Don’t Miss What God Is Saying to You This Season - Bill Johnson Christmas Sermons | Bethel Church

0:00 You cannot make what God wants out of your life. You can't make it happen. But what I can do is I can say yes. What I can do is invite Him to do what only He can do. So say this with me. Be it unto me. Be it unto me. According to your word. And Mary is one of the great heroes of Scripture. We're going to talk a little bit about her, because I'm inspired by her example, the way she responded to an impossible challenge in front of her. So we'll look at that in a moment.

0:41 The Holy Spirit came upon Mary, natural, spiritual, The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she revealed Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes upon the written word and Jesus is revealed. The Holy Spirit comes upon a surrendered believer and Jesus is revealed. I don't at all want to lessen the significance of the role that Mary plays. She's called highly favored of the Lord. So please don't misunderstand that. However, the miracle of Jesus being manifest in and through you and me is the same miracle. Amen.

1:28 It's the Spirit of God coming upon the natural to manifest the eternal. eternity is the cornerstone of all logic and reason anytime we lose sight of eternity we are bound to come to temporary and false conclusions it's seeing things from an eternal perspective that changes everything for example Mary is called highly favored of the Lord if you lose sight of eternal perspective you look at her circumstances Joseph wants to divorce her not follow through with the wedding Herod wants to kill her kid her son the scandal of her being a mother of an illegitimate child looks like anything but favor favor on your life will reveal issues in the people around you and our ability to carry favor well is key to the increase of favor we never owe anyone an explanation nor should you ever apologize for favor apology of favor is an expression of unbelief that basically says God made a bad decision by giving me favor you never want to dishonor God with with how unqualified you may feel with foreign assignment I hope everybody in the room feels unqualified if you feel qualified you haven't seen your assignment if you feel qualified you don't see it clearly because the only the only possible response from seeing what God expects from our life is the overwhelming sense I could never pull this off And that's the position that the Lord puts every one of us in so that he can demonstrate who he is.

3:33 Good works are a critical part of the Christian life. Feeding the poor, serving those with clothes or housing or whatever it might be, fill in the blanks. The overall gamut of meeting the demand of human need is a huge part of the Christian life. but if we're honest we'll realize that feeding the poor and all these other amazing and wonderful things can be done by people who don't know the Lord. There has to be an aspect of our service before the Lord that only he can do in and through us. It has to cross the line into the realm of impossibility or it has not adequately given witness to the resurrection of Jesus. There is in every one of us an inbuilt appetite for the impossible, that it would bend its knee to the name Jesus through our lips. It's critical. It's vital that that is a regular part of our life.

4:32 If it is not, we have to come back before the Lord and find out why. Not introspection, but to learn where do I take risk? Where do I partner? The Lord is looking for people who will come into agreement with what he has said. there's an alignment I I almost hate to use the word alignment because cults use it but we're called a cult so maybe it's alright I don't know

5:03 There's this agreement. There's this alignment we make with the Lord that God declares a matter when people come into proper alignment or agreement with what he has said, there is the display of what God intends on the earth. Let's take a look at these scriptures. And then what we're going to do is we're going to take some time to talk through. It's about 12 verses. We'll take probably 20 minutes or so. And then we're going to spend the rest of the time sharing in communion together. And it's going to be two completely separate parts, but they'll both be good, I hope. All right. Let's go to verse 26. Did I tell you where? Luke? Luke chapter one. Did I not tell you where? Well, open your Bible anywhere. It's all good. Let's just start reading out loud wherever you open to, and we'll just See how well this works.

5:58 All right. Luke chapter 1, verse 26. Now in the sixth month, we're going to do about 12 verses, so just follow hard. Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus.

6:51 He will be great. He will be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. And the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore, also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. Last two verses. For with God, nothing will be impossible. Then Mary said, Behold the maidservant of the Lord.

7:46 Let it be to me according to your word. and the angel departed from her. I love this story a lot. I actually will return. This is one of the places that I will sometimes return to just to be refreshed in reading something that's out of my sequence. I like to read books of the Bible and just go through them. But every once in a while I'll just go right to this and just read through this because it's so encouraging to me.

8:14 Mary has an angel show up and make this announcement of God's intention. and everything that God has intended to do in and through you is absolutely impossible. As I've already stated, if you're not overwhelmed by your assignment, you don't see your assignment. What he intends to do is absolutely impossible. It's to put us into the place of absolute dependency so that he can work in and through us to display himself as the God of the impossible. That is his intention. And he has designed it so for every person who puts their faith in Christ. It is not for a select few. It is the design of God for every person. So the angel shows up to Mary and he says, rejoice, highly favored one. Typically you rejoice after the baby is born. She was commanded, rejoice, it's coming. there's not one situation that anybody in this room faces that you wouldn't like to have a miracle for that Jesus has not already settled the issue paid the appropriate price so that that miracle could be accomplished in his name there's not one situation he did not pay for the car so you and I would leave it on the lot 西 Ос Construction everything in our life has already been settled the cross that jesus suffered on was that complete in its effect and in its work there's not one thing anybody in this room could face that jesus would look at and say ah wish i would have thought of that before i died i would have put that on the cross too you know there's there's none of those things every single issue of life in fact not just in this life but throughout all of eternity has already been settled. So when the angel of the Lord comes to Mary and says rejoice, highly favored one, it is because this thing has already been settled in heaven. If we knew how much was already settled in heaven, joy would be the natural

10:21 response. Celebration beforehand. Because the reality is eternity defines every situation we face. I may be in the middle of a conflict here, but I'm also in the middle of a breakthrough here. I may be in the middle, I hope, in the middle of a challenge here because it's necessary for faith to grow. But I'm also experiencing great breakthrough here. Every person in this room was designed to invade this realm called impossibility. And now the Lord, this angel of the Lord appears to Mary and says, rejoice, highly favored one. This favor here. would cause her to be valued and celebrated for all of eternity. Everywhere the gospel is shared, there is celebration for this woman who said yes, and the miracle produced Jesus. She is celebrated, but she was also opposed.

11:17 And favor does that to our surroundings. I exhort strongly do not make excuses for the favor of God simply embrace it and give him the honor and the credit for it I've shared this even in recent weeks but you know the whole point is is when somebody comes to you and they celebrate you and they thank you and they tell you you did such a great job please don't say it wasn't me it was Jesus because you know All right. besides it being nauseating for the rest of us I come to somebody and I say, there's a beautiful song you just sang. They tell me, it wasn't me, it was Jesus. I'm thinking, it wasn't that good. It was good.

12:13 It was good. But let's be honest, if Jesus sang that, universes would be created. If it was just his declared word, it would have just changed everything. So it was good, but it wasn't that good. When someone comes to you with a compliment, receive it. If you don't know how to receive honor, you'll have no crown to throw at his feet.

12:37 You have to know how to receive honor. Then when you get along with the Lord, you just say, look what was given to me that belongs to you. it's a part of the process. So back to the story. Mary is called this highly favored one, and she had both blessing and challenges because of the favor, and favor will do that. The subject of favor is not our subject today, so I've got to go quick on this, but favor is the difference between some people fulfilling why they're alive and others who don't. The issue of favor. People can have a call of God on their life but never learn the need for favor. And so they never increase in favor and thus never have the appropriate open doors to support whatever is needed to be able to accomplish what God has called them to do. Favor is the issue. It says of Jesus, he increased in favor with God and with man.

13:34 It's amazing. I understand what he needs to increase in favor with man? Because it's going to be Zacchaeus that welcomes him into his home. It's going to be the Pharisee that invites him to his house to where Mary washes his feet. It's going to be these people that give opportunity for Jesus to step in. But how is it that Jesus, the Son of God, who is absolutely perfect in every possible way, how is it he has to increase in favor with God? And I don't know. I don't have an answer. I just know if he did, ooh. you and I might want to consider our need for increased favor with God as well. And don't think that what you have is enough because part of what you need is what you can obtain through faithfulness with what you have. So we'll leave that there. Let's move on down to this verse 32. It says, in the last half of the verse, the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David. That's strange because in verse 35, it says he will be called the son of God.

14:43 But in verse 32, he's called the son of David. this is one of the things that has marked me is to see God look at this man David who God said he has a heart after my heart. The Lord looked at this man David and said, I'm going to call my son your son forever. how do you obtain such a place of favor with the almighty God? It tells me he's impressionable. It tells me it's possible to leave a mark on his heart. He's not this robotic being. He's one who has invited us into this relational journey. And we've got times in scripture where someone would demonstrate faith. The centurion demonstrates faith. The Syrophoenician woman, they demonstrate this faith. And Jesus stops in the middle of the miracle. He says, I've not seen faith like this in all of Israel. How is it that you have God stand up and go, wow, look at that. I've never seen anything like that before. See, there are certain responses that the people of God can have to him. That's not generic. It's not apathetic. It's unique.

16:18 it's honest, it's real, it's absolute surrender. And he stops and he says, you know what? I'm going to call my son your son. Never have I seen such great faith in all of Israel's history. this is a relational journey this is not a Christian routine where you jump through hoops and try to accomplish a certain regiment I've been invited to know God and in my heart of hearts knowing him is the reason I'm alive it's the reason I wake up in the morning It's the reason I go to bed at night. It's the reason behind everything is this invitation to actually walk with the one who created all things and to come to know him. And there's something about this privileged invitation that makes everything else pale in comparison.

17:21 I remember talking to some young people years ago. I was in this group of about 20 or so, and I said, the claims of Jesus are so astronomical, so extreme, that if it is true, I owe him my entire life to that which is true. But if it is a lie, it has made such a mark on history that I owe him or owe my entire life to humanity to disprove that this thing that he has claimed is true. In other words, it is a line in the sand that says, choose your side. It is that demanding. It is not gray. It's not a gray area. It's not an apathetic area. It's not an area that we stand back and simply applaud. It's like the claims of this Jesus to actually atone for sin, to make it to where I can have peace forever with God, where his nature can become my own nature, that I am actually changed from the inside out, that I find out why I'm alive, suddenly this becomes crystal clear.

18:30 And it becomes clear through the redemptive work of Jesus. And here in this moment, he's called the Son of God, but he's also called the Son of David. Move down to verse 37. This is one of my favorite verses. The next two are two of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. Verse 37 says, For with God nothing will be impossible. say that with me with God nothing will be impossible say it again for with God nothing will be impossible we've looked at this countless times through the years I realize for many of you this will be repeat but I love repeating it with God nothing will be impossible that phrase nothing will be impossible has interesting makeup and it was Jack Taylor who helped me to understand this many years ago. I actually heard him teach on this passage before I ever met him. He has since become a personal friend and a friend of our house and writes me regularly just to encourage me. He's such an amazing father in the faith. But he took this verse, nothing is impossible with God, and he broke it down. And this is how it's broken down.

19:42 The word nothing is actually two different words. It's the word no, but then it's the word rhema. Rhema is the, there's logos and rhema in the Greek language to describe God's word. Logos would be more used for the written word. Rhema is that which is freshly spoken. It's not absolute, but those are the way that is predominantly used in the scripture. So just think through this with me. Rhema, no rhema, no freshly spoken word of God will be impossible. The word impossible actually means without ability. And so this verse can be translated this way. No freshly spoken word of God will ever come to you that does not contain its own ability to perform itself. wow no freshly spoken word of god will ever come to you that does not contain its own ability to perform itself see in james one it says in humility receive the word implanted which is able to save your soul the power is not in my ability to receive the power is in the word i receive in the same way the acorn produces the oak tree, the powers in the acorn, the surroundings, the soil is my amen to what God is saying. It is my surrender. It is my yieldedness to that which God has spoken. I have a role, but I don't make anything grow.

21:19 I create the atmosphere of absolute surrender so that his purposes can actually be fully displayed in me into any measure he intends. No freshly spoken word of God will ever come to any one of us that does not in itself contain its own ability to make sure that what was spoken actually happens. and that's why the next verse is so significant verse 38 Mary said behold the maidservant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word let it be to me according to your word we used to sing this song years ago be it unto me according to your word and it was this wonderful song Dick Joyce in fact taught us who is home with the Lord now but a wonderful prophet friend that made such a huge difference in our lives in Weaverville and here at Bethel. But he taught us this song, I'll never forget it, Be It Unto Me According to Your Word. We would just sing this song where we're using scripture to sing into this place of absolute surrender. God, we want you to perform in and through us all that you intend. Now catch this thought. Jesus, almost walked in water, Jesus or air either one air or water same thing same thing Jesus in the Gospel of John the predominant feature of the Gospel of John is that Jesus came to reveal the Father.

22:54 Yes? Ten of you agree? Anybody ever read the Gospel of John? Jesus came to reveal the Father. you know if I keep at it by the end of the day we should have everyone okay Jesus came to reveal the father here's the deal the father is only revealed through his children in other words he can be revealed but not as father he can be revealed as almighty God he can be revealed as the great judge he can be revealed as the creator. He can be revealed as a thousand different things. But if he's revealed as the father, it's in connection to the revelation of who his kids are. The point I want to make is, is that you and I have this incredible privilege to reveal the father by us being what he has designed us to be. In other words, if I claim to be a good father, then it has to be measurable with how my children are treated.

24:08 Yes? Your relationship with God as your father actually illustrates the quality of his fathering. and Jesus illustrated that very thing perfectly by doing what? He only said what he heard his father say. He only did what he saw his father do. He illustrated perfectly. mmm you go to a place in Rome and you throw a coin into the fountain and you make a wish your birthday cake is brought to you and you blow out the candles and you make a wish in the child's story you rub on a lantern and a genie comes out and you make a wish.

25:15 All through history, people have created stories that try to answer to the cry of the heart for a fulfillment of why we're alive. And acute children's stories as fables, as all these things, I'm fine with all of them as stories. But they actually are all attempts to reveal what it is to be in right relationship with the Father. because you were born to demonstrate unity between a son, a daughter, and the father and him fulfilling what you were born for. And so she says, be it unto me according to your word. That's the amen. I can't make that impossibility happen. How many of you are aware you cannot make what God wants out of your life?

26:11 You can't make it happen. But what I can do is I can say yes. What I can do is invite him to do what only he can do. So say this with me. Be it unto me. according to your word. Praise to your word. And I'm going to talk to you about a part of the story. It's in the Gospel of Luke. We're going to be reading out of Luke chapter 2. And I'm going to talk to you about Anna and Simeon. Those are two sometimes unsung heroes of this incredible Christmas story. But there's something about their story that really rocks my world. I don't talk about it often, but you know how we all have history with God in the Word. And there are certain things that I, they're kind of like on a compass, we have due north. There are certain things that the Lord has shown you in your stories and examples, teachings, whatever, that they're kind of like due north. They're a reference point that you use to measure your own response to your life. And sometimes we sanitize the story because they're in Scripture, and we rob ourselves of the wonder and the adventure of what it would have been like to be in their shoes and to be in the shoes of Anna and Simeon.

27:33 And we'll go over their story in just a moment. But I need to set the stage. I need to create a context. And it'll sound a little strange to you to set it in the way I'm going to, but hopefully by the time I'm through, it'll make sense. And if it doesn't, it's still the Bible and it's good. All right, here's what I want to do. I want to read out of the gospel of Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount. I want to read out of the sixth chapter. And this is a verse that I actually make reference to, you know, probably a couple of times a year and have for quite a while because it rocked me so deeply when I saw what the Lord was saying. The context in the Sermon on the Mount has to do with our response to money. Let me make this statement. Fear, worry, anxiety, that whole theme of emotions is released at our lives to distract us from our purpose and eventually re-establish our affection on something that's inferior. Fear, anxiety, where all those things are the enemy's attempt to distract me, and then once I'm distracted, to re-engage my affection on something that's inferior.

28:58 But so is greed, lust. It's the other side of the same problem. Jesus deals with the whole thing of lust and greed here in the Sermon on the Mount quite heavily. And in this portion, he talks about where your heart is, where your treasure is, where your heart be also. And he's not talking against money. He's talking about heart. He's talking about the focus of our heart. So fear is as wrong as greed. Greed is as wrong as fear. And the reason is because both of them are attempts to distract or pull away my focus, my attention on the one thing I'm called to. And if the enemy can't get me to accept something, let's just go raw immoral. If he can't get me to accept something to shift from being moral to immoral, if he can't do that, then what he'll at least try to do is add to my moral conviction too many issues in life so that I spread myself so thin I'm ineffective. And then his desire is to pull me to defend my position outside of the spirit of Christ. Abortion is wrong. It's wrong.

30:16 It's as wrong as the sacrificing of children to Moloch in the Old Testament. It's just simply wrong. There's nothing about it that's right. And the enemy cannot get me off that bandwagon, so to speak. So what does he try to do? He tries to get me to operate in soulish flesh, carnality, accusation, bitterness, all those other things to defend my position on abortion. Does that make sense to you? In other words, he can't get me to compromise my value. So what he tries to do is to get me to overextend my value to where I operate outside of the spirit of Christ.

30:57 These issues of distraction are huge. And right now we have more distractions than we've ever had in our life. And I, let me just tell you, I'm in the middle. I feel the distraction. I'm not just talking about the obvious things, the political stuff, the racial stuff, the economic stuff. You know, we can, we can just add a big list. I'm talking about the nature of our culture in our country where we are inundated with the opinions of other people.

31:26 Oh, goodness, I'm going to jump into a deep hole that I can't climb out of. And I don't want to do that. And I actually like social media. I do. I like the fact I can go on Instagram. I can look up fly fishing pictures and find them. It's like the magazines I used to buy. I can look up deer hunting. I can look up fountain pens. I can look up anything. Hot sauce, they're all in here. I look at them. I have a good time. I say, oh, that hot sauce looks good, and I will order it, and I can do it in just a heartbeat. I love that. This is just Christian recreation in my concern. But here's the problem is we are often measured by likes.

32:09 How many people like? What are we creating? creating a system where we look for approval of other people to make our decisions. It's subtle, but it's there. And we have a generation that's being weaned on that value system. So I don't want to go there anymore. I'm done with social media talk for this morning. actually it could creep up again but I'll try not to alright let's get to the scripture here because I want to talk to you about this I'm going to take one verse and I just try to emphasize the fact it's in the context of money alright the principle oftentimes Jesus will reveal a principle that he applies to a subject but the principle is applicable across the board what I just said was very important and true alright verse 22 of Matthew chapter 6 the lamp of the body is the eye if therefore your eye is good your whole body will be full of light the lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. This deserves much more attention than I'm going to give here, because I actually want to take you into the Christmas story and show you something that I hope will encourage you. I hope will add fuel to what God's called us to be and to do. But look at this again. One of the translation says, if your eye is single. Another one says, if your eye is clean. The word there for good is actually two words. It's the word alpha, and then it's a word that means voyage.

33:56 Alpha would be alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the number one and the eternal future. That's the Lord. So here's what I want you to look at. This is a very interesting word. It says, if your eye is good, let's break it down in this way. Two words. Number one is the word single or one. And the second word is voyage. If your eye is set on one voyage, the one thing, your entire body will be full of light. This is important. We don't have time for it now, but I do think there's something in this verse that will connect us to divine health. I think being diversified outside of where God has called us actually affects us emotionally. It affects us in areas of greed and lust. It affects us in areas of fear and anxiety. And all those things war at the affections of the soul that are supposed to be anchored in the Lord himself. All of these things war against our focus and our devotion to the one thing.

35:05 they are subtle but the end result is a people who over time diversify their affection from the Lord to the many other things and it may even be in Jesus name if the lamp of the body is the eye if therefore your eye is set on one voyage this one thing I have desired, the scripture says, this one thing to see him, to be in his temple forever, to be one who glorifies him, this one thing I have desired. the song of the redeemed is this one thing I have desired. it's critical to fuel that one fire in my soul, so much so that nothing else matters.

36:05 Everything else is attended to through that one theme. I don't have a confusing life of serving God and serving the city and serving you and serving my family and serving. I have one thing, Him. and in that affection and adoration and absolute passion for him I become more fully equipped as husband more fully equipped as a dad, as a grandpa, as a pastor whatever other label we share the point is, it is the one thing one of my heroes in scriptures, Solomon and I'm moved by the fact we studied this some years ago but I'm moved by the fact that here as a young man, he becomes king and he goes to bed at night and he sleeps and he has this dream. Now dreams are extremely subjective.

37:05 I've had people that were opposed to the revival have a dream. I believe they had a dream, but our dreams are often shaped by our own values. We sow into our dream life. We contribute to our dreams. what happened with Solomon is he was so overwhelmingly aware of his need for God that that's how he went to bed this he says in song of salt he says he says though I sleep yet my heart is awake in other words he would come into this place where he would rest but it would before the Lord. And he had this ongoing passion. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm reading into the story, but I believe I have reason to. I don't know what I'm doing. I need God's input to be a successful and godly king. He goes to sleep. God appears to him in a dream and has a dialogue. Now this is profound to me. God talks with Solomon while Solomon is sleeping and Solomon responds.

38:13 so much so that God trusts Solomon to make a decision. He says, what's the one thing you want? He says, more than anything, I want to have wisdom. I want to be able to lead your people well. And God says, because you've asked for that and not long life and fame and money and all these other things, you get it all. What's the point? The point is, is that in his sleep, his agendas were set aside so much that he could trust the dream that he had and God could trust him to make a godly decision. He made a decision that shaped the course of history in his sleep. In his sleep. That's being focused. Not focused anxiously. Focused in, this is why I'm alive. Now, go to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2 in verse 25 is where we'll start. We're going to read quite a few verses, so please have your Bibles in front of you and follow along. Verse 25, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

39:46 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law. He took him up in his arms and he blessed God. And he said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace. According to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles. This is an extraordinary prayer. He's playing in the temple because he's prophesying in his prayer that this infant, this child, is what will bring hope, restore Israel, and will bring light and salvation to the Gentiles. He said, and the glory, excuse me, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.

40:45 Then Simeon blessed them and he said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against. It's not the first sign to be spoken against. Just because you experience a miracle and people criticize you for it doesn't mean you're not biblical. You're actually right in the middle of scripture. Sometimes you experience something that God does and the critics mount up against you. Welcome to the family of God. Let me read that again, just in case you missed it. And it'll be for a sign which will be spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul that the thoughts of many hearts would be revealed. And then there's one more.

41:36 We'll do three more verses. Now there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of however you say that name, the tribe of Asher, who was of great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of about 84 years. Now some say she was 84 years at this point. Others say this actually indicates that she was a widow for 84 years after marriage, which would make her over 100 years old. She did not depart from the temple, but she served God with fastings and prayer night and day. And coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to all who looked for the redemption of Israel. All right, here's the deal I want to talk to you about. Simeon and Anna I think, I mean I can't prove this, it's just an opinion, but I think are two of the most honored people in heaven. They lived in a time without the prophets. They lived in a time without the thundering displays of God's power. And yet they lived for one thing. Anna says she never left the temple. I don't know if people brought food to her. I don't know how that works. But the point is she was extremely devoted to one thing, which was what? That Israel would have a redeemer. That Israel would have vindication and restoration. That salvation would come to her people. She lived for that one thing. She got married. She was married for seven years. Her husband died. She's a widow. She spends the rest of her life serving God at the temple with fastings and prayer. Simeon, his entire life, he was a friend of God. The Bible says the Holy Spirit was upon him. They weren't born again yet, so the Holy Spirit didn't live inside, but lived upon him, rested upon him. He was a prophet in a sense that he could see, he heard the word of the Lord. He had that promise given to him that he

43:45 would see the consolation of Israel. He would see the redeemer. He would see the vindicator. He would see the deliverer. The point that I have in this message today is really, it's really only one. The more focused you are on why you're alive, the less it takes to encourage you. the more focused, the more all in for one thing, the less it takes to encourage you.

44:26 I read a story, I read a very interesting article some years ago. I've not wanted to talk about it only because I hate war so much. But I read this very interesting article about, and I believe it was by a sniper in the military. And they are an unusual breed of people. I don't know how many of you have ever read about them. And if I can just put aside the moral issues of war and all, I'm just glad I'm not a national leader that has to make that decision. But I admired so much what this gentleman wrote. Picture this.

45:07 A sniper have all this sometimes plant life and everything hooked to his body. There are times where they will actually take several days to crawl from here to there. Because none of their movements can be noticed.

45:29 They do everything physically in their clothing. They are times were on an anthill and they're being bitten by these ants. And they are so focused on their assignment, they show no pain and they make no noticeable movement. And what the guy said, he says, in this place, you are so focused that you notice when a blade of grass is different. there's something about focus. There's something about purpose. There's something about refining what is going to excite me, refining what I'm going to feed my soul on, refining my understanding, my conscious awareness of why I am on planet earth. I get to be a grandpa. I get to be a dad.

46:28 I love being a husband, all these things. I get to be with you guys. I love this part of life, But all of these are expressions of why I'm alive. I am alive to represent Jesus and to bring him glory. I'm alive. I live. I live for that.

46:49 Anything that doesn't fit into that assignment, it may be good. It may be moral. It may be upright. but it's there to divert attention and eventually to draw away my affection. You see, the anointing is actually released through affection.

47:11 When we diversify all the things, you know, keeping 20 plates spinning on a stick, you know, that picture of the complicated Christian life. I believe in being involved in a lot of stuff, but it has to all fit under one thing. One thing. How is it you can be so focused as a man? Picture yourself as a guy who intercedes, who prays for the nation of Israel, who prays for the nations of the world, who prays for the Messiah to come. And one day in your prayer, the Lord shows up and he says, before you die, you will see this great deliverer. before you die, you will see the mighty one who comes to save. Why is he alive? The one thing. And it says the spirit of the Lord moved him, direct him to go to the temple. He went to the temple and he saw an infant.

48:12 he saw an infant he didn't see a mighty deliverer he didn't see a man with a sword he didn't see a man with an army he didn't see somebody with a great pedigree and great wealth he saw an infant, a baby yes, eternally God but he saw in the baby the deliverance of Israel and salvation of Gentiles he saw it in the baby he saw it in the child See, when you live for one thing, it doesn't take a lot to encourage you. Because you notice the movement of that blade of grass. You notice the slight little indication, oh, that neighbor I've been talking to, they warmed up just a little bit today. I didn't get the raise yet, but I can tell something is happening because there's more business at work.

49:08 It's just the little things. It's the fact that we live for one thing, and when you do, you're constantly filled with encouragement because God is bringing all kinds of babies. seed of the thing you've been praying for. The seed of what you've been praying for. And I look at this, and Anna and Simeon, both, and they both moved me so much because they recognized the King of glory was there. in an infant that couldn't do a thing. couldn't do anything. They saw. See, this is what we need right now because we're in the middle of swirling stuff. We need people that just dial down, why am I alive? Why am I where I am in this season? Why am I here? And we lean into the one thing and all of a sudden we get this little word of encouragement, we see this testimony over here.

50:22 We see these things happen around us that are just indicators of a much bigger deliverance, a much bigger thing that God is doing. And right now we need encouragement in our lives, maybe more than any other season of our life.

50:43 And it's foolish to live within reach of a feast of encouragement and not apprehend it, not take hold of it. It's foolish to live this far away from the ultimate internal strength of faith, of focus, of living with divine purpose. It's foolish to be this far away from it and not take hold of it. And I'd like to suggest that the Lord is releasing an Anna and Simeon anointing.

51:21 It's the Matthew 6 anointing. It's the eye that has settled on one journey. The reason my whole body is full of light, the reason my entire life is under the visible manifestation of the glory of God is because I have determined I am alive for one thing. I'm alive for one reason. And that one reason, God has illuminated everything in my life. I think often of Elijah and his deal I think often of Elijah and his deal when he was praying for rain.

52:22 It's interesting because he prophesied the drought. you know sometimes you cause something by the hand of the Lord on you that's supposed to come to an end and he knew it but he also knew there was some sort of intercessory role that he had he just didn't assume it's just going to happen it's irresponsible to not take responsibility there are just moments where it's upon us to know God is about to do something but I'm going to take my place before him. If ever there was an example of that, it would have to be with the coming of the Messiah. Let's be honest. If there's anything God can pull off on his own without any of our assistance or help is the fact that Jesus would come to earth and yet it was the spirit of God upon Anna and Simeon to stir them to intercessory prayers. Why? He wanted them to be a part of the process. What's happening today? See, we scrub these stories so clean, we lose the wonder of the moment, the mystery of the moment. We sanitize these things. And yet they're living day after day after day. Hannah, for 60 years, cries, prayers, intercessions, fasting. How long do I need to fast? And then one day was the day and she saw the Christ child.

53:57 Elijah prophesied the drought and it was time for the drought to end and he knew it but he didn't just assume it would happen, he prayed for it to happen and he sent his servant up while he put his head between his knees and he just interceded and prayed. Sometimes powerful prayer is not pretty. There's nothing appealing about it. There's nothing appealing about it. Sometimes the groanings, the weepings, the declarations,

54:35 the snotty nose, it's just not pretty. Those things aren't to be flaunted as some sign. They just happen. They happen when you're gripped in your soul for something that's got to be birthed into the earth that is not yet here. It must be. it must be, it must be. It's not for show, it's not for anything, but the friend of God is making history with God. And that was Elijah. He's there. He's got his head between his knees. He's praying. He doesn't want to look. He tells his servant, what's the sky like? He's praying for rain. He said, there's no clouds. He said, all right. He keeps praying. Sometimes you just don't want to look at the absence of an answer. It'll affect your praying. Too many people measure the lack of an answer, the lack of breakthrough. I've prayed a hundred times for this. This never happened. Stop it. Stop it. Stop measuring. Stop measuring your prayer life by what hasn't happened. Stop it.

55:39 he wouldn't even look himself. What's it like now? Six times in a row. Well, there's a cloud, but it's the size of a man's hand. Elijah says, let's run. It's about to rain. And that's the moment the rat hears. Anna and Simeon saw the cloud the size of a man's hand. They saw the seed of God in a child that was about to shape and change the course of world history. Run. It's time to take cover. I've told you the story before, I think. When Benny and I first came here, this part of the stage wasn't near, it was just stairs. One of the first Sunday nights, we invited everyone to the front, so there was hundreds of people all along the front, and we had just gotten here. And Benny and I were standing right about third step or so right here.

56:35 And we just talked to encourage everybody for what we believed God was doing and about to do. We invited the Holy Spirit to come, that simple prayer. And the Holy Spirit came. He came in power. He fell powerfully on one person. One person right in front of us right here. I don't know what everyone's thinking. It may be they were amused. It may be they were being touched by God in a more subtle way. I don't know. I didn't ask. But all I know is the power fell on one. Right there. Right there.

57:10 And Benny and I looked at each other and we said, we've got it. It is now unstoppable. It's now unstoppable. see if you're not all in you miss the seeds you miss the subtle signs of God's working because he doesn't just always come and just show himself boldly and strongly sometimes it's in an infant that everybody else in the city didn't see except as a baby everyone else but these two they looked and they saw the salvation of Israel they saw it in seed form because they're all in the best way to be encouraged is to be all in all in because then you'll see you'll hear the subtle subtle anointing of God on the lyrics of a song as you walk into a restaurant the subtle the subtle storyline behind a TV show that you realize there's something prophetic in that storyline.

58:25 It's just when you're leaning, when you're all in, I don't mean you interpret every number and everything that happens. It just means God speaks. Why? Because He has a listener. He has somebody who's all in. He's got somebody who has one reason for being alive, the single voyage. Therefore, everything about them will be under the influence of the light of God. the gestation period is soon coming to an end a conclusion and there will be a birthing of something very powerful and very new in the earth but specifically in you and in me and I believe the Lord is wooing us into the one thing simplify the one thing God forgive me everywhere I've been distracted I've voluntarily submitted myself to distractions that have war, warred over my heart fought over my heart to redirect affections and values and attention heal us as a people God heal us as a people that come out of this season simplified, refined focused and madly in love It's interesting that the Christmas story starts with infertility.

59:57 It was infertility of John the Baptist's parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth. They couldn't have kids. The angel shows up, and they're terrified. Zacharias is terrified. The Bible calls him troubled. Troubled is a nice, mellow word for scared to death. I need to change my pampers is what it means I'm pretty sure that's it in the original language I'm sure that's in there What I've noticed throughout this story is that you find trouble, troubled hearts, and joy. The joy follows the troubled heart.

1:00:39 And so you've got, in this case, you've got Zacharias, angel shows up, Gabriel shows up to give the message that his prayer has been heard and that his wife is going to be her son. Well, they're too old to have kids. And God's done that at least once before with Abraham and Sarah, but these guys are too old to have kids. The angel shows up and Zacharias does a kind of a dumb thing. He, he asked the angel how he knows this is really true, what he's saying. It's just not what you ever want to say to Gabriel. He, he tends to come from the presence of God with a message. And so you don't ever question the authenticity of that message. But anyway, he, he couldn't talk for nine months and it's probably so he wouldn't mess up the miracle. so angel shows up he's terrified he goes from terror into joy because he has a son but interesting this phrase says the prayer your prayer has been heard and years ago i was reading through that and i think it's the william barkley commentary on that verse he said in the original language what it's actually saying there is the prayer you no longer pray has been heard isn't that amazing that you can pray something in God and even though you've become discouraged it's still before the Lord pulling on the heart of God for a situation and I feel like there's stuff you know we're going to pray for some things this morning but I feel like I feel like there's just stuff that God wants to release uh into into our lives that we just maybe became discouraged over and he's such a good father he he doesn't go well you know forget it you're discouraged then I'm quitting, you know.

1:02:20 I mean, he's not that kind of a dad. He's not that kind of a father. So I feel like the Lord's gonna activate some stuff here for people. So anyway, here's the story. He's troubled. He hears the word of the Lord. He ends up having a son. The angel shows up and announces to the shepherds, I've got amazing news for you. This is good news. And it's with great joy. Don't be afraid. They're troubled. Don't be afraid because I have a message of great joy. So the trouble came first, then the joy. Here's the deal, is that God wants to do something so good that it's going to scare you. so expect to be troubled being troubled is not an enemy it just means God reached your limit of what you have faith for and he says I'm going past that I'm going beyond that John the Baptist dad quit praying for his son God says I'm going past that one and I'm going to do something that's absolutely impossible to do I feel like this is a season when no it's Christmas season some of you it's a dreaded season because of so many things that have happened in the past.

1:03:31 But I just believe that this could be a year that God would turn all those things around and it would be a real blessed season for all. But we have this cycle. We have this cycle of being troubled and then the joy. Same thing happened to Mary. The angel Gabriel shows up and announces she's gonna have a child. She's extremely troubled. You know, it's fascinating. I'm hoping to actually do the whole Christmas story sometime between now and Christmas Day. hopefully we'll have a chance to just talk through maybe some of the parts that aren't always talked about or we're aware of but this would be one of them where the angel shows up and calls Mary the highly favored one highly favored about to be divorced by her husband because she's pregnant highly favored Thank you.

1:04:22 has to leave Israel to hide in Egypt, highly favored. Mother of the illegitimate son, highly favored. Favor doesn't always go well with everyone. Not everyone's always happy with God showing favor into your life. And how many of you want more favor? I should have asked you before I gave you that little lesson. You know, favor's just expensive. Here's the deal. I have increasing favor on my life. I know that that's true. I see it all the time. But I have favor because I said yes to Jesus. And sometimes saying yes to Jesus again costs me the favor that I just obtained.

1:05:11 It's not mine. my responsibility is to say yes to jesus if he gives favor or opposition that's my assignment that's that's another subject for another day let's just let's just get in so here we've got this favor thing but there's something else that happened here and this is what i want to see i want to show you a season and so to do that we're going to go right here into matthew 2 are you there? Just say yes. Yes, we're there. When the wise men saw the star, verse 10, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. I just wanted to highlight that one because this exceedingly great joy is a word that means violence. It's a violent word. It doesn't mean they went and beat up people. It just means it was so extreme that they stepped out of their comfort zone and it brought destruction to the powers of darkness that hate joy.

1:06:11 It was a violent act. Joy is a violent act. Joy is a violent choice that you and I make. And the wise men, the wise men were not, it's not three wise guys that brought some gifts for Jesus. This was royalty. The wise men were magi. This is royalty. And what does royalty do when they come to honor another king? They don't bring a token gift.

1:06:38 I don't know if you've thought about it. When the queen of Sheba came to Solomon, what did she do? The gift she brought was extraordinary. What would this team of royalty, and it doesn't say there was three wise men, it just says there's three different kinds of gifts. There could have been 20, there could have been 25. We don't know how many there were, but there was this entourage that left from that part of the world to where Jesus was to honor him as the king of kings. And they brought gifts to him. And they brought gifts that royalty would bring. to royalty. they went to Herod they announced that a new king had been born he became jealous and verse 14 says when he arose he took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt Joseph had a dream that he was to leave town in a hurry so he did and verse 16 says Herod when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men was exceedingly angry he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its districts from two years old and younger according to the time which he had determined from the wise men when Moses came upon the scene an infant you remember was put in the basket at that time Pharaoh became jealous threatened because he heard God was raising up a king and so he purposed to kill all the children under a certain age why? God was bringing a deliverer the enemy tried to destroy by killing the children.

1:08:26 When Jesus came on the scene as the savior of the world, the devil once again inspired people to kill the children because he had something arising in that hour. In the last 40 years or whatever, we've had the slaughter of 50 million babies through abortion because God has purpose to raise up something in this generation and no attempt of the enemy can destroy that. It's not the message today but one of the interesting features is that the Lord spoke to, through the angel spoke to Mary, she conceives, she goes to visit her aunt who is quite elderly and Mary could have been as young as 14 or 15 years old and she goes to visit her aunt who was very elderly, and her aunt Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist.

1:09:25 And so when she walks into the room, the Bible says that the baby, John, inside the womb of Elizabeth leaped for joy. Children in the womb can experience joy, which means they can experience pain. So here's the season where the enemy works hard to prevent what God has purposed. In these two cases, it was through killing of children. I believe that this generation, there's going to be a generation someday who will never see death because of the Lord coming. There's something that he has purposed in the earth that has never been seen before, and that's where entire nations become discipled in the Lord.

1:10:26 We see it all through Scripture where entire nations will bow before the Lord. I get nervous over those whose hope is being rescued from calamity instead of us embracing our assignment to see his kingdom come and impact the course of history. And that's what we've been given, this incredible privilege. So here's what I'm wanting to do. All of this is just to come down to one thought. As I've already mentioned, it's not really a message, but there's a theme going on is that I feel like God wants to release a gift or open up a gift in people today. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to look at Matthew 1. And I want you to just, we're gonna just skip through several verses. So just follow with me in your Bible. Verse 20, it says, when he, this is Joseph, when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. go to chapter 2, verse 12.

1:11:23 Then being divinely warned in a dream. Verse 13. When they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. verse 19 when Herod was dead behold the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream verse 22 when he heard that whatever his name is was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod he was afraid to go there and being warned by God in a dream do you remember the statement that says and God does nothing in the earth except that he speaks first to his prophets how many remember that I don't think this is a stretch.

1:12:20 I really sense that this is the heart of the Lord. In the Old Testament, we have the Lord first speaking to his prophets before something is released into the earth, before God does a new thing, the prophets speak. He speaks to the prophets. Throughout the Old Testament, there was a preparation for a time when all of God's people would be as prophets. not prophets in the sense of an office, but prophets in the sense of being able to hear, being able to dream, being able to perceive what God is saying, what God is doing. It is his heart. Moses cried out at one point. He says, I would that all God's people were prophets. You get into Isaiah 59 and you see that it was God's intention for all of the people of God to be considered descendants of the prophets, which means as a descendant, you inherit what they carry, what they give. And so here's the heart of the Lord for you and for me to carry this heart of a prophet. What does it mean? Whenever there's a season change, God speaks to his people. Whenever there's a season change, he speaks to his prophets. I'd like to suggest to you that the Lord wants to amp up the dream realm in every person in this room. I've got this sense that the Lord would start releasing prophetic dreams on much more consistent and regular basis.

1:13:45 You just have to do what he says. That's kind of the requirement. You say yes before you dream it. You say yes before he speaks, that invites his voice. Yes, Bill, that's a very good point. All right. So I've got this sense that the Lord would just increase, amp up the whole anointing on us for dreams. Why? Because I believe it's a shift in season. I believe the Lord is giving a block of time. I won't get specific, but I believe a block of time, a number of years, where there are going to be unusual breakthroughs in every single area that you can think of. And when there is a season shift, a season change, the dreams increase. I don't think it's a stretch to find all these verses where God spoke through dreams when there was something new God was about to do. I believe it's one of the ways, but I feel like there's just an anointing. I just have a faith for it today that there's going to be an increase in our lives with prophetic dreams. Now, I've had dreams from pizza.

1:14:52 I can't interpret them. They are so weird. one of my favorite comedians said something to the effect he said he said when i go to sleep i just want to sleep because i don't want to dream he says but then i go to sleep i have a dream now i have to build a go-kart with my landlord you know that was his i just think it's so funny anyway sorry I haven't had a lot of prophetic dreams through the years. I've had, you know, I'm several years over 40. and I don't know that I certainly haven't had one strong prophetic dream that I can remember per year but I've had maybe a dozen in my lifetime that stand out to me I remember one really bothered me I don't know if you ever had a dream that just troubled you you woke up and you went you were fighting depression from it you know it was like it just left such a mark and this was one of those dreams I had this dream and I thought man I've got something wrong in my life. There must be sin that I, I don't know, something's going on that I'm not aware of.

1:16:14 Maybe my heart's too hard to even see it. Oh God, you know. That's when you start confessing things you've never done just to cover your bases, you know. But I had this dream. It's kind of a weird dream. I don't typically share my personal dreams, but I had this dream. I'm going to do it today just to illustrate what I think God's going to do. I had this dream quite a few years ago. In this dream, I was looking at this car, and it was somehow in the dream, I knew that it was from 1938. And it was all deoxidized, and just really, the paint was destroyed on it. And it had kind of the spoke-type tires, rims, and both left tires on this thing were flat and it had California license plates. And so that, you know, most of you would dream that and think, oh, pizza from last week, you know.

1:17:13 But it really troubled me because I felt like the Lord was speaking, but I thought, man, there must be something. My car's oxidized and I got flat tires and I did something wrong. I don't know what it is. I remember John Paul Jackson came and what a treasure. you know that man just died too early and kim clement died here just a week and a half or so ago oh i'm so sad about that because that was we needed him we needed those prophetic giftings this is a side note pray for the prophets please don't just don't assume all is well they sometimes take hits that nobody else takes and we just need these people around you know your ability to hear from God doesn't replace the prophet. And neither does the prophet replace your need to hear from God. So just keep those two intact. Off the subject, back to this. Back to my dream. Back to my left tires that were flat. It had the old California license plate. And so I went to John Paul, you know, waiting for him to speak his word of correction or whatever it was that I needed.

1:18:18 I was ready. And he said, well, did you have family living in California in 1938? And I found out that, yeah, I had an uncle who lived here. My old family's from Minnesota, so that's our part of the world. But I had an uncle who lived here in California, and he was a soloist for Amy Semple McPherson. And he said, left, the left tires represent what your family was born to do. and there was something that was not completed in your family assignment with, in this case, with Amy Simple McPherson and the anointing that was supposed to spread. And so this car was a symbol of something that had old and oxidized and the tires were flat, but the Lord was revealing it because he was giving access to restore that call or that purpose or that focus on my family line.

1:19:13 Oh, I almost danced out of that meeting with John Paul because I thought it was a good dream. It was a good dream. That's what I want to happen to you. I want you to dream things that hook you, that drive you into the presence, where you get counsel, where you do whatever you need to do to find out what God is saying. Because I feel like this is a season shift and he's going to dramatically increase him speaking to you and to me in and through dreams. I'm using the Christmas story, maybe even illegally in some ways, to illustrate that in a season shift, dreams increase. It's interesting in this Christmas story, which I hope to be able to cover more properly at another date,

1:20:02 that the Lord spoke to Simeon, who was a real prophetic voice, and to Anna, the great intercessor who spent her days and nights fasting and prayer at the temple praying. All of these things are indicators of a season shift, of people praying, burdened, crying out to God for things. How many of you have felt a burden for something? You've cried out to God and you didn't even know what you were praying for. You were just praying until the thing lifted. You didn't even know what it was. That just happens because there's something that is getting birthed. I believe into our city but I also believe into our nation so what I want to do today is we're going to pray we're going to pray for the dream room I just feel like the one thing I was not the one thing because there's a couple things I felt I was supposed to do today but one of the things I felt I was supposed to do today is just to pray for the release of dreams where God would speak I've had him speak to me very simply very profoundly I've had him I've woken up when there's been no mystery I knew exactly what he was telling me to do.

1:21:07 And there have been other times I've been horribly confused, going, oh Jesus, what does this mean? And so what I've tried to do is I try to write him down, hoping that there'll be a time where he either unlocks it for me or connects me with somebody that can really interpret those dreams. Does anybody want this? Does anyone want God to talk to you while you're sleeping? All right, stand up. I just feel like he's going to increase the dream realm. So if you're ready, just say, I'm ready. All right, put your hands in front of you. Let me pray over you. And it's just kind of an act of receiving. Father, I ask that you would release now a gift in the dream realm that you would, in the same way that you speak to your prophets before anything new happens in the earth. So I ask that you would speak to these prophets, these descendants of the prophets, through dreams, through visions, all the ways that you speak.

1:22:08 But specifically, we say, Lord, come in the night and teach us. Teach us about you. Teach us about what you're doing. Release the creative ideas. Release the secrets, the insights that we need, the encounters. God, most of all, the encounters. And Lord, I pray for people in this room with godly heritages or very ungodly heritage, that every family would be restored to the purpose for their household. That my whole left tires being flat thing would just apply to every person in the room, that there would be this sense of reengaging with divine purpose for the family line. And I'm asking, Lord, that between now and Christmas, that everybody in this room would see, and those watching online as well, would see a dramatic, dramatic increase in the dream realm.

1:23:06 And give us understanding and wisdom for this, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Christmas time, we rightfully celebrate the birth of Christ. I was just thinking during worship time today, we need to pull up some of these songs in July.

1:23:28 They're just gospel. They've just got to shock everybody. But let's just bring it up. Joy to the World is an all year-long song. Anyway, don't be surprised next July. Maybe June. Who knows? But we celebrate, rightfully so, the beauty and the wonder of the virgin birth of Christ. But what you hold in your hands is why He came. I take this wafer, whether I'm here with you or at home, I buy these by the box and take communion at home. I like to take this wafer. I like to break it. I like to hear the sound of it breaking because it's a reminder to me, he became broken so that I could be whole.

1:24:19 He became empty so I could be filled. he was rejected so I could be accepted he was despised so I could be celebrated he became sin so that I could become his righteousness he bore affliction so that I could be healed he went low so I could be exalted it's the truth he came to take our place in death so we could take the place he rightfully deserved in life it's called salvation no one can earn it but you can receive it, it's a gift this broken body I was once again reminded once again in Corinthians when Paul talks about what he received from the Lord he received a revelation from God of the purpose for this it's very profound read it on your own but there's one phrase that I want to take it says on the night in which he was betrayed Thank you.

1:25:42 when he sat down with the guys and he shared the bread as his broken body, the wine as his blood, when he shared that in this communal setting, it was the night he was betrayed. Interestingly, right before that, he washed all of their feet. So we've got Judas' feet being washed, and then at the communion table, he's there at least for the first part, Thank you. the Judas, the betrayer.

1:26:18 A quote I read, I think it was last week, that really touched me. It said, our Christianity is not proven by our love for Jesus. It's proven by our love for Judas. we live in a highly offensive culture and society where you will always be applauded for helping the victim as we must But you will often be despised if you help the victimizer.

1:26:57 And yet this gospel is just that. everybody in this room has been abused, lied to, treated unfairly but also everybody in this room has done something wrong maybe just simple verbal stuff you've been also on some measure the victimizer losing temper, becoming angry, whatever it might be the point is that we're here together because he loves the victims and the victimizers Judas betrayed Jesus but so did the other 11.

1:27:35 And Jesus washed all of their feet knowing what was about to happen. He broke the bread and shared with them knowing what was about to happen. so as we partake of this today we're going to do so seeking for what was announced at the birth of Christ. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill towards men. It's the reason for this. It's the reason. Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace. what happens there is supposed to affect what happens here when I engage with what's happening there I become the most effective to bring that reality here peace one last comment and then we'll share in the bread and the body together in Ephesians chapter 2 Paul's talking about the separation of Jew and Gentile.

1:28:48 I think it illustrates actually the greatest division in all of human history is the Jew and the Gentiles, those who are qualified for God, those who are not, the haves and the have-nots. You can fill out your list. It's these two. And it says in scripture that Jesus bore in his flesh, when he was crucified, when he died, he bore in his flesh the wall that divided them. Just think with me. There is a, can I say, legal separation between the two. And he took that entire wall that separates the two and he allowed that wall to rest on his body in his death so that he could destroy its power.

1:29:35 That means there is no division on the planet that can withstand the wonder and the beauty of the gospel. None. None. The greatest was defeated. Everything else is cake from there. All right, why don't you stand? oftentimes when we partake of the broken body of Jesus I emphasize the scripture by his stripes his torn flesh his body what we hold in our hand by his stripes we are healed I believe that with all my heart that there is something where to proclaim I believe the Lord is going to enable us to taste in of divine health and in part it's connected to this beautiful celebration of the Lord's Supper. But today what I want you to do primarily I want you just to take 30 seconds or so and pray for some family member, some neighbor, work person some situation that you know of where there's division and conflict and I want you just to make a decree that what Jesus has accomplished is more than enough to heal that separation, to destroy the spirit of that division. The Bible says in Ephesians 4, it's a commandment, preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. It does not say create it because you can't create it.

1:31:05 He already created it. You and I can only mess it up. And so he says preserve it. So I want you to take 30 seconds and just pray for some, it may be a Judas in your life. Peter also denied Jesus three times. Judas just did it once. It was just terminal. It's true. Take a moment and pray for someone that needs reconciliation and healing. And do it in light of the broken body of Jesus. Thank you. Yes, Lord. we confess your word glory to God in the highest be exalted in the highest places high praises high praises and on earth peace goodwill towards men we just we declare that no separation no division is greater than the power of the gospel so we declare peace over our family line. In Jesus' name, receive the broken body together.

1:32:29 Take the cup, open it. it's one of the main reasons I don't use a handheld mic is I couldn't possibly do that it's like I would get it all over me I just know I would I stand before my family photo day after day we have several of our whole family but one is the newest and I like to stand in front and pray for each family member each family group and I actually lightly touch I'm hoping I don't get the photo too oily where I have to replace it but anyway I put my hands to touch each one and what I pray is I declare this first of all over my family as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. I want you to say that with me. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. Just for this one statement just close your eyes and hold the cup before the Lord because you're holding out the legal basis for that decree.

1:33:45 Let's say it again together. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And then I pray. I pray for each one by name. We don't have time for you to cover your entire family line, but you can cover some part of your family in just a moment. And what I pray is I pray for three very specific things day after day after day. Number one, God, we will serve you in purity. Holiness is important. We will walk in purity. Number two, we will do so with passion. We're going to be all in. Everything about us is in this devotion to you. And then thirdly, we're going to do so with power. We refuse to do this gospel apart from power. We're not trying to be in form only. We want to bring a message that transforms lives. So I want you to take another 30 seconds. Pray for some members of your family.

1:34:39 And just pray for them right now. Just by name, name them before the Lord. it's from me and my house we will serve the Lord Father, we pray. We pray for our families. We stand before you with joy and praying for our families, those who are walking with you, those who are not. We just declare, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We acknowledge that the blood of Jesus is enough to cover the worst sins in any of our households. And I pray right now that this Christmas season into New Year's would be a season of great visitation as Ben announced in our offering reading today.

1:35:35 Open heavens, open heavens, visitations, encounters, angelic visitations. We pray these things over our family for the honor of the name of Jesus. Let's take and receive the blood together.