December 30, 2022

God is sovereign. Here at White Oak, we’ve spent the better part of 2022 focusing on this profound truth. This word defines God’s character and nature. He is sovereign. This means that he holds all power. He is not influenced by any outside force. Not by culture; Not by governments; Not by popular opinion. God’s sovereignty means that he has a vantage point on our life that is higher than our own. What he says is right and good and true is what is right and good and true.

This foundational truth is imperative for living in surrender and grace.

Our culture bombards us with messages all day long. We hear it from different voices and mediums. We read it off a screen in front of our faces. We’re told to believe, adhere to, and embrace new things all the time. But what grounds us to reality and truth? Mike Baker, J.K. Jones, and Jim Probst say it this way in their book, We Speak:

So, what is everyone talking about? If billions of people are talking simultaneously every minute of every day on planet Earth, what is the content of those conversations? Some of it is strictly informational, like giving direction to a desired location or teaching someone how to do something. Sometimes words are used to express emotions that range from anger to love. Mostly, however, our conversations are filled with the sharing of experiences. We talk about the stuff that happens to us. We communicate what we’ve done. We relate what our senses take in. We speak about what we have seen and heard. It was the same in the first century.

People who originally met Jesus encountered a man like no other. He spoke with authority and had the actions to back up his Messianic claims. He embodied truth when everything else seemed to flux, fade, and disappoint. He died and rose from the grave (something no one else has ever or will ever do)! God’s sovereign power was upon him! Jesus’s first followers experienced something in him and from him that they couldn’t find anyplace else.

We talked much about this in 2022…

This is why trusting in who God says we are and finding our identity in Jesus is critical.

This is why we talked this year about the trustworthiness of the Bible as the source of truth for life.

God’s sovereignty leads us to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit trusting him to develop our hearts to look like Jesus’s.

The sovereignty of God compels us to seek Him in Christian disciplines that will allow us to listen to God’s voice and trust his movement in our lives.

We need to be reminded of this! This is what gives us the power behind our hearts, actions, and words. This is how we make decisions, weigh options, and obediently follow. We don’t have to understand (or even agree!) in order to follow and trust. That’s faith.

What do we do with that? We share what God’s sovereign loving power has done and is doing in our lives. We’re compelled to share it. We have access to a life-altering reality which is ultimate reality itself. The Spirit of the Living God inside of us.

I hope and pray that this word, sovereignty, sounds familiar to you as you’ve walked with us through 2022. I hope and pray that you are ready to take this message to a hurting and broken world. In 2023, White Oak, we’ll talk about how God’s sovereign loving power propels us toward one another.

God loves you. Happy New Year!

Trusting in Him,

Nathan

Nathan Hinkle

Lead Pastor

White Oak Christian Church