"Wait"

December 29, 2024

FBC Baxley

am service

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Welcome radio and online guests…

*It’s ok if you’re broken, unfaithful, lost, we are too and we are here seeking God’s will and way and plan.

We are all prodigals here…

Some rescued….Some Not..

All Loved…

*Acts 4:12 (repeat)

*John 3:16

Sermon Title: “Wait

Scripture Passage: Isaiah 40:27-31

27 “Why do you say, O Jacob,

and speak, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my right is disregarded by my God”?

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.”

PRAY

Three Points:

The Preparation of Silence

The Faith of Silence

The Impact of Silence

Imagine for a moment that your phone goes dead. Not just for a day or two but for 400 years.

No texts, no calls, no updates. Nothing.

That's essentially what happened between the Old and New Testaments.

God, who had regularly communicated with His people through prophets, went silent.

Now, you might be thinking, "That sounds terrible. Why would God do that?" Great question.

Let's unpack this.

First, it's essential to understand that God wasn't absent during this time.

He was setting the stage for the greatest plot

twist in history - the arrival of Jesus.

Think of it as the ultimate cliffhanger.

1. The Preparation Of Silence

The silent times of life may cause us to wonder if God is really involved in this life.

However, we need to remember the words of Jesus who said:

“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” John 5:17

Just because I cannot hear or see God working, I can still know that he is working.

Sometimes, God's silence is actually His preparation.

During these 400 years, a lot was happening behind the scenes.

The Greek language spread throughout the known

world, creating a common language that would later help spread the Gospel.

Roman roads were built, making travel easier for future missionaries.

And the Jewish people, despite facing persecution, held onto their faith and the promise of a coming Messiah.

It has been said, “God Is Never Late; He's Seldom Early; He's Always Right On Time”.

Toby Mac…”May be midnight or Mid day, Never Early, Never Late, He will stand by what He claims…..”

The Apostle Paul would drive that point home to the Christians in Rome when he wrote:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6

Did you catch that? “...at just the right time.”

The best we can do in our times of silence is to trust that at just the right time, God will act.

We can trust that God may be preparing us or possibly preparing someone else or something else to make his next move more effective.

During that 400 years of silence, God’s people would cling to the words of the Torah…or the Old Testament as we know it.

Maybe, in the silence, they would remind themselves of what the prophet Isaiah taught them about the mystery of

God’s ways.

“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 ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah

55:8–9

We can’t think of God in human terms… we would think a pause or wait means idle or lazy or…

We often experience seasons of waiting and silence in our lives.

Instead of seeing these as times of abandonment, we

can trust that God may be preparing us for something greater.

What might God be preparing in your life right now?

2. The Faith Of Silence

I believe it was Saint Tom Petty who said, “The waiting is the hardest part.”

While he may not have been a saint, he was

right.

Waiting is tough, and waiting on God challenges our faith.

This period teaches us an important lesson about faith.

Faith isn't just believing when everything is clear, and God feels close.

Genuine faith is trusting even when God seems silent.

It's believing that He's working even when we can't see or

hear Him.

The writer of Hebrews describes faith this way:

Now, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were

commended for. Hebrews 11:1–2

**The less we hear, the less we see, the more we need our faith.

The heroes listed in Hebrews 11’s “Faith Hall of Fame” were

commended because they had faith even though everything wasn’t right in their lives.

The end of the chapter says:

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. Hebrews 11:39

Genuine faith thrives in the absence of evidence.

The silent times are not only the testing times but the growing times of our faith. The silence stretches our faith.

When no prophets brought a fresh word to them, God’s people would cling to the words they had, possibly leaning on

David's words from Psalm 56.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can

mere mortals do to me? Psalm 56:3–4

When we face silence in our spiritual journey, it can be a time of testing and growing our faith.

**Are we willing to trust God even when we don’t see immediate answers?

Think back on a time when you felt God was silent.

How did you choose to respond?

3. The Impact Of Silence

The impact of waiting for something is keenly evident when we hit December 1st.

Oh sure, the little treats you get out of your advent calendar may satisfy your sweet tooth, but each day, you realize you are one day closer to Christmas.

The anticipation builds and builds until countless children lay in their beds on the night of December 24th, unable to sleep

even though they have counted all the sheep on God’s green earth!

It seems possible that God could have been using the 400 years of silence to build anticipation.

The silence made the arrival of Jesus all the more powerful!!

After 400 years, God broke His silence through His Son, Jesus.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only

Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14

This was the climax of God’s redemptive plan—a moment that changed everything!

Anyone who has had a child born into their family understands this.

You are waiting in the waiting room or waiting for someone to call and let you know everything is alright.

The longer the wait, the more powerful the impact.

SOmeone said…In this case, the world had been waiting since

we lost our membership to the Garden of Eden club.

Paul used that illustration to help us understand the challenge of waiting we experience today as believers:

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our

adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” Romans 8:22–23

Paul seems to be saying that something is coming that will be so powerful that when it falls on us, it will envelop the

whole earth and glorify it along with us.

This is a renewed, restored, redeemed reality.

We will finally and fully be “conformed to the likeness of the Son” (Rom. 8:29).

We will be as perfectly holy as Christ and as dazzlingly beautiful as he is.

You see, this baby Jesus, the resounding end to the 400 years of silence, didn’t just come to pay for our sins and repair our relationship with God.

He set in motion a redemption plan that will eventually affect everything.

So, just as God’s people waited for him to show up, we now wait for his glory to be made complete in all his creation.

How do we find comfort in waiting?

Maybe, like those who long ago waited during the silence, we can hold on to the words we find in Lamentations.

“The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the

salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:25–26

The arrival of Jesus reminds us that God’s ultimate communication is His love for us.

In our lives, we can look forward to how God will break through our silence with His presence.

What is one way you can prepare your heart to recognize

God’s work in your life today and in the new year?

Right now, in your life, you may feel like you have waited and waited and waited.

It may seem like it has been 400 years since you heard from the Lord.

Take heart; an answer is coming.

Cling to the worlds of David in Psalm 27.

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be

strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:13–14

Phil. 1:6

As we reflect on the 400 years of silence, remember that God is always at work, even when we can’t see it.

Embrace the waiting, trust in His preparation, and look forward to the incredible ways He will reveal Himself in your life.

Just as the silence sets the stage for the greatest message of hope, so too can our silent seasons lead us to profound encounters with God.

PRAY

Invitation

“Are you born again?”

Is your name written in the Lambs Book of Life?

“Have you surrendered/repented to Jesus?