Anchors - The Anchor That Held Me

And all I see is the battle, you see my victory And all I see is the mountain, you see a mountain moon And as I walk through the shadow, your love surrounds me There's nothing to fear now, for I am safe with you So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees With my hands lifted high, oh God, the battle belongs to you And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night Oh God, the battle belongs to you And if you are for me, you can be against me For Jesus, there's nothing impossible for you When all I see are the ashes, you see the beauty Thank you God When all I see is the cross, God, you see the empty tomb So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees With my hands lifted high, oh God, the battle belongs to you And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night Oh God, the battle belongs to you Almighty fortress, you go before us Nothing can stand against the power of our God You shine in the shadow, you win every battle Nothing can stand against the power of our God Almighty fortress, you go before us Nothing can stand against the power of our God You shine in the shadow, you win every battle Nothing can stand against the power of our God Almighty fortress, you go before us Nothing can stand against the power of our God You shine in the shadow, you win every battle Nothing can stand against the power of our God So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees

With my hands lifted high, oh God, the battle belongs to you And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night Oh God, the battle belongs to you Oh God, the battle belongs to you We serve a great God, we serve our God Jehovah Let's lift His name and lift His praise Jehovah He shames every idol He reigns without end ♪ He goes by the name of Jehovah, Jehovah ♪ ♪ He speaks into nothing and darkness goes running ♪ ♪ He goes by the name of Jehovah, Jehovah ♪ ♪ Call the name, call the name, call the name Jehovah ♪ ♪ All our pain, all our pain, all our pain belongs to Him ♪ ♪ His clothes will be silent, He's fighting for Zion, oh ♪ ♪ There's no other God like Jehovah, Jehovah ♪ ♪ His song never tires, His eyes are like fire ♪ ♪ There's no other God like Jehovah, Jehovah ♪ ♪ Call the name, call the name, call the name Jehovah ♪ ♪ All our pain, all our pain, all our pain belongs to Him ♪ ♪ Call the name, call the name, call the name Jehovah ♪ ♪ All our pain, all our pain, all our pain belongs to Him ♪ ♪ All our pain belongs to Him ♪ ♪ Jehovah need see fight your battles ♪ ♪ Jehovah need see fight your battles ♪ ♪ Jehovah need see fight your battles ♪ ♪ Jehovah need see fight your battles ♪ ♪ Jehovah need see fight your battles ♪ ♪ Jehovah Jireh meet your need ♪ ♪ Jehovah Rabbi give your body ♪

♪ Jehovah Shalom be your peace, oh ♪ ♪ Jehovah need see fight your battles ♪ ♪ Jehovah Jireh meet your need ♪ ♪ Jehovah Rabbi give your body ♪ ♪ Jehovah Shalom be your peace, oh ♪ ♪ Jehovah need see fight your battles ♪ ♪ Jehovah Jireh meet your need, oh ♪ ♪ Jehovah Rabbi give your body ♪ ♪ Jehovah Shalom be your peace, oh ♪ ♪ Call the name, call the name, call his name ♪ ♪ Call the name Jehovah ♪ ♪ All our praise, all our praise, all our praise ♪ ♪ Belongs to him, call the name, call the name, call the name ♪ ♪ Jehovah, all our praise, all our praise, all our praise ♪ ♪ Belongs to him, Jehovah need see fight your battles ♪ ♪ Jehovah Jireh meet your need, oh ♪ ♪ Jehovah Rabbi give your body ♪ ♪ Jehovah Shalom be your peace, oh ♪ ♪ Jehovah need see fight your battles ♪ ♪ Jehovah Jireh meet your need, oh ♪ ♪ Jehovah Rabbi give your body ♪ ♪ Jehovah Shalom be your peace, oh ♪ Peace All the day Peace Bring it all to peace The storm's surrounding me Let it break At your name You still

Call the sea to still The raging meat is still Everywhere At your name Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus You silence fear Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus Call these bones to live Call these lungs to sing Once again I will praise Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus You silence fear Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus You silence fear Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus Your name is a light

That the shadows can't deny Your name Cannot be overcome Your name is alive Forever lifted high Your name Cannot be overcome Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus You silence fear Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Jesus, Jesus Your name is a light That the shadows can't deny Your name Cannot be overcome Your name is alive Forever lifted high Your name Cannot be overcome Your name is a light That the shadows can't deny Your name Cannot be overcome Your name is alive Forever lifted high

Your name Cannot be overcome Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus You silence fear Jesus, Jesus You make the darkness tremble Jesus, Jesus What a matchless name that is, the name of Jesus, at the name of Jesus, at the name of Jesus, fear has to leave, it has to flee, darkness trembles, it can't stand in his presence, whenever he walks in the room, and he's in this room right now, I don't know what you're facing or going through, whether it's a battle or a storm, a struggle, a trial, a temptation, whatever it might be, if all you can get out is a whisper, Jesus, he hears you, he's right next to you, he's walking with you through it, and all you have to do is say his name, and he's right there, and you can fall in his arms, and he'll carry you until you can stand again, but what a name, Jesus, you may be seated as we prepare for communion, there's nothing that thrills me more than to hear his name, spoken in prayer, in praise, in worship, sung in song, there's just something about his name, and he truly does make the darkness tremble, and he silences fear, and sometimes it might seem like the voice in your ear, that voice of fear is so loud you can't hear anything else, but just call his name, and he'll step in, and fear has to be quiet, this morning as I was getting ready, this thought came to mind of when the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee, and a storm came up, and Jesus wasn't with them at that moment, he had gone up on a mountain to pray, and the scripture says that he saw them toiling, and first of all, the fact that says Jesus saw them, so he sees you, and he saw them toiling, he saw them struggling, and he went to meet them, walking on the sea, of course, if you know that story, Peter decided he was gonna walk on water too,

didn't end up too well for him, and for a minute, but Jesus walked with him to the boat, and there's more than one time that Jesus was with his disciples in a storm, and one thing that sticks out in my mind, Jesus spoke to the storm, and he said, be still, he said, peace be still, but that word, basically, he was telling the storm to shut up, and sometimes that's what we have to do, you stand up, and you tell that storm, and that fear to shut up, because Jesus is in the room, and he'll silence that fear, so be encouraged this morning, he's with you, and I mean it, you have to tell it to shut up, I've done that before, like flesh, devil, shut up, Jesus is here, and I've got this because he has me, so Jesus, we thank you for your sacrifice for us, thank you for your body, for your blood, for saving us, for redeeming us, for calling us, and making us your own, we love you so much, and we take communion in remembrance of you, and we give you praise, we give you glory, and honor, because you're worthy to receive it, only you are worthy, we ask this in your name, Jesus, amen. You may take communion when you're ready. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hey, I'm Aaron, and I'm so glad you're joining us today. At Pantano, we believe life is better when it's lived together. That's why we're committed to creating a place where everyone can find community, experience hope, and grow in their relationship with Jesus. If you're on campus today, stop by Next Steps after service. We'd love to chat with you, answer any questions, and help you discover your next steps at Pantano. Joining us online? You're an important part of our church family, too. Take a moment to fill out a Connect card through Next Steps

so we can get to know you and help you stay connected to everything happening here. In case you forgot, Father's Day is this week. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Thanks for your years of service, sage wisdom, enlightened guidance, and profound truths. Grains of truth such as, ask your mother, who touched the thermostat, and of course, why are all these lights on? We're so grateful for all of you and the ways you love, lead, serve, and make a difference in the lives of others. At Pantano, one of our core values is radical generosity reshapes our world. As a kingdom-first church, we share our resources so people can experience the love of Jesus in real and tangible ways. If you feel led to give, you can drop your gift in the giving box, give online through our website, or text GIVE to 46356. Thank you for being a church that puts our values into action. We're grateful for each of you. In November, you can join us as we head to Rocky Point, Mexico for our short-term mission trip. For over 30 years, we've partnered with the local community to build homes and bring hope to families in need. Registration is now open. Head over to Next Steps for all the details. We'd love for you to join us as we make a difference together. Hey, if your social media feed could use a little more hope and a little less chaos, give Pantano a follow.

You'll find encouragement, updates, stories from our community, and plenty of reasons to stay connected throughout the week. Thanks again for joining us. We're excited you're here. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next year. Hey, Pantano Church, how are you guys doing today? So good to see all of you. I want to give one more shout-out to all my fellow dads out there, for all the ones who are here at Houghton Campus, at Benson, Gospel Rescue Mission, God Behind Bars. Those of you who are watching on our Pando app, I just want to say thank you for doing the hard work of being a dad. Being a parent is no joke, right? Anybody say, yeah, I agree with that. So give it up for our dads one more time. I'm grateful for each of you. Hey, I want to ask you a question. Have you ever stood at the edge of something that felt way bigger than you, like something that just seemed impossible? You knew what you were supposed to do. You knew the step you were going to take, but you just had all these doubts. You're like, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can make that step, even though you knew that God had put that before you. You knew that's what you were supposed to do. That question deep down kept bombarding your mind, like, what if I fail? Love that question. One of the most important moments in a rock climber's journey

is not reaching the summit. You would think that that would be an easy thing to do. That would be it, like it's reaching the top, right? It's actually when they have their first real fall. Their first real fall, like, man, experienced climbers, they talk about this all the time. You can spend all kinds of time learning the ropes, learning how to tie the knots, figuring out the anchor, all this stuff, but you can hear over and over again that the rope will hold you, but until you actually test it, that question just is there for every single climber. Will it really hold? What if I fail? And then one day it happens. The hand slips, their foot misses the ledge, and they're free-falling. And you've seen the movies, right? It's like the guy that's falling away from you, like, oh, no. For a split second, the panic just kind of sets in, and then the rope catches. Climbers call this a whipper. That's a fun word, right? It's a whipper, because that's exactly what it does. It's the only thing that's holding them is the anchor. The anchor does exactly what it was designed to do. The rope was trustworthy the entire time. The difference is the climber couldn't trust it. They didn't know what had already been true until they experienced it.

Now, many climbers will tell you after that first real fall, they're actually freer to climb. They'll take routes they've never tried before. They'll go higher than ever before. They'll do things that they never thought possible because they know they can trust what holds them. But it takes that very first step of faith, and for you and I today, for all of us here, this is the truth. Courage begins where comfort ends, at the end of comfort. Today, we're in a series talking about anchors, and man, the last couple of weeks have been really, really good. Saul kicked this series off. He did a phenomenal job, and then Rebecca followed last week, and I just wanna give both of them a big hand because great messages. And today, we're talking about the kind of anchors that hold us steady when God calls us to take a step of faith, and that's exactly where we find this guy in the Old Testament named Joshua. We're gonna look at Joshua's life today. I mean, he does some amazing things. God does some amazing things through Joshua. I mean, he's got a whole book named after him, so that's kind of, that should tell us what we need to know right there. But Joshua receives what may be

one of the most intimidating assignments ever given in human history. His boss, his leader, the guy that he's taking over for passes away, and his name was Moses, as in the guy who had movies made about him, right? Moses wasn't just a leader, he was the leader. He was the one who faced Pharaoh. He was the one who rescued thousands of Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. He's the one who parted the Red Sea. He's the one who met with God face-to-face. And now Joshua gets to follow him. Here's how the Bible summarizes Moses as a leader. Check this out. Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face-to-face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his officials in this whole land, for no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of Israel. Imagine you get to take over for this guy. No pressure, right? No pressure. When was the last time you felt like, man, you needed to do something that took some courage? You guys ever, maybe you're there right now in life. You're just like, I need to do something right now that is gonna require,

you feel that overwhelming pressure, right? There's pressure, a little bit of fear, some excitement mixed in there. Joshua was called to lead an entire nation out of 40 years of wandering in the desert into the promised land, their new home, the land that God had promised them, the place that they had dreamed about and wandered in the desert for 40 years. His job is to finally get them there. There's a couple of issues, though. They had some enemies. There were some people standing in the way. There were some battles they were gonna have to fight. There was a clan of people that were literal giants, literally giant, and they had to get through that first. And Joshua, he is standing at the edge, like many of us, wondering if he is enough. And that's when God speaks. This is our anchor verse today, Joshua 1.9. Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Go. God gives Joshua this amazing anchor. There are two things in this verse that are so important and so relevant for us today. These two things I feel like are why most of us stop following where God is leading us to. Or we come up short.

It's fear and discouragement. Now what's interesting about these two things, fear and discouragement, they're very connected to two of the biggest issues that we have in our society today. Fear is very connected to anxiety, right? Those two things go hand in hand. They walk together. Discouragement is very connected to depression. Those things go hand in hand. And these two things are permeating our lives, our families, our schools, our jobs, the people around us, even us. So much so the next month, actually, we're doing a whole series on how do we battle anxiety. My anxious mind, so don't miss that. Make sure you show up for that. Joshua felt fear. How do we know this? When you read the book of Joshua, it doesn't actually say Joshua was afraid. How do we know he was afraid? In chapter one alone, just the very first chapter, God repeats himself four times. He says, I'm commanding you, do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. I don't think God would waste his breath if Joshua really didn't need to hear this, right? But he does. And Joshua has this promise from God.

God said, I'm giving you the land. It's yours. Yours for the taking. That's the assignment, but it's gonna take some risk. Fear has this way for you and I of making God's promises seem so, so small. You ever notice that? And on the other side of things, it makes our problems seem like the biggest thing in the world. How many of us have problems that look really, really big today? I think all of us can raise our hands at every campus because this is part of life. But God has put something in front of us as followers of Christ. He's put something in front of you, a step to take, a conversation to have, a ministry to get involved in. And fear is whispering to you the whole time, whispering, saying, stay where it's safe. Don't risk, don't get out there. Can I tell you some truth, church? Courage begins where comfort ends, right? So we have to take that step of faith. One of my favorite examples of this is Peter walking on the water. In Matthew 14, the disciples are in a boat. And during this massive storm that comes through, and Jesus, as Jesus does, he comes walking on the water,

and Peter sees him and he says, Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you. And Jesus responds with one word. What does he say? Come. And then Peter got down out of the boat, he walked on the water, he came toward Jesus, but, hate it when there's a but, but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Immediately, Jesus reached down his hand, he caught him, he said, you of little faith, why did you doubt? Peter sees the wind, he sees the waves, he becomes afraid, fear shows up and starts talking. He starts sinking, he was so close. When I'm reading this, I don't know about you, but I just feel like you get excited. Oh my gosh, Peter's doing it. Can you imagine the other disciples? He's like, this guy's crazy, he's really doing it, he's walking on the water. There he goes, go Peter! They're probably getting excited, about to start to cheer him on, and then he starts sinking. You almost have this let down moment. But can I point something out? We don't read about the other disciples failing in this moment.

There's 11 other guys in this boat. We don't read a single thing about them failing. Because they never took the risk. Peter may have failed for a moment, but he was the only one who dared to risk. The only one who experienced what Jesus had called him to, the only one trusting beyond his comfort zone. And even though he started to sink, Jesus was right there and immediately catches him. He shows him just what Joshua knows, that he's with him the whole time. God honors courageous obedience. Some of us need to hear that today. I need to hear that today. God honors courageous obedience, amen? Here's what's so easy though, it's so easy for us to stay up in the stands, to look at somebody else who's maybe being bold for God and going after it, and to criticize or judge. Like, no, they're not gonna make it. They're doing it way different than I would do it. Our mission at Pantano is loving people to Jesus and launching passionate difference makers. And can I tell you, church, that's an easy, catchy thing to say, but it is not easy to walk out. It's not. It is so, so worth the risk, though, because God has called us to this, to help others experience the amazing,

life-changing, powerful love of God. But it does require us to take a step of faith, to get out of the stands and into the arena. Former President Teddy Roosevelt, he has this really popular speech that he gave to a bunch of leaders, and he said, it is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena. Put in the word woman there, too. Can I get an amen, right? There you go, ladies, there you go, ladies. What a picture this is, though. The arena. Think about that. We're kind of far removed from some arenas, unless you've been watching some soccer lately. There's been some battling going on, right? The arena is where people risk. It's where people fail. It's where people have to get knocked down and get back up time and time again. It's where people dare greatly, where people like Joshua and Peter, and hopefully you and I, we show up. The kingdom of God actually advances because people are willing to get in the arena, not perfect people, amen, not fearless people, because we have fear, but faithful people, people willing to say, I don't have it all figured out. But I know this, I know that Jesus is with me

because he promised he would be, so I'm gonna take the next step of faith, and then when fear and discouragement show up and start to criticize from the cheap seats, they will, they always will. All you have to do is take a step of faith and be obedient time and time again. That gets us past those voices. Because here's what we know. Courage begins where comfort ends. Now, you've probably heard this before, but courage is not the absence of fear, it's not. But it's having trust in the face of fear, and right smack in the face of fear. I don't know if you've seen the movie We Bought a Zoo. I love that movie so much. So many great one-liners in there, but at one time, the main character, played by Matthew, he says, sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and bravery. 20 seconds, some of you are like, it's been like 20 years of courage and bravery. I know, right? That's the way life is. But sometimes all we just need to say is, what is my trust in? Who am I believing in? Is it just me? Is it just the surroundings? Or is it God?

If fear keeps us from starting, discouragement, the other command from God, discouragement actually keeps us from continuing the journey. When Rebecca and I had kids, we had Mia, our daughter, who was a pretty normal kid, like she did the normal kid stuff, didn't give us heart attacks every day, just was a kid. And then along came Jax, and Jax was the opposite. Jax, the moment he could walk or climb or crawl or roll, he was just crazy, like crazy. He would try to climb everything, jump off anything he could, whatever was around, like if he saw it, we're like, all right, well, let's lock this kid in, because he's going for that. In fact, I was looking at my phone the other day, and I came across this old video that I took of Jax. This is him, he's five. Yeah, you're already getting, yeah. Yeah, so I'm gonna let it play one more time, because as you see, there's pillows down here. The pillows weren't there the first time, or the second time, and so Rebecca freaks out, and I'm like, well, I gotta film this with my phone for sure, but that's Jax, that was his life. He's a little bit more controlled now. When we first moved to Pantano, and here we came to the Houghton campus, and we actually have this really cool rock wall on this campus, and sometimes we'll open that up for kids and students to climb, or adults,

and Jax saw that day one, and he's like, oh, man, I gotta do that. So we get them all harnessed in, and the guy shows them the ropes, literally, and how to work everything, and all the gear, and he's five, and he just starts zooming up the wall, and I'm like, that checks out, and then he gets halfway up the wall, and you can tell he's starting to slow down a little bit. Three quarters up the wall, and you can just see he's really slowing down, and his legs start to get tired, his arms are getting tired, and then he does the thing that all of us do sometimes in life, the worst mistake. He takes his eyes off of his goal, and he looks where? Down, absolutely, he looks down. And I kid you not, I saw him look down, because he was looking at me, and then he looked up, and then he just tightened up. And he was just like so stiff, he was paralyzed. See, he was getting tired. He was getting tired on this journey, and then man, fear in that moment, and discouragement in that moment started whispering to him, and then he just stopped. He can't take another step. Discouragement can do that to you and I, in our life,

where it really, really matters, in our faith, where God is calling us to. It can keep us from finishing the path that God has put in front of us. Sorry for the cliffhanger, we did get Jax off the wall eventually. He's 15 now, I didn't wanna leave you guys hanging there. You're like, what about the kid, is the kid okay? Yeah, he's fine. He actually does rock climbing now, so that thing actually helped him. But he had to get through that very first setback. Joshua, in the book, if you read the rest of the book, man, he has battles. He has setbacks, he has resistance, he has moments where the promise of God seems so, so far away, and out of reach. And discouragement, I guarantee you, was whispering in his ear, this isn't working. You're not gonna get all these people over there. You're not Moses. Who do you think you are? Just quit. But he doesn't quit. Most people on their journey, when they're going after something difficult, they don't quit because they're afraid. You ever notice that? We quit sometimes because we get discouraged. Discouragement becomes dangerous

because it slowly convinces us to stop moving. It's not like fear that's kind of in our face sometimes. It's just slow, methodical, and it'll wear you down, and eventually talk you out of the path that you're on. That's why God commands us, do not be discouraged. Church, can I tell you, don't let fear or discouragement talk you out of what God has already promised. Because it will. This verse in Joshua 1, 9 has been an anchor for me from the moment I truly started following Jesus, but the times that I looked back, and I stopped, or I quit, or I got discouraged, was when I took my eyes off of Jesus. When I set my eyes on the things around me, or the problems, or the issues, it's the moment that I would quit. One of the most fascinating things about Joshua in this whole book, this story, is God repeatedly tells him, the land has been given to you. You have this promise, right? God is faithful. If you get in the arena, he's gonna meet you there. If you take the first step, you'll be victorious. He tells Joshua this. Here's the thing, the battle was still necessary. Joshua has the promise from God, right? We're gonna win this thing, it's gonna work. But man, there were battles along the way.

The promise doesn't eliminate the process. And that's true for us today. We think sometimes, man, if God tells me to do something, that means it's gonna be easy. Eek, nope. That's not how it works. In fact, so many times, we want God to remove all the risk, right? You heard the analogy, I'm in the hallway waiting on the right door to open. You ever been there in life? Which door's gonna open? And sometimes we want the door to swing wide open. We want it fully lit. We want all the cobwebs out of there. That's just not how it works. Author Brene Brown, she said, we can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can't have both. Not at the same time. This is true for us in our faith journey. Every significant thing that God calls you to requires us to choose. Pantano, we have a choice to make today. Right where you are, you have a choice to make. Benson, you have a choice to make. All of you gentlemen, women, ladies that are on the Pando app you have a choice to make. You still have the power of choice. Are you gonna choose courage? Are you gonna choose comfort?

Are you gonna stay in the boat where you know it's safe? Are you gonna get out on the water where Jesus is calling you? Are you gonna choose the desert where, man, it's dusty and it's tiring, but at least you know what's going on there? Or are you gonna choose the promised land that God has given you? Are we gonna be in the stands where it's safe and start to criticize? Or are we actually gonna get in the arena because we can't stay comfortable and follow Jesus? That's not how this whole thing works. I wish it was different. I do, because I like comfort. Anybody else with me? I like to be comfortable. I don't like challenge all the time. The life of faith requires risk, and risk requires trust, so we, church, we need to take a step. In fact, I would say this. If your faith feels comfortable right now, That's a great time to do some inventory. It's a great question to ask, am I truly following Jesus to what he's calling me to? Am I sold out on what he's calling me to? Now, if I could add just a necessary caution right here. Some of us hear a message like this, and we are like, gung ho.

You're like, let's go. You're already tweeting about it. You're like, you know, putting it on Instagram. Let's go. Whatever I do, God's gonna make it happen. And then you do something totally unbiblical. That's not what God's talking about here. Can I tell you some truth? The Holy Bible will never, ever tell you to do something that contradicts. The Holy Spirit will never tell you to do something that contradicts the Holy Bible. God will never lead us to do something that doesn't align with his word, right? See, before we have Joshua 1, 9, which is our anchor verse, right? That's where God challenges Joshua. He promises it to him. He encourages him. He says, go for it, dude. Let's go. Before that, we have verse eight. Verse eight says this. Keep this book of the law, the Bible. Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Before God gives Joshua the promise and the challenge and the steps to take,

he says, here's some wisdom. Seek me. Read my word. Courage is not reckless abandon. Faith is not foolishness, doing whatever feels right. God's calling will always align with his word every single time. Don't miss that. Amen. Some of us, if I could be so bold, you might be making some plans. You've been planning a change, a step, a move, a decision. I don't even need to fill in the blanks because it's different for every person. Can I just ask you, like the word says, have you meditated on the word day and night? Have you sought the Lord day and night? Not just so that he will approve your plan, so that you know where God's calling you to. And if you have, man, go for it. Know that God is with you. But if you haven't and you've been just kind of making this plan based on what feels right, it's a great chance to take a step back and say, God, I don't wanna take a step without you. I don't wanna take a step without you. Peter did not get out of the boat until Jesus said what? Come. Jesus gave him the instruction. That's when he moved.

Joshua's anchor wasn't his leadership ability, wasn't his experience or his confidence. His anchor was the fact that God had told him where to go and he said, I'll be with you wherever I lead you. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go because he knew wherever he was going, God had already called him to. That's the anchor. We have that very same promise today, you and I. Thousands of years later from this text, we have the same promise as that available to us. 24 years ago, I was standing at the edge and I had one of those choices to make, to trust God or not. See, Rebecca and I had just gotten married and you're doing the math right now. You're like, oh, dang, you're older than I thought. And Rebecca and I had this conversation about having kids, right? Like, we both wanna have kids and I'm pretty sure that I showed up to that conversation with full, like, outward, you know, oh yeah, we got this. Let's have some kids, that's what we're supposed to do. But I guarantee on the inside, fear and discouragement were probably running amok in me. You see, I don't have a really good track record of biological dads in my history. And I've shared this story before, but when my mom was about 14 or 15,

her dad, her biological father, was shot and killed in an argument in a small little Texas town. And because he was the town drunk and caused a lot of trouble and problems, not a word was said, the guy wasn't prosecuted, nothing happened, just, she loses her dad. And years later, she has me and my brother and my biological dad was abusive, he was an addict, caused all kinds of problems. So she rescues us out of that situation, takes us away from him, and then just a couple years later, I was probably three or four, he was shot and killed in San Diego, California because he was an addict and he was on drugs. And he got into all the crap of life that he should not have been, right? So that's my legacy from a biological standpoint. That's it. That's the thing that I could have taken with me. And I think in the moment when we started talking about having kids, I know the enemy was whispering, like, is this your legacy? You sure you wanna have kids? You sure you wanna reproduce that? You sure you wanna bring, because what if you change someday? Yeah, you feel good and holy right now, but what if, and the what ifs, and the what ifs?

Here's the thing. If you don't know my story, my mom got remarried to my stepdad, Kelly, and God saved both of them, miraculously. Took them out of drugs and alcohol addiction, set their feet upon the rock. They've been in ministry, pastoring a little church in Texas for decades, because God gave a promise, and the promise is the same one to each of us. When we call on Him, when we reach for Him, when we trust in Him, He makes us a new creation. So that happened in that moment, and then that was my promise, is that I'm also a new creation. And even in the midst of that promise, that I'm not taking what was genetically or biologically into whatever I'm gonna be as a father, I'm taking none of that, right? Because God has promised me that I'm new, I'm brand new. Still, the enemy was whispering. The fear and the discouragement were whispering, like, what are you gonna do? How are you gonna be different? Some of you are standing at the edge of something right now in your life. You feel God's calling you, too. And fear is talking, the fear of the unknown, the what ifs, and I think it might be keeping some of you from taking that very first step. Maybe it is becoming a parent, like me.

Maybe that's the thing that you were just doubting because of your history or your past. Maybe it's starting a business. Can I just tell you, we need more godly business owners in this world, right? We need you. If that's you, lean into that. Maybe it's a ministry you need to become a part of. Discouragement is talking, whispering to you, trying to get you to stop. Fear is trying to get you frozen in your tracks. But God's calling you. He's giving you a promise. Can I just tell you, what if strength and courage, right? God says, be strong and courageous. What if those are waiting for you, right, on the other side of that first step? Maybe all you need is 20 seconds or 20 minutes or 20 days of extreme bravery, not in yourself, not in us, but in the God of the universe. Joshua stepped forward. Peter, he stepped forward. You and I, we need to step. And maybe for some of you, it's staying. Maybe that's the challenge God has given you because the harder path is to stay and to make a change, to make a difference where you're at. I wanna do something together today. I'd like all of us here at Houghton and all of our campuses to stand on our feet.

If you're able to stand on your feet. Thank you. Can I ask you, what is the fear? What is the discouragement that has you bound up right now, that has you chained down, that has you stopped in your tracks that's keeping you from moving forward? What's the thing in your life that maybe you've gotten a glimpse of what God's calling you to and you are just so stuck in your tracks and you're just paralyzed like jacks on the wall and you just can't seem to move? What is that thing? Here's what I know. First of all, God has freedom for every single one of us. God has freedom for every single one of us. I don't care what's had us chained down. He wants you free. And the Bible says actually that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And that's for all of us. So here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna just say, this is a moment of freedom. This is a moment that we declare for ourselves that God has made us free. That whatever's been holding us back, whatever has been holding us down, whatever has been keeping you from where God has called you to, it can break today. It can break today. I'm gonna invite you just if you're comfortable

to lift your hands to the Lord. Some of us are like, this ain't my background, this is not what I know about church, like my first time in church. That's okay. All you're doing is saying, God, you're greater than I am. You're greater than our challenges. God, you're greater than anything that we are facing. And so we just wanna put all the attention. and the focus on you. God, we're gonna declare some truth today that we're no longer slaves to fear, that the enemy has kept us down and that's not gonna happen any longer. We're no longer slaves to discouragement. And churches, I just read this passage one more time. I encourage you to take it as your promise from God. Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Amen. let's worship together. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. He is with us. He is with us. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I'm a song of deliverance from my enemies till all my fears are gone. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. I am a child of God. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. I am a child of God. Into your family, your blood flows through my veins. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.

I'm no longer a slave to fear. I'm no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. I am surrounded by the arms of the Father. Oh, I am surrounded by songs of deliverance. We've been liberated from our bondage. We've been liberated from our bondage. Oh, where the sons and the daughters, let us sing of freedom. Sing, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Sing, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Sing, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. You split the sea so I could walk right through it. My fears were drowned in perfect love. You rescued me and I stand and sing I am a child of God You split the sea so I could walk right through it My fears were drowned in perfect love You rescued me and I stand and sing I am a child of God I am a child of God I am a child of God I am a child of God I am a child of God Yes, I am a child of God I'm no longer a slave to fear I am a child of God

I'm no longer a slave to fear I am a child of God Thank you so much for being here today. For being in His house and lifting His name and worshipping Him. If it's your first time, thank you for coming. But there's more for you to do and be involved in. If you go to Next Steps across the courtyard, there are plenty of people there that will get you plugged in and connected to what God is doing here and He is doing things in this church and in this city. And if you need prayer for any reason, our prayer room is also across the courtyard. And our prayer team and prayer partners are waiting for you to walk over there. Whatever your need might be. But church, we love you. And we'll see you again next time. God bless you.