Rick Warren - The 3 Wise Women of Christmas
If you pull out your message notes inside your program, all your life you’ve heard about the three wise men of Christmas. This year I wanna talk to you for just a second about the three wise women of Christmas. You maybe have never realized that there were three wise women, but there were. One of then was married, one of them was single and one of them was widowed. The first one was named Elizabeth. The second one was named Mary. And the third one was named Anna. Every one of these three wise women faced a major obstacle in their life. Elizabeth faced major disappointment. She was old and unable to bear a child. She had been childless her entire life. Big disappointment. Mary had to face a major change. She’s pregnant and she’s single. How’s she gonna explain that?
And Anna had lost the love of her life, her husband, just a few years into her marriage. And so she had to deal with loss. So disappointment and change and loss were the the three things these three wise women had to deal with. But they all overcame each of those because they were wise. Elizabeth overcame resentment and bitterness. Mary overcame her fears. And Anna overcame her grief because they all made wise decisions. By making wise choices. How do you know when somebody is wise? How do you know when somebody is really wise or not? By looking at the decisions they make. Wise people make wise decisions. Foolish people make foolish decisions. Unwise people make unwise decisions.
If I wanna know if you are wise, if you’re truly a wise woman, if I wanna know if you’re truly a wise man, all I have to do is say, «Tell me about the decisions you’ve made in your life». Because your decisions reveal whether you are wise or not. The Bible says this about the wisest man who ever lived, his name was Solomon. He was the King of Israel because God gave him wisdom because when God said, «I’ll give you anything you ask for,» and he didn’t ask for money, he didn’t ask for fame. He didn’t ask for comfort. He said, «God, I want you to make me wise». And he became the wisest man in the world. And The Bible says this. On the screen, 1 Kings 3:28. «The people saw that Solomon had God’s wisdom by the decisions he made».
What I want us to do right now is look at the three decisions that these wise women made. Because if you wanna be a wise woman or you wanna be a wise man, you need to make these exact three decisions this next year and for the rest of your life. So first we’re gonna start with the first wise woman. If you wanna write her name in if you’re takin' notes, the first wise woman of Christmas is Elizabeth. We find her story in Luke, chapter one, we find Mary’s story in Luke, chapter one, and we find Anna’s story in Luke, chapter two. Now on your outline the Bible says this. «When Herod was the king of Judah there was a priest named Zechariah and his wife was named Elizabeth. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous and godly people».
This is what God says about them. «Their lives pleased God». Circle that, «Their lives pleased God because they always did everything God commanded and they lived with a clear conscience before God. But they had no children because Elizabeth had been unable to conceive and now they were both too old». Now in these couple verses, we learn a couple things about this first wise woman. First we learn that Elizabeth was a very strong woman. She’s mature, she’s strong, she’s godly. She was a woman of God. She was probably a great mentor to young girls. Probably a great mentor because she’s very strong in her faith. Verse six says, «Her life pleased God». You now what, as your pastor coach, that’s what I want God to be able to say about you. That your life pleased God. That’s what it means to be a godly woman. That’s what it means to be a godly man. Your life pleased God. That’s the highest compliment. There’s nothing better than that. The Bible says she was righteous. The Bible says she was devout. The Bible says she was dedicated.
So we know she was a wise woman. But the second thing we learn in this is that she’s carrying a lifelong heartbreak. A lifelong hurt. The Bible says in verse seven, «They had no children». And many of you can identify with this hurt, with this heartbreak. For some reason it hasn’t happened. You’ve always wanted to be a mother or you’ve always wanted to be a father. But it hasn’t happened so far in your life. The Bible says the Elizabeth was pleasing to God, she did everything right, she was a woman of integrity. But the hurt and the heartbreak in his heart is that her greatest prayer had not been answered. And this means that Elizabeth had every temptation to get bitter. She had every temptation to get resentful against God. 'Cause she could say, «You know, God, I have served You my entire life. I have lived for you. I’ve done what’s right. I’ve tried to do the right thing. I’ve tried to honor You and worship You and love You and yet You haven’t answered my biggest prayer. I wanna a baby».
Now this is a great temptation to be hurt, and to be bitter, and to be resentful. You could probably think about something in your life you’ve prayed about a lot and it just hasn’t happened yet. You can be bitter or you can be better. You can trust God or you can get mad at God. And Elizabeth, in her wisdom, did not get mad at God. But the point I wanna make here is that living for God does not guarantee you a hurt-free life. God never said that everything’s gonna happen the way you want it in life. This is not heaven. I’ve told you this so many times. Don’t expect heaven to be on earth. In heaven there is no sorrow, no suffering, no sadness, no problems, no pressure, no pain. No disappointment, no tears, no grief, no loss.
None of these things are in heaven. But this is earth. And on earth everything is broken. Not everything God wants to happen happens. Because the Bible says the Lord’s not willing that any should perish, but people perish all the time. Without Christ. God doesn’t want people to sin but they sin all the time. God gives us that choice. And so, to expect heaven on earth is gonna set you up for disappointment. Nothing works perfectly on this planet. I’ve told you this many times. The weather doesn’t work perfectly, the economy doesn’t work perfectly, your relationships don’t work perfectly. Your body doesn’t work perfectly. Everything is broken. Living for Christ does not guarantee a pain-free life. In fact Jesus said just the opposite. He said, «In this world you will have trouble». Not might. Not might, not could happen. It says you’re gonna have trouble.
So we shouldn’t be surprised when things don’t always go the right way. We shouldn’t be surprised when we have pain in our lives 'cause it’s not heaven. But Elizabeth had wanted a baby all of her life. And it hadn’t happened. Now we pick up her story in Luke chapter one, starting with verse eight, and this is the story of the miraculous birth of John the Baptist. Elizabeth was the cousin of Mary and she was the mother of John the Baptist who was the forerunner or the announcer of the Messiah. Here’s what it says on the screen. «One day Zechariah was chosen to enter the temple of God to burn incense,» hew as a priest. «While he was doing that a large crowd of worshipers stood outside the temple praying. But inside the temple, and angel appeared to Zechariah, standing at the rit side of the incensed altar. When Zechariah saw the angel, he was startled and overwhelmed with fear. But the angel said, 'Don’t be afraid, Zechariah. Your persistent prayers have been heard».
Now we’ll come back to that. You might circle it. «'Your persistent prayers have been heard and your wife Elizabeth will finally conceive. She’ll bear you a son, and you are to name him John. This boy will not only bring great joy to you, but many other people are going to be blessed by his life too, and they’ll celebrate his birth one day. John will because a great man for the Lord.'» Later Jesus would call John the Baptist the greatest human being that ever lived. God said John the Baptist was the greatest human being that ever lived. «John will become a great man for the Lord. He is never to drink any wine or any other alcohol, and God will fill him with his Holy Spirit even from birth as a baby. And God will use him to bring many people back to the Lord. He will preach with the spirit and the power of Elijah. And he’s gonna reconcile fathers and children». He’s gonna put families back together. Restore harmony in the home.
«He’s gonna get disobedient people to think and act in the right ways again. And this will prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah». Those of you who are old enough to remember Johnny Carson, anybody remember him? And Johnny Carson’s sidekick was who? Ed McMahon. And everything on night T.V. he’d go, «Here’s Johnny»! He was the announcer. John the Baptist was the announcer for Jesus. Here’s Jesus! He’s coming! He’s gonna be here, get ready! «This will prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. But then Zechariah said to the angel, 'How am I gonna know that what you’re saying is true? '» I can’t believe he’s doubtin' an angel. Okay, «How am I gonna know what your saying is,» he’s doubting, he says, «'I am and old man and my wife is well along in years too.'»
Notice how polite he is to his wife? «I’m an old man,» he doesn’t say, «and I’m married to an old lady, an old,» no he says, «And my wife’s old in age too, or up there». He’s very polite. «Then the angel answered, 'I am Gabriel. I’m Gabriel I stand, '» he’s an archangel, «'I stand in the presence of God, and God has sent me to tell you this good news! But because you’ve doubted my words, you’re gonna be struck silent and unable to speak any words until the day that Elizabeth delivers her baby! But every word that I’ve told you will happen at just the right time.' Now meanwhile all the people outside of the temple are wondering what’s taking Zechariah so long». He’s just goin' in to light incense. And the people weren’t allowed in the temple. Only the priests could go in the temple. And in the Holy of Holies, only one day a year on the day of atonement.
«But when he came out, Zechariah couldn’t speak a word. So they realized that he’d seen some kind of vision in the temple. Zechariah kept making signs to them but he was unable to speak». Now in this passage we learn two more things about the wisdom of the wise woman named Elizabeth. First we know verse 13 he says, «Your persistent prayers have been heard». So we know that Elizabeth and her husband never stopped praying. Even after they were physically unable to conceive they kept praying. This is a mark of wisdom. Even in all of her pain. Even in all of her disappointment. Even in all of her dashed hopes. Even as she got older and older, she kept on praying. That’s a mark of wisdom. And in verse 20 when Gabriel says, «Every word that I’ve told you will happen at just the right time».
We know that Elizabeth also understood the timing of God is better than my own timing. She understood what it meant to wait on God’s timing. She had her timetable for a baby but God has His timetable for a baby. She had her plans and she knew that she could trust God and she could trust God’s timing. Both of these, praying persistently and being patient are marks of wisdom. That why Elizabeth is a wise woman. Now there on your outline it says this. Luke 1:24, «Some time later, Elizabeth became pregnant». This is a miracle. «Elizabeth became pregnant nad for five months she never left her home,» okay, she isolates herself. She’s housebound. She never left her home. I think that’s probably she’s just being careful and smart with her pregnancy. I’m an old woman, I don’t wanna miscarry, I’m gonna stay home 'cause God’s given me this miracle baby. «But she kept praising God all these months saying, 'The Lord did this for me and he has shown his blessing and has taken away my shame and pain.'»
Now she gives all the credit to God and he says «God has taken away my pain and my shame». Why would she be ashamed of not havin' a baby? Well because she lived in a very different culture than ours. And 2,000 years ago, a woman’s value was largely determined by how many kids she produced. And if she produced a big family she was extremely valuable to that family. She was considered the mother of future of generations. Now that’s not true today. But she felt the shame of the culture of that day because she was unable to have children. If you had a lot of kids you were highly valued. If you had a few kids, okay. If you had not kids, well there was a pallor, there was a shame on that. She said, «God has taken away my shame».
Now we pick up the rest of the story in verse 57. Look up here on the screen. «When Elizabeth gave birth to her son, her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had blessed her,» all three of these women get the word blessed in their life. You want God’s blessing you make wise decisions. I’ll say it again. If you want God’s blessing, you make wise decisions. «The Lord had blessed her and they shared her joy. Now eight days later they,» that’s all the relatives, «came for the circumcision and they’re gonna name the baby after his father Zechariah, but Elizabeth spoke up and said, 'No! He is to be called John! ' so they objected, 'But wait a minute, Elizabeth, you don’t have any relatives with that name! ' So they asked his father what he’d like to name the child. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, 'His name is John! '»
This is what they’d been told by the angel to name him. «Immediately,» as soon as he did that, «he got his voice back,» this is the miracle, «and he began praising God». Now this story, the miraculous birth and Zechariah getting his miraculous voice back, this story filled the entire community with deep awe and everywhere, everyone was talking about it. And wondering what kind of special person is this child going to be? For it was obvious that God’s power was on him. Now Elizabeth understands the delay. Her entire life she’s been prayin' for a baby. God intended to give her a baby. But God’s plan was bigger than Elizabeth’s. Elizabeth just wanted a baby. God says no, you’re gonna be mother of the greatest human being ever to live, as Jesus called John the Baptist. You’re gonna be the mother of the forerunner of Jesus Christ.
Now to be the forerunner John couldn’t be born 30 years early. Or 20 years earlier. He needed to be born just about the same time. Literally, just a few months before the Messiah’s gonna be born. Now she gets it. Now she understands. All that time they’ve been prayin' I’ve been thinkin' God wasn’t hearin' my prayer. Here’s the point, a delay is not a denial. You need to realize that in your life. A delay is not a denial. And the difference between a wise person and a foolish person, or the difference between a mature person and an immature person, is you know the difference between no and not yet. No child knows the difference. When a child asks a parent, «Can I have this,» and you say, «Not yet,» they think it means no and start having crying. Only when you get mature, only when you get wise do you understand the difference between no and not yet.
All of Elizabeth’s life she’d been wanting and praying for something to happen in her life that hadn’t happened. Maybe you’ve been wanting and praying for something to happen in your life. It hasn’t happened yet. It just tells me that A, God has something bigger and better planned for you. You need to be patient. You need to trust God. Now here is the choice that Elizabeth made that made her a wise woman. If you wanna be a wise woman, if you wanna be a wise man, here’s the first thing you need to do, write this down. Elizabeth was blessed because she chose to trust God’s plan instead of being bitter. She chose, it was a decision, to trust God’s plan instead of being bitter. What are you being tempted to be bitter about? It just means you’re not trusting God’s plan. You think you know more than God does. A wise person trusts God’s plan and timing even when it doesn’t make sense. Even when you can’t figure it out.
Now the second wise woman, of course, is Mary. And we find her story in Luke chapter one startin' at about verse 26. Up here on the screen it says this. «In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy,» remember Mary and Elizabeth are related, which makes, by the way, John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins. «In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a young virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph. Her name was Mary. Now the angel said, 'Greetings, God has chosen you for a special blessing and He is with you.' But Mary was frightened and confused».
This was her initial reaction, fear and confusion. «And she tried to figure out what this greeting might mean. So the angel said to her, 'Don’t be frightened, Mary, for God has decided to bless you in a wonderful way. You’re gonna have a baby and He will be a boy, and you’re going to name Him Jesus. He will be great and He will be called the Son of the Most High. And God will give Him King David’s throne, but His Kingdom is going to last forever and never end.' 'How can this be? ' Mary asked, 'since I’m a virgin? I’ve never known a man.' The angel answered, 'God’s Spirit will come over you and His power will overshadow you. So the holy child that you carry will be called the Son of God. For right now, your own relative, Elizabeth, is about to have a baby even in her old age because nothing is impossible with God. He can do anything.' Then Mary answered, 'Well, I am the Lord’s servant, and I accept whatever He plans fore me. May it happen as you have said.'»
This is a surrender, it’s a submission. «So the angel left her. Then Mary got ready and traveled quickly to the town where her relatives, Zechariah and Elizabeth lived. When Mary entered their home she greeted Elizabeth and when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting her baby leapt in her womb and instantly Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Overcome with joy, Elizabeth exclaimed in a loud voice, 'Mary, you are the most blessed woman on earth! And the child you are carrying is the most blessed too! But why, why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord should visit me? The moment I heard the sound of your voice, Mary, the baby in my womb leaped for joy! Mary, you are'», this is the key, «'you are blessed because you believed that God would do what He said He’d do! ' Now Mary responded by singing her praise to God. 'My soul praises God’s greatness! And my spirit rejoices that He is my savior! He noticed me. He noticed me. God noticed me. His humble servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed because of what the Holy God has done for me.' So Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home».
In those days men and women married very very young. Mary might have been 15 years old. Probably at the most 16 when she hears this news that she’s pregnant. And she’s filled with fear. Who wouldn’t be? First if an angel showed up that’d scare me. Probably scare you too. But then what the angel says to her, that’s even more scary. Mary, you’re gonna be pregnant. You’ve never known a man. And the daddy of the baby’s gonna be God. Right. Right, okay. So imagine all the possible fears goin' through her mind. First there’s a fear of criticism. How am I gonna tell my mom. Hi mom. Yeah, I know I’m engaged to Joseph but I’m pregnant and Joseph isn’t the daddy. Oh, and by the way, the daddy is God. And I’m carrying the son of God. Would your mother believe that? Pretty unlikely. Teenage girl, hi mom, I’m pregnant and God’s the reason.
So how am I gonna explain that to my mom? How am I gonna explain it to all my aunts and my uncles. To my sisters. How am I gonna explain it to Joseph, the man I love, that I’m engaged to? Hi honey, I’m pregnant, and you know we haven’t had sex. How am gonna explain it to the whole community? It’s probably one of the reasons why immediately after she heard this news she goes to another town for three months to live with her relatives Elizabeth and Zechariah 'cause she doesn’t wanna have to explain this to everybody. It’s not gonna make any sense at all. So there’s the fear of criticism. But there’s also the fear of the supernatural. She said «How am I gonna be pregnant»? And the Holy Spirit, I mean an angel says, «The Holy Spirit will come over you and overshadow you».
The fear of the supernatural. What’s gonna happen to my body? How am I gonna be pregnant in this way? The fear of the supernatural. That would be a scary thing. For anybody, much less a young girl. Then the fear of inadequacy. How in the world am I supposed to be the mother of the Son of God? I’m not, I’m inadequate. I’ve never had, I don’t have any schooling, don’t have any education, I’m just a peasant girl in a tiny village. Why me of all people? Not some queen? Or somebody really educated? And her sense of fear of inadequacy. And then of course the fear of change. How in the world is this gonna change my life? She was engaged to be married. You know what an engaged girl’s thinking of? Nothing but her wedding. And she’s making all the wedding plans in her mind.
That’s what she’s consumed with. And then Joseph and I’ll get married and we’ll settle down and eventually we’ll have some kids. But all a sudden a monkey wrench has been thrown in the plan so her plans are out the window. It’s a major massive change and this is fearful. But she’s wise. She’s wise. And in verse 37, Gabriel says, «Mary, nothing is impossible with God». So she’s thinking God loves me, God chose me, God is with me, and nothing’s impossible with God. Okay, I can handle this. Not because my strength, but because God is with me, God loves me, God planned it. He’s not gonna overwhelm me with something I can’t handle. And so based on the fact that nothing is impossible with God and God’s gonna help her and love her. In the next verse, verse 38, she says, «I am the Lord’s servant, I accept whatever he plans for me. May it be according to Your Word».
Mary wisely surrenders to the will of God. Have you done that yet? Have you wisely surrendered your life to the will of God? If you haven’t, there’s a word for that. Foolishness. It is unwise to go with your plan for your life when God who created you has a plan for your life. Wise people say, «Whatever God wants for my life, I’m in. I may not understand it, but I’m gonna say whatever God wants for my life, that’s what I want». That’s what wisdom does. And so she wants God’s will more for her life than anything else. She’s like David in the old Testament. Psalm 40 on the screen. David said, «I desire to do Your will, O my God». Have you ever prayed that prayer? Have you ever told God, «God, I desire to do your will. Not mine. I desire to do your plan, not mine. I desire to fulfill your purpose for my life, not mine».
That’s what wisdom does. So we know that the wisdom of surrendering to God’s will, God’s plan shows a mark of wisdom. And the second thing, we know that Mary was a woman of the word. She knew this book. She had many many scriptures memorized. I don’t have time to read the song that Mary sings spontaneously at Elizabeth’s house. But it contains about 10 references to Old Testament verses. She knew this book backwards and forwards. So much so that she could, on the spot, write a song that would quote Isaiah and quote so many others in the Old Testament. Could you do that? Could you, on the spot, just write a song based on scripture verses? That’s why she’s a wise woman. She knew the word of God. And if you wanna be a wise man you need to know the word of God.
The Bible says in Luke, chapter two, here on the screen, «Mary quietly treasure these things, all that God told her, in her heart, and she often thought about them». That’s a mark of wisdom. You think about what God says. And you think about it over and over and over. Now here’s the second key to being a wise person. A wise woman or a wise man. Number two. Mary was blessed, write this down, Mary was blessed because she chose to believe God’s word instead of her fears. She chose to believe God’s word, what God had said, than to believe her fears. And she certainly had a lot of fears, I’m sure, in her life. But she said, «I’m not gonna believe my fears. I’m gonna believe the truth that God has said».
Let me ask you this morning, what are you believing? Are you believing your fears? All those fears that pop into your mind? All those worries, all those anxieties? Are you believing your fears or are you believing what God says in His word? To believe your fears is dumb. To believe what God has said is wise. That’s what makes wise women and wise men. Now we come to the third wise woman in the story of Christmas. And her name is Anna. And Anna is in Luke, chapter two. On your outline it says in Luke 2:22, «After the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary took the baby to the temple in Jerusalem to dedicate Him to God because the law that God gave Moses,» the Jewish law, «said, 'Every first born boy is to be dedicated back to God, '» this specifically is Exodus 13:2. Now here’s the first part of the story. Before we get to Anna.
Up here on the screen, Luke 2:25, «Now there was an old man living in Jerusalem named Simeon who was very righteous and loved God deeply. God had promised Simeon that he would not die until he’d seen the promised Savior of the world with his own eyes». That’s quite a promise. «Now on the day that Joseph and Mary arrived in Jerusalem, God’s Spirit prompted Zechariah to go and wait in the Temple Courts». Now this message is not about Zechariah, but I wanna make this point. When God’s Spirit prompts you to do something, run. 'Cause you’re about to have the biggest blessing of your life. If Zechariah had not listened to that inner spirit, that prompting, go to the temple now, he would’ve missed what he’d been promised to see all of his entire life. Nah, I think I’m a little tired, I’m not gonna go to the temple, I’m gonna stay home and watch the ball game. I’m gonna mow the lawn. I’ve got some chores to do. I’m gonna clean up the kitchen.
When God prompts you to do something, do it instantly. Some of you have missed amazing blessing in your life because you didn’t listen to the promptings of God. You got this little inkling, this little impression that said go do this, and it was the Holy Spirit telling you to do that, go do this, and you didn’t. And you missed a huge blessing in your life. When you get a prompting of God’s spirit you need to do it immediately 'cause it means God’s gettin' ready to do something really cool. Really great. So he goes to the temple and in the temple he finds Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. And in verse 28 it says this. «Simeon took the baby in his arms and he thanked God loudly, loudly, saying, 'Lord, now I can die in peace! 'As You promised me, I’ve now seen the Savior that you’ve given to all people! He is the Light that You have sent to the world to reveal Yourself to all people! '»
You wanna know what God’s like? Look at Jesus. God sent Jesus to be the light of the world to let us see what God is really like. You wanna know what God is like, look at Jesus. «He sad, 'Now You’ve sent the light to the world to reveal yourself to all people.' Now Joseph and Mary just stood there speechless. They were amazed at what was being said about the baby». When the word there says when Zechariah, I mean Simeon thanked God for the baby. The word there in Greek is the word eulogeo. Eulogeo is the word we get eulogy from. A eulogy is what we usually say about people when they die. But here Simeon is giving a eulogy about Jesus when He’s just been born on the front end of his life. A eulogy literally means to speak a blessing. To say something good. To say something good. And he says, «This little baby is gonna be the Savior of the whole world». He’s speaking something good and they’re shocked.
Now in verse 36 we come to Anna and it says this, «That day there was also a woman named Anna worshiping in the temple. Anna was a prophetess and she was very old. She’d been a widow most of her life because her husband had died after being married only seven years». So as a young bride she loses the love of her life. «Anna was now 84 years old». So she spent over 75 years alone. So over 75 years old, «and since she had no family, she never left the temple courtyards. She stayed there day and night worshiping God with her prayers and fasting».
Now interesting thing here. What do you do with a blocked love? When all of a sudden, who you wanna love is not there? You redirect it. When you have a blocked love, you redirect. If you can’t have a baby and you would love to love a baby you can adopt, you can help with foster children. You can redirect your love. There are plenty of children in the world who need your love. But Anna redirects her love. She says, «I’ve lost the love of my life. My husband, we’ve only been married seven years». And she says, «I’m gonna redirect my love toward God». And she just says, «I’m just gonna worship God and love God and love the people who come into the temple. And that’s gonna be my life. That’s gonna be my ministry». «She stayed there night and day, worshiping God with prayers and fasting. Now just as Simeon was dedicating the baby to God, Anna walked by and she paused to listen. Then Anna joined in praying for the baby and she thanked God for sending a Savior».
Now here’s the key to her life. «From then on,» the moment she’d seen Jesus, the moment she meant Jesus, «From then on Anna talked about Jesus to everyone. Anna talked about Jesus to everyone who was looking for redemption and freedom in Jerusalem». Write this down, here’s the third mark of wisdom. Anna was blessed because she made a decision. And the decision she made was she chose to focus on God’s presence and talk to everyone about Jesus. Said I’m gonna, I’ve lost the love of my life, I’m alone, I’m gonna use my life to focus on God’s presence. I’m gonna worship him all the time. Love him all the time. Pray all the time. I’m gonna focus on presence and I’m gonna tell everybody about Jesus. That’s wise. That’s wise. Are you wise? Are you focusing on God? Are you telling other people about Jesus? The Bible says, «He who winneth souls is wise».
You know this next week will be Christmas week. And on Christmas week, more people will come to church than on any other time of the year. And I would say to you, who are you gonna bring on Christmas? He who wins souls is wise. You know, every year, this is gonna be a special Christmas this year, because two things. First, it’s our 40th Christmas. We’re celebrating the ending of 40 years. Next year we’re gonna party all year on our 40th anniversary. But this’ll be our 40th Christmas. But second is I’m gonna do a message unlike I’ve ever done before and the message I’m doin' for Christmas this week is called, «Next Time It’s Gonna Be Different». And I’m gonna compare the different between the first coming and the second coming of Jesus. Because He didn’t just come one time, He’s coming back. He said «If I go I will return again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also».
First time He came to give us hope. The second time He’s coming to fulfill that hope. The first time He came to suffer for our sins. The second time he’s coming to take us to heaven. And so many other great things. It will be the greatest message of hope I think I’ve ever preached. But it’s hopeless if people don’t hear it. The good news is only good news if it gets to them in time. Why don’t you be like Anna and say I’m gonna focus on God’s presence, not my pain, not my grief, not my loss, and I’m gonna focus on telling people about Jesus.
Now all three of these wise women had heartaches. Okay, remember, Elizabeth’s a married woman unable to have a child. Mary is single woman pregnant with a pregnancy she can’t explain to anybody else. And Anna is a widow who’s spent most of her life without any family and no relatives and so they have resentment and they have fear and they have grief. But they all made choices.
Will you make these same three choices? Will you choose to trust God’s plan instead of being bitter? Will you choose to believe God’s word instead of your fears? And will you choose to focus on God’s presence, not your loss? And tell everybody about Jesus? Last night in the service there was a man who came who had never ever been in a Christian church ever. He was a Hindu background. And he came in and he watched the Christmas story and he heard this message and at the end of the service he opened his life to Christ and afterwords he went outside and was baptized immediately. Some of you need to do that now. Let’s bow our heads. First I want those of you who already know the Lord to pray this prayer. Everybody can pray it actually, but just say:
God, I’m gonna choose to be wise. I want to be wise. And I wanna choose to trust your plan instead of getting bitter that things don’t always go my way. And the things I’ve prayed for don’t always get a yes answer. I’m gonna trust your plan and your timing. Then would you say, God I’m gonna choose to believe your word instead of my fears. I’m not gonna believe my fears any more. I’m gonna believe the truth. And then will you say, God, I’m gonna choose to focus on your presence, that you’re close to me, you’re near me, I’m not gonna focus on what I’ve lost. I’m not gonna focus on my grief. And I’m gonna talk to everyone about Jesus. I wanna be known for the person who talks at Jesus. I wanna be a wise man. I wanna be a wise woman.
If you’ve never opened your life to Christ, say:
Jesus Christ, I open my heart to you right now. I invite you to come into my life and fill it with your love and your peace and your purpose. And I wanna get to know you and I wanna learn to love you and trust you and today I accept God’s Christmas gift to me. The gift of His Son. I ask you to accept me into your family. And I humbly ask this in your name, Amen.