How many here made New Year’s resolutions? Tell me your resolution
How many would like 2023 to be better than 2022? What would make 2023 better for you?
How many would like to know and fulfill God’s will better in 2023? Do you know how to fulfill and know God’s will better?
I think most of us in here would agree that we would like 2023 to be better than 2022. How do we do it
I gleaned a few bits of advice from marketing, research, tech companies, and psychologist into their advice to making a fresh start and matched it to some scripture to head in the right direction.
- Don’t be afraid to try new things – we can not expect different results if we continue to simply live life the same way.
I would ask what are your dreams? Chances are God has placed those dreams on your heart. If you are no closer to seeing them happen then it is time for a change.
You were designed for a purpose specifically that you can fulfill. Sometimes when we try new things we fail and sometimes we fail miserably but sometimes we succeed.
You have been designed to succeed, to change the world
Psalm 139:14
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
You were designed to change the world so if you aren’t then it is time to try some new things.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.
If God designed you and designed you for a purpose then as you fulfill that purpose you will have His success. Which is peace, love, joy, all that you need to have and maintain those things.
If you don’t then it is most likely you have been too shy, too fearful, or simply too busy to try some of the things He has called you to that will enable this success in your life. As you have heard me say before faith is spelled R-I-S-K.
God has provided many opportunities for you through this ministry and may be pushing you to try something new. Work in children’s church, volunteer at the daycare or Monessen building, serve on the worship team, audio team, creative design team, help with tutoring, sewing studio, kid’s gym, serve on the maintenance team, help with preschool, serve dinners for funerals and other events, serve on the women’s committee, men’s committee, we always have cooking, cleaning, construction, video, audio, web site design and maintenance work. Maybe you are to go back to college, trade school, specialty training, get your CDL, study health and nutrition! There are millions of opportunities that we know people are called to help in….Bill Wilson from Metro Ministries the largest Sunday school in the world based in NYC says….”The need is the call” It is the first step to your true success and real happiness! Start your new year off right…try something new something you were too shy, to fearful, or too busy to do before….make it a priority
According to Psychologist trying new things stimulates the brain and may help you to live longer….from a Christian stand point if you are willing to do all the Lord wants you to do, you will live until you complete all He has
*let’s make it a point this year to seek His purpose for our lives Jeremiah 29:13…And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me
- Along with number 1 is….Don’t be afraid to fail
The fear of failure is the number one reason, new businesses don’t get started, people don’t go for promotions, or try new things…anecdotally it has been said when Thomas Edison was asked if he felt as a failure for taking 2000 tries to invent the light bulb, his response was, “No, I learned 1999 ways how not to make a lightbulb”
Generally, when we get an urge to try something new, we remind ourselves of past failures and talk ourselves out of it. If we are feeling a push to move forward it is most likely coming from the Lord…we have been designed by the Lord for greatness… so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.
If you are not doing great things or even just good things for the Lord perhaps it is a fear of failure based on your past experiences….here is what God’s word says
Isaiah 43:18,19
“Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
Please notice that our taking the risk not being afraid to take the leap of faith to do what the Lord has called us to do, not only blesses us, but God will clear a path for others and refresh whole communities as God brings rivers of refreshing that touches whole communities.
If you want have a greater impact in 2023, if you want to have greater joy choose to forget your past failures they are only ways you have learned how not to do something.
Please remember you never fail until you give up, Paul gives us this challenge
Philippians 3:12
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
When we are learning something new, moving by faith we will never do it correctly the first time…keep pushing on, you will find a new mission, a part of who you are that the Lord designed for you to change the world!
Just for encouragement a few failures to remember…
Walt Disney. His editor at the Kansas City Star felt he lacked “imagination,” and that his story ideas were less than impressive. He was fired from the publication
Steven Spielberg. If Spielberg had taken the multiple rejections from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts to heart, we may never have had the pleasure of seeing the world through his eyes. He powered through the piled up rejections, and released the summer blockbuster of 1975 with his movie, Jaws.
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- Minority Report (2002)
- War of the Worlds (2005)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Schindler’s List (1993)
- E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Jurrasic park
James Dyson. If you thought Edison failing almost 2,000 times to make the light bulb was insane, then brace yourself: James Dyson developed 5,126 failed prototypes before finding the Dyson brand’s claim to fame.
Albert Einstein. During his childhood years, Einstein had a lot of difficulty communicating and learning in the traditional way that the rest of his classmates did. In fact, a 21st century Albert Einstein probably would’ve been diagnosed with a learning disorder.
Dr. Seuss. Born Theodore Geisel, the first manuscript from Dr. Seuss was rejected by 28 different publishers.
Psalm 37: 23,24
The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. 24 Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.
Last one today
- Be willing to change – life is changing around us so quickly. If we don’t change with it, we will find ourselves doing nothing but whining and complaining about everything changing and we will fall farther behind. Not all change is good but we have to change and adapt to fulfill all God has called us to do.
If we could do it with our present attitude, present skill set, present approach we would do it….
If you have a desire to do something but it never seems to be happening then you have to change
Someone once said, “ doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the first sign of insanity”
If you want to accomplish something new this year, if you want to get the promotion, affect more lives for the Lord, want to simply start a new habit…know the Lord is on your side…
2 Corinthians 3:18
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
Colossians 3:10
Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
Anything from learning a new language, learning to be more effective in sharing the Gospel, starting a new business, being a better Father, mother, husband, wife, getting that promotion, learning to hunt, fish, sail, cook, run a business, sing on the worship team, teach children’s church.
Understand that God has placed those desires in you, He is stretching you….He is stirring ideas in you things that you already have the skills inside of you or that can be developed inside of you. Every gift inside of you, every way the Lord has designed you is for three things…
1) to bless Him
2) to bless you
3) to impact the world for the Kingdom of God
Perhaps your new resolution is to help get you to the next step, to help you discover who you want to be with you grow up.
Perhaps your 2022 was so uncomfortable that it made you want to change….God will do that sometimes you know
Perhaps there is just what some call, “a stirring in your spirit” that is a sense in your heart that you need to change
How do you make the change?
- Recognize that you want to, perhaps even need to, change
- Then recognize it is God stirring you to change
- Pray – ask the Lord 1) if he is really calling you to change 2) ask Him to prepare your heart to change
Ezekiel 36:26,27
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
- Search the word for wisdom and insight
- Talk with people who are mature in the Lord about the next steps and what you found in the word
- If it is something simple….Just do it and allow the Lord to open the door
Proverbs 18:16 A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.
Your desire to change, to do better in 2023, to begin to accomplish what you were designed for is God’s desire for you too. He has a whole world just waiting for you to grow up to become what you are called to be….
Let’s start with prayer….come to the altar today and be honest with the Lord, ask him if you are supposed to change and then if you want to pray with someone people will be here to pray with you.