Get Ready! - Special Church at Home Service - Journey Church - JJ Vasquez

We've got 20 seconds on the clock. Go! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! All right, go to normal lighting. Hi, everyone. Welcome to our Church at Home online service. We're at the last Sunday of every year. We come together, all of our campuses, virtually to celebrate what God has done. I'm looking forward to going into a time of worship with our amazing worship team. And an incredible word from Pastor JJ. But before we do, I think God deserves some credit. And I think he deserves just some time to boast about all that he's done in 2025. Because it was a big year. A lot happened that we're going to talk about. But I think we have to start with my favorite number that we get to celebrate here. Which is the fact that we surpassed 9,000 salvations this year. I don't even have a specific number because God keeps raising them out. And I remember a couple years ago, I think it was, what, two years ago, when Pastor JJ announced that on our 10th birthday we want to celebrate 10,000 decisions. And at the time, we were at like 3,000 something. Like 10,000. Not that God can't do it. But like, we're getting there. And I remember that moment.

Jason, do you remember when Pastor JJ announced that? I remember a lot of moments where Pastor JJ sets vision and then God completely blows our expectation out of the water. 100%. Time and time again. But I think it matters because we say here that every number is a person. Every person is a story. And every story matters to God. And I like to add, if it matters to God, then it matters to us. And we're going to celebrate it too. And I think most of these stories that we hear are really birthed in something that we love here called small groups. We believe in the power of small groups. We believe in the power of community. And so, Crystal, I know that this year you joined us as our small groups director. We're so happy that you joined the family. And I know God has done amazing things with small groups. So why don't you just tell us a little bit about what God did this year? Of course. What an honor. I get so excited just talking about small groups. Not because I get to do it, but because look at God. Look at what God has done. We just look across the entire year. Almost 500 small groups met in living rooms, in coffee shops, all around our city, in other states. We had small groups in New Jersey, in New York. It's just wild what God has done. And as I think of those numbers, as I think of all the places that I've met, I see the faces of the leaders, of the members that came together. I think of people like Eddie and Alicia, that they're today leading a marriage small group. But just earlier this year, in January of this year, they got remarried. They were married for the first time 25 years ago. And their son actually introduced them to Journey Church after they had divorced, legally separated.

And what God has done in the time that they've been at Journey, and just the redemptive nature of God. And what He's done with their story, to the point where they were involved in small groups, got connected, God restored their marriage. They were remarried this year, and now at the end of this year, ending out leading a marriage small group. So wow, God is so good. That's something only God can do, right? I love stories like that. It just encourages my faith. Which is why I love Baptism Sunday so much. Because story after story, and I don't get tired of seeing people sharing their testimony. Because I get more and more encouraged. The darker the story, the more glory God gets, the more honor He gets. And the fact that so many people are bold in their faith, and they make that public act, and that public declaration, just encourages me. Man, I gotta be louder. I gotta boast louder. Jason, I know that you've been a part of many Baptism Sundays. Absolutely. So why don't you share with us some moments from Baptism Sunday this year that was amazing. Absolutely. I definitely want to share maybe one or two stories. But I got a friend of mine who's a barber. And I go to him since I've been in high school. And man, he decided to get baptized this year. And I've been praying and just talking to him. That's amazing. And his name is John. And it's awesome. This is my favorite part of the story. Because it's not just, when we say that baptism is a declaration. of faith to the public, it really does ripple into your whole life, into generations. And I remember when, you know, he would cut my hair and then I would hear some conversations, but you know, barbershop conversations. And then it just went on to, you know, the next time I would get a haircut, it would be like he was talking about church and then everybody was listening and, hey,

what songs are we doing on Sunday? And, you know, when can I try out? And then even the last couple times that I've been, even some of the other hair stylists recognize me and they're like, Oh, you go to our church, right? You sing at our church. I was like, Oh, wait, this is our church now. I love that. And I think that's just the power of taking your faith and making it public. And I think it's so contagious. I think Baptism Sundays, it's one of the most motivating Sundays for me. It's like, if I need a fresh why, just go to Baptism Sunday. I can't wait for the next one. That's going to be on January 18th, I believe. And man, I'm just so excited. I'm looking forward, counting down the days, but it's just such a momentum builder that we build in into what we do at Journey. And it's so amazing to see that time and time again. Absolutely. One of my favorite parts of Baptism Sunday is seeing the families in the crowd, watching their loved ones get baptized because you are witnessing them, witnessing God answer their prayer. And you're seeing the power behind a family member who prays on someone's behalf. Like, I am not giving up on you. Even if you don't believe, I'm going to believe on your behalf. I even have someone on my team that his dad was praying, Ben, from the UK and his dad drove, his dad flew here after 10 years of praying for him and got to see his son get baptized. And that just shows us the power of prayer, why we go to God, why we intercede, which interceding is just continuing to pray and continuing to press in and not giving up, which is why we love 21 days of prayer and fasting so much and why we do it every year. And we don't compromise. God, I'm going to tie the first of my year to you because you deserve it. And it's something that we've done. I've been here seven years and we've always done it because we believe in it so much. And so, Nico, I know you have a direct hand into 21 days of prayer and fasting. What can we expect or look forward to this year? Yeah, I just love how we create an intentional space for us to gather. You know, the Bible promises us that where two or more are gathered, he is there in our midst. And when you get a room full of people with big faith, big things can happen. And I love that we're able to start our year off that way. In previous

years, we started early in the mornings, but we have a big shift coming this year, starting on January 4th, where on Monday through Friday, we're going to meet in the evenings and we're going to meet from 7 to 8 p.m. And then on Saturday, we're going to be meeting from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. And I just really love how we get to do this because there are a lot of Christians who don't get this service in the midweek. So the fact that we're able to provide this for 21 days straight and then launch ourselves into that Wednesday prayer service for the rest of the year, I just love how it sets a rhythm for our church. It really does. And I love that you said that it sets a rhythm. I feel like this year, Wednesday prayer services, a shift happened. We started it, I think, like two years ago, maybe like 20 people and 30 people. And then it just kept growing. And now I come and the whole altar is full of people on their knees. Like, wow, Lord, like your people are hungry. Your people want you. Your people are seeking your face and they want to be a part of something. And I think that's what God created us to do is like we're part of a greater purpose. We're part of a bigger plan. And that is why the local church is so important, because we get to tap into that while we're here, which is why this year we announced the launch team of our Kissimmee campus, a very long awaited campus. I've never seen our comments more engaged and more excited than when we announced Kissimmee. I mean, I had people writing, I've been watching online for five years because I live in Kissimmee. You can't come in person. And we announced that Charlie and Diane are going to be the campus pastors. And so why don't you tell us what God is already doing in Kissimmee campus? So first of all, many of you guys know that we have been praying for this campus for a long time. Pastor JJ, we had conversations and then this year he's like, it's now. What do you mean now? Like next year? Yes. And so it's a fulfilled promise for sure. But I think the beauty of it is that it's not only for us. People have been praying as you're saying. People that have stopped serving because it's too far for them. Now they are able to serve the Lord again. And people that have been driving for like hours. There's a mom that she drives here every Sunday for

an hour and 25 minutes. She has three kids. It's so complicated. And she was so happy to know that now she has a place to go and worship every Sunday. And just people in general that have not served for a long time. People that are kind of like finding God again and saying because he's close to home, I want to go and try it. I want to go and do this Christian thing again. And it's beautiful just to see how everything is connecting and God's hand over everything. And it's just around the corner. Yes. In four weeks. Can't wait. We are so excited. Wow. That's crazy. We're going to do it in January 25th. Awesome. We have two services, 9, 15, and 11, and we just know, we know because of what God has been doing so far. Yeah. God is doing beautiful things and we have not started. So I cannot wait to see. Come on out. It's just exploding out of joy and I cannot wait to see just knowing that he is with us and that he's making a way and we're ready. And I love that the church hasn't even officially launched yet, but you guys are already in the communities, already loving. I believe you guys went to the school or to the teachers to serve them. Yes, we went to the school a few weeks ago and we were with the teachers. There's teachers are putting our cards on their desks to show the students that the location is coming. And we had a lot of teachers saying that they have stopped going to church and now because

of having that location so close, they want to try it again. And so they were so receiving, so welcoming. It was beautiful. And even the city, Jaylene, the city is ready for it. We do serve Saturday there every month. And usually we tell them, you know, we are in Fern Park and they're like, that's so far. But now we're like, actually, we have a campus coming in January and you guys can join. So we just see the expectation of not only the launch team, but the people in the city, the students, the teachers, and it just seems like everything is coming together perfectly. So that's glory. That's just a testament that the church is not the building it's in, but the people it's made up of. That we do not have to wait for a building to be able to be occupied for us to be able to spread the gospel and spread the truth of Jesus Christ. That's why we do it. So what would you say to someone that's like, man, I'm nervous to get started. I'm nervous to serve, whether that's a Kissimmee or one of our other locations, what would you say to encourage them to step into their purpose? I think that's all of us here, right? We all fear. Sometimes we feel inadequate. We feel like we're not prepared. But I always like to say that we all have stories. Stories are powerful. People are going through things that we are going through now. Because of our healing, they can be healed. Because of our freedom, they can be freed. So my advice is to say yes. If you're obedient and you just walk, God is going to open the door. And don't put that pressure on yourself.

You're a vessel. God is the one who uses you. So just say yes, be obedient, and you're going to find a lot of people that are going to surround you to just be there for you, encourage you, and you're not going to be doing it alone. So please, please come and join us. And I love that we make it so easy to get plugged in. All we have to do is go to Next Steps on our website. I took Next Steps when Pastor JJ was preaching it, and it was four classes. And we got a certificate, and I was like, wow, I have to be here until like 3 p.m. I mean, I did it because I was excited, but I'm like, man, it would have been really easy if I just went on the website and got plugged in. But I know we quickly touched on baptisms before, but we didn't mention that we baptized 1,182 people. 1,182 stories rewritten, souls reclaimed, generational curses broken, families mended, sins disappeared, past erased. Like that is such an incredible thing to witness. I don't think when you launched this church, you thought that in one year, we would baptize 1,000 people. I didn't think 1,000 people would come in one year. And the reason why we see so much of this fruit is not just because God is good and because He's present and because He's here. It's not only just because we have amazing, literally amazing volunteers who make this possible that we couldn't do every Sunday without them. Like they are this church. They are what built, yes, this church, but also because of the generous givers who make this possible. I know so many people have busy jobs. They have kids. They have husbands, wives, like they can't always be here the way they want to. But with every gift, with every generosity, they have a direct hand in the life change

that we're talking about here today. They're why we get to keep going, why we get to keep doing this, why we get to keep multiplying campuses. And so I just want to encourage anyone who's here that, man, I can't be involved the way I want to. No, you are involved and your hand is here and we couldn't do it without you either. And so I just think that the only thing really left to do is to worship God, to give Him praise, to give Him glory, to thank Him for what He did, but also to reflect and be expectant for what He's going to do, how He's going to move. If we thought this was crazy, imagine next year, like what is He going to do next year with our yes? Maybe four or five, six campuses. We don't know, Lord. Do what you want, but we're going to keep saying yes, because if He keeps showing up, we're going to keep showing up and we're going to keep doing the work with Him. So let's worship God together. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus for who you are. We welcome you Father. Have your way in us today. Have your way in us this new year. Have your way God in this new year. We welcome you. There's no one like you, no one like you Jesus. There is revival right here and now. There is a fresh wind and I can hear the sound. Something truly wonderful is happening. There is a difference inside of me. More than a feeling, this is a prophecy. Something really powerful is happening. Darkness bow down to the dead. Mountains get up out my way. Breaking out of yesterday. I got a new thing coming. So tell this giant in my face.

You're not greater than my faith. Let's believe me when I say. I got a new thing coming. Oh I got a new thing. Oh I got a new thing. Oh I got a new thing. There's an anointing to destroy the old. To tell every stronghold. You gotta let me go. Something really powerful is happening. There is a freedom that I have never known. Out of the shadows into the overflow. Something really powerful is happening. It's happening right now. Darkness bow down to the dead. Mountains get up out my way. Breaking out of yesterday. I got a new thing coming. So tell this giant in my face. You're not greater than my faith. Let's believe me when I say. I got a new. Oh I got a new thing. Oh I got a new thing. Oh I got a new thing. Oh I got a new thing. Thank you Jesus. So grateful for the new that's on its way. I can see a cloud heavy with rain. And it looks like revival is headed our way.

Oh I can see a cloud and it's heavy with rain. And it looks like salvation is headed our way. I can hear a sound the abundance of rain. And it sounds like freedom is headed our way. Oh I can hear a sound the abundance of rain. And it sounds like provision is headed our way. Oh I can see a cloud and it's heavy with rain. And it looks like healing is headed our way. I can see a cloud and it's heavy with rain. And it looks like joy is headed our way. Headed our way. Is headed our way. Is headed our way. Headed our way. It's on its way right now. It's on its way right now. it's on its way right now. I think you've gone for the news. It's on its way. It's headed our way. Come on, let's sing. Darkness bow down to the day. Mountains get up out my way. Breaking out of yesterday. I got a new thing coming. So tell this giant in my face. You're not greater than my faith. Just believe me when I say. Oh, I got a new thing. Come on.

Oh, I got a new thing. Thank you Jesus for the new thing. Oh, we thank you Lord. ♪ I got a new thing coming, I got that new mind, new heart, fresh faith ♪ ♪ I got that new one, now word, I got a new thing coming, I got that new mind, new heart, fresh faith ♪ Come on, declare it over the year, that's on its way, come on! ♪ I got a new thing coming, I got that new mind, new heart, fresh faith ♪ ♪ I got that new one, now word, I got a new thing coming, I got that new mind, new heart, fresh faith ♪ Thank you, Lord, for the new thing, thank you, Lord, for the new thing I'm so thankful for you, Jesus, thank you, God Oh, I got a new thing, oh, I got a new thing Thank you, Lord, heavy with the rain And it looks like revival is heading our way Oh, I can see it now, and it's heavy with rain And it looks like salvation is heading our way Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundance of rain And it sounds like freedom is heading our way Oh, I can hear a sound, the abundance of rain And it sounds like provision is heading our way It's heading our way, it's on its way right now Thank you, Jesus, so thankful, God, for your presence So grateful for your provision, for your healing, for your spirit, God It's headed our way, it's headed our way Thank you, Jesus, we thank you, Father Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Lord Thank you, Jesus God, we put our life in your hands May this next year be a story Of only one name being lifted up God, we put it all in your hands

Everything that we've been through Everything that we're going through Has prepared us for what's before us, God And we thank you for that Come on, we sing Maybe we've made this complicated More than it was ever meant to be Hasn't it always been about the same thing? Lord, bring us back to simple things You be the center of it all My heart belongs to you My Savior all in all You're the one I hold on to For the beauty of your name My soul will live to say Jesus, I love you Teach us to discern the moment When to serve and when to sit here at your feet Keep us away to what's important Just like Mary chose the better thing You be the center of it all My heart belongs to you My Savior all in all You're the one I hold on to For the beauty of your name My soul will live to say Jesus, I love you You be the center of it all My heart belongs to you ♪ With You, my Savior all in all ♪

♪ You're the one I hold on to ♪ ♪ For the beauty of Your name ♪ ♪ My soul will live to sing ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love You ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love You ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love You ♪ ♪ And my whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ And my whole world for You only, everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of You only, everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And my whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ And my whole world for You only, everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of You only, everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And my whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ And my whole world for You only, everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of You only, everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And oh how I love You ♪ ♪ And oh how I love You, Jesus, I love You ♪

♪ And oh how I love You ♪ ♪ And oh how I love You, Jesus, I love You ♪ ♪ I love You ♪ ♪ And my whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ My whole world for You only, everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of You only, everything, for the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And my whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ My whole world for You only, everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of You only, everything, for the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ Oh how I love You, oh how I love You, Jesus, I love You ♪ ♪ Oh how I love You, and oh how I love You, Jesus, I love You ♪ ♪ You be the center of it all, my heart belongs to You ♪ ♪ My Savior all in all, You're the one I hold on to ♪ ♪ For the beauty of Your name, my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love You, my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love You, my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love You ♪ Father, we love you, and we thank you. There's no one else like you. Father, forgive us if we ever make it about us. It's really not. This thought was coming to my mind as I was listening to the song, and it was that for thousands of years, science and humans thought that the sun revolved around the earth. And I love that idea because the reason why it was the focus was because that's where we are. So we just kind of imagine that because we're here, we're the most important thing, and

everything else revolves around us. And it wasn't until later science proved that, no, actually, the sun doesn't revolve around the earth. The earth revolves around the sun, and it's such a picture of creation. Yes, we're here. Yes, I see me, but I can never forget that it's my job to recenter Christ. Christ is already at the center. I can't take that spot. I can't take that place. There's too much weight there. There's too much work there. Whether you're hearing this in a room or online, Father, we recenter our life around you right now. Forgive us for ever making it about ourselves, Lord. We know that we go through things, and we go through challenges, and we go through trials, but you're the one that keeps it all together. As we go through our ups and downs, as we go fast and slow, as we lose, as we gain, God help us to keep you in the middle. Our eyes are on you. Our thoughts are on you. We block out all distractions. We eliminate all the fear and the worry for a second, Lord. We just put you in the center. The whole universe is held together by you being in the center of it all, Lord God. We thank you for being not just in this room, but we thank you for being in every room across the central Florida, across this country, God. We love you, and we thank you in Jesus' name. We pray, amen. Hey, what's going on, Journey Church? We're so glad that you're with us today.

I want to tell you, man, on behalf of the staff, on behalf of the team, we miss y'all so, so, so much. We are really glad that we do have this week, though, I got to be honest. We have almost 1,000 Dream Teamers that serve every week. We have a bunch of staff that are serving every week, and so thank you for allowing us to take one week off. We call it our Sabbath Sunday, our church at home, so that we can hit the new year with fresh energy, fresh vision, and I'm excited, and I look forward to these services, because I do think, as we were even praying, getting ready for this, that it's such a great reminder that God's presence has no limitations, that he can meet you in a room, he can meet you in a car, he can meet you on a phone, and so we're just, we're really grateful that we're here. If we haven't met yet, my name's JJ. Get the chance to be the lead pastor of Journey Church alongside my wife, Liz, and we're just pumped. Can't wait to see you next year. It's going to be great. That's next year, because we're pretty close to it. That's going to be great. All right? I want to encourage you really quickly with a short word, something I feel like God really deposited in my spirit for this new year. If you have a Bible, you can turn to the book of Joshua, chapter 1, verses 1 through 2. Joshua's chapter 1, verses 1 through 2. If not, the verses will be up on the screen. It goes like this. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses' aid, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River. Get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give.

I want to speak to you today on the title, Get Ready to Cross. Get ready to cross. So in verse 1, it opens up probably one of the more somber book openings in the Bible. Moses is dead. And that is a really significant moment in the life of Israel because of what Moses represents. The Israelites were slaves for over 400 years. Moses shows up on the scene, and he comes with a promise. He comes with the word. God's going to deliver. God's going to set you free. God's going to do something amazing. And he dies, and by the time he dies, the word of God that was prophesied over the lives of the people of Israel had not been fulfilled. And I just got to wonder if the end of 2025 feels a little like that for you. I wonder if there were some words that were prophesied over you. I wonder if there were some things that God told you would happen, some promises that you held in your heart, something that came directly from the word. Word of God, and here we are at the end, and all of a sudden, it's not happening, and it hasn't happened. You have to understand that when Moses died, it wasn't just Moses that died, hope died. And have you ever had hope die? What's crazy, though, is that that's just verse one. And then you read verse two, and verse two takes it in a completely different direction. Verse one, Moses died. Look at verse two. Now then, you and all these people get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land

I am about to give. What's crazy is that not only is the promise still alive, it's actually closer than it's ever been. Wow. Isn't that insane? It's wild to me how thin the line is between breakdown and breakthrough. It's like right there. It's like right there. And if you had a tough year, let me encourage you that the promised land is often on the edge of the wasteland. It's right there. It's one turn. It's one more step. I can say without a doubt, God has something special for you in the new year. And I can say that without a doubt because God's provision is never in doubt. God's provision is never in doubt. The question isn't, will God provide? The question is, will you be prepared? Nico, catch. You wasn't gonna catch. I almost got you. You looked like it. You were gonna drop it. You were gonna drop it. And you weren't gonna get it. Not because I didn't throw it,

not because I didn't give it, but because you weren't ready to receive it. You can never freely receive what you're not ready for. Sometimes God has given us things and sending us things, but we're not in a position, some could say posture, of reception. We can blame God's absence on really us missing it. We gotta be in position. We gotta get ready. It's ready, set, go. What comes first? Say it out loud. Ready. Ready? You gotta be ready before you go. And there were three things I saw God did to prepare the people before they stepped into the promised land. Three things God did to get them ready to cross over. And I'm gonna start with the last thing they did, and I'm gonna end with the first thing that they did so that you'll know exactly what to do next. All right? But we're gonna start with the last thing that they did. Joshua chapter six, verse 16 and 17. They're getting ready to enter into the city of Jericho. Jericho is the first city in the promised land. They've crossed. So remember, we're starting backwards. They've crossed, but they haven't taken any land yet.

And so they're about to. Joshua's speaking to the people. He says, shout, for the Lord has given you the city. The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Verse 19, all the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury. Now, this is a big ask from God for the people of Israel. Remember, they've been in the wilderness for 40 years. They have no resources. Their food has literally been coming from the clouds. Right? They don't have many possessions. Whatever they've had, they've used up. And now they're getting ready to take Jericho. And what God is saying, you can't have any of the plunder. What is plunder? Plunder is what you take from the city that you occupy. It's how soldiers get paid. And how they feed their families. Just put yourself in the shoes of the Israelites. You've been waiting to take land and the first land that you take, you can't keep. That's pretty crazy. He goes, and you can't have it. And why? Why would God not let them keep the blessings? Because you got to remember, he's preparing them for the blessings.

And so here's the preparation. The way God is preparing the Israelites for the blessings is by making sure that their blessings don't become idols. That's so good. God is saying, I'm about to give you a whole lot, but if you can't give me this, then the rest that I give you will take my place in your life. And so show me you can trust me. Show me you don't make an idol of the blessing so that I can give you more blessings. But one guy named Achan, didn't do that. Achan, after Jericho, takes the silver, takes the gold. He takes some cloth from Babylon, the Bible says. And the Bible says that he buries it under his tent. He hides it underground. And the Israelites go out to fight a city that was a fraction of the size of Jericho. And their army is absolutely obliterated. Joshua feels like, did I miss God? Is he not with us? What happened? Has he abandoned us? He gets to praying. And then God replies to Joshua's prayer. And God tells Joshua this, get up, purify the people and get them ready to come before me. Tell them to be ready. Someone say, get ready.

Because I, the Lord God of Israel, have this to say. Israel, you have in your possession some things that I ordered you to destroy. And you cannot, this is. word for somebody and you cannot stand against your enemies until you get rid of these things. Here's the first thing that they had to do or the last thing that they had to do but it's important. Identify the idols. Identify the idols. Be sure that what God gives you doesn't take God's place. Why do idols keep us from victory? Why do idols keep us from the presence and the hand of God working in our life? I've preached this often but there are some things God can't do. Some things God can't do. I know that sounds heretical to a lot of people but there's some things God can't do. God can't lie. God can't lie because lying would be a violation of his nature and his nature is righteousness. God can't blink. You're never gonna get away with doing something God don't see because that would be a violation of his nature and his nature is omnipresence. He's everywhere. Here's another thing God can't do. God can't come second because that would be in nature of his violation which is preeminence. In the beginning God. It's like Ricky Bobby used to say, if you ain't first, you last. It works like that with God. God in any other place cannot be God. It just can't be God. You have to put God first and it's hard sometimes to know that we have idols in our life because like Joshua sometimes you got to dig to find them. Sometimes they're buried and they're hidden. The worst idols are the hidden idols. And what do you mean passages that they're hidden? Most people who follow Jesus don't also follow Zeus or Apollos or Poseidon or Baal because the devil's not going to get us to fall into idolatry by us worshiping some type of monument or statue for blessings. His strategy is going to be to try to turn the blessings into monuments and statues that we worship. That's his strategy. And they're usually good things like money. Money is not a bad thing. But as an idol it can be a bad thing. That man you prayed for that you finally got in 2025, be careful he don't become an idol. Those kids you've been thanking God for,

be careful that your kids don't be. Well how can kids become an idol? Listen, I've got kids and I got to take them to soccer and I got to take them to piano practice. I got to take them all those things. But if any of those things ever keep me from taking them to church, that's an idol. Your health. You finally got that six-pack and now it's all you think about. You got to be careful. You don't make your body fitness an idol. So how do we know? I'm gonna give you an acronym for figuring out the idols in our lives. I'm gonna teach you how to peek into your soul. P-E-E-K. Peek. You're gonna peek into your soul. P means pray. That's the first one. We're gonna pray and we're gonna ask God to reveal. The psalmist said, Lord if there's anything in me, if there's anything in me that displeases you, if there's anything in me that takes your place Lord, reveal it to me so that I can lay it down. I want nothing to be first place in my in my life except you. But I know I'm human. I know I can be deceived. Help me Lord. Is there anything in my life that's taking your place? We're gonna pray. The next E is esteem. Esteem. Here's what I mean by that. Where do you get your sense of self-worth from? Every July my family and I takes a sabbatical. It's one month and I do that for one main reason, but it's a reason for you and it's a reason for me. The reason why I step out for five weeks and have other preachers come in and God still moves and people still get saved and people still get delivered is so that you never make an idol out of me. I can't be, this church can't be your sense of self-worth, but also I do that so that I don't make an idol out of you. I can't let the fact that thousands of people call our church home be the thing that gives me worth and so I got to step away from it for five weeks to go, you know what? I'm not preaching. Nobody's tagging me. Nobody's calling me and God still loves me and I still matter and I'm still called and I'm still redeemed and I'm still a son of God. Sometimes you got to step away. So esteem. Here's the other E. Effort. Effort. What gets the most of your effort? Now I know we work nine to five jobs and I'm not talking about that. Obviously I'm not expecting you to pray nine hours and work eight or anything like that, but I will say this. What are you, here's how you knew what your God was, what you

sacrificed to. So what in your life have you been sacrificing for? More than the Lord. And then K is kill. Now if your children are your idol, please don't. I'm gonna call the police. That's not what I'm talking about. You know, kill is a metaphor. Alright, let me just be real clear. Kill doesn't mean you quit your job. Maybe if guys ask you, but I don't think that's it what guys ask you today. Here's what I mean when I say kill. Like there are some things we can do. Like fasting will kill materialism. It'll kill materialism. Serving will kill selfishness. But the best way to kill an idol is to make God a king. I'll say it another way. If you really want to kill the idols in your life, fall in love with God more. And the more you fall in love with God, the more appropriately you'll love other things. Does that make sense? The more you fall in love with God, the more appropriately you will love your wife, the more appropriately you will love your children, the more appropriately you will love your job, the more appropriately you will love your purpose or your career or your friendships. And so, okay. All right, here's the second thing that they did. Joshua 5, verse 2. At that time, the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again. Uh-oh. Every guy in the room, every guy online, where is this point going?

Verse 4 through 5. Now this is why he did so. All those who came out of Egypt, all the men of military age died in the wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt. And all the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not. Now don't worry, we are not promoting circumcision on this YouTube channel or podcast or anything like that. Not saying you've got to get surgery done before you get into the new year. Circumcision was always a symbol. Circumcision was a symbol to illustrate separation from the world. In fact, Paul says it's no longer our skin that is circumcised, but in Christ it is our heart that is circumcised. Because circumcision is about looking different, but God doesn't care as much about us looking different on the outside as he does us looking different on the inside. He wants us to look different, not in the way we look, but in the way we live. So here's the second thing we're going to do to get ready to cross into everything that God has for us. We're going to separate from the influences. Separate from the influences. So we've got to identify the idols first, and we've got to separate from the influences second.

All right, and now God wanted his people to be different. I think that there is such a... I don't want to say oxymoron. That's not the right word. It's just there's an irony, I think, in being different because everybody wants to be special. Everybody wants to be special, but nobody wants to be different. You know what I mean? Because special equals unique, but different equals weird. And so we want to be special, but at the same time we want to be same. And you can't have both. If you're going to be special, if you're going to be called, if you're going to be unique, get ready to be different and get ready for people to think you're weird. Did you know that? Hey, 2026, get ready for people to think you're weird. If you're going to live separate, if you're going to be different, if you're going to be unique. And I celebrate weirdness. I'm in a season of my life, I'm celebrating weirdness, good weirdness, because there's some bad weirdness. I grew up in a castle. There's some bad weirdness out there,

but some good weirdness. And I'm going to tell you I'm a fan of weird man because normal is not working. It's normal to be divisive now. It's normal. It's normal to hate now. It's normal to wish people dead now. It's normal to ghost people, to cancel people. It's normal. And normal is tearing our world apart. I'm down to be weird because Jesus was weird. 30-year-old man single. Come on now. That was weird in the Bible. I'm not coming for any 30-year-old single people at our church right now. Hey, God's got a plan. But in the Bible times, 30-year-old man hanging out with 12 dudes. It was weird. It was weird. It was weird. He was a Baptist, lived in the wilderness, ate honey, locusts, and had a belt made of camel hair, I think. The goal isn't to be weird. The goal is to be Jesus. And let the world say what they want to say. At 12, Jesus spent so much time in church,

he accidentally got left there. That's weird. Get ready for people to say, hey, in 2026, you're going to be at church a lot. You're going to be at church on Sundays. You're going to be there in prayer on Wednesdays. You're going to be there for 200 days of prayer and fasting. Get ready for all the friends. That's weird. Why are you at church so much? Why are you serving? Why are you at the outreach? Why are you at small group? Just try to be like Jesus, man. I need this to keep my faith going. I need this to keep my mind strong. I need God in my life. Get ready to be called God. weird. Jesus took every opportunity in public to be interrupted to minister and didn't mind interrupting other people to minister. Get ready because in 2026, God's going to lay people in your path. Get ready to have conversations on the bus. Get ready to have conversations with the dude behind the public's cashier register. Get ready to have conversations with the soccer coach and the soccer mom and just get ready and get ready for the Holy Spirit to download word into your life and encouragement for that person in that moment. You're gonna walk away thinking, what just happened? And everybody else is gonna be like, that's weird. Be like, that's Jesus. That's Jesus. Jesus fasted and prayed to live life at a higher level. When your friends invite you to go out to drink after work and you go, yeah, I'm going but I'm just not drinking. That's weird. Get ready for them to call you out. That's gonna be weird.

Jesus gave up a lot, man, because pain is often associated with separation. But he did it anyway. And when you welcome separation, when you welcome suffering, when you welcome pain in your life, that's gonna seem so weird to people but it'll make so much sense to us because we know that there's a difference between temporary pleasure and eternal life. It's a big difference. People think we're losing. We're winning. We're trading up. My son asked me the other day, he says, define sacrifice. I say giving up something for something greater. That's sacrifice. Giving up something for something greater. I want the biggest influence on my life to be Jesus. I want Jesus's attitudes. I even want Jesus's battles. I want Jesus's compassion. I want to love what Jesus loves and I want to hate what Jesus hates and that will separate you when you decide that that is going to be your way of life. So get ready. Get ready. Finally, Joshua chapter 3 verse 15 and 16. You know, this is the last thing I wanted you to hear so your first step would be clear. Okay, here we go. Joshua 3, 15 and 16. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. This is the Jordan River that the people would cross to step into the promised land. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan, please note this, and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away at a town called Adam. While the water flowing down to the sea of the Arab, that's the Dead Sea, was completely cut off. Verse 16, so the people crossed over opposite Jericho. Here's the last thing I need you to know. Go in. Go in. Identify the idols. Separate from the influences and go in. In order to understand the significance of what just happened, you got to look at the Israelite story all the way from when they first left Egypt. If you've ever seen the movie Ten Commandments or Prince of Egypt, this is probably the most memorable scene in all of the Bible other than Noah's Ark, which is probably this one. It is when Moses divides the Red Sea so that the people can walk through. Now if you pay real close attention to that miracle, Moses stands at the edge of the sea on land, lifts up his staff, and the sea splits. And the Bible says that the Israelites walked

through on dry land. So staff up, river open, walk on dry land. But in the Jordan there is a detail that is so important and it's that the river didn't split and then the people walked in. The people had to walk in. And when their foot touched the water. See the Israelites coming out of Egypt never got wet. But the people going into the promise had to step in. And once they stepped in, the Bible says as soon as the foot of the first priest touched the water, the water split. That's awesome. Because I think what God is saying is that some things God does for us. Other things God does after us. After we pray. After we give. After we go. After we sacrifice. After we tithe. After we say no. After we say yes. After we go out. After we break up. After we get married. After we have kids. After we we believe. After we go all in. I've never read this before, but he's the God who comes before us, the psalm says. He's the God who walks alongside us. And this one never made sense to me, but it does now. And he's the God who comes before us. after us sometimes God just waits to see you go so that he can then do what you cannot do on your own I wrote it like this don't wait for God to do it watch what God does with it don't wait for God to do it watch what God does with it I dare you to step in I love the phrase a step of faith I love that phrase because it implies a fear it means you're trusting that what you walk into is not what you will walk out of I walked into a river but by the time I walked out the river had become a road and so here's the question I want to leave you with today what's your next step and I'm gonna give you a hint to help you narrow it down if you're watching the day it's probably not easy it's probably really scary and I'm gonna flip it up or it's probably routine and that's the scariest of all I think it's funny that the way the river split and the way that the walls fell down was by walking I've been doing that for the last 40 years Lord literally walking in the wilderness and then walking splits the river and then walking brings the walls down Einstein said doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity or faith I'm gonna have to hit Einstein up and we're gonna have to amend that and I've preached it doing

the same thing over and over again without results is insanity but sometimes praying over and over again even though the miracle hasn't come getting up there worshiping even when you don't have the strength over and over again the doctors are saying the medicine the medicine is not working but you keep going and you keep believing over and over again sometimes that's not insanity sometimes it's faith now faith is weird sometimes but sometimes it's faith man are you willing are you willing to do the same thing the same God thing over and over again until the river splits until the walls fall I will tell you I'm gonna just go ahead and prophesy your next step right now 21 days of prayer fasting January 4th to the 24th don't say it the Lord join us join us I'm gonna be preaching when we come back on January 4th we used to come back and it was vision Sunday and then we would go right in but I told the team I said I felt like we're not really I feel like I'm not teaching enough I'm not preparing the church enough for prayer and fasting so this this whole person when we come back we're gonna save vision for later we're gonna teach you praying and fasting because it's 21 days that can change your life and we're gonna be gathering Nico was talking about it earlier we're gonna be gathering every night 7 8 p.m. Monday through Friday Saturdays 9 and 10 and I want to say this too because I think that this is this wrong idea of praying and fasting it's like well I'm gonna just put God into position where he can't refuse me it's bad theology no amount of faith can force God's hand but I got good news for you you don't need so much faith so that you can force God's hand my question is do you just got a little faith to prepare for God's hand like do you have just enough faith to believe he's gonna do it so I'm gonna put myself in a position to receive it cuz I believe he's gonna do it and even if he doesn't here's what I know the real prize first Peter says I would have the verse well but first Peter said Peter said I have a living hope so we went from hoping for things in things on things to hoping in someone for someone with someone Jesus is my living hope Jesus is my living hope and so even if he doesn't do it I'm gonna put myself in a

position to receive more of Jesus than I've never received before and and I will be blessed and you will be blessed so I want to encourage you to be a part of that let me pray for you all over the room right now and and all over the rooms that are here I want to pray for two people I want to pray for everybody who's on the edge of a promise if you have an unfulfilled Word of God over your life it's weird it's insane keep believing keep promising keep walking it's such a thin line between breakdown and breakthrough the promise isn't dead. In fact, this is a word of God. The promise isn't dead. In fact, it's closer than it's ever been. It's closer than it's ever been. Father, you see every, every head bowed, every eye closed. You see every heart leaning in and inclined. Only you know the hope, or I could say hopelessness of those listening today. God, I pray you would breathe fresh wind into their lives. I pray that the stories of Joshua and Moses and the people of Israel will remind them that we are never too far and that we are closer than we know. God, I pray a supernatural faith. The Bible talks about supernatural faith, the gift of faith. I pray for a gift of faith to rise up. Even for a moment right now, I pray a gift of faith would rise up to believe in the impossible, in the miracles, and and the, the, the faith, not just to believe you'll do it. Here it is to believe for the faith to step in it. Show them that next step right now. For some people, that's the ending of a relationship. For others, it's the beginning of a relationship. For some people, it's the starting of a business. For others, it's the shutting down of a business. For others, it's coming to church for the first time. For others, it's getting involved in the church you've been coming to for a long time. Whatever that next step is, baptism maybe in January, whatever it is, God, I pray you would make that step clear because you don't got to have the faith to run the whole race, you know what I'm saying? Just the faith to take the step, just the step, step in the water and watch the river divide. In that same spirit, there are people in the room today, listen, and people in the rooms today, who your next step is to come home to Jesus. You've been far from God, you've been living your own life, and it's time to come home. You are on the edge. You've been breaking down so that God could break through, and now you're here, and I don't know what brought you to this video, this stream, this feed, this replay, whenever you're watching this, if you're watching it live, whenever, I just know that you're here right now for a reason and a purpose, and so that you can cross over, listen, from death to life, from death to life, from hopelessness to hope.

That's you. I want you to let us know in the chat right now. I'm making a decision. I'm making a decision. I know I can't see your hand, but as a sign of faith, would you just raise your hand? Father, I'm coming home. That's you. I want you to pray this brief prayer with me, and everybody in the room, if you'd pray with me, say, Father God, today I'm coming home. Today I'm crossing over from death to life, from doing life myself to doing life led by you. Doing life led by you. Forgive me for my sin. Forgive me for my sin. I receive. I receive. I receive. I receive. Your forgiveness. Your forgiveness. Your life. Your life. And your hope. And your hope. Today is the first day. Today is the first day. Of a new life. Of a new life. In Jesus' name I pray. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. We're in the room. Why don't we put our hands together and welcome all those people who made decisions to follow Jesus for the very first time, or the first time in a long time. We're so grateful. Right beneath me right now on the screen are a bunch of instructions for you letting us know that you've made a decision, and whatever those instructions are, please do it. As Jaylene was mentioning, you are joining over 9,000 people who have made that decision since the launch of our church nine years ago, and so you are stepping into the family of God, and we can't wait till you get here in January so that we can welcome you properly. Let us know. A pastor will reach out, and even if you're a different part of the country, we got an online pastor and director who will reach out to you, and Jaylene, and so we want to let you know you are cared for and you are loved. At the same time to our church family, thank you so much. Over 1,100 baptisms this year, over 9,000 decisions since launch, not to mention all the outreaches, what God did at Encounter Night at Lake Eola, what God did in December at Christmas at the Movies, at Christmas at Journey. None of it would be possible without your generosity, and you're going to see some ways to give underneath the screen, and honestly, this is, if you never give again, if you gave one time, this isn't a plug so that we can lift up an offering. We're doing good. God is faithful. This is just us saying thank you. I just want to let you know thank you for making this possible and just reminding you that you are a part of this ministry, and so to all of our Dream Teamers at home who didn't get to open the door for somebody, or didn't get to disciple a child today, or didn't get to pastor a teenager, or didn't get to sing from stage, just by being a part of this community, your everyday sacrifice is making ministry possible. So we love you so much. God bless you. See you next year. Amen, amen, amen. Let's worship one more time together. Come on, church. We love you, Lord. Come

on. so tell this giant in my face you're not greater than my faith let's believe me when I say I got a new gift coming I got a new gift coming I got a new gift coming I got a new gift coming I got a new gift coming Thank you Jesus We thank you Lord Journey Church we love you so much We will see you just next Sunday Right here in the building We love you. Thanks so much for letting us into your home Be blessed