Seek First

♪ Hey ♪ ♪ You're a word, it's a letter to my soul ♪ ♪ You're a way, it's the only way forward ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road that leads to the light ♪ ♪ But I wanna be on it ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road but it's mercy's wide ♪ ♪ Cause you're good and you promise, come on ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ You say I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ If you start it, you'll complete it ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ You're useful and the chaos will be yours ♪ ♪ I know, cause I've seen it in my life ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road that leads to the light ♪ ♪ But I wanna be on it, come on ♪ ♪ It's a narrow road that's satisfied ♪ ♪ But you're caught in the water ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ You say I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ If you start it, you'll complete it ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ You say I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ If you start it, you'll complete it ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ You're doing your promise, yeah I know ♪ ♪ You're doing your promise ♪ ♪ You said your love will never give up ♪

♪ You said your grace is always enough ♪ ♪ You said your heart will never forget all your sins ♪ Come on, sing it with us, sing. ♪ You said I'm saved, you called me yours ♪ ♪ You said my future's full of no ends ♪ ♪ You've never failed, so I know that you'll never fail ♪ ♪ You said your love will never give up ♪ ♪ You said your grace is always enough ♪ ♪ You said your heart will never forget all your sins ♪ ♪ You said I'm saved, you called me yours ♪ ♪ You said my future's full of no ends ♪ ♪ You've never failed, so I know that you'll never fail ♪ ♪ You said your love, you said it, I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ If you start it, you'll come clean ♪ ♪ I'll take you by your word ♪ ♪ You said it, I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ If you start it, you'll come clean ♪ ♪ I'll take you by your word ♪ ♪ Take you by your word, yeah, I know ♪ ♪ By your word ♪ ♪ I'll take you by your word, yeah ♪ Thank you, Father. You are a good, good Father. Thank you. Let's worship. Oh my. ♪ My words fall short, I've got nothing new ♪ ♪ How could I express all my gratitude ♪

♪ I could sing a song, as I often do ♪ ♪ And every song must end, and you never do ♪ ♪ So I blow out my hands and praise you again, again ♪ ♪ Because all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Because all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ And I know it's not good, I've got nothing else before me ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ And I know it's not good, I've got nothing else before me ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ And I know it's not good, I've got nothing else before me ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Because all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ And I know it's not good, I've got nothing else before me ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ The presence of the living God, the creator of all things, is with us right now in this moment. Where his presence is, there's fullness of joy, there's peace that surpasses understanding. Where his presence is, the impossible can become possible. This is why we worship. This is why we lift up our hands in our song to say that he's so good. When we gather together as a church familia in this moment of worship, I don't want us to waste him. I don't want us to waste his presence with us. So we're gonna take time right now and we're gonna pray for some prayer requests represented of the whole.

If you have a need, if you have a prayer, we're gonna have some prayer partners up here right now. There's some cards in the seat back in front of you if you want to submit that. Every week we pray for every single need, but right now, in the presence of God, we can surrender all. If you need someone to walk alongside with you, with something you're going through, come up and receive prayer. If you have a story, a God story that you want to share and you want someone to celebrate with you, come forward, receive prayer. If you just need a warm embrace to let you know that you're not alone, that he's here, that he's for you, that he's with you, I want you to come and receive prayer. We also have elements for the Lord's Supper communion to my left and right. You can take that right now if you want to remember his blood and his sacrifice and the gratitude that we have for that. But right now, if you need prayer, come forward. The rest of us, would you just stretch out your hands as we pray for these needs, as we surrender our needs and believe God that the best is still before us. Father, I'm so grateful that you're with us, Lord. You're not far, you're near. You've come to be with us, you're Emmanuel, and right now, Lord, in your presence, Father,

I ask for peace. For every fractured relationship in this room, God, I pray you would bring reconciliation and peace to those relationships, to everyone struggling right now with a sickness or disease, Lord. You are God, our healer, and I pray that you would just bring restoration to everyone's bodies and bones, Lord. For wayward children who have gone astray, that you would bring them back. For financial difficulty, God, that you would give us wisdom and provision. For every need represented in this place, your arm is not too short. You are powerful, you are the King of kings and Lord of lords, God, and in you, all things are possible. So we lift up every prayer request. We believe in faith that you hear us, that you're here, and that you will answer according to your will, so let your will be heard. be done on earth, in this place, in our hearts, in this church, as it is in heaven, we thank you and pray. And all the people of God who love him says. All right, come on church. Let's continue to worship. Let's lift up our souls. Let's lift up our songs and believe His presence is here. His power is here. The best is still before us. Oh, don't you get shy of me. Lift up your songs, lighten my way. Lighten your songs and I'll pray and praise the Lord. Oh, don't you get shy of me. Lift up your songs, lighten my way. Lighten your songs and I'll pray and praise the Lord. Oh, don't you get shy of me. Lift up your songs, lighten my way. Lighten your songs and I'll pray and praise the Lord. Hallelujah. I know it's not much. I have nothing else before me. Except for a heart singing hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Oh, don't you get shy of me. Lift up your songs, lighten my way. Lighten your songs and I'll pray and praise the Lord. Oh, don't you get shy of me. Lift up your songs, lighten my way. Lighten your songs and I'll pray and praise the Lord. Oh, don't you get shy of me. Lift up your songs, lighten my way. Lighten your songs and I'll pray and praise the Lord. Oh, don't you get shy of me. Lift up your songs, lighten my way. Lighten your songs and I'll pray and praise the Lord. Oh, don't you get shy of me. Lift up your songs, lighten my way. Lighten your songs, lighten my way. Lighten your songs and I'll pray and praise the Lord. That's why I trust Him. That's why I trust Him. God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. That's why I trust Him. God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered. I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered. ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him now ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him now ♪ Father, as we open up Your word right now, as we continue on in worship, hearing Your spirit teach us through the pages of Your scripture. I pray that our hearts will be fertile soil, that our ears will be open, that we'll be free from every distraction of what happened last night and what's gonna come up this week, God, and just in these moments that we get to spend with You in the presence of the people of God, that You would speak to us. It's not by power, it's not by might, it's not by who's preaching, it's by Your spirit and Your spirit alone that all things are possible.

So we surrender ourselves, we open up our lives, we seek You first this Sunday, that Your will will be done. In Jesus' name, we thank You and pray. And all the people of God who love Him said, come on, Church Familia, happy New Year. I wanna jump right into God's word today. If you're taking notes, we got new binders for 2026. What you write down is what you will remember, and so we have some passages from scripture there. Turn your Bible to Matthew chapter six. We're gonna be reading verses 25, 31 through 33. It says, therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, Jesus is saying. He says, don't be anxious. Turn to your neighbor, tell him, don't be anxious. Don't be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles, they seek after all these things. And your heavenly Father, He knows that you need them all, verse 33. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. I'm Eric and I love fresh starts. I love new beginnings. I love the first service of the year.

It feels like a clean slate, like we can begin again. But here's what I know when we say happy new year to someone else, we are silently asking ourselves this question in our minds. If it's a new year, why do I still feel like the old me? If it's a new year and a fresh start, why does it feel like I brought a lot of 2025 into 2026? I felt this for the first time at the end of 2024. You know, at the end of the year, you get your Spotify wrapped that tells you all the music you listen to. YouTube has the same thing. All the minutes that you watch and what was your most popular genre. Your phone does something similar. It gives you a screen report of how you spent your time. And when I saw my 2024 screen report, it punched me in the gut like a kick from heaven. It basically said, Eric, here's how many hours of your life you wasted watching other people live theirs. That got me thinking, what if there was a screen report for our soul? What if our heart sent us a message saying, here's what you did today? What would it say? You spent five minutes in prayer and then five hours panicking. You spent 10 minutes reading Scripture and then the rest of your day playing out the worst case scenario in your minds. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

Anyone else feel the same way sometimes? Like we want change. We believe there can be transformation, but the same old patterns keep controlling our life. So here's what I realized last year that ultimately changed my morning habits and permanently got me off of social media. I realized that what I opened first runs the rest of my day. If I open my email first, then I live in reaction. If I open social media first, I live in comparison with other people. If I open a news app first, I live the rest of my day with fear. But if I open the presence of God first, I can live the rest of the day with peace. Psychology talks about this. It's called the primacy effect. Literally describes that what you put first has the most power in affecting the rest. Our mind literally follows what we put our first attention to. And so again, if we put fear first, we live the rest of the day looking for someone to combat. Looking for something to offend us. Going into rooms guarded. Looking for conflict. So I had to ask myself this all throughout 2025. And this is why I feel comfortable talking about this today because I'm not a hypocrite in this. I had to ask myself all throughout 2025, what am I opening first? Because what I open first determines who I'm becoming next. The reason I share that is because all of us, no matter your age in this room and at home, you've lived enough life to know that New Year's resolutions, they don't last if we don't change the order of our life. We can have a resolution that feels good for a few days or on average a few weeks. But then what happens? Life hits.

Things go back to normal. We started off with a big impact. We downloaded the new app. We downloaded the new planner. We downloaded the new finance feature of the software that we use. But it doesn't make a difference in the long term. Because if we don't decide whose money that is first, it'll never be enough. We can talk about taking care of ourselves. But if we plan to care for ourselves after we're already exhausted, we're never going to see fruit and growth in our life. We can say, we're all in God. 2026, I want more of you. But if we only give God the leftover time after we've done everything else, we're never going to grow into who God created us to be or who we want to be. Turn to your neighbor and tell them, first things first. That's the title of the teaching series that we're in starting today. And again, I want to encourage us. The issue isn't that we don't care. We care. Right? We're here today. We're starting our new year in the house of God with the people of God. We do care. That's not the issue. The issue, though, is if God is not first, everything else will fight for first. If God is not the center, everything else will fill that space. The crowd that Jesus was talking to in Matthew chapter 6 is a crowd like us. They're overwhelmed. They're heavily taxed. They're people under pressure with unstable income because of the economy.

Again, they weren't faithless. No, they had faith. They were simply tired. And so Jesus starts talking to them about what to wear and what to eat and worries about tomorrow. And it seems like every one of that crowd, collectively, they feel the same way. That's my life. This is what it feels like to live in the culture that we're living in. Again, they had faith. They were just tired. And a lot of us think, I think that if I were in that crowd, I would expect Jesus to say something along the lines of, well, get over it, guys. Have faith. Figure it out. But Jesus doesn't do that, does he? Jesus doesn't shame them for being human. Jesus doesn't yell at them for the needs that they have. Listen to what he says, Matthew 6, verse 32. Your heavenly Father, he knows that you need all these things. But this is the key, verse 33. But seek first. Say seek first. Not seek second. Not seek after everything else. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. I don't know what you hoped that would happen coming in today. But I want to let you know, we're not sprinkling God in our calendar in 2026 as a church familia.

We're starting with him. We're building everything else to surround him. Because that's how we see lasting transformation. That's how we live with the purpose and the power that God has intended us to. Today I want to give us three timeless truths. that will finally transform our lives for good, for good, if we put it into practice. If you're taking notes, and I encourage you to take notes, first thing is this, write this down. When God's kingdom is first, order follows my life. When God's kingdom is first, order follows my life. If we're going to seek first the kingdom of God, we have to understand what the kingdom is. The kingdom isn't some location you can find on Google Maps in Orlando. No, that's the magic kingdom that belongs to a mouse. That's not the kingdom of God. The kingdom is not some catchy Christian phrase that we say to sound spiritual. I'm about the kingdom, bro. What is the kingdom? The kingdom of God is God's way becoming our way. The kingdom of God is his leadership leading my life and my living. Romans 14, 17 says, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking. It isn't rituals. It isn't routines. It's not the stuff we do as Christians.

It's not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It's Christ's life forming us from within, filling us with righteousness, peace, and joy. How? By the Holy Spirit. He's the one who does it. Write this down. The kingdom is God's leadership in the center of your life, not just the top of a list. Not just the top of a list. This is important because when Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God, he's not saying what a lot of us think he's saying. He's not saying spend the first five minutes of your day in a devotion, in a quiet time with God, and then get on your way. Jesus is not trying to be the first task of your day. He's trying to be the foundation of everything. See, I used to think that way. I thought seeking first meant the very first thing I do in the morning is I pray, I open up the Bible, and then after I've checked it off, then I can live my life. It's not bad. I'm not saying don't do that. I'm saying that's not what seeking first actually is. See, a lot of us, you have that spiritual habit of starting with him, but do we stay with him?

Is it just check off Christianity where I did the thing, now I'm gonna live my life myself? I used to think that that's what seeking first meant, but this is what I realize it is. Write this down. A lot of notes today because I want this to stick. I want this to actually bring transformation to our lives. Write this down. Kingdom doesn't start with what I do first. It starts with who I trust first, who I go to first, whose wisdom I seek first, who I turn to first, who I listen to first. It starts with who I trust first. It's an important lesson. I had to learn that lesson so I could actually see lasting transformation. And the place that I learned this lesson in 2025 was a very spiritual place. It was my pantry at home. My pantry at home was in chaos. It was snacks randomly stacked on top of one another. We had ramen and Doritos right next to Tide Pods, like Goya beans and Swiffer, Swifty things. Like it made no sense. And so my wife looked at this and her ADH, she's like, no, no, we gotta do better. So she bought those cool clear boxes that all the cool Instagram moms have and labels and new shelves. And she ordered our pantry.

She organized our pantry around and for a few weeks, it was glorious. I could see my Goya beans right there. If I wanted microwavable popcorn, it's right here. I could see everything clearly, no more chaos. And then life happened. And then the kids put away the groceries. And a few weeks later, it was chaos again. Here's why. We improved the containers, but we never established the order. We organized the shelves, but we never communicated what goes where first. And if the order doesn't change, then the outcome won't either. And honestly, this is how a lot of us live spiritually. We get all the new fancy containers. We bring the organization. but we never decide the order. And we can have good effort. We can do the right things. But if we don't have the right order, everything else will collapse. Does this make sense? Think of our solar system, right? What's in the center of our solar system? The sun. Does the sun have to fight to be at the center? No, the sun just is at the center. The sun is what is superior to every other planet. And so because the sun is at the center, it brings order to everything else.

Everything else orbits itself around the sun. But if the sun was not the center, if the sun moved, what would happen? Planets would collide. They'd burn out. They'd freeze up. The same is true with our life. When God is not at the center of our life, our relationships begin to grow dim. Our spiritual living begins to collide with secular culture. Everything just wanders around aimlessly. But when Christ is the center of our lives, everything finds a place where it falls. It doesn't mean that life is automatically easier. Of course not. But it does mean that our life is ordered. And when our life is ordered, God's divine direction is what's leading us. I love you. And I just got to tell you, the first Sunday of 2026, too many of you think too much of yourselves. You're sitting on a throne that you do not fill. That you do not fit. You're not God. You're not in control. You don't know what tomorrow holds. You don't have all the resources and power in the palm of your hand. You're not God, so let God be God. Get off the throne and let Him be the center. When God is the center, things don't fall apart. Things fall into place. So again, I want to make this real practical. What does that look like?

I want you to write some things down in the margin of your notes. What does it look like for you personally to seek first the kingdom of God? For some of us, it may mean pausing before reacting. Pausing and praying and saying, Lord, I want you to be in this before I step into this. That's what it looks like. For some of us, it's letting scripture speak to us before the stress of life begins to speak to us. For some of you, real practically, it's sitting in the car and praying before you step into your house. Saying, Lord, let me bring your presence and your peace to these crazy kids and this spouse that you gave me. Say a prayer before you step in and allow Him to be the center. For some of us, it may mean that we leave the phone on the charger for the first 10 minutes of our day so we can allow God to have our first thoughts. Some of you, it's praying for the kids before they go to school instead of after school when they're hyped up and crazy, right? For some of you, it's praying before the meeting instead of asking God to put it all back together again after the meeting, right? Whatever it is, I want you to write down some things that the Holy Spirit is knocking on your heart to do. But I want you to understand, seeking first is a spiritual placement of God in the center. It's not a spiritual producing or spiritual production of all the things that I can do. Which leads to the second big idea. Write this down. When God's righteousness is my pursuit, I don't have to perform. When His righteousness is my pursuit, the thing that I seek after, I don't have to perform. Matthew 6.33 again says, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It doesn't simply say seek after His kingdom, it says His kingdom and His righteousness. If the kingdom of God is God's authority shaping the order of our life, then righteousness, listen to this, is God's character shaping us from the core. It's His character shaping who we are within. Righteousness. What is righteousness? Whatever you think righteousness is, nine times out of ten you're incorrect. A lot of us, we have this idea that righteousness is being perfect.

That righteousness is like spiritual Botox. I inject myself with it and I trick everybody. A lot of us have this idea that someone who is righteous, they walk around Target, kind of just floating in the air. And their kids are singing worship songs and they have a perpetual smile on their face. That's not righteousness. Righteousness is not being perfect in every single thing. Righteousness is not act right or God will get mad at you. Righteousness is actually God forming us from within by his love. Instead of what we think is God grading us on what we do. Romans 4.17 again. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It's something that the Holy Spirit produces in us. That's something that we produce on our own. Philippians 1.11 says, filled with the fruit of righteousness. It's something that is produced. And it's not something we produce. That comes through who? Jesus Christ. Not through pretending. Not through perfection. But through Jesus. What does that mean? Our righteousness is his righteousness. We are righteous because of his righteousness. All right, let me give a very simple definition so you understand what we are talking about.

Write this down. Righteousness is right standing with God that leads to right living with God. That's a biblical definition of what righteousness is. It's a right standing with God, meaning God or good. That leads to a right living with God. Now I'm following his will and his ways. But where do we get this righteousness? From Jesus. How are we made right with God? Jesus. Our sin separates us from a holy and perfect and loving God. And so what did Jesus do? Jesus died for our sin. Jesus paid the penalty that our sin demanded of our lives. He rose again. And so now when God sees us, he doesn't see the sin that we committed. He doesn't see who we used to be. He sees the blood of his son washing us clean. I don't have to pretend anymore. I don't have to try to perform and try to earn God's good graces. Jesus did it all. And because Jesus paid the price, now I'm right with God. Think of the freedom. I'm right with God. I don't have to come into church pretending that I'm applying for Christian of the year. I don't have to fake joy and worship like the Chick-fil-A

drive-thru employee of the month. Oh, it's my pleasure to worship you, Lord. What do you want from me? You want 30 nuggets and five cents. Sure, my pleasure. We don't have to pretend. We're in right standing. We're free. He sees us. He loves us as we are. And his spirit within us transforms into who he wants us to be. If righteousness is the thing that I seek, the thing that I pursue, I don't have to manage my perception. I don't have to pretend that I'm good all the time. I get to remember that God is good. He's the one who helped me. He's the one who leads me and guides me. He's the reason that I have this life. That's righteousness in real life. It's not pretending. It's not perfection. It's not performance. It's permission for us to be in process. That's what righteousness is in real life. Now again, let me make this clear. That's not an excuse for our sin. We don't mess with somebody and say, oh, God's working on me. It's not an excuse for the sin that we do. But it is permission that we can be in process.

That God is working within us. Turn to your neighbor right now and tell them, I'm still growing. And that's good, right. Who I am today is not who I'm going to be tomorrow. Because God is still growing me. And who I am in 2026 is not who I'm going to be in 2027. Because God is still growing me. When his righteousness, when his goodness, when what he's done for me is my constant pursuit. Listen to this. It not only changes how I see myself. I don't need to pretend. I don't need to posture myself. It also changes how I see other people. This is important. Because if righteousness is not God grading me on everything that I do passively. It's fail, you stink, you're being held back. If that's not what God's righteousness is, then his righteousness also is not God hiring me out to grade other people on what they're doing. This is important because in our culture, it's constantly discipling us without our permission. And what the culture shares with us is not the culture of the kingdom of God. The world is constantly telling us that our impulses, that's our identity. That our feelings, that's truth. That conviction, man, that's shame, don't feel that.

Holiness is outdated. Surrender to God, that's weakness. But just because it feels natural doesn't mean that it's spiritual. Just because something is normal in the culture doesn't mean it's righteous in the kingdom. A lot of what the world is telling us is freedom. God's word tells us that it's slavery to sin. It's bondage to a sense of brokenness and worldly living. But on the same coin, hear this. What a lot of religious people think is righteousness, Jesus says, is self-righteousness. And that's not the righteousness we're after. It's not, look what I've done. Look what I've accomplished. Look how holy I am. Oh, I don't drink, smoke, or chew or hang with those who do. I don't watch that movie, that show. No way, never. They're terrible people. I don't send my kids to that school because of those people. That's not the righteousness we're after. The goal of godliness is not to be better than other people. The goal of godliness is to point other people to the one who can transform them. It's to draw closer to him. Write this down. Righteousness doesn't make me better than people.

Righteousness makes me become the person God intended. And we see this truth all throughout scripture. Righteousness isn't about people who got it perfect every single time. It's about people who allowed God to shape them in the process he was taking them on. You know the story of Joseph, right? Joseph, his brother sold him into slavery. Joseph, he chose righteousness. He chose integrity when compromise was so much easier in his culture. And as God progressed him through this process of place after place and promotion after promotion, he didn't let it get to his head. He eventually became the second in command of all of Egypt. And now his brothers who sold him into slavery, they're bowing down before him. And what does he do? Does he take his wrath out on them? Does he weaponize the position he's in? No, the Bible says he wept and he forgave them. He said, I didn't build this and you didn't do this to me. God allowed it for this day. That's righteousness. What about David, King David? David failed publicly. He fell hard. And his righteousness didn't make him pretend that everything's okay. His righteousness led him to repentance.

And when God restored him because he turned from his sin, he didn't walk around like a spiritual celebrity. Oh, I'm awesome. He wrote Psalm 51 where he says, oh God, have mercy on me. His righteousness, it humbled him. It didn't elevate him. And that's why God says he's a man after my own heart. What about Ruth? You know the story of Ruth? Ruth, she wasn't righteous because she knew the correct answer for every single question. No, it was her humility. It was her faithfulness. It was her choosing to do the God thing even though it didn't clearly benefit her. And when God promoted her and God put her in the place to be in Jesus' lineage, did she brag about it? Did she walk around saying, I don't know who you got, but I got a Boaz, right? I'm married up. I'm rich now. No, no, she didn't. She continued to. humbly and faithfully serve. God says, I can use a heart like that. All these stories in scripture, they didn't pose themselves, they didn't try to protect an image that they wanted other people to see.

They simply pursued after God. So what does that look like for us? What does seeking his righteousness look like for us? For all of us, it looks like repenting quickly and not letting sin continue to separate our relationship with God. For some of us, it means not replying to that DM. Block that Jezebel. Block that thirst trap. It means deleting the playlist or deleting the pictures on your phone that keep on opening up those old wounds. For some of you, it means I'm deciding today that I'm not stepping back into that place where temptation exists. Some of you, it's deleting that account. It's blocking that person. It's forgiving them, even though they didn't ask for an apology, so you're not carrying around this bitterness. Whatever it is, listen, seeking righteousness is not about being perfect or trying to be flawless in every situation. It's becoming formed by God day after day. In his presence. The more time we spend with him, the more we look like him, the more we live like him. That happens, number three, write this down. When God gets a priority, provision gets in position.

When God gets a priority, provision gets in position. We love this last part. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and what? All these things will be added to us, amen? I like that part. God, give me all the things. Give me the joy, give me the peace, give me the favor, give me the open doors, give me the open parking spot at Costco on a Saturday. Just open up everything, I want it all, right? It's a good promise. But hear me, this promise has a premise. If we do this, then this will happen. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all these things will be added to you. This isn't a mystery, listen. Provision in scripture isn't some random blessing for random people or a prize for the spiritually impressive people. Provision is what God takes responsibility for over our lives when we stop pretending we're the provider. God, you're the provider, he provides. Philippians 4.19, my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Everything he'll provide. Psalm 23.1, David says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I have everything that I need. That's not bragging about your resources,

that's declaring who the source of your resources is. It's him, it's his. He's the supplier, he's the provider, he's our source. Culture tells us that security, it comes from control. It tells us that safety comes from the accumulation of more stuff. And so we believe this lie and we work ourselves to try to get more and we grip onto it, but yet it's never enough, right? It's never enough. Ask somebody who has millions of dollars, what's enough? Ask somebody who has billions, when will it be enough? It'll never be enough. We grip onto all these things because we believe this lie in our culture that if we can manage things well, then we'll master over and we'll have more of it. But so many of us are still stuck without a supply. Here's why. Control is a counterfeit piece. We're not in control. We can't provide our own peace. Control is a counterfeit piece, it promises us protection, it promises us safety. But what it does is it creates in us this pressure to perform and to create outcomes that we have no control over. We want God to add to us while still being the center, but that's not how the kingdom of God works. works. I want to encourage you, okay. I truly believe this. And I believe, receive this

prophetically, whoever. It's God's Word. It's true. He has a plan for your life, amen. A good plan. Not to, not to harm you, but to prosper you. To give you a hope and a future. That was His promise to the Israelites, but it's also our promise as the people of God. He has a plan for your life, and His plan will come to pass in your life. And everything needed for His plan to come to pass in your life will be provided and will be poured onto you, amen, if you seek Him first. We've got to get the order right. I've had seasons of my life where I say, Lord, my life is Yours, and then I took control over everything. God, I surrender to You, and then I pick it back up. Lord, bless my plans. But then I hold on to my plans. That's not seeking first. That's seeking second. That's seeking after I've sought, after everything else. And so the lesson I learned in 2025 is what I want to teach to you, the final big idea for today. Write this down. Provision isn't something I chase. It's something that follows the one I seek. We don't chase after provision. We don't go after all the stuff. We go after Him. We seek Him first, and when we seek Him first, all things will be added unto us. All throughout Scripture we see this. Provision, it shows up on the other side of obedience. Abraham, he didn't find the ram in the bush until he obeyed God to bind up his son, to walk up a hill, to sacrifice his son. When he obeyed God, God provided the sacrifice. The disciples, they had to feed thousands of people. The provision didn't come until after they handed to Jesus what He asked for. What do you have? Give it to me. They didn't create a surplus. They didn't manufacture supply. They made space, and God met every single need. Church familia and God will do the same thing when we seek Him first. Amen? What does that look like? It means we pray over the contract before we sign it. Not after it's done. Not after the payments are due. That'll preach for somebody in 2026. You can't afford it? You don't need to pray about it. Don't buy it. Confused? Pray about it first, right? It means praying about the job decision before, not after the job gets stressful. It means tithing in faith. Not tipping God on what's left after I've done everything I wanted. It means treating prayer as the planning room. Not the panic button that we smash when the defecation hits the oscillation in our lives. This isn't a mystery, okay? God's provision isn't random. He instructs, and we obey. He invites us in, and we answer accordingly, and then all things will be added so that His plan will come to pass. I've watched God

do this in my life. I've watched God do this in our family. Last year, we started this all-in-faith adventure, and on paper, it didn't make sense. We were praying for a thousand more people to be saved and set free. That God wouldn't trust us with a thousand more souls that He so loves. We don't have the space for a thousand more people. Not only that, my health was in question. I didn't know what was going on with my blood pressure. Our staff was too small. We couldn't handle the growth, and on paper, the math didn't make sense. How do we see more people when we don't have the resources, when we don't have the space? And then I remembered, in God's kingdom, it's not supposed to add up. It's supposed to line up. It's supposed to align with Him. Adding up makes sense to us. But to line up with the Spirit, that takes surrender on our part. And so we said, fine, we're all in. Not after, we're all in right now. Whatever you want, whatever you're asking. So we prayed first. We committed first. We gave first. And then we saw, through our obedience, to seek Him first. God do things that we could not manufacture even if we tried. We saw unprecedented growth as a church. We saw uncommon generosity. Honestly, we saw some people that even though their name was on that wall, we're like, I don't know that they'll ever surrender their life to Jesus. Come to faith in Him. We saw families that we never expected. We saw open doors that we could not have imagined. God did all of this because we aligned with what mattered most to Him. He added to what we aligned with Him. And I believe 2026, God's gonna do it again. And I believe in your life, God is going to do that thing this year. And if you believe that and you receive it, shout amen.

I believe the prayers that we're praying for, for the ones that we love, that we're gonna see them come to faith in Jesus in 2026, amen. I believe the purpose that we've been praying for individually, that it will come to pass in our life. Not because we've learned to manufacture or to steward well outcomes, but because we've learned to faithfully seek Him first. To put Him at the center. I believe God's gonna do it. And right now, this is the time of the message where this must become a moment for us. A moment that we draw a line in the sand. The notes on our page, they're not gonna change our life if they stay on the page. They have to be in our life. And I already know that many of you right now, the Holy Spirit's knocking on your heart. Convicting you of where He's not center. He's not asking you to get everything right. He's not asking you to pre-plan the entire year. He's asking, will you make me first? Today, the first Sunday of the year. Listen, you may have screwed up yesterday. You may have broken your news resolution two minutes after the new year, but His mercies are new every morning, amen. And today is a day to say, Jesus, you're first. I repent of all the times I've put you second, where I prioritized my desires and my design for living.

Today no more, I repent, you are first. If you're here today and you wanna start fresh with Him, if you're here today and life is like my pantry, chaotic, things aren't where they're supposed to be. And you're saying today, Lord, I want your order in my life, but I need your help. I need your help to seek you and your kingdom and your righteousness first in my life. If you wanna commit to Him today, making Him the center of your life for 2026 and beyond, would you stand to your feet right now? You don't need to wait for someone else. Don't wait till you feel right. Obey the Holy Spirit, He's knocking on your heart. Not everything is centered on Him, but today we're gonna declare you're first. With every eye closed, every hand lifted, in a posture of surrender, just pray this out loud with me. Say, Jesus, you're first. You're first in my family, you're first in my friends, you're first in my finances, you're first in my faith. My life is yours. Give me help, lead me spirit to seek you first every day. And I believe that the best is still before us, that you will add all things so that your will be done in Jesus' name, we pray, amen and amen. Come on, church, it's not just a declaration. It is a commitment of our heart, and I believe that this is gonna be the best year ever, a year of hope, of transformation, of salvation,

of miracles, of provision as we seek Him first. Let's conclude this service with one final worship song to Him, talking about His plans, how His way is better, and how we are committing to that going forward, amen? Let's worship Him. He's got the best plans for us. He said that he's with me even I walk through the valley of shadow and death and still He has good plans. He has good plans for me. He'll take our deserts and darks. He has good plans. He has good plans for me. If you know my Father, you know my Father is a good man. No weapon formed against me will ever hurt me. The Lord is my Savior, so why should I doubt my faith? Why would I question the rod and the staff that hold me? He quiets the waters. He quiets the storm and tide. No one could be better than walking with Him when I believe. He has good plans. He has good plans for me. He'll take our deserts and darks. He has good plans. He has good plans for me. If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans. He has good plans for me. So I will take our deserts and darks. He has good plans. He has good plans for me. If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans. We submit to Your plans. We submit to Your plans. Surely, surely, surely, surely. Surely, in the midst, mercy will follow after me. You will not find me, cause I'll be dwelling in the house of God. Surely, in the midst, mercy will follow after me. You will not find me, cause I'll be dwelling in the house of God. Surely, in the midst, mercy will follow after me. You will not find me, cause I'll be dwelling, I'll be dwelling. Surely, in the midst, mercy will follow after me. You will not find me, cause I'll be dwelling in the house of God.

He has good plans. He has good plans for me. So I will take our deserts and darks. He has good plans. He has good plans. For me. If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans. My plans. My plans. If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans. He was born for you. It's a family. It's a family. It's a family.