“What you can do to win in 2010!”
Introduction:
Welcome to Blessed Hope Bible Church; we are so glad to have you as a part of our ministry, and we hope that you will enjoy today’s message. You can also follow us on the web at www.bhbcstl.org, that’s www.bhbcstl.org.
As we come to the end of 2009, and welcome 2010, if we believe the Mayan Calendar that has gained popularity over the past few months, then all of us have only two years to live, because the human race is scheduled to become extinct in 2012.
Now I want to be sensitive to those of Mayan descent who
still occupy much of
In fact, I do not believe any prediction that is not supported by the Word of God; whether it is Nostradamus, Mayans, or my cousin who had too much eggnog over the holidays and began prophesying about future events.
Now some would say, “What about the wise men that came from the East seeking the baby Jesus? Wasn’t their predictions based on the stars and not the Bible?” Well, my response is that their prediction was in line with the Word of God because they were seeking the Son of God!”
Remember, the wise men did not have access to the scriptures as we do today, and so it would have been consistent with God’s revelation to use the stars and whatever else to reveal His plan for humanity. In Psalms 19, David says, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows forth His handy work…”
Listen, in these times, the church does not need ancient calendars, stargazers and pseudo-prophets predicting the future…we have the Bible. And the Bible has a simple message about the future concerning those of us who trust Jesus for salvation: We win!
But it gets better: We do not have to wait until the end of the world to win. I Corinthians 15:57 says, “but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now this passage refers to having victory over death, the greatest enemy to the human race. Which begs the question: “If we as believers have victory over death, then why are we experiencing defeat against lesser enemies such as doubt, fear, anxiety and our past?” “And what can we do to live in the victory that we already have because of Christ?” “What can we do to win in 2010?” Forgive the use of this pun, but at least when someone asks you what the sermon was, you at least can tell them the title.
Now there are seven things you and I can do to make 2010 a special year. So get out your Bibles, and follow along with us as we look at each of them. And I am giving them in order of importance.
Forgive everyone!
If you want to win in 2010, your first order of business is
to forgive everyone who has wronged you.
And I mean everyone! Listen, your
cousin who borrowed fifty dollars and is not going to pay it back…forgive
em! That person who lied on you…forgive
em! The one who disappointed you…forgive
em! Regrettably, most of the people who
do us wrong are fellow Christians! If
you had loaned money to a Muslim or a Jew, you would have your money back plus
interest…but you had to loan money to the saints! Well, forgive em! Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be
put away from you, with all malice: 32 and be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.”
Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.”
Confess and Forsake sin:
All of us have sin in our lives. How we respond to that sin determines if we win or lose in our day to day living. The worst thing you can do with sin is fail to acknowledge it. The longer you try to hide it, the more it threatens your ability to experience victory and joy. When you realize that you have sinned against God, and/or your neighbor, the best thing and the first thing you should do is own up to it.
Proverbs 28:13 says,“He that covereth his transgressions shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy.” Before you begin the New Year, make a resolution to get right with God!
Pray everyday!
The next thing we can do to win in 2010 is pray every day. I believe that the reason most of us fail to pray is because we tend to make prayer complicated, when it really isn’t the case.
In his book, “The Heart of Prayer,” Jerram Barrs says, Prayer is not a performance in which we are trying to prove something to God about our depth of theological understanding or our skills of eloquence. Nor is prayer a performance in which we seek to impress our fellow believers about these things…Prayer is talking to God.”
James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” I Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to “Pray without ceasing,” and Jesus says in Matthew 7:7, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you…” The bottom line is this: Pray everyday and keep it simple!
Study the Word of God
The fourth thing you can do to win is Study the Word of God. II Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Romans 10:17 says, “…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” In the battle against sin In order to win as a believer, you must know how to apply God’s Word to your life, and study it to increase your faith. And listening to a sermon on Sunday morning is not a substitute for studying the Bible. Let me say this, if you are in a struggle with sin, and you are reading the Bible everyday, be patient, because you will experience victory in your life.
And allow me to say this: There is nothing wrong with struggling against sin; because that says you are in the fight! Your goal is to not be defeated by it! And the Word of God is a powerful weapon in the war against sin.
Share Christ with others:
In Romans 1:16, the Apostle Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
This introduces the fifth principle: Sharing Christ with Others. What would happen to crime in our community if every citizen heard the gospel? What about the drop-out rate; Drug abuse; Divorce and other social problems? We have the answer to issues facing our community: It is the gospel of Jesus Christ!
And the victory of the church is not connected to our political influence, money, and other worldly measures of success. The degree to which we experience victory is tied to our effectiveness in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ! And I want to encourage each of you to tell somebody about the Lord in the coming year.
Fellowship:
The sixth thing we can do is fellowship with other believers
of like mind and spirit. Many of us in
the church are familiar with Hebrews 10:23-25 where it says, “Let us hold fast the profession of our
faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us
consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works 25 Not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting
one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Here we see that fellowship is not merely worshipping together it is working together to strengthen ourselves in the faith. And the message in this passage does not command us to just go to church; rather it encourages us to assemble with fellow saints who love the Lord and share our vision for the Body of Christ.
Contribute to God’s kingdom:
The seventh and last thing we can do to win in 2010 is contribute to God’s kingdom. This means setting aside a portion of our earnings to be used by the church in carrying out the mission of Christ.
In Luke 6:38, Jesus again says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and
shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the
same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
In II Corinthians 9:6-7, the Apostle Paul states, “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly
shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully. 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him
give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
In other words, stingy giving leads to stingy blessings and generous giving leads to generous blessings. My personal theme when it comes to contributing to the church is this: “Consider Calvary and give accordingly.”
Let the value which you place on the redemptive work of Christ be reflected in your giving.
So to recap, the seven things we can do to win in 2010 are:
1) Forgive everyone;
2) Confess and forsake sin;
3) Pray Everyday;
4) Study the Word of God;
5) Share Christ with others;
6) Fellowship with believers of like spirit; and
7) Contribute to God’s Kingdom
Now these principles that I have shared apply to Christians who want to win the battle against sin and its consequences. But there may be someone listening who does not know the Lord. You have lived life on your terms, and realize that something is missing…well, I am here to tell you it is not something…it’s someone! And that someone is Jesus Christ!
If you want to be a winner instead of sinner, then now is the time for you to join the winning side; now is the time to receive Jesus Christ into your heart. Do it today.