The Opportunity of a New Year

THE OPPORTUNITY OF A NEW YEAR Spring Valley Mennonite; January 6, 2019; Luke 22:54-62; Acts 4:5; John 21:15ff I had to write “2019” for the first time this week and had to scrap the old calendar on my bulletin board, for no matter how valuable it has been, it is now useless. I am struck with how fast 2018 went! Time really seems to go faster the older I get. Yet I like the new year, because it presents the opportunity to make a new beginning. And while the new calendar year is only a state of mind, as January 1 was much like December 31, we can use the new year to our advantage. Scripture does tell us that real-life change can occur as we experience a “renewal of mind”. Another way to define such a “renewal of our minds” is to look at things in a different and fresh way. A new calendar year can open the door to positive and lasting changes for the better, both personally and in our relationships with others. I believe that such a positive perspective will be blessed by the Lord. Right now, 2019 stretches out ahead of us unspoiled and full of opportunity. The New Year awaits: what are we going to do with it? We have the power of choice to make 2019 our best year yet! Now—a word of wisdom: there are many things which happen to us which are beyond our control. There are governmental rulings and regulations over which we have little control. Businesses may fail, and the products we need may have to come from different sources. Prices of farm commodities fluctuate depending on factors which can change daily. Any of us could develop health problems or other challenges over which we have little control. As we can attest, an automobile can come careening out of nowhere without notice! In such situations we must learn to “roll with the punches”, trusting God will give us grace to make it through. But there are any number of things over which we do have control. For instance, every one of us has 24 hours given to us each day. We have a possible 8,760 hours in this next year, if the Lord doesn’t take us home, or the Rapture occurs! We also have control over our spiritual growth, and it is in this area that presents us with our greatest opportunities. I want to challenge you with this question: Do you think God want you to grow spiritually in 2019? Do you realize that God wants to bless you in even greater ways than before? Let me encourage you: God is the God of second chances and the God of new beginnings. Let’s examine someone in scripture who had “blown it” royally, and how Jesus gave him a second chance. I speak of the disciple Peter. He truly had: I. THE NEED FOR A NEW BEGINNING Peter’s great sin was in denying that he even knew Jesus. Luke 22 records the familiar story, turn there and follow along with me as I begin at verse 54 (read through 62). Jesus had warned Peter that he would deny Him three times by morning. We get some hints of why Peter denied Jesus in Mark 14, verses 37-38: “And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The Lord pointed out that “watching and praying” would equip one to withstand temptation. “Watching” means to be alert. Peter speaks from bitter experience when he says in 1 Peter 5:8 to “be sober and vigilant; because our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Ephesians 6 speaks of spiritual warfare and the safeguard of our spiritual health as we “put on the armor of God”. Peter neglected to be on the alert, he didn’t have the shield of faith protecting him from the temptation of self-protection. And when the time came, he took the path of least resistance, and denied that he even knew Jesus. Earlier in the night, when he should have been watching and praying, he was sleeping. Another factor in Peter’s fall was his self-confidence, almost a “cockiness”. “It will never happen to me—I’ll never deny the Lord”. Peter was depending on his own strength and resources. He strongly stated his good intentions. Folks, we cannot resist temptation through good intentions, but only by being strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. This year will go much better for all of us if we begin by admitting our weakness to God, and even to others. Self-confidence must be exchanged for “God-confidence”. How do we tap into God’s strength? It is through allowing the Holy Spirit control of our life. How did you do last year concerning letting the Holy Spirit control your life? In addition to Peter’s prayerlessness and self-confidence, as we look back in Luke 22, we see in Peter what could best be described as “fear”. Peter was afraid for his own life. He was concerned for his own safety and welfare. His fear resulted in him following “afar off”. If we follow Christ “afar off”—a safe distance (we think!), we face the same danger of falling into sin. Think of it like this: suppose you take the trash out to the garbage can late at night, and all the light you have is a street light that is aways off. How much more likely are you to stumble in that situation rather than if you had a flashlight in your hand? What is the opposite of following Christ “afar off?” It looks like regular time of privately reading your Bible. It looks like being selective with the television shows or movies which you watch. It means being sensitive to the needs of you neighbors and friends and meeting those needs. It means being generous with your time and resources. It looks like choosing to be regular in attending church and getting involved in its programs. We see that Peter really needed a new beginning. Turn to Acts 4, and we see a totally different person. II. PETER’S NEW BEGINNING We find Peter a few days after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The man in this story was lame since birth has just been healed, and Peter preached a sermon where 5000 people walked the aisle. The Jewish authorities arrested Peter and John, and we find them standing before the Jewish authorities, the very people who condemned Jesus to death. Note these were the ones of which Peter was so afraid of a few weeks earlier. Now we find Peter standing before them with confidence: see verse 8 (read through verse 12). What made the difference? What turned a lying coward into a courageous, bold and fearless witness for Christ? Certainly the difference was the indwelling Holy Spirit of Pentecost giving him strength. But also, Peter had an encounter with Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Look at John 21:15 (through 17): Jesus gently gave Peter encouragement and led him to a personal re-commitment to Himself. Jesus had appeared several times to the disciples, times when Peter was present, but apparently, they had not spoken face-to-face. Peter needed that one-on-one encounter to deal with the sin of his denial. It wasn’t enough to feel remorse for his sin—that happened immediately after the denial. Peter needed a one-on-one encounter to deal with the sin of his denial. After that Galilean breakfast, Jesus spoke privately to Peter, and He restored Peter to where he could feel usable again. Peter was probably wondering if Jesus could use him after his sin of denial. How did Jesus approach a very broken and contrite Peter? He asked him,”Peter, do you love Me?” three times, once for every time Peter had denied Him. Each time Peter responded positively, and Jesus gave him a job to do: Tend my lambs; shepherd my sheep; tend my sheep. Jesus reassured him there was a place for him to serve: “I still want to use you, Peter” There was the promise of a new beginning, even after such failure. III. THE PROMISE OF NEW BEGINNINGS FOR US My point this morning is to assure you that God is more interested in your future than in your past. Yes, we must deal with our failures, as did Peter, but know that God is more interested in moving forward than you are! Jesus challenges each of us this morning with the words: “Do you love Me?” If we do, then we are to move forward in serving the Lord. I don’t know the details of your walk with the Lord. I do know many of you struggled this past year. I’ll share with you that I did too! The great blessing and promise of today is that we can move forward in faith, forgetting what lies behind and pressing forward toward the goal set before us. “But what about my failures of last year?” you say. Jesus didn’t want Peter’s sin to be a limitation. Like Peter, simply admit to God your sin (be specific, He already knows the details—this is called confession), resolve with His help you will avoid doing it again (this is called repentance), and then thank Him for His gracious forgiveness (this is called faith). 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sin He is faithful and righteous to forgive us that sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Believing that promise is faith. When we have sinned, the Holy Spirit works through our conscience to make us feel guilty. When we confess sin, true guilt is removed, for our sin is covered by the blood of Jesus, and we are simply claiming that forgiveness. But we feel like we should have to do something to deserve that forgiveness, to make some payment for that sin. In the Old Testament system, when you sinned it would cost you your best sheep or bull. But that need to pay for sins stopped when the perfect sacrifice of God’s Son was offered on the cross. Grace tells us that all sins were paid for. But the enemy of our souls will deny that truth and tell us that we are unworthy and guilty and that God is so disappointed in us. This is false guilt, and we need to realize it. Sin that has been confessed is no longer an issue with God. Now the consequences may continue. Last spring I was working on something and hit my finger with a hammer. The nail turned black, and it took 6 months or more before the nail grew out. But eventually it did, and that injury is only a memory. Like we see in Peter’s example, God delights in giving second chances and new beginnings! This first Sunday of the New Year presents a wonderful opportunity to evaluate your personal walk with Jesus. If you are like me, there are areas in which you would like to improve. There is little purpose in dwelling on past failures, but great value in setting faith goals for the future. Please do not fall into the enemy’s trap of limiting your future by your past failures. This is the chance to make a new beginning. Philippians 3:13ff:” …but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind… If I may, I will suggest some areas in which God would like to work in all our lives in the next year: I’ve included these in the bulletin insert; take them out and look at them. I would encourage you to pray over this list and see if these goals might be something God would like you to pursue: • To live each day in the power of the Holy Spirit. • To deal immediately with my sins, purposing with God’s help, to not repeat them. • To read God’s Word more often than I did last year, but more importantly, to live as best as I can in conformity with His Word. • To pray daily for personal revival in my own life, in the church, for your pastor and the church leadership; • To attend church regularly; • To faithfully support the ministries of the church. One of the obstacles to making commitments such as these is the memory of breaking them in the past. Don’t let the failures of the past keep you from success in the future. It has been said that if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time! There is great value in setting godly goals; it demonstrates to the Lord that you are serious about growing in your faith. Setting godly goals honors the Lord; it demonstrates faith. If you fail in keeping some goal, just begin again. Just don’t give up! Is it God’s will that we each move forward this next year? Certainly! Be bold, be courageous: and God promises that everyone who moves forward in faith will be richly rewarded. Psalm 5:12: “For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord; You surround him with favor as with a shield.”