Amen, amen. Well, good morning, Hope City. Man, it's so good to always see your faces on a Sunday morning. Y'all made it through the cold, the snow. Y'all in Savannah don't know nothing about no snow. We was all locked up, school canceled, jobs closed for no reason. What about that clapping like, praise God, praise God? Oh, man, it was definitely an enjoyable few days off for those that actually had it.
Just, I want to give a few quick announcements here. And I was told to just kind of acknowledge, if you guys saw a little red dot going on, it's nothing to be worried about. It was a little kid that had a laser. I said, the kid about to get taken down. You better watch out right here because, boy, security is ready. They will take you on down. So, a little kid actually had a little laser he was playing with. But do note, though, absolutely. Maybe about a year ago, I was almost attacked one Sunday in service. Literally, almost attacked as I was coming to the stage here.
A guy, the greeters saw something strange with this guy as he came in. They said something to security, and security was all under the microphone. The guy came in. They watched. When he sat down, as soon as I walked to the stage, whatever he came to do, he made his move. He didn't know he was sitting next to security. And as soon as he busted the move, they brought him on down and took him on down. So I'm just saying, be it known unto you, you want to start some craziness up in Hope City Church, we got some real good security around here. Okay?
So don't be alarmed at the little red light with the kid that's playing around. But let's give it up for security, though. Let's give it up for them. And to be clear, security is not just for me. It's for the entire church. And so you see guys who's with me, it's just not me, but there's security with our kids. We are watching you, and for the record, a few are unpacking. Come on, somebody. But God is good. We got a weapon of defense from the word as a weapon. We also got some metal weapon. Come on, somebody.
We've been living all forms of security and safety around here at Hope City. So God is good. God is good. I got a few announcements, and then I'm going to jump right into the word. This past week, we canceled our men's event that was scheduled for this past Saturday. That event has been moved to February the 8th, because again, you guys were scared of snow, so we let you stay home. But February 8th, I'm joking. All men, please meet us on February the 8th. It's going to be an amazing time here at Hope City. Breakfast will be served from 9 to 11, and that will be on Saturday, February the 8th.
And also, the seniors ministry that we were just launching this Sunday has been rescheduled. We don't have the date for that, so there will be no flourish meeting after service on today. That was the launch of our new seniors ministry, but that date will be rescheduled. And then also, again, Minister Kronsky has already mentioned these small groups are launching. I really want to encourage you that as Hope City Church has grown, whether it's these two services or our location in Pooler, the more we grow, the more we grow on Sunday mornings.
Our goal is to launch as many small groups in the middle of the week, and we will be moving into our small spring... well, actually, winter semester here real soon, so I want to encourage you... spring semester here real soon, so I want to encourage you to please next week when the classes are actually on the website, sign up, whether it's a men's group, women's group, singles, whether you want to ride horses, I promise you there's a small group for that. And if you don't see a small group and there's an interest for you, you may be called to actually lead that small group because we truly believe that life is done better together.
And so as you've seen us growing on Sunday morning, those who are really making a difference here at Hope City and seeing life change and impact, they're seeing it not just because it was happening on Sunday morning, they're seeing it because it was happening in the middle of the week in their small group. And then last but not least, for those that know, this was supposed to be our anniversary Sunday weekend, but we moved that to next Sunday due to this past week, so we will be celebrating our 11 years on next Sunday.
There was a lot of church merch that got held back that was going to be given out on today, so the church merch will not be available until next Sunday. About 10 boxes came in and 10 boxes were delayed. And I wanted to be petty and I wanted to put some on just to wear it and make some people mad. I said, Corey, don't do that. That's petty. So I got spiritual and I did not put on the nice goodies that came, I mean real nice stuff that came in, but we'll make sure those things are available for you on next Sunday. Amen.
Okay, with that being said, let's jump into our message today, the final message in our Fresh Start Fresh series talking about embracing God's plan for your future. Say that with me. Embracing God's plan for my future. Amen. And that's the desire and that's the heartbeat of the message on today. Embracing God's plan for your future and literally it's all about trusting God's direction and stepping into His plan with faith and with confidence.
So whether you're in the building with us right now or you're watching online, I believe this will be a spirit-filled heart message on today. Really, if you hear it and apply it to any particular area in your life, you will see fruit from it immediately. You know, the definition for the word embrace is simple. It means in the Bible to accept something fully and take it in with confidence and joy. I'm going to say it again. Embrace from the Bible aspect means to accept something fully and to take it with confidence and joy.
It also means to hold on to something tightly and not let it go. When we embrace God's plan, we trust that He knows what is best for us, watch this here, even when we don't see the full picture. Even when we have to trust God, even when we do not see the full picture. I love the idea of that embrace means to accept something fully and take it with confidence and joy. It reminds me of a scripture in the book of Hebrews when it talks about Jesus that it says, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.
Now get that idea, that word joy being used with the same word of a cross, crucifixion, and death. It says for the joy, talking about Jesus, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. Now think about that there. Jesus was about to see death. He was about to die, but the scripture says that He saw it as joy, that His death was going to bring joy into the life of so many people. Why? Because He knew His death was going to ultimately bring resurrection.
So because He knew what was on the other side of His death, He was able to see it as joy. One scripture says, count it all joy when we fall into diverse types of temptations. So here's the point. When you get a better revelation about why you're going through what you're going through, or here, when you get a new revelation about why you're going through what you're going through, you can actually embrace it more.
And so oftentimes in our life, we want to get to our destination with a straight line. But how many of you know that success is not a straight line? Success is a lot of turns, a lot of bumps, a lot of bruises, and a lot of falls. And we see people who become great. We see people who become successful. It's like, man, I wish I could be just like them. I wish I could have what they have. And for some reason, we think they got all of that stuff because they got it delivered to them on a nice silver platter.
But if you see some of the pains and the oppositions that they go through to get what they got, you'll say, okay, God, you know, let me just enjoy what I have and trust the process you have for me. There's a couple that I know, and if you see them right now that we're actually good friends with, that their life in the light is so perfect. I mean, it is the dream life you would want, whether it's their careers, the opportunities they have on TV. I mean, they're actually doing real great on the public view.
But they did something last week that many people media what was going on in their personal life and how the wife had been battling for almost a year some type of physical ailment that actually literally brings her body down when she can't even move. And so, we see their life on the big screen, if you would, but they personally are struggling with multiple things in their life. They're successful from one angle, but they got a road that's not straight that's getting them to a lot of the greatness that's in their life.
And so, they're struggling with multiple things in their life. And so, we see their life on the big screen, no matter what that looks like. Look what it says here in Jeremiah 29, verse 11. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Now, read that one more time. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.
Some of you say, well, Pastor Corey, that does not look like my life right now. I feel like I'm being hurt right now. I feel like there's nothing prospering in my life. I just lost my dream job. My spouse just walked out on me. I don't know if I'm coming or going, but the scripture says here, God says, for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to hurt you. But again, we think that success is a straight line. We think walking with God, everything's going to be prosperous or perfect.
We think walking with Jesus, there's no problems in our life, but the scripture is clear. In this world, you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer. I already overcome whatever you're dealing with, whatever you're going through, I've already overcome that. This is the reason why it's very important that we begin to see our life through the lenses of God. It was a reason why Jesus was able to say, for the joy that was set before me, I'm going to endure this cross because He saw what was on the other side of it.
Some of you got to begin to see what is on the other side of your problem, on the other side of your pain, and on the other side of your difficulty. And when you begin to understand that, it makes things a little bit easier. Come on, somebody. It doesn't necessarily make everything better. It doesn't make everything perfect. But when I understand why I'm going through what I'm going through, I can endure it just a little bit more.
God has a plan for each of us, and His plan is always good. Somebody say always. Yeah, God has a plan for us, and His plan for us is always good. Again, no matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels is good. The scripture says there's a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death. The scripture also says the steps of a good man, good woman are ordered by the Lord. Even when we are on steps and plans that's ordered by the Lord, even on that same journey, there's going to be difficulty and pains.
But we still have to understand at the end of it, I'm going to win. I'm going to get the victory. Come on, somebody. And so God's ways, God's thoughts are not like our ways and our thoughts. And when He wants to get us to a place that's not the way that you think it's going to be, but you can rest assured He's going to get you to where He wants to get you.
When we embrace His plan, we are choosing to walk in faith rather than fear. So in 2025, choose to walk in faith rather than walk in fear. I'm going to talk about fear here in just a moment, but we have to choose to walk in faith rather than fear. It is a choice. One scripture talks about in the book of Deuteronomy, God says, I set before you both life and death. He set before you two opportunities, one that leads to death and one that leads to life. He said, I want you to choose. I want you to make a decision to choose life so that you and your descendants can live.
And so the question is, or the choice is yours. You're choosing your decisions, the steps that you are making, you are choosing what your life will look like. He said, I set before you both two opportunities. And that's how Jesus saw the cross. It said, for the joy that was set before Him, for the opportunity that was set before Him. He saw opportunity. He didn't see death. He didn't see problems. He saw an opportunity to save the world.
And the question that I have for you is, how do you see the pain and the struggle in front of you? Do you see it as opposition or do you see it as an opportunity for something great? And how you see, watch this here, how you see a thing is how a thing would be. Because many times we could have thoughts in our mind that's not actually real, but because you believe that it seems real.
You ever been scared of something that wasn't there? You ever been asleep in the middle of the night, knocked out, and just happened to wake up and your eyes open and you see what looked like a man, but it's actually your hat sitting on a pole and you're like, what? And you become afraid of something that's not even real. The mind can do tricks on us just like that.
You know, one of my greatest pain or fear moments was when I was up on an airplane and I shared this many times here that I just knew that plane was coming down. I knew it was over with. I knew I was on my way to see Jesus and that plane was just so... Matter of fact, I told one, the one I did not tell is the one I was asleep on the plane and I was so knocked out on the plane when I woke up, I said, oh Lord, the plane done crashed in the air. It is over with.
But that's not what happened. The plane had just landed. But I was so knocked out, sleep with it, boom. I thought we had hit something in the sky. I said, God, with every sin I done wrong, please forgive me. Please wash away my sins because I knew it was over. There was no way to recover for that type of bang in the sky. But when I realized, oh, we just... The plane just landed. That fear was strong.
And the one I told you guys about before was when I was on the plane and these kids, and I'm on the row here reading my book and the plane going up and down, just going. And they got about six little kids in the middle, the left and the right. It was all family and friends. And they was making waves. Woo! And here I am, a grown man back here. Woo! I mean, sweat just everywhere.
They were walking in faith. I was walking in fear. I thought my life was about to be over. They said, life has just begun for them. They were enjoying the journey. And it's all fear. It all starts here in your head and your mind. I was afraid of something that was not even real. I thought the plane was about to go down. The plane was nowhere near about to go down. But our body has the ability to create emotions and feelings and thoughts based on what our mind is thinking.
And that's why the Bible says, guard your heart, guard your mind, for out of it flows the issues of life. We got to guard this thing. Philippians 1:6 says, as being confident of this, that he who has begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day Jesus Christ returns. Listen, God does not specialize in doing unfinished business.
Whoever saw a house or a building that got started to be built on and in the process, they could not finish the work. It could be a house. It could be a building. And they started the project and everyone's looking and saying, man, that's going to be a nice house when it is finished. But time goes on and something happens and the project ceases. It stops and they cannot finish. And everyone's talking. What happened? Did they not have enough to complete? Did the city shut them down?
Folks are trying to question, why did this great idea that started off looking good, now you're questioning, why did it stop? And listen, God does not operate in unfinished buildings or people because when folks see you, it questions His power and His ability to finish a thing. That's why He wants to complete what He started in you. Whatever the vision, the dream, the purpose, the assignment. God says, no, I don't want to deal with no unfinished business because it's going to make me look bad.
So I want to finish what I started in you. So some of you are dealing with something right now and you don't know how the money is going to come. How are you going to get it done? God said, hey, if I started in you, I already got a way to get it finished. You just need to walk with me. Instead of leaning on your own understanding and your emotions and your feelings and what everything else everybody else has to say.
God never leaves His work unfinished. He is working in our lives daily to shape us into His image. Here's a few points I want to give you. Number one, trust God even when you don't see the whole picture. Trust God even when you don't see the whole picture. Who's going through a process of anything right now, whether it's your jobs, your relationships, moving somewhere, you're like, man, I don't know what to do. And I say to you, trust God even when you don't see the whole picture.
And here's the thing for some of you, you're not going to move until you see the whole picture. And that's going to be your problem. Because one thing about God, He don't always show us the whole picture. One thing about God, He oftentimes shows you what the beginning looks like and what the end can look like. But many times He don't show you some of that ugly stuff that happened in the middle.
And the reason why He does that, because He says, if I show you everything in the middle that's going to happen, you're not going to take the journey. Come on, somebody. You know, and so some of y'all are trying to do like what they do with that bread, that big old loaf of bread. You know, you want those nice, pretty slices in the middle. So you skip past those two, three beat up ugly slices. Come on, come on.
You ever get that loaf of bread like, man, I want a slice of bread. But those first two, three slices all beat up and mushed up, you go right past those to get to the nice slices. You can do that with bread, but you can't do that with life. Come on, somebody. You got to eat the whole row. All things work together. The stuff I don't even like, we got to go through because watch this here. It builds something in us. It develops us. It makes us wiser and stronger.
One scripture says, I forgot exactly what the context right now. It says it was good. It was good that we went... Who was it? David said it was good. One of the ones in the Old Testament said it was good that I had went through this here. Because if I didn't go through what I went through, I wouldn't have learned the lessons. See, some of y'all got to get a revelation or even the stuff that you went through, you didn't like. Sometimes it was good that I went through that because I, you know, I know not to do that again.
Come on, somebody. Get me once, shame on me. Fool me. Y'all heard that before? You never... Oh, you got me one time, but you ain't going to get me. Some stuff is good for us to go through. Trust God even when you don't see the whole picture. Look what it says here in Proverbs 3:5-6. Trust in the Lord with some of your heart. What? Wait, wait, wait. Trust... No. Trust... Oh, yeah. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not to your own understanding.
Oh, lean not. Oh, okay. I get it now. Lean not. And that's been your problem. You've been trusting in your own heart and you've been leaning on your own understanding. And now you are where you are and you think it's the devil. No, that wasn't the devil. That was you leaning on your own understanding. We know we give the devil too much credit. He be like, man, I ain't even do nothing. I ain't do that. I ain't do that. We give him so much credit.
And the more we give him credit for stuff, you actually empower him to make him think he is bad as he really not. It's just sometimes we just don't do what God tell us to do. And the sooner you stop blaming the devil for everything, you can realize how much power you really have. We can do all things through Christ that strengthen us from the inside out. We think it's a good thing to be able to blame the devil for everything. No, it's actually not.
It shows us that whenever I fall short, the Bible talks about walk in the spirit and not walk in the flesh. Because every time you walk in the flesh, you fulfill the lust of the flesh. So the devil don't have no authority over me, but the authority I give him. Come on, somebody. He was already conquered in the grave. But whenever we learn how to say, man, I made a mistake. I'm leaning on my own understanding. I'm trusting in my own heart.
And one scripture says that the heart is deceitful. It says, above all things, it is deceitful. And he said, who can even trust it? It's like a person that say, I love you today. I don't love you no more. Well, first of all, you just said you love me today. Now you... Because guess what? That heart plays tricks on us. We're in today and we're out tomorrow. Come on. The heart can be deceitful. Are you getting something?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not to your own understanding. In some of your ways, submit to Him. That's been your problem. You've been in some of your ways. God, I give you these ways, but not these ways. God, I let you in this room, but you can't come in that room. Y'all know, I told y'all about the room. We all got in the house. We got that one closet that everything just thrown in. And can't nobody go in that closet but you, the wife, and the kids.
Because you know that closet, as soon as it's open, everything coming down. So that closet is for no... You got that one drawer that is just a junk drawer. Now, you know where everything at. You know where everything at. But if an outsider come in, it's going to take them every day, all week, to find something. All you got to do, pull the drawer open, put your hand in there, rub around a little bit, and you done found it.
Because you know what you're looking for in the midst of the connection. We all have places in our hearts, in our mind, that we say, God, you're welcome in here. But don't go in that room yet. God, I'll give you this, but I don't want to give you that right now. Come on, somebody. So we don't give Him all the areas of our lives. Just the areas. Just the areas that we say, I'm done with that. I'll give Him free reign of that. But I still want to play with this here just a little bit.
And I don't want to... Come on, don't play with me up in this Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Pentecostal, charismatic church on a day. God, I don't want to give you access to this right here. It's a saying that we would say way back in the days of the early church that, Lord, I put my all on the altar. God, I put my all on the altar. Oh, God, God, I'm here. I'm here right now, God, and I put my all on the altar.
And then God said, and I said, I don't want all that. He said, because that is fine. That's fine. That's great. It's that part over there you hide in. I want that right there. Come on, somebody. Come on. Yeah. Everything you're doing ain't wrong. Ain't bad. But we try to hide that one thing. God said, no, no, no, no. Keep all that. But give me that attitude. Come on. Give me that arrogance in right there. Give me that pride. Come on, somebody.
Oh, give me that racist spirit right there. And let's be clear, black folk, we can be racist too, but I'm going to leave that right there for a second. Because y'all think I got some racist uncles. Come on, somebody. Let me get rid of that lying spirit is what I want. That lying spirit. I'm coming down your street. Just stay right there. Give me that cussing spirit. Come on, somebody.
Oh, you got a gluttonous spirit. Come on. You're just eating too much. Uh-huh. The doctor told you to stop eating all that sugar. Everybody got to have a little sugar every now and then. Where everybody going to have some diabetes every now and then. Come on, somebody. Everybody got to have a little sugar every now and then. Doctor just told you, you about to die. And if you can stop eating that sugar for six months, you can reserve your life for 12 more months. I can't do all that. We're going down there. Come on, somebody.
And don't come to the altar and say, Pastor, will you pray for me, please? I don't know how the ministers do it here, but you're at the altar with me. I ask you, what am I praying for? Don't come to me saying that. And as soon as you do that, I say, what are we praying for? How can I pray for you? Now, I'm not saying that in that praying time, the Holy Spirit may give me something different to pray, but specifically, why did you come here? Let me make sure I hear that. And may the Holy Ghost deal with everything else. Come on, somebody.
God, God, God. In all your ways, submit to Him. And He will make your path straight. So the key to making the path straight, I got to submit to something that's greater than me. So if I want my life to straighten out, I want my health to straighten out, I want my life to straighten out, I want my mind to straighten out, I got to submit. But if I don't submit, things not going to get in order. Come on, somebody.
Anybody ever played a puzzle before? See, trust God even when you don't see the whole picture. Anybody ever played with a puzzle before? See, each piece may not make sense on its own, but when all the pieces come together, it forms a beautiful picture. See, some of y'all, your life is like puzzles right now. It's scattered everywhere. It's not making sense. You don't know what is going on.
And see, some of you want a five-piece puzzle. You want, I just want five pieces because I get five pieces. I can figure that thing out real fast. But the vision and the dream and what God has called you to be, baby girl, brother man, you got a 500 piece, a thousand piece, a 5,000 piece puzzle because the purpose that God is calling you into is greater, is bigger than what you want to narrow it down to. Because you don't want to put in the work. Come on, somebody.
So when you... But those of us, well, not me because I don't do puzzles, but for those of us that still do puzzles, and I ain't got nothing wrong with puzzles. Puzzles is fine. It meditates. I mean, it lets your mind relax, some people say. It just gets you all checked out of craziness. Come on, somebody. I mean, my way to check out of craziness, I look at Andy Griffin. Come on, somebody. I look at the Twilight Zone. I mean, anything that I don't have to think because I could watch a movie and it had nothing to do with business and my mind going, I got a business idea.
So I got to watch some of the dumbest, the craziest stuff for me to check out. Some people do a crossword puzzle, some, whatever. But for those who do puzzles, you understand that it may take me a long time to bring the 5,000 pieces together, but I can't quit just because this piece did... This piece bumped into the wrong place. All that tells me is I'm putting the wrong pieces in the wrong places.
And if I be patient long enough, ultimately the pieces are going to come together and it's going to make sense in the process of time. So even if your life is not making sense right now, in the process of time, as you keep on bringing the pieces together, seeing that dot don't work, seeing that that don't work, you're going to ultimately get the piece that fits and that works and it's ultimately going to become a beautiful picture in your life.
Can we give God a praise for your beautiful picture in advance? You don't see that beautiful picture of your son getting his heart right, but it's going to come together. You don't see that finances coming together. It's going to come together. You don't see that dream home coming together. It's going to come together. Whatever the specificity or whatever you're trying to bring together, the pieces may be scattered right now, but if you keep on working at it, it's going to come together. Somebody shout, it's going to come together.
It is going to come together. Listen, God's plans may not always make sense in the moment, but they are always for our good. Here's the second thing I want to give you here. After we trust God, even when we don't see the whole picture, let go of fear and step out in faith. Let go of fear and step out in faith. Look what it says in 2 Timothy 1:7. For the Spirit of God, for the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.
The King James says that for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but He's given us a spirit of power and of love and of sound mind. You know, and don't mix this fear up with... So naturally we all have a natural fear that we need because without that fear, we'll do some crazy stuff. You know, like a little child, for example, you tell a kid, a kid walking on the edge here, hey, hey, stop, Timmy, boy, back up, boy. You say, hey, Timmy, don't do that. Because Timmy about to fall, right?
But, Timmy, three years old. And Timmy want to know, does gravity really work? And Timmy's like, the very thing he told me not to do is the one thing I'm curious about. And see, y'all done got grown and you stopped being curious. Some of the stuff y'all did when y'all was younger, you did it because you was curious. I wonder what would happen if I do this here. I wonder what would happen if I go to the school. Go back to school. I wonder what would happen if I go tell my mama, I apologize.
We got grown now. We too big to take risks. And so the Timmy's like, Timmy, Timmy, boy, you better... Boy, boy, you better back up. And Timmy's like, he's saying, boy, back up, but Timmy's still just going. It's like, and they think, no, Timmy don't back up, Timmy jump. He may break his knee, he may break his foot. And the lesson, Timmy, what you're going to learn is don't do that again.
So naturally, fear is a natural... You see a bear coming. You're going to be like, okay, bear, come on, come on. I got you, bear. Come on, come on, bear. Come on, come on. You better run. Come on, somebody run like Forrest Gump. I'm out of there. I ain't going to tussle with no bear. I ain't David. He told David to wrestle with a lion, tigers, and bears. I ain't got that gift on me right now. I'm running as fast as I can.
But we got natural things in us that causes us to flee, to run to back up. That natural fear that's necessary to store our life. But this fear here of being afraid to walk out in destiny and purpose. The fear of doing what God called you to do. The fear of becoming the great person you have been ordained to be. See, God has not given us that kind of spirit. He gave us a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.
I remember learning how to ride a bicycle. And when I learned how to ride a bicycle, most kids learn at the age of 18. Most kids learn at the age of probably 3, 4, 5. I ain't learned until I was about 11. Because I ain't like how when I saw people riding and that thing just fall to the side. I ain't like that. So by 11 years old, I learned how to ride a bicycle. And to this day, I don't know why they taught me how to learn on a beach cruiser. It was a beach cruiser I learned on.
And y'all, I remember on that little black bicycle right now. They were pushing me and I'm going. About three seconds into it, all you saw was blue. Fell to the side there. Did that about two times. Got began and fell again. I remember the last time I fell, I had a big old... And the mark is still on my leg to this day right now. I'm 48 years old right now. And the mark's still here. That blood, I mean, blood just gushed everywhere, y'all. Blood was... It was like the whole sidewalk was blood everywhere.
It was like they had to call the rescue truck. I mean, it was profusing everywhere. And that's what fear does to us. It makes us see something bigger than it really was. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It did hurt. I did bleed, but it wasn't that kind of blood. Come on, somebody. Here's my motto. See things as they are, not worse than they are. Y'all missed it. See things as they are. It did hurt. There was blood.
But don't see it worse than it is. Because if I would have saw it worse than it was, I would have never got back on that bicycle and tried again. Wiped the blood off, got it off me. I got back on the bicycle. That time I got back on the bicycle, I went on without falling at all. But if I would have allowed that blood and that mark in that moment to say, I quit, I'm not doing it anymore, I would have never learned how to ride a bicycle.
Listen, you cannot allow fear to rob you of what God is calling you to step out into. Fear can hold us back from stepping into what God has called us into. Can we give God a praise for that? Listen, faith moves us forward even when we feel unsure. I'm going to say it one more time. Faith moves us forward even when we feel unsure. Have you ever been unsure about some things?
That's a thing we call taking calculated risk. It's something that, you know, it's risk involved. I may lose. I may not get it. But I don't count up the cost, and it's a risk I'm willing to take. Faith moves forward even when we feel. What in 2025 that you don't have full assurance, full confidence? Because some of you are waiting for everything to be perfect. I'm telling you now, it's not going to be perfect.
I'm telling you now, she's not going to be perfect. Some of y'all are waiting for that man to come on. My dream man to come. He's coming in riding on a white horse. He's not coming in on a white horse. He's coming in riding a Honda Accord 2019. But if you can ride it out with him, you can stick it out with him, and turn it around. In 2026, he's going to have a Mercedes-Benz. Come on, somebody. Come on, somebody.
Yeah, he good. He coming around. My woman, my girl, she come. Man, she come, and she don't know how to cook. Bruh, she ain't going to know how to cook. These 2025 women, they slightly different. Now, they may make sure you eat, but they ain't going to have nothing to do with cooking. Look at them. They're going to pick that sucker up from you from the best restaurant in town. Get you a chef who already cooked it because they busy working their business.
And your meal going to be on a nice plate. Come on, somebody. What if God wants to do exactly what you desire Him to do, but He do it a different way? The way you want it to come. Kill the way you want it to come. Oh, you want God. This is the dream I wanted. However you choose, I'm going to choose to bring it into my life. I'm okay with the journey. Come on.
Some of us have missed the opportunity because we have designated how it got to come. How the person got to look who going to bless me. Hey, listen. I don't care if they don't look like me, dress like me, act like me. As long as they come in bearing gifts. Come on, somebody. As long as they come in bearing the answers that I need. Fear can hold us back from stepping into what God has for us.
Last point, and I'm done for today. Number one, again, trust God, even when you don't see the whole picture. Number two, let go of fear and step out in faith. And here's the third thing. Walk boldly into God's promises. Don't walk timidly into what God has for you. Walk boldly into what God has. Look what the scripture says for this right here. Joshua chapter one, verse nine says, have I not commanded you? Have I not commanded you? Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. When I initially gave this to the media team, I just gave them that one verse. And then as I was restudying this this morning some more, I had to look at all the nine verses. And so this may not be on the screen, but let me read them to you real fast here.
And listen to this as if God is talking to you. Because some of you need to be encouraged to walk into what He's about to challenge you to walk into. Now, when you understand Joshua chapter one, right before Joshua chapter one, in Deuteronomy, the last chapter, Joshua and the children of Israel was in the wilderness crying and mourning over the death of Moses. For about 30 days, God allowed them to weep and to mourn over the death of their fearless leader.
Because one thing I learned about life, and hopefully you'll learn today, that you can never embrace what will be if you don't mourn over what was. You have to have a proper burial of what was in order for you to really embrace what's about to come. Even if it's not the best thing you actually wanted, because in life, who mourns deaths? But when they come, if you don't properly let go of what was, you can never embrace what will be.
Can I say something real fast? When you think about our body, for example, when we eat food, your body does one major thing. It metabolizes everything that you eat. And what it does is, once you put that meat... And let's say steak, in your body, you're chewing it up, your body is going to create two piles. It's going to create a waste pile, and it's going to create a pile that stays in your body. One pile is going to be released, and one's going to stay in your body, all the vitamins and the nutrients to fuel your body.
So when your body metabolizes, processes everything that comes in, one's going to remain, and one's going to go out. Do you know, there are some people, unfortunately, whose bodies do not know how to properly metabolize what they eat. And the toxicity of the junk food... It stays in the body longer than it needs to. And this even happens emotionally and psychologically. When we don't know how to metabolize what we're hearing and what we see, it stays in our mind, it stays in our body, and it creates sicknesses in the body.
Come on, somebody. And we have to learn how to be able to let go of what was. If Joshua and I were to stay in that wilderness too long, mourning over Moses, they would have robbed themselves of the fulfillment of whatever the rest of their future was supposed to look like. If we were not there, why would we be still living in this world? Am I saying that we don't cry over what we lost? Absolutely. That's why I said you have to have a proper mourning time of what you lost.
And again, that's just not death. That's even the loss of a relationship, of a dream job you may have had, maybe a vision about something you realize, I can never have that. And you now have to mourn that, man, that may never come to pass. I may never talk to my dad again. You have to metabolize that, process that, so that you can officially find a way to move forward in a new way. Can we give God a praise for that real fast?
Look what it says here in Joshua chapter 1. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses my servant is dead. He said, now then, you and all these people, he said, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them. He says to the Israelites, he says, I will give you every place where you set your foot as I promised Moses.
He says, your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the great river, the river Euphrates, all the Hittite country to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. He says, no one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. Look at God just encouraging Joshua. He said, no one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. He said, the same way I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
He said, Joshua, I'm going to never leave you nor forsake you. He said, I need you to be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. He says again, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left that you may be successful wherever you go.
He said, keep this book of the law always on your lips. He said, meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything right. He said, then you will be prosperous and successful. Then he said again, have not I commanded you? Verse 9. He said, have not I commanded you? He said it four times. If you read the entire book, he says it over and over again. Be careful to meditate on the word. He says, be not afraid.
And the reason why he had to keep saying, be not discouraged, be not dismayed, because he knew that something was going to happen that was going to discourage him. He knew that there was going to be a day that something was going to intimidate, and he needed to be reminded. Don't forget what I told you. Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged. I got you. I got your back. You're going to possess the land.
Don't let these things you see cause you to lose what I've already told you that belongs to you. And some of you have saw some stuff in 2024. Some of you have saw some stuff just in the first few weeks of 2025 that's making you forget what God has promised you. You're losing your courage. You're losing your strength. You got to level up. You got to get better in the mail. Somebody walked out on you.
The thing you thought that was going to happen the first of the year has not happened yet, and you are being discouraged. And God told me to remind you to be strong and to be of good courage. Keep my word on your lips. Keep my word on your mind. And for those who are new in Christ or don't have a fully developed process of knowing how to remember what God says, listen, it's not about remembering chapter and verse.
You don't have to remember, you know, John chapter 3, verse 16 says, No, no. Number one, chapters and verses was added in the text for palatability purposes to help us to understand the flow. The original text was just one long writing. There was no chapters and there was no verse. Listen, there's no power in the chapter or verse. The power is in the word.
You're not powerful because you can quote John 3:16 says in Matthew chapter 5. No, you need to be like Jesus who was on the mountain when he was being tempted by the devil. It is written, man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And when you get the word of God in your heart and your mind and you know it and you are confident in what you're saying, it is...
He said, I'm going to remind you every chance I get to be of good courage, to be strengthened, to know who you are. I want to encourage some of y'all right now. You got to know who you are in God. You're the apple of God's eye. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. You're the head and not the tail. You're above and never beneath. You're the lender and not the borrower. You're blessed in the city. You're blessed in the field. You're blessed coming and you're blessed going.
Do you know who you are? You're God's precious child. You're wonderful. Yes, you have made some mistakes in life, but God says you are still my beloved child. If He could call out David who made some mistakes and says He loved David. David is a man after His own heart. Come on, somebody. The mistakes and your shortcomings you have made, God still loves you.
And when you know the love of a real father, come on, somebody. Any real natural fathers in the house that your kids may have done some stuff that you did not like, that may have teased you. But at the end of the day, daddy got your back. Come on, somebody. Come on, somebody. And God is the same way. Be strong and be courageous. A soldier who's preparing for battle, he's confident because he knows his commander has a good strategy.
How many know that God, we are in the army of the Lord? And how many know that you are soldiers in that army? And how many know we got a great commander? Come on, somebody. He's the commander in chief. And he has a strategy that would guarantee. Give us the victory that we need in our life. If you believe that for your own life, can you stand up in about five to seven seconds? Just thank God on the front in your life.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you. Thank you for speaking to our hearts. Thank you for speaking to our minds. For in your presence, there is the fullness of joy. And at your right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. God, we embrace your purpose for our life. We embrace the parts we don't understand. We embrace the parts we don't understand. That's why we put our life in your hand.
Because you are Alpha and Omega. You're the beginning and the end. You're in... You're very much in our present. But you're just as equally present in our future. You see things that we can't see. And because you are already in our future, God, you got wisdom and directions and cues that we don't have. And so we want to fulfill the scripture where it says, the steps of a good man, good woman are ordered by the Lord. And he delights in those paths.
So if you're in this place today, I'm not going to call you out. I'm not going to call you up. But if you're saying, hey, Pastor Corey, I needed this word today. I know church, but I don't know Him. I'm shaking your hand, but I've yet to shake God's hand. I got good religion, but I don't have a personal relationship with this God you're talking about. Listen, yes, I know we're all God's creation. We choose to become a son. We choose to become a daughter.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam, first Adam, calls us to lose it all. God turned His back on His prized creation. He can no longer dwell with us. But in the second garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, in the second Adam, Jesus showed up, and He restored everything. Everything back. That gave us now full access to go into the presence of God. In the Old Testament, they had to go before an altar. They had to bring Yahweh, Akpaktisko, through sales. Dead sacrifices.
But in the New Testament, now that the veil has been torn, according to the book of Hebrews, we can come boldly before, not an altar, boldly before the throne, right there into the presence of God ourselves. Without a priest, but Jesus, who's our great high priest, always making intercession on our behalf, allowing us to come right at the foot of God, make our requests known.
So if you're here today, you don't know that God, He said, Jeremiah, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you, I ordained you to be a prophet unto the nations. What a perfect way to know who you are by getting reconnected with a God that knows all about you. He will be the greatest compass you will ever possess. I'm not talking about religion. I'm talking about God. I'm talking about a relationship.
And secondly, maybe you're saying, hey, Pastor Corey, I already made that decision. I'm assured of my salvation. I'm assured that if I was to take my last breath on this side, I would enter into the presence of God, my creator. I'm confident in my salvation. But what I don't have is a church home that teaches the word of God in such a way that I can take it and apply it to my life. I believe my faith, my family can grow here at Hope City Church.
I believe I can hear the voice of God speak directly to me in regards to my situations. So for you in this place, I'm not going to call you up. I'm not going to call you out. I just want to know who to include in this close-out prayer. If you say that's you on the count of three, no pressure, no pride. Just simply slip your hand up and you can bring it right back down. If you're saying, hey, Pastor Corey, please include me in this close-out prayer. I want to pray for you right there at your seat.
On the count of three. One, two, three. I see that hand. I see that hand. I see that hand as well. I see that hand as well. Amen. I see that hand. I see that hand. I see that hand as well. God bless you. Now, do me one more favor. All over the building, head still bowed, except those who have been given instruction to do so to move. But just all over the building, lift your hands towards heaven and repeat this simple prayer with me, if you would, with those who made that decision today.
Say, Lord God, I believe you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for my sins. But I also believe He rose from the grave with all power in His hand. And I say, God, I ask you now to forgive me of any and every sin that has separated me from your love. Now, say, God, I don't fully understand what all this means, but I do believe with your spirit living on the inside of me, I will become the person you desire me to be.
So I ask you now to fill me with the power and the presence of your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, you are welcome to live in my heart for the rest of my life. Father God, your word declares any man being in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are becoming new. Father, I declare for those that prayed that prayer for the very first time in faith, who were not tied to you spiritually or even separated physically from a church body, that any and everything they lost prematurely, Father, that they're moving into a season of restoration and recovery.
And Father, I declare everything. Everything they lost, Father, that belongs to them, you're bringing it back into their life. And Father, I declare that everything that has attached itself to their life, that's sucking away at the quality of their life, every yoke, every stronghold, every addiction, every chain, that they're falling off right now, and who the Son sets free, they are free indeed. In Jesus' name we pray. Come on, can we praise God for every decision that was made in this place on today?
on Jan 26, 2025
