“End of Another Adventure”
December 27, 2009
Matthew 28:16 – 20
We are in one of the most serious and sober Sunday’s of the year. Christmas is over and there is a natural let down. We have shopped for presents and prepared Christmas dinners and went to a bunch of Christmas parties. Sometimes we experienced great joy when our presents were opened and sometimes bitter disappointment. Sometimes the parties were great and full of laughter and love. Some weren’t so hot. But all the activity has left us physically exhausted and emotionally depleted. We come to the end of another year – the end of another adventure. We are a little older; a little more experienced; and we have a few more scars on our bodies and souls. But I have good news! There’s a new year just ahead of us! There is a new beginning to the rest of our life. There is a new adventure just ahead. I want to talk about that is just a little bit – but first – let’s reminisce a little bit. Let’s remember the blessings and the pain of the last year.
In the negative column I lost a younger brother and a step dad this last year. Lisa Harris lost her Mom. Bob was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and we were afraid he wasn’t going to make it either. There was death and divorce and destruction and despair this last year. And I don’t know about you – but I couldn’t have made it without my Lord and Savior. And God is so good. He blessed us in so many ways. One of the greatest blessings to me was YOU – each one of you that are a part of my life and a part of this church. You bless me. You make me happy.
But let me just mention a few of the blessings of the last year that come to mind. Last year we came into the year averaging 28 in morning worship. For the last few months we have been averaging over 40. We baptized 8 with 4 or 5 more that are ready for baptism. This year Tim and Lisa got married; Tim preached his first sermon and Bob, although he was at deaths door earlier in the year, has continued to blessing us with his teaching and preaching. Julie was elected as a delegate by our district team to represent the churches of the Sacramento district and went to Orlando, Florida for a week. She also went on a cruise with some family members. We had Church campouts, and work days which so many of you took part in. Gracie Garberson graduated from high school and is away to college. We started a new worship team that Tim and Lisa leads and it blesses me every Sunday. Some of you put together a 4th of July float for the parade and I was asked to preach at the Community Event, Day in the Son. Then my peers, the ministers of Mount Shasta, elected me as their president.
The best blessings though are 1st, my relationship with Jesus Christ. He is my life. He is my joy. He is my friend. The 2nd greatest blessing, is my wife, Julie, who has put up with me since 1972. She is a true friend and a steadfast and committed servant of Almighty God. 3rd greatest blessing is my family. My son and daughter and my 6 grandkids. 4th on the list is you - my beloved Church. I look forward each week to coming here and worshipping and singing and learning with you. The hugs, the fellowship, the teamwork of doing something together that is significant and eternal for the Lord, blesses me.
We have accomplished a lot this last year –and it is good to look back at the blessings and be grateful to our God for what He is doing IN us, THROUGH us, and FOR us. As we close out this year – I am so grateful and thankful for so many things. I am most grateful for my new friends of the last year. I am not going to mention names, because if I did I would surely leave someone out. But you know who you are. Thank you for your support and love. Thank you for loving me and praying for me and supporting me.
But we are on the brink of a brand new year! New challenges! New adventure! New blessings! 2008 was GREAT! 2009 was Fine! 2010 – well – it could be the end! Or maybe the beginning of the end! That’s kind of gloomy – if you aren’t prepared. It’s kind of scary if you aren’t spiritually ready. But in our Scripture Jesus says,
“And surely I am with you always – to the very end of the age.” Matt. 28:20b
The first thing I want you to know about this coming year – is Jesus will be with us. There is nothing you will face this coming year that you and Jesus can’t handle. God’s will –will not take us where His grace can not keep us. Jesus is the King of kings! Jesus is the Lord of lords! Jesus is the Creator of this world. He made everything in it! He made everything and He knows everything –before it even happens. Nothing that happens this coming year is going to take Him by surprise. It may startle us. It may take us by surprise. But Jesus already knows – He already sees 2010 from beginning to end! So don’t be afraid. Be strong and courageous. Remember what the Lord said to Joshua when Moses died? It was the end of an era. The leadership was changing. God was taking Moses home and Joshua was to be the new leader. After God told Him that He would never leave him or forsake him, He said,
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:7
Do you want to be successful wherever you go? Then be careful to be an obedient follower. Do you want to have a prosperous new year? Listen.
“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. THEN you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8
Joshua DID follow the Lord wholeheartedly and he DID prosper and he WAS successful in whatever he did. When his time of leadership and life was about over, he said.
“…You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”
Joshua 23:14
Folks, God is faithful! God will not fail you. We may forsake Him. We may fail Him. We may leave Him – but He will never leave us or forsake us. All we have to do is keep in obedient relationship to Him. That’s where the blessings are. That’s where the power is. That is where safety and salvation is. The Bible says,
“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23
That’s where the blessings are. “We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who love Him.” Acts 5:32
“And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…” Acts 1:8
That’s where the Power is.
“And once made perfect, He (Jesus) became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.” Hebrews 5:9
That’s where the security is. That’s where safety is. Some people want to change that Scripture and leave out the last part. They want to just say Jesus is the source of eternal salvation and all we have to do believe. But that is twisting the Scriptures. We are saved by ‘grace’ (God’s part) through faith (our part) to do good works (the result of salvation). Eph 2:8-10 The Scripture says that God prepared in advance that we were to do these things. It is only those who are walking in obedience who have eternal salvation.
So this new year, determine that you are going to walk in obedience with God. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. And the weaker you are – the stronger He will be. As long as you keep your hand in His nail scarred hand – nothing the future holds needs to frighten us. He will be with us to the very end of the age. Notice that there were some who worshipped Jesus when He met with them. But sadly – some doubted. I pray you will be a worshipper and not a doubter.
Secondly, as we face the unknown future (2010 could be the end) notice that Jesus has all authority. He has been given back His authority. He purchased it with His blood. That is one of the things that happened on Calvary.
In the first chapter of the first book of the Bible we see God giving the authority to man. He said, “Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” He says, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours…”
God brings every animal He creates to Adam - and has Adam name them. Why? God gave him authority over the whole earth. God is the Creator, but man is to be His manager.
When Adam and Eve sinned and they rebelled against God, they passed that authority on to Satan. By default Satan received undeserved authority. Kind of like Jacob stole Esau’s power from him. And every child after that was born with a depraved, selfish, and sinful nature. It is only when Christ bought us back with His blood shed on the cross that the authority now returns to the rightful owner and creator. That’s why the Bible says,
“You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20)
And what does He do? He gives us, once again, the responsibility and authority to do His will. After establishing His authority, Jesus gives us directions. His final words hold three things we are to do. Make disciples. Baptize them. And teach them obedience.
Those are to be our goals for the coming year. Whether Jesus comes this next year or not – we need to be found carrying our His commission.
First of all, we are to make disciples. How do you do that? Well, no matter how inexperienced you are – you can have a part in that. Paul says one plants the seed, another waters the seed, and still another reaps. I like the reaping part. I’m not too ‘into’ planting the garden or weeding the garden – and it is such a hassle to water everything on time. But when the peaches are ripe and the plums and apples are ripe – I’m all for that. It’s the same in a church. We love to see people come to the alter or raise their hand and make a commitment to the Lord. But everyone who makes a commitment to Christ has a whole host of people involved in it. Those praying for them; those witnessing to them with their lives and words; those sharing what God did for them; the Sunday school teachers, and on and on it goes. Every Christian has an obligation to have a part in making disciples – but it can take on so many forms. You have heard me Sunday after Sunday pray the sinners prayer. One reason I do that is to help people come to the Lord, but another reason is to teach you how to lead someone to Christ. God did not make this a difficult thing. The Bible says,
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10
“”He brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-“ Acts 16:30-31
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, kind of like apologizing, he will forgive us and cleanse us. In all severed relationships, if the relationship is to be restored to healthiness and wholeness, an apology has to be given and accepted and whatever the violation was – it needs to stop. It’s the same way with our relationship with God. Believe, confess, and begin a new walk of obedience.
You can have a part in making disciples by sharing the old, old truths of the Bible and reaping or you can plant seed and encourage – which is watering. I have a cousin who is a tract giver. Everywhere she goes she passes out tracts. Only heaven will reveal the result of her actions. Another cousin is a bold witness. He will ask you or anyone else, “If you were to die tonight –do you know where you would spend eternity?” If they say ‘no’ he goes on to tell them how they can know for certain they will go to heaven. The point is that we are all to be in the process of making disciples. Let’s make that our goal this next year.
After someone accepts Christ – the first thing we are to do is to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We don’t baptize them into the church or into the denomination or into some other prophet. We aren’t to emulate and imitate an old testament prophet. We are to imitate and emulate Jesus. We are to be transformed into Christ’s image. We are to become more and more Christ-like. So we baptize and are baptized into Christ – through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – because they all have a part in our salvation. If you have not been baptized – you need to be right away.
Lastly, after we make disciples and baptize them – we are to teach them – what? What did Jesus say we are to teach new disciples? We are to teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded. In other words – we are to teach converts to be obedient.
I have heard many pastors and leaders and denominations actually teach DIS-obedience. They say you aren’t saved by being good – (which is true) so you might as well go ahead and do what you want (which is false). We are saved by grace – through faith. There is no faith without obedience. And without faith it is impossible to please God. I want to please God, don’t you?
Folks, just a few more days, and this old year is gone. But I have good news – 2010 is NOT the end. It’s the beginning. It can be a new beginning to a new and happier life for you. God promises prosperity and success and blessing for this coming year. All we have to do is walk through it with Him. Will you do that?
