You’ll seldom hit a target that you don’t aim at, and as Christians we’ve been given plenty of ways to improve our lives and our characters in our efforts to please God.

After today, the next time I see you in the morning service will be in 2005. Can you believe it? It seems to me that we were just getting over worries about the turn of the millennium. I still have a cup in the cupboard at home with the following words on it: "It’s coming… 01-01-00. Are you ready?" And the cup doesn’t even have a chip in it yet.

I have a favorite radio talk show host who always ends his program with the words, "Tomorrow's a whole new day that hasn’t even been touched yet."(1) This morning I'd like to say the same thing about 2005. It's a whole New Year that hasn’t even been touched yet.

Do you have any resolutions? I hope you do. You’ll seldom hit a target that you don’t aim at, and as Christians we’ve been given plenty of ways to improve our lives and our characters in our efforts to please God.

The turn of the New Year is a great time to take fresh aim at things that are important in your life – even if you haven’t accomplished all the things you resolved last year.

Just in case you haven’t put any resolutions together in the realm of spiritual things, I want to use this message to give you some fresh ideas and suggestions. Each of these is a thought based on solid Christian growth. I believe accomplishing one or more of them that you have not yet mastered would represent real God-pleasing progress in your life.

This sermon is based on an acrostic. The key words in the acrostic spell out H-A-P-P-Y N-E-W Y-E-A-R. If you’ll follow the letters, it should be easy to keep up.

First then, I would suggest as a goal for the New Year that you strive to:

The Bible is very clear in telling us that we are supposed to be people who promote peace. And we're supposed to get along with one another.

The Lord whom we serve is called the "Prince of Peace"(2) by the prophet Isaiah, and anyone who would follow Him must be concerned for peace.

The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 12:14, "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord." Sounds like peace is an issue of prime concern for the Christian.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:9: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

Paul wrote in Romans 14:19: "So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another."

Paul wrote in Romans 12:18: "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men."

James wrote in James 3:16-17: "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable…."

In listing the qualifications of an elder, Paul wrote to both Timothy and Titus that one who would lead in the church must not be "pugnacious."(3) Someone who is pugnacious is a troublemaker who is quick to get into a fight and is an enemy to peace.

We've enjoyed a long season of peace in this congregation. We've had harmony as we've worked together. The year 2005 would be a great year for any and all of us to work on being the kind of peaceable people God wants us to be.

A second great goal for the New Year could be to:

I struggled with a better way to say that so that it didn't sound so awkward or condescending, but it is a biblical subject.

In Romans 12:16, from the same context as the verse I read earlier about being at peace with all men, Paul said, "Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly."

Our tendency sometimes is to want to associate with those who would move us up the social ladder. But we must never forget that our Lord valued and spent much time with those whom society forgot.

That one talented brother or sister who seems to be of lower station is as loved and appreciated by God as anyone else. In fact, God has a special affinity for him or her. In 1 Peter 5:5, Peter wrote: "…All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

In the Lord's church this uncommon affinity for the humble is supposed to be a prime characteristic among us. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:23, "…those members of the body, which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor…."

This is something we all should think about. Being a Christian is not about promoting self. We're supposed to crucify self with its ladder climbing tendencies. Being a Christian is about serving others.

It is entirely possible to "strut" one's way right out of the kingdom.

A third possible goal for some of us in the New Year might be to:

Christianity isn’t a spectator sport. It is a faith that is involved. The church is a body made up of many parts, each with an important function. Speaking of the church as the body of Christ, Paul said in Ephesians 4:15-16, "…We are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."

We participate when we are present at the various functions of the church. We participate when we roll up our sleeves and work together on projects that benefit the Lord and His body. We participate when we reach out to the lost. We participate when we encourage people off the record. There are many ways to participate.

What is the condition of the church when 2/3rds of its members are inactive? What would be the condition of your car if 2/3rds of the parts that make it up did not work? What would be the condition of your physical body if 2/3rds of its parts didn't function?

2005 would be a great year to turn a lack of involvement into active participation.

It would also be a great year to begin (if you haven’t already) to:

I'm convinced that many of us don't understand the serious condition of things in our nation since the war on terror started.

You might be a Democrat. You might be a Republican. You might be an Independent. If you are a Christian, you are commanded to pray for your political leaders.

Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:1-4: "I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

"But I don’t agree with our leaders," you might say. All the more reason to pray for them.

My friends, in spite of the glowing reports heard in some circles today that well over 90% of the citizens of this nation believe in God, our nation is in a state of steady spiritual decline. These are days of great spiritual need. Will you resolve to pray for your leaders? We face a great danger today from terrorism. But we face an even greater danger from apathy.

As you consider the turn of the New Year and some possible resolutions you might make, you might also consider the need to:

Maybe you know which areas I’m talking about - those things that always seem to be your source of stumbling or impasse.

The prophet Hosea once said of ancient Israel, "Israel is stubborn like a stubborn heifer. Can the Lord now pasture them like a lamb in a large field?"(4)

If you’ve ever dealt with cattle, you might know that they can be quite stubborn. Some years ago a neighbor’s cows got out and I helped get them back into the pasture. Actually, I tried to help, but I don’t think I did much good because they had come out of a small open gate and, try as we might, we couldn’t get them to go back through that same gate. We prodded them. We pushed them. We coaxed them. But they wouldn’t go back through that gate. I guess that’s why they call a cowboy who handles cattle a "wrangler."

Does God have to "wrangle" you to get you to do what you know you’re supposed to do? In the passage in Hosea, God couldn’t give Israel the freedom He wanted to give her. He couldn’t "pasture them like a lamb in a large field," because if He let them out their stubbornness would make it difficult to get them back in. Why not yield any stubborn areas of your life to God in 2005?

Another worthy goal to consider might be to:

Whenever I think of attendance to anything I always think of Cal Ripkin, Jr. He’s the baseball player who has the all-time record for not missing baseball games. Ripkin played 2,634 consecutive games without missing a single one.

I say this lovingly, but also seriously… If someone can get that serious about a game concerned with hitting a little white ball, why can’t Christians get serious about eternity? I don’t know. It’s a mystery to me. I don’t understand why someone can call Jesus "Lord" but care so little about being with His people.

The Bible states very clearly that we are to assemble with other Christians. Hebrews 10:23-25 says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering… not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some…."

According to the Bible, not assembling with the church is a bad habit. Habits can be hard to break. Maybe 2005 would be a good year to take on the habit of poor church attendance.

I’m suggesting worthy goals for resolutions for the new year. You probably cannot do all of these. You may not need to. But you might consider one or two or maybe even three of them.

A seventh worthy goal might be to:

Jesus said in Matthew 5:15-16: "Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Probably all of us have trouble with these verses sometimes. Just how are we to let our light shine? One good way, as Jesus says here, is to do good works. But unless people know the source of our good works, they won’t attribute the effort to Christ. A good way to let people know the source of your good deeds is to elevate your faith to the level of your conversation. No, I don’t mean you should get "preachy." Most people are repelled by people who are "preachy" – especially those who let their profession get ahead of their practice. But you don’t have to be silent, either. Instead, what you can do is acknowledge your faith in your conversation by little words and phases like, "Praise God," "Lord willing," and "If the Lord wills." If you know someone who is going through a difficult time, say "I'll pray for you." (Then go do it!) These can simply be the common expressions of your everyday language. They are relatively unobtrusive but they let people know that you are a Christian.

An eighth possibility for a New Year’s resolution might be to:

I know that some of us already do this, but I bring it up because it seems very fashionable today to come to church only for selfish reasons. "I come to be fed." "I come to have an uplifting worship experience."

There is nothing wrong with these things until they become and end rather than the means to an end. We need to focus on God, not on ourselves.

Some think that coming to church is like coming to a football game - 50 thousand people cheering in the stands for 22 people on the field doing all the work. The congregation does the work of spectators and the preacher and those who participate up front do the work of the players. I'd like to suggest that we change that invalid view. Let's rather consider that God is spectator and we all are doing the work. He's watching our attitudes when we arrive. He's hearing our hearts when we greet one another and agree together in prayer. He's watching us remember Christ and examine ourselves when we have the Lord's supper. And He's listening to our hearts and attitudes as we ponder the message of our songs and as we listen to the preaching and teaching. We are the one's working. He is the Spectator who must be pleased.

A ninth suggestion for a resolution for the New Year is to:

Yesterday and the things that happened during it are gone. They cannot be relived or undone. Whatever our accomplishments, whatever our failures, whatever our experiences, good or bad, they're all in the past - unless, of course we are reliving them in our minds at the expense of accomplishing what God wants us to do today.

I have heard it said that there are two days out of three that God has declared as "off limits" to His people. Off limits are "yesterday" and "tomorrow." That's because there is nothing we can do about either of them. What's past is history and it is unalterable. What's future is unknown and we cannot touch it. All we have is today. Consequently, when undo concern for the past (sometimes called "brooding") or undo concern for the future (also known as worry) hampers us in the present, we are not living up to our potential for God..

I spoke to someone a short while ago who explained that the reason he had not continued to serve God was that a long time ago he was hurt by a church that took unfair advantage of him. I could feel for this man. His memories were genuine. The hurt was real. But he was allowing the past to hinder the present. If he continues in that mode he will loose his soul for eternity. If you want eternal life, you have to finish the course.

Here is what Paul the Apostle said about dealing with the past in Philippians 3:13-14: "…One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

It is difficult at first to let go of hurts from the past. Often we have allowed them to define us for so long that we have come to believe that we're powerless against them. But move on we must if we are to survive and be fruitful for God. Why not make 2005 the year for cutting loose from those things in the past that cripple you and prevent productive service to Christ in the present?

A tenth possible resolution for you might be to:

Most of us believe that God is a prayer answering God, but do we really believe that He answers our own personal prayers? I would venture that some of us don't. If I were to ask you, "Will you name five prayers that God answered for you in 2004?" could you do it? If not, it might be because you're not really dialed in. You're not really paying attention.

How many of us keep any kind of record of our prayer requests? I mean something like a notebook where we write, "One such-and-such a date I asked God to do this. Then on every Monday for the next 12 weeks, I brought that prayer up before God again. Then finally, on such-and-such a date, I perceive the answer to my prayer."

More often, I fear, we just utter a prayer and then forget about it. Sometime later God answers it, but we don't remember or we're not paying attention, so we never give Him the credit.

2005 would be a wonderful year to start your own prayer journal, keeping a record of God's work in your life. It can be a real faith builder.

This next possible resolution for the New Year may seem a bit trite, but considering the amount of tardiness we see around us, perhaps it might be a worthy goal to:

My mother used to tell me that someday I was probably going to be late for my own funeral. I was always late - to everything.

I'm not late very often anymore unless there is some overruling issue. I changed when I was in Bible College, thanks to a teacher who took it upon himself to hammer all of the freshmen into shape socially. He pounded us over and over again to the point of embarrassment about things like paying our bills on time, picking up our clothes, leaving the bathroom clean behind us, and being late for appointments. It was his conviction that no one who represents Christ by preaching the gospel ought to a slob or be slovenly or be late. He taught us that if you're 10 or 15 minutes late consistently to something you attend every week, then you need to plan to leave 20 minutes earlier.

These days I'm usually 5 or 10 minutes early to my appointments and I have a strong hunch that if I can just stay on that track I probably won't be late for my own funeral. J

Finally, I'd like to encourage all of you who are married to make 2005 a year that you:

 12. Respect your mate.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:33, "…Let the wife see to it that she respect her husband."

Peter said to husbands in 1 Peter 3:7, "You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way… and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life…."

Guys, that means that you don't belittle your wife in front of your friends. You don't refer to her as "the old lady." You don't tell personal stories about her to your buddies in order to be considered as one of them. You build her up. You praise her, privately and publicly. If there are less than flattering things about her, you either don't say them at all or keep them within the privacy of the four walls of your own home and also - away from your children.

Gals, the same thing goes for you. I won't repeat all that. Just remember that you are supposed to respect your husband.

These commands by Peter and Paul are not optional. If you want to please God, you must respect your mate. Far too many people today are giving up on God's institution of marriage. Young people just coming up don't know what to think about marriage when they have never seen a good example of it. They need to see, while there is still time, couples who live together in mutual respect for one another.

 Conclusion

Are there any worthwhile goals for you among these I've mentioned? I hope so. If you have some better ones, I'd love to hear them. And they don't need to fit the acrostic.

Remember, you can't hit a target you don't aim at. You cannot move forward if you don't set goals that are beyond what you are currently doing.

So, Happy New Year to all of You. If the Lord tarries another year, I hope we'll all still be together, working for Him and His cause, getting ready for eternity.

Footnotes: Please use your back button to return to your place.

Author's Note: This sermon is built upon the same acrostic as another on this website called Twelve Goals for a Happy New Year. It is, however, except for the acrostic, a new sermon.

1. Barry Farber
2. Isaiah 9:6
3. 1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7
4. Hosea 4:16

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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