Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning again.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

I don’t know about you, but it seemed like Thanksgiving and Christmas just kind of came and went this year, and now all of a sudden here we are just a few days away from a New Year with 2020 staring us in the face.

It’s hard to believe it’s already come and gone and that we are just a few days away from a New Year.

That being the case, before we get back into our study of the book of Acts next week, I’d like to take a few moments this morning to talk about 2020 and the year to come.

And I’d like to talk about it for a couple of reasons:

#1 - with the New Year comes what we call “New Years Resolutions”.

It’s the time of the year where we commit to making changes in our life for the better.

that being the case, I can’t think of a better Sunday than to day to maybe challenge you on some spiritual New Year Resolutions.

#2 - With the New Year coming, there are a couple of unavoidable certainties that I think we need to be aware of and spiritually prepared for.

The first certainty is that with a New Year, new things happen.

Because with a new year come new things.

For example, in 2020:

New opportunities.

What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible, and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in order to better understand what God’s Word means in our lives.

New friendships.

There will be new diets and workout plans for many of you.

There will be new opportunities for employment and career advancement.

And over the last year we’ve been doing that through the NT book of Acts and as I said, we’re going to get back to that next week.

There will be new relationships and friendships that will be formed.

There will be new marriages and new children born.

There will be new places to go and see.

A New Season

There will be new ideas and dreams to explore.

New employment opportunities

New work.

And maybe even for some, A new baby.

And the list goes on.

The second certainty that goes with the New is the certainty of the unexpected.

For example, in 2020:

There will be unexpected expenses.

New

Unexpected gains and unexpected losses.

Unexpected disruptions and and unexpected changes.

In fact, I’d be willing to go out on a limb and say that something is going to happen in your life this next year that’s going to cause you to look back a year from now and say, “I never expected that to happen.”

And if you don’t believe me, just consider this past year.

Consider all the unexpected events that took place in your life and the lives of those around you.

Unexpected deaths.

Unexpected job terminations.

Unexpected pregnancies.

Unexpected car problems.

Unexpected health issues.

Unexpected moves.

Unexpected

Unexpected expenses.

And again, the list goes on.

You see, with a New year comes the New and the Unexpected.

Which in a way makes a New Year exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

In fact, some of you might be thinking, “That’s just great pastor.

Thanks for raising my blood pressure as we go into 2020”.

Please know that’s not my intent, because I do have some encouraging news for you about 2020.

In fact, it’s another certainty you can be sure of.

Because while the New Year will bring the New and Unexpected into our lives, and while it may be new and unexpected to us, it’s not New or Unexpected to God.

In other words, God already knows what 2020 has in store for you.

How does He know?

He knows because God is Sovereign.

Meaning, He’s aware of and in control of all things.

God puts it like this in .

The prophet writes:

In this passage, God declares three important facts about His sovereignty:

First, that He declares the beginning and the end.

In other words, He’s the one actually in control of what happens from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

Second, that He can see what is to come and what hasn’t been done yet.

In other words between January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, He already knows what’s going to happen.

Third, that His purpose and plans will be accomplished no matter what.

In other words, nothing is going to happen in 2020 that He doesn’t want to happen.

And that’s really good news for us, because here’s what that means for you and me.

#1 - Because God is in control of the beginning and end, He’s in control of the beginning and end of my life.

Job puts it like this concerning our time on earth.

In he writes:

Job says God knows our beginning and end because He has already determined it.

Meaning God has predetermined the number of your days.

And He has put limits on it that can’t be undone.

Which means, regardless of how much you workout this year, how healthy your diet is, or what modifications you make in your lifestyle, there is no avoiding the inevitable time limit that God has placed on your life.

Meaning, if God’s plan is for you to die in 2020, then you’re going to die at 202.

There’s no getting around it.

Now, does that mean we should just live haphazardly and not take care of ourselves.

No, we need to take care of the temples God has given us.

It just means that our days are numbered regardless of how hard we work to expand our life.

Now, some might say, “That’s kind of depressing”.

Well, it depends on how you look at it.

For me, I see it as a comfort.

A comfort because at the end of the day, I believe that God knows what’s best for my life and I trust that.

I base this off of what the prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 55: He writes:

Isaiah says God sees a bigger picture than we do.

Meaning His view isn’t limited to 2020, or this next decade, or this century, or time itself.

So for me, I trust that because God is bigger and smarter than me, that He knows what’s best for my life.

It’s also a a comfort for me, because regardless of what happens in 2020, I know He wants what’s best for me.

The prophet Jeremiah writes:

Jeremiah reminds us that God wants the best for us.

And sometimes what’s best isn’t something we might like.

If fact, in the moment, we may hate it.

But somehow in the midst of the circumstance, tragedy, or uncertainty, we have to trust that God has our best in mind.

The Psalmist writes:

So at the end of the day, regardless of what happens or doesn’t happen in 2020, we have to trust that it’s God’s best for our life.

A comfort because regardless of what happens in 2020, I know He wants what’s best for me.

A comfort not only has does a good and gracious God hold the beginning and end of my life in His hands, but:

So, for me, God’s sovereignty isn’t always easy to grasp or understand, but it is a comfort.

A comfort not only has does a good and gracious God hold the beginning and end of my life in His hands, but:

But the good news of God’s sovereignty doesn’t stop there, because not only does He know the number of our days, God’s sovereignty means: