Taxi of Hope | Divine Interruption | Pastor Scott Thomas

Welcome to Free Life Chapel, where we

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>> today. I want to get into a four-week

series that we're going to kick off that

we're going to run through together. We

I mentioned to you uh Advent. Um and and

how how many of you maybe have

celebrated Advent? Advent comes from a a

Latin word that literally just means

coming or an arrival. That that's that's

what Advent means. And and when we talk

about Advent during this time of the

year, we're talking about a period of

preparation, an expectation, a looking

forward to Jesus is on the way. Do you

realize there was a time in history

where Jesus had not come yet? The only

history that we have is Jesus has

already been here. But there was a lot

of folks that did not know him and they

only had the hope that one day the

Messiah would come. And so if we're not

careful, we will live so far this way on

this side of the calendar, we'll forget

there was another side of the calendar

that did that that Jesus was not here

and he was just an aspiration.

And so the goal behind Advent for us is

to just keep this from becoming a

routine Christmas, a routine holiday

because it's celebrating, watch this,

the three comeings of Jesus.

Three. Oh yeah. He He came as a baby

and then hopefully he came as your

savior

and then third he will come again

>> and he will take us to be with him for

eternity. There's these three

comingings. So it's it's not just that

you can only celebrate Advent if you're

looking and waiting on the babe to show

up. But but quite honestly there's

another advent we can experience where

he then steps into our life and he is

more of who he needs to be. And then and

then we have that future hope that

there's a day coming that we'll be with

him for eternity. So here's the point of

what I want to bring to you today.

Jesus's birth, it's not just an arrival.

We're not just celebrating that he is

coming. It's not just the arrival of

Jesus, but literally Advent is God

breaking into and interrupting your

reality.

God's saying, "I'm tired of you living

in this boring, mundane, hopeless life,

and I'm going to break into your

reality, and I'm going to release into

your world something you've always

wanted, but you could find it nowhere

else except through me." This is exactly

what Advent is. It makes it makes Jesus

a holy intruder.

Think about this. God came to earth

wrapped in flesh TO BE ONE OF US.

That we we we we sit here and we like,

"Yeah, okay." But but but we we can't

even wrap our minds around what that

means. that God, no other god in

history, whether it be mythology or

ANYTHING ELSE, NO GOD becomes human in

order to be with those that he loves. No

god gives his life for those that he

loves. Every other god requires them to

give their lives for him. But God, our

God, Jesus, said, "No, I'm coming that I

can give my life for you." this holy

intruder. He comes and he secures

everything for you and I. Please listen

to me because that's what the season is

that we're celebrating right now. He

came to live our life. He came and he

faced our sin. He came and he died our

death. He came and he paid our debt. He

rose again on the third day. Then he

defeated our enemy. He restored our

relationship with God. and he secured

our promises and said that we will have

eternity with him. Does is that exciting

to anybody in the room except for me

that he did all that for us

had there not been a Christmas morning.

We would not be here.

>> Weigh that.

This is not just another This is not

President's Day that we're celebrating.

This is not just another American

holiday. No, this is the one that

changed the course of time

>> for you and I. Advent, it is the

celebration of everything Jesus embodies

and for all that he provides. And that

means this. We have a living hope. We

have a living peace. We have a living

joy. And we have a living love in

Christ. Today I just want to take the

first week and focus on the fact that we

have this hope. It's it's an

interruption of hope in your life. You

ever live in a time when you didn't have

hope?

>> You ever been in that? I know. I'll tell

you this. If you have ever been in a

time like that, I've been there. You

were not fun to be around.

>> Oh no. When when when when you when you

are hopeless and despair is in your

life, when that is the thing that is

running your world, when you've got

nothing to look forward to, no reason to

wake up the next morning, no reason to

keep breathing, and you're just kind of

in that place, and you feel like it is

all done. I've got nothing but walls

built around me, a low ceiling, a solid

floor. I'm stuck. I'm done. It's over.

It will never get better than this. That

is not a good place to be in.

>> No, no, no, no, no, no. that and and I

want you to understand when I tell you

hope, what do I mean by hope? Hope is

not this wishful thinking.

Hope is a confident expectation

that God is going to keep his promises

to you even even and especially in the

dark and the uncertain times when you

have no plan and it all looks bad and

you see no way out. It's done. Except

hope is still here.

>> This this confident expectation that he

is who he said he is and he can do what

he said he's going to do and he's all

here for me. When you have that, that's

a gamecher right there. Let's talk about

this today because life is a struggle.

>> Oh yeah. I promise you. I know you see

people on social media and you think

they got it all together. Baby, walk in

their shoes for just a minute. What you

are looking at is filters and one out of

75 pictures they decided to pull out. I

took a thousand and1 pictures at Israel

and I might have posted two of them

because nothing just it didn't didn't

look right. You know, it's got to have

you ever taken those pictures and you

got that one eye that wasn't open and

then you got to erase that one and then

then you got that hair going this way

and you got to get rid of that one and

all all the pictures have to be

Instagram approved before they can be

like everyone's looking at is everyone

okay with this picture? BECAUSE WE WE'RE

not posting real. We're just posting

what makes US LOOK GOOD. AIN'T NOBODY

GOT IT GOING ON LIKE THAT. WE ALL need

hope

>> because life is a struggle. The world

that we're living in right now feels

like it's even holding its breath. If I

can be honest with you,

>> this world is full of some tension,

hoping, wishing for something better.

The global pandemic, that wasn't long

ago that we went through this craziness,

y'all.

>> No, you came through that. This

pandemic, this our politics is is crazy.

Family issues exploding, financial

issues going on that people are dealing

with, personal struggles, feeling

overwhelmed with life. Life is a

struggle. Life is tough for everybody. I

don't care if you're 17 or 77. Life is

tough.

>> It was this mindset. It was this issue

that Israel had lived in, watch this,

for over two centuries. In what in fact

to give it specific 209 years Israel as

a nation was living in everything I just

described it was tore up. It was a mess.

The Assyrians had come in and they were

threatening this impending captivity

over the entire nation and the nation

was torn up. They had political chaos

going on inside. They had spiritual

decline. They had gone to to looking

into other idols and other other nations

had mixed in, brought paganism with

them. It was a dark time in Israel. And

this one prophet, this guy named Isaiah,

he steps up in the middle of this

29-year

darkness. It was a mess. Chaos all over

the news. Everywhere they turned around,

you couldn't trust anybody. You couldn't

trust family. It was all just in a nose

dive. And here's what Isaiah said.

Here's what he declared to the nation.

In the middle of that, Isaiah 9 6 and 7

says this. For unto us a child is born

to us a son is given, and the government

shall be upon his shoulder, and his name

shall be called, read this, wonderful

counselor, mighty God, everlasting

father, prince of peace. of the increase

of his government and of his peace there

will be no end on the throne of David

and over his kingdom to establish it and

to uphold it with justice with

righteousness from this time forth and

forever more. And read this last line

with me. The zeal of the Lord of hosts

will do this.

Isaiah steps up and he begins to

prophesy. In other words, declare

something new is on the way.

>> It's not going to be like this forever.

There's change coming. Would you turn to

three folk and tell them change is

coming. Change is coming. Change is

coming. Change is coming. Yeah. Yeah.

Change is on the way. Listen how he

starts it. Watch this. Look how specific

he is. He's prophesying hundreds of

years before Jesus shows up. Listen to

this. For unto us a child is born.

To us a son is given. You see, watch

this. Jesus is a child to us, but a son

to the father.

>> Isaiah was being specific. He's going to

be a baby to you, but it's not his first

breath he's ever taken. He's always been

here. So, he'll be a child, but he'll be

a son. And the government,

the order,

the way that things are ran, the

dominion of God will be ruling and

reigning. How you know when God is

ruling and reigning, things are good.

Things are good. Things are good in the

neighborhood. Amen.

Whenever he's This is what he begins to

declare over them in this chaotic time.

And he says he'll BE A WONDERFUL

COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING

FATHER, a prince of peace. And peace is

going to BE NOT THIS DARKNESS WE'RE IN,

NOT THIS TOW up from the FLOOR UP

SITUATION WHERE FAMILY'S ON YOUR nerves

and the government you can't trust and

it's paganism everywhere. You said, "No,

no, no, no. He's about to turn this

whole thing around. Justice and

righteousness are going to step in. And

then he concludes it with this. THE ZEAL

OF GOD IS GOING TO do this.

Not you, not your favorite politician,

not the political party you're connected

to, NOT WASHINGTON DC. GOD IS GOING to

do this. I I TAKE GREAT JOY AND I TAKE

GREAT HOPE IN THIS BECAUSE THE PROMISE

OF GOD, THE PROMISE OF JESUS, THE PEACE,

THE HOPE THAT WE have in him, it's not

dependent ON HUMAN EFFORT. IT'S NOT how

good you are, your education, your

ability to network. If you could JUST

GET THAT PROMOTION, IT HAS NOTHING TO do

with that. IT'S ALL GOD'S DECISION. It's

all God's action. and he says, "I'm

watching and I've got a clock and

everything is on a countdown and it's

about to hit the expiration date and

when it hits my calendar, I'm going to

flip it around. I will do it for my

name's sake. You don't have to deserve

it. You don't have to be in THE RIGHT

PLACE. I'M GOING TO do it for you

because that's the God of hope that I am

in your life." The zeal of the Lord will

do this.

>> I love that. That means everything

doesn't need to be going your way for

you to have hope.

>> That means it could look tore up right

now, but in an instant it could all flip

and turn around. Because when God says

change, then it's got to change. See,

hope is not built on your ability. Hope

is not built on what I can put together,

how I can twist things. It's totally

built on the promise and the plan of

God.

>> But can anybody relate with the fact

that God doesn't act as fast as we would

like for him to?

Oh yeah. Oh, that was a good amen in the

back. I feel you. Yeah, that right

there. I No, I get it. Me, too. Like,

God, hello.

>> Did you forget something?

>> I need Isaiah now. Like, we we've all

been there because waiting is painful

>> when I feel like I'm just in this cycle

of, okay, look, things are bad, things

are tough. Like, okay, we got a promise,

but I ain't seeing nothing change right

now. Hello. Heck, we we we all go

through this. You you got the job

application out there. You just had

tests with the doctors. You're waiting

on the report to come back. You you've

got a lot of things. The the the the

check is in the mail.

>> Like like you you got stuff you're

waiting on. You're hurting. You're

you're you're you're you're hoping to

heal. Like you're you're stuck in a in a

bad place right now. And in in a in a

culture that we have like instant

gratification, y'all, that waiting is

painful. that waiting is hard. Like I

want a microwave miracle right now.

Like bing that's what I was looking. But

it doesn't come that way. You know why?

Because true hope, true hope requires a

gap between your present reality and the

promised reality.

Hope is future focused.

It's where I stand here without it, but

I'm talking and looking and believing as

if it's a sure thing in spite of what is

around me right now. That That's what

hope is. You see, the strength of hope

is tested by the weight.

>> Oh, that's so hard. And that weight, do

you know what it requires? What? It's a

word that I don't even like to say, but

I'm going to say it anyway.

perseverance.

You just you just kind of digging in and

you're just holding on like Jesus, take

the wheel right now. Like I you just

just holding on. And perseverance is

simply the ability to endure delay

without losing hope.

>> It's not coming when I want it. I

thought it would have happened last

week, but I'm still here waiting on it

right now. I thought it would have been

done a month ago, but I'm still in this

situation. They told me that it was

going to be done that and and you're

still stuck here. You're brought to a

crossroad. What will you do in that

moment? Do you bail? DO YOU WALK AWAY

FROM GOD? Or do you hold on and say, "I

have an interruption of hope that was

birthed into my life 2,000 years ago.

And I've got to let this be more of a

reality than what's going on in my life

right now." Romans 8 24 and 25. Here's

what the Bible says. Hope that is seen

is no hope at all. WHO HOPES FOR WHAT

THEY ALREADY HAVE? READ THIS. But if we

hope for what we do not yet have, we

wait for it patiently.

When Cindy and I were

stuck in Tel Aviv,

I know it was wonderful.

We got out. We were doing some running

around in the city, ran to the old city,

Jaffa, and that was really cool. And

then we went to Tel Aviv to Tel Aviv

University and looking at going through

some museums.

When we came out of the museum, um we

need to get a a taxi back to the hotel,

which was like 20 25 minutes away. And

so me and my lightning fast mind, Cindy,

like, where do we get a taxi? I said,

we'll just go down here on the street

and we'll just we'll just get a get a

taxi. We'll just weigh one down. So, we

go and we stand on the street and we're

standing there and here comes a taxi.

Hey. Oh, bye.

We'll we'll stand here. Let's get

another one. Here they come. Hey. And

then while we're standing here, we see a

lot of taxis coming that way. Well,

let's cross the street and go over there

because we'll we'll be able to wave them

down over there. And they got a place to

stop. We cross the street three times

trying to wave them down. And they just

like, what in the world? So, one of them

finally pulled over. I went, "Whoa." I

go running and I say, "You ready?" He

goes, "No, no, no, no. I'm already

booked." I thought sugar. Sugar is my

cuss word. Sugar. And so so I just deal

with that.

And then my beautiful wife,

she said, "Scott, we need to order a

taxi."

So she pulls up an app because they

don't have Uber over there, but they got

their own they got their own system. She

opens this app up and

boop, they're coming.

And in about 3 or 4 minutes, here they

came. He pulls up right in front of us.

You order me? I Yeah, there we go. Boom.

And we were gone. Here's here's what

here's the here's here's the difference.

Wishing is standing there trying to flag

something down.

But hoping is when it's already ordered

>> and it passes other stops to get to

where you are

>> because it's already got your name on

it. And that taxi belongs to nobody else

but you. And it passes a lot of other

things to get right where you are. Oh,

ladies and gentlemen, here's what I'm

trying to tell you. You ain't got to be

standing on the road flagging no

blessing down, flagging a breakthrough

down. No, no, no, no. What God has

ordered for you, it is for you. Your

name is already on it. It's driving to

you right now. Don't get frustrated by

what you see go BY YOU, CUZ THAT WASN'T

for you. IT WASN'T GOING WHERE YOU NEED

TO GO. There's only one that's going to

come and meet you here and take you

there. And that's the hope of Jesus that

secures your present and your future.

Everything is going to be all right.

WE CAN'T JUST WISH. WE HAVE TO HAVE THIS

EXPECTATION. THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE

between passive waiting and active

expectation.

>> And that's that hope that hits your

heart that I can see things pass me. But

I don't get jacked because I know that

wasn't for me.

>> No, no, no. Cuz what's coming for me,

nobody can have what God has for me. And

I don't want what God has for you. But I

promise you, our God is big enough that

he's got enough scheduled for everybody

in the room. Would you tell somebody, "I

can celebrate your blessing, too." Would

you just tell them, "I can I I don't

need your blessing. I'm not trying to

rob from you. I'm not getting mad

because you got the breakthrough because

if God did it for you, that means he's

in the neighborhood and we sitting close

together. So that means he's coming to

my house next. Everything

going to be all right."

So Jesus is this holy intruder

that comes with this hope that you got

to do something with that.

>> He makes promises and you're either

going to reject him and call him a liar

or you have to embrace him. BUT YOU

CAN'T DISMISS IT AS IF IT doesn't exist.

He's there. Whoop. There it is. YOU GOT

TO DEAL WITH HIM. YOU GOT TO DEAL with

what he said.

The truth is this. Hope in God is not a

wish. It's a promise.

>> And that's different, ladies and

gentlemen. There's a difference between

biblical hope and wishful thinking. And

I I I want to drive this home for you

because hoping to win the lottery and

hoping for the sun to rise tomorrow are

two different things.

>> Yeah.

Quite honestly,

if you playing the lottery, you just

wishing, baby.

>> You've got nothing to build on to expect

anything to happen in your life.

>> But the sun coming up tomorrow. I've

been on this earth a long time. I've

been here 58 years. 58 years. And I've

seen over 21,000 times the sun has come

up. I have a good reason to hope that

it's going to come up again tomorrow.

Why is that? Because there is a

reputation. There is a standard. There

is a track record that I can I can bet

my house on the fact that the sun will

come up again tomorrow and I've got a

confident expectation, a hope that it's

going to happen that way. Here's what

I'm trying to tell you. If you're

putting your hope and your expectation

on anything except for Jesus Christ,

you're playing a wishing game and you're

playing the lottery. But when you can

build your life on the promises and the

hope of Jesus Christ, it is as sure as

the sun coming up tomorrow that he's for

you. He's never going to drop you. He's

not GOING TO BAIL ON YOU. AND I don't

care how young you are, how old you are,

what career path you're on, what sport

you're playing, whatever the aspiration

of your heart is. If you will look to

JESUS AND GET HANDFULS OF HIM AND BUILD

YOUR LIFE AND YOUR EXPECTATION on him,

HE WILL NEVER DROP YOU, NEVER leave you,

NEVER FORSAKE YOU, BUT GO WITH YOU ALL

the way. THIS IS THE HOPE that we have

in our lives.

>> Our biblical hope is rooted on God's

reputation, his faithfulness, not the

economy, not the government,

on our God.

This is where we rest as believers.

Hebrewsap 11:1.

Read it with me. Here's what it says. To

have faith is to be sure of the things

we hope for, to be certain of the things

we cannot see.

When you dissect this verse, it tells us

hope exists

and then faith follows hope. Come on.

>> Hope sees

>> the future based on the promise of God.

>> And then faith steps

based on what hope saw.

>> Hope saw the promise that he's for me,

never going to leave me, never forsake

me. Well, based on that hope, let me

step into this situation and I'm going

to go ahead and praise him while I got

everything look like it's falling apart

in my life. Because what it looks like

and what it is are two different things

completely because God's not going to

mess his reputation up just in my in my

life. If he made a promise and said he

would be with me, he's going to be with

me. So, I can live as if it's already

done while I'm still waiting on it. I'm

in a delay, but I know God is good. It's

not that he's not answering. He picked

up the phone and said, "Hello, I'm going

to put you on hold for just a second and

I'll be right back. I've got him on the

line. I got him on the phone. I've got

the connection going on." And it's just

a matter of time before he picks back up

and changes the situation in my life.

This is how we live as believers. THIS

IS THE HOPE. JESUS DIED. HE CAME TO THIS

EARTH TO GIVE US A HOPE THAT WE CAN

BUILD OUR LIFE ON. WITHOUT HIM, THERE IS

NO HOPE. WITH HIM. ALL WE HAVE IS HOPE.

Hope sees. FAITH STEPS. AND WHEN HOPE

AND FAITH TO GET GET TOGETHER, THEY HAVE

A BABY CALLED EXPECTATION. AND WHEN YOU

GOT EXPECTATION INSIDE, it makes you

live different, LAUGH DIFFERENT, TALK

DIFFERENT. EVEN when things aren't the

best right now, you know the best is yet

to come.

>> Hallelujah.

>> It's Advent.

We have this hope because Jesus came.

Prior to Jesus, there was no way to

hope.

But because he's here, that means hope

is hype.

Like it's I got this this Oh yes. Like

this is good. It's good. It's good in

the neighborhood. Hey, it's like like

it's it's it's all good. And if the

situation doesn't look good right now,

come back and see me in a week cuz this

whole thing's about to turn over in my

life. God's going to change it. The book

of Habach chapter 2 says this, "The

righteous will live by their

faithfulness to God." And we we live

faithful to God because we trust what he

promised. If he said he's got me, he's

got me. So I will worship God as if he's

already done what he said he was going

to do because I know he's good to his

word. Amen.

>> So let me ask you something. Is your

faith in drive or is it in neutral?

>> Are are are are you are you moving

towards him? Is your faith situated on

people and money, a job, circumstances

and offer? Are you building your entire

hope on everybody else's opinion of you?

Are you waiting on SOMEBODY ELSE TO GIVE

YOU A BREAKTHROUGH? Or are you trusting

God to bring the breakthrough in your

life? Because here's what I know.

Wherever you place YOUR HOPE, THAT'S

WHERE you'll place your worship.

>> You'll either worship people or you're

going to worship God.

>> I will either manipulate and work people

to get what I need or I'll just trust

God and let him do all the working for

me. You you got to decide where you're

going to be in this situation because we

have to have an action. Let me just put

it this way.

We we can't just have the confession. We

got to have the step. And what do I mean

by that? That means that I am living my

daily life, moving towards him based on

what he said, based on what I hear, that

he's for me and NOT AGAINST ME. HE'S A

HEALER. He's a provider. HE'S ON MY

SIDE. MY BEST days are ahead. Even in

the middle of a crazy circumstance, I

see that. And so now, HOPE SEES FAITH IS

STEPPING. I'm going to show up in

church. I'll worship him. I'll bless

him. I'm tithing. I'm serving. Nobody

will even know the hell you're going

through when hope is fully alive on the

inside. People look at you and think

YOUR LIFE IS SMOOTH and nice if they

only knew the battles and the struggles

that you're dealing with in life. HOW IS

IT THAT you're living better than the

way you look? Because hope is alive

inside of me and I know that it is

temporary. It's on its way out and my

best is yet to come.

It's like climbing a set of steps.

You know where the top is,

but until you step, you'll never

experience another level.

>> You can say, "Oh, yeah, there it is. I

see it up there." Mhm. But you ain't up

there.

>> You got to step.

>> Dr. King, Dr. King put it this way.

Faith is taking the first step even when

you can't see the whole staircase.

I just got to start. I got to I got to

move my life forward. I'm not living

here. I'm not staying here. I'm not

living stuck. In other words, here's

what he's saying. Until faith steps,

it's just a holy wish. And we got to

stop wishing and start hoping.

>> Get faith out of your head and get it

into your feet and start moving towards

God and stop waiting on everything to

happen for you before you move towards

him. No, you step towards him and then

he will meet you there. You got to walk

down the hallway before you'll ever see

which door is open. And he's trying to

take you somewhere in this. James 2:1

James 2:1

17. Here's a great tattoo for you right

here. Here's what it says. Isn't it

obvious that God talk without God acts

is outrageous nonsense?

I've got to move towards him. I've got

to prioritize him.

That's what the advent of Jesus is all

about.

He is hope. Hope has a name, Jesus.

>> And you can build your life on that

hope. A radical radical interruption in

our life because there was none until he

came.

>> Right?

>> And when he came now, whatever chaos is

in your life, it's got to face the hope

of Jesus. You got to do something with

it. The chaos in your life has an enemy.

Hope is fierce. Hope is not a cute,

cuddly, furry little thing that meows

every now and then. No. Uh, hope is

ferocious. Hope has fangs. Hope is a

beast that will step in and tear apart

the chaos, the fear, the anxiety, the

worry in your life. That comes because

of who Christ is. Can I remind you,

ladies and gentlemen, that the birth of

Jesus Christ, he broke time into two

eras,

BC and A. His coming was so powerful it

split history in two. This is what I'm

telling you that we build our life on.

And when he split IT IN TWO, HE DID IT

as a deliverer and a rescuer. THAT'S

WHAT ISAIAH WAS SAYING. IT'S ALL ABOUT

TO CHANGE. I KNOW IT'S BEEN THIS WAY FOR

209 YEARS. AND WE'RE NOT IN CONTROL AND

SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES. AND IT'S DARK AND

NASTY. BUT GOD HAS A PLAN. AND HE'S

GOING TO DO IT BECAUSE his zeal, HIS

HEART, HIS PASSION IS FOR YOU. SO WATCH

OUT. Here he comes. And then the divine

interruption of Jesus hits.

Ladies and gentlemen, this divine

interruption is for you. And you're not

waiting on that interruption. No, he's

here right now.

>> His name is Jesus.

When I think of these divine

interruptions, I think about

firefighters,

Pastor Rick, who bust down doors and get

to where survivors are waiting for

someone to get them out of a lethal

situation.

And in the nick of time, they know how

to do this. Jesus broke into this messed

up on fire world and brought a rescue

plan. That's why the book of Micah,

Micah, this this minor prophet

and not minor because he's a little guy,

minor because his book is really short.

But Micah in in and he wrote in in Micah

Micah 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, he says speaking of Jesus

prophetically, he calls him, watch this,

the breaker,

like the breaker. That that's that's how

he refers to him. It during this time,

Israel, the the the culture of greed and

injustice, it was a mess. what going

what was going on so societal breakdown

it it was a mess and Micah he says I

want you to understand something Jesus

the Messiah the breaker who crashes into

hopelessness

and destroys impossible situations is

coming

>> that's who we know him as today I want

you to understand God has a history of

sudden interruptions

throughout our Bible and I want I want

you to

The disciples one time were trapped in a

storm and the Bible says, "And suddenly

Jesus came to where they were

>> in the storm." Oh, there was this guy

named Paul and Silas. They were locked

up in prison in the book of Acts. And in

the middle of their prison, they had

enough hope to be singing. They didn't

allow their circumstances to quieten

them. No, they begin to praise God. And

if you study it, they're standing up to

their knees in mud. It was nasty.

Rodentinfested, chained to a wall. They

had been beaten. and they decided to

start praising God. And the Bible says,

"And suddenly there was an earthquake

that broke the doors open and got them

out."

Can I remind you that there were

shepherds in a field minding their own

business and suddenly angels showed up

and began to declare to them, "Unto you

was born this day in the city of David a

Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

Suddenly still happen, BREAKTHROUGHS

STILL HAPPEN. UNEXPECTED MOMENTS OF GOD

SHOWING UP AND BRINGING WHAT HE

PROMISED. IT IS COMING. IT'S NOT WISHFUL

THINKING. YOU CAN BUILD your life on

your days are changing. It's turning

around for your family, for your body,

for your mind, for your heart, for your

future, for your present. Change is

coming.

And if Jesus would do all of that for

the disciples, for Paul and Silas, for

the shepherds, he will do the same for

you. Jesus came

to give us a reason to hope. Would you

please stand to your feet?

So whatever doctor's report you're

facing right now, you can build your

hope in Jesus.

Whatever hurt you're going through, you

can put your hope in Jesus. Whatever's

going on in your business right now,

if the money got funny, you can put your

hope in Jesus.

Stop looking to yourself and stop trying

to just pick. Turn to him,

>> God. I'm putting all the weight on you.

The weight of my life. You can handle

me. You can handle what's going on.

Where is it that you're feeling hopeless

today? Where's your struggle right now?

What's the thing you've not even shared

with your spouse yet?

Yeah, we men are really, really good at

this.

We want to be the leaders of our house.

And we got our fears, we got our

anxieties, we got our struggles, but we

don't want to admit it because if I'm

supposed to lead, I don't want to create

fear in her. So, let me just swallow it

and act like I got it together.

And we struggle with this and it will

implode if we're not careful and take us

into places we never should go, seeking

comfort instead of advance.

And to my brothers in the house in

particular, I'm here to tell you right

now, you need Jesus. You need to put

your hope in Jesus. Get handfuls of

Jesus. Stop trying to just figure it

out. Oh, you need another brother in

your life as well. Yeah, pull a brother

side by side that you can work it out,

but put your hope in him and start

talking to Jesus instead of scrolling

through social media and looking for

another get-richqu scheme. Would you

just take 10 minutes and start praying

and talking to him right now and saying,

"I'm putting my life in your hands for

the rest of 2025. I will talk to you

every day. I'm doing the Advent

devotional. I'm going to begin to reach

for you. I'm going to put my confidence,

my hope, my trust in you. I'm ch before

I get to a new year. Before a new

calendar can get into my world, I want

to get it going now. I'm trusting you.

Let hope give you vision for your

future. And let faith help you to take a

step and move towards God in your

attitude, in your decisions, in your

actions. And then once you've got hope

and faith working side by side, I

doubled dog dare you to start a tailgate

party for the for the breakthrough

that's on the way. Like like like it's

coming. It ain't here yet, but baby, get

the grill out. Let's go. IT'S THE

PRE-PARTY BECAUSE THE best is yet to

come in my life. Expect

divine

interruption

in your world.

He's going to interrupt your fear with

peace.

>> He's going to interrupt your pain with

healing. There's an interruption coming

and it's going to be wonderful.

Father, I pray today for my friends that

are in this room that may feel like

they're in a struggle. They've got more

questions than they do answers.

Smiling on the outside and running

around trying to figure things out on

the inside.

Oh God, I pray that you help us just get

real with you today.

I'm not going to try to run my life from

me, but I'm turning it over to you. From

the 15year-old to the 85y old, you are

our God. And the same way that Israel

needed you in their worst situation, we

reached to you today. And Jesus, the

fact that you are our living hope, you

are the one who came to fill us full of

divine expectation. You came to

interrupt our chaos and our fears and

our questions to bring us fully alive

and get our eyes back on what the future

looks like. To give us a strength in the

middle of the struggle that while the

delay is going on, I can still smile and

sing my song and throw a tailgate party

knowing that my best days are still

ahead of me. God, I pray for my friends.

I pray for business owners. I pray for

marriages. I pray for students in the

room. I I pray God that you would wrap

arms around them and let hope come alive

in this Advent season that as we look to

you, Jesus, you came. You were born into

this earth to show us that you're the

real deal. THAT YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU

PROMISED. And we worship you today.

You're a greater reality than the very

circumstances in our life. We love you

and we put our weight on you today.

Bless my friends. We're rolling over,

casting all of our care on you because

you care for us.

We worship you today in Jesus name.

Amen. Amen. If you receive that today,

put those hands together.

We really hope this message encouraged

you. For more encouraging messages, feel

free to check out our website,

freelifechapel.org.

I hope you have a fantastic day.