We have been preaching verse by verse,
expositionally through the gospel according to Mark,
! But this morning we're going to take a small break from that.
And I'll ask you, I invite you to turn to Romans chapter 12 with me.
We're going to do this for two reasons.
Firstly, I often fail at teaching very practically.
Giving you, spelling out for you the next steps that our text presents to us.
And I've recognized this for some time as a bit of a failing in my preaching,
and I'm working on it.
Because I know altogether a theoretical Christianity is really of little value.
Just knowing the doctrine isn't quite enough.
The application of the doctrine is of massive importance.
And so I kind of had that rolling around inside my heart.
And sat down to work a little bit on announcements.
There are some things that came to my mind that I think need to be addressed
that would be fitting at this end of the year.
Second reason is that as I did this and prayed about what ought to be done,
having sitting before me completed notes for Mark chapter 14 verses 12 through 25.
Done.
Completely done.
Ready to go.
And having to start over and create notes altogether for this morning.
In fact, my prayer was that that's not be what God would have me do.
So I didn't have to create the notes,
but I'm convinced that this is exactly what he would have me do this morning.
So for those two reasons, we're going to begin in Romans 12, the first part of verse 2.
And then we'll have some topic beyond that as well, which I'll tell you about in just a moment.
So let me read that to you.
It says,
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
Let's pray together.
Father, we do thank you for your word that we have opened before us.
It is a great gift to your church, and we have it in abundance.
Copies upon copies and tools used to understand it.
All of the application of these things is possible ultimately and finally by your spirit,
who illuminates our minds to understand, to rightly understand what your text has to say to us.
I pray today that that will be the case, that you will work a miracle amongst us in my speaking and in the hearing,
that we will be changed by your word.
You will get at the very core of who we are and that our hearts will be transformed.
And we pray this in Christ's name.
Amen.
So Paul exhorts in chapter 12, after his beautiful systematic theology through the first 11 chapters of the book,
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
So there's a process by which we are transformed as Christians.
Putting off the world itself, not being conformed to it, and being changed.
And the prescription he gives here is by the renewal of our minds.
Right here at the end of the year, we've entered into a season where many people make New Year's resolutions.
They resolve to do something or another better, or to start doing something good, or to stop doing something harmful to them.
Always with this positive idea in mind, positive resolves, bent on improvement and moving forward,
putting aside the failures of the previous year and looking forward to the year ahead.
I've always found resolutions to be a little bit trite, because most people keep their resolutions for a very brief amount of time.
This effort to get in shape is one that's often thrown out there.
In fact, the survival of gyms depend on New Year's resolutions.
If you happen to know a gym owner, and if you talk to them about what they must charge to keep the place running,
the people who actually show up and work out at the rate they pay could never keep a place like that open.
What they depend upon is all the memberships they sell at the beginning of the year,
and all the people who never come as a result.
They drop their resolution.
I've always said to myself, why not make resolutions at any other time of the year?
Why must we wait until January 1st of the year?
Why can we not start at the moment we realize we should be doing something differently to move forward?
However, a lot of people do think in these terms around this time of year.
Fresh starts.
And as I know that some of this may be rolling around in your mind,
I think it's appropriate that we make some suggested resolutions to you.
And this was going to be part of my announcements,
and it suddenly turned into two and three and four and now almost five pages of notes.
So I just thought, let's do a sermon on it instead.
Let's start by talking to you a little bit about the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards.
In Jonathan Edwards' biography, he wrote 70 resolutions,
excuse me, in his diary.
In 1723, when he was just 20-year-old, 20s-year-old,
70 things that he was committing his life to,
these resolves, so to speak.
To give you an example, the first and longest one, he says,
Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory
and my own good, profit, and pleasure in the whole of my duration
without any consideration of the time, whether now or never so many myriads of ages hence.
Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good
and advantage of mankind in general.
Resolved to do this whatever difficulties I meet,
how many and how great whatsoever.
So he set forth these 70 things by which he would live his life.
And in much simpler format today, I want to give you seven suggested resolutions.
I will say to you that these are things for me that I am still working in,
that I am still growing in,
that I am still not being conformed to the world,
and I'm still being transformed by the renewal of my mind.
Paul's writing in Romans chapter 7 resonates with me so much,
beginning in verse 21,
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right,
evil lies close at hand.
For I delight in the law of God in my inner being,
but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind
and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Wretched man that I am,
who will deliver me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So that I myself serve the law of God with my mind,
but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Chapter 8, verse 1,
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So as we devote ourselves to new things or improvement of things,
in the new year we can celebrate that we are found righteous before God,
that we've begun by grace and that we continue by grace.
So seven suggested resolutions.
Firstly, pray more.
Pray more.
I know that this is a church that prays, that values prayer,
but we can certainly pray more.
As those who hold the sovereignty of God so high
and seem to understand it so well,
I fear that we often set prayer aside as if it doesn't matter at all
because we know that God is ultimately and finally in control.
But God uses the prayers of His people to accomplish His will.
I think we often have the attitude of Job in Job 21.15
where he says,
What is the Almighty that we should serve Him?
And what profit do we get if we pray to Him?
Paul's exhortation is much different than Job's attitude in chapter 21.
1 Thessalonians 5.17
He exhorts the Thessalonian believers to pray without ceasing.
And in Philippians 4.6-7, he says,
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God.
And then a promise comes with that.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I consider myself a praying person.
I lift lots of things up to God.
But I have recently been convicted of my faithless prayer.
But I often ask things of God,
not really expecting that He'll answer my prayers.
An example of a story that happened not too recently,
I serve as the chairman of the board of directors
for the Dahlonega Care Center here in town.
And after our last board meeting,
there were some issues that were particularly vexing to me.
And after our meeting,
Wes and I talked about them at length.
A couple of days later,
in fact, this was Monday on Wednesday morning,
I gave him a call with the very same issue on my mind.
It had been bothering me all of that time.
The thing that was constantly running in the background of my mind.
And I realized as I was talking with him
that I was having the exact same conversation.
Like nothing had changed from Monday evening to Wednesday morning.
Nothing had been resolved.
There was really no new thing to address concerning it.
And I realized that I had yet to really pray about it.
Mentioned it, sure.
But yet to really say to God,
God, ultimately,
you are fully and finally in control of this thing.
There's nothing I can do about it apart from you.
And I'm giving it to you.
I'm not going to be anxious about it.
I desire the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.
And so when I got off the phone with Wes,
I was driving the boys up to my mom and dad's house to spend the day.
And I mean, a 10-second prayer.
Lord, I don't know how to work this thing out.
I don't know what's going to become of this circumstance.
But I know that you have to do it.
And I set it aside.
And in the hour I was visiting with my father,
I got an email which needed a phone call in response
about an entirely different thing.
And the thing I was concerned about came up in that conversation
and was totally resolved.
Like fixed.
Set.
Forever.
This issue was.
Incredible.
And the thing that popped into my head as I'm having this conversation
is the words,
you do not have because you do not ask.
One of Edwards' resolutions,
Resolution 29,
he says,
So in plain English for you,
he says,
never to count it as a prayer unless I know that God can answer it.
And if it's a confession,
that God will accept that confession.
And I find this to be true of myself sometimes.
And I think the same would be true of you.
We ought to pray more than we do.
And we ought to be very intentional about the way in which we pray.
I think we're all guilty of saying to somebody,
somebody's sharing with you,
something going on in their life,
and you say to them,
I'll pray for you.
We've all done this.
And then we never do.
Why not stop in the moment and pray?
It doesn't have to be a lengthy prayer.
Say to somebody,
I'll pray for you.
In fact,
why don't we pray now?
Or,
set some specific time aside.
Write down the prayer.
Be sure to pray for that person.
Think about the people in your life and make lists.
We have wonderful things.
Writing utensils and digital ways that we can record things.
Why not set specific time aside
and pray through the concerns of our life
and those who are around us?
Set specific time aside.
Closet time.
Quiet time.
Where you get alone with the Lord
and offer up to Him
those things that concern you.
In addition to that,
utter prayers throughout the day.
Spend time in prayer.
Pray continually,
without ceasing,
as Paul exhorts,
as you're encountering the little things of the day,
to stay connected to the source of all good things
and offer those things up to Him.
Journal.
Is anybody in here journal?
Prayer journal?
I don't.
It's something I'd really like to do.
Good for you,
the two that do it,
I think I saw.
Right?
What a wonderful way to keep an account
of the things that you've been praying
and the way in which God answers those prayers.
There are wonderful biographies that you can read
that are essentially people's prayer journals.
The accounts of the way in which they petitioned God
and the way in which He answered.
Use these as tools.
I think that most people these days have smartphones.
I'm an iPhone user,
so speaking to those of you who have iPhones,
there's this really, really great app
that comes with it called Reminders,
and you can set reminders for yourself
to pray about things specifically.
Our church leadership doesn't know this,
but I have reminders programmed into my phone
throughout the week to be praying for them,
and it pops up a reminder,
and I'm prompted then to pray
for our church leadership.
There's wonderful tools at our disposal.
Reminders will remind you at a location.
It locates you by GPS
and tells you to pray
when you get to a place
or when you're leaving a place.
We have such wonderful things
at our disposal
to pray more in 2015.
So let me encourage you
to make that a resolution this next year.
Secondly,
be resolved to read the Bible more.
To read the Bible more.
Beloved,
our God has given to us
a book that He wrote
under the inspiration of the Spirit
by various authors,
but a book nonetheless that He wrote.
It was breathed out by Him,
and we neglect it.
We do not know the Bible
the way that we ought to.
Resolve 28 of Edwards,
resolved to study the Scripture
so steadily,
constantly,
and frequently
as that I may find
and plainly perceive myself
to grow in the knowledge
of the same.
He wanted to be able
to mark out and measure
that He understood
and He knew it
from day to day,
week to week,
month to month,
that He was coming
to a growing knowledge
of the very Word of God.
There's a promise
that comes with this.
Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.
Trust in the Lord
with all your heart,
and do not lean
on your own understanding,
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make straight
your paths.
I want my paths to be straight.
I hope you do too.
There's a joy that comes
from studying and knowing
and keeping the Word of God.
Psalm 119, 9-16.
How can a young man
keep his way pure?
By guarding it
according to Your Word.
With my whole heart I seek You.
Let me not wander
from Your commandments.
I have stored up Your Word
in my heart
that I might not sin against You.
Blessed are You, O Lord.
Teach me Your statutes.
With my lips I declare
all the rules of Your mouth.
In the way of Your testimonies
I delight as much
as in all riches.
I will meditate on Your precepts
and fix my eyes on Your ways.
I will delight in Your statutes.
I will not forget Your Word.
The very essence of Christian living
is that we are fueled
by the very words of God.
There's a sanctification
and there's an equipping
that comes by it.
2 Timothy 3, 16-17.
Paul writes,
All Scripture is breathed out by God
and is profitable for teaching,
for reproof,
for correction,
and for training in righteousness.
That the man of God
or woman of God
may be complete
and equipped
for every good work.
It's the way in which
our minds are transformed
and we're no longer conformed then
to the world.
It's by the Word of God.
So practically,
you need to make a plan
for how it is
you will study
the Word of God.
Beloved, Sunday morning
is not enough.
The 30-45 to an hour
that I give you
is not enough.
You must be saturating yourself
with the Word of God.
It is the very bread of life
for you.
So here's a couple of suggestions
for you.
A new one for me,
the first one.
Choose a book of the Bible.
Start with a short one.
It's good to build habits
with achievable goals.
Start with a short one
like an epistle.
Let me suggest to you
the book of Ephesians.
Read that book
in its entirety.
Whether you do that
in one sitting
or you do it over
chapters at a time
or a couple of verses
at a time,
read that book
in its entirety.
Then repeat step two
20 times.
Repeat step two
20 times.
Read it in its entirety
in whatever format you do it
20 times
and repeat the whole process
for every book of the Bible.
You can have a great deal
of understanding
of the Scriptures
if you'll do something
like this.
You could plan to
read the Bible through
in a year.
There's lots of
Bible reading plans
for yearly Bible reading.
It's a great way to do it.
There's nothing
particularly holy about it.
It doesn't make you
a better Christian
because you cram it in
into a year.
You've got to keep up
and you've got to struggle
through some things
like Numbers
and Leviticus.
But many Christians
have never read
all of the Scriptures.
Have no idea
what it says
in some places.
And for those of us
who have
you go back sometimes
and you read and you go
what?
Like nutty stories
that happen
and we just totally
forget them.
That they even exist.
So let me encourage you
at some point in your life
to do this
and maybe to do it
periodically.
To set yourself
on a schedule.
To plan on reading it
through in a year.
We have a really
really fantastic
chronological Bible
reading plan
that helps you
lay out the Scriptures
in the way in which
they happened
in history
versus the way
they're organized
in our Bibles.
I don't know if you
know this or not
but the Old Testament
is organized
by types of books.
So it can get
a little confusing
as to when these things
actually happened.
A chronological Bible
reading plan
is a great way
to see the Scriptures
unfold before you.
There are many other
fantastic ways
to do that.
Lastly,
let me suggest to you
which has been
my typical habit
in studying the Scriptures
and that is to choose
a book of the Bible.
Again,
pick a short one.
Ephesians is a fantastic
one to work through.
And in day one,
the first time you sit down,
read the entire book.
Remember that
the book was written
as a book.
In this case of Ephesians,
it's a letter.
So it's addressed
to a particular people.
Read the whole thing.
That's the way
they would have heard it.
Not given to them
a verse at a time
but they would have
heard the entire thing.
So read the entire book
and get the context
set properly for you.
And then in the following days,
read carefully the text.
Read it carefully
until God arrests
your attention.
So read it until
something sticks out to you
and you go,
that is an interesting word
and I never noticed it before.
What does it mean?
Does something
arrest your attention
and your heart
is turned towards God?
Right?
The sleepiness of the morning,
right,
or the troubles of the day
suddenly are far and distant
in your mind
and all you want to know
is God revealed to you
in the text.
What you're reading
right there before you,
right?
Your heart is saying,
oh,
what is this new thing
that I'm now seeing
and I want to understand
in a greater degree?
And then take that thing
and meditate on it
throughout your day.
Right?
Do this
until you get to the end
of the book
and then pick a different book
and keep moving on.
Right?
A fantastic way
to study the scriptures.
There are many other ways
to do the same
but those are three
that I think are useful
in your study
of the Bible.
So,
think about,
consider making that
a resolution
in 2015.
Thirdly,
read more books.
Just in general,
read more books.
I'll say Christian
or otherwise,
although I would strongly
encourage Christian writing
upon you.
And I say read more books,
not just read more
because there's lots
of reading to be done
these days on the internet.
There are lots of articles.
We call them blogs
so readily
and they have value
but it's very,
very difficult
to totally divulge
all that there is
to say about a particular topic
in an article.
Right?
There's lots of holes
that are left
in that type of thing
but books tend
not to do that.
Good books
tend not to do that.
There are plenty
of poor books
out there.
Christian books
are fantastic.
If they're well written,
they expose to us
the Scriptures themselves.
A great way
to test this
is to look at the back
of the book
and see if it has
a Scripture index.
And if there's many,
many pages
of references,
probably a good book.
Many books
claim to be Christian books
and barely use
the Scriptures at all
or they use them
very, very poorly.
But we can come
to a better understanding.
Beloved,
we have access
to theologians
throughout history
through books.
They have written down
what they believe
to be true
on a particular topic
and we can sit down
with that person
and understand
what they would have to say.
I hope,
and this may not be true
of all of you,
but I hope
that if suddenly
Jonathan Edwards
were here,
they could sit down
with us
and we might ask
him a question
like,
what do you think
about the freedom
of the will?
And that we would
sit there
and eagerly listen
to the answer
that he would give us.
I hope that you would
jot down many,
many notes.
Guess what?
He wrote them down
for you.
He did it.
He organized it
in a way
that you can sit down
and approach
and wrestle with
and come to understand
in a greater degree.
It's a blessing.
There's too many books
out there.
I will say,
we could get rid
of probably 90%
of them
because they're junk,
but there's a lot
of really good books
to be read.
The average person
reads 300 words
per minute.
The average page
of a book
contains 300 words.
The average book length
is,
it's actually 350 pages,
but let's go with 300
so we can remember easily
across the board.
So which means
if you read
for 30 minutes a day,
five days a week,
for 50 weeks,
so we're going to give you
two weeks off
in the year
and two days a week off,
you can read 25 books
in a year.
It's pretty incredible,
right?
And it's not okay
to be a Christian
who just doesn't like
to read.
Oh, I just don't like
to read.
Well, guess what?
The way that communication
is translated
is through words.
And Sunday morning
is not enough,
so where's it going
to come from?
Got to get into books.
The book
and books that talk
about the book.
Right?
So let me challenge
you to something.
I'm not going to challenge
you to read 25 books
this year.
I wipe some sweat
off your forehead.
Let me challenge you
to read five.
Five books.
Read five books.
And let me challenge
you to specifically
read some Christian books.
Five Christian books
in this next year.
They're bountiful.
You can get PDFs
of books, right?
Free.
All over the place.
I'm going to suggest
a few to you.
So here's my short list.
Really difficult to do
for my study
to pick five books.
There are many other
really fantastic books,
but I'm going to suggest
five to you.
So if you have no idea
where to start,
here's five really
fantastic books.
The Pursuit of God
by A.W. Tozer.
I'm going to jot this down.
I'll leave them up here
after the service.
The Pursuit of God
by A.W. Tozer.
A really, really fantastic read.
Finally Alive
by John Piper.
Finally Alive
by John Piper.
The Trellis and the Vine
by Colin Marshall
and Tony Payne.
Sorry, Tony Payne.
Right?
Wonderful book.
Worship,
The Ultimate Priority
by John MacArthur.
It's not about music.
And then Good Biography
is always fantastic.
So George Mueller
of Bristol,
this particular copy,
not this particular printing.
George Mueller of Bristol
by A.T. Pearson.
Right?
Good Biography
will encourage
your Christian living.
Right?
All about
350 pages.
Okay?
Can be done
in a year.
Let me encourage you
to set yourself to that.
And you may be saying,
well, Nathan,
but you're a pastor.
Like, you've been given time.
Like, we pay you
to study
and to understand things
and to know things.
It's easier for you.
I agree.
For me to read
five books in this year
is not a difficult task.
Right?
Not a difficult task at all.
Well, let me tell you
what I'm doing
in this next year.
I'm reading 50 books
in this year.
Right?
So I've got to
chew through one a week
to be able to accomplish
this goal.
If you step down
into my study,
you'll see the big stack
on my desk,
which is that.
Those are the books
that I'm intending
on reading
in this year.
So if I can do this
by the grace of God,
the last couple of months
I've been practicing
getting to that pace
of reading a book a week.
If I can accomplish this,
you can certainly
do five.
Pick good books
that point you to
the Word of God.
So make it a resolution
to read more books
in 2015.
Fourthly,
I think I'm on the right count.
Fourthly,
eat better.
Yes,
eat better.
And most people
don't know this
by coming here
and first glance,
but we are a
Southern Baptist church
and Southern Baptists
are notoriously good
at observing some things,
some things that aren't
even law,
and really great
at neglecting others.
Proverbs 23,
1-4 says,
When you sit down
to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully
what is before you
and put a knife
to your throat
if you are given
to appetite.
Do not desire
his delicacies
for they are
deceptive food.
And to understand
a little bit more
what's being written here,
do not toil
to acquire wealth,
be discerning enough
to desist,
to stop,
to recognize
that there is
an abundance
in our consumption,
that we go above
and beyond
what we ought
to consume.
Paul says
in 1 Corinthians 10-31,
So whether you eat
or drink
or whatever you do,
do all
to the glory of God.
And the major point
that I would make
to you
is that
we as a people,
as an American people,
are relatively unhealthy
in the way
we eat.
And it seems to me
that if I want to
fit myself for service,
if I want to be active
in kingdom building,
that the less
I struggle
with physical ailment,
the better off
I am
to serve the Lord
in the things
I'm doing.
Now certainly
sin exists in this world,
just eating well
and exercising
does not accomplish
that in its entirety.
Sin still runs rampant.
There are going to be
people who eat
the strictest of diets
and avoid everything
that everybody says
causes cancer.
They're going to stay
completely away
from all of that
and they're still
going to get cancer
and die.
It's going to happen.
But,
the knowledge
is at our fingertips.
We know what is
and isn't good
for the most part
for us.
It seems to be changing
kind of from week
to week too,
doesn't it?
But we ought
to strive,
we ought to endeavor
to be as healthy
as we can be
for the sake
of serving
the kingdom.
Again,
listen to Edwards.
Resolve 20,
resolved to maintain
the strictest temperance
in eating
and drinking.
Resolve 40,
resolved to inquire
every night
before I go to bed
whether I have acted
in the best way
I possibly could
with respect
to eating
and drinking.
And elsewhere
in his diary
he wrote,
By a sparingness
in diet
and eating
as much as may be
what is light
and easy
of digestion,
I shall doubtless
be able to think
more clearly
and shall gain time,
number one,
by lengthening
out my life,
number two,
shall need less time
for digestion
after meals,
number three,
shall be able
to study more closely
without injury
to my health,
number four,
shall need less time
for sleep,
and number five,
shall more seldom
be troubled
with the headache.
Edwards had actually
systematically
really paid attention
to what he ate
and how it affected
his ability
to serve
in the kingdom.
Edwards,
on most days,
studied for 16 hours.
A phenomenal application
of his mind,
and he tailored
his diet
in such a way
that he could achieve
that very thing,
like an athlete,
training his body
so that he could
understand the word
of God
and then rightly
tell it
to his people.
As a side note,
Edwards primarily
ate vegetables
with little bits
of meat,
so just a little note
for you there.
We have,
again,
resourced,
our church
has a lot
of families in it
that eat
very,
very healthy,
so if you're
interested
in changing
the way you eat,
please do.
I will tell you again
a little personal story.
I have for over a decade,
since I was about 21,
I'm now 34,
about to be 35,
experienced lots
of muscle
and tendon pain,
been in quite a lot
of pain.
Like most days,
I just didn't want
to get up
and get going.
And this last year,
through a massive change
of diet,
which is how I discovered
I'm allergic to couscous
because I never would
have eaten couscous
previously,
have found that
much of my pain
and discomfort
is tied to diet.
I feel phenomenally better.
Still experience it,
still struggling with it,
I think I'm still
in a bit of a healing process,
but feel way better.
Sugar,
being the primary thing
that seems to cause me
to ache.
In fact,
when I stopped
consuming sugar altogether,
started drinking
primarily water,
I felt like
I had been kind of
living in a fog.
It was really hard
to keep focus.
And it's like
the fog lifted
and I could think
more clearly.
I could apply my mind
more readily.
And I have,
in the meantime,
cheated a few times
and immediately,
I mean immediately,
I feel like I'm back
in that fog again.
Difficult to think,
just want to go to sleep.
Right?
It's killing us.
All this refined sugar
and corn syrup
and things
that we're eating.
Right?
Some people process it better.
We all know people
who are going to live
really, really
to old ages
and eat horribly.
Right?
But let me encourage,
generally,
for you to do some research,
ask some folks
in our church,
and eat more healthy
in 2015.
All right.
Fifthly,
lead your family
better.
Lead your family
better.
And I mean,
specifically,
by leading in
family worship.
There are a lot of things
that we need to be doing,
men,
women as well,
in the leading
of our family better.
But specifically,
let me think about,
talk to you about,
by leading in family worship
this next year.
And I will tell you up front
that I struggle
with this one.
The schedule of our house,
trying to deal with
a four-year-old
and a two-year-old,
trying to get them
to sit still
in our home.
It's a little bit easier
here, in fact,
but trying to get them
to sit still
and try to pay attention.
Speaking to them
at their different levels
is really challenging.
Sam and I ebb and flow
out of success
in leading family worship
well.
But the Scripture says to us,
Deuteronomy 6,
6 and 7,
And these words
that I command you today
shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them
diligently to your children
and shall talk of them
when you sit in your house
and when you walk by the way
and when you lie down
and when you rise.
Many Christian homes
are altogether devoid
of the Word of God.
We spend lots of time
doing lots of other things,
lots of energy,
but yet we don't teach
our children
the most important thing,
the only thing
that's going to have
eternal significance
for them.
If Christians would spend
even half the time
teaching their children
the Word of God
that they do,
running around
teaching them
to be good ballerinas
and football players
and baseball players,
etc.,
our children would be
so much better off.
God has a multi-generational
idea in mind
in the presentation
of the Gospel.
Psalm 78, 5-7 says,
God established
a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law
in Israel
which He commanded
to our fathers
to teach their children
that the next generation
might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise
and tell them
to their children
so they should set
their hope in God
and not forget
the works of God
but keep His commandments.
I don't know for sure
but I think Paul
has this in mind
in Ephesians 6-4
when he says,
Fathers,
do not provoke
your children to anger
but bring them up
in the discipline
and instruction
of the Lord.
We need to be
leading our families.
Fathers in this room,
you are the pastors
of your families.
I'm your pastor,
you pastor,
your family.
And the things
that I think are necessary
in family worship,
it's going to vary
dramatically from age to age
but we need to be reading
the Scriptures
to our children
or something that speaks
of the Scriptures
to the little ones,
discussing it,
asking them questions,
making sure they understand,
praying with them,
singing with them,
and memorizing with them,
memorizing Scripture
or working them
through a catechism.
The reason Aletheia Way
is so simple
is that it's not my job
to teach your kids.
I'm hoping to give them
something that will get
some energy out of them
that gives you some support.
So you can go home
and sing the songs
that we sing on Sunday mornings.
We've got a Scripture
memory verse
that we're doing
approximately one per month.
You can pick up
your favorite version
of a catechism
and work on that with them
that we build the truth
into our children.
Some people call it
brainwashing.
I don't care.
I want their brains
to have access
to really, really good,
solid information
so that their hearts
will be changed.
Pump the information
into them.
We'll say to you
that when you do this
isn't all that important.
The Puritans,
which value family worship
very highly,
did it both in the morning
and in the evening
of every single day.
There is no way
I could pull that off
in my home.
I have really seriously
considered getting it done.
There's just no way
that we could pull it off.
We typically do really well
doing it once a week
at dinner time.
We pick a dinner time,
a day of the week
that we're going to do it.
Consistency, I think,
is the most important thing
that we're spending
a very consistent amount
of time with our kids.
There are wonderful resources
for the young ones.
The Jesus Storybook Bible,
many of you are familiar with.
I have this read with me
which actually is not
really great theologically,
but this same guy,
Dennis Jones,
has a see with me Bible
that's just pictures
and they're awesome.
This is Sam's favorite
illustrator.
So just to give you
an example,
there's John the Baptist.
You guys can see
from far away.
Really good, right?
Like, totally shifted
the way I thought
of John the Baptist,
but pretty awesome.
He's got a big split
between his front teeth.
It's cool.
So really,
but the see with me
is really, really fantastic
if you want to just tell
your children the story.
I read this morning,
intentionally,
read this morning from you
from the Big Picture
Storybook Bible.
Very Christocentric
as well as the
Jesus Storybook Bible.
fantastic ones
for the little ones
to tell the stories
to them.
If any of you are
friends with us on Facebook,
you'll note the one thing
I asked for for Christmas
was a felt board set,
which I found out
to my great pleasure
that it was copyrighted
in 1966,
which means it's the exact
same felt board set
that I would have seen
as a child.
Unfortunately,
I have to cut out
every one of the pieces
myself,
which I'm not looking
forward to,
but I'm going to start
doing some storyboarding
at home with the kids
to help them engage
in the story.
So,
set aside a time,
make it a resolve
for you for 2015
to lead your family
better in the act
of family worship.
Number six,
resolve in 2015
to give
more
generously.
To give more generously.
Luke 12,
turn to Luke 12
with me.
Get a drink of water.
Luke 12,
it's one of my favorite
parables that Jesus told.
Luke 12,
beginning in verse 13.
Someone in the crowd
said to him,
Teacher,
tell my brothers
to divide the inheritance
with me.
But he said to him,
Man,
who made me a judge
or arbitrator over you?
And he said to them,
Take care
and be on your guard
against all covetousness
for one's life
does not consist
in the abundance
of his possessions.
Now,
let me stop for a minute
and note there,
he says,
be on guard
against all covetousness.
Not just having stuff
and coveting it,
but also wanting things,
right,
that you don't have,
thinking that the abundance
of possessions
will bring you joy.
Verse 16,
And he told them
a parable saying,
The land of a rich man
produced plentifully.
And he thought to himself,
What shall I do?
For I have nowhere
to store my crops.
And he said,
I will do this.
I will tear down my barns
and build larger ones.
And there I will store
all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my soul,
Soul,
you have ample goods
laid up for many years.
Relax,
eat,
drink,
be merry.
But God said to him,
Fool,
this night your soul
is required of you.
In the things you have prepared,
whose will they be?
So is the one
who lays up treasure
for himself
and is not rich
towards God.
Right?
Let that sink
for a moment.
Now,
this parable is not
a warning against
saving.
It's a warning against
storing up for yourself
to the degree
that that is
the consistency
of your life.
Like we said before
in verse 15,
life does not consist
in the abundance
of possessions.
The Proverbs tell us
to observe the ant
who stores up
for the time
when there is no food.
It is okay
that we do these types
of preparatory things.
In fact,
year before last,
Sam and I were very
carefully saving,
getting ahead.
We had gotten ourselves
a month ahead
in our savings.
We had money
sitting aside
in the savings.
If we somehow
didn't have an income,
the guys decided
to get rid of me,
we would have had a month
stored up.
It was really fantastic
and I felt so very good
about that,
but I wasn't really sure
exactly why
we were being led
to save
in this way.
And then,
we got our taxes
all taken care of
and discovered
that the accountant
that was taking care
of our deductions
here for the church
had done it wrong
and I owed
quite a bit more
than I thought
that I had anticipated
owing.
And in fact,
it came up within,
once I paid the accountant
the fees to sort it all out,
within about $20
of what we had saved
in that year previous.
So,
as Sam and I
kind of lamented
that our savings
was gone,
I said,
well,
at least we know now
what God was having us
save it for,
right?
He was very aware
of what was going
to happen.
But we ought to give
generously to the kingdom
of all of our resources,
our money,
our time,
and our talents.
I know many people
in this room are young
and they don't really
have money,
but you have time
and you have talents
and we must
prioritize giving
to the kingdom of God.
The example
in the Old Testament
of giving
is the tithe
that it was meant
to be done
off the top,
the very first,
the first fruits,
right?
Not what's left over
at the end.
Let me take care
of these obligations
and then I'll give
by setting first
and foremost
an obligation
to the Lord
to say,
this is ultimately
and finally His.
I will give
to kingdom work.
And the other,
and I will say to you
that if you have a home
and you have a car,
which is okay to own,
you own those things,
you also need to see
those things as belonging
to the Lord
and use them in ways
that serve His purposes
as well.
You've got to prioritize it.
Let me encourage upon you
envelope budgeting.
Set money aside
specifically for the expenses
that you know
you have coming up.
I would include
kingdom giving
in that.
Sam and I plan
every single month
exactly what we budgeted out
for the year,
exactly what we're going to give
as a standard,
and then we try to go
above and beyond that
at times
to prayerfully consider
if we should give more.
We consider that
as an overflow
when God is very,
very good to us
in our finances.
Envelope budgeting
ensures that you'll have
what you need
for your necessities
as well as being able
to give.
The average family
that uses envelope budgeting,
some kind of a system,
saves 10%
of their household income.
So,
you're having difficult time
giving to the church?
Well, guess what?
Start paying attention
to your budget
and the statistic holds
that you're going to have
10% free up.
Wouldn't that be
a wonderful,
wonderful thing?
The average evangelical
only gives 2%
of their income,
which means
a lot of evangelicals
don't give anything
at all,
and a lot give
much, much more
than that,
but 2%
is a sad,
sad number.
Prioritize.
As far as giving
your time
and talents
young people,
use a calendar.
It is a fantastic tool.
A day planner
if you would like to.
Once again,
technology serves us
so well in this way.
You have tools
at your disposal.
Plan time
to study.
Plan some time
to hang out
with your friends.
And if it's not that time,
then do something good
with your time.
I know you feel
very busy,
right?
I sympathize with you.
I was there
once upon a time
quite a while ago.
I know you feel
very, very busy,
but you have
so much time.
Go ahead and start
being a good planner
of time
and using your time well
because if you don't
start doing it now,
you're going to find
that once you get married
and have a job
and a family,
you're never going
to make time
to do things
for the kingdom.
Jesus gives this warning
in Matthew 6,
verse 19-21,
Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth
where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves
break in and steal.
But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven
where neither moth
nor rust destroys
and where thieves
do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is,
there your heart
will be also.
The way in which
we spend our resources
says something
about what we care about.
I hope
that you'll be resolved
in this next year
to give more generously.
2 Corinthians 12-15,
I want this to be
something that sticks
in your mind
that we could
repeat these words
that Paul writes
to the Corinthians.
I will most gladly
spend
and be spent
for your souls.
Seventh,
and lastly,
be resolved in 2015
to make
more
disciples.
Most of us
are familiar
with Matthew 28,
19-20.
It's called
the Great Commission.
Go, therefore,
and make disciples
of all nations,
baptizing in the name
of the Father
and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them
to observe
all that I have
commanded you.
And behold,
I am with you
always
to the end
of the age.
Beloved,
it is our job
as disciples
of Jesus Christ
to make disciples
of Jesus Christ.
If we were to follow Him,
we're to be about
His work.
The Great Commission
is a commission
to go.
It's a in your going,
as you're going.
The Great Commission
is not just for
the foreign missionary,
but it is for
all of us
who claim
the name
of Christ.
And it's go.
It's not invite
to come.
And it's okay
if you invite people
to come,
but it's take
the gospel
with you.
It's not lean on
a trained professional,
and I have no training
by the way.
But,
the professional
to present the gospel,
but it's you
going and sharing,
passionately loving people
with the truth
of Jesus Christ.
There's an old
nomiker
that is thrown out
all the time
in mission circles.
You have three options.
Go,
send,
or be disobedient.
I think that's been
incredibly damaging
to us.
You have two options.
Go,
or be disobedient.
The sending
can be part of the going.
Certainly,
the way in which
we go and love
and serve
can certainly mean
that we support
those who are going
further,
who are going beyond,
those who may need
to make a full-time
living in the advancement
of the gospel.
But rightly,
we should all
be going.
And the question
always gets asked,
though,
but am I equipped
to do this?
I don't know.
I don't know
that I know how
to go and make
disciples.
And there are some
practical things
to learn and to do
to gain knowledge
in,
to be sure.
I hope if you're
sticking with resolution
number two
to read your scriptures
more,
you're gaining
all of those things
that you need.
But I'll say to you
very simply,
if you want to know
if you're equipped,
if you're a Christian,
yes.
You've responded
to the gospel
so you understand it
enough to share it
with somebody else
and you have
the Spirit
of God.
In our study of Mark
chapter 13,
remember what Jesus said
to the apostles?
He's talking about
all the things
that are going to happen
to them,
the places that they're
going to go,
all the stuff
that's coming
their way.
Ephesians 7,
verse 11,
and when they bring
you to trial
and deliver you over,
do not be anxious
beforehand what you
are to say,
but say whatever
is given you
in that hour,
for it is not you
who speak,
but the Holy Spirit.
We have a helper.
The Great Commission
says,
and lo,
I'm with you
even to the end
of the age.
We have a helper,
one who even goes
before us.
Prepare the hearts
of people to hear
the gospel message.
Once again,
this is a thing
in which we need
to be deliberate.
I have walked into,
happened upon,
gospel conversations,
but more often than not,
these things happen
when I prepare for them,
I have a person in mind,
a time I'm going,
I know so-and-so works
at such-and-such place
at such-and-such hour,
and I've been praying
toward a chance
to meet with them
and to share
the gospel with them.
Be deliberate.
Take some time
this morning,
right now,
to think of three people
in your life
that you know
are not believers,
and set in your mind
in 2015
that you're going
to look for opportunities
to share the gospel
with them,
that you're going
to pray for them,
that it might be a hope
that they too
will become disciples
of Jesus Christ.
If you love
and cherish
the gospel,
you adore
the glory
of our Lord,
you should want
people to be
following you
in that way.
Think of three people
that you could share with.
Think of more,
by all means,
right?
Three is not really enough.
Think of those spheres
that you walk in.
You may be the only person
that can share
the gospel of Jesus Christ
with an individual
in those circles
that you run in.
Think of three people.
Do it now,
right now.
Think of three people.
They don't pop
into your head readily.
Spend some time
doing that today.
This is trite.
I would never issue this
as a serious
and real challenge to you,
but just as a thought.
Just a thought.
What if?
As a what if circumstance.
What if we each
made one disciple
next year?
Whether that's somebody
who's a fairly nominal Christian
who's maybe responded already
in faith to Jesus Christ
but needs to be brought along
and grown up
to the place
where they can then
share their faith
and bring people up
in the same way.
Or somebody who doesn't
know the gospel at all
and you present the gospel
to them for the first time.
Your discipleship of them
begins with your teaching them
the gospel itself
and they come to faith
and you work with them
to the place
where you grow them up
that they can also then
go share their faith
and make another disciple.
Do we believe
that God desires
to save people?
I hope we do
because He does.
It's what He is here about
and He's given us
this commission
to be His ambassadors
in the world
to be about the ministry
of reconciliation.
We're a small crowd
this morning.
Not our normal crowd.
Our after Christmas
college students
home.
A lot of people sick.
Crowd.
I think there are about
70 people in the room.
So let's just use that
as a number.
And if all of us
in this next year
were to make a disciple
that 70 would become 140.
And the next year
that 140 would become 280.
And that following year
that 280 would become 560.
And that following year
that would become 1120.
I'm going to lose the math here
in a second.
We need to begin moving
away from addition.
A little here
and a little here
and a little here.
Our church grew by
10 people this year.
Praise God for those 10 people.
But we need to be moving
beyond that
from addition
to multiplication.
Believing that God
has plans
for this place.
And it includes
the redemption
of His people.
And that's not a small
little crowd
but a number
that will not
be able to be
counted one day
in heaven.
We need to set ourselves
to this task.
These things
are the things
that make up
the Christian life.
The other stuff
is the details.
The jobs that we work,
the family activities
that we involve ourselves in,
those are just the details.
But the way that we're supposed
to be driven
is towards these types
of things.
Edwards'
resolution number six
resolved
to live
with all my might
while I do live.
Number seven
resolved
never to do anything
which I should be
afraid to do
if it were the last
hour
of my life.
We waste
far
too much
time.
Let me encourage you
to make it a
resolution
to make
more disciples
in 2015.
Let's pray together
for the grace
to do so.