Dharius Daniels - Tis' The Season For Favor

Alright, well, listen, I just have a little Easter speech for you today—a little Easter speech on Christmas. We’re in a series called «Tis the Season,» and I’m telling you now, our ability to successfully accomplish our purpose is tied and tethered to our ability to discern seasons. Solomon says to learn from the ant, who doesn’t act like it’s summer when it’s winter. Does that make sense? And who doesn’t act like it’s winter when it’s summer? There are times when God will cause and call people to announce to us that a season has changed. There’s a word I want to share this morning, and it can be found in the good news about Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1, Verse 26, which says this: «In the month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. 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 troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be, but the angel said to her, «Don’t be afraid; you have found favor with God.»

I want to stop reading right there. I want to talk from the subject for our time together: «Tis the Season for Favor.» I’m trying to find people! See, you got it, Tony! Listen, faith takes personal possession of God’s promises. Got me? So when a promise is released, faith says, «Oh, that’s mine.» When we say things like, «I receive it,» we’re saying, «If nobody else does, I’m going to take personal possession of that promise for my life.» So, I’ll say it one more time and see how your faith responds: «Tis the Season for Favor.» There it is! There it is! There it is, family! We are coming to the conclusion of a season on the Christian calendar known as the Advent season. The word «Advent,» I teach you this every year, has roots in a Latin word, «adventus,» which simply means «coming.» So, the Christmas season is designated to celebrate the coming of our Christ.

I don’t know about you, but I believe I have some people in that chat and some people in this room who are glad He came! Listen to me, because when He comes in, some things have to go out. Is there anybody watching, anyone in this room who can look back over your life and recall some things that had to go out when He came in? Because when He comes in, He never comes in alone. You want to talk about Santa Claus? You want to talk about a bag? He brings a bag with Him, filled with blessings that help us handle the burdens in our lives! It’s the coming of Christ; it is the Christ Mass!

Although this season—joy to the world, the Lord has come—should be a season, as Pastor Shemitah mentioned, that’s filled with joy and peace, it is often, though, infested with chaos and crisis. Instead of sensing peace, let’s keep it real. I said, can we keep it real? You have entered into a no-cap community right here; it is! Instead of sensing peace, many people are often, during this season, chronically crushed by pressure. People are not feeling peace; they’re feeling pressure, pressure, pressure to meet demands that are often unhealthy, illogical, unbiblical, and unrealistic. Pressure! Pressure to get something for everyone without disappointing anyone. Pressure! Pressure to make multiple visits to multiple homes with limited time. Pressure! Pressure that comes from extra expenses without having extra income. Pressure! Pressure to eat food cooked by people you’re not eating from, baby! Huh? I’m not hungry! See, come on, let me go to this side over here! Let me preach to the camera! You’re walking in, «Who cooked that? Oh, I don’t want it!» I don’t know, but you know I’m going over here, but I’m going to eat before I go, so somebody say pressure! Pressure!

Let me see, this is really the 11:30 service, but I think some people in the chat are going to feel me here. This really—I would make this point at 11:30, but we have a few 11:30 people in here, and I know they’re in the chat, so I’m just going to say this for them because I know it’s not for y’all: pressure because you picked up somebody during cuffing season, and now you have to buy something during Christmas! Pressure everywhere we turn! Pressure in the grocery store! Pressure in traffic lines! Pressure trying to balance budgets! Pressure! As opposed to this being a season where we experience extraordinary peace, many of us are experiencing unusual pressure. I am telling you, the only way to manage the grind of this season is through the gift of our Savior. You see, our Savior is a gift, but He also brings gifts with Him. So, we need to look not only at the gift He is but also the gifts He brings. Because when you get Him, you get what comes with Him! He’s not just a Prince; He is the Prince of Peace! So, when you get the Prince, come on, you can get some peace in this season of pressure! I want you to know that your Prince is a peacemaker, and He will make peace with anything and everything that’s disturbing your peace. He will arrest that which is arousing your anxiety. It doesn’t have to be cool, calm, and copacetic around you as long as you’ve got the Prince in you; the Prince of Peace in you will give you a peace that passes…