TURN IT INTO PRAISE | PAUL DAUGHERTY | WORSHIP SERIES PT. 4

Summary

Podcast Summary: TURN IT INTO PRAISE | Paul Daugherty | Worship Series Pt. 4

Podcast: Victory Church: Paul Daugherty
Date: December 28, 2025

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode, the fourth in Victory Church’s worship series, is a powerful exhortation by Pastor Paul Daugherty to “Turn It Into Praise.” As the year ends, Pastor Paul encourages listeners to reflect intentionally—no matter the hardships or victories—seeing every experience as a reason to praise God. He underscores that praise is not a feeling, but a transformative choice that positions believers for victory, healing, reconciliation, and a hope-filled start to the new year.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Praise as a Choice and Act of Humility

• Scripture Foundation: Psalm 149 and Psalm 103.
• Main Point: Praise is not about feelings or circumstances; it’s a deliberate, humble act that “postures us for victory.”
• “Humility is the pathway to victory. We’ve been in a series on worship and worship is an act of humility… the glory does not go to me.” (Pastor Paul, 02:00)
• “Praise is a choice. Like, you talk to these professional athletes… Do you always feel like suiting up? No. It’s a choice to give it your best… It’s a choice to praise.” (Pastor Paul, 03:32)

2. How You End the Year Sets the Tone for the Next

• “How you finish a year is how you start the next year.” (Pastor Paul, 04:19)
• The way we process and talk about the year—focusing on complaints or choosing praise—determines the spiritual direction for what’s ahead.

3. Remembering God’s Benefits

• Our minds naturally focus on the negative—Pastor Paul challenges listeners to intentionally remember God’s faithfulness.
• “We remember the stuff we should forget, and we forget the stuff we should remember.” (Pastor Paul, 06:11)
• Action: End the year reflecting not just on what happened, but specifically on what God has done, to foster gratitude.

4. Turn Everything Into Praise—Don’t Let Struggles Go to Waste

• Powerful story of setting out all old food and leftovers for family, tying it to the idea that what isn’t turned into praise turns into waste.
• “Whatever you don’t turn into praise turns into waste. You get to the end of the year… if you carry a wounded spirit into a new year, it’s a new year, but it’s the same you.” (Pastor Paul, 07:21)
• Action: Bring every experience—good or bad—out into the open before God, and transform it through praise.

5. Praise as a Secret Weapon

• Praise not only acknowledges God’s role in our victories, but it also shifts atmospheres and defeats the enemy.
• Basketball anecdote: “The devil wants you to think you’re losing, but you need to look back at the scoreboard and go, hold up, devil. We’re winning… Jesus has already conquered death, hell, and the grave.” (08:55, 09:55)
• “Praise changes the outcome of the problem… Praise is a secret weapon.” (Pastor Paul, 14:32)

6. Benefits of Praise:

i) Rewires Your Brain & Outwits the Enemy

• Praise impacts mental, physical, and emotional health (less anxiety, better sleep, reduced pain, etc.).
• “Doctors and scientists have studied [that] praise actually leads to better health… lower blood pressure… reduce depression and anxiety in your life. That right there is just a reminder, man—I need to praise the Lord every single day because stress comes up, anxiety comes up, fear comes up, right?” (16:33)

ii) Pathway to God’s Presence

• “Praise is an open door… When I begin to praise, it opens the door to God’s mercy, God’s grace.” (17:39)

iii) Strengthens Faith

• “The only way you’re gonna have faith is when you begin to put your trust back in the Lord... When you begin to praise, it paves the way for your future.” (19:53)

iv) Positions You to Hear God’s Voice

• “Praise positions you to hear what God has to say about us.” (22:43)
• Beware of making life decisions based solely on shifting feelings; praise roots identity and direction in God’s word.

7. Reflecting Before Moving Forward

The Mary Principle:

• Before leaving for Egypt, Mary “pondered and treasured” all she had been through.
• “Look back, but don’t live back. The past is an education, not a destination.” (26:49)
• Four reflection questions to help turn the year into praise:
  • What happened to you this year?
  • What happened for you this year?
  • What happened in you this year?
  • What happened through you this year?
• Action: Audit your year, month-by-month, writing down memories and specific things God did.

8. Storytelling: Personal & Congregational Reflection

• Pastor Paul shares personal moments—moving his grandmother, overseas missions, loss, reconciliation, ministry in prisons—with each story modeling how to process both pain and victory through praise.
• God-worked-through-me testimony: Prison ministry encounter with a graduate from his parents’ Bible college.
  • “Sometimes God births vision during your deepest valley moments.” (39:29)

9. Release, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation

• Joseph’s story: Releasing grudges and interpreting pain as preparation for a bigger purpose.
• “You intended to harm me, but God used what you sent to harm me for good... God used my trouble as transportation towards my destiny.” (54:35, 55:04)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the power of praise:
  “Praise is a choice. I don’t just praise the Lord because I’m feeling it… I praise the Lord because He is worthy of praise, and praise postures me for victory.” (03:34)
• On leftovers and using life’s trials:
  “Whatever you don’t turn into praise turns into waste.” (07:21)
• On the year’s end:
  “How you finish a year is how you start the next year.” (04:19)
• On turning pain into purpose:
  “Sometimes God births vision during your deepest valley moments. Sometimes the greatest vision for your future comes from your hardest seasons.” (39:29)
• On gratitude and remembering God’s faithfulness:
  “If you live based on your feelings, you’re going to be on a roller coaster. You gotta come back to your identity as in who God says you are. This is what praise does.” (22:41)
• On praise as a weapon:
  “Praise rewires your brain and rewrites the script. Praise outwits the enemy.” (15:55)
• On forgiveness and moving forward:
  “To forgive was to set a prisoner free, and that prisoner was him… God used my trouble as transportation towards my destiny.” (54:22, 55:05)

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Notable Segment Timestamps

• Introduction & Humility in Praise – [00:00-05:45]
• Remembering God’s Goodness Amid Negatives – [06:00-08:06]
• ‘Whatever You Don’t Turn Into Praise Turns Into Waste’ Illustration – [07:21]
• Encouragement to Finish Strong and Not Waste the Year – [08:06-14:16]
• Personal Stories: Family, Loss, Reconciliation – [32:46-39:29]
• The Four Reflection Questions – [25:34-32:46]
• Benefits of Praise (Science & Scripture) – [15:55-20:43]
• Praise as Pathway into God’s Presence and Direction – [17:39, 22:43]
• Forgiveness and Joseph’s Story – [53:44-56:14]
• Group Prayer and Declaration – [56:20-57:02]

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Flow and Tone

The episode is delivered in Pastor Paul’s warm, direct, and dynamic “preaching-teaching” style. He uses humor, personal anecdotes, biblical stories, and interactive moments with the congregation (“Turn to your neighbor and say, ‘Turn it into praise’!”). The mood is uplifting and honest, blending vulnerability about pain and failures with contagious optimism rooted in Christian faith.

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Action Steps & Reflections for Listeners

• Audit the year: Month-by-month, jot down what happened to, for, in, and through you.
• Reflect and turn every experience—even disappointments and pain—into praise.
• Release unforgiveness and resentments as you move into a new year.
• Declare, as a community, gratitude for God’s faithfulness, expecting victory ahead.
• Repeat: “Blessed be the name of the Lord. Thank you that you brought me through another year. I’m finishing this year in praise, turning everything into praise.” (56:20-57:02)

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For Anyone Who Missed the Episode:
This episode is a call to deeply reflect on both the blessings and trials of the year, to “turn it into praise”—recognizing the power of gratitude and worship to reshape hearts, position for God’s presence, release healing and reconciliation, and launch into the future with expectancy.

Transcript

[Pastor Paul]

We're gonna go right into the word this morning. I want to go to Psalm 149. Come on, Jesus. Yesterday we celebrated Christmas at my father in law's house. And my sister in law made this awesome, like egg casserole. And I had been eyeing it the whole time just watching it. I was like, when is that coming out of the oven? She was like, soon, Paul, soon. Just wait. And when it came out, I was the first one to take a bite. And y', all, I shouted so loud just to embarrass her, but also. Cause it was that good.

[Worship Leader]

I was like, woo, let's go.

[Pastor Paul]

You know. And all the family came in the kitchen. They were like, what's going on? What's wrong? I was like, this is amazing. They were like, I'll have what he's having. So they all took a piece. And then they all showed up at church last night. They rarely come to All Together to our Saturday night service. They all came and sat on the front row. And the entire time they were shouting at me, woo, let's go spicy, Paul. And they were like, you know, trying to embarrass me. And I was like, this is making me preach. So this morning, if you want me to preach, better, just shout spicy or shout. Make the little loud noises. Come on. Psalm 149, verse 4. Here we go. I love this. I was reading this yesterday in our Bible reading plan, and David says this. He says, for the Lord takes delight in his people. You know, God loves you. God delights in you. God loves seeing his people gather together. God loves seeing his people live in harmony with each other, live in surrender. And then I love this right here. He crowns the humble with victory. Y' all like, humility is the pathway to victory. We've been in a series on worship and worship is an act of humility. Worship is saying it is not about me. The glory does not go to me. Like I am not a self success story. The mountaintop moments and the valley moments, all the praise goes to you. When you begin to praise and worship the Lord, you set yourself up for victory. And today, as we continue in our series on worship, I I want to title the message. Turn it into praise. Turn it into praise. I think that we are closer to victory when we begin to praise the Lord. No matter how bad the battle looks, no matter how hard the year was, when you begin to praise the Lord, you posture yourself in humility and you set yourself up for victory. David throughout the book of Psalms reminds himself, no matter what he's Going through to praise the Lord, Everybody say, turn it into praise. Psalm 103, verse 1. David says this. He says, praise the Lord. Everybody say, praise the Lord. David would always tell himself, come on, praise the Lord. He would talk to himself. Sometimes you gotta talk yourself into praise. Like, praise is not a feeling. Praise is a choice. Like, you talk to these professional athletes, and you could ask them the question. Some of these guys, they've been playing, you know, hundreds of games, and they've practiced thousands of times, and you could say, do you always feel like suiting up? Do you always feel like giving it your all? No. No. It's a choice. It's a choice to give it your best out on the sports field. It's a choice to go into work. It's a choice to praise. I don't just praise because I've got goosebumps. I don't just praise the Lord because I'm feeling it, or it's my favorite song, or I'm on a mountaintop moment or God's done some amazing. I praise the Lord because he is worthy of praise and praise postures me for victory. Praise is a springboard towards what's next. And by the way, how you finish a year is how you start the next year if you finish this year. Complaining, being pessimistic, talking about your woes and your problems and the difficulties and the circumstances, and you lost your dog and you lost your job, and you lost your house and you lost your wife and you lost your kid. All the things I'm telling you. How you end a year, you can either end the year talking about all the negative, or you can end the year in praise. And I don't know about you, but as for me and my house, we're gonna praise the Lord, right? So David had to talk somebody say, talk yourself into it. So David's talking himself into it. He's saying, praise the Lord. He's talking to his soul, right? This is David talking to himself. He's like, come on, soul. Praise the Lord. Bless the Lord. I know you don't feel like. I know you're going through hard times. And then he says, from the inmost. Because you could praise the Lord on the outside, but not be praising the Lord on the inside. Like, you could be at church, raising your hands, making sure everybody sees, all right, I'm praising the Lord. But on the inside, be complaining, being negative. I didn't get what I wanted this Christmas. I'm disappointed. I'm frustrated. Wasn't the year I thought it was. Going to be. But David said, lord, I want to praise you from the inside out. I want to praise you from my inmost being. God. I don't want to just praise you with a shallow praise. I want to praise you from the deep parts of my soul, as deep cries out to deep. And watch what he says next. In verse two, he says, praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. He tells himself again. And he says, and forget not. Everybody say, forget not. Here's what happens. We remember the stuff we should forget, and we forget the stuff we should remember. We get to the end of the year, and our memory is focused on the negative. Scientists have studied that the mind oftentimes focuses on the negative stuff versus the positive stuff. So we're remembering all the hard things. We walk through, all the bad things. We walk through all the negative things when we should be remembering, man, wait, God's been good this year. God's been faithful. God kept his word. He was with me this year. If you got breath in your lungs, you got a reason to praise. David was telling himself, hold up. Turn this year into praise. Stop turning this year into one more, you know, pile of crud of all the stuff you've walked through and turn it into praise. Everybody say, turn it into praise. So this week, I found myself doing something that my dad used to do. And I forgot that my dad used to do this. But when I sat down to write my sermon, I. I started journaling out this last month, and I was writing down some things that happened, and I was like, oh, my goodness. My dad used to do this when I was a kid. So this week we had family members come over to our house. And I was walking through our kitchen, and I was looking in the refrigerator and the freezer and the food pantry, and I just started pulling stuff out. I was like, you know what? I just want to give as much leftovers food as much food that's about to spoil. Like, if there's one day left in this milk, I'm putting the milk out there. I want as many people that come into our house to take food home with them. How many have family members that do this? They're like, just take it home. Take the leftovers, right? So I'm setting out, like, queso. We had leftover Mexican food. I'm setting out pork. Cause Luis made us some awesome pork. I'm like, I can't eat all this pork. He made us, like a massive pork thing. So I set the pork out, Luis, and I'm like, I need everybody to take a pound of pork with him. Okay. And then I'm setting out like, you know, chips and tortillas, and then there's some leftover Chinese food. Then there's some nuts and some acorns and some. And people are like, this doesn't go together. It's a smorgasbord. My dad used to do this. My dad used to set out like popcorn and chocolates and acorns and crayons. And we're like, wait, what? We're not gonna eat crayons? You know? But he was setting out as much. He just wanted to give as much stuff because he knew that if we keep this stuff, if we keep this milk that's got one day left, if we hold onto some of these leftovers that we're not really gonna eat, what happens? It goes to waste. It goes to waste. So he was like, I want to get it all off the table. I want to get it all out of the house. I want to use everything. Whatever you don't turn into praise turns into waste. You get to the end of the year, and if you don't turn something you walk through into praise, I'm talking about the hard stuff, too. Some of you all had a miscarriage this year. Some of you all walked through a divorce this year. Some of you walked through some betrayal this year with friendships. Some of you lost some people in your life. And if you get to the end of the year and you go, well, I'm just going to leave it all in the fridge and carry it into, like. If you carry a wounded spirit into a new year, it's a new year, but it's the same. You. You need to finish stronger than you started. You didn't walk into Victim Church this weekend. You walked into Victory Church this weekend. And what you need to do is you need to flip the script on the enemy. The enemy wants you finishing the year. Discouraged, deflated, depressed, defeated. All the D words, right? Like, just overwhelmed. Just like, man, it was a hard year. I'm ending the year exhausted, Paul. I just want to take a 15 hour nap. I just want to. I'm just. It's a mediocre year. It wasn't a terrible year. It wasn't a great. It was just a middle year. You need to finish with a shout of praise. You need to remember God's been good this year.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Praise the Lord.

[Pastor Paul]

Oh, my soul. Forget not all of his benefits. So David continues on. I want to go to Psalm 30. Because throughout Psalms, David reminds himself, don't let this year go to waste. Don't let these hard times go to waste. He says, I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out.

[Worship Leader]

How many?

[Pastor Paul]

All got lifted out of some troubles this year. He says, you lifted me out of the depths. You didn't let my enemies gloat over me. You pulled me out of the pit he keeps. I want to go to verse two. Lord, my God, I called you for help, and you healed me. How many? All got some healing this year. How about healing in the mind? You got free from some anxiety, some like, broken hearts areas, some places in your life. Lord, you brought me up from the realm of the dead. David was like, I felt dead this year. There were moments where I felt like I was just done. And you spared me from going down to the pit. Some of you should have died this year, but you're still breathing. You need to remind the devil he didn't win this year. Come on. God pulled you out of some stuff that the enemy. I remember we were playing a basketball when I was in high school, and I was part of our varsity basketball team. I played with a guy named Kalina Azabuki who went on to play in the NBA. That's like, my claim to fame with my kids. I'm like, I played for the NBA. They're like, you didn't play for the NBA. You played with a guy who played in the NBA. I'm like, same thing. We had NBA scouts coming to our varsity basketball games, trying to recruit Kalena straight from high school to go to the New Jersey Nets, right? He ended up going to Kentucky and started there, did well, and then went to the NBA. But I remember one game we were playing Nathan Hale. Come on. Tony, who cuts my hair, he went to Nathan Hale. Come on. And so we were playing Nathan Hale. And y', all, we were winning. We were winning. And our fans, they were getting hyped up. They had this cheer, this chant they had worked on for a while, and they start cheering, you know, victory, yes. Hell, no. Victory, yes. And our superintendent runs over there. He's like, you guys are all expelled. You guys are all getting kicked out of the school. Stop this chant right now. And so they were like, okay, all right. So we love Hale, you know, I love Tony. Will cuts my hair. Come on. He's a graduate from Hale. Okay. But the point is, we got quiet. We got quiet. We stopped cheering because we didn't know what to do. Our principal threatened that he was going to kick us out of school if we kept cheering like this. So our stands kind of Got quiet. We didn't know what to cheer. And even though our team was winning, all of a sudden, Hale started dunking the ball on us, started hitting threes. And then it gets to the fourth quarter, and we were just quiet. And it was almost like, man, it was discouraging. It was sad. And I noticed something. I look up at the scoreboard. There's two minutes left, and we are winning this game. By the way, the scoreboard tells you who's really going to win at the end of the game. And if you're up by 20 and there's two minutes left, there's really not a chance the other team's gonna come back and hit 20 points in two minutes. And I start thinking about it, I'm like, hold up, guys. Like, we're acting like we lost this game, and we're actually about to win this game. But we lost our voice because, you know, we got threatened by our principal not to keep chanting, victory, yes, hail, no. But in that moment, it was like, we need to shift our. We need to shift the atmosphere. So all of a sudden, we started cheering. Scoreboard. Scoreboard. Because hail was getting loud. They were trying to make it look like they were going to win. Y', all, we won that game. Here's what I thought about with that story. Some of you are getting to the end of the year, and the devil wants you to think you're losing. But you need to look back at that scoreboard and go, hold up, devil. Hold up, devil. We're winning like Jesus. Jesus has already conquered death, hell, and the grave. You got breath. You need to shout, scoreboard. You need to turn this year into praise, and don't let this year end in a place of defeat and discouragement. So David starts telling himself. He's like, sing praises to the Lord. Come on, soul, sing. See, I want you to take 10 seconds to take a praise break right now. Give thanks to the Lord. Come on. You may not be used to this.

[Congregation/Church Members]

This may not be your church.

[Worship Leader]

Come on.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Sing praises to the Lord. Praise his holy name. David keeps on going.

[Pastor Paul]

He just keeps telling himself he's.

[Worship Leader]

Come on.

[Pastor Paul]

He's like, praise the Lord. His anger lasts for a moment, but his favor lasts for a lifetime. As a dad of five kids, there's moments where I have to discipline them, right? There's moments when I was younger where I was disciplined. I was corrected by my dad. And parents who love their children, they discipline their children. But I'm so thankful that the discipline that God does in my life, the correction, it doesn't last forever. It's a moment. But his favor lasts for a lifetime. Friends, you might have walked through some seasons of discipline and correction and consequences for your mistakes, but aren't you thankful for the mercy and the favor and the goodness and the. You're doing better than you deserve to be doing. He says weeping may last for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. This last week, we celebrated my mom's birthday, and her favorite restaurant is Red Lobster. How about those cheesy rolls at Red Lobster? So we were sitting in Red Lobster, and we were just pounding these cheesy rolls, right? And I go, mom, did you know all your songs are on itunes on Apple Music? I said, like, literally, someone put all your songs from the 80s and the 90s, early 2000s, because I was wanting to post a birthday celebration on my mom. Can we just cheer on Pastor Sharon Daugherty on the front row? She's amazing. And so I looked up one of her songs, and one of her songs is literally what I'm preaching on this morning. She had a song called Turn it Around. Turn it around. Don't let the devil get you down. You gotta turn it around. Turn it around. You can turn your troubles around. You gotta turn it around. Turn it around. Don't let the devil get you down. You gotta turn it around. Turn it around. Turn your troubles around.

[Worship Leader]

Come on.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Give it up for Pastor Sharon Daugherty. Everybody say, turn it around. See, some of us are finishing this.

[Pastor Paul]

Year, and we're like, man, it was a hard year. It was a sad year. It was a mediocre year. It was a mid year. No, no, no. This was a good year.

[Congregation/Church Members]

God's mercy and grace followed you this year. Take five seconds, one more time. Give praise to God. Turn it into praise. Turn it into praise.

[Pastor Paul]

I want to skip down to the end of Psalm 30 because. Go to verse 10. Go to verse 10. He says, Lord, be merciful to me. Lord, be my help. David was telling himself, it's in God that I cry out to him and I praise him. He says, you turned my wailing into dancing. You removed my sackcloth. You clothed me with joy. David learned how to praise God before his problems got better, because he understood praise was the secret weapon. Praise changes the outcome of the problem. David said, I'm going to praise you when I'm in the valley, and I'm going to praise you on the mountaintop. I'm going to praise you on a banner year, and I'm going to praise you on a battle year.

[Worship Leader]

How many?

[Pastor Paul]

You had a battle year this year. Like it wasn't a banner year. It was like, I just, I'm grateful I survived this year. If that's you, just raise your hand. Yeah. How many had a banner year? You were like, honestly, it was really good. Mountaintop moments. Guess what? Both years are years to give praise to God. Both kinds of years. Whether you found yourself on the mountaintop because you're not a self made success story, friends. You didn't put that breath in your lungs. God did. You didn't put your body together, God did. He deserves the glory. You're not. Like, it doesn't all rest on you. You don't hold the whole world in your hands. God does. So if you had a successful year, you should give glory to God this year. If you had a hard year this year, if you lost some stuff, if you battled through and you barely made it, give glory to God because he brought you through that Red Sea, he.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Brought you through that Jordan River. He took down Jericho.

[Worship Leader]

He.

[Congregation/Church Members]

He helped you get through this.

[Pastor Paul]

You know what David did? He says, my heart is gonna sing your praises. I don't wanna be silent. I don't want the rocks to cry out like, I don't want God. I want you to know that I'm giving you praise no matter what I go through. David had a journal that he would put on his staff. In the Old Testament, characters in the Bible, they would actually write down the miracles that God did on a staff. And so they would carry that staff around. That wooden staff actually had dates, you know, like it would say like I guess 1500 BC or something like that. It would have a date and it would have like a name of that miracle. Jordan river or Goliath or Escaping Saul's spears, right? And David would carry that staff around and that staff was a reminder. God brought me through some bad stuff in my past. God's going to bring me through whatever's in front of me and he's with me right now. That staff was a reminder. No matter what I go through, I can turn it into praise no matter what. And that praise was a reminder. God will be faithful. I want to give you some benefits of praise. Praise rewires your brain and rewrites the script. Praise outwits the enemy. The enemy wants you. Finishing discouraged and defeated. But when you turn it into praise, the devil doesn't know what to do with it. He's like, hold up, wait a minute. You figured out that the scoreboard is you're winning, right? I read a book a long time ago called Hallelujah. Anyway, and the point of the book was, no matter what I walk through, Habakkuk says, whether there's cattle in the stalls or whether I have it all my way or whether I had a harvest year, I will bless the Lord. Job said, I will praise the Lord. Naked I came into this earth. Naked I shall leave this earth. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Right? And these guys in the Bible, they had this revelation that was. Praise is their weapon against discouragement. Here's some surprising benefits about praise. Doctors and scientists have studied praise actually leads to better health. Better, like, reduced symptoms of physical pain, more exercise, better sleep. Come on. Better sleep, lower levels of inflammation, lower blood pressure, and a host of other benefits to your body. Praise and worship actually leads to increased happiness and reduce depression and anxiety in your life. That. That right there is just a reminder, man. Like, I need to praise the Lord every single day because stress comes up, anxiety comes up, fear comes up, right? There's all kinds of reasons to stay awake through the night. But when you begin to thank the Lord, when you begin to praise the Lord, Paul, I don't always feel like it. Good. You don't have to feel like it. That's like, that's the sacrifice of praise when you don't feel like it and you choose to do it. I was talking to a guy this during the series, and he said, paul, I feel like I've made some mistakes this year. Like, I did some really terrible things. Like, I really sinned in 2025. 2025 was like one of my most sinful years, right? And he said, I just sometimes don't even feel worthy to come to church. I don't even feel worthy to lift my dirty hands because I went back to things that I said I would never go back to. And I said, that's the most important time to lift your hands. Because when you feel dirty, the way that you're going to get pure is not by staying out of his presence, it's by coming into his presence. Can I tell you three benefits of praise? Praise number one. Praise is a pathway into God's presence. Praise is a pathway. We talked about this in the series, that praise opens the door to the presence of God. I came walking through that door over there, right? And when I walked in, I was talking about how praise is an open door. My daughters, they love the movie Frozen, so we listen to the soundtrack often. And there's this one song where it's like, love is an open door. How many Y' all know that song Love Isn't Open? And I'm like, praise is an open door. Praise is an like. When I begin to praise, it opens the door to God's mercy, God's grace. If you're feeling guilty at the end of this year, if you're feeling regretful, if you're feeling ashamed of yourself, you didn't accomplish all your goals. You went back to bad habits. You did some stuff you shouldn't have done. Finish the year in praise. Praise is what's gonna purify your heart and it's going to be a springboard into the next year. Number two, praise strengthens your faith. If you're feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, like, doubtful, like Paul, I'm facing some big stuff in 2026. I'm up against some giants. There's some lawyers, there's some legal battles. There's some things the only, like there's some diagnosis, there's some doctors, things like, I don't know how I'm gonna make it. The only way you're gonna have faith is when you begin to put your trust back in the Lord. When Jehoshaphat was facing armies that were bigger than him, stronger than him, against had more men than his army, what did he do? He began to praise the Lord. As he praised the Lord, God actually turned the enemy armies against themselves. So when Jehoshaphat walked into the future, he walked into conquered territory. When you begin to praise, it paves the way for your future. It builds up faith. Number three, praise positions us to hear God's voice. Now, this is really important. How many y' all need direction on some decisions in your life? How many of y' all want to make the right decision when it comes to who you marry, what job you work at, what state you live in, what you do with your life? Like how many y' all want to be in God's will for your life? I hope that's most of us in this room. Can I tell you, praise positions you to hear God's voice. I remember my freshman year of college. I had just finished the first semester and I was like, I'm quitting college. I hate college. I hate school. God's will for me is to quit school. I think I hadn't even prayed, I hadn't even fasted, and I absolutely had not brought it to God in worship and praise. I was just feeling it. Be careful. Making life altering decisions based on your feelings. Your feelings lie to you. I have to remind our kids, just because you feel sometimes a certain way doesn't mean that's true about you. We're living in a time, in a generation, where we are worshiping feelings. So we're telling people society has tried to dismiss truth from God's word. And they're like, well, if you feel like a girl, even though you were born a boy, you just go with your feelings. If you feel like a boy and even though you were born as a girl, can I tell you, you are who God made you to be. You are not who you feel like. You are who God created. He doesn't make accidents. He made you on purpose, for a purpose. We're living in society where people want to just bow down to feelings and let feelings be the compass for moral absolutes. We got to get back to the word of God. So when I come into his presence, when I begin to praise, I find my identity, y'. All. There's weeks where I feel unworthy, inadequate. There's weeks where I walk off the stage and I'm like, I'm only as good as my last best sermon. And my last best sermon hasn't been for a while. And I'm like, maybe it wasn't that great. Not as many people got saved. And I start measuring myself based on my feelings or. Or based on my thought bubbles that I draw above your heads. You're like, paul, we love you. But sometimes in my mind, I'm like, they hate me. They're tired of me. They're bored with me. How many all draw thought bubbles above people's heads? Sometimes you assume the worst about people's thoughts towards you. And this is what the enemy does. He messes with your mind. I wrote a whole book about this called Mind Games, right? The only way I get out of my head and overcome the thought bubbles and stop living based on my feelings is when I come into the presence of God and say, God, I am who you say I am. My value is what you say it is. I am a child of God. I am made in the image of God. My value is not based on my performance. My value is not based on what people say about me. My value is based on what Jesus paid for on the cross at Calvary. I am priceless. I am made in the image of God. Therefore I will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord. Friends, if you live based on your feelings, you're going to be on a roller coaster. Coaster. It'll lead you to a bridge where you just want to jump. You got to come back to your identity, as in who God says you Are. This is what praise does. Praise positions us. To hear what God has to say about us, go to Matthew 2, verse 12. And I want the keys to come out. Matthew 2:12. God is leading the wise men to Jesus, and he's led them by a star. And they get to Jesus and they bring their gifts to them. And they're thanking Mary and Joseph and Jesus and they're giving praise to God. And then God tells them, in a dream, don't go back the way you came. Look at this right here. Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. They returned to their country by another route. They went out different than the way they came in. They came to Jesus one way, but they left another way. They came to Jesus searching for hope. Once they found that hope, they left by a different route. And I felt the Lord telling me to tell you guys this weekend, go out different than the way you came in. If you came into 2025 discouraged, go out encouraged. If you came into 2025 hopeless, go out filled with hope. If you came into 2025 barely given praise to God, go out this year giving all the praise to God. If you came into this year feeling sick, go out this year feeling healed, go out this year declaring by faith, he is your healer, he's your provider. If you came into into this year not following Jesus fully, go out this year following Jesus with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all your strength. As these wise men left, they left different than the way they came. Go out this year different than the way you came in. Change the way you're leaving this year. Because how you leave a year is how you start the next year. How you finish somewhere is how you begin in the next season. So Mary understood this. She saw all of these things happening. And watch what happens. Go to Luke 2, verse 19. Mary sees the shepherds show up. Mary sees the wise men show up. Mary gets the dream from Joseph. And God tells Joseph, in a dream, don't stay in Israel. Leave and go to Egypt. This is crazy, y'.

[Worship Leader]

All.

[Pastor Paul]

In one season, Egypt was the country that God was trying to get the Israelites out of. In another season, Egypt was the country that God wanted his Israelites to run to. In one season, Egypt was the place he wanted to deliver them from. In another season, Egypt was the hiding place for his son. Never write a place off. Never write a person off. Never burn a bridge. You never know what God's going to do down the Road. Sometimes we're in such a hurry to, like, dismiss a place, dismiss a group of people, cut them off. But I felt like in this moment, you know, Mary's having this moment where she's like, we're getting ready to go to Egypt. It's a new country. It's a new season, a new year, a new chapter. And here's what she does before she leaves. She begins to treasure all that she's walked through. She begins to ponder. Everybody say ponder. Ponder means to reflect. Reflect means to audit. It means to go back in your mind over the year. It means to look back over what's just happened. So Mary's treasuring, and she's pondering, and she's reflecting, and she's moving, meditating, and she's ruminating. And what Mary's doing here is what we all need to do. Because sometimes we get to the end of the year and we're in such a hurry, we're like, all right, let's go forward. Let's go forward. Let's go. Come on. Let's go. Let's go, let's go. And we have such a hard time looking back. Because looking back feels either regretful or it feels like we're Uncle Rico on Napoleon Dynamite. We're just living in the glory days. Used to throw a pig skin quarter of a mile. You know, 10 of us in the room saw Napoleon Dynamite. I gotta remind myself, this is a new generation here, okay? Uncle Rico just lived in the past. I'm not talking about living in the past. I'm talking about learning from the past. I'm not talking about, like, thinking that the past was the glory days. Like, Mary wasn't pondering these things. Like, oh, I'm gonna miss how it was for my small little family. And when Joseph and I were on a donkey traveling 70 miles to Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus. Mary wasn't in this. In this. Like, looking back, there's two ways to look back. You either look back with gratitude and recognize that the past is an education. It's not a destination. Like the memory. Memory is such a powerful thing because memory can pull you back. All it takes is one song to pull you back to your high school days. I go back, I start thinking about those songs. I start thinking about those moments. Start thinking about when Ashton and I went to prom together my senior year of high school. Start thinking about my basketball days, right? There's two ways to look back. You either look back and you go, man, the past had some great memories, some great moments. I can learn from that. Or you're like Lot's wife. And Jesus said in the New Testament, remember Lot's wife, she looked back and she carried this sense of regret and this sense of, like, longing, like, romanticizing the past. Like, ah, I can't let go of where I came from. If you are so attached to where you came from, you'll never grab hold of where God's taking you. If you're addicted to your history, you'll never get set up for your destiny. So I'm saying, look back, but don't live back. Look back. This is what Mary did. She looked back and she pondered and she reflected. And I want to give you four ways to reflect. I think as we come to the end of the year, this will help you give thanks to God intentionally. Like I said, I think God wants us to thank him for what he's done specifically. And not just a general praise the Lord, but praise the Lord specifically for some things he's done in your life. Number one, what happened to you this year? I'm gonna give you four categories to reflect. And this is for you. This isn't for me. You're not turning your notes into me. Note takers are history makers, world changers. This is for you. This is to help you audit your year. You're looking back on this year, and so often we're in a hurry to run into the next year. But how you finish this year is how you start the next year. I want you to just write down what happened to you this year, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And then number two, what happened for you this year? And I think you'll be surprised that some of the things that happened to you were actually for you, even some of the bad things that happened to you. God goes, I use that for your benefit, for you to get set free from some relationships that were going to be toxic if you held on to those. I know you lost that job. That job loss happened to you, but it also happened for you because that job loss set you up for a better job. I know that guy broke up with you, and I know that was painful. You got broken up with. That happened to you. But that also happened for you because you don't know the disaster that was gonna happen if you stayed connected in that relationship. Number three, what happened in you? Now, this is an interesting one. I think this is maybe the most important one. This is the one that I think God wants us to really verbalize to him. When I say turn it into praise, I'm Saying you need to give thanks to God that he did some spiritual surgery in your heart this year. For some of you, God removed some deep insecurities. For some of you, God has been working on your identity. You're finally starting to see yourself the way he sees you. You no longer live with these feelings of, I'm not worthy, I'm not pretty, I'm not handsome, I'm not good enough. I'm not strong enough. You're finally starting to have some spiritual growth in your life and give thanks to God that he used 2025 to do a deep work in your soul. It may not have been a banner year financially, but it was a banner year spiritually. And that, my friends, is so much better than making a ton of money, but still having a poor self image. I'd rather have God do a deep work in my spirit, in my soul. Have a banner year spiritually, then just have a banner year superficially. Number four, not only did God do something to you and for you and in you. What did God do through you this year? Now, this is like, I do this. Ashley and I will sit down at the. We started doing this a couple years ago where we will, at the end of the year, have a dinner, and we'll just kind of reflect on January through December. And if you're taking notes, I just want you to write this down on your notes. January through December, I'm almost done. But this is going to really help you. I think this will help you finish your year Faith. And I think it will help you finish your year in Victory, because how you finish is how you start. So we'll sit down and we'll start talking. What happened to us this year? What do we walk through? We'll start with January. And if you don't know how to spell January, just ask the person next year, how do I spell January? Someone in the room knows. You know, I'm writing down these months. I'm like, what happened? Okay, here's what I do. I go back January 2025. Man, it feels like 10, 10 years ago. It was 11 and a half months ago. Bill Johnson was preaching. We were in this room. It was Victory Conference, and people were getting healed. How many? All were here during Victory Conference in January of this year. All right, y', all, those of you that weren't here, you gotta show up for January Victory Conference this next year. It's gonna be so good. And Bill Johnson's coming back and Keith Moore is going to preach here. He hasn't preached here in, like, 12 years. I'm so excited for that. And Robert Madue, it's gonna be powerful, okay? But I was sitting here and I get this vision of prison ministry, and I was like, I start talking to Daniel. I'm like, I think we're supposed to do crusades like we do in overseas missions fields in our own state, at prisons. And he was like, awesome, let's talk with Pedro. Let's start talking to, you know, what we can do. And that vision started stirring. The week after conference, I get a phone call from my Uncle Jack. He says, paul, I gotta move your grand grand to Texarkana. She's starting to get to this stage where she really just needs to retire. She's 101 years old. Can you let her retire? I'm like, yes, sir, she can retire. She was like, paul, I don't want to retire. I want to keep working for you. I said, grand, grand, you should do what Uncle Jack's asking to do. He's your son. And she was like, all right. I think he's right. She said, I just want you to know I'm going to keep working for you down there in Texas. I'm going to keep calling people. How many all ever got a phone call from Gran Gran in this church, Right?

[Worship Leader]

Right.

[Pastor Paul]

And so I'm reflecting on this, right? That's the last week of January. So I go over to her house first week of February. I'm helping her move out of her house. I'm sitting with Gran Gran. It's me and Ashley and Grand grand and Uncle Jack. And we're moving stuff. And she grabs my hand, she says, paul, I just want you to know it's been an honor serving you my grandson. And I'm like, crying. I'm like, I can't believe that my grand gran, who's worked with me now since I was a baby working in this church, is finally moving. And then three weeks later, she passed in into eternity. So I'm on a missions trip in, in March, and we're in Belize, and it's Ashley and me and. And Ellie and Gianna and Benny and Mac and Liam. And we're all there, and I'm getting ready to preach this crusade. And I get a text message. I'm on this stage, and we're in front of thousands of people in Belize, and I'm showing my kids. I'm like, hey, guys, I just want you to know the fruit you're seeing, the harvest you're seeing in Belize is because of the generosity and the seeds that have Been sown from our church and your grandpa who you never got to meet. My dad, Papa Joe, and my mom, Pastor Sharon. And then I get this text. Grand grand just stepped into eternity. I get up and do the altar call. And it was a sad night because I was like, man, I know she lived a long life, and I'm happy for her, but I really enjoyed having Gran Gran in my life. She was a rock. So I'm writing down in my praise journal. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord for his faithfulness, y'.

[Worship Leader]

All.

[Pastor Paul]

We left that mission strip. Ashly and I, we loaded the kids up, we drove in a car. Well, we flew back to the United States. Then we drove from Dallas to Magnolia, Arkansas, to my Grand Grand's funeral. And I was thinking about what happened to me and what happened for me, what happened in me and what happened through me this year. And when I was at Grand Grand's funeral, little did I know that God was setting up a year of reconciliation. I walked into that small, little Baptist church in Magnolia, Arkansas, with 30 people in the room, and I saw people I had not seen seen in years. And I was shocked at first, and I was taken back because some of these people, I wasn't sure where I stood with them. What happened to me this year? I'm writing this down in my praise journal. These people come up to me and they hug me and they go, paul, we love you. You're a good man. I go, I'm trying to be. I go, no, you are. You're a good pastor. Hearing those words from those people. God was doing something in me this year. God was doing something for me this year. God was using some things that happened to me to do a whole lot of things through me. It's like all four of these things were happening in that moment. I left that. That funeral. And the next month, it's April, we had a windstorm, because in Oklahoma, the wind comes sweeping down the plains, and it was gone with the wind. Our trampoline just went with the wind. Our neighbor goes, I saw your trampoline. It flew like a flying sauce. He's from Mexico. He has this awesome accent, like, flying saucer over there. And he just flew. I don't know where it is. It's gone. I was like, man, that happened to me this year. Lost my trampoline. But you know what else the wind brought in? Because you start, like, memory's a powerful thing. You start thinking, well, we had a miscarriage this year, and I walked through this and lost that and lost my job. And my family's all upset with. With each other, and we got some drama going on in the house. You know, you start. You need to focus on the good stuff. So I started thinking, what else did the wind do this year? The wind brought in a new youth pastor, Joseph Kellogg. It was like the wind just blew in a new family that joined our church. And he came in the end of May. I get a phone call from Joseph. He says, hey, do you got room on staff at Victor? I said, we just happen to have an open position in our youth department. He said, I. I'd be honored to come and work with you. And his family came here, and the wind brought in another person, Virginia, who leads worship on stage. She started working for Victory this year. And I started thinking about how God used certain things this year as he was shifting things. And can I tell you, God has good things on both sides of transitions. When someone leaves, God has something good for them, but God also has something good for the group that's waiting for what God has next. And I was watching, I was counting, I was thinking through this. And then I started thinking about moments where God reconciled me with different people this year. And I was like, wow, this was a real reconciliation, reconciling year. And I'm just adding it all up, and I'm like, praise the Lord. And then the enemy starts to stir up something painful. Yeah, there was something painful I walked through this year that happened to me. And then I'm reminded, like, David, but blessed be the name of the Lord. God used even the pain to do something for me. God used even the problem to do something in me. God used the pressure of that situation and the financially tight, tight season to do something in me, to produce faith in me. And it was during that time that we started doing our prison outreaches, and God started doing something through me. And so I, I, I was at this one prison outreach. We were at a prison, and the field was packed, and there was, like, a thousand inmates all around us, and there wasn't many security guards. And the warden walks over and he goes, you know, we're the number one stabbing prison in the state. I was like, thank you for adding more fear and worry to this moment. I was like, are we gonna be okay? He goes, I think so. I go, where are all the guards at? He goes, they're taking a lunch break right now. I'm like, we're all. We're like sitting ducks about to get stabbed or shanked by somebody here. And this guy runs up to me with the Bible. And I'm thinking, he's got a knife inside the Bible. And he says, pastor, pastor, I gotta show you this. This man was in his late 60s. He opens his Bible and he shows me on the front of the Bible. It's got my parents name. It says Billy Joe and Sharon Daugherty. And he said, you, mom and dad reached me in prison 34 years ago. I graduated from Victory Bible College in prison. And he said, I always wanted to thank your dad and mom, and I never got to thank them. And I heard your dad died of cancer like 15 years ago. And then I found out that you, the son, were coming to our prison this year. And I couldn't wait to come and find you. And I'm sorry, I'm so excited, but I just had to tell you, thank you for your church caring about the prisoners. Thank you for, for letting your church.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Do something through you, that God used your church.

[Pastor Paul]

If you gave a dime this year, God did something through you this year. And I know you know this, but I just want to remind you, God did way more through you than you realize. Like, if you could add up that video, take that victory highlight video and just add it to your year. Because if you've been a part of this church, God did so much through you. 300,000 people got saved through your generosity, your. Your compassion, your commitment to this community, you showing up, praying for people, ministering to people, praying for people that are walking through hard times. And that guy looks at me and he says, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for letting God's love flow through you. And in my mind I'm like, I never would have got involved in prison ministry had I not walked through one of the most humbling, painful seasons of my life. Because sometimes God births vision during your deepest valley moments. Sometimes the greatest vision for your future comes from your hardest seasons. And you start thinking about people that are walking through hard things. And you go, God, I never would have thought about helping people like that had I not walked through something like this. And I want to tell you today, God is going to use everything. Don't waste anything. Pull it all out of the fridge, Pull it all out of the food pantry. Get it all out on the table. Finish this year pulling everything out, saying, God, I want to give you praise. I want to give you praise for what you did in January. I want to give you praise for what you did in February. I want to give you praise for what you did in March. I want to give you praise even for the hard Thing I want. If you had a banner year or a battle year, I want you to stand to your feet. If you had an easy year or a hard year, I want you to.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Stand to your feet. If you had a testing year or you had a victorious, I want you to stand your feet. I want you to just give praise to God. Finish the this year with praise. Finish this year with worship. Finish this year with Thanksgiving. Finish this year saying, thank you, Jesus. Scoreboard. You're winning church. You got the victory. You are not defeated. You are not deflated. You are not overwhelmed. God is for you. He is with you. He is in you. And the same God that brought you.

[Pastor Paul]

Through the red sea of 2025 is going to bring you through the red Sea of 2026. That same power, the same promises, the same love, the same compassion, the same kindness. God says, I'm going with you. I'm going before you. You know, praise paves the way for what's ahead. Jehoshaphat, when he began to praise the Lord, it's like God went before him and behind him. This year, as you begin to praise, as you finish this year, praise. You're trading your failures this year for God's faith. That's what David did. He says, I want to cash in. I'm coming to the end of the year. And he says, God, I just want. I want to. I want to repent of my sins, and I want to trade my failures for your mercy. I want to trade my guilt for your grace. I want to trade my regrets for your restoration. I want to trade where I could have done better, where I could have accomplished more goals, where I could have made things happen. I could have wrote more books and read more books, and I could have accomplished more things. But, God, I'm just thankful I survived this year. I'm just thankful. By your mercy and grace, I'm still standing, I'm still breathing. And the devil is defeated. And the devil is a liar. I remember one night Aston I. We were having a sad night. It was a Saturday night service, and we just finished service, and it was a really rough service. Like, my sermon was really bad and people left and it was a low night and it was cold and it was wintry and it was discouraging. And we went home. And I just start telling Ashley all of my woes. I'm like, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad. I'm naming all these things. And she's like, yeah, you know, misery loves company. She's like, okay. She's kind of talking about some sad, and she goes, hold on. Wait a minute. We need to turn this pity party into a praise party. We need to stop sitting here complaining about who left, who's not with us, what didn't work out, what you could have said better, what you could have preached better. We need to turn this pity party. We need to turn this victim mentality. Like, you didn't come into victim church. You came into victory Church. You didn't come into pity party church. You came into a praise party. We're ending the year in praise.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Come on. We're not mailing it in. We're not doing an online stuff. This is life here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, finishing the year in praise. You didn't show up today to just have a pity party. And a woe is me, and I'm so sad and I'm gonna complain.

[Pastor Paul]

No, you came today to say, God, blessed be the name of the Lord, thank you that you brought me through another year. I want us just to bow our heads and close our eyes. When we began to praise that night, the atmosphere shifted. When we began to sing to the Lord, when we begin to talk ourselves into worship, talk ourselves out of that mindset of pity party into a place of praise, not only did our attitudes get better, our confidence got stronger, our faith got stronger. We started getting vision and excitement for what was next. We started getting ideas and strategies for what God wanted to do. Praise starts to change and rewire the brain. It starts to change what the story looks like. So I just pray right now for a revelation of praise in the room. I pray God for the man, the woman, the boy, the girl, the college student that just needs to have that reminder right now. Turn it into praise. Turn this year into praise. Turn the hard things you walk through into praise. Turn the difficult things, turn the tests that you turn the loss into praise. Turn the mountaintops into praise. If you had a successful year, take every trophy, take every crown, lay it at the feet of Jesus, give it back to the one who gave you the breath in those lungs. If you're here right now with heads bowed and eyes closed and you just need to surrender some things to God, this year has been a tough year. And you want to finish this year in faith and in surrender and in worship and praise. If that's you, I want you to raise your hand all over this room if this year has been a good year. But you're saying, I want to go into next year with greater hope and greater faith. Praise is a springboard if that's you, I want you to raise your hand. I want to pray for everyone in the room that just goes, man. I want to finish this year in humility because God crowns the humble with victory. I want to finish this year in a posture of giving all the glory to God. If you raised your hand or you wanted to raise your hand, I want you to leave your seat, meet me at the altar. This is a great weekend to come down to the altar. We're just going to praise the Lord for the next five to 10 minutes. We're just going to give him all the glory, all the praise.

[Congregation/Church Members]

And I believe there's miracles in the room today.

[Pastor Paul]

I believe there's healing. I believe those that are watching online, God has something for you too. Let's just begin to worship the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

[Worship Leader]

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord forever.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Bless his holy name.

[Worship Leader]

Bless his name. Let all within sing Praise the Lord forever.

[Congregation/Church Members]

If you need to surrender this morning, come down to the altar if you need to repent of sin Come down to the altar if you need to cast your cares on the Lord. Come down to the altar if you need to bring your trophies to the Lord. Come down to the altar if you need healing, come down to the altar if you need a breakthrough, bring it to the altar. Bless his name.

[Worship Leader]

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord forever. We'll praise the Lord, Lord. Oh, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord forever.

[Pastor Paul]

He's with you.

[Congregation/Church Members]

He's for you. He's in you. He's your comforter. He's your healer he's your sav. He's the redeemer.

[Worship Leader]

Praise forever. Forever worthy. You are worthy. You are worthy. You will be forever worthy. You are worthy. You are worthy. You will be forever. Worthy. You are worthy. You will be forever worthy. Worthy, you worthy worthy, you are worthy. You will be forever. Worthy. You are worthy. You will be forever worthy. You are worthy. You are worthy. You will be forever. Worthy. You are worthy. You are worthy. You will be forever in all the earth we'll shout your praise in our hearts will cry these bones will sing great are you lo. And all the earth will shout your praise and our hearts will cry these bones will sing great are you. And our hearts will cry, these bones will sing great. Halleluj. You are and it's your breath in arms so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise yes, it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise to you holy. It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise. We pour out our praise. It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise to you. Holy. Great are you, Lord. Great are you losing Jesus?

[Pastor Paul]

Think about what God did for you this year. Think about what God did in you this year. Think about what God did to you this year. Think about what God was doing through you this year. As you reflect on his faithfulness, as you reflect on his goodness, as you reflect on his mercy, as you reflect on his compassion, let it build faith before this next year begins that his character is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And he's just saying over you, I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm on your side. I'm for you. I'm not against you. God says even the hard things you walk through. I'm not saying that God sent bad stuff. I'm saying God used the bad stuff you walked through. He turned what the enemy meant for evil. He turned it into good. Thank you, jesus. Cause you turn what the enemy meant for evil. And you turn it for good. You turn it for good. You take what the enemy meant for you.

[Worship Leader]

You take what the enemy meant for evil. And you turn it for good. And you turn it for good.

[Pastor Paul]

He brought you out of some stuff for your good.

[Worship Leader]

You take what the enemy meant for evil. And you turn it for good. You turn it for good. Oh, you take. You take what the enemy meant for evil. And you turn it for God. Good. You turn me for good.

[Pastor Paul]

I'm going to see a victory.

[Worship Leader]

I'm going to see a victory for the battle belong to you. And I'm going to see a victory. I'm going to see the victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see.

[Pastor Paul]

You know, as we were just worshiping during this altar, I was thinking about how some of you walked through some pain this year and maybe even hurts from people, family members. And I love how at the end of Genesis, the very last chapter, last few verses, it's all about reconciliation with a family. And I think God is. He's not finished reconciling some families right now. How many are believing for reconciliation in your family? Some restoration in relationships. So there's this moment where Joseph's brothers saw that their father had died, Jacob. And they said, what if Joseph holds a grudge against us? What if Joseph gets revenge? What if he pays us back for all the wrongs that we've done to him. So they sent word to Joseph, a message saying, your father left these instructions. They're literally lying to Joseph, saying, dad told us to tell you to forgive us. Joseph's like, stop. You don't have to lie to get my forgiveness. Joseph had a revelation that to forgive was to set a prisoner free, and that prisoner was him. Joseph knew that holding grudges going into a new year was only going to hold him back. So he had to release it. Praise is like opening the valve up when the. When the boiling water is like just. It just releases the steam. I think you're releasing some steam this year. You're releasing some stings this year. You're releasing what the wounds could be like if you held onto them. Joseph looks at him, he says, listen, don't be afraid. I'm not God and I don't try to be God. He says, you intended to harm me, but God used what you sent to harm me for good. God turned the thing that happened to me for me. God used my trouble as transportation towards my destiny. God sent what? Like what you did to me? God used for me. You hear what I'm saying? Some people did some stuff to you, but God is going to use it for your good. God used it for good to accomplish.

[Congregation/Church Members]

What is now being done, to save many lives. So that through me, more people will have provision and I will provide for.

[Pastor Paul]

You and your children.

[Worship Leader]

Children.

[Pastor Paul]

Some of you walk through some stuff this year and you still don't know what the purpose of it was for. And you may not know for a few years, but one day I think you'll be in this place where you'll look back and you go, that's why I walk through that. That's why God let me walk through that test. Because on the other side of that, God had people he wanted me to bless, people he wanted me to minister to, people he wanted me to serve. God wanted to do something through me. And in order to do something through me, he allowed some things to happen to me. But it was for me, so he could do something in me, so that one day he would do something through me.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Come on, it all works together. Turn it all into praise. All right, let's say this together. Just pray this with me.

[Pastor Paul]

Say, jesus, thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for another year. Lord, I give you the praise you deserve. All the glory. I'm finishing this year in praise, turning everything into praise. You've been faithful. You are good God, and I trust in you. I repent of my sin and I receive your forgiveness. And I confess you as my Lord and Savior. And I believe that my best days are right in front of me. And I have victory in my life because Jesus lives in me. Come on.

[Congregation/Church Members]

God bless you.

[Pastor Paul]

I love you.

[Congregation/Church Members]

Happy New Year.