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A NEW FOCUS FOR A NEW YEAR

INTRODUCTION

 As we begin to look forward to another year that the Lord has given us sometimes we tend to look back in regret or remorse at the things we did not get accomplished for the Lord in the past year.

But we must not allow the failures of the past to cloud our vision of the future. We can never change the past. But by the grace of God, we can make the most of the future. So remember those things which will help you forward, but forget those things which will only hold you back"

Philippians 3:13-14-"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Because our hope is in Christ…we can let go of past guilt and look forward to what He will help us become. Don't dwell on your past. Instead, grow in the knowledge of God by concentrating on your relationship with Him now

Sometimes we, as Christians, stray from God in our hearts, grow weary in well doing, and grow slack in our commitment. It is during these times that our lives seem to get out of focus. We fail to see that we are heading in a direction contrary to God's direction for our lives.

Paul prayed for the Thessalonians in verse 5.

The word direct in the Greek means "to straightened fully." It implied that their focus had become blurred or not clear.

Paul prayed that the Thessalonians would get refocused. That they might refocus their lives on Christ and His will for their lives. As we stand at the threshold of a new year let us take time to refocus our lives on Christ and His will for each of our lives.

I.         IT IS TIME TO REFOCUS OUR PASSION. (3:5a)

What is Passion? It means "ardent affection or love; a strong desire or affection for some object, cause, etc; and The object of such desire or affection".

The Psalmist said in Psalm 63:1-2-"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary."

            Friend, Do you have that kind of passion for the Lord?        

            A.       WE SHOULD LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE.

Deuteronomy 6:5 tells us, "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

The Jews refer to these verses Deuteronomy 6:4-6, as the Shema. To the Jews, this is the most important text in Deuteronomy.

According to the Lord Jesus, to love God is the great and first commandment (Matt. 22:36-38).

                         To love God with all one's heart is the very soul and essence of Christianity

                        (Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 13:1-3).

If we love God as we should, we will willingly suffer for Him and for His cause and patiently wait for His Son from heaven.

Paul wanted Christ to direct the hearts of the believers at Thessalonica into the fullness of the love of God, and thereby fill their hearts with patience, rather than anxiety concerning the glorious appearing of the great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ

             B.       WE SOMETIMES FAIL TO LOVE GOD AS WE SHOULD.

                        We become as The Church of Ephesus to whom the Lord wrote of in Revelation

                         2:4-"…I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."

                        What causes us to fail in our love for God?. Three things happen:

                        1.        The world steals our affection.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24-"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one; and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Jesus in the parable of the sower in Luke 8:14 describes that the seed "…which fell among thorns are they, which have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection."

Sad to say, but many in our Churches today fall into that category!

We have too many "Demas'" in our Churches today.

                                    Of him Paul wrote, "Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present

world."

                         2.        The Devil undermines our love.

1 Peter 5:8 warns us, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."

Satan knows he cannot have our soul once we belong to God, but if he can get us to fail in our love for God, he still has accomplished his purpose.

                                    Satan does all he can to cause our love for Christ to wax cold.

He sends death, disappointments, distress, depression, and difficulties to our lives to test our love for God.

Ephesians 4:27 tells us, "Neither give place to the devil." We must never give Satan a foothold in our lives!

                                   We MUST "…resist the devil, and he will flee from you," (James 4:7).

                         3.        We fail to nourish our love.

How do we fail to nourish our love for God so it will grow and flourish? By failing to:

                                     a.        Spend time with Him in Prayer.

Philippians 4:6-7 instructs us to, "be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

The more time we spend in prayer with Him, the more We will love HIM!

                                     b.       Study His Precious Word (2 Timothy 2:15).

The more we learn of Him through His Word, the more we can love Him because of His Greatness and Glory!

                                    c.        Serve Him with Gladness.

Psalm 100:2-"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing."

                                                Do you serve God?

                                                How do you serve God?

                                                            Is serving God a burden or a blessing?

                                                            Is it a privilege or a pain?

                                                Why do you serve God? Is it because you love HIM?

                                                Someone has said

                                               "Service is love made visible."

                                     d.        Sing praises to Him and worship Him for His goodness.

(Psalm 34:1-3).

If we haven't learned to be worshipers, it doesn't really matter how well we do anything else.

                                                “We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.”

                                                -- A.W. Tozer,

That is what worship is all about. We are overwhelmed by His Grace and Glory and cannot help but offer Him praise and thanksgiving because of His Goodness!

         C.           WE SOMETIMES NEED TO BE DIRECTED BACK TO LOVING GOD.

Paul wrote in v5-"And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God…"

There are times that our hearts needed to be directed back to the love of God. The love of God is the grand motive and principle of obedience; this must occupy our hearts: the heart is irregular in all its workings; God alone, by his Spirit, can direct it into his love, and keep it right.

                        When the Lord directs us back to His love, three things occur:

                        Conviction.

                        Confession.

                        Consecration.

How do we know our hearts need to be directed back to loving God?:

                         1.        When Calvary Doesn't Break Us.

We read in Luke 23:33-"And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him…"

We know our hearts need directed back to God's love when we can sing of Calvary, think on Calvary, and speak of it without a tear coming to our eye!

                                    Amy Carmichael said, "There is something in Calvary that passes our

understanding, and the words about the Precious Blood should

never be read or sung except on the knees of our spirit"

                         2.        When The Presence Of The Savior Doesn't Bless us

Many Fundamental Churches today have a firm foundation, but a small focus. Doctrinally sound but, practically dead.

Many of our Churches have reached a point where service to God was mere form.

                                    We want to worship God by a program instead of the power of the Spirit.

Friend, Is the Lord your Passion? Or Do you need a New Focus for The New Year? As 1 Peter 2:7 tells us, "Unto you therefore which believe, He is precious…" Is He precious to you? Do you need a New Focus? It is time to REFOCUS OUR PASSION.

II.      IT IS TIME TO REFOCUS OUR PURPOSE.

2 THESSALONIANS 3:4-"And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you."

Cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:1

            This was their purpose. What is our purpose as Believers? It is basically two-fold:

             A.       WE ARE TO GLORIFY GOD.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20-"What! Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

What did Paul mean when he said God owns our bodies? Many people say they have the right to do whatever they want with their own bodies.

Although they think this is freedom, they are really enslaved to their own desires instead of the leading of the Holy Spirit.

                        When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit fills our lives and lives in us.

                        Therefore, we no longer own our bodies.

If you live in a building owned by someone else, you don't violate the building rules. Since our bodies belong to God, we must not violate His standards for living

             B.       WE ARE TO GO WITH THE GOSPEL (MATTHEW 28:19-20).

                       Wherever we go and whatever we do, we are to be a witness for God of

the life-changing power of the Gospel. Why? Because 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 tells us, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…"

The message of the Church today is one of reconciliation: God in Christ on the cross has reconciled the world to himself and is willing to save all who will trust His Son…We represent Christ as we invite the lost to receive Him. What a privilege- what a responsibility! All believers are ambassadors, whether they

                       accept the commission or not"

In the early days of Christianity those who confessed Christ became witnesses for Christ, and so many of them died for their profession that they gave new meaning to the word "witness," making it equivalent to martyr.

ILLUS: Benjamin Franklin wanted to interest the people in Philadelphia in street lighting. He did not call a town meeting nor try to persuade the people by talking about it. He acted upon what he considered a good idea. He hung a beautiful lantern on a long bracket in front of his house.

He kept the glass polished and carefully trimmed and lit the wick every evening at the approach of dusk. The lamp helped the people see the pavement ahead; made them feel more secure at night. Others began placing lights in front of their houses. Soon Philadelphia recognized the need for street lights.

                        Be the one today to light up your neighborhood with the light of life.

                        Let it shine. Let your light shine TODAY!

Friend do you need to REFOCUS YOUR PASSION and REFOCUS YOUR PURPOSE and finally let us see,

III.     IT IS TIME TO REFOCUS OUR PATIENCE.

2 THESSALONIANS 3:5b-"And the Lord direct your hearts…into the patient waiting for Christ."

The words "patient waiting" means "A patient endurance for Christ."

No matter what we face until our Lord Jesus Christ comes for us, we must patiently wait for His appearing. At all events, this grace, "patience," or persevering endurance, is

connected with the "hope" (1Th_1:3, 1Th_1:10) of Christ's coming

Notice three things with me:

             A.        PATIENCE IS THE DUTY OF ALL SAINTS.

There are two things we must do to have patience:

                         1.        We must surrender to God's Timetable.

We must not get ahead of God but patiently wait for His will and direction.

                         2.        We must wait on the Lord.

Psalm 37:7 tells us, "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him…" The words "wait patiently" means "to be submissive without murmuring, complaining, or anger." J.

             B.       PATIENCE IS NOT ALWAYS EASY.

We sometimes do not wait patiently on the Lord. All of us have a

tendency to do two things:

                         1.        We take matters into our own hands (1 Samuel 13:8-13).

                                    Saul was told in v13 by Samuel that he should wait seven days for his

                                    coming, who would then offer sacrifices, and tell him what he should

do.

But Saul became impatient and took matters into his own hands. We, too often, are guilty of the same.

                         2.        We forsake our duties or work.

Notice what Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-15. Evidently, there were some at Thessalonica who had become impatient and slack in their work for the Lord.

There is a difference between leisure and laziness. Relaxation and recreation provide a necessary and much needed balance; but when it is time to work, Christians should be responsible. We should make the most of our talent and time.

There were those at Thessalonica who because of persecution for their faith who had forsaken their duties and expected the Church to provide for them.

Spiritually, there are those in our Churches today, who believe it the Church's responsibility to keep their relationship with Christ alive and growing, while they do little or nothing to nourish their faith.

Our relationship with Christ is a personal relationship and we keep it flourishing by personally paying attention to our spiritual responsibilities!

            C.        OUR PATIENCE MUST BE DIRECTED BACK INTO WAITING FOR

                        THE LORD'S COMING.

Paul prayed that the Thessalonians might by helped to do that. That they might endure whatever Satan might try and inflict upon them with the knowledge that the Lord was coming soon to receive them unto Himself. We are to be as Titus 2:13 tells us, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great

                        God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Our Lord is coming soon and as Paul wrote in Romans 8:18-"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." The best way to prepare for the coming of Christ is never to forget the presence of Christ.

Conclusion:

Friends, A new year lies before us. A year full of opportunities. A year that will include some disappointments and defeats. But a year in which we can give more of ourselves to the One who died for us. Do you need a NEW FOCUS FOR A NEW YEAR? Do you need to REFOCUS YOUR PASSION, REFOCUS YOUR PURPOSE, and REFOCUS YOUR PATIENCE?

Home Page   Contact Us    Service Times   Sermons   Are You Going To Heaven?

NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!