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Goals for the New Year
Philippians 3:13-14
[originally
preached 12-30-01]
I waited 31 years, to the day, to become your pastor.
It was all we could do to live our lives in the ministry, and
spend 10 years then under other pastors, destiny’s children, waiting for
the Lord to say the word, “go!”
I’m sure you’re asking the
question so many have already been asking me the last few weeks, about
what direction we go as a church…since you’re curious, on this first
day, let me just tell you…I don’t know!
God answered your
prayers and ours and brought us together for such a time as this
He will give me direction…I
will follow him by leading you, and you indicated by your vote that you
will follow:
When you understand…when you don’t
When you trust me…and when you have to trust the God who sent me
to you
When you agree…and when we have to agree to disagree.
This is a great time
to go forward! Praise God
for how He has taken us forward since that day.
Hundreds saved and baptized, hundreds of thousands of dollars of
improvements, debt free, a missions team that has tripled as has our
income and budget. And then
there's the gift of God we may never wrap our minds around, the fact
that now tens of thousands in ministry use our materials in their
churches and schools!
To God be the glory...and
yet, this message reminds us...
1
Find some dissatisfaction
ill.--Cruise
control/coasting - God isn't pleased!
How many of you really
relax as you drive? (I want to die just like grandpa, in my sleep, not
screaming like the passengers he was driving!)
For a church to go
backward, it doesn’t require people to go backward, just to stand still.
Have you found a comfort zone in your spiritual life?
We’re not talking
about contentment here
Materialism—Godliness with
contentment is great gain
Spiritually—don’t ever be
content, satisfied
Here’s the attitude to
have: However much I read my
Bible in last year, it wasn’t enough (prayed, gave, served, worshipped)
I’m
pressing on the upward way…new heights I'm gaining ev’ry
day…higher ground!
In 2015 our God will
want some to teach/help with kids ministries…
To sit in class another
year would be “cruise control” (idling)
(choir, nursery,
outreach, witness, attendance)
We could have stayed
in MO with a large church, fat salary, nice home, lots of friends…but we
would have to coast, we couldn’t go forward.
Why do we get self-satisfied?
We compare ourselves to
others who are not making good progress.
Since when are inferiors our standard?
“comparing yourselves with others is not wise”
We develop a false
sense of spirituality when we compare to anyone other than our
Savior...and when we do that, we quickly recognize how small we are.
Phil. 3:13—“brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended” (arrived)
No cruise control, put
the pedal to the metal
If we’re not careful,
we can allow ourselves to get to the point of complacency.
(beat down with the woes of life, failures of yesterday)
Pastor pounded the
pulpit… “Ignorance and complacency, that’s our problem!
You sir, on the front row, do you even know the difference
between ignorance and complacency? …
“I don’t know and I don’t
care”!
When is a church
officially dead, and when can we write Ichabod on the door?
When we’ve looked backward so long we can’t find it within
ourselves to look up, and look ahead!
find some dissatisfaction...
2. Find
some devotion
Phil. 3:13—“but
this one thing I do…” (one of the most important phrases)
To the self-righteous
rich young ruler, Jesus said, “one thing thou lackest”
To busy Martha,
working in the kitchen, criticizing her sister Mary, Jesus said, “one
thing is needful.”
Ps. 27:4 David said,
“one thing I have desired of the lord.”
Paul said, "This one
thing I do"…a statement of devotion
His Christianity was not a
sideshow ... not a compartment of his life
A wheel has many
spokes, and so do we in our lives:
Work life, school
life, hobbies, family life, church life
The spokes have
nothing to do with each other
Your church life
doesn’t show up at work, on the basketball court, to view your family
life at home you’d never dream you also had that church life.
Jesus doesn’t want to
be a spoke at all, he wants to be the hub of the wheel, out of which all
the spokes grow and connect
Christianity shouldn’t
be a compartment of our life, it should BE our life!
We need to trade some
commitments of this world for commitment TO our Lord.
We’re too busy these
days, it’s McDonald's every Monday, taco Tuesday, work out on Wednesday,
tee-ball Thursday, fishing Friday, yard-saleing Saturday,… no wonder
we’re sleeping on Sunday!
We need to learn to
say no…be less devoted, that we may become more devoted where it counts
Only one life, ‘twill
soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last!
When I was a child, I laughed and wept,
And time crept
When I was a youth, I dreamed and talked,
Time walked
When I became a full grown man,
Time ran
When older still I daily grew,
Time flew
Soon I shall be traveling on
Time gone!
Difference between an
amateur and a professional:
Amateur does things from
time to time…in spurts
Professional devotes full
time…it’s his life’s work
You’ll never be
effective for the Lord by attending church in spurts
[try telling your spouse
you will be faithful to them ... in spurts!]
The Sunday morning
Christian will go backward in their spiritual life week after week, and
sadly, will likely never realize it.
[Praying in spurts, Bible
reading in spurts, giving in spurts.]
Let’s become a church
of devotion, with a professional mindset, 24/7, full-time job…this one
thing I do.
D.L. Moody, preacher,
promoter, evangelist, did YMCA work, had many irons in the fire…he
preached one Sunday night, and said, “Go home and think about getting
saved for a week, then come back, and we’ll lead you to Christ.”
Great Chicago
fire killed thousands that week, including many he had preached to.
Moody decided to never
preach without giving an invitation again…and that he needed to devote
himself to evangelism only…"
this one thing I do!"
He then shook 2 continents for God!
dissatisfaction, devotion...
3. Find
some direction
V. 14,
“forgetting those
things which are behind…”
Kimberly and I served
in a church in Savannah, GA…nearby in Valdosta was a track and field
prodigy, who set records his freshman, sophomore and junior years, and
was a shoe in for big scholarships and the Olympics one day.
His senior year, he was blowing away the entire field…rounding
the fourth turn he was ahead by 20 yards, turned around and looked over
his shoulder, tripped, and lost!
Did you know that the
month January got it’s name from Caesar, who named the month for the
roman god Janus, the two-faced god…one face looking backward, and one
forward.
In 2015, there’s no
looking back…the past is passed…no man putting his hand to the plow,
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of god.
No looking back at past sin…He
forgives it, He forgets it, so should we!
It’s Satan who reminds
you of those past sins, not God.
When you think of it, thank God for forgiving you the 1st
time!
John R. Rice, “No
matter what you did in the past, your future is spotless!”
No looking back at past failures…different
than past sin.
“Most new year’s
resolutions go in one YEAR and out the other”
Last year’s resolutions, weight loss, smoking, etc.
You only fail when you stop trying!
A just man falleth 7
times and riseth up again!
Babe Ruth held the
home run record for many years…remember his other record? …strikeouts.
Winston Churchill
said, “Success is the ability to move from one failure on to the next.”
Abraham Lincoln
1831—failed in business,
went bankrupt
1833—back on his feet,
failed again
1835—fiancee died
1836—nervous breakdown
1838—ran for speaker of
house, was defeated
1840—elector, was defeated
1843—congress, was defeated
1848—congress, was defeated
1855—senate, was defeated
1856—vice president, was
defeated
1858—senate, was defeated
1860—was elected president,
one of the greatest who ever lived.
He moved from one
failure to the next without quitting
Success is getting up
just one time more than you fall down!
No looking back at
past bitterness.
If anyone could be
bitter in the o.t. It was Joseph, betrayed by his brothers.
Could have said, “I'm
in this situation because of what others did, thru no fault of my own!”
He realized forgiveness is a choice.
Don’t say you can’t
forgive that person who comes to your mind in bitterness…be honest and
say you won’t forgive.
Remember, bitterness
never hurts the one you’re bitter toward…bitterness always turns on its
creator, and poisons him.
No looking back at past events.
[longingly]
ill.--we
have taken a few walks down memory lane with family this Christmas, and
it has been fun. And you can
actually learn from the past and use it to propel forward.
Good or bad…we
love to reminisce of the good old days-ok if we don’t dwell on it and
allow it to affect our present!
We moved here
and heard how Decatur used to have 100k people and used to have a big
tire plant and what CAT and ADM used to do and everyday I pass a sign
that tells me we used to be the home of da Bears!
But what are we now?
So, GBC used to have over a thousand people—let’s be aware, let’s learn
from that that God can do it, and can do it again…if only we’ll follow
Him in that direction!
We can learn
from the past—but then move on!
what we did right/wrong
No good comes
from dwelling on people of the past either.
All over town I meet people who “used to go to grace” thru
the years…I think I've personally met all 1,000 of them!
But Jesus said to look on the fields white unto harvest…those who
don’t
yet go to Grace!
But it’s
negative/discouraging to dwell on someone you miss who’s not here…it’s
painful to lose anyone…even worse, is what will result if we dwell on
it…and in so doing we forget about the 4 new ones we’ve gained for each
and every one lost [far above average!]
Dissatisfaction, devotion,
direction…
4.
Find some determination
V. 14
“I press
toward the mark…”
“By God’s grace, I
hereby pledge to focus on the goal, to die trying if necessary, to go
forward for God in the new year!”
[individual/family/church/ministry]
Ps. 65:11—David said,
“Thou crownest the year with thy goodness”
