New Year Resolution Sermon

Chad Myhre

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INTRO:

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Happy New Years…

Let’s hope that it is a happy one. As Christians, we can be assured no matter what circumstance is before us, that it can be a joyful one… it can be a peaceful one… - God leads us in ways to have both of these things in spite of circumstance… BUT… happiness is purely a circumstantial thing…

So… let’s hope, that the circumstances of 2021 are better than they were in 2020… and we can look back in one year and say… YES… IT WAS A HAPPY NEW YEAR…

Now… my job is not really about your happiness. My job does, however, include the issues of joy and peace. I want you to be a people who are joyful… and I want you to be a people who have peace. I want you to be a people who are well anchored… well grounded… and build up upon a solid and reliable foundation.

Today… we are going to hit ten points…

Ten things that we as Christians need to be mindful of, holding firmly to, or working through in a truthful and productive manner.

Some of these are timeless and purely foundational.

Some of these, are distinctly relevant to the times we are in, right now.

Now… I want to briefly mention a few things about the verse I opened up with.

maybe you’ve seen this Bible reference tattooed on somebody… or it’s in written in their Instagram profile… or it’s quoted to you by a well intending Christian in times of discouragement....

I want to lay out a couple principles in this verse… which I believe set the tone for the ten points that will follow.

Some people read this verse like it’s printed on the sleeve of a Joel Osteen book. And they think… - “Hey, things might not be going great for me right now… finances are tough… health is a challenge… relationships are hurting… - But, God is going to make sure that my circumstances end up being good. I just need to hold on, and God is going to fix everything for me ACCORDING TO MY EXPECTATIONS.”

Unfortunately, to the dismay of many… this verse DOES NOT… say this at all. In fact, this verse is a high call to the Christian to truly discover and act upon the call to LOVE GOD.

AND MOST PEOPLE WILL SAY… “Oh, I love God.”

But what does loving God look like?

Remember what Jesus said:

John 14:15 ESV

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

The promise of Romans 8… is for those who obey God’s Word… because those who love God… will do what God’s Word calls them to do.

Romans 8 is also a high call, for the Christian… to realize that God has called them to fulfill His purpose. - Now that purpose can look different as different people fulfill their callings… but it can all be summed up in… - doing all that we do, to the glory of God.

And it doesn’t stop there… because this verse comes with some luggage… and the following verses tell us… this is a high call for the Christians… to let God conform them into His image…

People love to quote Romans 8:28… - But they rarely understand who things are going to work together for good for…

They think… “Well, I’m a Christian… so God will make things work out for me.” - Problem is… they are now putting their faith in false expectations… and that faith will fail them.

The Church likes to reduce the scriptures into sayings and platitudes that are meant to make people feel good. God gives us the high call of Christ… SO THAT .. our lives can be radically transformed and victorious… - And we turn those high calls… into something you might write on a greeting card.

And so… with every point to day… this is the threat we confront.

God has set the bar high… - but over time, that bar gets lowered. Sometimes we just get lazy. Sometimes we don’t know any better. Sometimes we allow other things to influence us disproportionately. And sometimes, we are culturally shamed into lowering that bar.

Whatever the reason might be… we need the bar to be… in the place where God set it…

So.. with that… let’s jump into this: - and by the way… these points are written out on the church’s FB page if you want to reference them later...

ONE - God is who God has defined Himself to be in the Bible… not how our world defines Him. We need to think rightly about God… it literally affects everything else in our life.

If you’ve been around more than 2-3 weeks, you’ve heard me say this… and I’m not going to stop saying this.

When things go wrong in our belief system… almost always… one of the contributing factors is… we ARE THINKING WRONGLY ABOUT GOD…

Or..

We are THINKING WRONGLY ABOUT WHO JESUS IS.

Personally, I see this as one of the most blatant forms of disrespect to God.

In our world, we sue people for slander when they grossly misrepresent who we are…

But with God… people can come up with any idea and impression of Him that helps to support their narrative.

Maybe you’ve seen people go through the process of ‘deconstructing’ their faith. They’ve come to a place where they recognize that deep down, they don’t really have any faith…

Or, they’ve come to the place where they just want to think and act in a way that is more acceptable to their society…

But, to simply quit God… is too abrupt. There are too many people involved. There is too much history. Too many things in their life have been tied up in the Christian experience…

So… they make it a process… and build a case for their departure.

And one of the main things they do… is re-define who God is.

Identity is important to our God. He called Himself “I Am.”… the scriptures are full of verses where His identity is exalted over the identity of any other being. He calls Himself truth, light and love.

God is, who God is… and the moment we re-define Him… or re-define Jesus… we are leading ourself down a path which often time ends in apostasy.

Two of the main reason we we read our Bibles… is to Understand God’s Will… and Understand who God is.

Simply stated… as Christians, it’s of vital importance… that we acknowledge God… as who He is. That we recognize Jesus… God the Son, who died and rose again… is who Jesus is.

Let’s jump right into something that makes people uncomfortable.

TWO - Every culture and religion has marriage, and sometimes it is defined uniquely. It’s ok, that the Bible defines marriage differently than our secular culture.

First and foremost, let me put this out there. We are all on equal ground when it comes to affirmation.

Apart from our identity in Jesus… there is nothing in our broken flesh, that is worth affirming. This is why, many years ago when someone asked if we were a gay affirming church, my answer was simply, “We don’t affirm anybody but Jesus.”

We shouldn’t look upon anyone in their broken and imperfect state, and consider one person better than the other.

But in Christ… in the faith… God calls us to different standards. He calls us to be conformed into His image. he calls us to live, by faith, as if our flesh were dead… and we are alive, spiritually, in Jesus.

I hate to focus in on one particular condition of the flesh over the other… but homosexuality is a condition of the flesh. We all have conditions that we have to deal with… and for all of them… there is one solution… that is … THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS.

But… when our culture has turned this one condition into such a hugely moral issue… that is, they have ascribed new levels of morality onto it… and they then use these new moralities to dictate how others should believe… - Well, then, time to time, we need to address these issues.

And just so you know… I had a step-mom named David… so this world isn’t foreign to me.

But the issue of gay-marriage has put a lot of strain on the church. There is a lot of pressure… and the secular world is dictating to us what we are supposed to believe on the issue.

In elderly man in Georgia once said, out of personal conviction, that he believed marriage is a union between a man and a woman… and as a result, some people think that Chik fil A should be put out of business.

Here’s how I see it… and I get this from the Bible.

There are many different elements to Biblical marriage… - There’s a lot more to it than just man and woman..... BIBLICAL MARRIAGE is a holy covenant between two people and God… IT’S A CALL… to follow the scriptural teachings on marriage. To honor God in marriage. To honor God in parenthood… AND To represent the mysterious union between God and the church.

In the Biblical definition… - Yes, marriage is man and woman. But let’s not forget.... it’s all of these other things too. Biblical marriage is not just an issue of gender… there is so much more to it.

And we, the church… should get to define marriage, the way our Bibles do.

However… we live in a secular society… we live in a secular world. Our nation is not governed by our Bible. - We need to recognize this… acknowledge this… Our citizenship is in God’s Kingdom… we are just pilgrims passing through this land…

Therefore, our nation, can legally establish a civil union betwen two men, or two women. They can freely call it marriage if they want to.

Every culture and every religion, for the most part… has some form of marriage. But they are not defined in the same way that Biblical marriage is defined. Even most marriages between man and woman… in our world, are not according to the Biblical definition.

The world can define marriage however they want to.

BUT… the Bible is not even remotely unclear on this issue.

I know there’s a lot of pressure to think otherwise. I know we are being shamed to change our beliefs…

But we do not have the authority, to change what the Bible says.

moving on…

THREE - Our faith should inform our political views. Our political views should not inform our faith.

In America… we have two very distinct sides in the political world. Those sides have clearly defined beliefs…

The temptation we have… is to embrace the party line beliefs… and then, try real hard to dig up some Biblical justification for it.

Or… what is more prominent… is to embrace the party line accusations… and add some Biblical shame to it.

For instance… if we are so invested in Conservative politics, that we want to shut down, or severely restrict immigration… then our conservative politics have crossed over into Biblical territory, and usurped it. Of course we shouldn’t have open borders… but we definitely need a more compassionate and accessible system that helps the immigrant.

Why? Because the OT law repeatedly commands the people of Israel to show compassion and hospitality to immigrant, the sojourner and the pilgrim. Yes… we need accountability… but we also need compassion.

On the other side… if you are so invested in Liberal politics, that you actually change your views to support a Pro-Choice agenda… - Then you have severely usurped the Bible’s view on when human life begins. You make yourself akin to the OT Molech worshipper… and there’s no way the Holy Spirit was involved in that belief system.

It’s good to have an interest on how you think your civil government should be run… and your faith should inform your views… but… never, should your political views, usurp what the Bible teaches.

FOUR - Our culture will challenge us to re-define the cross. They will tell you that Jesus did not die to satisfy God’s holy wrath for the sins of humanity. They will deny substitutionary atonement. They are wrong.

The substitutionary atonement of Jesus is under attack in the church.

This actually, goes back to point number one. People are thinking wrongly about God. They are thinking wrongly about Jesus...

They will say, “How can a loving God murder His own Son? How can a loving Father pour out His wrath on His own son?” - This is a straw man argument. The cross, and the entire sacrificial system of the OT is redefined to demonize what happened on the cross.

If you read authors like Richard Rohr, Rob Bell, Brian MacLauren, or Jen Hatmaker … you will see this belief system. They will tell you that Jesus didn’t die under the burden of mankind’s sin… but He died as a martyr… a revolutionary… an inspiring rebel…

That He wasn’t truly God… but a divine place, where man and God met… and that such a thing has happened, and is happening amongst people all the time.

When people who think wrongly about God, begin to think wrongly about the cross… they are promoting a religious view that lacks a basis and means for divine forgiveness, reconciliation, and sanctification.

next point.

FIVE - Hell is not a place people are sent to by a loving God. Hell is the consequence that people choose, when they reject the salvation offered freely by a loving God.

The OT doesn’t really talk about hell. It just speaks of the grave mostly. But, Jesus spoke of it often… so also did James, Peter and John.

It’s something a person given to sin would be thrown into, or they might be sentenced to… It’s an unquenchable fire. It’s a place where fallen angels are now chained in gloomy darkness… it’s bad.

What is it? Where is it? - It’s a bad thing… and it’s in a bad place.

Why would someone be thrown into it, or sentenced to it? - Because they chose to reject God.

This leads to a different question… - But what about the people who are raised in different cultures, under different religions, or in secular societies?

To that, I can only say… I don’t know how God is working, specifically… - I can only fall on this verse and trust that God is sovereign.

Romans 1:18–20 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

SIX - Every Christian is called to discipleship. Attending church is a significantly small part of what discipleship contains.

The Great Commission that Jesus gave to the disciples, commanded them to go into their cities, regions, and to the uttermost part of the earth… and make disciples.

A disciple, is a student. Christians are to be students… and they are to be committed to make other Christians into students also.

A few Sundays a month, is not enough.

I love what Erin posted on his social media yesterday. He realized that he spends a lot of time looking at his social media feed… so he has committed to make sure he is spending more time in the Bible… than in Facebook.

We are not called to just be present… we are called to be students… even on the week-days.

SEVEN - Jesus often dismayed the masses who followed Him for the wrong reasons. When people followed Him for the right reasons, the crowd dwindled massively. We need to be in the right crowd.

Jesus said some revolutionary stuff about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Most people, were uncomfortable… offended by this. They didn’t know what He meant. - Jesus explained to those who were close to Him…

“the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

Jesus said things that dismayed the crowd.

His disciples… those who really believed… they sought an explanation… they didn’t get upset because they were uncomfortable and run away… -they dug in to learn what Jesus meant…

Here’s what happened when Jesus made the crowds uncomfortable with unpopular words...

John 6:66 ESV

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

Jesus did this more than once in His ministry.

He confronted the Mega-Church that had assembled around Him with uncomfortable and unpopular words… and they all left… except for a handful of believers.

That handful of believers were also uncomfortable with the words that Jesus spoke… but, what distinguished them from the rest, was the willingness to learn… to grow… to be discipled.

There are a lot of places that will say comfortable things… but the Bible’s goal is not to make us comfortable.

I have more to say on this… but it will be in the next point.

EIGHT - The bible, the church, and Christianity as a whole, do not exist to make us feel good, to make us feel superior, to make us happy, to make us popular, or to make us feel religiously satisfied. It isn’t at all, about how we feel.

When church leaders get together and discuss ministry… they shouldn’t be asking, “What do people want?”

That’s what the consumer world asks. That’s what the people over at Wal-Mart, or Costco, or Wegmans ask. They want to know, what people want… because people will then come to their stores and buy those products.

Those are consumer related businesses.

The church is NOT a consumer related business. We are not here, to address the things that people want to hear.

Allow me to share an illustration… - I was thinking about how to illustrate this yesterday… and the idea of a ship came to mind…

It started with a verse in Eph 4… - why do pastors, teachers, prophets and evangelists equip the church?

Ephesians 4:14 ESV

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

When a ship sits on the ocean… with no sails… with no motor… it will go where the currents and the winds push it.

To make sure it doesn’t go anywhere… the ship will drop an anchor… sometimes… 2 anchors. It literally attaches itself to the floor of the ocean… with chains and anchors… it attaches itself to the earth.... - something big… something solid.

People can be like this… they can be anchored… or they can be pushed around by every current and every wind.

People who are easily tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes… are people… according to Ephesians 4… WHO ARE NOT EQUIPPED IN THE WORD… WHO ARE NOT EQUIPPED UNDER THE WORK of the pastors, teachers, prophets and evangelists.

People who are anchored… that is… they are not swayed by the changing doctrines… the schemes… the cunning agendas… - are the people who are being equipped.

So… how does this tie into what people want?

Wants and feelings are intimately tied. People want to feel justified… morally superior… they want to feel like they are affirmed… they want to feel like they are aligned with the right crowd… they want to feel like they fit in… - all of these things they want…

… are fickle. they are ever changing.. they come and go like fads… they show up on the social scene and get lots of attention and everyone jumps on board… memes are created… politicians make new laws… new affirming groups sprout up claiming moral superiority over others…

And this is all we hear about. Gender neutral bathrooms… White privilege… Defund the police.. Antifa… Capital Hill Autonomous Zone… Black Lives Matter… Covid 19 protocols..

And so… the churches that are filled up with consumers.... they have to address this stuff. They have to talk about our Covid 19 responsibilities… Critical Race Theory and Black Lives Matters every week. They have to make sure that the people know, that they are properly aligned.

Why? Because these are the winds of doctrine… the human cunning, the craftiness, the deceitful schemes… that are pushing non-anchored boats around.

The consumers want their feelings satisfied.

The Disciples… the equipped… they are anchored to something bigger than themselves.

We need to be anchored to the Word of God.

I will not, from the pulpit, tell you how to respond to every new social issue that comes down the pipe dominating the airwaves stirring everyone up in a frenzy.

I will teach you the scriptures.

Your knowledge of the scriptures… will inform your decisions...

If you are anchored to the scriptures… you will not get jerked around by every new thing that comes on the scene.

Your identity won’t be found in the latest string of memes on social media...

It will instead… be found in Christ.

NINE - We need to change the way we think about prayer. Prayer is communication and connection with God… God responds to our communication by communicating with us in the scriptures, and through the body of believers.. God may not give us the answers we want, but He does tell us what we need to know.

In prayer… we let our request be know.

We ask for our daily bread.

We seek healing and enlightenment.

We ask for things.

But that’s only part of what prayer is. If we only see prayer as a string of requests… then we will reduce our relationship with God to list of transactions.

Since we are a people, who see through the dark glass darkly… we see in part, and know in part… - we will not always anticipate God’s response to our prayers in a proper way.

Someone might say… “I don’t pray anymore.”

Why is that? - “Because God doesn’t answer my prayers.”

Well yes, I would follow this logic with a vending machine. I will stop putting my quarters in if it no longer gives me my Funions… - But God is not a vending machine.

God is a Holy being who created you to have a relationship with Him.

And in relationships… we communicate.

Yes, we want to see God answer our requests according to our expectations.

But God probably just wants us to share our burdens with Him… and express to Him, that we trust Him and love Him.

God wants to know that we looking to Him… depending upon Him… involving Him in our life.

And we might want God to divinely give us insight for the situation we face. But God may instead, provide us with an answer through His scriptures… showing us how we can be equipped with knowledge and wisdom through the teaching of His Word.

Yes… make your request. But we need to stop thinking of prayer as this one way transaction where we ask, and God answers.

Prayer is conversation. Conversations go both ways. I think we make a lot of requests… by we don’t listen when God speaks to us in the Word, and through the fellowship of the believers.

TEN - The Bible has not surrendered its authority.

Not much more needs to be said about this one.

If we don’t give it authority… if we don’t ascribe, by faith, a belief in its authority… then we will make it say, whatever we want it to say.

The Bible is timeless… so it won’t always fit the current wind of doctrine that is blowing around. It won’t always fit into the current fad social issue that gets the un-anchored boats whipped up in a frenzy.

We need to learn how to let it interpret itself… in a way where it doesn’t contradict… in a way where it can be true in every part… in a way where it fits together in the big picture… in a way where it is tied in intimately to the Gospel… in a way where it truthfully affirms who God and Jesus is…

We can easily come up with some new ideas about what the Bible should say. Especially if we want to be popular.

BUT… when we do that… we rob the scriptures of their authority.

The Bible is the unmoving planet… that our little boats are anchored to.

If it only has the authority we give it..

And not the authority that pre-existed us…

Then we have no assurance. We have nothing to really put our faith in. We are left to drift… to be driven.... to be tossed to and fro.

Let me end this abruptly by saying this...

You might not agree with every thing said here today… and that’s ok. We are all in process… we all have more to learn. I’ve been pastoring for 21 years, and I keep learning new stuff…

I keep getting challenged.

I keep facing things that are uncomfortable in the scriptures..

This is part of being a disciple.

We confront the things we know…

We either affirm them, or change them.

And we grow.

As we move into 2021… may we be those… who are anchored well… and growing.