Vapour and the Vine

[SPEAKER_00]: Hello.

[SPEAKER_00]: Good morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: Good morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: Happy new year, everyone.

[SPEAKER_00]: It is so good to be here with you this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's so good to see your faces again.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've really missed being in this room.

[SPEAKER_00]: So thank you being here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yes, we are in this influencer series.

[SPEAKER_00]: Looking at the life of Solomon.

[SPEAKER_00]: But

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to, I want to kind of split the room up a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: Who here are the planners?

[SPEAKER_00]: Put your hand up.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you've really got your calendar up on the wall, you've got everything written in.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know what's happening from January to December.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, your out plan is, if you haven't got your hand up, I'm guessing you're like me and you're not much of a planner.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm with you.

[SPEAKER_00]: But...

[SPEAKER_00]: What I do know, as a fact, is that all of us, each of us in this room, we do operate in regard to this thing, this constraint called time.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know that because we're here, it's 11 o'clock.

[SPEAKER_00]: We showed up some earlier, some maybe a little bit late, but we're here, we're here because we operate according to time, and we have just entered into a new year.

[SPEAKER_00]: 20, 26, and we stand here at the start of this year, and we have to ask us out of this question, what is 2026 gonna look like?

[SPEAKER_00]: What's it gonna be like?

[SPEAKER_00]: What does this year have in store for us?

[SPEAKER_00]: And we know that part of one of the factors that will impact it is our choices.

[SPEAKER_00]: What you will not do.

[SPEAKER_00]: What are you gonna do this year?

[SPEAKER_00]: What choices are you gonna make?

[SPEAKER_00]: How is it gonna shape what this year looks like?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a blank canvas before us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, as Matt said, we're digging into Aquiziastes, which if you've read it, you know what that book's kind of like.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was showing someone in between services, and he said to me, you know, if there was any book that he could remove from the Bible, it's Aquiziastes, I understand, but it is the word of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's in there and it's in there for a reason.

[SPEAKER_00]: Solomon wrote it for us and God uses it to speak to us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so hopefully we'll be able to get something out of it today.

[SPEAKER_00]: But if you're prepared for like, oh, it's you faster, it's going to be like a fine, exciting, energetic, joyful message.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to say like, curb your enthusiasm just a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll try my best, but it's going to be, think of me less as a preacher or a teacher this morning, and think of me as a guide.

[SPEAKER_00]: What we're gonna do is we're gonna go on a mountain climb.

[SPEAKER_00]: Does anyone hiked a mountain before?

[SPEAKER_00]: Awesome.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you know what I mean when I say that?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's gonna be an ascent.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the ascent is a little bit hard.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like pointy.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, all right, there's ain't paying for to this.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, when are we gonna get to the top?

[SPEAKER_00]: When you get to the top, you see of you and your change from it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then the journey back down is always easier than the one up.

[SPEAKER_00]: We up for that this morning, ready to hike?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah?

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, good, great.

[SPEAKER_00]: or join with me as I pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: Father God, we wanna acknowledge your presence in this space.

[SPEAKER_00]: We wanna just take a moment's applause.

[SPEAKER_00]: To turn our eyes to you, to look to you Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank you that you've given us words of wisdom through Solomon, through your word.

[SPEAKER_00]: We thank you that you speak to us even today in 2026.

[SPEAKER_00]: We ask that as we open up our hearts, you would speak to us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, that our own thoughts, our own agenda wouldn't get in the way, but we could yield to you, God.

[SPEAKER_00]: Your will will be done in Jesus' name.

[SPEAKER_00]: And everyone says, amen, amen.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, let's get into it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if you've got your Bible with you, we are turning to Equeasy Astes one.

[SPEAKER_00]: Chapter one, verse one.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it will appear up on the screen as I read.

[SPEAKER_00]: words of the teacher, son of David King in Jerusalem, meaningless, meaningless says the teacher, utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless.

[SPEAKER_00]: What's a people gain from all of their labels, at which they toil under the sun?

[SPEAKER_00]: Generations, they come and they go, but the earth remains forever.

[SPEAKER_00]: The sun rises and the sun sets and hurries back to where it rises.

[SPEAKER_00]: The wind blows to the south and turns to the north.

[SPEAKER_00]: Round and round it goes, everything returning on its course.

[SPEAKER_00]: All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the place, the streams come from, they return again.

[SPEAKER_00]: All things are weary soon.

[SPEAKER_00]: More than one can say.

[SPEAKER_00]: The eye never has enough of seeing nor the ear it's full of hearing.

[SPEAKER_00]: What has been will be again?

[SPEAKER_00]: What has been done will be done again.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is nothing new under the sun.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is there anything of which one can say, look, this is something new.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was already here long ago.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was here before our time.

[SPEAKER_00]: No one remembers the former generations.

[SPEAKER_00]: And even those yet to come will not remember by those who follow them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's chapter one.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to fast forward to chapter 12 and see if the tone's changed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Meaningless, meaningless says the teacher, everything is meaningless.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not only was the teacher wise, but also imparted knowledge to the people.

[SPEAKER_00]: He pondered and searched out and set in order many problems.

[SPEAKER_00]: The teacher searched to find just the right words and what he wrote was upright and true.

[SPEAKER_00]: The words of the wise are like goats.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're collected sains like firmly embedded nails, giving a given by one shepherd, be warned to my son of anything in addition to them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Of making many books, there is no end, and much study wearys the body.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, all has been heard, here is a conclusion of the matter.

[SPEAKER_00]: Fear God, and keep His commands.

[SPEAKER_00]: that this is the duty of all mankind.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, how are we doing?

[SPEAKER_00]: We're starting the journey.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to back back on, we've taken a first few steps.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so, queeziesties, it's an interesting book, as Matt said, it's a very strange one to dig into.

[SPEAKER_00]: And especially to look at the start of the year, because it's written very differently to a lot of the other books in the Bible.

[SPEAKER_00]: It has this element to it.

[SPEAKER_00]: that seems different from what you'd expect.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it's like we get the opportunity to look at Solomon, who's this really wise king, this ruler from Jerusalem from thousands of years ago.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's writing this kind of at the end of his journey and he's gone, all right, we're standing here out like his death bed and saying, this is all I've learnt from my life.

[SPEAKER_00]: He listened to my final words.

[SPEAKER_00]: And from chapter one, all the way through to 12, it's this repetition of what's the point?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's meaningless, it's all meaningless.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yet he ends with, now that you heard everything, I hope that you took away from that, trust God, follow him, this is your duty.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I say, well, how do we hold these things intention of everything's worthless and meaningless and what's the point?

[SPEAKER_00]: But he tells us, no, like, follow God's commands.

[SPEAKER_00]: That is your true purpose.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this message this morning is called, the vapor and the vine.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to be taking a look into this a bit more.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this word vapor, why have I put it in the tunnel?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because we get this translation.

[SPEAKER_00]: When we look at meaningless, this word meaningless, it helps us understand the essence of what it's saying.

[SPEAKER_00]: But in Hebrew, if we read this, the word there would actually be heaven, heaven, which more directly translates to the idea of vapor or smoke or mist.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what do we know about these things?

[SPEAKER_00]: missed very, but it's here for a moment then it's gone just as quickly.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of like shows up and then disappears, it's forgotten.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what was the point to it?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what is comparing these things to and life, it's saying everything is like smoke.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just, it's there and then it's gone, what was the point?

[SPEAKER_00]: The next saying that he has and repeats a lot throughout this book is,

[SPEAKER_00]: under the sun, everything under the sun.

[SPEAKER_00]: What does he mean by this?

[SPEAKER_00]: He means everything that we can see, everything that the sunlight touches, his asking us to look out at the world and go, all right, if this is all there is to life, is there a meaning to it?

[SPEAKER_00]: If it's just the things we can see, the observable, what's the point?

[SPEAKER_00]: And we can look at this, not from his ancient times perspective, but from our 20, 20, 6 perspective and go, all right, let's look at what the facts are that we know.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can say, on the micro, we can look at the world and be like, all right, if the world is just atoms.

[SPEAKER_00]: In reality, it's just floating atoms going around, colliding with each other, like a cosmic game of law and balls, exchanging electrons.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if life is just that, if that's what's happening, if we're just seeing these interactions of atoms on the micro, what's the point?

[SPEAKER_00]: And on the macro, if we zoom all the way out, we see, well, you and I were like a spec on this planet, it's beautiful planet, it's one of eight that's orbiting around this sun, that's one of a trillion, that's in a galaxy, that's one of a trillion.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, okay, we're pretty small in the grand scheme of things.

[SPEAKER_00]: on the micro and the macro.

[SPEAKER_00]: If this is all there is to life, then what is the point?

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what a Solomon means by that, though, is saying, if life is just about these things, if it's just about the physical, if it's just about the things that we see, that we make life about, then we're robbing ourselves of real meaning.

[SPEAKER_00]: How are we doing?

[SPEAKER_00]: Going all right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Need a good?

[SPEAKER_00]: Need a snack?

[SPEAKER_00]: Jin, youth, we usually get chips at this point.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, keep you engaged, but I'm chained to now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm trying to convince him, but, you know, we'll get there.

[SPEAKER_00]: Awesome.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, in chapter two.

[SPEAKER_00]: We take a look at Solomon's words and he kind of continues.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if you've ever read like an auto biography from a celebrity or from like some famous person who's done something not know where the, they usually start by saying something like, I've had it all, like, I've been famous, I've been rich, I've had the house of my dream, I've had the car of my dream, I've had all of these things that most of us look towards to see success or achievement or purpose in our life.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's kind of to give their voice authority.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what we kind of get from Solomon in chapter two.

[SPEAKER_00]: But before he gets into that, he says this.

[SPEAKER_00]: He said, I said to myself, come now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll test you with pleasures to find out what is good.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's search the world, let's see what is good.

[SPEAKER_00]: But that also proved to be meaningless.

[SPEAKER_00]: Laughter, I said, it's madness.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what does pleasure accomplish?

[SPEAKER_00]: I tried cheering myself up with wine and embraced foie, my mind was still guided with the wisdom.

[SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to see what was good for people to do under their heavens during the few days of our life.

[SPEAKER_00]: and he goes off and he kind of lists all these different things all these experiences that his had.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that this is relevant to us because when we sit at the start of the year, I think it's easy for us to convince ourselves, oh God, God is at the center of my life.

[SPEAKER_00]: God is the focal point.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm here, it's January 11th, Matt Church, I've done some worship with Duncan Minion, but then it's easy for us to fall into a rhythm where it's like, all right, well I want this year to be different from last year, so I'm gonna focus on doing this thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And all of a sudden that thing becomes the thing that we're chasing after I'm pursuing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe, I don't know, I feel like it's a bit of like, we're kind of,

[SPEAKER_00]: as society drawn away from this idea of having used resolutions.

[SPEAKER_00]: Does anyone still do that like resolutions?

[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone got new years?

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, yeah, so a couple of us still don't know.

[SPEAKER_00]: But maybe we do have goals for this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we got ambitions.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, what Solomon's saying to us is, if for us what we're living for this year is that next promotion, or the fact that we're starting a new job, so it's going to be a different year.

[SPEAKER_00]: But say, hey, I have authority to speak on this topic, because guess what, I was a king.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can't get a better job than that.

[SPEAKER_00]: If it's maybe you're single, and this year you're going, you know, this year I want to find love.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to start a relationship.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's all I've had many, many, too many relationships.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's an expert on this.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's you know, great achievements.

[SPEAKER_00]: He won battles.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's building in your home.

[SPEAKER_00]: He built temples, gardens, and vineyards.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's a business you want to start or he had farms and thousands of workers.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you're a student and it's your first year studying or you're going back into studying or he refers to himself as we read as the teacher.

[SPEAKER_00]: He has our thought to speak on these topics.

[SPEAKER_00]: So what's sane is, hey,

[SPEAKER_00]: These goals, and maybe you set for yourself, these ambitions, you've come into the new year, and this is at the forefront of your mind, or I want to do this this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to go traveling, and I want to start doing a marathon, or runs.

[SPEAKER_00]: If we make our life just about this one thing, if we start to prioritize that above everything else, like what's the point?

[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to lose yourself in the pursuit.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why bother chasing after these things?

[SPEAKER_00]: They're meaningless.

[SPEAKER_00]: What is trying to say to us throughout the entire book is that if these things which ultimately in the span of life are aren't really all that worthwhile, if they're meaningless, but when they all have our life about these things, we're ultimately saying that our life, what we do, it's meaningless.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's more or less not to make them the priority.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: because that's a hard part done.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've done the hike, and now we get to look at the view.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we know that everything under the sun is meaningless.

[SPEAKER_00]: But there's more to life than just that.

[SPEAKER_00]: You and I know this.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we've got this beautiful mountain just up the road from us now at Dan and Young and I remember the first time I got to the top of it, you look out and you see this really grand view.

[SPEAKER_00]: Has anyone been up now at Dan and Young and you know what I'm talking about?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, oh my goodness, how much bigger the world is than when I first thought.

[SPEAKER_00]: And see, we can come to vantage points like this and look out and think, oh, wow, it's so much bigger than I thought this world's so much bigger.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have small am I.

[SPEAKER_00]: But when we're curious when we're looking for meaning,

[SPEAKER_00]: It's more reasonable for us to look at a view and go, wow, how grand this is.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sure there's more to life than just what I can reason on my own.

[SPEAKER_00]: And see, that's a part of what the teacher is instructing us to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's saying, hey, there is more to life than this.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not just atoms.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not just, you know, vast galaxies, but there is a God.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is a God that is beyond the constraints of time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Beyond the laws of our reality.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is a God that exists.

[SPEAKER_00]: We aren't here by accident.

[SPEAKER_00]: We are created.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is a cause and therefore there is an intention.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is meaning in this life.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that is good news for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the next question, if we go, all right, so there's a God, who is this God?

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's a reasonable question to ask.

[SPEAKER_00]: Who is this God?

[SPEAKER_00]: and his name is Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what this story, where we find a crazy astacee's kind of wedged into the middle of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: This story is ultimately here.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Bible is here to tell us about who God is.

[SPEAKER_00]: His character, his traits.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because as we, if there is a God, then we want to know who that God is because in him there is meaning, in him there is joy, in him there is purpose.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so what does that look like?

[SPEAKER_00]: And as we study, we learn more about who God is.

[SPEAKER_00]: But ultimately, we see it revealed in his son Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus, and so if we look at Jesus' life, we can find more meaning, and what Jesus said, he actually said in Matthew 633, he advised to seek first the kingdom, and God, his glory, and all these other things, these things that we make life about, they come after.

[SPEAKER_00]: The son can do nothing by himself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Me, Jesus, I can do nothing by myself.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can only do what I see the father is doing because whatever the father does, the son or so does.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, even Jesus, even our Lord, he had to lay down his own will.

[SPEAKER_00]: He had to lay down his own desires and go, no, God, you have your way.

[SPEAKER_00]: He does this, he does this to show us,

[SPEAKER_00]: Not putting the other things as priority is, but instead choosing to put God first, because when we do that, we find real life.

[SPEAKER_00]: We find real meaning, real purpose.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because when we chase after the other things, at the end of the day, we end up feeling like we're missing out on something.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we put God first, all this sudden, he opens our eyes up to so much more.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is ultimately displayed for us in Mark.

[SPEAKER_00]: 14, 36, we see Jesus act this out so clearly in the garden of Gessemity.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right before he faced the cross, right before he surrendered his life, we see him cry out, Abba, father, he said, everything is possible for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: So take this cup from me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't let me die.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yet not what I will but you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yet, not what I will, but your will.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, Jesus needs to come first.

[SPEAKER_00]: We know from a crazy ass, that everything under the sign is ultimately meaningless.

[SPEAKER_00]: But everything under Jesus, under the Son of God,

[SPEAKER_00]: as meaning.

[SPEAKER_00]: When we put Jesus first, all of a sudden, these other things have meaning.

[SPEAKER_00]: It might be like, all right, what does that mean my life looks like?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is that mean this year I just need to have no ambitions, no goals, no desires, just all right.

[SPEAKER_00]: God, like, I wake up every morning and you lead the way.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think it's a good posture to be like, you come first, but also Jesus didn't live a life where he didn't have goals, ambitions, hobbies.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's look at what Jesus did.

[SPEAKER_00]: He party, he celebrated, he went to weddings, he invested in friendships.

[SPEAKER_00]: He went on Hikes and journeys and sailing and traveling.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus lived a life like this.

[SPEAKER_00]: He built things.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we can live a life like this too.

[SPEAKER_00]: Those goals that you have, those ambitions, hey, they're good.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of us are not taking up prime real estate in your heart.

[SPEAKER_00]: So everything under the sun is meaningful.

[SPEAKER_00]: In John 15, we hear about the fact that Jesus compares himself to a vine.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says, I am the true vine and everyone who abides in me,

[SPEAKER_00]: a bite will bear good fruit.

[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone who does not abide in me will not produce fruit.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's telling us you need me to be at the center because when I'm not at the center and you try and produce fruit on your own.

[SPEAKER_00]: You try and do these things and make life about them, it's not gonna work out how you think it will.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can still produce fruit but abide in me and it's gonna be real fruit.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's gonna be good fruits.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the encouragement for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll climb the mountain with students, almonds, shoes, seeing the view from his eyes.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now it's done to walk back down the mountain.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because we can't just stay at the mountain, so we can't just stay in these moments away from reality in life, but I want us to be able to take something away when we look at ecclesiasties.

[SPEAKER_00]: Something that's gonna help us in our everyday.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to invite the band up.

[SPEAKER_00]: You guys can join with me, because we're going to enter into a moment of prayer and worship in a second.

[SPEAKER_00]: But before we get to that, this guy Peter Gregg, he's one of the founders for this movement called 24, 7 prayer.

[SPEAKER_00]: They put out a bunch of amazing stuff and content.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they had this movement where this continuous prayer happening around the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: I forget the word, it's like a acronym.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the one.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks, Vin, an acronym.

[SPEAKER_00]: P-R-A-Y.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this is my encouragement for you this year, P-R-A-Y.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the first one, it's wrong there.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's on me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to blame on my dyslexia, but I probably was just rushing.

[SPEAKER_00]: The first one, P stands for actually ports this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Horses, don't just rush into prayer, don't just be like, ah, I shall probably talk to God this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, God, can you help me have a good day?

[SPEAKER_00]: Great, sweet.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get the kids in the car, let's go.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, pause.

[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, if the ship is sinking, like, don't stress about pausing.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a cry help.

[SPEAKER_00]: The pause.

[SPEAKER_00]: When he comes to talk to God, don't rush into it, just pause.

[SPEAKER_00]: Take a moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's been you do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: You remember who God is.

[SPEAKER_00]: You remember how great and grand he is.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you have this moment where it's like when you look out on a view and you don't think how grand is this view, how small my, but that's right, this world is so big and yet God loves me.

[SPEAKER_00]: God loves me enough to the point where he would go to the cross for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what happens when we pause and remember who God is.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then R is for rejoice.

[SPEAKER_00]: Give thanks.

[SPEAKER_00]: acknowledge the good that is doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can we so easy to get caught up in the need, in the wants and the things that aren't yet accomplished, but rejoice, what do you think for for?

[SPEAKER_00]: What are the miracles that are made to happen in your life that you're just walking by and not noticing?

[SPEAKER_00]: rejoice, then ask, we can be really good at this one.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm pretty good at this one, more than the others.

[SPEAKER_00]: Ask him, but not just for yourself.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not just how you guard like, help me with this, but also,

[SPEAKER_00]: for others, what are the needs, and then why is for yield?

[SPEAKER_00]: Pause, rejoice, ask, and yield.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's the act of surrendering your own will.

[SPEAKER_00]: Doing what Jesus did in that garden, going, God!

[SPEAKER_00]: He is all my requests, he's all my needs, but at the end of the day, not my will but yours.

[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever you want to do this morning, God, whatever you want to do in this year, 2026, it's already a yes from me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm out for him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, looking at this year and asking us to ask this question, what's it going to be like, 2026?

[SPEAKER_00]: I feel really good about this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like God's doing some incredible things throughout our community in many people's lives that I know.

[SPEAKER_00]: God's doing something good.

[SPEAKER_00]: This year is going to be a joyful year, but let's go into it, asking ourselves this question, what are we going to chase?

[SPEAKER_00]: What are we pursuing?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is it the vapor, or is it the vine?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, CS Lawsey,

[SPEAKER_00]: as is quote in the problem of pain, he writes that, from the highest to the lowest, self exists to be abdicated.

[SPEAKER_00]: And by that abdication become the more truly self, to be there upon yet the more abdicated and so forever.

[SPEAKER_00]: What does that mean?

[SPEAKER_00]: What does it mean by that?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's been for us as Christians, our existence, the goal for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's actually, say, less of me and more of you.

[SPEAKER_00]: You got, let me surrender this to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so this morning, as the band's gonna lead us in a time of worship, I want you to ask, what do I need to lay down?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is there a part of my heart that I need to realign?

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's put God back at the center.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we wouldn't want you to get to the end of this year and be like, man, why don't I waste so much time chasing this thing but see you in this thing, no.

[SPEAKER_00]: Make the choice now.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we want to invite you to stand as we're about to go into worship and I'm just going to pray for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Father, thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you that we can come here, that we can gather together, that we don't have to do this journey on our own.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you that, in the midst of this incredible universe, we not are.

[SPEAKER_00]: You made us, we're here for a reason, we're not an accident.

[SPEAKER_00]: In you, we can find real meaning and purpose for life.

[SPEAKER_00]: So though, we're just now in this moment, we choose to put everything else aside, we choose to read a line of our focus to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: She's has your way.

[SPEAKER_00]: that you're holding on to from the last year, Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: We offer it up to you, God, don't let things of the past take hold of our heart.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are things that we're already focusing on that aren't you that have taken up prime real estate in our minds, in our time this year, or we surrender them to you now.

[SPEAKER_00]: We lay them down.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus, have your way in us.