Stepping Into A New Season

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]