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I see increment and job promotion that has already been signed off. I see businesses that are being birthed. I see contracts being signed. I see greater favor coming upon your life. This is your year. That when you look back at 2026, you will know and you will say that it is truly the hand of the Lord that has raised me up. It is truly the work of the Lord through his faithfulness that I am where I am today. And I say that word greater because there are realms to this, there are levels to the favor of God. It says in Luke chapter 2, in verse 52, it says that Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature, in favor with God and with men. If the Son of Man had to grow, so do we. Come on, turn to your neighbor and say, Grow up. I know some of you have been waiting to say that to your spouse for a long time now. This is your opportunity. Turn to your neighbor and say, grow up. Come on. If the son of God had to grow in favor, then growing in favor isn't something that happens by accident, it happens by intention. You don't just arrive at the next level, you grow to the next level. The word grow is a very specific and it's a powerful word. It comes from the original Greek word prokopto. Everybody say prokopto. Prokopto. That's it. That word prokopto means to blaze a trail. The word is a compound word of pro, which is to move forward. And kopto means to cut or to strike. And so that gives you an image of someone who is like an explorer going through the thick, dense forests, heading towards his destination. But there are obstacles in the way. There's vines, there's branches, there's trees, there's thick foliage. And in order to get to where he wants to go, he has to cut his way through. He's got an axe in his hand and he's chopping away at the vines. He's pushing forward. It is a word of intention. It literally means to strike forward or to beat a path. This is a year of striking forward. This is a year of advancement. This is a year of strategy. It's not a year of passive growth, like how a tree would just grow on its own. You don't have to do anything, it just grows, it gets taller. It is active growth. It is intentional growth. It is exertion. It is overcoming resistance. It is moving towards a specific destination. One of our core values here at Destiny C3 is that we are committed to grow. Last Sunday we met with our leaders at our all-in and we spoke to our leaders of our five-year plan, our vision for the next five years, and we also spoke about our plan for this year. And very simply, we want to equip every person to not just be a disciple, but be a disciple maker. Jesus said, Go into all the world and make disciples. We must make disciples because disciples aren't born automatically, they are grown with intention. And we said to our leaders this just as we expect the leaders under us to grow, we must also develop ourselves. And that is why we're launching a new leadership pathway, a system designed to identify, to develop, to empower every person here to become the leader that you already are. Because the moment we stop growing, we start declining. You go backwards when you don't move forward. We must each keep pressing forward. We must keep reaching forward. Turn to your neighbor one more time and say, Prokopto, Prokopto. This is a year of striking forward. I'm gonna look at what it means to strike forward in wisdom, in stature, and lastly in favor. If you notice, Jesus grew as a total person. He grew in his emotions, he grew physically, he grew relationally, he grew spiritually, he even grew in his work ethics. Number one, wisdom. Wisdom is not just knowledge, that means you obtaining facts or information. Wisdom is not just understanding, that is you digesting that information, you are processing those facts, but wisdom is application. What did Jesus say in Matthew chapter 7? He said, Those who hear the word of God and do the word of God, they are wise. They're building their house upon the rock. The rain comes down, the flood comes, the wind beats against the house, but the house stands strong because the house is built upon the rock. But he says, He who hears the word of God, but he doesn't do it is a foolish man who builds his life, he builds his house upon the sand. And the rain comes and the flood comes and the wind beats against the house, and the house collapses. It falls, and great is its fall. Real wisdom is knowing the written word of God, which is the logos, and receiving the Rhema, the specific word of God that is revealed to you right now for your current situation. Proverbs 2, verse 6 says, For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth, knowledge and understanding. I'll give you an example. Most of you here are working. Imagine if you go to work one day and your boss is there just in a bad mood, and some of you are like, Pastor, that's like every day at work. Okay, stay with me. And he is criticizing you unfairly in front of your colleagues, in front of your team. Now, what does the word of God say? The word of God says a gentle answer turns away wrath. A gentle answer turns away anger. And so you're there, you're in control, you're calm, you're trying to give a gentle answer, but suddenly a thought comes in your mind. Be calm, be cool, but later ask for a private meeting at four o'clock. See, a gentle answer now will easily be overlooked, will be easily pushed aside. But a gentle answer later could possibly bring you a promotion. And that is what it means. To strike forward in wisdom is knowing when to hold your ground and knowing when to move. Wisdom isn't just a library of facts in your mind, it's the steering wheel to your life. For example, Logos is the map. Right? Rema is the GPS giving you live traffic updates. There's congestion up ahead, turn left. Now, the GPS doesn't lead you off the map. Hello? It leads you in the confines of the map, but it gives you live updates. And wisdom is you turning that steering wheel so you don't end up crashing in life. It's application of knowledge, it's application of understanding. So this is the year that you and I, I challenge you to grow in your word life. Know the word, seek God for his word and apply it to our life because a wise man knows what it is to hear the word of the Lord and to do it. Amen. So Jesus grew in wisdom, he also grew in stature. Stature means Jesus grew from a baby, he grew up to a primary school kid, to a teenager, to a grown man. He grew physically. Now, most of us here can't grow anymore taller. I wish I could still keep growing. Some of us here may grow slightly wider this year. Hopefully not. Hopefully, slightly smaller, amen. From being disciplined with your food and drink to regular intervals of rest and exercise, amen. To even your sexuality. It matters to God what you do with the body that He has given you. The Bible says, flee from sexual sin. Every other sin a man can commit is outside of his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God with your body. You know, all of us take care of our cars, our vehicles well, right? When it's time to service it, we take it to the mechanic, whatever service center you take it to. If there are lights that come on, oh, you need to change your engine oil or whatever, we take it to the mechanic, we get it repaired. Because if your car breaks down, if your vehicle breaks down, then life comes to a standstill. Your body is the vehicle for your calling. You need a body that can keep up with the spirit, man. Discipline in your health is how you maintain your vehicle so that you don't break down halfway through an assignment. Amen. So let's get moving. Amen. It's very simple. You don't have to sign up at the gym, but you don't also have to sit at home every day watching Netflix for hours. You can get up and go for a walk. Does this bring honor to God? Now, I'm not gonna spoil your Chinese New Year that's coming up. But everything in moderation, amen. So Jesus grew in wisdom, Jesus grew in stature, and Jesus grew in favor with God and with man. And I really want to hone in on this because I really feel God pushing in on this point. The Greek word for favor is caris. Caris means to rejoice, a joy, favor, acceptance, kindness granted, a benefit, thanks, gratitude, grace. Caris basically means grace and favor. Favor means grace, grace means favor. The first time we find that word grace or favor is in the Old Testament, when God said to Noah that this is a man. Noah, he has found grace, he has found favor in the eyes of God. The first time that word grace, that word favor is seen in the New Testament is when the angel visits Mary. And he says in Luke chapter 1, verse 28, Rejoice, highly favored one. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. And then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. You have found favor with God. Grace, favor, it means the same thing. And countless people in scripture, you see, from Daniel to Ruth to Esther, they all experience the favor of God, God's protection, God's guidance, even in difficult situations. If you have the favor of God, it doesn't mean you're walking on cloud nine. You will have to go into a lion's den. But even in that den you will see the protection of God. You may have to walk through a fiery furnace, but even then you will see the blessing and the presence of God. This is what we have in Christ: the blessing of God, the favor of God. And some of us are asking, how do I get the favor of God? Romans chapter 5, verse 1 to 2. Gonna put the scripture up on the screen and leave that scripture out on the screen because I'm just gonna really hone in on this scripture because I want you to get this. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace. And what is grace? Favor. We have access by faith into this favor in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. The first thing I want you to see is we have been justified. We have been justified, we have been made right. We all have sinned, we all have fallen short of the glory of God because of what Jesus did for us. The righteousness of God is given to all who believe, and that is why it says we are justified by faith. All who believe, it's as simple as that. You have faith in what God accomplished for you at the cross, you are justified. The sentence on our life was transformed from guilty to justified, from death to life. The kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. And it says that the grace of God is given in Romans chapter 11, verse 6, it's given free and undeserved. It's given free, guys. You don't have to work for it, you don't have to labor for it. There is no effort to receive the grace of God. You can't earn it because if you could earn it, then what you get is a reward. It is not a reward, it costs you nothing. All it takes is faith, all it takes is believe. I believe. And immediately the grace of God is poured out into your life. It is given free and it's given undeserved. Come on, I know me. You know you. We don't deserve this kind of kindness. We don't deserve the grace of God, but that is the God in whom we serve. Never forget a God who so loved the world. It started with Him. A God who so loved you that He gave His one and only Son so that He can give you this free, undeserved gift of favor, of grace. Now, because we are justified, it goes on to say that we have peace with peace with God. Now, that doesn't mean we have peace with sin, we have peace with the enemy, we have peace with the world. As a believer, you will still have to fight some battles, but that battle isn't against God. God is not fighting against you. In fact, God is fighting for you. If God be for you, who can be against you? And so we have peace with God because we are justified. And now we have access. A door is flung wide open so that we can step into this grace, so that we can step into the favor of God. This grace is not only the way salvation comes to us. I want you to understand that it's also a description of our present standing before God. And that's why it says this favor in which we stand. We stand, we must stand in this truth, we must stand in this favor, we must stand in this reality. It's not just the beginning principle of our journey of faith, it is the continuing principle of the journey. Some of us think, right, we start our journey by grace. Somewhere along the lines, we think that we must earn this favor, that we need to live a life that deserves the favor of God. No, we must stand. Stand. Stand in the grace. Standing in grace reassures that God's present attitude towards us in Christ is one of favor. And when he looks at you, he doesn't look at you in anger. He's not waiting to punish you. He looks at you with joy. He looks at you with gladness. He looks at you with pleasure. He doesn't just love us, he likes us. In fact, I'm willing to bet he wants to spend more time with you than you want to spend with him. Standing in a favor of God means that I don't have to prove that I'm worthy of God's love. That God is my friend. The door of access is permanently open to him. I'm free of the score sheet. The account is settled in Christ. I can spend more time now praising him and less time hating myself. Amen. And that is why it says, rejoice, that we can rejoice in God. I tell you, this church will never be a quiet church. We will always know what it is to rejoice. And again, I say rejoice. We who know what it is to receive the forgiveness of God, the mercies of God. We who know what it is, where would I be if not for this God that I serve? And therefore, I will serve him with all of my heart. I will lift my hands and I will worship. I will dance before him because I love my God. This is the God in whom I trust. This is a God who bled and died for me. Hallelujah. No other belief system has this. Every other form of religion says, you must do this, you must cut that, you must pray this, you must chant that, you must burn this, you must go that. Then maybe, maybe you can have the favor of God. In fact, we're not very sure. So even after you die, ask your relatives to do this and burn that and chant that and pray that then only. But this is the only relationship with God that says you your works are not good enough. It will never be good enough. And therefore, God sent his son so that you and I can stand in the favor of God. Psalm chapter 5, verse 12 says, For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous. With favor, you will surround him as a shield. Favor is for the righteous. Now, what about growing in favor? So let's look at growing in favor with men. Now, while favor with God is a free gift, favor with men is often the result of character and integrity. Come on, let's get real here. As you grow in wisdom, people will begin to notice. Favor with men is when God gives you a good name, a good reputation in your workplace, in your neighborhood, in your family. You grow in favor with men when you are reliable, you're trustworthy when your yes is a yes and your no is a no. When you treat others with kindness, with respect. You see, Daniel was a man who had favor with God, and he also had favor with the king, right? You know, God said, Daniel, you are a man greatly loved. Wow. Wow. At the same time, the king himself greatly loved Daniel. Why? If you read scripture, you will find that Daniel had a spirit of excellence upon his life. Whatever he did, he did it to his best abilities. When you and I know what it is to give our best, to do our best for God, you attract the favor of man. It isn't about people pleasing, it's about being a person of such high integrity that even the world will look at you and say, Whew, God must surely be with that person. Amen. God's hand must surely be upon you. Go and close that deal because I know God's hand is with you. When they watch your life, they will know that you have the favor of God. Growing in favor with man is the result of character and integrity. Now, what about growing in favor with God? Because we see that Jesus grew in favor with God and with man. So, in order to grow in favor, you must understand that favor has two. Sides of it. We are sinners saved by grace, but we are also saints empowered by grace. The grace of God is a free gift, but with always comes an assignment. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8. You can see this very clearly. For by grace you have been saved through faith. That not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in it. Noah found favor in the eyes of God, and with that, God said, Go build an ark. Moses found favor in the eyes of God, and with that he said, Go lead my people. Mary found favor in the eyes of God, and with that, God said, Carry my son. For example, you go to your office one day and your boss calls you in the office and says, Hey, come in, come, come in for a while. You know, I really like your heart. And I'm giving you a promotion. Woo! Praise the Lord. Yeah, look what the Lord has done. The favor of the Lord is upon me, Pastor. Then He hands you an appointment letter. And in that letter, it says that now you're responsible for this team, you're now heading this department, you are now overseeing this, this, this countries. Now, if you take the promotion but refuse to do the work, you aren't walking in the favor that has been handed to you. You are wasting an opportunity. God's favor is his yes on your life. But with that yes, always comes a task to perform for his kingdom. Now, this is important. Hear me out. God's favor upon all these individuals was seen through the fact that God saw each of them as someone he could entrust with a task. His favor was seen through an assignment given to them for his purpose. Guys, we don't have to serve God. We get to serve God. That same grace that saved you is the same grace that is positioning you to fulfill your purpose. And maybe you're like Mary today, you know, and I think about that girl, I'm like, oh my gosh. What faith. I mean that angel's arrival, I think it just couldn't have been at the worst possible time. Right? She's already engaged, guys. She already has a boyfriend. What is he going to say as her belly starts growing bigger? What is her family gonna say? What's his family gonna say? What's the community gonna say? If the angel came to her when she was younger, you know, she could have just planned her life in such a way, go hiding in the wilderness for a few years or something. But she couldn't run away from her situation, it completely turned her world upside down. Maybe if he came, I was thinking, maybe if he came to her after she was married, that would have been so much easier, right? The call of God came to Moses when he was in the desert, he was a nobody shepherd. You know, maybe that God could have called him from a burning bush when he was in the palace, right? He could have just changed some legislations, you know, turned some laws around. God's timing is always perfect, but it doesn't come at the right time. Some of us are like, you know, Pastor, I'd love to serve God, but my kids are too young, you know. Some of us here, you know, you know, I I would love to serve God, but you know, I'm already too old, La Pasta. Some of us, uh no, I'm too young. Some of us, you know, but I cannot talk, La Pasta. I cannot speak. Some of us, but Pastor, I speak too much, La Pasta. I just talk and talk and talk. How many people you know are like that? Talk too much. Come on, don't look at them side eyes. So maybe you're like Mary today. Maybe you're like Esther, who was just warming up her seat and suddenly, bam. God doesn't choose the qualified, he qualifies the called. You are called. You have been commissioned. His favor is already on your life. Don't hold back in fear, but step out in faith, for it is him who qualifies the chosen. You know, like the parable of the talents in Matthew chapter 5, it talks of the master who goes away, right? And he gives all this money, he gives these talents to his servants. Two of them, they work at it, they invest it, they multiply it. And when he comes back, he says, Well done. Here, have more. The other guy he goes and buries it. He hides it. Why? He's afraid, he's scared, he's fearful. And when the master returns, he does not have nice words to say. He says, You wicked and lazy servant. And even what he had, the little he had, was taken away from him. God expects us to use our God-given abilities. And some of you know, Pastor, I don't have God-given abilities. All of us have gifts. The Bible says that every one of us has gifts that God has already put within you, and God expects us to use these gifts to productively use it for his purposes and not to hide them. And that is how we grow in favor with God when we are good stewards of what he has entrusted and what he has put within our hands, so that when he comes back, he will not say, You wicked and lazy servant, but he will look at us and say, Well done. Good and faithful servant. I pray today that fathers and mothers will join hearts and say, As for me and my house, 2026, this is my commitment that as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. I pray that young people will rise up like Mary, who said, Behold, the servant of the Lord, made to be to me according to your word. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Whatever I do, I do it heartily. I do it with my whole heart unto the Lord, for it is the Lord who gives me the reward. I don't seek for the approval of the praises of men, but it is God who watches over my coming in and my going out. And then as I lay my life as an offering to the Lord, I pray that God will move upon your heart today, that you will see that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you could even ask or imagine, according to the power that is already at work within you. This is your year. This is your time to step out, not hold back in fear. Prokopto, prokopto. Life is lived best when it's all about Jesus. Life is lived best when it's all about Jesus, knowing Him, making Him known. Whatever you do, whether small or big, do it with all your heart. Do it for unto the Lord. He gave His all and His best for us. How could we give anything less? Hallelujah. But we are not without hope. Like Mary who said, How is this gonna happen? The angel said, The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. Paul talks about this. He said, His grace is sufficient for me. His favor that has been already released into your life, it is sufficient for you. For in your weakness, his strength is made perfect. Amen. So that we can say at the end of our life, we can say it is by the grace of God. It is by the favor of God that I am what I am. His grace towards me was not in vain. The favor that has already been given to you, don't waste it. But he says, I labored more abundantly than they all. I worked hard. I pushed forward, yet not I. But the grace, the favor of God which was with me. I may not feel so confident this year, may feel a bit frazzled this year, but this is my year. And I'm gonna push in, I'm gonna strike forward in the things of God. Amen. And I want to remind you this that growth doesn't happen in isolation. Growth doesn't happen in isolation. Notice something when the angel approaches Mary, he doesn't um uh give her all the details on what to expect. He doesn't stay and try to help her through, you know, this is how it's gonna happen, and then this one. You know, he doesn't. But let me tell you what he does is he points her to a who. He points her to Elizabeth. Look at your cousin. She's old in age, she was barren, but now she carries a child. For with God, nothing is impossible. The angel pointed Mary to Elizabeth. We all need Elizabeth in our lives. Someone who is a little bit further from where you are, who can speak into your life, who can encourage you, pray with you, strengthen you, someone who's more mature, maybe more experienced, someone that you look up to, not for the clothes they wear or the car they drive, but because they carry something. They have walked where you are walking now. Someone who can help prepare you for the twists and turns of life. Elisha had Elijah, Ruth had a Naomi, Esther had a Mordecai, Moses had an Aaron, Timothy had a Paul. You know, to give you an example, it's like a knife. You know, we all use knife for cooking or whatever, not and to sharpen a blade on a knife, you need a stone that is harder than the metal. The blade submits to the stone, and the friction creates a sharp edge. And Elizabeth in your life is your sharpening stone. It might be uncomfortable, it might be a bit of heat and friction when they correct you, when they push you to do things that you're uncomfortable doing. But that friction is what gives you the edge to cut through the jungle of life. You can't sharpen yourself. You need a stone. And that's why we've created this leadership pathway in our church this year. Overseers that are going to be mentoring coaches, coaches who are going to be developing leaders, leaders who are raising up members so that we don't journey this path alone. Mary understood that her strength would not come from just the power of the Holy Spirit, but also from the people she surrounded herself with. Listen to me, you don't need to compete with others in your life. We each have our unique assignment. You don't have to compare yourself with others, you need to align. You and I were never intended to go through this life alone. The Bible says that Mary got up, she hurried, and she went to Elizabeth's home. She ran over there. So I want to encourage you that as we come to a close, that God will speak to you. Perhaps someone in your connect group, perhaps someone in your ministry team, that God will open your eyes to see the Elizabeth in your life and encourage you to go to them and submit yourself under them. Allow them to speak into your life. Another example of this is Jesus Himself. You know, it's not much that you see about his life when he was young. You know, but you see this story when he was 12. You remember that story? Right? They all go to the temple. And, you know, this is great parenting tips, right here. One day after they lose him, I know how you cannot find your child after one day and just think it's all cool. But anyway, he was missing for one day, they go around searching for him. They finally find him in the temple. And he's there debating with the scholars, he's there asking questions, and everybody was shockblown away by his wisdom, by his understanding. And they come up to him, the mother says, Why are you doing this to me? And she says, You know, don't you know that I need to be in my father's house? And he says that they didn't understand. They didn't understand what he was saying. Jesus at age 12 had already surpassed them spiritually, in his knowledge, in revelation, in his understanding, but it also goes on to say this: that he followed them back. And it also goes on to say that he was obedient to his parents. And the very next verse you see that Jesus grew. Jesus grew. Prokopto, Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature, in favor with God and men. Here Jesus at age 12 teaches us an essential lesson for any age. Godly submission does not come from a lack of competency. We are never too smart, too skilled, too experienced, or too spiritual for God-given submission. Even though Jesus humbled himself, God didn't leave him there. God never leaves us in a low place, God never leaves us in a dead place. Because Jesus was willing to be humble, willing to be obedient, whether at age 12, with his parents, or as a grown man with a towel wrapped around his waist, washing disciples' feet, or whether he was obedient right to the cross. Because he was willing to be humble, God raised him up to the highest place of honor. And this is the promise for us too. When we choose to be humble, we choose to be obedient. When we submit to those in authority over us, ultimately obeying God, He will eventually lift us up. Choosing to obey God doesn't mean we lose our happiness temporarily. Like I said, sometimes a bit of heat and friction there. But instead, obedience is the death of all things that keep us from being truly happy. It clears away the junk in our lives so that we can finally experience full and lasting joy and ultimately an increase of wisdom, stature, and favor. Let's stand to our feet.