Sermon Central
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This Could Be The Start Of Something Big Series
Contributed by Johnny Creasong on Dec 28, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: Nearly 90% of those who make New Years Resolutions rarely see any change or results. The missing element: a LIVING HOPE!
This Could Be the Start of Something Big
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth
into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 and into an inheritance
that can never perish, spoil or fade—
kept in heaven for you,
5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power
until the coming of the salvation
that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
(NIV)
Are you planning some New Year’s Resolutions?
A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching his wife, who was looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she’d like for her birthday.
“I’d like to be six again”, she replied, still looking in the mirror.
On the morning of her birthday, he arose early and brought her breakfast in bed: a nice big bowl of Fruit Loops. The they were off to the amusement park where he put her on every ride in the park.
Five hours later they staggered out of the park, her head reeling and her stomach feeling upside down. Pulling into a McDonald’s, he treated her to a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake. Then it was off to a movie, complete with popcorn, a soda, and a big box of her favorite candy, M & M’s.
Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed, exhausted.
He leaned over his wife with a big smile, kissed her, and lovingly asked, “Well, dear, what was it like to be six again?”
She slowly opened her eyes and replied: “Size 6!”
Resolutions are a “New Year’s Wish List” with a Goal!
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
(NIV)
Author, innovation consultant, and speaker Stephen Shapiro, with the help of Opinion Corporation of Princeton, New Jersey, offers the following
Interesting statistics concerning New Year’s resolutions:
• 45 % of Americans usually set New Year’s Resolutions
17 % infrequently set resolutions
38 % never set resolutions
• 8 % are always successful in achieving their resolutions
19 % achieve their resolutions every other year
45 % have infrequent success
24 % (one in four) never succeed and have failed on every resolution every year.
• 47 % percent set resolutions related to self-improvement or education
38% percent set resolutions related to weight
34 % set resolutions related to money
31 % set resolutions related to relationships
• The younger you are, the more likely you are to achieve your resolutions
(39 % of those in their twenties achieve their resolutions every year or every other year, while less than 15 % of those over fifty achieve their resolutions every year or every other year) One of my friends said that the older he gets, the more his New Years Resolutions look like a bucket list of things he wants to do before he “kicks the bucket”.
• The less happy you are, the more likely you are to set New Year’s resolutions
(this is especially true for those who set money-related resolutions: 41 % are not happy; 34 % are moderately happy; 25 % are happy)
What is the ONE element which will turn this dream world into the start of something BIG?
HOPE!
3 Praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy
he has given us new birth
INTO A LIVING HOPE
through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,
(NIV)
Why do we need a New Birth? The same reason we pursue New Year’s Resolutions: we have to make a fresh start! Yet as John McCrone says:
"Almost anything you do today will be forgotten in just a few weeks."
John McCrone
No one can go back and make a new beginning.
But anyone can start here and make a new end!
That statement alone ought to inspire me to change my life, but I find that past attempts at real life change have been more failure than success. Remember, Mr. Shapiro says that nearly 90 % of those who make New Year’s Resolutions rarely see any real change or results.
