Best Year Ever | Part 1 · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · Jan 7, 2019 · 62 min watch · 3 min read

Best Year Ever | Part 1

Big Idea

God wants to move us from a desperate faith focused on our plans to a deliberate faith that trusts who Jesus is.

Using the encounter between Jesus and a royal official in John 4, the sermon argues that God uses desperate moments — when we cry out with our own plan and beg Jesus to execute it — as a starting point, not a finish line. The real goal is a deliberate faith that believes what Jesus says and steps in the direction He commands, even when it contradicts every human instinct. When we stop fixating on the 'what' we want God to do and start trusting the 'who' that He is, He is able to accomplish something far greater than we originally asked for — including eternal life and transformation for everyone around us.

Key points

1
1Desperate faith is a valid starting point, but it keeps us focused on our own plan rather than on who Jesus is.
2
2Jesus challenges sign-and-wonder-dependent faith because a faith that only believes when it gets what it wants will eventually collapse into doubt.
3
3The purpose of the book of John — and of Jesus' miracles — is to reveal that Jesus is the great I Am, Lord God Almighty, not merely a miracle worker who fulfills our agendas.
4
4Deliberate faith is defined by two actions working together: believing what Jesus says, and then actually starting in the direction He commands.
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5When we shift from the 'what' to the 'who,' God works something far bigger than the original request — the official's entire household of 30 to 70 people came to saving faith.
6
6Each time we exercise deliberate faith, it builds our confidence to trust God in the next desperate moment, replacing the endless cycle of wondering with the growing wonder of what God will do.

Application

The pastor frames the 'so what' as a direct, personal challenge: Where in your life are you stuck in a desperate-faith loop — praying the same prayer, making the same resolution, demanding that God show up with your plan? Jesus' call to the royal official is His call to you: stop, believe Him, and start moving in the direction He's already pointed you, even when it feels like you're heading home without Him. That might mean finally sacrificing in your marriage instead of waiting for the other person to change, trusting God with your finances, or taking the concrete step of baptism. Every time you do, it builds your confidence for the next hard moment — and God tends to do something far bigger than you originally asked for.

Take it into your week

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7-day devotional

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There is something deeply honest about the royal official in this story. He was powerful by any human measure — connected to Herod's court, accustomed to getting things done. But when his son was dying, none of that mattered. He traveled roughly 20 miles on foot to find Jesus and essentially said, 'Come down before my child dies.' No pretense. Just raw need. The sermon made a point worth sitting with: desperate faith is a valid starting point. Jesus did not turn this man away or shame him for showing up with an agenda. The desperation itself brought him to the right Person. That matters. If you are in a season where your prayers feel more like bargaining than believing, that is not disqualifying — it is a beginning. But a starting point is not a destination. The official came with a plan: Jesus needed to travel to Capernaum and lay hands on his son. He had the what mapped out, and he needed Jesus to execute it. Most of us know exactly what that feels like. We have a specific outcome in mind, and we keep pressing God toward it, wondering why He seems slow to cooperate. Today is simply an invitation to notice: Where are you showing up to Jesus with a plan already written? That awareness is the first honest step.

For reflection

What specific outcome have you been asking God to deliver — and how tightly are you holding the method as well as the result?

Pray

Pray for honest awareness of where your prayers have become instructions to God rather than trust in Him.

Related passage

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message follows a royal official who comes to Jesus in full desperation — with a dying son and a very specific plan for what Jesus needs to do about it. It's a story about how God meets us in those moments, and what He's actually after.

Discussion questions

1
In John 4:46-47, the royal official has traveled a long distance and arrives begging Jesus to come heal his son before the boy dies. What does his request reveal about where his confidence is — and where it isn't?
2
In John 4:48, Jesus pushes back on sign-and-wonder-dependent faith. What do you think He's getting at — and why might a faith that only believes when it gets what it wants eventually become fragile?
3
The message drew a distinction between desperate faith and deliberate faith, pointing to John 4:50 where the official simply believed what Jesus said and headed home. What does it look like — in practical terms — for belief and movement to work together like that?
4
By John 4:51-53, the healing has happened and the official's entire household comes to faith. The message noted that could represent 30 to 70 people. What does that outcome suggest about what God is after when He redirects us from the 'what' we want to the 'who' He is?
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The message described a pattern where every act of deliberate faith builds confidence for the next hard moment. How might that kind of accumulated trust change the way a community of people faces uncertainty together over time?
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The pastor challenged us to consider where we might be stuck in a loop — praying the same prayer, waiting on our own plan. Without getting into private details, what would it mean for people generally to 'start moving in the direction Jesus has already pointed' before they can see the outcome?

Pray together

Trusting who Jesus is, not just what we want Him to do — and taking the next step He's already shown us

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Best Year Ever

Week 1 · 3 messages

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