Have you made resolutions for the new year?
Well, Happy New Year! For some, New Year's Day is a really big deal. For others it's not that big of a deal. The last few years, Lara and I have made an effort to ring in the New Year with her parents, but by 6 pm they are wiped out. Her mom starts yawning, and her dad is snoring. They celebrate the arrival of the New Year in the European time zone!
A lot of people make New Year's resolutions to lose weight, to exercise more, and to eat healthy. Are any of you making resolutions? Did you know that losing weight is the number one resolution topping people's list for the new year? Did you know that losing weight is also the number one underachieved resolution year after year? I saw that Charles Barkley has been doing Weight Watchers commercials, asking men to sign up for 2012! He's also starring in those beer commercials where they always say, "Man Up." Here's my New Years resolution: http://inkjot.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/new-years-resolution.jpg
A lot of us are afraid to make resolutions. The reality is that we often fail miserably when it comes to these promises. In
Roman 6:19 the Bible describes how we can be weak in our natural selves. It describes how our flesh can exert a kind of power over us-- a power that corrupts, that slowly destroys, that leads away from righteousness, and toward a path toward ever-increasing wickedness.
So every new year the battle line is redrawn in the sand. Maybe you woke up this morning and drew a line in the sand and said, "I'm going to win today. Things are going to be different. I'm going to be strong. I'm going to be sober. I'm going to eat right. I'm going to exercise. I'm going to stop..." But what if willpower isn't enough? What if God has in mind for us to conquer the natural self another way?
Here is my sermon in a sentence. Your spiritual success in 2012 will be determined by the depth of your relationships, not by the strength of your willpower. Your relationships determine your altitude. It's true. Your relationships determine whether you transcend your natural self or slump in weakness. If 2012 is going to be different than 2011, your relationships are going to have to change. A solo spiritual effort, based on willpower alone, doesn't get the job done. But what kind of relationships am I am talking about? Christianity has always been about relationships.
First, let's consider your relationship with Jesus Christ.
This is the first relationship that needs to change if you're going to change. You are not your own savior. God sent his one and only Son Jesus Christ to be our savior. Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost. Jesus becomes our savior by being the Lord of our life.
It's a package deal. Jesus is both savior and Lord. These are also the terms of our relationship. He'll save us, but we have to follow him. We have to surrender control and let Jesus take the wheel of our life. We have to let him govern from the throne of our heart. We can't be pretenders in our relationship with Jesus Christ. We can't just be going through the motions of being religious and think it's going to make a difference for eternity. Jesus must become both Lord and savior in our lives.
Let me tell you how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a certain rhythm to all of life's relationships. This is just as true in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Jesus flows from word to worship.
Our relationship with Jesus starts by being immersed in his word.
There is no way to know God's character, his nature, his power and glory, his goodness and love, his purpose and plan, or his perfect will, apart from having a knowledge of scripture, the Bible.
When the ancients fell out of relationship with God, they returned to God's word. When they hungered for revival, they remembered God's word. They read the law and the writings of the prophets, and they wept because of their failures. When the gospel writers and the apostles and the early Church sought to introduce people to Christ, they would do it through God's word. And as people encountered God and understood his word, what did they do? They worshipped in response. They celebrated God's faithfulness throughout all the ages.
Christ relates to us through his word and through worship. If you're going to change, it will require immersing yourself in the word in order to know Jesus. It will require a worshipful response to Jesus in which we embrace him as the Lord and savior of your life. There are many ways that are available to you to immerse yourself in God's word. We have study guides posted on the website that will allow you to explore the ideas mentioned in the sermons more thoroughly. At the back of the sanctuary, you will find Bible reading guides and scripture memorization tools.
Second, consider your relationship with the Holy Spirit.
The good news of the gospel has two parts. The first part is that now, through Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of all our sins. On that cross where Jesus was executed, Jesus became our righteousness and our justification.
1 John 2:12 (NIV) says,
"...your sins have been forgiven on account of his name."
But the second part of the gospel is that now, through his Holy Spirit, the living God wants to set us free from the power of our sin. When John the Baptist preached in the wilderness, he didn't just announce the coming of Jesus Christ. He announced the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would be our sanctification. The Holy Spirit would be the one who would powerfully transform our lowly bodies so that we would become like Christ's glorious body. We don't change ourselves. The Holy Spirit changes us.
But like all relationships, there is a rhythm to our relationship with the Holy Spirit. There is an inner and outer dimension to the Spirit's work. He transforms us from the inside-out.
The Spirit prompts us to submit to Christ's authority.
You may think that your conscience is little more than a biochemical reaction somewhere in your brain. In reality, your conscience is the voice of the Holy Spirit. Every moment of every day the Spirit pleads with us to please God in every way. The Spirit prompts us to submit to Christ's authority.
In
John 16:8-11 (NIV) Jesus explains the work of the Spirit this way:
"When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned."
But within us there is another voice that speaks. It's our natural self, our evil thoughts and desires. If we're not careful, this voice can drown out the Spirit of God. To grow in our relationship with the Holy Spirit, we have to decide which voice we will listen to. The Bible says to live by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and keep in step with the Spirit. We are to sow in the Spirit. The Bible tells us to not quench the Spirit's fire. We are to be filled with the Spirit and we are to pray in the Spirit. Romans 8:26 (NIV) promises that, "... the Spirit helps us in our weakness."
This inner surrender to the Spirit leads to outward change.
Galatians 5:22 (NIV) tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is,
"love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." The Spirit makes these changes outwardly as we surrender inwardly. We reap what we sow. If we sow to the flesh, we reap from the flesh. If we sow to the Spirit, we reap the fruit of the Spirit.
Your life is a direct indication of the depth of your relationship with God's Son, Jesus Christ, and God's Holy Spirit. For there to be lasting change in your life, you have to grow deeper in these relationships.
Third, consider your relationship to God's family.
I use the word family in an all-inclusive way. First, there is your home, except it's not your home. It's to be God's home. Your home is to be a place where the light of Christ shines brilliantly. The home is where spiritual formation must begin. Husbands should be loving their wives as Christ loved the Church. Wives should be respecting their husbands. Both husbands and wives should be honoring Christ by keeping the marriage bed pure. Parents should not be exasperating their children. All children should be learning to obey their parents with proper respect. Family members should be providing physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual help to one another
Think what a powerful influence your home life has had on who you are. The home can influence a person for good or for evil. An evil home brings out the very worst in a person and a godly home brings out the very best. Since you know this, what kind of home are you cultivating? It's amazing what sin, what evil, what idolatry, what coarse joking, what perverse images, and what deviant behavior we permit in our homes. This behavior may come from our spouse, from our kids, or from friends. We reap what is sown in our homes, in our living rooms, in the bedrooms, around the kitchen table, and in the computer room. It's quite hard for the Church to undo what's tolerated in the home. Spiritual formation begins in the home.
But then as goes the home, so goes the Church. This is the second part of God's family. It's that we'd unite together and lend strength to one another, from one home to the next. We're the family of God. We're brothers and sisters in Christ. We are sons and daughters of God. God is our Father. Jesus is our elder brother, but not in a Mormon kind of way. As a church, our attitude ought to be that we are family. We should stand together, encourage one another, love one another, and belong to one another.
Let me tell you how to deepen your relationship with God's family, whether in your home or in the church. It's that we'd serve one another in love. You'll never come so fully alive spiritually as when you're putting others first, looking to the interests of others instead of just your own. Love is what transforms the home, but it's also what transforms the Church. You can't just show up at home, or show up at church, and expect things to change. You need to be the change you want to see. It starts with you.
This is what being the body of Christ is all about. It's that Christ would be our life. That we'd speak as if Christ were speaking through us. That we'd serve with the strength Christ provides, so that in everything, Christ would be glorified. This begins in the home and overflows into the Church.
Finally, our relationship with God's world must change.
Our world is a very conforming place. At every turn, the world seeks to squeeze us into her mold. Tolerance is the rallying cry of our culture. The whole premise of tolerance is that we would conform, that we would get in line and be like everyone else-- saying what they say and doing what they do.
But what does the Bible say?
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) says,
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will."
There are two things that will always offend people. First, there are the
words of Christ. Second, there are the
works of Christ. Our tolerant culture is intolerant of Christianity and hates the words and works of Christ. Our world suppresses truth and it persecutes us because of righteousness.
But speaking the words of Christ and demonstrating the works of Christ doesn't just transform us, it transforms our culture. Our relationship with God's world has to change to one of boldness.
Be bold! Don't conform. Don't be silent. Don't be passive. Don't be a spaghetti noodle. Speak the truth in love. Love courageously and love sacrificially. Be missional. Let your light shine. Go against the current.
If you're going to change in 2012, your relationships have to change.
Please take a moment and pull out your connection card. Next Sunday we are kicking off the New Year with an event were calling Groupalooza. Getting into groups and getting into new relationships is what will determine our spiritual success and our altitude. We want you to stay after church, enjoy a meal, and learn about our groups so that you'll get connected into meaningful relationships.
We have groups for children, for elementary kids, for junior highers, for high schoolers, for college age persons, and for adults. These groups are a spark that can ignite exciting changes in your life, and deepen your relationship to God's Son, God's Holy Spirit, God's family, and God's world. Please tell us how many will be coming. Next Sunday we're also starting a new series called Ekklesia that will define the kind of church Lakeside is becoming.