Leaving The Past Behind

There was a baby born in 1890 in a place called Henryville, Indiana, and he was the firstborn to a couple. He was given the name Harlan David, and when he was five years old, his father died. His mother got a job in a tomato cannery. And at age 6, little Harlan David was given the responsibility to cook and care for his two younger siblings. When he was 10, he began working as a farmhand.

And at age 12 he dropped out of school. And at age 13, he left home. He falsified his birth certificate at age 16 and joined the army after having a couple of different jobs as a farmhand and painting streetcars and even as a streetcar conductor. A few months after joining the army, he received an honorable discharge. He worked for many railroads.

He got fired from several jobs. He studied law at night, and he actually became a lawyer. But his practice ended after he got into a courtroom brawl. He went through a divorce. He sold insurance.

He started a ferry boat company that failed. He started a company making lamps, but it failed. He sold tires. He ran a gas station. The station closed a few years later because of the Great Depression.

He got another gas station in Kentucky, and he started serving meals at the gas station and built a reputation of being quite a cook. He eventually acquired a motel in Asheville, North Carolina. But in 1939, just a few months after he bought was destroyed by fire. He rebuilt the motel, but he had to close it in 1941 because of gas rations. In World War II, he reached his middle 60s.

He looked back over a life of mostly failure. Many, many jobs, many business ventures that he tried, and none of them really succeeded. And at 8:65, Harlan got his very first Social Security check. It totaled $105. He took that check, along with some savings, and he began driving around in his car, sharing his secret recipe for fried chicken with restaurants, often sleeping in his car.

In 1959, he opened a new restaurant in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and he called it Kentucky fried chicken. In 1963, he trademarked the phrase finger looking good.

Harlan David's last name is Sanders. We know him as Colonel Sanders.

Colonel Sanders had an ability to do something that I feel like is very important for you and I as we move into this brand new year. And I really have felt for a couple of months that I was to challenge you to do what Harlan did. Harlan had an ability, as he looked back over a life that was marked mostly by failure, had an ability to do something that I feel like is key for all of us now. Maybe it's because today I'm turning 60. But whatever the reason, I feel a little more contemplative today than I normally would feel.

I think back over the past six decades of my life and my heart is filled with deep gratitude. I will soon celebrate 40 years of marriage to a beautiful girl that I led to the Lord in high school. That sits right here on the front row. And that is an amazing mother, grandmother, wife, pastor, and a godly woman. We have five children and four grandchildren and I'm grateful for that.

I have preached the gospel on five different continents. This year I will celebrate 40 years of full time vocational ministry. I have authored four books. I have endured and I underline the word endured numerous times. And I have enjoyed four decades of ministry.

I had the privilege, coming up on 19 years ago of planting this place called the Refuge in the basement of a house and watching God over the last 18 and a half years expand this house to have a worldwide influence. And I'm so grateful. I'm so thankful. Over the past six decades, I have weathered storms physically, some of them that only a small handful of people even know about.

I've weathered financial storms. Like many of you. I have been betrayed more times than I can count. I've been falsely accused. I pastored this church and many of you through Covid an enormously challenging and difficult time and watched God pour out his blessings on this place in such a powerful way.

I've had the great privilege of leading thousands of people to Jesus and I never take that for granted. I have performed hundreds of weddings and funerals. I have dedicated scores of babies. And I regret that I did not keep up over the last 40 years of how many babies I've dedicated. I have reached the age that now I'm dedicating the babies of people that I dedicated.

You know you're getting old when you're dedicating the babies of people that you dedicated. I've given my life, literally for the Capital C Church since I was a young teenager. I've given my life for the kingdom of God. And now at the age of 60, in just four months, I'm preparing to ride a bicycle 3,400 miles from the coast of California, the coast of South Carolina, in an effort to raise a million dollars for Love Life to see the greatest moral dilemma of our day, where 63 million babies have been killed and that we know of since 1973, to see that come to an end.

I don't know what 2023 holds.

I'm believing for you and for myself that it's the greatest year that we've ever had. I know this. I will not shed one tear to see 2022 gone. Bye bye. I'm not even looking over my shoulder to wave goodbye.

I'm waving like this to 2022. Let me tell you, it ranks in the top five of the most challenging and difficult years that I've ever had in ministry, in 40 years of ministry. Bye bye 2022 audios I don't know what 2023 holds. I don't know what it holds for this church entirely. I have many dreams for 2023 for this church.

I have many dreams for you. I have many dreams for my family. I have many dreams for my life. I have dreams of making it 3,400 miles across the country. I don't know what all is going to happen, but I've made a decision and I want to challenge you today to make the same decision.

I've decided this. Regardless of what 2023 holds, regardless of what happened in 2022, let me tell you, I've decided I'm going to leave my past behind. I'm moving on. I'm leaving it behind. And the Apostle Paul writes some words to us that are familiar, that are found in Philippians chapter three that I want us to just take a look at today.

And I want you to stand to honor the word of God. Why don't you go ahead and turn there? Philippians chapter three. We're going to read three verses there. The notes are on the app, as always.

And if you don't have a Bible or device, we put the verses up on the screen. But the Apostle Paul says this. I've not yet reached my goal.

I've not yet reached my goal. I've reached a lot of goals, but there's still more. And I'm not perfect. All of you know that. But Christ has taken hold of me.

So I keep on running and struggling. How many of you know life is a struggle? I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. He says, my friends, I don't feel like I've already arrived. But I forget what is behind and I struggle for what is ahead.

Come on, listen. The blessings of God don't always come easy. We have to fight for them. We have to work for them. We have to take on the enemies and the Goliaths of our day that try to take us down.

But I believe 2023 holds some of the greatest blessings we've ever known. But Paul says, I'm going to struggle for those blessings for what is ahead. Verse 14. I run toward the goal so I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.

Come on. Is anybody in the place ready to leave the past behind? Come on, it's January 1st, 2023.

Come on, let's make some declarations before you're seated today. And we'll jump into this and unpack a few verses. Everybody out loud. Ready, go. I will hide this word in my heart.

This word is life to my body and health to my bones. I will be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. And I am confident of this that he who has begun a good work in me. Come on, church. In Jesus name, Amen.

You can be seated. I've really felt for a while to challenge you with a story from Genesis chapter 26 as we begin this new year. Genesis chapter 26. Beginning in verse one, it says, and there was a famine in the land besides the previous famine in Abraham's time. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerard.

And the Lord appeared to Isaac and said, do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants, I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father, Abraham. I'll make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands.

And through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed. Because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions. Now, logically, for Isaac, in the midst of this great famine, it would have made sense for him to go to Egypt. Egypt represented provision. And if Isaac were just left to his own abilities or to his own sense of reason and logic, Isaac probably without hesitation would have gone to Egypt.

But Isaac had made a decision to follow in the footsteps of his father Abraham, who, according to the Bible, Abraham obeyed God and he did everything that was required of him. And so Isaac says, I choose to live by revelation rather than by calculation. Come on, somebody in 2023, like, how many of you know we will fare well if we live by the revelation of the Holy Spirit and not by our own ability to figure stuff out like it would have made sense for him to go to Egypt. But Isaac decides, I'm going to stay where God has me. I'm going to trust God in this moment.

And you'll see in a few moments that not only did he make the decision to stay, say, but there came a time that he had to move on. There came a time that he had to move forward. But the blessing for him and for future generations was not attached to how God had previously provided, but it was attached to his willingness to defy logic and to obey. And I've said to you many times that your obedience and your disobedience always has a ripple effect. It's not just about you.

Whether you choose to obey God in 2023, whether you choose to live a holy life in 2023, whether you choose to be a tither and a giver or to generously serve with your time, it's not just affecting you, but it has a ripple effect to the generations that are coming behind you. It affects your family members. It affects those who are standing by and watching. And I really want to challenge you that you make a decision that you're not just going to depend on what worked yesterday or a decade ago or last year, but you're going to trust God in the moment, and you're going to be led by the Spirit. I want to challenge you in 2023 that you cannot, number one, put God in a box.

And there are a lot of believers who want to figure God out, and they want to restrict God to some formula. They want to put God in a box and say, well, I know how God works. I know how God's going to move. And if I do this, God's going to do that. Let me tell you something, my friend.

You will forfeit the blessings of God if you try to box God. In number two, I challenge you in 2023 that you not limit God. Limit God? You say, well, how do we limit God? God is full of power.

God is sovereign. God is in control. You limit God by small faith and by small prayers.

In 2023, I challenge you expand your faith. Know who God is. Stay in his word. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the word of God.

And don't be afraid to pray. Bold prayers to pray, big prayers don't limit God. My oldest grandson has a minibike that he got last Christmas. And that minibike stays at our house. And when he comes over to our house, he has more places he can ride.

So the minibike stays there. But when the minibike comes from the factory, it has a thing on it called a governor. And the purpose of the governor is to keep it from going too fast. And my youngest son, who just wanted to be A blessing to his nephew, to my grandson, figured out how to do what any boy would do, and that is take the governor off. Because it's all about the speed, baby.

So nowadays you can watch a YouTube video and figure out how to do anything. And so sure enough, they take the governor off and the minibike goes much faster than what it did. Listen, my point is, there are so many believers who have put a governor on God and they've restricted God in his ability to pour out his blessings on their life because they have small faith and they're praying small prayers. Here's a third thing. I challenge you in 2023 that you do not demand that God do things your way.

Listen, I've been guilty of this before where I have put God on the clock. Come on, anybody know what I'm talking about? Well, God, I fasted and prayed in Selah this year. And so you know What, God, by March 1st, I'm trusting that pay raise is coming. And you put God on the clock, or you kind of lay out how God needs to work in your life or how God needs to move in your life.

Well, God, I've been faithful. I've been tithing now in 2023 already, God. And I'm trusting that because I did that, God. Now here's what I need for you to do. And they just kind of lay it out for God, like God's not smart enough to figure out what he needs to do for you.

And they limit God by demanding that God do it their way and on their time frame. And I challenge you in 2023, you do not make the mistake of doing that. Let me show you from Scripture what happened when the Israelites did that.

Numbers, chapter 21, verse 5. It says, and they began to speak against God and Moses. This is soon after they've been delivered from bondage in Egypt. Here's what they said. Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?

They complained. They complained. There's nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. Was that true, church?

And we hate this horrible manna supernatural food being provided for them. And we hate this. They say it. Let me just hit the pause button for a moment if you want to absolutely ruin and Wreck 2023. Let a spirit of mumbling and grumbling and complaining take root in your heart, where you begin to despise the provision and the blessings of God.

Or maybe because God's not doing it your way, or you didn't get that pay raise, or you're not Driving that new vehicle or somebody else is being blessed and you're not being blessed. And so this spirit of complaining takes over and you start mumbling and complaining about what God didn't do, rather than focusing on the plethora of blessings that are all around you every single day, your life. Now watch what happens when the spirit of mumbling and complaining came over them. So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. Was that God's fault or their fault?

It was their fault. And then the people came to Moses and they cried out, we have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Watch this. Pray that the Lord would take away the snakes. And so Moses prayed for the people.

Moses was a godly man because they were not only complaining about the provision of God, they were complaining about his leadership. That's why I say Moses was a godly man. I think I would have been tempted to go, you brought this on yourself. No, I wouldn't do that to you. I'd pray for you.

And then the Lord told him, make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole, and all who are bitten will live if they simply look at it. And so Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. And then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed. Supernatural provision, supernatural vehicle for the healing presence of God to flow. Now, that doesn't make sense.

Like, why would God choose to do that? Because you can't put him in a box. You can't have some formula. God does things differently in different ways. And he tells Moses, I mean, he's healed before and he could have healed the same way.

But he says, now fashion this bronze servant, hold it up. Anybody who's bitten, if they just look at it, boom. Healed. Supernatural provision, supernatural vehicle for the presence of God. But watch what happens.

Because the Israelites tried to box God in. They tried to figure God out. They limited God. They demanded that God do it their way. Look, 900 years later, watch what happens in Second Kings, chapter 18.

He, meaning Hezekiah, did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight, just as his ancestor David had done. And he removed the pagan shrine, smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. Watch. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it. Nine hundred years later, going, God, because you move that way with our ancestors, you've got to move that way.

Now, still expecting, because God flowed through that in A supernatural way. That's how God had to move. And if you're not careful, my friends, you're going to limit God in 2023 and say, God, you moved in my life 10 years ago, five years ago, five weeks ago. And God, you've got to do it that way again in 2023. You provided for me, God, you supernaturally came through and healed me, and you got to do it the same way again.

And God says, no, no, no. I'm the God of the new thing.

Isaiah 43, verse 18 and 19. It springs up in our midst. Do you not see it? The prophet says, he does a new thing. He makes rivers in the wasteland, streams in the desert.

You're fixated on how God moved before. And you're going to miss the blessing of God in 2023 if you demand that God do it your way. Let's go back Back to Genesis 26, verse 12. And when Isaac planted his crops that year. You guys with me?

On January 1st. Come on. Are y' all getting anything out of this so far this morning?

Verse 12 says that Isaac planted his crops that year, and he harvested, watch, a hundred times more grain than he planted. Anybody receive that? For the Lord blessed him, and he became a very rich man. And his wealth continued to grow. And he acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.

And so the Philistines filled up all of Isaac's wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father Abraham. Go back to verse 12. In a different version, it says, then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year hundredfold. In the same year a hundredfold.

And the Lord blessed him. But notice what we read in verse 15. The blessing is often accompanied by adversity. It's often accompanied by struggle. We read that in the words of Paul in Philippians chapter three.

And here's Isaac, who's prospering. He's planted seed. I want you to notice now what he did in the midst of a famine. He planted seed. I've known so many believers when times get difficult, when times get tough.

I shared this with you weeks ago, that when Covid hit and our giving here at the refuge dropped over 30% in one day. And I immediately went to our CFO and I said, we're gonna write some checks. Cause I believe in the law of sowing and reaping. And his eyes got about this big. I had a list of checks like substantial checks.

I said, we're gonna bless ministries, we're gonna bless missionaries. And we started writing checks. Because the principle of sowing and reaping is a law like gravity, and you can't change that. You can't change that. And so in the same year that Isaac is experiencing this great famine, what's he choose to do?

He could have hoarded his seed and said, I'm going to save this for a time where rain comes. But he planted in the midst of the famine. And the Bible says because he did that, he reaped a hundredfold in the same year. This year, I want to challenge you, Church. Keep sowing.

Keep sowing. Even in famine, even when times are tough, even when the bills stack up, even when the Christmas bills come in and the credit card bills come in. And if you're like me during the cold snap last week, where it was really, really cold, I woke up one morning, it said 9 degrees in my pickup truck when I got out to make a little necessary run to Duncan, y' all stop that. Y' all stop that. Judging you, judging nine degrees and our heat goes out.

And two days after Christmas, I spent $400, right? Anybody know what I'm talking about? It's just real life stuff.

Like, even when the bills come in and stuff happens, even when times are tough, I cannot challenge enough to just stay obedient. His word works. It's a law of sowing and reaping. Just stay faithful and stay obedient. Live in the realm of revelation, of the word of God, and not calculation and logic of saying, well, this doesn't make sense.

I can't do this. We've got all these bills. It takes faith to obey the word of God, but God always honors that. Secondly, not only keep sowing, but listen. Keep expecting.

Not because God owes you anything.

No. But because he's a good father and he always keeps his word and he always honors faith, and he always honors obedience. And Galatians 6, 9. You will reap if you don't faint, if you don't quit, if you don't slip over into disobedience, if you stay faithful, if you stay obedient. It's a law that cannot change.

You will reap in due season, it says. Now, the problem for a lot of people is they put God on the clock. God, I sowed. Now I'm expecting by such and such a time that I'm going to reap. And you don't get to decide that.

But he's smarter than you are. And he knows when you need the provision and he knows how you need the provision. And if you'll just trust him. Is there anybody in the place that can say, I know the faithfulness of God. Come on, let me see your hand.

Come on, somebody show me. I know the faithfulness of God.

Come on, somebody. Bishop, do you know the faithfulness of God? Come on. Do you know what I'm talking about, Melanie? Do we know the faithfulness of God?

For years we've known the faithfulness of God. Come on, keep expecting. In 2023, he doesn't owe you anything, but he desires to bless you. Number three. Keep receiving.

Keep receiving.

Just keep receiving. Don't limit God. Limit the blessings of God. God never, never wants you to feel guilty about his blessings. I've said this many times before.

But God does want you to feel responsible for his blessings. We have a responsibility to steward well the blessings of God. But he gives, see to who church seed to sowers so you can keep receiving as he increases your store of seed. As you are just faithful to distribute that. Listen, if you pile up manure, if you pile it up, it stinks and draws a lot of flies.

But if you spread the manure around, it helps things grow. If you pile up the blessings of God in your life, guess what happens? The thing that is supposed to be a blessing to others becomes a curse unless you give it away. Keep receiving. Not because he owes you anything, but because he's a good father.

Come on, will you just lift your hands for a moment? Come on, just lift your hands in this place. Come on. I want you to just begin to say, God, I receive in 2023. I receive your blessings, God.

I'm not going to feel guilty about your blessings, Lord. I want to steward well your blessings in my life. And God, I don't want to limit you. I trust that you're a good father. I trust that you know what I need.

And so, God, I choose today to receive everything that you want to entrust to me. To extend your heart and to extend your hands and to be a greater blessing to others around me. I receive your blessings in 2023. I believe you want to prosper me in Jesus name. Hallelujah.

Listen, listen. The kind of prosperity that I'm talking about, it's not relegated to the new Jaguar suv that maybe you're believing God for. Maybe it's on your prayer list. And if that's the case, there's no shade, no judgment here. But so many people limit the prosperity of God to just material Things.

And I'm not talking. There's so much more than that. Like, I want to see your marriage prosper in 2023. I want to see your children prosper and your business prosper and your health to prosper and your thought life to prosper. I want to see addictions broken off of you.

I want to see things go to a new level in your relationship with Jesus. Come on. That's the kind of prosperity I'm talking about. In addition to God wanting to pour out blessings on you, finances on you, material blessings, like God wants you to be able to take a fun vacation with your family, God wants you to be able to live in a nice place, whatever. But there's more to prosperity than just that.

Come on. Are y' all with me? We're gonna. We're gonna wrap this up. Verse 16.

Abimelech orders him to leave because he has become too powerful. We read a moment ago, it says the Philistines became jealous of him. Listen to me. Listen. When you prosper in 2023, whatever God does, as he pours out his anointing, his spirit, his presence, his peace, his blessings on your family, on your business, on your life, as God pours out his blessings on you, not everybody's going to rejoice.

Not everybody's going to celebrate the prosperity and the blessings of God for you. As a matter of fact, some people are going to be really insecure about that. Some people are going to be jealous of that. And some people are even going to be angry about that because they're not being blessed the way you're being blessed. Adversity may come, but I believe if adversity does come in the midst of the blessings of God, God has a way of leading you to greater blessings.

Verse 17:18. So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley, where he set up their tents and he settled down and he reopened the wells that his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham's death. Isaac also restored the names that Abraham had given to them. I believe in order for us to experience the fulfillment of the blessings of God in 2023, we have to be willing to keep moving. There's a time the Spirit of God may say to you, you stay where you are.

Logically, it might make sense for you to do a certain thing, but God might say, no, no, no, you stay where you are. I think it's important that we're led by the Spirit. Led by the Spirit. In 2023, there were times that the Israelites would camp. They would unpack the tabernacle and all of the furnishings, and they would stay there for months before the pillar of cloud or the pillar of fire would move.

And then they would follow that. They didn't know there wasn't some formula that said, okay, we're going to be here for two months, and then we got to move again, so everybody be ready now to pack up, because we're going to to move again in two months. Now, there were times that they would unpack everything, and it was a lot of work, and they'd be there a week, and all of a sudden the pillar of cloud would move. I think in order for us to experience the blessings of God, we have to be willing to keep moving. Come on, look at your neighbor and say, keep moving.

Come on, don't get stuck. Don't box God in. Keep moving. Keep. Verse 19 through 22.

Isaac's servants also dug in the Gerar valley and discovered a well of fresh water. But watch. Then the shepherds from Gerar came and they claimed the spring. This is our water, they said. And they argued over it with Isaac's herdsmen.

So Isaac named the well Esek, which means argument.

Are you going to face some disputes? You're going to face some arguments, you're going to face some disruptions, people that are against you, people that try to make your life challenging. And Isaac could have said, no, there's promises attached to this land. Through my father, Abraham, we belong here. We dug that well.

We reopened that well. It belongs to us. He could have dug his heels in and said, go, boy.

But watch.

Isaac's men then dug another well and said, you know what? In the midst of this dispute and argument, we still trust God. Have it. You have that will. We know our God.

We'll go over here, we'll dig another well. So that's what they did. Dug another well. And again, the herdsmen came over and they argued and they said, hey, that's our well. That's our water.

And so watch what happens. Isaac named it Sitna, which means hostility.

Chances are in 2023, you're going to face some hostility.

Isaac could have gotten discouraged. The herdsmen could could have gotten discouraged and said, you know what? We keep trying. We're digging. We're being faithful.

We've moved. We've moved twice now. This stuff keeps happening. God must not love us. God must not be faithful.

That's what a lot of believers do.

That's maybe what some of you have done. I've been there before, man. When God didn't come through the way that I hoped he would or I thought he would. I got very discouraged. But they didn't do that.

What'd they do? They just kept moving. You want that? Will have it. We know our God.

So they kept moving. Come on, somebody say keep moving. Come on. We're going to Keep moving in 2023, as a family, as a church, we're going to keep moving. We're not going to get stuck.

We're going to follow the presence of God. We're going to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We're going to keep moving. So they, they did that. They abandoned that one verse 22 and Isaac moved on and dug another well.

And this time there was no dispute over it. So Isaac named the place Rehoboth, which means open space. For he said, watch. At last the Lord has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.

Come on, anybody want to grab hold of that? I believe this. In 2023, there's going to be adversity, there's going to be struggles, there's going to be hostility, there's going to be arguments, there's going to be people who are jealous or insecure of the blessings of God on your life. And you can just dig your heels in, you can pick a fight with people, you can say, it's mine, I have a right to be here. Or you can give up your rights and say, I trust my God.

And we'll just keep moving. We'll keep moving because we trust God's leading us to a place of prosperity. And finally, eventually they came to a place and dug a well and there was no dispute over it. And they said at last God has brought us to a place where there's enough room and enough space for us to prosper. And I'm declaring, declaring over you in 2023, God's going to bring you to a place of blessing and prosperity.

But I believe it hinges on this thing that you forget the past, that you leave the past behind. You leave comfort zones behind, you leave unhealthy relationships behind because they represent a false sense of security from for you. That you leave addiction behind, you leave depression behind, that you leave a man made provision behind and you trust God. I believe with all of my heart that if you'll do that, God's going to pour out his blessings on you in 2023 in a way that we've never, that we've never known before. I don't say that to just try to pump you up.

And January the first. Here we go. Come on. I say that based on the word of God and who I know him to be. And I believe that for you.

Come on, stand to your feet. Father, I thank you for who you are. You're a keeper of your word. You're trustworthy, you're dependable. Oh, God, you have a great track record.

God, there were times in my life I did not know how I would pay the rent. And you came through times, oh God, where I was so sick and you touched my body. Times, oh God, where I felt so hurt and wounded and offended. And you came and you ministered to me, God, and you restored my soul like a good shepherd. God, I thank you.

You have a good track record.

Lord, I choose to focus on your faithfulness. And I believe, God, in 2023, you're going to give us the ability that Paul talked about. Forgetting what lies in the past, I struggle, I press on. I lean, I run. I apprehend the blessing of the prize, of the high call calling of God in Christ Jesus.

God, I believe for the people that are here and the people that are watching online, that you have great blessings. You have divine surprises, divine suddenlies that are going to come this year and that if we'll just stay faithful. I believe it's a year of breakthrough. I believe it's a year of miracles. I believe it's a year of victory.

Are you year of peace. I believe it's a year that you're going to restore joy to some people. And I even feel that this morning, God, you're going to restore joy to some people that have not had joy for years. God. I believe you're going to break bondages of addiction.

I believe, oh God, that people that have been tormented in their mind that they're going to experience the shalom of God, the peace of God in a way that they've not known before. I'm declaring that over this house, over these people, today, in the mighty name of Jesus. God, some that maybe are here today, January 1st, and they're saying, I've got to make some changes. I need to surrender my life to Jesus. I've tried to do it my own way.

And today maybe you logged online or you showed up in this place because you know something's got to change. And let me just tell you, nothing will change until you allow Jesus to come sit on the throne of your heart and call the shots in your life. And if you're here today and you're not in a right relationship with Jesus, this is your chance this is your moment.

This is your opportunity. Just say, jesus, I trust that you can wash me from the inside out. You can make me brand new. And I ask you to come into my heart. Come on.

If that's you, you can pray that right now. Put your hand over your heart. I ask you, Jesus, today, to come into my heart and to forgive me. I take responsibility for my mistakes. I ask you, oh, God, to make all things new in my life and help me in 2023 to live for you and to leave the past behind.

Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Hallelujah, Lord. Come on, now. If there's some of you and you're here today and you've already.

Maybe you've brought some baggage into 2023 that God never intended for you to carry. Maybe it's bitterness or unforgiveness. Maybe it's fear, maybe it's depression. Maybe it's an addiction. Whatever it is, is.

You just know I gotta. I gotta leave that behind me. Come on. I want you to lift your hands right now across this place. Come on.

If there's some stuff in your life you're saying, I know. I need to leave that behind. I need to leave that unforgiveness behind. I need to leave that disappointment behind. I boxed God in.

I put God on the clock and he didn't come through. And ever since I've been mad, I've been ticked off at him. Come on, if that's you. Come on, lift your hands. Lift your hand.

Come on, we're gonna pray. I believe God's gonna set you free today. God's gonna destroy and demolish some strongholds in your life. Come, it's a new day. It's a new thing that he wants to do in your midst.

Father, you see every person who's lifted their hand, and I pray things would be broken off of them. Chains of bondage, shackles. Oh, God. Would fall to the ground in the name of Jesus. And I pray, God, that you would do the new thing.

Let it spring up inside of them. And that they would choose today to live by revelation, following the leading of the Spirit of God and not following their own logic, their own intellect. I pray, God, that they would leave behind offenses. They would leave behind jealousy, pride, fear, lust, addiction. They would say goodbye to unhealthy relationships or unhealthy habits.

And today, God, would be a day that a new paradigm is set in place through the spirit of God. And we thank you for that. God. I declare the new thing today. We'll leave the past behind.

It's going to be a great year for us. We believe you for that. In the name of Jesus. Now come on, if you believe that, come on. Would you just lift your hands across this place.

I want the team to lead us. We're just going to end with a song of worship. Come on, would you just lift your hands? You're just surrendering to the Lord God on this first day of 2023. Lord, I give you my life, I give you my past mistakes, my failures.

Like Harland Sanders, God looked over the littered course of his life, a failure after failure, and said, I refuse to quit. I'm going to forget what's behind. I'm going to keep moving ahead. God help us to, to do that today. And I pray, Father, right now we would experience the new thing.

The new thing. The new thing. Lord, let us become aware of who you are. In the name of Jesus. Come on, church, let's sing it today.