Stepping Out with Joy
Speaker: Pastor Darin Browne
Hebrews 11:8-12
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
There is a moment in every life when God calls us forward – out of what is familiar, out of what is comfortable, what we call normal, and into something we cannot yet fully see. The future stands before us not as a map, but as a promise. And the question before us is not simply Where are we going? but how will we go? Will we step forward with fear, or will we step forward with faith – and dare I ask, even joy?
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES
David Bowie sang that we have to turn and take the strain. Changes are not something we readily embrace. We have fear, we have doubt, we hesitate. We lack understanding.
Hebrews 11:8-12
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
That verse is both inspiring and unsettling. Abraham didn’t have all the details. He didn’t have a five-year plan. He didn’t even have a destination address. What he had was a call – but more, he also had a trust in the One who called him.
Faith does not mean certainty about the future. Faith means certainty about God. We may not know what the future holds, but you know who holds the future.
WHAT WE FOCUS ON
What we focus on determines where we go. One of the reasons we struggle to step into the future is that we assume it all depends on us. We focus on ourselves, our choices, our strengths, our wisdom, our mistakes or our ability to “get it right.” But Scripture reminds us repeatedly that the future depends to God.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
God is already at work in the future preparing before we even arrive there. We are not walking into empty space – it’s not all on us to make it happen, we are walking into a place where God has already gone ahead of us. That truth changes everything. We are not inventing the future; we are responding to God’s invitation to the future.
I know it is tempting to hold onto what we have already, especially if we have been successful, but truly great men and women of God are always striving for the future, always looking to Jesus, always serving more and stepping out in faith.
Philippians 3:13-14
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
1: FOCUS ON THE PAST
We have a great past here. We’ve seen miracles as the Lord provided hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars for our church and charity. We have built a great auditorium, and great coffee hub, a health hub, Lily House and now Grace Haven Cottages. But God is not calling us to gloat in 2026, He is calling us to step out in faith again. He says…
Isaiah 43:18-19
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Our past is glorious, but we must make the past past at last. You cannot drive a car looking in the rear-view mirror, so as good as the past is, as wonderful as our victories have been, if we rest on our laurels we are wearing them in the wrong place.
2: FOCUS ON THE PRESENT
The past is over, good or bad, and the future is still to come, but the present is called the present because it is God’s gift to us. People say, just live for the present, which is really what most people do, but if they ignore the future, the present is self limiting.
Joshua 1:7
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
I believe that the essence of living in the present is obedience. It’s not just dealing with today’s dramas or pleasures, and it’s not just existing in the moment. Faith in the present is manifest as obedience, so we should be listening to God, and more importantly, obeying.
Isaiah 30:21
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
3: FOCUS ON THE FUTURE
No one builds a monument to what might be. “Here’s a statue to who we think might one day become a great general and maybe win a battle.” They build monuments to the great achievements of the past, not possibilities for the future. But as Christians, we should always have our sights set on the future the Lord has for us.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. We have physical buildings to show for the last few years, but this year we build the Kingdom of God. It is a new direction, new discipleship, new Life Groups, but the Lord has promised me that, if we are obedient, the future is ours.
1 Corinthians 3:21-23
For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future – all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
4: FOCUS ON ETERNITY
When we talk about stepping out in faith and trusting the Lord for the future, we must always bear in mind that our future is not next week or next year, it is eternity.
Colossians 3:2
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
You may have heard the phrase, “So heavenly minded they are no earthy good.” I think that phrase is wrong. I’ve met people who look heavenly minded, who are super Spiros, but are legalistic and destructive, but I have never met a truly heavenly minded, eternally focussed person who is not also wonderfully used of God in the here and now.” – Robert Cunville.
THE STEP OF FAITH
We often think faith means taking a giant leap – something dramatic, risky, and overwhelming. But most of the time, faith looks like a single step. One obedient decision. One prayer. One conversation. One “yes” spoken with trembling hands and a trusting heart.
Abraham didn’t travel his entire journey in one stride. He walked day by day. Israel didn’t enter the Promised Land in a single march; they followed God step by step, even when the road wandered through wilderness. Faith is one step after the other.
2 Corinthians 5:7
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
If we are kind to each other, merciful not harsh, and walk humbly with God in obedience, not running ahead or lagging, then we have nothing to fear.
God rarely shows us the whole picture. He shows us just enough to take the next step. I believe in the power of the Word of God, and I let His Word guide me day by day.
Psalms 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
He doesn’t light up the whole journey, He reveals little by little, and as we step into what God has for us, He opens up more and more. God invites us to let the facts be swallowed up by trust in him. Our obedience is stepping out in faith. Joy is found not in seeing the whole path, but in knowing the One who walks it with us.
FAITH SHOULD NOT BE A SOLO JOURNEY
God invented community, and He invented church. Not to have flashy buildings, flashy lights, smoke and music, but so we could worship and share our load of faith together. We are not a solo pilgrim heading down a lonely road, we are a group of friends and family rejoicing and walking together.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
Faith is rarely a solo journey. God places us in community so that when one person’s faith falters, another’s holds them up. When we step into the future together – praying, encouraging, worshiping – we discover that joy multiplies. We get to step into the future together, sharing the joys and hardships as one. Unity is so powerful!
Faith is in the armour of God in Ephesians 6, described as the shield of faith…
Ephesians 6:16
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
But remember how the Romans used shields…not as individual protection, but as a unit called the Tortoise, shields joined together. That’s faith.
STEPPING OUT IN JOY IN 2026
Stepping into the future can be scary. Change brings uncertainty. New seasons bring unanswered questions. We have had a few people leave us because we were not aligned, but I can tell you, God is raising up a ton of people whose hearts are fully aligned with what we are about to do as a church. Faith does not deny fear – but it refuses to let fear be the driver. Change may be painful, but necessary. God prunes back to make room for exceedingly abundant growth, so as we face 2026, I am full of joy!
Nehemiah 8:10 declares, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Joy is not a shallow happiness or forced optimism. Joy is deep confidence that God is faithful, even when the road is unknown. We can feel afraid and still move forward. You can feel uncertain and still trust. You can feel weak and still step out in faith – because joy does not come from our circumstances, but from God’s presence.
We tend to minimise joy. We think of it like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. The cherry is a great finish, but if it’s missing, it’s no big deal. But joy isn’t optional or non-essential to our Christian walk. As a matter of fact, it acts as a barometer of our spiritual strength, because the joy of the Lord is your strength. Joy is independent of our circumstances, our wallets or our potential. It is centred in God.
WHAT IS TRUE JOY
What oil is to a car, joy is to our relationship with God. A dry oil tank will cause a car engine to seize up. Joylessness Christianity is infinitely more dangerous. Without joy, we’ll burn out, wear out, or give out.
Joy isn’t a feeling. Feelings are fleeting and fickle. Happiness is a feeling, and it originates in the mind. Happiness depends on external and temporary adornments. Joy and happiness are completely different. Joy is of the heart and is a byproduct of the pursuit of Christ. It’s a fruit of the Spirit and originates from the throne of God. Joy comes gift-wrapped in contentment, beauty, and trust. Joy can bloom right next to grief, loneliness, or disappointment – and starve whatever negative emotions are near. When it all comes down to it, joy is our choice.
The spiritual maturity of a Christian can be measured by what it takes to steal his or her joy. Ouch! I confess, last year I struggled to find joy. Any Christian of any maturity can experience joy right smack dab in the middle of a wonderful miracle. That’s easy! But the mature Christian also lives with joy between miracles. Between the miracles is where the authentic Christian walk of faith is lived.
To fix a car’s oil leak, we must find where the leak originated. Same with joy. We can find ourselves joyless, but completely unaware how we arrived at that condition. That’s why it’s important to recognise “joy leaks.”
I pondered when I have experienced “joy leaks”: it is always when I have had my eyes on my circumstances. When I stopped being eternity minded. When opinions or finances or relationships take precedent over my walk with my Heavenly Father. I confess that, over the last year or so, circumstances and criticisms have often overwhelmed me to the point that I had lost all joy. I allowed fear, doubt, or unbelief in my heart.
James 1:2
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
FAITH AND JOY IN 2026
Joy and faith are partners. Faith is built up by the past, tested in the present and bears fruit in the future, and so does joy. As I look at things going on around me with God’s eternal eyes, not my own, I can either choose to flounder or find faith. I can choose to be an international man of misery or a supernatural man of faith and joy. As I look at this year, and our vision to be real people, telling a real community about our real God, I am so excited about what God is doing here at Ignite.
As we face the uncertainty of 2026, please join us with joy. Do the Bible Reading Plan, commit to praying every day for our people and our city, and let’s step forth into the destiny God has for us. Let us step forth in faith, in unity and most of all, in joy!
Do you recognise any of these “joy leaks” in your Christian walk? If so, come to the foot of the cross, stop the joy drains through repentance, and ask God to restore unto you the joy of your salvation. Maintain your joy, even though the hordes of hell are attacking from every angle. Joy responds to every situation of life from a heavenly perspective. In fact, when we walk in the joy of the Lord, we get a foretaste of heaven. Why? Because Jesus is your joy.
When miracles delay, your joy will stay.
I want to plug your joy leak and fill your life with real, unshakable, unsinkable Holy Spirit filled joy. Not temporary happiness, genuine joy. As Peter said…
1 Peter 1:8
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
Are you experiencing that inexpressible joy right now? I believe that there are many here, at the start of the year, who need a touch from God to restore their joy. Joy strengthens us because it reminds us that God is good, God is with us, and God is still writing and shaping our story. You love God, you want to serve Him, but He wants you to serve with true joy.