WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.640 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.759 For more information in our church, please visit grandparkway.org. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:06.240 Amen. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:07.200 You can have a seat. 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.720 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Luke chapter 1. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:13.199 I'll start reading in verse 26. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:20.399 Before I start reading in verse 26, I want to go back and read the first section of Luke chapter 1. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:22.960 By the way, people are asking, what are all the chairs about? 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.480 Clint Eastwood is going to be here at our Christmas Eve service. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:28.640 And he has a lot to say. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:34.000 So, no, actually, we have a Christmas Eve choir coming. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:37.840 I want to talk to you this morning about the certainty of Advent. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.439 The certainty as we wait, we should become more and more convinced. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:47.280 And I'm a little concerned that we've kind of drifted towards indifference around some things that really matter. 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:48.399 And I want to call us back. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:51.280 I don't mean we as an individual church Grand Parkway. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:55.840 I mean we as a church of uh of God, the church all over the world. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:58.079 We're kind of like, ah, does that really matter? 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:00.640 Uh I had a professor in seminary that said this. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:10.640 He said, when you when you when you read any book in the Bible, read the introduction because it tells you the purpose for which it was re was written, and it kind of sets the trajectory of the text. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:12.159 That's a phrase that's stuck in my head. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:20.640 Like in Romans, when we started Romans, we said, you know, we read in the first part of Romans where Paul says to all those who are in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints. 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:21.359 Remember that? 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:24.319 And I said, You're loved by God and you're called to be saints. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:30.079 So everything the Bible says in Romans is kind of heard through that filter and by the same token. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:36.159 I want to just, before we start in verse 26, let's back up to chapter 1, verse 1 and read this. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:59.040 Luke is writing, he says, Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:03.280 See, Luke says, I followed all things closely for quite a while now. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:06.000 I didn't, I'm not writing to you about a secondhand Jesus. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:14.560 I overheard people talking about at the beauty shop and at Starbucks, and I cobbled them together with some with some legend, some urban myths and legends. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:15.439 No, he says, No. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:19.919 I I I'm writing to you out of a front row seat to what actually happened. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:24.719 He said, It seemed I should write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus. 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:28.000 By the way, I want you all to refer to me that way from now on. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:30.800 Most excellent Pastor Neil. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:32.400 That's my new CB handle. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:34.159 I'm gonna put it on my door next week. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:36.639 So just get used to saying that, okay? 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:37.680 Thank you very much. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:38.719 Look at verse 4. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:43.680 He says that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:46.479 And that's why I want that's why I want to talk to you back. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:51.439 Because I started reading in Luke chapter 1, verse 26, and I thought, I want to go back and see their trajectory. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:57.599 And Luke says, Hey, Theophilus, I'm writing you this letter so that you'll have certainty about the things that you've been taught. 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:02.080 Because here's my concern the older we get, I'm I'm sneaking up on 50. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:05.919 Uh, and so I'm kind of in that old, my kids are like, Dad, you're like really old. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.520 Uh and I'm like, and you're really getting nothing for Christmas, so but who's counting? 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:18.960 Uh so I just want to I want to preach to myself today because let's be careful that the older we get, the more indifferent we become to things that really matter. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:24.080 And so I want to talk to you about the certainty of Advent from Luke chapter 1, verse 26. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:42.400 The Bible says this in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary, and he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:47.280 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:52.159 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:04:02.080 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, and he will be great, and and and will be called the Son of the Most High. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:08.879 And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:12.000 In his kingdom of his kingdom there will be no end. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:16.399 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, since I am a virgin? 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:26.000 And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:30.959 And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:36.480 And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren, for nothing will be impossible with God. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:39.600 And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:41.759 Let it be to me according to your word. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.560 And the angel departed from her. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:52.000 In the text, there's probably six or seven, but I just pared it down to just four that I want to bring before you this morning. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:56.959 Four things that I want to invite you and I to be certain about on this fourth Sunday of Advent. 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:58.959 And the first one is found in verse 28. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:02.240 And the first thing around the certainty of Advent, the first point is simply this. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:04.639 I want you to be certain about the presence of God. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:06.560 Be certain about the presence of God. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:09.439 Hear this greeting again in verse 28. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:14.720 This angel Gabriel comes to her and said, Greetings, O favored One. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:17.120 The Lord is with you. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:22.800 And I just we I my concern is that we kind of take the presence of God for granted. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:24.160 Advent is great. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:32.560 Somebody texted Clyde this week and said, last week, I just wanted to just, when we sang, Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel, and I kept thinking, okay, this is the Sunday. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.279 We're gonna get to the course and we're gonna say, rejoice. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:42.079 And then we did, and I was like, and I was like, do people know that's on purpose? 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:47.519 Because we live on the right side of the coming of Christ, but people, there was a sense of longing. 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:56.319 When the Old Testament closed, there's 400 years of silence between the Old and the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:06:02.959 And people were born and lived and died, and they never knew prophetic revelation, and they never sensed the presence of God. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:05.519 They just were basically functioning deists. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:08.800 They just thought, well, God created the world and spun it and got it going. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:11.439 Now he remains indifferent to it. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:16.399 And so he comes during this advent season and kind of just breaks the silence with this voice. 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:21.120 John 1 says, and in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:23.439 The word was with God, and the word was God. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:25.360 He coexisted in heaven with God. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:29.759 Jesus is not something that God dreamed up in that 400-year silence. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:31.040 He's always been. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:40.720 But then the Bible says this, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:42.399 That he could have never come. 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:44.480 See, he was God before he came. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:47.680 He didn't come to the earth to prove that he is God. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:52.399 He came to the earth to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:54.399 That's why they called him a savior. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:56.959 And don't ever just get indifferent. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:00.240 Okay, the presence of God, I get it, I get it, I get it. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:02.160 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:02.879 No, no, no. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:08.240 The advent slows us down and reminds us, oh, let's not take this for granted. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:16.079 That's why the 23rd Psalm, when he says, Yea, though I walked to the valley in the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for you are with me. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:18.720 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:22.560 In Hebrews 13, God says, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:24.959 And Jesus gives what we call the Great Commission. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:38.319 Matthew 28, he's kind of get the end of Matthew's gospel, and he says, Go and go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:41.360 And then he says this, and we forget this part of the Great Commission. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:43.759 This is the part that makes all of it possible. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:48.160 He says, And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:51.360 And so let me just say this to you, because we kind of think this way. 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:52.879 Let me bring it down to where we live. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:55.519 We think that God's with us when we're doing good. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:08:04.079 When we're doing the right thing, we've had a good week, we did all the things we should do and all the things we shouldn't do, don't we? 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:05.279 Sure we do. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:09.040 We kind of think, I've been good, God's here, God's happy. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:10.319 Let me just tell you this. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:22.319 On your worst day, when you did the wrong, when you knew the wrong thing, you knew it was wrong and did it anyway, and just by a show of hands, how many of you have had a day like that where you knew it was wrong, but you did it anyway? 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:23.439 Raise your hand. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:25.439 Yeah. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:27.439 See, you're in good company. 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:31.839 By the way, he was there on that day too. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:37.440 And he wasn't there kind of going, hey, what are you doing? 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:40.159 Are you don't be such an idiot. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:42.879 That's what some of your dads said to you. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.639 Why do you want to pull a dumb stunt like that? 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:48.240 You say, How do you know? 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:49.600 Because I've read the Bible. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:09:01.200 Don't turn there, but in John chapter 8, there's a woman caught in the very act of adultery, and the Pharisees threw at Jesus' feet, and best we can tell, she didn't have any clothes on, and the Greek word for that is naked. 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.600 N-E-K-E-D, naked. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:06.799 It's not naked. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.000 Naked is like when your babies are naked, when you give them baths, that's cute. 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:13.919 When you got your clothes off and you've been doing something you shouldn't be doing, you're naked. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:15.519 That ain't good. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:17.120 She was naked. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:22.960 And Jesus didn't say, Oh my goodness, what have you been doing, woman? 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:24.960 Don't you know any better? 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:30.000 No. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:37.120 He just dismisses all the religious people, and then he says, Hey, who condemned you? 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:40.320 And he's like, What? 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.840 Because you think God's presence is predicated on your behavior. 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:46.960 It's not. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:50.320 God's presence in your life is rooted in God's nature. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:55.360 And so if you could just learn to realize that wherever you are and whatever you're doing, he's there. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:57.919 It changes where you go and what you do. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:00.240 Be certain about the presence of God. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.679 The second thing the text invites us to be certain about is the favor of God. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:07.679 And here's where I'm gonna, I might get in a little trouble here, but that's okay. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:12.879 After he says in verse 28, and he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored One, the Lord is with you. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:18.320 Verse 29, but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:20.559 That's my favorite verse in this whole thing. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:25.039 The angel says, Greetings, One favorite one, the Lord is with you. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:32.879 And it's kind of one of those things someone walks up to you in the mall and approaches you and talks to you, and you just kind of clutch your purse a little tighter, like, what do you want? 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.679 I I don't give any donations to strangers. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:36.399 Back up. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:37.679 Mary was troubled. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:43.679 She was like, That's so awkward and so kind of good on a level that I don't have words for. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.919 I'm not real sure, so just put me down as kind of creepy. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:50.320 The favor of God. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:52.799 He says, Hey, let me let me just read. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:54.399 He says, Greetings, O favored one. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:55.600 But she was kind of troubled. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:56.639 And look at verse 30. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:03.279 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.399 Don't be afraid, for you have found favor. 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:09.440 Now, does that mean just a couple things to think about over lunch today? 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:14.320 When the Bible says you have found favor, does that mean that we should be looking for the favor of God? 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:16.799 Or what does she do to get the favor of God? 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:18.639 And how do you know you've got it? 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.200 And and because it says you've found favor. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:23.039 Hey, relax, Mary. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:25.519 You found favor with God. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:30.159 And Mary's kind of like, what does that mean for me? 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:35.200 And I've been asking people this week, hey, when I say favor, the favor of God, what's the first thing you think of? 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:42.080 Now, some of you in this room, if you're like me, the first thing you think of is late-night preachers who steal money from undiscerning old people. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:43.919 Yeah. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:46.000 But that's not what I'm talking about. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:48.000 Let me give you the biblical definition for favor. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:51.919 If you looked up this word in the Greek, it would say it's it's the Greek word, Horis. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:52.799 Horis. 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:56.080 It looks like Kaira, C-H-A-R-I-S, but it's hardis. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:14.320 And it basically means the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in the Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:21.360 Now put a little star on that last part and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:23.519 In other words, causes them. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:26.480 Well, in other words, favor's not a one-way deal. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:32.240 Favor is not a word that people use to say, hey, it's God's will that I be rich. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:33.919 That's nowhere in the Bible, okay? 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:35.840 That's not what the Bible talks about favor. 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:40.559 We've got to kind of reclaim this word from our charismatic friends and kind of say, you know what? 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:44.240 I don't have to be afraid of the favor of God being on my life. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:49.679 As a matter of fact, if you'll ask most of my friends, I use the word favor a lot and it bugs them. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:53.200 And once I know that it bugs them, I use it even more. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:55.519 And that something good will happen. 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:57.120 I went, favor and fair? 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:58.639 Oh, are you kidding me? 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.440 Oh my goodness, I can't believe that happened to you. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.840 It's not me, it's just the favor of God. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:06.080 But favor is not a one-way street. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.320 Favor doesn't mean God, give me, give me, give me, give me. 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:12.559 That's your kids at Christmas. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:17.840 Like just yesterday, my nine-year-old announced to me that she wants a kindle fire for Christmas. 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:22.799 And I was like, you don't read, but I like, I want to hint and hint, I really want to have one. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:26.960 If you read every night, we got to say to you, hey, Sophie, you need to read for 30 minutes. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:31.840 You fall down like Lee Harvey also shot you from the Texas School Book Depository. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:33.759 And she said, What's that? 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:35.679 And I said, if you read, you would know. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:36.240 See? 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:37.600 That's my point. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:39.840 You don't know. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:41.039 And so you're not getting. 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:46.240 Hey, come Christmas morning, don't be disappointed, because it ain't happening. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:48.480 But I really, really want one. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:52.879 No, you just watch that idiot box TV and they convince you that you need one. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.519 Favor is not getting everything you want. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.159 See, favor is just about what we said. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:00.639 It's, hey, Mary, you've found favor. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:10.320 And then I won't, I don't have time to preach this, but just kind of notice all the time after that how many times the angel Gabriel uses the word will. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.639 Hey, this is what God will do, and he will do this, and he will do this, and he will do that. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:17.519 See, God's looking for people that he says, you know what? 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:22.960 I want to bring the full measure of my being and blessing on this person because I can trust them. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:25.200 Because it's not, they're not going to consume this. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:31.039 James says you ask and you don't receive because you asked, so you could consume it upon your lust. 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:32.799 You say, I don't understand that. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:34.960 You've all played that game before. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:38.480 Last time the Powerball got to be 500 million. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:44.399 You all said, Lord, if you let me win that, I'd be the most generous person anybody knows. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.519 If you're not generous right now, you ain't gonna be generous then. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:50.000 You just got more money to be stingy with. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:54.480 Oh Lord, if I had a lot of money, I'd be generous. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:55.919 No, you wouldn't. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:56.639 No. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:00.000 See, that's not what the Bible talks about when it talks about favor. 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:02.399 Let me just read you a couple verses about favor. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.720 You don't have to turn there, but just pay attention. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:08.240 I don't have time to go into all of these, but the first one's from Genesis 39. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:08.879 It's Joseph. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:09.679 Remember Joseph? 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:11.519 His brothers sold him into slavery. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.639 They threw him in a pit, then they sold him into slavery, and he was gone, and his life just fell apart. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:32.000 And then he went to work in Potiphar's house, and Potiphar's wife was a desperate housewife, and she put the move on him, and he just took off running and left his coat in her hand, and she falsely accused him, and he went to prison, and someone had a dream, and they said, Hey man, there's this guy Joseph. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:33.200 I think he can hook you up. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:41.360 And so Joseph was like promoted like second in charge of the whole nation, and then his brothers were brought before him, and he could have just laid the wood to them. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:46.000 And he said, What you intended for evil, God intended for good. 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:50.960 And they were just like, Oh my gosh, we don't deserve you for a brother. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:54.960 Something my two older brothers say all the time at our house. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:59.759 Look the way the Bible summarized Joseph's life. 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:01.279 Genesis 39, 3 and 4. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:08.639 And he says, And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.080 And so Joseph found favor in his sight. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:13.919 Job was another man. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.559 Job, I mean, no one says, Hey, who's your favorite Bible character? 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:19.279 Job. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:25.519 He was a man that in one day he lost all his possessions, his house, all his sons and daughters. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:34.000 And in Job 10, verse, chapter 10, verse 12, he says, You have granted me life and favor, and your care has preserved my spirit. 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:38.480 Psalm 5, 12, the Bible says, For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous with favor. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.799 You will surround him as with a shield. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:45.039 Psalm 90, verse 17, when you don't know what to pray, pray this, men and women. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:50.320 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands upon us. 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:52.960 Yes, establish the work of our hands. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:55.600 And by the way, it's an exclamation point there. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:02.240 It says, Yes, establish the work of our hands, because we're not going to build a monument to ourselves, God. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:07.519 Anything that you bless us with, we're going to turn around and be a blessing with that. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:10.640 If you ever don't know what to pray, pray that. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:14.000 Psalm 30, verse 5 says, For his anger is but for a moment. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:15.759 His favor is for life. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:20.240 Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:24.240 See, favor doesn't mean that every day is sweeter than the day before. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:25.839 You're going to have some hard days. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:27.519 That doesn't mean God's mad at you. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.240 That just means you live in a fallen world. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:35.200 And by the way, this little foreshadowing of the January 6th sermon. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:41.039 But the two things that distinguish the early church in the book of Acts was the gospel and the favor of God. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:42.160 So what do you mean? 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:44.559 Acts chapter 2 says this of the church. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:56.559 It says, so continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:01.440 And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:05.680 The most evangelistic thing in the early church was not the preachers. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:07.359 It wasn't the sermons they preached. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:09.039 It was the lives that they were lived. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:11.119 And you say, What do you mean the lives that they lived? 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:17.759 Their lives were stained by, marked by, characterized by the favor of God. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:21.680 So this week, when someone says, Hey man, how's it going? 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:22.640 How's your year? 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:26.160 Just smile and say, hey man, the favor of God is all over me. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:29.279 And prepare for people to back up like, what, what, what? 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:32.160 What kind of church do you go to? 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:37.839 It's not a, it's not, it's not a phrase we're we're accustomed to say. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.920 And even some of you, the look on your face is like, I wish you wouldn't say that. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:43.680 That sounds kind of creepy. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:48.799 Don't focus on just one part of the definition. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:53.279 Remember the latter part I said, and it kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:54.079 Remember that? 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:55.920 Remember I said, that's what favor does? 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:58.160 This is what it is, and this is what it does. 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:00.160 Like, I was talking to my mom a couple weeks ago. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:01.680 I said, Mom, what do you want for Christmas? 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.720 And my mom said, Oh, I want you to come and see me. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:05.759 I was like, Oh. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:08.640 I love my mom, okay? 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:16.160 My mom doesn't live in the house, she's she still owns it, but her and her husband got bored, and so now they are uh gate guards at an old drilling site. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:20.000 My mom's 72 years old, and she's like, We just pull our fifth-wheel trailer down here. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:20.799 It's awesome. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:26.160 We're right here at the gate, we just check in, and all the rough necks that calls grandma and grandpa, and this is great. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:26.880 We love it. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:31.200 And so if you would come down here and because see, y'all think, what kind of sorry person? 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:32.319 You don't want to see your mother? 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:33.759 What kind of preacher are you? 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:36.000 See, I know what's involved in seeing my mom. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:41.519 Because when I go see my mom, I gotta take her into town to go do her laundry because they don't have a washing machine out there. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:45.359 And she goes, Oh, I want you to come see me because my mom's from Minnesota. 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:47.599 And she still talks like she's from Minnesota. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:49.920 I'm like, Mom, we live in Texas now. 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:53.039 You've lived here since like 1970 something. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:54.880 Oh, but I'm from Duluth. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:55.680 Ah. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:02.400 So my mom called me the night before, like I would be excited, and said, I'm so glad you're coming. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:04.640 I've got eight loads of wash. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:07.759 Awesome. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:11.039 Have you been to a laundromat lately? 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:14.000 And so I said, Mom, where are you? 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:18.240 Well, we're about 16 miles out of Cuero, Texas. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:22.319 You don't know what Cuero, Texas is, just go to hell and hang a left, okay? 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:23.759 You're getting close. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:26.400 So I drive down there and it's great. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:34.720 I got the GPS in my truck, and I'm rigging down the road, listening to music, and I get there and they're off some farm to market road, load up my truck and let's go. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:37.680 My mom's like got a grocery list, like a scroll. 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:42.079 She went, I want to go to the post office and I want to go to the laundromat. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:43.599 I'm like, mom, let's put your clothes in. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:44.240 And then go run. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:45.440 Oh no, no, no. 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:47.359 Somebody might steal them. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.000 I don't think anybody wants your clothes, mom. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.599 If anybody steals your clothes, I'll buy you a whole new wardrobe. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.880 No, no, I want to stay right there at the laundromat. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:20:58.880 Awesome. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:00.559 Awesome. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:08.000 And so we go to the post office and then we go to the laundromat, and I'm kind of sitting there and I put up my phone, think I'm gonna make some calls. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:10.960 My mom's doing laundry, no service. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:13.839 That's how far in nowhere we are. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:16.400 The iPhone doesn't even work there. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:18.720 And so I'm just like, this is beautiful. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:19.759 What am I gonna do? 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.039 And then out of the corner of my eye, he rounds the washing machines. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:27.440 You know, if you go to a laundromat, there's always some kid in there, just bored to death. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:29.599 He was four years old, his name was Michael. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:36.000 Brother rolled up on me, and within 30 seconds, clear as a bell, the Holy Spirit said, Uh, this is why you're here. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:38.880 And so I said, He's looking at me and I said, Hey little buddy, what's your name? 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:44.480 My name's Michael, and I'm gonna get a bicycle and a motorcycle and a radio controlled car for Christmas. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:45.680 Oh, you must have been really good. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:46.240 Mm-hmm. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:47.599 I've been real good. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:51.680 And I looked up over the washing machines, and there was an older woman and a younger woman. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:53.599 I thought, that's grandma, that's mom. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:57.359 And then I looked over and girlfriend didn't have like a tattoo. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.839 She had like the Declaration of Independence tattooed on her. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.200 On her forearm right there. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:05.039 If you get a tattoo that big, I'm gonna ask you about it, okay? 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:09.839 And so I just thought it's like people get like a big, like eagle or something and go, don't stare. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:11.200 Why'd you get that? 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:17.920 And so I just got up and I just walked over there and I thought, hey, because by the way, what is favor? 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:21.839 It kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.279 It makes you want to do things you by nature wouldn't do. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:29.119 So I just walked over because I by nature won't talk to people. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:35.200 By nature, I sit there and read a book on my phone because by nature, I'm selfish. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.279 Remind you of anybody. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:43.759 So I walk over and I say, that's a cute kid. 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:47.039 And all of a sudden, things start just kind of going off in me. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:50.480 And I said, Let me just, let me just get to the point. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:52.240 Because that little kid was right up in my world. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:53.920 He just thirsty for a man's attention. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:55.920 I said, His dad ain't in the picture, is he? 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:57.440 And the mom's folding clothes. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:59.920 Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:01.599 She was popping him shirt. 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:02.480 No, he's not. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.319 And I was easy, easy. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:06.160 You ain't got a pistol to do you anything. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:08.240 I'm happily married man. 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:09.599 I'm not hitting on you anything. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:11.839 No, his dad is not in the picture. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:13.279 Grandma speaking Spanish. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:17.759 Like, I don't think that's good right there. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:25.440 And I said, so uh he's not getting a bicycle and a motorcycle. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:29.519 I do my best, but you know, easy, easy, easy. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:35.440 And about that time she set something down, and I saw it wasn't a declaration of independence, it was a serenity prayer. 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:43.119 And very, very the Holy Spirit just said, hey, serenity prayer is what I used to assist in a 12-step program. 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:52.160 Uh and serenity prayer is when you sit in folded chairs in a circle and drink bad coffee and start the conversation by saying, Hi, my name's Bob, and I'm an alcoholic. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:56.160 And everybody says back to you, Oh, you've been there. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:57.279 There you go. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:58.160 Yeah. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:02.400 Welcome to First Baptist Church of AA. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:06.000 Bunch of lushes up in here. 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:07.039 That's exactly right. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:10.319 And so I said, Hey, where'd you learn to pray this rainy prayer? 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:12.240 And she kind of, well, I said, You ain't gotta go there. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:13.440 I used to sit down and think. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:14.960 And she's getting all done. 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:17.920 I said, I just just I was curious about your tattoo. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:26.640 Walked over and sat down, and in my little preacher, religious part of me, because I I think I got that person killed off, but he raised us from the dead. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:31.200 The little preacher in me sat down and said, I should probably pray for them. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:38.079 And that big voice in me, the favor of God, just kind of swole up and said, Are you kidding me? 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:40.400 What kind of a weasel are you? 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:48.400 They don't need your prayers because what you don't know is about a week ago, a friend of mine sent me a check for Christmas and said, Hey, I just want to bless you. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:49.839