You must stop relying on past formulas and listen for God's current voice, even when the path seems like a wilderness. Trust that He is refining you in these uncomfortable places and that the miracle lies in your obedience to Him. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and be ready for the new thing He is doing.
What's up, Real Church? Daniel Mannix here, and I was honored to bring the first message in the brand new series titled All Things New. I believe God has amazing things in store for Real Church. And as we continue to be obedient to his voice, we can behold all the new great things that he's doing. I hope this encourages you.
*God bless* you. It's always so good to be with you all in the house of the Lord. Thank you, sir. Sorry I missed last week. I would have loved to be here for Easter, but as some of you know, I had a family emergency.
My aunt Regina had a heart attack, and she was left unconscious for a little while. We don't know how long. But her brain was basically dead, and the doctors said it was impossible. But how many know that what is impossible with man is possible with God? Amen.
So my dad and I went on a journey to New York, and we're we were there about our heavenly father's business, and we laid hands on her and prayed for her, and God is healing her as we speak. We are seeing amen. Yes. We are seeing steady improvement day by day, the activity increasing day by day as her body, as reality lines up with the truth of His word, that she is healed by the stripes of Jesus. Amen?
*Amen*. Amen. Well, for some reason, pastor David asked me to speak again, so here I am. For those of you that don't know who I am, my name is Daniel Mannix, and I am not a pastor. Some of you are disappointed.
I am not a pastor. I am I am simply and profoundly a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so are you, and so are you, and so are you, and so are you. We all are. Not that everyone is called to be on a stage, but you are called to share this good news with friends and family and strangers and whoever is gonna listen to you.
That's what we've been called to do. How could we keep this joy bottled up? Right? How could you put a "light under a basket"? Let it shine for the world.
*Amen*? Amen. Well, I am really excited to share the word today because I believe that it came directly from God. God planted the words, the the seeds of this word, actually, last December, kinda November, December. Long before I knew I was gonna be preaching on this, and pastor David even knew, I had dinner with a friend of mine in December, and we were talking about everything that God was doing in our lives.
And just excited to look into 2021 and and, you know, what he's doing next and what he's preparing us for. And we thought it'd be cool to use a verse to describe what that was. And for me, I said, man, *Isaiah-43, hands down, 18 through 19, God*'s just been putting it on my heart. I feel like it's a word for me. I feel like it's a word for real church.
Can we bring that up on the screen, Isaiah-40 oh, we already have it. Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it?
Can't you see it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. I said, man, God's doing some awesome things. Like, He's preparing me. He's preparing the church.
I believe that this word is for all of us. Well, about a month later, pastor David called me and he said, I need you to preach again. Are you ready? I said, yeah. Absolutely.
What do you got? He said, we're doing a series called I love you, and I want you to preach on how we respond to God's love and friendship. I want you to do that in February. Absolutely. That sounds awesome.
And, I'm gonna need you to preach in April. I'm actually not gonna be there. He's actually in Louisiana at his sister's wedding. Rachel, his younger sister, got married yesterday. Can we give a hand to Rachel?
Yeah. That's I love the marriage covenant. So, the urge for the mice to play while the cat is away is insatiable, but I'm I'm gonna keep it together. Alright? And so he said, it's gonna be the first week after Easter.
We're gonna start a new series, and it's called All Things New. I am doing a new thing, all things new. I see what you're doing, God. God was planting the seeds of this word back then, and I'm excited to share it with you all because I truly believe it's a word for all of us. So, get your pen and paper out.
Let he who has ears let him hear. This is for all of us. Amen? Amen. Let's pray.
*Lord*, thank you God for just everyone that is here today, Lord. I pray that they leave filled with you, God, filled with purpose, understanding, a deeper relationship with you, God, understanding you more. I pray, Lord, that you would get me out of the way completely, that you would empty me of everything that's of me so that you can speak clearly through me, Lord, and change lives as only you can. I pray that everything on this morning be to your glory in the name of Jesus. Amen.
*Amen*. So, *Isaiah-43:18* through 19, remember not the former things nor consider the things of old. Behold, I love that word, I am doing a new thing. Everybody say, a new thing. A new thing.
Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 2020 had a lot of wilderness and desert for a lot of people, didn't it? And when we find ourselves in these desert places, it's easy to feel deserted by God.
*God*, why would you allow this to happen to me? Don't you see what's going on here? I thought I was your kid. You know? The desert place is an irritable place.
We're uncomfortable there. You don't have the creature comforts. You don't have things that bring you comfort. You don't have things that bring you provision in the desert place. I want to go a little bit deeper.
Sometimes, it's God Himself that brings us into the wilderness. That's right. How many of you have been camping? Show of hands. Not not glamping, not a mattress and air conditioning and a log cabin.
I'm talking about real camping, like no air conditioning, no hot water, no electricity, sleeping bag. Okay, we got some campers in here. It's peaceful at first, isn't it? It's like, man, I'm gonna I'm gonna get away, I'm gonna unplug my phone, no social media, I'm going to get to read, I'm going to catch up on so many things, I'm going to get 1 with nature. You know, I'm going to hit the reset button.
But then the heat starts getting you and the mosquitoes. You're covered in bug spray, and yet somehow you still have bug bites. They're they're relentless. And then there's strange noises in the night. Right?
And it's raccoons or something eating at your food. You you can't sleep. Now, you're exhausted. Now, you don't feel like reading. Now, you're irritable.
You're annoyed. Right? This is now a terrible idea, and everything is now a chore. Cooking meals is a chore. You can't call Uber Eats out in the wilderness.
Showering is a chore. Cold water, man. I need hot showers. I don't care how hot out it is. Going to the bathroom is a chore.
Everything, everything that you once took for granted as being simple is now difficult, but listen, church, sometimes God needs to bring us into the desert place for a miracle to happen. Sometimes God needs to bring us out there to do in us what he could never do in the "land of plenty". Because in our weakness, he is made strong. It's in our weakness. Most of you have heard the story before of Jesus feeding the 5,000.
Right? 5 loaves of bread, 2 fish. But, I want to look at it from a slightly different angle and go a little deeper into it. Alright? Is that alright with you all?
Awesome. *Matthew-14:13, when you have it, say, Amen*. Everybody must have real Bibles because it's actually taking them some time. First service was like quick, using their phones. *Matthew-14* starting in verse 13.
*Amen*. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place. Can everybody say a desolate place? A desolate place. New King James calls it a deserted place.
By himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now, when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, this is a desolate place, and the day is now over. Send the crowds away to go into the villages or the land of plenty and buy food for themselves.
But Jesus said, they need not go away. You give them something to eat. They said to him, we have only 5 loaves and 2 fish. And he said, bring them here to me. Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the 5 loaves and the 2 fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing.
Then he broke the loaves, gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied, and they took up 12 baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about 5,000 men besides women and children. *Amen*. So the crowd that came out, they were looking for a miracle, and they got 1.
It says that Jesus had compassion on them and He healed their sick. But the disciples got so much more. The disciples got a miracle of faith. You see, they wanted to send the people back to the land of plenty. They wanted to send the people to the provision of the world.
Jesus said, they don't have to go there. Stay with me. I will provide for them. You see, Jesus built up their faith in the desert place because that's the only place that the miracle could happen. Food is not a miracle in the land of plenty.
Right? It's only a miracle in the wilderness. And Jesus knew that. He knew that he would have to keep them there. Listen.
Listen, guys. Sometimes, God has to bring us into a posture of need or lack in order for him to fulfill us. Because we're so quick to go to the worldly things that we forget that our God provides everything that we need. Jesus says, no, keep them here. Have faith that I will provide.
And it's easy in those desert places, like I said, to feel deserted by God, but God promises that He will never leave us or forsake us. How can He make such a promise? Because he left and forsook Jesus on the cross. Jesus took our place for us so that we would never be forsaken. And Jesus cares for us even in that desert place.
Even when you feel like all these circumstances are going on around you, when you stay in God, isn't it amazing how you can have a heavenly peace about you? He cares for us even in the desert place. Look back at the story. Do you see how it says that Jesus sat them down on the grass? Have you wondered how grass got in the desert?
Jesus makes a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Amen? If we go back to Isaiah-43, we see that it starts off, God says, remember not the former things. Don't even look back at them. Don't even think about them.
Sounds kind of familiar. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians-5, check this out. 2 Corinthians-5 starting in verse 16. From now on, therefore, we regard no 1 according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Let's all speak that. Say, a new creation.
A new creation.
Don't believe the lie that you are still stuck, you are broke, you can never be fixed. That's a lie. You are a new creation. You are freed from bondage. You are freed from the "slavery of sin".
*Amen*? Amen. The **old has passed away**. Behold, the new has come. Church, it's hard to behold the new when we're focused on the old.
We can't hold on to both. That word behold means to observe something remarkable or impressive, to stand in awe. How do I stand in awe of something if my focus is still back here on my past life before Christ? Behold, I am doing a new thing. Not, I'm going to do a new thing, I am doing a new thing.
Now, springs forth. Right now, it's happening. Can't you see it? You can't see it if you're looking back. We have a new life in Christ.
This is so important to get, guys. And Jesus understood the importance of this. He understood how important it was to behold the new. He has a conversation with 3 men, We find it in Luke-9, that said they wanted to behold the new, but they were holding on to the old. Look at what he tells them.
*Luke-9*, starting in verse 57. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. To another he said, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father.
And Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those in my home. Jesus said to him, no 1 who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. No 1.
Jesus sounds kind of harsh, doesn't he? But if you break it down, you'll see that Jesus was led by the importance of following him completely. Let's go through the stories. The first guy, he says, I'll follow you. Jesus says, foxes have holes, birds have nests, but I have nowhere to lay my head.
The heck does that mean? Well, you see, back in Jesus' time, there were teachers or rabbis, and they would have students or disciples that would follow them. The rabbi would choose the students, and he would provide for the students. He would provide shelter, food, clothing. If he was a well respected rabbi, the followers would have status and prominence in the community.
They were following a well respected rabbi. Jesus says, I have none of that for you. This is not my home. My kingdom is not of this earth. If you're looking for comfort or complacency or prominence, this is not for you.
You cannot be worried about all these worldly things and be beholding the new. The second guy sounds like he has a legitimate excuse. Right? I mean, he wants to go bury his dad. I think we could all sympathize with burying a parent.
But there's 1 problem. We're all assuming that his father was already dead, when actually, it's highly unlikely that his father was dead. Why would he be following Jesus then in the first place? Wouldn't he be back at home preparing the body, getting ready for the burial ceremonies? Now, the the more likely story is that his father was sick, and he wanted to go back to be with his father as he was sick and until he died, and then perform the burial ceremonies, the rituals that the the Jewish people would do at that time.
This could have taken days or weeks or months or years. So, basically, what Jesus or what this guy is saying to Jesus is, you sound amazing. This is awesome. I want to sign up. But, can we do this on my timeline?
Jesus says, no. That's not what this is. That's not how this goes. I say, follow me and you are obedient. You follow me.
The third guy is almost not even worth mentioning. I mean, he just wants to throw a going away party before he leaves. Right? I mean, what? Jesus says, no 1 who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
This is not a 1 foot in, 1 foot out kind of commitment. This is all or nothing. This isn't a Facebook event invite where you can check maybe going or interested. Okay, guys? Yeah.
This is all or nothing. A plow is a farming tool. It would be the first thing done in the planting process. It's the beginning of a new thing. Okay?
And the plow would be pulled by an animal, an ox or a horse, but they don't know where to go. So, somebody has to be manning the plow to make sure that they're cutting straight lines in the dirt so that seeds can then be sown for a row crop. Row crops are in rows. If you're not paying attention, that plow goes this way and that way, wherever the animals want to go, now you have all crooked rows. So what Jesus is saying is, you have to fix your eyes on this new thing.
You can't look back. There's nothing back there for us anyway. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. And the disciples got this. That's 1 thing you have to say about them.
Man, when he first goes to Peter and his brother Andrew, he says, follow me. And, the Bible says that they immediately dropped their nets and followed him. Immediately. Actually, if you read about it in Matthew-4, it sounds as if they were like mid cast, like their nets were already in the water. And, they didn't even wait to pull it in to see if they caught anything, and they just followed him.
That's what we're called to do, church. We're called to drop our nets and follow him. We're called to put our hand to the plow and don't look back. There's nothing back there for us. This new life that we have in Christ, we need to keep our eyes fixed on that.
It's so important. Wherever your focus is, that's where your direction is. There's also a danger, another danger of looking behind. And we read about this in Numbers-20. It's a story of of Moses.
He's leading the Israelites through the desert. They are in a desert place. They leave slavery in Egypt. They cross through the Red Sea. They are now wandering through the wilderness because of sin, and they're thirsty, they're irritable.
Right? They're uncomfortable in the wilderness. And they start complaining to Moses, we are thirsty. Why'd you bring us all the way out here to starve? We would have been better off in Egypt as slaves.
And so, and his brother Aaron go to God, and look at what God says to them. That is in Numbers-20, starting in verse 8. Take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron, your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle. And Moses took the staff from before the Lord as he commanded him.
Okay. So Moses listens. He grabs the staff. He goes to the rock. He strikes the rock, and water comes pouring out.
Tons of water. I mean, it's enough for the whole congregation, for all the animals. I mean, we're talking hundreds of thousands of people. It's a lot of water. Water from a rock.
It's a miracle. Right? Sounds amazing. Well, look at God's response in verse 12. And, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not believe in me, to uphold me is holy in the eyes of the people of Israel.
Therefore, you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them. What? What what just happened? Moses and his brother Aaron and the entire adult generation of the Israelites at that time will not make it into the promised land. They will die in the wilderness.
Moses actually will get to see the promised land from a distance as he dies on a mountain. If you go back and read it carefully, you'll see that God told Moses to speak to the rock. And Moses used his staff to strike the rock. Wow. That sounds like a minor difference to me.
I mean, Moses has done some amazing things. Right? He led the people out of Egypt. He, you know, performing all these miracles, crossing through the Red Sea, not over the Red Sea, through the Red Sea. And, he's brought, you know, God's 10 commandments.
He's been face to face with God. He's he's done some amazing things in my book. But God says, you will not see the promised land. It gets deeper. This isn't the first time that God brought water from a rock.
We read in Exodus-17, which is before *Numbers-20* that we just read. We read a very similar story. The Israelites are complaining. They're in the wilderness. They're thirsty.
They have nothing to drink. And, Moses goes to God. And, look at what God says in Exodus-17. Exodus-17:5. And, the Lord said to Moses, pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock and water shall come out of it and the people will drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Wow. So this time, God tells Moses specifically, strike the rock. He does it, *miracle*, water comes pouring out.
So, it just kinda makes sense to do that again. Right? I mean, if it worked in the past, it's probably gonna work again. I mean, God even told Moses, if you read back in Numbers-20, take the staff. He tells them to bring the staff.
So, it just makes sense that it worked before, do it again. Right? Wrong. Moses relied on a process instead of on God's instructions. Moses relied on a formula.
Hey, it worked in the past. I'm going do it again. I'm going to be obedient to the formula. If we're careful, church, we if we're not careful, we can get very ritualistic with this, with our church services, with the way that we do things, the way that we approach God. We can get very structured with this, and we can trust in processes and formulas and rituals instead of being obedient to his voice.
If you don't get anything else, get this. Okay? The *miracle* is not in the process. The miracle is in the obedience to God. The miracle is in the obedience to God's voice.
Whatever he tells you to do, whatever the new thing is that he tells you to do, you do it. You don't say, well, I haven't seen God work that way before. Maybe this is not him. I'm not saying that God will do anything outside of his character. God has a nature, a character, he never changes.
He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews-13:8. Right? But, please don't be so prideful to think that you've seen everything that God can do or how he does it. Okay?
His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, as Isaiah says. Just because God did something in your life 1 way, doesn't mean he can't do it in somebody else's life another way. Just because real church does something this way doesn't mean we can't start doing it some other way. Just because God changed your life 1 way doesn't mean he can't change somebody else's another.
Let's not put God in a box, church. Let's not bring our our preconceived notions, our past experiences to hold us back, looking back, from what he's doing next, from just being obedient to his voice, every single step. Okay, God, what what do I do now? Okay. Okay.
What do I do now? Instead of, oh, he told me to do that last time, so I'm just going go there again. Behold, I am doing a new thing. You have to be keeping your eyes peeled, fixed on Jesus, ready for the new thing. What is it?
I don't know. I don't have the answer. I don't know exactly what he's going to do, but I believe he's doing amazing things in this church, and I am super excited to be a part of it. And, I'm going be obedient to his voice, whatever he says, whatever that looks like, whoever he tells me to go to, whatever he wants me to do here, whether he wants me up here or he wants me cleaning out trash. I'm going to be obedient to his voice.
Let's put our hands to the plow and not look back. Let's not look back. There's nothing back there for us, guys. Let's not look back. Let's trust him in the desert places, knowing that he is refining us in those places.
He is the refiner, and he is providing everything for us, and he cares for us even in those desert places. Let's keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. I'm gonna be obedient to the new thing that he's doing. I'm gonna behold. I'm gonna stand in awe of what he's doing, and I'm gonna take a step.
I hope you do too. Let's *pray*. Thank you, God, for partnering with us even when you don't have to. You could do everything on your own. You you have you are self sufficient.
You can do all things, and yet, you choose to partner with us because you love us, because you are a relational God. Thank you for sharing your plans with us, allowing us to be a part of what you're doing in this earth. Help us to be listening to that voice, to be obedient to what you say, Lord God. Help us to not be looking around to the left or to the right, worrying about things in the past, whether they be bad experiences or miracles, to not be focused on the things before, but to lay our hands to the plow and to look forward at the things that you have for us, God. Help us to hear clearly your voice.
Give us the faith and the courage to walk it out. I pray that you would use every single person in this room to bring about change in this community, in this city, in this county, in this state, in this country, in this world, Lord, as we bring the truth of your word to people, as we bring light into darkness, as we bring hope into hopelessness, carrying with us the temple of God. Thank you for partnering with us, Lord. I pray that you continue to be glorified and magnified. In the name of Jesus, we pray.
*Amen*.
Thank you for tuning in today to The Real Church podcast. I pray that you "walk away from today" encouraged with a deeper understanding of how much God loves you. If you'd like to "connect with us", we can't wait to reach out to you and pray for you. You can go to www.realchurch.us/connect. And then also, if you would like to give to what God is doing in and through our ministry, you can do so at www.realchurch.us/giving or you can text any amount to 84321.
And then just search in the link that comes up. "Search for Real Church" Lord. **God bless you** and the best is yet to come.
Hi.