Strategic Planning...Jesus Style | The Great Awareness Church

So, um, what I feel led to share today is about strategic planning. It's that time of the year where you're game planning next year and and you know, trying to figure out how things are going to look and, you know, what you're going to do and all that stuff. And some background on that, I used to I used to get paid by people to help them strategic plan. So, I would hold a conference once a year for one week.

I'd charge people 2500 bucks. They 10 of I'd cut it off at 10. 10 of them would fly in.

they'd have to put their own hotel room everything else and for a week so I would just work with them on game planning their week mission vision getting their strategic plan and strategies and tactics and metrics and all this stuff you know and uh you know there's lots of ideas on how to strategic plan a year and then COVID something like COVID hits and that throws all that plan out the window right um because we can't control what comes up next And yet in uh Proverbs 16:9 it says that a man's heart plans his way but the Lord directs his steps.

So that tends to make you think that we we are still supposed to plan. Okay. And so what do you do? Okay.

Um did Jesus, you know, how could we go to the source? Could G did Jesus have a strategic plan? We kind of know that he had a a vision, right? He stood up in Luke and said, you know, and he read out of Isaiah and he said, "Today this has been fulfilled in your presence."

So he had a plan and we know on multiple occasions he said, "For this reason I came to die." So he knew the cross was his his destiny. Right? And so as Christians here, do we have a plan?

What what did God tell us to do? Love God, love others. Right? Do we know where we're going?

Do we have a destiny where we're going? Yeah. Heaven, right? But then how do we manage and game plan between now and there?

What do we do? And and what did Jesus do? Okay. And so we're going to do something fun.

I need someone to volunteer to be Jesus. Okay. To come on up here and volunteer to be Jesus. I think Nathan would be a good one to come up here.

[Music] All right. I typed it so you wouldn't have to worry about my writing. So, I am going to talk a little bit and ask a question. Okay.

You're Jesus. You're going to answer the question. And then I'm going to ask another question and you're gonna answer that question. Okay.

>> You ready? >> Okay. Man, Jesus, you're taller than I thought you'd be. Did you grow?

Okay. So, Jesus. Oh, man. I mean, in three years, you changed the world.

I mean, you were massively productive, right? I mean, next year we're going to strategic plan 2026. 2026 years since Oh, since you wow, you know, like like you changed the world in three years. You were more productive than anybody.

So Jesus, what is the secret to your strategic planning? >> That's it. >> So that the world may know that I love the father. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

>> That's it. >> I do exactly what the father has commanded. >> So like your big strategic plan is I do what God wants me to do. >> That's right.

>> Are you kidding me? Like Like don't you understand that's one sentence? Like I've got to write a book and make a million dollars. I can't have a strategic plan.

That's one sentence. That doesn't work. Right. H Okay.

All right. Let's try this. All right. Your sermon on the mount.

How about your words, man? Your sermon on the mount. It's It it it's one of the best sermons ever. Okay.

Your words are still taught every week. I I quote you every single week, 2,000 years later. Your words were powerful. What is the secret to your words?

The Father who sent me gave me a command. What I should say and what I should speak, and I know his command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak. You're killing me, Smalls.

You're killing me. So, you do what God tells you to do and you say what God tells you to say. That's it. >> That's your whole plan.

I didn't see that one coming. Give me hugs. Good job. >> Give it up for the boy.

Give it up for the boy. You're awesome. You're awesome. In in Mark um 1 verse 35, Jesus modeled what we're just talking about.

It says long before dawn he went out by himself to pray. Okay. And if you read that they had had a successful day of ministry the day before they go out and I just think this thing's going on and there's something wrong. Can you guys hear me if I just speak?

But but Huh. All right. So, we're good. Okay.

Can you guys hear me? Wow. I got a mic. Pastor's got a mic.

This is fun. Okay. All right. So in uh Mark 1:35, you know, and he's out there by himself praying and the disciples find him and they're like, "All right, come on.

Let's go back." Okay, so obviously their plan originally was going to be to go back to that that place where they had the ministry the day before. But Jesus tells him, "No, let's go on to the next town because for this is the reason why I came." Okay?

So it's as if he went out, he prayed, and instead of the plan, God told him, "Nope, go to the next town." Okay? And Jesus just obeyed. All right.

So we see a live version. And then in Matthew 6 6 verse 31-34 we read this. Okay. Therefore do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?

For after all these things the Gentiles seek for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Okay? So, if we put this all together, what is Jesus's plan? Okay? Pray, obey, and just worry about today.

Okay? And it even rhymes. Pray, obey, just worry about today. Right?

Isn't that fun? And so that's Jesus's plan. Now, let's go back to Proverbs 16:9 and look at it again, but this time from this plan. Okay.

So, what does it say? You got it up there. No, that's Ecclesiastes, man. Proverbs 16:9.

A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. So, if Jesus is saying we've got to worry about today, then he's talking about us planning this day. Okay? So, you got a lunch meeting at noon.

You've got to be at work at a certain time. You plan those things into your day. Okay? But then the Lord directs the steps.

You go into each day expecting for God to use you in neat ways. So, maybe on your um maybe you get into work and someone's there and they ask you a question about Jesus. Now, you spend a couple minutes talking to them. Okay?

Maybe you're pulling into work and there's somebody struggling to get out of their car and you go and you help them get out of your car. you know, being being like Jesus, helping people out, serving and loving. So, you go into your day and you do whatever opportunities God puts that day. Okay?

And then you don't worry about tomorrow. So, so that blows a lot of these strategic plans out of the water. If you don't worry about tomorrow, then why are you planning next November? Because the truth is, you don't know what's going to happen between now and next November.

None of us do. Okay? So, it's kind of wild. you you wake up, you pray, you wake up, you just worry about what's on your your docket that day and you go into it and you just watch for what God is doing.

And this actually works in every area of your life. Okay? You sit there and and and and it causes you to stay present in the moment, right? You're not worrying about the thing.

Listen, most of the mind rot that's going on in your head is guilt and stuff over the past and worry about the future. Health is going up. Health healthcare is going up. This is happening.

This is happening. How am I going to make ends meet? Okay, that is worry and doubt. And that's evidence that we're not trusting God in whatever area we have worry and doubt in.

Okay. So, we're gonna take this is going to be a really bad live stream. I'm sorry people that are out there listening. So, Jesus's plan is brilliant.

Okay? It's actually brilliant. You're just focused on the day. It allows you to have maximum effectiveness.

So, you pray, you obey, and you just worry about the day. And we can handle one day, can we not? Like, One day you can handle it. One day at a time, okay?

Worrying about all this other stuff. Don't worry about it because you don't know you're even going to be around to worry about that stuff, right? Because you could get in a car crash tomorrow. So, it's just a simpler way of doing it.

People worry about the retirement. How are they going to retire? Man, in Luke 12:16-20, Jesus tells the story of a guy who's doing well and he decides he's going to store up from stuff a bunch of stuff and then so that he can live and eat, drink, and be merry all his days. And then the story says God calls him a fool because that night he's going to lose his life and all that stuff he was building up for means nothing.

Okay, that's the American way is to 401ks and all this other stuff into retirement. But Jesus says that's not where the treasure is. Okay so pray, obey, worry about today. I'm going to take each of the main areas of our lives, okay, and break it down and show you how Jesus's plan, pray, obey, worry about today, is smarter than us trying to figure it out ourselves.

Okay? So, you've got a job or a career. Okay? The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 9:10, now we can throw it up there.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Okay? What does that mean? That's the Bible.

So, you wake up, you pray, you ask God to help you in your job or your career, whatever it is, but then you go in and you work it with all your might. All right? The average person in an 8 hour day can get their job done in four hours. So, what do they do with the rest of the time?

They're scrolling the internet. They're looking for things. They're shopping. They're doing their Christmas shopping.

That's not biblical. What we should be doing is if you can finish it in four hours, then going to your boss and saying, "Hey, man. I'm done. What else can you give me?"

Okay? Because what's going to happen if you do that is you're going to be the one who gets promoted. You're going to be the one who is the last person to be fired if the if the if the cred hits the fan. Okay?

Andor someone's going to hire you away. Okay? And you're going to get to experience a better job. Okay?

So pray and give it all your might. Why? Why would God give you more? Why would he give you a better opportunity if you're not being faithful with the opportunity that you're in right now?

Right? That's just not biblical. That's not how it works. The parable of the talents, he took the talent from the one guy who did nothing and gave it to the guy who did the most.

Okay? That's how God works. Um, a Christian should be in there and that's when you get promoted. I I uh the company I was working with when I was in the mortgage business, they they had they ended up going bankrupt.

Okay, this will even protect you if your if your company goes if the if the market crashes and things go bad. If you're really valuable to the company, you'll be the last one they fire. Okay, so this company, he was allowed he had to file bankruptcy and the bankruptcy courts allowed him to pay one person. He had 12 offices.

He he chose to pay me. He goes, "Brian, I don't need you to do nothing. I'm going to pay you for six weeks. That's what the things allowed me to do.

You go find a job." Well, I'm paying you for the six weeks. So, I got paid to find my next job, okay? Which I found.

And that was nice, right? But that's because I was faithful and he just wanted to take care of me. Okay? So, whatever your hands find, every almost every time I I got hired away from the job that I was at because I was doing more than I was being paid to do.

Okay? That's what the Bible says. So, you wake up and you pray, okay? And then you obey God.

You you work with all your might and then you don't worry about the future because God's going to take care of it. You're going to get the promotions. You're going to get the things. The things are going to work out.

Why? Because you deserve it. Because you were faithful in a little. What if you don't have a job?

Ecclesia uh 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, "If you don't work, you don't eat." That's harsh right there. If you don't work, you don't eat. Okay?

So, that tells me if I'm a Christian and I'm praying and I want to obey, I've got to go get a job. Okay. But but people say, "Oh, the job market's really hard right now." I am telling you, there are job openings everywhere.

I I went through through Dunkin Donuts and there was a job offering uh thing. I went through Panera Bread. There's another job offering. I was in Monroe.

There's a new Firehouse Subs opening up that jobs wanted there. Okay. Well, Brian, I'm I'm I don't want to work in food service. I get it.

Okay. But it's a job. It starts the ball rolling. Okay.

and and you don't know what God's going to do from that. All right? There are jobs that you can get, but I tell you, if I've got 10 people interviewing for a job, one of them's working, the other nine are just putting out resumes. And that one who's working is working in I don't care, food service or whatever.

And I ask him, "Why is he working in food service when he has a a bachelor's degree?" He says, "Because I have to eat. I have to I have to pay my bills." I'm hiring that guy over the other nine.

I guarantee it. Okay. when I was um I started a company. I got it I would I graduated with a BS in business administration.

I was in hotel restaurant management and then I got tired of that pretty quickly and I started a business and it failed. Okay. And so now I had no money and I had to go back and just bring in something. So I went back to waiting tables but I felt like a loser.

Okay. That's how I put myself through school. I wasn't a loser, but I felt like a loser because I was doing something that had put myself through school. Okay?

So, I was kind of embarrassed about it. I ran into an old girlfriend from from college, you know, as I was taking out the trash at one of the places and she just looked at me like crying, you know, and I'm like, I feel so good about myself right now. But but but within two weeks, I but but I I I worked that job as if to do it with all my might. I was a great waiter.

And two weeks later, I'm waiting on the owners. I didn't know that who they were, but I'm waiting on these guys. They're the owners of a mortgage company that was opening up a branch down in Florida. And they said, "You'd make a you'd make a great loan officer."

And I'm like, "Can I wear a suit? I just I just want to get out of here." They're like, "Yeah." And that's the that was 33 years ago.

I'm still in that business today. Okay. I was waiting tables. All right.

Why? Because I had to make some money. All right. So, if you don't have a job, get a job.

That's what the Bible tells us to do. So just do it. Even if it's not below your pay grade, do it with all your might and you'll be promoted above your pay grade. You just will.

That's how it works. Okay. Money. It's the same way.

You know, people get all worried about money. How are they gonna how are they going to retire? How are they going to pay their bills? How are they going to make ends meet?

All right. Jesus's plan is pray, obey, just worry about today. So, what does that look like in money? How does the Bible tell us to handle money?

God says with the first 10% you're supposed to give a tithe. Okay? There's a lot of bad teaching out there about the tithe. So, I'm going to hit a couple things here.

Okay. The tithe started way back in the first five books of the Bible. And God instituted it as a way to bring money in for the Levites who were supposed to be in charge of the spiritual health of the Jewish people. Okay?

Um the Israelites and and so the the tithe was originally sent 10% of what the other people made to bring into the temple into the storehouse into the local today it would be the local church. Okay. Giving money to the Salvation Army is nice but it's not part of your tithe. that your tithe is supposed to be above and beyond.

Your your offering to the Salvation Army is supposed to be above and beyond that. Your 10% goes to the tithe. Now, I know you sit there and you say, "Man, I I how how we can't." Okay?

There's preaching out there that'll teach that um the tithe is Old Testament. Okay? But but in Matthew 23:23, Jesus actually commended the Pharisees for tithing. You can't get more New Testament than Jesus.

So if Jesus told them they should be tithing, you should be tithing. Okay, we're going to read about it here in Malachi 3 8-10. It's a really interesting passage. This is God himself speaking through the prophet Malachi and it says, "Will a man rob God?

Yet you have robbed me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings? You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation.

bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house, into the storehouse, into the temple, into the local church. Okay? And try me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open up for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. This is not name it and claim it.

This is scripture right here. God saying, "Test me. test me before I started this church back in two this church. If you write a check to this church, you make it to biblical principles because that's the ministry that is the parent of this.

I started that ministry in 2001. It's the only time I audibly heard God actually audibly heard his voice tell me to do something. The rest of the time it's a small still voice, but I actually audibly heard his voice tell me to start that ministry. And that ministry was a stewardship ministry.

We would go into churches and we would teach about the tithe, etc. I have watched thousands of people who didn't think they could tithe because they didn't see how they could even pay their bills. They're struggling to pay their bills right now, okay? Step out in that 10% tithe.

And thousands now, not one, not one over 20 years could say anything after a few months other than, "Wow, I don't know how, but like all my bills are paid. I I I'm living the same as I was before or better." And yet, I'm giving 10% away. It doesn't make any sense.

I don't get it. And it doesn't. Okay? That's God's economy.

All right? It's different. It's a world turned upside down. You got to understand that that the tithe is very fair.

It's it's 10%. If you make 500 a month, it's 50 bucks. If you make 5,000, it's 500. It's it's a very fair based on whatever.

If you don't think there's any way you could possibly give it and still pay your bills, that's what you do when you step out in faith. That's the best place to be. And until you do that, you don't know. See, here's the thing.

Jesus a long time ago said that the poor you will always have with you. Okay, that's that's a direct statement from Jesus. Now that means that even if you were to give break take all the money from the rich and gave it all to the poor within two years the poor would be poor again and the rich would be rich because poverty is a mindset. Okay, so let me explain something.

So this is just a dollar. This is just a piece of paper. Okay, it's how you think about it. So the poor people think about this as something to get like food.

Okay, the middle class people think of this as something to buy stuff with. So they buy a house and they buy a car. Of course, they don't buy it with cash. They leverage it up with loans.

So now they're in debt. Okay, the piece people who are driving around $100,000 cars are not the guys that are making millions of dollars. They're the guys who are making two to 300,000 that can afford a $3,000 a month payment and that's what they're doing. Zero do it signing drive and sign, you know, and they're just driving off the lot with no money.

Okay. But the the wealthy look at this as something to invest. It's an investment tool. It's a servant for me.

This is something to invest and something to to enjoy life with. Okay? It's a servant. It's not a master.

Okay? And and so when you tithe, you're giving 10% into what? Ministry. You immediately are beginning to invest in church.

You're immediately stepping out of the poor mindset into an investor wealthy mindset. And because you've been faithful in the little, God's going to be faithful with a lot. That's what he says right here. Test me in this and see if I don't pour out for you blessing.

Brian, I don't know how I can give the church 200 when I make 2,000. It doesn't I I can't I can't afford it. Try it. Try it.

And I'm not saying that so you can pay for me. I pay all the bills of this church from my own job. I don't pull a salary. I pay it all.

So every dollar that goes into this church goes to local ministries, goes to Glenn's ministries, goes to helping people. It it feed it feeds the poor. It it it does good. You you you just give in.

You're planting seeds. You're truly investing in the kingdom. when you tithe. But what you're doing is you're stepping out into a new faithful way of living.

It's very powerful. And and and if you really can't see how you can possibly do it, that's the best place to be, man. Try it. Wake up in the morning and pray for God to be with you.

You can pray for God to help you financially. You can help him pray for him to help you get a job. You can pray pray for good things. Pray for others.

Okay, when pray for people that you have asked you to pray for them. Okay, pray for others. Be thankful in your prayers but you can pray for your own stuff too. Okay, so pray and then obey God in the area of money in the area of your job in in in all of the areas and then just don't worry about it.

Trust him and relax. The government shut down for two months. Two months. I had no money for two months.

Okay, now watch this. It cost me $6,000 a month to pay all the bills for this place. Okay, I made zero money. I'm not I don't get a salary.

I made zero money for two months. Zero. And somehow these bills got paid. I didn't borrow any money and I didn't take any money out of my savings.

Where'd it come from? I don't know. It just came. That's how it works.

And when you start stepping out in the faith and tithe, things like that happen. You're like, I mean, I don't know how I lost my job. I still pay all the bills. I mean, it's just like it's it's just amazing.

It's a miracle. If you're faithful, God will be faithful. It's unbelievable. So, let's look at family, okay?

You got family. Pray every day for your family. Every morning on my knees, I pray for my kids. I pray for God to forgive their sins, but I also pray for them um for a hedge of protection and for the blood of the of Jesus to cover them.

Okay? I pray for them every day. Um and I also pray for specific things if I know they're struggling with this or that. I pray for it specifically.

Okay? And then how what does God tell us to do as far as in relation to our family? Love God and love what? Love others.

Right? So we're supposed to love on our family. All right? And so you All right, your brother is a Democrat and you're a Republican.

You haven't spoken in years. You got to fix that. Okay, fix that. That's what the Bible would say tell you to do.

Okay, you got to fix it. So, so you're going to pray, then you're going to obey by loving. Then you don't worry about it. What?

How are my kids going to turn out? How are they going to are they going to do God's got this? God's got this. You don't have to worry about it.

You know what's amazing? It does all work out. I mean, my kids are all fine, right? They had divorce.

They had all sorts of stupid stuff happen to them and they're all fine. I It's not me. I I didn't I didn't figure that piece out. Like five years ago, you'd have never told me that I'd be a preaching and two, my daughter Caitlyn would be coming every Sunday.

She wasn't talking to me five years ago. Okay. So, like God, it all works out, man. Pray, obey, and just worry about today.

He's got the rest of it handled. It's it's a safest place to be. It's the funnest place to be. Let's say you're let's let's look at relationships.

Does this strategic plan of Jesus's work in relationships? Well, if you're married, pray, right? If you pray with your wife every day, you have a 0. 003% of divorce chance of divorce.

0. 003. Whereas if you're if you're not praying every day together, it's it's closer to what the world's is, which is close to 50%. Okay?

0. 003. So praying and then what is and then obey. What does the Bible say?

How is a man supposed to love his wife? Be a servant leader. Right? How's a woman supposed to love a man?

Submit and come up underneath him. You serve each other in love, right? So you pray, you obey, you serve each other in love, and you don't worry about it because the relationship's going to be okay. You you we create all this stress worrying, well, he said this and she did.

Don't worry about it. Pray. Treat each other with love. Don't worry about it.

God's got this. It's a better way to live. Let's say you're single. Okay?

I mean, it works everywhere. Let's say you're single. Focus on God, right? You're gonna pray in the morning, focus on God.

All right? What does he say to obey us? He's we're supposed to love God and love others. So, you work on your relationship with God.

Okay? He's building that. And I will tell you that a godly man when he sees a woman who's God-fearing and chasing after the Lord and growing her relationship with the Lord, that's sexy, man. That is sexy.

Okay. My kids are shaking their head. Likewise. Okay.

Likewise, the same thing. If a woman's out there and she sees a man who's chasing after the Lord and trying to grow as a as a as a man and a leader, that's going to become very attractive to her. I'm telling you from personal experience, it's very attractive. Okay?

So, so this works for them. Pray, obey, and let God because who knows who who your wife is supposed to be? Who knows you or God? Who's the one who knows?

Right? God knows who he's preparing for you. So, if you're a single person, work on your relationship with God and then trust that it's he's going to bring the right one because he will. It's amazing.

He will. It works. This stuff works. It's like crazy.

It's like if we do what Jesus says, it works. Wow. Who knew? Okay.

It's beautiful. Pray. You can pray about the your future spouse, okay? Pray for them and ask God to bring that right person in.

Where are you going to be in five years? I don't know. Okay, but God does. So, what are we sitting here doing all this worry about?

You don't have to worry. Is this biblical to trust God? Does it say that somewhere? Don't worry about your own understanding.

Trust the Lord your God with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. Wait, so the Bible tells us to do this. Wow, that's cool.

All right, we're supposed to do this. All right, health. Everyone's worried about health, right? What about my health, man?

80% of all health issues come from stress and your gut, what you're eating. Okay, if you're praying for God to help you stay healthy, okay, if you've got a certain thing, pray for God to reveal it. He has healed many, many, many, many, many, millions of people, okay? He can heal you.

Okay? But pray for him and then you obey him. All right? In the area of your health because the body is a temple.

Just obey what he says to eat. And then you don't worry about it, which is obeying him again. Okay? Pray, obey, and just worry about today.

Guess what? The stress is gone because you're not worrying about the future. You're not worrying about it. And if you truly believe what God did on that cross, okay, and how he took your sins away, then you don't have to beat yourself up over the past.

That's gone. So now the stress is gone. All of a sudden, you're walking through life and it's all just kind of works out. My kids will tell you kind of just it all works out for me, okay?

because I'm just going through life trusting Jesus more than I trust myself because I'm not trustworthy when it comes down to it except but for God. Okay? If it weren't for God, I wouldn't be. So, it works in every area of your life.

So, this is how it looks. Okay? Let's wrap this up. You wake up.

So you wake up in the morning. This is a daily This is a daily thing. You wake up in the morning, okay? And you pray.

You spend time in the morning with prayer and you pray. Okay? If you're on your knee, I like to be on my knees. Wherever you pray, whether you're sitting in a chair, wherever you're praying, it doesn't matter.

Don't be legalistic about it. Just pray. But God may prompt you in your spirit, you know, oh, check in on somebody or he might give you specific direction. I always stop because I'm on my knees praying, right?

So, I get up, I go over, I write on a sticky note the things that he's telling me. Oh, text Caitlyn or or, you know, follow up with Clark or whatever whatever he's telling me to do. I write it down and then I go back to praying. And then when I'm done with that, then I get up, okay, and I go into my day.

If God doesn't give you anything specific to do, just go into your day doing what you've already planned, okay? To do that day, you have to be at work at a certain time. You have to do whatever. But be open to it.

Now, you go into your day with this open expectancy that God's going to do something special, okay? And you're looking for opportunities to join him in what he's already doing around you because God's always working. He's always doing something around you. It's just whether you're paying attention and then whether you join him in that.

Okay? But when you're living this way, you are choosing to join him. And so that that distraction that got you to work five minutes late, where's God in that? Okay.

And and a new opportunity is right around the corner in that. Okay. And that happens all the time. Where is it?

You were at a All right. So Clark spoke Thursday at a men's um uh Bible study. Okay. Okay.

Now, I've been invited to this Bible study many times, but I never go because it's Thursday morning and I just have a lot of stuff going on, right? Uh but Daniel, okay, who who was here and is here today. They're both here today. Kind of cool.

Um the day that we did that lunch where I bought everyone lunch, they both showed up. Okay, they don't always show up every time, but they both were there that day. They didn't know each other and they met each other at that lunch. And then Daniel invited him to speak at the um Bible study thing on Thursday which is giving him an idea of how he can be working preaching to men a future for his ministry.

Right? And and and all of that happened from a meeting there which even going further back wouldn't have happened if Glenn wouldn't have opened up this place to us to even do the church. Right? So when you see God's moving in stuff and you don't even you can't even fathom it all.

You can't like you can't comp you can't compute this stuff. Okay, that's the best place to be. So, you wake up, you pray, you do whatever God tells you to do. You obey him in the areas of your family and your money and your your stuff.

And then you just stay expectant for what good stuff he's going to do today. And you don't worry about tomorrow because he's got tomorrow in his hands. Okay? And now you're going through life with a whole heck of a lot less stress.

And and then just make sure you eat right, man. Don't eat McDonald's. Um, so I gota I gotta throw that out there. Right.

So, so this year, so this is a different way of living than I I used to do it. I used to really be fidious about my planning. Okay. So, this is a real different way of living this past year.

I did very little planning and more of this just trusting God. And this has been the most productive year of my life. I published a book. I started a church.

My my business went into a tough time. Yet, I doubled my um my leadflow sources. Okay. I didn't plan any of it.

I th this church was not in my game plan in December of last year, a year ago. It this didn't happen till March. So, like you just pray, obey, and go into your day and allow God to work. and you you can't believe how productive you can be.

Okay, so as um Gabe and Kelsey come on up, I just want you guys to be thinking about if anything I've shared today. Lord, I just pray that um that you contemplate your life, you contemplate the worries. Look in your heart for the areas that you worry about. Your health, certain family members, your money, whatever it is that you're worrying about.

That's an area that you're not trusting God in yet. Okay? You're not trusting God. And I pray that you begin to to obey him in those areas and begin to trust him.

And I pray now over everyone here that you will you will get into a place where you're obeying and trusting God because it is the safest place to be. It's the best place to be. And and there is no better place than in the center of God's will. And I just pray that now for everyone here.

So take this time to reflect. If you don't know Jesus, come up. I'm going to be right there. Um and and and just think on where are these areas that you're you're worried about and then Can you take it to God and be more obedient in those areas?

Okay. Um, I love you guys and and uh we lift up Jesus now in in uh Jesus name. Amen. [Music]