It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen, and good morning once again.
It's that time of year again to get ready for a new year.
And so we're passing from 2025 and we're moving into 2026,
and it's a great time to kind of reflect on what is taking place in 2025
and to anticipate what is going to happen in 2026.
And so maybe some of your highlights from 2025 have been some movies you've seen
maybe it's some music you've listened to,
maybe it's a vacation that you went on,
or maybe there are some lowlights to 2025 that you're just so glad you're moving on from.
Maybe you've got some bad news.
And as we turn to 2026, we move from reflection to anticipation,
maybe there's some things that you're looking forward to.
Maybe there's a movie coming out.
Maybe there's a show that's going to drop.
Maybe that you've got a book that you're wanting to read.
I've been given a book that I can't help.
I am really looking forward to cutting through it.
2026, what does it hold, right?
Maybe there's things that are going to happen where something's going to be painful in 2026.
Maybe it's a move.
Maybe it's someone who's ill right now.
It's going to go from bad to worse.
What I want to help you do this morning is just not reflect and anticipate 2026.
I want to help move your gaze Godward.
But I also need some new artwork in my office.
So here's the plan.
Everybody, I hope you have a bulletin.
The bulletin is this.
As you can see, I'm going to be using the whiteboard this morning.
I'm going to draw a diagram.
And there's two reasons why I'm drawing this diagram.
I need artwork in my office.
And so it's just kind of bland.
It's kind of blasé.
And so what I'm going to have you do is kind of follow my lead, write this diagram, and then give it to me afterwards.
I'm going to have you sign it and either leave it in your pew or hand it to me.
If you want to keep it, take a picture of it with your phone.
But if you're a child in the room, you're not going to King's Kids today, I need you to draw this picture with me and then give it to me.
Okay?
So this is very much I am in need of artwork in my office.
If you need a bulletin, would you raise your hand?
Or you need a pen?
Would you raise your hand?
We've got some people from our Connect team to help out with that.
Anybody?
Okay.
All right.
But the primary reason why we're doing this is to move your gaze towards your God and move from manger to mission.
And so this morning, the way I'm going to do that is going to highlight five distinct features of God's glory plan to make disciples of all the nations.
So five distinct features.
I'm going to draw them so that you can follow with me.
I hope they'll kind of sink in for you.
So here's what I'm going to be arguing.
The triune God is presently, actively at work in our world making disciples, gathering for him worshipers of his name.
He's doing that right now.
So here's the argument.
Here's what I'm trying to convince you of.
Let's join him.
Let's join him in what he is doing.
Let's do this together as a church.
Let's join our great triune God in his global work of gathering worshipers in his name.
And so with all that said, let's move to the first feature of this.
And it is, this is a, number one, this is a triune plan.
This big plan for the fullness of time is a triune plan.
So I'm going to ask, what's distinct feature number one?
And you're going to say triune.
What's distinct feature number one?
It's a triune plan.
So when we're talking about triune, we're talking about the triune God over all things.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, three distinct persons, each are fully God, one God.
So three eternally existent people of the Godhead, each are fully God.
There is one God, there is one God, that is kind of the biblical idea of what the Trinity is.
And in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 through 14, we have the Trinity.
In verse 3, you might not have seen it.
Blessed be the God and Father, first person of the Trinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, second person of the Trinity,
who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
That spiritual blessing, it's probably better translated, spirit blessing.
Spirit given blessing.
So here in verse 3, we have a Trinity sighting.
But it doesn't stop there.
There's more.
And so if you look at verses 4 through 6,
even as He, God the Father, first person of the Trinity,
chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love,
He predestined to us.
So here we have God the Father who is ordaining our salvation,
choosing us and predestining us,
electing us.
It is His glorious work in our salvation.
So God the Father ordains our salvation from before the foundation of the world.
This is deep waters theologically.
It's a beauty to it.
It's His sovereign grace at work.
So in verses 4 through 6,
we see the first person of the Trinity getting,
kind of getting some air time.
And then in verses 7 through 12,
the focus shifts from God the Father to God the Son.
And in verses 7 through 12,
we see the Son accomplishing what God has ordained,
God the Father has ordained.
And so we have phrases like this.
In verse 7,
in Him,
the beloved,
verse 6,
we have redemption through His blood.
So it's the Son accomplishing what God the Father has ordained.
The word redemption,
by the way,
means to purchase someone from slavery at a price,
at a ransom price.
Do you remember what Jesus said in Mark 10, 45?
I came not to be served,
but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many,
to buy sinners back from slavery to sin,
to set them free.
And so what we see in verses 7 through 12
is this time and again emphasis on what the Son has done.
And so Jesus has accomplished our salvation by ransoming us.
And so another way to talk about it is
those who are living in the domain of darkness
have been transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son
through the redemption that's in His blood,
through the forgiveness that comes through Him.
And so the Son has accomplished what God the Father has ordained.
And then in verses 13 through 14,
the focus shifts to the Holy Spirit.
And so in verses 13 and 14,
we see in Him you also,
when you heard the word of the truth,
the gospel of your salvation,
and believed in Him,
you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
who is the guarantee of our inheritance
until we acquire possession of it.
Now there is a little bit of a risk
when you hear the word sealed by the Holy Spirit,
you start thinking like silicone caulk
and kind of doing kind of window work
or kind of sealing your kitchen sink
onto your kind of cabinet top.
That's not the kind of sealing we're talking about.
What we're talking about is a signet ring sealing
from God Himself.
The Holy Spirit is sealing you,
marking you as belonging to the triune God.
You're His.
And so it's a guarantee
that we are His possession,
that we belong to Him.
And that guarantees not only who we belong to,
but it guarantees the inheritance to come.
And that's the work of the Holy Spirit.
So what the Holy Spirit is doing,
the Holy Spirit is applying
the finished work of Christ,
that Christ accomplished,
to us in order to fulfill
what God His Father has ordained.
So it is a whole kind of triune working of salvation.
This plan, it's a triune plan.
You see it?
Is there a little amen?
Okay.
Who likes jazz?
All right.
Imagine a jazz trio.
Joodle-le-peep-ba-peep.
A saxophonist like Ryan Cook's.
Wee-da-peep-beep.
And then you have a guy on the drums.
T-t-t-pa-te-te-te-peep-erp.
And then you have a guy on the bass.
B-ga-jig-a-de-ba-ga-jig-a-doo.
And so these three musicians
are working together,
bringing about jazz music.
The thing about jazz music is it's spontaneous.
The working of the triune God
is a plan that was established
before the foundation of the world.
And they are working together in harmony
in order to bring about
the rescuing of sinners
for the glory of God.
It is music to our souls.
This is the good news.
This is gospel good.
So we start with this big plan of God, right?
This God's plan for the fullness of time.
And the first thing you need to do,
it's a triune plan.
All right.
Second.
I need you to turn now.
Oh, I should have told you this.
I'm sorry to do this to you.
You're going to want to make sure
this is sideways.
Yes.
So I don't want you to, like,
cross out the Trinity in a bad way.
But think about this
as the triune God up here.
And now I'm going to have you
put an arrow like this.
You want to leave room on either side.
Okay?
So the second feature
is that this is a big plan.
And do a big arrow like that.
Sorry about messing up your diagram.
Now when I draw a picture like that
and say it's a big plan,
you say how big is it?
It's a big plan.
It's a God-sized big plan.
It's not a Mike-sized big plan.
It's a God-sized big plan.
This is a big plan.
And it's big in two ways.
Scope of it, it's all time.
And the scale of it is all things.
So it's scope and scale big.
Bigger than you, bigger than me.
And let me just show you
where I find that in Ephesians chapter 1.
It's in verse 10.
Nine, making known to us
the mystery of his will
according to his purpose
which he set forth in Christ
as a plan for the fullness of time.
All of time.
To unite all things in him.
In Christ.
Things in heaven and things on earth.
So this is a big plan.
And it's a big plan
in terms of scope and scale.
The fullness of time.
When you think of your time
like I was born in 1991.
It's a joke.
I was born in 71.
And I have a start date.
God and his plan
doesn't have a start date.
It is,
this plan is from eternity to eternity.
It's a big plan.
And it begins and ends with God.
And this plan,
it encapsulates all of human history.
And you can sum up human history
in three words.
Creation,
fall,
redemption,
consummation.
When God brings everything together
in the end.
Creation,
fall,
redemption,
consummation.
God's plan for the fullness of time
captures it all.
And so the whole Bible
captures God's plan
for the fullness of time
from Genesis to Revelation.
And so God's plan
to gather disciples for himself
for the glory of his name,
it's a big plan.
All time.
Eternity past,
eternity future,
creation,
fall,
redemption,
consummation.
And the scale of it
involves all things.
In heaven and on earth,
God has a plan
for all time
to unite all things.
That includes
all eight plus billion people
on the earth right now.
And God will be glorified
when a number
of those eight billion people
are worshiping him
for eternity.
And then he will also
be glorified
when a portion
of that eight billion people
on the planet right now
are under his torment,
under his wrath
for eternity.
God will be glorified
regardless.
He'll be exalted.
He'll be praised.
He'll be honored.
His justice will prevail.
And this idea
of uniting all things
in his name,
there's this sense
of bringing it together.
There being this sense
of reconciliation.
There being this sense
of full and final
and forever shalom.
Our relationship with God
and with ourselves
and each other
and with all of creation.
This plan ultimately
is aimed at bringing shalom
as far as the curse is found.
It's to unite all things
in him.
Now, when you think about
big plans for your life,
you might be thinking
marriage.
Our marriages
typically span decades.
You might be thinking
about raising children
because raising children
isn't just about 18 years.
We all,
if you're beyond that,
you know that.
And then there's
grandchildren, right?
Maybe you're thinking
about your career.
Your career will span decades.
Maybe you're thinking
about your retirement.
So when you hit that,
you know,
68, 70,
70-something mark,
you're able to say,
you know what,
we were saving
for the last 50 years
and we were just
putting away things
year after year after year
and over those five decades,
we just kind of built,
built, built our nest egg
and maybe you're
on the other side of it
in your retirement right now
and you're kind of like,
we're benefiting
from that saving
or you're like,
I'm doing my best
to catch up right now
or maybe you're like,
I'm not even thinking
about my retirement right now.
But what we can do
is we can frame our lives
around our retirements
but you got to understand
that's just a drop
in the bucket
compared to God's eternal plan
for the fullness of time.
It starts to beg the question,
who are you living for?
Are you living for your 70 to 80 years
or are you living in light
of eternity,
God's plan for the fullness of time?
Are you living in light
of not just the scope of all things
but the scale of all things?
Is that in your mindset?
And so what we're talking about here
is God's big plan
and it's way bigger than any of us.
We'll live 70, 80 years, maybe.
This plan has been happening,
unfolding before us
and it'll unfold after us.
Whose plan are you living for?
Whose plan is central
to your thinking
and organizing your life around?
So this is a big plan.
So, so far,
this plan of God
for the fullness of time
to gather from self-worshippers
for the glory of His name,
we've learned it's triune,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
and we learned
it is a big plan,
bigger than any one of us.
And that should cause us
to step back a little bit
and say,
whoa,
I'm not that big.
This is God-sized big,
not Mike-sized big,
not fill in your name
in the blank big.
It's bigger than you.
Okay,
the third distinctive feature
right here.
In fact,
this third distinctive feature
is so significant,
I think there are three people
in the room
who have this particular symbol
tattooed on their bodies.
Okay, so here it is.
This is a Christocentric plan.
In the middle of this plan
is Jesus.
So you see the J,
do you see the cross?
And this little arrow
is not a roof,
it points to the resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
So Jesus Christ,
crucified and raised.
This is a Christocentric,
gospel-centered plan
for the fullness of time.
We also know that Jesus,
we saw this in John 1,
1 through 3,
is the creator of all things.
And we also know that
in Matthew 25,
as well as in Revelation chapter 20,
it's Jesus who's going to be
the judge of all things.
And so this is a Christocentric plan.
And what I love about this
is how it gets carried out
in this passage
in Ephesians chapter 1.
It's a triune plan, yes,
but the focus is on Jesus.
Right now we are living
between the first advent of Jesus
and the second advent of Jesus.
We're living in between
here and here,
if you will.
in terms of a linear timeline.
In verse 7,
we read,
in Him,
Jesus,
we have redemption
through His,
Jesus,
Jesus' blood,
according to the riches
of His grace.
And if you keep going down,
you'll see
Him, Him, Him, Him,
Him, Him, Him, Him, Him,
Him, Him, Him, Him, Him, Him.
In verses 3, 4, and 5,
there's a lot of hymns.
Even as He chose us in Him
before the foundation of the world.
In love,
He predestined us for adoption
to Himself as sons
through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose
of His will,
to the praise of His glory
of grace,
which He has blessed us
in the beloved,
in Him,
which He lavished upon us.
Verse 8,
in all wisdom and light,
making known to us
the mystery of His will,
according to His purpose,
which He sent forth in Christ
in a plan for the fullness of time
to unite all things in Him,
Jesus Christ,
to unite all things in Him.
In Him,
we have obtained an inheritance.
That's 11.
That's Jesus' hymn.
So this is just full
of references to Jesus.
7, 3, 4, and 5,
there's a number of them.
Verse 9, verse 10,
verse 11, verse 12,
verse 13,
in Him, in Him, in Him, in Him.
So this redemption,
that this whole plan is about
is accomplished
through Jesus Christ,
through His death
and through His resurrection.
Jesus is the hero
of God's story
for the fullness of time.
In Luke 24,
after Jesus has been raised
from the dead,
He appears to two different groups
of His disciples.
And on both occasions,
it's really interesting
what He tells them.
He tells both of them,
both sets, both situations,
that His coming,
that His death
and His resurrection,
they were in the fulfillment
of these full
and frequent
Old Testament passages
anticipating
the Messiah to come.
That what He was saying
is that the Old Testament
was pointing to Him
in very specific,
unique,
and frequent ways,
and not just to Him,
to His death
and His resurrection.
And so what Jesus says
in Luke 24
is a Christocentric
understanding
of the Old Testament.
that the Old Testament,
many very unique
and frequent ways
are pointing to Him.
And so what this means
is that our Bibles,
all of it,
is some way,
somehow,
pointing to Jesus Christ
because He is
the center of God's plan
for the fullness of time,
His plan of salvation.
He's the hero
of God's story.
When we read in 10,
as a plan for the fullness
of time to unite
all things in Him,
it's the Christ,
Jesus,
who is the shalom maker
on earth.
He's the unifier
of all things.
He brings it all together.
God's plan
of salvation
centers on the person
and work of Jesus Christ
to accomplish it.
That's why we call it
Christocentric.
Christ-centered.
Jesus is the controlling center,
of God's plan
for the fullness of time.
That's why He becomes
our controlling center
when we become Christians,
when we become followers
of Him.
This is good news.
This is what happens.
This is what's been happening,
whether you've been conscious
of it or not.
God has this plan
for the fullness of time,
and Jesus is at the center of it.
You know,
in pretty much
every organization,
you think about
a football team,
football teams have quarterbacks,
orchestras have a lead chair,
a first chair,
theater has,
they have a lead actor
or actress,
a business has a CEO,
and so all of these organizations,
you have a leader.
And then we,
we as a culture,
we love our superheroes,
don't we?
We love Superman,
Batman,
and Wonder Woman.
I'm personally a big Aquaman fan.
We love our superheroes.
There's a reason why
we have this thing in us
for a perfect human being
to save us.
And Jesus is better
than any superhero.
He is the hero of heroes
because he's 100% man,
100% God,
and he has never sinned.
He has no weaknesses.
There's no kryptonite for Jesus.
He is all glorious
and all powerful.
He is the hero,
the center of God's plan
for the fullness of time.
This is a Christocentric plan.
So it's a big plan.
It's Christocentric.
Okay, everybody,
how are you doing
on your diagram?
So far, so good?
All right.
Do I have some good artwork
coming from my office?
I hope so.
Okay.
Okay, so we've moved this way.
This Christocentric plan,
what it does is
it changes people.
And so the fourth
distinctive feature
is that this is
a disciple-making plan.
It's a people-moving plan.
It's a Matthew 16, 18
church-building plan
in the words of Jesus.
And so it's moving people
from one domain
into another domain.
It's a movement
from eternity to eternity.
And so let me try
to illustrate that for you.
I'm grounding this,
by the way,
in a word.
It's the word we
in verse three.
Blessed be the God
and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ
who has blessed us,
it's actually the word us,
in Christ
with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places.
You see,
we who are blessed
in Christ
were once
under God's curse.
and that dramatically
changed because of
what Jesus has done.
So here's the disciple-making,
people-moving plan.
Before,
we became aware
of who Jesus is
and what he's done for us.
We are living
in the DOD,
not the Department of Defense,
the domain of darkness,
Colossians 1, 13.
Okay?
And we were running.
This is very powerful
artistry right here.
We were running
not to God
but away from him.
And the Bible describes this
as living in darkness.
We were,
Ephesians 2,
1 through 3,
we were dead
in our trespasses
and sins.
We were following
the prince of the power
of the air.
We were children of wrath
just like everybody else.
We were dead
in our sins.
We had no desire
to live for God.
In fact,
before you became
a Christian,
if you wanted God,
it was usually
because you were trying
to use God
for yourself.
And so we were all living
in the domain
of darkness
and we were dead
in our sins.
We were,
at this point,
underneath the wrath
of the triune God
justly.
And then something happened.
And so,
this disciple making
is a,
not bigger than God.
God is bigger than this.
And what God does
is he brings people
from the domain
of darkness.
He calls them to himself
through Christ,
Holy Spirit drawing them,
and he flips them.
He repose them.
He transforms them.
He gives them new life.
And now,
instead of living
apart from God
and running away from him,
God in his grace
calls us to him
through Christ,
Christ,
and because of Christ's
finished work,
he radically changes us
from within.
He gives us new hearts
that actually want
to live for God now.
And he makes us,
he gives us new life.
And it's by believing
in the person and work
of Jesus Christ.
That's the only way
you go from living
in darkness
to being brought
into the kingdom
of the beloved son.
It's simply by trusting
in the person and work
of Jesus Christ.
That's all that it is.
It's a gift.
You don't work for it.
You can't.
It's by faith.
And the moment that happens,
you're a new creation.
You've been changed.
You've been flipped.
Now,
in another kind of presentation
I do,
I talk about this
as the Copernican revolution
of the soul.
We were once believers
like in the old days
when people thought
that instead of the earth
orbiting the sun,
people thought the sun
orbited the earth.
It was a geocentric view
of the solar system.
But Copernicus helped us
realize that we live
in a heliocentric solar system,
that the earth actually
orbits the sun.
And what happens here is
when we're living this way,
we think that all things
orbit us,
that we're the center
of all things.
But praise be to God,
he gives us new eyes
and a new heart.
And now,
we have Jesus Christ
as the controlling center
of our lives.
And so,
this is what this means.
This is the part
of the illustration
I'm trying to develop
more for us.
And so,
here's what happens.
On this side of Jesus,
someone is living
with Jesus
as the controlling center
of their life.
So,
they're in Jesus' orbit now.
Jesus has always been
at the center.
It's just now that they are
actually functionally
trying to live that out.
Now,
when you have multiple people
living with Jesus
at the center
of their lives,
in the same time,
in the same place,
under the same leadership,
you've got a church.
So,
we are a people
with Jesus
as the controlling center
because we've been
flipped by Jesus.
We've been repoed
by Jesus
and placed together
by the living God.
I've been saying repo a lot.
Do you know
what a repo man is?
A repo man is someone
who's hired by a bank.
Let's say that
this has never happened
in the room,
I'm sure.
You fall behind
on your payments
for your car.
A repo man,
what he does is
he actually steals back
the car
because it belongs
to the bank.
You know,
you default
on your payments
and you get reclaimed
by the bank
and the bank
sends out the repo man.
Jesus is the great repo man.
You defaulted on God,
giving him the glory
that he deserved.
And so God,
in his love for you,
wanted you to be in,
right relationship
with him.
So he sent Jesus
to steal you back
to himself
out of his love
for you.
You got repoed.
If you're a Christian
in the room,
you got repoed.
Repoed by the risen
and reigning Christ.
And so now we live
for him
and we don't do
that individually.
We do that as a church
and we do that together,
together following
our repo man,
Jesus.
And so what we have here,
this people moving plan
is part of God's plan
for the fullness of time.
We are making disciples.
That's why Jesus commands us
to go make disciples
in Matthew 28.
It's not just an original idea.
It's him making a command
because this has been
God's plan all along
to go make disciples
of all nations,
to gather worshipers
for yourself.
So the question becomes,
are you aware of the plan?
Are you joining
in what God is doing
in moving people
from the domain of darkness
into the kingdom
of the beloved son?
Now this process here
is also called sanctification
of growing in Christlikeness
and we're all helping
each other do that.
But this is part
of discipleship.
This is all part
of following Jesus.
How are you presently
participating
in this aspect
of God's plan?
Right now,
how are you
participating
in moving people
towards Jesus?
It's a good question
to ask,
to reflect on,
and then to anticipate
for 2026.
So we've covered
four of the five.
Will you repeat after me?
Distinct feature number one
is a triune plan.
Distinct feature number two,
it's a big plan.
Number three,
it's a Christocentric plan.
Number four is a disciple-making plan.
And number five,
and this tends to be my favorite,
it's a glory plan.
You know how we were singing Gloria
just a little bit ago?
It's a glory plan.
This is really cool
in this passage.
Look at verse six.
To the praise of His glorious grace.
To the praise of God the Father,
the first person of the Trinity,
for ordaining salvation,
praise to His glorious grace.
You see the word glorious?
Now,
look at verse 12.
After talking about
the work of Jesus,
the second person of the Trinity,
so that we who are the first
to hope in Christ
might be to the praise
of His glory.
There's that word glory again,
but this time,
after referencing
the work of the second person
of the Trinity.
And then,
after referencing the work
of the third person
of the Trinity,
in verse 14,
to the praise of His glory.
Glory.
Glory is a wonderful word
in your Bible.
The Greek word is doxa,
D-O-X-A.
And the Hebrew word is kabod.
Just say it.
Kabod.
Doesn't it come up?
He said,
Kabod.
Now,
the word kabod
actually has,
as its root,
it means heavy.
It means weighty.
And so,
to give God
His kabod,
His weight,
is to give Him glory.
It's to give Him worship.
It's to recognize
who He is
and what He's doing.
It's to see His
kind of like
accumulative
kind of weight
and majesty
across all of who He is.
John Piper,
in his book,
Providence,
talks about
God's glory
as not a distinct feature
of His character,
but it is the
accumulative
kind of
effect
of all
of His
perfections
when they are
seen and valued.
It's when you
start to understand
that God is big
and He is
wonderful
and you start
understanding
these different
kind of
perfections
or characteristics
of God
and how He has
been acting
in human history
and in your history.
when you start
understanding
who God is
and what He's doing
and He's greater
than you,
you want to give Him
kabod.
You want to give Him
doxa.
You want to give Him
glory.
And when that glory
gets visibly
manifested,
it's spectacular.
It can be blinding.
It's about glory.
This plan
is a glory plan.
It's about making
worshipers.
The Westminster
Catechism
says it this way,
the chief end
of man
is to glorify
God
and enjoy
Him
forever.
Not to us,
O Lord,
not to us,
but to Your name
give kabod,
give glory
because of Your
steadfast love
and faithfulness.
We're seeing
God's glory a lot.
There's a reason
for that
because He is
majestic
and He is
wonderful.
This plan
for the fullness
of time
through Christ
delivers image
bearers who
are in the domain
of darkness
and transfers
them into the
kingdom of the
beloved Son
and it
results
in God's glory.
So let me try
to illustrate it
this way for you.
when you have
people who are
spiritually dead
made spiritually
alive,
their eternities
change,
you're populating.
You're populating
heaven
with worshipers.
believers.
And so right
now,
we know this
from Revelation
chapter 7,
all around
God's throne,
you have
myriads of
people from
every tribe,
tongue,
and nation
who are giving
praise and glory
to our God.
They're worshiping
Him.
They're making
much of Him.
And so,
you know,
it all starts,
and we don't
wait to start
singing to God
until glory.
We're worshiping
Him now,
right?
We're delighting
in things that
are very different
than when we were
living in the
domain of darkness
because our hearts
have been changed.
That's what the
gospel does.
It radically
changes our hearts.
It radically
changes us.
God gets the
glory for what
He's been doing
in us.
You know,
whenever you
have an
organization,
a team,
a band,
you have
objectives.
You're trying
to accomplish
something.
There's an aim.
There is a goal.
There's a telos,
a reason for
your being.
And this is our
reason for our
being.
God's glory,
His worship,
His praise.
I was telling
someone yesterday
on the phone
that worship
actually comes from
an old English word
that means
worth-ship,
giving God
His weight,
giving Him His
due,
helping people
see Him.
Imagine this.
Has anybody
been on a night
flight?
Yeah,
you're flying over
the United States
at night.
It's a lot of fun
because you're
looking out the
window and you
are going through
just big sections
of darkness
darkness and then
you hit this
concentrated,
brilliant light.
It's a city of
some sort.
And big cities
shine real bright.
Think of that
as the worship
lens with which
God sees the
world.
Not in terms of
kind of night
and day,
but in terms of
spiritually alive
or spiritually dead,
people who are
giving God
worship or not.
When God looks
down on this
planet,
He is seeing
the brightness,
the light of
those He's made
alive in worshiping
Him among this
darkness of dead.
People who are
worshiping things
other than Him.
And so what God
is doing is He's
radically changing
people's hearts
through the gospel
to make worshipers
for His name.
And what it sounds
like is that,
man, God is very
self-centered.
And He is.
And He has every
right to be
because He's God.
We get to give
Him the glory
that's due His
name.
One of my
favorite quotes,
this is probably
my favorite quote
on why there's
mission is by
John Piper.
And he says,
missions exists
because the
worship of God
does not.
It's a beautiful
way to think
about this.
And so the idea
here is we
mobilize and we
reach out to
our neighbors and
friends and families
ultimately for the
worship of God,
for the glory of
His name,
for populating
the heavenlies
with worshipers.
It's a wonder.
God's plan for the
fullness of time
is a glory plan.
Okay.
Triune, big,
Christocentric,
disciple-making,
glory.
These are the five
distinct features of
God's plan for the
fullness of time.
It moves us from
manger to mission.
And so just a few
questions for you
and then we'll wrap
it up.
Question number one.
Looking back on
2025,
what has God
personally done in
your life that you
can thank Him for?
What has God done
in your life in 2025
that you can thank
Him for?
I would say,
take some time today.
Go for a walk.
And if you're having
a hard time thinking
about things,
ask God to show you.
God, how have you
worked in my life
this past year?
And then when you
are shown that,
give Him thanks for
that.
So this exercise is
one towards
thankfulness to God.
God, thank you so
much for getting me
through that hard time.
Thank you so much,
God, for showing me
that sin in my life
and helping me
take a step to
become more like
Jesus.
Thank you, God,
for my friends.
Thank you, God,
for the support.
Thank you for my
church.
Thank you for saving
this person.
So there's so much
that we can be
thankful for.
So take some time
to ask the question,
God, what have you
done for me this
past year?
So that's reflection.
Question number two.
This is a prayerful
question.
Looking forward
into 2026,
here's what you pray.
God, would you
change me?
No qualifications,
no limits,
no reservations,
no conditions.
Would you change me?
Would you conform me
to the image of Jesus?
Would you make me
holy as he is holy?
Would you do a work
in me in 2026
that I can look back
on?
If you don't return,
I can look back on
and say, all glory be
to your name.
Thank you for doing
this in my life.
God, would you do
this work in me?
Looking forward
to 2026,
make it a glory prayer.
God, help me to bring
glory to you
through a changed life.
And question number
three is this.
It's another
prayerful question.
Where are you
working, God,
that you would
have me join you in?
Where are you
working that I can
join you,
that I can step in
and be a part
of what you're doing?
If you're married,
the answer starts here.
God, what are you
doing in my,
the question is,
what are you doing
in my spouse's life
and how can I join you
in what you're doing
in my spouse's life?
Or your parent,
God, in each of your
children, God,
what are you doing
in this child's life
and how can I join you
in what you're doing
in his or her life?
These are the questions.
God, what are you
doing in my midst,
in my orbit,
that I can be part
of what you are doing?
If you're a student
in the room,
you're middle school
and you're in high school,
here's a question to ask.
Think about your friends.
They're extremely
important to you.
God, what are you doing
in my friend's life
and how can I join you
in what you're doing
in them?
It changes the way
you think about
your friendships.
How can I be a part
of what you're doing
in my friends?
Our church,
God, what are you doing
in and through our church
and how can I be
a part of that?
God, I want to join
in what you are doing.
So, we end 2025
and we start 2026
with a Godward gaze.
God has a plan
for the fullness of time
to make disciples of Jesus.
It's a glory plan.
Now, here's what
I'd like you to do.
That little diagram
you just did,
would you sign it?
Date it?
And after we're wrapped up,
either bring it to me
or just put it in your pew.
We'll collect it
and I'll hang them
this week in my office
because I need artwork.
But we all also need
to have our gaze renewed
from manger to mission
and it is a glorious mission.
I mean, that's why
Jesus went to the manger.
God, I'm going to pray
so that you hang on a cross
so that he would gather
worshipers for his name
for eternity.
Let's pray together.
God in heaven,
thank you so much
for giving us eyes
to see this plan.
We are delighted
to be part of what
you are doing.
God, we confess this morning
that you don't exist
for us.
We exist for you
and we want to bring you
honor and glory
in all that we do.
God, we don't know
what you have for us
in 2026,
but we would ask
that you would
continue to
make your presence
known to us,
that you would grow us,
that you would grow us
individually,
make us more like Jesus
and you'd grow us
numerically.
Not for numbers,
but for worshipers,
that you would get
all praise and glory
and honor.
God, would you
fill us
with your spirit
that we would make
much of Jesus
in all that we do
for the glory
of your name.
Amen.