Father God, your word is amazing.
Your people are amazing.
We love you and this morning,
we just ask you be here in Jesus name, Amen.
Well, what do you think success is?
Worldly success?
Oh, there's a measure out there.
There is a measure out there.
Okay. Possessions, position,
power, and pleasure, the four P's.
Possessions, big house,
big bank account, new car.
I'll tell you a teeny little story.
When I was growing up,
my dad was not poor,
but you would never know it by the cars that we drove.
I'm telling you, we had
some really interesting vehicles.
One was a truck.
I don't know what year it was,
but when I was in high school,
it had been born a long time ago.
I had never seen another truck like it.
I've never seen one since.
It was an embarrassment for a teenager
to have to go around in that pickup.
Most of the time, it wouldn't start.
When we parked it, we parked it on a hill so that
you could roll it down the hill and pop the clutch,
so you can get the thing started.
When you got to town,
you left it running when you went into
the grocery store because it probably
wouldn't start when you were through.
Definitely not a car to be proud of.
Then he bought a new car.
New to us, not so old,
but it was an Edsel.
Anybody here remember Edsels?
Were they popular?
No, but those things ran forever.
They ran forever and they were an embarrassment.
I hate it when my mom came to pick me up in
either the Edsel or the pickup,
or when I had to drive either one of them.
So possessions, the car that you drive.
I'm really grateful to have a husband who will
at least drive a car that looks like
it belongs to the current century.
So possessions, position.
I am somebody if I'm the CEO,
if I own the business,
if I'm my own boss, I'm somebody.
Power, if I'm in charge,
if I can boss people around.
I can climb the corporate ladder,
I'm on my way up.
Is that how God measures success?
It isn't. True leadership.
This is an aside by the way.
I saw this on the Internet of all places,
and I have glommed onto that,
and I think it's really good.
It says that leadership is not
about being in charge of others.
It's about caring for those in our charge.
I like that.
So power comes with leadership.
What kind of leadership does God value?
When we take care of those in our charge.
So what's God's definition of success?
I don't think it's possessions.
I don't think it's position.
I don't think it's power.
I don't think it's pleasure.
My intuition tells me that he considers me
a success when I live in relationship to him.
Let's look at scripture for a minute.
Adam and Eve had a relationship with God.
They walked with him in the cool of the evening.
Then they sinned and broke
that relationship and hid from God.
But God, and I love that phrase.
It appears over and over again in scripture,
and every time it seems like God is
seeking man when it says, but God.
So here we have Adam and Eve with a broken relationship,
but God, and here in the garden,
God is seeking to restore his relationship with Adam and Eve,
and make provision for their fall.
He gave them a new beginning.
Keep track of that word, new beginning.
If you looked at your bulletin, that's the sermon title,
new beginnings.
Abraham had a relationship with God.
Perfect. No.
But more or less continual.
In Abraham's story, we see God
continually seeking a relationship with Abraham,
making covenants with him, aiding him.
He gave him a new beginning in Ur of the Chaldees.
Told him, yeah, you're going somewhere else.
He gave him a new beginning after the little mistake
with Hagar and Mishmael.
And if you look at his life,
God gave Abraham a new beginning many times.
How about Jacob?
Jacob had a relationship with God
because God was continually seeking him.
He floundered, he cheated, he connived,
and yet God sought him.
He came to him in a vision of a ladder.
He gave him a new beginning at his Uncle Laban's.
He came, he wrestled with him.
God wanted a relationship with him.
He sought this relationship,
and he gave him a new beginning point more than once.
He came to him, he wrestled with him
because God wanted a relationship with him.
I think God considers a success
having a relationship with him.
David, a man after God's own heart,
had a relationship with God,
and yet he faltered and he floundered,
and God gave him a new beginning
because he wanted that relationship with David.
Bottom line, God seeks to be in relationship to us.
He doesn't care what kind of a car I drive.
It doesn't matter whether it belongs to this century or not.
It doesn't matter whether it's a tired old Ford pickup
that who knows when it was born.
It doesn't matter if it was an Edsel,
the most unpopular car of its age.
He doesn't care how much money we have in the bank.
He doesn't care how well our assets are invested.
He doesn't care what kind of worldly power we have
or don't have.
He cares about us, who we are on the inside.
He cares about having a relationship with us.
Sometimes I kind of wonder
if God doesn't get a little frustrated with us.
He wants to give us himself, yet we flounder
in the morass of worldly possession,
power, possessions, and pleasure.
He desires to give us a new beginning
as many times as it takes,
and he doesn't give up on us ever.
Now this would be a good time to talk about,
what is it we call it, resolutions?
I mean, New Year's tomorrow night, we start a new year.
I'm not gonna do that,
because there's only one that really matters,
and that's being in relationship with God.
So, we're gonna talk about phases of relationship, okay?
The initial new beginning.
Begin at the very beginning, a very good place to start.
Anybody recognize where that quote comes from?
Ah, see, Sound of Music, that's right.
Old Booby was once new.
Begin at the very beginning,
it's a very good place to start.
Julie Anders in the Sound of Music.
Because we are born into a fallen world,
we're born fallen, sinful beings,
and yet, God seeks to give us a new beginning.
And so, I'm gonna do some scripture with you this morning.
And this one here, and I'm amazed at how well
last week's sermon and my thoughts from a month ago
when they asked me if I would do this today,
kind of fit together.
The Sabbath School lesson even kind of tied into it.
And our bulletin insert.
I highly recommend you read this, okay?
This came from our pastor, and it says,
it even has compiled by Pastor Greg Hudson.
Oh, I went, yeah, okay, good, this fits in really well.
So, recommended reading, all right?
Begin at the very beginning,
because that's a very good place to start.
God said, in the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God, the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made.
In Him was life, and life was the light of men.
And the light shines in the darkness,
the darkness comprehended it not.
John one, one through five.
In the beginning, the new beginning,
and then if you go down to verse 14, it says,
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth.
God said, in the beginning,
He sought a relationship with us.
He became one of us.
Then Jesus said, famous verse,
you guys can quote it with me if you want to,
John three, 16 and 17,
for God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world
to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved.
Jesus said that.
Here we see God and Jesus seeking us.
The first thing He said is believe, okay?
There's some steps in this.
So the first thing is believe.
In Acts we read, and they said,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved in thy household.
Step number one is believe.
Step number two, both John the Baptist and Jesus said this,
repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
So believe, what's step number two?
Repent.
John said, if we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Repentance and confession.
To confess means to say the same thing,
to agree with God, I blew it, okay?
I can admit I blew it,
but the second half of that is repentance.
And repentance is to determine, to turn from it.
So step number one, believe.
Step number two, confess and,
what's the other part of that?
Repent, right?
So believe, confess, repent.
There's another one that goes along.
There's four of these guys, okay?
As many as received Him, to them He gave power
to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name.
To as many as what?
Received Him.
What does receive mean?
To take, right?
If I believe and if I confess and if I repent,
does it do me any good if I don't receive Jesus?
You gotta have it, okay?
To as many as received Him, to as many as took Him,
to them He gave power to become the sons of God,
even to those that believe on His name.
Jesus said a couple other times, He said,
receive the Holy Spirit.
In another place it says,
He breathed on them the Holy Spirit.
The blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles,
that's you and me by the way, through Jesus Christ,
that we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.
We might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
So we need to receive as well.
You can't quit at, believe, confess, repent.
You need to receive Jesus as part into your life.
Receive the Holy Spirit, it's a gift He freely offers.
And He tells us He stands at the door and knocks.
If any man hears His voice and opens the door,
He will come in and He'll eat with us.
There's God again seeking to give us that new beginning.
This first part, the repenting, the believing,
the receiving, it's relatively easy,
even though most of the world refuses to do it.
But for those who are Christians, this is the easy part.
Okay, that's the easy part.
The next part is where the rug comes
and the rubber meets the road.
Remember, Jesus defines success as living in relationship
to Him or walking with Him or abiding in Him.
Why is it so hard?
Any Christian here wanna admit that at times it's not hard?
You say, oh, life is easy, it's always fine.
Anybody willing to admit that?
No, I don't.
It can be tough sometimes.
This walking with Jesus, this abiding with Him, how come?
Well, now there's a war going on
between the old and the new nature
and there didn't used to be one.
There's a war going on.
We need to feed the new nature, this walking with Jesus.
Abiding in Him requires time
and that's where the rubber meets the road.
One thing we modern people are short on is time.
Okay, those of you that are still working,
how's your time doing?
How much do you have?
Do you have any margin in your life?
Oh, the same as everybody else, yeah.
Those of you that work and have children,
how are the margins in your life?
How's your time?
How's your available time?
Not much there, okay?
And yet this walking with Jesus requires time.
It requires time.
He wants a relationship with us.
What's a relationship anyway?
Hi, bye.
Is that a relationship?
No, it's not.
No, hello, how are you?
Oh, I'm fine, goodbye.
Is that a relationship?
No, it's not.
Jesus wants a relationship with us.
It requires time.
And a relationship, any relationship is composed
of basically two things, talking and listening.
There's an emotional part of it too, okay?
There's an emotional component to a relationship
and there should be one with Jesus,
but it requires time, time to talk, time to listen.
I'm retired, but I can tell you,
I can find a lot of ways to occupy my time.
I can find a ton of ways to occupy my time.
There's too many things I like to do.
You know, come by my house and look at my craft room
sometime.
I like to do all kinds of things.
I like to sew, I like to spin, I like to knit,
I like to draw, I like to paint.
I like to do lots of stuff and it all takes time.
But Jesus wants a relationship with us
and a relationship requires time.
So, every day is a new beginning.
When and how it begins is up to us.
Our new nature wants to sleep in
till the last possible moment.
Our old nature, sorry, wants to sleep in
till the last possible moment.
Or wants to check your email when you wake up.
Anybody do that?
I can be guilty of that.
If you're a teenager or approaching teenagehood,
video games eat up a lot of time.
And I can be guilty of that.
I have a couple I like to play.
But if we're going to live with Jesus as a familiar friend,
we're gonna have to carve out some time to spend with him.
It's gonna cost something.
It's gonna cost me something.
I have to carve out time for him.
I do it best if I have a plan
rather than random reading,
which by the way is really easy to skip.
I don't know what your experience is,
but if I don't have a plan,
the random reading can just kinda go by the way.
And there's nothing wrong with random reading by the way
if you stick to it.
If random reading works for you,
Jesus isn't opposed to that as long as you engage with him.
As long as you're engaged.
If you're reading randomly,
all he wants is to know you and to spend time with you.
I'm gonna give you some examples of planned time
simply because that's what works for me.
If random reading works for you,
blessings on you.
It doesn't work for me.
So I'm gonna give you some examples.
Read the Bible through.
There are a lot of Bible reading plans out there.
You can just print one off and just follow it.
And I've done that and it's a blessing.
You can choose to study a book of the Bible in depth.
There's lots of printed plans for doing that as well,
or you can do it yourself.
That's my preferred way to do it.
Just to dig in and just do it.
Study a topic.
Or you know, you usually don't wanna study a topic
for a whole year, but choose a topic and study a topic.
I spent a year studying God's names
with the intent to see what I could learn about him
and how I could increase my relationship with him
by studying his names.
That was a huge, huge blessing to me.
And you guys that are regular members here
probably remember when I did that,
it was a couple years ago,
because you kept hearing about it.
Say, oh, you know what I discovered this week?
That was really good.
I really enjoyed that one.
You can study the life of Jesus through the gospels
and the corresponding part of Desire of Ages.
I spent many years reading through Desire of Ages
year after year after year.
It was really, really rewarding.
I probably did it seven or eight years.
I'd started the beginning and read it all the way through.
I go back at the beginning
and I read it all the way through.
The other day I read the first chapter again.
God with us.
If you haven't read that chapter in a while,
it's one of those wow chapters.
Read it.
That's amazing.
Gave me a greater appreciation for who God is
and how much he wants to be with us.
Keep a journal.
Oh, yes, Cindy, sure.
Go ahead, keep a journal.
You don't have to do this.
It doesn't have to be part of your time
that you spend with God.
I like it because it gives me a record of where I've been.
When my girls get stuck with going through all my junk
and I freely admit I've got a lot of it, okay,
they are going to find a journal here
and a journal there and a journal somewhere else
with bits and pieces of my life in it.
I hope it's a blessing to them too.
I also do journaling because I'm a visual
and a kinesthetic learner.
And for those of you who are guests today, I'm a teacher.
So of course, learning styles are important to me, okay?
And you may not know what they are.
Some people are auditory.
They hear it, they've got it.
I really envy them.
Some people are visual learners.
They see it, they've got it.
Some people have to talk to get it.
I have a friend like that.
She has to talk it through or she doesn't get it, okay?
Me, I have two.
I have to see it and I have to do it.
If I don't do those two things, it's gone.
So if you see me taking notes in church,
it's not because I'm somebody special.
It's because the only way I can remember it
is to do something and I have to see it.
So I take notes, okay?
So keeping a journal is a really good idea.
It doesn't have to, and this kind of a journal
is not the kind of a journal where,
well, I went to the market today and oh, so-and-so came.
No, this kind of a journal is,
where have I been with God today?
Okay, what did I read?
What did I learn?
What was important to me?
What did God want me to know?
Okay, next year, here's my plan.
I'm one of those kind of people.
If I don't have a plan, I plan to fail.
That's just the bottom line.
So here's next year's plan.
I am going to plan to do a topic a month
and I have a plan for the whole year.
Yes, it's planned and yes, the topics are printed out.
Have I studied them yet?
No.
But because I have a plan, I can stick to it.
I don't wanna get behind.
It begins on Monday.
So every day, I am going to write out,
as I begin, I'm going to start every day,
I'll write one key verse about the topic.
I'll explore the verse, make notes on what it is I learned
and what I learned about God
and I will pray that verse through.
Is that a foreign idea to most of you,
praying through the verse?
Take the verse.
One verse is better than three chapters, by the way.
Take the verse.
And talk to God about what you learned in that verse.
Thank Him for the insights,
asking for help in the areas that you need.
Whatever you do, don't just read and call it good.
Those are these short little devotional things.
Good morning, good morning, Lord.
Da da da da da da da da.
That was nice.
Enough of the day.
That doesn't work for me.
I don't think it works for anybody else either.
Not that those devotionals aren't good.
They are, but that's not enough.
Ask yourself some questions.
With your verse, with your reading,
with your topic, with your chapter,
what does this tell me about the Father,
the Son, the Holy Spirit?
How does this apply to me?
Is there a sin in there I need to address?
Oh no, that's not popular.
I don't wanna think about that.
Is there something in here that needs to happen,
that I need to repent of?
Is there an area of my life that I need to submit to
in obedience?
This is where the rubber meets the road.
Is how does this apply to me?
God, what is it you want me to know?
What is it you want me to do?
Have a conversation with Jesus about what you read.
That's part of praying scripture through, by the way.
Take a little time to listen to Jesus too.
He'll put thoughts in your head
if you can shut up long enough.
Oops.
Not supposed to say that.
I think we quiet and listen.
Sometimes amazing things happen.
Jesus gave us the keys to his kingdom.
In Matthew, he told Peter,
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of God.
Wow.
The keys of the kingdom of God are the words of Christ.
All the words of scripture are his and are here included.
That comes from desire of ages.
I've given you the keys of the kingdom.
If you gave you the keys of the kingdom,
would you want them?
Yeah.
I'd want them.
Okay.
Here's another really important, equally important key.
Prayer is the key in the hand of faith
to unlock heaven's storehouse.
Where are the treasures,
boundless resources of omnipotence?
Two keys.
Most of you probably memorized that last one.
Prayer is the key in the hand of faith
to unlock heaven's storehouses.
Where are treasured boundless resources of omnipotence?
Do you guys want that key?
I want that key.
He's promised
boundless resources of omnipotence.
Do you even know what that looks like?
I don't, but I want it.
And he's given me the key.
So we have scripture, we have prayer, two keys.
How many of you have more than the keys than that
on your key ring?
Yeah.
Yeah, two keys.
One of the most meaningful things Jesus said
about the kingdom is found in Luke 20, 21 and 22.
The kingdom of God does not come with observation,
nor will they say, see here or see there,
for indeed the kingdom of God is
within you.
A new beginning.
Every day you have two keys.
You have scripture, you have prayer.
It'll change your life.
It will unlock the kingdom of heaven
and it unlocks a meaningful relationship with Jesus.
He gives us his spirit to dwell within us,
to assist us along the journey
as we walk with Jesus and abide in him.
A new beginning every day is available.
But we have to take time.
You gotta carve it out somewhere.
Give up that video game, guys.
Oh, I know, I'm stepping on toes, okay?
Me too.
Oh, YouTube, oh my.
Oh, yeah.
Facebook, okay.
Is there anything wrong with those things?
No. It's addicting.
Okay, scrolling, watching, I get it.
I'm right there with you.
Books can be addicting too.
I like to read.
They can be addicting.
This relationship business requires time.
But God is willing to give each of us a new beginning.
And then there's the last new beginning.
Remember I said it had phases?
The first one was the initial beginning,
which was believe, confess, repent, right?
Receive.
The middle phase is this walking,
abiding relationship.
The last new beginning, number three.
Jesus said, and if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and receive you unto myself
that where I am, there ye may be also.
The best promise there is, I think.
And then he said, behold, I make all things new.
And he said to me, right,
for these words are faithful and true.
Behold, I make what?
All things new, a new beginning.
When Jesus comes, we will have another new beginning,
the beginning of eternity where our relationship with him
will continue forever.
Okay, tomorrow?
That's the 30th, you have a new beginning.
You can end the old year,
determined to take the time it takes to have a relationship.
And then we have a whole brand new year.
Make every day a new beginning.