One Thing That Changes Everything

Well, Happy New Year, church. I pray every single one of you online today experience the blessing, the favor, and the presence of God in 2026. How many of you want 2026 to be your best year ever? I know I do, and I know you do as well. So I'm gonna tell you how to do that. The first way is you have to join me for 21 days of prayer and fasting, January 5th to 26th. We built out our website. We've got all of the resources there for you. We'll have 6 a.m. prayer services every Tuesday and Friday and Wednesday night worship nights in conjunction. I'm telling you, prayer connects us to God. Fasting disconnects us to the world, and it's one of the best ways to start your new year. And then one of the best decisions you can make secondly, after joining us for 21 days of prayer and fasting is prioritizing to be in God's house every single Sunday in 2026. If you want consistency and strength and clarity, it starts with daily, not only being in His presence, but creating that daily ritual, that weekly habit of being in church. Decide now, say, as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. We're gonna be back in person next Sunday, January 4th, 8.30, 10, and 11.45. And I just wanna challenge you, what would your life look like

if you had a didn't miss year when it came to Sundays? I'm telling you, your life will be so much better. And then lastly, number three, I'd want you to join a life group. I want you to step into community, Acts 2 type of fellowship where friends are there and are walking alongside of you, praying with you, standing in the gap with you and helping you grow. And we're launching a whole set of groups. We have 50 plus small groups available this next semester. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you, you've gotta get in a group, you gotta get some friends and you gotta get some community. All right, let's jump into God's word today. Today, we're in Isaiah 43, verses 18 and 19. And here's what it says. God says, forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. Many of you today, the Holy Spirit's gonna speak directly to you to let go of some things that you've been holding onto, some things that have been holding you back. Do not dwell on the former things it says or the things of the past, because God says, see, I'm doing a new thing. I'm doing a new thing. The Bible says, see, I'm doing a new thing. God says, now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I'm making a way in the deserts

and streams in the wasteland. Can't you see I'm doing something new? And for some of you, I believe today that it's time, it's time in your life that God wants to do something new. I know many of us, we enjoy making New Year's resolutions and there's nothing wrong with making a New Year resolution. The bad news is this, by the end of January, 40% of people will have quits on their New Year's resolution. By Valentine's Day, 75% of people are done. Even though you bought that brand new workout outfit and you're so excited about working out and you got the new gym membership, Valentine's Day tells me that 75% of your New Year's resolutions will be done according to stats. Why? Because most resolutions are good intentions. They're not God intentions. I'm gonna say that again. Most resolutions are good intentions. They're just not God intentions. Good intentions are what I want. God intentions are what he wants for me. And so today, just very simply in this quick message, I wanna ask you four one thing questions and I believe God will give you one God-centered focus that will define this year. The first question is this, number one,

what one thing do you desire from God? What one thing do you desire from God? If God said, I'll do one thing for you this year, what would your heart ask for? I love David in the Psalms, Psalm 27. He says, this one thing I ask, this is what I seek, to dwell in the house of the Lord, to gaze upon his beauty. See, one thing that David desired was the presence of God more than anything else. That's why 21 days of prayer and fasting matters so much to me. What we're saying is in these 21 days at the first of our year, God, before I desire anything else, I'm desiring you. See, I believe this prayer connects us to God, but fasting disconnects us from the world. And it's a big thing. You've gotta jump into prayer and fasting in this season. And I believe it's gonna reinvigorate some new passion again in our church for God. For some of you, your one thing is the person that you've been praying for, someone far from God, but close to you. They're your one. And your posture, your heart cry in 2026 is, God, I'm gonna write their name down and I'm gonna pray for them every single day because I want them to know you. For others, maybe it's a stronghold.

It's something that God is telling you that this can't come into the new year with you. This is not just a resolution, it's a burden. Something has to break, something has to change. What one thing do you desire from God? The second thing is this, what one thing do you lack? What one thing do you lack? In Mark chapter 10, a rich young ruler asked Jesus how to inherit eternity. eternal life. He had the behavior right. He had the morality right. But Jesus looked into his heart and he said this one thing you lack one thing you lack. He said one thing he didn't say two things. He didn't say ten things. He didn't say twenty things. He said one thing you lack. He said go sell everything you have and give it to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then he said these words come and follow me. If there's one thing that's standing in the way of you completely following Jesus. If there's one thing and for this guy it was material possessions. It was the desire that he got for security for wealth and Jesus said if that one thing is in the way sell it so you can fully follow me. Verse 22 the Bible says this once Jesus says these words at that the man's face fell. He went away sad not because he had great wealth. Check this out. God had specifically shown him the one thing that he lacked and he was unwilling to do the one thing that would have benefited him spiritually. May I say that there are many of you who over a period of years God has shown you the one thing that you need the one thing that you've been lacking yet you've been disobedient. I had a guy that I was talking to recently over a coffee we're meeting and he told me Pastor Dan I used to be so connected to God. I used to always feel closeness to God as I was reading his word. I would read his word every single day but I've stopped doing it. I've stopped doing it. I said man that's your next step. Your next step is to join us on reading the Bible in a year. You can opt right in now on our website. I'm telling you we read the Bible as a church every single year and I'm telling you there's this closeness you get when you read the word of God daily. Maybe maybe for years and years and years you've never stepped into Christian community and you're lacking that in your life. You're

lacking friends that are going to be iron sharpening iron holding you up in the faith and it's time for you to say you know what I've been lacking that I need to take a step of faith. Maybe some of you have been wrestling just with this whole idea of the tithe. You know that God's telling you to give the first 10 percent and then the best and rest will be blessed as you give him your first. You fought it and you fought it and you fought it and perhaps that's the one thing that's the one thing that's the point where God is saying do you really believe it or not. Are you going to trust me or not. See I believe this outcome is God's responsibility. Obedience is mine. When it comes to your relationship with God. Let me ask you this. What one thing do you desire from God. If you'd give you that one thing what would you ask of them. Second question is this. What one thing do you lack. The third question is this. What one thing do you need to let go of. What one thing do you need to let go of the apostle Paul in the New Testament. Such a powerful passage of Scripture Philippians 3. He's talking about how he wanted to know Christ. I mean like know Christ like not know about him but to like know him and the power of his suffering. He says this in verse 13 he says brothers I don't consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do he says I'm forgetting what is behind. I'm straining towards what is ahead. I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. He says this one thing I'm going to do and you can almost like see this one action like he's saying I'm forgetting what's behind and I'm straining towards what's ahead. I'm pressing on. It's this one decision. It's this fluid action and motion that I have to move forward. Now we don't know what he was letting go of. It could have been a couple of things. I'll list some examples. He's the guy that personally said to stone Stephen the first Christian martyr. Maybe he's letting go of that. He was the guy that persecuted the early church. It also could have been the pain and the suffering of once he came to Jesus that he experienced for being a follower of Jesus. I mean here's a guy that five times he was whipped each time 40 lashes across his back. Maybe saying I'm letting go of that. This is a guy that was beaten shipwrecked stoned even left for dead. Perhaps he's saying I'm letting go of all that pain and I'm moving forward. We don't know what it was. We just know that he was saying I'm letting go of that. Years ago my my sister and I was in Florida visiting her and her and her husband are big Florida

Gators fan. So we went to a college football game on Saturday and stayed over to a hotel on Sunday and then we decided to we're heading home and we stopped at a ropes course down in Florida and they had this whole like tightrope sequence not a tightrope but but a loosely wobbly rope that was suspended between two platforms and for some reason I don't know why the moment I I stepped onto this platform and saw this loose rope just instantly like fear gripped my heart. I froze. I was like clinging to the pole the entire time that was like the ones. stable thing in my life. But the instructor kept saying these words to me over and over. He said, you've got to let it go. You've got to let it go. If you want to get across, you want to complete this course, you've got to release the pull. And once you step out, you're going to have to focus just looking to the other side. He said these words, I'll never forget them. Don't look back. Don't look down. Don't look to the left or the right. Just focus on where you're going. So eventually I took a deep breath. I pried my hands off my new best friend, AKA the pole, and I stepped out. And in one motion, I focused on that far tree. Eyes forward, eyes fixed. And when I did that, not looking down, not looking back, not looking to the left or the right,

I made it across. And that's a picture. That's exactly what scripture is saying right here. It says, keep your eyes focused on Jesus. Stop looking back. No, no, no, you keep your eyes focused on Jesus. He's the pioneer, the author, and the perfecter of the faith. Oh, Isaiah 43 this morning is saying, forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I'm doing a new thing. Some of you, the reason you're not moving forward into what God has for you is you're still gripping something from the past. And it's just time. It's time to let it go. It's time to let it go. What is the one thing that you need to let go so you can become all that God is calling you to be in 2026? The fourth question, and lastly, what I wanna ask today in closing is this, is what promise do you need to claim? What one promise from God do you need to claim? David in the scripture was anointed to be king by Samuel the prophet as a teenager, but the journey to becoming king was long, messy, and confusing. Instead of this straight path to the throne, he faced setback after setback.

He faced issue after issue. Maybe you've had a promise from God. God has given you a vision for your life or a future, but it's not coming to pass. And maybe in this season, you've been even questioning God and saying, God, where are you? That's exactly where David was. He goes through this series of events where he's questioning where God is. Every time he'd see a victory, there'd be Saul coming right after him, looking after him, trying to destroy him. It almost seemed like for every step forward he'd take in life, there'd be two steps back. David goes through many, many different trials, and he finally lands himself in this situation in life where he says, there's so many things that I don't know. There's so many things that are not going right. There's so many questions that I cannot answer. There's so many details that are not going the way that I wish they should have. And then he says these words in Psalm 56. I love it. He says, this one thing I do know, though. There's that word again. This one thing I know. God is for me. The enemies, they're coming after me. I don't know what to do.

It's almost been three steps back, and I'm scared to death every single time. He says, I don't know what even is happening next. He says, but this one thing I know. God is for me. What one promise do you need to claim today? What one promise do you need to claim today? If you don't know what promise you need to claim today, look to God's word. God's word promises you many things. I wanna read to you some of the promises of God as we close today. God promises in his word to meet every single need you have from his glorious riches. God promises you that you will not be tempted beyond what you can bear, that every temptation is an invitation to depend on God. God promises to forgive all of your sins. If you're hurting today, God promises there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. God promises to make everything, even the bad things, work together for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. God promises to be your ever-present help in trouble and time of need. God promises to give strength and rest to the weary. He is your joy. I love this promise in scripture. The joy of the Lord will be your strength.

God promises to give you the power to defeat Satan, to overcome the work of the evil one. You resist the devil and he will flee. I love this one. God promises that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. There are some things I don't know. Oh, Calvary Church, there are so many things that I don't know concerning the future, but this one thing I do know, God is with me, God is for you, and God is not against you. God is with me and God is with you. God is for me and for you, and God is not against me or against you. What one thing do you desire from God above all else? What one thing do you lack? What one thing do you need to let go of? And what one promise do you need to claim? Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past, for our God is a good God who is with you now, and he wants to do anew. thing. God, I just thank you so much that through what for many of our church family online today has been a great year. I know there's also been many people this year that this has been a painful year. This has been a difficult year. God, I thank you that you're the God of new beginnings, and I pray today that you'd speak clearly to every single person that's here. Lord, show us the one thing, the one thing that we need to change, the one thing that we need to surrender, and the one thing that we need to do to live out 2026 in the best way possible. You know, as we're in this moment today talking about what is your one thing that you need to

surrender, maybe some of you are online today and you've never surrendered your life fully to Jesus. That is the one thing that you need to do in this moment right now. I'm telling you, your best life has lived. Your best 2026 will be lived where Jesus is Lord of your life. The Bible says this, that God sent his one and only son, his one son, his one thing, his best possession to come into earth, born of a woman. We just celebrated that in Christmas, lived a perfect sinless spotless life for 33 years, and then went to the cross so that you and I could have relationship with him. And it starts in a moment just like this, where you confess that Jesus is Lord, believe that God died for him and for you and for me, for our sin, and that we now make him Lord over our lives. I'd love to just invite you, if that's you today, to just pray something like this. You can repeat after me, say, Jesus, come into my life today. Change me from the inside out. Be the Lord of my life. And from this day forward, I will follow you and just say, my life is not my own, but I exist for your glory and your honor. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.