(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

the title of the sermon this morning is good riddance good riddance saying goodbye to 2019 the Bible says in Proverbs 25 verse 4 take away the dross from the silver and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer take away the wicked from before the king and his throne shall be established in righteousness the term good riddance is a phrase used to express relief over the loss of something or someone that we would consider to be undesirable or even harmful to ourselves it's an expression that welcomes loss or departure of something or someone and this is very much applicable to us as Christians because of the fact that in the Christian life we're always going to experience many losses these losses are not always bad amen and in fact in many cases they're necessary in order for us to succeed and realize godly achievements and accomplishments you know in fact it's actually impossible to serve God without losing something the Bible tells us if any man come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me the Bible tells us that he that findeth his life shall lose it but whosoever looseth it for my sake the same shall find it you know we have to lose certain things in order to gain something greater we have to depart from certain people depart from certain places depart from certain habits in order to gain something greater from the The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4 22 Colossians 3 7 says And I put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him so what is the Bible teaching us there well it's telling us that in order for us to put on the new man in order for us to be spirit filled to walk in the spirit we need to put off the old man okay we need it on purpose walk in the spirit died to self in order to receive the blessing of the Lord upon our lives it requires for us to deny ourselves it requires for us to put off that sinful nature whether it's a bad habit that you're accustomed to doing so on and so forth now these losses are often losses that open up new doors okay to greater successes and enactments that we can do this is a good thing the removal of impurities leaves us with the vessel for the finer meat for the Masters use that's why the Bible tells us in Proverbs 25 what we just read take away the dross from the silver and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer you know when we remove the dross from our lives we remove the dross of relationships or the places or the bad habits what happens we get a vessel of silver we get a vessel meet for the Masters use the Bible says nevertheless the foundation of God's sentence sure you know the Lord know with them that are his and let everyone the name at the name of Christ depart from iniquity for in a great house are not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of wood and of earth some to honor and some to dishonor if a man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work but what do we see purging what do we see departing what does that call a good riddance you know we need as Christians to have this attitude I'm not always mourning for our loss mourning for a departure mourning because you know something happened in our lives where someone left us or you know you know people left us or we lost the job sometimes we just need to say good riddance good riddance you know people want you to be like oh you know aren't you just sad that this is happening aren't you sad this person left no good riddance aren't you sad that people like we're like kicked out of church for being heretics no good good riddance that's a good thing but how's your church gonna grow how's your church gonna grow this is how it's gonna grow by letting those people leave kicking those people out letting them depart it's a good riddance it's good when people leave us it's good when we leave people it's good when God removes people from our lives events habits so on and so forth we need to purge ourselves and in fact in order for us to be meet for the Masters use prepared unto every good work it requires purging okay the Bible tells us this and and continually explains this to us the Bible says yea doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may win Christ what does that mean Paul's basically saying good riddance he's talking about the fact that he was a Pharisee that he was at the tribe of Benjamin that he was of the circumcision and he lost all those things and he said good riddance I kind of a dumb that's the type of attitude that we need to have today you know the problem is though is that sometimes people have a hard time saying good riddance of things to people to places they want to hold on to that pernicious relationship don't they they want to hold on to that lethal habit you know a good example of this or should I say a bad example is the Prophet Samuel go with me if you would to 1st Samuel chapter 15 1st Samuel chapter 15 now we all know the story of Saul and Saul was the first king of Israel the Bible says that he stood head and shoulders above everyone else he was a very great king at one point you know he had a good start but then he began to disobey the Lord you know he began to offer the sacrifices the Bible says that he forced himself this is what he said he forced himself to do it he disobeyed God when God specifically instructed him to rid the land of the Amalekites he only halfway obeyed which is still disobedience he began to rebel against the commandments of the Lord and it grieved God at his heart that he had set up this king as the leader of Israel okay and ultimately what happened well he got replaced amen you know God believes in replacement theology and he replaced Saul with someone who was better than him which was David he refused to correct his actions but rather added iniquity unto iniquity and then ultimately God chose a man after his own heart known as David to replace Saul look at 1st Samuel chapter 15 this is after he's been told he's gonna be replaced that he sinned against God you know obviously Samuel had a close relationship with Saul he loves Saul look at verse 34 then Samuel went to Rhema and Saul went unto his house up to his house to Gibeah of Saul and Samuel came no more to see Saul unto the day of his death nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel so keep that in mind Samuel's mourning he's sad over the fact that this wicked king is no longer gonna be a king you know God has already made the decision the nail is in the coffin he's going to be replaced and yet what what is Saul what is Samuel doing he's mourning he's sad over these things right now keep in mind that Saul's is a dangerous person he's rebellious his leadership is harming the kingdom he's not a good person therefore his removal was necessary Saul was being removed he was being replaced now look at chapter 16 verse 1 this is after his mourning what does it mean to mourn he's sad why is he sad because you know he thought Saul was gonna be a great king he was doing a great job and now he's being removed look at verse number one and the Lord sentences Samuel how long without mourn for Saul I mean God can be sensitive but sometimes he's just not sensitive at all he's like how long you gonna just how long you gonna cry poor seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel look if he's not good enough for me he's not good enough for you fill thine horn with oil and go I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have provided me a king among his sons yeah that's not very that's not very kind it's not very sensitive it was necessary and God is saying hey stop mourning for Saul stop weeping and being sad over this wicked King fill thine horn with oil and go find another King in other words hey get up and move on turn over a new leaf good riddance this King was harmful this leader was wicked this leader rebelled against the word of the Lord he was a wicked person you need to move on good riddance that he's no longer King and it's kind of I mean you know Saul basically is figurative and he's symbolic of the nation of Israel you know his flaws and his mistakes his rebellion against God placed him in such a way in the Bible that now he became a byword and a proverb to represent the unsaved nation of Israel whereas David is represents that better covenant because he replaced Saul okay just as believers today replace the nation of Israel but I like what he says it says fill thine horn with oil and go in other words hey it's time to be spear filled and go move on move forward turn on or turn over a new leaf good riddance stop mourning over the loss of this wicked leader and may I say today that we need to stop mourning over the loss of certain friendships leaders or even acquired routines and habits it's time to just say good riddance to these things see you later sucker I'm not gonna mourn over you you you ruined my life you backstabbed me you're a wicked person hey this habit was destroying my life hey this place that I used to go to it was ruining my life I'm getting rid of it see you later good riddance good riddance to sugar amen all right all right you know there's a couple people that were saying amen before but I know they didn't say remember that point why not you're ruining my life you made me fat good riddance there's like well I'm not ready to rid myself of that as of yet okay don't mourn 2019 say goodbye to it okay look and there's three things that we need to say goodbye to people places and proclivities people what the toxic relationships in our life the places the bad environments that you used to go to and the proclivities what is that the sinful habits that you used to have time to say goodbye I love going into a new year because it's new goals new achievements new things that we can do new things that we can shoot for you know God can do great things in 2020 it's just a good reset button to say hey good riddance to 2019 I'm looking forward to what's gonna happen in 2020 you know we had by the way we had a great year as a church here awesome year 2019 was more successful than 2018 we saw more people saved we took we saw more people baptized I mean Sunday after Sunday after Sunday you know tons of baptisms our church grew numerically okay I mean from the time that we started we started with about 40 people now we run about a hundred and twenty five to one hundred and thirty people that's great growth amen missions trips were tons of people God say we we got we we got a vision for the country of Belize where we're going to go preach the gospel we're seeing a lot of people saved there you know our men went out there to go preach the gospel there were very successful hey we went independent in 2019 a lot of great things happened in 2019 but you know within every year there are setbacks there's failures there's heartbreaks there's pain there's a loss of a job maybe there's a loss of a church a loss of a friend a loss of you know godly leaders but you know what good riddance that's how we got to see it sometimes you know oh that kind of hurts me well you know it hurts when we have to get rid of something that we love but you know if God rids us of that thing if we rid ourselves of that thing or if that person rids themselves of us we what can we say but good riddance it's gonna help us in the long run to move forward to do things for God okay there is a time to mourn but the Bible also says there's a time to dance okay and no I'm not talking about breakdancing or salsa dancing how about leaping for joy okay sorry to you know ruin your dreams there so let me just start off by saying that when it comes to getting rid of people places or proclivities sometimes as I mentioned God rids us of these things okay you know he places us in a situation where these people are just removed from our lives all right and he often does this so he can add to us okay he rids us of something so he can add to us so we can add to ourselves virtue knowledge temperance you know godly living and he can use us to a greater extent all right he forces us in a situation where we have to part ways with certain people or situations okay and you you don't want to force God's hand away from that okay don't try to force something where God is removing you from and let me just say this I'm not referring to marriage okay divorce time okay I'm not talking about that okay you know if the Bible says if the unbelieving depart let him depart but God has called us unto peace he's called us to reconcile right now obviously if your spouse is a reprobate you need to get away from that person because that person is wicked and violent and you know filled with all in righteousness however you know I'm referring to other relationships friendships or just environments habits that maybe God forces you know maybe God has placed you in such a situation where your health is failing you know and you're being forced to eat healthy you're being forced to change your lifestyle do it don't say well no no I still want to have my Twinkies and you know I still want to have sugar don't force that because what's gonna end up happening is God's gonna have to chastise you and cause something a greater curse to come upon you to get your attention just do it okay by the way it's good to just change that before God has to you know put us in a situation like that but sometimes God rids us of certain people he begins to purge us from people and it's a good thing why because sometimes people hold us back you know friends yay even family members can hold us back from serving God okay you know because they keep us lukewarm or they make us cold towards the things of God what we need to do is is allow God to separate that person from our lives in order for us to be more effective for God okay you know the Bible says in Jeremiah 6 29 the bellows are burned the lead is consumed of the fire the founder which is referring to God melteth in vain for the wicked are not plucked away reparate silver shall men call them for the Lord has rejected them what is he saying he's like man I'm judging Israel I'm burning it you know I'm the founder I'm trying to melt away but the wicked are still not plucked away the dross is not being removed therefore the Lord has rejected the nation of Israel because the wicked are not plucked away you know in our lives God's gonna allow trials difficulties disagreements and arguments between you and other people that are holding you back let them melt those things away let them get rid of those people okay don't be the type of person where God is melting in vain where you just forcing that relationship forcing that habit forcing whatever maybe you fill in the blank and what happens is that you basically get shelved as a Christian okay you're no longer useful to God because of it let me also say this is that sometimes God is the one who's getting rid of these people places or things but sometimes people get rid of us sometimes people leave us right and by the way this is a good thing amen because this basically is showing us that we're doing that which is right you know when you are a salty Christian when you are a bright burning Christian you're gonna cause people to want to get away from you why because you talk too much you talk about God talk about the Bible you talk about things that are important to you which are the things of God and that repels people from ever establishing a relationship with you or even continuing a relationship with you okay this is a good thing you know the Bible tells us in 2nd Timothy 1 15 this now notice that all they there are in Asia be turned away from me of whom are if I jealous and homogeneous the Bible says so these people left the Apostle Paul you know and but this opened up new doors for the Apostle Paul to go preach the gospel elsewhere to make new friends fellowship with new people who are like-minded and look this may sound like a broken record but that's exactly how our church started it's when you know my whole church basically had one nothing to do with me they wanted me to just disappear excommunicate me out of the church for being friends with the most hateful preacher in America and they're like just disappear into obscurity go away we never want to hear from you again and guess what I got I've got myself a bunch of new friends here you know a lot of good came out of that and so you know sometimes it hurts sometimes it's heartbreaking but just understand that there's something greater that's around the bend when something like that happens you know God rids us of people but sometimes people get rid of us the Bible tells us Alexander the coppersmith didn't mean much evil the Lord reward him according to his works of whom be thou where also for he hath greatly withstood our words Luke 6 22 says blessed are you when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake rejoice ye in that day and leave for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets okay now this is good this is not only good individually but let me say this even as the new IFB movement this is good let me just say this the new IFB is alive and well it's alive and well you know people want to look at what's going on in the new I have been oh so much drama what's gonna happen all these things we're just falling apart we're not falling apart for you to say that the new I've been moving is falling apart to say that our church is falling apart I don't see people falling apart here okay the chairs might be falling apart the wall might be caving in a little bit the building's not that nice but you know what we're not falling apart we're still contributing you know to what we would consider to be our movement by winning souls preaching fiery sermons having zealous Christians in our church it's still going strong and you know what if people wanted to part from the new IFB or being a Baptist good riddance I'm not gonna beg anyone to come back and be my friend I only want to be with people who want to be my friend I want to have a relationship with people who esteem my relationship who want to be my friend and guess what if don't people don't want to do that good riddance well don't you need me no I got my church I got my church I have my friends here okay look the new IP doesn't really exist necessarily it's not because we're not a denomination what that basically stands for is churches that are like-minded who associate with one another that's a denomination no because no other pastor comes over here and tells us what to do and we don't do that to other people either that's the element that is missing okay that make doesn't make us a denomination but look if you know it's like oh but 2019 so many pastors just like they just back stabbed and they good riddance good riddance it's good to start off the year like that it's good to end off the year like that where people leave people are exposed and then at the end of the year the same exact thing because it's only gonna make us better as a church okay and look you said what if there's only like two churches in the movement great what's wrong with that by the way we got our own movement going on here amen we're winning souls taking missions trips and doing great things for God too you know everything is alive and well my friend no good riddance to the people who don't want to associate with us good riddance to so-called new I have beers they don't want to associate with us and good riddance to the old I appears that don't want to associate with us either good riddance we're not gonna ball and mourn over the replacement of Saul it's time to fill our horn with oil fill that vessel with the Holy Spirit preach some greater sermons reach more people see more people saved and do greater accomplishment and enactments for the Lord time to dance right why do you guys smile when I say dance I'm just talking about leaping for joy man not crip walking not salsa dancing I'm talking about just rejoicing over the fact that people are departing from us they're leaving us and that is great okay let me say that sometimes we have to rid people from our lives so God often puts us in a situation where you know that that relationship departs you know people often depart from us but sometimes we have to make people depart from us as well you know the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 5 7 purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be of new lump as you are unleavened for even Christ our Passover sacrifice for us therefore let it let us keep the feast now with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth the Bible says this is referring to Church discipline okay and you know there's times in our church that we're gonna have to purge out the leaven purge out sin someone needs to be excommunicated from the church reprobates need to be thrown out or just regular Christians who are involved in sin need to be asked to leave and not to come back until they decide to repent of their sins this is very much important oh how's the church gonna grow because this is how the church is gonna grow okay and by the way our goal should not be church grow right but that is a natural byproduct if we serve the Lord okay you know it's a natural byproduct of sowing obeying God's Word doing that which is pleasing in this site the church will naturally just take its course and grow but we're not gonna do it by compromising means amen well you know they're in fornication but there's still good people you know we just need to disciple them and teach them the ways of the Lord and you know give them give them about five years or so so you want to give them five years of fornicating in order you know two babies later and all these things no you know we need to make sure that we are practicing this and ridding people of our church of our lives in order for us to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord okay it's important the Bible says of whom is harmonious and Alexander whom I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme the Bible tells us you know in order for a kingdom to be established in righteousness the wicked need to be plucked away think of when Solomon came into reign you know the first thing he did the first his first campaign was to clean house get rid of an anisia get rid of Joab get rid of you know I got the third guy's name the one who cursed David who's the one to curse David shimmy I get rid of shimmy I you know just execute all these people and it literally says at the end of that entire campaign that Solomon's kingdom was established in righteousness why because the dross was removed oh but Joab was so helpful to David good riddance that guy was wicked anyways that guy took matters into his own hands was unequal was just an unjust man who murdered people had his own agenda good riddance and this is the exact attitude that we need to have today okay is when we look back at 2019 and look I'm not saying be Cal I'm not saying be callous okay we're just like you just say good riddance to everything I'm talking about to the things that harmed us harmed our church harming your family harming your health say good riddance to those things don't miss those things don't mourn for those things rejoice over the fact that those people places or habits have moved on and we've moved on from them okay now let me give you a couple things here let me give you a couple points turn with me if you would to Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter number 5 why is a good riddance a good thing and I think everyone here suffered some sort of loss this year whether it was health wise maybe it was a relationship you know maybe a relationship didn't work out you know if you're not careful you just kind of dwell on those things and you go into 2020 with that same mentality and you know what happens is you start off the year terrible okay because you start off the year with the failures of the previous year and that's what you care with you for the remainder of the year okay you want to start off with a clean slate and you know hey guys if a relationship didn't work out with you and someone else good riddance look there's a person in our church where many relationships did not work out hey that person dodge shotgun shells amen not a bullet shotgun shells and it shows that God's hand is on that person amen protecting them from that from those things this is a good thing okay so lonely good riddance because your life could have been destroyed your life could have been made miserable a living hell if you stayed if you were you know if that relationship was established good riddance to that okay you know hey guys maybe there's someone who lost a job okay and it's just like man I lost my job good riddance because maybe God has something better for you in the future maybe people separated you from their company maybe your church just you know your old church badmouth you kick you out and that relationship was destroyed between you and your pastor and the church members good riddance good riddance hey maybe there's family members who were hating on you made your life miserable and then they finally just decided decided to just get away from you good riddance you know many of you you know are gonna be able to go forward for God do great exploits your schedule is now free to actually serve God because of it okay now you could actually go soul with him now you can come to church now you can serve God with liberty because of the fact that that person that place whatever is no longer there this is the kind of attitude we need to have okay say good riddance to that okay you know what once 2000 2020 rolls around all sugar shall be removed from that kitchen don't mourn for it more not hey where's the donuts good riddance where's the where's the sparkling cider good riddance okay you'll see it in at the end of 2020 okay and look I'm not a hundred percent against sugar okay you know but everything in its time and in its place okay can't live like that can't live eating sugar can't live just eating unhealthy all the time you know right now is the time to do that but you know what now that time is over that season is over you say well I want to I want to keep the sugar and the candy bars well but just think about this okay and you better get used to this okay just think about this you know don't you want to be effective for the Lord I do don't you want to live as long as you possibly can to see more people saved to do greater exploits for God I know I do so in that case I need to be a good steward of this body because I only have one I only get one body therefore I got to be a good steward of these things in order to do great exploits in the future and look for those of you parents who have children so much the more why we should live a healthy life right and rid ourselves of things that would harm us and destroy us and cause us not to live a long life here look I believe in having many children and I'm gonna keep having children until we can no longer have children and what that means is I'm gonna be like 45 or 50 with a little one still I want to still be able to wrestle with him and he deserves a dad who is still fit and can play and and can still invest energy into him even though he's a little boy but what is that gonna do that's gonna cause me to just get rid of certain things that are gonna be lethal to my health okay and I'm not gonna mourn over you know not going to raising canes good riddance I'm not gonna mourn over soda good riddance this is the kind of attitude we need to have okay over everything not just health I'm just speaking over things that can be lethal to us our relationships so on and so forth but why is a good riddance a good thing number one because it can often be a matter of life or death it can be you know there's certain things that can bring death to your life if it does if it's not expelled and I'm talking about sinful proclivities you know smoking for example you know if you smoke and you need to like quit that like today like your last cigarette was before the sermon you know because of the fact that eventually that's gonna destroy your health it's gonna destroy your life oh you know I'm just so used to smoking a cigarette after you eat a good meal just say good riddance to that thing see you later you're destroying my life you're causing me to stink and to smell when I come to church everyone knows I smoke you want everyone to know you smoke when you come into church like by the way you know smoking off-site so that no one sees you smoke doesn't really do much when you come back in here because everyone knows you smoked it's like you didn't have to go that far because we still know you did it because you smell like like you were just lit on fire or something okay inhaling smoke into your lungs is bad for your health say good riddance to that thing okay drinking smoking fornication these proclivities that you possibly may have are detrimental to your health it's detrimental to your spiritual life say good riddance to those things don't dwell on how happy you were when you had them don't dwell on the fact that oh it brought me such relief and made me feel fulfilled say good riddance you know why don't you accentuate the negative ramifications of those habits instead and say actually you know smoking made me stink it gave me yellow teeth you know it made me short of breath my lungs are probably destroyed because of it why don't you you know put those things in your mind instead it's talking about how much you miss it you know oh I just I just miss marijuana why you you made you stupid you do you like being stupid smoke on if you want to be an idiot for the rest of your life it made you fat because you smoke weed you got the munchies and you kept eating why don't you accentuate the fact that you got fat because you smoked pop why don't you accentuate the fact that made you stupid right that'll help you to like not hit that joint anymore okay say good riddance like man that thing made me stupid good riddance that thing made me an idiot I couldn't even pay attention it was hard for me to have an intellectual conversation and not because of the person I was speaking to it was because of me killed my brain cells made me fat you know say good riddance to these things sometimes it could it can be a matter of life and death Matthew 529 says this and if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell and if thy right hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast in to hell you know I tell the story the illustration of the rock climber who fell and he was pinned under a boulder you guys ever heard that story he was pinned for a couple days and literally is I mean he was he was surviving off of drinking his own urine and eating whatever insects would come by hoping that someone would come and rescue him from his situation his arm was pinned under a boulder and what he did was he took all the tools that he would use to rock climb and he severed off his own arm because he thought to himself well no one's coming this is a matter of life or death you know I need to cut off my right hand you know cast it from me because if not I'm gonna die and he did it and he's still rock climbing today with a cool hook on his arm on that nub okay got a great story to tell but you know spiritually speaking that's what we need to do sometimes and look sometimes departing from a specific habit or a person can be painful can it not you know getting rid of someone who you've been around but you know is toxic to your relationship or toxic to your spiritual life it's hard but you know what if it's necessary do it better that you serve God without that person and with that hole in your heart because that person is no longer there then just then to not serve God and have that person there in your life and they're holding you back okay the Bible says by mercy and truth iniquity is purged and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil where foreseen we are also compassed about what so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us the Bible tells us so what is this telling us well you know in order for us to properly run this race the Christian race we need to lay aside every weight you know you never see a 250 pounder trying to run trying to you know run a marathon you know at the Olympics or something you know why they gotta lay aside the weight the sin that doth so easy beset us look the sin beset means that it surrounds them because we live in a world where temptation is all around us right so what do we have to do we have to lay those things aside we can't get rid of those things entirely we don't believe in sinless perfection but we do have to lay those things aside in order for us to be effective in this race okay so what I'm saying is this is that the reason something is a good riddance is because of the fact that in some cases it could be life or death was for some people you know maybe some of the people you hang around with are not some of the best people that can get you maybe there's the type of people that can get you in a lot of trouble you know they're the kind of people that will actually cause the hand of God to come upon you and chastise you get you in prison or in jail for being associated with them or even cause you to you know tempt you to do something you shouldn't do and it costs you your life because I'll be honest with you with God sometimes it's just better to take you home than to try to correct you all the time you know to kind of save you a shameful judgment seat of Christ better to just get right with God get rid of the person get rid of the environment get rid of that habit because those things can those things can potentially kill you not just spiritually but just kill you just in general okay you know if you have family members and friends who drink that's probably not the best people to be around especially if you had the propensity to drink in times past it's probably not good to associate with those people well I'm strong no take heed lest ye fall he that standeth take heed lest ye fall whatever once in a while well you know what it may be that once in a while that you actually get tempted you do it and it cost you your life okay better to just separate from that stuff as much as possible well what am I gonna do I have no friends who do you call these people these are my friends this is my family right here obviously I have family outside of church but to be honest with you I'm closer to my family here than I am to my own family I'm not talking about my wife and kids I'm talking about extended family that'd be weird you know my wife and kids those that's my life right there okay but aside from them my church these are my peeps these are my my cunados not cunados was a carnales right here okay you know these are my these um this is my family all right well that's weird no because that's that's exactly how our church family should operate okay we exhort one another daily okay and we're there for one another we have a family bond okay and so much the more because we're so like-minded and what we believe okay so keep that in mind good riddance to those relationships because it could have killed you good riddance to bad health because it was killing you good riddance to bad relationships because they were holding you back from serving God as you should have okay go to John 15 John 15 John chapter 15 I remember that the evening when we were told that we can no longer come to church and they they told us you know you have one week like they give me a deadline like you got one week you know and I was like that was on a Thursday and I remember I was like just just completely floored over that thought and I told my wife I was like he's giving us one week to like leave and she's like where we're gonna go and I was like I don't know I have no idea so then I remember on Sunday I said you know what we won't even give him the week well this will just be our last service and I and I purchased gift cards for the pastor and I went to him and I said I just want to thank you for everything you've ever done for us thank you for being my friend my pastor you're the first person who ever visited me when I first got saved you mean a lot to me here's the gift cards thank you and he was like see ya he was like he was basically like good riddance right and I remember literally going home just with my wife in tears and I'm not the crying type but that evening I was like weeping and wailing and gnashing my teeth you know because I'm thinking like I can't believe it came to this you know you know someone in probably a year before that someone who believes in the posture pre-wrath rapture doctrine they told they specifically told me this they said don't tell anybody here because if you do you're done and I told that person oh are you trying to say what do you mean by done you're like they will like black list you like you're gonna be done and I said no you're exaggerating my pastor would never do that to me this is my family these are my these are my friends I've known these people for years they were like responsible for my spiritual growth this is a ridiculous thing that you're saying and sure enough that's exactly what happened and everyone when it happened I was just like this is the most devastating thing that's ever happened to us but you know looking back good riddance good riddance in fact they should have kicked me out sooner way I see it you know they should have kicked me out sooner and you know certain relationships and congregations even it can be hurtful sometimes you know because I think everyone the new avenues they're just like these mean spirited no heart no we we have feelings too we have emotions too we hurt like everyone else but at the end of the day we know that that could have been look if we stayed where we're at my family part would have died spiritually in a sense I was very fearful what was gonna happen to my son if he grew up in that church like that that that plot alone stressed me out I think myself like man I don't want my kid to be in the nursery I don't want my kid to go to Sunday school class I don't want him to be around these lukewarm faggoty looking Christians you know he's gonna be his friends like cuz I'm like you can observe the people who are his age you know and it's like this is not a good environment for my son I have to like work extra hard to make sure they're like you know he's in the ways of the Lord and it's unfortunate that we're gonna be here and I was fearful my wife can tell you I was like stressed out about it and you know what thank God for that hurt amen thank God for that painful affliction because now my son has like all his best friends are in this church you know they have that train that went after church where they run and they destroy everything even though the pastor says don't destroy everything they did not people places and things over you know he loves coming to church he hears the preaching of his dad you know and it's a great environment for him now that could have been that could have cost him his spiritual life you know I could have done everything on my part but obviously you know a Christian's life should always be tied to a local assembly and that was the local assembly where we're at and so thank God for that it was a matter of life or death sometimes knowing that why is it why is a good riddance a good thing because it's necessary in order to bear much fruit look at the Bible says in John 15 verse 1 I am the true vine and my father is the husband man every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it then it may bring forth more fruit you see in order for you to win more people to Christ by the way when it talks about bearing fruits I'm about sowing amen you know sometimes sometimes God has to purge you remove people who are just slowing you down weights and places environments habits in order for you to be a more effective soul winner and I guarantee you some of you were so winners before this church but you're so much the more soul winner now because you're here not because you know I'm anything great or the people who hear anything great it's just because when you're in an environment that that talks about promotes soul winning it's just gonna you people are gonna catch on okay you know I forgot to mention this in the habit sermon but you know they often say that in order to create a good habit you got to be in a good environment where that habit is well established and promoted you know if you want to be a good soul winner it's hard to do it at a church that sucks at sewing right you ask anybody who goes to a church and maybe they're there they listen to our sermons and they go to church where they don't do any so winning it's hard for them it's sometimes difficult you know because especially if the pastor's not sold the pastor's not preaching on it doing it you know exemplifying it it's hard for them to do it's hard to be motivated to go preach the gospel sometimes well not for me yeah I know you're mr. hyper spiritual I get that but for the rest of us normal people you know Fred for the rest of us peasants you know it's not as easy to do that okay we some that's why the local church is necessary because we exhort one another you know if you came in here you know and you're kind of like a about sowing you can't be in a conversation without getting motivated to go preach the gospel because everyone's doing it and then you kind of feel like out of place if you don't do it which is a good thing okay and so if you want to bear much fruit sometimes you have to separate yourself from lukewarm fire extinguishing type Christians and get with those who are on fire for the Lord preaching the gospel to bear much fruit well I'm already bearing much fruit well you know what then that means God's gonna purge you even more in order to bear more fruit okay and look this year we're taking it to the next level I mean we've been we've the map is getting blue and more blue I mean pretty much south Omani is done north Omani is almost done temple city you know is temple city up there in the north but you know what this year Belize going to Belize seen hundreds of people saved and Belize and look I have this vision to that every Sony team leader will take ownership of a country amen you know we have six team leaders and the vision that because I met with them prior to the the year ending and I said man I want every one of you guys to take ownership of a country you know and that'll be your country that you're responsible for Glenn where's Glenn Glenn you got Belize that's your country you know he's responsible for that country and look he took me why he said why did you choose Glenn because he already went he didn't wait for March he's just like I'm going in December you know he went they saw a lot of people saved they were very successful and if we're gonna be successful in fulfilling the Great Commission you know what we have to do is I can't just go so winning everywhere around the world the team leaders here have to take ownership of a country and say this is the country where I'm gonna preach the gospel out for the rest of my life I'm gonna take trips there whenever I can I'm gonna encourage people to go with me and this is how we're gonna get the job done amen and so you know this doesn't happen at regular churches your average church that doesn't go so winning they don't have that vision it's not gonna happen in order for you to be a part of that you have to separate yourself from certain people who kind of oh you're going to preach the gospel we just hand out tracks here okay well that's your real little prideful by asking people the hundred percent question you know no here we do door hangers you know we put the door hanger on the door and run it's the ding-dong ditch ministry okay no we open our mouths boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel okay go to Matthew 7 Matthew chapter number seven good riddance if it wasn't for that person getting rid of us or we get rid of that person or that leader or that church or whatever maybe it could have been life or death if it wasn't for those people getting rid of me or getting rid of you you know what we wouldn't have borne all this fruit this is how we have to see these things we have to see it for what it produced not for what we lost you know if you constantly dwell on what you lost you're not going to focus on what can be done because of that loss every loss opens up a vacuum for you to fill in with God's will to do something for the Lord but let me say this if you rid yourself of that person but you don't fill it with something else then yeah you're just gonna be this miser this miserable miser just moody person because you're always dwelling on what you lost what you need to do is fill that gap fill that void with work don't let it be in vain say well God remove this now it's time to fill it with something else okay don't just dwell in the past well in 2019 time for a new decade amen time for a new decade here's the last point that I want to say is that why is a good riddance a good thing well because it can often obscure our vision and our ability to help others that's why okay look at Matthew 7 verse 3 and why behold the style the moat that is in thy brother's eye but consider is not the beam that is in thine own eye or how would thou say to thy brother let me pull out the moat out of thine eye and behold a beam is in thine own eye thou hypocrite first cast out the beam out of thine own eye and then thou shall see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother's eye what is the beam the beam is the person place for thing that's in our eyes it's gonna it's causing us to obscure our vision we can't see clearly okay and once we rid ourselves of that beam that moat what happens well now we can see clearly where there is no vision the people perish but he that keepeth the law happy as he you know in order for us to be able to see past even 2020 we need to make sure that we get rid of certain things whether it's in our personal lives or our personal relationships so we can see further out into the distance we want to be a people of vision parents be a people of vision envision what your children could be you know don't see your children for some you know just he's just always hungry always complaining and all these things why don't you see him for what he could be and I'm not saying oh he's gonna be a pastor one day I'm not saying that's a bad thing but how about just a godly person so wonder who loves the Lord you know the vision I have for my son I want him to be a great husband one day I want it to be a great father one day I want him to love the Lord with all his heart soul mind and strength and look if I can instill within him within him to be those things all kinds of opportunities to serve God will open up whether being a pastor an evangelist a deacon the possibilities are endless you and it takes it takes a father takes a mother to have vision for that child okay but you can't do that if you have the beam you can't do that if you have the moat you know good riddance to the beam good riddance to the moat because it obscured our vision we can't see very clearly you know we need to press towards the mark what is the sermon for this morning it's simply this hey stop mourning stop crying stop whining okay and just say good riddance to that sucker good riddance to that bad habit good riddance to that leader good riddance to those pastors see us suckers you know I don't like your preaching anyways I can't believe you said it good riddance means like bye you know you leaving leaves another void for me to fill in with a new friend okay more opportunities this is how we have to see this don't live in the past don't mourn dance amen we need to make sure that we have that attitude and look at the end of 2020 or we're gonna be same good riddance but we're also gonna be rejoicing we're gonna we're gonna dance okay we're gonna leave for joy I need to start saying that instead okay we're gonna leave for joy we're gonna rejoice over the successes and accomplishment the enactments that we did in 2020 but just keep remembering that you know good riddance to those things we're done with that amen inspire heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word thank you for purging us of bad relationships or bad environments bad habits these are good losses and Lord you're gonna continue to purchase throughout the years and we can't dwell on a past relationship we can't dwell on a past habit or accomplishments we need to keep moving forward and recognize that you remove things so you can add things to us and I pray God that you'd help us to continue to see how that mentality thank you for 2019 thank you for all that you've done in and through your people here at this church all the souls that were saved the tears the laughter the hurts the accomplishments everything thank you for everything I pray God that you give us a great 2020 it's it's a beginning of a new decade and help us to capitalize on that very concept and recognize that we have another 10 years to do great things for you and I pray that you show yourself strong on our behalf as individuals but also as a church and help us to be a church that honors and glorifies your name and in Jesus name we pray amen