Well, let's open up in prayer this morning and we'll start our Sunday school. Father, we thank you for in our minds and in our ways of doing things, a new beginning today. And that you have made all things new each and every day. Every day is a blessing from you. And we look forward to hearing from your word today in our lesson and our preaching of the word. We pray for those that are Yet to come that you would give them traveling mercies and thank you for the ones that are here that they might receive a blessing From your word this morning in Christ name be prayed. Amen So How many of you made at least one New Year's resolution Well Well, I know that many of us are not planning on doing that this year, making a New Year's resolution, but I hope that by the end of the lesson this morning that you'll see why it's good to make a New Year's resolution, at least one, maybe more than one New Year's resolution. People have been making New Year's resolutions for over 3,000 years, starting with the Babylonians. And probably even before that. But the start of a new year makes us think about new beginnings. It gives us a fresh perspective and a hope for the year to come. We look at the, it's like a new starting line. And we think about these things and we think New Year's Resolution. And we look at that and we say, well, what is a New Year's resolution? Well, it's a determination to do or to not do something. It's a plan for your future actions or a way of thinking. Actually, in reality, there's no difference between December 31st, 1159 p.m. and January 1st, 1201 a.m. There's no difference. There's no magic button that gets pushed. There's no reset. There's nothing that's very special about it, just another revolution of time in actuality. But in our minds, we look back and we say, okay, 364 days have passed, 365, and so here we go. Happy New Year, right? But we know what makes us happy anyway. I might need some help this morning with some scripture, so I hope you brought your swords with you. Could someone look up Genesis 1? We'll use that as the starting point for this morning. What about New Year's resolutions for the Christian? So let's look at Genesis 1. If someone could read verses 14 and 15. Genesis 1, 14 and 15. So we can see here that God had established these breaks in time using the sun and the moon and the stars to create a pattern for us. And in reading this, we see that there's two major aspects of this. There's the natural aspect of it, and then there's the physical aspect of it as well. So we see the natural is the sun, the moon, the stars, and then the very practical natural aspect of our life being light. So the light, helps support us in our spiritual life as well, because we see these revolutions of time. He said there in verses 14 and 15, let the lights divide the day from night. and to be for signs, seasons, and for days and years. So this divides our time and the way that we experience our time. This helps us experience it. It's orderly, it's progressive, and it has a purpose. Every day is a new day. Every week seems like a new start. Every month and every year gives us this sense of newness in every day, every week, every month, every year. So God did his work in a week and then he rested. So let's understand, first of all, what is a resolution? We're talking about New Year's resolutions. So a resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something. It could be an act of solving a problem. It could be a dispute or some contentious matter. But it's a formal expression or opinion of an intention that we desire to make. Usually, sometimes a resolution is done in the corporate sense after a vote or with a vote. And so it's used by our legislature, it's used by clubs, and any other kind of group that has to do voting or make an expression of their intent. So the word resolution is also used in other terms, but not in this application today, but we can use it in what other term would you use resolution in. Yeah, photography. Your camera has a resolution. Your TV has a resolution. The source of light, science has it. Biology uses the word, the term resolution. And it can also be the end of a story, a resolution. But today we're talking about resolution as regards to a firm decision or intent. So we use this decision, and we could ask the question, who uses this term, resolution, in relation to the decision process? Well, we do. We at least have one person that made a resolution this year, right? Did you make a resolution? No? No? No, okay. No New Year's resolution for you, okay. But quite often, I remember hearing it more often from the United Nations. Do you recall that? The United Nations or our government makes a resolution or a corporation does it to make something happen corporately in a corporation. So they use this They use resolutions in this sense as a binding power. It can be binding or non-binding, but it's not the actual law-making itself, but it's an intent of expression, the way the body feels. So you have bylaws in a corporation. A resolution is different than a bylaw in that you express your intent, like, we want to, or we resolve to do this or do that. So there are basically two kinds of resolutions. There's the binding resolution. I'm not using slides this morning. I'll give you a break. And there's a non-binding resolution, right? And in the example of which may approve or disapprove something that the people making the resolution vote on, but it has no power since the authority to change things may belong to another authority or a government body that we have no effect upon. There are some other minute details regarding resolutions that I won't get into for the sake of time. And it doesn't really apply to our subject matter this morning, but you probably recall the United Nations. I use that because I hear about that the most of all. But the United Nations has two major bodies. They have the General Assembly and then they have the Security Council. The General Assembly can make a resolution, but it has nothing that's binding at all. They can't bind any of their determinations or their opinions on anybody, even from the member countries. It's a Security Council that can cause binding things to happen with their resolutions. So you probably recall a recent vote by the UN Security Council concerning the settlement of lands by Israel in Palestine. Did you hear that? And so in this, this is the Security Council that's voting, while the General Assembly voted to condemn the practice of Israel. They had no binding effect on Israel itself. Israel is a member of the United Nations. But when the Security Council voted and the U.S. abstained, then the member nations of the Security Council said, hey, we don't support you putting settlements into the Palestinian areas. So now Israel is expected to stop that practice, or the Security Council members or the General Assembly would be able to restrict their movements, cut off benefits, you know, do those kind of things that would force them to comply with the intent of the Security Council and the General Assembly. So now that we understand more or less what a resolution is, we should ask the question, so what does all this have to do with us Christians? in terms of our making or not making New Year's resolutions. But I hope that you'll see by the end of the lesson today why it's a good thing to do. It's not required. The Bible doesn't talk about it specifically. But it's a good thing to take into account, and we'll see here in a few minutes through the scriptures, why it's good. Again, the Bible doesn't say we have to do it, but we'll see by scripture that there is an encouragement there to review things and make new commitments towards your future. So again, the Bible doesn't forbid us from making goals and plans for the upcoming year. There's nothing wrong with planning ahead. So as long as you realize that God may or may not approve those changes or those plans, then you'll be doing well. Proverbs 16, 9 says, the heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. So that sounds like Is that oxymoron, the right term? We plan, but God is the one that does the steps. We make those plans, but there's a reason for this. So the heart of the man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps. Wade, would you look up James 4, 13 through 17 and read that for us? As Wade reads this, we'll see that when you boil it down, this is what New Year's resolutions are about anyway, plans and goals. James 4, 13 through 17. Yeah. Osborne, if you could. You say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet, you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a paper that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say So plan ahead. make your goals because it's a good thing to do. If you don't do it, then it's not a good thing in that regards. Mike, would you look up Ecclesiastes chapter 5? And Carl, would you look up Proverbs 15, 9? 4 and 5. Ecclesiastes 5, verses 4 and 5 and read that for us. Right. So could we say that a resolution is a vow? Right. So you can be resolved in your heart to do something. And so it's kind of scary when you look at Ecclesiastes 5, 4, and 5. It makes you not want to make a vow because there's condemnation with it. You don't want to, this is a solemn promise to do a sacred thing or to dedicate to someone or something, especially a deity. That's what the dictionary says. So should we be afraid of making vows because of this verse and chapter? But I think it's important here that we consider as a Christian that God may or may not change those plans. And Carl's going to read for us Proverbs 16.9. Right? And in James 4, 13 through 17, it says, come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit, whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you might say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, for him it is a sin. So this means that whenever you resolve or make a vow, ask God first. what is needed in your life. So what kind of New Year's resolutions do you think a Christian should make? Any ideas? Become more and more like Jesus Christ. Right. Any others? Pray more. That's right. So There's two essential kinds of vows. There's a physical resolution or vow, and there's a spiritual. So one of your Christmas resolutions or your New Year's resolutions would probably fall into one of those two categories. So maybe you want to stop a bad habit. A lot of people have those kind of New Year's resolutions anyway. And they want to start working, kids want to start working harder on their homework or the college student or to be nicer to your sibling or whatever your resolutions and plans or goals are and make sure that they are positive. in that regard. And you want to focus on improving your life in Christ, right? And not making a mess of things. Some common New Year's resolutions are those that were mentioned already, but you might hear stuff like lose weight, exercise more, those kind of things that usually come up. You ever notice the ads increase on TV for weight loss? In New Year's, you ever notice that? The ads are everywhere. Everybody's got the magic pill or the great exercise to do it. So we never hear anybody making a New Year's resolution that they want to be the worst husband in the world. Or they want to mistreat their children. We don't hear those kind of things. They're always on a positive side. We want to keep it so that it's uplifting in our New Year's resolutions. Stop something bad, do something that's better. That's the kind of things that break down. You want to stop drinking, manage money more wisely, spend more time with the family. By far, like I said, the most common resolution is losing weight. And in conjunction with that, there's exercising more and eating more healthy. They're all good goals to set. But 1 Timothy 4.8 says that, to keep exercise in perspective, it says, for physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. So the vast majority of New Year's resolutions, even among Christians, are in relation to physical things. But this shouldn't be the case. Many Christians make New Year's resolutions to pray more, to read the Bible every day, and to attend church more regularly. And while these are fantastic goals for the Christian, they fail just as often as non-Christian goals. And there's a reason why they fail. So I'll get into that here. because there is no power in a New Year's resolution. It has no binding effect without a certain resolve that you have in your heart. So resolving to start or stop doing a certain activity has no value unless you have the proper motivation for stopping or starting that activity. For example, why do you want to read the Bible every day? Is it because you want to grow in God's word and grow spiritually or is it because you just heard that it's a good thing to do? Why do you want to lose weight? Is it to honor God with your body or is it for vanity? Philippians 4, 13 tells us, I can do everything through him who gives me strength. And John 15, 5 says, I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. So God is at the center. of your New Year's resolution, it has a chance for success depending upon your commitment to it. So if it's God's will for you to do something that he wants you to fulfill, he will enable you to fulfill that. So enabled to do that, we have to know God's word. So if it's honoring to God, or if it's not in agreement with God's word, we will receive God's help in fulfilling or not fulfilling this resolution. So it depends on your motivation. Making a resolution means that we have taken an account, an inventory of ourselves, and understand where our shortcomings are, and then we put to prayer an action in the correction to the glory of Christ. What this means is we may need to prioritize our actions because we have more than one, perhaps, or we have many things that need to be done to fulfill this resolution or vow. But these actions are good for ourselves, they're good for our family, and they're good for our church. So we have to take into account the areas that we need help, and we have to prioritize those individually. So we internalize all this, because if we're right, then it goes out from that position in our trying to resolve these issues in our own lives. So the trouble is that we have to figure out our priorities. For a church, the Bible gives us some examples. We'll use one of them here this morning. We have a good clue about our priorities. Acts 2.42 says, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in our case preaching, fellowship, and the breaking of bread, and in prayers. So for a church, that's a good thing. If a church wants to make a New Year's resolution, that's the resolution to follow, because it's God-honoring, it's God-centered, it will not fail, and our motivation is correct in that regard. So physical resolutions can always be subservient to the spiritual resolution. What do I mean by that? Someone look up 1 Thessalonians 5.23. Physical resolutions should always be subservient to the spiritual resolutions. Anybody have any idea what that means? Okay, Mike, read for us. 1 Thessalonians 5.23. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely. So he who calls you is faithful, and he's going to do it. In essence, if the spiritual aspect of our life is correct, the physical will follow. If the spiritual is right, the physical part will follow. We have the right motivation. It's to honor God. So we talk about motivation. So we want to begin to choose the various things that we want to focus on for the next year as we make these resolutions. We want to look at them individually and then ask yourself these questions. So number one, what's my motivation? So Osborne, would you look up 1 Samuel 16.7? This essentially means that God looks at the heart and means that he's aware of our motivations. 1 Samuel 16.7. Right. So sometimes we do things so automatically that we forget to think about why we want to do the thing that we were motivated to do. Examining your own heart is a good practice whenever you're making a decision to make a change. We will value accomplishing the goal more when our motivations are right and in the right place. For example, while wanting to lose weight is a great goal, We must ask ourselves, am I wanting this for pure vanity or for truly better health? Also, exercise can become an obsession and an idol if we allow it to take over our time and attention. We read that in 1 Timothy 4.8. So we have to keep that in perspective. The second thing we need to consider if we're going to do this is, am I being realistic? So any New Year's resolution we make is only good, as good as our ability to actually complete it. We've all made mistakes of getting in over our heads with New Year's resolutions by overcommitting and being super awesome goals that we set for ourselves that are really, in all reality, impossible to fulfill, and they're not kind of honoring. So once the time comes to enact our resolutions, we become inactive because it seems like it's too great of a task to accomplish. And so New Year's resolutions fail. Many Christians have made New Year's resolutions to pray more. Read the Bible daily and go to church every Sunday. That's great. If you're not in the habit of doing that already, then if you try to do those three things at once, you set yourself an impossible goal because you weren't in the habit of doing it already. The best thing to do is take one and try to improve upon that. I'm not saying one per year, but you take one and try to do that. systematic and every day until it becomes your daily desire, your daily habit to do that. Sometimes we read the Bible out of duty. And there's nothing wrong with that because even when you do something out of duty, many times you receive a great blessing from it. A lot of times you don't want to come to Sunday school or church and you come and you get a blessing. So duty is a great thing. in regards to making a resolution to improve your spiritual life by praying more, reading your Bible, going to church more often, then you need to take one step at a time so that you won't fail. You have one thing to focus on. So don't take off more than you can possibly do in all being realistic in what you want to do. after the first week, probably, or maybe the first two weeks, you forget about it, right? Is that what happens? I'm gonna lose weight. For two weeks, and then you miss a day, right? Oh, I missed a day, and you go back, and then you miss two days. So it becomes a fail, because you have a lot of things going on. So number three would be, Is my New Year's Resolution God-honoring or self-honoring? Is my New Year's Resolution God-honoring or self-honoring? How do you know if your New Year's Resolution is God-honoring? It sounds like it's a little obvious, but you have to pray and ask God to help you understand what is your resolution going to be if you're going to make one. What is it going to be? You want to look for something that he desires you to do. So, James 1.5. Could someone look up James 1.5? And read it. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let me ask God to give you all generously without reproach. So if your New Year's resolution is not God-honoring and are not a part of his plan that he has for you, your results are going to be quite different than what you think you were seeking after. So remember James 1.5. It has to be God-honoring. Number four is, am I willing to let God help me? Philippians 4.13 says, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. And John 15.5 says, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him He will bear much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing." So we have to look at these scriptures and say, God's willing, but you have to do it through Him. So ask God to show you how to accomplish these goals and what steps you need to take. He may only give you the first step, but that's okay. He's not going to give you more than you can handle. So one step is great. It's okay. You can trust him to help you stick with it and through it. And even if you think it's impossible, but you have prayer as your tool to help you through your motivation to be God-honoring in what you do. And so you can look at somebody else to help you through it. Get an accountability partner to help you hold firm to your resolution, your resolve, to be more God-honoring in what you do. So get someone to help you. And there's nothing wrong with having that kind of a partner, because then you can start getting high fives, you know? And it helps you continue with your motivation to do what's God-honoring in your life. So if you're properly motivated and dedicated, you are willing to allow God to be a part of the process of transforming things that are wrong, that you want to get better, to help you with your goals, and to help you with these New Year's resolutions. Then your chances of success are going to be skyrocketing. You can't do it alone. We need God's help. That's why we ask him to point to us to what we need to do. We ask for an accountability partner, and God's going to help us succeed in his plans for us in our lives so that we won't be ready to give up so quickly. So New Year's Day is a great opportunity to start making these positive changes to your life. But it doesn't mean that you can't make plans and goals at any other time of the year. It's not just reserved for New Year's, as we saw in Genesis 1. Every day is new and fresh. Every week is a new week. Every month is a new month. And so on through the year. But we take opportunity with somehow we have this mental mindset you know, that magic number 1159 to 1201, everything changes and we can start over. So while we can use that, God can use it in our lives if we desire to make or are determined to make a New Year's or many New Year's resolutions to to help us be more like Jesus Christ, to grow closer to Him through our Christian walk because our chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. So we want to do those kind of things in our resolutions as a Christian to help us to fulfill just that, all that. All we need is some life in our veins, blood flowing, and God can help us and put in our heart and then help us to determine what we need to do to improve our relations with Him and our resolve concerning Him. Psalms 37, 5 and 6 says, Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will do this. He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Knowing these things, or what's been said so far, and I want to ask, what sort of New Year's resolutions do you think a Christian should make? Any ideas? We had the question a bit earlier, but having heard some of these things, we heard prayer, go to church more, be more like God. Any other things that you want to mention, bring up? Okay. Right. So it's kind of hard to stay off your cup because you haven't prayed about it, right? So that's what we're supposed to do first is pray about it. If we want, we know that we take an assessment of our lives, we say, man, things aren't right. Then you ask God to point out what do I need to do first and foremost to conform my spiritual life? Because the spirit, remember, it takes care of the physical. The physical has a practical necessity, but if your spirit is right, then the physical part falls a lot easier. So what sort of New Year's resolutions should a Christian make? Here are some suggestions as I wrap this up for us. Pray to the Lord for wisdom. We read James 1.5. In regards to what resolutions, if any, he would have us make, or you make, number two, pray for wisdom as to how to fulfill the goals God gives you. We've discussed that a little bit. Pray, I don't have slides for you, so I'll repeat it. Pray for wisdom as to how to fulfill the goals God gives you. Goal or goals. Number three, rely on God to help you do it. you can always bring it to prayer. Number one, bring it to prayer. And he'll help you through it. And four, find an accountability partner to help you with it. Remember, you get some good high fives that way. So they'll encourage you as well. And number five, it's going to happen. Don't get discouraged by failure. get back on the bandwagons, so to speak, and start anew. If you fail, get up and walk again. That's what little kids do. You ever watch babies learn how to walk? How many times they fall down? Well, that's a symbolic way for us to, we're gonna fail. We're still sinners. So if you're going to have a mistake and you fail, get back up on your feet and start again. Number six. Don't become proud or vain because you're being successful. It's not you. It's God who works in you, right? We look for God to help us. So don't become proud or vain because you accomplished something. And that way God gets the glory. We give Him the glory. Psalms 37.5 says, commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will do this. He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. We read that earlier. Okay, so one word to help you decide if you want to make New Year's resolutions. Philippians 2, 12 and 13. You've always obeyed. You have worked out your salvation. Now do it even more because God is the one working in you. So do a thorough examination. thinking of the spiritual aspect of your resolution first. We want to look at the spiritual aspect first. And then realize that God is the one at work in you. He brings your assessment, because you're going to assess what you need. You're going to pray about it. He brings it to your heart and to your mind. He's the one that points it out that that's the one he wants you to work on. And then he will help cause you that desire to change your ways or change your habits or patterns while giving you the strength to do it. So all for his good pleasure. This is a good application, perhaps, for us individually. It's good for our families, because families can make New Year's resolutions, and the church can make resolutions as well as to changes that they want to make. So we have to trust that it is God who is at work in you. And remember, we make resolutions that are different from the world. We make resolutions that are different from the world. God is at the center of them. God is at work in them. And it's for God's glory that we do our resolutions. Because the world doesn't have this motivation, their resolutions will more often fail than not within the first couple of weeks. So we have God to help us point it out, understand it, and accomplish it. So what resolution, if you decide you want to do that, what resolution should I make? And the answer is simple, and my final word is that the one that pleases God. Romans 8, 28, a very popular verse. Think about it. If you're going to think about resolutions, think about it. And we know all things work together for good to those who love God. to those who are called according to his purpose. We're not of the world. We're of Christ, so may the Lord help you decide if you want to do that. Again, it's not commanded, but we can see that it's a useful thing to always take an assessment and to pray about it, what God would have you do. So with that, let's pray, and then hopefully someone will make coffee, right? That's right. Father, we thank you for your word that helps us sojourn here, and we look forward to your working in us for your good pleasure and your will so we might be transformed to be more like Christ. Until that day that you take us home and we will enjoy you forever. And so, Father, until that time, we ask you to bless our ways this day, this week, this month, and this year for the glory of Christ. In his name we pray. Amen. Thank you.