It's Always Time To Start Over

It’s Always Time to Start Over

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

A Time for Everything

1.There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

2.a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3.a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

4.a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5.a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6.a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7.a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8.a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

It’s always time to start over

How many of you here this morning, “would like to Start over, or have a fresh start in your Christian life?”

Many of us here this morning have made many mistakes in our and have experienced many setbacks and failures.

Sometimes we allow these mistakes, these setbacks and failures to enslave us to the point that we never enjoy the full Christian life that God has given us to enjoy.

In John 10:10 Jesus said, “ I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” Then he goes on to tell us that there is an adversary, called the Devil, that seeks to still, kill and destroy that life.

The Devil will remind us of our past in order to keep us from enjoying the life that God gave us to live. The Devil does not want you to have a fresh start in life.

The good news is, God says, “ I want you to have a fresh start in life, I want you to have a new beginning, I want to do something new in your life. ”

A great truth is this: God is far more interested in our future than He is in our past.

1.If we are going to change than – Stop making excuses for your failures.

Other people can hurt us, other people can harm us, and other people can scar us. But the only person that can ruin your life is you.

Proverbs 28:13 “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confess and forsakes them he gets another chance.”

Getting Past Your Past

Consider Charles Colson, the aide to Richard Nixon who was sent to jail for Watergate. As a result of his experience as a convicted felon, Colson founded Prison Fellowship, now the world’s largest Christian outreach to prisoners and their families. Prison Fellowship has more than 50,000 volunteers working in hundreds of prisons in 88 countries around the world.

A ministry that has blessed millions of people got started twenty-five years ago because Charles Colson committed a crime. God’s eternal purposes for that man included even the sin that sent him to prison. It was a part of God’s plan from the very beginning. But the story that matters most to you isn’t Peter’s, or Paul’s, or even Charles Colson’s. It’s yours. And what I want to say to you this morning is that the story of your life has not been ruined, not by your sin or anyone else’s. God’s good plan for your life is not buried under the mistakes of the past. God has a plan for your life, a good plan, a wise plan, a loving plan, a sovereign plan, and that plan is still in effect. You haven’t missed it. He is working out that plan in your life right now, today. Will you believe that? And will you renew your commitment this morning to seeking God, and following Him, and serving Him with your whole heart; free of the past, no longer weighed down by regret?

2.If we are going to change than – refocus your thoughts.

If you want to get going again, if you want a fresh start, you need to rethink the way that you think.

Proverbs 4:23 "Be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts."

The way you think, determines the way you feel. And the way you feel determines the way you act. If you want to change your actions, just change the way you think and it will inevitably change the way you act.

If you are depressed, discouraged and distressed it may be because you’re thinking depressed, discouraged and distressing thoughts. That’s your choice. You don’t have to think those thoughts.

If you’re acting in fearful, worried ways it’s because you’re thinking fearful, worried thoughts.