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I’ve been searching my calendar for a certain day. I’ve looked for this day on the desk
calendar. I’ve looked for this day on a wall calendar. I’ve looked for this day on a daily planning
calendar. I’ve even looked for this day on my computers calendar as well as on my cell phones
calendar. We have a church planning session next Saturday and I’m wondering if anyone is
going to find this day on their calendars. It’s been driving me bonkers trying to find this day. Let
me give you a clue. It’s not a holiday, it’s not a birthday, it’s not an anniversary, it’s not even the
most holy day of “Opening Day.” But this is a day that I hear talked about a lot. As a matter of
fact I understand that a lot of people are looking forward to this day. I’ve even looked forward to
this day in my life on several occasions. As a matter of fact I am still looking forward to this day
right now. Do you know what day I am talking about? I am talking about “Someday.”
Many people today try to live in the future. Do you know what the busiest day in the
world is going to be? It’s not Christmas. It’s not the day after Thanksgiving. It is "someday."
Everyone in the world has something scheduled to do "someday." Someday I’m going to clean
out the garage. Someday I’m going to clean out the closet. Someday I’m going to write that
letter. Someday I’m going to make that phone call. Someday I’m going to go on that diet.
Someday I’m going to start getting out of debt. Someday I’m going to take that trip. Someday
I’m going to take that class. Someday I’m going to read that book. Someday I’m going to do that
project. Someday I’m going to start exercising. Someday I’m going to have a prayer time, read
the Bible, serve God in a ministry, go on a mission trip. Someday, someday, someday – it needs
to be on every calendar because everyone talks about it, but I can’t seem to find it. Someday
never shows up. I think the Federal Government should declare a national holiday called
“Someday” so everyone can do the thing they say they are going to do someday, but never get
around to doing.
I was eating lunch at a local restaurant this week when an acquaintance noticed me. I
spoke to him first. He rememebered me. We greeted one another. He said to me, “You are
looking really good.” Then he patted his somewhat large belly and noticing that I was eating a
salad said, “I should probably have eaten one of those. I know I need to lose about 40 pounds,
but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.” I just sort of smiled and said, “Go ahead and get
started.” He said, “I love eating at this place, see you later.”
Today’s topic is “Functioning in the Present.” At the start of the New Year, we often
have changes we want to make in our lives. We have already talked about two keys to change.
The first is that we need to forget the past. We need to let go of our past successes and failures,
forgive ourselves, forgive others and let God heal us. Last week Larry presented the second thing
we need to do to see change happen in our lives. He talked about focusing on priorities. To
change we need to know what is truly important in our lives. We need to activate our brains long
enough to think about what is truly important in our lives. Maybe we will discover that we need
to adjust the priorities in our lives. Today we are going to look at the third thing necessary to see
change happen in our lives. We need to learn to function in the present. I wonder how many of
you had a New Year’s resolution. How many of you have already failed on keeping it? Take
heart, you can start again. How many of you want to change something this year in your life, but
just haven’t gotten around to it? Maybe your goal this year is to stop procrastinating. Maybe
that’s your “someday.” If procrastination is your problem, “someday” will never get here.
In all seriousness, God has some changes He wants to make in your life. God has already
made many changes in your life, but God’s not done with you yet. God wants you to live
healthy; mentally, physically and spiritually. God wants you to live with purpose. God wants you
to serve Him with joy. God wants give your life deep meaning. He wants to use you to be a
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positive difference in other people’s lives. In other words, God wants your life to make a
Kingdom difference.
Yet often the reason we are not living this meaningful, God-direction for our lives is
because we are focused on the past or live in fear of the future. We have already talked about
letting go of the past. But I also find that I get stuck and do not make changes in my life because
I live in fear of the future.
Let me give you an example. A couple of years ago I was told by my doctor that I needed
to eat healthier to get my cholesterol down. I told him I would do it but it took me three months
to start. Why did it take me so long? In part because I had a fear of what life would be like
without being able to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It would mean having to give
up almost daily Cokes and candy bars. It would mean not getting to eat fast food burgers and
French fries. It would mean having to say no to ice cream, cookies, cake and pie. I had been so
used to gorging myself on whatever I felt like at the moment, that do not be able to do that was
just too hard to think about. What would life be like? How would I make it through the day
without that candy bar? How would I survive with all those fast food restaurants constantly
calling my name to grab a double stack?
It is easy to live in fear of the future. I imagine that if your desire is to give up smoking
you wonder, “How will I ever make it through the day without a cigarette?” If your desire is to
lose weight you wonder, “How will I ever survive without chocolate?” If you are in a destructive
or negative relationship you wonder, “how will I ever live without this person in my life?” If you
want to get fit you wonder, “how am I ever going to arrange time for exercise?” If you want to
grow closer to God you wonder, “how am I ever going to make the time and stick to a daily time
in prayer and Bible reading?” Obviously the list is as long as the changes for the better that we
want. But I find that what holds us up quite often is this fear of what our lives will be like
without something or someone. Of course this fear of the future leads into a fear of failure. We
don’t make the change we don’t want to risk failing at the effort. Maybe you have tried many
times to make a particular change, failed time and time again, so you way, why bother, I’ll just
fail again. This fear is so great that we decide to stay the same, even though we know that means
continued unhealthiness, whether it is physical, mental or spiritual.
Jesus was teaching his disciples to learn to trust in God. Jesus was encouraging them to
have radical trust in God. He wanted to move them out of a life of fear of the future and into a
life of complete trust in God to take care of them. He was saying to them, “Now is the time to
have a radical trust in God.” Not someday, but now. But Jesus knew that they worried, he knew
that people have a tendency to worry about the future. Whenever one lives in worry, you can be
sure he or she is living in fear.
A guy named Wilfredo Garza lived the life of an illegal immigrant for more than 35
years. Year after year, he eked out a living crossing the border from Mexico into the United
States—some days finding work, some days not. Regardless, he was constantly looking over his
shoulder. He constantly lived in fear and worry that the Border Patrol would catch him. Actually
they caught him four times during that period and bused back to Mexico every time. But after
each time he swam back across the Rio Grande to try again.
The cycle would likely have continued for several more years if not for an amazing
discovery. One day, Wilfredo worked up the courage to walk into an immigration lawyer's
office. There, incredibly, he found out that his father was born in Texas and spent time working
there, which meant that Wilfredo was actually a U.S. citizen!
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All those years he possessed the very papers—his father's birth certificate and work
records—that proved his citizenship, and yet he lived in guilt and fear. Now he has a certificate
of citizenship. As citizens of heaven, we have God on our side. A God we can trust.
Jesus tells us not to worry, not to be anxious about the future. He says don’t worry about
the necessities of life. Don’t worry whether or not you will have food to eat, water to drink and
clothes to wear. He says, “Do not worry about your life.” Do not live in anxiety about
tomorrow. Just as God takes care of the needs of the birds, just as God dresses the flowers in the
field – God will take care of your needs. Jesus says, “don’t even bother asking the questions,
“what are we going to eat or drink or wear?” he says, “those aren’t questions that God followers
need even bother ask because God already knows you need them and will provide. Jesus says,
“Don’t bother with those kinds of questions, rather seek to live a life that honors God. Seek to
live rightly with God. In other words, Jesus was saying, ‘First, practice right-living. And rightliving is living to honor your heavenly Father.”
Jesus ends his admonishing to not worry by saying, “34 “Do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." As another
translation puts it, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get
worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with
whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
Jesus is saying, ‘Followers of God learn to function in the present. Worry cannot affect or
change the past. I mean the past is past. In the same way, worrying about the future is useless.
When we worry about the future, we often remain stuck, we don’t risk change, we won’t step
out, move forward into the new life God wants us to have.
The movie Finding Nemo is one of my favorites. Many of you have seen it. It is the story
of a clown fish named Nemo who gets caught by a fishing boat and ends up in the aquarium in a
dentist’s office in Sydney, Australia. But most of the movie centers on Nemo’s father Marlin’s
quest to find his lost son. Marlin’s past is filled with calamity—including the tragic loss of
Nemo’s mom and siblings in a ferocious barracuda attack. Ever since, Marlin lived timidly,
fearing another dreadful thing would happen. He played it safe, never trusting, never risking. He
is especially full of anxiety and worry about his son Nemo.
Well in his search for his Nemo, Marlin befriends a lonely fish named Dory. Dory was
more trusting and willing to try, and even risk failure. She had faith. Marlin had none. At one
point the two found themselves trapped in the belly of a great whale. Marlin, in frustrated fury,
pounded against the slimy walls until he fell limp, worn, and dejected.
Dory cooed with motherly tenderness, "Are you okay? There, there, it's all right; it'll be okay."
"No, no, it won't," was Marlin's reply. "I promised [Nemo] I'd never let anything happen to him."
If he could only have been more vigilant, more cautious, and somehow taken even fewer risks. If
only–”
Dory responded, "Huh, that's a funny thing to promise."
Suddenly a rumbling sound startled them. The whale began to tilt back, and the water began to
recede. They hung on as Marlin cried out, "He's eating us!"
But Dory didn't think so. Convinced she could communicate with the whale, she thought he
should be trusted. As she loosened her grip, she compelled Marlin to do the same. "He [the
whale] says it's time to let go. Everything is gonna be all right."
"How do you know? How do you know something bad isn't gonna happen?" Marlin asked.
"I don't" she replied.
And after a moment's hesitation, they both surrendered their grasp.
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Marlin stepped into dangerous uncertainty and embraced the hazards of faith. It was a wise
choice. The whale sprayed them out in Sydney Harbor where they were soon joyfully reunited
with Nemo.
Isn’t it true that what holds us from moving forward and making the changes we want to
make is we fear the something bad is gonna happen to us. We fear failure, so we hold onto the
where we are, even if where we are is harmful and dangerous to us and to others. Sometimes we
hold onto where we are because we fear what the change will do in our lives. Sometimes we
really want to make the step into change, but can’t get past our fears.
Jesus says that today is the day, “Do not worry about the future. Focus on the present.
Function in the present. Live one day at a time. It’s time to trust in God. Everything is going to
be all right.”
How does one do this? It is very simple – it is a matter of trust, of faith. If you believe
that the changes you need to make are going to honor God, then trust that God will honor His
promise to supply the grace sufficient for the moment, for the day, for the change.
It takes courage to make a change for the better. It takes perseverance. It takes the help of
others. It takes letting go of the past. It takes knowing your priorities, but most of all it is the
ability to function in the present – one day, one step at a time. To do that takes a radical trust in
God.
She met Christ, when she was 49-years-old and had been married to her husband for 17
years. They had two children and a quiet suburban life. They had built a life that was
comfortable and expected by their respective families. But she knew at that moment that
everything about her life was going to change. And, if she was to be obedient and follow Christ,
she could most definitely lose it all—her marriage, her life the way she knew it, her friends, her
family.
Becoming a Christian was new life for her—a joy and an answer to a life with no real
meaning. But becoming a Christian also meant that there was a definite possibility that her
husband would cease to love her. How could she know he would stay with her if she was so
thoroughly a new person? How could she know that her husband, who was not a believer, would
value his vows? She was extremely afraid. At times, she didn't want to have this new life.
Honestly, she didn't think it was worth it—she wanted to give it back to God. She wanted to run
the other way.
Satan immediately began his work, bent on the destruction of her marriage. She cannot
describe to us how swiftly Satan moved. He continued shaping and molding true hatred for the
one thing her husband despised: "those religious types." She was now one of them.
She weighed her devotion for Christ against her devotion to her kids and family. She
asked whether a broken marriage with Christ was better than a marriage without Christ. But
gradually, Christ's words became her words, his love filled her and poured out of her, and she
was able to love the man who called her his enemy. She found that she could love her husband
with a resolve she had never before experienced.
In the year and a half that has followed, many blessings have been bestowed upon her
family. It may not be apparent to her husband, but their marriage is very different because of
Christ. Christ is at the center and is shaping their partnership in a very new and distinctly
Christian way. Additionally, her husband has changed dramatically from the man he was two
years ago. He told her that she should go ahead and attend church and gave her his blessing. Her
children began going to youth group, and now both of her children are worshiping with her
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weekly. And when she asked her husband if he would support her daughter and she to be a part
of a missions trip to Mexico, he responded with, "We will make it happen."
She has entrusted her husband into Christ's care. She is okay with that. She has learned many
lessons in this past year and a half, but none so much as loving and trusting her Lord.
(Anonymous, northern Illinois).
Someday is not on any calendar, and never will be. Today is the day to begin to trust
God to provide you the strength, the grace, the stamina, the power to help you make the change
in your life that will bring glory and honor to Him. Today is the day to step into uncertainty and
embrace faith. AMEN.
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According to our nation's Bureau of Standards, a dense fog covering seven city blocks to a depth
of a hundred feet contains less than one glass of water. All of that fog, if it could be condensed
into water, wouldn't quite fill a drinking glass.
Compare this to the things we often worry about. Like fog our worries can thoroughly block our
vision of the light of God's promises, but the fact is, they have little substance to them.
Brian Heckber,
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.
Corrie ten Boom, Marriage Partnership, Vol. 12, no. 1.
Our daughter was terribly anxious the first time she flew in a plane. "What if the plane
falls down?" she asked as we boarded. "What's that sound?" she questioned as the engines
revved. During take-off she squeezed my hand till her knuckles turned white. However, once we
were above the clouds, she released her grip and announced, "It's okay now. I'm not afraid. We're
above the clouds ... and next to heaven."
Joan Marie Arbogast, Ohio. "S
To escape the distress caused by regret for the past or fear about the future, this is the rule to
follow: leave the past to the infinite mercy of God, the future to his good providence: give the
present wholly to his love by being faithful to his grace.
Jean-Pierre de Caussade in The Joy of the Saints.
We can worry or we can worship. Strangely enough, busy people find it a whole lot easier to
worry than to worship.
Jill Briscoe, "Heart to Heart," Today's Christian Woman.
To live in the present means to become aware and conscious of your actions, feelings and
thoughts. It means bringing your attention to the present moment and dealing with it effectively,
instead of focusing on the past or future. The past has gone away and cannot be changed, and the
future will be the result of the present, of the way you think, feel and act now.
True living occurs in the present moment, the only moment that exists.
Below you will find a conversation between a teacher and a pupil about living in the present.
This is an excerpt from the book 'Peace of Mind in Daily Life'.
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Teacher: Living in the present moment helps you to avoid worries, fears and anxieties, and
wasting your time on futile and negative thoughts.
If you keep thinking about the past, you allow all kinds of emotions and thoughts to rise into
your consciousness, affecting the way you feel and think. Most often, such reminiscing disturbs
the mind and agitates it, which is the opposite of peace of mind.
It is the same with thinking about the future. It is okay if you devote some time to thinking about
it and planning it, but if you just keep dwelling on it and worrying about it, you are keeping
peace of mind away.
The best approach would be to direct your attention to the present moment, to what you are
doing and what is happening around you at each moment. By occupying your mind with the
present moment you keep your mind busy, and don't make room for worries, anxieties, fears or
unpleasant memories.
Pupil: Do you mean to say that I should not think about the past and the future?
Teacher: Learn from the past and plan for the future, but don't dwell too much on them. You
cannot change the past and you cannot yet live in the future. The only place where you can live
and act is in the present. Actually, what you do in the present affects your future.
Reliving past events in your mind and daydreaming about the past or the future, keep the mind
busy with endless thoughts, but if you focus your mind on the present moment, you don't make
room in your mind for unnecessary and disturbing thoughts or emotions.
Living in the present means that you direct your attention to what is happening now, enjoying it
and making the most of it. By focusing your mind on the present, you don't have time or
opportunity to wallow in useless and negative thoughts and emotions relating to the past or the
future.
Wake up to the present moment and live in it. The past happened and is over, so what is the use
of reliving it?
You lose peace of mind if you constantly live in the past and think and visualize events that have
already happened. You also gain nothing by worrying about the future. On the other hand,
concentrating on the present moment, on what is happening or what you are doing right now,
frees you of unnecessary, burdensome and unpleasant thoughts and emotions, and brings peace
into your mind.
Remez Sasson teaches and writes on positive thinking, creative visualization, motivation, selfimprovement, peace of mind, spiritual growth and meditation. He is the author of several books,
among which are "Peace of mind in Daily Life", "Will Power and Self Discipline", "Visualize
and Achieve" and "Affirmations - Words of Power".
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Blowing snow and frigid temperatures pound
nation
By AMY FORLITI, Associated Press Writer Amy Forliti, Associated Press Writer 4 mins ago
MINNEAPOLIS – Arctic air extended its grip Wednesday with below-zero temperatures
stretching from Montana to northern New England and frost nipping the Gulf Coast.
It was so cold Wednesday in northern Minnesota — 38 below zero at International Falls, with
the wind chill during the night estimated at 50 below — that a couple of ski areas closed for the
day.
Schools from Iowa to Ohio opened late so kids would not have to be out in the coldest part of the
morning. Some schools closed.
The cold wave also bulged into the Northeast, abruptly dropping temperatures in New York state
into the single digits and below zero — after Tuesday's readings in the 30s, the National Weather
Service said. Thermometers read 8 below at Massena, on the St. Lawrence River, with a wind
chill of minus 25 degrees.
Commuters in Albany, N.Y., faced a chill of 6 degrees, with brisk wind making it feel like 15
below zero, but some people claimed they didn't mind.
"I'm a cold weather fan," said Jeff Plant of Colonie, N.Y., as he sat reading a newspaper at an
Albany coffee shop. "I like to see some cold weather in the winter." Later, he said, he planned to
go for a walk "to get some sun."
Near the shore of Lake Superior, Ironwood, Mich., fell to 25 below zero around midnight, then
warmed to an 8 a.m. reading of only 8 below, the National Weather Service said.
Farther south, morning temperatures were just in the 20s from Texas to Georgia, and along the
Gulf Coast the weather service reported a low of just 28 at Mobile, Ala.
The cold was accompanied by ice and snow that glazed pavement and was blamed for numerous
traffic accidents Tuesday from Minnesota to Indiana.
The bitter cold also was blamed for at least one death Tuesday. A 51-year-old man died of
exposure in northern Wisconsin after wandering from his Hayward home.
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The cold kept towing and auto repair companies busy across Wisconsin, along with public works
crews dealing with frozen pipes and water mains.
"We're working basically 24 hours a day with broken mains," said Dave Goldapp with
Milwaukee Public Works.
As the coldest air pushed toward the east, there was a slight improvement on the northern Plains,
where Grand Forks, N.D., posted a low Wednesday of 24 below zero, up from Tuesday's record
low of 37 below. In Minnesota, International Falls dropped to minus 40 on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the wind chill hit 58 below zero at the northern Minnesota town of Hallock, but
Mark Johnson said that once temperatures get to a certain point, the degrees don't matter. For
example, he said, 38 degrees below zero isn't much different than 24 below.
"We're kind of acclimated to it up here up in this country," he said. "Each year, sometime during
the winter, it's going to get to this point. Just as long as it doesn't stay like this for a whole month,
you can deal with the day-to-day getting through it."
New Year’s Resolutions by Scott Bayles
Philippians 3:12-3:16
New Year’s Resolutions
Scott R. Bayles, preacher
There is an old story about a happy little boy who went out into the field wearing a baseball
cap. In one hand he carried a baseball, and in the other his trusty bat. His face bore a look
of tremendous confidence. Cocking his bat, he tossed the ball into the air, saying, "I’m the
greatest batter in the world!" Then he swung and missed. "Strike one," he said. He picked
up the ball, examined it, and then threw it into the air again. As he swung, he repeated,
"I’m the greatest batter in the world." Once again he missed. "Strike two," he said. This
time, he stopped to examine his bat to make sure there wasn’t a hole in it. Then he picked
up the ball, adjusted his cap, and tossed the ball into the air for the third time. He repeated
again, "I’m the greatest batter in the world," and swung with all his might -- and missed for
the third straight time. Now most boys might be discouraged by that, but this boy said,
"Wow! I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!"
Today is the first Sunday of 2004, and as we look back over the last 12 months, I?m not
sure whether most of us would consider ourselves pitchers or batters. One thing for sure, is
that we have all struck out from time to time. So I guess it’s good to be able to start fresh.
Boys and girls are back in school. Young people have headed off to college. And most of us
have recovered from the holiday season and are well into doing our jobs and the activities
of the new year.
As we anticipate the next 12 months, some people might eagerly look forward to what each
day will bring. Others might be filled with dread, worried that this year will be worse than
the last. Like the little with his baseball bat, I would suggest that our attitude will make all
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the difference in the coming year. How we react to its event will largely determine whether
it is a year of victory or a year of defeat.
The Apostle Paul was never one to let circumstances conquer him. Rather, with the help of
God, he was determined to win the victor?s crown. Let me invite you to read Philippians
3:12-16 with me and listen as Paul’s attitude shines through these words.
Philip. 3:12-16 (ESV)
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my
own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. [13] Brothers, I do not consider that I
have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward
to what lies ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus. [15] Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you
think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. [16] Only let us hold true to what we have
attained.
Paul’s personality, I believe, really comes through in these verses. And, with these
thoughts, Paul lays out some principles concerning our attitude that we can carry with us
into the New Year. The first of those principles is...
I. FORGETTING YOUR PAST:
At the end of verse thirteen, Paul said, "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to
what lies ahead..." Humans are very special beings, in that God has given us the ability to
remember. However, your memories can be you friend or your enemy.
Paul had a dreadful past and it could have easily haunted him for the rest of his life, if he
allowed it. He persecuted the church. He used his authority to kill Christians. By his own
admission he said, "I am the chief of sinners." He could have walked around all his life with
this tremendous burden of guilt crippling him and he would never have become the great
Apostle and missionary for God that he went on to be.
Many people dwell on their past failures, mistakes, and sins so much so that they become
spiritually paralyzed, unable to live productively for God. Paul is telling us that we can turn
our past sins and failures over to God and start moving "forward to what lies ahead."
Someone once said, "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we
fall." We’ve failed many times, although we may not remember. We fell down the first time
we tried to walk. We probably almost drowned the first time we tried to swim. Babe Ruth
struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs. R. H. Macy failed seven times before
his New York department store finally caught on. We can’t allow ourselves to become
fixated on our failures. We are all human. We make mistakes. We sin. We fail. But what is
worse, is missing the opportunities that God puts in front of us because we are afraid to fail.
In a Nike advertisement some years ago, a voice came over the television saying, "I’ve
missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times
I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and
over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Those words were spoken by Michael
Jordan, by most standards the greatest basketball player ever to play the game.
God once told the prophet Jeremiah that He would, one day, establish a New Covenant with
the children of Israel. And when He did, He said, "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I
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will remember no more" (Jer. 31:34). That covenant was established when Jesus Christ died
on the cross. Since that day, God’s forgiveness is so complete that it is forgetfulness. If we
have been washed in the blood of Christ, God has forgotten all of our failures and sins. It is
time that we forget them as well.
Let’s follow Paul’s example here, " forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what
lies ahead." The first principle Paul teaches us for the New Year is Forgetting the Past, and
the second is...
II. FOCUSING YOUR PRIORITIES:
In verse fourteen Paul says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus." He prefaced that statement in verse thirteen with "but one thing I do."
Obviously Paul did more than one thing. He made tents. He preached sermons. He planted
churches. He wrote books. Paul did a lot of things.
But what he is telling us is that his top priority in life was to "press on toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call of God." The GW paraphrase renders this verse, "I run straight
toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus." In other
words, Paul’s number one priority was the Kingdom of Heaven! He was running straight
toward that goal, and he was not going to let anything distract him from it.
A while back an expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of
business students. After speaking to them for a while, he said, "Okay, it’s time for a quiz."
He set a one-gallon, wide mouthed Mason jar on the table in front of him. Then he produced
about a dozen tennis-ball-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, inside the
jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this
jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
"Really?" he said. Then he reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He
dumped some gravel into the jar and shook it , causing pieces of gravel to work themselves
down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once
more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was starting to catch on. "Probably not," one of them said.
"Good!" he replied. Then he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He
started dumping the sand in and it filled all the spaces between the rocks and the gravel.
Once more he asked, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted.
Again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour in the water
until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked back at the class and asked, "What is the
point of this illustration?"
One eager student raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule
is, if you try really hard, you can always fit something more into it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is this:
If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all."
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Sermon558/ncumc/1-18-09/Matthew 6:25-34/ “Function in the Present”
What are the big rocks in your life? As you look ahead over this year, what are your
priorities? Jesus said, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these
things will be added to you" (Matt. 6:33). Drawing closer to God through worship, spending
time with Him in prayer, and seeking His guidance for your life by reading His Word -- these
should be the big rocks in your jar.
If you are considering resolutions for the New Year, let me make two suggestions: (1) set
aside 30 minutes every day to read your Bible and pray, and (2) determine to be more
involved in God’s Kingdom. By that I mean, attending the worship and Bible study of the
church and participating in other fellowship and evangelistic activities.
It is a sad, but persistent, fact that many Christians do not make God’s Kingdom a priority
in life. There will be, generally, one third fewer Christians lifting their voices in praise at
6:00 pm than at 11:00 am. Those who feel like they are doing their spiritual duty by going
to church once a week -- punching their spiritual timecard -- are not seeking "first His
kingdom." If we intend to press on "toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly
call offers," then we need to make God and His kingdom our top priority in life.
There is just one more principle that Paul offers us for the New Year, which is...
III. FUNCTIONING IN THE PRESENT:
Please notice verse 13 again. Paul said, "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my
own. But one thing I do:". Notice that Paul did not say, "one thing I will do." He didn’t say,
"one thing I’m going to do," or "one thing I will get around to someday." He said, "one thing
I do."
Paul was living and acting in the present. Many people today try to live in the future. Do you
know what the busiest day in the world is going to be? It’s not Christmas. It’s not the day
after Thanksgiving. It is "someday." Everyone in the world has something scheduled to do
"someday."
Just last Sunday, I was talking with a sister in Christ after our guest speaker discussed his
mission campaign to Russia. She told me that she felt very inspired after his talk and that
someday she wants to go on a mission trip somewhere. And while that is such a noble
desire, the problem is that "someday" is not on any calendar. I’m sure that we’ve all made
plans for "someday," but the fact is, "someday" will never come.
Paul is the ultimate example of living each day to the fullest -- living each day as if it were
your last. When he was imprisoned in Rome, he didn’t sit there stewing, thinking about all
the things he would do when he got out of jail. He wrote letters to churches, sang praises to
God, and even converted some of the people who had imprisoned him! Paul used everyday
to the uttermost.
Benjamin Franklin once said, "Do you love life? Then do not squander time for that is the
stuff that life is made of." It was Abraham Lincoln who first said, "The leading rule for a man
of every calling is diligence; never put off until tomorrow what you can do today."
Perhaps, the saddest example of procrastination is found in the life of the Roman Governor
Felix, who listened to Paul "speak about faith in Christ Jesus. But as he was discussing
righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said,
’Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you.’" (Acts 24:25).
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Sermon558/ncumc/1-18-09/Matthew 6:25-34/ “Function in the Present”
Never again did Felix listen to God’s word. Once he had put it off for a time, as with so
many things in life, that time never came. We all ought to be more like the psalmist, who
wrote, "I hastened and did not delay to keep Your commandments" (Psalm 119:60).
What if there were no church tomorrow because we were too busy to worship God today?
What if God could not hear your prayers tomorrow because you were too busy to pray
today? What if there were no Bible tomorrow because you would not read His Word today?
What if there were no forgiveness tomorrow because you did not stop sinning today? What
if there were no invitation tomorrow because you did not respond today?
Conclusion:
As we embark on the journeys of the this New Year, let us determine ahead of time that it
will be a year of victory! Let us choose our own attitudes and follow the advise of the
Apostle Paul. Resolve to...
Forget your Past: Look beyond the sins and failures of yesterday; learn from them, repent
of them, and then move forward.
Focus your Priorities: Place God at the top of your "to do" list everyday. Worship Him. Study
His Word. Put His Kingdom first in your life and everything else will fall into place.
Function in the Present: Stop living in the future. Do not put off until tomorrow what you
can do today.
Invitation:
This morning the absolute best way to start this year is to become a part of God’s eternal
Kingdom. Focus your priorities by making Jesus the Lord of your life, allow the cleansing
power of His blood to wash away your past sins, and start living your life for Christ
everyday!
The Bible says, "Behold, now is ’the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ’the day of salvation’"
(2 Cor. 6:2). The invitation is open to all! If you are ready to be baptized and begin your life
anew today -- or if you are already a Christian but need a fresh start -- the Lord invites you
to please come...
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