 Well tomorrow of course is a new year and with a new year comes that sense of a new beginning a Fresh start a new chance To begin a fresh and of course with a new year comes the inevitable new year's resolutions Now how many of you with a show of hands are planning on or have planned a new year's resolution? You know something that I want to do to do better some of you are saying don't raise your hands. He's setting us up totally him I Think for many of us we have a new year's resolution something that we want to maybe a personal goal something that we want to accomplish I did some research for 2024 and the top resolution For our country going into 2024 is to lose weight number one and The second one is to become more financially stable. I think that's why perhaps one person prayed God this next year I would like to have a fat bank account and a thin body And God, please don't mix those up like you did last year And not only a new year brings new year's resolutions, but it also brings for a Christian anticipation We're excited for what God wants to do in our lives this next year a new new opportunity To be used by God in a greater capacity to say God here I am so send me Lord use me for such a time as this and with a new year comes a sense of a New start of what God would want to do but oftentimes in our lives in In order to be used by God first many times a prerequisite to being used by God requires steps of faith forward for us to be willing to be in motion So that God can guide us and direct us to what he wants for us to accomplish That we would be those that would say God I want to take steps of faith forward in this new year. I would walk not by sight not by Understanding not by knowing how it's all gonna work out, but God this next year I want to walk out in faith like I've never walked in my walk with Jesus before a Walk of faith oftentimes Steps of faith can be a catalyst to see God move and God to accomplish What only he can do and that's what we see in our text today in first Samuel chapter 16 excuse me first Samuel 14 To fully understand what our text is explaining You have to understand the background to what's gonna be discussed in our text today At this time in first Samuel 14 Saul was the king of Israel In Israel was in very bad shape The enemy the Philistines were wreaking havoc across their lands Saul's Warriors his soldiers most of them were so discouraged and defeated and depressed That most of them just gave up went home and quit Jonathan and Saul were the only two that had weapons of warfare swords The rest of them had these make shift weapons, so they were if you will outgunned by the enemy There were no match for the enemy and because of this Saul and his men were hiding in caves while the enemy was gaining ground and plaguing their lands pillaging their homes and There was little that they could do about it as the Philistines were raiding and the men were hiding But King Saul's son Jonathan he gets this crazy idea To let's go see what God might want to do may be God wants to do something new And that's where we pick up in our text today First Samuel chapter 14 beginning in verse one It says now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor come Let us go over to the Philistines garrison that is on the other side But he did not tell his father Jonathan shares with the man who bore his armor his armor bearer now an armor bearer Was a man who was the most loyal Companion to a soldier He would be one that would carry the armor for the soldier when he wasn't in battle But he was more than just a servant bearing the armor He was trained in the weapons of warfare He would be one that would go into battle and no matter what the outcome would be no matter what the soldier would face He would always be there standing to guard his back Like we say in today's language. Hey, man. I got your back and Armour bearer was the epitome of that He was a loyal companion a loyal friend who would stand by his side and follow him no matter what uncertainty they would have before them and So now Jonathan says to his armor bearer Hey, I have this crazy idea Let's go over to the garrison Garrison it's the fort of the Philistines It's where it would be heavily fortified many many soldiers and just the two of them to go over to the garrison To see what God might do and you contrast that with verse 2 where you see Saul the king Who was sitting in the outskirts of gibbia under a pomegranate tree which is in Migran the people who were with him were about 600 men Notice Jonathan says hey Let's get up Let's go out. Let's see what God might do. Let's let's let's step out I know what happens in the future is gonna be completely uncertain But let's do something and then you see Saul Saul who's sitting in the shade of a pomegranate tree and probably eating some pomegranate seeds Doing really nothing and join the shade Not looking at doing anything and Saul has with him 600 men But not doing anything to advance the kingdom But then you see one man and a faithful loyal friend who would say let's go Let's step out. Let's step up in faith Let's go do something. We don't know how it's gonna work out. We don't know what to expect But let's go see what God might do And Jonathan he didn't have a lot of people standing with him like Saul did But you don't need everyone to endorse you to be able to do the will of God You don't need everyone to cooperate with you to do the will of God You don't need everyone to understand what God is calling you to do to do the will of God but oftentimes we allow people's disobedience To what God has called them to do to dissuade us from following what God has called us to do And you see that throughout the Bible Moses made that mistake Moses when it came to entering into the promised land there at Kedish Barnea Moses knowing that God called them to go into the promised land. It was promised to them It was already given to them and yet Moses decided to take a vote to see who was ready to go in and Because the people Voted and decided we're not going to go in it kept Moses From ever entering into all that God had for him We have to make sure that Nothing will stand in our way of being obedient to what God tells us to do You don't need mass amounts of people to accomplish great things for God All you need is God It just takes someone who would say you know what let's step up in faith. Let's step out in faith Let's go see in faith what God would want to do in my life in your life in our lives as we walk by faith and then we see in verse 3 a Haja the son of a high tub Some great Bible names if you're thinking about naming your child something if you're an expectant parent Ahetub Ikebob's brother the son of Phineas the son of Eli the Lord's priest in Shiloh He was wearing an ephod, but the people did not know that Jonathan had gone Now that might seem like a lot of insignificant information Until you realize that the ephod was the bag inside or behind the breastplate of the priest and Within that bag contained two things two stones the Urum and the Thumin Not to be confused with the actress Uma Thurman now The Urum and the Thumin would be two stones that the king could consult with God And it was believed that God would answer the prayer of a king So the king could say should we go to battle and then they would be given an answer Through the ephod that God would reveal his will for his people Saul had everything he needed Right there with him to get direction from God and Yet instead of seeking the Lord to do something he would rather sit and do nothing But while Saul and his men were in hiding Jonathan decides to be one that would step out in faith And it says in verse 4 between the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison There was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side and the name of one was bozez And the name of the other was Sina Now Jonathan sought That word sought means he intended He didn't even know if he could make it, but he had a plan and His plan was to position himself in a place where God could use him if God so desired to use him That Jonathan would say you know what we're not doing anything here But I'm willing to take a step of faith forward to see how God will use us. Let's position ourselves in a place Where God can use us if he so desires to use us Now listen, you need to understand this God doesn't need you for anything And some of you that know each other are thinking amen And yet God Almighty places himself in a position of partnership with his people So that when God does what only he can accomplish We can be a joint recipient of the reward of what only God can do Let me give you an example of that when I was young Really young but my dad he would allow me to mow the lawn with him And what that looked like is he would be the one at the handlebars pushing the lawnmower But in the middle of the Lawnmower handlebars, there's like a support bar. That was my handlebar just my height just my size And so I would stand in front of my father and hold on to that handlebar and I really had no power in and of myself as a as a young boy to be able to push that lawnmower to Guide the lawnmower to mow the lawn and yet my father would include me in that He probably could have done it a lot faster even without me I was probably getting in his way more than anything and yet He would allow me to partner with him to mow the lawn so that when we finished mowing the lawn together I could stand there as a proud young boy with my dad and say look what we were able to accomplish We did it dad and I was a recipient of the reward of accomplishing that which only my father had the power to do And so too, I believe the same is that God would allow us to partner with him Because he desires to see his kids blessed too And so that when God does what only he can do in guiding and directing and having the power to accomplish those things We are powerless without our father But he would allow us to partner with him in a position where we then can be a recipient of the rewards Of what only God can do Jonathan he places himself in that position, but in order to get to that place He has to go between bozez and sena Now the word bozez Simply means slippery It was a sketchy cliff to climb And sena on the other side That word simply means thorny It was a sharp slippery dangerous treacherous cliff That jonathan would have to navigate To get to the place where he could say okay god if you want to use me then use me The point of all of that is this you have to realize In our christian walk Just because things are difficult doesn't mean that it's not god The will of god for our lives is not always what's easy and simple and smooth sailing And sometimes I hear people well meaning people say and it really is so limiting to really how god works But people say things like oh, I know it's god because I mean it's literally just Been so smooth so easy. It just it has to be god and I understand that god can work that way But god doesn't only ever work that way Sometimes god can part the red sea And and give you dry ground a pathway so clear. It's obvious that this is god, but sometimes It can look like the path that jonathan had to walk Not really even a path more like a cliff to climb a thorny sharp treacherous Pathway that he would have to navigate to get to where god wanted him to be You might not always have the yellow brick road To walk on when following god But i'll tell you this whatever path that god gives for you to walk It's the one that we ought to take No matter how painful how dangerous how treacherous wherever god Calls you to be whatever god calls you to do. It's going to be the best thing for you And then it goes on to say in verse five The front of one faced northward opposite of mikmesh And the other word other one southward opposite of gibbia And then jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor come Let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised If you don't know what that means pastor david will be talking about that next week It may be and here's where I want to focus Tonight's message on this simple phrase that jonathan gave It may be That the lord will work for us For nothing restrains the lord from saving By many Or by few jonathan now gives A Not so motivational speech to his armor bear As he's Convincing his armor bear. Hey, let's go up Let's take steps to faith forward Let's step out from our comfortability And let's go see what god Maybe will do You know when you hear motivational speeches Whether it's a motivational speaker or even a coach with his team in the locker room You don't really hear people say things like that No, you don't hear a coach get with his team before they game and say listen boys. We're going to go out on that field and Maybe we'll win Maybe we'll lose Who knows Let's go get them You know, you don't hear things like that. No, what coaches say is like listen We're going to go out there and we're going to grind their helmets into the ground We're going to make them eat grass and when their moms run out to try to stop us We're going to do the same to them. Now. Let's go get them It's usually something along those lines But jonathan He gives a not so motivational speech And he simply says Maybe God wants to use us But for jonathan Maybe Is enough I wonder how many times in our lives we wait for certainty Of how everything's going to work Before we walk forward into what god has called us to do What the outcome will be where it's so certain that Well, I can walk confidently now because I know what the outcome will be But jonathan he has no Understanding no Preconceived notion no way to understand but for him it was maybe god will do something And maybe is enough For jonathan and his armor bear to say let's go and see what god Maybe will do jonathan leaves where he's at He leaves his comfort He leaves his security With the rest of the 600 men He leaves where things are easy To make a difficult journey Where when he arrives He will have had risked everything Including his own life You know, there's a great story in the old testament that illustrates this perfectly in genesis chapter 12 Where a man named abram later known as abraham Is called by god to do that very thing God gave abram a very simple and direct command Walk away from everything that you've ever known And go to a place that I will show you And in genesis chapter 12 verse 1 god told abram to leave his country your people Your family and go to a land that I will show you God didn't even tell him where he would be going just to go The command was simple leave and go step out from your comfort ability step out from your security Step out from Your things that you've been holding on to so tightly And step into your god-given destiny But in order to step into all that I have for you abram You're gonna have to step away from everything else Sometimes in our lives we have to step away from what's comfortable Maybe god's been calling you to step up To begin serving the lord in the church that you call home Maybe your own fear of your own inability has held you back Maybe the lord's been calling you to trust him in the area of your finances and begin to to tithe Consistently regularly and that's something that god's been stirring your heart, but That's going to require you to trust the lord In the area of your finances Maybe the lord's been calling you to be used in a greater way and to to take steps of faith forward in your spiritual walk And maybe begin discipling somebody or go into a a bible study or getting plugged in in a deeper way to The different bible studies throughout the week here at the chapel and Maybe the lord's been stirring in your heart to do something but within our own fears our own inabilities We've told the lord the reasons why we can't We've given him excuses why god can't but oftentimes it just requires us to leave our comfort ability It requires us to leave our security It requires us to leave what's predictable and what's easy But oftentimes to step into your god-given destiny. You might have to step away from everything else Who knows where god will take your story As you begin to take steps of faith forward who knows what god might do Years from now when you look back on your life And you see this great steps of faith forward that you've taken What's it gonna be in your life? well, I thought god was calling me but I made some excuses or I was afraid to move forward. So I did nothing Or Will you have a faith-filled adventure to tell? We'll be one that will be dictated by a life of faith. The difference is whether or not You simply say yes to the lord when he says There's something for you to do We want certainty We want certainty of our future certainty of how it's going to work out but listen In order to have certainty It requires no faith A lot of times people think that doubt Is the opposite of faith But oftentimes it's our own personal doubts That is the doorway that leads us into greater faith in god like I don't know how I can accomplish this But then that doubt Can cause us To say god i'm going to trust you with this and i'm going to take steps of faith forward even when I don't know How i'm going to accomplish this Doubt isn't The opposite of faith certainty is Let me ask you if you know exactly how it's all going to work out how much faith does that require? Zero It requires no faith if you know the certainty of what's going to happen and god recalls us as christians to walk by faith not by sight And in order for us to walk by faith and our faith to grow and our faith to be challenged and our faith to be Strengthened our faith that would dictate the type of life that we would live god purposefully does not give us certainty So that our faith could be strengthened and empowered that we would be willing to take greater steps of faith forward for the rest of our lives We want certainty certainty of success certainty of our future But you can be confident in god When you are uncertain about the situation When you have the attitude like jonathan did in our text, let's step out. Let's see what god will do Then you have the opportunity to see what only god could do First the attitude Then the opportunity Many of us want the opportunity to be used by god Before we have the attitude that would say i'm willing to go and do whatever god calls me to do But jonathan maybe it's gonna work out. Maybe it won't We'll never know though until we go and i don't share this with you today as some Theological concept that i read and thought it was a Good message. So i thought i would share with you, but As many as many of you know My wife morgan Myself and our three kids recently Have been called by god to step out in the greatest steps of faith. We've ever taken in our lives To leave our own security to leave our own familiarity To step out in faith We left our home That our three kids had ever known We left the only area that we have ever lived in our entire lives We left the church that god had called us to pastor for the last 12 years We left our family our friends We left every source of security and familiarity and what was comfortable And it's not always an easy journey to say yes to god Sometimes the path that god leads you on is difficult Sometimes it's painful And yet you see the lord's faithfulness in it all I remember Early on the first few weeks that we were there Our kids One or another if not all three crying I want to go home. I want to go home dad Comforting them as a father, you know, it's hard to see your kids in pain because of the loss that they've encountered because you're being obedient to the lord And trying my best to comfort them the best i know how while tears are streaming down their cheeks The same time tears are streaming down mine And yet the lord Was faithful in it all And the lord remains faithful through it all It's not always an easy journey to say yes to god It may be difficult, but you realize this what jonathan said in verse six that nothing Can hinder the lord from saving whether by many or by few and like jonathan Let's see what god will do And giving us great victory over the enemy scene the kingdom of god expanded it might not always be easy There might be rocky times But if we like jonathan and his loyal armor bearer say Let's be a part of what god wants to do then and only then we will see what only god can do jonathan had a crazy idea But he believed that god could if he wanted to To see the kingdom advanced To see the enemy beat him back to see the people and the land be set free from captivity And so he stepped out in great ways Maybe for you today it's not stepping out, but maybe it's stepping up Stepping up into what god has for you this year into 2024 What has god called you to do? Well pastor listen It's it's huge. It's big. I don't know if I can serve in that capacity I don't know if I could step up into those roles. I don't know if I can be used in that way I love how daniel the prophet, you know daniel on the lions then daniel I love how daniel puts it in daniel chapter 11 verse 32 He says it this way those who know their god shall do great exploits If you know your god You're going to do great exploits In other words the more I know about the lord the more faith that I will have to do great things for god William carry a missionary from generations past said it this way attempt great things for god And then expect great things from god I believe that every believer should go in so far over their head That unless god shows up it's destined to fail To do something so much bigger than yourself That when god shows up Everyone would have to say it had to be god Well, what if we're wrong? What if we step up step out and nothing happens? Well, I would rather attempt to do something impossible And not accomplish what I set out to do Then to sit and wonder what god would have done If I would have stepped out Maybe the lord will do a work And maybe Is enough We can't allow our fear to characterize our faith If we go there if we fail What if what if what if And so we end up doing absolutely nothing Because of the fear of failure Jonathan said nothing can hinder the lord from saving His arm is not too short that he cannot reach God's ear is not deaf that he cannot hear Nothing can hinder the lord from saving Jonathan stepped out in faith believing just maybe just maybe when we step out god's going to do something huge If you never attempt anything for god If you never attempt anything great for god, listen, you will never do anything great for god It was possible for jonathan to get to the other side difficult but possible But if he didn't he would have never seen god do the impossible If we simply do the possible and position ourselves in a place to say god Use me my life my family whatever it is that you want to do god here I am at your vessel for the master's use for the master's purposes god Here I am so send me as Isaiah would say God use my life when we place ourselves like jonathan did in a position to say god whatever it is that you want to do I'll do But when we place ourselves when we do the possible Of what god would call us to do then we have the opportunity to see god to do the impossible of what only god can do What jonathan said to his armor bear is not nearly important however As what the armor bear would respond back to jonathan and we'll close here in verse seven And this lone armor bear this loyal friend and companion He looks at this crazy leader Who doesn't have any certainty, but he does have confidence in the lord And he says back to him in verse seven Do all that is in your heart Go then Here I am With you According to your heart This armor bear says do all that you have in your mind. Go ahead. Let's do it together And if you skip to the end of this story the battle was so successful jonathan and his armor bear go up there They place a fleece before the lord. They said if if the philistines call us we'll go Sure enough. They called them and jonathan said that's the sign from god. Let's go They go to battle against the philistines god supernaturally gives them great victory The army of the israelites that were encamped down below they hear this commotion going on They see it on the other side of the ravine. They realize they do a quick count jonathan the son of the king is missing it must be him They charge over there, but by the time they get there the battle was already run one and the philistines were already in retreat Because one man and his faithful friend said let's step up Let's step out in faith. Let's see what god might do the entire nation of israel Was delivered the kingdom was set free The captives that were held bound were released And god expanded the kingdom that day Because a man and his friend said let's go and see what god will do May be just may be God will do something great when morgan and i stepped out just recently and made a journey To a distant land called idaho To take on this new work. We knew it would be difficult. We knew it would be painful But when we stepped out we began to see god do the miraculous Of what only god could do We've seen god provide in a way that only god could we've seen god come through and only in a way that god can And i could tell you many many stories, but i just want to share one with you tonight It was very interesting the first day that we landed there Someone came and knocked on our door and said hey We like to show you around the neighborhood and you want to jump in our golf cart So we jumped in their golf cart and they drove us around the neighborhood telling us who everybody was in the neighborhood Pretty hospitable and So we went and they're like and this is the barbers house and like what do you mean? This is the barbers house you just go into his house get your haircut I'm like you just walk in there and they're like no you go in the other door He has a barber shop and like that's pretty cool and And uh, she's like let me show you and so she runs in and opens the door and She turns and waves At me over as i was sitting there with my wife and So i get up i go to walk in and she opens the door and the barber's staying there with his buzzers in his hand He just stares at me for what felt like forever And then he says you're the pastor And i said well, yes i am And he said can you come back and talk to me in a minute? So i said sure when i came back he said listen With tears in his eyes. He said something is crazy. That's happening. He's like earlier today There was a man in my chair. I was cutting his hair and he said there's pastors coming to town and I ought to go check his church out And he showed me a picture of you and said I ought to go go to your church About an hour later another man unrelated to that man not knowing that man sits in my chair and says Hey, there's this pastor coming to town You ought to check him out go check out his church And he said both of these guys told me that I needed to connect with you And then about an hour later my barbershop door opens and you walk in And he said I know that god's trying to get a hold of my life So our very first service he was the first one down to the front to give his life to jesus christ Over the last eight weeks we've had over 50 people make first time commitments to follow jesus christ And so we've seen god do story after story after story of what only god can do and I share that with you today To be an encouragement to you listen It's not always easy doing what god's called you to do It's not always what's most convenient or even desirable But when you say yes to god You will never regret it Because the pathway that god gives to you in your life of what he wants to do in and through you Is going to be the very best thing for you The most fulfilling thing in your life Is walking your journey through life According to god's plan For jonathan it happened because god placed an idea In his head and a desire within his hearts And gave a person some faith to step up from where they currently were So that they could step in to all that god had for them Church 2024 Or just a few hours away from it Could it be the year that we say yes to god and everything The year that we would say god whatever you want to do in my life here i am And could it be the year that we walk forward in faith Stepping out in faith stepping up in faith like we've never done before Simply because we say yes to the lord Place yourself in a position of partnership with the lord and watch what god will do I'm thankful that god doesn't always meet our expectations Because god is the god who exceeds them And if god meets your expectations and meets my expectations then god wouldn't be the god Who does exceedingly abundantly above and beyond everything that we could ever think or ask And i'm thankful that god has a plan for each of us a purpose for each of us So step out step up and see the great things that god has in store for your life and make 2024 The most faith-filled life that you've ever lived this next year