Hey, I want to say first of all I love Venture church, and I know I'm not objective. And I love you. And one of the ways, I think I can love you. Best is by pouring in to our pastors at our campuses. Our five campuses Our House Church pastors about 60 of those or so the leaders that do so many amazing things here because they're with you they see you and and I'm excited that I get to play that role and I also get to enjoy the creativity of our teams.

Weary in the waiting and I've been at every service or taking notes on every sermon and I love the whole idea of the waiting. But what I'm seeing in our culture is not just waiting weary in the waiting, but it's hating in the waiting. I don't know. If you see it. I said on people's faces.

They just have this look about them. It's like they've lost hope. That they're angry. They're frustrated and and I see it more in in traffic than ever before. Alicia now, we're out of state last week and we were in a different area.

We didn't know the roads and and a car was up on me. Okay, you know how that works. And and if it's like a fast and furious car. It wasn't like a normal cars like, you know a race car and and so like I was just in a regular car like an Impala that we had rented and so I was trying to get out of the way and I finally turned and the guy rolled down his window and he put out he put his hand out the window and started making signs. And and there were signs you unique to the signs.

I normally see and so I'm serious. I was trying to figure out like what I had to Google it now. No, but but I gave him a sign myself. Is that okay for Christmas? It was the venture sign.

I pulled my hand out to Winter said long live in Prosper. And so you see it in traffic you see it and decorating as anybody else hate decorating as much as me. Would you raise your hand? You just hate it like yeah, like the lights you get like you bring them home and oh, they're not supposed to be bright. They're supposed to be soft.

I might say what and you finally get him just right you plug a man and one little light one little light bulb. It's not in the right place and the whole thing goes out. And he just sucks the soul out of you. I mean, it's just something about it where you begin to hate Christmas the major scene like oh you got a major scene from Israel. We we've got one from Israel.

It was carved out of the the little trough that Jesus was born in and so if you can't knock it over if you knock it over, you know, it's over, you know, you get nothing but coal and you're talking the political hatred. I've never seen anything like it. Not granted. I don't agree with either side on a lot of things but man just pure hatred. Wanting people to die, basically And so today I want you to know that the Advent.

It means something to your real life your everyday life. Where you can have hope winning out over hatred? If you understand what I'm going to talk about today, it will have everything to do with the next two weeks and the quality and depth of your life and your marriage and your family because you'll understand what hope means in the middle of all that you're going through because I go through the same things. For how many of you don't have to raise your hand right now, but how many of you worry? That anxiety during the holidays is like the number one thing that kind of grips you.

And and I don't mean like clinical worry and anxiety because that's what I have I take medicine. But but the reality is even outside of that you still worry in ways that you're like, I don't understand why that happens and you say well, what does that come from? See, here's the thing. I want you to know. It's not just what's on the surface.

It's what's going on inside of you. Because God has made you in a certain way where where you want to make sure things are under control. And the reason you and I worry so much and we're so anxious is that we want to be in control. We won't everything to work out, right? We get into that game of what if what if the family acts this way?

What if my kids act this way? What if my spouse does this and what if my crazy uncle shows up? And the desire for control can wreck your Christmas. Now listen, I know I'm kind of like in your grits here, but the reality is for so if you're one. If you're eight on the Enneagram, if you're a type A, I mean you want to have total control.

How many of you let me just ask this how many of you struggle with control? Would you raise your hand? Yeah, the rest of you are control freaks because you know me doing that. I'm not in control. I'm not doing that.

Yeah, we all struggle with control. Can I just tell you? That control is an illusion. And so let me just say before we March into the next two weeks that you don't have any control. Let's say it together.

I don't have any control both of you. Y'all did great and the reality is the reality is, you know, you don't So you've got worrying anxiety and we're gonna find out how hope can come in and deal with that desire for control that you don't have that God is in control of your life. The second thing and this is where I struggle it's it's overeating. I know you can't tell because I'm buff now, but the reality is this is a season where everybody like overeats. And not only that we drink too much.

I mean y'all drink too much and are you do something too much where you're indulging something because you want to numb out. I mean it's a proven fact statistics will tell you that this time of year people go to excess at everything that can possibly get their hands on because they have a deep desire. Here's the excess for what for comfort. And the idea and God made you to be comforted but he wants to comfort you. Okay, if you Sidetrack and you go to other things trying to find an escape and you take a shortcut and go.

Hey. Hey, I'm I just want to numb out. Hey, I just want to lay down. Hey, I just don't want to feel anything. Hey, I don't want to deal with anything.

I need more of what I already have and somehow more of that will comfort me. It's not gonna work. I mean, listen, Jesus can actually comfort you. Paul says in 1st Corinthians and it's second Corinthians. He said he's the God of All Comfort.

He loves to comfort you when you're struggling. He loves to comfort you when you're hurting. A lot like Jonas says Those Who cling to worthless Idols things that you put in your life to give you comfort you forfeit the comfort that could be yours. The idea is if you when you're uncomfortable and you can't Embrace that and you go. Hey God, I want you to comfort me God.

I want you to help me God I God I'm playing and praying that you'll kind of come near to me because right now I'm hurting it. I don't take a shortcut because that hurts me more and I have to pay for it more later. So come for me. Thirdly. It's spending too much.

Does anybody besides us spend too much? I mean Yeah, I mean, it's so bad. Yeah, like where she relies it's so bad that we have gone in with Amazon smile. And if you buy Amazon smile, you need to put Venture Church, Ms. Mississippi and we'll get some of your money.

So now you can tell your husband. I'm trying to support the church. I mean the more we buy the more the church gets. Because we want to impress. People by buying that we don't like by buying things we don't need.

And and you said well, what is the root of that? I mean like like why do we do that? It's a desire for approval. We want people to like us we want to keep up with other people. We compare our lives with other people.

I mean you get your somebody's Christmas card. You're like our Christmas card. It's like somebody drill with a crayon. Are you see them? Like they're in like another place a beautiful place like we went to so so we went to clam.

I'm am here. You start comparing yourself thinking. Hey, we need more and here's the reality Advent is how you get real. Hope where you can replace worry with. Peace.

Cravings with satisfaction and consuming with gratitude and contentment you say well, how do you do all that? I'm waiting just a second. Because we're going to look now. This is called at the very first Christian in the Bible. The very first person who allows Jesus to be born in their life, and it comes in a time of hating.

Hating because for 400 years from Malachi to Matthew there is there's no prophetic word. I mean you go back look at it, you know you look at that. There's a there's a little hasmony in time in the middle of it where the maccabeans and other people do stuff, but there's nothing happening. In fact every time they try to revolt or beaten down. And for 400 years they've been under occupation for 400 years.

They've been discouraged for 400 years. There's been darkness and no hope until the Advent. Which means that the proper time? God sent his son. To be born into the womb of a virgin.

To live a perfect life and to die on the cross in your place so you could have hope So let me show that to you in Luke chapter 1 verse 26 and you've heard this story a lot. But I want you to listen to it. Like it's the very first time so Luke chapter 1 verse 26 in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy. God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth. A town in Galilee to a virgin pledge to be married to a man named Joseph a descendant of David and the virgin's name was Mary.

The angel went to her and said greetings you were highly favored the Lord is with you. And Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her did not be afraid Mary. You've found favor with God. And you will conceive and give birth to his son and you're to call him Jesus.

And he will be great and will be called the son of the most high. And the Lord God will give him the Throne of his father David and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end. And she says how will this be since I've never been on a date? I've never even kissed a guy that's in the Greek.

Since I'm a virgin then the angel said the holy spirit will come on you and the power of the most high will overshadow you so the Holy One to be born will be called the son of God. And even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age and she who was said to be unable to conceive and is in her sixth month for no word from the Lord. God will ever fail. And she said I am the Lord's servant. May your word be to me be fulfilled and then the angel Lord left her you say what does all that mean for me?

Well, let me give me three things that that will help you and helps me in having hope during a season where there is so much hatred. Here's the first thing the call of God on your life. Trumps your plans and dreams now now let that settle in because I don't know if you realize this, but God's got a plan for your life. He's got a purpose for you being here. In his plan for your life and and his dreams for your life.

They Trump your plans and dreams. The Bible says that this way says, you know a man a man directs his steps, but God plans out his way. God is the one that takes your steps and your plans and he kind of works them according to his will you say well well if that's true and God's good then then why am I suffering so much? I mean, I've been praying and praying and praying to get a date don't have a date. I've been praying and praying and praying for a marriage falling apart.

I've been praying and praying to pray for my kids and well it's because after Genesis 3 we continue to break God's design. I mean when people continue to do the wrong things over and over and over again, there's a wake of Destruction that comes into their lives. And so here's Mary. And Mary had all kind of plans. She's going over to Joe's house to get some hot chocolate and she's gonna hang out later with her friends and And an angel appears it says you're gonna have a baby.

I'll mess up your plans. And she basically said I don't understand your timing. God but I trust you. Would you write that down somewhere maybe in your Bible or or if you have notes on your phone, or maybe if you have the app you can read this but were you just simply say I don't understand your timing? I'm gonna something happens.

It's gonna happen. The next two weeks you go. I don't understand your timing God, but I trust you. I trust you with my life. I trust you with my family.

I mean the angel says you're gonna you're going to conceive and have a baby. I mean talking about having to dig up the idol and the desire for control. She's giving away all of her control talking about destroying her reputation. She is in the first century listening in the 1960s when you got pregnant in school you had to drop out of school forever. The shame that was there.

Talking about approval I got a friend of mine that's having his wife's having a baby right now. And I'm just thinking she walked up to him and said hey, look I got something to tell you I'm pregnant. It's okay. What's God's baby? I know this guy he the things he would say I can't say on the stage.

Can you imagine her go into her family? Can you imagine her walking up to her dad saying God dad? I got God's God's came to me and said I'm gonna have a baby and he's going to be the king of Israel and he's going to last forever, but I've never been with anybody. You just got to trust me. Can you imagine all of her friends?

I mean, can you imagine what they were saying about her? See, here's the second thing when you decide to obey God regardless of the consequences you you remember that what God says about you is all that matters. Let that settle in because if you get that if you can get that it will change you. Like all that really matters about me is what God says about me. That how God feels about me is really the only thing that's going to direct my life.

Because the angel comes to her she's just a 14 year old kid. And he says you are highly favored. And the Lord is with you. That's what she needs. People don't understand you when you're doing God's will.

It's okay. When you try to do the right thing and you don't get everybody invite you to their party. So what? The king of kings and Lord of lords he loves you. You're the apple of his eye.

You're his child. You're a prince or a princess. He said then why is it so hard? Let me show you in Revelation chapter 12 people ask me all the time. Why don't we read out of Revelation?

Well, we're going to do it today. In Christmas The red dragon at Christmas and always there to preach this before you ready in chapter 12 a revelation. Make sure you put you know, make sure you got this in Revelation chapter 12 a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head. She was pregnant and she cried out in pain and she was about to give birth. This is Mary then another sign appeared in heaven and enormous red dragon the devil with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its head and with its tail at Swift a third of the stars out of the sky.

That's the Angels the Fallen Angel and flung them to the earth and the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it might devour her child the moment it was born. Merry Christmas We have an enemy. It's a reason it's hard. You've got a dragon that will use comfort and it will use it to kind of draw you away from God and draw you toward the fire breathing dragon a control. I got to have control.

I'll do everything. I can to be in control and it drags you approval it drags you away so that they can eat you. That's why. Paul says hey we got to decide we're going to please God or we're gonna please men. It's why Peter says in Acts chapter 5:29.

He says we must please God rather than men. You say. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

It's Christmas time doesn't God want me to be happy does it he want me to be happy? No, he doesn't he wants you to be faithful. Because here's the beauty of the Gospel. If you are faithful to God, he will bring you deep Joy. He'll bring you deep comfort.

You will know he is in charge of your life. You will know you are highly favored. Listener symbol AS Christians, it's not Landshark. It's not elephant. It's not the fighting okra of Delta State.

Her son was a cross man. An emblem of suffering and shame and Mary didn't even she didn't shrink back. She said hey, I'm the Lord's slave. You do with me as you choose. I trust your will over my will.

I want to do what you've called me to do. You see the greatest Comfort is knowing. You're fulfilling God's purpose for your life. So here's the question I have for all of you. This is all of you.

There's all walks of life in Venture every age you can imagine every background. What is God's purpose for your life? He has a plan for you. He said well, why is it so important because his plans for you. His word will never fail.

He's got a plan for your life. He's got good things in store for you. Not evil things. And Mary said how can this be? I love that.

How can this be? We kind of you know make that sound so cool. Then we sing songs Mary. Did you know, I'm not gonna sing it your baby boy with somebody welcome water. No.

She didn't know that fo the Bible had been born Yet I say that I'm sorry. I got carried away. I felt like I was like at home for a second like but I mean like cuckoo head. I mean come on man like She didn't know that. You don't have to know every detail to follow God's plan.

You to the next right thing? But what if all this if I can't control but what about this? I mean it's gonna cause me to discover. Well, what a war what about this? Nobody may like me.

Listen, the Zeal of the Lord will accomplish his will for your life. The Holy Spirit Will Empower you he will come over you he will do things. You can't do in a million years you say that is ridiculous. So is a baby Gonna Save the World How many times do you think Mary changed Jesus diaper and thought what is going on here? Do you think she had to spank Jesus?

Probably not. I mean he was perfect. I'm just saying like he had to be held. No, listen. Listen, this has to be true.

Nobody would make this up. A baby comes into the world and defeats all the bullies. A baby who is vulnerable and awkward and helpless Saves the World. And Mary believed I love that. I mean, I love Advent.

I love the hope I love Mary. She goes, I don't understand any of this. I ain't never even kissed Joseph but I believe. I am your slave. And so she sings.

And she throws a little shade. This is what I love by Mary. She go throw a little shade. Oh if you know that or not, you say wait a minute. I'm from a different background.

We don't look at that way. Well, she threw some shade. Let me show you in chapter one. Verse 51b She starts singing he scattered those who were proud. In their inmost thoughts all those people think they everything he scattered them.

He has brought down rulers from their Thrones, but he's lifted up the humble. He has filled the Hungry with good things. But he sent the rich way empty. Celebrating Listen, one thing I want you to do during this season is I want you to celebrate. That we have so much to celebrate God Has Come.

God brings you hope he's got a plan for your life. He's got a purpose for your life and none of his plans. None of his words can fail. I mean I watch on NFL I will sit today how they get in the end zone and they're celebrating. I don't know if Mary did the greedy I don't think she did I know for some of you like, what is he doing?

Well, I just want me it's time to celebrate. I mean you score a TD and you got that kind of ability. You don't need to be celebrating just hand the ball to the referee, but when you've got Jesus. That's reason to celebrate. Because I don't care what you're going through.

You. See you don't understand what I'm going through man. You have no idea what all I know. If you've got Jesus. You've got all the hope you need.

He will sustain you he will walk with you. Do you know that the Holy Spirit the name for the Holy Spirit and the Greek is parakaleo. It means comfort her. Sorry. I'm yelling.

See when I yell. I'm an eight. I yell because I think that's exciting. He's your comforter. You cry out like a baby.

He'll come for you. He will love you. He will never leave you alone. And the reason worship is so important. Is that God inhabits the Praises of his people not the observation of his people?

When you lean into all he's done for you when you understand. Oh you see you're hurting he can comfort you. You're so out of control. He's in total control. Nobody likes me.

Nobody invites me. He is crazy about you His Banner Over You Is Love because when you begin to worship You enter into the power? Of the Advent of Hope at Christmas I saw something online. It just it caught me because I think men are like the kid of the future and I'm not dissing on women. I love you know, my wife almost I love women.

I love my wife. You know, I have a high regard for women. But I love my wife. And but it's the men. When men get serious about their faith and they get serious about leading and they get serious about worship.

Amen Like you put a bunch of me you put me with five good men I do about anything. It's like maybe seal time for Jesus. I don't need 20. I don't need 50 if you lame and whiny I don't need that. But if you come with you, you know, Jesus is in you and you know, we're doing the right thing.

I ain't scared. So I saw this and I want you to see it because it's a rugby team and before their games instead of doing the greedy and the dubstep and whatever else is doing that I can't talk about that. They start worshiping. So I want you to see this and see if you can understand how how this grab me how they're worshiping and how powerful this is. I want you to watch this.

Here you must stopping right there. You see those guys trying to Mean Mug mean mugging. They had to go any change their clothes. I'm telling you that right there. That's powerful.

When you get to the place in your life for you understand God is in control. He can comfort you and nothing else can. Did he gets total approval to you as his son or daughter? You'll live with power. So this Christmas let me ask you.

Will you let him be in control? To do that you got to embrace the interruptions that come. Lord I don't understand your timing, but I trust you. You let him comfort you. You embrace the discomfort you realize he can comfort you.

He'll come alongside. You you let him approve of you with you except all of his abundance. You you let him Empower you you celebrate your victory. So the day is we roll into the last two weeks before Christmas. I'm going to ask you to kind of think where you're struggling because God made you to be to feel Comfort he made you like that.

He made you to want some control over your life. He he made you that way. He made you to want to approval, you know, it's one of the needs that we have. He just put inside of us. But which one of those has gotten out of sorts?

And for me, it's Comfort. It always is it's not approval. I'm giving up on that a long time ago, but but comfort. Control What is the enemy using the dragon using? To track the Hope out of your life.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes for a moment and Man, you've put forth such incredible effort to be here. It's a rainy Sunday. We got two weeks of a lot of services you could have just laid out, but you came. And you leaned in and God has spoken. So I want you to engage him.

And whatever it is that's gotten out of sorts. In the three areas of your life that God made you to be this way. But instead of letting him be in control and trusting him. You just grabbed a hold of everything. I'm going to I'm gonna I got we're gonna do it my way.

Our comfort and you're just so beat down and you're you're racing to things, you know aren't right. They don't cover you. They just prolong the agony. Or maybe it's approval. You just don't know why why everybody doesn't love you invite you to all their parties and you can't fit in and God says you don't for a reason because you're mine.

I love you. So today in this time of Engagement, would you just simply come to the cross? And whatever it is if it's approval or control or Comfort or Just say God. I want I want you to help I want you to give me hope in this area. And pin that on the cross.

And get your heart ready. To celebrate Advent of the king of kings and the Lord of lords father. We love you. Invade our hearts and our minds. Because God you've got a good plan for us.

Your will is good? Your plan lasts forever, you know things we don't know you're protecting us for things that we would just run right into if you didn't protect us God. Forgive us for being angry with you. Instead of thanking you for being in charge of our life. In Jesus name I pray.