"Follow The Star" with Jentezen Franklin

the following program is sponsored by friends and partners of Kingdom connection look with me in Matthew chapter 2 Matthew chapter 2 and I'll begin reading with verse 9 when they heard the King they departed and behold the star which they had seen in the East went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was and they saw the star and rejoiced with exceeding great joy and when they came into the house they saw the young child with Mary his mother fell down and worshiped him and when they had opened their treasures they presented gifts to him gold frankincense and myrrh and being warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod they departed for their own country a different way he says when they saw the star that star began to attract them and turn them to move in the direction of where the Savior was that star out of billions of stars God chose one star and lit it up especially bright so that it would get the attention of these kings that according to history were living in India and that light was so bright on that one star that God chose that they followed that star from India to Jerusalem and then from Jerusalem to Bethlehem the star was bright because of its close proximity to the Sun because it was closer to the Sun than the other stars it had a brighter shine and it was that shining light that gave direction to the seekers and the searchers the people who were in other religions but when they saw the star the star was the Travel Guide that God would use to get them to the Savior in the manger it had a brighter light there was something about it that made it stand out and pop and made them notice it in their minds they finally got to Bethlehem and they bow down in worship in all worshipping the Savior knowing the heaviness of the moment I'm sure in their mind they probably were thinking I'm so glad God put that star in my path if God had not used that star as a Travel Guide I would have never found the Savior I would not be here today I would have missed the greatest moments of my life and it's all because God put a bright shining star in my path that he used as a travel guide when I was searching and seeking to get me to the Savior and I thought about how that none of us are here by accident that all of us have been starstruck if we know Jesus Christ that God used somebody because of their close proximity to the Sun not the s UN but the SOE n of God somebody some granny some daddy some mama some brother some sister some preacher some somebody a colleague at work got so close to the Son of God that their light began to shine and it began to get our attention that there's something different about that star it shines brightly there's something different about that person I can't put my finger on it and when you were in sin and when you were lost and some of you were on drugs and some of you were deep in alcoholism but God in His mercy lit up some Christian brightly and they got your attention and God used them as a Travel Guide to get you to the Savior and you wouldn't be here this morning but their light was brighter than other people's they stood out in the crowd they were your Travel Guide you might have been on drugs you might have been in a in a sinful life but you noticed them maybe a colleague at work but there was something different about them it may have been apparent it may be some one who's in heaven this morning but the truth is if their light had not been bright then nobody would have followed them including you and found the Savior I was thinking about how that God uses the little things it's not the big deals but it's when as a parent I want to ask you is your light bright enough that your children are using your life as a Travel Guide to get to the Savior I thought about my dad and Christmas growing up in a pastor's home he was a preacher in little town in Henderson North Carolina we passed her to church of about a hundred people called North Henderson Church of God and we didn't have a lot of people but on Christmas Sunday and Easter we had our biggest crowds and that would attract up to a hundred and twenty people and I'm telling you that little country church look jam-packed it was the most exciting thing we loved Christmas Sunday here's why we always had the glorious Christmas play what we would do is run a steel wire across the front of the building and they would take bedsheets and use clothespins to to make curtains and then we got high tech and got shower rings and put them on a few years later so we could pull the curtains like professionals do and we couldn't afford animals and live nativity so they would build a manger and and ultimately Mary and Joseph would come out they would tell us - if you're gonna be in the play you know you had to bring your own costume they didn't provide any so we would all bring our bathrobes and everybody knew to bring their bathrobe and I remember it like it was yesterday in that little church finally the time had come it was Christmas and we would peep out the curtain and every place was filled the pew was packed and we had never seen a crowd like that this was big-time to us and and we were so excited and finally that moment came the lights went out everything went black and that was the Sun - the two mean kids that were too mean to part on the stage the only thing they were good for was to open the curtain but they never got the right message at the right time and they were supposed to open the curtain because the deer like we couldn't afford a spotlight and they would have a deer light and they would shoot it up on the curtain and they were supposed to open it and nobody would open it and ultimately what would happen is the director of the play usually my mother would reach her hand out and just open the curtain and the glorious Christmas play would begin and if if you watched long enough Mary and Joseph in their bathrobes holding a plastic baby Jesus would come out and and Joseph had a cardboard donkey that had been cut out from a box up under his arm because she had to have a donkey and we couldn't afford a real one but he would carry it across the stage and then was my part I always had a sheep or a cow and I would put cotton on the Sheep and glue it to it and we would pick it up and at some point we would move and set it down and we had to make the sheet no noise bad bad and somebody else would say Moo Moo and we would move across the stage and I'm telling you sounds so corny and so silly but when we would get in get into that manger scene finally and Mary would hold the baby up and everybody would light a candle and start to sing in that little church silent night holy night and it would move us and sometimes I'd be behind the sheep just crying and you know it's just something about it just touched my heart but my favorite part of Christmas Sunday I was just thinking about this yesterday was when Daddy would finish with an altar call and then he would say everybody stay where you are and he would walk down that little middle aisle hardwood floors and he would go to the back of the church and there were boxes and boxes and boxes of little brown bags that the Franklin family owned Saturday had filled up with fruit and candy I can tell you exactly what was in every bag because we had packed a hundred and fifty of them one orange one tangerine one Apple one box of raisins small box some candy canes and the best part if you were kid a sneaker or a milky way and if the ties and offerings had been good we might get one or both but it just depended on how the budget had gone that year and it's the weirdest thing but the thing that I remember the most his dad would stand out in the lobby and he would personally take a bag in his hand because he had told us nobody is gonna come to my church on Christmas Sunday and not get a gift and a hug and so he would he would cause a traffic jam at the door but he would put a bag of candy and fruit hug a neck and the next one would step up and I don't know why that so impressed me as a child i sat there and I watched him love his congregation throw his arms around those children and old folks and people that were there and I they act like he was given out diamonds and that bag people were smiling and so happy and to this day I was thinking about it yesterday it was the most exciting happiest time his light was shining and I wouldn't be here today had God not used him as a travel guide to bring me to Jesus and then one Sunday night and Rocky Mountain North Carolina my brother Richie got up and he had spent all afternoon fasting and praying all afternoon I've noticed at the lunch table that he was not there and somebody said where's Richie and somebody mumbled he's fasting again and he was fasting for me because he knew I wasn't living right and he got up and he started singing at the cross at the cross and his light began to shine so bright that I couldn't stand it anymore and even though I was sitting in the back of the church and nobody was given an altar call I got up out of my seat cause his light was the travel guide and it said you got to move now and I got up without an invitation being offered and walked down the aisle and went to the left side of the sanctuary and dropped to my knees and started weeping and I receive Jesus Christ as my savior and I'm here today because God put some shining bright stars in my life that led me to the Savior I think we ought to take a moment you got somebody that you could put in that Sun and just put your hands together and thank the Lord for the shiny lights where would you be so I want to quickly come to an end here but I want to say that God wants us to be shiny stars there are people who are searching and seeking what if what if I have walked into that Sunday night service and nobody had had a burden nobody had got close enough to the Son of God that that their light would shine bright enough that it would touch me sit in the back seat of the church you can be that light to your family you can be that light to people on the job you can be that shining star that they become starstruck and it's not for you it's not for your glory or your honor all you are is the one pointing them to the Savior but he's got to use somebody and when they got to the star then they found that Jesus was in the stable they were not expecting him to be in the stable that's why they went by Herod's palace they expected the king of the universe to be in the palace but instead they followed the star and it didn't lead them to the palace it led them to the stable what do you do when you follow the star and it leads you to the stable what do you do when you have a dream and you follow Jesus and you think that all that he's going to do is make your life one happy clappy exciting life where no problems come and you follow the star the ultimate star Jesus and you end up in a stable sometimes we almost think that if we're not in the palace God's not with us if we're not living the palace life with everything coming our way and everything going our way and every blessing hid in our life that somehow we must not be in the will of God but the truth is when you follow the real star Jesus Christ yes thank God for the palace days and the times when you're living high and God is blessing you and everything's on a mountaintop but I want you to not forget that sometimes you follow the star and you end up in a stable a couple is following the star of marriage and they're so beautiful and they're holding hands and they're exchanging vows and it's picture-perfect but a few years later infidelity heartbreak and suddenly they followed the star and now they're in the stable what do you do what do you do when you take all that you own and you follow the star and you prayed about it and you start your own business but the economy shifts and you were following the star but you ended in the stable what do you do when your health is gone and you're sick and suffering and you end up in the stable you do what those wise men did they begin to look for God in the stable because I've come today to preach to somebody that God is not just there in the high days when you're living the palace life but you'll find Jesus closer and nearer and dearer to you when you're in the stable when you're going through the lowest seasons of your life when when when nothing is going right that's where you'll find Jesus I'm saying to some of you that the only way that God could have ever had you find Jesus is he had to allow you to move from the palace to the stable because as long as you were on top of the world you didn't need him but when he allowed you to go from the palace to the stable you can actually say Lord thank you for the stable because this is where I found Jesus and they meant it for my evil but God meant it for my good and somehow God has taken a mess and turned it into a message and a testimony for his glory come on somebody and give the Lord a shout of praise this is what you do when when you follow a star and you end up in a stable you look for God because standing somewhere in the shadows you'll find Jesus and he'll never be closer to you you'll never be as close to God in the palace as you will be in the stables of life then not only that what amazes me is these wise men when they got in the stable they offered their best worship in the stable the natural inclination would be in this filthy damp dirty stable would be the Rif hold your best I'm not gonna give the gold here it doesn't belong here this is nasty I'm not gonna give them frankincense and the myrrh this is expensive worship and it shouldn't be in the stable it should be in the palace I'm gonna give my best worship when everything's going right and I'll give God the glory and he'll really find that I love him but these wise men were wise because they said God is in the stable and we're going to give our best worship in unpleasant circumstances what you need to learn to do is to worship God not just when you're in the palace life but when you're in the stables of life if you can ever learn to give the best prayer in unpleasant circumstances you will see God move mightily when you praise him because the praise that cost the most counts the most they begin to worship with expensive worship in a nasty filthy place in life the worship that God really looks for in your life is not when you're in the palace but it's when you're in the stable and your heart is broken and your life is shattered you don't know what the future holds and all you know is you can look back and see the faithfulness of God and see how that he had stars just when you almost went the wrong way forever a star started shining and it turns you back and somehow he maneuvered all the hail meant to destroy you with God said it's working for your good and you're more than a conqueror and I'm gonna get glory out of this and somehow I'm gonna get you back on your knees at the feet of the Savior and I'm gonna raise you up from the stable and I'm gonna do great things in your life and you're going to become a bright shining light because of what you've been through that's gonna touch your children and your children's children for generations lily-of-the-valley let your sweet aroma feel Rose of Sharon show me how to grow in beauty and God's eyes fairy staff 10,000 of your life oh they star shine down let your love shine through me in the night just leave me love I'll follow anyway you know let your word speak to show me what never seen want to be witness who can take what's wrong and make it round make it did stars shine down let your love shine to me time have y'all I surrender all to you just speaks life to me show me witness you can take what's wrong spigen Brady Starshine to sunshine let relation and somebody start now she's a shy girl only let your love shine Funi in the night make the New Year a year of increase seeking God's best in 2015 join Pastor Jentezen Franklin and people from around the world for our annual 21-day fast beginning January 4th 2015 this month we prepared two special resources that will encourage you throughout your vesting journey if this is your first fasting experience request fasting 101 in it you'll find Jenson Franklin's New York Times best-selling book fasting along with devotionals and exclusive teachings on CD and DVD that will help you get the most out of your first fasting experience if you've already begun to develop a lifestyle of fasting and prayer there's fasting 2.0 to take your fasting to another level included our resources that will lead to deeper intimacy with God and reveal advanced principles that will release the power of fasting in your life or for your gift of any amount this month ask for Jenson Franklin's powerful CD series day-by-day commit the New Year to God through fasting and prayer and watch as he releases his hand a blessing and makes 2015 a year of increase register now for forward conference 2015 with special guests Stephen verdict Beth Redmond Reggie - rich Wilkerson jr. banning leisure Jensen Franklin McCray elevation worship and Jesus culture for more information and special group rates go online at forward cameran so our G life is real vivid alive beating breathing it happens behind closed doors and out in front there's joy there's laughter and chaos lifelong friendships are forged love is found moments cherished and never forgotten life is a gift and together we are real family real friends real people experiencing real life is free chapel this program has been brought to you by the friends and partners of Jenson franklin media ministries for more information on this broadcast or for additional resources go online at Jenson Franklin dot o-r-g you

Channel: Jentezen Franklin

Views: 9,750

Rating: 4.89011 out of 5

Keywords: Jentezen Franklin, Kingdom Connection, Free Chapel, TV, Ministry

Id: L2EPvd3OgEA

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 12 2014