ADVENT: Patience

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

We are so glad you joined us, and we hope you are encouraged by today's message.

Now, for those that may are used to traditional church, you may be familiar with that, but ultimately, let me demystify it a little bit.

All Advent is, it means coming or arrival.

Ultimately, the theme of it was all about the early church like preparing for the arrival of the coming king.

You can understand that even in the ancient context, that that for the for the the many of the Israelites, they were waiting for the Messiah to come.

There was this expectation that the Messiah was going to come and put everything back in its rightful place.

So there was this anticipation, this expectancy that everyone had.

That's ultimately what Avent is.

Avent is preparing and pausing and celebrating with an expectation of the coming and the arrival of Jesus, our King.

Now, now here's the thing.

There's the first fulfillment of that, which we've experienced 2,000 years ago, which is reflection of the very season we're in, the Christmas season.

But then there's another part of that, and that is the return of Jesus, the return of the King.

And I'm not talking about Lord of the Rings, but we're talking about the return of when Jesus does come back.

So even us, we're what we call in-between advents, where we've already experienced the first coming, but now we're still expecting of the second coming.

Now, now here's what I think that means for us, practically speaking, as it translates into our lives.

I think some of us, yes, we're we're waiting for the day to come where we don't have to deal with injustice because Jesus is going to come and put everything back in its rightful place.

But I also know that for some of us, we just are expecting God to move in our situation right now.

Regardless of how we look at it, I believe that there's something that we can get from this season of Advent as we prepare, as we celebrate, as we're expected, as we're reflective of what we're expecting Jesus, our King, to do.

So what we wanted to do as a church is we wanted to make sure that we also came alongside you and resourced you just because we wanted to equip you.

What that means is that we also provided a companion devotional to go alongside our Advent season.

If you haven't downloaded yet, please go ahead and pull out your phones.

Do whatever you got to do to get it.

It's only digital, so we didn't do any printed copies, but it's really a phenomenal tool that allows you to identify the themes that we're gonna be preaching about for the next couple of weeks.

And inside of those themes, some action steps, some things that are really not only just for you, but it's also for your family as well.

You'll notice in the devotional that there's like certain um action steps that have like stars next to them.

That's meant for you to be able to do that with your family as well.

So we wrote it specifically not only for you as an individual in your journey, but also for your family, for your kids.

And it's a great way to create conversation.

Our heart here is not to just have Sundays here, but we want to extend Sundays beyond that.

And this devotional journal is really going to be a resource that we believe can be a blessing to you.

So if you haven't downloaded it, it's not too late.

You can see all the updates on our Instagram, but it's just a great way to track with us, and you'll even notice some of the themes and even some of the scriptures that we use inside of the devotional will work its way into our messages as well.

With all that being said, let's look at what scripture says to us here at Matthew chapter 25, looking at verse number one.

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

As we're about to read, I gotta pause and can we put our hands together for Pastor Justin and preach us such an incredible message on patience or on Thanksgiving last week?

Thank you so much for sharing, laboring in the word.

I uh it was such a phenomenal word.

So I'm gonna do my best to try to follow that up and not mess up what you've already established in here, sir.

So here's what it says looking at uh Matthew chapter 25, looking at verse number one.

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

Then the kingdom of God will be like ten virgins who took their lamps to meet with the bridegroom.

Five of them were foolish, and five of them were wise.

For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them.

But the wise, they took flasks of oils with their lamps.

And the bridegroom was delayed, and they became drowsy and slept.

But at midnight there was a cry, Here is the bridegroom, come out to meet him.

Then all the virgins rose and they trimmed their lamps, and the foolish one says to the wise, Give us some oil, for our lamps are going out.

But the wise answered, saying, Since there will not be enough for us and you, go rather into the dealers and buy some for yourselves.

And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was closed.

Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.

Watch therefore, you know neither the day nor the hour.

This is uh this is such a a powerful collection of scripture that I've that I've I've looked at throughout the years of me walking with God.

And and and certainly there's some direct implications that deals with our eschatology, the the returning of of Christ.

And when you look at all of this starting at at Matthew 24, all the way through, there's this olive it discourse, this moment where Jesus is unpacking for his disciples, helping them to understand that I'm about to die and and ascend into heaven and and and you're gonna live a life, and seasons are gonna come, but but there's gonna come a time when I come back, but I need to unpack some things for you, and there's gonna be tribulation and trials, and Jesus is doing his his best, and and his disciples are are struggling with understanding what does all of this really mean.

But but when you look at it through the lens of this critical attribute, it all begins to make sense.

Jesus was was preparing them for a future to come, but he was also trying to help them to understand that they have to be patient if they expect to see it fulfilled.

You know, when we talk about this Advent season, there's certain themes that emerge from this idea, and last week we talked about Thanksgiving.

But this week I want to look at this scripture through the lens of how do we how do we celebrate, how do we anticipate, how do we reflect on the goodness of God when there's been a delay in us seeing what he's going to do.

What I want us to do is I want to talk to us a little bit about patience today.

If you're writing notes, I want you to write this message title down.

Are you lit?

Are you lit?

Let's pray.

God, we thank you.

We thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for your people, God, and we thank you for what you're doing in this place.

Father, I pray for the next few moments that you give us open eyes that we can see you.

I pray for open ears that we can hear your truth, Lord, and I pray for open hearts that we can receive everything that you have for us today.

We consecrate and dedicate this time to you in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.

You know, I've I've come to um recognize some things about myself that I wouldn't necessarily say it's a brand new thing, but it's something that I'm I'm noticing a lot more, and that is I've I've noticed I'm a lot more in tune with my feelings.

I'm a lot more like sentimental.

I wouldn't say emotional, but but I'm certainly learning that I'm I'm a much I'm a much more sentimental guy than I initially would give myself credit for.

Now here's the thing I I realize that some of that may be the just a byproduct of the season that I'm in.

Many of you guys know I'm I'm 44 years old now and and I have two beautiful granddaughters.

So I'm at a season of my life where I'm like watching movies with my granddaughters that I watched with my kids when they were coming up, and it it gets me all up in my feelings.

Like, I mean, I can't, it gets me, it gets me, it gets to me real tough.

Like, I I firmly believe that one of the best displays of of cinema that has ever been created is finding Nemo to this day.

Because who who cannot relate to a father who's just doing everything that he can do to rescue his son?

Like, I don't know what it is, like I'm about to cry right now.

Like it just it's just something in it that just reaches deep inside of my soul.

I can relate to that, just just wanting to rescue your kids and and help them to get to their destination.

So I'm I'm recognizing these things about myself.

Certain commercials come on, I find myself getting a little teary-eyed about it.

But if I can be if I could be 100% honest with you guys, there's there's a certain area where no matter what the circumstance is, it just gets to me.

And it's it's weddings.

Yes, I'm I'm a guy that absolutely loves weddings.

Like I love weddings so much that I'll even watch the weddings on The Bachelor and Bachelorette, even when I know that it's not going to work out two months later.

Like I'm I'm still I'm still leaning into it because here's here's what I see.

I I see that by the time we're looking at a wedding, there's a lot of things that happened before that wedding took place.

There's there was the there was the casual conversations of two separate individuals, and and in that moment where something was sparked and they decided to take it a step further.

There's their moment where they decided to take the relationship to the next level.

Then there's a there's a moment as they dated that they met each other's parents, hopefully, and and then there's another level of working through the awkwardness of learning each other's baggage, and then finally getting to a place where, like, yes, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

Like, I don't look at the wedding as just the the event, but it's it's it's everything that goes into it.

Like it, it really, it really gets to me.

Those subtle moments, like, like even when I when I think back of from my wife and I, like we went to high school together.

I would have never guessed that this young lady that sat directly across from me, who used to copy off of all of my homework, she would tell you a different version of that story 100% of the times.

But here's what I've learned.

I got the microphone and I'm telling y'all my truth.

This is how I seen it.

But in ninth grade, I would have never guessed that this young lady who was sitting across from me and and and her stealing my notes, um, that we would have eventually ended up at a place where where we're married for over 20 years and have three wonderful children and and and all the things that go with it.

Like it's it's hard to believe that those little moments can lead to something so life-changing and so seismic.

But when I think about weddings, I I often think about the other side of that, and that is our wedding day.

So when my wife and I, when we got radically saved, we were dating for five years, and then we finally were like, okay, let's get married, let's do this thing right, from the moment that we had that revelation to the day we got married, it was it, it was exactly one month.

Yes.

Um, y'all, y'all, y'all feel my pain.

And it wasn't even like an it wasn't even like a natural proposal.

Like when I look now and I see some of you youngsters, uh sound so old, youngsters, good.

Some of you old whippers, you know, some of you whipper snappers, when y'all, when y'all, y'all get y'all get married, like y'all go all out.

Like, even the proposals, like you got drones flying over, getting multiple angles, all that.

Do you do you want to know what my proposal was like with my wife?

We've been together five years, right?

What are you doing on June 3rd?

Getting married, I guess.

Cool, let's do it.

Like it was so, it was so basic, it was so simple.

But hey, listen, don't y'all judge us 20 years later, we're still here.

Anyway.

Here's what I'm saying.

So, in in all of that, so but but I remember our wedding because we had to make it all happen literally in one month.

So you can only imagine like the stress, the pressure that that creates of trying to like, okay, we're we're gonna do this thing, trying to mitigate everyone's opinions and feelings and what you should do and who you're gonna invite, who's gonna be on the list.

And for me, the list was very simple.

Who's bringing gifts and who's not?

If you're bringing a gift, you're on the list.

If you're not, catch the video.

Like it was, it really became super, super simple for us, but but working through all that stuff.

But but there was a there was a there was a lot of preparation that went into it, and it was down to the photo finish for us.

Like, I mean, like the day of the wedding, we're still personally running errands, like running around and doing stuff.

And I I almost hate to say this, but back in my day, back at that day, everybody didn't have cell phones, so we didn't even have a cell phone.

So we my wife wasn't just 10 minutes late to the wedding.

She she wasn't 15 minutes late to the wedding, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, that's child's play.

My bride got to our wedding two hours late.

The pastor said, hey man, maybe we should just call it.

Like he he was like, man, like maybe, like, bro, maybe you just need to move on.

I've never been to a wedding where the bride didn't show up.

I was like, man, you're super encouraging, man.

Keep with this career.

Like, but I I knew I knew I knew that she was coming.

The bottom line is like there was a perfect storm of all these scenarios with her hair and makeup and stuff that we had to do.

But what I what I recognized is there was like a preparation gap that caused a lot of this stuff to kind of create a ripple effect.

So it's it's really interesting how we had to be patient in that moment.

I had to, I had to, I had to wait through it.

Um, I'm standing there at the altar and I'm I'm having conversations, but but my but my bride got there late.

Here's what I could tell you.

Now that we're on the other side of that table and and I've had the incredible privilege of officiating weddings and living rooms and backyards and abroad and and and everywhere in between, every time I talk with people, I I give them some some wisdom about preparation.

I tell them some things, but here's the one thing that I consistently tell everybody no matter what your circumstance is, when you're planning for something so big, it's going to require some patience.

Because it is inevitable that no matter how planned you are or not planned you are, there are going to be some things that come to the surface that you didn't anticipate.

And if you do not prepare and create margin for that, you will find yourself wrestling with panic.

That's that's what I'm noticing more than ever when I consider the subject of patience.

When I think about patience, my definition has certainly evolved.

I used to think that that patience was going to a department store with my wife and waiting until she tried on 28 different outfits and asked me my opinion on all 28 of those outfits.

And then an hour and 45 minutes after trying on all of those outfits, us walking out with none of those outfits.

I I used to I used to think that that is what patience was, that I can do that and still manage to smile through it.

But but I've learned that that it's there's there's a whole lot more to it.

And certainly being able to endure that is a part of it, but but when I look at scripture, patience is a lot more included or involved than that.

You see, patience is literally a part of the very character and nature of God.

When God passes before Moses, he says, Man, I'm the I'm the Lord, I'm the Lord, I'm patient, I'm I'm long-suffering.

God is incredibly patient towards us.

I got that understanding of it.

We even see that with the fruit of the spirit, that that patience is right in the middle of all of it.

I I used to just think that patience was this was this attribute that I gotta like manifest it, like just be patient.

Be patient.

Like just maybe if I say it enough over and over again, then maybe those feelings will come upon me.

I used to, I used to literally think that, but what I've learned when I when I look at scripture that that that patience isn't this individual thing that's off on its own, that that patience is actually intertwined with everything that we do.

When you look at the fruit of the Spirit, it's literally impossible.

As we see Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13, he literally defines love as being patient.

Love is patient.

Because if you think about it, it is impossible to really love someone if you're not patient.

It is so difficult to really be faithful to anything if you're not patient.

It is so challenging for us to have sustaining joy if we don't have patience.

What I've learned is that that patience is not this isolated thing, but it's the very thing that's connected to all that we're called to do.

Even in scripture, we see that these moments of patience that that God often considers the Christian journey to be one where something is planted, something is watered, but God adds the increase.

And here's the thing about God adding the increase we don't get to dictate when that happens, so we have to be patient.

That is so that is so challenging for us in this instant gratification world that we live in.

See, patience is not passively waiting, it's actually actively preparing.

It's it's being at a place where I'm not going to just stand still and wait for it to work itself out.

I'm gonna be patient.

No, it's while I'm waiting the work that God is calling me to do so that when that opportunity presents itself, I'm ready to step fully into it.

That is the true definition of what patience is.

Scripture even tells us that patience is the antidote for pride.

Because often we can find ourselves working out solutions and figuring out ways to do things in our own strength, and it's the things that that delay, that little delay, keeps us from being prideful about the results and helps us to understand that it is God who adds the increase.

Here's what patience does.

Patience keeps us, it keeps our expectations in check while it keeps us expectant of what's next.

Patience does that.

It keeps our expectations in check while keeping us expectant of what God will do next.

It's through this understanding when we look at this passage of scripture that we're in, that Jesus is teaching his disciples literally about end times.

Something that they didn't technically even live to see, but he's yet depositing that word for them that could be an encouragement for us.

So here's the question how do we how do we put patience into practice?

Because if it's not this random emotion, if it's not a mantra that I just say over and over again, if it's not learning how to suffer in silence, if it's not any of those things, how do I put patience into practice?

The answer is preparation.

Because watch this preparation creates the margin for patience to exist.

Preparation creates the margin for patience to exist.

Let me let me show you what I mean by that.

Here's the first thing I want you to write down.

Preparation leads to patience.

Preparation leads to patience.

Let's let's look at what happens here inside of this narrative.

See, there's a couple of things I want us to see.

We see that there's a group of young ladies, they're all bridesmaids, right?

And so we have five that are prepared, we have five that are not as we look at the passage.

But they're all under the same title of being bridesmaids.

But there's five who are ready, and there's five who aren't.

Which means this there's a difference between looking prepared and being prepared.

There's a difference between me putting on a stethoscope and me actually being a doctor.

I think unfortunately, a lot of times we find ourselves encountering environments where people are basically playing Halloween dress-up, but they haven't done the training that actually prepared them for what God's calling them to do.

What I believe God is showing us in this passage is I don't need you to dress the part, I need you to be the part.

Yes, you you all are bridesmaids, but I need you to actually be a set of people that are prepared for what I'm about to do inside of my kingdom.

Because whenever there's not adequate preparation, you will absolutely deal with panic.

Because where there's no preparation, there is panic.

I'm not sure how how you guys spent your your Thanksgiving, but but for me and my family specifically, my wife and I, like this is a great time for us to kind of relax and to get caught up on some TV shows.

Now, I I wouldn't go as far as saying like we binge watch anything because that would that would insinuate that we don't have any self-control.

But I will tell you is that we got through two seasons of Jack Ryan in one day.

So so you could call it what you want.

Call it what you want.

But it's in those moments that we just love to get caught up on things because we all live busy lives.

Well, we were watching this one particular show and and and we had dozed off, and then I had woken up in the middle of the night and and we're and the news was on.

So I'm watching the news and and I'm I'm hearing a whole lot of like anxiety in the voice of the gentleman that was presenting the news, and I finally wake up and I realize like that it's the meteorologist, and he's talking about like this massive storm that's coming.

So it immediately alerts me.

I sit up and I begin to kind of like pay attention to what he's saying, and like, and of course, of course, whenever there's a storm coming, like there's there's nothing but pure anarchy.

He's showing you like pictures inside the grocery store with like empty shelves, no waters there, people are fighting in the streets.

It's like walking dead, like it's it's a it's a mess everywhere you go.

There's like gas stations are running out of gas.

Like you're like, it's like a moment of complete peril.

It's like Mad Max.

Like, so I I wake up and I'm like, oh my god, like I didn't even know that a storm was coming.

So I jump up as quick as I can.

This is at 2:30 in the morning.

I'm stumbling around my my room.

I find some clothes to hurry up and put on.

I got mixed max boots on, like it's a mess.

So as I'm preparing to go go out, because here's the thing I was filled with so much panic because I wasn't ready for that.

My gas tank was only at a quarter of a tank.

We didn't have that much water.

I didn't feel prepared for the storm that was coming, so I knew I needed to hurry up and react and get out of the house.

Nothing but sheer panic.

But then it occurred to me as I was walking out, the screen had shifted, and the screen went black, and a little box popped up and says, Do you want to delete this recording?

Some of y'all are picking up what I'm saying.

We were watching an episode of something that was on during the hurricane season.

So I was watching the end of the reel where they were talking about the storm to come, and I was reacting in pure panic because I didn't feel prepared for it.

I was literally about to go to Walmart at three o'clock in the morning to prepare for a storm that already passed.

I was prepared to go to Walmart at three o'clock in the morning to prepare for a storm that had already passed, because I didn't feel prepared, and so I was filled with panic.

Let me pause for a second because here's what I truly believe.

I believe that the enemy uses that same tactic with some of us today, where we find ourselves getting glimpses of seasons that have passed, trying to convince us that the storm is still coming.

But when you include the cross into your life, that season is already past.

Jesus has given you the remote control so I can skip past the condemnation, I can skip past the guilt, I can skip past the ridicule, I can skip past the fear, I can skip past the condemnation because grace has set me free.

I'm not sure who that's for in here today, but I'm sense that God is showing you that there is a fresh start available to you.

Stop looking at old episodes.

The cross has brought you into a new season and you don't gotta watch that storm anymore because he's already delivered you from it.

Do you believe that in here-today church?

But but but think about how quickly we panic when we don't feel prepared.

When there's when there's no preparation, we we immediately begin to panic because we know that we don't have the resources that we need.

So when you don't have the resources that you need, it's almost impossible to be patient in that moment.

There was no way that I was going to patiently go to the store when I felt that a storm was coming that I didn't feel prepared for.

But when you prepare, when you get ahead of it, there's something about creating margin for patience that God is able to do with it.

See, when we look at these two groups of young ladies, there's five that there's five that have the oil, and there's there's five that don't.

Five is the number of grace.

And I think it's interesting, and I think it's in it's important for me to accentuate this.

So there's grace for those who were prepared, but there's also grace for those who weren't.

Here's what I want you to see the grace of God will cover your mistakes, but he will rather bless your obedience.

How how often are we relying on grace to cover the gaps that we refuse to fill, but we're not moving forward, versus being prepared and obedient and allowing that grace to actually move us forward in our lives.

What God wants us to do is to stop relying on grace to cover the gaps that I didn't prepare for, but to also live as a person who's prepared so that his grace can actually propel me for the things that I'm called to do.

So for these for these groups of ladies, we see that five had oil, five didn't.

Here's the second thing I want you to write down.

Patience provides peace.

Let me let me let me unlock that for you for a moment.

So oil, historically in scripture, it kind of has a bunch of different renderings.

There are moments where oil is used to express anointing.

Anointing simply means purpose, calling, giftings, things that are unique to you as an individual, the anointing that's on your life, the things that God has wired you to do.

So we fundamentally understand that.

That's an expression of oil.

We also see that in the scriptures that that oil is also a reflection of the Holy Spirit.

We see renderings of where there's references to the oil of the Holy Spirit, just the power and presence of God.

We we also even see moments where oil is a reflection of our good works.

Because even for olive oil to exist, it requires planting and someone putting in some work.

So we see these varying renderings of what oil means in scripture.

So when if I were to reduce all these different expressions and try to simplify it in its most common denominator, here's what oil ultimately represents.

Oil represents the presence of God.

That's my most simplified way that I can put it.

Is that oil in Scripture typically represents the presence of God.

It's with that understanding now let's look at the passage, because there's five women who took the presence of God with them, and there's five who didn't.

There's five who said that even though I'm waiting, even though the bridegroom hasn't arrived yet, I'm getting tired, I'm getting weary, I'm exhausted, I don't know when he's gonna show up.

But I'm still gonna keep God with me.

Then there's another group that said, Man, I'm getting tired.

I'm getting exhausted, and I'm not gonna bring God with me in my waiting anymore.

What are the areas that we stop bringing God with us into them?

I found that it is it is so difficult for us to see a move of God in environments that we haven't invited them into.

It is so it is so challenging to really to really see God move in your relationship if you haven't brought God into that relationship.

It it is it is virtually impossible to really begin to see God move, even in your family dynamics, if you if you don't bring God into the equation.

It's even difficult to see God move systematically and consistently, even in our resources, if we don't bring God into it.

Our faith is built as such, where we are able to invite God into every area of our lives so that we can see the benefits of his grace, where we don't have anything that we segregate from, allowing God to have access to it.

A good friend of mine who's a part of our community, he's a he's a very successful man, and I I love I love having conversations with him after church.

Because what he'll do is after he he takes his copious notes, typically on Monday or Tuesday, he'll give me a call.

And he'll say, Hey man, like this is what I got from this weekend's message.

This is what it means for me as a business owner.

This is what it means for me as a father, this is what it means for me as a husband, this is what it means for me as a brother.

And the reason why that gives me so much joy is because I love seeing someone who has decided that I'm not leaving the gospel out of any area of my life.

I heard what you said.

This is what it means for me as a father.

This is what it means for me as a husband, this is what it means for me as a son.

Making sure that whatever God is doing in your life is not segregated from the rest of your life.

You will you will struggle with actually living in wholeness when we keep God fragmented and keeping him not having access to certain parts of our lives.

We just came from the DC area, as you guys know, and we had an opportunity to go and visit the cathedral there.

It's beautiful.

And I remember as we were walking through one day and we were kind of praying and looking at just the grandiose nature of it all.

There were certain rooms we would walk into and they were roped off.

It's in the church, and so we walked down into the basement and we would see certain rooms where the lights were off and it was roped off.

What didn't really draw that much attention to me, but we kind of sat in one of the prayer rooms and I kind of just couldn't get over the fact that there were certain rooms that were roped off.

And and this is what God dropped in my spirit.

He says, Keith, this is the condition of my people, where I'm present, but there's certain areas that they roped off that they just don't allow me to have access to.

I wonder, are there are there areas of my life where, if I'm honest with you, that I I just I don't I don't bring God with me into it?

Do I do I try to rest on my own understanding?

Do I try to rest in my own logic?

Do I do I rest in my own experiences in an effort to try to accelerate an outcome that only patience can provide?

What we're seeing with these young ladies is that there was a group that decided no matter where I go, no matter what I do, I'm going to bring God with me everywhere that I go.

And we had another group that that opted out of that.

But when you have, but when you have the margin that preparation creates, it gives you a sense of patience and it gives you peace.

For that gentleman that I talked to you guys about, he's a man of peace.

He he brings God with him into every equation that and every environment that he steps into.

I I remember seasons of my life, particularly when we first moved to Florida, and we're going to amusement parks, and we're not having any fun.

Why?

Because I'm just trying to get through their park.

No patience, no peace.

We're in an amusement park, but there is no amusement because I don't have any patience.

Going on road trips and being frustrated at the inevitable, can we stop and use the bathroom for the 15th time, even though I told you the last time was the last time.

But you know what that does when you you wrestle and then you argue and you're frustrated about things that if you could just resolve, like, but if I could be patient, then I would actually have peace.

It's amazing how something as simple as being patient has the ability to shift the entire atmosphere because you can have peace with it.

It's only when we fight against it, it's only when we push against it that we still find ourselves dealing with contention, and I believe that God will have us to be people who walk in peace.

See, where there's a lack of preparation, there is an abundance of panic, there's an absence of peace.

It's so hard to see God move in environments that we haven't invited him into.

Here's my third and final thought, and I'm going to invite the worship team to join me.

Patience provides access.

Patience provides access.

You see, for the five that were ready, because they were patient, because they were prepared, they brought God with them.

The moment came when the bridegroom showed up that the doors were open and they were granted access into everything that was on the other side, the celebration that was taking place.

But there was another group.

Their lack of patience, their lack of preparation put them in a position that the door had closed on them.

I wonder if the closed doors in our lives, it's not a lack of skills and a lack of relationships, but maybe it's just a lack of patience.

But when we can be patient, maybe it allows us to walk in the things that have been waiting for us the entire time.

One of the jobs that I had prior to getting into ministry is I was a I was a courier and I and I absolutely loved it.

Like it was probably one of my favorite jobs outside of what I'm doing now.

I I worked for a delivery company and and then we go out and deliver to businesses, deliver to homes, and it allowed me to meet a bunch of different people.

Like it was it was one of my favorite seasons.

But I remember it was this one season in particular where um it was Christmas time, and so there was a ton of packages I had to deliver, and they gave me a different truck than I ordinarily would drive.

Now the truck was a much bigger truck than my ordinary truck, so but they but they told me, like, hey, but you can do your route the way that you normally do it.

Well, they lied to me because when I went to go deliver at this one location, I literally crashed into the building because I didn't have enough overhead there.

Yes, that was my reality.

Like crashed into it.

So I had to wait.

I had to call my supervisor, they came out, they actually apologized because they told me that I wouldn't make it, so it was really their fault, not mine, even though I should have noticed it.

We'll move on.

Um but I I I crashed, I crashed into the building.

So it created a it created a delay because you can imagine in that courier world, every everything is attached to time.

Everything needed to be delivered by noon, and so it created this ripple effect where everything was everything was delayed.

About 45 minutes after conducting the the reports and all that stuff, I was able to continue on the rest of my route.

I made it to this one gentleman's home and he knew that I was coming, but he grew he grew very anxious.

So when I got to his home, he wasn't there.

I I was forbidden from leaving the package there, even though I knew he had just left, so I had to take it with me.

He spent the rest of his day trying to track me down like dog the bounty hunter, trying to figure out where was I, because he he grew impatient and he just he he wasn't at the spot.

The the delivery was coming.

But he but he grew impatient and and left the spot that the delivery was coming to.

But it wasn't it wasn't a denial that it was never gonna come.

I think unfortunately what happens with us is that when there's a delay, we we we believe that it's a denial, which then means that maybe I need to go and chase down the thing that was supposed to be delivered to me.

I I need to go after it, and I'm wondering to myself, are there things that we're chasing down that we wouldn't even have to spend that energy on if we could just stand still and be at the spot that God told us to be?

Delayed does not mean denied.

There's so many things in our lives that we're there's a delayed deliverance because we're not at the forwarding address that God has told us to be at.

And we spend so much of our energy and resources trying to chase something down.

But when you're patient, it opens up doors, it gives you access, and it allows you to embrace all that God has for you.

What are those areas in your life right now that you feel like I need, I need God to move?

But maybe God will say to you is I need you to stop moving.

What are those those spots where you're you're you're getting to the end of the road and you're saying to yourself, I I don't I don't know if I have it in me to I don't know if I have it in me to wait any longer.

So so maybe I need to position myself or maybe I need to do a little something different, maybe I need to network with these people.

But but if God told you to be where you are, maybe maybe just standing still is the thing that's gonna give you your breakthrough.

Maybe just standing still and watching God do what He's gonna do is the way that you're gonna experience that miracle in your life.

I want to read this passage of scripture to you, Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31.

Isaiah 40:31

But they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Did you did you see that?

Those who wait on the Lord, you're waiting.

That's where your strength comes.

The strength is in the waiting.

For those who are looking for God to move them forward, they shall mount up wings like eagles.

That acceleration comes in the waiting, not in the evading.

For those who are saying that I'm I'm growing tired, but you need a little bit of endurance, your strength is renewed and the endurance is provided in the waiting, not in you escaping.

For those of us that are wondering if we have the longevity to continue to stay in the season that we're in, scripture tells us it's when you wait on what God is doing that you will get the burst of energy that you need.

Listen to me, church.

Life is a marathon, it's not a sprint.

And unfortunately, so many of us are feeling as if I don't get it right now, then I'm missing out on everything that God has for me.

And I believe that He would say, in a world of instant gratification, would you slow down and could you just wait for me?

Can you can you just wait for me?

See, when you're waiting on God, there's a couple of things I want us to walk away with.

While you're waiting for God to move, why don't you put your weight on God?

I'm waiting on God.

But put your weight on God.

And while I put my weight on God, I can then turn and begin to wait on God.

Lord, where will you have me to go?

What will you have me to do?

You're waiting for God to move.

Put your weight on God and then wait for Him to tell you where to move.

That is what patience in practice looks like.

So here's my question for you.

Are you lit?

Are you is your is your marriage lit?

Are you are you waiting for God to do something?

Are you lit?

Is your are you lit in your business?

Are you lit with your family?

Are you lit?

Are you bringing the oil, the presence, the very presence of God with you in every place that you go?

Because what I truly believe, if you want to live a life where you truly are lit, the light of the world illuminating the way for those who are lost, the way that the the way that the bridesmaids were opposed to, is because you live a life of being patient and prepared.

Here's a question that I want to pose to you guys.

We provided these cards for you, they'll come up on the screen.

And here's a question: What is one area that you can grow in in patience?

We want you to engage this.

Our prayer is this that maybe there's a thought, there's an area, there's an instance that comes to your mind right now where you're just saying, like, God, I need to be patient in this area.

We want you to write that down.

After that, we want you to take it out to our board, which is out in our lobby.

And here's what we're believing.

Last week we did it with thankfulness.

This week we're doing it with patience.

Next week we'll do it with humility.

The week after that, we're gonna do it with joy.

And what we're believing is by our Christmas Eve services, the things that you're waiting for God to move in your life in in any of those categories on Christmas Eve, we're gonna celebrate the activity of God in all of those areas.

I'm truly believing and expect that as we pray and as we link arms together as a family, that we want to come alongside you and pray with you in those areas that I just need to grow in this area.

With every head bowed and every eye closed eye.

As we prepare to wrap up, I want to I want to ask you this question.

Maybe as we talk about some of this stuff, there's there is something that comes to mind.

Maybe there's an area of your life where you do, where you do need to have a little bit more patience in.

Maybe there's an area of your life where you don't feel adequately prepared.

Maybe there's an area of your life where you don't feel as if I'm really bringing, am I really bringing God with me in my in my business?

Am I really bringing God with me in every area of my life?

If that's you, just this recognition that I need to I need to bring God with me in these instances so I can experience more patience.

If that's you, I want to I want to pray for you.

Want to count a three.

One, two, three.

Just more patience.

Amen.

Amen.

I'm so proud of you.

Amen.

Thank you for for being bold and and putting your hands up.

You can you can go ahead and put those hands down.

We're gonna go into a moment of prayer in just a moment, but before we do that, I I have to sense that there's another group of people that we're talking to in here, and those are those that they're away from God right now.

You know, in the same way that we anticipate the arrival of our King, there's the first advent that took place where he did come.

He did die on the cross, he rose from the grave so that we can have access to the kingdom of God.

If you're in here today and you you don't have a relationship with Jesus, that's the first thing that you need to do is making Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life.

So if that's you, no pressure, but on account of three, we just want you to boldly respond saying yes to Jesus.

Maybe you're committing, maybe you're recommitting, but right now you just know that right now in this moment I'm away from God.

We want to include you in a prayer.

One, two, three, saying yes to Jesus.

Amen.

God bless you, amen, amen.

Come on, church, we celebrate with those who are saying yes to Jesus.

Amen.

God bless you.

I want to ask everyone to stand on their feet as we prepare to go back into worship.

Pastor Justin's gonna come out in just a few moments to give us some instructions, but as I prepare to pray for us, would you guys mind praying with me?

Help along those who are praying this prayer for the first time.

So repeat after me.

Say, Lord Jesus, I give you my life.

I believe that you died on the cross and that you rose from the dead.

And it's because of that belief I am saved.

Fill me with your spirit and order my steps in Jesus' name.

Let me pray for the rest of us.

God, I thank you.

I thank you, Father, that we've added to our family, Lord.

And God, I pray right now for every one of us, Lord, as we're in a season of anxiousness and pressure.

But Father, you have called us to be people who are patient.

So, Father, we invite your spirit to come upon us, Lord, and to show us the ways of patience.

Help us to create the margin of preparation so we can be patient even in the midst of storms.

So, Father, I pray in the name of Jesus for patience for your people, perspective, clarity, hope, and allow us to have the wisdom to bring you with us in every area of our lives.

Father, we are giving it all to you.

It is in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen and amen.

Church, can we all work together?

Thank you for tuning in to today's podcast.

For more information about Celebration Orwendo, or to get in touch with us, please visit Celebration Orwendo.org.