WEBVTT 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:10.039 I see she took her chocolate bar with her. That's 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:19.800 too bad. In southern Florida, just a few days 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:24.160 before Christmas, a couple of guys who were neighbors 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:27.260 decided they would go sailing while their wives 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:30.960 went Christmas shopping. So while they were out 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:34.799 enjoying themselves sailing, beautiful day, they 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:37.729 were so caught up in the day they lost... track 00:00:37.729 --> 00:00:39.630 of what was going on. They didn't notice this 00:00:39.630 --> 00:00:43.729 horrible storm coming up on them. The storm moved 00:00:43.729 --> 00:00:46.850 in quickly. The winds blew. The skies turned 00:00:46.850 --> 00:00:50.250 black. The little sailboat was being tossed all 00:00:50.250 --> 00:00:53.770 over the place. Trying to get back to shore, 00:00:53.969 --> 00:00:57.770 they grounded themselves on a sandbar. Well, 00:00:57.829 --> 00:00:59.969 they had to hop out of the boat, of course, to 00:00:59.969 --> 00:01:02.950 try to push themselves out so they could continue 00:01:02.950 --> 00:01:05.269 their journey back to shore where it was safe. 00:01:06.090 --> 00:01:08.650 Well, they're up to their knees in mud, up to 00:01:08.650 --> 00:01:12.030 their necks in water. The wind is blowing. Their 00:01:12.030 --> 00:01:14.890 heads are being beat against the side of the 00:01:14.890 --> 00:01:19.010 boat. Things are not looking too good. One of 00:01:19.010 --> 00:01:21.650 the men gets this funny grin on his face and 00:01:21.650 --> 00:01:26.170 looks over at the other. He says, you know, it 00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:31.849 sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn't it? I 00:01:31.849 --> 00:01:35.400 don't know about you, but... I look forward to 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:37.219 celebrating the Lord's birthday every year, but 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:40.019 I am glad Christmas shopping and all of that 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:44.280 stuff is over with and that we can move on into 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:50.859 a new year. In preparing for this week, I tried 00:01:50.859 --> 00:01:54.260 to decide what to preach about. As a matter of 00:01:54.260 --> 00:01:56.799 fact, you've probably heard this story before. 00:01:57.019 --> 00:02:01.260 I had an outline prepared. some really great 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:04.060 ideas, things I was going to use. A couple of 00:02:04.060 --> 00:02:07.079 you, more than a couple of you, many of you were 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:09.099 asking me over the last two weeks what I was 00:02:09.099 --> 00:02:11.460 going to do, if I was going to bring any jars 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:13.580 up to put rocks in, if I was going to bring any 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:16.659 squirt guns in to use to stick things in your 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:18.819 memory. I thought about bringing my Nordic track 00:02:18.819 --> 00:02:22.039 and setting it up here to talk about New Year's 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:28.740 resolutions. But my message was changed. The 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:32.139 Lord changed it this week. Anyone who preaches 00:02:32.139 --> 00:02:34.340 or teaches on a regular basis, I think, may understand 00:02:34.340 --> 00:02:38.800 what I'm saying. In my quiet time and my devotions 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:41.740 this week, I was unsettled with what I was going 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:46.520 to speak on, and then the Lord led me to that 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:49.379 this morning. I was having a quiet time in Philippians, 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:54.960 and in verse 3 of chapter 1, The Lord gave me 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:57.699 this this week. He said, I thank my God every 00:02:57.699 --> 00:03:00.620 time I remember you. This is Paul writing to 00:03:00.620 --> 00:03:03.759 the church at Philippi about Paul's feelings 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:07.560 for this church. He says, I thank my God every 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:11.000 time I remember you in all my prayers for all 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:15.580 of you. I always pray with joy because of your 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:18.860 partnership in the gospel from the first day 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:24.379 until now. Being confident of this, that he who 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:28.300 began a good work in you will carry it on to 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:34.699 completion until the day of Jesus Christ. When 00:03:34.699 --> 00:03:38.060 I read this in my quiet time this week, I realized 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:44.120 the words of Paul to the church of Philippi were 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:51.120 my words for you this morning. How Paul felt 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:54.379 about... The church at Philippi is how I feel 00:03:54.379 --> 00:03:58.780 about this church this morning. Nancy and I moved 00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:01.360 here with Kara and Krista three and a half years 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:03.680 ago from Colorado and left a lot of good friends 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:07.639 in the church that we love deeply. And the Lord 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:13.039 called us here, and we're glad he did. But as 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.439 I read this passage, I realized that the words 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:19.139 here were for me, for this church, for this congregation. 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:24.319 I thank God for you in my prayers as I look out 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:28.439 in the congregation at so many of you that I've 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:31.680 been praying for, that I've been serving alongside 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:35.879 of. I pray, as Paul says here, with joy because 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:40.220 we are partners in the work of the gospel, sharing 00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:42.899 the good news of Jesus Christ with other people 00:04:42.899 --> 00:04:46.259 out of our lives and from the experiences that 00:04:46.259 --> 00:04:50.529 God gives us. I'm also praying for you knowing 00:04:50.529 --> 00:04:54.269 that God, as Paul said, that this church has 00:04:54.269 --> 00:04:58.490 begun a good work in you. And he will carry it 00:04:58.490 --> 00:05:02.310 out to completion until he returns for each of 00:05:02.310 --> 00:05:06.750 us. This last week has been a difficult week 00:05:06.750 --> 00:05:13.829 for many of you. The stress, the hurt, the brokenness, 00:05:13.850 --> 00:05:21.250 loneliness. experiencing loss in the past, grieving, 00:05:21.269 --> 00:05:24.889 and then coming to this time of year and realizing 00:05:24.889 --> 00:05:28.050 that those that you love are not with you this 00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:34.949 year. And that hurts. Counseling in the past 00:05:34.949 --> 00:05:39.250 two weeks has been at an all -time high. Marriages 00:05:39.250 --> 00:05:42.610 are struggling. Many of them are breaking up. 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:47.279 Church family members this week have found themselves 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:51.360 isolated and alone during the Christmas rush. 00:05:53.939 --> 00:05:56.220 Teenagers and children are finding that their 00:05:56.220 --> 00:06:00.220 homes are not good places to be. They're not 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:03.360 looking forward to going back to school, lack 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.920 of friends, struggles and issues that are there 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:11.759 for them, lack of friendship, lack of acceptance. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:16.500 Those that have been depressed, finding themselves 00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:19.779 in a deep black hole that I've talked to this 00:06:19.779 --> 00:06:24.680 week that can see no way out of that deep black 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:28.259 hole, wondering whether anyone cares or not. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:33.379 I'm here this morning to tell you that God is 00:06:33.379 --> 00:06:39.079 at work in your life, just as he was in the lives 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:42.810 of those of the church at Philippi. 2 Timothy 00:06:42.810 --> 00:06:47.689 4, 2 tells me that I am to preach the word. I'm 00:06:47.689 --> 00:06:50.310 to be prepared in season and out of season to 00:06:50.310 --> 00:06:54.310 correct, to rebuke, and to give encouragement 00:06:54.310 --> 00:06:56.730 with great patience and careful understanding 00:06:56.730 --> 00:07:00.709 as your pastor. I'm not here today to correct 00:07:00.709 --> 00:07:03.810 or rebuke. I'm here this morning to encourage, 00:07:04.009 --> 00:07:08.850 to encourage you today. The word for encouragement 00:07:08.850 --> 00:07:13.129 in 2 Timothy 4. is the word paraklesis. It's 00:07:13.129 --> 00:07:16.649 the word that means to bring consolation to someone, 00:07:16.829 --> 00:07:21.569 to exhort them from Scripture, upholding them 00:07:21.569 --> 00:07:25.790 with the word of God, encouraging them and exhorting 00:07:25.790 --> 00:07:29.129 them from this word, giving them encouraging 00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:33.529 words from it for whatever the issue may be. 00:07:33.649 --> 00:07:37.089 It means entering into another person's pain. 00:07:37.899 --> 00:07:42.560 in sorrow as well as into their joy, and in encouraging 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:46.459 that person from where they are with God's Word 00:07:46.459 --> 00:07:51.259 for what they are experiencing. So this morning, 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:55.199 instead of New Year's resolutions, I'm going 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:59.540 to share from my heart. I want to encourage you 00:07:59.540 --> 00:08:03.319 in three specific areas as we enter into 1995 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:09.209 together. If you will, there is an insert. I've 00:08:09.209 --> 00:08:11.750 changed my message in time to do this outline. 00:08:12.709 --> 00:08:16.069 Follow along. Fill in the blanks and take some 00:08:16.069 --> 00:08:17.949 notes this morning. I'm going to give you some 00:08:17.949 --> 00:08:20.810 things to write down. The first encouragement 00:08:20.810 --> 00:08:25.230 that I want to give you for 1995 is I would like 00:08:25.230 --> 00:08:31.269 you to develop a love for God and for His Word. 00:08:32.809 --> 00:08:37.139 Develop a love for God. and for his word. When 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:40.279 I was in college, I went to school knowing that 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:43.019 somewhere God was going to use me and I was going 00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:45.039 into the ministry. I didn't know what that meant. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.679 But in college, I did not have a strong sense 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:55.600 that I loved God deeply. I accepted Christ as 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.960 my Savior as a child. But I didn't have the sense 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:04.480 that I had a deep love for God. It troubled me, 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:09.519 as it should have. So I prayed and asked God, 00:09:09.659 --> 00:09:13.460 Lord, help me to love you, to develop that kind 00:09:13.460 --> 00:09:18.159 of love for you, as well as for your word. In 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.120 those years, I was treating the Bible as a textbook. 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:26.820 And I knew it. But I didn't know the author the 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:31.899 way I needed to know him. We need to know him 00:09:31.899 --> 00:09:36.990 deeply. I discovered over the last 25 years that 00:09:36.990 --> 00:09:41.009 it takes work to do that. The Lord has been revealing 00:09:41.009 --> 00:09:44.049 himself more and more to me through these years, 00:09:44.149 --> 00:09:50.330 through work, effort, in good times and bad times 00:09:50.330 --> 00:09:54.649 of coming to his word. I discovered this, that 00:09:54.649 --> 00:09:59.549 real encouragement comes from God's word. The 00:09:59.549 --> 00:10:02.929 Bible is not just... one of the many books that 00:10:02.929 --> 00:10:07.169 I have in my library. It is not just something 00:10:07.169 --> 00:10:11.990 for me to read. It is God's vibrant living word 00:10:11.990 --> 00:10:17.129 to you and to me today. These are inspired words 00:10:17.129 --> 00:10:20.629 that God directed to be placed on paper so that 00:10:20.629 --> 00:10:24.110 you and I would have them for encouragement, 00:10:24.330 --> 00:10:29.669 for learning who God is, knowing Him and learning 00:10:29.669 --> 00:10:36.200 to love Him. The psalmist in Psalm 119, a very 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:38.700 interesting study for you to do sometime in your 00:10:38.700 --> 00:10:40.799 devotions, it would take some time to do it, 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:44.019 would be to go through Psalm 119 and look at 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:46.539 all the passages that the psalmist there talks 00:10:46.539 --> 00:10:50.779 about the Word of God and how he feels about 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:54.259 the Word of God in those verses. I jotted down 00:10:54.259 --> 00:11:02.879 a few of those. He said, Seek him with all their 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:08.419 heart. I seek you with all my heart. Do not let 00:11:08.419 --> 00:11:12.759 me stray from your word, he said. Another one. 00:11:12.779 --> 00:11:17.200 Your statutes are my delight. They are my counselors. 00:11:18.539 --> 00:11:22.980 I delight in your commands because I love them. 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:30.460 I meditate on your precepts and I consider. Your 00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:34.000 ways. A couple of more examples. He said, I will 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:39.480 not neglect your words. And the last one that 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:42.279 I've selected is, I have sought your face with 00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:46.879 all my heart. I have considered my ways and turned 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:52.820 my steps to your statutes. The psalmist obviously 00:11:52.820 --> 00:11:57.039 has a depth of love for God and for his word 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:02.980 as you read that psalm. How can we love the Word 00:12:02.980 --> 00:12:06.679 in the way that the psalmist does? I have a couple 00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:11.500 of ideas for you this morning. Jeremiah 15, 16 00:12:11.500 --> 00:12:17.279 said, When your words came, I ate them. They 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:22.259 were my joy and my heart's desire. We had chocolate 00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:25.720 up here this morning. One of the examples I wanted 00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:30.159 to use, chocolate. Tradition, every year, Our 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:33.580 anniversary is on the 21st of December. I give 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:36.659 Nance a box of chocolate. Not just any chocolate, 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:43.000 but dark chocolate. Not any chocolate will do. 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:47.539 Dark chocolate. Those are the types that make 00:12:47.539 --> 00:12:50.740 your mouth water. You can taste them melting 00:12:50.740 --> 00:12:54.860 in your mouth. And when I read this text, I thought 00:12:54.860 --> 00:13:00.960 of, and I ate them, chocolate. That type of desire 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:05.679 for chocolate. That's a developed appetite or 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:08.539 required, you know, you need to eat some chocolate 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:11.940 before you learn to appreciate them. And then 00:13:11.940 --> 00:13:14.139 you can think about what they are like when you 00:13:14.139 --> 00:13:17.440 don't have them. We always have chocolate, say, 00:13:17.539 --> 00:13:20.899 somewhere in the house if we look long enough 00:13:20.899 --> 00:13:25.360 and hard enough. So one of the first tips that 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:29.440 I want to give you... is to develop an appetite 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:34.419 or a hunger for God's Word. So how can we develop 00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:36.840 that kind of love for God's Word? Develop an 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:40.779 appetite for it, a hunger for it, as Jeremiah 00:13:40.779 --> 00:13:45.620 said, being able to say, I desire them, I eat 00:13:45.620 --> 00:13:49.879 your Word. An example of this was, I've shared 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:52.000 this example in a couple of small churches and 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:54.360 teaching in the past, but one example that comes 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:58.159 to mind. A number of years ago, I was in the 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:00.299 hospital, and they were checking out my stomach. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:02.440 A personal friend who was a doctor was concerned 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:04.899 about me, and he wanted to check me out to find 00:14:04.899 --> 00:14:07.480 out whether or not I had any ulcers and if I 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:11.519 was okay. So Dwayne put me in the hospital, and 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.299 he ran me through a whole series of disgusting 00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:17.299 tests. One of those tests was, some of you have 00:14:17.299 --> 00:14:19.820 had to do this, is you had to drink barium so 00:14:19.820 --> 00:14:23.139 that they can take pictures of you to see if 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:27.320 you are okay or not. track. Well, Dwayne put 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:30.720 me in the hospital overnight to do this, so he 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:32.799 didn't tell me that this test I had to go down 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:35.960 next to the waiting room. I'm in a hospital gown 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:39.440 when they take me down there, and I'm taking 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:41.980 this barium, and then they place you out in the 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:43.860 waiting room with all the other folks in the 00:14:43.860 --> 00:14:48.539 emergency room. Well, I'm feeling fine. I have 00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:52.699 people to see, places to be, and all that. and 00:14:52.699 --> 00:14:55.279 I'm not known for my patience in those situations, 00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:58.379 so I'm saying to the doctor, well, how long is 00:14:58.379 --> 00:15:00.259 this going to take? Well, he says, usually it 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:02.720 takes a half an hour, sometimes an hour. The 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.840 barium has to process through your system so 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:08.159 that we can take the pictures. I don't have an 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:11.759 hour, and I sure don't want to sit in this waiting 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:13.940 room. So he said, well, I'm sorry, there's nothing 00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:17.139 I can do. An intern comes walking by, and I thought, 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:19.120 well, this isn't good enough. Maybe the intern... 00:15:19.389 --> 00:15:21.450 Maybe he's more on the cutting edge of things. 00:15:21.529 --> 00:15:23.509 We'll have some better ideas. What can I do to 00:15:23.509 --> 00:15:25.750 speed up the process? And the intern said, well, 00:15:25.769 --> 00:15:28.070 I don't know if this works, but one thing that 00:15:28.070 --> 00:15:31.009 I've been told is if you meditate, if you think 00:15:31.009 --> 00:15:36.250 about food, if you think about food, the involuntary 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:38.789 reaction of your body will be the barium will 00:15:38.789 --> 00:15:41.830 be processed so much quicker because your appetite 00:15:41.830 --> 00:15:44.149 comes back. If you drink barium, you lose your 00:15:44.149 --> 00:15:48.309 appetite. So I'm having a hard time relating 00:15:48.309 --> 00:15:51.309 to that. Okay, I will do that. So I pull out 00:15:51.309 --> 00:15:54.309 magazine after magazine and I focus on pictures 00:15:54.309 --> 00:16:00.649 of pork roast, of turkey, of grilled steak. Now 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:02.750 some of you are starting to work already and 00:16:02.750 --> 00:16:08.230 we still have a half an hour to go. And you know, 00:16:08.350 --> 00:16:13.149 meditating on those things, sure enough, my stomach 00:16:13.149 --> 00:16:16.259 started gurgling. I'm going, yes! So I started 00:16:16.259 --> 00:16:21.000 focusing on tacos and burritos and nachos. And 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:26.740 my appetite started my stomach responding. I 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:29.179 was there 15 minutes. And I called the doctor 00:16:29.179 --> 00:16:31.000 over and said, I think I'm ready. No, you can't 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:38.940 be ready. I am ready. We went in, took the pictures, 00:16:39.019 --> 00:16:43.639 and he was amazed. You are ready. All right. 00:16:44.319 --> 00:16:46.519 I'm sitting there afterwards. I'm thinking, Lord, 00:16:46.700 --> 00:16:49.779 there has to be a point to all this because they 00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:52.980 found nothing. I was fine. And the Lord said, 00:16:53.100 --> 00:16:55.840 I want you to take this as an illustration in 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:59.240 your life, Rick. Develop a hunger and an appetite 00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:05.000 for me and for my word. Spiritual appetites don't 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:08.900 just happen, do they? Spiritual appetites are 00:17:08.900 --> 00:17:11.740 developed as we work on them, as we allow the 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:15.200 Holy Spirit to work in our lives and to speak 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:21.859 to our hearts. The more we meditate and think 00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:26.240 of God's Word, we develop an appetite and a hunger 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:30.759 for it. Second tip, quickly, would be to treat 00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:34.839 God's Word as a special love letter. Treat God's 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.599 Word as a special love letter. There's a cycle 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:42.400 that I want you to write down that is very important 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:46.019 to this point. This is the cycle. There's two 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:50.240 steps in this cycle. First, we develop a love 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:57.000 for God's Word because we love God, the author. 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:01.619 We develop a love for God's Word because we love 00:18:01.619 --> 00:18:05.759 God, the author. Second part of the cycle. We 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:11.180 develop a love for God as we spend time in his 00:18:11.180 --> 00:18:18.000 word. First part of the cycle, we develop a love 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:21.299 for God's word because we love God. Second part 00:18:21.299 --> 00:18:25.960 is we develop a love for God as we spend time 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:31.759 in his word. Illustrate this point for you. Think 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:36.369 of his word as love letters. to you he reveals 00:18:36.369 --> 00:18:41.630 who he is what he has done for us how much he 00:18:41.630 --> 00:18:46.430 means to us how much he loves us in his word 00:18:46.430 --> 00:18:49.829 how many of you here have ever received a love 00:18:49.829 --> 00:18:54.950 letter or note let me see a hand oh i see some 00:18:54.950 --> 00:18:58.069 students raising hands interesting okay love 00:18:58.069 --> 00:19:00.329 letters or notes i think you can identify with 00:19:00.329 --> 00:19:03.849 what i'm going to say When I was in Alaska for 00:19:03.849 --> 00:19:06.410 eight weeks, I did this on a number of occasions, 00:19:06.470 --> 00:19:08.569 working with a mission organization up there, 00:19:08.650 --> 00:19:12.910 doing some teaching and training leaders. I was 00:19:12.910 --> 00:19:17.250 away from Nance for eight weeks at a crack. I'd 00:19:17.250 --> 00:19:19.329 never been away from my wife for that long a 00:19:19.329 --> 00:19:21.369 period of time, more than a couple of days or 00:19:21.369 --> 00:19:24.210 a week. I was gone for eight -week periods at 00:19:24.210 --> 00:19:28.140 a time. Nance and I would write letters, and 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:30.220 I would receive the letters from Nance in Alaska, 00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:33.859 usually about a week after she mailed them. And 00:19:33.859 --> 00:19:38.420 I would read them, and I would reread them, and 00:19:38.420 --> 00:19:43.680 I would reread them. My love for Nance grew as 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:48.480 I read and reread those letters. I found that 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:52.539 I was loving the letters, too. because of the 00:19:52.539 --> 00:19:54.920 person that I loved had written those letters 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:59.920 to me. So I kept those letters, and they meant 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:03.500 a great deal to me. My love for Nance grew, and 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:08.140 the love for those letters both grew. So you 00:20:08.140 --> 00:20:11.519 love the letters that come from the person that 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:15.279 you care about, and you can't help but love the 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:19.259 person more because of what the person says in 00:20:19.259 --> 00:20:24.609 those letters. See the cycle? Treat God's Word 00:20:24.609 --> 00:20:29.450 as love letters to you and watch your love for 00:20:29.450 --> 00:20:33.049 God grow. Second encouragement that I want to 00:20:33.049 --> 00:20:36.589 give you this morning is to be a doer of God's 00:20:36.589 --> 00:20:41.490 Word. To be a doer of God's Word. Psalm 119 .59 00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:45.529 says, I have considered my ways and I turn my 00:20:45.529 --> 00:20:52.519 steps toward your statutes. Turn with me to James 00:20:52.519 --> 00:20:56.519 chapter 1, quickly. James chapter 1, verse 22. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:07.880 James in his letter is very concerned about our 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:12.220 not being doers of God's Word. James 1, verse 00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:17.220 22. James counsels us, do not merely listen to 00:21:17.220 --> 00:21:25.539 the Word and so deceive. Do what it says. Anyone 00:21:25.539 --> 00:21:28.559 who listens to the word but does not do what 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:32.819 it says is like a man who looks into a mirror 00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:35.539 at his face and after looking at himself goes 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:39.660 away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:45.460 Become a doer of God's word. The word here in 00:21:45.460 --> 00:21:49.420 some translations is a hearer. To those... It 00:21:49.420 --> 00:21:52.220 refers to those who often would hear lectures 00:21:52.220 --> 00:21:58.259 from the Lord, but only heard the Word, and instead 00:21:58.259 --> 00:22:02.059 of becoming a doer, never became a true disciple 00:22:02.059 --> 00:22:05.960 of Jesus Christ. And each time he spoke, he had 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:08.319 those on the fringe that were not true disciples, 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:13.019 because they were simply a hearer and not a doer 00:22:13.019 --> 00:22:16.359 of the Word. I'll give an example of that this 00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:19.309 morning. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 00:22:19.309 --> 00:22:24.390 13. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, and you can work 00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:30.890 on this this week. 1 Corinthians 13, starting 00:22:30.890 --> 00:22:34.910 with verse 4. Paul here tells us what love looks 00:22:34.910 --> 00:22:39.650 like and how we know if we are loving or not. 00:22:40.529 --> 00:22:44.910 He says in verse 4, love is patient, it is kind, 00:22:45.150 --> 00:22:49.109 it is not envy. It does not boast. It is not 00:22:49.109 --> 00:22:53.670 proud. It is not rude. It is not self -seeking. 00:22:53.809 --> 00:22:58.190 It is not easily angered. It keeps no record 00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:02.490 of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but 00:23:02.490 --> 00:23:07.130 rejoices with the truth. It always protects. 00:23:07.630 --> 00:23:14.130 It always trusts. It always hopes and always 00:23:14.130 --> 00:23:19.480 perseveres. Paul is saying that if you're going 00:23:19.480 --> 00:23:21.460 to love someone, you need to put it into action. 00:23:22.059 --> 00:23:25.000 The word for love here, agape, means sacrificial 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:30.380 love. It is action. It is what you do, not necessarily 00:23:30.380 --> 00:23:35.519 how you feel. It is what you do, and Paul is 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:38.720 giving us a list of examples of things that you 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:43.859 can do to express and to show love, to be a doer 00:23:43.859 --> 00:23:47.619 of God's word. Paul is saying... It requires 00:23:47.619 --> 00:23:51.400 action. It requires that we do something with 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:56.259 it. Often I will have people go through a love 00:23:56.259 --> 00:23:59.839 visualization exercise. So taking this text and 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:04.259 saying, how can you, to your spouse or to somebody 00:24:04.259 --> 00:24:08.079 that you care about, how can you show love in 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:13.160 my way of patience? What practical way can you 00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:16.440 show patience? with somebody that you love? Or 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:20.019 do you show patience? What practical way can 00:24:20.019 --> 00:24:23.960 you be kind to each other? This is a good one, 00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:26.380 not only for husbands and wives, but brothers 00:24:26.380 --> 00:24:30.779 and sisters. How can you specifically be kind 00:24:30.779 --> 00:24:35.799 to your sister or to your brother? And write 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:39.900 out lists of each of these examples of three 00:24:39.900 --> 00:24:44.740 ways that you can demonstrate love. As Paul is 00:24:44.740 --> 00:24:49.039 defining it, in patience, in kindness, in selflessness, 00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:53.519 in always protecting. Is our first response to 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:57.740 always protect or is it to attack? Not to keep 00:24:57.740 --> 00:25:00.779 a record of wrongs or do we keep a computer bank 00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:04.019 of information used against somebody that we 00:25:04.019 --> 00:25:08.180 say we love just at the right moment? Now I'm 00:25:08.180 --> 00:25:11.059 going to meddle for a few minutes. Husbands, 00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:16.309 men. We are commanded to love our wives, Ephesians 00:25:16.309 --> 00:25:22.869 5, as Christ loved the church. Pointing directly 00:25:22.869 --> 00:25:26.329 at you and at myself this morning, do you love 00:25:26.329 --> 00:25:31.950 your wives as Christ loved the church? And if 00:25:31.950 --> 00:25:38.309 you don't, are you going to in 1995? There are 00:25:38.309 --> 00:25:42.230 some times in my counseling... I wish I could 00:25:42.230 --> 00:25:45.569 grab a guy by the shirt collar and say, do you 00:25:45.569 --> 00:25:49.250 love your wife as Christ loved the church? And 00:25:49.250 --> 00:25:54.170 if not, when are you going to start? And I realize 00:25:54.170 --> 00:25:57.509 I have to grab myself by the collar at different 00:25:57.509 --> 00:26:02.829 times in my life. But men, we are required, we 00:26:02.829 --> 00:26:06.589 are commanded to love our wives sacrificially, 00:26:06.690 --> 00:26:10.940 to give ourselves up for her. as Christ gave 00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:17.539 himself up for us. We're required to keep our 00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:24.200 promises to our wives and to our families. We 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:29.359 need to reveal to our wives who we are, what 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:33.859 we're experiencing, how we feel, and not guard 00:26:33.859 --> 00:26:38.160 ourselves from our wives. See, men, if we are 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:42.460 to love... Our wives, it means action. We need 00:26:42.460 --> 00:26:46.619 to come back, guys, to 1 Corinthians 13 and to 00:26:46.619 --> 00:26:49.019 other passages like this text and discover what 00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:52.819 it means to love. Because it doesn't come naturally 00:26:52.819 --> 00:26:57.740 to us. Wives, you're required also to love your 00:26:57.740 --> 00:27:02.480 husband in the same way. As your husband grows 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:06.450 in what it means to love you, You need to respond 00:27:06.450 --> 00:27:10.730 to your husband out of respect and support and 00:27:10.730 --> 00:27:19.069 encouragement. Are you? Will you in 1995? I ran 00:27:19.069 --> 00:27:21.869 into this illustration this week that I just 00:27:21.869 --> 00:27:25.730 have to share from a newspaper columnist, George 00:27:25.730 --> 00:27:28.369 Crane. He tells of a wife who came into his office 00:27:28.369 --> 00:27:33.089 full of hatred, ready for divorce. She came in 00:27:33.089 --> 00:27:35.490 and said, I do not only want to get rid of him, 00:27:35.589 --> 00:27:40.750 I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want 00:27:40.750 --> 00:27:45.410 to hurt him as much as he has hurt me. Dr. Crane 00:27:45.410 --> 00:27:47.849 suggested ingenious plan. He said, go home and 00:27:47.849 --> 00:27:52.349 act as if you really love this guy. Tell him 00:27:52.349 --> 00:27:55.410 how much he means to you. Praise him for every 00:27:55.410 --> 00:27:59.130 decent trait. Go out of your way to be kind, 00:27:59.410 --> 00:28:05.279 considerate. and as generous as possible. Spare 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:07.779 no efforts to please Him, to enjoy Him, and make 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:11.099 Him believe that you love Him. And after you've 00:28:11.099 --> 00:28:16.460 convinced Him of your undying love, and that 00:28:16.460 --> 00:28:20.539 you cannot live without Him, then drop the bomb. 00:28:21.619 --> 00:28:24.220 Tell Him that you're getting a divorce, and that 00:28:24.220 --> 00:28:28.480 will really hurt Him. Well, with revenge in her 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:31.299 eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, Beautiful! Beautiful! 00:28:32.140 --> 00:28:37.779 Boy, will he be surprised. So as she did this 00:28:37.779 --> 00:28:42.019 with enthusiasm, acting as if she loved him, 00:28:42.140 --> 00:28:45.759 for two months she showed love, kindness, listening, 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:50.119 giving, reinforcing, and sharing. When she didn't 00:28:50.119 --> 00:28:54.380 return to his office, Dr. Crane called. Are you 00:28:54.380 --> 00:28:57.819 ready now to go through with the divorce? Divorce, 00:28:57.819 --> 00:29:02.839 she exclaimed. Never! I discovered I really do 00:29:02.839 --> 00:29:07.339 love him. Her actions had changed her feelings. 00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:12.740 Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love 00:29:12.740 --> 00:29:15.380 is established not so much by fervent promise 00:29:15.380 --> 00:29:24.940 as by repeated deed. Women, choose to love your 00:29:24.940 --> 00:29:28.390 wives. Or your husband, excuse me. Church family. 00:29:30.609 --> 00:29:36.589 Church family. First, in Philippians 1 .9, the 00:29:36.589 --> 00:29:40.609 Lord says, and this is my prayer that your love 00:29:40.609 --> 00:29:44.809 may abound more and more. Paul, in writing to 00:29:44.809 --> 00:29:47.150 this church, says that this is my prayer that 00:29:47.150 --> 00:29:49.349 your love for each other as a church will grow 00:29:49.349 --> 00:29:53.130 more and more. We don't have time to go into 00:29:53.130 --> 00:29:57.619 the text of Romans chapter 12. Verse 9, but in 00:29:57.619 --> 00:30:01.559 this text, Paul talks about what love is, what 00:30:01.559 --> 00:30:05.799 it looks like, that we as a church should look 00:30:05.799 --> 00:30:10.579 like this. He says, love must be sincere. Hate 00:30:10.579 --> 00:30:14.359 what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted 00:30:14.359 --> 00:30:18.240 to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:21.839 above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:24.960 keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. 00:30:25.500 --> 00:30:29.079 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and 00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:33.680 faithful in prayer. Rejoice with those who rejoice 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:38.200 and mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony 00:30:38.200 --> 00:30:42.420 with one another. The Lord gives us a picture 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:45.759 here of how to love one another as a church family. 00:30:46.339 --> 00:30:55.950 Do we? Will we? In 1995. See, if we become a 00:30:55.950 --> 00:31:00.710 doer of God's word, he will change us. He will 00:31:00.710 --> 00:31:04.410 make us more like Jesus Christ, his son. And 00:31:04.410 --> 00:31:07.029 we'll be different each month and as we enter 00:31:07.029 --> 00:31:13.069 into each year. Right now, beginning 1995, we 00:31:13.069 --> 00:31:15.890 should be vastly different than we were this 00:31:15.890 --> 00:31:21.430 time in 1994. Will we be vastly different this 00:31:21.430 --> 00:31:27.980 time in 1996? We will be if we become doers of 00:31:27.980 --> 00:31:32.079 God's Word. The last encouragement I want to 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:33.880 leave you with this morning is to be determined 00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:38.279 to hold fast to the hope that we have in Christ. 00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:44.000 Hugh Campbell Morgan says that hope is a peculiar 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:48.720 word for days of stress and strain. Hope comes 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:52.819 to its brightest shining in the presence of God. 00:31:52.910 --> 00:31:59.789 of the deepest darkness. Hebrews 10 .23 tells 00:31:59.789 --> 00:32:02.809 us to let us hold unswervingly to the hope that 00:32:02.809 --> 00:32:07.710 we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 00:32:08.190 --> 00:32:12.329 I don't know how many of you received one of 00:32:12.329 --> 00:32:20.730 these this last week. This one's to Nan. She 00:32:20.730 --> 00:32:23.710 hasn't mailed hers in. Didn't get one this year. 00:32:24.990 --> 00:32:28.109 This represents a different type of hope than 00:32:28.109 --> 00:32:32.890 we're talking about this morning. I don't know 00:32:32.890 --> 00:32:37.470 what the odds are on this one. The odds are slim 00:32:37.470 --> 00:32:41.509 that anyone here is going to win this. It'd be 00:32:41.509 --> 00:32:45.150 great if someone does win this, but the odds 00:32:45.150 --> 00:32:47.329 are not in our favor that we're going to win 00:32:47.329 --> 00:32:50.529 this. So our hope for something like this is 00:32:50.529 --> 00:32:53.640 slim. And you can't count on this hope. You can't 00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:57.200 bank on this hope. If you do, you're in trouble. 00:32:58.480 --> 00:33:01.759 The hope that we're talking about this morning 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:06.480 is a hope that is rooted, is founded in God himself. 00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:12.019 The God who loves us, who forgives us. The God 00:33:12.019 --> 00:33:16.400 who is unchanging in who he is. The God who has 00:33:16.400 --> 00:33:20.490 kept all of his promises to us. and will continue 00:33:20.490 --> 00:33:25.710 to keep his promises to us. It is unmovable. 00:33:26.049 --> 00:33:29.029 It is a different type of hope. It is an essential 00:33:29.029 --> 00:33:33.670 part of the Christian life. J .M. Everett, in 00:33:33.670 --> 00:33:38.470 an article on hope, had this to say. Paul understands 00:33:38.470 --> 00:33:41.890 Christian hope as a fulfillment of God's promises 00:33:41.890 --> 00:33:45.690 to Israel. This hope is firmly anchored in the 00:33:45.690 --> 00:33:48.279 history of Israel. and in the revealed character 00:33:48.279 --> 00:33:53.359 of God, as one who is faithful to his promises. 00:33:54.279 --> 00:33:57.980 Paul delineates this aspect of Christian hope 00:33:57.980 --> 00:34:01.980 in his discussion of Abraham in Romans 4. Abraham 00:34:01.980 --> 00:34:04.920 is offered as an example of someone who never 00:34:04.920 --> 00:34:07.480 doubted that God would fulfill his promises. 00:34:08.460 --> 00:34:11.460 Abraham's hope is grounded in a personal relationship 00:34:11.460 --> 00:34:16.239 with the God in whom he trusts. In fact, The 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:19.239 only ground of Abraham's hope was God's promise. 00:34:19.480 --> 00:34:23.199 Abraham had no external or historical ground 00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:28.360 for his hope. But when that hope was tested by 00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:33.840 human impossibilities, it grew. This is what 00:34:33.840 --> 00:34:38.440 is meant by, quote, in hope he believed against 00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:44.719 hope. Abraham's hope grew because he believed. 00:34:45.340 --> 00:34:50.099 the God of hope, even though all human hope was 00:34:50.099 --> 00:34:58.079 gone. We need to hold fast to the hope that we 00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:03.659 have in Jesus Christ. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians, 00:35:03.900 --> 00:35:09.460 to us, to those that are hurting, to those that 00:35:09.460 --> 00:35:13.480 feel as though there is no hope, he says, therefore, 00:35:14.119 --> 00:35:18.099 we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are 00:35:18.099 --> 00:35:22.099 wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed 00:35:22.099 --> 00:35:27.119 day by day. For our light and momentary troubles 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:33.099 are achieving for us an eternal glory, which 00:35:33.099 --> 00:35:37.519 outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:41.699 what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what 00:35:41.699 --> 00:35:47.219 is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:50.880 We need to allow the Holy Spirit to renew us 00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:54.840 day by day. Take one day at a time. Allow the 00:35:54.840 --> 00:35:58.000 Holy Spirit to minister to us one day at a time 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:02.300 to fix our eyes on the eternal, to fix our eyes 00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:07.039 on an unchanging God. We need to believe in Him 00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:11.639 and trust in Him because in our darkest moments... 00:36:12.619 --> 00:36:17.460 is when that hope becomes most meaningful. So 00:36:17.460 --> 00:36:20.139 I want to encourage you in 1995 in those three 00:36:20.139 --> 00:36:24.780 areas. Develop a love for God and his word. Become 00:36:24.780 --> 00:36:28.519 a doer of God's word. And to hold fast to the 00:36:28.519 --> 00:36:31.980 hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Let's close 00:36:31.980 --> 00:36:36.579 this. Father, we thank you. We praise you for 00:36:36.579 --> 00:36:40.969 who you are and how much you mean to us. We pray 00:36:40.969 --> 00:36:45.110 as we enter into 1995 that we will experience 00:36:45.110 --> 00:36:50.789 change as we develop a love for you and for your 00:36:50.789 --> 00:36:53.429 word. We pray that you would work in our lives 00:36:53.429 --> 00:36:56.730 so that we will not be the same next year as 00:36:56.730 --> 00:36:58.769 we are this year. That you would empower us by 00:36:58.769 --> 00:37:02.710 your spirit to be able to do so. In your son's 00:37:02.710 --> 00:37:09.280 name we pray. We approach the table this morning. 00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:12.559 We don't want to rush and approach it hurriedly, 00:37:12.559 --> 00:37:17.699 but be prepared. As we sing this song, let the 00:37:17.699 --> 00:37:19.619 Lord speak to you, and if there are some areas 00:37:19.619 --> 00:37:21.679 of confession that we need to deal with, may 00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:25.300 it happen before we take part in the Lord's table. 00:37:25.820 --> 00:37:28.280 Maybe there's a conflict between yourself and 00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:31.960 a brother or a sister. Those things, too, we 00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:44.360 should address before we come to the table. Soft 00:37:44.360 --> 00:37:59.880 in my heart, Lord. Soft in my heart. With all 00:37:59.880 --> 00:39:49.019 indifference. Do it in remembrance of what Christ 00:39:49.019 --> 00:39:52.519 has done for us as we enter this new year. Father, 00:39:52.619 --> 00:39:56.320 we thank you and we praise you for the broken 00:39:56.320 --> 00:40:02.000 body of your son and his sacrificial death on 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:06.059 our behalf. Our Father, we pray that this remembrance 00:40:06.059 --> 00:40:08.679 of the table this morning would be special to 00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:12.239 us as we enter this new year. In your son's name 00:40:12.239 --> 00:40:12.639 we ask.