| WILL WE BE THE SAME IN 2009 ? II Cor. 5:16-21 12-28-08 We have just celebrated Christmas, the birth of our Blessed Lord. Max Lucado in his book, “God came Near” said, "Those who saw our Lord on that first Christmas was never the same." If, we truly saw Christ this past Christmas through the eye of faith, then we ought not be the same. You see, real Christianity is nothing more than seeing and meeting Jesus and sharing Him with the rest of the world. Oh, I do hope that we will share more of Jesus with the World and with one another this coming year. This is not a perfect World. Steve Shepherd wrote an article titled, "A Better World in the New Year." In the article he gave his idea of a perfect world. He said, "In a perfect world you would feel as good at 60 as you did at 17. And you would be as smart at 60 as you thought you were at 17. In a perfect world, professional basketball, baseball and football players would be complaining about school teachers signing million dollar contracts. In a perfect world, potato chips would have calories, but if eaten with dip, the calories would be neutralized. In a perfect world, the check you were looking for, would not only be in the mail on time, but would always be more than you expected it to be. But the truth of the matter is: This is NOT a perfect world and never will be! BUT, it can become a lot better in the coming year, providing we do our part. If he had lived, Mr. Allen was planning on speaking today. I wonder what he was planning on saying? I think he was going to say to the congregation that you are going to have to work together. That you are going to have to be open for change because things are not going to be the same, but by working together, you can accomplish great things for our Lord. Now I don’t know for sure that is what he was going to say, but I do know that he had a lot on his heart concerning the church and the future of the church. He always wanted what was best for the church and for the up-building of God’s Kingdom. As we get ready to start a New Year, many of us perhaps have some apprehensions as to what the New Year is going to bring. Some are concerned with family problems, some perhaps with conquering some bad habit or sin in their lives. Some are concerned with losing weight and other health problems. Leah is concerned with what she’s going to do with me and all of us need to be concerned with our spiritual lives, for I am convinced that none of us are as good as we can be. A person who does not know the Lord might be tempted to say as Job did at one time, "My days are spent without hope." Someone said the most widespread fear today is one of helplessness and hopelessness. And many do find themselves feeling that way, but as believers, we have a reason to hope. Our hope is not in the economy, but in the Lord Jesus Christ. Some will seek to find contentment this coming year by looking or placing their trust in man, in themselves, or in some political leader or in material things. But, the Child of God will find his peace and hope by looking to God and His Word. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. He’s the ONE person we can always count on. We can be happy people this coming year. We can be victorious people this coming year. Regardless of the circumstances, regardless of what takes place or has taken place, for the Bible says, "Happy is he, whose hope is in the Lord, his God." When I took my internship in the inner city of Boston 38 years ago, a little girl, who is now grown and married would often ask people, "Are you happy? Are you happy in Jesus?" Sometimes things of the world will bring us sadness, heartaches, and a good many of us have experienced these the last two weeks and still we can be happy in our Lord. Not happy with what is taking place in our lives, but happy in our Lord; happy because we have HIM to look to. Since our hope is in the Lord, we can believe that we can be changed people. Most of the problems we face are caused by ourselves. I did not say all problems, but most of them. Man is born in sin and will continue in sin until a change takes place within. Man cannot change himself, regardless of how hard he might try. Man can not rid himself of selfishness and greed. Therefore, we must be changed by the ONE who made us. Until a person is changed by the Lord, he thinks his way is better. He thinks that he knows better than God what is best. The greatest need for any individual is to be forgiven, cleansed, and reconciled to God, the creator. And this is what God offers to us in Christ Jesus. God said, "A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you." Think about it. God is able to change us from the inside. Humans, for the most part, are concerned with the outside. Many will change their appearances on the outside, some to the extent that you might not even recognize them, but friends, only God can change the inside. This is possible because of what Christ did for us at Calvary. The Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, HE is a new creature; old things are passed away. Behold ALL things are become new." Notice, it doesn’t say he might be a new person, but HE IS, because those who are in Christ are no longer the same. The old sins, the old habits, the old disposition, and the old attitude is gone. Isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t that something to praise God for? We can get ready to start the New Year with the assurance that we can be BETTER and we CAN DO BETTER. Looking back, I realize that perhaps I did not tell you often enough how much I appreciated you as a church family and as individuals. Each and everyone of you have touched my life. You are dear to me, but you know what? You are more precious to our Lord. You and I have changed over the years. We have changed in looks and I like to believe that we have grown in our spiritual walk with our Lord. But friends, God isn’t finish with us yet. He is still at working on us, and longing to use us to make this a better world in which we live. The place for us to start is right here in our community. Because Christ lives within us, we can share His love with a lost and dying world. It is true that we can’t reach everyone, but we can reach some and those that we can reach, we MUST reach. We will never rid the world of sin, suffering, or heart-aches. These things will continue until that day when our Lord returns. But we can help to bear the burden of those who are hurting. We can ease some of the pain and suffering of those that we come into contact with. We can feed the hungry, and most of all, we can share with them the love of our Lord and Savior. This is what the world needs most of all. This coming year, as we go our separate ways, let us make sure that we look to the ONE person that we can always depend upon. Victory is possible for each of us this coming year if we look day by day to the One who promised to never leave us, nor forsake us. We read in verse 20 that we are ambassadors for Christ. Let us never forget for a moment that we are representing the King of Kings, our Lord and Savior. We need to so live our lives that when others see us they will see something of the ONE we call Lord. What a difference you and I can make if we will allow God, through the Holy Spirit, to have HIS way in our lives this coming year. Will YOU be the same in 2009? I hope no. Will I be the same? I hope not. I hope that each of us will become more and more like the ONE who was born so long ago. The ONE who came as a babe and died as a man for our sins. If we become more like HIM, we will be more loving, more forgiving, more understanding and more giving of ourselves. I hope that everything that we do will reveal to someone else that we are truly His disciples and His followers. I guess what I’m really hoping, is that each of us will be more Christ-like. |
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