Embracing the Year of Yes: A Journey with God

 

Summary

In today's gathering, we explored the profound power of saying "yes" to God. This simple yet transformative word can unlock the fullness of life that God intends for us. As we embark on the journey of 2025, it's crucial to embrace this year as the "Year of Yes," where we continually affirm our commitment to God's will and purposes. This isn't just about a one-time decision but a daily posture of openness and obedience to God's leading.

Reflecting on the story of Jesus' first miracle at the wedding in Cana, we see how ordinary moments can become extraordinary when we say yes to Jesus. The servants at the wedding, by simply following Jesus' instructions, witnessed a miraculous transformation of water into wine. This story illustrates that our everyday lives, when surrendered to God, can become arenas for His miraculous work. It's a reminder that God often works through the mundane and the routine, turning them into moments of divine encounter.

Moreover, we are invited to move beyond a secondhand faith, where we rely on others' experiences, to a personal and intimate relationship with God. This involves cutting out the middleman and directly engaging with God through prayer and scripture. It's about prioritizing His presence and allowing Him to speak into our lives, guiding us into deeper intimacy and understanding of His will.

As we step into this new year, we are also called to revisit the promises God has spoken over our lives. Perhaps there are dreams and visions that have been dormant, waiting for us to reignite them with faith and prayer. Like Mary at the wedding, who persisted despite initial resistance, we too can contend for God's promises, believing that He has saved the best for last.

Finally, the call to say yes to God is not without its challenges. It may require us to trust Him in the midst of pain, disappointment, or uncertainty. Yet, it is in these moments of surrender that we find true safety and fulfillment, knowing that we are loved by a God who knows us best and desires the best for us.

Key Takeaways:

1. The Power of Yes: Saying yes to God is a daily commitment that opens us to His transformative work in our lives. It's about trusting Him with our present and future, knowing that He has our best interests at heart. This posture of yes can turn ordinary moments into extraordinary encounters with God. [09:11]

2. Intimacy with God: We are invited to move beyond a vicarious faith and engage directly with God. This involves prioritizing prayer and scripture, allowing God to speak to us personally. It's about cutting out the middleman and experiencing a genuine relationship with our Creator. [24:14]

3. Revisiting God's Promises: As we enter 2025, it's time to revisit and pray into the promises God has spoken over our lives. Like Mary, who persisted in faith, we too can contend for God's promises, believing that He has saved the best for last. [30:09]

4. Trusting God in Difficult Times: Saying yes to God may require us to trust Him amidst pain and uncertainty. It's about surrendering our will to His, even when it's challenging, and believing that He is working all things for our good. [39:24]

5. Living a Life of Purpose: Our lives are meant for more than just comfort and security. We are called to preach the gospel, fight injustice, and make a difference in the world. Saying yes to God means embracing this higher calling and living a life of purpose and impact. [42:17]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [09:11] - The Year of Yes
- [12:46] - The Power of Saying Yes
- [18:28] - Ordinary to Extraordinary
- [24:14] - Intimacy with God
- [30:09] - Revisiting God's Promises
- [35:00] - Trusting in Difficult Times
- [39:24] - Living a Life of Purpose
- [42:17] - Invitation to Respond
- [44:39] - Prayer and Ministry Time

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide: The Power of Saying "Yes" to God

Bible Reading:
- John 2:1-10

Observation Questions:
1. In the story of the wedding at Cana, what role did the servants play in the miracle of turning water into wine? How did their actions demonstrate obedience? [09:11]
2. How did Mary, the mother of Jesus, influence the events at the wedding in Cana? What does this tell us about her faith and persistence? [18:28]
3. What was the significance of Jesus performing his first miracle at a wedding, and how does this setting contribute to the message of the sermon? [18:28]

Interpretation Questions:
1. How does the act of saying "yes" to God daily, as illustrated by the servants at the wedding, relate to the concept of discipleship in the Christian faith? [09:11]
2. The sermon suggests moving beyond a secondhand faith to a personal relationship with God. What might this transition look like in practical terms for a believer? [24:14]
3. Reflecting on the story of the wedding at Cana, how can ordinary moments in our lives become extraordinary when we say "yes" to Jesus? [18:28]

Application Questions:
1. The sermon emphasizes the importance of saying "yes" to God in 2025. What is one area of your life where you feel God is calling you to say "yes"? How can you take a step towards that this week? [09:11]
2. Consider a promise or dream that God has spoken over your life that may have become dormant. How can you reignite it with faith and prayer in this new year? [30:09]
3. The sermon discusses the challenge of trusting God in difficult times. Can you identify a current struggle where you need to surrender your will to God's? What would trusting Him in this situation look like? [39:24]
4. How can you prioritize intimacy with God in your daily routine? What specific changes can you make to ensure you are engaging directly with Him through prayer and scripture? [24:14]
5. Reflect on a time when you relied on someone else's faith or experiences rather than your own. How can you cultivate a more personal and direct relationship with God moving forward? [24:14]
6. The sermon calls us to live a life of purpose and impact. What is one practical way you can make a difference in your community or church this month? [42:17]
7. How can you ensure that past disappointments do not hinder your future with God? What steps can you take to move forward in faith and trust? [39:24]

Devotional

Day 1: Embracing the Transformative Power of Yes
Saying "yes" to God is more than a single decision; it is a daily commitment that opens us to His transformative work in our lives. This posture of openness and obedience allows God to turn ordinary moments into extraordinary encounters. By trusting Him with our present and future, we align ourselves with His purposes, knowing that He has our best interests at heart. The story of Jesus' first miracle at the wedding in Cana exemplifies this truth. The servants, by simply following Jesus' instructions, witnessed a miraculous transformation of water into wine. This illustrates that our everyday lives, when surrendered to God, can become arenas for His miraculous work. [09:11]

"Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." (Proverbs 16:3, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you can say "yes" to God today, allowing Him to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary?


Day 2: Cultivating Intimacy with God
Moving beyond a secondhand faith involves engaging directly with God through prayer and scripture. This personal relationship requires cutting out the middleman and prioritizing His presence in our lives. By doing so, we allow God to speak to us personally, guiding us into deeper intimacy and understanding of His will. This direct engagement is essential for experiencing a genuine relationship with our Creator, where we can hear His voice and discern His guidance for our lives. [24:14]

"But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:6, ESV)

Reflection: How can you create a dedicated time and space for personal prayer and scripture reading this week to deepen your intimacy with God?


Day 3: Reigniting Dormant Promises
As we enter 2025, it's time to revisit and pray into the promises God has spoken over our lives. Like Mary at the wedding in Cana, who persisted despite initial resistance, we too can contend for God's promises, believing that He has saved the best for last. This involves revisiting dreams and visions that have been dormant, reigniting them with faith and prayer. By doing so, we align ourselves with God's timing and purposes, trusting that He will fulfill His promises in His perfect way. [30:09]

"For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." (Habakkuk 2:3, ESV)

Reflection: What is one promise or dream that you feel God has spoken over your life that you can begin to pray into and pursue with renewed faith?


Day 4: Trusting God Amidst Uncertainty
Saying yes to God may require us to trust Him amidst pain, disappointment, or uncertainty. It is in these moments of surrender that we find true safety and fulfillment, knowing that we are loved by a God who knows us best and desires the best for us. Trusting God in difficult times involves surrendering our will to His, even when it's challenging, and believing that He is working all things for our good. This trust is a testament to our faith and reliance on His sovereignty and goodness. [39:24]

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of uncertainty or difficulty in your life where you need to trust God more fully, and how can you begin to surrender it to Him today?


Day 5: Living a Life of Purpose
Our lives are meant for more than just comfort and security. We are called to preach the gospel, fight injustice, and make a difference in the world. Saying yes to God means embracing this higher calling and living a life of purpose and impact. This involves stepping out of our comfort zones and actively participating in God's mission, using our unique gifts and talents to serve others and advance His kingdom. By doing so, we fulfill our God-given purpose and make a lasting impact in the world. [42:17]

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific way you can use your gifts and talents to serve others and make a difference in your community this week?

Quotes

"25th of January 2025 obviously start of a new year we can still just about think about this is the start of a new year and and I've been reflecting a bit so I've been preparing for being with you and my sense for you is that for to this church this is clearly a new day you don't have to be prophetic to say that clearly this church is growing again there's new life there's new vision you know out of the ashes God is raising up something really beautiful here but I also believe that 2025 is in a significant way a new day for many of you here and how do we activate that how do we step into all that God has for us in 2025 well one of the things that I've been thinking about for a long time is that well one of the things that I've been thinking about for a long time is that well one of the things that I've been thinking about for a long time is that I want to suggest that the key is that you I want to suggest that the key is that you I want to suggest that the key is that you use the simplest but most powerful word use the simplest but most powerful word in the English language and that word is in the English language and that word is in the English language and that word is is simply yes this is the year of yes of is simply yes this is the year of yes of saying yes to God we have TV programs saying yes to God we have TV programs saying yes to God we have TV programs don't we say yes to the dress my wife don't we say yes to the dress my wife You end up getting married. That's a pretty hefty and powerful thing and you say yes to Jesus Christ one day and you are forgiven of your sins and You become a Christian and you spend eternity with him. Oh Thank you. Do you want me to start again?" [00:02:21] (106 seconds)


"and this is the heart of what it means to be a christian it's the heart of discipleship saying yes not just once but again and again every day to the lord jesus christ uh the answer is yes now what's the question and uh so so this is why we're here today not because we're vaguely religious or didn't have anything else to do on a sunday morning because we want our lives to be yes to the purposes and the love of god you probably know that uh the bible hardly even uses the expression christian but again and again uh talks about being disciples of jesus 261 times in the new testament 230 in the gospels we are called to discipleship to following jesus to saying yes to jesus when and i were first married uh we we met a guy he actually turned up at church one day he was one of the local drug dealers and um he was he came he came to church because there was a very beautiful girl who was attending church at the time he'd taken a liking to her and uh most great youth ministry is hormones and the holy spirit mixed together and um he he um he set into the worship during the worship he began to just rush you know have a full kind of experience but just on theaneypedest the holy spirit so i got talk to him he said listen man this got major economic uh implications for me let's spend a lot of money trying to get those feelings man and and make a lot of money selling those feelings to people can you get free in every church in the country talking slide off of all these absolutely and uh and so he started coming i began to sew the bible with him and it wasn't long before he gave his life to jesus christ uh but he he um you know he he was still struggling um with obviously getting free from addiction it's a long journey and of course the root that addiction was all sorts of massive dysfunction and brokenness in his own background childhood and so he moved in with sam and me we've only been married a few months and um with you know he was" [00:04:35] (139 seconds)


"a vicarious faith and in the midst of it all we you know we're drawn it's just christianity we get drawn into all you know all the latest religious stuff and in the middle of it all jesus wanders around hey when do we just get to cut out the middleman get one -on -one and have a real conversation when do you stop hiding behind all the other secondary stuff even the religious stuff and just spend time with me what do you say yes to my invitation to intimate relationship and many of us would do 101 other things they just spend half an hour in prayer or push privately into the presence of god and so the invitation a ground zero at the start of this year is if we're going to set it all that god has for us just to say yes to his invitation for intimate relationship with himself not publicly not get good feelings but just because the living god invites you to spend time with him he wants to listen to you he wants to speak to you he wants to activate your prayers and he wants you to grow in relationship with him this is the heart of the 24 7 prayer movement that the living god invites us to walk and talk with him and so i want us to look now at a passage in scripture that is absolutely heart is all about saying yes to jesus in the most amazing way this is john chapter 2 verses 1 to 10." [00:09:11] (95 seconds)


"it's interesting if you think about the servants here so Mary's behaving like an irish mom the servants they're just they just turn upon worse it's just another day at work right it's someone else's party they're just doing their jobs and so this story is about how the ordinary spaces in your life can become extraordinary when your life is a yes to Jesus right they're just another day at work and mary said you know whatever he says say yes they don't know they're in the bible they're just at work but by being willing to say yes to this ridiculous invitation from jesus they get to take part in the greatest moment of their lives when we cultivate a posture of positive attentiveness" [00:15:18] (52 seconds)


"in our everyday lives to what Jesus is saying incredible things happen when our attitude is like the servants here okay I'll do whatever you tell me to do amazing things happen when we're interruptible to the voice of Jesus amazing things happen a friend of ours on Friday night went into London to watch a movie and the movie was cancelled there were technical reasons it's annoying right but she took it as a opportunity Jesus what do you want to do I'm in London and you know my movies been cancelled and she ended up at dinner with somebody there's a very distinguished member of the House of Lords you and a film producer and she shared her faith with this woman and by the end the woman gave her life to Jesus Christ on Friday night in central London and Canada that woman's grandfather is one of the greatest most famous missionaries that the UK has ever produced and so this must be an answer to prayers of a pray in a hundred years ago or something see that that's just someone who's like instead of you I've come into London my movie's been cancelled it was a wasted night where is my where's my attempt at an attentiveness Jesus what are you doing how am I you use this and so she said to me honestly it was way better than the movie could ever repeat the sense just all the real lives and you go into work wherever work is for you or or you just an ordinary day at home or whatever it is and you're Jesus what are you saying I'm going to do it what how is today you got to you that's what's going on with these servants here I remember I was out for a meal in Guildford and uh uh you know that the the the waiter is serving us um you know we we were friends who who um hey you know she's just she's just sort of embarrassing she's always trying to share her faith in Jesus and so she said to um said to the waiter hey uh" [00:16:08] (138 seconds)


"you see such a joy in trying to make your life a yes an availability to jesus we we always think something amazing is going to happen out there but what if it is in your ordinary life that jesus wants to come alongside and and say hey why don't you do this or why don't you ask that or why don't you go there as you live your life as a yes it becomes an adventure when the servants fill those water jars early that day they honestly thought they were just doing like one of the most menial jobs" [00:20:16] (33 seconds)


"imagine imaginable of very little consequence just to keep the people hydrated and you wash their hands they were just serving someone else's joy they were attending someone else's parties but they were actually not doing a mean your job at all they could hardly have been doing anything more meaningful they just didn't yet know it and it is easy in life to feel like our lives are attending someone else's party but everyone else is having more fun more joy we're just doing our jobs and getting on with it it's easy isn't it sometimes to even fight that we feel sidelined by God or forgotten by other people like we haven't been invited to the great party of life that you see everyone else having out there and I believe the word of the Lord so many of us at the start of this year is your menial work may become the most meaningful thing that you will ever have do your thankless service may be honored by generations to come I've noticed God often hides the thing that he treasures the most if you feel hidden right now it may be there not that he's forgotten you but he treasures you we had a guy from Belgium live with us for a while and he turned up one day so I got a little gift you I've got a bottle of a Belgian beer called West Blatterin 12 I think I've got a picture of it here we got the picture maybe not yeah there it is West Blatterin 12 now the thing is I knew that West Blatterin 12 having voted as the best beer in the world in the worlds it is made by monks in Belgium and when they are in like the original sills one of the few sills to survive the Nazis like turned most of most of them into you know weaponry but they never found this one so these monks have been faced with making this beer for all these years and it's incredible and when they won beer of the year uh you can imagine the people came to the abbot and said you need to scale up production big time here you're about to make a fortune okay and the abbot was amazing said no because our primary job in life is not to make beer it's to pray" [00:20:48] (140 seconds)


"the answer is yes what's the question and we drove around and we ended up in this little village one they called ham hoods in southeast germany where some iranian refugees built a village and prayed non -stop for 100 years and out of that prayer meeting that they started they began sending out missionaries all over the world and they converted a guy called john wesley and as a result john wesley started in methodism and through methodism uh we saw the great awakening thing that ended that's the ending of slavery in the british empire that started the first free education for the poor that started the first lending banks for ordinary people uh that it's just revolutionary and it all began with this prayer meeting in this village called hammer the southeast germany says i'm walking around at home i'm thinking what if they could pray and all suffer 100 years why don't we try a month back home and see what will happen and so on the 5th of september 1999 we started trying to pray night and day and we figured we didn't manage a month we'd just try a week and and and see what happens and uh there would still be more praying than we'd ever done before and actually that simple yes to step into a prayer room at 3 a .m to seek god with our hearts that simple yes has become this movement that has spread now all over the world when i get off the plane uh this evening back in london i've got i've got a point in the prayer room six till eight p .m time tonight 25 years later we're still doing this and so uh it all it was it wasn't us trying to start a movement it was just this sense so i think we need to travel around europe and we don't know why and then finding ourselves in the hands that hey if they could do this for a hundred years yes jesus will try a month but when we say yes to jesus like the servants at this cane are great at the arcana great things can happen i remember um a couple more stories and we can i'd love to pray for some people i remember and i remember when you know when sammy and i were we'd be living in america for a while and uh we'd return to the uk and we were trying to work out where god wanted us to live and one of our sort of mentors and had said to sammy it's really important when you make big you know changes like adam and hannah have made" [00:25:30] (142 seconds)


"that you pray with your kids and and let them be part of the decision making so that they don't feel that just kind of god imposed something on them but that they were part of the process so we said that's great advice except our kids are like about i don't know what they were four and six or something at that time and and they're like insane i mean they like they could you know but anyway so we're like okay we're going to do it so every night we would pray god where do you want us to be next year we'd draw up a list you know we'd wondered should we move to brighton should we get a farm in scotland someone offers a church in central london where are we supposed to be and we're praying with these look these cute little things two little boys four and six where do you want to slot and then one day sammy is um walking back from from the the little primary school the little preschool thing and um danny our youngest is in push chair her son is in the middle of the school and she's in the middle of the school and she's in the middle of the school and she's in the middle of the school who's riding on on on like this little skateboard thing he had attached to the first chair from behind and and suddenly he says um mum i'm hearing a voice in my head and she being the godly woman she is i think she's going insane and so she just goes don't listen to us and he goes but it's a nice voice and she goes those are the worst kinds don't listen to her and then he goes i think it's god six years old and she goes oh yeah we're supposed to believe this stuff you know samuel all that so she goes okay what's the boy saying and he says the voice is saying we should move to guilford so sammy tells me this i phoned my mentor i said how much weight do you put on a six -year -old hearing the audible voice of god and he laughed he said well you're nuts if you relocate your whole life on that basis and you're nuts if you're ignoring i said thanks to nothing so then we go out for dinner a little while later and we turn to danny he's four years old at that point his hair was completely white and electrostatically charged he looked like an orangutan very cute one and um typical youngest child that wasn't used to having the entire attention of the family focused on him so when we said to him" [00:27:51] (137 seconds)


"believe god has saved the best wine for last some of us have been hidden away but it's time it's time in 2025 for activation there is an invitation from god to you this year for some of you i wonder if it is an invitation into intimacy remember that story about paul's stepmom sweller" [00:32:04] (23 seconds)


"and the invitation to you at the start of this year is prioritize my presence put some simple little disciplines around prayer and the word some of you are amazing I hear there is a big CrossFit culture incredibly disciplined with all of that let's make sure that we're equally disciplined about the stuff that will last eternal because our bodies really want I'm not trying to be heavy but I'm just saying we believe this stuff let's let's let's commit to it there's an invitation from God to go deep in relationship with him this year get involved with a table group if you haven't because that's where as this church grows you'll be able to build community relationship discipleship and you can really grow maybe the invitation to say yes for some of us is is this invitation to move from just serve a bit of Christianity to a bit of church to a bit of a church to a bit of Christianity to a bit of real discipleship jesus you are lord i'm not if you say it i'm gonna do it i want to come back to that place so maybe the first time in that kind of place to say it's not just i believe in you but actually if you are lord then i will do whatever you tell me to do i will say whatever you tell me to say i will go wherever you tell me to go the answer is yes now what is the question that's what it means for jesus to be lord that is how the great adventures get unlocked that's what the servants found out at the wedding maybe the invitation to say yes at the start of this year is particularly um weighty for you because if you're honest you're carrying some serious disappointments into 2025 some ways in which maybe you didn't feel like i said yes to god and he left me down in the past maybe maybe there are some areas of of hurt where you're thinking i'm just gonna protect myself i just want an easy life but listen can i say a little bit no one ever made a movie about someone whose life goal was to have a nice house and drive an audi it's just boring your life is worth so much more than that you are on this planet to preach the gospel of jesus to fight injustice" [00:34:44] (137 seconds)


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Transcript
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