What’s It Gonna Be?

TL;DR Summary

In this inspiring sermon, Larry Brey from Elevation Church reflects on the journey of faith and the power of God’s timing. He shares the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth from Luke 1, emphasizing how God fulfills promises in His own time, often beyond our understanding or expectations. The sermon encourages believers to remain faithful and trust in God’s plan, even when faced with long periods of waiting or disappointment.

The core message revolves around the biblical account of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were childless and advanced in age. Despite their circumstances, God promised them a son, John, who would play a significant role in preparing the way for Jesus. Brey highlights the importance of maintaining faith and hope, drawing parallels to his personal experiences of waiting and trusting in God’s promises. The key scriptures include Luke 1:62-66, where Zechariah regains his speech and praises God, signifying the fulfillment of God’s promise.

Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own lives and consider what God might be calling them to believe for, despite past disappointments. Brey urges believers to hold onto their faith and trust that God hears their prayers and will act in His perfect timing. The message concludes with a call to embrace God’s promises and remain steadfast in faith, trusting that He is working all things together for good.

Full Sermon Transcript

There is nothing like elevation nights and we have added three special summer dates we are coming your way tell them where we’re going to be I’m so excited about this so on July 19th we’re gonna be in Savannah Georgia on July 20th Greenville South Carolina July 21st Nashville Tennessee we’re coming did you hear the lady that’s very soon you got to get your tickets right now so we can worship God preach his word everybody’s coming you better be there I’ll see you elevation nights here comes the word of God go to elevationnights.com and get your tickets and then to the message let’s hear the word [Music] I I never take it for granted when I get to stand in this Pulpit because every week our pastor stands up here and he preaches God’s word in a way that would set our lives free and as he mentioned I’m one of the oldies it means old guys I’ve been around since the beginning you might know this but I feel like one of my responsibilities every time I stand in the Pulpit is to be the Storyteller to be the old guy reminding you where you came from some of you don’t know your spiritual Legacy elevation started more than 17 years ago our first Sunday February 5th 2006 we had 121 people now we got more watch parties than that around the world look what God has done unbelievable but it really didn’t start February 5th it started actually a year before that in 2005 when eight families committed to do this thing called Elevation Church I want to show you a photo of your early Family Heritage this on the screen here this is this is way back in the day Elevation Church this is what we call the Blue Room days from back in Shelby North Carolina let me give you a little context around this photo eight families at this point are committed to sell their houses quit their jobs move to an unnamed City in part of an unnamed part of the country to be part of an unnamed Church who doesn’t want to sign up for that doesn’t sound amazing and we’re all standing in that room wondering what is it going to be and what’s going to be the name and what’s going to be the city and can you put that photo back up because Pastor Stephen is the on the bottom right corner with the shaved head that’s Pastor Stephen Hawley next to him chunks and Amy and then that guy in the upper corner that’s not Kevin James that’s me that’s uh and that was March 13th of 2005 and we’re all sitting in there What’s it gonna be here’s the notes that Pastor Stephen gave us that night and I wanted to speak these over our church today to revisit a spirit that was spoken more than 18 years ago because the Timeless message that Pastor Stephen has spoken into US does not out date just because we flipped the calendar this would be on the screen things we must do he has them on the stream that night March 13 2005 he said here are eight things we must do again we didn’t have a name had no money but we had a lot of vision I wonder as I read these what applies to you today number one we must get people to catch the vision rather than watching the show I think that’s a good word right there we must call on God walkie-talkie Style step by step we must play our three chords loud it’s no what makes us distinctive not lose that some of you have tried to imitate somebody else’s sound and God wanted you to hear today no no he gave you a specific note go back to who he made you to be we must step forward like God is behind us we must protect the vision like it’s a newborn baby we must love each other we must take Marathon not Sprint that’s why we’re here 18 years later serving in all these communities because Pastor Steven was voices guys we gotta think about the long term not just the short term and then we must feel the burden I am so glad that we’ve got a pastor that 18 years ago was saying no no I know there’s a lot of things we don’t know but here’s what we must do thank you Pastor Stephen for Faithfully serving God for Faithfully preaching his word we love you we honor you what a privilege to preach today hey remain standing for just another moment I want to read God’s verse for what we want to dive into today this is going to be out of Luke chapter one I’ve been in this scripture for about six months and it’s really wrecking me and I’m excited to deliver it to you today this is in verse 62 of Luke chapter one it says they made science to his father to find out sorry about that what he would like to name the child he asked for a writing tablet into everyone’s astonishment he wrote his name is John you see they asked him what do you want to name this child and I would do well to remind some of you that God has given you naming rights some of you have settled for a label that a past mistake has identified you as and God says that’s not you I’ve given you naming rights you have the ability to rewrite some things today and I think that’s what God wants to do in our lives today he wants to relabel some things today some of you have settled for a label that somebody else gave you that is Beneath You Jesus died for you to be you’ve got naming rights he’ll go on to say his name is John immediately his mouth was open and his tongue was set free and he began to speak praising God all the neighbors were filled with awe and throughout the Hill Country of Judea people were talking all about these things everyone who heard this wondered about it asking what then is this child going to be for the Lord’s hand was with him here’s the title for the few minutes we have together what’s it going to be say it out loud say what’s it going to be type it in the comments what’s it going to be you guys can be seated thank you worship team this is a story about a couple that gets the opportunity to name a child it’s a pretty cool privilege my wife Janet and I we celebrate 23 years of marriage this year yes we do baby and we’ve got four kids and ages uh 17 down to nine and our youngest her name is Linea and this is a picture of her when she was born this is her baby photo and we remember looking at that baby photo going what’s I know that was the effect I was going for ah any any parents here of some newborns you can tell because your eyes are wide open and you’re not getting any sleep and that that’s Linea and now here she is as a nine-year-old and uh that’s that’s our littlest one and when you meet a child you walk up to them and you say what do you want to be what do you want to be she wants to be a YouTuber she has no idea what that means but she wants to have nine YouTube channels and she wants to go to Berry College she’s got it all mapped out and when you see a kid you’re like what do you want to be when you grow up but two adults they meet each other like what do you where did we go from becoming something for God’s glory to doing something for him I think we’ve lost a little bit of that wonderment that God wants us to have maybe you would do well the next time you’re in a business meeting to look at your business part and say what do you want to be when you grow up and I think it speaks to the assignment that maybe God has placed on our hearts today to remember some of the things that he spoke into us that maybe time has talked us out of in this story it’s about the birth of a child but to really understand the story you got to rewind a little bit I want to hop back to chapter one of Luke starting in verse five and I want to give you that story because some people see the end of a story you don’t appreciate unless you saw where it began it’s really easy for me like oh it must be nice be an elevation church with all like let me take you back to the photo where there was no money there was no name because God is faithful in those little moments and when you stay faithful in those things you see him do much with it in in chapter one verse 5 it says in the time of Herod king of Judah there was a priest named Zachariah who belonged to the Priestly division of abijah his wife’s wife was Elizabeth and who was also a descendant of Aaron both of them were righteous in the sight of God observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly so you have this couple that the husband is a Preacher Man he’s a priest he’s got it going down and Elizabeth she comes from a Royal bloodline Aaron was the first high priest of Israel he’s Moses brother so these people come from the right side of the tracks they’re like the All-American or the all Jewish Jewish couple like he’s the homecoming King and she’s the homecoming queen and he’s the captain of the football team and they got it all going on they got the right pedigree and then verse 6 it says they were both blameless in the sight of God it doesn’t mean they were above without sin it means they were above reproach it means they were living their life in such a way that the ordinances and the commands that God had given they were following them they were observing not just they were coming from the right place but they were doing the right things what an example for those of us that claim the cause of Christ to run after to to we want to be the kind of person who observes the decrees and the commands of the Lord blamelessly and you would expect verse 7 to start with and they all lived happily ever after but you see the Bible is not a fairy tale it’s the story of a great God that we were separated from because of sin but God is long-suffering willing that none should perish and it set the stage for a savior to come on the scene of the world who in the form of Jesus to redeem us from our sins but it’s also the story of a broken humanity and the depravity of the human nature and the result of sin and what happens this is a book of great faith I think sometimes we open up God’s word wanting a fairy tale and verse 7 shows me that this is not a fairy tale because it says but they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they were both very old sometimes the scripture shouts it says here’s the answer sometimes Whispers but it’s never silent I think the whisper in verse 7 is the subtle sound of disappointment you see they had this deep desire to be parents but but they were childless so Bud often speaks to a desire that’s delayed or it feels like it’s been denied it’s it’s this place of disappointment and it says they were very old and when you read the original language it means they were very old it’s like you know you’ve got hungry and that there’s very hungry you know you’re angry and then there’s very angry there’s old and then there’s very old zechariah’s 90 and Elizabeth is 88. and the text is showing you a story that Not only was Elizabeth Elizabeth not able to conceive but they’re past the age of biological reproduction in a reasonable person’s eyes and it sets the stage and but becomes a foreshadowing of God’s favor it’s a beautiful if there’s profound disappointment in this verse picture them because in the culture they would have been married as teenagers so picture Elizabeth being 16 and Zechariah being 18 and they get married like all right we’re married we’re both come from good Bloodlines we’re both doing it right we’re serving God certainly we’ll have a baby by the time we’re 20. and now Zachariah looks at Elizabeth at age 25 and says I cannot talk to your mama one more time because if she says when are you going to give me a Grammy I’m going to slap her just keeping it real and then 30 comes and goes and The Whispers of the people in the community are like what’s wrong with them why can’t they get pregnant and now they’re begging God God have you forgotten us God we’re serving you did we do something wrong but no they were not being punished and some of you feel like the situation you’re walking through as a punishment for something you did it’s not they were not being punished In This Moment but now they come to age 40 and Elizabeth is like hey why don’t you go find somebody else to marry so that you can have a child because evidently I think it’s me they said no no we’re going to keep serving God we’re going to do this thing together but now they’re 50. they expected to be holding a baby but now they’re just holding bitterness then by the time they get to age 60 they forgot about the desire to become parents and they used to be praying earnestly seeking the presence of God give us a child give us a child but now 60 they’ve stopped praying those prayers so by the time we pick up the story here it’s been about 30 years I think since they’ve even thought about praying for a child they forgot about that deep desire I wonder how many desires have been buried in the graveyard of disappointment we treat God’s desires like a loaf of bread we put an expiration date on it and when it doesn’t it happen in our time we disregard it and we get rid of it and I think God wants to pick some of those things back up today what’s your butt but some of you at Christmas time prayed like Lord help my marriage get better and if it doesn’t by summer I’m out and now it’s summertime and you’re not left physically but emotionally and spiritually you have left the marriage but but I thought it was going to get better but I didn’t expect it to happen like this how many business owners said I’m gonna do it right I’m going to do it God’s way but you can’t meet payroll but you see everybody else cutting corners and seems like they’re getting ahead it’s young young lady finished her senior year of college and she started her senior year saying if I don’t get a ring by Spring and now you’re getting wedding invitations from everybody Ashley sends you Ashley she has had more boyfriends my gosh and she’s getting married now Melissa Melissa is crazy and you settle on trying to do it right and you’re holding out from Mr Right but now you’re settled for Mr right now and a part of yourself you said you’d keep sacred till marriage you’re willing to compromise because you feel like it’ll make you more loved and it’ll help get that ring on your finger and the Deep desire of your hearts Fades into the background and you feel like it’s for everybody else what’s your butt what’s what what’s what is it what’s your butt when I showed you that picture of our daughter lenya I need to tell you the full story of I need to take you back to Mother’s Day 2013. this is a photo of my family Mother’s Day 2013. it’s my wife Janet and our three kids and we’re pregnant in that photo we’re about 12 weeks pregnant and my wife wakes up that day and she starts having symptoms and yet she still comes to church and yet we still get on the stage and yet she still holds the microphone and we’re still Faithfully serving God and a couple days later we end up having a miscarriage and like but God like are you kidding me we’re starving you were standing on stage we’re doing it right we have sacrifice for this church we sold our house and this is happening to us and it took us to such a hard place but God what happened and it was at the end of the year we find ourselves pregnant again and we had a pastor come in Pastor Levi lusko came to preach at Elevation Church and we’re sitting in the sermon and I haven’t told anybody we’re pregnant I couldn’t pray for that child and Pastor Levi’s preaching a sermon about his daughter that had died a year before she was like four or five and in the sermon I hear the Holy Spirit saying pray for your daughter open your mouth and start praising me for what I did rather than letting disappointment bury the desire [Applause] and and he said you’re going to name her lenya because lenya was the name of Pastor Levi’s daughter that passed away so you see when you hear this story about Elizabeth and Zachariah this old couple we just skipped right through verse seven what’s your butt in the story continues in verse 8. it says once when zachariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God he was chosen by lot according to the custom of the priesthood to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense and when the time of burning incense came all the assembled worshipers were praying outside our production team is going to bring out some stage props that’ll help illustrate the rest of the sermon and as they do would you help me thank all of our volunteers at all of our locations and all those volunteers that that take care of your crazy kids and park your cars when you don’t want to be in the parking lot but thank you and especially want to shout out our elevation Asheville location thank you for five years Faithfully serving God we love you and we honor you and we’re so grateful for you so in the passage Elizabeth and Zachariah are part of a Priestly division any in nation Israel at this point there’s 18 000 priests they’re divided up into 24 different groups or divisions each one of these divisions would have two weeks of the Year where they would make the Trek part of their Duty was to go to Jerusalem and help at the temple because the central part of the Jewish life at that point was the temple the temple is what set everything up and the temple had three basic parts it had this part out here the courtyard it had this part here called the the holy place and it had a lamp stand and an altar for incense and had a table for bread and and then behind here is called the the holy of holies this is once a year the high priest would go with blood where he would meet with God to offer sacrifices for nation Israel part of the duty of the hype of the priests was families if there was sin in their life or sin in their home they would make the Trek to Jerusalem Elizabeth and Zachariah would walk about 15 miles one way just to get to Jerusalem they’ve been making this Trek five times a year for 70 years they’ve been Faithfully serving God this is their Duty and they’re Faithfully doing it each and every year five times a year the first three years they’re seeing families walk up with all their kids I wonder how many years went by before this stop seeing that because they just didn’t want to see kids anymore because the deepest deserve their heart wants to have a kid but they kept being faithful with their Duty and part of the duty of nation Israel is if there was sin in your home you would make the Trek to Jerusalem to the temple to offer sacrifices for sin because there must always be Bloodshed for the forgiveness of sin in the Old Testament that was through the blood of goats and Rams and lambs and in the New Testament that’s why Jesus blood sacrificed all of for all of humanity satisfied the penalty of sin but although we’re reading in the new the New Testament we’re still in the old Covenant so what the priest would do is a family would make their way to Jerusalem and Zechariah would would meet with the husband in the head of the household and he would offer a sacrifice and the head of the household would have to put his hand on the head of the animal as the high priest would grab the knife and he would slit the throat and the blood would leave the body because the family needed to feel the weight of sin and to realize that there’s always a penalty be paid for it that was part of the duty of the priests and what they would do five times a year and then they would make take some of the blood back into the the holy Place back here and the holy place has got three parts it’s got the the the uh lamp stand it’s 90 pounds of solid gold that’s hammered out to look like a tree so part of the duty of the priest is to come back and light the lamp to burn incense and then there’s a table of showbread the showbread has got 12 loaves this Inner Space is to remind you that God is light your prayers come into His presence and he is the provider that that’s what this holy Place represents so as Zachariah was on duty he’s making his way back and the first thing you must do is to attend to the lamp it’s 90 pounds of gold hammered to look like it’s straight it’s to remind you of the Tree of Life because every time they would see it it would take them back to the Garden of Eden and it remind them of what God intended it to be he intended it to be this way so his duty was to attend to this he’s been doing it for 70 some years do you know what Eden means it means Delight do you think it was a delight for Elizabeth and Zechariah for 70 years to make their deway to Jerusalem five times a year to serve everybody else but feeling their own desires unfulfilled do you think that was always a delight not enough see you see Delight is not a feeling it is a decision it says of Jesus for the joy stored the cross scorning it shame and he sat down at the right hand of the father do you think it was an emotional high for Jesus to go on the cross no what was it it was a duty but it was a delight you’re not getting that it looks like a duty to everybody else but it is a delight Psalm 37 4. delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart [Applause] what happens is we Delight in our dreams and will eventually walk away from our duty Pastor Stephen preached a couple of weeks ago I’m going to keep digging until he does it part two I’m going to keep delighting until he does it I’m just going to keep delighting in the Lord for 70 years until he does it I don’t know when I don’t know how but I’m going to keep delighting and delighting looks like duty to everybody else and I want to tell you that it sometimes feels more like Duty than it does delight and I would want to ask you the question what has he put in your hands what has he given you what has he entrusted to you are you delighting in what he’s placed in your hands or because it doesn’t look like what you expected you walk away from it here’s what I think real faith is to keep delighting in the Lord when the desire of my heart is unmet let me give you a husband hack on Father’s Day husbands when you come home at the end of the day and you’re exhausted and you’re tired you just can’t wait to sit down and like turn on the TV and you finally sit down and your wife’s like hey can you go to the store honey I’m like oh I’d be delighted because I understand it’s a duty are you letting unmet desires keep you from being faithful with the duty he’s placed in your hand so when you see the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth it is one of faithfulness Faithfully fulfilling their Duty five times a year for 70 years and now finally on this day Zechariah gets picked he’s going to be the one randomly to go into the holy place to offer some of the sacrifices to God and it’s just random that you clicked on this stream today and it’s just random that you walked into one of our locations today no it is divine appointment I believe God has ordered your steps in such a way that he brought you to this place because there’s something he needs you to hear but disappointment is keeping you from embracing the duty and The Story Goes On in verse 11. and it says then an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing at the right side of the altar of incense when Zechariah saw him he was startled and was gripped with fear but the angel said to him don’t be afraid Zechariah your prayer has been heard now picture Zechariah 90 year old Zechariah not a 16 year old spry boy but a 90 year old very old man because at the time he goes into the holy place this is a place that’s covered with drapes and it’s dark inside and the very first thing he had to do was to go light the lamp if you walk into a dark room what’s the first thing you do some of you are stumbling around in the dark trying to find your dreams God says I need you to do this for seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you seek first though desires are not bad but there must be an order to it and it says as he went inside to do that all of the worshipers were assembled outside now context all of you had just offered sacrifices you had come because there was a sin there was something that needed to be offered or sacrificed for the remission of sin and he would go a priest would go in there two times a day this location is on the Sabbath the busiest day of the week I said like oh my Sabbath is when I rest now Sabbath is when you worship that’s not work that’s worship to show up and they’re all out there praying and I think there’s two kinds of prayers there’s individual prayers and there’s corporate prayers the individual prayers would have been like Lord please receive the sacrifice we just offered you may you forgive us may you redeem us may you look past our transgressions they would have been praying for marriages to be healed they would have been praying for children to be healed they would have been praying for all those things individually all the individual stuff that you’re praying for but maybe because you didn’t see it happen you started to withhold your petition I wonder if disappointment has disconnected your vocal cords and now you’re not offering prayer to God anymore because you didn’t see it happen in your timeline it didn’t it didn’t happen and I thought but there’d also be corporate prayers going on because Nation Israel was very familiar with oppression they were under Egyptian slavery for over 400 years they were in Babylonian captivity for hundreds of years and then now they’re under Roman oppression and they had knew the prophecies that a savior would come a redeemer would come someone would come one day so all those prayers are being lifted up in the courtyard and I wonder if we’re complaining more about the culture than we are praying I wonder what the sound of the courtyard of the Christian looks like I wonder what it sounds like have we lost the prayer of the righteous they’re powerful and effective what does it sound like in the courtyard of your life is your petitioning God if the depth of my prayer is only me getting something I’m in the shallow end of the faith pool and I’m insulting god with the size of my prayer because I’m only wanting to get something from him what I consider interceding for the body of Christ what I consider interceding for this generation all those things are going on and just at the time all those prayers are being lifted up zechariah’s like now it’s my day he gets picked he’s 90 years old to go back in and and light the lamp and as he does he would go over and he would sprinkle some of the blood of the animals on the altar but as he does he sees the angel of the Lord standing there and he’s like what you freak out too and then he says the angel says to him your prayer has been heard oh my soul and I bet Zachary I had to like that what is he talking about is it the prayer for the giveness of the family it’s like is it the prayer for a savior what is it what is the prayer what is it because I don’t think he’s prayed for a son in three decades and then he says to him your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you were to call him John he will be a joy and a delight to you and he’s like what are you talking about I’m very old and my wife is very very old and her wound doesn’t work and and he’s like what are you talking about the prayer he didn’t remember God never forgot [Applause] those tears you shed sister those private prayers that you cried into your pillow God heard them he hasn’t forgotten them he’s not forgotten you it might take 70 years but God is faithful and he will show up and the love that he’s showing up on the scene of this story it’s like in you will be a father and she will bear you a son and he will be a joy in a delight remember when you’re changing that diaper that’s a delight that would do well for some of you because the dream you had doesn’t match up with the experience you have and you don’t see it as a delight it’s a duty but it is a delight has he’s been praying 70 years for a child and they finally is going to get it and I love this story and it goes on in verse 18 it picks it up and I think the Angel’s kind of looking at that right all right Zechariah what’s it going to be what’s it going to be man are you ready you’ve been praying for this here we go and it says this in verse 18 it says Zechariah ask the angel how can I be sure of this I’m an old man and my wife is well along in years then the angel said to him I am Gabriel I stand in the presence of God and I’ve been sent speak to you and tell you this good news verse 20. and now you will be silent and not be able to speak until the day this happens because you did not believe my words which will come true with their appointed time I picture the angel of the Lord standing here and he’s asking Zachary all right what’s it going to be what’s it going to be and then he hears this response and he’s like shut up shut up sip it it might sound like God is punishing he’s protecting [Applause] God is more committed to your desire than you are and I will not let your disbelief destroy what I’m trying to birth into your life some of us have killed in utero a dream and a desire because of the disbelief we spoke over it some of you if you examine the the your language you have lived in disappointment so long all that’s coming out now is poison and it is disbelief disbelief can be more corrosive to the Christian life than the devil we give him way too much credit what we destroy internally sometimes it’s way more that he will do externally and some of you have lived with disappointment that has become your best friend and you have made it here partner but now that disappointment has gone to the level now it’s disbelief and I love it because I think in this verse it gives us a better definition of what disappointment is right at the end of verse 20 it says because you did not believe my words which will come true at their appointed time God has appointed a time for that desire to be fulfilled but when it doesn’t happen on my appointed time at this appointment I wonder how many of us your schedules are not syncing with gods and ours is superseding his and because it didn’t happen on my timeline and he wasn’t disbelieving God because he hated God he just didn’t want to be disappointed again the reason I couldn’t pray for a child when we were pregnant at that time is I just didn’t want to be disappointed anymore so rather than be disappointed I will lower my expectations and some of us have lowered our expectation through the level of our experience because we never want to be disappointed again and some of you have stopped expecting anything out of life and I speak the word of God over you he’s coming into your life and he’s saying I heard that desire I didn’t forget it did you and now he says shut up some of you need to pray the spirit of shut up over your life I don’t elbow your husband I saw that Lord give my husband that spirit some if you want something to die you need to starve it [Music] if you want that disappointment and that disbelief to die go on a 21 day opinion fast some of you are so addicted to your opinion it just freely flows over everybody even unsolicited I think you should and I think you should and it’s coming from a place that you think is wisdom but it is not it is disbelief I’m just keeping it real no you suck and you are destroying what God is trying to build and you now become the thermostat for your children and it becomes generational conditioning as they carry your uh I’m preaching to myself right now amen because zechariah’s deepest prayer was to have a child at an individual level but there was also a corporate prayer for a messiah a savior both were happening in the same place and what would happen with his son named John is he was supposed to be the one who would Point people to Jesus he would be the one to say one coming after me I’m not fit to tie his sandals it is John the Baptist you mean that God could answer zachariah’s prayer and the prayer of nation Israel together yes you are settling for too shallow on the desire of your heart because God not only wants to do something in you he wants to do something through you into the world God meant Zacharias deep desire and the petitions of nation Israel at the same time God says I’m going to see your desire and I’m going to one-up it because I am that kind of God who can do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine and that’s the kind of God that we serve and that’s what he was doing and it is beautiful but John’s whole life was to point people to Jesus and at the same time the angel Gabriel is also going to be working in a 16 year old virgin named Mary in the very same story the angel is about to do another miraculous birth you realize at the same time God’s doing something and somebody in your row you realize at the same time God’s doing something on somebody else in your city he’s doing something on somebody else in your campus and if we would take a step back and see the bigger picture of what God is weaving together for his glory it is absolutely beautiful and God shows up on the life of the 16 year old virgin and if before the experience I were to stand up here a 90 year old man a priest who’s observing all the decrees and commands blamelessly and a 16 year old virgin girl which one would you say has more wisdom all of us would have started over here because that’s the human knowledge we bring to it but goddess of a different economy and I want to give you one verse I don’t have time to unpack the whole thing but I want to show you Mary because in the same chapter chapter one of Luke verse 38 the angel now comes and says Mary you are greatly favored you are highly favored and you will give birth to a child but to a child and he will be the Messiah and he will be great and I love Mary’s response it says this in verse 38 and Mary said behold I am the servant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word oh my goodness it is beautiful what’s it going to be are you going to be like Zechariah I don’t know how can this be or are you going to be like Mary let it be to me according to your word which is it going to be What’s it gonna be are you gonna rely on your own human wisdom that says that time has passed that desire is buried or you’re going to have an innocent faith what can I be for God’s glory Let It Be to me and I believe the holy spirit is stepping into your life Whispering about those desires that you have buried in the graveyard of disappointment and I believe God is calling some of you to go back and to reconsider and to pick those things up and the angel said this is Zachariah [Music] you will not speak again until this happens that’s nine plus months of Silence Elizabeth is probably saying thank you thank you thank you what would it look like for some of you to learn to be silent rather than the poison of the past and the disappointment that’s now become disbelief be just spewed on everybody what if you’re just settled into the spirit of Silence it says I don’t understand it but let it be to me according to your word so now as we get to the end of Luke 57 this is where we started I think I think Zechariah is getting another opportunity he’s getting a second chance here in verse 57 it says when it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby she gave birth to a son what a beautiful occasion she’s almost 90 years old at this point her friends would have been holding their great great grandchild and she’s holding her firstborn it might take a few Generations but it will happen in your life I don’t know when I speak over you that it will happen at its appointed time not your appointed time at his appointed time her relatives her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord has shown a great mercy and they shared her Joy I don’t think they shared at the same level she did think about the woman who The Whispers of the community were one that her Baron her womb was barren and she wasn’t a good enough wife and if in that culture you didn’t have a child you were lower than cattle so she walked through life feeling unworthy by everybody and yet she remained faithful with the duty that God had given her child of God I know that grief is significant but you can be faithful with what he’s put in your hands you absolutely can I don’t think they fully shared in the joy that she had and when it happens in your life people will try to be there to celebrate you but God is in that moment with you and he’s saying well done good and faithful servant and on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child and they were going to name him after his father Zachariah but his mother spoke up and said no he is to be called John they said to her there’s no one among your relatives who has that name it’s funny who are they who are they they that said you’re too stupid they that said you’ll be a statistic they that said you will be just like your father they that said you will never amount to anything they that said you gave that party yourself away and you are second-rate second class and you don’t deserve it to see the table just settle for crumbs on the floor who are they they don’t have in mind the things of God all they saw was the past and God says I’m about to do something new how dare you label things according to the Past I’m about to do a new thing in you it’s a new thing it will look like the past so don’t use the labels of a previous generation Zechariah that’s that name was good for who needed it but the assignment on this child is different some of you have been labeled according to they he is to be called John they didn’t believe Elizabeth and I love this in verse 62 because I think this is the second chance I think Zechariah is getting another opportunity because the first time all it was when the angel showed up there was disbelief how could I be sure sure of this that was the last thing he said he hadn’t spoken in nine plus months verse 62 then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name the child he asked for a writing tablet into everyone’s astonishment he wrote his name is John he didn’t even say it he just wrote it he just wrote some of you need to write something down God spoke something into your spirit that if you do not write it you will forget it don’t forfeit the Revelation because you don’t capture it God is breathing something into your spirit right now would you capture it so that you don’t forget it the devil wants to snatch it from you God says no write it down I need you to be sure of it his name is John immediately his mouth was open his tongue was set free and he began to speak praising God the last time his mouth was open poison was flowing out now it’s all about praise now I’m going to be praising him now I’m going to be thanking him now I’m going to be worshiping him I’m going to be praising God you mean that mouth is so familiar with disbelief can be switched over to speak praise yes you can discipline your tongue how do you discipline your tongue by remaining faithful with the duty he’s put in your hands what’s interesting about this story is everything has been pointing to Jesus the Bible points to Jesus John’s life is pointing to Jesus Zachariah at that time the way that the the law was written is when he was picked to go into this holy place he would have only had the chance to do that once in his life it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and he would never get that opportunity again and some of you feel like that you feel like you forfeited the opportunity but Jesus but Jesus because John’s life was pointing to Jesus the scriptures are pointing to Jesus you need to understand in the courtyard of the Temple when they would bring in these animal sacrifices you realize this that Jesus was the lamb slain before the foundations all of the temple was pointing to Jesus every part of it was pointing to him his blood was offered for the Forgiveness of sins you realize that Jesus is in the Holy place he is the light of the world you realize that he is the media the one that gives us access to God you realize that he is the bread of life it is all pointing to Jesus and then as Jesus is on the cross he says father into your hands I commit my spirit and he breathed his last breath and as he did the veil was torn separating us from God and he created a way for us to come into His presence and he says father into your hands I commit my spirit why would he say that because the father delighted in the Sun and the son’s Duty was to be obedient for the joy set before him he endured the cross scorning its shame what’s it going to be child of God are you going to keep letting disappointment Keep Jesus at a distance are you going to keep labeling yourself according to your lowest moments are you going to live in an outdated Old Testament sacrificial system that it’s all about you bludgeoning yourself and proving to God you’re good enough or are you going to receive the Forgiveness that’s found in Jesus what’s it going to be child of God what’s it going to be doing it your way coming to Jesus stand up here at balance on all of our locations and I want to give somebody an invitation to place their faith in Jesus you have been playing religion you’ve been purposing to try harder and do better but you are separated from God because of your sin and I really want to speak to somebody who’s living in the land of disappointment that disappointment where it didn’t happen on your timeline has made you feel like God has forgotten you the evidence of the scripture would suggest that he’s not forgotten you he sees you he hears you and he’s in this moment with you and if you need to begin a relationship with Jesus or you’ve wandered away and you need to come back to him I want to lead us all in a prayer enough for someone to begin that relationship I profess that Jesus is Lord and be forgiven of all of your sins would you bow your heads would you close your eyes I don’t want everybody praying this out loud with me I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God who died on the cross and Rose from the grave to forgive me of my sin I give you my life I give you my sin I give you my shame forgive me and I’ll spend my life following you with your head still bowed in your eyes still closed if you just placed your faith in Jesus or you’re coming back to him I’m going to count to three and when I get there without hesitation I Need You To Boldly shoot your hand into the air this is your moment one two three shoot your hand up all across the sagittarium come on let’s celebrate that elevation shirts come on let’s celebrate that hey thank you for watching the Elevation Church YouTube I want you to subscribe that way you can know when we go live and post new content make sure to leave me a comment let me know what spoke to you today where you’re watching from and what we can pray for you about and if you’d like to support the ministry financially you can click the give button now and help us continue reaching people around the world for Jesus Christ thanks again I’ll see you next time