Speaker 1: Hey, I just want to.
Speaker 1: I want to speak to something, something this morning Pastor Noah alluded to.
Speaker 1: Before I jump into the message, this is a year of crossover.
Speaker 1: I preached about that last week and I believe that with everything inside of me, and had so many testimonials from you guys that it resonated with you.
Speaker 1: And as Pastor Noah was talking about surrender today, what I just heard in my heart from the Holy Spirit for you was that God's about to show you how really good he is and that as you cross over into the new thing that he has for you in 2025, there's going to be an unveiling of his goodness in your life.
Speaker 1: You've experienced it to a measure, but he's about to overflow it in your life.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys know that God is good?
Speaker 1: He's good and we used to say I heard somebody allude to it just a moment ago God's good all the time.
Speaker 1: Everybody say all the time God's good and all the time God's good.
Speaker 1: All the time.
Speaker 1: Everybody say all the time God's good and all the time God's good.
Speaker 1: I believe with everything inside of me that in 2025, you're getting ready to see an unveiling of the goodness of God in your life like you've never experienced before.
Speaker 1: I believe that some of the things you're going to see in 2025 is that your greatest defeat is getting ready to be turned into your greatest victory.
Speaker 1: See in 2025 is that your greatest defeat is getting ready to be turned into your greatest victory.
Speaker 1: The source of your greatest sorrow is going to be turned into the source of your greatest joy.
Speaker 1: The barrier that has held you back from the destiny of God in your life is going to be broken and it's going to be the source of your greatest freedom is going to be broken and it's going to be the source of your greatest freedom.
Speaker 1: I'm believing there's an unveiling of the glory of God and the goodness of God in your life like you've never known and like we've never known.
Speaker 1: But to do that, we have to let go of some old things and lay hold of some new things.
Speaker 1: That's what it means to cross over.
Speaker 1: It means that there's some things in my past that I've got to let go of and there's some things in my future that I have to lay hold of.
Speaker 1: And this is what God called the children of Israel to do Joshua, chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Speaker 1: As they left the desert behind and began to inherit the promises of God.
Speaker 1: You are getting ready to inherit the promises of God in your life like a way you've never known before.
Speaker 1: This is the year we cross over.
Speaker 1: Everybody say cross over.
Speaker 1: If you receive that, just say I receive that in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: Today, over the next several weeks, I'm going to be talking about some keys that we need to embrace in order to cross over and possess the promises of God for our lives.
Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about four keys over the next four weeks, and the key that I'm going to talk about today is a key that I've actually never preached on before.
Speaker 1: It's a key that we are very reticent to pray for, and the key is patience.
Speaker 1: Everybody say oh my, the key is patience.
Speaker 1: Turn to your neighbor and say patience.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys have said it or at least heard it said there's one thing that you don't ever pray for.
Speaker 1: You don't ever pray for patience.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because God's going to give you an opportunity to be patient.
Speaker 1: I've never preached on it, as I said, said a moment ago, and let me tell you why.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you realize this or not, but I always have to first live what I preach and I want to live it.
Speaker 1: Let me guys know, we live in a very impatient society.
Speaker 1: Does anybody know anybody that's impatient?
Speaker 1: You know, some of y'all were so good, you just raised your hand.
Speaker 1: The rest of y'all going to hell pointed to somebody else.
Speaker 1: How many of you would say we could all use a little bit more godly patience?
Speaker 1: So, as I said, I always have to live this before I preach it.
Speaker 1: And I lived it last night.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys want the story?
Speaker 1: So Kate said did I do something?
Speaker 1: No, you didn't, you were good.
Speaker 1: So the kids were out with their friends having dinner last night and Meg and I were home alone and we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do for dinner and I said, hey, let's, we got a few gift cards, let's go through the gift cards and find a place and we'll order something and I'll go pick it up.
Speaker 1: And we did, and I called it in, I ordered it and when I got there they did not have our order and I just kind of chuckled.
Speaker 1: I said, okay.
Speaker 1: I said, well, can I just go ahead and order it now and I'll just wait on it.
Speaker 1: So I ordered it now.
Speaker 1: I ordered it then and then 30 minutes go by and I have to go back up to the attendant and say, hey, do you know where our order is?
Speaker 1: And she went to look for it and found that they had forgotten it Thank you, jesus.
Speaker 1: And she said I'm sorry, we'll get to it.
Speaker 1: I said, okay, so they get it and I go to pay for it and I hand them this gift card and they run the gift card and I just begin to laugh and she says Mr Slater, I just appreciate your patience.
Speaker 1: You have been so patient with us.
Speaker 1: And I looked at her and I said I ain't got a choice.
Speaker 1: I'm preaching on this tomorrow.
Speaker 1: How many of you know you need more patience in your life?
Speaker 1: It's been something that actually in my studies last fall I read some things and studied some things on patience and it illuminated some things and awakened some things in me and I'm like, oh my goodness, patience is a key to successful Christian living.
Speaker 1: You cannot effectively be a child of God without demonstrating patience.
Speaker 1: You can't inherit the promises of God without patience.
Speaker 1: You can't demonstrate the character of God without patience.
Speaker 1: Patience is a key to successful Christian living and it's something that we need to rediscover in the church today.
Speaker 1: I know that's not going gonna get a whole lot of amens, because we all know what that means, but today we're gonna discover something, we're gonna awaken something and we're gonna apply something that's gonna change everything else in our lives.
Speaker 1: By the power of the Spirit of God, will you stand with me where you are, as we read God's word?
Speaker 1: Hebrews, chapter 10.
Speaker 1: Hebrews, chapter 10, starting in verse 32.
Speaker 1: The writer says remember those earlier days after you received the light, when you endured in great conflict, full of suffering.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution, and at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.
Speaker 1: You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because you knew that you yourselves had a better and lasting possession.
Speaker 1: Let me give you the context of this book.
Speaker 1: The writer of Hebrews is writing just before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and it was during this time period that Rome began to unleash its fury, its persecution, against the church.
Speaker 1: So the writer of Hebrews is writing to Jewish followers of Jesus Be patient, don't quit, keep enduring.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because you know there's a possession that is better and more lasting than anything this world can provide.
Speaker 1: He's saying demonstrate the patience that you've already demonstrated.
Speaker 1: Don't stop it, keep doing it.
Speaker 1: He's telling them be patient Verse 35,.
Speaker 1: So do not throw away your confidence, why it will be richly rewarded.
Speaker 1: You need to persevere, you need to be patient so that when you have done the will of God you have done the will of God you will receive.
Speaker 1: You will receive what he has promised.
Speaker 1: You cannot receive the promises of God without patience.
Speaker 1: Patience is a key to inheriting the promises of God for your life.
Speaker 1: For in just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.
Speaker 1: And but my righteous one will live by faith.
Speaker 1: And I take no pleasure in those who shrink back.
Speaker 1: But that's not who we belong to church.
Speaker 1: Come on somebody.
Speaker 1: We don't belong to people who shrink back in the face of persecution.
Speaker 1: We don't shrink back in the face of difficulty.
Speaker 1: We don't shrink back in the face of a fight.
Speaker 1: We don't shrink back in the face of our flesh.
Speaker 1: No, we stand firm in patience.
Speaker 1: We stand firm in patience.
Speaker 1: We stand firm in patience Because we have faith and are saved.
Speaker 1: The title of my message this morning is simply this Be patient.
Speaker 1: Turn to your neighbor and say be patient.
Speaker 1: Turn to your other neighbor and say be patient.
Speaker 1: Y'all been wanting to say that a long time to some of the people around you.
Speaker 1: Turn around to the person behind you and say be patient.
Speaker 1: Now, this is what I want you to do.
Speaker 1: I want you to say it to yourself, because self needs to hear it.
Speaker 1: Say it to yourself, be patient, be patient.
Speaker 1: This is something that we need to embrace in our lives If we're going to inherit the promises of God.
Speaker 1: Father, we thank you for your word.
Speaker 1: Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
Speaker 1: It shows us the way to go and how to arrive there safely.
Speaker 1: And I pray, lord, this morning, that we wouldn't just be hearers of your word but God, that we would be doers of it, that we would indeed be patient followers of Jesus and in so doing we would inherit your promises for our lives, that we would cross over into the future that you have for us, laying hold of your inheritance for our lives.
Speaker 1: We thank you for it today in Jesus' name, and everybody said amen, you may be seated.
Speaker 1: Thank you, caleb.
Speaker 1: Last fall I was doing some study on the early church and discovered some just amazing information, some amazing statistics about the early church and its progression through the first 300 years of its existence, basically from the time of the upper room, where 120 gathered, to the time of the Council of Nicaea in 324 AD and basically 300 years.
Speaker 1: I think I have this for you.
Speaker 1: The church went from 120 people to between 5 and 6 million people in the Roman Empire.
Speaker 1: In 300 years, the church went from 120 in the upper room to somewhere between five and six million people in the Roman Empire.
Speaker 1: By this time, the church accounted for roughly 10% of the Roman population.
Speaker 1: It has been suggested that in order for the church to go from 120 to between five and six million people, the church would have to grow by 40% per decade for 300 consecutive years.
Speaker 1: Does that not just astound anybody else?
Speaker 1: I mean, it's really amazing to see the growth of the early church and what happened in the upper room and how it spread across the Roman empire.
Speaker 1: And what's amazing about the growth of the gospel and the growth of believers and followers of Jesus in that day is that this growth happened and there wasn't an invading military that forced people to believe.
Speaker 1: There wasn't social convention that said, hey, this is how you need to believe and what you need to do.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, everything in the world was against them.
Speaker 1: They faced death and they faced persecution for the simple conversion to follow Jesus, and I think a question needs to be asked how in the world did this happen?
Speaker 1: How in the world did the church go from 120 people to between five and six million in the course of 300 years?
Speaker 1: And if you study the early church in the history of the early church, what you find is is that they just flat out lived what they believed.
Speaker 1: They practiced their faith every day, and one of the practices of their faith that was at the top of the list was the practice of patience.
Speaker 1: You read all of the early church fathers and their writings and every one of them, without exception, identified patience as a key Christian virtue and characteristic of the nature of God.
Speaker 1: That you could not separate who God was and patience, and you could not separate who a believer was and their demonstration of patience.
Speaker 1: I mean, let's think about this for a second.
Speaker 1: Just look at God's interaction with the children of Israel.
Speaker 1: He was really patient.
Speaker 1: Think about Jesus becoming flesh like us in his life, his death and his resurrection and you know what you see.
Speaker 1: You see patience.
Speaker 1: I mean, have you read the New Testaments and those dudes he was trying to disciple?
Speaker 1: He demonstrated patience every day with them.
Speaker 1: Our God is an incredibly patient God.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, that's one of the ways that he describes himself in Exodus, chapter 34.
Speaker 1: He says I am slow to anger and abounding in love and forgiveness, and anybody else thankful for that today.
Speaker 1: This is who God is, and then it's not just who he is, it's who he calls us to be.
Speaker 1: Try to live the sermon on the mount without patience.
Speaker 1: See how that works out for you.
Speaker 1: I tell you what's going to happen.
Speaker 1: You're going to be the most frustrated person on the planet.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've got to forgive my brother 490 times a day.
Speaker 1: 70 times seven is where I got that, in case you're wondering.
Speaker 1: 490 times a day, I got to forgive my, my brother.
Speaker 1: That's patient church.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of patience.
Speaker 1: Jesus said if somebody asks you to go one mile, don't just go one mile with them, go two miles with them.
Speaker 1: That's patience.
Speaker 1: Am I talking to anybody this morning?
Speaker 1: It's a demonstration of patience in our life.
Speaker 1: And when you really study the early church.
Speaker 1: What's amazing is that the pagans, the lost world of Rome, called Christians strangely strange, like it was weird the level of patience they had.
Speaker 1: Like it was weird the level of patience they had.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, their patience was so strange that it caused unsettling in the lost, so much unsettling in their life that it led to their conversion, that the early church's patience was so unsettling that it led to people coming to faith in Jesus.
Speaker 1: And it makes me wonder if we aren't living lives unsettling enough to the world.
Speaker 1: I wonder if the reason more people aren't coming to faith is because our lives just aren't that unsettling to them.
Speaker 1: As believers, our lives should be unsettling to the world.
Speaker 1: Our lives should be living so differently Our priorities, our habits, our attitudes, our words, our actions, our love, our forgiveness should be so unsettling to the world that it causes them to come to grips with their lack of faith in following Jesus.
Speaker 1: And so I wonder if part of the problem in the Western church is is we just don't live lives that are different enough.
Speaker 1: Could the reason be that the church isn't growing in America is because the church has become to look too much like America?
Speaker 1: Growing in America is because the church has become to look too much like America.
Speaker 1: Could the level of our patience just be like the level of the patience of the world?
Speaker 1: We should be more patient than the world.
Speaker 1: We should be more gracious than the world.
Speaker 1: We should be more loving than the world.
Speaker 1: Maybe the problem with America isn't America, it's the church, and that we're not really living what we believe, or at least what we profess.
Speaker 1: And if I'm a follower of Jesus, then I am called to demonstrate a level of patience that should be unsettling to the world.
Speaker 1: It should cause the world to stop and say you did what when they did that it shouldn't be.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what I would have done.
Speaker 1: We need to rediscover some things in our lives about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and patience is one of those things.
Speaker 1: Let me define patience for you this morning.
Speaker 1: Patience is the Greek word that I am not going to attempt to pronounce for you today.
Speaker 1: No, macrothumia.
Speaker 1: Everybody say macrothumia.
Speaker 1: It's a compound word and it literally means the great and lengthy restraint of anger.
Speaker 1: The great and lengthy.
Speaker 1: Like there's this restraint of anger that is magnanimous, like it's huge, it's massive, like there's this mountain of restraint.
Speaker 1: But it isn't just a mountain of restraint that is high.
Speaker 1: It's a mountain of restraint that is long.
Speaker 1: It keeps going and it keeps going and it keeps going.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you, let me describe it this way it's not a mountain peak, it's a chain Like my restraint of anger is like the Appalachian Mountains or the Rocky Mountains.
Speaker 1: It isn't just a peak in those mountains, it's something that keeps going and going and going and going.
Speaker 1: It never quits, it never gives up.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, it ultimately is committed to outlasting whatever opposition is facing.
Speaker 1: This is what it means to be patient is that I am literally willing to outlast whatever problem, whatever opposition, whatever person, whatever thing that I'm facing.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you just a great key to successful Christian living is just outlast whatever's in front of you.
Speaker 1: Successful Christian living is just outlast whatever's in front of you.
Speaker 1: You read the stories of the heroes of old and you know what you find.
Speaker 1: You find men and women of faith that just outlasted whatever obstacle was in their life.
Speaker 1: They outlasted whatever issue they had inside of them.
Speaker 1: They outlasted the enemy that was against them.
Speaker 1: They outlasted the adversaries that were surrounding them.
Speaker 1: They just were committed to outlasting whatever was in front of them and our church.
Speaker 1: I think we need to rediscover some outlastedness, that I am committed to being patient.
Speaker 1: Let me show you what the Bible says about patience.
Speaker 1: The Bible gives us four things about patience that we need to grasp in our lives.
Speaker 1: And here's the first thing Patience is something the Holy Spirit wants to develop.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit wants to develop inside of us.
Speaker 1: Galatians, chapter 5, verse 22, says the fruit of the Spirit is love, it is joy, it is peace, and I have a feeling far too often we stop right there.
Speaker 1: I could use some more love, I could use some more joy, I could use some more peace.
Speaker 1: I don't want no patience, but the Bible doesn't stop there.
Speaker 1: It says patience.
Speaker 1: But the fruit of the spirit is love, it is joy, it is peace and it is patience.
Speaker 1: Everybody say patience, look at your neighbor and say be patient, let me, let me.
Speaker 1: Let me explain something for you.
Speaker 1: We have the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we have the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: You know what the difference between the two are.
Speaker 1: Gifts are given while fruit is grown.
Speaker 1: Let me break that down.
Speaker 1: Gifts are given and they are developed through the practice and the operation of those gifts, but fruit is grown by being placed in the right soil, where it can develop and receive the nutrients that it needs to grow in the way that it's supposed to grow, the way that it's supposed to grow.
Speaker 1: See, we've got to put ourselves in the right atmosphere, the right environment, the right soil of the Holy Spirit so that patience can grow up in our lives and produce a harvest.
Speaker 1: See, fruit is grown.
Speaker 1: You've heard it said that Rome wasn't built in a day, but it was built daily.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you that patience will not be built in a day, but it will be built daily as you plant yourself in the seed of the Holy Spirit and allow him to grow it.
Speaker 1: We have to be committed to practicing patience daily, and as we practice it daily, it grows.
Speaker 1: Which takes me to point number two.
Speaker 1: Patience is something that we have to intentionally put on.
Speaker 1: I would love to tell you that patience is just a natural state of your life, but that would be a lie.
Speaker 1: Is anybody in here this morning just naturally patient?
Speaker 1: Some of you say yes, I am Well, god bless your heart.
Speaker 1: Patience is not the natural state of the flesh.
Speaker 1: The flesh is naturally impatient, and so if that's the case, then I have to learn how to intentionally put patience on.
Speaker 1: Colossians, chapter three.
Speaker 1: Paul says this therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, says this therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothed let me translate that for you put on yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and what and what.
Speaker 1: Look at your neighbor and say and what?
Speaker 1: Put on patience.
Speaker 1: Let me break down that phrase.
Speaker 1: Put on.
Speaker 1: It literally presents the picture of someone intentionally walking into your closet, surveying all the clothes that are on the racks that you have at your disposal and intentionally choosing a piece of clothes, taking it out of the closet, off of the hanger, and then putting it on yourself to wear that day.
Speaker 1: That's what Paul says we need to do with patience, that we have to make the intentional decision to put it on daily or we won't wear it.
Speaker 1: It on daily or we won't wear it.
Speaker 1: I've got to make that intentional decision to put it on.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys work with the public?
Speaker 1: Listen, y'all better do this.
Speaker 1: Y'all better do this air day I'm talking about air day, and twice on Sunday.
Speaker 1: If you don't listen, some of y'all work at home in your house on a computer and you don't have to deal with the public every day.
Speaker 1: God bless your heart.
Speaker 1: The rest of us that has to deal with you, yahoos.
Speaker 1: We better intentionally put this on or you know what's going to happen we're going to testify about Jesus in a way.
Speaker 1: We don't want to testify about Jesus.
Speaker 1: I had another situation back before Christmas where I had an encounter with somebody that I wasn't very Jesus-like.
Speaker 1: Let me say it this way.
Speaker 1: I was not very patient.
Speaker 1: They found out that I was a pastor and they asked where.
Speaker 1: I said church of the highlands.
Speaker 1: I know Pastor Chris.
Speaker 1: He's a friend of mine.
Speaker 1: I told him that story.
Speaker 1: He laughed too.
Speaker 1: He said don't worry, I've done it to you too.
Speaker 1: I said oh okay, I get it.
Speaker 1: We have to learn how to intentionally put on patience.
Speaker 1: What does that practically look like?
Speaker 1: Well, look at the very next verse in Colossians, chapter 3.
Speaker 1: Verse 12, he says you need to put on patience.
Speaker 1: And then, in verse 13, he gives us a practical illustration of what that looks like.
Speaker 1: He says bear with each other and forgive Everybody.
Speaker 1: Say forgive, forgive one another.
Speaker 1: If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive and this is amazing, as the Lord, just like God, forgives you is how you need to forgive them.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you there is nothing more patient than when we forgive.
Speaker 1: When I forgive people the harms and the headaches that they have caused me, I am forgiving them as God has forgiven me.
Speaker 1: And just in case you were wondering, you'll never have to forgive others more than God has had to forgive you.
Speaker 1: So one of the most practical ways that we demonstrate patience is through forgiveness.
Speaker 1: And then number three patience is something that we have to demonstrate.
Speaker 1: We have to demonstrate it not to just the people that we like and that we hang out with and that we want to be around, but Paul says we've got to demonstrate patience to all men.
Speaker 1: Everybody, say all men.
Speaker 1: First Thessalonians, chapter five, verse 14, he says we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak and be patient with who.
Speaker 1: Be patient with who?
Speaker 1: One of the early church fathers I believe it was Tertullian made this statement.
Speaker 1: He said your patience preaches the message of Jesus.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say that again.
Speaker 1: You may wanna write that down your patience preaches the message of Jesus.
Speaker 1: When we are patient with everyone, we are witnessing to them about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because it looks so different from the world Because it looks so different from the world In a culture that is obsessed with activity, that is obsessed with, like we used to have the microwave generation I don't even know what to call it.
Speaker 1: Now we all want what we want, and we wanted it yesterday.
Speaker 1: Anybody know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: This morning we are obsessed with what we want and we want it now.
Speaker 1: We don't want to wait, we don't want to persevere, we don't want to work for it, we just want it and we're not happy unless we get it.
Speaker 1: That's the American culture.
Speaker 1: And so when we live patient lives with other people and we are forgiving and we are gracious, and when we are kind and when we are compassionate, when, when we are demonstrating God-level patience, it's preaching.
Speaker 1: It's preaching a message that there's something in you that's different.
Speaker 1: That's gonna cause unsettling in the world around you and then they're gonna question what's different about you.
Speaker 1: His name is Jesus.
Speaker 1: How could I not be patient when he's been patient with me?
Speaker 1: Anybody else need patience from God in your life, like a little bit or like all the time every day.
Speaker 1: I need it all the time, every day.
Speaker 1: And when we demonstrate that kind of patience to all men, it's preaching a message.
Speaker 1: Look at this.
Speaker 1: In 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, paul, in the midst of talking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, stops right in the middle and says hey, hey, hey.
Speaker 1: I want you to get something straight.
Speaker 1: If you have not love, it doesn't matter how powerfully you operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you're just annoying.
Speaker 1: He says you're a clanging cymbal or a resounding gong.
Speaker 1: That's what he says.
Speaker 1: And then he defines what love is in verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 13.
Speaker 1: He says this is what love is.
Speaker 1: Love is.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys just read over that, have read over it?
Speaker 1: A thousand.
Speaker 1: Love is love is the very first descriptor that Paul uses to define.
Speaker 1: Love is patience.
Speaker 1: That's not a coincidence, that isn't incidental, it's very strategic.
Speaker 1: He's trying to show us what love demonstrated looks like.
Speaker 1: First and foremost, out the gate, love is patient.
Speaker 1: Let me give you an interpretive, an expanded translation of this.
Speaker 1: Love is not short-tempered or easily angered.
Speaker 1: It does not blow up quickly.
Speaker 1: Instead, it patiently waits for others.
Speaker 1: It is not irritable and impatient, but willing to wait a long time for someone to change.
Speaker 1: That's what Paul is saying there in 1 Corinthians 13.
Speaker 1: He said you can be spiritual, can operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: But if you're not this way, it does not matter why, because this preaches, it testifies, it witnesses about the message of Jesus.
Speaker 1: And finally, number four patience is a key to crossing over to inherit the promises of God.
Speaker 1: Hebrews, chapter 6, verse 12, the writer says we do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who, through faith and patience, through faith and patience, through faith and patience, inherit what has been promised.
Speaker 1: Through faith and patience, you cannot inherit the promises of God without demonstrating patience.
Speaker 1: Patience is a key to inheriting the promises of God for your life as you cross over into the new season that God is bringing you into in 2025, do not be mistaking.
Speaker 1: It's gonna take patience, but if you're willing to be patient in the crossover, as you move into the new territory that God is calling you to, you will then begin to inherit every promise that he has for your life.
Speaker 1: But I have to do it with and through patience.
Speaker 1: So how do we live this way?
Speaker 1: How do we let me wrap this up how do we live with faithful patience?
Speaker 1: Three ways.
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to understand.
Speaker 1: Patient followers trust the faithfulness of God.
Speaker 1: How do I live with patience?
Speaker 1: Pastor, first and foremost, you've got to trust that the God that we serve is faithful.
Speaker 1: Church, we sang that this morning Great is thy, great is thy.
Speaker 1: One more time great is thy.
Speaker 1: The God that we serve is faithful.
Speaker 1: He's the same yesterday, today and forever, and what he has done, he will do.
Speaker 1: He is faithful.
Speaker 1: He's working all things together for our good.
Speaker 1: I've got to learn how to trust in his faithfulness and as I trust in his faithfulness, I am embracing patience.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you what that practically looks like.
Speaker 1: When I trust in the faithfulness of God, I'm saying God, I know there's promises that you have for my life that you want me to inherit, but I'll leave the results and the timing of that inheritance up to you.
Speaker 1: You're sovereign and I'm trusting that you're working everything together for my good Because you're faithful and I'm going to leave the results of this inheritance and the timing of me receiving it into your hands.
Speaker 1: Israel waited 400 years from the time of the promise of Abraham until they walked into the promised land, and they were there in God's timing.
Speaker 1: God has a timing for you to inherit the promises of God, but it's his timing, it's not your timing.
Speaker 1: And you demonstrate patience when you trust in him and leave that to him.
Speaker 1: It's not your timing, and you demonstrate patience when you trust in him and leave that to him.
Speaker 1: Number two patient followers are hopeful in the promises of God.
Speaker 1: What is hope?
Speaker 1: Hope is the eager expectation of receiving everything that God has promised.
Speaker 1: What that means is that I am fully persuaded and I am fully expectant into receiving everything that God has for my life and, though I may leave the timing of my inheritance up to him, I am holding on to the promises of God for my life.
Speaker 1: I am never letting go of the promise.
Speaker 1: I leave the timing to him, but I hold the promise in my hand, fully expected to receive it.
Speaker 1: Not let some of you have some things that you've let go of.
Speaker 1: There's some promises of God that that have, honestly, you've quit hoping for because the time has just been so long.
Speaker 1: And I'm here to tell you this morning grab a hold of that promise one more time.
Speaker 1: Grab a hold of that promise one more time and don't ever let it go until it becomes your reality.
Speaker 1: I don't know how long it's going to be, but I do know this it'll happen because God is faithful.
Speaker 1: And finally, number three patient followers are obedient to the word of God.
Speaker 1: Here's what I know in my life If I want the got to work the word, I've got to put it into practice.
Speaker 1: And one of the ways that we put the word into practice and demonstrate patience is by doing good to all men.
Speaker 1: In Galatians 6 10, paul says hey, verse 9.
Speaker 1: He talked about patience.
Speaker 1: And then he gets to verse 10 and he said hey.
Speaker 1: In Galatians 6.10, paul says hey, verse 9, he talked about patience.
Speaker 1: And then he gets to verse 10 and he said hey, do good to all men.
Speaker 1: Do good to all men, especially to the family of faith.
Speaker 1: And in so doing you are fulfilling the word of God, in demonstrating patient obedience to his will and to his way.
Speaker 1: And when we live that way, we posture ourselves to be patient followers who inherit every promise of God for our lives.
Speaker 1: Will you stand with me where you are this morning?
Speaker 1: I just have three questions for you in conclusion this morning, three questions for you to ponder and to process through and apply to your life.
Speaker 1: First question is this what do you need to let go of and trust God?
Speaker 1: With?
Speaker 1: What thing have you been holding so tight?
Speaker 1: What result, what timing have you been holding so tight that you've literally squeezed the life out of it because you're not trusting God with it.
Speaker 1: I don't know what that is for your life, but, church, we can hold on to some things so tight that we squeeze the very life out of them.
Speaker 1: Those things we need to learn how to let go and let God.
Speaker 1: Number two what promise, what hope needs to be revived in your life?
Speaker 1: I alluded to that a moment ago.
Speaker 1: There's some things, some promises of God in your life that you've been waiting for for a long time and the way has caused you to let go of them, and you need to revive those things and hold on to that promise until God makes it your reality.
Speaker 1: Finally, number three what step of obedience is God calling you to take today?
Speaker 1: What good work is he calling you to do to demonstrate that he is true and that he is faithful and that he is working all things together for your good?
Speaker 1: The seat in front of you is a connection card.
Speaker 1: I want you to take that connection card out right now.
Speaker 1: There's a pin there as well, and you may not have an answer to all three of those questions, but you may have an answer to one of them, or two of them, and I've asked the worship team just to sing a song, to give us a moment with the Holy Spirit, to allow him to speak to our lives.
Speaker 1: And this is what I would like to invite you to do is the Holy Spirit brings revelation to those three questions.
Speaker 1: I want you to write that down on that prayer card.
Speaker 1: Write that down, and when you do, I want you to bring it and lay it on the front of our stage and turn the front of our stage into your altar and say God, it's time to cross over.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to embody patience in my life, knowing that it is a key to me inheriting your promises, and I'm not staying where I am.
Speaker 1: I believe that you have more, and so I'm now crossing over into my inheritance, believing that you are going to make all things right as the worship team plays, I just want you to make scenes.
Speaker 1: I just want you to write on that prayer card that thing and then bring it forward this morning as a statement of faith In Jesus' name.
Speaker 2: Father, do it right now.
Speaker 1: Come on Meg.
Speaker 2: Still leaning on only what I understand.
Speaker 2: I keep believing it's by my own strength.
Speaker 2: I can stand.
Speaker 2: There I go again.
Speaker 2: Why do I keep on walking when what I should be is waiting?
Speaker 2: You say peace, be still when I can barely keep moving.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still when I'm afraid of tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still when my heart needs a healing.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still because you're working it all for my good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're working it all for my good.
Speaker 2: I know you're working it all for my good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're working it all for my good.
Speaker 2: And there I go again, working wonders beyond what I can comprehend.
Speaker 2: So I'll wait in the silence, cause I know you'll do it again.
Speaker 2: And I'll wait in the silence Cause I know you'll do it again.
Speaker 2: Why do I keep on walking when what I should be is waiting?
Speaker 2: You say peace, be still when I can barely keep moving.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still when I can barely keep moving.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still when I'm afraid of tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still when my heart needs a healing.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still cause you're working it all.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still when I can barely keep moving.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still when I'm barely keep moving.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still when I'm afraid of tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Peace be still when my heart needs a healing.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still, cause you're working it all for my good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're working it all for my good.
Speaker 2: I know you're working it all for my good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're working it all for my good.
Speaker 2: The work he's begun, he's faithful to finish it.
Speaker 2: I won't be afraid, cause he's written the ending.
Speaker 2: When he sets in motion, no one can stop.
Speaker 2: So don't fear the journey and be not afraid.
Speaker 2: Oh, be not afraid of the wall.
Speaker 2: Oh, when you say peace, be still when I can barely keep moving, peace be still when I'm afraid of tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Peace be still when my heart needs a healing.
Speaker 2: Peace, be still Because you're working it all for my good, father, this morning.
Speaker 1: Over your church today.
Speaker 1: I pray peace.
Speaker 1: Be still as they demonstrate your patience in their lives and through their lives for your glory.
Speaker 1: I pray, Lord, today, that we, as your church, would represent your heart and your life to the world around us.
Speaker 1: I pray, God, in the days and weeks to come, that our patience would preach.
Speaker 1: I pray that our patience would demonstrate your love and your grace and your mercy and it would lead people to you, God, that our patience would be so unsettling to the world that they would come and say what's different and we could point them to you, the God of all patience.
Speaker 1: And I pray, Lord, as we cross over into a new year and cross over into your promises.
Speaker 1: I pray, Lord, that we would embrace your patience, knowing that patience postures us to embrace your promises.
Speaker 1: So I pray, Father, as we demonstrate your patience.
Speaker 1: Your promises are manifested in our lives.
Speaker 1: We thank you for it today In Jesus' mighty name.
Speaker 1: And everybody said amen, amen, amen.