The Danger of Decisionism: Why ‘Making a Decision’ Cannot Save

• Christmas Season and Worship 00:04:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The speaker explains that the church's Christmas season focuses on singing, citing Psalm 40 and the example of Mary, Zechariah, and angels in Luke to show that encountering Jesus results in singing.
• Baptism and Salvation 00:09:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that baptism is a public testimony of faith for those already saved, modeling Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection, and serves to preach the gospel again.
• Jesus as Light and Savior 00:11:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor quotes Isaiah 9 and Luke 4 to define Jesus as the light of darkness, the savior of the world, and the one who proclaims liberty, calling the congregation to respond with worship.
• Worship through Surrender 00:27:23 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to lift their hands as a symbol of surrendering control to God, acknowledging His worthiness of glory and their own need for Him.
• Church Vision and Giving 00:30:56 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor outlines the church's '2030 vision,' including planting churches and paying off debt, and encourages giving to stay on pace with the $6 million goal.
• Zechariah's Doubt 00:35:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor analyzes Zechariah's reaction to the angel's announcement, noting his question 'How can I know this?' as a response of unbelief rather than worship.
• The Flesh vs. The Spirit 00:41:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that the instinct of the flesh is to doubt God, while the instinct of the spirit is to believe, and that spiritual growth involves replacing the former with the latter.
• Seasons of Silence 00:46:27 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses Zechariah's nine months of muteness to illustrate that seasons of silence allow space for God to speak and should not be despised.
• The Purpose of Silence 00:46:27 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that silence is a blessing from God that allows Him to speak and restores our spiritual hearing, contrasting it with the distractions of the modern world.
• Spiritual Growth Through Waiting 00:51:13 ▶️ 📄
  > Using Zechariah's nine months of silence, the pastor illustrates how belief and faith grow simultaneously with physical development, suggesting God uses difficult seasons to help us grow.
• Parental Influence and Discipleship 00:53:02 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that God prepares parents (like Zechariah) to train and disciple their children, implying that a parent's spiritual journey impacts those they influence.
• Worship as a Lifestyle 00:56:46 ▶️ 📄
  > Through a personal anecdote about his father, the pastor demonstrates how consistent, spontaneous worship in daily life shapes a child's understanding of faith and provides comfort in suffering.
• Worship and Hymns 00:58:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal story about his father singing hymns like 'Amazing Grace' during difficult times, illustrating how worship provided strength and joy.
• Suffering and Holiness 01:01:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that God's primary goal in hard times is to make believers holy rather than merely happy, and that embracing pain produces praise.
• Salvation and Decision 01:02:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor invites the congregation to make a decision for Christ, referencing Zechariah's prayer and the forgiveness of sin.

• Sermon Illustration 00:28:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses analogies of driving (lifting hands off the wheel to give up control), a gunfight (throwing up hands to surrender), and a child running to parents (asking to be picked up) to explain the symbolism of lifting hands in worship.
• Sermon Illustration 00:37:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote from 1984 where he was 12 years old and had duct tape put on his mouth by Vacation Bible School leaders to stop him from talking, using it to illustrate the difficulty of being mute.
• Sermon Illustration 00:41:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes his two dogs, Melba and Theo, using their barking and cowering instincts as an analogy for the fleshly instinct to doubt versus the spiritual instinct to trust God.
• Sermon Illustration 00:56:46 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal story about his father, a farmer who would spontaneously burst into singing hymns like 'Blessed Assurance' and 'Amazing Grace' while working in the barn, shop, or driving early in the morning, demonstrating a deep, lived-out faith.
• Sermon Illustration 00:58:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts his father's explanation for his love of singing: it was a coping mechanism for the trauma of his own father walking out when he was ten, and a source of strength even on his deathbed while on morphine.
• Sermon Illustration 00:58:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts his father's childhood trauma of being abandoned by his father at age 10, and how his father found solace and strength in singing hymns like 'Amazing Grace' and 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus' during early morning deer hunting trips and his final moments in the hospital.
• Sermon Illustration 00:58:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about waking up at 3:00 AM in the hospital to find his father, who was on morphine after open heart surgery, singing in bed, which led to a conversation about why his father loved to sing.

• Pastoral Charge 00:28:09 ▶️ 📄
  > Lift hands in worship and surrender
• Pastoral Charge 00:31:59 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray and give financially to support the church's 2030 vision
• Pastoral Charge 00:32:48 ▶️ 📄
  > Attend Christmas services and personally invite friends to join.
• Pastoral Charge 01:01:45 ▶️ 📄
  > Stand up from your seats.
• Pastoral Charge 01:02:10 ▶️ 📄
  > Participate in communion if already a Christian.
• Pastoral Charge 01:02:02 ▶️ 📄
  > Allow ministry teams to approach for prayer; lift hands in worship.
• Pastoral Charge 01:02:54 ▶️ 📄
  > Make a decision to give one's life to Jesus.
• Pastoral Charge 01:03:27 ▶️ 📄
  > Close eyes, bow head, and pray a prayer of salvation.
• Pastoral Charge 01:04:57 ▶️ 📄
  > Raise hand to indicate acceptance of Christ.
• Pastoral Charge 01:05:35 ▶️ 📄
  > Move to the cross in the room to speak with a mentor.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:03:27] The creative team here and we just wanted to welcome you to New Spring today. We are so thankful you joined us. Yes, we're so excited you're here here at New Spring. We want everyone everywhere to have an everyday relationship with Jesus. So today we hope is super encouraging for you and your relationship with the Lord. And let me tell you what's encouraging to me. Christmas is right around the corner. It is so hard to believe. I feel like I was just swimming. But here we are and it's freezing. But we would love, genuinely love to have, I know Christmas is a busy season.
[00:03:57] but we would love to have you at Christmas at New Spring this year and all the details for that can be found at Christmas at NewSpring.com. But Tara

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:04:05] has some of the fun facts for us. Our Christmas season here at New Spring is all about singing. We see in the Bible that we're called to sing. We get to unite together as brothers and sisters in Christ in singing, joining the chorus
[00:04:18] with all creation and singing glory to God in the highest. We see this in Psalm 40 verse 3 where it says, he put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Our proximity
[00:04:29] to Jesus results in singing a new song. That's it. And that's what you see all throughout the

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:34] book of Luke is that when people encounter Jesus, a song breaks out. Mary sings. Zachariah sings.
[00:04:41] The angels and shepherds sing. Nice. And when we sing, we are just joining a new song to the chorus that's always been sung for generations. Matter of fact, the reason we sing is because we
[00:04:53] are made in the image of a God who sings. Did you know that? God sings. Zephaniah 317 says that God rejoices over us with loud singing. So when we sing, we are just joining in the chorus that's

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:05:06] already been sung over us. Yeah. So as you can tell, we're going to do a lot of singing, but we're going to have some other fun stuff too, like photo opportunities. We'll have free coffee and
[00:05:16] we'll have a gift for every kid who comes to Christmas at New Spring. So we really hope that you'll join us. If you want to look up locations or gathering times, you can do that at the URL
[00:05:25] christmas.newspring.com. That's right. And as far as today, we would love to connect with you.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:05:31] Genuinely, our heart is that you would not just watch a service today, but that you would encounter God. And if you need help with that, we would love to help you. So if at any time throughout
[00:05:40] the service, you have questions about salvation or you need prayer, or you just have general questions then you can text church online to 30303 and somebody from a local campus will reach out

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:05:52] to you as soon as possible yes and if you're specifically joining us on youtube you can jump in the live chat we have an online pastor there who is willing to connect with you as well oh and

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:06:02] one more thing merry christmas has breath praise the lord so we have an invitation to sing this morning to Jesus. So would you guys sing with me? If you're not standing, stand up.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:06:21] We get to pray. This morning, we worship you. We love you, King Jesus. Amen. Amen. Good morning.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:09:02] Welcome to church, everybody. My name's Lydia. I'm on staff here, and I'm so grateful that you joined us today. We get to continue in worship right now by celebrating baptisms and hearing stories of how Jesus has changed people's lives. So Chris, share with us who we get to celebrate

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:09:17] with today. Yes, we are super excited. We have Blake here this morning with his youth group leader Cooper, and we are very excited to see baptism take place again this morning. And so if you're not sure what baptism is, if it's your first time to church, or you've just never really
[00:09:33] known what it is, is Blake has already believed in Jesus Christ in his heart for himself. He is already saved. What baptism is, is he's going to share his story and testify to Jesus Christ being
[00:09:46] his Lord and Savior. And then he's going to model by going under the water and back up Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection. And so it is so exciting for believers to see baptism take place
[00:09:58] because it not only affirms your own belief, but it preaches the gospel again. And how many of us do we need to hear the gospel one more time? We need to hear it again. So Blake, if you would
[00:10:09] go ahead and read us your story and testify to the goodness of Jesus Christ.

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:10:14] I had grown up going to New Spring and I've never really felt like I had a close relationship with God.
[00:10:19] I got saved in sixth grade at Fuse, but I always struggled with knowing if I was truly saved and was a Christian.
[00:10:24] Throughout the past year, I felt like I had really developed a personal relationship with the Lord by talking with my Fuse group and at golf practice with my teammates.
[00:10:31] I realized that I was saved and that I needed to get baptized as my next step with Him.

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:10:36] Amen.
[00:10:36] Yes, very good.
[00:10:37] I'll hold that for you.
[00:10:39] Amazing.
[00:10:40] Well, Blake, who is your Lord and Savior?
[00:10:42] Jesus Christ.
[00:10:43] It is based on your profession of your faith that we now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:10:57] Yes, yes, thank you, Jesus.
[00:11:00] Guys, Jesus is the reason that we gather and worship together, the reason we get to celebrate stories like this.
[00:11:07] Isaiah 9, verse two and six says, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
[00:11:14] Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
[00:11:18] verse 6 for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father prince of peace
[00:11:34] Jesus says about himself in Luke 4 verse 18 and 19 the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
[00:11:49] and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
[00:11:58] Today and all Christmas season, we celebrate and remember this good news together, that this who we read about here is Jesus, that he is the light of our darkness, the savior of our world, our living hope.
[00:12:13] And when we remember who Jesus is and we see all that he has done for us, our response is to worship our response is to sing our response is to lift our hands to give
[00:12:24] him everything to fall on our knees before him and we have an opportunity right now together to do that to respond and worship to God and we can do that through giving we can do that through
[00:12:37] singing so our baskets are going to pass and we're going to continue to sing together right now And as we do, let's remember this good news proclaimed to us, that Jesus is the light of the world,
[00:12:50] our savior, our living hope.
[00:12:52] And let's respond in worship to him now.
[00:12:55] Let's respond together now.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:13:28] Full picture, the shepherds, the wise men,

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:19:56] they traveled into the presence and it says when they got there, it says they bowed, they fell face down and they presented him with treasures.
[00:20:04] Do you think about that in comparison with Revelation 4 with what heaven looks like says the elders and the saints they're they're bowing they're taking these treasures these crowns and they're they're casting them before the feet of jesus and so
[00:20:19] literally from the moment the word became flesh and made his dwelling here among us into all of eternity the response has always been the same to worship him to fall down before him to bring
[00:20:31] him treasures and so i'm actually going to ask you land if you will to just sing chorus one for us one more time. And as we sing, fall on your knees. Oh, hear the angel voices. That's what's

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:20:41] happening. We get to join that chorus. Would you lead us one more time? Before you have a seat,

[00:27:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:27:23] I'm going to ask everyone to do something. You know, this series that we're in leading into Christmas is called Glory to God in the Highest. And we're looking at the songs of worship that accompany the birth of the Messiah. And I want to ask you to do something before I sit you down in
[00:27:40] a second. Could I ask you to close your eyes, if you will, please. And for some of you, I'm going to ask you to do something right now that you have never done before in your entire life. I sense the
[00:27:55] Spirit prompting me to ask us to do this collectively as a church. Would you simply, right where you stand, be willing for some of you to be a little uncomfortable, and would you be willing to just
[00:28:09] lift up both of your hands to the Lord in worship. Just lift up your hands. You may not even know what this means. Can I explain it to you? If you're driving down the road in your car and you take
[00:28:22] your hands off the wheel and lift them up, what are you doing? You're giving up control. If you're in a gunfight and you throw up your hands, what are you saying? I surrender. I surrender. You've
[00:28:34] got me. If you're a child and you run up to your parents and you lift up your arms like this, what are you saying? Lift me up, pick me up. There's so much symbolism in letting go of control
[00:28:47] when you lift up your hands to Jesus and say, I worship you. You're God. I'm not.
[00:28:54] You're in control. I'm not. You're worthy of worship. I'm not. You're worthy of glory. I'm not.
[00:29:02] You are. So God, we lift up our hands to you right now. And in our hearts, we just say, Hallelujah. Glory to God in the highest. Thank you, Father, for sending your son. Thank you,
[00:29:14] Jesus, for coming and being born and living and dying in our place. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your indwelling power that we feel and sense every day that we walk with you.
[00:29:23] We love you, beautiful triune God. And now at Christmas, as we celebrate your birth, Jesus, we await your advent, your return. And as we look back at the manger and celebrate your birth, We look forward to your second coming
[00:29:41] where you will not come back as a baby.
[00:29:43] You will come back as king.
[00:29:46] And we await that day.
[00:29:48] And I'm telling you, God, I long for it more now than I ever have.
[00:29:53] There is an ache in us that needs you.
[00:29:56] We thank you that you're real, but we want to see you in person and we need you.
[00:30:02] We know that you're our God and we're your people.
[00:30:05] So as we lift our hands up to you right now, would you receive this glory that you deserve?
[00:30:15] We love you, Jesus.
[00:30:17] Amen.
[00:30:19] Hey, why don't you high five somebody?
[00:30:21] Give a hug or a handshake and have a seat.
[00:30:25] Wow, my name's Clayton King.
[00:30:27] I get to be one of your pastors here.
[00:30:30] Merry Christmas to you.
[00:30:34] Hope your Amazon packages are on the way.
[00:30:37] Hope you don't have to get out in the traffic.
[00:30:40] If you're in Anderson, and I hope you do not have to go on Clemson Boulevard all Christmas long, unless it's two o'clock in the morning.
[00:30:47] Good to see your beautiful smiling faces today.
[00:30:52] Love this season of the year.
[00:30:54] We have so much to celebrate.
[00:30:56] One of the things we wanna celebrate right off the bat is the progress that we're making as a church for our 2030 vision.
[00:31:04] You've heard our teaching team talk about this over and over again.
[00:31:08] You've seen it in the emails.
[00:31:09] If you're part of our need to know email, I hope you are.
[00:31:11] Our 2030 vision is a big vision that God's given us as a church.
[00:31:15] And we are right now in the process of seeing that come to fruition.
[00:31:19] We're getting every one of our campuses in a permanent facility.
[00:31:22] We're planting 10 churches around the world and we've already paid off over $45 million in debt.
[00:31:30] And to do that, we are praying that the people of God will come together and that you will pray and do what God tells you to do because we need $6 million by the end of this calendar year
[00:31:41] to stay on pace.
[00:31:43] And praise God, you have already given $1.5 million to our Vision 2030 offering.
[00:31:50] Thank you for that.
[00:31:51] Look, we don't pressure you to give.
[00:31:53] We simply read the Bible and ask you to do what God tells you to do in the Word and what God tells you to do as you pray.
[00:31:59] So as a family or as an individual, would you just pray and do what God tells you to do so that we can stay on pace to meet this goal and reach this vision that God has given us.
[00:32:09] Well, if you have a Bible, I hope you will turn with me to Luke chapter one.
[00:32:14] Today, we're looking at another song on the Christmas playlist.
[00:32:19] Pastor Dan showed us last week that Christmas has a playlist, and we're gonna look at that playlist during this series as our Christmas services are approaching.
[00:32:29] I hope you're making plans to be here, and I hope you're inviting people to come.
[00:32:33] It's one of those two built-in times of the year, Christmas and Easter where your friends that you work out with, work with, go to school with, play with, live near, they will come to church statistically. If you ask them to come and you
[00:32:48] give them a personal invitation, Christmas and Easter are the two times they are most likely to come. And I hope that you're making plans to not only attend one of our Christmas services, but invite your friends so that they can also experience glory to God in the highest, which is
[00:33:03] the series we're looking at. Today, we're going to look at the story of Zechariah and the song that he lifted up in worship to God as a result of something that happened when he encountered
[00:33:15] Gabriel, the angel of the Lord in the temple. Now I need to set this up for just a few seconds here.
[00:33:24] There are two big births that take place in Luke's gospel. We celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, but there was also a birth that preceded his birth by several months, and that was the birth of John the Baptist. And John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin. He was the forerunner
[00:33:43] of the Messiah, one that the Bible says was a voice crying out in the wilderness. He was preparing the way for the Messiah. Some would even say he was the last of the great Old Testament prophets.
[00:33:57] he was a prophet of God and his mother's name was Elizabeth and she was Mary's cousin Mary the mother of Jesus and her husband's name was Zechariah and as I read the text to you you're
[00:34:11] going to see that the birth of John the Baptist was a miracle a lot like the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah this is a New Testament type of story where we see a miraculous birth
[00:34:26] not a virgin birth, but a birth that we would call somewhat miraculous. Luke chapter one, I want to read this to you. We'll start off in verse 10 and we'll go down through verse 20.
[00:34:38] Follow along in your copy of the scripture up on the screens there at your campus. Now, we learned something about Zechariah. He was a priest and he was actually in the temple performing his priestly duties. When we look at verse 10 and it says at the hour of incense,
[00:34:54] the whole assembly of the people was praying outside.
[00:34:59] An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
[00:35:07] When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified and overcome with fear.
[00:35:14] But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard.
[00:35:22] That's essential to the message today.
[00:35:25] Your prayer has been heard.
[00:35:28] Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son and you will name him John.
[00:35:36] There will be joy and delight for you and many will rejoice at his birth.
[00:35:45] Now, I want you to watch how Zechariah responds and reacts to this good news delivered by the angel. He responds with a question.
[00:35:57] How can I know this? Zechariah asked the angel. For I am an old man and my wife is well along in years. Can I pause right here and draw your attention to something? We know that Zechariah
[00:36:13] has been married to a woman for a long time because how he phrases this. I'm an old man.
[00:36:18] she is well advanced in years. He has learned the secret to thinking before you speak.
[00:36:28] This man has been around the block a few times. He knows. Verse 19, the angel answered him.
[00:36:35] I love this. I am Gabriel. In other words, don't you know who I am? I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God. And I was sent to speak to you and tell you this good news.
[00:36:49] who sent him? God the Father sent him from the throne room. Now listen, you will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place because you did not believe my words,
[00:37:04] which will be fulfilled in their proper time. Can I just go on record and tell y'all, I cannot think of a more difficult punishment than this, to not be able to talk for nine months.
[00:37:22] True story. In 1984, I was 12 years old and we had vacation Bible school at my church in Simpsonville. And the pastor's wife and another deacon's wife, they were leading our vacation Bible school. And by the last day of EBS, they had had enough of my big mouth. This is a true story.
[00:37:44] They warned me. They told my dad that I was being bad. My dad said, do whatever it takes to get him to shut up. They put duct tape on my mouth and made me sit under a table the last day of EBS.
[00:37:59] Some of y'all might think that that was cruel. I'm telling you, it was not. I deserved it. I turned out pretty good. I'm up here right now, ain't I? I'm not telling you to do this to your
[00:38:10] child. Don't. This was the 1900s. Times were different back then. We were just built different.
[00:38:16] We were tougher. We ate lead chips and didn't wear helmets and never put on a seatbelt.
[00:38:23] What's going on here? What's going on here? I mean, this doesn't look like a song of praise.
[00:38:27] This looks more like a mistake. Like Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth had been praying for a baby.
[00:38:36] The very thing they've been asking God to do, God not only does it, but sends an angel ahead of time to tell them it's gonna happen.
[00:38:45] And how does Zechariah react?
[00:38:49] The same way you and I do sometimes.
[00:38:53] When we should respond with worship, we often respond with unbelief.
[00:38:59] Isn't that true for you?
[00:39:00] I know it is for me.
[00:39:04] I will pray for something.
[00:39:05] I will ask God for something.
[00:39:06] I will intercede for something.
[00:39:07] I will pray for people in the lobby. I've already prayed for somebody today in the lobby for spiritual healing before this service, like all of our pastors and staff do. And the very thing that we pray for, sometimes we forget we even prayed for it. And then when that happens,
[00:39:25] sometimes we're too busy to even connect the dots that the very thing we've asked God to do for us, he has done. And we just move on with our life like it's just random or maybe we did it. And
[00:39:38] I'm telling you, you didn't do it. God did it. It's not up to you and me to make these things happen. It's up to God to provide for us. And the irony here is that God's very own priest
[00:39:51] is doubting God. And that's not meant to make anybody feel shame today. It's actually kind of meant to get us all on the same page for us to recognize we do this too. We should respond with
[00:40:04] worship. We should respond with our hands thrown up in praise. We should respond by saying, God, you're so good. I didn't deserve this, but you did it for me. But we often respond just like John,
[00:40:16] how could this happen? This isn't possible. And this is not, this doesn't make sense.
[00:40:22] How could this be? My wife is well along in years and I'm an old man and I know how this works.
[00:40:30] she's too old, just like Abraham and Sarah, very similar to that Old Testament story of Abraham and Sarah.
[00:40:37] What had happened, let me ask you this, what had happened in John's life, excuse me, what had happened in Zechariah's life up until this point that gave him the instinct to doubt God?
[00:40:50] What has happened in your life and mine to give us a reflex that when God speaks to us through his word or through a sermon you hear here at New Spring or just the Bible as you read it in your daily life. Why is it that we have an
[00:41:06] instinct, a reflex to doubt God when our reaction should be to worship him and praise him? Listen, it's called the flesh. The instinct of our flesh is to doubt God, but the instinct of the spirit
[00:41:22] is to believe God. I would like to illustrate this word instinct by showing you a picture of the two newest members of the King family.
[00:41:31] These are the two newest members of the King family.
[00:41:36] I saw Mr. Ben Boulware on the front of Anderson campus today.
[00:41:39] And I said, Ben, cause I follow Ben on Instagram.
[00:41:41] He's got these dogs, he calls them meatheads.
[00:41:43] They're stupid.
[00:41:45] Your dogs are so dumb.
[00:41:46] And you highlight that on your Instagram.
[00:41:48] And I'm just telling you, and I mean that respectively.
[00:41:50] I don't mean that to hurt people's feelings that have dogs.
[00:41:53] I have dogs, these two, Melba and Theo.
[00:41:56] Now they're not dumb, they're just dogs.
[00:42:00] They have an instinct. They bark at everything and nothing. They bark at their own reflection in the window as they look outside. They bark at the UPS man and the FedEx lady.
[00:42:17] They bark at me when I come around the corner wearing a baseball cap. I'm like, I'm your master.
[00:42:23] I feed you. I rebuke that bark spirit in the name of Jesus. Don't bark at me. This is their instinct.
[00:42:30] and they're animals. They also, so Theo on your right, he's the older one. And Melba's our newest one. And she's still a puppy. Her instinct is to be scared of us. And she's growing out of that.
[00:42:44] But when you go to pick her up or you go to pet her, she cowers down. She turns her little rear end towards you and she kind of eases toward you. It's her instinct to be that way. But the more
[00:42:55] that we love her, the more her instinct changes. The more you receive the love of God, the more that you submit yourself to the word of God, the more that you live in community with your brothers
[00:43:07] and sisters, the more that you listen to God, the more he will exchange that old fleshly instinct and reflex to doubt with a new instinct to believe and trust. So let me ask you a question. Do you
[00:43:20] see in your life, your, your instincts changing? Do you see yourself becoming more afraid of God quicker to be disappointed by the things that you have no control over, doubting God more, or do you see a spiritual growth in your life that John had to, that Zechariah had to go through
[00:43:42] before John was born to where you are listening to God, you are receiving, you are submitting yourself more to the spiritual growth process, the ones that we have worked so hard to provide for you here at New Spring, starting all the way down at Wonder Way in Kids Spring, working up
[00:43:58] through Fuse, Connect classes, Bible studies. We are doing everything that we can for all of us together to collectively let the Spirit of God replace that fleshly instinct and reflex to doubt and fear and disbelieve and replace it with trust and believe in God that everything he says is true
[00:44:19] and everything he says he will do will be accomplished. And that's what this story is about with Zechariah. So you know what the angel says? Okay, because you doubted, because you didn't believe, you're going to be mute for nine months until this baby's born. You will not speak.
[00:44:38] Wow.
[00:44:40] Well, what is the result of that?
[00:44:41] Well, let's look at Luke chapter one, verses 59 through 64.
[00:44:45] Can you imagine nine whole months he can't talk.
[00:44:48] All he can do is listen, watch, observe.
[00:44:51] He gets to listen to his wife.
[00:44:53] He gets to watch her as the baby grows inside of her.
[00:44:56] He gets to listen for God to speak to him.
[00:44:58] He gets to observe this process of his son, John, growing in the womb of his wife, Elizabeth.
[00:45:06] and it says that finally the baby's born, Luke chapter one, verses 59 through 64.
[00:45:12] When they came to circumcise the child on the eighth day, they were going to name him Zechariah.
[00:45:18] This was Jewish tradition.
[00:45:19] They typically would not give a name to the son until the day of circumcision and the son was almost always, especially in the case of a priest, named after the father, but they go to circumcise him on the eighth day.
[00:45:32] But his mother responded, verse 60, no, he's not gonna be called Zechariah.
[00:45:36] He will be called John.
[00:45:39] Then they said to her, none of your relatives has that name.
[00:45:42] So they motioned to the father to find out what he wanted to be called.
[00:45:46] And Zechariah had to ask for a writing tablet because he still couldn't talk.
[00:45:51] And he wrote on the tablet, his name is John.
[00:45:54] And they were all amazed.
[00:45:55] Immediately, his mouth was opened and his tongue set free and he began to speak, praising God.
[00:46:06] he was about to explode with worship he had been mute for nine whole months and and this was a season for him and this is also a lesson for us seasons of silence allow space
[00:46:27] for God to speak do not despise the seasons in your life that seem silent because those seasons of silence? I've learned this in walking with Jesus for almost 38 years now. Those seasons of silence, it's God making space in my life so he can speak to me. Nine months only listening.
[00:46:52] Nine months in the house with Elizabeth. Oh, and guess who else was there during this nine months of silence when he couldn't speak. God had allowed them a house guest, the Virgin Mary.
[00:47:09] Mary has traveled to go visit them in Judea. She is there in the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth.
[00:47:18] Elizabeth is her cousin. As a matter of fact, when Mary walked into the room and greeted Elizabeth, the Bible says that John, her baby, leapt in the womb in the presence of Jesus.
[00:47:31] John in the womb, in utero, was aware that he was in the presence of the Messiah.
[00:47:38] And Mary, the Bible says, stayed with Elizabeth until the time came for Elizabeth to give birth.
[00:47:46] Can y'all just let your imagination run wild with you for a second?
[00:47:51] Think about the conversations that I was gonna call her older Elizabeth, but less classic Elizabeth, is having with young Mary, they're both pregnant at the same time.
[00:48:05] Think about what they talked about in those days. Think about Mary going, Elizabeth, you are not going to believe this. I have not had sex with Joseph, but I've got a baby. And Elizabeth is
[00:48:18] like, oh, I believe it. Guess what? I'm pregnant too. An angel came in the temple and told my husband. And my husband had to open his big mouth and question it. And now he can't talk. And I
[00:48:28] finally got some peace and quiet for a little while. Thank you for coming to visit me so you and I can talk. Guess who got to observe that conversation for all those months? Zechariah.
[00:48:42] Think of all the things the Holy Spirit taught Zechariah in those nine months by listening to Elizabeth and Mary talk. Don't despise the silence in your life. As a matter of fact, Silence sometimes is a blessing from God
[00:48:56] because our world is filled with so many distractions.
[00:49:00] Noise all the time.
[00:49:02] We've all got playlists on our phone of the kind of music we like when we're riding down the road or when we're working out or a Christmas playlist that we play in the house and a worship playlist that we listen to
[00:49:12] when we're struggling.
[00:49:13] I understand that.
[00:49:14] But sometimes silence is what God wants because silence drowns out everything else to restore our hearing.
[00:49:23] Some of y'all can relate to this.
[00:49:24] standing on this stage right now, if I get quiet for about five seconds, yep, there it is. My ears ring. I have a medical condition. It's called tinnitus. There's no cure. 15 years ago, riding
[00:49:40] down the road and all of a sudden my ears started ringing. I thought it would go away. It hasn't gone away. I went to get checked. They checked my hearing. They said, yep, you've got tinnitus. I
[00:49:47] said, what can I do about it? They said, protect what hearing you've got left. So a lot of times on a Sunday morning, if I'm down on the front row worshiping with Shari or the boys, I'll slip out
[00:49:56] because unless I'm wearing earplugs, I just have to watch how much loud noise I subject myself to.
[00:50:03] Do you know the only time that my hearing comes back to me, or at least the time that I'm aware of little noises I would typically miss?
[00:50:11] Because there are sounds I literally cannot hear.
[00:50:14] And I'm one of those guys now, if I'm looking at you talking to you, Danny Bear, and there is a loud noise right behind me, that loud noise will not only make me unable to hear you,
[00:50:23] but it will aggravate me.
[00:50:24] And I just want to like turn around and be like, stop, be quiet. I can't hear two things at once.
[00:50:29] You know what restores my hearing? The woods. When I get in the woods, when I climb in a tree stand and I sit there, no sound, no distraction. After about 30 minutes, I'll notice my hearing comes
[00:50:46] back. Kid you not, I can hear the tiny claws of a squirrel on an oak tree, 20 yards away from me.
[00:50:54] but I have to, I have to tune out all the other sounds. Maybe God wants you to be silent and quiet so you can slow down and get what you would miss otherwise. Because I guarantee you,
[00:51:13] Zechariah had plenty of time to listen. And while he was listening, two things were happening simultaneously. As the baby was growing inside of Elizabeth, belief was growing inside of Zechariah.
[00:51:33] Two things are growing side by side. The baby is taking form and shape in Elizabeth's womb and faith, belief, and trust is taking place in Zechariah's heart. Isn't it so good of our loving father to sometimes allow us to go through difficult things to help us grow.
[00:52:02] I've noticed this in my own life. There have been plenty of times that I feel like I had nothing to say. Can I confess this to you? Your teaching team, every one of us knows what
[00:52:12] this feels like. Sometimes on a Sunday, we don't feel like getting up and preaching. And it's not because we don't feel good. There are times when we don't feel like we have anything to say
[00:52:24] because of our own weak flesh. But when we stand up here, we know it is God speaking through his word to you. And we are simply a vessel that he uses. That's it. That's it. We're a vessel.
[00:52:43] Zechariah was John's father. He would be a vessel to train up and raise up this young man along with his wife. God is using a family, a family, the family unit to train up, to raise up, to disciple,
[00:53:02] and then to release into the world the forerunner of the Messiah. And so in order for God to prepare John for the journey, God had to prepare his dad, Zechariah. Maybe the thing that God's doing in
[00:53:17] you is not just for you. Maybe the thing that God is doing in you is for the person you're going to influence, the person that you're going to rub up against in life and work and school.
[00:53:28] Maybe that season of silence is not just for you to learn something, it's for you to learn something and then pass it on to those that God will place in your path. And that's what God did
[00:53:40] with Zechariah. Now let's look at Zechariah's song, because as soon as he says his name will be John writing it on the tablet, he erupts in worship, praise pours out of him. And this is
[00:53:54] Zechariah's song on the Christmas playlist right here in the gospel of Luke. Luke chapter one, verse 67. Then his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied, blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel because he has visited and provided redemption for his people. Now watch,
[00:54:16] I'll show you this. As we read through his song of praise, you'll see that he is praising Jesus, who is literally not even born yet. He knows that Jesus is the Messiah sent for salvation.
[00:54:30] And then he begins to thank God for his own son, John. And watch, while he's singing this song, imagine him, he's holding his newborn baby son in his arms. The first words that Zechariah speaks
[00:54:46] and sings after nine months of the inability to even say a word is a song of worship for the son of God while he holds his own son, John, in his arms. Look at verse 69. He has raised up a horn
[00:55:01] of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, just as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets in ancient times. Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of those who hate us.
[00:55:14] He's dealt mercifully with our fathers and remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham. He has given us the privilege since we have been rescued from the hand of our enemies to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness in his presence
[00:55:31] all our days. And you, child, this is where he is now speaking to his son. I love watching a dad.
[00:55:39] I love watching moms do this too. But as a dad, it just touches my heart when I see fathers speak words of life and encouragement and scripture over their sons and daughters. And this is what
[00:55:51] he does. And you, child, verse 76, will be called a prophet of the most high, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of
[00:56:04] their sins because of God's merciful compassion. The dawn from on high will visit us to shine on those who live in darkness in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
[00:56:17] And verse 80, the child grew up and became spiritually strong. And he was in the wilderness until the days of his public appearance to Israel. How did John grow up spiritually strong?
[00:56:29] Why does Luke record the fact that as he grew up as a little boy, he was strengthened?
[00:56:33] How was he strengthened?
[00:56:34] Because he had a godly mom and a godly dad.
[00:56:38] Because he grew up in a family that prioritized God's word and a dad that knew how to worship.
[00:56:46] I grew up thinking all men sang.
[00:56:50] Can I tell you why?
[00:56:50] I thought all men just sing.
[00:56:52] I thought it was natural.
[00:56:53] I thought when the music starts at church, men start singing out.
[00:56:57] You know why?
[00:56:57] Because my dad did.
[00:56:59] My dad was not a perfect man, far from it, but he was a Christian, he was godly, and he loved God with all he had.
[00:57:06] And my earliest memories of my dad, overalls, work boots, calloused hands.
[00:57:16] My mom had a bar of soap that she used at the kitchen sink and then a bar of soap for my dad, lava, lava soap, because my dad worked on motors and he was a farmer.
[00:57:26] And my dad, this big, strong man, would just randomly burst into song.
[00:57:32] We would be in the barn working on a bush hog and he would start singing, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.
[00:57:41] And I'd be like, what is wrong with this man?
[00:57:43] We'd be in the motor shop and power tools and pneumatic drills going off everywhere, pneumatic wrenches, and my dad would be singing, victory in Jesus, my savior forever.
[00:57:55] Some of y'all don't know that song.
[00:57:56] You need to get saved and get that song in your heart because it'll make you kick the devil in the teeth sometimes when you need to punch him in the throat.
[00:58:02] And he'd just start singing.
[00:58:04] We would be in the truck.
[00:58:05] We would get up early during deer season.
[00:58:07] We would drive down to like below Clinton, South Carolina on I-26.
[00:58:10] We'd leave the house at 3.30 in the morning, freezing cold.
[00:58:13] And I would get over next to my dad because he was warm and I would be like 10 years old.
[00:58:17] And he would just, the radio would be off.
[00:58:19] It'd be 3.30 in the morning.
[00:58:20] He would just start singing Amazing Grace or what a friend we have in Jesus.
[00:58:25] us all our sins and griefs to bear. And I'll be like, okay, there's something going on here.
[00:58:32] And I didn't understand why my dad liked to worship so much and why he would just burst into song all of a sudden until right before he died. I knew that my dad had a hard childhood,
[00:58:44] but here's what my dad said to me before he died. Cause we're in the hospital room one night, just the two of us. He'd had another open heart surgery and I'll wake up at three o'clock in the
[00:58:55] morning. He's over there singing in bed, and he's on like morphine, and he's just singing.
[00:59:03] I walked over and grabbed him by the hand. I said, Daddy, you got a song in your heart? He goes, yeah. You know why I like to sing so much, don't you? I said, why? Tell me. He said, because when
[00:59:12] my daddy walked out on us when I was 10 years old, it's the hardest thing ever happened to me.
[00:59:18] I would sit there at the table, looking out the window, waiting on him to come home from work, and after several weeks, my mom told me and my brother and sister, Dan and Gwen, your daddy's not coming home.
[00:59:32] He's left us for another woman and I'm gonna have to raise y'all by myself.
[00:59:37] And my daddy said, and that was the year that I got saved because I needed a father and I knew that God would be my father.
[00:59:44] And so I got saved when I was 10.
[00:59:46] The same year that my dad left me, God became my father and Jesus became my savior.
[00:59:50] And I learned that when I would sing these old hymns that we would sing in church at Clear Spring Baptist Church in Simpsonville.
[00:59:58] Those songs gave me joy in my heart.
[01:00:00] Those songs made me feel like God loved me.
[01:00:02] Those songs made me feel strong.
[01:00:06] So I grew up loving worship and I grew up expecting Christians to sing, especially men, especially dads.
[01:00:15] I thought all dads did that.
[01:00:18] What would happen in our church if we all learned this one lesson, that your hardest struggles of pain produce your loudest songs of praise?
[01:00:27] What would happen in our church if every one of us, like Zechariah, would embrace those seasons of pain, those struggles? What would happen in my life, in your life, instead of trying to pray them away, doubting God, questioning God, wondering why me, God? What if instead we had the faith to
[01:00:52] say, this season of struggle in me is hard, but it is going to produce a loud song of praise because I'm going to come through this and have a testimony. I'm going to come out of this and
[01:01:04] have a story to tell. I'm going to come out of this and be more tender towards other people who have struggled with hard things too, because I've struggled with something hard and I'm not going to judge. I'm going to simply embrace and say, I know how you feel. It's hard right now,
[01:01:20] but it'll make you holy.
[01:01:22] God doesn't care about making you happy.
[01:01:24] God is more concerned about making you holy because holiness brings great happiness that circumstances can't take away.
[01:01:31] Maybe that is what God wants to do in the hard times in life.
[01:01:35] Zechariah is an example for me and you that that hardest season of struggle can produce in you your loudest song of praise.
[01:01:45] And so I wonder today, are you ready to just embrace that season and sing out. Can I ask you to stand on your feet with me right now at every campus, every location. I'm going to ask our ministry teams to make their way to their spots. We,
[01:02:02] if you're visiting with us, we ask people to make decisions at New Spring Church.
[01:02:10] We want you to make a decision and decisions are varied. We're going to have communion available for you today. If you're a Christian, we want you to participate in that. We have ministry team members all around your room right now that are ready to pray with you if you're struggling or if
[01:02:29] you need help. Human beings that will pray with you and for you. We're going to sing and I'm going to invite some of you to, for the first time, maybe to lift your hands in worship as we sing
[01:02:41] here at the close of our gathering. But there is one more thing that I'm going to ask you to do today if you've never done this before. Two times, Zechariah mentions God's salvation in his prayer
[01:02:54] of praise in his worship song. He mentions the forgiveness of sin. He mentions redemption for those far from God. I'm going to ask you today, especially during this Advent season of Christmas, if you've never made a decision to give your life to Jesus, please make that decision right now.
[01:03:14] And I'm going to tell you how to do it. Jesus did the work for you. You just simply receive it by faith. So would you close your eyes and open your hearts in preparation for a time of response and
[01:03:27] decision? With your heads bowed and your eyes closed and your hearts open to Jesus, if you have never invited the King of Kings to take up residence in your life, if you feel far from God
[01:03:41] and you want to know him today and meet him for the first time, would you pray this to him right now in your heart? Because he's listening and he's here. He's right there beside you. You feel his
[01:03:52] presence. And you can make a decision right now to give your life to him if you're willing. Pray this to him right where you stand. Jesus, I decide to give you my life. I want to know you. I want to
[01:04:14] follow you. Would you forgive me of my sin? I believe you died for me. I believe you rose from the grave. Rescue me, Jesus, right now. Please save me. I love you, Jesus. Help me follow you.
[01:04:48] Now, would you keep your eyes closed for just a moment? I'm going to invite you to respond in a second, but with your eyes closed, I can't see every room, but I just want to ask you to make
[01:04:57] one small step now and then one more small step. If you just pray that prayer to Christ, would you raise your hand? Just raise your hand straight up above your head right where you are. Just raise
[01:05:08] them up. Just raise them up. Every room, every campus, each location, you can put your hands down. Everybody open your eyes and look at me. As soon as I say them into this prayer, we're going
[01:05:24] to respond with communion and prayer. But there is a cross in your room. And if you just prayed to receive Christ, whether it was the first time or the 31st time, we want to help you take your
[01:05:35] next step as a disciple. There's a cross in your room. I want you to come forward. While everybody else is coming to take communion. I want you to find the cross in your room. Here at this campus,
[01:05:43] which is the only one I can see, 17 people just raised their hand and responded with a decision to invite Jesus to take control. And we celebrate every one of those, but we want you to do
[01:05:55] something now. And so God, as we prepare to respond with communion and prayer and worship, I pray that everyone who has prayed to receive you by faith would be the first ones to move and head to the cross so that they can talk
[01:06:10] to a brother or sister in Christ who can help them as they begin their relationship with Jesus.
[01:06:16] We love you and like Zechariah, we lift up a song of praise to you, Jesus.
[01:06:22] It's in your name we pray, amen.

[01:06:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[01:06:24] Jesus, worthy, our souls will forever sing

[01:17:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[01:17:26] how great thou art.
[01:17:29] Jesus, we love you.
[01:17:31] My hope and prayer for all of us today is that we would continue to allow heart of struggles into our loudest songs of praise, that you would hear the voice of God, that you would allow him to create something new, new faith and belief inside of you today.
[01:17:57] And my hope and prayer for all of us is that we wouldn't let that just end here right now with us, but that we would carry that same hope and light and life of the gospel into the world around us.
[01:18:07] And I want to invite you into two specific opportunities that we have to do that together this Christmas season.
[01:18:14] And the first is by inviting somebody with you to our Christmas gatherings this next week.
[01:18:20] Like Clayton said earlier, we know and see every year that people that might not normally say yes to come to church will say yes at Christmas time.
[01:18:28] And it's not just to get them in this building.
[01:18:30] We believe that when they're here, they will encounter the presence of Jesus.
[01:18:34] That same hope and light and life that you have experienced today is on offer for them and that they can leave with their eternities changed.
[01:18:43] So will you make plans to join us for Christmas gatherings to invite somebody with you that you know needs the hope and life of Jesus to come to our Christmas gatherings?
[01:18:53] Those times are gonna be on the screen next to me.
[01:18:56] We have options on Saturday and Sunday.
[01:18:58] We'd love for you to join us for that.
[01:19:00] And then we'll invite all of you back again for our Christmas Eve candlelight gathering that's on Christmas Eve.
[01:19:06] And we do that every year to remember the birth of Jesus together and to be sent as a light into our homes at Christmas time. So we'd love for you to make plans to join us. The second way
[01:19:18] that you can help carry the light and hope of the gospel to the world is by praying about being a part of Vision 2030 with us. Our church has a vision to plant 10 churches and to get all of
[01:19:30] our campuses, New Spring campuses, in permanent homes by the year 2030 so that we can carry the hope of the gospel to the state of South Carolina and to the ends of the earth. So if you want to
[01:19:42] learn more about that, what that is, how you can be a part of it, or if you just want updates and progress to hear about the progress that we're making, you can text VISION2030 to 30303 and
[01:19:52] we'd love to invite you to pray about how you can partner with us to carry the hope and light of Jesus into the world. But church, as we get ready to be sent into our homes and communities, I would
[01:20:02] love to speak a blessing over you. So if you'll extend your hands out in front of you, you can keep your eyes open as I speak this blessing over us now. May God give you new and renewed belief
[01:20:15] that God will come through on his promises for you. In every season you walk through, may you seek to hear God's voice and allow God to turn your hardest struggles into songs of praise.
[01:20:27] May you carry that new song of hope into the world around you. Be blessed, church.