A NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE

Sermon delivered to the two-point charge of Paisley/Glamis

Happy New Year! on this is the first Sunday of the year 2014 which just happens to be Epiphany Sunday! It is hard to believe we are almost half way through the second decade of the 21st Century!

The holidays are over, the family and friends have gone home, the Christmas presents have been opened, and now its time to go back to work and school!  In a way, that is kind of depresssing, isn't it.
And even more depressing than that are the new year’s resolutions we make and then so quickly break.
   We tell ourselves, next year I’m going to be more active in church.
   Next year I’m going to get my finances in order. Next year I’m going to get into better shape.
   ...Then December 31st, turns to January 1st, and the rubber meets the road.

An old Irish New Year’s toast goes like this, “May all your troubles in the coming year be as short as your New Year’s resolutions.”
   I would really like to think more positively than that.
   God offers us more hope than that.

   In 2 Cor. 5:17, Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,   
   he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
   come!”

Paul also wrote these words from a Roman jail, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:13)

As we approach this new year, I want us to be praying a prayer of thanksgiving, “Thank you, Lord, for fresh starts.”
   A new calendar tells us that we have been given a fresh
   gift to build and change our lives. Every new year and 
   every new day is an opportunity to get it “righter” than the 
   day before and the year before.

So on this first Sunday of the new year, I want to encourage us to make a commitment to focus more on spiritual things in the coming year.  One of the best New Testament texts on that subject is the one I chose as a Scripture Lesson this morning...

Writing to the Colossian Christians, Paul reminds them, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
   Those of us who are Christians have experienced both a 
   spiritual death, and a spiritual birth.
All of our hopes and dreams, purpose and power are centered in Christ, who is seated at the right hand of God.

Our focus and priorities must no longer be centered in the things of this earth, but on the things of God.  This, of course, is a very real challenge, because we still have to live in the real world, with all of its stress and struggle.

Focusing on spiritual things does not remove the stress and struggle altogether, but it certainly makes a huge difference in our ability to both survive and thrive.  As we try to live a more spiritually focused life in the new year, I want to point toward seven practical priorities.

Priority #1 - Forget About Yesterday.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14)
As we know, Paul was a man who had some things from his past that could haunt him if he let them. He had made some terrible mistakes that brought great suffering to others.

There is not one of us who doesn’t have something negative in our past that could immobilize us.
Failures, hurts, disappointments happen to all of us.
But God does not want us dwelling on them.
God would have us come to him for forgiveness and healing about the pain and regret of yesterday.

It is God’s gift to us that we can walk in newness of life,
that we can forget those things in the past and live in the
present.
     So that’s a good place for us to start the new year, to 
     forget about yesterday.

Priority #2 -- Don't worry about tomorrow
I know that this is easier said than done.  Tomorrow can
be so overwhelming with the potential for pain and
insufficiency.

Jesus gave us this prescription, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life?...So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Those words were taken from Matthew 6.

Jesus’ promise is that God knows what we need, and that God will provide what we need.
          Our job, however difficult it might be, is to trust God.
          Seek first His kingdom...In other words, stay faithful,
          and pray.

Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

I’m not trying to pretend that any of this is easy, but I am certain that there is no better way.
Corrie Ten Boom, who had suffered greatly in her life
          said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrows; it
          empties today of strength.”
Our only hope and help is in trusting in the Lord.

Whatever we face in the new year, we will be better off if we make it a priority to forget the past, and not worry about the future.

Priority #3 - Make Today Count.
The famous funny man, Groucho Marx, said, “Yesterday is gone - tomorrow isn’t here yet. I have just one day - today - and I can choose how I shall be! And I choose to be happy!!”
The only day we have and literally the only moment 
          we have is now.  We are not promised tomorrow, nor
          even the rest of today!

Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  As we try to take life one
day at a time, and make each day count, we can do so by 
walking with the Lord.

We can thank God and rejoice in each day and ask God to guide us and help us make each day count.  Focusing on one day at a time frees us from the burden of the past, and the worry of the future.

The following four priorities are really ways to make each day count.

Priority #4 - Help Every Person You Can.
When we focus all our attention on ourselves,
          we get lost in our struggles, but when we turn our
          attention outward, we realize the tremendous blessing
          of helping others.
Every person we encounter is facing some kind of challenge, or is carrying some kind of heartache.   Our own personal struggles or heartaches maybe bigger or smaller than theirs, it makes no difference.

If we seek to be a blessing to everyone we meet, then both of us will be blessed.  Paul wrote in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
In the chapter before that one, Paul beautifully
          summarized the Christian life with these words, “The
          only thing that counts is faith expressing itself
          through love.”
Isn’t that good?  Living for Christ is all about loving and giving. What a great year and great life we can live if we focus on others and attempt to help every person we can!  Come on now...How difficult can that be?

Priority #5 - Keep Your Heart Pure.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are 
the pure in heart, for they will see God.”   Any mechanic 
will tell you that a clean engine runs better and delivers
more power than a dirty one.

The same is true of a pure heart.  We make a terrible mistake when we collect and retain all kinds of garbage in our hearts.

I’m thinking of things like evil desires, resentments, jealousy, hatred and thoughts of revenge.  These things eat away at us like a cancer.  They poison our hearts and block our ability to see God and experience a vibrant spiritual life.

That’s why in the passage right after the one we read as our Scripture reading, Paul wrote,
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
Again, I’m not trying to say that any of this is easy.  In 
          Romans 7, Paul talked about his very real struggle to
          do that he knew was right.
I can testify to how difficult it is for me to keep my heart and life pure, but this must be our ongoing priority.  If we give into temptation and evil, and allow it to take up residence in our hearts, then our entire lives will be harmed and hindered.
          But just as Paul concluded, I believe that God will give 
         us the relief and the resources we need to develop a
         pure heart and life.
Paul also said, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Thank God there is hope for us that we might have a pure heart and life! Amen!

Priority #6 - Renew Your Strength Daily.
One of my favorite passages is Isaiah 40:28-31, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
     He gives strength to the weary and increases the power
     of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and
     young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the
     LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings
     like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will   
     walk and not be faint.”

I don’t know about you, but I need some of that!  Just as our bodies require daily nourishment from food and water, so does our spirit.  We need daily nourishment for our souls.

Where can we get that nourishment?...
Psalm 1 offers us an answer to that question: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”

I want to encourage each of us to make it a priority
          this new year to spend some time everyday with the
          Lord. For some of us that has been a priority for many 
          years.  The important thing is that we try to have a
          consistent time and place to meet with the Lord.

As we meet with the Lord and exercise our spiritual muscles we gain the spiritual strength we need for each day.  Jesus demonstrated the importance of staying connected to the Father as He often made time to be alone with God, and we would do well to follow His example.

Finally, Priority #7 - Act on God’s Promises and Commands.

In Philippians 4:9, Paul summarized his instructions to the Philippian Christians, saying, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
There is no substitute for faith and obedience.  God is pleased when we trust in His promises and act on His commands.
As we move into this new year, let’s make it a priority to claim God’s promises and in so doing walk by faith.  And when we know that there is something God wants us to do or to change, let’s not delay in trying to do it.

The old Nike commercial, “Just Do It,” is a good recipe when it comes to God’s commands.

In Conclusion:
The year 2014 lies before us like unspoiled, newly fallen snow.
May God help us make it the best possible for the two-
point charge of Paisley/Glamis and Rev. Shelly as she
ministers to you...and for each and every one in this 
church family.

I believe the seven priorities we have discussed this morning can lead you to that end.
a. Let’s forget about yesterday;
b. Let’s not worry about tomorrow,
c. Let’s make today count,
d. Let’s help every person we can,
e. Let’s keep our hearts pure,
f. Let’s renew our strength daily,
g. And, let’s act on God’s promises and commands.