Restore

Restore

Isaiah 43:18-19

My Saint Thomas Baptist family and friends it is with the joy of the Jesus Christ our loving God and Savior, with holy anticipation, expectation and gratitude that I greet you on this the first Sunday of the New Year. My brothers and sisters I’m just full of excitement looking forward to what God Almighty has instore for us here in this His house of worship. As we step into 2026 with a new look and the beginning of a new era as we celebrate 170 years of amazing, excellent, fabulous, marvellous, spectacular, wonderful ministry at Saint Thomas Baptist church. My question for us today is this my brothers and sisters are you ready for God to elevate us to the next level?

My Saint Thomas Baptist family and friends, we are stepping into a year that carries divine intention, holy purpose and transformational promise. And God has fixed us for this year with a word that refuses to let us stay stuck where we’ve been. Some of us come into the year grateful, some come in wounded, some come in weary, and others come in still trying to recover from what last year took out of us. But I stopped by here on Holy assignment today to let somebody know at the top of this year, God did not bring you this far just to abandon you here.

The Prophet Isaiah speaks to people that have been through some stuff family. People that have been displaced, discourage, disappointed, and disciplined. Yet God interrupts their memory of pain with a prophetic declaration: “Remember not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing.” My brothers and sisters, before God does a new thing, He often starts by restoring what was lost. So, ladies and gentlemen as we roll into this new year our theme for this the year of the Lord as well as our sermon series to kick start the year will be “Fix in 2026” Restore, Reshape, Revive, and Renew. My brothers and sisters let us start this series of sermons where God often starts which is our sermon title and topic for today “Restore.” Because you cannot move confidently into the future while bleeding from unresolved loss in the past.

So, with the help of the Holy Spirit and the real preaching Jesus Christ l would like to leave us with four pieces of evidence that will help us receive and understand when God restores us, and this first is this.

Restoration Requires Release (Is.43:18a) “Do not [earnestly] remember the former things;”

God does not deny your past—He simply refuses to let it define your future.

Some of us are spiritually stuck not because God isn’t moving—but because we keep replaying: Old failures. Old betrayals. Old disappointments. Old versions of ourselves

And the Lord says, “Stop rehearsing what I already redeemed.”

(Philippians 3:13–14) “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

(Lamentations 3:31–33) “For the Lord will not reject forever, for if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant loving-kindness and tender mercy. For he does not afflict willingly and from His heart or grieve the children of men.

Preaching Moment: Saint Thomas, restoration does not begin with recovery—it begins with release. You cannot grab what God is restoring with hands still clenched around yesterday.

TRANSITION: And once we release the past, God moves from instruction to intervention…

RESTORATION IS GOD’S RESPONSE TO LOSS (Joel 2:25) “And I will restore or replace to you the years that the locust has eaten”

Notice God doesn’t say days or moments—He says years. Some losses were: Slow, Cumulative, Relational, Emotional, Spiritual

But hear me clearly: The same God who watched it leave is the God who brings it back.

What God Restores

Joy — (Psalm 51:12) “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.”

Purpose — (Jeremiah 29:11) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future.”

Faith — (Romans 10:17) “So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ.”

Vision — (Proverbs 29:18) “Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God]

Restoration isn’t God feeling sorry for you— restoration is God proving He’s sovereign.

TRANSITION: But restoration is not just about getting something back— It’s about understanding why God brought it back…

RESTORATION PREPARES YOU FOR WHAT’S NEXT

God does not restore randomly. He restores intentionally. Ruth didn’t just get a new husband—She got a future.

Job didn’t just get double—He got closure and credibility.

(Ruth 4:14–15) “Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer. (grandson, as heir) today, and may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

(Job 42:10) “The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

(Psalm 71:20–21) “You who have shown me many troubles and distresses will revive and renew me again from the depths of the earth. May you increase my greatness (honor) and turn to comfort me.”

Sometimes God restores because where He’s taking you will require what you lost.

TRANSITION: And when God restores, He doesn’t whisper it—He reveals it.

RESTORATION IS A TESTIMONY TO GOD’S POWER (Isaiah 43:19a) “Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing; now it shall spring forth…”

Springing forth implies: Visibility, Growth, Evidence. God is about to restore you in a way that: Silences doubters

Heals witnesses

Strengthens believers

(Romans 1:16) “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation [from His wrath and punishment] to everyone who believes [in Christ as Savior], to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

(1 Corinthians 1:18) “For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God.”

(2 Timothy 1:8) “So do not be ashamed to testify about the Lord or about me His prisoner, but with me take your share of suffering for the gospel [continue to preach regardless of the circumstances], in accordance with the power of God [for His power is invincible].”

Preaching Declaration: “What looked like loss was actually loading the miracle!”

WHOOPING CLOSE

Cue Title: “God’s Giving It Back”

(Slow build — medium pitch)

I don’t know who I came for today…

But I came to tell somebody—

God’s got a return policy on what the enemy tried to steal!

You thought it was gone…

You thought it was over…

But the devil misread the contract!

Because what the enemy took—

God said, “I’m giving it back!”

If He restored your joy—say YES LORD!

If He restored your strength—say YES LORD!

If He restored your praise—say YES LORD!

God’s gonna give it back!

He’s gonna give it back!

I lost it—but God restored it!

I dropped it—but God restored it!

I walked away—but God restored it!

The devil thought it was over—

But God said NOT YET!

Touch your neighbor and tell ’em:

“It’s coming back better!”

God didn’t bring me this far to leave me empty—

I’m walking into 2026… RESTORED!

If you come into 2026 believing God owes you nothing— this altar isn’t for you.

But if you believe:

God can restore your walk

Restore your worship

Restore your confidence

Restore your calling

This is your moment.