Welcome to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast.
We're so glad you joined us.
Each week you'll hear powerful messages, testimonies, and conversations designed to
help you grow in your faith and encounter Jesus in a fresh way.
Let's dive into today's episode.
Good morning everybody.
How's everyone doing this morning?
You guys excited to be in the house of the Lord?
Excited that it's December?
Who enjoys this cold weather?
I'm still sweating, just sweating less, but now I'm thankful.
I brought Anna up with me this morning because we just wanted to share a little
bit.
We've had a couple exciting weeks of the last few weeks.
Don't know if you happen to be watching your news a couple weeks back,
but if you missed it, we just want to share a quick video clip with you and then
bring some explanation.
What do you do when you're stuck 30 feet down a metro elevator?
You ask a couple if they're ready to get married.
I need to know them.
No, we know them now.
No, we made it.
We made a joke because we're actually pastors and they were together for a long
time.
We joked and we said we could just do your wedding right now if you want to and
really make a memory out of this.
Not quite ready for that yet.
So what happened?
Well, we are outside of the Woodley Park Metro station just a couple blocks away
from the National Zoo.
Mom, dad and baby came here from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania today.
Little Uriah is celebrating his first birthday.
So of course they wanted to go to the National Zoo.
They were they had the baby in the stroller.
They said we're not going to take the escalator.
We're going to take the elevator about 10 seconds as they were going down the
elevator.
It got stuck for two hours.
First responders had to come here and rescue them all by rope.
Yeah, so pretty, pretty exciting day at the zoo.
But I realized as we were sharing the story with some of our close friends,
we weren't even really going to even share the video clip until friends from other
states were reaching out to us because it actually made the national news,
which was crazy.
So yes, we were on our way back from the zoo.
We had a great time at the zoo.
For those of you that were wondering, great time at the zoo, free in DC,
which is great.
And as we were on our way back, like the man said, Uriah had fallen asleep
in his full size stroller.
We had already kind of carried the stroller up and down escalators throughout
the day, which was a task in itself.
But we thought, you know, we'll just take the elevator.
It won't be any problem.
My brother and his family went down first and then it came back up.
The doors opened.
There was a couple that was also waiting for the elevator that we did not know.
And I said, well, that's fine.
Why don't you just join us?
We'll squeeze in.
We'll make it work.
Do you want to share your perspective of when the doors opened and the gust of heat
that you felt?
So context, we did not rest at all.
Once we left our hotel room in DC, 8 a.m.
till 3 p.m.
and we got stuck in the elevator for two hours.
That's the first time we stopped walking the whole day.
So we were ready to ride the elevator.
So when our brother and sister-in-law and their three kids went in the elevator
before us, there was a little screen outside of the elevator doors and it was
60 seconds down because it's deep.
It's like 150 feet deep into the metro station.
So I'm glad that we only got, he said 30 feet.
The firefighter told me 40 feet.
OK, I'm just putting that out there.
So I saw the little screen and it was 60 seconds down and 60 seconds up.
Well, when our family was getting on and the elevator doors opened, a blast of hot
air hit my face.
And I was like, oh, my gosh, I do not want to be stuck in this elevator for 60
seconds with this hot air and being stuffed in there like a sardine because it
was a tiny little space.
And lo and behold, we get in, we get on.
Everybody's, you know, comfortable, close together.
And then, like you said, 10 seconds in, everything jerked to a halt.
Yeah.
And we have some pictures to show you from our perspective in the elevator.
So let me just start showing those real quick.
If we can.
OK, so this was this was about maybe 15 minutes into the two hour adventure.
But as you can see, the elevator actually had glass walls.
So all you can see is the cement tunnel that you're trapped in.
And we were able to look above us where there was a little vent where we could
faintly see blue.
So we did know that there was some fresh air coming in.
But like Anna said, it was getting pretty dry, pretty quick.
So keep keep going.
So at this point, I felt like Tim Allen in the Santa Claus.
That hole looks deeper or bigger than it is.
As he was going in and out of chimneys and needing a Christmas miracle to make it
through that hole.
Because if you don't realize the firefighters actually had to parallel down
to us 40 feet, get on top of the elevator with a harness system.
And next next picture.
That's the reason that's the moment Uriah realized we had to go up that hole.
He's pretty chill up until this moment and then was like, yeah, we got to go up that
hold that.
Next picture.
Yeah, that's Matt getting harnessed up and they actually had to put in a ladder
through that hole.
And he told us he's like, I don't want you to freak out.
Well, he actually did call the fire chief called he said, just want to let you know
that everything's good.
My brother was has been a career firefighter.
Do I need to change mics?
Is it too hummy?
Back up a little bit.
Is that good?
Is that better?
We'll keep it going.
If I have to switch off, that's fine.
So as we were in the elevator, I was back and forth with my brother.
He was giving instructions to the DC fire department that was here, letting him know
who always in there, how many people and they kept asking us, is anyone having a
medical emergency?
Are you guys okay?
I was like, yeah, you know, what's your definition of okay?
But yeah, I mean, we're fine.
You know, we do have a one year old in here that within a full size stroller,
we'd like to maybe not be in here as long as we could, but you know, we're okay.
And he's like, well, who's the heaviest person in the elevator?
Well, that would, that would be me.
And he's like, how, how much do you weigh, sir?
I was like about 300 pounds.
He's like, Oh, thank you.
I'm like, well, thank you for making me feel good about myself and my weight.
But as we were harnessing up, I think a lot of people thought maybe the metro got
the elevator to work and then the doors opened.
That never happened.
The metro station wasn't able to override the system.
So that's why they had to jam open the emergency hatch.
And then so one by one we had to harness up.
And he told me once you get to the top of that hole, don't freak out.
You're not going to naturally fit.
You have to squeeze through the hole because of the harness, especially you
have to make yourself get through.
So we got through it, you know, one by one.
And let me, let's show the other one.
Is there another picture?
Love this moment.
Okay.
So this, do you want to share this part?
Okay.
So this was Asia.
This was one of the girls that was with us.
Her and her boyfriend of five years were with us.
That's why we joked.
We were in the elevator for a long time.
We said, guys, you've been together for five years.
Let's get some marriage counseling going.
And if you guys want to make this thing legal, we can do that.
And they weren't quite ready for that.
But she was about to freak out in this moment because her boyfriend was the first
to go up and she's starting to think, I'm the next one that has to go.
She doesn't like heights.
And immediately Uriah just took his hand and just placed it on her.
And Anna and Asia exchanged phone numbers and she, we had checked in with her later
that day and she said, I've been telling my whole family, all my friends,
I was about to lose it.
And the moment that little boy put his hand on me, I just was extremely peaceful.
So Uriah is already starting his ministry journey.
And we joked and they're like, wow, this is crazy.
Like, how are you guys going to top this?
And Anna was like, well, when I was carrying him, I was over in Jerusalem when
it was being bombed.
So we're kind of used to this by now.
Was that the last picture?
Okay.
So yes, so we had to each go one by one, stand on the elevator shaft and basically
look up 40 feet and realize like, wow, okay, this journey is not over.
They had to hook each of us up to the rope system.
And then they're like, all right, sir, are you ready?
Pretend like you're sitting in a chair and then lay completely back.
So you're laying completely back suspended.
And then they started to pull one, two, three, pull.
There's 20 firefighters outside pulling one step at a time.
So we had to actually walk with the wall out of the elevator shaft.
So Uriah was as calm as he could possibly be.
Anna wanted to be the one to, they actually had to put him in a 40 pound gear
bag and singed the top so he couldn't crawl out and then strapped him to a
firefighter to get him out.
So that was the only time in the whole two hours that that baby cried.
He slept the first 45 minutes in the elevator.
And when he woke up, he was just smiling and making everybody feel better about the
situation.
But I want to tell you about the power of tapping into the supernatural gift of
peace versus denial.
Okay.
Because as soon as that elevator jerked to a halt, 10 seconds in, 40 feet down,
I said to myself, I think I said it out loud too.
I was like, oh no, this is not good.
And everyone's like, oh, I'm sure it's just going to, you know, turn on in a
couple seconds.
And I'm like hitting the emergency button on the elevator.
You know that button you're not supposed to push.
I was pushing it over and over and over again.
Everyone okay with that?
Again, to final K, we are stuck.
And we'd like to get out, but it was very quick process.
And how many know, I mean, if you, if you, does anyone in here struggle with
like claustrophobic type where we lived your greatest fear, but we lived through
it.
And honestly, in those scenarios, like they're not comfortable scenarios and
you don't know how you're going to respond until you're in a situation like that.
But I would say by the grace and peace of the Lord, we were able to just be
confident knowing like, we're going to get through this.
We don't know how long this is going to take.
We don't know if this is going to be two hours, three hours, four hours,
but he's making it sound like it was a piece of cake.
And after a little bit it was, but we had to tap in to the Holy Spirit
because at first I have a sleeping baby.
I did not want to run out of air or drop to our death.
Yeah.
And once we kind of process through those emotions, we prayed out loud.
We started saying, Jesus loves me.
This I know to the baby and just peace entered that whole place.
And my dad, he sent me, I think it's, I think it's passed around Psalm 40 verse
two about how he delivered me from the pit.
He set my feet on solid ground and he will establish my coming and my going.
And so just as an encouragement to everybody in this place, we, my dad was
like, this is a prophetic picture.
I'm like, great.
But if you feel like you've been in a pit season or just, you haven't been able to
come up out.
I feel like the Lord is just saying he's setting your feet.
He's establishing your comings and your goings and he's bringing you up out of
that pit.
Amen.
And it may be a way that you're not expecting because God got us out,
but pastor Matt had to harness up, walk up that ladder, get strapped to some
ropes and do something he's never done before.
So sometimes we have to partner with God.
We need to co-labor with God.
Things aren't just going to happen by themselves.
Sometimes we have to actually partner with God, trust God, Lord, I know that your
plan is better than my plan at this moment.
The best thing I can do is tap into your peace, be at a place of rest and trust God
that you got us.
And the fire captain said, when you guys get out there, just prepare yourself.
There's about six fire trucks.
There's two ambulances.
There's the street is blocked off and the national news is there.
Of course, I was like, where's that microphone?
We're telling this story.
This is awesome.
So that was definitely a memory that we made with our son for his first birthday.
So yes.
So anyway, we are thankful to be with you today and not in an elevator, but,
um, we are starting our series this morning of the king who knows us.
How many remember when we started off this year, it was really important to me that
we really pursued the Lord in a way where we wouldn't question whether we knew God
and God knew us because how many know none of us want to ever hear depart from me.
I never.
We want to know him intimately.
And honestly, that is up to us.
God has done everything on his part to send Jesus to die for us, to give us the
beautiful gift of the Holy Spirit, which is honestly the greatest gift he
could ever give us.
It's the greatest gift you could ever unwrap this season is an understanding of
realizing how close you are to the Lord.
If we're really honest in here, a lot of us would say that we struggle
sometimes feeling like God is far away, but the truth of the matter is God is
closer to you.
If you've given your life to Jesus, you've surrendered your life to Jesus,
you've given him your life.
You've welcomed the Holy Spirit into your your heart.
He's within you.
He's one with you.
You can't get any closer to someone that you are one with.
So anytime you are feeling like you are, he is far away.
I want you to remind yourself, man, God, you're closer than I can
realize.
You are closer to me than the very skin on my bones.
So this week, in the context of the King who knows us, I want to talk about the
King who knows our longing.
How many know that we are longing for things on this side of eternity?
You know, we are kicking off the holiday season and it's fun.
We can we can have fun with the lights.
We can have fun with all this stuff, but we cannot forget that the reason why
we gather is because of Christ.
Everything you do this month, it's because of Christ.
It's because he chose to come and do what only he could do.
Emmanuel, God with us, not God far away, but God with us, God close to us.
I keep seeing these memes of let's put Christ back in Christmas.
I never took it out.
I never took him out.
I mean, it's why we get together as families.
It's why we do all the fun stuff.
But I just want to remind you, like even just yesterday, Anna and I had
the opportunity.
We were shopping and someone was in the parking lot.
You could tell they were just having a hard time.
They were asking individuals for help.
And you know, it's not our job to question whether, you know, what are they going to
do with this though, if we bless them?
It's your job to be the blessing.
It's your job to let the Holy Spirit use you.
And she was confused and she had questions.
And I was in the van with Uriah and Anna was in the store.
And I was waiting for Anna to come back to the van so that we could then get out of
the van and minister to her together.
I wanted to make sure Uriah was okay.
And Anna came out and she was just asking for some cash.
And your mind can wonder, you know, what is she going to use this cash for?
But the Holy Spirit said, just love her.
Just love her.
Just be a blessing.
Let let let me sow seeds there.
So we prayed with her and Anna just whatever was in her pocket.
She just gave it to her.
And she was just so blown away by that.
But how many know that's a seed planted?
So when we're when we're out and about and people are in need, man, we need to just
have a heart to say, God, whatever I have, let let let them have it and let it be a
sign that points to you, not a sign that points to me, but a sign that points to
you and what you can do.
Some of us walked in here today with our hopes up.
I'm here to tell you, get your hopes up that God has a plan for you, even if you
don't realize what that plan is in the moment, actually, Donna, I had a word for
you this morning.
I woke up this morning getting ready about five thirty.
I start getting ready so I know I can get the bottles going.
I can get his outfit started.
I can get Anna up.
Love you.
And the Lord showed me a picture of you, Donna, and what were you doing?
You were playing hopscotch.
And I heard the Lord just say it's time for Donna to hop hop in my hope.
And I saw this big smile come over your face and you just started to play
hopscotch.
And it wasn't hard.
It wasn't challenging.
It wasn't difficult.
It was a joyful thing you were doing with the Lord.
So I don't know what is going on right now in your personal life or what things need
to line up.
But the Lord is telling you specifically get your hopes up, tap into my joy this
season, not a joy that can come externally, but a joy that's internally.
And as you partner with him and you just get your eyes focused on Christ and what
he can do, that joy that you're experiencing will just be tangible to the
people around you.
It'll be impossible to be around you and not be hopeful because you're so filled
with hope.
Amen.
So he's talking to me about you at five thirty this morning as soon as I woke up.
So good.
So, God, I just I just thank you for Donna asked that you would just make that real
for her.
Lord, let her step into that.
Let it be real.
Let it just not be a good word.
But Lord, let it be a powerful thing she can step into, especially in this season.
And some of us, if we're just being really honest, we're still waiting.
We're contending for certain promises to become fulfilled.
Anybody holding on to a promise?
Anybody have a promise spoken over you that you have not yet seen fulfilled?
It's OK.
You put your hand up because we need to continue to believe with one another.
We need to contend with one another.
Sometimes you need a brother and sister to hold your hands up when life gets hard,
when we get a little tired, when we get a little, you know, frustrated.
It's OK to get frustrated.
The Bible says we can be angry just as long as we're not sinning.
But it but that you have to make sure that that anger that you're experiencing for a
moment doesn't turn into bitterness, doesn't turn into rage, doesn't turn into
a hatred.
The Lord wants to be a part of every moment of your life, not just the the
highs on Sundays, not just the Bible study times with your friends.
He wants to be a part of every part of your life, even if you're locked in an
elevator.
Son, I got a plan.
Trust me.
And I'm like, Holy Ghost.
I'm looking at that door the whole time, because I'm like, that's the door we got
to go through.
Lord, cannot fit.
Honestly, visions of gym class came back where that rope.
I'm like, Lord, I don't know if I can physically make it up that rope.
I don't.
So when I saw that that ladder, I'm like, oh, thank you, Jesus.
I was about to have a revival service in there just when I saw the ladder.
I'm like, I can do that, Lord.
But some of us, we write ourselves off and some of us hear stories like that and
we're like, oh, my gosh, well, I don't know what I would do in that
situation.
I would have completely lost my sauce.
Well, why?
We either have the trust me in that moment is when you need the peace that doesn't
make sense.
I mean, they were shocked when we came out and we're just like, I mean, Miranda sent
me a message and it was me.
Just as soon as I saw everyone, I'm just like.
And it was the picture that the news put out on their on their pages.
And I'm just like, man, I'm just I'm just thankful and everyone's trying to get,
you know, statements and the cops are trying to make sure we're OK.
And they're trying to force us to go into the ambulance and make sure we're OK.
And I'm like, guys, we're OK.
Our heart isn't to, you know, we're just glad to be here.
We're thankful.
There's so much to be thankful for.
You have so much to be thankful for in your seasons of contending, in your
seasons of waiting.
How many know that sometimes when we find ourselves in a wilderness season,
the first thing we try to do is pray ourselves out of it.
When you study wilderness seasons in the Bible, whoever went into a wilderness
season came out in dude with power.
Maybe sometimes the Lord does want to put you in a place where it's just you and
him.
All the other voices start to get quieter and his voice gets louder and louder and
louder.
So in this season, if you feel lonely, don't let the enemy use that against you.
Look at it and go, man, how could I feel lonely?
I'm one with God.
He's one with me.
I'm never alone.
One of the biggest lies we can believe in Christ is that we're alone.
We are never alone, no matter what is happening around us.
And the last time I checked, when you reach out to someone and love them,
a lot of the times you reap what you sow.
If you're craving a hug, why don't you sow one?
It's really hard to hug someone and not let them hug you back.
I mean, I've been there.
You kind of, I like to do the hug where you hug and then like you forcefully keep
them there for a little bit and you can feel them trying to pull away and you're
like, no, no, no, not yet.
Receive that love.
So that's how God is with us sometimes.
Like sometimes we go through things where we try to avoid him.
But here's the thing, you never can.
He's the one that really sees you when you're sleeping.
He's the one that really knows when you're awake.
Like he's the one that sees all.
Like the Lord is with us.
He's within us.
There's no doing life with him and without him when you're in him.
It's you and him are one.
But I love the Christmas story and there's so many different places we could go.
But let's just jump into Isaiah chapter nine, verse two specifically.
I'm reading out the New Living Translation today.
The people who walk in darkness will see a great light for those who live in a land
of deep darkness.
A light might shine.
A light will shine.
Jumping down to verse six for a child is born to us.
A son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor,
mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.
His government and his peace will never end.
Can someone say amen?
Isaiah is writing to a nation that is hurting, a nation that is oppressed,
confused and honestly exhausted.
People are wondering, God, do you truly see us?
I know no one in this room has ever thought that thought.
God, do you really hear my prayers?
Do you really see what we're going through?
Do you really hear us?
Do you know what we're walking through?
But watch what Isaiah prophesies.
A light is coming.
Hope is coming.
A savior is coming.
A king is coming and he knows exactly what you need.
And here's the thing, church.
He came.
We're not waiting for him to come for the first time.
He already came.
He already died on the cross.
He already rose again for you to have new life here and now.
When he comes again, it's gonna be different than the first time he came.
But you don't have to wait for him to come then to experience him now.
You get to experience his hope, his joy, his love today.
Guess what?
You don't even have to wait till Christmas morning.
You don't have to wait till Christmas Eve service where it's beautiful and the
candle light.
You can experience him here and now today.
It's all about perspective.
But point number one this morning is humanity has always longed for hope,
peace, and restoration since the beginning.
Humanity has carried deep longings, a longing for hope to believe things can
be different.
How many of you can think of times in your life where you believe that things have to
be different and then they changed?
Some of us, we forget our history that we have with God.
When you're going through a hard situation, I think the best thing you can
do is remind yourself of what God has already done.
Remind yourself of the times God has already showed up for you.
So you go, man, God, I know I'm going through a situation right now.
I know I'm stuck.
I know I don't know how I'm gonna get out of this thing, but Lord, if you got me out
then, you're gonna get me out now.
And God, I trust you.
I trust you with all of my heart.
We can't afford to trust him with some of our heart.
You can't afford to trust him with 99.9% of your heart.
You have to trust in the Lord with all of your heart, leaning not on your own
understandings.
Lord, why?
Why out of all these people in D.C.
were we the ones trapped in this thing?
I don't know, but God, here we are and we're just gonna make the best of it.
We're gonna be super polite to the fire department.
We're gonna be super polite to the Metro staff that doesn't seem to be doing much.
God bless them.
They were talking with us, but they weren't able to override the system and I
get it and I have no idea what all of the things.
All I know is I'm looking at my wife, I'm looking at my one-year-old and I'm
looking at this couple that I don't know and I'm like, Lord, you're good in the
midst of this.
You're good.
You're good and you're faithful and you're gonna show up.
And we chose not to reach out to our parents until we were out of the elevator.
Well, my brother actually made some calls, but.
I'm like, this is gonna make for a good story.
It's gonna be okay.
We're not gonna freak out.
But whatever you're going through right now, you have to know that it's not your
whole story.
It's such a small part of your story that the enemy is trying to get you to take a
magnifying glass and view your entire life through this one moment.
Well, I'm here to tell you that God has a plan.
God has hope for you in the midst of what you're going through.
Parents, if you're contending, you're believing for a son or a daughter
to come home, he has a plan.
He has a plan.
He knows the day you're gonna get the text.
He knows the day they're gonna knock on your door.
He knows the day that all of that is going to work together for your good.
And we have to trust in the Lord with all of our heart, not leaning on our own
understandings, but in all that we do, seek his will.
And as we do those things, he will show us which path to take.
It's not a question, it's a promise.
We have to trust God that he's gonna fulfill the promises that have been spoken
over you.
Don't you wait until January 1st to start going after things.
We do that.
We were so systematic with that stuff.
And I'm talking to myself at times, but how many know, we're like,
I'm gonna definitely get to the gym January 1.
You know what happens?
Even if you make it to the gym, you can't find a parking spot at the gym.
And you're like, well, you know, January 5th sounding really good.
February 1 sounding okay.
March sounds a lot better.
Well, you know, lots of good food happening in the holidays.
So I'm just gonna wait till after.
I know none of us have those thoughts.
What does it look like for us to take control of our life today?
And say, God, there's things that I wanna change, but I can't change them by myself.
Like I couldn't have got us out of that mess by myself.
We needed help.
We needed someone that was willing to come to us, willing to parallel down to us and
get that trap door open, put a ladder down, come into our mess with us.
The firefighter didn't stand on top of the elevator and shaft and go, hey,
you're okay, guys.
No, he got in with us.
The Lord doesn't look at you from far away and go, hey, I hope this works out.
Wow, wow, wow, wow.
Keep your eyes on me, me, me, me.
No, he gets into your mess with you and go, hey, you ready to get out of this?
I have the harness you need.
I have the only thing that's gonna get you out of this pit.
You can try to MacGyver your way out of this, but how many know Randy?
I didn't have too many gadgets with me.
I had a lot of stuff to take care of a child.
I didn't have rope.
I didn't have none of that.
I didn't have the gadgets I needed.
Randy Becker may have had some things in his pocket for such a time as this.
I had a lot of baby bottles.
I had some extra clothes.
I had some diapers.
Thank God I had layers.
And I thought to myself, God, please don't make these layers keep coming off.
I don't wanna do that to this other couple.
They don't need that.
I don't wanna traumatize them anymore than they've already been.
Luckily, the coat is the only thing that needed to come off.
Thank you, Jesus.
But you need to realize that you have a savior that's not intimidated by your
problem.
You serve a king that's not intimidated by your mess.
He's willing to get in there with you and say, I'm the only way out.
I'm the only way out.
Stop fighting it.
Stop fighting him as your rescuer.
He is your savior.
Some of us just need to let him save us.
Let him work it all out.
I can do all things through his strength, not my strength.
My strength is not enough.
I need to be dead to myself and alive in him so that I can tap into that strength,
not only for myself, but for the people around me.
Man, I'm believing for a day we're gonna get a call from Asia, and it was Nick,
right?
It was Asia and Nick?
Where they're like, hey guys, we're really ready to tie the knot, man.
What does it look like for you guys to do our wedding?
I might have been stuck in that elevator just for Asia and Nick.
I don't know.
Plantin' a seed of relationship.
Can you imagine that while we're here gathered today to see this couple?
You've been through a lot already, whether you're stuck in an elevator for
two hours, not ready to get out and meet us randomly.
God has a plan.
I don't know what that plan is.
My plan is just to trust him and him and him alone.
How many know that we do have this longing for peace?
But how many know when you experience the Prince of Peace, we need to experience his
peace.
It is weird for Christians to respond the same way that the world responds to
things.
Come on.
If Anna and I were responding to that situation the same way this other couple
was, that wouldn't have made sense because they were not walking with the Lord at
this time.
But as we're telling them our story and they're like, wow, you guys are just super
peaceful.
And one thing I was thankful that we hadn't eaten yet.
Thank you, Jesus.
My stomach was rumbling, but could you imagine that would not have been a good
time.
Hey, are you guys okay just checking?
Is there emergency?
Yes, there's an emergency.
We need to get out of here.
The tummy is rumbling and we need to get going.
No, we're just trusting the Lord with all of our heart.
Not just peace around us, guys.
I'm not looking for peace around me.
I need peace within me.
So it doesn't matter where you go.
Wherever you go, peace comes with you.
Oh, Pastor Matt, you don't know how my family is though during the holidays.
You don't know my brother-in-law.
You don't know my sister-in-law.
You don't know my mother-in-law, guys.
Don't be saying those things.
Don't be saying, oh, my mother-in-law, that ain't gonna lead to anything good.
Can I get an amen?
See how all the ladies said amen, guys?
Tyler, what's the joke?
Just say it out loud.
Say it quick.
The difference between in-laws and out-laws is out-laws are wanted.
Your wife isn't here.
Yeah, see?
Oh, but I want a peace that silences anxiety.
I want a peace that silences fear, silences worldly pressures.
We have a longing for restoration.
We have a longing for things to be restored, for things to be put back
together, for relationships to be healed, for broken pieces to be made whole.
We see this all throughout the Old Testament.
We see this in the exiles.
We see it the 400 years of silence before Jesus came.
There's this longing of restoration, generation after generation, crying out
for a savior.
And we see it today in our world, in our families, in our hearts.
Church, we long because we were created for more than what this world can give us.
This world can't give you the thing that your heart longs for.
There's no love that a human being can give you to fulfill that longing in your
heart.
It's the only love of God that can fulfill that thing in you so that you can receive
his love, fall madly in love with yourself, and then be able to love your
neighbor as yourself.
But it all comes from receiving from the King that knows you, a King that knows you
better than you know yourself.
Spouses, you know each other really well.
Anna and I finish each other's sentences a lot.
Well, we just watched a movie the other night and something happened and literally
five seconds goes by and then we both say the same thing on opposite sides of the
room and we go, that was kind of weird.
God knows you better than that.
He knows every hair of your head or every hair that's not on your head.
Hey, I'm experiencing that for myself now.
You see those pictures of people in ministry like, yeah, ministry,
10 years is good.
If you look at my Facebook page 10 years ago, pastor, I had hair.
Lord, help us.
But here's the good news with all of those things going on around us.
The good news is that Jesus didn't ignore that longing.
He stepped into our longing.
That's what Christmas is all about.
It's point number two.
Jesus entered our darkness to fulfill every longing.
Isaiah said a light would shine in darkness.
That light wasn't just a feeling.
It's more than a feeling.
It wasn't just a moment.
It was a person.
Jesus is the light.
Jesus is the hope.
Jesus is the peace.
Jesus is the restoration.
Let's look out Paul puts it in Romans chapter eight, verse 22, for we know that
all creation has been groaning.
We too wait with eager hope.
We were given this hope when we were saved.
But if we look forward to something we don't have, we must wait patiently and
confidently.
Paul says he teaches us that creation itself is groaning.
Humanity is groaning.
Our souls groan for something this world can't satisfy.
There's no gift under the tree that's gonna satisfy you.
There's no thing.
There's no car.
There's no home.
There's no nothing that's gonna be able to satisfy you the way that Christ can.
He's the beautiful gift.
He is the gift.
I love that our Father likes to bless us with good things, but it's not about the
good things.
He is the good thing.
He is the one wrapped in swaddling clothes that came so we can unwrap that beautiful
gift and become who we're called to be.
But we couldn't become who we're called to be if it wasn't for him coming and doing
what only he could do.
And then we receive him into our life and he makes old things new.
He makes dead things alive.
You were dead before he came into your story and chose to breathe life into you.
Oh my goodness.
I think about the first thing that Adam would have done is he would have received
the ruach, the breath of God and then exhaled God literally into creation.
Inhale, Abba, I belong to you.
I wanna do that every day of my life.
I wanna be able to have this much excitement about every day of my life
because I know what Jesus has already done, what he's already accomplished
through his obedience.
We were given this hope when we were saved.
In other words, your soul found its fulfillment the moment you found Jesus.
And everything else is just for the fullness of what he promised.
Christmas is heaven's declaration.
I see your longing and I'm stepping into it myself.
I'm doing what only I can do.
He's the champion of the story.
He's the king that chooses to graft us in to his story.
This is beautiful.
This is such a beautiful gift.
And he does this not from a distance, not through an angel, not through a
prophet, but personally in human flesh.
Jesus chose to put on flesh and dwell among us.
He became like us so he can redeem us.
Are you hearing me?
This is so much more than just a fun few services a month and then we go about our
same old same old.
No, I'm here to wreck your same old same old.
I'm here to take that out of your vocabulary.
Oh, it is what it is.
Change it then.
Do something different.
Oh, I can't.
The only person, no, the only person you have power to control is yourself.
And if you're in Christ, you've been given the spirit of self-control.
Come on.
So if you find yourself saying things like, oh brother, I just couldn't control
myself, you weren't yielded and submitted enough then.
Because the moment you die, he can live through you.
And now it's truly not you that lives, but Christ that lives in and through you.
So you do have the power to control yourself.
You do have the power to control what you allow to come out of your mouth because
you realize that just like your heavenly father who is a creative and created
everything with his words, you have the power to create.
You have the power to take a hopeless situation and make it hopeful because you
choose to believe right.
If you believe right, you'll speak right.
If you got stinking thinking, you're declaring crazy things with your words and
you're waking up going, well, today's just gonna be one of those days.
If we're waking up and we're saying things like, well, today's just gonna be one of
those days or oh, man, this holiday season is just gonna be one of those holiday
seasons, you are prophesying that reality into existence.
Amen.
But if you look in the mirror and go, you know what?
I'm the righteousness of Christ Jesus.
It is not I that lives, but Christ that lives in and through me.
God, today is a gift.
Lord, I thank you that today is a gift.
Would you lead me and would you guide me today, God?
I only wanna do what you are doing, Lord.
I only wanna say what you are saying, Lord.
Let this be a day that you could use me.
Let it be.
And then you see what kind of day you end up having.
The Lord will put you into other people's paths.
Why?
Because he can trust you.
He can trust you with giving them the greatest gift, which is him.
Him and him alone.
Stuff is great, but we need to point people to Jesus.
He's the one that their soul longs for.
He's the one that can truly come in and make all things new.
Point three, Jesus satisfies our deepest needs.
Can you say amen?
Amen.
This is the heart of this message today is that there is no longing in you that
Christ cannot satisfy.
I truly believe that.
Let's look at the titles that Isaiah gave.
He said, wonderful counselor.
He knows the longing of your mind.
He knows your questions.
He knows your confusion.
Your thoughts at 2 a.m.
He's the one who guides comforts and gives wisdom.
If you need a wonderful counselor, there's no counselor like Jesus.
And I'm not against worldly counselors, but if those counselors aren't pointing
you to the great counselor, I have a problem with that.
I'm okay with help.
I'm okay with pastoring.
I'm a pastor.
I'm a shepherd, but it's my job as your shepherd to point you to the great
shepherd.
Your salvation, you doing well in life is not found in me and what I can do for you.
It's found through Christ.
He is the only shepherd that needs to be shepherding your heart.
He's the only one that you truly need to be following.
Pastor Anna and I, we hear this loudly over us, over our church as we go into
2026.
Jesus himself saying, follow me.
Follow me.
What's your plan for 2026?
He's teaching all of you that you need to follow him and him alone.
As we follow him, then people can follow us, but we must be following him before we
can lead anyone.
This season, let it be a season where you choose to just put all the distractions
away and go, God, the best thing I can do with my life is follow you.
Husbands, if you don't have a better marriage, follow him.
Wives, if you want a better connection with your husband's, man, pray more,
love on him more, worship more, bring him into every situation,
every conversation.
He will change everything in a moment.
Isaiah says he's mighty God.
He knows your longing for strength.
When you feel weak, he is strong.
Aren't you thankful?
That when you feel weak, he is strong.
We're not defined by that feeling.
We get to actually declare, let the weak say, I am strong.
Lord, I'm not gonna allow this feeling of weakness hold me back.
I know that I can do all things through you and your strength.
And God, I thank you that as I declare this, and I declare my need for you,
you're gonna show up time and time again.
And you're gonna give me this strength that I need to endure.
You're gonna give me this strength to finish well.
You know what I want people to do is pursue a life of finishing well.
Well done, my good and faithful servant.
I want the Lord to look at me one day and say, well done, my good and faithful
servant.
But I also want him to say, well done.
You loved your wife well.
You loved your son well.
You led your home well.
But first and foremost, you loved me with everything you have in you.
And you followed me.
You encouraged well.
You preached good sermons.
None of that matters on that day.
I just wanna hear well done, good and faithful servant.
How many know, if we wanna hear that, we gotta serve.
We gotta allow him to use us in certain places.
And when we're out and about, and it's uncomfortable, and there's people that
need him.
I love when Todd says this.
He's like, I talk to people all the time.
They say, well, I didn't really feel led to pray for that person, or I didn't feel
led to do this.
And he said, why don't you go to your local hardware store, your fishing store,
you go buy a piece of lead, you put it in your pocket, and then the next time you
wanna feel led to pray for someone, just put your hand in your pocket and feel
a little led and then pray.
Cause we over complicate a very easy gospel.
Sometimes it's gonna be the person out front of the store.
Sometimes it's gonna be the cashier.
Sometimes it's gonna be the random person in aisle six.
Sometimes it's gonna be a mother-in-law.
Sometimes it's gonna be a father-in-law.
Sometimes it's gonna be a neighbor.
Sometimes it's gonna be a stranger.
But if you have him, you have what they are longing for, and you just ask the Holy
Spirit, Holy Spirit, would you fill my mouth with your words?
This Christmas season, God, I wanna be someone that gives you to my family,
to my friends.
Man, what if you know a family member is going through just a lot of stuff,
and you know what?
They don't really wanna take Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to talk about it.
But what if you are intentional with, I'm gonna love them.
I'm going to make them hug me.
I'm going to embrace them.
I'm going to encourage them.
I'm going to, and then all of a sudden, you're going to the holiday season with
expectation of good things to come, and you're like, you know what,
God?
I'm gonna just be the most encouraging family member to my family this season.
And I'm not gonna be on my phone.
I'm not gonna be distracted.
I'm gonna choose to be present in the room, because I believe the greatest thing
a father can give his son, his daughter, is his presence.
His presence, his attention.
Uriah sees when I'm on the couch or when I'm on my chair and I'm on my phone,
he sees it, and he also sees me put it down to engage him and all of his toys
that are filling up my house.
I'm already there, where I'm like, cool, new one in, old one out,
right?
We're gonna bless some folks.
He got this Fisher Price Christmas tree, he loves the thing, but what I'm really
nervous is he's learning to just do whatever he wants to do with that little
Fisher Price tree, so when mommy and daddy put up the real tree, I don't know if he's
gonna go after that one with vengeance, and he's like, I can take the Christmas
balls on my tree and throw them wherever I want.
Can I do that with mommy and daddy's big tree?
Baba, I want you to be present.
I want you, I want all of those longings within you to be fulfilled by Christ and
Christ alone, so that you can point people to the one who's rescued you.
Everlasting Father, I love that, Everlasting Father, he knows your longing
to belong, your longing to be loved, your longing to be valued, the longing to
be cared for, he calls you his, you're his.
You have a Father that wants to spend time with you.
We're gonna bust that lie up this morning that you don't have a Heavenly Father that
is annoyed by you.
He wants to be with you, he wants to hear about your day, he wants to hear about
your dreams, he wants to hear about your longings.
You have a Father that is jealous for you in your time.
He loves you so much, and he's the only one that can fulfill that in you,
and I promise, once you allow him to fulfill those things within you,
I truly, in that moment, and only that moment, is when I truly believe that you
can actually love your wife the way you're called to love your wife.
From a selfless place of I'm being fulfilled by him and him alone,
and this love that I'm receiving from my Father, I now get to lavish on the people
around me, and it's not a love with a hook, it's not, well, you treat me nice,
so I'm gonna treat you nice.
I'm really glad Jesus didn't have that perspective when he was hanging on the
cross.
Well, I'm gonna treat these Roman soldiers the way they treated me.
You want a piece of my mind, well, I'm gonna give you, he could've got off
that cross, and he could've destroyed all of them in a moment.
But he hangs there, and he prays for them.
He intercedes for their souls.
He says, Father, would you not hold this against them?
Would you not look at them as if they're even doing this to me?
Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.
Forgiveness is looking at someone as if they never did the thing.
Father, would you look at these Roman soldiers as if they never whipped me?
Father, would you look at these Roman soldiers as if they never nailed me to
this cross?
Father, look at them as if they never spit on me, because they don't know what
they're doing, they don't know you.
I want that.
I wanna be able to live in that reality where I'm not so controlled by what people
think and say and do.
It's no, God, they don't know who they are.
They only said that thing to you because they don't know who they are.
And we allow those things to control us, and we allow those things to put wedges
and barriers between us and people that God died for.
It's time to crash those walls down this Christmas season.
It's time for us to say, you know what?
I've been waiting and I've been longing for the person to be the bigger person,
for the person to be the one to come to me and ask me for forgiveness, but you know
what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna choose to be the bigger person.
I'm gonna go to my father.
I'm gonna receive that healing that I need from him, and I'm gonna choose to forgive
them as if they never did that thing so that the next time I see them,
the next time I run into them, I'm free.
I'm free, and I'm able to love them.
I'm able to pray for them.
I'm able to look deep into their eyes, and that's the kind of thing that freaks
people out because they don't deserve that.
But here's the truth of the gospel.
Neither do you.
We don't deserve it, yet it was God's plan all along.
Aren't you thankful?
Aren't you thankful that his plan is better than our plan?
We have a longing for peace, and he is the prince of peace.
He knows your longing for calm and the chaos, and he doesn't just give peace,
he is peace.
Everything you long for is found in Christ.
It's not a season, it's not a feeling, it's not a person other than Christ.
This is why we celebrate Christ-ness.
This is why we worship, this is why we adore him.
Have you ever longed for something so deeply that you could feel it physically?
Anybody?
You longed for something that you could feel how it was affecting you.
Sometimes it's a prayer you've prayed for years, a prodigal that you're still
believing for.
Someone that you've been believing for for years and years and years, a friend maybe
you went to school with that you haven't talked to in a long time, an aunt,
an uncle, you have this longing for God to do something.
Maybe it's a healing in your body.
Maybe you've been believing and contending for a physical healing, and you have a
longing for that to manifest.
Maybe you've been longing for a sense of purpose.
There's a weight to longing, but let me tell you, that weight is actually an
invitation.
It's an invitation to encounter.
It's an invitation to your father.
It's an invitation to love.
It's an invitation to hope.
It's an invitation to joy and love.
Longing is a sign that you're made for him.
Every unmet longing points to the one who can meet it.
He doesn't just say, well, maybe if you come to me, I'll give you rest.
He says, come to me, all who are weary, who are carrying heavy weights,
come to me and I will give you rest.
The rest that you need is only found in Christ.
You guys okay?
Christmas reminds us that God doesn't ignore our deepest needs.
Christmas reminds us that God doesn't ignore any of the things that we are
taking to him.
He satisfies them in Christ.
He's not uninterested.
He's not too busy.
Someone in here needs to know that God is not too busy.
He's gonna make time for you.
He's not overwhelmed by your needs.
He moves towards them.
Jesus came because God refused to leave us in our darkness.
He came because God refused to leave our longings unanswered.
Christmas is God saying, I see you.
I see you.
I hear you.
I know you.
I've come for you.
Isn't that beautiful?
And then we have to ask ourselves, how do we respond to this?
Because here's the practical application.
There has to be a practical application to this.
It can't just be a good message that tickles our ears and then we leave the
same way.
There has to be a response.
We have to bring our longings into the light.
Don't hide them.
Don't pretend.
Jesus came into darkness.
He's not afraid of yours.
Anchor yourself in the hope of Christ, not the hope of circumstances.
Hope is not wishful thinking.
Hope is confidence in a person.
We also have to wait with expectation, just like Paul said, not passive waiting.
Not annoyed, frustrated waiting.
Well, is God really who he says he is?
I don't know.
I mean, it's sure been a long time.
It's been five minutes.
It's been 10 minutes.
When these firefighters are gonna get us out of here?
Two hours later.
But it was only two hours later and it could have been eight.
Could have been 10, could have been a whole day.
Elevator could have crashed to the floor.
So thankful, God.
I'm okay with two hours.
But in the moment, you wanna get out of this thing.
And guys, we need to learn how to worship while we wait.
Worship shifts your focus from the longing to the one who satisfies it.
So good.
So I just want us to end with this perspective of God, whatever my heart is
longing for, whatever you came into this room today with, or if you're watching
online and you could relate to one of the things or a few of the things that you
heard me speak on, God is the one that can fulfill that longing.
Maybe your heart has been crying out for peace that doesn't make sense.
I'm here to tell you that the Prince of Peace is here.
Maybe you've been needing a hope shift.
You know the verse that says hope deferred makes the heart sick?
When you break that down, it's hope that's put off to another day.
Makes the heart sick.
You can't afford to put hope off until after the season's over.
Hope is here today.
Hope is here now.
So would you guys stand with me?
I just wanna pray over you.
I want us to get our attention on Christ in this moment because I promise you,
he's the greatest gift.
He's the greatest gift.
So if you need to close your eyes to just put your attention on him, you can.
You don't have to, it's not mechanical.
He can move in the room with our eyes open, I promise you.
But if sometimes we get distracted by what's happening around us, I'd encourage
you just to quiet yourselves right now and just say, God, man, I needed this this
morning.
I needed a fresh revelation, just a fresh perspective.
I believe that the Lord wants to meet some longings today.
I believe that there's people in this room that have been carrying things in silence.
I believe that there's some of you that have been praying for years for something
to change, a son, a daughter to come home.
I think some of you maybe feel like you maybe been forgotten, and I'm here to tell
you that God hasn't forgotten about you.
God is closer to you than you realize.
Our mighty God and savior is here with us today.
He's our everlasting father.
He's the prince of peace, and he knows you, he sees you, he loves you,
and I promise you, he is enough.
So God, as we stand here before you with our hearts open, Lord, we thank you that
you are the king who knows us deeply.
You know our longings, every one of them.
And today we choose to trust you.
God, we choose to put our hope in you, and we wait on you.
God, I ask that you would fill every heart with the light of your presence.
God, let hope arise again.
Let peace settle again, and let faith be strengthened again.
Lord, I thank you for every son, every daughter.
God, if there's anyone in this room that you don't even know why you're here this
morning, maybe it's your first time in church, I can't just look out and assume
that everyone has a great relationship with the Lord, man.
If the Lord is tugging on your heart this morning and you realize that he is your
savior, I believe that's the Lord highlighting you this morning and saying,
would you surrender your life to me?
It's the greatest thing you can do this month is give your life fully to Jesus.
So if that's you and you're having those thoughts, I just wanna lead you.
There's no special prayer.
There's no chapter and verse that says, say this exactly, and you'll be,
no.
It's deny yourself.
It's surrender everything to him.
It's believe that Jesus came and did what only he could do, and you welcome him into
your life.
You believe that he came and died for you.
He died as you.
He was rose to new life so that you could have everlasting life.
And if that's you in this room, I encourage you to say, God, I just give
you my life.
God, I fulfill every area of my heart.
Let no area be untouched.
Lord, I thank you for your forgiveness.
I receive your forgiveness.
Thank you, Jesus, for making me new.
God, thank you for making me alive in you.
Lord, I just celebrate you and all that you've done.
Jesus' name, amen.
And if that's you this morning and maybe you had that moment with the Lord for the
first time, I would encourage you to make your way over to the freedom banner before
you leave this morning and let some individuals pray for you.
I'm gonna ask my prayer team to come forward just in this moment because I
believe that sometimes we walk through things and sometimes we walk through those
things and we feel like alone.
We feel like we're having to endure these things alone and that's not the case.
You're not alone.
You're never alone because God is with you, but God has also surrounded you with
brothers and sisters in Christ to pray with you, to uplift you.
So if you're in this room and you're struggling with anything, man,
anything, physical pain, emotional pain, maybe you have a situation that's going on
that you just don't know how it's gonna work out, I encourage you to make yourself
come up front to just receive prayer with a brother and sister.
So God, I just thank you for what you're doing in this room, Lord.
I thank you for every heart represented.
God, I ask that you would do what only you could do, Lord, I thank you that you
fulfill every longing.
But God, right now, I believe that you're tugging on hearts.
So Lord, just like those firefighters tugged me out of that hole, Lord,
right now, you're tugging on hearts.
You're pulling them in one by one.
And if you feel that tugging, that longing on your heart, I would encourage you to
come up front for prayer.
If you just wanna come up front and just spend some time at the altar, that's
totally fine as well.
So God, I just thank you for what you're doing.
I ask that you would bless it in Jesus' name.
We all said, amen.
We love you guys so much.
Like I said, come forward if you'd like to.
If not, have a beautiful week.
We're excited just to continue to go after Jesus this month.
Thanks for listening to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast.
We hope this message encouraged you and drew you closer to Jesus.
To stay connected, visit us at HarvestChapelPA.com or follow us on social
media at Harvest Chapel PA.
We can't wait to be with you again next week.