06:14,707 probably total population, a few hundred people. 116 00:06:14,907 --> 00:06:18,811 So it was just this out of the way place that nobody thought about it. 117 00:06:18,845 --> 00:06:21,514 Nobody cared about. You didn't go to Nazareth. 118 00:06:21,514 --> 00:06:22,014 Nazareth? 119 00:06:22,014 --> 00:06:25,017 You were always from Nazareth. 120 00:06:25,084 --> 00:06:29,021 It was under Roman and Herod rule King Herod. 121 00:06:29,822 --> 00:06:32,859 So God's people were were in, 122 00:06:33,693 --> 00:06:36,696 a socio economically, 123 00:06:39,298 --> 00:06:41,367 dilapidated place. 124 00:06:41,367 --> 00:06:44,904 They were under foreign rule by people who didn't care about them. 125 00:06:44,904 --> 00:06:47,039 They were taxed heavily. 126 00:06:47,039 --> 00:06:49,942 The, the 127 00:06:49,942 --> 00:06:51,978 the means just weren't enough. 128 00:06:51,978 --> 00:06:55,281 There was always there was always more month at the end of the money. 129 00:06:55,314 --> 00:06:58,217 You know how that goes. 130 00:06:58,217 --> 00:07:01,187 And there was incredible political tension. 131 00:07:01,187 --> 00:07:03,956 Taxes were exorbitantly high. 132 00:07:03,956 --> 00:07:07,760 The political groups were fighting with each other and fighting with God's people. 133 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,029 It was a it was a time of unrest. 134 00:07:10,029 --> 00:07:13,032 Spiritually, the climate, spiritually. 135 00:07:13,166 --> 00:07:18,304 This is what we call the 400 silent years, where for the last 400 years, 136 00:07:18,304 --> 00:07:21,307 God had no prophetic voice 137 00:07:21,507 --> 00:07:26,112 amongst his people, like the Old Testament prophets that were calling God's people 138 00:07:26,112 --> 00:07:30,883 back to the revelation of God and commitment to God and and holiness 139 00:07:30,883 --> 00:07:34,787 for 400 years, it seems as though God was silent prophetically and 140 00:07:34,787 --> 00:07:36,155 so they're in this time 141 00:07:37,323 --> 00:07:40,326 where they're feeling incredibly forgotten. 142 00:07:40,626 --> 00:07:44,831 They're feeling that God is, is is, is not paying attention to them anymore, 143 00:07:45,031 --> 00:07:48,201 that God is disinterested and distant. 144 00:07:49,569 --> 00:07:51,437 There's a time of spiritual dryness. 145 00:07:51,437 --> 00:07:54,440 They're living in complete obscurity. 146 00:07:54,807 --> 00:07:58,678 And if you've ever lived in the shadows, both social. 147 00:07:59,078 --> 00:08:01,814 So in, in, in society and culture 148 00:08:01,814 --> 00:08:04,817 and spiritually, you know how depressing that can be. 149 00:08:05,551 --> 00:08:07,487 And this was a time where joy 150 00:08:07,487 --> 00:08:10,490 would not be something that they would say, hey, 151 00:08:10,957 --> 00:08:15,027 that's one of the characteristics that exemplifies my life 152 00:08:16,462 --> 00:08:18,331 is very difficult, 153 00:08:18,331 --> 00:08:20,566 personally for Mary. 154 00:08:20,566 --> 00:08:23,169 She's a very young girl, 155 00:08:23,169 --> 00:08:26,906 and she is completely vulnerable and expendable 156 00:08:27,907 --> 00:08:31,978 and completely at the mercy of men in her life. 157 00:08:32,912 --> 00:08:36,015 Now she's betrothed to a man named Joseph. 158 00:08:36,716 --> 00:08:39,785 And in their culture, there were three elements of a wedding. 159 00:08:39,785 --> 00:08:42,288 Betrothal was the middle element. 160 00:08:42,288 --> 00:08:46,859 Betrothal was a legal contract, as if they were married. 161 00:08:47,093 --> 00:08:48,895 But they're living together. 162 00:08:48,895 --> 00:08:52,832 There was no intimacy or sexual contact between them. 163 00:08:52,832 --> 00:08:55,201 This was just the stage before 164 00:08:55,201 --> 00:08:58,604 the final consummation of the contract that had been established. 165 00:08:58,938 --> 00:09:00,840 But to get out of betrothal. 166 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:04,443 Betrothal was illegal act of divorce. 167 00:09:04,443 --> 00:09:06,979 And so this was a very permanent situation. 168 00:09:06,979 --> 00:09:07,647 She was in. 169 00:09:08,881 --> 00:09:10,182 She was young, she was poor. 170 00:09:10,182 --> 00:09:11,150 She was from nowhere. 171 00:09:11,150 --> 00:09:14,153 She had no power whatsoever. 172 00:09:14,186 --> 00:09:16,956 And to be found pregnant in the middle of betrothal 173 00:09:16,956 --> 00:09:20,026 was a very, very serious offense. 174 00:09:21,193 --> 00:09:24,564 There was a legal issue involved, according to the Jewish 175 00:09:24,564 --> 00:09:27,567 religion and Deuteronomy 22. 176 00:09:28,134 --> 00:09:32,939 There was it was meant social disaster for she and her family to be found 177 00:09:32,939 --> 00:09:36,309 pregnant during betrothal before the actual marriage consummation 178 00:09:37,476 --> 00:09:39,779 was grounds for divorce by Joseph 179 00:09:39,779 --> 00:09:42,782 because he knew it wasn't hers. 180 00:09:43,082 --> 00:09:46,085 And in the unashamed culture in which they lived, 181 00:09:46,352 --> 00:09:49,355 her pregnancy looked like moral failure. 182 00:09:49,422 --> 00:09:50,523 There was nobody 183 00:09:50,523 --> 00:09:54,327 that would look at her pregnancy of this young teenage woman and think, 184 00:09:54,327 --> 00:09:58,030 oh, obviously it's a virgin birth, that that's not where they would have gone. 185 00:09:58,731 --> 00:10:01,734 They would have immediately gone to sexual sin. 186 00:10:02,535 --> 00:10:06,906 And so to be Mary, in this culture, in this environment, 187 00:10:07,673 --> 00:10:10,676 this was a tough order from God. 188 00:10:10,776 --> 00:10:14,880 And it's into this person in this place that God announces 189 00:10:15,381 --> 00:10:21,887 this rule changing joy into a life that was about to look completely ruined. 190 00:10:23,689 --> 00:10:26,692 And in order for her to navigate this well, 191 00:10:27,126 --> 00:10:31,764 she had to be convinced of a greater reality behind her situation. 192 00:10:33,265 --> 00:10:36,135 And I would say for every one of us, 193 00:10:36,135 --> 00:10:40,006 in order to navigate the situations and circumstances of life 194 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:43,676 that come out of nowhere, 195 00:10:43,676 --> 00:10:46,278 that hit like a ton of bricks, 196 00:10:46,278 --> 00:10:49,281 where everything is uncertain and unsure 197 00:10:50,216 --> 00:10:53,419 to navigate that world with any semblance of joy. 198 00:10:54,253 --> 00:10:57,289 There has to be this conviction 199 00:10:57,490 --> 00:11:00,693 of a greater reality behind the situation. 200 00:11:01,460 --> 00:11:04,764 And so in talking about, you know, actually, 201 00:11:04,764 --> 00:11:08,901 I just joy's a big deal at Christmas time is supposed to be a time of joy. 202 00:11:08,901 --> 00:11:11,871 Like everybody's like, oh, it's the most joyful time of the year. 203 00:11:11,871 --> 00:11:14,874 And everybody assumes that joy means a smile. 204 00:11:15,608 --> 00:11:16,108 It doesn't. 205 00:11:16,108 --> 00:11:18,344 Biblical joy doesn't mean a smile. 206 00:11:18,344 --> 00:11:20,079 Biblical joy means literally, 207 00:11:22,348 --> 00:11:24,784 a calmness, 208 00:11:24,784 --> 00:11:29,689 a certainty, a calm cheerfulness in God. 209 00:11:30,790 --> 00:11:33,059 That's what joy is. It's not a smile. 210 00:11:33,059 --> 00:11:35,294 It's not energy. 211 00:11:35,294 --> 00:11:37,296 It might manifest it that that way. 212 00:11:37,296 --> 00:11:40,933 It's, it may manifest itself that way sometimes. 213 00:11:40,933 --> 00:11:45,371 But biblical joy is a calm cheerfulness in God. 214 00:11:47,206 --> 00:11:49,341 It doesn't look like tinsel 215 00:11:49,341 --> 00:11:51,677 and Christmas lights. 216 00:11:51,677 --> 00:11:53,879 I just saw something on the news, and I wrote it down 217 00:11:53,879 --> 00:11:56,982 because it struck me some other news a couple days ago. 218 00:11:57,183 --> 00:12:00,186 Did you know that nationwide there is 219 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,723 there's a great, lack of the giant Santas, 220 00:12:04,190 --> 00:12:07,193 like the inflatable Santas and the big Santa decorations for a front yard. 221 00:12:07,293 --> 00:12:10,262 Did you know that nationally, those can't be found anymore? 222 00:12:10,663 --> 00:12:12,498 Were you aware of this? 223 00:12:12,498 --> 00:12:14,867 Well, good, because, I mean, you're not putting up these big Santas in your yard. 224 00:12:14,867 --> 00:12:17,703 That's great. But. But nationally, there's this huge, 225 00:12:19,105 --> 00:12:20,806 vacuum of those, 226 00:12:20,806 --> 00:12:25,611 and and I was I was listening to this news report report on this. 227 00:12:25,811 --> 00:12:28,781 And this is what was said 228 00:12:28,781 --> 00:12:31,050 about chasing after these Santas. 229 00:12:31,050 --> 00:12:35,321 They said people aren't just chasing decor, they're chasing joy. 230 00:12:36,589 --> 00:12:39,725 And so the idea is, in order to get joy, 231 00:12:39,725 --> 00:12:42,728 they want to go back to the nostalgia of Santa. 232 00:12:43,629 --> 00:12:46,632 Joy is not found in giant inflatable Santas. 233 00:12:48,434 --> 00:12:50,035 Joy is in the smiles. 234 00:12:50,035 --> 00:12:51,337 Joy is in the energy. 235 00:12:51,337 --> 00:12:54,340 There's there's some biblical joy is different. 236 00:12:55,574 --> 00:12:59,311 Joy is not the denial of reality. 237 00:13:00,479 --> 00:13:02,548 You just don't put on a smile and say, no, I'm fine. 238 00:13:02,548 --> 00:13:05,551 It's all good. It's all man. It's all good. 239 00:13:05,985 --> 00:13:08,988 Joy comes from a confidence in a deeper reality. 240 00:13:10,156 --> 00:13:13,559 And so as we talk about joy, please, I do not want you to hear me say, 241 00:13:13,692 --> 00:13:17,396 just put on a smile and act like it's not okay. 242 00:13:18,998 --> 00:13:21,433 Joy doesn't say it's all okay. 243 00:13:21,433 --> 00:13:24,436 Joy says, I am confident in a deeper reality behind 244 00:13:24,603 --> 00:13:27,606 underneath my situation. 245 00:13:29,275 --> 00:13:32,077 Please don't think it's either joy or sorrow. 246 00:13:32,077 --> 00:13:34,847 They're not mutually exclusive. 247 00:13:34,847 --> 00:13:38,984 The Bible is full of people who love God 248 00:13:39,585 --> 00:13:43,455 and yet who say, tears are my food day 249 00:13:43,455 --> 00:13:46,458 and night. 250 00:13:46,625 --> 00:13:48,694 Tears and joy 251 00:13:48,694 --> 00:13:51,864 can live in the same heart at the same time. 252 00:13:54,266 --> 00:13:59,338 Limit and sorrow can be a pathway to joy. 253 00:14:00,372 --> 00:14:03,375 Psalm 13, Psalm 42 and others. 254 00:14:05,544 --> 00:14:08,781 Biblically, joy is not permanent. 255 00:14:08,781 --> 00:14:11,784 Height and a big smile. 256 00:14:12,218 --> 00:14:15,287 It's a deep, settled confidence 257 00:14:15,921 --> 00:14:18,924 in the God who is beneath 258 00:14:19,058 --> 00:14:22,061 your waves of emotion. 259 00:14:23,829 --> 00:14:26,832 So today is not this. 260 00:14:27,533 --> 00:14:31,036 If you're in a season of feeling low, if you're in a silly season 261 00:14:31,036 --> 00:14:35,107 of feeling numb, if you're in a season of depression, 262 00:14:36,242 --> 00:14:36,976 it's not 263 00:14:36,976 --> 00:14:39,979 that you're failing Jesus nor failing faith. 264 00:14:40,079 --> 00:14:43,082 Please understand that. 265 00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:46,552 Joy in Jesus is not. 266 00:14:47,653 --> 00:14:50,656 It does not come that. 267 00:14:52,992 --> 00:14:54,593 There should be a slide before that because. 268 00:14:54,593 --> 00:14:56,395 And I don't want to miss this joy. 269 00:14:56,395 --> 00:14:59,398 And Jesus is not the refusal to feel. 270 00:15:02,034 --> 00:15:05,037 I don't think that being joyful means you got to, 271 00:15:05,137 --> 00:15:09,108 you know, get get rid of all those those feelings of difficulty and sorrow. 272 00:15:09,108 --> 00:15:11,844 And that's not what joy is. 273 00:15:11,844 --> 00:15:14,313 We can experience despair and still belong to Jesus. 274 00:15:14,313 --> 00:15:16,982 You have to. You have to hear that. 275 00:15:16,982 --> 00:15:19,952 You have to understand that. 276 00:15:23,122 --> 00:15:26,125 Joy is not at all 277 00:15:26,425 --> 00:15:29,128 always a feeling. 278 00:15:29,128 --> 00:15:32,865 It's found in the foundation, underneath the feeling. 279 00:15:34,233 --> 00:15:36,201 And every one of us needs joy in life. 280 00:15:36,201 --> 00:15:38,971 Every one of us does. But every one of us needs joy 281 00:15:38,971 --> 00:15:41,073 for a different reason and in a different season. 282 00:15:42,141 --> 00:15:45,144 Joy for a 58 year old man is 283 00:15:45,311 --> 00:15:48,213 I need something different than a 20 year old man. 284 00:15:48,213 --> 00:15:49,114 We both need joy. 285 00:15:49,114 --> 00:15:52,051 But where there's different seasons 286 00:15:52,051 --> 00:15:55,321 for John, for for people in their 20s and 30s, they need joy 287 00:15:55,854 --> 00:15:58,857 when the relationships disappoint. 288 00:15:59,491 --> 00:16:02,494 They need joy when the career is uncertain. 289 00:16:05,631 --> 00:16:08,634 For those in their 40s and 50s, 290 00:16:08,634 --> 00:16:11,637 they need joy because parenting gets heavy. 291 00:16:12,972 --> 00:16:14,907 And in your 40s and 50s, you need joy 292 00:16:14,907 --> 00:16:17,910 because the marriage is strained. 293 00:16:19,011 --> 00:16:20,846 And the joy because that's the time 294 00:16:20,846 --> 00:16:23,849 when the body starts changing. 295 00:16:25,351 --> 00:16:26,085 In your 50s, 296 00:16:26,085 --> 00:16:30,255 60s and 70s, you need joy because you realize maybe life 297 00:16:30,255 --> 00:16:34,259 didn't pan out like you'd hoped it would when you were in your 20s and 30s. 298 00:16:35,494 --> 00:16:37,796 You need joy because that's the that's the time in life 299 00:16:37,796 --> 00:16:39,932 when you start caring for your own aging parents. 300 00:16:42,101 --> 00:16:43,402 And so we all need joy. 301 00:16:43,402 --> 00:16:46,038 We need it for different reasons in different seasons. 302 00:16:46,038 --> 00:16:49,041 But the commodity of joy is something that's got to be present. 303 00:16:50,042 --> 00:16:53,012 And it's not the denial of how I feel. 304 00:16:53,012 --> 00:16:55,981 It's not the refusal to feel. 305 00:16:56,648 --> 00:16:57,783 It's a firm conviction 306 00:16:57,783 --> 00:17:00,786 of the God underneath the feeling. 307 00:17:03,322 --> 00:17:04,690 So joyful in Jesus. 308 00:17:04,690 --> 00:17:08,160 If you're in that season of of sadness and grief and depression, 309 00:17:10,095 --> 00:17:11,730 joy doesn't mean throwing away 310 00:17:11,730 --> 00:17:15,567 the meds and counseling the counsel, the counselor and therapist. 311 00:17:15,567 --> 00:17:18,570 It doesn't mean that God can use those things, 312 00:17:20,039 --> 00:17:22,141 but it means a certainty that underneath 313 00:17:22,141 --> 00:17:25,110 everything is the Christ who holds everything 314 00:17:26,111 --> 00:17:27,813 to understand. 315 00:17:27,813 --> 00:17:30,482 It's not a smile, 316 00:17:30,482 --> 00:17:33,452 it's a gentle cheerfulness in God. 317 00:17:35,487 --> 00:17:37,556 And I also want to acknowledge in this, 318 00:17:37,556 --> 00:17:39,591 well, we're just talking generally about joy, 319 00:17:41,193 --> 00:17:44,196 the role of community in experiencing joy. 320 00:17:45,397 --> 00:17:48,901 It's hard to experience continual joy in a vacuum 321 00:17:50,302 --> 00:17:53,305 when you're all alone. 322 00:17:53,405 --> 00:17:55,107 And it's not meant to be that way. 323 00:17:55,107 --> 00:17:55,774 It's interesting. 324 00:17:55,774 --> 00:17:58,410 When Mary got the news that would change her life, 325 00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:01,380 she immediately went to her relative, Elizabeth, 326 00:18:02,514 --> 00:18:04,983 to encourage one another to share the news with each other. 327 00:18:04,983 --> 00:18:07,119 There are times that the only way you can keep joy 328 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:10,122 is to borrow it from somebody else for a season. 329 00:18:11,557 --> 00:18:13,492 And that's a special role of dear friends. 330 00:18:13,492 --> 00:18:16,295 It's a special role of family. 331 00:18:16,295 --> 00:18:18,630 When your family knows you, they know your present. 332 00:18:18,630 --> 00:18:21,033 They have faith for your future when you don't. 333 00:18:21,033 --> 00:18:23,602 To borrow their joy for a moment, to get around people 334 00:18:23,602 --> 00:18:26,071 that remind you of God's Word and the joy of the Lord. 335 00:18:28,407 --> 00:18:30,275 This element of community is very important 336 00:18:30,275 --> 00:18:33,278 when we talk about this commodity of joy. 337 00:18:34,780 --> 00:18:36,482 Most people live 338 00:18:36,482 --> 00:18:39,551 with what I call seasonal joy or situational joy. 339 00:18:39,551 --> 00:18:42,221 And seasonal joy. Looks like this. 340 00:18:42,221 --> 00:18:44,857 When the paycheck comes in, it's bigger than you thought it would be. 341 00:18:44,857 --> 00:18:46,291 Then that's a good time for. 342 00:18:46,291 --> 00:18:48,994 That's good stuff right there. Right? 343 00:18:48,994 --> 00:18:51,063 When you realize it's two weeks before Christmas 344 00:18:51,063 --> 00:18:52,898 and you got to go into River Park for some shopping, 345 00:18:52,898 --> 00:18:55,067 you need to get a really good parking space right up front. 346 00:18:55,067 --> 00:18:58,070 That's the time for joy. 347 00:18:58,370 --> 00:19:01,373 And so most of us live 348 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,143 to our detriment with what I call 349 00:19:04,143 --> 00:19:07,146 seasonal joy or situational joy. 350 00:19:08,347 --> 00:19:11,350 And in Luke one, Mary is in the season 351 00:19:11,383 --> 00:19:14,386 that is potentially devastating. 352 00:19:15,654 --> 00:19:17,556 But for Mary, 353 00:19:18,690 --> 00:19:21,660 Mary's joy did not come from her perfect situation. 354 00:19:21,894 --> 00:19:24,930 Mary's joy came from her trust in a perfect Savior. 355 00:19:29,501 --> 00:19:31,303 Some of us are waiting, praying 356 00:19:31,303 --> 00:19:34,306 and begging for God to change the situation. 357 00:19:35,908 --> 00:19:37,876 Where God says, I want your joy to be found in me 358 00:19:37,876 --> 00:19:40,879 because I'm your perfect Savior. 359 00:19:43,482 --> 00:19:45,751 So how to live with joy? 360 00:19:45,751 --> 00:19:46,985 That is not situational. 361 00:19:46,985 --> 00:19:51,557 Let me read for you verses 26 through 38 of Luke chapter one. 362 00:19:52,491 --> 00:19:55,861 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God 363 00:19:55,861 --> 00:19:58,864 to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, the sixth month of what? 364 00:19:58,964 --> 00:20:03,135 The sixth month of Mary's relative Elizabeth being pregnant 365 00:20:03,135 --> 00:20:04,803 miraculously as an old lady. 366 00:20:04,803 --> 00:20:07,973 So Elizabeth is pregnant six months, and then Gabriel 367 00:20:09,341 --> 00:20:11,910 comes to Mary in Nazareth, to a virgin 368 00:20:11,910 --> 00:20:15,214 betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. 369 00:20:15,214 --> 00:20:16,682 And the virgin's name was Mary. 370 00:20:16,682 --> 00:20:20,552 And he came to her and said, greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. 371 00:20:20,552 --> 00:20:21,920 That's not a bad greeting. 372 00:20:23,388 --> 00:20:26,291 There's a lot of joy in that. 373 00:20:26,291 --> 00:20:28,860 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern 374 00:20:28,860 --> 00:20:30,796 what sort of greeting this might be. 375 00:20:30,796 --> 00:20:33,732 And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for 376 00:20:33,732 --> 00:20:35,133 you have found favor with God. 377 00:20:35,133 --> 00:20:37,769 And behold, you will conceive in your womb, 378 00:20:37,769 --> 00:20:40,772 and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 379 00:20:41,340 --> 00:20:44,343 He will be great, and will be called the son of the Most High. 380 00:20:44,710 --> 00:20:48,013 And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 381 00:20:48,447 --> 00:20:52,117 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom 382 00:20:52,150 --> 00:20:55,153 and of his kingdom. There will be no end. 383 00:20:55,420 --> 00:20:59,424 And Mary said to the angel, how will this be, since I'm a virgin? 384 00:20:59,458 --> 00:21:02,227 And the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, 385 00:21:02,227 --> 00:21:05,230 and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 386 00:21:05,364 --> 00:21:08,967 Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 387 00:21:09,434 --> 00:21:13,405 And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age has also conceived a son. 388 00:21:13,672 --> 00:21:17,709 And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 389 00:21:18,210 --> 00:21:20,846 For nothing will be impossible with God. 390 00:21:21,780 --> 00:21:23,248 And Mary said, 391 00:21:23,248 --> 00:21:25,784 behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 392 00:21:25,784 --> 00:21:28,153 Let it be to me according to your word. 393 00:21:28,153 --> 00:21:31,156 And the angel departed from her. 394 00:21:31,890 --> 00:21:34,893 It is true that when we talk about joy and talk about Mary, 395 00:21:34,893 --> 00:21:37,863 that Mary's story is very different than ours. 396 00:21:38,430 --> 00:21:42,167 This little girl gets a visit, a personal visit 397 00:21:42,167 --> 00:21:45,170 from the angel of God, Gabriel 398 00:21:46,905 --> 00:21:49,908 is told that she will 399 00:21:50,175 --> 00:21:51,643 experience a virgin. 400 00:21:51,643 --> 00:21:54,646 Birth never happened before or since, 401 00:21:55,614 --> 00:21:58,550 and that she will give birth to the Savior of the world. 402 00:21:58,550 --> 00:22:01,520 That's not a typical Tuesday morning for us. 403 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:03,455 Yeah, 404 00:22:03,455 --> 00:22:07,359 and so it's easy to look at that and say, okay, I get it, Mary. 405 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:08,460 She can be joyful. 406 00:22:08,460 --> 00:22:09,628 Look at this. 407 00:22:09,628 --> 00:22:12,464 It doesn't compare to my world. 408 00:22:12,464 --> 00:22:14,700 I didn't get some visit by an angel. 409 00:22:14,700 --> 00:22:19,004 I'm not raising the savior of the world who's going to sit on this king 410 00:22:19,571 --> 00:22:22,174 throne forever. They're just different. 411 00:22:22,174 --> 00:22:24,843 And while the situation is different, I agree. 412 00:22:24,843 --> 00:22:26,378 Mary's call is different. 413 00:22:26,378 --> 00:22:28,246 We're not raising the Messiah. 414 00:22:28,246 --> 00:22:32,117 Mary's call is different for sure, but the pattern is the same. 415 00:22:33,518 --> 00:22:35,654 The pattern is this 416 00:22:35,654 --> 00:22:39,024 God speaks His Word into ordinary lives, 417 00:22:40,225 --> 00:22:43,228 and God calls normal people 418 00:22:43,628 --> 00:22:46,631 into impossible things. 419 00:22:46,698 --> 00:22:51,103 And God gives His Holy Spirit to empower what God has commanded. 420 00:22:51,303 --> 00:22:56,641 And so, regardless of the situation, the way God works is this God 421 00:22:56,641 --> 00:23:00,112 gives and up for us to obey, but not everything 422 00:23:00,112 --> 00:23:03,115 we want want to know. 423 00:23:03,515 --> 00:23:04,683 He gives us enough. 424 00:23:04,683 --> 00:23:07,386 This is what I'm going to do. 425 00:23:07,386 --> 00:23:10,756 But he doesn't give us so much that we have all the answers. 426 00:23:11,256 --> 00:23:15,527 And when we don't have the answers and life is uncertain and unsure, 427 00:23:15,761 --> 00:23:18,764 we tend to be robbed of joy. 428 00:23:20,031 --> 00:23:24,336 And what's replaced is anxiety and concern. 429 00:23:26,071 --> 00:23:29,040 Let's walk through this passage verses 26 and 27. 430 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,344 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, the angel Gabriel sent 431 00:23:32,911 --> 00:23:36,181 from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 432 00:23:36,181 --> 00:23:39,651 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. 433 00:23:39,651 --> 00:23:40,652 And the virgin's name was Mary. 434 00:23:40,652 --> 00:23:41,820 Here's what I want us to understand. 435 00:23:41,820 --> 00:23:44,823 Right off the bat, there's all kinds of stuff 436 00:23:44,823 --> 00:23:48,360 that was going on behind the scenes. 437 00:23:49,094 --> 00:23:54,132 Mary had no idea that one day the father said to Gabriel, 438 00:23:54,132 --> 00:23:57,636 the angel, Gabe, come here, I got a job for you. 439 00:23:58,136 --> 00:24:01,072 I'm going to deploy you to this little girl named Mary. 440 00:24:01,072 --> 00:24:04,876 She has no idea what's happening, is just going to rock her world. 441 00:24:04,943 --> 00:24:06,745 But you're going to bring the news. 442 00:24:06,745 --> 00:24:08,613 And this is what I want you to tell her. 443 00:24:08,613 --> 00:24:11,883 I've lined all of this up in my plan on my sovereignty. 444 00:24:12,184 --> 00:24:14,252 This is what I want you to. 445 00:24:14,252 --> 00:24:17,255 Mary has no idea what's going down. 446 00:24:18,557 --> 00:24:20,859 But God was at work. 447 00:24:20,859 --> 00:24:23,328 Even though she didn't know. 448 00:24:23,328 --> 00:24:24,930 Let me just tell you this, friends. 449 00:24:24,930 --> 00:24:29,000 Some of you, some of us, some of you are about to go 450 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,538 into a situation that you're not going to go into the situation. 451 00:24:33,538 --> 00:24:36,541 The situation is going to happen to you. 452 00:24:37,609 --> 00:24:39,411 There's going to be something that happens. 453 00:24:39,411 --> 00:24:41,713 You're not going to see it coming. 454 00:24:41,713 --> 00:24:44,316 You're not going to be able to get ready for it. 455 00:24:44,316 --> 00:24:46,685 You're not going to be prepared 456 00:24:46,685 --> 00:24:50,121 and it's going to shock you and rock you. 457 00:24:50,388 --> 00:24:54,125 Please don't make the mistake of thinking that God hasn't 458 00:24:54,125 --> 00:24:57,128 been orchestrating behind the scenes. 459 00:24:59,130 --> 00:25:01,566 To understand this. 460 00:25:01,566 --> 00:25:05,604 That's why biblical joy is a gentle cheerfulness 461 00:25:05,604 --> 00:25:08,607 in God. 462 00:25:09,007 --> 00:25:11,510 God was at work 463 00:25:11,510 --> 00:25:14,513 since time began. 464 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:19,084 Mary had no idea the same God, 465 00:25:20,752 --> 00:25:23,755 same us. 466 00:25:25,624 --> 00:25:28,126 Verses 28 and 29 467 00:25:28,126 --> 00:25:31,363 and he came to her and said, greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. 468 00:25:32,697 --> 00:25:34,533 But she is greatly troubled at the saying, try to discern 469 00:25:34,533 --> 00:25:37,536 what kind of greeting this might be. Now. 470 00:25:38,370 --> 00:25:41,373 Greetings, O favored one. 471 00:25:41,806 --> 00:25:44,809 Joy begins with God's Word. 472 00:25:45,710 --> 00:25:49,014 That's a pretty good word, O favored one. 473 00:25:49,915 --> 00:25:52,350 Let me tell you a little bit about this word favored one. 474 00:25:52,350 --> 00:25:54,986 It's the first time in all of Bible this word is used. 475 00:25:54,986 --> 00:25:57,422 It comes from the Greek word chorus. 476 00:25:57,422 --> 00:25:59,824 I've talked about this a few different times. 477 00:25:59,824 --> 00:26:02,494 I want to remind you if you've forgotten or tell you for the first time. 478 00:26:02,494 --> 00:26:05,163 If you've never heard me talk about this, 479 00:26:05,163 --> 00:26:06,631 that word favored ones. 480 00:26:06,631 --> 00:26:11,436 It's never been used by God in all of Scripture up to this point, 481 00:26:11,703 --> 00:26:15,407 and it literally means O favorite one. 482 00:26:16,341 --> 00:26:19,945 Mary just got the word that's never been used 483 00:26:19,945 --> 00:26:23,882 of any human before, that she is God's favorite. 484 00:26:26,217 --> 00:26:27,319 What happens to your 485 00:26:27,319 --> 00:26:30,322 quotient level at this point? 486 00:26:30,655 --> 00:26:32,057 Hey there Mary. 487 00:26:32,057 --> 00:26:33,725 Guess what? 488 00:26:33,725 --> 00:26:36,728 I came from God's very throne 489 00:26:36,761 --> 00:26:39,764 and I'm here to tell you you are God's favorite 490 00:26:40,165 --> 00:26:42,667 in all the earth. 491 00:26:42,667 --> 00:26:45,670 What happens to your joy level at that moment? 492 00:26:46,204 --> 00:26:47,806 You're like, well, this is good. 493 00:26:47,806 --> 00:26:49,741 That's a good day. 494 00:26:49,741 --> 00:26:52,110 That's a pretty good day. 495 00:26:52,110 --> 00:26:54,879 Going through the roof, 496 00:26:54,879 --> 00:26:57,015 I want to tell you something. 497 00:26:57,015 --> 00:27:01,453 That word's never been used until, by God of any person, until this moment. 498 00:27:01,453 --> 00:27:03,421 Mary, 499 00:27:03,421 --> 00:27:06,424 it's not used again until the book of Ephesians. 500 00:27:06,625 --> 00:27:10,261 And in the book of Ephesians it says, because of the death of Christ 501 00:27:10,261 --> 00:27:13,798 and His resurrection, those who believe in him 502 00:27:14,466 --> 00:27:19,304 have become God's favorite same word. 503 00:27:21,373 --> 00:27:24,376 For any of us who are in Christ, 504 00:27:24,376 --> 00:27:26,811 God has now come to us as he did. 505 00:27:26,811 --> 00:27:30,915 Mary, and he has declared over me. 506 00:27:31,516 --> 00:27:31,950 Get it? 507 00:27:34,819 --> 00:27:36,688 I am God's favorite. 508 00:27:36,688 --> 00:27:39,424 You need to know that 509 00:27:39,424 --> 00:27:41,159 I am, 510 00:27:41,159 --> 00:27:44,162 and I expect you to treat me as such. 511 00:27:45,430 --> 00:27:48,433 And you? 512 00:27:49,334 --> 00:27:52,337 Say you're God's favorite. 513 00:27:54,773 --> 00:27:57,776 That's good news. 514 00:27:58,877 --> 00:28:01,880 That should make your joy go through the roof. 515 00:28:02,380 --> 00:28:05,316 Same word, same God, 516 00:28:05,316 --> 00:28:08,319 same favor. 517 00:28:09,554 --> 00:28:11,923 And at the same time, 518 00:28:11,923 --> 00:28:14,926 she was greatly troubled. 519 00:28:15,326 --> 00:28:19,097 That's the Greek word for fear and dread and anxiety. 520 00:28:19,097 --> 00:28:23,968 You see, there are times when God's mission for his favorite kids 521 00:28:24,602 --> 00:28:27,572 causes initial anxiety. 522 00:28:28,239 --> 00:28:30,542 What are you asking me to do? 523 00:28:30,542 --> 00:28:33,344 What are you asking me to live through? 524 00:28:33,344 --> 00:28:36,347 What is the plan? 525 00:28:40,652 --> 00:28:42,654 Let me just tell you this 526 00:28:42,654 --> 00:28:43,154 personally. 527 00:28:43,154 --> 00:28:48,393 As your pastor, I am praying that God raises up young men and women 528 00:28:48,393 --> 00:28:51,663 in this church because old men and women don't typically respond. 529 00:28:53,098 --> 00:28:55,633 Who will be 530 00:28:55,633 --> 00:28:58,636 radical in their pursuit 531 00:28:58,870 --> 00:29:01,873 of God's missional work in the world? 532 00:29:04,809 --> 00:29:07,812 Just like Mary was. 533 00:29:07,979 --> 00:29:09,080 Who will say, 534 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,083 let it be to me as you have said. 535 00:29:13,384 --> 00:29:15,353 Though it will be scary, 536 00:29:15,353 --> 00:29:18,123 though it will be unknown and uncertain. 537 00:29:18,123 --> 00:29:21,126 Radical young men and women. 538 00:29:25,063 --> 00:29:28,066 Who are so bold and courageous 539 00:29:29,134 --> 00:29:32,070 that write a blank check of their lives 540 00:29:32,070 --> 00:29:35,073 to the mission of God in this world. 541 00:29:35,373 --> 00:29:39,511 Unfortunately, when people get older, they have already set 542 00:29:39,511 --> 00:29:42,747 the course of their life and they refuse to make course corrections. 543 00:29:43,081 --> 00:29:46,084 Young people have not. 544 00:29:49,554 --> 00:29:52,557 In verses 30 through 33. 545 00:29:53,792 --> 00:29:56,127 And the angel said to her, 546 00:29:56,127 --> 00:29:57,495 don't be afraid, Mary. 547 00:29:57,495 --> 00:29:59,864 You've found favor with with God. 548 00:29:59,864 --> 00:30:02,433 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, 549 00:30:02,433 --> 00:30:03,701 and you shall call his name Jesus. 550 00:30:03,701 --> 00:30:06,571 And he will be great, and will be called the son of the Most High. 551 00:30:06,571 --> 00:30:10,074 And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. 552 00:30:10,441 --> 00:30:13,878 And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom of his kingdom 553 00:30:13,878 --> 00:30:16,781 there will be no man. So all of a sudden you're like, okay, wait, wait. 554 00:30:16,781 --> 00:30:18,183 I'm God's favorite. 555 00:30:18,183 --> 00:30:19,517 Don't really understand what that means. 556 00:30:19,517 --> 00:30:24,589 It's kind of weird, but my baby is going to have a throne forever. 557 00:30:25,523 --> 00:30:27,358 My kids are going to be great. 558 00:30:29,127 --> 00:30:30,862 Like, she gets confirmation 559 00:30:30,862 --> 00:30:33,865 that every mom believes when they have a baby. 560 00:30:34,599 --> 00:30:37,669 And you know what it's like when you first have a key, especially the first one. 561 00:30:38,102 --> 00:30:40,605 After the second or third, you're like, oh no, I know how this goes. 562 00:30:40,605 --> 00:30:41,639 I'm not so excited about them. 563 00:30:41,639 --> 00:30:48,513 But like the first one, you're like, oh man, this is going to be fantastic. 564 00:30:48,513 --> 00:30:51,049 You all you see in them is potential. 565 00:30:51,049 --> 00:30:53,451 Are you seeing them as greatness? 566 00:30:53,451 --> 00:30:55,353 Are you seeing them as goodness? 567 00:30:55,353 --> 00:30:57,222 And then they get older and prove you're wrong. 568 00:30:57,222 --> 00:31:00,725 But initially you're like, man, this is this good. 569 00:31:01,359 --> 00:31:04,929 And this is what she gets confirmation from God himself. 570 00:31:04,929 --> 00:31:06,764 Can you imagine? 571 00:31:06,764 --> 00:31:09,767 She's like, well, yeah, I mean, her joy, 572 00:31:11,269 --> 00:31:13,204 her joy. 573 00:31:13,204 --> 00:31:17,742 It's like, this is everything a mom could ever dream of, right? 574 00:31:24,249 --> 00:31:26,551 My kids going to be great. 575 00:31:26,551 --> 00:31:29,320 And then it clicks. 576 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,357 Verse 34, how? 577 00:31:33,391 --> 00:31:35,126 Because I'm a I'm a virgin. 578 00:31:35,126 --> 00:31:39,931 So are you talking about, like, later after Joseph and I are actually married? 579 00:31:39,931 --> 00:31:42,300 Like you're talking down the road? 580 00:31:42,300 --> 00:31:44,469 She's thinking, but the language makes 581 00:31:44,469 --> 00:31:47,605 it sound like right now I don't like these things. 582 00:31:47,605 --> 00:31:50,174 Don't compute. God, 583 00:31:50,174 --> 00:31:51,276 like what I hear you say? 584 00:31:51,276 --> 00:31:54,545 But what I see in my life, it just seems they're incongruent. 585 00:31:54,545 --> 00:31:55,313 They've ever been. 586 00:31:55,313 --> 00:31:56,881 They're like, well, I know what God has said, 587 00:31:56,881 --> 00:31:58,983 but my experience tells me something different. 588 00:31:58,983 --> 00:32:00,451 Anybody? 589 00:32:00,451 --> 00:32:03,421 Yeah, that's where Mary is. 590 00:32:04,255 --> 00:32:06,090 And so then the gut punch. 591 00:32:06,090 --> 00:32:08,059 Here it is, 592 00:32:08,059 --> 00:32:10,395 the angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come upon you 593 00:32:10,395 --> 00:32:12,030 in the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 594 00:32:12,030 --> 00:32:14,832 Therefore the child to be born will be called holy. The Son of God. 595 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:17,535 Behold, your relative Elizabeth, in 596 00:32:17,535 --> 00:32:20,538 her old age is conceived a son, and she's in her sixth month. 597 00:32:20,605 --> 00:32:22,607 She was once called barren. 598 00:32:22,607 --> 00:32:25,610 Nothing is impossible with God. 599 00:32:26,611 --> 00:32:27,712 That's the gut punch. 600 00:32:27,712 --> 00:32:29,280 Okay, wait, 601 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,482 so you say I'm your favorite, 602 00:32:31,482 --> 00:32:34,218 and you say the result of this is going to be good. 603 00:32:34,218 --> 00:32:37,221 But what this means for me right now, 604 00:32:38,189 --> 00:32:41,192 this is the worst possible news. 605 00:32:41,392 --> 00:32:44,762 So before we're married in this consummated, I'm 606 00:32:44,762 --> 00:32:47,065 going to show up pregnant. 607 00:32:47,065 --> 00:32:50,068 Do you know what that means for me? 608 00:32:54,806 --> 00:32:57,075 Who breaks the law? 609 00:32:57,075 --> 00:33:00,078 Stated that an engaged couple, betrothed couple. 610 00:33:00,778 --> 00:33:03,214 If they had consensual relations with each other. 611 00:33:03,214 --> 00:33:06,551 And she showed up pregnant, that the law required stoning. 612 00:33:09,420 --> 00:33:11,723 So that's on the table. 613 00:33:11,723 --> 00:33:14,292 Now the result. 614 00:33:14,292 --> 00:33:15,393 What created this baby? 615 00:33:15,393 --> 00:33:16,694 Wasn't she and Joseph? 616 00:33:16,694 --> 00:33:18,863 It was the Holy Spirit. Her. But nobody was going to believe that 617 00:33:20,631 --> 00:33:22,300 those stoning was on the books. 618 00:33:22,300 --> 00:33:24,202 It was very, very, very rare. 619 00:33:24,202 --> 00:33:26,337 And she was actually and I don't know if you've ever heard 620 00:33:26,337 --> 00:33:27,572 that she was in danger of being stoned. 621 00:33:27,572 --> 00:33:30,041 She was never really in danger of being stoned. 622 00:33:30,041 --> 00:33:32,810 There is no way that they would have ever enacted that law. 623 00:33:32,810 --> 00:33:33,878 And here's why. 624 00:33:33,878 --> 00:33:38,182 Because for Jews to enact any sort of capital punishment, 625 00:33:38,182 --> 00:33:41,185 they had to get permission from Rome first, 626 00:33:41,319 --> 00:33:44,722 and Rome would never have approved of that. 627 00:33:44,722 --> 00:33:46,257 And so it never happened. 628 00:33:46,257 --> 00:33:48,726 It may have been on the books, but they were under Roman 629 00:33:48,726 --> 00:33:52,397 rule and law, and so she was never in danger of stoning. 630 00:33:52,430 --> 00:33:54,365 Matter of fact, 631 00:33:54,365 --> 00:33:58,169 if you you know, if you know, you know your Bible, you think, well, 632 00:33:58,169 --> 00:34:00,138 what about the woman who was caught in adultery 633 00:34:00,138 --> 00:34:03,508 that the Pharisees brought to Jesus and were going to stone and all that stuff? 634 00:34:04,108 --> 00:34:07,011 The issue behind that was never the law of stoning. 635 00:34:07,011 --> 00:34:10,948 The issue behind that was trying to trick Jesus into and to trip him up to 636 00:34:10,982 --> 00:34:12,583 expose him as a fraud. 637 00:34:13,551 --> 00:34:16,020 She was never in danger of stoning either, 638 00:34:16,020 --> 00:34:18,990 because they didn't have permission from Rome. 639 00:34:19,323 --> 00:34:22,427 The first stoning that we read of in the Scripture from the by the church 640 00:34:22,427 --> 00:34:25,496 on the religiously and the New Testament, is of Stephen the Martyr. 641 00:34:26,464 --> 00:34:30,134 And most people would suggest that the reason why they carried that out, 642 00:34:30,134 --> 00:34:30,968 they still didn't 643 00:34:30,968 --> 00:34:34,772 have permission from Rome, but there was a vacancy in the kingship 644 00:34:34,772 --> 00:34:38,643 for a time, and there was no king to get authority from. 645 00:34:39,343 --> 00:34:41,913 And the fact that Stephen was a little known somebody 646 00:34:41,913 --> 00:34:44,882 that nobody, nobody cared about, it wasn't Jesus. 647 00:34:45,183 --> 00:34:48,319 And if you remember, in order to avoid that capital punishment 648 00:34:48,319 --> 00:34:51,322 against Jesus, they had to get Rome's authority. 649 00:34:52,056 --> 00:34:55,126 And so Mary was probably never in danger of being so matter of fact. 650 00:34:55,126 --> 00:34:58,262 The rabbis even said of their own the religious court, 651 00:34:58,563 --> 00:35:04,068 that if a religious court ever enacted this law, even one time in seven years, 652 00:35:04,068 --> 00:35:08,039 it was a destructive court, so she was probably never in danger of death. 653 00:35:08,039 --> 00:35:11,142 But here's what she was still in severe 654 00:35:11,142 --> 00:35:14,345 danger of severe consequences, because here's what it meant for her. 655 00:35:15,813 --> 00:35:18,249 Not that she would die, 656 00:35:18,249 --> 00:35:20,852 but that she would have to live 657 00:35:20,852 --> 00:35:24,489 as a public outcast and a little tiny community 658 00:35:24,489 --> 00:35:27,492 where everybody knows your stuff. 659 00:35:30,294 --> 00:35:33,731 She would be financially ruined, not able to ever have a job. 660 00:35:34,532 --> 00:35:37,969 She would be condemned as a beggar for the rest of her life. 661 00:35:37,969 --> 00:35:39,837 And this little baby, 662 00:35:39,837 --> 00:35:43,007 she would live forever in shame, completely 663 00:35:43,007 --> 00:35:47,011 cut off from her family, completely cut off from any religious support. 664 00:35:47,111 --> 00:35:50,248 She would have, no financial or societal support. 665 00:35:50,381 --> 00:35:53,384 She would live the rest of her days, 666 00:35:53,851 --> 00:35:56,220 stigmatized 667 00:35:56,220 --> 00:35:58,289 and completely alone 668 00:35:58,289 --> 00:36:01,292 in abject poverty, and probably die early. 669 00:36:03,027 --> 00:36:06,164 It was a death sentence of destitute poverty 670 00:36:07,231 --> 00:36:10,234 and never being accepted by anybody. 671 00:36:10,535 --> 00:36:13,271 And if Mary only looked at her circumstances, 672 00:36:13,271 --> 00:36:17,441 she would have fallen into great and grave despair. 673 00:36:20,478 --> 00:36:23,481 See, joy starts. 674 00:36:24,815 --> 00:36:26,751 When I let God's word frame 675 00:36:26,751 --> 00:36:29,754 my situation more than my circumstances do. 676 00:36:31,522 --> 00:36:34,892 And most of us let our circumstances 677 00:36:35,092 --> 00:36:38,095 frame our reality. 678 00:36:39,530 --> 00:36:42,333 And we languish for joy 679 00:36:42,333 --> 00:36:45,369 rather than letting God's Word frame my situation. 680 00:36:45,369 --> 00:36:48,372 God, you have said that I am your favorite. 681 00:36:48,539 --> 00:36:50,174 You've said you're with me. 682 00:36:50,174 --> 00:36:52,310 You said this is from you. 683 00:36:52,310 --> 00:36:56,414 And so I'm going to let your word frame my understanding 684 00:36:56,747 --> 00:36:59,750 of this situation. 685 00:37:00,218 --> 00:37:02,920 And because I have that gentle, 686 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,923 quiet confidence and cheerfulness in you. 687 00:37:07,291 --> 00:37:09,327 Even in the unknown, I can be a person of joy. 688 00:37:09,327 --> 00:37:10,962 Do you understand this? 689 00:37:10,962 --> 00:37:13,965 You understand this. 690 00:37:14,565 --> 00:37:15,633 But she's got to imagine. 691 00:37:15,633 --> 00:37:17,602 I mean, how would you. What would you think of yourself right now? 692 00:37:17,602 --> 00:37:19,704 If this is all what you're looking for, your future 693 00:37:20,738 --> 00:37:23,140 and you're trying to reckon with. 694 00:37:23,140 --> 00:37:24,242 Okay, but what is. 695 00:37:24,242 --> 00:37:25,176 So I'm God's favor. 696 00:37:25,176 --> 00:37:28,179 But this is my future. 697 00:37:28,679 --> 00:37:31,382 So let me let me just ask, 698 00:37:31,382 --> 00:37:31,949 can you. 699 00:37:31,949 --> 00:37:35,086 And I believe that we're God's favorite before those circumstances change. 700 00:37:38,856 --> 00:37:41,859 That's where joy is found. 701 00:37:42,693 --> 00:37:45,496 C.S. Lewis said that joy is the serious business of heaven. 702 00:37:45,496 --> 00:37:49,734 What he meant is this that God is not casual about joy, but 703 00:37:49,734 --> 00:37:54,105 he's more interested in our eternal joy than our temporary comfort. 704 00:37:55,573 --> 00:37:59,377 So the key to joy is when you ask the questions of God. 705 00:37:59,744 --> 00:38:03,781 The key to joy is where you land on the backside of those questions, 706 00:38:03,781 --> 00:38:05,249 not the answer to the question, 707 00:38:05,249 --> 00:38:08,953 but where you and I land on the backside of the question and where we have to land. 708 00:38:08,953 --> 00:38:13,024 On the backside of the question is land on his character, not my clarity? 709 00:38:15,092 --> 00:38:16,394 And most of us think 710 00:38:16,394 --> 00:38:19,397 we derive joy from clarity and understanding. 711 00:38:20,197 --> 00:38:21,632 That's not where joy is found. 712 00:38:21,632 --> 00:38:25,770 Joy is found when I land on the backside of my question on the character of God. 713 00:38:25,770 --> 00:38:28,773 Even without the clarity of understanding, you understand. 714 00:38:34,111 --> 00:38:36,447 She for joy to last, 715 00:38:36,447 --> 00:38:39,450 I need God's voice to cut in, 716 00:38:39,450 --> 00:38:42,453 not life to calm down. 717 00:38:43,087 --> 00:38:46,090 For joy last. 718 00:38:46,223 --> 00:38:49,727 We have to learn to interpret our word world through God's Word. 719 00:38:49,727 --> 00:38:52,730 Habakkuk three verses 17 through 18. 720 00:38:53,030 --> 00:38:57,535 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, 721 00:38:58,069 --> 00:39:02,073 the produce of the olive fell, and the fields yield no food. 722 00:39:02,273 --> 00:39:06,811 The flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. 723 00:39:06,811 --> 00:39:08,379 Though everything falls apart, 724 00:39:08,379 --> 00:39:11,248 though everything is destroyed, though everything comes tumbling down. 725 00:39:11,248 --> 00:39:13,617 Yet I will what? 726 00:39:13,617 --> 00:39:15,052 Rejoice in what? 727 00:39:15,052 --> 00:39:18,489 Not the situation and not the circumstance and not the change. 728 00:39:18,489 --> 00:39:20,591 I'll rejoice in what? 729 00:39:20,591 --> 00:39:22,326 In the Lord and I will take. 730 00:39:22,326 --> 00:39:25,830 What joy and the God of my salvation. 731 00:39:25,896 --> 00:39:30,267 What's important for lasting joy is where I land on the backside of the situation, 732 00:39:31,369 --> 00:39:34,372 on the character of God. 733 00:39:34,739 --> 00:39:37,742 The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary 734 00:39:38,075 --> 00:39:41,078 and brought Christ in her, 735 00:39:41,178 --> 00:39:44,715 and the same Holy Spirit brings Christ in us. 736 00:39:45,649 --> 00:39:46,650 Galatians five. 737 00:39:46,650 --> 00:39:48,352 The fruit of the spirit is love. 738 00:39:48,352 --> 00:39:51,355 Then joy 739 00:39:51,722 --> 00:39:53,891 and joy is not something that I manufacture. 740 00:39:53,891 --> 00:39:55,559 I'm not something that you manufacture. 741 00:39:55,559 --> 00:39:57,294 Joy grows in me. Joy. 742 00:39:57,294 --> 00:40:00,297 Joy grows in you as we walk with him. 743 00:40:01,265 --> 00:40:05,436 And as I look through my losses, through the character of God, 744 00:40:06,337 --> 00:40:09,340 through the lens of the character of God. 745 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,544 We bring this to a close with these verses 38, 46 746 00:40:13,544 --> 00:40:18,249 and 47 Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 747 00:40:18,916 --> 00:40:21,919 Let it be to me according to your word. 748 00:40:21,919 --> 00:40:25,122 And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord, 749 00:40:25,489 --> 00:40:28,959 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. 750 00:40:29,727 --> 00:40:31,095 The key to joy. 751 00:40:31,095 --> 00:40:34,832 Let me tell you, my dear friends, the key to joy comes from surrender. 752 00:40:34,832 --> 00:40:37,535 Not in a not from understanding. 753 00:40:37,535 --> 00:40:39,970 Joy doesn't come from a change of situation. 754 00:40:39,970 --> 00:40:42,640 Joy comes from surrendering the situation. 755 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:45,409 Before Mary could say, May it be to me, as you have said, 756 00:40:45,409 --> 00:40:47,211 God promise to be with her. 757 00:40:47,211 --> 00:40:50,915 And we have to learn to look at our gains and our losses through the lens 758 00:40:50,915 --> 00:40:52,316 of the God who is with us. 759 00:40:53,651 --> 00:40:56,620 Mary got a word from God 760 00:40:56,620 --> 00:40:59,490 regarding his presence and his plan. 761 00:40:59,490 --> 00:41:02,226 She didn't get a blueprint from him. 762 00:41:02,226 --> 00:41:04,328 Some of us want a blueprint. 763 00:41:04,328 --> 00:41:05,963 God says, I'm not going to give you a blueprint. 764 00:41:05,963 --> 00:41:08,966 I'm going to give you my word about my presence. 765 00:41:11,669 --> 00:41:13,471 The most important thing I will say 766 00:41:13,471 --> 00:41:18,008 today, please understand this the doorway to non 767 00:41:18,008 --> 00:41:21,011 situational joy is radical surrender. 768 00:41:22,546 --> 00:41:24,014 The doorway to nonsense. 769 00:41:24,014 --> 00:41:27,251 The joy that is present regardless of the situation, regardless 770 00:41:27,251 --> 00:41:30,421 of the circumstance, is a radical surrender. 771 00:41:30,421 --> 00:41:34,091 May be to me, as you have said, radical surrender. 772 00:41:35,526 --> 00:41:38,429 The way God works, as I see in Scripture, is this 773 00:41:38,429 --> 00:41:41,699 he gives us enough revelation to invite us to surrender, 774 00:41:41,799 --> 00:41:45,102 but not so much detail that he gives us 775 00:41:45,102 --> 00:41:48,105 control. 776 00:41:49,006 --> 00:41:50,207 God will give you. 777 00:41:50,207 --> 00:41:53,511 He will give me enough information 778 00:41:53,511 --> 00:41:57,781 to invite, surrender, but not so much. 779 00:42:00,751 --> 00:42:03,754 That we think we can control. 780 00:42:04,622 --> 00:42:07,291 And so the question, 781 00:42:07,291 --> 00:42:10,794 what is it you need to surrender radically? 782 00:42:14,932 --> 00:42:16,133 Do you need to surrender 783 00:42:16,133 --> 00:42:19,136 the outcome that you're still waiting on? 784 00:42:20,237 --> 00:42:23,140 Do you need to surrender the timeline 785 00:42:23,140 --> 00:42:25,910 that you think God should work in? 786 00:42:25,910 --> 00:42:27,545 Do you need to surrender 787 00:42:27,545 --> 00:42:30,548 the need to understand before you obey? 788 00:42:32,149 --> 00:42:34,084 Do you need a surrender? 789 00:42:34,084 --> 00:42:36,120 The dream? 790 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:39,823 Do you need to surrender the hope that you had, that it would go this way? 791 00:42:39,823 --> 00:42:42,826 Not that. 792 00:42:43,093 --> 00:42:46,096 Radical surrender. 793 00:42:47,831 --> 00:42:48,999 Radical surrender. 794 00:42:48,999 --> 00:42:52,002 It was like signing the contract without reading the fine print. 795 00:42:52,603 --> 00:42:55,606 Because you trust the one who wrote the contract. 796 00:42:57,575 --> 00:43:00,578 You don't have to read it. 797 00:43:03,714 --> 00:43:05,849 Some people 798 00:43:05,849 --> 00:43:08,252 have tried to manufacture joy without surrender. 799 00:43:08,252 --> 00:43:10,421 First. 800 00:43:10,421 --> 00:43:13,424 And that's why it's eluded you. 801 00:43:15,526 --> 00:43:16,660 It's got to be surrender 802 00:43:17,962 --> 00:43:20,497 before the joy. 803 00:43:20,497 --> 00:43:23,233 You see, joy 804 00:43:23,233 --> 00:43:26,503 that is not situational requires a yes. 805 00:43:26,503 --> 00:43:29,506 That is not situational. 806 00:43:31,308 --> 00:43:33,177 It sounds like this. 807 00:43:33,177 --> 00:43:35,179 Yes, Lord. 808 00:43:35,179 --> 00:43:39,183 Even if the diagnosis doesn't change. Yes. 809 00:43:39,183 --> 00:43:44,154 Or even if the difficulty isn't resolved as quickly as I wanted. 810 00:43:45,022 --> 00:43:47,625 Yes, Lord. 811 00:43:47,625 --> 00:43:50,060 Even if I don't get the answer, 812 00:43:50,060 --> 00:43:52,796 even if I don't get the relationship, 813 00:43:52,796 --> 00:43:55,799 even if I don't get the future, I want it. 814 00:43:56,166 --> 00:43:58,102 Yes, Lord. 815 00:43:58,102 --> 00:44:00,571 Radical surrender 816 00:44:00,571 --> 00:44:01,238 me. It be to me. 817 00:44:01,238 --> 00:44:04,141 As you've said. 818 00:44:04,141 --> 00:44:06,710 Friends, I do not want you to hear me 819 00:44:06,710 --> 00:44:10,114 say today that if you had more faith, you had fear, more joy. 820 00:44:10,114 --> 00:44:13,117 That's not what I'm saying. 821 00:44:13,717 --> 00:44:16,720 But I want you to hear me say. 822 00:44:16,987 --> 00:44:17,221 This. 823 00:44:17,221 --> 00:44:20,190 Even when I don't feel better, I'll still say yes. 824 00:44:20,991 --> 00:44:24,561 Because in the yes is where joy begins to grow. 825 00:44:26,463 --> 00:44:28,799 Joy often grows slowly. 826 00:44:28,799 --> 00:44:31,535 It's not microwaved, 827 00:44:31,535 --> 00:44:32,903 and some of us are in 828 00:44:32,903 --> 00:44:37,441 that seed in the soil stage of joy, 829 00:44:38,342 --> 00:44:41,345 not the harvest stage. 830 00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:46,350 Yet I know my God 831 00:44:47,751 --> 00:44:50,354 and He is still working, 832 00:44:50,354 --> 00:44:53,357 and I have a cheerful confidence in him, 833 00:44:54,091 --> 00:44:57,061 which is joy. 834 00:44:57,961 --> 00:44:59,663 The only reason we can talk about joy 835 00:44:59,663 --> 00:45:02,666 that is not situational, is because something in history happened. 836 00:45:04,501 --> 00:45:06,704 King Jesus was born. 837 00:45:06,704 --> 00:45:09,339 We call it Christmas, 838 00:45:09,339 --> 00:45:10,474 and he brought great joy. 839 00:45:10,474 --> 00:45:13,477 We call it salvation 840 00:45:13,510 --> 00:45:14,611 to all who would believe. 841 00:45:14,611 --> 00:45:16,480 In a follow. 842 00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:19,850 He died and he was raised and he defeated sin and death. 843 00:45:20,718 --> 00:45:23,721 And now he lives in his people by the Holy Spirit. 844 00:45:25,022 --> 00:45:27,658 Joy is not optimism. 845 00:45:27,658 --> 00:45:29,293 Joy is not positivity. 846 00:45:29,293 --> 00:45:32,296 It's not simply putting on a smile. 847 00:45:32,863 --> 00:45:36,900 Joy is rooted in a manger and in an empty tomb. 848 00:45:41,505 --> 00:45:42,339 In this time, for 849 00:45:42,339 --> 00:45:45,342 God's people to be people of joy. 850 00:45:46,143 --> 00:45:49,113 A quiet, gentle confidence 851 00:45:49,113 --> 00:45:52,116 in God. 852 00:45:53,617 --> 00:45:55,185 So as we close, 853 00:45:55,185 --> 00:45:58,188 the question is what do you need to surrender? 854 00:46:00,791 --> 00:46:03,794 How would you do that? Now? 855 00:46:04,561 --> 00:46:06,630 I want you to pray with me. 856 00:46:06,630 --> 00:46:09,633 Some of you have not just surrendered your life yet. 857 00:46:10,634 --> 00:46:13,637 You're sure you're trying hard to manufacture joy, 858 00:46:14,705 --> 00:46:16,840 but you don't have it. 859 00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:19,576 It's not lasting 860 00:46:19,576 --> 00:46:22,579 if you're not surrendered your life to Jesus yet. 861 00:46:23,514 --> 00:46:26,517 And I invite you in this moment 862 00:46:26,550 --> 00:46:29,553 to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart 863 00:46:29,553 --> 00:46:32,523 that Jesus died and God raised him from the grave 864 00:46:33,357 --> 00:46:36,693 to pay the sin penalty that you cannot pay on your own. 865 00:46:38,729 --> 00:46:41,732 I invite you to surrender your life right now 866 00:46:41,965 --> 00:46:43,433 in prayer to the father. 867 00:46:43,433 --> 00:46:46,770 Say, father, I accept your son and the word. 868 00:46:46,770 --> 00:46:47,905 Jesus died on the cross 869 00:46:48,972 --> 00:46:50,407 to pay my sin penalty. 870 00:46:50,407 --> 00:46:53,410 That I don't want to even try to pay. 871 00:46:54,545 --> 00:46:56,713 Some of you need to surrender life right now and say, Jesus, 872 00:46:56,713 --> 00:46:59,716 I accept you as a leader of my life and I give myself to you. 873 00:47:00,784 --> 00:47:01,985 Thank you for forgiveness. 874 00:47:01,985 --> 00:47:04,321 I accept it and I receive it today. 875 00:47:04,321 --> 00:47:07,291 Make me a new person. 876 00:47:08,125 --> 00:47:11,094 Others of you have done that, 877 00:47:11,094 --> 00:47:14,097 but there's that thing that you still have not surrendered 878 00:47:15,232 --> 00:47:18,235 and joy eludes you. 879 00:47:19,303 --> 00:47:22,306 Is it the dream? 880 00:47:22,372 --> 00:47:23,273 Is it the agenda? 881 00:47:23,273 --> 00:47:26,109 Is it the timeline? 882 00:47:26,109 --> 00:47:26,343 It's. 883 00:47:26,343 --> 00:47:29,346 Is this the desire to control? 884 00:47:30,314 --> 00:47:32,549 Is it the hurt? 885 00:47:32,549 --> 00:47:35,552 Is it the grudge? 886 00:47:36,420 --> 00:47:39,423 It's just the double mindedness. 887 00:47:42,125 --> 00:47:43,727 Joy comes when you say, father, 888 00:47:43,727 --> 00:47:46,730 I surrender all of that. 889 00:47:48,599 --> 00:47:51,602 I get my hands off it. 890 00:47:51,802 --> 00:47:54,004 Whatever you've determined, my response is. 891 00:47:54,004 --> 00:47:55,472 May it be to me. As you have said, 892 00:47:57,341 --> 00:48:00,077 I know your character 893 00:48:00,077 --> 00:48:03,080 and I trust it. 894 00:48:03,247 --> 00:48:06,250 Oh my God, may it be to me, as you've said, 895 00:48:06,650 --> 00:48:10,320 father, for those who will say that, for those of us who. 896 00:48:10,387 --> 00:48:14,224 Father, may it be to me, as you said, would you give us 897 00:48:14,224 --> 00:48:17,461 that quiet, gentle cheerfulness in you? 898 00:48:18,929 --> 00:48:20,931 Would you give us joy? 899 00:48:20,931 --> 00:48:23,634 You're a good God. 900 00:48:23,634 --> 00:48:24,301 In your name I pray. 901 00:48:24,301 --> 00:48:27,271 Amen. 902 00:48:27,571 --> 00:48:28,639 Friends, I'm proud of you. 903 00:48:28,639 --> 00:48:32,910 I love you as we go through these next two times together. 904 00:48:32,910 --> 00:48:36,179 Next Sunday, I think we're talking about love 905 00:48:36,947 --> 00:48:39,950 and Christmas Eve the 24th. 906 00:48:40,050 --> 00:48:43,053 I think we're probably going to talk about Jesus. 907 00:48:44,054 --> 00:48:45,756 Someone asked me just this week. 908 00:48:45,756 --> 00:48:47,791 They said, hey, what are you talking about on Christmas Eve? 909 00:48:47,791 --> 00:48:51,028 And I said, I think I'm going to go with Jesus this year. 910 00:48:52,863 --> 00:48:55,866 But, you know, people who don't know joy 911 00:48:56,700 --> 00:48:59,202 and, you know, people who haven't experienced radical, 912 00:48:59,202 --> 00:49:02,205 transformative love and, you know, people that don't know Jesus, 913 00:49:03,273 --> 00:49:06,510 you got two services left to invite them next Sunday and Christmas Eve, 914 00:49:07,811 --> 00:49:09,513 invite them. 915 00:49:09,513 --> 00:49:11,248 You got it. 916 00:49:11,248 --> 00:49:12,115 Proud of you I love you. 917 00:49:12,115 --> 00:49:13,850 You got one more song. Let's sing it.