Hey, can we start this brand New Year off with prayer? Would you bow your heads for a moment? And I just wanna say what this song was repeating. God, God, we need you. And Father, that's why we're here.

We're not here because we have it all together. God, we're here because we need you. We need a word from you. God, we need clarity from you. God.

We need power from you, father. In other words, uh, we need you to speak to our hearts. And Father, as we go into a brand new here, we pray that you would open the door to new possibilities, new power, a sense of you being in total control of our hearts. Uh, God, we know that when your people, when they humble themselves and pray and seek your face and turn from their wicked ways, God, that you will come and heal them and their land. And so, father, with all that's going on in our world, that is our prayer today.

Father, we come humbly before you saying we need you. We need more of you and less of us. So Father, we welcome you into this place and pray that you would have total control. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.

Amen. Hey, I know you've got New Year's resolutions. How many of you, you wanna lose weight this year again? Amen. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm trying to find that shot like a good deal on that shot. 'Cause uh, man, I have tried everything to lose weight. I've lost thousands of pounds and they've all come back. Um, one of the things I want you to put on your list this year, and you may not know this, but in September, I said, Hey, the elders and I finally, we kind of got to the place after Covid to say, this is a time for us to hand the baton off to the next generation of leaders in our church.

And we began a process that you began to see, but we had, we backed all the way up to December of, of 2022. And, and we've been working on that. So I want you to add that to your prayer list, this whole sermon's not just about that. Uh, but it's very important that you pray and you pray for unity, and you pray for clarity. And that we would have wisdom as leaders and, and the search teams and elders and focus teams and prayer teams and house churches that we would understand.

This is a, an amazing opportunity to go to another level. And that is, that is our prayer. Uh, a lot of times transitions do not go well. I dunno if you know that back in 2020, do you remember the election, uh, that didn't go well? I think we could agree on that.

And sometimes there are transitions that happen in sports, like in college football, uh, the transfer portal and things that don't like move well going forward. But we are a family and we believe things should be done in order and that they should be done in a journey of faith, much like our Lord Jesus did with the disciples when he chose 12. Yeah. One of 'em fell away. And you may not know this, they had a succession strategy for that person.

And they came down to two guys and they cast lots. And they chose Matthias because he had been with Jesus. He had been around Jesus, he had heard the teaching and it was a man full of faith. So that was as simple as it gets. And then we never hear about Matthias again.

But he played his role in what God was calling him to do. And then you get into the church and, and the church had 70 leaders or 72 in some other passages that were to lead the church as they move forward. And there's always been the strategy that included everybody being on the same team. And yes, there are different people in different positions, but, but the reality is we do this together. It is shared leadership.

If if you take the people that have made all this work away, man, it would be bad. And, and some of us, we get to lead behind the scenes. Yes, some of us, we get to do some ministry that's a little different. But, but this ministry is important too. And so as I begin to think about shared leadership, I thought, well, what is a good illustration?

And I've always had this same illustration in my head and it's why it's how geese fly, uh, south for the winter. I dunno if you've ever like been interested in that. I'm always fascinated with that. So I'm gonna show you a little clip from Google Earth, and I think this best represents shared leadership and what I'm talking about. So I want you to see this.

We're all familiar with it. As day length shortens, we look up into the sky and notice a flock of birds flying south in a v-shaped formation. It's a sure sign of fall and a wonderful spectacle of nature. But the science behind the reason why some species of birds fly in this particular orientation is actually quite fascinating as well. Studies have shown that it's all about efficiency.

It's based on a principle that has also benefited military squadrons flying in similar formations. The added advantage that all eyes are able to see forwards. It turns out that when large birds flap their wings, a circulation of air is generated. The portion that is rising is called up wash, while the portion that is sinking is called down wash. The lift provided by up wash is generated behind and to the outside of leading birds, which is a perfect place for following birds to hang out, reducing the work they have to do atop the mechanically generated cushion of air to maximize the lift.

Not only do the birds get in line at a precise location, but they also flap their wings at the same time as leading birds. Should they drift into the down wash directly behind the leading bird. They flap it precisely opposite times, which is thought to reduce the effects of down wash for following birds. Since the lead bird has to do more work, leaders rotate positions to conserve energy, which distributes the workload more evenly. Now, it's not known whether the birds can simply sense these air circulations or if they may even be able to predict them, but the ability through which these birds have come to travel using such complex flight dynamics is as fascinating as it is surprising.

We can go farther and we can go faster if we go together in the same direction. And I got thinking about that, you know, like there's one leader Yeah, but you can't really tell who it is. So they're, they're honking, he's honking, you know, like, hey, it's your turn and you know, it's your turn to kind of be up here and have the win and we're gonna draft off of you and then honk, honk, honk. It's your turn to be up here and we're gonna draft off of you. That's the way biblical leadership is to work.

It's not about a personality or one guy who's a unicorn. And we go to the zoo and see the unicorn. We are all flying together. And I wanna say to you that maybe you're not on our staff, maybe you're not getting paid to serve and to grow, but we need you, we need you to understand the vision and the mission and to fly with us in the same direction. We don't have any Tim Tebows who are unwilling to play tight end.

We say whatever it takes, God, whatever it takes to make much of you and less of us. That's what we do. And that's why we have all these people on the stage, and that's why we do ministry the way we do it. And that's why we elevate house church pastors. And that's why when you say, Hey, God is telling me this, and it links up with the vision, we put you in that formation and we are flying together because you are vital to what we're trying to accomplish.

Now. Now here's the thing, today we're gonna look at a, a, a guy, he's a prophet, his name is Samuel. And, uh, he is involved in a transition that God has called him to make and to lead where they're going to change kings. And this is the first time a kingly transition has ever taken place. And, and here's the thing, Samuel really loves the king.

And God has said, Hey, it's time for a change. And you're gonna see in here some principles and what I think are prayers that you can pray going into this year that no matter what the change is, these prayers will work. These prayers will help you not get stuck and help you move forward. So in one Sam, you chapter 16, if you have the app, it really help you because a lot of this stuff is in there. And you may not have your Bible.

Some of you have a, you know, a paper Bible, and that's great. But if you don't have it read along because this passage just jumped out at me. It's the reason I chose this, because it got stuck in my head. First Samuel chapter 16 verse one. And the Lord said to Samuel, how long will you keep mourning for Saul since I've rejected him as king over Israel?

Fill your horn with oil and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, and I've chosen one of his sons to be king. And Samuel said, well, how can I go if, if, if Saul hears about it, he will kill me? And the Lord said, we'll take a heifer with you and say, I've come to sacrifice to the Lord and invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you what to do. You're too anoint for me, the one I indicate of his sons.

And Samuel did what the Lord said. And when he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. And they asked, do you come in peace? Now they're saying that because in the chapter before, uh, Samuel was moving from a judge to a prophet, and there was a guy, there was some situation where Saul was not totally obedient and he didn't like destroy everything that was in this, in this camp. And there was the, they left the one guy, the king.

And, and, and, and Samuel said, this guy's supposed to be dead. And, and then they didn't kill him. So he took a, he took a machete and hacked him to death. Happy New Year. Okay?

So Samuel says, yes, I come in peace. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord, consecrate yourself today and come to the sacrifice with me. Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. And when they arrived, Samuel saw and he thought, surely the Lord's anointed stands before the Lord. But the Lord said, the Samuel do not consider his appearance or his height for I have rejected him.

The Lord does not look at the same things that people look at because people look at the outward appearance. But the Lord looks at the heart. Then Jesse called a beda and had him pass in front of Samuel. And, but Samuel said, the Lord has not chosen this one either. And Jesse then has Shamong pass before Samuel.

And indeed this, the Lord chosen this one. He had seven sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said that the Lord has not chosen any of these. Surely do you not have any more kids? He said, well, there's one, but, but you know, you, you don't look at him 'cause he's out in the fields.

He's the youngest. He's tending the sheep. And Samuel said, sin for him. We will not sit down until he arrives. And he sent for him and he brought him in and he was glowing with health.

He had a fine appearance, he had handsome features. And the Lord said, rise and anoint him. This is the one. So Samuel took the horn of oil and he anointed him in the presence of his brothers. And from that day on, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon.

David came powerfully on David and Samuel went back to Ramah. And you say, what does all that have to do with going into a brand new year? And, and, and knowing how to, to, to deal with all the changes that come? Well, well, the first is you've gotta understand we've got to do a better job at grieving all the things we've been through in 2023. I find this is so interesting that God says to Samuel, Samuel, you've been grieving over Saul for a long time now.

And and I don't want you to miss that because grief is is very important. And and it's not like he just like it all happened and he moved on. No, no. There, there's a lot of time that's a lapse between, uh, Samuel understanding that we've gotta change Kings and Samuel going to Bethlehem, where he goes to Bethlehem and they choose David. Listen, grief is so important and, and I almost just preached the whole message on this one point.

And I may still, because here's the reality. If you don't understand how hurt works in our heart, you're gonna have a hard time moving into a brand new year. Grief comes because we get hurt. Grieving is vital to us moving forward. And for many of you, you're like me, there are things that have happened in your life.

For some of you it was a divorce. For some of you, it was a death. For some of you, it was a business. For some of you, it was a relationship. For some of you, it was your health.

And you've marched into 2024 like nothing happened. Like, oh, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna overcome that. Uh, uhuh you, you, you take time to grieve it. You take time to say, this hurt me. Listen, I I have grieved.

I'll just tell you this. Alicia and I, we've grieved over the last three years about changing our role at the church. And it's not grieving 'cause oh, we don't wanna leave. It's grieving because this season for us that was so amazing is coming to a conclusion. And, and so we've grieved and and we've talked about it and we've cried and, and we've talked some more and we've cried and, and we've grieved and, and we kind of go through this process because we understand this.

And you wanna write this down. You can't celebrate the future without grieving the past. There's no way to move forward until you understand you. You've got to let that die in your life. And you say, what does it look like when you don't?

It looks like somebody that can never leave their fraternity. It, it looks like somebody that can never leave their sorority. It looks like somebody that can never leave the good old days. It looks like somebody that's hanging on for dear life because I like this season so much. I, I wanna hold onto it.

Maybe you were in ate a moon pie, you know, as a fraternity. Um, or, or, or, or at LIC was in Better Up Ya Gamma. I mean like, she was an amazing, you know, sorority. But but, but there comes a time where you have to move on and, and there there's stages of grief. And, and, and when you, when you, you start thinking about, well, why am I so sad?

Why am I so discouraged? Well, well, here are the stages of grief. Now there's a lot of different ways. This is the way I see it when I talk to people. This is the way I deal with it.

When something comes into my life and I need a change, I'm shocked. Like 38 years went by so fast, I'm shocked. I mean, I still look so young and good and, and I'm just shocked that, that my hair's gray because man, I still got it. You know, like I, I'm, I'm shocked. And, and then it's connected to that as I'm in denial.

I'm in denial. I, I, I mean you, you get that where, where you're like, nah, this is not, nah, I'm not just out. No, no. A lot of people are like, no, you know, you, we know you, you never leave it. I mean, have people say that to me all the time?

We don't you, they'll have to carry you outta there. No, no, I'm gone. Uh, no, I mean, I'm walking out, uh, good Lord willing. But when we get into this shock and then we get into, into denial and, and then it's anger. We get so angry.

Why does this have to happen? Why does this happen to happen to me? Why did I have to go through this? Well, why did my daughter have to get sick? Why did my son make whatever?

Why, why didn't this happen? Why did that happen? And we get, we get angry, then we get hurt. Well, I can't believe this is happening to me. And, and most people get hung up right in there and then they go to bargaining.

Well, I wanna turn the clock back. Well, I I want another shot at it. Well, like, like, like, you know, some guys, like, they get to my age and they wanna start another church. Are they crazy? If you've been paroled after a good season, don't go back to prison.

I tell 'em that all the time. Like, are you crazy? But then there comes a time where you get really down and then you accept it and you begin to move on in a brand new kind of life. And so one of the prayers we wanna pray going in to, to 2024 is God help us grieve, well, help us grieve well, can I just ask you to push a little pause button here for a second? Where are you hurting so badly that you try not to think about it?

I I mean, think about all the things that have happened to us in the last three or four years. I mean, we had covid. That is a death man, that is crazy. It changed all of our lives. For, for some of you, you had dreams and they're not going to be fulfilled.

And, and you are grieving grieve that. Well you said, but I got faith. You know, I'm not gonna let anything rob me of my joy. Listen, Jesus grieved, My favorite verse in the Bible is, Jesus swept, Jesus swept, he wept over Lazarus. See, he grieved.

You know, I grieved the Alabama, Michigan game. You know, when I was watching, I grieved it that Michigan cheated. And somehow because they knew where we were gonna run like that last play, they were all up there for a reason, because their cheaters. And, and so I grieved over the sin of the wolverines. But, but here's the thing.

I'm mean denial. But, but here's the reality. You begin to grieve over those things. Paul says it this way, we grieve, get this, but we don't grieve as those who have no hope. We grieve.

It hurts. God made us to grieve. He designed us to, to say, yes, this hurts. Yeah, I I'm gonna agree this hurts and I've got to deal with it. And God, I need you to help me through it.

And we don't just go, no, I'm gonna be okay and I'm gonna work harder and I'm gonna go more. And I'm not gonna think about it. And, and real mean, don't cry, rub some dirt on it. You get stuck and you get crazy and you get mean. And God says, okay, Samuel, that's enough.

You have grieved. I have heard what you've said. You've tried to bargain with me. You tried to get me to give Saul another chance, and I have told you it is tight and you need to move on. Where is God telling you in 2024?

You need to move on. You need to snap out of it. You need to let it go. Do the frozen song. I'm not gonna sing it again.

Let it go, let it go. So we grieve well, okay, we, we grieve well, here's the second thing. God help me see clearly in 2024, help me to have wise eyes because you're gonna make a lot of decisions in 2024 that set you up for some kind of future. And I'll just tell you, life is hard. But it's harder when you make dumb decisions and you begin to say, God, I want you to give me wisdom.

Help me to see clearly. And for not just the new leader here at our church, but like, who are you gonna date? You say, well, forget that I didn't even have an opportunity. You know, listen, God will bring that person. Who, who am I gonna date?

Who am I gonna marry? Where am I gonna go to school? Where am I gonna live? Listen, if you go into 2024 and you start out by saying, God, help me see clearly what you want me to see, God will help you. He will help you.

You know why? Because God directs you. He says to Samuel, I want you to go down to Bethlehem. And he's going, and Samuel's gonna think of Bethlehem, really Easter, Easter Buty. Really, really, really out from big level, really Bethlehem, yeah.

Listen, God, God, God knows God is directing you. God is God. God sees, God is in a fraternity all by himself with the Father, son and the Holy Spirit. It's the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. God was, God is and God is to come.

Listen, he's already got your life figured out. It's just that you don't, he's in total control of your life. There are no books on God's shelf. He didn't go, oh my goodness, what are we gonna do with Jeff? What are we gonna do with Venture Church?

What are we gonna do with Venture Church? Oh my goodness. What? No, no, no. He already knows.

He's known before the beginning of time. And he knows about your life. He directs. Here's the second thing he sees. I love what he says is, I've already provided me a leader.

That that word literally means not just provided, it means I already see the leader. I, I mean I I'm already there like about your life and the decisions you're trying to make. He already sees he's already there and he's not confused like we are with looks. Okay? Because how many of you, when you, how many of you judge a person by the way they look, raise your hand, The rest of you are lying like dogs and you're gonna pay, okay?

Uh, yeah, we all do that and we look, so, so here's a lab. He comes along, it's like, it's like a fashion show. He's got seven sons and Samuel is sitting back there and he goes, okay, let's look at him. And Elia walks across, he's got his armor on and his name is, you know, it means God, my father. And he's kind of got his spear and he is going, yeah, I got to.

And Samuel goes, God, he looks great. That's gotta be the guy goes, I need to go. And so we can be confused by some of you are dating people just because of the way they look. And let me go ahead and put the, let me just go ahead and give you this, okay? If you date somebody, only because this is extra, if you date somebody, only because of the way they look, you are gonna be disappointed at some point because their looks will change.

Now, mine hasn't because I've been able to do a lot of working out and cleansing and, and Bowie bowing and toxin. And, and, and here's the thing. Like, but, but you're going to change. Like if you only go for the looks, man, you, you're gonna be in trouble. 'Cause they may look good on the outside and really not be good on the inside's personality.

You say, well, he's got swag, she's got woo. When she walked, listen, when, Alicia, I will say this. When she walked through the campus, they laid out class. I mean, she had swag. She, she, you know, you know, but up your game.

I mean, she was un unbelievable. And here's the second son, his name me, his name is Abada. His name means astonishment. When he walked in the room, people went, wow. Woo.

Boy, that guy's something. Somebody goes that, that's him, that's him, that's him. He goes, no, that's not him. Then popularity, you almost somebody that everybody likes, right? And so, so Shania means Lily Rose, everybody likes him.

Listen, here's the thing, God chooses and he looks at everybody and he goes, Hey, there's gotta be another one. There's a forgotten son. I, if you are here, or if you're listening to me at another campus or online or some other time, and you feel like you're forgotten in the family, you're the forgotten daughter, you're the forgotten son. You're, you're the forgotten employee. Listen, God sees you, man, you ought to grab a hold of that.

He sees you, he sees where you are, he chooses you. When the father says the, the runt, the smallest one, he, he's saying the, the redneck, the the, the ridiculous one. I I I'm, I'm good that that's the one. We, the reason we didn't bring him is we know he's not in the running. But I came across this verse that changed the way I thought about everything.

Are you ready? 'Cause I would doubt you've heard it like this before, okay? 'Cause I hadn't. When it says that God looks at the heart, he sees the heart rather than the person. I've always thought, well that means that David had a pure heart.

David was a catch. David's amazing. He, he chose David because David was pure. David had character. And I'm going, wow.

Yeah, he's gone. That's all that. And then I began to study it and I began to read about, you know what that literally means? It means that God's heart was for David. I I don't think you, you're getting it.

David is 17 years old. He can't be a man who's got a perfect heart because he, he had an adultery's relationship with somebody his granddaughter's age, had her husband killed, and a bunch of other people killed and tried to cover it up. No, it means that God had a heart for David. God Chose David because God wanted to choose David. Are you saying Jeff, are you a Presbyterian?

No, I'm a Christian. It's like I'm not a Baptist, I'm a Christian. That's what the word of God says. God knows That the challenge for us is not to, to figure these things out. The challenge is to be close to God and to pray to God and, and say, God, I need you to help me.

God, you show me because I may get mixed up over here. Because if I get into flesh and I start looking over here and I start planning my own future, God, you, you bless my future. God, you bless this choice, God, you do. No, no, no, no, no, no. You say, God, what do you want me to do?

And then when God tells you what to do and it's clear, you just move forward. And most people are gonna think you're crazy. So this year we pray, God help us grieve. Well, God help me to grieve. Well, God, the loss I've had, the hurt God, it's okay to say you're hurt.

Matter of fact, if you don't say you're hurt, when you're hurt, you're crazy, God, help me to see clearly. Help me to see through your heart what you would have me do and the choices that you would have me make. And then the third thing, God, pour out your spirit on me. Now listen, that is not something weird. And I don't want you to misunderstand this.

When God pours his spirit out on you, it's where you say, God, I trust you, God, I need you now. And you say, God, I will trust you and God, I will obey you. And God begins to fill you with his thoughts and his word and his power and his connection. And you become a brand new person. I I love what the Bible says in verse 13.

It says, from that day on, get this, the Spirit of God rushed on David. The spirit of God came fully on David. The word spirit literally means ruah is a Hebrew name. Anybody wanna, you needed to call. If you not done it yet, go.

Let's do that together. You ready? Hmm. The spirit of God, the, the breath of God came on him. Can I tell you how important that is going into 2024?

It's not by might, it's not by power, but it's by my spirit says the Lord. Some trust in horses, some trust in chariots. But I will trust in the name of the Lord in 2024. I I If you've grieved well, the things that didn't happen the way you wanted to happen, things that happened to you that you wish had never happened. And, and you begin to say, God, God, God, show me what you want to do in me.

God, show me where you're moving. God. Show me what you'd have me do. And then you say, God, give me the spirit, your spirit and your power to do it. 2024 will be the greatest year of your life.

God already sees it. He's putting it in your hands. Do the hard work of grieving. Ask God to show you clearly. Say, God, I need power.

God I need power. 2023, the spirit of God fell on our church because in all the things we're doing differently and all the things that we're kind of putting together, when God shows up and begins to do things in you where you're giving more than you've ever given, and we're having baptism more than we've ever had in a year where we've got all kinds of things going on. We know it's not us. We know it's God. We never wanna be just a talented church.

Uh, we wanna be a church that's filled with the spirit of God. So how about Samuel? What happened to Samuel? That's a good question. 'Cause I feel like I'm kind of a Samuel in a way.

You know what Samuel did? He went back to Rama and began to pour into the next generation of prophets from which we get people like Nathan and Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel and Habakkuk. Because here's the thing, when God shuts this door, he opens another door where he can use you the very most Until he is ready to take you home. So let me ask you, we're gonna move into a time of prayer. And in all of our campuses, we normally kind of go and we have a pastor come out.

But all of our camp, this is a family thing. And if you're at home or if you're driving, keep your eyes open. But, but I want you to pray. This begins 21 days of prayer and you're, you're probably like me. Like you're, you don't have to be a good, like I'm not great at praying.

'Cause of my mind is it just jumps and I have to work at prayer and I have to, you know, fast from some things to get my mind right and get serious before God. But would you begin that process today when me, we meet Wednesday night at all of our campuses, you can come and pray. And let me begin by this. Where do you need to grieve? What Is it in your life you need to grieve?

Well, grieve. We grieve, but not as those who have no hope. It hurt. It's unfair, painful, a loss. You, you can come to the altar and you can put it on the cross.

You can pour it out before God. You can take the Lord's supper. Look, this isn't a museum. We're a mission. We go as you go.

We Wanna go together. Grieve, ask God to help you see clearly this year. I I know you wanna date that guy. I I know he looks good. He's got a great car.

I, I, I, look, look, I know, I know she's hot man. She is so hot. Like it's God, I'll, I'll, I'll somehow get her saved. Now would you just trust God and see what God wants you to see the way he wants you to see it. And lastly, would you ask God to pour his spirit out on you?

No, I, man, listen to me. When you confess your sins and you say, God, come fill me 'cause I'm a clean vessel. Fill me and take over my life. Things happen. It changes you.

It changes the people around. Dads, dads. If you'll get serious about asking God to pour his spirit out on you, you can lead your family. Well, don't get me started on the men. I got a whole nother thing for you guys.

We coming for you. That's right. But I'm gonna ask you to pray. So I'm gonna give you a minute to do that. Just bow your heads at all of our campuses and begin to pray.

And if you wanna come to the altar and begin to say, Hey, I want to grieve this. I wanna give this to God. I want him to help me grieve. I, I, I wanna see clearly this year. I wanna see clearly what God would have me do.

Then you begin to pray that God, I need your power. I need you, God, I need you to just pour your spirit out on me, rush into my life. He will. He loves you. You're his child.

He wants the best for you. So I'm gonna give you just a minute to begin to prepare your heart. And as we sing, if you wanna stand, you can and sing. If you wanna sit and pray, if you wanna come to the altar, whatever God. However you can get comfortable with listening and speaking to the Lord to start 2024 brand new, you begin that process right now.