Advent - Hope | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church

Praise God. Well, more of you came than I thought

would be here this morning. So I'm glad that

you're here. We've got a great online community

this morning as well. So I want to welcome all

of our people online. Can we give a big shout

out to our people online today? All right. All

right. We have more than usual there. And if

you are online at home and you have a prayer

need, type that in and just type it into the

feed. We're going to pray for people this morning.

And so we're glad that you're here. We already

read the verse from Luke chapter 1, but I would

Luke 1 · chapter mention

like you to go there to Luke chapter 1 and verse

Luke 1 · chapter mention

39. Luke is the third book in the New Testament.

And so Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Luke was not

one of the 12 disciples, Luke was a physician,

and Luke wrote the book of Luke, and also the

book of Acts. In fact, the number of verses in

the New Testament, Luke wrote more of the New

Testament than even Paul. Think about that, verse

by verse. And so that's pretty cool. And so his

account of the history of the New Testament,

the life of Christ, Christ, the ministry of Christ,

and then the life of the New Testament church

is incredibly vital. His perspective is unique.

And so he records more of the birth story of

Christ than any other author. And so a lot of

things in the book of Luke that are really, really,

really important. Talking about we're beginning,

I have the privilege of beginning this season,

this Christmas season, talking about hope. These

are going to be the next four Sunday themes that

are on the wall. And so we're going to be looking

at hope this morning. I want to just pause a

moment and I want to pray and I want to ask the

Lord to just help me right now. Father, we just

come before you. And I thank you for your word.

And I'm just acutely aware this morning that

you want to speak to people right where they

are. God, I believe that you have something for

every single person, whether they're here, whether

they're at home because of the weather or wherever

they are. Lord, I ask in Jesus' name that you

would speak. to our hearts. We thank you for

your word. And everybody said together, amen,

amen. So there was a woman named Florence Chadwick.

This is not a joke, Brother Dale. He's waiting

to see if I'm going to turn it to a joke. Florence

Chadwick in 1952 was an amazing swimmer. And

she swam the English Channel several times. And

she was attempting to swim in the Pacific Ocean

off the coast of California, a 26 -mile swim

from Catalina Island to the California coastline.

26 miles in good temperatures. is nearly impossible

for most of us. I'm sure there's probably not

anybody in this room that could accomplish a

26 -mile swim. But she was trying to accomplish

it in the Pacific Ocean, where the temperatures

were frigid. There were boats around her to watch

for sharks and dangers in the water. While she

was swimming, a fog rolled in, and she could

not see more than just a couple hundred feet

in front of her because of the fog was so thick.

On a normal day, she could see the coastline

from miles and miles away, even swimming low

in the water. And the fog was so thick, not being

able to see, she began... to lose hope. And she

began to think, I am never going to make it.

And after 15 hours in the water, she did something

that she rarely ever did. Florence gave up. She

gave up. And they pulled her into the boat. And

she was devastated when she realized something

that was heartbreaking because the shore was

less than one mile away. She had swam over 25

miles and she gave up. Less than one mile away.

And in a later interview, she said, I think if

I could just have seen the shore, I would have

made it. It's a powerful story, isn't it? I think

if I could just have seen the shore, I would

have made it. Hope. Hope is a precious commodity.

I was on Friday with my dad watching the Bears

game. Oh, hallelujah. Somebody say amen. Dale

and I rarely agree, but we do agree about the

Bears. And I was watching the game, and the Eagles

at one point scored a touchdown in like five

plays and 92 yards. And my heart began to feel

the momentum shift. And in sports, one thing

that you try to do early in a match or a game

or whatever you're playing is you try to eliminate

the hope that the other team has. If you're ahead,

you try to get far enough ahead to make the other

team feel like they cannot win. There's no way

that you can come back. Once the opponent that

you're playing against gets a spark of hope,

everything can change. Isn't that right? Everything

can change because of hope. You've probably heard

of the rat in the water experiment that was conducted

by Kurt Richter in the 1950s, demonstrating the

power of hope. He was drowning rats in water.

And he found out that after 15 minutes, the rats

would give up and die. But he noticed something.

So a rat was about to drown, and just at the

brink of pulling it out of the water, just at

the brink of death, he would pull it out of the

water. And the rat realized that just at the

point that I thought I couldn't go any longer,

rescue is coming. They would take that same rat.

and they would put it back in the water after

it had recovered, and that rat would tread water

for nearly 60 hours. Why? Because it thought

it was going to be saved. That's crazy, isn't

it? This morning, I don't want to talk about

hope for winning a... or hope for a rat, I want

to talk about hope in life. For things that really

matter, because games come and go. I've got sports

stories. from my past that I still talk about,

times I lost that I knew looking back I could

have won, times where I could have done something

different that I wish. How many of you dream

about moments like that still in your life? You

dream about things, oh, if I just would have

made it five more yards. I have things like that

that I still. dream about that I wish that I

could have done differently. But you know what?

Those things do not matter. I want to talk about

hope that matters today. And the life story of

Elizabeth, I want to read it again in verse 39

of Luke chapter 1. Mary arose in those days and

Luke 1 · chapter mention

went into the hill country with haste to a city

of Judah and entered the house of Zacharias and

greeted Elizabeth. And it happened when Elizabeth

heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped

in Elizabeth's womb. And Elizabeth was filled

with the Holy Spirit. And she spoke out with

a loud voice and said, Blessed are you among

women speaking to Mary, and blessed is the fruit

of your womb. But why is this granted to me that

the mother of my Lord should come to me? For

indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting

sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb

for joy. Blessed is she. who believed. For there

will be a fulfillment of those things which were

told to her from the Lord. Thank you, Father.

So this is an incredible story that relates to

hope, and it connects with every single one of

us because Elizabeth was a real person. She lived

in a real world with real problems. She was a

Jew living in a nation that was occupied by Rome.

It was not an easy time for anybody to be alive.

She had personal issues, and she had personal

struggle. She was barren, and to be barren in

a time like that was more than just not having

a child. It was to be viewed as being cursed.

It was to be viewed as a person that had done

something wrong in the eyes of God. And so God

would not allow you to have children. And so

Elizabeth and Zachariah lived with a lot of pressure

and a lot of difficulty swirling around them.

Our situations in our time might be a little

bit different. The perspectives that people have

on these types of issues are not the same in

our culture. Perhaps your situations are different.

Perhaps the stuff that you are walking through

is very different. But Elizabeth was transformed

by the power of God. and she was transformed

by the power of God because she placed her hope

in him. Amen? And so... I am believing this whole

Christmas season that God is going to do some

things in your lives. I believe that God, this

Christmas season, is going to draw you nearer

to himself. The devotional that Cammie wrote,

she said, we prepared a devotional. And she used

that plural, and I could stand up here and take

credit for that. But she has been writing this

devotional for about two months now. putting

it together. And so it is not a we thing. It

is something that she put together. She probably

didn't want me to say that. But this is... Why

do this? Because corporately, we're seeking to

draw nearer to the Lord than we've ever been

before. Amen? And I'm believing that this Christmas

season is not going to be about decorations primarily

and presents, although I love decorations and

presents. I love all that stuff. I think it's

a great addition to our celebration. But primarily,

I'm believing that you are going to draw near

to Jesus this Christmas. season. And that you're

going to look back on Christmas 2025 and you're

going to say, that's a season that God did something

in my life. That he worked in my life. Amen?

And so we are believing that we together are

going to draw closer to the Lord. We are secondly

believing that as we look at these scriptures,

this one particular in Luke chapter 1, that as

Luke 1 · chapter mention

we look at them, that we talk about his first

coming. that it is going to propel you to talk

about, to think about, and to look forward to

his second coming. Because Jesus came the first

time as a baby in a manger. He is coming back

again as King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen?

And so it is, you know, we have a manger up here

as part of our decoration in our scene. We are

not worshiping a baby that is still in a manger.

We are worshiping a king that is at the right

hand of the Father, that is alive forevermore,

that is working in your life and in my life.

We worship the King of Kings and the Lord of

Lords, and he is preparing to return to the earth

again. Hallelujah. We believe that with our whole

heart. I want to declare something that's not

in my notes right now. I am not... a Christian

because I just couldn't make it through life

any other way. I am not a Christian because I

needed a crutch. I couldn't survive life on my

own. And so things got so bad. I just needed

something in my life. That is not why I'm a believer.

I want to thank God for difficult seasons in

people's lives because it is often the difficult

season that wakes us up to the important things.

But I am not a Christian because I went through

a difficult season. I'm a Christian. Because

I came face to face with Jesus. And I realized

that I had stuff in my life that I was not right

with God. And I needed a Savior to do what I

could not do. Cross the bridge, the divide that

was created by sin. Right? Because we're all

separated from God because of sin. Can you imagine

Saul on the road to Damascus saying, life is

just so hard, I need a savior? You can't imagine

that, can you? Because he was a... He was a strong

individual. He was a strong person. He was putting

Christians to death for their faith, thinking

he was doing God a service. He was a strong person.

We don't come to Christ just because we've become

so weak we can't get by any other way. But Saul,

on the road to Damascus, in Acts chapter 9, you

Acts 9 · chapter mention

can read the story, came face to face with Jesus.

And more than anything else, I'm believing in

our city, I'm believing in our culture, in our

time, that people will come face to face with

Jesus. Hallelujah. And I realized I need a Savior.

I worship Jesus not because He's my crutch in

life, but because He is worthy of my worship.

I worship Jesus because He carried the cross

for me. He paid the price for my sin. Hallelujah.

And He's forgiven me. And I've met Him. And He

walks with me. And he talks with me. I think

about men of God particularly in the Bible because

I view, you know, being a man, I view the scriptures

oftentimes through the lens of and looking at

other men in the Bible. And I think about King

David. And I think about the strength that David

carried. They sang of him, Saul has slain his

thousands, but David his tens of thousands. David

was a warrior. He was a magnificent person. He

was strong. And he served the Lord, not because

he was weak. He was so weak he needed a crutch.

And that's how people often view the church.

But David was a man's kind of man. And can I

tell you something? It's a reflection of Jesus.

When Jesus walked the earth, he walked the earth

with strength. He stood up. to religious and

sometimes political figures, he stood up with

strength. Remember when he stood before the religious

leaders and he said, you brood of vipers. And

they all wanted to stone him, but Jesus, in the

power of the Holy Spirit, walked through the

crowd. And they couldn't lay a hand on him, even

though they wanted to. And everybody eventually,

by the end of his ministry, all the political

people had united against him. And they were

looking to kill him, but still he taught openly.

He was a strong individual. He was worth following.

He was worth following. kind of overplaying the

Bears illustration here, but I love watching

the locker room videos they show after the victory.

And Ben Johnson, I don't think he's even a believer.

I don't know, but he has this thing he does with

the Bears, and he says, good, better, best. And

in fact, that's getting real popular. How many

of you have heard that? Good, better, best. Never

let it rest till your good gets better and your

better gets best. And all these men in the locker

room following their 39 -year -old coach because

he is viewed as a man's kind of man. And they're

all following him and yelling and screaming for

a game. But can I tell you, Jesus was a man's

kind of man. Jesus stood strong. Jesus was not

weak. He was not unsure of himself. He was a

leader of leaders. And he's worth following.

The King of kings and the Lord of lords that's

coming back again. Let me come back to my notes.

Hope is a precious... Commodity. When you lose

hope, despair and defeat set in. When you lose

hope, you want to give up. When you lose hope,

you forfeit your harvest. You lose your race.

If you have no hope, your life begins to spiral

into apathy. You drop your face. You isolate.

You turn inward. You begin to merely exist. But

I have good news for you today. That God wants

to restore hope. The hope that Elizabeth was

living in in this scripture, and really you sense

a lot of things in this verse overlap in joy.

You see great joy in these verses. We're going

to preach about that in the coming days. But

the hope that she had, culminating here in the

birth of her child, was cultivated in her life

all along. Did you know that suffering well produces

hope? Did you know that? We're going to see that

Elizabeth positioned her life in such a way so

that hope was her portion. Hope belonged to her.

Hope starts with walking through difficulty well.

And I've already described to you her life. And

to have such hardship and such difficulty and

still persevere through it and not give up, it

produces hope. Let me read to you a verse from

Romans. Just so you're not looking it up, I'll

give it to you at the end of my reading of it.

It says this, we glory in tribulation. This is

kingdom talk right here. People that are normal

don't say, I love it when I'm persecuted. I love

it when I go through hardship. But this is what

Paul said in Romans. I glory in tribulation.

And Christian, you need to learn how to suffer

well if you're going to walk in hope. I glory

in tribulation. Now it goes on. Knowing that

tribulation produces... And perseverance produces

character. And character, hope. Hope. But where

does it start? Tribulation. Now when you're suffering,

you have a choice in how you're going to respond

to that suffering. We typically do one of two

things when we suffer. The first thing we do

is we say, woe is me. I'm going through something

nobody else has ever gone through. Life is so

difficult. But the other response that is a response

gifted to you from heaven, I believe. God will

help you in it if you will take up this response.

If you will say, you know what? I know this is

tough. I know this is difficult. But I am still

going to do the right thing. I know this is difficult.

I know this is tough. But I know, even if I don't

have them in my life right now, I know that there

are others walking through more difficult things

than me. And they are surviving, and they are

thriving, and they are making it. And so do you

know what I'm going to do? I'm going to press

through the tribulation. And you know what's

happening right now? You, like in a pressure

cooker, you are forming the diamond of character

in your life. And that character is starting

to come through. I can make it. I can get all

the way to the end. I can come through this.

And you begin to encourage yourself in the Lord.

Your tribulation produces the perseverance that

you needed to face your own limitations so that

you could push beyond them and become what God

had created you to be. Character. And when you

have that kind of character, it does something

in you. It changes your outlook so that you look

at a nation called America and you say this,

America is not going to fall to pieces and fall

to the ground and become nothing. I'm telling

you what, I have more hope for America than I've

ever had. I believe that her best days are still

ahead of her. I believe that there is revival

coming to the United States of America. I believe

that the church is going to thrive again in the

United States of America. I believe it with my

whole heart. I have hope. Now, does that mean

I believe that it's perfect? No. Does that mean

I agree with everything happening? No, but I

have hope. That's what character gives you, a

new perspective. That out of these ashes, God

can do something great. That out of this difficulty,

something good can come forth. And I've been

relating everything with Isaiah chapter 61. This

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

is what it means that God gives beauty for ashes.

He takes ashes and he makes something beautiful

out of them. And do you know that's where diamonds

come from? Ashes? Carbon. Squeezed and pressed

together. In verse 5, this is Romans chapter

Romans 5 · chapter mention

5, by the way. Verses 3 through 5. It goes on

and it says this. And hope never disappoints

us. Because the love of God has been poured out

in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Who was given

to us. Going back to Luke chapter 1. You'll notice

Luke 1 · chapter mention

something. In verse 13. Now this is a part of

the story we haven't touched this morning. And

I'm not going to touch it a lot. Except that

Elizabeth became pregnant by miracle. She was

beyond the age of childbearing, just like Sarah

in the Old Testament. Elizabeth was the same

way. And even though she was beyond the age of

childbearing, she and her husband, Zechariah,

did not quit believing God. And so I want you

to look at verse 13. We're not going to talk

about this whole story. You can read the whole

story because Zacharias, later on, he did have

doubt and so forth. We're not going to talk about

that as part of another message for another day.

But look at verse 13. The angel said to Zacharias,

do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer

is heard. and your wife will bear you a son.

Think about that. So this is Elizabeth and Zacharias

together. Elizabeth passed the age of childbearing,

and yet they are still standing in the place

of prayer, believing God for a child. Do you

know what that tells me? That even though others

thought their dreams were shattered and others

thought that they were cursed, that they were

still standing in the place of hope. That Elizabeth's

hope was not born the day she became pregnant.

Elizabeth was standing in hope. All along her

journey. Why? Because she had produced character

in her life. That stood strong. And hope does

not disappoint. Hope comes from suffering. Anybody

out there in the midst of tribulation. Don't

say woe is me. Don't say, oh, what's happening

in my life? I'm not saying that the tribulation

is fun. That fun is just an emotion. I'm not

saying that you have to get ascetic about it

and say, oh, just see how much I can take. I'm

not saying that you have to be like that. But

I am saying this, make a decision today. That

in the midst of the tribulation that you are

walking through, that you are going to allow

God to work in your life. And in the midst of

it, shape you into the person God created you

to be. God created you for victory. God created

you to come all the way through. God created

you. He wired you. He wired you. He wired you

for overcoming. Tap into that. Lord, thank you

for helping me. I am coming all the way through

this thing. In Jesus' name. Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. He said, you shall

call his name John, and you will have joy and

gladness. That's the word of the Lord. And so

the first thing that joy comes from is suffering.

I'm going to wrap this up pretty quickly here

and spend less time on these next points. But

hope is rooted in trial and difficulty. Number

two, hope comes from believing the promise. When

the promise is given to you. Now this is where

Zacharias failed, if we would follow through

his story. Zacharias expressed doubt given the

promise. But when he came home and could not

speak, and he sign -languaged everything to Elizabeth,

and she finally understood what the angel had

said to her, maybe Zacharias wrote it all down,

Elizabeth didn't respond with doubt. Elizabeth

responded with hope. She responded with faith,

believing the promise. And, friend, When God

speaks to you a promise, then you have another

choice to make. Your first choice was in the

suffering and in the lack and in the time of

difficulty to persevere and produce character.

And now here's your second choice. Your second

choice is this. When you're given the promise,

are you going to believe the promise or are you

not going to believe the promise? And that's

the choice. And a person that has produced character

in their life, that is walking in perseverance,

a person that is walking in hope, a person that

is walking in faith, will rise up and say, God,

I believe your promise. Hallelujah. I believe

your promise because hope is birthed in the promise

of God. Hallelujah. Glory to God. And so in Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11, in Hebrews chapter 11, I can't believe

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

this isn't in my notes. I'm going to turn there

real quick. Hebrews chapter 11. This is so good.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

It says this. Now faith is the substance of things.

Hoped for. Wow. The evidence of things not seen.

And so faith and hope are coupled together. They

are eternally coupled together. Faith and hope.

And so because I'm standing in faith, I have

hope. Yeah, but pastor, you don't understand.

I'm in stage four. Faith is the substance of

things hoped for. Hallelujah. And so the evidence

of things not seen, For by it, the elders obtained

a good testimony. They carried faith in their

heart, belief in God that he would come through.

And so they obtained a good testimony. Think

about Elizabeth's life. She had faith in God.

She hoped in God. She hoped against everybody

else's hope. I'm going to stand believing God.

I'm still believing God for a son. I'm still

believing God for a son. Everybody's cursing

me, but I'm believing God for a son. And she

hoped against all hope. And guess what happened?

Her story is recorded in this book. Her story

is recorded in the New Testament for people to

read for all of time. As an example of a woman

that stood strong. She obtained a good testimony.

You know what else she did? Verse 6 says, without

faith, it is impossible to please God. She became

somebody that brought pleasure. To the Lord.

Faith and hope. They're linked together. You

know what God delights in? When the circumstances

of life should snuff you out. The circumstances

of life should just get you to quit. But you're

still standing in faith, believing. You've not

received the answer. And God is receiving the

aroma of that faith. And it is making him happy.

And that's what Elizabeth did. Look at her. She's

still believing me. I want God to say that about

me. Look, there's my son. He's still believing

me. There's my daughter. I haven't healed her

yet. But she's still believing me. There's my

child. I haven't worked that miracle out yet

that he's believing for. But they're still believing

me. Oh, and when God looks down and he sees that,

the answer hasn't come yet. But you're still

standing in faith believing. Oh, he begins to

take delight in that. That becomes a worship

unto him. That becomes an aroma that is pleasing

to him. Without faith, it's impossible to please

God. But with faith, I can be one that brings

pleasure to the Lord. This is what hope is all

about. This is what hope is all about. This is

what faith is all about. Do you know more than

receiving the answer at the end, which I thank

God happens, but more than receiving the answer

at the end of it all, I get to bring pleasure

to the Father. And I'm believing that this Christmas

season, that this story of Elizabeth would become

very real in your life. And that you will become

a person of hope. That is not dependent upon

your situation and how much money you make. But

it is dependent upon you standing in faith, believing.

Young people, stand in faith, believing God for

your friends to come to Christ. Stand in faith,

believing for the answer, for the miracle to

come in the name of Jesus. Faith produces pleasure

in God. God, I have the opportunity to bring

you pleasure. The opportunity to stand in faith.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Glory to

God. Praise the Lord. Faith. produces hope, believing

Him. You know, just say one more thing here.

When Mary entered the home and Elizabeth, her

baby side of her, Elizabeth's own description

is, He leapt in me. He leapt in me. And many

of you women know what it's like to have a baby

in your womb and you feel that baby move. I could

later on in Cammie's pregnancies feel the baby

kicking, moving, but she could feel it obviously

in a totally different way. For her to describe

that as the baby leaping, jumping. And in that

moment, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

It's powerful. Filled with the Holy Spirit. All

of that happened because Mary came into the house.

But it was more than that. It wasn't Mary so

much. It's that it was the child that Mary was

carrying. It was Jesus as an infant in the womb

coming in to Elizabeth's house. And even as an

infant, the power of God expressed through the

life of Mary, the power of God came into Elizabeth's

home and impacted the baby Elizabeth was carrying

and Elizabeth. And she recognized without Mary

even saying anything, she had a word from God.

You are carrying my Lord. That's what she said.

You're carrying my Lord. And you're blessed because

you are his mother. Just thinking about this,

the times later when Jesus, would enter homes

in his ministry. It was in a home celebrating

a wedding where Jesus turned the water into wine.

It was in a home, Peter's home, that Jesus came

in and the fever left. And Peter's mother -in

-law began to get up and serve them all. It happened

in a home. Jesus came in the home. It was in

a home that Jairus' daughter, the Roman soldier,

his daughter was dead. And when Jesus came into

the home, everything changed. And that daughter

who was dead, came to life. It was in a home

that the crippled man on a mat that was, remember

they dug through the roof, the thatched roof,

they dug through and they lowered that crippled

man down into that home. And that man stood up

to his feet and was healed. And it was because

Jesus came into a home. It was in a home where

Mary sat and worshipped and poured perfume on

Jesus' feet that was worth a year's wages. Think

about what you make in a year. She poured that

out at the feet of Jesus in one act of worship

in a home. Zacchaeus. In Zacchaeus' home, salvation

came to him. His life was turned around. And

after the resurrection, Jesus walked on the road

to Emmaus, and there were two disciples that

he started walking beside, and they didn't know

it was him, and they invited, they compelled

him. They didn't say Jesus. They didn't know

it was him. But they said, come into our home.

They compelled him to stay. And in their home,

Jesus ate with them and talked with them. And

when he revealed himself as the Christ, he disappeared.

And the two disciples were left looking at one

another. And they said, this were not our hearts

burning within us. It happened in a home. Here

in Elizabeth's home, she's filled with the Holy

Spirit. In Revelation chapter 3, Jesus said this,

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Knock.

And Jesus said this, if any man hears my voice,

he's calling out. He's calling out your name.

And if any man will open the door and let me

in, I'll come in. Who knows what Jesus will do.

He raises the dead. He fills people with the

Holy Spirit. He turns water into wine. He makes

provision where there was none. If you will open

the door and say, Jesus, come in. Will you allow

him in? Will you open the door of your home?

Will you open the door of your heart? Elizabeth

positioned herself. God, you're doing things

in the hearts of people around this room right

now. You're doing things in the hearts of people

at home right now. There's some here that have

lost hope. Do you want to restore hope to them?

There's some here that... The need for you to

come and just touch their heart. But there's

some here that, Lord, you want to come alongside

and you want to cheer on and you want to champion

because they are living Elizabeth right now against

everything. They are standing in faith, believing

God. So I'm going to, in a moment, just ask you

to stand. And I want you to stand for a couple

of things. One, I want you to stand if you're

here today, you're saying, you know what, I want

to open up the door to Christ. I have never opened

up my heart to Him. And this morning, I hear

Him calling me. He wants to do a work in your

life. And in a moment, if that's you, I'm going

to ask you to stand and say, yes, that's me.

If you're here this morning, and you're in the

midst of a tribulation, and you're saying, I

am standing. I am standing, but I want... I want

you to pray for me because I have been tempted

to lose hope. I have been tempted to not believe,

to throw in the towel. In a moment, I'm going

to ask you to stand. Some are already standing.

Because I want to pray with you. And I want to

cheer you on in your faith journey to stay strong.

If you're here this morning and you're just saying,

I want to grow in my faith. I want to grow in

my faith because I want to bring pleasure to

God. Then I want you to stand. So whatever the

reason this morning, if one of those things applies

to you, Just before the team begins to lead us

in a worship song, I want you to stand right

now in the name of Jesus. Say, yes, Lord, that's

me. Here I am, God. I want you to do that work

in my heart. I want you to do that work in my

life. In the name of Jesus, people all over this

room, thank you, Father, standing. Thank you,

God, for the courage that is in this room right

now. For people saying, you know what, it doesn't

matter what everybody else thinks. This is me

and you, Jesus. And I'm standing in faith, believing.

I'm standing in the midst of my trial. I want

to be a son or a daughter that brings pleasure

to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You at home right now,

if you want to stand up in your living room right

now, come on, just stand up right where you are.

And just begin to say, God, I want to be that

person. I want to be that son. I can't do it

without you, Lord. In and of myself, I'm nothing,

but I know that with you, I can stand. And I

thank you for the character that you're forming

in this room right now. I thank you for what

you're doing right now in Jesus' name. I thank

you, Father, for your goodness. Hallelujah.