Spoilers: God Knows The Ending And Still Picks You

What if the future you’re worried about is the place God already stands? We unpack a surprisingly practical take on Matthew 2: Joseph’s midnight move to Egypt wasn’t panic—it was obedience supported by advance provision. The Magi’s gifts didn’t just symbolize royalty and sacrifice; they funded a 200-mile escape and a season of survival. That single thread reframes our fear: God often lines up resources long before we see the need.

From there we challenge the illusion of control. Abram leaves for a land God will show. Peter follows before the job description makes sense. Jesus rarely hands out full itineraries, yet Scripture keeps promising certainty where it matters most: God declares the end from the beginning, our days are written, and we’re saved for good works prepared beforehand. Nothing you have done has surprised God, and nothing you will face makes Him scramble. That’s not doctrine for the shelf; it’s fuel for steps you can take today.

We talk about fear versus faith in the grit of daily life—careers that collapse, bills that don’t wait, grief that arrives with one phone call. The stories aren’t tidy, but they’re honest: provision shows up late by our clock and right on time by God’s. Sometimes the miracle is abundance; sometimes it’s barely enough—and both build dependence. When you stop waiting for total clarity and start moving with simple obedience, you learn what Joseph knew: God is already at work where you’re headed.

If you’ve been stuck in the planning phase, this is your nudge. Take one brave step, even a small one, and ask afterward, was God with me in that? Let courage grow by use. And if this conversation helps you trade anxiety for action, share it with a friend who needs the same push. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what’s the one scary thing you’ll do this week?

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Transcript

Can You Surprise Jesus

Josh 0:00

Alright. Well, I'm going to start next week with our challenge from this week, so just keep that in the back of your mind. And today we're going to open up with this. Our big idea is this can you surprise Jesus? Like, this is something I think a lot of us, like in the in we know, but we don't really understand the implications that go into that. Because most of us would say, no, I can't surprise Jesus. I mean, he's God, he knows everything. But if we really believe that, then I would really believe that we would live our life in a different way than we normally would. Like, think about this. If you knew that Jesus was with you every step of the way, what really would we be afraid to be doing in our lives? What risk would we be afraid to do? So I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna jump into this. Father, thank you so much for your word. And I ask and I pray, God, that as I go through it today, that it not be my words. That, Father, it be you speaking to your people for our benefit to grow in you, Father, for our desire to get over fear, and God, allow us to actually walk in faith in the things that you have put before us. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Before I even read Matthew 2, something that just hit me as I was praying, so I want to make sure I say it now. Ephesians 2.10 tells us why we are saved. See, we wrongly think that the whole point of salvation is so that when I die, I kind of have this fire insurance, and that way I'm not gonna go to hell. However, in Ephesians 2.10, we see this, like, and I'll even back up to Ephesians 2.8, it says, For by grace you have been saved, and it is not a result of your works, lest any man should boast. And then right after Paul talks about that salvation in verse 10, he says this, that we were created to walk in good works that God has prepared beforehand. In other words, our salvation, our new heart is to see the world the way that God sees the world, going all the way back to the creation mandate found in Genesis 126 and 27, where God tells Adam and Eve, Now that I have created you, go forth and multiply, subdue the earth, and fill it. In other words, go make the rest of the world look like the garden. And when we broke that relationship with God, when Adam and Eve first sin and sin enters into that creation, we see a shift away from, hey, you're created to bring God's glory everywhere. And then when we get all the way into the New Testament, we see that salvation, we see that being delivered from, we see that we can now walk in the good works that God has prepared beforehand. And that's gonna come into play. Like I said, that just hit me while I was praying, so I want to make sure I said that beforehand. But in Matthew 2, starting in verse 13, we see this. Now, when they had departed, they there is the Magi that we looked at last week. When they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, out of Egypt I called my son. Alright, now when we look at this, what I really want to focus on on our first part here is this. When did Joseph know that Herod was going to seek to destroy Jesus? And remember, I told you guys a couple of weeks ago, without trying to give away too much of what was coming up. Herod going to the Magi, going, Hey, go find the child. Go find the child that had been born, and when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship too. And remember, I told you Herod wasn't worried about going and worshiping Jesus. Herod was sitting here going, There's not going to be another king in my kingdom. And so he went to go kill and seek to destroy Jesus. Because again, if I could take him out as a child, then I don't have to worry. It's kind of like actually, that has nothing to do with what we're talking about, so I don't want to say that. Oh, you knew what I was going to say, JT? Would you kill baby? Okay, you guys fill in the blank right there, right? Herod has the same mindset. So again, there is nothing new under the sun. And so what happens is, is Joseph knows this long before Herod's soldiers even get to Bethlehem, though. Like Joseph wasn't just like barely beating the soldiers out of the town. He wasn't like sneaking from house to house to house and then trying to slip through a checkpoint to get out of the town. Joseph knew well in advance, hey, take the child, take his mother, and flee and go to Egypt. The soldiers hadn't even got to Bethlehem yet. So by the time they get there, they don't have to like, it's not like by the skin of their teeth. And see, and too often we look at this whole thing of like good versus evil, like God and and the evil one are on the same playing field, and it's kind of like this, they're like evenly matched. Understand, Jesus and the power of darkness are not evenly matched. On that last day in Armageddon, all Jesus does is show up. Like he doesn't even fight the enemy of God. He just shows up and everything is burned. And we're just done with evil. See, we we we gotta stop thinking that it's like an evenly matched. This isn't like Thanos versus, you know, all of the Avengers, and it's like, oh, I don't know. Like if we kind of trick them, maybe then we could win. This is a very lopsided war. And that is what we need to understand here. See, Joseph knows that these people are coming, and God's already told him that. Like, Joseph didn't have to think through it, he didn't have to sit here and go, uh oh. And the reason that is, is it is impossible to surprise the Lord God Almighty. Here's what I want you to understand. Nothing can happen that God now has to go, uh oh, what do I do? Like I'm gonna get into this later in my message here, but when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, God wasn't sitting here going, oh crap, that is not what at all what I thought was gonna happen when I created them. That's why when we get to Ephesians 1, Paul can say that before the foundations of the world, we were predestined for adoption in Christ. Understand, what did he say? Before the foundations of the world, before God ever went, let there be light. We were already a thought, we were already a plan. God was already sitting here going, I love you. How? Because you can't surprise him. Now, does this mean that God knows the future? And this is where it's going to get a little bit like science-y, because we as humans, how do we think when it comes to time? Anyone? Especially you high schoolers in here? We think linearly. It's a straight line. You were born, you live your life, and then what happens at the end? You die. And this is how our understanding of time flows. But see, God doesn't operate within our understanding of how time flows, He exists outside of time. In other words, God does not know the future. He is already in the future. He is in the future, the present, and the past all at the same time. Now, I know that's hard for us to understand because we can't be more than one place at one time. I mean, when when I look at my schedule, I do wish I could kind of clone myself two or three times just so I can get done with everything I need to get done with. But I can't. I have to be in one place at one time. And God is not like that. In fact, we see in Isaiah 46, God saying this, remember this and stand firm. Recall it to your mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things not yet done. Seeing my counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. See, in order to be able to declare the end from the beginning, would mean that you have to know the end, correct? It would be like, anybody in here, like you're that per like I am that person, I do watch spoilers, and I watch spoilers on purpose, and it's not going to like keep me from going and seeing whatever movie I'm going to see. But a lot of times I will walk into a movie already knowing what the end of the movie is. It doesn't take away the magic of the movie to me. I'm not sitting there going, like, oh man, I really wish I wouldn't have seen that coming. Like, you guys remember, some of you are old enough to remember, some of you are not. You guys remember when The Sixth Sense came out? And everyone was like all up in arms because they were like, he's dead the whole time. And we were like, why would you spoil that for me? I knew that long before I saw the movie. I didn't even see the movie until it came on like cable, right? So by the time it came on cable, I knew like all the twists and turns. You know what? I still liked it though. It was still a good movie. And see, and that's what God is showing us here. I know the end from the beginning because God has declared the end from the beginning and he will accomplish his purposes. See, when the angel comes to Joseph and tells him what will happen, it didn't shock God. God wasn't sitting here going, oh, I gotta think of a plan B to get Jesus out of town because I didn't expect Herod to want to kill him. Now, here's what I want you to understand about your life. Nothing, nothing you have done shocked God either. Like you at no point in your life have shocked the Lord Almighty. He knew it. He knew the thoughts that you were gonna have, he knew the doubts that you were gonna have, he knew everything you were gonna do. And there are some of us in this room that I know struggle with going, no, because if God knew everything I would do, he would not have chosen to love me. And I go and I hear you. And there should be some truth in that, right? For we have all fallen short of the glory of God. Every single one of us in this room, myself included, do not deserve the love of God. That is what grace is, though. Grace is getting something that I do not deserve. And let me tell you, and let me just reassure you, God knew who you were gonna be from the beginning. He knew you were gonna struggle with your temper. He knew you were gonna struggle with lust, he knew you were gonna struggle with all of these different things, and yet he still went, but I choose you and I will love you. And for those of us that have like a hard time like wrapping our heads around this, here's what I want you to think, especially if you have children. When your child was born, did you think that they were gonna be perfect? Like, and I know some of us in here we were like, man, I saw that little bundle of joy, and I went, there's no way. I did not. Like, when I became a father for the first time, I wanted to make sure he had 10 fingers and ten toes, everything looked normal, and then I went, I know, at one point, at some point, he's gonna let me down. He's gonna do things that he's not supposed to. And then my next, very next thought was, and God please don't make him anything like I was. Because I knew what I went through. But yet, you know what other thought I had? And it doesn't matter what he'll do. Nothing will ever stop my love of him. Nothing will ever make me look at my child and go, you are not my child. Well, what if he like struggled with like, you know, he's a boy living in a girl's body, or would he still be my child? Would I still walk with him through that? Well, what if he struggled with like lying and all of that? Would he still be my child? Is there anything that I would not walk through with my child? Regardless of all the boneheaded things I knew he would eventually do, there is nothing that would separate that love. That's what Romans 8 is all about. When God goes, hey, look, listen to me, child of mine. There is nothing, neither height nor depth, nor angel, nor demon. There is nothing that will ever separate my love for you. And some of us, we just need to cling to that. Some of us in this room, you're struggling and you're sitting here going, Well, I don't know. And I'm sitting here telling you, regardless of how your relationship with your earthly parents were, your relationship with your heavenly father is so much more perfect than that. He loves you regardless, and he will walk with you regardless. See, what we hear, what we see here is very simple. God knew what Herod was going to do, and he already had a plan in motion to overthrow Herod's evil and wickedness. Think about it. If you remember back to last week, the Magi came to worship Jesus, right? And I told you this was gonna come back up, so hopefully you were paying attention. What did they bring with them?

unknown 15:25

Gifts. Gifts. Gifts. Frankincense.

Stay Until I Tell You: Trust Without Timelines

Control Is An Illusion

Follow Me Without All The Details

Walk By Faith, Not By Sight

Get Moving: Stop Planning And Obey

Josh 15:30

Okay, there's one. Mr. Myrrh and gold. See, think about this. And there are a lot of different commentators that will say that these gifts mean different things, right? Like the gold represents, you know, Jesus' kingliness, and the frankincense is for the wounds that he's going to get when he's on the cross, and myrrh was a spice they used to embalm dead bodies. And all of those things are all true. There's a very, very, very practical reason why these were the gifts that they brought. And here's what it is Joseph is a blue-collar worker. Okay? And for any blue-collar dollar people in here, guess what we usually don't have? Extra money, right? Like if you're a worker, it it you're you're like, you might be comfortable, but you know you're not just like going out on a 42-foot yacht. There's a reason why we don't have a dirt car yet. Although I did find a very cool race car. Or uh not race cart, go-kart this week. And if I can find someone who is 17 or younger that is brave enough to race, I think we got a good start going on. Stephen, put your hand down. You're not now here's what happened though. Joseph is not a man of means. Does anybody know how far Bethlehem is from Egypt? About 200 miles. So, how do you make this trip if you don't have extra money? But yet the Magi show up and they bring Joseph, they literally bring them the stuff to be able to finance this trip from Bethlehem to Egypt and allow for provision while Joseph is in Egypt. See, I don't know if your wife is into like, or if you're a dude, you I that was probably wrong of me to say your wife, but like if your wife is into witchcraft and oils, those little bottles, right, are expensive. So when they bring this frankincense, understand, we still have like factory production. So it's still cheaper for us today than it would have been for them then. So when they have these things like frankincense and myrrh and gold, Joseph has a lot. Because God has already made provision. And listen to me, it may be bleak where you are at right now, but I promise you that God has already made provision for you too. Like anybody in here, you ever gone through something and you're like, I don't even know how that happened? Like, I'll tell you right now, there were there was a point in time me and Debbie were homeless. And and and I don't mean that like figuratively, like we were legit homeless. And and all of a sudden God provided for our need and gave us a place to live. And then as we're sitting here going, hey, we don't know how we're gonna eat this week, Debbie literally walked out to the mailbox one day and there was a check, and I forget for how much it was, I know it was a couple of thousand dollars from something from like 10 years before that we overpaid. But this wasn't like we like petitioned for this money, it literally just showed up in our mailbox. And I go and I get it, sometimes like you go through that situation and that kind of stuff doesn't happen. The check doesn't just magically show up, like those things don't really happen. But I'm I'm telling you, does it happen from time to time? Yeah, would you call it miraculous? Well, if you're the one that went through it, absolutely. And I'm trying to get us to understand here, whatever it is you're facing, that big scary thing that you don't know how you're going to get through, listen, God has already provided provision for that. He has already moved things around to give you the ability to face that. See, fear is our biggest enemy. Listen, fear is our biggest enemy because fear says, I can't do this. Faith says, because I believe, I will do this. Fear is the opposite of faith. So if we are saved by grace through faith, guess what fear keeps you from? That salvation. Because fear is what makes you sit here and go, I'm just gonna sit here and be safe. And what we have to understand is it doesn't shock God what is coming. Whatever is coming up in your life right now, whether it's that doctor's appointment you're afraid to go to because you're afraid of the news you're gonna get, whether it's it's you know, bills that you know are coming up and coming due, but your bank account just doesn't seem to grow the same way your debt account does. Whatever it is, God is already there and at work in it. He has already moved people and resources to make sure that there's going to be something. Now, am I sitting here saying it's going to be amazing, you're gonna have everything and then some? Maybe. But it might just be by the skin of your teeth you're getting by too. Because God sometimes is gonna sit here and go, no, no, no, I'm gonna make you depend on me. See, and what we have to understand is that nothing is going to shock God. God has already started moving in the hearts of people around to help you. Just like the magi. Listen, when were the magi on their way? Was it like after the situation came up? No. Like the magi were on their way to come worship Jesus regardless, right? See, God knew, hey, here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna have to get you guys to Egypt. And people were already on the way to come help with that. See, understand this, and and and I didn't come up with this. This is John Piper who said this. At any given time, God may be doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may only be aware. Of three of them. What you don't understand is a year from now, two years from now, five years from now, God's going to walk you through something. But right now, He's already bringing those resources to you. Don't believe me? You are here because of that. You are hearing this because of that. Now, we're going to keep moving on from that point. And as we continue reading here, there is a phrase that I'm telling you should shock all of us in this room. Should scare us just a little bit. See, God not only tells Joseph, rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, but then he says this phrase, and stay there until I tell you to. This, especially if you're a person in here who struggles with like, I don't know, control issues, this phrase should like just scare the crap out of us. Because does God give them a date? No. He goes, stay there until I tell you to. As soon as I read this, the first thought in my mind was in Genesis 12.1, when God is calling Abram. Okay? Listen to what God says to Abraham in Genesis 12.1. He says, Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land I will show you. Understand when God called Abram, he went, go from your country, go from your kindred, go from your family. In other words, all those things that we have that are safety nets in our life, all those things that make us feel safe and like supported and all of that, God is going, Abram, go from there, listen to a land I will show you. He doesn't go, hey, go from here to Canaan. He goes, just start walking. I'll show you along the way. Think about that. God came to you and went, hey, leave everything you were familiar with. Leave everything that brings you comfort. And as you're going somewhere, I'll show you where you're going. Raise your hand if you ever get in your car and you're just like, I don't know, I'm gonna end up where I'm gonna end up at. None of us, right? Like we know the end before we start the car up. I'm going to Publix, I'm going to work, I'm going wherever. And yet God is showing us something completely different through this. He looks at Joseph and he goes, go there, stay there until I tell you to. It's scary, right? Like not knowing, not being in control. Here's the thing though. What are you really in control of? Anyone in here? And I'm always hesitant to preach this because I did preach this one time, and I got that phone call that same day. But listen to us, there isn't a person in this room whose entire life cannot be changed with one phone call. That's all it takes. And the last time I preached that, that night, I got a phone call. They were rushing my dad to the hospital, and he never came back out. And my entire life was changed. How much control do you think we really have? Like, I mean, think about this. Marriages fall apart. And it's always the same thing when I talk to people. I didn't see this coming. I knew we had problems, but this isn't what I thought was going to happen. Jobs get lost, companies close down. And you never even knew. Like, how many times have we seen on the news, right? Workers showed up at their job and there was a note on the door that went, hey, we're no longer open. How much control do we think we have? And when God is sitting here and he's going, hey, go do this. How much control do you think you have over that? See, a lot of people like to use Jonah as the example. Well, Jonah chose differently. He did. God told him to go to Nineveh, go tell them, hey, repent and I will save you. And Jonah went, it's not fair for you to save them. It's not fair for you to forgive them. They are a wicked and nasty people. I'm not going there. Let me ask you though, where did Jonah wind up? In Nineveh, doing exactly what God told him to do. You can be Jonah if that's like the route you want to take. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend three days in a fish. I would love to spend three days fishing, but I don't want to be in the fish while I'm doing it. And see, and what we see throughout all of the Bible is God is going to tell us to do things that don't always make sense to us. Like in Matthew 4.19, and we'll get there, you know, probably by the fall. Jesus is calling his first disciples. Alright? And here's how he calls Peter. You ready? And he said to them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Raise your hand if you would have been late. What do you mean by that? Like, think about this. You're a fisherman. You know what it means to be a fisherman, right? Like, think about this. I know when I go out on the boat, what is going to happen to those fish? Does anybody in here think that Peter at any moment in time went, I am literally gonna throw a lure out there? Like, and and me and JT have talked about this. Could you imagine sitting at whatever your favorite restaurant is? Okay, you grab that burger, you go to put it in your mouth, and then all of a sudden there is a sharp pain that cuts through your cheek, and you are just whisked up into the sky somewhere. And then some guy in a hat looks at you and goes, Oh man, that's a nice looking one right there, right? And they're literally just holding you by your cheek, they measure you, they go, ah, not big enough yet, and then they just throw you back down to earth.

unknown 28:19

Kiss them release.

Josh 28:22

Snap a quick photo, like because when I hear Fisher of Men, that's what I'm thinking, right? Like we're gonna go out there and we're gonna catch people. Maybe like a kidnapping kind of situation. See, Jesus, although Jesus already knows and isn't shocked, Jesus rarely feels the need to share every detail with his followers. Later on in Matthew, Jesus is gonna is gonna feed the 5,000 miraculously. All these people are gonna be following him, and then he's gonna stand up, right? And he's gonna go, if you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, you cannot follow me. And then guess what he does not do? Give any kind of description or like clarifying statements to what he's talking about. He just says, Eat my flesh, drink my blood, you can't follow me, and then walks off. And some, and the Bible tells us, most, go, I'm not following him. Because I'm not about to eat him, and I'm not about to drink his blood. See, and a lot of times we're not gonna have all the answers. In fact, a lot of times we're gonna know very little. This is something I do to my kids all the time. We get in the car anywhere we're gonna go. Anywhere we're gonna go. I go, come on, we're going. We get in the car. What do you think is the first question in all of my kids' head?

unknown 29:47

Where are we going?

Josh 29:48

Where are we going? What's the answer, Gabby?

unknown 29:52

That way.

Scripture Fulfilled: Out Of Egypt My Son

Your Days Are Written

Josh 29:52

That way. And do you know what? I know on the inside they're dying. JT from time to time will have like an outward reaction of the anxiety he has on the inside. Like he he has started like shaking before and like been nauseous. He has even at times been like, if you don't tell me where we're going, I'm not going. Okay? And no matter how many times I look at my kids and go, have you ever like gone somewhere where you were tortured? No. Have you ever gone somewhere that wasn't a necessity? No. Have you ever gone somewhere and not been fed? No. Then why does it matter whether you know where we're going or not? I know where we're going. And if you're with me, are you not safe? Because see, what they don't understand is I'm trying to build something totally different in them. I'm trying to make them get to the point where they go, hey, I may not have all the answers, but this is what Jesus is telling me to go do, so I'm gonna go do it. Because I'm gonna tell you guys right now, when when Jesus called us to plan a church, I had no idea what that was going to look like. I had no idea who was going to be here. You know what? I had no idea that within a year from that, we were gonna start a school that just kept growing and growing and growing and growing. Like everybody in here, understand we just had to buy an, or not buy, but lease another unit here because we are out of room for the amount of kids that come to school here. You know what I never had a plan of? We're gonna open a school. Understand my senior year of high school. Okay, there's 90 days, there's 180 days in a school year, right? There's 90 days per semester. The first semester of my senior year of high school, I missed 89 out of 90 days. Does anybody want to take a guess at why? I don't like school. It was boring. I didn't like being told what to do. And then I was a senior. I already had almost all my credits, so I didn't see a need to be in there. But yet God went, hey, um, here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna open a school. God, I don't like school. I didn't ask if you liked it, did I? This is what you're going to do. See, and a lot of times it's not gonna look the way we think it should. But here's what we're called to do. In faith, keep going. Do that thing that God has put in front of you, and then in faith, just keep going with it. That's what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 5 7, when he says this, for we walk by what? Faith, not sight. Because you want to know our biggest problem just as a species? We rely on our own understanding. That Proverbs 3, 4, and 5, we just kind of throw that out the window. Five and six? We just kind of throw that out the window, right? We don't want to lean on God's understanding. We want to be the one understanding. We want to be the ones that can see everything. Because when we can see it, I feel safe in doing it. And if I can't see it, I don't feel safe. And heaven forbid we do things that make us feel a little risky. Like some of you, I get it, you're not like me. I want to go cave diving. Yesterday at Gabby's game, we saw it was out in D-Land, so we saw people parachuting, and I'm like, yeah, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, why not?

unknown 33:44

That's right.

Carried Through Darkness And Calling

The Serpent Crusher And Real Courage

Weekly Challenge: Do One Scary Thing

Prayer For Boldness And Closing

Josh 33:45

See, some of us we need to realize you get one life. That's it. And you live it the most boring, safe way possible. Because you're like, well, what if I get hurt? What if it's the most amazing thing you've ever done? Like you guys remember, and I forget the name of the submarine. You guys remember that billionaire submarine that was gonna go down to Titanic and wound up imploding? Had I had money like that, that would have been me on that sub. Why not? See, some of us we just, I don't know, I go, can you really call what you're doing living? You're terrified of everything. You don't do anything. There's no risk in you. So you're not living, you're surviving. But that's all we do. We don't walk by faith. We're not sitting here going, yes, God, I will go to a land you will show me. We'll figure it out on our own, God. Like we can just walk there. Oh, we gotta turn right here? Cool, let's go. Because we're so afraid of getting hurt. We're so afraid of things not working out. Here's the thing. Are you gonna get hurt in life? Yes. Anyone in here you haven't been hurt? I mean, I have like seven scars all over my head and face. I've had like 15 near-death experiences in my life. Like just last summer, we almost drove off of a bridge. It sucked. It was not fun. But the fishing was phenomenal in Pensacola. And why would I not go back? You get to stand on the beach, listen, you get to stand on the beach, right? In waist deep water and catch massive fish, and the blue angels fly over you as you're doing it. If there was an eagle anywhere in the sky at the same time, do you have any idea? I would have been like, God, just take me now. Like Murca and let's go. But see, some of us we we just don't want to live. Because we rely on our own sight and our own logic and our own planning. And you know what Jesus is doing right now? He's looking at you going, oh, that's cute. You think you got it all figured out. But this is my world, and this is how it's going to go. It's the same thing. Like, I'll give a kid an assignment, I'll go, here's the instructions, here's how to do it, and you know the first thing that's gonna happen? One of the kids will go, but can I do it this way? Oh no, you can't. That's why I gave you instructions and told you how to do it. Because, see, this is not our world, and we are not in control. And listen to me very carefully. You're not in this room this morning by accident. God was moving things throughout your entire life so that you could be here this morning. See, God was moving people and jobs and homes and hearts just for you to hear this this morning. Because here's what I want you to understand. I'm not from this area. I'm from the other side of the lake. The good side. I didn't ever have plans of coming over here. The only thing I knew about Del Tono growing up was it's like ridiculously easy to get lost over here. Because heaven forbid there'd be a straight road anywhere. Like I was always told that, like, well, not always, but as I got older, when I became a cop, I was told that like city planning took a bowl of spaghetti, threw it on the table, and went, that's how we need to design our roads. And let's be honest, that is how they look. Do you guys realize that as like a law enforcement officer here, there are places on your GPS in your car that tell you there's a road, but when you get there, it is just like an empty field. And I guess you know, at one point, 30 years ago, the road used to connect, but now it doesn't, and we just never felt the need to update that. See, and and this is what I want you to understand is God moved all of that because he went, hey, on February 22nd, 2026, you're gonna be in that room, and here's what you're gonna hear. Because I don't want you to be afraid, because God knows when you finally step into what he has planned, when you finally are brave enough to go, hey, I'm gonna take that first step, he knows it's gonna be glory to his name and people to his heart. And ultimately, that's what Jesus is worried about. Can you bring people to me? Can you be a city on a hill? Can you be a light in the darkness? See, the biggest question here is are you bound in your fear or are you ready to walk by faith? See, Joseph, when when when the angel appeared to Joseph, understand this. You know what he didn't do? Sit there and plan out his trip. Like the angel didn't appear to Joseph and tell him to flee, and then Joseph went, Alright, let me call the travel agent, let me see if there's an Airbnb in Egypt that looks good, maybe hopefully close to the pyramids. Like, that's not what happened. By night, so in other words, Joseph woke up from this dream, looked at his wife, grabbed the baby, and went, let's go. How many of us in here have ever taken a trip like that? Like most of us, right? We're like, oh yeah, next year, like here's what's gonna happen. You guys remember when you were younger? Like you older married people in here, you remember like when you were still dating and it was like, oh, let's, you know, we're we're sitting there, we're watching TV, and it's like, let's go bowling. How often do we do that anymore? Right? Now everything is like planned down to the minute. There is no spontaneity in our life anymore. There is no like, you know what? I've always wanted to go to Hawaii. Like, we just we don't do stuff like that anymore because no, now it's just here's what it is. See, I've been saying this since Christmas. It's the theme of our year. We have to start going deeper. We have to stop just being hearers of the word, but doers. We have to understand that the Spirit is moving. The question is, are we? We have to understand that sometimes all you need to do is open your mouth. Jesus will be Jesus. Will you be faithful to do the things that he's already told you to do? See, some of you in this room, listen, Jesus has already commanded you to do things. You're just permanently stuck in the planning phase of it. So Jesus has already told you, here's what you're gonna do. And you're like, all right, alright, Jesus, I'll do it. Let me plan it, though. Let me sit down with a pen and paper, let me work out all the details. And Jesus is sitting here going, dude, just go do it. Think about it. JT in his room. JT, you need help cleaning your room, man? Because it's been like three days. You've been stuck in here and I haven't seen any progress. Like I can come in here and I can help you clean it. No, Daddy, I'm just planning out how I want to clean my room. JT, it's been three days. If you would just take the clothes and put them in the basket, you could actually make progress on this. Yeah, no, but first I want to clean off my dresser. Right, but if you would just pick up the clothes and put it in the basket, but I need to move my desk because it's on the wrong wall in my room and I can't see the monitor from my bed. Right, JT, but if you would just pick up the clothes and put it in the basket. This is like the fourth time we were having this conversation now. See, some of us, that's our conversation with Jesus. Jesus has already told you, hey, here's what you need to do. And you're like, okay, but listen out. Now listen, Jesus, because if you get like my vision, Jesus, like, whoo, we could light this world on fire. And Jesus is sitting here going, I've already given you my vision. Go seek and save what is lost. Just go do it. Can you do that while you're fishing, Josh? Yeah, I can, I guess. Like, people are stuck on a boat with me at that point. I mean, really have no option but to listen to me, right? Or swim. Those are like your two options. Can you do that at a barbecue? Yeah, I guess we could if we just don't hand people a box and then tell them to leave. I guess if we made like our people actually sit down and have conversations with people, I guess maybe we could bring you glory with that, Jesus. See, some of you in this room, you need to stop being afraid and permanently stuck in the planning phase. Rise and go do what Jesus told you to do. And here's what I need you guys to understand too. Matthew, more than any other gospel writer, has one point to prove. You guys ready? Jesus is the promised, prophesied Messiah. You will hear this phrase throughout the book of Matthew, as it was written, or as it was said, or the pro uh according to the prophet. Because Matthew wants to show you, because he's a good Jewish man, that this is the Messiah that was promised. This is the Messiah that was prophesied. So he brings up this prophecy from Hosea, which is where we get, out of Egypt I will call my son. But what we need to understand is does anybody know when Hosea said that in comparison to when Matthew was writing this, how long it had been? Hosea's a contemporary of Isaiah, if that gives you any clues. Very close. Between six and seven hundred years before Jesus is born. Before Joseph ever has this dream about 700 years, God went, hey, here's what's gonna happen. And he does that, Matthew's doing that to show us that what God has to say will come to pass. So what has God said to us? Well, it's all written down in the Bible, right? You want me to read a verse about what God has said about you? Like each and every single one of you individually? You guys ready? In Psalm 139, we find this, in verse 16, your eyes saw my unformed substance, in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as of yet there were none of them. Here's what Psalm 139 is telling each and every one of you in this room. God was already in your, or you were already in the mind of God before you were ever even formed in your mother's womb. And God went, here's every single day of your life. Think about that. So if you think any of this is by accident or coincidence, well the Bible's already told us that it's not. Because every single one of your days was already written. God knew you would be here. God knew this is what you needed to hear. Does that mean that God wrote the bad ones too? Yeah. And you know what else it means? That He went, you're gonna come out the other side of that too. No matter how dark it is, no matter how bad it is, no matter how much, I'm telling you guys, like when we were homeless, when we had lost everything in the Great Recession, do you really think that like I was optimistic and going, this is gonna work out for God's good? I'm gonna tell you I wasn't. Okay, so if you were like one of those ones that, well, I mean, you're kind of spiritual. Like I was sitting on my bathroom floor just in tears, looking at my wife and three kids, going, I don't know what we're gonna do. And I don't see how to get out of this. And this is very dark and it's very bleak, and I don't know what's gonna happen, babe. And trust me, I wasn't sitting here going, God's got us though. But on the other side of that, hindsight's always 2020. And I can look back and I can see every single place that God carried me, regardless of how dark it got. I was interviewed for a podcast that's gonna be coming out in a couple of weeks the other day. And it's a it's a podcast about law enforcement, and it's called Hey Chaplain. He is a cop a podcast for cops, right? And one of the things he wanted to discuss with me was how did I know when it was time to leave law enforcement? Like, how did I know, like, hey, I need to get out of this? And I was like, it's very easy. When you would rather shoot yourself than go to work, I'm gonna go ahead and say, you probably aren't working at the right place. And he went, was that scary? To leave. I was like, yeah, I was the only one in my house working. So my measly little $30,000 a year paycheck, which isn't that a shame. These people that, you know, put their lives on the line every day make less than a person that goes, my pleasure, like let's think through that. And I was like, yeah, I was scared. And I took a job as a laborer working in lift stations, which if you've never done that, God bless any lift station worker. And I went, I don't know what this is gonna look like, Deb. But I trust that if we keep putting one foot in front of the other, we're gonna come out the other side of this. Because God wasn't shocked at our situation. God wasn't looking at our life, going, uh-oh, what do I do? Go all the way back to Genesis 3, when sin first enters into creation. God curses Adam, curses Eve, curses the serpent. Then we get to verse 15. And we get what's called the Proto-Ugelion, which just means the first gospel. It's the first good news. Everything's been broken, and God gets down to verse 15 and he says this. But her offspring, talking about a person to come, you will bruise his heel, but he will crush your head. None of this shocked God. Way back in Genesis, God was sitting here going, I'm gonna send through her offspring a serpent crusher. And any problem in your life, here's the deal. And I know I'm going a little longer, I do apologize. But any problem in your life is not David, and you are not Goliath. And we need to thank Jesus for that. You know why? Because if I gave you a hundred stones, you think you're knocking that giant down? But you know who would? First shot? Jesus. See, think about this. If Jesus is with you, how would Paul word it in Romans 8? If God is with us, who can be against us? Who can even bring a charge against my elect? See, again, if we really stop and we think, the hardest thing you're ever gonna have to do, the hardest thing you're ever gonna have to do is believe that. That's it. The hardest thing you will ever have to do in life is believe that God loves you so much that he gave his only begotten son that if you will believe that, you shall not perish, but have everlasting life. That's it. You don't have to figure out your situation. Bless you. You don't have to figure it all out. Stop trying because all you're doing is beating your head against the wall, and nothing is going to change. Listen to me, can you surprise Jesus? Is Jesus looking at whatever situation you're facing right now and going, didn't plan for this one? Here's all you gotta do. Be faithful in it. Put one foot in front of the other, take it day by day, and trust and know and believe that Jesus has got you. Our challenge this week is simple. Super simple. One, don't forget your five-day devo. It should be up tomorrow. Number two, do one thing. Just one. Do one thing this week that you're scared of. That's it. For some of you, that may be like, hey, you know what? I'm gonna, I'm gonna go swim. It is gonna be cold again this week. So maybe, I don't know, you're a polar bear. That polar bear club thing. I'm not saying it has to be this grand thing. Not sitting here going, hey, I put my house up for sale. I'm terrified. Like, that's not what I'm talking about. Like, use wisdom, but do one thing that scares you. That is your only thing this week. Do one thing that scares you, look back on it and go, was God with me in that? And I promise you, the more you do one thing that scares you, the more nothing's gonna scare you. Think about it, you guys remember when you were children? Like little? Man, you'd be 50 feet up in the in like a tree, right? Not once did the thought, if I fell, this is gonna hurt ever cross our minds. You learn to fear. That's something that happens as you get older. We were down in the Keys a couple of years ago, and JT Saul, no lie, it was the biggest barracuda I've ever seen in my life. It was every bit of six feet long. Right? This this barracuda is bigger than me, and it's just sitting there, and like if you've ever seen a barracuda in water, they will just like stand in one place, not stand obviously, but float and one swim in one place, and their mouth just like opens and closes. And if you've ever seen their mouth, they have these jagged teeth just all over the place, and they're super sharp. So, JT, we're we're swimming, we get under this lighthouse down in the keys, and he sees this fish. And next thing I know, I don't see JT. And I'm like looking around and I'm like, where did he go? And I see, like, you know, when like someone swims fast, you can see like the bubbles, right? Or walks on water, I guess, because I I think that's what happened. He gets back on the boat, and I stayed and I like recorded some stuff and and all of that, and then I went back to the boat and I was like, JT, you gotta come check this out. Like, there's this shark under there, and it keeps like swimming, and it gets like super close to you, but then it like turns at the last second, super cool. He's like, I'm not going back in that water. Did you see the size of the fish in there? You know what JT has yet to do? And this was like two years ago. Go snorkel again. This is a kid that was gonna go get his diving certification with me, so we can go down in like caves and all of that, and now he won't even go snorkel because he saw this one fish, and the fish didn't even come at us, right? It was like from me to Stephen away, and it just kind of stayed there. He could have, yes. But see, that's the problem, is we learn to fear over time. But you know what happens when you do one thing that scares you? You learn to be courageous. Isn't that what God tells Joshua? Be brave and courageous. Everywhere your sole of your foot touches, it will be yours. So this week, do one thing that scares you. Because Jesus has already written the day, and if he is in control of it, how can it fail? If there's anything I can do to serve you in that, reach out and let me know. Because if you're looking for someone, like you're like, hey, I'm afraid to do whatever, I will tell you, I am an adrenaline junkie, and I will be like more than willing to go. Dude, I might be afraid too, but let's jump in. Because we only get one shot at this, and I want to live it to the fullest. So, Father, I ask and I pray that if there is anyone in here, God, that is sitting here right now going, nope, can't do that. God, you you just strengthen them, you you create in them a courageousness and a boldness that they did not know they could have. God, whether that's inviting someone to the barbecue, whether that's telling someone about you, whether that's simply going, hey, I'm gonna go underwater, like whatever it is, God, I ask and I pray that you give everybody in here the boldness and the courage to do that one thing that scares them. And Father, I ask and I pray that you walk through them with it. They come out the other side going, there's nothing to be afraid of. And then that just inspires them to keep doing. Father, we know you already hold it and you already plan it. We know that you already control it and are in control of it. And Father, I just pray that we have the faith to walk by faith and not by sight. Father, I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.