FBCPS
Sermons, teachings, and podcasts from First Baptist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.
FBCPS
Prioritize Your Spiritual Health | Luke 2:40
Ever felt like your mistakes from the past year are weighing you down? It's time to shake the Etch-A-Sketch and welcome a fresh start here at First Baptist Powder Springs. Our latest podcast episode promises an exploration into the "Your Best Year Yet" sermon series, inviting you to realign with your true self before making resolutions. Join us for a transformative night of prayer this Wednesday, filled with worship, personal reflection, and a commitment to spiritual growth. We'll discuss the importance of prioritizing spiritual health and how, with intentional effort, 2025 can indeed be your most spiritually fulfilling year yet.
Discover how spiritual leadership within families can profoundly influence overall well-being. Inspired by Luke 2:40, we emphasize the significance of nurturing a deep relationship with God, much like getting the first button of a shirt right. From the dedication of the men in our community to the upcoming women's conference, "Abide in 25," every member of our church family is encouraged to prioritize spiritual health. Learn from the exemplary life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and explore how even small steps, such as dedicating time to scripture and prayer, can lead to profound transformation.
Throughout the episode, we share personal anecdotes and insights, celebrating the vibrant life and mission of our church community. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, or someone seeking renewal, this episode invites you to commit to a year of spiritual awakening. Join us in church activities that foster community involvement and witness God's work in our growing congregation. From heartfelt prayers to emphasizing the importance of worship and community, we're dedicated to guiding you towards a year of spiritual health and transformation.
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Well, good morning, welcome to First Baptist Powder Springs. Put your hands together this morning if you're excited to be in church here this first Sunday of 2025. Look at somebody and tell them Happy New Year. Go ahead and tell them that right now. Tell them Happy New Year. I am so thankful that you are here on the first Sunday of the year. I see we might have some snow next Sunday, so we'll see about next Sunday, who knows? But, man, I am glad that you are here. Pastor James just mentioned it, but I want to mention it again just because I'm fired up about it.
Speaker 1:We have our night of prayer coming up this Wednesday. I want you to know it's not going to be maybe the old-fashioned prayer service that you're accustomed to. We're going to start out with some worship and there's going to be some teaching on prayer. We're gonna have about 20 minutes of time just devoted actual to prayer for individual prayer during that time and I'll kinda walk you through and teach you through all of that, and then we're gonna end out our time in worship and prayer together as well. It's gonna be probably a new style than you've ever done before. I am so looking forward to it. I wanna encourage you to be there. It's gonna be in the sanctuary, as Pastor James mentioned, 630 this Wednesday. Some of y'all grew up in the sanctuary, some of y'all have never been in there in your life, and so it's just going to be a really cool time for both of our services to come together as one service. Lord willing, we'll do this three or four times this year and we'll do it in the sanctuary and later on in the year we'll do it in here, because we just want opportunities to come together because we are one church that meets together in two services.
Speaker 1:Can I get an amen? Amen, it is great to have you here. Happy New Year, welcome to all of our first-time guests who are here with us in the room and who are here with us online, maybe watching for your first time. Let's pray this morning Heavenly Father, we love you. God, you're so good. We give you all the praise, all the honor, all the glory. God, we just thank you for what you're doing in our lives. We thank you for what you're doing in our church. God, thank you for 2024, all that you did, and God thank you for 2025 and all you're gonna do. And so, father, we just wanna recognize this morning that this is your word, we are your people. We are your people, we are your church. And so, god, we want your work. Lord, we love you and we pray these things in Jesus' name, and all God's people said amen.
Speaker 1:Hey, babe, can you bring me that drawing tablet real quick? I completely left it on the chair. This is one of our. Give my wife a big round of applause, by the way. I love her so much. My better half. This is one of the Christmas gifts that our kids got this year.
Speaker 1:It is like the new style of drawing tablet. I love this. It's super easy. It's just got a stylus or you can use your fingernail, you can hit the delete button and it's gone right.
Speaker 1:If you remember what that was like when we were growing up, it was the Etch-A-Sketch. Everybody feel me up in here, who all had an Etch-A-Sketch? Raise your hand, all right. Now let's be honest. Nobody could draw on this thing, nobody. You had to have an architect degree in order to even draw on this thing, right? I mean it was. I was just shaking it all the time, starting over. Why? Because all I could draw was a set of stairs. That was it. That was all I got. It was absolutely impossible. It was like tuning a transistor radio. Why do you have two knobs to make you know? Why did they give this thing to kids? I still don't even understand it. But what I loved about it was you could just shake it off. Right, you could just shake it off. Same thing with the drawing tablet.
Speaker 1:The new style now is obviously you just hit the delete button. And wouldn't that be nice in life, just to be able to shake it off, just to be able to delete it, to be done with it. But that's not always the way it works. Some of the mistakes that we made in 2024, they come into us in 2025. Some of the things that obviously the Lord did in our life in 2024, he is bringing into our life in 2025.
Speaker 1:And there is something that is so important. There is something that is so powerful about entering into a new year. It is like turning over a new page. It is an opportunity to incorporate new disciplines into your life. It's an opportunity to literally become like a new you, even by living in a new way. That's why we have all of these New Year's resolutions that people are making. You know, maybe you wanted to lose 25 pounds last year and you got 30 pounds to go. Maybe you wanted to exercise all last year but you went a couple of times, but you got the gym membership right. You got the gym membership. You got the first step down. Or maybe you wanted to start a new skill, or maybe you wanted to read several books, or whatever it might have been.
Speaker 1:I just want to remind you that sometimes, when we focus on everything that we're going to be doing, we forgot that God created us as a human being. We forgot that God created us as a human being, that God created us to be before we do. In other words, we need to focus on who we are before we focus on what we are called to do. What I wanna talk with us about this morning, as we are opening into a brand new sermon series that we're calling your Best Year Yet. Look at somebody and tell them this is your best year yet. Go and tell them that right now, this is your best year yet.
Speaker 1:Now here's what I believe. I actually believe that you want this to be your best year, yet I want this for you, I want this for me, I want this for my family, I want this for our church family. I believe that God wants this to be your best year yet. But hear me, I don't say that in some type of like Pollyanna kind of a way. What I mean is your best year yet. It does not mean that it will be absent of difficulties, it just means that it will be more present with God. Can I get an amen? It's not just absent of difficulties, it's more present of God. And so I believe this morning the Lord has called us. He's given me a word for you, for me and for you this morning that I believe that he is calling us to have our best year yet, that the way that it's going to start is in Luke 2.40. And it says the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. Now, what I want us to see let me see if it's on the next slide here. Here it is we want to.
Speaker 1:I believe it's all about prioritizing your spiritual health. See, we need to be healthy. We need to be focusing on becoming healthy people before we focus on what we are actually doing in our life. I believe that God's greatest concern, his greatest desire for you is that you would be healthy, spiritually healthy in your life. Spiritual health, your spiritual health in life is not an automatic. It's not gonna happen accidentally. Your spiritual health is going to have to take intentionality in your life. It's not automatic, it's intentional. Your spiritual health is kind of like the first button on your shirt If you get your first button wrong, every other button is gonna be wrong and your shirt's gonna be jagged all day long. In the same way, we need to focus first on our spiritual health so that our physical health, our mental health, our emotional health, our relational health and every other type of health follows in our life. A pastor by the name of Craig Groeschel says that your spiritual health is what determines the quality of the rest of your life.
Speaker 1:And so when we go back and we look at that passage of scripture that we just saw, where actually you can open up to Luke, chapter two right now if you brought your Bible with you. If not, it'll be on the screen and we're jumping into this series your Best Year Yet and in December we talked about all of Jesus and leading up into his birth, and we're working through this mega Jesus series all the way to Easter, to his resurrection, and right now we're gonna be talking about rediscovering how Jesus began his life and his ministry. This is a very interesting story in the Bible of when Jesus was 12 years old, and it might sound weird, but I believe the whole point of it is us learning how to become who God created you to be. God teaching you how to become who God created you to be. I believe that God is the way in which he's created us. He's created us to be like Jesus, and when Jesus was a child, the Bible says that he grew, he became strong, he was filled with wisdom and the favor of God was upon him. In the same way, I believe that God has called me and God has called you to constantly be focused and prioritizing our spiritual health, be growing spiritually in our spiritual health. How? By becoming stronger spiritually. How by becoming wiser spiritually, how Through the favor of God on our life.
Speaker 1:We see that, and so here's what I wanna share with you this morning and, keeping that in mind, I want to share with you what are these three habits that you can prioritize, that 2025 can be your most spiritually healthy year yet of your life. So here we go. We check it out right now. Number one I believe the first thing to do in order to experience, to grow in spiritual health is to prioritize God's word. Everybody say word To prioritize God's word. In other words, how did you prioritize God's word in 2024? And how do you plan to prioritize God's word in your life in 2025? And honestly, I don't even just mean to read a verse today to keep the devil away. That's not even what I mean, right? What I mean is how are you going to intentionally build into your life time that you spend with your creator and your savior to bring spiritual health to your soul that changes and affects the rest of your life?
Speaker 1:Here's what we see in Luke, chapter two, verse 41. It says now his meaning Jesus' parents, jesus' parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. So we've got Jesus' dad and we've got Jesus' mom, we've got Joseph and we've got Mary. Jesus is 12 years old and it says that every year they would take him to Jerusalem, some 65 miles away. They would take a trip. They would walk about 20 miles a day just to get to Jerusalem, in order to go to the temple of Jerusalem, in order to be a part of this Old Testament feast that they were commanded to go.
Speaker 1:So first I want to give a shout out to Joseph. Right, joseph was this godly man. He was a godly husband, he was a godly father. Joseph was the spiritual leader of his household. The word of God commanded the men to go, because the men were called to be the spiritual leaders of their families and men. I just want to give you a shout out this morning. All of the men in this room, ladies, can we put our hands together for all the men in this room, right here, right now, today, this morning. And I just want to tell you I'm so proud of you for being in church, I'm so proud of you for prioritizing God's church, because here's what we see in Scripture when you are spiritual healthy, statistics say that your family is more spiritually healthy. I want to encourage you, as men, to focus on your spiritual health, to focus on your wife's spiritual health, to focus on your family's spiritual health and to prioritize God's word in your life and in your family. I want you to know, just right up in this room on the track, wednesday night, starting back January the 22nd, we have a men's group that you're invited to. I'd love for you to be a part of that, with Alan Martin teaching that group.
Speaker 1:But also I wanna give a shout out to Mary. You know, the women were not commanded to go to the Feast of Tabernacles. They could go. The children weren't even commanded to go. They could go. But Mary was a godly woman, a godly wife, a godly mom, and Mary didn't go because she had to wife, a godly mom and Mary didn't go because she had to. Mary went because she wanted to and Mary because of Mary's love for God, she went. And we believe that God used Mary greatly in Jesus' life, just like God used Joseph in Jesus' life as well.
Speaker 1:And we believe, ladies, that God wants to use you. That's why we have our women's conference coming up called Abide in 25. It's gonna be on January, the 25th of Saturday, from 9 am to 2 pm. It's just $30. And we've got women that are coming in from out of state just to be able to attend this conference. I've got family coming in from Florida, family coming in from Alabama. You've got family and friends. I wanna encourage you. You register, you sign up, you get your friends, you get your neighbors, you get your family people and you just let the community know. We want this to be a conference for the ladies of our community. We want to build into and to pour into our ladies' lives. Why? Because we want our ladies to be spiritually healthy. We want our ladies to be spiritually healthy. We want our men to be spiritually healthy. We want our families to be spiritually healthy.
Speaker 1:I just love watching how Mary and Joseph raise their family. It's not on the screen, you can see it in your Bible. Luke 39 said and Mary and Joseph performed everything according to the law in their family. They returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. In other words, here's what happened.
Speaker 1:The reason Mary and Joseph obeyed God's word was because they prioritized God's word. You can't obey God's word unless you read God's word. God's word is not just some ancient book with words on a page from long ago. The Bible says that God's word is the very voice of God into your life today. If you believe that, can I get an amen? It is the way that God speaks into your life. It's the way that God speaks into your heart. It's the way that God speaks into your soul. It's the word of God, the Bible says, that transforms your life and he brings spiritual health to you, and it makes every other part of your life.
Speaker 1:Healthy Parents, I wanna encourage you to continue to prioritize your children's health. How? Even just by sharing your relationship with Jesus with them, your victories, your mistakes. Let them learn from even what you've gone through. Let them in on your devotional life, let them know what you're reading, let them know what you're praying, because it is God's word that brings us health. You ever notice this before? Psalm, chapter 19,. The health, the spiritual health that the word of God gives to us. The law of the Lord is perfect and reviving the soul. You feel like your soul needs to be revived. It's what the word of God does. The testimony of the Lord is sure. Making wise, the simple.
Speaker 1:You feel like you need to simplify your life. You feel like that you are overwhelmed and you're not sure what to do because of all the different options out there. It's the word of God that simplifies your life. The precepts of the Lord are right. Rejoicing the heart. Do you feel like you need more joy in your life? It's not from things, it's from the word of God. The commandments of the Lord is pure, enlightening to the eyes. Do you feel like that? You just need more? You need more energy in your life. You need to be enlightened, you need more wisdom. That's what the word of God does in your life.
Speaker 1:I remember some 10 years ago I was a pastor and I wasn't spending time in God's word as I should. I love just that you're a church, that I can be honest with you. To be honest, I'm ashamed at this time of my life. I'm a pastor and I'm not spending unrushed, unhurried time in God's word. It's rushed, it's hurried, it's sporadic, it's unintentional. I heard one time I love this quote that hurry is the enemy of intimacy. Back to unintentional. I heard one time I love this quote that hurry is the enemy of intimacy, and I was always hurried with God.
Speaker 1:I noticed in my life that one of the reasons I wasn't in God's word is because I just never felt like I could get the rest that I needed and I didn't feel like I was getting the sleep that I needed. So I went to the sleep doctor Some of you have heard me tell this story and I said, hey, I've got the apnea. I've been putting off the mask and the machine. I guess it's time. And he did all the tests on me and he said you don't have apnea, I can't give you a machine, but I can give you a book. And he gave me a book and it was called Goodnight Mind. I want to make. This changed my life. I learned through this book you can read it too that sleep is not about length, sleep is about depth.
Speaker 1:And God had to get a hold of my sleep, had to get to bed earlier so I could get up earlier, so I could start spending the first hour of my day with God, because I'm desperate for him, not because I'm a pastor, not because I'm a good person, but because I'm a sinner and I'm desperate for God and I need. I'm a pastor, not because I'm a good person, but because I'm a sinner and I'm desperate for God and I need time with God. God had to teach me a few things. He had to teach me that every single day I needed a time, a place and a plan. So for me I'm not talking about for you, for me that's right around between 5 and 6 am that I need to spend my time, undistracted time, with God. I need a place. I sit on the same cushion of my love seat every morning. You can see the indention of my devotion, right right there on the cushion, I pick a plan.
Speaker 1:I love reading through the one-year Bible and you're welcome to join this plan with me this year as we read together as a church. If you already have a devotional plan, you do your devotional plan as long as you're in God's word. That's what matters. But this is a plan. You can see it on our daily email. You can sign up by going to our social media. Read through the Bible this year together as a church.
Speaker 1:God had to teach me that he's not calling me just to read his word, but to pray his word. Why he had to teach me that I wasn't just called to read for information, but when I apply conversation, when I pray what I read, when I'm talking to him while I read his word, that's when he is bringing transformation into my life, that it's a conversation. God had to teach me that, while I don't remember every verse I read, god remembers every verse I read. God remembers every verse I pray. We freak out when our smartphone is on 1%, and what do we do? We don't let it die. We put it on the charger. Why? Because we can't live without it.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're here today and your spiritual life, your spiritual health, is on 1% and I want to encourage you just like you have to charge your phone every day, I believe we must charge our souls every day in the word of God. So, number one, I want to encourage you this year prioritize God's word. Number two I want to encourage you to prioritize God's word. Number two I wanna encourage you to prioritize God's church. Everybody say church, church. Now I want you to know. I want you to know this is not because I need you here. I love having you here, I love worshiping with you, but I don't need you here. You need to be here. You need to be with the church of Jesus Christ. God calls us here to be a part of our church. You do this for your own soul. You do this for the glory of God that we prioritize this church. In what ways did you prioritize this church in 2024? In what ways do you plan to prioritize this church all the more in 2025? Why? Because it brings health to your soul. 25. Why? Because it brings health to your soul. God actually created you to find more spiritual health when you are a part of the Christian community that he calls the church. Watch what happens.
Speaker 1:Luke, chapter 2, verses 42 and 43, says and when Jesus was 12 years old. Now, this is interesting. Did you realize? This is the only passage in the entire Bible, the only time it's mentioned from when Jesus was two-year-old, which is when the wise men showed up, to when Jesus was 30, when his ministry began. This is the only story in that 28-year gap and it was when he was 12 years old. And the reason is that the 12th year of a Jewish boy was so important. The 12th year of the Jewish boy was his last year of childhood.
Speaker 1:The Jewish boys are considered a man at the age of 13. So the 12th year was the year that their dad would pour into them the most. The dad was pouring into their life all the way up until this point. The 12th year dad would pour into them the most. The dad was pouring into their life all the way up until this point. The 12th year dad is pouring into them spiritually, teaching them how to follow God with their life. And the dad was pouring into their life vocationally. Vocationally as well, the dad was teaching and training them on how, one day, to take over the family business. So we see he was 12 years old and when the feast that Passover feast in Jerusalem, was ended and Mary and Joseph was returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem and his parents did not know. But, supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for him.
Speaker 1:Here's what's interesting they're a part of a caravan, they're a part of a community. So probably from that hometown of Nazareth, they probably all traveled together in a caravan some 65 miles, and it could be upwards to 200, 300 people, everybody from that town, their family, their friends, their acquaintances, the town, probably all traveling together. Why? Because there's safety in numbers. So they travel 65 miles, probably some 20 different miles a day, and culture tells us that the women would probably be in the front and the men would probably be in the back. Why? Because women drive faster and walk faster than men. Can I get an amen? Isn't that the truth? And if the men were leading, we would not be asking for directions and hundreds of people would be lost right all along the way. So we let the women. My wife is my navigator, she'll tell you and she gets me to where, everywhere, I need to be.
Speaker 1:And so the women were first, the men were last, but we see that they traveled together as a community, they traveled together in a group, and I just wanna remind you, as Pastor James already did, god created you to be more spiritual, healthy when you are a part of a group. Worship services are extremely important. This is the time that we all hear the word of God and we're all growing together in the same direction, in the same way. God calls us to have these times together, but God also calls you to have a time in your life that you're a part of a community, that you're a part of a group. Why? Because God wants you not just to be a face in the crowd. He wants you to have a name, he wants you to have a story, he wants you to have a voice, he wants you to feel like that you belong to that group. And so here they are. They're noticing that Jesus is not around, so he's not there. And so it says that they went back to find him. Now, this is fascinating when it comes to Jesus. It says after three days they found him in the temple.
Speaker 1:Now think about all the different places that Jesus could have been. He's 12 years old. I know where I would have been. I would have been hanging out with the other boys on the street, I would have been out in the park, man, I would have been playing ball, I would have been in the market, right. I would have been seeing all the different things that I could buy. Probably the last place I would have been is the temple.
Speaker 1:But 12-year-old Jesus, the Son of God, was in the temple. Why? Because Mary and Joseph took him to the temple every single year and it was his favorite place to be. Because of their faithfulness to God, and their faithfulness to God in Jesus's life, jesus was able to grow in wisdom, jesus was able to grow in strength, jesus was able to grow in the favor of God. And so there they find Jesus in the temple, and notice that he was sitting among the teachers.
Speaker 1:Now, remember this is was sitting among the teachers. Now, remember, this is the feast of the Passover. This is when this is the one time of the year that all of the Jews from all around the world are coming into Jerusalem, into this one place, which means the top teachers in the entire world come to this one city, they all come to one temple and they are all there to show how brilliant they are, what a genius they are in the law of God, and they would only be the smartest ones who are allowed in this sitting down conversation, and everybody else would probably be standing up and just listening around them. But they walk in in this crowded temple. But they walk in in this crowded temple, they fight through everyone. And the boy they've been looking for for three days was sitting among the teachers. The teachers included him in the conversation because of his wisdom and because of his love and his understanding of God.
Speaker 1:But notice how Jesus was not just some cocky 12-year-old, even though he could have been just standing up and bossing everybody around, as the son of God. No, the Bible says that he was listening. We see the humility of Jesus. There is something about Jesus that while he remained fully God you ever thought about this? While he remained fully God when he was born, he became fully man and Jesus chose not to live out his divinity on earth. Rather, jesus chose to live out his humanity, which means that and we can't even I can't even comprehend this which means that somehow that Jesus even needed to grow in wisdom. Why was Jesus listening? He was listening because he was still continuing to learn. I don't know about you, but I'm still continuing to learn Every time I open the word of God, every time I hear somebody preach, every time I hear somebody teach, every time I listen to a podcast every time I hear somebody teach, every time I listen to a podcast, every time I read a Christian book, anything that surrounds the word of God. I need to be listening. Why? Because I don't know it all. I still have a lot more to learn.
Speaker 1:We need to be humble, like Jesus, and Jesus was asking questions Another reason why you need to be a part of a group. We need to be people that don't have all the answers. The Bible has all the answers. God has all the answers. We are the people with all the questions. Jesus was listening, he's asking questions and it says and they all again, these are the greatest, the deepest, the most educated doctorate level Jewish professors and lawyers in the world, and they were amazed at his understanding and answers. We see this balance of Jesus's humility and Jesus's boldness, and that's who we need to be as believers in 2025. We need to show the world our humility, that, while we don't have all the answers. We know that God has all the answers and we don't point people to us. We point people to him and we allow God to be amazed because of what God is doing in our lives. Jesus loved to be in the temple because that was the place where he could go and worship God. Jesus loved to be in the temple because that was the place where he could go and worship God. Jesus loved to be in the temple because that was the place where he could go and be a part of the community of God. Jesus loved to be in the temple because that was the place where he could go and he could serve God.
Speaker 1:And parents I want to encourage you to prioritize your kids' health. Grandparents I want to encourage you prioritize your grandkids' spiritual health. Family members I want to encourage you prioritize your grandkids' spiritual health. I want to family members I wanna encourage you grab your nieces, grab your nephews, grab unchurched kids, invite them, make it your spiritual priority this year, your unchurched children of your life, and bring them to church, because you want to prioritize their spiritual health, because that's what's most important in their life.
Speaker 1:Not this Wednesday, but next Wednesday. This Wednesday is the prayer service. Next Wednesday we're doing the big game show here in the CLC and it's for everybody, but it's designed for young families and I wanna encourage you to be inviting the community. Why? Because we want to just love on the community and show them the love of Jesus and show them that you can have fun going to church. I love the quote that says we ought to have more fun going to heaven than the world going to hell. Can I get an amen? I love that. Come on.
Speaker 1:And also for our student ministry, february 7th through 9th, we've got our new student pastor, christian Henry, and his wife, laurie Henry. God just blessed them with a rental home in our area Yesterday. They'll be moving here soon. Put your hands together, man. We're so excited for what God is doing Our student ministry. We've got a D now coming up just for you that we are so excited about. And here's the deal. I just love our church, I just love you so much and all of my friends and my family that I bring here. They all say the same thing that's the most loving church that I've ever been in and that's why we want other people to experience what we get, to experience on a weekly basis the love of God here in this church and we just so happen to be a part of what God is doing. A revival in our church. We see our worship services growing. We see our groups growing. Our children's ministry grew by 43% last year. Our baptisms grew by 244% last year. It's just amazing what God is doing. We get to be a part of this. We're so thankful.
Speaker 1:I remember when I was 19 years old. I remember waking up one morning and my dad actually woke me up and he said, son, it's Sunday morning, what are you doing? You need to start getting ready for church. I said, dad, I'm not going, and I was 19. He couldn't make me go. And he said well, why not? I said dad, I'm so, I'm so. I said I'll go to worship. But, man, my Sunday school class. I said I just, I don't like the teacher, I don't like the boring Dad, I'm just done with it, I'll go to worship.
Speaker 1:I look back now and I see what the devil was doing in my life. He was trying to get me out of church totally. He just wanted to do it one step at a time. I'll never forget that morning. My dad looked at me and my dad, as I'm laying in bed. My dad said, son, I wanna encourage you, I wanna challenge you. He said I just want you to go one more time and just ask God to speak to you. I said fine, got my covers off me, got ready, went to church that morning. I can't tell you what happened. I went to the same Sunday school with the same teacher, with the same class, the same topic, and it was awesome. I can't explain it. It was because it wasn't me, because it was God, and I went expectant of what God wanted to do in my life. I began to prioritize God's church in my life.
Speaker 1:Psalm 84, talking about the church, says talking about the courts of God, the presence of God, the people of God says a day, the temple of God, a day in your courts, is better than a thousand elsewhere. In other words, one day in the presence of God, together as the church of God, is better than a thousand days anywhere else. The best place that you could possibly be Bora Bora, in an overwater bungalow. Can I get an amen? The Bible says that God is so good that we find more joy one day together as the church of Jesus Christ than someone would for a thousand days in Bora Bora, even though there may be a church there. I'd love to try it out. Okay, come on. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. Which means God says the way that he has wired you, the way that he has designed you, you find more joy, you get more peace when you serve in God's house than if you had full rights and privileges in the mansions of the wicked. There is something about having a ministry. There's something about serving in God's church that God grows your spiritual health. Maybe you're just getting to know us. If you want to find out more about First Baptist Church, powder Springs, I want you to know.
Speaker 1:February 2nd I wanted to give you a month heads up. We've got a free lunch for you with free childcare. That we're gonna just in one hour, right back at our fellowship hall at 12 o'clock on that Sunday. That we're just gonna walk you through everything that God is doing here in a quick hour. I talked for about 30 minutes to be. 30 minutes is eating, 30 minutes is talking. I would love for you to be a part of that. You can register online at our Next Step station.
Speaker 1:But also I want you to know that next Sunday we're going to celebrate. We're going to appreciate all of our dream team members. Those are all of our volunteers. If you serve in worship, serve in production, serve in kids, serve in students, young adults, adult groups, senior adult groups, maybe you serve in our hospitality team, our mission team or anything else. Can we put our hands together for all of our volunteers this morning? Man, we're so thankful for you. We've got a free lunch for you next Sunday and we are so thankful for the way that you prioritize God's church. I wanna remind you prioritizing God's church is not something that you have to do, is something that we get to do, because that's how God calls us to be who he has created us to be. Lastly, prioritize God's mission. Everybody say mission. Let me show you this and I'm done Luke 2.48.
Speaker 1:And when his parents saw Jesus, they were astonished. And his mother said to him son, why have you treated us so? Behold your father. Everyone say father, your father, joseph, and I have been searching for you and in great distress. In other words, mary is saying Jesus, why didn't you come with us? Jesus, we're your parents. Jesus, I'm your mom. Jesus, joseph is your dad. How could you do this to us? And Jesus responded. And Jesus said why were you looking for me? Or why did you look in all these other places? Did you not know that I must be about or be in my father's house? Maybe you read the King James Version, or the New King James Version Reads it differently, reads it as this Jesus saying did you not know that I must be about my father's business? Mary said how could you do this to me? And your father? Jesus said mom, joseph is my dad. God is my father. I must obey him. I wonder what it would take in our lives this year, in 2025, if we said I must be about my father's house. What would happen? What would we get to experience in 2025 in our own lives, in our own spiritual health, if we just said I must be about my father's business? Jesus was 12 years old. Joseph was training him how to be a participant in the temple, in the house of God. Joseph was training him how to be a carpenter, how to take over the family business. And Jesus said it's time for me to focus on my heavenly father and I must be all about him.
Speaker 1:I had a friend by the name of DJ One Father's Day some five years ago, his family got him one of those DNA kits. He always wanted to take all the DNA tests. He took the DNA test and, long story short, through the DNA test he found out that the dad who raised him, the dad who was always there for them, the dad that he was named after, through the DNA kit he found out that man was not his real father. He goes to his mom. Mom, is this true? She said DJ, I thought you'd never find out. Dj's telling me about this. And he's smiling. Like DJ, are you okay? Like there's counseling for things like this, are you all right?
Speaker 1:And he looked at me and he said the man that raised me, that was always there for me, that I'm named after, he said he'll always be my dad. He said, just because I found out that someone else is my father, doesn't change anything. And here's what. He looked at me and he said he goes Pastor Chip, god is my real father and God has always been there for me and God will always be the one that I focus on. He said this doesn't change a thing for me. Man that ministered to me.
Speaker 1:It made me think back when I was 19, 20 years old man. I was struggling with some rebellion and my parents were sick of my behavior, and I'll still, I'll never forget the day they looked at me and they said you're in God's hands now, and that struck the fear of God in me. To be honest with you, they said you're no longer responsible to us, you're responsible to God. That taught me a lesson my life is not about my mom or my dad, as much as I love them. God called them into my life to always be there for me, that we would always be family, but to prepare me to live my life for God, as my father and I must be about his house and I must be about his business, and I wanna encourage you to think about and to pray about, the same thing. How would God call your life to be about his house, to be about his business? Because Jesus lived and came on mission for you and he died for you and he rose from the dead for you, so that you could live on mission for him and tell other people what he's done in your life, so he can bring the same spiritual health into their life.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna ask you just to bow your heads and close your eyes. Nobody looking around this morning, but I just wanna encourage you and just have a real conversation with God right now. Right now might be the perfect moment for you just to talk to God about where you are in your spiritual health. Might be the perfect moment that you just ask God that 2025 would be the year that you experience what true spiritual health is. To be spiritual health is to be Not focusing on what you do, but focusing on who you're called to be, just simply asking God to help you to prioritize his word, his church, his mission. This year and maybe you're here this morning you've never really fully, truly given your life completely over to him, and maybe today is the day that you become spiritual healthy, because today is the day of your salvation.
Speaker 1:And I can't save you and I can't pray this prayer for you this morning, but I can lead you through this prayer and you can say something like this, from your own heart and your own words to God. You can say God, I need you, I love you, I believe with my heart that Jesus died for my sin. God, I'm a sinner against you for my sin, god, I'm a sinner against you and I ask you to forgive me of all my sin past, present, future and you can tell him, god, I believe with my heart that you raised Jesus from the dead, that he's alive from the dead, that he's alive, and I turn from my sin and I follow after him and I call on him. You can tell him right now Jesus, be the Lord of my life, jesus be my Lord, be my Savior, be my God In Jesus' name. And all God's people said would you put your hands together for anybody that gave their life to Jesus? This morning, we just wanna say welcome to the family. The Bible says that heaven rejoices every time a sinner repents. We're just so excited for you. I just wanna ask you to stand up right now and I wanna pray one more time before we worship God together.
Speaker 1:But I wanna ask you, before I pray, that during this prayer, that you would just continue to focus your hearts and your minds on him, that we worship him this morning, that you worship him from your soul, because it is your soul that he is working on and working in to make you more like him. Let's pray, heavenly Father. We love you. God, thank you for your word, thank you for this story of Jesus as a 12-year-old boy and God, we thank you that you are working in us to grow, to become stronger, to become wiser. More in your favor and God. I just pray in Jesus' name, lord, that you would just, father, continue to make us spiritually healthy. God, may your spirit work in us. May it not be by our strength or our effort, but may it be your spirit that we prioritize your word and your church and your mission. God, we glorify you, we worship you right now. We pour our hearts out to you. Right now. We lift our voices as your church, as your community In Jesus. Through this worship, we give you all the glory. In Jesus' name, we pray and all God's people said