New Year, New You Series

New Year New You

CCCAG December 27th, 2020

Scripture- Titus 2:11-14

The year 2020 has been a year to remember hasn’t it?

A quick recap-

The beginning of the year Pastor Roger went home to be with Jesus, followed by our sister Audrey a few months ago. We miss both of them dearly.

Coronavirus- shutting down much of life

The very tumultuous elections that we just went through with lingering doubt

Many of our cities, including Tammie and mine hometown Kenosha saw devastating riots that left buildings burned and lives upended. Couple that with coronavirus shutdowns, many small businesses have closed, never to reopen again.

Despite all of these obstacles we did have a few bright moments-

1. we still managed to become a General Council affiliated church once again

2. Because of the faithfulness of God and our church, our budget rebounded after almost being decimated by the plumbing emergency during Pastor Rogers funeral

3. We have no lost anyone to COVID in our immediate church family, although several have lost relatives to this disease

4. We have not lost any members during our shutdown. As far as I know, everyone remains committed to our church.

So as we enter into 2021, what should our attitude be? I know what you are thinking- I can’ even think about 2021 yet, I haven’t recovered from 2020. Most of us are exhausted from 2020- I am.

Scripture tells us that there will be times like this- times that we will be overwhelmed, stretched thin, or just simply tired of the drama that is our lives.

In fact, Jesus gives us a break down about the times we are living in right now. In Matthew 24, he gives a pretty detailed timeline concerning the end times, and I think verse 12 sums up where we are today-

Matt 24:12-14

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Today in America, we exist in an atmosphere of fear, mistrust, doubt, and even some have developed a hatred of others who might not share our worldviews or opinions of how things should be.

I’m going to say something a bit controversial this morning but it’s the truth- in large part, the American version of Christianity has been hijacked by many in political power to represent a voting block instead of being the embassy of Jesus Christ that shines light into the darkness.

So with this in mind, I want to give a new focus for the upcoming New Year. I want to see what the bible says that can help us refocus our lives to live in a such a way that we can represent Jesus and HIS kingdom.

Intro Titus- Paul’s emissary, secretary, pastor of Crete

Titus 2:11-14

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

NIV

Prayer

I. Grace of God

To frame the rest of this message appropriately, we need to define what grace is because many of us have had this idea shaped by the world and not the bible.

Grace is the unmerited favor of God. In common language- God loves you even though you don’t deserve it.

Another way of say it is to break the word grace down to an acronym in which each letter stands for something.

In this case- God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. In other words, Jesus paid your sin debt to God so that you can receive the richness of his forgiveness and love.

That’s what Grace is, but grace is so big and encompassing, it is not just a truth, but a truth that needs to be responded to through action.

The apostle Paul in writing to Pastor Titus breaks grace down into three specific areas that we should review this morning-

A. Saves us (verse 11) grace brings salvation

Paul further emphasizes this-

Eph 2:8-10

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

If we were to boil down this thought to once sentence it’s this- you have nothing to do and nothing to contribute to your salvation. Jesus did it all.