Lofty Goals for 2025

Tuesday, December 31st, 2024

It’s that time again - another new year is coming tomorrow. For some, a new year is marked by new goals, determination, resolutions… and starting over. Some look at it as just another day on the calendar. Some take it very seriously – to reflect on the year behind us and make some goals and plans for the year ahead. Some dread this day as they focus on what has not been accomplished in the past year and make resolutions, they don’t believe they will keep past the first week because it is always a struggle. 

 

Reflecting is always good, even when it is a little painful. We need to look back and see what we need to do better, how we need to make improvements in our personal lives – in health and finances – and most of all in our relationship with God. In reflecting it is most important to look at all God has done in the past year and take time to praise Him for His sovereignty and love for us in every detail of our lives, praising Him with thanksgiving for all He has done in our lives this past year. 

 

In Romans 12:9-18, Paul gives us some guidelines for Christian living. As you think about a new year, what about focusing on living and loving more like Jesus in every way? 

 

Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. 

Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. 

Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. 

Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. 

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 

If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 

As you head into 2025, make shining the light on Jesus to others around you your number one goal. Focus on Him and your relationship with Him, and how you can point others to Him and serve Him. The guidelines that Paul has laid out above are lofty goals that we are called to as children of God. Add them to the top of your list of goals for the new year. The pages of the calendar turn faster each day. Time is passing by, and we need to make the most important things our top priority.

Pray – Spend time in prayer asking God to lead you this year. Make sure your plans and goals glorify Him and surrender your plans and goals to Him. Ask Him for guidance this year as you live each day reflecting His glory and love to those around you. 

The Most Important Resolution

 Monday, December 30, 2024

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.  Colossians 3:1-4

The Most Important Resolution

Every day I am thankful for a fresh new start.  A new day, a do-over, new mercies every morning. I am constantly striving to make things different in my life, to make them better, often feeling like I have just missed the mark, and too exhausted to keep going. So, I go to bed to start again tomorrow.

  

Are you as weary as I am?  Are you ready for a new life, a new beginning?  We as Christians can become a “new man” through Jesus Christ.  The “If then…” in the scripture above poses the question of Are You? Are you a born-again believer, Are you a child of God?  This passage is a challenge for us to become what we have been empowered to be.  We have the marks of a new creation on us.  

A Life Marked

The company Microsoft has a slogan that asks, "Where do you want to go today?"  It’s a good spiritual question to be asked of ourselves every day.  Deciding where you want go also decides what direction we want to go. 

“Every day you get up without a purpose, a goal and a plan you will live someone else’s.”

Two great tools for Satan are distraction and procrastination.  He does not have to get me to say I am not going to do something…just that I am not going to do it today.  Safeguard yourself against Satan’s tactics by seeking the things of God's design, desire, and direction.  

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above…

• Seek first the Kingdom of God.  
• Seek the things of God. 
• Put heaven's priorities into practice every day. 
• Setting the direction - Set your mind on the direction to go. 
• Concentrate on the eternal and not the temporary. 
• Seek and set sights on that above, not below.

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory

• For you died means that we have died to self and we are covered and concealed in Christ.  We should have as little desire for this world as a dead person would have.  A daily dose of dying to self would allow us to see life from God’s perspective more freely.

As the year winds down it is naturally a time of reflection on what we have done and a time of consideration for what we want to accomplish or change in the new year to come. I encourage you to examine your relationship with God and your walk with Him as the most important part of this process. Yes we all need personal goals and we need to show some initiative personally but the most important part of who we are is our relationship with him. How do we walk that out before others - do they know we are his by the way we live and treat them? Do we live and love others like Jesus?  Add this most important part of planning your future to the top of the list! 

“DNA: Who are you?”

“DNA: Who are you?"
Colossians 1:15-18 (CSB)

 

Key Truth: “We find purpose as a church when we discover who we are in Christ and what we are called to do in His Kingdom."

Main Question: Who or what gives us the authority and privilege to live out God’s purposes through His church?

 

1.    Jesus is God. (Colossians 1:15)

 

2.    Jesus created all things. (Colossians 1:16-17)

3.    Jesus is the head of the church. (Colossians 1:18)

Exiled - Now What?

 Friday, December 27, 2024

This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Find wives for yourselves and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.” Jeremiah 29:4-7

Exiled - Now What?

Jeremiah was a prophet that was sent by God to warn the Jewish people that, because of their unrepentant sin, their God had turned against them, and He would deliver them into the hands of a pagan king. They would be exiled to Babylon because of their idolatrous behavior and sinful alliances. Jeremiah had been there preaching to them for 40 years and the people still were hardened against God and the warnings that Jeremiah had been sent to deliver. They were to be held in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. God promised them that in 70 years he would fulfill his promise to them to bring them back home. 

When we are in a season of suffering a minute can feel like an eternity. For the people of Israel, the news of 70 years in captivity must have been overwhelming. They must have been drowning in thoughts of “What do we do now?” Jeremiah gave them instructions from God for exactly what he expected them to do in captivity, and it probably surprised them. 

“Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Find wives for yourselves and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.”

The sentence of captivity seems like they would have no freedom to live normal lives, make choices about their lives, or thrive at all. The very word captivity seems to imply a hold of all things, where growth and freedoms would be stunted but that is not what Jeremiah told them. He said that God desired for them to thrive in their season of captivity. He told them to build houses and live. He told them to plant gardens and live off their bounty. He told them to marry and have children – to increase and not decrease. He wanted them to multiply in Babylon, just as they had in Egypt. Exile didn’t mean that God forgot about them or wanted to destroy them. He wanted them to not only thrive, but to help Babylon thrive and to be a blessing to the Babylonians. God exiled them and expected them to be a blessing in their exile – and to pray for the Babylonians as well.

Blessing the Babylonians was most likely not on the Israelites minds. Some of them knew they would die before they would ever get out of captivity. Some of them had plans for their future that were gone now. How hard would it be to face the truth of their circumstances, trust God and start thriving and blessing in captivity? But – how many lives were changed and how many blessings did they experience? Even in captivity. 

I find this passage so interesting, and so comforting at the same time. No matter where we are or what season we are in, the message is the same for us as well. God expects us to keep our eyes on him and to thrive and bless others. Some seasons are much more difficult than others, but he promises to always be with us and to never leave or forsake us. Pastor Jim told us last Sunday that when we don’t know what to do, we need to stop seeking answers and seek God. We want to know everything, especially what is coming. We want to be in control and fix things too. The Israelites could not fix what they had done and so they paid a price. We too will always pay a price when we stop seeking him and look for answers on our own or something/someone else to fulfill our emptiness. 

Even in the “captivity” of our circumstances or the exile of our bad decisions, we can heal and thrive again – even before our circumstances change. God was with the Israelites in their captivity, and he is with us in captivity, in exile, in our consequences, in every circumstance of life. This not only creates peace for us, but we are living and loving like Jesus in any and every way. He expects us to keep going, so that no matter what, we always seek him and bless others. 

Ann Voskamp reminds us, “It’s only by amazing grace you are born where you are — to be abundant, amazing grace for someone born somewhere else. That’s the point.”  

The Light of the World

  Thursday, December 26, 2024

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. John 1:4-9

 The Light of the World

Snoopy of Charlie Brown comic strip fame is typing a novel. He begins his story, "It was a dark and stormy night ..." Snoopy always starts his stories in this manner. Lucy looks at what Snoopy has written. She goes into a tirade, putting down Snoopy for such a silly beginning. Doesn't Snoopy know that any good story starts with the words, "Once upon a time ..."

The last frame of the comic strip has Snoopy starting his story again. Now he is ready. He types, "Once upon a time, it was a dark and stormy night." Do you feel like Snoopy sometimes? No matter how you begin your story you somehow revert to "a dark and stormy night." If you feel that way today you are not alone. Most of us are struggling in one way or another to overcome the dark side of our existence.

There is a lot of darkness in life.  There are times where it seems we will never break into the light again.  The Bible speaks of all mankind apart from Christ being in darkness and in need of the light.  The book of Job speaks repeatedly about the darkness of life as he struggles with his troubles.  It was into this darkness that God sent His light.  

It is light that dispels the darkness by revealing the truth about it.  In the darkness of our despair, fear rises up in us for what we think could be there.  We find ourselves groping and timidly searching our way along in life.  What is it we need?  We need light...the light that enlightens us to the truth about the darkness and thus strikes down our fears.

It is light that brings understanding. It is light that brings hope. It is light that brings security. It is light that brings salvation.

Out of all the metaphors for Christ, this is one that all Christians can agree on; that Jesus has brought light to our lives.  It is through His truth that we have been set free.  He has conquered the darkness by revealing not just our sin but His cross!  

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; 
Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. Isaiah 9:2

 The light of the world is Jesus and He is here!

What Does It Mean to be a Child of God?

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

 

For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:14-17

 

How does Jesus’ adoption by Joseph relate to our adoption? How do we know that we are God’s adopted children? What is the result of our adoption?

 

What Does It Mean to be a Child of God?

When we accept Christ as our savior we accept the greatest gift ever given – forgiveness and eternal life. But there is another part to that gift that we sometimes forget. When we become a Christian, we become a child of God.

I think we use the term “child of God” loosely without really thinking about what that means for us. We say that we are a “child of God” because God is our “heavenly Father.” Just as we sometimes don’t utilize the full power of the Holy Spirit, we don’t embrace the depth of what it truly means for us to be a “child of God.” 

As we talked about it yesterday, Jesus was adopted by Joseph so he would be in the lineage of David, fulfilling the prophecy that he is the Messiah. Joseph’s adoption of Jesus is a direct link to our adoption by God. Because Joseph adopted Jesus and did not divorce Mary, Jesus was born the Messiah, raised up and crucified on the cross to pay the price for our sins, so we could be redeemed – and adopted by God to be joint heirs with Jesus. We are God’s children right along with his only begotten son, Jesus. We are heirs of the King of Kings with a heavenly inheritance. 

We have a father – a heavenly father who owns the cattle on 1,000 hills, binds the wounds of the broken hearted, never leaves or forsakes us when others do, chose us and died for us while we were still sinners, and so much more. We have a heavenly father who is more than everything our earthly fathers may not have been but were supposed to be.  

How do we know that we are God’s adopted children? - The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children…

When we are God’s adopted children, our lives will look different from the rest of the world. We will have a relationship with God and we will be led by the Spirit as a result of that relationship. As his children we walk with him, learning to live and love like him, and pointing others to him. The Holy Spirit lives in us and testifies that we are God’s children.

God has adopted us as His children and we can call Him "Father." God showed the greatest love ever through the sacrifice of his son and as we grow in our relationship with him we come to know a love so deep and vast we can never fully comprehend it. 

Our heavenly inheritance is of greater value than any earthy inheritance. Nothing here on earth compares. As his children in a relationship with him we shift our focus from building earthly treasures to helping to build his kingdom. We surrender fully to him and his glory is displayed through our lives. 

You are a child of God, heir of the heavenly King. Let that sink deep into your heart and give you strength and motivation to live a life that brings glory to God. 

Immanuel...God With Us

 Monday, December 23, 2024

She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus. Matthew 1:21-25

Immanuel...God With Us                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Mary had been visited by the angel of the Lord, Gabriel, telling her that she would become pregnant when the Hold Spirit came upon her and she would give birth to the Messiah, the Savior of the world. She was a virgin, engaged to be married to Joseph, and when he found out she was with child, he made a plan to divorce her discreetly, believing she had been unfaithful to him. In Jewish culture of that time, a betrothal was binding, and one needed a divorce to break the arrangement. Soon Joseph also got a visit from Gabriel in a dream telling him not to divorce Mary. 

Mary’s baby that was to be born, Jesus, is the promised Messiah, to be in the lineage of David. God made a promise to David that his descendants would sit on Israel's throne forever in 2 Samuel 7:12-13 - When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. This covenant made between God and David promises David and Israel that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) would come from the lineage of David. 

In the first part of Matthew 1, we see the genealogical proof that Jesus is a direct descendant of Abraham and David through Joseph – not Jesus’ biological father, but his legal father. This is why David was told not to divorce Mary but to take her as his wife and name the baby. - “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” David’s adoption of Jesus was an important part of the plan to bring Jesus into the lineage of David to fulfill the prophecy.

The angel told Joseph some important things about the baby - She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins… and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”

You shall call his name JESUS because he will save his people from their sins… Jesus means Yahweh saves. The angel told Joseph that he should name the baby Jesus and then told him why… He would come as a savior and come to save His people from their sins. This baby that was to be born was the long awaited Messiah who had come to save His people from their sins. 

…they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”

The name Immanuel tells us two things about Jesus – that he is God (God is with us) and that he would be near to us. (God is with us). 

Jesus came to earth as a baby – the incarnation – God as man. He became one of us to save us and to be with us. He loved us enough to do this for us – God taking on the weakness and frailty of humans, yet still God! This intertwining of this union of a baby and a holy God shows us we are truly made in His image. We can always come to Him because he did love us enough to come to us.  

What hope does this give us today? We know that Jesus was born to save His people from their sins – that is you and me. We have hope that we can find salvation from our sins in him because we cannot do anything in our own power to save ourselves. Jesus did this for us.

We can also find hope because we know that not only did he come to save us from our sins but also to be with us forever. A holy God stepped down from Heaven in the form of a baby to give us everything we could ever need. We will never be alone, because even on our loneliest and hardest days he promises he is always there and we can trust him. 

This quote beautifully states how God is with us. Remember these words and hold them close to your heart in this and every season. 

“In what sense then, is Christ GOD WITH US? Jesus is called Immanuel, or God with us, in his incarnation; God with us, by the influences of his Holy Spirit, in the holy sacrament, in the preaching of his word, in private prayer. And God with us, through every action of our life, that we begin, continue, and end in his name. He is God with us, to comfort, enlighten, protect, and defend us, in every time of temptation and trial, in the hour of death, in the day of judgment; and God with us and in us, and we with and in him, to all eternity.” (Clarke)

Hope Has a Name “Joseph”

Hope Has a Name
“Joseph” 
Matthew 1:18-25 (CSB)

 

“Self-sufficiency is spiritual atrophy. Christ-sufficiency is spiritual victory. Choose wisely.”- Dr. Jim Denison

 

Key Truth: “The child in the manger came to give us hope both now and for eternity.”

Main Question: Who does the angel proclaim to Joseph that the child is and how does this bring us hope?

 

1.    He is Jesus  (Matthew 1:21)

 

2.    He is Immanuel (Matthew 1:22-25)

After the Message: Read Romans 8:14-17. How does Jesus’ adoption by Joseph relate to our adoption? How do we know that we are God’s adopted children? What is the result of our adoption?

Firstborn is the Lord’s

Friday, December 20, 2024

 Firstborn is the Lord’s – Exodus 13 Submitted by Kay Crumley

Did you know? I learned something this morning and wanted to share it. 

 

Our Sunday School lessons have been in Exodus and last week was about the first Passover in Exodus 12. This morning, in an Advent study I am doing, I was directed to Exodus 13 that was continuing the instructions God is giving the new nation, Israel. They had escaped Egypt who had held them in slavery for 430 years. God is instructing them with new methods of worship in the land He will give them. They were freed from bondage by God who killed the firstborn male of all of Egypt including their livestock forcing Pharoh to finally free God’s people. The firstborn male held great significance in the ancient world. He would receive the inheritance of wealth, position and power from his father and have the responsibility to take leadership of the family by ensuring its future. Now, God is commanding that the firstborn be consecrated, set apart to God, either as a sacrifice or as belonging to God.  

 

In Exodus 4:22 Israel is referred to as God’s firstborn people. Israel is God’s favored nation among all the nations. The firstborn was considered the best and our best always belongs to God. In Exodus 12, God redeemed, rescued, His firstborn people from Egypt.  

 

God is instructing His people to remember the significance of the firstborn and how that was used to bring them out of slavery to the promised land that He would give into their hands. We must remember what He has done for us. As we celebrate Christmas and Easter we are called to remember His provision for us. This passage is a foreshadowing of His promises fulfilled.  

 

Exodus 13 

11 “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your ancestors, and gives it to you, 12 you are to present to the Lord every firstborn male of the womb. All firstborn offspring of the livestock you own that are males will be the Lord’s. 13 You must redeem every firstborn of a donkey with a flock animal, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. However, you must redeem every firstborn among your sons. 

14 “In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘By the strength of his hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.  

 

The practice of giving the firstborn to the Lord was to begin when they reached the Promised land so they would always remember what God had done for them in Egypt. The donkey was essential to the people so its firstborn could be substituted with a lamb so the donkey would be redeemed to be used for its intended purpose. All the firstborn sons should be redeemed, a substitute found to sacrifice, as the people were never to sacrifice by death their firstborn sons. The firstborn son was to be dedicated to the Lord for His purpose and plan. The reason for this practice was so the nation of Israel would never forget the redemption God provided for them at their escape from Egypt.  

 

However, God provided the promised Messiah, His firstborn Son, to be the final sacrifice. Colossians 1:12 He is the image of the invisible God, 
the firstborn over all creation. God came to earth, fully God and fully human, who is God’s firstborn. As believers we are the adopted sons and daughters of God, but Jesus Christ is the firstborn Son of God. We see the completion of God’s plan for the perfect, final sacrifice in Hebrews 10:9-10 Well, it was to do away with offerings and sacrifices and to replace them. This is what he meant by saying to God, “I have come to do what you want.”  So we are made holy because Christ obeyed God and offered himself once for all. (CEV) 

 

Now it is our responsibility, as it was in Exodus 13:14, to teach our children, those in our sphere of influence, all the things we are taught in the Word. Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. 

 

Be prepared to answer the questions “Why do we celebrate Christmas” this season with the truth of His Word. Jesus is our ultimate Redeemer and Savior.