"Out With The Old- In With The New.” (New Year Sermon)

WHY IS IT SO EXCITING FOR US?

It is exciting for two reasons:

(1) By nature it is always exciting when we get something new. It is exciting to get…

• A new car

• A new suit of clothing

• A new home

• A new child or grandchild

But it is also exciting as we anticipate entering a NEW YEAR.

WHAT MAKES THE NEW YEAR SO EXCITING?

(2) The old year we have had may have brought some very difficult times for some folks. For instance…

• Some have lost loved ones this year

• Some have had to endure great sickness throughout the year

• Some have lost jobs this year

• Some have lost friends through death or betrayal

• Some have had financial setbacks

Those who have had to endure these things look forward to a New Year, and they are more than happy to close out the Old Year and send it to the history books.

A lot of folks wanted to make it to this new year but it was not what God had planned for them.

But I am sure many of you are resolving to make this a year to have a closer relationship with God than you did last year…THIS IS GOOD!

Did you know the Bible tells us how that can be accomplished?

Take a close look at our text, James 4:8. We read, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you...”

Notice, God places the first step of responsibility on us. He tells us to “draw nigh” to Him, then He will “draw nigh” to us.

Why do we have to make the first step?

Because when the Lord Jesus stepped out of heaven onto this earth, HE MADE THE FIRST STEP. He came to draw us to Himself. The ball is now in our court!!!

James makes a suggestion that we all should consider, He tells us, again, we should “draw nigh” to God and if we do that God will “draw nigh” to us.

That is the wisest thing we can do with these 365 days this year.

We should all “draw nigh” to God…

I. BECAUSE OF THE BREVITY OF LIFE.

Illus: I believe that Carl Sandberg described life best, when he said, "Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you will determine how it will be spent."

Did you notice, when you were growing up, it seemed that it took forever to reach the age of sixteen. But, once you reached that age, it seemed as if you had a birthday every six months? It is amazing how fast a person can get from 16 to 70.

Job said basically the same thing. In Job 14:1, he said, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days...”

The psalmist tells us we are to number our days.

Illus: A few years ago “People Magazine” published an article entitled "Dead Ahead" telling about a new clock that keeps track of how much time you have left to live. It calculates an average life span of 75 years for men and 80 years for women.

So you program your

• Your sex

• Youg age

• Your weight

• Your geographical location

into the clock, and from then on it will tell you how much time you have left to live.

Isn’t that what the Psalmist told us to do - to number our days?

When I first heard about the clock I figured out that if I lived to be 75 years old that I had just about 1,095 days left to live. That’s all, just 1,095 days left to live.

But wait a minute. Neither you nor I have a guarantee of even one day more to live.

In fact the Bible tells us not to count on tomorrow because tomorrow may not come for you or for me.

All we have is right now. So our time on this earth is valuable because it is very limited.

We often hear folks say, “If I could live my life over again, I would do a lot of things differently!” And if they knew what they know today, they probably would!

If we could live our life over again knowing what we know now, probably we all would do a lot of things differently.

Illus: Jesus went to the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. He sat down to teach, and Mary was sitting at His feet just soaking in every word. Meanwhile, Martha was out in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Now, you know the story. It is found in Luke 10. Martha gets upset because Mary is not in the kitchen, too. So she complains to Jesus, "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" (Our translation.)