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A Savior for Such a Time as Now
January 7, 2026 · 51 min
Discover the flawless timing of God in sending His Son as our Savior.
Series The God of Now January 7, 2026 · 51 min · The God of Now
Discover the flawless timing of God in sending His Son as our Savior. ...more Show the full description Show less Discover the flawless timing of God in sending His Son as our Savior.
Series The God of Now
68K followers
Mt. Zion Baptist Church is a Word-centered ministry focused on evangelizing the lost, empowering God’s people, and providing holistic outreach to the community and the world.
68K followers
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God's Perfect Timing: A Savior Born Now 0:14 Hi. I'm Doctor. Joseph Walker here at the Mount Zion Church Nashville, Tennessee, and I'm so excited that you have chosen to listen to the Word of God that God has given to me to share with you. This message is going to0:25 be transformational for your life. And as you listen to it I pray you and all who are connected to you experience destiny. Let's go in and let's be0:37 blessed.0:38 Let your word speak to us today that we are made the better because of what we are about to receive. And we thank you that those who are tuned in, those who are here, that we0:50 all are 1 accord to receive your word. Let this word transform our lives. Let us listen intently that we shall be1:02 changed. And we give you glory and praise that somebody's life will be forever changed because of this word. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, and every heart said,1:15 amen. In Luke chapter 2 verse 10 and 11, then the angel said to them, do not be afraid.1:26 For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior, who1:38 is Christ the Lord. You may be seated today, and today I'm talking about a savior for such a time as now.1:52 Christmas is a reminder that God's timing is flawless. The world may stumble or delay or even rush, but God moves at the exact moment in which2:04 God intends. In the city of David, at the precise moment that God had ordained before the foundations of the world, God determined by heaven, the savior, will2:16 be born not yesterday, not tomorrow, but when the fullness of time had come. God will send forth his son made of a woman that day.2:29 That's the heartbeat of the gospel. God shows up in a moment in which his people need him the most. The Shepherds were ordinary people. They were tending to ordinary flocks, living2:40 ordinary lives, yet God chose that very moment to reveal an extraordinary thing to them. Angels announce a savior who would bring hope,2:52 peace, and joy, not someday, not when conditions were perfect, but right then. And too often, we postpone joy. We wait for the3:04 right circumstances or for the right time for a sign that life has seemingly settled down. But what we will learn today in Luke chapter 2 is that God's now3:16 is immediate. It is personal. It is transformative. The Messiah's arrival was not based on human schedules. It was based on divine timing.3:30 Significant. It matters because Bethlehem was crowded. Caesar had decreed taxation. Mary and Joseph were weary travelers, yet God's plan quietly3:42 unfolded, deliberately unfolded before our very eyes. In the midst of ordinary and angelic to the Shepherds3:53 emphasizing immediacy, Today, a savior, it's and it's not it's gift, it's4:05 not only away, a savior, it's born and the is here. The call is here. Peace is here.4:17 Joy is here. So, Christmas is a present reality. Trip. I want you to4:29 go back in biblical days with me, and I want you to walk the streets of Bethlehem. And I want you to get a sense of what may be happening the day Jesus was born.4:46 What revelations you might see in today's time. Imagine the world, the time when Jesus is born. Rome ruled everything. Rome ruled everything. Rome ruled everything. Rome ruled everything. Rome ruled everything. Rome4:55 ruled everything. Rome ruled Roam, ruled, everyday.4:59 Roam, the roads. It's money. It's armies. Even the stories people told about power. Caesar Augustus sat on the throne. He was5:11 celebrated as the 1 who brought peace to the world. His messengers travel from city to city, and now they call good news about the emperor's victories.5:23 His authority. And it's they even called him but this piece was not built on force. It was built rather on force5:35 and not on freedom.5:49 Of empire and propaganda, and to this world of empire and propaganda, and tells us something unexpected. God announced a different kind of good news. The angels'6:01 message to the shepherd uses the same political words, wrong reserve for Caesar. Good news, save Rome reserved for Caesar. Good news, savior, lord. But this time, they belong to a6:13 newborn baby lying in a manger. Watch this. It was heaven's way of saying, Rome does not get the last word on peace, power, and salvation.6:25 God does. The angel's announcement is a direct challenge to Rome's story. The real savior has has come. He did not come wrapped in royal regalia,6:37 but in swaddling clothes.6:40 Now, picture the Jewish people living under Roman rule. They carried decades of disappointment, centuries of longing and hopes rooted in scripture. They remembered the promise God6:52 made to David that 1 day a king from his lineage would rise and make things right again. Befliham wasn't just a town. It was a symbol. It was the7:04 birthplace of David, the starting point of Israel's golden age. So when the angel said born, to you this day in the city of David, the Shepherds would have instantly understood.7:17 Restarting. Their story. God was fulfilling promises, generations had waited on. God was stepping back into their history.7:41 Who were considered unreliable and unimportant.7:46 See, Sheperds live on the edge of society, spending nights in the field, often judged by others as rough and untrustworthy.8:00 Body, that his kingdom will not look like kingdoms of this world. That God starts on the margins. Not in palaces, but God begins with the overlooked and those who seemingly8:12 have no power. Then the angel gives 3 titles that sum up everything this child would become. Saviour, Christ,8:24 Lord. Savior meant that Rome would not be the true rescuer, but that he would be. Christ meant that Jesus would be the long awaited8:36 Messiah, the fulfillment of God's ancient promises, the true anointed 1. And Lord would be the same title people used for God in scripture, but8:48 also the same title that Rome demanded for Caesar. And to call Jesus Lord was both a declaration of faith and an act of defiance against every earthly8:59 power that claimed ultimate authority. Luke wants us to see that this moment is not just about a baby being born. It's about a new kingdom breaking through in the world. And so,9:11 finally, the angel says that this news is for all people, not just Israel, not just the powerful, not just the religious, but this joy is wide enough to reach9:23 every corner of humanity. The peace wrong claim to bring could never be universal, but the peace God brings to Jesus is available for everybody. So when you9:35 read Luke chapter 2 verse 10 and 11, you are not reading a quiet Christmas verse. You are witnessing a divine announcement that reshapes history, that God steps into a9:47 world dominated by empire and fear and says, the real king has arrived. God enters through humility and not force.9:58 God reveals glory inChallenging Empire: The True Savior Revealed 10:00 a field and not a palace. And the first people to hear it are the people who are the least, the last, and the left out. Be careful how you treat people who don't have title, position,10:12 or authority, because revelation will often find them first. God uses the people you least expect them to use. So10:25 and there was a and there was a and today as we walked this out today. I want to share with you. The now. Understand that God's10:37 timing is never accidental. Whatever God does, he does at a specific time. Understand. He chooses10:49 now to act now to redeem, now to bring hope. The Shepherds were not expecting angels, but God broke into their reality.11:01 Mist. The waiting, the uncertainty. And your waiting is never wasted. It is preparation for a perfect arrival. God doesn't just show up to make a statement. He shows up to transform your11:14 He shows up to transform your life and to change your circumstances. The God who shows up reminds us that no matter how ordinary you feel, that God will take no matter how small you feel and11:26 do something extraordinary. The same God who went to Bethlehem is the same God that wants to enter your life today. God says you don't have to try to fix anything. You don't have to try to clean up anything11:38 because God will show up in your mud. He'll show up in your mess. He'll show up in your struggle. He'll show up in your pain. He'll show up in your right now. He will show up.11:50 Because he meets us where we are. Jesus did not come to the palace. God meets us not what we think we should be, but12:02 he meets us what we actually are. The Shepherds who were overlooked, who were humble, were the first to hear the good news, and God's intervention is personal, precise, and present. Struggles and our doubts in the12:14 ordinary moments of life. Right now, God is meeting you exactly where you are, bringing the same savior who came to Bethlehem into your life story right now. Think about it. God did not wait for them to climb the12:25 proverbial ladder. But what God did, God met them right there in the midst of the dirt, in the midst of their exhaustion, in the midst of their everyday grind, and that's the good news because god meets us exactly where12:36 we are. He meets us when we're in our car crying. He meets us when our faces turn to the wall and we don't know what to do. He meets us in the moments of isolation. He meets us in the desperate places of life. He meets12:46 us when our money is funny. Our change is strange and our check credit can't get it. He will meet you when people walk out on you. He will show up right in the midst of your situation and tell you, you are not too far12:56 gone. You are not too unnoticed. You are not too out there for me to meet you. That was a perfect timing in which God will send a word just like this to tell you, he has shown up just for you. Listen.13:09 And here was the good news. He doesn't just meet you there, but God calls you into something else because he's not gonna let you stay stuck there. He's staging your next shift. You may feel ordinary, but God is preparing13:21 something extraordinary for your life. There was an assignment or you have yet to even realize. You may feel like nothing around you is changing, but get ready because something is about to change in your life. You've13:31 been feeling it. You've knowing something's gonna happen, but you couldn't put your finger on it. That's why God's got you tuned in right now because the shepherds had no idea that this night would be something that13:40 would allow their story to collide with God's purpose. In the same way, you have no idea how this moment is going to allow everything to change in your life. God will step into your present. He will escort13:52 you into your future, a future you never could have imagined on your own. Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, nor has it entered into the hearts of men, the things that God has prepared for those who love him. Here14:02 is the revelation. God meets you in your familiar so he can lead you into the miraculous. What begins in the field will turn around and end up in a promise. What starts in struggle will turn around and14:14 end up in joy. What feels like an ordinary day can turn around and be the birthplace of the greatest season of your life. I need somebody to give God glory because he's not gonna leave14:26 you there, but he's gonna burst something in you. See, the thing about it is that he brings immediate good news. See, the thing about it is that he brings immediate good news. He brings what we call Evangelion.14:38 He brings the good news. See, I bring you good tidings of great joy. Notice it is immediate. Joy is not postponed. It is here. Salvation is available. Peace is accessible14:49 now. Hope is tangible now. Even in the midst of your challenges, God's presence guarantees joy. His promises are never late. The savior has arrived. Y'all, it's happening right now. The angel didn't15:01 say I will bring you joy later. You'll have to wait. No, you know what he said? Today. Somebody shout today. Today. I need you to shout out like you mean and say today. Today. Let's go on and prophesy because15:13 today, your breakthrough happens today. Your healing happens today. Your deliverance happens today. Your miracle is gonna happen today. Your turnaround is gonna happen15:25 today. Somebody shout today, today, today, today. I feel a today anointing. Listen. And God can enter into any moment, and it may seem impossible to you.15:38 But those things that are impossible with man are very possible with God. And the same power that brought salvation to Bethlehem is available for you today. Let me help you understand how it works.15:50 God brings hope in the now. We talked about hope a little last Sunday when I talked on faith, but let me go a little deeper and help you understand hope is beyond just empty optimism.16:01 Hope is confident trust in the 1 who keeps his word. Reason to hold their heads up.16:13 Hope shows up when you're overlooked, but yet you're invited into a miracle. Hope shows up when heaven interrupts earth and reminds us that darkness does not have the final say. Hope looks like16:25 trusting God when the diagnosis is uncertain. Hope looks like obeying God when your finances don't add up. Face. It says16:37 God still sees me. Hope declares the delay is not a denial. Hope believes that no matter if I've been hidden, God still preparing something for me. Hope says if they don't want me, God's got 10 people who do. Hope says,16:49 I'm not gonna be frustrated by what's happening because I know what God promised me. Hope says that even if I don't know how it's gonna work out, I know that all things are working together for good that those who love16:59 God and are called according to his purpose. See, hope is realized today. See, hope is is realized today. The savior is born today. Today's signal is fulfillment. God doesn't ask us to17:11 wait. He's tangible. God does not measure his actions by our schedules. He measures it by his perfect timing. That means, He measures it by his perfect time. That means your17:27 Stop, stop, stop thinking you're too late for purpose to take off. You're too late if I had done it early. You're never too late. Because whatever you lost, whatever seems impossible,17:39 whatever has kept you up at night, hope arrives just in time to tell you Jesus has And when God brings hope, God brings clarity, God brings peace, God brings restoration.17:51 And this is your invitation to trust him now. I want you to hear this because hope is universal. See, understand the angel announced that good news was for all people. That was counterintuitive to the culture in which18:02 they live because all they heard was the good news was coming out of Rome. The good news is whatever Caesar said. He could spend whatever he wanted to spend to make them bleed. Bad news was good news.18:22 Hope says that, listen, hope means that for the single parent, who's trying to stretch a paycheck, hope will show up and tell you God will still supply all of your needs according to his riches18:34 in glory. Hope for the student who's trying to find the right path to remind you that that thing that God started in you, he will perform until the day of Jesus Christ. Hope people of God reaches the rich and the18:46 poor. Hope will reach the young and the old, the confident and the confused, the learned and the lowly. And the beauty of Christmas is that it invites everyone to the table, everyone to the manger, everyone to18:58 the savior. Hope shows up. Let me show you how it shows up. Hope will show up,19:13 have a dime in my pocket, but I won't look like it. Hope says, I may not feel good today, but the devil will never know it because I will lift up my eyes to the hills from with coming my help. My help19:25 comes from the lord. Hope says, I may be tired, but I will be not weary in well doing. For in due season, I will reap if I faint not.19:33 Heart says that my19:34 heart may be broken, but weeping may endure for19:37 a night. For joy comes in the morning. Anybody here know what hope can do?19:46 But but but let me get to the crux of the message, and it is this, is that God invites joy in the now. Joy is the natural19:58 response to the presence of Christ in your life. Listen to me. You're going to be tested on this. Joy is the natural response20:11 to the presence of Christ in your life. I'll say it 1 more time because you're going to be tested on this. Joy is20:23 the natural response to the presence of Christ in your life. Now, understand something. The angel20:34 emphasized great joy because the savior brings eternal significance to an ordinary life. Joy is20:46 not dependent on circumstances. It is birth from knowing God is present and acting. So then, joy21:10 that he is present and acting, which means, Joy says, regardless of what is happening,21:23 I have the presence of God and the action of God. So no matter what is happening, you don't have to tell me what you see21:35 because I don't respond on what you see. I respond on what I know. My joy is not tied to happenings. My joy is21:47 tied to the presence of God in my life and the activity of God that God is moving even when it don't look like God is moving.21:59 Difference. Because what Joy is, let me teach you. Joy, it22:11 because what joy is, let me teach you joy is rooted in salvation. The Shepherds were joyous22:40 Now the reason why your response was the way it was is because we live in a day of consumerism.22:54 And we have failed We have failed to really think that blessings are not tied to what23:05 money can buy. Blessings are tied to what money cannot buy.23:17 And so it is important to know when you see the word 'salvation'.Embracing Salvation: Hope and Joy in the Now 23:32 Shadow salvation. We we we shout on Nintendo.23:44 Barbie. We we we shout on stuff, but nobody shouts on23:56 salvation23:58 because we have not been taught24:03 what Jesus came to do. Please hear me well. This is the fulfillment of biblical history.24:18 The Shepherds,24:34 Right. Listen carefully. A savior would come. Now Bishop, put a pin there and teach the people about salvation.24:47 The word salvation comes from the word solteriological. It is something we learn in seminary, solteriological theology. It suggests in the25:08 acknowledges their inability or So when the lesser acknowledges their inability or lack of capacity to rescue themselves,25:20 they then reach for 1 greater. So when you study salvation history throughout the entire Bible, the children of Israel cried out for deliverable because they could not get out of Egypt themselves.25:34 So every time you see the greater saving the lesser, it's because the lesser cried out for the greater. I'm going so here.25:45 So if you cut yourself at home, you get a band aid and you're fine because the lesser helped the lesser.25:56 But if you get shot, you say somebody called 9 1 1 because you recognize you don't have the capacity to handle a gun wound.26:08 You call 9 1 1 because you believe if I call 9 1 1, somebody qualified is on the way. So you find comfort knowing that if26:20 I call 9 1 1, help is on the26:28 is on the way. So, well, I said the lesser is reaching far greater. That's called soteriological26:42 theology. Now, who are they calling? A messiah. Messiah means the savior. Now, understand something as just an26:53 aside, this is for free. There was a thing called messianic complex that I wanna I wanna deliver some of you from27:05 Because you enter into human relationships with the messianic complex, believe it, that you can save them.27:18 The devil is a liar. If they don't wanna be saved by him, what makes you think whatever you do go save them?27:31 You can't you can't save a brother, save27:35 a sister. You gotta point them to the greater. Now27:48 whether I speak historically or I speak contextually now, you be the judge. But the citizens28:00 of Rome, Pastor Darrell, the citizens of Rome were under oppression. Augustus Caesar controlled28:11 everything. He controlled the streets. His inscription was on the money. The people paid taxes to Caesar.28:24 The tax collectors were crooked.28:39 Statues to himself. He wanted his name on every building. And the people, we're28:51 talking about Rome. And the people29:05 of Rome were like, Lord, how much longer?29:12 How much more can we take? Talking about Rome.29:18 And in their mind, in their mind, the only way to overtake Caesar was to have a military29:28 might, to have a to have a true military29:33 champion,29:33 to have a messiah who would come with chariots and armies to overthrow Rome. And little did they know that what was about29:45 to overthrow Rome wasn't a mighty army, but it was a baby wrapped. I feel like preaching now.29:57 In swaddling. Watch this. Don't miss it. Watch this. So30:09 when Thank you, Holy Ghost.30:14 Salvation was30:19 a duality. It was not just to deliver the citizens of Rome from the oppression of Rome,30:32 but salvation was to give30:48 hand, I need saving from my current human condition. On the other hand,31:01 I got to get salvation so I have eternal security.31:10 What's wrong with Rome is not chess season. What's wrong with Rome?31:21 I'm talking about Rome. Yeah.31:25 Started in the Garden of Eden. A sin problem came into the earth and by 1 tree,31:36 man failed. But God was getting another tree ready. By another tree, man would be redeemed.31:48 And so here's the deal. Salvation31:52 was to save me from my human condition, to give me peace in the earth, to give me healing for my body, to give me relief from all the things that oppress me. But salvation also32:05 was to give me eternal security of which few of us really shout about. Because we live in a day where we have in our own32:17 mind convinced ourself we gonna be here forever. And because we think we gonna be here forever, we32:29 floss and drip and whip like we're gonna be here forever. Until 1 day, all the stuff you bought, all the good looking32:41 stuff you got, somebody in your family with tears in their eyes are gonna go in your closet and be crying trying to figure out who they gonna get32:53 his stuff to, and your whole family gonna be fighting over all the stuff you couldn't take with you. And because you couldn't take it with you, the question is, where33:05 are you going?33:07 Now let me tell you where you're going. You're going where he made preparation33:13 for you. For God so loved the word33:18 that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes upon him should not perish, but have everlasting life.33:32 So the good news now is that I got eternal security.33:44 Salvation is not an idea. Salvation is a person. Let me tell you something.33:57 Salvation means that God is not distant from your life. Many people feel alone. You feel like you in this thing, you feel unsupported. You feel like nobody gets you, but you are never34:08 navigating life alone. God's presence is not seasonal. It is eternal. And in those moments when you feel like nobody else understands, can I tell you something? God says, I'm with you, and I need you to understand joy34:19 comes from knowing you are not abandoned. Here's the deal. Salvation restores identity in a world that consistently tries to rewrite it because today's world wants to tell you your worth is tied to what you34:30 achieve, how you look, what people think, how fast you move, but salvation says you are redeemed. You are loved. You are chosen. You are God's. You are enough. So even if the world mishandles34:42 you, mislabels you, misunderstands you, salvation says God has named you correctly. You are fearfully. You are wonderfully made. You are blessed going in. Blessed going out. You are blessed in34:54 the city. You are blessed in the field. Touch your neighbor and tell them, do you know who you're sitting next to? And salvation, watch this,35:06 salvation transforms joy from emotion into a a reality because we know35:19 We know God is saved. We know God is with us. We know God is fighting for us. We know God is working with us. Salvation is not a mindset. Watch this. It's deeper than a mindset rather than salvation is a foundation by35:31 which I live. And so watch this. Joy then in salvation, joy is a natural response to the35:44 presence of Christ in my life knowing that regardless of what's happening, he is working. So I can look at you35:56 and tell you got joy because you are naturally respond okay, you're not getting it. Come on, let me talk to you. See, salvation solves all36:08 your problems. Okay. I mean, come come a little closer. Come a little closer. Come talking to you. Come here. Come here. Come here. Listen. If you I'm just talking to you now. If36:20 you hit that 1000000000 dollars, I don't36:32 care how you sitting up in here and watching me calm, collected. Well, if your ticket No. Act like you ain't got 1. If your ticket hit, you're gonna be screaming,Show more In this video 0:00 God's Perfect Timing: A Savior Born Now10:00 Challenging Empire: The True Savior Revealed23:20 Embracing Salvation: Hope and Joy in the Now36:40 Making Room for the Savior: A Call to Response
Dr. Joseph W. Walker, III
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