story is told of a man who called the doctor and told the doctor that his wife was having problems of hearing and he wanted the doctor to check her out. So the doctor said check her out at home and see how bad it is before you bring her in. Man said how do I do that. Doctor said ask her something from the other side of the room and keep getting closer until she responds back to what you said. So man goes home and she is in the kitchen making supper and from the other side of the kitchen husband goes Is dinner about ready honey. He didn’t hear anything. So he goes to the center of the kitchen and says Dinner about ready honey. Still didn’t hear anything. So he gets up right behind her and goes dinner about ready honey and at that point she turns around and says for the third time Yes.
Well, you have made it. We come to the end of one year and the beginning of a new year. It’s called a new year, because it allows us to start over. To begin anew. And so here is the chance, today everything about the last year is gone. Tonight at 12:00 will be the dawning of not just a new day but a new year, and so I want to ask us today how we are going to change. And so over the next few moments today, I want us to look at the way we lived our life in 2006 and the changes that we possibly need to make in 2007.
And it focuses on priorities. I don’t want to you to respond publicly but what are your priorities. Now if I was to ask you what is your #1 priority what would you say? Now many would say well we are in church so the answer should be God. Yeah that’s it God. But let’s don’t kid ourselves. Let’s be honest. If we are going to say that God is #1 then it must be evident. And I don’t mean that he is #1 in my life on Sunday morning or #1 when I am experiencing a problem, but I’m talking about in our normal everyday living, what are our priorities in life.
Here is just one example. Here are the percentages of resolutions that people have promised to make for 2007:
Now if you are into making goals and wanting to set them there is a website just for you. It’s called mygoals.com and it helps you stay on track, but it also has trends for what people are going to make as goals for 2007. Here is the breakdown.:
* 27% of resolutions involve health and fitness which is down from last year.
* 15% personal growth and interests
* 15% personal finance
* 9% education and training
* 6% time management and organization
* 5% recreation and leisure
* 5% family and relationships
So let’s go back to priorities for a second. We said well surely the answer should be God is #1 but notice that list again. Did you hear me mention any resolution concerning God. It’s not their. To find anything about spirituality you have to look in the personal growth section and their you will see that in the personal growth and interests the second most popular resolutions only 2% are interested in becoming more spiritual. By the way that improving one’s mind and attitude is at 27% and improving one’s appearance is at 22%. Yet changing their spiritual makeup only a dismal 2%. Need further proof? The Barna Group which specializes in research about Christianity reported that only 1 out of 7 adults (15%) place their faith in God at the top of the priority list. You say well that’s not fair because some of those are non-Christians. Okay the survey goes on and says that out of Christians not quite 1 out of 4 (23%) place their faith in God at the top of the priority list. The majority of people are focused on the here and now and not on their relationship with God.
Now please hear me correctly. I do believe that it is important to improve our health and our relationships. To be better in these areas of our lives, but the best way to improve those areas is to focus on improving our spiritual lives. But God wants to be a part of every aspect of our lives. We need to focus more on the Giver than the gifts!
Oh it’s my prayer that this year will mark the beginning of a time in our own lives and in the life of this nation that we will focus our priorities on Christ and praising Him for all that transpires in our life. And to give him thanks. After all that’s what I Corinthians 10:31 says. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of the God.” Oh I pray that this year we will put God first and do everything in His name.
And so today, I want us to prepare for a New Year’s Examination. And for this examination I want to give us three practiced presecriptions to help us make sure that everything we do in 2007 will be focused on putting God first in our lives. The First priority that we need to have to have a Christ Centered 2007 is:
1. STUDY GOD’S WORD
I want you to notice Acts 17:11. “Now the Berans were or more noble character that the Thessalonians for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
Paul and Silas were on their missionary journey and were sent to Berea. You have to understand that at this point Paul and Silas have just left Thessalonica where they city is in turmoil over what Paul and Silas are teaching about Christ saying that all they have done is bring trouble. Well Paul and Silas make it to Berea and instead of the Bereans hurling insults creating a mob to run these missionaries out of town, notice what they do. They searched the scriptures not just on Sunday mornings but every day. And they did it with eagerness.
The bible is filled with many great and exciting truths and you and I need to invest time in it everyday so that we can draw closer to Christ and understand his will for our lives and for the world. Lately it seems that everyone is focusing on the state of marriage. Well, all one needs to do is study the scriptures and discover what Jesus has to say about marriage. Which reminds me of the story of a small boy who was being given a quiz on the New Testament and one of the questions he was asked was what did Jesus say about people getting married. Without missing a beat the young boy gave his answer “Jesus said Forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Listen the bible is our sword we are to use it to enable us to draw closer to Christ. And we need to examine the bible. Listen don’t take my word for it, get in there and discover what life’s greatest purpose is. Get in it and discover what God has promised for you. If we want to draw closer to God then we must be willing to read His book. 2 Timothy 2:15 says “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
We are probably more familiar with it as found in the KJV which says “ Study to show thyself approved.
Listen the best thing that we can do is to get involved in God’s word. There are plenty of opportunities to do that right here at CBC. Plug into a Sunday school class and make a life connection with the Bible, plug into our Wednesday night services and study the beauty of I and 2 Samuel. Get your day going with one of the Psalms and then spend the rest of the day praising God for opening up His word. Look, I know how life is because I am living it with you, but take time to read God’s word. When the former missionary David Livingston was asked where he was prepared to go, he answered, “I am prepared to go anywhere, so long as it is forward.” Friends, let’s be encouraged to go forward as we read God’s word this new year.
So you and I should place a priority on Studying God’s Word and the second thing that we should do is
II. SHARE GOD’S WORD
The great evangelist Dwight Moody was once criticized for his evangelistic methods. It was then that Moody replied, “I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.”
The truth is most of us don’t do it. We do very little when it comes to reaching out to people for Christ. We have little passion for people and compassion for people who are lost, confused, mixed up and messed up.
This year, I hope that we here at CBC will develop the initiative to honestly and intentionally reach out to people and share with them the good news. On February 4th our service will be geared to evangelism. It will be called On Mission to Share Jesus Sunday and I hope that we will make an effort to be interested in sharing the message of Jesus.
But why should their be so much emphasis on evangelism. Why is it important that all of us be committed to placing as a top priority sharing the Gospel with others? Well because it is a command that is given to all Christians by Jesus. In the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus commands us by saying “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Notice it does not say Preachers go and make disciples of all nations, It does not say Missionaries go and make disciples rather it refers to each Christian that has willingly accepted Christ into their lives. The Great Commission was not just spoken for a generation 2000 years ago. It was spoken for all generations. The Great Commission is exactly what it says. It is a great opportunity that we have to teach, witness, share, love and invite people to have one of the greatest relationships with a Great Savior who has come to save. And when we are willing to share people will want to be baptized they will want to be a part of church and they will begin to see greatness take place in their lives.
But what happens if we are not willing to share the gospel. Romans 10:14 tells us what will happen if you and I are not willing to share. “How, then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
All believers are sent to announce this Good News. The process of salvation begins with the one who tells another the Good News. Like Paul and the early Christians, who spread the message of Christ despite persecution and even death, we should be eager to share this Good News of salvation to all who will listen.
Now let’s have a little audience participation. If you have Christ in your life and are excited about it would you let me know. Right now. Exactly. Now actions speak louder than words. All of us here know Christ and listen to how we just shared how enthusiastic we were for Christ. Now you might say well I am not supposed to talk in church or I cant be happy in church, Phooey to whoever told you that. If you can’t be excited that Christ died for your sins and gave you salvation in his house, then how in the world are we going to be enthusiastic for Christ when we go out into the devil’s house which is this world and share the good news. If it is good news to you then show it, Be excited. If you are excited about something it causes us to want to talk.
I want to tell you several years ago my beloved college Campbell was playing the nasty Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Being a former student body president (sounds pretty cool. Like a chick magnet) gets you some perks like seats behind the Campbell bench at one of the coolest basketball stadiums in the world. Well, let me tell you I was excited to be their. Look at a particular timeout in the game I’m going crazy cheering and standing up and saying Yeah guys take it to them. We’re only down 2 we can do it. Sure it was only 2-0 and it was the closest we would ever get but even to the last horn I was cheering on my team every chance they scored which was not much. I was excited and proud to be a Camel and still am.
DO YOU GET MY POINT? Whatever we get excited about in life we talk about! A new baby, a new car, a new house, a new job, a great vacation, good test results from the doctor, etc.
If we are excited about having Christ in our lives then let’s show it and tell it and live it. So We need to Study God’s Word, Share God’s word and before I let you go let me share with you one more thing, we should Examine ourselves.
III. EXAMINE OURSELVES
In II Cor. 13:5 we find these words “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you–unless, of course, you fail the test?”
In today’s society, it seems that when it comes to an examination, everyone is always looking at the other person instead of themselves. It’s amazing when something goes wrong all of a sudden the finger pointing starts. It’s always someone else’s fault and not ours.
It seems that we are always willing to jump on being critical of others yet, maybe this year is the year that you and I should be willing to examine ourselves a little more closely.
Go back to II Corinthinas 13:5: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves…”
The Corinthinas have had it in for Paul. They have been insistent on testing Paul the very one that had brought them to the Christian faith. And now Paul was coming to them encouraging to stop looking at others and to look at themselves. What Paul was asking them to do was to examine themselves and to see if it was true that through their actions and words Christ Jesus was living within them.
I remember when I was teaching in school, occassionaly I would trust the group I was working with and I would let them grade their own quizzes. What was the point of doing this. Save time? Sure but more importantly it gave them the opportunity to examine themselves. To see if they really knew the material. It was not just take the quiz be done with it and I’ll see what happens. But each time the question was read and the answer was given, it gave them a chance to examine themselves and pledge to do better on the next quiz. I was amazed to have one young lady tell me that it was an eye opening experience to grade herself because it put a challenge on her the next time to try to do better. She was disappointed in herself and wanted to be able to do better.
Friends we are are aware of the word soul searching, but have we ever really done it. Have we taken time to look at our life both inside and out and graded ourselves. The bible tells us to test ourselves so let’s test ourselves and you can grade your own papers:
1) When was the last time you prayed and did not need something or was in trouble?
2) 2) When is the last time you shared Jesus with someone who is not a Christian?
3) When is the last time that you sat down and meditated on a passage of scripture?
4) When is the last time you sacrificially gave without expecting something in return?
How did we do? Did we pass with flying colors or did we just get by or did we fail? Examining ourselves can be hard but can also be helpful for it helps us to see the things that need to be changed. Friends, if we are Christians then we should realize that Christ Jesus is within us and that should cause us to want to study God’s word. It should compel us to want to share God’s word with others. But it demands that we examine ourselves and our actions. Do others see Jesus living in us.
So in just a few hours 2006 will be no more and 2007 will be ushered through the door. I pray that we will check our priorities and be encouraged to Study God’s word. Friends if you don’t know how, I would be more than delighted to give you some ways.
I pray that we will be willing to share God’s word. If you are excited that Jesus is living within you then are you going to show how excited you are. Are you going to make the changes that let’s people see that you have the joy joy joy joy down in your heart.
And finally after being willing to examine yourself and noticing the changes you need to make, are willing today at the beginning of a new year to come forward to this place and to begin the spirit of restoration. Oh may 2007 be the year in which Christ Jesus is not just within us but that Christ Jesus can be seen through us. Amen Amen Amen.
