December 19, 2025 • 47 mins
Life may not look like you pictured, but that doesn't mean you are missing pieces. If God didn't put it in you, you don't need it.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Church and.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is our podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving
in your life.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
How many are ready for the Word of God. I
just have a Christmas devotional thought today from Hebrews eleven,
verse three. It is not customarily seen as a Christmas scripture,
but let's look at the picture of Jesus Christ through
this frame today. Hebrews eleven three. King James version. Y'all
(00:42):
thought I was playing this holiday season, but I am not.
King James version, Hebrews eleven three. Ready, through faith, we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,
so that things which are seen were not made of things.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Which do appear.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Through faith, we understand, how many know there are some
things you can only understand through faith. Through faith, we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,
so that the things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. Lord, I thank you that
your word is already blessed open our hearts to receive
(01:24):
it now in Jesus' name, Amen, you may be seated.
A couple of years ago, I took all three of
the kids on a carriage ride downtown Truston, and I
took them on the carriage ride because I'm a good
(01:47):
good father and Holly wanted to shop. And also another
reason I took them on a carriage ride is because
I'm an idiot, and because Abby begged me too.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
She was about five. Big brothers told her this is
a bad idea. You're not gonna like it. It's going
to be boring, but she insisted. We walked by this
picture of a carriage ride. She said, can we go?
I bought the tickets.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I told the woman of God, I'm going to give
you about an hour of shopping, childless shopping. And she said, oh,
thank you, thank you Men of God. She said, I
receive it in Jesus name. Got on the carriage ride.
Within three minutes, Abby had a full scale meltdown on
(02:38):
the carriage ride.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
She was bored, she was.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Restless, she was disappointed, and her brothers, whoa her brothers,
took the opportunity to remind her, we told you that
this would suck. Of course, we don't say suck in
my family. It's a preacher's family. But we were all
kind of embarrassed because of course we weren't the only
(03:03):
ones on the carriage ride. And within ten minutes she
was crying so loudly that I had to go into
my You know, if your parent, you have a yelling
voice that's quiet. It's louder than a scream, and you
have to use it in public when you want to
convey urgency without raising decibels.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
And I said, baby girl, with a smile.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I said it too, baby girl, you're the one who
wanted to come on this carriage drive, and I'm gonna
need you to dry it up and enjoy this carriage drive.
We got thirty more minutes and you're the only one
who wanted to come on the carriage drive. So whatever's
(03:50):
going on right now, I need you to deal with
it and listen to this man tell us the history
of all these houses on this carriage drive.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
She goes, she's trying to stop crying, and she goes.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
But this isn't what I'm pictured. The title of my
sermon is, this isn't what I pictured. Sometimes life takes
you on a ride. Come on, who's going to be
real with me?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Today?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Looks like we got all angels in this section. Let
me turn over here. Have you ever had life hand
you a whopper? But it didn't look like the commercial?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
This isn't what I pictured.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And it is a very difficult thing to adjust your
perspective when you pictured it one way and the product
turns out to be another. Some of you came to
church crying today is.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
What I picture?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Because when we started twenty nineteen or whatever year, you
happen to be watching this in the time capsule in
the future on the internet.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Just want this sermon to have a long shelf life.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
And you started the year with a picture of transformation,
new beginnings, restoration, And this isn't what I pictured, you know,
so it's.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
A real thing. Even to this day.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
We'll tell Abby it's going to be like the carriage ride.
It's a way when she wants to do something we
don't want to do, we remind her carriage ry, carriage ry,
which is fine when you're only out of eighty five dollars,
But what about when it's your relationship and it isn't
(05:45):
what I picture, or even your relationship with God. Maybe
you're saying, you know, I started one way believing that
God would do certain things for me because He is
my provider, and yet I came into deeper relationship with God,
and this isn't Is there anybody in the whole church?
(06:12):
And if not, I can come to Gascon next week?
Is there anybody in the whole church that is living
in a scene that you did not picture in this season?
And that's why Hebrews eleven three gives a contrast between
what God sees and what you see to let you
(06:36):
know that the things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
But I'm getting ahead.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Of myself, because the fact of the matter is everyone
has a picture of how life is supposed to go.
When you are supposed to get married, when you are
supposed to get a promotion, what kind of career your
children were supposed to be interested in. Some of you
you had your child's whole career. They were going to
(07:03):
go to an ivy league school, be a starting quarterback
and a Magnasuma Kumalatti and all of that. And they
don't even like sports, and they don't even want to
go to community college and study and this isn't what
I picture. Didn't you get the memo? So let me
just ask you a question. Where did you get your picture?
(07:26):
Where did you get your picture? Did you get it
from the Instagram? Because if you did, I'm praying for you,
real hard Catholic Pentecostal, I'll do it all because if
you got your picture for what life is supposed to be,
light from the little glimpses that other people give you
when they are posing perfectly, you will always be frustrated.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And while I'm on it, let me.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Say something about the show This is Us, which I love.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Jack Pearson isn't real. He's not real.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I told Holly the other day, I said, and please
don't be offended. I hope you didn't bring a relative
for this to hope you're not bringing the relatives until
next weekend for the Christmas program. But some shows that
we watch, I call it emotional porn because it is
perfectly airbrushed. And then when you compare the real thing
(08:27):
to a picture that was surgically altered and cropped and filtered,
how in the world are we supposed to feel fulfilled
about our real lives when we spend so much time
getting our picture from other people's pretention. Come on and
help me preach five seconds. If you know he's a
(08:48):
real God, He's the real thing.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
So it means.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
That there are all these things that I see and
all these things that I don't see. And God operates
from an invisible picture. While I am trying to make
sense out of my life from what is visible, God
sees something different. Enter Jesus, Matthew, Chapter one, verse eighteen.
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
(09:22):
Matthew is done with the genealogy.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Now the part of the Christmas story that would put
you right to sleep.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
If I read all of those names, not only would
you be praying for my pronunciation, but you would.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Lose your focus.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yet all of it is important because it is all
the backstory to help us understand how Jesus came into
the world. Now, if you don't understand how Jesus came,
you will misunderstand.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Why Jesus came. If we think he came.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Like our superheroes that we pay ticket prices to go
and see, we will expect him to come in a
certain way, and we will picture him in a way
that will cause to miss him. When he really shows up.
Where did you get your picture? Where did you get
your picture of God? What do you picture when you
worship God? Where did you get that picture? Is he white?
(10:16):
Is he black?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Is he?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Is he perfectly dialed to be an exact representation of
every ethnicity?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Is he a man?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Is he not a man? It is is your God?
King Triton? Off the little Mermaid? Just zap and stuff?
Where did you get your picture? And what if he
isn't what you picture? Now, I'm gonna I'm really going
(10:50):
to create some empty seats for next week.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Is going to be crowded for Christmas. Heaven is not
going to be like you picture it right now. Let
me tell you why.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Some of the people that you can't stand are going
to be there, some of the people who don't believe
the right stuff, some of the people who didn't share
the same denominational dogma as you.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
When we get to heaven, a lot.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Of us are going to be surprised because it won't
look like the picture. And so this is how the
Birth of Jesus Christ came about. Matthew says, John starts
it differently. He says, in the beginning was the word
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And he was there with God in the beginning, and
all things were made through him collussion and says by
(11:38):
him and for him.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
But Matthew is.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Starting with the human perspective of how Jesus Christ came about.
Of course, in verse seventeen, he says, thus there were
fourteen generations in all, from Abraham to David, from David
to the Babylonian exile, and then fourteen from the exile
to Christ fourteen fourteen fourteen public school math. There's forty
two generations of faith that brought Gesa into the earth.
(12:02):
And yet the logos or the Word was with God,
pre existent, pre incarnate God, was the Word of God.
I promise you this is important, so please stay with me.
Because before Jesus was seen, he existed. Before he appeared,
he existed, just like everything in your life.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Before it is seen, it exists.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
By the time it becomes a behavior, it was a
belief for a long time. By the time it becomes
a feeling, it was a thought. So just like there
is a genealogy of Jesus, there is a genealogy of
our emotions. There's a genealogy of our habits. There is
a pattern where where knowing how something started can help
(12:46):
you to trust when you don't see it in the process.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
I'm preaching real good today.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
His mother, Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,
but before they came together, she was found.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
To be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did
not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had
in mind, Now I love this phrase. He had in
mind to divorce her quietly or to put her away quietly.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
He had in mind. So much of the decisions.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
That we make in our lives that cause us confusion
are because we do what we had in mind before.
We consult God to see what he has in store.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Now, can I keep going?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
But after he considered this, now, why because the Angel
appears to him? But why did the Angel appear at
this point after Mary was already bound to be pregnant?
In other words, why did God let Joseph go several
months without knowing what he wanted to do and what
(14:13):
it was all about, and then appear after he had
already made his plan and had in mind what he
wanted to do. After he had considered this, an angel
of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
Joseph's son of David, do not be afraid to take
Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in
her is from the Holy Spirit. Why couldn't you tell
(14:37):
me that six months ago? Why couldn't you have told
me that before I.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Got the papers drawn up.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Why does God wait until after you have made a
plan to interrupt it?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
The greatest hope that the world was ever given, came
through the greatest disappointment that Joseph would ever know. And
I wonder is that happening in somebody's life today. This
is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When
(15:24):
Joseph had made up his mind how he needed to
handle the situation, and yet God interrupts Joseph's plan to
fulfill a greater purpose. Now, if you go by your picture,
you will make your plan. The only problem is God
might have a different picture than you. I know y'all
(15:52):
don't like it, but it's the facts. This is how
the birth of Jesus Christ came about. You know how
we have our nativity scene.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
It's got a.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Baby Jesus and the wise men. Well, first of all,
no record that there was three of them, three gifts,
but I don't know how many how many magi were there,
but I'll tell you this. They didn't get there when
Jesus was born. Jesus could have been two years old
by the time they got there. But two year old
Jesus is and is cute on a nativity scene in
precious moments can't sell it, you know, toddlers aren't so adorable,
(16:28):
so they had to put little baby umbilical cord Jesus
on the major scene, but he was older than that.
Now the shepherds are there in your nativity scene too,
aren't they.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
The wise men and the shepherds weren't there at the
same time. Let's see.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Now they want to sell you extra figures, so they
have to put them all together at the same time.
It's a profit margin issue, right, It's not.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
An accuracy thing.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
And how you pictured Christmas is probably wrong. He wasn't
even born in a manger. That's how we translated English.
It was more of a guest room that would have
looked more like a cave. But how are you going
to sell a manger scene with a cave? You know,
what if it isn't how you pictured it? What if
(17:16):
how God wants to use you is in how you
pictured him? What if the way he's going to work
in your marriage is and how you pictured him. And
Joseph has this word from God to go from to
understand by If he understands by his eyes, his sight,
he's going to miss it.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
We always will.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
If he understands by his senses, his feelings, his emotions,
he'll miss it emotionally and mentally. He has already decided
I'm done with this, And some of you came to
church today and you've.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Already decided to quit.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
I'm giving up on this, I'm given up on joy,
I'm giving up on peace, I'm giving up on hope.
That's why some of you aren't in the building. You're
watching on a screen, because you gave up on even
being a part of a church. Because when you picture church,
you picture perfect people who would never hurt you. But
guess what, we are imperfect, just like you. So if
you want to hook up, you got to understand we're
screwed up too. But if you picture it as perfect,
(18:12):
then when this is the Lord, I hear you, Lord,
I love it. When this happens, God show me exactly
what he said. He said, the problem isn't your situation,
it's your picture. The problem is not the situation, The
problem is the picture. Mary had her dress picked out,
(18:34):
but now she's not gonna get to wear it. She's
gonna be way too big for this dress by the
time she walks the aisle. Joseph had his plan picked out,
but now he's not gonna get to do it, which
is hard for a carpenter because carpenter's plan they make
a living off of measuring and planning.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
But after he had measured it.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
In his mind, God spoke to his spirit and said,
what is in her is from me. I know it's
not what you pictured, but it's me. I know it's
not what you expected, but it's me.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
I know it's not your preference, but it's me.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I know it doesn't fit your tradition, but it's me.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I know that you feel lonely and there.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Are some missing pieces, but it's me. And are you
trying to build your life by the wrong picture of
what you thought it would be?
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Or why you think you're supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Wouldn't it be dumb to.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Try to buy a puzzle to build it according to
a picture that was on the cover of somebody else's puzzle.
Try it if you go over to a friend's house
and they have a puzzle. This analogy is a little weak,
but bear with me. If you see a picture, go
buy a puzzle that doesn't match the picture, and try
to open that box with those pieces and build.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
A picture, and see how much fun you have with it.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
God says, I gave you the pieces for the picture
that I have in mind for your life according to
my purpose before you.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Were ever born.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
So I got the right pieces, I've.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Got the right gifts, I've got.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
The right temperament.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
If I submit it to the Holy Spirit and don't
let it get out of control. But this isn't what
I've pictured. Switched the picture. Switch the picture. When you
have a picture of yourself as worthless.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
You will build your life according to that picture.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
You will sabotage yourself because you build.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
By what you feel.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
But now, if God says I'm righteous, if I switched
the picture to what he sees, and if I assume
that he's always working. If I switch the picture, Joseph
is me, I started this. It's it's you that going
(21:10):
to take Mary home, but it's me. And it's hard
to believe as God when it doesn't feel good.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Joseph is like, are you sure? Because he had to
think about it, he had to ponder it.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
The Beautiful verse in the Bible, it says, Joseph, son
of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home
as your wife, because what is conceived in her is
from the Holy Spirit. What's in her is from me.
What's in her is from me. It's in her, but
it's from me. God says, what's in you is from me.
(21:58):
What's in you is from Me. And I'm just comforted
by that because sometimes I feel pressure about what I
perceive to be missing pieces. Even as a preacher, I
always wish that I could that I could preach like
other preachers that I see, And I tell you exactly
who I want to preach like.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
You know, the guys that stand still.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And they are just so profound, and they have one
of the mics that never moves, and they just it's
just so they're so calm, and I like that, and
I go on Amazon looking for robes, and I think, man,
that would be cool because it expends a lot of energy,
all this moving around.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
And even sometimes I come.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Up and I try to preach like one of them,
you know, But then something just I can't.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
I mean, I really, I really don't plan.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
To freak out and spats out, and I watch myself
back and I'm like, why you have to be like that?
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Why can't you be dignified?
Speaker 1 (23:03):
But something inside of me when I start doing.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
It, I just gotta do it. How I do it.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
I gotta do it like the pieces in my box are.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Meant for the picture. Y'all won't help me breathe.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
What's in you is from God, what's in.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Me is from Him. I got every peace I God wisdom.
I've got strength, I've got anointing. I've got authority in
the name of Jesus to overcome every.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Wicked thing that rises to oppose me. Now, show three
people say, it's in you. It's in you.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
It's in you right now, and it's growing and it's kicking,
and it's meant to be and you're not missing anything.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
You got it all. You got every peace.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
For the picture, for in the beginning, what's the word?
Speaker 2 (24:03):
And the word's with God? And watch this.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
The word was God. So let me ask you a question.
Let's take a vote. This is the first church vote
that I remember in the history of Elevation Church. But
(24:31):
let's be Baptist for the next thirty seconds. Who had
the harder job? Mary or Joseph? Before you answer this,
(24:51):
because in just a moment, I'm gonna call on you
to raise your hand at every location. If you are married,
I want to strongly encourage you to consider carefully the
cost of answering this question honestly.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
But who says Mary had the harder job?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
You know? There they are, all the women who have
borne children into this world. Come on, let's celebrate Mother's
Day early. Thank God for you. Amen, raise your hand.
If you say it's Mary, it's Mary right, because she
had very little choice. She was already pregnant by the
time she found.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Out about the purpose.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Too late if you don't like it, and then then
you got Joseph.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Y'all.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
My kids came up to me the other day and
they said, do you know Joe.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Now here's what's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I said, Joe, Mama, And they said, how did you
know that because they think they started Joe Mama.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Boy, I was doing.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Joe Mama while you were still on your unframed form,
was not even in the picture. Yet. I gave him
a genealogy of Joe Mama.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
I remember Joe Mama from the Golden Girls. You remember
the Golden Girls? You too?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
But I promise you, Joe Mama is old. This didn't
start with you. I came to say that to somebody
about what God is doing in your life. This didn't
start with you, and this doesn't end here. And Joseph
has in mind to walk away. But God has something
different in store because God is building with a different picture.
(26:41):
So who believes that Joseph had the harder job? Raise
your head, I plaud your courage. It's an unpopular stance.
I kind of see where you're coming from. I kind
of see where you're coming from. Because verse twenty one
tells us Mary's job and Joseph's job. Let's read it together, Matthew.
(27:07):
Chapter one, verse twenty one. She will give birth and
you are to give him the name. Which one you
want to do? Give birth or give the name. And
so physically there's no argument. But see what is striking
(27:32):
to me about Joseph. You never heard the Christmas Carol? Joseph,
did you know?
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Now? Mary knew?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Mary knew because it was her body. Mary knew that
this has to be God because she knows whether or
not she has been with another man. And I'm gonna
leave it at that, in case you didn't get your
kids to eat kids this morning. I'm not gonna kind.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Of details on this.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
But Mary knew this has to be God because I
consulted my experience, and I'm a virgent and I haven't
been with a man. So if I'm carrying something, it
didn't come from human means, I know it because.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
It's my body.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Joseph didn't know, and he would never really know, so
he had to believe. Maybe that's the hardest job of
all to believe what you can't see, to believe what
you can't be sure of, to believe what you can't prove.
(28:40):
Joseph said, I I never knew. You know, the rest
of his life, he would live probably halfway wondering.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Was it really God that got her pregnant?
Speaker 1 (28:51):
And you go into right, you go into men's group,
and you're like, guys is good? I was praying the
Lord told me. I was I was actually sleeping. I
was in a dream, and the Lord told me, and
don't worry. Mary saw a vision two and we're gonna
work this out and we're gonna go home.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Do you not think.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Joseph spent the rest of his life looking cross eyed
at people trying to figure out Now, your nose looks
kind of like that long nose with checking out those ears.
You know, Ronnie has kind of long years right there.
I saw Ronnie and Mary because Joseph didn't know. Because
(29:37):
faith does not operate by sensory knowledge. Because faith enables
us to understand that God is with us even if
we do not see him in the picture. I need
you to receive this by faith. You are to give
(30:01):
him the name Jesus, because he will save his people
from their sins. Now here's the culmination of the text
that I want to share with you.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
All this took.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Place, Everything you didn't picture, everything you don't understand. All
this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet. And then he quotes Isaiah seven fourteen,
which says the Virgin will be with child and give
(30:32):
birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,
which means God with us. And I've been listening to
a song all week that says, even when I don't
see it, you're working, and even when I don't feel it,
you're working. And I need you to make a declaration
by faith. Every mouth in this room open up and
(30:53):
say God is with me right now. God is with
me right now. Come on, say it again, God is
with me right now. Some of y'all it in other campus.
You're not saying that, but you're not saying it to me.
So say it out aloud for yourself. Say God is
with me right now. And remember that the things which
are seen are not made with things that do appear.
(31:16):
So God does not build with carpenter material that you
can see and fabricate your faith with your physical senses.
When God builds something, it will not look like what
you pictured. He has a different picture, and he builds
according to his picture. Now, the message of Christmas is
(31:37):
about his presence, not my picture. The message of Christmas
says that the worlds were framed. Frame framed.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
I know they use it in a construction way, but
this is a visual term. Frame.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
They frame it the world. Did you get your picture
from the world or from the Word. Did you get
your picture of what a man is supposed to be,
of what a woman is supposed to be, of, what
success is, of what fulfillment is of? What did you
get it from the Word or the world? Because the
(32:17):
Bible says that by faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the Word of God. Frame And are
you framing this season of your life with your faith
or with your fear?
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Honestly?
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Now answer and honestly as you look at what you
cannot understand in your life right now, Because every hand
in the room that I saw went up.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
When I said, is it different than what you pictured?
Is it different than what you pictured? Someone?
Speaker 1 (32:47):
This was an insult, someone said to me one time
when I walked in. They said, oh, I never saw
you before I listened to your podcast. You're not what
I picture. I said, what did you picture? They said,
I pictured you bigger. I pictured you bigger. I pictured it.
(33:12):
I pictured it bigger. I pictured at this age, I
would be past some certain things.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
I picture.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
I pictured it different. I pictured I pictured parenting way different.
I thought we'd be doing drive time devotionals From the
original Greek of Philippians. I thought we'd be doing Bible
sword drills. I didn't know they'd be pulling out real swords,
stabbing each other with forks in the kitchen before y'all
(33:43):
are looking at me so holy. It's different than what
you picture. It's better, but it's different. It's different. Ministry
is different than what I pictured. Let me go all
the way. Adulthood is different than a picture.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Can we be real with one another for a moment?
It's different.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
They sold us something that is surreal.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
We're supposed to have it figured out. I'm supposed to
have good sense.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I'm supposed to be a fully cooked turkey by now,
and I'm coming out the oven and.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
I'm still wraw and I've got mouse to feet. Is
different than the picture.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
So when they put the sermon online for the video,
they have to switch between different shots, and they have
instructions to use of what shots they put on the screen.
Even now while I'm preaching, and because I move around
so much like the spastic preacher that I am, these
(34:52):
are highly trained, competent individuals. Somehow they always keep me
in the center of the center of the picture. But
what if the switcher fell asleep you know. Just real quick,
I'm gonna do an example because I.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
Want you to see this.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Imagine if the person on the switcher that goes from
the tight shot to the wide shot and boost the
thing on the thing that's the technical terms. What if
they at first show them what you're supposed to do. Okay,
let's say I do a lateral movement over here to
the side. Look, you got a shot for that. But
(35:28):
suppose they didn't put it on that other shot. Now,
for the maximum benefit of this illustration, if you are at.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Valentine, watch the screen. If you're at another campus.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
You've got the competitive advantage right now, because sometimes God
does this. Watch the screen. Watch the screen. Sometimes God
does this. Now, the only conclusion you can come to
(36:04):
if you are using your eyes is that the person
who was in the picture is no longer in the building.
The only way for you to know I'm still here
is to go not by what you see, but by
what you hear. So right now, those of you who
(36:28):
cannot see me on.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
The screen, watch the screen.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Y'all are disobedient.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Watch the screen.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
You can't see me on the screen, But if you.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
Know my voice, if you know my voice.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
You will know that I did not leave you nor
forsake you.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
In the beginning.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
What's the word, And the word was here before you were.
The word was spoken before you saw your frame. So
when I don't feel him, he's with me because his
name is Emmanuel. I can't see him, but I trust
him because he's spoken, and I will see it with
(37:17):
the eyes of my faith.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
He's with me on my good day. He's with me
on my bad day. He's with me when I've got it.
He's with me when I don't even know where to look.
He's with me when they like me. He's with me
when nobody will return my text.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
He's with me when I'm married. He's with me when
I'm divorced.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
He's with me when I've got a job.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
He's with me.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
When I don't see a way to pay it. He's
with me when i'm well. He's with me and I'm sick.
He's with me with a clear sky. He's with me
in the storm.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
He didn't leave.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
I just got at sage my frame. If he's folk it,
you will see it.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Come praise him. Let you know he's with you. He's
with me. He's with me. He's with me He's with me.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
What's in me is from me and my God. It's
for me, with me, He's with me. So don't be
afraid to go home and do what God told you.
Don't be afraid to face your fears with the frame
(38:48):
of faith, because the things which are seen were.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Made by the things which don't appear. I know it
is what your picture it in what you planned.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
You remember when we were in the nursing home for Thanksgiving.
My dad was sixty to something like that, sixty two
years old in a nursing home, not because we didn't
want to keep It was so tense in our family
that he decided he wouldn't want to live with any
(39:23):
of us. We couldn't take care of him. He had
Luke Gerrit's disease, and we tried to take care of him.
We couldn't take care of him. We were eating microwaved
Thanksgiving in the nursing home with my dad knowing good
and well. We wanted him in our house, and nobody
was on speaking terms.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
You talk about awkward.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Him doesn't taste right when you try to microwave it.
None of us pictured this. Now I know you didn't
picture this. God isn't building your picture. He's building his purpose.
(40:04):
So Joseph, Joe, Joe, did you know Joseph would say no,
uh huh. I just believe I had one thing in mind,
God had another thing in store. I went with God.
(40:27):
God went with me, and I have what I need
in the box to be the picture that He created
in his heart. So no, I'm not trying to build
somebody else's life or somebody else's idea of what I'm
supposed to be.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
Not anymore. I tried that. It is so stressful.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I can't afford the doctor bill or the stomach medicine
for that kind of living. I gotta build what God
put inside of me for the picture.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
That he sees, and the world's my friend. Switch the picture.
Switch the picture.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
Be who God called you to be, Celebrate what he
gave you. Pull everything close that you still have left,
wrap your arms around it, and make the.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Most of it. Switch the picture.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Yeah, it's going to be a different Christmas for some
of us. I understand that God pictured it all along.
You know, when Isaiah said a virgin will conceive, he
saw that hundreds of years.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Before it happened.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
God was already building the picture. Forty two generations, and
God knew the picture. And if you get too tightly
zoomed into this one scene, or this one moment, or
this one struggle or this one issue, you're going to
miss the bigger picture. God knows where to put you.
He knows what he put in you, and he knows
(42:06):
what he wants to do through you. So take Mary
home by faith and do what the Angel of the
Lord commanded you to do. Now, what you feel or
what you thought, switch the picture. Everyone's standing. I want
to pray for people this Christmas season who need to
switch the picture. Switch the picture and put God back
(42:35):
in the center of the frame. Put his presence and
his joy and his peace. See, when you understand how
he came, you can understand why he came.
Speaker 3 (42:48):
Please answer me, who was this message? It was just
for you. It was just for you. It was just
for you. It's just for you.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Okay, I'm gonna tell you three things about how he came.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
I'll give him to you so quick.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Number one, he came through someone that everyone else thought
was insignificant. So the first word you need to know
about how he came is insignificant. He did not come
through a matriarch of royal lineage. He came through a
little girl who was so scared that when the angel came,
she said, how can this be? He came through someone
(43:21):
who saw no way that what God wanted to do
for the world could happen through her, And so it
has always been. I know, we get excited when an
actor or an actress, or a celebrity or a politician,
or a rock star or a rapper gets excited about Jesus.
But Christ is born in every heart that will receive
him by faith.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
And God is using you.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
If you are a coach, if you are a student,
if you are a businessman, you are if you are
a police officer, if you are nothing more like I'm
just to stop saying that God always chooses to use
what people deem insignificant. So there is nothing insignificant about
your pieces for your picture. That's number one. Number two,
(44:07):
it was impossible. It was a virgin womb because God
wanted to let you know that impossible situations are the
places where faith is born. So if that is impossible
for you, it.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Is fertile for God.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
If you understand how he came through a virgin womb,
he didn't have to do that but he wanted you
to know if you are facing something where you don't
see away, if you don't see it, but he spoke it,
and you will believe it by faith, it will come
to pass. That's how he came. He came for impossible situations,
(44:50):
broken hearts, broken homes, broken lives. But what I love
the most, what I love the very most, is that
it was intimate. He came in the most intimate way.
(45:12):
He was born of a virgin, and he comes into
your heart when you receive him by faith. He longs
to be personal with you this season. But if you
get somebody else's picture and try to put something together
that's not in you, you will miss his presence. He
(45:34):
wants to speak to you, use you, bless you, help you.
This is personal, This is intimate. God of all grace,
God of all comfort. I have delivered your word to
the best of my ability with your help, and I
thank you for what you spoke in this place today.
Your word is good seed. I pray that it falls
(45:54):
upon good soil. Today. I pray for those today who
are living in a picture that they never planned for.
I think we all are. We're all moving through this life.
We saw it one way, and now we are experiencing
it another. And yet you are here, always, here, still, Emmanuel,
(46:19):
still with us, still for us, A good father, a
faithful friend, wonderful counselor Mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Lift your hands. I receive your peace. God,
(46:39):
I receive your assurance. I receive your presence in this
season of my life. You are my king.
Speaker 3 (46:52):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
You can click the link in the description to give
now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
You can share it with your friends. You can click
the share button, take a screenshot and share it on
your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks
again for listening. God bless you.
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Church and.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is our podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving
in your life.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
How many are ready for the Word of God. I
just have a Christmas devotional thought today from Hebrews eleven,
verse three. It is not customarily seen as a Christmas scripture,
but let's look at the picture of Jesus Christ through
this frame today. Hebrews eleven three. King James version. Y'all
(00:42):
thought I was playing this holiday season, but I am not.
King James version, Hebrews eleven three. Ready, through faith, we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,
so that things which are seen were not made of things.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Which do appear.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Through faith, we understand, how many know there are some
things you can only understand through faith. Through faith, we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,
so that the things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. Lord, I thank you that
your word is already blessed open our hearts to receive
(01:24):
it now in Jesus' name, Amen, you may be seated.
A couple of years ago, I took all three of
the kids on a carriage ride downtown Truston, and I
took them on the carriage ride because I'm a good
(01:47):
good father and Holly wanted to shop. And also another
reason I took them on a carriage ride is because
I'm an idiot, and because Abby begged me too.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
She was about five. Big brothers told her this is
a bad idea. You're not gonna like it. It's going
to be boring, but she insisted. We walked by this
picture of a carriage ride. She said, can we go?
I bought the tickets.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I told the woman of God, I'm going to give
you about an hour of shopping, childless shopping. And she said, oh,
thank you, thank you Men of God. She said, I
receive it in Jesus name. Got on the carriage ride.
Within three minutes, Abby had a full scale meltdown on
(02:38):
the carriage ride.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
She was bored, she was.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Restless, she was disappointed, and her brothers, whoa her brothers,
took the opportunity to remind her, we told you that
this would suck. Of course, we don't say suck in
my family. It's a preacher's family. But we were all
kind of embarrassed because of course we weren't the only
(03:03):
ones on the carriage ride. And within ten minutes she
was crying so loudly that I had to go into
my You know, if your parent, you have a yelling
voice that's quiet. It's louder than a scream, and you
have to use it in public when you want to
convey urgency without raising decibels.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
And I said, baby girl, with a smile.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I said it too, baby girl, you're the one who
wanted to come on this carriage drive, and I'm gonna
need you to dry it up and enjoy this carriage drive.
We got thirty more minutes and you're the only one
who wanted to come on the carriage drive. So whatever's
(03:50):
going on right now, I need you to deal with
it and listen to this man tell us the history
of all these houses on this carriage drive.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
She goes, she's trying to stop crying, and she goes.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
But this isn't what I'm pictured. The title of my
sermon is, this isn't what I pictured. Sometimes life takes
you on a ride. Come on, who's going to be
real with me?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Today?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Looks like we got all angels in this section. Let
me turn over here. Have you ever had life hand
you a whopper? But it didn't look like the commercial?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
This isn't what I pictured.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And it is a very difficult thing to adjust your
perspective when you pictured it one way and the product
turns out to be another. Some of you came to
church crying today is.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
What I picture?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Because when we started twenty nineteen or whatever year, you
happen to be watching this in the time capsule in
the future on the internet.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Just want this sermon to have a long shelf life.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
And you started the year with a picture of transformation,
new beginnings, restoration, And this isn't what I pictured, you know,
so it's.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
A real thing. Even to this day.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
We'll tell Abby it's going to be like the carriage ride.
It's a way when she wants to do something we
don't want to do, we remind her carriage ry, carriage ry,
which is fine when you're only out of eighty five dollars,
But what about when it's your relationship and it isn't
(05:45):
what I picture, or even your relationship with God. Maybe
you're saying, you know, I started one way believing that
God would do certain things for me because He is
my provider, and yet I came into deeper relationship with God,
and this isn't Is there anybody in the whole church?
(06:12):
And if not, I can come to Gascon next week?
Is there anybody in the whole church that is living
in a scene that you did not picture in this season?
And that's why Hebrews eleven three gives a contrast between
what God sees and what you see to let you
(06:36):
know that the things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
But I'm getting ahead.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Of myself, because the fact of the matter is everyone
has a picture of how life is supposed to go.
When you are supposed to get married, when you are
supposed to get a promotion, what kind of career your
children were supposed to be interested in. Some of you
you had your child's whole career. They were going to
(07:03):
go to an ivy league school, be a starting quarterback
and a Magnasuma Kumalatti and all of that. And they
don't even like sports, and they don't even want to
go to community college and study and this isn't what
I picture. Didn't you get the memo? So let me
just ask you a question. Where did you get your picture?
(07:26):
Where did you get your picture? Did you get it
from the Instagram? Because if you did, I'm praying for you,
real hard Catholic Pentecostal, I'll do it all because if
you got your picture for what life is supposed to be,
light from the little glimpses that other people give you
when they are posing perfectly, you will always be frustrated.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And while I'm on it, let me.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Say something about the show This is Us, which I love.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Jack Pearson isn't real. He's not real.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I told Holly the other day, I said, and please
don't be offended. I hope you didn't bring a relative
for this to hope you're not bringing the relatives until
next weekend for the Christmas program. But some shows that
we watch, I call it emotional porn because it is
perfectly airbrushed. And then when you compare the real thing
(08:27):
to a picture that was surgically altered and cropped and filtered,
how in the world are we supposed to feel fulfilled
about our real lives when we spend so much time
getting our picture from other people's pretention. Come on and
help me preach five seconds. If you know he's a
(08:48):
real God, He's the real thing.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
So it means.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
That there are all these things that I see and
all these things that I don't see. And God operates
from an invisible picture. While I am trying to make
sense out of my life from what is visible, God
sees something different. Enter Jesus, Matthew, Chapter one, verse eighteen.
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
(09:22):
Matthew is done with the genealogy.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Now the part of the Christmas story that would put
you right to sleep.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
If I read all of those names, not only would
you be praying for my pronunciation, but you would.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Lose your focus.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yet all of it is important because it is all
the backstory to help us understand how Jesus came into
the world. Now, if you don't understand how Jesus came,
you will misunderstand.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Why Jesus came. If we think he came.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Like our superheroes that we pay ticket prices to go
and see, we will expect him to come in a
certain way, and we will picture him in a way
that will cause to miss him. When he really shows up.
Where did you get your picture? Where did you get
your picture of God? What do you picture when you
worship God? Where did you get that picture? Is he white?
(10:16):
Is he black?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Is he?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Is he perfectly dialed to be an exact representation of
every ethnicity?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Is he a man?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Is he not a man? It is is your God?
King Triton? Off the little Mermaid? Just zap and stuff?
Where did you get your picture? And what if he
isn't what you picture? Now, I'm gonna I'm really going
(10:50):
to create some empty seats for next week.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Is going to be crowded for Christmas. Heaven is not
going to be like you picture it right now. Let
me tell you why.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Some of the people that you can't stand are going
to be there, some of the people who don't believe
the right stuff, some of the people who didn't share
the same denominational dogma as you.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
When we get to heaven, a lot.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Of us are going to be surprised because it won't
look like the picture. And so this is how the
Birth of Jesus Christ came about. Matthew says, John starts
it differently. He says, in the beginning was the word
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And he was there with God in the beginning, and
all things were made through him collussion and says by
(11:38):
him and for him.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
But Matthew is.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Starting with the human perspective of how Jesus Christ came about.
Of course, in verse seventeen, he says, thus there were
fourteen generations in all, from Abraham to David, from David
to the Babylonian exile, and then fourteen from the exile
to Christ fourteen fourteen fourteen public school math. There's forty
two generations of faith that brought Gesa into the earth.
(12:02):
And yet the logos or the Word was with God,
pre existent, pre incarnate God, was the Word of God.
I promise you this is important, so please stay with me.
Because before Jesus was seen, he existed. Before he appeared,
he existed, just like everything in your life.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Before it is seen, it exists.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
By the time it becomes a behavior, it was a
belief for a long time. By the time it becomes
a feeling, it was a thought. So just like there
is a genealogy of Jesus, there is a genealogy of
our emotions. There's a genealogy of our habits. There is
a pattern where where knowing how something started can help
(12:46):
you to trust when you don't see it in the process.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
I'm preaching real good today.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
His mother, Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,
but before they came together, she was found.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
To be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did
not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had
in mind, Now I love this phrase. He had in
mind to divorce her quietly or to put her away quietly.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
He had in mind. So much of the decisions.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
That we make in our lives that cause us confusion
are because we do what we had in mind before.
We consult God to see what he has in store.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Now, can I keep going?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
But after he considered this, now, why because the Angel
appears to him? But why did the Angel appear at
this point after Mary was already bound to be pregnant?
In other words, why did God let Joseph go several
months without knowing what he wanted to do and what
(14:13):
it was all about, and then appear after he had
already made his plan and had in mind what he
wanted to do. After he had considered this, an angel
of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
Joseph's son of David, do not be afraid to take
Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in
her is from the Holy Spirit. Why couldn't you tell
(14:37):
me that six months ago? Why couldn't you have told
me that before I.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Got the papers drawn up.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Why does God wait until after you have made a
plan to interrupt it?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
The greatest hope that the world was ever given, came
through the greatest disappointment that Joseph would ever know. And
I wonder is that happening in somebody's life today. This
is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When
(15:24):
Joseph had made up his mind how he needed to
handle the situation, and yet God interrupts Joseph's plan to
fulfill a greater purpose. Now, if you go by your picture,
you will make your plan. The only problem is God
might have a different picture than you. I know y'all
(15:52):
don't like it, but it's the facts. This is how
the birth of Jesus Christ came about. You know how
we have our nativity scene.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
It's got a.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Baby Jesus and the wise men. Well, first of all,
no record that there was three of them, three gifts,
but I don't know how many how many magi were there,
but I'll tell you this. They didn't get there when
Jesus was born. Jesus could have been two years old
by the time they got there. But two year old
Jesus is and is cute on a nativity scene in
precious moments can't sell it, you know, toddlers aren't so adorable,
(16:28):
so they had to put little baby umbilical cord Jesus
on the major scene, but he was older than that.
Now the shepherds are there in your nativity scene too,
aren't they.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
The wise men and the shepherds weren't there at the
same time. Let's see.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Now they want to sell you extra figures, so they
have to put them all together at the same time.
It's a profit margin issue, right, It's not.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
An accuracy thing.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
And how you pictured Christmas is probably wrong. He wasn't
even born in a manger. That's how we translated English.
It was more of a guest room that would have
looked more like a cave. But how are you going
to sell a manger scene with a cave? You know,
what if it isn't how you pictured it? What if
(17:16):
how God wants to use you is in how you
pictured him? What if the way he's going to work
in your marriage is and how you pictured him. And
Joseph has this word from God to go from to
understand by If he understands by his eyes, his sight,
he's going to miss it.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
We always will.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
If he understands by his senses, his feelings, his emotions,
he'll miss it emotionally and mentally. He has already decided
I'm done with this, And some of you came to
church today and you've.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Already decided to quit.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
I'm giving up on this, I'm given up on joy,
I'm giving up on peace, I'm giving up on hope.
That's why some of you aren't in the building. You're
watching on a screen, because you gave up on even
being a part of a church. Because when you picture church,
you picture perfect people who would never hurt you. But
guess what, we are imperfect, just like you. So if
you want to hook up, you got to understand we're
screwed up too. But if you picture it as perfect,
(18:12):
then when this is the Lord, I hear you, Lord,
I love it. When this happens, God show me exactly
what he said. He said, the problem isn't your situation,
it's your picture. The problem is not the situation, The
problem is the picture. Mary had her dress picked out,
(18:34):
but now she's not gonna get to wear it. She's
gonna be way too big for this dress by the
time she walks the aisle. Joseph had his plan picked out,
but now he's not gonna get to do it, which
is hard for a carpenter because carpenter's plan they make
a living off of measuring and planning.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
But after he had measured it.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
In his mind, God spoke to his spirit and said,
what is in her is from me. I know it's
not what you pictured, but it's me. I know it's
not what you expected, but it's me.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
I know it's not your preference, but it's me.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I know it doesn't fit your tradition, but it's me.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I know that you feel lonely and there.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Are some missing pieces, but it's me. And are you
trying to build your life by the wrong picture of
what you thought it would be?
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Or why you think you're supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Wouldn't it be dumb to.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Try to buy a puzzle to build it according to
a picture that was on the cover of somebody else's puzzle.
Try it if you go over to a friend's house
and they have a puzzle. This analogy is a little weak,
but bear with me. If you see a picture, go
buy a puzzle that doesn't match the picture, and try
to open that box with those pieces and build.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
A picture, and see how much fun you have with it.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
God says, I gave you the pieces for the picture
that I have in mind for your life according to
my purpose before you.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Were ever born.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
So I got the right pieces, I've.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Got the right gifts, I've got.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
The right temperament.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
If I submit it to the Holy Spirit and don't
let it get out of control. But this isn't what
I've pictured. Switched the picture. Switch the picture. When you
have a picture of yourself as worthless.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
You will build your life according to that picture.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
You will sabotage yourself because you build.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
By what you feel.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
But now, if God says I'm righteous, if I switched
the picture to what he sees, and if I assume
that he's always working. If I switch the picture, Joseph
is me, I started this. It's it's you that going
(21:10):
to take Mary home, but it's me. And it's hard
to believe as God when it doesn't feel good.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Joseph is like, are you sure? Because he had to
think about it, he had to ponder it.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
The Beautiful verse in the Bible, it says, Joseph, son
of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home
as your wife, because what is conceived in her is
from the Holy Spirit. What's in her is from me.
What's in her is from me. It's in her, but
it's from me. God says, what's in you is from me.
(21:58):
What's in you is from Me. And I'm just comforted
by that because sometimes I feel pressure about what I
perceive to be missing pieces. Even as a preacher, I
always wish that I could that I could preach like
other preachers that I see, And I tell you exactly
who I want to preach like.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
You know, the guys that stand still.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And they are just so profound, and they have one
of the mics that never moves, and they just it's
just so they're so calm, and I like that, and
I go on Amazon looking for robes, and I think, man,
that would be cool because it expends a lot of energy,
all this moving around.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
And even sometimes I come.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Up and I try to preach like one of them,
you know, But then something just I can't.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
I mean, I really, I really don't plan.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
To freak out and spats out, and I watch myself
back and I'm like, why you have to be like that?
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Why can't you be dignified?
Speaker 1 (23:03):
But something inside of me when I start doing.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
It, I just gotta do it. How I do it.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
I gotta do it like the pieces in my box are.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Meant for the picture. Y'all won't help me breathe.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
What's in you is from God, what's in.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Me is from Him. I got every peace I God wisdom.
I've got strength, I've got anointing. I've got authority in
the name of Jesus to overcome every.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Wicked thing that rises to oppose me. Now, show three
people say, it's in you. It's in you.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
It's in you right now, and it's growing and it's kicking,
and it's meant to be and you're not missing anything.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
You got it all. You got every peace.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
For the picture, for in the beginning, what's the word?
Speaker 2 (24:03):
And the word's with God? And watch this.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
The word was God. So let me ask you a question.
Let's take a vote. This is the first church vote
that I remember in the history of Elevation Church. But
(24:31):
let's be Baptist for the next thirty seconds. Who had
the harder job? Mary or Joseph? Before you answer this,
(24:51):
because in just a moment, I'm gonna call on you
to raise your hand at every location. If you are married,
I want to strongly encourage you to consider carefully the
cost of answering this question honestly.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
But who says Mary had the harder job?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
You know? There they are, all the women who have
borne children into this world. Come on, let's celebrate Mother's
Day early. Thank God for you. Amen, raise your hand.
If you say it's Mary, it's Mary right, because she
had very little choice. She was already pregnant by the
time she found.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Out about the purpose.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Too late if you don't like it, and then then
you got Joseph.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Y'all.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
My kids came up to me the other day and
they said, do you know Joe.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Now here's what's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I said, Joe, Mama, And they said, how did you
know that because they think they started Joe Mama.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Boy, I was doing.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Joe Mama while you were still on your unframed form,
was not even in the picture. Yet. I gave him
a genealogy of Joe Mama.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
I remember Joe Mama from the Golden Girls. You remember
the Golden Girls? You too?
Speaker 1 (26:17):
But I promise you, Joe Mama is old. This didn't
start with you. I came to say that to somebody
about what God is doing in your life. This didn't
start with you, and this doesn't end here. And Joseph
has in mind to walk away. But God has something
different in store because God is building with a different picture.
(26:41):
So who believes that Joseph had the harder job? Raise
your head, I plaud your courage. It's an unpopular stance.
I kind of see where you're coming from. I kind
of see where you're coming from. Because verse twenty one
tells us Mary's job and Joseph's job. Let's read it together, Matthew.
(27:07):
Chapter one, verse twenty one. She will give birth and
you are to give him the name. Which one you
want to do? Give birth or give the name. And
so physically there's no argument. But see what is striking
(27:32):
to me about Joseph. You never heard the Christmas Carol? Joseph,
did you know?
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Now? Mary knew?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Mary knew because it was her body. Mary knew that
this has to be God because she knows whether or
not she has been with another man. And I'm gonna
leave it at that, in case you didn't get your
kids to eat kids this morning. I'm not gonna kind.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Of details on this.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
But Mary knew this has to be God because I
consulted my experience, and I'm a virgent and I haven't
been with a man. So if I'm carrying something, it
didn't come from human means, I know it because.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
It's my body.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Joseph didn't know, and he would never really know, so
he had to believe. Maybe that's the hardest job of
all to believe what you can't see, to believe what
you can't be sure of, to believe what you can't prove.
(28:40):
Joseph said, I I never knew. You know, the rest
of his life, he would live probably halfway wondering.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Was it really God that got her pregnant?
Speaker 1 (28:51):
And you go into right, you go into men's group,
and you're like, guys is good? I was praying the
Lord told me. I was I was actually sleeping. I
was in a dream, and the Lord told me, and
don't worry. Mary saw a vision two and we're gonna
work this out and we're gonna go home.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Do you not think.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Joseph spent the rest of his life looking cross eyed
at people trying to figure out Now, your nose looks
kind of like that long nose with checking out those ears.
You know, Ronnie has kind of long years right there.
I saw Ronnie and Mary because Joseph didn't know. Because
(29:37):
faith does not operate by sensory knowledge. Because faith enables
us to understand that God is with us even if
we do not see him in the picture. I need
you to receive this by faith. You are to give
(30:01):
him the name Jesus, because he will save his people
from their sins. Now here's the culmination of the text
that I want to share with you.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
All this took.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Place, Everything you didn't picture, everything you don't understand. All
this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet. And then he quotes Isaiah seven fourteen,
which says the Virgin will be with child and give
(30:32):
birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,
which means God with us. And I've been listening to
a song all week that says, even when I don't
see it, you're working, and even when I don't feel it,
you're working. And I need you to make a declaration
by faith. Every mouth in this room open up and
(30:53):
say God is with me right now. God is with
me right now. Come on, say it again, God is
with me right now. Some of y'all it in other campus.
You're not saying that, but you're not saying it to me.
So say it out aloud for yourself. Say God is
with me right now. And remember that the things which
are seen are not made with things that do appear.
(31:16):
So God does not build with carpenter material that you
can see and fabricate your faith with your physical senses.
When God builds something, it will not look like what
you pictured. He has a different picture, and he builds
according to his picture. Now, the message of Christmas is
(31:37):
about his presence, not my picture. The message of Christmas
says that the worlds were framed. Frame framed.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
I know they use it in a construction way, but
this is a visual term. Frame.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
They frame it the world. Did you get your picture
from the world or from the Word. Did you get
your picture of what a man is supposed to be,
of what a woman is supposed to be, of, what
success is, of what fulfillment is of? What did you
get it from the Word or the world? Because the
(32:17):
Bible says that by faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the Word of God. Frame And are
you framing this season of your life with your faith
or with your fear?
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Honestly?
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Now answer and honestly as you look at what you
cannot understand in your life right now, Because every hand
in the room that I saw went up.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
When I said, is it different than what you pictured?
Is it different than what you pictured? Someone?
Speaker 1 (32:47):
This was an insult, someone said to me one time
when I walked in. They said, oh, I never saw
you before I listened to your podcast. You're not what
I picture. I said, what did you picture? They said,
I pictured you bigger. I pictured you bigger. I pictured it.
(33:12):
I pictured it bigger. I pictured at this age, I
would be past some certain things.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
I picture.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
I pictured it different. I pictured I pictured parenting way different.
I thought we'd be doing drive time devotionals From the
original Greek of Philippians. I thought we'd be doing Bible
sword drills. I didn't know they'd be pulling out real swords,
stabbing each other with forks in the kitchen before y'all
(33:43):
are looking at me so holy. It's different than what
you picture. It's better, but it's different. It's different. Ministry
is different than what I pictured. Let me go all
the way. Adulthood is different than a picture.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Can we be real with one another for a moment?
It's different.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
They sold us something that is surreal.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
We're supposed to have it figured out. I'm supposed to
have good sense.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I'm supposed to be a fully cooked turkey by now,
and I'm coming out the oven and.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
I'm still wraw and I've got mouse to feet. Is
different than the picture.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
So when they put the sermon online for the video,
they have to switch between different shots, and they have
instructions to use of what shots they put on the screen.
Even now while I'm preaching, and because I move around
so much like the spastic preacher that I am, these
(34:52):
are highly trained, competent individuals. Somehow they always keep me
in the center of the center of the picture. But
what if the switcher fell asleep you know. Just real quick,
I'm gonna do an example because I.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
Want you to see this.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Imagine if the person on the switcher that goes from
the tight shot to the wide shot and boost the
thing on the thing that's the technical terms. What if
they at first show them what you're supposed to do. Okay,
let's say I do a lateral movement over here to
the side. Look, you got a shot for that. But
(35:28):
suppose they didn't put it on that other shot. Now,
for the maximum benefit of this illustration, if you are at.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Valentine, watch the screen. If you're at another campus.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
You've got the competitive advantage right now, because sometimes God
does this. Watch the screen. Watch the screen. Sometimes God
does this. Now, the only conclusion you can come to
(36:04):
if you are using your eyes is that the person
who was in the picture is no longer in the building.
The only way for you to know I'm still here
is to go not by what you see, but by
what you hear. So right now, those of you who
(36:28):
cannot see me on.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
The screen, watch the screen.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Y'all are disobedient.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Watch the screen.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
You can't see me on the screen, But if you.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
Know my voice, if you know my voice.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
You will know that I did not leave you nor
forsake you.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
In the beginning.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
What's the word, And the word was here before you were.
The word was spoken before you saw your frame. So
when I don't feel him, he's with me because his
name is Emmanuel. I can't see him, but I trust
him because he's spoken, and I will see it with
(37:17):
the eyes of my faith.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
He's with me on my good day. He's with me
on my bad day. He's with me when I've got it.
He's with me when I don't even know where to look.
He's with me when they like me. He's with me
when nobody will return my text.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
He's with me when I'm married. He's with me when
I'm divorced.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
He's with me when I've got a job.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
He's with me.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
When I don't see a way to pay it. He's
with me when i'm well. He's with me and I'm sick.
He's with me with a clear sky. He's with me
in the storm.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
He didn't leave.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
I just got at sage my frame. If he's folk it,
you will see it.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Come praise him. Let you know he's with you. He's
with me. He's with me. He's with me He's with me.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
What's in me is from me and my God. It's
for me, with me, He's with me. So don't be
afraid to go home and do what God told you.
Don't be afraid to face your fears with the frame
(38:48):
of faith, because the things which are seen were.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Made by the things which don't appear. I know it
is what your picture it in what you planned.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
You remember when we were in the nursing home for Thanksgiving.
My dad was sixty to something like that, sixty two
years old in a nursing home, not because we didn't
want to keep It was so tense in our family
that he decided he wouldn't want to live with any
(39:23):
of us. We couldn't take care of him. He had
Luke Gerrit's disease, and we tried to take care of him.
We couldn't take care of him. We were eating microwaved
Thanksgiving in the nursing home with my dad knowing good
and well. We wanted him in our house, and nobody
was on speaking terms.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
You talk about awkward.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Him doesn't taste right when you try to microwave it.
None of us pictured this. Now I know you didn't
picture this. God isn't building your picture. He's building his purpose.
(40:04):
So Joseph, Joe, Joe, did you know Joseph would say no,
uh huh. I just believe I had one thing in mind,
God had another thing in store. I went with God.
(40:27):
God went with me, and I have what I need
in the box to be the picture that He created
in his heart. So no, I'm not trying to build
somebody else's life or somebody else's idea of what I'm
supposed to be.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
Not anymore. I tried that. It is so stressful.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I can't afford the doctor bill or the stomach medicine
for that kind of living. I gotta build what God
put inside of me for the picture.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
That he sees, and the world's my friend. Switch the picture.
Switch the picture.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
Be who God called you to be, Celebrate what he
gave you. Pull everything close that you still have left,
wrap your arms around it, and make the.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Most of it. Switch the picture.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Yeah, it's going to be a different Christmas for some
of us. I understand that God pictured it all along.
You know, when Isaiah said a virgin will conceive, he
saw that hundreds of years.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Before it happened.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
God was already building the picture. Forty two generations, and
God knew the picture. And if you get too tightly
zoomed into this one scene, or this one moment, or
this one struggle or this one issue, you're going to
miss the bigger picture. God knows where to put you.
He knows what he put in you, and he knows
(42:06):
what he wants to do through you. So take Mary
home by faith and do what the Angel of the
Lord commanded you to do. Now, what you feel or
what you thought, switch the picture. Everyone's standing. I want
to pray for people this Christmas season who need to
switch the picture. Switch the picture and put God back
(42:35):
in the center of the frame. Put his presence and
his joy and his peace. See, when you understand how
he came, you can understand why he came.
Speaker 3 (42:48):
Please answer me, who was this message? It was just
for you. It was just for you. It was just
for you. It's just for you.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Okay, I'm gonna tell you three things about how he came.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
I'll give him to you so quick.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Number one, he came through someone that everyone else thought
was insignificant. So the first word you need to know
about how he came is insignificant. He did not come
through a matriarch of royal lineage. He came through a
little girl who was so scared that when the angel came,
she said, how can this be? He came through someone
(43:21):
who saw no way that what God wanted to do
for the world could happen through her, And so it
has always been. I know, we get excited when an
actor or an actress, or a celebrity or a politician,
or a rock star or a rapper gets excited about Jesus.
But Christ is born in every heart that will receive
him by faith.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
And God is using you.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
If you are a coach, if you are a student,
if you are a businessman, you are if you are
a police officer, if you are nothing more like I'm
just to stop saying that God always chooses to use
what people deem insignificant. So there is nothing insignificant about
your pieces for your picture. That's number one. Number two,
(44:07):
it was impossible. It was a virgin womb because God
wanted to let you know that impossible situations are the
places where faith is born. So if that is impossible
for you, it.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Is fertile for God.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
If you understand how he came through a virgin womb,
he didn't have to do that but he wanted you
to know if you are facing something where you don't
see away, if you don't see it, but he spoke it,
and you will believe it by faith, it will come
to pass. That's how he came. He came for impossible situations,
(44:50):
broken hearts, broken homes, broken lives. But what I love
the most, what I love the very most, is that
it was intimate. He came in the most intimate way.
(45:12):
He was born of a virgin, and he comes into
your heart when you receive him by faith. He longs
to be personal with you this season. But if you
get somebody else's picture and try to put something together
that's not in you, you will miss his presence. He
(45:34):
wants to speak to you, use you, bless you, help you.
This is personal, This is intimate. God of all grace,
God of all comfort. I have delivered your word to
the best of my ability with your help, and I
thank you for what you spoke in this place today.
Your word is good seed. I pray that it falls
(45:54):
upon good soil. Today. I pray for those today who
are living in a picture that they never planned for.
I think we all are. We're all moving through this life.
We saw it one way, and now we are experiencing
it another. And yet you are here, always, here, still, Emmanuel,
(46:19):
still with us, still for us, A good father, a
faithful friend, wonderful counselor Mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Lift your hands. I receive your peace. God,
(46:39):
I receive your assurance. I receive your presence in this
season of my life. You are my king.
Speaker 3 (46:52):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
You can click the link in the description to give
now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
You can share it with your friends. You can click
the share button, take a screenshot and share it on
your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks
again for listening. God bless you.
Host
Steven Furtick
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