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Amen so in Genesis chapter 1 I want to focus there in the beginning where it says in verse 14 and God said let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and that's the Passage where I get the title for this morning sermon signs and seasons It says that God put the the lights in the firmament of heaven to be For signs and for seasons and for days and for years and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven and to give Light upon the earth and it was so and of course We understand that those lights are the Sun Moon and stars He goes on to explain there and God made two great lights the great light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule But the night he made the stars also and God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and To divide the light from the darkness and God saw that it was good so you can see here in this passages You know a couple purposes in these lights that are given unto us the the Sun the stars and the moons They're not just there for us to you know, look at and and be in awe But they actually have a really practical purpose. Of course, you know the Sun giving light upon the earth. That's a pretty obvious one You know, we need the Sun for plants to grow and a myriad of other things. That's not really a point of this sermon You know, there's even a specific form of vitamin D that we can only get from the Sun That's why people that live in these northern climates where there isn't much Sun often are very depressed people You have higher rates of suicide and that's you know I'm speaking from somebody as somebody who's from that region I can attest to that that there's The Sun plays a major part even in our you know in our moods in our in our our physical makeup but really what I want to point out this morning is the fact that the Sun and it says there that they were That these these lights and the firmament of heaven were given to divide the day from the night so that we could keep track of Day and night but also it says and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years So we could see that the Sun the moon the stars are given to us not just because they're necessary for life But they are given to us so that we can track what signs and seasons and for days and years Now when he says they're for signs, I don't want us to get confused this morning and think that you know He's got a suggesting that we you know Get into astrology or that we worship these things or anything like that If you want to keep something there in Genesis chapter 1 you could turn over to Isaiah chapter 47 Isaiah chapter 47 And God, you know condemns You know that that we would worship these things or that we would look to them for some kind of meaning in our lives Or something like that. He said in Deuteronomy 4 you're going to Isaiah 47 is we should be going to Isaiah 47 but in Deuteronomy at 4 it says that they were not to worship any that they were not to corrupt themselves in any graven image the Similitude of any figure the likeness of male or female that they were not to what verse 19 and thou shalt Lest I lift up thine eyes into heaven And I'll see us the Sun and the moon and the stars even all the host of and should be driven to worship them and to Serve them which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole of heaven So he's saying look I've given you the Sun the stars I've given you these things for signs and for seasons But I don't want to get carried away and worship them which is something that you know A lot of the heathen nations would do They would look to you I mean we could think of all the Greek gods and things like that They're named, you know after planets and in Greek gods, they share these names. You have Mars and Venus and so on and so forth But God doesn't want us worshiping these things But that's not to mean that we should just completely dismiss them out of hand It'd play a very practical role in our life these signs and these seasons The stars are given for us to observe those things you look there in Isaiah chapter 47 you get an example of this that God condemns, you know Specifically astrology, you know and astrology is is Something that no Christian should be involved with I believe that even even say well, what about just reading it in the paper? I don't know if they even print that section anymore, right, but if people do people even get the paper anymore I don't know. You know, I wish I was thinking about the comic section How nice would be to have a good old-fashioned comic section every now and then but you know They were a lot of times they would include the your horoscope and things like that And the thing about that was you know If you read those things you could read any one of them imply them to your life They had about as much, you know significance as a fortune cookie really when you when you boil it down It's and if you look at Isaiah 47 where Isaiah, you know, the the preaching is condemning, you know Babylon here It says in verse 1 coming down and sit in the dust Oh virgin daughter of Babylon sit on the ground There is no throne or daughter of the Chaldeans for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate Look at verse 13, right? He's doing out this judgment He says thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsel's let now the astrologers and the stargazers and the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save these from these things that shall come upon thee. So God's saying look I'm judging you I'm gonna bring judgment upon Babylon. Why don't you get your astrologers? You know, why don't you get you know, why don't you call? 1-800, you know, what was that lady miss Theo or whatever, you know, why don't you call these these these prognosticators? Once you call these people and see if they can save you and he's saying that he's mocking them really is what he's doing here Because he knows that these none of these people can save them because there is no truth in them You know, they're just looking at the signs. They're just looking at the stars and they're just making whatever up, you know And if you've ever known people that I get into this thing these type of things that these are you know You know your birth signs and all this type of stuff Really if you look at it You could every person could look at anybody else's birth chart or whatever they call it and derive meaning from it You know, they derive meaning from it because they want to they want to have some significance in these things But you know just starting out, you know That's not what God's promoting here when he says that we are to look to the sock the Stars The Sun the moon for signs and for seasons and he's not referring to astrology we know that because of the fact that he would he's condemning that but what he's Appealing us or telling us to do is to use these things to basically track time, you know and tracking time is something that We need to learn to do as Christians and just generally in life go to Psalms 81 Psalms 81 We need to learn to track time and of course the Hebrews back then, you know They were using what's called a lunar calendar if you notice there in Genesis 1 I'll just read to you You know if we were to read that we were to find out earlier on the chapter that what the the that the That the evening and the morning were the first day, you know notice It was the evening and the morning that were the first day a lot of people think that you know The day starts, you know our day because we observe a solar calendar starts, you know at dawn But in the Hebrew calendar or the lunar calendar, you know, it actually starts in the evening and you see that all throughout Scripture That's what they observed that the evening was actually the beginning of the next day. We just do things differently And you know, there's more we could talk about that That's something I probably preach on a little bit more to later time But you know, he does tell us here to use these things as a way to track time And of course, we know they did this to observe the feasts and things like that If you're in Psalms 81 look at verse 1 He said sing aloud unto God our strength make a joyful noise and the God of Jacob take a psalm and bring hither the timbrel And the pleasant harp with the psaltery blow up the trumpet what in the new moon and in the time appointed on our solemn feast Day, I won't take the time to go on these feasts and everything like that But they tracked a lot of these feasts by observing the moon, you know here we have, you know Blowing it up in the moon in the new moon, you know the time appointed, right? So these were part of their feast That's what they use They used a lunar calendar and as I mentioned before it was the the evening and the and the night Were called the first day he called the day dark the light day and the darkness he called night and the evening and the morning Were the first day now if you would go over to Psalms chapter 90 Psalms chapter 90 So God's saying look you should we should we have been given these things. We've been given the Sun. We've been given the moon We've been given the stars for signs and for seasons Right to divide day and night so that we can keep track of time And of course, we're coming up on New Year's and this is kind of the New Year's sermon you say well It's only the beginning. It's not even December yet Why are you preaching a New Year's sermon because I don't want to preach a New Year's sermon on New Year's Eve Like the day before when I want people I think when we're coming into the season We should already be thinking about our new year what we're gonna be doing in the new year and I'm I'm for New Year's resolutions I think that they're they're good things or things that we should do and we'll get in here in a minute now I'm not saying you have to do it But obviously a lot of people do do it like a lot of people make resolutions and I think it's a great thing to do I think God has given us these things He's wants us to keep track of times and of seasons so that we can you know Kind of keep them as it were a measure of our days, right? Did I have you go to Isaiah chapter 90? If you're in Isaiah chapter 90 look at verse 9 He says for all our days are passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years as a tale that is told So he's saying look our days are past or they're spent as a tale that is told and I don't think he's talking about The tale being told like got like our stories already been told, you know a tale or is something that you know It's like a counting right you think of a tale or a teller right a teller is somebody who counts So if our he's saying our days are a tale that is told meaning look we've only get so many of them You know, our days are already measured That's why he goes on and says in verse 10 the days of our years are three score years and ten, right? Now how many is a score that's twenty so twenty times three three score is sixty and ten So that's what he's saying. The days of our years are what seventy years, you know, if you make it to seventy You've lived, you know a long life according to the Bible, you know That's the measure that's been given unto us and he goes on and if by reason of strength they be four score years Yet is their strength labor and sorrow, right? So we are promised, you know that we might get to seventy And if by reason of strength we could even make it to eighty and we know that people do live longer than that But really that's kind of what can be expected in life. That is the tale that has been told unto us That's how many days you get and you know The younger we are the more distant that seems to be and we think oh we've got our whole lives ahead of us But we soon find out very quickly that it goes by like that and the next thing you know We're you know, middle-aged 40 whatever years old and and we feel like our life is half over Well, that's because you know according to Psalm 90 it is you know It is half over right and I'm stressing the importance this morning of what of measuring your days, right? He says in verse 11 who knoweth the power of thine anger cert even according to thy fear So is thy wrath look at verse 12 So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom Look God's given us science. He's given of seasons. He wants us to keep track of time so that we can number our days Right and we can do what apply our hearts unto wisdom We should learn to spend our lives in a way that is productive that is, you know We're going to benefit us in eternity We should apply our hearts unto wisdom and not be foolish with our lives You know, we should live our lives in a way so that we can get that full Let's get that 80 years and maybe a few more, you know by God's grace let's go ahead and apply our hearts unto wisdom and how we take care of ourselves the things that we do the things that we Don't do and and and use our Days in a wise way. That's what he's saying here. And I think that's why you know New Year's resolutions and if you would Go over to Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5. That's why I think news New Year resolutions are a good thing now I wouldn't always feel that way. I always for a long time I thought you know New Year's resolutions were kind of hokey and no one ever really most people don't follow through on them and I thought You can make a resolution any time and that's true, isn't it? But you know in our culture and our in our in the world that we're living in right now It is kind of a marker, right? it is kind of a thing that we have in our in our culture that causes us to think about those things and I think that you know, I've kind of changed my mind about that and say you don't know New Year's resolutions are a good thing I think there's something that we should try to implement in our lives, you know It goes back then when I thought I didn't really give a lot of you know credit to New Year's resolutions It wasn't something I was really into I find my found myself not really getting a lot done in the year You know another year just kind of went by and it was things were the same and the things are the same But when we actually sit down and make a plan and say hey this year is gonna be different I'm gonna change this I'm gonna change that I'm gonna add this I'm gonna get rid of that We actually sit down and measure our days and we actually keep track of the time that we have and use it wisely You know, we find ourselves getting more things done Now again, this isn't I don't want to confuse us with thinking that we're got to make some kind of an oath right now New Year's resolutions are things that you know, if we're saying we're gonna do something we should just do it, you know period but again We don't want to be people that are swearing You know like Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 or you are look at verse 33 He said again you have heard that it hath been said by them of all time Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but thou shalt perform in the Lord thine oaths But I say unto you swear not at all neither by heaven for it is God's throne nor by the earth for it is his footstool Neither by Jerusalem for it is a city of the great king neither shalt thou swear by thy head Because thou canst not make one hair white or black but let your communication be yea Yea, nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh from evil So we could look at that and say well is this kind of speaking against the New Year's resolution? But I don't think that is I think what he's getting at here is the swearing is more of you know You're binding yourself to like he says here by heaven by God's throne This isn't necessarily Akin to sitting down and saying I'm gonna make some changes in my life But the principle that we should take away from this is that if we are gonna say hey, I'm gonna change something this year I'm gonna do something different. I'm gonna change the way I'm living and then in 2022, you know what let your yay be a then You know and if there's something you're gonna stop doing something you're gonna get out of your life Some sin some bad habit, whatever it might be that you're gonna get out of your life in 2022 You know what then let your Navy nay if you're gonna make a resolution this year and I encourage you to do that I think we should all especially about this time of year, you know It's really good to actually start your New Year's resolutions before the new year. You know, everyone makes the resolution I'm gonna start getting up early and then and then the you know New Year's Eve They're up till midnight or one or two, right and then they're getting up at eight or nine and then they just think well I already blew it, you know, it's the new year. I've already messed up You know, we should if we're gonna say hey, I'm gonna get up early We should probably start getting up early now. We should probably start implementing, you know, whatever diet whatever, you know I know what he'd like to hear that especially this time of year, but you know, we just came out of Thanksgiving I think we all kind of had our fill this week, right? This would be a good time to start thinking about that diet You still got that Christmas dinner coming? Yes, you know get one more in there where you can kind of gorge yourself a little bit But it's good to start these resolutions now so that when you go into the new year You're already kind of getting in on track here And again, look if you're not one that sat down and actually made any resolutions this year I would really encourage you to do that even if it's just one resolution Maybe it's even just improving on something that you're already doing. Well, you say hey, you know what? I read my Bible once every year. I've been reading my Bible consistently at least one time a year Maybe this is the year where you say I'm gonna read it twice. Maybe just do a little bit more You know, whatever area that's just an example. There's so many other areas in life that we could talk about You know, he said hey, I'm resolved to lose X amount of pounds last year, but you know, I could still stand to lose a few more Maybe you need to just say I'm gonna lose those extra few pounds this year or whatever. I might be and maybe I'm Exercising but I could be better in this area Look, there's resolutions that we should all be making and I believe that God, you know would be pleased with that and I believe that's a part of the reason why God has given us these signs and You know these seasons that we track time with so that we can you know Measure our days and apply our hearts unto wisdom now if you would go over to Go over to John first John chapter first John chapter one And again, this isn't we're not getting into you know We don't want to get into this thing where we're a steaming, you know one day above another When we're where we're trying to make this some kind of almost, you know idolatrous type of thing, you know We're we're venerating you can make a resolution any time of the year You can resolve to get some sin out of your life Anytime you want you can resolve to start doing right anytime you want But the the you know human nature is is that unless we're prompted to do so we generally don't You know our human nature is we just kind of get into a rut, isn't it? We just kind of get into a rut We kind of just keep doing things the way we've always done them and you know Unless there's some either severe consequence or some just pressure on us to change. We're not going to change We're just gonna keep doing what we're doing and like that's true of everybody. That's just human nature That's just the way we're we're built in a lot of ways. That's good You know, there's some things that we should just get in a rut about doing once, you know You form a habit and it just becomes second nature, you know that can work for you or against you You know if you have a good habit going and it's where you've done it So consistently for so long where it's something you don't even think about. It's just automatic and that's beneficial to you Well, that's a good thing But look, there's a lot of things that were you know You know this could fall into two categories when it comes into the negative Right the thing that the bad things that we should stop doing right whether it's sinful or not Maybe it's just a you know a bad habit that's not good for our health Or maybe it's just maybe it is some sin that we're just you know, we do it habitually It's not even something we really want to do It's just something we've been doing for so long and we're just so used to it that we can't You know, the the thought of changing is almost intimidating, right? But look we need to learn to change those things we need to have some pressure on us And I think that's what's great about New Year's resolutions I think that's what's great about having these times and these seasons in our life to where we we reflect on the year That's passed and reflect on you know, the year to come, you know, I think about that for our church, you know I think about okay. Well, what did we accomplish at the end of 2020, you know as horrific of a year as that was You know, we managed to get 200 salvations exactly, you know that that were counted right? I know because the 200 salvation came I think it was on New Year's Eve or like the last it was like the last church service of that year We went out after dinner with some folks and the the guy we took out, you know, got the waitress saved You know after the arch after our evening service, we went out in a midweek service We had 199 salvations, you know, and we got that last one right before the end of the new year So we had 200 Salvations, you know in the year 2020, but how many we have this year, you know, let me just review here real quick We got a hundred nineteen so far this year So I don't think we're gonna probably pull off another 80 south 80 whatever salvation 79 salvations here in the next You know a few weeks, but look could that be something we resolved that next this next year in 22 2020 2022 that we as a church say hey, let's get back to that 200 mark Look I think that's a good goal to have as a church to say how many salvations can we get? You know another thing I want to do. I'll have it in the bulletin coming up as I want to start operation Confiscation, you know unless I can come up with a better name, but you know, basically say what is that? Well, what I want to do is I want to get a nice looking waste back basket back there nice Looking one that that we will use to collect false Bible versions So when people go out, you know and they get somebody saved or they talk to somebody at a door You know, you can put it if you can put a King James Bible in their hand and take away their false Bible You know their their ESV their NIV or whatever You can come back to the church and sign your name in it and throw it in that wastebasket And let's see how many we can get in in 2022 I think that's another great goal for our church and then at the end of the year we can burn them all right Of course, this is an idea that pastor Shelley implemented over at pure words. I think it's a great as his annual Bible burning So I thought man I like that and it's false Bibles folks weren't burning the King James Bible, right But I think it's a great idea, you know, we could see and you could see how many King James Bibles Can I get in somebody's hand, you know, we'll order a bunch We'll get him back here for people to give out from the church, you know, how many salvations can I get? Look if we want to get back to 200 salvations if you want to say 2022, let's get 300 salvations Let's get more salvations than this church has ever gotten You know, we can't do that as just you know, one person can accomplish that everyone in the room has to resolve Hey, I'm gonna be a soul winner or if they're already soul winning. They're gonna perfect their soul winning They're gonna get better at their methods and I've already got plans coming up the next few weeks to you know Preach a series about soul winning and review all of that to help us with that But you know you have to determine for yourself to be a better soul winner or to just begin soul winning at all If you're gonna help us achieve that goal, you know, and we're not gonna achieve that on our own That's something we have to keep in front of us But wouldn't it be really easy to just look at this this bulletin this morning and say well, you know I know it's not 200, but it's well, I'm sure we'll have a hundred and twenty You know, that's a lot more than a lot of other churches are doing That's a lot more than a lot of other Baptist churches do some of them never get any salvations You know, we could say the same thing about the baptisms we could look there and we could say look We've got 11 baptisms in total for this year Well, what about you know in 2022 we get we double that we get 22 baptisms You know we can have if we don't if we get this last, you know lackadaisical attitude where we just say Well, that's good enough. You know next year. We'll probably do less next year. Maybe we'll hit 100 next year Maybe we'll only do half if we just think because that's how things tend to go when human nature When you know, we always kind of tend towards, you know, the downside we always tend to degrade in these things We have to constantly be reminding ourselves and renewing ourselves and challenging ourselves To do better than we've done before And again, that's why I think New Year's resolutions are great and I would really encourage you to make some You know, we're making some as a church as a church, you know, we should probably just come out and say it right now Let's let's shoot for 300 salvations next year Now I know other churches that are small in ours. They they aim for like a thousand and they hit it You know, but they're in a really great areas. So, you know, I don't know that we're in the most receptive area Maybe we are, you know Maybe we could just put more effort into it and and and and it and so on and so forth And I know a lot of people already do but if we would all step up our game either by beginning soul-winning or you know Getting better at the soul-winning that we're doing or adding a little bit more. You know what we could probably hit 300 We could probably hit that you say well, what's the big deal about the number? Well, you know the big deal about the number is that that's 300 souls that aren't going to go to hell It's not just so we can slap ourselves in the back and say good job at the end of the year It's because that helps us achieve the mission, right and we can sit back and just say well I know we're all so spiritual and so holy in here and so motivated that we don't need to have goals You know, we're all in it for the right reasons. We all have the right motives, you know Why even keep track of the numbers? Do we really even need the bulletin just to show us what we're accomplishing? You know, no, we probably don't we probably would still go out and get people saved But will we get as many people saved if we were actually shooting for a goal if we had actually resolved as a church To get more salvations or more baptisms or more attendees, you know, that'd be another goal. We could set we could say Hey, let's let's let's work on getting actually getting visitors to come out You know Let's start inviting friends and family let's start inviting the people that we get saved To come back to church or to or to come to church and and and and do follow up and things like that You know and I understand that there's things that I could do on my part to help with all that But ultimately that's a goal we have to have as a church as individuals Those are things that we have to take on personally if we want to achieve that So that's what I'm kind of getting at this morning is I just want to Encourage us that as we approach the new year to start thinking about this Start thinking about the goals not just for our church, but also in your own personal life You know your Bible reading your personal soul winning your prayer time all these things you ought to be doing goals for your children You know, I think you should have goals for your children and every year by here that you should you challenge them to you know Read their Bibles to to to whatever, you know, it might be we should be putting these things on them Look kids like to achieve things, you know kids want things to shoot for they want a standard You know a lot of a lot of parents get it backwards and think well if I just don't have any rules or you know Standards for my children then I'm gonna be their best friend Actually, what you're gonna do is you're gonna make kids that are pretty miserable Because they'll never have a sense of accomplishment, you know, they like being able to achieve something, you know You say hey, you need to you need to read your Bible or read the New Testament or you know might even be just hey Read the book of Proverbs, you know, just challenge them with something small, you know start small Obviously telling a five-year-old to get through Leviticus and Deuteronomy, you know, they five six seven years old I just learned to read and things like that. It's probably not realistic But you could get them in the habit of reading for 15 minutes a day or 10 minutes a day Reading one chapter in the New Testament or one page. However, but the point is this have some kind of a goal Don't just you know, don't just be apathetic when it comes to goal setting in your life set goals and achieve them You know kids love to achieve goals and look we all do don't we? Don't we ever you ever just do something that you were dreading doing, you know some chore some task maybe around the house Something that you know you were given to do But when you actually get it done you actually feel like you got something done say wow, I accomplished that You know the car breaks down. It's like man. I don't want to fix this thing You put it off and put it off and then you do it if you're like, man, I really did something You know, I got something done today. It's a good feeling Well, wouldn't it be great if you got something done this year this coming year in 2022 If at this time next year I get up and I will I promise you preach up in a simp and preach a similar sermon About goal setting and achieving you say well, you know what you preach this same sermon a year ago And I achieved this and I achieved that I did more Bible reading. I did more soul winning. I got more people saved. I Memorized more scripture, you know, I was in church more often. I brought you know, all these things that you could go into 2022 to Attending to achieve and having achieved them that could be you this this time next year And Hopefully you're sitting here this morning and As I'm preaching this you're already reflecting on things that he achieved in 2021 that you set for goals a year ago But if not, you know, we need to change there. There's a resolution for you right there make a resolution Let's see. What's my resolution this year to actually make some resolutions and achieve them this year Because you know, this is something that that we need to have Constantly as a mindset now, you're you know, and don't be one of these people that when you set a resolution You know you get a few weeks into it and you and you mess up You know and then you say well, what's the point? You know, you you're you're only you haven't even gotten in six weeks and you've you know, you missed a day of Bible reading You're like well just never mind I'll just wait till next year. Don't wait till next year, you know, actually, you know, just just move the date down Just put your date out ahead a little bit further You know the higher you aim the more you will achieve even if you don't meet that exceptionally high goal keep shooting for it but look we should always have this mentality that that It's any time is a good time for what a fresh start a fresh start that I have you go to first John 1 first John 1 That's a great example here of having a fresh start. That's what I love about New Year's, you know It's it's like a wiping of we kind of wipe the slate clean We look back and say you know what I could have done better in this area I could have done better in that area, but now it's 20 we're going to 2022 This is the year where I you know lose the weight or I achieve this goal physically or I achieve this spiritual goal Or whatever it is, you know You get that fresh start and that's an attitude you should have year-round and that's that's something that God has towards us If you look there first John verse 9 It says if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness You know, that's a promise that you can use every day That's a promise that we need pretty much every day, isn't it? I Guarantee, we probably all sin every day and at least to some degree or another whether we realize it or not But God gives us a fresh slate every single year Or every single day, excuse me That if we just confess our sins, you know what God's faithful he's just to forgive us our sins God wants to give us a clean slate, you know, and and look that's the kind of mentality that we need to have with ourselves, too We need to treat ourselves that same way and be you know, not turn into these tyrants with ourselves But actually show our own selves some mercy, you know, that's what I'm talking about when people start resolutions They say they have they you know Then they fail they mess up a few weeks in a few months in whatever then they just beat themselves up You know and they just say well, what's the point? You know, let me just forget about it. I'll try again next year No, just give yourself a fresh start the next day and start over then, you know, maybe you'll say hey in six months I'm gonna have X amount of salvation You know I'm gonna try to get X amount of people saved or I'm gonna try to get so many people saved a month or whatever it Is and then you find yourself coming short, you know what just say well, you know what then? So many months from now, I'm gonna try and achieve it again And if you just keep trying and keep making resolutions, you know You will get more done than if you just didn't make any resolutions at all because that's what a lot of people do New Year's comes and goes another year comes and goes and nothing's been achieved Nothing's been done. Nothing new. They've not they've not gotten any better in any area of their life It's just the same old same old, you know, that's a boring life to me. That does not sound like fun To get to the end of my life, you know get to get to my four score and ten You know if read by reason of strength to look back and say well, what did you accomplish? meh Right the meh Not much You know, did you did I accomplish it and look and no one obviously we're all gonna look back and say there I could have done more Right, but we should not be able to we shouldn't look back and say well, I didn't even try to do more You know, I was just bare minimum just barely, you know drug myself to church just barely went out So and he just barely read my Bible, you know, just squeaked by in the Christian life. That's not that's not exciting That makes that makes the Christian life a long drudgery of just trying to just eke by Look, you ought to just jump all the way in and actually set some serious goals and you know goals that are achievable You know a lot of times people hear sermons like this and I think that's it, you know New Testament 90 days. I'm gonna read the whole thing in 30 Right, and that sounds that sounds like you know, I go look people do that I know people but you got to have a lot of time on your hands be able to do that Right, and that's something that can be done. But that's probably not a very practical goal for most people And I'm using Bible reading and things like that just because that's a real common example You could apply this to any goal that you're gonna set, you know set a reasonable one. That's actually achievable You know, you think well, I'm gonna read my Bible every 30 days, you know Trying to read your whole Bible in 90 days is probably practical You know trying to read your Bible once in a year. That's very practical That's 15 to 20 minutes a day of Bible reading And if you've never done that, you know, that needs to be a resolution that you make this year This is the year I get my Bible read cover to cover every page every chapter Every verse is gonna get read in 2022. If you haven't done that and and here's the goal for you one time one Don't go from I've never read it. I'm gonna read it seven times this year Because it's not gonna happen because you're gonna get into February March. You're gonna be getting into to Leviticus You're gonna get into Deuteronomy. You're gonna get into numbers You're gonna get into these these books that just gonna bog down and slow down and you know You're gonna get into those latter chapters of Job where you know His all his friends are piping up and it's just like one of these guys gonna shut up You know what I mean? And it just it's gonna it's not gonna it's not practical Right, and I want to preach more about you know about Bible reading and specifically in another in another Sermon later, but you know have some practical goals when it comes to your Your your your resolutions this year and don't you know, I I'm you know I'm gonna go from being completely inactive to now. I'm gonna go, you know hike some huge mountain somewhere You know, I'm gonna go hike up the face of Mount Lemmon now. That's a hard hike. I Mean, I think Mount Humphreys would be easier just because the fact it's actually got a path that's well traversed and everything like that But you don't go from I can't walk two miles without getting out of breath I can't go up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath to I'm just gonna I'm gonna sprint up Mount Humphreys You know, that's that's not gonna happen. All right, you have to have practical goals you know if you want to actually achieve something and look you could that's probably a bad example because if you've never even if you Were really out of shape You probably could walk my Humphreys with a little bit of training if you just say I'm gonna walk two miles every day Then five miles every day and built up to that, you know, you could achieve that right But you wouldn't just go that from one day to the next You wouldn't just go up there completely untrained. It's gonna you might even do it, but it's gonna be miserable Right. So that's the point, you know and have practical goals and look when you go into the new year And you mess up when you slip up when you miss a day or you go off the diet or whatever it is Just give yourself a fresh start, you know confess your sin and forgive yourself of that sin Right and cleanse yourself of that unrighteousness and just move on go just get back in the saddle and move on And you know, that's what God does with us all the time, isn't it? God gives us second and third chances all of the time if you would go over to Go over to Romans chapter 6 Romans chapter 6. He said in Proverbs 28 he that covereth his sins shall not prosper But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy You know a big part of you know, achieving your resolutions is going to be you know, acknowledging the fact that you need to change You know why some people are not going to make any resolutions that this year It's because they don't think that they need to they think oh there's nothing wrong with with my life My life is perfect in every way when it's not they need to confess to themselves even Instead of trying to hide their sins and and and to cover their sins or to you know Not even if it's something sinful they need to acknowledge the fact that something needs to change to begin with But a lot of people don't want to do that. They just want well, there's nothing wrong. But you know what? We could all improve nobody in this room has arrived Nobody in here has as you know, read the Bible enough. Nobody in here has done all the soul winning They need to do no, you know, some people are probably doing a right in the weight department, right? But a lot of us, you know could probably work on that or we could pray more You know, we could get something there. We have all these areas in our life that we can improve in There's nobody in this room can walk out this morning and saying, you know, I'd make a resolutions But I just can't think of any because I'm just perfect in every way, you know My finances are exactly where they need to be You know, my children are exactly where they need to be my my spiritual life is exactly what it needs to be You know what? We all have areas to improve improve in so we know we need to confess that You know what and then be merciful unto ourselves and and and and take the steps necessary to actually achieve those goals Are you in that word? I had you go in Romans 6 He said there in Romans 6 chapter 4 therefore We are buried with him by baptism in the death that eat like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life Look, I understand there's a greater application here about walking in the new man, you know But here's the thing isn't this kind of pointing towards the fact that you know in salvation. We've been given a fresh start That God has saved us and made us a new creature that all things are become new, right? That's what I'm getting at this morning that's why I think you know observing these times and these seasons when it comes to New Year's is a good thing because it Encourages us to to say what am I gonna change this year? You know to make some changes and to to walk as it were, you know in a way, you know newness of life I'm gonna add something to my life that wasn't there before my life is going to change in the beginning of the new year I'm not gonna do the things I used to do I'm gonna start doing these things that I should do. I'm gonna have a I'm gonna be a different person so to speak Now if you would go over to Isaiah chapter 43 is it keep something there in the New Testament we'll come back But a lot of people, you know, they're not going to make resolutions because of the fact they just think that they can't change You know and that's that's another reason I think a lot of people just kind of stay in the rut that they're in they don't think change is possible But what does the Bible say if you would actually go back to Isaiah 40 we'll look at them both go back to Isaiah chapter 40 Look if we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, you know, if we have God empowering us, you know Why can't we change you know? Why if there's some sin in our life that we have there is no sin in your life that you can't get victory over There's no sin in your life that it's just gonna be a part of your life until the day you die That's not true or there isn't some spiritual goal that you can't achieve just because you know Maybe you're older or maybe you got saved later in life There are obviously there's some things that we can't do that as much you know, we only have so much time Maybe we can't do as great a quantity of some things that other people, you know other people can do But look we can all do more than you know, nothing, right? Look at Isaiah chapter 40 verse 28 He said has thou not known has thou not heard that the everlasting God The Lord the creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary There is no searching of his understanding he giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increase its strength Even though you shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and they shall mount up with wings as Eagles They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint Look, this is him talking about the fact that you know, if we have God in our life, there's no God's not limited, right? There he's not he doesn't faint. He's not weary There's no searching of his understanding and he says that he gives power to the faint say man. I'd like to change I'd like to be different. I'd like to make these changes in my life I just don't know if I can well, you know what God will give you the power to do that You say that sounds kind of supernatural. Well, you know, we live in a supernatural world You know, this is a supernatural book the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a supernatural thing You know and God can change us and God can through prayer through Bible reading and through our own discipline You know, we can be changed and God can give us the strength to make the changes that we need to make But you know a lot of times we don't want to make those changes because we're just used to the way things are we're not Going to change anything. But if we would pray and go to God he would help us say well, you know That's for the young people, you know, the young people are the ones that are gonna do all these great works for God Well, what's he say? He says even the youth shall faint and be weary Look their strengths gonna run out, you know, look I'm glad you guys won all those football games all four of them Glad you trounced the Tucson or the Tempe crew. Amen Right But look that's good, you know, even these young guys are here today. What are they complaining about? I'm so sore Right get used to it Eventually you get to the point where you don't do anything and that's just you wake up. You just wake up sore What did I do yesterday? Nothing, you know, I woke up and I'm sore, right? but that's not to say that we can't still even in our as we go grow older as our Physical strength declines we can't still do great things for God and still accomplish things for God But a lot of people, you know, they're not going to make resolutions because they don't think they can change go back to Isaiah 43 Isaiah 43 You know what I love about resolutions it's it's it's you know We get to kind of we might look back in the last year and say man Why did I do that or that's another year where I left something undone or I didn't achieve something or another year Where I didn't change some habit or didn't get some sin out of my life or you know We'll look back and we'll beat ourselves up over that You know what? I love about New Year's is it's a chance to just wipe the state slate clean and just say you know What that's the that was last year. This is a new year. I can look forward to making the changes, right? But if you're gonna do that, you have to forget about last year Okay, I mean I'm not saying don't pretend it didn't happen, but don't sit there and beat yourself up about the things you didn't achieve You know look forward to the fact that hey I'm gonna get to I'm gonna get to the same time next year and I'm not gonna feel this way I'm not gonna look back and say oh, you know what? He preached a sermon like this last year about Bible reading and I said last year I was gonna read my Bible at least once and I still haven't done it You know, you know, that's that's unfortunate, but don't sit there and beat yourself up over that you say Oh, what's the point of resolving again this year? I know I'm just gonna fail again this year You know what? You need to just forget about the resolutions you didn't achieve last year and just focus on the ones you can set now Wipe that slate clean start over. It's why I love New Year's He said there in Isaiah 43 verse 18. Remember ye not the former things neither consider the things of old You know, there's some things the past just needs to be they just need to be left in the past Leave the past in the past Instead of having this this defeated mentality about oh, I can't change. I can't make these resolutions. I can't be better in this area I can't get this out of my life Because I have always been that way You know what you need to just forget about the past and leave it back there and make these changes Now that's not to say that you know, you shouldn't reflect upon the past. Okay now go to Philippians chapter 3 Philippians chapter 3 Obviously we should to some degree reflect on the past, you know, this is that's why I'm kind of preaching this now You know, this is the time for you to think about okay New Year's is coming Have you even set any resolutions have you even contemplated? Setting a resolution this year, you know That's what I'm trying to motivate you to do if you haven't done that and look maybe you already are But you know, we say well, I don't know what to what my resolutions should be Well look back on the last year and what would you like to change? You know what? It may be something about your health or your finances, you know or something about your speed your walk with God You know, there's all things there's things that we could change. So Look back on the past, you know and change the bad but keep the good Okay, look at Philippians chapter 3 verse 13. He said brethren I count not myself to apprehended But this one thing I do Forgetting those things which are behind what's he saying here? He's saying look I count not myself to apprehend have apprehended now What's it mean to apprehend something? Well, if you ever been apprehended by the law, all right, they apprehend you they lay hold on you Right, they that's what it means I he's saying I haven't I haven't arrived, you know, I haven't apprehended I haven't Paul himself is saying I don't have a hold on everything, you know I'm not I'm not I haven't reached, you know, the pinnacle of the Christian life. He's saying I haven't apprehended He said but this one thing I do He's saying look, I know I haven't achieved everything I need to achieve But instead of just sitting there dwelling on the fact that I'm not what I should be or I haven't Changed the ways I should have changed. He says I this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind He's saying I forget those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before How did Paul keep getting better and better? How did Paul go down as the greatest Christian in the New Testament in all of Christianity? How do you how did he achieve all the things that he achieved by sitting there and dwelling on the fact that you know? He used to be, you know Persecute they used to be a blasphemer blasphemer and used to be a persecutor That he just that he wasted the church is that because he sat there and just dwelled upon all of his failings and shortcomings and sins Knowing he's saying that he was able to do that. He's saying because he forgot those things which are behind He didn't sit there and dwell in the past And by the way, he didn't just sit there and glory in his old achievements either And say well, you know, I was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, you know at one point, you know I was really somebody in the Jews religion, you know, he didn't sit there and glory in some past glory You can't say here and say well, it's 2022 is coming up on us. But you know, I did so much in 2021 I'm just gonna I'm just gonna ride that wave right into 2022 I've done enough in 2021 that I don't even need to change anything in 2022 No, that's not true for any of us. We could always do better in some area Look, maybe there is some area in your life that you have to some degree arrived. You've apprehended, you know You've achieved that goal, but I guarantee you there's some other, you know, something else is, you know Reared up its ugly head that needs to be, you know, put in its place, right? We all have goals We all that we should we should all have goals I mean we all have areas that we need to achieve and not have this attitude Like like Paul is showing us here not to be somebody who just you know Dwells on the past whether good or bad But to be somebody who forgets those things which are behind so that they can reach on to those things which are before He said I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Let us therefore as be as many as be perfect be thus minded And if you be in any if anything you be otherwise minded God to reveal even this unto you Nevertheless where until we have already attained let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind the same thing Look, whatever's worked for you in 2021 to help you achieve those goals, you know, you should you should already whatever you've already attained Keep that same rule, you know, it's great that you've achieved the things that you did this last year What are you gonna achieve this year? What are you gonna change about the next year and I'm preaching this early because I'm not gonna be one of these guys who preaches this on New Year's Eve and then you know, you haven't even thought about it, right because Honestly, most people probably don't think much about New Year's resolutions. I know I didn't for a long time Until I actually started hearing preaching about it and saying look, this is a good thing. God has given us These has given us what signs and seasons to measure time with So that we can plot out our days and we can what apply our hearts unto wisdom That's what I want to challenge you to do this year in 2022 How are you going to apply your heart unto wisdom with the time that you've been given, you know? Not just in your life. That's that's the big picture and it's great to have long-term goals But what are you gonna do in 2022? What's gonna change in just this next year? What would you keep the same? You know, what would you what have you already attained, you know walk by that rule keep that same thing But what are you gonna change this year? You know only you can answer those questions I just wanted to help you just remind you look look God has given us Signs and seasons God has given us You know the the ability to observe time so that we can make the changes that we all need to make Let's go ahead close the word of prayer