More Than a Principle: Finding Christ in God’s Faithfulness

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
2.
[00:03:06] Let's pray.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Good morning, Watermark.
[00:04:34] Stand up with us and let's worship this year in a big way the last Sunday.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
I believe there is one salvation One doorway that leads to life One redemption, one confession I believe in the name of Jesus Christ
[00:05:17] I believe in the crucifixion By His blood I have been set free I believe in the resurrection Hallelujah, His life is death's defeat
[00:05:36] All praise to God the Father All praise to Christ the Son All praise to the Holy Spirit Our God has overcome The King who was and is and evermore will be In Jesus' mighty name I believe
[00:06:15] I believe in the hope of heaven he's preparing a place for me far beyond what hearts imagine years have heard or eyes have seen I believe that a day is coming he's returning to claim his bride light the altar keep it burning see the lamb who rose a roaring lion
[00:06:45] All praise to God the Father All praise to Christ the Son All praise to the Holy Spirit Our God has overcome The King who was and is and evermore will be In Jesus' mighty name I believe
[00:07:18] I believe in You No, I'll never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ How could I ever walk away from the One who saved my life?
[00:07:40] No, I'll never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
[00:07:47] How could I ever walk away from the One who saved my life?
[00:07:55] Oh no, I'll never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ How could I ever walk away from the One who saved my life?
[00:08:11] All praise to God the Father All praise to Christ the Son All praise to the Holy Spirit Our God has overcome The King who was and is and evermore will be In Jesus' mighty name I believe
[00:08:40] All praise to God the Father All praise to Christ the Son All praise to the Holy Spirit Our God has overcome The King who was and is and evermore will be In Jesus' mighty name
[00:09:08] In Jesus' mighty name I believe.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
I believe, I believe.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Oh, I believe.

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning Watermark!
[00:09:43] It is great to see all of you here this morning.
[00:09:45] My name is Sarah.
[00:09:46] I'm going to do a few announcements and then we'll get back to worship.
[00:09:50] First, we have our Common Sense Financial Learning coming up.
[00:09:55] It's going to be Sunday, January 11th.
[00:09:58] This is a great opportunity to come and learn some practical, biblical ways to apply to your financial views and budget for the 2026 season.
[00:10:07] this will be after second service and lunch will be provided also we have worship and baptism night coming up on Friday January 23rd from 5 30 to 7 30 come and be part of celebrating watermark people being baptized and then stay after for worship together if you are interested in being baptized and want to learn more please contact pastor joel to talk about that
[00:10:33] Also, for new Watermark people, we have Testing the Water.
[00:10:37] This is a great time to come, learn more about Watermark, our ministries, and ways that you can be more involved.
[00:10:44] This will be Sunday, January 25th, after second service at 1130.
[00:10:50] Lunch and childcare is provided.
[00:10:52] And last but not least, Christmas is over, so we need help taking down the decorations.
[00:10:58] If you're willing to stay after second service next Sunday and help us to pack away everything, it would be very appreciated.
[00:11:06] Lunch will also be provided.
[00:11:08] Now let's get back to worship.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Most worthy, worthy of praise Exalted above all things My God, You are my God Your splendor and majesty Your wonder

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
He fills everything, my God You are my God Holy is the Lord Holy is the Lord Almighty Seated on the throne Seated on the throne of glory High and lifted up Your presence fills the temple when we worship You

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Oh we worship you Creation points to the King The heavens can't help but sing

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Holy is the Lord Holy is the Lord Almighty Seated on the throne Seated on the throne of glory High and lifted up His presence fills the temple as we worship You Oh we worship You Holy is the Lord
[00:13:19] Holiness the Lord Almighty Seated on the throne Seated on the throne of glory High and lifted up His presence fills the temple when we worship You Oh, we worship You Hallelujah to the One who came and made a way
[00:13:51] Hallelujah to the One who came and made a way Hallelujah to the One who came and made a way

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Glory and honor and power forever Glory and honor and power forever Holy is the Lord, Holy is the Lord Almighty Seated on the throne, seated on the throne

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Glory high and lifted up His presence fills the temple when we worship You Oh we worship You Hallelujah to the One who came and made a way
[00:15:11] Hallelujah to the one who died and rose again.
[00:15:19] Hallelujah to the only name above all names.
[00:15:25] Glory and honor and power forever.
[00:15:27] Alleluia to the one who gave and made a way Alleluia to the one who died and rose again Alleluia to the only name above all names Glory and honor and power
[00:15:54] Glory and honor and power forever Glory and honor and power
[00:16:42] Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.
[00:16:52] He's been my fourth man in the fire time after time.
[00:17:02] Born of His Spirit and washed in His blood.
[00:17:11] And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough So I trust in God, my Savior, the One Who will never fail He will never fail
[00:17:40] I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail.
[00:17:55] He will never fail.
[00:18:02] Perfect submission, all is at rest.
[00:18:12] I know the author of tomorrow has ordered my steps So this is my story and this is my song
[00:18:31] Praising my risen King and Savior all the day long So I trust in God, my Savior, the one Who will never fail He will never fail
[00:19:00] Oh, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail.

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
He will never fail.

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered That's why I trusted
[00:19:58] That's why I trust Him I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered That's why I trust Him That's why I trust Him I sought the Lord and He heard
[00:20:23] And He answered, I sought the Lord And He heard, and He answered I sought the Lord And He heard, and He answered That's why I trust Him That's why I trust Him I sought the Lord
[00:20:41] I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust in God My Savior, the One who will never
[00:21:10] He will never fail He will never fail Oh I trust in God My Savior the One Who will never fail He will never fail Oh I trust in God

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Let's pray.
[00:21:47] Let's pray together.
[00:21:49] Dear God, the words of that song, the words, the promise that is in Scripture, that we can trust You, the truth that You give us in Your Word, that is one of the promises, the many promises, that You are true and faithful and good, and we can trust You.
[00:22:13] You won't fail us.
[00:22:14] You won't forsake us.
[00:22:17] You are right here with us, God with us, as we just celebrated Emmanuel.
[00:22:24] We thank You, God, for that truth, that we can trust You.
[00:22:30] And all those around us, possibly we can't always trust them, but we can always, always, always trust You.
[00:22:37] You are good.
[00:22:39] We love You, Lord, and we thank You for Jesus.
[00:22:42] We thank You for the celebration we just had of His birth.
[00:22:45] and we're looking towards his resurrection because Easter will be here before we can we can even blink so God we just love you and we look forward to this new year 2026 wow we look so forward to this year with you and the great things that you will do in this world but also in our lives
[00:23:11] We love you.
[00:23:12] You are faithful and true.
[00:23:14] And it's in Jesus' amazing name we pray.
[00:23:16] Amen.

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
of the Lord.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Hey, good morning, Watermark.
[00:23:47] Welcome.
[00:23:48] Thank you for being here.
[00:23:49] My name is Dan, Dan Roseman.
[00:23:51] I'm a friend of Joel's, friend of Watermark's.
[00:23:53] Some of you I've met, some of I haven't.
[00:23:55] Thank you.
[00:23:57] So I was thinking back this morning or this week as I was getting ready for this and I was thinking about the new year and new hopes and new beginnings and it reminded me of a show I used to watch a lot growing up.
[00:24:10] So some of you are old enough to remember this, Home Improvement.
[00:24:13] From the 90s.
[00:24:14] So Home Improvement was a big show in the 90s.
[00:24:17] It had Tim Allen in it.
[00:24:19] Kids, Tim Allen is the voice of Buzz Lightyear.
[00:24:21] So if that helps, that's kind of what's going on there, right?
[00:24:24] So on this show, Tim Allen, he's Tim Taylor, and he's got a local TV show called Tool Time, and he has a sidekick named Al.
[00:24:33] Well, one season Al has decided he wants to make something of himself.
[00:24:37] He wants to take a risk.
[00:24:38] And so what he does is he invests his entire life savings into mass producing a tool time board game that he's going to sell and try to make some money.
[00:24:49] And of course, it's the 90s.
[00:24:50] So you got to make, you know, bombastic claims.
[00:24:52] And so it's double your money back if you're not satisfied with the product.
[00:24:57] so he invests all this money the board game goes out there it's selling really really well but they find out very quickly that it's defective and it actually catches fire when you play it
[00:25:09] So now we're in trouble, right?
[00:25:10] So Al's got to figure out what's going on because he's just invested his entire life savings.
[00:25:14] He doesn't have an additional life savings to give your money back, right?
[00:25:18] And so he's trying to figure out what's going on.
[00:25:21] They go back to the manufacturer to see if they can fix it.
[00:25:24] Well, the manufacturer has gone out of business.
[00:25:28] In fact, he's left town altogether and in has moved a new guy who makes fortune cookies.
[00:25:33] So Al's getting all kinds of upset.
[00:25:35] Tim tries to distract him.
[00:25:37] He says, here, take a fortune cookie, right?
[00:25:39] So he opens the fortune cookie.
[00:25:40] He looks at it and it says, you've gone as far as you can in life.
[00:25:45] That was not what he was expecting, right?
[00:25:47] So okay, maybe that was a bad one.
[00:25:48] So he gives him another one.
[00:25:49] He opens this one up.
[00:25:50] It says, you have your best days are now behind you.
[00:25:54] Also not what we were expecting, right?
[00:25:56] And so that was incredibly depressing.
[00:26:00] Like we always hope we have good days behind us, but if we don't have good days in front of us, well that's kind of the epitome of depressing.
[00:26:07] And so we love a new year because there's all these hopes and excitements and promises of a new year, right?
[00:26:14] Like you probably, if you've ever watched the ball drop, I'm getting to the age where I can't really stay up for that anymore.
[00:26:19] but if you've watched the ball drop they always have people talking about the memories of the year and like how hard the previous year was and how we have so much more hope for the year ahead and and that's why we love a new year is there's new hope and a new year and a new day and a new month and times where maybe things can be different and maybe things can be better and maybe there can be some hope for there being something ahead and that it's not going to be like that defunct misfortune cookie that Al opened up in that
[00:26:48] on that show and so what we want to talk about today is a little bit of God's past faithfulness and future faithfulness so it's kind of a spoiler like that last song is basically the sermon in a nutshell but what we'll do is we're going to go ahead and open up if you've got a Bible or an app to Isaiah 43 and we're just going to look at just a handful of verses in Isaiah 43 where we count God's past faithfulness and future faithfulness as we look into a new year
[00:27:16] And so Isaiah 43 is roughly getting into the final third of the book of Isaiah.
[00:27:21] Isaiah, at this point, he's already issued a lot of warnings against getting too close to other nations, warnings against idolatry and much more.
[00:27:29] Chapter 40 is where he starts pointing forward to a future restoration, specifically of the people of Judah.
[00:27:36] But of course, there has to be bad news in between.
[00:27:39] Before you can get to a restoration, there's got to be an exile.
[00:27:44] There's got to be a challenge ahead before we can get them out of it.
[00:27:47] And so the people of Judah are going to be captured and taken to Babylon as exiles.
[00:27:53] Isaiah won't live through it personally and his immediate audience won't live through it personally it's not going to happen for another hundred years but he knew that the people who would read it would need it during that time he knew his immediate audience would need to be aware of God's past and future faithfulness and we as 21st century audience need to know that God is still faithful
[00:28:17] And so what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at three kind of movements of God doing a new work because he is gonna specifically say or explicitly say he's pointing to a new thing.
[00:28:27] I'm not gonna say this is an exhaustive method of looking at God doing a new work but it is one thing we see in this passage as God outlines something new that he's doing for his people and how we can continue to believe that because he has always been faithful that will continue to be the case.
[00:28:44] And so what we'll do is if you've got the
[00:28:47] The notes in the middle of your bulletin, you'll see that the first point here is that God reminds them of his faithfulness.
[00:28:54] So the first thing we'll have in that fill in the blank is God reminds him of his faithfulness.
[00:28:58] Because we do need to be reminded of God's past faithfulness as we're living a life that has its challenges ahead of us.
[00:29:05] And so we'll go ahead and pick up with verse 16.
[00:29:08] of Isaiah 43 says this is what the Lord says he who made a way through the sea a path through the mighty waters who drew out the chariots and horses the army and reinforcements together and they lay there never to rise again extinguished snuffed out like a wick
[00:29:27] So God's about to tell the people of Judah through Isaiah that God's gonna restore them from Babylonian captivity.
[00:29:33] That's what's ahead.
[00:29:35] But he starts by reminding them of his former faithfulness.
[00:29:39] So there was a time where they were leaving slavery in Egypt and they ran into the Red Sea.
[00:29:44] And that's what he's talking about here in verses 16 and 17.
[00:29:47] Joel told me that you've been going through the life of Moses these last couple months so hopefully this is fresh on your mind but this is what he's talking about is this time of leaving slavery in Egypt but as they left slavery in Egypt they ran right into the Red Sea and it's one thing to have a barrier in front of you right like if you've got a barrier in front of you and you've got enough lead time you can make your way around it
[00:30:10] But you know if you've read the story, that's not what they're gonna run into.
[00:30:14] There's no lead time because there's more than just the sea in front of them, there's an army coming at them behind them.
[00:30:20] So they have a barrier in front, they have enemies behind, they are truly, truly stuck.
[00:30:26] And so what happens?
[00:30:28] God parts the Red Sea and literally made a way through it.
[00:30:32] He somehow, miraculously, through whatever he does, I don't know, it wasn't there, he parts the Red Sea and all of a sudden the Israelite people are able to walk through on dry ground.
[00:30:43] It was a miraculous rescue that God performed in a way that only he could get credit for.
[00:30:49] And he's using this to remind them of what he does and how he uses that power of his to be faithful to his people.
[00:30:57] Right?
[00:30:57] It was something entirely His work.
[00:30:59] I mean, even if you've watched the Hollywood version of the Ten Commandments, you know Charlton Heston just puts his hands up in the air.
[00:31:03] That didn't do anything.
[00:31:04] God made the way.
[00:31:07] It was a 100% God-wrought, miraculous deliverance.
[00:31:12] And Isaiah also describes the fact that again, like I mentioned, they were pursued by Pharaoh's army.
[00:31:17] That's what verse 17 gets into.
[00:31:19] Who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together.
[00:31:25] And that was what ultimately made the need for God's rescue so real, is that there was no time to go around.
[00:31:32] You're in a desperate situation.
[00:31:34] They were pursued by an army with chariots and horses.
[00:31:36] Isaiah, again, even mentions there's reinforcements who are pursuing a helpless people at full speed.
[00:31:43] And that rapid speed only sealed their fate, so they thought.
[00:31:49] They hoped to find their enemies and destroy them, but instead they made it more clear they were God's enemies as God snuffed them out like a wick.
[00:31:58] That's how he describes the Egyptian army who were pursuing them and ended up drowning at the bottom of the Red Sea, that God snuffed them out like a wick.
[00:32:07] And here's the deal, God was proud of this rescue and he should have been.
[00:32:10] It was a big deal.
[00:32:12] like he brings these people who really didn't even know him right out of slavery he rescues them incredibly right in fact he's so proud of it that throughout much of the old testament he calls himself the lord you god your god who brought you out of egypt out of the land of slavery right it's like that's like his tagline who is this god i'm the one that brought you out of egypt out of the land of slavery
[00:32:37] He explicitly calls himself this in at least five books of the Old Testament.
[00:32:43] He does it in Exodus, in Deuteronomy, in Leviticus, in Psalm, in Hosea, and there's other allusions throughout the Old Testament, but there's at least five explicit references in five books where he's reminding them, I'm the God who rescued you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
[00:33:01] Over and over and over again this reminder of who he is by reminding them of past faithfulness.
[00:33:09] And we need to be reminded of past faithfulness because that's where we're reminded that future faithfulness is coming ahead.
[00:33:15] And one of the reasons is this.
[00:33:17] So I've been in public education most of my life and several years ago I worked with a guy named Andy.
[00:33:24] and Andy in a previous life had worked a job where he was a hiring manager for much of his job and so we would talk about you know different things at times and I remember him telling me one time that like a letter of recommendation or a reference is so important and one of the reasons that that reference is so important is there's this little HR catchphrase that he said over and over again Andy used to say past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior
[00:33:52] And so when he's looking at an interviewer, you can interview well.
[00:33:56] I know a lot of people who interviewed well.
[00:33:58] I'm an assistant principal now, so I interview a lot of people, and I know a lot of people who interview well.
[00:34:03] And maybe various schools didn't perform so well.
[00:34:06] But if you can get a good reference,
[00:34:09] Right someone who says yes this person knows their things they're good with kids they're good at their job all these other things right they can tell you what their past behavior is and they can tell you what the past behavior is because it's the best predictor of future behavior i have reason to believe that if you were good for your former employer that you're going to be good for your future employer right and so that's why god is reminding them of his past faithfulness because it's the best predictor of future faithfulness
[00:34:37] The best predictor of the things that are going to be good for them in the future.
[00:34:42] So if God were applying for the job of your God, he would bring up specific things.
[00:34:46] And one of the specific things, and he does this, like I said, over and over again in the Old Testament, is to describe himself as, I am the Lord your God who brought Israel out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
[00:34:55] And he would bring up that past behavior because it's the best predictor of his future behavior.
[00:35:01] Now he's not applying for the job of your God because he's already God.
[00:35:04] He's already the one who's created heaven and earth and sustains everything in it, right?
[00:35:08] It's not like he needs a job, but he's always reminding his people of this past faithfulness that leads to future faithfulness.
[00:35:16] And it's important to know that he expresses his power in faithfulness to his people.
[00:35:23] That's how he shows it.
[00:35:25] By being faithful to those he loves.
[00:35:28] It's why he continually reminded Old Testament believers about a single miraculous incident where he was faithful to their ancestors because he was faithful to his people in the past and he will be faithful in the future.
[00:35:41] He was faithful in 2025, he will be faithful in 2026.
[00:35:47] And that tendency of God to emphasize past faithfulness is what makes the next passage so shocking.
[00:35:53] Right?
[00:35:54] So the next point and the next blank you can fill in if you're following along with that way is that God releases them from the past.
[00:36:00] And this one's going to be a little surprising, but God releases them from the past.
[00:36:06] So verse 18, he says, forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.
[00:36:13] Now that one surprises me.
[00:36:14] Like if you're reading through this passage, that verse will kind of surprise you, right?
[00:36:18] Like he's recounting all this past faithfulness as he should, right?
[00:36:22] This is good and right.
[00:36:23] And all of a sudden he's saying, but forget about it.
[00:36:26] Move on.
[00:36:27] Now I don't think he's saying to literally forget about it or else he wouldn't have just said it.
[00:36:32] And he certainly wouldn't preserve the book of Exodus in the Bible if he wanted you to literally forget about it.
[00:36:36] But what he's saying is move on.
[00:36:39] Don't focus so much on the past
[00:36:42] that you can't see the future of what he's doing in faithfulness in the future.
[00:36:46] And so as I thought about this and read it over and over again and looked at commentaries, this is kinda what I think is happening.
[00:36:55] If you're not careful, nostalgia can get you stuck.
[00:36:59] It can get you stuck.
[00:37:01] So God literally has to tell them not to get hung up too much on how He's faithful in the past, the very part of their past that He has continually reminded them of up until this point.
[00:37:12] So again, it's surprising, almost shocking, that God goes from reminding them continually about past faithfulness to pivoting towards looking to the future.
[00:37:22] The people of Judah had gotten so obsessed with something good, something amazing, something we want to remember, right?
[00:37:29] But that was part of their past and they were losing sight of what was ahead of them.
[00:37:34] So this is one way that I've seen nostalgia over the past can get a little dangerous.
[00:37:38] And it can sound counterintuitive.
[00:37:40] So let me just preface this with this.
[00:37:42] I'm gonna say something that's gonna sound a little counterintuitive.
[00:37:44] Bear with me, I promise I'm going somewhere.
[00:37:47] So I just, I wanna explain, I wanna be very careful because I can very easily sound like I'm saying something I'm not.
[00:37:54] So stick with me, right?
[00:37:55] But this is an area where I think nostalgia can get a little dangerous, right?
[00:37:58] And so just to kinda give you the background, like I grew up very much in church world, right?
[00:38:02] And I'm very, very grateful
[00:38:04] I grew up in church world right like that it created this foundation in my life that my wife and I have gone on to create for our children right and you know when you grow up in church world in the 90s that means you're going to go to a lot of evangelistic events with your youth group and you're gonna hear a lot of good speakers and really good things that have been
[00:38:20] Very good for my life.
[00:38:21] Let me make that very clear.
[00:38:22] These are good things, right?
[00:38:24] And so a lot of these evangelistic speakers would say a lot of things that would really stick with you, right?
[00:38:29] They're trying to get kids to make a decision as they should.
[00:38:32] We want kids to decide, I'm going to follow Jesus.
[00:38:37] And we want them to make that decision
[00:38:38] As early as they can while understanding what they're doing.
[00:38:43] My family celebrated that my youngest child got baptized this year and we were so excited that she's made that decision that I want to follow Jesus and making this public profession and these are good things.
[00:38:54] But there was a couple times I would hear guys say things that in years since then I've gotten some mixed feelings about.
[00:39:02] Okay, and again, let me be clear, I'm saying mixed feelings.
[00:39:05] I'm not saying this is bad, but I've got some mixed feelings about this particular thing.
[00:39:10] So sometimes they would tell kids, hey, you know, if you've made a decision to follow Jesus, what I want you to do is, you know, you open up your Bible to the very front on that little title page and write today's date down as your spiritual birth date.
[00:39:21] We want you to remember that today's the day that you became a Christian, that you decided to follow Jesus, right?
[00:39:27] Now, let me just say on record, right?
[00:39:30] If your Bible has your little spiritual birthday written in the front and it was a pivotal watershed moment and you know for a fact that that was like the beginning of a relationship with God, that's awesome.
[00:39:42] that's why I said mixed feelings right if you are able to remember a day like if you remember the day right I know some folks who do this they remember the day almost the hour right and they could tell you when it was that God entered their lives and and they have been different ever since that is awesome right that's that's more or less my wife's story
[00:40:02] But some of our stories are a little different, right?
[00:40:05] Maybe your story's more like, you know, you were a kid and you walked down the aisle and you met with the pastor and started learning about things of faith and got baptized, right?
[00:40:14] And then a few years later, you go to a youth camp and you experience like tremendous worship like you never have before and you feel like God's stirring something in you.
[00:40:24] and then maybe a few years later you've had a couple years of just outright rebellion and God just dramatically changes your mind and your perspective on things and your walk has been different ever since, right?
[00:40:37] That's more or less my story.
[00:40:38] I have these three distinct moments.
[00:40:40] I don't remember the date for any of them, right?
[00:40:42] And I'm a history major, that's terrible.
[00:40:44] I have these three distinct moments, right?
[00:40:46] Where God intervened in my life and drastic memories, right?
[00:40:51] But I'm not sure which one was the moment I got saved.
[00:40:54] And I remember, so we were members of Western Avenue Baptist Church, phenomenal church, we love it.
[00:40:59] And when we first started coming, I sat down and I met with our senior pastor and I was telling him this story and how I'm not really sure which one, and he kinda half-joked, he said, well, I'm sure one of them took.
[00:41:13] And he wasn't trying to be trite, right?
[00:41:15] It was a little silly, but he wasn't trying to be trite.
[00:41:17] But he wasn't worried because what he saw, as I was describing, was not that I was banking on some past memory, but that I was continuing to cling to Jesus as my hope.
[00:41:30] Not that I was continuing to earn anything, not that I was continuing to behave my way into salvation, but that I was recognizing, yeah, I have some moments in my past where God intervened, but I know that right now I'm clinging to Jesus as my hope.
[00:41:46] Today.
[00:41:47] So if you have the date, awesome, please don't erase it.
[00:41:53] Right?
[00:41:53] That's incredible.
[00:41:55] But if you're not sure but you know, here's what I'm saying, right?
[00:41:58] Whether you remember the date or not, what's crucial is that you know that right now I'm clinging to Jesus as my hope.
[00:42:06] That he's the one I need today.
[00:42:08] I'm not banking on some previous experience, I'm banking on the positive, continual, today faithfulness of the God who can sustain me and who I know today I need now.
[00:42:23] And so I can tell you this right now, right?
[00:42:25] Like there are places in scripture where the New Testament author tells you to look back on a particular event.
[00:42:32] I'll give you one, 1 Timothy 6, 12.
[00:42:34] Paul's telling Timothy to remember of his public profession of faith.
[00:42:38] He's telling him to remember this moment, right?
[00:42:40] So there are times where he does that.
[00:42:42] But more often than not, he's reminding people to cling to and to depend on Jesus today.
[00:42:49] So I'll give you an example there Romans 10 9 if you declare with your mouth Jesus Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved look at this if you declare present tense if you believe present tense what we need is not some banking on the past but a continual declaration and belief that Jesus is Lord and that he has been raised and that's who you need
[00:43:16] So while you may have that moment of faithfulness in your past that you can bank on and that's awesome, there are just as many people who may have written that date, right, because they got emotionally moved at some event, but there is no present desire to know who God is.
[00:43:35] and so I think about my friend Pete.
[00:43:36] I'm gonna change his name to preserve the innocent, right?
[00:43:38] But when I was in high school, my friend Pete and I, we were in the band together, like the band, right?
[00:43:44] And so we decided we were into music and so we were gonna start our own band, right?
[00:43:49] And this was the late 90s where for like two weeks there was this music called ska that was popular, right?
[00:43:56] and so we were going to start a Christian ska band and it was going to be epic right and so we were thinking through all these plans right like I was going to play the trombone I think he was going to do everything else because he was more talented than me but he had a concern he said Dan I don't know about starting a Christian band with you I'm like why not he said Dan you cuss too much
[00:44:17] and I did.
[00:44:18] Let the record state, right?
[00:44:20] So, long story short, we ended up not starting the band, right?
[00:44:24] And Sean was kind of one of those, like I've got the date written down in my Bible types.
[00:44:29] Pete, I mean.
[00:44:30] But let me.
[00:44:35] Sometimes I get carried away.
[00:44:39] But here's the reality, right?
[00:44:41] I'm still friends with him.
[00:44:43] We still get together every now and then.
[00:44:46] He'll tell ya.
[00:44:47] He's not a Christian.
[00:44:49] And he's open about it.
[00:44:51] Hasn't been to church in years.
[00:44:52] He's completely abandoned his faith.
[00:44:57] It's heartbreaking.
[00:44:57] He's someone I pray for continually.
[00:44:59] We have these conversations.
[00:45:01] The fact that he'll bring it up, in my mind, that's like God's still convicting.
[00:45:07] But he'll tell you that's not something that's a part of his life anymore.
[00:45:11] and as messy as my life is, and let me tell you, I am far from perfect, I'm still clinging to Jesus as my hope and I'm trying to do my best to explain the scriptures to you here today.
[00:45:22] So what we need is for you to hope in the one who is continually faithful and bank on his present and future faithfulness beyond some date that you can nebulously remember in the past.
[00:45:37] So dwelling on the past, even over something good, can blind you to God's faithfulness now.
[00:45:43] It's going on in Isaiah 43, and it can be going on in your life today.
[00:45:48] And so what was ahead of them was an exile in Babylon, and then God once again redeemed his people.
[00:45:54] So we're gonna get to the third point here, that God reveals a new work.
[00:45:59] God reveals a new work.
[00:46:01] And in verse 19 he says, See, I am doing a new thing.
[00:46:08] Now it springs up.
[00:46:09] Do you not perceive it?
[00:46:11] I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
[00:46:15] So here's the announcement, a new thing.
[00:46:19] As we're coming into a new year, we need to be continually reminded that God is doing a new thing, that he will be faithful in the future.
[00:46:25] Let's bank on this future faithfulness.
[00:46:27] And this new thing is just as surprising.
[00:46:30] He said he'll make a way in the wilderness.
[00:46:33] By definition, the wilderness is an area that has no way.
[00:46:38] He says He will make streams in the wasteland.
[00:46:41] The wasteland, again, is by definition an area that has no stream, has no water, has no hope, but God will.
[00:46:50] It's what He does.
[00:46:51] It's who He is.
[00:46:54] He'll create opportunity where there's no opportunity, He'll create escape where there's only barriers, and He'll create freedom where there's only captivity.
[00:47:03] So while God's faithfulness and single-handed redemption were consistent between these two stories, this whole passage is sandwiched between God's past redemption from Egypt and future redemption from Babylon.
[00:47:20] And so God's faithfulness and single-handed redemption is consistent between these two.
[00:47:25] Between in Egypt and Babylon, God is single-handedly delivering his people.
[00:47:31] In both of those stories, that is consistent.
[00:47:34] But one of the biggest differences is how the captivities began.
[00:47:38] Moses tells us the reason for the people of Israel becoming slaves in Egypt, and it wasn't anything they did wrong.
[00:47:45] In fact, it was almost the result of another previous miracle.
[00:47:51] Genesis 46 records Jacob, also known as Israel, moving his family to Egypt because of famine relief.
[00:47:59] You flip forward a couple chapters and Joseph dies at the end of Genesis, the very son of Jacob who orchestrated famine relief and moved his family to Egypt in order to survive and thrive.
[00:48:10] That's how they got there.
[00:48:12] Fast forward a couple more chapters, the people of Israel have thrived so much that according to Moses, quote, the land was filled with them.
[00:48:20] Egypt was getting full of people from Israel.
[00:48:22] They became so numerous that it freaked Pharaoh out and he decided that they would be much better off enslaving them than just living beside them as neighbors.
[00:48:32] The Israelites had not committed any particular sin that caused them to be enslaved.
[00:48:36] They just happened to have worn out their welcome, at least according to Pharaoh.
[00:48:41] There's no mention of covenant unfaithfulness.
[00:48:42] In fact, the Mosaic Covenant hadn't even been established yet.
[00:48:45] Moses wasn't even born yet when they went into slavery.
[00:48:49] So while I'm sure they were far from perfect, they fell into slavery by a far more seemingly circumstantial means.
[00:48:57] They didn't do anything wrong.
[00:48:58] They just grew fast enough to freak out their hosts.
[00:49:01] So they became slaves where they already were.
[00:49:05] The Babylonian captivity was very different.
[00:49:08] In this instance, the people of God had abandoned him in mass.
[00:49:14] The author of Second Chronicles summarized it.
[00:49:15] 3616 of that book, it says, That summary captures the idea that Judah was full of idolatry, injustice, and wicked leaders leading their people into increasing wickedness.
[00:49:39] So God sent Nebuchadnezzar, an enemy king, to go to war against the people of Judah, God's own covenant people, to destroy the city and the temple, to carry off spoils of war and take the survivors of Babylon where they would be exiles in captivity for 70 years.
[00:49:58] So unlike the early people of Israel who became captives, by no fault of their own, their descendants were captured and carried away because of their sin and their leader's sin.
[00:50:10] and that's the new thing that God's working in.
[00:50:16] He's saying, listen, it's amazing that I delivered you out of captivity when you weren't at fault, but I'm getting ready to deliver you when you are.
[00:50:27] I'm getting ready to redeem you from a captivity that is your fault, that was created by your sin and I'm gonna redeem you anyway.
[00:50:38] And that's the future faithfulness that you and I need to be reminded of because we're all in situations that are a result of our own sin.
[00:50:45] And we need to know that God is faithful despite our faithlessness.
[00:50:50] God was going to redeem his people in a way that was so unexpected it was worth moving on from the nostalgia of the Exodus out of Egypt.
[00:50:59] That they can forget the former things because God is doing a new thing.
[00:51:05] So what does this ancient history lesson have to do with you?
[00:51:08] Listen, I'm not a prosperity preacher type.
[00:51:12] Not going to stand up and make some vague promise that 2026 is going to be your year.
[00:51:18] I'm not going to tell you to name anything, to claim anything, and I'm certainly not going to tell you to manifest anything.
[00:51:24] But I will say this.
[00:51:26] God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
[00:51:31] I will tell you that God's past faithfulness serves as an assurance of his future faithfulness.
[00:51:37] I will assure you that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior and he has always used his faithfulness for his people.
[00:51:46] So the God of the Old and the New Testaments who has always been faithful will always be faithful.
[00:51:53] Even when it doesn't look like it because when Isaiah's original audience heard this passage, their captivity was in the future and their freedom was in the future.
[00:52:03] So here's the reality.
[00:52:04] 2026 will have joys and it will have sorrows.
[00:52:10] It will likely have both failures and successes in many ways.
[00:52:15] It will likely be like any other year, full of ups and downs.
[00:52:21] But it will also be full of God's faithfulness.
[00:52:26] And that's what we have to look forward to.
[00:52:28] That both the Egyptian and the Babylonian redemptions have in common.
[00:52:32] They're both rooted in God's faithfulness and they both lead to a call to return.
[00:52:37] Slavery in Egypt and exile in Babylon had different causes, but both are ended because of God's faithfulness.
[00:52:43] When God redeemed them out of Egypt, He established the Mosaic Covenant.
[00:52:47] He established a people of God.
[00:52:50] He created them a way to structure their society and their families around His faithfulness and their need to walk with Him.
[00:52:57] When God redeemed them out of Babylon, He called them to a return to the covenant.
[00:53:02] The one that they had walked away from.
[00:53:04] They rebuilt the temple.
[00:53:07] They relearned to center their lives around God's Word again, although they still didn't do a great job with it.
[00:53:13] That means that both redemptions that frame this passage are about more than just God calling His people out of captivity.
[00:53:19] He did, and it's not less than that.
[00:53:22] He doesn't just set them free and say, good luck.
[00:53:26] He sets them free, reminds them of His faithfulness, and calls them back to Himself.
[00:53:33] So while I do not know what this new year will hold for you, I do know He's calling you to respond to His faithfulness, to His being the same yesterday, today, and forever.
[00:53:47] He was faithful in 2025.
[00:53:48] He will be faithful in 2026, even if there's difficulty ahead, even if there's challenges ahead.
[00:53:59] And wherever He's directing you in life, His goal is for you to honor and pursue Him because He's been pursuing you.
[00:54:08] The fact that you woke up this morning and ended up in church is evidence that God is calling you to Himself.
[00:54:15] So let that be a reminder
[00:54:19] and a call to respond to that faithfulness so that 2026, if nothing else, can be a year of pursuing him in new ways because he's already been pursuing you.
[00:54:29] Let's pray.
[00:54:31] God, we thank you so much for your faithfulness, not ours, but yours.
[00:54:36] God, 2025 was a year that many of us got, quote unquote, too busy for you.
[00:54:42] We got distracted.
[00:54:45] We pursued other things.
[00:54:49] We found sin more enticing than your presence.
[00:54:53] But God, you are faithful.
[00:54:55] And I pray that we will remember that.
[00:54:57] And because you are faithful, and because you have been good to us, that we will have a new desire to live in this new year more faithful to you than we were before.
[00:55:11] We're gonna stumble, we're gonna sin, we're gonna fall, but your faithfulness will carry us through.
[00:55:16] So God, I pray that we will all have a renewed desire to know you and to pursue you and to know you because you are the God who was faithful in the past, you are the God who is faithful now, and you are the God who will be faithful in the future.
[00:55:31] In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:55:34] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
... ... ... ...

[00:56:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
God, I look to You, I won't be overwhelmed Give me vision to see things like You do God, I look to You and You're where my help comes from Give me wisdom, You know just what to do, yes
[00:57:00] God I look to you and I won't be overwhelmed give me vision to see things like you do God I look to you and you're where my help comes from give me wisdom
[00:57:25] You know just what to do And I will love you Lord my strength And I will love you Lord my shield And I will love you Lord my rock Forever all my days I will love you
[00:58:10] I won't be overwhelmed Give me vision To see things like you do God I look to you You're where my help comes from Give me wisdom You know just what to do
[00:58:35] I will love You, Lord, my strength And I will love You, Lord, my shield And I will love You, Lord, my rock Forever all my days
[00:59:07] And I will love You, Lord, my shield And I will love You, Lord, my rock Forever all my days I will love You, God
[00:59:35] Hallelujah, our God reigns Hallelujah, our God reigns Oh, Hallelujah, our God reigns Forever all my days Hallelujah
[01:00:03] Oh Hallelujah our God reigns Hallelujah our God reigns Oh Hallelujah our God reigns Forever all my days Hallelujah
[01:00:56] Hallelujah, our God reigns Hallelujah, our God reigns Hallelujah, our God reigns Forever all my days Hallelujah
[01:01:35] God, I look to you.
[01:01:38] You're where my help comes from.
[01:01:41] Give me wisdom.
[01:01:47] You know just what to do.

[01:01:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Amen.
[01:01:56] Amen.
[01:02:00] Now what if we made that our prayer for 2026?
[01:02:04] God give me wisdom and all that I love you forever.
[01:02:09] You know, what is it that spawns that level of trust in Him?
[01:02:15] It's the truth that Dan taught for us today from God's Word.
[01:02:19] It's knowing that God has been faithful.
[01:02:23] That God is faithful.
[01:02:25] and that God will forever be faithful to you and to me no matter what challenges we face in life no matter what struggles come in 2026 and there'll be some I'll just give you a heads up there always are right so you're gonna face challenges in the year ahead the question is are you gonna you know you're just gonna be you know dependent on yourself to get you through those challenges or other people
[01:02:53] Are you going to put your faith and your trust in Him?
[01:02:56] Because He will never let you down.
[01:03:00] He never has and He never will.
[01:03:03] Amen and Amen.
[01:03:06] You know, thank you so much, Dan, for sharing that word with us today.
[01:03:09] Isn't that awesome?
[01:03:14] God is such a great friend.
[01:03:15] He's a great principal.
[01:03:17] Can you imagine?
[01:03:17] We have guys like that in our school system taking care of our kids.
[01:03:21] We really appreciate that.
[01:03:23] We appreciate his faithfulness.
[01:03:25] And I appreciate you.
[01:03:26] And I'm looking forward to a great year ahead here at Watermark Church.
[01:03:30] I know God has some big plans in this church.
[01:03:33] You know, I'm going to call a business meeting for about 30 seconds.
[01:03:37] We do this every year.
[01:03:39] And what we've done is we've given you the budget, our ministry budget for 2026.
[01:03:45] And you've had an opportunity to look over that.
[01:03:48] We've made it available to you.
[01:03:50] I made some announcements.
[01:03:51] We've talked about it in the e-news.
[01:03:53] And you've had a chance to review that.
[01:03:55] If you had any questions, you were able to ask me or management team members or a treasurer.
[01:04:01] And so we've all had a chance to look at that.
[01:04:03] It's really awesome to see the ministry.
[01:04:06] and the ministry dollars that go to support God's work in this community and around the world and I'm so excited about that over a hundred thousand dollars next year going to support ministries that are much greater and bigger than even Watermark that we can only serve in that way together so God is doing an incredible work here but I want to give you a chance to affirm that work
[01:04:30] and to affirm that budget for the year ahead so everyone in favor of the ministry budget for 2026 that we presented to you please indicate with raised hand thank you so much for your support if there's anyone opposed to it we'll give you an opportunity to raise a hand too all right for the 15th year in a row or longer that's a hundred percent support for God's work here in our ministry budget for the year ahead amen yeah
[01:05:00] I love that.
[01:05:01] And I thank you so much for your trust in our staff team that puts that budget together, our management team that oversees that budget in the year ahead.
[01:05:10] And I trust, I want you to trust that those funds will be used for God's glory and His great work in this community and around the world.
[01:05:19] So thank you again for being here today.
[01:05:21] If you'll take just a moment with me, let's pray and we'll be on our way.
[01:05:27] God, we are so grateful for the chance that You've given us to spend this last Sunday of 2025 together here worshiping You.
[01:05:38] God, You are so worthy of our worship.
[01:05:41] God, we thank You for the wonderful reminder in Your Word of who You are, that You have been faithful in the past.
[01:05:49] God, that You are faithful now, and that, God, You will be faithful in the year ahead.
[01:05:54] We are so thankful for that.
[01:05:57] and God we pray that we would be faithful to you that God you would use us in any way that you will to make Christ known in a world that desperately needs to know him Lord give us an opportunity even this week and especially in the year ahead to make an impression to leave a mark for Jesus Christ's sake we do that in his glorious his redemptive his holy name and all God's children said amen