ALL THINGS NEW AGAIN
Rev. 21:1-5
How was 2005 for you? Are you glad they are over? We said goodbye to some very dear people last year. Saints whom we will miss. Yet we also saw new babes in Christ born again. We saw people brought back from sickness and injuries, we saw saints renew their life in Christ. What are we looking forward to in 2006? Well we some new leaders, and we have new judges on the Supreme Court, and for all our leaders we should be praying that they will be open to God’s leading. We have new efforts for peace in the Middle East. We also saw some of the worst natural disasters of our lifetime. Yet in the midst of the darkness and devastation, can this be a time for new hope for our country and the world at large? Yes, it can.
This is also the time of year when people resolve for better things. Some make resolutions for better jobs, better home life, and a better relationship with God, and those are noble resolutions, how about you have you made any new resolutions this year? How are they going? Still strong or have they gone by the wayside. There is an old Irish saying that goes like this “May all your troubles this coming year be as short as your New Year resolutions.”
We all want a “do over” from time to time, a chance to do something again, hopefully do it differently and get different results. When I was a kid, we used to play “soldiers” we would run across the yard with make believe guns, sometimes they were toy guns or sticks, shooting at make believe enemy soldiers. Sometimes there would be enough of us where we would divide into teams and play “war”. During the battle we would get shot, fall down, count to 10 and jump up saying “new man”. How we long for those days, when we can jump up and say “new man”. No more sickness, no more troubles, all things new again.
God says that to us in this passage, “I AM MAKING EVERYTHING NEW”. He has been in the business of making all things new again from the beginning. When Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, things had to become new again, the relationship between God and man was changed, and God was making the changes to bring man back to him.
When the sin of man reached it fullest, God found Noah, and through the flood he made all things new again, and he reminds us every time we see the rainbow. All through history God has shown he makes all things new again. Through Abraham God started a new relationship with man, and all things were new again. And then after 400 years of silence God spoke again to man, in the form of a little child in manger in Bethlehem. He makes all things new again.
Not only are there things he makes new again, he makes us new again. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 5:17) “Any one who is in Christ is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come.” And again he says it in Gal. 6:15 “The only thing that counts is the new creation.” God is not interested in our past; he wants our present and our future. Only through Him can we have a future worth having.
The testimony of another man, maybe it could be ours. “I was a drunk, spent all my money on booze until I was soaked. Came home threw the few dollars I had left at my wife, told her to quit complaining and be grateful she had that. Somewhere before the end of my rope, or maybe it was at the end of my rope, I met God. Sometime ago I had given my life to him, but as life went on so did that commitment. I rededicated my life to him, since then I am no longer a slave to drink, no longer a slave to pornography, I dropped my filthy language, gave my wife what she needed financially and emotionally. I even gathered a new wardrobe. One evening late autumn, some six months after rededicating my life, my wife and I were getting ready to go for a walk; she was upstairs getting her coat and hat. I asked her to bring down my overcoat to which she replied “Which”? Huh, you mean I have more than one?”
You see God not only changed the man, he changed the circumstances. The things we complain about so much may just change if we ourselves change. We need to be changed by the ONE who MAKES ALL THINGS NEW AGAIN.
At the end of history things don’t really end at all, He is making all things new again. Over and over again, in the midst of our sinfulness God is making all things new again. God is and was and forever will be interested more in your future than your past. When we confess our sins, not only is he faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, but the Bible also says. I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sin no more.” (Jer. 31:34).
Do we want to have a wonderful 06; well maybe we need to make this change in us. Maybe we need to rededicate, maybe we need to give our lives to the one who MAKES ALL THINGS NEW AGAIN. He is more interested in your future; he is concerned more for the future than the past. He wants your future; he will forgive your past. It is up to you. Only He can make all things new again.
In this coming year our theme is “making a difference.” We will do things this year that will make a difference in our own lives as well as in our community. The goals we will set for this year will be to make a difference right here in Paw Paw. Last year we took some things from the talk stage to the “done” stage. This year we plan to do more of the same. Some of the new things I propose is that this summer we hire an intern to work in our youth and evangelism areas. I propose we set a goal for a 20% increase in attendance in all our meetings. I propose a 15% increase in growth within the body, I propose an increase in missions giving. All these goals are attainable if we allow God to make things new again in all of us. One other item I wish to bring from the talk stage to the done stage is to have Elders and Deacons in place before 2006 is over.
Lastly I pray for the New Year, that it will be a spiritually prosperous one for all of us, and may all our military people be home before the New Year is out. 2006 can be a year of renewal, it can be a year of making a difference. Because God cares. And He can still make a difference today
In the Book of:
Genesis he is the breath of life
Exodus he is the Passover lamb
Leviticus the Great High priest
Numbers the fire by night
Duet. Moses voice
Joshua he is salvations choice
Judges he is the giver of the law
Ruth he is the kinsman redeemer coming to claim his own
1 & 2 Sam he is the Prophet that is true
HE IS HE IS MY JESUS IS AND HE IS STILL RELEVANT TODAY
Kings and Chronicles he is forever Soveriegn
Ezra he is the true and faithful scribe
Nehemiah he is the rebuilder of broken walls andlives
Esther he is Mordecai’s courage
Job he is the timeless redeemer
Psalms he is the Morning Star
Proverbs he is wisdoms cry
Eccl. he is time and the season
Song of Songs he is the lovers dream
Isaiah he is the Prince of PEace
Jeremiah he is the Prophet who weeps
Lamentations he is the cry for Israel
Ezekiel he is the call from sin
Daniel he the stranger in the fire
HE IS HE IS MY JESUS IS AND HE IS STILL RELEVANT TODAY
Hosea he is forever faithful
Joel he is the spirits power
Amos he is the arms that carry us
Obadiah he is the Lord coming in Judgement
Jonah he is the God of the second chance
Micah he is the promise of peace
Nahum he is our strength and our sheild
Habakkuk and Zephaniah he is pleading for revival
Zechariah he is our living fountain
Malachi he is son of righteousness risen with healing in his wings
The Gospels he is God, man, Messiah and the Word
Romans he is the Grace of God
Corinthians he isthe power of love
Galatians he is freedom from the law
Eph. he is our Glorious treasure
Phillipians he is the servants heart
Col. the Godhead trinity
Thess. Our coming King
HE IS HE IS OUR JESUS IS AND HE IS STILL RELEVANT TODAY
Timothy/Titus/Philemon he is our faithful pastor
Hebrews he is our mediator and Great High Priest
James he is the one who heals the sick
1&2 Peter he is the shepherd and great guardian of our souls
John and Jude he is the lover coming for his bride
Revelation he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, Son of Man, Lamb of God, the Great I Am, the Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end.
AND WHEN TIME ITSELF SHALL BE NO MORE, STILL HE IS, HE IS, OUR JESUS IS AND HE IS STILL RELEVANT TODAY!!!!
