DEC 29 2019 | The Year of the Lord’s Favor

Sea Change Church · "The Year of the Lord's Favor" Pastor Dr. James Smith III · December 29, 2019
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

My name is Olin Ellis and I'm part of the worship ministry here. This morning our scripture reference is from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 6 verses 1 through 8. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and exalted, seated on a throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

And they were calling to one another, holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory. At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. Woe to me, I cried. I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord almighty. Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it, he touched my mouth and said, See, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send me. Isaiah 7 verse 14. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel. And Isaiah 9 verse 6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The word of the Lord. It's a privilege to be invited to share this morning. I'm Pastor Jim, a part-time associate here at La Jolla Christian Fellowship. And we are, if I might suggest it as we begin just our time of study here, we are in a sense on a bridge between the years 2019 and 2020. And that analogy is not original to me, but the idea that we are, in fact, moving individually and as families and as circles of friends, but also together as a church family, as Pastor Adam suggested, into this new year is a significant concept.

We're on the move. It's only a few days away. And so with that, what we're doing this morning for our study, as the notes suggest in your worship folder, is looking at three significant passages in which people in Bible times, in these situations, found themselves in a new year, sometimes in a new season, sometimes in various circumstances, and sought out the Lord and discovered the Lord's special presence in a way forward in a manner that was life-giving instead of something else.

And so with that, we're going to begin this morning, as your notes suggest, in the book of Isaiah. And with that, we're looking back a ways. The text is before you. And we are looking at a season that dates from around the year. It says the year that King Uzziah died. That year is about 740 B.C. Most Old Testament scholars will tell us that. And so in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah received his call. This is the first of three texts we're going to be looking at this morning.

Now, as we do this, let's note several things as we have the text before us. The year that King Uzziah died, first of all, as the initial five chapters of Isaiah say, was a mess. It was a mess that King Uzziah left for those who were around him. He started out well. And Isaiah records that he was a person of gifting. He was a person of high purpose, a person of, you know, real achievement. But gradually slid into a situation in the book of Isaiah, these centuries before our Lord's coming, in which he put other things in place of God.

He had misplaced priorities. He went for the popularity button. He did all kinds of different things. I'm summarizing. And so by the time King Uzziah died, the culture around him, the spiritual leadership often, was just a mess. It's in that context that one could imagine Isaiah as someone who desired to be faithful to the Lord. Isaiah saying, what's next? Where do we go from here? Let's look at the text once again, if we may.

And I thank Olin for his reading this morning. What we find in the text is that in the year that King Uzziah died, that Isaiah saw the Lord, had a vision of the Lord seated on this throne, high and exalted. We have read that. We've sung it in a beautiful chorus. Chris, thank you and the team once again for that music. And in that situation, there was a vision of the Lord on the throne. His train fills the temple. And there are these seraphs, these angelic beings, and calling out to one another.

And here's the message of the moment. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. And the whole earth is full of his glory. And the place is shaking. And Isaiah calls out in a particular heartfelt response something that may touch us. Let me say it differently. If we were in a position, especially in our times, in our cultures, if we saw, for example, this vision of here come the angels and here comes the smoke, and boy, does this look like Disney, right?

Look at all this. This is hot. This is great. I love it. Because a better show is better news for me. Often that's the temptation. What does Isaiah say? Isaiah says this isn't about the show. This isn't about the kind of drama that's taking place in itself. What this is about is, as the Lord and his awesome presence has been revealed to me, this isn't about anything other than, whoa, do I fall short. Let me say very simply, at the end of this year, 2019, my confession is I'm a recovering sinner.

How about you? And as a result, when I say nobody's perfect, that's not my free pass. That's my burden. That I know that there are things that I've done or things that I've left undone that fall short of God's purposes, and I've sought to confess those to the Lord in faithful ways. That's Isaiah's response. In fact, confronted with this vision and whether there were colors for others to see or others could see the smoke in this place of worship, we can't tell.

But Isaiah saw it. And through these spiritual eyes, first response is, Woe to me. I'm undone. I'm a flawed person. And I dwell among a people that are flawed, among a people of unclean lips, of half-truths, of lies, of talk and trash. I am in the midst of this. Uzziah's died, but the problem is still with us. So what am I going to do? Because my eyes have seen the King and the Almighty. One of the things that we learn, for example, in American culture from Dr. Martin Luther King, when he could say, you know, I've been to the mountain.

I have a book of his prayers next to my nightstand. And one of the things he says, when I've been to the mountain, when I've seen the vision, the first thing it does is not show me how to become more exalted myself. It shows me how to find my proper place as a servant of the Lord. Woe unto me, for I am undone. So what happens there? What happens is the Lord doesn't say, yeah, you bet you're a bad deal. Yeah, loser. The Lord doesn't say any of those things.

The Lord says, I'm going to act in a way that's full of love and redemption. I'm going to bring it back. And what happens is one of the seraphs flies over with this live coal. It touches his mouth. Your sins have been taken away. Your guilt is atoned for. And whether it's guilt, whether it's shame, whether it's feeling under spiritual oppression, the Lord is able to address that and addresses that here. And he's forgiven.

Sometimes people say, and I have the most interesting conversations here at the church. Sometimes people have said, like it was mentioned a couple weeks ago, if you could memorize, or if I could memorize, they said, any verse in the Bible, what would you suggest I memorize? So my response, you might respond differently, is, well, what kind of person are you? And they said, I'm a person that messes up things sometimes.

I said, go to 1 John 1.9. I admire your honesty. Anybody here know what 1 John 1.9 says? This is a good thing to do before we hit the new year, folks, on the bridge. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from 75% of our unrighteousness. I beg your pardon. On a good day, 83% of your unrighteousness. In a spray bottle, 96% of your... No, you get the idea. What's the passage?

Anybody? 1 John 1.9. If you don't know it, please make note of it today. Because as people who, when we catch a glimpse of the Lord, which is the awesome news, we find, excuse me, I find, that I fall short, then the next step is, am I going to live in guilt? Am I going to live in shame? Am I going to live out? Kind of the sentence. And the answer is, no. God touches me with this bright fire of his grace and his forgiveness, and I can be cleansed if we confess our sins.

The things we've done, things we haven't done, that we ought to have done, God can reach us there. I'd like to do something, if I may, for a moment, because this is not just rattling Scripture. We're going to pause for a moment. May I invite you to ask the Lord this morning, is there something that's a barrier, a barricade, an offense, stuff, Lord, between us, that I need to confess? An attitude, an act, let's take that to the Lord for a moment.

And if there's nothing there, praise God. You can celebrate that in prayer. But if there's something where you say, you know what? I stepped in something. I need to turn this over to the Lord and be forgiven and cleansed. Let's do that right now. May we? Let's bow together. Just in prayer. Ask the Lord, the Spirit, is there something there that I need to confess to you? Lord, teach us to pray. Lord, we thank you for the invitation to come and to confess, to tell the truth about who you are and who we are, and to be healed and cleansed and forgiven.

Thank you, Lord, that this is such a personal thing that we can do as a practice now and into the new year. Guide us, we pray, in paths of righteousness for your namesake. And when we do step in something, oh, Lord, help us to come forward and receive the healing and cleansing we need in Christ's name. Amen. 1 John 1.9. Isaiah experienced, without knowing that passage, New Testament is years ahead. Isaiah experienced that cleansing.

If we were going to outline the passage just before we move on to the next one. If we were to outline the passage, it begins with, Uzziah was a mess. And here comes Isaiah, and Isaiah is attentive. Isaiah is paying attention. Have we noticed that so much of our life at large and in our spiritual life, in our relationships, is just paying attention? May the Lord help us to be attentive to life, to world around us, and within us.

Isaiah was attentive, and that's how he knew. Enough to confess, even as he saw the angels and heard the music and heard the message of the holiness, the wholeness, the righteousness of the Lord. And then came under conviction there was a cleansing. Three questions, if we may. They're on your sheet. Number one, may we ask, and just take this with you, what kind of year has 2019 been for you? Looking back, what kind of year has it been?

Now, one of my favorite songs in music is by Brian Adams, called The Summer of 69. Any of you know that song? Right? And he thinks back to a certain year and characterizes it in a certain way. And then, another year, Prince tries to look ahead into 99, right, and does that song. Years are known for all kinds of things. If you were around at the time, 1929 in this country was the year of the great crash, the stock market crash.

My grandfather lost much of what he had in the crash of 1929 and died the year after in part because of very, very significant difficulties. So, with that, how would you characterize 2019 in some detail? Perhaps with the Lord or reflection, making notes, look at your calendar again, look back, or maybe with a friend for your soul and just say, what kind of year has it been? And trust those things upward. How is God, like Isaiah, God touching you with his presence for this moment?

Where do you sense God active and alive in that warm presence of God engaging your life in these days? And what areas of cleansing or preparation might be timely for your emerging words, Lord, here I am, send me. Isn't it easy to say, Lord, here's the situation, send somebody else. That's the easiest thing on earth. Lord, there is this hassle, there is this health thing, there is this financial thing, there is this relational thing.

Lord, let somebody else make the first move. Can the Lord do that? Yeah. But the first opportunity for us is to say, Lord, send me, utilize me in the gifts you've given to me. Isaiah chapter 6, and one last thing, if we may, and it's this. we combined in the scripture reading the passages from Isaiah 7, 14, and Isaiah 9, 6. You heard those, right? 7, 14 is familiar to us from Christmas, and I hope you had a wonderful, wonderful season celebrating our Lord's birth.

7, 14, behold, a version shall conceive, and bear a son. His name shall be called Emmanuel. Isaiah 9, 6, his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. What a name tag, right? All those things, identifying our Lord. Let me say this very simply. Chapter 7, chapter 9, come after chapter 6. Now you'll say, duh, okay? But let's put it differently. Unless Isaiah had come to the Lord's presence, been attentive, been repentant, then been faithful to say, send me.

Unless all this had happened, there wouldn't be any chapter 7. He would not have been positioned to speak the prophecy of the good news of the Lord. So it is in our lives that as we find like Isaiah did, a place in which we come to the Lord and say, yes, I want these things. I want that forgiveness. I want the vision of you not to threaten me, but to be the joy of my life. Send me into these situations. Unless we do that, we'll be left wondering what could have happened if we had positioned ourselves by grace in a place to be servants of the Lord.

Does that make sense this morning? So let's do that. Let's do that as we go forward and following a good example of the prophet and also carrying words of our own. Well, the prophecy, chapter 7, chapter 9, is fulfilled. What Galatians 4, 4 says is, the fullness of time Jesus came. Jesus was born and the shepherds got an angelic summons. Now, sometimes pastors are famous for designing sermons or teaching that uses what's called alliteration.

And that means you'll use the same letter to start each of your points. And so, we're going to use alliteration with four points from this, this morning. If you're taking notes, then please feel free to do that. This is a progression in Luke chapter 2, may we say, from distress to declaration to decision to discovery. Distress and declaration and decision and discovery. Let's hear the word as we move forward into Luke chapter 2 here.

The story says, and this is familiar to many of us from the celebration just now past. There were shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks. An angel of the Lord appeared to them. The glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said, don't be afraid. It sounds like Isaiah's experience, doesn't it? Don't be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people today.

In the town of David, the Savior has been born, Christ the Lord. And this is the sign. You will find a baby wrapped in claws and lying in a manger. And a great company suddenly of the heavenly host appeared and their message was glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. And the angels left and they had a decision to make. What are we going to do with this? Let's go to Bethlehem and see the thing that has happened.

That the Lord's told us about. They met Mary and Joseph and the baby in the manger. And when they had seen him they started spreading the word about this child. And so it was that they found their mission, their faithfulness, their discovery and their declaration. the year Jesus was born. So in that some of you will remember if you go back a ways where we were talking about the miracles that surrounded Jesus' life and we did a song called I Saw the Sign.

Any of you know that song? Okay, I promised someone I would not sing it in this service. So I'm not going to sing it because then I'll have to plead 1 John 1.9, Kai. I'll have to confess my sins. I promised I would not sing it but I'm going to say it. I saw the sign. Anybody else know the song? And what did it do? It opened up my eyes. I saw the sign. That was a step forward. Why? Because life is demanding without understanding.

I saw the sign. That's the story of Isaiah. He saw the sign. It opened up his eyes. By the way, one of the singers from Ace of Base is a very strong Christian person and sings Christian music. So you can look that up if you're interested in such things. Isaiah could say it. The shepherds could say it. I saw the sign. My eyes are opened. What am I going to do? Now that I've moved from lack of understanding into this amazing sense of God's message to me, I'm going to be faithful.

I'm going to move forward in this situation. And so they did. They became messengers themselves in this situation. What was the message? Well, the message turns into a question here. Glad tidings of great joy is happening here. Where do you see the glory, may we say, and share in the songs of the Lord in these days? Where are you sensing the glory? Where are you sensing his presence? Where are you sensing and seeing the Lord at work?

Where have there been restorations of wholeness? We have seen, as Pastor Adam shared recently, without naming names, rightly so. We have seen marriages healed in this church in this past year. We have seen people who had no physical reason to get better get better. We have seen people come back to the Lord in lovely ways. We had a young man, may I say very simply, who was in this church some years ago. A guy in his early 20s who sat right over there.

Don't duck. It's okay. Sat right over there. And he, in his own words, was a mess. And he found the Lord. The Lord found him. Became a person of faith. He was with us in one of our Wednesday night Bible studies a couple months ago. He and his wife here from the East Coast, happily married, following Jesus. And he's saying, I am so grateful for what God did right there in that church. Amen? God's at work. I love that.

And so, the shepherds, shepherds, the shepherds are active in this situation. Where do you see the glory and share in the songs of the Lord? What a wonderful time to rediscover some of those. Maybe it's a Christmas carol that we sing with half heart and out of routine, but we can sing with joy as we maybe sing it again before, as this bridge turns into 2020. What is it? What are the glad tidings of great joy that you have that are at the core that can be for all people?

What are the glad tidings? Let me say this very simply. My wife and I live, some of you know, on the edge of Lake Murray. We commute in from greater metropolitan La Mesa, right? And in that, I take walks out there. I just try and do that and I need them specially now. I don't know how many pounds you gained over Christmas. I gained four. That's part of my confession. But in any case, we're going to be walking a little more nimbly.

But with that, as I walk around the lake, I'll have people that'll say to me, any of you know where Lake Murray even is? Some people out here don't even know that it exists, right? Fair enough. But I'll have people say to me, hey, nice day. And I'll say, yeah, I believe every day is God's gift. I get into some of the great conversations. A couple people go, yeah. But more often, it'll be, yeah. Or, yeah? You want to talk?

And we'll get into conversations about that. Over the last year, I've seen two people that I know of who have renewed their faith in Christ just because we were walking around the lake and the leading edge of glad tidings of great joy is when you look at the creation, you look at the beauty and you say, this is pretty good, you say, yeah, I believe every day is God's gift. That was the open door. What's on the leading edge?

We're not in sales. We're in service, right? Everybody knows the difference. We're not in sales. We're not pitching something. But we're saying, how can we serve in a way that opens opportunities for the Lord to be recognized and for us to live, not just get up and walk around every day, right? To live. Choose life. So, with that, what are the songs you're hearing? What's the opportunity, maybe the invitation that we might offer to hear these glad tidings of great joy that can be shared with all manner of people and sometimes, as it says here, there are strangers that we recognize and God gives that a divine appointment as well.

In doing this, we build a culture that is the alternative to the negative, too often cynical, too often, as Pastor Adam shared last week, something that kind of detests life and leaves evil and the evil one an open door to become our abusers. We can close that door by God's grace. And so, let's do that as we build an alternative culture, one that blesses, that is not, shall we say, the Bohemian Rhapsody, but the Bethlehemian Rhapsody.

Did you hear that last week? If you were here last week, you heard that. I started getting sick in the stomach when I thought I heard the Bohemian Rhapsody. Queen does great music, but death-dealing lyrics too often. Right? Nothing really matters to me. Right? That's bad news. That's a bad voice, but it's bad news. So I start hearing that, and I'm going, oh, Lord, I'm going to go regurge somewhere. You know, this is the bottom, right?

Just past the donuts. So anyway, so, but no, it was the Bethlehemian Rhapsody. If you haven't looked it up, look it up. Punch it in. Do a search, because to the same music, which is good music, good tunes, right? There are these biblical, life-giving, redemptive words about Jesus and the beauty of God's gift. Right? Bethlehemian Rhapsody. If you're interested, we got a chance to turn what too often in our culture is the Bohemian Rhapsody.

Nothing really matters. Into the Bethlehemian Rhapsody, where it all matters, and the Lord's the Lord of all, and he gives life to all of us through these things as we follow him. The shepherds got it. Isaiah got it. Mary got it. But she had to process this for 30 years before Jesus went public in his ministry. Hmm? Picture yourself. I got good news. Well, here's what's happening. The child that you're bearing, breath of heaven hold me together time, the child that you're bearing is the human face of God.

Is God with us? That's the awesome, incredible news. It says, Mary kept these things and pondered them in her heart. 29 years later, she was still pondering because Jesus hadn't gone public. What an illustration of the blessing there is in waiting faithfully or in process. Again, not just because Pastor Adam's up in the front row, but I take notes. And I was going back through some notes. And about three weeks ago, maybe four, there was one that noted the value of process, how God doesn't just use immediacy, how it's not just what's been called abracad Jesus, right?

In terms of creating instantaneous results and miracles. But there are processes that God has at work and they're not to be despised. We're to tend to those and see God at work in that. Like the person Jesus touched who was blind. And he says, how do you see? I see people like trees walking. Jesus said, loser. No, it's not that. Jesus said, let me touch you again. It's a process. And he did. Sometimes there's a cure.

Sometimes there's the gift of wholeness. But God heals. So with that, we see the blessing that's here as Jesus finds this wonderful, wonderful gifting of not Bohemian, but Bethlehemian. God's giving the grace. Number three. Jesus did. Thirty years later go public and the Nazareth homies were anointed to share what it meant to be with those in need. Luke chapter 4. It says, Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.

News about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in the synagogues and everyone praised him and then he went home to Nazareth where he'd been brought up and on the Sabbath day went to the synagogue as was his custom. He stood up to read in the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. There he is again. Was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written these words. This is his job description.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. Has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. Recovery of sight for the blind. To release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, sat down, and the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were on him. And then he said to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and has anointed me to do these things. Now, what's your job description? I think the leading edge of it for us is our job description, if you will. Our calling is to follow Jesus, is to be imitators of him, is to walk literally in his steps, as the old classic says from 1896, great reading, in his steps. Or the imitation of Christ from the 1400s. He is our example. He is our model. He writes our job description.

What does that mean today? It means that I can say, I'm called to say, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. How will that be evidenced? Because he's anointed me to share good news with those in need, to proclaim freedom for those who are trapped, and for those who are blinded to say your eyesight, your vision can return, for those who are oppressed, a year of the Lord's favor. We have an opportunity. There's a little bit of the trapped in each of us, isn't there?

There's a little bit of the prisoner. There's a little bit of blindness. So this isn't simply about only one target group or only one social profile. This is about all manner of people that are going to need to receive this good news. But certainly, some are in particular need, notable need, evident need. And God warms our hearts to touch these in a particular, a very special way. Let me ask the question, if we may, from the sheet, as we draw toward a close.

who are the outsiders in need of the Lord's directing you towards in compassion? Who are the outsiders in need that the Lord is directing you towards in compassion? Very simple illustration, if I may. I used this in the first service. I had any number of people elbowing me afterwards saying, whoa, that's different. God used it. here it is. I have the experience, maybe you do, of pulling up to street corners. And sometimes there are men or women who are there that are holding a sign or just would ask for some kind of gifting to them.

And over the years, I've talked to the Lord about that and said, should I give? How much should I give? Lord, what's your pleasure? Again, a lot of us just trying to pay attention. And time went on and I thought to myself one time this last year, early in the year, Lord, so often it just seems so transactional. Like, you ask for money, I drop spare change in the cup, there we go. Have I done something that's generous?

Yeah. Have I done something? Yeah. Okay. But it's a transaction. Saying, Lord, is there a way to help this be kind of a relationship? For people to people thing. So I said, what can I do? And immediately, my attention was drawn to the fact, I don't know what you've got in your dresser drawers or in your garage. One of the things I've done over the years is collect Eisenhower dollars. Any of you know what an Eisenhower dollar is?

They're about the size of a silver dollar. And here's the no-fault quiz. James? Right. Whose face is on the Eisenhower dollar? Right? Eisenhower. Exactly. See? I love this. We're all on our learning curve. Every one of us. Thank you. So with that, I thought to myself, you know, these are special to people I know, to kids, to grandkids, to other folks. I wonder if. The Lord goes, yep. So I just start putting them in my car.

And when I pull up to a corner, I will say to someone, do you take Eisenhower dollars? True story. It grew out of my saying, I don't want to just do transactions. I don't want to just go through the motions. You know, I want this to be life-giving. See, you take Eisenhower dollars. And almost inevitably, somebody will go, you're kidding me. Come to life. It's not mechanical. You're kidding me. You got one? Yeah. I haven't seen one in years.

Cool. You take them? Yeah. Hello. Right? I said, you can do whatever you want with it. And I've had people say, boy, do I need this? I need something to eat. I've had people say, you know, this is so different. Something good's going to happen. I said, yeah, well, that can be part of my prayer. Do you pray? Yeah. How about you? God's going. I've had at least two people rededicate their lives to Jesus at that street corner.

I know it sounds like the lake, but we give opportunities, right? I've had people say, wow, I believe God's in this. And so, with that, that's a very simple thing, but it's turned transactions into relationships. The spirit of the Lord is upon me. He wants me to be generous and in a personal way. It's part of why we support some kids that are overseas because God gives us the grace. You know the story. You've got the ways God's leading you.

Praise him. Who are outsiders, quote, unquote, in need? The Lord's directing us to. How may we communicate hospitality and what's your 2020 vision for a, the Hebrew word is rason, a favorable, desirable year of the Lord. The Greek word is dektos, is Luke quoting Isaiah. What's your vision for that? What would it look like for 2020 to be an awesome year? What are some visions? What are some dreams that we commit to the Lord in this time?

So with that, there are maybe phrases that help in all this. And I'll throw a few out there and then we'll, we'll be involved in a blessing here together. My wife Linda and I listen to Amy Grant sometimes, some of her music. And how many times in my life do I pray, and we will in the new year, breath of heaven, hold me together. Be forever near me. Breath of heaven. Sounds a little bit like Colossians 1. All things are made by him and for him, and in him all things hold together.

Breath of heaven, hold me together. Or if I'm looking in compassion, it might be, this is my grown-up Christmas list. There are all kinds of ways God will direct us. Once in a while, once in a while, I may even pray Kenny Rogers, 411, Lord, help me to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to, exactly. All kinds of ways we can commit to, Lord, one of my teachers, a spiritual writer named Henry Nowen, would talk about the chief movement of prayer is turning the monologue in my head into a dialogue with God.

It's turning the monologue into a dialogue. I may or may not feel spiritually hot, but I've always got the monologue going on. Lord, let me turn it upward to you in a dialogue that gives life. God can use all of these things and how wonderful it is. If you need a hymn, by the way, to look at going into the new year before you split, you might want to look at hymn 811. It's called Another Year is Dawning. It's a classic, one of the few Christian songs that's written anticipating the new year.

It's in your hymnal, 811. If you're interested, there are other ways to go forward. But let's look at the Lord's grace, his goodness in these ways. Pastor Adam, you're about to share a blessing. And before he does, we're going to ask if you'll pray a blessing on Pastor Adam in this time. I'll take it. All right? Let's do that. Let's each of us in our own way. You can extend your hands if you'd like. This bro is good news.

Six years ago, after I was interim, this is the guy we prayed for. And the Lord brought him here. Still here. That's right. And you're gift-wrapped. That's very attractive. So with that, let's pray a blessing on Pastor Adam. All right? And we can do that with Carrie and with those amazing girls as well. Lord, let's just do it. Do it silently, aloud, whatever's your style as the Spirit leads. We give a blessing, then we receive a blessing as we enter the new year.

Amen. Let's stand, if you would. I want to bless you quickly. Send you out into a brand new year. And stick around this year. God is moving amongst this body, among the people here at this church. And blessing begets blessing, and righteousness begets righteousness. And there's so much goodness coming with emotional health here, with spiritual health, a whole bunch of things. Stick around, get plugged in, and you will, I guarantee you, you will see a change in your life.

And we hope that you want that. You want to be at a church that is healthy and that cares for each other. We want to do that as well. If you'd extend your hands, I want to bless you, and then we will send you out as we go into the new year of invitation. Lord Jesus, pray for the spirit of invite over this people. That you invite them to a deeper invitation to go, perhaps, under the water, perhaps to get out of the boat, perhaps to follow you.

Lord Jesus, I pray that you would bless them immensely, and that you would put on their heart the ability, God, to take that invitation to invite others as well. That this church would continue to be filled with the lost, the broken, the needing, and the hurting. Lord God, we know that the Pharisees looked at Jesus after he met Matthew and the others and said, why do you eat with sinners? Why do you eat with tax collectors?

God, we want to welcome those people into a pirate ship of faith, God, is basically what you had. Lord Jesus, as you came on, you took those that were broken. And Lord Jesus, I pray that we would have a heart for the broken. We pray over our missions partners, that we would care more for the lost, that we would care more for the environment, that we would care more for those that are hurting, that are for the homeless, God, for everyone who's seeking refuge in our city, where we would bless them.

Let this church just have the best year it's ever had. Let the families in this church, God, work in the momentum of that. We pray for more blessing, deeper blessing. We pray for 10 years, God, of just abundant growth and you would touch our faith. I send these people out now into 2020 with a year of focus, new eyes, new vision, new hearts. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Hey, go get them.

We'll see you next week. I start a brand new series, Don't Miss It, Invitation. Bye-bye.