I am so excited for this
message that, I believe, God's given me and to
share with you today. It's funny because
Levi was telling me how the Spitfire plane sounds. The sound of the
Spitfire was so distinct. And I don't remember
if he mentioned it in one of his messages. Excuse me. But he was telling me that the
most powerful and recognizable things about it was
its distinct sound. That you didn't have to see
it to know it was there. People heard it. Didn't see it, but heard it. And knew that they were filled
with the courage, filled with the knowledge that
they're being protected and that there's a strength. And I got to be a part of that. They didn't have to see it and
they knew that it was there. And so I want to talk
about hearing, today. I don't know about you,
but I am hard of hearing. And not in the sense that
I need a hearing aid, yet. But some people have told me
that I am a good listener. And if only they
knew, that I actually have to work really hard to
focus, and to be intentional, and to not just
listen with my eyes. Because I feel like
I'm an active listener. On our Zoom calls I'm
always like, "Oh yeah." But it doesn't always
translate into me hearing what is being said. I'm totally giving
away my secret thing. But I have to focus so hard to
listen, and to actually engage, and to understand what
people are saying. Sometimes I wonder if there's
the wire missing because it's like, I am trying so hard right
now but I'm not comprehending. I'm not getting it. So then my kids are
telling me stories. They're telling me what
happened in jujitsu or what happened in gymnastics
or this LEGO creation that they're building,
what it means. And if I don't
put my phone down, and if I don't just
turn over and give them my undivided attention, and
show them that I'm listening, and try to block out
any other thing that might be in the back of
my mind, and look at them, and listen to them
telling their story, Clover will inevitably
say, "Mom, did you hear a word that I said?" And it's in that moment
I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I must have a blank
stare on my face. I must have just logged
out for a second." And it's so frustrating for
the people, but also for me. And it's so funny because
there are moments, too, where my oldest, Olivia,
we'll be sitting together and we'll be talking
with some people, and she'll say something,
but I won't hear it. And usually it's super funny
or witty or a little joke. And I won't hear it. But then, all of a
sudden, I say something but then I'm like, "Wait
where did that come from?" And then I look over and she's
like, "Mom, I said that." I'm like, "Oh my
gosh, I'm so sorry." But it's hard for me to hear. It's hard for me to engage. And it's hard for
me to truly listen. It's a struggle for me and
I have to fight for it. And I don't know if this is
something you struggle with. If you do, maybe just
write it in the chat and say, "Hey, I got you. I'm there with you." Just so I know
that I'm not alone. But today, we're going to open
God's word, which we always do, because we tremble before
God's word in this house. And we're going to witness
a moment in time when, these people that we're going
to read about, whether they were hard of hearing or not, they
couldn't help but hear and see this incredible sight. And I'm calling this message
Do You Hear What I Hear? Do You Hear What I Hear? And this passage of
scripture is probably familiar to a lot of us. And I love that. And so if you open up
your Bibles to Luke 2:8. And this is actually the
passage that our kids are reading this week
in their Advent journey. And I just want to shout out
to our Fresh Life Kids Team all across our church,
who are working so hard to create such
a beautiful experience for our kids. And if you so feel inclined, you
can write something in the chat like "FLK all day"
or "FLK all the way" or something like that,
just to show some love. But this week, we're
actually reading this passage in our Advent journey. And if you haven't
gotten that yet, you can actually go to
freshlife.church/kidsathome and you can request one because
we'd love to give one to you. And it's not too
late because it's super simple, easy to track,
and not a lot of stuff. So you can get it the day before
Christmas and that'll be fine. Luke 2:8, "And in
the same region there were shepherds
out in the field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. And an angel of
the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of
the Lord shone around them, and they were filled
with great fear. And the angel said to them,
'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news
of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you:
you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths
and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest,
and on Earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!' When the angels went away
from them into heaven, the shepherd said
to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem
and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord
has made known to us.' And they went with haste
and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw
it, they made known the saying that had been told
them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered
at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured
up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all they
had heard and seen, as it had been told them." And Father, we are just
so grateful that we get to gather together today. I thank you for
those who are here. Who, it took everything
to just open the computer and get on the internet
and turn this on. Or opening up their
phones in the midst of just a crazy morning. I thank you that you've
brought us here right now for such a time as this. And Lord as we open
your word, we're expectant because
we know that you speak to us through your word. So Lord would you please
open our eyes to see? Would you open our
ears to hear what you're speaking to us today? And I pray that you would
encourage our hearts. That you would inspire us. That you would do the deep work
in us that only you can do. In Jesus' name, Amen. So Jesus had just been
born in Bethlehem. And the passage starts
here with some shepherds. It says that they
were out in the field and they were keeping watch
over their flock by night. And as I've been
studying this passage, and I actually have been
reading it for a very long time, I'm very slowly working my
way through the Book of Luke. And it's been a while,
but I love that. I love when we can
just open up God's word and just let God speak to
us through one simple thing. And we can let that thing
help us and encourage us and strengthen us for the day. And it's always good
to be in God's word, but what I love is
how special this is. These shepherds
got to experience something incredible. That, as far as we
know, no one else has experienced
that kind of thing. They would get to experience
this display of God's glory and the revelation of the
good news of Jesus's birth. But what is so amazing
about these shepherds? Why were they the ones that
got this special announcement? Why wasn't it priests
who were in the temple? I mean, they're probably closer
to God in the temple, right. But that's actually not true. They got to hear this good news
first because they were there. It says they were in
the field, so they were outside in the fields at night. And some commentaries
say that it was the last watch of the night. So it wasn't first
watch, which would be earlier on in the evening. But it was the last watch
right before dawn, and right before the first light. And so here they
are, in the fields. Their job basically
required them to be outside in the last
watches of the night, right before dawn. Which, I mean, hello,
Fresh Life Worship. Dawn Is Coming, beautiful. But also some of the
most beautiful moments are right before dawn. I explain in my book,
The Fight to Flourish, this one moment where
Levi and I were up early and we saw the sky right
before the sun even started to peek through. And you could see the dark,
rich lights across the sky. But you could still
see the stars, but you can see a deep
maroon and a deep purple and it was just one of
the most beautiful things I've ever seen. And granted, I don't see it very
often because I don't wake up early as often as I would like. However, my husband is
very much an early riser. Every morning 5:00 AM
like clockwork, he's up. And some of the
things he tells me about later on after I wake
up, and he's like, "Oh my gosh, you missed it. The moon was huge,
but then the sun was rising at the same
time, and then the stars." And so I actually don't usually
see the beautiful things. But Levi does and he shows me. Which is so funny. It's funny because the
early bird may get the worm, but they also get to see
God's glory in a special way. And I just believe that that's
amazing, just in general, getting up early. And maybe some of us aren't
early morning people, but there is something special
about the early morning and spending time with Jesus. And it's just a
special, special moment. Another thing about
these shepherds that Pastor Robert Fergusson
talks about in his book, Are You Getting This?,
which is incredible and I highly recommend it. But he said that
deserts train shepherds. He says one of the reasons
for attributing spirituality to shepherds is due
to their geography. Farmers settled where
the soil was good and the fruit was abundant. But the shepherds,
on the other hand, led their flocks
into the wilderness. That gave them an opportunity
to face fewer distractions and establish a greater
reliance on God. And so who knows if these
shepherds knew of the coming Messiah. They probably, as they
were raising these sheep, taking care of these flocks,
that they were actually the very sheep that were
sacrificed in the temple. Maybe these men were
godly men who were waiting for the coming of the Messiah. And who were looking forward
to their Savior coming. And here they are at
night, in the field. And it was an easy place
for the angel to show up. And then for the host of
angels to show up and sing. Luke 2:9 says, "And an angel
of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the
Lord shone around them, and they were filled
with great fear. And the angel said to them,
'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news
of great joy that will be for all the people." Good news. Good news, this is good news. This is the best good
news that there's ever been in the whole world. That Jesus has come, and
came from heaven to Earth. I don't know if
any of you watched John Krasinski's Some
Good News, but it was one of our favorite
things throughout the earlier part of the year. And then when he stopped
doing it, we were super sad. Maybe write in the chat
if you want John Krasinski to bring back Some Good News. Some Good News, we need it. But even better
than Some Good News, this is the good news
that will change your life and that has changed mine:
Jesus Christ, God in flesh, coming from heaven to Earth. Jesus is the sound of heaven. He's saying, "Do you
hear what I hear?" Warren Wiersbe talks about
how Jesus's birth drew angels from heaven to Earth. The angels must have been amazed
when they saw the creator born as a created being. And that was so
interesting to me because I never have thought
from the angels perspective what Jesus's birth
must have been like. But it literally drew them
out of heaven to Earth, and they're getting to
exclaim, and sing, and show God's glory to these shepherds. Man, they must have
just been amazed. Their God, their God in
heaven, coming down as a baby. As a weak, vulnerable, baby. As a human. This is good news for us today. This is good news for you today. Jesus is our peace. Jesus is our joy. And like we've learned
in this series, we can be in the middle of the
storm, and we can have joy. We can be in the
middle of heartache, and we can have peace. We can be in the very midst
of the pain, and the struggle, but God is here with you. God is here with me,
right here and right now. And I just want to
remind you of that. And I love, also, this idea
that this good news of great joy is for all the people. Not some of the people,
not the really holy, religious people, not the really
rich people, for every person. For all the people. In the Book of Luke, he
actually wrote this gospel so that his readers
would understand that the gospel is for
all, both Jew and Gentile, every single person. Warren Wiersbe wrote, he said,
"By visiting the shepherds first, the angel revealed the
grace of God toward mankind. Shepherds were really
outcasts in Israel. Their work not only made
them ceremonially unclean, but it kept them away from the
temple for weeks at a time, so they could not be made clean. God does not call
the rich and mighty, he calls the poor and lowly." This good news is for all
of us, no matter where we are in the spectrum. No matter who we are, God's
good news is for us all. For all the people, this
is the sound of heaven. The good news is
for all the people. This good news is for you,
this good news is for me. Write that in the chat,
this good news is for me. This good news is for me. And I know that we're
all in different seasons and stations of life right now. And we're literally going
through the same thing across the whole world, but it's
affecting us so differently. Some of us are experiencing
the joys of being home all the time. Some of us are experiencing
the great frustrations and annoyances. And we're experiencing
different things within a scope of
the same thing. But this good news is
for us, Jesus Christ, God becoming flesh. In Luke 2:11 the angel says,
"'For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you:
You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths
and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest,
and on Earth, peace among those with
whom he is pleased." Just a reminder that
God is in the highest. His perspective,
he sees everything from beginning to end. He sees it all and
he knows what's going on with you in
this moment right here. But he sees you, and he
knows you, and he loves you. He has the big picture in mind. So here's God in the highest,
and yet, coming down as a baby. To bridge the gap
from God to people. Jesus is our bridge. Peace is the sound of heaven. Luke 2:15, it says, "When
the angels went away from them into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another." Now this is really cool to me. First of all, that
it said suddenly. So in Verse 13, it
says suddenly there was a group of angels
singing and praising. A multitude of heavenly
host praising God. But then in Verse 15, it says,
"When the angels went away from them into to heaven." So one commentator said
that they kind of just moseyed on back to heaven. Which is just funny
to even think about. They suddenly showed up
like, "Suprise, here we are. Glory to God in the highest." But then they just kind of
slowly went back high-fiving. Being like, "Hey guys, see you
later when you come to heaven. It's that's so awesome." But it was just so funny to
think they just kind of slowly went to heaven. But then the shepherds
said to one another, and this is a beautiful example
right here and right now for us to glean from. Is that here the shepherds are. There probably in a
group or a half-circle. And they're looking
up and they're seeing this brilliant show
of heavenly awesomeness, and then the angels
mosey on away. And then they're looking
at each other like, "Wait, did you see that?" "OK, good, because I saw that." But then they circle up and
they're talking to each other. They're like, "OK, that was
crazy and amazing and not normal. So what do we do about it?" And here they are. It says that they
said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem." So in Verse eight, it says
they were in the same region. So I don't know how far exactly
away they were, but they were in the same region. But they said let us
go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And then they went with haste. They went quickly,
they went fast. But here's the thing, going to
find this sign-- so the angel said, "This is a sign for you. You're going to find a baby
wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." He didn't say, "And he's in
this like cave-like thing where there's lots of
animals around him. Basically you're going
to go to the inn, but no one can go in
there, so then you're going to turn right." They didn't give any directions. They just said there's a
baby with some swaddling cloths surrounding him and
then he's lying in a manger. Actually them
going to Bethlehem, first of all,
traveling, walking. They had to look. They had to find. So I don't know how
long it took them. But then it says they
"found Mary and Joseph." The word in that language
was like a treasure. They "found Mary and Joseph and
the baby lying in the manger. And when they saw
it, they made known the saying that had been told
them concerning this child." So they had seen this sight. They circled up, and honestly,
that's like a Fresh Life Group. It's like you're circling up. Online, you can circle
up, you can Zoom up with the glitching and
the muting problem. You can circle up
and you can talk about what God reveals to you. You can talk about what
God's doing in your life. And we need each other,
we need that circling up. But then it doesn't stop
there, because there's action involved. We're going to go to Bethlehem. We're going to find this baby. We're going to see what God
just told us we could see. And then when they saw it,
they made known the same. Which means they talked to
the people who were there, and I don't know how
many people were there, but it seems like
maybe there were a lot, so I don't really understand. But it says, "They made known
the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at
what the shepherds told them." So I don't know if because
they were looking like, "Hey, can you guys help
us find this baby?" Maybe there was a group of
people that came around. But I have a friend
who, when she was in labor with
one of her babies, she was just hanging
in the hospital room. Had a bunch of family
and friends in the room. And all of a sudden the
transition happened, you know? Like OK now we need to focus. But the nurse was like,
"We should probably have these people
go out of the room." And my friend was like,
"Oh yeah, probably." I'm like, who does that? Who's in intense labor
and about to give birth to a baby and she just wants
her friends in the room? I don't know, not me. It's not pretty, for those of
you who haven't had babies. But all who wondered. So the shepherds
told their story, they told what's going on. And they wondered at
what the saying was. The shepherds told
what was happening. But Mary treasured
up these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned
glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard. Now this is a beautiful story. And there's so
much more that you could extract from it and
things we could learn from it. But because I don't even
have that much more time, we are going to go for it now. OK? So I just have a few
questions as we're seeking to apply this to our lives. I just have a few
questions that you can write down and ask yourself. Ask your Fresh Life Group. The first question is this:
How do I hear God's voice? You might be saying,
Jennie this scripture is amazing and super
awesome, inspiring. But I've never experienced
anything like that. I haven't experienced
the angels telling me at work how awesome God is. But the shepherds didn't know
that that angel was going to come and tell them this. They were just doing what they
were doing, they were working. But they were just an easy spot
for the angels to show up to. How are you taking advantage
of where God has you right now? Because you may not be in the
place that you want to be. You may be experiencing
things that you don't want to experience,
the heartache, the struggle of life. But how are you taking
advantage of right where you are knowing that God
can speak to you right there? And he wants to speak
to you right there. How are you being aware and
open to him speaking to you? Also, the people
that they told didn't get to have the same
experience as them. So here the shepherds
are experiencing this beautiful thing. But the people that
they told didn't get to have that experience. So I don't think it's about
if you hear God audibly. I don't think it's about if you
see the angels in the skies. I don't think that's
what it's about. I think it's about hearing
from God right where you are. Because honestly, I've never
heard God's voice audibly. It's usually just something
in you that's like, "Hm, I think God's telling
me to do this. I think it's this." It's so much more
simple than we make it. Some of us are waiting
for, "You shall do this." But it's not that as much
as, "I'm reading God's word and it's telling me to
be kind to my husband. Oh, I should probably do that." It's more simple. God speaks to us more simply. How do I hear God's voice? Well we read the
Bible every day. We carve out time
to spend with God, whether that is in the morning,
whether that is at night. We need to hear from God. Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call
to me and I will answer you, and I will show you
great and hidden things that you do not know." And I think for a lot of
us, I know for me, it's easy to call out to God. "God, I need you. God, do this. God, do that." But then we don't stick
around for him to answer. Because he says, call to
me and I will answer you, and I will show you
great and hidden things that you do not know. So we call to him,
but then we've got to be still before him. We got to open up his word
and say, "God speak to me." And wait. Waiting on the Lord brings
us such great strength in our life. Number two: What does
my life sound like? I believe if we truly
hear the sound of heaven, we will live lives
that sound like heaven. What does my life sound like? Am I letting God's love
and word pour into me and is that what is
coming out of me? We like to say in this
house that worship is the sound of a healthy soul. What's coming out of your life? Psalms 89:15 says,
"Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound. They walk, O LORD, in the
light of your countenance." What does your life look like? Are you like the shepherds? Are you telling people about
Jesus, about your Savior? Isiah 52:7 says, "How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good
news, who publishes peace, who brings good
news of happiness, who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, 'your God reigns.'" What are your feet
looking like these days? Mine are not looking good. I haven't had-- I've been-- OK, TMI, never mind. How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him who brings good news? Are you a good news bringer? Am I a good news bringer? That's who we are, we bring
the good news of Jesus to the people in our lives. Number three: What does
the church sound like? What does the church sound like? I love how my husband painted
this beautiful picture of the Church. Of the bride of Christ
being a warrior bride. I love that because in
my mind I always think of the bride with the veil
and yes brides are beautiful, I'm not saying they're
not, but it just made me feel like, "What? That's awesome." We're just standing there, but
this warrior bride, maybe she's got a slit all the way up here. And she has a
knife on the thing. And she has a bow and arrow. And she has a white
bandanna around her head. I'm like, "Yeah, that's the
kind of bride I want to be. I want to be hardcore. I want to be a fighter. I want to be the
church like that." And that's who we are. And I know some of us
might tell me that you've been hurt by the church. And I realize that
that's a real thing. And that's hard to
walk through, and I'm sorry that you've
experienced that. But I also know that
the church is made up of people who are imperfect
and don't get it right all the time. And there's room for grace. And there's room
for forgiveness. And there's room for love that
covers a multitude of sins. And I just believe that,
as imperfect as we are, us together is better
than us separately. And I know that in this
season, we are separated. And we're not together
like we want to be. Or doing a Fresh Life
online group is not easy. And it's hard because you
can't give someone a hug. But it's us now. This is us in this season
of being together separate, of being all together, separate. But the goal is this, that
we follow Jesus imperfectly. And we're going to
forgive imperfectly. And we're going to deal
with life imperfectly. And we're going to
show grace imperfectly. But the point is that we have
the common goal of loving God and loving each other. Of loving God and
loving each other. So what should the
church sound like? I think the church
should sound like love. John 13:35 says,
"By this all will know that you are
my disciples, if you have love for one another." If you have love
for one another. 1 Corinthians 13:1, it says, "If
I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love, I am a noisy gong or
a clanging cymbal." [HITS CYMBAL] Now that is horrible. And I'm sorry, but
also not sorry, because this will hopefully
stick in your head. That when you say, "Oh, I
speak the tongues of angels. And, "Oh, I speak
different tongues of men." But you don't have
love, you don't have God's love pouring into
you and flowing out of you, it's like this. [HITS CYMBAL] And that's horrible. "And if I have prophetic powers,
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and
if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but
have not love, I am nothing." [HITS CYMBAL] "If I give away all
that I have, if I do all of these great things,
and if I deliver at my body to be burned, and I sacrifice
myself but have not love, I gain-- [HITS CYMBAL] Nothing, if you
didn't hear that. But here's the church. And this is what is so
beautiful about the Church is that, here we are. Love is patient. The drums can start. "Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist
on its own way; it is not irritable
or resentful; it does not rejoice
at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all
things, love believes all things, love
hopes all things, love endures all things." This is us, this is the church. This is who we are. What I love so much is that
we have drums over here, we have a bass over
here, we have piano, we have guitar we have beautiful
voices, we're all spread out. And this is us, church. We are all spread out across
the world, across the nation. And it's hard, It's not easy. But this is us. And this should be us, we should
be creating a beautiful sound. We should be creating a sound
so that others will look in and they'll say, "I want that. I want that Jesus. I want that Savior. I want my life to be
changed like that." What it looks like
is Manny in Portland leading a Fresh Life Group of
people all across the country. What it looks like
is Bruce Smith from Great Falls, Montana
leading a men's group of men all across the country. What this looks like is
Kevin and Alaina Guido leading a Fresh Life Group from
Jackson Hole, Wyoming of people all across the country. It's the same with Judy Murphy. It's the same with
Kristina Doty. It's the same with Kim
Best, Ashley, Rachelle. These amazing leaders
across our church and more. Who have seen that hey, this
is what I'm going to do. I'm going to gather
people across the church. I'm going to do Zoom. I'm going to call these people. I'm going to text these people. We are the church and that is
beautiful, and that's amazing, and this is us. [APPLAUSE] This is Jesus. This is the sound that is
meant to pour from our lives. This is the church. This is us. The sound that
we're meant to live, that's meant to come
out of our lives. We might be spread out
but we're the church and our sound can still
be beautiful, maybe even more beautiful. Like we learned
last week, we could be scattered but
the sound that's coming from our hearts, and
our lives, and our lips, and our Instagram
posts, can bring life, and love, and joy,
and this good news for all the people. Do you hear what I hear? Question number four: What
do I hear God saying to me? When was the first time, I
want you to think about it, when was the first time
you heard God's voice? And again, I'm not
saying audibly. I'm saying when was the first
time your ears were opened and you first heard
that God loved you, and that he created you, and
that he had a plan for you? Think about that first time. Now sound is emotional. And I know, even
now as I say this, you're thinking of the song that
changed your life 20 years ago, or the song that brought you
through a difficult season of your life. I know for us it's Cornerstone,
and even the first bars of that song get me,
because it takes me back to a time where we were
experiencing such grief. And yet God was
there in the midst and Jesus was our cornerstone. We connect with music,
we're moved by it. I don't know if you've ever
watched videos of people hearing for the first time. I spent, actually, a good amount
of time weeping and watching. So if you do watch people
hearing for the first time, just make sure you have
some tissues with you. But our team made
this little snapshot of a video of kids hearing
for the very first time. Oh, hello. Hi, Jonathan. He stopped the sucking. [BABY TALKS] Did you hear that? Hey, I sound. You're hearing yourself. [LAUGHTER] Hi, baby. Sounds good. [CRYING] Talk to him, daddy. Daddy loves you. Daddy loves you. If you've forgotten, God's
telling you right now that he loves you. And I think sometimes we can
let the things we're struggling with, the things
we're dealing with, the life that we're
barely making it through, keep us from hearing the fact
that God loves us so much. And if you've never
heard, hear now what I've heard, what people around
me in this room have heard, that your Father in
heaven loves you. He created you. He created you with a purpose in
mind, and he loves you so much. And he loved you so much that he
sent His son Jesus, our Savior, into this world as a baby. So that whoever believes
in him will not perish but have everlasting life. When we hear God's voice
it changes our life. When we even allow Him, when
we say, "God speak to me." It changes the
direction of our life. And in this moment, I just want
to read a passage of scripture over you. And I know it's
kind of been long but if you could just
hold on for a second, I really feel like God wants
to speak this over you today. As you're in your living
room, as maybe you're with your family, some friends. Maybe you're all by yourself. And I just want to speak
this over you, this word. God's word washing
over us is so powerful. If you're washing dishes,
maybe just stop for a second. If you're folding clothes,
if you're kind of busy, I've been there before. I will watch church and
I will be doing stuff at the same time. And that's OK, no judgment. But if you are just
hold on for a second. And if you feel comfortable
in the space that you're in, would you just close your eyes
and let me speak this over you. Isaiah 55:5, "Come
everyone who thirsts, come to the waters and
he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Why do you spend your money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that
which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me,
and eat what is good, and delight yourselves
in rich food. Incline your ear,
and come to me; hear, that your soul may
live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my
steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness
to the peoples, a leader and a commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a
nation that you do not know, and a nation that
did not know you shall run to you, because
of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while
he may be found; call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him
return to the Lord, that he may have compassion
on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." God's speaking this, "For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are
higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the
snow come down from heaven and do not return there
but water the Earth, making it bring forth and
sprout, giving seed to the sower and
bread to the eater so shall my word be that
goes out from my mouth; it shall not return
to me empty, but it shall accomplish
that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the
thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out
in joy and be led forth in peace; the
mountains and the hills before you shall break
forth into singing, and all the trees of the
field shall clap their hands. Instead of the
thorns shall come up the cypress; instead of the
briar shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the
Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." God is speaking
this over you today. And my prayer is that you
wouldn't be hard of hearing, but that you would hear. That God who would open up your
ears to hear that he loves you. And my last secret question is:
What is God hearing you say? What is he hearing you say? My prayer is that he would
hear you say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." My prayer is that he would
hear you say, "Yes, Lord." And Father, we are so
grateful for your word. Thank you for
speaking to us today. And in this moment,
I just want to pray for anyone who knows
God and loves him, but has just been having
a hard time hearing him. I want to pray for you. Lord, would you meet
this person right where they're at right now? Lord, I pray that,
even in this message, it's been so clear to
them that you love them, and that you delight
in them, and that you are God, and that you are good. And I just pray for a refreshed
heart, a renewed spirit, a remembrance of when they
first heard your voice. When they first gave
their hearts to you. That you've given them purpose. And even in the
midst of what they're struggling through
and in right now, there's purpose right there. I pray that you'd open
their eyes to see, open their ears to hear,
and that you would just surround them with your peace. I pray for those who are walking
into this Christmas season with a weight on
their shoulders. Maybe it's grief,
maybe it's pain, maybe it's the loss of what
was or what could have been, maybe it's disappointment. I pray, God, that
they would look up in this Christmas season. That they would see Jesus,
their Lord, their Savior. That they would
see your kindness, your kind eyes looking
at them, smiling on them. That you would give
them the strength to walk toward Christmas,
as hard as it might be. And I pray that would
refresh their spirits, God. And to anyone who doesn't have
a relationship with Jesus, who doesn't know the
Savior, who doesn't have a relationship with him. Who doesn't walk with Jesus,
who doesn't have this yet, I want to pray for you. And this, honestly, is
just a moment in time where if you're feeling
God speak to you and you're feeling like
you saw in that video like, "Oh my gosh, I've been
missing out on something. I hear God's voice." Now is the time to respond. Now is the time to
give your heart to him. And so this is a
moment in time for you. If you haven't given
your life to Jesus, this is a moment for you. And I'm just going
to pray a prayer and you can say it
out loud with me. Praying this, accepting Jesus
into your heart as your Lord, as your Savior. Giving you purpose,
and strength, and life, in your life. You can pray, "Dear God,
I know that I'm a sinner and that I'm far from you, but
that you sent Jesus to bring me near. I accept you into my life
as my Lord and my God. I surrender to you. Speak, Lord, for your
servant is listening. Take my life, it is yours. In Jesus' name, amen."
