Mt. Olive Lutheran Traditional Worship - May 3, 2026

And that suddenly had a name. His name is Jesus. And the writer of Hebrews just after the passage about faith, he says, for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. And while the cross looked like the end the end, it was actually just the hinge. And then resurrection was the suddenly that humanity had been building toward for all those years. [00:52:27] (32 seconds)  #SuddenlyJesus

Or maybe you show up, you serve, you do the right thing, and nobody notices. And you wonder, does any of this actually counts? Well, here's the answer. Pharaoh's name isn't in the text, but the two midwives are Shipprah and Puah, the most powerful man in the ancient world, Anonymous. Two ordinary women in a hidden room, God wrote their names down. He writes down yours too, not because of what you do, but because of what has been done for you outside the city wall on a cross where your name is already secured. [00:54:32] (38 seconds)  #HiddenRoomHeroes

And maybe you've been praying so long you don't remember what it felt like to first ask, and the silence feels like absence. But but here's what we need what we know, that God keeps the vigil. It's not a glance. It's not a check-in. He's a guard on a wall. He's awake, alert, watching toward a night that's coming. And maybe you get to see that on this side of heaven, but maybe it's realized when you're standing in his presence. And because of that, we have hope and a future. [00:55:11] (35 seconds)  #GodKeepsVigil

Because if it was up to us, the chain would have broke a long time ago, and we know exactly who would have broken that domino. Who would have picked that domino up out of its place. It would have been us. The ones who doubt when the wait gets too long. The ones who compromise when it cost us something. The ones who needed to be rescued. And so by the grace of God, he didn't leave it in our hands. He stepped into it himself. Jesus didn't just come to be another domino, he came so that he could hold it all together. [00:51:28] (37 seconds)  #HeHoldsItTogether

The night of rescue was being prepared in every hidden room, every small act of faithfulness and obedience, every generation that kept the memory of Abraham's Yahweh alive. And so for us, some of us might feel like we're in that four hundred and thirty year stretch where we're waiting, we're wondering, we're asking God show up, will you arrive? Will you rescue me? And it may feel as if God is absent, and yet, the silence, the long wait is not evidence that God is not there, but it may be evidence that God is preparing something you cannot yet see. [00:46:31] (42 seconds)  #SilenceIsNotAbsence

This is not a passive watching. It's not a a kind of checking in every once in a while just to see how things are going. No. It's the language of a guard who is on night shift and he's on duty. He is present. He is alert. He is actively watching and making sure that his people get out. It was a moment that he was watching toward this night the whole time. Which means that the suddenly was always coming. They just couldn't see it yet. [00:45:53] (38 seconds)  #GodOnNightShift

Maybe you're a parent who raised your kids in the faith. You prayed, you showed up, they walked away anyway. Here's what I need you to hear. You are not the verdict. God never lets go of his chains, and your standing before him is not riding on how your child's story ends. It's riding on the one who already finished his. [00:54:08] (24 seconds)  #YouAreNotTheVerdict

And so your place God's story is not secured by how strong your faith is, but by the one you hold your faith onto. Who holds your faith onto. So yes, your ordinary everyday faithfulness matters. Your hidden room matters. Your life, however small it feels, is being woven into something you may not even live to see, and that's okay. Because you are not waiting for God to show up. He is already there watching your nights, weaving your ordinary faithfulness into something bigger, something greater, something that he is working together according to his perfect will and purpose. And that's enough. [00:56:32] (55 seconds)  #FaithAnchoredInChrist