New Year's Eve Service 2020 - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

To be honest, I don't really even wanna share much after those testimonies. But I was so blessed to hear, even briefly. I'm sure they could have expounded in detail what God has been doing. I'm sure you have something to share as well. And it's so encouraging to just be refreshed.

It's a different feeling than what you get when you watch the news. Right? It's literally the opposite. Faith is imparted. Hope is imparted.

There's not much good news out there because there's only one source of that good news. You made it to 2020, at least the end of it. You made it through. We made it through. And, this was no ordinary year.

That's not a surprise to all of us, because there have been a series of events that did not just affect one nation, not even three nations, 10 nations, but the entire world has been arrested by so many things and there's really been nothing like it in history. And there are many who are hoping that when this clock hits midnight, everything is gonna reverse, and we're just gonna go back to life as we knew it before, but that's not guaranteed, is it? It isn't. And I just wanna say this, if you, throughout this year, have only hope for life to be as it was, and we're not hoping for another world, then you have misinterpreted the events of 2020. If all your heart was craving was that you can go back to your favorite restaurants, and that you can go back to doing what you dream to do, and that none of your future plans would be interrupted again, We have missed the voice of God in 2020.

Because the scripture tells us how believers should interpret time. You know, tonight, there are people who are trying to party and drink their sorrows away. Right? They're trying to celebrate themselves out of agony for different reasons. But believers celebrate new years differently, and we should especially with this new year coming up.

Because it was a psalmist, Moses, not David, who said in Psalm 90 verse 12, teach us to number our days that we may learn, earn, receive, grow in a heart of wisdom. What does that mean? Lord, help me understand that time is measured. That there's a schedule for my life, and a schedule for world history, that I may invest in with great intentionality. What brings you most glory, and will ultimately fuel my joy.

And that's why I wanna take the next few moments before we do what we do every year, and that's praying to the new year. I simply want to go over some things that we have learned from 2020, or at least we should have learned from 2020. Here's one thought. There is a divine program that overrides all human plans. There is a divine program that has, that will override, conquer, dominate every single human agenda.

You know, people have a word for the year. People have a phrase to describe a year, or or a word for hoping what the next year will look like. If there is one word that we can use for 2020, I'm sure you have many, here's mine, interrupted. Interrupted. Because that's how everybody felt when these things began to unfold.

There is not one person, young or old, who did not have their agendas, their daily routines, their plans, their dreams, or desires, either canceled, put on pause, or redirected altogether. We were interrupted by these events. And what's important to understand from that is that, it shouldn't be a surprise to us. It shouldn't be a surprise to us that life is not in our control. Your life, your very heartbeat is not in your power.

You can do things to make you healthier, but ultimately, there is another who determines the very beat of your heart as you sit here tonight. And I wanna say this, 2020 has taught us this, the universe does not revolve around you or me, but around the one who created it. He alone is sovereign over all the affairs of life. And God, this might shock you tonight, has a divine program. He has a divine program, and with it, he has a divine schedule.

There are things that are set in stone. There are things that are determined from eternity past that will come to pass in your life and mine, and the world altogether. And this divine program, if it teaches us anything, if we don't know what the future will look like, this is one thing that you can have guarantee in. That as we flip that calendar to twenty twenty one, we are one step closer to the end. For Christ returning and ruling and reigning, we are that much closer to that reality because all roads lead to that.

All roads come to that. All roads will lead to Jesus Christ sitting on a physical throne in the Middle East, where people will come to worship him and bow before his glory. Now, I'm about to present a verse and you might say to yourself, that is not a verse that I wanna hear at the end of the new year, but just be patient with me. Okay? Revelation chapter nine verse 15.

Listen to these words in Revelation nine verse 15. This is describing what is clear in the book of Revelation. God is in control of world events. God is in control of the end times. God is in control of where every nation will be headed.

And that's what you get when you read Revelation. If you just see past the symbolism and all the imagery, you get this meat in there. God is the one who ordains and decrees all things. Listen to this. In verse 15, tucked in the middle of some of these catastrophic moments that will come.

So the four angels who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. I'm sorry if I deflated your your happiness there. Don't focus on the part where it says that a third of mankind will be destroyed. I want you to see what we might miss, and that is how God has a calendar. And this is what we're being told.

There are things to come. There are things going to happen where God in heaven has the year, the month, the day, and the hour when it's gonna take place. Let me put it this way. 2020 didn't shock God. In fact, he knew about it.

In fact, he allowed it. He permitted it. Coronavirus didn't slip through his sight. It didn't sneak up behind him. All these crazy things, the deaths of celebrities, and wildfires, and economic breakdown, and protest.

God wasn't there with his hand over his mouth saying, how did this happen? I would argue that he had it on his calendar before this world even existed. That's not to say that God is the author of evil, but it is to say that God allows. He gives license. He permits.

That is more comforting to us than most people think, because it proves that he's the one who's ultimately in control. Now you might be thinking, if your God is so good as you claim that he is, and you're saying that he's in control of everything, then why did he allow all these things to happen? Why is it that one day he will do all these things that you read of? Which brings me to my second point. That although God is the one who is in control of all these things that you and I are so afraid of, God's mercies are packaged in strange ways.

God manifest his goodness in very strange ways. What do I mean by that? As frustrating, confusing, heartbreaking these past few months have been for many. I argue that 2020 has been nothing short of a series of God's manifest mercies on the earth. The bible has proven that man responds in one of two ways to God and means of repentance.

Man either turns to God because of his unmatched kindness, or man turns to God because they have been shook by his judgments. And so, if you're there in Revelation nine, if you're not, just listen to these verses in acts 14. There's a sermon that was preached to pagans, and look what was being said to them in verse 16 of acts 14. In past generations, he being God, in past generations, he allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness.

From the beginning, God did not leave himself without a testimony, without a message, without something, someone, something pointing to him. There's not one generation that has slipped, where God has not left himself a testimony. And what is the testimony that we are being told of here? For he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. So what's the witness?

What's the message? What's the arrow pointing to God? Everything from your favorite weather to the cup of coffee that you drink every morning. Everything from your favorite outfit, to the full tank of gas that you drove in tonight. All of those things, whether you believe you've paid for or somebody else that ultimately came from God's mercy on your life.

God's mercy. And what are all those things? Well, they're means to woo you to realize that God is the one who provided all these things, and ushered these things, and determined these things. Yes, the sunrise, and yes, a nice good rest at night. All those things have been determined by the sovereign one.

And what's the purpose of them? Though undeserving as we are, wicked people get to enjoy their families, they get to enjoy a salary, they get to enjoy full health until death. Why? As witnesses. Nudging at your heart.

Speaking to you and saying, do you realize who's the one who's allowed this to happen in your life? And what we read here in verse 18 as these two men preach these to pagans, who were trying to worship them by the way, they thought they had come as gods in the flesh. Paul and his partner. And they said, no. No.

No. No. Listen. We're not gods. Do you realize that God has done so much for you and he wants you to see that he's good so you could turn to him?

Don't come to us. And how do they respond to that message? Listen to verse 18. Even with these words, they scarcely restrain the people from offering sacrifice to them. Meaning what?

Even they hearing that God was the one who's given them all good things, they still couldn't help their idolatry. They said, wait. Okay. That's fine. But we wanna worship you.

See, I can talk to you about how good God is, how amazing is, how merciful he is, and people will still walk out of here with their idols. So what happens when God's mercy isn't enough? Doesn't wake you up, doesn't make you melt, doesn't cause you to say, oh Lord, let me turn from my sin and realize that you are good. Let me embrace the culmination of your goodness which is the cross of Jesus Christ. What does God do?

He reveals his holiness. He reveals his judgments. He disciplines. He afflicts. He wounds.

He shuts the world down. And he makes you sit in your room, and to think about your life. And he closes sports games, and he closes this, and he closes that, and he tries to get the world's attention to see that their bodies can be afflicted by a disease that they cannot see or comprehend, and sweep them into an eternal world. And so he has you contemplate your soul. And when you just heard about how God will one day allow those angels to come and afflict the world with plagues that will kill a third of mankind that's coming, it's in the bible, don't blame me.

What was the cause of that? What was the reason for that? Just because God is angry? Well, it's because in Revelation, even before he comes, things will get so intense. God will vibrate the nations with his wrath.

For what purpose? Well, listen to this. This is in the same chapter Revelation nine. Listen to verse 20. The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold, and silver, and bronze, and stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.

Nor did they repent of their murders or their sorcery. Sorcery is there in the Greek actually means, it's where we get the word pharmaceuticals. You can argue that it's drugs, or their sexual immorality, or their thefts. So if you've ever traveled through the book of Revelation, it's probably terrified you, but don't don't fail to see God's goodness behind all those things. He wants people to be awakened.

And what's the end of the matter when that huge thing will come to pass where a third of the world will be dropped to their death? We're still gonna worship our idols. We will bite our tongues off before we allow these tongues to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. So 2020 was a message for people to realize the brevity of their lives. That there is a God who is holy.

That there is a one who is in control of all things, and there is a one that all men will be held accountable to. Yet at the same time, there is one who will forgive, and he will restore, and he uses these these things so that though the temporal is wounded and hurt and harmed, the eternal aspect of who we are would receive Christ and enjoy him forever. God's mercy is manifest in strange ways. This church has experienced, as you just heard, a sanctifying work by 2020. This church has even seen people saved by the events of 2020.

Which brings me to another point. What did 2020 teach us? Here's another thing it taught us. That there's no replacement for meeting in person as the church. One of the most difficult things about this past year, in the midst of all the craziness, was how it challenged the way you and I experienced the church.

And here's what I hope this church and all churches have learned from these past few months. There is no substitute for meeting in person as Christians. Especially as more light has been given, and data on this disease, You might disagree with me, but I think the fact that we're meeting here testifies of what we believe. There's no reason for the church not to be meeting. And here's what been reinforced in my soul this past year.

Zoom and live stream, as much as it's a blessing, our dear sister shared how it was a blessing, and it will continue to be a blessing, is never to be the substitute for the gathering of the saints. It wasn't God's plan a for the church, and it never will be his plan a. Consider this, Paul the Apostle, mighty man of God, miracle worker, powerful writer, took advantage of the technology of his day. He took advantage of the Instagram of his day, of his Facebook of his day, of emails of his day, of the YouTube upload. He took advantage.

What was it? Writing letters. And he wrote letters, and he wrote letters, and he received letters, and God used his letters, inspired his letters to be what you and I benefit from today as divine revelation. But listen carefully. Paul's writing, Paul's usage of these things never ever in his mind for a moment, convinced him that it would ever be a substitute for him meeting with the believers face to face.

Romans one eleven. Paul's never met these Christians. And as brilliant as Romans is, listen to what he says in his introduction. In Romans one eleven, for I long to see you. I long to see you.

That I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. Paul, can you done it through your letter? Can you just done it long distance? Can you have imparted something? Can you just prayed and impart something to them?

And it's not so that he can just give something, but in verse 12, that is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. Paul, wait. Couldn't they have just wrote back about their faith? Wouldn't you have been encouraged by hearing, how they've been updated? Both yours and mine.

You know what Paul believed? Paul believed that it was worth going through shipwreck, and imprisonment, and being whipped, and being thrown on an island for a few months, and being seasick. He thought it was worth going through all of that, because there is something unique in gathering with the people of God. There's a contribution. There's an exchange.

There's a transaction that's made. God has ordained it, that only comes from where two or three are gathered. And Christians might not be convinced of that today, but I'll tell you where they are convinced of that. In places in the world where they're willing to be thrown in prison and tortured for years, so that's why they meet in their little apartments, they sing quietly and they play on little things, and they have their bible studies, and they come in quietly. Why?

Because they believe what Paul believed. They really did. They thought and they still think and they're being punished for it, that when we come together, there's an impartation. Something happens. And that's why people even said, as much again as it's a blessing, I'm not turning it down.

We need it and God is using it. But there are people who say, when they can't make it, it's not the same watching it. It's not the same watching it from home and being in the sanctuary with God's people. And I say, well, Paul would agree with that. So what do we do when we are forced to do what we were doing?

Well, we we honor until we realize that there's an overreach. I wonder if 2020 has brought us to our knees to say, oh God, don't let the church stay closed like this. If there was no disturbance for the fact that the church has been closed for that long, that is a serious indication of how we are in a dangerous place in our spirituality. We've cheapened the church to be some production where we entertain people and we can close the show for a few weeks. No.

It's an impartation. Every single meeting, God can give you something, and through you deposit something in somebody else. The church is meant to be together in person. Comes to my last point. Because it was not just us gathering as a church that was challenged.

It's how we express ourselves at the church that was also faced with obstacles. Yes. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, God uses it, but there are missionaries who could not travel, who could not continue in their mission in those places that Instagram won't work. And street evangelists have lost much of their audience these past few months. And there have been people who have had to postpone their conferences.

And we praise God what God has been doing with all those limitations, but nonetheless, people have had to deal with interruptions and disruptions to the way they've ministered. And some of us know what that looks like to an extent as well. But here's the thing, the early church was not unfamiliar with interruptions to their daily lives, and even how they ministered. Consider this, in acts 11 verse 19, now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch. So when that vicious bloodthirsty man, the Apostle Paul, was let loose on the Christians, this one man with so much passion and hatred against the truth literally drove an entire church, thousands upon thousands of people from one city to scatter abroad into a gentile world.

Let me put it this way. They had their routines interrupted. They had the way they did church disturbed. They were pushed beyond their control, and it wasn't because of a COVID. It was because of their lives being at risk by the sword.

Something that America has not seen yet, but it's coming. Persecutions are on the corner brothers and sisters. We've been saying it and I will continue to say it because if you look very carefully, it's closing in on America. It's closing in on America. It's not too far from us now.

We're not just gonna be reading stories from China and Iran. All you have to do is look up north. It's coming. And we're gonna really know how to do church. This church was pushed by persecution.

Discomforting? Sure. Pandemic or persecution, it's not comfortable. But here's the point I wanna make. Let's end on a high note.

Regardless, neither are a match for a people who are so convinced to perform the will of God and they partner with His power. What do I mean? In 2021, because unfortunately, I don't mean to discourage anybody, that midnight clock is not gonna change much. What we've experienced in 2020 will trickle into this new year, unless a miracle happens. So then, what do we take from it?

We have an amazing opportunity to see God at work. Amazing opportunity. Why? Because this church pushed by persecution. But now, listen to the following verses once we know that they've been scattered abroad.

You ready for this? Verse 20. But there were some of them. But there were some of them. But there were some of them.

Some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists also preaching the Lord Jesus. Now look at this phrase. Verse 21. And the hand of the Lord was with them. And a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

It didn't say that in their hands they had degrees from a seminary. It did not say, and the favor of the government was upon them. It did not say, persecution was eliminated. Paul had died by divine intervention. No.

One thing that's highlighted, the hand of God. The hand of the Lord was with them. And what was the result? Wonderful, majestic fruit. It's God's hand on your life.

I'm not asking what's in your hand. I'm not asking what's in your wallet. I'm not asking what's in your bank account. I'm not asking what letters follow your name. I'm asking one simple question as we lead into 2021.

Is God's hand on your life? Is his protection? Is his guidance? Is his empowerment? Is his wisdom?

Is his strength? Is it recognizable? Because here's where I wanna encourage you. It's not reserved for apostles. It's not reserved for the early church.

Every person in this place can have access to God's hand over their lives in a special way. I don't know what you're hoping for for 2021. I don't know if you have a diet plan. I don't know if you have a business plan. I don't know what you have planned for 2021.

But if you're gonna have any plan, let it be this, that God's hand would be greatly upon your life like it wasn't before. Do you think God is reluctant? Do you think he's hesitant? Do you think he's very choosy with who he places his hand on? Let me tell you how you can have this over your life, where other people do not just look at your hands, but they say, this young man, God's hand is on his life.

Have you heard the phrase? This young lady, God's hand is on her life. That church, God's hand is on that church. I pray to God that as people look into this church, they wouldn't see our hands building it. They would see a divine hand building it.

How? How do we get there? How do we get with I read that and it grips me every single time. The hand of the Lord was with them. I want that more than anything.

My short brief existence, I want it to be marked with God's fingerprints. How? How? How? How?

Do you want it? Testament. This is why we need to know the whole Bible and we see a flow of thought that is surely from God. Ezra eight twenty two. Ezra eight twenty two.

You want to know how you can have God's hand on your life. I pray that you would. Look what we were told from Ezra. Fry, I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way since we had told the king. What did you tell the king, Ezra?

The hand of our God is for good on all who do what? Seek him. And the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him. You want God's hand on your life requires one thing, for you to seek him for it. You know what Ezra is saying here in this context?

They were traveling from Babylon to Jerusalem, And they told the king, we don't need your reinforcements. We don't need your soldiers to follow us and protect us. They've convinced the king that our God's hand will be upon us as we travel. This is where many people draw that concept of traveling mercies from. So everything from God's hand being on you when you travel, to God's hand being on you when you share your faith, comes from one main vessel, one main funnel, one main practice, one main posture.

Seek Him. God, I need your hand on my life. I need your hand on my mind. I need it on my voice. I need it on my energy.

I need it on my plans. I need it on everything. I need your hand on my life. And when God sees that, he extends his arm of power, and grace, and mercy. And listen, it won't be something that you won't recognize.

You will recognize it. You will recognize it so profoundly that you will never be able to boast in the presence of the Lord because you will know that you're being carried by something else. But why is it so many don't have that? Because they don't seek him. They don't seek him for his hand.

They don't seek him for that kind of an influence on their lives. They're content with so much, so much else. And if there's a last point as we are about to practice that in a few moments, If there's any last point that we can draw from 2020, it is this. The gospel still has power. The gospel still has power.

And this is the gospel. You and I, in 2020, have sinned beyond number. Your thoughts alone are worthy of damning you to hell and damning me to hell forever. Your thoughts alone before a holy God. People wonder how can how can God be so offended by a trivial thing like lying?

How how can God be so sensitive to cut off somebody for all eternity because of some things that they've done on the earth temporarily? Let me ask you this, if you were to approach somebody here tonight and strike them in the face, you might get in some trouble. Right? Let's say you see a police officer down the street and some reason you have pent up anger, so you go up to the police officer and you decide to give him one in the face as well. Your punishment is gonna be a lot more than it was with the fellow Christian in this house.

Let's say you see the governor, and you have some boldness, and you push through his little bodyguards, and you come over and you strike him in the face. You're gonna do some serious things as a result of that. Let's say you see the president, you might have an opinion of the president, you might have felt what I'm about to describe right now, that's up to you. No matter who's in office, the idea of somebody being in that office, and you see him, and you see him down the street, and you have perfect pitch, and you take a rock, and you see him, you say, I just wanna I know exactly where I want this to go, and you launch it and hits him where you wanted it to be hit. What kind of punishment do you think you'll be serving?

What what do you think you'll be facing as judgment for such an act? And here's the holy one, high and lifted up. We're creatures that would make you crawl in fear out of the room if they were to manifest themselves. Hide their face because of the blazing glory of God. And those who cannot help with their perfect strength and perfect ability sing onto this God because of his holiness and his love and his majesty.

Here's this God where daily, you strike him and you break his law. What is deserving of such an act? And not just one act, but a continuous act? The reason why people are so offended by this idea of hell is because they do not realize the holiness of God. And just how perfect and other worldly he is.

And so our sins have mounted up against us. And we all, all, me included have now come to a place at this point of our lives. And even if you live as best as you can from this point on forward, it will not do justice to redeem to redeem us from that kind of a reality. So God, though perfectly holy, blazingly perfect, Out of that same place, where the very atmosphere is holy, has never known sin, has never known darkness. The very place itself would make the average man so uncomfortable unless they were changed by glorification.

Was a divine plan to send the Son of God into this world, and I love this because he comes into the world as your representative. And as he comes as your representative, you know what he does? He lives so perfectly without deceit in his mouth, without a thought that was an offense to God, without a motive that would have made God think twice about this man's perfection. And you know what he does? He lives in perfection in your replacement for what cause?

So that when you stand before God you ready for this? If you were to receive this Christ as your only savior, you will stand before this perfectly holy God as though you have never done one thing wrong in your life. As though you've never sinned in your thought life. As though you never sinned with your tongue. As though you never sinned with your hands.

As though you never sinned with your location of choice. As though you've never sinned against anybody. You will stand before God and the record of your life will be pulled out and the only thing that will be said over you is blameless. Guiltless. And as that blank page that describes the thoughts and actions and words of your life is examined by the very same Holy One, you better believe that it is also stamped with, purchased by the blood of Christ.

And that's what it is. You want the gospel? Here's the gospel. Receive Jesus Christ. Turn to him.

Embrace him. Don't wait for another year to live your life. I love brother Gibran's testimony. The joy and the peace that he has inherited from receiving Christ is incomparable. When he lived his own way and tried to come up with his own version of Christianity, it didn't work.

And it will never work. The only thing that will work is when you just give up and just fall at his feet and say, Lord just have it all and take over completely. And even if there's one person in here who hasn't done that, I wanna encourage you by his testimony, all the testimonies you heard. Just seek him tonight. Seek God tonight, seek Christ.

And I say, Lord, if you did it for that man, if you did it for that young lady, if you did it for that brother, Lord do it in me. Let me walk out of here differently. Let me walk out of here knowing that I'm saved. Let me walk out of here knowing that I have eternal life, and he'll give it to you. But let me say this, if you want God's hand on your life in a special way, If you wanna know traveling mercies, if you wanna know spirit inspired ministry, seek him.

Just sit at his feet in this next few moments, say, oh God, I don't need another pandemic to learn. I don't need another celebrity death to realize that I can have my retirement plan set and all it takes is a helicopter crash to bring me into eternity where my trophies and my name and the stadiums filled don't matter. I want your hand on my life. And as a church, we're gonna ask for God's hand on this church to continue. Are we celebrating tonight?

Absolutely. But you know what? We're also doing what Christians should be doing from time to time and that's reflect. Just reflect. We drink out of a fire hose this past year.

And we're choosing now to come before God and say, Lord, after all of that, here's what I've learned. And now, this is what I'm asking for the year to come. And God is eager. I assure you God is eager because there are so few to touch you, to keep his hand on you. And like Christ, to have the spirit of God rest upon you so that wherever you go, people can sense Christ and see Christ.

Got my haircut the other day. Might have noticed. Moved here recently, so I couldn't go. I don't go where I usually go, so I went to a new place. And as I went to that place, I just looked for the reviews.

Honestly, I wasn't looking for Christian barbers. I usually don't. So I came to this place, and as I came in, the individual told me, you're a first timer. I said, yeah. I guess you recognize.

And, I said, You know, your thing says that you had taken walk ins. He goes, No. Because of this whole thing, it's only appointment only, but I'll take you anyway. I said, Okay. Great.

He's like, Just have a seat of one more guy, and I'll let you in. I said, Wonderful. So I sat down. And I don't know his motive. He probably thought I was a first timer, so he probably didn't know that I He didn't know who I was.

So what does he do? There's a young guy in the seat, he goes up to the TV so casually, he turns on the TV, goes on YouTube, and what does he put on? A guy preaching the gospel. And he goes back to the guy's haircut. And I'm just there, and this guy is preaching the gospel.

Not this Do you want something nice in your life here? Add Jesus. No. Like, repent, you to make you a son of God, a daughter of God by faith. Receive him.

And I'm sitting, I'm like, I'm listening to this in a barbershop. In a barbershop. And I'm thinking, I mean, you know, there's some people that talk about certain things. Is this guy Jove a witness? Is this guy Mormon?

Who is I don't know who this guy is. And so I'm letting It sounds like a pure gospel. And I look over to my left where the magazines are, and they're not magazines, they're tracts, bibles, and this and that. I'm thinking to myself, I'm ready to get saved all over again. Right here in this barbershop.

I gotta be honest, there is more gospel in that barbershop than a lot of churches today. And as I'm sitting there, I thought to myself, this guy has to be a believer. And he's not nervous at all. Like, he wasn't like looking at me while looking at the screen and thinking, he wasn't he was just like, this guy is gonna get the gospel whether he wants it or not. And sure enough, he was a believer and we had a wonderful conversation.

This was just a few days ago, and I left that place thinking to myself that if there was anything that I was He had broken English, he couldn't even communicate fully in English. I mean, he could speak obviously. But I thought to myself, this man was unashamed. In the middle of a pandemic, when business is slow, I can tell you this, he wasn't caring about his ratings. He wasn't caring about how many people He had one concern as he was making his daily bread, preaching the gospel.

Testifying of his faith. Unashamed. What makes us so ashamed? Why are we quiet now out of all the times? And so we need to hear full truth.

We need to hear unfiltered truth. We need to be able to spread it. I mean, I left there so encouraged. I didn't even think about my haircut. I was just so encouraged.

I even asked him. I said, Are you I said, Do you watch this guy often? He goes, Yeah. I go, Are you a believer? He goes, believer, born again Christian.

Like he wanted to make sure, born again Christian. I said, good. Me too. Amen. Now is the time to have God's hand on our lives more than ever to get serious.

Not to just get pent up and quiet in our little Christian groups, and then just do our little thing and make sure that nothing affects us. Let God scatter you with his hand on your life. Let God use you with his hand on your life. But it's no good of being out there if God's hand isn't on us. And he'll take anything you give him.

He'll take your barbershop. He'll take your he'll take your restaurant. He'll take your Uber rides. He'll take anything as long as his hand is on it. That's where true power comes.

So here's my call. Have you received Jesus Christ? If not, what are you waiting for? The book of Revelation to happen? Let this be enough of a nudge for you to realize, the ground that I'm shaking on is very very unpromising, unstable.

Build your life on the rock. Believer. So encouraged by this church. So encouraged that you're willing to come here with all the restrictions and everything else. And I'm not trying to make anybody feel bad that doesn't come here for a different reason.

I'm just saying as a church as a whole. Here's what we need to do tonight going into this new year. As people are, again, are trying to intoxicate themselves and celebrating. I don't even know what they're celebrating. Let's seek heaven.

Let's seek heaven. Say, oh God, please. Let your hand be on our lives with all these restrictions. Some of us miss evangelism on the street. Some of us miss going to rehab.

Some of us miss going to these places where we had so much freedom. It's not there anymore. It can come back. But regardless, just like this church, the only church that had so much restriction, as long as God's hand was there, He can maneuver, and He can open, He can do amazing things. Amazing things.

As long as we're in Him. So we're gonna do that. Bow your hearts before the Lord. Here's what we're gonna do. I I want you right now in this moment to seek God by yourself.

Seek God on your own. Sit at his feet by yourself. Okay? And then in the next few moments, I'll come up here and tell you to meet with either your family or your close friends, whoever you came with, and you're gonna seek the Lord together. You're gonna pray over your family, you're gonna pray over your friendships, and then we're gonna sing and then we're gonna count down together.

So just in this time, as you've heard these truths, you've probably learned things that I didn't mention of 2020. That's wonderful. God can do many things with the same event. Just talk to your Lord. Talk to your God.

Commune with him. Ask for his hand to be on your life. Father, you know the hearts in this place. Lord, you know the hearts that are heavy because of a year, maybe with death, sickness, fear. Lord, concern about the future.

But, Lord, we all sit here to testify that you've brought us through, God. You've brought us through. You've brought us through with testimonies of your goodness. Even in the midst of pain and darkness. Lord, your light has guided us.

Your word has been a lamp unto our feet. Lord, in this place, no matter how we've displayed our faithfulness to you, no matter how we have showcased our faith, God, your mercies your mercies are new. And, Lord, Christ has performed for us. Christ has finished the work to fully satisfy you. Yet, at the same time, Lord, we long to represent you well.

We long to serve you. Lord, we realize as we've heard that the early church had a secret, and it wasn't being in a country with a a constitution. It wasn't being in a place where there was no threat to their expression of devotion to Christ. No. Lord, your hand was upon them.

Heavenly Father, we pray for your hand upon us. We pray for your power to clothe us as it did Gideon. We pray for your wisdom to guide us. We pray, Lord, for your Holy Spirit to inspire us. Lord, we pray right now over every heart that is damaged, that is heavy, that is lost, that that hasn't sensed the warmth of your fellowship for months.

Lord, just remove the veil. Remove the veil, Lord, and let them sense your embrace even now, Lord. Let them sense your love for them in Christ Jesus. Lord, for those who are worried about tomorrow and the weeks to come, they don't know how to meet may, even think about how they're gonna pay their bills or how their business is gonna go. Lord, just silence the doubts.

Silence the fears, Lord. Calm the storms in the soul the same way you rebuke the seas, Lord. Rebuke, Lord, every single fear, every single chaotic thought, Lord, every single thing that would disturb your child. Silence, Lord, every lie. Father, we ask that on this church, your hand would continue to be upon it.

Lord, we dedicate this church, your people, this ministry to you. We have no idea what it's gonna look like. We have no idea where we're gonna be, but, lord, we wanna be in your will. We wanna be in your perfect plan. We wanna be exactly where you want us to be, Lord.

Every day, every night, every week, Lord. We ask, oh, God, that we would not idolize comfort. We would not be too comfortable with how things are, Lord. We would we would only be comfortable with your perfect plan. However that looks, Lord.

How many people you wanna bring in, that's up to you. The the breadth of our ministry and our influence, that's up to you. But, Lord, with the short lives that we have, we want the most. We want all of it, God. We want to see your glory.

We wanna see your power, Lord. We wanna see your gospel. Bring in souls, Lord. We wanna be fishers of men. We pray that you would make us into fishers of men.

Lord, we pray that you would use every person in this house, every father, every mother, every child, every sibling, every newly married couple, every single person, every engaged, Lord, relationship. We ask, God, that your hand would be upon. Lord, we have learned that our days are numbered. We have learned that we are not in control. We have learned that things can be taken out of our hands, like how we can take something out of the hand of a child so easily, Lord.

And it causes us to just want you more. It causes us to want your kingdom more, your will more. Though we fear no evil, you are a shepherd. We shall not want. We can walk by death's door and smile at it because you are with us.

Comfort us now. With your rod and staff, lead us. Lord, manifest your presence in this place. Blanket us with your glory. Lord, let us sense your nearness, oh god.

Again, Lord, silence all the worries and all the temptations in our hearts. Lord, eclipse them by your beauty. Lord, enrapture us in your love. Lord Jesus, we wanna have that face to face communion with you tonight. We wanna meet with you tonight, lord of glory.

We wanna walk with you. We don't think about who's beside us. We don't think about who we're gonna meet afterwards. Lord, right now in this place, meet with us. Please meet with us.

This is our longing, lord. This is our cry. Lord, meet with those who are watching on the livestream. Meet them in their living rooms. Meet them in their bedrooms, Lord.

Meet them in their cars. Meet them wherever they're at, oh, God. We trust you, Lord. Would you gather with your family? Would you gather with a few friends?

Pray over one another. Pray that God's hand would be on their lives. Pray that Christ would reign supreme in their hearts. And within the next few minutes, I'll I'll come up here and we'll sing unto the Lord so we can celebrate into the new year. But pray for one another for the next ten minutes or so.

Just come with your friends. Let's fill this place with our voices unto God. Okay? To Maybe seated for a moment as we prepare to count down. Here's a psalm that has comforted millions throughout the years since it was penned.

Psalm 23. The lord is my shepherd. I shall not want you know what that means? I don't need anything else. I don't want anything else.

I have everything in my shepherd. The lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. Notice it doesn't say he invites me to lie down.

He makes me. He makes me. His peace is too powerful. The revelation of His goodness is is just too weighty that as I follow my shepherd, I'm compelled to just lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

You can't find any refreshment apart from the shepherd leading you to the place where you can drink from. It's a dangerous thing for a person to be left in the spirit world to try to find things to quench their thirst. You always end up in the worst of places. But he, no, he he leads me beside still waters, an abundant of waters, a flowing river that never runs dry. He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake, for his namesake. His name is on the line. His name is the object of his desire and all his goodness. Yes. For our joy.

Yes. Because he loves us. But if you really make Christ your shepherd for his name's sake, he will not fail you in leading you. He will not fail you in providing still waters. He will not fail in making you lie down green pastures.

His name is on the line. You can trust him. He's jealous for his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death you know what it means? It means you're pretty close to death.

If you're in somebody's shadow, that means you're in close proximity to them. So even as breath is breathing down your neck, I will fear no evil. I have nothing to be afraid of. As I'm rubbing shoulders with disease and fear and news, if it's even news anymore, I will fear no evil, unmoved, untouched, unshaken. Your rod and your staff, they come for me.

Here's the part as we count down in thirty seconds. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You know what that means? As you're surrounded by enemies, God has something in mind that you would fellowship with him. God, if you're gonna prepare a table anywhere, not in the middle of a battlefield, but that's exactly where he wants to meet us.

Gonna be doing in 2021. I'm done. Stand up. Five, four, three, two, one. Happy New Year.