Get Into The New

Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions?

Every year, we hear talk about resolutions and fresh starts.

Weight loss

Savings

Relationship goals

The calendar turns and suddenly we feel this ability to turn over a new leaf…to get a fresh start…a new lease on life.

But we all know that New Years Resolutions are generally an exercise in frustration:

A study recently published in Forbes Magazines shows that nearly 40% of U.S. adults set New Year’s resolutions annually

But, only 9% successfully keep them.

23% abandon their resolutions within the first week.

36% have given up in the first month

And by mid-February, better 80% of New Year's Resolutions have failed..

Perhaps the frustration comes because the 'new' we try to create is built on the brokenness of the old? We chase renewal in our own strength, but the results are temporary at best.

Pew Research Centers reports that the older we get, the less likely we are to make NYRs

Nearly half (49%) of adults ages 18 to 29 say they made at least one resolution in 2023,

31% of those ages 30 to 49

~20% of adults 50 and

I GUESS WE LEARN TO GIVE UP ON THE POSSIBILITY TO NEW…AND ACCEPT OUR LOT IN LIFE.

What if there is a better way—a way to experience true, lasting renewal?

Are you trying to create your own newness?

Have you given up on newness?

THEN THERE IS A WORD FOR YOU TODAY!

I’d like to read a passage from the Prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah 43:1–21 (ESV)

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,

everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears!

All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true.

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.

I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.

Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.

I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”

Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,

who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,

the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

Beloved, God is doing a NEW THING…and you are invited to be a part of it!

You might say, “Is Isaiah written for the New Covenant church?” (absolutely it is)

“Can we proclaim the text over our year?” (No But, Christ…the spirit of prophecy can.

In fact, He must if it is ever going to have any impact in our lives.

Jesus said: “The words that I speak unto you,” not—‘the words I have spoken’—“they are spirit, and they are life.” The Bible [is just] so many words to us—clouds and darkness, then all of a sudden the words become spirit and life because Jesus re-speaks them to us in a particular condition.

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986).

I want to preach a sermon called: Get Into The New

PRAYER

God Is Redeeming a People: And He Wants You To Be A Part Of It

These people may not be famous, but God knows who you they are: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you…” (v. 1):

Redemption is the foundation of God’s work.

He reminds Israel that He has called them by name—they are His.

This redemption is personal and communal.

Illustration: Just as a shepherd knows each sheep by name, God knows us and has redeemed us for Himself.

These people may go through some things, but walks through it with them: “When you pass through the waters… the fire… I will be with you.” (vv. 2-3):

Redemption doesn’t remove the trials but ensures God’s presence through them.

Preach here:

Buried some loved ones…but I still have joy.

Didn’t make all the money I wanted…but I have my roof over my head and food to eat.

Faced some crazy situations and some crazy people…but I am still in my right mind.

These people may not be here yet, but God is bringing them in: I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.” (vv. 5-7):

God’s redemptive work is not just for one moment or one group of people

it is expansive,

It drawing in the nations...that means all kinds of people.

It goes out and recovers the lost sheep and brings them home.

I don’t know about you, but I am believing God to bring in new people (into this congregation and into the body of Christ at large)

New kinds of people

I’m believing that the sons and daughters of this house who are spiritually in far away lands are coming home.

work in you is not only for your benefit but also to draw others into His story.

God Is Affirming His Witnesses: And He Wants You To Be One Of Them

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord (v. 10):

God affirms Israel as His witnesses to the nations.

They are a living testimony of His power, love, and faithfulness.

This affirmation isn’t about perfection but about proclamation.

He calls people with “Blind Eyes and Deaf Ears” (v. 8):

God gathers His people, even those who have been spiritually blind and deaf, and commissions them to bear witness.

He chose the weak things of the world to shame that which strong…

A courtroom witness is not required to know every detail—they are simply called to testify to what they’ve experienced.

In this new season, God is affirming your role as a witness.

God wants to use Your story—your trials and triumphs—as a testimony to His redemptive power.

You maybe can’t quote the whole Bible, but you can testify of how Jesus came into your life and turned it all around.

This new thing that God is doing is not about one preacher and one pulpit.

It is about “us everywhere”

Where is God calling you to testify of His goodness?

God Is Doing Doing New Things: And He Wants You In On The Action

“Forget the former things…” (v. 18):

While God’s past acts (like the Exodus) are worth remembering, His command to “forget” signals that He is doing something fresh.

Don’t box God into what He has done before—He is infinitely creative.

“I am doing a new thing…” (v. 19):

God’s new work is not just a continuation but a transformation…

It’s not refurbished product

God is not putting new parts on an old car. (Junk yard hunting with Malcolm)

It is a NEW THING.

Something you’ve never seen before…something you’ve never been before.

God is making “streams in the wasteland” and “ways in the wilderness.” These images reflect life, growth, and unexpected provision.

What is the new thing God wants to do in your life this year? Where might He be creating streams in dry places?

The ultimate goal of the new thing is God’s glory:

God forms a people I formed for himself…

why?…

“that they may proclaim my praise.”

Every new wave of grace leads us to new worship and new witness.

WAVE ILLUSTRATION

Jump into the wave of His grace.

You didn’t start it.

You can’t stop it.

But you are invited to jump in.

What if this year isn’t about what you resolve to do but about what God is already doing?

Can you see the streams He’s making in the wastelands of your life?

Are you willing to step into the new wave of His grace?

God’s newness is here. You didn’t start it, and you can’t stop it, but you are invited to jump in.

Bring out the billow

Will you jump in?

Give your heart to Jesus.

Join this congregation.

Jump into the wave this year.

This week, spend time in prayer asking God to show you the 'new thing' He’s doing in your life. Open your Bible to Isaiah 43:1-21 and let His promises sink deep into your heart.

Share your testimony with someone this week—your story of redemption is part of God’s witness to the world.