When God Interrupts Your Plans | Phil Kniesel

One word can change the direction of a life. In this Christmas message, Pastor Phil looks at the moment Mary said yes to God and how that single act of trust became part of a story far bigger than herself.

 Through Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel, we see how God often interrupts ordinary life with divine purpose. Her yes was not based on comfort, certainty, or control, but on trust in a God whose promises never fail. This message invites each of us to consider what God may be asking us to say yes to today.

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Transcript

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- Hey, this is Phil Kal, lead pastor at Hope City Church. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. My prayer is that this helps and encourages you, gives you some practical ways to live out your faith and ultimately fills you with hope. Enjoy the message.- There's one word used regularly in our vocabulary, and when it's used, it can have profound impact on our life. It can change trajectories, it can open new doors, it can alter the future. That word is yes. It's amazing how one yes can literally change everything for you. One, yes to a job, one, yes to a new opportunity. One, yes to a relationship, one, yes to a step into the unknown. One, yes to a move that was us 20 years ago moving to Edmonton for a position at this church. We had no clue what we were getting into what lay ahead. We just knew that God was leading and directing our steps to this city and to this church. And 20 years ago, no one other than God knew what was in store. But it required us to say yes, yes, we will go. Yes, we will move to a place where we don't know people. Yes, we will uproot our family and leave family. Yes, we will engage with ministry in the context of this amazing church and hope city. We've never looked back. I'm so grateful that we did. I'm so blessed that we did. I'm so moved that we did. We have seen and experienced things we never have had we not said yes. And so I'm wondering, is God calling you to a next? What do you need to say yes to? We're into our second week of our series entitled The Christmas Story, where we're looking at the hope of Christmas and God's purposes for humanity by sending Jesus and as it was back then. So it is today. Jesus came to bring hope to the world and it seems more than ever our world needs some hope. I mean, the senseless violence we've experienced in the last 24 hours, both in the States and in Australia, is both heartbreaking and sad. We need the peace and the hope that only God can bring. And this was God's plan. He sent Jesus to reconcile a sinful world back to himself. Nothing we could do would make us right with God. In fact, that's what's so different from other religions outside of Christianity. They focus on what we need to do to become enlightened or accepted or right before a deity. But God in his love gave his son Jesus in the form of a baby to begin his plan of reconciling the world back to himself. Jesus came to provide humanity with a glimpse of who God was and what he was like. But he also went to the cross to be the sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins and to build that bridge back to God for all of humanity. Sin is what separated us from God. And Jesus came to fix this. And so at Christmas we remember that we celebrate that and we're thankful for that. And here's the thing, God didn't just do this on his own. He started this through everyday regular people who offered him their yes. It's amazing how one yes can literally change everything for you. And so today I wanna take you to Mary, the mother of Jesus, specifically to the encounter where she found out all that was gonna happen in regard to Jesus's birth. I wanna take you to the moment where her, yes, changed everything. She's likely around 14 to 16 years old, living in total obscurity, planning a simple future with her fiance Joseph. And suddenly an angel by the name of Gabriel shows up the New Testament writer Luke, who was both a doctor and a historian, carefully studied and chronicled the life and times of Jesus. And he captured this moment in his book. So Luke chapter one, verse 26 says this in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy. So I just want you to know, Elizabeth was Mary's cousin and she was also the mother of John the Baptist, someone who had a major role to play in preparing the way for Jesus. But we read in the sixth month of her pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. And I just want you to see what Luke is doing. I'm gonna keep reading, but he's summarizing historical prophecy into a very succinct sentence. He's referencing Nazareth, a town in Galilee. 700 years earlier there was a prophet by the name of Isaiah who wrote these words. Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress in the past. He humbled the land of Zein and the land of Naftali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations. There it is. By the way, the sea beyond the Jordan Galilee was the northern part of Israel, which was the old territory of the tribes of Zebulon and Naftali. And Luke is saying, what I'm about to tell you was foretold a really long time ago and it has happened. So God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee to a virgin pledge to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. I'm gonna pause there as well. Recognize that those facts were also fulfillment of prophecy. Throughout the Old Testament, God consistently said that the Messiah would come from the Davidic lineage. Over 1000 years earlier, God made this promise to King David. He said, when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever, his being David's kingdom. In the Psalms, God reiterates to Israel that very same promise. And Isaiah says it this way, A chute will come up from the stump of Jesse. Now Jesse was David's father from his roots, a branch will bear fruit. Notice the word branch, capital B. That's in reference to Jesus. On top of this, both Mary and Joseph were descendants of King David. It's also why Jesus at times is called the Son of David. So in two sentences, Luke is packing in years of prophecy to give proof that what was spoken was true, that it all ties together and it happens. So let's read on the Virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, greetings, you who are highly favored, the Lord is with you. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, do not be afraid. Mary, you have found favor with God. You'll conceive and give birth to his son and you're to call him Jesus. He'll be great and will be called the son of the most high. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father. David, there's the Davidic lineage reference and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end. How will this be? Mary asked Since I am a virgin, the angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come on you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative is going to have a child in her old age and she who is said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail. Okay, so this incident with Gabriel and Mary is the culmination of what God said centuries earlier would happen. And Gabriel underscores this when he says God's word will never fail. And friend, maybe you just need to hear that today. No word from God will ever fail. So whatever is going on, whatever is in front of you, whatever journey you're walking through, remember God's word doesn't cannot, will not, is impossible to fail. And that means friend, you can trust him. That means you can depend upon him. That means he sticks closer to him, brother. That means he's your source of strength. He's your shield, your provider, your hope, your sustainer, your God. The word of the Lord stands for forever. And so all this happens. And what does Mary say? I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled. Then the angel left her. After all is revealed. Mary says, yes, not maybe not. Let me pray about this in a few months. Now can you circle back to me after tax season? Just yes. Now I know this was part of God's plan for the world. I know God is sovereign and in control, but Mary still said yes. And here's the thing, God always works through people who offer him their yes. And so let me ask you again, friends, what do you need to say yes to? I want us to walk through this moment in detail and examine everything that went down in Mary's life for her to arrive at this point at her. Yes and I, I just believe it gives us some insight into how God calls each of us into something next. So Gabriel, the angel appears and we read that Mary was greatly troubled and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. Encounters with angels weren't an everyday occurrence back then, just like they aren't normal today. And so this would've been startling for Mary. And notice her yes, begins with a divine interruption. She's not praying at the temple, she's not seeking some kind of spiritual encounter. She's planning a wedding. She's doing everyday life in Nazareth. One of the disciples that Jesus called later on in his life to follow him is a guy by the name of Nathaniel. And when he finds out that Jesus came from Nazareth, he questions, can anything good come from Nazareth? It was a forgotten town. It was insignificant. And God comes and interrupts Mary's plans. He interrupts her assumptions and her understanding of how life is supposed to go. Her plan was to marry Joseph. Her plan was to have a great life with him, to raise a family, support him in his carpentry business. Her plan was all figured out. But then God interrupts and friends, that's usually how God works. He breaks into our every day and interrupts our plans to bring his plans to the surface. And this isn't the first time we see God do this. Throughout scripture it's evident with different people that God called Moses was interrupted while tending sheep. David was interrupted while watching his father's flocks. Peter was interrupted while fishing. Paul was interrupted. While persecuting Christians, God, he broke into the everyday and interrupted plans to bring his plans to the surface. And for Mary, this troubled her. That word from the Greek means agitated or or a little stirred up. It means to be caught off guard. God's invitations usually begin with an interruption of our normal, predictable, manageable life. And it's not to scare us, but it's to shift us. And it might be a conversation you weren't expecting. It might be a closed door that surprised you. It might be a burden you can't shake, an opportunity that scares you, news that doesn't fit into your plan. And often when this happens, we're disturbed, we're caught off guard. Not because we don't love God, but because in He interrupts our version of control. And control for all of us is one of the hardest things to truly let go of Proverbs. A wisdom book in the Old Testament says it like this, many are the plans in a purpose in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purposes that prevail. And we see those words. So evidently in the life of Mary, she experiences this divine interruption. And I want you to notice what happens next. Before Gabriel tells Mary what she will do, he says, greetings you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Before Gabriel tells her what she is to do, he tells her who she is. God affirmed identity before assigning responsibility. Mary, you are highly favored and the Lord is with you. Her favor isn't earned, it's given. What is being asked of her isn't based on her qualifications, it's based on God's presence and his determination of who she is. God affirmed identity before signing responsibility. And once again, scripture shows us this pattern. In the Old Testament, there was a guy by the name of Jeremiah and it says he was known before he's formed in the womb. Gideon is called a mighty warrior. And he's called that while he's hiding out in fear. Jesus hears, you are my beloved son. Before his public ministry, God affirmed identity before assigning responsibility. And I think so many times when God calls us to something, we downplay our identity. We often disqualify ourselves before God ever does. We say things like, well, I'm not ready. I don't know enough. I'm not spiritual enough, I'm too broken. I don't think I could ever do that. You know Paul, he's a New Testament writer. He actually flips that script. He's writing to the Corinthian church, to Christians there. And he says, God chose the weak things in the world to shame the strong again. He says, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Before you ever say yes to God, may you know who you are in him. God's calling or next in your life doesn't depend on your strength, your capabilities, or even your smarts. It depends on your understanding of who he says you are. See, Mary is in favor of because she's impressive. She's favored because God is with her. And whatever God may be calling you to friends, listen, it doesn't begin with your capabilities. Remember God is with you. And that it begins with your identity. One commentator actually said it this way, before Mary ever carried Jesus in her womb, she carried the presence of God in her life. So know who you are in Christ. Know your identity. I mean right from the start of the Bible we read that God created male and female. He formed us in the womb. He knows our days. He calls you his child. He says, you're fearfully and wonderfully made. God affirms identity be before assigning responsibility. And I actually believe that's why identity is such a big thing, that the enemy of our souls is going after these days. If he can confuse people of who God has made them to me to be, if he can confuse the core of who they are, whether it's mentally, physically, sexually, he can then keep them from the calling that God has on their life. Friend, listen, in Christ you are chosen in Christ, you are forgiven in Christ, you are redeemed in Christ, you are accepted, you are saved, you are restored. You are new in Christ, you are free. You are whole. You are complete in Christ, you are righteous in Christ, you are victorious in Christ, you are his may you know who you are in Christ. See Mary's yes, began with a divine interruption, with God affirming identity before assigning responsibility. And next in this process of her saying Yes, we see that faith doesn't require full understanding, just full trust. So Mary is listening to Gabriel and he says, okay, you're gonna have a baby. And she's like, I'm gonna have a baby. How will this be? I know how this works. Okay, I'm still a virgin. How do I give birth to a child? Now listen, this isn't doubt on Mary's part, it's discernment. She's not rejecting the word from the Lord. She's seeking clarity and she gets the answer. The Holy Spirit will come on you. And the power of the most high will overshadow you. This declares the divine conception. God's supernatural action. The Holy Spirit common upon Mary signifies divine power and divine presence. And the word overshadow indicates God's protective hand almost like a cloud, ensuring purity and shielding the divine conception from See, Mary asked the obvious yet honest question, but she wasn't afraid to go there. She wanted clarity. How can this be? Faith is not the absence of questions. It's choosing to trust even when the questions remain. And after this encounter. Think about it. I'm sure Mary was still thinking after Gabriel left, let's see if this is actually gonna happen. And then at some point she would've noticed a child growing in a room and that God's words were true. See, when God calls, it can lead into something that doesn't make sense yet into something that doesn't fit our timing yet, doesn't match our resources yet, doesn't align with what feels safe or logical. Yet Mary didn't have all the answers, but she was willing to trust the one who did. Faith doesn't require full understanding. It requires full trust. And we read in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, a definition of faith along those lines, it says Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Our yes to God is not based on our ability or capability to see all that lies ahead. It's based like Mary on our trust in Him, our faith in him. Friends listen, you won't understand everything, but can you fully trust the one who does? In fact, that's why the angel says those words I camped on earlier, for no word from God will ever fail. God's words can be trusted. God's words can be taken to the bank. God's words are reliable, they are proven. And God's words are right here in this book, the Bible. You wanna know God's will and God's best for your life. Read what he says. Follow what he says. Live like he says. And just so you know, at Hope City, we believe that the Bible is God's word. And so if he said it, we trust it, we believe it and we depend on it. After her divine interruption, after God affirming identity, before assigning responsibility, after her understanding that faith doesn't require full comprehension but full trust we see that God works through a fully surrendered yes. And Mary's yes involved total surrender, not just partial obedience. Listen to what she says again. She says it this way. I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled. Amen. I'm gonna do what God's asking me to do. May all that God has said be fulfilled. I wanna live this out. I wanna serve God through the calling in my life. I surrender all and recognize the weight of what this meant. It meant possible rejection from Joseph. It meant possible social shame. It meant misunderstanding. It meant danger and a culture with an unwed pregnancy. Mary, she understood the cost, yet she fully surrendered. And I believe it's because she knew that God was in it and because God was in it, because God was leading, because God was asking. She said, I'm gonna fully surrender without any fear here. And that's the only way God's plan can work in our lives when we fully surrender ourselves to him. Not partial surrender, not one foot in and one foot out. When we're all in for what God is asking us to do. And all in looks like us saying, God, I trust you, God I depend upon you. God I'm fully yours. And this is the posture that God can work best with. It's saying, I don't know what all this means, but I know that I can fully trust the one who does. And scripture shows us people who did that time and time again, Abraham leaves his hometown without knowing where's he's going. Ruth leaves her people behind, doesn't know what lies ahead. Isaiah says here my send me. But he does know where he is going. Individuals that said, okay God, I'm in. I surrender all and I'm gonna trust you with the rest. What is God asking you to do? What do you need to say yes to? Where do you need to step out? Do you need to say, here am I send me? And then you trust that he has a plan. See, sometimes we wanna follow God's plan, but we offer conditional yeses. Okay, God, I'll follow if it's comfortable, if I, if I still have another option here, if it doesn't cost too much. One author actually said partial obedience is still disobedience. But surrendered obedience releases God's power. And here's what we all know because we have the advantage of reading the end of the narrative. Mary's yes becomes part of a story way bigger than herself. Her yes doesn't just bless her, it impacts generations. She says it herself After her encounter with Gabriel, she goes into a worship time with the Lord. And she says this, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. Now, some lanes of Christian belief have used this to almost deify Mary and make her an object of worship. That's not what this is saying. Mary was blessed because she agreed to come along God's plan of redemption for all of humanity. Because she said yes, she becomes the doorway through which God enters the world. And think about it, even after saying yes, she didn't see immediate fruit, she would watch Jesus grow up and be misunderstood. She would watch him suffer. She would stand at the foot of the cross and mourn. However, she would also then experience the resurrected Jesus. Sometimes our yes doesn't see immediate results. Sometimes those results only matter eternally. And like Mary. What is true about each of us following God's call on our lives is that our yes always releases a greater story because every act of obedience has a ripple effect. Someone's transformation could be tied to your yes, someone's healing could be tied to your yes. Someone's faith journey could be linked to your yes. And I love what Paul says. He says, let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. See, Christmas reminds us through the yes of Mary God's plan and God's purposes prevailed. He's sovereign, he is in control. This was planned long before Mary, but Christmas illustrates that God uses people to accomplish what he wants to do in this world and friend. That means God wants to use you. He's inviting you into something. What do you need to say yes to? It might be a relational ask. Maybe you just need to forgive someone to initiate that conversation you've been avoiding to reconcile with someone. It could be a spiritual ask. Maybe you need to say yes to following Jesus. Take the next step of baptism, start serving or trusting him with your resources. Maybe your yes is taking a job embracing that calling, planting something new, walking across the street. Maybe it's trusting him with something that scares you. Letting go of control, releasing your timeline or opening up your hands to the unknown. I mean think about it. Even when Jesus called his disciples, none of them could see the whole picture at the moment, what they were saying yes to felt small. All he said was follow me. And what it became was life altering and identity. Reshaping a simple yes, change everything for them. And a simple yes could change everything for you.'cause the Christmas story isn't just something we admire, it's something we are invited into. God still asks us to take steps, steps to trust him and steps to be used by him. So friend, what do you need to say yes to? Where is God nudging you? What interruption is he using? Where do you need to affirm his identity in you? Where do you need to fully trust them? And where do you need to fully surrender? Chances are God is calling you to take a step. May you like Mary say, I'm the Lord's servant. Let your word to me be fulfilled. May your next begin with you saying yes. I'm gonna ask you to stand if you are able to. I'm gonna close in prayer and maybe just with your head bowed and eyes closed right now, I wanna ask you just to consider these questions. What is God asking of you? What have you been putting off? Where have you been stalling? What is holding you back? Where do you need to step out in faith? Let me pray. Jesus, I thank you. I thank you that there's so much relatable content in your word because they were people just like us. And I thank you from the example of Mary that we have that when you come and call us to something and invite us to something, Lord, when we say yes, we know that we can fully trust and depend upon you. And so God, today, I pray for my friends, whatever it is that you are nudging them toward Holy Spirit, I pray that you speak. I pray that they have confidence, that they have assurance and that they have a boldness. I pray that they will walk in the fullness. I trusting you, God speak your clear identity over their lives. I pray that none of them buy into the lies of the enemy and they know who they are in you. Christ, I pray that they may know that there's a God who has created them fearfully and wonderfully and you are nudging them, empowering them, equipping them to annex. And so may they follow in that God, may they not fear saying yes to you. May they trust you with their heart, soul, strength and mind. And so God, you know the steps that you're nudging them towards. And so today I pray for faith to arise in my friends. I fear for confidence to arise. I pray that even though they can't see the end of the road, they trust you with the first step. And so God, may you just speak that. May you encourage that. And may you admonish that by your spirit in their lives. You know, maybe you're joining us on one of our campuses online. And your yes is to finally surrender your life to Jesus, to finally say, I believe in you and all that you are. And I wanna make you Lord and leader of my life. And if that's you, I'm gonna pray a prayer that helps you put into words the beginning of your life with Jesus. And why don't you just pray along with me? Jesus today I see my need for you. And I thank you for going to the cross. I thank you for dying, for my sins, for rising and offering me life and hope both now and forever. And so today I believe in my heart that you are Lord. And I believe that God raised you from the dead. And I confess with my mouth that you are Jesus and Lord. And so help me to follow you all the days of my life. Help me to know what it means to trust you. And I wanna say yes to you Jesus. And I thank you for the opportunity to do this. And God, I pray over every individual, every couple, and every family. I ask that as they go into this week, may they experience the wonder of God with us. Emmanuel, may they experience the wonder of what it means that Christ came down and and the hope that provided and the joy and the peace that gave us. And Lord, I pray as you are nudging them two steps forward, may they be men and women who confidently in you say, I will trust you and I will say yes to what it is that you are calling them toward. And so I pray this in the powerful and wonderful name of Jesus. Amen. You know, if you prayed that prayer of surrendering your life to Jesus today, can I ask you just to tap the dis back uh disk in front of you on the seat backs or if you're online, there's a QR code that you can look up there. We'd love to get a digital booklet inside of your hands and it talks a little bit more about knowing and following Jesus. And it's also our way of trying to get to know you in this church. If you're joining in the house here at Millwoods and you want prayer over anything, we're gonna have a prayer team right down here at your front left after the service. They would love to pray over and for you before you leave. I just wanna speak a blessing over you. Hope city, the Lord bless you, and the Lord keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you. And the Lord be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards you and the Lord give you peace. Love you. Thanks for being in church today. Have an incredible week. God bless you guys.