Speaker 1: Welcome Just hand Away Tagalog Sermon Podcast, your daily dose
Speaker 1: of inspiring from heartfelt tagalog.
Speaker 2: Sermons from different characters and speakers all over the Philippines.
Speaker 1: We hope that this podcast finds you in good shape.
Speaker 1: And now here's your message. You're listening to a message
Speaker 1: from Victory. Learn what it means to have faith in
Speaker 1: week one of our Christmas series Hark and we're starting
Speaker 1: this series entitled the Heart.
Speaker 2: Now I know we use that word every day, Hark,
Speaker 2: my daughter Hark. Heart simply means to listen or to
Speaker 2: pay attention. And generally December is one of the busiest
Speaker 2: times of the year with everything that's happening around us,
Speaker 2: with all the parties, the sales, the exchange, gifts, the bonus,
Speaker 2: the plant vacation, with all these things that's happening. You know,
Speaker 2: it's it's it's it's making us making it more difficult
Speaker 2: for us to hear what God is saying to us.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it's with all the noise, it's more difficult for
Speaker 2: us to actually listen and hear what God is speaking
Speaker 2: to us. This season, and so in this series, we're
Speaker 2: going to look at four stories, actually four messages delivered
Speaker 2: by angels to different people building up to the first Christmas.
Speaker 1: So me mahapindella hun a.
Speaker 2: Messengersey Lord, and these people are in different situations leading
Speaker 2: up to Christmas, and God gave them a message that
Speaker 2: really spoke to them. Not only that it prepared them
Speaker 2: for Christmas, but it really enriched their relationship with God.
Speaker 2: And that's our prayer for this series. With all the
Speaker 2: preparations we're doing, we hope that this series will help
Speaker 2: us prepare our own heart as we celebrate Christmas. And
Speaker 2: not only that this will prepare us for the twenty
Speaker 2: fifth of December, but somehow this will enrich our own
Speaker 2: faith and our own relationship with God. So that's what
Speaker 2: we're going to look at starting today, in the.
Speaker 1: Next three weeks.
Speaker 2: Can we bow our heads and close our eyes as
Speaker 2: we pray and commit this time to God. Lord, we
Speaker 2: pray Lord, maybe for some of us here, we're here today,
Speaker 2: but our mind is somewhere else.
Speaker 1: We're thinking of something else.
Speaker 2: I pray Lord that you will help us Lord calm
Speaker 2: our soul in our spirit. I pray that you will
Speaker 2: silence all the voices and allow us to.
Speaker 1: Hear only your voice.
Speaker 2: I pray Lord that you will give us the ability
Speaker 2: to hear you and receive your message for us, not
Speaker 2: only to prepare us for the Christmas celebration, but really
Speaker 2: to draw us closer to you. So thank you, Lloyd
Speaker 2: for the message that we're going to receive. I pray
Speaker 2: Lord that you will speak to us in Jesus name.
Speaker 1: We pray Amen. Okay.
Speaker 2: The first story we're going to look at is in
Speaker 2: Look chapter one, verse five. We're going to start in
Speaker 2: verse five, and this is the story of Zechariah and
Speaker 2: his wife Elizabeth. So we're going to read in verse five.
Speaker 2: Then we're going to jump from time to time from
Speaker 2: one verse to another, and then I'm going to make
Speaker 2: some comments in between. In verse five, it says, in
Speaker 2: the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a
Speaker 2: priest named Zechariah of the division of Abaijah, and he
Speaker 2: had a wife from the daughter of Aaron, and her
Speaker 2: name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God,
Speaker 2: walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes.
Speaker 1: Of the Lord.
Speaker 2: But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and
Speaker 2: both were advanced in years. Now, first thing to introduce
Speaker 2: us to this story were introduced to these characters Zacharaia
Speaker 2: and Elizabeth, and both of them were from families of ministers.
Speaker 2: Now in today, Zachariah is the equivalent of a pastor
Speaker 2: and young Pamilia Pula Man pastor pastor, that was Apple pastor,
Speaker 2: so it's a long line of really ministers. Now he's
Speaker 2: someone who works in the church. The only difference compared
Speaker 2: today is that Zachariah was a pastor from a small
Speaker 2: town approximately fifty to one hundred people during their time,
Speaker 2: gonna Pucalile community and maybe pastoring a church of twenty
Speaker 2: to thirty members. So he he is nationally ignored and
Speaker 2: internationally unknown. He's a simple man, not really influential, not rich,
Speaker 2: but faithfully doing what God has called him to do.
Speaker 2: So go to my own may Facebook account see Zacharaiah
Speaker 2: ten twenty friends, Nito Tapoposa asa Negla like.
Speaker 1: Paran your wife coppolaa one time I checked.
Speaker 2: So because in the bottom Madelasmak likes a postco.
Speaker 1: Not only that, the Bible says that they were already
Speaker 1: old and they had no children for many years.
Speaker 2: We don't know how many exactly, but maybe forty or
Speaker 2: fifty years. When they were younger, they believed God for
Speaker 2: their own child, and year after year they prayed, they believe,
Speaker 2: but they failed. Imagine the number of baby showers and
Speaker 2: baby dedications they've attended together as a couple children of
Speaker 2: other people, not their own. Imagine how they felt through
Speaker 2: the years of praying and believing and.
Speaker 1: Nothing is happening.
Speaker 2: And they prayed, and every year they failed, and their
Speaker 2: hope dwindled. And during their time, what made it really
Speaker 2: more difficult was that during their time, barrenness was considered
Speaker 2: as a curse. So if you're not producing babies, people
Speaker 2: might think that you are actually in sin, or you're
Speaker 2: doing something wrong, maybe you're not right with God. Can
Speaker 2: you imagine going to church and you have this battle
Speaker 2: going on in your mind and you're wrestling with this
Speaker 2: idea of what people are actually thinking about you. But Gannun,
Speaker 2: they don't have children now. Child bearing was one of
Speaker 2: the primary roles of women. That's why it's a shame
Speaker 2: for them that they don't have children, because that's their
Speaker 2: way of securing the future.
Speaker 1: The more people they have, the more secured their nation
Speaker 1: will be from invaders.
Speaker 2: Because they don't have life insurance or hospitals in every town.
Speaker 2: The more children they have, the more secure their future
Speaker 2: will be. As they grow old, somebody will take care
Speaker 2: of them, somebody will actually work for them and provide
Speaker 2: for the family. So children are really it really signifies
Speaker 2: security for the future. So can you imagine if you're
Speaker 2: a wife, you're a woman and you're not producing babies,
Speaker 2: the pressure from the community. Now here's what's mind boggling
Speaker 2: about it. Because the Bible says they were both righteous
Speaker 2: and they're walking blamelessly before God. How do you reconcile
Speaker 2: that they are close to God, they are both righteous,
Speaker 2: yet they are quote unquote cursed, they are not blessed.
Speaker 1: What's what's wrong with this? How can that be? There?
Speaker 1: Serving God? They're walking with God.
Speaker 2: They are praying every day, so they should be getting
Speaker 2: all the answer to their prayers.
Speaker 1: So what could be possibly wrong?
Speaker 2: And that's not just a mentality during their time, but
Speaker 2: even today there are actually people who think that Christian kadapad.
Speaker 2: Every time you pray, there's always an answer right away.
Speaker 2: But now go work as a church, dappad, everything will
Speaker 2: be smooth. Knowing papastor paposa, you built a mang students.
Speaker 2: Many times, you know, study would come to me and
Speaker 2: sasabinla Pastoraguelan problem but as if we're acempted or.
Speaker 1: Immune from these things. But that's not true, So how
Speaker 1: can that be? What could be possibly wrong? Here?
Speaker 2: Here's what's wrong, and what's wrong is this thinking that
Speaker 2: because we serve God somehow we are entitled to receive
Speaker 2: his blessing. Because we are serving God, somehow, God is
Speaker 2: indebted to us, and God is obligated to actually give
Speaker 2: us what we're asking from him or what we're expecting
Speaker 2: from him. So this was a paradigm shift because all
Speaker 2: along that's what people believed.
Speaker 1: If you are in God, then you should be blessed.
Speaker 1: You should not be experiencing all these things. So it's
Speaker 1: a paradigm shift.
Speaker 2: Because here God was saying they are righteous, yet they
Speaker 2: are going through these things. So and I believe it's
Speaker 2: something that Zecharai and Elizabeth understood. That's why we can
Speaker 2: see them in spite of their situation. They are still
Speaker 2: serving God. They are still serving God. You know why,
Speaker 2: because they are worshiping God for who he is, not
Speaker 2: because of what they get from him. So that was
Speaker 2: very clear to them, and that I think that's very
Speaker 2: important for us as we prepare our heart as we
Speaker 2: celebrate Christmas.
Speaker 1: It's important for us to to.
Speaker 2: Understand that we worship God because of who God is,
Speaker 2: not because of what we get from Him. That's why,
Speaker 2: even though they are still waiting for the answer to
Speaker 2: their prayers, how many of you here there are still
Speaker 2: prayers that you're waiting to be answered from God. There
Speaker 2: are still things that you're believing God for. Some people
Speaker 2: have already turned their back and walked away from God.
Speaker 2: God because Lord necessary the most in as good and
Speaker 2: I think there's a misunderstanding. There's something that was clear
Speaker 2: to Elizabeth and Zachariah that probably is not very clear
Speaker 2: to some people.
Speaker 1: To them, it was very clear, whether we get the
Speaker 1: answer to our prayers or not.
Speaker 2: We are going to worship God, you know why, because
Speaker 2: we worship God for who he is, not because of
Speaker 2: what we get from Him. That's why it requires faith
Speaker 2: if we are going to walk with God and if
Speaker 2: we're going to live for Him, because there are things
Speaker 2: in our life that we will not completely understand that
Speaker 2: will require trust on our part.
Speaker 1: More than understanding.
Speaker 2: If we are to live for God and serve him
Speaker 2: meansid there are people who would always ask for an explanation, Lord,
Speaker 2: give me an explanation.
Speaker 1: If you cannot.
Speaker 2: Explain it to me, I will never obey, I will
Speaker 2: never continue. But you know, sometimes there are things that
Speaker 2: what is needed is for us to trust God more
Speaker 2: than try to interpret and understand everything that's happening in
Speaker 2: our lives, because sometimes God works in a mysterious way.
Speaker 2: Did common reconcile? I'm praying to you. I know what
Speaker 2: I'm asking from you is good, But why is it
Speaker 2: that you are not yet answering my prayer? Why I
Speaker 2: don't have the answer, And sometimes we will never have
Speaker 2: the answer. That's why it requires faith, you know. I
Speaker 2: like this verse and Ecclesiastis chapter eleven, verse five.
Speaker 1: It says, as you do not know the path of
Speaker 1: the wind or how the body is formed in a
Speaker 1: mother's womb, so you.
Speaker 2: Cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things. Now,
Speaker 2: how many of you agree we don't completely understand everything
Speaker 2: that's happening around us, And we're okay with that, right.
Speaker 1: We're not demanding.
Speaker 2: Apple Company to explain to us everything that's happening with
Speaker 2: our in our iPhone before we buy in explain latsak,
Speaker 2: we don't we just buy. We're okay with that, you know,
Speaker 2: the same way with God. You know, first time I
Speaker 2: held in my hand chess car, first born, and first
Speaker 2: time n young kids lamin.
Speaker 1: But the first time, you know, I was well twenty
Speaker 1: nine at that time I was holding my newborn. I
Speaker 1: was staring at.
Speaker 2: Her, and I can't believe that my wife and I
Speaker 2: were able to actually produce another human being. But it's
Speaker 2: so amazing, you know, our children really or some of
Speaker 2: the most amazing and tangible miracles that God allowed us
Speaker 2: to experience until today. They gohaiani explain panna young eyes, yeah,
Speaker 2: young nose, heart, the bones. I don't know how that
Speaker 2: transformed inside. I don't know how that was formed inside.
Speaker 2: I just know that we now have our children. It's
Speaker 2: their gift from God. So the Bible says, as you
Speaker 2: do not know the path of the wind or how
Speaker 2: the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you
Speaker 2: cannot understand the work of God.
Speaker 1: You know, he's too great. God is too big and
Speaker 1: too awesome for.
Speaker 2: Us to comprehend with our finite mind. He is too
Speaker 2: big for us to try to make him fit inside
Speaker 2: our brain and understand everything about him. That's why The
Speaker 2: proper response to God is trusts faith, not unbelief, and
Speaker 2: the proper response to God is worshiped. How many of
Speaker 2: you believe God is worthy of our worship? That's why,
Speaker 2: regardless of where you are and regardless of your situation,
Speaker 2: you can actually worship God. Whether you have already answered
Speaker 2: received the answer to your prayer, whether you're listening down
Speaker 2: the things that you're.
Speaker 1: Grateful for this year, to go to three five pages.
Speaker 2: Already one hundred things I want to thank God for
Speaker 2: for this year, and maybe for some of you here,
Speaker 2: but I'm feeling more. Lord, I'm going twentysta.
Speaker 1: This year is not really that good.
Speaker 2: But guess what, we can still worship God today. I
Speaker 2: may not be able to understand everything that's happening in
Speaker 2: my life, I may not be able to reconcile it
Speaker 2: in my head, but I just know I can worship
Speaker 2: God no second. While he was serving as priest before God,
Speaker 2: and I'm not going to read the verse eight nine,
Speaker 2: I'm going to jump. While he was serving as print
Speaker 2: before God, when his division was on duty, Zachariah was
Speaker 2: faithfully serving God. An angel appeared and showed up. How
Speaker 2: many of you here this Thiscember you want an angel
Speaker 2: to show up saying your detail, pastor in thel and
Speaker 2: kate ka boom something else. So we're going to jump
Speaker 2: on verse thirteen. This is where Zachariah was serving. That
Speaker 2: was their situation building up to the First Christmas. And
Speaker 2: while he was serving, here's what the Bible says, an
Speaker 2: angel appeared, and the angel said to him, do not
Speaker 2: be afraid. I don't know if you are afraid of something,
Speaker 2: but I believe that's got message for you today. Fear not,
Speaker 2: do not be afraid. And he said, do not be afraid, Zachariah,
Speaker 2: for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth,
Speaker 2: will bear you a son, and you shall call his
Speaker 2: name John. Your prayer has been heard. How many of
Speaker 2: you want to hear that from God this December, this Christmas?
Speaker 2: Like I saying the Lord, your prayer has been heard.
Speaker 2: We pray more of ten years this year it will
Speaker 2: be answered. Whatever that is that you're believing for. We
Speaker 2: want to hear that from God. You know, I remember
Speaker 2: this story of a of an Italian kid, son of
Speaker 2: an Italian gangster. He wants a bike, so he told
Speaker 2: his mom, But his mom was a devout, you know
Speaker 2: Christian and wanting to really change the trajectory of his
Speaker 2: son's life. He wants to teach him how to have
Speaker 2: faith in God and how to pray. So instead of
Speaker 2: buying a bike for his son, her son, the mom said,
Speaker 2: pray to God.
Speaker 1: So an an gangster, the Italian. I'll try to to
Speaker 1: really say it an Italian accent note. So I pray on.
Speaker 2: Batas Jesus, can you give me a bike? Italian boo,
Speaker 2: Chinese fella, praisia. He waited for two days, nothing happened.
Speaker 2: On a third day, still prayed, Jesus, can you give
Speaker 2: me a bike? Well happen in third day, So you
Speaker 2: knew what this kid did. What he did was he
Speaker 2: went to the altar. He took the statue of Mary,
Speaker 2: wrapped it in a towel and hid under his bed.
Speaker 2: Then he wrote a letter and put it on the altar,
Speaker 2: and the letter read Jesus Italian palazory, Jesus, if you
Speaker 2: still want to see your mom, give me a bike tomorrow.
Speaker 2: He knowstage then a good working prayer. No, you're laughing,
Speaker 2: but some of us did that before. Maybe some of
Speaker 2: us are still doing that today in order to get
Speaker 2: what we're asking from God. Sometimes we make threats, Lord,
Speaker 2: but theopatus got dynama to church.
Speaker 1: Lord, if you don't still answer my prayer, I'll stop
Speaker 1: praying and reading the Bible. Or sometimes we try to
Speaker 1: bribe God.
Speaker 2: Lord, I'll read my Bible ten chapters a day, I'll
Speaker 2: complete all six services in Green Hills nine eleven, one, three, five, seven,
Speaker 2: I'll give my tithes. Then twenty one days of Christmas,
Speaker 2: I'll spread it out. So we make bribes so that
Speaker 2: God will somehow grant our requests. But you know, here's
Speaker 2: the good news for you. You don't need to make
Speaker 2: threats or you don't need to bribe God. You know
Speaker 2: why because every time you pray God, here's your prayers.
Speaker 2: And I think that's encouraging for us to know, though basic.
Speaker 2: Yet that's very comforting to here because how many of
Speaker 2: you Sometimes when you text your wife or your kids
Speaker 2: or somebody else and they don't answer, sometimes you freak out.
Speaker 2: We said that the text also a wife got ten
Speaker 2: where are you well?
Speaker 1: Where are you sweety? But if that was detect sorry
Speaker 1: left my phone.
Speaker 2: Oh pero maka thisa.
Speaker 1: Say pasha come forth, and sometimes gonna die.
Speaker 2: Pepreka Lord alum bunny Lord payment co alum bunny Lord.
Speaker 2: Now on the rocks marriage now man alarm bunny Lord,
Speaker 2: Alum bunny lord.
Speaker 1: Na no single alum bandy lord. How many of you
Speaker 1: know alumni Lord that will give you so much peace
Speaker 1: and encouragement. And guess what.
Speaker 2: Here's the message of the angel to Zacharia and God's
Speaker 2: message to you that every time you pray, God actually
Speaker 2: hears your prayer.
Speaker 1: And that's our confidence. God cares for you.
Speaker 2: He knows your frustrations, your disappointments, your excitement. You know
Speaker 2: two verses for us first John five, verse fourteen to fifteen.
Speaker 2: And this is the confidence. Everyone say confidence. And this
Speaker 2: is the cont well and confidential confidence. Everyone say confidence.
Speaker 2: And this is the confidence that we have toward him
Speaker 2: that if we ask anything according to his will, he
Speaker 2: hears us. And if we know that he hears us,
Speaker 2: and whatever we ask, whether that's relational, financial, spiritual, professional,
Speaker 2: whatever that is, we know that we have the request
Speaker 2: that we have asked of him. You don't need to bribe,
Speaker 2: you don't need to make threats every time you pray.
Speaker 2: If you pray, if you know what your praying for
Speaker 2: is God's will for you, you have this assurance that
Speaker 2: God hears you, and God will do.
Speaker 1: Something about it. Hebrews four, verse fifteen to sixteen.
Speaker 2: For we do not have a high priest talking about Jesus,
Speaker 2: who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one
Speaker 2: who in every respect has been tempted as we are,
Speaker 2: yet without sin. Let us, then, with confidence, draw near
Speaker 2: to the Throne of Grace, that we may receive mercy
Speaker 2: and find grace to help in time of need. That's
Speaker 2: our confidence that every time we come to the throne
Speaker 2: of God we will find grace and help in our
Speaker 2: time of need.
Speaker 1: What help do you need? What grace? What area of
Speaker 1: your life do you need grace?
Speaker 2: The assurance is that every time we come to God
Speaker 2: we will find help in grace. The reason you are
Speaker 2: still here today is because the grace of God is
Speaker 2: sustaining you. God always hears and answer our prayers. But
Speaker 2: he answers in three ways. But but you don't pastor
Speaker 2: every time I write in the prayer request by the
Speaker 2: way we're praying for that, every week we go through
Speaker 2: that we read we pray. I know that some of
Speaker 2: you it's your prayer request week after week. But God
Speaker 2: answers in three ways.
Speaker 1: Three ways.
Speaker 2: God answers yes, not yet, or I have something better
Speaker 2: in mind. Sometimes but net praik express delivery. How many
Speaker 2: of you here experienced that already? After praying just a
Speaker 2: few minutes the answer already came Lord in Jesus name.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 2: Then may a text and say, oh, by the way,
Speaker 2: granted na billss nona miss. If you pray kapalange, you
Speaker 2: know I have experienced that before. And if you pray
Speaker 2: plan Lord, I pray for aa.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: You know why, because the Bible says, even before a
Speaker 2: word is on your mouth, the Lord already knows what
Speaker 2: you're praying for.
Speaker 1: But we need to pray. You know why. It's for
Speaker 1: our good. It's to build our faith, to exercise our faith.
Speaker 1: So sometimes God's answer is yes, it's God's will. The
Speaker 1: timing is right, go.
Speaker 2: Sometimes the answer is not yet Ecclesiasts three, verse one.
Speaker 2: For everything, there is a season and a time for
Speaker 2: every matter under heaven, for every activity under heaven. So
Speaker 2: God's delay doesn't mean God's denial. So feeling well, I
Speaker 2: prayed for that for six months nothing happened. Maybe it's
Speaker 2: not God's will, not necessarily God's delay doesn't mean God's denial.
Speaker 2: So if you know if that is God's will, keep praying.
Speaker 2: Tell the person see it next to you, keep praying.
Speaker 2: You know, there's this card that my wife and I
Speaker 2: are family prayed for for a year. We are before
Speaker 2: my wife gave birth to our second child.
Speaker 1: We had this car the picture.
Speaker 2: We posted it on our phones, the screen of our
Speaker 2: phones and laptop, so that every day when we open
Speaker 2: our phone and our laptop, we would be reminded to
Speaker 2: pray for this. So every day when I bring my
Speaker 2: daughter to school, I would tell her pray for the
Speaker 2: car we're believing for. So we prayed for it for
Speaker 2: one whole year, one month, two months, three months, four months,
Speaker 2: five months. We know it's God's will for us.
Speaker 1: We just know we have a word from God seven month,
Speaker 1: But we don't know how we're to get the money
Speaker 1: for the down We don't know, but we're just praying.
Speaker 1: We're just believing.
Speaker 2: And guess what exactly one year God answered our prayer.
Speaker 2: So maybe the answer is not yes, maybe the answer
Speaker 2: is not yet. So remember God's delay doesn't mean God's denial.
Speaker 2: And third, sometimes God's answer is I have something better
Speaker 2: in mind. Zachariah and Elizabeth, we're just asking for a child.
Speaker 2: It's a longlord one baby lan. But you know God
Speaker 2: gave them John. And here's what the Angel told them
Speaker 2: about this son that they're going to have in verse fourteen.
Speaker 2: And you will have joy and gladness, and many will
Speaker 2: rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before
Speaker 2: the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink.
Speaker 2: And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even
Speaker 2: from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of
Speaker 2: the children of Israel to the Lord or God. And
Speaker 2: he will go before him and the spirit and power
Speaker 2: of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to
Speaker 2: the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
Speaker 2: to make.
Speaker 1: Ready for the Lord of people prepared.
Speaker 2: You know that verses we read, it's actually found in
Speaker 2: the Book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament,
Speaker 2: and the last book of the Old Testament is Malachi.
Speaker 2: And between Malachi and the Book of Look, there's four
Speaker 2: hundred years of silence, meaning God did not send a
Speaker 2: prophet to give the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1: Nobody gave the word of the Lord. So people were.
Speaker 2: Waiting and then after four hundred years, an angel showed.
Speaker 1: Up giving the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2: The silence was broken and they were given a word sagrab.
Speaker 2: Can you imagine the parents were just simply asking for
Speaker 2: a child. Now you're talking about the child prophesied four
Speaker 2: hundred years ago, who will prepare the way for the
Speaker 2: coming Savior, and we are going to be the parents.
Speaker 1: The prophecy was actually talking about our child.
Speaker 2: You know, God's answer is always bigger than our prayer.
Speaker 2: God's answers are bigger than our prayers. Child beginning an act,
Speaker 2: I'm going to give you something that will bless the
Speaker 2: nations of the world. And so sometimes we think Lord
Speaker 2: ay in equal lang promotion Lang. You know, we need
Speaker 2: to always see everything in connection to God's overall plan
Speaker 2: of redemption for humanity.
Speaker 1: You know why, because your story is part of a
Speaker 1: bigger story.
Speaker 2: Your life is a puzzle, is a peace that God
Speaker 2: is using to accomplish his plan of salvation for whole humanity.
Speaker 1: So it's not just about you. Christmas is a reminder
Speaker 1: that life is not.
Speaker 2: All about us. It's all about Jesus and everything that's
Speaker 2: happening in our life. It's not isolated in a vacuum.
Speaker 2: It's connected to what God is doing in the world today.
Speaker 2: God's answers are bigger than our prayers. And here's what's funny.
Speaker 2: In lu and verse eighteen, during the conversation the dialogue,
Speaker 2: Zacharaiah said to the angel, how shall I know this?
Speaker 2: For I am an old man and my wife is
Speaker 2: advanced in years. In other translation, Sabina pretty b a maniarion,
Speaker 2: and the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand
Speaker 2: in the presence of God, and I was sent to
Speaker 2: speak to you and to bring you this good news
Speaker 2: Napeiconian angel and verse twenty.
Speaker 1: And behold, you.
Speaker 2: Will be silent and unable to speak. I'll mute you
Speaker 2: until the day that these things take place.
Speaker 1: Because you did not believe my words, which will be
Speaker 1: fulfilled in their time.
Speaker 2: You know why, Sometimes if you don't have anything good
Speaker 2: to say, just keep quiet.
Speaker 1: Don't ruin God's plan for your life.
Speaker 2: Don't keep speaking negative things about our nation if you
Speaker 2: have nothing good to say. Now here's the conversation, Sabina,
Speaker 2: how shall I know this? Imagine they're praying for this
Speaker 2: for forty fifty years. Then finally an angel showed up
Speaker 2: and Sabina God answered your prayer and Sabina Sabina, Gabriel, Sabina,
Speaker 2: how how can I know this will happen? Sabina Gabriel, Hello,
Speaker 2: I have wings angel. There are only two angels named
Speaker 2: in the Bible, Gabriel and Michael.
Speaker 1: Sabina, I'm one of the two. And Sabina, Hello, You've
Speaker 1: been praying for this. How can you pray for something
Speaker 1: and not believe that God will answer? You? Know? When
Speaker 1: God answers our prayers, the question is not can God
Speaker 1: do it? But will you believe it? Will you believe it?
Speaker 1: Pug In answering a.
Speaker 2: Lord Ga meeting Moro And when God finally give you
Speaker 2: an open door to preach Lord Kayo buttoh Kaya. But
Speaker 2: when God answers your prayers, the question is not God, can.
Speaker 1: God do it? No? Will you believe it?
Speaker 2: Will you actually step out in faith and preach Lord
Speaker 2: gmtin more to be a blessing to others?
Speaker 1: And then God opened the door for you to be
Speaker 1: a blessing Sabin the Lord.
Speaker 2: M Sometimes our confessions are opposite our petitions.
Speaker 1: Sometimes what we say is different from what we pray.
Speaker 1: The Lord blessed mom.
Speaker 2: Ma, Lass, Lord heal our marriage upon a time, grabbing pagasa.
Speaker 2: We we're saying we have we have to check the
Speaker 2: words coming out of our mouth. And to do that
Speaker 2: we have to check our heart, because out of the
Speaker 2: abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So I want
Speaker 2: to ask you this question, how is your heart as
Speaker 2: we sell break Christmas? Is your heart full of faith
Speaker 2: or full of fear? Are you trusting God or are
Speaker 2: you doubting him? How's your heart? How's your heart? As
Speaker 2: I end and look one verse twenty four. In twenty five,
Speaker 2: after these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five
Speaker 2: months she kept herself hidden, saying, thus the Lord has
Speaker 2: done for me in the days when he looked on
Speaker 2: me to take away my reproach among people. Finally God
Speaker 2: gave the answer to their prayer, and Elizabeth said, my
Speaker 2: God has taken away my reproach. Reproach means shame or disgrace.
Speaker 2: She suffered emotional and verbal and spiritual abuse for many years.
Speaker 2: Then God intervened and took away her shame. This is
Speaker 2: a picture and preparation for the coming of Christ. This
Speaker 2: is a picture of what God wants to do in
Speaker 2: our lives. He wants to save us from our sins,
Speaker 2: and He wants to take away our shame so that
Speaker 2: we can worship God, we can walk with God, and
Speaker 2: we can serve Him for the rest of our life.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 2: So as we celebrate Christmas, be reminded that God is
Speaker 2: a God who hears and answers your prayers. And God's
Speaker 2: answer to you is bigger than what you're asking from him,
Speaker 2: because your story is part of a bigger story and
Speaker 2: God came to save you and take away your shame.
Speaker 1: Amen. As we pray, Lord, thank you for the encouragement
Speaker 1: we receive from you today.
Speaker 2: Thank you God for giving us ears to hear. Thank
Speaker 2: You for giving us heart that is tender before you.
Speaker 2: Thank you for giving us mind to comprehend.
Speaker 1: That we may understand Lord, what You're doing in and
Speaker 1: through our lives. God, Thank you Lord.
Speaker 2: I pray, like Elizabeth, like Zechariah, whatever situation we're in,
Speaker 2: whatever is happening, whether we have the answer to our
Speaker 2: prayers or not yet, Like them, I pray we will
Speaker 2: worship You and we will continue to serve you and
Speaker 2: live for you. That we will worship you for who
Speaker 2: you are, not because of what we get from you.
Speaker 2: So Lord, God, elevate our understanding of who you are.
Speaker 2: Align our hearts to you. Align our hearts to you today. Lord,
Speaker 2: I pray for those of us who are full of fear,
Speaker 2: Lord God, replace it with faith.
Speaker 1: Lord. For those of us, Lord now, maybe because.
Speaker 2: Of praying for months and years and we feel like
Speaker 2: nothing's happening, but we're wrestling with doubt and unbelieved.
Speaker 1: I pray, Lordat, restore the confidence in us.
Speaker 2: Restore our confidence that you know what's going on, you
Speaker 2: are concerned, and you're doing something behind the scene.
Speaker 1: Lord.
Speaker 2: I pray for those of us here, Lord who are
Speaker 2: waiting for the answer to our prayers. I pray LORDA
Speaker 2: that this message will Lordat, build our faith into the
Speaker 2: name of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Build our faith in the name of Jesus. Thank you
Speaker 1: for listening to this message. For more messages like these
Speaker 1: from other Victory Centers, please visit Victory dot org, dot pH,
Speaker 1: Slash resources, Slash Podcasts. Thank you for listening. We hope
Speaker 1: that you enjoy today's episode. Don't forget to share and
Speaker 1: subscribe to this podcast for more. God bless you all.