When God’s Plan is Not What You Expected: Finding True Submission

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:06:26] Good morning, Pursuit Church family. We are so glad that you are joining us for church this morning. It's the last Sunday of 2025. Can't believe it.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:06:34] I can't either. Christmas has already come and gone. I'm Emily. Oh, I am Emily. No, I didn't, but I'm Emily. This is Terri. And I'm Terri. And we're celebrating today our 144th baptism of the year. Is that 143, 144? Yes, we're doing 143, 144.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:06:56] 44. That is crazy. And we're so excited for it. So if you talk a little bit more about that. Yeah.
[00:07:03] If you are here this morning, we're so glad that you're here and we can't wait to worship with you.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:07:07] And what should they do this morning, Terry? First thing you should do, get your phone, get your computer, whatever you're watching on and share church. We have people coming in here and I'm not just saying this. We have people come in here that are unchurched. They don't know about
[00:07:24] Jesus. And sometimes, and I say this a lot, it is just from scrolling on Facebook. They see something from church and they get the courage to walk through the door and eternity is changed.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:07:36] What? From sharing church? No reason not to. Or they meet someone and they invite them to church.
[00:07:42] You never know the power of an invite. So even if you're at home this morning, look, Terry, Terry be texting while we're doing the intro. I'm not texting. Somebody was trying to call me.
[00:07:51] This woman has the most phone calls and texts you'll ever see in your life.
[00:07:55] I've got arm to arm.
[00:07:57] Listen, listen, the power of an invite, you never know what God wants to do.
[00:08:02] We have heard countless stories of people's lives change, marriages change, all of the things from an invite.
[00:08:09] And so you can do that from your home this morning.
[00:08:12] It's super easy, Facebook or YouTube.
[00:08:14] You can share the link.
[00:08:15] You can text this to someone.
[00:08:16] Let them know that church is about to start.
[00:08:18] We would love for them to worship with us this morning.
[00:08:20] it's going to be very very worshipful it's an acoustic set this morning which I love

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:08:25] kind of low key after all the celebration

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:08:27] low key very stripped back so we're super excited for it and we want other people to be a part of it this morning so definitely do that this morning and as we start the new year
[00:08:37] we want you to get connected and there's a bunch of different ways that you can do that we have different groups going on right now currently happening on our What's Happening at Pursuit page you can check it out
[00:08:47] and we have midweek coming up in the new year, starting January 14th. Miss Terry leads women's, Scott leads men's, John leads students. We have preteens. We have third and fourth grade ministry. That's our new ministry. Moms group, which I'm so excited for. Moms group starts back on Thursdays.
[00:09:10] So we're so excited. There is something for everyone and we would love for you to get

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:09:13] connected. Absolutely. And if you're a first time guest or you've just been watching secretly for a long time, click that pinned link in the comments.
[00:09:23] And I wanna talk to you.
[00:09:25] I wanna find out how you found us.
[00:09:27] I just wanna connect.
[00:09:28] So please, if you're new, click that link.

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:09:31] Yes, and if you would like to worship through your giving this morning, there's a couple easy ways you can do that.
[00:09:35] You can download our app, Pursuit Church.
[00:09:38] It's available on all platforms.
[00:09:39] We encourage you to download it no matter what because it is a great way to stay connected with what's going on here at the church, what's happening.
[00:09:46] It's a great way to watch the latest sermons.
[00:09:49] There's so many things you can do on the app.
[00:09:51] So definitely check that out and you can give there or you can give on our website or you can give here.
[00:09:56] If you ever come in person, you can give right here.
[00:09:58] And we just want to say thank you guys for your continued generosity.
[00:10:01] Y'all are seriously so generous and amazing and we appreciate y'all so much.
[00:10:06] And that music needs to quit being so good

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:10:08] because it makes me want to dance at my old age.
[00:10:11] I want to talk just a little bit about the baptism today.
[00:10:16] I've got two baptisms, or we've got two baptisms, two ladies that I got to do a baptism class with yesterday, which was amazing.
[00:10:24] And I just wanted to give a shout out to our volunteers.
[00:10:28] I tell, I'm volunteer director here, and I tell them all the time that Jesus starts to touch people way before they get into the seat to hear a sermon, because we're ambassadors of Christ, meaning Christ is in us.
[00:10:41] and the book of Proverbs, it says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. And that means that when you are living in Christ and your life is producing fruit, which is the top three are
[00:10:54] love, joy, and peace. You know, Philippians 2 said, we'll shine like lights in a perverse and dark generation. So when people drive up on this campus, they just start to feel the love of Christ
[00:11:08] in the parking lot. And then you go by the first time guests and the greeters and, uh, the kids check-in, ushers. It's, it's just beautiful. Even our security guys are nice. They look a little
[00:11:20] intimidating, but they're nice. But I tell them all the time that people, even if they don't know God, God made them. And when they come into his presence, there's something about him that makes them feel home. And I want to read you a little something I got. Let me make sure I'm not,
[00:11:36] I got three minutes, I got all day.
[00:11:40] But this is from Megan, who's getting baptized this morning.
[00:11:43] She said, my brother Devin, who also attends this church, asked me one Saturday night to come to church with him, his wife and my niece.
[00:11:49] I got up that Sunday morning dreading it, not really wanting to go.
[00:11:55] But as soon as I walked through the doors of Pursuit Church, I felt welcomed.
[00:11:59] I felt like a member of the church already, even though I had just walked through the doors.
[00:12:04] Everyone greeted me and was so nice and friendly.
[00:12:06] I cried during worship, and after church service was over, I went and talked to Alex.
[00:12:12] She said, I believe he's one of the ushers.
[00:12:14] He's an elder, but hey, who's counting?

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:12:16] He was an usher, I'm pretty sure.

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:12:17] He was an usher, too, but he's an elder, too.
[00:12:20] He prayed with me, and I just felt like I was home.
[00:12:24] That little soul came home to her God.
[00:12:27] A feeling came over me and through my body I've never felt.
[00:12:30] It was a warming feeling like Jesus was there beside me with his hands on me.
[00:12:33] I want to be baptized because I have put my faith in Jesus and I want to show the world that I follow Jesus.
[00:12:42] How amazing is that?
[00:12:44] And to all of you that are home, you have your work, wherever you go every day, remember what I just said, because you want your loved ones, you want the people you work with, you
[00:12:55] want people around you to know Jesus, you are the Bible they will read.
[00:13:00] Let him be his ambassador.
[00:13:02] Let him fill you up with his love and presence and let it pour out to all the people around you.
[00:13:08] The fruit of the righteous, it's a tree of life.
[00:13:10] The tree of the life is what gives eternal life.
[00:13:13] That's us.
[00:13:14] That's an exciting thing to think about.
[00:13:16] So anyway, that's your encouraging word for the day.
[00:13:19] Let's get ready because worship begins in a little under two minutes.
[00:13:23] We did good today, girl.
[00:13:24] We did.

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:13:26] Good morning.
[00:15:06] We can stand for worship today.
[00:15:09] Things are a little bit different this morning.
[00:15:10] our worship team works so hard every single week and especially leading into christmas so we want to give them a week off just to come to church with their families and but that doesn't change
[00:15:20] the fact that we're here for one reason and that's just to honor and glorify the lord to honor and glorify jesus there's nothing better and there's nobody more worthy of our time and our praise
[00:15:30] this morning and so i'm going to pray real quick and then we're just going to go into worship and we're going to worship the lord together to church let's pray god we just thank you that we can
[00:15:39] worship you father we thank you that we have the ability to worship you and i pray that we do i pray that we would honor you with our praise this morning as a church body we would honor you
[00:15:47] with our attention as pastor taylor brings a message today god that we would just love you in a manner that is so worthy of you jesus and what you've done for us to sacrifice on the cross
[00:15:57] lord and i just invite you into the room this morning holy spirit and i just ask as we praise you that you would do what your word says and you would just rest on the praises of your people god
[00:16:08] revealing the truth and the goodness of Jesus today to us as a church. We love you. We thank you for it, Jesus, in your name. Amen. Let's worship together.

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:16:15] in a brand new song i'm ready for a miracle refreshing got your healing oh just receive it receive the freedom oh can you feel it and it's reaching all had a very merry christmas we're so

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:24:41] happy to celebrate with you today and and to share in all that the lord is doing here at pursuit We get to celebrate here in just a few minutes with two additional baptisms today.
[00:24:54] We are so excited for those who are going public in their faith today.
[00:24:59] And I tell you this, not to boast in ourselves, but to boast in the Lord.
[00:25:04] But more than that, to magnify what God is doing all across the world.
[00:25:11] But we get to see it right here in our midst.
[00:25:13] when these uh two people go public with their faith today that makes 144 people that have gone public with their faith right here at pursuit this year and so we boast in that this morning in the name of the lord and uh this morning i just want to
[00:25:36] read scripture to you and so if you would i just ask that you would lend the lord your ear 700 years before the birth of jesus micah prophesied these words and they're found in micah the fifth chapter it says but you oh bethlehem ephraim are only a small village
[00:25:59] among all the people of judah yet a ruler of israel whose origins are in the distant past will come from you on my behalf.
[00:26:11] And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord's strength in the majesty of the name of the Lord, his God.
[00:26:22] Then his people will live there undisturbed for he will be highly honored around the world and he will be the source of peace.
[00:26:33] When we go to John, the first chapter, I want these words to come to life for you.
[00:26:41] because in the first chapter of John the Lord speaks to us through the Apostle and he says that in the beginning the word already existed the word was with God and the word was God he existed in the beginning with God God created
[00:27:02] everything through him and nothing was created except through him the word gave life to everything that was created and his life brought light to everyone so the word became human and made his home among us and as i go to matthew 2 and i read the account of jesus's birth
[00:27:29] specifically where the angel was speaking to joseph these are the words this is how jesus the messiah was born an angel of the lord appeared to joseph in a dream joseph son of david the angel
[00:27:46] said do not be afraid to take mary as your wife for the child within her was conceived by the holy spirit and she will have a son and you are to name him jesus for he will save his people
[00:28:03] from their sins. When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. And Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. 700 years before Micah had prophesied those words, God shows us that Jesus was always with him, that everything was
[00:28:26] created through him and for him and is held together by him. And that just as he had predicted through the prophet it came to pass and then lastly we get to see the apostle Paul as he
[00:28:45] speaks to the church in Colossus and he tells them exactly who Jesus Christ is Christ is the visible image of the invisible God he existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation for through him god created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth
[00:29:07] he made the things we can see and the things we cannot see such as thrones kingdoms rulers and authorities in the unseen world everything was created through him and for him he existed before anything else and he holds all of creation together christ is also the head of the church
[00:29:28] which is his body he is the beginning supreme over all who rise from the dead so he is first in everything for God in all of his fullness was pleased to live in Christ and through him God
[00:29:43] reconciled everything to himself he made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.
[00:29:53] This includes you who were once far away from God.
[00:29:58] You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.
[00:30:03] Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body.
[00:30:09] As a result, he has brought you into his own presence and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
[00:30:19] but you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Do not drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the good news. The good news has been preached all over the world and I, Paul, myself, John, have been appointed as God's servant to proclaim it.
[00:30:42] Amen. So I'm going to pray this morning and we're going to worship the Lord. So join me in prayer.
[00:30:54] Father, we want to thank you this morning for the gift of your son, Jesus.
[00:30:59] The greatest gift ever given to humanity.
[00:31:04] And as I've been reminded over the course of these past two weeks, Father, the greatest gift that a father or a mother can give their child is knowing with 100% confidence that they are saved in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:31:23] And the greatest gift a child can give their parent is the confidence of knowing that their child is saved and is eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:31:38] Father, for many, as we head into a new year, people look at a new year because it, hope of change, hope of something different.
[00:31:50] But Father, we proclaim this morning that we have the greatest hope ever, that in you, when we are willing to confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts, that you are the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
[00:32:04] That when we place our faith in you, we are a new creation, forever changed.
[00:32:12] So Father, this morning, we commit this service to you.
[00:32:15] In the name of Jesus, amen.

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:32:43] To respond, because you are lifted.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:45:44] I wanna thank our worship team this morning.
[00:45:46] Aren't we so blessed to have men and women that serve week after week to honor God, that worship not only on this stage, but at home in their private life.
[00:45:58] And you see that and the fruit of that on Sunday.
[00:46:01] So blessed.
[00:46:02] I love the words of that song.
[00:46:04] Jesus be the center of it all.
[00:46:06] Tristan actually showed me that song weeks ago and he first showed it to me.
[00:46:10] I listened to about a minute of it on my phone.
[00:46:12] I was like, it seems kind of sad to you, man.
[00:46:15] I don't know if I like it.
[00:46:16] But then I started listening to it and the words of that song, it's one of my favorite songs.
[00:46:21] just bring us back to simple things. Maybe we just made this complicated, right? Maybe we made church complicated. People like me get up and we make the word of God complicated. It's got to be
[00:46:31] deep and all this stuff. What if we just come back to where it's Jesus at the center of everything?
[00:46:39] That's my prayer this morning. As we get into God's word, just Jesus, you're at the center of my life. You're at the center of our church. We just want to honor you. We just want to serve you.
[00:46:48] we just want to glorify you today, our Savior King who has come. Amen. Let's pray together this morning. God, we love you. We praise you today. We worship you. God, I pray everything that we do
[00:47:01] as we just sang, Lord, you are the center of it all. Lord, everything in our life is for your glory and for your honor, for your name, for your praise. God, be the center of our lives. God,
[00:47:14] be the center of our church. Lord, I pray as we go out into the world, God, it is clear that you are the center of our life. God, as we work and as we just do life, lead our families. God, I just
[00:47:28] pray we honor you, Lord, that we point people to you. God, I pray as we're going to get into your word today, God, that we obey, Lord God, that we surrender and submit to you, God. Maybe today
[00:47:39] it's for the first time there are unbelievers in this room or in house church. God, I just pray you do what only you can do, God. You are the God of miracles, and we just pray you move in
[00:47:49] this place today. You speak, you work as only you can, God. We surrender this time to you, Lord, in your name. Amen. So this morning, as we get into the Word, I believe a phrase that we can
[00:48:02] all relate with today, that we all can have experienced is, it's not what I expected, right in in so many areas and arenas of life you could say for so many different things it's just
[00:48:17] not what i expected right as we you look at certain events as we come off of christmas maybe you're sitting here today and you're christmas week as you look back you're like not what i
[00:48:28] expected maybe good maybe bad maybe that uncle brought up brought up politics at the dinner table and torpedoed christmas right maybe somebody got mad maybe a kid i gave rip we gave him a gift
[00:48:40] this year and he looked at it threw it down i don't want that i'm like not what i expected and you're going to get in trouble we're not going to be brats but maybe it's something like that where
[00:48:50] it's just not what i what you expected maybe your whole life is that but again as we come off christmas season i believe it's a good time to see that i was talking to my mom last night every
[00:48:59] christmas i bring this up to her my grandmother who i'll just say her mother she had a strong personality we'll just put it that way some people here knew her she was a as my grandpa
[00:49:10] said she's a piece of work right and one year my mom made a horrible mistake of getting her new dinnerware for christmas new plates my grandma made a comment one time i'd like to have new plates
[00:49:21] that does not mean you buy my grandma new plates but my mom she did and we're under the christmas tree my grandma's sitting there on the floor she often did she opens up these plates christmas is
[00:49:31] ruined you think i need new plates she's like i'm like this is not this is not gonna go well and she's like if i want new plates i'd buy new plates next thing you know there's tears
[00:49:42] she leaves the room and it's gone down in infamy in our family every year after we brought it up we'd box up an empty box and give it to her like grandmother's plates in there you know it became
[00:49:51] a thing but it was not what we expected we're at the candlelight service later we're singing all was calm, all was bright, and things were not calm, right? Things were not looking too bright for our
[00:50:00] family. But I believe this year, like this time of year, more than ever, I use that example because a lot of us have experienced things like that. It's not what I expected. As we look over 2025,
[00:50:13] we go into a new year, you're like, not what I expected, right? It's just, it's not what I expected, not what I thought it would be. So how do we handle that? And how do we handle when God's
[00:50:25] plan. God's way is not our way, right? Whenever it's like God's leading me this direction, but I was hoping for this. I planned this. I painted. We all paint these pictures in our mind and it
[00:50:38] doesn't look like that. How do we handle that? And I think about my life personally. I can testify to what I'm talking about today. It's not what I expected. I look over 2025 in my life and it is not
[00:50:49] what I expected. And I said a lot of things. I'm young and dumb, but it's hard to believe. I used be younger and even more dumb and i said a lot of things right when i was a kid and a teenager many
[00:51:01] of you headstrong you're 18 you're 20 years old and you got these big plans for your life and i said things like i don't even know if i'll get married and have kids here i am with four right
[00:51:13] i i don't know you know i i i don't i don't i could never i could never get this i could never work inside behind a desk. What do I do all day? Right? Study God's word and look at emails,
[00:51:26] which I'm not great at. If you sent me an email, I apologize. Right? It's not you, it's me. Right?
[00:51:31] But I can never do those things. I want to work outside. I'm never going to sit behind a desk.
[00:51:35] I'm never going to do this. I'm going to do my own thing, be by myself. Right? I'm going to go out and be a farmer and run equipment and be alone all day. Here I am with all of you. Right? Right?
[00:51:47] It's just not what I expected.
[00:51:49] And as I look at just my life, I could go down the list of that, and a lot of us could.
[00:51:56] But here's the good news.
[00:51:58] It's not what I expected, but guess what?
[00:52:00] It's better.
[00:52:02] It's not what I expected, good.
[00:52:04] It's better than what I expected.
[00:52:06] The picture I painted was actually pretty ugly, right?
[00:52:10] I thought and I hoped and I dreamed this is the way things should be.
[00:52:13] This is how I want my life to go.
[00:52:15] But God's plan was different, and it's better.
[00:52:19] His way is better.
[00:52:21] I think about all the things I just said.
[00:52:23] I don't know if I'll get married and have kids.
[00:52:25] I'm not really a kids guy.
[00:52:26] One of the greatest joys of my life is going home to my wife and kids.
[00:52:30] This week, getting to spend time opening gifts with my kids, what a blessing, right?
[00:52:36] I don't know, I could never sit behind a desk.
[00:52:38] I could never do that.
[00:52:39] Now I get to study God's word.
[00:52:41] What an honor, what a gift.
[00:52:43] I wanna do my own thing.
[00:52:44] I wanna be kind of a loner.
[00:52:47] Now, what a gift I get to do this with all of you guys.
[00:52:49] We get to have such a great church family and this deep fellowship that we see in scripture.
[00:52:54] It's better.
[00:52:56] God's way is better.
[00:52:58] Do we believe that this morning?
[00:53:00] And I think many of us can relate in this room.
[00:53:03] Like I'm glad it doesn't look like what I wanted.
[00:53:06] I'm glad I didn't get what I wanted.
[00:53:08] Just like my children.
[00:53:09] I'm like, one day you're gonna be glad that I told you no.
[00:53:12] One day you're gonna be glad that I didn't give you what you wanted.
[00:53:16] One day, you're gonna be glad that every night you didn't eat 14 Reese's cups for dinner, right?
[00:53:21] It's better.
[00:53:23] I can look at my life and say that.
[00:53:26] I'm glad my life doesn't look like what I wanted.
[00:53:29] Like Garth Brooks so famously said, I thank God for unanswered prayers, amen?
[00:53:35] And I look at that.
[00:53:36] I even look at hardships in my life, things that I would have never have wanted.
[00:53:41] I didn't want them in the moment.
[00:53:43] It was tough, it was difficult.
[00:53:46] And I look back now and I'm like, Thank you, God, for what you did in me.
[00:53:51] My dad said one time he was walking into a very, very difficult situation.
[00:53:55] He said, God, I don't want you to fix the situation.
[00:53:57] I want you to fix me.
[00:53:59] I want you to change my heart.
[00:54:00] And I've seen God do that.
[00:54:01] I've seen God take things in my life that I didn't want or didn't, that I thought may even kill me and work them and turn them for good.
[00:54:10] Like he always does.
[00:54:12] Scripture says he works all things together for good who those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
[00:54:18] it's not what I wanted but it's better it's for his glory and my good I look at our church pastor John mentioned just what God's doing here in our midst we get to see two people get baptized this morning if you'd asked me two years ago
[00:54:32] what's it gonna look like what should it look like it wouldn't have been what we have today the structure in my mind was different what's important different the picture I painted was not this but again it's better Terry and I we stood at our
[00:54:47] volunteer Christmas party. If you're not a volunteer, you need to volunteer for another reason other than you can just come to the Christmas party and you get a free meal on Sunday.
[00:54:53] There you go. Sign up, right? And you get to serve the Lord, obviously. That's important.
[00:54:59] But we were standing there at the volunteer Christmas party, looking out over the crowd.
[00:55:02] We've been talking. A lot of you guys were just sitting out there eating. Terry made a comment.
[00:55:07] She said, it feels like a dream. I'm like, it does. Like what God is doing in our church.
[00:55:13] It wouldn't have been what I predicted. It wouldn't have been probably what we even planned and thought of and and could have strategized about it wouldn't have been but what god is doing is absolutely unreal i've never been a part of anything like it the the relationships and the
[00:55:29] love and just the even that night the spirit that's in the room and the unity and just honoring god and bearing each other's burdens and just seeing god be god and work through the body of
[00:55:39] christ just just seeing him restore marriages and work miracles and heal people and and to see him breaking addictions and people coming alongside and helping each other. As John said, 144 people getting baptized. Like that's what God has done. It's absolutely incredible. And it's not maybe
[00:56:00] what I had in my mind, but it's better. It's so much better. It's God's way. I love the scripture.
[00:56:07] This one won't be on the screen this morning, but Ephesians 3.20, now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or can even imagine according to his power that is at work
[00:56:20] within us. To him be all glory. Far more, immeasurably more than I could even ask or imagine. That is who our God is. And I have seen that to be true in my life and in our church.
[00:56:36] Again, it's not what I expected, but it's better. And as you look at scripture, pretty much everybody in the Christmas story, as you look at this, I had a scripture in here somewhere, I thought, but maybe not. Pretty much everybody in the Christmas story could say this about their
[00:56:55] life, right? Like everybody in the Christmas story could say, it's not what I expected.
[00:57:01] Let's look at a few. As you look today at Zachariah and Elizabeth, I'm sure it wasn't in their plan. I'm sure they didn't expect to get pregnant and get their AARP card at the same
[00:57:13] time, right? Like I'm sure they weren't sitting around thinking, this is the plan. This is how it's going to go down. And scripture says they had been praying for a child, that they had been
[00:57:25] desiring this and probably multiple children, but it didn't work out like they expected.
[00:57:33] You look at Mary and Joseph, just like Elizabeth wanted to get pregnant sooner, I'm sure Mary wanted to get pregnant later, right? Like you look at her life. This is not the way she had
[00:57:46] planned it. As Pastor John read earlier, to conceive a child by the power of the Holy Spirit outside of marriage and to get married after that, I'm sure the wedding wasn't what she expected, right? It wasn't what she had planned out. And I think about the birth of Jesus. Listen,
[00:58:07] I've been in the room for four kids being born. This is not something you want to do in a stable, right? This is not something you want to do in a cave and put a child in a feeding trough, right?
[00:58:18] You want to be in a clean, safe environment. I'm sure that's not what she had in mind or expected was to have the child that way. I look at the shepherds in scripture. We've talked about them
[00:58:29] over the past couple of weeks. I look at their life. I'm sure what happened to them and the Messiah coming in the way that he came was not what they expected. They probably knew some
[00:58:40] prophecies about Jesus. Did they ever in a million years think that the angels were going to come to them? That the glory of the Lord was going to shine around them? That they would be able to go and see
[00:58:51] Jesus? And did they ever think when they went to see him that he would be laying in that feeding trough? Highly doubt it. It's probably not what they expected. And I've thought about this over
[00:59:02] the last couple of weeks as I've studied their lives. You think about, they probably had plans for their kids, their children, their children's children. Hey, this is what we do. We're shepherds.
[00:59:13] We raise sheep for the temple, for the sacrifices. Well, guess what? After Jesus died, they're out of a job, right? Later on, you see there's no need for the temple sacrifice anymore because Jesus comes, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Their job's not needed anymore.
[00:59:32] That's probably not what they expected or hoped for or planned for, right?
[00:59:37] It's not what they expected.
[00:59:38] The wise men, the last one, they looked into the city and they expected to see Jesus in a palace.
[00:59:47] They come to the palace.
[00:59:49] They're there.
[00:59:49] They're looking around.
[00:59:50] They ask, Herod, we'll read that scripture later.
[00:59:54] They're asking, where's he at?
[00:59:56] And they come and they find him in a house.
[00:59:58] Not what they expected.
[01:00:00] You look all through this.
[01:00:01] but just like for us, just like I said about my life, just like I said about our church, it's better.
[01:00:10] God's way, his plan was better.
[01:00:13] It's best.
[01:00:14] It may not make sense to us, but it's best.
[01:00:18] Scripture, Isaiah 55, six through nine.
[01:00:21] I've got a lot of scripture today, but this one will be on the screen and there'll be a couple more.
[01:00:25] Isaiah 55, six through nine, and we'll focus on eight through nine, eight and nine.
[01:00:30] Seek the Lord while he may be found.
[01:00:33] call on him while he is near let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion and to our God for he will
[01:00:45] freely pardon this is where I want to focus on for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so my ways
[01:00:58] are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. His ways are so much higher and so much greater than our ways. And he sees everything. He knows, he sees what we cannot, right? Like his ways are so much greater, so much higher. Look at these people's lives.
[01:01:19] They are a part of something so much greater than what they even realize. It's incredible.
[01:01:26] Zechariah and Elizabeth, they parented John the Baptist.
[01:01:31] Scripture says, as the angel is speaking to Zechariah, many of the sons of Israel, he will turn back to the Lord their God and he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and the power of Elijah
[01:01:43] to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people to be prepared for the Lord.
[01:01:52] He's preparing the way of the Lord.
[01:01:54] The child that you are going to have, that you and Elizabeth, that Elizabeth will conceive, is going to prepare the way for the Messiah. Don't you think that's better than what he thought?
[01:02:05] Right? He was maybe hoping his kid would go to college and get a good job. Not sure if they had college, but you get the point. And he's like, he's going to prepare the way for the Messiah.
[01:02:15] Mary and Joseph, they had a plan. And again, as we read scripture, I've said this as many times often we have to look at this these people they had plans and dreams and hopes and emotions and
[01:02:27] all these things they're like us right like like they they felt all these things and they they had as a young girl and a young man for Joseph they had hopes and dreams and plans for their life
[01:02:39] they had hopes and dreams I'm sure for their wedding day and and what it was going to look like and probably to have children at some point and how they're going to work and what they're
[01:02:48] to do and what it's going to look like but look at god's plan he he had better plans his plan was the salvation of the whole world through jesus the child that she would bear she she was raising
[01:03:02] and nurturing the son of god right don't you think that's a better plan don't you think that's a lot bigger and greater than anything she could have ever thought or imagined that plan and again you
[01:03:15] you go down the list of shepherds by obeying and going to see Jesus, they got to see Jesus.
[01:03:22] They got to see the Messiah, the angels surrounded, the glory of the Lord, the wise men. They thought he would be in a palace, but even better, he's in a home. They get to see his nature, that he's
[01:03:33] gentle and lowly and humble in heart, that we don't have a high priest who can't sympathize with us. They get to see who he is. You think if you went to these people and were like, hey,
[01:03:44] would you rather have your plan or what happened?
[01:03:46] I think they'd say what happened.
[01:03:48] They got to be a part of something so much greater, so much better.
[01:03:53] It wasn't what they expected.
[01:03:55] Good, it was better.
[01:03:57] It's a good thing.
[01:03:58] Again, his ways are higher and greater than our ways.
[01:04:03] He sees all that we cannot.
[01:04:06] He reigns above it all.
[01:04:07] There's a bigger picture, and we've got to trust this morning that his way is best, his way is better for our lives.
[01:04:14] And when we look into this book, we see this is the way, right?
[01:04:19] This is the better way than anything.
[01:04:21] I can drum up any of my imagination or my wisdom that this is the truth, that this is the best way to live.
[01:04:28] Our creator knows what's best.
[01:04:31] He knows what's best for your life.
[01:04:34] And again, his ways are higher, so much better.
[01:04:38] We look at those people, we see that.
[01:04:40] But there's also another group of people we see in scripture.
[01:04:43] It wasn't what they expected or wanted.
[01:04:45] either it wasn't what they expected that's the religious religious leaders we see in scripture you look at their lives and we see this the pharisees the sadducees the chief priests we see their lives this jesus never was what they wanted or expected we see them reject them at jesus at
[01:05:05] every turn and i'll read you a scripture this is matthew 2 1-6 this won't be on the screen either you're gonna hear that a lot today after jesus was born in bethlehem and judea during the time
[01:05:16] of king herod magi this is the who we call the wise men from the east arrived in jerusalem asking where is the one who has been born the king of the jews we saw saw his star in the east
[01:05:26] and have come to worship him when king herod heard this he was disturbed and all jerusalem with him and when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes this is important of the people
[01:05:36] he asked them where was christ to be born in bethlehem in judea they replied for this was what the prophet had written but you old bethlehem in the land of judah are by no means least among
[01:05:47] the rulers of judah but for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people israel think about this that he says he herod gets the all it says all of them all the chief priests
[01:06:01] and the scribes and ask them about jesus they tell him what's going to happen they they quote the prophecy to him the wise men go and find jesus the chief priests and the leaders stay back
[01:06:15] the long-awaited messiah has come they stay back they don't go to see him they don't go to bow down and worship him they don't and they reject him at every turn his whole life they reject him he
[01:06:29] wasn't what they expected. And I believe, this is my opinion, I believe there was such an arrogance here that we see they're like, well, I mean, surely we would know about this. He would come
[01:06:39] to us. He would come to the temple. He would do this. They did not go and worship him. For whatever reason, they stayed back. And we see this, this was their heart and attitude all throughout the
[01:06:51] ministry of Jesus, ultimately leading to them having him crucified. And Stephen writes something interesting. And I want to, this scripture is going to be on the screen. As we think about him not being what they expected or hoped for or wanted, we see them reject Jesus. We see what
[01:07:09] Stephen writes right before they're about to stone him for these next few comments. He's about to get stoned and killed for saying what he says. He addresses him and he says, this is Acts 7.51.
[01:07:22] You stiff neck people with uncircumcised hearts and ears. Uncircumcised, we'll stay away from that a little bit. It's Family Sunday, so we'll tread lightly right there. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit as your ancestors did. You do also. I want to look at this terminology. You
[01:07:40] stiff-necked people. I never really studied this out until this week. The language here about being stiff-necked, it denotes the condition of being stiff-necked, an image drawn from an ox or a donkey that refuses the yoke by stiffening up its neck. The word pictures a settled resistance
[01:07:58] toward God's leading and correction.
[01:08:02] Again, many of us, you've never probably put an oak, oak, a yoke on an oxen, right?
[01:08:08] I don't think any of us have ever done that.
[01:08:10] Maybe you have.
[01:08:11] But you see here that the oxen needed to submit to the master.
[01:08:16] They needed to bow their head and submit to have the yoke put on.
[01:08:20] And then you see after the yoke is on, there is a submission that they have to be led by the master, by whoever is leading.
[01:08:28] right? And there's different ways they will be led that we'll look in, but they had to submit to their master, to the owner to get the yoke put on. And then as they're being led, as they're
[01:08:41] working, they have to submit to his and surrender to his leading and guidance. That's what we see here. But it says that the Pharisees, they were stiff necked. They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't submit. They wouldn't give in. Instead of humble submission, as he says here, Stephen says in the
[01:09:03] scripture, they resisted. They resisted the will and the way of God. And so often, this is our lives. So often in the church, this is how we operate. So often as we live our everyday life,
[01:09:20] we resist. People in the room today, you do this. You resist the will and the way of God in your life. You resist the leading and the guiding and the correction of the Holy Spirit. You resist
[01:09:33] things in this word that you know are true, but you don't do them. You resist. You know that sin is killing you. Either killing sin or it's killing you. And you know, and you felt the Lord telling
[01:09:46] you, you need to take action. There's some things you need to put in your life to safeguard you.
[01:09:50] you resist stiff-necked there's things you know i i need to have a a biblical marriage it talks about submission and and men laying their lives down for their wives and and you know that's the
[01:10:02] way you should live but you resist you do your own thing you go your own way you you follow the the pattern and the ways of this world you resist we talked about over the last couple months sharing
[01:10:14] the gospel of jesus christ going out and being the salt and light and you know you should you're a hearer of the word but you're not a doer as scripture says we resist living out your purpose
[01:10:26] maybe it's it's getting baptized whatever it is we resist the leading of the lord just like these pharisees we resist we're stiff-necked and when you do this we are we're not imitating christ jesus we're imitating the people who put him on the cross stiff-necked resisting his leading and
[01:10:48] and guiding and direction and his gentle correction.
[01:10:53] This is how they acted.
[01:10:56] This is how they acted his whole life.
[01:10:58] And again, you see with this comes as their stiff neck, there's an arrogance.
[01:11:03] I know I'm not gonna submit, surrender.
[01:11:05] I know what's best.
[01:11:07] There's a self-righteousness here.
[01:11:09] And so often what happens is the more religious action we do, the more serving we do without relationship, this is the result.
[01:11:19] When you just serve and you do all the things and you say the right things and you know the lingo, but you don't have a relationship, this can be the result, being stiff-necked.
[01:11:28] And we see this attitude they have the whole, all throughout his ministry.
[01:11:34] Again, starting with the birth, we're not, they don't go out there stiff-necked.
[01:11:38] We're not, no.
[01:11:41] We see all, as he begins to do miracles, we see this, he eats sinners and tax collectors.
[01:11:48] Who does he think he is?
[01:11:50] There's miracles on the Sabbath, who does he think he is?
[01:11:53] Go down the list.
[01:11:54] He doesn't meet our expectations, do what we think he should do, go to the places we think he should go, talk like we do, stiff neck.
[01:12:05] And when you do this, you're looking down on others.
[01:12:07] Again, it's a self-righteousness.
[01:12:09] They never surrendered, they've never submitted.
[01:12:13] This is so dangerous, so destructive.
[01:12:17] And unfortunately, I've told you before, grew up in church and I've seen this in church my whole life. I've seen it at work within the church and the damage that this does. Stiff neck people who don't surrender and submit to the leading of
[01:12:35] the Lord and look down on others. A self-righteousness. They didn't ask me about that.
[01:12:43] I gave my opinion. Nobody listens to me. This is the way I think they should be. This is the way I think they should make decisions. I don't have any of the details, but this is how I think things
[01:12:52] should go around here and it's a self-righteousness and it's destructive and it's damaging i'll even go as far to say today scripture says that that bad company corrupts good character some of you you got some bad company in your life that lives this way it corrupts good character over time
[01:13:11] that's what'll happen uh looking down on others i know how everyone else should live their life i'm not gonna fully submit and submit and surrender but i know what everybody else should be doing, a self-righteousness that resists what God is doing. And again, so often, the more
[01:13:30] religious service and activity we have without relationship, this is where it leads. Like the church in Ephesus, I'm reminded in Revelation, it says they labor, you endure, you've not grown weary, but you've lost your first love. No relationship there. And as a result of this,
[01:13:48] ultimately, we're not sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Again, we're resisting.
[01:13:54] So, we go back to the beginning.
[01:13:57] When life doesn't go like we think it should go, as we believe that it should, it doesn't meet our expectations, we resist and we struggle, stiff-necked.
[01:14:08] I know what's right and best.
[01:14:10] But when we do this, first, it's just a miserable way to live.
[01:14:14] I believe the most miserable people in all the scripture are the Pharisees.
[01:14:17] Just miserable.
[01:14:18] It's terrible.
[01:14:20] And when we resist God's will and God's way, we're resisting the better way we're resisting the thing that's the best for us when we when we don't obey and or we're slow to obey which is disobedience when we when we wait and we
[01:14:34] we drag our feet and we we don't fully submit and surrender to God we're resisting the better way so this morning are you stiff-necked is that you are you resisting the will of God in your life
[01:14:48] the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit things in his word commandments things you know because if you look at the people we mentioned earlier, you see the opposite.
[01:14:59] You see submission and worship.
[01:15:03] I'll go through a few.
[01:15:06] Look at Mary.
[01:15:07] She writes in Luke 1.38, I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered.
[01:15:12] This is submission.
[01:15:13] It's not this stiff necked.
[01:15:14] I don't know.
[01:15:16] It's bowing.
[01:15:17] I'm the Lord's servant.
[01:15:19] May it happen to me according to your word.
[01:15:22] That's so powerful.
[01:15:23] Then the angel left her.
[01:15:24] then she goes on as she's with Elizabeth she writes this this song and I'll give you a few lines of it my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on the humble state of his servant from
[01:15:39] now on all generations will be will call me blessed for the mighty one has done great things for me holy is his name his mercy extends to those who fear him from generation to generation he has performed mighty deeds with his arm he has scattered those who are
[01:15:55] proud in the thoughts of their hearts you look at her posture not stiff neck but bowing i am the lord's servant may it be for me as you have said in your word i am going to do what you have
[01:16:08] commanded me to do i am serving you and then she goes on in worship it's a reverence for the lord we see in her life the shepherds it says that they obey they go to see jesus they return glorifying
[01:16:22] and praising god for all they had seen and heard which was just as the angel had told him that's in luke 2. they obeyed then they worshiped and praised god they bowed before him the wise men
[01:16:35] when they saw the star this is matthew 2 10 and 11. when they saw the star they rejoiced with great delight. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they fell down
[01:16:45] and they worshiped him. Then they opened the treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What you see here in all of these people's lives is submission, obedience, and worship. They surrendered to the will of God. Instead of this stiff neck resisting, they
[01:17:05] submitted. It was bowing low in obedience. It was the exact opposite. It was not this. It was bowing down. Now, this is not my head's hung low in discouragement. This is bowing low in reverence
[01:17:17] for who God is, understanding and believing. I trust you. Your way is better. I'm going to follow you. Speak. Your servant is listening. I will do as you say. I will follow you. I will
[01:17:30] worship you. Whatever you have for my life, that is what I'm going to do. We see this bowing low and in submission. This should be our constant state. Surrender, submission to the Lord, bowing before him in reverence, not stiff neck and arrogance, self-righteousness. It might not be
[01:17:53] what you expected. It might not even be what you want, but will you obey him?
[01:17:58] what will you say? Your way is the best. I believe no matter what I'm walking through, you're going to work all things together for good of those who love you, but I'm going to do
[01:18:08] everything for your glory, your honor. So where is God calling you today to surrender, to submit, to obey him, to not be stiff necked? There may be things, and I just have to believe this morning,
[01:18:22] the Holy Spirit's going to put those on your heart if they're there, where you need to surrender.
[01:18:26] You need to submit to the word of God, the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life.
[01:18:32] Scripture, as we look at this with the oxen, as I've read about this this week, the way these oxen were led was verbally, they listened, they were trained, actually pretty wild, they were trained to hear the voice of their master
[01:18:48] and obey and know where to go.
[01:18:50] Then they had a thing called an ox go that they would take and it had a sharp point and they would lead, gently lead the oxen.
[01:18:55] it was all about relationship it was all about knowing the voice it was all about obeying and understanding wherever he says to go i will go wherever you lead i will follow that's what we see
[01:19:09] in this scripture so to you where are those things in your life today and maybe it's it's your surrendering submitting to jesus for the very first time today there's a scripture matthew 11 28 through 30 it says come to me all who are weary and burdened and i will give you
[01:19:24] rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for i am gentle and humble in heart you will find rest for your souls my yoke is easy my burden is light same imagery here you have to bow down you have to
[01:19:38] surrender your life to jesus he says take my yoke upon you the better way the band can go ahead and join me this morning and you think about this we talk about this ox being stiff-necked the
[01:19:52] the Pharisees, having this posture.
[01:19:56] The reason, as I've read about this this week, the reason any of these animals would do this is because obviously they believe their ways best, right?
[01:20:05] I believe that I know, right, this animal, I know what's the best thing to do.
[01:20:10] I know where I should be.
[01:20:11] And if they resist and try to run, they believe classic situation, the grass is greener on the other side, right?
[01:20:17] Not understanding that that actually leads to destruction, Right?
[01:20:22] Like these oxen, they were bred and made to work on these farms.
[01:20:26] They were not built to be out in the wild.
[01:20:28] Right?
[01:20:29] They're not going to last out there very long.
[01:20:31] Like Scripture says, their end is destruction.
[01:20:33] That's us.
[01:20:35] When we resist, when we try to go our own way, what we actually want is the very thing that's going to destroy us and kill us.
[01:20:42] When in reality, we resist the leading and the yoke.
[01:20:46] He says, my yoke is easy.
[01:20:47] My burden is light.
[01:20:48] This is the better way.
[01:20:49] But the reason that they do that, they think they know and they don't fully trust the master.
[01:20:56] Animals that really trust the owner and their leader, they're gonna submit and go where he says to go when there's trust there.
[01:21:06] And again, it's all by voice and relationship.
[01:21:10] And the same is true for us.
[01:21:12] That's what it comes back to.
[01:21:14] And when I was a teenager, I can't remember how old, We had a young man that came and lived with us.
[01:21:20] He was about my age.
[01:21:21] This is kind of wild now that I'm looking back and thinking about it.
[01:21:23] It was normal for us.
[01:21:25] But for three summers, this young man from Belarus, which is right close to Russia, came and lived with our family.
[01:21:33] And it was wild.
[01:21:34] Couldn't speak a lick of English.
[01:21:36] We couldn't speak his language.
[01:21:38] Crazy.
[01:21:40] And he came.
[01:21:41] He came from an orphanage.
[01:21:42] And he came here over the summer.
[01:21:45] When he was out of school, we were out of school.
[01:21:47] to be able to come and get medical care and dental care and have a good place to stay and to be taken care of. And again, it was quite the adventure. Again, no English, hardly at all.
[01:22:02] But he came and he stayed with us. And at first, as you can imagine, it's pretty weird.
[01:22:09] He's flown across the world, never been on an airplane, and he's here with us. He's never seen indoor plumbing like we have. He's never been in a car. I mean, all these different things.
[01:22:22] And also, it's pretty safe to say this young man, his name was Dema. Dema had never probably really felt loved by anybody, right? In an orphanage, been rejected. Hundreds of kids, I believe, lived in this orphanage with him. So when he came to our house, he comes in and
[01:22:43] and it and it's it's it's a little uncomfortable and i would say to use this this example he was pretty stiff-necked he was standoffish he resisted and and we would take him to the doctor my parents
[01:22:56] would he's like they pull out needles he's like what in the world oh i can't even understand what's going on and and as you go to the dentist and they're putting him back in the chair start
[01:23:08] messing with his teeth he's like i don't know about all this he's resisting as my parents we We tried to teach him how to live here and how to operate and how we live, what we eat,
[01:23:20] all these different things he resisted.
[01:23:22] And I remember my grandma put some food in front of him, the same grandma I talked about earlier to give you a little indication of how this went over.
[01:23:28] She put some food in front of him.
[01:23:29] He's like, blech.
[01:23:31] I'm like, we had to tell the translator, like, hey, tell him he can't do that.
[01:23:33] She'll kill him, right?
[01:23:35] She's not crazy about this idea anyway.
[01:23:37] This foreigner at her house.
[01:23:38] So we just need to be careful here.
[01:23:41] But he resisted.
[01:23:43] And I remember one time we were, we taught him how to, this is a terrible idea, but we taught him how to ride a dirt bike.
[01:23:49] We taught him how to ride a four-wheeler.
[01:23:51] A four-wheeler is an ATV.
[01:23:52] It's four-wheeler.
[01:23:53] I say four-wheeler because I'm from the South.
[01:23:55] That's the proper way to say it.
[01:23:57] We taught him how to ride it.
[01:23:58] I remember he'd come back one day and the thing was just covered in dirt.
[01:24:02] It was all bent up.
[01:24:03] The handlebars bent down.
[01:24:04] He was covered in dirt and scratched up.
[01:24:07] And we're like, oh my gosh.
[01:24:08] We go down there and we're like, we're trying to explain to him.
[01:24:11] We did the classic American thing.
[01:24:12] You just talk louder, right?
[01:24:13] get that we're like did you roll it you know did it go over and and my dad me my brother and he's like mom right and we get the translator out did you did you crash no he was terrified he's like
[01:24:29] this is it it's over but then my dad was like he goes up and he's like are you okay he translates are you okay and you can see the confusion like for the first time like like he cares he was like
[01:24:45] yeah I crashed it then over time that was kind of the first thing like maybe I can trust these people go to the doctor he would sit there you look at my mom they're putting needles in his arms and you could tell he was like I don't know
[01:25:00] what's going on but he would he would look to her dad would take him to the dentist and he would he'd lay there and he'd look at my dad and I don't know what's going on but I trust you he started to believe my dad had his best
[01:25:14] interest at heart and man I remember last year he came him getting off the airplane bear hugging my dad whereas before he was so standoffish but he realized over time the relationship getting to know my parents even with the
[01:25:36] language barrier I can trust these people I can trust this man I've never trusted him by my whole life I can trust this man I've maybe been abused by a man but but this man he loves me i don't have to be afraid of this man anymore he's got my best
[01:25:51] interest at heart and i'm laying here in a doctor's office and they're poking me and i have no idea why but i trust him and he's here with me i i trust him and i believe this is the best thing
[01:26:01] for me what if that was the way that we lived our lives i might not always understand what's going on but i trust my father amen i i trust the lord this this might not be what i want this might not
[01:26:16] be what i expected i may hate this but i trust the lord and i'm gonna i'm gonna continue to look to him because i know him and i know he's good and i know he loves me and i know he cares and i know
[01:26:27] he sees everything and i know he works all things together for good and i know his ways are higher his ways are greater and i trust him and let me tell you there's something this morning the way
[01:26:38] you get to that place just like dema is through relationship you gotta know him you gotta get in in this book. And then when he gives you those commands and he leads you to know you can trust
[01:26:51] him, you got to trust him. You take that first step of obedience. Lord, I trust you. I don't like this, but I'm going to do what you've called me to do. I don't know. I don't fully understand,
[01:27:02] but I believe you are good and I'm going to live like it. I'm going to obey you. I'm not going to be stiff neck and standoffish. I'm going to fully submit and surrender to you. That is where true
[01:27:18] life is found. Submission to Jesus. Lord, I'm all yours. As I go through this life, there'll be things I didn't plan or didn't think were ever going to happen. I may not like it or I may like
[01:27:32] it, but I trust you and I know you. And the more I know you, the more I see how good you are.
[01:27:39] I see how much you love me.
[01:27:41] I see how much you care.
[01:27:44] There's proof of it in this book.
[01:27:45] There's proof of it by looking to the cross.
[01:27:48] And I'm gonna obey you.
[01:27:50] I'm gonna surrender.
[01:27:52] There are people in this room today, that needs to be your life.
[01:27:54] You need to get to know them.
[01:27:55] And there are things you need to submit and surrender to Jesus this very day, this very morning.
[01:28:04] Small step of obedience.
[01:28:06] Seeing you can trust him.
[01:28:08] He's good.
[01:28:10] He loves you.
[01:28:10] believing it this morning.
[01:28:14] Let's pray together.
[01:28:16] God, we love you.
[01:28:17] We praise you.
[01:28:18] I thank you today and I praise you that you are such a good, good father.
[01:28:24] And I pray, Lord, that we are not stiff-necked, God.
[01:28:29] That we bow low in submission and surrender to you.
[01:28:34] Just like this young man that we talked about with my father, Lord, that we see as we begin to trust you and obey, that we see that you're good.
[01:28:44] I'm reminded in this very moment of the song, trust and obey.
[01:28:47] There's no other way but to be happy in Jesus and to trust and obey.
[01:28:52] I pray we do that today.
[01:28:55] God, that we believe you are who that you say that you are.
[01:28:59] You are the God of heaven, the earth, the seas and everything in them.
[01:29:03] And you're good and you love us and you care for us and you've lavished your love upon us, God.
[01:29:09] And I pray that we surrender, submit to you, we honor you in all that we do god that we worship you in this very moment that you are the center

[01:29:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:29:17] of our lives god that our whole life is for your glory your honor and your name amen we can be

[01:33:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:33:19] grateful this morning that the lord's ways are higher than our our ways that his thoughts are higher than our thoughts that he knows the plans he has for us plans to prosper us and not to harm
[01:33:32] to give us a hope and a future amen so grateful for the word this morning through pastor taylor we're grateful for each of you and we are praying that you have a wonderful new year
[01:33:47] we want to also tell you about something that's coming in this new year listen if you had to feed your family over the holidays you'll appreciate this but we have a course that kicks off in the
[01:34:01] New Year, Financial Peace University. So if you had to feed your family, we need some financial peace. It's expensive to go to the grocery store these days, not to mention all the gifts and the
[01:34:11] things. But in all seriousness, this is a wonderful ministry that Chris and Angela Keener have been leading us through for years now. And they do a fantastic job. But you know, one of the things
[01:34:27] it weighs heavy on just people in general, it can weigh heavy on marriages and relationships is when we don't have financial peace. And so we want to encourage you today, if you're interested in signing up for that course to stop out by our connect desk this morning
[01:34:47] and Chris and Angela will be out there this morning to speak with you and get you registered registered for that but i promise you um this will be a blessing into your life we also want
[01:35:00] to let you know this morning that if the lord is just tugging at your heart this morning and he's calling you home uh that we're gonna have our prayer team up front this morning we've
[01:35:11] got a few of our elders who'll be up front as well and if you need prayer this morning for anything um please come and and meet with our prayer team or our elders if you've made a decision
[01:35:23] to put jesus at the center of your life this morning then come forward and let us pray with you let us talk with you about next steps if the lord is pulling on your heart this morning to
[01:35:34] sow into the kingdom through your giving you can give this morning you can give either online or through our app or right here in the back of the room and as always we want to encourage you
[01:35:47] to share uh what god is doing here with others you can share through an invite or you can share through social media but never underestimate the power of you just sharing um the things that god
[01:36:00] is doing in the body of christ so i'm going to pray this morning and we'll be done father we thank you again for this incredible word and we are thankful father that your ways are higher than
[01:36:11] our ways and that your ways are better and that you are working all things together for the good of those who love you and who have been called according to your purpose. And so father, we can
[01:36:23] walk with great confidence, looking to you, knowing that your yoke is easy and your burden is light. And I pray for anyone under the sound of my voice this morning, who feels burden and feels heaviness that today they would humbly submit their life to you to jesus christ the
[01:36:46] savior of the world the one who stepped down out of glory who willingly died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice once and for all time so father i pray this morning for those in the room who are
[01:37:05] lost. I pray that they would be found. And I also pray that we, Lord, your people would be encouraged by your word this morning. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Have a great week.