My Tour Guide | Dr. E. Dewey Smith Jr | Sermon Notes — Hello Pastor

Sermon Notes

My Tour Guide

Dr. E. Dewey Smith Jr

The House of Hope Atlanta • Dec 31, 2025 • 138 min

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Take this message with you through a journey of Scripture, reflection, and prayer.

Summary

As believers step into a new year, the focus should not be on human resolution checklists or destinations, but on the guide we follow—Jesus Christ. Grounded in Isaiah 43:1–2, Dr. E. Dewey Smith Jr. teaches that God first establishes our identity as His redeemed children before directing our steps. Through life's rising waters, refining fires, and wilderness seasons, Christ promises His abiding presence and spiritual stability to keep us secure.

Themes

Spiritual Identity in ChristDivine GuidanceGod's Abiding PresenceRefining Trials and FireTrusting God in Wilderness Seasons

Pastor's Points

1.

Start you with identity

2.

Secure you through your insecurity

3.

Stabilize you during intensity

4.

Stick with you during your inadequacy

Key Points

1.
God begins our life journey with identity rather than a checklist of instructions or goals, claiming us as His own before redirecting our steps.
2.
God only guides those whom He claims, so our spiritual focus must remain on who we belong to rather than where we are trying to go.
3.
Immediately after God declared Jesus' identity at His baptism, Satan tempted Him in the wilderness to question His sonship, showing that trials will try to make us doubt who God says we are.
4.
Difficulties, grief, and rising waters are inevitable, but God never promised an easy journey on dry ground—He promises His unfailing presence through every flood.
5.
God uses refining fires and intense pressures to burn away toxic attachments, leeches, and unhelpful influences that we lack the strength to cut off ourselves.
6.
Experiencing a wilderness season between a prayer and its manifestation does not mean God has abandoned us, but that He is close enough to guide us step-by-step.
7.
True hope and spiritual deliverance cannot be found in human institutions, resolutions, or self-reliance, but only in complete reliance on Jesus, our faithful tour guide.

Sermon Moments

“God does not guide whom He does not claim.”

“The illustration of charting family trips on a paper gas station map on the hood of the car, which worked until reaching streets that were not on the map.”

“The metaphor of the Holy Spirit dove looking for a landing spot through Old Testament figures like Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon before finally landing on Jesus at His baptism.”

“God never promised you a journey of all dry ground. The promise is not dry ground; the promise is His presence.”

“Addressing mental health struggles among young adults, emphasizing the urgent need for a deep connection with God beyond video games and secular distractions.”

“Don't spend so much time trying to Netflix and chill that you don't spend no time in Nehemiah and Corinthians.”

“The story of a young man in deep despair holding a gun who wrote down every institution he tried (Job Corps, Employment Office, Salvation Army, United Way, Social Security) and saw 'J-E-S-U-S' spelled out across his list.”

This Week

Begin the new year by prioritizing spiritual intimacy and the lordship of Jesus Christ over personal checklists and resolution goals.

Meditate daily on your identity as a redeemed child of God (Isaiah 43:1) whenever you are tempted to doubt your worth or sonship.

Speak scripture back to spiritual doubt and fear, declaring who God says you are when circumstances feel overwhelming.

Trust in God's promise of companionship rather than demanding dry ground during seasons of chaos, grief, or uncertainty.

Surrender toxic relationships and unhelpful attachments during seasons of testing, allowing God to refine your life.

Stop evaluating your spiritual progress by social media highlights or external validation, recognizing that wilderness seasons serve to refine you.

Replace self-reliance and secular solutions with complete trust in Jesus whenever life pressures make you feel in over your head.

Remember This

The key to navigating life's journey is not relying on self-made resolutions, but keeping our complete trust in Jesus, the tour guide who claims us and promises His presence through every trial.

A Challenge for You

Put your trust in Jesus rather than trying to figure everything out on your own, knowing that while you were trying to figure it out, He has already worked it out.

These are personal sermon notes shared to help you remember the message — not a replacement for Scripture, your church, or your pastors.