How Was 2004 and Make 2005 the Greatest Year of Your Life
Tom Shrader combines his annual year-end review and new-year preview into a single message, using Paul's farewell words in 2 Timothy 4 as a framework for evaluating the past year through questions about self-evaluation, time, spiritual battle, and anticipation of Christ's return. He then presents five practical directives for making 2005 meaningful: improve relationships, increase freedom from worldly entanglement, intensify personal passion, expand knowledge and perspective, and rely on the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit from Ephesians 3. Drawing on personal moments including his daughter's wedding, his own 55th birthday, and his wife Susan's health diagnosis, Shrader grounds the message in the urgency of life's brevity and the sufficiency of God's grace for whatever the coming year holds.
“Peace isn't the absence of turmoil. Peace is the presence of God.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Year in Review
Recorded: 2005 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 50 min
Themes: new year, self-evaluation, spiritual growth, relationships, time management, holy spirit, life's brevity, passion for god, facing health crisis, grieving lost time, spouse dealing with illness, parent of adult children, entering a new season, feeling stuck spiritually, middle aged believer, searching for purpose
Scripture: Galatians 6:3-4, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Psalm 90:12, Ephesians 6:11-12, 1 Corinthians 9:24-25, Jude 3, Revelation 22:12, 2 Timothy 1:1-5, 1 Corinthians 7:23, 2 Timothy 2:4, Romans 9:1-3, Philippians 1:9-11, Ephesians 3:14-19
Theological Themes: sanctification, becoming holy, eschatology, christ's return, spiritual warfare, sufficiency of grace, pneumatology, holy spirit empowerment
Full Transcript
Introduction
My plan was to do a year-end review and then a preview of the next year, as we do every year. But I have a problem, because those two messages need to be back-to-back. Next week, Voti will speak here on Sunday after the men's conference. The following Sunday is Sanctity of Life Sunday, and I need to deal with the abortion issue — we haven't addressed that in the last year or so. So I decided not to do the review and preview as separate messages.
I don't even know who I mentioned this to, but someone must have shared it, because I received an email about it. I liked this email. It said, "Howdy, I heard you were" — and they meant to write "thinking," but if you take the K out of thinking, it reads, "I heard you were thinning," which I found very uplifting. It then goes on to say, "I've often talked with her about the Lord and my relationship with Him, and she's asked me many questions about our church, but she's never expressed interest in coming — until today. Today's when I told her about your annual message of the years past and future. She was surprised to know that your list of reflection was not what she expected. She's already called to ask for dates, directions, and service times. I'm sure that she and I are not alone, but many others have also extended invitations with the hope that someone might be drawn to Christ as the result of that visit. So from me to you — go for it. This doesn't get older, it gets better."
With that in mind, here is what I decided to do, and it is Herculean in its nature. I am going to take the two weeks and combine them into one. So what I am going to do is ask you one question — what kind of year was 2004 — and tell you how to make 2005 the greatest year of your life. It would normally take an hour and a half to cover all of this. We are going to do it in 40 minutes.
If you would like the full-length version, it is available on the website. Go to Messages, and from January 18th and 25th of this year, I did both parts in full at the beginning of this year. The notes are the same — we have done this every January for the 15 years I have been doing this. So if you want the complete treatment, it is there for you.
What Kind of Year Was 2004?
Here is the question: what kind of year was 2004? You are not going to hear anything new. Samuel Johnson wrote years ago that we need to be reminded more than we need to be instructed. If you go home and someone asks what we talked about, you are not going to say it was all new material. It is not. It is familiar, but it is important.
When we ask what kind of year it was, you have to have some way of arriving at a numerical value. Was it a two? Was it an eight? What kind of year was it? The world tends to ask typical questions about money and prestige. We have identified what we call a profound inventory question — not an exhaustive list, but one designed simply to trigger thoughts in your mind. You may look at these questions and find them significant, or you may want to add others of your own.
Inventory Question One: Self-Evaluation
Here is the first one on the list. You had a great year if you recognized the importance of self-evaluation — the very exercise we are engaged in right here, right now. You may be doing it at work. We are doing it as a church: the elders, the director level, and the leadership team are all examining our core values. We have had these values in place for almost a dozen years. Have our values changed? Have we changed? We need to look at ourselves, and that is a hard thing to do, because it is hard to be honest with yourself.
You tend to be hard-nosed and analytical when you look at other people — you dissect them. But when you come to yourself, you tend to give yourself the benefit of the doubt. It is a worthy exercise nonetheless. That is what Paul writes in Galatians 6: "If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to someone else." It is the very exercise we are engaged in.
We all have what we call blind spots, and by their very definition, we are not going to see them. We need somebody to say, "You have a blind spot." Often there are people already in your life who could naturally fulfill that role, if you would give them the chance and let them. If you are married, it is your spouse. Maybe it is a parent, or maybe it is a child. What I have learned over the years is that you have to allow them to speak freely in that exchange without any fear of reprisal.
In other words, you cannot sit down and say, "Now just tell me what you see in my life," and then the moment they begin, interrupt with, "Wait a minute, I don't do that — and I do that because you do this." If the discussion immediately launches into something where we need to call witnesses and get attorneys, it is not going to be very fruitful. But you need that input, and you need to find a way to secure it.
It is also worth noting that this kind of evaluation is not just about criticism. I tend to think critically — if there are 50 things that are right, I am going to find the three that are not, and those tend to become my focus. That is just the way I am. In some instances I wish I were not that way, but I am. My favorite illustration on this point is something that Jim did with a group of men years ago at the Shepherds Conference. He had these men with him, and he gave them an assignment that day —
The Value of Critical Input and Honest Perspective
I need that critical input. I need that hard look. But I can become so analytical and so prone to criticism that it robs me of my joy. Plus, I don't need to hear just criticism.
I had a guy come into my office about a year ago. I sat down with him and said, "I think you're a leader." He said, "Well, I'm not a leader." I said, "You are a leader." He said, "I'm not a leader." I said, "People are following you." And he said, "Well, I don't know where I'm going." I said, "They don't seem to care. They're just following you. You smell like a leader. People are following you — that's what makes you a leader." It changed his life. It changed the way he saw himself. All I'm saying is you need to take a hard look at your life, and you're going to need others to give you input to do that.
Understanding the Value of Time
Here's the second thing: do you understand the value of time? Go ahead and open your Bibles to 2 Timothy, and we're going to spend the balance of the night flying over this section of Scripture. Paul is writing to Timothy, his beloved son — his protégé — giving him some helpful advice at the end of his life. 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 6: "I am already being poured out like a drink offering. The time for my departure has come." In other words, Paul is saying, "I'm dying, Timothy, and I know it's the end of my life. Execution is right there."
There's something that adds to how solemn life is at that moment. I've spent some time at the hospital lately. If you're down in the cafeteria talking to people — maybe they work there or they're visiting someone — they're talking about the Suns, the Diamondbacks, the rain, all kinds of things. But if you go up into the room and talk to a patient who's just been told they have a serious illness, they're not particularly worried about how the Suns are doing.
Psalm 90, verse 12: "Teach us to number our days aright." Help us understand that life is finite — so that we'll have wisdom and know how to live. It's not anything new. No one walks home and says, "You know what he said today? He told me I'm dying. I never heard that before." No, it's not new, but it is important.
Three Significant Moments This Year
I had three things happen this year that were significant to me. The first took place right here in April when Sarah and Timmy were married. In that wedding — just as in Haley and Tyler's wedding — there's that moment. We're done with communion, the song is finishing up, and we have about 30 seconds. I'm looking at her and thinking about when we brought her home from the hospital, how she was home a week and had to go back in because she was really sick.
Sarah is a very unique person. She's a great gal, and she's been the same since she was a little girl — she's just Sarah. Those of you with kids, see if this is your experience: she would come in at night, 7:00 or 7:15, and say, "Can I go to bed? I'm just whipped. I'm tired. Can I go to bed?" We'd say, "Go ahead." Now here's the problem — if you go to bed at 7:15, you get up at 5:00. We said we were not going to let a television raise our kids. Well, we learned pretty quickly: go to her room, turn on the TV, set out some Cheerios, and tell her, "Until you see a seven on that clock, don't come and get Mommy and Daddy." We lost a little idealism right there. She's always been like that.
I think about her whole life standing there in that moment. Susan and I went and bought her a gift just recently — her birthday is New Year's Eve, just a week ago. We bought her a Bible, probably the third or fourth Bible we've bought her, with her name on it. But this time it wasn't Sarah Schrader. It was Sarah Newquist. A different moment.
Here's the second significant thing: this year I turned 55. There's something about 55. I've had an increased number of people asking me, "How long are you going to do this? Who takes over when you leave?" I think about it all the time. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about that process. My body aches, and it seems to be losing a little bit of its zip. But that's 55.
The third thing — and it's something many of you already know — was Susan's diagnosis. When you're dealing with that, your mind races, and many of you have been through that yourselves with loved ones. We're still going. In fact, many of you ask every time you see me, "How's Susan doing?" She is doing great. I spoke with her an hour or so ago, and I believe she's going to come back tonight for the baptisms. She was here for church this morning. But that diagnosis was a significant moment, and it shapes the way you see time.
The Brevity of Life
What this says to me is: you had better number your days. You had better understand the brevity of life, because it is slipping away and there is nothing you can do to stop it.
Fighting the Good Fight
Here is a third thing — and we are going to combine three of them together. Paul said, "I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I kept the faith." Did your victories exceed your defeats? You are in a battle. "I fought the good fight." It is a war. Paul speaks of it this way in Ephesians 6: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood."
I want you to look at that on the screen. "Put on the full armor of God." In the Greek, it says this: put on and leave on. It is a once-and-for-all command — put on the armor and leave it on. Now, that would be an odd thing to say to a soldier. You might think a soldier puts on armor when going into battle and takes it off between battles to rest and replenish himself so he can fight again. So why does Paul say put on the armor once and for all? Because you are in battle twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Your enemy, the devil, is cunning and deceptive. He is seeking to deceive you and destroy you, and his demons are coming at you every minute of every day in any way he can to wipe you out. You had better put on the full armor of God.
Later in Ephesians 6, Paul tells us what that full armor consists of, because our struggle is against the devil. The word "struggle" means hand-to-hand combat — some of your translations will say "we wrestle." That is the kind of struggle you are engaged in.
Finishing the Race
Paul said, "I have fought the good fight." Then he says, "I have finished the race." Did you finish as strongly as you started? Paul uses the metaphor of athletics here. I have a friend — he would call me an acquaintance, so one of my goals is to get him to call me a friend. He is over in Southern California and is pretty recognizable in the Christian community there. He was over here a few years ago, and he had just turned sixty-eight. I asked him what he was working on, since he had retired. He said, "I am just trying to finish strong."
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training." In fact, athletes would actually enter into a binding contract committing themselves for at least six months to a strict regimen of nutrition, exercise, and discipline. It is hard work. Some of you have played sports and know what that is like. It takes tremendous work and discipline.
Paul says that just like those who enter a race discipline themselves, we must discipline ourselves as well. And he says in 1 Corinthians 9:25 that they do it "to get a crown that will not last." We discipline ourselves in this race to be presented with a crown that lasts forever. We are not just doing it for a World Series ring, or for recognition at school as a valedictorian or an all-state athlete, or to stand out on the sales floor so everyone marvels.
Here is a 2005 version of what Paul is saying. There are many people engaged in business who work very hard, discipline themselves, and achieve great things. Often they are taken to a sales convention where the CEO, the national sales manager, and the president stand with them for a photo with their plaque. They take it home and put it on the office wall, because it is important. I am not saying those things are not important. I am simply saying they are not the most important thing.
Paul is asking a pointed question: if people work and discipline themselves to receive a reward that may be significant but will not last, how much more should we be disciplining ourselves to receive an award — not from a CEO, but from Jesus Christ Himself? You had a great year if you understood the truth of that.
Keeping the Faith
Paul said, "I fought the good fight. I finished the race." Then he says, "I have kept the faith." He uses a definite article there. He is not talking about his personal faith in Jesus Christ — he is talking about *the* faith. He is saying: I kept this doctrinal purity. I received the Word of God. I passed it on. I did not add to it. I did not change it.
The same idea appears in Jude 3: "Dear friends, although I was eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write to you and urge you to..." — look at that word — "contend." We already looked at that word. In Ephesians 6 it was translated "struggle." Here Jude says: I urge you to struggle for the faith — hand-to-hand combat, to wrestle for the faith.
That must mean there is an enemy out there, a challenger. Who is that challenger? We do not have to wonder or guess. Here is the answer: "Certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you." They are in pulpits. They are in churches. They are in Sunday school classes. They are in student ministries. They are in positions of power and leadership within the church. Remember when John MacArthur was here a year ago and said, "I always knew I would have to defend the faith — I just did not know it would be within the church."
Contending for the Faith
Mainline denominations are ordaining homosexuals and making them bishops. I was watching the other night on PBS — a really interesting show about a Methodist church. They brought in a new pastor, and after a couple of years it wasn't going very well, so they brought in a group to work through the situation and see what they could do to help. One of the sub-players was a woman who had come into a pastoral position and had now announced that she was a lesbian and was ordained.
So we don't get accused of being homophobic here, let's just say it was some other sin — let's say it was adultery. Can you imagine taking someone who is involved in adultery and celebrating that sin? It's silly, isn't it? How could you get there? You deny the faith, the truth. You water it down. It's happening in mainline denominations all over the place.
Some of these churches are shrinking, and we ought to rejoice in that. We ought to try to figure out how we can get that property and use it for God's real glory — revitalize and refocus those churches. I was talking to somebody the other day who doesn't go to this church, and they said, "I like what you guys do and I like a lot of that stuff, but you guys don't play well with others." I asked what they meant, and they said, "You don't hang with a lot of other churches."
I said, "We want to, but this pesky little black book keeps getting in the way." When we sit down, I don't want to be hard-nosed about it, and there are lots of things we can join together and work toward. But I'm not going to sit in a meeting and pretend that everyone in the room is a Christian — that's silly. I'm not talking about peripheral doctrinal issues. I'm talking about the basics: Is the Bible the Word of God? Is Jesus really God? When Jesus died on the cross, did He save His people from their sins? I'm not drawing up a massive list looking for ways to disagree with people — just these few things.
But His doctrine gets in the way. That person said, "I just pray that we reach a time when doctrine's not important." I told them: we're there. Your prayer is answered. You have to contend for the faith. That's not always easy — it's not easy at school, and it's not easy with people you love and care for — but it is the call that God has placed on your life. It's a great year if you understand that.
Longing for the Return of Christ
Here is one last thing: you had a great year if you understood or anticipated the return of Christ. Paul writes, "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day — and not only me, but also all who have longed for His appearing." Do you long for His appearing?
I'm going in on January 28th for a physical — my annual physical, though it's been four years since I've had one. There's nothing precipitating it, nothing wrong, no lumps or bumps or any of those things. I was talking to somebody about it the other day, and I have a very vivid imagination. If I heard anything concerning, I would immediately assume it is a tumor — that's just how I think. But I said, "You know what, if I went to the doctor and he told me I was sick and had a couple of months, that would not ruin my day." I'm tired. I'm tired of the fighting, and I'm tired of the bickering, and I'm tired of the parsing. I'm tired of my sin. I can't wait to get out of here. Now, there is a lot to do until then, and God leaves us here for a reason. But do you anticipate His return?
Here is what Jesus says in Revelation 22: "Behold, I am coming soon. My reward is with Me."
Waiting for Dad
Some of you know my mom. She is literally about this big — just a little thing. She and my dad just got here last week, and when I gave her a hug I don't remember her being so small. There is no way she weighs 95 pounds. When we were kids, she used to spank us. She'd wind up and give you a swat, and you'd just think, "That's it? That's all you got? Bring it on." She would spank us with a wooden brush.
Here is what she would do: she kept the brush upstairs in her bedroom, and she would say, "You go get the brush." By far the worst part was having to walk up, get the brush, present it to her, let her hit you for a while, and then put the brush away. That was awful. But when she said "get the brush," it was almost more of a hassle than it was really painful. When she said, "Wait till your dad gets home," it was a whole different game. He didn't mess around. He wasn't into due process. He didn't ask, "Tell me, how do you feel?" In fact, it just made him hungry — it was like a before-dinner activity for him.
Well, how about the idea of waiting until you see Jesus?
Iowa Is Home
I moved here in 1975 from Iowa. When somebody asks me today where I'm from, I still say Iowa — I don't know why, but Iowa is home. I love Iowa. I love everything about it, though not enough to live there. I love the Hawkeyes. I don't spend money on pay-per-view movies, but I buy the entire Iowa football package. When we fly home, you pass over Arizona and New Mexico, and then you get into Kansas, which is just flat. Then you get into Iowa, up to the Mississippi, and it's just incredible — green and rolling. Then you get to the Quad Cities, and the skyline of Davenport is dominated by the Davenport Bank Building where my dad worked for 42 years. Every time I fly in, I just—
Homesick for a Place We've Never Been
What God is saying in His word is this: we are to be homesick for a place we have never seen, never lived, never visited. And that is our real home. It is a great year if you understand that.
Looking Back at 2004
So what kind of year was 2004? If it was a good year, congratulations. I tend to think in terms of food, so go to Sonic, get a double cheeseburger and an Oreo Blizzard, dump the double cheeseburger in the Blizzard, and eat. Take a day and just eat. Congratulations. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results.
If you had a bad year, confess it and move on. If you've been here for a few years and you've just had a bad year, I need to shoot a little straight with you. Every year I say we're going through this again next year, we're going to ask the same questions — it's an open book test — and you've been a two and a two and a two and a two. You need to go to the mall and get a T-shirt that says "I'm a two" and wear it everywhere, because you're a two. It's not my fault, it's not the church's fault, it's not God's fault, it's not your enemy's fault, it's not even circumstances' fault — because you can have a ten in the midst of lousy circumstances. It's your fault.
Five Ways to Make 2005 the Greatest Year of Your Life
We want to tell you very quickly how to make 2005 the greatest year of your life. I'm going to give you five things here quickly.
Number One: Improve Relationships
Number one, you need to improve relationships. What I'm saying is you need a friend — you need skin on skin here. Paul writes in 2 Timothy, the same book, the first chapter: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to Timothy, my dear son." This is not his biological son, but they share a spiritual chain of DNA. And Paul has a wish for him: he says, "I wish for you grace and mercy and peace."
That reminds me of something that happened yesterday. We were at a wedding here, and by far the most difficult part of coming to a wedding is when you have to walk in and there's that picture book and you have to write something. I never know what to write. Everybody prints real well and they have little hearts with little smiley faces, and I never know what to write. Susan said it would mean more if I wrote something. I said, "Susan, why don't you write it with your left hand? I don't think they'll know." She said no, I had to write it. So I wrote, "Congratulations, Tom and Susan." Probably not inspired, but something.
I was at my desk when I worked at Coal Banker one day, over in the Mesa office. There was a girl getting married, so we all chipped in and got her a present. I don't mind buying a present — the problem is they passed around a card and you have to sign it. The card came to me, I started to panic. The lady ahead of me took the card, gave it a lot of thought, and wrote something up in the corner in kind of small letters. I thought, maybe I'll just write big down here what she wrote and they'll think she copied mine. Then I looked at what she wrote. Here's what she wrote: "On this special day, I wish you all the world has to offer." Pestilence, suffering, floods, earthquakes — everything in the world. I know what she meant, but that's not what it says, is it?
Paul has a wish, and here's what he says: "I wish grace and mercy and peace." And here's where they're from: "From God and Jesus Christ our Lord." You may be here tonight saying you want grace and you want mercy and you want peace. Well, peace isn't the absence of turmoil — peace is the presence of God. And you're not going to find these things apart from Him. They're not there.
He goes on, and my point here is that you see relationship. Look at what he says in verse 4: "Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of this sincere faith that was first in your grandmother and then in your mother." Can I point out the obvious? The question I have is: where's dad? Where's grandpa? Gentlemen, there is a great challenge for us. One of the things you will see as we move forward is a real rejuvenation of men's ministries here — helping you understand what God has called you to be as men, and giving you some tools to be that person.
Number Two: Increase Your Freedom
Number two, you can make this a great year by increasing your freedom. 1 Corinthians 7 says, "You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men." You will never fully know how much it cost to see your sin upon that cross. You were bought at a price. The Passion of the Christ depicted that physical suffering graphically — it grabbed us and made us say, "Wow." But it barely began to deal with how He suffered spiritually — how He who knew no sin was treated as though He were guilty of your sin and mine. You were bought at that price.
Don't turn around and enslave yourself to men. Here are a couple of ways to say that: don't become a slave to the ways of man, the ways of the world, or the ways of the flesh. You have been freed — freed from the bondage of sin so that you can do good, and freed from the consequence of sin. You are free to be who God made you to be. We are different from one another. So often I see us determined to make everybody just like ourselves, but that is not the way we are made. We learn differently, we think differently, we respond differently.
Disentangle Yourself from What Holds You Back
Paul writes this in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 4: "No soldier in active duty entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." You and I as Christians have been drafted into His army by Him to please Him. What are the things that have entangled you, that keep you from that? You have been bought at a price. Do not enslave yourself to men, or the thinking of men.
It may be money, it may be power, it may be sex. This is probably dangerous to say in this environment, but it could be studies or school, it could be church, it could be a good thing — and yet it is stopping you from being who God really wants you to be. You are going to have a terrific year if you can free yourself from these things.
Intensify a Passion
Here is the third thing: intensify a passion. What excites you? What lights your fire? Paul writes this in Romans 9: "I speak the truth in Christ, I am not lying. My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel." There is passion. Paul said he would give up his salvation, if it were possible, for the sake of these people. That is how much he cared about them and loved them.
How about you? A survey from a couple of years ago found that 47% of the high school seniors surveyed — essentially one out of two, every other one — said they could not think of one thing they would die for. Not family, not friends, not faith, not honor, not country. If there is nothing worth dying for, then there is nothing worth living for. You would expect to see a generation that simply said, "Whatever." No passion.
I am not talking about the students here — they are a whole different breed. But when I am around large groups of students at the mall or in other settings, there is just nobody home. I am not talking about intelligence. I am talking about joy, fun, excitement, passion. I have parents who share this frustration with me. The conversation goes like this: "How are you doing?" "Fine." "How was your day?" "Fine." "What did you learn?" "Nothing." "What's new?" "Nothing." And parents, that frustrates the life out of you, does it not?
You ought to be in my shoes. I walk across the campus and run into the parents. "How are you doing?" "Fine." "How was your day?" "Fine." "What did you learn today?" "Nothing." "What's new?" "Nothing." It is in their genes, my friend. They learned it from you. Someone a little more cynical than I am put it this way: we do not even sin with vigor anymore.
Go For It — Name Your Passion
What is your passion? If you are one of the students here, what is your passion? Maybe it is something you have thought about but will not even say out loud, because if you do, someone is going to say, "That's stupid — you could never do that." I do not think I am a dream killer. I think I am a dream builder. Go for it. I do not know if you can do it or not, but let us try and see what happens. What would you attempt to do for God and His glory if you knew you could not fail?
Maybe you are a little older — maybe you are my age or somewhere near it — and there is no passion right now. You had a passion once, and you did share it with somebody, and they told you it was foolish, so you set it aside and let it go. You need to find it again. You need to get it back. You need to go for it.
Your passion is not going to be mine and mine is not going to be yours — that is not the point. There will be frustration, because you will want to make your passion someone else's, or make theirs yours. You cannot always do that. But what has God wired you to do? You know it. You can feel it. It might sound absolutely foolish when you say it out loud. That does not matter. It is your life, your passion, the way God has wired you — so go for it and let nothing get in the way.
Expand Your Perspective — Keep Learning
Expand your perspective. Keep learning. Paul writes in Philippians 1: "This is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God." Knowledge of Him. We need to pursue His word, study His word, and apply it to our hearts.
But I would take a little liberty and expand that even further — to knowledge and learning and growing in a broader sense. Fifteen years ago I predicted that the computer was a fad. All the empirical data is not yet in, but I may have been wrong. Here is a secret I share every year: I actually knew it was not a fad. I enjoy that kind of forward-looking thinking, and when people predict where technology is headed, they are usually right. But I did not know how to use a computer. I was intimidated by it, and rather than learn, I decided to call it a fad and let it go. That was just foolish. Learn. Grow.
For those who are older, this means understanding the culture you are in. If we send a missionary to a foreign land, we tell them: learn the culture, learn the language, understand the customs. There are things you can and cannot say. Certain words communicate one thing at home and something entirely different there. You had better figure that out.
Strengthened by the Holy Spirit
You have a dictionary here that helps you understand the culture, and then you live. You are a missionary to this world and this culture, and you had better understand it. Here is a great question: when is the last time you read a book written by a 25- or 30-year-old without dismissing it by saying they do not know anything? They may not know much, but I would bet they could teach you something about the world they live in, and that might be helpful as you try to explain to them who Jesus is and why He came.
As I said, this is really unfair because this topic needs an hour and a half or more to work through properly. But you look at all of this and say: I am supposed to improve relationships, increase my freedom, intensify my passion, and expand my knowledge — I cannot do it. That is okay. I have good news. It is the fifth thing: you can be strengthened by the Holy Spirit.
Paul writes this in Ephesians 3: "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and earth derives its name. And I pray that out of His glorious riches, He may strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
It is an extraordinary power — the power of the Holy Spirit. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. With Him, for His honor and glory, with His blessing and power, we can do great things.
The Radical Christian Life
The Christian life is a radical life. When I was a young man, like virtually all young people, I wanted to be a radical. I think young people, by definition, are almost contrarian, and I pursued all sorts of radical ways of living. But there is nothing more radical than an authentic, genuine Christian life.
It has demands. I have had people say, "Well, I don't know if I want to be a Christian. I don't know if I want to give up stuff." And yes, it is going to call you to give up stuff. So I made a list — here are ten things I have given up: guilt, anxiety, remorse, discouragement, depression, hopelessness, fear, loneliness, confusion, and uncertainty. Not a bad thing to give up. I traded them for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, and the certainty of a future.
I was watching an interview the other night — and I apologize because I could well have the wrong city; for some reason it seemed like it was Little Rock — but there was a police chief on, an African-American woman, and they were talking about an extraordinarily high rate of murders in the city. She said: "We have got a problem, and the laws are not going to change it, and law enforcement is not going to change it. We have got to change the hearts of our people." That is real power. It is the power of the Holy Spirit.
Preparing for 2005
I have not the foggiest idea what 2005 is going to hold for you. There are some things you can predict that will come to pass, and other things you would never dream are coming into your life. Get ready for them. I am telling you, you can have an extraordinary year regardless of the circumstances.
Let me give you a couple of checklist objectives. Number one: cultivate a relationship. You need friendships — real, true, genuine friendships — and you need people around you. Number two: identify what is standing in the way. Finish this sentence: "I would do this for the kingdom of God, but —" and whatever comes after that, get rid of it. It may be something that is simply a matter of time or a position in life, but strive to remove it.
Find a passion and feed it. Go for it. At least for now, let it be your life's goal, your life's objective. I also put down: read five books. Some of you will laugh and say you read a book a week or fifty books a year. For others, five books looks like Mount Everest. I am saying to you: read. If you are not a strong reader and you do not read many books, here is a tip — you had better read great ones. You had better ask around and figure out which ones are worth your time. And find a couple of activities, whatever they may be, that promote your health — mental, spiritual, and physical.
This is not meant to bog you down; it is meant to get you on track. I have had more guys in the last two months tell me that, for whatever reason, they took that challenge, started to read, and it is changing the way they think. It absolutely will. And this is not just about you individually — it is about us collectively. It is my prayer that God will use you and me and us together to touch Gilbert, the valley, the state, the country, and the world for the cause of Christ. You are going to be a significant part of that.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You. Thank You for this night, for this time of activity where we come and we study and we sing and we listen. God, let it not just be an exercise that we go through and check off and say that is done. Let it change our lives — that is what we beg You. Fire up each person in here with a passion to live for You, to follow You, to be Your man or Your woman, or a student who is focused on You — to promote not themselves, and not just East Valley Bible Church, but to be part of Your kingdom and what You are doing in this world. God, we pray for the men's conference. We pray for Vodie as he comes, that You give him clarity of thought and that he communicates well to us. For Jim and Luke and the team and —
Closing Prayer
Father, we pray for the baptisms tonight. We rejoice as we anticipate these dozen people who will come and share their testimony before us. It is a great time of encouragement. God, let us celebrate with them.
God, we cannot wait until we see Your Son, Jesus. Thank You for all the provision that You have given us, all the blessings, just allowing us to be born at this place, this time, this location. Much has been given to us. Much is expected and demanded.
God, we acknowledge that apart from You, we can do nothing, but with You, there are great things that can be done in our lives. As we submit to You, God, bring us to our knees and keep us there. We pray this to You in Jesus' name, amen.
---
*Hang around for baptism — about five minutes for us to get ready. Have a great week.*