New Years Resolutions
I'm working on my sermon for tomorrow: New Years Resolutions!
Let us see: 7:00PM Saturday night...that means I have 15 hours to prepare!
Actually, I know where I want to go with my message. It's rapped around Mark 2: 1-12, where Jesus heals the paralytic.
The thing that struck me the most about this is that this guy was brought to Jesus by four of his friends. I assume that they were his friends because saw their faith. If these guys had just been hired men, I doubt they would have had faith.
So how does this tie into New Years Resolutions? Well...There are many 'standard' resolutions people make every year: Loose weight, pay bills, save money, quit smoking and/or drinking, clean up your life. That sort of stuff.
Now Christians tend to add other things to their New Years resolutions" list: Pray an hour a day, fast more, read the Bible through in a year, give more, volunteer more...Pretty standard stuff.
But I think that people also have their 'special request' resolutions. These are the things that they bring before God in their quite time, things that they may fear or have shame over. These are those secret things that they fear others finding out about: Porn, eating disorders, secret drug use, affairs, feeling that they don't love their spouse any more, pride, anger...Things they don't want people to know about because they fear if people really knew how they thought, acted, or felt, they wouldn't like them, or respect them any more.
And then there are the things that cripple us, leaving us paralyzed. Maybe the things that God has been pinging on us, the sins unrepented, the call unheeded. Maybe life circumstances has you in a corner. Maybe it's physical, maybe it's spiritual, but what ever it is, it's got you pinned down to the point where you can't move.
Do you have four friends? Do you have people around you that, even when you are down on your mat, will lift you up and bring you before the Highest God?
If you don't, the best way to get those types of friends is to be one of those types of friends.
Let us see: 7:00PM Saturday night...that means I have 15 hours to prepare!
Actually, I know where I want to go with my message. It's rapped around Mark 2: 1-12, where Jesus heals the paralytic.
The thing that struck me the most about this is that this guy was brought to Jesus by four of his friends. I assume that they were his friends because saw their faith. If these guys had just been hired men, I doubt they would have had faith.
So how does this tie into New Years Resolutions? Well...There are many 'standard' resolutions people make every year: Loose weight, pay bills, save money, quit smoking and/or drinking, clean up your life. That sort of stuff.
Now Christians tend to add other things to their New Years resolutions" list: Pray an hour a day, fast more, read the Bible through in a year, give more, volunteer more...Pretty standard stuff.
But I think that people also have their 'special request' resolutions. These are the things that they bring before God in their quite time, things that they may fear or have shame over. These are those secret things that they fear others finding out about: Porn, eating disorders, secret drug use, affairs, feeling that they don't love their spouse any more, pride, anger...Things they don't want people to know about because they fear if people really knew how they thought, acted, or felt, they wouldn't like them, or respect them any more.
And then there are the things that cripple us, leaving us paralyzed. Maybe the things that God has been pinging on us, the sins unrepented, the call unheeded. Maybe life circumstances has you in a corner. Maybe it's physical, maybe it's spiritual, but what ever it is, it's got you pinned down to the point where you can't move.
Do you have four friends? Do you have people around you that, even when you are down on your mat, will lift you up and bring you before the Highest God?
If you don't, the best way to get those types of friends is to be one of those types of friends.
Posted by Surly Dave on
Saturday, December 30, 2006
