Joseph | Clayton Hentzel

Oh, Crossing family, It is so good to be with you.

If you're thankful for Jesus. If you're thankful to be at

church today, can you put a little hands together?

Thankful. Thankful.

Thankful, Ma'am. Today we are starting a brand

new Christmas series called In the Middle of the Mess.

And for those of you who are New to The Crossing or New to The

Crossing because you haven't been around for a long time, I

am so glad that you are here. And I believe that this

Christmas series is going to be incredibly meaningful for your

life. And I'm going to encourage you

to be a part of this series every single week, and

especially during our Christmas Eve services.

And if you haven't found the service that you're attending

and found some people to come with you, I want to encourage

you to do that. How many of you guys know that

life can get a little messy? Yeah.

And how many of you know that sometimes the reason life is a

little bit messy is because of family?

Yeah, you guys have heard about the Hensel Thanksgiving.

Some of you maybe you're new to the Crossing.

You don't know about the the requirements.

When you become a Hensel, you will never eat Turkey with your

family again because Thanksgiving belongs to the

Hensels. And in trade, you get every

other holiday with your family. You get Labor Day, Memorial Day,

Flag Day, which is a big one. That's June 14th.

You get July 4th. If you want to get together and

let off fireworks, do that with your other family.

You get Christmas, Valentine's Day, however you want it.

But Thanksgiving belongs to the Hensels and you'll never see

your family again on Thanksgiving Day.

And so they all come in and we hang out at my parents house and

it's always a mess. Let me kind of walk you through

a little bit of our mess. This is how it starts.

These are two briskets, 12 racks of ribs, 3 turkeys and 120

pieces of chicken. We needed something to cook it

on. So this is Dad getting the grill

out or the the smoker 640 lbs. So we couldn't carry it.

So we had to get the tractor out and assemble it.

It's a job on top of a job. Then the boys spend their time.

This is Maddox and Zane and our golden dummy and he.

Then the rest of the friends show up and they ride their four

Wheelers. And then Monday night we we had

brisket, which was delicious. It is every year.

We're super thankful to God for that.

Then you have to start Monday night.

You have to start the marinating process on the ribs.

So you you start marinating the 12 racks of ribs and apple

juice, and that's delicious. And then you have to assemble a

team of people to actually make all 12 racks of ribs exactly the

way they're supposed to because you don't want them to take a

lot of time, you know, out of the smoker.

So then you load them back into the smoker.

Game on. We had to get a bigger grill

than because the one we had last year didn't work.

Then we have 3 turkeys now. You'll want to remember this for

next year. For those of you who are

planning on doing turkeys, all the recipes for how you're

supposed to do a Turkey, whether you're going to do it in the

oven, do it in a smoker, do it in a fryer, all of them will

give you like a, hey, you're going to want like a 10 to 12

LB. Bird and you're going to want to

remember that. Otherwise you'll do what I did,

which is forget that key thing, that about 10 to 12 LB birds is

what you're aiming for. Because this one was 16 lbs,

this one was 17 lbs and this one was 21 or 22 lbs, which will

drastically change your cook time and you'll want to have

that dialed in. So then this is all the people

preparing all the sides because the men take care of the meat.

And then OK, let me talk to you a little bit about here.

So this one was the smoked or the fried one.

Delicious. This one up here, Smoked one,

also delicious, but the one that's basically almost gone

already is the smoked fried one. And after first service, I've

had multiple people come up and they've given their life to

Jesus. Just because what I'm about

ready to tell you, you're going to want to put the Turkey on the

smoker at 2:50 for about three, 3 1/2 hours.

Let it get all that smoke flavor in there, and then drop it into

the fryer and fry it the rest of the way until it cries out to

Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Then you pull it out of the grave, you put it on the plate,

and you eat it. Listen, it's good on a level you

can't anyhow. I don't Just preach, folks.

Then let's go to the next thing. Here's the problem.

There's not enough room in the house for me like Joseph and

Mary. There's no room in the end and

so this is where I stayed at my parents house.

I don't, you know, I don't need plumbing.

I don't need air conditioning or heat.

Actually I did need heat. You'll notice something this

this tent is from 60 years ago. It's not it's got a lot of holes

in it. You'll be looking Clayton.

It doesn't look like there's a door.

There isn't there's a screen which you know in the middle of

the night when it's 28° and windy makes it a little chilly.

So we did put. So here's the picture inside.

This is me and the golden dummy and I had a person who would

spend a night with me one night and then they never came back.

Andre spent the night, Ben spent the night, Maddox spent a couple

nights and Suge did, but Maddox would take my spot.

There wasn't enough room on the cot for both of us.

Dad said that this is the wood burning stove was brand new and

he said don't overload it with wood because it could get too

hot and it could get dangerous. He doesn't know what he's

talking about because you can turn that baby into a

locomotive. That is not a reflection.

That is the fire burning its way through the metal it got.

And the reason why is in this tent, it would be so hot you'd

want to be in your underwear, and then it would become so cold

you'd have icicles in your armpits.

And so you had to, you had to hedge your bet towards the heat.

That was my Thanksgiving and it was a mess.

And you guys know this. Sometimes things in life do not

go as planned. How many of you have had things

in your life not go as planned? All you're going to love this

sermon. However, the choices that we

make in the middle of the mess can make all the difference.

The choices that you and I make in the middle of the mess can

make all the difference. I want to welcome those of you

joining from all of our different locations, those of

you watching online and inside. I am so glad that you are here,

and my hope is that during this series, as you participate and

fully engage, that you will make the right choice in the middle

of your mess and see how God will use it for His glory.

You see, the arrival of Jesus was anticipated, but it was

unexpected. Far from the beautiful, peaceful

nativity, the calm, clear nights depicted on Christmas cards and

in Christmas carols. The arrival of Jesus into this

world was incredibly messy, and it's in the middle of this mess

that we will see people making a choice that made all the

difference. You have Joseph and Mary, the

wise men, the shepherds. They all had choices to make,

and the choices that you and I make in the middle of our mess

could very well help bring Jesus into the world of those we love.

Take Joseph for an example. Everyone wants to talk about

Mary. Everyone wants to talk about the

angels and the wise men and the shepherds.

But not a whole lot of time is spent talking about Joseph.

And I want you to notice this, that in the middle of the mess

Joseph chooses to trust. Today I want us to spend some

time in Joseph's Carhartts. I say Carhartts because Joseph

was a working class man. He was a Carpenter, a stone

Mason. He had way more in common with

factory workers and welders and construction workers than he did

with insurance agents and loan officers and supply chain

managers. This was a guy who put on work

clothes because he wasn't trying to be fashionable.

He actually had work that needed to get done and we got to

capture pretty much the entire story of Joseph in the first or

in a couple of verses in Matthew chapter one.

Look what it says. This is how the birth of Jesus

the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to

be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found

to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law and yet did

not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to

divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this

an Angel, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph,

son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife

because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name

Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said.

Through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and

give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which

means God with us. And when Joseph woke up, he did

what the Angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home

as his wife. But he did not consummate their

marriage until she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name

Jesus. Imagine the mess that Joseph

found himself in. Joseph is engaged.

He is more than likely been working on building a room off

the side of his father's house. Well, you know that how this

comes about. Jesus says I'm going to prepare

a place for you. In my father's house are many

rooms. What a man who was engaged would

do is he would go to his father's house and he would add

on while they were engaged, a place for him and his family to

dwell. So Joseph is working on this

project. He's more than likely having his

family watch him struggle as he tries to put everything in place

and make it just right. Ladies, imagine for a second

that your husband was in charge of decorating and making the

place without any of your input. What a peaceful world that would

be. He's fighting with his mom to

make it just the way he wants it for Mary.

And like all mother in laws, she has an opinion not just on how

things are supposed to be placed, but she also has

opinions about Mary. She's like a lot of moms, she's

nervous about whether or not Mary will love Joseph the way

Joseph deserves to be loved. We know that Joseph is a man of

not much means. He's poor.

We find out about his poverty or we get some insight into it when

they show up at the consecration of Jesus in Jerusalem.

Look what it says in Luke chapter 2 verse 22.

Luke 2:22

When the time came for the purification rights required by

the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to

present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of

the Lord, every first born male is to be consecrated to the Lord

and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the

law of the Lord. A pair of doves or two young

pigeons and you're all going. I don't understand what makes

them so poor. Well, that's why you have to go

back to Leviticus. You know the book that we like

to skip over. You'll be amazed how many times

the book that we don't want to read in the Old Testament is

actually referenced in the New Testament.

Look what it says all the way in Leviticus.

When the days of her purification for a son or

daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the

entrance to the tent of meeting a year old lamb for a burnt

offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.

He shall offer them before the Lord to make atonement for her,

and she will be ceremonial clean from her flow of blood.

These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a

boy or a girl. But if she cannot afford a lamb,

she is to bring 2 doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt

offering and the other for a sin offering.

In this way the priest will make atonement for her and she will

be clean. So God has chosen Joseph who is

a person who doesn't have a lot of financial margin and he makes

a big mess in his life. The 2nd take away inside of

here? This is just a little nugget for

you. Did you notice what kind of

sacrifice Mary offers? She offers a sin offering.

This would go against the teaching that some of you may

have grown up in, that Mary was without sin and perpetually

without sin. Why would she be offering a sin

offering if she had not sinned? So Joseph is poor.

He's been working on building this room onto his parents

house. He's been navigating all the

trials associated with it. And then Mary comes to him and

she says I'm pregnant. Now you guys have had somebody

tell you that at some point in time, but imagine being Joseph

and hearing that. The logical question is by who?

And she says God. And he goes, I get it, you know,

God's the creator of all things, and we're all his children.

But like, who's the father Goddess?

He has to choose that she is telling the truth, takes an

Angel to the Lord to show up and convince him.

Then he has to go back and tell his family.

And let me ask you this question.

How would you have handled that news?

Like, if I'm after church today, you guys go home and someone

tells you this story, are you going, oh, praise God, right?

Mary has way more in common with somebody who's mentally ill than

someone who is highly favored. The natural conclusion is you're

crazy. Take away #1.

Just because you're in a mess does not mean that you're doing

anything wrong. Now, there's some of you.

Me too, that we're in messes because we've messed up.

But it is incredibly possible for you to be in the middle of a

mess relationally, occupationally, financially,

physically, spiritually. And now I've done anything

wrong. Some messes are not because of

mess UPS. Well, there is chances for you

and I to mess things up. Sometimes you can be in a mess

and be right where God wants you.

Maybe you're taking new ground and the terrain is unfamiliar.

Maybe you find yourself in a mess because you're being pushed

out of your spiritual comfort zone.

You you guys know this. Nobody grows in their comfort

zone. Your comfort zone is kryptonite

to your growth and faith in Christ Jesus.

And when you choose to step out of your comfort zone, you're

going to make a bit of a mess. And when you're The comfort zone

is a kryptonite to your faith that keeps you from experiencing

all that God has for you, you can be tempted.

I want to keep everything orderly and in its place.

But when we step out in faith, we can create messes.

You might be in a mess because you're doing something for God

that you've never done before. You might be in a mess because

there are things that are happening that are completely

out of your control. Maybe it's at work.

Some of you, we all found ourselves in a bit of a mess a

couple years ago. They gave it a name.

COVID. Right?

You see, we're like, oh, don't bring it up, OK, You started to

get the shakes again. OK, listen, COVID was a gigantic

mess, and it didn't happen because you're a bunch of

sinners. It just happened.

We found our self in a mess. Our sin didn't 'cause it, but we

all had to deal with it. And Joseph in the middle of the

mess chose to trust God. And when you find yourself in a

mess, your decision should be to trust God as well.

Because you trying to handle it, you trying to navigate it, you

trying to push yourself through it is rarely going to work.

In fact, look back through your life.

How effective has that been? The Bible says tells us, Don't

lean on your own understanding, but in all your ways.

Acknowledge him and he'll make your path straight.

So when we try to trust ourselves to navigate the

messes, we're going to find ourselves in really bad spots.

But the more rooted you are in God's Word, the more you listen

to the Holy Spirit, the more you trust in God's ways and God's

purposes, the more rooted you will be.

And the more rooted you are, the more you'll be able to handle

the storms of life. Because you know this.

Messes happen. Storms happen.

In fact, Jesus tells us that storms will happen to you

whether you follow him or not. For those of you who aren't

Jesus followers yet, you might be under the impression that if

you say yes to Jesus, you won't have any more storms in your

life. Let me tell you.

Not true. In fact, Jesus goes out of his

way to say whether you trust him or you don't.

Storms are going to happen. Don't get mad at me.

Get mad at him. Look what he says.

Luke Chapter 6. You can go home and read it for

Luke 6 · chapter mention

yourself. Why do you call me Lord, Lord,

and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me

and hears my words and puts them into practice, I'll show you

what they're like. So I'm going to give you a

preview. That's what she's saying.

If you don't know what it's like for people who come to me, hear

my words and put them into practice.

This is what their life is going to look like.

They're like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid

the foundation on rock when a flood came.

Are you noticing that he does not say floods don't show up at

Christians houses, messes don't show up for people who believe

in Jesus? He's not saying that.

He's saying check this out. When you're a Christian, you're

still going to have some storms. The torrents struck that house

but could not shake it because it was well built.

Here's what he's saying. When you're a Christian and you

trust in God, the storms are going to come, but you're going

to survive. But here's what happens to

people who don't do that, but the one who hears my words and

does not put them into practice. Here's what he's saying.

You can come to church, listen to the sermon, raise your hand

just as high as everybody else. During worship, drink just as

much communion juice as everybody else.

But if you don't take the words of God and apply them in your

life, this is what your life will look like.

Who does not put them into practices?

Like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its

destruction was complete. Another way of saying hear my

words and put them into practice.

You can just sum it up into one word.

Trust that when you find yourself in a mess, you have to

choose to trust God. You can show for all the

churches services you want. You can give all the money you

want, drink as much chameleon juice you want, pray as long as

you want. But storms are going to show up

in your life. Messes are going to happen.

The truth of God's word is this. I'm not going to keep storms

from happening. I'm just going to get you

through the storms. How many of you have been

through a storm and you're still standing?

That's because you took God at his word.

You put your trust in him. And when the storm was over, the

winds can blow against your house, but it can't blow you

over. The rain can fall on your house,

but it's not getting in this. The waters can rise, but they're

not sweeping you away. You know what happens is after

you've been a Christian for a really long time, you just know

that there's a storm and you don't even bother to get an

umbrella, right? Have you ever noticed that's how

US Midwesterners are when it's raining out?

Most of us. I'm not going to make you raise

your hand. Most of us don't carry around

umbrellas. Here's what I've noticed.

The slower you walk, the more likely you are to have an

umbrella. But most of us, we just get out

of our car and this is what we do.

Now I have a question for you. What is it about this part of

our neck that's so important that like we get up, woo, we

don't care about our hair, our makeup.

We just are worried about this strip, which we don't even have

a name for. We don't even, we haven't even

named that part of our neck because there's the front part,

there's a side part of our neck. But we just this unnamed part.

We're just like, oh, it's storming out.

It's not ready, OK, but that's how we operate.

We're so seasoned in the storm that we're just like, all right,

I'm going thrill. And that is literally what

happens to us when we place our faith in Jesus.

We already know we're going through.

We're just going to get wet. And some of you are going.

If I start my relationship with Jesus, there won't be any

storms. Oh no, no, no, no.

It's going to rain all the time. When you're a Christian, the

difference is you're not going through the storm alone, and the

difference is you're going through the storm.

It will happen to you, but it will not defeat you.

If those of you who trust in the Lord will be standing after the

storm, take away #2. Just because you're trusting God

does not mean that the road will be easy.

Some of you are like Clayton. I brought a friend to church

this weekend, and you are not doing a good sales pitch.

Listen, we're going to read all the fine print, OK?

Look at what had to happen in Joseph's life.

Let's slow way down. Joseph denied his marital right

and chose not to consummate his marriage.

He put his sex drive on the altar he's been building.

Imagine your honeymoon being at your parents house.

Joseph's a good Jewish boy, hasn't had sex before he got

married. He's been looking forward to

this day. He's been adding a little extra

insulation on the room. He's been doing double drywall

and offsetting the screws. That was a joke for the

construction workers in here, right?

He's going. We're going with the Rockwall

insulation here. Oh, you're oh, you're pregnant.

OK, well, I'm just not going to have sex with you until you've

had the baby. Now, how long until you have

Nine months? God, why can't you make babies

in, like, 9 hours? Why 9-9 months?

Crazy, isn't it? Joseph put his sex drive on the

altar. Think about how much pain and

sorrow has happened in our world because people cannot do the

same. They can't surrender their sex

drive to Jesus, he denied his right to a divorce, said.

I guess I'm going to stay with the person that everybody thinks

is crazy. He had to lay that on the altar

as well. He gave up his right to name his

child. He put that on the altar as

well, the house, the room that he's been building, and he

couldn't wait to bring his family there and let them spend

time in it. He doesn't get to do that

either. He's told that he has to go to

Bethlehem 70 miles away, and then he gets to come back 70

miles. And then Herod wants to kill all

the babies in the area, so he has to leave and go to Egypt.

100 miles. This isn't in a car.

This isn't in Tesla, where you're looking for a place to

fill out. No, he's got to walk there, and

he's got to live as a refugee, away from his family, away from

his friends, away from the house that he built.

Here's Joseph following God, doing what he said, trusting

him. And none of it's easy, but it

was the right thing to do. If you think that following

Jesus is going to be easy, it's not.

Some of you, you know, haven't started a relationship with

Jesus. You're like, well, how hard can

it be? Let me just give one of them.

Love your enemies. Yeah.

Like, but Clayton, I have an ex-wife.

Yeah. Yeah, that's that's just one of

the things that God calls us to. The life that God calls us to is

not an easy life. It's just the best life.

Trusting in God for Joseph wasn't at the easy thing.

It was the right thing. Take my #3.

Just because you're in a mess does not mean that God is not at

work. We all know this story.

You have heard this story for as many years as or as many times

as you are old. We know this story.

We know these stories front and back.

We've heard a version of it every year that we've been

alive. However, what would it have been

like to walk through this story in first person viewer mode?

I mean, we're so used to seeing it through the rear view mirror,

but what would it have been like for Joseph?

Going through this in the windshield?

You see, we see God using Joseph to provide and protect and care

for a vulnerable woman and a baby.

We see God using Joseph to protect the Savior of the world

and His infancy. But hear me, the same is true

for us today that when we choose to trust God, he uses it to

bring Jesus into the world of those we love.

Joseph chose to trust God, and not only was He able to see a

miracle take place, he was able to be part of the miracle.

And I wonder how many times you and I have missed out on a

powerful experience with God. An answer to a prayer that we

prayed to God because we chose to walk away right before God

showed off. I wonder how many times we've

been in the middle of a mess and God was about ready to make a

way and we chose not to trust. I wonder how many times we've

been so close to seeing a miracle, so close to being a

part of a miracle, but we chose to trust in our own ways.

Here is what God is inviting us to to trust him and let him deal

with the consequences. He's asking you and me, when we

find ourselves in a mess, not to try and handle it, not to try

and push through it, not to try and sort it out.

He's asking us to trust him. And when you choose to trust

God, it makes all the difference.

And I'm hoping that you guys will do what Joseph did.

Joseph chose to trust God and it made all the difference.

And I want us to do the same. We're moving to a time of

decision. So there's some of you in here

today. You are in a mess.

And this mess is sin. This isn't the kind of mess that

Joseph was in. Joseph hadn't done anything

wrong. But the mess that you're in is

100% because of you. We have sinned.

We fall short of God. We have made a mess, and some of

you, you've been trying to fix it your own way for a really

long time. Some of you, you've you've tried

to ignore it, thinking it'll go away, but it doesn't.

You've tried to hide it, but it keeps showing back up.

You tried to swallow it, you tried to drink your way through

it, but the mess remains. This is a mess that you can't

fix. But here's Jesus promise.

Jesus says bring the mess to me. And I know that that sounds

crazy to you. Why would God want your mess?

Why would God want the worst of you?

Because our God is so good. It's the same kind of God who

would send his Son to earth for us.

And he's looking at you and he's going, When are you?

When are you going to just give that to me?

When are you going to take all the mess ups, all the mistakes,

the things that you hide from everybody else around you?

When are you going to give it to me?

And if you would place your mess more than that, your life in his

hands? The Bible tells us at least two

things. One that when you put your life

in his hands, he promises that he will never let go.

If you are not close with God today, I can promise you it

wasn't him who walked away. If you're not close with God

today, I can tell you he is not the one who let go because he

will never let go. The 2nd promises is that He will

give us a new life, a new heart, a new spirit.

So if you're here today and you don't want to have to navigate

the mess by yourself anymore, if you're here today and you want

to experience forgiveness and love, if you want to be made

new, if you want your life in His hands, you can have it.

You can start an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus

Christ today, and in just a few moments, the people around you,

some of them, are going to come up to the steps and pray, and

some of them are going to raise their hands and lift their

voices and sing. But I want to encourage you to

walk right over there by that baptistery, and somebody would

meet you and would love an opportunity to talk with you

about how to start that relationship with Jesus.

But to the rest of you in the room, more than likely there's a

mess that you've been avoiding. There's a thing that God's

calling you to that you just don't want to do, and he keeps

bringing it up and you keep sidestepping it because you

don't want the mess, you don't want the drama.

It's just easier to ignore it than to have to trust God

through it. And God is always at work, and

He's always calling us the stuff.

And maybe you've been hearing it over and over and over again for

a long period of time and you've just been avoiding the very

thing that God is calling you to.

But today I want to challenge you to take the very step that

you know you've been putting off a while back.

Maybe like 6-7 weeks ago it was just a normal day, came home

hanging out the house, get the kids tucked in.

And I sit down and Jennifer and I always kind of sit down and

hang out for a little bit every night before we go to bed.

And and she goes, hey, so I got a call today about taking care

of a baby. And would you be willing to

like, could we just foster a baby for like, you know, three

to six months? And I'm like, that is not how I

saw tonight panning out, right. And this is not ideal timing.

Christmas is crazy busy. We've got a bunch of different

trips we've got to navigate. And we're in the middle of

redoing our house. And so, like, there's dust and

dirt and stuff everywhere. And we're showering on two

different floors and I'm a crank.

No, that's a, you know, this could be pretty messy.

So we said yeah, right now. Hold on.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. We didn't end up.

They ended up not needing us. So we didn't do anything

special. So I don't want you guys to go.

This guy's awesome now, OK, hear me.

I just know that we knew it was going to be messy and we had to

make a decision about whether or not we were going to be trusting

God in the middle of a mess. Now that was me saying yes to

that, but you need another one. So someone made me incredibly

angry about four years ago, Angry at a level that I have

never been to before. And I every time I see him, I

try to pray for him. I drive by it all the time.

I see it from my house, it just eats me.

And you'd be amazed that a person who loves God can have

that big of a dark spot in their heart because boy, it was there.

And I would say for the last six months, I've been feeling God on

a regular basis. Tell me that I'm supposed to do

something for them. And I come to invitation time

just like you do. And I feel like I'm supposed to

do something and then boy, do I wiggle, right?

Found out that they are navigating cancer.

And I feel, and I know that one of them for sure has

communicated that they do not have a relationship with Jesus.

And I'm going, how do I, how do I help rewrite that story?

And so I feel, like, clear as I'll get out, I'm supposed to

give them a significant amount of money to help them navigate

whatever, you know, cancer costs are associated.

And then it's messy. Like, do you give them a check

And if they hate you still and they don't cash it and then you

close the account, then years from now they do find it.

They do cash. And the checks come like, oh,

that was just like the world's greatest prank from a pastor a

check to an account that doesn't exist.

Like, OK, well then do you give them, do you give them cash?

And then what if they just throw the card away and they don't

know? Like, it was messy.

And so I'm using those logistical concerns to keep me

from being obedient. Tracking.

And I wonder, like, what if God is asking me to just be obedient

and maybe they'll be a miracle? Like what happens if they show

up in this room because the person that can't stand them

wrote them a card? What if our generosity leads to

them being curious about spirituality?

So yesterday I'm trying to write sermons on the wise men.

I'm trying to get stuff done and I just cannot get a single thing

done because I preached this sermon on Thursday, which is the

dumbest idea ever. Why do we have Thursday church?

Because I'm going. How can I land the plane on

Thursday knowing the step that I've been putting off for months

and then ask the people in our church to take the step that

they've been putting off? So yesterday, I can't get

anything done. And I'm like, I'm finally going

to do the thing that I've been putting off.

And then I give it to the boys and I send them down the street

to give it to him. And the only reason I'm telling

you is I don't know what God's going to do.

I just know that I'm supposed to do what he called me to do.

And I'm sure you have an area of your life too, that you need to

trust him in. And what I'm choosing to believe

is that you won't regret it. Would you stand with me, God?

Only you know what kind of grounds could be taken in our

hearts, in our lives, in our families and our communities.

Only you know. But God, we want you to write a

better story. God, we want you to write a

story in our lives that shows a watching world, that you're

still moving, that you're still worthy to be trusted and

followed and obeyed. And so, God, here we are, messed

up, broken people, asking you to give us the strength and the

courage to trust you again, whether it's big or small.

God, give every person in here and watch it online the courage

to trust you again, the courage to trust you and to leave the

consequences up to you. And you name my praying.

Amen.