Transcription
Uh, I want to draw your attention to Joshua chapter 1. Who's ready for the word of God today?
It's a new season. It's a new year. And the Lord's put a word on my heart. Joshua chapter 1, starting in verse one, it says this. It says, "After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses his aid, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I'm about to give to them, to the Israelites. Verse three, I will give you every place where you set your foot as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the great river, the Euphrates, all the Hittite country to the Mediterranean Sea in the West. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Verse 7, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Someone say, "Do not be afraid." Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
If you believe that word today, somebody said, "Amen" in the house. I want to take this text if I can for the next 35 minutes or so. And and I want to preach to you today from this subject. The promise is the plan. The promise is the plan. Someone say, "The promise promise is is the plan." I want to get this word deep into your heart today. Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank you for your word, God. We thank you that it's alive. God, we thank you that it's speaking to us. Lord, today, God, have your way in this place. God, do something deeply, intimately on the inside of each and every one of us. Lord, set us up, Lord, for an incredible year. God, as we look to your word as a guide, we honor you. We trust you. And if you agree with that prayer, all of God's people said, "Amen." All of God's people said, "Amen." If you love Jesus, make a little bit of noise. [Applause]
I am so excited. I don't know. I just I'm one of these kind of guys that I just I love the first Sunday of a new year. Now, I I understand there's like lots of stuff out there, you know, like, you know, it's a new you. I whether anything is going to be new or not, that's up for discussion, right? But I do think it's safe to say that there is this sense on the inside of us. There's always a sense in the air of possibility that anything could happen this year. And I love living life with a sense of possibility. What might God do in us and through us right here at VU Church? What might God do in your life this year? I've never been one who's really big into um New Year's resolutions. I'm not against it if you've got that. What I am really into is I'm into routines. Very, very important because maybe you got a bunch of resolutions. That's that's cool. But really, the key is your routine. What you do daily determines who you become permanently. I I've preached it for years. The key to success is your daily routine. Permanent. Permanent.
I I was um in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this week and it's sort of been my custom for the last four years now that I start the year in what I call a wilderness week. Now, I got to be careful because if I'm talking to some real outdoorsy people, the idea of wilderness, I don't really know if it actually constitutes the wilderness, but those of us from Dade County, you would definitely agree this was the wilderness. For the last few years, I I fly into Atlanta and there's this little campground that I go out to. And no, I don't sleep in the woods. I sleep in this thing called a yurt. Have you ever heard of this before? Look at someone just cheered because they they're actually like a real camper. Okay. Yeah. A yurt. A yurt is a semi-permanent structure. That That's the key word, a semi-permanent structure. Essentially, it's got walls, but then it's got the roof of a tent. And it's pretty it's pretty cool. Don't get me wrong. It's pretty cool. There's no running water in it, but the bathroom's not too far away. I like the yurt. However, last year I was in the yurt and a storm hit in the middle of the night. When you begin to hear the thunder roar and you begin to see the lightning all of a sudden as I'm in the yurt, a semi-permanent structure, that thing began to leak. And right away, I started thinking to myself, man, I really wish I was in my permanent home with a real roof protecting me from this storm. A yurt, if you study about it, it it takes, you know, weeks, if not days, to put together. Why? Because it's semi-permanent. Permanent things take time. Permanent things, things that last, things that have quality, things that have structure, things that actually can withstand a storm, take time to be built.
This is an exciting time in our church because even right now today we are soft launching over at Miami Gardens. Uh they're hosting a 10:30 and a 12:30 p.m. service the next two weeks. There's people over there. Team is already over there. And if you were to go to Miami Gardens, and I'm sorry for those of you that are at Miami Gardens, the place in many ways is kind of a mess. We've got signs up all over the place. It says, "Pardon the mess. We are under renovation. We're painting. We're building walls. There's all sorts of stuff in that place that's under construction." I've always loved that analogy because so it is with your life and my life. Pardon the mess. I'm under construction. I haven't been built yet. I'm being built. I I'm not all the way finished. I haven't gotten to my permanent state. Some of you, you need to give yourself a a little bit of just, you know, you need a sigh a sigh of relief because you're not there yet. You are becoming something. God is forming you and shaping you and you're not to your permanent place yet. But if you were to walk through it, sometimes people can walk through a place like Miami Gardens. And I'm just once again, I'm just kind of giving some statements out there to some people because they're probably walking around going, "This place looks like a mess." And as you look through the mess, if you're not careful, you can walk through and say, "Man, is there any design within the debris? Is there how is something creative going to come out of all this clutter? I don't see any clarity. All I see is confusion. But the reason you would think that is because if you look at it not knowing the plan, it would leave you in a place of confusion. But when you have a plan, I can walk through the mess at Miami Gardens going, "Oh, I know it looks messy today, but I know where we're headed. I know what we're building. Get ready. It's going to be worth it."
It is very, very important for your life this year as you're starting this new year that you get a plan. Someone say, "I'm planning on it." If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I love this idea that that one hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing. Stop, consider, get a plan. Man, I don't know about you, but I'm I'm planning on some things this year. I'm planning on my marriage getting better this year. I'm planning on my children encountering God like never before this year. I'm planning on knowing Jesus in a deeper way, a more intimate way. I don't know about you, I'm planning on becoming a better leader. I've been doing this job for eight years, but I'm planning this year I'm gonna get better at my job. I'm planning on becoming the friend that I've always wanted to be all in 2024. I don't know about you, but I'm planning on it. Anybody planning on this year being better than last year? Make a little bit of noise today. You got to get your faith up. I'm planning on it. Someone say, "I'm planning on it." I'm planning on it. I'm planning on it. I'm planning on it. I say all that to say that's good. You need a plan.
But you ever heard that old saying, you know, uh if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. It's because it's really, really true. Nothing wrong with you making your plan, but you ought to know the word of God. Proverbs chapter 16:9, watch this. In their hearts, human plans their course. But watch this. But the Lord, someone say, "But the Lord." But the Lord, but the Lord establishes their steps. Nothing wrong with you having a plan for 2024. I encourage you to get a plan. But please do not make the immature mistake of telling God all about your plans, but never asking God, "What's your plan?" Because I don't just need my plans. I need God's plan for my life. How many y'all know God's plans are better than your plans? God is the master architect. God looks at your life and all the debris and all the clutter and all the mess and he says, "It's okay. I got a blueprint. Trust in me. Put your faith in me. I'm forming. I'm shaping. I am creating something permanent in you. I'm doing something in your life." Have you ever considered what is God's plan for my life?
Well, one of the things I know about God's plan for your life, and once again, we're just starting the year strong is James chapter 1. I'm gonna preach a lot more about it next week, but let me just give you a little hint of where we're going. James chapter 1. If you've never read this passage of scripture, get ready. Chapter 1 verse two. Consider. Someone say consider. Consider. That means to think, to ponder, to look at. He says consider it pure joy. Someone say pure joy. I like that. The message translation says, "Consider it a sheer gift, a present." Oh my goodness. What'd you get me, God? Consider it a sheer gift, my brothers and sisters. Whenever, watch this. Whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. See, the only way that God can test the quality of your life is that he has to send some storms. He has to allow some storms. Will the yurt withstand the storm? Not if it hasn't been built into a permanent structure. Let perseverance finish its work. Watch this. So that you may be mature. Someone say mature. So that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. God's plan for your life is to mature you. God's plan for your life is to get you to a place that you are complete and content in Christ and Christ alone. God wants to get you to a place on your journey of faith that you're not going, "I'll be complete when I get married. That you're not going, I'll be complete when I get kids. That you're going, I'm not going to be complete when I get a job. I'm not going to be complete when I finally get my first million. I'm going to be complete when I get my education. God's saying, "No, no, no, no. On the journey called life, I want to mature you every step of the way. And I want you to be complete in Christ alone." Come on, somebody give God a little bit of praise. He's got a plan for your life. He wants to mature you.
And today, I am starting a collection. I don't know how long it's going to go, but the collection is called Mature Me. Mature Me. And if you were at Vukon this past summer, if you were at Vukon last year, 2023, you might remember this message. But sometimes there's a sermon that lasts for a moment, but then sometimes there's a word from God that takes us months to unpack. And I don't want this word to be some transient truth. I want this to be the prayer of your life every step and every season. Whether you're a part of VU church or if you move out of this place or if you're watching online, I believe that this is the word of the Lord for our house. Mature me. Mature me. Watch this. Is two things. Number one, it's a prayer. And I'm inviting you to join this prayer for your personal life. God, mature me. God, mature me in 2024. It's a dangerous prayer. We're singing dangerous songs today and we're praying dangerous prayers today. God, mature me. God, God, God, get me to a place that I'm stronger. Get me to a place that God, you could test the quality of my life. God, get me to a place that when the storm comes, I don't fall apart.
But watch this. It's not just a prayer. It's a daily question that you have to ask yourself. Here it is. Get ready. What would the mature me do that's going to mess your marriage up? How would the mature me respond to my wife? How would the mature me father? How would the mature me parent? How would the mature me work? How would the mature me serve? See, the word mature means complete in natural growth or development. Complete in growth or natural development. The reality of it is is that you mature in stages of life. You mature at every journey along the journey of life. At each point, there's different things that you're growing in. None of us get finished in this life. But all of us can mature in this life at the place that we are in. See, the truth is is what happens is is that life is really all about transitions. and to help us in this collection. I'm really excited about it. I want to use the life of Joshua because I want to use his life as a backdrop because I think he's going to really help us as we start to have this discussion around this idea of God mature me.
If you don't know who Joshua is, uh Joshua was the aid of Moses. Moses is uh one of the greatest kind of men in the Bible. He led the Israelites out of Egypt. Joshua is there serving under him. Joshua becomes uh the leader of the army of Israel. Eventually, Joshua, as we're going to see here in a moment, becomes the leader of Israel himself. And I love his life for so many different things. He was one of the 12 spies that went to the promised land. And remember, 10 of them, they all came back with a negative view, but he was one of those guys like, nah, there are giants, but I'm telling you what, that land is flowing with milk and honey, and the Lord says it's ours, and so let's go take that land. I just I like Joshua. We're going to preach all sorts of stuff from Joshua's life. But the reason why I selected Joshua, I want you to see this is because as we pick up right here in Joshua chapter 1, we are getting an incredible incredible glimpse at a monumental moment in his life. The monumental moment that we are seeing him is we are seeing him in transition. He is taking over as leader of the Israelites. Moses has been serving for 40 plus years as the leader and these are some big shoes to fill. And here we see Joshua step into some shoes to fill that he doesn't just fill the shoes. He actually leaves his own mark and we get to see him as he matures into leadership.
See transition means this. A transition refers to the process or period of changing from one state or condition to another. So it's the process of changing from one state to another. Just think about life. Life is full of transition. I mean like childhood to adolescence. I don't know about you, but like I don't want to go back to adolescence. I hated puberty, bro. Accutane, voice dropping. It was a tough time. Traumatic memories. Adolescence into adulthood. Uh uh adulthood. Many times you go from being single to being married. Remember kind of being single to being married. Some of you dudes out there, if you're like me, it's like, "Oh, okay. This is transition. I got to take all the sports posters down." Like, "Oh, I miss it." you know, adolescence into adulthood. Remember, it's like the workforce. Like, anyone like me, it's like remember that shocking moment you discover like, wait a minute, like we don't get two semesters in a summer break anymore. Like, what's up? Like, I miss that to this day. There's this transition. If you if you step in to adulthood, if you step into singleness into into I guess marriedhood, many times marriedhood turns into parenthood. And if you're in parenthood, that kind of means there's no more sleep in the hood. You know what I'm saying? Like it's you feel me, right? Like it it's transition. Then there's this moment that a lot of us maybe even some of us in this church right now, you're in which is it's called midlife. It's a transition. You hear things like midlife crisis where people fall apart and they lose their sense of purpose and they wonder why they're doing what they're doing. And if you make it through the midlife, it's all of a sudden you kind of go into those senior years and into retirement and why am I here now? now and then from retirement many of us we we step into this this last part of leg of our life and we go through things like loss and death and bererement and it's just full of transition.
Here's what I want us to see how you handle transitions is an indication of your level of maturity. Every stage of life and we're going to talk a lot about it. Every stage of life is going to demand another level of maturity out of you. Another level of responsibility. Another level of facing what is in front of you. And we need the help of God that he might mature us and complete us. And the way he does that is through testing and trials and challenges. And many of us are running from the challenge, but we don't realize the challenge is actually in front of us to make us stronger for the season that is ahead.
I read this um fascinating book on my summer break. It's called uh The Vanishing American Adult. I can't recommend it enough. It's just it it the whole book and maybe we'll bring some of the content hopefully into some of the collection. The whole book is based on this premise that in America today there is this elongated state of adolescence that for some reason people aren't transitioning or maturing into adulthood like they did in the past. I don't know if you've seen it before, but have you seen like there's this whole craze? It's the hashtag adulting. Have you heard of this before? I don't know if you've heard this, but it's like it's everyone like complaining about being an adult and they hashtag adulting. This is this is just this is the cry of a generation. I can't adult today. Please don't make me. Hashtag adulting. Why is adulting not a verb? It's like I'm adulting really hard today. I need an adultier adult. Hashtag adulting. I was told there would be napping. Hashtag adulting. My favorite childhood memory is not paying bills. Being an adult is the dumbest thing I have ever done. Hashtag adulting. This is This is the state of an entire generation. The stats, the data. It's like we are living in the Peter Pan generation. Remember Peter Pan? I want to stay a boy. I want to live in Neverland. And what happens to Peter Pan? Everyone else around him in his life continues to mature and grow. But this man stays stuck in a season. Well, I came into this house and I came into 2024 to speak to the person that God has called you to be that you've got to step into the next season. You got to transition with faith. God, mature me. God, grow me. God, develop me. I can't keep crying over the thing I cried over two years ago. I can't stay worried about the same thing I was worried about five years ago. God, mature me. What would the mature me do? How would the mature me preach? How would the mature me lead? How would the mature me love my wife? God, mature me. That is the cry of my heart. God, would you mature me?
Now, I I think it's interesting. We're gonna have a lot of conversation. I got a lot of thoughts, but if I could just kind of crack it open today, if I can just kind of give us week one of where I want us to go, is I I wonder, and this is this is my assessment, this is my belief, I wonder if the largest reason why people don't mature is simply the word fear. I I wonder if it's not that we don't have a desire to grow, a desire to become more, but man, it's scary. What if I get married and I'm not good at it? What if I have kids and I'm like my dad who was never there? What would happen if I did stop drinking? Would I ever have fun again? Would I ever be able to numb the pain? How will I do that? And many of us, we get held back by by fear.
My my little boy, Wild, who I love to tell stories about, he's four years of age. At some point, I'm have to stop telling stories about him because he's going to be in the service going, "Dad, I don't get to be all your illustrations." But Wild until now, until then, we're we're still in the state. He's he's he's four years old. And he's just the funniest guy. I mean, we named him Wild, you know? Come on, bro. Like, he's the funniest best guy. the other day he got three big band-aids out of the workroom and he put all these band-aids all over his leg and he wore them all day. There was no reason to put the band-aids on. He just had them all on, you know. Well, we came to the other night and my man's got three or four massive band-aids on his leg. And I'm like, "Wow, man. Um, we're going to have to take those band-aids off before bed." And when I said this, he began to freak out. Oh, no. No, Dad. It's going to hurt. It's going to hurt. It's going to hurt. I go I go I'm like, "Bro, it it won't hurt. It's going to be quick." No. No. No. I mean, if if you would have seen the tantrum that he threw. No. I'm like, "Dude, I'm sorry. I'm taking the band-aids off. I finally got him." And I just did one big rip and all the band-aids came off in one second. He's crying before I take it off, but as I take it off, he's like, [Music] He starts laughing because he couldn't believe how easy it actually was. See, I think for many of us, what happens is that fear lies to us. And the perception of future pain is actually greater than the reality of what the pain is going to be. Woo is a word for some of y'all because 2024, God wants to rip some stuff off of your life. And some of you trying to hold on to it, think of that, man, it's going to hurt really bad. But I'm telling you what, when it comes off your life, you're going to start laughing going, why didn't I trust you sooner? Why didn't I believe you way back then? Come on, somebody. Give God some praise. Mature me, God. Mature me, God. Fear paralyzes you, but faith propels you. And this is a season of faith. We're stepping out in faith. God, mature me.
I I I talk about fear because as I open Joshua chapter 1, this is a transition moment. Maybe you're in transition today. Maybe you lost your marriage in 2023. Maybe you lost your job in 2023. Maybe you just got a new job. It's amazing how we can be in church and thousands of people showing up and there's so many different stories, highs and lows. It's what I love about God's house because on one hand, we can be grieving over someone's parent passing away. Then right over here, we can be celebrating the birth of a brand new baby. It's life. It's life. You might be in transition. Joshua's in a big transition. And the text never one time says that Joshua is afraid. But when I read the text, the omnipotent, omnisient God chooses to say three different times, "Do not be afraid, be strong, and very courageous." All I can begin to believe is that somehow it seems to me that while the text doesn't say that Joshua was afraid, the fact that God tells him three different times not to be afraid makes me believe that Joshua must have been sensing some fear. I don't know how to transition into this new state. I don't know how to mature into this moment. I don't know how to be the leader that God's called me to be. God shows up. And what does God do in Joshua chapter 1? Joshua chapter 1, what God does is God makes three different promises to Joshua. And as we start this year, I think those promises that he made to Joshua, I don't think it's bad to insert them onto your life because I think these are true about God. Look at what God says. This is good. Joshua 1:7, he says to Joshua, "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left." Actually, let me scoot back up. I'm sorry. Joshua chapter 1. Let me go to verse 5. I'm going to go to verse seven in one second. Start at verse five. Can we go to verse five if I read that wrong? Yeah. Watch this. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. Here it is. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
The first promise that God makes to Joshua is he promises his presence. Let me just tell you something. God's presence is available to you in 2024. We're stepping in tomorrow to 21 days of prayer and fasting. It's the custom of our house. But the power is not in watching this transpire. The power is in the participation. You are invited to get more of God's presence as we begin this year. But it's going to require you to take a step of faith. God promise you, I'm never going to leave you nor forsake you, but he's inviting you into the journey. Tomorrow morning, we're kicking off at 6:30 a.m. on Zoom prayer. Some of you today, like, I don't know what all your resolutions are, but why not just say, you know what, all 21 days, I'm joined in Zoom prayer. Wednesday nights right here at Somi at our Design District location. and watch us. Even at Miami Gardens, we're holding 1 hour prayer meetings from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Man, do something different this year. God says, "I have a promise for you." And the promise I have is I will go with you. Do you want a plan or do you want his hand? He says, "I'll give you my hand and I will walk with you." This is the gospel, by the way. James 1, the brother of Jesus says, "You're going to face trials. You're going to hear the rain. The wind is going to come. But what I promise you is is that I will get into your boat and I will help you get to the other side. And whatever you face, whatever you go through, come hell or high water, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I got a promise, which is his presence.
But he doesn't just say, "I'm going to give you my presence." Watch what he says. Now we're in Joshua 1 verse 7. Be strong and very gracious. Second time, be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left that you may be, watch this, successful wherever you go. You ever hear people that's like, "Oh, God doesn't care about your success." He doesn't. He doesn't. He doesn't care about you becoming and growing and maturing. I think the real question is, what's your definition of success? Yeah. I'm not sure if God's going to like, you know, make you rich and famous. That's never been the goal of any of us. But God cares about your growth. And God cares about your maturity. He says, "Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." God promises his presence and then God promises him guidance. And in 2024, maybe you're going, "I don't really know which way to go. I've got some big decisions to make. I'm in some serious transitions. I don't know what to do. God says, "I'm gonna take you by the hand and I will lead you and I will guide you." He says, "How how are we going to get that guidance?" Like, is he going to speak to me audibly? Am I going to get a burning bush like Moses? Is he parting red seas? He might. But I know this is that many of us are wanting God to say something new, but we're failing to obey the thing that he's already said that's old. He says, "Don't let this book of the law, don't depart from it. Meditate on it day and night." Some of you make a commitment this year. I'm going to read the Bible. If it's a verse a day, a chapter a day, multiple chapters, spend time in God's word. Why? Because it is a light into your path. It's a lamp unto your feet. It will guide you. It's how we make our decisions. If you feel like you're in the darkness, open up the word. If you need a revelation, start with illumination. What have you already said, God? Some of us, we want a new word from God and God's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll give you a new word as soon as you obey the last word I gave you." It's guidance.
You know, for me, one of the greatest ways that God speaks to me is through these things we do at our church called VU Cruise. You're here on the first Sunday of the new year. And so, I'm just telling you all this stuff, man. We got prayer happening. Starting tomorrow, crews are back on. Over 200 VU crews taking place. We have never had this amount of crews in the history of our church. God is getting ready to break out. But it's not just going to happen in the four walls on a Sunday. My goodness, we This is a celebration service, by the way, where God's going to begin to move us in your homes, in the lounges, in the bars, as we are in conversation with other believers. Do not miss this great opportunity. Get into a crew. Watch as you give yourself to a season, January, February, and March. Watch as God begins to guide you and as he begins to mature you.
But watch this. He gives him a third promise. Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. Have I not commanded you? Question mark. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid and do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. God promises his presence. God promises him guidance. And God promises him strength. He comes to him and says, "Don't you dare live one day discouraged. I will come and I will encourage you." Here's what I love about God. When God encourages you, he doesn't encourage you in your strength. He's not like, "Oh my goodness, don't be afraid. You're so talented." Why would you be afraid? You got a great job. Don't be afraid. You have education. It's not what God ever does. We boast about our weaknesses. It's our deficiencies and it's our mess that he creates a masterpiece. When God encourages us, he encourages us in him. He strengthens us in him. I watched that film, It's a Wonderful Life, right before Christmas. And the opening scene is about this man who's about to take his life. And there's this conversation in heaven where these angels are going back and forth. And they call upon this other angel to go and help this man. His name's Clarence. and and they're speaking to Clarence and Clarence says, "We" The angel says to Clarence, "You've got a big mission on earth. There's a man who really needs your help." And and Clarence says, "Oh, is the man sick?" And the other angel says, "No, it's far worse than that. He's discouraged." Maybe the greatest sickness you are bringing into 2024 is not in your physical body. It is your discouragement that you are in such a state of defeat. God says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and very courageous. I have come to encourage you." And when God encourages you, I'm telling you what, you walk away different. You walk away better. You haven't seen anything yet. He's just getting started with your life. Amen. You might got some debris, but he's got a design. You might have some areas that are cluttered, but he's I got a creative plan here. I got blueprints for your life. God gives such a word to Joshua.
Now, I want to show it to you in the very opening passage. I just want to read this again because I want you to hear this. Joshua chapter 1:3. "I will give you Joshua every place where you set your foot. Someone say, "Set your foot." Set your foot where you set your foot. Where you set your foot. Someone say, "Set your foot." Set your foot. As I promised Moses, there's that word promise. I will give you every place that you set your foot. As I promised your predecessor, as I promised your mentor, your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the great river, the Euphrates, all the Hittite country to the Mediterranean Sea in the West. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life." This is a massive promise that God is making to Joshua. Here he is. He's saying, "Wherever you set your foot, Joshua, I'm telling you what, wherever you put that foot, wherever you put that foot down, I'm going to give you that territory. The same promise I gave Moses, I'm giving it to you." Please hear this. This is important because Proverbs, as we read at the beginning, Proverbs says, "Man makes plans in our heart, but God establishes our steps." Notice it doesn't say God establish establishes our stance. Come on now. Oh, you missed it. Let me go over here. It's early in the morning. He doesn't He doesn't establish your stance. He establishes your step. And some of you are wanting God to bless you just standing still. And God says, "You don't got to do everything, but you do got to do something. You got to take a step in 2024. [Music] And when you step, I will go with you. My presence will be with you. I'll guide you and I will strengthen you for the journey that's ahead. [Music]
VU church, week one, first Sunday of the new year. We are in transition. We're not in 2023 anymore. We are in 2024. God, mature us. We're not in three locations anymore. We're now in four locations. God, mature me. You didn't give me a spirit of fear. Personally, I'm in one of the biggest transitions of my personal life ever. I'm stepping in to the facility that my dad has led for 25 years. You want to talk about some big shoes to fill? Don't screw this up, Rich Junior. Personally, I'm walking with my family as my father goes through cancer treatment. I I don't have a good blueprint for this. There's not like get a plan. I don't get a plan. But I do get a promise. [Applause] And as you're scrolling Tik Tok and as you're scrolling Instagram and YouTube, everyone's selling you plans. Nutritional plans, financial plans, relationship plans, business plans. Get a plan. Get a plan. Get a plan. I'm planning on growing this year. Get a plan. No doubt about it. But greater than a plan, God says the promise is the plan. The promise is the plan. Come on, somebody. promise is the plan. I don't know what the plan is, but we got a promise. His presence will be with us. He will guide us from mountain tops to valleys, from storms to blessings, and he will strengthen us every step of the way. If you believe today, lift your hands, lift your voice. Come on, let's worship.