Beyond Resolutions: The Danger of Self-Powered Spiritual Growth

• New Year's Resolutions and Spiritual Goals 00:31:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts physical and relational goals with the need for spiritual goals, using the gym as an analogy for commitment and avoiding plateaus.
• [Psalm 27](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+27&version=KJV) and David's Example 00:34:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor cites Psalm 27 to illustrate David's priority of seeking God's presence amidst battles, encouraging the congregation to prioritize spiritual growth.
• The Greatest Commandment (Heart, Mind, Soul) 00:37:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor analyzes Jesus' response in Matthew 22, breaking down the command to love God into three components: heart, mind, and soul, to address different aspects of spiritual life.
• Loving God with the Heart (Emotion) 00:39:38 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses the emotional aspect of loving God, acknowledging his own lack of natural emotionality and suggesting worship music as a tool to connect emotionally.
• Loving God with the Mind (Logic) 00:42:23 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor addresses the intellectual aspect of faith, using the analogy of knowing his wife to explain that knowing God is an ongoing process of learning and discovery.
• Loving God with the Mind 00:42:47 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor encourages intellectual pursuit of God, using the analogy of a long marriage to illustrate that one never fully knows another person, and similarly, God is infinitely complex and requires continuous study.
• Loving God with the Soul 00:45:46 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines 'soul' as the 'breath of life' and argues that loving God with the soul means integrating Him into every decision and interaction, rather than treating it as a scheduled task.
• The Role of the Holy Spirit 00:47:32 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as a helper to enable believers to maintain constant connection with God throughout their daily lives.
• Love for Neighbor 00:50:24 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor connects the command to love God with the command to love one's neighbor, explaining that the latter is the natural result of the former.
• New Year's Commitments 00:48:51 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts typical New Year's resolutions with a spiritual commitment to love God, framing the latter as the source of true fruitfulness and obedience.
• Salvation and Atonement 00:54:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts the core doctrine that Jesus died for the listener's sins and invites them to accept this truth.
• Personal Commitment and Discipleship 00:54:43 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor guides the listener to verbally commit to following Jesus as Lord and Master.
• Gratitude and Future Hope 00:54:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor leads a prayer of thanksgiving for salvation and anticipates future works by God in 2026.

• Sermon Illustration 00:33:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of going to the gym to explain spiritual growth, noting that just as physical fitness requires varied routines to avoid plateaus, spiritual life requires intentional changes to avoid stagnation.
• Sermon Illustration 00:39:58 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife calling him an 'emotional stone' to illustrate his own difficulty with emotional expression and his reliance on logic.
• Sermon Illustration 00:43:32 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of his 14-year marriage to his wife Erin, stating he has a '14 year PhD in Erin Kranz' but still hasn't graduated, to illustrate that knowing God is an infinite, ongoing process.
• Sermon Illustration 00:43:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife, Erin, joking that he has a '14 year PhD in Erin Kranz' but still hasn't graduated, illustrating that even in long relationships, there is always more to learn.
• Sermon Illustration 00:42:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a student who doesn't want to study or someone who feels they have 'emotional connection' but lacks intellectual understanding, to illustrate the need for disciplined study of God's Word.

• Pastoral Charge 00:35:38 ▶️ 📄
  > Prioritize spiritual growth goals above other New Year's resolutions.
• Pastoral Charge 00:41:54 ▶️ 📄
  > Intentionally connect with God on an emotional level through worship music and active participation.
• Pastoral Charge 00:44:33 ▶️ 📄
  > Commit to a plan for studying the Bible or understanding God better.
• Pastoral Charge 00:49:25 ▶️ 📄
  > Reflect on and discuss which aspect of loving God (heart, mind, or soul) is the focal point for personal growth.
• Pastoral Charge 00:52:04 ▶️ 📄
  > Make a specific commitment to grow in the identified area of loving God.
• Pastoral Charge 00:54:32 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray a prayer of salvation, acknowledging Jesus as Savior and Lord.
• Pastoral Charge 00:54:32 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray the provided prayer of salvation and commitment.

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you.
[00:03:59] Let us pray.
[00:04:20] Let us pray.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
What's going on, home church?
[00:10:02] Come on, let's stand to our feet.
[00:10:05] So great to be with y'all today.
[00:10:06] Here we're going to lift up our voices, lift up our hands, and declare that we've seen God be so, so good in our lives.
[00:10:14] Come on, let's sing this out together.
[00:10:18] This is my story and I'll testify The blessings on blessings you've poured on my life When I start remembering, oh how good you've been
[00:10:38] Chains of depression are broken by grace When I start remembering, say how good you've been Come on, have you seen it?
[00:10:51] Sing it out with us, say Been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me, yes Lord And you've been so, so, so, so, so, so good
[00:11:06] Come on, does somebody see the goodness of God in their life?
[00:11:12] And all these weapons fall to the ground armies of heaven they always surround when I start remembering how you carried my cross you called me by name you loved me like I was but you didn't leave me that way was dead now I live yeah that's what you
[00:11:40] You've been so good to me
[00:11:55] Come on, let me see your hands like this.
[00:12:15] We believe God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.
[00:12:21] Come on, sing with me, sing.
[00:12:22] When I say God is good, you say all the time.
[00:12:26] When I say all the time, you say God is good.
[00:12:30] When I say God is good, you say all the time.
[00:12:34] When I say all the time, you say God is good.
[00:12:39] When I say God is good,
[00:12:49] You sing all the time and I'll say all the time You say God is so, so, so, so, so, so good to me, yeah Yes, You've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me, yeah From morning to night, the lows and the highs I look back on my life
[00:13:20] The Lord's in the high, I look back on my life and all that I see That you've been so, so, so, so, so, so good to me We've tasted and we've seen of the goodness of God And so I want everybody in this room, everybody online to lift your voice
[00:14:15] So, so, so good to me Come on, if it's been good to you, you ought to praise the Lord.
[00:14:28] Hallelujah!
[00:14:28] Lord, we've seen your goodness in our lives.
[00:14:31] We've seen your faithfulness time and time again.
[00:14:34] And so today we offer up our praise and our worship just to you.
[00:14:41] You woke me up this morning
[00:14:45] Yeah, my cup is overflowing You have blessed me and I know it So I owe You my praise You're the author of my story When I thought that it was over But Your mercy kept me going So I owe You my praise Come on, sing it, sing.
[00:15:13] All my praises, O Lord, You deserve.
[00:15:23] O Lord, You deserve all my praises.
[00:15:32] O Lord, You deserve.
[00:15:32] Only You deserve all my praises.
[00:15:39] I know I'm far from finished, but your grace is still sufficient And that's what makes the difference, so I owe you my praise Now I'm standing here forgiving, knowing life is worth the living
[00:16:07] You're the God of new beginnings So I owe you my praise Sing and say praises Oh Lord you deserve Oh Lord you deserve All my praises Oh Lord you deserve Only you deserve All my praises Oh Lord
[00:16:53] You deserve my worship, my life, my soul It all belongs to You When I think of all You've done When I think of all You've brought me through When I think of all You've done And I can never say enough thank You When I think of all You've done
[00:17:21] When I think of all you brought me through When I think about your love I can never say enough When I think of all you brought me through When I think about your love for me I can never say enough

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
For the ways that you have made For the price that you have paid For your mercies every day That's why I owe you a way For the ways that you have made For the price that you have paid For your mercies every day

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
You have the price for me The price I can never pay And that's why I hold you to me Praises, oh Lord, you deserve Praises, oh Lord, you deserve Sing with me, you deserve Praises, oh Lord, you deserve

[00:19:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
All my praise is for all you deserve And only you when I think of what you've done When I think of all you've brought me through When I think about your love I can never say enough thank you
[00:19:25] When I think of all you brought me through

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
O Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords, we honor your presence, Holy Spirit, be enthroned on the praise of your people.
[00:20:42] I breathe in the presence of the living God I take in the goodness of your love I lean in closer to my Father's heart I trust in who you shape

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Living and breathing here in this place Speaking and healing, your fullness and glory Is right here before me, you're the living God The living God
[00:21:46] The joy that's found in you alone I cling to The peace that won't let go, oh Jesus You're the only one that satisfies and I run to the Father
[00:22:13] Living and breathing, we're in this grave Speaking and healing, performance and glory It's right here before me You're the living God, the living God You are You are alive
[00:22:39] Living and breathing here in this place Speaking and dealing in fullness and glory Cause right here before me You're the living God The living God We choose to worship You To honor You in this place
[00:23:09] above all things above all circumstances no one else will get your worship no one else will get the praise but you Jesus name above all names we worship you and exalt you in this place
[00:23:33] We hold you, it's never gonna hold you So it's never gonna hold me Cause you're the only thing holding us
[00:23:46] We sing now again It's never gonna hold you So it's never gonna hold me You're the only thing holding on to me We sing now again It's never gonna hold you
[00:24:14] He's never gonna hold you So He's never gonna hold me
[00:24:30] We submit to you, King of Kings!

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Let's declare this together this way.

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
All feet, come on.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
We both know who ends this final day Oh grave, oh grave, you have met my care Oh fear, oh fear, are you trembling?
[00:25:26] We both know who ends this final day
[00:25:33] We both know who reigns, we both know who ends in the sky Hope reigns in the rock, hope reigns Hope reigns in the network, hope reigns Hope reigns, hope reigns We both know who reigns, we both know Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Oh death you have lost your sting Oh grave you have met my king Oh fear are you trembling We both know who reigns We both know who reigns Oh death you have lost your sting Oh grave you have met my king Oh fear are you trembling We both know who reigns We both know who reigns

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Amen.
[00:27:05] We declare that even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we put our trust in You, Lord.
[00:27:08] We fix our eyes on You, our firm foundation, a rock that never fails.
[00:27:11] We thank You, Lord, for Your goodness in our life.
[00:27:12] You are all-powerful, almighty.
[00:27:13] King of kings and Lord of lords and we submit to you today we love you we surrender our lives and our worship before you today we love you it's in the name of Jesus that we declare this that we worship and we pray amen amen

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Happy New Year, Cove Church family.
[00:27:36] Welcome to our online campus.
[00:27:38] My name is Josh and I get to serve at our Mooresville campus.
[00:27:42] And if you are joining us for the very first time, we are so glad that you're here.
[00:27:46] We would love to get you connected.
[00:27:48] You can do so by entering the chat and letting somebody know that it's your first time.
[00:27:52] We are fully online this week as we are giving our team members and our staff a week of rest and relaxation after the Christmas holiday.
[00:28:01] We're going to be back in person next week across all of our campuses as we kick off our new year with a new series called Prayer and Fasting.
[00:28:10] Fasting is a powerful way that we can humble ourselves before God.
[00:28:15] Psalm 69 10 says, Reminding us that fasting helps us depend more deeply on God's strength.
[00:28:28] When we pair fasting and prayer, it helps our hearts become more clear and more in tune with God's voice.
[00:28:38] Join us in person next Sunday as we go deeper together and seek God wholeheartedly.
[00:28:45] We'd love to see you in person if possible.
[00:28:48] Otherwise, we will see you back here online
[00:28:51] and In Our Chats.
[00:28:53] Our mission statement is that we will introduce our friends to Jesus, learn to follow Him, and celebrate His presence in our lives.
[00:29:01] In 2025, we saw so much life change here at The Cove.
[00:29:05] We saw hundreds of salvations and baptisms, we served over 500 families at our toy store, and we were able to go all out together throughout the entire year just getting to serve and love our community.
[00:29:20] Some examples of that is we were able to help feed the hungry in our community.
[00:29:25] We were able to help those with housing that had issues due to Hurricane Helene.
[00:29:29] We were even able to help build a bridge for a family where the bridge to their home washed out during the hurricane.
[00:29:36] We got to help first responders and we even got to go to nursing homes and spend time with men and women building lasting relationships with them.
[00:29:46] And we got to do all of this not just through the Cove Church, but through you guys, our church family.
[00:29:53] So church, thank you for continually going above and beyond and showing the love of Jesus to our community.
[00:30:00] All of this comes back to the generosity of the church.
[00:30:04] Thank you for your generosity, your tithes, your offerings.
[00:30:09] They enable all of this to be possible.
[00:30:12] They enable us to have an online campus like we are on right now, and they enable us to be able to go all out into our community just like we did last year.
[00:30:22] If you'd like to be a part of all that we are doing here at The Cove, you can give at covechurch.org slash give.
[00:30:29] We are about to hear a message from our lead pastor, Will Kranz.
[00:30:32] So grab your coffee, grab your hot chocolate, and I'll see you after the message.

[00:30:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
All right.
[00:30:39] What is up, Cove Church?
[00:30:41] We miss you guys.
[00:30:42] It is sad to not be together in person today, but it is good to get to be together as one church online.
[00:30:50] I hope you had an awesome Christmas.
[00:30:53] I hope you're getting ready for an amazing new year.
[00:30:57] We've got 2026 right around the corner.
[00:31:01] And for this message we've got today, we're here at the gym, Jets Fitness, and you know, it's the perfect place, because it represents so much of what the new year means to us.
[00:31:15] Many of us actually have a goal to be in a gym like this more this year, but in general,
[00:31:22] Most of us have goals going into the new year.
[00:31:24] This is a time for a reset, to rework some things.
[00:31:28] Maybe for you that's reworking your health, your physical health, what you're putting in your body.
[00:31:34] Maybe for you it's relationships, it's your marriage, it's your relationship with your kids, it's your goals for what this year's gonna look like in school, or it's your goals for what this year's gonna look like in your job, or maybe there's some new habits that you're really hoping to build.
[00:31:52] The New Year is a time of goals, of resolutions, of new commitments.
[00:31:57] And you know, the gym is a great reminder of what that word commitment really means.
[00:32:03] You know, we all have the best intentions when it comes to our New Year's resolutions.
[00:32:08] We have goals.
[00:32:10] We maybe even make a good start on those goals, but we've all been there.
[00:32:15] You know, there's that day.
[00:32:17] where the resolution's not easy to follow through on.
[00:32:19] The commitment doesn't come naturally.
[00:32:23] Maybe you got a bad night's sleep or you got a big day ahead and that 6 a.m. gym call is just a little bit harder to make.
[00:32:33] When you go to work out,
[00:32:36] What I love about the gym is when you go to work out, there's so many different aspects towards building a good gym life.
[00:32:47] It's not just come and do the same thing every time.
[00:32:50] When you show up to the gym,
[00:32:52] Each day you work a different part of your body and then you come back to those parts and you're trying to get stronger with time but it doesn't happen instantly.
[00:33:02] It takes commitment.
[00:33:03] It takes day after day, week after week, even month after month
[00:33:08] before you really see those results.
[00:33:11] And in fact, if you just do the same things over and over again, you can't just do the same things over and over again.
[00:33:16] We've all seen this, whether it's in the gym or even with your diet.
[00:33:20] You find a plan that works and you do it, but you eventually plateau off.
[00:33:26] You don't see the growth as quickly.
[00:33:28] You kind of have to try maybe some different things to break you out of the rut.
[00:33:34] And in reality,
[00:33:36] Spiritually, it's the same thing.
[00:33:40] We think that you just pray a prayer once and you come to church on Sundays and you kind of build a couple good habits and we get comfortable.
[00:33:50] And we get comfortable just doing the same thing over and over again.
[00:33:53] And eventually, our faith begins to plateau.
[00:33:56] Maybe you've experienced that before.
[00:33:59] In 2026, I want to encourage us as a church to have a goal that
[00:34:04] Before any commitments to ourselves, whether it's physically or relationally, that the number one commitment we'd have is to have a year where we grow spiritually.
[00:34:15] One thing that David said
[00:34:17] In Psalm 27, starting in verse three, look at this.
[00:34:21] Though an army encamp against me, though I feel like I have huge battles ahead of me, is what he's pointing to here, my heart shall not fear.
[00:34:32] Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
[00:34:36] He says in the midst of all this crazy stuff going on in my life right now, here's the one thing that I'm after.
[00:34:44] one thing have i asked of the lord that will i seek after that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple you know david said amidst the many things he had going on and david was the king of israel in the old testament he was
[00:35:09] Viewed as the most faithful king to God.
[00:35:13] But he faced many wars.
[00:35:15] He faced many enemies.
[00:35:17] He faced many situations that felt like he had no way out.
[00:35:21] And what David says plainly is amidst all the things that can soak up all of his time and all of his focus and all of his energy, one thing he was after before anything else.
[00:35:35] To be in the presence of the Lord.
[00:35:38] Church, I wanna encourage you as we go into 2026, there are a million things that are
[00:35:43] Vying for our time and attention.
[00:35:45] There are a million good goals that we can have going into this year.
[00:35:49] Getting physically healthy is a good goal.
[00:35:52] You know, having better relationships is a good goal.
[00:35:55] Building healthier habits is a good goal.
[00:35:58] But I want to encourage you before anything else, before any other battle that needs to be fought, do you have goals around your spiritual walk?
[00:36:08] Do you have goals around what I want more than anything else in 2026?
[00:36:12] is to be in the presence of the Lord more.
[00:36:16] You know, so we hear that and it sounds great on paper.
[00:36:19] You know, of course we should want to grow spiritually this year, but Will, what is that, what are you really asking me to do?
[00:36:25] Are we saying, you know, go to church more?
[00:36:29] Are we saying read the Bible more?
[00:36:31] I mean, what does it really look like to grow spiritually?
[00:36:35] Maybe you're here today
[00:36:36] And you're already doing all of our five habits, the five things we encourage you to do to continue to grow spiritually, which include attending a weekly service, getting involved in a life group, joining a serving team, giving faithfully out of generosity,
[00:36:52] and having a consistent quiet time with the Lord.
[00:36:55] Maybe you're doing all those things and you're going, okay, so what does it look like for me to focus on spiritual growth going into 2026?
[00:37:04] Just like at the gym, sometimes you find yourself starting to plateau and you gotta do something a little different.
[00:37:10] It's not some massive change.
[00:37:11] You still need consistency around those things, but maybe some of the approach slightly changes.
[00:37:18] You know, Jesus was once asked by a lawyer, of all people, so you know he was looking to pick a fight with Jesus.
[00:37:25] He once asked Jesus, what's the greatest commandment?
[00:37:29] And this question was really asked to try to trip up Jesus, to try to get Jesus to say that one commandment in God's law is more important than all the other commandments.
[00:37:39] so that people could debate.
[00:37:41] They were ready to debate.
[00:37:42] They were ready to argue with Jesus about, well, how can you put one commandment above any other?
[00:37:47] So it's a trick question in and of itself.
[00:37:50] But here was Jesus' response.
[00:37:52] We find it in Matthew 22.
[00:37:54] Jesus said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
[00:38:02] Hold on to those three concepts.
[00:38:05] We're gonna come back to them in just a moment.
[00:38:07] He says, this is the great and first commandments.
[00:38:11] And the second is like it.
[00:38:12] You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
[00:38:15] On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.
[00:38:21] You know, Jesus goes off the multiple choice answers.
[00:38:26] You know, when they ask this, which is the most important commandment, they're thinking he's going to quote one of the black and white, probably 10 commandments is going to be what he comes from.
[00:38:36] But Jesus talks about the law that encompasses all the other laws.
[00:38:42] And, you know, he starts with talking about the idea of love the Lord your God.
[00:38:46] And, you know, he could have just left it there.
[00:38:47] He could have just said, hey, loving God is the most important thing.
[00:38:50] But he specifically breaks down this concept of loving God, pursuing God, having a passion for God into three different areas.
[00:38:59] He says, love God with all your mind.
[00:39:02] He says, love God with all your heart and love God with all your spirit.
[00:39:08] I want to break down these three things because I think there's probably an area in each of our lives that we could be more intentional about the way we love God.
[00:39:19] We probably have one area that we're most comfortable in and lean towards and an area that maybe we haven't really pursued God in.
[00:39:29] And so let's talk about these three areas with your heart, with your mind, and with your soul.
[00:39:36] Let's start with your heart.
[00:39:38] You know, the heart is most often associated with passion, with emotion.
[00:39:43] And so when you look at this, the implication is that we should be loving God on an emotional level.
[00:39:50] Maybe you're listening to me right now and you're just not a very emotional person.
[00:39:55] You're like me.
[00:39:56] I am also not a very emotional person.
[00:39:58] Some people have called me an emotional stone before.
[00:40:02] That would be my wife, calls me that sometimes.
[00:40:04] You know, it takes a lot to get me to cry.
[00:40:07] It's just not...
[00:40:08] I grew up in a house where it was like, what's the point of crying?
[00:40:11] Is it helping you at all?
[00:40:13] And so loving God on an emotional level doesn't come super natural to me.
[00:40:19] I don't rely on feelings a whole lot to get my connection with God up.
[00:40:25] But scripture does talk about over and over again the need for us to pursue God on an emotional level.
[00:40:33] For us to have an emotional level towards people, to have empathy towards people and compassion towards people.
[00:40:40] And so you might be saying, well, how do you do that?
[00:40:42] You know, if I'm just not a very emotional person, how do I love God with a little more emotion?
[00:40:47] Can I encourage you maybe to put on some worship music more often throughout your day?
[00:40:54] Engage in more emotional things.
[00:40:56] I mean, it's undeniable.
[00:40:58] Worship music is emotional.
[00:41:01] We hear songs, we think on lyrics, and they strike something in our heart.
[00:41:08] You know, this is why scripture talks over and over again about the importance of music in the way that we engage with God.
[00:41:17] Some will look at music and think, well, music is manipulative.
[00:41:20] Certain chords just evoke certain emotions.
[00:41:23] I don't even disagree with that.
[00:41:25] But where does that come from?
[00:41:27] Why is that so?
[00:41:29] Is it possible that God actually put those chords together because he wanted it to speak to us?
[00:41:38] That yes, music does connect with us on an emotional level and that's an intentional thing from God and thus why God tells us to sing praises to him.
[00:41:49] to worship Him even in our darkest moments.
[00:41:54] I want to encourage you this year to make it a goal to connect with God on an emotional level.
[00:42:00] Whether that's having worship music on more often,
[00:42:03] in the background, singing during worship, when we come together in worship, being more intentional about really connecting with the worship and not just being a bystander and saying, hey, it's just not my thing.
[00:42:17] But let's, I wanna encourage you to pursue God with your heart.
[00:42:23] Another one that he says is to pursue God with our mind, which we think of as oftentimes the opposite of our heart.
[00:42:29] The mind is more the logic thought process.
[00:42:32] This is my bread and butter right here.
[00:42:35] I could pursue God with logic all day.
[00:42:38] It's very comfortable for me.
[00:42:40] For others, maybe that's just not your thing.
[00:42:42] You're like, I didn't like school.
[00:42:43] I didn't like learning.
[00:42:45] I'm done with that season of life.
[00:42:47] Or you're a student and you're going, I don't want to do any more studying of things.
[00:42:51] But, you know, it is a discipline and a commitment to pursue God with your mind.
[00:42:58] To continue to seek to understand God.
[00:43:03] You know, the truth is, in any relationship, we already know this.
[00:43:08] that you don't ever reach a point with anybody in your life that you just go, I know everything there is to know about them.
[00:43:16] I don't need to learn anymore about them.
[00:43:17] I don't need to get to know them anymore.
[00:43:20] Even say your parent who you've known your whole life or your spouse who you've been married to for 15 years, you never reach a point where you go,
[00:43:29] I already know everything there is to know about them.
[00:43:32] I'm good.
[00:43:32] Can I just tell you the moment I think I know everything there is to know about my wife Erin?
[00:43:37] That's the moment I'm probably going to get in trouble.
[00:43:39] You know, I'm probably going to do something really stupid.
[00:43:42] I always say I have a 14 year PhD in Erin Kranz and I still haven't graduated.
[00:43:49] You know, I'm still in the school of learning her.
[00:43:52] And in the same way, you know, God is infinitely more complex than
[00:43:58] Any relationship that you have, any person that you know, that God is a mystery to us in so many ways.
[00:44:05] And so I want to encourage you, maybe you've already read through the whole Bible or you've just gone, I don't really need to read the Bible.
[00:44:12] I already feel an emotional connection with God.
[00:44:15] That's awesome.
[00:44:16] But I want to encourage you to keep seeking to better understand your God.
[00:44:23] David made that his prayer.
[00:44:26] One thing I want, to dwell in the house of the Lord.
[00:44:32] I want to encourage you this year,
[00:44:33] to make a commitment that I want to better understand the Lord.
[00:44:36] Whether that's through a read the Bible in a year plan, whether that's to do deeper dives in some of the scripture books.
[00:44:45] Maybe you've already read the entire Bible, but you haven't really studied the Bible.
[00:44:49] Maybe this year's the year to get a study Bible and get committed to I want to pursue God with my mind.
[00:44:56] You know, I want to ask you something.
[00:44:58] When's the last time
[00:45:00] You really learned something about God you didn't understand.
[00:45:06] If that takes you a while to come up with something, I wanna encourage you,
[00:45:10] To spend time in quiet time.
[00:45:12] Spend time wrestling through difficult things that are in the Bible.
[00:45:15] There's a lot of challenging things.
[00:45:18] But our God, He wants us to know Him.
[00:45:22] He sent Jesus here on earth to walk among us.
[00:45:25] Why?
[00:45:26] So that we would see a picture of God.
[00:45:28] Because there was giant mind misunderstanding around who God is.
[00:45:32] So God gave us Jesus.
[00:45:34] He is God in the flesh.
[00:45:37] The third thing that Jesus mentions, he mentions love God with all your heart, with all your mind, and in between those, he said with all your soul.
[00:45:46] Love God with all your soul.
[00:45:47] This word literally means the breath of life.
[00:45:51] And it's the idea of loving God with every part of who we are.
[00:45:57] As in, every decision that we make, we wrap around, is this loving and honoring to God.
[00:46:04] The soul is not just this invisible part of us that goes to heaven.
[00:46:08] It is the breath of life is what this word
[00:46:12] It is in every fiber of what we do.
[00:46:17] So, okay, what does it look like then to love God with your soul, with every part?
[00:46:23] What does that really mean?
[00:46:25] How does that play out?
[00:46:27] What that means is you can't put loving God
[00:46:31] You can't put loving God as just pencil it in as part of your schedule and now I've gotten it done.
[00:46:38] This is the habit we always wanna do.
[00:46:41] This is the thing we're always drawn to is what do I have to do so that I can check the box and say I got it done?
[00:46:46] Do I have to listen to worship music on the way to work so that I can say, yeah, I loved God with my heart today?
[00:46:52] Do I have to make sure I open my Bible and study a few chapters of scripture so I can say, yeah, I loved God with my mind today?
[00:46:59] Yeah, those are great things to do.
[00:47:00] But loving God with your soul means it's in everything we do.
[00:47:05] Every decision we make.
[00:47:08] Every interaction we have with people.
[00:47:11] The things we do when nobody is watching.
[00:47:15] Loving God with your soul is loving God with the very essence of who you are.
[00:47:21] And you know, thank goodness that Jesus Christ came and died on the cross for our sins and he told us that, hey, he's gonna leave us, but he's sending us a helper.
[00:47:32] He's leaving us in the sense that he's going to prepare a place for us in heaven, but he's sending us the helper, the Holy Spirit, which is literally God's very presence with us at all times.
[00:47:43] That's who the Holy Spirit is.
[00:47:45] And so I want to encourage you, maybe for you, loving God this year looks like being more connected and in tune
[00:47:53] to the Holy Spirit throughout your day.
[00:47:56] It's learning to pray the little prayers throughout the day, not just designating God to certain times of your day, not just, oh, I'm gonna have a really good quiet time, or I'm gonna go to church Sunday, or we have our life group Tuesday night.
[00:48:10] Those are all amazing things, but we can't just designate God to certain times in our day and then go about our day.
[00:48:19] Loving God with our soul means in everything we do, we're in constant connection with Him.
[00:48:28] You know, I want to encourage you.
[00:48:29] What would it look like for you to go a whole day in constant connection with your God?
[00:48:36] You know, constantly checking in with Him, constantly talking with Him, praying for strength from Him, seeking what He wants you to do throughout the day, not just
[00:48:48] at certain part of the day.
[00:48:51] You know, this year I'm really excited about 2026.
[00:48:55] I'm really excited about the things that we're gonna be focused on, the things we're gonna be talking about as a church.
[00:48:59] We're gonna talk about things like
[00:49:00] fasting and prayer life how to engage in that in a deeper level in our own lives we're gonna be talking about worship and how to engage God with our worship how to engage God with our emotions even and so we're gonna really be diving into this idea of how do we more deeply love God
[00:49:20] and be obedient to what he's calling us to do in our life.
[00:49:25] And so to prepare for 2026, I want to encourage you right now to stop and think and maybe even share with the other people that you're watching this message with today.
[00:49:35] Which one of those three is a focal point for you going into this year?
[00:49:40] Which one of these three is maybe the one that you're going, I could really grow in that?
[00:49:44] Is it to love God more passionately with your heart?
[00:49:48] Seek Him on an emotional level?
[00:49:50] Is it to love God with your mind?
[00:49:53] To seek a better understanding of who God is and what His Word really says?
[00:49:58] Or is it to love God with your soul?
[00:50:01] To make sure that you're bringing Him in to every part of your every day.
[00:50:07] You know, I'm so excited for this year.
[00:50:10] And here's what Jesus said plainly.
[00:50:13] He said this at the end.
[00:50:14] He said, you know, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.
[00:50:20] He said the second is like it.
[00:50:21] This is what it naturally leads us to.
[00:50:24] That you're going to love your neighbor as yourself.
[00:50:26] Why does he say it's like it?
[00:50:27] That actually seems like a very different concept.
[00:50:30] He said, you know, that you should love God and then love people.
[00:50:34] And those seem like two separate ideas.
[00:50:36] But what Jesus is getting at is these are so intertwined.
[00:50:40] When you love God and you are seeking God, the natural response is going to be that you're going to be more loving of people.
[00:50:48] And then he closes this idea of what is the greatest commandment with a simple statement.
[00:50:54] he says every single commandment all the rules that you can get so focused on really hinge on these two concepts and so church here's what this offers us it is actually not just another to do so often our new year's commitments are just another to do that's why we burn out on them
[00:51:15] But actually what this does is take off our plate all the focus on rules, all the focus on, you know, don't do this, do do this.
[00:51:27] What Jesus is saying here is, hey, if you're just passionate about loving God with your heart, soul, mind, you let that translate to loving others, you're gonna be in line with everything God is calling you to do.
[00:51:44] You don't have to sit there and be afraid all the time of, you know, oh, did I do everything perfectly?
[00:51:51] Starts with, do you love God with all your heart, soul, mind?
[00:51:56] And do you let that translate to loving others?
[00:51:59] Let's do that this year.
[00:52:01] Where's the area that you were gonna grow in this year?
[00:52:04] Let's make that commitment today.
[00:52:05] Can I pray for us today, church?
[00:52:06] Father God, we thank you so much that you have loved us and that you have sent your son Jesus to speak plainly to us.
[00:52:15] You know, it's so easy for us to get so caught up on what does it mean to follow you?
[00:52:20] What does it mean to walk with you?
[00:52:22] You know, what does that mean as far as the rules are concerned?
[00:52:26] What are the things I have to do and can't do?
[00:52:29] you know you said it plainly when people were trying to trip you up and make it about a rule you said plainly no it's not about a rule the greatest rule is to love your god and so god i pray that that would be our desire today
[00:52:47] Today we make commitments to you.
[00:52:48] Would you make this commitment to your God today?
[00:52:51] God, I wanna love you more passionately with my heart.
[00:52:54] I wanna seek after you on an emotional level.
[00:52:58] God, I wanna love you more passionately with my mind.
[00:53:01] I wanna seek after you to understand you and understand your word.
[00:53:05] Or God, I wanna love you more passionately with my soul, with every part of my day, not just specified parts.
[00:53:15] But every part of who I am, every fiber of what I do, I want to seek after you.
[00:53:22] God we pray that this would be a year that is fruitful for us not just with our goals around our families or our health or our diets but God before any of those things we desire to be in your presence and to experience you this year as one church we cry out God our desire before anything else is to dwell in your presence
[00:53:45] to experience your goodness in our lives, to experience your direction in our lives.
[00:53:53] And so God, we come to you today and we're desperate, we're desperate to be in your presence before anything else, all the craziness, all the distractions.
[00:54:04] God, we just wanna be in your presence.
[00:54:06] Would you make that your prayer today, church?
[00:54:08] You're here today, maybe you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
[00:54:11] This is gonna be a great year for you to come to know Him.
[00:54:14] Maybe today it starts with just saying, you know what?
[00:54:17] I've never loved God with all my heart, soul, mind, heart, soul, and mind.
[00:54:23] And today, it starts with this commitment of acknowledging, I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins.
[00:54:30] You can make that your prayer right now.
[00:54:32] God, I believe that I need a Savior.
[00:54:35] Thank you that you sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins and that you love me.
[00:54:40] And God, I want to learn what it looks like to follow you and love you.
[00:54:43] And so today I call Jesus Lord, my savior and the master of my life.
[00:54:49] I want to follow you and come to know you on a deeper level.
[00:54:52] Thank you for Jesus.
[00:54:54] Thank you that he died on the cross for my sins.
[00:54:56] Thank you that he saved me.
[00:54:58] God, we love you.
[00:54:59] We thank you for what's coming in 2026.
[00:55:02] And we can't wait to see the amazing things you're gonna do.
[00:55:06] We come to you in the name of Jesus.

[00:55:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Amen.
[00:55:10] That was a great message.
[00:55:11] Will talked all about loving and pursuing God with our heart, our soul, and our mind.
[00:55:17] Reminder, we want to see you in person next Sunday, January 4th, as we kick off our new series, Prayer and Fasting.
[00:55:25] You can go to covechurch.org to find the campus closest to you, and we hope to see you next Sunday.
[00:55:32] Everyone have a wonderful New Year's and a great rest of your week.

[00:55:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
The church is not a building, not a service, not even a gathering.
[00:55:56] The church is you.
[00:55:58] The church is us.
[00:56:00] And what Jesus told the church to do is pretty simple.
[00:56:03] Love Him, love each other, and share the Good News with everyone.
[00:56:09] 2025 has been a year focused on doing the simple things.
[00:56:12] You went all out.

[00:56:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
We filled blessing bags for the homeless.

[00:56:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
We packed meals to go around the world.

[00:56:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
We collected food.

[00:56:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
We served food.
[00:56:22] And even created the All Out Hub.
[00:56:24] A place where helping hands and real needs in the community meet.

[00:56:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
You showed up for the first responders, healthcare workers, schools, widows, and orphans.

[00:56:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
You gave baskets of hope, shared acts of kindness, and brought joy to nursing homes.

[00:56:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Through the toy store at Christmas, you made sure every child was seen and felt God's love.

[00:56:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Jesus once said, I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me.
[00:56:54] You have served locally and globally.
[00:56:56] You have shown love to the young and the old.

[00:57:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
You have brought the gospel to all both in word and in action.

[00:57:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
We were the church.

[00:57:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
We are the church.

[00:57:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
And together we'll keep going all out for the glory of God and the good of people.

[00:59:54] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thanks for watching!