How to Have the Best Year of My Life | Sandals Church

hey guys thanks so much for joining us here at sandals Church because here we are all about being real and if you're wanting to just dive deeper into what this vision is and what being real with yourself God in others is check out our debrief podcast it is an incredible podcast that dives deeper into the messages and answers any tough questions from Pastor Matt so make sure to check that out at debrief [Music] good morning Saddles Church glad to be back good to be with you this week man I don't know how your January is but every January our family we start off with a couple birthdays my son is on the fourth my daughter is on the sixth so we're already broke from Christmas and so you know we just sawed off the new year in debt so I don't know how you knew your is but but it's always great I love birthdays because at our house what we do at birthdays is we don't just celebrate you and sing to you we do words of affirmation and when it's a special birthday like 13 or 16 or or 21 we bring in influential people to speak into your life and my son turned 16 this year and so that's a big birthday in our household and we brought in family members and friends to speak to him and it's interesting the words that were spoken and every word was good but many of the words were different there were some themes but one of the words from his grandfather was really profound and I think we forget oftentimes about the truth of this his grandfather said there's really two things we need to talk about and he said do you know what those are and my son you he's a pastor's kid he's God he's like yeah that's good and that's good and he said what's what's the other one and then to be honest with you I didn't know what his grandfather was gonna say I mean he didn't he didn't run this by me and so my son was just kind of hesitant and he said there's two things we needed to talk about he said there's something on this shoulder that speaks the words of God and then he said there's something on this shoulder that speaks lies and he said as your as you grow into becoming a young man you're gonna have to learn to listen to both of those voices and know from which shoulder they're speaking and I thought wow man I should have come up with that grandpa why didn't you let me share that wisdom and so here's the truth today in 2019 if you want it to be a great year you're gonna have to discern which angel on which shoulder is talking cuz sometimes you're gonna be confused and sometimes you're gonna be duped and your life could be destroyed because one of those angels is gonna say follow your heart and the other one's gonna say follow your God and those are two different directions look if you want to have the best year ever you're gonna have to learn to follow your god and I know some of you are not Christians and that's okay I'm glad you're here today some of you are new Christians and you really need to pay attention and some of you are old Christians and you need to be reminded so let's pray today that God would speak to us about who we're listening to in 2019 Lord we want to have the best year of our life god I love my son I love my daughter and we celebrated them this last week Lord I know that you love all of your children who are here today and Lord you want to speak words of wisdom to them you care about them and you care about their year and I pray that you would direct them in Jesus name Amen let's take a look at your notes this verse today John 10:10 is really what the whole sermon is built about one verse that's got a lot of truth it says the thief's purpose is to steal kill and destroy Jesus says my purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life I want you to just stop for a moment and think about your friends your family your co-workers and even yourself would you say that you and the people around you have a rich and satisfying life you see the truth is for most of us that rich and satisfying life has been promised by God has been stolen it's been stolen listen to me front ciders our youth it's being stolen from you your innocence is being stolen it's being robbed from you for some of you men just your marriage has been stolen your kid has been stolen your job has been stolen and many of you in 2018 says God why are you doing this to me and I want you to know that God is not a thief but Satan is and he wants to steal something from you Jesus says the thief's purpose is to steal kill and destroy my purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life God wants to bless your life Satan wants to ruin your life now here's the thing a lot of us we barely believe in God and many of you don't believe in the devil whether or not you believe in God and whether or not you believe in the devil you need to know both God and the devil believe in you they believe in you and they want to influence you God wants to save you the devil wants to destroy you man I went to private college I went to a private Christian College in my first class my first year was New Testament I'll never forget the first day the very first day the professor wrote on the board Satan is not real and I said well Jesus thought he was real so I got a C in that class which stands for Christ so that's fine it's fine but how sad is it when people who teach the Bible don't believe the Bible and that's what many of you do man you don't believe in Satan you barely believe in God but let me tell you something Satan believes in you and he wants to destroy your life he wants to steal what is rightfully yours as a child of God he wants to kill you because when he kills you he kills the heart of God and he wants to destroy your life if I want to have the best year of my life I got to recognize I have a personal enemy married people is not your spouse it's your children it's not your children it's not your children where's your heart check your heart I got recognized out of a personal enemy now my son turns 16 anybody ever taught your child how to drive in that or great experience they don't tell you that when they give you the baby in 16 years you're gonna freak out now why is it why is it so hard to teach a child how to drive a they don't know how to write they don't know how and beat you know what's out there if you've been around long enough to have a 16 year old you've seen some accidents you've been to some funerals you know that a mistake on the road not only can affect your life it can take your life now nowadays our kids are torn between texting and living they can literally text and die there's a lot of distractions there's a lot of things out there right and it's hard as a parent not to freak out while your kids driving in it amen like your kids freaked out so you're like stay calm stay calm stay calm freak out right my kids more afraid of me than he is everybody else but you know why I'm afraid for him because I know what's out there I've done funerals for young people that are way too young one of the hardest things about being a pastor in Riverside is there almost isn't a street in this city where I haven't been to an accident where we lost a teenager so I know what's out there Peter says this he says stay alert stay alert right and if you've been a Christian a long time you just like a driver a long time let me tell you one of the negatives about your kids learning how you're supposed to drive they notice how you drive and they start commenting dad that was a California stop son this is a California pop right because can't we all admit there's a difference between how we should drive and how we actually drive there is right and it and if you don't believe that you're a liar stay alert watch out for your great enemy you see I'm worried about accidents out there do you know that Satan has a car and he's coming for you he's coming for you stay alert watch out your great enemy well who is he the devil he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour you ever watched man I loved watching the nature shows when a lion attacks the closer they get to their enemy the lower to the ground they get like no no no no no oh little cute warthogs they're not cute but you think they are alright no no no no no looking for someone to devour and do you know what Lions like to hunt the young the old and the weak listen to me in 2019 if you're young God wants you to get wise if you're old God wants you to stay wise and if you're weak he wants you to get well stay alert watch out your great enemy the devil he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour you like wow Sami I'm not that important you have no idea how important you are to God you see the only way that Satan can hurt God is by stealing you Luke 22 11 and Jesus says Simon Simon why does he say it twice only parents of teenagers understand this if you have a teenager a chance you ever try to give input hey you might want to do that my son does this he can't stand it when I give input like hey bro I was playing basketball before you were born so he says why do you think I you did this one too many times so we made another one Simon Simon goes Simon Jesus says Satan has asked to sift you think about your prayer requests you ever think about Satan's what do you think Satan prays for for sandals Church what do you think Satan prays for for you you see a lot of us think about what's God's plan for my family what's Satan's plan for your family this year it's to steal it it's to kill it and it's to destroyed and unfortunately Satan gets his way way more than he should Simon Simon Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat now most of you are not farmers so you don't know what he means but basically wheat just think of a big tall piece of grass that has a shell around the seed that's in the middle and so the process of sifting is the process of rolling the outside protective husk to get at the valuable wheat that's inside listen to me if you're married you know what Satan wants to do to your marriage in 2019 he wants to do this he wants to sift you if you're a teenager in 2019 is what he wants to do your parents don't know everything they don't really love you they don't really care for you he wants to sift you he wants to pull you away from the protective shell that God has given you and he wants to sift you and this process is intentional and methodical and eventually it will work if you let it Simon Simon Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat my enemy is personal it's not physical some of you think your enemy is your spouse or your ex or your kids or your boss right it's not any of them it's Satan he's a personal but he's not physical he may be using someone in front of you but he's not in front of you Jesus knew this when he was crucified he said Father forgive them forgive the people who nailed my hands to the cross forgive the people who whipped me forgive the people who insulted me forgive the people who made racist comments against me why for they know not what they do they're just a pawn in the devil's hands Paul says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places you need to stop hating people and start hating your enemy you need to recognize him you need to recognize him the Apostle Paul says we are not unaware of Satan's schemes many of you are clueless what is the devil want to do Jesus says he wants to steal kill and destroy my enemy wants to steal my joy why don't we wake up every day this is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad we wake up every day I'm alive again nothing impresses us anymore nothing right you go to the airport people just arrived on a rocket through here how was your flight boring your racket in the air at 40,000 feet traveling 600 miles an hour how is it boring the internet didn't work nothing nothing gets us going nothing gets us excited I went to a professional football game two girls in front of me they didn't look at the game the whole time they took selfies of themselves never even took a selfie pointing towards the field I was like in 15 photos what what why do you want me in your photos I'm not even a ram the enemy steals our joy nothing is great anymore right we're always trying to improve things it's like you know new and improved sweetener I didn't know sugar needed improvement the enemy wants to steal my joy that's what's happened to many of your marriages your joy has been stolen it's been stolen the joy of your family's been stolen the joy of work has been stolen the joy of meaning has been stolen from you and when he steals my joy you know what he does he kills my hope man I have been so convicted by this one point this one point in my sermon all week long you'd be amazed at how much hope you've lost just look in your conversation when you talk about a family member a friend oh they'll never change you know what happened your hopes been killed my marriage will never fix be fixed my kids will never do that I'll never get promoted your hopes been killed we worship a God of hope a God of hope even if we die we have hope even if the end is here we have hope that's why the Bible says we do not grieve as pagans do because we have hope we worship a God who died in rows the enemy wants to steal my joy kill my hope and write this down and never forget it destroy my life what does the the devil want to do he wants to devour you does that go well for anyone like I can think of one person who survived a devouring his name was Joe but he came out stinky and smelly right you know think about that but if you're in a belly of oil for three days I'm guessing you smell devoured I have watched marriages devoured I have watched young people devoured and I've watched middle-aged people get devoured I've watched old people get devoured listen to me it takes a lifetime to build a great life it takes one stupid decision to destroy it one decision my favorite Instagram account that I follow his nature is metal right because our kids are lied to nature's your friend she loves you run into nature and let her embrace you yeah do that and call me when you're greeted by the mosquitoes oh yes let's we want to love you I love nature is metal because nature is harsh it's brutal it's nasty it's why God in Genesis 4 said you must subdue the earth it's either you or them in nature's metalman there's always once a week there's always some dumb gazelle oh look I found a waterhole all to myself no one else drinks from this purified aquafina well I will go and indulge by myself and we all know what's gonna happen cuz it doesn't make Instagram if it just drinks right there's no such thing as a million views for a drinking gazelle what's gonna happen to that gazelle oh man you know there's an alligator coming out of that thing like a bolt of lightning and it's gonna grab on to that gazelles face what a way to go can you imagine looking at the mouth as you're swallowed oh that's unfortunate the enemy wants to destroy your life and some of you're gonna be distracted I don't need to go to church look at that pond over there no one's over there I'm gonna go over there I don't need Church just gonna spend a little alone time I need some me time me in that pond so what happened to Bob he drank alone right I must figure out how the enemy sneaks into my life how does the enemy get in your life every single day the enemy's trying to get into your life Jesus says this I tell you the truth anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold rather than going through the gate must surely be a thief and a robber listen to me Jesus knocks on the door hey I'd like to come in do you know what a thief does a thief was looking for an open window or an unlocked door he wants to steal your soul he wants to wreck your life how does the enemy sneak into my life I don't know about you but the enemy sneaks first and foremost into my thought life right into my thought life it doesn't take much to get into my thought life right past your mat you love your wife yes I would die for her you love your kids yes I work every day for them something goes wrong I'm like I'm out of here I am out of here I'm gonna find people that liked me he doesn't take much does it something to get in your thought life something to mess with you been Satan speaks you're not loved you don't matter you'll never change Satan is constantly speaking constantly talking to you look in Genesis chapter 3 Adam and Eve sinned and the first thing that happens is they cover themselves and they hide from each other they're married they've been walking around naked forever then they're like Oh what happened and they still fig leaves and they put it over their bodies and God comes walking in the garden he says Adam where are you Eve where are you now Adam says Lord I was hiding because I was naked and afraid and God says something very interesting he says who told you you were naked Satan speaks and some of you've never ever really read the temptation of Christ and you need to circle these words in your Bibles when you read it it says Satan said Satan said Satan said if you really are the son of God Satan spoke directly to Jesus and Satan will speak to you Satan will speak and sneak into my family life if you're a husband and a father listening whatever you let into your life you've let into your family's life you've not watched the walls men some of you don't even have them you are called to be a watchman of the night to protect your family and care for them and some of you have not watched many families ever gone on vacation and got into a fight that's what we do so we do how many have ever been in Disneyland and see a kid get beat I mean it's quite right you will enjoy this trip but how does a kid my mom bought a spoon at a store to whip my brother and I at Disneyland oh I'm gonna buy you a souvenir listen to me some of you families you pray for your food but you don't pray for joy why don't you pray for this dear Lord let us go on vacation and not hate one another and you've ever been on vacation any like why do we do this why do we do this when's the last time you prayed for joy Heavenly Father we are going to Disneyland we know we should not but we worship the mouse and we have spent way too much money help me not to kill my children amen look at somebody's been to Disneyland should have prayed that listen to me pray for joy and your family pray that it's not stolen next group well my singles Oh devil has already been whispering he always talks about family talks about married people doesn't talk about me cuz I don't matter he doesn't care about singles oh I care about you and right now the devil is whispering to you you know what the devil saying Jesus takes way too long look at someone I've got for you on match.com no no don't read there don't read their profile everybody's been to prison right listen me single people you ever noticed everything in nature that's beautiful is poisonous you know like look at that handsome man he's so beautiful no it's like yeah but I got this rooster over here for you I don't want the rooster I want is pretty frog I'll turn him into a prince and then you kiss him and die that's what happens in real life beautiful frogs are poisonous mother nature is saying don't touch right your dating life oh he's not a Christian that's okay I'll lead him to Christ what about your dating life look man the most important decision you make in life is about Jesus you know your second biggest decision is who you marry who you marry next is how about your work life and then amazing how we're all we all hate work man I hate the fact that these people pay me to show up every day we're the most ungrateful people Oh pastor I just need a job any job any job I'll do anything six months later hey how's that job you got I hate it I hate it they expect me to work every day how about your church life oh man Channel is great it's great it's like it's like a comedy routine you have it six months later it's just not deep I need more depth I need to be fed I need a sandwich it amazing same sermons what changed your ears Oh enemy sneaks in my church life anybody fight on the way to church that's what Sammy Naidu prepares me for the sermon I kid you not our four biggest fights four biggest fights always the day before Easter Jesus Rose we die that's what happens our marriage is over it's terrible the enemy wants to steal you before you get to church so the next time you're fighting and you're like why do we always fight on the way to church who's in the car with us the enemy's sneaks into my church life so here's the thing here's the mistake that Christians make 2019 is the year where I give Jesus control jesus take the wheel it's a great country song but terrible advice you know what happens if you're driving on the way home and you say jesus take the wheel you're gonna crash he wants you to drive what he wants you to do is listen listen took my son out for our first driving lesson said son you get the wheel we crashed in 50 feet you think I'm kidding we did everybody's okay but we crashed I said son I need you to listen to me he's look I get invite Jesus to guide my life the number one quality that will change your life is learning to listen how many of you know somebody who needs to listen like know what none of you I don't know anyone everyone I'm surrounded with their incredible listeners well then it's you I can invite Jesus into my life to guide my life listen this Simon Simon member we talked about this verse Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat but I have pleaded in prayer for you Simon that your faith should not fail isn't it this awesome Satan may attack us but we don't have to fight him alone Jesus wants to come right alongside you he wants to teach you how to navigate he wants to show you how to drive he wants to show you how to be the man or woman of God he's called you to be but here's the thing about Jesus he only comes in when he's invited he only comes in when he's invited the thief comes in when he's uninvited when he's not welcomed and he's not wanted God is only gonna be in your life as much as you invite him into your life John 10 2 through 10 the one who enters the gate is the Shepherd of the Sheep the gatekeeper opens the gate for him and the Sheep recognize his voice and they come to him listen to me God is speaking and you have to learn to hear him right before I gave my life to Christ in my early 20s I was at a party filled with people but empty of joy I was surrounded by friends and all alone and in the middle of this party I went to the bathroom by myself didn't even have to go just went wash my hands wash my face and I heard a voice and it said what are you doing here you said well you were drunk I hadn't been drinking what are you doing here what are you doing with your life these friends they don't love you they don't care for you I do and I died for you what are you doing with your life you see shepherds protect the Sheep wolves eat the Sheep and Satan is a wolf the gatekeeper opens the gate for him and the Sheep recognize his voice and come to him he calls the sheep by name and leads them out and after he's gathered his own flock he walks ahead of them and he and they follow him because they know his voice listen to me sheep are dumb sheep are almost blind incredibly slow and if you haven't noticed God blessed them with velcro so their enemies can catch them quickly and this is what God calls you sheep but do you know what sheep have an incredible sense of hearing so much so that there's a whole process that has to occur in modern day Shepherds when a shepherd has become too old to lead the sheep they have to go through a process by which the Sheep will recognize the new Shepherd's voice because they only come to the voice they know and it takes months of the Shepherd introducing the new voice it says they won't follow a stranger they will run from him because they don't know his voice even if another Shepherd says come they're like no no no no that's why they go yeah that's what they're saying now those who heard Jesus used this illustration didn't understand what he meant why they're sheep they're dumb so explain it to them I'll tell you the truth he says I am the gate for the Sheep all who came before me were thieves and robbers but the true Sheep did not listen to them yes I'm the gate those who come to me will be saved they will come and go freely and find good pastures Jesus doesn't want you for a slave you already are one to sin and Satan he wants you to be a true child of God free to come and go as you choose and to eat freely of the good food that he's grown that's who God is he loves you he loves you and he cares for you he says the thief's purpose is to steal kill and destroy my purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life remember we started off we said that Satan steals my joy Jesus wants to show me how to have joy he wants to teach you how to be happy a lot of you just believe well I should be happy well you can believe you that all you want you need to learn how to be happy and God wants to show you for some of you Satan has killed your hope he's killed your hope there's no hope for my marriage there's no hope for my life there's no hope for my child I got good news for you even when something dies there's still hope this last week I was with a church member who's been battling for his life he had a place called City of Hope Cancer Center in City of Hope said there's no more hope and they sent him home and I went to pray with him I've been with him a couple of times over the last year and I've watched his health decline and we've spoken many times and we've had very very real conversations where I've had to say things like this I'm super concerned about whether or not you're going to heaven and I want to be clear the last time I met with him here's what he said when his diagnosis was terminal he said it's all in God's hands it's God's will so I went to pray with him last week he couldn't open his eyes he repeatedly tried to talk but his body is ravaged by cancer and now destroyed by chemotherapy I said Grover its pastor Matt I said if you know it's me I want you to squeeze my hand and he did I said I told you I'd be here I said we've asked for a miracle and God said no but he's God and he's good and I got down next to his ear his wife is on the other side of the bed and I said and when you hear the voice of your Shepherd call I said you run to him you run to him and here's what I said in his ear I said I will see you on the other side brother I will see you Jesus lives and so will we and he squeezed my hand squeezed my hand because even in death with Christ there is still hope there's still hope it's not over but here's the here's the here's the reality most of you are not dying yet you know you don't need to worry about death you know what you need to worry about life you're not good at life good news Jesus wants to write this down rebuild my life listen you want 2019 to be the best year ever why don't you listen to the God who invented time we always say this father time is undefeated we haven't read the Bible cuz he loses too he loses too time is a temporary thing God will end it one day somebody never thought about that do you know the time only exists so that you could exist in time some be like lastly he wants to save my soul do you know that when you die you're not gone you're not gone you're just not here my question is where you where you gonna go Jesus says behold I go to prepare a place for you if it were not so I would have told you in my house there are many mansions and I go to prepare a place for you you're invited you belong there here's the scary thing you have a choice not only can you screw up this life you could screw up eternal life Jesus is calling Jesus is speaking and he's saying I know II want to give you eternal life I want to change 2019 why he said I came so that you could have real and eternal life more and a better life than you ever dreamed of listen to me God's reality is way better than your fantasy way better you need to know this if you are not right with Christ you are not right with God the only way to get right with God is to get right with Christ and here's how you do it you simply apologize to God for your sin and you say I'm sorry and you invite Jesus Christ to become the lord of your life and to begin to guide you and direct you and if you do that he will fill you with His Holy Spirit that's not on your shoulder but it's in your heart and he directs you and he guides you and he speaks to you and he will tell you which way to go and how to live and it will not only be the best year ever but it'll be the best life you could ever live I beg you and I pray that you would get right with Christ today listen at the end of service we're gonna have people that come out if you're watching online we have people that are available for you to connect with them these are people that were just like you that were lost and now are found who are blind but now see who were judged but have now been forgiven because of their faith in Christ and they're here to pray with you to come alongside you and to show you how to begin hearing the voice of God he speaks and some of you have heard him today man don't miss this series next week we're going to talk about the most important step in following the voice of the Good Shepherd and I pray that you will come back and bring a friend let's pray together Heavenly Father we thank you we praise you we love you lord I know that you loved every person here Lord you want to give them life Lord you want to bring peace hope and love Lord but in order for that to happen they have to start listening to you and following you I pray that your spirit would guide them right now in whatever decision they need to make Lord we love you Lord we want to live for you and Lord we want 20-19 to be the year God that you want to be we want to live the life that you have for us we pray this in Christ's name a man

Channel: Sandals Church

Views: 5,775

Rating: 4.8736844 out of 5

Keywords: New Years Resolution, Faith, What does the Bible say about the devil, Biblical Satan, Satan, Besy Year Ever, Sandals Church, Pastor Matt Brown, Church in Riverside California, California Church

Id: mzihaPChfN0

Length: 42min 17sec (2537 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 14 2019