New Beginnings – Embracing God’s Plan (December 8, 2024)
Sermon Outline for Sunday, December 8, 2024
PASSAGES: James 4:8; Jeremiah 29:11
We all have a desire at one point of our life or another (more than likely more than once) to start over, re-do things in our lives, go a different path or take a different journey. But guess what? YOU CAN’T! Our lives, our past, have made us who we are today. HOWEVER, we can do things differently moving forward. How many times have you heard me say “Your past is the past, God is interested in what you are going to do in your future!”?
These past few years have been very rough on all of us. Not just our church family, but the church world as a whole, our nation, our world as a whole. Life has been rough. I can’t tell you that next year is going to be the year you get a million dollars or anything else that is going to happen, however, I can tell you that if you will join me, we can make 2025 one of the greatest years of our spiritual walks with God we have ever had. How can I tell you that? When we take an effort to step closer to God, He will draw us closer to Him!
James 4:8 ~ “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
We have to know that no matter how close we think we are, we can get a closer walk with God. The last part of that verse should speak to all of us, we need to make sure nothing is keeping us from God. (The Bible was written to the church!)
To that end, getting our church family closer to God, I have teamed us up with RightNow Media. This is going to be a great resource for each of us. I have already introduced this to Sunday School Teachers and other Ministry Leaders in our church and I hope and pray that you take FULL ADVANTAGE of this resource. Don’t just look at it and say “oh well” let’s use this and DRAW CLOSER TO GOD!
To Connect with the CV RightNow Media App, text the keyword “NOW” to 205.642.8744 or click –> https://cv7.co/now
So the next thing we need to look at is “What is God’s Plan” for our church?
Jeremiah 29:11 ~ “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
This verse has been used so many times in many areas, but I want to show you what God is telling us through Jeremiah this morning. I believe that if we join together as a church family and pursue Him, God will give us a GREAT future and a WONDERFUL hope!!!
Jeremiah has written a letter to those in exile and persecution. NO, I am NOT saying that we as a church are in exile, however, we have had a rough year and it sure does feel like exile sometimes, and persecution has been all around the church world.
We must also remember that God has taken care of us!!! Just like He has done time and time again, if we trust in God, God will take care of you and I!!!
Looking back at Jeremiah’s letter, we find that the children of God are being abused by false prophets. Those false prophets were giving God’s people false hope of security, peace and prosperity. Jeremiah, as the true prophet of God, is exposing those who are bringing a false teaching and direction into the lives of God’s children.
We are living in a world today that has presented a lot of FALSE claims about God’s people and about God Himself. We must realize that God is a God of love, but He is also a God of judgement and He wants change in the lives of His children. What kind of change? A change from old ways and a change to draw closer to Him. Many of us, including myself, need change in our lives. I firmly believe that when we change (priorities, habits, attitude, lifestyle, and more) and line them up with God, God is going to bring that GREAT future and WONDERFUL hope that Jeremiah was talking about in his letter to those in exile.
I believe that if we TRUST IN GOD, if we DRAW CLOSER TO HIM, starting NOW, 2025 could be the GREATEST year we have ever known. Not saying bad things can’t and won’t happen, but I believe that God is and will continue to take care of His children!
Pastor Andy Lambert
Call/Text: 205.642.8744 ext 101