Pastor Robert and TaQuaris Smith
Pastor Robert: Praise the Lord. Good morning. It's good to be with you this morning. It's good to be with you this season. A lot of great things have been happening in our midst and it's good to be able to fellowship with you and grow with you and love on you and see all the things that God is doing in our midst and adding to our family. And so we praise God for what he's doing and praise God for what's to come.
I was telling Pastor Brian when I pulled up this morning, I heard them banging away on the water tower this morning. They got a few guys up there this morning doing what they do. That's exciting to see that, that going up. We are excited again to come before you with the word of the Lord this morning.
Over the past few years, I've done a lot of teaching on the subject of faith and especially concerning faith, our faith in God. I've shared with many people about how this faith in God requires certain things on our part. Namely, there are three different areas. I believe when we say we are having faith in God. There are three areas that I believe that we are what we are confessing to. I believe that when we say we have faith in God, that we are trusting in who God is, in other words, his character.
That's why it's important to get to know God for who he is as he has been revealed in the scriptures and not what people have said God is, but what we can see and read in the written word. Because we get to know what God's character is and, and even manifest it in our lives. God is consistent. God is faithful in who he is. When we say we are trusting in God, we are first and foremost our trusting in who he is.
Secondly, I believe when we say we have faith in God, is that we are trusting in his promises. I like to make a disclaimer when I talk about this because I'm not talking about these things that we think God has said to us. I'm talking about the things that are sure, assured, surely, and that comes from God's word. There are things in His word promises that are true. No matter what we think or believe, his word is true. And so when we get to know him more, we come to understand, to trust him means to trust his word. That's why it's important for us to grow in our knowledge, in our study and our understanding of his word too.
Lastly, I believe if we say we have faith in God, it means that we are trusting in what I call God's program. God's program is orchestrated by his sovereign will and his sovereign will. In his sovereign will, there are appointed times for seasons appointed, times for events, appointed times for changes, appointed time for deliverances, appointed times for answered prayer, et cetera. We can go on and on. There are different times, appointed times in this life that have to do with God's program. In other words, to trust in God's program, you have to trust in his timing.
As we look at the birth of Jesus, some may ask the question, why was Jesus born some 2000 years ago instead of today or any other time in history? I'm not necessarily talking about the exact date of his birth. I don't think really when it comes down to it we really know the exact day. I know some have come up with all kinds of theories. I think that the earth has grown mature enough that we can maturely say December 25th is probably not the exact day he was born. But does it really matter? I don't think so. But as far as the timing in history, I believe is important, it's significant.
The timing of his birth, in other words, his coming in the flesh because Jesus is eternal, his coming in the flesh at the time that he came was a fulfillment of prophecy. And it was also a time that was by the will of God, the sovereign will of God. We want to talk to you today about Jesus coming in God's time. If we look at the scripture, we have the understanding that the right time had come for Jesus to be born. We can look in Galatians chapter 4:4-5.
TaQuaris: But when the right time came, God sent his son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
Pastor Robert: In my notes in my Bible, I've underlined that phrase, but when the right time came, some earlier translation says, in the fullness of time. If we look into the definition of that, this was the perfect time. You heard the secular phrase, all the stars aligned up for something to happen. Well, there is actually truth to that when it comes to Jesus' birth. The stars did line up a particular way like it had never had in any time in history. It's an interesting study.
My dad was a NASA scientist for 33 years, so I'm an old astronomy geek. My dad taught me how to read the stars, the constellations and things like that. It's one of those things that is fascinating that no matter where you are in the parts of the world, we see a totally different sky than they do in say, South Africa. It's a whole different thing, fascination. But at this particular time, in this part of the earth, there were certain stars that aligned a certain way at the time that Jesus was born. But anyway, that's a little side note.
But Galatians tell us that there was a perfect time for Christ's birth in Bethlehem to occur, and God was the one who brought it about. God orchestrated all the necessary events to bring this about. Let's think about it. There was a succession of these events spanning several hundred years at a very high level. Things were moving about. I don't have time this morning to give you every single event in detail, but just bear with me as I summarize these things that came about to ultimately come to the birth of Jesus.
Over many centuries, God had done these things. He had brought a secession of world empires eventually leading up to the Roman Empire who was occupying the land in which Jesus was born. During this rising and falling of all of these empires, God had sent Israel and Judah off into captivity, and they were off into captivity in Babylon and Assyria. Then God brought a remnant of the children of Israel back into their land after their captivity. And then God subsequently brought this land of Palestine under the rule and occupation of the Roman Empire.
At a particular point in time, he had caused a particular Roman emperor to decide to take a census throughout the empire. The terms of this God ordained census required Mary and Joseph to leave Nazareth and to go to Bethlehem at just the time Jesus was to be born so that he would be born in the city that was prophesied in scripture.
TaQuaris: Micah 5:2, but as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah. One will come forth from me to be ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are far from long ago from the days of eternity.
Pastor Robert: I like reading the Bible, you know, obviously for his scriptural content, but also for its historical accuracy. As much as the Bible is scripture for us, it is also a history book. It's consistent and God is consistent. If you were paying attention, if you were looking at the seasons and you were looking at the times back then, the birth of Christ would not have or should not have been a surprise because it wasn't a secret what God was doing. It had been prophesied by the prophets.
If you look at the New Testament, the gospels, especially from this lens to understand that Jesus is the fulfillment of those Old Testament prophecies. That's one of my Bible students. We talk about this all the time. Jesus is the fulfillment of the old covenant, the Old Testament, Jesus himself. He said that all of the law, all of the prophets were written of me. And so we've taken a journey to go through all of those Old Testament scriptures to see Jesus, to find Jesus. We don't have to wait till the New Testament to find Jesus. He has been there from the beginning of the book. All the way in Genesis, he was there.
The Old Testament prophecy, New Testament is revelation. It revealed to us who Jesus is and who he has always been. And so now the time was right for prophecy to be fulfilled. As we see in Luke chapter 2.
TaQuaris: At that time, the Roman Emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. This was the first census taken when Carius was governor of Syria. All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him, Mary to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.
Pastor Robert: Do you know that the Old Testament contains over some 300 prophecies about Christ coming into the world, prophecies about his birth, about his life, about his ministry, his death, and his resurrection? All those prophecies about this Messiah converged together that night in Bethlehem. Prophecy has now been fulfilled for the right time was now at hand. The scripture says, "in the fullness of time." God orchestrates and he guides and he always accomplishes his purposes. That's what I want you to understand. God always accomplishes his purposes.
It's through his divine providence. It's something that we don't talk about in our church today about God's divine providence. He orders all things for the fulfilling of the scripture, and he uses the events and schemes of man's purposes to serve his. Look how God orchestrated this coming about. The Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus decided to conduct a census.
The most powerful man in the world at the time had no idea that this command for census would cause a man he had never met, meaning Joseph, to travel to a village he had never heard of Bethlehem in order to fulfill a prophecy that was written 700 years earlier.
We can be powerful in our own minds. We can think we can control things in our own power, but God has his purposes that guess what, you can't stop. I want to prophesy to some of you that have been so-called cursed by people. And so-called people said that you would never do what God had called you to do. They are a lie.
If God has called you and prophesied it to you, it shall come to pass no matter what happens. There is nothing too big. There is nothing insurmountable that God can't overcome. I want you to receive that this morning. God will accomplish His purposes. One of the hardest things in this faith in God is, I believe, trusting in God's timing. It's hard, but we have to understand that time is a big issue for our lives. God's timing in our lives is sovereign.
That's another subject we avoid talking about God's sovereignty. It's something that we just need not to be in dread about, but to pay attention to and to remember. Solomon reminded us about God's times in Ecclesiastes.
TaQuaris: There is a season, a time appointed for everything and a time for every delight, an event or purpose under heaven. Here Solomon was trying to put things in perspective from his advanced years. There is a time for every matter under heaven and God's sovereignty is crucial to our understanding of this chapter here in Ecclesiastes. Solomon explains in this chapter that there are wonderful things that happen to us in life, counter with things that many may feel are not so good, but are all within God's time.
These words are for every person. It's for every place and there for every circumstance. God has appointed the times and the seasons, the events of our lives, the happy and the sad, the easy and the difficult. God, he exhausts the same person and he can humble that same person. God, he raises nations up and he takes them down. And even the day of our death has been set because God is in control.
Trusting in God's timing is a crucial aspect of our faith journey. Often, his timing, it may not align up with our own timing or our own expectations or the timelines that we have set for ourselves. In those moments, we are called to surrender. And then we have to trust the one who sees the bigger picture. Romans 8:28 reminds us of that. It says that and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God to those who are called according to the purpose for them.
Pastor Robert: Lemme say something really quick on that. I had a life scripture growing up that I believe was very instrumental in my first half of my life. And that was about honoring your parents. That was my life scripture, so that's how I molded my life in making decisions and staying out of trouble when I did stay out of trouble. It's about not dishonoring my parents.
The second half of my life, this scripture means more to me than it has ever before in my life. It is human frailty that questions the negativity in our lives and the bad things in our lives, or the unfortunate things in our life. We struggle with that. And we start, what I call, the black hole of questions of why. I say black hole of question because when you start asking those “why” life questions, you can go on and on and on and on and never be satisfied with a particular answer.
I believe that's because that answer is not necessarily on this side of life. And the reason I say that, and it's difficult for us because we have a finite mind and we lose the perspective that God is infinite. When you have the infinite versus the finite, there is going to be some misunderstandings. There is going to be some, a lack of understanding, confusion and things that we can't see because God's perspective is far greater than our perspective.
When we conclude this message, God cares about every detail of our lives, but he doesn't care about it in the same way that we do because God sees it from an infinite perspective. God sees it from a destiny perspective. His number one purpose for your life is for you to end up with him for all eternity. He will orchestrate everything in your life, the good, the bad, the ugly so that no matter what happens, the ultimate reality is that you spend eternity with him.
Sometimes, in doing that, there are things that we lose. There are people we lose. There are circumstances that are not necessarily favorable in our eyes, but God says, my child, my design, my purpose is for you to be with me for eternity. Sometimes situations have to change, things have to be removed, people have to be removed to bring that about. That's a part of our human frailty. That's hard for us to understand.
But see, that goes way back to my introduction when I say you have to trust God in who he is. Trust God in his promises and trust God in his program, his sovereign will and sovereign time. That's the only anchor we have in order for us to still see and believe this about God, even in those troubled times.
TaQuaris: God has a purpose in what he does, even if we don't understand what that purpose is. Like my husband said, the comforting truth of Romans 8:28 is faced especially on God's sovereignty because circumstances don't need to be perfect for God's timing to be perfect. God can work out his perfect time and his perfect will in a time that doesn't make sense sometimes.
First Corinthians reminds us that God has chosen the foolish things of this world to put to shame the wise. And he has chosen the weak things of this world to put the shame to things which are mighty. And God, he can align things in a way that only he can do. If all things were together for good, all events, all trials, all happenings, the good, the bad, and the ugly, et cetera, then God must be over all things and he must control all things.
Pastor Robert: And just hear me when I say about him controlling all things. Like Pastor Brian said earlier, as far as us being in a sinful world, and we have our sinful nature, so there are some things that happen to us that's not good. But God said he works it out for our good, and that's why he's in control of all things.
Sometimes, we need not to mistake God's patience for his absence because his timing is perfect. His presence is constant because he's always with us. He is Emmanuel. For example, when what felt late to Hannah was actually perfect, because Samuel was born exactly the right time to lead an idolatrous nation back to God. Joseph, he was released from prison at exactly the right time to save his people, including his own family from famine.
Pharaoh's daughter went to the river at exactly the right time to find baby Moses in the basket. Jesus came at exactly the right time to fulfill the prophecies, save us from our sin, and restore a broken world back to hope. Robert and TeQuaris Smith met a couple named Brian and Jacque Lother at exactly the right time. See God, he orchestrates all of this. And sometimes we don't understand all of this, but God's timing is sovereign.
If you allow me for a minute to let me kind of unpack what my wife just said, so that you understand to bring to real context how God orchestrates things and you can see the alignment. I knew of Hope, Pastor Brian and Jacque for years. I knew of them, but I'd never met them. I never met you guys. But that was through a mutual relationship we had with Pastor AJ in Birmingham, Alabama.
And so when AJ would come, I would see him and fellowship, and he would always say he's going out to Corcoran. You know, I'm like, "Why are you going out to Corcoran?" But anyway, that's a whole different conversation. Nothing ever transpired from that. I was serving in a ministry for close to 20 years and it came time for me to leave that ministry.
And I was home. I did not, for a year after that, I did not fellowship with another church community. I led Bible study, because Pastor AJ and other men of God said, "Hey, we don't care what you do. You are called to teach and preach." So that's what you need to be doing, not just sitting at home. So that's what I did for a year.
During the pandemic, we had ups and downs as far as meeting places, but there was this great thing called Zoom that I had never put my hands on. But we got a hold of Zoom. And so I led a Bible fellowship through Zoom and through meeting and different places.
And then there was a sweet older lady named Ruby that departed this life, that brought Pastor AJ back here to Minnesota. That brought an invitation because I knew Ms. Ruby as well, Jackie's mom. Had known her for years. I didn't know Jackie, but I knew Ms. Ruby. And you see all this? You see the ingredients being put together?
Ms. Ruby departed this life. Hope had the memorial service. Pastor AJ was coming to the memorial service. He says, "Hey, you need to come meet Brian." And I'm like, "Uh, okay." not knowing what to expect, not interested whatsoever. I had no physical, emotional heart desire at all to be doing what we are doing now, but God did.
And so all of these things are lining up at a very sensitive time, emotional time. The church coming out of covid. You guys had some people depart here, and all of these things bring sorrow, bring disappointment, bring uncertainty, bring anxiety. Here comes this little short baldhead guy sitting down with this handsome long-haired guy. And God put this thing together at his timing.
After years, multiple years of Pastor Brian visioning dealing with the city. Around the same time, things start moving forward with city development. All these, these aren't coincidences. Things that would have, should have, could have happened years ago, all converging at the same time. It's God's plan. That doesn't mean that there is not mishaps or bumps along the way. Things that might, oh. You start, you start second guessing.
Do you think Joseph second guessed who he was and God down in that prison cell, especially when he was forgotten about, when he was promised that, oh, I got you back? When I get out, I got you. That "I got you" never came. We don't know nothing about that, right? Those times where you can't– This doesn't seem right. But see, when it's God's divine will, it doesn't matter what obstacles man puts in the way.
If you guys could only know the story of me and my wife's union, which I believe was God's divine will and everything except the brim stones of hell was thrown against it for it not to come to pass. I see my spiritual family nodding their heads, that was along the journey, but God said, "This is what I ordained."
TaQuaris: I just want to say something about that because it just reminds me of a prayer that I had, and it wasn't a need. It was more of a want. It has a lot to do with when I even met my husband. My dad was on hospice at my house, and I was taking care of him, and he was passing, and all my family came here to the house or whatever. I had just left one church and started going to this church that my husband was going to. I wasn't even there for a couple of months. I was just a complete newbie.
At that time, Robert, he was the visitation pastor. That was part of one of his duties, so he went to the hospitals. He ended up coming to my house at a very intimate time that my family was having, and he met my dad or whatever. But this is very significant because I had prayed and asked God. Before I met him, I said, "Lord, I want my dad to meet my husband." Because prior to me going to the church, I was at, I was prophesied on about him at my old church.
I would get prophesied about marriage to this minister from prophets all over the world and other countries. I didn't even want to hear it. It kept happening. Like for years, they would talk to me about it and they would say this. I looked and everyone else was getting married, and I was a single parent. But I had to continue to just have faith. I had some bad relationships, and God would say, that's not the person. And I'd be like, oh my gosh. And I had to leave him alone.
But God said in his timing, right? I could have got so discouraged because I've seen everybody get married before me, but I was the one prophesied on in front of all of them for years. It was very serious that my dad met my husband. He had lived with me for five years. And if I did date, I did not date around my father. I didn't bring nobody to my house.
Now, here is my dad on the, on his deathbed, and God still granted that to me. That's something big to me because he didn't have to do that. But my dad still met my husband, right? Even if it was on his deathbed, it's still what's in God's timing. And even in that little bit of something, God still works wonders just in even the small details that tell you He cares about us that much. He loves us that much. Every intricate detail, he works out. All things work together, all things, everything.
That's why the Bible says we've got to trust in the Lord with all of our heart and not lean onto our own understanding and acknowledge him in all of our ways. And then what happens? That's when he directs us. After we acknowledged him, after we laid it down at his feet, after when everything broke, all hell broke loose. That's when after everyone turned their back against you, after you lost that job, after you had a health condition that you didn't see coming your way, after you lost a loved one, you still gotta trust him in everything because he cares for us, every intricate detail.
Pastor Robert: The message we are trying to say today, we are not going to be before you long, is that God is concerned about every detail and aspect of your life. His timing was not just relevant concerning Jesus' birth. It's also relevant to you today as well. He wants to be a part of every aspect of life. And that includes your time. That includes the decisions you make. That includes the transitions that take place. That includes the resets and the redirections.
TaQuaris: In this fast-paced world that we live in, patience is really a rare virtue. Because we live in a microwave age and we want things through when we want them. And we often deal with doubts regarding God's timing in our lives. Sometimes, we tend to put ourselves first not believing in his divine timing. But regardless of how we see God's plans for us, they are always at the right time. They are always at the perfect time. They are always good for us. Sometimes, that good is persevering through the difficult times, because sometimes through trials and situations and circumstances, God, he molds our character. He molds and shapes our character into a better version of ourselves.
Sometimes, he doesn't reveal all the plans. Sometimes, he doesn't reveal the different seasons and the times. We just simply have to have full confidence in him. We have to just trust in him to bring things into full circle in his perfect timing. But the good news is we know that he will do it. And in the meantime, we have to lean on the Lord. We have to remember his perfect track record. And he's always victorious. So we are always victorious through Him. God, he never loses.
Pastor Robert: It's an irony that sometimes the very time that you need to believe most that God is involved in the timing of your life is the time when it's hardest to believe that he's involved in the timing of your life. Concerning faith, this faith thing, again, there is this singer. The late Darryl Coley as a song.
He says, when the music stops, that's when I live my song. When the band goes home and I'm all alone, that's when I live the life that I sing about in my song. When I say amen, that's when I sing the life. That's when I live this life that we sing, the praises that we sing. When we are at the hardest. That's when our praises mean the most. That's when our confessions mean the most. It's when it is not convenient and when it's hard that you can still trust and believe in the things that you say when everything's going great.
The church went through a season. Everybody was blessed and highly favored. I think that was in a time when wages were better, food was more available, the housing market was great. Everybody was blessed and highly favored. I don't seem to hear that too much post covid. But I think it was the same God pre covid and the same God post covid.
There is an old saying: he may not come when you want him, but he's what? He is always on time. When you go through troubled times, you might think to yourself that God is not there, that he's late. But let me tell you this, God is always on time. His timing is perfect. God was involved in every detail of Jesus's birth. And in that same way, he's evolved in every detail of your life. And you know what's strange?
God will sometimes ensure, will use your enemies to ensure that his timing is perfect. He used the Roman emperor to ensure that this census would be held in order for the prophecies. Otherwise, how would the prophecies come to pass? How would there be this movement? He used the persecution of the early church, the early church Christians that we read throughout the book of Acts. He used this early persecution to ensure that the gospel be spread to the ends of the earth.
He prophesied that the gospel, the good news, would go to the end of the earth. Well, how is it going to go to the end of earth when you had these folks who thought they were so special that they were going to keep God all to themselves? They had no desire to leave Jerusalem. They had no desire to go beyond their four walls. They had no desire to go beyond their own kinfolks.
But see, the little problem is this: God prophesied way back in the old covenant that his people would be of all nations. That's not just something that came about at the time of Jesus. God always had that in mind for all of the world, all of the nation, all ethnos, all ethnicities, all tribes, all tongues to be his people. But how could that be if there were a certain people that didn't want to go beyond their borders?
Persecution came and the church spread like never before. And the world was open up to the good news of Jesus. Today, he uses your enemies in order for his timing in your life to be perfect. I know you say enemies, you can fill in the blank with the names of people. I would say those people are used by your enemy. People aren't your enemy, but we have an enemy that people can be used by. That sounds better.
If you are going through troubled times, remember that God's timing is always perfect. We just have to submit to his timing. We have to trust him. We have to trust him. My prayer for you, for Hope, for this community and this faith community that has gone through so much, even in the small time that I've been here, I know that God still has certain desires and things for you. And one evidence of that is that I still see your faces.
You could have very easily left, could easily have been taken out, but you are here. Sean, you are here for a reason, for a season. You are here for God to do a great thing in you here. We can look at things, we can get disappointed by things that happen or don't happen to us. But if you are a child of God, trust that God knows what he's doing in your life. Just trust him because he loves you and he wants the best for you. The best is yet to come. There were many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many males that were born during the time of Jesus, but he was the best that came. Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you for Emmanuel, God with us. We thank you that you saw fit in that time, in history to bring all the prophecies concerning the birth of our Lord and Savior to fulfillment at that moment that changed the course of history. Lord, you are lining up things in our lives right now, and you are moving them around to make a grateful impact in our lives for such a time as this. Lord, I pray that we continue to trust you. We continue to hold your hand as you guide us in the midst of uncertainty of the unknown and the unexpected.
We trust that you have the best for us. And no matter what happens, then in the end we will still be victorious and bring glory to your name. Lord, help us in those uncertain times, the times of doubt, the times of skepticism, and lack of understanding. Lord, help us to trust in your sovereign will for our lives and bring us to a place of peace and a place of releasing everything all to you. For we love you and we trust you.
But Lord, there are things that happen as we wait upon you, that discourage us, that disappoint us, that confuse us. And we pray that you would fill those voids, that you'll heal our hearts and bring peace to our minds. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen.
Pastor Brian: I sang a song a year ago; the opening line goes something like this: Many a man has sought to be God, destroying the world on their way, but only one God ever sought to be man. He was born on Christmas day. He was born at the perfect time, in the perfect place. It didn't feel perfect to Mary and Joseph because that's not where they went first. They went to the inn; that's where they wanted it to happen. God had a different plan. God's timing is always perfect.
Our good friend, Barry McGuire, who probably is most noted for recording Eve of Destruction back in the 60s, he said this to us, he said, "You know, Brian, God's never late. He has missed a lot of golden opportunities to be early, but he's never late." And of course, those early opportunities are for us. It's what we want. It's not what he wants.
He sent an angel to Elizabeth. Six months later, he sent another angel, Gabriel, to Mary to proclaim the birth of not only Jesus, but to Elizabeth, the birth of John. Right about the same time, he sends another messenger to Rome, taps Caesar on the head and says, "You need to have a census so that you can see how much tax revenue you are making."
He wakes up the next morning and says, I got a good idea. Whose idea was it? It was God's that all the world should be taxed. But you know, they didn't live in the information age. He didn't just sit at his computer screen and touch a button, and then everybody throughout the region knew that they needed to go to their ancestral home. They sent many military entourages to all these different towns and cities.
One day, an entourage arrived in Nazareth: "Here ye hear ye, everyone needs to go back to their ancestral town." And they gave them a certain window of time to do it. In that window was when Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem. If God can orchestrate those kinds of things in a world without computers, what do you think he can do with us in our world today? We can trust him. He's trustworthy. He's trustworthy.
I think some of you maybe, I use this expression, your dreamers may have been broken because you've waited so long for your dreams to come to pass. Let God resurrect your dreams, the words that he has spoken to you in your life that have yet to come to pass. They don't necessarily have to be in the context of a prophetic word. It could have been something that God spoke to you as you laid your head on your pillow at night. But God is always speaking to us. What has he spoken to you that has yet to come to pass? Let that be resurrected in God's perfect timing.
Father, I thank you for this message that your timing is perfect. And I pray in Jesus' name that all of your desire for us, all those purposes that you've called us to, all of the plans that you've had for us, as your word says, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord plans to give you a future and a hope. Those plans, father, I pray that they would resurrect in our hearts. Maybe they've gotten lost in the waiting. They've become just a distant memory.
We began to doubt, was this really a real dream? I'm sure Joseph and the dungeon and the prison started to wonder, was that a real dream from you? But Lord, you have given us, put in our hearts, desires. You've planted in our hearts desires that you've placed there. And I pray that those desires would be fueled and fed and watered and that Lord, we would again once believe in your timing, your perfect timing from your eternal perspective, that Father, we would walk accordingly as Mary said to Gabriel, as you say, be it unto me. As you say, be it unto me.
As you have said, Lord, may it be unto us. May we walk into all that you have for us. May we not look at the circumstances that we may have found ourselves in, but may we look to you. May we look to you. I wonder, Lord, if Mary ever read the book of Micah after she was carrying you in her womb and wondered, "I have no reason to go to Bethlehem. I wonder if that scripture is true." And then one day an entourage shows up and it all falls into place.
Lord, you want to show up in your glory to us so that all things will fall into place. I just thank you. I thank you for your power, your sovereignty, your wisdom. I thank you that, Lord, you are the King of kings. You are the Lord of lords. You are sovereign. You know how to take care of what belongs to you, and you know how to bring to pass that which you've declared. Help us simply to walk in trusting faith with you.
We all have things we are trusting for, believing in, desiring for. I pray that we would not lose our faith in the waiting because you were born at just the perfect time and the perfect place so that all of the things that you have declared will come to pass. We bless your name. Lift our hands together, shall we?
And now, may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may he turn his face towards you, and may you turn your face towards him and may you wait patiently for the promises. This we pray in the name of the Father and the Son, and Holy Spirit, amen. God bless you.
Shaun and Sherry will be serving communion today. We'll have people to pray for you if you have any prayer needs. God bless you. Thank you for being here today. Hopefully, we'll see you next Sunday. We have a very, very special Christmas-Eve Sunday morning service plan for you. God bless you. Bye-Bye.
Transcript taken from the Sunday morning service 12-17-23. If you would like to watch the full service, click the link below.