New Year's 2007

New Year’s 2007

Scripture:

Jeremiah 29

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Introduction:

There is someone I know that loves going on trips, but it’s not necessarily the going that he likes the most. No, there are other things that he likes to do before he even gets in the car and starts it up. He likes looking over the maps. He likes gathering the information about his destinations, and the researching and the planning that should go into a long trip. He figures mileage and gas consumption and costs, where he might spend the night in a motel, or where he might spend a night near a beautiful outdoor landscape. He loves the scheduling, and the packing that goes along with all of it, too. Now, you may think that is a little weird, especially if you’ve never done any of those things before any of the big trips that you’ve made, but, in your heart your telling yourself that some of them are necessary, aren’t you?

Every trip you take, every excursion you make, every walk out the door needs some type of planning, doesn’t it? A trip to the store, a trip to home plus, or COSTCO or Sam’s club, or even a trip to a restaurant has varied amounts of planning involved. If not, you’ll either not take enough money, or you’ll spend too much [like that’s never happened before, huh?].

Now, I’m sure there are probably some of you thinking that planning for the New Year doesn’t seem like a big deal. There may even be one or two of you here thinking that the year is going to happen no matter how you plan for it. Well, it will happen, but, let me give you an analogies about other things that will just happen if you don’t’ do anything…

If you never plan to check the engine oil in your car, the engine will burn up and stop.

If you smoke for thirty years…what happens when you’re 60 years old?

Here’s another…if you never exercise for 40 years and only eat what you like during that time…what happens when you’re 60 years old?

Do you see the thought process? Do you see where we’re going with this? If you just let your life or your year run its course and never make any plans, or never formulate short term and long term goals, then, when you’re three quarters of the way through the year, you’ll look back and say, “Wow, I haven’t really accomplished anything this year and the year’s almost over…”

What’s worse, you’ll look back when you’re three quarters of the way through your life and say, “Wow, I haven’t really accomplished anything, have I?”

Christians that don’t plan out their lives ultimately work themselves into a ’busyness corner.’ ((say it like ’business’ and explain the spelling))

They’re always running around, but never really accomplishing anything.

There is a favorite saying of mine to those people that come running up to me trying to get me to do something for them really quick, when they should have done something a long time before, “You’re failure to plan does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

There is another favorite of mine, “It wasn’t raining when Noah started building the ark.”

Then finally, there is another saying that I’ve heard that goes along with this as well, “Failure to plan, is actually planning to fail.”

It doesn’t have to be that way. And, our scripture verses point that out to us:

Jeremiah 29

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

((our points))

Go into the New Year with:

His Planning

His Purpose

His Provisions

Go into the New Year with:

His Planning

Jeremiah 29

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.