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[0:00] Finally, we have Jake Tice with us here today. I'm going to bring him up. He's a missionary to Sri Lanka, him and his wife, and their two young kiddos. He's going to talk to us about what they're doing out there and everything.

[0:13] Once he's done talking, Sunday school can be dismissed, and you guys can go down. Okay. Awesome.

[0:23] Thank you so much. They offered to give me an uncorded mic, but I was like, I'll be all over the stage if you guys do that. Thank you guys so much for letting me come this morning.

[0:34] I really appreciate it. I was all but a stranger just a few months ago to many of you guys here, and so I got a chance to sit down with some of your pastors and elders, and they got to vet me a little bit, and here I am holding the microphone on your guys' altar.

[0:49] I just think that's so amazing. God does some really cool stuff, and I want to share with you guys this morning some of the cool things that I've gotten to be a part of because people just like you have chosen to give legs to the gospel in places like Sri Lanka.

[1:02] And so this is a picture of my wife and two children there. I don't know what I just did. Up on the screen, my wife's name is Samantha. I have a two-year-old son, Liam, and a one-year-old daughter, Ava.

[1:15] And yes, we are all going back overseas to Sri Lanka. And so if you're anything like my wife, when I told her that we were going to Sri Lanka, she asked me where that was, and she had to Google it in order to find it on the map.

[1:27] And so for those of you like that, right here just south of India, Sri Lanka is actually an island about the third the size of Iowa, and it has 22 million people in it.

[1:38] So for some context, Iowa has 3 million. So a lot more people there. Yep. And so before I get too far into things, my wife and I, we serve on what's called a live-dead church planting team in Sri Lanka.

[1:52] And really boiled down what that means is church planting amongst unreached people groups through teams. And really it's those unreached people groups that really broke my heart to be overseas.

[2:03] Because when I found out that there was people that have never one time had a chance to hear about the gospel, and the chances of them ever meeting a Christian are slim to basically none, and that 42% of the world's population falls into that category, that broke my heart.

[2:21] I think I had this idea growing up, and I grew up actually, for those of you who don't know, I should share that. I grew up in Balltown, Iowa, so who knows where Balltown is? That's the most hands I've ever had in a service everywhere, anywhere, because it's such a tiny little town.

[2:36] But I wanted to share that with you guys, because to be born in Balltown in 1991 was to be born Catholic. And so I was born and raised in the Catholic Church, and it wasn't until after college that I graduated, moved to Western Iowa, that God radically changed my life.

[2:51] And I kind of woke up to this idea that I'm actually not good. God's actually not pleased with the way I was living at that time, and I was probably going to hell. But then all at once it hit me, because I had gone to Catholic school up until eighth grade.

[3:04] I'm like, oh, yeah, Jesus. Like, this is why he was so important. And it happened quickly. That was in 2016 that God kind of radically, the end of 2016, December, actually, that God radically changed my life.

[3:16] And between the end of 2016 and now, I got married. I had two kids and was a missionary for two years in Sri Lanka. And so things can happen quickly under those circumstances.

[3:28] But those unreached people groups that I was sharing with you guys about, 42% of the world's population lives in those unreached people groups. And growing up, I had this idea that there were people who didn't know Jesus, but there were missionaries, and they were telling those people about Jesus.

[3:46] Praise the Lord, right? But the reality is there are far too few missionaries telling those people about Jesus. And so I don't want you to think, like, praise the Lord, there are missionaries telling them, right?

[3:59] Let's praise the Lord, but let's not for a second pretend that there are enough missionaries telling them. And so when I found that out, I just felt this immense burden, like, I need to do something. At the time, I was working in my dream job with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and I was almost vested in IPERS.

[4:17] And God just radically changed everything. So I want to share with you guys a little bit about what we got to be a part of there in Sri Lanka. So this was our final life group. This was our final Bible study that we got to have in Sri Lanka.

[4:29] We had this one at a coffee shop to be a little more celebratory. But you can see in that picture there, there are many hijams. Most of the people we have Bible studies with are actually not followers of Jesus.

[4:41] For the first time, many of these people actually held a Bible at one of our Bible studies. I got to be a part of that experience where they held the word of God in their hand for the first time because people just like you have chosen to give legs to the gospel in places like Sri Lanka through different ways like prayer and finances.

[5:02] So some of the people from this group, this young lady, her name is Wahara for security purposes. This picture, guys, is taken at the Dubuque Farmer's Market. When I met Wahara, she was a Buddhist in Sri Lanka married to a man from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

[5:19] What are the chances? That man in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin was not a follower of Jesus. But by the time Wahara left Sri Lanka, she wanted to be a Christian. So when she landed here in the States, she told her husband, I want to go to church.

[5:32] And they did. And a year ago, August, they were both baptized as their church as new believers in Jesus. I think that's fantastic. This young man here.

[5:43] Yeah, praise the Lord, you guys. This young man here, his name is Muhammad. This is a picture actually of his baptism there. I got to be a part of that because people just like you have chosen to give legs to the gospel in places like Sri Lanka.

[5:57] This last young lady with my wife up there, her name is Fatima for security purposes. And she's still a Muslim today. But we have so much faith that God is going to radically change her life.

[6:10] But for her to follow Jesus is a big deal. When she told her family that she was marrying somebody that's not a Muslim, her uncle threatened to take her into another room and light her on fire.

[6:21] So when my wife asked her, Fatima, what happens if Jesus reveals himself to you as the only way? She said, sister, that would be pretty difficult. And that was the story that she told her was about her uncle that was going to light her on fire.

[6:36] And so I want to kind of end with this. We talk of the second coming, but half the world has never heard of the first. We might sit around the lunch table and argue about pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib.

[6:49] We might argue about this, that, or the other thing. What songs we should use for worship. Should we have our hands in the air or not have our hands in the air? You guys, half the world doesn't even know Jesus came once.

[7:02] And I think that's a really big deal. And so this last slide up here, this is just kind of a picture of my family. There's some more information up there if you want to scan a QR code.

[7:12] And with my last one minute, I want to leave you with this. So when I leave to go to Sri Lanka, I leave friends and family here who don't know Jesus.

[7:25] And I get to go to Sri Lanka because people just like you have chosen to give legs to the gospel in places like Sri Lanka, through your prayers and finances. But when I leave, I'm banking on you, not people just like you.

[7:38] I'm banking on you to continue to give legs to the gospel here in Dubuque County, Iowa. Because without people like you giving legs to the gospel here, people like my friends and family will die without a saving relationship with Jesus.

[7:55] And that breaks my heart. And so I thank you so much, you guys, for letting me be here this morning. Hopefully you were encouraged to go and share the gospel. Hopefully you were encouraged by the fact that more people need to know.

[8:06] So we should let that break our hearts a little bit and let it change us a little bit. But come on up, Pastor. I'm just going to keep talking until you're up here. And so we'll be here all day if you're going to wait for me to set the mic down.

[8:18] But I love you guys, and I appreciate this opportunity. All right. All right. And I've got to follow this guy.

[8:31] Awesome. Thank you so much. You got that remote? I might need that. Oh, it's on the phone. Okay. All right. Thank you, Jake. So, yeah, Jake was talking about, you know, I think he's run into a handful of people from church in town.

[8:47] So, oh, yeah, Release Sunday School and teachers and students. So thanks a lot, Jake. Appreciate it. All right.

[9:00] Yeah, I ran into Jake a month or two ago at Charlotte's Coffee Shop. And what a blessing. Good man. All right. Yeah, so if you want to, certainly if you want to support him, you know, get with him.

[9:12] I think the information that he's provided as well, I know he's got some cards as well. So, all right. So, good morning. Happy New Year to everybody.

[9:25] So, you probably noticed we've kind of departed a little bit from going through the Gospel of Mark. And we kind of took a break, you know, through the holidays and everything.

[9:36] We're going to get back to that in a couple of weeks. But I'm going to talk today a little bit about New Year's. So, New Year's is 12 days ago.

[9:46] You know, so we're about almost two weeks into it. How's it going? How's it going with your New Year's resolutions or goals or whatever, you know? Usually about now or in the coming weeks maybe we start to falter a little bit on those.

[10:02] And, you know, common resolutions that you have. I mean, what do people usually do? You know, you want to kind of like improve your life a little bit or you want to, you know, maybe health and fitness.

[10:16] I'm going to, you know, I want to get healthy. I want to start eating right, that kind of thing. Or maybe you have goals about like financial things. You know, I want to save money for this or I want to start living on a budget, that kind of thing.

[10:29] You know, maybe using your time better. Maybe planning for spending time with family, maybe that kind of thing. You know, I need to spend more time with loved ones, make time for that.

[10:40] Maybe I want to travel more or maybe I want to learn a new skill. You know, different things like that. You know, stopping bad habits, of course. A lot of people do that. But the question I have is, well, first of all, why do we do that at New Year's?

[10:54] You know, why do we do it at New Year's? You know, it's an opportunity to start fresh. You've got a new year coming. Okay, I'll wait until January 1st and I'll start fresh kind of thing.

[11:07] Let me get this out of the way here. But, you know, you can do that anytime, really. You can start new habits, start new things anytime. It doesn't have to be New Year's, does it?

[11:19] But how do you know that what you are doing is what you should be doing? How do you know that the goals you're setting or the resolutions you're making, how do you know that those are the ones that you should be doing?

[11:33] How do you know that that's what you should be doing? You know, they're based on our experience, you know, based on our own priorities, our own, you know, desires, things like that.

[11:45] But what if God has something better for you in 2025? You know, what if maybe he has something that's altogether different than what maybe you believe that he has?

[12:03] You know, he created us. He created you and me. And he created the planet. And he created us to enjoy the planet. You know, he's done, he's blessed us with so many things.

[12:14] And he has plans for each one of us. I believe he has plans for each one of us. And they're plans for our good. The verse in Jeremiah 29, 11, I know you know, a lot of you know this one.

[12:28] For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. And I believe that's true. Now, it's dependent on us walking according to his plans.

[12:41] It doesn't mean automatically you're going to have, you know, your life is going to be, you know, beneficial. It's going to be like a blessing, that kind of thing.

[12:52] But as we walk with him, as we get to know him, I believe, and it's not about, you know, the plans to prosper. He's not talking about money there. He's talking about fulfillment, about, you know, what does he say?

[13:05] Peace, joy, love. I mean, he came for that. Ephesians 2.10 is similar. The one where it says, for you are God's workmanship. You are God's masterpiece created in Christ to do good works, which he prepared in advance for us to do.

[13:22] We've talked about this before. He has plans. He has good works. He has things for us to do, and therefore, our good, therefore, our blessing. You know, we're in partnership with God.

[13:35] Now, we've talked about that before as well. In John 15, what does he say? Jesus said, I no longer call you servants, but I call you friends because a servant doesn't know what his master is up to.

[13:49] We're friends with God. We're his partner. You know, Matthew 28, you know, go and make disciples, baptize them, teach them. We're in partnership with God.

[14:00] It's a partnership. And it's for our good, for our blessing. Genesis 2.9 says, God created the trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.

[14:12] He created, it's pleasing to the eye, good for food. He wants to bless us. He wants us to enjoy, enjoy what he has for us. Jeremiah 2.7 says, God brought the Israelites into a plenty for land to enjoy its fruits and good things.

[14:32] And good things. So, I mean, he's blessed us. He wants us. He brought us into good things. He wants us. He's got plans for us, I guess, is what I'm saying. But how can we know that we're experiencing all that he has for us?

[14:48] How can we know? Can we know? Can we know what is God's best for us? Can we know that? Can we know what God's will is for us as individuals, as couples, as families?

[15:04] Can we know? The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to a group of Christians in Rome. And we're going to kind of walk through that letter a little bit.

[15:16] So I'd like to pray first. Dear Father, we do just thank you so much that you love us so much, God. Thank you that you've touched our lives. God, I thank you for Jake and what you're doing through Jake and through others there, Lord.

[15:30] Thank you for what you're doing here in Dubuque, Father. God, we thank you that you do have plans for us. Lord, help us to know what they are. Help us to follow them. I want to pray that you speak to me today.

[15:45] I want to pray that you speak through me today. I want to pray that you touch our lives, touch all of us, Lord. Help us to learn what you have for us today. And that our lives would be different.

[15:56] They'd be more like you as a result of today. We do ask you to bless the other churches around the tri-state area and other churches around the world. Just pray, God, that you would minister to your people, touch their lives.

[16:10] Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So the Apostle Paul was considered by most to be, let's see, where am I here?

[16:27] Extremely intelligent. One of the most brilliant people that ever lived and certainly one of the most brilliant people in the first century. And, of course, he wrote the book of Romans along with a number of epistles.

[16:45] The book of Romans is considered by most to be the most comprehensive and systematic explanation of Christian doctrine. A lot of people refer to it as the gospel according to Paul.

[16:59] It's that important. It presents the good news of the grace of God and justification by faith. And then it also gives practical advice on how to live as a Christian.

[17:16] The prominence of Rome in the first century was a part of the reason why they put it first. But the letter of Rome was put first in the New Testament because of all this, because it's so important.

[17:30] Not that any of the rest of the scriptures is unimportant, obviously. All right. Paul had actually never been to Rome when he wrote the letter to the Romans.

[17:42] But he was heading there, and then he was planning on going on to Spain to kind of share the gospel in Spain. It says that in chapter 16. So he wanted to make sure, so he kind of wrote this, and he sent it on ahead, and he wanted to make sure we're all on the same page kind of thing.

[17:58] So that's why it's so comprehensive. He wanted to make sure we're on the same page. It's divided essentially into two parts. So the first part is basically chapters 1 through 11, and it's good news doctrine, 1 through 11.

[18:14] And then starting with chapter 12, he gets practical and starts giving practical advice. In chapter 12, he actually says that we can know what God's will is for us.

[18:27] We can actually know the will of God. It essentially says if we do this, we can know God's will. And we can plan our new year around the will of God.

[18:42] We can actually know it. What he has for us is better than anything we can ever dream up for ourselves. Romans 12.2.

[18:53] This is from Romans 12.2. I got it here. He says this. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

[19:06] To test and approve what God's will is. Now, it doesn't mean we're able to kind of pass judgment over whether, you know, over God's will kind of thing. But what it means is that we can learn to discern which direction, which choice, which decision is better, is a better way for us to go.

[19:27] The way that God would have us go. We can learn to understand the will of God. We can know God's will, and we will have the ability to test the various choices, to approve the decisions.

[19:42] We will understand God's will. So you might say to yourself, yeah, but what if what God wants is not what I want, right?

[19:53] But what if he wants me to go to Sri Lanka or something, or Cambodia? But what if he wants me to do something I don't want? Well, the second part of the verse says this.

[20:08] It says that which is his good, pleasing, and perfect will. See, his will is good. It's pleasing.

[20:18] It's perfect. Good for who? Pleasing for whom? Perfect for whom? Well, it's good, pleasing, and perfect for him, but it's also good and pleasing and perfect for us.

[20:30] He's got what's best for us in mind. He loves you. He loves us. What he has for us is so much better than anything we could dream of.

[20:42] And it may be Sri Lanka. You know? I don't know. So how do we get there? How do we get where we can know and determine God's will?

[20:55] Well, he tells us in chapters 1 through 11. So we're going to just read that today. We'll just kind of, you guys comfortable? We'll just read through Romans 1 through 11. What do you think? Huh?

[21:06] Wouldn't you love to do that? Oh, that would be awesome. We don't have time to do that. We're going to just kind of summarize it a bit, though. First of all, what we're talking about here is only for God's children.

[21:22] Okay? This is for people that have trusted Christ. They've got the Spirit of God living in them. Because what we're talking about here is supernatural. This is supernatural work in our lives.

[21:35] And you need to have come to a saving faith in Christ. This is a supernatural thing. In Romans, Paul takes us through the good news.

[21:47] Chapters 1 through about halfway through chapter 3, he talks about a huge problem. The problem of sin. Okay, so what is sin? Well, sin is, you know, God created the world.

[21:58] He created us. He created everything. And he kind of set it up to be lived a certain way. He set it up for things to happen a certain way. And when we decide to kind of do our own thing, go our own way, that's what sin is, basically.

[22:13] It's we're going our own way. We're not going the way that he wants. And sin separates us from God. So chapters 1 through about halfway through 3, you know, God requires righteousness, which means rightness with God.

[22:31] And, you know, who of us is righteous? Well, in chapter, halfway through 3 all the way to chapter 6, he gives the solution. Jesus Christ came to solve the problem.

[22:46] Christ on the cross, you know, he died on the cross for our sins, paid for our sin. He was raised from the dead to bring us eternal life. And we can now have a relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ.

[23:03] Through Christ, we are made righteous. We are made right with God through Jesus. So he talks about verses like this from chapter 3.

[23:15] This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.

[23:34] Powerful stuff, chapter 3. Chapter 5, he says this. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

[23:49] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, while we were still his enemies, Christ died for us.

[24:11] And then chapter 6, right at the end of this section here, he kind of summarizes with this verse, common verse. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[24:25] The wages we've earned because of our sin, because of our going our own way, separated from God. We've earned death, which is his separation from God. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

[24:38] Awesome. Powerful stuff. Makes it possible for us to enter into a personal relationship with the living God. Chapters 7 through 8, he kind of continues to expound on that.

[24:53] You know, there's a conflict between the spirit and the flesh, basically between our new self and our old self. So he talks about that. Talks about how this new life is lived out by the power of the spirit.

[25:06] And we're going to talk about that today. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He says that no condemnation. It even says that the spirit even prays for us with groanings too deep for words.

[25:20] Just some powerful stuff in Christian life. Chapters 9 through 11 is kind of like a parenthesis. What he's doing is he's talking about Israel's role in the new covenant.

[25:33] And I know Jim Munson shared some things from these chapters last week a little bit, but I think the previous one I think you shared quite a bit. Some good stuff there.

[25:43] You know, so what is Israel's role with the new covenant? And so he kind of, he talks about that. In there is this verse, or this passage.

[25:56] It says, Powerful, powerful stuff.

[26:18] He's talking about what it takes to become a Christian. Declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. He's not saying you need to utter words, but what he's saying is there's a point in time where you decide, yes, Jesus is Lord.

[26:35] Believe in your heart that he raised him from the dead. You will be saved. Salvation. Awesome. All right. So back to this verse here.

[26:47] You can know God's will. We can know God's will. That's what it says. It says, Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will. Okay, what comes before the then is this.

[26:59] He says, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Okay. Do not conform.

[27:12] So, you know, we live in a fallen world, a broken world. Just living here, just operating in the world, that conforming takes place.

[27:22] We are being conformed to the world. And what he's saying is we need to be transformed. And, again, how does this happen? It's a supernatural thing.

[27:33] Transformation is supernatural. It happens only to God's people. How are we transformed? It says it right there. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

[27:47] So we're talking about supernatural renewing of our minds. That's what I want to talk about. You know, we talk about, you know, kind of living the Christian life.

[27:57] And I think oftentimes we think it's about me just trying really hard to stop sinning, to overcome this sin. Or I'm going to just start, you know, disciplining myself to get up early and, you know, get in the Bible or do this.

[28:11] And it's, you know, we think it's my effort. I've got to put forth the effort. But then what about verses that talk about God's energy, God's strength?

[28:22] And where does that come into play? Colossians 1, toward the end, there's a part where Apostle Paul says, we proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

[28:34] And he says this, Is God working in you?

[28:46] Is God working in me? Is he working with his energy to transform us? That's what the Bible says. Philippians 2, the one where it says, It is God who works in you to will and to work according to his good pleasure.

[29:00] God working in you. All right? How does that work? How do we have the supernatural mind renewing that transforms us?

[29:12] So that's what we're going to talk about. God's given us these supernatural gifts to help us.

[29:23] So what I want to talk about is three habits for supernatural mind renewal in 2025. Supernatural mind renewal.

[29:36] The first habit we're going to talk about is to walk in God's presence. To walk in God's presence. The second habit would be to walk by God's promises.

[29:49] Walk by God's promises. And then the third habit we want to talk about is to walk with God's people. All right? So we're going to expound on these. To walk in God's presence.

[30:02] Back to Romans chapter 8. It says this, Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires, but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires.

[30:20] All right? So we're talking about walking in God's presence. We've got the Holy Spirit living inside us, you guys. If you've trusted Christ, he lives in you.

[30:33] He lives in me. He lives in us. The Holy Spirit. We have access to supernatural help to help us if we ask for it.

[30:44] You know, Lord, help me to set my mind on your things. Help me, Lord, to make the right decisions.

[30:55] Help me. Help me to know your will. He lives in you. He lives in me. He's there. It's a supernatural gift for us that the Holy Spirit, he lives inside us.

[31:09] It's awesome. Another verse that talks about this is from Galatians. It says, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

[31:26] And then he talks about what the works of the flesh are. He lists a bunch of, you know, evil things there. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, sin things, you know, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, you know, envy.

[31:41] Things that, a lot of bad stuff, but a lot of that stuff, I think we're all guilty of, aren't we? But he says, But I say, walk by the Spirit. And it's interesting.

[31:53] The only command in this section is that command. Walk by the Spirit. And if you walk by the Spirit, what will be the result?

[32:04] You will not gratify the desires of the flesh. What's another result? Verses 22 and 23. What does it say? But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

[32:22] The fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of walking by the Spirit. He lives in us, you guys. We can depend on him to help us.

[32:32] We can trust him to help us. This is supernatural, supernatural gifts that he has for us that we can use in 2025, I guess.

[32:44] I don't know if use is the right word, but we can walk in God's presence. It's supernatural. So how do you do that?

[32:55] I think first we recognize, first of all, that he does live in us. Just recognize that. Know that the Holy Spirit is in us. And then expect him to help you when you ask him.

[33:07] Expect him to help you. Expect him to give you the power, to give you the will to help you. Trust him. This is a faith thing. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about faith.

[33:18] Without faith, it's impossible to please God, right? Anything that does not come from faith. This is about faith. It's about trusting in God, trusting in his Spirit living inside us.

[33:30] Rely on him. All right. Second one is to walk by God's promises. So, again, this is about a relationship with the living God, right?

[33:41] We are in relationship with God. We are learning to get to know him better, learning to trust him more. It's about our faith growing. We're growing in faith.

[33:52] Again, from Romans, he says this. So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Faith through hearing the word of Christ.

[34:04] It has to be a central part of our lives. Again, we're talking about supernatural power to change us in 2025. Supernatural power.

[34:15] Hebrews 4 says the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.

[34:26] It's alive. The word of God is powerful. It's alive. 2 Timothy 3 says all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.

[34:38] The word of God is a supernatural gift that God's given us, powerful gift. And it's supernatural. So, I encourage you, we want to walk in the promises.

[34:54] I guess I forgot about this verse. Sorry about that. Let's go back to this. So, this is 2 Peter 1. It says that he has granted to us his precious and great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from corruption that is in the world because of sinful desires.

[35:20] What's he saying there? He's talking about the promises of God, the word of God, and it's through them, through the promises, through the promises, supernatural power, that what happens?

[35:35] You may become partakers of the divine nature. What does that mean? Well, it means he's going to be changing us through his promises, changing us. This is God working in us.

[35:45] Having escaped the corruption of the world by lust, by sinful desires, changing us. The word of God, the word of God changing us.

[35:55] It has the power to do that. So, we walk by God's promises. So, how do we do that? In 2025, if you haven't already, make it a habit to read the Bible regularly.

[36:12] You know, maybe shoot for daily. Be in the Bible every day. Again, it's powerful. It's supernatural power, the word of God, daily.

[36:23] And then, expect the Holy Spirit, who's in you as well, to interpret, to apply, to help you along the way. John 16 says, Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit.

[36:35] He says, he will guide you into all truth. He lives in us. He's there to guide us into all truth. Make the Bible a part of your life in 2025 on a daily basis.

[36:47] And then, trust the Spirit to teach you. It's supernatural, guys. It's a supernatural mind-renewing power.

[36:57] All right. All right. Okay, last one. Walk with God's people. So, we need to recognize that God has gifted others around us.

[37:11] Again, supernatural gifts. Gifts of the Spirit. He's gifted every one of you that knows Christ with gifts to help us in our walk.

[37:21] Supernatural gifting for our good. And gifting in me for your good. Romans, again, Romans chapter 12, 6 through 8 says this.

[37:33] We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith.

[37:44] Essentially, what he's saying is he's listing a bunch of gifts and he's just saying, okay, we've got all these gifts. Use these gifts. Use them. Let's use our gifts. And also, allow others to use their gifts in you or to you.

[38:01] Supernatural help for our good. Another verse kind of similar is from Ephesians 4. It says this, but to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

[38:16] So, Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up.

[38:29] That's you and you and me. Gifts. Gifts of service. So, why did he give us these gifts? Why did he give us these gifts?

[38:40] He says that in verse 12. To equip his people for works of service. To prepare God's people. That's why he gave us the gifts. We each have them.

[38:51] Spiritual gifts. To help prepare us. All of us. And then we help others as well. I mean, verse 7, what does he say there?

[39:03] But to each one of us, grace has been given. All right, I need to drink a water. To each one of us, grace has been given.

[39:14] Every one of us has been given gifts. And then he says, I love verse 16 there. From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.

[39:36] Isn't that cool? That's all of us. All right. So, this is supernatural gifting, you guys. Each one of you is a supernatural gift to me because you're gifted.

[39:50] It's supernatural power. Gifts of the Holy Spirit. And we all have them. And we can all benefit from others' gifts. So, the last one there was walk with God's people.

[40:04] So, what does that mean? Sunday morning, come to church. Yeah. You guys are all here. We can build into each other's lives.

[40:17] I would encourage you, though, to find another time outside of Sunday morning to also connect with God's people. You know, somewhere along the way, every week, you know, maybe another church member.

[40:32] Invite somebody that you know from, hey, let's go out for coffee on Tuesday or something. Or it could be a family member that knows Jesus. You know, a friend, whatever. Someone that knows God and loves you and will speak into your life.

[40:47] Not just Sunday morning, but some other time during the week. And really, I would encourage you to find maybe two or three people that you can start meeting with regularly.

[40:58] Again, we're talking about supernatural power to help to show us, to help us to get to know God, to get to know his will. And to get to know what he wants for us.

[41:10] All right. Back to Romans 12. So, you know, the way to know God's will, you know, we can test and approve. How do we do it? Do not conform to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, right?

[41:25] But it takes a decision. It takes a commitment, what it takes. I'd like to read the verses that are ahead of this. Actually, just verse 1 in Romans 12. It says this.

[41:36] So what's he saying there?

[41:55] He's saying, okay, chapters 1 through 11, what we just covered, all the stuff we just covered. In view of this, what makes sense? In view of what he's done for us, what he's given us, what makes sense?

[42:10] By the mercies of God, by his strength, by his power, offer your bodies as living sacrifices. What does that mean?

[42:21] Well, it means you need to make a decision. I'm going to give my life to you, Jesus. That's what he's talking about. I'm going to give my life to you. This is for all of us.

[42:32] We know we're saved. We've got eternal life. But, you know, we can experience so much more if we dedicate more of our life to him. You know, the last part of that verse, it says, this is your true and proper worship.

[42:46] What does he mean by that? This makes sense. This is what worship is. This is what it means to worship. So by the mercies of God, by the grace of God, by the power of God, let's offer our bodies as living sacrifices in 2025.

[43:02] Let's utilize these supernatural gifts to help us supernaturally to renew our minds, to be transformed, to become more like Jesus, to get to know more and more what the will of God is.

[43:17] So in 2025, 2026, when we get a year from now, we're all going to be that much closer to God, that much more in tune with his will. Let's pray.

[43:31] Dear Jesus, we thank you so much for your power, Lord. Thank you for your gifting. Thank you for your supernatural gifts, Lord.

[43:41] Thank you for the spirit. Thank you that you live inside us. Thank you for your word, the power, powerful word to change us. I thank you for your people, God, for the people of this church and beyond this church, your people, and how you use them in our lives.

[44:03] God, help us to do that, Lord, for 2025. I know it's 12 days into it. Help us to dedicate. I want to live for you, God. I want to live for you, Lord Jesus.

[44:16] Help us to make that call, Lord. I think of people here that maybe don't know you, that maybe they've never made the decision to trust you. Just want to lead them in a prayer.

[44:27] So if you're here, keep your eyes closed and your head bowed. If you're here and you've heard the truth, you've heard the gospel, but you've never made the decision to come to Christ, I'd like to lead you in a prayer.

[44:42] Prayer is this. Dear Jesus, thank you that you died on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me and to cleanse me and make me the kind of person you want me to be.

[44:56] Thank you in Jesus' name. Keep your heads bowed and your eyes closed if you would. And I'm going to lead us all in a prayer of dedication to the Lord.

[45:08] Father, again, I think of these supernatural gifts that you've given us. And I think of the fact that we can know your will.

[45:21] You want us to know your will. You want this more than we want it. You want us to experience what you have for us, God. Help us, each of us, to make the decision to dedicate our lives to you, to decide we're going to follow you.

[45:37]  We're going to live for you. And help us to do that in 2025. Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.