["Pomp and Circumstance"]
The children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing.
For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdai, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing,
and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel,
and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
And they returned to Joshua and said unto him, Let not all the people go up,
but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai, and make not all the people to labor thither, for they are but few.
And the men went up thither of the people, about three thousand men, and they fled before the men of Ai.
And the men of Ai smote them about thirty and six men, for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebirim,
and smote them in the going down. Wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the even tide,
he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, where hast thou at all brought these people over Jordan
to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? Would to God we have been content and dwelt on the other side, Jordan.
O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turn at their backs before their enemies?
But the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us around and cut off our name from the earth.
And what wilt thou do unto thy great name? And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up,
wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them.
But they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed.
Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, for thus saith the Lord God of Israel.
There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel. Thou canst not stand before thy enemies until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
In the morning, therefore, you shall be brought according to your tribes, and it shall be that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof,
and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households, and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man.
And it shall be that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he in all that he hath,
because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.
So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken.
And he brought the family of Judah, and he took the family of the Zorites.
And he brought the family of the Zorites man by man, and Zabdai was taken.
And he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdai, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him, and tell me now what thou hast done, hide it not from me.
And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done.
When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight,
then I coveted them, and took them. And behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent, and behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord.
And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had.
And they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day.
And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger.
Wherefore the name of that place was called the valley of Achor unto this day.
Let's pray to the Lord God. Thank you for this church. Thank you for our pastor. I pray that you would be with him now. Please strengthen him.
Fill him with your Holy Spirit. Please bless the preaching. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen. Okay, we're in Joshua chapter 7 this morning. And look down at verse number 8.
It says, O Lord, what shall I say when Israel had turned at their backs before their enemies?
For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us around, and cut off our name from the earth, and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?
And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up, wherefore lifestyle thus upon thy face.
And the title of my sermon this morning is get up and do something about it. Get up and do something about it.
I'm going to review just a little bit of what's taking place here. Let me give you a little bit of a background of the story here in Joshua chapter 7 regarding the battle of Ai.
Now, previous to this, we essentially have, of course, Moses has already passed off the scene. He's no longer leading the children of Israel. He's in heaven.
And he has essentially selected, ordained Joshua to be the leader of the children of Israel, to bring them into Canaan land, also known as the promised land.
So he brings them into the promised land. And of course, this is the land that God gave to the children of Israel for an inheritance.
He's been telling them about this for many years, explaining to them that they're going to inherit houses that they did not build, wells that they did not dig, vineyards that they did not plant.
And it was going to be a land flowing with milk and honey. It's basically God's purpose, God's will for their life, right? It's this specific geographical location.
But here's the thing is that, you know, the promised land, Canaan land, didn't come without its challenges.
It's not like God was going to give it to them on a silver platter. He wasn't going to spoon feed it unto them. They actually had to earn it, right?
They had to go city by city and essentially battle the people that are therein and specifically wipe out the Canaanites, okay?
And of course, the twofold purpose behind conquering Canaan was, number one, it was supposed to be a land inherited by the Israelites.
That's what God promised unto their forefathers. But two, he wanted them to take it over because of the fact that the Canaanites were so wicked.
You know, the Canaanites were involved in infanticide. They were involved in homosexuality, sodomy, bestiality.
They were involved in incest and all manner of abominations of the land. And so God gave them space to repent.
They didn't get right with God. Therefore, God was going to bring down the hammer upon the Canaanites via his people, the Israelites.
He wanted them to wipe them out and essentially take over their land.
This is what the Bible talks about when it says that the land wanted to vomit out its inhabitants.
It wanted to throw them out because they were so vile and wicked.
So the twofold purpose of conquering Canaan was that he wanted to give the Israelites this land, but he also wanted to remove the Canaanites out of the land.
So obviously there's this seven year campaign taking place throughout this time.
And in a matter of seven years, the Israelites were able to conquer and take over approximately 31 cities and towns.
Now, the first of the cities that they took over famously, of course, is what? Jericho, right?
This is what we would famously refer to as the walls of Jericho, where the Lord commanded Joshua and his people to essentially march around the walls of Jericho once every day for six days.
And on the seventh day, March around seven times, the walls would come down and they were able to essentially infiltrate and destroy the people.
Rahab the harlot is saved. A great work is accomplished. And, you know, the morale is very high.
You know, everyone's excited, like, whoa, you know, God delivered these people into our hands by supernatural means.
The Lord is fulfilling his promises. And so everything's going great.
Jericho is taking over. And Joshua was kind of like, you know, let's go to the next city. We've conquered Jericho.
Jericho is a great city. A lot of people. They were not able to stand before us. Let's move on to A.I.
OK, now look at Chapter seven, if you would. Chapter seven in verse number one.
It says, But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing. Actually, skip down to verse number two.
It says, And Joshua sent men from Jericho to A.I., which is beside Bethaven on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country.
And the men went up and viewed A.I. And they returned to Joshua and said unto him, Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite A.I.
and make all their people to labor, not make all the people to labor thither, for they are but few.
So basically, they're looking at A.I. and saying, This is cake. This is not that hard. A.I. is smaller than Jericho. We should have no problem with this.
Now, there's a problem, though, because when they conquered Jericho, which is the first city, God specifically commanded him and told them, Don't take up the accursed thing.
Right now, what is he referring to when he says the accursed thing? He's referring to the silver, the gold, the brass, the spoils of war.
Right? Because commonly, what they would do is when they would conquer some city or town, they were given permission to essentially spoil that land of all of its goods.
But the Lord specifically told the Israelites, Don't do that with Jericho. Whatever you find in Jericho, make sure you sanctify it unto the Lord.
It needs to be consecrated and put into the treasury of the house of God. Okay? And obviously, the implication here is that the cities thereafter, you can have the spoils of war.
However, Jericho, on the other hand, you cannot have the spoils of war. That needs to be consecrated unto the Lord.
Now, why is that? Well, this is essentially the same principle of the tithe, right? If you think of the tithe, the 10% of the gross income goes to the Lord.
It's sanctified unto the Lord. Right now. Look at Chapter six, if you would. Chapter six in verse 18. Here's where he gives this commandment.
It says in verse 18, And ye, and any wise, keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take up the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel accursed and troubled.
Now, it sounds to me like there's some cursing involved here, right? He's like, you know, don't take up the accursed thing. Don't make yourselves accursed.
If you take up the accursed thing, you yourselves will be cursed. I mean, there's enough warning here. It's pretty clear. Like, I think we shouldn't touch this stuff.
It sounds like it's probably not a good thing to take of the accursed thing. And if I were them, I would ask, you know, what is what are you talking about? Because I don't want to touch it. Right.
Look at verse 24. I'm sorry. Verse 19. It says, But all the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto the Lord.
They shall come into the treasury of the Lord. So obviously, he's explaining here that the accursed thing is synonymous with the silver gold vessels of brass and iron.
Look at verse 24. And they burned the city with fire and all that was there in only the silver and the gold and the vessels of brass and iron.
They put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. So in general, Israel understood what the commandment was. Joshua obviously understood what the commandment was.
They understood. Don't touch the stuff needs to be consecrated unto the Lord. And again, as I mentioned, this is essentially the same principle of the tithe. Right.
And if you think about it, Jericho is essentially like the first fruits unto God. It's the first city that's being conquered. It's the first city that's being destroyed.
So the principle still applies that that quote unquote 10% should go unto the Lord. Right.
And this is a principle that we see throughout the Bible, not just in the book of Joshua. And it's not a foreign.
It's not an alien principle to the children of Israel because they were already taught what the tithe is back in Exodus and Deuteronomy and Numbers.
What it was all about, you know, consecrating that into the Lord. And you say, Well, I don't know what the tithe is. What is the tithe?
Tithe simply means 10th. Okay. And it basically means that the 10th of your gross income should go into the Lord. Okay.
So $100 $10 $10 out of 100 should go into the Lord. And you say, Well, I can't operate off of like $90. You would actually operate better off of $90 than you would off of the $100 if you kept those 10.
Because of the fact that when you obey the Lord in the tithe, he ends up blessing you. And in fact, go to go with me if you went to Malachi, Malachi chapter three, hold your place there in Joshua.
And we're going to see why the consecration of the gold, silver and the brass and the iron is synonymous with the accursed thing. Why God still calls it accursed.
Okay, look at Malachi chapter three, and verse number eight, it says here in verse number eight, will a man rob God, yet you have robbed me, but ye say wherein have you robbed him?
He says in tithes and offerings, ye listen to this are cursed with the curse, for you robbed me, even this whole nation, the Bible says.
So God considers you taking or keeping of that tithe, the tithes and offerings as a robbery and also as a curse upon your own life.
Now, what does that curse bring? Look at verse number 10. It says, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.
And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Look at verse 11, and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vancaster of fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
So he's saying, look, don't rob me of the tithe, make sure you bring the tithes and offerings into the house of God for the functions of the house of God.
And when you do so, this is what's going to happen. I'll bless you for it. I'll open up the windows of heaven. You'll be able to be blessed.
You'll be able to operate far greater with 90% than you would with 100% if you consecrate the accursed thing unto the Lord. You understand?
Now, why is he calling it accursed? Well, verse 11 says that if you keep that tithe, what happens?
The devourer will come and essentially destroy your resources. That's basically what he's saying, right?
He says he's going to destroy the fruits of the ground, the vine shall not cast your fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord.
So obviously, you know, the tithe or the that which is consecrated unto the Lord is considered an accursed thing to the person who's keeping it.
And obviously, there is a curse upon that person's life, upon the resources. And, you know, again, this is a principle that even applies in the New Testament.
You know, you have a lot of churches and pastors who'll say, well, that's Old Testament. That's under the law. Yeah, guess what?
So is thou shall not kill, right? So is thou shall not steal. So is, you know, sodomy and so is bestiality.
And these are things that were under the law. And guess what? They're still applicable today.
Now, people often bring up this this question and they'll they'll often rebuttal and say, well,
if God wanted us to tithe in the New Testament, there should be a clear verse in the New Testament that commands us to do so.
You know, they bring up the clear verse response, right?
But let me explain to you why God did not put a clear verse in the New Testament about tithing because of the fact that he gave you a bunch of clear verses already in the Old Testament.
And because the Old Testament is already replete with the doctrine of tithing in the Old Testament, because it's just permeated throughout the Old Testament,
you would actually have to find me a verse in the New Testament that tells us not to tithe.
So instead of looking for a verse that says we should tithe, well, sorry, there's a bunch of verses in the Bible that says we should.
So actually, the burden of proof lies upon you to find me a verse that says that we shouldn't understand.
Obviously, there are things in the New Testament that have been repealed.
Obviously, there are things such as the meats, drinks, diverse washings, carnal ordinances, the observance of holy days and the Sabbath.
These things are done away with, many of which were a shadow of things to come.
They were a shadow of Christ.
But the practical things of the law, such as stealing, murder and yes, even the tithe is still applicable because of the fact that in the Old Testament,
the tithe was instituted in order to keep the operation going in the house of God.
Well, guess what? The operation needs to continue in the New Testament as well.
And the church is the house of God, the pillar and ground of truth.
So in order for the church to operate, in order for sowing and evangelism and materials and the rent and the salaries to be taken care of,
there needs to be tithes coming into the storehouse in order to fund that.
But a lot of times the people who are against this stuff are people who are just against leadership.
They're against the local New Testament church.
But sorry, you need to show me a verse in the Bible that says we shouldn't specifically tithe in the New Testament.
That is still a thing.
And in my experience, I've learned through my own experience and other people's experiences that when you don't tithe, the devourer does come.
All of a sudden there's hospital bills.
All of a sudden your car breaks down.
All of a sudden all the finances start going down the drain and you start realizing, oh, man, I forgot the tithe.
I need the tithe.
OK, and so obviously that is the case in Malachi chapter three.
But the principle of consecrating that into the Lord is found in Joshua.
Now go back to Joshua, if you would.
The Bible also tells us in Proverbs chapter three, honor the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of thine increase.
Right.
So Jericho, excuse me, should be something that was consecrated.
It was essentially the first fruits that the children of Israel got going into the Promised Land that should have been given into the Lord.
Regardless of how beautiful the stones were, regardless of how nice the gold was, how much gold there was, how much silver, regardless of the Babylonian garments.
Right.
It should be consecrated unto the Lord.
And, you know, I think of Achan because Achan is obviously the one who is troubling Israel by stealing this stuff, by robbing God of this.
You know, if you would have just waited another chapter.
If you would have just waited a little bit, he could have enjoyed it.
And here's a good principle is that sometimes people jump the gun on making a specific decision because they think they just need to make a decision right now.
But let me just say this.
Sometimes you just need to wait another chapter.
You know, instead of making a hasty decision today because of something that's going on in your life financially, physically, in your church.
Why don't you just wait another chapter, Achan?
Because here's the thing is that, you know, I'm sure Achan in heaven right now is thinking, you know, I pretty much destroyed my entire family because it wasn't just him who destroyed his own life.
He destroyed his children's life, his wife's life, all his substance.
He became a reproach unto Israel.
Why? Because of greed, because of covetousness.
The Bible says he saw, he coveted, he took.
Whereas, you know, if they would have just gone to Ai, God's like, go for it.
Take anything you want.
But then in the costing his life, go to Chapter seven again.
Chapter seven of Joshua.
It says in verse one, but the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdai, the son of zero of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing.
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.
Now, isn't that interesting?
It says that Achan participated in the accursed thing, but Israel was cursed because of it.
You know, well, I thought Joshua and everyone else did what they're supposed to do.
Yeah, but the principle that's being taught here is that your sin can affect the entire congregation.
Right.
You know, the sin of one member, the fornication of one member, the drunkenness of one member, the railing of one member, the extortion, the idolatry of one member can often affect the entire congregation.
And this is what the Bible tells us, that your glory is not good, knowing not that a little leaven, leaven at the whole lump.
You know, a little sin in a member that is not getting right with God.
They're not being repentant.
They're not, you know, cleaning up their lives can often affect and permeate throughout the church.
And so just like Achan, you know, the curse came upon the entire nation because they're essentially a body of believers in the Old Testament and God will deal with them as a whole.
OK, look at verse two.
And of course, at this point, Joshua doesn't know that Achan took of the accursed thing.
He doesn't know.
As far as he's concerned, everyone, you know, obey the commandment.
Everyone, you know, consecrated the accursed thing unto the Lord.
Verse two says, And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven on the east of Bethel, and spake it to them, saying, Go up and view the country.
And the men went up and viewed Ai.
So he sends a reconnaissance into Ai.
Obviously, even though God has already promised to give him this land, they have to do their part.
Right.
Just like us, you know, God has given us many promises in his word, but it's not like we just sit at home and do nothing and it just comes to us.
We actually have to go out and do something about it.
You know, the Bible promises us that we will reap souls when we go out and preach the gospel.
But it doesn't just happen with you just sitting on your rear end doing nothing.
Right.
You actually have to go out there and do something about it.
OK.
And so, you know, they know that Ai is theirs.
So he's doing his due diligence, sending reconnaissance, kind of surveying the land, seeing what they have to deal with.
Look at verse three.
And they returned to Joshua and said unto him, Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai, and make not all the people to labor thither, for they are but few.
So he says, you know, we don't have to send as many men as we sent for Jericho.
Ai is a lot smaller.
Just send about two or three thousand.
We should be able to handle it.
Verse four.
So they went up thither of the people, about three thousand men.
And look at this turn of events.
And they fled before the men of Ai.
Now, that's a lot different than Jericho.
So it's like two or three thousand men go out and then they're running from Ai.
He says in verse five, and the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men, for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them into going down, wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
So they suffered this great loss.
And you think to yourself, oh, it's only thirty six men.
Yeah, but it's thirty six men, though.
It's thirty six men that will now return back home.
Thirty six men who had children, who had wives.
And in fact, no one should have been lost.
Right?
No lives should have been lost.
There should have been no fatalities.
But because of one man's sin, these thirty six men lost their lives.
And essentially, the children of Israel became a reproach.
Right?
Because of the fact that they are sinning.
Now, what does this teach us?
It teaches us that the odds will always be against you if God is against you.
It doesn't matter how many resources you've had.
And it doesn't even matter how many past victories you've had.
If you're in sin and you're not obedient to God, you're involved in things that you shouldn't be involved with.
Guess what?
It doesn't matter how many resources you have.
God is against you.
So is everything else.
He will not allow you to prosper as a Christian if you have sin in your life.
Now, we're all sinners.
We all make mistakes.
We all fail.
We all for all of sin and come short of the glory of God.
Obviously, what I'm referring to is unrepentant sin.
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Bible says the Lord will not hear me.
OK.
And so the odds are against the children of Israel, even though they had this great victory over Jericho.
They can't destroy A.I., not because A.I. is just stronger than them, not because they're just more fortified.
They have more weapons.
They have more armor.
They have more horses or chariots of iron.
It's because they actually have God on their side.
And it's not because they're godly.
It's because God is against Israel at this point for robbing him of that which is supposed to be consecrated.
So we see here that the odds will always be against you.
Folks, let me just give you a word of advice for the new year.
If you want God to bless your endeavors, you better make sure God's on your side.
You want God to bless your business, your finances, your health, your relationships, your ministry, your soul, your walk with God.
You better make sure that God is on your side.
That's one of the greatest motivations to just stay right with God.
It's like, you know what, I don't want God to punish me, but I also don't want God to not prosper me.
And so if I'm going to make sure that I succeed in 2025 in the areas that I might have failed in in 2024,
I've got to make sure that God is on my side because if God before us, who can be against us?
You know, I'm going to take over A.I. though. A.I. is so small.
I'm not even going to have to put as much effort into A.I. as I did into Jericho.
Yeah, actually you can put in all the effort, all the resources, but you're going to lose if God is against you.
Look at verse 6.
And Joshua rent his clothes. Rent doesn't mean like he, you know, that's not the way we would use it.
It's like, let me just go borrow some clothes. Rent means that he tore his garments, which is an expression of lamentation.
It's an expression of humility. Right.
It's basically representing the fact that he's tearing his heart. Right. You're breaking my heart.
His heart is broken. It's rent.
He says in Joshua, rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until even tide.
He and the elders of Israel and put dust upon their heads.
And Joshua said, alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us?
Well, to God, we have been content and dwelt on the other side of Jordan.
Now, what does this show us about Joshua? It shows us that Joshua is just like us.
You know why? Because he's kind of exaggerating a little bit.
You know, when we when we suffer loss, we have a tendency to just throw out the baby with the bathwater.
You know, oh, you know, you know, Joshua is like the man.
He's leading all the children of Israel. But all of a sudden he suffers a loss.
And it's just like, why did you bring me out and bring me out here to kill me?
We should have just stayed on the other side of Jordan, Lord. Now the Amorites are going to destroy us.
Now everything's going to go down the drain, down the toilet.
And he's just kind of like allowing his thoughts to just spiral out of control just because of this one loss.
And let me tell you, let me say something. In 2025, you're going to suffer loss.
You will suffer loss. Don't spiral out of control because of it.
You're going to suffer disappointments. Don't get all emotional about it to the point where you make some dumb decision.
OK, you know, don't be like Joshua, where it's just like, oh, man, we should have just.
Well, we should have just never come to church. We should have just never we should just never moved.
We should have just now I should just never got this job. I should have just never.
It's just like go get some sleep or something. Go eat a double double.
Get some sleep. Go chill out for a little bit. You know, just relax.
Looking for say, oh, Lord, what shall I say when Israel turn their backs before their enemies?
He's like, how am I going to motivate them to like fight again? This is the second fight we lost for the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land.
Shall hear of it and shall environ us round and cut off our name from the earth.
And what would thou do unto thy great name? He's like, oh, man, we're going to be such a laughing stock before the Canaanites.
After they hear about A.I., what are we going to do? You know, he's having this fatalistic attitude.
OK, and I'm preaching to myself, obviously, because I'm very fatalistic.
OK, I could be very pessimistic where something goes wrong is just like you just think of the worst possible outcome.
The sky is falling. But, you know, we need to kind of get it together here and and look at verse 10.
Look at verse 10. So he's lamenting. He's on the ground. He's like, we're dead.
We should have been on the other side of Jordan. His clothes are all messed up because he ripped them.
He's got dust on his head. He's complaining. Look at verse 10.
The Lord said unto Joshua, get thee up wherefore lies thou thus upon thy face?
I love that phrase. He's like, get up.
What are you doing? Get up. Israel had sinned.
They all have also transgressed my covenant, which I command of them, for they have even taken to the accursed thing and have also stolen and dissembled also.
And they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore, the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, but turn their backs before their enemies because they were a curse.
Neither will I be with you anymore, except you destroy the accursed from among you.
What is he saying? You know, instead of crying about it, instead of complaining about it, instead of just thinking of the worst possible outcome,
instead of, you know, regretting coming over into the promised land, why don't you actually get up and do something about it?
That's what he's telling them. Because he's telling them, assess the situation for what it is.
Israel had sinned. I'm with you. But obviously, if you're losing this battle, it's because you guys are doing something that you're not supposed to be doing.
So this is what he tells them at the end, except you destroy the accursed from among you. He's basically saying, do something about it.
Get up and actually do something about it. And you know what? This is a great phrase to take into 2025.
You know, you might be this year lamenting over some of your sins that you've committed in 2024.
And you're like Joshua, you're on the floor. You're just lamenting. Oh, it's because of my husband. It's because of my wife.
It's because of my situation. It's because of this. Hey, why don't you actually just get up and do something about it then?
Instead of just like lying on the floor with dust on your head, renting your garments, talking about all your regrets of 2020 2024, why don't you actually get up and do something about it?
You know, some of us are going to be getting up, doing something about it. Some of us in 2025 are still lying on the ground, lamenting over the losses of 2024.
You know, I don't want to lament over the losses of 2024. I want to actually get up and do something about it.
People often lament over past sins. Get up and do something about it. You know, a just man follows seven times and rises up again.
The Bible says, right? And he tells Joshua, get thee up. Wherefore lies thou upon thy face?
And obviously we understand that, you know, sins can obviously destroy your life. There's certain things that you can get involved with that can actually hinder your walk with God, hinder God's blessing upon your life.
The Bible says that your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withholding good things from you.
You might have kind of forgone certain good things in your personal life because of sin. You know, if that's the case, OK, but get up from the ground and actually go do something about it.
Go fix the situation. Look at verse 13. He says, up, sanctify the people and say, sanctify yourselves against tomorrow for thus saith the Lord God of Israel.
There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel. Thou canst not stand before thine enemies until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
What is it saying? Clean up your life. Get cleaned up, get sanctified. Hey, you know what?
If you're a person who struggles with alcohol and you struggle with alcohol in 2024, you know, up, sanctify thyself.
Get right with God. Throw away the alcohol. You know, dump it down the toilet or the sink or wherever it's supposed to go.
Throw away the bottles and get right with God. And here's here's something that will help you if that's you.
You know, get away from people who drink alcohol. How about that?
You know, one of the reasons people struggle with alcohol is not necessary because they're alcoholics.
Obviously, that plays a role in it. But one reason why they keep delving into alcohol is because they keep hanging around with people who are also alcoholics.
It's just like, man, I love the Lord and I just keep struggling alcohol.
Well, show me your five closest friends you hang out with the most. And I guarantee you, three out of those five are probably alcoholics.
You know, if you're going to overcome a specific sin in your personal life, if you just keep struggling with this thing over this past year,
then why don't you take inventory of the people that you keep around you? And by the way, this is why it's important to just be in church.
So why? Because guess what? There's no alcoholics here. It's not people who are just drinking alcohol unfettered.
You know, this is not some reformed church, you know, where we have a bar in the back, a wine bibber station for you to get your fix or whatever.
It's not that kind of church. You're going to be around sober people at church. You're like, yeah, but that's only once a week.
Yeah, but you can make it three times a week, though. You know, we got Sunday morning, Sunday night, Thursday night.
You can be present in those times and be exhorted to continue in the faith to be strong in the Lord and the power of his might to be sober minded.
And you know what? One thing I've noticed, if I want to be like a specific person, I just need to be around that person all the time.
If I want to have the characteristics and attributes of a successful person, guess what? I need to be around successful people all the time.
Not be around losers and drunkards and people that smoke marijuana and do drugs and just lowlifes of this world.
Oh, you know, but I grew up with them. Yeah, but they're growing you down, though.
So who cares if you've known them for X amount of years? If they're alcoholics and they're pot smokers and vapors and whatever, fill in the blank.
And that's not conducive to your spiritual growth. You need to get away from people like that unless you just want to remain on the floor, though,
unless you just want to keep lamenting your sin in twenty, twenty five, then stay on the ground.
I don't know about you, but I want to get up, you know.
But here's the thing. If you're just going to be there complaining about and regretting all the failures because of alcohol,
because of weed, because of drugs and X, Y and Z, then you know what?
Instead of just lying there with your clothes rent, regretting and just feeling all of this regret because of twenty, twenty four.
Instead, why don't you actually get up and do something about it? Get yourself some new friends at church.
Well, three times a week is not enough. They meet up throughout the week.
You know, get some phone numbers, get some I.G.s, go to Six Flags together, go eat together, go hang out together.
Oh, it sounds kind of cultish. No, actually, the cult is the bunch of people who get together on Friday to drink alcohol.
So they can all get drunk together and throw up separately on Sunday morning on Saturday morning.
Sounds cultish to me. Yeah, let's all let's just all get together and poison ourselves.
Isn't that what cults do? They kind of get together, drink poison and die. Well, guess what? You're no different.
The only thing is, you're not dying. You're just dying slower. Yeah, you're getting on Haley's Comet cult.
You know, they got together. You know, you guys know what I'm talking about. You know the Haley's cult?
You guys know about that cult? You guys need to brush up on your cults, man.
They're the guys who wore like the the Cortez Nikes, they dressed all in black, they shaved off their heads.
You guys know what I'm talking about? Look it up on YouTube. You'll be it's a good watch.
Okay. Or how about this? You know, Joe, not Joe Jones. Oh, that's another one. Jim Jones. Right?
Jim Jones, who literally moved his entire church to South America and made them all drink Kool-Aid and killed everyone.
That's a cult. Or how about this? How about you and your buddies? They get together on Friday and Saturday to drink poison.
Oh, it's Kool-Aid. Yeah, exactly. You know, with alcohol, just so you guys can pass out and wake up the next day and do it again.
That's a cult. You know, what we got going on here is just an assembly of sober people who enjoy being sober.
Okay. Clean up your life. Upsanctify thyself. You know, maybe in 2025, you just need to reconsider and revisit the friends that you have.
Okay. And by the way, even amongst Christians, I should say that as well. You know, sometimes there's Christians that are just bad influences.
I've learned that aside from just like if I want to be successful, I want to be around successful people.
I've learned this. If I want to just be a happy person with a happy disposition, I need to be around people who have a happy disposition as well.
Because there's Christians that don't have a happy disposition. Bunch of grumps.
They're just Grinch grumps who just like they're just so spiritual, so holy that smiling is like a sin or something like that.
You know, and let me say this. You know, if you're that person in our church who is just an absolute grump, don't influence others to be like you.
You know, don't influence others and suck away the joy from their life so you can be just like you.
You know, be a positive influence upon the people in our church.
You know, I'm not saying that you have to be super enthusiastic, lively. And, you know, you don't got to be like that.
But obviously, you know, there should be some semblance of joy in your life, though.
If you're just like.
You know, it's just the line for a smile, just the line for a smile. That's it.
But you know what? You hang around people like that long enough, you will be like that.
Because we can't help but emulate the countenance of those we're around.
OK, and so 2025, if there are certain sins you've been struggling with, you know, how about fornication?
Fornication is a common sin amongst young people. You know, how about first of all, you just repent and just don't don't fornicate.
And and, you know, revisit point number one, which is get away from the people that are causing you to fornicate.
Get away from that girl. Get away from that guy that's causing you to fornicate. Or how about this?
You know, if you both are Christians, you both are saved. Why don't you just get married? Amen.
Get married. Oh, yeah, what a horrible idea, right? Just the whole you just get married is just such a horrible idea.
It's better to just fornicate and just where God's curse is just on your life from then on.
No, actually, getting married is actually a blessing. OK, it's actually God's order to what God ordained.
And, you know, you ask people who are serving God and they got God's hand in their life and they're married.
It is happily ever after. OK, and so clean up your life, sanctify yourself, sanctify the people.
Don't be someone who is just covering their sins because you're not going to prosper. Whosoever confesses and forsaketh them, the Bible says, shall obtain mercy.
And so if you find yourself lamenting on the floor with your face down dust on your head,
close rent because of the sinful failures of twenty twenty four, get up and do something about it.
Don't just lament. Go and repent. Don't lament. Repent. Amen.
And look, there's a time for lamentation where you just feel bad for what you did.
Absolutely. You know, you just feel bad because you failed in that area.
Maybe you got involved with pornography. Maybe you got involved with alcohol. Maybe you got involved with fornication.
Maybe you got involved with a specific sin out there. OK, lament.
But there comes a point where you just got to get up and do something about it.
Lamentation should only be the initial stage of repentance.
But after that, get up, wipe yourself off and you're like, all right, let's put a plan together to just fix this situation.
Because new year, new me, amen. No new year, new man.
You know, put off the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, put on the new man.
Amen. So sanctify yourselves and look,
one of the best ways to sanctify yourself as a Christian is just get as much Bible content in as possible.
Obviously, through church services, preaching of God's word, but just reading the Bible consistently.
So don't take those Bible reading schedules lightly.
You know, we made them try to look nice and everything, but folks utilize those things.
You know, don't be like the January 1st gym people who go to the gym on January.
I mean, I don't go to the gym on January 1st. No way. You won't catch me dead at a gym on January 1st.
Why? There's nothing going to be available.
Everything is taken up by by the by the January 1st members.
I wait a couple of weeks because after a couple of weeks, people fizzle out.
You know, the soreness is there and they're just like, I can't handle this next year.
They're like 2026 is my year, you know, and then I go, you know, may you not be a January 1st Bible reader?
Hey, may you not be a Genesis Bible reader?
A Genesis six, one through six Bible reader.
Then you start getting into the genealogies and then you're like, you know, 2026 is my year.
2026 will be my year. No, you know, read all the way through.
Amen. Finish Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Go through the historical books, go through the political books, go through the major prophets, go through the minor prophets, go through the New Testament.
And then if you had the advanced section, go through it again.
Why? Because you want to sanctify yourself, you know, what sets us apart from everyone else?
I'll tell you what sets us apart is the Bible, but it's not just the Bible is believing the Bible.
It's not just believing the Bible, it's reading the Bible, it's applying the Bible.
And so, oh, yeah, but, you know, I just I just got this sin in my life that I can't seem to shake.
All right, get up and do something about it, then put a plan together.
Do something, Bible tells us, the Second Corinthians, chapter seven, verse one, having therefore these promises, dearly beloved,
let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, the Bible says.
Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter number six, Matthew chapter number six, if you would.
Matthew chapter number six, the title of the sermon is Get Up and Do Something About It.
What am I talking about? I'm talking about taking the initiative. I'm talking about being proactive in 2025.
Don't let success just happen to you. You happen to success.
And obviously, success doesn't just happen to people, by the way.
It might be a lucky person every now and then that it's by chance that they are successful.
But you know what? We have to intentionally succeed, try to succeed at our walk with God, intentionally succeed at soul winning.
And while I'm on the subject of soul winning. Hey, let's let's let's let's gear up on the soul winning this year.
Amen. If you're someone who maybe you just kind of been on and off on preaching the gospel, let 2025 be your year.
Like, oh, man, I just wish I was a better talker. I wish I knew my introductions better.
I wish I actually memorized the verses. OK, stop lamenting, actually get up and do something about it.
And look, I'm going to help you with this. In February, we're going to have a training.
OK, it's going to be a four week soul winning training after the services.
And we want everyone to commit to not only be there after the service, but also for those same people to go soul winning that day.
Now, don't freak out because we're not going to put you at a door to talk to anybody throughout those four weeks.
OK, you're going to be a silent partner, but I'm just trying to get your foot in the door.
So instead of lamenting and just like, oh, man, I didn't get anybody saved this year.
I was so inconsistent. I just didn't memorize the verses.
Boo hoo. Get up and do something about it this year.
OK, be a part of the statistic at the end of the year for 2025 of the person who actually got people saved in our church.
OK, and we're going to have sign up for that training soon. Get up and do something about what?
You know, maybe maybe some of you had financial setbacks this year.
And, you know, you're lamenting over the fact that you lost money.
Maybe you're in debt. Maybe you struggled financially. OK, get up and do something about it.
OK, put a plan to get look at Matthew Chapter six, verse thirty one.
This is therefore take no thought saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal?
Shall we be clothed for after all these things do the Gentiles seek?
What is he saying? If you're the kind of person who's just constantly worrying about what are you going to eat?
What are you going to drink? You know, where's the rent going to come from?
You're thinking like an unsaved person, like a Gentile, the Bible saying there.
This follows after all these things do the Gentiles seek after.
For your heavenly father knoweth that he have need of all these things.
And sometimes when people worry about that stuff, they don't take into account God.
Right. It's just like, man, what am I going to do about all this?
Well, how about the fact that we have God?
How about the fact that our heavenly father knows that we have need of these things?
Yeah, but what am I supposed to do, though? You know, I just can't seem to get this job.
I can't get this raise. Well, here's the number one thing you have to do.
And I guarantee you, if you do this one thing, you will succeed.
If you do this one thing, you will be fed. If you do this one thing, you will be clothed.
If you do this one thing, God will take care of it. But you have to do this one thing.
Verse thirty three, but seek ye first the kingdom of God.
And his righteousness and all these things, what things?
The food, the clothing, all these things shall be added unto you.
That's a pretty simple formula.
Yeah, but I had some financial setbacks this last year.
Well, obviously, sometimes financial setbacks can happen to those who are even seeking the kingdom of God.
Right? You know, I would say I've sought the kingdom of God over the last 17, 18 years.
But over those those years, I've had financial setbacks, you know, in my marriage personally.
And it's not because I wasn't seeking the kingdom of God.
But sometimes there are seasons where God allows financial setbacks in our life to teach us this one word contentment.
And so if you are in that situation and you take inventory of your spiritual life and you're saying, well, that's weird.
I am seeking the kingdom of God. I'm winning people to Christ. I'm going to church.
I'm reading my Bible and I'm still broke. I'm broke and I'm doing all these things right.
OK, then, you know, recognize that maybe God just wants you to learn how to be abased.
You know, it's funny how it says I've learned how to abase and I've learned how to abound.
Like, it's pretty easy to learn how to abound. When you're abounding, it's just easy.
Like, oh, man, look at all this food. Oh, man, just like all the the mortgage is getting paid, the rent's getting paid.
That's not really hard. You know, it's easy to abound. It's the abasing that takes some discipline.
Right. It's serving God when you've been abased.
It's reading your Bible and depending on God and praying for things when you don't have anything. Right.
He says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me. But here's the thing.
You know, sometimes you'll be broke even when you're seeking the kingdom of God.
But there are other instances where, guess what, maybe you're broke because you're not seeking the kingdom of God.
And, you know, there are certain things, by the way, that money can't buy.
They require you to seek the kingdom of God, like, for example, peace or contentment.
Because some people will make all kinds of money still not happy, make all kinds of money still not at peace.
They're overly anxious. They're they're they're worried. All they think about is money.
That's something that money can't buy. You know, purchases, those things I'm telling you right now is seeking the kingdom of God.
So if you've had financial setbacks in your life, OK, get up and do something about it.
And here's the something. Seek the kingdom of God in his righteousness. You're like, you know what?
I was just broke this year. I just had no money. I'm just barely making it. Or sometimes I didn't make it.
OK, but how were you in church this year? Well, you know, because I was working.
That's that's probably the reason why, you know. Yeah, but, you know, I got to make sure I feed my family.
Well, don't don't think like a Gentile. That's the manner of the Gentiles.
No, God's formula is this. You seek him first in the kingdom of God, his righteousness.
You serve him and you'll make sure that you're taken care of. Now, I can I can say that to the cows come home and they'll still be Christians who don't believe me.
And sometimes people just need to experience it personally firsthand before they realize how true of a statement and promise that is.
OK, get up and actually do something about it. Now, obviously, maybe you think to yourself, well, you know, I've served God.
I do seek the kingdom of God. Still broke. You know, I'm not involved in sin and I'm still broke.
So what's the issue? Well, sometimes you just need to be more diligent to know the state of my flock.
Sometimes it's not even a spiritual issue. Sometimes you just need a budget.
Most people are just broke because they just don't have a budget.
It is not like God's cursing you or God's like punishing you or God's against you.
He's actually with you. It's just that the money that you have with you, you don't know how to like handle it.
You know, you're overspending or you're not keeping track. And sometimes it's just it's an easy fix.
Now, look, some some people are so wealthy that they can like be lax in that area a little bit and may not affect them.
But for the the rest of us, though, we need a budget.
OK, and the Bible tells us in Proverbs 27, verse 23, be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds.
He says, what does that mean? You know, look at what you're spending. Create a line item.
OK, what's going out and what's coming in? And obviously, if there's more going out than what's coming in, it's not that God's not with you.
It's just that you're not you know, you're you're just overly spending.
You know, eat at home a little more often this year. Amen.
You know, get rid of your Amazon app.
Oh, I just hit a. You know, that prime and the deliveries and, you know, man, that's like a that's like a golden cow here, apparently.
Know the state of thy flocks, he says, for riches are not forever and doth the crown and door to every generation.
The hay appearance and the tender grass show with itself and the herbs of the mountains are gathered.
The lambs are for thy clothing and the goats are the price of the field.
Now, obviously, we're not dealing with goats. You know, we've got goats or lambs or anything like that.
If I had one, I want to know what to do with it. OK, this is the translation here for us would be the monetary wealth that we have.
Right. But he's basically saying, like, well, God gives you that lamb that he gives you, that goat that you have, the hay that appears.
It only appears for a little time. So you've got to make sure you take care of it or a good steward of it.
OK. And by the way, you know, obviously the Bible teaches generosity.
But let me just say that some people are like, you know, well, you know, I don't want to be wasteful, so I'm very frugal.
You know, that's good, right? Frugality is good. But frugality is only good if you're being generous with others.
And sometimes people think that they're frugal, but they're actually just stingy.
It's stinginess with the cloak of frugality.
It's like, oh, I don't want I don't like to spend because, you know, I just I'm a very frugal person.
But frugality is meant to kind of cause you to go without so that you can be a blessing to someone else.
And if you're being frugal, but you're not being a blessing to someone else, stop saying you're frugal.
You're just stingy is what it is. Right.
He says in verse 27 and verse 27, And thou shall have goat's milk enough for thy food and for the food of thy household and for the maintenance of thy maidens.
You'd be surprised how far your dollar can stretch if you just keep track of that dollar.
That's what it's saying. You know, instead of luxurious spending and just buying all the nice things.
And, you know, again, if you're like a really wealthy person, you still need this, by the way.
But, you know, if you could go lax a little bit, that's that's on you.
But just in general, though, Christians need to keep track of their finances. And it's not that God's against you.
It's not because you're involved in sin. It's not because, you know, you just got some some wicked thing in your heart and God's chasing you.
It's just you're just bad with finance. This is what it is. You just need to keep track of it.
And so if you've had financial setbacks in twenty, twenty four and you're lamenting about it because you're broke right now at the end of the year because you bought all these Christmas presents.
Amen. You know, all right. Get up and do something about it.
OK, don't just lay on the floor and, you know, just lament over the failures of the past year.
Go to Joshua 24, Joshua Chapter 24. Talk about getting up and do something about it.
Right. Getting up and doing something about it. Here's another thing.
We're almost done lamenting marriage or family problems.
Maybe this past year was not your year for a successful marriage, parenting or family.
Maybe you've had many bumps and maybe the whole year was a bump.
It was bumps in the road and it's just like the whole year was just like.
You just there's just no smooth road on twenty twenty four.
You just had all these issues with your spouse, all these issues with your family.
And you're just like not looking forward to twenty twenty five. Well, you know, just get up and do something about it and change something.
Insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results.
So if something did not work in your marriage this year, let me just give you the most golden piece of advice.
Don't do it in twenty twenty five. Don't do it again. Change it.
Like, well, I just really think this one thing will work if it didn't work for the last three hundred sixty five days.
Probably not going to work in the next three hundred sixty five days.
You know, and let me just let me hit this point real quick.
You know, you're lamenting over drama that's happened in other churches.
You know, and you're lamenting and you're just sat in over the estate of everything that's taking place and children are doing this and that.
And you're just on the floor. Then get up and do something about it then.
Why don't you just get up and be be a parent to your children? Why don't you focus on your marriage?
Why don't you focus on your children? Why don't you focus on making your household the way you want it to be?
Regardless of where you stand on the whole issue.
Whether you forward or against it, at the end of the day, you know, instead of just focusing on other people's problems.
On everyone else's issues. Why don't we put a magnifying glass to your problems and your issues?
Why don't you do that? Why don't you get up and do something about your situation?
Because you know what? We all got problems. We all got issues.
Raw little drama from time to time. Not as much as others. Yeah, but why don't you get up and do something about your situation, though?
Okay? Fix your marriage. Fix your children. Fix your child rearing. Fix your home.
And you know what? So much investment in 2024 went out into focusing on what's going outside of these walls.
That I guarantee you something in your family probably waned a little bit.
Because we're too busy on the phone, scrolling, looking through everyone else's problems. Right?
You know, instead of going on your phone and Facebook and Instagram and just criticizing and focusing on other people's problems and other people's drama and other people's soap operas.
You know, why don't you go ahead and just delete that app and just, you know, be entertained by your own drama.
Right? Be entertained with your own drama. Focus on your family, your marriage.
What about you? You know, me, I have some plans for my marriage and my child rearing in 2025.
Personally. You know, things that I've written down specifically that I want to change, things that I want to do.
You're like, where do you stand? Here's where I stand. I stand with the Mejias. Because that's my family.
You know? And you know what? I can't change what goes on outside of these walls.
I just can change the philosophies that I have in my home and reinforce things and strengthen my marriage, strengthen my child rearing.
And you know one thing that will just not help my marriage, one thing that will not help my child rearing, one thing that will not help my home is focusing on someone else's.
How better I have it than them or how bad they have it than me. Folks, at the end of the day, who cares what other people do?
But you know what? We live in a drama, a drama gluttonous society. People are just gluttons for drama.
Gluttons for drama. They just want to know all the drama, the soap operas and everything's going on in someone else's marriage.
Who cares? You can't change it anyways. So who cares? Focus, why don't you invest that same energy into your own marriage and make it what you think other marriages should be.
Right? Why don't you focus all that energy in your child rearing and make it what you think other child rearing should be.
That's a good one. You know, because we're all good Monday morning quarterbacks, are we not?
We're all good UFC commentators. We all know what the guy at the bottom should be doing. We all know what the guy on top should be doing.
We all know what they should have done. And here's the problem. Here's the issue. Okay, then you get in the ring and you fight.
Then you go be a UFC fighter. Then you go in to get in that boxing match. Then you go and show us what a good marriage is then.
Show us what a good child rearing is then. Don't talk the talk, walk the walk. Don't talk about it, be about it.
2025 should be a year where we say, you know what, I'm going to show by my, I'm going to show my faith by my works.
Amen? What's the sermon? Sermons, get up and do something about it. You know, enough of this. Enough of this.
Too much of this going on. Too much just flapping the gums, talking this and that. Why don't we actually do something about it?
I want to see some results. I want to see action, right? And so it's important for us. What's the sermon?
The sermon is this. It's just let's be proactive. Let's take the initiative and actually do something about the issues that we may have faced or the issues that we've seen other people face.
You know, instead of just talking about it, let's do something about it. Okay, look at Joshua 24 verse 14.
Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt and serve ye the Lord.
And if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose in whose land you dwell.
But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I like what Joshua said there. He's saying, look, this is what you should do. But you know, I'm just going to be honest with you.
As for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord regardless of what everyone else is doing. I want everyone to serve the Lord. I want everyone to go soul winning.
I want everyone to read their Bibles. I want everyone to have a happy marriage. I want everyone to raise their children for God and the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
I want everyone to succeed. But at the end of the day, as for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord because I can't control what you do.
And so, you know, let's take our eyes off of other people's drama. And we got enough drama at our church. Some of you guys are drama.
Some of you guys are entertaining enough.
There's enough entertainment here. You know, some of you ladies are more to it, more entertaining than what's going on out there.
No, I'm just kidding. Some of the fights and conflicts, we don't have fights and conflicts, but, you know.
You're like, oh, man, I was trying to come to a church that was like perfect. Well, you made it in perfect as soon as you stepped in.
Because people are sinners. No church is perfect. What I'm saying is, you know,
let's not be busybodies in other people's matters. And let's seek to fix our situation and be the best version of ourselves.
Can't believe I just said that. Here's my last two points.
You know, people lament over shortcomings and failures, disappointments of the past year. You know, learn how to fail forward.
OK, if you failed in a certain area, just forget about it.
Don't don't be a person who just, you know, constantly focuses on the laments over things that happened 20 years ago.
Just constantly resentful and bitter over things that happened in the past, people that hurt you in the past.
Just get up and do something about it. Move on with your life. Forget about that stuff.
And here's my last point. I'm done. You know, because most of these points are about, you know, failures, sins, negative things.
Right. And the message to people like that is get up and do something about fix your situation.
But, you know, maybe you're listening to the sermon. You're like, I actually had a great year.
Man, it's kind of sad that all these people had a bad year. You know, a lot of people involved in sin.
Are there drunkards in our church or what's going on? You know, fornicators in our church. What drama?
I don't know what drama is going on. I had a great year.
And, you know, I could probably point to things that happened this year that for me were a failure.
But in general, I did have a great year. Like I had I think I had a successful year.
And you may be in that same boat. You're like, actually, I made more money this year.
I got raises this year. My health was great. I achieved a lot. I accomplished a lot of spiritual things.
OK, well, instead of glorying or bragging about your achievements of this past year, why don't you get up and do something about this year?
Because we don't want to be the kind of people that just rest on our laurels either.
Oh, man. Because here's the thing. In twenty twenty four, I had a great year in twenty twenty three.
But you didn't hear me talk about twenty twenty three in twenty twenty four. No matter how great it was.
Why? Because I'm always looking forward. And so I don't want to just brag or glory and the achievements and accomplishments of this year.
Praise God for them. Awesome. I'm thankful.
I think upon those things and I praise God for them. But, you know, I'm looking forward and I'm not just going to allow the achievements of this year to withhold me from achieving something greater in twenty twenty five.
Don't be the person who's just like, well, now I could just put it in cruise control, not work as hard, not trying to make myself better, not accomplish more.
Hey, if you've achieved something great this past year, awesome. But let's see you do something else, though.
Why don't you actually get up and do something else about it? Galatians five twenty six says, let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.
You know, we should not be desirous of the vainglory of the past. We should seek to achieve greater things in the future.
You know, maybe you had a great soul winning year this year. Great. Challenge yourself and do something better.
Meaning win more souls to Christ. Maybe this year, maybe you had a great soul winning time this year or this past year.
Twenty twenty five should be the year where you go on a missions trip.
Challenge yourself. Maybe you won, you know, twenty souls to the Lord this year. Great. Why don't you seek to win forty this year?
Okay. You're like, well, we had a great, you know, just coming here on Sundays was great. Awesome. Why don't you add another service and come on Thursdays?
Challenge yourself. Here's some of these. Let me give you some closing thoughts and I'm done.
Leave twenty twenty four behind. Leave it behind. I'm not going to remind you of it.
I don't want you, I don't want you to remind me about it. Let's just leave it behind. Whatever was done, whether good or bad.
Praise God for the good. Even praise God for the bad. Learn from the bad. But let's look forward to twenty twenty five.
You're like, man, I was supposed to lose this much weight in twenty four. It just didn't happen. I just got fatter.
Personal testimony. Well, if you can get up and do something about it.
OK. You're like, man, I was supposed to go to the gym this year and I was supposed to hit these PR's.
I had all these plans. All right. Can't change that, though. So just get up and do something twenty twenty five.
But leave twenty, leave the overweight talk in twenty twenty four.
OK. But let me say this. Hopefully in six months, though, we'll see a difference. Amen. You'll see a difference.
And hopefully by by, you know, December of twenty twenty five, we're not going to have this conversation again.
Right. Because here's the thing. It's great to leave something behind, but it's all it's greater to look forward to that which is before, though.
So leave twenty twenty four behind. Let me also say this. Stop making excuses for why you can't seem to move forward.
Let's not make any excuses. Excuses are easy to make. Solutions are harder.
Be proactive. Take the initiative. And lastly, just put a plan together, because a dream without a plan is only a wish.
Dream without a plan is only a wish. And don't try to overdo it on your on your goals. Have five or six goals you want to meet.
Sit down, put a plan together of how it's going to be accomplished in the next six to twelve months.
Because look, I think all of us in here would like to look back at the end of twenty twenty five and say, I did it.
I accomplished it. I achieved it. And now let's move on to twenty twenty six. What's the sermon?
The sermon is this. Stop lamenting and just get up and do something. There's a time and place to lament, to mourn, to be sad, to regret, to feel sadness about past failures.
But eventually we've got to get up and do something. Eventually we've got to go after Aiken.
Eventually we've got to go confront Aiken and have that whole debacle take place in order for Israel to move forward into A.I. and move forward with the campaign.
Amen. And so let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word and we're so thankful for the examples of the Bible.
Lord, help us as your people to get up and do something about our situation.
If we find ourselves with a specific setback, maybe it's sin, maybe it's just bad habits, maybe it's bad thinking, bad company.
Lord, help us as your people to just have a time of reflection over these next couple of days, Lord.
And maybe we have to pen down some of the things we want to achieve, Lord.
And I pray probably the biggest thing, Lord, is that our church here would walk with you.
I hope every single person, every man, woman, boy and girl would take the initiative to read their Bibles this year.
And I know a lot of people read their Bibles this past year, but we can't really carry that with us into the new year.
There's no rollover walking with God in twenty twenty five.
Help us as your people to determine to read through the New Testament for the children to read through the entire Bible as adults and for some to read through the entire Bible twice.
Help us to accomplish those things, Lord. And may you be with us, Lord.
May you favor us. Bless First Works Baptist Church, the soul winning endeavors, the missions, all that takes place this year.
We love you. We thank you. Praise things in Jesus name. Amen.