290 ~ THE PROMISE THE PROMISE GIVER THE PROMISE KEEPER ~ PART 1

We welcome you to the Via Zion Sermon podcast.

We are a church based out of Chennai, India.

We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will

be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear.

Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of

purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus.

The year 2025 is 1 where we will be positioned by God to possess

our promise. As we are in the Advent season,

we look afresh at Jesus, the quintessential promise.

Whatever this year has looked like with its highs and lows, we

bring it all back to Jesus, without whom this year would

have been empty and unbearable. He isn't just a promise that God

made, but He is the promise giver and promise keeper.

As you noticed, we've started our newest series, the Advent

series called the promise the promise giver and the promise

keeper. As you know from the name, it's

very obvious the whole series is about Jesus.

The whole year we've been standing on this word that God

gave us, which is position to possess the promise.

And you know, I mean, all of us who have walked through this

year was tough when you take an analysis of the year, this year

was crushing. This year was difficult.

This year was full of testing, a lot of trials.

But the beautiful thing was that God has positioned us uniquely

in our own lives to kind of be ready for what is next.

And I believe God is bringing a season of restoration.

He's bringing recompense. And this month we're going to be

so focused on Jesus because he's the greatest gift.

It's a season of gift giving. It's a season of receiving

gifts. But the greatest gift is Jesus.

Imagine what our lives would be like if we didn't have his name

to call on. Imagine what this life would

look like if we didn't have his companionship at all times.

I can't picture my life like that.

And today we're going to be looking at Jesus the Son.

Jesus the Son. We look at Jesus the Son because

Jesus had earthly parents who play such a vital role in the

first Christmas story. When we look at the book of

Matthew, Matthew chapter one, verse 16, it says and Jacob the

father of Joseph, the husband of Mary and Mary was the mother of

Jesus who is called the Messiah. This is the at the right at the

end of the genealogy of Jesus that it mentions who his parents

where and it continues in verse 18, it says the title says

Joseph accepts Jesus as his son. 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 of the Lord

appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph's 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 her 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. 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.

Matthew chapter 2 verses 13 to 14 continues.

Matthew 2:13–14

This is when Jesus is a little older.

They say he was probably a early toddler, you know, probably 1

1/2 and two. And it says the the wise men

came and visited them and left. And Herod was really mad that he

had missed out on seeing this baby king.

He was so insecure and he was looking for a way to find the

Messiah and kill him. And this is where it leads us,

verse 13 when they had gone, an Angel of the Lord appeared to

Joseph in a dream and said, get up.

He said. Take the child and his mother

and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you.

But Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and

left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.

And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the

prophet out of Egypt I called my son.

Continuing with verse 19 from chapter 2, it says after Herod

died, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in

Egypt and said, get up, take the child and his mother, and go to

the land of Israel. For those who were trying to

take the child's life are dead. So he got up to the child and

his mother and went to the land of Israel.

But when he heard that Achilles was reigning in Judea and place

of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of

Galilee and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.

So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he

would be called a Nazarene. This is Matthew the the book of

Matthew the apostle Matthew writes this whole narrative and

from it it's so clear that Joseph and Mary had their work

cut out for them. Joseph especially.

He had this job of guarding this little helpless infant who was

actually God in the flesh, right?

And he had to nurture this baby as well as his new bride who he

barely knew. And he had just kind of been

dunked into the role of fatherhood.

Now, the the writer Luke, right, he writes it a bit differently.

So let's look at Luke chapter 2 verses one to five.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

It says in those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a

census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

This was the first census that took place while Quiranius was

governor of Syria and everyone went to their own town to

register. So Joseph also went up from the

town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to Bethlehem, the town of

David, because he belonged to the house in line of David.

He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be

married to him and was expecting a child.

Luke chapter 2, verses 16 to 19 continues about how the

Luke 2:16–19

shepherds, you know, hear from the angels about, you know,

today there's a there's a Savior born to you in the city of

David. And so these guys.

Are coming to visit Jesus. Verse 16.

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who

was lying in the Manger. When they had seen him, they

spread the word concerning what had been told them about this

child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherd said

to them. But Mary treasured up all these

things and pondered them in her heart.

Fast forward to when Mary and Joseph had to bring him to the

temple. I think it's about 8 days after

they are born that they have to be brought to the temple for a a

purification ritual. And this is what we read chapter

2 verses 22 to 23. It says 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.

Verse. 33 to 35 and this is when they take Jesus as a baby to the

temple and Simeon and Anna meet them.

There are two people who have been waiting years.

The Holy Spirit had told them that this, this child is coming.

God is going to be in your midst.

He's going to save your people. And they are waiting in

anticipation, and they encounter Jesus with his parents.

Verse 33. The child's father and mother

marveled at what was said about him.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, This

child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in

Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that

the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, and a sword will

Pierce your own soul. To verse 39.

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the law

of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of

Nazareth, and the child grew and became strong.

He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Why did I pick these bits of scripture from here and there

from two different gospels? Both these gospels have

beautiful accounts of that first Christmas story.

And, you know, all of us who write scripts, who direct plays,

we take these as our, you know, foundational passages and we

build on it. We have so much of creative

license. We bring in the hay.

We have cardboard cutouts of animals.

If you can afford real animals and you have a place outdoors,

you could probably use them. And we have created the story so

beautifully. But today we're going to be

looking at Mary and Joseph specifically as two people that

God used for his purposes. Were they extra holy than

others? I don't believe so.

They were human like us, but there was something

distinctively favourable about them that God chose them because

he said when he. When the Angel Gabriel met Mary,

he said greetings to you Highly favoured 1.

And when it came to Joseph, he was such an upright man that

when he heard about Mary's predicament, he could have

publicly divorced her and created a scandal, but he chose

to do it privately to protect her.

And it shows the goodness of this man's heart.

And God chose these two people. And I believe that Mary was a

vessel while Joseph was a steward.

And I believe God is calling us. He's inviting us to look at

their lives and examine ourselves and say, hey, are you

a vessel in the Kingdom? Are you a vessel for Jesus?

Are you a steward in the Kingdom?

Or are you someone who needs all the spotlight on you?

Are you someone who's so desperate to be an owner that

you're unwilling to be a steward?

That's the question I want to ask of you today.

Let's look at Mary first. Mary was a vessel.

What does that look like? She was a literal vessel for the

Messiah to be born. Her womb held this growing child

that was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

She was a virgin. And so this child that was being

conceived in her was by a process called parthenogenesis

where there was number fusion of sperm and egg, but it was

supernatural. So this child was of pure blood.

There was number contamination, there was number mixing with

another man, and this child was being brought forth.

She was carrying him in her body.

And it was probably so inconvenient, so painful, so

tiring, and yet so rewarding because she was birthing the

Messiah, the Saviour of the world, one that had been

prophesied for thousands of years, and she was bringing it

to fruition. And I believe that just like

Mary, all of us are called to be vessels for God.

You know, every follower of Jesus, every disciple of Jesus

must be willing to be a vessel. And the thing about a vessel is

this, you know, in our Indian homes, we have these vessels

that are used in the kitchen. And then there's those different

vessels which make it to the dining table, right?

And I just have with me an example of that.

So in, in our Indian cooking, we have these clay pots where we

make our fish Curry and you know, certain other gravies

which taste extra better in this, but these will never make

it to the dining table because we'll look, look at it.

It's so ordinary. There's nothing, you know,

nothing frilly or fluffy or attractive about it, but it

serves the purpose in the kitchen.

But what we? Do ultimately choose for the

table for public usage and viewing is something that looks

this beautiful. We go for the exterior.

We want it shiny. We want it to look like crystal.

It should look expensive. Well, it should hold stuff, but

we're so concerned about what it looks like.

And I believe that when it comes to being a vessel, most of us

are so concerned about the external appearance of

ourselves. We want to look put together.

We want to look spotless without any kind of flaw.

We want to put a best self forward.

You know, simple example is when we're taking a picture at home,

when we're staging the picture, we're putting everybody getting

the dog in the picture. And you know, and it'll be

usually so funny. There'll be someone's footwear,

their flip flops will be right in the middle.

Like a bad penny of that photon. We would have missed it and so

we always are trying to curate our photos, making sure there no

flip flops, making sure there's no old drying clothes anywhere

in the background. There no water bottles, those

big plastic ones that you know, spoil.

All good photos. We're trying to clear it up so

we have this perfect family photo, but I wonder if even in

our spiritual, in a spiritual sense, we're so careful about

curating the perfect external image of this vessel and missing

what God really wants to do Deeper Matthew chapter 23, verse

Matthew 23:25–26

25 to 26. Jesus himself thought about this

and he addressed a certain group of people and I don't, I'm sure

you and I don't want to be associated with these guys, but

let's just see what he says. Verse 25 Woe to you teachers of

the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are

full of greed and self indulgence.

Blind Pharisee first clean the inside of the cup and dish and

then the outside. Will be clean.

Does that describe you and me? We're so concerned in whether

our makeup is all on point. We're so concerned whether, you

know, I have that, if you're a guy and you need that man bun

and that perfectly shaped gear or what is going on inside.

Because God cares so much more for.

What is happening inside than how we present on the outside.

That being said, our hygiene is important.

Being dressed well is important. Being put together is important.

It's not everything. There is so much more that God

is desiring from us. You know, and it's interesting

thing that in Two Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7, Paul says

that we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this

all surpassing power is from God and not from us.

And I would urge you that you would remember that we are like

jars of clay. This is me.

If I had to be described better, I think it would be I am like

this jar of clay. But the beautiful thing is this

Christ in me, the hope of glory, which means what is inside me

that makes me priceless, that makes me glorious, because it is

Christ in me. It is the treasure that is

within me. It is the surpassing power from

God. Whatever I achieve once I know

Jesus is not because of me, it's because of the power of God

within me. If it is endurance that I have,

if it is a peace that I have, if it's a joy that I have, it's not

because of me because I'm just an earthen vessel.

It is because of the power of God within me.

So it's so important that we understand that embellishing the

surface is not everything. It isn't even and doesn't even

help. God cares more about a deep

cleanse of what's inside and even as we.

Look at this. What does it look like if we

were meant to carry God's power in us, if we meant to carry his

glory? Many times in this vessel, in

this human vessel, with my emotions, with my, with my

feelings, with all of this, sometimes I'm carrying the wrong

things. And because I'm carrying these

wrong things like bitterness and anger and envy and and jealousy

and these old things that I haven't forgiven, there's lesser

room for the things of God, right?

And like Jesus said to the Pharisees, you're full of greed

and indulgence. And I, when I looked at myself

this week as I was preparing this, I had so much to repent of

just for one year, forget 41 years of my life, but I had to

just look at this year and go, God, there's so much of gunk in

there. And I want this vessel to be

cleared up so that your glory can fill it to its fullest, so

that your power can reside in me.

So I want to ask you, what are you carrying inside that is not

giving room for Jesus, for his? Power, what are you carrying

that could be defiling your testimony for Christ to Timothy?

To Timothy, chapter 2 versus 20 to 21.

Paul writes this to Timothy. He says now in a great house

there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of

wood in place, some for honorable use, some for

dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses

himself from what is dishonorable.

He will be a vessel for honourable you, set apart as

holy, useful to the Master of the House, ready for every good

work. What is he talking about here?

He's saying if anyone cleanses himself from the things that

make it make you dishonourable. What are the?

Things that potentially make us dishonourable could be a sexual

sin. It could be repetitive addiction

to substances that are defiling your body.

It could be a toxic relationship.

It could be deep seated anger that you are refusing to let go.

It could be generational unforgiveness that you carry.

What are the things that are making you dishonorable?

God is saying cleanse it so that you will be a vessel for

honorable use. A vessel, right?

The function of a vessel is determined by personal purity

and not pedigree. Many of us think we're

ancestrally Christian. Oh, I know, I know the

Scriptures, I know it by heart. I know these Christian songs.

I've been in Sunday school, my pedigree, my Christian pedigree

is sorted, but God cares more for personal purity.

You can be a Christian for 10 generations, but if your life

between you and God, there is a huge block because of your the

things that you are allowed to come in and defile your vessel.

God is calling you today and saying will you choose personal

purity because that determines your function as a vessel for me

to be used by God. He desires personal purity.

What are some of the things that cause us to become dishonorable?

What are some of the things that we allow to leak leak into our

lives, causing us? To be so dishonorable. 1

1 Thessalonians 4:3–4

Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3 to 4, it says, but this is the

will of God, your sanctification, that you should

abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how

to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.

This is what God is calling us to, a life that pursues

holiness, a life that desires to be pure in the eyes of God.

You know, the way we perceive purity is so different nowadays.

People hate the word pure, they hate the word holy.

But I want to encourage you that you would get into God's word

and say, Lord, you show me what this purity is that you desire

of Maine. What is it that God sees in you?

He loves you with your baggage and all, but like I always say,

He loves you too much to leave you that way.

Because it is when I choose personal purity, when I decide

to expose my life to the light of Jesus, that my vessel, this

being of mine, gets to be used for greater things.

Can you and I set ourselves up to be vessels of honor, of

sanctification and all? What does it mean to be a vessel

of sanctification? I have given room for the Holy

Spirit to to sanctify me on a physical level, on a spiritual

level, on an emotional level. That is what it looks like.

And you know, I was reading this, this small tidbit that was

in one of the concordances that I was referring, and it just, it

shook me. It said in Scripture the vessel

is never an end in itself, whether a household.

Ish a temple utensil or a redeemed Sinner.

Its worth lies on the one who fills and wields it.

Isn't that amazing? So my question to you is this.

If you say yes, I'm a vessel for Jesus, I'm a vessel in his

hands, is it him who fills you? Is it him who uses you?

Who wields it? Who fills it?

That's where the power lies, not even in the vessel, because like

we said, we're just clay, you know, clay jars, That's all we

are. But the one who handles us, He's

the one that matters, the one who fills us.

So my question is, what are you filling yourself upon?

Is it Jesus that fills you up? Is it His Word?

Is it His Spirit's anointing that is filling you up?

Or are you filling up on things that please your flesh?

Are you filling yourself up on what the world pushes you to

fill up on? Food, possessions, sex,

substances? What is it that you are filled

up with? Secondly, who is it that uses

you? Is it that one relationship?

Are your desires holding you to ransom?

Is your need for more stuff accumulating of stuff?

Is it your relationships that dictate your life?

Is it your work that holds you or are you?

Allowing God to use you as he sees fit.

Because if you aren't, if you say, you know what, it's not

Jesus that fills me up. It is not Jesus who uses me.

You may need to rethink if you really are a vessel.

And it's not too late to say, Jesus, I'm here.

Please empty out from me all that is not of you so that I can

be a vessel for honorable use. Think about it.

When Mary said yes to the assignment that was given to

her, she was effectively ending her youth.

She was basically saying she must have been a late teenager,

must have been 17 or 18 or maybe younger, I don't know.

But she was saying yes to the one of the toughest assignments

of her life. She was a virgin, was going to

give birth. It was inconvenient.

It was it was probably preposterous in those times,

people probably looked down at her, pointed at her on the

street. But here she was willing to

carry this to completion. And then bringing him birth.

She must have watched him navigate the simple things of

childhood. There must have been hardships

along the way. She had many more children after

that. And yet she had to navigate all

of these things. A vessel where there was

something about her, there was that purity in her that made her

the perfect vessel. Today God is saying no matter

what your baggage is, no matter how you have defiled yourself,

it's not too late. The blood of Jesus has washed us

clean. You need to step under that

flood. You need to say yes to Jesus so

that that blood washes you clean again and you pursue God.

As you pursue God, you grow in holiness.

That's the beautiful thing. A vessel is always filled to be

emptied again and again, and that's what God is calling you

to. He says I will use you for

honorable purposes. What are the honorable purposes?

To be the hands and feet of Jesus on the earth to, to bless

the earth in some way. That's what a vessel does.

It gets poured out into someone else's life.

It gets poured out into a part of society.

It gets poured out into a part of the church.

And God is saying, I will fill you, but I'll keep emptying you

out so that I can fill you some more, so that you grow some

more. And I want to.

Ask you, Are you ready for that? You know, many of us assume that

if I have other things in this vessel, you know that, you know,

even the anointing can coexist with that.

I'm not one to argue. I'm not going to argue with you

about whether that can coexist, but the problem with giving room

for the things that defile you is that it will eventually take

over your life. We can't play with these things

that tend to defile us. If it's that one relationship is

that one addiction that you have given into and you have

justified saying you probably deserve it, probably need it,

you can't do without it. I want to tell you the story

that I was reading this week. There was this man who owned a

beautiful house. All of a sudden a new person in

town comes, comes up to him and says I'd like to buy your house.

Now, this is a family house. He has children, he has

grandchildren. There's no way he wants to buy

this. He wants to give up this house.

He says, no, I'm sorry, the house is not for sale.

But this man is so persistent. He looks through The Who.

He says, can I see your house? And he says, well, why not?

You know, I mean, it's a small town.

People are friendly. So he says, come on in.

And he shows him the whole place.

And this man is thrilled. And he says, can I make an offer

on the House? And he says, no thanks, we're

not selling. So finally this man, this

stranger goes up to the into the living room where there's a

single nail on which a painting hangs.

And he says, is it OK if I just buy this nail on this wall?

Nothing else, Just sell me the nail on this wall and it'll stay

in your house, but just sell it to me.

The house owner thought, well, what's the harm in that?

He's just asking for a nail. He says done.

So he they make the transaction. He owns the nail.

The nail is left there. The man leaves.

Weeks past, nothing changes. The house owner goes on with his

life. Seasons are about to change when

this stranger returns back to his house.

And this time he doesn't come alone.

He comes to his doorstep, rings the doorbell.

When the owner opens the door, he meets this man and says hey.

And he says, guess what I've just come to?

Lay claim to the nail that I paid for.

And. In his.

Hand is a huge bag. With a rotting corpse, right, he

carries it into the house right royally and hangs it on the

nail. Now the house owner is, is

distraught. He's saying, what on earth?

What are you bringing? And how dare you bring it into

my home? And he says, listen, buddy, I

paid for the nail. So what?

I hang on. It is my business.

So that rotting corpse is made to hang on that nail day in day

out. Eventually flies start to

descend on the place. The stench is too much.

The decay is is accelerating until everyone in the house

starts getting sick. The animals die in the house.

That's when the house owner realizes he needs to leave to

save his family, to come out with some semblance of dignity.

He clears out the house, takes his family with them, leaves

everything else and they takes his children, takes his family

and they leave. This is how the enemy operates.

He is not going to say I'm going to come and take over your

house. You know, he's just going to say

I need a nail. I just need a bit of space.

And before you know it, the whole vessel is corrupted.

Before you know it, a sexual addiction has taken over your

life. Before you know it, you've

changed. You've cheated on your wife or

your husband, and you've thrown away your marriage.

You've lost your kids. Before you know it, that

addiction has blinded you to everything that God has in store

for you. It just takes a nail.

But the beautiful thing is that when you bring this vessel, as

broken as it is to God Jesus, his blood can wash you clean.

When you bring this vessel to him and you repent of whatever

it is, he begins to cleanse that vessel.

And that vessel, when it's cleansed, can be filled by the

one who holds the vessel by the Porter himself.

He begins to fill you. He begins to restore you.

And, and you know what? He doesn't want to just restore

a nail. He wants to restore the house.

He wants to restore your life. He wants to restore your

marriage. He wants to restore your your

children. He wants to restore generations,

but it all starts when you bring that vessel to him, your life to

him. Remember, you are a redeemed

Sinner. You're a vessel that is in His

hands, and when He fills it and wheels it, it changes the

lifestyle of that vessel, completely changes the

trajectory of that vessel. A vessel is always filled to be

emptied again. So once God's powerful

sanctification work happens in you, you become such a powerful

tool in the Kingdom. The second thing that we see,

Mary was a vessel and God is calling every believer in Jesus

to be a vessel. Joseph was a steward and God is

calling everyone of us who call on him by name, who call him our

Messiah, call him our Saviour, to be stewards as well.

What is a steward? Who is a steward?

Steward is basically one who's charged with taking

responsibility for things or territories.

But there was this very interesting definition that I

found when I just typed it into Google.

This is the first definition that popped up.

It said one who manages or looks after someone else's property.

Think about it. Joseph is having this little

child dropped into his life without his real consent.

It was just told to him. It's not like they asked him for

his, you know, would you be interested in his consent?

None of that. They just said this is what's

happening. Go.

And Joseph was the definition of a good steward.

What was entrusted to him, who was entrusted to him, this

little innocent baby. And God had given him this huge

responsibility. And Joseph was a faithful

steward. He did everything.

He needed to. He protected this little child,

this innocent baby from a tyrant king.

He protected him and moved him from place to place as God

instructed and kept him safe. He gave a safe.

Home for Jesus to grow in. Imagine that and you know the

thing. Is Jesus was not his biological

son. And yet Joseph understood the

assignment. Joseph understood that he was

not his biological father, but he was his earthly father and he

was given this huge task. He was given this task of

protecting him. He was given the task of

providing him a home. He was given the task of being

someone who role modelled manhood.

Remember, he was a Carpenter and Jesus was an apprentice beneath

him. He worked in his shop, it says.

So the beautiful. Thing is that.

Joseph was a faithful steward. What was entrusted to him, He

looked after it with all his heart.

And I believe that each of us, as followers of Jesus, are

called to be stewards in the Kingdom.

And each of us have been given different responsibilities,

right? Some of us have been given

families. Some of us have not yet got our

families. We have to steward ourselves.

We have to steward our careers. We have to steward our talents

and our gifts. We have to steward our health.

We have to steward our physical bodies.

We have to steward our minds, what we feed into it, our souls.

All of us have been called to be steward.

Some of us have been given bigger tasks, maybe to lead a

church, to lead an NGO, to lead a company, to lead a business.

My question is, are you a faithful steward when he, when

God looks at you, when if he's given you a company and you've

just been doing whatever you felt like, he's going to ask

you? Well, I entrusted all these

people to you. Have you dealt with them fairly?

Have you been just Have you been kind?

That's what a steward is called to do.

Everything we have is on loan from him.

I remember my parents teaching me this when I was a child and

then when I had my own children. You know, the first time you

have your kids. With each of my children's

birth, I felt more like an owner.

And then as they grow older, I. Realized what my parents were

saying they used to say. We are stewards of you guys.

We're not your owners. God's your owner.

God's your creator. You are on loan to us from Him.

We will do the best. We can, but you are in his hands

and you know it's a. Good place for stewards to be

positioned in two Timothy chapter one verse 14.

I'm reading from the NASB version.

It says protect through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the

treasure which has been entrusted to you, who is the

treasure that has been entrusted to us?

Jesus Himself, because in him are all the treasures of wisdom

and. Knowledge, the gospel of the

good, the good news of the Kingdom has been entrusted to

you and me, and that is what God is calling us to entrust.

Joseph was a good steward because what was who was

entrusted to him was protected, was looked after, and God is

calling us into a place of whatever he's entrusted to us

would be protect Jesus. The gospel of Jesus has been

given to you and me. Do we do we safeguard it?

Do we protect it? One Timothy chapter 6, verse 20,

again from the NASB version, says Timothy, protect what has

been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly empty chatter and the

opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge, which

some have professed and thereby have gone astray from the faith

stewards primarily must protect what is entrusted to them.

Joseph. Did that of Jesus.

Today God is calling us to protect what has been entrusted

to you. What has God entrusted to you

primarily? It could have been a family.

It could be your marriage, it could be your children, your

job, your parents, all the responsibilities that you have.

You're a steward of it, Yes. But even before we make that the

primary thing, the big thing is we've been entrusted with the

gospel. We've been entrusted with the

word of God. And you know, in this context,

he's saying protect what has been entrusted, what was

entrusted to Timothy, the gospel and the, the the churches that

were entrusted to him to to shepherd and to lead.

He says protect them because there was so much whirly empty

chatter all around. There were controversies.

There were teachings that were contrary.

There were heretics, much like in today's time.

And God is calling us to protect what is entrusted to us.

You know, we live in a time where you just have to log into

Instagram or any other social media platform to see all the

opposing world views to the gospel.

People talk about Poly Armory. People talk about living in.

People are talking about, you know, recreational drugs.

People are talking about vaping like it's a joke.

Without talking about the health hazards.

Everything seems permissible. That's what we live in.

That's the culture we're living in.

But when you guard what God has given you the word, when you

guard the testimony of Jesus that is within you, you are

actually taking responsibility for what was given to you.

Maybe it was your grandparents who gave you the gospel.

Maybe it was your parents. Maybe it was a friend.

Maybe it was at a meeting. That is in you.

It's on you to safeguard. It's on you to say, hey, you

know what? I will not allow the culture of

the world to dictate what has been deposited in me.

I will not allow the agenda of certain groups to change what I

believe. I believe that God made us male

and female. I will not allow anything to

change that stance. It is on you to guard what was

entrusted to you. Sometimes, you know, when you

live in a cynical world, cynicism enters our huts.

We start to believe that you know what?

Everything and everyone is bad. And then we start extending that

to even God. But God doesn't mean good for

me. He's not answered anything I

wanted him to do. He's not done this, He's not

done that. And we allow it to corrode our

faith and hope. But protecting what is entrusted

to us means I safeguard my faith.

God, even though this is not going as planned, I know you

have the whole world in your hands and You've got my life

under your eyes under. Your.

Watchful eyes, even when hope seems far away.

You are believing that God. I know that my that I have a

future. And hope, Indiana, you, my hope,

will not be cut off. When we given to new age ideas.

And you know the cultural dictates of our land.

We override what Scripture has taught us and what Christ.

Expects of Earth we. Make compromises, moral

compromises, based on what helps us fit in what certain.

People teach us. Through social media platforms,

through videos, through tutorials becomes our lifestyle

choices. But God is calling us back to be

stewards of the gospel wherein we, we know the word, we live

the world, we know it, we safeguard it, but we don't leave

it there. We begin to live it.

We allow it to infiltrate our minds.

When you look at Joshua chapter 1, God is telling Joshua, you

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

know Moses has died. I'm taking you in to lead the

people and take their territories.

But this is what I want you to do You, you, you speak the word

of God with your mouth and you meditate on it with your heart,

and then you will be successful. It's very important in order to

entrust what has been given to you.

You need to know what has been given to you, and you start with

the word of God. And when you read the word of

God, you realize the riches that you have in Christ Jesus.

You begin to safeguard the peace that He has got for you.

You don't want anything to hijack that.

You realize that? You don't want bitterness to.

Get in. You want to safeguard the purity

of your heart, the softness of your heart towards the things of

God. You don't want cynicism to creep

in. And so you you desire that God

keeps your heart tender. You see what I'm saying?

We begin as we read the Word of God to realize God.

I want to safeguard this. This is too important for me to

lose. I don't want to lose my joy over

this. So I will forgive.

I will choose to forgive. Interestingly, stewards don't.

Just protect what is given. They also they obey God's word.

They obey God's word. If you look at Joseph, every

time he had a dream, he got up and did what he was told to do.

But not just that, they also understand God's heart.

You know, sometimes we tend to just obey by rote or out of

fear. But Joseph was not obeying out

of fear. He understood God's heart.

What was God's heart? This was the Saviour of the

world. He had to be protected because

he had a job to do. In years to come, Joseph would

not see it. Probably.

We don't know whether he was alive at the time of Jesus's

ministry, but we do know this. He understood the long game.

He understood the big agenda and so he did everything to obey God

S that that was fulfilled. And every step of the way when

he moved him to Nazareth, when he brought him out of Egypt, he

was fulfilling prophecies. And so it's so.

Important that as stewards. We don't just obey God's water,

we just don't read it and say, oh, I need to do that.

But we understand God's heart because stewards understand

God's heart. I want us to read Matthew

Matthew 23:23

chapter 23 verse 23. It says vote you teachers of the

law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You gave a tenth of your spices, mint, dill and cumin, but you

have neglected the more important matters of the law,

Justice, mercy, and. Faithfulness.

You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the

former. God is calling us into a place

now where we don't behave like slaves with the master.

We behave like friends who know their friends business.

We we have to come into a place of sonship where we know what

our father's business is on earth.

So that when I obey him and he gives me an instruction, I do

what he says because I understand there's a long game.

I may not see all of it. I may not understand all of it,

but I'll do what he says. After all these years of

following Jesus, I know this forget show him and me.

We would rather choose the hard path of justice, you know,

saying yes to Jesus and doing what he says than pretending not

to hear Him and do our own thing because we understand his heart

for us. His His plans are good.

We don't understand his plans. We don't understand the detours.

But we know that in the end, it'll all work out.

We don't. See the big picture?

Many. Times, but I would urge you that

you would. Not just obey.

God. But you would understand his

heart. Sometimes we're so religious.

Minded, you know in in what we how we obey God's law.

We have incorporated these rituals, these traditions,

especially in India. We have so many of those that

our families have introduced to us, but it's important to bring

it to the word of God and test it on the scriptures.

Is this biblical? Is this something that I really

need to follow? Is it from the?

Word. Because sometimes those

religious mindsets prevent us from being those who understand

God's heart. Because when you look at the Old

Testament, there's so much of, you know, do do this, do this,

do this, do not do these things. But if the people of God had

only understood that the the foundational aspect to all of

this was to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and

strength, that was the foundational thing on which all

the other laws hung. But they somehow had fixated on

all these other laws. And justice, like one of us

would. They had got in disillusion.

They said we can't do all of this, we're just human.

But God, all God wanted them to do was to understand his heart

for them, that he loved them so deeply that he wanted to protect

them. He didn't want them to live like

the nations. He wanted them to be set apart.

And so today, I urge you that for yourself, you would get into

God's Word. You would spend time in prayer.

You don't know how to pray. It's fine.

It's just a conversation with a friend.

Sit with him. Say, Lord, I am.

Here I'm willing to. Be a vessel.

I want to be a steward. I want to steward the things

that you've entrusted to me. What are the things you've

entrusted to me, Lord if God? Starts highlighting.

Things and people to pray for, those are the things you're

probably called to steward, and I pray that you will steward.

It well. Some of us are just waiting to

get married that we're not. Stewarding our singleness,

right? Some of us are in marriage

waiting to get out that you're not stewarding your marriage and

God is going to ask you, hey, I gave you that.

Spouse as imperfect. As they are as imperfect as you

are, my desire is. That you will steward.

It God gave you those children, they're not a deterrent, they're

a blessing. They're a reward.

They're a heritage. God gave you that job that you

are slacking off at. God is saying, will you steward

it right? Will you do it all as unto me?

God has been saying. Probably to you.

Are you digging deeper? Roots Are you investing in the

community of believers? Are you stewarding?

That. Position Well, God is asking

these questions of us. What is it that?

God's asking. You today to steward a new as

we. Conclude I just want to leave

this. With you, you know a vessel

needs to be held by the right person.

Like we talked about it, It matters who fills it and who

wields it. You know, a vessel.

Needs to be held by the right person to fulfill its full

utility you as a person, as someone has accepted Jesus who

knows him, who loves him. You are a vessel of honor

because you are held by him. A steward needs to hold on to

the right things to live out his full purpose.

You know in our church when we want to label things, we have a

bunch of shelves from IKEA. Where?

We have things. Labeled.

And I didn't have the time to pick up labels.

So our hospitality team got masking tape and we just wrote

on that and we stick the masking tape as a label.

And this week when I was thinking about stewardship, I

realized that each of us need to have this sticker placed on us,

preferably on the forehead, so that every time we look into the

mirror, we realize this, that we are not an owner.

We're just managers of our homes, our cars, our jobs, our

marriages, our children. We're not owners.

We don't own anything, you know, And so the.

Next time you. You look at things and think,

wow, I can't believe I have all this.

Or maybe you're thinking. Well.

If I had all that, I would be more happy.

I want to just encourage you that we are not an owner of

anything. I'm not an owner of my house.

I may have bought my house, but I'm not an owner.

I'm a steward. He was asking me, will you use

that home for my kingdom's purposes, for my glory?

That car that you love it. You're not an owner.

Yeah, you're paying the EMI. You feel the pinch every month.

But he's the owner. You're the manager.

And a steward needs to hold on to the right things to live out

his full purpose. Because many times we're holding

on so tightly to that car, that house, that dream, that

ambition, that person. Those.

Things. Those.

Substances that we're not. Holding on to Jesus tightly.

Enough. The one who actually entrusted

all of this. Too.

I love. That passage in.

I think it's in the Book of Chronicles where Chronicles of.

Kings where? David is dedicating all that

he's kept for the Temple, and he's going to give it to Solomon

and he's he's. Telling God and God's told him,

you're not going to build the temple for me.

Solomon's going to do it, but. David goes before him and he

says, God, who am I that you are mindful of me and my family?

You chose me out of nothing. Everything I have is yours and

I've looked back. At that scripture.

So many times these past few years and realized that

everything I have none of it. Is mine.

It's his. It's on loan to me and I need

to. Steward.

It well, I need to steward it right?

I need to steward it God's will, so remember that a.

Vessel needs to be held. By the right person, a steward

needs to hold on to the. Right things in order for them

to fulfill their purpose. What are you holding?

On to who holds you. Some of you are.

Being held in. The wrong relationship.

Some of you are being held by the wrong ideas.

Wrong. Concepts.

Wrong attitudes and God is saying, would you switch the

ownership of that vessel to me, a vessel?

Must carry what it's. Intended to carry in order to

fulfill its fullest potential. You remember that clay pot I

showed you? It's meant to carry something

stewards must. Carry out.

The responsibility given to them at the end of our lives.

If you want to hear well done, good and faithful servant, you

should have been faithful One Corinthians chapter 4 verses.

One to two in the ESV says this. This is how one should regard us

as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of

God. Moreover, it is required of

stewards that they be found faithful.

The vessel has to be faithful. To hold what is inside.

If there's a hole in a vessel, God forbid you're going to make

a mess. Thank God for Jesus, who fills

every hole in our lives, who fills the broken paths with his

wholeness. Thank God.

That when he calls us. As stewards, he's not looking

for the number game. He's not saying, Oh well, you.

Saved so many. People, I'm so proud of you.

Well done. He he looks at you and how you

steward the things he entrusted to you.

Be it that company, be it your home, be it your parents.

Be it an extended family member. Whoever it was and he's.

Saying well done. Good and faithful.

Servant. Your success is dependent on

your faithfulness, nothing else as a steward.

So as we enter Advent, even as I pray for you, I ask that you

would look at your own life. And ask yourself.

Am IA vessel for God to hold and use as he sees.

Fit. Many times as frail vessels we

look at ourselves and think, you know what?

I would be good for that I could do that.

What they are doing. I think I could do it better.

But I would urge you that this month you would look to God and

say, Lord, I'm available. I'm a vessel.

For you, you can do with me as you see fit.

I ask you, would you be? Willing to be called a vessel of

honor, would you allow God to sanctify and use you for His

purposes? My next question to you is.

Are you a faithful steward in the Kingdom?

Because everything you have is His.

You are not. An owner.

You're just a steward. Can I?

Just pray for you, Father I. Pray.

That Lord you will bless each. Person who is watching this

right now, I pray that, Lord, if we have disqualified ourselves

as vessels, if we have not been actively stewarding what you

gave us, Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to say yes to

you again. I thank you that with you there

is no condemnation. I thank you that you love us so

deeply that Lord, even now we can say, Lord, I'm ready to be a

vessel. I'm here to be a steward, and I

pray that everyone of us will say yes to these two callings on

our life, that Lord, we'll be willing to carry your glory into

every space we walk. Lord, Lord, we will be open to

being held by you, being filled by you, and emptied by you.

Father, I pray especially for those of us who are entrusted

with different. Responsibilities that we will

steward the season we are in well.

We will steward the responsibilities you've given

well. Further, I pray that we won't

just protect. What you have given us, but

Lord, we will understand your heart behind the things that you

ask of us. I pray our obedience will be

immediate like Joseph's was. I pray that Lord, our hearts

will be so ready and willing for you like Mary was.

Lead us gently God, we thank you, help us and bless us.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Amen.

Just want to encourage you that as you get into the season of

Advent, whatever situation you are facing, that you will

experience Jesus in greater measure.

He's just a prayer away. If you are going through

loneliness, you're going through a hard situation.

Just call on the name of Jesus. He's Emmanuel.

He's closer than you know. Few announcements for you.

We have our Christmas Eve service.

We don't have a service on 25th. We have our Christmas Eve

service on December 24th evening for timings and any other

details to reach out to us. We also have our New Year's.

Eve. Service on December 31st night.

We also have our Thanksgiving service.

It's an annual service. That we have.

With lunch where we just share stories of God's goodness within

the church and. If you would like to be a.

Part of that, please join us on December 28th.

December 21st we have an. Exciting event happening at

church. It's our Carol service.

We don't have a morning service that day.

We have an evening service. We have a lovely play being put

together. We have a choir that's getting

ready. We have a beautiful dance being

put together. And if you would like to come

for that and bring family and friends, it's a great

opportunity to invite friends to church who otherwise may never

come in. So bring them in for that

because we're celebrating the best kept promise that's

happening on December 21st. Just want to you that whoever

finds Jesus finds life. If you're looking for life, he's

the one you need. God bless you, have an amazing

week. Thanks for listening to this

message. We hope you were blessed to hear

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finds life.