What Happens Next | Josh Thomas

Well, good morning, United City.

How are you doing?

Timmy good.

What's up?

Hey, my name is Josh Thomas.

I have the absolute honor of being the younger door pastor here at United City.

And y'all look good today.

You look good.

You look good.

Turn to your neighbor and say, you look good today.

Now apologize to the other one for not telling them, okay?

Amen.

Hey, it is good to be with y'all.

I gotta be honest, uh, last night I was at a wedding and uh Craig Gere leaned over and said, Josh Thomas, he said, I just got a text message that told me you were teaching tomorrow.

And so, Craig Gere, thank you so much, because I had nothing prepared until you told me about this.

So, church, be gracious with me, please.

I Kuba didn't give me a lot of time to prepare, but I do believe that the Lord still has a word for us.

I'm only kidding.

Hey, turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

That's gonna be in the New Testament, Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

It is good to be in the house of the Lord with the people of the Lord uh on this December 29th.

But it's also good uh to say hello to everybody on the other side of that camera that may be joining us.

Uh, good morning to all of our men and women at all of our correctional facilities.

Thank you so much for being here this morning.

And as promised, hey Clint, it's good to see you, my friend.

Man, it has been a great year.

Happy almost New Year's Eve.

I remember it was just 12 months ago that I was standing up here encouraging us to be led by the Holy Spirit and to be committed to doing the work.

I personally remember feeling sheer excitement when the clock struck January 1, 2024, because of everything that would prayerfully take place for me over this past year.

Uh, and the report that I have today to tell you is I throw up my hands and I praise you again and again because all that I have is a hallelujah, because God, you are so good.

This year has been good, church.

God has been good to me.

Uh this year I'm celebrating a few things.

The first thing uh is that I released music this year.

That was really fun.

Uh I think we got like, yeah, there we go.

Amos Rivera did that.

It was super fun.

Uh, thank you guys to everybody in the room that's given me a stream or a listen.

It is very scary putting yourself out there uh in this way, but I'm so thankful to each of you that have supported me.

Hopefully, more is coming, and hopefully soon.

So we'll be in prayer about that.

Uh the young adult ministry of United City uh had an incredible year this year.

We saw 117, 115, and then 171 at our refresh worship night.

I think we got a picture of it as well of 171 young adults gathered together in this very room under the banner of Jesus Christ to celebrate what he has done in this space.

And let me tell you something.

If you are a young adult in this room, it is an absolute joy not to just be your pastor, but to truly be your friend.

I am so thankful that you allow me into your life and allow me to speak into it.

It is not something that I take lightly.

But lastly, uh, but certainly not least, um, I proposed and got married this year.

Uh yeah, that's super fun.

Uh, you guys met Lily Grace Thomas now uh earlier today uh in the service.

And on behalf of Lily Grace and I, from the both of us, we are so incredibly grateful to be at a church uh where we feel the love and support from so many of you.

Uh it is, you guys have shown us God's kindness and his love to us in so many ways, and we are so incredibly grateful uh to be here with you.

But church, I'm gonna be honest.

See, at the end of 2023, I had a lot of stuff already planned.

March 9th, propose.

Hopefully she says yes.

October 4th, refresh.

It works.

October 11th, marriage.

October, uh the rest of the week, honeymoon, right?

I like all that stuff, I knew.

Y'all asked me what's happening in 2025, brother.

I got no idea, right?

This was a milestone year for me, but I'm also aware that I'm not the only one celebrating some milestone moments this year, right?

A lot of people in this room had first.

Maybe this year it's your first time as a parent, and you have a newborn on your hand.

Maybe this time it's your first time as an empty nester, and the house is quiet and you like that, but you also don't like what it reminds you of, right?

For some of you, it's your first time being a boss.

For some of you, it's your first time being a retiree.

Shout out to you, right?

For some of you, it's your first year of school.

Actually going to school.

For some of you, it's your first year as a middle schooler, first year as a high schooler, first year as a college student, last year as a college student.

And as we step into 2025, y'all, it's almost like watching this like cliffhanger of like a really good movie, or like a lot of good stuff is happening, but then something happens at the end of the year, it's like, whoa, wasn't expecting that, right?

Uh season two, episode 22 of The Office.

Jim confesses his love for Pam, and she says no, then she walks away, and then they later kiss, and then it cuts to black, and we're like, we gotta wait six more months to figure out what happens.

Oh, season five, episode one, friends, Ross and Emily.

I Ross, take thee.

Rachel.

Y'all feel it?

Oh, I mean, Emily.

The camera pans to Rachel, and she's sitting, and then we gotta wait a whole nother episode to figure out what did Rachel say?

Oh, Thanos.

You should have gone for the head.

Snaps his finger, and then all of our favorite superheroes just disappear right in front of our eyes.

We're like, whoa, this can't be it.

Things are going so well.

But now there's a lot of unresolved questions.

There's now a lot of unresolved answers.

There's not there's not a lot of clarity stepping into whatever comes next.

And we start asking the question: what happens next?

For some of you, though, this year has just been hard.

It's your first year, your second year as a widow.

Or what a word.

For some of you, it's your first year without a loved one.

Some of you, even as recently as this week.

And it's just hard.

It doesn't feel like it's an empty chair.

It's a quiet house.

It's not just the first year with the diagnosis.

It feels like it's the finale.

And you're asking yourself, what happens next?

The most accurate answer I could give you is I don't know.

And for some of you in the room, you love that answer because your entire life, you have crossed bridges as you've gotten to them.

For some of y'all, I don't know is the worst answer that somebody could offer you.

Don't tell me that, because I'm not gonna take a step forward.

Right?

But let me go ahead and address it.

It's quite possible for us church to know what eternity holds in store for us, while at the same time having no clue what tomorrow, next week, or even next year will bring.

And you're asking yourself the question, well, what happens next?

And this is where I'd like to turn our attention to Romans 8.

See, it's important for us to understand who Paul is talking to in order for us to understand how it relates to us.

Um, if there was a uh if there was a uh a hall of fame for great scripture passages, Romans 8 makes the cut.

Uh John Piper even went as far once to say that it's the most important chapter in all of the Bible, right?

But why would he say that?

Well, let's take a dive.

Romans 8:1, Paul comes out the gate swinging.

Romans 8:1

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, right?

And we say, Amen.

Anybody who's been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, we love that, and we stick that on t-shirts and in Instagram Bibles and on bathroom decor, right?

And Paul keeps cooking, right?

He gets to the end of Romans 8.

He says, What then shall we say?

Whew! If God is for us, then who can be against us?

We're more than conquerors through him who loved us, and then the grand finale, right?

I am certain that neither death nor life, angels, rulers, things present, things to come, powers, hype, death, anything except maybe traffic on 1960 at 5:30 p.m.

can separate us from the love of God.

You feel what I'm saying?

But then, if you look right in the middle of Romans 8, verse 17, there's a slither of like, I don't like this.

Romans 8:17

See, verse 17, it says, if you look at it, the thought begins in verse 17, and Paul kind of riffs from there.

See, immediately after talking about the blessings that we share as co-heirs, family with Christ, he addresses this suffering we might endure.

Verse 17 at the end it says, Provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him.

This thought feels odd and out of place considering the text that surrounds it.

Yet it's essential because Paul is speaking to the reality that we have to live in until Jesus returns.

See, Paul is writing to people who've already surrendered their lives to Jesus, and yet they still have to live out this earthly life until he returns.

Paul himself is even writing these desirable promises from an undesirable prison.

Because what he's trying to communicate is that every day, every year, every season won't feel as freeing or as victorious as the beginning of Romans 8, and it always won't feel as definitive as the end of Romans 8.

But in his loving aim to give us the truth, Paul addresses the middle ground.

He speaks to this in-between time, this earthly interlude between Jesus' resurrection and his return.

And while Romans 8 is full of scriptural fire, I'd actually like to zero in on three things that we can hold on to for certain even when we don't know exactly what happens next.

The first thing I want you to see is this their significance in suffering.

Woo!

Buckle up.

Verse 18 says, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

See, most of our Bibles actually have verse 18 beginning a new section of scripture.

However, it's pretty difficult to fully understand the entirety of Paul's thought process without also considering verse 17, which says, Now, if we are children, then heirs.

And co-heirs and fellow heirs with God, if indeed we share in his sufferings, in order that we may also share in his glory.

See, verse 18, taken alone, might be considered insensitive to present-day suffering.

As if Paul is only telling you, hey, don't mind these present-day troubles and problems that shouldn't be.

Hey, just look on the bright side and eventually you'll see reward.

But when we pair it with verse 17, Paul's actually saying, don't look on the bright side, look on the God side.

That not only will blessing come after the burden, but blessing is possible during the burden.

See the same, thank you.

See, the same idea is found in Acts chapter 5 when the disciples go on speaking and honoring the name of Jesus.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

In Acts chapter 5, verse 41, it reads this way Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

Acts 5:41

They've been beaten and yet they're celebrating.

What would cause us to rejoice from such an experience, church?

It's when we realize that suffering isn't a sign of God's abandonment or his rejection.

It's actually a sign of divine relationship that God is with you and that you share an experience with him.

I remember being in college, it was my freshman year, it was a great year, but there was one night that I was in crisis.

Um, I had no clean clothes, I didn't have food, I had three exams, there were no dishes cleaned, my bed wasn't made, and I didn't have anybody to talk to.

And I remember sitting at the edge of my bed going, How did my mother do this with three kids?

Right?

And in that moment I thought about it, I said, Hey, but she did it.

I only am experiencing a slither of what my mother has gone through her entire, my entire existence.

And in that small moment of suffering, it actually led me to this place of admiration.

That when you realize that you get to suffer as your father suffered, it leads you to this place of admiration.

It's the same idea as seeing kids play on the grove at Ole Miss.

And you look at them and you're like, hey, where do you want to go to school?

Like, oh miss is like, why didn't I?

Oh, because my mom and my dad and my granddad and my great-granddad, they all went to Ole Miss.

They want to share, they want to have a kindred-shared experience.

Friends, can I tell you something?

There is significance in your suffering.

And Jesus knows.

John 16, 33, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.

In this world you will, not might, will have trouble, but take heart because I have overcome the world.

Church, suffering doesn't operate outside of the sovereignty of your God.

More than likely, many of you in this room have faced some sort of suffering this year, be it tangible or intangible, and it's led you to believe that God wasn't kind or loving, powerful, dependent as you thought, dependable as you thought he would be.

But James, the half-brother of Jesus, Peter, a follower of Jesus, would actually tell you to rejoice and don't act like something strange is happening to you, because you're actually living in the reality that Jesus not only promised, but he himself lived.

And Paul's encouragement to you this morning is that if you share in your savior's, uh share in your savior's sufferings, then you'll also share in his glory because in this you have the privilege to experience a glimpse of what your Savior endured.

United City, my prayer for us as we step into 2025, is that we would not wallow in self-pity when suffering knocks at our door, but we would find security in our suffering as we bear the image of Christ to a broken world around us.

There's significance in your suffering.

The second thing I want you to see is this there is purpose in the present.

There's purpose in the present.

Romans 8, verse 22 says, We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Romans 8:22

Not only so, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.

There's significance in the suffering, there's purpose in the present.

See, the phrase mind the gap was first used in 1968 on the London Underground.

It was to warn passengers of the gap between the train and the platform.

I guess it was pretty dark down there, right?

When entering and exiting.

Since then, though, it's taken on several different meanings depending on the cultural context that it finds itself in.

Yet the essence, the meaning of the phrase remains the same.

Encouraging the listener to recognize where they are, where they like to get to, but to be mindful of the space between those two points.

See, Paul says that all of creation has been subjected to this uh emptiness, along with suffering and corruption and death.

He's even sure to mention that those who have trusted in Jesus still have to wrestle with hardships in this material world.

That though the penalty of sin is paid for, praise Jesus, hallelujah, its presence still remains.

That even though we who have the Holy Spirit living inside of us as an assurance of what's to come, we still wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies.

And so that does beg the question what do I do right now then?

If I know this is coming and it's not yet here, what happens now?

Paul uses an interesting word.

He says, We groan.

Right?

Uh that word uh piqued my interest, and so I did a deeper word study of it and come to find out it means to be grieved.

But not just grieved, church, but so grieved that it moves you toward action.

A grief that you need to work out with some labor.

The same idea is found in the book of Exodus, chapter 2, when Moses witnesses an horrific act of injustice against one of his fellow Hebrewmen.

Exodus 2 · chapter mention

He sees what's taking place, and grieved, he's moved to action.

Now, the jury is very much still out on whether or not my boy overreacted, right?

Now, you can you take it up with Pastor Chris, right?

However, he witnesses brokenness, something that shouldn't have been, and in his righteous grief, his righteous groaning, he does something about it.

Many of you in this room have set goals for yourself in 2025.

New Year's resolutions are what we call them, right?

You've looked at your calendar.

And being grieved that you've already overcommitted yourself in 2025, Enneagram 7, have said this needs to be revised.

After Christmas and Thanksgiving and the holidays, you've looked at your bank account.

And being grieved, you said this needs to be increased.

Many of us in this room looked in the mirror after Thanksgiving and Christmas and my grandmama's pecan pie.

And being grieved.

We ain't mad at all.

Don't blame me for making food that's good.

I'ma eat, okay?

We don't know about you.

Right, folks, while New Year's resolutions are admirable, my question for you today would be: are you aware of the gap of brokenness that's around you?

Like, have you taken a moment to grieve the active brokenness around you in your own family, in your own heart, at your workplace, in your school, at your college, and in your grieving of where you are and where you like to be?

Have you minded the gap?

And if so, has it produced action or indifference?

You know, I'm convinced that more eternity impacting change will come from Holy Spirit-prompted, Bible-based convictions than any lifestyle resolutions that we set out to accomplish ourselves.

Like, uh, like maybe you don't need a New Year's resolution.

You just need a heightened sensitivity to what God wants to do in and through your life.

Maybe that's it.

So, friends, be careful to create New Year's resolutions when God is still waiting on you to do the last thing He told you to do, right?

See, my prayer is that we would be a place that's always mindful of the gap between where we are today and where we believe God desires for us to be tomorrow.

And while it's completely impossible to close this gap of brokenness until Christ returns, let's do whatever it takes, short of sin, to make that gap as small as possible.

I love United City Church because of the people that make up United City Church.

I'm thankful for Coach O'Neill, the head baseball coach over at Atasca Cita High School, who's doing everything he can to bring Jesus to his spheres of influence.

I'm thankful for Coach Melton, the head football coach at Kingwood High School, who leads prayers before and after every game, who leads Team Devos, who also leads a coach's Bible study.

I'm thankful for Genesis Maldonado and Paulina Galvin and Brandon Mendoza, three members of our Roadhouse Revival crew down on Beltway 8, who are bringing Jesus to everything around them.

I'm thankful for Nick and Austin for continuing a K-Park Bible study that Cody Jenkins and some others started just some years ago.

And here's the deal so many others of you have committed yourselves to shrinking the gap of brokenness in your spheres of influence so that everyone, every day, crossing every divide, would live united in Christ.

I'm so thankful for that, church.

In October of this recent year, Whole Foods released their prediction for food trends in 2025.

Didn't know you were gonna hear about that today, did you?

And here's what they predicted Dietary habits.

Are trending healthy up into the right, right?

People want healthier food.

They want more granola.

They want more crunchy food.

They want more protein-based things.

They want more water.

And all my Awala and Stanley Cup stands in the room said, Amen, right?

It's just one of those things, right?

It's great.

We're trending in a healthy direction as a nation.

Finally, but let it be said, United City, that not only are we striving for physical health, but spiritual health as well.

Because don't miss it.

Glory can and will be produced in your grieving when you realize that there's supernatural purpose in your natural present.

There's significance in the suffering.

There's purpose in the present.

Lastly, there's goodness in the grind.

There's goodness in the grind.

As I told you guys.

It was great.

It was awesome.

But I will say it did not come without a few holiday hiccups.

And I'm not talking about between her and I.

But between me and the delivery systems of the United States of America.

Right?

I'm looking at Romans 8 28, and I just know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.

For those who are called according to his purpose.

See, I ordered a Christmas present for my wife that was meant to be here well in time for Christmas.

I did not get her a lot of things this year because the few things I got her were nicer, right?

And so I didn't get her a lot of things, but I made sure I even paid a little extra to make sure that it would get here on time.

Well, I uh I have a family uh that they are family to me, uh uh that at the church, and so I said, Hey, B, I said, I'm gonna just send everything to your house.

I'll come pick it all up, I'll get it all packed up, whatever.

I get to the house, and every gift that I bought this year is accounted for except one.

Now, I'm not gonna tell you guys the name of the company because I've actually bought things from them before, and they're a great company, right?

However, I said, B, I said, it should be here because they told me they delivered it like Thursday at like 5 13.

B looked at me and said, Well, Josh, let me go back and look at the camera and see if I can't find to see who did it.

Avery was like, well, well, I mean, like, no one lives at the house next door.

Maybe they like maybe they shipped it to the wrong house.

Avery came back and said, Josh, it ain't there.

I'm sitting there looking.

I look at my bank statement and I see that they took the money.

Payment without product is now a problem.

You see, you feel what I'm saying?

And so I'm sitting there trying to figure out, did I do something wrong?

B like, Josh, are you sure?

They dropped it off here.

I said, B, this is the address of the house.

It was supposed to come here.

I email them and I realize this is the tracking number for an order I ordered 12 months ago.

You just sent me the wrong tracking number.

So then I go and look in my email.

I can't find an order number.

I look in every email that I have, comb through every email that I have.

I can't find an order number.

I can't find a confirmation number.

I can't find a tracking number.

I hop on the phone.

Well, actually, no.

I shoot them a little email, right?

Hey.

I kind of need your help right now, right?

They get back to me, wait, right?

Oh, we're so sorry if you would send me the order number.

If I had the order number, I wouldn't need to talk to you.

You see what I'm saying?

And so I'm like, no, I said, I I don't have the order number.

They said, well, we see that has been shipped out.

And so I said, okay, they said, here's a tracking number.

Wait 24 hours for it to upgrade.

I was a good little boy and I waited 36 hours, right?

Get the link.

It sent me to the same status of an order that I ordered last year.

I'm like, we already got that one.

I don't need that one.

I need the one I ordered two and a half weeks ago.

She says, Well, sir, if you will send me the last four digits of the card you paid for, your number, and the order number.

Ma'am, I can't tell you no other way that I don't have no order number.

I can make up some numbers, but it probably ain't gonna be my package, right?

And I get nothing.

Email chain goes silent.

It's four days before Christmas.

Christmas is ruined.

This is our first Merry Christmas together.

Only thing I wanted was this necklace.

That's it.

Ain't coming.

I get to the house, I say, babe.

I said, I'm a little annoyed.

I said, You're not gonna get the necklace on Christmas.

I said, I actually don't know when you're gonna get it because I don't know when it's coming.

Then I saw that, I was like, did I did I do something wrong?

Did I get hacked?

I said, no, that's the company.

I did everything right.

Why can't I find it in my emails, this whole deal?

I was panicking.

I had no idea where it might have been if somebody had taken it.

Honestly, if I'd ever get it.

And I started asking myself the question, what happens next?

What happens next?

But God.

8 20 a.m.

Christmas.

Bruce shot me a text and said, Hey bud, I think there's a package at the house again.

I got straight up and got straight to the house.

Immediately, immediately.

And y'all, ZedEx had delivered this girl's necklace.

It was amazing, yes.

Praise God.

Christmas is averted.

It is all good in the hood again, right?

Right?

But here's the deal.

Y'all, I don't know how it got to the house.

I didn't even know when it was getting to the house.

At no point could I track it.

At no point could I check the status.

At no point could I even figure out or even get a gauge on when it was gonna arrive at my door.

But y'all watch this.

While I was worrying, FedEx was working.

And the gift that was always intended for me was on the way.

Despite understanding none of the operational logistics surrounding this purchase, FedEx was still working it out for my good, even when it didn't feel like it, or even when it didn't seem like a church.

Can we have a family moment for just a second?

See, I know for many of you in this room it was hard.

For some of you, it was great.

But for some of you in this room, you are so thankful that 2024 is behind you.

And you might be asking yourself the question, God, did any good come from the sum of my experiences in 2024?

Did any good come from it at all?

God, can you somehow take the loss?

Can you somehow take the suffering?

Can you somehow take the hardship?

Can you somehow take the financial strain?

Can you somehow take the family dynamic?

Can you somehow take the tension?

Can you somehow take my hard marriage?

Can you somehow take my hard-headed kids?

Can you somehow take all of it, God?

And can you in some way turn it for good?

Can you somehow make it good?

And church, I got good news for you today.

See, even though your hero didn't carry a rush package, he did carry a cross.

Even though your hero didn't deliver a last-minute Christmas present, he did deliver you from the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of his marvelous life.

Church, even though you may not have gotten the purchase in time, can I tell you something?

Your hero purchased your freedom just in time so that at the right moment, God would exalt him above the name that is every other name, and he would be seated at the right hand of God.

And Paul says in Romans 8 28 that because your Savior lives, regardless of the hard, difficult, confusing, seemingly purposeless, present reality that you might be facing right now, church, there is a glorious future coming.

Where God redeems the sum of your experiences together, and he takes what the enemy meant for evil and he turns it for your good and for his glory, church.

And it's from that place that we grind because we know that goodness is coming.

We know that joy is awaiting us.

I'm reminded of Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2 that says, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy, everybody say joy, joy, right?

Hebrews 12:2

That was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

See, it was for the joy of seeing Lily Grace's face on Christmas Day that I went through every effort I could to make sure that it got here on time.

And it was for the joy of welcoming and giving you an eternity far beyond what you could imagine that Jesus crossed heaven and earth just to have you with him again.

For some of you, the grind will be joining a local church.

For some of you, the grind will be contributing to a participant, uh to being a contributing participant to a healthy church.

For some of you, it will be devoting yourself more to prayer and supplication.

For some of you, it will be devoting yourself to God's word through one of the multiple Bible reading plans that we have and seeing God move in your life the same way that He moved in Glenn and Lori's and Katie and Clint's.

And for others of you, it will be being more devoted to others by serving in the local church.

Church, don't miss it.

There might be some uncertainty about what sits in 2025.

But make no mistake, there is no doubt about the one who sits on the throne, who is seated in the heavenly places.

And because of this grind, you need to let your suffering be a symbol for the power of your God.

Because of this grind, as you walk in confidence, doing whatever you can short of sin to close the gap of brokenness that's around you, believing that the one who hung the stars and commanded the chaotic waters to be still, he's taking it and he's making it good.

But he doesn't just want to redeem 2024, he doesn't just want to redeem 2025, but he wants to redeem everything that the enemy took from you, to redeem everything that sin robbed us of.

Oh church, can you imagine it?

There's an old hymn that says, When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing it will be when we all see Jesus.

My God, we will sing, we will shout victory.

It reminds me of an old poem I heard once.

It says, Beyond the clouds the city stands.

The Lamb's own light, its only sun, the night forever banished, fear undone.

Oh pilgrim, press through, through trial and pain, for heaven's joy shall crown your game.

But the road is rough, the path is steep, but faith sustains where shadows creep.

Through vanity fair and doubting snare, the pilgrim finds God's guiding care.

The city is bright, its cause so clear.

Inspires the heart through trial and tear for every step, though hard and long, is marked by grace, crowned by song.

Church, there is significance in your suffering, there is purpose in your presence, and there is goodness in the grind.

About 2,000 years ago, what many would have considered the darkest night in history.

Jesus Christ, the God man, an innocent man, will be arrested and condemned to death for crimes he did not commit, paying a debt he did not owe for the very ones who rejected him.

And while his disciples didn't quite understand what he was doing in the moment, King Jesus, King Jesus knew that there was supernatural significance in the suffering that he was about to endure.

King Jesus knew that there was a purpose in his presence.

King Jesus knew that there was goodness in the grind, that there was joy awaiting him beyond the cross.

And because of this, he went to the cross for you and I.

John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son to you and I as a gift.

That if we would believe in the finished work that he'd done at the cross, then we would not be condemned to death in separation from him and his love, but that we would walk in everlasting life to spend eternity with him.

And that is for that very reason that we celebrate some 2,000 years later by remembering what Jesus Christ has done for us.

Church, we're about to take the Lord's Supper together.

And as we do, I want you to spend some moments reflecting over the last 12 months for all the suffering, the Lamb's reward, he will receive his reward that there is purpose in your presence, that there is goodness in your grind.

And so I'm gonna ask our deacons to come forward and to serve us, and as we do, our band is gonna lead us in a moment of quiet reflection.

Don't miss this moment.

It's an opportunity for us for just a moment to remember what King Jesus has done for us.

Nothing but the blood of Jesus What can make me allhing but the blood Jesus?

Nothing but the blood What can make me nothing but the love?

Nothing, but the kid.

Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, he took the cup and said, This cup is the new covenant of my blood.

As often as you drink of it, do it in remembrance of me.

Church, will you pray with me for just a moment?

God has been so incredibly kind to our church over these past 12 months.

It has come with incredible highs, incredible lows.

For many of you, personally, you have dealt with personal trial, personal suffering.

For many of you, maybe you felt as if you were wandering aimlessly through this past year and you like that to change for some of you.

You are grinding, but to what expense?

To what end?

To what end are your efforts?

Are they to serve your purposes or they to serve the Lord's purposes?

I'm aware that everybody under the sound of my voice may not have made a personal decision to follow after the Lord today.

That today you actually came seeking answers at the end of 2024.

That a friend invited.

You or a family member invited you, or you're here with family for the holidays, and today something that I said, inspired by God, has moved you to curiosity, has moved you to want to make a decision.

I'm reminded of Paul's word, groaning, that you have been groaning, you have been grieving, that there are things in your life that you cannot make sense of.

And truthfully, they will not make sense until you recognize your need of a savior.

And today is the day that you would want to begin a relationship with Jesus.

If that is you, the prayer is simple.

Jesus, I believe that I am a sinner.

I believe that I have sinned against your design.

I believe that I've turned away from how you have called me to live.

That I believe that you were the perfect sacrifice for my sin.

It should have been me on the cross.

Yet in love, you chose to go in my place.

And I believe that God raised you from the dead with all power in your hands.

That if I would believe in you, then death would not be my end.

But that life with you would be forever.

Jesus, come into my heart, come into my life.

I accept you as my king, my savior, and my Lord.

For many of you in this room, the grind will look like taking a net step.

For some of you, it may be serving.

For some of you, it may be joining United City Church.

For some of you, it actually may be taking a step toward baptism.

To go public in your faith, knowing that there is joy on the other side of that decision.

For others in the room, maybe at the end of this year, you just want to bring you and your family down to this altar.

And as we step into 2025, to just pray a prayer of blessing and protection and provision for your family, for your friends, and for your community.

Church, our team is up here.

They are ready to receive you, to pray.

If you'd just like to come forward and kneel at this altar, we're gonna open it up for you to do that as well.

Because we are a church of next steps, as Katie said.

That we believe that as we move toward God, God moves toward us.

He is truly motion active.

And so I'm going to pray for us.

When I say amen, we're going to stand, we're going to respond.

If you don't feel the need to come forward for anything, will you just pray for those that may come forward?

That God would do something bold in their life, that God would do something new in their life and powerful in their life.

Don't miss this moment.

King Jesus, be exalted in the heavens as your glory fills this place.

You alone are worthy of our praise.

You are truly the name above all names.

King Jesus, we exalt you now.

King Jesus, for anybody in this room that may need prayer, I pray that you would give them a bold confidence to step out of the row and to come forward.

For those in the room that just need to pray for healing or to pray for comfort.

King Jesus, I pray that you would boldly move in their life right now, that they would come forward.

For those that need to make a next step, a decision of next steps, be it to serve or to get baptized or to join United City Church, even on December 29th, 2024.

King Jesus, I pray that nothing would hinder them from taking a step toward what you have called them to do.

May we be a church that is obedient to doing the last thing you told us to do and the next thing you told us to do.

And so, King Jesus, will you be with us during this time of response?

We love you, and it's in your name that we pray.

Amen.