Developing a Taste for God - JJ Vasquez

♪♪ Happy New Year! Journey! Journey! Online Familia! 2026! 2026! In the mix! Let's go! We made it! It's such a joy to be here. My name is Ben. I have the honor, privilege, and joy to serve as one of your online hosts today. And my name is Christian. I have the honor and privilege and joy serving alongside Ben here online today. Yeah, Christian, FTH. First time host. Shout him out in the chat. Pray for me, guys. I'm so excited to have my brother here with me. As we mentioned, what's that saying? New year. New me. Same Jesus. Same Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So if you made it to the new year, I'm just so grateful.

And I pray you are too. Another exciting reason is that it's Pray First Sunday, which kicks off our 21 days of prayer and fasting. It's such a joy and a privilege to do it. It's hard. I'm gonna be real. Yes, I'm not ready, but I'm ready. The Lord's gonna speak to me. Right. It's hard to fast for 21 days, but Pastor JJ has a word today that's gonna set us up. Let us know what you're fasting. Let us know if you're excited about it. But if you don't know much about fasting, we're gonna learn today in the word to help set us up. And with that being said, we're gonna go to Amber in the lobby here shortly. She's gonna let us know some of the things we can do. It's also Pray First Sunday, so how you can get your prayer requests in so that we can make sure to be praying for those requests. We will see you shortly after worship, Amber. Go ahead. Take it away. Thank you so much, Ben and Christian, for that amazing insight. You're just talking about fasting and what we're about to get into. It's truly such an honor. And we are so happy and excited

that you are tuning in with us today. Happy Sunday and happy new year. If we haven't had the pleasure to meet, my name is Amber and I am a Journey College student and online host here. And I get to hang out with you guys in the lobby. There's so many people and so much love happening. And guess what? Today is Pray First Sunday. What a powerful way to kick off the new year. And here at Journey Church, we believe that prayer isn't our last resort, but our first response. And if you have a prayer request, whether big or small, we will love to pray for you. And we encourage you to drop your prayer request in the chat because our team is ready to intercede and believe and pray with all of you. And today marks 21 days of fasting and prayer. And today's message, Pastor JJ is gonna walk us through the power of fasting in a righteous way because fasting isn't about perfection or punishment. It's about creating space to quiet the noise and truly seek God. And we hope that you join us on this fast. And one way that you could be intentional during it is through our Journey app where you'll find amazing fasting resources,

not only for adults, but for kids so that they can join you. You'll also find our live prayer services happening Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. And on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, exclusively on the Journey app for the next 21 days. All right, there you have it. We're about to head to the sanctuary to our host, Chantel, who's gonna walk us through and give us a word of encouragement. Make sure you share this message. We love you. What is up Journey Church Online? I am so excited to be in the house of the Lord today, but also on your TV screen in the home where we are about to celebrate the Lord and receive the word of God today, okay? Is anybody else excited? I hope so. If so, write it down in the chat. As you guys know, my name is Chantel, and I get the honor and the privilege of being one of your online hosts today. And truthfully, guys, I'm so excited that it's a new year, but most importantly, I'm excited for what God is going to do. He put on my heart today that we are going to experience a new thing.

And what does that mean for us? What does that mean for you? What does that mean for me? What does that mean for your family? What does that mean for everybody around you? A new thing. I believe that God is going to speak to somebody today. I feel like God is going to deliver someone today. But most importantly, I feel like God is going to show you something that represents something new and something that is coming. And I think it's gonna be so special. It's gonna be so beautiful. And I can't wait to see how you guys receive this word today. But before I get into my word of God, I wanna shout out my online host alongside me today, Ben Christian, shout out to him his first time. And of course the lovely Amber that's in the lobby. You know, guys, when we come together, we're saying yes to the Lord and we're so excited to be here today with you guys. But most importantly, the fact that we get to serve and we get to be a part of something big that God is doing. So like I was saying before, God has put on my heart that there's a new thing coming. And I feel like for someone on this live stream today, you are going to experience something new very, very soon. So I would love to pray with you guys.

And if you feel comfortable, go ahead and pray with me. Father God, thank you for allowing us to be in your space today, your home, and to allowing your presence to touch us today, your Holy Spirit to guide us today and to show us what you have new for us. Prepare our hearts for the word, prepare our minds for what you are going to do for us today and change our perspective so that we can see how you see things, God. God, we love you so much. And we know that we decree and declare all these things will be so in your mightiest and mighty name. Amen. We'll see you soon. Come on, Trinity Church. Come on, welcome to the first Sunday of 2026. How are we feeling? Are we excited? Come on, God has already been doing big things in 2025. He's gonna continue in 2026. We thank you, Jesus. You're so good, Lord. Amen. ♪ Something really powerful is happening ♪ Come on church, let's sing together. Hey. ♪ Darkness bound unto the day ♪ ♪ Mountains get up on my way ♪

♪ Breaking out of yesterday ♪ ♪ I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ Tell this giant in my face ♪ ♪ You're not greater than my faith ♪ ♪ Best believe me when I say ♪ ♪ I got a new thing, I got a new thing, I got a new thing ♪ ♪ I got a new thing, I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ It's in your noisy to destroy the old ♪ ♪ Tell every stronghold, you gotta let me go ♪ ♪ Something really powerful is happening ♪ ♪ Spirits of freedom that I have never known ♪ ♪ And out of the shadows, into the overflow ♪ ♪ Something really powerful is happening ♪ Come on, can you believe that? Hey. Sing it. ♪ Darkness bound unto the day ♪ ♪ Mountains get up on my way ♪ ♪ Breaking out, I got a new thing ♪ ♪ And tell this giant in my face ♪ ♪ You're nothing greater than my faith ♪ ♪ Best believe me when I say ♪ ♪ I got a new thing, I got a new thing, I got a new thing ♪ ♪ We got a new thing, we got a new thing, we got a new thing ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We believe it, we believe it ♪ ♪ Yes, I can see a cloud, heavy with rain ♪ ♪ And it looks like revival, headed our way ♪ ♪ Yes, I can see a cloud, heavy with rain ♪ ♪ And it looks like salvation, it's headed our way ♪

♪ I can hear it, I can hear a sound, the abundance of rain ♪ ♪ And it looks like freedom, it's headed our way ♪ ♪ Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundance of rain ♪ ♪ And it sounds like provision, it's headed our way ♪ ♪ I can see a cloud, heavy with rain ♪ ♪ And it looks like healing, it's headed our way ♪ ♪ I can see a cloud, heavy with rain ♪ ♪ And it looks like joy, it's headed our way, it's headed our way, it's headed our way ♪ He's heading our way It's more than just a song, it's a parade He's heading our way Darkness bowed out to the day Mountains gave up on my way Breaking out of yesterday I got a new thing coming And tell this giant in my face You're my freedom and my faith Just believe me when I say I got a new thing, I got a new thing Cause we got a new thing Cause we got a new thing I got a new thing coming I got a new thing coming Come on, is anybody thankful for a new thing this morning? Come on, let's praise him, let's give him thanks for a new thing We love you, Lord Well, Happy New Year, Journey Church Well, is anybody excited to be in the house of the Lord this morning? Praise God Listen, wherever you are for a moment, if you feel comfortable with me

would you just lift your hands to heaven this morning? Father, we love you and we thank you for who you are We thank you, Lord, that there's a new thing coming We thank you for the miracle that is the breath in our lungs Lord, and if we are breathing, if we are still breathing, you're not done So, Lord, I just pray right now, God, with hands lifted that we would know that every hand is a testimony Lord, of your grace, of your faithfulness God, and that we would posture our hearts into a posture of gratitude this morning Father, we love you and we're here for you, Lord So, have your way in this place, Lord Have your way in this place, Jesus Come on, we sing it together ♪ även right here by my side ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ Oh, yes, we are Come on, we sing together ♪ Holy, Holy, there's only one ♪ Come on again ♪ I gave you glory for all of you ♪ And even though ♪ I don't deserve it, you did it ♪ Come on, we know ♪ But even though I couldn't earn it, you give it ♪ Sing, who am I ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind? ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪

Come on, we declare ♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus Oh, thank you, Jesus Oh, we lift it up to you this morning ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind? ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Sing, all my life ♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Oh, we're grateful, Lord Oh, we're grateful for you Oh, thank you Oh, thank you, Jesus Oh, we sing ♪ And I, I'm lifting both of my hands ♪ ♪ Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance ♪ Come on, declare ♪ And I, I'm giving all that I am ♪ Why? ♪ You gave me chance after chance ♪ ♪ Oh lift it up this morning ♪ ♪ And I, I'm lifting both of my hands ♪ ♪ Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance ♪ ♪ And I, I'm giving all that I am ♪ ♪ I'm giving all that I am ♪ ♪ Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep beyond your mind ♪

♪ God I'm just grateful for you, God I'm just grateful for you ♪ Oh we sing. ♪ All my life you've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for you, God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ Who am I, who am I that you keep beyond your mind ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for you, God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life you've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for you, God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ I survive and I'm here to testify ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for you, God I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ And I'm all right, I'm all right ♪ ♪ If they say I'm out of my mind ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for you, God I'm just grateful for you ♪ Come on, let the redeemed of the Lord say so in this place. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Amen, amen. What a beautiful song. Welcome back at God I'm Grateful For You. Just having an attitude of gratitude is so key. Because even through those rough moments of life. Pray about it. Praying about it, you're going through it, but find that one thing to be grated, grateful for. And that one thing could just be, I'm breathing right now. Keeps you grounded. Sometimes it's that simple. You got another day, another opportunity to love and honor the Lord. Praise God. Well, if you're just joining us,

or if you're joining us back, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ben. I have the privilege and honor of serving as one of your online hosts today. And my name's Christian. I have the privilege and honor of serving alongside Ben as your online host for today. FTH, first time host in the building. Show him some love. He's doing great. And it's just a joy to serve with you today. Thank you, Ben, it's an honor. My brother. Who else is joining us here? Our online hosts. Our online guests, sorry. Online guests, that's right. I'm here with you. So technically, yes, I'm joining. Drop an emoji to represent what city you're tuning in from. Yeah, absolutely. We want to know where you're tuning in from. And who else is with us today? We also want to shout out our Pando app. Pando. Shout out to you guys. You are our biggest supporters. Yeah, we're thankful for you all joining us.

Our brothers and sisters currently incarcerated. Thank you for choosing to be with us on Sundays. We love you. We are praying for you as you join with us. You are part of this journey, church, family. We have another group with us that I love shouting out. That's our FTGs, our first time guests. If you are a first time guest, drop FTG in the chat so we can get to know you, shout you out, show you love, but also scan that QR code on the screen below us right now because that's where we can get a little more information and reach out to you. We want to walk with you and talk with you and help you figure out what's your next steps. Yes, amen, Ben. So speaking of next steps, this is how I got started here. So our step one starts at home. You get to learn about Journey and what Journey is all about. And then step two, we are having next Sunday, January 11th at 1.30 for our online community. That's where you get plugged in, find community and find your purpose of what God has in store for you. You can scan the QR code below and get plugged in. Absolutely, that's so good. Next steps is the way you get to be here, like Christian and I, or help find the other gifts you may have and different ways to serve the local church. And maybe you're being called to serve in that way and we're excited for that.

Join the dream team, we have so many dream teamers. And maybe you feel like God's calling you to go even deeper. And so we have Journey College. This is the place you can go to get your education for ministry and leadership and spiritual growth. And maybe you feel called to this season of your life and that's available for you as well. You can scan the QR code below to get more information. Shout out Gianna, she's our online coordinator, but she's also the Journey College director. Gianna, shout her out in the chat. More information because, again, God may be calling you to something to go deeper. New year. Lean into it. Go after it. God got that for you. So I had the privileged Christian today. I met someone in the lobby. Her name is Nicole. And Nicole shared with us her story. Shout out, Nicole. She shared her story about how she came to Florida. She really felt like God was calling her to come to Florida. So she came to Florida and at first she was excited, but then she found it was kind of hard. It's hard. It's a hard transition. Yeah. It ain't that easy. Stop moving to Florida, y'all. But what was hard really for her was finding friendship and community. So she got plugged in. She went through next steps and she got plugged in and now she serves on the hospitality team. Shout out team hospitality. And that's where she found her friends. She found her family. She found her community, people to walk with her through life, to pray with her, to be there for her. She found her purpose. And she saw that as she served other people, God was starting to serve her. And that was the blessing she didn't see coming. So these stories are only possible journey because of your generosity. So we want to thank you for partnering with us in generosity. And if you haven't yet and want to, multiple ways you can do so. Go ahead and scan that QR code on the screen so you can partner with us to make Jesus accessible to anyone. Now, right now we're getting prepared for Pray First Sunday. If you have prayer requests, as Amber mentioned, put them in the chat. We want to pray with you and for you. Chantel is going to be praying. Pray your hands. Chantel is going to be praying over these requests,

but also online community. Let's pray one for another. The Bible says, pray one for another. Chantel may not get to all of them, but we can. And we're here for our brothers and sisters in Christ to pray together. So I'm excited for Pray First Sunday. I'm excited for the word and I pray that you are also prepared. So we will see you after the service. God bless. Thank you guys so much. And welcome back, guys. As you guys know, today is Pray First Sunday. It's a special Sunday. Now, every Sunday is special because we get to praise the Lord. Hallelujah. But today we are taking it into our own hands and being intentional about praying first. As you guys know, we are a church that believes that praying first is our first resort. And what I want to do today with you guys is pray for some of the things that you guys have been requesting. But I'm also allowing the Holy Spirit to lead me and to speak through you directly, because the Lord has something for everyone on this live stream today. But most importantly, I want you to be able to be in a posture of receiving. So if you feel comfortable, open up your hands, close your eyes, create a space where you're ready to receive. But also go ahead and pray along with me. Father God, thank you so much for allowing us to have this opportunity to praise you, to give you all the glory, to give you all the praise, God. Father, you're so amazing in so many different ways. But God, thank you for allowing us to be able to be here as a group, be here as brothers and sisters in Christ and to give you that glory. Lord, I'm asking you to decrease me as you increase, as I speak to your people on this live stream today, because there's somebody that needs to hear from you directly. There's somebody that needs your healing, somebody that needs your provision, somebody that needs your comforting, somebody that needs you in this moment. Father God, we want to come together today and we want to pray for anybody that is currently going through heartbreak. Father, we know that you are close to the brokenhearted, but heartbreak as a human can feel so strenuous, so difficult, and sometimes feels like there is no way out of that pain. Father, I'm asking you today to touch your daughter, to touch your son, and to allow them to feel peace, to find joy, and to find comfort in the chaos around them and what they are currently going through. Lord, sometimes rejection is just protection. Sometimes, God, that you are moving us in a direction that we might not know. But God, you know every roadmap. God, you know every route. God, you know every way that goes back to you. And I'm just asking you today for whoever is listening and enduring that heartbreak to enduring that pain, I ask you to deliver them right now in the name of Jesus. Lord, I'm asking

you today, we also are coming into agreement to knowing that you are able to save any marriage that is under attack from the enemy. One thing I hear you saying, Lord, today is that we need to remember how big you are, how great you are, and that you are bigger than any circumstance. You are bigger than any devil. You are bigger than any enemy. And anything that you say for us and the promises that you have over our life, Father God, that you are going to do it because you are going to be the promise keeper that you always told us that you were. I'm asking you to touch those marriages, to touch the husband, to touch the spouse, to touch the wives, so that they remember that their unity and their covenant is for you and that their love is for you because God, you are. And I'm asking you to restore that love to restore that trust to restore what has been lost in that marriage today in Jesus name God we're asking you today We're coming into agreement and praying that you will allow Anyone that is currently dealing with doubt dealing with depression dealing with the spirit of the enemy Lying and deceiving whoever is listening right now and dealing with depression God It's a new year, but there's still old things that need to be broken Lord and God I know and I believe through this live stream today that you are going to protect and you are going to cover Your daughter or your son in their thoughts God we know that you are able to do anything and who are we to deny what you're able to do in our lives and I know that right now with the Holy Spirit moving because more than two of us are together on this live stream that you are able to break the chain of depression to break the chain and the bondage of the thoughts and the Enemies lies inside of your children and we know that you are capable and you are able and we are believing through faith today Lord And I'm speaking to someone on the live stream that even if your faith doesn't seem like somebody else's God is just asking your faith To be as small as a mustard seed Because what you have to understand is that a mustard seed the thing about a must see is that it grows fast So if you're willing to have faith But if you're willing to be quick with your faith and God will be as quick as you are able to be as quick with Him he will meet you where you are. He will treat you. He will greet you at where you are So whether you're in your car whether you are at home whether you are at the gym Whether you don't have a home and you somehow came on down this live stream today I'm telling you that the Lord is saying to you that he loves you and that he will comfort you

Father we are coming together today to pray for the children of this next generation father God we're asking you to touch them to show them who you are in Christ to show them how amazing you are to show them that their lives without you is not a life that they want to have and to be thirsty and to be on fire for your love father God We're asking you for to touch your children to touch the kids that don't know you yet and that need to know you God Because you are the way you are the truth you are the life You are everything that we need to be able to maneuver and to move through life God God we're coming today together to ask you God for provision Some people right now on the live stream might be going through lack might not be able to pay a bill might not be able To pay their rent might not be able to put gas in the car God I'm asking you to move today To put somebody in front of them to put your angels in front of them so that they know that only you could have done What you're going to do for them Lord to remind them that even when there is no way you make a way and when it doesn't Look like and when it's dark outside and when they can't see any other thing. I'm asking you Lord to shine a light today Lord To break off the darkness Lord to break off the bondage Lord to break off the chains Lord and to break and to break and to break and to break and to break in the name of Jesus because somebody today is Going to be delivered somebody today is going to be saved and somebody is going to come back home in Jesus name And I believe it today on the live stream God is going to do a new thing in you He's going to give you a new mind a new trend a new a new perspective a new way of going about life God I also see here that we are looking and we are looking for a miracle today God For somebody who is looking to have a child for somebody who's looking to conceive Lord I'm asking you today to bless them just like you bless Mary Lord and to allow them to know that only you were able to Do a miraculous thing because you are a living God. You are a big God You are the Alpha the Omega the beginning the ending and to remind somebody today that God you are able to do anything Give them a supernatural belief give them a supernatural Understanding of what your power is God because I know that with you all things are possible What men might not be possible with you Lord? We know that it's possible in Jesus name and God We also are coming together today and we're asking you Lord to cover our hearts Reveal to us Lord that what is not of you

Reveal to us what you need us to do reveal to us what you want us to do reveal to us our purpose Reveal to us our calling reveal to us what we need to do in your name so that we can be ambassadors of Christ so That we can go out to the world and show them how much you love us and how much you care for us Lord I'm asking for you today to show somebody what their calling is what their purpose is what they need to do in this life God And we decree and declare all these things will be so in Jesus mighty and matchless name Amen Thank you, Lord Amen It's times like this where we tend to look back at our 2025 or whatever the year prior is and we'd be Summarize it and I think we summarize it unfairly. I think some of us will look at 25 and think it was all good That's not true. There was some bad or we'll look back and go it was all bad, which that's not true either There was some good The longer I lived the more I realized that life isn't a set of good times followed by a set of bad times But bad times and good times are both two tracks on the train of life Every day, it's got some bad and it's got some good. It's what we choose to focus on It's what we choose to give God praise for. He's faithful for carrying us through But for those of us who arrived today and think man, I'm sure glad I'm in church because 2025, it was tough. It was bad First off you showed up in the right place The house of God is where I would want to be on the very first Sunday of the year But secondly if that was your darkness that you came out of I'm in my Bible reading plant and you know just every year my plan starts in Genesis and I read that first chapter and every time I read that first chapter no matter how many times I read it God speaks something new to me and as I was reading it this past weekend over the the new year I couldn't help but notice that the Bible says that it was complete darkness. It was just chaos The earth was formless and empty and then in that darkness God said let there be light and there was light and then who's ready called it. He called it day one. I Love that we serve a God who is able to create day ones. I Mean think about it for a second that no matter how dark or how formless or how empty your life is that with the word He can he can it can all start new again today

This is the beauty of Christianity that every day is New Year's Day Every day is a fresh start every day is a brand new beginning Now you combine that with the way that John Started his letter of the gospel when he talks about Jesus He says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God What I'm trying to say is in Genesis God said let there be light and all of a sudden Formless things took form and hopelessness took hope but today when you say the name of Jesus Darkness flees light comes in chaos is suppressed Formless things take form Hopelessness takes hope at the name of Jesus New Year's Day is born day one in all of our lives Begins with the name come on sing that name out today Cuz I know it Jesus Christ My Jesus Christ Come on in the name Oh Proclaim Every weapon Forged against me It's good Greg In the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus when i say it man it's one of the most exciting things about being a christian

and if you're not one you showed up at the right place today because every day as a follower of christ is new year's day there's this excitement around new year's there's this hope that things can be better things can be different i'm gonna change and that doesn't have to exist within the first quarter of the first half of the year it can exist every morning that you wake up with jesus there is an opportunity to start fresh and it's absolutely beautiful well if we haven't met yet my name is jj and alongside my wife liz we have the honor and privilege of serving journey church as its lead pastors and if you didn't know that that means you are a first time guest and we're so glad that you chose to be with us today if you're looking for a home church look no further we think you found it not only because you're surrounded by the presence of god but because you are surrounded by some of the most amazing honest open transparent people in all of central florida journey church will you prove me right by putting your hands together one last time and welcoming all of our first-time guests hey keep it going for journey church online what's up journey church online keep it going for journey east orlando meeting at university high school what's up east orlando and keep it going for all of those who are currently incarcerated watching in jails and prisons throughout the united through the panda app we're so glad you can join us today before we get into the message i just want to highlight some some things that are coming up i'm so pumped to get this year started what what god has shown us what he's going to be doing uh this year is something that really um it's just got me motivated in a in a in a way i don't know that i've ever been in following christ i'm just believing he's going to do some really special things and that kicks off next sunday because next sunday well kicks off today but next sunday because next sunday is

our vision sunday vision sunday everybody now if you don't know what that is every year we set a vision we believe it really it's the lord who said it and it's a direction for our church but it's more than that it's a direction for your family and for your life what we feel like we've heard from god we've heard through prayer through fasting through believing and through his word and so every year we we share a phrase last year was holy the year before that was foundations day before that was pray first and and and this year i can't wait to share with you what god has put in my heart and that'll be next sunday and then on january 25th someone say 25th i'm excited to announce that kasumi campus is officially launching yeah if you didn't know we are currently one church in two locations we meet here at fern park and we meet at the amazing university high school we got our east orlando campus that meets there but on january 25th we're going to be joined by a third body of believers a third community in the city of kasumi and i just want to encourage anybody who lives in kasumi to go to kasumi campus and if and if if you don't also don't like fighting for parking go to kasumi campus and and if you like the people here there's going to be people there that are just like the people here and if you don't like the people here there's going to be brand new people there and so i just encourage you to go check it out and get connected and plugged in it's the same message same spirit same god it's going to be really good but this sunday is the first sunday of the month which is special for a couple reasons um number one is because i get to celebrate every year we end our year with a legacy offering and people give above and beyond their tithes but we also have people who give who commit to begin tithing in

the new year that is giving the lord the first 10 of their income and trusting that he has the rest because we know that he is the one who gives it all to us this past year just a couple weeks ago we had 508 people commit to begin tithing today on january 4th the first sunday you're 508 that's amazing praise the lord and all of them have been asking me either social media or an email pastor i'm excited to tie this gonna be great how do i do it they just never done it before in their life and so i got my son zane and i to put together a video i challenge zane to show y'all how easy it is to be able to get he's a tithe and so i said hey could you give your tithe in under 60 seconds you're on the clock and so put together a video of zane trying to beat beat the timer um he's gonna try and make his time ready to go go ahead zane ready all right time we're ready to go zane ready to go video ready to go one two three boom clicks on the journey church app boom clicks on give opens up the web page boom clicks donate boom clicks one time 25 48 wow it's good christmas for zane great christmas for zane fun ties and offerings campus fern park zooms out next oh we got to switch it from justice to zane with the default that yeah you got it boom with the pivot next apple pay scan my face in my face. Now we got to get it again. Processing. Done. Yeah, oh, 39 seconds. 39 seconds. Let's go. So, 39 seconds.

It's that easy to give. We had to blur out a bunch of stuff because I had my address, my phone number, my social line number. I was just, so, but 39 seconds is that easy to give. All that information just kind of populates, and so, yeah, it's that simple. And so, congrats if today's your first Sunday of bringing your tithe, you're going to see God. I can't wait to hear the testimonies of how God blesses you and just transforms your life through this simple practice. The other reason why today is super important. By the way, if you've never tithed before, it's not about money. It's about making sure God is the first. It's about making sure that God is first, which is why today is special because today is day one of 21 days of prayer and fasting.

Let's go. Day one of 21 days of prayer and fasting. And so, that is really exciting. Some of you came to church today hungry, and that's because you know that it's day one. And others, you did not know it was day one, and you're like, what? And that's okay because it's not too late to start. I'm really pumped about giving God the first of our year. It's going to be really good, and if you have never done 21 days of prayer and fasting with us, we're going to be meeting here at our Fern Park location Monday through Friday, 7 to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, and we're going to be praying, and we're going to be meeting here at our Fern Park location Saturdays, 9 to 10 a.m. And just to set your expectation, if you've ever been to a prayer service, it is not a spectacle. Like, it is very bare bones.

We have a bare bones worship team. We sing, like, two songs. Someone teaches for eight minutes. It's not always me, and then we pray because that's what it's about. It's about praying and about fasting, and I know I haven't taught a lot about fasting over the years. I look back, and I've preached a lot on prayer. We did a whole year on prayer a couple years ago. But today, I really want to talk about fasting and teach you about it and encourage you, if you haven't joined us already, to begin joining us. You can start today at lunch. You can start tomorrow morning. Fasting is so important. You know, it's a practice that's been a part of Christianity for thousands of years, and it has lasted. And anytime something has lasted thousands of years, like, we all

watch new Christmas movies every year, but every year, we go back to the classics. And the reason why we do that is because they're good. If something has been around for thousands of years, it's because it's good. It's because it works. It's because it's effective. And fasting is like that. It is not outdated. It is relevant, and I would say it is actually more relevant today than it ever has been because, contrary to what it looks like on the surface, fasting isn't about abstaining from pleasure or desire. It's actually about discovering it. I want to give you an example. You know, 21 days of prayer, it's a lot to commit to. An hour a day, Monday through Friday, on Saturday, an hour. Fasting, 21 days, it's a lot. One of the ways that our team tried to make it easier for you to be a part of, they gave us

some feedback. They said, hey, 6 to 7 a.m. is really early, and maybe if we had it later, more people could come. And so, they said, let's not do it 6 to 7 a.m. Let's do it 7 to 8 p.m., and maybe more people will be able to be a part of it. And I'm not saying, you know, that, like, in the room, when they made that suggestion, I was like, okay, let's try it. But, like, I had a thought. It was a thought that crossed my mind, and I think that I'm right, but I hope that I'm wrong. And my thought was simply this. My thought was, I think the people who couldn't come because 6 to 7 a.m. was too early... ...might be the same people who don't come because 7 to 8 is too late. And I'm not saying that's good.

I'm not saying that's bad. I'm not judging. I'm not trying to start the year off coming for you. I'm not saying any of that. I'm just wondering why, you know, the reality might just be we're not here because we'd rather be doing something else. And just so you don't feel bad, I'm going to be here all 21 days. But there are some days that I'm going to come here, and I would rather be somewhere else. And my question is, why? See, today's sermon is not a sermon on fasting. It's a study on desire. Why is it so hard for me to come to prayer for an hour, but I can sit through a movie for three? So hard for me to come for an hour, but I will sit through Avatar... ...and watch six hours worth of prequels just to get ready for it? Why is it so hard to

read God's word on my phone for 15 minutes, but it's so easy to read people's posts on my phone for 50 minutes? It's a question I'm not I'm not I'm not attacking I hope that together as a church we're exploring what determines our desires because I think if we could figure that out there would be a lot of people who would change some things about them because I think there are a lot of people that don't like what they desire and actually desire to change their desires. I know a lot of people who say I wish I liked working out more. I wish that when I drove by Crunch Fitness I got excited my heart beat and I was like yay but I don't have that feeling and the same people say I wish I liked working out more are the same people who say and I wish I liked alcohol less. My desires are out of whack. I wish I liked my marriage more someone might say. It's not that I don't love her I love her. It's not that I don't love him I love him. I just wish that I liked him more and the same person that says that might say and I wish I liked my co-worker less. Same person who says I wish I liked prayer more. I wish it was just like every morning I woke up and it was like yay prayer. I wish I liked prayer more but it's not and that same person might go and I wish I liked porn less. Why do we desire things that are not good for us and don't desire things even if we do them that are good for us? The easy answer is because of our sinful nature well because we're human beings and we're prone to sin and we're prone to destruction and we're prone to selfishness but honestly I think that's a cop-out because that answer relieves us of our responsibility of change and I think if we dive a lot deeper that's not true. I actually believe we actually have a say in our desires. I'll give you some examples take my sons I've got two boys one of them loves eating his vegetables the other really doesn't could care less the other one he I mean he loves it he loves eating vegetables so much the other day I saw him eating raw onion by itself like just walking around the house just eating I'm like bro that's a topping that's not a meal put that away but the boy that loves vegetables you ought to know he also loves gardening in fact the vegetables that he's eating are the vegetables that he grew so is it possible that craving can be cultivated that perhaps he has a desire for it because he is invested in it take me this is a fun fact about me if you want to do

like a trivia question like if there was ever trivia jj trivia one of the questions would be what is what's jj's least favorite condiment like hates this condiment and the answer would be babe mustard I hate mustard but there's a story behind it the story behind me hating mustard is my family moved us from New York to Florida halfway through my junior year of high school I didn't want to move they also did not ask my vote they just took us pulled us from everything that we know and love and and we here in Florida and my dad pulls into a McDonald's and I remember we still haven't fully settled in yet we were moving that day and we were moving from a house to an apartment and while we're pulling into the McDonald's I go you know what I have a cheeseburger and then they hit me for a second you know they got McDonald's in Florida too it's not gonna be that bad some things are gonna be the same and I bite into my cheeseburger and when I bite into my cheeseburger I'm like oh what is this I open it up mustard if you know anything about New York you grew up in New York you know that they don't add mustard to the burgers without asking you but in Florida they just assume you want it so they put it in the burger without asking me and I eat this thing and I taste this mustard like I'm sorry I hate Florida oh Florida is so stupid why you take me here the worst I hate Florida the mustard the devil lives here I don't like it and and I and I look back now and I go the reason why I don't like mustard is so important it's not because of taste it's because of trauma and I know this because then I moved to the south South Carolina and somebody made some mac and cheese and I was like yo this mac and cheese is fire like what is in this and they're like my secret ingredient is mustard and then when they told me I was like oh I hate mustard I don't like you get it away from me it's so crazy when someone tells me they don't like church my first answer is who hurt you because I don't think it's a taste thing it might be a trauma thing and this is good news for you because if something happened that formed your taste then something can happen to reform it something can happen to shift it and change it my whole sermon in one sentence is this if I could summarize it as this your taste isn't destiny It's discipleship Here's the title of my message and what I really felt like God wanted me to share with you today I want to speak to you on the topic developing a taste for God Developing a taste for God, you know food has always been a powerful metaphor throughout scripture

Jesus said he was living water. He also said he was the bread of life in the Old Testament There was a dinner that was served called Passover that symbolized God's plan for salvation for all of humanity in the New Testament Jesus shares this same dinner with his disciples to point his disciples towards heaven that heaven is going to be there one day It makes sense with food being such a powerful metaphor that when King David talks about God And this is the King David who the Bible says is a man after God's own heart. He loves the Lord He's passionate about the Lord He writes so many Psalms and he wants others to experience God how he experiences God the way he describes him is this Psalms 34 8 he says taste and See that the Lord is good In other words David is saying y'all my favorite meal is God My favorite meal like, you know your favorite meal that when you order at your favorite restaurant that your friends try and convince you to order different because you order always the Same thing and then when you do order what they say you end up presenting them because you like I know what I liked I should have just got what I always liked It was my favorite that meal that you drove 100 miles for during the holidays to have grandma make or your mom make because it just hits you in a way This is what David is saying about the Lord. He's saying I could have him every day. I Could have him for breakfast for lunch for dinner and dessert God's my favorite He's my favorite and I will never get tired of him This is why fasting is such a powerful tool because it makes you hungry for the right things Fasting helps you if you're taking notes. Here's your first point fasting helps you reset your palate Reset your palate, you know, your palate is it's your taste your sense of taste. It helps reset your palate Proverbs 27 7 says a person who is full Refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry Now honey was not as common in biblical times as it is today. Honey was considered a luxury It was a metaphor for desire I think that's powerful because when God was moving the Israelites out of Egypt for slavery after over 400 years and he promises them this Land this future. He says it is a land flowing with milk and honey now milk

you have to get that even when you're a baby is a metaphor for what we need and I just I think this is so Important because God is saying I'm taking you somewhere and it's gonna be a place that doesn't just fulfill your needs But it also fulfills your desires and if you're brand new date If you have a brand new to church today That's a word for you because there is a brand of Christianity that exists that says that God is Antidesire that God wants you to suppress your desire and what I would tell you that this is not true God wants to fulfill your desires. God doesn't want you to get rid of your desires. She's what he wants to do He wants you to get your desires, right? He doesn't want to get rid of them. He wants to write them Because if you have desires for the wrong thing, you will take it in and you will feel full but you will be empty This is what the proverb is saying is saying that if you get full Then when something beautiful comes something luxurious comes something like honey You'll reject it because your stomach is already full. It's like when you go to the restaurant I don't know if you was like a kid like I was with a parent like I had we go to the restaurant and they put out the bread and Then the parent you would reach for that bread and your parent would slap their hands so fast I said we did not come here for bread Don't get full on the bread because if you get full on the bread then when the steak comes out We ain't come here for the bread. We came here for the steak. We never go to the restaurant for the bread Unless it's Olive Garden Or Red Lobster we go there for the bread But the steak and the steak has the nutrients. It's the steak that fulfills but if you get full on bread Here's what I'm trying to tell you about this world movies sex video games vacations boba tea Listen to me. None of it is bad None of it. It's bad. Listen, it's all good. I just came to tell you today. It's just that it's bread It's it's not that it's bad it's just that it's bread and if we get too full on it then when God comes Honestly, that's why I think some of us love this church because service is 70 minutes

We be real y'all be like, oh, it's the preaching. It's the worship. Nah, is that you in and you out? Let's be honest. It's a quick sir. I got my blessing and I go, and it's almost like I'm good with 70, but I don't think I need 90. I don't think I could sit through 90 because honestly, I ate before I came. I'm preaching to myself. I decide how long the service is. So I'm just saying like I get it and I feel it, but is it good for us? I gotta learn my lesson, man, because I do it to myself. Every year I do the same thing. Every last week of December is this, I end it the same way and I really need to change. I don't know if you know that about you, like things about you that you're like, yeah, this is, I can't even front. Like I think what I love about my church and our church is that this is not a church of perfect people. This is a church of people who come here because we know we're not. So I'm just gonna be honest. The reason why, there's a thing about me I don't like and it's the way I end every year. Because I know that I'm gonna fast. What? Who's with me? We do 21 days of praying and fasting every year. So I know I'm gonna fast.

So the way I end my year is like, well, I'm gonna go in. Because I know I'm gonna fast and I go in, y'all. I go in, not just on food, but like, I watch all the shows, catch up on the Netflix stuff, like the three seasons, I just catch up on that. Watch three movies a day. On Friday, I had banana nut caramel waffles from Kiki's with whipped cream on the side. You know, on the side. But it all ended up on the waffle, but on the side. Then for lunch, I had pizza with fried chicken cutlet on it. And then a boba tea after. And I've noticed something about myself when I go in like that. I don't know if you noticed it, but the more I engorge, the less I enjoy. And it's not even like the food that I'm not enjoying. It's like the other things that I used to enjoy. Like I used to be able to look at a sunset for a couple of minutes and be like, oh, that's beautiful, God is beautiful. But when I go in like that, I'll look at a sunset for five seconds and then go see what's on TV. I used to be able to hug my kids, stare at them, be like, y'all amazing. Now I'll kiss them on the cheek and I'll open up my phone and run to my email. And it's like, that did something to me. It is not allowing me to enjoy the simple things. And science is beginning to catch up with scripture here

because we believe that our cravings are like designed within us. Like people just born not liking mustard or born not liking ketchup. But our science tells us that when it comes to genetics, genetics only determine the intensity of the flavor, but not the preference of it. Your craving is actually developed by you, not designed by God. The more you eat something, the more you like something. And when you eat a lot of sugar, this is science, y'all, your brain actually recalibrates. And normal food starts to taste bland. But when you cut out sugar for a few weeks, let's say 21 days, something wild happens when you cut out sugar. Fruit actually tastes sweeter. Water tastes like Coke. You're like, what's in this water? Especially, it's water, bro, it's just water. But your palate has reset. Your cravings actually change. Your appetite changes. Here's what I want you to know about fasting. Fasting is not about desire being restrained. It's about desire being retrained. Wow, that's so good, come on, that's right. Because we lose it when we lose it. We start to be so flooded with this, and we need it. Every 21 days of prayer and fasting,

my family fasts TV and movies. That's really good for us, because it forces us to sit down and have conversations and play board games, and we start to talk, and I start to realize, listen, how much, how sweet my family is. That I had lost in the bread of everything. Because there's no TV, Liz and I are going to bed early now, because we're not watching any shows. You know what happens when you get to bed early? You wake up early. You wake up early. Because I'm cutting out the desserts, my body's got this energy, this strength. I can thank God for my health, and most people, they're like, I can't thank God for my health, and most importantly, because I've cut out the artificial sweeteners of the world. I'm just telling you, I'm able to find again the natural sweetness of God. Fasting is about finding it, not losing it. It's about resetting to a natural, like, no, God is beautiful. You'll see that when you begin to fast. And it's also not about digesting, about what you keep out. It's about ingesting what you put in. Here's my.

Second point, listen, if you're gonna be fasting, fasting helps you, because it teaches you not to settle for samples. Don't settle for samples. That's my second point, don't settle for samples. Don't settle for samples. Bible says this in Hebrews chapter five, verse 14, but solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Constant use, solid food, train themselves. Do you know what I mean when I say samples? When I say samples, I mean this picture right here is what I mean when I say samples. Yeah. You know what I'm talking about when you're at the mall? And I'm not racist, but the Chinese place is the best, man. That Asian place, that Asian place with the mall food, oh my gosh. And I'm so grateful for the sample lady, or sample dude, because they come out with the little toothpicks and that chicken teriyaki, ooh. And when I eat it, I go, ooh. It reminds me, I'm like, that place is good. It reminds me of how good it is. So I need the samples, because the samples remind me of how good it is. But the sample was never designed to be the meal. It's just a reminder. I love Sundays, we need Sundays,

because Sundays are a reminder. We need Sundays, because Sundays remind us how big God is. Sundays remind us how good God is. Sundays remind us of all of God's promises. Sundays remind us of the glory of God, the community of God, the awesomeness of God. But I need to tell you something about Sundays. Sundays were always designed to be a sample, not the meal. This is something I love about my wife. Every time she goes to a restaurant or takes a sample, she always, on the way home, she's always like, I can make that. Which I'm like, if I was the chef, I'd be offended. I'd be like, I go to school for five years. You think you could do what I do in five years? But she's trying to save our family money. She wants us, but most importantly, she's like, why do I want to wait every so-and-so to go to this restaurant where I can have this at home? You're supposed to taste it here and want to make it at home. That's what it's supposed to be. You taste it here and you go home and you make it and you have it. Now, some of y'all are like, yeah, I tried that, but when I taste it at home, it don't taste like it tastes here. Pastor JJ, you cook better than me. And I wish I could cook like you,

because if I could cook like you, then I'd be in my Bible more and we both be cooking. But right now, it don't taste the same. And if that's you and you think that, let me tell you two things. Number one, I've been cooking for years. Look at what Hebrews chapter five, verse 14 says, by constant use have trained themselves. Put it back on the screen. By constant use have trained themselves. I've been reading my Bible for years. I've been studying my Bibles for a year. And the more you read it and the more you study it, the better you get at preparing it, the better you get at reading it and looking at it and you developing, and it's already happening. There are people in the lobby who will meet me after service, after a sermon like this, and they'll be like, Pastor, it's crazy that you preach that. God was telling me the same thing. I get that all the time. And I go, of course, that makes sense. It's supposed to work like that, because we both cooking out of the same recipe book. Wow, that's so good. We all got the same recipes. We all got the same God. We all got the same spirit. We all got the same book.

What I preach to you here should be a confirmation of what God revealed to you at home. Wow, that's so good. Secondly, don't put me on the pedestal. I'm not even the cook. I'm just the sample guy. I'm just out here on Sundays like. It's good, right? It's good, right? Go taste it. Try it at home and have it. It's training. And it's not just training your skills, it's also training your taste. Look what it says in Matthew 4, 4. Jesus answered, the scripture says, men shall not live by bread alone. In other words, we're not supposed to taste it, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, we supposed to live off it. Not just taste it, live off it. You start to crave it, the more you eat it, the more you taste it. My son Zane plays piano and he's learning right now. It's been about a year and a half that he's been in lessons and the first year, oh my gosh, it was such a fight. We'd have to force him to play piano for 30 minutes a day. Practice 30 minutes a day, buddy. Practice 30 minutes a day. And this Christmas he played us

the Charlie Brown Christmas song. He was jamming, he did so good. And now it's a year and a half in after forcing him to practice for 30 minutes a day. Now I have to be like, bro, stop playing piano. Bro, go do your chores, bro, you gotta do your chores. They were trying to have a serious conversation here. Stop playing the piano. He's trying to talk to him seriously. He's like, da, da, da, da, da, da. I'm like, bro, will you stop? Will you stop? I was trying to get him to go. Now I have to tell him there are other things. Because what started off as torture has become tradition. Now it's become normal. It's become what is hard in the beginning becomes a habit in the middle and in the end. And now you have to, suddenly you have to, wait, I gotta go to work. That's my, we have a friend, a guy named Sam. He was in first service. He gave his life to Jesus last year. And I met him a couple months after. And he was like I've been reading my Bible every day over an hour a day. I was like what he's like, yeah, man I'm hungry and I was like, that's crazy. You must be in like Revelation by now He was like, no, actually I just got out of Genesis I'm like what you mean? He goes I just can't get past the every chapter. I'm just diving into it He's like I'm savoring it like the taste and the flavor of it

Like the more you eat it the more you the more you want it and it's not just with God It's that same kind of approach in the other areas of life. You want to love your marriage more? date night is a great start, but now you got to go from date night once a week to serving them every day and The more you serve the more you love Same thing with your kids most of us our family time is one vacation a year and it's a great vacation props to you You planned it out, right got the right Airbnb. You got the right plane tickets. You got the right excursions all of that But if you really want to increase the love that your family has for you go from a vacation once a year to reading to them every night Consistency beats intensity every time Every time here's the other thing about developing our taste it happens in community. Here's my third point community creates craving community creates Craving I remember growing up in New York and I had a friend and his name was Paul And he was a white Jewish kid and I loved it. We hung out a lot Is it Miss Lee matters here? All right with it with my story. So somebody like why the guy be about race? Will you stop? All right. It's just anyway, so He was tired. We were balling and a roller skating or something rollerblading or something and he was like, man, I'm exhausted I was like, oh Do you need like you like a refreshment and I ran to my house and I grabbed the most? Refreshing drink that I could think of and I brought it out to him and I was like, here you go, man The Most refreshing drink I can think of if you're not clapping or that's okay. This is called Malta I don't even know what it is. I was gonna tell you what it was I don't even I'm reading ingredients still don't know what it is all right, all I know is is that I grew up on this thing and and and if you're Caribbean or From Latin America then you probably grew up on on this or something like this And so I remember I gave it to Paul and I was like, oh, you're gonna love this, bro It came out the fridge is nice and cold. He drank it took one sip and spit it out And he was like this is Horrible, this tastes terrible and I guess like the first time in my life. I could ever remember being like racially offended

I was like what? What do you mean? This is terrible. Like this is my childhood, you know, and he's like, oh man That's bad. And so then I took I was like, maybe you got a bad one So I can I took a sip and then as I sipped it I thought you know what I can see it How if you didn't grow up on this like it's a very unique taste Like if this sermon intrigues you and you're like, I'm gonna go try mouth at home. Don't If you and your 30s the window has closed You're done You don't grow up on this like it's a very unique taste and I thought wow how crazy it was in that moment when I Realized how much influence my community had on my cravings How getting around the right people that hunger and thirst for the right things make you want to hunger and thirst for the right things And vice versa Get around the wrong community that craves the wrong things all of a sudden you start craving the wrong things This is why I need you to come to prayer and fasting on 21 days 7 to 8 9 to 10 on Saturday because I need to see you pray because they're gonna be some days when I don't have the Faith to pray and I'm gonna need to borrow yours I'm gonna need you to come on 21 days in prayer and fasting because I'm gonna need to see you cry To remember the desperation that I need to have in my prayer life I need you to come on 21 days of prayer and fasting and I need to see you struggle I need to see you get bored and fall asleep and And and and and lose track of thought and so that I can know oh, I'm not the only one I'm not the only one like this hard for me too. It's hard for them too and together our cravings our desires See how it works because to build up together when we come together We get to be weak together We get to hope together and we get to overcome together community creates Craving there's the last one because I know fasting is gonna be hard man. It's gonna be difficult I'm gonna just let you know right now. It's not supposed to be easy But suffering doesn't hide God it reveals him And that's a part of fasting

That's a part of fasting Psalms 34 8. Psalms 34 8. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen. I bet David, I bet David was at the prime of his life when he wrote that. Think again. Look at Psalms 34, right before verse 1, there's something called the superscript. It's like a heading, if you will, of what, where David was when he wrote it. Not every psalm has it, but we get it here. Of David, this is in your Bible, of David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech who drove him away and he left. In other words, David is writing, taste and see that the Lord is good while he is a fugitive on the run hiding in a cave somewhere. Because suffering doesn't hide God, it reveals him. How about this one? Psalms 42 1-2. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Ooh, life must be so good for that psalmist. Look what they wrote in verse 3, the very next verse, same author. My tears have been my food day and night while people say to me all day long, where is your God? I can't even feel God right now. Let me jump to Matthew 5-6 because I think that Jesus gives us some insight into this dichotomy, into this tension. How could I be in such pain and yet have so much pleasure? Matthew 5-6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. There's something about fasting that doesn't fill you, listen, it fulfills you. Because in those moments, I don't know how many people have given their lives to Christ last year, I can't remember, it was over a thousand. Do you know that the majority of those decisions have come from inmates? The majority of decisions of Christ last year did not come from people in the room. The majority came from people watching through the Pando app, inmates in prison cells and jail cells across the United States. And you would not think that that would be a place where someone would believe in God, would trust in the goodness of God, would love God. If anything, they'd be angry and there's probably a little bit of that in there too. But the reason why they're able to see God in jail and they weren't able on the outside, listen, is because it's when you have nothing that you find out what you really need. And what you really need, what you really need isn't a promotion. What you really need isn't a man. What you really need isn't a Lambo or a house. I promise you what you really need is Jesus. I promise you. So I'm going to teach on fasting. There are four different types of fast, very quickly, and then we're going to pray. Because I want you to join us if you haven't joined us yet. The first type of fast is a partial fast. And so a partial fast is when you fast for part of the day. A lot of people already do this. They call it intermittent fasting.

And this can be where you go, I'm going to fast from sunup to sunset. But once it's dark, I'm eating. So one of our staff members, she's waking up early in the morning while the sun is still dark to have breakfast. She says, I'm only going to eat when the sun is out, when the sun is not there. That's a partial fast. You can do 12 to 12, however it is. That's a partial fast. The other is a selective fast. A selective fast is when you fast certain types of food, where you go, you know what, I'm going to give up dessert for 21 days. I'm going to choose not to eat dessert or dairy products or soda for 21 days or carbs for 21 days. The Daniel's fast would be an example of this, where, you know, I'm vegan, and I'm going to go vegan for 21 days. Now, I would say this. Make sure that it's something that you don't like or that you do like that you're giving up. They're like, I'm going to fast broccoli for 21 days. You missed it. I had somebody tell me, oh, I don't mind doing the Daniel's fast that's, like, vegan, because I make the best vegan dishes. I'm like, well, then make meat dishes. It's not 21 days of fun. It's 21 days of prayer and fasting. Like, it's supposed to be hard and not, like, super enjoyable to your flesh. So select that. The other one is a soul fast. This is someone saying, hey, you know, I'm going to eat regularly, or maybe I'll combine some of that. But really, I'm going to give up something that I really enjoy, maybe something that my heart runs to a lot when it's uncomfortable. I might give up television for 21 days, social media for 21 days. I might give up movies or YouTube for 21 days. I had someone tell me. It actually happens every year. Somebody meets me in the lobby and goes, Pastor, this year I'm fasting weed for 21 days. Way to go, bro.

Way to go. Awesome. Because, by the way, marijuana isn't the only way people medicate. A lot of people will medicate with television. What I'm telling you is for 21 days, what if the thing you ran to when you were uncomfortable was God and not media? If that's you. Absolute fast. This is where you go. I'm giving up solid food for 21 days Maybe liquid or just water obviously speak with a doctor to make sure that it's okay for you for this I've ever gone on a liquid fast, but all 14 days. I was too skinny to go 21 I started losing bone marrow, you know, I mean And a lot of people combine it a lot of people go hey I'm gonna go just water for three days and I'm gonna jump to selective and it's not about a law It's not legalistic. It's in your heart But but join us if you have not started today, this is your invitation you're doing 20 days of prayer and fasting Starting today right now starting with lunch. This is God calling you deeper every head bowed every eye closed I want to pray for those in the room today who are wrestling with their desire if you've been wrestling with desire Wanting something that has been harming you and wishing that you wanted that thing. That was good for you I want you to know this is the year we shift our desires and we're gonna do it through prayer And we're gonna do it through fasting Lord, give me the appropriate appetite Lord, I want to desire the things you desire I want to hate the things you hate and it's gonna begin by resetting my palate It's gonna begin by getting around the right group of people It's gonna be begin well with digestion, but with ingest and I want to ingest your word ingest your spirit I want you to speak to me and I just want to declare prophetically that this is the year where chains fall where habits break Literally where our desires shift because we've been trying to change our actions journey church and God wants to go deeper He doesn't want to modify your behavior. He wants to change your desires and he can change you on a heart level like only God can As you're praying to the Lord and asking God to change that area of your life I want to speak to anybody in the room who does not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and listen to me The very there is no Sunday like the first Sunday of the year to get right with God

Today can be the beginning today can be day one if you get right with Jesus today It's not gonna be an easy road, but it's a simple road you follow Jesus and he takes care of the rest Following him can be difficult Following him is the call and I promise you I promise you he's gonna do something special in your life If you're in the room today, if you're watching online today, East Orlando, wherever you are in Pando in a jail cell all over this room Jesus is the answer That's you when you're ready to start a relationship with Christ on the count of three Would you raise your right hand high as a signal sign to the Lord? I need you Lord in my life But I know I want to know who I'm praying for all over this room on three one two three right now Let me see you raise your right hand high so many hands across this room. I know that they're there at East Orlando I know that they're online. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Praise God I want everyone to repeat after me whether you raise your hand or not say father God, I'm done with samples Today I'm taking you Jesus as the meal of my life You are my breakfast. You are my lunch. You are my dinner. I make you my everything All things I give it to you and in return I receive all of you in Jesus name We pray amen and amen Come on, put your hands together and help me. Welcome to the family of God all those that made a decision to follow Jesus Hey, if you made that decision Amen. Amen. If you just made that decision to give your life to the Lord I am so excited for you and we as a church are so excited for you to join team Jesus Okay so with that being said if you want to go ahead and get it connected my best Recommendation is for you to go ahead and scan that QR code below so that somebody will reach out to you or you can go to www.journey.com Forward slash decision and when I tell you this is probably the best decision you are gonna make in 2026 and I'm so excited for you Now guys service was amazing and I actually want to bring in some of my good friends in the studio Bedding Christian so they can give us their insight on Today's service and again, God bless you guys and a happy Sunday

Thank you Chantel So much. Yes, and let us also welcome you to the family if you made that decision to follow Jesus We're excited for you. We're happy for you. And you know what? I'm proud of you Yes, because that's not always easy to just surrender. So I'm proud of you I'm excited about the 21 days of prayer fasting Yes The way pastor set it up in the message the different types of fast you can do if you've never fasted before Yeah, drop in the chat which one you're doing there's the partial the soul the fool I'm probably gonna do a combo of all of them, you know Yeah partial soul what I'm giving up some things that just Focus and it's not just about what you're giving up. It's if you just give it up and that's it That's not what it's about replacing that time with Intentional time to spend with the Lord and so I'm encouraged for you all praying for y'all and a great thing we're doing During this 21 days of prayer fasting. We're doing prayer services the 21 days So every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. And then Saturdays at 9 a.m We're gonna have prayer services during this time of prayer and fasting and if you can make it in person Awesome, if you can't you can still be with us how it's good exclusively through the journey app journey Yes, make sure you have that app downloaded on Google or App Store. It will be there has been said Yeah, and you can join us that way we understand you not everyone could be in person Especially if our out-of-state folks, you can still be a part of that 21 days of prayer and fasting So make sure you download that app share it with others share the message with others share that with others so they they can participate With us as well. Well, we've enjoyed our time with you here today journey fam Until next time we're gonna put you in the great great hands of Amber in the lobby. See you next time Thank you so much Ben and Christian I honestly couldn't agree more today's message was so amazing and I'm honestly so excited to kick off the new year and Starting it off with this type of fast and honestly, I'm not sure what I'm kind of gonna do what type of fast but I'm feeling the same way Ben maybe having a Combination and really allowing the Holy Spirit to really guide and direct and how I process this moment and really just seeking God So thank you so much and those of you who are strictly online

Do not forget that the journey app is our lobby It's our virtual lobby as you're seeing here in the room We're in the sanctuary of the lobby and you see how crowded it is. There's so many people walking in and out communicating Finding community and just doing all of the things and we have that same Avenue through the journey app so we encourage you guys to download it to be interactive to Really be intentional with the resources on the app and the community and all the things that you could do on there Also, do not forget mark your calendars January 11th at 1 30 p.m. Easter Standard Time We are having next steps for online and if you're feeling called to be involved and find your purpose here at Journey Church We encourage you to tune in and learn more that way you can find your Avenue here at Journey Church because honestly guys It's an honor to serve alongside you and to be involved in this online community. We see you We love you and God is right where you are And he is waiting for you to truly seek him on a whole nother level and as we're entering the new year What better opportunity than to kick it off with fire and really allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you? All right, guys, there you have it. We're about to close out. We are so excited We can't wait to see you all next week and hear all about the testimonies that's gonna happen throughout this fast We are expected and we know that God is gonna do a new thing. We love you so much and we'll see you next week