The Beginning Phase - Relationship Series (02-15-26)

We hope this message was an encouragement to you. We would love for you to join us in person and worship with our church family. ISO Church meets Sundays at 10 AM at the Women's Club in Paramus. You can also reach us at our website: isochurch.org, or on Instagram @isochurch. Thanks for listening, and God Bless you!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey ISO fam, Pastor Chad here, and you're listening to the message from our ISO Church Sunday service, where we are in search of the one and in service of the one. We pray that this message speaks to your life today, that you're encouraged but also impacted because of God's love and his grace. We hope that you enjoy. Thanks for listening. He's happy to be in church today. Listen, I I commend you guys because I am never cold. It's cold in here today, y'all. You guys can hear it. I'm sniffling a little bit and everything. This is crazy. I I told Pastor Crystal we may need to open up a location in California or Florida where it's never cold like this. So if anyone wants to launch a new campus with us, let us know. We'll uh we'll do it so I can escape the cold. But uh, you know, as as Christian said, continue to just lift up my dad in prayer. He was in surgery this morning. Um we're praying everything goes well. There was some complications from last week's surgery, and uh they were actually doing two surgeries simultaneously this morning. Bunch of different things going on, bunch of different things happening, but we know God's faithful. We know he's good. We're praying for the physicians and all the doctors and nurses that are working with him. And, you know, as I said before, I'm believing for healing in this house for so many other countless needs and blessings that we're waiting on. And so I just wanted to encourage us in that. And I also just wanted to say something very quickly before we dive into this new collection. You know, I I was contemplating, you know, God and do you want me to switch things up and do you want me to change some things? And we uh some of us may have seen some of the things that happened this week politically, and um, you know, as as a believer, as somebody who is half black, half white, that was very difficult to see from all different viewpoints. And so I just want to let you know if one that is not something that Christians do. Um so I think sometimes the church can misconstrue some things, but if you want to have additional conversations, please don't hesitate to reach out. Um, I'm having a lot of conversations with a lot of different people from all over, and I think the conversations are the things that help us grow and help us mature and help us change. But I want us to understand, you know, that before we follow any political party, before we follow any person, the person that we should be following is Jesus. And so Jesus dictates our steps as believers, and I want to encourage you to not let that dictate how you live your life to by some political party, by whatever things you may be believing in. If it's not from Jesus, let's shift our perspective a little bit. And so, you know, I'm just praying consistently for this nation, for our leaders. I would encourage you guys to do that as well. But God has a plan and a purpose for everything, and I know that he will work all things for his good and for his glory. And so I'm fully believing that something positive will come out of this. Maybe it's conversations people weren't having before. Maybe it's reconciliation from different groups and different parties. Maybe it's us as a nation reflecting and saying, hey, maybe we need better candidates than what we've had previously. But I just want to encourage you guys to have those conversations, talk to people, but we're gonna kind of stick with the plan today. February, this is the first time I've been doing this in a very long time. We are opening up a collection all about relationships here at ISO Church. And so um, I'm gonna have my wife come up, we're gonna preach together. She get she just got so freaked out, y'all. That was that was good. She just got so nervous, she was like, What do I do with the babies? What I think a piece of her soul just died in that moment. No, I'm just kidding. But I'm gonna ask us to stand to our feet. We have our vision verse, so if we could throw that up on the screen real quick. This is something that we are speaking over our house, speaking over our lives. I'm believing that in this year the ISO church will collect land. I'm believing that we will have favor. I believe that God will bless us. And it starts from moments like this because our vision for the year is back at the altar. So let's read this together. Then the Lord appeared to Abraham and said, I will give this land to your descendants. And Abraham built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord who had appeared to him. You guys sound great. You guys can have a seat. I want to bring a message to you today titled The Beginning Phase. The Beginning Phase, and, you know, I was thinking, are we are we doing this for this message for singles? Are we doing it for, you know, people that are newly engaged, newly married? No, this is, I believe, what we are gonna focus on today is for a multitude of people that people will be able to take something from this no matter what stage of relationships you are in. And I believe that as we begin relationships, friendships, connections, we need to understand the beginning phase of everything. And so we are in this new collection on relationships. And how many of us are I'm I may I may date myself a little bit, how many of us remember when we had Facebook, right? I know some of the old people are like, I still got mine. Some of the young people are like, What's Facebook? Like, so we got a nice little middle ground today, but I remember growing up, and the thing that everybody wanted was to be able to change their relationship status on Facebook. It wasn't official until both y'all accepted that request. Sometimes some people jump the gun and they're like, I'm in a relationship, and the other person was like, with who? Right? And then it changes to it's complicated. Right? Going around my house this weekend was very interesting for me. Crystal, sometimes she'll I'll let you guys in on our family dynamic. Yeah, we're we'll put we're pulling the curtain back this morning. Crystal will call me Boo Boo every once in a while. So Crystal goes, uh, Boo, can you do X, Y, and Z yesterday? Next thing I know, my daughter goes, Boo-boo. And she and she's doing this now, she goes with the one finger. And I was like, so I'm looking around, I'm like, who is she talking to? And she goes, Boo-boo. And I was like, girl, listen, you ain't gonna have no boo-boo until you're 50 years old, so let's get that vocabulary out of your mouth right now. And she and then she proceeded. This is how I know my daughter knows she's she's pushing buttons a little bit now, right? She's turning two in a little bit over a week, it's insane. And then it didn't just stop at boo or boo-boo, then it was boo-boo babe, and I was like, I was like, Genevieve Julia Campbell, and she goes, Yes, boo-boo babe, and I was like, Oh my gosh. And I was like, this is going into my sermon tomorrow because we are talking about relationships, and I'm listening to this and I'm looking at it, and listen, I I love my wife, and for the last 10 years we've enjoyed being in a relationship. But I I remember the the first time we we went out together and we took a photo together and we posted it together, like all the different things. Sometimes we'll go back, we'll look, and it was back when I didn't have this and didn't have this, and I had like that Marco Royce haircut where the sides were buzzed and the top was flopping over, my teeth weren't done yet, like all the different things, and crystals looking as beautiful as ever. And I'm I I look back on pictures and I'm like, nobody can tell me that there is no God. Because there is no way that I pulled this woman looking like that at that age, acting like that. Only Jesus. And so I want to encourage you if you are single right now, if you're dating, if you're engaged, if you're getting married, the second a woman that is out of your league gives you an opportunity, pray, fast, and purchase a ring. Amen. Okay. So we are diving into it today. I was thinking about, you know, maybe naming this the soft launch or the dating phase or anything, but I thought the beginning phase was so fitting for where so many of us may be, whether it's as believers, whether it's new into relationships, maybe we're newly single, wherever it may be. But if we can turn to the book of Proverbs, chapter 4, I'm reading from the New Living Translation this morning, and we're gonna have verse 23, and then we're gonna jump down to 25 through 27. But verse 23, it says there, guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. And then verses 25 through 27, it says, Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet, stay on the safe path, don't get sidetracked, keep your feet from following evil. I encourage you, take some notes, write some things down. You know, last week Pastor Joe was calling people out. I ain't gonna do it this week, but we don't all have a perfect memory. So write some things down so you can reflect on it this week. But let's pray together. God, thank you so much for your word. Thank you that it's still alive and breathing and moving. Speak through me, let it be your words, not mine. Let us open up our hearts and spirits to receive all that you have in store for us today, God. Lord, I pray that we get better at relationships and it starts at the beginning. So, God, I pray that we can fix our focus on you. We love you, we thank you, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Everyone say boo-boo. I'm just making sure we're all awake this morning. We're listening, we're paying attention. Like, I'm not gonna lie, I'm still a little salty that Genevieve called out Uncle Quillin and didn't say anything to me, but here we are, and I'll read it again. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet, stay on the safe path, don't get sidetracked, keep your feet from following evil. And so, today, as we begin this collection, as we look at the beginning phases of a relationship, I think that these will be a solid foundation because how many of us know that healthy relationships start with whole people? And so often people will get into relationships because they're looking for something, they're longing for somebody to fill that space in their life, right? We have people that bounce from relationship to relationship to relationship, and they think that everything's okay, and what they do is they carry baggage from all the previous things into that new season. And I truly believe that some of us today are gonna get free, some of us are gonna understand relationships better, some of us maybe reflect on our marriage and go, hey, listen, today we get to change something now to sustain us for the long run. I've told Crystal, guess what? You are stuck with me, whether you like it or not. So let's do this thing right together because we're not doing it again. And there's times where, listen, not everything is perfect, you know, Crystal messes up, and Crystal does all these things, and I'm just kidding. But there's a lot of times where you know, I'm I'm not perfect. I know it's a shock to so many of us, but I'm only doing this thing once. And there are people in here that are single right now, there are people in here that are dating, there are people in here that are, you know, in seasons of getting engaged and getting married. There are some that have been married for a few years now. Like, I've been very fortunate to, you know, sit in the room with some of these couples, in the room with some of these people, break bread together. Like, you know, just the other day, I'm texting Priscilla and Hector, and I'm like, hey, listen, this fast is over in two days. I've already scouted a restaurant that's in your town, so we're going, and they're like, we aren't even fasting food, but let's do it. Like, you know, like I I love being around couples that are like-minded, that are focused on the Lord, and I love this verse. Guard your heart above all else. For it determines not just some aspects of your life, not just some pieces, but it determines the course of your life. But then I love what verse 25 says right there: look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. And so the first thing today, to understand the beginning phases of relationships, we need to fix your eyes on Jesus first. Fix your eyes on Jesus first. If you want to do any relationship right in any capacity, you need to fix your eyes on Jesus. It's that simple. So many of us want to love others before we even learn to love ourselves the way that God loves us. Like, I find it mind-blowing that people will be like, you know, Pastor Chad, like, I just want my boo-boo babe. And I'm like, yeah, that's great, but I just heard you talking down on yourself just last week. Your social media post the other day begs to differ. And I look at it and then I go, well, would you want to be in a relationship with somebody that speaks to themselves like that? Or that talks about themselves like that? Or that looks at themselves that way? Because, you know, I've had conversations with people young, with people older. And I go, I want us to understand that we are sons and daughters of the Most High King. And so to me, when I hear that we are sons and daughters of a king, there's a progression to this. That means we are princes and we are princesses, we are royalty in God's kingdom. So that don't mean that everybody has access to us. Back in the day, you know, I like to watch the shows that are like, you know, they have the medieval times and all the different things, right? And right, how many of us, you know, it's February, so that means Bridgerton came back out. I'm not, I'm done with it. But I'm looking at it because it's so annoying at times because they're like, well, you know, I can't be in a relationship with that person because they're not royalty. And I go, well, in 2026, people disregard that all the time. And what they do is they've been waiting. Pastor Chad, I've been patient. I've been asking God for this. Why isn't this happening? What we do is we make decisions and we do things based on our own feelings and our own understanding. And we don't have our eyes fixed on Jesus for Jesus to guide our steps, for Jesus to point people in our direction and give us opportunities to grow with people. But the key is it's not just fixing our eyes on Jesus whenever we feel like we're out of order, out of touch. And listen, it's great to regroup, but the we need to do it first! We need to do it first when we do it at the beginning, we get things in order. Right? We did 21 days of prayer and fasting to kick off the year because it's the first month. It's the beginning, it's the best. Right? We tithe, we give our 10% at the beginning because it's our first and it's not a tip. Right? The Winter Olympics are out right now, right? How many of us have watched the Winter Olympics at all yet? My dad, I've been talking to him, I've been seeing him a little bit, and he's in the hospital, and he's like, uh, he's all things considered, he's loving the fact that he's just been getting to sit there and watch curling. How many of us have watched curling at all? How many of us even know what curling is? All two of us, cool. It's great. It's it's the one where they throw the rock on the ice and then the other person has a broom and they're shoveling it like this in front, trying to hit other people, and there's a little target on the other side of the ice. It's it's super cool when you lock in. I'm like, give me any type of sport, any type of thing. I'm I'm ready. I'm like, I could go be in the Olympics in four years right now doing this if I really wanted to. Like, I'm locked in. But then there's so many different other things, right? You got the downhill skiing, like Crystal and I, and we we've put it on for Genevieve. This is the first Olympics that she's able to see, and so she's like, Olympics, Olympics, and she doesn't even fully understand what it is. And I'm like, all right, baby, so these people with the American flag, these are the people we we root for. Jamaica is not usually in the cold Olympics. We're in the other one when it's warm out. And she's like, okay. And so we're watching women's hockey, and I'm like, this could be you one day, but we'll probably lean basketball, but this could be you, and women's hockey is annihilating the other team. I I leave the room, it's one-nothing, I come back, it's like five to one, and I'm like, America, you know? And but these athletes, what they do is they fix their eyes on what's ahead. For some of them, I'm watching the Olympics the other day, and these people are doing the downhill skiing and they're going super, super fast, and I'm looking at it, and this one person is skiing, and they're like literally like bent like this, and they're like almost touching the ground and they're flying down this hill. And this one lady's super focused, she's looking at what's ahead, she's focused on the finish line, she's focused, and she's not just starting out fast, but she's preparing to do this race to the full extent. And how many of us know that we we plan, we prepare, we practice, but sometimes life throws something at us, right? So this lady is downhill skiing, she's almost near the end, and a squirrel comes running out onto the course right in front of her. And if you guys don't know me by now, I hate squirrels with a burning passion. I got attacked by one when I was a kid, so like got a little PTSD, not gonna lie, another story for another sermon. But so I'm looking at this video and I'm like, hit 'em. And I'm looking at that squirrel and I'm like, just take one more step to the left, like, and this will be the best video I've ever seen. And the squirrel runs out there, and this lady is focused and she's locked in, and you would think that this would phase her, and she dodges this squirrel, keeps going, finishes this race, squirrel leaves the situation unscathed. I was like, ah, I was like, send them back out there, like the Hunger Games, right? Like, but we see athletes more often than not, their their level of effectiveness is great at the beginning, right? Because they train, they practice, they do all the things, and when they show up to a game, when they show up to an event, blood's flowing, they feel good, and everything's great at the start. But the true legends are the ones that have stamina to continue. But it starts with preparing at the beginning. And so if we want to do relationships as long as possible, as healthy as possible, the way God ordained them to be, the way God planned for them to be, we need to address things at the beginning and at the start fix our eyes on Jesus. What happens when you fix your eyes on Jesus first is He gives you the stamina to continue to love someone even when it's hard. To continue to love someone even when they upset you. To continue to love someone even when they turn your back on you. And I look at it because Jesus experienced this. Now, yes, from a relationship, he was single, but he still had relationship and connection with his disciples and those closest to him. People that walked this life with him, people that were connected to him, people that did this journey, that saw him perform miracles, that saw him heal people, that saw him do all these different things. One of the closest ones, he's out here chopping people's ears off. He's out here rejecting Jesus three times. Another one literally sells Jesus to his death. But I find it so interesting that from the beginning, Jesus knew that he needed to fix his eyes on his father. To do anything in an effective way, he knew that he needed to fix his eyes on the Lord. And so I want to encourage you today, no matter what journey, no matter what part of the relationship journey that you are in, you don't need someone to complete you. Society will tell you, oh, I need somebody that completes me. I need somebody that kisses me in the rain, like the notebook. I need somebody that does all these different things. Like, if my life is not a Nicholas Sparks movie, I don't want it. You don't need someone to complete you because Christ already has. And so when we fix our eyes on Jesus first, what we are saying is, God, I'm allowing you into my space. I'm allowing you to do what only you can do, fill the voids where I am empty, fix the spots where I am broken. Let's do this thing together so that when I step into relationships, I'm not walking around carrying all this baggage, but I can go in knowing that you have something special happening here. You don't need someone to complete you because Christ already does. Second thing, date with purpose, not potential. This is specifically for the single people or for the people that are in that dating stage. Date with purpose, not potential. Potential when it comes to dating is very dangerous. I just hit 30, so I'm almost at that unk stage, I feel like. Genevieve's been saying unk all the time now, so I'm just embracing it. She calls Quillan unk. I'm still salty about before, but you know, it is what it is. But in today's dating world, right, it's often this casual, undefined, driven by feelings type of status. Where, you know, oh, well, you know, we're not we're not exclusive, so you know, I'm I'm going out with a few people, and we're not we're not intentional about it. But that's exactly what biblical dating is it's being intentional. And so many of us in that single stage or in that dating stage, we're dating for potential. And I heard something the other day that I thought was so key, and I loved how they phrased it, so I literally wrote it down, and I'm gonna say it verbatim for you. They said, stop trying to date potential, don't date seeds, date roots. And this is the thing that I found very interesting. They said, there doesn't already have to be fruit produced, but you do not date seeds. Seeds have not yet grown, seeds have not yet produced anything, seeds are still in the early shallow stages of being planted. Some seeds aren't even planted at all. But roots, listen, they may not look the greatest, they may not look the nicest, but there's a foundation there. There's effort, there's intentionality. Roots have already taken shape. Dating potential is dating seeds, seeds that haven't taken shape, haven't been watered, haven't been nurtured. Roots take time. And I say that because to love someone is to love them through time. Because so many of us pretend like the honeymoon stage is going to be forever. I'll give you a little insider information. It's not. Diego's like, oh man, like he's getting married this summer. Right? Yeah, we can clap for that. That's good. Cassidy's not here right now, so if there's anything you want to say, speak now, forever hold your peace. No, I'm just kidding. We love Cassidy too. I already told Cassidy, I was like, listen, I I may like you better than Diego already. No shame. And she was like, I appreciate that. And Diego's like, we've been through a lot together, man. And I was like, and I'm just kidding. We love him too. Um. But the honeymoon phase is not forever. I told you guys, like, I've now done the dishes more in the last month and a half than I have in five years of Crystal and I being married. Ten years of us being together. It is the demise of my being. Like, I cannot stand it. But it's like, hey, listen, like, I love my wife and she's tired right now, she's taking care of our children and all the things, so let me extend myself a little bit. Do I want to do it? No. I can't stand it in the midst of it. But at the end, when she's she's thankful, it just makes me a little more happy that I was able to bless her. And then the times where she's upset with me, I go, remember I did the dishes last week. I don't encourage you to do that. Some of you, my wife is white, some of you are married to some Latinas or the chanclaw who will come out. That's the extent of my Spanish right there. But to love someone is to love them through time. The purpose of dating for a believer is not entertainment, attention, or temporary happiness. It is discernment for covenant. And so I encourage young people as they begin dating. I encourage people that are even older and they start dating. Like, there should be purpose behind your dating. There is a purpose behind what we are doing. There is a reason we do what we do, and it's not just for quick attention, it's not just for this temporary happiness, it's not just for this quick emotional fixation. No, it's for a long-lasting relationship. Because guess what? Jesus models it because our Heavenly Father wants to have an eternal relationship with us. Guess how long eternity is a long time. And so I say that because listen, feelings are real. I'm not discrediting that, but when we make decisions based off of feelings, feelings change. The amount of times I, well, you know, I feel in love. And I'm like, okay, well, call me when you feel something different in a few days. I feel like this is the one. And I go, okay, well, what happens if this isn't the one and you mess up and choose this one anyway? What happens to all the other ones, right? It throws off the whole thing, and I was like, we may take the earth off its axis if we choose the wrong one. I always find that phrase so interesting. The one, the one, listen, I believe that God will bring people into your life, and when they are there and they are important and they are special, and it is God ordained, and God blesses it. Yes, then once that is sound and secure, they are now your one once you are married. But some of us be walking by somebody, oh, they, you know, they did that little thing, and they pushed the their hair behind their ears, and they looked at me, and the wind was just blowing perfectly, and I was like, oh, right. Like I told you guys a few weeks ago we've been watching Frozen like crazy. Like it's when they're singing the song and they're finishing each other's sentences, and I'm like, This ain't real. I called it from the beginning. I was like, I know this guy Fugazi, he he he a fraud with News Flash. This is a spoiler alert for anyone that hasn't seen Frozen. Prince Hans, yeah, scum. Anyway, but I say it because feelings are real, but they cannot be the foundation for your relationships. Because when feelings are the foundation, the foundation is not secure. But when we fix our eyes on Jesus, when Jesus is the first, he is the beginning, he is the thing that we begin with, that we start with, that he is the center of our relationship, the focus of our relationship. Everything else goes in according in the right order. So we have fix your eyes on Jesus first. We have date with purpose, not potential. And the last thing today, excuse me, trust God with the outcome. Trust God with the outcome because I hear people that are in this beginning phase of relationships. Well, God, I've been praying about this for forever. Well, you know, I had this plan that I was gonna be married and have five kids by the time I was 25, and I was gonna have a million dollars in the bank, and I was gonna have this, and I was gonna have this, and I was gonna have this, and this does not go according to my plan and all these things, and we start telling God how things are supposed to be. And what ends up happening is we realize that God was never in our relationships to begin with, but then we wonder why every guy we talk to is broke, why every girl is looking not the way that we expected. We start attracting people that we never thought we would be associating with. Listen, I love y'all. I never want somebody to be with somebody that's busted, right? They they talk about it in scripture. Jacob wanted Rachel, she was the apple of his eye. And he wakes up one night and his father-in-law finesses him and gives him Leah. And it says, you can read it in your Bible, you can look at the different translations. Leah was busted. And I even I sometimes I picture what Leah looked like. Because I'm like, man, you have to be busted for the Bible to be like, no, she was busted. I'm picturing probably, you know, snaggle tooth, I'm picturing six toes, I'm picturing, like walking with a little limp and a hunchback, like all the different things, like because I'm like, and this, and this is how beautiful Rachel was. That Jacob was like, I'll push through with Leah if I get her, like, and I believe as God's sons and his daughters, that he has beautiful people out there for you. He has incredible people out there for you. I want the best for you. But it starts at the beginning. Let's fix some things now so that we don't have to go back and backtrack and fix things that we could have avoided to begin with. But some of us are walking into relationships and we don't actually trust God when he gives us the promise of hey, like Abraham, you will be the father of many nations. Abraham was old as ever. And he tried to take the situation into his own hands. Things get a little messy. I encourage you, read it. But then Abraham has a son, and his son has sons, and the lineage starts. And some of us are not willing to wait on the promises of God because it's not the exact way that we expected it to be. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Everyone say prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord, not some things, not a few things, everything you do to the Lord. Trust him and he will help you. Some of us may be in this season of waiting when it comes to relationships. Listen, and it's great to acknowledge it. Listen, I'm not where I need to be right now to be in a relationship, so I'm gonna wait. I'm gonna focus on my relationship with Jesus, and when the time comes and God opens that door, I'll be ready, Lord willing. Some of us we may be hurting. Right? I remember when I was younger and I had a girlfriend in high school, and I thought, oh, you know, this is gonna be somebody I spend the rest of my life with, and she's Christian, she's this, and she broke my heart, and I was like, all Christian girls are like this. Straight up, I'll be honest with you. I was like, all Christian girls are like this. Cool, got it. Now imagine if I lived by that for the rest of my life. But no, I regrouped. I fixed my eyes on Jesus. I focused, there was even a point where I was like, yeah, God, I'm cool if it's just you and I doing this relationship thing. And then Crystal was like, hey boo! And I was like, I'm gonna make Crystal so red this entire collection of talks. Jokes on y'all. I got two kids with her now. But some of us are in that season where we're hurting. Maybe we just had a really bad breakup. Maybe that person didn't treat us the way that we should be treated. Right? Like, even though Genevieve's not gonna date until she's 50, whenever she gets to that age, like I want her to be with somebody that would treat her with the respect and love that she deserves. I'm trying to instill things in her even now at a young age where I'm like, I don't care who shows up, how they're acting, that will not be impressive to you. That they can't just come and just flash a little this and do a little this. No, like, it needs to be deeper than that. Because I don't want my daughter to be with some bum. And the same will be for my son when Trent's old enough. When he's 23 years old. No, I'm just kidding. Some of us maybe we're wondering if love will ever even come into our life. Maybe we've never even been in a relationship before. And listen, it's okay. It's okay. But we're like, yeah, Jesus is, is this ever even gonna happen? We need to trust God with the outcome. Because here's the truth, and here's what I want us to understand. God is not late, God is not forgetful, and God is not holding out on you. But what He is doing is He is preparing somebody for you that when you are both ready, then not only is this going to be the most incredible relationship for you two, but this is going to be something that brings glory to God. That people will get to look and be like, I want my relationship to be like that. Where even when things are difficult, man, look, they're they're powering through it in a healthy and effective way. Even when the bank account looks a little rough, oh they're they're they're not wavering, like they're good right now. God is not late, he's not forgetful, God is not holding out on you. But I encourage you, if he asks you to wait, it's because what he has prepared is worth protecting. What he is preparing for you is worth protecting. Maybe it's you that he's protecting. I was praying for my future spouse long before I was married to Crystal. And guess what? Yes, there were certain things where for anyone that knows our story a little bit, listen, I was younger and we were family friends for a long time, and I I told my mom when I was younger, I was like, I'm gonna marry her one day. And my mom was like, why is that? I'm like, there's certain things that I would want her, there's certain traits where I would love for that to be instilled in my future children. Where I see how she loves the Lord, where I see how she loves other people. I feel like we would balance each other out pretty well. Because you know, Pastor Crystal is this extreme extrovert, and I'm so introverted, right? Some people are like, what the heck is he talking about? I'm kidding. But we balance each other out well, and listen, even for my finances, it was a blessing. She listen, she whipped me into shape when it comes to certain things. And what it did for me was it allowed me to mature at a much quicker level because I was like, oh, you see, this is a grown woman, she's not playing games right now. And that's what this generation tends to do. Oh, you know, like it's not that serious right now, it's not, you know, it's not this. No, like if you are dating somebody, it's serious. You're giving a piece of your heart, you're giving a piece of yourself. Some people they stay stuck in situations way too long because I've invested too much time. And we stay hurt and we stay in these positions where things are not adding up. And listen, we'll continue to dive into different aspects of relationship over the next few weeks, but I want us to understand at the beginning phases of all of this that your life, your story is not defined by your relationship status, by your past mistakes, or maybe your current loneliness. Your story is defined by God's faithfulness. And so, what you need to do in this season, trust in the Lord. What you need to do in this season at the beginning of it all, trust in the Lord. Fix your eyes on him and the things that he's saying, it may not make sense right now. Trust in the Lord. It may be difficult for you, trust in the Lord. I know we don't like to give up control, trust in the Lord. And listen, for some of us, we may be looking around and we're like, you know, ISO church, like, I want to find somebody that loves Jesus and goes to church and all the things. And you may be looking around, you're like, I don't know if there's anyone in my age group or anything like that. Invite somebody to church. Listen, I was at the tent last night, there were 500 young adults packed up in that church. So you can't tell me that this generation doesn't want to have a relationship with Jesus. There's empty chairs in here, and I know, listen, I know it's cold. I know it's Super Bowl Sunday. I know it's early on Sunday at 10:30 or whatever time it is, 11.30 right now. But sometimes we need to stop sitting on the sidelines. We're gonna give you guys something in just a few weeks to employ you to go out, find the one. It's literally in our name, ISO Church, in search of the one, in service of the one. Go out, find the one. Some of us maybe we need to put ourselves out there a little bit. But if we're doing relationships absent of God, we're not doing them right. Be obedient, trust in the Lord. Because I promise you that he will be faithful to you if you believe it. If you believe it, if you walk in it, if you fix your eyes on Jesus first, watch what he does. I'm gonna ask us to close our eyes, bow our heads just for a second. And listen, for some of us, we may be in relationships currently. For some of us, we may be single. For some of us, we may be in the thick of marriage and all the different things. And whatever season you are in, it is great because God can meet you right where you are. But as I said at the very beginning of this whole message this morning, healthy relationships start with whole people. And so with all of our eyes closed, with our heads bowed, if you are saying today that you need to fix your eyes on Jesus again, first and foremost, when it comes to your relationship with Him, and then it affects your relationship with others. But if you're saying, I need to fix my eyes on Jesus today, can you just shoot your hand up super quick? Because I can personally tell you when you do things out of order, it gets more difficult. You are making it more difficult on yourself. So again, one more time. If you're saying I need to fix my eyes on Jesus today, just shoot your hand up super fast and then you can put it down. Thank you, Jesus. You see all those hands that are lifted up. I'm gonna ask us to just stand to our feet right now as well. And I just want to pray for each and every person in here, for those that are watching online, that are listening to this via podcasts. But I'm gonna ask everyone to just repeat after me together. Everybody, whether you raised your hand or not, just say, Dear Jesus, today I'm fixing my eyes on you. Order my steps, guide my life that I can do every relationship better than when I started today. I love you. I thank you. And it's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Listen, I am super excited about this. Some subjects, listen, I may step on somebody's toes, and that's okay. I'm fully prepared for it. But I believe it's important to talk about these things. It's important to address these things. It's important because we have so many different people in this room in so many different seasons. But I believe the things that we're gonna talk about today will help us in our relationships, not just tomorrow, not just next month, but years to come. So I just want to pray for us again as we go about our Sunday, go about our week. God, thank you so much for this group of people. Thank you for this community that is ISO Church, Lord God. Thank you for your love, your faithfulness, your grace, and your mercy. Lord, continue to protect us, continue to bless us as we leave here today, Lord God. Let it warm up even just a little bit. And Lord, let the Seahawks win the Super Bowl tonight. We love you, we thank you, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. I know, listen, I know it says not to judge people, but if you are rooting for the Patriots tonight, your pastor is judging you just slightly. But I just want to tell you guys we love you so much. Can't wait to ISO together with you again. Grab a cup of coffee, grab a bagel in the back, continue to pray for those that aren't here. Reach out to somebody, tell them you love them this week, and we can't wait to see you guys back in person next Sunday morning. God bless everybody. I hope this message was an encouragement to you and that it blessed your soul today. Give it a like, comment, whatever it may be, and give us some support as we unleash this new version of our Sunday services. We would love for you guys to join us in person, worship with us and our church family. We meet Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. at the Women's Club of Bramis. You can also reach us at our website, isochurch.org, or on Instagram and other social media handles at IsoChurch. Thanks for listening. God bless and have a great day.