WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:20.480 Well, good morning, Awakening. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:21.679 Great to see you today. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.039 Thanks so much for joining us post-Thanksgiving. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:30.000 Yeah, cool. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:32.240 Let's see how this is gonna go. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:34.799 Hey, if you're new, my name's Ryan. 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:37.439 Absolutely thrilled to have you join us today. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:43.920 We're kicking off a brand new series called Behold, How to Worship the King. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:49.119 Um, we live in a world where we're just constantly rushing, aren't we? 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:59.200 Moving from one thing to the next, and I think we've forgotten how to slow down, to truly see, to behold. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:11.760 This word behold means to gaze, to wonder, to look at someone or something until something has been grasped of the significance of that person or thing? 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:19.120 When's the last time you've beheld something other than your phone? 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.879 We behold our phone, don't we, all the time. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:29.120 We behold uh, you know, all the stuff at work and things around us. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:34.560 But when was the last time we beheld that which was life-giving? 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:37.280 The one who's life-giving. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:51.519 You know, Christmas often becomes this blur of shopping list, travel plans, packed calendars, and we say we're celebrating the birth of Jesus, but how much space does he really get in our busy lives? 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:54.079 Here's why this is so important. 00:01:54.799 --> 00:02:03.439 This is true, and we we experience it, that what you behold, you become. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:23.520 What you focus on, or said another way, what you worship, what captures your attention and your affection, you become light, even uh become like, even the science of mirroring new on mirror, sorry, mirror neuron neurons. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:26.080 I'm gonna say that eventually, we're gonna get there. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:36.560 Like brain science tells us that God has built us deeply to be influenced by what we focus on. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:51.680 Our brain's ability to imitate the actions, attitudes, and behaviors of we observe, if we're constantly around cynical, critical, negative people, maybe at Thanksgiving, um, we start to become like them. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:59.199 When we behold love, kindness, compassion, our brains begin to imitate these qualities. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.439 They transform our behavior. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:08.400 And so if we desire to become more like Jesus, we actually need to ensure that we're beholding him. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:10.560 That's what we want to do. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:18.159 How do you move beyond the hurry of the season to truly beholding the one it's all about? 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:26.400 And a question I think we need to ask more often than we do how do you worship the king? 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:33.919 You know, we're in this season of um that the church calendar calls Advent. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:41.840 And if you're new to kind of church or you're not even sure what that word is means because you've uh no one's ever explained it. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.840 Advent simply means arrival, it means coming. 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:55.759 And for the four weeks leading up to Christmas, the church celebrates the season of Advent, the arrival of Jesus. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:04:14.479 There was this long-awaited hope that this Messiah, the people of Israel, longing for a Messiah, which means that word means anointed one or king, that this anointed one, this king would come and he would restore and make all things right. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:27.519 He would be this, as we celebrate at this time, this wonderful counselor, this mighty God, this everlasting Father, this Prince of Peace, and the government will be placed upon his shoulders. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:39.519 And at Christmas time, the church takes four weeks to prepare our hearts for the King. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:50.079 And yet, what happens is we get caught up in the busyness, the lights, the parties, and all the other things going on, good things by the way, mostly. 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:09.279 Or you show up to Christmas Day and you're not even like, it's an event, but I think God has so much more for us. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:14.160 And so today I want to invite you to rethink what it means to prepare for Christmas. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:23.199 Not the kind of preparation we typically think about, hanging lights, which I did yesterday, buying gifts, which some are gonna wait until Christmas Eve. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:24.480 Stressful. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:34.000 But a soul preparation, a slowing down, a clearing the way, a making space. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:38.639 It's what we want to do in our services together. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:46.319 Because the way we prepare our hearts directly impacts our capacity to encounter the presence of God. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:56.399 And so today, as we talk about beholding, how do we worship the King, we're gonna talk about this idea of preparation. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:04.720 Because how we prepare, we prepare for all sorts of things, but how we prepare determines our experience. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:13.439 In the book of Isaiah, you discover uh it has the most prophecies about this coming Messiah. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:22.399 It's where I just quoted the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prophecy of a virgin birth. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:35.199 And in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 40, he talks about uh this hope for the people of Israel who are in bondage, they're in exile in Babylon, they're in a hopeless situation. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:36.560 Has God left us? 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:38.720 Will he ever restore us? 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:45.040 And in this, there's a prophecy of one who would come and prepare the way for Jesus. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:47.680 We know him as John the Baptist today. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:07:00.720 And I want to take you to Isaiah chapter 40, because in this text, we'll discover, I believe, three words that will help revolutionize your Christmas season. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:09.120 That I believe not only your Christmas, but the rest of our lives, the way we encounter the presence of God can fundamentally change. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:14.319 If you got your Bibles, would you open up to Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3? 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:21.040 Isaiah says this there's a voice of one calling. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:24.240 In the wilderness, go ahead and say, wilderness. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:27.519 Prepare the way for the Lord. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.959 In the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:34.000 Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:43.439 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low, and rough ground shall become level, and rugged places a plain. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:46.639 The idea here is that a king is coming. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:08:05.680 This is the picture, and what you do to prepare for the king is you would do a whole bunch of road work so that he could make his way smoothly into your city, that there's preparation to be made to get ready for the coming king. 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:18.639 And then he says, This when you do this, when you prepare the way, the glory of the Lord will be will be revealed and all people will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:31.360 This is ultimately speaking in this fulfillment of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus, and in it it speaks to us of how do we prepare? 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:35.759 How do we prepare for Jesus in this Advent season? 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.799 Three words I believe that will revolutionize your Christmas. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:43.039 I'm gonna have I'm losing my voice, so I'm gonna have you say stuff with me, okay? 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:48.080 Um, because if if I if I completely go, then you're gonna have to start preaching for me, okay? 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:50.559 So you gotta you gotta know, you gotta know the words. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:51.440 Three words. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:52.960 First is wilderness, say it. 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:54.639 Fantastic. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:56.399 Preparation, that's our word today. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:59.519 And then expectation. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:05.840 I want you to notice in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:11.360 In the wilderness, we often think of the wilderness as God's place of punishment. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.399 That he's abandoned us, that he's forgotten about us. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:24.879 And what Isaiah says is in your wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:28.480 In the wilderness is often when we feel far from God. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:34.159 When you feel far from God, would you begin to prepare the way for the Lord? 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:41.200 Another translation of the word wilderness is lonely place, desolute place. 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:48.159 Here's what's incredible is God wants to meet you in the lonely place. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.879 See, I think some of us showed up today and we're in a wilderness. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:57.039 In fact, I think a lot of us are. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:10.720 And if we're honest, we might feel like God is far from us, but the truth is God may feel far, but he has never been far from you. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.919 And he wants to meet you, he wants to speak to you. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:23.440 In fact, this is amazing when we pick up this line in uh the Gospels in the speaking of John the Baptist. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:25.440 It says this, it's really cool. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:33.279 It says, and the word of the Lord came to John in the wilderness. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:35.759 Where did the word of the Lord come to John? 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:37.919 In the wilderness. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:48.399 When he's by himself, when he's feeling alone, when he's not really sure what this future may hold, when he's thinking he's out of place. 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:57.519 The word of the Lord came to him there, and where you're at, the word of the Lord, he wants to speak to you right where you're at. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.720 Let me ask you, what kind of wilderness are you in? 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:04.080 I think some of us are in a wilderness of loneliness. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:09.279 61% of this generation say they're lonely. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.559 51% of moms say they're lonely. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:20.960 36% of Americans across the board say they experience serious loneliness. 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:24.399 We have in a loneliness epidemic. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:28.639 God says, in your loneliness, I want to meet you there. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:31.840 Maybe you're in the wilderness of rejection. 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:35.600 Maybe it's a friendship that's fallen apart. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:40.399 Maybe just we we we just got done with Thanksgiving. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.840 Maybe it's a family. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:45.120 It could be a parent, a spouse, a kid. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.679 Maybe it's a dating relationship. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:52.000 Maybe it's work. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:56.240 That you've been passed by or passed over. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:05.759 God says, I want to meet you in the wilderness of rejection because I know something about rejection. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:09.440 Maybe you're in the wilderness of anxiety. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:13.200 That is the state of our lives today, is it not? 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:27.440 Just generations men called the anxious generation in our space where we feel just completely overwhelmed and anxious. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:30.000 God says, I want to meet you there. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.600 Maybe you're in the wilderness of uncertainty. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:40.320 You're a high school student, you're a high school senior, and everybody's asking you, Where are you gonna go to school? 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:42.480 I don't know, leave me alone. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:46.480 You're a college student, what are you gonna do with the rest of your life? 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.720 I don't know, leave me alone. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:50.559 When are you gonna get married? 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:52.080 When are you gonna have kids? 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:53.759 Should we move? 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:55.840 I don't know, leave me alone. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:04.639 I mean, but maybe you're just in the wilderness of uncertainty, the future's unknown, it feels overwhelming. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:22.000 Maybe you're in the wilderness of distraction, where it seems like the urgent just constantly overwhelms the important, the things that you really want your life to be about, but not you're just busy doing stuff. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:25.759 And did I tell you that today's December 1st? 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:31.039 Yeah, where where did the year go? 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.559 We live these hurried, distracted lives. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:39.679 Maybe you're in the wilderness of loss, and isn't it hard? 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:42.320 The most wonderful time of the year. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:50.240 It should be the best time of the year, but when you suffered loss, it just reminds you even more of that loss, doesn't it? 00:13:50.559 --> 00:14:03.440 Maybe it's a loss of a loved one, maybe it's uh loss of a kid or a friend, maybe it's a loss of a job, the death of a dream. 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:14.960 See, the word of the Lord came to John in the wilderness. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:24.159 I want you to reframe because for some, you'll miss out on what God's wanting to do because you think God doesn't want anything with you. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:29.840 He doesn't want to speak to you, and you're like, I'm in the wilderness, I'm wandering, and maybe you're in a wilderness of your own making. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:35.279 Let's be honest, some of us are there, we just made some bad decisions and we're just kind of going like, you know what? 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:37.200 God wouldn't want anything with me. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.360 And he says, My word is coming to you. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:40.720 Are you ready? 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.039 I want to meet you, I want to speak to you. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:47.759 I like how Dallas Willard says it. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:55.360 He writes this He says, The Lord can only meet and bless you where you are. 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:04.000 We so often think we need to be someplace different, somewhere else for God to finally meet and bless us. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:14.480 He can only meet and bless you where you are, he will meet you where you are, and he will lead you from there to where he wants you to go. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:17.279 Let me ask you. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:24.159 What if your wilderness is where God is wanting to meet you? 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:33.039 What if God really wants to meet you personally and powerfully this Christmas season? 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:40.480 Well, if that's true, in your wilderness, then you better start preparing the way for the Lord. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:41.600 That's what it says. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:44.000 In the wilderness, prepare the way for the word. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:46.320 First word of our teaching is what? 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:48.399 Come on, guys. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:50.799 I we had we had it, we were with. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:56.960 First word is, second word is preparation. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:03.360 You must intentionally make room for the king. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:12.080 You must intentionally make room for the king. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:17.679 God cannot fill a heart that has no room for him. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:24.080 God meets you where he's made where you've made room. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:28.720 Preparation. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:36.399 The more space you make for God, the more he fills your life. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:43.200 Here's what's interesting. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:53.600 We're wandering in the wilderness, so often, many of us, and we don't think God wants anything to do with us, and so we don't ever prepare, and so we're not ready for God to show up and meet us. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:59.039 He wants to meet you, but you actually need to do some work too. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:05.039 Um, Thanksgiving, you guys celebrated it, right? 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:10.720 Did you show up or did you host and do zero preparation? 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.880 It would be it would be terrible, right? 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:18.880 I mean, you know the old adage, I'm a dad, I say things like this. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:23.440 Uh you know, if you fail to prepare, you prepare to what? 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.440 Fail, yeah. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:34.640 And we know that with tests, some of us are really good at winging it until you get into like really big stuff and you're like, oh, I can't cram that exam. 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:41.440 But you have to intentionally make room for the king. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:46.319 This is actually the part where I think many of us miss it in our relationship with God. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:51.680 Because we're hoping that he'll just kind of like zap us, right? 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:53.440 Maybe not. 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:54.799 That was a little aggressive. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.920 Geez, wow, no, uh, don't zap me. 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:03.519 But but just like God, you just like do it all, you just get my attention. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:06.640 He's like, you have no room for me. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:17.839 You've not prepared, you've not done anything that would allow me to move and work in your life. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:24.880 We live such crowded, busy lives. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:30.799 If God was to show up and speak and meet, we often miss them, and we often do. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:33.759 And so, bless you. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:37.200 How do you make room for Jesus in a crowded life? 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:41.119 I just want to unpack this word prepare in the text. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:50.480 Because there's a few ways that it is used and translated that gives us a sense of how do we actually prepare? 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:51.839 How do we make space? 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:54.799 How do you actually encounter the King of Kings? 00:18:55.119 --> 00:19:03.599 The word prepare means to make ready or suitable, equip in advance for a particular purpose. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:10.720 It has been translated first to look, like you prepare by looking, to perceive with attention. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:13.599 You notice or become aware of something. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:21.279 Um as we were getting ready for Thanksgiving, there was a huge pile of laundry. 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:30.720 There was the bathroom that we have a bunch of teenage boys at our house all the time, so you can only imagine how that bathroom was. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:32.319 Right. 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:44.960 The first thing we have to do is we have to see and become aware of the things around us and in us. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:53.759 The problem is we get so comfortable that we often don't see the things in our lives anymore. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:58.240 We just look at it like, oh, oh, forget about that, Laundry, it's not a big deal. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:02.400 But if I have guests coming over, I'm gonna take care of it all. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:08.640 The first thing for us to prepare is we have to look and perceive, look inside. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:13.839 One of the ways that I often do this is just a simple prayer. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:20.160 Holy Spirit, would you show me anything in me that's not of you? 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:26.240 Holy Spirit, would you show me anything in me that's not of you? 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:33.440 I want to be able to see it and notice it and recognize, you know what, I gotta deal with that. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:36.319 I don't want to ignore it anymore. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.519 So to look is the first way we prepare. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:44.720 The second, this word means to remove, to get rid of, or to take something away. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.440 It's not enough just to notice it. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:54.640 In fact, we really struggled to get the laundry done this last week. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:58.720 We noticed it. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:02.400 But eventually we had to what? 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:07.359 Remove the laundry, do the laundry. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:09.839 I don't know why I'm going on laundry right now. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:15.599 Um it means to remove the removal of obstruction. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:20.079 There's things in our lives that are blocking our relationship with God. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:26.160 Preparation isn't passive, it's actually about alignment with our heart with His. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:31.680 Holy Spirit, first, would you show me anything in me that's not of you? 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:35.680 And as He does, then you can the the word is confess. 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:42.480 God, I admit, I admit that my heart attitude. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:46.319 I admit the way that I responded to Jenny. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:48.880 I admit those thoughts. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:56.240 What are some things in your life that are the blocking your relationship with Jesus? 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.680 Some of it is just honestly habitual sin that we just allow. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.519 That we go back to time and time again. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:06.640 Let me ask you, what in your life needs to go? 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:10.079 What's blocking God from moving in your life? 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:11.680 He wants to meet you. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:13.279 He says, prepare the way. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:14.799 We look and perceive. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:18.400 Then we didn't take the process of confession. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:21.839 Where we go, God, would you deal with that? 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:24.880 I want to remove that from my life. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:34.240 The third word for prepare is to turn, to direct one's attention or trust towards something. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:37.920 I turn my attention to the one I'm preparing for. 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:40.240 This is what repentance is. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.160 The biblical idea of repentance. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:47.839 This is why, honestly, most of us don't experience and encounter the presence and power of God. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:56.559 We either think we're out of place or we haven't prepared for God to work in the place where we're at. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:00.319 It's simple. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:06.000 And all of us can do it this morning, and we can do it all month long. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:11.839 It will change how you encounter and experience Jesus. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:13.920 I see this is an issue in my life. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:15.200 I gotta acknowledge it. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:20.400 I'm gonna confess it, and then I'm gonna turn my face towards Jesus. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:23.279 I'm gonna begin to change my direction. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:27.759 Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of direction. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:31.680 I'm gonna begin to adjust my behavior in this direction. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:35.440 That's what you know the Isaiah's saying. 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:37.759 We're gonna flatten out some things. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.000 We're gonna raise up some valleys. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:46.880 We're gonna do some work so that we're gonna pave the way for God to begin to move in our life. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:48.880 First word. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:55.839 First word. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:58.559 Second word. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:03.200 Now here's what's amazing about preparation. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:06.240 And I think this is why many of us don't prepare. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:12.160 Preparation always comes with expectation. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:13.440 Third word. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:16.240 Right? 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:20.640 You prepare for someone, you prepare for something. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:22.559 There's always an expectation. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.039 Last week, now this is wild, and I don't get it. 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:26.079 I don't understand it. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:37.279 This is how life works, but I'm now old enough that my friends' kids are getting married, and my nieces and nephews are starting to get married. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:40.319 This is I how where I don't get it. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:45.119 Last weekend, my niece got married in Nashville. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:46.960 Crazy. 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:48.960 Insane to me. 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:53.039 Now, here's what's interesting about a wedding. 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:58.400 They spent a year in preparation for the wedding. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:06.319 They, I mean, my brother and sister-in-law spent a lot of money preparing for the wedding. 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:07.440 Why? 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:11.920 Because there was a holy expectation about that day. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:25.759 That in that day and that moment that they're going to stand before God and these witnesses and the pastor, they're going to declare their love for one another and the sacred celebration. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.839 Two are going to become one. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:30.240 It's going to be powerful and beautiful. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:42.240 And their expectation is not only are they going to be two become one, they're going to have this grand celebration with everyone around them celebrating their relationship and love and new life together. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:46.240 And there's immense and incredible expectation. 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:56.640 See, I think one of the reasons we don't prepare for the king is we don't expect the king to show up. 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:02.160 The problem isn't that we expect too much from God. 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:07.359 I think the problem is we expect too little. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:18.319 See, expectation, the truth is, you have only scratched the surface when it comes to God. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:28.559 I mean, scripture tells us that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, just the wonders and greatness that God has for us. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:35.279 Like you've only begun to scratch the surface. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:39.680 I don't care if you've been a follower of Jesus for 50 years. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:43.359 You've only begun to scratch the surface. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:46.079 There's more of Jesus, there's more of him. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:48.319 Don't you ever become complacent? 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:54.319 Don't you ever sit back and go, well, I've conquered it, I've arrived, I've you know, climbed the mountain. 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:55.440 No, you haven't. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:02.240 There is deeper, more beautiful, brilliant, incredible reality, and his name is Jesus. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:03.680 And would you lean in? 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:08.400 Would you have an expectation that God wants to meet you? 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:12.240 Have an expectation that he wants to speak to you. 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:15.759 Would you raise your level of expectation with him? 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:19.759 Don't lower it, that you would raise it. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:28.720 Notice what Isaiah says: In the wilderness, prepare the way, and here's what happens, and the glory of the Lord will be revealed. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:35.920 This word glory in the Hebrew is the word kavot. 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:40.319 This means weight, heaviness. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:47.440 The glory of the Lord often represents his manifest presence that can be tangibly experienced by his people. 00:27:52.480 --> 00:28:03.200 He says, I don't know, I don't, I don't know what you're walking through, what wilderness, but God wants to meet you there, and as you prepare, he will reveal his glory to you. 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:11.759 Right where you're at, right what you in what you're walking through. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:17.759 Through the heartache, through the pain, through the loss, through the longing, through the hoping. 00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:23.119 Says, would you prepare the way for me and I will meet you right there. 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:26.799 I will reveal my glory to you. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:30.720 May we be a people that expect more of God. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:42.079 I think one of the reasons we don't expect from God is we're afraid that He'll disappoint us. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:54.559 Yeah. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:57.039 I mean, we're watching all kinds of movies right now, right? 00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:00.240 And someone's like, this is the best movie ever, it's the greatest. 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:03.279 And you go and see it, and it's fine. 00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:04.400 It's fine. 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:06.799 You're like, yeah, no, it was fine. 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:13.440 And you just wish if they hadn't told you how great it was, you probably would have thought it was a really good movie. 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:20.799 But you went in with such high expectations, and as a result, the movie didn't meet those, and you were what? 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:22.240 You were disappointed. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:24.640 Yeah, it's fine, it's all right, whatever. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:29.440 And I think that's how it is sometimes with us with God. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:37.519 That we're like, I don't want to have too high of expectations because I don't want him to disappoint me. 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:40.079 I don't want to be let down. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:44.960 And so I don't expect anything at all. 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:55.519 You can't have too high expectations of God. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:04.319 Let me ask you. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:07.359 Do you expect God to show up in your life? 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:14.720 Do you expect God to meet you this advent season? 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:21.759 Do you expect that the word of the Lord is gonna come to you in your wilderness? 00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:26.720 And what would change? 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:32.240 What would change for you if you did? 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:43.839 My prayer for us as we begin this advent season together, church. 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:50.000 Is that we wouldn't miss Jesus. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:30:58.319 But we wouldn't take time. 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:00.079 We'd pause. 00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:03.680 We'd behold. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:15.200 That we'd be a people that experience him personally and powerfully. 00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:18.640 Because that's what he wants to do in your life. 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:23.839 So, what I want to do as we close, I just want to give you time to prepare. 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:27.279 We're gonna continue in worship. 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:32.319 Would you say that prayer that I pray? 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:36.640 Holy Spirit, would you show me anything in me? 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:38.960 That's not of you. 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:44.640 Would you identify your wilderness that you're walking through? 00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:49.440 And then this prayer of faith. 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:54.000 God, I expect you to show up in my life. 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:58.319 As I take steps to prepare, I expect you to show up. 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:00.240 Would you meet me? 00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:04.319 Take some time and we'll continue in worship. 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:09.119 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:13.680 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:16.000 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:22.079 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.