Revolutionary Resolutions

When I was in college, I took a Solo Performance Theater class, and for our final grade, we had to write an eight to ten minute monologue on any subject we wanted to choose. And so I chose this subject of “Anything is possible if you believe.” In this monologue, I played several characters, one of which was a teenager that wanted to become a rock star. After his first guitar lesson, he’s pretty discouraged, and as he walks home, he meets Benny, a very curious 5 year old, and this is what happens…

(dramatic piece about Benny and his mind)

Benny: (enters singing, until he runs into teenager) Sorry, Mr.

(pointing to guitar case) Hey, Mr., what’s that?

A guitar? What does it do?

Oh, I like music. I can sing, too, you wanna hear a song, Mr.?

Oh, ok, maybe some other time.

Are you sad? I get sad especially when my mommy doesn’t let me have any cookies before supper.

Yeah, it does suck.

So, will you play me a song?

You can’t? Sure you can. My grandma says that you can do anything you set your mind to, so I said, grandma, I wanna be a tree, and I’d think really really hard, and it hasn’t happened yet, but I’m still working on it.

But, Mr., you can play a song if you think really really hard.

Ok, maybe some other time. (exits singing)

So, the point is, you can. Everybody repeat after me in the famous words of Professor Klump, “YES I CAN! YES…I CAN!”

That’s where it starts, you have to believe you can.

And next, act on what you believe.

III. Change Requires Action

James 2:14-18 “14What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

You can believe that you’ll lose weight all you want to, but if you sit on the couch watching TV and eating potato chips all day, you’ll never lose a pound. That’s what the Bible means when it says that faith without works is dead. You have to put feet to your faith, meaning that you have to act on what you believe. If your goal is to lose weight, you may have to diet and you may have to exercise. Chances are, you’ll have to do both. If your goal is to make better grades, you can believe that you can make better grades, but if you never pick up your History book to study, you’ll never make better grades. You have to believe that you can, and that you have to do something. Well, Pastor Nate, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know how to study. Well, here’s a tip, ask somebody for help. Ask your teacher if she knows a tutor. Find out who the class brain is and offer him or her money for answers…I mean, ask him if he’d let you study with him. Look up study tips on the Internet. There are answers available, but you can’t just expect them to come to you, you have to do something.