WEBVTT

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Hey guys, Pastor Burton here, and it's time for

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a coffee break, and it is our first coffee break

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of 2026. So, on Sunday, I made a comment, and

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it's not the first time I've made this comment.

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I make it every year. Matter of fact, usually

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I even have a sermon about how we shouldn't have

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New Year's resolutions, because for the vast

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majority... And I do mean the vast majority.

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It is the first promise that is broken. Now,

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I'm not saying we shouldn't have things that

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we want to do, but the resolution, you know,

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there's a lot of pressure to have one, but it's

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not the right answer. And I'll tell you why.

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It's because as humans, as mankind, we continue

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to fail and fail and fail. And what's worse is

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usually when we make these resolutions, it's

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a promise to ourselves, which is why we don't

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worry so much about breaking it because we don't

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always feel let down by ourselves, but we should.

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We never stop to think that sometimes we make

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a comment where we're actually not just making

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this resolution to ourselves, this commitment

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to ourselves, but we're also making a commitment

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to God. And that's where some scripture is going

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to come into play today. In Ecclesiastes chapter

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5, verses 3 through 7. The word says a dream

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comes when there are many cares and many words

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mark the speech of a fool. When you make a vow

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to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no

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pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. It is better

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not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill

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it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin and

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do not protest to the temple messenger. My vow

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was a mistake. Why should God be angry at what

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you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much

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dreaming in many words are meaningless. Therefore,

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fear God. Basically saying, don't let your mouth

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write a check that you can't cash. Don't make

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promises that you can't follow through on. I

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bring this up because often when we make a resolution

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and we're talking to other people, I swear to

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God, I'm going to lose that weight, right? That's

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a common one. Weight loss is one of the top promises

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that people make every year. We see the gyms

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are going to be just absolutely jam -packed for

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the next few weeks, and then they're going to

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thin back out, right? But it's not just that.

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There are a lot of promises out there, and a

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lot of them are broken. So at this point, You

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know, I know some of you are already starting

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to go the direction that I think. It was like,

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well, what should I do instead? Well, I'm glad

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you asked. I'm going to answer that. All right.

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So yeah, I'm not a fan of the New Year's resolution.

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Why? Because it's a promise made and it's usually

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a promise broken. A promise broken is still sin,

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right? And it comes from our own selfishness.

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We need to be able to commit to ourselves. If

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we can't commit to ourselves and keep our promises

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to ourselves, how are we supposed to keep our

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promises to God? So in lieu of having a resolution,

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you know, this promise, this commitment, the

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answer is right in front of us. We should have

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goals. I love goals. Goal setting is wonderful.

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Goal setting is something that we should all

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have in our proverbial tool bag. Because when

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you set a goal, it's something to work towards.

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And this is the reason why most resolutions fail.

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It's because we don't have a plan. We don't have

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it mapped out. We don't have the steps on how

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we're going to get there. But when we have a

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goal, that changes. Because when we have a goal,

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they're like... The first thing that we think

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of, you know, is how do I get there? What do

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I need to do to achieve this goal? What changes

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do I need to make in my life to achieve this

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goal? That is the answer to the question. Set

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a goal. And just because you didn't achieve that

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goal today doesn't mean you failed. Right? Because

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you can still learn what's not going to work

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in achieving that goal. Or you learn that, hey,

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I need to put in a little bit more work to get

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there. I need to go a little further down the

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road to achieve it. So it's not that, hey, I

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didn't achieve the goal. It's, I didn't achieve

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the goal yet. And a big part of that is putting

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God first and foremost in it. We need to pray

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on it. We need to continually go to him and be

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like, okay, Lord, I'm not there yet. I know I'm

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getting there, but what else do I need to do?

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Or, hey, Lord, I need your help. Whatever it

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is that's going on, pray on it. Pray, because

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we should be praying first and foremost. The

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Lord should be first and foremost in everything

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that we do. Right? So set that goal. Map out

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how you're going to get to it. That is the answer,

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and that is your coffee break. Have a great day,

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and continue blessings in 2026.