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#20260419 - Waiting On Purpose - Luke 1:5-25 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Amen. Amen.
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Well, it's estimated guys that the average person will spend
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five to seven years of their life just waiting, whether
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you're in line, sitting in traffic, waiting for your device
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to load a, a pot of water to boil, five to seven years just
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gone just like that. Now, if you add in the time it
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takes for pastors like me to land the plane of sermons, it's
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like 15 years, right? You're like, come on, Sean, It's
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a, you're getting over time. No, that's not you guys.
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You guys have a lot of you're good, you're good, you're good
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Bible students. So I don't have to worry about
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that with you guys. And I'll try to wrap it up as
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soon as I can. But we wait for lots of things
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in life. And the reality is church, we
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wait for things a lot heavier than the medial things I just
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mentioned, right? Some of you guys are waiting for
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that job opportunity. You've been knocking and
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knocking and just waiting for a door to open.
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We wait for purpose to be given. A lot of people are just waiting
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for a calling to be able to step into a calling and feel like
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they have a greater purpose to serve.
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A lot of people wait for financial security where you
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feel like maybe your head's finally above water.
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You wait for emotional security. Maybe that's you.
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You're just waiting for that day.
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You can trust your own feelings. Again, we wait for relational
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security, where maybe you feel like you can finally trust other
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people. If you're under 65, you're still
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waiting for Social Security, and you hope and pray that there's
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some left when you get there, right?
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Chronic pain, that illness to be healed, to see that estranged
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loved one again. This is a heavy one right here.
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There's some of you who are just waiting for the moment that life
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will finally make some sense 'cause you've been going through
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the wringer and it just does not look right on this side of
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heaven. It does not make sense.
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A lot of people wait for that. We wait for the day that we stop
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feeling this longing in our hearts for something more, don't
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we? We wait for the day that we'll
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finally learn to stop filling it with things that leave us more
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empty than before. We wait on heavy things as
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believers. We wait to be reunited with
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Jesus. Ultimately, when every longing
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will be met, every need will be met.
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Everything in this list I just mentioned, except Social
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Security, because you won't need that in heaven, thank the Lord.
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But we shouldn't think it's strange, church, that our life
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is a perpetual state of waiting, that we find ourselves in that
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zone. And so I can't think of a better
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subject to cover a broad audience than to talk about how
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we honor God in our waiting. Because y'all are waiting for
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you. Have that one thing you're
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thinking of in your mind right now.
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And guess what? If and when that's finally
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resolved, you'll just pick a new thing that you're going to be
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waiting on. There'll be always something.
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And don't worry because we're in good company.
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Because from Genesis to Revelation, it's story after
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story of people waiting on God's promises.
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For instance, Noah waited over 100 years to figure out why
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building a boat in the middle of dry land would have any value
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aside from like being a cool Airbnb, you know, like what,
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what, what is the value of this massive ship?
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It's we're in the middle of dry land.
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The mockery, you know, his, his faithfulness to just wait as he
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built a / 100 years. Abraham waited 25 years from the
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time Isaac was promised to the time Isaac was actually born.
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And in reality, he waited decades longer because they
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couldn't have kids and tried for a long time.
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Joseph waited 13 years in slavery and in prison before he
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saw his promise fulfilled. Moses waited until he was 80
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years old to step into his calling.
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The Israelites waited 400 years to be delivered from slavery in
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Egypt, 400 years. the United States is only 250 years.
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I think about that almost double the time we've been a country.
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They waited in Egypt to be freed, and then they had to wait
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another 40 years wandering in the wilderness to enter into the
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promised land. King David was anointed as a
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young man. He had to wait over 20 years
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before he finally saw the throne.
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This is a big one. Jesus.
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He waited till he was 30 years old to step into his calling.
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And you might think, well, 30 is actually pretty young.
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Oh, to be 30 again, right? But in reality, if I can look
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back on my 20s and just remember the pressures, and so maybe it
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works for you guys, you young, young folks in your 20s, you
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feel like you got to conquer the world before you turn 28.
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Just pump the brakes a little bit.
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Give yourself some grace because the creator of the universe
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waited until he was 30 to step into his calling.
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OK, so like give yourself some grace, give yourself some time.
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But even Jesus waited. Paul the apostle, we, we often
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glaze over this in the book of Acts, but from the time he was
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saved to the time he was actually commended and
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commissioned by the other apostles, 17 years, many of
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those years in the deserts of Arabia, he says we, we realize
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it's one long testimony of waiting.
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That's the Bible and it doesn't end with life.
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It actually goes into heaven. In fact, in Revelation, we see
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the martyrs crying out to God. When will you avenge our deaths,
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Lord? And what does God say, Hey, just
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just wait, Just wait a little longer, wait a little longer.
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He's like, really? We're in heaven and I'm still
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waiting. He says, wait till I accomplish
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what I intend to accomplish in the tribulation period.
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And then, of course, once the tribulation is over, we wait
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another thousand years for the through the millennial reign of
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Christ before the new heavens and the new earth are
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established. There's waiting from beginning
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to end. And today we're going to look at
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a couple who waited faithfully and we're going to glean from
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them the title of today's message is Waiting on Purpose.
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And I want you to know that I want as we, as we go through
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this study, I want you to realize there is purpose in your
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waiting. In fact, I want you to realize
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that waiting is not an inconvenience.
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It's not just a byproduct of hard of a hard life.
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Waiting is a necessity for you. Waiting is necessary for God's
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work and purpose to be accomplished in your life.
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You have to have seasons of waiting.
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We might even say that waiting is a trademark of a life of
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faith. So if you're waiting, which is
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everybody in this room and you're trusting, you are walking
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by faith. It is a trademark.
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So as we look to our couple today, Zacharias and Elizabeth,
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Luke chapter 1, I think they're just an amazing example because
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in a unique example, because they were never given some grand
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revelation, some divine promise that they could hold onto from
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early on up until this point when he does have a vision prior
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to this, they're very normal people living normal lives,
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serving in their communities, working day-to-day, living in
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the monotony of life and get this living with failed hopes
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and dreams. That's where we meet Zacharias
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and Elizabeth. That's where they're living.
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And so that's what I want to glean.
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Where where were they at in that disappointment?
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Where were they living? And so we could learn how we can
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honor God in our time of waiting.
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So Luke chapter 1, we're going to go over 5 characteristics of
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their time of waiting, 5 characteristics for you note
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takers, which is hopefully most of you.
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Verse 5, it says there was in the days of Herod, the king of
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Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the division of
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Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of
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Aaron and her name was Elizabeth.
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And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the
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commandments and the ordinance of the ordinances of the Lord.
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Blameless characteristic #1 of this famous couple, They were
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righteous. God tells us they were
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righteous. They were blameless.
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This doesn't mean they were perfect, but it means they were
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faithful to to keep God's commandments, to keep his
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ordinances. It means that they were above
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reproach. You could say their neighbors
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didn't have anything to point out to, to really say, well
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that's an obvious sin. That's an obvious sin right
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there. It's not that they wouldn't be
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criticized from their neighbors, but they were blameless in the
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Lord's eyes and righteous. And this is so important for
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your time of waiting because it's in waiting.
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It's in disappointment that we start to think, I'm going to
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start self medicating. I'm going to start doing things
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that I know God doesn't want me to do because I'm feeling
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discouraged. And you know, we get that self
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focused attitude and we start serving our flesh rather than
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honoring God. And I want to tell you, it's so
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important that you continue to honor God in your season of
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waiting. We do have to be careful though,
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because I don't want to stand up here and tell you, you work hard
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to be righteous and then God will bless you because that's
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not that's not the biblical story, OK?
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It doesn't work that way. You cannot obligate God to bless
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you. You cannot earn God's approval
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or His love. Guess what, You already have it.
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God so loved the world. You receive it by faith.
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We don't earn it. The same is true for blessings.
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OK, righteousness is good, but you're not obligating God to
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bless you. So what is the value of right to
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you? Could you could serve your
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entire life suffering for the benefit of others, and God still
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would not be obligated to bless you because it's not His
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obligation, it's His delight. He delights in blessing you.
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So what is the value of righteousness?
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Well, as we look at righteousness equating to
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blessing, what it does is it sets us on the path of God's
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design of God's purposes. It sets us on a path of inherent
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blessing in the Lord's plans for us.
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I recently did a neat word study on the word for rule in the
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Greek where it says in the New Testament walk according to the
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same rule. That Greek word is Canon, and
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some of you know that word we call the scriptures the Canon of
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scriptures. And what Canon means is that
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perfectly, It's a stick that's a perfectly straight line.
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So you can measure other lines to see how straight they are.
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And that's often the idea we get about rules, about the
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commandments. It's like we look at them, we're
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like, it's perfect, and I am not.
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And that's an important aspect of rules.
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It reveals to us our imperfections.
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But there's something else that's really neat about this
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word. OK, because Canon is the same
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word they would use for the stick.
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They put in the ground, the trellis they would create, the
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lattice they would make to allow the vine to grow up out of the
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soil. And that's how righteousness
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works in our lives. We're like that vine.
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We're not perfectly straight like the stick, but as we strive
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to follow God's rules, God's purpose and design for our
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lives, it lifts us up out of the mud.
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It positions us to receive more sunlight, to bear more fruit.
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There's inherent blessings as we walk in righteousness.
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Jack and Jill grow up serving the Lord, honoring the Lord.
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They meet each other. They get married as virgins.
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They've honored God with their purity.
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Their marriage isn't perfect, but guess what?
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Because they honor God, there's a high level of trust in their
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relationship. There's a special blessing on
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their physical intimacy. It's just inherent blessing that
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comes with honoring God. You know, Tom's Tom loved the
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commandment to just like grow in wisdom and learn and gain
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understanding. And so he studied and studied
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and has now a master's degree and is making six figures in an
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amazing job. It's just the inherent blessing
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of following God's plan for for his life.
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Sally loves the people in her community.
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She she cares for people, she reaches out to people she really
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takes seriously. To esteem others is better than
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herself. And it's no coincidence that
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she's also highly respected and highly trusted in her community.
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It's an inherent blessing with climbing the trellis of God's
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rule, of God's righteousness for our lives.
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Now imagine God coming to Zechariah and Elizabeth to find
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the vine of their life laying in the mud, unable now to bear the
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fruit of parenthood. That's not what he finds.
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What does it say? It says they were righteous.
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You see, they had positioned themselves.
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They've kept themselves in a place to be good parents.
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They were prepared for that blessing.
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Galatians 69 tells us. Let us not grow weary while
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doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose
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heart. As we're persistent and just
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doing the right thing, walking in righteousness.
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We will reap if we do not lose heart.
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So we 2 should remain righteous in our times of waiting so we
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can be prepared for the blessings that God has for our
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future. But I don't want you guys to
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miss out on any blessings that God desires for your future
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because you've allowed the vine of your life to lay in the mud.
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Start climbing that trellis. Just start honoring God.
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It's not about perfection, it's about trusting in the Lord,
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Amen. Verse 7 says, but they had no
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child because Elizabeth was barren and they were both well
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advanced in years. So right here, verse 7 I out
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right away I see another characteristic and it's this.
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They were limited, limited. Elizabeth couldn't have
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children. Zechariah was now to the point
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in his age where he couldn't have children, as the Bible said
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about Abraham in that department.
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He was as good as dead, if you know what I mean.
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And so they were at this point completely unable to attain
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their dream under their own power.
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That's where they were at. They were limited.
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And this is an important characteristic.
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We in America, it feels like we love these stories about people
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who just like overcome their limitations through grit and
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tenacity. Isn't that kind of the American
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story like the struggle, the fight to overcome?
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And, and, and we, there's countless movies.
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I recently I watched a movie about a wrestler who didn't have
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legs and he just was like this amazing man who just worked so
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hard and rose to the top and was able to be a champion in
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Division One wrestling. And, and we do, we admire those
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stories, right? But I want to tell you this is
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not one of those stories. In fact, the Bible is not one of
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those stories. The the Bible is not man
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overcoming great obstacles. The Bible is man hopeless,
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needing God to overcome on their behalf.
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Do you realize that? That's the Bible.
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These are elites. They're backed up against the
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Red Sea and the Egyptian army. They have two options, be
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slaughtered or be drowned. There's no grit or tenacity
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left. They're dead unless God does
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something. That's the story of the Bible,
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The widow and, and her, her, her child that Elijah visited, they
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had one more, you know, barley cake left to eat and then they
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were going to start to death. There was no more grit or
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tenacity left in their story. They were dead unless God did
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something. Lazarus, he actually already was
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dead until Jesus showed up and did something right.
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This is the story of the Bible. You are dead in your sins.
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You are hopeless beyond the grave.
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To have any hope at all, God has to step in and do something.
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And that's the story of this couple that we're looking at.
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They are completely limited to accomplish their dream on their
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own. And I want you to understand
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this. God loves stories where there is
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no grit or tenacity left when He can step in because then He gets
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the glory. And so I want you to know this,
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I want you to to think of that area or those areas you feel
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limited in your life. You feel short handed in your
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life and understand that those limits that He has placed upon
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you are ultimately for His glory.
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The Apostle Paul came to understand this in Second
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Corinthians 12/9. Paul reaches the ants, finally
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gets an answer from God regarding this thorn in his
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flesh. And he prayed, and he prayed.
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This was a man who was so anointed at the Lord he could
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pray for other people and they would be healed.
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But he prayed and prayed and prayed for his own healing, and
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it never happened. And God finally answered him in
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Second Corinthians 12/9. He said to me, the Lord sang to
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Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made
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perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will
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rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
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rest upon me. It was like this pivotal moment
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in his life when he realized his limit was not something to hold
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him back. His limit was the very place God
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intended to enter in, and the power of God could move and
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could function. In fact, here's the formula that
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Paul gives us. OK, we don't often look at our
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lives through this lens, through this formula, but this is what
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we're given. More of my power.
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Well then less of God's power. Less of my power, more of God's
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power. And when that light bulb kicked
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on for Paul, he's like, well, then Hallelujah for my
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limitations. And that's exactly where
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Zechariah and Elizabeth were at. They had nothing to do, nothing
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to give to breakthrough on their own.
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And God showed up wanting to show himself strong.
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God wants to show himself strong on behalf of those who are
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limited because the greatest miracles are the ones that only
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he can accomplish. Do you realize that?
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Like I think a Samson in the Bible and we're always depicting
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Samson as like this giant muscle man, you know, like he's ripping
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the gates of the Philistines out.
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And he's always like this massive guy in the cartoons or
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the however they characterize him in the movies.
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I actually think he was a skinny guy like me, where it's like
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clearly it's not this guy doing it.
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Like they're not asking him. Hey, he says what protein shake
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are you? Are you taking what supplements?
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It was the Lord, right? It was God.
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He uses us despite our limitations and it's limited
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people that are most qualified to be used in this in such a way
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to receive the power of God upon them.
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And I want to tell you that's good news for everyone of you
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because you're all limited somehow I am limited and so
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that's good news for us. So we should remain righteous
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while we wait, but we also need to be have have great hope in
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our limitations. Don't be discouraged by your
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limitations. Trust God with them.
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Verse 8. So it was that while he was
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serving, you could underline that he was serving as priest
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before God in the order of his division according to the custom
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of the priesthood. His lot fell to burn incense
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when he went into the temple of the Lord.
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Characteristic #3 is service. Zechariah and Elizabeth were
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active in service as they waited on the Lord.
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And if you think about it, it takes a lot of strength to serve
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from the place where they were that that place of like
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disappointment and failed dreams and hopes and discouragement.
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It takes a lot of strength to choose to press through.
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It takes a lot of maturity spiritually to continue to serve
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other people. Because when you live with
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failed dreams and disappointments and other people
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letting you down, the temptation becomes bitterness.
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The temptation becomes it's all about you and and how you've
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been shorthanded, how how you have just been dealt a raw hand
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and and you're not able to serve anybody because you're so
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focused on you. It takes a lot of strength and
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maturity to break out of that and to choose to serve other
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people despite how you feel. Zechariah and Elizabeth chose to
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serve despite several setbacks with their circumstances.
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One would be what other people must have been saying about
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them, right? To not be able to bear children
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was a, a, a really serious stigma that people carried
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around back in that day. The women would be looked upon
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like there was something wrong. There was there, there was
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punishment from God. It was really tragic what a
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woman back then had to go through if they couldn't bear
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children. And Elizabeth, as we see in the
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end that she was, she was heartbroken, she was hurt.
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But you can imagine what other people might have been saying
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about them. You know, they're clearly there.
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There must be some kind of sin. They were blameless.
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So there's nothing that they could point to and say, see,
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that's it. But there was this huge question
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mark. But why can't they have kids?
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God must be punishing them, right?
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That was Job's friends. That was their conclusion.
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Jesus, the disciples even thought that about the man that
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was born blind. Hey, Jesus, why was this guy
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born blind? They give Jesus two options.
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It was a multiple choice question A or BA Jesus, was it
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his parents sin or B, was it his own sin?
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But clearly it's only one of those two.
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And Jesus is like, actually it's option C that the glory of God
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would be revealed in him. But nevertheless, that was the
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idea. That was the thinking, the
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Jewish thinking back then with regards to the law.
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There must have been something wrong with them.
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And so they had to serve other people despite the gossip about
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them. Zechariah was faithful to go to
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the temple and serve, despite the fact that maybe some of his
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coworkers looked at him side eyed and questioned his
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integrity. Why?
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Why doesn't he have kids? That's a blessing from the Lord.
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They had to deal with that. And that was that would be very
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difficult. But they showed faithfulness in
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service, steadfast to serve. Here's another one.
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They chose to serve despite their own broken hearts.
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And now there are a lot of precious couples in this church
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who have gone through and are going through this very
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circumstance where they can't have kids.
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It's a very difficult thing. And you carry a broken heart.
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And it's it's really a difficult thing to walk through.
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And that's this is where they were at for years.
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They had been through carrying this disappointment.
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You can imagine the conversations at home, you know,
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Elizabeth just breaking down crying again and and you're
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questioning Zacharias. I don't get it.
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Like we give, we tithe, we honor God, we are righteous in our
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community, we're faithful. Why can't we have a family like
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everybody else that that broken heart that they carried, they
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they serve Despite that. And so you could imagine
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Zacharias after another conversation, trying to
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encourage his wife, feeling discouraged himself.
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You know, that the doubt comes in.
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Did we sin? Is there some sin we don't know
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about? Is God punishing us?
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And of course, guys, the answer is no.
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God was not punishing them. Their difficult circumstances
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was not punitive. God was just working his plan.
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And it was a difficult one for them for a long time.
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But they were faithful despite the pain and the doubt.
23:45
They were faithful to serve Zacharias.
23:47
You could see him discouragingly just putting on his robe, his
23:50
his priestly robe, and going back to work because he was
23:53
faithful. He was steadfast in service.
23:57
And then the third thing I see in their, in their faithfulness
23:59
to serve as their older age. They were faithful to serve in
24:03
their older age. The scholars believe that they
24:06
were anywhere from 50 to 80 years old.
24:09
And what's interesting is in the Levitical law for a priest to be
24:14
50 years old, you could you were supposed to retire from most of
24:18
the little the Levitical work, like a lot of the heavy lifting
24:21
you weren't allowed to do anymore.
24:24
He so Zacharias was in the retirement age.
24:28
He could have, you know, like taken a backseat, you know, move
24:31
to Caesarea by the sea, really beautiful repair.
24:35
Herod's Palaces is sitting on the sea.
24:37
Move out, get a little condo by Herod's Palace and start playing
24:40
a lot of pickleball and, you know, like working on his golf
24:43
handicap. Like he could have done that.
24:45
That was his option. He could have that.
24:47
He didn't do that, though. He pressed in, in fact, to to be
24:51
able to be drawn, to do what he's doing, he had to remain
24:54
faithful in service, keeping his name in the hat so that one day,
24:58
maybe one day, I could go pray in Jerusalem for my for my
25:02
country and represent my people. That's where he's at right now,
25:06
faithfully serving the Lord. And I do.
25:09
I think of several examples in my life who have really been
25:13
inspiring to me in their older age.
25:15
I think of a sweet couple in Tucson, AZ where I'm from Will
25:20
and I Louie Owens Will has since gone to be home with the Lord,
25:25
but I Louie is still going strong serving the Lord.
25:28
This couple I love I Louise testimony.
25:30
She says when we came to retirement age, the Lord says
25:33
don't retire, just get new tires is how she put it.
25:37
And and what happened was they as they hit retirement age, they
25:41
decided to start doing missions in Africa.
25:44
They started a trade school for women in Kenya, Africa, teaching
25:49
them how to create, how to make clothes.
25:51
And it became this really valuable trade school.
25:55
And a lot of women started coming.
25:57
A lot of resources started pouring in.
25:59
They ended up making an orphanage and then more
26:02
resources came in and then they ended up creating a a school,
26:06
primary school for the kids in the community.
26:08
And now it's this giant compound.
26:11
It's like a Samaritan's Purse kind of thing.
26:12
You can support their pastors and missionaries that serve
26:16
within there. You can sponsor a kid.
26:18
It's like man who who started this amazing organization, this
26:22
one precious old lady in my church in Tucson and I just I
26:29
whenever I talked with her was like I was speaking with the
26:31
modern day Elizabeth Elliott or just an amazing example.
26:34
Her example to me is so sweet and so precious.
26:37
Now, of course, we have our very own Bob and Jeannie Clay Camp
26:40
who have chosen to just be in the saddle here serving you guys
26:44
and they serve us so well. And I love Bob's, you know,
26:48
philosophy of this, this season of life.
26:50
He said that they desire their latter years to be more fruitful
26:53
than their former years and they're bearing so much fruit.
26:56
My wife and I, Angela and I, we look to them.
26:58
We're like, I really, I really want to be like them As we age.
27:01
I want to be focused on serving God till the very end and I just
27:05
I love their examples. First Corinthians 15.
27:09
It tells us therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
27:13
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing
27:18
that your labor is not in vain. And this was Zacharias and
27:21
Elizabeth. They were steadfast in serving,
27:24
abounding, knowing that their labor, even though they were
27:28
carrying broken dreams, their labor they knew was not in vain.
27:33
They continued to serve the Lord.
27:35
So we want to be righteous. We want to be hopeful with our
27:39
limitations. We want to be steadfast in
27:42
service while we wait. Verse 10 says in the whole
27:47
multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of
27:50
incense. Then an Angel of the Lord
27:52
appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of
27:56
incense. And when Zechariah saw him, he
28:00
was troubled and fear fell upon him.
28:03
Now you, I mean, you can imagine this would be a scary moment.
28:06
He's already nervous as it is. Like I said, this was a once in
28:09
a lifetime ceremony that he was able to participate in.
28:12
So he, he had practiced before and now he's in there just
28:14
trying to remember how to do this the right way and say the
28:17
prayers. And man, there's a he's, he's
28:20
interceding on behalf of his whole nation.
28:22
And and so with the nerves there, all of a sudden, bam,
28:25
something happens. It's not supposed to happen.
28:27
He's freaking out. This Angel appears to him.
28:30
And I, I find comfort in just seeing the humanity of these
28:34
righteous men throughout the scriptures.
28:36
Don't you like you have Isaiah, Ezekiel, these holy men who
28:40
spent so much of their time seeing visions and and praying
28:44
to God, but when it finally opened up and they saw, they
28:47
freaked out. Fear came upon him.
28:51
Gideon fell on his face. John the Apostle fell on his
28:55
face. It says he fell down as dead.
28:58
And I love God's response every time to these men who were so
29:02
struck with fear when God wanted to speak to them.
29:05
It's fear not, hey, come on, get up.
29:07
Fear not. I have something to tell you.
29:09
Fear not God. I love that about our God.
29:11
He's he's tender hearted towards us.
29:12
He's understand, he knows we're natural.
29:15
He knows we live in the natural and that the supernatural is
29:17
pretty freaky to us sometimes. In fact, as a as a worship
29:20
leader, when I'm leading you guys, I often just envision like
29:23
this ceiling, this opening up and our praise entering into the
29:27
vaults of heaven. But you know what?
29:29
If that were to actually happen, it would freak me out and, and
29:33
God's OK with that. Like if we had to stop for a
29:36
moment and be like what is happening?
29:37
God's like fear not, like this is OK fear not.
29:41
And so the Angel, he comes along, he comforts Zacharias in
29:45
verse 13. He says the Angel said to him,
29:48
do not be afraid Zacharias, for your prayer is heard.
29:53
And your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall
29:56
call his name John. Characteristic #4 These guys
30:04
were prayerful. They remained prayerful in their
30:07
time of waiting. He says your prayer has been
30:12
heard. Now.
30:14
We'll see in a moment here with Zacharias's response, it
30:17
indicates that they probably hadn't prayed that prayer in a
30:19
long time. They were praying some other
30:22
prayers, but nevertheless, they prayed for a child for years.
30:29
And what this tells us here again, imagine, put yourself in
30:35
their shoes. They had prayed for years with
30:37
with silence. And right now it's confirmed
30:41
supernaturally to them that their prayer never fell on deaf
30:44
ears ever. That every time they prayed and
30:50
felt like they got radio silence from God, God made a note.
30:53
God heard it and God took it seriously.
30:59
God, I, I love this about the Lord.
31:02
It's a beautiful thing that he never let go of their dream.
31:05
Even when they did like God continued to hold on to that to
31:09
market. Now there's a lot that we could
31:13
say about prayer and being prayerful in our waiting, but I,
31:16
I'll, I'll just say this one thing to you.
31:19
Prayer changes things. Prayer changes things.
31:24
There are things that happened in the supernatural and in the
31:27
physical realms that wouldn't happen unless you prayed.
31:32
There are prayers that you've prayed that have affected the
31:34
trajectory of history. And you might not see it, you
31:39
might not know it. It might not be exactly how you
31:42
hoped it would play out. But prayer effects things.
31:45
Prayer changes things. As a father, my kids will come
31:50
to me and, and ask things of me. And you know, a lot of times
31:54
it's like, no, just no, we're not doing you.
31:57
You, you pray and don't receive because you ask amiss.
32:00
I quote James to them, right? You ask amiss.
32:02
But you know, there are times where my kids will come to me
32:05
and they'll ask. They'll, they'll ask me
32:07
something. And it stirs my heart to action
32:11
like it provoked as a father. It provokes my heart to action.
32:16
We were living in Missouri a few years ago and not far from us
32:21
was this roller coaster park called Silver Dollar City.
32:24
And we would go there periodically.
32:26
And my, my young, my middle son, he was coming up with his game
32:30
plan in his head and I just love it.
32:32
He, he came to me and he said, dad, can mom take all the other
32:35
kids to Silver Dollar City And you can take me to the gas
32:39
station to buy a Gatorade. And I'm like, why do you want to
32:43
do what's up? Why would you want to do that?
32:45
And it just blessed my heart because he just wanted to spend
32:47
time with me. Like he, he wanted one-on-one
32:50
time with Dad and he wanted me to buy him whatever drink he
32:53
wanted. I'm like, yeah, that's easy.
32:55
You know, we could do that. And but he also didn't, he
32:58
didn't want his siblings to, like, miss out on anything.
33:01
So I was like, they can all go to the roller coaster park and
33:04
you just take me to the gas station.
33:06
Like that provoked my heart to action when he asked that.
33:09
My little girl right now, she's she's about to turn 6 and she's
33:13
been asking me for another daddy daughter date.
33:15
It's been a few months since we've done one.
33:17
And she's like, Dad, can we do a daddy daughter date?
33:19
And she even wrote me a little note like, Daddy, can you Take
33:23
Me Out on a date soon? And we've got the little note,
33:25
like pinned to the wall, you know, because we're going to
33:28
plan it soon. We've been.
33:29
And whenever we start talking about him planning her little,
33:31
the expression on her face, she gets like all bashful and like,
33:35
excited. It's so precious.
33:37
I love my little girl, but it's like her request provoked my
33:40
heart to action. I have a much busier schedule
33:44
than they would understand things that I have to balance
33:47
right and that they don't, they don't even get.
33:50
But when they speak into my more complex existence, it's still
33:56
it's still bends my will like it it.
33:59
It provokes me to change my plans for their prayers.
34:03
And I don't know if you view God that way.
34:05
Maybe you feel like it's irreverent to think that God
34:09
would acquiesce to man in that way.
34:12
Or or maybe maybe you've been hit too much with the false
34:15
doctrine of like the name it claim it like God has to do what
34:18
you tell him to because you said the words in this way.
34:21
That's all garbage. But here's what's true.
34:25
God is a loving and tender hearted Father who loves you.
34:30
And when we pray, especially in the will of Jesus and name of
34:34
Jesus, it moves his heart. It provokes his heart to action.
34:39
Do you believe that? And he knows what's best.
34:42
He knows how to answer that prayer in a way that will make
34:46
eternity even better. And so we can trust him.
34:50
Zechariah and Elizabeth, they were, they, they prayed a prayer
34:52
for decades and it was a no. And God thumbtacked that prayer
34:57
to the wall of his office and just looked at it just like, I
35:00
can't wait to to fulfill that. Even when they thought the ship
35:04
had said sail, God was like I'm I'm just looking ahead to that
35:07
day when I can say yes to these precious people.
35:12
So God waited in excitement. They were prayerful.
35:15
They continued to pray for other things even beyond this prayer.
35:19
That's what we see here in his ministry.
35:21
Verse 14 it says, and you will have joy and gladness.
35:28
Many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great in the
35:33
sight of the Lord. I mean, that's that's crazy to
35:37
for the Angel to be like your kid is going to be great in
35:40
God's eyes. That's a, that's a pretty
35:42
profound statement there. He shall drink neither wine nor
35:47
strong drink. He'll be a, a Nazarite or yeah,
35:51
Nazarite is what they call it. He will also be filled with the
35:54
Holy Spirit even from his womb. That's a very unique thing.
35:59
He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord
36:02
their God. He will also go before him the
36:06
the the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the
36:12
hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to
36:15
the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the
36:20
Lord. Whenever I read this, I'm always
36:24
reminded as a as a, as a man and as a father for you men, even if
36:31
you're not a paternal father, you're you're a man.
36:34
You represent a fatherly figure in the world around you.
36:39
And to me, this reminds me that when God wants to make ready the
36:41
society for a great work, for revival, one of the things that
36:46
happens is men start caring for children.
36:50
Men choose to have a tender heart towards those who are not
36:55
as strong, who can't defend themselves, who have nothing to
36:58
offer you back. You're willing to serve them,
37:01
you're willing to love them. That's a that's a characteristic
37:05
that's a pre revival symptom is that men start caring more for
37:09
children. Verse 18 it says and Zacharias
37:13
said to the Angel, how shall I know this for I am an old man
37:18
and my wife is well advanced in years.
37:21
He's pretty wise with his words there.
37:23
He's like how how like how is this going to happen?
37:25
I'm old and my wife, well, she's she's well advanced in years.
37:30
Let's just say right, very delicately put that that's good
37:34
move, Zacharias. But he he responds with doubt
37:39
like no, I do you do you know who I am?
37:42
Like do you know how old I am and Gabriel's like, do you know
37:46
who I am? He's like I'm Gabriel.
37:49
I'd live. I dwell in the presence of God,
37:51
like there is nothing too great for God.
37:55
But this is where we under come to the understanding that they
37:58
did believe this dream was done. It was it was a done deal like
38:02
they that ship set sail. It was never going to happen.
38:05
It was a no from God. This is where we learned that
38:09
that's where they had been living for years in
38:11
disappointment. And so this is my favorite
38:13
characteristic about their example is that they were
38:16
faithful to serve through disappointment.
38:20
They were faithful despite disappointment.
38:26
They continue to desire it, but they just knew it wasn't going
38:30
to happen anymore. It was impossible.
38:31
God said no. And yet they had come to a place
38:34
of faithfulness despite God's no faithful, despite their
38:39
circumstances. And I just think that's a great
38:43
example. That's for us.
38:46
It's, it's different than a lot of the the other people in the
38:49
Bible stories that we looked at who had just so much
38:51
supernatural intervention going on around them.
38:54
I mean, how many times did Abraham get to see God and talk
38:56
to God? Moses not these guys.
38:59
They were normal, regular people like you and me, just again,
39:04
just living with hopes that had not been met, broken dreams and
39:08
disappointments. And they were still faithful to
39:11
God. In fact, this is what I would
39:13
say about Zechariah and Elizabeth.
39:16
They had faith to move mountains, that faith to move
39:20
mountains. Even though their mountain
39:22
didn't move, they still believe God was in the business of
39:27
miracles and moving on behalf of other people and answering
39:31
prayers even though their mountain didn't get moved.
39:36
Very similar to the Apostle Paul, he had faith to know God
39:39
still was doing amazing things even though he was told no, I
39:44
will not heal you. I will not take away this thorn
39:46
in your flesh. To me, that is inspiring.
39:50
That is inspiring because of of, you know, the very few people
39:55
who will see God move in some amazingly miraculous way.
39:59
There are 99% of the other people who never will.
40:03
So we need this example of somebody who was faithful
40:06
despite the no, despite the fact that their loved one did go home
40:11
to be with the Lord, that the healing didn't come, that they
40:14
couldn't have children. That's where they were at in
40:17
this moment. And this is the example they
40:19
give us. The disappointment didn't keep
40:22
them from praying for others. It didn't keep them from hoping
40:27
in God. Do you realize that He's there,
40:30
interceding for the nation? He's there selected to be the
40:36
man of prayer for that hour, for that day because he still
40:40
believed and so he was faithful to do that.
40:44
He knew God would still move on his behalf as as the Lord will.
40:47
So faithful through disappointment.
40:48
Guys, that is so key, so important as we look to their
40:52
example. Verse 19 says, and the Angel
40:57
answered and said to him, I am Gabriel who stands in the
41:01
presence of God and was sent to speak to you and bring you these
41:06
glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and
41:10
not able to speak until the day these things take place because
41:13
you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their
41:17
own time. There's the the movie The
41:22
Nativity, which is like a really awesome account of this of
41:25
Zechariah and Elizabeth. It's an it's an older movie now,
41:28
but it depicts Gabriel almost like getting frustrated.
41:31
You know, I'm Gabriel and I don't, I don't necessarily know
41:34
if that was the case. Obviously it's somewhat punitive
41:37
because he's saying, well, you didn't believe and so you're
41:39
going to be mute. But I just I think that they
41:42
knew beforehand how this was going to play out.
41:45
The Lord knew he's probably like, watch, if he says it's
41:50
never going to happen, just tell him he's going to be mute.
41:53
And I think God also knew that his Zacharias silence was going
41:58
to be a greater witness to his community than his war.
42:01
Then his words would be. I think it was a greater sign to
42:05
the people around him that he couldn't talk at all, that they
42:09
would believe this miracle that something happened.
42:12
That and of course, Elizabeth getting pregnant like this older
42:14
woman with a baby bump, that would be pretty funny and, and
42:17
pretty miraculous as well. And if I think if I were to redo
42:21
it, like make a character of Zacharias, I'd probably make him
42:23
a guy that like just would never stop talking.
42:26
He's just always talking, always talking.
42:27
And now, wow, it must be a miracle because Zacharias hasn't
42:31
said a word in 10 minutes. You know, one of those things,
42:34
like it was a greater witness to his community just to be silent.
42:37
It was a miraculous accompanying sign and wonder of the
42:42
conception of John. And who knows, maybe it helped
42:45
with the romance part of this whole thing.
42:47
Like he's finally quiet. Maybe maybe Elizabeth likes the
42:50
silent, strong, silent type and he just would never quiet.
42:53
Who knows, right? But God uses these things that
42:56
might be a word for some someone in here, not all you guys, but
42:59
for someone, maybe your silence will be more effective than your
43:03
words. Words are so important.
43:05
We must use words. The gospel is words, it's
43:08
information. But maybe for some of you, you
43:11
have that relationship with that person.
43:14
You've, you've said it and you've said it and you've beat a
43:16
dead horse and now it's just time to live it.
43:18
Maybe God will use your silence now more than your words.
43:22
Maybe that's a word for somebody in here.
43:25
Verse 21 it says. And the people waited for
43:28
Zacharias, and they marveled that he lingered so long in the
43:32
temple. And when he came out, he could
43:35
not speak to them. And they perceived that he had
43:37
seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained
43:41
speechless. And so it was as soon as the
43:44
days of service were completed that he departed to his own
43:47
house. And now after those days, his
43:50
wife Elizabeth conceived, and she hid herself five months,
43:53
saying, thus the Lord has dealt with me in the days when he
43:57
looked on me to take away my reproach among the people.
44:02
It's so beautiful. She lived with reproach in her
44:06
culture and God, God has finally taken it away in her latter
44:09
years. Very similar to the Abraham,
44:11
Isaac and Sarai story, right? Isaac's name was laughter
44:16
because God's like, it's just going to be so funny.
44:18
Like there'll be so much joy and there's humor in it that you
44:21
older folks are going to have this baby and they'll be like,
44:24
oh, is that your grandchild? Well, actually, no, he's our
44:26
he's our child. Oh, wow.
44:27
OK. And, and the joy and the
44:30
gladness come as Gabriel had promised them in verse 14.
44:34
And they're just living. They're living on the other side
44:37
of a fulfilled promise. And that's a sweet thing.
44:40
And we celebrate that with them. It's, we want our movies to end
44:43
that way, don't we? Like, we want that resolve.
44:46
We want that light to shine in. And we have had God do that.
44:50
Like we all have stories that God has fulfilled this dream,
44:53
that God has answered that prayer.
44:54
Like we have a track record of God's faithfulness and all the
44:59
amazing ways that he's blessed us.
45:00
Amen. Like every single one of us has
45:02
something to be grateful for beyond the cross of Christ that
45:06
he's done in our life. But few of us have seen God do
45:09
something as miraculous as what he did for Zach and Elizabeth
45:13
here, right? And you know what?
45:15
That's OK, That's all right. Because this message guys, is
45:21
not about, hey, let's believe big for a giant miracle.
45:23
That's I hope that, that that's OK to believe big for a miracle.
45:27
But that's not the point of this message.
45:30
The point of this message today, the point of Zacharias and
45:33
Elizabeth is their example to us today is that there is purpose
45:37
and value in your waiting. Hence the title, waiting on
45:42
purpose. We don't have to wait for God to
45:45
give us purpose. There's tremendous purpose in
45:51
your waiting. There are things God is
45:54
accomplishing in your waiting, and in fact, there is so much
46:00
value to your worship and your faithfulness, not in your season
46:06
of blessing, but in your season of waiting.
46:10
One of the most important Bible verses in all of Scriptures,
46:13
Hebrews 11/6, And it tells us that apart from faith, it's
46:18
impossible to please God. Without faith, you cannot please
46:24
God. So what does that tell us about
46:26
God? It means that when He looks upon
46:29
mankind, when He looks upon your life, he's looking for
46:33
demonstrations of faith. That's what blesses his heart.
46:37
That's what touches Him. And so if God, orchestrating
46:41
your life, desires to see faith, He's going to do what it takes
46:46
to cultivate faith in your life. He's going to put in the
46:49
ingredients required for you to exhibit faith and trust in Him.
46:56
Like a farmer who cultivates the ground to produce a crop, God
47:02
will cultivate your life not to produce a bunch of miracles and
47:06
blessings, although those are great.
47:08
He wants to cultivate your life to produce faith because it's in
47:13
that zone that your song is the sweetest, that your praise is
47:18
the most precious. And So what kind of ingredients
47:22
does it take to produce faith? Well, the first one is 1 We
47:25
don't like very much. It's need, it's lack.
47:30
At its greatest extreme, it's sin, death, hell.
47:35
That's the reality of our circumstances.
47:38
And like everyone in the Scriptures, we're so limited.
47:40
We cannot make that happen on our own.
47:43
We cannot be delivered from sin, from death, from hell.
47:47
There's nothing we could do on our own power to overcome that.
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So you should probably get that out of your head right now.
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If you think you're going to like talk to have a conversation
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with God about how good of a person you were and, and try to
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make that under your own grit and tenacity and convincing that
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you can get yourself out of that predicament.
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That's the greatest need. And then all the other needs
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trail that healing that you're looking for, that job you're
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looking for, that mended relationship.
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All those things are something God places in our lives.
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That's the first ingredient. The second ingredient is the
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other end. It's fulfilled promise.
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That baby being born at its extreme, it's salvation,
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deliverance from sin and death in hell, resurrection, hope,
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heaven, eternal life. That's the other end of it.
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So you have the need, you have the fulfillment of God meeting
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those needs. And the 3rd and very important
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ingredient is time between the two, a time of waiting.
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And that church is why we always feel like there's something more
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because we're waiting for the grand revelation of God in our
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lives, as I said, where every longing will be fulfilled, every
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need will be met as we wait on this side in our need, but
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trusting God's solution before it comes.
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That is faith and that is what blesses the Lord.
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And so as we see Zechariah and Elizabeth and their story and
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their happy ending from our earthly perspective, we think,
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how cool, praise God, man, what a what a happy ending.
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But I wonder if there wasn't a sense from heaven's perspective
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where there was like a oh man, like they're not, they're not
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glowing in the dark anymore. The light of God has shone in in
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their dark circumstances, but they were glowing.
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The apostle Peter says, don't think it's strange when you
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encounter various trials that the testing of your faith may
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come forth as precious gold. When we're in our trials, we
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think this is awful. I'm in the darkness.
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But heaven looks on and sees your gold in the fire glowing in
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the darkness. The world sees your your, your
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faith glowing. When you're in your dark season,
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Heaven rejoices and celebrates. They, the angels marvel, look at
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the circumstances and yet look at them shining.
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And then, of course, when that fulfillment comes, it's not
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quite as dark anymore. And so I want to propose to you
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guys that your faithfulness in this season of waiting is more
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valuable and more beautiful then your faithfulness on the other
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side of a fulfilled promise. OK.
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We continue to hope for those fulfillments.
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God continues to delight, to bless us as he sees fit and when
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he sees fit. But church, this message is
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given to you so that you will find sustainment, that you will
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find strength in the midst of your waiting, that you would be
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able to rejoice that your song is even sweeter in this season.
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Amen. So for those of you who know
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Jesus Christ, cling to this hope, cling to it.
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Trust in the Lord. His timing is perfect.
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Don't grow weary in doing good, because in due season you will
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reap what He desires you to reap.
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In, in due time and in heaven, everything will make sense.
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When we cross through, everything will make sense.
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But for those of you who don't know the Lord, I'm going to tell
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you that you cannot muster up enough to get through these
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storms of life. Your hopelessness overtakes you.
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Maybe you're in that dark season right now and you're struggling
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to find hope. There's no way for you to glow
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under your own power. It begins with a personal
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relationship with Jesus Christ because it's when you receive
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Jesus that you receive access to the power of the Holy Spirit.
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And of course, the one of the most famous waiting verses in
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the Bible is that we wait. Those who wait upon the Lord
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shall renew their strength. They shall rise up with wings as
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eagles. That's the work of the Holy
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Spirit in a believer's life. And if you want access to that
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power, I'm going to give you a chance to receive Jesus Christ
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as your personal Savior. Let's pray.
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God, we do thank you for this reminder, this amazing witness
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to us of Zacharias and Elizabeth's example.
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And thank you for the reminder that you delight and blessing
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and coming through. And we know that you will
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ultimately come through with every hope and dream that we
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have in the end on the other side of heaven.
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And we look forward to that day. But I pray for those Lord in
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here who don't know you, who never received you as their
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personal Savior, that you give them the hope, that you give
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them the courage, the wisdom to respond to your call right now.
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Lord, I do believe that you have spoken and touched hearts in
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this room, whether they're here, whether they're listening online
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or down in the in the bookstore Cafe area or listening on some
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future day. I believe, Lord God, you're
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using the words of Scripture and the words of this message to
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stir hearts to faith. And so if that's you, if you're
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in here and God has been speaking to you, you have not
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given your life to Christ, but you want to begin this, this
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faith of journey. You want to receive the
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empowerment of the Holy Spirit. You want God to sustain you in
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your season of waiting to shine light in your hopelessness.
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Then it's something real simple. You simply receive the love of
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God by faith. There's nothing magical about
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it. There's no earning.
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And if that's you that's stirred in your heart, you want to
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receive Jesus Christ, I'm going to ask you to do something
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really simple. Just raise your hand so we know
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it, so we can acknowledge you. We want to pray for you.
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If you're here in this room today and you'd like to receive
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Jesus as your Savior, just raise your hand.
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Hold it up high so I can see it. I just want to acknowledge you
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and pray for you. God bless you.
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I see you. God bless you in the back.
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Hallelujah. Yep, God bless you.
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I see you way back there. Yep, up front here.
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It's a couple right here. Right up front here.
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This is the greatest work God does, guys.
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There's nothing magical about it.
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God has spoken to you. It's no coincidence you're here.
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He has personally invited you to a personal relationship and you
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simply receive it. So if there's anyone else in
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this last moment, just raise your hand up.
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We're going to have pastors, leaders come alongside you.
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Make sure you get resources in your walk with the Lord.
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But I want to lead you in a prayer to receive Jesus.
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This prayer doesn't save you, but it helps communicate what
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your faith in your heart is saying to the Lord.
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And so would you repeat this prayer after me in church?
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Can we say it with them? Just let's let's pray this
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prayer along with them. Let's say, dear Heavenly Father,
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I confess that I have sinned and I know my sin has separated me
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from you, but I also understand that I can be forgiven by the
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death of Jesus on the cross. And so I invite you into my life
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and I turn from my sin so that I can live for you in Jesus name,
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Amen. Hallelujah, welcome to the
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family of God.