MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Revised: 2011)
(Powerpoints used with this sermon are available free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request # 329.)
ILL. Have you heard about the man who moved into a retirement community to spend the rest of his life there? It wasn't long until he had made a number of friends among the other residents.
There was one lady he was especially attracted to, & she was attracted to him, also. So they spent a lot of time together. Finally one evening he proposed, asking her to marry him.
The next morning he woke up remembering his proposal, but he couldn't remember her answer. So he went to her & said, "I'm really embarrassed. I proposed to you last night but I can't remember if you said `Yes' or `No."'
"Oh, thank goodness!" she replied. "I remembered saying `Yes' but I couldn't remember who asked me."
Sometimes I feel that way about New Year's resolutions. I tell myself, "This year I'm going to turn over a new leaf. I'm going to exercise regularly & lose weight. I'm going to do all kinds of things to improve myself physically & spiritually." But then somehow I forget. Maybe you have that problem, too.
So I have a suggestion for a New Year's resolution that we ought to be able to remember. It is kind of broad & very general, but here it is let's promise ourselves & God that we will make a change for the better. In 2011, as God's people, as His church, let's make this one simple resolution we're going to make a change for the better.
PROP. And to help us do that, let me suggest some ways in which we can make a change for the better.
I. DEVELOP A POSITIVE OUTLOOK TOWARD LIFE
A. First of all, each of us can make a change for the better by developing a positive outlook toward life.
ILL. A few years ago a lady committed suicide, leaving behind this note. "I decided that unless life was worth living I would just quit living."
How do you feel about your life? Is it worthwhile? Or, let's change the question. What would it take for you to feel that your life is worthwhile? What would have to happen to make you feel really positive about your life?
If you won the lottery, would that do it? If your marriage suddenly was all patched up, would that do it? If your kids began to make you proud, or if you got a promotion, would that do it? What would it take for you to really feel positive about your life?
Now if that's the way you're thinking then you'll probably never feel really positive about life because all the little pieces that must come together to make you positive about life will probably never be there.
B. That is the reason I have selected Philippians 3:12 14 as our text this morning. But before I read it to you, you need to realize that Paul is in prison, chained to a Roman guard, under horrible conditions.
Yet despite that, he writes these wonderfully positive words, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind & straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Now stop for a moment & ask yourself, "What is Paul trying to grab hold of?" Paul tells us in vs. 10, "I want to know Christ & the power of His resurrection & the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, & so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."
What is he reaching for? What is his goal? Paul's goal is the resurrection from the dead. His goal is eternal life with Jesus. That is what he is reaching for & striving for every day. His goal is heaven.
APPL. Now here is the point. If our goal is heaven, if our goal is eternal life with Jesus Christ, then all these little setbacks in life are only stepping stones getting us closer to the time when we will be with Jesus.
There will be disappointments in life, but every day that passes is one day closer to the time when we will be with Jesus. If that is our goal, then Romans 8:28 is true. "All things" do "work together for good to those who love God & are called according to his purpose."
C. The world says that the way to feel good about yourself is by climbing the ladder of success by making a lot of money by having influential friends by receiving a lot of awards by belonging to the right circles. Those are the things that make you feel good about yourself.
But the Bible teaches us that we are to feel good about ourselves because God loves us. You are such a treasured person in God's sight that He gave His only Begotten Son for you. That makes you valuable, & you can feel good about yourself.
ILL. Frank Peretti said, "It's no wonder that our young people today have poor self images when they go to school & read books that tell them that they are the products of blind chance that they are just accidents of nature unplanned, unloved, & unwanted.”
But the Bible tells us that we are wanted & loved & cared for by God Himself.
ILL. Jim Valvano was head coach of the N.C. basketball team. He rose to fame when his team started winning championships. Everybody liked him. He was always cracking jokes & had a winning way of dealing with people.
But in 1991 Valvano learned that he had inoperable bone cancer. During Christmas time, 1992, he said, "It's difficult to be thankful this Christmas because I'm not sure I'll be here next Christmas." And he wasn't. He died in 1993. "But," he said, "this Christmas I'm getting down on my knees & thanking God for every day of the 46 years of my life."
He was positive about life because he realized that life is a very precious gift God has given us. It must sadden the Lord that oftentimes we take this gift He has given, & don't treasure it for the precious thing that it is.
II. DEVELOP A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE CHURCH
Secondly, I think we need to have a positive attitude toward the church. I don't say this in a self serving way at all because one thing that is right about the church is that our desire is simply to lift up Jesus, to reach out to a lost & dying world with the message of salvation. Yet, at times I hear people criticizing the church.
A. For instance, someone says, "The church costs too much." We are always worrying about how much something costs.
In Matthew 26 there is an interesting account of something that happened as Jesus ate with His disciples. If you remember, a woman brought a jar filled with expensive perfume & broke it & anointed his head with the perfume.
Immediately some of the disciples criticized the waste, saying that the perfume should have been sold & the money given to the poor. But Jesus defended her, saying, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. … When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial."
You see, we have a different value system than the world. The world would consider something waste that we consider valuable. The world thinks you're wasting your time going to church. You wanted to hear about God & Jesus Christ, & the world thinks that's a waste.
When the world looks at your tax return & sees that you gave away 10% or 15% or 20% of your income to build the kingdom of God, it would call that a waste, too.
But the things the world calls wasteful today are probably the only things that will last for all eternity. Remember, when the woman poured the perfume on Him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
B. Now we need to understand that when we risk something for God we could lose. We have won the big battle already because Jesus went to the cross & died for us.
We might lose some skirmishes along the way because Satan is still the prince of this world & there are a lot of things going on that are not God's will. But I would rather be trying something great for God & fail, than be playing it safe & succeed.
ILL. John Wesley was a great English preacher of the 1700's. He was considered a rather spiffy dresser. One Sunday morning he wore a bow tie that had long ribbons that hung downward. After the sermon was over a lady walked up to him & said, "Brother Wesley, are you open to some criticism?"
He said, "I guess so. What would you like to criticize?" She said, "The ribbons on your tie are entirely too long & inappropriate for a man of God." And she took out her scissors & cut them off.
A hush fell over the people standing there as Wesley calmly asked, "Now may I borrow the scissors for a moment?" As she handed them to him, he said, "Ma'am, are you open to some criticism?"
She answered, "Well, I suppose I am." He said, "All right then, please stick out your tongue."
In Ephesians 4:15 Paul tells us that we need to speak the truth in love. We need to make sure it is the truth, but we also need to be sure that we are speaking it in the spirit of love.
So I ask each of you to pause for just a moment & think back over some of the things that you have said this past year, this past month, maybe even this past week. Have you hurt someone by what you said, or how you said it?
What has been the result in the life of the person you talked about? Have you broken the heart of God again? And what are you going to do about it to make it right in the life of the person you have hurt?
You see, as Christians, it is not good enough just to lift our voices in praise & prayer to God above. And that brings us to our third point:
III. DISPLAY A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS
A. We must display a positive attitude toward others.
ILL. Robert Schuler wrote, "It would amaze us how many people we could influence for Christ if we would just treat people nicely." I think he is right.
This is a hard world, a world that doesn't always exercise courtesy. Sometimes it's a dog eat dog world. People are jockeying for positions on the freeways & in their companies, & they're filled with all kinds of stress & anxiety.
But the church must be a place where we all can come & be accepted & loved & encouraged & built up a place where there are people to help us carry our burdens & everyone feels welcome.
You see, if we treat each other with love then wonderful things will happen for the kingdom of God. So this new year let's make sure that we display a positive attitude toward others.
ILL. When Terry Bradshaw was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame he mentioned other players who had played with him & said, "This honor would mean nothing to me at all if I didn't have people like that who loved me."
CONCL. People need people. Someone wrote a song about that. But more than that people need positive people a constant positive influence in life.
Maybe that more than any other ought to be our new year's resolution this year A change for the better. "I'm going to be positive as I look at my life. I'm going to be positive as I look at the church. And I'm going to be positive as I look at others."
May I suggest to you that as this resolution filters down into every segment of your life, that 2011 will be one of the best years you have ever had. And as you live each day of it, you will get closer & closer to the goal, the heavenward prize, to be with Jesus.
We are a year closer to heaven than we were this time last year. Everything is on course, folks. We need to trust the Lord & love Him to place our lives in His hands & allow Him to use us to His glory.
If you are here without Jesus Christ as your Lord & your Savior, then you have an opportunity to make a change for the better right away. On this first Lord's day of the new year, come & name the precious name of Jesus, accept Him as your Lord & Savior, & be faithful to Him in Christian baptism.
We invite you to come. We present His invitation & pray that you will respond to it as we stand & as we sing today.
