19, December 2004
Dakota Community Church
2004 – That’s A Wrap
Introduction:
Last year around this time I was feeling very positive about the church and our prospects for the New Year. One of the statements I made was that I thought 2004 was going to be our best year ever. In fact the opposite occurred.
Deuteronomy 18 – 19-22
If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death."
You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Who would like to cast the first stone?
What will 2005 hold in store?
A few things we can be sure of.
1. A closer walk with Jesus.
A closer walk with Jesus means walking in the light.
1John 1: 5-7
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
A closer walk with Jesus means walking in the Spirit.
Matthew 5: 16-26
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
A closer walk with Jesus means walking in love.
Ephesians 5: 1-2
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
What I mean is that I want to set the bar a little higher in my own life.
- I want to be more actively aware of His presence.
- I want to be more committed to His priorities.
- I want to be more focused on representing Him.
Amos 3: 3
Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
In 2005 I am committing to walk with Jesus and to more diligently agree with Him!
How about you?
2. Personal growth and development.
Ephesians 4: 11-15
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
Here is my growth plan:
Adding to my daily Bible reading and devotional
(If you are not doing that much now, why not begin here?)
- Listen to one extra sermon per week.
(How about one per month for you? Say Charles Stanley, John Maxwell, or Kenneth Copeland.)
- Read two growth books per month minimum.
(Depending on your reading how about 12 or 6?)
2Peter 3: 18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Well all my growth plan seems to cover growing in knowledge but how do I grow in the grace of Jesus?
- The knowledge of Him leads to deeper revelations of grace?
- Discovering how much I don’t know leads me to realization of my need of grace?
- Some do grow in knowledge but shrink in grace!
Illustration:
I dreamed death came the other night and heaven’s gate swung wide.
With kindly grace an angel fair ushered me inside.
And there, to my astonishment stood folks I’d known on earth.
Some I’d judged and labeled as “Unfit”, “Of little worth”.
Indignant words rose to my lips, but never were set free
for every face showed stunned surprise
No one expected me!
3. Further adventures in faith.
2Corinthians 5: 6-8
So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
This is a faith walk; we need to learn to trust in God regardless of how things go!
Hebrews 11: 1-2, 13, 36-39
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.
Illustration:
One night, I had a wondrous dream;
one set of footprints there was seen.
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some stranger prints appeared,
and I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
"Those prints are large and round and neat,
But, Lord, they are too big for feet."
"My child," He said in somber tones.
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
but you refused and made me wait.
You disobeyed, you would not grow,
the walk-of-faith you would not know.
So I got tired and fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt,
Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."
Power point available if you would like.
Contact dcormie@mts.net
