A Word for 2025
About this sermon
In “A Word for 2025,” Pastor Dean Odle presents a sober call to spiritual and practical readiness. Beginning with Proverbs 22:3, he argues that biblical prudence recognizes approaching evil and seeks refuge first in Jesus Christ. He connects that refuge with Psalm 91 and Colossians 3, stressing that protection is not a formula for nominal Christians but belongs within a life of genuine faith, obedience, repentance, and attentiveness to the Holy Spirit.
Chronological teaching outline
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After worship and prayer, Odle introduces what he describes as a word for 2025. Proverbs 22:3 supplies the governing principle: a prudent person sees evil coming and takes refuge, while the simple continue forward and suffer the consequences. He begins defining what it means to “hide” oneself and prepares the congregation to understand the warning through Scripture rather than fear.
Odle links the hiding of Proverbs 22 with dwelling in the secret place of Psalm 91. He teaches that faith receives what God has said, confesses it, and acts accordingly. Colossians 3 becomes the spiritual foundation: those raised with Christ must set their affection above and understand that their life is hidden with Christ in God. He rejects nominal religion as sufficient preparation.
Returning to Proverbs, Odle contrasts biblical prudence with naïveté and indiscriminate open-mindedness. He argues that true wisdom begins with knowing Christ and receiving Scripture as God’s Word. The warning therefore requires discernment about what voices and influences a believer welcomes, as well as an honest examination of whether one is obeying Christ or merely claiming His protection.
Odle states the message he believes he received: 2025 will be “a year of chaos,” but believers must not be dismayed. He distinguishes a spiritual warning from a detailed prediction and urges listeners not to impose their own timetable or preferred interpretation. Luke 21 frames the posture he seeks—alertness amid distressing events, without surrendering to panic.
The sermon turns to recent violent incidents, military testimony, border-security concerns, and allegations of concealed operations. Odle presents these reports as examples of uncertainty and potential instability, not as independently established conclusions. His central pastoral point is that confusing public narratives should drive Christians toward sober prayer, discernment, and readiness rather than fascination or paralysis.
Odle discusses dependence on vulnerable computer systems, election infrastructure, supply chains, and semiconductor production. He warns that adversaries could exploit systems controlling utilities, communications, or weapons. The sermon uses Babylon’s unexpected fall as an analogy for a society that feels secure while ignoring danger, returning repeatedly to the need for one’s life to be hidden in Christ.
Clips and films that appear to anticipate disasters are discussed as examples of what Odle calls advance disclosure by powerful interests. He cites “They Live” and “Enemy of the State,” among other cultural references, but tells listeners not to build a precise scenario from them. The practical emphasis remains vigilance: recognize patterns, avoid confident date-setting, and prepare without claiming knowledge God has not given.
Odle argues that worsening conditions are compatible with Jesus’ end-times warnings and that the church should expect pressure rather than exemption from every difficulty. He rejects a passive expectation of escape and maintains that Christ’s people remain as witnesses through tribulation. The gates of hell will oppose the church, he says, but will not finally prevail against what Christ builds.
The message becomes directly pastoral: believers should pray, listen, make reasonable preparations, and care for their households while recognizing human limits. Odle anticipates supernatural provision but refuses to use faith as an excuse for inaction. Prepared supplies are meant not only for self-preservation but also to help others and support gospel witness during disruption.
Odle closes by urging the congregation to love Jesus, hear the Holy Spirit, and believe God for provision that exceeds natural resources. He expects conversions even amid crisis and presents the faithful church as a visible testimony that Satan cannot extinguish. The service ends in worship and prayer for courage, preparation, prophetic understanding, and steadfast service.
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- 0:04:19
by the live stream just take your time close your eyes for three more minutes lift your hands and worship jesus because he's holy and worthy buzz and is and is to come the first and the last the king of kings and the lord of lords we praise your name jesus we exalt you god almighty in the flesh you're not just a man you're not just a prophet you're not just a teacher you're the creator the only true god and your name above every name is the name of jesus christ of nazareth we worship you and exalt you and give thanks to you this morning you are our shield and our fortress
- 0:08:08
our high tower the one we run into we thank you for that lord in jesus name amen amen you may be seated this morning welcome everyone fire and grace church this morning those watching and listening good to have you um let's take your bibles out we're going to turn first to proverbs 22 and verse three actually we're going to look at a few verses but we're going to start with proverbs 22 and verse three and i'm going to share this morning i feel now after our own little morning of chaos i'm going to share the word the lord gave me for 2025 now i don't do this every year because the lord doesn't give me a word every year um but he did give me a word and it's not going to be pleasant but i feel i'm supposed to share it publicly and give some scripture background to go over some things but this verse has been on my heart a lot lately over the last year or so and um you can turn my mic down just a hair a little hot um but i want to make sure everybody's there and we got it up all right proverbs 22 verse three a prudent man foreseeeth the evil and hideth himself but the simple pass on and are punished um i want you to i gave you guys some definitions just two of the words we're going to look up two of the definitions in the hebrew lexicon here um the word hideth and the word simple the others are pretty self-explanatory but the word hideth is interesting um and we'll get that up this is from the strongs and it also includes the justinius and the the other lexicons but it says here the strongs means to hide by covering somebody say covering all right be absent of course uh keep close conceal hide self keep or secret now what that ought to make you think about to veil cover conceal hide does that not make you think of psalm 91 right he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide in the shadow of the almighty he says i will say of the lord he is my refuge and my fortress my god and who my trust and then he goes on to talk about a thousand falling at your side and ten thousand at your right hand but it not coming near you okay now we may read the whole psalm in a minute psalm 91 but i just want to point out that it's up to you to dwell in the secret place and to say of the lord he is my refuge in my fortress my god in whom i trust you know the the the walk of faith that we have with the lord has to do with this is how faith works faith works by believing what god said either in his written word or what he speaks to you believing it in your heart heart and confessing it with your mouth that's how you get saved and then your actions should what follow what you say or you're a hypocrite right
- 0:12:04
because the hypocrite says but their actions do not follow right so that's what faith is it's very simple it's hearing the word of god written or when the holy spirit speaks to you and truly believing it enough into your heart to speak it and to act upon it okay and this is where most of christianity is failing right now is that they say a lot about jesus being lord in their refuge but they live in sin they live in rebellion they live in disobedience they live in fulfilling self and not hiding self in jesus fully this is what i want you to go to colossians chapter three i'm just going to lay a foundation i'm going to give you about an hour introduction here but in colossians chapter three he says this starting in verse one he said if you then be risen with christ now before we we go any further that means when he's talking about being risen resurrected that means your spirit being made alive through true born again a true born again experience after you've exercised true faith in jesus christ his death burial resurrection and that he is god almighty in the flesh who died for your sins and the only one that could die for the sins of mankind and paid the price and that he rose from the dead and that you believe that until you have the witness of the holy spirit that you are born again and your sins are washed away and you know him okay so when he's saying if that's happened to you if you have had that experience of being risen with christ your dead spirit that was separated and alienated from the life of god brought back to life through the power of the holy spirit through faith and that's what the born again experience is and there should be a supernatural witness in your heart that you are born again he said if that has happened he said seek those things which are above where christ sitteth on the right hand of god set your affection on the things above and not on the things on the earth for you are dead and your life is hid with christ in god hid i want to just lay this out right now when he says that the prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself it must be in a full commitment to jesus christ you can't be a lukewarm christian you can't be a hypocrite you can't be a pretender this talking about being hid you must know jesus as your lord and savior not about him you can't be a churched person oh i was baptized oh i sing in the choir i got a choir robe no you must be born again and a current following disciple of jesus christ you understand those are the only people who will be able and notice what he says he that foresees the evil that speaks of the gift of prophecy prophecy is being able to see what is coming supernaturally by the holy spirit it's a gift now of course we can look at trends and make guesses but i'm talking about the holy spirit revealing things speaking things to you and the lord will always sometimes he'll do it in dreams sometimes in visions sometimes in a prophetic word sometimes in a an anointed
- 0:16:03
message sometimes he brings somebody else i mean he has numerous ways that he can speak to us but many times when god speaks to us it's a warning and it's a warning to prepare for something evil that's coming your way well let me just go on and tell you right now 2025 is gonna have some evil coming your way you hear me i mean and it started within hours and we're going to have to what's the old saying here and say i'll buck up right now we're not running to hide like i've told people i'm not running from anything if they come kill me they kill me you understand i don't mind if i end up being a martyr for jesus christ i'm gonna stand for him and be a light for him in this world no matter what happens i'm not backing away i'm not running to the hills i'm not going to find a cave somewhere to hide in you understand i'm not bugging out i'm bugging in right the lord spoke to me a while back and he said you're not running and it's interesting 2015 my church knows this and many of you that listen i've shared this i had an open vision i think it was about 2015 of a predator drone flying to my house to blow it up and the big hand came out of the sky huge hand bigger than that predator drone and swatted it like it was a bug and see i believe god is able to protect his people and deliver his people no matter what they bring at us because if it's not your time to be a martyr for jesus then you're going to keep living for jesus and god will stop if it has to be the armies of the world to keep you alive and keep you doing what he's called you to do but you have to be hid in jesus christ fully in him him fully in you full commitment no dicey back and forth trying to be have your foot in the world system and one foot in in jesus that's not what it's about you don't understand it's got to be all the way all the way with the lord but he says he let's go back to our verse uh proverbs 22 3 the prudent man so that means a man that's that's crafty and wise and smart and let me just go in and tell you the bible says the ones who follow god almighty who know jesus says their lord he says that it well in fact you know what i know i told you to turn there hope but go back we got one more verse to read in colossians look at the next verse a few verses i'm sorry you should be able to quote proverbs 22 3 now anyway when christ who is our life shall appear so this is talking about the end times the second coming then shall you also appear with him in glory then he gives you this instruction mortify kill that means kill therefore your members the the flesh that wants to do sin he says kill mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence covetousness which is idolatry for which things sake the wrath of god cometh on the children of disobedience he said in the which you you also walked you walk in those things in times past when you lived in them but now you're to put off all these things anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy communication out of your mouth lie not
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Read and search the complete transcriptThe overview summarizes Pastor Dean Odle’s argument. Interpretations and claims about science, history, public figures, governments, ministries, organizations, or alleged wrongdoing are attributed to the speaker and are not presented as independently verified facts.