Read-along
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Hey, Echoes family. What's up? I'm Hunter, and I get to serve as the connections director here at Echoes. If you're new to Echoes or joining us online for the first time, welcome. We're so glad you're here. Go ahead and text new to 31707,
not because we want something from you, but because we want something for you. We'd love to help you get connected and find your place here.
Today's service is a little different and intentionally so. After an incredible stretch of seven Christmas services where we saw thousands of people walk through the doors of Echoes and experience the hope of Jesus, we wanted to pause,
to rest, and to give our incredible volunteers and staff a Sunday to slow down, be present with family, and remember that rest is also worship.
And as you look back, wow, what a what a week. So many people met Jesus, families were encouraged, hope came alive again, and that's the story God is writing through this church. To every person you serve, thank you. You lived generously.
You showed what it looks like to honor God with your time, talents, and your heart. That same spirit of generosity is what keeps the mission moving forward. Every smile that greeted someone, every hand that served, every gift given, it's all worship. It's all echoing Jesus.
So today, as we worship from our homes, we have a chance to keep that generosity going by honoring God with our first and best. Every gift fuels ministry that changes lives, both here in Mesa, Arizona and beyond. If you'd like to give today, you can text 31707 or visit echos.church/give.
Let's continue to worship together and thank God for all he's done and all he's doing.
Well, happy almost New Year, Echoes. If we have not had a chance to meet yet, my name is Daniel. I'm the lead pastor here, and I've got one last message for us as we close out 2025. Again, I was kind of thinking about this idea of how you finish the year
is often the greatest indicator of how you'll start next year. I don't if you guys ever did it. I'm not a runner at all. But for junior high, they made us do track during PE. We had the worst PE coach in the world, right? All the stinky boys and you hated doing it. But we had to run track and I was decently quick, so I ended up on the four by 100 team where every single person would run 100 yards, you'd hand the baton off, you'd have to learn how to do the baton passing, and if you drop it, the team gets disqualified.
And again, don't hear what I'm not saying. This was not the Olympics or anything. This was junior high PE class. But it was really interesting to watch how the competition would go. They would build this whole thing up for a year. And at the end of it, we'd have like this whole race thing that would take place. And I was on one of the teams that had some of the faster guys on it. And it was interesting to think about the strategy of how they would build a relay team. Right? Because you would think that you take your fastest and that's who you start with. And then that's who you start with, you get a lead, and then you kind of build from there. But if you know anything about running, which I'm sure some of you do, probably most of you know more about it than I do, the interesting part is that in a relay team, actually put your strongest runner at the end. Right? They call him the anchor.
And so we had this one guy in our junior high that was the fastest dude in the world. And so all we knew is if you get the baton to him and we were decently close, we were going to win the race. Right? And the interesting part is every time you won the race, it then set the bracket for the next race that you were gonna be in. Here's the whole thought that I was thinking about as we close out 2025.
It's interesting in a relay race that how you finish it literally is the determination of where you start the next race at. And I think so often, you and I, what we do right now is, again, we're sitting here
post Christmas, post holiday hangover, looking at the credit card bills, seeing the weight that we've gained from all the parties, the gym things that we've not gone to. And so many of us are telling ourselves one thing right now, right? What is it? Well, next year next year, I'm going get this weight loss, right? Next year, I'm going to finally be a reader. Next year, I'm going to finally start that business that I swore I was going to start five years ago. Here's my encouragement to us, right, at the end of the year, let's make a decision to go, hey, what if we made a decision to finish this year incredibly strong and actually believe that we could take the momentum from this year and carry it into next year? What if how we finish this year is actually the greatest indicator of how we'll start next year And that 01/01/2026
is not some magical date, though somehow we've been we've become convinced as a culture that it is. Right? We all wake up on that day. We we set these New Year's resolutions. We have all this momentum and belief that something's gonna change.
And I just wonder if we sat here and said, man, it's our last Sunday together as a church. What if we made a decision to start to put some things into motion today that would begin to impact how we start next year? Again, we've got an amazing thing planned for the beginning of next year. We as a church are gonna start with twenty one days of prayer and fasting. I'm believing that God is gonna do unbelievable things inside of our church in 2026.
But I also think that the momentum that you start now will carry us into next year. So what do we do? What do we do if we go, alright, man. Okay. I'm willing to potentially start now. What do we practically
do? I was reading this story a couple days ago in the book of Philippians. This is Paul writing a letter of encouragement to a church. And I think in here, there's a verse where he gives us some really practical things. How do we begin to put momentum back into our life? How do we begin to live into the things of God and let go of the things that have held us back this year? This is what Paul says in Philippians chapter three verse thirteen and fourteen, and then I'll share a couple thoughts on it with you.
Paul says to the church in Philippi says, no dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it. Okay. It's interesting that Paul, the guy that has argued is one of the greatest people in the New Testament that lives besides Jesus.
He starts by saying, haven't achieved it. I have not arrived. There there is no point of arrival for any of us. This whole life is just kind of figuring it out. Right? So Paul says I've not achieved it, but here's what I focus on. He says I focus on one thing.
The one thing that he says he focuses on is forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Jesus Christ is calling us.
I read this verse and I'm telling you it jumped off the page to me. Because I think what Paul shows us is that it's possible at any moment at any day to say, you know what? I'm starting over. No matter how bad you felt like 2025 was, no matter how bad you feel like the last few months of your life have been, no matter how dark and depressing the holiday season was for you, all of us get the opportunity
to put a fork in the road and say, put a fork in the road, put a stake in the ground, do something, and make a decision
that we're starting over. And notice what Paul says, the one thing you gotta focus on. And I think it's interesting that he says focus on one thing. Right? We're in this culture where you're focusing on a million things and we're constantly multitasking and juggling a 100 things. And I don't know if you've read any of the data, but they show that you and I are not very good multitaskers,
that we don't actually multitask good or well even if we think we do. And Paul reminds us, just focus on one thing. What is it? Forget the past. He says some sometimes the way that you've got to start over, the way you're gonna build momentum into the next season is to begin to let go of the past. The truth is is 2026,
those we think when we turn the page and we look at 01/01/2026, there's some magic incantation that happens. But I'm telling you your past is going to be right there waiting for you on that day as much as it is today. And you and I at some point have to make a decision to let go of the past.
To let go of our failures, to let go of our disappointments, to let go of the people who frustrated us, to let go of the things that we we thought were gonna be different this year, but we're honestly, we're still wrestling with it. You've got to make a decision at some point to focus on letting that thing go.
Because the truth is if you continue to hold on to yesterday's failure, what it will impact the most is tomorrow's faith. And if what we're starting here, if we're gonna start this end this year and begin to ask God to start next year with some momentum,
we've gotta begin to let go of yesterday's failures. We whatever it is. Right? If there are things that were done to us, things that we've done,
we've got to figure out a way to not just focus on the past. It's funny right now, I'm in the season of helping my daughter learn how to drive. And, man, I'm telling you, for those of who've done it, my prayers are with you. Like, is not for the faint of heart. But it's interesting, right? We we all know this principle. I'm trying to help my daughter understand it. When when you're thinking about making a lane change
and you start to look over your left shoulder to see if a car is coming, what happens? If you're not careful and you haven't learned, what you'll do is you'll start to drift to the left and you'll look up and you're like, wait, I'm about to hit the median. Right? Why? Every intention you had was to move forward, was to keep the car going straight.
But there's something about our vision. When you begin to look to the left, all of a sudden subconsciously, you just begin to turn the car to the left. Why?
Because vision, what you look at, man, it determines the direction that your life will head. It's why Proverbs chapter four verse 25 literally tells us that you've got to let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you. The question I have for you today is what are you looking at?
If all you look at is what you don't have, if all you look at is the mistakes that you've made, if all you look at is the things that have always defined your family, I'm telling you right now, it's almost impossible to try to believe that 2026 is going to be any different. What we'll do is we'll conjure up some, you know, emotion for a couple weeks. We'll set some goals and we'll make some New Year's resolutions and then we'll all do the thing we do in February and go, oh, man, that was a silly thing. Why do we do that again? But if you're sitting here going, man, I I really do want 2026 to be different. I want this to be the year that I step into the things that God has for me. You've got to start to think about what you're looking at, what you're putting attention to, what you are spending your time looking at. Jesus says you gotta keep your focus ahead. Paul reminds us forget about what was behind you. Forget about all the things that you wish were different, and begin to do the second thing that he says. You've gotta start to look at what lies ahead.
Stop looking at the past and start looking at the future. Again, I wrote it down this way that you can't move forward into what God is doing if you're still anchored to what he already forgave you for.
If you don't step into the forgiveness that God has given you, I'm telling you, doesn't matter how much hope and inspiration I can give you through this message. It doesn't matter how inspired you are to write some New Year's resolutions. If you don't step into forgiveness, if that thing still begins to be the thing that holds you,
it almost limits our ability to step forward into the things of God. So I just I wonder I wonder what it is that you're holding on to today. I wonder what wounds or disappointments you need to release before we turn the page and get into 2026.
I wonder what failures you're still replaying in your head that you've got to let go of. I wonder what forgiveness, what unforgiveness
you're still holding on to that's slowing you down. You have to focus on one thing, forgetting the past and making the ability to begin to look forward to what lies ahead. The author of Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that let us let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus.
How do we look forward? We've got to begin to fix our gaze on Jesus.
He is the author and the finisher of our faith, the scriptures say. If you're like, man, don't even know where to look. Look to Jesus. The one that forgave you. The one that can take the pain of what it is that you're still wrestling through. Jesus is able and willing to take the things that you've struggled with and begin to do something
with them. Paul again in verse 14, he says that I I I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize. I love that Paul tells us, he reminds us that you you are not going to coast
into purpose. You are not going to just stumble your way into a life of significance and meaning. Right? He says that he literally has to press
on.
It it takes some effort. It takes some striving. It it takes some stumbling and falling and getting back up. It's this idea that we're we're not just coasting. We're contending for the things that we want in our life. We're contending for the things that we want for our kids. We're we're willing to go, okay, it doesn't matter how many times I I have fallen, I'm getting back up and I'm trying again.
And I'm gonna build some momentum right now in these last few days that we have to begin to make the the next year, the next season of my life different than what these last ones have been. I love what Paul says to his protege, Timothy, in one Timothy chapter four. He reminds you and I that physical training is good, right? For those of you whose New Year's resolutions are all going to be about physical goals, those are good. But he reminds us that training for godliness
is much better because it promises benefits in this life and the life to come. Here's my encouragement to you as we kind of wrap up this year is what goals are you setting for next year? Why not start now? Right? Why not believe that God can begin to do something today
if we do a simple thing? We just go, there's nothing magical is gonna happen on 01/01/2026. I'm gonna start to step into the momentum that God has for me now
and believe that how I finish this year will be the determiner of how I start next year. The strongest finishers are are who gets to start in the the head in the next race to come. If you're wanting 2026 here's what I'm trying to say. If you're wanting 2026 to actually be a year of breakthrough for you and your family,
make the end of 2025 pivotal for you. Whatever it is. Whatever it is that you're trying to figure out, if it's physical stuff, if it's financial stuff, if it's relational stuff, in few the days that we have left, let's let's press on into the life that God has for us. Let's forget
all the former stuff, but let's let all of that stuff be in the past. Go, Jesus, you've forgiven me for it. The Bible says you cast my sin as far as the East is from the West. You don't remember it anymore. So I'm not gonna focus on it. And what I'm gonna focus focus on instead
is I'm gonna keep my my my gaze fixed on Jesus. I believe he can actually do something about my life, that he wants to change the circumstances that I'm in, and I'm believing with all faith that 2026
is gonna be the year where I see all the breakthrough happened that I've been waiting for. And how we get there is by finishing this year strong. Just know, I'm praying for you. If you are not connected to Echoes Church yet and you're just kind of a a YouTube watcher, let me just encourage you. A local church can change things dramatically.
If you make one change in 2026, let me encourage you to be get plugged into church. Make God the priority for this year. We've got, again, a whole thing planned to start the year where we collectively are gonna seek after the heart of God.
Come do that with us at Echoes Church. Just know that I love you. I'm praying for you. I hope you have a happy and healthy New Year, and we'll see you in 2026.
Wow. What a message from pastor Daniel today. I hope it stirred your heart as much as it did mine. God is moving in powerful ways. Mark your calendar. We'd love to see you back at Echoes on January 4 as pastor Daniel kicks off a brand new series. We've got four services that day, 8AM, 09:20AM, 10:40AM, and 12PM.
Bring a friend, bring your family, and let's celebrate the hope of a fresh start together. From all of us here at Echoes Church, we're praying for you, we're grateful for you, and we can't wait to see you next weekend. Happy New Year.