Welcome to the final posting of the Weekend Sermon of 2018. Thank you for taking the time this year to read the sermon. I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity this year to post the sermons. It is a lot of fun.
Everything is going well at my job. I've also had quite a bit of writing work over the holiday period which is often not the case. I thank the Lord for these opportunities that he has provided.
I would ask that you pray for one of my aunts and her children. One of my uncles passed away this week. He and my aunt were married for 65 years.
Indonesia suffered another tsunami, so we need to pray for those who were affected by that natural disaster. Please pray that all will receive the aid that they need.
Please continue to pray for those in Congo who are facing the Ebola outbreak. Pray that those who are sick will recover, and pray that this epidemic will not spread.
Let us all continue to pray for peace in this world. We need to keep praying for peace in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya and South Sudan.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Guinea-Bissau and Laos. Pray that many will hear the message of Jesus' love.
Today, I would like to focus on the year behind and the year ahead. We had the opportunity here on the blog to have several different series of messages. I enjoyed the series on passages of Scripture that are taken out of context or misinterpreted. I also enjoyed the series on the last part of the book of Romans. I hope that the messages were of some benefit to those of you who took the time to read them.
As we head into the new year, I want us to focus on what is of the utmost importance. In the book of Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2, the writer tells us that, "We must keep our eyes on Jesus,who leads us and makes our faith complete." This is the key for the new year, and it is the key for leading the Christian life.
One time, Jesus came to His disciples when they were in a boat sailing on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus came to them walking on the water. Peter asked Jesus to let Him walk out to Him on the sea. Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he was doing fine. When Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the stormy seas, he started to sink beneath the waves. Jesus had to come to the rescue.
As we go into the new year, we need to renew the focus of our lives. We all need to keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus and not get our focus on anything else.
When people get their eyes off of Jesus, that is when the trouble starts. The church gets off track when it places its eyes on political leaders or other people.
As believers in Jesus, we are to look to Him as we make our way through this life. Looking to Jesus in my understanding can mean a couple of different things. First of all, we look to Jesus when we determine that we will do what Jesus did in our own lives.
All of us will face major decision and dilemmas in the year ahead. Keeping our eyes on Jesus means that we will make our decisions based on what Jesus did or on what Jesus commanded. We will be committed to following His path even in the most trying and difficult times in the year that is ahead.
Keeping our eyes on Jesus also means something else to me. It doesn't just mean following His path, His commandments and His teachings. For me, part of keeping my eyes on Jesus means that I look to Him to provide the comfort and the help that I need to make it through the hard times that I face.
I've mentioned here on the blog several times that I have suffered from depression through the years. It is only through the help of Jesus that I am able to make it through from day to day. I have to keep my focus on the fact that He loves me and He is with me.
I also believe that in this day and age, keeping our eyes on Jesus and following Him often means not focusing on some who claim to be His followers. So much meanness is being thrown around by people who say they love Jesus. I just can't understand it. I can see why many people don't become Christians when I hear the hateful things that many who claim to be Christians utter.
We all need to remember that Jesus was compassionate and filled with love for all. We have to focus on the love of Jesus and who He is, and then not focus on who some of His followers say that He is.
I hope that in the year ahead that you will keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus. He is our all in all. If you keep your eyes on Jesus, I can't guarantee that the year will be all happiness and sunshine, but I can say that if we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will do what is pleasing to Him, and we will feel His presence in our lives no matter the problems that we will face.
Next week, I will be posting the sermon on Friday again. We will be starting a new series of messages for the new year. I will reveal more about that next week. On Monday, I will post the verses for the week. I will reveal the Cat Book of Year on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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