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00:00:02 good morning church morning today's scripture reading is taken from luk chapter 1 verse 5-25 reading from the NIV verse 5 in the time of Herod King of Judea there was a priest named Zachariah who belonged to the Priestly division of abijah his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron both of them were righteous in the sight of God observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly but they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they were both very old once when zachariah's division was on
00:00:43 duty and he was serving as priest before God he was chosen by lot according to the custom of the priesthood to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense and when the time for the burning of incense came all the assembled worshippers were praying outside then an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing at the right side of the altar of incense when Zachariah saw him he was tled and was script to fear but the angel said to him do not be afraid Zachariah your prayer has been heard your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son
00:01:19 and you are to call him John he will be a joy and Delight to you and many Will Rejoice because of his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord he is never to take wine or other fermented drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God and he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the
00:01:52 righteous to make ready people prepared for the Lord verse 18 Zachariah asked the angel how can can I be sure of these I am an old man and my wife is well along in years the angel said to him I am Gabriel I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news and now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens because you did not believe my words which will come true at their appointed time meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah
00:02:31 and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple when he came out he could not speak to them they realized he had seen a vision in the temple for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak when his time of service was completed he returned home after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for 5 months remained in seclusion the Lord has done this for me she she said in these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people this is the word of God good morning abbc good morning it's
00:03:21 Christmas time uh it's a very exciting time to be here uh seeing all the Christmas tree I start to get excited and the one let's commit the time to the Lord father we thank you for bringing us here to to learn about your word and understand what you want to share with us to understand what is believing in you and your plans for is well I pray that you help us to understand help me to be able to speak your word let your word go forth and not return void we thank you for this grace of yours to let
00:03:56 us know you Lord in Jesus name we pray amen all right so so before begin uh this is uh what we have uh moving forward so William will be sharing on characters of Christmas Mary next week uh you be sharing on Simon and an be sharing on the wise men on 24th December uh before Christmas itself today we talking about this person called Zechariah it's a very interesting journey and we going through this journey together now Zechariah is a person that's in the Bible and today what we want to learn just hold on here
00:04:30 make sure it's on okay today we're going to learn about the crisis of faith and many of us there may be times in lives where we start to think is God real does God really love me if he loves me why do bad things happen to me and this is what we're going to be discovering today so let me ask you a question if let's say you know this young teenager over here she's a very good person she attends Sunday School in FBC just went up there right she studies hard love her parents she serves in worship team as well and she
00:05:15 does a quiet time daily never exit speed limit okay not like all of you friendly to strangers she ties every week recycle plastic bags and also she say shares the gospel now if I'm going to ask you to EXT extrapolate his her life say 20 years down the road what will you what would you expect her life to to look like will you expect her life to look like this by she is a nice uh family lady having children loving husband a nice house it is what you expect from her or will we expect that perhaps she
00:05:49 actually is uh going through financial difficulty her house is in for clothes and she lost a job and her husband is actually sick which one will you expect I'm quite sure all of us would naturally expect if you work hard you actually get rewarded right we expect if you serve God if you love God God will protect you God will be nice to you that's what we expect but Society however when you look at it is not so simple life however is really not so simple we who are a bit more senior in age we understand that
00:06:25 you can't see life like this you look at uh our prime minister our previous and can see things are not so simple understand as well so I just quickly want to process this together with you guys now we have expectations we believe that if God is happy with me or if I'm righteous person I should be successful I if I'm a a good person if I'm smart life should go easy on the contrary if let's say I'm not intelligent if let's say I'm sinful person then bad things should happen to this person robers should not have a good time for example
00:06:59 Jolo shouldn't be free out there we believe such things but if you look at it life is not so simple to understand so I show you this picture just now but at the same time there are a lot other things that we expect in life knowingly or unknowingly we have such expectations for example we believe that if you are successful or you a good person you should be financially doing okay we shouldn't be riding a motorcycle or for example we believe that if you are a good person you should be healthy you should be strong WR like
00:07:30 this box over there and you shouldn't be having people with disabled in your family you shouldn't have disabled children in your family you should be totally healthy you shouldn't have cancer or anything like that or sometimes we understand that if you are successful maybe you should go places you should reach positions of power and you shouldn't be in jail but life is not so simple it's not simple to understand life like this and this is a very heavy topic we're going to be discussing together but life is
00:07:58 filled with nuances and so today we have zakariah zakariah is a paradox in his life let me explain to you what's going on and just now thanks Su for sharing uh for reading the very long passage first thing to see is Zachariah is a faithful priest he serves God Faithfully but zakar is childless and is very old now in the old days in the Bible everybody believes that children are a gift from the Lord and in the old days children very were very important not like now now okay children last time were very
00:08:31 important because the whole society needs people to actually do work and so for Farmers if children when you grow old there's nobody to take care of a farm for example so the culture makes it clear that children are a blessing and everybody expects children but zakariah has been waiting and waiting for children from Young when he got married he hoped for children with his wife Elizabeth but after five years 10 years when everybody started to have children he was still just with Elizabeth no children
00:09:07 yet and this goes on for years and decades and now he is really at a very right old age at the age whereby he's not expecting to have children anymore he thinks that that's his lot life is going to be like this for me somehow I don't know why but God doesn't want me to have children and perhaps at the same time the society shames him and says that you you must have some hidden sin that's why God doesn't want to give you children maybe because of that are you sure that you've been really honest have
00:09:38 you been really serving God well perhaps if some motives when you serve or you were not diligent or maybe Eliz did something wrong that's what people believe that time as well at the same time the Jewish Society was not going through a very good time they were conquered by the Romans and Herod was King of Judea so as priest he understands and remembers all the stories in the Bible of how God saved the save his people through Moses through Elijah and all these different stories and maybe perhaps he's wondering
00:10:14 where is God now where is God and actually it's been many many years there's been no more Revelation for more than 400 years from God God has not raised up a prophet for more than 400 years and God is totally silent at this point most people will wonder in is God real I hear these stories for long long time ago perhaps five six 10 Generations ago people said they are prophets but no longer no longer here does God has God abandoned us does God still love me or not per these are questions that Zechariah has and so here you see a man
00:10:50 that is loving God serving God praying hoping for deliverance serving him diligently and being a good person and yet this is what's happening to him and so when you read over here if you actually isar wonders is something wrong with him the text tells us in verse six both of them Elizabeth and Zechariah were righteous not in the sight of men but in the sight of God which means that God himself says that he is a good person he's a person that obeys God that follows his laws they observe all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly
00:11:27 and yet they are not having any children so and in fact if you read a bit more it says that in verse 13 but the angel said to him do not be afraid Zachariah your prayer has been heard your prayer has been heard which means that every single prayer that Zachariah has been praying has actually been heard by God but God doesn't do anything no matter how he prays god doesn't do anything it's that you going to a health check imagine you can go and check how am I actually God if let's say you can ask God how am I I'm actually okay with
00:12:04 you are you okay with me am I obedient do you do you love me have I done everything according to your will or not the answer that came back was that you're okay zakar is totally okay zacharias's life was in the dead center of God's plan he obey God he follow Christ but the challenge is he's not getting what he wants but God In this passage showing you that even people who love God who serves God who did who did nothing wrong can actually at times be having difficulty in lives be having things that they want and yet they don't get
00:12:42 that is the starting point of this passage that we have now so at this point I just want to share with you this is something that I think this is something that I think maybe we need to um Ponder a bit more on a lot of times many of us we expect that we come to church we pay our tithes we be honest when people have politics in work at work we are the ones who do the right things we always obey we do not give bribes and yet bad things happen to us all the time perhaps your family gets sick perhaps somebody passes
00:13:25 away perhaps he gets fired you get fired because you were the right you did the right thing these are all possible things happen to us but at this starting point of the sermon the first thing we want to share with you is this God has not abandoned you God has not left the building God is still with you even though you may not see him God is very much present with you every single moment of the day and over here in 2 Chronicles 169 it says this a very encouraging passage um that I've I've been reading about he says here for the
00:14:01 eyes of the Lord range throughout the Earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him the eyes of the Lord God is not sleeping he is not needing you to give him a call and then he asks he's always searching in other Bible passages it says that is not saying that the eyes of the Lord are ranging he says the eyes of the Lord run run where throughout the whole Earth every no and corner of the earth God is searching searching for what searching for those whose hearts are fully committed to him so even though you may
00:14:45 be going through difficult times perhaps you be wondering why is my life like this why am I in this situation but God is telling you if your heart is fully committed to him whatever difficulty going through it is okay you are in the de center of his will now if you are a person that gives bribe you do a lot of bad things and all that then you go get into trouble that we understand that it's because of us but if it's not and we are actually obeying him all the time God wants to assure you today that he hears all your prayers and
00:15:21 he is with you even if people mign you people said bad things about you then what's wrong I didn't do anything wrong why you talking bad about me but God says that everything happens according to his plan he allowed it he knew that this is going to happen he took it say okay sign off let it happen and he say okay take it this is what is going through a lot of our lives so you are in the date Center of God's plan please be rest assured now sometimes God's plan is too beautiful that we do not even see them in Isaiah
00:15:53 558 it says for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your way and my thoughts than your thoughts so at times if you go into a place of Darkness where by things are really tough and I know that Malaysia is getting tougher and tougher prices increasing everywhere and uh I hear a lot people saying that business is getting tough uh job is going to be affected as well but no matter what you
00:16:20 go through remember God's plan sometimes maybe even too Beau for you to see and God requires to go through that dark tunnel in order for you to emerge from the other side for something better if not in the future when you see him so the first point we have today is God is in control of our circumstances now the second Point uh that we're going through is something that we need to process a bit more but God is active in our daily lives if you read the passage continuously you see number over here verse n zakariah was
00:16:50 chosen by lot which means that he wasn't chosen by people it was actually through random chance through chance he was chosen to go into the temple to to actually offer the incense to burn the incense and when the time for burning of incense came all the assembled worshippers were praying outside so give context what was happening uh everybody was praying outside nobody was allowed into the temple only Zechariah and actually two other priests were allowed to go into the temple and actually uh do
00:17:17 the necessary when the other two priest has hand has done everything they needed they will actually leave so one would be handing the menora lamp stand the on the showbread and zakari will be in the middle towards closest to the ve where he supposed to put the outter in put the incense at alter incense so to priest at the time this would be one of the highest privilege for priests why because the view signifies the separation of man and God which means that no man can go near to God and the priest the person that's been chosen to
00:17:50 burn incense gets to go closest to God and they believe that if you are actually being chosen you are considered very blessed so Zechariah was chosen he was having a a very happy time wow finally something good happens in my life and it goes there to burn incense and do his duty over there the incense also represents the prayers of the people and this incense never stops from day to night years and years it continues to burn because the prayers of the people are going towards God God is hearing every single prayer
00:18:24 that is given by us and at this point Zachariah sees the Angel and the angel sayso not be afraid your prayer has been heard your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to call him John he will be a joy and Delight to you and many Will Rejoice because of his birth he be great in the sight of the Lord he's never to take wine or fermented drink he be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he born you bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God you go on before the Lord and
00:18:59 in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of righteous to make ready a people prepare prepared for the Lord Zechariah saw an angel suddenly appearing in front of him and this is what was being said to him first thinging do not be afraid as any normal human being you'll be afraid right you see a spiritual being in front of you and talking to you and wouldn't be very comfortable to say that very comforting to us to say that the
00:19:25 first message given by God is do not be afraid God cares about your feelings not just what you do but God cares about your feeling number one number two your prayer has been heard what prayer which prayer the answer is all your prayers every single prayer has been heard by God every single one and because of the prayers that Zakaria has been doing and by the way you're wondering what what was he doing when was burning incense it would be normal for him when he burning incense to be praying for Israel or
00:19:55 praying for the people of Israel so he's praying for isra he's not praying for himself that time he's praying for Israel and suddenly he says that your prayer has been heard what prayer and over here the angel says your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son because of all the prayers you did 20 30 40 years ago you prayed for a sun right remember that prayer you did and then you stop you know you stop praying after that that prayer has been heard 40 years ago and now it's time it's time for God to say that you will get a son God is
00:20:28 acting now the timeline God was not delayed it's just now is the time for it and so it's actually a double bonus this sun that you're getting is not just a normal son you are to call him John he'll be a joy and Delight to you he'll bring you great joy but more than that he'll be great in the sight of Lord he to be separated therefore he doesn't take wine or fermented drink and be filled with the Holy Spirit from Young he will go on before the Lord he go on before the Lord Jesus Christ before Jesus comes on the scene he will prepare
00:20:59 prepare the way for Christ isn't it an amazing declaration and promise given to him and so this is the message that Zachariah receives but his answer was how can I believe this Zar answered the angel how can I be sure of this translated in different ways is how can I be sure you sure or not this one this cannot happen how can I believe how can I know this is true I am an old man ready and my wife is well along in years Z know know the Bible he knows that God has done miraculous things everywhere but somehow God somehow Zar
00:21:36 believes that God has a limit go there are certain things that God cannot do perhaps in your life currently you be believing as there certain things God cannot do and you never bring God to the situation you never bring God there what you do is God stays on Sunday after Sunday you go home but certain things you never bring God and for him is the same he believed that God had a limit and God's limit is him his age and his wife which both of them are very old and this is the limit God cannot do this he has tried everything perhaps he
00:22:08 tried different herbs he tried every single thing possible and yet he cannot get a child so he has given up hope and perhaps again he's also thinking what's wrong God I'm already too old I'm going to die already you know now you going give me a son what going to happen how going to take care of this son he's having many many thoughts in his mind and so this is what he's saying how can this happen to me me and Zachariah had a crisis of faith and many of times in our lives perhaps we have crisis of Faith as
00:22:35 well be wondering what should happen we should be wondering why is this happening to us when God gives you assignment or there's a great opportunity coming to you you will be saying that one canot want that one impossible it's impossible for it to happen must be some scam must be something bad is going to happen to me I'm actually old already how can I do all this ask me to go and climb M A how can possible I'm already there many many things we come up with and say that it's not possible and so this is what we do a
00:23:05 lot of times we put God In The Box and the best box to put God in is Sunday you put him in Sunday and other parts of your life you do whatever you want sometimes because we just believe that God doesn't care when I was young I prayed you know but I was F after that so doesn't work I have a friend who told me that so doesn't work so I think God doesn't really care about my daily life or perhaps what we believe is God Is Not powerful enough God is not good enough he's not strong enough and so I need to be in control when bad
00:23:42 things happen to your life you will start panicking because you are a driven person like me you start to control everything and every single permutation also can calculate and you know all the different things you you can do to protect and make sure that whatever you want to happen will happen you cover all grounds you make sure that you've done your best but that life is very very tiring and it can kill you as well this is what's happening all times perhaps we try to cover grounds we try to live our
00:24:10 lives ourselves or perhaps some of us we are successful we believe that we have the power we have the capability to do anything we want we can have we have networks we know people we have Deep Pockets and so we don't need God anymore and so God is actually nothing compared to me as well comparing me to God is just we're almost on par you know maybe zakar was thinking that in order for Elizabeth to have a baby you need to have an equal you Zak must be a certain quality and standard in order for that
00:24:43 to happen but God wants to tell us that this is not true this is not how it works God can override your life any time and so what happened was Zar asked Angel how can I be sure of this I'm an old man and my wife is well along in years his answer was I'm already and so the angel replied I'm Gabriel what's your point you're old or I'm Gabriel so what why why you telling me you're old I am Gabriel I stand in the presence of God I'm not just your neighbor you know I stand in the presence of God I'm
00:25:19 telling you this is going to happen I've been sent to speak to you and share this good news to you and now you will be silent and not able to to speak why because you did not believe my words which will come true at their appointed time whether you like it or not it will happen and so a lot of times when God ask us to do things you say but I'm old but I'm not smart but I don't know how to do this but I'm just a woman I'm just a housewife I'm just a boy I'm just a man who's working in this company don't
00:25:52 ask me to go and confront my boss how can I do that but God says I'm God just go and do it if God gives you a assignment do it if God blesses you something take it okay right so what do we God ask you to do it's a blessing go and do it okay please go and do it so why we believe though is sometimes we think that we are actually holding the steering the drivers we actually in the driver's seat we're driving Our Lives we're controlling where it's supposed to go but in fact look at this here the father
00:26:30 is in full control you can hold the thing all you want but you cannot reach the gas pedal I'm pressing the gas pedal I'm actually fully in control where when you break where you actually press the pedal and I can override your steing any time and Prophet says many are the plans in the person's heart but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails so the second point we learn is God is the reason for our true achievements anything that you have that is truly an achievement is because of God many times
00:26:58 we think it's because because of us but truth is no it's actually God God allows you to do that God gives you the strength gives you the circumstance the network meet meeting the right people the resources the talent the time to do every single thing and making sure that you have no hindrances to that so God is reason for all our true achievements and the third thing we want to learn today is unbelief is the root of all sin but God's purpose will prevail now Zechariah was rendered mute and some people
00:27:26 wondering hey why God so harsh to zear s asked Angel how can I be sure of this I'm an old man my wife is a is well a long in years at the same time Mary did the same thing and which you will hear next week Mary asked the same question how will this be Mary asked Angel since I am a virgin so why is Zachariah rendered mute while Mary was actually Okay the reason is if you read the passage carefully there is an answer Gabriel said that Zachariah did not believe his words but Mary actually believed
00:28:03 everything that Gabriel said so the question that Mary's asking was more like how can it happen how will it happen I just want to know the process I'm the the mid servant of Lord I'm willing to how will it happen because I don't have I'm I'm not married yet okay I'm still virgin how can it happen so it was more of a curiosity so questions are totally allowed you are allowed to ask questions in fact Christianity when you know God you're supposed to ask a little questions not just don't ask questions
00:28:31 just believe you're supposed to ask questions God invites you to ask to know but there's a point in time whereby you need to have faith and know that Christ can do things that you don't understand so Zechariah was rendered mute now and this unbelief is a very big sin it is perhaps it wouldn't be the root of all sins but it's one of very big sins over here and so when we started off in Genesis when eve took the fruit and eat it was because of unbelief the the the serpent said you will not certainly die
00:29:07 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be open and you be like God knowing good and evil the information that being sheded by serpent to Eve was this God does not love you actually God is not really good therefore God doesn't want you to eat it God isn't actually having your best interest at heart so is like Dy fans with see Le Luther this is what he said if God is all powerful he cannot be all good and if he all good then he cannot be all powerful because there's so much suffering
00:29:43 there's so many bad things happening out there right but if God is all powerful he cannot be all good if it's all good then he can be all powerful and this sometimes what we believe inside our hearts that God may not really have a full interest at heart or sometimes we feel that got too busy and got billions of people they care not time for me and therefore we actually take our own actions because God is to be I help God hand it first okay I need to set it for God we believe this and epicurus put it
00:30:09 in a different way is God willing to prevent evil but not able then he's not omnipotent is he able but not willing then he's molent is he both able and willing then when come when then when come evil where is evil from is he neither able nor willing then why call him God and the question always of unbelief starts from this very basic question do you believe God is good and second question is do you believe he's all powerful and all knowing and omnipotent these are two main questions if you do not believe any one of this
00:30:43 then your life will remove the foundation of your life will be removed and you start going anywhere because you don't have someone at the back that's all good and backing you anymore so doubting God and his character is the sin of unbelief and Hebrews you can see if you read it I don't have time to cover the whole thing with you but the Ancients were commanded for believing they not believe they not commanded for doing they committed for believing because they believe they were considered righteous they all committed
00:31:11 for their faith so believing God is the foundation for all of our faith now zari's life was in crisis mode he was rendered unable to speak and Alex was very kind to help me do a bit of research on this and he was unable to speak and so and but the angel said this situation will come true at a point of time you will have a son but now you cannot speak and when zachari cannot speak what happens is he's actually now unfit for service he's not allowed to go in the temple anymore because if you read Leviticus 21 it says that people
00:31:47 who are unclean who have any uh blemishes and all that are not allowed to go near to the sanctu as well so Zachariah was no longer fit for service so his life was in crisis mode earlier he was at least being able to say that you know I was a priest suddenly now after going in today oh I have a bad day suddenly everything bad is happening to me I'm no longer even allowed to serve anymore and for men sometimes that is our identity no I cannot serve anymore who am I now and so the angel has given Zachariah an option a situation that's
00:32:18 very difficult two roads see what you do and Zachariah had a job to do and if we read verse 23 24 it says when the time of service was completed he returned home after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant which means zachar now is mute he cannot speak anymore and if you read Comm commentary many of them say that he's actually deaf also right and now he understand that he's supposed to have a baby so he doesn't believe it but he has a job to do and so Zar was not believing at the start but it was a temporary bleep in
00:32:54 this righteous man's life it was a temporary mistake and we all make mistakes but now after coming back from that and now being mute he realizes his mistakes and Zaria went home to make a baby with his wife this is what he did and so after that when the baby was born zachari wrote his name is John so they were asking him his name what should his name be when immediately when he wrote his name is John his mouth was open and his tongue set free and he became to speak praising God so ultimately Zechariah was released from
00:33:34 this problem he had and he had a very happy ending as well but so the third item we we learn is unbelief is the root of all sin but God's plan will prevail the final point the final point we learn today is God's plan is beyond our imagination now you see friends God's plan is something that a lot of times we don't even know we won't even believe when I was young I never thought that I would do many many things that I am doing now in life I thought I would maybe stay Ino as I'm from EO so I thought I would stay in EO and uh uh
00:34:13 stay in a house there and there's about it not much actually simple life but I didn't know that I would come to here meet you guys I didn't know i' be standing here and but God's plan for all of us here are beyond all our imagination a lot of times you may never know it what what God has install for you but our job is to always say Here I Am send me I'm ready let's go that is the way a Christian should live a Christian should be the most adventurous people in the world able to do anything try everything why because you're the
00:34:45 best backer at the back so God's plan is beyond our imagination for both of them they just wanted a child but they suddenly got a child that would be changing the entire situation in Israel bringing people getting people ready for Jesus the Israelites were praying all the time what were they praying for they're praying for deliverer because Romans were in control they're praying God send me a deliverer they wanted a king a earth and Earthly King to control and take care of the nation but what happened was different in the end as you
00:35:19 read the next uh next week Jesus was sent so God's plan is way beyond our imagination perhaps I can summarize for you in a very easy way you don't even know what you should ask but God gives you all the good things that you should have in your life really you wouldn't even know how to ask but God has planned out everything for you isn't it true a lot of times that for our children that's how it happens they don't even know what to ask and we plan everything for them really and this is how God treats us and this is how God loves us
00:35:49 as well so I want to share with you this jar window and process and think about it together here when you look at this jar window Zakaria was actually going through something like this he knew something about himself that he's already and so he knows that there are certain limits so the unknown area at the bottom right corner is something that he doesn't know but if I can share with you how it works is many times we normal people operate within this area we do what we can we do what we know at the same time there are certain things
00:36:27 that we know that hidden that we don't share with others correct we have our own things maybe we have certain talents with certain things we know we don't share these are things that we uh we hold close our hearts but in the J window what is asking us to do is to actually broaden our minds actually for us to be more aware of different things so how do you be more aware for example what Witnesses you have how do you do it the answer is you need to ask other people you see over there on the right
00:36:54 side top right corner the blind area is unknown to but known to others so if you go over there what happen is you can ask your friends and from there you learn things so if you stay as a Hermit and don't do anything you can never learn but if you go and connect you connect to the body of Christ you discover more things and you learn more and that's how you grow but no matter how you do in the Johari window there's one spot that nobody can touch and that is the unknown area it's unknown to self it's also unknown to
00:37:26 others but who knows knows who really knows what you should go through who really knows the plans for your life who God and I think this is a quite AP way to explain to you the angel came and shared something that nobody else knew zakar doesn't even know nobody thought that old woman canly have a child nobody thought that an angel can suddenly appear like this as well but God works in the area of known that we don't know about and it comes in and it brings it into a reality and God is asking us to
00:38:04 be open to things not just being in control lives and just holding on to our own beliefs God's plan is also for Zakaria and Elizabeth now when you see this entire story perhaps those of us who are corporate people say yeah this is strategy this is how I'm going to do it and so step one 2 3 4 and God has a strategy to save mankind but God is amazing when he asks he doesn't just do care about a big picture and and forgot about little details he doesn't just use Zechariah he doesn't just use Elizabeth
00:38:36 he cares for them and everything that's been done is for them also in the end they have abund of joy and they grew in faith through this journey through this challenge through this faith of Faith through this crisis they managed to change to realize that God is amazing God is in control and God has been hearing my prayers all this while I thought I had something maybe perhaps they thought that they had some sins in their lives and people have been saying that to them but now I realize that God loves me and through this crisis of
00:39:07 faith we change and we become better so perhaps for some of us we be having our own challenges and difficulty but I don't think anyone of you sitting here can have more challenges than this boy over here his name is nor R so he was born like this he has only one arm and three fingers so three fingers on his right hand and over here basically just a small little part of his arm left and so R if you have a child like this I think you'll be very sad also right you'll be wondering what would happen when he grows up Ray
00:39:45 is a person that is quite interesting he studied hard he actually got a degree and he got together with a girlfriend during University so he was very happy he asked his girlfriend at the time do you think I will have the privilege and qualify to be your husband because you know I only have one hand the girlfriend said of course and they actually got married as well he worked very hard he had a lot of challenges in life he actually couldn't get a job why obviously why right he only has only one hand with three fingers on one side a
00:40:21 lot of people don't hire him but one company decided to hire him to do statistics so basically he need to go and do census so we one pencil he said that since you can just walk you can walk with a pencil and just write so he did that but life was very difficult um he was actually very poor and so when he did sensors when he came home he at night when it's dark he actually need to do it without electricity and when he was actually doing sensus there are many times he was chased by dogs so very hard
00:40:47 to run as well what can you do can you imagine you don't have hands and suddenly there's dog chasing you and when it rains is very difficult as well so these are things he said ni is very difficult but he proceeded and he didn't give up he believed in God he worked hard and in the end he got married with a beautiful wife and life is good isn't this an amazing tale for you for Christmas that at the end of day people can good things happen to people all right and after that they have a child also so life is just perfect wow amazing
00:41:27 apparently when you are brave you serve God good things can happen to you the sad thing was they bought a house and they liveed together for a short while and suddenly the wife got diagnosed with cancer they sold the property noal manity sold the property to treat the wife and the why pass away and so he has to take care of his daughter himself together with his family members and at this point you be wondering why is God so cruel why is God so cruel this is his post he said there's one thing you could offer to God what is
00:42:30 that thing for me my imperfect body because I know I'm loved by Perfect God and so R actually has a song to play for you here so if you can just let Michelle take over and play this for you to hear God Will Make A Way way where there seems to be no way he works in ways we cannot see and he will make a way for me and he will be my guide hold me closely to his side with love and strength for each new day he will make a [Music] way he will make a way by your road we in the wilderness he leads me and rivers in the desert will I see
00:43:58 Heaven and Earth will fade but his word will still remain he will do something new [Music] today oh God will make a way where there seems to be no way he works in ways we cannot see and he will make a way for me he will be my guide hold me closely to his side with love and strength for each new day he will make a way he will make a way [Music] streng have you ever seen a person with like two and a half fingers play the piano isn't it amazing and so when ray ray goes through all these difficulties in life and
00:45:20 yet he decides to glorify Christ to serve him just by playing piano to us we can EAS do it but for him it's really difficult and you read the story it's just it's like you I really believe when you go to heaven you're going to see Giants that you never seen before you're going to see people who you totally ignore and realiz that how amazing they have been actually living for God God doesn't see us the same way as people do so it takes it takes care of his daughter he has a business he a music director in
00:45:55 church so I don't know how that works but he's music director but you can see how it plays and for those of you anyone how many of you know piano here can raise your hands let me just know bit you can you know piano you can play piano seriously I only so F man okay you see his called progression it's I don't know how you play with two fingers can you see go back and play again he can and he said that he took very very long to learn he doesn't have proper education is poor but learning did not happen overnight it was hard because I
00:46:26 don't have a keyboard no money no keyboard so what he did he draw the keyboard on paper to learn how to press and he cannot learn like normal people because Normal Keys like the 135 card you play like that he need to find his own way but through hours and hours of practice his life changed and now he's in Philippines he's glorifying Christ although he's there here isn't that amazing and so this is what Romans say I consider that our PR sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that we revealed in
00:47:05 us all the challenges you're going through all the difficulty going through is nothing compared to the glory you can give to Christ and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose for those God for new he also predestined to be conformed to the image of s son you're not just getting a ticket to Heaven God wants you to change like the johar window I show you God wants you to change to no longer stay the same as today to become a different
00:47:37 person as you continue to live you come up with crisis of Faith you show different things to you throw different things at you so that you change and so he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also along with him graciously say give us all things you're trying to buy a car you're trying to buy a house what are those things compared to to Jesus Christ who has given to you and so this is what God wants us to do to broaden ourselves to grow to be conform to his image and
00:48:07 since L put it very well over here this is a screw tape letters and there's this passage that um the devil is talking to another devil they're trying to find out how to um make humans fall they trying to gra all the humans follow them and this is what the devil says one must face the fact that all the talk about his love his means God all talk about his love for men and his service being perfect Freedom Is Not Mere propaganda but an appalling truth it's disgusting you know he really wants to feel the
00:48:38 universe with lot of lome little replicas of himself creatures whose life on his miniature skill on a miniature skill will be qualitatively like his own not because he has absorbed them not because he used them but because their Wills freely conform to his we want cattle who can finally become food he wants servants who can finally become Sons we want to suck in he God wants to give out we are empty and will be filled he's full and flows over our war aim is a world in which Our Father below has drawn all other beings
00:49:18 into himself the enemy which is God once a full of beings United to him but still distinct you are supposed to be who you are not supposed to become another person you are supposed to be distinct but become the best image of God in that sense that's the picture of God that God has for us and Christmas is the best time for us to remember the Son of God became a man to enable a man to become sons of God how can Christ change us the only way the only way is for dying on a cross for us the only person that came to the world with only
00:50:00 intention of dying is Jesus he came to Die For Us in order that we may become like him and so Luke starts with this story 400 years of silence and God breaks in and we talk about a priest a priest that is actually not having children and starting to and the story starts to unfold and Jesus comes in but Luke ends with this over here when Jesus had led them out to the vicinity of he lifted up his hands and blessed them while he was blessing them he left them and was taking up into heaven then they
00:50:33 worshiped him and returned to J Jerusalem with great joy Jesus is our great high priest Jesus is the one that believes in us that died for us that actually is ministering for us as the incense goes up every day Jesus is a great high priest that brings all our prayers to God that is the amazing Jesus that we have and so as we end if can I can I invite the worship team to come up on stage we're going to be singing this happier song called all come all you unfaithful and as the worship team prepares I just let me allow me to
00:51:14 quickly read to you what it says here many of us perhaps are having difficulties and everyone in Malaysia will be having one day or another because you're human and this happen but over here if you see the passage it says number one Oh Come All You Unfaithful if you've been unfaithful you've done wrong things to Christ come come those of you who are weak and stable weak and unstable You Are Not Alone Come Barren and waiting ones if you've been trying to do something in life maybe you want a child perhaps you're trying to build a
00:51:53 business and it keeps on failing you try to sec a job but nobody wants to hire you but God says even if you're very praying you're tired of praying already come come and see come and see what God has done Christ is born Christ is born not for the Kings not for the princes but Christ is born for you I'll pass the time over to the worship team as we sing this song response [Music] can we all AR [Music] right Oh Come All Ye Unfaithful come weak and unstable come no you are not alone Oh Come baren and
00:53:03 waiting come mer of pray come see what your God has Christ is born Christ is born Christ is born [Music] for you oh come B and broken come with FS unspoken [Music] Come Oh Come Beauty and high one is no to run see what your God has done Christ is born Christ is born Christ is born for you is the L who was given slain for a paron his PR his peace for those who believe is the Lamb who was given slain for aen his Pro is peace for those who believe oh come though you have nothing come he is the offering come see what God has
00:55:14 done Christ is born Christ is born Christ is born for for you Christ is B Christ is Bor Christ is Bor for you [Music] thank you Caris team uh you may be seated we are now going to come to a time of uh Holy Communion and if you're are a believer in our midst uh would you partake in the Lord's communion please raise your hands if you don't have any of the emblems and the ushers will pass it to you if you are not a Christian we ask you to just perhaps let it pass on by thank you brother John for that really inspiring
00:56:29 message uh spoke to me and I pray as we prepare our hearts for this this doesn't become a meaningless ritual God is in our midst God spoke through brother John if you are going through a trial you're going through a time of uncertainty you having doubts don't let this be a Sunday where you come and you just going through a ritual you you are not letting God Speak speak to you so uh if we are all ready we're going to read a portion of scripture just to prepare our hearts for it [Music] yeah so let us just quieten ourselves
00:57:16 down and we'll take a reading from Matthew 26: 26 to 28 and we're going to weave in what John spoke to us today especially with regards to two things and the first is regards to the Johari window to knowing to letting God speak to you on that unknown self of yourself Matthew 26: 26- 28 now as they were eating Jesus Took bread and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take [Music] eat this is my body shall you open this little um emblems let let's take out a [Music] break the word became flesh and dwelt
00:58:20 Among Us in a matter of weeks we will celebrate how the God of this universe came in the form of a baby and why did he need to do that to die for your sins and my sins and you and I are much more sinful than we imagine but you and I are much more loved than we can ever imagine and so may this morning's message inspire you and the first part of today I think the Lord wants us to really ask do you know yourself there are blind areas in your life you would say I'm this I'm that I'm that and right now I want to ask may the
00:59:07 Lord speak to you John celvin state in 1503 to know God is to know yourself and it reaches a point you do not know when that begins and when that ends take a moment and ask yourself search me oh Lord especially those areas where you have sinned in this week those areas where you doubt where you lack courage and we take that before the Lord and we say Lord thank you this is your body broken for me would you take some time to do that and I'm seated there let us eat of the body together [Music] let us
01:00:08 pray Lord God life is not easy it's a roller coaster very often our default mode we say why me oh Lord haven't I been good in church why does this happen in my life we are like Zechariah who wait and we fall into a victim mindset and so right now for those who are struggling May the Holy Spirit just speak to you right now this is the body broken for you Lord all our sins all our doubts all our weakness all our struggles all our unknown areas we bring before you you now Lord and we say search me oh Lord search
01:01:01 me no my mind nor my heart and lead me to the way Everlasting speak to us right now oh Lord and he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying drink of it all of you for this is blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many for the Forgiveness of sins before you open the cup ask yourself this question do you believe with the Holy Spirit you are able to do much more than you imagine and this is the word of the Lord coming out the last few weeks for some of you are trapped in despair some
01:02:03 of you are trapped in sin some of you build walls and the Lord is speaking to you not just today but the week before this and the whole last few weeks do you not believe you are much more powerful than you imagined and you say I don't help me brother Arno and we will do that as a body shall we open the ambulance and take out the blood of [Music] Christ take a moment Ponder drink in your own quietness and know the Lord has given you the Holy Spirit and you and I can overcome any obstacle let the story of RayRay shown
01:03:04 just now be inspiration to all of you whatever the devil has thrown in front of you you and I are imaginably much more powerful than we imagine shall we drink of the blood [Music] Oh Come All You Unfaithful come weak and unstable come no you're not alone oh come Barren and waiting ones we of praying come see what your God has done Oh Come bitter and broken oh come with fearce and un spoken come taste of his perfect love and God's people say amen I'll pass the time back over now to the worship te
01:04:09 do we have another closing song No More over already over already all right let's have a benediction let's do a benediction oh got some more oh got some more I pass it back to you thanks so much thanks so much yeah yeah thanks so much uh ELO um I I couldn't get the communion ready so I know very graciously stepped in to help I really appreciate him um yeah so maybe Andrew can just bring us for the S one time thank [Music] you oh come oh ye Unfaithful come we and unstable come no you are not alone oh come baren and
01:05:08 waiting one we I'm pray come see what your God has done Christ is born Christ is born Christ is for Oh Come and broken come come is toen come of his per love oh guilty and hiding ones there is no need to run see what your God has done Christ is born rise is B rise is B for is the Lamb who was given slain for our paron his prise is K for those who believe is the for promise is for those who believe [Music] oh come though you have nothing come he is the offering come see what your God has done Christ is
01:07:17 born Christ is born Christ is Bor for you Christ is Bor Christ is B Christ is Bor for [Music] you friends before we have the benediction just one quick sentence I think today's sermon has been very inspiring yes yes is it because of John no no seriously it's like download I don't even know I don't even know what it is but from time to time when it's time to do sermon you just step out in faith God will just give you whatever that is need to be said do you know how I found Ray Ray I didn't even Google I was just
01:08:31 scrolling Facebook and then it just appears what I'm trying to share with you is and then Elder Anno came and did the community way better than I can I want to share with you is this it's not me he not Arnold he's a Holy Spirit and our brothers and sisters here do they play well yes how many seniors you see outside in other churches can do this so can give glory to Christ for everything thing that happen today [Music] yes now let receive the benediction he's a lamb who was given slain for our pardon his promise is
01:09:10 peace for those who believe so come all you unfaithful Come Those Who are weak and unstable come Barren waiting once wary of praying once come and see what your God has done Christ is born Christ is born for you and 1 Timothy 1:17 says to the king of the ages Immortal invisible the only God be honor and Glory forever and ever amen amen service is over if you would like our prayers please come to the front otherwise have a good fellowship and Merry Christmas
