New Year, New Day

[0:00] Well, thanks for joining us today. I'm Pastor Steve Frenzmeyer. I'm one of the associate pastors at First Christian Church in Greensburg, Indiana. So I'm glad that you're with us today, and I pray and hope that we can just have a good time together and that we can explore God's Word a little bit together as well.

[0:17] So if you would, let me go ahead and pray, and we'll get started. Father God, I just thank you for today. Lord, I just thank you for your Word and how you are constantly using your Word to mold and to shape us into the person that you've called us to be.

[0:32] Lord, bless our time here today, and bless your Word as it speaks to us. And we pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. So usually when I preach and talk, I start off with a story because I just think stories are kind of fun, and they kind of create a picture for what we're going to discuss today.

[0:54] So at our house, a normal summertime routine is something like this. Rio, which is our dog, wakes me up somewhere in the early morning hours and wants to go outside.

[1:07] So I get up, I let him out. He does his business and then comes back in. And so what I do is I leave the door just slightly ajar so that he can get in real easily.

[1:20] Now, at this point, unfortunately, I haven't taught him how to close the door, but he can at least open it and get back in. But, you know, we're still working on that. So once he's back in the house, he comes to my bedside where I've already gone back to.

[1:36] And what he does is he tries to wake me up so that he can get his morning belly rub. On this one particular morning, I let him out, you know, and I go back to bed as usual.

[1:47] And then a few minutes later, you can hear him running across the kitchen floor, down the hallway, back to the bedroom. And Rio comes to my side of the bed and wants to play and have his belly rub.

[2:00] And I just said, you know, Rio, go away, you know, go away. So what does he do is he goes to the other side of the bed and wakes up my wife, Tracy. So Tracy gets up and immediately screams, Steve, there's a dog in our bedroom.

[2:13] Well, my intelligent response was, oh, yeah, it's just Rio. And then she exclaims, Steve, no, we have two dogs in our bedroom.

[2:25] Two? Well, I hop out of bed and to find Rio and his newfound friend, an adult female pit bull. Yes, you heard correctly, a full-grown adult pit bull.

[2:41] And so I try to get this pit bull out of our bedroom. And the situation heightens when she jumps on our bed. And fearing what an adult pit bull can do, you know, I was just really kind of scared what to do.

[2:53] And so I grabbed her by the collar and started trying to drag her off the bed and then down the hallway. And then by this time, all of our kids are charging out of their bedrooms to see what in the world all the ruckus is.

[3:06] And which that only intensifies the situation as well. As the pit bull is going through such an overload. I mean, she's just going nuts at this time. So the pit bull is pulling me in all different directions.

[3:17] Rio is going nuts because he wants to show his newfound friend, give her a tour of the house as we're going through it. The kids are loud, you know, wondering what in the world is going on.

[3:29] Finally, we get to the back door and get the pit bull out of the house. And we all take a deep breath and a sigh of relief. And the chaos and the circus is over.

[3:42] Whew. You know, it's amazing how life can be turned upside down in just a single moment. In one moment, life is good.

[3:53] Life is quiet. Life is peaceful. Life is comfortable. And then in an instant, boom, everything changes. It goes from good to bad.

[4:04] From quiet to loud. From peaceful to chaos. All in a single second, life can change. You know, a phone call.

[4:15] An accident. A doctor's report. A bad choice that we make. And in that moment in our life, as we come to know it, it just comes to a complete standstill.

[4:27] And sometimes, our life as we know it just ceases to exist as we know it. And I know the year 2024 was like that for many of us. A year where our lives were just turned upside down.

[4:40] And you know, I understand. We went through that with our family this past year as well with the news from a doctor. And sometimes, over the course of time, our world, our life, can become almost unrecognizable to us.

[4:55] I'm not the person I used to be. Or I'm not even the person that I want to be. So whatever is going on, whatever it is that has happened, whomever we are, or whomever we think we are, whatever it is, we need and want to change in our lives.

[5:15] I'm not happy with the way I look, so I'm going to exercise and diet. I'm not happy with my spiritual life, so I want to go to get up early and read my Bible. I'm going to pray more.

[5:27] I'm going to go to church more. I'm going to go to a Bible study. I'm not happy with my marriage, so I'm going to concentrate on my relationship with my spouse.

[5:38] Now, you know, these are all good things. And these are all good things that improve our lives and our relationship with God and our spouses. Well, so there you have it. All the problems are solved, so let's go home.

[5:51] Well, I wish it was that easy, don't you? And then, so if we know all the things that we need to do, why don't we do it? So here we are, just a few days away from the beginning of a new year, 2025.

[6:09] And some of us will make New Year's resolutions. But did you know that 80% of the resolutions that are made never come to fruition? 80%? Well, that's a lot.

[6:21] You say, wow, that is crazy. So why do so many quit their New Year's resolutions? And I think it's for several reasons. One is we just have unrealistic goals and expectations.

[6:33] Number two is we're just not disciplined enough to do the things we want to do. Sometimes it just takes way too much time and energy for us to do.

[6:45] Sometimes we just don't care enough to work out the resolution that we have. And sometimes we just don't know how to make it happen. Now, it's good to have goals.

[6:57] It's good to have plans and a vision for what we want to be and what we want to do. So let's have a plan and a vision for what God is calling us to do.

[7:08] But let's also add this twist. Instead of the great big picture, the whole year ahead of us, let's take it one day at a time.

[7:22] Let's take life one day at a time. Why can't we enjoy each day as it comes along and enjoy the blessings of that day instead of getting lost in our goals, plans, and visions?

[7:35] Now, don't hear me wrong, okay? We need to be focused on the goals and have our eyes on the prize. We need to have that focus. But we get so caught up in the goal and prize that sometimes we forget about living.

[7:50] When I was in college, there was a very popular saying going around. It was called Carpe Diem. And Carpe Diem is Latin for seize the day. And what that means is that we need to enjoy every moment of life as it comes along and take advantage of every opportunity that life has to offer us.

[8:11] So as a Christian, every moment that we have and every opportunity that God brings us is a blessing. So the first chapter of Genesis recounts the creation of the light of the world, the heavens and the seas, the trees and the grass that cover the ground, and every living creature, and then man and woman.

[8:33] God took six days to create everything. So here we are, the God of the universe. He could have just snapped his fingers and everything could have come into existence just like that.

[8:47] But he purposefully took six days. You might wonder why. Well, I believe there's a couple of reasons. One is just to give us a pattern.

[8:59] A week is seven days, a finite period of time. And then also the reason why it took six days is to give us an opportunity to appreciate each and every day.

[9:13] So during creation, after each day, God looked back over what he had created, and he said that it was good. So do we take time to appreciate the blessings of each and every day that we have?

[9:28] Most of us probably not because we are already focused on what the rest of the week will look like. We get focused on tomorrow, and we look past the blessings that are going on right in front of us at that very moment.

[9:41] So if you remember the Israelites, after they left Egypt and they were in the wilderness for 40 years, God provided for them. Then the Lord said to Moses, I will rain down bread from heaven for you.

[10:00] The people are to get up each day and gather enough for that day. Exodus 16.4 Each day, God provided for what they would need.

[10:13] And guess what? Even though God provided their every need, they complained about it. Mom, what are we having for lunch? Manna.

[10:24] Again? Come on. I'm sick of manna. We've had fried manna, sautéed manna, manna stew, manna jumbo, manna alfredo, manna pizza.

[10:35] I'm tired of manna. And they complained to God about it. Numbers 11 verses 4 through 6 tells us, The rabble with them began to crave other food.

[10:50] And again the Israelites started wailing and said, If only we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost. Also the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, onions, and garlic.

[11:03] But now we have lost our appetite. We never see anything but this manna. You know, they actually said those words to the Lord. Each day is a blessing from God.

[11:16] But most of us never take the time to see it. We get blessed by God every single day. And sometimes we even complain about it.

[11:28] Can you imagine that? Complaining about being blessed. Well, we can take a major tangent just right there. But we want to save that for another time. So the question then becomes, How do I live in the moment?

[11:44] Well, the first thing is, We should not worry about tomorrow. Matthew 6, 34 says, And this is Jesus speaking. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow.

[11:56] For tomorrow will worry about itself. You know, here's a few stats about worrying. 43% of adults say they feel more anxious now than they did from the year before.

[12:11] And 85% of what we worry about never even happens.

[12:23] You know, I can remember, Before I came on staff here in the church, I can remember my first management position. I had an hour drive to work from home, And I absolutely hated my job.

[12:37] I had a boss who was always undermining me, And some of my co-workers were just some of the meanest people I ever met. And so going to work each day was just a chore.

[12:49] I looked forward to every weekend. But on Sundays, right after church, I would start to think about Monday and the rest of the work week. And my worry would totally take away the rest of my Sunday.

[13:02] I would waste my Sunday afternoons worrying about Monday and the week ahead of me. And I was also looking forward to the weekends. Once the week started, I was looking forward to the weekends.

[13:15] And so I robbed myself of so many blessings along the way because I worried. Worry steals.

[13:26] Worry steals. Worry steals our time. And binds us from the blessings already around us.

[13:37] In Matthew 6, 25-27, Jesus tells us, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about what your body will wear.

[13:50] Is not life more important than food? Is the body more important than the clothes? Look at the birds in the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns.

[14:02] And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than they? Who of you, by worrying, could add a single hour to his life?

[14:15] I love the way the French philosopher, Michel de Montaigne, said, My life has been filled with terrible misfortune, most of which has never happened.

[14:29] You know, by worrying, we are missing out on life because we are not trusting God with our tomorrows. We're just simply worrying. But we have to realize that God provides our daily needs.

[14:44] So if you remember, when Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray, his prayer included, Give us today our daily bread.

[14:55] Jesus taught us that the Lord will meet our needs. Now, one of God's names is Jehovah-Jireh, which translates to the Lord will provide.

[15:07] God will provide what we need and right when we need it. And he does it every single day for us. Jesus taught it. Abraham lived it.

[15:19] God provides for each of us each and every day. The other thing is, is that God carries us every day. Psalm 68, 19 says, Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

[15:41] Are you tired? Maybe you're weary. Are you wondering where you're going to get the strength to function each and every day?

[15:53] Well, please remember that God is carrying the load for you. So you don't have to. God knows our strength and how long it will last.

[16:03] He knows there's only so much that we can carry at one time. The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.

[16:15] He will not grow tired or weary. In his understanding, no one can fathom. He gives the strength to the weary and increases the power to the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.

[16:30] But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, and they will run and not grow weary. And they will walk and not be faint.

[16:42] From Isaiah chapter 40, 28 through 31. And then Lamentations 3, 22 through 23 says, Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

[16:58] They are new each morning. Great is your faithfulness. Each day we receive God's strength.

[17:10] Each day we receive his mercy. So are you tired? Are you just physically and just emotionally just spent day by day, each day, every day, God is present and active in our lives.

[17:27] He never tires. He never gets weary. He never gives up because he is faithful. And his strength is more than enough for each of us.

[17:38] Did you hear that? God is an endless source of strength. And that strength, the strength of God, is more than able to sustain us in all of our weaknesses.

[17:51] And we also need to have a daily walk with Christ. And then he said to them, all of them, whoever was to be my disciple must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

[18:09] Those are Jesus' words in Luke chapter 9, verses 23. Right there, just in that little verse alone, there is just so much that we need to break down.

[18:20] Jesus tells us that following him is a choice. A choice that each and every single one of us must decide on at some point in our lives. Am I going to give my life over to Christ so that he can not only be my Savior, but also the Lord of my life?

[18:38] Will I give Jesus first place in my heart and life? And will I follow his instructions that are not rules just to confine me and to confine my life, but instructions to protect me and to keep us on the narrow road?

[18:54] And if we say yes to Christ, if we say yes to him every day, following Christ is a daily decision. Today, Christ will be first in my life.

[19:07] Today, I will put Christ's will for my life ahead of my own desires and dreams. Today, I am following Christ, and Christ is not following me.

[19:19] I am following him. So here we are, in the final moments and hours of the year 2024. And some could argue that 2024 was a great year.

[19:30] And some could play out just like, you know, 2024 cannot be gone soon enough. And in our minds, we think that the new year offers us a new beginning and a new start.

[19:44] And some of us hope that 2025 will be our year. But instead of focusing on 2025, instead of focusing on 2025, let's just focus on today.

[20:02] I love the words of the old hymn. I don't know about tomorrow. I just live from day to day. I don't borrow from the sunshine, for the skies may turn to gray.

[20:14] I don't worry over the future, for I know what Jesus said. And today, I'll walk beside him, for he knows what is ahead. Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand.

[20:28] But I know who holds tomorrow. And I know who holds my hand. You know, we're not guaranteed a tomorrow.

[20:39] Today is this moment that we have right now. So let's live in the moment that God has given us. And let us celebrate like the psalmist did in Psalm 118, 24.

[20:51] This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. So every day, every moment, it's a blessing from God.

[21:06] Unless you take full advantage of each and every day that we have. And then I promise you that it will be a great 2025, as long as God is at the center and Christ is leading us.

[21:20] I hope these words have encouraged you this morning or whenever you're listening to this. And so if you would, let's just pray together right now. Father God, I just thank you for your words today.

[21:34] Lord, I thank you that you are always working in our lives. Lord, that you give us moments in life that we should take advantage of and just live to the fullest because we don't have that moment again.

[21:48] So allow us to enjoy each and everything that you've given us and each and every moment to live. Let us take full advantage of it, Lord, as you ask us to.

[22:01] It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, I want to thank you for tuning in today. And I pray again that these words were encouraging to you.

[22:12] And if you would like to further talk, you can give us a call here at First Christian Church, 812-663-8488. Or you can find us on the web at FCCGreensburg.com.

[22:25] We'd love for you to come and worship with us in person. But if you're too far away, I pray that you would find a Christ-believing church close by you that you can get plugged in to serve the Lord and find fellowship.

[22:39] Just want to let you know that God loves you. And I pray that 2025 is your year. God bless you. Thank you.