 Good to be with you today, last weekend of 2020, which in some ways seems crazy, like the year's gone really fast and really slow at the same time. And so this is a kind of a staple for me in my 15 years here at Radiant. I've spoke many times on the last weekend of the year. It's a holiday pastor tradition, but it is always a huge honor and privilege to be able to do that. And as Pastor Zach said, I hope you had a blessed Christmas with your family and your friends and your loved ones. And we're really are excited for what 2021 has to bring. And sometimes in these times and in this particular service, it's easy to look and say, okay, well let's just talk about 2021 and let's leave 2020 behind and move forward. And of course there is something to that. Normally I would be up here talking about New Year's resolutions, which I've done in the past. You don't want to brag, but last year I was like, I'm gonna lose 10 pounds and I only have like 17 more to go. So I'm on a roll practically there. And then I'll say, hey, who can finish a chat? I've said over the years, like, can you finish a chapstick? That's a New Year's resolution. I literally get like videos and pictures of people who are like, I finished and I'm assuming they're lying because it's impossible to do, but they finished their chapsticks. And so I'm not gonna do that this year. I figure New Year's resolutions, they go in one year and out the other. Am I right? Oh, see what I did there, tough crowd, tough crowd. I will tell this story. So if I was gonna make a New Year's resolution for me, it would be John get better at directions. So I don't know about you, I'm somewhat directionally challenged, but it's easier because we have phones and we have navigation and things. So I just went on a week's trip to Florida with my family. It was amazing. We just got back a week or so ago. We went from Friday to Friday. We got there, our flight left at 6 a.m. So we were in Florida by 9 a.m. on a Friday. And then I milked that thing. Our flight didn't leave till like 6, 13 p.m. on Friday. So we check out, I'm like, let's go to the pool. It's like 64 degrees, but who cares? It's sunny. And we had plenty of time right to get to the airport. Let's go, let's go grab Chick-fil-A on the way. So we're all piling into my, I don't wanna brag again, but my Infinity QX80 that I got upgraded to instead of a minivan. So I only paid for a minivan, but yeah, thank you. And then I told my family, hey, you know, nothing's too good for you guys, honestly, you know. I upgraded, even though I didn't pay a dime. And so we dropped the car off. We got all our stuff for like an hour and a half early. It's 20 after four or something like that. We go into the airport and I'm not seeing any signs for like a legion air at all. No way of determining that they even exist at this point. So I'm a little concerned. And I go to the help desk and she's like, yeah, they don't fly here. I'm like, well, what does that mean? Apparently they're, you know, like again, I put the airport into my phone, we're good. And apparently there's an Orlando international airport and there's an Orlando Sanford airport. And I needed to be in Sanford and I was not in Sanford. So I had to tell Kendra, my beautiful wife, like we're at the wrong airport and that went well. And so I'm like, we can make it. Like I'm a seven on the intergram, I'm an optimist. Let's go, let's run right now. All the kids like, boom. But she's like, we already turned in the car. I'm like, I know, I will tell them. And so I go and they're like, yeah, we already processed her but here we can get you a minivan and we'll only charge you taxes and something like that. So we were in the car and in the minivan. And I'm of course going 70 miles an hour flat, no speeding whatsoever. I'm kidding, I'm going like 110 in that thing. I'm like, we're gonna make it. And Kendra's like, we're never gonna make it. I'm like, quiet woman. And faith is rising despite the environment that I'm in. And we're gonna make it, we're gonna make it. Kids, start praying. And we're 45 minutes away from the airport that we need to be at, right? And so it's about 4.30, flight leaves at 6.11. And so we're going, we're going, we're going. We get there, I drop the kids off like, get out and tell them. And then just say, if I don't make it, I love you. And I parked the car and I leave the minivan and I'm running and I have a mask on and I'm out of shape so bad. And I'm carrying my carry-on luggage and Kendra's like on the way, we need a contingency plan at least. I'm like, the plan is we're gonna make this flight. And we made the flight. We get there, we get there and like the plane's pulling out and I jump off the jet. Now that's a lie, I'm just kidding. Okay, okay, that didn't happen. The rest did though. And I was like, see, we're good. We're sure we're the last ones on there. We just strolled on like, what's up y'all, let's go. And we made our flight. So my New Year's resolution is to be more attentive to details, I guess, especially when I'm around Kendra. So there you go, five-minute story. I feel like we could probably close the service. We'll go a little further, let's pray. We'll pray and then if you have your Bibles turn to Romans chapter 15. Father, we ask that in these next few moments you would speak to us through your word. We're so grateful for your grace, God, that means us every single morning. Holy Spirit, you know the needs of every single person that's listening, wherever they are. You're aware and attentive to their circumstances. And I pray that you would illuminate your word and what's spoken into every single heart in Jesus' name. And everyone said, amen. Romans chapter 15, I'm gonna read a couple verses out of verse starting in verse 14. This is obviously the apostle Paul writing to the church and he says this, I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you are filled with goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points, I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder because of the grace given to me. I've called this last sermon in 2020 by way of reminder. Paul's writing to the church and he says some good things about them. He commends them. He says, I'm encouraged by what I see. I'm encouraged by what you're doing. I'm encouraged by who you are. The same thing I would say to radiant church. So encouraged as we've come through 2020, by the way that we've rallied together and we've pressed in to the Lord and we've seen the goodness of God through some very difficult circumstances. And so Paul is commending them. And then he says, but on some points I've written to you very boldly to be a way of reminder because of the grace given to me and begins to talk to them about how the gospel is for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. And that phrase just stuck out to me by way of reminder. We know a reminder is not something new necessarily. It's not brand new information. A reminder is literally bringing to the forefront something that you already know. Maybe you've forgotten. Maybe you haven't thought about it in a while but it's something you're aware of already but you need a reminder. We set reminders in our phones, feed the cat or pay the cable bill or something so that we're reminded of something. And I felt like the Lord wanted to use me this weekend to help remind you of some things in your life of some things that God is doing and of some things that we may already know but sometimes in the difficulties and in the seasons especially a year like 2020. We don't always keep it on the forefront and we need to be reminded of some of those things. So I'm gonna give us three things that I felt like the Lord wants to remind us of as we go into 2021. And the first thing is this, that God is in control. God is in control. If you're super holy right now you're already thinking of Twilight Paris and humming it to yourself. Raise your hand if that's you. God is in control. There's only three safe people in here. That is crazy. We believe that your promise will never be shared. There is no power above or beside you. We know. Yeah, man that seemed better today when I was practicing. God is in control. Okay, fine. Twilight Paris, great song. I'm sorry if you don't like 90s music. That's your problem. It's amazing. Anyway, she says God is in control and I feel like again that's something we know. That's something we're aware of. It might even sound like kind of like Christian jargon or pastor talk, God's in control. But I believe to the core of my being that it is a reminder that we need to have as followers of God, that he is still on the throne. He is still reigning and ruling. The circumstances we see around us are not an indicator that God's detached, that God is unaware or that God is incapable of controlling what happens. God is not up in heaven ringing his holy hands. He's not nervous, he's not putting fingers and they, Jesus, give me a hand over here. It's falling apart. He's in control. Listen to Psalm chapter two. It says, why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up. The rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed and they say, let us break their chains. Throw off their shackles. The one enthroned in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs. He holds them in derision. He holds them in contempt. He's in the heavenly places and he is still in control. And I just want us to be aware that no matter what happens around us, no matter what happens in a year like 2020, it is still incumbent upon us as believers to not be shaken, to not look to circumstances, to not have a mindset where we become apathetic or fearful or bury our heads in the sand. We have to remember that God is in control. Let me just give you a quick rundown of 2020 and this is just kind of from memory. It's not like I did a search, but most of you will remember these things that happened. I remember in January, there was the Australian bushfires that took place, like unprecedented damage in the continent of Australia. Fires galore, I'm watching the Australian open and that's a big deal. Then on the cusp of that, the Me Too movement is launched. You remember that it exposed some of the sexual brokenness in our culture. And I remember Hollywood is kind of pointing the finger if you will at the Catholic church and some of the abuses that happened there and then all of a sudden Hollywood realizes, wow, there's some Harvey Weinsteins in our midst and maybe our hands aren't as clean as we thought and then people are coming forward and talking about situations at work and situations that they've gone through and all of this is being exposed in this moment. And we see business leaders and even religious leaders that are falling morally and there's this pain that's unearthed through this movement. And then literally on the heels of that, that's like February marks a pandemic of unprecedented proportions. We hear the words COVID-19 for the first time. Social distancing becomes a thing. Stay home orders, lockdowns, no toilet paper, no bread, no food, no, I mean, it's just this crazy dynamic that no one's ever seen or been a part of. And then in the midst of that, maybe the worst stain on our nation's history once again raises its ugly head through racial injustice and we have the George Floyd killing and we have the protests and we have the riots and we have all of the tension and pain that goes along with that and exasperated by this pandemic, we find ourselves in and we're all watching the TV and we're all just what is going on and then we step into a political season that's heated to say the least. Massive divide in our country, red and blue and right and left and that's not even mentioning some of the other things that didn't make as much news, murder hornets and impeachments, right? The deaths of Kobe Bryant and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Alkstra, I mean just a crazy year and it's sometimes a temptation to look at it and to think things can't get much worse. What's really happening? Let's just hunker down and say Maranatha and wait for the Lord to come and because this is as bad as it's gonna get and I'm here to tell you this isn't as bad as it's gonna get. I'm here to tell you that in our lowest moments, in our seasons and times where we think it's the worst, we think we're the weakest, we think nothing's happening. Those are the times that God is moving the strongest and God is moving in those valleys and he is making beauty from ashes and I'm telling you that that is what I believe America is positioned for. I have hope for America right now in the name of Jesus. I have hope that God is going to move as he has in the past. There are people who will say, look the church, the church is, let's just be honest, it's in decline. It's best days are behind it. It used to maybe have, you know, I don't know of a way back name a year, way back when we had some momentum but now we're losing our influence, we're losing our buildings, we're becoming clubs and condos and the church just isn't what it used to be and it's in this like steady decline. Let me tell you, you look at history, both in the Bible and in the world, there's never been a moment where the church has been in steady decline. That's not how it works. What you do see is almost like a wheel turning and these different seasons of the church's history that are being exposed through time and space. So what generally happens is there's a relationship with God, God's people have fellowship with him and they're in community with him and then there's an apathy or something that takes place. We begin to be pulled away in other directions and then from there, there begins to be an unraveling of culture and unraveling of people, the morals begin to decay in a people group and then that leads to a time of dark degradation and shame among people. That's what you see in scripture, that's what you see in the book of Judges. It's not this like gradual thing, it's like a wheel that turns but always in those moments, always there is a remnant, there is a people who begin to pray and begin to seek God and begin to say, have mercy on us and God from heaven reaches down and he brings his presence and he brings his goodness and seeds of revival are sown in the darkest moments and I'm telling you that's what we need to believe about 2020 is that God is working and God is moving and it's in those valley seasons that God does what only God can do when our eyes are taken off ourselves, taken off our own resources and our own solutions and we say, God you're all we have but you're all we need. It's not just in the Bible you look at and I'll just be very brief but you look in the 1800s, not that long ago, the industrial revolution that happened in Britain, cities were populated, middle class was formed, all of a sudden there's all this wealth had never been seen before and it looked like it was good but it was all made on the backs of the poor and the backs of children. So children were literally pulled from homes, pulled from churches and used in labor camps and used to create things for people to consume and the moral unraveling of the nation of Great Britain began to take place in Europe and it got very dark but God's people began to cry out they began to say Lord have mercy on us, save our nation. Men like John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church stood up and he preached repentance and he preached turning back to God and people weren't like yeah, preach it John they threw bricks at him. They threw dead cats at him. It's a true story. People died at the gatherings but he kept preaching and people started believing and their hearts were turned back towards God and God turned their hearts towards the people who were hurting because that's what God does in us and in the church and suddenly they saw these children being exposed and they said this isn't right and labor laws for children were created. The Sunday school movement was launched where the church said it's not right that these children don't have anywhere to go we'll take them in, we'll teach them to read, we'll teach them the right and we'll teach them that there's a God who knows them and loves them and then young men used to get off work and they'd go straight to the bars, straight to the brothels and the church instead of wagging their finger at the culture said no let's do something about this let's pray and the YMCA was created and the YWCA was created by the church so that these men could have somewhere to go somewhere to spend their time somewhere to be discipled somewhere to work out let's play pickleball for Jesus. Literally the church move and the crown jewel in this movement was there began to be prison reform the way that the mental people with mental health issues was were treated was changed and then a man named William Wilberforce who was part of the Britain's parliament he was in government he said there's an evil among us called slavery and these African brothers and sisters have every bit the identity of God that we do and he fought against human trafficking and he fought against slavery every day for 30 years and there began to be a change a movement a seed of revival in that nation and 2nd Chronicles 714 says if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways I will hear from heaven I will forgive their sins and I will heal their land and the exact same God of 2nd Chronicles 714 is standing in the gap in 2020 saying if my people will pray and seek my face I will hear and revival can happen in the United States of America if we believe that God is on the throne Amen, amen, all right, we're good, we're good God is on the throne, don't be that person who's always negative who's always looking at what's going on and what's wrong no we can't do that as believers we can't sit in church and sing songs like I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shaken Oh God, look who's president, we're doomed like we can't do that we can't sit in our chairs and sing the songs and not believe it we either believe Psalm 46 or we don't let me just read it to you just listen to this and I'll get off this point it says our God is a refuge and strength and ever present help in times of trouble therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God the holy place where the most high dwells God is within her, she will not fall God will help her at break of day nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall he lifts his voice, the earth melts the Lord almighty is with us the God of Jacob is our fortress he doesn't come and see they said what the Lord has done the desolation he has brought on the earth he makes wars cease to the ends of the earth he breaks the bow, he shatters the spear he burns the shields with fire he says be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the nations I will be exalted in the earth Lord almighty is with us the God of Jacob is our fortress God is in control second thing I wanna remind us of is this and I'll be very brief the words that we speak are powerful the words you speak are powerful and I feel like again we need to be reminded hopefully we know this but every time that we voice something say something or speak something we're literally directing and creating our futures and what we want to see happen around us but many times we don't put the value or the power on our words that we need to as Christians sometimes it's funny when kids say words wrong I was thinking about it and I remember I can't remember which daughter of mine but when she would say the alphabet she would say A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K and then I swear she said armadillo-P and I was just like that's amazing you can learn the alphabet anyway you want and then Eric just recently I have it on video was saying we have these Zonervan family values that we say each week to each other and so his was that we're generous and so 2nd Corinthians 9-7 God loves a cheerful giver simple verse to memorize so he's doing this thing we are generous people we are generous with our time, our talents and our treasure 2nd Kardashian 9-7 and I was like oh dear God no you're gonna get me fired please tell me that's not a translation and Kenner and I are trying not to laugh and it's funny but I'm telling you our words are powerful our words have weight and depth and they are a reflection of what's in our heart and what is happening around and what we want to see happen Proverbs 18 verse 21, write this down death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit listen to the message translation it's simple, words kill, words give life they're either poison or they're fruit you choose, your words are not neutral your words are not by accident what you're saying and what you're speaking are literally framing the direction you want your life to go and I'm not talking about hey we should be nice and we shouldn't call each other names or we shouldn't say a swear word that's great, I'm for all that I'm a words of affirmation guy it's my love language I tell Kendra you don't have to buy me things just tell me how great I am and we'll be fine, right? I'm for all of that but what I'm saying more than just oh try to be nice to people and try to just keep your language clean more than that I'm saying what are you prophesying what are you speaking into your future into your family and into the world around us for what God wants to do two things I want to remind you the first is that your words create your words literally create Genesis one three says this God said, spoke, let there be light and there was light we are made in the image of God if God's words are powerful our words are powerful and they create, they create life or they create death they create good things or they create bad things and I know sometimes this whole kind of like what we say has gotten wrapped up in the name it claim it and you know I want a Porsche and I want a pony and I'm not talking about that it's unfortunate that that's kind of been hijacked in some maybe charismatic realms but I cannot overstress to us as Christians that just like God spoke order into chaos God spoke light into darkness as we step into 2021 we must this is not a time for careless words this is not a time for us to be flippant with what we say we must speak life into chaos order into chaos and light into darkness with our words we're creating with our words there's tons of scriptures I could give you read all of James chapter three Job 22 talks about you declare a thing it will be established for you I said Proverbs 18 but look listen to Luke chapter six this is Jesus he says for no good tree bears bad fruit nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit for each tree is known by its own fruit figs are gathered from thornbishes are not gathered from thornbishes nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush listen to verse 45 the good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good and the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks that's the second thing your words create your words are an overflow of what's in your heart so the words that you're saying are a direct reflection of what's already in your heart and so if the words you speak are not life if they're always negative if it's always my marriage will never get better I'll always be broke my kids aren't going if that's what you're saying I'm just telling you that's what's in your heart so more than trying to guard what we say Proverbs 4 23 says guard your heart with all diligence for out of it flow the issues of your life what are you putting into your heart sometimes we wanna get the low hanging fruit like I shouldn't have said that oh I shouldn't it's no what's coming out is what's going in it's a process and so in 2021 let me just say it as plainly as I can let God's word enter your heart in a way that it hasn't before let the word of God be the mainstay of what you feed on and what you focus on because if what's coming out of your mouth isn't lining up with God's word it's because that's what's not going in your heart and we live in a day where it's so easy to let what goes into our hearts be the 24 hour news cycle you know that before 1980 there was no news cycle it was five o'clock news six o'clock news that's it and CNN launched in 1980 and since that time there are like 324 hour news channels and we stand in front of that and we just let it scroll or it's social media or it's all of these things that aren't necessarily bad but they can't be the mainstay of what goes in your heart because that's what's gonna come out of your mouth out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks so put God's word into your mouth put God's word into your heart and it will come out of your mouth you remember when Satan tempted Jesus every time his response was it is written this is what the Bible this is what it says man shall not live by bread alone you shall not tempt the Lord your God he didn't lean on his own intellect he didn't lean on his own identity as I'm the son of God he spoke the truth of God's word because that's what was in his heart and I'm telling you as you enter this next year feed on God's word feed on God's faithfulness I wanna read to you again I'm gonna let you into my morning call it rituals I'm just gonna read these these are things that I say in the morning I have my kids saying I'm now they're all based out of God's word and you can think that's so weird I think saying the word of God out loud is one of the most powerful things you can do I'm all for reading to yourself praying to yourself but there's something about speaking into existence so I wake up and I say this today I wake up with purpose, direction and meaning every day of my life Jesus is first in my life I exist to serve and glorify him I love my wife and I will lay down my life to serve her my children will love God and serve him with their whole hearts I will nurture, equip, train and empower them to do more for his kingdom than they can imagine I love people and I believe the best about others I am disciplined Christ in me is stronger than the wrong desires in me I'm growing closer to Jesus every day because of Christ my family is closer my body is stronger my faith is deeper and my leadership is sharper I am anointed, empowered, equipped and called to reach people that are far from God I am driven, focused and blessed beyond measure because the Holy Spirit dwells within me and the world will be different and better because I serve Jesus today I say that out loud over my I don't always feel it I'm not always seeing it that's not necessarily what's dominating even my thoughts but there is power in what you say and when you line it up with God's word Romans 10 17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God two things I want to remind you of the words that you speak are powerful God is in control and the last thing is this your past doesn't have to determine your future as we enter into 2021 there's so many people and I know it's different for everyone but have had an awful year lost loved ones, lost jobs maybe lost hope and one of the main tactics the enemy uses is guilt and shame and condemnation that's what he loves to do that's his arena and he'll come in and say this isn't ever gonna happen for you you've gone too far you messed up the marriage is over your kids got taken away your job is whatever it is the thing you were gonna do your resolutions you can't keep them the same addictions you're struggling with the same issues that you said this was gonna be the year they're not they're still there so often the enemy wants you to be identified by the things that you've done or the things that have happened in your past and I wanna remind you I feel the Holy Spirit wants to remind you your past does not determine your future listen to what David prayed I love this in Psalm chapter three he's being chased by Absalom his own son he's jacked up his whole family he's been a terrible father he's made poor decisions and he says Lord how they've increased you trouble me many are those who rise up against me many are those who say of me there's no help for him but you oh Lord are a shield for me my glory and the one who lifts my head I cried to the Lord with my voice and he heard me from his holy hill Satan wants you to hang your head in shame and guilt and in condemnation Jesus says I'm your shield I'm your reward and I'm the lifter of your head do not allow the enemy to dictate your future by what's happened in your past good or bad could have been a great year for you I don't know but it's the man of principle that is good for that day what are we believing for in the next day but many of us enter into new seasons and into new years and we can't seem to let go of the past let go of the pain, let go of the hurts let go of the mistakes that we've made and I feel the Holy Spirit just saying to you I'm not remembering your wrongs I'm not identifying by what you've done but by who you are you're a child of the King I love you, I'm for you Romans 8 says nothing not your sin, not demons in hell nothing can separate you from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus so God wants you to hear there's a passage I wanna just read quickly look at 1 Corinthians chapter three I think this is so powerful Paul's writing the church and he says let no one deceive himself verse 18 if anyone among you seems to be wise in this age let him become a fool for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God for it is written he catches the wise in our own craftiness and again the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise in their futile therefore let no one boast in man for all things are yours whether Paul or Paul or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all are yours and you are Christ and Christ is God I was reading this and look what stood out to me saying okay these things are yours you know whatever you learn from Paul or Paul or you know the world, the life like we have some ownership of those things and then he says things present and things to come belong to you they're yours notice what's missing from that list your past because that was paid for and that belongs to God and he doesn't see you through that lens he sees you through the finished work of his son Jesus the present yes, press into God your future for sure believe God for what he has for you your past that belongs to God he paid for it and you're a new creation in Christ Jesus old things have passed away and all things have become new because of who he is and what he's done last thing is this God always has the final word always first Samuel or I'm sorry the book of Judges Samuel wrote it it's a very colossally depressing book I don't recommend it for your quiet time it's terrible it's a book of cycles where people of God knew God failed miserably did terrible things God raised up judges to try to bring them back to himself it literally happens like 10 times you know some of the judges Deborah and Gideon and Samson is by far the most famous of all of these judges and I just wanna highlight a few things in his life and this will be the last thing that I share but Samson we know the story he's strong right he's a Nazarene and so his mom has a vision from an angel and says you're gonna have a son she's barren and this is crazy and they say this is what no strong drink so touch his lips and don't ever cut his hair those are the requirements that you need and so Samson grows up and he's strong and he doesn't really know it right away but he's walking and a lion attacks him which happens a lot let's be honest and he tears it apart with his bare hands and so in that moment he was like all right got something going here the Lord's come upon me this is good I feel this I feel God right and then he has an issue and he says you know I wanna marry this Philistine girl and this parents like can't you just get off Tinder and I'm just kidding and say that can you meet a girl that's from Israel can you I mean can you please and they like no I want her and so he has these interactions with the Philistines and he is a thorn in their flesh big time like he has kills a bunch of them with fox tails he tied together and lit on fire he kills a bunch of them with a donkey jaw bone and they hate him like he keeps doing all these things to him well then he meets Delilah you guys know the story I mean you know not many parents name their children Delilah this is my daughter Delilah her sister Jezebel like you don't ever you don't hear those aren't popular names and there's a reason for that Delilah doesn't have a good reputation but Samson has some weakness some areas in his life that he hasn't completely surrendered to the Lord and he's drawn in by this woman and the Philistines go to her and they bribe her and they say hey we want you to find out from Samson who we hate how he gets his strength how we can seduce him and what we'd be the best way to kill him so I want you to just hear this so she goes all right so verse six says so Delilah said to Samson please tell me where your great strength lies and how you might be bound so that one could subdue you how many know that that's not a very good pickup line right I mean I haven't dated in a long time I've been married for a while but I feel like Samson should have realized at that point hey there Delilah this isn't probably working for me so he goes along with it he says well you know if they tie me up with seven I don't know why Samson sounds like Rocky Balboa but he does in my world they tie me with seven fresh bow strings I'll be as weak as any man so he goes to sleep and he wakes up and he's tied with seven fresh bow strings now again you would think Samson would have an understanding like hey this isn't good you know Delilah maybe we gotta take some time off I tell you what would make me weak I wake up and that's exactly what happens but he snaps him and he kills the Philistines who are trying to attack him that were undercover and she's upset she says you didn't tell me you lied to me okay okay fine you tie me up with seven ropes they've never been used you know I'll be so she does that he wakes up he's tied with seven ropes snaps him off kills the Philistines and then she says you don't love me how can you say you love me you're lying to me you won't give me your whole heart and the Bible says so he gave Delilah his heart there's a whole nother message there and he tells her I've never had my hair cut I'm a Nazarite it's the source of my strength falls asleep she shaves his head while he's sleeping and says Samson the Philistines are upon you and he says and he woke from his sleep and said I will go out as I have at other times and shake myself free but he didn't know that the Lord had left him and so this was a different scenario for Samson he's been used by God he feels God he knows there's a call of God on his life but he hasn't done the things that he needs to do he hasn't maybe he's been as serious about it he's had some pitfalls and some moral failures in his life and look at verse 21 of Judges 16 I think they have it on the screen it says and the Philistines this time seized him gouged out his eyes brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles and he ground at the mill in the prison so he literally gouged his eyes out he's blind they put him on a mill and he just walks around grinding this is his life in shackles and in chains he's at his lowest moment he's got to be reminiscing about man why did I make those mistakes why did I do those things why wasn't I this why did I do that and look at verse 22 I'm telling you the truth I read this every single year at the end of the year this story verse 22 but the hair of Samson's head began to grow again after it had been shaved the source of his strength began to grow again Jesus has the final word I don't know what your 2020 has brought I don't know what levels of difficulty you've had to reach you've had to breach you've had to overcome I don't know what things have tried to define you from your past I don't know if you're struggling with shame or guilt or condemnation or you feel exposed or naked or bald but I tell you this Jesus has the final word the hair on your head will begin to grow again the call of God on your life isn't over because you failed because you missed it because you sinned the enemy wants to come in and say God can never use you I tell you find me one person in the Old Testament that didn't have massive issues that God used every single one God's not looking for perfection he's looking for the pursuit of your heart to line up with his and Samson had a moment where he called on the Lord and God used him one more time and I say this to say that no matter where you are on your journey it's not over until God says that it's over and as we step into a new year let new faith, new hope like we sang about come into your heart come into your life come into your situation Micah 7 verse 8 is one of my favorite scriptures it says this do not rejoice over me my enemy for though I fall I'll rise again and though I sit in darkness the Lord will be a light unto me you guys stand up with me I just want to pray I want to just pray over you and for you and ask the Lord to just speak to your heart listen I prayed before this message but I don't know everybody's situation I don't know what you're going through what your struggles are what things the Holy Spirit hopefully highlighted but I'm just going to ask you to just close your eyes and just let me pray for you and then you in this next week there's whatever amount of days left before 2021 just begin to seek the Lord for next year begin to seek the Lord for what he has for you your family your future there's power in the surrender saying God not my will but yours be done not my ways but yours be done there's power and giving God your heart that's all he asked for it's not asking you to clean yourself up he's not asking you to try harder he's not asking you to get it together he's saying can you surrender to me can you give me your heart and let me lead you and guide you into truth so Father in the name of Jesus I pray for every single person who's watching who's listening and Father you would meet them where they are that God you run towards us God I see you just like the prodigal son you're not tapping your foot you're not wagging your finger you're not waiting for us to come to you you're running after us God you're pursuing us because that's who you are and even our weak hearts woo you God even our weak glance Father it moves your heart towards us and I pray that every single person would understand the identity they have as a son and a daughter that they don't have to strive they don't have to work they don't have to wonder how you feel about them that God they know you're the apple they are the apple of your eye God that your love and affection reaches them wherever they are and that God your arm is mighty to save and I pray that God in this next year as your children and as the people of God there would be a holy discontent that Father we God I'm so grateful for the prayer room for downtown where we stand and we say to the city we say to the atmosphere we prophesy to the world around us this is truth this is our God this is what we believe and we speak the truth of God out into the atmosphere and we believe our words are powerful so God break our hearts for what breaks yours fill us with a zeal for prayer a passion to see you move in our city move in our circumstances and move in our families we believe the church's best days are not behind us God you said that gates of hell would never prevail against the people of God so we ask you Lord fill us with new faith new zeal new passion for the things of God and Father for every person who's struggling with guilt or shame Father let the truth that there's no condemnation in Christ but we've been set free from the law of sin and death by the law of love in Christ Jesus be a reality in every single heart we look to you we love you we praise you in Jesus name A