This has been an interesting week in the history of our world. This week between Christmas and the New Year is always a time of reflection and remembering the lives of those who have passed away in the last 12 months.
I was watching one of those shows the other day and I had many thoughts. I watched these people who had achieved some measure of earthly fame in old black and white stills as well as films of them at the height of their glory. There were moments of happiness and great joy. There on the screen was Coretta Scott King, Don Knotts, Kirby Puckett, Buck Owens, Mike Douglas, Steve Irwin, Red Auerbach, Ed Bradley, James Brown and then of course Gerald Ford and last and least Saddam Hussein. The pictures of their lives reflected great moments of triumph and success. I couldn’t help but think how quickly time had passed for all of them. Some were very old and some not so much.
All of them shared one thing in common and that was the end of their lives. It would be my hope and prayer that everyone in this room has thought and considered the coming year in light of the fact that time is marching on. Too often I think we live for the future in hopes that someday something big or life changing is going to happen. I have a strong conviction that if we were to focus on spiritual growth and prioritize our lives in accordance with the Word of God we would find ourselves in the middle of God’s will. And being in the middle of God’s will would mean we would be engaging the culture around us with the message of Jesus Christ. Our very lives would be a living witness to the reality of Christ and the transforming message of His word and work.
I want to share with you today from Hebrews 13. Found in these first verses are some areas of our lives that might help focus our attention on what is important to God in our lives. They are centered around one statement.
In Hebrews 13:6 we read these words, “The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear.” For those who believe in Jesus Christ and have made Him Lord of their life this is a promise you can count on.
I can think of no one that I would want help from more than from God. There is not a situation in life that He is not capable of helping with. Right up front let me give you three descriptive words that can be used to describe God’s help:
One of the hardest things I do is deal with people who are struggling with difficulties in their life that are the direct result of sin. If you choose to sin and disobey God there are consequences that will follow you wherever you go. It is only when you pursue God with everything that is in you and surrender your life, habits, lifestyles, and personal choices that you began to find that God is truly on your side.
The Bible clearly teaches that when we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. The idea as we step into next year is to make a choice right up front to pursue God with all you mind, soul and strength.
When the Hebrew writer said, “The Lord is my helper,” he surrounded this phrase with other admonitions on how we should live out our lives. These are ways that we need to adopt into our lives if we are to truly be Christ followers.
We will fill in the blanks by finishing the sentence, This year I need to . . .
1. This year I need to be Charitable
“1 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.” Hebrews 13:1
The Amplified New Testament renders this verse: “Let love for you fellow believers be a fixed practice with you. Never let it fail.” There are times when it is easy to let things enter in to our relationships that a maturing or mature Christ follower would never allow to happen. We nurse our hurts because of something someone said or how they acted and before long we find it impossible to be loving and kind toward them. You may say, “I can’t love them.” The fact of the matter is that you can if the Lord is your helper.
The Greek word for brotherly love is the word Philadelphia. If the Bible is clear on any teaching it is certainly clear on the idea of brotherly love. You can teach, preach, sing, do acts of mercy but if you don’t love you are hollow and empty.
2. This year I need to be Merciful
“2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” Hebrews 13:2
Mercy means generosity and large heartedness. Here again the A.N.T. is helpful, for verse 2 is rendered: "Do not forget, or neglect, or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers, being friendly, cordial, gracious, sharing with others generously." The reference is to hospitality, but the application is much wider.
The church of all people groups should be merciful. The body of Christ as the church is referred to should be first in line to extend mercy and grace. We believe what we believe and we shouldn’t compromise those beliefs for anybody but we can also be loving and kind and show mercy to the least of these. Everyone of us need to measure our mercy by the words of Jesus as recorded by Matthew in chapter 25.
31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.
34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.
37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.' 41-43"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'
44"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'
45"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'
46"Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."
Are we, as Christ followers, large hearted, open hearted, cordial and gracious? Or are we cold, mean, unapproachable, standoffish and unfriendly? How much we need these Christ like graces and virtues, and we can have them, for they are not in our¬selves but in the Lord, and the Lord is with us, "The Lord is our helper".
3. This year I need to be Sympathetic
3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. Hebrews 13:3
How incredible it is to have a sympathetic feeling for all who are in any kind of trouble, and particularly for those who are suffering for Christ's sake! This is the thought in verse 3. Today, there are many Christ followers around the world that are suffering great persecution and affliction simply because they are Christians. Do we have any real sympathy for them? Do we feel with them in their suffering? The A.N.T. renders verse 3: "Remember those who are in prison as if you were their fellow prisoner, and those who are ill treated, since you are also liable to bodily sufferings."
Our world is tenuous at best and it is not unthinkable even in my lifetime that genuine Christians will suffer even here in America. In those days we will wish that someone was praying and caring for us.
Can we be sympathetic? We can, if we will say, "The Lord is my helper."
4. This year I need to embrace Purity
4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. Hebrews 13:4
Some of you are going to hear what I am about to say and you are going to realize that you are into something so deeply that you may not even feel anything like regret or remorse. If that is the case, I would suggest that you begin to seek God earnestly and ask Him to allow the Holy Spirit to once again bring a sense of conviction and conscience to your life.
At 12 billion a year, the revenues of the porn industry in the U.S. are bigger than the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball combined. Worldwide porn sales are reported to be 57 billion. To put this in perspective, Microsoft, who sells the operating system used on most of the computers in the world (in addition to other software) reported sales of 36.8 billion in 2004. Family Safe Media
60% of all website visits are sexual in nature - MSNBC Survey 2000
The No. 1 search term used at search engine sites is the word “sex”. Users searched for “sex” more than other terms such as "games," "travel," "music," "jokes," "cars," "weather," "health" and "jobs" combined. The study also found that "pornography/porno" was the fourth-most searched for subject. Alexa Research
A 2000 MSNBC.com survey found that as many as 80 percent of visitors to sex sites were spending so much time tracking down erotica on the computer that they were putting their real-life relationships and/or jobs at risk.
77% of online visitors to adult content sites are male. Their average age is 41 and they have an annual income of $60,000. 46% are married. Forrester Research Report, 2001
42% of songs on ten top-selling CDs in 1999 contained sexual content, 41% of which were "very explicit" or "pretty explicit." Family News in Focus, July 2005
Then there are the big hotel chains: Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt, Sheraton and Holiday Inn, which all offer adult films on in-room pay-per-view television systems. And they are purchased by a whopping 50 percent of their guests, accounting for nearly 70 percent of their in-room profits. One hotel owner said, "We have to have it, our guests demand it.” From a CBS News Special Report, November 2003
17% of all women struggle with porn addiction
1 of 3 visitors to all adult websites are women
9.4 million women access adult websites every month - Internet Filter Review
August 7,2006: 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography. 60% of the women who answered the survey admitted to having significant struggles with lust; 40% admitted to being involved in sexual sin in the past year; and 20% of the church-going female participants struggle with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis. From the results of a ChristiaNet poll reported by Marketwire.com
In December of 2000, the National Coalition to Protect Children and Families surveyed 5 Christian Campuses to see how the next generation of believers was doing with sexual purity:
48% of males admitted to current porn use
68% of males said they intentionally viewed a sexually explicit site at the school
In a survey of over 500 Christian men at a men's retreat, over 90% admitted that they were feeling disconnected from God because lust, porn, or fantasy had gained a foothold in their lives. As reported in an article on Pastors.com by Kenny Luck.
As Christians, we are surrounded by much that is impure, coarse and sensual. Look again at the A.N.T. rendering of verse 4: "Let marriage be held in honor, esteemed worthy, precious, of great price and especially dear . . . for God will punish the unchaste and those guilty of sexual vice . . ." How can I keep pure in a society which is filled with impurity? I can, only if, "The Lord is my helper."
5. This year I need to practice Serenity
5Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5
Serenity refers to a calm, contented and unruffled mind and heart. The A.N.T. renders verse 5: "Be satisfied with your present circumstances, for He has said, I will never relax My hold on you." In other words, "I have Christ, what want I more?" Margaret Clarkson knew the meaning of serenity when she wrote:
Though all the world is filled with fear,
And hearts of men are sore distressed;
I go my way in tranquil joy,
For I know Christ, the Man of Rest.
I know no care, no grief, no fear;
I lose them all on Jesus' breast,
The peace of God abides with me,
For I know Christ, the Man of Rest.
Can I have this rest, even though I live in the midst of a world that is filled with unrest? Yes, indeed I can, for, "The Lord is my helper"!
6. This year I need to find Spiritual Balance
6 So we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” Hebrews 13:6 Spiritual balance is more than serenity. It is being on an even keel, settled, so that when sudden alarms come we are not thrown off balance. Thus, the A.N.T. renders verse 6: "So we may be encouraged and boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not he seized by alarm, or fear, or dread, or terror."
I am going to say it because it needs to be said. You can’t have spiritual balance without your head and heart in the word of God. You can’t follow Christ without ever spending time in His presence.
This coming year in our church has been set designated by the senior ministry leadership team as a year for promoting and motivating us as a church to spiritual growth and spiritual transformation.
“3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! 4 Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.” Isaiah 26:3--4
“6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6--7.
What a great thing it is to have our mind and heart stayed upon Jehovah! It is quite impossible in our own strength, but with the Lord as our helper it is gloriously possible.
7. This year I need to practice Stability
9 So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them”. Hebrews 13:9
This verse refers to having settled convictions regarding belief. Some Christians never have settled convictions. They are quite unstable in their appreciation, or lack of it, of the revealed truth of God. Please note that this stability begins not in the head, but in the heart. It is when the heart is established with grace that we become stabilized in the things of God. You can achieve stability in your life if God is your helper.
Why do you follow Jesus? Patrick Morley has some important things to say about our answer to this question. "The American gospel has evolved into a gospel of addition without subtraction. It is a belief that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior."
A little boy who lived far out in the country in the late 1800s had reached the age of twelve and had never in all his life seen a circus. You can imagine his excitement, when one day a poster went up at school announcing that on the next Saturday a traveling circus was coming to the nearby town.
He ran home with the glad news and the question, "Daddy, can I go?" Although the family was poor, the father sensed how important this was to the lad. "If you do your Saturday chores ahead of time," he said, "I’ll see to it that you have the money to go."’ Come Saturday morning, the chores were done and the little boy stood by the breakfast table, dressed in his Sunday best. His father reached down into the pocket of his overalls and pulled out a dollar bill-the most money the little boy had possessed at one time in all his life. The father cautioned him to be careful and then sent him on his way to town.
The boy was so excited, his feet hardly seemed to touch the ground all the way. As he neared the outskirts of the village, he noticed people lining the streets, and he worked his way through the crowd until he could see what was happening. Lo and behold, it was the approaching spectacle of a circus parade! The parade was the grandest thing this lad had ever seen. Caged animals snarled as they passed, bands beat their rhythms and sounded shining horns, midgets performed acrobatics while flags and ribbons swirled overhead.
Finally, after everything had passed where he was standing, the traditional circus clown, with floppy shoes, baggy pants, and a brightly painted face, brought up the rear.
As the clown passed by, the little boy reached into his pocket and took out that precious dollar bill. Handing the money to the clown, the boy turned around and went home. What had happened? The boy thought he had seen the circus when he had only seen the parade!
Are you experiencing all that God has for you? The Christian life is a marvelous adventure, an exciting journey. Many people-including Christians-seem to be content to float in a sea of mediocrity, settling for second best. Do you want the abundant life that Jesus promised?
A. W. Tozer, another wonderful devotional writer said this:
The widest thing in the universe is not space; it is the potential capacity of the human heart. Being made in the image of God, it is capable of almost unlimited extension in all directions. And one of the world’s greatest tragedies is that we allow our hearts to shrink until there is room in them for little besides ourselves. Examining our motives is an important spiritual discipline.
We are going to sing an old song of admonition. It simply says, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. I can’t think of a better last song for you to sing in the last service of the year. I am asking you to really engage you head and heart in these moments. How are you doing spiritually? How are things between you and God? How are things between you and others? Are you hungry for more of God and a changed life.
Lord, We acknowledge that You are adequate, available and that Your help is appropriately what we need. We are praying today as a church and as individuals asking that you might look on us with mercy and favor us with a growing sense of your presence. We ask that you make this coming year to be different that the past.
We ask specifically for help in these areas of our lives.
May we be filled with a sense of charity for those in need this New Year: Lord hear our prayer.
May we show mercy as You show mercy in this New Year: Lord hear our prayer.
May we be filled with awareness, empathy and sympathy for those who are suffering in Your name: Lord hear our prayer.
May I walk in purity before you this year and be involved in relationships that honor Your word and will for my life: Lord hear our prayer.
May I find serenity and contentment in You alone: Lord hear our prayer.
May I find spiritual balance in my life and live with an awareness of your power and presence: Lord hear our prayer.
Finally, Lord will you give us a sense of stability and conviction in my life so that serving you faithfully everyday in non-negotiable: Lord hear our prayer.
Finish the song.