Silent Night

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in to the Met Church podcast. Here at the Met, we are all about connecting people to God and one another. If you have any questions or want more information about what's happening here at the church, then head to our [email protected] we would love to stay connected with you throughout the week through social media, so be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter now. Enjoy the message. [00:00:34] Speaker B: Well, that was just about as awkward as I thought it would be. I'm sure lots of questions are running through your mind there. Like, what is going on? Did the preacher forget that he's preaching today? Was there some sort of mishap in the restroom causing the delay? Will somebody please do something? Say something, Anybody? Why is that? It's because one of the worst feelings in life is to wait. Now, I'm not proud of this. I'm gonna make a confession. I'm going first today. Here's the confession. I am not very good at waiting at all. In fact, this past week tested that very fact. I don't know if any of you went to the grocery store this past week. And at the grocery store, for whatever reason, I just happen to select the times when it's busiest and the impatience in me comes out. I remember whenever I was at the store this past week, and I leave the grocery store nameless. Heb. I mean, that store is always hopping. And whenever I have my grocery cart full, I'm ready to check out, and I go to the checkout lines. I will meticulously go up and down the lane looking for the checker that's going to be able to get me through it the fastest. And it's like a calculus equation. I mean, I'm counting the number of people in the line. I'm counting the number of groceries in every cart. I'm profiling. I'm examining the age and the efficiency of the checker. It's like a fun game for me. So I can, what, save three minutes? Whenever we were driving on Friday, on Black Friday, again, big mistake. And traffic is one of my sources of frustration. And I happened to be riding with my two little girls and my little helper, my wife, Jessica. And she is actually really good at helping me. I'm just not really good at receiving the help. I don't know if it's like a stubbornness. I don't know if it's like a man behind the wheel thing, but whenever I'm driving, I hate to wait. I mean, even though everybody's gotta wait at the stoplight. Not me. I will find every side road, every parking lot of a gas station I can zip through again. I'm not proud of it. I'm just confessing before you today. I will find any way to be able to save time. And I remember on Friday, my wife was like, if you just stay at the stoplight and just wait, we'll be able to get to the store faster. I'm like, no, no, no, no. And so I'm zooming around, and sure enough, it took me probably twice as long to get to the destination. Had I just listened to the guidance of my wife. We hate to wait. We are impatient people. Come on, somebody. Those of you that use Amazon prime and expect it to be there in five minutes. And sometimes it does. What is happening? Hello? Uber eats Ozempic. I'm talking to you. We want what we want, and we want it right now. And sometimes we're willing to take shortcuts to get it faster. What we fail to realize is that oftentimes the shortcut leads to a setback. Come on, now. Cause we're impatient and we don't want to wait. Waiting is so hard. But it's even more difficult when we're waiting on God. Have you ever found yourself in that situation where you're waiting on God? You're waiting on him to intervene, to show up, to do something for you? Maybe it's bringing you someone. Maybe you've been praying, you've been waiting, you've been begging God to send you a spouse. Anybody single, ready to mingle? Hello. And when you first started dating, maybe you were like me. You had this, like, long list of qualities because you know, there's this perfect person out there right for you. And then you've been waiting so long is that you've just cleared the shelves of qualities. I mean, you're down to PB and J, a person who believes in Jesus. Like, that's. I'll settle for that. Like, that's it. God. You give me a PB and J, I'll be happy the rest of my days. And it seems like all the good ones are taken already. Or maybe maybe you're waiting on God to do something in your marriage. Like you're just on this carousel of conflict day in and day out, and you're hoping and looking for a day whenever that one issue. Who am I kidding? That host of issues isn't gonna bubble up and cause so much friction. The kids are seeing it, you see it. No one's happy about it. You're going to the marriage conference. You're also in counseling, and you're just. You're begging God, Lord, if you don't show up, then I don't know how much longer that we can withstand this. Something's got to give. Maybe you're praying for a promotion at work, and it just seems like no matter how hard you work, no matter what results that you render, that the boss always seems to overlook you. Maybe it's nepotism or maybe it's naivete. Either way, you just seem like you're never given an opportunity even to say, here I am. Would you consider me? Maybe you're struggling with infertility. My goodness. I know so many people who are in that dark valley, and I have never walked through that. My wife and I have never been in that situation, and I can only barely begin to empathize. Just the devastation and the despair that people are in in that season. And you're praying, God, I just. I'm asking you to show up. Would you just give me. Give us the child we've been praying for. And to make matters worse, it seems like that all your friends are getting pregnant, and they call you and they're excited to share the news, and deep down you're happy. You want to celebrate with them, while at the same time, it just reminds you of that darkness, of that difficulty that you're in and you're not able to have children right now. Maybe you're praying for a loved one who's just a knucklehead. Right now. They are just making terrible decision after terrible decision. Can I just tell you if that's you, if you've got a prodigal child or you have a loved one who's just acting absolutely crazy, can I tell you that sometimes they hit rock bottom? It's so they can discover that the rock, his name is Jesus. He's the rock they hit, and they'll find him. How many of you are praying and hoping God will come through and bring that loved one back to their senses? Have you ever wanted something for someone more than they want it for themselves? That's frustrating. That's really hard. Oh, it's hard to wait on God. And where we're constantly asking ourselves, God, do you see us? Do you hear me? Do you even care? We're starting a new series today called Christmas Playlist. And basically, we're preaching biblical messages that are based on the title of Christmas songs that people recognize. And today, yesterday, the title of my sermon is Silent Night. Silent Night. Making sense of those seasons when God seems silent it's when you're lifting your hands up, your shoulders are tired. It's like shoulder day every day. But it's prayer day. And you're asking God, will you see me? Will you hear me? Will you do something? Will you intervene on my behalf? And the reality is, every single person finds themselves in God's waiting room from time to time in life. It's a situation or a season whenever things are out of your control. And the reality is, isn't that most things in life, actually very few things are within our control. God is ultimately in control. But it's that season when things are out of your control and you wish to be out of it as quickly as possible. But see, God's waiting room is not one that you can expedite the process. It's not one that we can avoid. The only option for us, the only option for us, I'll say it one more time, the only option for us is to wait on God. It's hard to do. But here's the good news. If we're just like a semi normal Christian, then what it means is that we don't have to settle for the Sunday school answer. We can actually ask tough questions. God can handle it. We can be real before our very real God who really loves us and really does have our best interest at heart. We can ask the question, God, where are you, God? What are you doing? And he's not offended by that. He welcomes that. He would rather his kids, his disgruntled, disappointed, frustrated kids come talk to him than to give him the Heisman. He would rather that. So the question I want us to ask today is, what is God doing while we're waiting? Because if I can be convinced that God is not sitting on the sidelines, that God is not static, but God very much is active in the seasons. Whenever he seems very absent, then I have some hope. And so what I wanna do today is I wanna offer you some hope. If you're in a season of waiting, you've come out of one or going into one shortly, then I want you to know that God is working while you're waiting. That God is working while you're waiting. I give you a number of scriptures that would illustrate that to you. But the best one I can think of is Isaiah 64, verse 4. This is from the prophet Isaiah. Listen to what he says about God working while we're waiting. You ready? Here's what it says. For since the world began, no ear has heard. So if you're not hearing, you're in good company. No eye has seen a God like you. Here we go. Who. What works for those who wait for him. The good news is that while we're waiting on God, God is working on our behalf. God is working while you're waiting. Well, that raises the question. Well, God, what are you doing exactly? How are you working while I'm waiting in this very difficult season? Well, sometimes God is working on it. Sometimes God is working on it. He's getting it ready. Whatever the it is. Particularly if it's a promise of God. It's not a maybe. It's a blood bought guarantee. It will happen. If you can just write down God's promises. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches. If you train up a child in the way they should go. That when they are old. Oh, I wish he. Oh, I wish the Lord would have said train up a child with the way they should go. In there. Preteen. They won't depart from it. Hello, Somebody? But he didn't. He said when they're old, they won't depart. So they're coming back. The prodigal's coming back. We can have our hope. We can hang our hope on God's promises that God's working on it. And even it's not a promise. Maybe it's a dream God's deposited in your heart. You know, there's a cycle that God puts his people through. It starts with a dream. He deposits a dream in your heart. And then you're faced with a decision. You have to make a decision. Are you gonna steward that dream? Well, and then after the dream, after the decision you make to steward that dream, then there's difficulty. Hello. And then there's some detours. Remember the nation of Israel? The Israelites, they were slaves. He put a deposit in their heart that they would be free. They had a decision to make. Are they gonna trust in God and leave everything behind and chart a new course? And then guess what? Difficulty and detours. Hello. Red Sea. Encroaching enemy from behind. So there's a dream he deposits. Then there's a decision. Are you gonna steward that dream? Well, then there's difficulty in detours. And then comes deliverance. That God will come through that God is not a liar. He cannot lie is what Titus says. He can't lie. So what's he doing? He's working on it. He's working on it. I wanna share with you something from history. Any history buffs out there? Thank you, sir. Appreciate that, Cliff, thank you. Would you like to join me on the stage? I'm gonna give you a little bit of history, and I hope this history will inspire you, that it'll bring some hope to your heart today. Especially if you're waiting on God to do something. You're waiting on it, whatever that. And the history is. I'm gonna go back and look at the time between the Garden of Eden and the birth of Jesus. So we look in the Garden of Eden. God creates everything in order, in due time, proper time. That's one thing we have to know about God. He's always on time. He's never early, he's never late. And he has a perfect order, a sequence by which he delivers on his promises. So he creates everything in six days and does so very methodically. On the second part of day six, he creates humanity. He creates Adam out of his image, and then he creates Eve as a helper suitable for him. And he officiates their wedding. And it's amazing. And their perfect fellowship relationship with God until they violated God's one law, don't eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. You're familiar with that story, I'm sure. So they eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge, good and evil, and that then created a cataclysmal collapse of the entire cosmos. The whole world breaks, including the relationship they have with the Father. But then God gives this really peculiar promise. In Genesis 3:15, he says something to the effect of that from the seed of woman will come one who will crush the head of the serpent. What is that about? Well, scholars believe that's the very first prophecy of the Messiah, that from the moment of brokenness, God says, I'm going to rebuild. I have a plan for you. I have a promise for you. And it's that I will send a savior, a messiah who will come and crush the head of the serpent. And we know the head of the serpent, that is the devil, our spiritual enemy. In Book of Revelation, we know that the serpent of old is what the book of Revelation describes the devil as. That's that serpent. What does he want to do? Steal, kill, destroy. He wants to steal your joy, kill your conscience, and destroy your soul. And he's doing pretty good at it. So God makes his promise. I'm going to send a savior. I'm going to send a messiah. And so, you know, Adam and Eve, I mean, they believe that Cain, the firstborn child, which Cain means acquisition. They believed he was here. They believed that the Messiah had come, like in that moment in time, but it wasn't time yet. God was working on it. And so then they're continuing to look forward to the Messiah. The generation after generation looking for God to honor his promise and send the Messiah. Prophecy after prophecy of the Messiah, from Isaiah all the way through Daniel and beyond. That the Savior would come, and nothing. Silence. Where is God? You see what the world then didn't have, that we have today is a vantage point so we can look back on history and see how God was working on it. They couldn't see it, but we can see it. We then fast forward in history to this time in the timeline called the intertestamental period. Intertestamental, it's that 400 years of silence from the time that God shut off his voice through the prophets in Malachi into the birth of Jesus. Now, this time was really difficult because prior to this intertestamental period of 400 years of silence, even though people were waiting on the Messiah and he hadn't come yet, they still were hearing from God. He's still speaking through his prophets. So at least they had that. But during this intertestamental period, he goes silent. God. They're not hearing from God anymore. It's a dark period of time. Maybe you're there, you're not hearing from God right now. And it seems like it's been a long time. God, show me a sign. Would you give me a sign? Would you just send somebody to tell me it's gonna be okay? Your help is on its way. Would you play my favorite song on 94.9, Lord, and I'll believe it's you, whatever, that you're waiting for God to speak to you, but it's absolutely silent. What I'm here to tell you today is that even though God may seem silent, it doesn't mean God is absent. That even in moments of silence, God is still very much present. So we continue to advance the story. We see during this intertestamental period of time, some very incredible things are coming together. We look back on it and see how God was indeed getting it ready. What the time of the birth of the Savior. We look at Galatians 4, verse 4. Listen to what it says about God delivering on this promise. You ready? But when the. Come on, let's say it together. But when the right time. But when the right time came, what did God do? God sent his Son in the right time when the perfect time came. See, God, he sees time differently than us. And he knows the perfect time and timing for everything. When the right time came, he sent his son. We can look back during this 400 years of silence to see how God was orchestrating. He's organizing, he's putting things together. So that way, when the Savior came, it would be the right time. Can I give you five things real quick? During this intertestamental period that God was doing absolutely incredible that proved to us that he was waiting on the time to be right. Number one, here's one thing that God did during this intertestamental period, this 400 years of silence. He's silent. Oh, but he's active. He's working. Number one, up until this point in time, the main method of teaching was known as the didactic method. That is basically when there's an instructor who's giving a lecture, you're the students, you listen. I'm the teacher, I teach. That's how this dynamic operates. But then during this intertestamental period, there's a new way of learning that emerges. It goes from didactic to Socratic. And the Socratic way of learning was totally different. It encouraged the students not only to be good listeners, but to be good question askers. That they were encouraged to ask questions. And particularly to ask the question why? Why? Analyzing things from different angles. So we have a new way of learning the Socratic method. Number two, the Old Testament up to this point in time in 280 BC was only available in Hebrew. But now during this intertestamental 40 years of silence, now the Old Testament's translated into Greek. So we have a new way of learning Socratic. The students are asking questions. Now the Old Testament is available in Greek. Number three. Alexander the Great conquers the world. You know, these days, people, they refer to themselves as the goat. Cause they can dunk a basketball or whatever. Like, no, like you conquer the world, you get to attach great behind your name. So Alexander the Great, he conquers the entire known world. Why is that important? Because now, for the very first time in history, post Tower of Babel, there's actually a common language that most, if not everybody spoke a little bit of Greek. So now people who speak a little bit of Greek can now hear God's word in Greek. They have access to God's word. For the Romans, then shortly after conquer the Greeks, then there was this really short period of peace and tranquility, which is unusual for that ancient day and age. And during that time, what are the Romans doing during this time of peace? They're building roads, a highway system so people can travel Vast distances with a level of efficiency and expediency unlike ever before. And lastly, there was this thing called the Diaspora, which was basically that Jews were forbidden to live in Jerusalem. So they scatter throughout the known world. Okay, when we add all those things up, we can see what God was working on. How he's working on it, even though he was silent. What does it look like? It means during that 400 year period of time, students are now asking questions and God is about to send the answer. And his name is Jesus. Everybody spoke a little bit of Greek. They had access to the Old Testament. We started to hear God's word and digest it. And then once the right time came and Jesus was sent into the world and the Gospel then was able to be carried in a common language using the roads and highway systems of the Romans, through the Jewish people, to the Gentiles and the entire world. God was silent, but he was not absent. That God is always working, even while we are waiting at the right time. What did God do? He sent his Son not for those who were healthy, but for those who were sick. Not for the ones who thought they were righteous in and of themselves, but those who had humble hearts to recognize I am broken and I need a savior. He came for them. He came to set the captives free. He came to make a new way when there seems to be no way. He came to bring us back into fellowship with Him. When did he do it? He's always been working on it. We didn't always see. But just we can't see it doesn't mean he's not doing it. He's working on it. Whatever the it may be. While you're waiting, God is working. Maybe you find yourself in a similar situation during the intertestamental period. God, where are you? What are you doing? God? Are you mad at me? Are you ignoring me? Do you even care? Do you even see that I exist? When are you gonna bring me relief? When are you going to help me? Do you even care about me? Look, if you are waiting on God, you were in very good company. Abraham And Sarah waited 25 years before they held their child Isaac. 25 years. And it was in their golden years, by the way. It was a long time. Can I tell you something funny? The name Abram, which is God's. Abraham's name, was formerly known as Abraham first. Abram means Father. Father. Abe means Father Ham, or excuse me, Abe means Father. Ram means exalted. So his name was actually Exalted Father. And so when he'd go to A dinner party, let's say. And you introduce yourself. And he goes, hey, I'm Abram. And they go, wow. Exalted father, your children must love you. How many do you have? Oh, zero. None. I don't have any kids. And then God changes his name to Abraham, which means father of multitudes. Even more embarrassing. You know what I love about God? That God sees you not as you are, but as whose you could be. God sees your potential, and he alone possesses the power to call that potential out of you. If we will just humble ourselves before him and trust in his timing. Abraham And Sarah waited 25 years before they held their child. There was a man who was handicapped for 38 years, 38 years before he heard the voice of his Savior, Jesus, walking through the streets say, get up and walk today. You have been healed. And he got up, took his pallet, and walked home. There was a woman for 12 long years, suffered from painful hemorrhaging. She was outcast. She was referred to as unclean. And was suffering relationally, interpersonally. Until one day Jesus rolls up on the scene and she reaches out. She touches the just the bottom of his garment and power it exudes out from Jesus and instantaneously heals her. And he says, you have been healed. If you're waiting on God, you are in very good company. Cause God's people have to wait. And the longer the wait, the more it's worth it in the end. What is God doing while we're waiting? He's working. He's working on it. He's getting it ready for us. He's lining things up for us. Sometimes God is working on it. Other times God is working on us. What's he doing while we're waiting? Sometimes he's getting it ready. The blessing, the relief from migraines, that the car that actually works. A job that has benefits, you know, restoration of a broken relationship. Sometimes God is working on it and it is coming. Especially if it's attached to a promise of God. It will come in due time, in the right time. Sometimes God's working on it. Sometimes God's working on us. He's getting us ready. You know, God loves us too much to give us something before we're ready to handle it. And sometimes he's preparing us. Sometimes he's chipping away at the impurities of our character. Sometimes he wants us to have the moral compass. Sometimes he wants us to have the maturity to be able to steward whatever it is. Well, it's kind of like pizza. Any pizza fans? Now, I'M gonna go on a limb here and I'm gonna bet you would much rather have the pizza that is baked in the oven than the pizza that's cooked in the microwave. True. Oh, but the microwave pizza, oh, you can put it in your mouth so much faster. I mean like four minutes. You ever put a Totino's in the microwave? I mean 60 seconds, you're ready to eat it. But in contrast, an oven baked pizza. Does your know? Yeah, I went there like 30 minutes. Or if you got an 18 year old oven like me, 65 minutes. But here's the difference. You ready? They're both pizza. The oven baked pizza is cooked through and through. It's mature. The microwave pizza, yeah, you can get it faster. It's crusty on the outside, but cold and hard on the inside. If God gives us what we want, way ahead of schedule, if we try to cut corners, if we say, God, I'm tired of waiting on a spouse. And so I'm just gonna go pick up anybody in the club. Anybody, anybody who will say yes, that's me or God, I want a promotion. So I'm gonna go in, I'm gonna barge into my boss's office tomorrow, I'm gonna demand a raise. I'm telling you, that's microwave baked pizza. You might get what you want and on the outside it looks good, but there's gonna be nothing but coldness and mushiness on the inside. God wants to oven bake our faith. God wants us to be mature. He wants us to be developed. What is God doing in us during this season of waiting? Will we allow him to do his work, his finest work? We think we might be ready for it, but maybe we're not. Maybe there are times, God, I want more money. God says, I would love to give you more money. I never run out of money, ever. The whole world and everything in it is mine, is what psalm says. Psalm 42. Everything is. But if I give you more money now, it's like putting money in a pocket with a hole in it. So during this season of waiting, what I'm inviting you to do, I'm inviting you to live on less than you make. I'm inviting you to be content. I'm inviting you to get out of debt. I'm inviting you to develop a grateful spirit, a generous spirit. I'm inviting you to put me first in your finances. And then when you do that, now you're ready, you can handle it. Or maybe you're saying, you know God, I just really wanted to have you know, a promotion. And God says, okay, or I want to have influence. Let's say, you know, I want to influence more people. And God says, I want to give you more influence. But if I give you more influence right now, then you are at risk of becoming arrogant. You're at risk of claiming all the credit for the influence you have. What I want to do is I want to take you into the dark room and I want to develop your character because I'm concerned that your talent will take you to a place that your character can't sustain you. So I'm here for it. I want to bless you. He's a good father who wants to bless his kids, but he loves us too much to give us something. To give us something sweet that's going to rot our teeth. He doesn't want to do it. So sometimes God's working on it. Other times God's working on us. Maybe he wants to do something in us before he does something through us. And I can give you countless examples in scripture, like the apostle Paul, that God radically transformed Paul. He was Saul. He went from being a persecutor of the church to becoming a preacher in the church, but not overnight. He has this wild encounter with Jesus and opens up his heart to the Lord and gets saved and redeemed and forgiven and sealed with the Spirit. And then many scholars believe that 10 years passed between the time that he became a follower of Jesus to the time that he was able to act on his calling. And that was to be an evangelist, a preacher. What was he doing during that time? He wasn't just sitting on his hands. Well, whenever God tells me to preach, I'll go preach. You know what he's doing? Making tents. Making tents. Grunt work. Nothing glamorous about it. He's making tents and building relationships with other tent makers and other people who are gonna be able to help him with his ministry once it gets up off the ground. Sometimes God wants to do something in us before he does something through us. Can I tell you today that God's delays are not necessarily God's denials. There may be a delay in God answering your prayer. There may be a delay in God delivering on that dream that he put in your heart. But his delay is not the same as a denial. Sometimes when you're ready to go, God's saying slow. But I also have to tell you this. Sometimes God's working on it. Sometimes God's working on us. And then sometimes God's never going to do it. Sometimes he's just never going to do it. He's still God. It's not about our preferences. It's about his glory. We believe he's good. We believe he does good. It's inherently in his nature to do good, know good to be good. Even if he doesn't do it, even if he doesn't come through in the way we want him to come through, we can still trust Him. Oh, I believe the name of Jesus is bigger than cancer. I believe the name of Jesus is bigger than depression. I believe the name of Jesus is bigger than any addiction. I believe the name of Jesus is bigger than any disappointment. I believe the name of Jesus is bigger and better than. And even if he doesn't do what I want him to do, I could still believe him and I could still trust Him. God has eternity on his mind. He has us in his heart and eternity on his mind. And he's working all things together for our good. He can be trusted. He is faithful. But even if he doesn't do what we want him to do, we can still praise his name. He's that good. And at the right time, we'll be able to have the perspective we can look back on and see why God did and didn't do what we wanted him to do. Maybe you're waiting on God today. Maybe you're waiting on God. But maybe, just maybe, God's waiting on you. 2 Peter, 2nd Peter, chapter 3, verse 9 says this. The Lord, he isn't really being slow. How many guys feel like sometimes God's. Well, he's slow. Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, no, no, no. He is being patient. For what? For your sake? He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. What if the God you're waiting on is waiting on you? What if he's being so slow and so patient with us? Why? Because he cares. Because he loves us. What if it's that God is wooing us to Himself? What if the Holy Spirit is saying, come to me. You know that Jesus stands at the door of our heart and he knocks, waiting. What is he doing? He's waiting. He's not barging in. He won't infringe on our will. But he's standing there. He's knocking at the door. What he's doing. He's waiting on us. To what? To open the door and invite him in. He's waiting at the door of your heart. He's wanting you to invite him in. How do you do that? Maybe you're thinking, well, I'm just. I'm really messed up. Great. You can't spell Messiah without mess. Maybe you're saying, but you don't know what I've done. He does. And he still loves you. That while you were yet a sinner, Christ died for you. Maybe you're thinking, I've just got so much I gotta clean up. No, no, no, no, no. You just come to Jesus. He cleans you up. He clears out the junk, seals you with the spirit. He'll clean you up. He'll set you apart. He'll make you brand new. He can do it. Do you believe it? He's knocking at the door of your heart, waiting for you to invite him in. Sometimes the God we're waiting on is actually waiting on us. What's he waiting on? He's waiting on us to say yes to Jesus. To humble our heart, repent of our sin, put our trust in Jesus alone for salvation. It's not about works. It's about the work he did on the cross. But we come to him in faith. Lord, I trust you. I turn away from sin. I trust you as Lord and you as Savior. You are my God. I will follow you all the days of my life. What is God doing during this season? He may be working on it on your behalf. He may be working on you. And maybe he's waiting on us to allow him to come in and reside and be our God. Father. God, we thank you so much for your grace. Thank you for your goodness. We thank you that even while we are in a season of waiting and wondering, what are you doing, God? Do you hear us? Do you see us? Do you even care? We can be assured, Lord, like Isaiah said, that you are working for those who wait for you. God, we wait for you. Help hope rise while we wait for you. Help us to continue to believe in your promises, to seek you. Waiting is never wasting while we continue to pursue you. God. Father, I pray for all my friends here that are going through a variety of challenges and seasons where they are in need of your help. Father, I pray you whisper to their spirit. I see you. I'm working on it. I see you. I'm working in you. And for those who don't know you, Jesus, I pray that they come to know you today. That you are waiting on us to respond to the gospel, the good news of Jesus, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You died the death we deserve. You conquered sin and death. You defeated the grave. You reigned victorious. You rose from the grave. And anyone who will come to you, you will not cast out. So Father, I pray that there are hearts all across the room today that are opening up the door and inviting you in. By faith, it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. [00:33:49] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.