Everybody wants to turn to James chapter 1.
James chapter 1.
I believe it's important for us to get a fresh start.
They're on the field right before the game,
and the field reporter will stick a mic in their face,
and they'll say something about the other team's strengths
or the other team's playmakers or something.
And any good coach will say,
we've got to get off to a great start.
We need to get after it.
Under Dabo, Clemson wins 93% of the time
when they're leading at halftime.
They weren't leading at halftime yesterday.
A good start is important,
not just in football,
but it's also important in the basis of life.
If you buttoned up your shirt this morning,
and if you started with the wrong buttonhole,
you probably didn't figure it out
until you was almost finished.
But the reality is,
this problem was from the start.
You have to start out right.
Church, God has blessed us
with a wonderful 2025.
He's been wonderfully good to us,
and I am very thankful for that.
Amen?
He's good to us.
He is.
And as we bust into a new year
with a new steeple,
I want us to do it right.
I want us to do it right as a church,
but I want it to be right as individuals too.
And I can't think of anyone
who speaks more to where we are in life
than James does.
When I think of James,
I think of where the rubber meets the road.
James pulls no punches.
Speaks right to the heart of the matter.
And I believe that's the way we need to look,
where we need to look,
as we start out the new year.
Let us be advised by James this morning.
James chapter one,
beginning in verse 22.
It says,
but be doers of the word
and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer,
he's like a man who looks intently
at his natural face in a mirror.
For he looks at himself
and goes away
and at once forgets what it was like.
But the one who looks into the perfect law,
the law of liberty,
and perseveres,
being no hearer who forgets
but a doer who acts,
he will be blessed in his doing.
And if anyone thinks he's religious
and does not bridle his tongue
but deceives his heart,
this person's religion is worthless.
Religion that is pure and undefiled
before God the Father is this,
to visit orphans and widows
and their affliction
and to keep oneself unstained
from the word.
The first step
to starting a year outright
is to be a hearer
of the word.
I don't want you to miss that.
He says we don't need
to only be hearers
of the word
but I want you to understand
we need to respond to,
we need to respond to what we hear
but we first,
we need to hear it.
So,
I want to begin by talking about
how we start right.
I believe
that you need to start
your year out,
actually start each day out
with the word of God.
You need a daily dose
of God's word.
It's not like popping a vitamin
and moving on.
I mean,
we need to pause
with God's word.
And I don't believe
it will happen
in most of our lives
if we don't have a plan.
So,
let's get one.
I don't believe
it's a one size fits all.
Everyone has their own
leanings in this
and I get that.
We can provide you guidance
in this area
with a lot of options.
A lot of options.
I'm going to give you
some this morning.
But,
most of those options
that I'm going to give you
and I want you to hear this
before I ever say it.
Well,
you can't hear it
before I say it
but anyway.
That's getting ahead of me.
Don't get ahead of me.
Before I ever explain it,
I want you to hear this.
Most of the options
that I'm going to mention
this morning
will carry you
through God's word
in a year.
If you want to read
the Bible through
in a year,
they will do it.
If you've never done that,
I encourage you
to try to do that.
We need all of God's word.
It's good to take
the whole thing in.
However,
be clear.
We're not pausing
in this worship hour
to have everybody
who's read the Bible
through to come up
so that we can give you
a trophy.
Just because you skim
through the genealogies,
just because you skipped
over some of the senses,
I don't believe
when I get to heaven
he's going to pull me
inside and say,
good,
well done,
servant.
you've read the Bible
through multiple times
because the reality is
when you're trying
to read three
or four chapters,
some of you
have been on this journey,
you'll admit it,
when you're trying
to read three
or four chapters
on a rough schedule,
you don't have a clue
what you just read.
Okay?
So,
I'm not devaluing
the value
of taking in
all of God's Word.
And almost every plan
that I give you
today
as options
will do that
for you.
But I want you
to hear
what's most important
about that
is to not
just be
a hearer
or a reader
of God's Word
but a doer.
We have a lot
of options.
At every
door
including
by my side
here
and at the front door
there's an offering
box.
And on top
of that offering
box
is a bookmark.
A bookmark
that we've
customized
from
a book
that I read
in 2008
called
The Divine Mentor
by Wayne Cordero.
If you need
something to motivate
you to read
God's Word
go pick up
Divine Mentor
from Wayne Cordero.
It's a very
inspiring work
that tells us
the importance
of taking in
God's Word.
And then he gives
us a plan
of how to do
that
and to read
through the
Old Testament
once
and to read
through the
New Testament
twice.
The wonderful
value of this
is that you
get some
Old Testament
and you get
the New Testament.
The reason
why I don't
do chronological
studies through
Scripture
on my daily
Bible time
is because I
need Jesus
every day.
I need the
New Testament
every day
and so I
like some
of that.
And so
I leaned
on this
particular
bookmark
and this
particular
reading plan
for years
as well
as his
way of
not only
being a
hearer
but a
doer
of the
Word
and it
still
changes.
It's changed
in my
devotional
life when I
read that
book.
Made it
a lot
more
consistent
in pattern
and made
a lot
more
meaningful
for me
and this
bookmark
comes off
of that
study and
it's a
great way
to keep
up with
it.
It's a
quarterly
bookmark.
We replace
those on
the Sunday
before the
quarter starts
hopefully and
they put
those out
for you and
get those
out so you
can see
those.
The bookmarks
are wonderful.
There was a
man that
lived in
the 19th
century named
Robert
Machain and
Robert
Machain only
lived to be
I think 29
years old.
He died
young but
his influence
was huge in
the days in
which he
lived.
Never any
more than
his reading
plan, his
Bible reading
plan.
And it
is a
it's got
a we've
got this
flyer out
here on
the information
center for
you this
morning.
It gives
a great
explanation
of his
philosophy
behind it,
why he
does what
he does,
the way
it's written
out and
the whole
bit.
If you
want to
read through
the Bible
in a year
you can
pick up
the Machain
plan and
do that.
And it's
a classic
that many
Bible reading
plans are
based off of
Machain
because he
kind of set
the standard
for that.
And then
there's one
that I did
this past
year and I
thoroughly enjoyed
it, plan to
do it again.
It's called
the five-day
reading plan.
And again,
this plan will
take you through
the word of
God in a
year.
You get some
old and some
new every day
in that plan.
And it's out
there on the
information center
just like that.
And what it
does, lets you
cheat a little
bit.
It gives you
readings for
Monday through
Friday.
That don't mean
you don't take
in God's word
on Saturday
and Sunday.
Hello.
That's not
what that
means.
That means
you catch up
from what you
missed.
That's what
it means
because you
ain't perfect.
Or you can
always go to
a psalm on
a day when
you don't have
a reading.
There's a
psalm, there's
five psalms for
every day because
there's 30 days
in a month and
there's 150
psalms.
And so there's
several ways you
can work that
out.
There's also a
chapter of
Proverbs for
every day of
the month.
There's 31
chapters of
Proverbs.
And so if I
get to a point
where I'm caught
up with everything
and I've read
everything and the
first thing I do
is look to
Proverbs for the
proverb of the
day.
Today is December
the 28th I believe
it'd be Proverbs
28 and you look at
that.
And it gives you a
great way to take
in God's word
every day.
Our ladies have
been a part for
the last two years
of a plan called
Bible Recap.
The Bible Recap
plan takes you
chronologically
through scripture
and they, I
believe the
strongest thing
about Bible
Recap is the
resources that are
related to it.
There's a wonderful
podcast where
somebody explains
to you what you
read that day
and if you didn't
read it it lets you
cheat a little bit
and find out what's
going on.
And then there's
also a
commentary, a
little leather
bound commentary
that you can buy
to go with it.
And it's a great
explanation of what
you've read.
Helps you tremendously
if you're reading the
Bible chronologically.
I love the
enthusiasm that was
around that and
when that kind of
took off in the last
couple of years.
But when I looked
at it, like I told
you, I'll just be
honest with you, I
got to have some New
Testament every day.
I didn't want to
wait until October
to read the New
Testament.
And that's some of
what you deal with
with that unless you
have a plan to read
the New Testament as
well.
It takes you through
the entire Old
Testament and the New
Testament afterwards.
And then there's a
book that is, if
you're more of a
workbook kind of
person, there's a
book called
Foundations by
Robbie Gleddy and
he's a pastor at
Long Hollow in
Nashville, Long Hollow
Baptist in Nashville.
It's a wonderful way to
take in God's word
every day.
And on each page, it
gives you a reading
for the day and then
it gives you an
explanation of what
you've read and then
it gives you some kind
of application question
to do.
So if you're a
workbook person that
likes to respond to
that, Foundations is
great.
Let me tell you the
strength behind this
as well as these
bookmarks.
If you have a family
that you would like to
go along with you on a
Bible reading plan,
there's a Foundations
book for kids, there's a
Foundations book for
teens, there's a
Foundations book that
only goes through the
Old Testament, there's a
Foundations book that
only goes through the
New Testament, there's a
Foundations book that
goes through all the
Bible.
And so if you want to,
and I encourage you to do
this, piggyback a family
altar or devotional time
based upon your reading,
everybody's reading the
same thing.
They don't read as much
as you do and those type
things, but they're
reading the same thing.
Same thing with this
bookmark.
There is a kid's journal
that this ministry provides
as well for kids to read
just a couple of verses
or maybe if they're a
little older, about six
verses or maybe if they're
a little older, a half a
chapter that goes along
with the same reading that
you'd read when you're
following the bookmark.
And we don't have all
that out there, but I can
sure give you links to
that and share what that
is.
There's a teen version of
that or what I call the
light reader.
Somebody don't want to
take it all in but want
to take in something.
There's a lot of resources
out there and there's a
lot there and I'll be
happy to help you.
My number's on the front
of the bulletin.
You text me anytime and I'll
be happy to help you or
call me because I want you
in God's word every day.
I'm not concerned about
how many verses you
consumed for the day.
Don't brag to me and come
up and say, you know what?
I read Isaiah while I was
watching game day the other
day because I won't be
impressed.
Okay?
Because if I ask you
something about Isaiah,
you don't have a clue what's
going on, but you know
who's playing today.
So the reality is you need
to come up with a plan to,
you know, and reality, and
as well, these Bibles today
are broken down and given
subtitles to where you can
find how to read small
sections of scripture and dig
into that and just a lot of
ways out there.
And I don't want to be
confusing with that.
I just don't want you to have
any excuses that there's not
something out there for me.
Start right.
The second thing is, and this
is more important than that,
in my opinion, is go deep.
Go deep.
Take the time to take it in.
Breathe it in.
This is key.
I want to give you a new
acronym.
I'm not big on acronyms, but
I thought about all the things
that I think you ought to do
in your time with the Lord,
and I came up with a little
acronym.
One is settle.
Take a breath.
Pause.
Some of y'all are so busy in
life, you've got to take a
pause.
And if you don't have time for
a pause, you're too busy.
I always tell people if they
can't get up early enough, ask
God to give you the strength to
get up 15 minutes earlier and
watch and see if he does it.
Trust him in it.
Set your alarm for it, and then
trust him in it because he will.
He'll provide for you.
I promise you.
But the first thing you do is
just settle.
Don't rush into it.
Don't barge into the throne.
Settle.
Sit down.
Take a breath.
And settle.
And then pray.
Lord, you know what weighs on me
today.
You know what I need to hear
better than I do.
Show me.
I ask him to highlight a verse
for me today.
Illuminate the scriptures.
Shed light on them.
Help me to understand them.
Third thing is read.
You actually need to read it.
Slowly.
And as you read it, observe.
Don't just read it to say you
read it.
Look for the application in the
scripture.
Our men on Tuesday morning just
got done reading a book called
The Life God Blesses.
I meet with men at 6 a.m. on
Tuesdays and another group at
9 a.m.
I have the overachievers and the
sluggards.
And we meet at 6 and 9 and we
read a chapter of a book each
week and then we talk about it.
And we read The Life God
Blesses by Gordon McDonald.
And another one of his works,
he talks about how he's a
frequent flyer and that makes
him, allows him to get
upgrades along the way.
And he's able to sit in an
exit row quite a bit on most
flights.
And that gives you more leg
room and it also gives you a
little bit of responsibility
there.
And when the flight attendant
comes by and if you'll sit in
the exit row, they always come
by and ask you, have you read
the instruction card that tells
you how to open the door in
case of emergency?
And they look at you and say, I
need a verbal answer.
And he gave her a verbal answer
and he fudged a bit.
He'd flown before, he hadn't
looked at the card.
And she was smart and senses
dishonesty and called him out on
it and said, and if emergency
happens, I'll be depending upon
you to open the door.
Dozens of other people will be
relying on you too.
So are you sure that you know
what's on that card?
And he said, suddenly she had my
attention.
Aren't we the same way about the
counsel of God through his word?
We say we read God's word, but do
we?
So I encourage you to read it, observe
what it's saying, and then
understand.
What is it that God is showing me?
There's a personal application
there and sometimes we don't even
know why it's brought to our
attention.
There's times when God will
highlight a verse to me and I'll
know that is the verse that he
would have me to see for that day,
but I don't see the application in
my life at the time.
I don't know how I'm supposed to
use that verse to encourage
somebody else this day.
And then later on that day, I find
out why he led me to that verse.
So there's personal application
there and sometimes we don't even
know why it's brought to our
attention.
Sometimes it brings immediate
conviction.
We know exactly why God had us read
that verse that day.
And sometimes clarity will come
later in the day, but I'm asking you
to take time to marinate on it.
Meditate.
Ruminate.
Let it steep like tea.
Let it marinate like meat.
Let the truth simmer.
Slow down.
Take a few minutes.
Don't take long, but just take a few
minutes.
And then trust him.
And then trust.
Go live what he's shown you,
trusting the Lord that he'll lead.
Jesus often used agrarian terms
because he was around farmers a lot.
So he uses a lot of stories about
farming and the best kind of growth
in the kingdom of God and in the life
of the believer is organic growth.
That is seeds planted in fertile soil
and watered and nurtured and encouraged
to grow.
And that's why you need to sprout this
coming year.
To grow.
May new growth come.
Not only in the life of our church,
but may new growth come in our individual lives.
That will not happen apart from taking in
and the application
of God's word.
Some of us take in God's word like
like my dog eats her supper.
There ain't no way she could taste any of that.
She gobbled it down.
You know, I'm not a whole lot better myself,
but still.
Take it in.
And then James goes on to tell us
how to apply it.
Stop wrong.
We will not get right
if we don't stop doing wrong.
And James emphasizes
not just hearing the word of God,
not just reading the word of God,
but responding to it in obedience.
And he starts with our mouth.
We need to learn to watch what we say.
And scripture tells us
that what we say
is a key sign of who we really are.
Jesus put it this way
in Matthew chapter 12, verse 34.
He said,
for out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaks.
So in other words,
if we fix our heart,
our mouth will follow,
but a sure sign for us,
and sadly,
an indication to others
is what comes out of our mouth.
So let's be open enough
to let God show us
through the Holy Spirit
what needs to change
in our hearts
and in our lives.
stop.
Stop.
What's wrong?
And sometimes
in our devotional life
when we read God's word
or maybe when we sit
through a sermon,
God will show us something
and we'll get convicted
about that
and we'll know what that is
and we'll know
how to respond to that.
Even if we don't do anything about it,
we'll know
what we're supposed
to do about that.
and some of us
won't need
to read God's word
or to hear a sermon
to know what's wrong
in our lives.
Some of us already know
what it is.
It weighs on us.
We're chained to it.
It won't seem to leave
and what James is saying is
stop.
What's wrong?
You got three days
to get your heart set on that.
Might want to go ahead
and do it today.
Well, let's start out the year
stopping.
Something in our lives
that's wrong
and we know it is.
It's a great start.
Lastly, aim high.
Aim high.
Notice again
what he says
in our last verse.
He says,
It's a religion
that is pure
and undefiled
before God the Father
is this,
to visit orphans
and widows
and their affliction
and to keep oneself
unstained
from the world.
In other words,
we are to be God-centered,
not stained by the world.
We are to be
not only God-centered
but we're to be
other-centered,
ministering to those
that need it.
And he mentions
the vulnerable here.
And so let's look out
for those that need it
the most.
I'm thankful
that there is
a lot of ministry
in this church
that ministers
to a lot of people
in a lot of different ways.
And not only is that
done corporately
as you give
through the offering
and as we use
that money
for mission opportunities
both locally
and afar.
But in addition
to that,
life groups
come behind
things
and help
people
along the way
and then there's
individual efforts
and nobody
outside the life group
knows what they're
doing to help.
Sometimes they may not
even know
the specifics of it.
And then there's
people in this church
who help people
that nobody else
even knows about.
Christmas was provided
for for several
less fortunate families
and it was not done
through a whole church
effort of us
raising funds
to do that.
It was done
through life groups
and individuals
that provided Christmas
for families
who could not have
Christmas otherwise.
Besides the hundreds
of shoeboxes
and the thousands
of dollars
to Lottie Moon.
So much of that
is happening
and we don't even
know what that is.
love gifts
were sent out
to our homebound.
We don't even know
what all those things
are quite honestly.
It goes along
with what Jesus said
in Matthew chapter 6
verse 3 and 4
when he said
but when you give
to the needy
don't let your left hand
know what your right hand
is doing
so that your giving
may be in secret
and your father
who sees in secret
will reward you.
Take care of the needs
that God lays
upon your heart
and if no one
sees it
it's okay
God sees it.
He sees it.
He'll take care of you.
I mean remember
how Jesus summed up
the whole law
as they tried
to pinpoint him.
He said in
Matthew chapter 22
he said
you shall love
the Lord your God
with all your heart
with all your soul
and with all your mind.
This is the great
this is the great
and first commandment
and the second
is like it
you shall love
your neighbor
as yourself.
My friend
that
that is
is what
settling
before the Lord
and praying
before the Lord
and
and reading
God's word
and observing
what it says
and understanding
how that applies
to our lives
and then trusting
God with it
that's what
sprouting
looks like.
It's taking in
God's word
and then living
in response
to it
and what I'm
trying to share
cannot be summed
up any better
than the way
the psalmist
wrote it
in Psalm chapter 1
when he said
blessed is the man
who walks
not in the counsel
of the wicked
nor stands
in the way
of sinners
nor sits
in the seat
of scoffers
but his delight
is in the law
of the Lord
and on his law
he meditates
day and night.
He's like a tree
planted by streams
of water
that yield
its fruit
in its season
and its leaf
does not wither
in all
that he does
he prospers
and I want you
to be clear today
without the word
of God daily
there is a slow
digression
happening
in your life
it's like
straddling a boat
by a harbor
that's not tied up
it might be slow
but it's going
to be bad
before long
the digression
is from going
around
and Psalm
1-1
tells us
exactly what it is
from going
around
listening to
the wrong
people
to
put verse 1
back up there
for me
I want them
to see this
to listen
to the wrong
people
that's counsel
of the wicked
to stopping
and taking in
what sinners
are doing
that's standing
in the way
of sinners
to then plopping
down and making
yourself at home
with people
who are sarcastic
people who are
negative
people who are
dismissive
people who are
unbelieving
I've heard it
said this
this way
scoffing is
unbelief that
laughs
so it does
not have to
listen
that is
exactly the
opposite
of what God
wants for you
and me
in 2026
he wants us
listening
applying
and living
it
and if
we lack
God's
word
it will
not
happen
so if
you want
to grow
and make
2026
a year
to sprout
new
spiritual
growth
in your
life
begin
with the
word of
God
start
out
right
and I'll
be clear
nobody's
keeping a
record
this is
between you
and God
it really
don't start
there
that's a
continuation
of something
that should
have already
started
if you
close out
this year
and you
look at
your life
and you
realize
that there's
never been
a time
in your
life
when you
surrender
your life
to Jesus
if you
look at
your life
and you
realize
there's
never
been a
time
when you
have
asked
the Lord
Jesus
to forgive
you of
the sin
in your
life
and you've
acknowledged
that you've
done wrong
and you've
never asked
him to
forgive you
of that
sin
and to
come into
your life
and empower
you to not
do the same
things you
used to do
and to
change your
life to
live for
his honor
and glory
and to
decide that
you don't
want to
make your
own
decisions
anymore
that you
want him
to make
the decisions
for you
and you'll
follow his
lead
if you've
never
surrendered
your life
to the
Lord
Jesus
if you've
never
asked God
to save
you
I want you
to know
there's not
a better
way for you
to close
out a year
than to say
Lord Jesus
I give you
my life
and I ask
you to save
me
and if you've
never done
that we're
going to
stand in
just a
moment
we're
going to
sing
and as
we sing
I don't
want you
to hesitate
they'll
let you
out
I promise
you
they'll
get out
your way
step
down
and say
pastor I
need to
be saved
and if
you have
done that
but that's
a private
matter for
you
and you've
never
acknowledged
that publicly
I'll tell
you there's
nothing
biblical
about having
a private
faith
as a matter
of fact
Jesus said
if you're
saying to
me
before
men
I'll
be ashamed
of you
before
my
father
in other
words
it's
not
real
if you
don't
tell
others
about it
if it
don't
show
and Jesus
by his
commission
and by
his
example
tell us
that the
first steps
of obedience
is to
follow that
with baptism
to publicly
acknowledge
a private
faith
through
baptism
and if
you've
never
been
baptized
as a
believer
as we
stand
to sing
I want
you to
come
and say
pastor
I need
to be
baptized
I want
to begin
the year
with
baptism
we're not
going to do it
today
we'll line
it up
but
you come
maybe you're
here and
God's
led you
to
First
Baptist
Church
and you
know
that
you've
worshipped
with us
you've
never
committed
to be
a part
of
here
but
you
know
this
is
where
God
would
have
you
to
be
I
encourage
you
to
come
obey
God
start
the new
year
out
with
a
new
church
that
you
know
this
is
where
God
would
have
you
to
be
we'll
guide
you
in
what
all
that
means
and
for
everybody
here
let's
pause
a moment
Brian
wants you
to sing
but you
don't
have to
okay
you can
bow your
head and
pray
and say
God let
me in
this year
right
start
the new
one
right
if you
need to
come to
this altar
do that
you do
that
if you
need a
pastor
to pray
for you
I'll
be
happy
to pray
for you
if you
can do
that
where
you
are
you
do
it
where
you
are
you
don't
get
too
many
opportunities
to
start
right
so
praise
God
let's
start
out
right
start
anew
amen
Lord
Jesus
thank
you
for
your
love
and
for
your
lesson
help
us
to
respond
to
your
obedience
in
Jesus
precious
name
amen