Just the Same Ol’ Same Ol’ Again?
Luke 1:37; Proverbs 16:3
December 30, 2007
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT USED IN MY MESSAGES IS BORROWED FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Me: Jeanette Case, from Erie, PA, sent this in to Reader’s Digest:
Last year when I called my parents to wish them a happy New Year, my dad answered the phone. "Well, Dad, what’s your New Year’s resolution?" I asked him. "To make your mother as happy as I can all year," he answered proudly. Then mom got on, and I said, "What’s your resolution, Mom?" "To see that your dad keeps his New Year’s resolution." (SermonCentral PRO)
Like many of you, I had some goals for this year that ends tomorrow.
And like many of you, I hit some of them and missed on others.
One of the goals I missed this last year was to memorize 12 verses of passages of Scripture.
Just one a month. You’d think it wouldn’t be that hard, wouldn’t you?
It’s not as easy for me as it once was. But that’s no excuse, either. And so I’m going to make that a goal for this coming year, also.
And you’re welcome to ask me how I’m coming on it.
We: But a lot of people will look back on the last year, and see nothing they can celebrate in their lives.
Maybe it’s missing a goal like reading through the New Testament or the Bible in the year.
Hint: if you haven’t started yet, it’s a little late now…
Maybe it was a goal at your job or business to get promoted or get a raise or otherwise make more money to better provide for your family.
Maybe it was a personal growth goal like trying to have devotions on a more regular basis or reading for your personal benefit.
Maybe it was to finally get rid of your pet rocks and leisure suits, to the everlasting relief of your wife and kids.
And by the way, replacing those things with “Chia Pets” isn’t a smart thing to do.
Folks, what I’m trying to say here is that we can all look back on things we wish would have done and could have done in 2007, but now it’s too late, and we’re disappointed.
And it could be that you’re looking back and thinking, “It always this way. The same ol’ same ol’. I’ll never get any better at this, and so I might as well give up.
Today I want to look at two very small verses of Scripture that I hope you’ll grab onto for this year.
These verses are my rallying cry for this new year, and chances are that you’ll hear them from time to time throughout the year as we move forward as a church to seek to do more for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom.
And while I want you to focus on these verses today, I also want you to keep in mind the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3, when he said…
Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
I pray that you will allow God’s Holy Spirit to fill you with a new sense of courage and determination as we look at these two passages.
God: The first of these verses is Luke 1:37 –
37 “For nothing is impossible with God."
The context of this verse is the conversation the angel Gabriel had with Mary when he announced to her that she would be the mother of the Messiah.
Mary is asking about this, and Gabriel says that not only will she have a baby in spite of being a virgin, but her older cousin, Elizabeth, who had been barren, was also going to have a baby, “For nothing is impossible with God."
Now think for a moment:
Which of us can make a virgin pregnant? Which of us can make an older woman suddenly able to bear children? Which of us can create something out of nothing and make it able to sustain life? Which of us can make provision for sin so that we can be forgiven and have a home in heaven?
None of us. But God can.
And I’m convinced that one of the reasons so many of us fail in our resolutions and plans for the new year is that we think we can do it alone.
We decide we’re going to have a quiet time every morning. And for the first day or two, we’re good to go.
And then soon the alarm goes off, and it’s all we can do just swing our legs out of bed and spend time with God.
We start off the year going, “Good morning, Lord!” and before we know it we’re going, “Good Lord, it’s morning…”
Or the goal might be to share the good news of Jesus with some of our co-workers or neighbors, but when the opportunity comes, we find ourselves tongue-tied, or they challenge you with a question you can’t answer.
Or maybe you’d like to know what you’re spiritual gifts are so you can serve the way God wired you to serve best, but you’re running into dead ends on finding out what they are.
And you might be thinking, “This is impossible!”
And on your own, you’d be right. But that’s why I keep trying to tell you that God wants to run the show in every part of your life. He can and will help you with all this. And with God all things are possible. So let Him in.
The second verse I want us to look at today is Proverbs 16:3 –
3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
This is huge on both a personal and a church-wide level.
With the Lord at your back, you can’t lose.
But the caution I need to give here is that too often people and churches make plans without consulting God in the first place.
I’m one of those guys who, once I get an idea that I really, really like, I tend to run with it, and sometimes I find out that my idea wasn’t really what God had in mind at the time.
So I’ve learned that I need to spend more time praying, reading the Scriptures, and getting godly counsel before moving ahead on some things.
Some things are good to go anytime. Things like being intentional about getting in the Bible and praying. Not just to get sermons ready, but because I need God to use these things to make me more like Jesus.
You don’t need to pray about whether or not to pray and read the Scriptures. God’s already said that’s okay.
But when it comes to things like whether or not to begin a new ministry, or to do something in particular that will help you reach out to your neighbors, then it’s best to get some input.
And once you are convinced that this is what God would have you to do, then commit it to Him, and watch Him work.
There are some things that I believe God wants us to do here in the church, particularly in terms of defining our mission and purpose.
And your leadership and I, working and praying through these things, are committing our desires and plans to Him, we expect to see God do some big things here. We expect to succeed. Not because of our efforts, but because of God’s efforts on our behalf to be the church He wants us to be.
On a personal level, when you commit to action that will help you become the best person you can be in Christ, then God moves to make you successful.
And then you and the church can break out of the cycle of the “same ol’ same ol’” that has been the routine for far too long.
You: William Carey was a missionary to India back in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, and is considered to be “the father of modern missions.”
He was convinced that it was the duty of all Christians to share the good news of Jesus with those who didn’t yet know Him.
He faced incredible opposition to take the gospel to those in other lands who hadn’t heard the name of Jesus, because of the belief in those times that God didn’t need human help to convert those “heathen” peoples in foreign lands.
His efforts were tireless and relentless in trying to break the grip of an attitude that was completely unscriptural, yet so completely embraced by those who controlled whether or not a person could get funding for any sort of ministry.
But it was a sermon he gave during this time that cemented in the minds of others the resolve of this shoemaker who wanted to be a missionary.
In that sermon, he repeatedly uttered the words for which he is probably most famous, and which I want to see etched in the hearts of those who call this their church home:
“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”
William Carey spent the next 40 years in India. With some successes and failures, as well as heartache and tragedy.
Yet through all of this he was convinced that he could expect great things from God if he was willing to attempt great things for God.
Now relax. I’m not calling for missionaries today.
I’m calling for people who are willing to say, “I want to move forward in my relationship and work for Christ this year.”
Make some goals that you feel would be honoring to God and helpful to you in becoming more Christlike in 2008.
Read through the New Testament this year – a chapter a day will do it. Or read through the Bible this year – about 4 chapters a day will do it. Read through the Bible in the order the events happened. If you want a chart to help you, let me know.
Decide that church attendance will become a priority, and not just something when it’s convenient.
Pray for unsaved friends and family.
Volunteer to help with the ministries of the church.
Eliminate some things from your vocabulary.
Do something for your physical health. One of my goals is to be completely caffeine-free by my birthday on September 11. Feel free to ask me how that’s coming as I slowly wean myself from the regular coffee and pop.
There are all sorts of ideas. If you want help with any of them, let me know.
But determine to do something and follow through on it.
A boy told his father, "Dad, if three frogs were sitting on a limb that hung over a pool, and one frog decided to jump off into the pool, how many frogs would be left on the limb?"
The dad replied, "Two."
"No," the son replied. "There’s three frogs and one decides to jump, how many are left?"
The dad said, "Oh, I get it, if one decides to jump, the others would too. So there are none left."
The boy said, "No dad, the answer is three. The frog only DECIDED to jump."
Does that sound like last year’s resolution? Great inspiration and great resolutions, but often times we only decide, and months later we are still on the same limb of do-nothing. (SOURCE: http://irsweb.com/ Citation: Help4Sunday, January, 1999. SermonCentral PRO)
It’s too easy to let things die in the land of good intentions.
The best way you can make sure you follow through is to tell someone else your plans and let them check your progress on them.
Find someone in this church family you know will encourage you and pray for you, and maybe get in your face just a little if you need them to.
And let me encourage you to take baby steps in all of this. Don’t bite off more than you can reasonably chew.
Choking on your goals doesn’t help you accomplish them!
We: Folks, too often the world sees nothing but defeat. People outside the church make resolutions and goals, just like people inside the church do. And they have a hard time keeping them, just like you and I do.
But can you imagine how people would react if they see our people becoming serious about making goals that will help them be more like Jesus?
They see plenty of people who are great at talking about Jesus, but not nearly enough people doing what it takes to actually live for Him, even if it’s taking tiny baby steps.
They need to see that we’re serious enough about Jesus to alter our lives around Him. That attracts people to Jesus.
The church of Jesus has a very negative reputation in the world right now, and to be very honest, it’s not getting much better, though some inroads are being made, for which I thank God.
In Acts 2, the church had the same problem. The church was basically viewed as a bunch of weird renegade Jews who worshiped a dead prophet. The were looked at like they were a cult, and that’s just how the Roman government viewed them.
But if you read Acts, you will find that even though some thought they were weird, many thousands of people believed in Christ and joined with them.
I believe it was because the Church was serious about living for Christ regardless of how it made them look to those around them.
And I believe that if we will do the same thing, then the God of the impossible will cause our plans to succeed, and we will reach many thousands for Christ.
Why? Because we expect great things from God and we attempt great things for God. Let’s pray.
