A New Horizon

Intro:

Good morning and once again welcome to church. I believe that God’s church should be where the world take its cues, not the church taking its cues from the world. God’s church should look radically different than the culture around us. Each New Year we hear about resolutions, but by the time we get to February we hear of all those failed resolutions. Let it not be so in the church. As I have been seeking the Lord concerning the upcoming year, I heard God speak. God wants us to be intentional in 2020. He wants each of us individually and Parkside as a church to be intentional. Will you commit to partner with me and the church in prayer that everything Parkside does in 2020 that it will do it with intentionality according to the will of God? And I commit to you that I will pray for you, I will pray that everything you do in 2020 will be intentional according to the will of God. I am excited this morning. I’m excited because I know that God has great plans for each us this year and God has great plans for our church.

This morning if you would open your Bibles to .

Before we dive into the message today, let me give you a brief synopsis of what Isaiah is saying to the Hebrew people.

Isaiah is prophesying, which means he is speaking to the people a message from God. Before Jesus was crucified and resurrected the Holy Spirit would only come upon a person of God’s choosing. Thank God today that each of us can be anointed by the Holy Spirit and hear the voice of God.

Isaiah is telling the Hebrew people something that may not seem super thrilling or exciting. He telling them that the Babylonians were going to conquer Judah and they would be in captivity, which would end up being 70 years. During this time that Isaiah was prophesying Babylon was an up-and-coming world power. But Isaiah didn’t stop with the Hebrew people being in captivity he also told them that God would redeem them and judge Babylon.

Here’s an important truth we can conclude by looking at the context of the Scripture we are going to navigate today: We can miss what God is doing if we are not careful to listen to everything that God speaks to us.

The Hebrew people could have been very depressed, sad, in bewilderment, or even very angry with what they just heard if they missed that God had a plan for them, a plan of redemption.

Isaiah 43:18–19 NIV

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

4 Things We can Do That Will Help Us Follow God In 2020

1. Do Not Remember the Former Things

Isaiah 2. God Promises His Exiled People a New Work (18–21)

As Isaiah writes prophetically to Israel, they were mired in the desperate circumstances of captivity and exile. God wants to put their eyes on the new work He will do, so it begins with a reminder to not remember the former things. If they are stuck in the failure and sin and discouragement of the past, they will never go forward to the new thing God has for them.

It can be rather easy for us to remember who we were in the past and the things we have done. We must be careful looking back in the rear view mirror, because the former things we had done and the person we used to be can dictate what we do and who we are today.

Isaiah 2. God Promises His Exiled People a New Work (18–21)

This shows us that there is a sense in which we must remember the past, in terms of God’s great work on our behalf. There is also a sense in which we must forsake and forget the past, with all its discouragement and defeat, and move on to what God has for us in the future.

2. Stay In Step With God’s Spirit

2. Stay In Step With God’s Spirit

Isaiah 2. God Promises His Exiled People a New Work (18–21)

We can make an idol out of the “new.” We can error as the people of Athens did who spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing (Acts 17:21). We can be tossed about by every wind of doctrine. But we can also error on the other side of the balance, and work against the new thing God wants to do.

Isaiah 2. God Promises His Exiled People a New Work (18–21)

Shall you not know it? God asks the same question today. “Will you stay in step with My Spirit? When He leads into something new, shall you not know it?”

Do You Not Perceive It? God asks the same question today. “Will you stay in step with My Spirit? When He leads into something new, Do You Not Perceive It?

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A question could be raised,how in the world do I stay in step with the Spirit? How do I know if its God’s Spirit leading me into something new or just some crazy idea I heard from someone else or made up in my head? You must have a relationship with Jesus. Having a relationship with Jesus means having a devotional life. A devotional life is one that prays, reads and studies God’s word, one that connects with others who are serving the Lord. One that spiritual mentors. One that gets poured into and one that pours into others. Believe it or not, if you cultivate a devotional life, if you pray, if you read and the study the Bible, and become a functioning part of the church body you will absolutely know when God’s Spirit is leading you. You will have a balanced life. How do I know that? Because when you pray, when you read the word and apply it to your life, and when you function as a part of His body, you will change, it would be impossible not to change. Lets be a church that is intentionally devoted in 2020, and not just in 2020 but as long as we have breathe in our lungs.

Guzik, D. (2000). Isaiah (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

3. Do Not Fear the Road Ahead

I will make a way in the Wilderness. Between the captivity in Babylon and the return to Israel lay hundreds of miles of wilderness. God’s people didn’t need to be afraid, because God would make a road in the wilderness, provide rivers in the desert, and even protect His people from animals, because the beast of the field will honor Me, the LORD says.

However,just because God’s people didn’t need to be afraid didn’t mean they weren’t afraid. Many of times in the wilderness God’s people made decisions against the will of God out of fear. The same can happen to us if we are not careful. We can run from the will of God because of fear, and make no mistake about it, the enemy wants you to be afraid. Sometimes God asks us to do something and we become afraid, that might be talking to someone about Jesus, God might be asking to step up and lead a small group, He might be asking you to go on a missions trip, or be a friend to someone, or to give to a need. Whatever the case may be, if we give into the fear and not trust God we will end up running away from the will of God.

Isaiah 2. God Promises His Exiled People a New Work (18–21)

Often, when God makes a promise, we worry about the details or the obstacles for the fulfillment of the promise. God replies to us, “Don’t worry about it at all. I will even make a road in the wilderness. I have resources and plans you don’t know about. Leave those problems to Me.”

Guzik, D. (2000). Isaiah (). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik.

4. Declare His Praise

Isaiah 2. God Promises His Exiled People a New Work (18–21)

They shall declare My praise: This is part of fulfilling the purpose God created us for, as mentioned in Isaiah 43:7 (Whom I created for My glory). When we declare our praise for God, we are giving Him glory, and fulfilling one of the purposes we were created for.

What does declaring God’s praise look like? I can tell you, it’s more than just singing songs on Sunday. It’s thanking God at work even when you may be frustrated. It’s telling God how great He is. It’s telling God even though I see plenty of obstacles I know You have it figured out. It’s celebrating your successes with Him. It’s giving Him glory knowing that with out Him nothing that is in our lives would be. Praise shouldn’t be a special event in our lives, Praise should be our lifestyle. If you want to praise Him more, if you want praise to be your lifestyle I encourage you begin reading through the Psalms. This New Year let reading through the Psalms be your resolution. Make it your resolution to read through the Psalms in 40 days. In the back we have a 40 days of Psalms reading plan. Let’s be a church that praises Him, not just on occasion, but lets be a church whose lifestyle, whose heartbeat is praising Him.

Conclusion

Have Bobby come.

In conclusion let’s not look back and focus on former discouragement or defeats. Look look ahead to what God is doing and stay in step with His Spirit. Let us not fear the road ahead but trust that God in His promises and that He will help us through the obstacles. And let’s be a people whose lifestyle is to declare His praise.

This morning if you want prayer, maybe to help you let go of the things in the past, maybe you have heard a word from God and are looking for confirmation, I believe this morning that God wants to confirm some things for some people this morning, please come forward I would like to pray for you.