Gateway Church Live | “Built on God’s Word” by Pastor Daniel Floyd | January 10–11

Are we ready to worship in this place? Lord, we just honor you, Lord. Be be glorified today. Be magnified in our worship. Be enthroned in our praise. Yes, Jesus. Oh, Christ is my firm foundation. the rock on which I stand when everything around me shaking. And I'll never be more glad that I put my faith in Jesus cuz he's never let me down.

He's faithful through generations. Oh, I would fail now. You won't. Thank you, Lord. I've still got joy in chaos. I've got peace that makes no sense. So, I won't be going under. I'm not held by my own strength. Cuz I built my life on Jesus. He's never let me down.

He's faithful in every season. So why would he now you believe Yeah. Heat. is my foundation. Everything Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. He won't fail. No, he won't. Is he never fails me? He's always good. Come on, we sing. And rain came, wind blew. My house was built on you.

I'm safe with you. I'm going to make it through. Rain came wind blew my house was built on you. I'm safe with you. I'm going to make it through my house for you. Heat. Heat. Heat. Make it beautiful. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. All the earth will shout your praise.

Our hearts will cry. These bones will sing. All the earth will shout your praise. Our hearts will cry before we say Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Are you ready? Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Praise your faithfulness. Praise your name. Nothing like you, Jesus. Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee.

How great thou are. How great thou are. Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee. How great thou are. How great thou art. How great thou are. How great thou are. Thank you, Jesus. Praise your name. Oh Jesus be the name. I could sing your name for all my life and still find more to love each time.

Jesus be the name ever on my lips. It's sweeter every time that I call on it. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. It makes me cry holy. There is no other name. There is no other name.

There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. You have been the friend who never left. And I won't forget your faithfulness. Jesus be the name of all my lips. It's sweeter every time that I call on it. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name.

There's just something about your name. It makes me cry. Holy. There is no other name. No other. There is no other name. There is no other name cuz Jesus you're worthy. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name.

It makes me cry holy. Oh Jesus be the name. There is a name. Oh Jesus, be the name. Oh Jesus, you worthy. You are. Oh, you're worthy, worthy one. You're the lamb of God, the name above every sing. Oh Jesus, your name is light, the more light, the one the darkness can't deny, the resurrection and the life.

Jesus, Jesus, your name can save. Your name can heal. Your name can lay the storm be still. You never fail and you never will. Jesus. Jesus broken for us. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Make it all the glory. >> Oh Jesus be the name.

Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name that gets all the glory. Oh Jesus be the name. Come on, let's sing this out. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. that gets all the glory. King Jesus is the name. Oh Jesus is the name of >> Jesus is the name that gets all the glory. >> Yes, you are.

You're the name above all of the names. You're the name above all names. >> There's nothing stronger. There's nothing greater than the name of Jesus. Oh, the name of Jesus. Nothing higher, nothing greater than the name of Jesus. >> There's nothing like the name of Jesus. Nothing like the name the name of Jesus.

Holy is the Lord. Holy is the Lord. Seated on the throne, the train of his robe. It fills the temple. Worthy is your name. Worthy is your name. Let the heavens rejoice. Let the earth be glad. Say among the nations that our God reigns. Our God reign forever.

Your kingom reigns. Our God reigns. You reign. Our God reigns forever. Your kingom reigns. Worship and adore. Jesus we adore the perfect lamb was slain and risen from the grave. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Forever your kingom. Forever your kingom. God forever. He reigns. He reigns. He reigns over all the earth.

He reigns. He reigns. The only one true God, the only one who saves forever. He will rain. He reigns. He reigns. over all the earth. He reigns. He reigns. The only one true God. The only one who saves forever. He will reign. He reigns. He reigns over all the earth.

He reigns. He reigns. The only one you got. The only one who forever will he only s forever. Jesus reigns. Yes, you reign. Find us on our knees. Have mercy on us. Please. Our hope is in you. We believe it's true that God can save a nation. Find us on our knees.

Have mercy on us. Please. Our hope is in you. We believe it's true. that God can save the nations. We believe how praise your name. I'll praise your name. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Forever God. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Oh, let's give you praise.

Let's thank you for all that he's done. Lord, we give you praise. You and you alone, Lord, are worthy of our praise. Father, we thank you right now for your presence in this place. Lord, we thank you for all that you're saying and all that you're doing and all that you want to do in our lives and in our hearts.

And we give you praise. Just tell him one more time how much you love him. Just tell him right now how much you love him. Oh, he's worthy of your praise. You know, when the presence of God comes strong like he is in a room right now, it's because he has one thing and one thing only on his mind.

Should I say one person and one person only on his mind and it's you. He has the ability to love every one of us as individuals. And he's he's watching our lives. He knows our past. He knows our present. He knows our future. And he cares about everything going on in our life right now.

And as he moves near you, he's asking you to move near him. Every year I ask the Lord for for a word for me for the year. And sometimes that that word is about getting some things right in my life. And sometimes that word is a is about pressing into the presence of God.

And I I just wait for him to lead me through some scripture. And this year he led me to James 4:es 7 and 8. And before I read just a portion of it, here's what he said to me. He said, "For me," and and if you don't have a word for the year, you could steal this one, okay?

I give it to you for free. But he said, "2026 for you, Mark. It's going to be a year of the friendship of God." And he spoke to me out of this verse in James 4:7. Part of it says, "Submit to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you."

And we need that. But the second part in verse 8 says, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." This is going to be a year where we don't hold back out of fear. We don't hold back out of shame. We don't hold back out of out of guilt.

But we press into the presence of God because he wants to be our friend. He told the early disciples, "I no longer call you servant. I call you friend." And friend is with us at all times and he enters into our pain. He enters into our situation. Listen, we don't serve a religious God.

We ser we serve a relational God. He cares about everything we're walking through and he has the power to change it. Do you believe that? So I just declare >> 2026 is a year of intimacy with God, friendship with God. And as we draw near to him, we have the promise he will draw near to us.

And when he does, anything can happen. You believe that? Let's give him praise one more time. Father, we thank you for your presence. Thank you for all that you want to do this year in Jesus name. Well, I'm super excited about Pastor Daniel's message today. He's going to continue the series Built Different and you're in for an amazing amazing word.

But before he comes here in just a moment, why don't you turn find two or three people you don't know and welcome them. Welcome to Gateway Church. God bless you. Well, welcome to church everybody. Okay, that was weak. You still talking to people? Everybody doing well? >> So glad that you're in God's house.

Hey, how many of you uh you just clap say, "I've been a part of 12 days prayer and fasting. You've been in person, been online." Man, what an incredible time we have had. I tell you, I've been so proud of our church and honestly uh a little bit blown away um by the response.

Just every campus, incredible reports, just car after car. I stand out in the lobby here and uh every morning and just seeing the cars file in. How many of you know it's good to have traffic because you're having prayer at 6:00 a.m. in the morning, it's not a bad problem to have.

And it's just been a wonderful time. And we're already seeing so many answers to prayers. I've been stopped every morning saying, "I put a card down and I've already got the answer to that prayer. I I've put in a request and I've already seen God move in in the situation that I was believing for."

And so if you have an answer to prayer, we want to know about it. And so if you could simply email your story, we'd love to hear it to simply stories@gatewaypeople.com. Then we would love to know that. and uh gives our team an opportunity to to celebrate and and we want to share some of those stories of how God is working.

And I want to remind you, four more mornings, everybody. Just four more mornings. Come on. You can give four mornings. I expect it to be full like this tomorrow morning. Come on now. I know some of you got to get kids ready for school, at least join us online, all those kind of things, your schedule.

But if at all possible, try to be here at 6:00 a.m. There's just something about starting your day. Here's what I'll tell you. the alarm will go off and you'll be like, "Oh, I don't feel like doing this." And then you'll get here in the presence of God, start praying, and you'll think, "Oh, I'm so glad I did this."

And so, come be a part of it. And then, of course, Friday night is a night of worship and prayer. We're going to be praying for the needs of so many. It's going to be a powerful time together. So, make sure you're in the house. Bring somebody with you.

God's doing wonderful things at the beginning of this year. Let's get into week two of this series called Built Different. We're talking about habits that can change your life. Last week started out talking about the habit of prayer and then obviously we're engaged in that in this season and I'm excited for today's word.

I'm going to bring you back to the theme verse of the series um and it's this 1 Timothy 4 7 and 8. Paul the apostle is writing to his um young son in the faith Timothy and he says this do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives tales.

How many of you know that you've never debated anybody to Jesus? Instead, he says, "Train yourself to be godly." So, this training idea, this idea of discipline, this idea of commitment, this idea of there's some work to put into this. And then he says, "Physical training is good.

So, go to the gym if you want, but training for godliness." This is the verse my friends use that don't like the gym. But training for godliness is much better. It promises benefits in this life and in the life to come. Let's pray together as we jump in.

Lord, we love you and uh we're so grateful to be in your house. We sense your presence in this place. We believe anything possible is is possible when you show up. So speak to us today. We haven't come just to check a religious box. We've come that we might hear from you.

So speak to us, challenge us, change us. May we look more like you when we leave here. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Everybody said, "Amen." >> Amen. So uh I was writing in my journal this morning. I journal every morning uh in my time with the Lord.

And I was journaling and it's uh day 153. Everybody been here 153 days. And you're you're kind. I do. I say that because I was thinking, man, how what a whirlwind it's been, right? And so we we moved fast and um and I was like, man, we've only been in this house 5 months.

And whenever we bought the house, uh there was an empty lot beside us and we knew that there was another house coming. And so I got to report to you that they're building a new house right beside us every morning. Even on Saturday mornings when you can sleep in because you don't have 6:00 a.m. prayer.

They're building a house beside us, y'all, every day except today. Um, but I I was I was thinking about watching this house go up. I actually love building things. I I I love more than anything. I love help building people. I love seeing people become everything God wants them to be.

Um, but even as a little kid, my mom told me that in kindergarten, um, I don't know if you went to this kindergarten, but they had stations that you could go to. I always went to the building block station. That was my favorite thing to do was the building station.

And, um, even when Tammy and I 10 years ago, we built what we thought would be our forever home in Virginia. I think God laughed back then. It's like, if you only knew. Um, but I just loved that process. And so watching this house go up the couple weeks ago, they put the rebar in and they put the framing in for the foundation of the house and I was like, "Okay, it's it's going to start moving now."

Um because the dirt's been moved and now the foundation's going in and it seems like overnight uh they put the house up, the roof's on, and here we go and we're going to have neighbors. And so I started thinking about this thing of foundation as I was considering this series because when you're a preacher, everything is an illustration. um even your children, things around you, right?

But I really started thinking about this and this is fascinating. Whenever I was watching the foundation build, I thought, I wonder how how deep a foundation has to be to hold a one-story house. And so I went where we all should go, chat GPT, to to find out the truth on this cuz the internet's always true.

That's a joke, everybody. Okay, if anybody's like that is it's not always true. But I found out, and if you're a builder and I'm wrong, you know, just let me live in my world. Um, but it said it's about one to three feet, maybe up to four feet depending on uh the area, actually the area of the country that you live in.

So you, to me, that's not that thick. You just need, you know, not thick, that thick of a foundation to be able to build a one-story house on. And so I started thinking more about this and I thought, I wonder what Freedom Tower in New York City, like what kind of foundation that needed. the the building goes 1,700 ft up in the air.

I wonder how deep the foundation has to go to hold that kind of building. And so I looked it up again and um it goes 70 ft under street level. Yeah. And then I I went next to the Empire State Building. I thought, man, that's a massive building, too.

What how deep does that have to go? And it goes 55 ft under street level. But then this phrase really caught me that I I read. It says this, "Skys like the Empire State Building require foundations anchored to bedrock because it has to support the enormous load and it has to resist wind forces and it has to minimize settlement.

And in Midtown Manhattan, bedrock is irregular. So deep excavation was needed to find suitable rock." I thought that will preach. Here's the principle. The higher you want to go, the deeper your foundation must be. You want a one-story house kind of life, then you don't need much of a foundation.

But if you want a skyscraper kind of life, if you want God to do something that is exceedingly abundantly and above anything you can ask, think, or imagine, then you better dig the foundation deep. You've got to do the things that nobody sees to get the thing everybody wants.

If you're with me, say amen. >> I wonder if you've ever looked at someone's life and thought, man, they they have a marriage that has gone the distance and their children are out of the house. That's a win. They're out of the house paying their own bills. Can I get a better amen?

Okay. So, and they love God and they love the house of God and they're building families according to the principles of God's word. Have you ever thought, "I want that." I promise you somewhere along the way, they did the work that nobody sees. To get the thing that everybody wants.

If you've ever seen anybody that has been through a storm in life and there seems to be a a peace that passes understanding, there seems to be something that that stabilizes them. They don't seem just blown around by the the winds that a storm in life can bring.

And you think, man, I wonder how in the world are they sustaining through that kind of storm in their life? I guarantee you they've done the work to dig where nobody sees so they can have the kind of life that everybody wants. Are you following with me? And if you're going to be built different in this year, if you're going to be built different in this year, if you're going to be able to have a deep foundation, you've got to do some digging that nobody sees until you hit bedrock so that you can build your life upon a sure foundation.

But here's the problem is I love what John Maxwell says. He says, "Most people have uphill dreams, but they have downhill habits." We have uphill desires. We We want, you know, our physique to look a certain way, but we've got cookie habits. Come on, somebody. Right. We We want the parenting.

We want We want the You name it. You fill in the blank. We have the dream. We want the the spiritual life, the the intimacy with God that we have. But but our habits become downhill. And I'm just proposing that Timothy says or Paul is saying to Timothy, hey Timothy, if you want godliness, you got to train yourself towards it.

You got to put some habits in your life. And I want to talk about this that the bedrock you need to build your life is this that you would be built on God's word. This is habit number two today. And I know some of you thinking, well, man, prayer and Bible reading, isn't that kind of a given?

You would hope so. But how many of you know that whenever a team's not winning, you go back to blocking and tackling? I want to talk to you about building your life on the word of God. If you're the note-taking type, that's your title. Write that down. If not, go ahead and write it down anyways.

Talk to you about being built on God's word. I want to take you to school for just a few moments and talk about this because if we're going to build our life on the word of God, then I don't know about for you, but for me, I'm I'm a very why behind the what kind of person.

And I want to know the logic behind it. And I want to understand the validity behind it. And just this, I want to be a thinking Christian, everybody. >> I don't want to just I don't want to You don't have to check your brain at the door. Maybe you're here and you're visiting and you're like, man, to have faith, you got to kind of check your brain at the door.

No, you do not have to check your brain at the door. There is great historical validity to this book that we build our lives upon. And uh I want to give you just a little snapshot of that before we jump into three thoughts around building your life on God's word.

If you're with me, say amen. >> The word Bible simply means the books. So the Bible's a collection of books. It's written over a period of 1600 years on three different continents. and from people from all walks of life. Here's one thing that's really important you understand. It has about 40 authors.

There's debate on the book of Hebrews and and some other nuances, but about 40, but 40 writers, but it has one author. And the author is God himself. If we're going to build our life upon it, then how do we know that we can trust it? How do we know that it's valid?

There's there's tons of evidence. We could spend the whole service on that. I want to give you two real quick. Number one is this. There's many many ancient texts that we trust and we teach in our uh universities and in our schools and and we trust their validity and they would be writings by people like Plato, like Aristotle, like Caesars's, GIC Wars.

There's there's a lot of those and those manuscripts are ancient manuscripts. and the original writing of that manuscript um not only has the original but it has a copy. Are you following me so far? >> And so a lot of these ancient manuscripts are tested upon how how far away is the original writing from the copy of the manuscript.

And for all of these writers, the distance or the gap between the original writing and the first copy of it is anywhere from a,00 to,300 years. Think about that for a moment. The original writing a,00 to,300 years then we have its first copy. Are y'all with me so far?

Say amen. >> Amen. for the New Testament from its original writing to its first copy 250 years. Some parts of the New Testament 100 years. It is by far the most well doumented ancient text that exists. Did you know this? I think this is a fun little fact.

Even if all Greek manuscripts, which the New Testament was originally written in, if they all disappeared, we could reconstruct almost entirely up to around 98 99% of the New Testament just from the quotations of our early church fathers, which is the first to the 8th century, or their commentaries.

How fascinating is that? God has made sure. This is why the scripture says, "Not one jot or tit," which are two little markers in the original Hebrew language. They're the tiniest of marks on Hebrew language. He said, "Not one jot or tit will fell away from this word, will fall away from this word."

So, I don't believe the Bible and I don't read the Bible and I don't build my life upon the Bible just because it's a nice collection of words and thoughts and phrases and it's got some good moral things. No, it's because it is the living, breathing, alive word of almighty God that he has sustained throughout history.

And so I can build my life upon it. Matter of fact, second Timothy 3:1 16 says this, "All scripture is God breathed." It had 40 writers, but it's got one author. And it is useful for teaching. It's useful for rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Why? So that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So if it's if it's reliable text, then I have to wrestle with what it says. And if it says that it is breathed by God, then this is more than nice stories, everybody. This is more than a good add-on to my life. This is more than a good quote to put on a mug.

It is the word of the living God and it should shape my life. It should inform my life and I should build my life upon it. If you're with me, say amen. >> Matthew chapter 7 verse 24. I like it how Eugene Peterson wrote it in the message.

He said, "These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life. They're not homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words. They're, let me say it this way, they're bedrock words. They're words to build a life on. And if you work these words into your life, you are like a carpenter who built his house on a solid rock.

And that's what I want for you. Really, if I could say anything, this is what I want you to get out today. I want you to fall in love with the word of God. >> May this be the year where you just f where you can't get enough of it. where you're just like, I can't get enough of the word of God.

I promise you I promise you this. If you'll if you'll give me a year, give me a year and go all in. Go all in on the word of God. Go all in on being in the house of God. Be all in on a small group on serving.

If you'll just go all in, I promise you, you'll get to the end of the year and not recognize yourself. That you'll be more full of faith, more in love with Jesus. You'll be kinder. you'll be more patient on 114. Like some of you just woke up. You was like, "How's that possible?"

It's the supernatural work of the word of God getting into your heart. God will do an amazing work in your life. And so, if you're going to be built on God's word, then three things are going to have to be true about you. And I want you to write these down.

And uh and then I'm going to give you three really practical ways to do this. Number one is this. It's got to be true of you that say this. I'm submitted to its authority. If you're going to be built on the word of God, you got to be able to say, "I'm submitted to its authority." 1 Thessalonians 2:13 says this, "We also thank God continually because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as words by men, but actually as it is, the word of God which is at work in you who believe.

It's at work in you who believe." Let me say it this way. If you'll work the word, the word works. Amen. >> But you've got to actually work the word. >> If I'm going to be built on the word of God, it means that I'm submitted to the word of God.

I'm submitted to its authority. Meaning this, it is the final voice in my life. That not not my what my friends think, not what my professor said, not what, you know, my social media feed says, but the word of God is the final authority. It's the It's the final word in my life.

I I filter everything that I think through the word of God. It It informs my worldview. It informs how I think about things. It informs how I treat people. It informs the decisions I make. It informs It is the final authority. It doesn't mean that I don't get counsel from people.

The Bible says in the multi there's counsel in the multitude of or there's wisdom in the multitude of counselors. It it gives us I don't it doesn't mean I stray away. It just means that that it's the final authority. If the word doesn't say it, that I'm not doing it.

And if the word doesn't encourage it, then I'm not doing it. And if the word says stop doing it, that I'm stopped doing it because it is the final authority in my life. Are y'all following me? >> It means it it's it's it when it says it, it there used to be a saying when I grew up in church, they say, um, if the Bible says it, then I believe it, and that settles it. >> It doesn't matter if you believe it or not.

If the Bible says it, that settles it. Are y'all tracking with me? It doesn't matter if I like it. If the Bible says it, that settles it. Matter of fact, if if you open the Bible and you read it on a regular basis and at some point you don't like something that it says, you're not doing it right.

Or let me maybe say it this way. If if everything you read in the scripture makes you feel good and you like it, then maybe you've created a god in your own image. I'm not trying to come at you today. I'm trying to help you. There should be times there's times where I open the word and go, I'm I'm going to a new reading plan.

I don't I don't like what this is telling me. This is confronting some things in my life. This is correcting. Hello, somebody. Some things in my life. Oh, this is telling me I've got to forgive that person that hurt me. God, I don't really want to do that.

Now that I know it, I'm responsible for it. I've got to love those who speak ill of me. I've got to bless, pray, and be kind to those who are hurtful to me. I've got to pray for them. I've got to figure out a way to bless them.

I've got to be kind to them. I can't be snarky just a little bit. It should confront you. It should correct you. This is God's gift to you. It's his gift of making you into the image of what he sees. Did you know there's a you that God sees?

It's a you that is full of faith. It's a you that is making a difference. It's you that is fulfilling the destiny that God has in your life. And do you know what what he's doing? He is molding you into that image. That's why the word confronts you.

But here's what culture wants to do today is they want to bend the word of God to fit a lifestyle. But can I tell you, you bend your life to fit the word of God. Am I in the right church today? Come on. We believe the word of God, right?

I I don't I don't bend the word or or nuance the word to kind of give me permission to walk in sin. I don't do that. I bend my life. I may not understand it. I may have to wrestle with it. It may be a process that God is doing in me.

And it may be something that takes time for it to work itself out in me. God is not asking for perfection. But what he is saying is, I'm calling you up to a higher standard and I'm empowering you with the Holy Spirit and I'm walking with you in this process.

But I will confront some things in you because I love you and I have the best intentions for you in mind and I have a purpose and a destiny and I will not allow the enemy to steal that from you. So I will keep molding you and shaping you and making you into everything that I want you to be.

But the authority of scripture has to be what I'm submitted to in my life if I'm going to be built on God's word. Number two, I'm shaped by its truth. I'm being shaped by its truth. So, I just can't have an intellectual ascent, which is not bad. We don't check our brains at the door as I said, but I don't have simply an intellectual understanding of what the scriptures are teaching and that it should be my authority in life.

I But I'm also my life has got to be shaped by it. My heart has got to be shaped by it. I've I've got to not only read the word, I've got to let the word read me. And as it reads me, it's going to point out things in my life that need to be adjusted and need to be changed >> because none of us are there yet.

None of us are perfect. John 17:17, Jesus said this. He said, "Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth." So let's work backwards in that. The word of God is true. It is the source of truth. It is Jesus in written form. In the beginning was the word.

The word was with God and the word was God. Later in the chapter, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. So if you want to see Jesus, look at the word. Are y'all tracking with me? >> And so the word is truth and the truth is what will sanctify us.

Another word you could use for sanctify is mold us. it shape us. It's what Jeremiah wrote whenever he wrote about being on the potter's wheel. I love the way that that he says this in Jeremiah chapter 18. He says, "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord."

He said, "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel, but the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands. So the potter formed it into another pot.

Listen to this. My favorite phrase. Shaping it as seemed best to him. As seen best to the potter. Can I tell you, if you will make the word of God a priority, building your life, the habit of building your life on the word of God, you know what you're doing?

You're you're willingly saying, "God, I'm getting on your potter's will and you shape me and you mold me and you make me as seems best to you. It'll be the best year you've ever had because you'll be shaped by the hands of the potter as his word molds you."

I wonder if you've ever heard the question they asked Michelangelo about the David statue. They said, 'How did you make this, you know, iconic statue? He said, I chipped away everything in the block of marble that wasn't David. Can I tell you that's what God is doing in you on the potter's wheel?

He has a vision of who you should be. and sanctifying you, shaping you is him chipping away everything that isn't the you he sees. It's a gift, but it's hard. Uphill dreams, downhill habits. Uphill dreams, uphill habits is hard. But I'm going have you know that anything worth having in life doesn't come easy.

Anything having in life doesn't come easy. And so why don't you just embrace the discipline, embrace the commitment to become everything that God wants you to be >> and let him shape you. And when he shapes you, do you know what happens? Your heart will be ch begin to change from being okay with compromise.

You'll want holiness. It'll it'll move away from just thinking temporal and what about me and mine and you'll start thinking about things that are eternal. You'll you'll stop being so concerned about possessions and you'll start caring more about people. You'll stop caring so much about revenge and you'll start loving mercy more.

You'll stop caring so much about bitterness and you'll be willing to embrace forgiveness. Why? Because the the potter begins to shape your values. The potter begins to shape your purpose. Life will become more about how do you make a difference in the lives of other people. And life will become more about the impact that you're making in the world around you.

It'll become more about serving Christ, about being a witness to the world, about glorifying God in everything that you do in the marketplace or in the church or wherever you're at. You'll just begin to get a different purpose on your life. Why? because the word will jump out at you and it'll begin to shape you and change you and and you'll find passages that you just can't get away from.

Ones that'll just they'll grip you almost like God got his hand around you through the word of God and it begins to shake. I remember one of those moments whenever I was in college. I was wrestling with what to do with my life. How many of you know that college that's a tough time?

Everybody's asking you what are you going to do with the rest of your life? It's like wow a lot of pressure. And I I was wrestling with I felt a real tug to ministry and but my dad was a pastor and he pastored uh mostly small rural churches all my life.

And I just thought church people were the meanest people you could be around cuz I'd been to a lot of Baptist business meetings. And I just thought now I don't want to do that. But um I'll just I'll make a lot of money and I'll I'll help the people that are mean to the pastor. um find their way out the back door.

And I just thought I I'll have the ministry of of removing mean Christians. So I I was I was wrestling around with uh going to law school. I thought about going to get my NBA. And I remember um I actually I read this passage in a book that so gripped my heart and it was the biography of the great missionary Jim Elliot who went to Ecuador, lost his life reaching an unreached people group and uh his wife later Elizabeth would go back and and lead a majority of that tribe to Christ.

She would lead the people to Jesus that killed her husband. But Jim Elliot had a quote in that book that said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." And in that same paragraph, what motivated that quote was Philippians chapter 1:21, "For me to live is Christ, but to die is gain."

That's one of those verses that gripped my heart. And in that moment, I thought, I can't do anything else with my life, but give it to Jesus and his church. And that's not the call for everybody. But you know what's going to happen as you build your life on the word of God?

God's going to give you verses like that that jump out and they mark you. And it's a shaping moment and you're never the same because of it. Not because you were in a great service, not just because you heard a great message or an average one. We'll see how it goes today.

But because you built your life on the foundation of the word of God and man, I want that for you. Thought number three is I'm steered by its wisdom. Right? I'm going to submit to its authority. Not only that, I'm going to be shaped by its truth and I'm going to be steered by its wisdom.

Look what the scripture says in James chapter 1 verse 22. It says, "Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves." I don't know if it gets more any plain than this. Do what it says. I want to point something out to you in this text that's very interesting. is James is saying you can know a lot about the word and still be deceived.

You can have a whole lot of knowledge. You could have gone to every Bible study that's ever been offered. You could have shelves and shelves and shelves of Bible study books. But all if if all it ever is is the gaining of knowledge, James says you can be deceived because information assimilation was never the goal of the word.

Heart transformation always has been. And if it never moves from I understand and I know the text and I can execute the passage and I can give you the nuances of the original language and no no but it never makes its way down to where you love people that aren't like you and where you forgive people that have offended you and you care for the poor and you pray for one another and you bear the burdens s of other believers and you disciple people and you share the gospel and you live on the mission of Jesus.

James says, "Just because you know it all doesn't mean it's made a difference." And >> so, it's got to get in me. It's got to get in my heart where it changes how I live. I should look different. I should act different. I should get to the end of 2026 and there should be some things different about me.

I've been walking with Jesus for a long time. I started I preached my very first message when I was 17. But I haven't arrived. There's still things that God is working on me about. And there should be things that we get to the end of the year and go, you know what?

I built my life on the word of God this year and he corrected some things in me and he encouraged some things in me and grew my understanding of some things and my heart's more tender and and I've got more compassion and I love people better and I'm a little bit more patient than I used to be and and you know what some pride there's some less pride in my heart and there's more humility rising in my heart.

I'm not where I need to be yet but I'm telling you God did some work in me this year because I let its wisdom steer my life. I didn't just hear the word, but I became a doer of the word. >> It's not enough to know it. So, how do I do that?

Three real practical things quickly. I do it. One, by listening to God's word. Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." This is why you need to be under the preaching of God's word. I don't understand it. Even Paul said it's by the foolishness of preaching that God does some great work.

I'm amazed by it. I'm amazed that God uses this thing called preaching to touch a heart and his word changes people's life. But it's important. But I would also say this what Luke 8:810 8:18 says. Therefore, be careful how you listen. Not everybody that holds a Bible is rightly dividing the word of truth.

Can I just say that to you? Be wise in what voices you let in your ear. Number two, I do it by reading God's word. Jesus said, "It is written, man doesn't live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God." Can I encourage you daily set aside time 15 minutes in the morning some point open the word of God get on a Bible reading plan download the Uver app there's so many resources that are available to us today there's no reason we should be biblically illiterate but get into the word of God every day take a few moments find some time carve out some time and just let the word of God permeate your soul number three retain the word of God, I love Psalms 119:11.

I learned it when I was a little boy. I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Memorize the word. Let it get so let it get deposited so deep in your heart that it's just what comes out of the overflow of your life.

Can I tell you something I'm so grateful for? And parents, can I encourage you towards? I'm so grateful that my my mom and dad had me in an environment where we had to memorize the word of God. >> Can I tell you how many times that I've been going through a day and needed something and it was a scripture that came back to my mind.

I was like, "Where did that come from?" It's cuz it was hidden in my heart. >> I can't tell you how many times I've been preaching and it wasn't even in my notes and I never studied it, but just a verse came to my mind at the right moment.

Why? Because it been hidden in my heart. Get the word of God. If you don't do anything this year, maybe just once a month, grab a verse and I'm gonna memorize this word for this month. And I'm gonna hide his word in my heart. Are y'all getting this everybody?

I'm gonna hide the word of God in my heart. Why? Because I want to build a life that lasts. I want to be built different this year. I want to be built upon the word of God. And if you want your life to go high, then build the foundation deep until you hit bedrock.

And there's no better bedrock than the word of the living God. Build your life on this, young people. Build your life on this, students. Build your life on the word of God. The grass wither and the flower may fade, but the word of God will last forever. Let me close with one story.

Hudson Taylor, if you can't tell, I love biographies of great men and women of God. Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China. He was the founder of the China Inland Mission. And he had a very very difficult life. He buried his work first wife who passed away. He remarried.

His second wife got cancer. He buried her. He buried three infant children on the mission field. He lost colleagues on the mission field that died from sickness and disease. He faced moments of extreme need due to lack of resources for the mission. And it says in his biography that early in his life he realized on the mission field that the only time he had to himself was between 2 am and 4:00 a.m.

I'm not saying you got to get up that early. Some of you are like, "Two comes twice in a day?" Thought it was only in the afternoon. And he would spend 2 to four hours in prayer. One of his co-workers would say about Hudson Taylor that no one ever saw him without knowing his strength came from the Bible.

Says this that years later, someone asked him how he endured so much loss and still kept going. He didn't give any strategy to or any credit to strategy resilience or skill. He simply said this. Never has God failed to supply me as I sought him in his word.

Hudson Taylor said this. The secret was not his devotion to China. It was his devotion to Christ cultivated through scripture. By the end of his life, listen to the impact. He had founded 800 missionaries he raised up. He built 125 schools. He personally led 18,000 people to Jesus.

And he built over 300 missionary stations. And it all began with scripture before sunrise. Great impact, everybody. But it had to have a great foundation built on the word of God. And I'm not saying God's calling you to be a missionary. But whatever he is calling you to is great and he wants your life to matter and be a life of eternal impact.

But if it's going to, you got to get that foundation dug deep and build it on the bedrock of the word of God. Do you receive the word today? >> You receive it deep in your heart. >> I believe you do. And I believe this will be the best year you've ever had. >> If it's the best year spiritually you've ever had.

And I promise you it will be if you build it on the word of God. Will you pray with me with every head bowed, every eye closed? So many wonderful scriptures we find in the Bible, but I think one of my favorites is the one that simply says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever will believe in him will not perish but will have life everlasting.

And I just ask you this question today if you're here. Have you ever believed whosoever believes? Have you ever fully trusted, fully surrendered your life to Jesus? I'm not asking you if you've done church or been around church or if your parents were Christians. I'm asking, have you have you ever had a fresh start, a brand new beginning in Christ?

Have you ever fully surrendered your life to what some call the lordship of Jesus? Meaning, I'm done calling the shots. I'm done doing life my way. I'm done trying to figure it out on my own. I'm surrendering my life. I'm giving my life fully to you. Or maybe you're here and there was a time where you were walking with the Lord, but you know, you've strayed away.

You know, in your heart you're far from him, but you'd say, "Pastor, that's me today. I I want to know. I want to I want a fresh start in God. I need a new beginning. If that's you, in just a moment, we're going to pray together. There's nothing special about my words.

It's all about your heart and your faith, about opening your heart to Jesus, saying, "Come and be the Lord. Come and take control. Come and give me a brand new beginning today." And if you'll ask him, I promise you, he will. Before we pray, I just want to know who I'm praying with.

And so when I count to three, I just want you to shoot your hand up high enough and long enough for myself, one of our pastors to see. Then we're going to pray together, but you just boldly if God is speaking to you today, you say, "That's me.

I want to know that I know." Then when I get to three, you just shoot your hand up on three. One, two, three. You just shoot your hand up high. Say, "That's me." God bless you. God bless you. Keep it up. I see you all over the room.

God bless you in the very, very back. More importantly, God sees you. You can put it down. Church, will you pray this out loud with me for the benefit of those who just slipped their hand up? Just say, "Jesus, I need you. I ask you to forgive me of all my sin.

I believe you died for me. >> I believe God raised you from the dead. >> Today, I make you my Lord and Savior. Thank you for a brand new beginning. Thank you for in Jesus name." Everybody said a big amen. >> Come on. Can we celebrate those who made that decision?

So good. What an incredible word. I want to help you for just a moment to process what the Lord's saying to you. Here's what we're going to do. In just a moment, our prayer team is going to come both here at the front and also at the doors of the balcony to pray for you.

And those of you who just prayed to ask Jesus into your heart, would you go to a prayer partner and just let them know because we want to help you with your next steps or maybe you have a prayer need that wasn't talked about today. We want to agree with you in prayer and believe God for a breakthrough in your life.

And thirdly, maybe you just need a moment to process whatever it is the Lord's saying to you. If you don't have to slip out during this time, this is really a holy moment for us to do business with God. and we want to give you that opportunity. So, would you stand with me right now?

I'm going to ask our prayer team to come and if you need prayer for anything, would you just step out right now and I'll come back in just a moment and I'll close out the service. Come on, if you need prayer ever, you're all I want. Help me know you are near.

You're all I want. You're all I've ever need. You're all I want. Help me know you are near. You're all You're all I want. You're all I want, Lord. You're all I've ever needed. You're all I want. Help me know you are near. Come on, let's sing your all.

You're all I want. Jesus, you're all I've ever needed. You're all I want. Help me know you are near. >> We'll stay down here to pray for you as long as we need to. But if you're a group leader or maybe a pastor and you're in the audience and you come help us pray for folks, we sure would like for you to help us do that.

And and while we're doing that, let me just remind you real quick, there are still prayer request cards at each door as you leave today. If there's a burden on your heart, either in your own life or the life of a family member, stop and grab a card, fill it out, and then put it in the basket right there.

Those are provided at the door. And that and then we'll be praying over those in the morning at 6:00 a.m. Remember, Pastor Daniel said there's four more mornings. So, Monday through Thursday morning, 6:00 a.m. right here, the South Lake uh auditorium, we'll be praying. Hopefully, we'll see you there.

And then this coming Friday, we're going to celebrate what the Lord's done. 700 p.m. right here at the South Lake campus and also in Jackson Hole. I'm told we're going to have a night of worship in ministry and we're going to be praying for everything that let's just say if the Lord did it in the word, we're going to be believing him to do it at the night of worship.

Does that make sense? And so, we're excited about that. But one last thing I want to say to you, some of you, God's speaking to you about going a little deeper, a little further in 2026. One of the areas that we're going to need help in this year is we're going to need group leaders.

We'll help you. We'll train you. We'll get you started. You we'll help you with everything that you need. But if the Lord's speaking to you about more prayer or maybe leading a Bible study, those kinds of things, we're going we're believing God for thousands of new groups because that's what makes a large church feel small.

That's where you get those areas prayed for and pastored and and and you don't feel alone. And that's important here at Gateway. So if if that is interesting to you, we have leaders out in our lobby today that'll talk to you about what it means to be a group leader.

And then you'll be hearing more about that next weekend as well. Well, Father, we thank you for all that you've said. We thank you for all that you're doing. Lord, we surrender our lives to you in Jesus' name. And everyone said, "Amen." God bless you. You're dismissed.