Yeah W A N man I don’t know about y’all but I love that new opening right I’m over here rocking and we have some really talented people at Rock City good morning welcome to D welcome back we love you it is you know what day it is it is Friday that
Means it is freedom Friday and we are going to close it down we are going to bring it home uh with dvo energy the devil’s been playing a little bit this morning so uh we are just hoping and praying that things hold on we’re waiting for nurse Crystal to
Join us she’s trying to find a good connection while she is visiting her family so we will pray that she is able to join us you know all know y’all got we got one rule you can’t rock alone so tag somebody tag everybody tag your friends and your enemies let them know
That it’s Freedom Friday and they better come get some so you know what day it is you know our crew uh Deacon Karan how you doing this morning I’m doing good I’m doing good I’m happy to be here I’m glad it’s Friday this is my favorite time of year
I love Christmas so yeah it’s a good day man okay all right you like the winter time the holiday season I tell you I woke up this morning and saw the sunrise and I say you’re right there’s no leaves on the trees so you got just just the
Beautiful branches and God God smiling early in the morning Jimmy what’s going on with you how you doing ah I’m doing good like uh Kuran uh this is a great time of the year just been busy all of them are God problems but I I can’t
Complain I’m out here out here trying to slain this hope yeah no complaining we do not we do not allow you you can’t rock alone and you cannot complain we don’t we don’t do that at Rock City said it’s God problems all things work together for good you know what you need
To do out there just drop something in the chat drop us in the chat where you’re rocking from where Rock Nation is is broadly living this morning breathing being blessed this morning I saw Tuscaloosa already in the house I saw Little Canada what is Little Canada I I
Have to scroll back and see that one Little Canada Minnesota okay mil thank you for that new place Houston is always in the house good to see them and and Derek out there in Fairfield I don’t know do we hear some news about you Derek you need to drop that in the chat
If you got some news for us to share uh congrat what’s going on out there in Fairfield California we got Brooklyn in the house Forest City Arkansas what else Somerset New Jersey Alicia and Dallas Texas great to see you Stacy in Childersburg thank you for joining us Shay in Alexandria Virginia good morning
From Chicago okay eret is rocking from Bermuda all right I I you know we we will we will welcome you and get our plane ticket you’re Rock You just just going to let us know today uh in is London Emma good to see you from London
All right I love that I love that Sacramento sine good to see you AA in Goldsboro North Carolina uh Sierra Vista Arizona I think that was Tamala or someone something like that hope I did not mispronounce it yes congratulations to Derek Las Vegas is in the house
Detroit Michigan is here with us this morning and Monro Louisiana what you got over on Facebook Deacon uh I see Baker Louisiana Sacramento California Birmingham the home team in this thing uh Chicago Detroit Hazel Hurst Georgia Augusta uh Jacksonville Florida fville North Carolina Austin Texas okay good morning
Good morning we got Sonia from Jamaica all right s some of that sun we got Barbados a whole lot of folks on vacation we got some holiday heat flying this morning on freedom Friday and always I’m G drop out and try to get a better spot and we’ll try it again in
All right all right we we got you we’re here we’re holding it down uh so we’re gonna close it down this week I mean what a great sermon uh this Sunday from pmj uh the gift of Hope right uh hope is something I think sometimes we take for
Granted uh and and so I think it’s always good to have a good reminder particularly around this time of season as we are bringing a year to a close and then going into another year with expectation that we remind ourselves uh about Hope and that he talked about he
Defined he said the gift of Hope is the grace to not allow anything on the outside to change what you believe on the inside said faith is now and hope is next so what did you guys pull out of the sermon what touched you most in this
Sermon uh that you want to share on this Freedom Friday Deacon I’ll start with you so I love like the definition of hope uh and also you know faith is now hope is next but I love when he talked about uh without hope we become slaves to
Anxiety uh that that was just one that just blessed me because it’s just been so many times where you kind of worried about what’s cominging and you and you you also you kind of looking at your track record or looking at your family’s track record and you feel like you know
Well this type of thing didn’t happened to you know to me or my people or you know you just kind of and that’s a terrible way to live I’ve been there where you’re just kind of scared to to to you know make that jump or you know
Just take any chances or you know scared to try to succeed because you you’re worried about failing so I love that line and then also uh being blessed is about position not possession so just being right position to receive all that God has for you is is just amazing and
That’s probably the best thing you can do and don’t just don’t get caught up on what’s going going on around you just just make sure you’re in position but yeah this sermon was was amazing I love it I love the Hope dealer you know yeah
Right I know I said why you come to church every Sunday come to see my hope dealer you come to get my my Supply replenished why do you why do you surround yourself with those church people because they’re My Hope dealers right they replenish me they restore me
You Deo energy y’all My Hope dealers every every day every morning at 7:21 Jimmy what about you what stood out from the sermon to you uh the three things that stood out the most for me is uh first off how he just started with how hope is the one thing life cannot take
That in itself just gives you the reassurance that no matter what happens no matter how the enemy comes to steal your joy that hope is the one thing that you can stand on for sure that’s something that you have to possess that’s something that you got to want to
Possess in order to go through the obstacles uh another thing that stood out to me was when he defined hope as he said the gift of Hope is the grace to not allow anything on the outside to change what I believe on the inside so
Again just like you said a while ago you got to have that hope that no matter what the situation is on the outside no matter what the doctor report says no matter what the bank says that it’s going it it looks good it’s you have to
Have the faith now to believe that it’s going to happen that way you can be in expectation right for the hope that was another thing that stood out to me and also uh faith is now hope is next that was big for me because like
I have the faith that God is going to answer my prayers I have the faith that God is going to start the business now that I have all the faith now I can stand and be ready in expectation with the Hope in my heart and while we’re
Doing that we also have to remember to be praying we have to remember to be reading our Bible that’s how we’re going to keep our hope and definitely the Hope dealer that was that that that took me out I’m I’m trying to be the James St Patrick of
Hope power hope yes’s go James [Laughter] yes sir all right crystal we’re still talking about what stood out from the sermon for you okay can you guys hear me okay yes yep thank you I’m struggling I’m out here in the country I’m visiting family and um I don’t know how we made
It as children I don’t know I guess we didn’t have all this technical stuff to deal with we had we had an you twist outside right um so the sermon it was so good it so good um so I loved when he said faith is for now and how Faith needs an object
You know in order to have faith in something you have to have that you know something to have faith in and we have to have something or someone to put our faith in but hope is for our next and it needs an opportunity so I loved how he
Broke down the difference between Faith and Hope um because sometimes I think we we connect them both is kind of meaning sort of kind of the same thing but they’re not and then he talked about a heartbreak versus a hope break when you have a heartbreak it’s a situation
That’s already happened like um a breakup in a relationship a death um a job loss but when you have a hope break It’s when um we suffer from what could happen so it’s when all this anxiety and worry about wondering how things could come about or could happen could take
Place in the future um you know like am I going to get this job am am I good enough you know will people like me so I really um I never thought about the difference in those two and then uh being blessed is about our position and
Not our possessions a lot of people tend to correlate their blessed because of what they have or the things that they’ve accumulated over the life over their life but that’s not the case being blessed is about our position our position before God our position is human beings you know our posture how
Humble we are and not about our monetary or valuable things you know we could have a whole dvo on Hope break right it’s something that we’ve all experienced at some point uh and it was mentioned earlier this week I think councilman Woods brought it up uh hope break is so pervasive in our
Community particularly among our young people and with all this technology Crystal that we talk about that we couldn’t we don’t know how we lived without it in our youth uh and their ability to see things that maybe are different from their circumstances sometimes what they see still doesn’t give them hope it it
Causes a hope break uh and one of the challenges that I think we all have uh is to try to restore hope among our youth right I mean because if you don’t have hope you know that’s that’s when bad things happen there’s nothing more dangerous than a hopeless person and uh
So I I think this message is a great opportunity for us to remind ourselves exactly what hope is but also to take this season and figure out how we can perhaps uh instill hope in others instill hope uh in someone maybe we don’t even know so for me uh and we’ve
All kind of touched on this and pmj said Faith helps you get out of this but hope helps you walk into that it’s almost like a spiritual baton right you know you know the track you if you got the 4×4 you gotta pass baton in order to get
To the finish line so that part I love is that your faith gets you out of something but hope helps you walk into what God has for you walk into your favor and it made me it just reminded me of how often do we find ourselves running from something right we’re
Running from something instead of to something right and when we find ourselves running from something we may just be running and not having any Focus uh not having any intentionality about where we’re going uh that’s why it’s important to hold on to Hope even when uh we’re in the midst of circumstances
That require a deep Faith because hope will be our guidance right it’ll be our GPS that allows us to not only run from something but run into something uh and I think I don’t know Deacon whether it was you or Jimmy mentioned this said if it’s not fixed it ain’t finished right
And and that’s a that’s a good thing that we need to remind ourselves because there’s so much within us and outside of us that needs to be fixed but with hope we know that the job ain’t done all right so let’s go to our scripture today uh Luke 1
5-7 and this is a great scripture uh about Elizabeth and Zachariah and their blessing so who wants to read that this morning I read it okay all right here we go uh the NIV version in the time of of Herod God of Judea there was a priest named Zachariah who belonged to the
Priestly division of abah his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron both of them were were righteous in the sight of God observing all of the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly but they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they both were very
Old so a little bit of background as as has been explained expained Elizabeth uh actually is a name that is descended from the Hebrew name Elisha which means God’s promise and God is my oath uh and they they certainly lived that they lived God’s promise uh Zechariah and
Elizabeth lived close to the cathedral and truly were the embodiment of of of really living a righteous life uh the scripture even describes them as being uh blameless right I mean now they weren’t perfect right but but but when they fell short uh they addressed it
Quickly uh so it’s not as if their example is a perfect one uh but one that shows that righteousness uh is something that we hold on to and we can can abide by even when we slip and fall now in the city of Judea Zachariah and Elizabeth they were steamed right for this
Righteousness and their Devotion to God however even with their upright lives there was a cloud of judgment that hung over them uh because in Jewish culture uh children were considered a sign of God’s favor people who were childless were considered out of God’s favor that
Was a sign of disfavor so you know it was a mess there was a lot of messiness uh a lot of Whispers people talking about Elizabeth and in that time it was very patriarch archical right so they n they they blamed her and not him uh so
It was you know they they cast a shadow over them and they cursed her because of her barrenness and it’s a reminder that unwarranted Shadows or even cast on the faithful uh consider the woman is heric recognizing that the Bible often speaks from this uh patriarchal Viewpoint as I
Mentioned uh and her inability to concede was deemed her fault by many but in reality it could have been a combination of myriad factors so living a righteous life doesn’t Shield us from mess from judgment right now Elizabeth’s story we learn that being blessed is not about possessions that we as we talked
About it’s about our position in God when you find yourself lacking what others think you have don’t think you’re not blessed though she was blessed she faced the challenge of barrenness now there will be Barren seasons in all of our Lives when we encounter our own limits
Uh the limits of our Humanity these are moments when we need divine intervention we need a miracle pmj said uh a miracle is when God breaks a rule for us I love that uh Elizabeth teaches us of baress there is a gift and that gift is hope
When faced with situations we can’t fix our focus should shift to the one who can and that’s God let the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth inspire you to embrace hope even in your Barren Seasons so let’s go to the question the first question of course is what stood out to
You from this text Jimmy you want to jump in there first yeah I will uh the main thing that stood out to me I think is that that life still happens to to the saved people and people that walk in Christ I immediately thought about uh speaking Kuran from last week he
Catching them red lights say but he’s still gonna be caught by them red lights so hey yeah yeah no matter how we and we just have to be ready and we just have to be have that boldness and that hope in our heart to still walk and be ready
To receive whatever God has for us because we’re not exempt from anything that happens we have to have a I feel like because we are living that life and walking like that we have to have a a a even stronger hope to sustain so that’s what stood out from the text to
Me hope is that sustainer right particularly in the middle of the storm uh you know when it’s when it’s raining when it’s storm and you do have hope that it’s going to end right you you that is what you’re relying on if the the power goes out during the middle of
The storm uh you still you still have hope that it’s going to be restored so yeah you you it’s a great reminder that that that hope is is that anchor we hold on to uh even when the seas are rocky what about you Crystal what stood out in
The text for you well for me it like Jimmy said it’s just another example of how um no matter how hard we seek to live a life for God no matter how much we try to be so Christlike and upright we’re still not exempt from challenges just like Zechariah and Elizabeth they
Were both faithful to God um they both you know Zechariah was put in this position because of his faithfulness there um and yet they still were faced with disappointments I’m sure they prayed many nights you know for to Bear children um I’m sure that was a prayer
That Elizabeth had um and I’m sure her prayers did not stop although she was up in age but they still were disappointed so we are not exempt from um disappointment either um at the end of the day we’re still imperfect humans um and so you know we’re not going to be IM
Immune to things not going our way our faith does not Shield us right I mean it doesn’t it doesn’t uh make us immune to those things that can can diminish Our Hope what about you Deacon what stood out in the text for you yeah I think this was a uh just a great
Example everybody had great points about you know just no matter what you know you’re still going to like we’re not exempt from from Pain and you know that type of thing but also just being in position you know like they were you know no matter what you know they were still
Praying even though they you know were praying for this you know to have a child and you know like uh like the scripture said they you know they obeyed observing all of the the Lord’s commands you know uh and decrees blamelessly like they lived you know a Christlike sort of
Life like they were in position you know uh I think that’s the main thing that you know just stood out to me is that even though you know their prayers weren’t being answered at that time like they just remained in the right posture and position to receive God when he did
Come through for him so I think that’s just an example for everybody like we’re all waiting on something something you know what I’m saying so just just look at these type of scriptures you know just to kind of uplift you like you know I’m gonna I’m Gonna Stand position no matter what I
May get frustrated at times when when it’s not coming when I want or you know I’ve been doing the old song I’ve been serving the lord a long time but I’m not tired yet you know what I’m saying like song you know to get you through
Man so I love scriptures like this it’s just a reminder like you know God had forgot about us so so don’t get caught up in you know what’s what’s around you or or the naysayers so to speak just just stay in position and trust God I love that we’re all waiting on something
Right we’re all waiting on something uh and and you can even even flip out the word we’re all hopeful about something it’s easy to forget that again while we’re just trying to hold on while we’re trying to figure out where the next bill is going to be you know GNA get paid if
We’re all you know we’re waiting for uh something that that is really you we’re battling whether it’s depression loneliness it’s hard to hold on to that but we’re all waiting on something and we’re all hopeful in something uh so here’s what stood out for me I love the
End of this scripture U verse seven when it says they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive I won’t even get into the last line that says they were both very old yeah we we want we don’t even use that word in my house we old what is old
Right but what it says that she was not right nothing but a number when it said that she was not able to conceive think about it she actually was able to conceive right because she did conceive she just didn’t conceive she didn’t conceive until God deemed it was time
For her to to do so you know he he had already ordained it he just hadn’t ordered it yet uh and so he kept it in proper order so even the scripture said something that that and I hesitate to say this was not true right she was able
She had not gotten pregnant right she had not uh you know had a child but we clearly know that she was able so just because something doesn’t happen or hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it can’t or it won’t happen when my kids were growing up we didn’t allow the word
Can’t to even be used in the house right said I can’t no no no we don’t we don’t say can’t we just figure out how to get it done right and so we often get diminished uh when we lose hope because we just think that this is I’m not able
To do this uh but just because you haven’t gotten the promotion or rais doesn’t mean it won’t happen or it can’t happen just because you haven’t found your person yet doesn’t mean that it won’t happen or can’t can’t happen just because you haven’t bought that house
Right that you’ve been trying to to been dreaming about and and being an expectation for uh doesn’t mean that it won’t happen but it will happen in God’s time uh it’s a good thing that hope doesn’t come with a timer right uh you know second Peter
3:8 I put a little scripture on it says with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a like a day uh you again hope doesn’t come with an expiration date it’s not like a carton of milk that sits in the
Back of the bridge and by the time you pull it out it’s all sanky and sour right you know whenever you pull it out it’s always fresh hope is always fresh it does not come with an expiration date so for me uh this text reminded me that
Even though it says she was not able she was able she just wasn’t uh she was in position and just had to wait for God’s timing so uh let’s go on to our second question how can Elizabeth’s story Inspire resilience and hope in facing tough situations Crystal how about you and you’re
Muted you’re muted okay can you hear me now yeah okay I’m trying to hold on I’m fingers first I said let me go to Crystal first okay so um you said how can Elizabeth story help us when we face and tough situation so you know this time of
The year a lot of attention is is often times placed on Mary so I was excited to see how we can give it up for yet another woman in the Bible who plays just an important role and that’s Elizabeth um and when I really went back to study Elizabeth and you know her
Contributions to us biblically there were a few lessons that I learned um that I want to share um so the first one was unanswered prayers they do not mean that we’re living that we’re not living right before God or that God has forgotten us you know I’m sure like I
Said outset that Elizabeth had prayed for years to be able to Bear a child um and here she is past childbearing age and that prayer has still been unanswered but yet she continued to be faithful to God it wasn’t a no but it was a not now you know God clearly has
Something better or greater in store for her so our time is not God’s time um and we have to remember that you know our ways are not his ways and so we have to remember that when there are things that we’re seeking him for and we pray
Praying for and we’re we’re in waiting and being patient for you know do we give up when those prayers are not answered immediately um the second thing or second point I studied was no matter our age God can use us to bring life into the world you know Mar was wait wait wait
Wait wait wait wait wait yeah we GNA run that back that back say that again no matter age use us to bring life into the world so on one hand you have Mary who’s a young virgin then on the other hand you have Elizabeth who is advanced in her age but
Both brought life into the world so age is not a barrier um to be used by God when it’s in his plan you know it’s never too late this I think uh um I don’t know if it’s Pastor darus or Pastor Mike Senor said that on Monday
When it’s in his plans it’s never too late and pmj has said several times in many sermons that this is our leap year you know this is the year that we will skip steps um and and just that baby leaped in Elizabeth’s belly you know they clearly had skipped some steps you
Know they didn’t have the the natural way of conception um so I thought it was an interesting point then the last Point faithfulness does not go unnoticed by God um and then the scripture that I have for that is the scripture Galatians um chapter 6:9 and it says let us not lose heart
And doing good for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary so you know we we can you just can’t give up these are it’s a perfect example of someone who um probably had a prayer all the majority of her life um and was faithful
To the end and it didn’t go unnoticed because here she was blessed when she thought you know it was over this is it you know I’m I’m of age now it’s never going to happen and look what happened I love that let’s let’s peel back and go back to what you said
Earlier about bringing life into the world that no matter where you are what your stage of life is that we all have the ability to bring life into the world this scripture is obviously talking about children talking about new life but think about what we’re doing here
Think about what God calls us to do uh to to represent him to show him that’s bringing life into the world uh and we’re all called to do that everybody uh on this stream is called to bring life into the world uh sometime today by brightening someone day someone’s day uh
By feeding them uh with something that maybe will lift them so I love the fact that you said there no matter where you are in life no matter what stage you can be called to bring life into the world and this is the perfect season to remember that right it’s the perfect
Season to think about what we do every day it’s like just leave when you leave the house or if you’re working at home remotely what doing today to bring life into the world it’s a great question a great challenge that we should all uh Embrace every day what about you Deacon
What stood out you know what are you talking about in terms of just uh resilience and facing hope and hope and facing tough situations I think this uh this story is just a perfect example of you know kind of stand in position and being resilient
Pay off you know for God and then also don’t get caught up in the distraction action that the devil sends us because it’s all all it’s doing is tricking us out of us out of spot to receive God he’s already the devil’s already kind of peaked into our future and sees what’s
Coming so he’s like let me throw something that way so they can get it’s just a big hater you know what I’m saying I don’t want them to have it so I’m just get them out of position and make them act a fool right you know so really I think for me that’s
What you know it’s just helped me f focus on and then U you know it kind of like I thought about like my grandmother’s generation you know just like her friends and you know uh like they didn’t have the money that we have you know but they had the they were
In position and they were faithful and and and serving and you know like so on the outside you may see it may looks it may look like they’re not as blessed as we are you know that generation but the older I get the more I’m like man they
Really they had it together it’s like they had more power than we do you know they were faithful they were praying like you know prayer meetings and all that type of thing and and we got all of this money and all of this stuff with no
Power you know what I’m saying so that just shows me just how staying faithful and staying locked in with God has it his real benefits for your life it doesn’t matter about the possessions that we have like Earthly possessions it’s like they had a strong sense of who
God was in their heart and it show throughout their life so I think you know us just staying resilient and staying faithful and staying locked in to God’s word you know and just you know kind of knowing who he is and not letting people trick us out of
This because you know I don’t want to get I I don’t want to get in get get too deep and get too crazy but it’s just certain things irritate me about how like all of these new uprisings and we like man I’m not going to let nobody
Tell me who God what God can’t do who God you know what he is or this a white man type of you know all that kind of foolishness that people say I’m like man no I’m not gonna let you even even have that kind of talk around me you know
What I’m saying so I’m stand locked in and faithful because I know who God is and I know what God can do you know I’m say ain’t nobody gonna turn Deacon around right nobody go turn you around no no not today not today and what you said reminded me you know you
Talk about uh your previous generations right and and how faithful they were how uh consistent they were in going to church and as a young person you see it you don’t quite know how to interpret it but you know I’m old enough to remember segregation right I’m old enough to
Remember what that must have been what was that like for the adults in my life you know as a child you don’t really know what’s going on right you know you can go over here but you can’t go over there uh but imagine the hope that they
Had to hold on to and the hope they poured into us right they they poured hope into us that we would change the circumstances that they existed in right so they poured that hope into us and things have changed there has been a manifestation of of circumstances that
Are different than they were from from my parents and maybe your grandparents so I I’m just grateful right that they poured hope into us and it may me just think man how much hope did they have to have in order to endure what they endured you’re down there with family
Crystal you know they got stories right when you get the folks to start talking and you hear the stories and you just shake your head and Deacon you’re right they had to have much more hope than often we we take it for granted right we get frustrated and distracted by things
The devil throws at us maybe we get a little too easily distracted I mean they they they had a whole bunch of things that could have diminished their hope but they poured it into us uh and it’s up to us to continue to revive it and
Pour it into others what about you Jimmy what uh you know when you look at this story how does it Inspire resilience and hope in you uh the thing that stood out to me and what it reminded me of so in my Fraternity in our frat in my fraternity
Omega scii fraternity one of our Cardinal principles is perseverance and we say the ability to stick to a task and complete it successfully okay that was stood out to me for that she had perseverance and the definition of perseverance that I have is persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving
Success so that was Elizabeth up and down so her hope wasn’t denied it just wasn’t God’s timing so you have to always be able to stand on that because it’s you just have to be able to her resilience it couldn’t be weever it couldn’t be Shak so I I just love her
For that and it just it gives God the opportunity if we stay in position and have the resilience it gives God the opportunity to blow our mind which is that’s what it did with Elizabeth by giving birth I love that I love that so for me
You know the first thing I did was go to the dictionary right look up the word resilient so I I’m always gonna go to the to the to the to that other book right uh and it defines resilience as the capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties toughness
Another definition said the ability to spring back into shape so I just want everybody to drop in the chat it’s winter time say I’m springing back in 24 right I’m springing back no matter what it is that hit me in 23 I’m springing back in 24 no matter what I’m facing
Right now in 24 I’m springing back uh no matter no matter what set me back this year I’m springing back back in 24 and it made me think that in the context of this story that resilience is a bridge between the blessing and birth right so
The the the point of this story is that Elizabeth was blessed with child she got pregnant right but it was nine months before she gave birth think of the resilience that she had to demonstrate in that period for the last couple of trimesters uh in know background it said
That she went into seclusion right she didn’t she didn’t go out in public much now part it may have been because she might have had some physical struggles because of her Advanced age and wanted to ensure the healthy birth of the child but she was also seeing Mary and Mary
Was under a little scrutiny too and Pastor talked about this folks were like wait who’s your who’s the daddy again right you know so so you know wait who the daddy so you know she had to be careful being seen with Mary as well but think about the resiliance that she had to
Demonstrate between the blessing and the birth so just because you start a business right that that’s a blessing right you got to show resilience before a prophet is birthed right you you might meet somebody that you like but you all have to show some resilience before it becomes official right Derek it becomes
Official and you you get married I I know I know that you have to show some resilience along the way so it made me think about that this story is also a reminder that resilience is the bridge between the blessing and the birth that when we get blessed it doesn’t mean that
We uh have to stop being strong that we can stop being strong that we can that we can uh relax uh and and and just think that things are going to go our way no no no no no no anybody who has started a business anybody who has
Bought a home so that closing day should really be called opening day right because that’s just the start what you have to do as a homeowner uh it’s just the start of what you have to do to turn that house into a home and uh especially once that first thing
Breaks and all of a sudden you got to pay you got to pray for it and get it bro get it uh repaired so uh yeah for me this was a not just a great story about the blessing but it demonstrated her resilience and hope and facing a
Situation just trying to to birth John the Baptist and that nine months prove of resilience you know resilience and hope before getting pregnant but but the bridge between the uh blessing of being pregnant and the blessing of the birth uh was resilience and even in this day
And age that going into seclusion it’s like stay off social media pastors has often said don’t share your blessing with everybody right be careful who you share it with be careful who uh you you you have in your circle I mean we’ve had this uh this shared with us many many
Times just being constantly evaluating you know who you allow to to lift you who you allow to know where where you’re trying to go because some people will try to distract you uh with their own expectations which leads to our last question and before I go to I go to
Romans 1212 it’s like rejoice in Hope but be patient in Tribulation and be constant in prayer rejoice in Hope be patient in Tribulation and be constant in prayer so let’s go to our last question is how can expectations of others impact the way we see our own blessings and righteousness in our every
Day experiences Jimmy I’ll let you jump in on that first uh what I got was basically I I I can’t live off the expectations of others I have to our our what we see what what what we see may not be the same thing my prayer may be
Something bigger than yours so we can’t live off the expectation of others it’s always me versus me I have to go for what I want uh the person that may be expecting me to get money no money may not be what I want a sound mind a sound
Peace of mind that may be my blessing right there in it all uh Pastor Mike also says something a lot uh if you live for people’s acceptance or approval you’ll die for their rejection so me we can’t can’t live wanting to make somebody else happy now at a age
Where you’re with in home with your parents yes you live for their expectations growing up but at a certain time you have to break away and live for your own self and get your own goals in so that was stood out for me in that I
Love that I love that that’s so good what about you Crystal well I I agree with Jimmy you know once we reach that age of accountability um there’s a there’s a time where we have to live and think for ourselves and be accountable um for our you know have our own set of
Expectations we can’t just live life going off of what do you think I should do okay and doing it no what do you want to do deep down inside what are your desires what are your goals what are your needs what are your wants and even
That will change over time you know our goals and needs at 16 18 are going to be different at 40 and 50 you know so I we have to constantly go back and re-evaluate these things and think about it and and Set uh realistic goals along
The way but I I put that it was very important to manage our expectations in a way that we realize um what we can and can’t control a lot of times we have um unreasonable expectations yes or other people have unreasonable expectations of us they may
Think they see something in us but you know if that’s not where our heart lies or if that’s not where our passion is you know there could be some disappointment there and then if this continues you know we may be disappointed in other people or even uh build a a great disappointment in
Ourselves um but certain expectations setting if we have expectations for others and they fail then we may start to resent them or compare ourselves to them like oh well they couldn’t do it neither can I you know I am not them they are not me you know so we have to
Be careful with that Spirit of comparison be careful with the expectation you know there’s a there’s a fine line there when it comes to expectations of other people um because we’re all imperfect and you know that just may not be where they are in life emotionally or mentally so we just have
To have to be careful with that I I love that we often hear that the best way to kill a dream or a goal is to compare it with somebody else’s right that that that Spirit of comparison is is is the devil so what about you Deacon uh you
Know how do you you know utilize and how can expectations of others impact how we see ourselves and impact our ability to remain hopeful I think this is uh like another I mean we talk about the question writer every week you know like they just I
Don’t know how they come up with these questions you mean Pastor lesli are you the question writers like this ghost ghost riters like they need to submit it for like some kind of Golden Globe or some kind of writing like like feeling it bro like it’s amazing the stuff that she you
Know thinks about but I think like I this made me think of my mother like uh like the expectations that she kind of set for me like it was me and her growing up my dad died when I was eight so it was it was me and her so she had
Like in her head she kind of modeled like you know the men that she saw in her life like her grandfather and her father so in her head like she kind of set high expectations of me early you know as as what it meant to be a man and
You know just to kind of set goals for me and she like no you need to be striving for this like I remember like a report card I got uh you know all a and a and a 89 you know and she just was like what’s up with this 89 right like M
Really really M what happened so what we gonna do to get a a next time so I’m just like Mom what you mean and and then I see other people like you said I’m getting into comparison I can remember I won’t call no names you know it’s some
Some friends I got you know but uh like man you know they’ll get straight D’s and then you know you know and it’s like but hey I’m passing so I’m likeit so I go home you know I’m like M so explain to me like what’s like why you fussing
At me about 89 but my guy over here getting celebrated because he got straight D she like yeah it’s I’m setting the bar high for you so ultimately that kind of made me just it changed my whole playing field in a sense like it made me just shoot higher higher goals
You know and also she kind of helped me just to celebrate my wins in a sense you know what I’m saying so like it made me kind of just look back and feel like okay I did that you know so I I credit her and even when I met my wife she was
Like you got some crazy expectations of yourself and I’m like man my moment she put it in me you know and and had really left you know what I’m saying so I thank her for that you know but like that’s a good example of but
Also like we were saying ex I won’t let the average person in the street kind of put their expectations on me you know like my mom is different that’s that’s somebody who you know she bire me so it’s a different relationship but your average person can’t you can’t throw
Your expectations on what you feel like I should be doing on me you know what I’m saying I’m not gonna let you do that but it’s just important to kind of know I I would say know how to separate the two you know who to let in you know who
Who has that type of access to you and and who whose opinion you respect more than just your average person you know like I see a lot of people celebrities you know they get all of these comments and then they only remember that negatively you know it’s a thousand
People telling you I love you and you got one person like he’s stupid and that one stand out to you you know what I’m saying so I don’t ever want to be that person you know I just want to focus on kind of have those what you know I
Kind of have my internal joy and what I expect out of myself and then the rest is just secondary I love that Di and I’m sitting here smiling because I’m I’m just going to take the Baton uh in that lane because when when the question was formed and when I think people first
Think of expectations uh they view it in a negative light you know other people’s expectations uh that that don’t align with ours and certainly don’t align with God’s but like you expect you know I view expectations that can be be positive right uh your mother poured high expectations into you expectations
Can feed our hope right we we all probably everybody on this call had somebody Mom Dad Uncle somebody fed expectation into you uh somebody walked up and gave you a word of encouragement as a child uh you when when I was young and I was sent to a a private school or
Had the the opportunity to go to this private school I went from an all black school to allh except for me school right and and I would always you I lived in the black neighborhood again this was during the time of segregation so I was always in church on Sunday uh and many
Of the women of the church worked in the homes of some of my classmates and schoolmates right they worked in the homes as as maids and caretakers of children uh and yet every Sunday somebody would walk up to me and encourage me to to do well at that
School to to you set a new bar at that school even though they they they knew I was likely going through some some some challenges they always encouraged me so they poured their hope into me so that their children uh wouldn’t necessarily have to work in a white person’s home
Unless they chose to do so that was one of the few opportunities for women at that time for black women at that time so I think about the the people and the men who would you know slip me a couple of dollars uh who would ask me about my
Grades and same with you Deacon I got a dollar for every a a b didn’t not get me 50 cents a b did not get me a quarter I got a dollar for a and a zero for nothing for everything else and when those things kind of set your expectations for
Yourself too so I’m grateful right we just came off of this series of talking about being grateful I am grateful for all those who poured high expectations into me and one more story there is a young woman in our church who just bought her first house and we’ve been so
Happy happy for her and celebrating her and she shared uh just the other day that her buying a house has encouraged her mom to think about buying her first house as well and she said that her mom grew up in the housing projects uh in in just horrific conditions and that she
Just wanted to not live like that that that was where her expectations were and she did that for her children but she never expected of herself to buy a home but now that her daughter has bought a home uh mom is like okay well maybe I
Can do that and I love that I love that that that that she had the faith to get her children out of something that she had experien and now she has the hope of walking into something that she might have never conceived had the the expectation not been laid out and
Exhibited by her own daughter her her daughter gave her the hope to walk into being a homeowner so I’m I’m going to be like you Deacon I’m going to flip expectations right expectations can be a positive when they are rendered and poured into you by the right people
People with the right motives uh people who understand that there are places that we can walk into that maybe they couldn’t but we can only do that through hope all right uh anybody have a last word crystal I know you were able to hang in there with us so I think I think
God has said you know what give Crystal the last word and let her pray us out on this Freedom Friday M now I’m holding by a thread over here expectations like everybody you know expectations can be a good thing and I think it’s it’s very good to set healthy
Expectations for ourselves um because that just really pushes us and drives us whether it’s um a financial expectation or an educational expectation or a um you know getting closer to God or or or growing your faith spiritually you know we we need expectations as long as they’re um in the right way and
Motivated by the right things and right people um that’s all I got as far as a a last thought that’s it we we we did it we had another successful week everybody and we’re closing out year um so let’s keep pushing keep praying um don’t give up hang in with your accountability
Partners check in with people and the things that they’ve talked to you about in the past check in and see where they are we’re not going to leave anybody behind this year we’re gonna we’re gonna finish on no hope Left Behind no hope left behind all right so father God we come
To you in prayer this morning thanking you we just ask that you’ll saturate us wherever we are with your Holy Spirit just help us to really um absorb all that we can of you and live in the moment with you um let us take moments
To see sit still and be still be quiet and really hear from you so that we can understand what we’re learning and understand how to apply it in our lives and and our families and those close to us we just ask you’ll continue to bless and honor our posture before you in
Prayer honor our posture before you as we study and and we’re just trying father we’re trying so hard um to just uh live our lives that a life that is acceptable to you um we just ask that you’ll continue to be with us um we have so many unanswered prayers and just be
With those whose prayers are still in Waiting um it’s not a no it’s not a right now and help us to realize that you just may be maturing us um for something greater something better and so let us look at these moments of isolation as a good thing we just ask
That you’ll continue to the children um just be with them bless them they just have so much going on emotionally and mentally so much going on in their homes that they’re just seeking um validation they’re seeking love they’re seeking so much from this world but let us step in
And just really give them those things and feel those vo from these kids and just cover them in prayer and intercede on their behalf be with everybody who’s going through um a loss or pain or heartache um those who are suffering who lost family members and you know who are
Having to deal with that be with those who are having to make serious decisions and hard hard decisions regarding their families or themselves be with those who are pursuing different careers and um let them always taking and those who are trying to um decide if they want to move
To other places just um let these people you know let us all come to you in prayer and let you guide us and guide our steps before um we make moves just continue to bless Rock City bless Pastor Mike and just give him everything that
He pours out to US Weekly just pour it back into Him Father God and keep him strong and uplifted so that he can continue to bring forth the word and make disciples and change lives and bring people to you and we just ask you’ll be with us throughout the rest of
This week and we say this prayer in Jesus name amen amen amen amen continue to just strengthen everyone and to just keep our eyes focused on him on our faith and on our hope uh and if you not yet texted Rock Nation to 28950 what you
Waiting on what you waitting on you want you want to know everything that’s going on you want to be in touch you want to be the first to know just tell text Rock Nation to 28950 and if you you want to just get closer to Christ if you’ve heard
Something whether it’s today or this week uh or this month that is moving you to get closer to Christ to turn your life over to him uh please just text home to 28950 I think I heard was it 5,000 lives saved this year 55,000 5K 5,000 what a what a blessing
Uh it has been to just be part of that uh this year and of course uh December 17th is our greatest gift Sunday so what does what does that mean Pastor shared on Sunday that there’s three types of giving there’s systematic giving right that’s our ties our offerings the things
That we do on a regular basis and again we don’t give to a church we give through a church church things so that we can feed our uh our our our our community so that we can feed those who are hungry feed them with hope and life
As uh crystal said it is never too late to to give birth to life uh so there’s systematic giving and then there’s spontaneous giving right when you may be in line and you just say you know excuse me I was gonna pay for that over there
Excuse me I I I here take this I’ve been put on my heart to do that or someone may say something in church and you just you know make a make a commitment right there uh spontaneous gift and then the third one is the sacrificial gift gift
And that’s where the greatest gift comes in and so for me and and for for others you know coming up with what that means it’s like what are you expecting in 24 you what are your what is what is something that you are praying for and
In expectation for in 24 and then what is that worth to you what is it worth to sew that seed that matches your expectations now the amount that’s up that’s between you and God of course but this is that Sunday when we look we pray uh with ourselves we have our own prayer
We pray with our spouses and our family members whoever we are sharing this journey with and say what is what do we expecting in 2024 and then how do we support that with our greatest gift uh so of course uh this Sunday we will have two Services again uh a 900 a.m. service
And 11:30 a.m. service 11:30 uh will be streamed live so the 9:00 service will uh will be in person and 11: :30 will be in person and also stream uh and I can’t wait for our Christmas service too we got giving Sunday on the 17th and then
The next one because it’s gonna be youth takeover Sunday they are already practicing they’re learning how to work cameras they’re going to be the praise team that is going to be a beautiful beautiful Sunday so if you do have children uh let us know and and we
Really want all of our youth involved in some way shape our form so that’s going to be a beautiful Sunday as well and of course next week we going to be right back here with dbo energy energy yes as El Elder D says the Rapture come then we
Gone we gone right so if it doesn’t come we will see you right in early morning at 7:21 a.m. for dvo energy thank you for joining us thank you for blessing us uh we love you and until then continue to be great with God continue to win with with God
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