The Heavens Declare

Hello & Greeting

Prayer Requests

Pastoral Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever. Amen.

Introduction

Well, it’s hard to believe — but we’re at the final Sunday of the year.

When we get to this point — we start looking at what’s next, right? The calendar is turning the page — and the air just feels different. And a lot of us are thinking about managing our lives differently. I can feel the anxiety radiating off of you right now — because this is the week where the world tells us we’re absolutely awful human beings and our lives need a complete overhaul.

We need to lose weight.

We need to be better organized.

We need to make more money.

And I know some of you already have your resolutions lined up:

You’re gonna run a marathon (which will last approximately 45 seconds)

You’re gonna quit sugar (good luck with that)

And you’re finally gonna read the Bible in a year. You start January 1st with Genesis and by January 4th you’re lost somewhere in the Levitical laws wondering if you just accidentally signed up to sacrifice a goat (keep pushing past Leviticus… I promise I gets better).

We get absolutely bombarded with the message “New Year, New You!”, right?

And the result? We get so busy trying to create our own new beginnings that we completely miss the powerful — beautiful work that God is already doing all around us. We’re looking down at our failures and effort — while the greatest evidence of God’s glory is already visible — just waiting for us to look up.

Me

And listen — I get it. I’m just as guilty as the next person when it comes to setting goals based on all the things I want to do and the person I want to be. But sometimes I get so busy being focused on the doing that I forget the work that’s already been done. And then I get overwhelmed. Anybody been there? How easy it is to get so busy counting burdens that we forget to count the evidence of His presence.

For me — it usually hits right around the moment I decide I’m “finally going to get my life together” (whatever that means). I’ll be fired up — making plans — and downloading apps — and buying planners.

I’ll convince myself this is finally the year I’m going to be a morning person. …And then the alarm goes off at 5 A-M and I wake up questioning all my life choices. I’m laying there thinking, “Lord, if You wanted me to be up this early, You wouldn’t have invented the snooze button.”

There’ve been seasons where I was so determined to be this focused — disciplined version of myself — to the point I didn’t even notice when God was trying to get my attention. I was too busy strategizing to notice He was already strengthening. To busy planning to notice He was already providing. To busying trying to grow that I didn’t realize He was already guiding.

We can all be guilty of that, right?

We ask God for strength — but we never stop to see where He’s already been faithful.

We beg Him to show up — but our pace makes it nearly impossible to notice when He does.

That’s where I’ve been more times that I’d like to admit. I’ve been the guy who’s so focused on what’s next that I miss what’s right now. I run right past the beauty of God’s presence because I’m convinced everything depends on my performance. And I don’t know about you — but it leaves me feeling anxious — and frustrated — and exhausted.

But here’s what God’s been confronting in me — and maybe in you too. Before I start chasing a new year — I need to pause long enough to see the God who’s been carrying me through this one. Because when I miss the work He’s already doing — I step into the new year with pressure instead of peace.

We

We all tend to carry this low-grade exhaustion… this background noise of “not enough”.

Not organized enough.

Not spiritual enough.

Not disciplined enough.

We’re worn out from measuring ourselves against ideas of who we should be instead of who God created us to be.

It’s not that we’re trying to be bad people… we’re just busy people. Distracted people. Well-intentioned people who get swept up in the pace of life and end up missing the presence of God in the middle of it. We forget that before we ever set resolutions — God has already been revealing. Before we make plans — He’s already been present.

I think it’s safe to say we’ve all had those moments — the ones where we wondered where God was — when the truth is — He was speaking the whole time. Through His creation. Through His word. Through His people. Through His quiet nudges we brushed aside because we were rushing to the next thing.

So today we’re not leaving here with a list of tasks for the new year. Instead — we’re leaving with a new vision — a commitment to slow down and notice. And if we’re going to step into this new year with clarity — and peace — and purpose — we’ve got to ask the question together:

“WHERE DO I SEE GOD” GRAPHIC

Where I do see God at work in my life?

God

This morning we’re in the 19th Psalm. If you’ve got The Turning Pointe set as your church in the Bible app, you can click on this passage in your sermon notes today and it’ll take you right there.

This Psalm was written by King David — and through the beauty of his words — you’ll see that God is always speaking — even when we’re too busy to listen. Take a look with me — Psalm 19 — verses one through six:

Psalm 19:1–6 NIV

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

David opens with this powerful truth:

“CREATION IS PREACHING” GRAPHIC

Creation is preaching a sermon every single day.

There’s no microphone — no livestream — no service plan… and somehow the sun still starts on time. Amazing.

David says the heavens declare God’s glory. The skies proclaim His handiwork. Creation is basically saying, “Don’t miss this. God’s at work right now.”

And David says the heavens don’t even use words — but somehow their voice is everywhere.

It’s like Creation is speaking fluent “God” all day long — and we’re the ones who accidentally turned down the volume.

You ever been so busy that somebody talked to you for a solid 30 seconds and you nodded along — only to realize you didn’t hear anything they said?

Yeah — David says spiritually, that’s us. God has been speaking. Creation has been preaching. And we’ve been spiritually scrolling on our phones.

Verse 2 says:

Psalm 19:2 NIV

2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

David’s telling us something we often forget: There has never been a day without evidence of God’s activity.

We’ve never woken up to a silent sky.

We’ve never opened our eyes to a Creation that wasn’t pointing to its Creator.

If you missed God yesterday — creation didn’t.

If you were overwhelmed by Tuesdsay — the sunrise still happened.

If you were stressed on Thursday — the stars still came out on schedule.

Creation doesn’t take a personal day. It doesn’t say, “You know what? I’m not feeling it today.” Creation is more consistent than most of our gym memberships.

Every sunrise whispers, “He’s faithful.”

Every sunset says, “He’s steady.”

And ever star declares, “He sees you.”

So when we step into this new year asking, “Where’s God?”, David wants us to know — God hasn’t move. We’re just learning to notice again.

Look with me again at Verse 4:

Psalm 19:4 NIV

4 …their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

…meaning:

Nobody is left out.

Nobody is overlooked.

And nobody is too far for God to reach.

You don’t need a subscription — or an app — or a password. Everybody gets access to this sermon. And this shows us that:

When the world feels chaotic — creation is steady.

When our plans fall apart — creation always stays on script.

And when life is noisy — creation speaks without making a sound.

God uses the world He made to remind us that He’s not hard to find when we look. And sometimes we just need to slow down enough to see the signs He’s been placing in front of our faces since the beginning.

And I love what David says in verses 5 and 6:5-

Psalm 19:5–6 NIV

5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

You

We

Call to Repentance