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Sermon of the Week 
Thursday, January 05 2017

One particular church was having their New Year's Eve church service. There was a lot of singing, folks sharing their resolutions for the coming year, testimonies, and scripture readings. After this, everyone was invited to enjoy a feast which the ladies had prepared. A man entered the meeting and, was greeted heartily by a number of folks who knew him, and spent a couple of hours, circulating among friends and eating. After 2 hours…a strange look came across his face. "You know," he confided to his host, "I wasn't even invited to this party. I just came over to find out which cars are blocking my driveway and my wife has been sitting out in the car waiting for me all this time."

(This is not the guy you would choose, if you have a deadline to meet)

Speaking of deadlines, when you’re at the airport, you will hear “flight so and so, now boarding, and they will then announce the destination, and the order in which the passengers will line up to board the flight”….

(I usually have to turn to Winnie and ask her “what did they say”?) I mean with all the technology they have, couldn’t they ever afford a decent sound system, so that you could understand what they’re saying…..?

My message for today is “Flight 2017 now boarding for all Destinations”.

Any pilot will tell you, that in flying, there is one certainty…. What goes up, must come down, one way or another….(I think I was on that flight) The same is true of time, that is true of gravity. Gravity will remain constant.. you can’t cancel it, but it must be overcome in order to fly….and time will remain constant as well, you can’t stop it, but it must be redeemed. We don’t cancel it, but we can make the time we have, count to the maximum.

Ephesians 2:5 (New Living Bible) “God embraced us. He took us and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! v6 Then He picked us up and set us down in heaven's highest places in company with Jesus. v7 Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. v8 This is all His idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish”!

We see the world with two sets of eyes…. we see what is, and we see what God has promised concerning what can be. Believers stand in two realities, so we continually prepare ourselves to process physical realities with the values and principles of kingdom realities.

There are two bags we need to pack for our 2017 flight….We must pack those things which are necessary for our journey here, knowing that there are some things we must leave behind and we can’t take it all with us… and we must be laying up treasures in that place of our final destination. As we cross over into 2017…we are also called upon to look beyond the year that is past and reserve enough space for all that is possible in this year ahead.

We must never allow ourselves to be the captives of a moment of time, so that it blinds us to the bigger picture, but see the moment as just one piece of a larger puzzle of our life that is being put together for eternity.

We are reminded that we are in the world but not of the world…..

Luke 9:62 “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, can continue to look back, and still receive the kingdom of God”.

We can pour anything in a full container and it will be lost and wasted. So, we can either make room in the container we have, or enlarge the container. Likewise, we need to either make room for the new thing God is doing or allow Him to enlarge our container. We make room in a file cabinet for new files, and make room in a full closet for new clothes. This is a season to priorities the things that will get us to our dreams and goals.

Isaiah 54:2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, and stretch forth the curtains of your habitation. Spare not, lengthen your influence and strengthen your relationships. v3 For you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left, and you shall inherit what others have failed to claim”.

There are things that will frighten us and things that will excite us in this coming year. Wide world of sports calls it the Agony and the Ecstasy! But for those who endure, it is well worth it!

We now know that 2012 was not the end of the world and that the Mayan calendar ended at the close of 2011, on December 21st because they ran out of room on the stone they were chiseling….(hindsight is great) Another thing that didn’t happen in the last 12 years, was hurricanes….

Maybe the Lord will return in this year and maybe not…But either way we have the mandate to “Occupy until He comes”

Revelation 12:11 says that we have overcome, (and that we will continue to overcome) by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.

Our perception is our reality, because our perception of how things are will attract and bring to us the substance of our faith or the object of our fears as the New Year unfolds!

Exodus 14:15 And the LORD said unto Moses, why do you cry unto me? speak unto the people, that they go forward: (their fears were robbing them of the reality which God had promised them)

The truth is that we can have whatever we want and accomplish whatever is in our hearts, if we want it badly enough…and if we are completely convinced it can be done with God as our helper, then it can be done!

If you’re going to ride this 2017 flight, you must book your seat with a purpose, like you mean business, and buckle up for the ride of your life!

No one would question that Aaron Ralston, would be able to accomplish anything and everything he really put his heart and will into doing…. As he underwent surgery on May 5, 2003 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Colorado. His harrowing story began to unfold and was carried in newspapers and on television around the world…. later, it was made into a movie. The 27-year-old was rock climbing, at Blue John Canyon in southeastern Utah’s National Park. It was a day that would change his life forever! As Aaron moved through a crack in the canyon wall, a 1000-pound slab of sandstone suddenly shifted and broke loose, crushing his right hand and forearm and pinning him inside a three-foot-wide prison. After 3 days of being trapped…with no water, and his strength fading from the struggle…Aaron decided that he would die, if drastic action wasn’t taken. After applying a tourniquet, he amputated his right arm just above the wrist, with the pocketknife he carried,. He then rappelled 60 feet straight down a rock wall to the canyon floor, where he began the 9 mile hike to his vehicle. Rescuers found him 2 miles from his car, late that Thursday afternoon, bloody, dehydrated and staggering beside a dry desert stream.

Utah park ranger Steve Swanke was in awe..he said "I’ve never seen anybody, who had [such a] will to live and the mental fortitude to do as Aron has done, and I’ve been doing this for 25 years."

It’s easy to look at how much better someone else has it….It’s easy to blame someone else for our lack of success or progress... but in the end, we all must take personal responsibility for reaching our own potential, socially, economically, physically and spiritually, in 2017. We can’t blame others, for what we failed to do ourselves. “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you”. The bible tells us.

A wealthy old man looked around the table at his two sons and five daughters and their spouses, all gathered for New Years eve. "Boy, he said, not a single grandchild," and he gave a big sigh. "Why, I'll give a million dollars to the first kid who presents me with a little one to bounce on my knee in the New Year…... Now, let's say grace before we eat."

When the old man opened his eyes from prayer, his wife was the only other person at the table. (Looks like the kids are suddenly interested)

(It’s amazing what the right motivation will accomplish)

Ralph Waldo Emerson…..wrote, ”Write it on your heart that every day you live, is the best day of the year”.

Steven Spielberg….”None of us, by the end of the year, are ever really the same person we were when we entered the new year”.

Tom Peters…. “This year, celebrate and showcase everything that you want to see more of in the rest of your life”

Jonathan Edwards….”My first New Year resolution is that every day I live, whatever else I do, I will live for God. My second resolution is that If no one else lives for God, I will do it anyway”.

Our toxic character flaws that are not corrected and the self-defeating and self- destructive habits which we tolerate, are like drinking a little poison every day and wondering why we are sick. It can cause us to fall short of the dreams, goals and outcomes, which we have set for our lives!

The Lord waits to be invited by each of us, to work in our world, in the circle of our connections and relationships. To step into the inner struggle that keeps us from our potential. Don’t just invite Him into your day… Invite Him into each situation and event….He will do what no other power can do!

When Jacob began to seek after God, and walk in obedience to the Lord, Genesis 28 tells us that he came to a place called Haran and he fell asleep. While he slept, heaven opened and he saw angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth….he had come to a place of New beginning in his life, it was a gateway that had opened up. Jacob called the place Bethel, but God was trying to show Jacob, that he had become the gateway through which heaven was entering and interacting with this world.

All those who believe, and seek God’s kingdom, stand in that place, and become the gateway to heaven, where the things of heaven and earth make a connection. We are the “thin place where both dimensions meet.

The name of the month January, comes from the Latin word; (Janua); which means a door or window from which a person may look both forward and backward. January is the right time to take one last look at the previous year… To learn from the lessons that were taught through successes and failures. Then, let God shut the door to your past, as you go forward. Don’t let those things be like weights that we drag around. Eat the meat and spit out the bones…remember the good and learn from the bad.

.Don’t remember what God has forgotten.....we can only walk in one direction at a time and only look in one direction at a time. The problem comes when we try to look backwards while we're walking forward.

So don't look back, if you’re still moving forward…and don't listen when others say you're finished, when deep inside, you know you’re not.

What do you see in the mirror?

Louis L'Amour once said, "There will come a time when you believe everything is finished, and it will only be your new beginning." So, take another look in the mirror of God’s word….Genesis 1:1 -Tells us that In the beginning God created something new that had never existed before, and God is STILL creating today. He's creating new opportunities, new direction, new vision and new anointing. God is also creating new hearts and transforming lives.

So let us declare that this is “JANUA” …..a new window to a new year that is opening for each of us to view something bigger, and better and beyond all that has come before!!! And each one of us will become the gateway, where God enters earth and begins His wonderful, mysterious, amazing work!!!! Where He is creating forgiving hearts to replace bitter ones, He's creating hearts of faith to replace hearts of fear. He’s creating loving hearts to replace toxic, jealous, vindictive hearts. He’s replacing broken hearts with hearts that are healed and full of new hope.

Paul said…1 Corinthians 16:9 “For a great door of opportunity is opened unto us…and there will be a "right time" for each of us. 13 Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you've got, be resolute, 14 and keep on loving and never stop”.

In Colossians 3:3, we are told to seek those things that are above, to view things from the vantage point of where Christ is seated. From there, we can get a different perspective which is above and all that we see in this temporary realm!

2016 is the place we are leaving behind….2017 is the place we are creating even as we speak…..The Father calls us joint-heirs with Christ. This means we are the recipients of all that Christ has won in 2017.

Let’s not be like the guy whose resolution was to break the resolution he had made, that way, at least he was successful at something!

Or the guy whose resolution was to find new and interesting things to hate about his job in 2017….

Or the person whose New Year prayer was, “Dear God, in 2017, I ask You to give me a FAT bank account and a THIN body. And please don't get it mixed up like you did last year.

When our emphases is on the past it is about the places we have left…. But we’re not just about leaving places…. We’re about going places… we’re about entering a new dimension of living…..we’re about coming into new levels of faith and walking in the spirit. We are getting ready to experience greater joy and peace, because we are the gateway for God in the earth! With Paul we “Press toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ.”

Revelation 3:18 “I counsel you to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, says the Lord, that you may be rich; and that you put on white raiment, that you may be clothed upon from heaven, you don’t need to be vulnerable and at the mercy of the enemy any longer. Anoint your eyes with My eye salve, so that you may see and understand”.

We are compelled in this new year, to “Move up higher” in our way of thinking. What are the areas that we have been thinking too small for too long? What are the areas where we must think bigger for our Church, our Home, our Family, and our Life in general? What can we do to be the gateway for God to do bigger and better things in our life? Flight 2017 is now boarding to take us further and higher!

.Ephesians 3:18 “I pray that you'll be able to take in with all those of faith, the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test the length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! 19 Live in the fullness of the love of God. 20 Know that God can do anything, far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it by working within us, deeply and gently, by His Spirit. He will do, Exceedingly above all we could ask or think.”

We are compelled to “Move Up Higher” with our emotions. We can’t be wearing our feelings on our sleeves any longer. We must let God rule our feelings by His Spirit within us. We can’t let those around us rule over us by controlling our emotions. We may have prayed. We may have Fasted. We may have done all the right things, but until we “come up higher” in our emotions, we will undo all the other things we’ve done, and our emotions will lock us into past hurts, offences, injustices, broken relationships, and unresolved conflicts.

Unrestrained, free and liberated praise, worship and love can only flow forth in power, when we move to a higher place emotionally!

1 Timothy 1:5 “The point is simply to love with your whole heart – with love that is uncontaminated by self-interest, free of ulterior motives and untainted by counterfeit faith, a life that is open to God. 6 For those who fail to adhere to this, soon wander off into emotional dead-ends”.

We are compelled to “come up higher” with our personal gifts and callings. That’s why we all need to have solid, effective and realistic goals for the new year. It can be, reading a new book, starting regular bible reading and daily times of prayer, to volunteering in a new outreach, meeting new friends or widening your circle. But we need to put feet on our goals as soon as possible, and review those goals regularly and see how you’re doing as you’re “Going Forward.”

Acts 6:1 “During this time, as the church continued, some contention developed over those who were being neglected in the ministry. v2 So the Twelve apostles called a meeting of the disciples. They said, "It wouldn't be right for us to neglect our responsibilities in the preaching and teaching ministry of the Word of God, to take care of these things. v3 So, choose those from among you that everyone trusts, that are proven, with the Holy Spirit and good sense, and we'll assign them to these tasks. v4 Meanwhile, we will continue to minister in prayer and the Word of God.”

I would like everyone to come forward, and let us all take a candle, representing the light that needs to go out into our community in 2017 and also symbolic of releasing the callings, giftings, abilities and resources, so that there would be an enlarging of the message of the gospel, our impact and connections in the lives of those in our community…

Prayer…..Our Father and our God, as we stand at the beginning of this new year we confess our need of Your presence and Your guidance as we face the future. We each have our hopes and expectations for the year that is ahead of us—but You alone know what it holds for us, and only You can give us the strength and the wisdom we will need to meet its challenges. So help us to humbly put our hands into Your hand, and to trust You and to seek Your will for our lives during this coming year. In the midst of life’s uncertainties in the days ahead, assure us of the certainty of Your unchanging love. In the midst of life’s disappointments and heartaches, help us to turn to You for the stability and comfort we will need.

In the midst of life’s temptations and the pull of our self-will, help us not to lose our way but to have the courage to do what is right in Your sight, regardless of the cost. And in the midst of our daily preoccupations and pursuits, open our eyes to the sufferings of our hurting world, and help us to respond with compassion and sacrifice to those who are friendless and in need. We pray for our nation and its leaders during these difficult times, and for all those who are seeking to bring peace and justice to our dangerous and troubled world.

We pray especially for Your protection on all those who serve in our armed forces, and we thank You for their commitment to defend our freedoms, even at the cost of their own lives. Be with their families also, and assure them of Your love and concern for them. Bring our divided nation together, and give us a greater vision of what You would have us to be. As we look back over this past year we thank You for Your goodness to us—far beyond what we have deserved. May we never presume on Your past goodness or Your mercies to us, but may they instead lead us to repentance, and to a new commitment to make You the foundation and center of our lives this year. Father, we thank You for the promise and hope of this new year, and we look forward to it with expectancy and faith. In Jesus’ name…..Amen.

Posted by: AT 01:19 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
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