This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:00] Go ahead and grab your Bible and open it to the book of Joshua. Please. Yes. Grab your Bible and open it to the Old Testament. The sixth book of the Bible. The Book of Joshua. Did you have any good food over Christmas? Did anybody here eat anything that was nice?

[00:00:18] Yeah? Peppermint bark, maybe? Maybe some homemade fudge? I was reaching for another piece of homemade fudge and I realized to myself, I don't know if this happened to you yet, I was reaching for a piece of that fudge and it was delicious. So I'm going to have another one. And then I realized it's only four days till 2015. It just hit me that. Has it happened to you yet? Did it happen right now? Four days and we're in a new year. That sounds like the basis for a science fiction movie. 2015, my friends comin up here very soon.

[00:00:53] And as we get to the new year, I want to cast a clear vision. I already gave you the announcement of what we're going to do in the New Year. But now I want to give you the heart behind it. So we're going to do a special message for 2015 from the Book of Joshua.

[00:01:08] And I just want to read three verses that we're gonna to focus in on today here in Joshua, chapter one. Look with me at verse seven, Joshua, chapter one versus seven, eight, nine. Now, I know you still got kind of that Christmas. We've eaten a lot feeling, but we got to wake up for this. This is exciting stuff. Joshua, chapter one, verse seven.

[00:01:27] It says, only be strong and very courageous. Being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded. You do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed for the Lord. Your God is with you wherever you go.

[00:02:17] I don't know if you want to have a weak and timid 2015, but this sermon is about being strong and courageous. I would imagine you like to picture yourself as a strong person rather than a weak person, right?

[00:02:32] I would hope that you think you have some courage.

[00:02:35] And Joshua here, he gets a command, it says from the Lord, it starts in verse six in and the Lord repeats it two more times. And the command is to be strong and courageous. Now, sometimes maybe that's a familiar phrase from the scripture. Maybe you've heard of the story of Joshua, the son of none before, a man who was the understudy of Moses, who was his apprentice. And then he ended up leading the people of Israel into the promised land across the River Jordan. And they fought all of the nations that were there and they ended up settling in the promised land, the nation that we now know is Israel. Maybe you've heard this story of Joshua before. Maybe you've heard be strong and courageous. But we often miss the most important part. Most important part of this story is that Moses just died.

[00:03:23] And Moses is kind of the man. There's a verse in the Bible that says Moses is the most humble man that ever lived in. A lot of people think Moses wrote that verse. So Moses is a pretty impressive guy. OK, he's a pretty impressive dude. In fact, we're still making movies about Moses today.

[00:03:42] Even Batman.

[00:03:44] Is Moses. That's how it goes. If you know there's a movie Exodus out right now where Batman is Moses. OK. So Moses is a pretty big deal. He's the kind of guy. Like, I got to fill his shoes. Those are some pretty big sandals.

[00:03:56] If you're trying to fill Moses his spot and Moses has died and he has written his entire life's work. I mean, the thing that Moses is gonna be known for more than anything else are the first five books of the Bible. We call them the law, the Torah, or one way that it's referred to as the Pentateuch, which means the five scrolls.

[00:04:18] The first five scrolls. The five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy. Moses has five scrolls. And before he's gonna go up on the mountain and die, he hands these five scrolls to Joshua. And he says, You're in charge now, bro.

[00:04:37] And then he goes off. Do you feel that a little bit? Right. You have the one copy of the Bible in existence.

[00:04:47] You have the one copy of God's word. And it's been given to you. It all depends on you passing it on to the nation, leading the next generation into the promised land. You feeling a little bit of pressure here, right? I might start thinking, how can I delegate this? I need a break from this. Right. What's the word from the Lord?

[00:05:08] Now is the time to be strong and to be courageous. Now is the time to rise up and to lead the people.

[00:05:15] So I don't know if you've ever thought about this before, but at the beginning of Joshua, the main thing that's going on is there are five scrolls where everything that Moses taught the Israelites, everything that God has done from creation up until that point in history has been recorded. And you now are the only guy with a copy. So this is how a lot of the history of the world. They didn't have their own copy of the Bible. There wasn't an app for that. We weren't handed away free copies as people walked in that anybody could use. And so there was only one copy of God breathed Scripture. And you are the keeper of it, say.

[00:05:51] And it says, be strong and courageous and dove into what it says here. Verse six, be strong and courageous for you shall cause this people to inherit the land. You're going to lead them into this land. Verse seven only be strong and very courageous in case didn't get it the first time.

[00:06:05] Being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my serve and commanded you.

[00:06:11] So if you could just do a little some with me. If you've got a Bible and hopefully you do just turn one page to the left and then go back and find Genesis Chapter one. All right. And hold that up right there. Who who's got that? Anybody got this chunk? The first five books of the Bible in my Bible. It's one hundred and seventy seven pages. Somebody is holding up his iPod.

[00:06:31] That's cute. That's clever. I appreciate that. Right. I'm trying to make a point. And he's like, way too cool. You know what I mean? Sipping on his coffee. That's awesome.

[00:06:39] This is one hundred and seventy seven pages of text here. OK. Anybody ever try to read the first five books of the Bible before? Yeah. You stopped in the Vatican too, didn't you? We've all. Yeah, many of us have been there. We've done that. Right. He's supposed to do everything.

[00:06:55] These first five books say everything here.

[00:06:58] Be careful. It says to do according to all that Moses commanded you. As in Joshua, you are going to be held accountable for all five of these books. There is a quiz and the quiz is called Life. And you either lead these people well or you fail these people.

[00:07:19] Be strong. Joshua. Be courageous. OK.

[00:07:23] So we're starting to feel a little bit of the responsibility that this guy was supposed to know.

[00:07:30] The first five books like everything that was in them. In fact, I don't know if you know this, but to be a king in Israel, it says in Deuteronomy 17 that if you were gonna be the king of Israel, you had to copy the first five books, the law.

[00:07:44] You had to copy and write them on your own scrolls, and then you had to carry the first five books of the Bible around with you. You want to be king who doesn't want to be king? Well, you've got to copy the first five books of the Bible.

[00:07:56] Now, we've got some Bible students here. We've got two people who have been going to church since day one who here can much say they've read the first five books, much less could tell me everything that is in them, much less. I copied them one time. I just didn't have much to do. Got bored of solitaire. So I started typing out numbers on my computer. Right. I haven't really heard that one. Right. If you can't sleep at night. There you go. Right. Start typing now. No, I mean, here it is.

[00:08:23] You supposed to know the first five books. How do you study your Bible? How do you try to get to know?

[00:08:32] Everybody here, what I want you to see hopefully this morning is everybody here is in the same situation as Joshua.

[00:08:38] The word of the Lord has come to you and it really rides on your shoulders whether the next generation fails, there's a quiz and it's called Your Life and how you live shows, whether you know the book or not.

[00:08:48] And eventually, someday, your kids, eventually, someday, the people that you meet, your neighbors, your coworkers, the people here in this city of Huntington Beach will ultimately rise or fall, depending on how well we know the word and how well we pass on to other people.

[00:09:04] This is what life is. Life is it. Life is a test. There's a book you've got to study and how you live your life shows whether you know it or not. We don't study our Bible like the.

[00:09:15] See, right now what you're going to start hearing about on the radio when you go back to work tomorrow, what everybody's going to start talking about over the next three days is going to be really hot news and then it's going to fade away and nobody will talk about it again. New Year's resolutions. You guys remember these things from last year, right? No. All that gusto that you had, maybe about something. If you if you go into one of these things, you know what I mean? Right. You're gonna hear about it. And what is the number one New Year's resolution that everybody wants to do after reaching for that extra piece of fudge this Christmas? Right. We are all going to start saying something about eating better. And maybe not everybody, but a lot of us are gonna say, well, you know, I got to eat butter. You know, I got to exercise. Right. And gym memberships are what going to skyrocket in January. I don't know what it was, but the Lord had me interacting this week with personal trainers. I got to evangelize to a guy who was a personal trainer. I got to meet another guy who was a personal trainer. We've got a guy here at our church. That's a good friend of mine. And we were hanging out and he's a personal trainer. And I'm just like, is the Lord trying to tell me something here?

[00:10:21] Three meetings in a row with guys who are personal trainers. Now, these guys, they make a living from making other people work out. They're onto something, my friends.

[00:10:35] I mean, people are so serious about working out and they know that they won't do it unless there's accountability, unless there's somebody kind of guiding them and overseeing them and telling them what to eat and what not to eat and what exercises to do. They don't have that accountability, that structure. They just they realize about themselves. Here's something I know to be true about myself. I won't stick with it.

[00:10:57] I won't keep eating right. I won't keep working out. And so I'm going to pay you good bony like a money, a bunch of money an hour so that you will tell me to keep going. I mean, this is Orange County. I mean, people are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on personal trainers all around us.

[00:11:18] Right. I mean, not people aren't going out and running. You know, I'll just go take out the neighborhood. You see people doing that. Low class people. Right. The real Orange County people. I'm paying somebody else to run with me.

[00:11:33] So when I want to stop, they yell at me or or maybe they smile or maybe they give me some kind of blended smoothie. I don't know what they do, but it keeps me running. Right. I get the results that I want. You know, we talk about a sculpt, my physique. I mean, that's what people are doing. I'll pay you 50 bucks. I'll sign up with you thousands of dollars for a year membership because I want to go to that gym where the cool people are. And I want you to be my trainer because you look like you know how to work out. That's the point.

[00:12:04] And I have never used what I do.

[00:12:06] I don't I'm not a personal trainer, obviously. Right. But here's what I do. I study the Bible.

[00:12:12] How many people come up to me and say, hey, will you help me study the Bible? I'm always saying let's read the Bible. I'm always saying let's get the word.

[00:12:21] And how many people really want help? Really want accountability? Really want someone to hold them once and for all. This is going to be the year I study my Bible, say.

[00:12:33] If we were as excited about the cross of Jesus Christ as people are about cross fit, we would see revival in America. That's the truth.

[00:12:43] If we were as excited about our spiritual exercise of studying the word and prayer. Right.

[00:12:51] Taking in the word and praying to the Lord. Right. Just like eating.

[00:12:56] Right and exercising is we if we were as excited as people in Orange County are about their own bodies, if we could get that excited about the book of the law of God's word, this church would blow up like nothing we've ever seen.

[00:13:09] That's the facts right there.

[00:13:11] Your life would radically change if you were in this word, meditating on it day and night, being careful to do everything that it says.

[00:13:20] You don't want to go to the right. You want to go to the left. You don't want to leave something out. You don't want to add something in. You are paying attention to what it says. Like this book is law.

[00:13:31] Like it's the way that you should live your life. Is that how you wake up in the morning?

[00:13:36] Is that how you go to bed at night, like those people getting up so early to hit the gym because they know that trainer's gonna be there and they already paid their money, so they want to get their most out of it.

[00:13:46] Man, if we Christians could be like that about the Bible. I'm not knocking physical exercise or eating. Right.

[00:13:53] But first, Timothy for seven and eight says the hey bodily exercise, there's some value, but training for godliness that's got profit for now and the life to come. Point number one, let's put it let's put it down like this in the IT resolve. Let's make our own New Year's resolution here. Let's resolve to eat the Bible and exercise it in your life. Let's resolve to eat the Bible and exercise it in your life.

[00:14:18] Let's all admit that we could be a little more strong and courageous and that we would be more strong and courageous if we had more confidence in God's word and if we studied it day and night like Joshua is being commanded to hear. And I want to prove to you this isn't just a command for Joshua. This is command for all of God's people. Go with me to Psalm Chapter one and you'll see everything that God says to Joshua is directed to anyone who would want to have a relationship with God in the foundational psalm, the one they decided to put first out of one hundred and fifty. They started with this psalm, chapter one, verse one. This is the the foundation here of all the songs that we're gonna sing to give glory to God in the Psalter. We start with this blessed is the man who walks not in the Council of the Wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. Don't listen to what everybody else is saying and do what everybody else is doing.

[00:15:16] No, this man blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law.

[00:15:23] He meditates day and night. This man is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Who would like to prosper in 2015? Anybody want to prosper? Who would like to be blessed? The word there for blessed. It's a very spiritual word. It means happy is what it means. You want to have a happy new year.

[00:15:51] We want to have a prosperous and successful 2015. Well, then you got to be the man who delights in the law of the Lord, who meditates on it day and night.

[00:16:00] How many people here? We gather for church on Sunday, and it's great to have you here. But who in this room can honestly claim to be the kind of person who meditates on God's word day and night?

[00:16:13] Can't stop thinking about it.

[00:16:15] Wake up and no, I even if I don't feel like it, I want. I wanna get into it. My habits, my discipline. I've beaten my body. I've made it my slave. I get into the word throughout the day. I'm thinking about it. I'm. Focusing on a verse here, praying here, and then at the end of the day, what am I. Put my mind on when I go to sleep.

[00:16:33] Back to the word. Back to prayer. Who can say that we're doing that here in this church? That's what we're supposed to be all about.

[00:16:42] The blessed is the man. See who delights in the love of the Lord. Can you say that Bible study is your delight, your passion, where you find soul satisfaction? To a lot of people, it seems to me that it's a chore they have to do and they check it off the list because they'll feel bad about themselves if they don't do it or something silly like that.

[00:17:02] This should be our desire to know God, to know what he says. Look at verse six, look at the summary of the song. Here's the punch line.

[00:17:09] Here's your motivation for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. So if you study the book and you find out the way that God wants you to live and you walk in God's way, there's a relationship with God there.

[00:17:21] God knows you and you know him. And you realize that when you walk according to the Bible, you never walk alone because God is with you, see?

[00:17:31] And if you want to know God, it's very simple. You study the Bible and you spend time in prayer. But it takes discipline, doesn't it?

[00:17:39] Can I get him in from anybody? I mean, I would imagine well, I got I got a high percentage of people here in the room B and I. Oh, yeah, that's right. We could read more Bible. I could read more. But we could pray more. I could pray more. Right. There's that desire there.

[00:17:53] But see, we're not disciplined enough to actually do it. And that's a problem.

[00:17:59] John, 15. Let's take it even now into the New Testament and let's make it even more personal. Let's see how it affects our our daily relationship with Jesus Christ.

[00:18:10] If somebody came in here this morning and they said, I'll look at this church, another false religion, we would we would shout right away. We would say, hey, we're not a religion when it comes to Jesus. We're a what? What do we like to say?

[00:18:21] We're a relationship with Jesus. That's what we've got. Right. I'm not so I'm not just doing a bunch of religious things. I know. Jesus. Well, here's what Jesus says it looks like if you know him, John. Fifteen, verse four. He says, abide in me and I. And you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you unless you abide in me. Here's a basic analogy, my friends. We've got a vine. We've got a branch. The only way the branch is going to produce fruit. The only way the branch is going to continue to grow is if it's connected to the life. The stem. The vine. OK. And it says abide in me now. I don't really like the translation. Abide, because that sounds like something spiritual that I can't do. Another way you could translate it is stay in me or remain in me. That's how I like to think about. I get my thoughts on Jesus and then I just stay there. I remain there. I keep on thinking about him throughout the day. That's the story of my life. Every day I got to get my thoughts on Jesus and then I stay there. I remain there. I keep looking to the vine for a source of life. That's the analogy, Liquidy says in verse five on the vine you are the branches. Now, whoever abides remains stays in me and I in him. Here we are having this relationship with Jesus. Whoever is doing that, he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me. You can do nothing. Now, if anyone does not abide in me, you don't really have a relationship with me. He's thrown away like a branch and withers. The branches are gathered. They're thrown into the fire and burned. But if you abide in me verse seven and look at this, my words abide in you. Ask whatever you wish. And it will be done for you. Now he's breaking it down. Here's how you're going to remain or stay in me when my words remain or stay in you. That's how our relationship is gonna work. And then when you've got my word, when you're meditating on my word and you're thinking about it day and night, we'll go ahead and pray. Ask whatever you wish. Start talking to me according to the word and I'll answer you. He says, this is how our relationship is gonna work. You want to have a relationship with me. Then you got to get my words in you. And when my words are in you, you start praying to me and I'll answer your prayers. That's what he says. He wants to have a relationship with every single person here. Winded Bible study and prayer become a spiritual to do list chores, things like eating salads. We don't want to eat and running laps. We don't want to run. And when did we lose that? There's a relationship. See that the people who have personal trainers, they get that vibe. A relationship with a person. I'll do it. If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you will study the word and you will pray. That's what he's saying. And then he says this inverse. By this, my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit. And so prove to be my disciples. Let me ask you guys a simple question. You want to have a lame 2015 or you want to bear a lot of fruit for Jesus Christ? What do you want to do? You want to do a lot of good works to bring glory and lift. Hi. The name of Jesus Christ. Or do you want to accomplish nothing with your new year? Say, well, here's here's the answer. We're starting with the end. From the beginning, we're going to have a lot of fruit bearing.

[00:21:37] If we get in a lot of time in the world and a lot of time in prayer, that's how it works. There's no shortcut. There's no simple way. You can't just go to some room in Los Angeles and we'll freeze the spiritual sin right out of you. Right. Like, they were just trying to freeze fat off people. I hear that on the radio all the time.

[00:21:55] Just come over here during your lunch and we'll just freeze the fat right off. Right. I yeah. You can't come over, hang out with me for an hour and all of a sudden love Jesus Christ. You want to love Jesus Christ. It's hard work.

[00:22:07] Get in the world and pray. Every other relationship in your life is hard work, isn't it? Takes time. But you do it because you love the person. If you really love Jesus Christ, you're going to get in the word and you're going to pray. And we've got to hold ourselves to that standard. My friends.

[00:22:26] Now, I'm trying to draw a parallel with the people of Israel going into the promised land and us kind of working our way into a new build. It might sound like a cheesy analogy at first, but it's gonna grow on you. OK. You're really going to like this? I go to Joshua, 21 with me. Go to go to Joshua 21.

[00:22:44] And you're going to see here that this was a promise. There was a promise given to the people of Israel goes all the way back to Abraham. It's an amazing promise spanning hundreds of years, which we don't really have time to get into. But what is amazing is that when Joshua is strong and courageous, he is in the world. He meditates on it day and night. We give every indication that Joshua does what he is commanded to do. Joshua doesn't resolve to do something and not follow through. The indication to us is that Joshua is an example. In fact, I don't know if you caught that at Christmas time where we said that the name Joshua the Lord is salvation is really the Hebrew way to say the name that would later become Jesus. So Jesus is basically named after this guy, Joshua, everybody tracking with me about that. So this guy is held up in scripture as an example to us that he is a man who did meditate day and night on the law of the Lord, who did do what it said.

[00:23:43] And he got greatly blessed and he led the people into the promised land. And it says in Joshua, 21, verse 45, this is maybe the theme verse of the entire book of Joshua. Maybe you've never read this before, but this is the idea. It says not one word of all the good promises that the Lord has made to the House of Israel had failed.

[00:24:02] All came to pass.

[00:24:04] The idea is like not one word out of the entire first five books. Joshua, he studied those first five books. He got to know everything in the first five books and not one word fell short of truth and he didn't experience it.

[00:24:22] That's an amazing thing. What other book promises to never fail, to never fall short? That's the promise of this book.

[00:24:32] OK, now they have some unique promise at a particular time to inherit this land and to invade the other nations and to dwell in this land. That's a unique promise for the nation of Israel that does not apply to us. Go to Matthew 16, though, and I want to show you a unique promise that applies to us that doesn't apply to them. So take that nation of Israel, because we've got our own promise here in Matthew, Chapter 16. And this is a pretty big promise and this has directly to do with us. And we've got to believe this promise, just like Joshua believed that God had given him the promised land to lead the people. And he did. We've got to believe this promise here in Matthew 16. And look what it says here in verse 14. And they said in answer to Jesus's question, who do people say the son of man is? This is Mac, you 16, verse 14. They said, well, some people are saying you're John the Baptist. Others are saying you're Alija. Others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets are comparing you to all these Old Testament people. Verse 15. And he said to them. Important question. But who do you say that I am? And Simon, Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, the son of the living God.

[00:25:47] And Jesus answered him. Blessed are you, Simon Bar, Jonah or Simon, son of Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my father, who is in heaven.

[00:25:57] And I tell you you are Peter. And on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Hey, here's a promise for us. A promise that you can 100 percent. No, not one word will fall away from Jesus Christ is going to build his church.

[00:26:18] Can I get a man from anywhere on it? OK. And we are doing everything that we possibly can to be a church of Jesus Christ, to do what he has told us to do in this book. And we are preaching that the rock that Jesus is gonna build the church on. I think it's important that you hear me say as we get ready to move into a building which we're asking you to come and work on, which is very exciting. Jesus doesn't build churches on buildings.

[00:26:44] No building makes us a church.

[00:26:47] What makes us a church is what Peter expresses here, that you are the Christ, the son of the living God, the revelation of who Jesus is. See the gospel message. The good news of the Christ. That's the foundation of the church. And Jesus has promised that on the Gospel he is going to save more people. And he is going to raise up a group of people that he will redeem. And for 2000 years has Jesus done a good job keeping this promise.

[00:27:16] I mean, think about where Jesus says this to 12 dudes.

[00:27:19] Two thousand years ago, halfway across the planet from us right now and here we are about to march into 2015 and we were able to scrape up enough Jesus followers to fill this room here this morning.

[00:27:32] And he's still building his church today. That's the promise of Jesus Christ. So if you're going to plan to be a part of any one thing in 2015, if you want to hitch yourself to a winner, my friend, if you want to invest in something that you know there is going to be profit and reward from, then attach yourself to the Church of Jesus Christ, because that's the one thing that Jesus has promised to build in our lifetime.

[00:27:58] And that's the thing, everybody here. We need to get all about so we don't have a promise of some land that we get to go inherent for, God's been gracious enough to give us 28000 square feet that we can lease for a pretty penny a month. All right. That's what we got. But here's what he has promised us. You keep preaching the name of Jesus Christ. You keep preaching who he is and he will build his church. That's what he's promised. And so that right there, Matthew, 16, 13 to 18. That's going to be our text for our first service in our new building right there. We're gonna make it very clear from the beginning, we're not building this church on a building. We're building it on the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I want to know this book. I want to study this book, The Word of the Lord that rings out, that echoes that resounds. I want to know everything there is to know about it so I can tell anybody who would ask me about the hope that I have that Jesus Christ, he's my savior. He's my lord. And if you build your life on Jesus Christ, no matter what happens to you, you will not fall. That's the promise of this book right here. And I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And I talk to him every day. And I hear from him every day through this book. It's personal to me. And Jesus has promised that it will not fail. Satan wants to stop. Demons want to stop it. Death wants to come in and take us all down. But guess what? Jesus his church will prevail. So I don't know what you want to do with your new year, but I think being a part of the church and when I say being a part of it, being one of the people who have a real relationship with Jesus, where we've read his word and we pray to him, that is so important if everybody in this room would do that. Wow. What would we see God do in 2015? Then go back to Joshua one, because there's more. And the analogy here between the Promised Land and us moving into a new building is going to get deeper. Turn with me. Back to Joshua, chapter one. And look now at verse eight, because there's a very interesting detail here that I love to talk about. Love this part right now, Joshua, one eight. It says, This book of the loss of all five scrolls. One hundred and seventy seven pages leading up to this point. This book of the law shall not depart from your heart, but you shall meditate on a day and night. Is that what it said?

[00:30:14] Right there was anybody reading the Bible to me? Not depart from your wow, isn't that interesting? Because you think we're on the intake here, you would think that I'm reading it.

[00:30:24] I'm studying it. I'm dwelling on it like I'm chewing on it. The idea of meditation is almost like I'm humming on it, almost like I'm over, like, you know, almost like like I was about to eat something, you know, that's that's kind of the idea.

[00:30:36] It's a graphic pictures like a line about to eat something. That's the idea. So it's like meditating on it. You would think this is going into like, my heart, my stomach. But it says it shouldn't depart from your mouth. So think about this. He's the one guy with the copy of the five scrolls. If he doesn't share, then nobody else knows the five scrolls.

[00:30:57] He's the one guy. And the other people success in hearing God's law depends on him opening his mouth and passing it on to other people. So I hope you're not just in 2015 for yourself. I hope that there are other people in your life that matter to you that you also want to see prosper and have a great year.

[00:31:17] And the truth is, then, the word isn't just for you. It's not your own quiet time, your own personal devotions. No, it's you.

[00:31:23] Studying the word and then sharing what you learn with everyone around you, your spouse, your kids, your relatives, your neighbors, anybody who is within earshot is going to hear about what you're learning about Jesus Christ. Don't let it depart from where that tip of your tongue.

[00:31:43] My friends, the reason I read the Bible in the morning is because I want to talk to somebody about it later that day. That's the idea here. So point number two is share your story, point number two is share your story, whatever God's teaching you from the word maybe what God's doing here at our church you just shared.

[00:32:01] It's that simple. You're on social media. Maybe you ever go on Facebook. You ever go on the Internet. Right. These people post these annoying things like it's like from some like Nike Watch or Nike band that they get so and so just ran eleven point two miles.

[00:32:16] You ever see those postings on social media show off? That's what I think right away. You know what I mean? Why are you trying? Great. And I had a bowl of Wheaties. What is this? I mean, what are we trying to do? You know what I mean? Why why are you trying to brag that you just ran eleven point two miles? I get tired. Just they get about eleven point two miles. I drove eleven point two miles to work. I mean, what do you want from me?

[00:32:38] You know, I mean, it's like they're showing off because when you actually get out there and you actually exercise and you actually have this idea of running this race, everybody here has had a friend who's training to run a race. Right. And they bring you in on it because it's intense and it's hard and the race is common and I'm not ready. And then guess what always seems to happen?

[00:32:58] They finish the race somehow. I've never met the person is like, yeah, I died in the middle of the race and I gave up. Right.

[00:33:04] They all seem to do it. And what do they want to do as they're experiencing this this joy of like having a goal and reaching the goal? What do they want to do? They want to tell you all about it.

[00:33:15] And you're not like, oh, how vain and narcissistic you are. No, you actually like, oh, this is cool. Oh, well, congratulations. Oh, that's awesome. You know, you get caught up in it. You root for them.

[00:33:28] Why, when it comes to sharing what we're learning from the Bible, do we all of a sudden get all self-conscious about it?

[00:33:34] Why all of a sudden do we think it's like about us? And I can't talk about spiritual things because people will think I'm about myself. If you're about spiritual things, people will think you're about Jesus Christ. That's what they'll think about you.

[00:33:45] It's about you, then you're missing the whole point.

[00:33:49] So many people are not sharing about Jesus because they're afraid people will think they're trying to show off spiritually.

[00:33:56] I'm glad Joshua didn't do that because the whole thing would have ended right there with him.

[00:34:04] Yeah, well, you should have a lot to say about what you're learning, not the fact that you're doing Bible study or you could memorize so many verses or you could pray for so long. But what you're learning about Jesus in this book should be blowing you away, that you cannot help but speak of such things.

[00:34:21] And tell people you should have people that you're saying. Yeah, man, I'm trying to pray for an hour. And it's like the hardest thing I've ever had to do right now when I just said that right now you should have seen some of the faces in this room.

[00:34:33] It was like I had said after this, guys, I hope you brought your Nike's because we're gonna go run twenty six point two miles. Who's with me? Marathon. I just said three words. Pray I forward. I pray for an hour. And everybody looked at me like. Whoa, buster. Well, man, you're getting this New Year's thing a little too hyped on it. Bring it back down. Bring it back down. All right. Pray for an hour. Who here could say that they prayed for an hour this week? I'm not talking about the whole week. I'm talking about at one time.

[00:35:07] We act like, oh, that's so tough. What if you had a group of friends and you're like my girls to pray for an hour? I'm going to need help. There's no way I'm going to make it. I don't even. What would I talk about after 15 minutes? I mean, you act you have good stuff. What could you. Can you help me?

[00:35:20] What if we started treating prayer, say, like people treat running? Which one's more important for you? Which was more important for your kids.

[00:35:31] See, all of this exercise is supposedly under the guise that we're going to live longer if we exercise, right. That's the big idea why we're all eating lettuce, because we're all going to live longer.

[00:35:43] Right. Well, what kind of quality of life is that? If you pray, are you going to live longer? Is your life going to be better if your soul is right with God?

[00:35:56] People like people as they get older. I hear this idea that I want to keep in good shape so I can be around for my kids.

[00:36:04] So I could see the next generation of grand kids.

[00:36:08] And people will do so much physically to invest in their body. What will you do to invest in your soul? Because your body is going to die. But your soul lives forever.

[00:36:22] Think about everybody who goes to the gym.

[00:36:24] They're just trying to push it back for what, a few more days? A few more years. But the inevitable nobody beats death. But your soul. Who you really are? Well, well, for all of eternity. And when you pray, that is soul work, that is investing in your soul, my friend.

[00:36:44] Not to run some race one day and say they finished and cross the finish line. Then when you pray, you're running, the race of life is what you're doing. And if you care for other people, the best thing you could do for other people is to pray for them every single day. You can not only care for your soul when you pray. You can actually care for the souls of others when you pray.

[00:37:06] You love your spouse. You love your kid. Show me by how much you pray for them. That's how much I believe you love them. See, wow. If we could just view intake of the word and prayer like people do physical exercise. What a great revival we would see.

[00:37:25] And the best person to share your story with, to share what you're learning from the scripture with who's the best person to talk about it with God.

[00:37:33] Tell him personally how awesome he is. I mean, if you don't know what to pray.

[00:37:37] Start reading the Bible and you'll end up with all kinds of things to pray to God. That's the best way you're ever sitting there and you're like, I don't know what to pray right now, open up the book and start reading it and you will end up giving God the glory.

[00:37:51] If you really understand what it is saying to me, to Colossians, Chapter three and you'll see this. Don't let it depart from your mouth. That's such an it's not part of the body I was expecting to be, said Colossians. Chapter three, look at verse 16. Here's where we get the same idea in the New Testament.

[00:38:11] And this isn't just for Joshua in the Old Testament. This is for all of us who can name the name of Jesus Christ.

[00:38:17] Everybody who's a Christian here, it says, let the word of Christ. That's what we're calling it, because the whole point is the gospel of Jesus. Colossians 316. Let the word of Christ dwell in you ritually. Feast on it. Let it saturate your soul. Why teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Here's why I don't really believe in a quiet time or personal devotions. Because if you go and you spend time with God, it will result in you talking about it to somebody. You'll end up talking about it to God.

[00:38:57] You'll end up wanting to share it with your brother or sister in Christ. You'll end up wanting to share it with somebody who doesn't know Jesus, because you'll really understand how great it is to know him and you'll want to pass it on.

[00:39:07] It says when you have the word of Christ in you, you will teach and admonish one another. We will speak it to each other when we have the word in us. So such thing is keeping it to yourself. So you're going to start singing. You're going to be reading your Bible. And you're gonna start singing in worship to God. You're going to start giving thanks to him as you study the word. That's that's the response that it says you're going to have here in Colossians 316. Look at the cautions for verse. Verse five Lakota. It says here cloches for verse five.

[00:39:38] It says, Walk in wisdom toward outsiders making the best use of the time that your speech. Always be gracious. Seasoned with salt so that you may know how you want to answer each person.

[00:39:51] Here's the idea. You're gonna go read the word. I'm going to read the word. We're gonna get pumped. We're gonna share it with each other because we're both into it. We both have a relationship with Jesus. But then we're going to end up talking to other people and we don't know when we might have a great conversation with them. So we got to be ready.

[00:40:06] The idea is you've got to be ready all the time. Make the most of the opportunity, the best use of the time. You've got to know how you would answer each person.

[00:40:14] So many people. I'll give a charge like we did today. Who wants to come evangelizing with me? We've got free ice cream. We'll bribe people and then they'll want to talk to us. Who's with me?

[00:40:23] And everybody's like, Yeah. I don't know if I know what to say, Pastor. That's the spiritual answer. I just think I need to study the word. And then I'll know what to say to all those people.

[00:40:35] Heard that so many times and the people go and study the word more because they're like, oh, bummer. I don't know what to say, so I better really start studying my Bible.

[00:40:43] No, that doesn't happen. It's an excuse is what it is. It's an excuse because it does. It says you've got to be ready to know all the time.

[00:40:53] Got to know how to answer somebody, what if somebody asked you today? Why are you a Christian? Why do you believe in Jesus? If you don't have an answer to that, you're not a Christian person. Every Christian person can explain why they believe in Jesus Christ.

[00:41:07] That's what it means to be a Christian. You gonna have that ready to go?

[00:41:12] You spent time with him, you getting the word, you pray and you're charged up for the rest of the day and you're not afraid of conversations. You're like hoping they're gonna happen. You're like waiting for them. Like someone mentions Christmas and you're like stepping in all over that conversation. That's the way it's supposed to be. Like it's bursting out of you. What's in your heart now? It's just coming out of your mouth. You can't keep silent about it because you've seen who Jesus Christ is. And you have to share your story with everybody else. If you have a story of becoming a Christian, then, you know, at least the start of what to say to other people in your life. You could tell him your personal experience of coming to know Jesus and walking with him. And that's it. That's a starting place, isn't it? To share Jesus Christ with other people, we got to share our story. And Joshua, he took this seriously. I mean, he shared the word of the Lord with the entire nation.

[00:42:05] But he also shared it with another smaller group of people. Go back to Joshua. Everybody back to the Old Testament here at the end of the book of Joshua. Joshua, 24. We see how he did. We find out something that he was all about. We kind of learn about Joshua. We don't get a lot about it, maybe at the beginning. We kind of learn about him as we work our way through the story, find out what kind of man he was.

[00:42:26] And in fact, we find out maybe the most famous thing about Joshua here at the end of the story in Joshua, 24, verse 14. Maybe you've heard this verse before, or if you grew up in a Christian family, maybe you had this verse even up in your house somewhere, says now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve him.

[00:42:43] And sincerity and in faithfulness put away the gods that your father served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord.

[00:42:51] And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your father served in the region beyond the river, the gods of the Amritsar.

[00:43:00] You want to worship the way these other people worship. These false gods will choose that. But as for me and my house, we will serve. Who does he say? The Lord?

[00:43:10] And who does he say will do it? Well, just me. It's personal. It's private. Everybody, everybody, keep it to yourself. You know, he's the leader of the home. He's the Bible teacher of his family. And he says, as for me and my wife and my kids, we we are going to serve the Lord because that's how it goes.

[00:43:29] At my house, he says.

[00:43:32] We've talked about this, some of the men were there. We had a special men's event. We talked about getting in the word because we defined dad, according to Deuteronomy, six, four to nine as the Bible teacher of the home. And we talked about how as men, we needed to get in the word because our marriages and our families depend on how we do, speaking the word out of our mouth to our wife and our kids. Hey, men. Pop quiz.

[00:43:57] How are we doing on that?

[00:44:00] Because if we didn't change after we had that conversation.

[00:44:05] How is that acceptable?

[00:44:07] Your marriage is on the line. Your kids, souls on the line. You are leading for your family, man. If that does motivate you to get in the word and to know the word and to be able to speak it.

[00:44:20] I don't know what will motivate you if I can't motivate you with a relationship with Jesus and I can't motivate you with the relationship with your own family. I've run out of of motivations for you.

[00:44:31] To get in the scripture.

[00:44:33] It's very clear when a man is in the word, he will speak it to everyone that is interacting with him in his life. The people most his. His family. But everybody will end up hearing from that man. You will not be able to keep a man who is filled with the scripture silent about Jesus Christ. It's impossible. The only way to keep a man silent about Jesus is to keep him out of the Bible and that Satan is having a lot of success. But put a man in the Bible and you won't be able to shut him up about Jesus Christ.

[00:45:05] He'll share the story.

[00:45:07] Go back to Matthew 16 and we'll see here the next part, because we found out the revelation of who Jesus is. That's what Jesus promised to build his church on, the revelation of who he is. And then we have these passages where we start to find out the gospel message and we start to see what Jesus says. Matthew, 16, start with me in verse 21. You'll notice three different headings here. Jesus four tells his death and resurrection. Then there's a heading above verse 24. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. Then there's this thing called the Transfiguration, where Peter, James and John get to see Jesus in all of his glory.

[00:45:44] Three men on the planet get a vision of Jesus Christ, what he's gonna be like when he returns. In the Book of Revelation, the unveiled God, Jesus Christ.

[00:45:55] Peter, James and John and Peter starts talking and he says, Wow, this is great. We should make tents for you and Moses and Elijah, who also appear. And when he is still speaking, look at Matthew, 17, verse five, says he was still speaking when behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And a voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

[00:46:18] Listen to him. What are we supposed to do when Jesus comes? Listen to him.

[00:46:28] So that's what we're gonna do after we do our first Sunday, where we talk about who do you say that I am Jesus is the Christ the promise we're gonna build our church on Jesus the next three nights, those open house nights, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night. We're just gonna keep preaching through this passage here in Matthew 16. Every night you show up, guess what? You're gonna get Jesus. Here's more Jesus. Here's what Jesus says. Here he is transfigured in all of his glory. Listen to Jesus. We're gonna try to get as many people in Huntington Beach. We're gonna share the story of our church, our own personal story of Jesus Christ with as many people as we can so that they, too, can be saved and know Jesus Christ. Does it sound exciting? Is anybody is anybody getting riled up a little bit here? Is anybody away? All right. If you're taking notes at this point, I'd like to turn your notes over to Dave. Turn to you. Turn your hand out over there and let me show you the back here where you can see this thing called scripture of this day, this little box that's easy to miss. Okay. We are going to start reading through to get us ready for these sermons that we're gonna do from the book of Matthew. We are going to start reading through the Book of Matthew to morrow. And I am inviting, just like I invited everybody out earlier to come to the building with us, help us spread the word, help us do the work. Here's where it's got to start. All of us have got to get in the word.

[00:47:45] How can we say we're gonna go tell everybody about Jesus if we're not all on the same page about Jesus Christ? So we're gonna read them the gospel of Matthew, which tells us it's designed to teach us that Jesus is the Messiah. That's the whole point of the gospel of Matthew. So we are going to study that. And look, we've tried to make it very simple. One chapter a day, five days a week. This is not like this. This is not P. 90 x workout program here, my friends. Any any any flabby person who hasn't been to the gym, who has a little bit of desire, can pull this off right here, asking you to read five chapters of the Bible this week. If anything, that's embarrassing for how little I'm asking. All right. So the idea is everybody here can do this. If this is your church, we want you to start to morrow. You could start today if you're excited. But we want you to read the gospel of Matthew with us. You can see that we have a Web site, Compass, HBK com slash read, where we will put that chapter every day. And a bunch of people here, they will leave comments. They will be like your you like your workout partners. Like your gym buddies, like your personal trainers. They'll leave comments saying, hey, here's what I got out of a chapter. Here's what here's what I saw in there. Look at this truth about Jesus. Look at this awesome thing. And if you're having a hard time figuring the Bible out for yourself, go to that Web site. Read those comments. You will learn more about it. Find a partner. Say, hey, I want you to hold me accountable. You're my personal trainer. Everybody here pick somebody. Make them your personal trainer. Hold me to it. If you're if you experienced in reading the Bible, I'm expecting you to get deep into this chapter if you're new at reading the Bible. I just want you to read it. OK, but I want it's all tomorrow morning when we wake up to all be thinking. Matthew, chapter one. Let's all get in it together. I mean, isn't that powerful right there to think that over one hundred people or however many people who are here today, we're all going to wake up tomorrow and we're all going to get into the scripture of Matthew one. And then if I see you, I might start talking to you about it. And then if I see somebody who doesn't even go to our church, I might start telling them about what's going on at our church because I'm just that excited about Jesus Christ building his church. So I want to invite everybody here, join us. That's Matthew, chapter one. Now back to Joshua. One more thing. OK, maybe this feels challenging. Maybe it feels like a lot. Well, there's great encouragement. I'm sure it felt challenging to Joshua. Sure. It felt like a lot for him. But God knows how to encourage us. And he always gives us God doesn't ask us to do anything. He doesn't give us the grace to accomplish. And you see that here with Joshua. Chapter one, the last verse there that we're looking at, verse nine. He once again, God repeats it. Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous. No, that's what you said. How am I going to do that, though? Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed.

[00:50:30] Well, we're about to go to war with these other nations. At least Joshua is. Well, here's what's going to give me confidence for the Lord, your God is with you wherever you go.

[00:50:41] That good news right there.

[00:50:42] So does this idea of loneliness. We hear about this idea that you could feel alone. In fact, the holidays are actually a very lonely time for a lot of people.

[00:50:53] But I'm here to tell you this morning that if you are a Christian person, loneliness is a lie.

[00:50:58] It is a lie.

[00:51:00] Is impossible for you if you are a Christian to ever be alone. You could never be outside of the presence of Jesus Christ. You have a relationship with him. Think about that for a second.

[00:51:14] You could never. Let's just get there now for number three. No, you are never alone. That's point number three.

[00:51:20] No, you are never alone. And this is where everybody who's put their faith in Jesus Christ. This is for everybody who's a Christian guy, just like God promises here that I am with you wherever you go. I must just meditate on that. That's an amazing thought. If you knew God was somewhere, would you. Would you think I could be strong there? I could be courageous, right.

[00:51:42] If Jesus Christ was showing up somewhere and he was going to lead the street team into Huntington Beach, I'd I'd go then say you're not quite Jesus Christ, Pastor Bobby. So I don't know if I'm in a role with you, but if Jesus was there, man, I'd be strong and courageous. See, if I tell you God's in something, you think, OK, well, that'll work. I can get on board with that. But no. God's telling you he's on board with you. If you're one of his people.

[00:52:05] That's why you can have strengthened.

[00:52:07] That's what you can be courageous when when you're tempted to be afraid. You can keep going because God is right there with you. This is one of the great promises of the Bible to go to the Book of Psalms. Let's just see it in the Book of Psalms here in the Old Testament. Then we'll get to it in the New Testament. But there's so many places we could go. Fear not for I am with you. That's Isaiah 41 10. That's just one of the classic songs. Even fear not. I'm with you. I'll be not afraid for I am your God. I will still give you aid of strength and they help the cause thee to stand upheld by my righteous omnipotent. And if you grew up in church, you've probably sung that song before. I look at Psalm 16. Look at look at this description of verse eight. Psalm 16. Verse eight. Here's someone who sang I want to follow Jesus. I want a relationship with him. I want to read the word. I want to pray. I want to walk with Jesus. This is how I say it. It's a beautiful way to say it in Psalm 16, verse eight. I have said the Lord always before me. I'm following God. I'm trying to know Jesus. But then it says this amazing thing. I've said the Lord always before me because he has at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

[00:53:11] How does that work?

[00:53:12] Here's a guy who is like, I see Jesus. I'm going to follow Jesus and then wait a minute. I turned to my side and guess who's right there?

[00:53:19] Jesus.

[00:53:20] He wait. I'm following him. He's my goal of where I'm going. And then wait a minute when I need help. Who's there to lift me up?

[00:53:26] He's right there next to me. Do you see that psalm? Twenty three, just a few pages over Psalm 23, verse six. Here's another way that God says it. Psalm 23, verse six. It says, surely. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever, it's it's like you've got a stocker, is what it say. It's like you feel like you're alone, you feel like you're in a dark place. You feel like you have a bad day. Anybody here ever have a bad day before? Like, where does my help come from? It's saying, turn over your shoulder. Look behind you and look who's still chasing after you.

[00:54:06] That's the idea here. When it says goodness and mercy shall follow me. The idea in the Hebrew is they're chasing after you. They're in hot pursuit of you like you're in an alley. Guys are coming towards you. It's scary. They're breaking bottles. There's gonna be a street fight. And you're like, whoa, who's going to fight with me? And you look over your shoulder and goodness's got your left side and Mercy's got your right side.

[00:54:27] You're like, all right, bring it on. That's the idea here. Like I realized, when I need strength, when I need courage, I look over my shoulder and the Lord has been faithful to be good to me every step of the way.

[00:54:40] And the promises his goodness will never leave. You will never forsake you. All the days of your life, the Lord will be with you. There is no other relationship that compares to that. You think you're close to your spouse, your kids. They're gonna leave you. They're gonna forsake you. Even if they don't want to, it will happen. But God promises that he will not now go to Matthew. You probably guessed we were going to end up there once again.

[00:55:06] Matthew, go straight to the end. Get to the punchline. Now, we don't have a mission to invade the promised land. I'm not calling anybody to go to war here today. All right. We are not going to go attack McCain tonight after lunch. All right. We're not gonna go sharpen our spears. That's not wrong testament. OK, here's what we're gonna do. This is the mission that we've been given. Matthew, 28, verse 18. This is how the book ends. This is what Jesus left us doing. And Jesus came and said to them, You with me, Matthew? Twenty eight, verse 18. Anybody there? And Jesus came and said to them. All authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teach them to observe, not just a little bit. Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.

[00:56:01] And behold. Look at this. I am with you always to the end of the age.

[00:56:07] Now Jesus says that to his disciples right before he ascends into heaven. That's the great commission. That's the mission of the church. Jesus promised to build his church. And here's what the churches to do to make disciples. That's what we're here to do. Help more people, not just believe in Jesus, but help them live and follow Jesus in this relationship that we're talking about where they want to do everything Jesus has commanded them to do.

[00:56:28] That sounds like a big task. How we gonna reach the city of Huntington Beach?

[00:56:33] Are we going to get people today to want to come to church? Some building in the industrial area, part of town. How are we going to get people to want to come there?

[00:56:41] Here's the promise. I'm with you always to the end of the age. Now, who's he? Is he Santa Peter? I'll be there at the end of the age, Peters And we're here at the end of the age.

[00:56:53] Twenty fifteen. I feels like the end of the age, right. I don't see Peter. I don't see James.

[00:56:58] I see John. What disciples is he talking to? So you.

[00:57:04] I think if you took a moment this week and you thought back about your whole entire 2014 and you thought that Jesus was with you every step of the way.

[00:57:15] You would realize you kind of were weak. If you really had the almighty power of God promising, I'm with you. So how would that change how you think about what you're gonna do? To give you a little strength right there. Think of that, gee, if Jesus he's for us, who can be against us?

[00:57:35] We're worried about what people are going to think if we evangelizer.

[00:57:39] I'm worried about what Jesus is going to think. About my evangelize.

[00:57:44] And if he's with me, man, I'm not afraid of anybody or anything in this world because greater is he who is in me than he who is in this world.

[00:57:53] And if Jesus Christ is with me, then I've got everything I need to be strong and courageous and to realize these are the days of humble beginnings of our church. And we have barely begun to see what Jesus Christ is going to do. He's promised to build his church and no one can stop us. No one can stop you from making disciples in the name of Jesus Christ. Is that good news? To help it be strong and courageous. See, Joshua. He did it back in his day. He's a great example. We've got a different mission. We've got a mission to make disciples to build the Church of Jesus Christ. And we've got a place to do it. And you've got a calendar sitting in your lap of opportunities where you can serve. You've got a reading schedule right there. Everything you need to have your best year yet is in front of you right now.

[00:58:43] Don't miss it. Don't blow it. This could be your greatest year that you've ever known. In walking with Jesus Christ, he's with you. My friends. Be strong. Be courageous. Point number three, remember, no, you are never alone. We pray for you guys.

[00:59:00] Got to thank you so much for this encouraging example of Joshua. And God, I pray that this will stir us up to action. God, it's all great to talk about reading the Bible and praying. It's all great to talk about being bold for Jesus because he's with us. But it doesn't really matter if we talk about it and don't do it.

[00:59:17] God. We're thankful for Joshua that he did what you commanded. What a responsibility he had with those five schools to pass it onto then the nation, the entire country of Israel, much less his own family. God, I pray that will follow his example. Everyone here will want to be careful to do what Jesus has commanded us, will want to get to know him in the Bible, will want to pray to him that we'll have a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, a better walk with him at the beginning of this year than we've ever had in our entire lives. It will study the word deeper that will pray more, that will get closer with Jesus, invest more in our relationship with him. And then that that story will spread and we'll share it. God, let us love Jesus Christ more now. 2015 be the year that we could honestly say I grew closer to Jesus Christ this year than I've ever been in my entire Christian life. God make that true of our church and do the promise guy. We know that not one word will fall. Build your church here in Huntington Beach. We pray that you'll you even be so good to use us. God, we know that you go with us.

[01:00:27] So give us strength, give us courage. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.