New Beginnings | December 31st

by | Dec 31, 2023 | Digging Deeper

SERMON NOTES

Service Announcements/moments: Join us in person on January 7, 2024
Reno: 8:30, 9:45, 11:15
Carson City 10:00

New Beginnings
Pastor Dusty Braun
Isaiah 43:19, 14-21 NIV

Isaiah 43:14-21

  1. God is calling us forward, by first asking us to look back
    Isaiah 43:14-17 NIV
  2. Despite unknown perils, God desires to do something new
    Isaiah 43:18-21 NIV
  3. God invites us to be apart of advancing His kingdom
    Mark 16:15 NIV
    Quote – “… as followers of Jesus we have a dual vocation. Not one but two callings. The original calling – to rule over the earth. To make culture. And a new calling – to make disciples. To help people come back into relationship with the Creator, so that they can rule over the creation. Not just so they can get forgiveness and go to heaven when they die. But so that they can come back from heaven and rule over the earth as they were always supposed to …”  – John Mark Comer
    I Corinthians 11:23-26

PERSONAL REFLECTION

  1. In Isaiah 43:16-18, God reminds the Israelites how He rescued them in the past.  In the last year, where have you seen God with you and helping you overcome difficult situations?
  2. Take 10 minutes and do an inventory of this past year. How have you seen God work in and through your life and your circumstances. What did God reveal you?
  3. How might the discouragements and disappointments from this last year be holding you back from all that God wants to do in your life this next year?
  4. What values would you like to live out this year?
  5. What vision has God placed in your heart for the next 6 months? Develope a Rule of life to help move torads acheiving the vision God has placed in your heart.

SCRIPTURES TO MEDITATE ON

RESOURCES

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE TO TRY

Develop a Rule of Life (ROL).

A Rule of Life, is a simple pattern that we implement into our daily life. This pattern is designed to intentionally move you forward in your faith with Jesus and your spiritual life. Taking the time to develop a ROL will help create vision for your life. Living by it will lead to transformation. These Rule of Life are not steadfast unmovable block in your day to day, but rather pliable patterns to initiate growth and transformation. Their goal is your goal, to help provide direction and support as you develop in holiness as God desires. Romans 12:1-2 in the message translation encourages us to embrace Gods best in every area of our life. “Spiritual disciplines are activities that open us to God’s transforming love and the changes that only God can bring about in our lives. Picking up on the monastic tradition of creating a “rule of life” allows for regular space for the practice of the spiritual disciplines. – Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

As we approach the new year, you may find yourself reflecting back on 2023. Maybe it was ‘your year’, or maybe it was a struggle that you are still recovering from. Depending on where you find yourself finishing out 2023, you may be looking toward the plans, goals, and expectations with overwhelm or excitement. According to Forbes, the average New Year’s resolution only lasts 3.74 months, and only 13% of people make it that far. The New Year tends to be a time where most people look forward with anticipation and desire to leave even the most successful year behind as they press on to new goals.

But the motivation can wear off, we get stuck in old mindsets and habits, or life just happens and makes it impossible to continue on with our plans. This can be incredibly disheartening to some and bring unwanted feelings of failure and disappointment. However, as we see in Isaiah 43, God desires to do a new thing, and it is HE that makes a way to do it. Our most valiant efforts at change will be fruitless long term or burn us out if we don’t invite the Lord into it.
Sometimes, even our most impressive and holy resolutions and plans still aren’t God’s will for us. When He takes us off our path and moves us elsewhere it can be confusing and leave us feeling unsettled and missing the familiar. We see this in Genesis 19 with Lot and his family. The Lord sent Angels to Sodom, warning Lot to take his family and leave the city before it is destroyed for its wickedness. In verse 24 the Lord rained down sulfur and destroyed the city, all its inhabitants, and all the vegetation. As Lot, his wife, and his daughters fled, the Bible says in verse 26 “looked back and became a pillar of salt”. The term for ‘looked back’ in Hebrew is to consider with longing, or to think over not to simply view something. Lot’s wife looked at all she was leaving behind with sadness and longing, and it consumed her. Lot went forward with his daughters to a land where they were safe.
I have always thought this story to be harsh. Can you blame her for watching everything and everyone she knew burn to the ground? However, we don’t see all that God sees. Similar to Moses’ lifetime of obedience and waiting for the promised land being taken away in a moment of disobedience (Numbers 20:10-13), God does not take disobedience lightly. We live under the Grace of Jesus, but His expectations of us are the same. You may not be consumed by a raining down of sulfur, but we are sure to suffer other consequences.
If you find your path changing this year because of God’s redirection, don’t look back with longing. See God’s loving hand and protection in the midst and trust that He is indeed “doing a new thing”. Anywhere God’s takes us is better than somewhere we can find ourselves. Let’s look forward to 2024 with expectant hearts, thanking God for all that 2023 was and wasn’t, asking Him to heal us from the heartache and disappointment, and to give us direction for a new season.  – Emma Menesini Women’s Ministry Director

Praying a great year for all,

Rob Hans | Adult Ministries Pastor