20/20 Vision

Intro - 2026 is just around the corner and that means - New Year’s resolutions are abuzz.

The World Wide Web is full of articles on what kind of resolutions to make, how to make a new year’s resolution and how not to give up on them too early...

some popular resolutions include those related to health and fitness - drink more water, reduce sugar intake; personal development - read a new book every month, attend a webinar or seminar to learn something new; financial goals; career goals; social goals; environmental goals - I mean - you name it, you can set a goal toward it.

the fact is, though, that many do not succeed past January with the goals they set

We’re looking at Deuteronomy 11 today - this is situated in the time when the people of Israel have been led out of Egypt, they’ve wandered 40 years in the desert and now were on the precipice of entering the promised land.

What we see in this chapter, is Moses leading the people to do two things REMEMBER and RESOLVE

REMEMBER what God has done

RESOLVE to live in obedience to him

Remembering Revives Resolve

Deuteronomy 11:1-7

Perhaps consider how this portion recalls God's past acts of deliverance and power as reminders to remain faithful. The memory of God's mighty works inspires gratitude and a renewed commitment to obedience and love. Present-day believers might be encouraged to remember Christ’s redemptive work, cementing a relationship marked by love and ongoing loyalty amidst challenges.

REMEMBER

V 1 -7

Remembering what he’s done - strengthens our resolve.

show list of things the Israelites can remember

application - what about you?

What has God done for you this year? LEAVE ROOM FOR PEOPLE TO ANSWER

As a church -

celebrated 45 years in this building

baptisms

Bottom line - God is faithful!

His faithfulness should propel us toward faithfulness and obedience to Him

RESOLVE

V 8 - begins with a propelling word - THEREFORE -

when you see the word ‘therefore’ you ask - what’s it there for?

now that you’ve been eyewitness to what God has done for you -

8 “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Dt 11:8.

The burden is on us to obey God’s commands.

this requires action on our part

We might think we can drift toward obedience but we don’t

drifting is passive - it’s what happens when we do nothing

DA Carson quote

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated. —D.A. Carson

One of the things we can do is re-engage with scripture this year.

bible Engagement report statistics HERE

video

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it’s not just reading the bible - it’s reading it together

Could it be at the end of 2026, we will not only grow in our own walk with God but we also grow in our boldness to share the gospel with others

TRANSITION TO CONCLUSION

we celebrate the faithfulness of God today! He is active in our church family -

with that as our reminder, may we strengthen our resolve today - not to drift - but actively engage with God this year

verse 8 again