A Call To Christian Consecration For The New Year

A Call to Christian Consecration for the New Year

1 Corinthians 6:11-18

Intro

Suppose you were to go to the ticket counter at your local airport and say, “I want a ticket.” The clerk would ask, “To where?” And you would say, “Well, anywhere; what places do you have tickets for?” The ticket salesperson would say immediately, “Are you crazy! You’ll never get anywhere, if you don’t know where you want to go.” Too often we approach the new year in just that fashion – without goals and without sound resolutions. Before us spread out in panoramic view, yet with a deep veil separating us, is a whole new year of adventuresome living. Spiritually we should and can see a great breakthrough into many hearts that are steeped in the blackness of sin as they come to know Christ a Savior and Lord and thus come into the sunshine of His saving grace.

For us as individual, it can be the greatest year yet if we do the following.

I. Resolve to make this the most wonderful year yet.

It should be a wonderful year because:

a. There is a wonderful relationship between you and the Lord of all life, Jesus Christ.

i. We must know him as Savior by a personal encounter without which there is no knowledge of him.

John 3:3 – “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the

ii. We must know him intimately through day to day fellowship with him.

1. A dear saint once said to her pastor, “Pastor, I could not get through a day without an active fellowship with my Master. I am constantly in an attitude of prayer.”

iii. We must know him as Lord of our daily lives.

1. We should make no decisions without first consulting our Master; we should wait for his instructions and leadership each day of our lives.

b. There is a thrilling anticipation of what lies ahead. We ought to be spiritually excited about the New Year and what can be accomplished for the Lord.

c. Because we have systematized our enthusiasm for the coming year.

The following are three methods by which you can systematize your enthusiasm and cause it to produce for you during the coming year:

i. Write down the things that you want to accomplish during the coming year, numbering them 1,2,3, etc., thus, having down in black and white something definite toward which to work.

ii. Study your job, is requirements, its possibilities, and its potentialities for at least one hour each day for five days a week. If you will do this honestly, you probably will be looked on as an expert in your field within 5-6 years.

iii. Spend at least thirty minutes per day in deep meditation concerning ideas for the improvement of your job, jotting down at least a half dozen or so of these ideas.

1. Perhaps at the end of the week you will discover that out of the many ideas jotted down, there will be at least one great idea that will carry you forward in your work

iv. Most of these ideas just mentioned have concerned themselves with secular life.

1. As Christians we could well afford to carry out these ideas for self improvement.

2. The Christian faith is in a time of great competition with ideologies that grab the imagination of the youth of our land.

3. We need to know our weaknesses, our strengths, and the best methods of communicating our faith.

II. Resolve that we will live positively this year.

a. Endeavor to control life and not to let it control you.

i. In the face of calamities endeavor to turn catastrophes into blessings.

b. Do not wait for your wishes and dreams to come true.

i. Go out and face life head-on and help those dreams and visions to come true.

ii. Young William Carey, a shoe cobbler in England, wanted to do more for missions in India. He heard a harsh rebuke: “Sit down young man; when the Lord gets ready to save the heathen, he will do it without your help.” William Carey thought otherwise and packed up and went to India to tell the un-reached about Jesus Christ’s saving power.

c. Venture out, dare, live thrillingly as Christians.

i. Desiring to see the lost people of our community come to know Christ personally, let us dare to believe that they can be won if we are willing to be Christ’s missionaries carrying the good news of his love for the lost.

ii. We would like to see our church be able to meet all of its obligations in the support of the great mission undertaking and in its local areas of need.

III. Resolve that we are going to be better people than we were last year.