Be Resolute

Intro

Heavenly Father,

As we set out on another day, another year, living in the light of your mercy and grace, God I pray that you would place in all of us a burning desire to make these days count for what truly matters. Help us live these days in steadfast faithfulness and when we feel like we cannot go any further, Lord give us an assurance of your firm embrace on your people. We lift this year, and if you so will it, the years after that, up to you as our offering.

We are your's, oh Lord.

What we know not, please teach us. What have not please give us. What we are not please make us. It's in Christ's matchless name we pray. And all God's people said. [Amen]

I'll say "bless the Lord ," if you say "oh my soul,"

"Bless the Lord."

[Oh my soul]

Oh bless His holy name.

Happy New Year, church family and what better way to kickoff and celebrate than being in the house of the Lord with God's people. Amen?

It's a time for resolutions, for a new year and many of you are dreaming of what all this year may bring. There's a lot of bewilderment at the beginning of a new year. A lot of us spend a lot of time looking inward, looking backward, and we ask ourselves, what do we want to be different about the time ahead?

Some of you are crossing over the finish line of 2022 with a bit of a limp. Some of you are crossing, crawling on hands and feet, praying that something, anything, everything would be different.

Some of you have made and will make New Years resolutions because you aspire to something. There has been something weighing on your heart and on your mind, about how you want your life to look, something you want to see accomplished.

Whatever the case may be, now is as good a time as any to dig your heels in and live a resolute life.

I'm not talking about resolutions that are small and trivial. Giving up soda for a year, or have a six pack by memorial day...

(the abs not the drink...)

Long story short Glade church what I want to put before you this morning is this.

Do. You. Want. Your. 2023 to count?

I adapted this question from a preaching hero of mine, John Piper, with a famous sermon of his as he stood in front of 1000's of young adults at a conference in 2000 and he said the following.

[Pic]

If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on for centuries and into eternity, you don’t have to have a high IQ or EQ; you don’t have to have to have good looks or riches; you don’t have to come from a fine family or a fine school. You have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things, and be set on fire by them.

But I know that not everybody in this crowd wants your life to make a difference. There are hundreds of you — you don’t care whether you make a lasting difference for something great, you just want people to like you. If people would just like you, you’d be satisfied. Or if you could just have good job with a good wife and a couple good kids and a nice car and long weekends and a few good friends, a fun retirement, and quick and easy death and no hell — if you could have that (minus God) — you’d be satisfied. That is a tragedy in the making.

So again, as soberly as I can ask you... Do you want this year to count? Do you want your life to count? What are the things in your life, in your world that consume you? That occupy your time? You may already be thinking about the week ahead, the month ahead of all that you have to do of accomplish and I ask, what significance do all those things carry in the light of eternity?

You may be worried about a few things that will carry an impact on your next 12 months... but I challenge you to ask yourself what are the things you are doing that will carry an impact for the next 12,000 years?

So, in the spirit of New Years Resolutions, let me put one in front of you all that we can champion together.

New Year's Resolution for The Glade: Decide now to live a life of Kingdom purpose in 2023.

We have outlined values as a church to help us all grow together in that direction. To be:

Word-Centric

Prayerfully-Dependent

Spirit-Empowered

Others-Focused

Community-Obsessed

Joyfully-Generous

Body

But lest you be confused, we are not concerned with progress merely for the sake of progress. Church family, what we are talking about here is growing together as disciples in the name of Jesus.

So what I hope you take away today is this.

Main Point: Christian growth is not marked by personal performance, but by a deep, abiding, real-life, daily walk with God made possible by Jesus.

That's what it looks like to treasure him. You give your time, your devotion, your affection, to what you treasure.

We're not here to give you the 5 principles to a better life, or the 3 keys to a healthy marriage, or 9 practices for obedient children. Beloved, we stand here at the turn of a new year, as your church, as your family, we groan to know Jesus more deeply and to be more like Him.

And that was Jesus' own challenge to his followers as we open to John 15 starting in verse 1.

John 15:1–8 (CSB)

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

Beloved, God's Word has much to say about how to live this life. Some of it is very practical, accessible, and your immediately able to put it into practice. Some of it is profound, mysterious, and causes us to search the depths of our soul to seek what God would have for us. But as we seek to grow as disciples of Jesus I hope that we see clearly out of passages like this is that...

Our growth as Christians is marked by our capacity to remain in Him. (vv. 15:1-8)

This is the 7th and final "I am," statement from Jesus. Throughout John's gospel you read of Jesus saying that he is:

the bread of life (6:35).

the light of the world (8:12).

the gate (10:9).

the good shepherd (10:11).

the resurrection and the life (11:25).

the way, the truth, and the life (14:7).

And these statements are very pointed and purposeful. We live in a society that celebrates pluralism. You live your life this way or in that way. We live in a world of tolerance above all else, but beloved Jesus comes not to tell you of a way to be with God, but the way.

So we would do well to heed Christ's authoritative voice here.

And here he says purely and through no mixed words that, the Christian life is a fruit-bearing life.

Christians produce fruit.

That's not legalism. That's not works-based righteousness.

That's directly from the words of our Savior.

Perhaps it's been the turn of our culture that takes Christianity and molds and forms it into a mere self-help philosophy as opposed to an authoritative command from a Savior to pick up our cross and follow Him.

We salivate over the lessons of grace, freedom, unconditional love and rightly so... they are so sweet. But if these things do not absolutely bring you to your knees before the one who gives you to them to you and has you crying to Him, "Thank you. I'll do whatever you say. I'll go wherever you lead," then you are not producing fruit in accordance with repentance,

...you're trading on God's goodness and grace.

Jesus employs a farmer's metaphor here. Appropriate for many here in our town. And theres not a farmer here or anywhere that doesn't hope for a fruitful harvest.

It's the purpose of the field. It's the purpose of the crop. It's the purpose of the seed.

So this word picture very well should be leaving us all asking, what is the fruit of my life? Am I bearing rich, hearty fruit

...or is the fruit of my walk with Jesus yielding puny, bland, malnourished, fruit.

Am I producing any fruit at all?

Is the branch of my life dried up and withered?

These are very real and likely situations represented by many in the room.

If you're like me you have a bit of a deprecating lens over your eyes that is constantly telling you, you're not doing enough, you don't measure up. My purpose today is not to unjustly speak fear into your life.

As the illustration goes here, maybe you're fighting.

Maybe you're struggling. Maybe our Father the Vinedresser is taking his pruning shears over you and snip by snip He is preparing in you all that is needed for you to grow deeper, richer, and fuller in an abiding relationship with Him.

I'm not a farmer. I grew up in Brentwood. My students never let me forget it. But what I know to be true is this, that you cannot simply let a crop grow without care and supervision and expect it to yield all that it can.

Discipleship is becoming more like Jesus. And the reality, beloved, is that we ain't there yet.

None of us are.

But we are all on a journey together in that direction and God will take our hearts and he'll shape it to be more like His own.

Sometimes that will feel like the velvet cloth, shaping and polishing. Sometimes it will be a coarse sandpaper, grinding away all that is superfluous and unneeded. And sometimes, beloved, it's going to be the hammer and the chisel. And one clink after another, through groans and cries, His purposes will be accomplished.

Matt Carter, pastor of The Austin Stone in Austin, TX would say:

He is determined to make you more like his Son Jesus. The only way that will happen is through cutting away the parts that are dying so you can grow more and more healthy. God’s commitment to your fruit bearing is greater than your commitment to comfort.

What is the fruit of your life? Lest you think that I'm just binding everyone's consciouses and placing shackles on your hands and feet, the solution for the fruitless life is not to ramp up production... it's. to. remain in Him. Find home in Him. Abide in Him.

Just as a grape receives it's life from the vine, beloved run to Jesus to find life! The enticing trap of this world is that there are a thousand thousand other things competing for your devotion.

So over and over again as you see Jesus commanding you to remain in Him, abide in him, dwell in Him, there are countless other voices in this world bidding you to graft your branch into vines of poison.

So again, Glade Church, here and now, make the decision to do the hard but worthy work of abiding in Him.

D.A. Carson would say, "You don't drift into spiritual life."

God is not haphazard in his rescuing you, so do not be haphazard about your approach to Him.

Jesus says repeatedly in verse 5 and then again in verse 7

He would say in verse 5,

...The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit,

and then again in verse 7,

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you

In those two verses you see the same command with a slight variation.

Remain in Him and He will remain in you. Remain in Him and have His Word remain in you.

The two are synonymous. To Remain in Him and for Him to remain in you is to have His living, authoritative, commanding word ruling over your life.

Believe in Jesus? Yes!

How can we tell?

Because I live a good and virtuous life.

NO!

How can we know that we follow in the steps of our Savior? We do the things that He commands of us. We love the things that He loves and we grieve the things that He grieves.

If I could sum up this walk of discipleship, walking in light of the freedom we have been given, I think Dallas Willard summarizes it wonderfully:

Grace is opposed to earning, not effort.

So as we walk, as we abide, as we find home in Jesus the Savior, let us labor as dutiful workers, operating from the joy of our salvation, for the glory of the God's Kingdom.

It feels like a tall order. It feels impossible. But we serve a God who's in the business of impossible and Jesus himself says, apart from me you can do nothing. So do not look at this call to bear fruit as some insurmountable tease, a fool's errand. But see it with the knowledge that God equips those whom he has called with a power that is not of this world. How then can we keep silent, Beloved.

How do we remain in Him? Let me commend to you three practices that I believe are indicative of an abiding disciple.

Read the Word daily

Navigators

Pray

Josiah

Take God's Word and the meditations of your time with Him and do some that serves the Kingdom.

Do not be satisfied with just sitting on your hands and playing church. A battleship is safest at port, but that is not it's purpose.

Jesus goes on to give us the byproduct of a life abiding in Him.

He says:

John 15:9–17 (CSB)

CHRISTLIKE LOVE

9 “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

11 “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

12 “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master, is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.

17 “This is what I command you: Love one another.

So we ask ourselves what does true progress in this Christian life look like? Is it marked by status? Promotions? Gaining influence over others? No.

Our growth as Christians is marked by our capacity to love like Him.

You very much see the vertical and horizontal dynamics of the great commandment in these words from Jesus.

If you keep my commandments you remain in my love. And this is my command, love one another.

Love God. Love people. All of this, every stitch of it, every ounce of it undergirded by this beautiful chorus...

Remain in me. Abide in me. Dwell in me.

We are called to bear fruit and there is not a single byproduct of our efforts for the Kingdom that shouldn't be saturated with His love.

Christ is not heaping burden on his follower here. You see His purposes for this teaching in verse 11.

11 “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

YOUR NOT BEING SOLD A BULL OF GOODS, BELIEVER. WHAT YOU ARE OFFERED IN THIS JOURNEY OF DISCIPLESHIP, OF GROWING MORE LIKE JESUS, OF LOVING OTHERS AS YOU HAVE BEEN LOVED IS PURE. UNADULTERATED. UNENDING JOY.

ARE YOU JOYFUL? NO?

Then beloved let's ask the honest question of where we are currently abiding, remaining, or dwelling.

This is the economy of God. Not a bank account. Not a stock market. Not physical assets that will one day burn burn up and be no more.

What is valued in God's eyes in terms of your Christian maturity and growth is how much you can love like Jesus.

This is His command love one another as He has loved you!

Do you realize the gravity of that statement?!?!

I scarce believe that there are too many people in here who would stand in front of a mirror and just say, "yeah, you lucked out God. You get to be with me!"

But beloved, God had to achieve the impossible for you to have a right standing before Him. He made you, a sinner, holy and righteous, through no doing of your own.

You get to stand in front of the mirror and say, I'm a sinner. I'm wicked. My heart is so dark, heavy and broken and yet your word says that you love me and call me friend.

So how then, beloved, can we not lavish those around us with this love and this grace that we have been plunged headlong into? Just as the Savior calls us friend and laid himself down for us, so too, Christian you are called to lay yourself down.

This is the way of God:

The way up is down.

The be be rich in love, you must be poor in spirit.

To be made great is to be made low.

To be exalted is to be driven to your knees.

You have been created on purpose, for a purpose.

Not to earn. Not to achieve. But to put forth your bodies as a living sacrifice so that all your efforts count for something that truly matters.

Conc.

Do you want your 2023 to count? Do you want your life to count, beloved?

Be resolute towards the things that matter. Dig your heels in right now and decide that this year and all the years to follow you will live a life that seeks Christ daily, in everything. Then, and only then will you be living the life that you were made for.

Then and only then will you be living a life of true purpose.

Young in the faith? Abide in him.

Walking with him faithfully? Abide in him.

Elderly saint? Abide in Him.

Do you know someone in your that just after being with them for 3 minutes, you could tell they've been with Jesus?

I know a few.

If you know sweet Ms. Linda Bruce, you know such a person.

Long-time educator. Wise as a serpent. Gentle as a dove. And if she followed the wisdom of the world she would have settled into her advanced years and to borrow a football term, knelt out the clock.

But no, absolutely NOT. Because this woman, so in tune with God's leading on her life, has taken it upon herself to foster newborn babies until they find their forever home.

That. is making it count.

That. is abiding in Him.

In an age of outrage where we so often falsely assign victory to the loudest, most obnoxious voice in the room, we would do well to look to the gentle voices around us to catch a glimpse of the ways of Christ.

Let’s make 2023 a year that changes everything. Let’s seek revival in our community. Let’s seek a kindling flame in our schools, our workplaces, in our families. Not for our own renown, but because He. is. able.

Heavenly Father, awaken this aching heart of mine that is so prone to drift and wander.

Lord that with so much that lies ahead in the coming year, may we see a blank canvas in which you will spill out your glory.

Lord, may that be the focus of our hearts. Here and now let us dig our heels in and choose to live a resolute life that seeks your Kingdom. May it be so in the mighty name of Jesus, and all God’s people said,

[Amen]