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Reset 2017 – Growing up Like Jesus

Trent Griffith

January 1, 2017 |

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Sermon Transcript

Happy New Year! I invite you to open your Bibles to Luke chapter 2. No bulletin today, but that is no excuse not to take some notes! It is a great day to celebrate things that are new, but there is nothing to celebrate about a planet that circles the sun every three-hundred-sixty-five days. The planet’s broken. Fortunately, it still works where it goes around the sun once a year!

The word “new” is one of our words. The world has to borrow that word from gospel-oriented people, because the gospel is about “new” things. God is a fan of things that become new, and if you’re in Christ, you know what it’s like to be made new! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that all who are in Christ have become new creations of God. The old has passed away—and what has come? The new has come.

One day, God is going to make a new heaven and a new earth. And I hope that you are a person who has experienced the new birth. And if you haven’t, no matter how bad last year was, here’s the promise of the gospel: all things can become new. No matter how bad you were, or how good you were, today is a day of new things!

So, Christmas is over, and today’s the day we kind of put a bow around it and set it aside. If you are a Bible person, you already know the passage I had you open up to—it’s famous for what? What is in Luke chapter 2? That’s the Christmas story, right? Many of you even read that to your children on Christmas morning, and the video that we saw kind of contained the story of the first half of Luke chapter 2.

As I was thinking about what God would have me bring to you this morning, I began to think about: What comes after the Christmas story in the biblical narrative? So, I’ve asked you to open to Luke 2 because I want to show you what happened next in the Christmas story. Let’s begin reading here in Luke 2:39: “And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.”

In the video we saw earlier, it’s the story about how Mary and Joseph packed up everything—and Mary was pregnant—and they made their journey from Nazareth into Bethlehem. That’s where Jesus was born. They went through all the things there, and here we finally get to the part where they go home. They return to things and start the normal rhythms again. I don’t know about you—I am ready for the normal rhythms as we start this next year. They go back to Nazareth and the normal rhythms start.

Then in verse 40, we’re told this: “And the child…” who was that? Jesus. “…Grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.” [ESV] The title of the message today is: How to Live a Life That Invites the Favor of God.

            So, it’s an interesting passage. If you look in the next part, the next ten verses tell us this really incredible story about how Jesus grew up. In the next scene, the pages turn and we see Jesus—no longer a baby in the manger—but we get this snapshot of Jesus as a twelve-year-old boy. Mary and Joseph go into Jerusalem to worship, and in the process, they lose twelve-year-old Jesus! How many of you, as a parent, have ever lost a child? How many of you found them? Good! That’s the good news. I remember, at one point, we kind of lost Zac for a few minutes at Disney World, but fortunately he returned safe and sound. There’s a bit of a frantic commotion going on here at the end of the chapter. I’m not going to read that little section, because that’s next week’s message—we’ll save it for then.

Do not miss church next week. One of the most important sermons I’ve ever preached! Turn to your neighbor and say, “You do not want to miss church next week!” Now, next week they’re going to turn to see if you’re there. We’ve got a big announcement next week; it’s all good, but big things—there are a few changes we’re going to make around here, and I want to make that announcement next week.

I’m going to fast forward through that section and I want you to go down to verse 52. It says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” And so, we kind of have this sandwich here. Verse 40 says the child grew and became strong and filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon Him. Then, verse 52, Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

You know, it’s amazing, we make these figurines and these Nativity sets, and we just love to see the little Baby Jesus. . .but, have you ever seen a figurine of Jesus as a twelve-year-old? We don’t make statues and figures and not a lot of artwork. . .and do you know why? Do you remember what you looked like when you were twelve? Not your finest moment! Really?

Let me show you a random group of twelve-year-olds here, from Lawton, Oklahoma—1997. And now you’re going on a curious search for your pastor as a twelve-year-old. How many of you think you have spotted him? That’s not him; find somebody else. Now I want you to look down there on the front row, go all the way to the left. . .do you see that good-looking guy on the end there? Okay, that’s my friend; I’m the ugly fat guy next to him in the red sweater! And you’re cruelly laughing! That’s why we don’t have artwork and figurines of Jesus as a twelve-year-old.

But we have this little snapshot of Him, and the Bible says that Jesus grew. All in favor of growing out of that phase? Yeah. But Jesus grew and He increased. So, if you are a twelve-year-old, aren’t you glad to came to church this morning? There is hope for you! And your goal is to grow in wisdom and in favor with God and with man.

Now, I am not big into resolutions, but this morning we’re going to look at three things that we’re going to have some resolve about. Resolutions—not a big fan; resolve—big fan! God’s a big fan of resolve. So there are three things we want to have resolved here, this morning. I want to invite you to make the new year a year in which you resolve to pursue these three things. . .they’re all out of verse 52, and the first is this:

 

  1. Resolved: I will grow in wisdom.

 

Jesus grew in wisdom. How is that even possible? It’s hard for us, in our finite minds, to even think about the Incarnation—that somehow God became a man. And He became everything that it means to be a man without losing anything that it means to be God.

I don’t understand how God can grow, but in His humanity, we have an example of twelve-year-old Jesus, who was growing in wisdom. Well, I want to be like that, and I want to make the new year a year that I grow in wisdom. So, we need to ask the question: “What is wisdom?”

Well, first of all, let’s understand what it is not. Wisdom has nothing to do with intelligence. How many of you are grateful that wisdom has nothing to do with your intelligence? The sad reality is this: some of the most intelligent people on the planet are foolish! You see, when your intelligence outpaces your wisdom, you make incredibly foolish choices. You became dangerous to yourself and to others. So, it’s not about intelligence.

Wisdom is simply this: wisdom is living your life from God’s perspective. If you could see everything God sees, you would do everything God says—and that’s wisdom. And if we would simply believe what God has said, it would keep us out of foolish behavior and foolish consequences.

Fortunately, God has revealed to us His wisdom, His will and His ways, contained for us in a book that we have in front of us, that puts guardrails on our lives, that keeps us out of the ditches of foolish behavior. And yet, so often, we think we know better than God, because we think we’re so intelligent—and yet we aren’t wise. And so, we need to grow in wisdom. Jesus grew in wisdom.

Wisdom is not something you’re born with. When I’m talking to parents, sometimes I like to help them understand – your child is born with two tanks on the inside. One of the tanks is absolutely filled to overflowing, splashes out everywhere. Do you know what the label is on the outside of this tank? What is it, parents? Foolishness!

Has any of your children’s foolishness ever splashed out and gotten on you? Yeah. It creates a mess, doesn’t it? There’s another tank on the inside of a child, when they are born into this world. This tank is absolutely bone dry! Do you know what that tank is? That’s the wisdom tank! Do you know what the job of a parent is? Drain the foolishness, fill up the wisdom. We’re told that Jesus was filled with wisdom—and His wisdom splashed over and got on everybody.

So, if you are a person who has yet to have the foolishness tank drained, let this be the year that you resolve, “I am going to grow in wisdom, and I am going to extract the foolishness out of my own life!” And, if you had foolish behavior in the last year, then let this be the year that you grow in wisdom. So the obvious question is, “Okay, I’m in! Resolved. I will grow in wisdom.” Question: “How? How do I grow in wisdom?”

I’ve got four things for you. The first one may not seem very profound. First of all, ask God to give you wisdom. That doesn’t sound very profound, but that’s exactly what God told us to do in James 1:5, He says, “If any of you lacks wisdom…”

Now, I’m looking around the room. Would anybody be humble enough to admit, “You know, I lack a little wisdom.” Are there any husbands who would say, “You know, I’m lacking a little wisdom in how to actually understand and comprehend my wife. Because she is a complex creature, and she is so much more intricately wired than I am. And I need some wisdom in actually cherishing her and nourishing her and investing in her.” Guys, do you need a little wisdom in that? What should you do? Ask God to help you have the wisdom to love her, to cherish her and to nourish her.

How many of you ladies would say, “You know what? I’m lacking a little wisdom in living with a guy who lacks wisdom in loving me!” Uh, yeah—okay. So what should you do? Some of you say, “I pray for him, that he would get. . .” No, no, no. Ask God to give you the wisdom to love and respect the man that at some times doesn’t have all the wisdom he needs to fully comprehend, understand, nourish and cherish you.

God says he will give wisdom to those who lack some wisdom. He says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God…” When was the last time you asked God for the wisdom to live between the guard rails? He says [James 1:5], “…who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Everything you need, God loves to provide! He’s waiting for you to say, “I’m not smart enough, I’m not strong enough, I’m not creative enough, I’m not rich enough, I’m not educated enough. Therefore, I need wisdom from God to live in a way that invites His favor. Jesus grew in wisdom. “I want to this to be a new year where I grow in wisdom!”

Here’s another thing you can do. Not only ask God, but trust your authorities. “Trust your authorities? What does that have to do with wisdom?” Well, you would be surprised. As a matter of fact, it’s right here in the text. We read verse 52; let your eyes go up one verse, to verse 51. Before I read it, let me give you the context: remember, Jesus has been lost, and where does Jesus go when He’s lost? He goes to His Father’s house—God the Father. Mary and Joseph are frantically looking for Him, and they find Him in the temple. He goes there to worship, He goes there to listen. And eventually, they start listening to Him, because He’s got His wisdom spilling out over everything.

So, Jesus is in there, instructing the instructors about the will and the ways of God—and right in the middle of that, mother Mary bursts into church and says, “Jesus! Where have You been? Go get in the camel!” I’m editorializing a little bit here, but you can see this interaction happening, between a frantic mom and a twelve-year-old kid. They’ve been separated, and she finds Him—and she gives Him an order.

And, remember, Jesus created His own mother. She’s talking to God, omnipotent God. And she tells Him what to do. If you were Jesus, what would you have done? “Mom, I’m a little busy. I’m actually instructing these people about the will and the ways of God. I’ll be there in a while.” Is that what you would have said?

Look at Luke 2:51: “He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.” Jesus, in His humanity, submitted Himself to limited, sinful human authority. And the very next verse says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom. . .” [Luke 2:52] If you are not a person who values the God-given authority that He has placed over your life – if you have a tendency to rebel and want to be autonomous, to question authority, to find the inauthenticity of your authorities—you’ll never grow in wisdom. Jesus submitted Himself to His mother. Jesus was perfect, you’re not. What’s holding you back? And so, if you want to grow in wisdom, submit yourself to the authorities. Until you get wisdom, God wants to use the wisdom of your authorities to build wisdom into you.

Ask God. Trust your authorities. Here’s another thing you can do. Thirdly, choose wise friends. How’s that going? Are you hanging out with foolish people, and are you doing foolish things because you’re hanging out with foolish people? Proverbs 13:20 says, “[He who] walks with the wise [will be] wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Do you have some regrets about some things that you did because you were trying to please foolish people? Maybe in the new year, you need to sever some foolish relationships and start hanging around with some people who are wiser than you, so that their wisdom can spill over onto you.

And then, finally, learn in the hard times. There’s a verse in the previous chapter of this book, Luke 1:80. It’s not speaking about the Boy, Jesus—it’s actually a verse about His cousin–what was his name? John. John the Baptizer. Luke 1:80 says this, “And the child [John] grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.” Some of you are kind of arguing with me in your head saying, “You know, I would be wise—but, Trent—you just don’t understand how hard my life is! You don’t understand how foolish my parents were. You don’t understand how much I lack, and how little my income is, and the addictions that I have. Life’s been really hard! If life was easier, I would be wiser!” Can I challenge that a little bit?

Look at this verse. John became strong while he was in the wilderness. Does it seem like last year was a wilderness for you—dry, scarce, hard, dangerous, surrounded by ferocious animals? That’s a wilderness! And yet, God wants to use all of that to build some spiritual muscle in you so you can be strong in preparation for what’s coming next. John’s public appearance, his ministry, was forged in the wilderness. And so, if it feels like last year was a wilderness for you, don’t complain about that! Don’t try to escape that! Let God use that to build spiritual muscle in you, to make you strong and to fill you with wisdom!

Let’s say this together:

 

  1. I will grow in favor with God.

That’s the next thing we see in verse 52: “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature…” Then what’s next? “…And in favor with God.”

If you’ve been attending Harvest for any time at all, you know this is a church that is gospel centered. Which means, one of the most often-repeated themes around here is this: “You can’t do anything to get the favor of God–because you’re a…” Dirty rotten sinner! Did you just call me a dirty rotten sinner? You say, “Trent, you’ve been calling us that for years!”

Yeah, well see, that’s the problem. Dirty rotten sinners don’t invite the favor of God. So, if you have been a recipient of the favor of God, it is because of His free and sovereign gift. He has put His favor on you, not because of anything you have done, but because of what Christ has done. If you have trusted Christ, then you are given the favor of God as if you were the child of God, Jesus Christ. And so, that is a free and gracious gift of God. You can’t do anything; you can’t buy it. Favor is unmerited and unearned. Is that the theme you have heard around here? Okay.

So, how am I going to tell you to grow in favor with God, if I’ve told you there’s nothing you can do to get it? Listen! You can’t do anything to gain the favor of God, but the Bible is filled with stories of men and women who trusted God and obeyed God at a level that it invited His favor. And it’s filled with tragic stories of men and women who disbelieved and distrusted and disobeyed God, and their life was filled with horrible, tragic consequences! So, there is nothing you can do to gain the favor of God.

There are a thousand things you can do to invite the favor of God! We know that from Isaiah 66:2. Look at this one verse, that kind of is a foundation verse for us here. God announces: “This is the one to whom I will look…” Did you know that there are some people who draw the attention of God? Their lives are filled with two things. He says, “…he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

So, how do you invite the favor of God? First of all, you have to give up your pride. We think of a proud person as somebody who’s boastful and arrogant, and is always talking about their accomplishments. That’s probably not your greatest temptation; it may be—if that’s you, you need to give up your pride. But for most of us in here, our temptation is simply to live a life that’s independent from God. It’s a life that says, “God, I don’t really sense a need for You today. I’ve got money in the bank, things are going okay in the marriage, temperature is above freezing. I think I can get through the day okay without You!” That is not a humble and contrite spirit!

“Humble and contrite” means that I am so aware of my neediness before God that I am in constant conversation, asking God for help. And I’m constantly confessing the unfinished business in my life, and the limited knowledge I have of my Creator—and the great attraction I still have to sin. “Help, God! I need You!” That is humble and contrite, and that is the one at whom God looks, and God says, “Let’s get some favor over to that guy! Let’s clear a path for grace to that guy!”

Do you want to invite God’s favor? Have an attitude that says, “In every moment in every day, God I need You more than I have ever needed You before! As much as I’ve ever needed You, I need You now! God, I need You!” That is an attitude that is humble and contrite in spirit.

And then this: Give your attention to God’s Word! Isaiah 66:2: “This is the one to whom I will look: [to him who] trembles at my word.” Notice, it does not say, “To him who reads My Word.” It doesn’t say, “To him who preaches My Word.” God is looking for people who tremble in response to hearing the voice of God directing their lives into wise choices! And so, yes, read God’s Word!

The new year’s always a great time to resolve to let reading the Bible be a part of your daily schedule. All of us need some help in that, and there are so many wonderful apps now that you just throw up on your phone. Today it tells you that you you’re going to read these three verses, and if you do that for the next three-hundred-sixty-five days, you will have read all of God’s Word in a year.

Do that, do that, do that. . .but listen! While you’re reading it, ingest it so much on the inside that it actually creates a responsiveness that causes you—at times—to tremble. That God loves you so much that He would actually speak to you—to disclose who He is, to give you direction and wisdom for the way you are to live your life. . .and everywhere your life is outside those guard rails, tremble, fear—and let that fear pull you back inside the boundary. Do you want to invite God’s favor? Don’t allow a twenty-four period of time go by without hearing the Word of God! And let it affect you so much that you tremble as God speaks.

Here’s another thing that you can do to invite God’s presence: Give God everything that belongs to Him! I was talking with somebody recently who was really worried and stressed out about their finances. They had a job, but felt that they weren’t being paid fairly, and were trying to figure out how they can kind of manipulate the boss into giving them more money, and “Maybe I’ll just quit this job and go work for somebody else!”

As they were stressing over it, I saw this stress and said, “I don’t want you to be stressed. Can I just ask you a question? Do you tithe?” Tithe! I can’t afford to tithe! Haven’t you heard me? I’ve been sitting here telling you how I don’t have enough money! “Wait, wait, wait. Do you want God to bless your finances? Do you want God to make what you have be enough?” Yeah.  “Well, let me ask you a question: Why would you expect God to bless your finances if you’re not putting Him first in what He’s already given you?”

You see, the Bible teaches us a very clear principle: If you want to invite the favor of God on your finances, you have to put God first! Malachi 3:8 says this: “Will [a] man rob God?” Now listen, it is dumb to rob a bank. If you’re contemplating that in the new year, to fix your financial situation, let me tell you—that is not the wisest move for you. It is foolish to rob a 7-11. But let me tell you the dumbest thing you could possibly do. . .rob God! You talk about surveillance cameras, okay? This is one robbery you will never get away with! God sees it all, and He knows when you’ve got His money in your pocket!

“Will a man rob God?” You say, “Nobody would do that! Who would be so stupid?” And He says, “Yet you are robbing me.” And you say, “How are we doing that? “How have we robbed you?” And God gives the answer [still in Malachi 3:]: “In your tithes and contributions [your offerings].The word “tithes” is an interesting word—it’s kind of an old word, we don’t use it much. It means “tenth.”

So, God’s plan for your finances is this: God longs and loves to bless and to favor you in your finances when you put Him first. And so, for everything God gives you, ten percent is to be given back to Him. It all belongs to Him, but the ten percent is a reminder to me that it all belongs to Him. And listen! Ninety percent with you and God is more than a hundred percent with you on your own.

I hear “amens” every time I say that, because people are like, “Yeah, I do that!” And I don’t know how it works mathematically, but somehow—when I do this—I always end the year with more money in my bank account than I did the year before, when I didn’t tithe. Listen to these people. “Yeah, it works, it works!”

I can’t figure it out, it doesn’t make any sense, it seems kind of foolish to people who don’t get it. But, when you do that, do you know what God promises? Listen to what God promises (you want to invite God’s favor?): He says [Malachi 3:10], “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse. . .” We believe the modern storehouse is the local church—it’s God’s work, it’s God house; this is first place that you should give, “…that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts.”

There is one area where God has said you can test Him. Now, don’t try to test Him in any other area. That would be foolish! But here’s wisdom. God says, “Test me in this, and see “…if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” Does anybody want to sign up for that program? “God, You just open everything that’s available me and pour down this blessing? Sign me up!” God says, “Put me first in the tithe.”

By the way, I’ve been telling you in December that we have had the opportunity to give an end-of-year gift for some things. There was about $122,000 left to pay off the remaining portion of our last expansion project. Have you heard me telling you about that? Yeah, and I’ve told you that it would be awesome if I could stand here on the first Sunday of 2017 and I could tell you that the Lord’s provided, and we’re debt free as a church. Remember me telling you that? Yeah, good.

So, number three is this…Oh, you want me to actually give you an update? Did you want that? Okay. Well, there may be some remaining gifts that we weren’t able to count at the last minute. Some of you last-minute givers, wonderful, thank you—but maybe we haven’t counted all those. But, so far, there have been one-hundred giving units—as we’ve been able to calculate—and from those hundred giving units (a family is a giving unit or an individual is a giving unit), there has been just over $200,000 given toward that need! That is to be celebrated!

And I trust that, if you are applauding, you were part of the one hundred. And if you weren’t, you’re applauding everybody else taking care of the church while you’re enjoying all the benefits from it. So, you might want to get on this program and be a part of what God’s doing! It’s an evidence that we’re trusting God and putting God first, and we’re going to expect—in the new year—that there is going to be a blessing that is going to meet every need! And you can test God in that!

Here’s the third thing:

 

  1. I will grow in favor with man.

 

Do you see it in Luke 2:52? “Jesus increased [grew] in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Jesus lived a life with such integrity, impeccable character, selfless service and sacrifice. Honesty. A work ethic that couldn’t be questioned in any way – that gave Him an audience with men to share the good news that they could be made right with God.

Now, if you’re an intelligent listener, you should be asking the question: “If Jesus increased in favor with men, why did they murder Him at the end of His life? It doesn’t sound like He had a whole lot of favor at the end!” True. But they didn’t have a problem with His life; they had a problem with His message. And the same should be true of those who follow Him. We should live lives of such character and integrity and honesty and purity that there’s nothing to question in our character. If they’re offended, let them be offended at our message. And that’s what offended them with Jesus—not His life, but His message.

James, in chapter 3 – we’ve been talking about wisdom – correlates this wisdom that we receive from God to our horizontal relationships with men (James 3:13-17): “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” Do you get it? Meekness with wisdom. And in our horizontal relationships, that meekness shows up like this: “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” Does that describe your relationships? Disorder and vile practice?

James says, “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” So, as he’s talking about wisdom, he turns the whole thing horizontally and talks to us about our relationships with men. If you want there to be favor in your relationships, let those relationships be filled with purity, peace, gentleness, openness to reason, mercy, good fruit, impartiality and sincerity.

Can I ask you? Are you out of favor with some people in your life? Marriage? Former marriage? Children, parents, teachers, employers, teammates, coaches? Are there some people you’re out of favor with because there’s been an absence of gentleness and kindness? There’s rather been jealousy and bitterness and strife? If you want, in the new year, for God to change that relationship, you’ve got to resolve to grow in favor with man.

Now, there are two dangers, when we talk about growing in favor with man. First of all is this: It’s growing in favor with man—while growing out of favor with God. Careful! If you have such an insatiable desire be liked, well-known, elevated and stroked by people around you, your desire to live in favor with man can actually trump your desire to live in favor with God.

Don’t be surprised if, in the new year, there’s a moment when you will have to choose between the favor of man and the favor of God. In that moment, whoever’s favor you choose will determine the outcome of your life. So, if you’re in a group of friends and you desire to be well-liked, to be thought favorably of; if you’re in a relationship where you want a boyfriend or a girlfriend to continue to date you or like you; if, somehow, you have to compromise favor with God in order to keep said boyfriend or girlfriend—you’re in danger of putting the favor of man before the favor of God!

Here’s the second danger: it’s growing in favor with God, while not sharing with men how to have favor with God. Let me say that again: it is a danger to be growing in favor with God while not sharing with men how to have favor with God. Do you know what we can do sometimes? We can create this “us vs. them” mentality in the church. I mean, we’re the ones who want favor with God. Here we are, living within the boundaries, and the world just thinks we’re crazy.

So we can have this bunker mentality, where we come in and we stroke ourselves and get encouragement, and we take more notes, and we pray, “God, please save us from the horrible world out there!” Listen! To be in favor with God means that we have to share with others how they can be in favor with God. It is the message of the cross that we carry to our friends and our neighbors—and even our enemies—and say, “Here’s how I came into favor with God—not because I am good, but because Jesus is good—and He experienced the wrath of God so that I could experience the favor of God!”

That’s the message, and we have to have an outward mentality. Yes, we gather together on the weekends, but we scatter through the week to share the message of how men can have favor with God through Christ. He offers fresh starts and new beginnings. God loves to make things new!

Now, this is the way we’re going to end the service. I’m going to invite you—just as I did in the first service—to come and fill the front of our worship center, here, on your knees—resolving those three things that we’ve studied here this morning. And if it’s your heart’s desire that, in the new year, God would fill you with wisdom—that in the new year you would experience the favor of God—and that you would live on mission to be in favor with men, I want you to demonstrate that by coming from all over the auditorium.

We don’t have room for everybody down here, but we have room for a lot of people down here! And one of the things that I have a desire for our church to do in the coming year is to have a lot more freedom in our worship, even at the end of the service to move and come and even, as a physical demonstration, to get on my knees and not be ashamed that, “God, I need You!”

So, I’m going to invite you to come and just fill this place. Right now, just get out of your seats. We’re not going to sing right now. I just want you to come. Leave room for others. Let’s just fill this place—move all the way to the front, here. Guys, come on over, all the way to the front—come on over this way. Those of you who are in your seats, you just turn right there where you’re at, if you desire to kneel at your seat. We don’t have room for everybody, so let’s just bow here for a few minutes. I’m going to lead you through these three prayers. You can kneel wherever you’re at.

Maybe the first thing we need to do is just simply acknowledge what’s taken place in the previous year—if you’ve lived a life that was outside of the boundaries, if you’ve made choices that were foolish, not characterized by wisdom that you regret, why don’t you just acknowledge that to the Lord? He knows about it. He wants to know if you know about it. Just confess. Humble yourself. “This is the one to whom I will look—he who has a humble, contrite spirit.”

Be specific, things that God’s bringing to your mind right now. Confess them as sin. Empty yourself; drain that foolishness tank right now. And would you just tell the Lord, “Resolved, in the new year, I will grow in wisdom. Lord, I want to make choices from Your perspective. I want to live life within Your guardrails. I want to surround myself with people who are wise.” Maybe there are some relationships that need to be broken off, because you know that foolishness is spilling over on to you. Just tell Him that. It will give you courage to have those conversations. Would you tell Him, “I’m willing to stand alone?”

Are you living life under those authorities God has placed in your life? Are you living in a wilderness, complaining and wondering why God has you there? Why don’t you just trust Him in this moment, say, “God, I want to learn every lesson so I can grow strong in wisdom!”

The second thing that we’ve resolved: “God, I will grow in favor with You! I want to live a life that invites Your favor. I lay down my pride; I want to pick up Your Word!” Why don’t you resolve that you’ll never be unresponsive to a single word that God would speak to you, but that you would tremble in response to what He says.

Why don’t you tell the Lord, “I will give you everything that belongs to You!” You can tell Him, “Lord, I don’t know how this works, I don’t know how the equation makes sense, but I trust You! And I want to give back to You the first of all that You give to me in the new year.”

And then, finally, won’t you tell the Lord, “Lord, this year I want to grow in favor with man. And I know right now, there are some people I am out of favor with.” Just name those people; ask the Lord to get in the middle of those things and grant you a heart of compassion, forgiveness, kindness, gentleness, peace. And would you ask Him to give you courage to boldly open your mouth and share the good news that you hear every week here, to make you an agent of the gospel? Neighbors and coworkers and classmates and teammates. Pray for that person right now. Ask God to open their eyes and their ears to the gospel to give you a sacrificial spirit—to go anywhere, to say anything—in order that some might be saved.

And so, Father, You’ve spoken today through Your Word, and we tremble that You would disclose Your will and Your ways to us. You’re drawing us, You’re changing us. Lord, we admit to you that we’re not smart enough, we’re not creative enough, we’re not talented enough, we’re not strong enough. We need wisdom that comes from above! So, we want to grow this year. Lord, we want to grow in favor with You. We believe that there’s nothing we can do to earn or merit Your favor, and yet, we want to live a life of trust and obedience, that it is Your pleasure to make a straight path for us, to provide, to fulfill promises that You’ve made to those who live and walk with You. God, we go on record that we want our relationships to be filled with peace. We want our character and our integrity to match the message that is on our hearts and our lips.

God, I pray that in the new year we would see favor and blessing and glory resting on our church, and these individuals. For those that are in the wilderness right now, I pray that You would give comfort, that’d You’d give hope and promise—that You’re going to give them a circle of influence, and the grace to endure, so that You could do great things in and through them in the coming year. We pray all of this for Your glory, and in the Name of Jesus! Amen!

                                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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