1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,880 Our opening song, you may or may not realize the first song that we did was kind of a Christmas 2 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:16,080 song, but our last song is not because we're kind of transitioning from that that happened 3 00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:19,800 this last week on to something different. 4 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:27,120 But the second and third verse of Good Christians Now Rejoice, it says, He hath opened the heavenly 5 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:32,680 door and we are blessed forevermore. 6 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:34,120 Christ was born for this. 7 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:42,640 And then the third verse says, calls you one and calls you all to gain his everlasting 8 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:44,280 hall. 9 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:46,780 Christ was born to save. 10 00:00:46,780 --> 00:00:48,120 Christ was born to save. 11 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:55,080 So just some thoughts about how marvelous, how wonderful as our song just just echoed. 12 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,320 Thoughts about our heads for a word of prayer. 13 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,640 Dear God, we thank you for all that you do. 14 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:01,640 You've done so much. 15 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:09,040 We've heard reports of blessings this morning that we've heard of still things that are 16 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:15,880 in need of your miracle of a glory from on high to work in each life. 17 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:21,280 And Lord, how marvelous and how wonderful it is to know that Christ was born to save. 18 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,160 In your name we pray, amen. 19 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:31,600 So yes, this is the the time of year between the holidays. 20 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:38,120 We've experienced Christmas and it's a time now when many people begin to maybe make a 21 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,200 New Year's resolution. 22 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,240 Anybody here make a New Year's resolution? 23 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,960 A few people maybe are afraid to raise their hand for that. 24 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:49,040 Here's some statistics. 25 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,720 About 45 percent of people make a New Year's resolution. 26 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:54,080 45 percent. 27 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,400 So that's, you know, half of this group. 28 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:04,440 Eight percent successfully achieve what they hoped to do with that New Year's resolution. 29 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:05,440 Only eight percent. 30 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:12,760 But 49 percent have at least some success, some success in what they're wanting to do. 31 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:18,440 But the people who make a goal have a higher percentage of at least achieving part of that 32 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,680 goal than those who don't make any goal at all. 33 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:27,560 And New Year's resolutions tend to fall in a couple different categories. 34 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:33,920 There's the category of health, whether it's I need to exercise more, I need to lose weight, 35 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:36,960 I need to stop smoking, whatever it may be. 36 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,640 And then there's a category of relationships. 37 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:42,560 I need to spend more time with my family. 38 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:44,520 I need to fall in love. 39 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,160 I need to help other people. 40 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:51,080 And then there's a category of a kind of self-help. 41 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,360 I need to get more organized. 42 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,720 I need to enjoy life more. 43 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:58,600 I need to learn a new hobby. 44 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,760 I need to learn something new. 45 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:08,840 And when we actually make some kind of goal, we are a little bit more likely to achieve, 46 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:13,800 at least in a partial way, some portion of that goal. 47 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:19,880 And so our verse of the day is in Romans 13 that Caleb read for us earlier. 48 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,640 Romans chapter 13 is where we're going to start. 49 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:29,040 Romans chapter 13, and we're going to read verse 11 to begin with. 50 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:40,520 Romans 13 verse 11, it says, and do this knowing the time that now it is high time to awake 51 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:48,240 out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 52 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:53,160 It's time to wake up because we can know the time. 53 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:59,000 And it says our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 54 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:05,600 We are closer today to Jesus coming back than we were yesterday. 55 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,000 Now we can say that every single day. 56 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:13,720 Every single day that we're blessed with waking up, we recognize that we are closer to Jesus 57 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:14,720 coming back. 58 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:16,380 We can say that every month. 59 00:04:16,380 --> 00:04:22,920 But there's something about that turn of a new year, which perhaps makes it a little 60 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:24,960 more vivid. 61 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:31,400 Can you believe this is the last week, the last Sabbath of 2024? 62 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:33,960 Are you ready for 2025? 63 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:35,900 Are you ready for the next page? 64 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:38,800 Are you ready for what's next? 65 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:43,840 There's something that just ingrains that in our head just a little bit more when we 66 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:47,960 move from one year to another year. 67 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:53,360 We're not sure when Jesus is coming, but we know we are one year closer than we were in 68 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,200 December of 2023, one year ago. 69 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,920 Have mercy. 70 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:05,200 We know the time, our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 71 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,400 As we turn to a new year, we can recognize that. 72 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,040 But notice the next verse, verse 12. 73 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,160 It goes on and says, the night is far spent. 74 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,120 The night is far spent. 75 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:25,680 Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. 76 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,880 The night is far spent. 77 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:34,200 We talked about it in Sabbath school a little bit, that our world is often full of some 78 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:44,800 spiritual darkness, that there's things happening in the world which are more negative. 79 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:49,960 Even in a time when it's a festive time of year when we have lights and we have gatherings 80 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:56,680 and we are with family, we are reminded that there is still tragedy in the world. 81 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:04,480 Whether it's a plane being shot down, whether it's a Christmas market that became a place 82 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:10,520 of tears as there was a terrorist car that drove through and killed many people. 83 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:19,880 Even in our local family, our local church, we have accidents, we have tragedies, we have 84 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:28,000 loss, we have things which cause pain and cause heartache that break our heart, even 85 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:29,400 as we remember. 86 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:38,320 And as we come to the end of a year, many times different outlets will come up with 87 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:39,720 a thing to look back. 88 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:45,400 They'll look back at those that have passed away, famous actors or sports people that 89 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:46,400 passed away. 90 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:48,820 They'll look at the stories of the year. 91 00:06:48,820 --> 00:06:53,040 And one thing that people often come up with is a word of the year. 92 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:59,240 And they try to break it down into one word that will kind of encapsulate many things 93 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,240 that happened during the year. 94 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:06,520 And so if you were to look at the Cambridge Dictionary, their people put together a word 95 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,060 and their word of the year was manifest. 96 00:07:10,060 --> 00:07:16,560 That many people think, oh I can just manifest greatness, I can manifest wealth, I can manifest 97 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,080 whatever I want to be. 98 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,360 Dictionary.com came up with a different word. 99 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:23,440 Their word is demurer. 100 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:29,960 There was kind of a famous video during the year about being mindful, about being demurer. 101 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,480 And so that was their word that they came up with. 102 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:37,640 Merriam-Webster, I think they were looking at the election and different things and their 103 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:43,960 word was polarization, that people like to separate into different camps, into different 104 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:44,960 categories. 105 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,960 They like to try to separate themselves. 106 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:53,120 But the one I want to spend a little bit more time with is the word from the Oxford Dictionary. 107 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,560 And their word of the year is brain rot. 108 00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:59,760 Brain rot. 109 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:01,760 Brain rot is their word of the year. 110 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:03,520 Now what is that? 111 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:11,600 This word first was seen way back in the 1800s in a little book called Walden by Henry David 112 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:12,760 Thoreau. 113 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:16,320 And if you remember that book from English literature, that was where he moved out of 114 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:22,160 the big city and moved into the country and wanted to try to live a more simple life because 115 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:28,580 he was worried about the brain rot that was happening in the greater society. 116 00:08:28,580 --> 00:08:35,400 So if you were to look at a definition of this word, the definition is the supposed 117 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:44,640 deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of 118 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:51,880 over consumption of material, particularly online content, that it is considered to be 119 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,240 trivial or unchallenging. 120 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,240 Trivial or unchallenging. 121 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:01,680 How many times, I'm going to set this down. 122 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:06,400 How many times have you wanted to look something up on the internet and you find what you're 123 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:12,440 looking for, but then how much time has passed and you're still looking at something else? 124 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,060 And it's like, what am I even, how did I get to this place? 125 00:09:15,060 --> 00:09:18,960 Why am I watching this video? 126 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,160 What am I looking at now? 127 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:29,980 And we can find ourselves many times overwhelmed with the ease that we can achieve material, 128 00:09:29,980 --> 00:09:39,800 that we can access material, and how easy it is to be constantly a part of that. 129 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:47,000 And as much of it is, it's not a blessing for us and many times, many times it can be, 130 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,680 but other times it's just simple time wasting. 131 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:58,080 It's just simple ways to pass minutes and maybe even hours. 132 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:05,080 Could it even be days from time to time as we're just absorbing whatever someone else 133 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,480 has decided must be important for us? 134 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:12,600 And so that word of the year, according to that group, is brain rot. 135 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,120 But we've just said that we know the time. 136 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,200 The night is far spent. 137 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:26,000 So it said, let us cast off the works of darkness because we are nearer than when we first believed. 138 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:33,480 And we can look back at the next verse and it says, let us walk properly as in the day, 139 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:40,120 not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put 140 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:47,840 on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. 141 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,840 Put on Jesus Christ. 142 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:58,480 And I think if we want to put on Jesus, that may mean we have to put something else off. 143 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:03,560 If we want to make sure that Jesus is in our life, that Jesus is in our heart, that Jesus 144 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:10,920 is in our brain so it's not rotting, but so that it's growing, we may need to make sure 145 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:18,920 that our time, that our energy, that our effort is focused on Jesus, the author and finisher 146 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:20,280 of our faith. 147 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:22,920 The one who was born to live. 148 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,240 So what can that look like? 149 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,800 We're going to look at a couple different things as we move on here. 150 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:35,080 A couple different ideas that may help us as we move into 2025. 151 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:41,640 If we know the time, if we're nearer now, if our salvation is nearer than we first believed, 152 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,640 if we want to put on Jesus, what does that mean? 153 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:53,880 Perhaps that means we need to spend some time in the Bible, spend some time in God's Word. 154 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:59,640 Does anybody remember what the longest chapter in all of scripture is? 155 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:01,320 The 119th Psalm. 156 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,760 So let's turn over to Psalm 119. 157 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:05,720 We're not going to read it all, don't worry. 158 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:06,720 It's very long. 159 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:14,040 Psalm 119, we're just going to look at a couple of verses and there's many more verses in 160 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:19,520 the Bible, many more in Psalm 119 that we could look at, but we're going to start in 161 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,040 verse 9. 162 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:29,360 Psalm 119 verse 9, it says, how can a young man, and I'll suggest that it also means an 163 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:35,020 old man, and it also means a young woman, and it also means an old woman, it means each 164 00:12:35,020 --> 00:12:36,020 one of us. 165 00:12:36,020 --> 00:12:45,040 How can we cleanse his way by taking heed according to your word? 166 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:51,880 With my whole heart I have sought you, oh let me not wander from your commandments. 167 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,840 And then perhaps this is a verse you've memorized at some point. 168 00:12:54,840 --> 00:13:03,360 Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. 169 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:08,680 Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. 170 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:12,760 It's talking about spending time in God's word. 171 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:19,400 Down just a little bit further, in the midst of that chapter, your word, thy word is a 172 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:25,880 lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. 173 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:32,360 And so something for you to think about, something for you to consider, what are you reading? 174 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,640 I'm talking about the Bible here. 175 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:37,360 What are you reading? 176 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:42,360 Or maybe the question is, are you reading the Bible? 177 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:44,920 Do you have some sort of plan? 178 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:51,940 Do you have some sort of idea that you are trying to accomplish as you're spending time 179 00:13:51,940 --> 00:13:53,680 in the Bible? 180 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:58,080 Now some people come up with an idea and they want to read the Bible all the way through 181 00:13:58,080 --> 00:13:59,080 in one year. 182 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,320 If that's your plan, awesome, go for it. 183 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:08,920 But let me just say, you do not have to read the whole Bible through in one year. 184 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,180 That does not have to be your plan. 185 00:14:11,180 --> 00:14:16,380 If that's what God is asking you to do, read three or four chapters a day and go for it. 186 00:14:16,380 --> 00:14:21,520 But if that's not what God is calling you to do, what is your plan? 187 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,840 Do you have a plan? 188 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:25,960 Do you have an idea? 189 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:32,160 Maybe you could just choose a short passage to read every day, to read it through once 190 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,520 or twice, one chapter, 10 or 15 verses. 191 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:40,360 Or maybe your idea could be to read through a gospel. 192 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,260 We've just finished studying the gospel of John. 193 00:14:43,260 --> 00:14:48,200 Before that we were studying the gospel of, what was it before that at Sabbath school? 194 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:49,200 Mark. 195 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:50,200 Well what about Luke? 196 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:51,200 What about Matthew? 197 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:53,240 If you want to read a gospel, read it through. 198 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,360 And when you finish, read it through again. 199 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,340 That's okay to read the same book. 200 00:14:59,340 --> 00:15:05,280 Or maybe you have a plan where you want to read one Psalm every single day. 201 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,880 Anybody know how many Psalms there are? 202 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:10,360 There's 150 Psalms. 203 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:14,560 It's going to take you almost half the year to read one Psalm a day. 204 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:18,520 Or what about if you were to read one Proverb a day? 205 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:20,480 How many Proverbs are there? 206 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:21,760 31. 207 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:27,360 If you were to read one Proverb a day, right in January you could read through the book 208 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:28,480 of Proverbs. 209 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,360 If you have a plan, praise the Lord. 210 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:32,920 Keep at it. 211 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:37,520 If you don't have a plan, come up with one. 212 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:43,320 If you're not able to come up with one, as you leave today, I put together a little Bible 213 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:44,320 bookmark. 214 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:45,760 It's a simple little thing. 215 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,780 Some of them didn't print as good as I was hoping, but that's okay. 216 00:15:48,780 --> 00:15:51,020 It's just a little Bible bookmark. 217 00:15:51,020 --> 00:15:52,020 It's paper. 218 00:15:52,020 --> 00:15:55,160 You put it in your Bible, because it's a bookmark. 219 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:58,400 And it's got 31 lines. 220 00:15:58,400 --> 00:15:59,400 Guess what? 221 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,400 January has 31 days. 222 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,400 And it's got a short little Bible reading for each day of the month. 223 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:07,760 Some of them are one chapter. 224 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,360 Some of them are five or ten verses. 225 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:15,560 If you don't have a plan, grab one of these and just put it in your Bible. 226 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:20,760 And each day you can read through, this one's called Landmarks of Truth, what are some of 227 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:28,120 the things that are important in Scripture that you can cling to, that you can read, 228 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:30,360 that you can hide in your heart. 229 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:35,960 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 230 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:40,960 So I don't care what your plan is, just come up with one. 231 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,880 And what's that Nike logo that they sometimes talk about? 232 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:45,880 Just do it. 233 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:48,120 Whatever your plan is, just do it. 234 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:55,440 Just start something and make sure that you are able to spend some time in God's Word 235 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:56,440 each and every day. 236 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,200 I'm going to throw out one more little promo here. 237 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:05,320 Starting not this week, because this week is still a holiday, January 1, but we're going 238 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:11,480 to start on January 8 during our Wednesday night prayer meeting time. 239 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:16,960 Miss Cindy and her sister who lives across the country, they've taken some material and 240 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,760 they've put it into a workbook form. 241 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:25,080 And so starting on Wednesday night, we're going to take this idea of finding our way 242 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:29,640 back to the altar, how to live daily as a disciple of Jesus. 243 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:35,760 And this talks about spending time in the Word, spending time in prayer, having family 244 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:39,040 worship, family devotions, different things like that. 245 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:45,840 So there will be a workbook for you, but you have to come to Wednesday night because it's 246 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:47,720 a lot of work to make these little workbooks. 247 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:53,240 So if you would like to take part in that, come out on Wednesday starting January 8. 248 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:57,480 There's a story about a young lady named Mary Jones. 249 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,900 She grew up in Wales over by England. 250 00:18:00,900 --> 00:18:09,120 She was 15 years old and unlike many young ladies of her time, she lived about 1800, 251 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:11,000 she learned to read. 252 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,880 So that was unique for her. 253 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,120 And guess what she wanted to read? 254 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:18,240 She wanted to read the Bible. 255 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:24,600 But in her country, in Wales, in the Welsh language, the closest Bible that she could 256 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,960 get was two miles away. 257 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:33,360 So if she wanted to read anything from scripture, she would have to walk two miles to the neighbors 258 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:35,380 and spend a few moments reading the Bible. 259 00:18:35,380 --> 00:18:40,280 And she desired and she really wanted to have her own Bible. 260 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:44,320 And so she started to save money so that she could buy a Bible. 261 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:49,540 She began to save her pennies, her pence, I don't know what they call the money there. 262 00:18:49,540 --> 00:18:59,360 And pretty soon over not a month, not six months, but six years, she saved enough money 263 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:02,480 that she could purchase her own Bible. 264 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:09,280 And so she found out that there was a place, someone had a Welsh Bible for sale. 265 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,540 It wasn't two miles away. 266 00:19:11,540 --> 00:19:14,460 It was 26 miles away. 267 00:19:14,460 --> 00:19:16,640 And so she walked 26 miles. 268 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:18,160 That's a marathon, any runners. 269 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:22,880 And you can see in the picture, the story says that she walked barefooted because everywhere 270 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:24,640 she went, she was barefoot. 271 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:29,140 And she walked to the home of Thomas Charles, the bookseller. 272 00:19:29,140 --> 00:19:34,540 And as the shipment came in, she had saved enough to buy a Bible for herself and to buy 273 00:19:34,540 --> 00:19:39,560 two other Bibles for her friends, for her family. 274 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:44,320 And she was able to buy that Bible in the year 1800. 275 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:52,920 And Mr. Charles, who sold the Bible, he was so impressed by her commitment, by her desire, 276 00:19:52,920 --> 00:20:00,280 that he was instrumental in starting something called the Welsh Tract Society, which began 277 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,480 to make sure that there were Bibles in that language for that country, that they were 278 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:11,680 produced and printed and published and distributed for that whole entire region. 279 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:18,600 Because one person was devoted and dedicated and wanted to spend time in the Bible. 280 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:24,440 Because we know the time, we know that we are nearer now than when we first believed. 281 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,060 So we want to spend time in the Bible as we go into the new year. 282 00:20:28,060 --> 00:20:31,320 What about spending time in prayer? 283 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:33,360 I'm going to confess a little bit. 284 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:38,040 This one's a little more challenging for me, because I love to read, so I can really dig 285 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:39,760 into the Bible. 286 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,480 But prayer is a little bit more abstract. 287 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:45,000 We'll just be honest. 288 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:46,000 It's a little bit harder. 289 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:51,960 We can say it's talking to God as to a friend, but it's a little bit more challenging than 290 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:53,960 that because the friend isn't there. 291 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:55,200 We don't see the friend. 292 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,960 We don't hear an immediate response. 293 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:05,200 And with me at least so often, there is distraction, it's self-induced distraction. 294 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:07,320 But for me, prayer is harder. 295 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:12,760 It's harder to find traction in sustained prayer. 296 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,260 Now I saw this a couple years ago. 297 00:21:15,260 --> 00:21:17,600 This is a wooden floor. 298 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,080 And can you tell what's in there? 299 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:21,860 Footprints. 300 00:21:21,860 --> 00:21:28,800 There was an old Buddhist monk who would go to the temple and spend time in prayer, spend 301 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:37,000 hours and hours and hours a day praying his Buddhist prayers, which are not really prayers 302 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:43,040 to a deity, not prayers to a God, but just prayers kind of to yourself that you can be 303 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,260 better, that you can improve things. 304 00:21:45,260 --> 00:21:51,880 And he spent hours and hours and lifted up thousands and thousands of prayers. 305 00:21:51,880 --> 00:22:00,740 And over the course of about 20 years, the wooden floor became indented, a show of his 306 00:22:00,740 --> 00:22:02,920 dedication to that. 307 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:11,120 Now I don't agree with that theology, but I certainly long for that kind of commitment. 308 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:17,200 And perhaps we don't need to wear out a floor in prayer, but at least for me, I know that 309 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,480 I need to spend more time in prayer. 310 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,120 Let's turn over to Romans chapter 8. 311 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:28,320 Romans chapter 8. 312 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,160 Because sometimes if you're like me, we don't even know what to say. 313 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:34,720 Romans chapter 8. 314 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:44,200 It says, likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we 315 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,520 should pray for as we ought. 316 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:54,560 But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 317 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:55,680 We may not know what to pray. 318 00:22:55,680 --> 00:23:02,560 We may not even always know how to pray, but we can recognize that the Spirit hears what 319 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:10,000 we say and makes it something that is beautiful, that is pleasing to the ears of God. 320 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:15,760 So what are some ideas for prayer as you move into the new year? 321 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,480 I would say the first thing is look for prayers in the Bible. 322 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,680 The Bible is full of prayers. 323 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:24,640 Some of them are just one line. 324 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:29,500 You remember Peter when he was walking on the water and he started to sink? 325 00:23:29,500 --> 00:23:30,600 What did he say? 326 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:31,600 Just one line. 327 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:32,920 Lord, save me. 328 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:34,560 That's a prayer. 329 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:36,880 Sometimes that is the prayer that we need. 330 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:38,280 Is this on now? 331 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:39,280 I think it is. 332 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,400 All right, I can step over here. 333 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,040 Sometimes that's the prayer that we need. 334 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:45,760 Lord, save me. 335 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:46,900 But you know what? 336 00:23:46,900 --> 00:23:49,100 There's longer prayers in the Bible too, of course. 337 00:23:49,100 --> 00:23:50,100 There's the Lord's Prayer. 338 00:23:50,100 --> 00:23:52,200 What a perfect prayer that is. 339 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:57,020 When the disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray, He gave them the Lord's Prayer. 340 00:23:57,020 --> 00:23:59,160 It's beautiful to recite. 341 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,000 But could it also be a pattern? 342 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:03,180 Give me my daily bread. 343 00:24:03,180 --> 00:24:06,360 Give me what other things that I need today. 344 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:07,720 Lead me not into temptation. 345 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,440 God, this thing is tempting me. 346 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:11,440 Protect me from that. 347 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:12,440 Save me from that. 348 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,200 And did you know there are even longer prayers? 349 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:23,360 For instance, the book of Ephesians, chapter one and chapter three, both of those chapters 350 00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:30,000 have multiverse prayers where Paul says, for this I pray. 351 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:34,520 And it lists off three or four or five things that Paul is praying for. 352 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:40,160 What if we could take those prayers and insert our own needs, insert our own situation, our 353 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:44,240 own context into those prayers? 354 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,480 And what's the book of prayer in Scripture? 355 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:48,280 We already mentioned that. 356 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,280 The book of Psalms, 150 prayers. 357 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:54,680 Some of them are prayers of praise. 358 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:59,080 Some of them are prayers of need, of questioning. 359 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,320 Some of those are prayers of uncertainty. 360 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,400 God, do you even hear me? 361 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:05,400 Are you there? 362 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:06,640 Why aren't you answering? 363 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:14,560 There's prayers of every situation that you can find in the book of Psalms. 364 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:20,200 Coming up again on January 8, our nationwide church, our worldwide church has something 365 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,440 called the 10 Days of Prayer. 366 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:27,600 And it's linked to on our church website, wringlesda.com. 367 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:33,780 And you can find different themes, different ideas as you begin a year in prayer. 368 00:25:33,780 --> 00:25:36,000 You can check that out. 369 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,920 So spend time in the Bible, spend time in prayer. 370 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,320 One more thing that we can consider. 371 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:47,660 Perhaps this year, 2025, we need to spend time witnessing. 372 00:25:47,660 --> 00:25:51,600 We need to spend time sharing with someone else. 373 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:58,720 Again, don't answer this, but just think about it in your own heart, in your own life. 374 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,920 Who did you witness to in 2024? 375 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:07,080 Can you think to a situation, an incident, an individual that you shared your faith with 376 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,080 in 2024? 377 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:15,160 Were you able to sit down and open up the Bible or have a spiritual discussion with 378 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,720 someone over the past 12 months? 379 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:25,320 Is there someone in the next 12 months that you could be thinking about, that you could 380 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:31,280 recognize, that you could have a spiritual conversation with? 381 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:37,400 Notice still in Romans, Romans chapter 10, starting in verse 14, it says, 382 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:45,440 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe 383 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:49,720 in Him of whom they have not heard? 384 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,640 And how shall they hear without a preacher? 385 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,360 Now that's not talking about me. 386 00:26:55,360 --> 00:27:00,000 That's talking about each one of us sharing what Jesus has done in your life. 387 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,940 How shall they hear without a preacher, someone sharing their faith? 388 00:27:03,940 --> 00:27:09,360 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? 389 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:12,040 As it is written, Siri wanted to get in on that. 390 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:19,120 How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings 391 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:20,120 of good things. 392 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:28,080 How beautiful are those who are able to have someone to share with, someone to invite, 393 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:32,800 someone to talk about their relationship with Jesus. 394 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,560 So what's a plan? 395 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,560 Make a list. 396 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,560 Check it twice. 397 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:44,500 Is there some one or three or five? 398 00:27:44,500 --> 00:27:50,060 Is there people that you know that you could write down on a list and you could begin to 399 00:27:50,060 --> 00:27:52,040 pray for them? 400 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:56,920 Not just pray in a general way, but pray, God send your Spirit into their life. 401 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:05,280 God send me or someone else to have an opportunity to share something about you with them. 402 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,120 And then don't just write those names down. 403 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:09,320 Don't just pray. 404 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:14,960 But look, look for ways that you can talk to somebody else, that you can serve them, 405 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:20,040 that you can invite them to Asian lunch or to whatever else. 406 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:24,860 Invite someone who wants to learn more about Jesus. 407 00:28:24,860 --> 00:28:30,040 What about inviting a church member that you haven't seen for a long time? 408 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:33,200 They used to be here, but you haven't seen them. 409 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:34,380 Call them up. 410 00:28:34,380 --> 00:28:36,080 Invite them to return. 411 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,400 Invite them to be back. 412 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:43,720 Because as the Bible says, we are nearer now than when we first believed. 413 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:50,080 There's a few months ago back in about August, there was a family that lived in Israel and 414 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:51,840 they were going to a museum. 415 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:54,160 They were spending the day at the museum. 416 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,120 The ancient artifacts, lots of old things. 417 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:04,840 And as they were going through the museum, suddenly the parents, they heard a crash. 418 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:09,400 As every parent's first worry is, oh no, was that my child? 419 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,720 Surely that wasn't my child. 420 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:16,280 But for one family, sure enough, it was their child. 421 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:23,400 A 3500 year old vase that predated King David, predated that day. 422 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:27,440 It was set out in a display in the opening in this museum. 423 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:34,240 They want people to experience things without guardrails, without fences, without chains. 424 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:40,160 And the little four year old boy had put his hand on this 3500 year old vase, pot clay 425 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:42,800 vase, and it had shattered. 426 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,720 It had broken. 427 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:47,600 Parents obviously were, oh no, what now? 428 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,160 What do we do? 429 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:54,560 Children could easily have said, go and never return. 430 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:57,200 This was priceless and you broke it. 431 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,840 But they looked at the video camera and they said, this wasn't an act of vandalism. 432 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,120 This was an accident of a small boy. 433 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,160 And so they did not ban the child. 434 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:08,520 They did not ban the family. 435 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:18,960 Instead, they invited the child to return and to see the clay vase being repaired, being 436 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:25,400 restored, and they allowed him to take part in it and to touch the things and to put the 437 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:33,200 glue in the cracks and to help make sure that everything was in place. 438 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:39,440 How many times over the last year have we touched something and it seemingly shattered 439 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,840 and God could have said, nope, you're out. 440 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:47,100 But instead, he invites us to have a part. 441 00:30:47,100 --> 00:30:55,300 He invites us to be a part of something and to restore that which is broken and to invite 442 00:30:55,300 --> 00:30:57,400 others to take part in that. 443 00:30:57,400 --> 00:30:58,800 I want to look at one more verse. 444 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:01,760 This is way back in the Old Testament in Lamentations. 445 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:09,680 It's a small little book right after the book of Jeremiah, a book of mourning, Lamentations 446 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:10,680 chapter three. 447 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:19,200 But in the heart of this book of mourning and sadness, it says, through the Lord's mercies, 448 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:25,200 we are not consumed, but his compassions fail not. 449 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,440 They are new every morning. 450 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,000 Great is your faithfulness. 451 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:37,400 And this year, as we go ahead, as we look for ways that we can put on the Lord Jesus, 452 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:43,240 as we look at each day, recognizing that we are one day closer to our salvation, to the 453 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:49,000 return of Jesus, we are one day closer than we were yesterday, let us make sure that each 454 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:55,320 and every day we are seeing and acknowledging the saving love of Jesus, that we are putting 455 00:31:55,320 --> 00:32:02,400 on his mercies and we are recognizing that his faithfulness is incredible, that his faithfulness 456 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,600 is great in our life. 457 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:11,280 And God gives us a fresh opportunity, a fresh start each and every day. 458 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:16,680 Let's look to Jesus as our Savior and let's make sure that we're putting time to know 459 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:22,280 him better through his word, to know him better through prayer, to invite others to know him 460 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:26,840 better through our sharing of our faith and through witnessing. 461 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,840 Let us make sure that we're keeping our eyes on Jesus. 462 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,080 Let's bow our heads for a prayer. 463 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:34,760 Dear God, great is your faithfulness. 464 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:38,040 You have done so much for us. 465 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:42,520 And Lord, it's hard to imagine that we are almost to the end of this year. 466 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:47,120 It's almost time to hang up a new calendar. 467 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:48,800 But Lord, we're closer. 468 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,720 We're closer to seeing you face to face. 469 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:57,160 We're closer to hearing that trumpet and seeing you return in those clouds of glory. 470 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:01,760 And Lord, though we come to this point and we look back and there's been good things 471 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:07,480 of the last year and God, there's been heartbreaking things, but you've been with us through it 472 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,960 all and your mercies are new every morning. 473 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:11,960 In your name we pray. 474 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:35,660 Amen.