Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Believing God for Mighty Things | Robert Madu | He Will Be Called: Part 2

Episode Date: December 14, 2025

What happens when your circumstances contradict what God says? You feel forgotten but He says you're favored. The promise seems impossible but He says it's coming. Maybe you've lost the wonder to believe He is a mighty God who does the impossible.NEXT STEPSHave you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://www.life.church/yesCelebrate Christmas at Life.ChurchIn a world that can feel dark, uncertain, and heavy, there’s a peace that changes everything. His name is Jesus. We invite you to spend the Christmas season at Life.Church. Come as you are, bring your friends, and get ready to be filled with the peace that only Jesus can bring. Find out more about Christmas at Life.Church: https://www.life.church/christmas/ABOUT THIS MESSAGEYou might be feeling a lot of things this Christmas season—and not all of them joyful. Maybe you're struggling with loneliness or wondering if anyone really sees you. Jesus came to meet you right where you're at and be exactly what you need. Let’s discover who Jesus is and what that can mean for us in our new series.The Gift: An Advent Devotional: https://finds.life.church/advent-devotional/7 Powerful Names of Jesus in the Bible: http://go2.lc/jesus-namesThe Christmas Story Bible Plan: https://go2.lc/christmas25ABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.churchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHELYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschelLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/35447748/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

My father is here with me today, and last week, he and my mother celebrated 42 years of marriage. Forty two years. Forty two years since the day, my Nigerian father walked in the library on the collegiate campus of Texas A&M to my mom and said to her, excuse me, are you Nigerian? To which my American mom said, no, I'm not. Whatever it did, it worked, and here they are, 42 years. still going strong. And because I am not only their firstborn child, but their favorite child, I blessed them

with the trip for their anniversary. I said, I want you all to go on a trip, have a good time, relax, enjoy the spa. I mean, just have fun. But then I said, but don't have too much fun. Amen, don't have too much fun because I am not trying to have another sibling. I'm too old for that. My mom immediately started laughing. I said, no, I'm serious, okay?

I need y'all to help me watch my kids. I can't be helping you watch yours. Then my mom just looked at me and said, boy, that is impossible. And when she said that it was impossible, it reminded me that although my mom is faith-filled and an amazing woman of God, she is unfamiliar with Luke Chapter 1.

And what happened there, and especially verse 37, that says, nothing is impossible with our God. Life Church, fam, I think we forget that when Luke puts pen to parchment and begins to describe in great detail and accuracy, the birth of Jesus Christ, a birth that would change the world forever. He does not begin by discussing a virgin named Mary or her fiance or her fiancee Joseph. No, no, no. Luke begins with an old couple. He decides to start with this senior citizen couple that has some gray hair coming in, has their JARP card. Yeah, Jerusalem Association of Retired

Persons. He begins his gospel talking about two people, Zachariah and Elizabeth, who had been faithful to the call of God and thought that it was too late for God to come through on his promise. Look at Luke, the doctor in great detail, letting us know that the angel Gabriel's first cameo appearance in the Christmas story was not to Mary. It was actually to Zachariah, a priest that was serving in the temple. Now, I know every single Christmas, Mary and Joseph get all the shine. They get all the sign, and they should. As the young people say, they've got main character energy. Oh, yes, they should get their due diligence. They're awesome. But I love that Luke does not begin with Mary and Joseph. He said, I don't want to start with the young couple that went viral. I want to start with the old couple that

was faithful. Oh, the old couple that kept showing up. The old couple that God says was righteous and blameless in his sight. They were righteous. They were blameless. Doesn't mean they were perfect. It does mean that they were consistent. They had consistency. Ooh, I love people that are consistent. I love consistency. The older I get, the less I'm impressed with people that have intensity. Get out of here with your intensity. Anybody can show up and be faithful for a day. I love people that can be faithful for a decade. I love people that have consistency.

Consistency. Like church fam, I've got to tell you, I'm not impressed. With the couple at the restaurant, they've been married three months all over each other, get out of here. Give me that elderly couple. Still in the 80s, takes a long time just to get to the table. And they sit there and they're sitting across them each other. Don't say anything because they said it all.

And they're just looking at each other. Oh, I love consistent, faithful people. I'm not impressed with the guy in the gym with his shirt off, bench pressing 300 pounds, making all that noise. No. Give me the older guy in the corner. Got his shirt tucked into his sweat pads. Just has the bar and just...

Faithful. There's something about consistency. Zachariah and Elizabeth, they were consistent. And let me tell you the power of consistency. There's something about consistency that gives God an opportunity to show you how mighty he is in your life. Oh, to be sure God can show his might in a minute. He can show his might in a moment. But there's something about him showing his might when you've got some mileage. When you can look back over the years and say, you were faithful then and you've been faithful now. That's why he said, I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I've been mighty a long. time, I will not fail you. I am a mighty God. I love it. Zachariah and Elizabeth were consistent. They were faithful. Zach and Liz. I love it. I love it because Zachariah's name translates to me

God remembers. Elizabeth's name translates to me his oath. So you put them together, God remembers his oath. God remembers his promise. Every time they walked into a room, they were declaring God remembers his promise. Every time they went to a holiday party, they said, oh, here comes God remembers his promise. Every time they went to get a reservation party for two,

yes, what's the name? God remembers his promise. What's interesting is that their name, their declaration was contradictory to their circumstance. because the Bible lets us know they're righteous, they're blameless, but they're also childless. They don't have a child. What do you do when your circumstance is contradictory to what God calls you?

What do you do when God declares something over your life, but the reality of your circumstance doesn't show what he declared over your life? Have you ever been there before? where God declares you're blessed, but you're looking at your bank account going, how am I blessed when I got more bills than I got income? How am I blessed when I don't have enough to even provide gifts from my family this holiday season? What do you do when your circumstance is contradictory to what God is calling you? God, you say that I can have peace, but where is that peace? Because I'm feeling worry and anxiety. God, you're saying that I'm favored, but right now, I feel forgotten.

What do you do? This is exactly where Zachariah and Elizabeth were. Their names were God remembers his promise, but they had yet to hold that promise in their hand. Understanding biblical days to be barren was not just something that was painful. It was something that was shaming. You understand in that culture, they would have thought that there was some secret sin in their life,

that there was something that they did that would preclude them from having children. There would have been whispers in the hallways going, I wonder what Zachariah did. I wonder where Elizabeth wasn't faithful, and maybe that's why they can't have any children. And interesting, that would have been the whispers, but yet God said, no, you're righteous in my sight. This is why you can never live on the whispers and opinions of other people. You have to know what God has said about you.

Oh, if God says you're blessed, you're blessed. If God says you're a victor and not a victim, you are a victor. You are what God says about you. And here they are. Their circumstance is not lining up with what God is called them. And all of a sudden, one day, one seemingly ordinary day, they start casting lots for who's going to serve in the temple that day, and Zachariah's name gets called. Y'all, it was just a normal day. It was an ordinary day. I have found that God will be mighty, often in the ordinary. Just a normal day. There was no sign that day. Oh, something big is about to have. It was just a normal day. His name gets called. Oh, I'll take that back. Actually, it was a big deal. Historians tell us there were approximately 20,000 priests serving at that time. 20,000. So for his name to get called, come on, that's like winning the lottery. But I'm sure Zachariah was like, ah, just another day. Just got to go light some incense here in the temple. Can you see him?

Walking in on that day, nothing's going to happen. This is just ordinary. And as he's there, preparing the incense, thinking this is an ordinary day. Mm-hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, ah! Angel shows up. Y'all, can you imagine? He probably had a heart attack. Say, what in the world is going on?

Come on, I can't imagine. Just an angel showing up out of nowhere. Yo, I get scared of my kids just come in the room at night. You know how they do. They don't say anything. They just stand there and you just see that silhouette. Ah, what are you doing? Say something.

I want some water. Go to bed. Can you imagine an angel showing up out of nowhere? No wonder every angel had the same script. Don't be afraid. Stop showing up unannounced. Sakurai probably had a heart attack. Said, what in the world are you doing?

And here comes Gabriel with the announcement. Zachariah, your prayer has been heard. Not your prayers. Your prayer. The one that you keep bringing to God over and over again. The one that you have buried now. The one that you think, oh, there's no way that can come to pass now because it didn't come through on my timetable.

God heard it, and you're about to give birth to a son. His name's going to be John. What would have been your reaction? I would have said, oh, hallelujah, I would have done the Holy Ghost two-step. Thank you, Jesus. Not Zachariah? Here's his response to an angel. How can I be sure this is going to come to pass?

You laugh, but we allow disappointment to do the same. thing to us. God, how are you going to bless me in this season of life? God, how is this going to be a good year? You should have done it in January. The year's almost over now. And when Zachariah said that, it revealed how disappointment had aged him. Zachariah was old, not just an age. I found out he was old in spirit. He was old in spirit by what he said. cannot be. You know you're old in spirit when you no longer believe God is able to do the impossible. I am convinced that there are some old people that are young and there are some young people that are old. Matter of fact, let's just find out where they are. All the old people across every location

make some noise. All the young people make some noise. Some of you don't know which category you're in. And that's the way it's supposed to be. Because I have met some people who are young in their age, but when it comes to their faith in their spirit, old. Critics, cynics. Yeah, seen it. Heard this before. Been there done that. And I had met some people who are old in their age,

but they are young in their faith, and they believe God can do the impossible and that he can do the exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask, think, or imagine, because they got history with God. They saw him show up in the 60s, in the 70s, and they know he can show up today. So I want to know how old are you? I'm not talking about your age chronologically. I'm talking about faithologically. I just made that word up.

How old are you in your faith to believe that God can do the impossible because he's mighty? Do you know how hard it is to keep that childlike wonder to believe that anything is possible? Especially in this critical age in which we live? When was the last time you really believed that God could do the impossible? This is what I love about this Christmas holiday season is that young people believe anything is possible. Kids believe anything can happen. They're excited about everything. The elf moved again.

You're like, yeah, that's what he does. Have you lost your childlike wonder? It's interesting in the Gospels. Jesus says, you can't even enter into the kingdom until you become like a child. You have to have that childlike wonder where you go, I believe you can do anything. When was the last time you?

You said, God can do it. When's the last time you said, wow? When's the last time you said it backwards? It's interesting. Jesus says that you can't enter the kingdom unless you become like a child. But then Paul says, when I was a child, I thought like a child, I spoke like a child. I understood like a child. But when I became older, I put away childish things.

So then that confused me. I said, which one is it? Jesus says, you've got to be like a child to enter the kingdom of God. Paul says, put away childish things. Which one is it? Then I realized there's a difference between being childless. and childish. Childish is immaturity.

Expect everything, give nothing. Childlike is the faith-filled wonder to believe that a mighty God can still do the imposter. Zachariah, he lost the wonder. He's talking to an angel and doesn't believe the word of God will come to pass. So Gabriel goes, oh, you don't believe? All right, I'm going to put you on mute.

And you won't say anything until the Word of God comes to pass. I'm going to make you watch God work. And he had to watch God work. It's interesting to juxtapose Zachariah's experience with Gabriel and Mary's experience with Gabriel. Because the angel comes to Mary and says, guess what, Mary, you got favor. You're going to give birth to the son of them. of the living God. And at surface level, I thought she said the same thing Zachariah did.

How's this going to happen? And the angel says, guess what, the Holy Spirit is going to overshadow you? And then I started reading that, I said, oh, hold on now. Zachariah said the same thing. His mouth gets mute. Mary says it, mm-mm, and she gets explanation. That's not fair, Gabriel. That is gender discrimination.

I don't like that. How come Mary doesn't go mute? But then I started digging deeper because Zachariah. said, how can I be sure? Mary said, how will this be? Zachariah was asking for certainty. Mary was not asking for certainty. She knew God could do it. She was just asking for more clarity. She had the faith to believe God could do it. She was just saying, hey, I'm just trying to figure out how because I don't know Joseph like that, but I believe he can do it. But Zachariah was like, I don't know. Prove it.

And that's why Mary got an explanation. And all of a sudden, Zachariah gets his mouse mute. And look at the faithfulness of God. I don't know who this message is for today. But I need you to respond to the promises of God like Mary and not Zachariah. When God gives you a promise, don't let doubt be the first thing to come out of your mouth. Because God often will have to silence the doubt even when it comes from you. So we put Zachariah on mute.

I'm encouraging you in this message today to respond like Mary. Mary said, let it be to me according to your word. In other words, I don't know how you're going to do it, but I believe that you can do it because you're a mighty God. Come on, is there anybody that believes our God is still able to do the miraculous? Oh, come on, you can do better than that. He's a mighty God. His promises are true.

Mary says, let it be to me according to your word. Receives the promise. I love the difference between the miracles because I think God is mighty and he does his work and he will do it. But sometimes you've got to do some work too. Someone's like, God, you're mighty, so you do it. Yeah, you got to do your part too. See, Mary received the promise and she became pregnant. But I noticed that with Zachariah, the angel Gabriel does not go to Elizabeth.

Just goes to Zachariah. In other words, God did his part and opened up Elizabeth's womb. That means Zachariah had to go home and do his part. Oh, yeah. God did his part. I'm opening up Elizabeth's room. Zachariah, you got to go home and do your part. And look at how God set it up.

He put his mouth on mute. God is so good. Can you see Zachariah coming home and home talking to them? Elizabeth, and she's like, you are just, you're just listening to me today. I just feel so connected to you. God set it up. He had to do his part. He had to go light some candles. He had to do his part. And some of you are waiting on a mighty God to move, but actually he's waiting on you to do your part. He can give you the jobs. You've got to fill out the application. Come on, he can open the door, but you've got to take a step and walk through it. He can provide salvation. You've got to

invite the person into a presence and atmosphere to receive it. Are you doing your part? I love that God says, Zachariah, you're going to have to do your part. And all of a sudden, look at Mary and Elizabeth, both of them pregnant with a promise from God, a mighty God. Who, Mary wasn't even expected it. Elizabeth said, I was expecting it, but I thought it would be when I was younger. And I love when they met, the Bible says, that all of a sudden, within Elizabeth's womb, the baby leaped. I say that to say, you need to believe God for mighty things because he's a mighty God, but get some people around you that will believe God with you.

You need some friends that when you say, hollay, they say, loo. When you tell them the promise of God, they say, oh, I believe God can do it. Look at the connection between Mary and Elizabeth. both of them were really alienated and ostracized, dealing with the whispers of other people, but they had each other to talk to. Can you see them having tea together? Can you believe we're pregnant, girl? I can't. I can see Elizabeth's going, girl, I thought I was too old. And Mary's like, girl, I thought I was too virgin, but God is mighty. And there's Zachariah in the background, watching God work.

Watching God do the impossible. Have you put the promise of God on the shelf because it hasn't come to pass on your timetable? God sent me all the way from Dallas, Texas to tell you that he is mighty and he is still able to bring his word to pass. Let it be to me according to your word. Don't be like Zachariah who does. God's ability be like Mary. I said, I don't know how, but I believe you can do it.

Can I tell you, this ain't something I'm just preaching. This is something I'm living right now. Our church in Dallas, God opened up an amazing door for us to acquire a property. We've been mobile for four years in 14 different venues setting up tearing down. And I was giving God praise when we got the miracle of the building. I was like, oh, God, you're awesome. And then I'm like, yeah, it's going to cost 30 million to be. making a sanctuary. I was like, oh, that's a lot. Whereas here's my faith. He can do it. I don't know how he's going to do it. But I have faith to believe that he can. Why? Because he's a mighty God. It's interesting. I want you to see this. All of a sudden,

Elizabeth gives birth to John. That's what his name had to be called. Can you look at this? It says, when it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father, Zachariah. But his mother spoke up and said, no, shout out to the mamas. His name is to be called John. They said to her, they, there's always a day. There's no one among your relatives that has that name.

Have you ever experienced that the promise of God, and here comes a naysayer? Well, that's never happened in your family before. You've never had a marriage and your family stay together. You've never had anybody get free from alcohol in your family. I've never seen that happen before. It doesn't matter if you've never seen it. I serve a mighty God who is able to do things that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of men,

the things God is already prepared. Who cares if it doesn't run in your name? your family. God can do something new through you. They said to her no one among your relatives has that name. So they made signs to his father, Zechariah, to find out what he would like to name the child. Look at this. And he asked for an iPad writing tablet. And to everyone's astonishment, he wrote, his name is John. Immediately his mouth was open, his tongue set free, and he began to Speak praising God. Watch this.

He finally did what he should have done the day he got the word. He finally responded like Mary responded. Mary got it immediately. Let it be to me according to your word. And then she just started praising God. It took old Zachariah a little bit. But at the end, he only wrote what God spoke and said his name will be called John. And no wonder his mouth opened up then.

So then he began to praise God because that's the response to a promise from God. Just say, let it be to me according to your word and then start praising until God brings it to pass. Is there anybody in here that knows that God is mighty in the waiting? He's mighty even when you haven't seen it come to pass. He's mighty even when it seems like there's a contradiction between what your calls and what you are looking at. He's still mighty. So my prayer for you, Life Church family, and anybody watching this message today is when you get a word from God. and even when your circumstance is contradictory to what he's called you, be like Mary.

Matter of fact, have a Merry Christmas and say, let it be to me according to your word. Because God, you are mighty and you're still able to meet me right where I am. And if you'll do that, you will see the power and the might of our God show us. up in your life. Amen. Amen. God bless your life, church. Give God some faith. All right. Here's what I need. I need everybody to say, ooh, that's good preaching. You may even want to type that online. If you're really good, you can go, ooh, that's good preaching. I don't do it right. But that's, Pastor Robert, thank you for that word. And I just believe that right now, God, God,

God wants to do something in the lives of many people that walked in today and any experience maybe an impossible situation. So let's pray. Father, we thank you that you're a mighty God. We thank you that all things are possible with you. So, Father, we just declare by faith that we know you're able. We believe that you're willing. And so, God, we ask you for miracles today at all of our different churches.

I wonder how many of you're facing something and you need God. Maybe you need God for physical healing. Maybe you need God for provision. Maybe you need God to reconcile a relationship. Maybe you're praying for conception. Maybe you're praying for a mate. Maybe you're believing that God is going to show up and do what only he can do.

And we're going to believe he is a miraculous God today at all of our churches, those of you online, that you have a need and you believe in the power of a mighty God to meet it. Today, by faith, we're going to ask him to do it. If you have the faith to believe that all things are possible to God, would you just lift your hands right now?

You need the power of God in your life. You can type online, I need the power of a mighty God. I need the power of a mighty God. And God, we just declare that we believe that all things are possible with you. We pray, God, for your provision. We pray for your healing, God. We pray for your presence.

We pray for your comfort, God. We pray for your strength. God, wherever we are weak, we pray that you would meet that need. And we would give you all the glory, God, believing that you hear our prayer, a singular prayer, God, that as we cry out to you, you hear the cries of your children. And God will give you all the glory for all that you do, believing that you hear our prayers,

that we can come boldly before your throne of grace, God, and find help in our time of need. Holy Spirit, work. God, move in a way that only you can move. And God, as we believe for miracles, we believe that we'll see that the touch of your hand, the power of you at work, going to give you all the praise for it. And many of you right now, there's a miracle that you're about to experience that it's greater than any miracle than you could ever imagine. If we could just sit down and maybe have a conversation and I could ask you, where are you with God? Do you know that your eternity is secure? Do you have peace with God? If there's any hesitation, any hesitation at all,

I believe that you're here by the divine purposes of God, that his spirit is reaching out of to you, drawing you. His loving kindness is pulling you toward him. What did God do? When we talk about the birth of Jesus, a virgin Mary, who says, may be done unto me according to your word. She gave birth. As a virgin, Jesus did not inherit the sin nature of an earthly father, but the divine nature of a heavenly father so that he could be all man and all God and be the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. So when Jesus went to the cross, he went to the cross, he went to the the cross as the Lamb of God who shed his blood so our sins could be forgiven. He died in our place for our sins. On the third day, God raised him from the dead so that anyone, and this is miraculous,

including you, no matter what you've done, no matter how dark your life feels, no matter the shame, no matter the guilt, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord would be saved. There are those of you God brought here today. Today is the day of your salvation at all of our churches. You recognize you're doing life without the presence of God. You don't know where you stand with God. You need the forgiveness of God. You need the power of God. We're going to step away from our sin.

The Bible calls it repentance. We're turning away from our sin. We're turning to the Son of God, the risen king of all kings, Jesus. If you don't know where you stand today, we're just going to call on him. We're going to pray. And the power of a mighty God is going to forgive you and make you brand new at all of our churches.

You say, yes, that's me. I need His grace. I need his forgiveness. I want his peace, I want his promises, I want to walk in his power. I need his salvation. Jesus, forgive me in my sins today by faith. I make you first. You be the Lord of my life.

That's your prayer. All of our churches yesterday. I'm giving my life to Jesus. Jesus be first. Be my Lord, that's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now, all of our churches and say yes today. I give my life to you. We've got people today at all of our churches saying, yes, Jesus.

I surrender. You can type in the comment section. I am surrendering my life. to Jesus and today in the presence of a mighty God. Let's all pray together, pray Heavenly Father. Forgive me of my sins. Make me a new person. Fill me with the Holy Spirit so I could walk in your power,

so I could know your goodness, so I could show your love. I need all of you, your mercy, your grace, your presence, your provision. my life is not my own i give it all to you thank you for forgiveness and salvation and new life i give you all of mine in jesus name i pray church can we praise a mighty god a mighty god a mighty god everlasting father prince of peace a wonderful counselor his name is jesus that we give him praise