Introduction:
Goal for 2024: I will - ___
How to Craft Your 5-Year Plan (James 4:13-17)
- You need to know what you Don't Know . (Jas 4:13-14)
- You don't know what is going to Happen tomorrow. (Jas 4:14a)
Proverbs 27:1 - Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
- You don't know if you will Have a tomorrow. (Jas 4:14b)
- You don't know what is going to Happen tomorrow. (Jas 4:14a)
- You need to stop the Self-Confidence . (Jas 4:15-16)
Numbers 20:10-12 - Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."
- You need to do whatever God says - ASAP . (Jas 4:17)
- You need to acknowledge God has the Final Say . (Jas 4:15)
Acts 18:21 - I will return to you again if God wills.
1 Corinthians 4:19 - I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills.
1 Corinthians 16:5-7 - I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.
Philippians 1:20 - as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:40-00:49
It's New Year's Eve and it's the magical time of year where we're making New Year's resolutions.
00:51-01:02
And I actually before we look at that I want us to look at some statistics regarding making New Year's resolutions.
01:03-01:08
All right. So I thought we could do it the boring way and I just read you the statistics.
01:08-01:09
Or we could do it the fun way.
01:09-01:10
Let's make it a game.
01:11-01:11
All right?
01:11-01:12
We're going to make it a game.
01:12-01:13
It's going to be a guessing game.
01:14-01:16
And everybody's going to participate.
01:16-01:16
All right?
01:17-01:20
If you're watching at home, you can participate too.
01:20-01:23
You're just going to have to speak extra loud.
01:24-01:24
All right?
01:27-01:29
So you're going to have to guess the percentage.
01:30-01:30
All right?
01:33-01:38
What percentage of US adults set New Year's resolutions every year?
01:39-01:42
Now, I'm gonna give you an opportunity in a second.
01:42-01:52
I want you to shout out an answer and whatever answer I hear the most clearly, which who knows what that'll be since my hearing is so bad, but whatever answer, I'll take it from there.
01:52-01:58
So percentage of US adults that set New Year's resolutions every year, shout out your guess.
02:00-02:02
I heard 68.
02:02-02:03
We're gonna go with that one.
02:04-02:06
All right, now we're gonna play card sharks, higher or lower.
02:06-02:07
Remember card sharks?
02:08-02:08
Some of you do.
02:09-02:10
Higher or lower?
02:10-02:16
Okay, how many people, show of hands, think that it's higher than 68% that set New Year's resolutions every year?
02:17-02:18
How many people think it's lower?
02:19-02:23
And you are correct, it is 38.5%.
02:26-02:31
And look, if you wanna argue these statistics, Erin actually found these and sent them to me, so you can talk to her about that.
02:33-02:38
Okay, percentage of young adults that make New Year's resolutions.
02:38-02:45
By the way, the biggest demographic that makes resolutions is the 18 to 34 bracket.
02:46-02:53
If you're in that bracket, you are in the group that has the highest percentage of people that make New Year's resolutions.
02:53-02:59
So do you want to guess the percentage of that demographic that makes New Year's resolutions every year?
02:59-03:06
guess? I heard 50. That's a safe one there. We can go either way, can't we, Bethany?
03:06-03:17
All right, so how many people think more than 50% of people 18 to 34 make New Year's resolutions? Who thinks it's higher? Okay, who thinks it's lower than 50%?
03:18-03:30
It is higher. It is 59%. Okay, what percentage of New Year's resolutions are are about exercising more.
03:31-03:39
The people that make the resolutions, what's the percentage of people that say, "I wanna exercise more in the new year." Shout out a guess.
03:41-03:43
I heard 65, we're gonna go with 65.
03:43-03:45
How many people think it's higher than 65?
03:46-03:47
How many people think it's lower than 65?
03:48-03:50
It is lower, it's 48%.
03:50-03:51
That's about half.
03:53-03:53
That's about half.
03:54-03:59
The rest of us are like, I'm just gonna sit on the couch and wait for Jesus to return.
04:01-04:05
Okay, percentage of people that quit in the first week.
04:06-04:06
In the first week.
04:07-04:09
Oh, how I admire your perseverance.
04:10-04:12
Percentage of people that quit in the first week.
04:12-04:13
Shout out a guess.
04:15-04:17
You have to do that again, I didn't hear anything.
04:18-04:19
I heard 80.
04:20-04:23
Okay, percentage of people that quit in the first week.
04:23-04:25
How many people think it's more than 80?
04:26-04:29
A few of you, how many people think it's less than 80?
04:29-04:32
There is hope for humanity, there's less than 80.
04:33-04:35
It is 23%.
04:36-04:39
But even then, come on, that's pretty bad.
04:42-04:46
One out of four made it the first week.
04:46-04:50
Okay, what's the percentage of people that make it past the first month?
04:51-04:54
Making it past the first month, shout out a guess.
04:55-04:57
10, I heard 10, first and clear, whoever that was.
04:58-04:58
That was perfect.
04:59-05:04
Okay, percentage of people that make it past the first month, who thinks it's more than 10%?
05:05-05:07
How many people think it's less than 10%?
05:08-05:10
It is 36%.
05:13-05:15
All right, here's the last one.
05:15-05:16
It's a big one.
05:19-05:21
I don't mean like the percentage is big, or is it?
05:21-05:23
I'm not leading you.
05:24-05:27
It's just a very interesting statistic to me.
05:28-05:31
It's percentage of people that successfully keep their New Year's resolutions.
05:33-05:35
That they keep them all year.
05:35-05:42
Percentage of people, they made it, and then at the end of the year, they're standing tall.
05:42-05:43
Shout out a guess.
05:44-05:46
I heard 12, did you say 12?
05:46-05:48
Okay, 12.
05:48-05:50
How many people think it's more than 12?
05:53-05:54
How many people think it's less than 12?
05:55-05:57
Yeah, you would be correct.
05:57-05:59
It is 9%.
06:04-06:06
That's actually a lot higher than I thought it was gonna be.
06:07-06:14
All right, on the top of your outline, goal for 2024, I want you to take a moment and write something down.
06:16-06:19
As you look forward to the new year, it's New Year's Eve, we're turning the calendar.
06:20-06:25
As you look forward to the new year, what goal do you have for this coming year?
06:27-06:31
And if you're like, I have more than one, just write down your biggest one, okay?
06:31-06:33
Or the one that came to your mind immediately.
06:33-06:41
Just write down a goal that you had, or have, excuse me, for 2024.
06:45-06:46
Now we all got plans.
06:49-07:01
and there's nothing wrong with making plans, but you can make plans in the wrong way.
07:03-07:06
And that's where we're going in the next section of James.
07:08-07:17
This is how to make your plans in a way that not only honors God, but acknowledges God in all things.
07:19-07:25
All right, so at the top of your outline, how to craft your five-year plan.
07:26-07:32
And I checked in the first service that the young people are still making their five-year plans.
07:32-07:35
I wasn't sure when I put this together if that was still a thing.
07:36-07:40
I remember when it was a thing, but I've been told it's still a thing, people making their five-year plans.
07:40-07:54
So if you're like, hey, I'm one of these hip youngsters making my five-year plan, well, you're in the right place because today we're going to let God's word show you how to make your five-year plan.
07:57-08:01
Number one, you need to know what you don't know.
08:04-08:07
You need to know what you don't know.
08:08-08:09
Look at verse 13.
08:10-08:21
He says, "Come now, you who say today or tomorrow "we will go into such and such town "and spend a year there and trade make a profit, stop there.
08:22-08:37
This phrasing would have been very familiar to the Jews in that day, because a lot of the Jews were businessmen who would travel and they would find strategic locations and they'd set up a business.
08:37-08:49
And in those days, it could take a year or more of executing.
08:50-08:51
So it was a long process.
08:52-08:57
And I know that's hard for us to understand because we live in a day, I mean, it happens to me all the time.
08:57-09:07
I'll be driving somewhere and it's like a field and I'll drive by that exact same address, like a week later, $5 generals right there.
09:08-09:10
I'm like, next to each other?
09:10-09:11
Yeah, next to each other.
09:14-09:18
But this business plan that we see here in verse 13 He's actually pretty good.
09:20-09:22
I mean, he has everything figured out.
09:23-09:25
Well, almost everything.
09:26-09:30
I mean, if you look at the business plan in verse 13, we have the when, today or tomorrow.
09:30-09:33
We have where, such and such town.
09:36-09:39
How, we'll spend a year there.
09:40-09:45
What, we're gonna trade, right?
09:45-09:47
And why, we have that figured out.
09:47-09:53
to make a profit, no problem with what's there at all.
09:54-09:58
The problem is what's missing.
09:59-09:59
It's the who.
10:02-10:03
You're gonna see this as we go through the text.
10:03-10:10
The problem with this business plan is God is nowhere mentioned in the plan.
10:11-10:13
You see, their sin was not engaging in business.
10:14-10:20
but their sin was they were counting on the future without any acknowledgement of God whatsoever.
10:22-10:25
And listen, planning is great.
10:26-10:36
I don't want anybody leaving here this morning going, "Okay, what I learned in church today "is it's a sin to make plans, so I'm not ever making plans." That is not the message at all.
10:37-10:38
Planning is great.
10:39-10:49
But, Making plans without acknowledging the sovereignty of God is presumptuous.
10:51-10:54
That's the message that James is driving home.
10:57-11:02
So first thing James tells us is you need to know what you don't know.
11:04-11:10
Like, wait a second, how can I know something that I don't know?
11:10-11:11
And I would say, right.
11:12-11:13
That's correct.
11:15-11:23
You're like, "Well, what don't I know?" You see, there's some things that you are unaware of that you need to realize that you are unaware of.
11:24-11:26
You need to know what you don't know.
11:27-11:31
The first thing you don't know is this, letter A, you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.
11:32-11:33
Look at verse 14.
11:35-11:44
He says, "Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring." That's the first thing you need to know that you don't know is you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow.
11:45-11:52
And his whole passage here, you have to think that James was thinking about Proverbs 27 one.
11:53-12:00
When he wrote this section, Proverbs 27 one says, do we have that one or did I not put that one on?
12:00-12:01
Oh, there we go, there.
12:01-12:25
It says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, "for you do not know what a day may bring." You see, the first problem with trying to plan without thinking of the Lord, you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.
12:29-12:32
Life changes in an instant, doesn't it?
12:33-12:34
Think about that.
12:38-12:44
Whether it's more positive sounding things, life changes in an instant.
12:44-12:50
You know, your wife calls and says, "Hey, I was at the doctor and he confirmed I am pregnant." Life changes in an instant.
12:52-13:00
Or you get that call, "Hey, that promotion you put in for, "you're getting it and you're being transferred.
13:00-13:04
"You're gonna be working in Texas." What, why?
13:05-13:07
Life changes in an instant, doesn't it?
13:10-13:28
Also for the not so positive things, positive sounding things, you know, maybe it's, hey, I did have that doctor's appointment and they said it is cancer and it's fast spreading and they have to start treatment immediately.
13:31-13:32
Life changes in an instant.
13:36-13:39
Or, "Honey, I got a memo at work today.
13:39-13:41
"They're downsizing, they're eliminating my position.
13:44-13:47
"And I'm done." Life changes in an instant.
13:51-13:59
Or you get that phone call, "I'm so sorry to tell you, "there's been a terrible accident." Life changes in an instant.
14:02-14:09
James here has us stop and reflect on how well we are doing in the sovereignty department.
14:11-14:12
How's your sovereignty been?
14:14-14:16
My sovereignty has been lousy.
14:18-14:19
My sovereignty has been horrible.
14:21-14:29
There's so much in my life that I thought was gonna turn out one way, and it didn't, and I thought I could control it.
14:29-14:34
and I couldn't, and I look at the health of my son.
14:38-14:40
I look at even the life of this church.
14:40-14:48
I think back to winter of 2019, around the spring of 2020.
14:50-14:52
I remember the elders had all these plans.
14:52-14:57
We sat down, we had all these plans for the church, and then COVID hit, you remember COVID?
14:59-15:03
And that just completely changed everything.
15:08-15:10
My sovereignty hasn't been great.
15:11-15:13
And if you're honest, yours probably hasn't been either.
15:14-15:15
You don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow.
15:17-15:23
Another thing that you need to know that you don't know, the letter B, you don't know if you'll have it tomorrow.
15:23-15:23
How about that?
15:25-15:27
You don't know if you'll have it tomorrow.
15:31-15:33
Look at the rest of verse 14.
15:34-15:35
He says, "What is your life?
15:37-15:47
For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." You don't know if you'll have it tomorrow.
15:48-15:50
Mist, right?
15:50-15:58
Like a cold day, you go outside and (blows) You see the vapor and it's gone.
16:00-16:02
And James reminds us that's our lives.
16:03-16:04
We are here and gone.
16:07-16:12
I had a funeral on Friday, two days ago, for a lady from my old church.
16:12-16:17
Her name was Marian, and 91 years old.
16:18-16:21
And they said she was extremely active all the way to the end.
16:22-16:26
She has an amazing family, great life.
16:26-16:28
She loved the Lord, had a strong faith.
16:28-16:31
Despite the hardship she faced, she was such an incredible testimony.
16:32-16:36
And I thought, you know, that's like storybook, honestly.
16:37-16:41
Lived to be in my 90s, active all the way up to the very end, surrounded by family.
16:43-16:45
But that's not the usual.
16:48-16:49
It's just not.
16:52-16:57
And James's point here is, hey, you can make plans for tomorrow and you don't know if you have it tomorrow.
16:58-17:04
So as you're putting your five-year plan together, you might wanna take note of that.
17:08-17:11
And you know, truthfully, it's a huge blessing to not know what's gonna happen, right?
17:13-17:19
Sometimes I think, boy, I'd really like to know what's gonna happen in my life or my family's life for the life of this church.
17:20-17:22
I just said that to Pastor Taylor a week or two ago.
17:22-17:30
I said, I'm so curious what God's gonna provide for this church, you know, facilities wise, as we're on that track.
17:30-17:34
And boy, there's sometimes I think I'd love to know.
17:37-17:38
But it's such a blessing that we don't.
17:40-17:41
Because think about it.
17:42-17:50
If you knew that in April, You are gonna land the dream job, the job that you've always wanted.
17:52-17:55
You would be discontent every day until then.
17:56-18:02
You'd be thinking, can't wait till April, can't wait till April, can't, and there's nothing wrong looking forward to stuff, but you would never enjoy the present.
18:03-18:06
You would never be like, what does God have for me here and now?
18:06-18:11
You'd be so fixated on that that you'd miss the blessing of today.
18:13-18:15
It's good that we don't know what's gonna happen.
18:15-18:18
Another, what if it's something not so good?
18:19-18:25
What if you knew for sure in April that one of your kids was gonna be in a terrible accident?
18:28-18:36
You would be so consumed with stress and worry and the anxiety every single day.
18:39-18:44
So we don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, God does.
18:47-18:48
I think that's a blessing.
18:50-18:53
James says, "Hey, when you craft your five-year plan, "first of all, you need to know what you don't know.
18:56-19:02
"Secondly, you need to stop the self-confidence." Stop with the self-confidence.
19:04-19:06
Look at verses 15 and 16.
19:07-19:21
He says, "Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." We're gonna get back to that verse.
19:23-19:24
But I want us to look at for a couple of minutes here.
19:25-19:25
Look at verse 16.
19:26-19:31
James says, "As it is, you boast in your arrogance.
19:33-19:39
All such boasting is evil." Stop there.
19:39-19:43
Verse 16, that's the other side of the coin from the previous point.
19:43-19:59
You see, on one hand, thinking you're sovereign, making your plans without God, on one hand, you're ignoring God's plans for your life, but on the other, you're bragging about your own.
20:02-20:16
Now, this Greek phrasing here where he says, "Boast in your arrogance," it's literally this, "A loud mouth bragging about something he's not able to do." That's what that means.
20:17-20:19
A loud mouth bragging about something he's not able to do.
20:20-20:25
And I think back to the best illustration of this is like the old snake oil salesman.
20:25-20:27
You remember the snake oil salesman?
20:27-20:29
Be like, "Ladies and gentlemen, step right up here.
20:29-20:30
"Step right up here.
20:31-20:32
"We've got this magic tonic.
20:32-20:40
"You drink this, your hair will grow three feet "by the end of the week, guaranteed." You're like, "That can't possibly be true, but he sounds so sure of himself.
20:41-20:42
He's a loud mouth.
20:43-20:45
He's boasting about something that he can't do.
20:46-20:48
And that's exactly what James is saying here.
20:49-20:51
When you're like, well, I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna do that, and I'm gonna do this.
20:52-20:54
He goes, you're no better than the snake oil guy.
20:55-20:57
You're boasting about something that you can't do.
20:59-21:06
You're self-confidently making your plans, and you never give this a thought.
21:07-21:12
What if God has a different plan for me?
21:13-21:14
You know, think about that.
21:17-21:26
What if I wanna do this, but what if God in his sovereignty says, "No, no, no, I have something different I want you to do." That thought just isn't even in your head.
21:30-21:36
And you're planning, here's the problem, you can't miss this, you're planning as if you're in charge.
21:37-21:46
And you have to see here, he says, all such boasting is, what does it say in verse 16?
21:47-21:50
Evil, all such boasting is evil.
21:52-21:53
I'm speaking of Greek.
21:53-21:57
That's the same word that's used to describe Satan.
21:59-22:02
It's exalting yourself above God.
22:02-22:06
All such boasting is exalting yourself above God.
22:10-22:11
Just stop here for a second.
22:12-22:19
Because I know right now, there are people here that are like, Pastor Jeff, I think you're laying it on a little thick.
22:21-22:23
I mean, is it really that bad?
22:24-22:33
Okay, so I make plans, and I don't always really stop and consider what the Lord might want for, is it really that big of a deal?
22:33-22:36
And I would say, first of all, God says it's a big deal.
22:37-22:37
Right?
22:38-22:40
You're like arrogant and evil.
22:40-22:42
Isn't that overstating the thing?
22:44-22:47
Like, it sounds pretty intense.
22:47-22:58
And I mean, when I think of sin, I think of like murder or like, you know, stealing from someone or like committing adultery.
22:58-23:00
Like those are the serious sins.
23:00-23:03
This seems like pretty minor leagues, doesn't it?
23:03-23:06
I mean, doesn't this seem kind of like what you're so fired up about?
23:09-23:15
And I'll be honest with you, I've been working on this sermon and studying this for a couple of weeks.
23:20-23:25
And that was one of the things that I kind of got fixated on.
23:26-23:29
Like arrogant and evil to do this.
23:31-23:36
Like this sounds like this is such a serious thing to God.
23:38-23:39
I'm like, why?
23:40-23:42
I mean, I see that it is, but why?
23:46-23:48
I spent a lot of time thinking about that.
23:52-23:56
And I was reminded of Numbers chapter 20.
23:58-23:59
A little quick flashback here.
23:59-24:06
Numbers chapter 20, Old Testament, Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt to the land that God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
24:06-24:10
And you get to Numbers chapter 20, they end up at this place called Meribah, and there's no water.
24:12-24:16
And you know what Israel did whenever there was any kind of adversity.
24:17-24:23
Oh, you brought us out here to die, and there's no water, and we don't have any figs.
24:24-24:26
And I'm just like, what do the figs have to do with anything?
24:26-24:27
But that's what they said.
24:27-24:30
And so they start like losing it, right?
24:30-24:40
And the Bible says that Moses goes before the Lord and God says, okay, Moses, I'm paraphrasing this part.
24:40-24:42
We're gonna actually read the text here in a second.
24:42-24:48
But God says, all right, Moses, I want you to speak to the rock and it's gonna yield water.
24:49-24:52
All right, now pick up in verse 10 through 12.
24:53-24:56
It says, "Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly "together before the rock.
24:57-25:09
"And he said to them, 'Here now, you rebels, "'shall we bring water for you out of this rock?' "And Moses lifted up his hand "and struck the rock with his staff twice.
25:10-25:12
"And water came out abundantly.
25:13-25:55
"And the congregation drank and their livestock." Like the end, it says, "And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I've given them.'" So why did God disqualify Moses and Aaron from entering the promised land?
25:56-26:00
Now you see, there's some scholars that say it was purely over the method.
26:01-26:04
God said to speak and Moses struck the rock.
26:05-26:08
He didn't do it the way God said, and that's a fact.
26:08-26:10
Moses did not do it the way that God said.
26:11-26:13
I don't think that's the main issue.
26:14-26:16
And some people say, "Moses lost his temper.
26:16-26:23
"You know, he hit the rock twice." And I think that's part of it, but I don't even think that's the main issue.
26:23-26:25
Can we put those verses back up, please, for a second?
26:28-26:29
Thank you very much.
26:29-26:32
I think the text shows us what the issue is.
26:32-26:36
Look down, like third line up, what God says to Moses.
26:36-26:51
He says, oh, fourth line up, "Because you do not believe in me, "to uphold me as holy." Like, what was he talking about?
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I want you to look again at what Moses said.
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Look really close and see if you see a problem.
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Moses said, "Here now, you rebels, "shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" Somebody tell me, what's the problem with that question?
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You caught that right away, didn't you?
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Problem, we, we, we.
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What's this we stuff?
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Moses says, "I have to keep giving you water?" And God's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa.
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Moses, you never did.
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That was all God's power." But Moses did something that if we're honest, we tread there sometimes.
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Moses put himself in the place of God.
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That's why God said, "You didn't uphold me as only.
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"You were supposed to say, 'Israel, God has all the power.
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"'God gets all the glory.
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"'All praise goes to God.' "And Moses, you stepped in that place "and said, 'Look what I'm doing for you.'" God says, "I won't have that." Who do you think you are taking credit for what only God can do?
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Like, okay, what does that have to do with James and making plans?
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I think it has everything to do with it, because there's the same principle at play here.
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When you make plans without regarding God, you're acting just like Moses, trying to take the place of the sovereign.
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And in essence, God is saying to you, when you make your plans without Him, God is saying to you, "Who do you think you are?
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Oh, you're making your plans.
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Oh, oh, are you sovereign?" asking in essence, you mean you can make and fulfill all your plans regardless of what I want?
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The sovereign of the universe in charge of every second that passes, in charge of every molecule that exists, you're gonna make your plans and you're gonna fulfill them and I'm not gonna have any say over that?
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Now do you see why James uses the word arrogant?
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And I would suggest to you, church, That if God wasn't keen on Moses talking like he's God, then God's not going to be on board with you talking like you're God either.
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So stop the self-confidence.
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All right, crafting your five-year plan number three, you need to do whatever God says ASAP.
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ASAP.
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A-S-A-P, that's a hip new term.
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It means as soon as possible.
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New, it's new.
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I heard it in a sermon I was listening to on my eight track.
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You need to do whatever God says ASAP.
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Look at verse 17.
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So whatever, excuse me.
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So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
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See, when we say sin, we think of doing the wrong thing, like lying and stealing, like that.
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But sin is more than that.
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Sin is also knowing what you need to do and just not doing it.
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That's called a sin of omission.
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Doing the wrong thing, that's a sin of commission.
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Not doing the right thing is a sin of omission.
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You're like, "Why is it in this context?" James is talking to people who know today what God wants them to do, and they presume on the future.
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I'll do it later.
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That's what he's talking about.
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You know today exactly what God wants you to do.
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I'll do it later.
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I'll get to it.
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And I think this is the type of sin that is so prevalent in the church.
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Knowing what you need to do and just not doing it.
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You know, there are people sitting in church, they're saying, "You know, I'm gonna repent.
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"I realized I shouldn't be doing this, "and I'm gonna repent.
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"Repentance is the right thing, "and I'm gonna do it tomorrow." Or, "You know, I'm involved in this relationship.
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"I shouldn't be in this relationship.
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"I know it's wrong.
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"It's wrong for me, it's wrong for the other person.
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"It's a wrong relationship that I'm in, "and I'm gonna break it off tomorrow." I need to stop wasting time.
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So much of my time is just spent with meaningless time-wasting activities, and I'm gonna be more intentional about glorifying God with the way I spend my time, "I'm gonna get to that tomorrow." Or you say, "I'm gonna get more serious "about my walk with the Lord.
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"I realize prayer is important "and I haven't been praying like I need to, "and I'm gonna carve out time, make prayer a priority, "and I'm gonna make time in the Word a priority, "and you know what, starting tomorrow, It's gonna be a whole new way of living for me.
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Tomorrow, new leaf and all that.
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I'm gonna start giving to the church.
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I really haven't been, but you know what?
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It's all God's and God promised to bless it and it's an act of obedience.
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I'm gonna, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow I'm gonna start giving.
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Wait, I don't get paid tomorrow.
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paycheck I'm gonna start giving.
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Or, you know, I know as the church is growing and there are so many kids back there and needs on the worship team and security and hospitality and facility, there's just so many areas.
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I'm gonna step up tomorrow.
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See, that's a sin.
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to sin when you know exactly what God wants you to do, and you know exactly what God wants you to do, and you say, "I'll get to it tomorrow.
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"You know, when I start my diet, I'm gonna get to it." Putting off what God wants you to do is sin, and when God brings some point of obedience to your mind, you need to get on that.
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ASAP.
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Right, ASAP.
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You know, we pray in the Lord's prayer, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.
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What's the next part?
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They will be done.
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Okay, they will be done.
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And then what's the next phrase?
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How's that go?
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On earth as it is in heaven.
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How do you think God's will is done in heaven?
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How do you think it's done?
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Do you think God ever says to an angel, "Hey, assignment, this is exactly what I need you to do." And the angel's like, "Yeah, sorry, Almighty.
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"I have a lunch appointment "and I'm gonna book the rest of the day.
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"Actually, this whole week's not good.
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"How about next Thursday?" Do you think that happens ever?
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Do you?
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Of course not.
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When God says, "Hey, this needs done," the angel's like, "Poof, gone." Do you realize that's what we're praying for when we say your will be done on earth as it is in heaven?
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That when God tells you to do something, you should be on it like the angel.
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Okay, now, I'll get on it right now.
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I read a few years ago, I read this sermon from Charles Spurgeon.
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And this just always stuck with me.
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He was speaking of a recently deceased friend of his.
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He had a friend, his name was William Olney, O-L-N-E-Y.
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But listen to what Charles Spurgeon said about his friend who had just passed.
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Spurgeon said, "His life cannot be said to be unfinished.
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All is finished as if he knew he was going to die.
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Spurgeon said, this man died as if he knew he was gonna die right then.
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So he made sure he finished everything in his life.
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Everything was done.
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And I gotta tell you, the first place I looked was at myself to say, could that be said about me?
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Now it's your turn.
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Could that be said about you?
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If this was your last day on earth, and it could be, if this was your last day on earth, would we look at your life and say, you know what?
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She lived like she knew this was coming and everything is finished.
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Or are there going to be a lot of loose ends?
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Like, wow, wow.
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She so is not ready for this.
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Are there any broken relationships in your life that you need to reach out to?
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Maybe you need to send a text, give a call.
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Don't leave it unfinished.
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Is there someone maybe that you took advantage of that you need to make restitution to.
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Don't leave anything unfinished.
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Is there some kind of addiction that you just need to like, no, it's over, done.
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Bottle of something that needs to be dumped down the drain.
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Do you need to cry out to Jesus for the salvation that he gives.
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There's people that are sitting here and there's people I'm sure watching this stream that are church goers but not Christ believers, not born again Jesus disciples.
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And listen, we talk about making plans.
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It doesn't, nothing you do matters until you do that.
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You realize that.
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The most important thing you will ever do is bow your knee to Jesus Christ, to believe that he died to take away your sin.
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He rose from the dead to give you eternal life.
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That's the most important thing that needs to happen.
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Like, yeah, I'm gonna get serious about him.
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You gotta do that today.
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Because James says you put it off, that's sin.
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It's sin.
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So we're sitting here today talking about the five-year plan.
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You know what, forget the five-year plan.
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Maybe we need to think about our five-minute plan.
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What do I need to do in the next five minutes?
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And whatever you know that God wants you to do, get on that ASAP, right?
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And number four, finally, you need to acknowledge God has the final say.
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We're gonna go back to verse 15.
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Because really this is the whole thing, right?
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This is the crux of the matter here.
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Verse 15, look at it again.
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Instead, here it is.
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Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." So that your plans for 2024, the thing you wrote on the top of your outline here, your plans.
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When you wrote that down, how much did you stop and consider, what does God want me to do?
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Did you think about that when you wrote that down?
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Like, what does God want?
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Because the believer, the Christ follower lives by this.
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God is at the center of all my plans.
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And we have to live with a constant commitment to the contingency of the will of God.
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We have to live church like, hey, we're making plans, but if God changes the plans or God has a different idea than I did, we're going with his, because God has the final say.
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Paul got this, real quick, real quick.
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Paul got this, you see this, Acts 18, 21, as he was leaving Ephesus, he says, "I will return to you again if God wills." 1 Corinthians 4, 19, "I will come to you soon if the Lord wills." 1 Corinthians 16, verses five through seven, look at how he talks about his travel plans.
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He definitely wrote in pencil, not pen.
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But he says, "I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia and perhaps will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey wherever I go.
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For I do not wanna see you now just in passing, I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.
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See that?
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That we should be a people of conviction that my life is in God's hands.
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And I can say, you know what, I hope to do this, and I plan to do this, but if God and his providence and his sovereignty changes the plan, I'm doing that instead, because God has the final say.
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And really any plans that we make should be about God's glory, right?
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Anything we do should be about God's glory.
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And if our lives take a detour from what we planned, well, then that must be from God, and our goal's still the same, to give God the glory.
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So, if our worship team would make their way forward, we gotta watch the expectations, my friends.
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We gotta watch the expectations because we get so flustered.
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Say, yeah, I was planning on doing this and I wanted to do that and I'm frustrated because I was expecting this.
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But you realize, biblically, we should only have one expectation.
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One expectation, it's Philippians 1.20.
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You need to carry this expectation with you.
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Like, what are you expecting today?
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Like Paul, as it is, my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
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Like, what are you expecting, Paul?
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What are you expecting?
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He's like, I'm not gonna be ashamed.
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But whether I live or whether I die, whatever happens, may Jesus Christ be honored through me.
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So your 2024 plans, whatever you wrote here, it's bad planning.
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Whatever you wrote.
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And you're like, "Jeff, that was kind of jerky.
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"Like you told us to write that, "then you tell us that we did it wrong." True, you're right.
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But it was to teach you a lesson.
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And here's the lesson.
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What you got to do now is write right underneath that, if the Lord wills.
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Now it's correct.
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and you live by that conviction.
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Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, I guess I'm guilty.
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I don't think of this as being such a big deal, but you do.
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And how many times, Father, have I said thoughtlessly what about my plans without considering what do you want me to do?
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Whether it's just the agenda for the day or ministry plans or vacation plans or whatever.
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I think it's so flustered when it doesn't happen the way I want.
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This is a big deal.
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God, thank you for all the reminders that I'm not sovereign, but you are.
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And God, I pray for my brothers and sisters here, that as we draw near to you, we would grow in our trust.
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Whatever you want, whatever you want us to do, or more accurately, I guess, whatever you wanna do through us, may we approach every aspect of our lives, in our homes, in our workplaces, in our church, let us approach all of it, all of our planning.
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by saying, "If the Lord wills, this is what we'll do." We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read James 4:13-17
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Did you make a 2024 New Year’s Resolution? What are some resolutions you made in the past?
Is James saying it is wrong to make plans? Why or why not?
Explain why making plans apart from God is “arrogant” and “evil” (Jas 4:16). Why is this such a serious sin?
Is there anything you know God wants you to do, but you’ve been putting it off? What is keeping you from obeying God today?
Breakout
Pray for one another to make your 2024 plans in the way that acknowledges God in all things.
