Not Mine, But God's: Hope

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We're continuing in our series that we've entitled

Not Mine But God's, but we are changing gears.

I don't know if you notice a difference in the

background or not. I don't know if you look that

close or not. But it was multicolored shipping

containers all stacked up. And this is Christmas

lights, right? So we've talked about, I hope

I can remember all four of them. We talked about

not my ability but God's. We've talked about

not my mind, but God's. We've talked about not

my will, but God's. And we've talked about not

my victory, but God's. Now, we are changing gears.

And it's very uncommon for us to sing Christmas

songs all four weeks, but we're going to. And

we're going to talk about the incarnation. Everybody

say incarnation. See, long before Gabriel, the

angel Gabriel, ever spoke to Mary, angels visited

the shepherds. Our wise men saw that newly formed

star. Long before all that happened, God planted

a promise in the hearts of his people. Everybody

say, planted a promise. Has God ever planted

a promise in your heart? through his word. I'm

glad three of you, God has planted a promise

in your heart. But God planted a promise in the

hearts of his people that the Messiah is coming.

For hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, even

thousands of years, if you look at the scripture,

you see that there was a Messiah coming in the

Old Testament. And it pointed to a deliverer,

a savior coming. And that happened long before

the Christmas story as we know it took place.

And according to Dean, the two most important

events in all the history of the world, according

to Dean, you may disagree. It's okay to be wrong.

Two most important events. Or the incarnation,

everybody say incarnation. And the resurrection.

Incarnation and the resurrection. Those two events,

those make the difference in our life today.

Right? Because without the incarnation, we would

be just as hopeless as without a resurrection.

Because without the incarnation, Jesus would

just be a man. With the incarnation, he's God

and he's man. And he wasn't born in sin like

we are, right? That's how important the incarnation

is. Now, I don't know how many years it's been,

but I didn't grow up having Advent services in

the church that I grew up in. Anybody grow up

with Advent services? where you had a little

wreath and had some candles and you light a candle

and read some verses every week? Only two of

us or more than that? All right. But I learned

about that when I was chaplain in Myrtle Beach.

People said, okay. So I had to do some studying

up, right? Because I'd never done that before,

growing up as a preacher's kid even. And I just

want to let you know that the word Advent This

is just a Webster's definition of the word Advent.

Here's what it is. Advent is the arrival of a

notable person or a thing. The arrival of a notable

person or a thing. I mean, we may have used the

word Advent outside of talking about... the incarnation

or even the second coming, we might have used

the word advent to say like, how many of you

remember the advent of television? I had a little

black and white TV in my house. I was the remote

control. The advent of the remote control was

a nice thing because I was the youngest, so I

was the remote control growing up. The advent

of cell phones. I mean, I remember it's like

science fiction that one day you might be able

to talk on the phone with somebody while you

look at them. How many of you remember that?

Thinking that, wow, that would just be incredibly

amazing. So we've got the advent of the internet,

good or bad, or both, right? Advent of the smartphone,

all those things. That's the arrival of something

notable in society, I would say. But when we

think about Jesus and when we think about him

stepping down out of the throne room of eternity

and adding humanity to his deity, when he showed

up, it was a big deal. Look at the person beside

you and say it was a big deal. Over the next

four weeks, we're going to be looking at the

story in Scripture. And while we look at the

story, we're going to be preparing our hearts

to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Because it's

so easy in our world today to celebrate Christmas

and not really celebrate Jesus. Does anybody

know what I'm talking about? So we're going to

prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of

Jesus. And that's not the only thing notable

that happened. Because when Jesus came, a notable

person came. There's also some other notable

things that came. Came with him coming. So we're

going to prepare to receive his hope. Everybody

say hope. We're going to prepare to receive his

peace. Everybody say peace. We're going to prepare

to receive His joy. Everybody say joy. We're

going to prepare to receive His love. Everybody

say love. Because all those things became available

to us in a greater measure when Jesus came. Somebody

smile. Somebody say thank you. Not to me, but

to Jesus. All right? So that's what we're going

to be focusing on. And I believe if we listen

with expectation, Now there's multiple kinds

of listening. Right? Hello? Come on. We talk

to each other here. There's multiple kinds of

listening. Us guys know more about selective

hearing than anybody. But there's multiple kinds

of listening. I want us to listen with expectation.

We're not just going through a religious service.

We need to listen with expectation. And if we

listen with expectation, we might just hear the

voice of God calling us out of the noise. You

know what I'm talking about? Him calling us out

of the noise. All the distractions. All the things

that replace what He has for us. I believe we

just might hear the voice of God calling us out

of the noise and calling us into his life, into

the things that are available because of the

incarnation. Luke 1, verses 26 through 38. In

Luke 1:26–38

the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God

sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth. a village

in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged

to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant

of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said,

Greetings, favored woman. The Lord is with you.

I want you to think about this. This is just

a teenage girl. She's at the house probably.

She's in her room. And all of a sudden, the messenger,

the main messenger angel of God appears where

she can see it. And he has a message. Everybody

say message. He has a word. Everybody say word.

And it begins with greetings, favored woman.

The Lord is with you. Now, her response is most

likely like yours or mine. If we were just in

our house, in a room by herself, all of a sudden

an angel shows up, starts talking to us, right?

She was confused. She was a little disturbed.

How many of you would be confused and a little

disturbed if an angel showed up? Started talking

to you. You could see him, hear him. I mean,

you know, this isn't just some dream that she

had. She didn't take a nap and dream this. This

is real. So she's confused. She's a little disturbed.

And she's trying to think what this angel could

mean. I'm favored. God is with me. Look at the

person beside you and tell them, I'm favored

too. Say, God is with me. God is with me, right?

We should be comfortable with that, but that

wasn't the language before Christ, before the

incarnation. We should be comfortable with that.

Then the angel said something. He said, do not

be afraid. This phrase is all throughout Scripture,

not just in one place, all throughout Scripture.

Do not be afraid. How many of you would probably

be a little afraid if an angel showed up? Do

not be afraid, Mary, the angel told her. For

you have found favor with God. You will conceive

and give birth to a son. And you will name him

Jesus. Everybody say Jesus. You will name him

Jesus. You're going to... Get pregnant, you're

going to be expecting, you're going to have a

son. You will name him Jesus. He will be very

great and will be called the Son of the Most

High. The Lord God will give him the throne of

his ancestor David. Except his reign is going

to be different than David's. David's reign was

temporal, right? And he will reign over Israel

forever. Everybody say forever. His kingdom will

never end. Everybody say never end. So he's going

to reign forever and his kingdom is never going

to end from the installment through eternity.

His kingdom will never end. Now Mary has a question.

Which is... Fine, right? It's fine for her to

have a question with this, wow, my man. Mary

asked the angel, but how can this happen? I'm

a virgin. Now, she's engaged to be married, but

how's she going to have a baby? The angel replied,

the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power

of the Most High will overshadow you. So the

baby will be born, the baby to be born will be

holy. Everybody say holy. Everybody say set apart.

The baby to be born will be holy, and he will

be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative

Elizabeth, who had wanted a baby for a long time,

now she's old, your relative Elizabeth has become

pregnant. Pregnant in her old age. People used

to say that she was barren. But she has conceived

a son and is now in her sixth month. Everybody

say a message. Everybody say a word. Not only

did it come to Mary, it came to Elizabeth. And

when they received the word from God. They became

pregnant with that word, pregnant with that promise.

This is important to where we're going, so I'm

just setting you up, all right? People used to

say she was barren, but she has conceived a son

and is now in her sixth month. You know why?

For the word of God will never fail. I think

we need to say that together. For the word of

God will never fail. His word, his promise will

never fail. Mary responded. Mary responded because

the word always calls for a response. Everybody

say this. The word, the promise always calls

for a response. Mary responded, I'm the Lord's

servant. May everything you have said about me

come true. Her response was agreement. And then

the angel left her. He wouldn't have left without

a response. He got her response. So, she became

pregnant. And when you're pregnant, we had a

baby shower last night. For those of you who

were there, it was awesome. And I know that baby

needs to stay in the oven another month, but

it looks like it's ready to come today or yesterday,

right? Nihilist expecting. But you know, It all

starts with a seed. It all starts with a word.

It all starts with a promise. And then you're

expecting a baby. So after her response to the

word and response to the message of the angel,

she was expecting. Everybody say expecting. Now

it took a while. Most likely around nine months.

I don't know how many weeks has that. Is it 36

or 40 weeks? The ladies know real quick how I

got a lot of lady responses. 40 weeks? Not 30,

40. It means more to you than it does to us.

40 weeks? You're expecting. Expecting. Jesus

came down from heaven so God could be with us.

Now, Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come

upon people for certain offices, right? Is everybody

with me? But when Jesus came and lived and died

and rose from the grave and at Pentecost, he

sent the Holy Spirit. For us, it became possible

for God to be with us, not only with us, but

in us. That's one of the main reasons that Jesus

came down. So God could be with us and God could

be in us so that we could be rescued, so that

we could experience his salvation. So we could

have the opportunity for something, and that's

the opportunity for us to live in Christ. I didn't

always know this. That Jesus came so that we

could have the opportunity to live in Christ.

Everybody say, in Christ. Some of you... I'm

hoping that you're understanding what I'm talking

about. By looking at your faces, I'm not so sure.

He didn't come just to save us. He came to be

with us. He is Emmanuel. He is God with us. So

many people just come to the point where, okay,

I accept Christ. I accept Him as being the Son

of God. I accept Him as being risen from the

grave. I accept His forgiveness because He died

for my sins on the cross. And so many people

just leave it right there and say, wow, I'm glad

I'm going to go to heaven one day. But there's

more available. We have an opportunity to live

in Christ, to live in Him today, now. It's not

just for the sweet by and by. It's for the, how

do they put it, the dirty here and now. So, we

need to live our lives. expecting his promises

to be fulfilled in our lives. Every word, every

message, every promise, we need to live in expectation.

We need to live expecting. And maybe we can get

this better when we see that Mary is now expecting

a baby. She's pregnant and she's expecting. We

need to be pregnant with the word of God and

the message of God, and we need to be expecting,

even the men, not just the ladies. Last night

at the baby shower, it's like we played a game,

and it's like you're trying to get the baby out

of the ice cube, and the winner had to shout

out, my water broke. Tom said even if he got

his out, there's no way he's going to scream,

my water broke. I was in agreement with him.

I didn't even try to get mine out quick because

I'm not going to scream that. But I want you

to get this visual when it comes to the word

or the message of God about us expecting. After

we receive the word and receive the promise and

know it and the Holy Spirit causes that truth

to come alive on the inside of us, we need to

see ourselves as expecting. expecting a promise.

Because in every area of life, we should learn

to rely on God's supply and His ability instead

of our own. Now we're tying back into the series

a little bit. And we do this not by working to

be the best person we can be. And this has been

our little illustration up here, but this is

the best we can be. See this rock right here?

That's the best we can be. And we can sand and

polish and work on it, you know. I spent so many

years of my life asking God to polish my rock.

That was my prayer. But it doesn't work that

way. God doesn't want... Us to be the best us

that we can be. To work to be the best us we

can be. He wants us to be crucified with Christ.

And it's not us living anymore. But it's Christ

living in us. So we exchange. Everybody say exchange.

We exchange. And while we talked about our mind.

Our ability. Our victory. Our will. We exchange.

Mine for His. And that's the way we're going

to know what it means to live in Christ. Because

it's not by working to be the best us we can

be, but allowing God's life to flow through us.

Because we've been crucified with Christ. We

no longer live, but it's Christ in us, the hope

of glory. God gives us the opportunity to exchange

our natural for his supernatural, to trade what

we have for what he has. So today, we're going

to talk about trading our hope. Everybody say

hope. Trading our hope for his. Trading our hope

for his. Everybody say, my hope. My hope, if

it's natural, if it's what we understand as being

hope in the world that we live in, our hope is

limited. Here's the Merriam -Webster definition,

all right? Hope is to cherish a desire with anticipation.

Listen, to want something. To happen or to be

true? Can we put this in context? We want something

to happen. We want something to be true. And

we desire it. Everybody say desire. Everybody

say want. And we hope that that happens. Natural

hope. Human hope is just having an anticipation

for something to happen that we just desire or

want to happen. We want it to be true. How many

of you know that disappointment flows in a regular

basis? Right? I mean, I wanted the South Carolina

Gamecocks to have a good team this year. Lori

wanted LSU to have a great team this year. We're

not going to talk about it. You know? I really

wanted this to be the year. I hoped. Everybody

say hoped. I hoped that this would be the year.

I talked to one of my friends in Knoxville this

week. And he's like, I really hoped. He didn't

know what I was preaching about. I really hope

that Tennessee would have a good year this year,

but you know what? I think we're set up for next

year, so I've got hope that next year is going

to be a lot better. Next year. See, natural hope

is undependable. We hope in luck. We hope in

wishes. We hope in our plans because we've got

some pretty good plans sometimes and we hope

that our plans will take us, right? We hope in

our timing. If the timing is just right, I mean,

I think this is it. So I'm going to hope in the

timing. I'm going to hope in people. How many

of you have put your hope in other people before?

We hope in ourselves. That's human hope. Biblical

hope is different. Somebody smile and say, I'm

glad it's different. Glad it's different. Glad

it's different. Biblical hope is not just blind

optimism. It's not hype. It's not looking on

the bright side. Everybody say it's more than

that. It's more than that. Here's some word studies

I did for us. Strong's Concordance. Hope is this.

Biblical hope is this. Every time you see the

word hope in the New Testament of your Bible,

it's not talking about hope, soul hope. It's

not talking about a wish. Biblical hope is to

have a confident expectation. And get this, you're

so confident that you anticipate or expect with

pleasure. It's a confident expectation that you're

already happy about even before you see it fulfilled.

Does that sound like a different hope? See, that's

what God's hope is. The other hope is our hope.

I've got some more. Topical Lexicon puts it this

way. Hope is not a tentative wish, but a confident,

forward -looking trust. Everybody say trust.

Grounded in the character and promises of God.

Hello? I see some people trying to take pictures,

so I'm leaving it up here a little bit longer

than I would. Got it? Still working. Topical

last comment. Not a tentative wish, but a confident,

forward -looking trust grounded in the character

and promises of God. Helps word studies. Hope

is an expectation of what is sure. What is certain.

See, God keeps his promises. God keeps his word.

So we can have an expectation in what is sure

and what is certain if it's connected to what

God has said. Biblical hope is confidence in

God's faithfulness. Can I ask you a question?

Do you really believe that God is faithful? I

mean, it's one thing to say that God is faithful

in church. But when you're going through life,

do you really believe that God is faithful? Do

you really believe that God will keep his promises?

Because biblical hope is a confidence in God's

faithfulness, and it's a confidence that you

can have before you see it and before it even

makes sense. Y 'all just thinking real hard today,

right? Hebrews 11, 1. Now faith is a substance.

Everybody say substance. It's a substance. Faith

is a substance. Because you hear the promise,

you believe the promise, and then now faith becomes

a substance. A substance that you can't touch

with your hands. But it's real. Now faith is

a substance of things hoped for. Everybody say

hope. Now, confident expectation. Faith is a

substance of what you have a confident expectation

in and you're already happy about because it's

grounded in the character of God. Are you with

me? Faith is a substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen. See, our hope

is limited. Everybody say limited. But God's

hope is limitless. His hope is limitless. Here

we have Mary. She's a young teenage girl. She's

receiving an announcement that humanly makes

no sense. A lot of people are like, this virgin

birth thing, that's just, there's no way that

that can possibly happen. But with God, all things

are possible. He keeps his promises. It was a

must that it had to happen. Right? Because if

not, Jesus would have been born in sin. So Mary's

a young teenage girl. She's got this announcement.

She's like, wow. It's amazing that her response

was as quick as it was. I mean, think about everything

she had to deal with. I mean, she's a real person.

What about her friends? When she starts saying,

well, you know, I'm expecting, but it's not Joseph's.

What about her fiancé? I'm expecting, but it's

not yours. I mean, sometimes we think about this

and we don't consider the reality of this happening

in Nazareth, a very small community, not even

in the thousands. Everybody knows all your business.

Hello? Is anybody in the room a private person?

You don't want everybody to know all your business.

Nobody. Everybody wants everybody to know all

their business. Some people do because you can

see all their business on Facebook every week.

See, I love it. Just think of the things that

went through her mind. Think about how it doesn't

really make sense. But her response was, may

everything you've said about me come true. See,

it seems impossible. Everybody say impossible.

But with God, Here's the New King James Version

of the same verse we just read a minute ago.

For with God, nothing will be impossible. I want

you to think about something. I want you to consider

the next time you face an impossible, what seems

like an impossible situation. Has anyone faced

some impossible situations every once in a while?

It seems impossible. The next time you face something

that seems impossible, I want you to get a word

from God, and then I want you to laugh at impossibility.

I mean, the funniest thing you can do is tell

God that you're in an impossible situation. Because

nothing's impossible with Him. Right? God, I've

got this impossible situation. No, wait a minute.

Nothing's impossible for me. Sometimes we think

that the situation is so big, it's bigger than

what God can handle. There's no such thing as

a situation that we face that God cannot handle.

Our hope says, I can't see how this will work

out. Can't see how this will ever work out. It

seems impossible. But God's hope says, my power

is not limited by what you can see. Human hope

depends on some kind of human reasoned out possibility.

But God's hope depends on his character and who

he is. Our hope is unstable. But God's hope is

an anchor. I'll say it again. Our hope, human

hope, is unstable. But God's hope is an anchor.

I'll go over this again very quickly. We all

are spirits. Say, I'm a spirit. We all have a

soul. Everybody say, I have a soul. And I live

in a body. So we are spirits. We have souls.

And we live in a body. Our soul. can be broken

down into three parts. Our mind or our thoughts,

everybody say thoughts. Our will or our desires,

everybody say desires. And our emotions. That's

our soul. And see, we spend most of our lives

learning how to live as souls when we're actually

created in the image of God and we are spirits.

So we have to learn to live, even though most

of our life we've been trying to be the best

soul we can be in our own thoughts and our desires

and our emotions. We've got to learn to be spirits

connected to God. God is a spirit. We have to

worship him in spirit and in truth if we're ever

going to worship him. So we've got to learn to

be spirits. And his Holy Spirit connects with

our spirit. So that we can experience the life

of God. Hello? We can't ever experience it in

our souls. We've got to experience it in our

spirit first, and then our spirit has to be in

charge of our souls, has to be the teacher of

our souls. Nothing shakes your soul like uncertainty

does. Nothing shakes your thoughts, your desires,

your emotions like uncertainty. Can anybody say,

I'm a witness to that. I experienced that. But

see, as spirits, we are anchored somewhere else.

Hebrews 6, 19 says this, this hope we have as

an anchor of the soul. both secure and steadfast,

so that doesn't sound like it's unstable, right?

Both secure and steadfast, and which enters the

presence behind the veil. See, our hope is attached

to things that are uncertain. But when we exchange

our hope for God's hope, There's an anchor that

extends to the real holy of holies, not the one

in the tent that was just a shadow, but this

anchor extends into the real holy of holies in

heaven. Hallelujah. Your hope is only as strong

as what it's anchored to. If your hope is anchored

to circumstances, and if your circumstances,

don't work out the way that you want them to,

all of a sudden you become hopeless. You're anchored

to the wrong thing. You can't anchor your hope

into circumstances. You can't anchor your hope

into other people. Even the people who love you

the most can let you down. So if you're anchored

in people, people will waver. If your hope is

anchored in your feelings, feelings will waffle,

shift and move. But if your hope is anchored

in God, I want to tell you something. He's going

to hold secure. His promises are going to hold

secure. His word is going to hold secure every

time. Got to make sure we're anchored in the

right place. Our hope should be anchored in the

promises of God. Everybody say promises of God.

In the faithfulness of God, everybody say faithfulness.

In the character of God, everybody say character.

That's where our hope has to be anchored. Because

if it's not, you're going to find yourself hopeless

at times. Our hope looks at what I can do. God's

hope looks at what he can do. Shouldn't have

to explain that too much, right? See, Mary didn't

say, let it be according to my understanding.

Let it be according to my ability. Let it be

according to my plan. She didn't say, let it

be unto me according to my timing. Because this

just isn't the right time. I need to get married

first, and then, you know, got to have a husband,

got to have Joseph, then I can have a baby. I

mean, that's her plan, right? Come on. Any lady

getting married, that's their plan. She's already

engaged. But she didn't say, let it be according

to my. May everything that I want be mine. No,

she said, everything that you said, I'm going

with that. I'm going with that. New King James

Version again. Let it be to me according to your

word is what she said. Not according to her plans,

but according to God's word. See, we don't need

to have a wishful expectation in ourselves. We

need to have a confident expectation in God.

That's his hope. And see, Jesus came. Part of

the reason he came was to bring us his hope in

this fallen world. To bring his. So that we could

take hold of his instead of holding on to ours

so tightly. Again, God's word is always waiting

for your response. And according to Mary in her

response, she's now expecting something. She's

expecting a baby. And she has a confident expectation.

And it's even in the confusion of how it's going

to happen and all that kind of stuff, I believe

there was a joy in that expectation. So, where

does this put us today? No matter where you are

or what you're facing, you know, this time of

year, people go through so many things, you know.

But I want you to know, no matter where you are

today, no matter what you're facing today, There's

a word from God about it. There's a word from

God. You may not know it yet, but there's a word

from God about it. Some of you may need to go

home today and pray and look in the Word. I'm

going to even go ahead and tell you this. Google

what God's Word says about whatever it is that

you're facing. They didn't have Google 2 ,000

years ago. Or 40 years ago, I don't think. Never

heard of Google. Not sure I even had internet.

If I did, it was, you know, dial up. Most of

you have never heard that sound before. Listen.

God has a word for you. God has a word for you.

If you are thinking that you're hopeless, if

you're thinking that you're facing something

impossible, I'm here today to tell you God's

got a word for you. God's made a promise that

will cover everything you face. You know, you

might need help sorting it out, but ultimately,

works down to a root of something that God has

given you a promise about. And as you look into

his word, and as you talk to him and ask him

to cause his word to come alive in you, that

promise will move from a written word or a, it

can move to revelation. Everybody say revelation.

Where it goes from, okay, I googled this promise,

but now I've spent some time with God. And the

Holy Spirit has caused this promise to come alive

on the inside of me, and now it's mine. So it

moves from an idea into a seed that's planted

into your heart. And listen, sometimes we give

up if it doesn't happen immediately. But it takes

40 weeks for a seed planted in a woman. Are you

with me? Expecting. Not losing that expectation.

Right? I mean, Nyla didn't wake up this morning

and say, well, I don't think I'm pregnant anymore.

Hadn't had a baby yet. It's been... How many

weeks is she? 35 weeks or something like that?

36 yesterday? I thought we were going to January.

34 yesterday? 33? I'm going to get her 32, 32,

30. All right. But she's not waking up today

saying, well, you know, maybe I just swallowed

a watermelon seed. Come on, somebody, laugh.

Back in the summer, I'd swallowed one of them

watermelon seeds and I shouldn't have. Yeah,

I did. I think I did. I'm expecting something.

Listen, God has made you a promise. God has made

you a promise. God has a word about what you're

facing. And my prayer for you is that that word

becomes a seed that's planted in your spirit

that begins to overwhelm your soul and in some

senses overwhelms your flesh because now you're

living by, because you're a spirit and you're

living as a spirit and you're receiving this

word and it's, and it's, you become impregnated

with it with the rest of you. To see his promise

fulfilled. But in the process, everybody say

in the process. Because it's a process. You got

to hold on to hope that's anchored behind the

veil. In heaven. You got to hold on. I know you

might feel like giving up. Everybody in this

room has felt like giving up. But hold on. Hold

on to the hope. The confident expectation that

God is faithful. His promises are true. God is

faithful. And I'm going to stand in that. And

I'm going to be happy about it. I'm going to

have joy over it. Because I know God is faithful.

Even though I can't see it with my eyes yet,

it don't matter. Because I'm expecting something.

I have a confident expectation. Hope wasn't born

in a palace. It was born in a stable. It was

born in a stable so every single one of us could

reach it. Because if it was born in a palace,

hey, we might not be able to reach it. Hope was

born in a stable so we could reach it. Not our

hope, but God's hope. God's hope is anchored.

It's steady. And it's unshakable. Look to somebody

beside you and tell them, I'm expecting. I'm

expecting. I'm expecting. Go ahead and say, I'm

looking for Tom to say, I'm expecting. Since

he won't say my water broke, maybe he'll say,

I'm expecting. I'm expecting. I'm expecting.

Let's pray together. God, thank you. for your

word. Thank you for your promises. Thank you

for this example you've given us of a young girl

having faith and putting her hope in you. Even

when it seemed impossible what was being said,

the word that she received, it was seemingly

impossible, but she decided to have faith and

confidence in you. God, help us to learn this

lesson. God, thank you for offering us your hope.

Not like the world's hope, but different than

the world's hope. Your hope. Being confident

in your faithfulness. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. This online worship experience was brought

to you by the friends and partners of Eulation

Church.