Inspiration from the Life of an Ordinary Woman

Inspiration from the life of an Ordinary Woman - Anna from the Bible

Rhonda Stoppe shares practical insights to help you live out the extraordinary life God has planned for you!  (37 minute message)


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Transcript

Rhonda Stoppe [00:00:01]:

So on an ordinary day, my husband decided that we were gonna sell everything to be debt free and live in the country. Now bug the groans. Thank you for the groans. Thank you. And I was like, okay, baby. Whatever you say. Now the back Story on that is we were living in the San Francisco Bay Area, and we were flipping houses. We were, buying a house, and Steve's goal was to be debt free and to moved to a place in the country.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:00:28]:

So he would find a fixer upper, and we would move into it to fix it up because we couldn't afford to pay rent in the Bay Area and Debt mortgage payments. So I would say if you just get someone to clean 1 bathroom and 1 bedroom, I'll move into it with you. And so we kept doing that. And as the house would just be about done, Steve would say, hey, baby. I found another one. And I'd be like, okay. And We would sell that one, and we would take that money and invest in another fixer upper. Now back then, people thought we were crazy.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:00:57]:

Nowadays, we would've had a show. But back then, nobody got it, and everybody thought we were nuts. So one day he comes home, and he's like, it's Time. We have enough equity, and we can move out of the Bay Area. So what had been happening up To that point, we always had been in youth ministry by vocational. Steve always was in construction, and we always Volunteer to serve in youth ministry. And at a church that we were attending in San Jose, their youth pastor had left, and so Steve Was working as the interim youth pastor until they could hire someone else. And we had been praying.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:01:33]:

Steve went to Bible College in Denver back in the day. We've been praying, Lord, if you want us to be in full time ministry, Then we wanna be in full time ministry, so open the door and we'll follow you. So Steve comes home one day and he says, well, The church offered me the position to be full time youth pastor. And my dad's what we've been praying for. Let's do it. And he goes, we can't. There is no way we could afford to live on what they can pay us. We were running up our credit cards, you know, Mercedes payment, boat payment.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:02:00]:

We were using it all for ministry, taking the youth kids out, Water skiing, having people over to our house, having bible studies in our home. But Steve and I both were hit face on. We are praying one thing, and we're living something else. We were praying, we are available, please use us. But the way that we ordered our life, we were not available for the Lord to use us. So that was the catalyst to Steve coming home and saying, I found a place. We can sell everything. We can cash out, and we can live debt free.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:02:32]:

Like and it was still in California, which for me, I'm a California girl. I was born in Southern Cal, and I was raised in the Bay Area. And so I was like, well, at least we're in California. He looking at some strange places all over the United States. And so we got to Livermore, which is where the ranch was located. Well, once you get to Livermore, you drive 45 minutes up to Minds Road to find this little ranch. So it was snowing that day, and we were in our Mercedes. And it was sliding all over the road as we're driving up to this Cute little place.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:03:00]:

And we meet the realtor, and he takes us in his four wheel drive through a gate on a dirt road to this cute little cottage covered with snow on a ranch. And I can see that I'm holding Steve's dream in my hand, And I'm scared. And we go and we look at it. It's just a 1 bedroom little cottage, but lots The potential anybody married to a house flipper? Lots of potential. So we pray, lord, if this is your plan, then we'll follow you. And if it's not, please please close that door. And so we made an offer on contingency that the house that we were in would sell. Of course, it's sold immediately.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:03:41]:

And the next time that we went to look at the property, it was springtime after the snow had melted, And we bought a shack. It was not a cute little cottage. The snow made it look cute and charming, but the walls were plywood. Exterior walls were just plywood. And, it was a 1 bedroom with a toilet and tub in the bathroom, no sink, and we bought a shot. And I cried and He laughed, and he was happy, and I was sad. And we moved into this little shack in the country, and I forgot to tell you we had no power. And I figured you just call the power company and they plug you in.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:04:19]:

We were almost 3 years living on a generator. This was the eighties when you curled your hair with a Curling iron and hot rollers. And I was like, I bought a butane curling iron. I'm pretty sure it saved our marriage. And and I stayed home with the kids while Steve went to work. He still commuted to Pleasanton every day from 5 in the morning till 7 at night. He was in air conditioned office. He was working, and At night, he'd come home to add on to the house.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:04:44]:

We slept on the sofa bed in the living room and gave the only bedroom to the 2 kids we had at Time. And, you know, when you don't have power, you run the generator, but you don't run it like you do the power because you pay for the gas and you run out of gas. So, You know, you don't leave it running well into the night watching late night TV, so we turn off the generator. And when it gets late, you're not tired. Well, let's just say we had a surprise pregnancy with our little one, Kayla. And she, we brought her home from the hospital. Steve was trying so hard to add a master bedroom onto this little house before, we brought her home. But he didn't make it in time.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:05:18]:

So she was in a bassinet next to the sofa bed. And it was a tough season after she was born. I had postpartum. Never had that before, and I didn't even know what it was, and it was an overwhelming season. And that ordinary day that Steve came home and said, hey, I found a place, Changed our lives in extraordinary ways. And maybe you've been there. Maybe you have a story that you can see God's providence in Something later. Well, that's why we wanna make friends with old ladies because we have stories.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:05:48]:

So There was a season. We left California. We planted a church in Austin. We did then we came back, but we came back in 2000. January 1, 2000, we came back and Steve Took the job as the senior pastor for First Baptist Church of Paterson. And this church had been without a pastor for two and a half years that shook it down to a handful of people. You know how that happens when the pastor they can't find a pastor. And we came back from a church we had Granted that was exploding with new believers.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:06:19]:

We had 200 teenagers in our house every Wednesday night. They were coming to Jesus. Steve made over 10,000 hot dogs in 1 year because if you feed them, they Come. And and this church had called Steve for 6 for two and a half years. Every 6 months, they would call and ask him to consider coming to be their pastor Because he had been their youth pastor before we left for Texas. And we said, no. We're staying right where we are. And after two and a half years, Dee said, I'm gonna go check it out.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:06:44]:

I said, I'm not going with you because I don't wanna go. I love Texas, and I love the schools in Texas, and I don't wanna go. But I'm gonna stay home Pray for God to give you guidance because I wanna follow God as you follow him, not me influencing you to do something other than that. And we moved back, and our 1st Sunday was January 1, 2000, y two k. So we moved cross country during y two k. I literally packed a bag of beans, a bag of rice, A case of tuna. I'm like, if the world falls apart, we're not gonna starve to death. Not moving food.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:07:16]:

And some of you are too young to know about Y2K, but read about it. It's was a crazy time. It was the crazy time right before pandemic was the next crazy time. So, you know, nothing new under the sun. We have crazy times. But here's the cool part of that story. A decade earlier, I had followed Steve's dream to be debt free and live in the country. We didn't know the town of Paterson even existed.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:07:41]:

We drove a year and a half back over Mount Hamilton, you know, James Lick Observatory, Windy Switchbacks into San Jose to attend our church there. And after Kayla was born, Steve's like, we have got to buying a church closer to home. And one day, I was coming home from Sacramento, and I'm, I'm gonna come that back way that everybody talks about through that little town of Paterson. And I drove by The church. There was a man in dockers and a collared shirt out pulling weeds. I'm like, that's the pastor. You know? And it was. And I met him, and we started attending that church, never knowing what god had planned.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:08:14]:

We moved to Texas. He was in youth ministry for them working. He'd taken a year off to build our house, and he was able to volunteer as a youth pastor for that church. And he was there for a couple years when we went to Texas. So what's the story about? The story is this, God's providence on an ordinary day set the stage for a decade later, my husband, to accept a position with The church with a very small budget as their senior pastor because we didn't have a mortgage payment. Because we had set ourselves up financially so that when god opened the door, we could say yes. And that was extraordinary. And I love telling that Story.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:08:56]:

Because in the middle of it, I cried a lot of tears. And I told Steve, I am living your dream, buddy. Let me go to work. You stay home, and you do this. And he said, you can't make enough money. I'm like, let me drive. But he wanted to build our house without taking out a loan. So we built it as we had the money.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:09:12]:

So it took a long time to build it as we had the cash. And he worked nights and he worked weekends and he put time in until he got our house to the play place that it is now. And we didn't sell our house when we moved to Texas. If you know anything about leaving California, you can't buy the same house back once you if you decide to come back. And we knew we didn't wanna do that. And even after we had bought some acreage in Texas, and again, he was building a debt free house there, I kept saying, let's just sell the ranch. If we sell the ranch, we could build a great House. And he said, I don't have a piece about it.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:09:42]:

And I'm like, yeah. But we could build a great house with them. I don't have a piece about it. And I've learned to trust that and my husband. And it was because years later, god was gonna call him to pastor this church. I am a firm believer that if you make friends with old ladies, you're gonna hear stories like that. And they're gonna tell of god's faithfulness, And they're gonna tell of his extraordinary providence. And even when life didn't make sense or life was hard, how he takes His plan and makes it so very clear to his servants if they will follow him.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:10:15]:

Maybe you're in the middle of a story that doesn't make sense right now. Maybe you look back at your story, and you can recall god turning an ordinary day into something extraordinary. We talked in our last session, I'm sorry. Remember that Christ is in you, remember that Christ is for you, and remember that Christ what was it? I don't have it up here. Empowers you. Remember that Christ empowers you. And today, we're gonna just talk real quickly about 1 ordinary Great woman that god used to accomplish extraordinary things. And that woman's name is Anna.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:10:53]:

Luke 2 36 to 38 says, now there was 1 Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Finuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age, which means she was an old lady, and had lived with a husband for 7 years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of about 84 years who did not part from the temple, but served god with fasting and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the lord and spoke of him to all those who looked for the redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 636 through 38. So the back Ground story on Anna is she was this ordinary woman who had experienced sorrowful loss. She was married for 7 years, and she had no children. She couldn't get pregnant.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:11:44]:

Maybe she had miscarriages. I don't know. But she did not have any children. And then she was widowed after only 7 years of marriage. She was probably a teenager when she got married because culturally, that would have been it. So if she was 13 or 14 when she got married, she was probably 20 or 21 years Old when she became a widow. So she might have lived as a widow for 63 years. And widowhood meant poverty if you didn't have children to take care of you.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:12:18]:

There was no system to take care of her. And if you're a widow in here, and I know there are some, I know that you understand the deep sense of loss and grief that Anna would have been experiencing. We're gonna unpack Anna's extraordinary story quickly. The first point under Anna is she had an extraordinary hope. Her life reflected her extraordinary hope reflected Extraordinary hope reflected in her extraordinary friendship with Simeon, one of the elder gentlemen that we'll talk about in a minute. Her extraordinary hope was reflected in how she responded to difficult circumstances, and it was restrict reflected in how well She knew God's word. Her friendship with Simeon, she fellowship with him. He was likely one of her friends.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:13:14]:

And she knew Simeon had been told by god that he would not die until he saw the consolation of Israel, till he met the coming messiah. She knew him. And my question to you is do you have extraordinary friendships like that? Do you have friendships that are extraordinary because your friends are grounded in god's word? Because your friends are are looking for the coming of the king of kings. In case you haven't noticed, The the world's going to hell in a handbasket. But know this, the world's not falling apart. The world's falling into place for the 2nd coming of our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And God gives us in scripture what to watch for and we're in the days when god is going to send his son to make all things right. But it's gotta get global.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:14:05]:

It's gotta get I mean, we just went through a global pandemic. Do you realize that's the 1st global thing we've ever gone through? And what has that done? That has invited America and other countries to say, let's enter into a global community to solve these problems in case There's ever another worldwide pandemic. Why is that significant? Because a global mindset is what's going to usher in the antichrist. The world is gonna say, Oi vey. The sky is falling, and he's gonna rise from and say, I've got the answer. And everyone, including Israel, are gonna say, he's got the answer. He's gonna fix it. He knows how to fix this.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:14:52]:

Let's all follow him and do what he says. You're living in an exciting, extraordinary time to be alive. Your life is not just about going bowling with your friends. God's called us in history for this time because there's an urgency, an urgency that there has not been before. And if you study scripture, if you study with the word, God doesn't ask us to blindly believe. He shows us His plan. Our faith is not blind faith. Our faith is grounded on the word of god.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:15:30]:

Extraordinary friendships. I love these scriptures. You can jot them down. Ecclesiastes 4:10. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him who is alone when he Paulson has not another to lift him up. Ecclesiastes 4 11. Again, 2 will lie together, they keep warm. But how can 1 keep warm alone? And Proverbs 27/17 says, iron sharpens iron and 1 man sharpens another.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:15:52]:

So what happens when 2 pieces of iron rub against each other? They get sharper, and they're more effective for what they need to be used for, but sparks fly. When you rub 2 pieces of metal against the other, sparks Well, when we're living in community with each other, when we get bumped, sparks fly. And guess what? When you're living in community with other people And you get bumped, God goes, let me show you what's in your heart, girlfriend. Because out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth speaks. As we get bumped and we get offended and we repeat, peace have they that love thy law and nothing shall offend them, Psalm 119, 165. As we pick up offense, if you're that person that everybody has to walk eggshells around in your home or in your ministry or at church. You're doing it wrong. Because if you're walking in a fence, you're missing the value of living in community with each Because as you get bumped, you become sharpened for the master's you use.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:16:50]:

And as you get bumped, God says, now I'm gonna I'm gonna reveal To you, that resentment that you've been holding on to so you can repent. I wanna reveal to you that anxiety, that fear, that people pleasing tendency that you have. In Mom's Raising Son, there's a section called people pleasing isn't pleasing because it is captivating trying to live up to Other people's expectations, and it will exhaust you. But as we live in community and we get bumped, we can look at, well, look what they did. Look how they made me feel. Look what they made me Day. Look what they made me do. I'm not gonna go to that church anymore because they didn't measure up to my expectation.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:17:23]:

I'll go to that church down the street. Guess what? People go to that church down the street, and they're gonna offend you too. But when you're being washed with the water of the word, great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. When you're offendable, Something's wrong in your intimacy with your savior. Are you a friend that people can trust? You're never gonna misinterpret their actions or pick up an offense because of something they said did or didn't do, are you safe? Are you a godly friend to people, or are you the gossip? Are you the one that people are always a little worried that if I walk away, if I tell her too much, she's gonna tell everybody? Or if she's the one who gossips to you, eventually, she's gonna Gossip about you. And we'll stand on a street corner and say this is an abomination against the Lord and this is wrong, but we won't look at gossip as an abomination which God says, They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another. And if you're gossiping, And no one is gonna wanna follow your Jesus, including your children or your grandchildren. And no one's gonna wanna come to your church if they feel like it's a a place of gossip.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:18:33]:

It has to be a place where they feel safe. I teach a, homeschool co op class. Literally, this is my job Do the ones this is all falling off. I do the class for the, junior high, high school, early Early high school age that are doing online classes. And my my job is they said, can you just come and sit with them to keep them quiet? Because they're having a hard time. They all have their earbuds on us. But one of them said something to the other you laughed like a girl to 1 of the boys. And then one of the other girls said, well, your lab is kind of obnoxious too.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:19:04]:

And I went, woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. Uh-uh. Not in here. In here, it's gotta be a safe place.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:19:10]:

All of your words have to be uplifting. You are not allowed to tear one another down in here. We're not gonna have that in here. And I'm saying that to all of all of us. Let it be a place that's safe. Let it be a place where people can come and know I'm going to be uplifted. I am going to be loved, and I'm not going to fear that people are talking behind my back. Her extraordinary hope was reflected in her Extraordinary friendship.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:19:33]:

It was reflected in how she reacted to difficult circumstances. She drew near to James 48, draw near to god, and he will draw near to you. Hebrews 4 Sixteen says, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may find receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I cannot read today. Page 186 in my book, Real Life Romance, this is a a compilation of love stories that just give you hope. And one of the stories is my kids all my kids love stories are in the back. And Kayla and Esteban are one of my favorite stories. And, Julia, I know you you know that we watched them fall in love But camp, all the years, they were high school sweethearts, and they got married and they had the sweetest love story.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:20:18]:

They're now head of our college ministry. By they're doing a college retreat at Grey Wolf Lodge in January, if anybody at that age wants to go. But they got married, and then they got pregnant, and they were super excited, and they couldn't wait to have this Baby that they had waited for for so long. One day, Esteban took Kayla for a routine ultrasound only to learn that the baby no longer had a heartbeat. With no warning, their little one died in Kayla's womb. The doctor could offer no explanation for the loss, but assured them they could try again. Finding little comfort in the dogs doctor's assurance that they could try again, they went home to wait for Kayla to miscarry. The waiting turned into weeks.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:21:00]:

The 2 tried to continue their responsibilities, but Kayla carried their dead baby in her womb was a constant reminder of their sorrow. And the days dragged on, waiting for the baby to pass was almost unbearable. Steve and I went on a cruise. And, when we came into port, you know how you have your family group text? And so we had our phones turned off. And when we came into port, our phones lit up with our family group text. And it was Kayla, And she was saying, I'm spotting. There's a lot of blood. I'm hemorrhaging.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:21:37]:

And in between those texts were our children. I'm praying for you. My daughter, my son who lives in Hawaii is married to a doctor. She's giving medical advice and praying for her. My daughter who lives in Southern California, do you want me to come? Meredith had just had a baby. I'll come right now. What can we do? Directing Kayla and Steph to trust Christ through this. She ended up in the hospital because the hemorrhaging was so bad, and she lost her baby.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:22:01]:

And we come in port. And my first thought was, we weren't there. Why weren't we there for this? And then my second thought was we can die. They have each other, And they they knew how to support each other. They knew to pray for each other. They knew to give godly counsel. They knew to encourage With loving affirming words, they knew how to give medical advice. Not often do you get a glimpse of what your kids are gonna be like when you're no longer around.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:22:40]:

My website, my trademark is the no regrets woman Because I help you break free from regrets that hold you back. In fact, I have some messages in the back call, breaking free from regrets that hold you back. But in that moment, I could have been so filled with regret that I was not there for my baby girl when she went through this, or I could step out of it and say this was extraordinary That God gave my kids an opportunity to walk through something so painful and to know how to comfort each other and how to keep Their eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith. Kalyn and Stevon have 5 kids now. And, they've had several my I we have 8 grandchildren in heaven. So between my daughters, there's been a lot of loss and a lot of babies that weren't born, but they're with the lord, and we will see again. And I always think about, grandma Eleanor because she didn't get to meet any of her grandkids' kids. And I always kinda wonder if she's getting to Take care of those babies in heaven until we all get there.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:23:40]:

But sometimes our grief is so much That we forget that God takes what is so painful and uses it in extraordinary ways. And his His pain, our sorrow is never wasted if we hold it out to let him make good from it. And just as Anna could have Pulled away and been met. She could've become a prostitute to pay her bills. She was young. She could've totally figured out a way to support herself, Resented God that he didn't let her have any babies. Resented God that her husband died young. And a lot of times we do.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:24:14]:

We get stuck in Right? Either of something we've done or something that god has allowed to happen, and we put our fist and say, that's it. I'm not Knowing Jesus, if this is how he's gonna treat me. And we don't wait long enough for God to say, But what you think is meant for evil, I'm gonna use for good. But Anna pressed into the lord. She pressed into serving him in the temple. She pressed into making friends with people like Simeon. Her extraordinary hope was reflected when even her circumstances were difficult. And then her extraordinary hope was reflected in how well she knew the word of God.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:24:58]:

See, a lot of us just wanna go by our feelings and how I feel in the moment. Your feelings lie to you. And the enemy can deceive you. If he deceived Eve who literally walked with the creator in the cool of the day alongside of her husband every day. And he could get in there and cause her to believe that God was not good because that's how she got he got her to eat up the fruit. If god were good, he just doesn't want you to be god like him. He got her to question. And if we're not so grounded in truth then there's going to be false teachers out there and it's going to sound good.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:25:38]:

And they're gonna name the name of Jesus, and they're gonna tell you to claim it and blame it and blab it and grab it. And when it doesn't happen for you, they're gonna tell you you didn't have enough faith. Try harder. It's your fault that God hasn't healed you yet or God hasn't that's not not the God of the Bible people. The God of the Bible told Paul, no, Three times his apostle, my grace is sufficient for you. I'm not gonna heal you. Because in our weakness, he can use us in great ways. But she knew the word of God.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:26:07]:

She was looking for the messianic expectation. In Daniel 9/24 through 27, it practically set the date for Messiah's His second come or Messiah is coming. Daniel 9/24 to 27. Here's an excerpt from it. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth Of the command to the restore and build of Jerusalem until Messiah the prince, there will be 7 weeks 62 weeks. Anyone who knew scripture knew messiah would soon be coming. Simeon knew that. Daniel described four 183 years from when the decree to restore and rebuild the Jerusalem by Artaxerxes around 444, 445 BC, In a 360 year calendar, the appearance of the messiah, the prince, would happen in 30 AD.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:26:54]:

Do you know when that was? That was the year of Jesus' triumphal entry. See, god doesn't ask us to blindly believe. He goes, here it is. I'm laying out my plans. Trust me. But if you don't know God's word, you're going, What's going on in the world? I mean, even non believers right now are like freaked out. Like, What's going on in the world? Right? And we should know. Oh, god setting the stage for the second coming of Christ.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:27:22]:

Wow. Israel's gonna be wiped off the map. No. They're not. Because Jesus, the King of Kings, is coming back to the Mount of Olives. And Zechariah says that the Israelite people will weep when they see the scars in his hands because they will realize they crucified their messiah. How can you be confident when the world's out of control unless You know the word of God. Oh, I'm just a girl.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:27:47]:

I'll let someone else study the Bible. No, you're a a warrior for Christ. And the sword of the word is your weapon of And the bible calls you to be washed with the water of the word. Your opinions mean nothing. The word of God stands forever. So ask yourself, do you know god's word? Do you understand and recognize his affair? His affair his movement and the affairs of men. Excuse me. I'm trying to record this so I'm not sure.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:28:19]:

Okay. If you've hidden his word, here's some scriptures. Write them down real quick. Psalm 11943, and take not the word of truth utterly out of My mouth. For I have hoped in your ordinances. I love that. Psalm 119, memorize it. I'm I'm trying to memorize the whole chapter.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:28:37]:

Thy word have I hid in my mouth that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, oh lord. Teach me your ways. With my lips, I have declared all the judgments of your Mount, I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts. I will contemplate your ways. I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:28:53]:

Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes that I might see wondrous things from your law. I'm a stranger in the earth. Beg not your commandments from me, my soul breaks with longing for your judgments at all times. Do you long for the word of god like that? Start with Psalm 119. Write it out. Stands up. Pray it back to the lord.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:29:13]:

It will transform your life. When god sends things your way that don't make sense, You have an opportunity to trust him even when it doesn't seem right because God's ways are always right. Her extraordinary hope next, I wanna talk real quick, give it 2 minutes, her extraordinary herald. Is what I've been waiting for. This is the Messiah, and God told me I was not going to die until I saw the consolation of Israel. And in god's providence, he allowed Anna to walk by in that moment To hear that proclaimed by Simeon. God's providence does at work all around us. Get your face out of your phone.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:30:13]:

Pay attention to what god's doing around you. Listen to what people are talking about when you're at the store, when you're at a coffee shop. Be willing to share your Faith was someone who's trying to figure out what is going on in this world. In an instant, she happened upon her friend. And after she heard him, it says in Luke 238 That she proclaimed the extraordinary message for the rest of her life. 2/38 says she spoke of him to all who looked for redemption in Israel. That verb tense signifies continuous action. It literally means that she continually spoke of Jesus to all who were looking for the redeemer.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:30:59]:

Luke calls her a prophetess who proclaims Truth. A woman uniquely devoted to declaring the word of God. In history, it was her turn, and now it's ours. And she was an ordinary widowed woman with no children who the world would have looked at and said she has no significance. And yet, God ordained that she would be an evangelist and that in 21st century, we're still talking about the testimony of that woman And how she spent the rest of her life telling people about Jesus. And let me ask you, do you do that? If Jesus really changed your life, if if you really have met the Messiah like she did, when was the last time you told people about Christ? When was the last time that you said, god, I am kinda scared, but I am willing. Send me wherever you will, and I will offer the hope of the gospel. Show me who you're already drawing, who's losing sleep at night trying to figure out what's going on in the world.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:31:57]:

Sometimes they're at Top of their game. Sometimes they have everything they've lived for and worked on, climbed the corporate ladder for, and it's not enough. And we see them and say they would never want Jesus. Have to find the people that have lost everything. But guess what? The ones that have everything, like my sister, Wasn't enough. Wasn't enough. And they're willing sometimes to listen to the gospel. I'm gonna close with 1, Reading from Moms, Reads, and Sons to Men.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:32:25]:

In 1950, when missionary Jim Elliott decided to leave the safety of America to take the gospel to the native people of the Ecuadorian jungle, Well, his parents were fearful for his safety. Confident that his decision was directed by the lord, Jim wrote this in a letter to his parents. Remember how the Psalmist described children. He said that they are a heritage from the lord and that every man would be happy who had his quiver full of them. And what is a quiver full of but arrows? And what are arrows for but to shoot? So with the strong-arm of prayer, draw the bowstring back and let those arrows fly, all of them, straight at the enemy's host. You don't know Jim Elliott's story, he was a missionary who gave his life for the spreading of the gospel in Ecuador. Are you doing what it takes to prepare the arrows in your quiver? As you apply biblical principles, you can help prepare your children, your grandchildren, the children you teach in youth ministry, children's church. When it's time, pull back the bow string and release those children.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:33:24]:

Imagine tearfully watching them leave your bow. Holding your breath, You observe and you pray as the Holy Spirit, like a mighty rushing wind, sovereignly guides them to the bull's eye so that he might light on fire the generation in which the Lord has ordained that they would live. I can think of no re greater way to send our children out into the world. Can you? We're ordinary women, but in Christ, we're extraordinary. If you have the spirit of the most high god living in you, Think of when Moses finished building the tabernacle in the wilderness. And remember when it was finally done, what did God do? He sent his Shekinah glory to fill the Holy of Holies. Remember that? And they all stood around watching it. You're kind of thinking Indiana Jones movie right now.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:34:11]:

I know you are. But just think what they saw was this mighty rushing, holy spirit, converge on the holy of holies. How amazing that must have been to observe. And yet, Means that I used to be in temples, now I tabernacle in you. And that spirit of the most high God has come to live in you if you are saved, if you are a A born again believer. Don't lose the awe of that. And God didn't just save you so you could be happy. I know that's what you'd like to believe, but that's not why he saved you.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:34:53]:

He saved you so you could be holy, so that he could entrust you in history for this time to live in a manner worthy of your calling, To shine so brightly the love of Christ, that your ordinary life will become an extraordinary testimony for Christ. For Christ. And if you live like that, I promise you will have no regrets. Let's pray. Everybody just please bow your head for a moment. If there's anybody in this room that needs to know how to know Jesus, and everybody's eyes His eyes are closed. I'm not even looking. I'm the the leadership of this body can look around.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:35:30]:

If there's anyone here here that's like, I don't know that I know Jesus like that. I don't know that I have ever given my heart Jesus like that. Let today be the day of salvation. The bible says, do not harden your heart because Satan will come and pluck Away this message. And right now, if your heart is beating so strong and you are feeling so the desire to give your heart to Christ, do not delay. Do it right now. Repent of your sins and ask Jesus to be your savior and lord. Confess him as your lord and then tell somebody, raise your hand, talk to somebody in this or come up afterwards and talk to Julia or one of her helpers because today is the day of salvation.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:36:10]:

And for those of us that have just Lived in mediocracy, apathy, status quo, doing what we know how to do for Christ, But maybe not saying, lord, I'm willing to take a step of faith if you want me to. I'm willing to do something that scares me if you'll do it through me. I was Scared when we moved into the middle of nowhere, and yet god had a plan. And it's the same god that you serve. Let today be the day you're willing. Holy father, I thank you for this message. I thank you for Anna. This woman's story still continues on long after She has left planet Earth and is just worshiping at your throne.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:36:50]:

I pray that be the story of us that as after we're gone, that there will be families, Children, friends that have a story to tell about 1 ordinary woman whose extraordinary love for Christ Impacted them in a way that changed them for the kingdom of god. Thank you so much, father. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks,