Set your Minds on things above

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United to Christ, sanctified into his image

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welcome the last prayer service of this year

Opening reading Psalms 40

Psalm 40 ESV
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. 4 Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! 5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. 6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” 9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. 11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! 12 For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me! 14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! 15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” 16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” 17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!
prayer:
hymn: Be Thou my vision

Bible reading

Colossians 3:1–4 ESV
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Intro

as we are on the brink off a new year, a rest of time, a new calendar a new number added to the the dates,.
which signifies a start of a new year, yet we are the old self's
how many of us in the past have promised we will be better in the new year, weather it be fitness, bible reading plans, prayer, church attendance and participation yet how often we fail and fall short?
why is that? because not much really changes over night, except number.
yet I want to remind us tonight about the truths we all know but are so quick to forget,
which is more then just the changing of numbers that happen over night on the new year.
it is our new life in Jesus
I want to remind us that we are United to Christ, and out of which I want to call us to seek and set our being unto things above as we enter this New Year.
I want to call us to have Jesus to be our vision for the new year.
for we have been positioned for purpose
now we have a heavenly perspective
which is built on hope.

1. we are positioned for a purpose

Ray this last Sunday night reminded us from from Romans 1.16-17
Romans 1:16–17 ESV
Romans 1:16–17 (ESV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
its the faithfulness of God to us, and that faith produces in us and which then is outworked by our obedience to christ.
what has this faithfulness of God done?
as Colossians 3:1 says “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
it has raised us to life in Christ as a result something new has come
we are positioned into Jesus
we are placed into jesus by the spirit
as a result we have a new perspective: life in Jesus, and the ability to seek and know Christ

2. we have Heavenly Perspective

Colossians 3:2 ESV
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
out of the faithfulness of God we know get to have a new way of looking at life, in and through christ.
Jesus calls us to set our minds on things that are above
yet this is not something I have to force my self into or work hard to do,
we as humans can not look into the holy holies, to know the things of God,
if God in his grace doesn't revel them to us.
but verse 3 says
Colossians 3:3 ESV
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
what beautiful , yet meritorious reality that we find our selves in.
we have died to our past lives
yet we are alive, but not in the old way, but hidden with christ, in God.
therefore setting our sight on God, or things above is as natural to us as drinking water when we are thirsty, as eating food when we are hungry.
they are things we know we need.
my little nephew needed to trained to sleep.
it was quite fascinating to watch him fight sleep.
he was tried, it was bed time, and yet in his 6 months of age he is fighting this beautiful thing that we as adult never get enough, with every ounce of his being,
my bother-in-law and sister trained him to the point where he is able to sleep through anything. My sister told me off for whispering at one point when he was sleeping telling me that he needs to learn how to sleep when ever its bed time.
Christian maturity is similar. when we come to life in christ we are new born, though some of us have flown around the sun a few extra times
we must be taught how to set our sight on things above.
how to behold Christ, the king of glory, and our redemption
this is why we have the church, fellowship of brothers and sister, times of prayer, time devotion and worship
this is not only for the new born in faith but those that have walked with Christ for sometime,
the question is:
where is your gaze, is it on christ, and heavenly things?
or is it on things that wont last

3. For He is coming back and we have Hope in His Return

for as our text says:
Colossians 3:4 ESV
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
this is a reality that all creation will encounter,
christ will return soon; and those hidden with him also
so as we learn how to gaze and contemplate our life in christ on this side of eternity,
be encouraged for we will appear with him in glory, when christ returns.
you might say why should i set my mind on christ while here on earth, for there is enough to deal with, from the war that are raging, to social unrest, pain and suffering and the list is endless
yet there is only one place where healing, redemption and restoration is possible, in person of Jesus.
beholding Christ on this side of eternity is not useless
its not vain, for we are transformed into that glorious image as
Colossians 3:9–10 “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
by which then we who are united to Jesus, empowered by Holy Spirit become means of healing, restoration, redemption to the world for the glory of God.

call to prayer

as we come to prayer this new years eve I want to challenge you this new year, how much can we set your minds, bodies and hearts on Christ and things above
I wonder what would it look like if for this year, HEC collectively made Christ our vision,
as we individual look and contemplated heavenly things?
what kind of testimony would we be to Hoylake,
how would we as HEC and the individuals transform into the image of Christ then bring healing, restoration and redemption to the Wirral?
only God knows, yet i want this to be our pray for the new year
“Lord be thou our vision” for you have given us new life, by your faithfulness
We have seen seen the testimony of God this last year
7 baptisms. 7 individuals saying I will testify to the grace of God in my life.
is that not the Lord working. yet in a selfish way, I want more, for I want more brothers and sister in Christ.
as we come to prayer
let us remember where we came from, death.
the faithfulness of God brought us to life. now we are hidden in Jesus.
let us prayer out of our union with Jesus and be transformed into his image by his spirit so we can be means of grace people around us. amen?
let us pray.
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