A.U.D.A.C.O.U.S. "Part 1 Advancing" Pastor Paul Dien- September 13th 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Cutting the Anchor of Familiarity

The Christian life often stalls when comfort becomes an idol. Like a ship anchored in safe waters, believers cling to predictable routines, avoiding the Spirit’s call to venture into deeper waters. Familiarity masquerades as stability but can stifle obedience. Jesus invites His followers to release what feels secure—habits, control, or self-reliance—so His purposes can advance. Trust grows when hands unclench, making room for God to steer. What once felt like safety may actually be stagnation. [10:19]

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10, NLT)

Reflection: What predictable routine or comfort have you prioritized over obedience? How might releasing it create space for God’s unexpected work?

Day 2: Waking Up to the Ripe Harvest

Fields of human hearts surround believers daily—neighbors, coworkers, strangers—all longing for hope. Jesus’ words in John 4 pierce complacency: harvest isn’t a future event but a present urgency. Spiritual sleepiness ignores the ache in a coworker’s marriage or a neighbor’s grief. To “wake up” means seeing people as Jesus does: not projects, but image-bearers hungry for grace. The harvest demands hands willing to work, not just mouths that admire the concept. [15:06]

“Wake up, for the coming of the Lord is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11, NLT)

Reflection: Who in your daily orbit have you overlooked as part of God’s harvest? What practical step could you take this week to engage them with Christ’s love?

Day 3: Advancing Through Wilderness Testing

Obedience often leads to barren places. Jesus entered the wilderness not by accident but by the Spirit’s guidance. Hunger, loneliness, and exhaustion test resolve, tempting believers to compromise for temporary relief. Faithfulness here isn’t about feeling strong but clinging to God’s Word as lifeline. The wilderness refines, proving that divine direction doesn’t guarantee ease—it guarantees dependence. [34:20]

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105, NLT)

Reflection: What current “wilderness” tests your trust in God’s plan? How can Scripture anchor you when relief feels more appealing than obedience?

Day 4: Replacing Excuses with Yes

Invitations from God often collide with reasonable excuses: busy schedules, new responsibilities, or legitimate needs. Jesus’ parable of the banquet reveals how easily good things—work, family, possessions—become idols that delay obedience. Postponing response risks missing divine momentum. Audacious faith rearranges priorities, trusting that what God requests, He equips. [37:00]

“But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NLT)

Reflection: What “good excuse” have you used to delay a step of faith? What would it look like to prioritize God’s invitation over your timeline?

Day 5: Fourth-Quarter Faith in Unfinished Waters

The year’s final months mirror a game’s fourth quarter—a time to rally, not retreat. Israel’s spies saw giants; Joshua and Caleb saw God’s faithfulness. Seasons change, but His power remains constant. Cutting anchors now—fear, control, doubt—positions believers to catch the wind of the Spirit. What began as a January prayer can still find fulfillment when courage outweighs comfort. [08:01]

“Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:16, NLT)

Reflection: What “anchor” have you hesitated to cut this year? How might bold trust in God’s character redefine your fourth quarter?

Sermon Summary

The call to advance begins with the picture of a ship moving where God is taking it, while an anchor keeps it stuck in the same spot. The anchor represents familiarity, control, fear, and the need to know every step before obedience begins. Audacious faith means being bold and daring enough to trust Jesus when only the next step is visible. God may give wisdom, strategy, and common sense, but God often gives direction one step at a time.

Jesus calls His followers in John 4 to wake up, look around, and see that the fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvest is not only somewhere far away. The harvest is the student trying to find belonging, the coworker with a struggling marriage, the grieving neighbor, and the family member with questions about God. The kingdom of God does not make Christianity about what a person can get from God. The kingdom of God opens hearts, lives, resources, and words so that people can be brought to eternal life.

Israel at the edge of the promised land shows how fear can make people see themselves as grasshoppers. The spies saw the fruit, the promise, and the goodness of the land, but ten of them gave more authority to giants than to God. Joshua and Caleb saw the same obstacles, yet their faith rested in the character of God and the victories He had already given. Fear and insecurity are real, but they become dangerous when they are allowed to decide whether obedience will happen. God is not limited by human limitations, and His power receives the glory when His people move forward despite fear.

Jesus in the wilderness shows that opposition does not automatically mean a person has missed God. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, and Jesus met temptation with, “It is written.” A real need does not make every way of meeting that need right. Faithfulness keeps obeying when compromise offers relief, whether the pressure involves exhaustion, money, loneliness, or the desire to escape difficulty.

The great banquet shows how ordinary responsibilities can become excuses for refusing God’s invitation. Work matters, marriage matters, and family matters, but Jesus must order those good things. The anchor of familiarity keeps choosing the life that is known because responding to Jesus would require change. The fourth quarter of the year is still time to cut the anchor, trust the Father, and move forward into what God is asking.

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Key Takeaways

1. Cut the anchor of control Control often wants every detail settled before obedience begins. Faith does not ignore wisdom or planning, but faith refuses to make certainty the condition for following God. The next step may be all God gives because trust grows through movement, not through standing still. [11:30]
2. Look up and see the harvest Jesus calls His people to wake up because need is already present all around them. The harvest includes familiar faces carrying grief, confusion, failure, and spiritual hunger. Love becomes real when believers open their mouths with the good news that Jesus cares and saves. [15:06]
3. Fear cannot rule obedience Fear and insecurity can be present without becoming the voice in charge. Joshua and Caleb saw the giants, but they remembered the God who had already made a way. Confidence rests in the faithfulness of the Father, not in the absence of obstacles. [30:34]
4. Answer temptation with what is written Jesus did not let hunger define what obedience looked like in the wilderness. God’s Word gives strength when pressure offers a quicker, easier, compromised path. Faithfulness keeps obeying when relief is available but disobedience is the price. [34:51]
5. Good things can become excuses Work, marriage, family, and new responsibilities can all become reasons to postpone God’s invitation. Jesus does not dismiss these responsibilities, but He refuses to let them replace surrender. A postponed answer can reveal a heart that is protecting familiarity more than it is pursuing God.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[03:59] - The Ship and the Anchor
[05:24] - What Audacious Means
[08:48] - Time to Advance
[12:25] - Wake Up and See the Harvest
[17:14] - The Harvest Demands a Response
[20:28] - Trusting God Beyond Fear
[22:18] - Israel at the Promised Land
[31:55] - Faithful in the Wilderness
[35:34] - Responding Without Excuses
[40:48] - Cut the Anchor
[42:39] - Responding to the Holy Spirit

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

John 4:35-38
“You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” [12:51]

Numbers 13:25-29
“After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses: ‘We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.’” [22:29]

Matthew 4:1-4
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell

Sermon Clips

47s

#ChooseFaithOverRelief

“The desire for relief. Jesus found himself. He was hungry. He wanted relief. Those are real things. Real things. A real need does not make every way of meeting that need right. When you are exhausted, you use the excuse of speaking harsh to your family because you're exhausted. When money's tight, you might compromise your honesty. Faithfulness means that you'll continually continue to obey when compromise offers relief. Jesus did not. Jesus showed us he did not.”

64s

#LookUpServeOthers

“Are you too consumed with yourself that you failed to look up and see what God in the bigger scheme of things is trying to do? All people on both sides of this river need Jesus. The student in school trying to figure out where they belong. The coworker whose marriage is struggling. The neighbor who cries out day and night dealing with grief in their lives. The family member who has questions about God but has never felt comfortable asking them. These are people we come across, people maybe even we know. We hear their stories. We see their faces. Jesus is inviting us to participate in his work in their lives.”

54s

#DoItAfraid

“Fear and insecurity become dangerous. They're always there, but they become dangerous when you give it the authority to decide whether we will obey god or not. When we feel prompted to invest in somebody who's younger, when we finally feel that prompting to go serve in the kids' ministry, take that step. Remember, one of the anchors that we need to cut is control. It is control. You can take that step while you still feel afraid. It's okay. You can do it afraid. You don't live by all your emotional feelings. Your confident rests confidence rests in the faithfulness of the one you are following.”

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