I am so excited for what God's gonna be doing into the new year and before we jump into our new series, I just want to share a few things and look back at everything and celebrate what God has been doing in and through Our church. And so last year for 20 in 2021 was a big year for us as a church and so first of all we are celebrating that Christmas Eve or Christmas Eve services were the largest gathering our church has had in its history And we also have, we can clap for that, that's awesome. We had a large online presence as well and we saw 34 faith decisions including 18 people who prayed to receive Christ as Lord and Savior as Christmas Eve. Also 2021 was really great for us online on our YouTube channel and some of you are watching online right now. So thank you guys for being a part of that. And so just last year we had 39,451 views on our channel which equates to 5596 and a half hours, which equals 155,790 minutes of online watch content from our church produced in house and shared with the world. Amen! Isn't that pretty awesome. That actually reached 38 countries. We had people engaged with us from 38 different countries around the world, so it's pretty, pretty cool. We also love to serve the community and so we saw throughout this, we saw, we did things like fall festivals. We helped back to back nights of fall festivals where we served over 1500 people there in events called boo bash and fall festival there. We had our first ever junior high event over the summer. There was a lot of fun. We had a new partner now with Ohana Az and we partnered with this foster care ministry and helped filled uh transition house with some laptops and TVs as well as we bought school supplies for 100 foster care kiddos and and turned around and gave some additional donations throughout the year. We moved back into the school, we expanded from one service to services and so, um, we actually outgrew one service and now launched a second service here with this. So we went earlier with that and so we've seen some growth on that side. But what's been most exciting is that when we transition from copper Blues live back to the school, we actually sense that transition in the fall have doubled the number of kids involved in our church ministry and so we doubled kids ministry. We're seeing more community projects takes place. We're seeing exciting things like for example, we did a dads and kids breakfast at two different schools where we build into the lives of families on the school campus, invited in by the schools to to work into their relationships and build positivity within the kids as well as connectivity to the parents there on the school campus and we had over 100 and 50 people at those two breakfast is they actually, even though it was free, they sold out, so they actually ran out of room and so in both schools where we launched these um character breakfast is they're not gonna have to move to a new location to accommodate more people and so we're seeing all kinds of exciting stuff there too. And then for those that have been a part of our church, we know you know that we love to be for the community, we say that God is for you, which means that we are for you and together we can be for the community. Now, the question is, what does that mean? On a practical basis? Well on a practical basis, that means that we do everything we can to be a blessing to the people around us and two big ways that comes out is that the name Mission Grove means that is this idea of a grove of churches or or a grove of trees, multiplying to reach more people with the gospel, but you can't have a grove with just one tree. And so last year we announced that we were going to launch a church and so that is what craig is a part of and so we are praying for and we are excited for the launching of grafted church in 2022 we're gonna come alongside you and and be with you every step of the way unless we don't like you. And then we're gonna pull the rug out and take off. No, just kidding. So, um so we're gonna like support craig, we're gonna support Brittany and their family and we're gonna help that Church is gonna be launching along I 17 most likely they're at Sandra Day O'Connor High School. And so we're super exciting, excited for that. We've already given some money to that. And speaking of money, we love to say that we don't just give to Mission Grove. You give through Mission Grove. And so as we've wrapped up 2021 I can share with you that we gave away last year by giveaway. I mean, not in house, like actually going to bless people outside the walls of our church. We gave away $42,910 to community causes this year. Amen can give up for that. Mhm. And so, uh it was really a banner year for us and that's even in the middle of a pandemic. And so we are excited for what's God it has done. And we are already praising God for what he's going to do in 2022. Now let's talk about the New year now is the time for New Year's resolutions. Have those in the room or online. Just a quick show of hands. Make New Year's resolutions, anybody. Okay. Some people don't have to be ashamed of it. Like, you're like, you're one of those people, anybody not like New Year's resolutions. Okay, Those hands go up way faster, Right? Uh we we don't like New Year's resolutions. Why? Because we tend not to keep them. I wonder how I won't make you raise your hand for this one, But I wonder how many people have already broken their New Year's resolution. And it's only the second day of the year. But as we think of the New year, the reason people make them is because in our minds a new year, a new calendar represents a blank slate. It represents a chance to get a fresh start, a new beginning. And so what we wanted to do this year to kick off 2022 is to provide the opportunity to give a spiritual fresh start. And so we're gonna go back to really some of the basics, but really go back to the central figure of our faith, jesus christ himself and ask ourselves this question, what is it that jesus himself did? Because if we can do what jesus did, then we can experience the life that jesus did. Now I know what you're saying or might be thinking, is that okay, john it's more than just a W. W. J. D. Bracelet. If you remember those bracelets that were popular like 25 years ago. And so it's more than that. It's it's he was God. Like of course jesus was perfect. Of course jesus could do these things because he was God and we're not god. So why are we gonna make our standard our example the perfect example of something that we could never inspire to. But over the next couple of weeks what we're going to lean into is one aspect of the life of jesus and it's this that he was fully man. Yes, he was fully God. But also he was fully man meaning that he's not just savior, but he actually gives us the model through which we can follow and have an abundant and joyful and purposeful life. You see in the bible in first john chapter two verse six it says whoever says he abides in him uh to walk in the same way in which he walked. Now that sounds very churchy. So let me read another translation that communicates the same idea and the N. I. V. Translation that says this that whoever claims to live in him referring to jesus must live as jesus did. In other words this is not optional for us. It is not optional for us to just follow jesus from a distance. Is that if you claim to be a christian, then you must live as jesus lived. This is the path, this is the model, this is the way to experience a new life. Now if you're kicking the tires to religion and faith we want to give you that space to do so but if you cross that line and you decide to say, you know what I believe it, I'm gonna accept it, I'm gonna mark my life by Christianity, then we have to understand that being a christian is not merely ahead acknowledgment, but a lot obedience through the model that jesus gave us. Now thankfully it says that our God actually understands us. That's part of the christmas story that we just came out of is that God came down to earth and experienced the limitations of the human body. It says in Hebrews 4 15, it says for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. In other words, there is potential for you to walk through life without sinning and now all of us have sent all of us make mistakes, we're all sinners. But this is a hopeful verse because it shows us that jesus gives us a way, gives us the answer to the test. Imagine taking a test and right before the test that the teacher gives you the answer key and says here's here's the answers and then how stressed would you be if you're taking a test and right next to it, you have the answers like it would be really on you at that point if you have the answer sheet, not cheating, but given to you by the teacher and you literally have it in your hands and you're like, oh I just don't know what the answer is, I don't know when it's right in front of you, this is in the same way jesus himself is the answer key. He is the example for us how to respond. I met a really awesome pastor and author a couple years ago ago at a lunch, his name was dan Spader and he's written about this, but I actually heard him say these words and he said this that jesus did not dip into his deity to live out his humanity. In other words, it picture like if jesus had the divinity card like a like a, you know, instead of like a black card or gold card, it's like the eternal card, like he had that card in his possession, he never was not god, but he never paid with that. He never paid, he swiped out of that account because he lived out of his humanity. What does that mean? It means that jesus got tired. It means that jesus was born in a manger. It means that jesus ate and walked and slept and had conversations and was tempted and had relationships and friendships and and was betrayed and was doubted and experienced suffering and experienced hardship and so we have a god who walked through life and faced difficulty but yet did so without sin and so how did jesus do that? Well actually he depended upon the Holy Spirit. Now that sounds, that sounds weird that why would jesus need to depend on the Holy Spirit because jesus in fact was God. Well if you read through the gospels, you actually see this theme of the Spirit of God coming through it over and over and over again. The word Spirit. Really, we see that in the gospel of john comes from a word Numa, which is a similar basis for how we get our word wind. And so if you've seen the picture or heard a picture of how the Holy Spirit is the wind, you don't see the wind but you feel the effects of the wind in the same way the Holy Spirit is wind that moves us. That is the very presence of God in our lives. It's a picture for a moment. You have a boat on the water, you have a sailboat now in order for a sailboat to function properly. You have to have first the boat in the water, Have you ever driven by maybe on one of the coasts or maybe down at rocky point? If you've seen those, they have shipyards and they have boats who are just up and reserved and I wonder how many churches and how many christians are like those boats and shipyards? The boats are there, They're made for the water but they're just safely propped up and locked up. Now imagine if you went and you got on the boat in the shipyard and there and you're like, isn't this great and like you would take your kids out like no, this isn't fun dad. Like this isn't fun. Like you're just sitting in a boat and it's not going anywhere, you're not even in the water. Well the boats are made for the water and sailboats are made to go with the wind and so you have to put your boat in the water and you have to raise the sail and it's not the raising of the sale that makes the boat move. But it puts you in position to move. And in the same way we, as christians have to put our boats in the water and to to raise the sail, I wonder how many people's spiritual lives are in the shipyard and not in the water. And you're wondering why your life is not that meaningful or exciting. It's because Christianity was meant to be an adventure. Christianity was meant to live out on open waters to live through the power of the Holy Spirit. If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. Is that jesus lived spirit filled and spirit led. The first practice that we can see of jesus is that Jesus himself dependent upon the Holy Spirit. And if God himself did so as a way to model for you and for me then that means that we too can walk in step with the Spirit I want to show you through scripture, a few examples of where we get this idea. So spirit filled spirit led turn to your neighbor there and just say spirit filled spirit led to hear those words a lot. So spirit filled spirit, let let me give you a couple examples of jesus and the Holy Spirit and we're gonna see that in the early christians in the Holy Spirit. Okay, first luke, chapter three, jesus says now when all the people were baptized and when jesus also had been baptized and was also praying, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit depended uh descended on him in bodily form like a dove and a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved son with you, I am well pleased. And so at the baptism at the mark, the beginning of his ministry, they actually see the presence of the Holy Spirit coming down upon jesus. And then the very next chapter exodus says in luke chapter four verse one and jesus notice that word full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit. And now you see both, you see him being full of the spirit and then being led by the spirit into the wilderness. This was where he was tempted by satan. And so it's it's interesting to me that being full of the spirit and being led by the spirit did not remove jesus from difficult situations, but instead actually was with him and let him if into difficult situations. You see somewhere along the line in american Christianity, we got this wrong assumption that being a christian means being hashtag blessed, which means you will have all these material things and nothing will ever go wrong. As soon as jesus had the Spirit of God on him and was being led, he was led into the wilderness. It was led into a difficult circumstance, but it was through that through the power of the Spirit then that he avoided sin and that he avoided temptation and he chose through the Spirit through the word of God to really keep hold of his identity as the son of God. And then next as he was walking out of that as he's beginning ministry, he's going through just a few verses later luke 4 14, it says this, it says and jesus returned in the power of the spirit to galilee and a report about him went through all the surrounding country and so he starts preaching and he starts doing miracles and he starts doing these different things. One example is that he fed the 5000 in John six And he broke some bread and and some fish little boys lunchables basically and he fed 5000 men when you include women and Children. That equates up to almost maybe 20,000 people. So enough to fill footprint arena, there were the sons play with these food, he does this miracle and then he's preaching to the people and he says, I am the bread of life. And as he's speaking, he says these words in John 663, it says it is the spirit who gives life the flesh is of no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. And then another chapter John four, he's speaking to the Samaritan Woman, he's talking about worship. He says there will come a time when true worshipers of God will worship in spirit and in life And in John 14, he says, I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me and he and he's preaching to these people, he just washed their feet, he's saying he's gonna leave them, he says, but it's to your benefit that I leave because I'm gonna send you a helper. So you have God the father, he is like the provider. He is the one who chose us before the foundation of the world. You have jesus, the son, he is the savior. He is the very physical presence of God that we see because no one had seen God, but people who saw jesus and then you have the holy spirit is described as the advocate or the helper. Quick question for you, where is God the father at the moment? Think about the Lord's prayer, Where how do we start the Lord's Prayer, Our father who art in heaven, okay, and then in hebrews also, it says that when jesus ascended to heaven and says he, where did he go? He says he sat down at the right hand of the father, So where is that? If the father is in heaven and jesus at the right hand of the father, then where is jesus currently in heaven? So then where is the Holy Spirit here on earth? And so it is, jesus is not or the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, the one that is physically present here with you and I right now, it is not the third wheel of the Godhead, it is the third person of the Godhead. And in fact Jesus says that I'm gonna send you the spirit, that when I leave, you're going to receive the spirit. And then we see the starting of the church was not when the early believers understood the sermon on the mound and started to slightly behave better, but instead the church started and the movement started when the believers of God received the Holy Spirit and started preaching this message of the resurrection of jesus. It says in Acts 1 8, it says this, it says here that but you will received power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. And in judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth And 2nd Timothy, 17 Paul's writing, he says for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power. Love and self control. This is the imagery that we have, this is the power that we have access to. I wonder how many people are walking into 2022 in some form of fear. I think you could look back on these last two years in 2020 and 2021. And culturally speaking, you could say that those years have been marked by fear. Fear, healthwise, pandemic fear, financially fear politically fear socially fear, relational E and and so many things our country has been so far divided upon. And the other side is the worst right. Like if you if you disagree with me politically, you're the worst. If you disagree with me socially, that person is the enemy that are the worst. All of this is based on what it's based on fear. But as Christians as believers, we can walk confidently into 20-2022, not because we know the future, but because we have the power of the spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. And so we do not have a spirit of fear. But instead of power and love and self control in Galatians 5 16 it says this that but I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Now I used to take this verse as a as a depressing verse because if you're human, you still struggle with sin and you still make a mistake. You still mess up. There's of commission things that you do wrong that you know you shouldn't, there's sins of omission when you don't do something right that you know you're supposed to do and their sins all across the board in our attitude, in our affections and our actions and we make mistakes. There is not a single person who has walked sinless already this year. There are people that entered 2022 in the middle of sin, write that in their celebration of it. They just, they celebrate it and they walk in there and there are people like, nope, this is going to be a better year. This is going to be the year that we, I grind my teeth and I clench my fist and I'm just gonna be a perfect person and already day two we're done. And so it's not about perfection, but rather the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And so it's not a threat, but rather a promise. This is how you respond. This is how you can walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, it says that when you walk in the spirit, it's a promise that you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. So the goal is not to just ignore sin, but instead walk in the spirit and that's been the key for me when I've had success in overcoming addiction and and and overcoming struggles and pride and and and lust and and lying and things like that. It's it's it's not saying, okay, I'm not gonna say and I'm not gonna sit, I'm not gonna send instead. It's I gotta I gotta be on offense, I gotta be walking in the spirit, God, who do you say that I am God, what have you called me to do? I can't do this on my own. And so when you're in step with the spirit, you can actually have victory over sin. And it's a promise. So what does the spirit look like? Well, a few verses later in Galatians 5 22 and 23 it says this, it says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control against such things. There is no law. You know, that was written almost 2000 years ago. But yet aren't those the things that we still desire? Like is there anybody in their list who as they move into the new year, even if you're not a resolutions person, he was saying, you know what, I had too much love last year, too much. I really, I really hope, I don't, I'm not as joyful this year. I really, I really hope that I have less peace. Um you know, you know what my struggle is, I'm too patient, you know, I am too patient. I am too kind. I I just wished my my partner, my spouse was less faithful to me. You know, I mean like, like no, nobody wants those things. In fact, all of those descriptions of the fruit of the spirit are the things that we long for in our soul and our inner being. We want those things and what we have is the way to experience those that the fruit of the spirit, the reflection, the response, the end product of walking in the power of the Holy Spirit are those things. And so so what does it mean to be spirit filled? The idea of being spirit filled is that your life is marked by the fruit of the spirit? Go ahead and let's bring up that list. One more time there for a second, john. And and I just want to ask you guys some questions here. How are you doing with love? How are you doing with joy and with peace with patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self control. Now, on your own you can't experience these things. But when you lean into the Word of God and you say, Holy Spirit, guide me, fill me. You start to experience more of these things and hopefully your loved one's experience the positive effects of these things as well. Think back to last year, how did you treat your coworkers. How did you treat your kids? How did you treat your friends? How did you treat the people that you don't even like, is your life described by that because those are markers of a spirit filled life. What does it mean to them to be spirit led? That is prompting of the spirit that leads to obedience. So the two keys, the two keys to being spirit led. Our this humility and trust, humility and trust you first have to humble yourself saying that I'm not in control. Do you have a family member that loves to um, either backseat driver or passenger seat drive? What I'm talking about? Um or I love it when my kids give me directions. No, dad, you're supposed to go here like really, you're, you're five. Like you don't know, you don't know where we're supposed to be going. It's like, no dad, you're supposed to turn back there. Like sometimes my kids do that and it drives me nuts, but I wonder how many times we do that with God, God, you weren't supposed to allow that to happen. God, you weren't supposed to do that. God, you weren't supposed to do that. Why? Because we want to be in the driver's seat. But here's the truth that we are afraid to admit much of our life is like the shopping cart with the steering wheel at fry's right? It's an illusion of control. You know what I'm talking about? The kids are little, They love hopping in that cart with the little wheel, I'm driving daddy. I'm like, yeah, sure you are. Sometimes. I feel like that's us in real life, that were in that little car in the car and we're like, I'm doing so great, don't you think God? Alright, I'm turning look at that and really just like, oh, that's cute, right? Put together a gift of, you know, christmas. So, one of the kids gifts this year was a foosball table, so that was fun. Um, but it came into a bazillion pieces and so maybe this is a bad move, but it felt great in the moment rather than putting together chris and I had to like, just gave a picture of the item because I'm like, there's no way I'm staying up till like five trying to make this thing or whatever for them. And so I gave the president and so, so then, um, you know where I'm building the foosball table and, and they're excited for it. And then at the end, when I'm done, um, you know, I asked my son to say, okay, hey, can you help me lift the top and put it on top of Yeah. And so we lifted and we put it on top and he goes, we did it like, we, I mean, I was like, yeah, we did. But you know, I had that, I had that thought in my head after 1000 screws and little pieces, you know what I'm talking about, right? So I was like, we did it. I wonder how many of us go into 20, and look back at last year and we're like, we did it. God. He's like, you mean I did it for you and through you, There was a time for me. This is real personal for me. Um, this idea of being spirit filled and spirit led because back in 2014 um, I just moved here to Arizona a year prior and I was leading ministry. I was supposed to be this spiritual leader and I was just feeling honest with you. Spiritually stuck. I felt like, you know, if you ever see a duck gliding on or geese gliding on the water and they look so peaceful on the top, but underneath the water, they're like, I'm going crazy. That's how I felt spiritually. Right? So I'm in ministry, I'm leading and I'm like, I would get up and preach the students and I'm like, this is great. But inside I'm just like, oh man, what am I gonna do with my life? Like what's going on? And so I started freaking out a little bit. And so I decided, okay, I'm gonna pause and instead of trying to define myself, I'm going to allow God to define who I am and what I'm supposed to do. And so for the next 18 months I began every morning reciting a couple promises of God and I would say things like God, you're for me, God you are with me, God your spirit is inside of me. God, you worked through me and God you love beyond me. And since those are true, not if since those are true, what have you called me to do today? And I tried to do that and it wasn't immediate, it wasn't like this crazy light bulb moment but slowly but surely I started to see an attitude shift in my life and I started to get these promptings of really God calling me to do three things. The first thing I was supposed to do I felt called to do was to write about that process. And so I wrote a book in 2015 called Goddess for us and all 10 people that have read that I think really liked it or at least my parents and Brother and friends said it was great. So um, but it was on Amazon now and so and so 2015 I published a book that like five people bought and but the name of the book was God is for us. Do you see a seed or a thread that might impact to where we are currently. The second thing God called me to do out of that process besides writing about my journey with that was to go and and really give me a heart and my wife a heart for foster care And that was 2015 and we started taking classes and accreditation and other things. My daughter, I was born in 2016 man. We just yesterday we were playing doctor with barbies and Plato and toys and other things and singing music in the car and I can't imagine my life without her. But it was a seed that was planted all those years ago. Another seed that was planted in my, I had a heart in that moment was just a confirmation of something I've been stirring with for a few years already. Was this idea that God was calling me to plan a church? I don't even know what that looks like. I didn't have a name, I didn't have this vision yet of what has become mission growth But I'm sitting here now in 2022 looking back on my life, I don't know what my life would have looked like if I had not decided in that moment to be spirit filled and spirit led. But because I made that decision now my life has changed. My family has changed and God has brought forth a church that we are excited to move forward whose theme is this promise that God is for us. I had no idea way back when what was gonna happen. But what I decided to do was put my boat in the water and raise the sail and say spirit, I'm ready for you to move. And so that's what I want you to do today Here in 2020 to choose to raise the sail, choose to get in the game spiritually put your boat in the water to raise the sail and say God, the answer is yes. My answer is yes. Now just give me the question because you might get a little prompting this year to have a conversation, to reach out to that coworker, to maybe start a business or to start a ministry or a blog or to get intentional with your kids to go and forgive someone that you've been holding onto a grudge for for years. I don't know what God is going to call you to do. I don't know the prompting in your life, but I want to tell you is that nothing is gonna happen. Your life is not gonna go anywhere until you put your boat in the water and you choose to raise the sail because if you do that, the spirit can move and God can move just as it moved in the life of jesus, it can move in your life. And the greatest thing that you can do this year is to be spirit filled. Spirit led. The greatest thing you can do for your marriage is to be spirit filled. Spirit led. The greatest thing you can do for your kids is to be spirit filled and spirit led. The greatest thing you can do for your career. Maybe not the bottom line, maybe not financially, but the greatest thing you can do this year is choose to depend on the Holy Spirit and say God, it's not me, it's you and I'm ready and I'm raising the sail. Let's raise the sail this year and see how the spirit moves during the father with his Thank you that we have a new beginning a new year and God right now, I pray that as we go into a time of communion, I pray that we can remember the sacrifice of you and that God, you gave us the path, you gave us the way. And so today I ask that just as you who were God, who are, who is God, Just how your earthly ministry was marked by the Holy Spirit. The early church's ministry was marked by the Holy Spirit. It's my prayer that here in 2022, that here at Mission Grove, everything we do will be spirit filled and spirit led. And whatever prompting you put into the hearts of the people here, whatever calling you put in their lives. God, I pray that they would walk in obedience. I pray that they can walk with your spirit because without you, God, nothing can happen. But with you, God, nothing can stop us. And all things are possible. And so it's in that power and that possibility, we pray amen