Jan. 04, 2026

Pastor Dave's powerful New Year message reveals how focusing on three simple declarations—knowing what God has done, desiring His presence above all else, and pressing forward without being held back by the past—can transform your entire year and deepen your relationship with Christ.

Pastor Dave's sermon begins at 27:06 min into the video. The music "10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)", "I Speak Jesus", "Draw Me Close", "You Are My All in All", "Amazing Grace", and "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

One Thing: Starting Fresh with God 

Pastor Dave opened our first Sunday of 2025 with three powerful passages about focus and fresh starts. Drawing from John 9, Psalm 27, and Philippians 3, he shared how three biblical men each declared "one thing" that defined their relationship with God. His message reminded us that while we don't know everything about the future, we can live with certainty about what God has done, what we desire, and what we'll do moving forward.

One Thing I Know: The Blind Man's Testimony

Pastor Dave started with the unnamed blind man from John 9 who was healed by Jesus but then questioned by religious leaders. When pressed about Jesus' identity, the man simply said: "Whether he's a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." He emphasized how this man's life was radically transformed—from darkness to light, from begging to seeing. "He changed my life. No doubt," Pastor Dave said, encouraging us to live with that same freshness about our salvation.

He reminded us that while we don't know what tomorrow holds—health challenges, opportunities, or resources we'll need—we can know with certainty what God has already done. "I know that He rescued me. That He picked me up and turned me around and set my feet on solid ground." Pastor Dave shared his own testimony of accepting Christ at age 12, emphasizing that even after years of walking with God, we shouldn't lose sight of how wonderful our salvation is.

One Thing I Desire: David's Heart for God's Presence

Moving to Psalm 27, Pastor Dave shared King David's declaration: "One thing I desire of the Lord, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple." This wasn't a fleeting wish but a deep, settled longing for fellowship with God. He explained that dwelling in God's house means having a personal relationship with Him—through His Word, prayer, and worship.

Using his marriage as an analogy, Pastor Dave noted that just as spouses can be married but sometimes out of fellowship, we can pull away from God through busyness and sin. David's desire was to stay close, to behold God's beauty through worship, and to inquire of Him for guidance. "Better is one day in Your house than a thousand elsewhere," He quoted from Psalm 84, encouraging us to make fellowship with God our primary goal.

One Thing I Do: Paul's Forward Focus

Finally, Pastor Dave turned to Philippians 3, where Paul—despite his impressive religious credentials—declared all his achievements as "rubbish" compared to knowing Christ. Paul's focus was singular: "One thing I do: forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Pastor Dave explained that Paul chose to forget both his religious exercises that couldn't save him and his past failures. "What Christ has forgiven you for, let it be part of your past," he urged. Even successes shouldn't hold us back from pressing forward. Like a runner reaching for the finish line, we should live every day for the ultimate reward of hearing "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Pastor Dave closed with a prayer of commitment, inviting us to entrust our lives to God's faithfulness as we enter this new year. His message left us with three clear focuses: remembering what God has done, desiring His presence above all else, and pressing forward without being held back by the past. As we left, many were reflecting on which "one thing" needed their attention in the year ahead.