We Are Not Going, We Are Being Sent

• Divine Sending vs. Human Initiative 00:03:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the idea of people 'going' to find Jesus or fulfill prophecy with the theological concept that they were 'sent' by God, emphasizing God's direction over human whimsy.
• Spiritual Stability in Transition 00:08:58 ▶️ 📄
  > Using a Jenga analogy, the pastor argues that God sends believers to new phases of life only after establishing their stability and consistency in their current state.
• The Danger of Being 'Stuck' 00:11:27 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines being 'stuck' as a state of helplessness and lack of options, contrasting it with the security and sincerity of being 'sent' by God.
• The Nature of Being Sent 00:13:27 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts being 'sent' with merely 'going,' defining being sent as having divine direction and authority, resulting in spiritual security and sincerity.
• Biblical Examples of Sending 00:13:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor cites Moses leaving Egypt and the Apostle Paul traveling to cities like Corinth and Rome as examples of those who were 'sent' by God rather than just going whimsically.
• Authority and Healing 00:16:24 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that being sent grants a greater level of authority and leads to the deepest level of healing and significance for the believer.
• Christmas and the Birth of the Lord 00:17:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor connects the Christmas season to the concept of sending, noting that Jesus was sent to meet us, and warns against the commercialization of the holiday.
• [Matthew 10:16](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A16&version=KJV) Application 00:18:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor quotes Matthew 10:16 ('Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves') to advise believers to be wise and harmless, particularly in handling family dynamics during Christmas.
• Divine Guidance vs. Human Planning 00:20:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor distinguishes between human planning and divine sending, emphasizing that God's hand guides the process, even when it is scary or unknowing.
• Missing the Sending 00:21:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor illustrates how the innkeeper, the public, and religious elites missed the significance of Jesus' birth, contrasting them with the shepherds and wise men who received it.
• Manifest Destiny and Divine Compulsion 00:23:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the historical concept of Manifest Destiny and a story of settlers to illustrate the internal, divine compulsion to move forward, paralleling it with spiritual sending.
• Gradual Revelation 00:26:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that God reveals His will in 'small bite-sized doses' like medicine, rather than all at once, to help believers navigate major steps of faith.

• Sermon Illustration 00:05:45 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses a Jenga game analogy where volunteers must pull a block and pass it to the next person to demonstrate that God sets believers up for success and stability before sending them to the next phase of life.
• Sermon Illustration 00:10:38 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the Israelites' 40-year journey in the wilderness, suggesting that their delay was due to a lack of stability and the need to remove 'Egypt' from their hearts before entering Canaan.
• Sermon Illustration 00:12:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a car stuck in mud or snow to describe the spiritual exertion required to move forward when one is 'stuck' in life, contrasting it with the ease of being 'sent' by God.
• Sermon Illustration 00:13:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical accounts of Moses leaving Egypt and the Apostle Paul traveling to various cities to illustrate the difference between whimsical movement and divine sending.
• Sermon Illustration 00:20:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about praying on his back porch on a cold Sunday morning, where God reminded him to tell the congregation that He is sending them with purpose.
• Sermon Illustration 00:21:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the story of the innkeeper missing Jesus' birth, the public being unaware, and the religious elites (Pharisees, Sadducees) missing it despite 400 years of silence, contrasting them with the shepherds and wise men who received the news.
• Sermon Illustration 00:24:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor tells a story about settlers loading a wagon for a journey, where the patriarch admits he cannot fully explain why they are moving but feels compelled by God, illustrating the concept of divine compulsion similar to Manifest Destiny.
• Sermon Illustration 00:26:38 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses an analogy of taking medicine (Benadryl) in teaspoons rather than the whole bottle to explain how God reveals His will in small, manageable doses rather than all at once.

• Pastoral Charge 00:01:34 ▶️ 📄
  > Volunteer to participate in the Jenga object lesson.
• Pastoral Charge 00:04:51 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray for God's direction and presence in their lives.
• Pastoral Charge 00:14:26 ▶️ 📄
  > Grab hold of God's hand and faith.
• Pastoral Charge 00:16:46 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor commands the congregation to actively take hold of their spiritual authority and live in it.
• Pastoral Charge 00:27:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor invites the congregation to come forward and engage in prayer and communication with God.
• Pastoral Charge 00:27:47 ▶️ 📄
  > Close eyes and stretch hands.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Luke chapter 9 verses 1 through 2 Luke chapter 9 verses 1 through 2
[00:00:11] As you're finding that, Luke chapter 9 verses 1 through 2, we did speak again to the contractor this week.
[00:00:17] This is a new guy to help kind of guide us with some of the preliminary stuff, getting the land clear, tapping into different lines.
[00:00:26] And he was very impressed with our plans of what we're planning on building.
[00:00:31] There may be some modifications to it coming up that would save us about
[00:00:39] just so you know we'll keep everybody updated but Luke chapter 9 verses 1 through 2 says this and he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over all the devils to cure diseases verse 2 and he sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick
[00:01:06] Amen.
[00:01:08] I want to preach today.
[00:01:09] We're not going.
[00:01:12] We're being sent.
[00:01:14] We're not going, but we're being sent.
[00:01:17] Let's ask the Lord to help us today.
[00:01:19] Gracious God, we thank you today.
[00:01:21] Believing on your power, your grace, your goodness today.
[00:01:24] Lord, I believe in you.
[00:01:25] I trust in you, O God.
[00:01:27] Holding on to your grace and your goodness is in Jesus' righteous name.
[00:01:31] Amen.
[00:01:32] You may be seated this morning.
[00:01:34] Just FYI, I'll need about four volunteers in a few minutes.
[00:01:37] I'll call for those volunteers.
[00:01:50] I believe, and this is my belief, and we can argue about it if you choose to, but I believe that many of you that are here today have been sent.
[00:02:12] Now I know that the Lord's
[00:02:17] I say today that not only are you being drawn, but therefore there has to be ascending to a certain place.
[00:02:24] Amen.
[00:02:25] None of us were here 15 years ago.
[00:02:31] I believe that you have been sent from where you have been.
[00:02:41] I know Sister Maria is from El Salvador.
[00:02:45] Maybe in my opinion has been sent here.
[00:02:48] I know that Sister Trish is from Trinidad and can I say that she's been sent here by God.
[00:02:54] I know that Brother and Sister Cruz were in Boston for such a long time.
[00:03:00] I honestly believe that Brother Cruz, if you're watching, you have been sent by God for the will of God to be carried out in this tomb.
[00:03:08] Amen.
[00:03:09] I believe that.
[00:03:12] And besides our family and besides Sister Maria, Brother James Denney has been here longer than anybody else.
[00:03:18] Kind of off and on, praise God.
[00:03:20] But Jesus did it.
[00:03:22] Amen.
[00:03:23] And I believe, in my opinion, that he has been sent for a reason.
[00:03:28] I could go all the way down the line.
[00:03:30] I could go all the way down the line and name every person here today that I personally believe has been sent by God and you responded to that.
[00:03:40] Did the wise men go to find Jesus or were they sent?
[00:03:43] That's a question we need to ask ourselves.
[00:03:46] Did Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem or were they sent to fulfill prophecy?
[00:03:52] You see, there were prophecies that were prophesied that they had to check the box, if you will, to say, we got to go to a certain area so that this comes to fruition.
[00:04:02] This was their total choosing, but God was directing this.
[00:04:07] My God, God had His hands upon this.
[00:04:12] God says that I'm doing it.
[00:04:14] But being sent by God says that God's hand is directing this the whole time.
[00:04:21] I believe that our God is a sending God.
[00:04:24] I'll talk more about that in just a second.
[00:04:26] But our God is a sending God.
[00:04:28] That's why He said, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
[00:04:36] I want it to be our prayer today that I want God's hands and God's footprint all over my life today.
[00:04:47] Can that be our prayer this week?
[00:04:51] God, I want your hands all over my life.
[00:04:54] I want you to direct my thoughts, my mind.
[00:04:57] Keep your hands upon me, O God.
[00:04:59] Keep your hands upon my soul, Lord.
[00:05:01] Direct me, God, for your glory in Jesus' name.
[00:05:06] Hallelujah.
[00:05:07] Now, that brings me, if I could get four volunteers, if you want to raise your hands.
[00:05:13] Brother Allen.
[00:05:14] Yeah, I'm glad you volunteer, Amelia.
[00:05:17] Come on up here.
[00:05:18] Yeah, Jasmine Perfect.
[00:05:20] This is a good group right here.
[00:05:22] And maybe one more.
[00:05:23] I'm just feeling one more in her spirit.
[00:05:25] Probably, maybe not.
[00:05:26] Okay, this will work.
[00:05:27] Sister Heather, can you come and get this real quick?
[00:05:29] And I'm going to let you pass this on to them.
[00:05:31] You don't have to participate.
[00:05:32] Just hand it to them.
[00:05:33] You guys line up right here.
[00:05:35] Face the crowd.
[00:05:36] Line up right here.
[00:05:37] Face the crowd.
[00:05:38] And Brother Monroe's jumping in there to help us out today.
[00:05:40] Stick with me.
[00:05:41] Sometimes when I do object lessons, they're cheesy.
[00:05:44] Sometimes they're great.
[00:05:45] But this game, if you've ever played Jenga, raise your hand if you've ever played Jenga.
[00:05:51] Most everybody.
[00:05:52] You know that you pull a piece out and you set it up on top.
[00:06:00] This game is that not only are you doing that, but then you have to pass it to the next person.
[00:06:08] Now, I'm going to say, I'm going to tell you that I was a doubter until I played this the other night.
[00:06:13] And I was like, Amy, Sister Hedrick, do we really need this game?
[00:06:18] I'm not feeling it.
[00:06:19] And then we whipped that joke around and it was a lot of fun.
[00:06:22] But that's not the point today.
[00:06:23] I'll get to the point in just a minute.
[00:06:27] You pull a piece out, set it up on top, and then he's going to pass it on to Merle right here.
[00:06:32] Perfect.
[00:06:33] Great.
[00:06:33] He's going to pass it to Merle.
[00:06:36] And see, you've got to be real steady.
[00:06:38] And I'm not trying to embarrass you.
[00:06:39] If you make a mess with these things, that's all right.
[00:06:42] But you're going to pull the piece out, and then you're going to give it.
[00:06:46] Can I say you're going to send it to the next person?
[00:06:51] Oh, he's getting frisky there, I think.
[00:06:53] I don't know.
[00:06:53] I mean, he's just kind of... Oh, I thought he was pulling a different piece out.
[00:06:56] But, man, you've got to be right on this game.
[00:07:01] I tell you.
[00:07:02] It makes me sweat sometimes.
[00:07:04] It makes me... Yeah.
[00:07:05] And then you've got to pass it.
[00:07:08] And I will say, in the rules...
[00:07:11] There are different ways to pass it, and we're just sticking basic here today because I don't want to get too weird.
[00:07:17] But you can close your eyes and pass it.
[00:07:20] You can pass it underneath your legs.
[00:07:22] You don't have to do that today.
[00:07:23] You can do it with chopsticks.
[00:07:25] I don't even know how that works.
[00:07:27] but you can do it behind your back now how crazy is that now now jasmine's really having to think about this and and i apologize she volunteered and she didn't know what she was volunteering for and i do appreciate her for that but she seems like an outgoing person that doesn't mind this and so there oh that's a good one that's a good one i feel that one that's a good one you know i will say that it does heighten it's hard to hold this steady when you're standing in front of everybody
[00:07:59] She's going to pass it to Amelia, and if we can... You did it!
[00:08:02] That's alright!
[00:08:04] That's alright!
[00:08:04] Hey, let's give them a hand clap!
[00:08:06] Bro, bro, can you help pick these up for us?
[00:08:08] Oh, that's alright!
[00:08:10] We still love you!
[00:08:12] You can throw the blocks in this bag right here.
[00:08:15] That's alright!
[00:08:15] We still love you!
[00:08:17] We still love you!
[00:08:19] Oh man, I would do it again, but maybe after church or something, praise God.
[00:08:28] But the point of the whole game was to set you up
[00:08:35] with Success.
[00:08:37] Somebody say Amen.
[00:08:38] The whole point of this entire game was to make sure that this thing stays stable.
[00:08:45] Somebody say stable.
[00:08:46] That when I pass you on, when I pass this structure on, I want you to be as stable as possible.
[00:08:53] The Lord is asking and doing the very same thing.
[00:08:56] Stick with me on this point today.
[00:08:58] That He is sending you, but He needs you to be stable and consistent first.
[00:09:03] Praise God.
[00:09:04] He's setting you up for
[00:09:05] I'm setting you up for success if you'll stay with Him.
[00:09:08] So when He passes you on to the next chapter, the next phase of your life, the next phase in your walk with God, I'm setting you up for success and passing you on with stability.
[00:09:19] Somebody clap your hands for the Lord today.
[00:09:27] Thank God for setting me up and turning me up and putting my feet on solid ground.
[00:09:35] Now I know we're a little shaky and bless Jasmine's heart I feel bad putting her on the spot but she volunteered.
[00:09:42] I feel bad that when you stood here that it heightened your shakiness.
[00:09:48] The reason why I didn't participate is because I'm a shaky dude anyway and more shaky today than ever.
[00:09:53] So and when you pass that on
[00:09:56] if there is double-mindedness in the spirit world if there's an instability in the spirit if there's not a settling in the spirit then transitions
[00:10:15] So I call out to you, and it doesn't even have to deal with the transition of our church, but I'm talking about you as a person, that when you transition in life, if you're not stable in your current state, in the Spirit, that that transition might not go the way that you planned for it to.
[00:10:32] It might not even go the way that God had intended for it to on the next phase.
[00:10:38] Can I say that Moses, and I'll bring him up again in just a minute, but Moses, when he began to lead the people out of bondage, when they began to murmur against him, I'm not 100% sure it was the original plan to have them take 40 years to get there.
[00:10:53] I didn't ask God about it, but I'm just saying it didn't take that long, and it shouldn't have taken that long.
[00:10:59] but there was murmuring and there was just enough Egypt that the Lord had to get out of the people before they got to Canaan so there has to be a stability when I'm making transitions I'd rather be sent than be shallow I'd rather be sent than be shameful I'd rather be sent than be selfish and I'd rather be sent than be stuck
[00:11:27] Being stuck means being unable to move forward, change, or progress either physically like a car stuck up or mentally and emotionally feeling like you're trapped in a relationship or a job or a life situation.
[00:11:43] It's the feeling of helplessness, lack of options, and accompanied by frustration.
[00:11:49] Many times it's from unresolved problems and fear and low confidence.
[00:11:57] To move forward or simply baffled by a difficult situation or problem stuck on this I just can't figure it out folks we are walking completely by faith and as we all make this journey together I applaud you for taking steps of faith
[00:12:12] In this journey, man, I tell you what, we're walking through it and we're looking through a glass darkly many times and just leaning on the Lord.
[00:12:21] The Bible says like a cloud by day and a fire by night.
[00:12:24] What does that even mean?
[00:12:26] I'm just following the will of God for my life and I'd rather be sent than be stuck, helpless, hopeless, no options, stuck where I'm at.
[00:12:37] Hey, if you've ever been stuck up in a car, you know it's a difficult situation.
[00:12:43] How many of you have been stuck in a car?
[00:12:44] Stuck up in the mud?
[00:12:45] The snow?
[00:12:47] A couple people?

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
I've been that way.
[00:12:54] When you're stuck, there's a lot of pushing that has to happen.
[00:12:59] And when you're stuck, there's more pushing than usual that has to take place.
[00:13:06] Everything you've got takes to get from being stuck.
[00:13:12] And so I say today that I don't want to get in that position to take all my physical and spiritual exertion to push just from being in the same spot and being stuck.
[00:13:24] My God, I receive what's being said today.
[00:13:27] When I am sent, I'm not shameful, I'm special.
[00:13:31] When I'm sent, I'm not selfish, I'm secure.
[00:13:35] When I'm sent, I'm not shallow, I'm sincere.
[00:13:39] Praise God.
[00:13:40] Did Moses leave Egypt or did he go to Canaan or was he sent by God?
[00:13:46] Did the Apostle Paul merely go to Corinth, Rome, and other cities like Thessalonica or was he sent?
[00:13:52] There's a difference between just going, which just seems to denote I'm just whimsically going along a path with no full direction.
[00:14:02] but being sent says I have been pushed from the backside and I know exactly which direction that I'm moving even though it's by faith if I hold my hand with God I can trust where he's taking me and I can trust where he's leading me my God somebody grab a hold of the hand of God today somebody grab a hold of the hand of faith today hey I know it's Christmas but there's some sending that's going on today my God there's some
[00:14:32] Worship is going forth.
[00:14:37] Let me get my hands on that.
[00:14:38] Hallelujah.
[00:14:41] Thank you God.
[00:14:42] Thank you God.
[00:14:44] Thank you for being here.
[00:14:45] You may be seated.
[00:14:46] Thank you for being here on this last Sunday in this particular building.
[00:14:50] Folks, this ain't the ending.
[00:14:52] This might just be the beginning of something greater, something stronger.
[00:14:56] Hey, I'm excited about what the Lord's taking around the next corner.
[00:14:59] As I've said before, there'll be some times when we think, oh my goodness, I didn't see that coming.
[00:15:05] Oh, I didn't expect that.
[00:15:08] We've already experienced that.
[00:15:10] and there'll be more to come I don't know how many times I've told my wife well I expected some of this stuff to happen well I've expected some of these things to take place and then when so many of them happen it's like well I didn't expect that I really didn't expect that but we know there'll be some twists and turns but ultimately
[00:15:34] You're here today because ultimately at some point in time you realized, I can't stay stuck with the way that I am in life.
[00:15:46] I can't stay stuck not knowing God in a deeper degree.
[00:15:51] I can't stay the way that I've always been.
[00:15:55] Now some of you have been in church maybe your whole lives, but there's still a longing to grow and to know it better.
[00:16:04] Thank you Jesus.
[00:16:06] These men felt a stirring.
[00:16:08] Moses, the Apostle Paul, a stirring and even a calling from God and they acted.
[00:16:14] I'm not trying to play word games today as much as I'm trying to remind us that God has a much larger role in our lives than we give Him credit for.
[00:16:22] There's a sending process.
[00:16:24] When I am sent, I am walking in a greater level of authority with God.
[00:16:31] Man, there's some authority being claimed in the house of God.
[00:16:35] There's some authority being taken in the spirit and I like it.
[00:16:38] Hey, just because we're not able to meet for prayer time doesn't mean that I cut my prayer closet out.
[00:16:43] Come on somebody, there's authority being departed with you.
[00:16:46] Hey, take the authority and walk with it.
[00:16:49] Take the authority and be with it.
[00:16:51] Lead your family during this Christmas season.
[00:16:56] Be the example during this Christmas season.
[00:17:00] Amen.
[00:17:01] I want to be the example to those that I rub elbows with, to those that I mingle with, those in my family.
[00:17:08] I want to stand.
[00:17:09] Hey, it's not just about giving presents.
[00:17:11] It's about realizing that this is the birth of the Lord.
[00:17:14] Now, did it happen in December?
[00:17:15] Probably not.
[00:17:16] They had a different calendar altogether back then anyway.
[00:17:19] But we set aside Christmas that we currently know it as.
[00:17:26] We could argue whether it's been too commercialized.
[00:17:29] Probably so.
[00:17:31] That's why we have to keep him dead, smacked in the center to say, it's not necessarily about me giving gifts, but it's about me remembering the Lord came down and met us in this place.
[00:17:42] He was sent to us to meet us in this place.
[00:17:46] Amen.
[00:17:47] That he might walk among us and die on the cross for us.
[00:17:51] Matthew 10 and 16.
[00:17:54] Here's one of those scriptures that I say, ah, you got to get this one.
[00:17:57] What a great, great one to memorize.
[00:18:00] Matthew 10 and 16.
[00:18:01] It says, Behold, I send you forth as sheep.
[00:18:05] I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.
[00:18:10] Therefore be wise as servants and harmless as doves.
[00:18:15] How do I handle my family this Christmas season?
[00:18:17] Well, there you go.
[00:18:17] Wise and harmless.
[00:18:29] I'm not here to get an argument about what is right or wrong with immigration I'm here to just simply remember that the Lord came down and we're getting together as a family to remember that amen why should we do these things why does any of this even make sense it doesn't make sense unless we're being sent the fact is that when we are sent we discover a greater level of
[00:19:00] When we are sent, we get our deepest level of healing.
[00:19:04] When we are sent, we experience our greatest level of significance because Jesus is alive with us and in us.
[00:19:15] I hope you feel what I'm saying today and I'm almost half apologetic.
[00:19:19] You know how I do it and I've said it before that I will pray about what I'm going to preach through the week
[00:19:24] Reading scripture, listening to people, and listening to the scripture as well, and praying to God, what should I bring before the people?
[00:19:32] What is it that you would have to be said for this particular service in this particular season?
[00:19:39] and many times I'm not even a hundred percent sure when I lay down on Saturday night I've got a couple different things that are coming together a couple different things that are out there but of recently I will say this when I wake up on Sunday morning this life God has something for me to share with you I hope you're receiving what's being said because I felt it as soon as I woke up this morning walked up and sat on my back porch I like to talk to God for just a few minutes on my back porch on Saturday Sunday morning if it's not too cold
[00:20:07] If it's not freezing cold, praise God.
[00:20:10] But I do have a toe bucket and I do have a coat.
[00:20:13] But I like to get out there in the dark and just talk to God for just a moment.
[00:20:17] And he reminded me today, he said, I want you to tell your people that you're not going anywhere, but I'm sending you.
[00:20:24] I'm sending you also to make sure that this gospel goes forth.
[00:20:28] I'm sending you with purpose.
[00:20:37] So I don't know if you thought like I thought.
[00:20:39] Well, what's the difference?
[00:20:41] The difference is that God's hand is guiding this thing.
[00:20:45] As scary as it may be, and I'm talking about people that are coming to God too, it's equally as scary and equally as unknowing when we first come to God.
[00:20:54] Well, how's all this going to change?
[00:20:56] Your walk, your whole life changes when you come to God.
[00:21:00] Some people don't really like that, but that's the point.
[00:21:04] Your whole life changes.
[00:21:07] So that He's the center of it all and not yourself.
[00:21:12] And so, I don't want to miss the sending.
[00:21:16] During Christmas, the original Christmas, they missed the sending.
[00:21:21] The innkeeper missed it because he didn't have any room.
[00:21:24] He stuck them in the barn.
[00:21:26] The public missed it!
[00:21:28] They didn't even know what was going on.
[00:21:30] Of course, they didn't have the internet and newspapers at that time, and they certainly didn't have phones to be able to share the information in the news.
[00:21:36] But the public at large, they didn't even know it happened.
[00:21:40] Isn't that crazy?
[00:21:42] Does that sound crazy to you?
[00:21:44] The religious elites, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, they missed it.
[00:21:51] Can you believe that?
[00:21:53] 400 years of silence and then Jesus is born in a manger and the religious folks of the day missed it largely.
[00:22:00] Were they praying?
[00:22:01] Would God have communicated with them if they were praying?
[00:22:04] I believe that he would have.
[00:22:07] Can I say who did receive it?
[00:22:09] Well, the shepherds, they knew it happened.
[00:22:12] Because the Bible says that they saw a heavenly host, an angelic host, seeing the herald angels sing, if you will.
[00:22:20] They got it.
[00:22:22] People way far off from the East, we call them the wise men.
[00:22:28] They got it.
[00:22:30] What's the difference?
[00:22:48] Ascending from God.
[00:22:50] Amen.
[00:22:51] So much so that the wise men, as we mentioned last week, Herod tried to throw them off and said, I want you to bring me that child.
[00:22:57] Bring him to me.
[00:22:59] And so much so, if you know the story in Luke, in the account of Luke, that Herod killed the babies so that he would take out Jesus, so that Jesus would be destroyed and killed.
[00:23:12] And luckily, by the grace of God, I don't want to say luckily, but by the grace of God, we know that Jesus was spared and Jesus was not a part of that mass killing of babies.
[00:23:26] But we knew that that only took place because the wise men
[00:23:34] Amen.
[00:23:35] Manifest destiny was a term that was used in the 1800s.
[00:23:39] You know what that means?
[00:23:41] We don't know why but we just feel compelled to go across the country.
[00:23:47] I don't even know why maybe because there's land there's settlements but then there's also there's Native Americans that that's they feel like that's their land already there's disease there's that too but man there's something drawing us that's manifest destiny there's something drawing us from to go coast to coast as a nation and just about everybody felt it
[00:24:12] It was a story of a settlers that said a gentleman was loading up his wagon and he pulled together his family and he had a conversation with his family and he said I know I can't fully explain why we're doing what we're doing there are many obstacles along the way but I just feel like God
[00:24:37] and there's something bigger hear me there's something bigger than me that's sending me folks there is something bigger
[00:25:06] There's things in the spirit world going on right now that I don't even have full grasp of it's bigger than this right here right now and it's bigger than where we sit in this particular building there's a vision by God that's bigger than just this amen he told his family he said I just believe where we're going
[00:25:42] Folks, I want you to remember this day.
[00:25:46] I want you to remember this day.
[00:25:47] I want it to be etched in your heart, your life.
[00:25:50] Why?
[00:25:51] Because not only is it the service before Christmas, but also it's a major step forward for us as a collective body.
[00:26:01] And if you're here, you're part of that body.
[00:26:04] You're part of the family.
[00:26:06] And so, we take major steps of faith
[00:26:11] knowing that God's got this all figured out and he's letting us know a little bit here a little bit there the book of Isaiah says here a little there a little with stammering lips in another tongue while I speak to my people here's a little bit there's a little bit there's a little bit and so he gives it to us in small bite-sized doses
[00:26:38] Just like if you're taking medicine, you can't drink the whole bottle of Benadryl, well, that'll mess you up.
[00:26:44] You'll have hallucinations, by the way.
[00:26:48] I've seen it done.
[00:26:49] But I take teaspoons, tablespoons at a time to fix my symptoms, such as it is with God.
[00:26:59] Amen.
[00:27:00] You know what actually laid this on my heart today?
[00:27:02] I thought about Jessica.
[00:27:05] Sister Jessica finished up her working in the emergency department this week.
[00:27:10] God laid you on my heart this morning.
[00:27:11] How about that?
[00:27:13] And the steps forward that she's taking.
[00:27:16] And I said, you know, I just think God is sending her.
[00:27:18] And that's where this came from.
[00:27:22] Who else has God sent me?
[00:27:24] Secularly?
[00:27:26] In the Spirit?
[00:27:28] Who else has God sent me?
[00:27:29] Let's all come forward today.
[00:27:31] Let's begin to talk to God.
[00:27:33] Let's begin to talk to Him today.
[00:27:34] I receive what's being said in the Spirit today.
[00:27:39] Oh, I believe it today.
[00:27:42] I receive it today, God.
[00:27:45] Oh, this is my surrender.
[00:27:47] If you could, just maybe close your eyes for just a moment.
[00:27:50] Stretch your hands.