3 Questions to Ask Before the New Year | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Well, I wonder what comes to mind when you think of the job description of a pastor. Preaching, teaching, evangelizing, studying, counseling, weddings, funerals. Those are all very common word associations, but the word of God outlines a much more profound description of what a minister does. And I wanna give you a glimpse of that as we turn to second Corinthians chapter 11 beginning in verse one. And look at what the apostle Paul says to this group of believers in Corinth.

I wish you would bear with me a little in a little foolishness. Do bear with me, for I feel a divine jealousy for you since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. Can you imagine a pastor standing before a congregation and saying with total sincerity, I feel a divine jealousy for you? Paul did that unashamedly. And the reason why Paul could speak in this way is because the man felt what God felt for God's people.

And in this case, he was overcome with righteous indignation because he learned that the Corinthian church was deviating from complete loyalty to Christ as they were being seduced by false teachers who were introducing to them a different Jesus. And so he writes with them, and it deeply pained the apostle because he was so zealous for the honor of God's name. And clearly, what these Corinthians were doing was a dishonorable thing. But what's so interesting is that Paul further explains why he felt this divine jealousy, this passion for God, and how we relate to him, how we should relate to him. And he does this by describing his role in their lives as a minister, and it provides incredibly helpful insight to what every minister should aspire to.

Notice what he says here. He says here, since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. So he uses the analogy of a romantic engagement to describe where he fits in all of this. And in the same way that a good father, after introducing his daughter to a man so that they would be married, Paul sees himself as a spiritual father presiding and supervising and protecting the church because he introduced the church to Christ and wants to keep them loyal to Christ until they meet Christ. You see that.

Right? Because upon salvation, whether you as an individual or a church, in that moment, you metaphorically become engaged to the Lord. And the wedding day, that union, that consummation so to speak, will be realized when we are with him forever and ever. But between those two phases, Paul sees the responsibility that he's been called to, not just to bring people to Christ, but to keep them fervent, pure, and devoted to Christ. So based on this, here's what I take in terms of what a pastor, what a minister, what a spiritual leader does, is do everything that he can to ensure that the local church he oversees remains truly dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ all the days of their lives.

That's what a minister does. And that's confirmed in another place. So turn with me to Philippians chapter two. And he speaks to this group of believers and it confirms that awesome responsibility. Philippians two beginning in verse 14.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run-in vain or labor in vain. So again, Paul here, he has the day of Christ, which is just a way of saying the day of the return of Christ. He has the day of Christ when the church will meet the Lord in full view. And he tells this group of believers that I I am beckoning you to hold fast to the word of life so that when we all stand before the Lord, I will be evaluated in a commendable way for my leadership as Christ calls me to account. I'm calling you Philippians to remain steadfast in pure doctrine and loyal in your affections and in your character and in your holiness.

Hold fast until that day. Don't give in. Don't give up. Don't deviate. I wanna be able to stand before the Lord with a smile knowing that my efforts for you were not wasted.

So listen, a true spiritual leader is not only concerned about his walk with the Lord, he's also deeply invested in the people's relationship with the Lord. But how does this work? How does that flesh out? How does a leader guide a people in that way? Keep a people on that path?

And I believe he does it in two ways. The first way is that he inspires them. The second way is that he instructs them. That's how you can summarize it. By inspire, I mean that he lives in such a manner that onlookers are compelled.

They're compelled to live a more disciplined, spiritual, testimony filled way of life to the glory of God. Because what they see in that man is contagious. And they see a model and they see an example and they see how God comes through and they see the blessings and they see the joy and they see the peace and they say, I want that. So he inspires them. Right?

Just by his living. Just by his living. By instruct, I mean what you know, that he regularly expounds the word of God and he provides fresh insight into the scriptures and he brings unashamedly reminders from the word of God in order to stimulate and to nourish the faith of God's people. And notice how I placed inspiration before instruction. I didn't say that he instructs then he inspires.

I said, purposefully, that he inspires and then he instructs. And the reason why I say that is because that is the order of the duties that God gives to the minister. Okay. I know we're going different places, but I mean, what do I have? I have to preach the Bible.

Right? So go to first Timothy four and look at verse 16. Notice what Paul tells pastor Timothy, who is the pastor of the church of Ephesus at this time. He tells pastor Tim, first Timothy four verse 16, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Notice the order.

He didn't say keep a close watch on your teaching and on yourself. He said, no, no, no. Your life before your sermons. And that is consistent throughout the New Testament. Right?

So you're supposed to first embody the message. It reminds me of Ezra where we're told there that he set his heart to study the law of God and then teach it. No. No. No.

It's just to study it, to do it, and then teach it. This is what he's telling pastor Tim. Dude, I don't know what's going on here, but don't let it distract you. Hopefully, it's a good thing. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the doctor.

And I heard of a pastor who sought to obey the spirit of this command by doing something every single night. At the end of each day, this man would ask himself a question before he would lay his head on that pillow. Today, did I grow closer to the Lord or did I grow further away from him? Now if that frequency of self evaluation was helpful to him, wonderful. Personally, that might be a little difficult to track progress at that pace, but it is much easier to look back on a full year and ask, did I grow closer to the Lord, or did I grow further away?

And with that being said, I am fully aware that there are some Christians who suffer from severe introspection, and that is not what I am suggesting. Neither am I promoting an obsessive focus on your shortcomings because that's not gonna help you or anybody. But what I am referring to is a biblically informed self assessment that can be extremely beneficial when done correctly and at the right time. And I wanna take advantage of the fact that we are here on our final Sunday of this year, 2024, to ask some questions, to clarify the strength of our spirituality. I'm reminded of the words of the prophet Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations where he says there in Lamentations three forty, you don't have to turn there, it's a very small verse.

Let us test and examine our ways and return to the Lord. So the Bible promotes this idea of looking inwardly and asking a few questions. And the questions that I present to you today, funny enough, I thought I was gonna do 10 of them. Then I thought, I know myself and will be here for a long time. So I dwindled it down to five and I thought, still will be here for a long time.

So I thought, let's just keep it at three so it's digestible. Three, very important reflective questions that I pray will help each of us align more closely to the will of God. And I want you to view these inquiries as, a way of doing personal spiritual inventory. And that, they would help you to strengthen areas where you might be weak and encourage you in areas where you are already faithful. So can we do that?

It's gonna be a different kind of message. I'm gonna try to make it make this as practical as possible. Let's consider the first question together. Okay? Ask yourself this, As you reflect on this past year and as you're prepared to step into a new one, number one, number one, am I stewarding God's gifts in my life?

Am I stewarding well the gifts that God has given me? Main text number one, first Peter chapter four beginning in verse 10. I wanna remind you that there is not one born again Christian who has not been uniquely gifted by the Lord. And Peter tells us this plainly when he says, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's very grace. Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Here's how Paul echoes the same point in in first Corinthians chapter 12 verse seven. He says, to each has been given a manifestation of the spirit for the common good. So notice, Paul and Peter are the same saying the same thing.

Not to some, to each. To each has been given. To each has been gifted. To each of us. So there's not one blood bought Christian who has not been equipped by the Lord in a certain and unique way.

And in Peter's case, he provides two general categories of abilities that Christians will find themselves in. And you can summarize them in this way. Category number one is speaking gifts. Category number two are serving gifts. Speaking gifts include preaching and teaching, words of wisdom, words of knowledge.

Right? Etcetera. And and they can also be seen as more public gifts. But then you have the serving gifts which which are more hands on. They include administration, hospitality, charitable giving, acts of mercy, helping people in practical ways.

You can also see that category of gifted giftedness as behind the scenes. So you got public and you got more private or at least not as obvious. And it's often the behind the scenes gifts that make the public gifts, more effective. But I'm not here to discuss, the the different gifts of the spirit or how we can identify them in each of us. Instead I want us to focus on a phrase that we see here in verse 10.

He says, use it to serve one another. For Peter to command that suggests that it's possible to be Christian who has been gifted and not exercise that gift. It can remain dormant in your life. And so that's why he says this. He says you you need to use it.

Yeah. Identifying it is one thing, but you can identify. You can know it very well. You can you can know a grace. You you can be aware of things that when you do it, it blesses the church and still not implement it.

So he says use it. And there's a very simple way of knowing whether or not you are using God's gifts in your life. Very simple. It is this, In what way am I serving fellow Christians? Just ask yourself that.

In what ways are my interactions with other Christians demanding of me? What is a pull from me? Where's the sacrifice? How am I helping? How am I assisting?

How am I blessing others? And I wanna say this in love, if you're here sitting and you can't identify that, again, I say this in love, you're not in the fullness of God's will. You're not. You're outside of it. You have to you have to take this command not as a suggestion, but as it is, as an exhortation.

In what way am I touching other people, helping other people, investing in other people? And you know what always moves me about this particular set of instructions is the context of it. Look back at verse seven. It begins there, I believe. Look what Peter says.

The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be self controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers. And then he continues on to verse ten and eleven. So understand this, that Peter's call for Christians to use their gifts in the church is given in light of the context of the second coming of Jesus. Meaning what?

Here's what Peter's trying to say. When Christ returns, he wants to find us each faithfully serving one another. That's how Christ wants to find us. And so he wants the people to be ready as the end of all things is near and one of the things that he says is use the gift that God has put in your life. Use it.

And that's going to look, different for each one of us, but I can assure you this, that you don't need a title in the church or an official position to realize it. You don't. You know, when I was thinking about this last night, something came to my attention that you might think is strange, but my siblings will remember this. Even my parents might remember this that when we were at our hometown in Canada going to a church for a few years, there was one lady in that church, an elderly German woman, and we called her the candy lady. She was the candy lady.

Do you know why? She always sat in probably the first two rows, always in the same spot usually. And at the end of every service, she would find the children in the church and she would do this with her hand and she would summon all the kids and then she would pull out a Kleenex and open it and she had bright candy, different flavors of fruit, artificial of course. And we were there, pick whatever we wanted and she would ask us a couple of questions. Have you been good?

Have you been and we say, yeah. We just wanted the candy. We were kids. Right? And we we we realized who she was, early enough so that at the end of the service, the kids would hover around her and hope that she would summon us and not forget about us.

I can't believe that I still remember this to this day, because I know that it was before the age of 10 that we interacted with this woman. You're saying, why are you bringing up this lady? I'll tell you why. Because she didn't have a name tag, you know, with the church and her engraved initials. She didn't have that.

And she didn't have her picture on the church website, you know, with a title like distributor of sweets. She didn't have any of that. You know what she did have though? She had a consistent presence and mindfulness in the church where she naturally developed a fragrance in the assembly. She carried an aroma with her in a way that left me still remembering her.

See, you serving in the context of the church might look like this. It might look like you because you you love encouraging people. Like, it encourages you to encourage people. So maybe in 2025, you're gonna put a list of names together. And at least once a week, you're gonna text somebody and, encourage them or maybe even leave a voice message with a prayer or ask them, do you have a couple minutes?

I I know you're busy, but I just wanna get on the phone and pray for whatever's on your heart and I'll hang up. And and you do that consistently, that's what you're known for. Or maybe you're a person in here and and you have an ability to put things together, and so you approach the leadership and you say, listen, if there's anybody that, that needs help in their home, help help with their cars, you you let me know I'm the man for the job. And that's what you're known for. Or maybe, couples here, husbands and wives, you'll look at each other and you'll say, you know, let's every few weeks be intentional of inviting somebody from the church and let's just bless them with good food and and loving presence.

Because hospitality is is not a duty that's exclusive to pastors. There are some of you here who are who are teachers in your own way. I mean, you love theology and you specialize in maybe apologetics. Have you ever considered praying about bringing a group of people? Maybe meeting them at a coffee shop or at your home, and wanting to teach them maybe once every three weeks or two weeks, once a month or whatever, and I'm just gonna pour into people and and show them what I've learned about how to reach Jehovah's Witnesses, how to speak to Muslims, how to evangelize to a Mormon.

The possibilities are endless. They're endless. And though the options vary, there is one option that is not available and that's to not do anything. Use it. And my prayer is that you would start this year on the right foot, that you would say, Lord, I wanna be more strategic and intentional of doing what you've called me to do.

And I don't need any accolades. I I don't need nothing. As long as people are blessed, as long I'm serving someone, lead me into that. I may be led by the spirit, may be empowered by the Holy Spirit. And so this is what he says.

And for those who have been serving, can I give you an, a word from the word? You You don't have to turn there, but in second Timothy one six, Paul tells this pastor for this reason in second Timothy one six, I'm a remind you to fan into flame the gift of God. To fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. You know what that tells me? That even Timothy, who was a disciple of Paul, the embers of his service and his devotion in the place of the past trip was growing cool.

And he told him, he's recognizing this, saying pastor Timothy, you've been gifted to preach, you've been gifted to shepherd and you're losing your zeal, you're losing your hope, you're losing your faith, fan it into flame. Which tells me that I'm responsible for doing that. I'm responsible of recognizing that there is things in my life that I'm not doing. Now I have to do something about it. So fanning it to flame and you come before the Lord and you say, Lord, please do something in my heart.

Let me get excited about this again. Again, let me be intentional. Let me let me want this again. Let it let it be effortless for me. And for this command to be given means that it's possible for God to do a work in us and to keep that fire strong.

So here's question number one. Am I stewarding the gifts that God has given me well? Am I doing it well? Here's the second question, and I'm sure most of us saw this one coming. Am I growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ?

This is how Peter ends his second epistle. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. You know what intrigues me the most about this verse?

It's how Peter specifies the goal of growing in the grace of the Lord. Now we all understand growing in knowledge. Right? That doesn't seem so mysterious. But what stands out to me is how he says growing in the grace.

How do I grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, I think it helps to define what grace is and in simple terms, it is God's undeserved favor. But Peter's not suggesting that you and I work hard to acquire more of God's grace because that's not how God's grace works. It's unreserved. It climaxed at the person of Jesus Christ coming and dying for us.

So what does it mean to grow in this grace then? Here's what I believe Peter is saying by the spirit. Not to acquire more of it but to become more aware of it. To experience it in a deeper level. To plunge further into the revelation of it.

And he says you can do this to the point where it transforms the way you worship and listen, the way you extend it to others. Grow in the grace of the Lord and savior Jesus Christ. And you should rejoice with me because we are told exactly how we can advance in that. We're not left without instruction and this is where I think the knowledge part comes in. This is how they work together.

Meaning, it's impossible for me to grow in the revelation of the grace of God in Christ without growing in my knowledge of who Christ is. So grow in the grace and the knowledge. You need the knowledge to get the grace. You can't do without it. You can't depend on experiences.

You can't depend on people's personal testimonies. As wonderful as those things are. It is inseparable from this discipline. Knowledge. Knowledge.

And if you doubt that, this is what fascinates me about the Bible, just the artistry of it. Look at how second Peter starts. So look at verse one of second Peter of chapter one, particularly verse two. Look what Peter says. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Do you see it? How is grace and peace multiplied in my life? Knowledge. Knowledge. It has to be in the knowledge.

And so this this whole letter is sandwiched between the call for knowledge. The charge for knowledge. And this is why, as a church, we emphasize so much on biblical teaching, on taking the word of God and presenting it in an understandable and passionate way. Why? Because that's where grace and peace will be multiplied in your life.

That's where growth will be known in your life. It's not gonna be known again in miracles. I believe that God can do miracles. It's not even known in in personal testimonies how God has come through as supplemental as those are. It can primarily come through the channel of his revelation.

That's why we do this. That's why we do it more than once a week because this is what brings the power in our lives. You can't have that growth. You can't have that multiplication of the virtues of the spirit and his blessings without the knowledge. And I want to encourage you not just to get that knowledge once or twice a week from here, to make a personal investment in this new year.

And if you were to come to my little desk at my home tonight, you will find a piece of paper from this week with the same verse written on it over and over because that verse is not for sermon prep. That verse is for my soul. And here's the verse. You don't have to turn there. It's a it's an atomic verse to me.

In first John three twenty, he says, for whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. He knows everything. And so I ripped a piece of paper and I have all these colorful markers and I just write it in one color and I write it again another color and I write it again another color. Why am I doing that? Because I wanna grow the knowledge of God's grace in my life, the extent of it.

Yes, Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. Absolutely. But what are the implications of that? And with that particular verse, I want it so amplified in my heart that it's louder than anything that my flesh lashes out against me. And it's an invitation for you and I, I hope, to be more intentional with the Bible.

And so let me ask you this, in this past year, your engagement with this truth, I'm not gonna ask you if you've grown. I'm not gonna ask that. I'm just gonna ask you this. Your relationship with this treasure chest of truth, is it is it steadfast or is it sporadic or is it scarce? And if it's the latter two, do you have a plan moving forward saying, I want it to be different this time.

I want it to be different moving forward. And if you don't know where to begin, just start in the New Testament and just make it your goal to finish reading the New Testament. And don't be afraid if you can't figure every parable out or how these prophecies work. You just you just read through and you pluck up those truths like first John three twenty. Along the way, things that just resonate with you that speak to your heart.

And then you go to the old and you do the same. And you come to church and you allow what's being taught to supplement what you're learning on your own, and you'll just see how you will grow and advance and leap forward. And you'll know this this power, this strength, this confidence, this ability to overcome certain things. It's inseparable from the word, and I want you to know it for yourself. God wants us to know it for ourselves.

And so am I growing in the knowledge of the grace of God? Am I knowing am I growing in the knowledge of who Christ is himself? That's my second question to you. But here is the third. Am I becoming more eternity conscience?

Am I becoming more eternity conscience? And I'm convinced, and this is why I'm ending it with this point because this question in pursuing what it asks will put almost everything else in its proper sanctified perspective. Trust me. So come with me to Colossians chapter three. And notice what he says in verse one.

He says, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. I can't help it. It's not my main point.

But do you see how he speaks about Christ here? Look at the last part in verse four, when Christ who is your life. Christ didn't just save my life, he is my life. He's not just the author of life, he's he is my breath. He's the reason why I exist.

He's the zest of my being. He's everything. Who this is how Paul he says, he's your life now. It's all about Jesus. You know, some people, they try to put Christ in, like, in in a certain kind of, category of importance, you know.

No. No. No. He's the whole thing. And everything orbits around him.

Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. So what's the summary of what Paul is telling Christians to do? He's not telling this to pastors. He's telling this to a group of believers. It's this, be preoccupied with eternity.

Be preoccupied with eternity. And so what that means is there should always be this underlying awareness that heaven is your home. Meditate frequently and delightfully on spiritual realities. Filter what you perceive and what comes your way in this world with another realm. Remind yourself always of the return of Jesus Christ and the bliss that you will know being in his presence forever.

This is what he is saying. And we have to train ourselves in that. You know, when I find myself going somewhere even for meetings, for a few days or longer, as much as I'm enjoying what the Lord is doing in that place and meeting other believers, there's this sense in me that this is not my home though. This is my home. You are my home.

Chicago is where I live. Right? And that's always there and it doesn't make me absent minded of wherever I'm visiting. It doesn't make me, less effective, at least I hope. But there's just this sense in me.

And especially when I when I find myself in the stillness of the night, my mind goes there. My mind goes to to where I where I am, where I'm supposed to be, where I belong. And I believe in the same way, this is what the Holy Spirit is asking of us as we traverse through this world. As we deal with responsibilities, as we have these things that we need to do, and as we even enjoy things in this life, there is this sense, there is this awareness. This is not the end of it.

This is not the fullness of it. This is a shadow. The substance is yet to be realized. And you need to understand that there are implications, massive implications to this. It's not just so that we can feel more spiritual.

No. No. No. There are there are things that it unlocks in our lives. And I wanna prove that to you.

So we read the first few verses of this chapter, but look at verse five. Immediately following verse four, notice what Paul says. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you, Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Highlight that word, therefore. So Paul is not beginning a new thought here with this section of ethical exhortations.

The word therefore there, it tells us that there's a link between the preceding thought and the present and following entreaties. Meaning, based on what I just established of how your your meditations, your thinking, your affections should be set upward, heavenward. Now here's what should transpire as the fruit of it. Here's the outcome of that. And what does he say here?

That there's gonna be things that are gonna be put to death. Look at this in verse five and notice carefully that these are obviously vices, but it continues in verse eight. Look at verse eight. But now you must put them all away anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.

Again, this is all flowing from what he said in the first four verses about setting our minds on things above. And notice when you look at verse five and the list that he gives, those are all about personal sins. Look again, sexual morality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. But then in verse eight and nine, they're interpersonal sins. How you deal and interact with others.

Look at it again. Anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from your mouth, lying to one another. And here's what Paul is trying to explain. The things that we tolerate in our own lives and the things that we fail in other people's lives. You can know personal holiness and you can know a holiness in public as a result of developing the habit of setting your mind on things above.

That's achievable, more achievable at least. And that doesn't just equip us to war against the negative, it actually becomes a fertilization to breed the positive. So let's look at this in bullet point form. Look at verse 11 quickly. It helps us treat others as equals.

Talks about Jew and Gentile. Right? It closes with Christ like virtues between verses twelve and thirteen as we put on compassionate hearts and other beautiful things. Verse 14, it excites a sacrificial love and secures unity in the church. Look at verse 15.

It becomes the channel. Setting my mind on things above becomes the channel for the peace of Christ to govern my heart. You know, they said of a Puritan pastor by the name of, Richard Sibbes that heaven was in him before he went to heaven. Heaven was in him before he went to heaven. And a great reason for that is because he obeyed these commands.

He set his mind on things above. He was seeking the things that are above. And you say, how does that work though? Listen, I I have my time alone with the Lord in the morning and that's a huge thing. It puts things in its proper place.

It it it sets the right frame of mind absolutely. But I think this this is asking for even more than that. You're saying, okay, but I find myself even the moment I step out into the world and the moment I step out of my bedroom, I'm just overcome by responsibilities and tasks and distractions and surprises. How am I supposed to manage this? I think there's a way.

God God is not asking us to be absent minded in this life, but I think there are ways in which we can, by his grace, as we spend time with him and get into the word, to grow in this area of becoming eternally minded. Here's one way of, I guess, looking at it. Whenever grievances come, sickness might visit you, challenges might erupt. I think how these commands work is in the following manner, that at some point, you are able to filter all of that and relate it to, yes, the brokenness in my life in this world will one day be swallowed up by a perfect world that will be governed by a perfect king. There there it is.

I'm I'm transported into the heavenlies right there. This isn't it. This isn't permanent. This isn't the final story. This isn't how it's supposed to be and it's not going to be like this.

Christ is gonna come and he's gonna fix everything. There's a time coming where the tears that I'm shedding now, there'll only be a far memory. The pain in my body now will be eclipsed by a glorified body. The disappointments of people, oh, there's a time coming. Can you imagine this where everybody that you know will be perfect?

What a thought. Perfect. Perfect. So I think how Colossians three helps us is that we console ourselves with the reality of eternity in this life. Do that.

Do it a lot. Give it to others. What about the good? Which is sometimes even more dangerous. The good that God allows you and I to taste in this life, like vacations with your family or rejoicing at a friend's wedding.

What do you what do you do then? Here's how I think you do it. You view it all as a preview of something to come. That any thrill you know, any laughter that you share with others, this is just a foretaste of what's gonna happen when Jesus returns and rules and reigns forever. And in that moment, you're transported again into the heavenlies and more than that, you have a reason to give thanks to God.

Lord, no matter how good it gets here, it will only touch the foothills of the Mount Everest of your glory and the things that you will usher into my life. So this is what we're invited to. Can I ask you something? How much have you thought about heaven in 2024? How much have you relied on these truths to allow God's peace to wash over you?

When's the last time you got excited about going to be with the Lord? Imagine being engaged to somebody and only you were excited for the wedding day and your fiance wasn't. That would be weird. That would be concerning. That asked for a little bit more time in marital counseling, premarital counseling.

Right? More sessions before the wedding day. Wouldn't it be weird for the Lord only to be excited to be with us? So Paul invites you and I to be more eternity conscious if you belong to him. And listen, it's not just so that you can share in that delight with your master.

You just read it. It'll impact the way you live in this world. You're gonna see sin differently. You're gonna treat temptation differently. You're gonna you're gonna tap into a strength.

You'll be able to how we talked about briefly during the announcements. You'll be able to excel in certain graces, including how you manage your money, and it will it will be your servant and not your master. It touches everything. I'm tempted to go into five more questions, but I think that's enough for now. I want you to don't tempt me, brother.

I want you to to seriously now at this time before we praise to sit back and really reflect on your walk with the Lord. Now if we're all honest, we can all say, I can improve in every area. Absolutely. I'm there. But I'm not talking about the areas where you are walking in already.

I'm talking about the things that are nonexistent, or maybe they're shriveling up, or maybe you you find yourself deviating. You know what's amazing? I I failed to mention this, but I'll mention it now. And the point about growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, there are negative implications for ignoring such a command. You're saying, what do you mean?

Because that's second Peter three eighteen, but if you look at second Peter three seventeen, he warns about being carried away by the error of lawless people. And then in the the next verse, he provides the protection against that. The antidote he says, but grow. But grow. So so here's what I wanna say to you, that just in the area of growing in the knowledge of Christ, to fail to do that, to fail to take that seriously doesn't mean that you're gonna remain as you are.

No. No. No. No. There is no middle ground.

You put yourself at greater risk of drifting. Drifting. Drifting and Peter used the language being carried away by the error of lawless people. And that error includes false teaching because the verses before that talks about how people twist the scriptures. You make yourself more vulnerable to deceptive teachings when you don't engage with this word regularly, faithfully, diligently.

But the error is not just limited to doctrine, it can be into legalism. As you lose touch with the grace of Jesus Christ, now you begin to invite methods and ideas of what holiness is that are foreign to the bible. Or the air of lawlessness, because this grace empowers you to live holy. And so, I wanna tell you that even just in that point alone, to to be indifferent to it, to be careless with it, puts us in spiritual peril. Okay.

No more. I'm done. I want this to now just pause and pray just in your own heart. The praise team can come up and help us and assist us. And my duty here is to do what I open up with, to help you, to help you continue to be a pure virgin unto Christ.

Please don't distract anybody beside you. Just receive this directly from the Lord and give it to him on a personal level. Just in your own heart, speak to the Lord, and we're gonna sing to him together in a moment. Well, before I pray, I say because I wanna try to be like Paul who said imitate me as I imitate Christ. I say from my heart to you that, you bring so much joy in my life.

And seeing your walk with the Lord and your love for the truth has, given me ample reason to give more thanks to God and to give him glory for your lives. And so I am eternally grateful for this church. And not this building, for the real church, you. And, I just say that in your presence before the Lord because he knows my heart, how much you mean to me. And I pray for you always, and I ask that you pray for me as we journey together hand in hand into 2025.

Well, let me end this way actually. If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, wouldn't it be wonderful if you began this new year giving your heart to him? Yeah. You can do that. He's he's waiting for you to do that.

Why waste another year living for yourself, living in sin, living under the wrath of God, when in a moment, when you confess and you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son. I invite you today that if you don't know Jesus Christ in a saving way, that you would, at this moment, realize that he is calling you to himself. And that no matter what your sin is, no matter what your bondage is, no matter what your addiction may be, no matter what your history might say, Christ loves you. He died for you. And in a moment he's willing to save you, but he will not impose himself.

He waits for you to make that decision and he will rush into your life and make you a new creature. I invite you to make that choice today so that not just 2025, but the rest of your life will be life abundant because Jesus lives in you. And so repent from your sins. Believe that he died for your sins and believe that he welcomes you into relationship with him forever. Lord, we thank you for 2024.

Oh, so much. So much to give you glory for. Lord, we ask now together as a church. You've been with us these past three years. Go before us in this new year.

Live, Lord, before us. Protect us. Guide us. Open doors for us. We want to see your glory made known in our midst.

So we commit this together and we ask, oh God, that, more people will be added to the fold. And those who are added to the fold would grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, would utilize their gifts, would be more conscious of the world to come. Lord, we thank you for this word and we thank you for who you are. We bless you together in Jesus name. Amen.