It’s a new season
Text: Ecclesiastes 3: 1 – 8 “There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens:
a time for giving birth and a time for dying,
a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,
a time for killing and a time for healing,
a time for tearing down and a time for building up,
a time for crying and a time for laughing,
a time for mourning and a time for dancing,
a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces,
a time for searching and a time for losing,
a time for keeping and a time for throwing away,
a time for tearing and a time for repairing,
a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking,
a time for loving and a time for hating,
a time for war and a time for peace.
- This is the first week of Spring [e]
- Spring is a time synonymous with new life…with renewal…and with new life [e]
- Seeds which had laid dormant in the ground during the difficult months of winter, begin to germinate in new beautiful flowers and plants…
- Animals give birth during Spring, so it’s a time of new life…
- Birds that had flown away to warmer regions during winter arrive at Spring and their songs fill the air…
- The weather begins to warm up…
- The air seems more crisper and clearer…
- Our Heavenly Father above created these change of seasons so that life on Earth would go on and would be abundant…
- Spring is a busy time for the farmer, as he sows his crops….
- Spring brings about a refreshing of the earth….
- Rain falls and nourishing the earth and Bro. Roy and Bro. Johnny can begin to plant their seeds….
- Spring seems to have blessed this church as well….I hear that there are quite a few babies on the way [e]
- I can go on talking about the physical and natural aspects of Spring, but our purpose this morning is to focus on the spiritual and the eternal [e]
- As our text indicates today, there is a time for everything [e]
- And as we stand here on the first Sunday of Spring, God is speaking to us about new beginning because we are entering a new season [e]
- A new season with God is when He prepares to launch us to a new level
- My first point this morning:
1. It’s time for a new passion
- Passion has to do with the heart [e]
- Passion has to do with strong emotions [e]
- When somebody is passionate about something, he place his whole heart into that thing [e]
- God is not speaking to our minds today…He is ministering to our hearts [e]
- Our walk with God may have lost it’s passion [e]
- We may be here going through the motions today [e]
- Many of us, if we were honest with ourselves, would agree with me that the church seems to have lost passionate zeal in serving God [e]
- As Josh Mcdowell would say; “Evidence demands a verdict”
o Our worship has become tired and sporadic [e]
o Our attitudes have become negative and sarcastic [e]
o Our church attendance has become irregular and optional [e]
o Our prayer lives and Bible reading has become too far and between [e]
o Our contributions have become with-held [e]
o Our support is now forced, not eager [e]
- We could go the entire morning with this list [e]
- But our purpose here is to re-ignite the fire within our hearts today [e]
- Our purpose here is to run back to God and throw ourselves at the Feet of Jesus [e]
- Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, “
- We make the mistake on basing our passion for God on the performance of a man [e]
- Man will fail you [e]
- I will fail you….I will not always do the things you may expect me to do [e]
- I may even sometimes do the things you don’t expect me to do [e]
- But one day when you stand before God to give an account of yourself, I am not going to be there [e]
- Psalms 73: 25 – 26 says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. “
- We sing this song in church [e]
- What does it say?
- It says that everything around you may go wrong and your heart will be troubled and your strength may fail, but if God is in your heart, you will overcome [e]
- It speaks of passionately serving God [e]
- Now…right now…there are Christians facing the barrel of a gun somewhere in the Middle East….they are facing a sword about to be beheaded….they are about to be crucified…they are about to be martyred for their faith in Jesus [e]
- Everything around them has failed [e]
- But the Name of Jesus is still on their lips [e]
- Lord, won’t you give us here at Umkomaas Full Gospel Church that passion [e]
2. It’s time for a fresh, new start
- A survey revealed that most people, if they were ever given the chance, would do things differently in life [e]
- Many people have had regrets about some of the things they had done (or not done), about some of the decisions they had made, about some of the choices they had made [e]
- I wonder if there are any like that here this morning [e]
- Today I got good news and bad news….
- The bad news is YOU cannot change your past [e]
- There is no time machine that exists, nor will one ever exist [e]
- Time belongs to God and Him alone [e]
- The good news is JESUS can change your future [e]
- Right now…this instant, God is able and God is willing to change your future [e]
- You cannot change the past
• Past wrongs [e]
• Past hurts [e]
• Past mistakes [e]
• Past decisions [e]
- Dwelling on the past just brings regrets [e]
- God wants you to focus on the future [e]
- “So pastor”, you may be asking, “what has God got in store for me in the future”
- I cannot give you the specifics, until I get a prophetic word for you [e]
- But I can direct you to the Word:
- Jeremiah 29: 11 – 14 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”
- [Explain above Scripture]
- Matthew 6: 25 – 34 says, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ...
- As Spring brings a fresh new start in the natural…God wants to give you a fresh new start by allowing the supernatural blessings of His storehouse to be open unto you.
- Are you ready for a new start this morning?
3. It’s time for new blessings
- When the Spring rains hit the ground, it is absorbed. [e]
- For the winter months, the ground had been barren and dry [e]
- As the rains fall, the ground soaks it up [e]
- And then we find that the earth starts to become productive [e]
- Plants and grass start to spring up in abundance [e]
- Not a little [e]
- Not in isolated pockets [e]
- Not limited to certain areas….but in abundance….everywhere [e]
- Everything starts to flourish [e]
- Just as in the natural, Spring brings in abundance…
- I believe that we need to call on God this first Sunday of Spring and tap into the abundance of heaven [e]
- “But pastor”, the question arises. “How do we tap into this abundance of God?”
- “How do we step into this unlimited blessings, which seems to be the buzzword on every tongue” [e]
- My answer to you: “Go home!”
- Let me explain from the Word….
- 2 Samuel 6: 9 – 11 says, “9 David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” 10 He was not willing to take the ark of the LORD to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and his entire household.”
- We can pray here at church for your blessings, and yes, you will be blessed [e]
- We can pray for your blessings at prayer meeting and you will be blessed [e]
- Wendy and I pray for you every day and one of our prayers for you is blessing [e]
- But if you really want to experience blessings, call God into your home [e]
- [Read and explain text]
- Invite the Presence of God into your house [e]
- Here are some points to consider about Obed-Edom:
• He allowed God into his home willingly [e]
• God was given a place of prominence [e]
• He was not even an Israelite, yet because the God of heaven showed up at his house, blessings began to flow [e]
• His blessings began to be transferred to every one of his family members [e]
• His blessings began to be transferred to even his servants and those who worked in his house [e]
- How many of us are ready for new blessings?
- Allow God into your home [e]
4. It’s time for a new anointing
- Spring time brings a refreshing [e]
- Just as the ground needs a refreshing, we need a refreshing of the Spirit in our lives [e]
- Lets remind ourselves of what we said in point 1 of this sermon:
-
o Our worship has become tired and sporadic [e]
o Our attitudes have become negative and sarcastic [e]
o Our church attendance has become irregular and optional [e]
o Our prayer lives and Bible reading has become too far and between [e]
o Our contributions have become with-held [e]
o Our support is now forced, not eager [e]
- We need a new anointing [e]
- We need a time of Holy Spirit refreshing [e]
- The work ok the Kingdom lies ahead [e]
- And God wants to refresh us with a new zeal to work for Him [e]
- Let me ask you a question: How many of you would like to be forever young?
- Then let me say: “We don’t stop working for God when we grow old…we grow old when we stop working for God”
- This morning God wants to empower us to get and go [e]
- God wants to anoint us for His plans and purposes [e]
- Psalms 85:6 says, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”
- What does this scripture tell us?
- That revival brings rejoicing [e]
- Rejoicing come from the root “joy”
- When you put it all together, you come to a conclusion that when we seek the Face of God, one the products is joy [e]
- I wonder what causes this joy:
- You see when you seek the Presence of God, there are some by products:
• Joy (Nehemiah 8:10)
• Blessings (yes the material and financial ones as well)(Matt 6:33)
• Good health (3 John 1:2)
• Assurance of salvation (John 10:28 says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. “
Conclusion
- It’s a new season
- God wants to take you into your new season [e]
- It’s a season of abundance and blessings [e]
- How many of you are ready for a new season?
- How many of you are ready for a better season?
- Tell the person next to you: “I’m entering into a new season…into a better season”
- How many of you are ready for God to take you to the next level?
- Tell the person next to you: “I’m stepping up to a new level”
- I want to pray with you today
- Because even as you enter a new season, the devil…the thief wants to rob you (John 10:10)
- Because even as you go up to a new level, there’s a bigger devil..
- But God, yes God Himself WANTS to bless you!
