Dakota Community Church
January 7, 2007
A Fresh Start
I want to begin today by asking you two questions.
Question 1:
To what degree are you the person you believe God created you to be?
I submit that deep down in the core of our being we know who we are supposed to be. I think we have parts of that picture that we are fulfilling and parts that we are falling short on. How close are you to the image God has placed in your heart?
Question 2:
Have you given up on reaching, or on attaining that ideal?
It is another New Year and with it comes that never ending question about resolutions. Did you make any this year? Have you tried and failed at something so many times that you have just quit? Even if making New Years resolutions is not your thing, you know what I mean. Have you been worn down to the point of resignation, to being less than you were created for?
This morning I want to reawaken that desire within you to fulfill Gods dream for your life.
The Christian faith is a message about making a fresh start, it’s about a new life in God and with God; an abundant life.
Isaiah 44:22-23
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."
Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath.
Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Hebrews 4:13-16
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
We have a high priest who sympathizes with our screw-ups, who knows all of it and who is willing to extend mercy and help when we come seeking a fresh start!
If you want a fresh start this morning:
1. Re-examine your excuses.
Proverbs 28:13
"A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance." TLB
He gets a fresh start!
Have you been making excuses?
From the movie Rocky Balboa:
Rocky’s son is frustrated from living his life in his dad’s big shadow after a heated rebuke from his son Rocky gives this little speech.
"You ain’t gonna believe this, but you used to fit right here. I’d hold you up, to say to your mother, this kid is gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid is gonna be somebody better than anybody ever knew. And you grew up good and wonderful and it was great just to watch you everyday - it was like a privilege. Then the time come to be your own man, and take on the world, and you did! But somewhere along the line, you changed, you stopped bein’ you, you let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good, and when things got hard, you started lookin’ for something to blame, like a big shadow.
Lemme tell you something you already know: the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean, and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep ya there permanently if you let it.
You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about hard you can GET hit, and keep moving forward, how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winnin’ is done!
Now if you know what you’re worth, now go out there and get what you’re worth, but you gotta be willin’ to take the hits! And not pointing fingers sayin "you ain’t where you wanna be because of him or her or anybody!"
Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!
I’m always gonna love you, no matter what, no matter what happens, you’re my son, you’re my blood you’re the best thing in my life, but until you start believing in yourself you ain’t gonna have a life."
You’re not the husband/wife you should be, you aren’t involved in ministry or outreach, you don’t pray or read your bible, you don’t know your kids, you stay stuck in a dead end job, you can’t change because… because why?
Proverbs 28:13
"A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance." TLB
2. Re-evaluate your motivation.
Everything has one of two roots, fear or faith. Is your motivation for starting over based on faith?
What are you expecting in life?
Sometimes a long run of negative circumstances can train us to expect the worst.
Have you become a victim of your own fears and negative expectations?
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
James 1:16-18
So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.
You may have set out with the right intentions before and failed, so what will be different this time? I don’t know why things don’t work out every time; I do know that just lowering our expectations in life is not the answer.
We need to throw off that negative expectation of defeat and failure, no matter how many times it has run its course and expect victory. Our God is bigger than our battle.
3. Re-focus your enthusiasm.
A fresh start requires enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is “in God-ism”.
There is strength available to us in our relationship with God.
Romans 12:11-12
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.
Would you say you have kept up your spiritual fervor?
Are you planning to do the reading through the bible this year?
Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but who delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on his law day and night.
They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
Meditate day and night – mentally chew on the things you are receiving.
Isaiah 43:18-19
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
Zechariah 4:6
So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
