2026 is almost here, an important moment for us to stop and look ahead.

Hello, and thank you for listening to Ask Pastor John.

This is Tony Rinky here with a brief special episode to thank you for joining us this year

and for subscribing and listening and making Pastor John and myself a part of your

life. We are truly honored to be a part of your weekly routine. The calendar changes in just a few

days. Looking ahead is important, but looking ahead requires energy too. Dreaming, planning,

envisioning, enthusiasm for what's possible, and then the energy to actually do new things.

It's a lot, especially a desiring God, because we stand on a legacy of 17,000 resources now, all of them totally free online.

And we have that kind of history, decades of God's blessing, the natural impulses to breathe

the sigh of relief, to look back, to admire the achievement, and maybe get a little sentimental.

But here's the problem.

Dwelling on the past isn't a plan for what comes next.

It won't accomplish the important work still ahead of us.

So where does energy for the future come from? Here's Pastor John to answer that very question.

The older I get, the more relevant Philippians 313 becomes for me. For getting 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.

Now, I don't think that means you become less aware or less thankful for decades of past ministry

and past blessings.

I think it means prioritize hope over nostalgia, prioritize future purpose over past achievement.

And for young people, that's just natural.

The whole future lies in front of them.

But for older people, it takes an effort.

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