Remember MySpace? How about the sound of dial-up internet? If you've ever owned a flip phone, watched movies on VHS, or had a tube television before flat screens took over, you know exactly what it feels like when something that used to be central to your life becomes completely irrelevant. Those things aren't bad. They're just old. They've passed away.

That's actually a powerful picture of what happens when we come to Christ. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new."

All things. Not some things. Not just the big things. All things.

As we close out this year and step into a new one, I want to talk about what that really means for your life.

The Promise That Changes Everything

I've walked through enough of life to know that Romans 8:28 can be a hard scripture to swallow sometimes. It says, "We know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." This is one of the greatest promises in the Bible, but if we're being real with each other, we have trouble believing it sometimes.

We ask ourselves: Does God really use all things? I've had those moments myself, where something happens and in the back of my mind I'm thinking, "Even this? Really, God? You're going to work good in my life even through this?"

But I want you to understand something crucial: God does not work in all things for all people. That's not what this scripture says. It's specifically for we who have professed and confessed Christ, who live according to His purpose, who love Him. Only we are the ones who get to experience the all things.

What It Means to Love Him

So how do you know if you love Him? Jesus gave us the answer in John 14:15: "If you love me, keep my commandments." This isn't complicated theology. It's beautifully simple and sometimes uncomfortably direct.

Remember when Jesus questioned Peter three times by the sea? "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Each time Peter said yes, Jesus responded the same way: "Then feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep." What was Jesus teaching us? That love isn't just something we say. Love is something we demonstrate through obedience, through worship, through spending time in His presence.

Here's what I've learned: your love is your devotional life. And I don't just mean those quiet moments with your Bible in the morning, though those are important. I mean the time and investment you are devoting to the development of your intimacy with Christ. Your spiritual habits reveal what you love most.

Psychology actually confirms what scripture teaches: what you love most shapes your habits automatically. If you're spending ten hours a day on Spotify and thirty seconds with Christ, you love something more. That's not me being mean. That's just a fact.

The Power of Purpose

The scripture doesn't just say "those who love Him." It says those who love Him "and are called according to His purpose." There's a distinction there, and it matters.

God has called every single one of us to a holy life. Not just pastors and missionaries. You. In your office. In your classroom. At Walmart. Wherever you work, you are working for the kingdom. You might get your paycheck from your employer, but you're a citizen of heaven and everything you do can be poured into the kingdom.

I think we sometimes elevate people in ministry to this special status, as if their calling is more significant than yours. But God doesn't work that way. He's not sitting up in heaven saying, "Oh, let me listen to the evangelist first. What does this accountant want? I don't have time." No! When you walk into that office every week, you have the opportunity to bring the aroma of Christ. You can live out your calling according to His purpose.

Burnout isn't from doing too much. It's from doing too much without purpose. When you disconnect from the purpose God has called you to, that's when things start weighing on you. But the moment you unite your love for God with your calling, you end up with a purpose-driven life. And a purpose-driven life will align your love for God with your calling in a way that causes all things to work together for your good.

What "All Things" Really Means

Now let me tell you what kinds of things God will use when your love and calling come together.

First, God uses good things. We all like good things. We pray for them. We thank God for them. But here's what's wild: we've all seen stories about lottery winners who jumped off buildings. People with everything who are miserable. Just having good things alone can't always bring about good in someone's life.

But when our hearts are aligned with God and something good comes into our life, we don't have the attitude of "See? Told you." We have the attitude of "Oh God, thank You so much." It humbles our spirit. God uses the good things to make us grateful.

Second, God uses bad things. And I mean bad things. Tragic things. Things that make us question everything.

At our Christmas Eve service, we blessed a beautiful young family whose father had just passed away two weeks ago in a tragic car accident. He got saved here at City of Life within the last year, really committed his life to Jesus. The mom and three kids have been coming as a family together. And now he's gone. You're sitting there thinking, "Really? This is what we're talking about when we say God uses all things?"

Yes. Even this.

Look at Job. The story is almost wild when you read it from a human perspective. The devil comes before God's throne, and God basically says, "Have you considered my servant Job?" God suggests Job! And Job loses everything. His stuff. His family. His health. But he will not quit on God.

Remember what he said to his wife when she told him to curse God? "Are you telling me we're going to accept all the good things God has given us, but we're going to reject all the bad things? We have accepted all these blessings when we were favored. Now when bad things come our way, let's stand our ground and be faithful to God just like He's been faithful to us."

And at the end of Job's story? He ended up with so much more than he ever had before. God isn't as concerned about the things we go through as much as who we become through those things.

Joseph's story blows my mind. Left for dead by his brothers. Sold into slavery. Wrongfully accused and thrown in prison. But through his faithfulness to God, even in jail, God gave him an interpretation of a dream that led to him becoming second in charge of all of Egypt. And when he finally stands face to face with the brothers who betrayed him, he says, "You thought evil toward me, but the Lord meant it for good to bring to pass as it is this day to save many people's lives" (Genesis 50:20).

Romans 5 tells us, "We also glory in our sufferings because we know that sufferings produce perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit."

Third, God uses neutral things. Things that are neither good nor bad. Just... things.

One night years ago, my family and I were coming back from the movies. I had heard this song I liked and wanted to play it for them. We pulled off the turnpike and stopped at the light at Nolte. It was about 12:15 AM, super late, nobody on the road. I sat there at the red light, turned around to play them this song. The light turned green and had been green for a few seconds. I started to go, and right as I pulled out, a car came at about a hundred miles an hour and there was a head-on collision right in front of us. The cars exploded.

If I had pulled out when I was supposed to, without turning around to show them that song, those cars would have hit us on both sides. That slight hesitation, that neutral thing, God used it to protect my family. The Father didn't cause the cross, but He used the cross for good. And He will use the neutral things in your life too.

Even This

I think faith grows when we stop saying "even this?" with a question mark at the end and start saying "even this" with a period. It doesn't matter what it is. Even this.

What is the one thing this year you still haven't trusted God with? Maybe it's not the good thing or the bad thing. Maybe it's something in between. Something you've been managing yourself.

Listen to this scripture one more time: "We know that in all things, God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

You don't end the year by fixing everything. You don't rise to your intentions. You fall to your devotions. But when you love Him, when you're called according to His purpose, then all things work together for your good. Even the unfinished things. Even the things that didn't seem to work out. Even the things you're still wrestling with.

As we step into 2026 and City of Life moves into our 40th year as a church, I believe there is something totally significant about to happen. That's a generation. An entire biblical generation. And I believe the favor and blessing that comes to our church is coming to your life personally.

All things are new. The old things have passed away. And when you're a new creature in Christ, devoted to Him, living according to His purpose, God can use absolutely everything for your good.