New Year, New Life – Sermon 3 February, 2013
New Year, New Life
Romans 13:11-12
The happy and festive days of Christmas, New Year and the Holidays are long gone and everything has turned back to normal. The old year is gone. Whatever has been done is done. Whatever we failed to do is water under the bridge. But it’s time to think again, rearrange our priorities and aim to reach higher and better.
In this year we should plan to do things differently. Our first and main aim should be to please God. Paul’s message to the church is to please God. Paul said that those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires and a life that pleases God. We as sons of God should endeavour to do some things better in the New Year to please God led by the Spirit.
What are some of the things that we could do better?
- 1. Get more spiritual with knowledge and life
We all need to grow in grace and in the Lord more than anything else in this New Year. We need His grace for living. God’s grace not only saves us but also blesses us in all ways in life: grace to endure trials, grace to overcome obstacles, grace to empower us, etc.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could walk with God like Enoch who walked with God? Of course, many people think that walking with God or having a better relationship to Him would not be beneficial or worthwhile in their lives.
What do we need to do and what do we need to quit to get more spiritual?
There are many things in life that hinder us spiritually and some of them need to be stopped! We know very well what is hindering our spiritual growth and we need to do something about it.
If we want to be blessed more by God, then we all need to pray more, praise more, study more, etc. Getting more spiritual is more than just going to church one time a week. It’s being alone with God and meditating upon His Word. It’s praying to Him and praising Him. We all need to spend more time with God in order to get more spiritual in 2013. As a church we have planned few programs for the year which will commence soon; like the Alpha Course, the Weekend Away and Sunday morning prayer time. If we want to survive and continue our ministry we need to think seriously about our spiritual growth. We all know that life is a learning process. Every day we take in nutrition to keep on going. Similarly, we need to take in the Word of God to satisfy our spiritual hunger. As we learn about different things, we should be open to receive spiritual sustenance and nourishment.
2. Reach more people
We all know the great commission well (Matthew 28:18-20) and we know what we should do. And that is, reach more people for Christ. Is there someone in your family or someone you know, a friend, a neighbour or a fellow worker, who is not a practicing Christian? Is there something we can do to help them, to direct them, to point them to Christ? Can you say something or do something? We need to have new people in the church, who come and share our love and passion for the Lord. We can’t hide our joy in Christ or our faith in Christ if it’s real or genuine. We should share that with others. And we should do this more as we are much more nearer to the dawn. We should consider reaching people and to being witnesses for Christ a priority in our ministry. It is God’s will and Christ great commission to go out and reach people. That is part of living our lives with the Christian values.
3. To serve more.
We should not stop from serving. We should do our best to continue serving the Lord. We need to keep serving anyway we can. Paul wrote: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11). He also wrote: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph. 5:15-17).
What is the Lord’s will for us? To serve one another in love. To serve others anyway we can. We should look around and find ways to serve for all those who need our service. A service, which will honour God and even lead some to God.
The Old Year is gone and we are in the new. New opportunity to do better in our lives. It is now the time to do some things for the Lord. It is simply to get more spiritual, reach more people and to serve more. But it will not be possible to do all this if we do not make them matters of priority and stop being distracted with other things that have no eternal value. We need to do things which will influence others for eternity.
The Lord expects and invites us to commitment and service which should be the signs of the New Life.
Krikor Youmshajekian