First Things First: Putting God First in the New Year
Pastor Kyle Veach
As we come to the final Sunday of 2025, it’s hard not to pause and look back. Just fifteen Sundays ago, we started this church together, stepping out in faith with a lot of anticipation and a lot of unknowns. Now we’re standing at the edge of a new year, asking honest questions. Did this year go as planned? Did you accomplish what you hoped for? Were there surprises you didn’t expect? While none of us knows exactly what 2026 will hold, we do get to decide what we will put first.
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As we head into a new year, I want to talk about priorities. Not resolutions that fade by February, but a clear decision about what comes first. Today’s message is called First Things First, built on a simple truth that shapes every season of life: what you put first determines what you experience next.
Seek First the Kingdom of God
Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This statement sits right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is addressing worry, provision, and divided loyalties. He has just reminded the crowd that you cannot serve two masters and that God already knows your needs.
The people listening to Jesus were living under Roman rule, heavily taxed, and uncertain about the future. Their anxiety was real, not theoretical. Jesus doesn’t dismiss their reality, but He does redirect their focus. He tells them to seek first, not eventually or partially, but first, the Kingdom of God. When God’s priorities become our priorities, He promises that everything else will be ordered properly.
This is not a promise of wealth or ease. It is a promise of peace, direction, and trust. When we seek God first, we discover that life becomes better, not because we have more, but because we are anchored in something greater.
What You Seek Is What You Find
We started the new year in our home by cleaning out the pantry. What we found was wild. Expired food from years ago. Forgotten boxes shoved to the back. Things that should have been thrown away a long time ago. We went looking to clean one space and ended up discovering a lot more than we expected.
That experience reflects a spiritual truth: what you seek, you will find. When people seek worry, they find more reasons to be anxious. When they seek chaos or destruction, they usually don’t have to look far. But when we seek God, His presence, and His ways, we find peace and clarity instead.
Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God is not a physical place with walls or power structures. The Kingdom of God is a new way of living and thinking, where God’s ways come first. The Gospels refer to the Kingdom of God over ninety times because Jesus wanted people to understand this way of life. Living for God’s Kingdom does not guarantee more possessions, but it always leads to a better foundation.
Make God Your First Response, Not Your Last Resort
As we move into 2026, the goal is simple: make God your first response, not your last resort. Too often, we exhaust every option before we pray. We try to fix problems with worry, control, and endless conversations instead of starting with God.
It reminds me of my kids when they say, “Dad, I can’t find it.” When I ask, “Did you look?” the answer is usually no. Spiritually, we do the same thing. We feel overwhelmed, but we haven’t actually gone to God yet. Talking to God is easier than you think and more important than you realize.
When there’s a crisis, you don’t want everyone rushing in, you want trained professionals. That’s why they’re called first responders. God wants to be our first call, not the one we make after everything else has failed.
Putting God First Brings Direction
Proverbs 3:6 says, “In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.” Direction follows devotion. When God is first, clarity comes next.
This doesn’t mean life becomes simple or free from challenges. It means we stop trying to navigate life alone. When God is first, decisions are guided, paths are clarified, and peace becomes possible even in demanding seasons.
Putting God first is not about control. It is about trust. When we trust God with first place, He is faithful to lead us forward.
Replace Anxiety With Prayer
Prayer was always Jesus’ first response. When He faced temptation, He talked to God. Before choosing the twelve disciples, He talked to God. In moments of deep need, He went to the garden and prayed. Even in pain on the cross, Jesus cried out to God.
Prayer connects us to God’s purpose and power. It is the lifeblood of faith and often the most misunderstood part of following Jesus. Prayer is the difference between the best we can do and the best God can do. It reveals God’s direction and empowers us to live beyond our own strength.
Jesus addresses anxiety directly in Matthew 6:27 when He asks, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Anxiety does not solve problems. It only makes us miserable while we try to face them.
Anxiety Is Heavy, and It Was Never Meant to Be Carried
Jesus makes a practical argument. Worry doesn’t help. It doesn’t fix the problem or improve the outcome. Journalist Eric Sevareid once said, “The biggest business in America is not steel, automobiles, or television. It is the manufacture, refinement, and distribution of anxiety.”
As we step into 2026, many people are carrying unnecessary baggage:
Worry
Fear
Control
Regret
It is hard to move forward when you are holding what God asked you to give Him. Jesus invites us to drop the luggage and trust Him instead.
What God Adds When You Put Him First
Jesus promises that when we seek first the Kingdom of God, “all these things will be added to you.” What are those things?
Peace when life feels uncertain
Direction when the path is unclear
Provision for daily needs
Purpose that goes beyond survival
God is better than your worry list. He is worthy of your trust and your first priority. When God comes first, everything else finds its proper place.
Reflection Questions
What did you put first in 2025, and what did it produce in your life?
Where has anxiety replaced prayer in your daily rhythm?
What are you carrying into 2026 that God has asked you to give Him?
What would change if God became your first response this year?
Further Resources
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
Walking Upside Down by Kara Veach
Bible Project: Sermon on the Mount overview
