The Power of Decision: Choose Today to Serve

"Faith without works is dead." (James 2:17)

2025 is coming to an end in just a few days. This is the time to take stock. What have you done with this year? Where have you grown? What have you learned, what have you forgotten? What should you have done but didn't? For this last Sunday of the year, Pastor Claude Dubus speaks to you about the power of decision. Because no matter what happens, nothing can stop you from serving God. It's your decision. And that may be where everything is decided.

Outline of the Sermon

1. Nothing can stop you from serving God
2. A single bad decision can ruin your life
3. Your decision shows in what you do for God
4. God is waiting for your part: 50% him, 50% you
5. Without vision, you remain in illusion

1. Nothing Can Stop You from Serving God

"We have one power: to decide what we're going to do with our lives." That's how the pastor lays the foundation for his message. You went down into the waters of baptism: that's a commitment, and Scripture calls it "an appeal to God for a good conscience" (1 Peter 3:21). That commitment gets replayed every day.

The apostle Paul said: "One thing I do" (Philippians 3:13). Paul was a man of one thing. He had a vision, a direction, and he followed it his whole life. You have that same power. Neither circumstances, nor people, nor Satan himself can make you back down if you've decided to stand firm.

2. A Single Bad Decision Can Ruin Your Life

"There may be just one decision that can ruin our lives, and that's the one we must never make." Many Christians started out well, but how many have backslidden? The pastor goes so far as to say: "If we could gather them all together, we'd have the largest church in France." Why? Because the decision was never made firmly.

Watch out for money too. The pastor reminds us that Satan, in the wilderness, said to Jesus: "All these kingdoms are mine, I will give them to you if you fall down and worship me" (Matthew 4:8-10). Satan is rich, he has many kingdoms. But Jesus answered: "Get behind me, Satan." Paul would later write that the love of money is "the root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). A decision made for an eye-popping salary, without prayer, can cost you three years, ten years, sometimes an entire lifetime.

3. Your Decision Shows in What You Do for God

"We will never go further than our decision, our consecration to serve God." Those who go far in the knowledge of God do so because they chose to. The pastor gives a simple testimony of his own: he has a small collection of 500 books at home, and he devours biographies, because he's always seeking to broaden his knowledge of God.

Your decision is measured by your works. "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:17). So ask yourself: what did you create in 2025? What did you do differently compared to 2024? And notice the difference between believing and having faith. Believing is intellectual agreement: even the demons believe that God exists. Having faith means putting things into motion. Believing means obeying, means putting it into practice. Jesus said it himself: "Whoever loves me will keep my word" (John 14:21). Whoever hears the word and doesn't put it into practice is like the man who built his house on sand.

4. God Is Waiting for Your Part: 50% Him, 50% You

"God does nothing in us without our active participation. Otherwise he would violate our freedom, and that's something he doesn't want." In the Christian life, there's 50% that's God's part and 50% that's ours. God doesn't encourage laziness, mediocrity, carelessness, or neglect. We need to fight against that.

The pastor puts it in a very concrete image: in the morning, when your phone alarm goes off an hour earlier for prayer, you have to fight to get up. No one can become a man or woman of prayer without spending a great deal of time in prayer. No one can fast without a beginning, without skipping that first meal. Then God infuses the willing and the doing, but he needs your yes. Without passion, the Christian life dies out. "What's missing today in the people of God? Without hesitation: passion."

This passion leads to sanctification, "without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). Like David, pray: "Give me a hatred of sin." No compromise with the world. When you've given everything to God, there will be nothing left for Satan, and he will eventually leave.

5. Without Vision, You Remain in Illusion

"To take action, you need a vision." Otherwise, time passes and you do nothing. The pastor recalls this word of the Lord: "All things are possible for one who believes" (Mark 9:23). And he insists: "'I can't' is not written in the Bible." We often say "we don't have the money, so we can't." No. You have to look for a way. God can make you rich for his work.

He shares his own vision: 15 million people live in Paris and its suburbs. So he's preparing to print 15 million gospel tracts so that the word of God reaches every mailbox. He cites the CMM organization (house to house crusade): 24 million responses worldwide for 600 million tracts distributed. It's not four or five flyers that will win souls. You need the vision, and the vision sets things in motion.

"You pray over the vision, otherwise you're living in illusion." Our great mission is to win souls, bring them into the house of God, and train them so that they in turn become disciples. Set your vision. Make the decision. And let God infuse in you the willing and the doing.

Key Takeaways

• Nothing can stop you from serving God: it's your decision, not the circumstances'.
• A decision made without prayer, often for money, can cost you years.
• True faith sets things in motion: the demons believe, only disciples obey.
• God forces no one. He's waiting for your 50%: your prayer, your fasting, your daily fight.
• Without vision, no action. Set a clear course and pray over that vision.

Personal Application

1. Look 2025 in the face: what clear decision for God have you never truly made, and that you need to make today?
2. Is there a decision related to money, a job, an opportunity that you're making right now without having prayed enough about it?
3. Take the test: in what area has your faith not yet translated into concrete works in 2025?
4. On which point of your 50%, getting up early, prayer, fasting, reading, witnessing, is God asking you to get moving starting this week?
5. What is your vision for the coming year? A clear vision you're going to pray over, or just vague wishes?

Verses Cited in the Sermon

• Matthew 16:18 · I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it
• Philippians 3:13 · one thing I do
• Matthew 4:8-10 · Jesus tempted by Satan in the wilderness
• 1 Timothy 6:10 · the love of money, the root of all kinds of evil
• James 2:17 · faith without works is dead
• John 14:21 · whoever loves me will keep my word
• Matthew 7:24-27 · building on the rock or on the sand
• 1 Peter 3:21 · baptism, an appeal for a good conscience
• 2 Timothy 2:22 · keeping oneself pure
• Hebrews 12:14 · sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord
• Mark 9:23 · all things are possible for one who believes

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is decision so important in the Christian life?

Because God forces no one. He is waiting for our yes, our clear and firm commitment. A single bad decision can ruin a Christian life, and many who have backslidden did so because they never firmly decided to follow the Lord.

What's the difference between believing and having faith?

Believing is intellectual agreement: even the demons believe that God exists. Having faith means putting things into motion, obeying, putting the word into practice. Faith is a commitment, not simply an opinion about God.

How do you move from a desire to serve God to a real commitment?

You have to make a firm and final decision, like standing before the registrar for a wedding. Then God infuses the willing and the doing. Without passion, without vision, desire stays a dream. Set a vision, make the decision, and let the Lord help you keep it.

Watch the full sermon on YouTube