New Year New Prayer Psalms 46

e e e e good morning Shores churches everyone is coming in making their way to your seats we are so thankful for you to be here and for us to be celebrating a start of a new year together amen so iite everyone to stand up we are going to start by just praising our Our Savior no matter what what we're walking into whatever season we're walking into we know that we have a God who we can trust amen and so it's so good to remember as we enter new year that we can take our God at his word because if he says it we can believe it [Music] amen your word is [Music] lamb your way is the only way for me nrow but I want [Music] to narrow roll but the mercy is wide cuz it's good on his promise [Music] take you out your word said it I'll I seen how good it works you start it compl I'll take you at your [Music] word you spoke and the chaos fell in I know I've seen it in [Music] my to be a narrow road and the tiest high but you part in the waters I'll take you at your [Music] it seen how good it works you started your complete take you as your word set it up seen how good start it you take you your [Music] you set your heart never foret forsake you said I'm sa you called me yours you said my fut full of your hope you never I know that you never you said your love never give up you s your graes always enough you said your heart will never forget forsake me you said sa you called me yours you set my futes of your you never fa and I know that you'll never fail me I'll take you at your said it I'll it seen how good it works start here you compl I'll take you at your said it be I seen how good words start here you compl I'll take you at your word I'll take you at your [Music] word [Music] you give life you are love you bring light to the darkness you give hope you restore every heart that is broken great are you Lord It's your breath in our lungs so we pour out Our Praise we pour out our praise it's your breath in our lives so we pour out our praise you [Music] only you give life you are love you bring light to the dark dark you give you restore every heart that is [Music] broken great are you Lord It's your breath in our loves so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise it's your bread in our lovees so we pour out our praise to you oh it's your breath in our l so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise it's your breath in our loves so we pour out our praise you ow me [Music] all the Earth Will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones will sing great are you Lord all the Earth Will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones will sing great are you Lord all the Earth Will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones will sing great are you Lord It's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise it's your bread in our lungs so we pour out our praise you only it's your bread in our lungs so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise you only great are you [Music] Lord dear heavenly father as we come before you right now continuing to worship through hearing your your word father I pray that that is that is our cry for the new year that with every breath we have it's to praise you father and that you deserve all the glory and honor so right now give us ears that are willing to listen hearts that are willing to accept your word and we we love you in your precious and holy name we pray amen thank you so much for worshiping you guys can have a seat hey Happy New Year's all right we could say that happy new years's I need to know if you're my kind of people all right tonight will who raise your hand if you will be awake at 12 o'clock tonight to watch New Year's Eve countdown how many people we got in here how many we got like uh s all right how many people will be we're going to do it this way how many people will be in bed normal bedtime normal bedtime like whatever oh my word wow okay so we're different that's okay that's good that's good that's I like that a lot all right how many people will stay up and like go to bed and then get up at like 11:59 and then back in bed at 12:05 anybody who has worked the system like that that takes a lot of strategy and planning I feel like that's actually more work than just staying up um so it's New Year's I'm so glad you guys are in church I'm so glad you're here welcome to Shores um our church like we are trying to keep it pretty simple we we exist as a church to just know Jesus trying to get to know Jesus and then also just to make him known here in Wells but really in Southern Maine and we try to keep it real simple love God love others and do good and help those in need like that is something that's our heart and um I can't believe like here we are a year later I think our first one of our first Services here was Christmas Eve's Eve and so that was really special um we had Christmas Eve's Eve I know some of you were there which was wonderful we had two Christmas Eve services to which was really cool we had double the number of people from last year that was neat it was special each each each service and every time we get to spend together is very special and uh no different for New Year's Eve um I want to encourage you that uh just as this new year if you're trying to build new habits and things like that I think making your faith a priority I'm saying that I mean Pastor you're supposed to but like I really mean it like for me personally looking into this new year I I was trying to search just this just talk to God and just pray about what kind of things would be really valuable if somebody was really into Faith or somebody who's just kind of searching and looking what would be really valuable and I kept on going back to psalms now uh ser Sur does anybody know anybody ever heard of the Psalms in the Bible raise your hand if youve ever heard of Psalms okay so this is like a music book this is like the mo the the radio back in the day these were the songs of these people written to be sung by choirs and there were instruments I mean this was a big deal and the pong that I wanted to go through to start our new year is particularly it was a top it was definitely top 40 it might have been a number one hit at the time I it might have been top of the charts it was Psalms 46 and and and so you know I was thinking about this as I Was preparing this though if you're a parent okay we're going to pull back if you're a parent and you are in the other room and you hear a crash in the other room I don't know if you're a better parent than me but what I usually do is I count to like three me and Cara look at each other and go and if there's like crying but not panic crying we're like it's okay if it's silent you jump up and run into the other room right if there's a crash with nothing you are running cuz somebody is unconscious like you know what I mean well I remember this particular time there was a crash in the other room and then hysterics like real hysterics and yells and I'm thinking you know you come around the corner you're like what am I going to run into it could be as simple as a sibling has stolen something from another's child and something has fallen but in this particular case I walk in the kitchen and there is a broken it must have been like a Costco siiz pickle jar like do you know like more pickles than you need in your entire life do you know what I'm saying like there's like the right amount of pickles and then there's way too much and this was one of those way too much and this jar had shattered almost like a bomb had dropped and it was everywhere glass pickle juice pickles everywhere and a child of mine in the middle of it crying hysterically cuz there's glass every everywhere anybody ever been there any have you ever walked into a situation like that and it kind of you're like the vinegar takes your breath away right but then you're like this is not a good situation this this could potentially be very bad so what is the first thing we say don't move which is completely understand the next thing when somebody is crying hysterically what's the next thing you say calm down is what I say ever dealt with somebody who's hysterical doesn't calming them down calm down doesn't that always work right and the louder you say it the more calm they become right like it's it's like inverse the louder I say calm the more hysterical man I remember this so I'm like calm down calm down but this child is now crying screaming covering their ears that's a good moveie have you ever seen that crying screaming there's glass everywhere at this point we had a dog so I'm not sure if the dog's going to run in there and everything's crazy here's as a parent I pull on my shoes and I'm sure you've done this you can't reach the kid because of the volume the only thing you can do is you can get close to them they can't hear you what do you do you pick them up pickle juice everywhere glass everywhere it's just it's it's a catastrophe and you pick that kid up and you're in your shoes and you're tiptoeing through the kitchen and you carry them to safety even at that point they can still be hysterical right they're like ah it's crazy I'm so but it changes I'm so sorry you know and this is the situation you put them on the table you get them away you check them up and down and then you check if they're okay that's when you ask right you're away from the situation you make sure the dog's in the other room you do all the things and then you start the cleanup now in this particular situation once you've removed your child from the situation and they calm down they want to jump back in and help don't they they're like it's safe now I'm like no no no there's still glass everywhere but they've calmed down and they feel like they can jump back in right if I'm the only one has anybody ever been in that situation where like you calm down like actually that wasn't so bad I can jump back in there I can help well in this particular case it was not that way and I said you need to chill I got this dad's got this you know that confidence that a parent can portray or if you've ever been in that situation as a teacher a parent maybe and that and you walk in and bring calm into a situation I found this to be the case is that it's closeness that brings it it's the closeness which is exactly what we learned about Christmas being all about that Jesus's name Emanuel meant God With Us or with us is God and so continuing that idea that we can't shout somebody down into calm rather it is a closeness and that is where we come to Psalms 46 you know I think about in the world and we look at the bigger picture like I in particular do not like being compared to a child in a kitchen with a pickle jar that's broken and me freaking out but I can tell you even as an adultish I'm adult mostly adulting I'm mostly an adult I would say there are moments in my life and I think you might agree there are moments when there's things going on in the world there are things going on in your personal life there are things that feel a little out of sorts almost like chaotic on the outside you're smiling you're good it's like the duck with the the the the tread in water the duck looks happy but its feet are going nuts has anybody um does anybody know anybody who has ever had that situation in their life anybody know a guy do you guys know a guy great okay so but I I I think that when I pull back and I look at war in Israel I pull back and I see the way people treat each other I see all of these things it Grieves my soul and I think and I almost inside I scream like ah this isn't the way it's supposed to be you know I don't know how to fix this and so as we enter the new year I would say this what is the most important thing perhaps that we could do is this closeness can we get close can we can we do that because closeness and relationship I believe is something in 2024 I believe this I believe that what you believe about God's character and what I believe about God's character is going to impact my behavior in 2024 right you don't really believe something unless you behave in a certain way have you ever heard that you only behave what you really believe right you can say you believe something but if you do the opposite do you really believe it you know what I mean like you know does anybody agree with that like you really practice what you really believe and so what I believe about God's character will impact how I behave now when I get to Psalms 46 I think most people know if you know Psalms 46 you know this par these two verses the first verse you know is this it's the first verse it's the lead off it's the first verse in this really amazing top 40 song it says this Psalms 461 says God is our refuge and strength strength always ready to help in times of trouble that's the opening line that is a if you're writing a song that is a great first line then a little bit later in this song is Psalms 4610 now a lot of people know this line of the song it says be still and know that I am God I will be honored by every nation I will be honored throughout the world has anybody ever heard that be still and know that I'm God has anybody ever heard that so some of us okay so these are two lines of this song that are very well known I believe this passage in Psalms if we will commit some of these things to our heart that it will produce a clear calm trusting spirit and lead to sound judgment and leadership in our personal lives and also in the life of our church and in our community that's what I believe about this passage so there's a lot of stuff that happens between verse one and verse 10 we're talking there's a lot of stuff that we're going to cover but we're going to go quickly through it the first thing that I see here is this it just starts with God is my strength my refuge he is present and this is the thing he is present with me in crisis let's look at Psalms 46 1-3 God is our refuge and strength always ready to help in times of trouble so we will not fear when earthquakes come mountains crumble let the oceans Roar and foam let the mountains tremble as the waters surge now I don't know if you have your Bible in front of you um in my Bible right here it says it kind of gives a little line like italicized that tells you that this was written for the descendants of Cora to be sung by soprano voices does anybody else have that note I thought that was very curious I had never noticed that before so I researched these Kora and the soprano voices this was written for the women to sing one of the most powerful Psalms that you can read about strength and confidence and refuge sung by the highest voices in this choir all right and the Kora in Kora was the descendants of the Levites so at this point they were handling the temple and they were handling worship they were Leading the People In Worship a powerful expression of God's power so an idea for worship just for you like I'm going to open up my brain and share a little bit with you what I think about when I think of worship when I when when our when our our worship team starts leading and and opens up a service I actually don't even think like worship starts when they start playing okay this is what I mean is that it's almost like they're inviting us to join something that's been going on you're like you're invited to the party it's like the party doesn't start when Lee counts us off right even though you do a great job counting off let's I mean she does she just like one two three four I'm like Someday I'm gonna grow up I'm gonna be cool like Lee that's gonna happen but that's when worship starts worships been going on I mean people are worshiping God around the clock for all of eternity and we're just like popping into the party and we're gonna get our attention focused and all those things like this song has been sung forever and it's going to continue way after us so when I think of worship I'm joining in something that's already been happening and it won't ever stop and so this song is very special this song is something that has been sung over and over over again and this music writer uh this this author puts it to paper so the opening line line of this song is so strong it's so bold it's a bold stance God is refuge and strength you know that and therefore I will not fear so I see here a confession a belief that leads to a behavior a belief that God is my refuge and strength uh I love this another translation says God is a very present help and trust and remember we said at Christmas God came close nearby we could be screaming in the kitchen with broken pickle jaar around us and but he came close picks us up he's wearing shoes he can carry us through the mess and set us in a safe place a refuge and strength I can't do that on myself on my own in the noise and the chaos this word Elohim the word Elohim means ruler rulers and judges it can also refer to false gods but this idea of Elohim a ruler a judge he's compared to that that word refuge means shelter and it really means to to it sounds exactly what it is when it's raining when it's pouring when there's floods when there's it's a place to shelter yourself from the storm all of those things are there but when you put them together you realize that we tend to either run to a god made structure himself or we run to our own kind of shelters so this singer is saying when I am afraid when I am concerned when the uh world is overwhelming I go to him I will tell you this and I believe this wholeheartedly this world is full of lowercase Elohim and shelters that we build for oursel that we want to run to man I can't tell you how many different things I've run to and I and I would assume you know a guy very similar to me I'm sure but when you think about it we turn to all sorts of things when there's chaos people will gravitate to relationships they'll run to addictions we'll run to possessions we'll throw ourselves into our work we'll lock on to our screeds this is what everybody looks like right this is what I look like right I mean we do that we run into to these shelters for refuge and strength I know I'm just talking to myself or these words were sung as a confession and it was personal and I think that it was written in a way that came out of a real experience a direct translation would be best suited this way it says God is well-proved help and trouble is what it really could say God is well prooved proved in trouble listen when you were growing up your parents could do anything they're bigger they're taller they're faster all of those things when it was proved is when I couldn't help myself they could step in and do something I couldn't do for myself right right you know there was a several years ago I remember we at we were at a sporting event and um with some friends and stuff and uh the kid was out playing right anybody go to sporting events with kids and it's like yeah you've been you've sat through some games right yeah so in this particular situation the the the kid we're watching is playing and it's a pivotal moment all eyes are on this kid and they completely screw up I mean it's bad everybody sees it everybody gasps it's awful everything inside of me I'm like I'm I'm cringing so hard inside for my friend for the parents and I remember looking over at the parent and thinking is this parent going to like jump up and like try to like I mean they're young so like parents are still very involved and I'm thinking in my head this is this is nothing I watched something parent under the breath was praying that's weird I'm freaking out I'm I am legitimately freaking out like what are we going to do they're just praying something possessed their heart to just pray ask them later they were praying God please help my kid give up help them have confidence to get back to what they were doing it's just one series it's just one thing please don't let this become a thing you know what happened the kid got off the turf reset then executed on the next whistle later on I can't even remember I guess it was a couple days later I was reconnecting and stuff like that the kid did not even mention it it was like it never happened didn't phas them one bit confidence level super high everything totally fine it was like it had never happened they remembered only the good stuff and the rest of the season it was never brought up again you got to understand when when God is your refuge in strength when he is your refuge in strength and your shelter it was is so much like this it's like that was unn almost supernaturally the ability to just brush yourself off and and try again without it my friend didn't rush into The Fray and in a way in our lives we have to be careful in crisis it is our tendency it is our tendency to try to manhandle it and do it on our own right I don't know that's my tendency and yet here we are told to step back and Trust because if we believe the confession is God is my refuge and strength then there is a behavior that will go along with it I will be calm in crisis I will be able to be calm in the midst of the crisis you know right after this statement it uses the word I don't know if what's in your Bible I have interlude or some of you have the word CA you you guys see that the word CA okay so that word CA means this let's think about that for a second let's just let's just take a second and really think about what that means so maybe the the musician are are are playing during this song but it's a time in the song where you're just thinking about what you just heard and this passage does it three times to reflect on it three times they use the word cila after each of the verses so the first confession that we can think about is this my confession is God is my refuge and strength can you say that with me God is my refuge and strength so my behavior my actions are I am calm can you say I am I am calm I am calm in the face of the unexpected I am calm in the face of the unexpected so you're not not going with me on that but this is what's important all right God is my refuge and strength so I am calm in the face of the unexpected that's huge if we walked into 2024 with a calmness and a confidence that God was our refuge and strength I think we would behave different than Maybe we have in the past the first confession from Psalms 46 there's a second one and the second confession is this God is my provision and it leads me to confidence that's what it is God is my provision and it leads me to confidence in the Lord let's look at Psalms 46 4-7 that says this a river brings Joy to the city of God now I know that we've got some fishermen in here and Rivers bring joy am I right not for me I've never caught a fish ever when I've gone fishing it's a it's a real thing if you want to catch nothing take me out fishing it'll be great be great we'll have fun we'll laugh it's bad and I've been fishing with some of you and you know it's true that's not preaching a river brings Joy to the city of our God the sacred home of the most high God dwells in that City it cannot be destroyed from the very break of day God will protect it and uh it goes on and says the nations are in chaos the kingdoms crumble God's voice Thunders the Earth melts the Lord of Heaven's Army is here Among Us the god of Israel is our Fortress and then CA interlude um it when at this point of reflection now the the they're they're thinking about this next thing and you know what I think this might have been written as a song from a real experience that was happening um there's I read a bunch of different Scholars about this but there's perhaps this might have actually been WR written during an actual season of Jerusalem there was a king named Hezekiah there's a lot of backstory to it but basically what happens in this Siege one of the reasons that Jerusalem was able to last was that they had a little bit of water not like a major city that has lots of rivers like when you go to Boston they got the Charles Big River right a lot of the major cities in the world have these big massive Rivers Jerusalem doesn't have that what they do have is they have quiet small Springs that provide water and life to the city so if getting sieged if they are being surrounded the people still have water it's not a river that can be blocked off it's no it's coming from inside and so these song writers are alluding to the fact that hey we might be surrounded on every side we still have this this this gift from God this joy we have this water that provides for us these singers are singing and they're thinking about personal experience yeah if you ever had a song hit on the radio and you like you like feel it you're like like yeah you know I you know no nobody else has a song that comes on like any Disney song you're just like Lion King Circle life comes on you're like you're just like yeah no you need to get out more I'll tell you what it'll change your life um the song hits different when it when it relates to you right it hits different and so I think this song was one of those songs that hit different because it applied to something that really happened to their city and they're singing about it and reminding themselves of it what they're reminding themselves is guys God is my provision it's gonna make us confident yeah do you remember that time we were sieged do you remember that time that we felt surrounded do you remember what that was like that we still had joy that we still had this Comfort we could be confident it reminds me of Hebrews 12:28 and this is a promise if you genuinely follow Jesus I'm not talking about religion I'm not just believing saying that there's a higher power I'm not sure what it is but if you follow Jesus there is a promise Hebrews 12:28 says this since we are receiving a kingdom that is unshakable let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with this holy fear and awe this idea of a kingdom that is unshakable an idea of a city that can't be destroyed because it has this life this water running inside of it that's what they're singing about unshakable that's what they're saying and so I think about it there could be chaos at home other people's houses not ours there could be chaos abroad the reality is we cannot possibly understand everything anybody who says they understand everything you can't it's too complicated it's too nuanced we will never never know everything or be able to make perfect judgment or call in essence we are never really in control right I have uh I started running in my life last year consistantly I did it as a control thing true I felt like my I felt like there were so many things that were outside of my control you know what I could control I could put on my sneakers and I can run down the road and turn around and huff and puff back that's the only like I was like I was really at the point where like I can control nothing else but I can go for a run in my neighborhood so I will do that my neighbors can attest red-faced sweaty disgusting but I'm in control I am running and I'm doing it you know we think that we're in more control than we are the reality is it's really complicated you're not in as much control of your life as you think you are and so the confession is God is my provision he's going to provide ride and that leads me to be confident in him not in me I mean literally if that's the only thing I can do boy I really don't have a lot of power but my confidence isn't in me it's in him why do I think this has to do with confidence in God and not in ourselves I think it's because of the last line of this Psalm where it says the Lord of Heaven's Army is here Among Us the god of Israel as our Fortress you got to know the background behind that statement the message which is not a translation there's this there's the paraphrase called the message the way they have this written is this jacob wrestling god fights for us God of Angel Armies protect us now what does that mean it means this the songwriters or performers knew the story of Jacob I don't have a lot of time to talk about who Jacob was but Jacob is a lot of us Jacob was a trickster you ever met a kid who like will look you right in the face I mean I was probably this way and I would be sitting in the principal's office and I did something I should not have done the principal's like I remember getting detention for a couple days and he's like you should be a lawyer and I said why thank you it's been a pleasure but you know like Jacob was a trickster he was a mover and a Shaker he was always trying to get his way and so is there is a pivotal moment when Jacob is literally wrestling with God trying to get his way and then he stopped and he gave up and God won Jacob wrestling god fights for us he got a new name you know what his new name was it was Israel and Israel meant the Lord prevails interesting so I work real hard on my own but then when I go and let go then God prevails because the confession is he's my provision vision and it leads me to confidence in him not in me and then it goes on God of angels armies protects me that's one of God's names Jehovah Sabbath The Lord of Heaven's armies the same God fights for you and me how cool is that the same one God is my provision I will always be confident in the Lord he's going to fight for me I can remember at different times throughout our life um with me and Cara as an example example like I just remember some of the most difficult times in our lives there was always a river of Joy running through us uh if you grew up in church um I was talking to Carter earlier the kids song I've got a River of Life flowing anybody know that if you didn't grow up in church you might not know there's some clapping involved and if I had a guitar I could do this right I have a Riv of life but I remember some difficult times even recently just difficult times in our lives but even going back I remember there wasn't a holiday when we were pastoring where we weren't in the ER with one of our kids before a major holiday service like literally I would be on the phone coordinating dozens and dozens of volunteers and team members when my kid is like strapped to a machine so they could like breathe like that was normal for our family just said felt like that I remember that and we had so much like this this this Joy everything's gonna be okay I remember that and I'm sure if you've ever been through a difficult situation and you were trusting in God's Vision you felt the same way because it didn't make sense it didn't make sense but there was a confidence and a joy I can remember confessing to God sometimes out loud sometimes in my spirit God you are my provision God you're my provision so maybe God is my refuge and strength isn't going to be your your call for 224 but maybe for you it needs to be God is my provision say that with me God you are my provision God you are my provision and so the action is I am confident in you so say that with me I am confident in you for you in 2024 anybody just be God you're my provision I am confident in you you run into a situation where you want to do something but you're like nope God you're my provision I'm GNA be confident in you not going to be confident in myself I'm gonna be confident in you maybe that's where you need to be God will always provide he has provided relationships in your lives I know he's done it I know he's done it for some of you uh things have come out of nowhere you are in financial struggles and a check shows up in the mail like it's not just figurative like it really happened and you're like whoa God you provided for me and I didn't a sale goes through or something happens and God took care of you somehow he did it you had groceries stretch out longer than they should have people out of nowhere coming by your side and praying with you or helping you God God is your provision he's your provision he's got it he provides it and that's why we can be confident so the first confession God you are my refuge and strength I'll be calm in the face of the unexpected right the second one is God you are my provision God you are my provision and I'm confident in you the last thing we see in Psalms 46 is this God fights for me God fights for me now some of you love like fights I know somebody likes to pick fights anybody anybody know anybody who likes to pick fights they just kind of like kind of gets them like pumped up there's a few people I like honest people now some people are goingon to look at each other I see you anybody knows somebody who likes to pick fights anybody they're like let's go let's go right just for fun some people just like to start trouble and then they like to walk away you know but God fights for me and I will this is the confession God fights for me and I will will lay down my arms this is so very important it's the end of the Psalms let's read it together Psalms 46 8-10 come see the Glorious works of the Lord see how he brings destruction upon the world he causes Wars to end throughout the Earth he breaks the bow snaps the spear he burns the shield with fire and this is the verse that everybody knows if you know it be still and know that I am God I will be honored by every nation I will be honored throughout the world see see this is an invitation to observe the work of God like I mentioned before I think this might have been written around the time of King Hezekiah when that Jerusalem was being sieged by the Assyrians so many troops surrounding this city Hezekiah trusted the Lord leaned in and that night the angel of the Lord wiped out over a 100,000 soldiers they woke up in the morning they're like oh well we were preparing to fight this morning and there is nobody left to fight Perhaps Perhaps so when we read the causes of war that is a difficult thing for me to read but it can be read in the view that every single thing every single thing that has ever happened has passed through God's loving hand for the purpose for us to see him at work for the purpose to see him at work and so in the moment sometimes Fierce battles look like loes but then God steps in and he utterly destroys the enemy showing his power showing that their weapons don't work they're defenseless against God that's where that verse comes from be still and know that I am God that's not a ver I always thought that verse was kind of like a withdraw calm get to your quiet place put on the music the candle and get something from Starbucks like for me that's what I thought that verse meant it's actually a verse there's war it was messy it was chaotic and it's like my kid that I pick up out of the pickle jar mess and and I bring them over to the side and they're watching dad take care of it from safety be still think about that for a second after a particularly brutal season in your life if you have walked through life through fire through sickness through struggles and come out better more faith filed stronger than you saw God being God in your life you did and he is honored by that that word be still is not just a call to reflection with a nice cup of coffee and a candle that's not what it is you know what it means that word literally means to lay down your weapons it actually is summarized in one word it means cease means cease what he's saying is it's a command from God cease stop lay it down it's like if you have a really nice chair you sit in that chair and you just cease from a distance God took care of the battle which makes me think of it's so common that when we feel safe and protected that all of a sudden we get back up our courage and we want to run back in and we want to fight and we want to participate because oh yeah I want to jump in and God says stop it's my glory I got this I don't need you to do this I got this it is so simple and we know from Philippians 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of everything in heaven and in Earth and things under the Earth in case we don't know I got news for us in 2024 it's all about his honor it's all about his honor it's all about his glory god will be honored and from God's perspective it's not Pride because he is absolutely in charge and all power it's not Pride it just is and that's God he will be honored everything is his I will just say this maybe in 2024 we could keep ourselves out of trouble if we just learn to cease you don't have to fight every battle you're invited to cease look has anybody ever made something worse by jumping to conclusions about something has anybody ever made things worse by jumping to conclusions Yeah okay or or jumping conclusions or injecting yourself into something that you probably shouldn't have anybody ever done that it's like oh that looks like a good fight to jump into I don't know what's going on I'm just gonna jump in you know like somebody ever done that maybe you said one too much you know like you kind of made your point you're talking to somebody in a very calm reserved Manner and you've won your argument and then you're like but I want to add a little extra on top I want to just sprinkle it with a little extra anybody ever sprinkle a little extra on top you're leaving the room and you're like one more thing okay okay some people have experienced that maybe you're in a you're kind of fighting about something and you get in one last shot anybody ever done that you like to have the last word does anybody know anybody who likes having the last word anybody typically in every relationship there's somebody who likes having the last word in all those situations did it make the situation better or did it make it worse let's be honest that momentary hit it does feel a little bit better doesn't it's it's like I got the last word and you're like oh my not worth it right cease cease there's been times in my life where I try to use my logic my quick thinking to make a point wrestle someone to my vantage point and in the Pro process I steamrolled them or I made I made a relationship more complex than it needed to be I did something to hurt somebody what if I had done what I'm saying here and I just ceased see the thing is is this someone might still leave and think they're right and they might choose to do something poorly but if I ceased I would remain in Integrity if I learned to cease I can think of several times that if I had just waited it out in a particular situation if I had written some severely worded emails and just chose not to send perhaps I believe we all have heard the story of how Abraham Lincoln would write letters and then never mail them anybody ever heard that classic classic move maybe not true but I love it maybe if I had rewrote the message and took a different position and I just placed it in God's hand the reality is this even if I just place it in God's hand am I necessarily going to get the outcome I want well I actually might not I might not I might lose I might lose but I can tell you this every time that I have ceased it might not be the outcome that I want but looking back on it it was the outcome that I needed every single time God did more than I could have thought so where in your life where are we striving and not seeing God work right trying to Strongarm God into what we want him to do and not what God wants done listen in 2024 one of the things that could be for you is this confession God you are glorious we sing it think it God you are glorious but the action then is I will lay down my arms because you're glorious I don't have to be I lay down my arms for some of us one of these confessions might connect with you in this new year God he can be your refuge and strength you don't have to run to man Mage shelters you can stay calm in unexpected crisis you know that might be one of them God you're my provision I'm confident in you that could be it for you it might be God you are my provision and I'm going to be confident in you somebody needs to hold on to that and use that this year for some it's just acknowledging that God is glorious and that you are not and you need to lay down your arms I mean you're glorious in your own way right no but glorious I need to lay down I need to cease and let God be God if one of these are all of these statements about God you will live in 2024 more confident in who God has made you to be guaranteed one of these and so when we finish Psalms 46 top of the charts I mean it was it Rose because it connected with people's hearts I hope in this new year for me and for you that one of these connect with your heart God you're my refuge and strength God you are my provision God you are glorious one of those may they speak to your heart let's pray uh before I close in prayer I do just ask this if if there is um anybody here you know uh this morning who would say one of these confessions definitely connected to you um would you just raise your hand I want to pray for you right now all right hands flying up yeah yeah good all right I want to pray I want to pray specifically for you in a moment uh the other thing I want to do is this is that I know that at Christmas time we talked about the fact that Jesus one of his names was Emanuel meaning he was close God With Us Maybe maybe today you wouldn't say that God is close in your life that you don't have a relationship with Jesus not a close one you know about him but you don't know him maybe you're searching in your faith you're kind of you know you're you're searching your faith right now if that's you would you just raise your hand again nobody's looking around but maybe you're searching today maybe you don't have that relationship with Jesus and I just want to know that so I can be praying for you as a pastor and as a friend I want to be praying for you okay all right that's good that's good okay well I want to pray that one of these confessions will really connect with you in this year Lord Jesus we come to you right now and we are thankful this group of people as we are gathered here and to celebrate this new year this Fresh Approach that we want we want to believe certain things about you that are true and that they impact the way we behave and the way that we live and we want to live more filled with trust more filled with your strength and ultimately less of us more of you there are specific situations that people are thinking about right now relationships maybe life-changing things that are coming up I'm not exactly sure everything that could be in this room right now but I do know that you know and so we ask God that these would be our confessions in this new year God that you would do something amazing in the personal lives of the people here in this church here at Shores and ultimately in our community and in southern main Lord we want to be a part of that but we know it only comes from what we believe in you and how we act and so we thank you for this time that we get to spend together in your word and all God's people said amen I invite you to stand up as we end out our service just worshiping and what we get to see we heard this message and declaring who God is and so right now we get to declare that he is faithful and and that we can look back in our lives and see circumstances where we are like how did how is this going to work out and we can come to the other side of it and see that he was good and they had a good plan for us amen so we're going to sing this out all my life you have been [Music] faithful I Love You Lord oh your mercy never fails me all my days I've been H in your head the iake I I will s of the goodness [Music] God all my life you have been all my life you have been so so good every birth that I am I will see of the goodness of God I love your voice you have me through the fire in darkest you are close like no other I've known you as a father [Music] know you as a friend I have lived in the goodness of God all my life you have been faithful all my life you have been so so God with every breath that I [Music] I will see of the goodness of [Music] God your goodness is running out is running after me your goodness is running after it's running after me with my life L down and surrender now I give you everything day your goodness is running after running after me your goodness is running after is running after me your goodness is running after it's running after me with my life laid down surrender now I give you everything your goodness is right running after [Music] me all my life you have been faithful it's all my life you have been so so good with every breath that I am I will sing of the goodness [Music] all my life you have been faithful all my life you have been so so good with every breath in I am oh I will sing the goodness of God oh I will see of the goodness of God I hope you uh enter this New Year believing in the goodness of God that's what that's the goal he's good and um before you leave today uh I just have a few quick things um um speaking of God's goodness it has been very special uh as we are finishing up the year one of the things that I try to do with uh several members of of our team is just going over how God has blessed us in terms of being able to help others through our giving and I didn't mention this before but on your way out if you came prepared to give we have a box there you can give through that um or you can go online shes church.org you can donate there um one of the things I know people donate at the end of the year to specific Charities and stuff like that this is a great place to invest um I was overwhelmed this week when I got to think of the groceries that we were able to provide um difficult situations that our church the generosity there's nobody out like our church was able to help in our community whether it's feeding or Sheltering we were able to give a really give away a lot of money to the Wells Elementary School to take care of kids for Christmas and other needs throughout the year you are a part of that thank you if you give that you a part of you can put your hands together and celebrate that because God's good I think that we have to understand that God's good to us so that we can be good to others like if he's just good so that I can live a good life that kind of kind of stop short but if he's good to me I could be good to others so I want to thank you for your generosity and consider giving if you haven't to finish the year out um the other thing is this as we enter this new year a couple of things to be thinking about Shores groups which are these groups of people that get together throughout the week not just Sunday we do things all throughout the week you can be learning about the Bible doing stuff studies memorizing scripture there's going to be groups like that starting near the end of January if you want information on that what you want to do is you want to fill out a Shores connection card there a little card at that table that's the best way once a week to hear what's going on in the church all right if you've never filled out a card maybe it's your first time here it's been a little while fill one of those cards out we'll update you we won't spam you it's one email a week it's called the tide chart you'll see it the tide chart it'll come through your email that's way to let everything go okay I really encourage you in the new year jump into that and uh stick around for a few minutes have a cup of coffee talk to somebody you don't maybe know and we'll be back next year all right I love you guys God bless you

Channel: Shores_Church

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Length: 64min 20sec (3860 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 01 2024