Christ Methodist Church Memphis
Go deeper in your faith with our weekly podcasts. Episodes include sermons by our pastoral team and interviews that guide you through some of our toughest faith questions.
Christ Methodist Church Memphis
The Promise of Joy | Rev. Paul
Joy erupts when God draws near. Luke’s Advent story reveals how the Holy Spirit brings favor, freedom, and deep soul joy that still transforms lives today.
[0:17] You may be seated. Great to see all of you here today. So thankful for how our worship team led today. Thank you for your leadership, Kyle.
[0:27] You can tell that Andy, as he picked the guitar, he's really improved as I gave him lessons this week. And that was tongue in cheek. But no, thank you for your preparation and the way you've honored the Lord this morning. So if you have a Bible with you, let me invite you to open it to Luke chapter 1. We're going to read verses 39 through 56. And you know, in our prayer time early this morning, I was sharing with the group. I've been preaching this text for about 40 years, which I know you're going, I'm not that old. He started when he was 12 years.
[1:12] I'll be processing that one Okay So In all seriousness, I'm aware we can become Familiar And numb To what's happening here Because we're so familiar, And I want to remind you Before we read this That everybody in Everybody in the Christmas story Is outside their comfort zone, Way outside their comfort zone, Herod has issued a decree that all firstborn male children two years old and younger are to be murdered, killed. A little teenage girl is expecting a child and is navigating misunderstanding. Her reputation is being burned up in the eyes of so many people as she's following the will of God in her life. They have to flee as a couple to Egypt for their own safety and the safety of their little boy. This is not a story, not an episode that's about comfort. It's not neat bows and warm sentimentality. And I want to remind you of that as we read this text, and I'm going to teach it a little different today. Normally when I read this text, I teach out of Mary's song. And today I'm going to move in a different direction. I'll explain that in a moment. But I invite you to hear God's Word.
[2:40] And so the word reads like this. In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town in Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the food of your womb. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy, and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
[3:24] For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. I'm going to pray for you this morning with my eyes open. I do that from time to time. If that makes you uncomfortable, feel free to bow your heads and not look at me, but I'm being really serious. I just want to pray for you looking at you. Father, I pray that every single person in this room, that you would arrest their heart.
[4:19] And in arresting their heart, God, I pray you would give them the gift of submission to you. You don't wish anybody harm. You wish them life in Jesus. So I ask that you would do this miracle over every life, God, and who we are as families and also who we are as the family of God. And Lord, only you can do this. and I acknowledge it, but petition for this miracle in Jesus' name. Amen.
[4:51] Now, I want to talk to you about something that I think is very exciting today. I want to talk to you about the person of the Holy Spirit and the promise of joy that you see emanating out of the Scripture wed with the favor of God. And you're going to see that those three threads are interrelated. And so we're going to look at an episode in history where there is a breakout of Holy Spirit activity.
[5:22] And there is also a breakout of joy, and it's rooted in the Holy activity and the presence of the Holy Spirit working in people that are moving with God outside their comfort zone. It's all rooted in the favor of God. Now, I'm aware as we move forward, we'll get to the favor of God in a minute, but I find that there are a lot of Christians that don't understand again that thread. And I hope by God's grace that the Lord weaves understanding into your life and experience this morning. But we're going to begin by looking at how the activity of the Holy Spirit permeates this story. First, Mary is finding out she's going to be carrying a child. And she says to the angel earlier in chapter one, how will this be since I am a virgin? And we're aware that the angel says to her that the activity of the Holy Spirit is going to take place. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the highest will overshadow you, and the one conceived in your womb will be the Son of God. And as we look at the activity of the Holy Spirit, we see also the.
[6:38] In the story, John the Baptist is filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, loved ones, he's still in his mother's womb. So in verse 15, we're told that Zacharias is informing, or shall we say the angel told Zacharias that John the Baptist would be born. And in chapter 5, excuse me, verse 15, chapter 1, he, John the Baptist, will be filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother's womb.
[7:05] We also see that the scripture tells us that as the Holy Spirit is moving, that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. You see that in verse 41, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And as all of this activity is taking place, and there's more, the Bible also tells us that when Elizabeth hears the greeting from Mary when they're hanging out at her house, that the baby in Elizabeth's womb leaps. And the Bible doesn't say he kicked or turned over. Scripture says he leaps. And so I don't know how you figure that out, but it's what it says. The Bible says he leaps. And the Bible even tells us why he leaps. Verse 34, for behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. So there is the presence of the Holy Spirit in Elizabeth, in Mary, and even on John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb. And so the baby leaps for joy. And then we see that Elizabeth.
[8:12] As the Holy Spirit fills her, she begins to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, because the Bible tells us that Elizabeth prophesies. Verse 42, where she says this, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb? And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? And what that tells us, church family, that as the Holy Spirit is moving, as activity is manifested, Elizabeth also has supernatural illumination of who the baby is in Mary's womb. When you read the text, you realize that as Mary greets Elizabeth, there hasn't been any sharing about the revelation that Mary has had about the Son of God. Mary's yet to tell her about that, but the Holy Spirit brings illumination. Now, there's a lesson for us here. Here it is.
[9:07] If you want illumination and understanding as you read your Bible to be formed and developed as a believer, then you need the understanding that comes from the person of the Holy Spirit. You need the illumination of the Holy Spirit in order to experience the transformation that God has for you as a believer. If you want to read with understanding, if you want to read with illumination, it's important that you rely on the third person of the Trinity, on the person of the Holy Spirit. Now, a few weeks ago, many of you know, we had a team in Asia sharing Christ with people who've never heard of Jesus. We watched many of them come to know Christ, and we witnessed human beings reading the Bible, God's Word, for the very first time in their life. And as they read, they would often have questions.
[10:03] We train our teams when someone asks a question not to answer it. I know that sounds a little counterintuitive. Don't answer the question. And the reason we train them in this way is so that they will not develop dependence upon someone who may have had years of scripture study because they're not going to have that advantage in their village or their neighborhood among people who've never heard of Jesus. We train them to ask this question. Let's ask God to have his Holy Spirit illumine the text in a way that we have answers. And so we'll pause and we'll ask God, God, would you stir Holy Spirit illumination over the text, over your word, so that we have understanding. And so I share that with you because that's a good lesson for us as North Americans as well. So we see that John the Baptist is filled with the Holy Spirit. He's leaping.
[11:06] We see that Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. She's speaking. She's prophesying. She has illumination from God. And we see that Mary is filled with the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit also unleashes creativity. First thing that God did, God created the heavens and the earth.
[11:26] God is infinitely creative. By the way, there's some of you in this room, you have the gift of creativity. There are interior designers in this room. There are painters in this room. There are commercial artists and graphic designers in this room. Now, the reason I point that out, if you want not to covet the gift, but in your communion with God, you will find that in communion with God, creativity is enhanced because you're drawing into your designer. When you walk more fully in your design, when you draw fully into your designer. And so we see this all happening in the text. Mary's writing worship songs. Creativity has been unleashed. But also the Holy Spirit brings the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And part of that fruit is joy. And you see this unleashing of joy in the Christmas story. Elizabeth has joy. John in the womb has joy. Mary has joy. Simeon has joy. Zacharias has joy. The angels have joy. The shepherds have joy. The wise men have joy.
[12:39] Joy permeates the Christmas story, and it's a fruit of the activity of the Holy Spirit. Now, church, time. Time. Not technical. Time. Here we go.
[12:52] This is not only a historical story. It is that. But it's not only a historical story. You see, in the story, I would submit to you that God is mirroring something for you. What you're seeing in the lives of these believers who are moving outside of their comfort zone, not outside their comfort zone for moving outside of their comfort zone's sake, they're moving outside of their comfort zone as God has initiated things in their lives, led them. And God is mirroring something significant through the lives of these people for us as believers. What's happening here is that as they're experiencing movement of God, they're filled with hope. There's great hope. We talked about that two weeks ago. They're also filled with the peace of God. We talked about that last week. Today, we're looking at how they're filled with joy as they're moving outside their comfort zone in communion with God and in flow with what God's doing. They're experiencing deep joy. And Christmas Eve, we'll talk about the love of God that they're experiencing. But here's what I want to submit to you. Those just sound like Christmas cliches in one context, but when a human being experiences authentic hope, peace, joy, and love, the deepest longings of your heart are being met.
[14:15] And this is why Blaise Pascal would say things like, there's a God-shaped hole in all of us only God can fill. This is why theologian John Piper would say God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him. And the picture is you are designed not only to know God through Jesus Christ, you are design human being to be satisfied in relationship with the one true sovereign God of the universe, to know hope and love and joy and peace in your walk with God. And this is why we even sing joy to the world. The Lord has come. That's not all the activity of the Holy Spirit. There's more. Because as we read the story, the Holy Spirit, this third person of the Trinity who's active among God's people. And active today, the Holy Spirit brings blessing. And what we see all over the pages of Scripture is that the Holy Spirit presence and activity always activate God's blessing. Always, always. The Holy Spirit fills you, believer, with power, Acts 1.8. The Holy Spirit fills you, believer, with the fruit of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5. The Holy Spirit empowers you to be holy.
[15:41] When you oftentimes, Christians, when they hear the word holy, it sounds like some religious term. I can never meet that. But what's important for us to understand is that holy is just a euphemism for becoming Christ-like, which is the point of your Christian walk, being developed to be like Christ. He is a Holy Spirit who is developing you. And he lives to glorify God the Father and to glorify God the Son. And, loved ones, he will convict of sin, as Jesus said, but even in conviction of sin, that is unto God's love, blessing, and protection over your life. And what's important for all of us to see this morning is that this word blessing shows up all over the Christmas story. And if we're not careful, we can become so familiarized, familiar with the term, it can become very sanitized in our life. And I want to invite you to guard your heart against that this morning, because this word is loaded. It shows up just a couple of times in the segment that we read, but it's much broader than that in the Christmas story and in all of Scripture. Luke 142, where it's proclaimed over Mary, blessed are you among women. Luke 145, and blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfillment of what's spoken to her from the Lord.
[17:00] What does that mean? What does it mean to have God's blessing? Well, let's define the term. This all comes out of biblical study, but here's what this word means. When you see it in scripture, blessed, it means the divine favor and approval of God, a state of spiritual well-being, inner joy, and contentment derived from being in God's favor. Not just material possessions or good circumstances, it's deeper than that, a life aligned with God's path. That is a loaded word.
[17:41] So there's joy emanating in the story from the person of the Holy Spirit. God's mirroring something to us. There's joy in living in God's blessing, and there's joy living in God's favor. Now, if we were to journey back to verse 30 in chapter one, you notice this thread of favor and blessing. Listen to what is said in Luke 1.30 to Mary. Mary, you have found favor with God. Promise you we're going somewhere. Here it is.
[18:11] Is, here's a question, Is the favor of God limited to a handful of biblical characters in Scripture, or is the favor of God something that's available to you as a follower of Jesus? I'm glad you're asking that question.
[18:31] Did you know that the Bible teaches that you can live in the favor of God? Did you know that the Bible teaches that you can grow in the favor of God? Now, there's a starting point. And the starting point most of you have already taken, and that is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest act of God's favor is what God did in Emmanuel, sending God among us in Jesus Christ to die. And that was what he was born to die, loved ones. I know that sounds morbid, but it's true. He was born to die for your sins. It was not like, oh, you know, some people just misunderstood him. And so therefore they crucified him. And that was a bad day. No, it's deeper, much deeper than that. This was the sovereign plan of God, that Jesus would come and he would go to the cross for your sin so that he would take your sin there. God loves you that much so that you would put your faith in Christ and what he's done there at the cross, trusting that he is not only Lord, but he is your personal Savior. This is why it says in the scripture, by grace, you have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ. So let's affirm that's the root system, which is called the gospel. But loved ones, what about after I become a Christian? What about now? All right, I know Jesus. What about now?
[20:00] Well, you see, now, even though you put faith in Jesus, you are still living under a curse. And it's because you're a fallen human being. And because we live under a curse, it has all kinds of faces as a fallen human being. And we're susceptible to all kinds of patterns, fear, paranoia, control, shame, worry, anxiety, thinking too much about what other people think of you in a way that they become small idols in your life, sin or sins that you battle, always being offended at something or somebody, unforgiveness, self-pity, bitterness. Those are all results of the curse of living as a fallen human being. In heaven, none of that will exist in the presence of Jesus. But Jesus, as we know, came to save you. Now, that's true. But did you know he came for more than that? And don't misunderstand how that's phrased because we want to make much of the fact that he came to save us, amen?
[21:09] God help us. We want to make much of that. But Jesus not only came to save you, he came to change you. He not only came to save you, he came to purify you. He not only came to save you, he came to transform you and how you think, how you live, and have your being in him. This is why he quotes Luke 61 on the day his ministry goes public in the temple. When he says the spirit of God's upon me and he's anointed me to proclaim the gospel, good news to the poor. And when he said the poor, he's talking about people who are poor enough in spirit where they're going to look up and say, God, I need you.
[21:51] So he's anointed me to proclaim this good news, but notice what it does. It binds up, I finished the verse here, to bind up the broken heart and to set the captive free. To bind up the broken heart and set the captive free. Let me ask you a question. Why would human beings have broken hearts? They would have broken hearts because they have been wounded by their own sin and the sin of others. They've been wounded by some of the things that they regret that they've done, said, thought, and they are wounded by the things that fallen human beings have done to them. And so what happens is that when you experience wounding that can result in self-pity, bitterness, unforgiveness, always being offended at somebody, sin or sins that you battle, thinking too much about what other people think of you, worry, shame, control, paranoia, fear. When you get wounded, what happens is you can become oppressed. When you become wounded, you can become guarded. And you don't want to trust God with what he's revealed in terms of the pattern for your life and getting freed up. You don't want to trust other human beings because other human beings have wounded you. And you know what the result is? Here it is. The enemy has you right where he wants you.
[23:13] You've believed his lie, and now you live under the curse. And those patterns reign. Jesus came to bind up your broken heart. His love is that powerful. His love is that powerful, that significant, that in Christ, him taking your sins on the cross and his grace operating in your heart, forgiving, cleansing, renewing, is a powerful, transformative grace for his glory. Not make-believe, real.
[23:47] Apply it into your own heart. Bind up the broken heart. And then he says, this gospel sets the captive free. What is he freeing from? He frees you from the darkness of self-pity, bitterness, unforgiveness, always being offended, sin or sins you battle, thinking too much about what other people think of you, anxiety, worry, shame, control, paranoia, fear, all of the symptoms of the fallen human nature. And so, loved ones, be mindful that as Jesus and the fullness of his gospel operates in your life, this opens the door for you to grow in God's favor. Let me explain. Psalm 84 11. First, I just want to validate the possibility. For the Lord God is a son and a shield. He bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Or think about some of the benedictions that we offer in worship services that go like this. Now, may the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace. You can hear those words as if, isn't that just warm sentimentality? Or...
[24:57] You can hear those words in the context of a reality that's available to you, believer. These are not just words of warm sentimentality. These are realities.
[25:10] Or if you reflect a bit on some of the characters out of Scripture, Noah, Daniel, Samuel, think about what God is modeling through their life and what's possible for you, believer. Let's look at Genesis 6-8. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord, or Daniel 1, 9, and God gave Daniel favor and compassion, or 1 Samuel 2, 26, or yes, that's right. Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor.
[25:41] You know what that tells us? That tells us that you can grow in God's favor. In fact, the psalmist even prayed it. Psalm 90, verse 17, let the favor of the Lord God be upon us. Now, in Hebrew, when something's said more than once, it's said for emphasis. Look at this. And establish the work of our hands upon us. Yes, establish the work of our hands. Would you take a moment and think about the implications for a moment? This is random. I don't know where all we're employed here, but I'll just name some companies in the Memphis area. You could pray it like this. Lord, as I serve at Raymond James, let the favor of the Lord be upon me. Lord, establish the work of my hands. Establish the work of my hands. As I serve in education, in administration, or you're a teacher.
[26:32] Lord, let the favor of God be upon me as I'm pouring into emerging generations. Establish the work of my hands. Establish the work of my hands. As I serve at Pinnacle Bank or Regions Bank or First Horizon Bank, oh God, let the favor of the Lord be upon me. Establish the work of my hands. Establish the work of my hands. This goes on and on. As I bathe my children, as I make this meal for my family, as I drive my car to the next appointment, oh, let the favor of God be upon me. Establish the work of my hands. Do you see what's available to you, believer?
[27:10] Proverbs 12, 2 says, a good man obtains favor from the Lord. Again, what does this tell us, church? This tells us that God's favor is available to you as a believer. God's favor is something that you can grow in as a believer in Jesus Christ. The favor of God opens doors that you cannot open. The favor of God gives strength beyond your own. The favor of God is always linked to the grace and the mercy that is found in the person of Jesus Christ and through our faith in Jesus Christ. But the favor of God brings tangible help, opportunities, and supernatural advantage in life, even in the midst of challenges. Hear this verse. I'm actually going to quote the Bible. Is that okay?
[27:57] It's good talking with you. Isaiah 66, too. This is what the word says. These are the ones I look on with favor.
[28:05] Those who are humble and contrite in spirit, who tremble at my word. I've talked about this word contrite on several occasions. Let me share a different rubric with you. This word also connotes expressing grief over our own sin. Do you realize that God shows favor on your life when you get on your knees and say, Lord, I ask for forgiveness for what I said. I ask you for forgiveness for what I thought. I ask you for forgiveness for what I did. Lord, I ask, give grace, God. Give grace over my heart and mercy. And what we see in the passage is God shows favor over your life when you express God-centered sorrow over your own sin as you experience his grace and his mercy. This is why Harold J. Warner would write these words based on scripture. Humility is the gateway into the grace and the favor of God. And I even parallels Proverbs 3, 34, to the humble, he gives favor. Would you say that out loud? One, two, three, to the humble, he gives favor. Now, again, we are not suggesting that you will not suffer hardship or challenge, heartache, disappointment because the favor of God is upon your life. Because Jesus taught very clearly in Scripture there will be seasons.
[29:33] And the whole text teaches, all of the Bible teaches, there are seasons in a fallen human world that we're going to experience hardship. The Bible teaches that being blessed and favored does not mean that you will not face obstacles or pain, but the gift of God, new life and his favor, will sustain and strengthen you in it. Do you realize that the scripture teaches that God actually brings favor on your life when you seek God?
[30:03] Remember what Jesus said, blessed, there it is. That's that word for favor. Blessed is the one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. He or she will be satisfied. Look with me at Proverbs 8, 35. Whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. Another way to grow in the favor of the Lord is by following the way God wants you to follow him. In other words, doing the God-honoring thing in a God-honoring way, Psalm 5, 12. Surely the Lord, you bless the righteous, you surround them with favor as with a shield. Rhetorical question. You don't have to respond out loud. Not that you would anyway, but anyway, here it is. Did Moses have the favor of God? Rhetorical question. Obviously he did. But what we can miss is the root system of why Moses had favor. I know God's sovereign. We're not minimizing that. But let me read to you Hebrews 11, 25. Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
[31:12] So years ago, not at this church, years ago, I had a man in our congregation ask if he could make an appointment with me. And so sat in my office and he shared, Pastor Paul, I'm not in a crisis, but I was a few years ago. and God has demonstrated his faithfulness and his glory. And I can't share this story with just anybody, and I would like to share it with you if we could keep it right here. And he gave me permission to share it, but not with names. And he began to open up and share with me that at his office a few years earlier, that he began to be attracted to a woman who was not his wife.
[31:56] By the way, I noticed a lot of you, when I said that, you looked up. Suddenly, it's a trigger. I don't know what's—but welcome back.
[32:05] But he began to be attracted to a woman that was not his wife. And he began having feelings of infatuation, and he began to entertain thoughts that were not God-honoring. And he knew she was feeling the same way, without it ever being spoken. Now, he also said, I love my wife and my children, and I'm trying to do the God-honoring thing. And I began, he said, to pray about it and ask God, God, give me wisdom. What do I do in this circumstance? This is hard. I want to be faithful, but this is not going to good places if it continues. And here's what he did. He put in with his superiors a request for a transfer. And he was transferred to a slightly lower paying job in another building in another part of the city where he was no longer around her. Now, he was misunderstood. His friends were saying, what are you doing? You've got a great opportunity here. Why do you want to go backwards? And this is what he said to them. He said, I just am ready for a bigger challenge. Now, he didn't have to elaborate on what the challenge was and he was being truthful but I just need a bigger challenge.
[33:27] And he went on, and this is what he said to me in my office. He says, I just want to share it with somebody. He said, and what I want you to know, Pastor, is that those feelings of infatuation dialed down, way down. They're dead now. And I love my wife, and I love my children, and we're expecting our first grandchild now. And he was delighting in the faithfulness of God. Loved ones, that draws God's favor. While Moses was mistreated, this man was misunderstood rather than enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. I've got a little phrase I'm going to say in just a moment, and then I'm going to do something I don't ordinarily do. I'm going to ask you to say the phrase out loud in just a moment. So here's the phrase, okay? I'm going to say it three times. Here it is. Point of precedence. Point of precedence. One more time. Point of precedence. I'm going to count to three, and I want to invite you to say that with me.
[34:35] One, two, three. Point of precedence. Why is Pastor Paul asking me to say point of precedence?
[34:45] Because many believers in Jesus Christ only follow him to the point of precedence.
[34:55] Only where I've been before, but no further. And I want to remind you in the Christmas story, they're all moving to where they've never been before. Granted, it's a historical moment. God's not repeating that moment, but it illustrates something for us. Because many of us are afraid to do what we've never done before in following Jesus into unfamiliar territory. So what happens in the process is we leave unclaimed new gifts that God wants to weave into us because we're favored. We miss new works of the Holy Spirit that God wants to weave into your life because you're favored. We miss new dreams that God wants to birth in you. We miss new visions that he wants to conceive in you, and we miss the opportunity to grow in the favor of the Lord. There is a time where if you want God to do something new, you may be led to do something you've never done before as you follow Jesus. You push past the territory that's familiar into the unknown territory, which is what's happening with everybody in the Advent story. And so there are things and moments where God is speaking to our hearts out of his word and leading, and we can become so familiar that we miss what God is saying.
[36:24] Church, for some of us in this room, there may be another brother or sister or somebody that you know that you really do need to forgive. Remember how much emphasis Jesus put on forgiveness. But what's happened is you've been in a pattern of fear and control so long, you're like the shark that's hitting the plexiglass inserted in the tank. And you don't realize there's a deeper, more rich reality to live in, in Christ, because in Christ, you are favored. And I want to encourage you to let go of control. That's what fear does to you. Fear tells you that if I forgive her, if I forgive them, just as I'm forgiven in Christ, I let them off the hook. I don't know how they're going to react. Well, you're not in control. Only God's in control.
[37:16] Or maybe you've had your Bible open. You've noticed as you've read through the Gospels and you've read the greater text, you may have noticed that there are these patterns of fasting in Scripture. And God's really been trying to bless you with understanding that there are some things, and you can read this in the book of Isaiah, chapter 58, and in other places, there are some things that don't break apart from prayer and fasting. And God may have been speaking to you, but your normal has been to read over that text, and even right now, you're uncomfortable with what I'm talking about. But I want to encourage you, if that's something God's leading you to do, don't hold back. You're favored. You have the favor of God if you're in Christ. For God to honor the patterns that he's established in Scripture. By the way, Jesus said there's a blessing on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. You can hunger for God without fasting. But when you fast, you're declaring something very holy to God. Here it is. God, I want you more than food. You're my greatest need. That's why Jesus said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me. There's a greater nourishment even than earthly nourishment. For some of us, let me throw another one out because it's only one o'clock somewhere. Okay, here it is. Here it is, church. We're closing. Let me comfort you with that.
[38:43] What about spiritual gifts? The Bible says this, earnestly desire spiritual gifts. Have you ever put your life in gear around that? That's not your pastor's opinion. This is God's word. Earnestly pursue with a fervor the gifts of God so that God may be glorified through your life and other believers are edified and built up and encouraged.
[39:10] Or what about making disciples? I mean, Jesus repeated to Christians, to believers, make disciples. You're in a church family that the staff has a line for the purpose of equipping the church in disciple making.
[39:26] Maybe God's giving you a holy nudge to follow him in that, to sign up for equipping and go, I'm going to get equipped. I'm going to get busy with what Christ has clearly commanded me to do. Or maybe it's a short-term mission trip right here in our city, or maybe it's somewhere else, or maybe it's something that I haven't mentioned.
[39:49] But I would remind you what the late Jim Elliott once said, God always gives his best to those who leave the choice with him. God, what are you saying to me and what do I need to do? And we see in the Christmas story, all of them are moving outside their comfort zone. we typically don't grow in our comfort zone. I don't grow laying on the beach drinking a cool one, and you don't either. We grow quite often outside our comfort zone. We typically grow in Christ when we're being stretched. We particularly produce or usually produce a greater fruitfulness for the glory of God outside our comfort zone. And loved ones, that is where Jesus is showing up in a unique way.
[40:34] That's where Jesus and the activity of the Holy Spirit are. That's where Jesus is filling people with joy that's counterintuitive. That's how the favor of God works and how we grow in it for his glory. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Would you stand to your feet? We're not going to do a closing song today, even though I so appreciate our worship team.
[40:58] Is it legal for me to just pray over you and dismiss you? It's good talking with you again. All right. Here's the thing. Here's a couple of things I want to say, just because it's after 12. First of all, I want to remind you of how deeply God loves you. And I'd encourage you not to get so familiar with that you do not let the reality of that pass you by. He loves you so deeply that he gave his son to die for you. And that is an astounding reality, that the creator of the heavens and the earth and the galaxies would die for you.
[41:45] And there is no sin greater than God incarnate. In other words, that wasn't just anybody hanging on the cross. And I encourage you, believe him, that in Christ your sins are forgiven. And turn to him as Lord and Savior. The way up is down. Humble yourself before him and let him set you free. We're gonna be available to pray with you after the service. If any of you wanna come and share, we'll be happy to pray and minister with
[42:14] you and for you this morning. Let's close in prayer. Now, may the Lord bless you.
[42:21] May the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you, be gracious unto you, lift up his countenance upon you, and give you his peace, both now and forever. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless you.