The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that when we behold the glory of the Lord we will be transformed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another. This is our spiritual emphasis and hope for 2024. And asking, “What am I beholding?” and “What am I becoming?” will help us stay on track this year.
Well Happy New Year church family I haven’t seen you since last year uh it’s kind of weird to have a break in between Christmas and New Year and it’s only a week but it feels like it’s been forever since we’ve been here and so um happy New Year
2023 is over who’s glad for that okay all right uh 2023 for my family was a pretty good year other than the uh the constant cycle of sick hit like every single month somebody was sick and it just kept going and going uh and praise God I I feel like maybe we’ve
Left that behind us nobody’s been sick the at the beginning of 2024 and so we’re looking forward to to Better Health in 2024 um but 2024 is now here and we have to embrace that reality right who’s glad for the New Year good um I think 2024 is
For sure going to be a year to remember um there’s a a lot that’s going to happen uh it’s a leap year for one and so if your birthday is February 29th you get to have a birthday this year woo we’ll celebrate you um the Summer Olympics are
Taking place in Paris France I’m sure we’re going to hear a lot of freedom jokes or whatever you know I yeah whatever um so that should be fun uh it’s also an election year presidential election year uh that’s going to be fun right is Fun the right word I don’t
Know um but before we we talk more about 2024 um I want to do a quick uh 2023 year and review I like doing this at the beginning of the year um it’s important to look back and not to necessarily hold on to the Past um but to reflect on the
Past and what you experienced and what God did in your life uh King David says this in Psalm 143: 5 he says I remember the days of old I meditate on all that you have done I Ponder the work of your hands listen God Was Not absent from your life in
2023 amen he was very present amen he was moving and working even when you didn’t know it or feel it or or sense it uh hindsight truly is 2020 and so it’s important to not just forget 2023 altogether um but to reflect and ask God
Where were you what did you do in this past year of my life and so I I want to do a quick 2023 year and review specifically of all the themes and topics that we talked about on Sunday mornings together um and so here we go
Ready for it yeah all right we we started the year off with our annual Fresh Start fast uh and during that time um I presented our theme for the year which was who remembers planted well done planted um I sensed from the Lord that we needed to go back to some Basics
Uh some fundamentals and to make sure that that we as individuals but also as a church family we’re planted and rooted in these important things of God because we can’t truly grow in our faith unless we are planted right uh and our theme verse was from Jeremiah 17: 7 and8 and
I’ll remind you of what that says it says blessed is the man or woman who trusts in the Lord whose trust is the Lord he is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when heat comes for its leaves remain
Green and is not anxious in the year of drought for it does not cease to bear fruit being planted in in the things of God and trusting was a really good thing but let me ask you do you feel like you became more planted in the things of God
In 2023 only you can answer that question you feel like you’re you’re more rude rooted in faith and trusting God uh more rooted in scripture prayer worship community service to one another all of these fundamental things that God says if you practice and and participate in them you will experience growth amen
You will experience fruit in your life right and if yes then what God promises is is fruit right um and so did you experience growth did you experience fruit in 202 three uh and if we continue to be planted if we carry that theme into the the new year uh we’ll continue
To grow and produce fruit well into 2024 as well sounds good right let’s keep it up okay then uh the First full sermon series that we went through was titled the the same as the theme for the year plan um we were uh where we looked more
In detail at the spiritual growth cycle which actually looks a lot like the the plant life cycle um one more slide over um our spiritual growth looks a lot like that because we all start out as seeds um contain seeds is potential for incredible growth um the mighty redwoods
Of California the seed is about as as big as an apple seed and yet it grows into this the biggest tree in all the world and we in our spiritual seeds we contain everything that we need to become the the mighty men and women of
God that he’s created us to be uh right and so we should uh we start out as seeds but then we should be planted because we can’t grow into that unless we’re PL planted and then we should start to grow and we should mature from spiritual infancy to to maturity and
Then we should experience some kind of spiritual reproduction where we’re planting seeds in the lives of people around us and they begin to grow and they begin to flourish and the kingdom of God continues to grow through this spiritual life cycle every single every single year and again that’s not just
How we grow but it’s how the kingdom of God God grows which is the ultimate goal um and it was so cool at least to me to hear hear this theme of being planted and growth it came up all over the place outside of our church family um so many
Other pastors that I’ve listened to conferences that I went to um they they brought this theme back this planted theme and I was like they’re preaching my stuff it’s amazing um but really it was just confirmation that that God was speaking the same thing more broadly
To all of his children it was really cool um and so after planted our second sermon series was called if then right if then which took us through um the whole book of First John and what we learned from the Apostle John is that it is possible to know for
Certain that we truly are children of God and that we do in fact have eternal life and all throughout first John we saw these if then conditional statements kind of like he was trying to come up with a a code to tell us something and that if we follow these things in our
Own lives then we can be sure that that we are in fact children of God that we have eternal life but at the same time we can identify counterfeits by these same if then conditional statements right because if if other people profess to be followers of Jesus but we don’t
See these if then scenario in their lives they’re not really followers of Jesus and we’re called to protect the church and take care of the bride and protect it from these counterfeit things and so that was our if then uh series next we started what was going to be
Just a a oneoff kind of sermon uh on the one chapter book or letter of Jude um but that turned into a mini 3-week series on the letter which actually uh turned out to be really relevant for our time and a good followup to First John because Jude’s Central message is fight
For the faith fight for the faith and Jude encourages us to I paraphrase it this way but to choose our Hill right are we going to stand on the hill of true biblical Faith or are we going to stand on what the world is teaching and then once we choose our
Hill then we have to stand our ground and not move from that hill right we must continue to stand for what is true true even though others might tell us it’s wrong or even evil to believe the things that we believe and then finally we must shine our light from that Hill
Showing people the goodness of God through love and works and service to one another but also to those who are not yet part of the family of God um Jude at least for me was was a surprising but necessary followup to First John I really like that then after
Jude um our next sermon series was let’s talk about it remember that one one right which was all about the importance of personal evangelism and how we share our faith with other people it was a challenging series even for myself but practical at the same time I think and
What I loved most about that series was that we got to hear from a bunch of other people other than myself of their personal experiences of of personal evangelism everyday evangelists um just just sharing their faith with other people and I thought that was amazing uh
And then next we spent six weeks after asking why right why and we were exploring in depth why we do what we do on Sunday mornings and throughout the week as a church family as part of our faith practice again um getting back to some Basics and being planted in why we
Do all the things we do right Why We Gather why we worship why we study scripture why we take communion why we uh baptize why we give of our time and resources um it was really awesome I think maybe the highlight of the year to follow up that series by baptizing a
Total of 10 people over two weeks yeah that’s something to celebrate and be excited about it was so amazing um and I’m looking forward to more baptisms in 2024 amen do you believe that’s coming right more baptisms as we continue to share our faith and invite
People to be a part of our church family but also the family of God ultimately uh finally we ended the year with a miniseries centered on the Christmas season called Christmas for Everyone Christmas for Everyone where we looked at not just uh Mary Joseph and Jesus that’s the typical holy family that we
Kind of focus on during Christmas time um but we focused on another Holy Family Elizabeth Zechariah and John who later grows up to be John the Baptist right this family who helped prepare the way for the Messiah and the purpose of the series was to make sure that we were
Celebrating Christmas to the fullest doing our part to prepare the way for the Messiah right Christmas just isn’t Christmas without people who will share the message of Christmas and Christmas just isn’t Christmas without people who are filled with the Holy Spirit and willing to praise God for all to hear
That’s how we actually spread Christmas cheer right we took a a number from Buddy the elf and so that’s a look back at 2023 and all of the sermons and topics and themes we covered for the year and and I think it was a pretty
Good year what about you do you have a favorite sermon series go ahead say it what was it yeah those were all good yep I loved them um we also had some some oneoff kind of sermons that I won’t go through but those are also really good but I do
Want to thank the many other people who spoke throughout the year uh my wife Annette spoke uh Joe marquetti spoke Vanessa Perez Drew lover Miguel OKO uh Douglas and saor SCE spoke um Joshua Eli and Lindsay they came up with Vanessa and spoke a little bit missionaries Jeanie German H and also missionaries
Craig and Andrea wheeler they all came and spoke um and can we just give them all a hand [Applause] okay I I love so much um that we have so many people within our church family who are willing to speak and teach on God this truly is a blessing I’m often times
You go to other churches even mega churches and they’re bringing other people in right but I love that we have people right here in our church family who are ready and willing to speak it’s so good it’s such a blessing and so what I’d like to do after that that year of
Review um is I’d like to just take a moment and I’d like to pray and I’d like to to offer thanks to God for 2023 I and so right where you are would you begin to just pray and thank God thank him for all that happened in
2023 if we if we truly TR do believe that God is working all things for the good of those who love him according to his purposes then that means even the difficult things we experienced um will lead to something good the good things that we experienced are good and so
Would you just thank God for everything that you experien and will you believe that good can come from it and father God I just thank you for what you did in our church family throughout this year I thank you for the topics that we went through and and looked at in your word
And I pray Lord that we’d be able to take these things that we learned and bring them into the new year that we would take our our lessons learned and bring them into the new year the blessings learned and bring them into the new year with gratitude and
Thanksgiving we’re so grateful for you God um and what you’ve done and we look forward to this new year and we know that you’re here you we know that you’re with us would you continue to lead and guide us through it all we love you we
Ask and say all these things in Jesus name amen amen um and so what is in store for 2024 uh what will be our for this new year as a church family uh well every year as we get close to the end of of the year um I begin asking God what do
You have for us in the new year I I ask him for a theme or a phrase or a word to help lead us and guide us as a church family uh and the word I believe the Lord High highed is behold would you say that with me behold
Behold now now the word behold is used in the ESV Bible at least uh 1,111 times that’s a lot uh it’s used more often in the Old Testament than it is in the New Testament um and there are five different Hebrew words translated as behold the Old Testament um but only
Two in Greek that are translated as as hold in the New Testament uh usually the word is is an interjection uh said just like that behold right uh it’s an interjection to draw attention to something uh and now that I’ve drawn attention to this word behold you will
Behold behold so much more as you read your Bible this year I guarantee you and you’re welcome um the the very first time that we see this word is in Genesis 1 verse 29 where God says behold I have given you a plant yielding seed that is
On the face of all the earth now we don’t really go around saying that word do we we might look at somebody and be like where are you from right what what decade are you from we don’t use that word um but it would be like us saying
Look over there right or check this out okay in other places in the Old Testament and New Testament uh it’s used as a warning like watch out beware it’s also used to describe Moses’s relationship with God where Moses beheld the glory of God meaning that he looked
Across the way and saw God face to face another Hebrew word translated as behold has to do with understanding and another one has to do with receiving sight and vision and Prophecy from God it’s a good word and then in in in the New Testament behold is always an interjection like
Look check this out watch out or where except in one place in one verse Alone um and that’s in 2 Corinthians Chapter 3 Verse 18 and so would you do me a favor open your Bible uh to 2 Corinthians chap 3: 18 in the New Testament um this is
Going to be our theme verse for the entire year 2 Corinthians chapter 3: 18 grab your digital Bible your physical Bible and let’s honor the word of God this morning 2 Corinthians 3 Verse 18 and I would even commit this verse to memory uh if you can if you will
Everybody can I know we can and so let’s commit it to memory all right um and it says this and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is the
Spirit I’m going to read one more time and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is the spirit and so the the meaning of
Beholding here in the Greek um is to reflect okay as a mirror reflects light or an image or it means to contemplate to think deeply and intentionally about something which when you think about it another word that we use for contemplate is reflect right reflect um and so they
Go hand in hand and and this is Paul’s meaning here in this verse when he says beholding the glory of the Lord he’s saying reflecting the glory of the Lord in our own lives and the same way a mirror reflects light or an image and then contemplating the glory of the Lord
Thinking deeply and intentionally about who Jesus is and what he’s done for us and we see elsewhere in scripture this a common practice of God’s people uh to meditate on the laws and precepts of the Lord or like we just read earlier from King David in Psalm 145 or 43:5 right
When he’s remembering and meditating on and pondering the work of God in his life he’s beholding the Lord and by these examples we too are encouraged to think deeply and reflect upon and behold the Lord and let me just say this the Lord is worthy of beholding yeah amen
The Lord is glorious and beautiful and wonderful to behold and we can’t say that about just anything and everything can we right there are some things that just aren’t worth our time beholding no one looks at the stack of dirty dishes in the sink it says behold
Come look at this wonderful stack of dishes in the sink right no nobody says that no one upon checking the mail and seeing that they have a stack full of bills says come behold look at these bills to pay but then there are other things in life that we absolutely find worth beholding
How many of you parents when your child was born and you brought your your your baby into your home you just sat there and watched them and beheld this amazing little life that that God brought into your world behold isn’t he or she so lovely or or when you went to the Grand
Canyon for the first time you were aost struct the pictures didn’t do it justice you you beheld the Majesty of God’s creation behold would you look at this it’s it’s unbelievable and isn’t our lord Jesus so much more worthy of beholding in our life church family when’s the last time
You beheld the glory of the Lord when’s the last time you contemplated and reflected on who Jesus is and what he’s done for you and we’re just a struck and overwhelmed with joy and GR attitude that’s the beholding that Paul is talking about in in 2 Corinthians
Chapter 3: 18 beholding the glory of the Lord and we’re encouraged to behold the glory of the Lord not just because Jesus is Worthy to behold not just because it can give us all the the warm fuzzy feelings okay um but because beholding the glory of the Lord actually leads to
Transformation in our lives amen isn’t that what we just read right listen beholding leads to becoming every single time beholding lead to becoming or maybe you’ve heard the phrase you become what you behold or maybe you’ve heard people say that you’re most like the five people that you’re closest to or Pastor
Craig Rochelle of Life church he always likes to say show me your friends and I’ll show you your future it it it’s all the same idea that becoming or beholding leads to becoming right you become what you behold and so the two questions uh sorry uh and and that’s what Paul is
Expressing in this theme verse for the year that when we behold Jesus when we reflect on and contemplate our King Jesus we actually become more like him right we are transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another it just keeps getting better and better and better which is where
Alternate meaning of reflect comes in when we like mirrors turn towards Jesus and behold him we reflect his image and His glory to the world around us you become what you behold and so the two questions I want us to ask ourselves um all throughout 2024 is this what am I
Beholding and what am I becoming what what am I be beholding and what am I becoming because listen if beholding Jesus leads to becoming more like him then is it also possible that if we behold other things like the things of this world then we’ll become more like
Them too listen to this passage from Psalm 115: 4 through 8 it says this their idols and just if you’re not sure Idols are a bad thing here okay their Idol are silver and gold the work of human hands they have mouths but do not speak
Eyes but do not see they have ears but do not hear noses but do not smell they have hands but do not feel feet but do not walk and they do not make a sound in their throat verse eight those who make them become like them so do all who
Trust in them beholding leads to becoming you see becoming what you behold works in the other direction too right when we spend more time and energy beholding the things of this world rather than the glory of the Lord we will become like them when we put the priorities of the
World first in our lives rather than the priorities of the Lord first we will become like them when we place value on what the world values over what the Lord values we will become like the world and so what are you beholding and what are you becoming now why does this
Matter well first we are called to behold and become like Jesus right to grow and mature into his likeness we talked a lot about that last year and Paul says this many different ways in his writings and when we behold and become like Jesus it leads to blessing
And favor in our lives church family right if Jesus is our model and example of what it means to be truly human he’s the perfect human then when we behold and become like him we’re living the way God originally intended for us to live before sin uh entered and altered the
World do you see that and secondly the world desperately needs more of Jesus and not more of itself right we see how the world is going and it is not going great if honest beholding and becoming more like the world will only make things worse
And the only way for things to get any better and the only way for people to experience true blessing and hope in this world is if we fulfill our calling First of beholding and becoming like Christ and then we show the world how to behold and become like Christ too when
We look in the spiritual mirror we should see more and more of Jesus in ourselves every single day if we don’t see him but see something else it’s simply a matter of beholding right it means we’re not beholding Jesus but we’re beholding something else and so asking what am I
Beholding and what am I becoming this is going to help us stay on track this year in our Spiritual Development and missional purpose in the world hey and so church family again what are you beholding and what you BEC coming do you see more and more of Jesus
In your own life or do you see something else if you see something other than than Jesus church family it’s time to turn our attention back to him if you want to see Improvement right the new year is all about I’m making plans to better myself right to to
Become uh the the best me that I I need to be right that’s what new year is all about well if you want to see Improvement in your personal well-being and mental state be behold Jesus first right put put the the exercise and the the diet and all these other things
Beneath Jesus and behold Jesus first if if you want to see improve in your marriage church family there’s an attack on marriages in our church family right now as we speak it’s devastating it breaks my heart and if we want to see our marriages improve we must behold Jesus
If we want to see our families improve our other relationships improve we must behold Jesus if we want to see improvement in our satisfaction and fulfillment in life behold Jesus and be transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another church family that’s Improvement right that’s becoming
Better and that Improvement comes only when we behold Jesus do you see it church family do you see it and so I believe the Lord is leading us into a year of beholding a year of spending more time and energy and even resources if we have to so that we can behold
Jesus more than we behold the world and so that we can become more like Jesus to have greater positive impact on the world to see his kingdom truly grow now what does beholding Jesus look like practically um it’s really simple okay it it’s it looks like putting him first in all
Areas of your life right when you wake up in the morning you focus your attention on Jesus thank you Jesus for giving me another day of life right when you begin your day you seek God’s word and guidance first through his scripture when you make decisions about your life in the day
Today and also in the big areas you ask Lord what would you have me do first and then when he answers you you behold him and you obey whatever situation or circumstance that comes your way consider this WWJ d right W WJ D who remembers these bracelets praise God all right what
Would Jesus do what would he say what would you he think how would he act church family I am going to make wwjd bracelets popular again in 2024 all right and so if you want one I’ve got them for you okay just come up I I’ve
Got all kinds of colors um but you can use this for this year of beholding and look and say what would Jesus do who is Jesus what has he done for me what am I going to do to follow him I’m serious come and grab one of these I don’t want
To see them up here okay I’m even contemplating I sold on that last night um a new tattoo just wwjd yeah yep um well let’s grab them after you can grab one now but afterwards let’s grab them okay no don’t pass them out yet it’ll just distract and everybody will check
Out no that’s mean right Pastor Kai don’t y’all are better than that I know it okay but we’re going to make wwjd popular again um but here’s a a word of serious consideration for you if you behold Jesus more in the way that we’re talking about right now you
Will become like him amen du Pastor you’ve been saying that just non-stop since we’ve been talking about I get it no listen you will become like him is his word true that we will be transformed into the same image as Jesus this is not something to be taken
Lightly you will become like him and if you become like Jesus it means you’re not going to blend in with the world anymore it’s impossible you can’t because Jesus didn’t blend in did he he stood out and he drew attention a lot of attention and so will you you’re going
To look different you’re going to do things different you’re going to talk different you’re going to sound different and a lot of attention you’re GNA stand out and a lot of attention is going to be drawn to you as you become more like Jesus and in that sense you’re going to
Become a living example this word behold right this interjection to the world that draws attention to Jesus church family are you ready for that because not all of the world will respond positively to your beholding and becoming more like Jesus I mean did all of the world respond positively to Jesus no his
Beholding of the glory of the Lord God the Father led him to the Cross where he suffered and he died which is why Jesus himself he warned the disciples about following him Jesus said this foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son
Of man has nowhere to lay his head Jesus said if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me Jesus said for which of you Desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost whether he has enough
To complet it Jesus said if the world hates you know that it hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the world would love you as its own but because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates
You are you ready for that because if you truly take on this year of beholding Jesus you will become like him there’s a cost to it just this week I I saw a post from from Pastor Mark Driscoll and he said this Christians do things differently we’re weirdos we’re outliers
All your identity it’s fireproof be because there is a cost that comes with beholding Jesus but it leads to the greatest reward church family man I love the bridge of that that second song we saying this morning Christ be magnified right we chose to sing that song today because
It’s all about beholding Jesus right and the bridge of that song communicates so well what I’m trying to say here when it comes to the reward that we receive by beholding Jesus throw up the the first line of the lyrics right it says this I won’t bow to Idols I’ll Stand strong and
Worship you and if it puts me in the fire I’ll Rejoice cuz you’re there too I won’t be formed by feelings I hold fast to what is true if the cross brings transformation then I’ll be crucified with you CU death is just the doorway into Resurrection
Life and if I join you in your suffering then I’ll join you when you rise and when you return in glory with all the angels and the Saints my heart will still be singing my song will be the same Christ be magnified behold the glory of the Lord and so church
Family the challenge in the invitation this year is will you follow me as I follow Christ will you join me in beholding the glory of the Lord in 2024 yeah it’s not going to be easy you will be challenged in so many different ways you’re you’re going to be transformed
And changed there will be a cost to pay but the reward will be great transformed into the same image of Christ from glory to glory and so one of the ways that that you can that’s our theme for the year all right does that make sense is that
Clear all right behold behold we’ve got some stickers in the back too you can put them on your water bottle or something behold um to to remind yourself the wwjd bracelets come and get them all right um and one of the ways that you can can join me in beholding
The glory of the Lord in 2024 is by participating in our Fresh Start fast this week all right we do a a weeklong fast at the beginning of every single year um and so there are a couple different ways that you can participate all right starting tomorrow morning
We’ll be hosting morning prayer and worship services from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. right here at the church okay um we’ll spend a little bit of time worshiping through song uh someone from within our church family uh will share just a short devotional and then we’ll spend time in personal prayer a good
Amount of time where it’s just you and the Lord communicating talking um and then we’ll wrap up our time our morning in corporate prayer where we’ll be praying together seeking and beholding the Lord together uh in prayer over different topics every single day um we have it early in the morning on purpose
All right so that you can not to abuse you all right but so that you can come to one of these gatherings and then still make it to work right um and I know this will be challenging I know it right I know it will be challenging for
Parents especially with kids um if there are two parents in the home then I recommend alternating with your spouse of who’s going to come on what what day that’s what Annette and I we going to do with our kiddos um if you just can’t make it um then you can still
Participate by praying waking up early praying worshiping reading scripture beholding Jesus while while your church family beholds Jesus too um but I know that the majority of us can make it to these gatherings I know it all right is it challenging of course it is it’s challenging right Jesus never said it
Would be easy to Behold Him and the least we could do is wake up for a week just a little bit earlier and come and worship and pray and behold Jesus together all right listen I promise you it will be worth your time no one has ever come up to me after one
Of these morning Gatherings and said that was a complete waste of my time Pastor Kai thank you so much no one has ever done that if they were truly seeking the Lord and beholding him in that time amen and so I hope that you join us this week Monday Tuesday
Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Friday from 6:30 to 7:30 amen um the second way that you can participate I would say in addition to joining us um in the mornings is by fasting fasting um we see God’s people fast all throughout scripture um it’s a practice that is
Meant to draw us closer to God and to sharpen and refine us spiritually right so that we’re ready for whatever might come our way in life uh before Jesus entered into a full-time Ministry um he spent 40 days fasting and praying in the wilderness uh in preparation and so if
Jesus fasted as a way of preparing why the heck wouldn’t we amen um and the biblical definition in practice of fasting is when you abstain from food okay by definition you cannot fast from social media or streaming services or screens or Hobbies or anything else but food food and so I recommend fasting
Abstaining from food during our Fresh Start fast uh you can fast from all food for the whole week you can do a partial fast where you fast During certain times of the day or you fast from from only certain foods uh for example Anette and I um we’ll be fasting uh breakfast and
Lunch and then we’ll be having dinner in the evening with our kiddos um but the best and biblical way to fast is to fast from food um now I say every single year please use common sense all right um if you have certain health conditions to
Where it would be a detriment to your health to fast please don’t fast all right I don’t want anybody going to the hospital because their Pastor told them to fast all right um in this instance it’s totally okay to abstain from other things instead of food um it’s
Ultimately about your heart posture when you fast and we’ll talk more about that in a moment and obviously um don’t fast from water okay stay hydrated and drinking water actually helps you fast throughout the week drinking lots of water helps you okay um on top of
Fasting from food uh sorry let me back up um the other thing I would say is that um I don’t recommend kids under a certain age to to participate in a food fast all right uh their bodies are still growing and developing good nutrition is is really important for that um but if
Your kids are old enough to understand what fasting is um then encourage them to to maybe fast certain foods or to abstain from other things if they want to to participate um then encourage them in that way all right um now on top of fasting from food in addition to I
Recommend abstaining from other things too uh namely abstaining from things that are unnecessary distractions in your life the key word there is unnecessary okay your kids your spouse uh your work the daily up upkeep of your home and your personal well-being are not distractions okay um I’m talking
About things like social media right news media streaming services video games even some books all of these can be unnecessary distractions that keep you from truly beholding Jesus during our fast but also ju just in general even outside of the fast what do all of these forms of media present to us the
World it’s the world right they present the ways and the culture and the customs of the world and more and more these forms of media are no longer just in entertainment they’re forms of indoctrination seeking to make you become more and more like what they want
You to become and so when we consume and behold media like that and it has a greater priority and value in Our Lives we will become like what they want us to become and so especially during the fast but also in general during this year of beholding Jesus right let’s put those
Aside if we can right we need to behold the Lord more than we behold the Lord or behold the world uh and as it’s presented in all those various forms of media and so this this is the how that I I would encourage you to fast uh this
Week um but as you fast fast keep the why and the purpose of the fast ever before you okay when we fast listen we’re emptying ourselves so that we can be filled up with whatever God has for us that’s the most simple and basic way to explain fasting right we’re emptying
Ourselves to be filled up with whatever God wants for us we’re abstaining from food so that we can have more of what God desires for us when we fast um we’re actually sharpening our spiritual acts so to to speak right the more you use an
Axe the duller it gets um and if you don’t take time to sharpen your axe throughout the year it will become useless to you and so fasting is a way that we sharpen our spiritual acts so that we’re ready for whatever might come our way in 2024 and finally fasting and
Praying during our fast and reading scripture and seeking the Lord in those ways is our way of showing the Lord that we are committed to beholding him this year right we’re showing God that he is of our utmost importance in our lives we’re showing him that we want to behold
Jesus so that we become more like him and in doing so we will receive incredible blessings in our lives but we’ll also have a greater positive impact on the world around us and for the kingdom of God which which I don’t know about you I I desperately want that
In 2024 amen so church family and you come on up church family let’s join together and commit this year to behold to behold to behold the glory of the Lord and to being transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another