REACHING OUR GOALS

So how do we reach our goals?
Last year I said that we need to
1. Pray
2. Tell people About Jesus
3. Invite people to Church
4. Work for the Kingdom
This year;
1. We must choose, what we want for ourselves, and our church in 2009!
Do we want to remain as we are for the coming year, or do we want to improve? We must choose who we will serve. Now you may be sitting there saying, “Well I got saved, ain’t that good enough?” and I say to you, “NO it isn’t!” That is just step one, if that is the best that you can do then you are still slobbering milk and wearing diapers. You know Zoe is still drinking milk and wearing diapers and that’s ok because she is only 4 months old, Eisley is 14 months, she is eating real food in small bites and she is still wearing diapers which is ok because she will be out of those soon. But Mia at 3 years old, if she were still in diapers and drinking from a baby bottle it wouldn’t be so cute or ok. But you know one thing I know for sure; all three of my granddaughters have been learning since they were born, they are active and learning. What’s our excuse? Are we spiritually growing and learning? Maybe we aren’t because we think that we are good enough just the way we are, maybe we don’t think we have to; maybe we are too lazy or too stubborn. I want to take a look at Joshua 24:15.
“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (ESV)
Before you can choose what you want for yourself and for our church, we must know who we serve. What god do we serve? Do we serve the god of our own making, the god of this world, the god of possessions, or the God of all gods, the King of kings? We must choose who we will serve. When we can truly answer who we serve, then we can begin to move forward, but not until then.
2. Get Excited!
Romans 12:11-12
“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (NIV)
Did you know that God wants us to be excited about Him? Remember in the book of Nehemiah, after the wall was finished and the Temple was cleansed, the people brought gifts, Ezra read the Word of God, the people confessed their sins and the people celebrated. They had choirs, and singers and they had gladness and thanksgiving and singing and cymbals and harps and the people were excited and made a new commitment to God and dedicated themselves to Him.
Remember the Prodigal son? His Jewish father ran to him when he saw him coming down the road, he was excited that his son was home. We need to get excited, we need to show EXCITEMENT!!!
3. Use our support system.
Our support system is our family and our church. Our support system is not those unbelieving people we work with who want to run down God and His church, our support system isn’t the ones who want to drag us down to their level. Our support system are the ones who want to build us up. We need each other!
1 Corinthians 12:24-27
“But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (ESV)
We are all a part of the body of Christ; we all need help once in a while. Now if you find yourself always being the one taking and never the one giving, you need to find out why.
4. Be Flexible!
“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.”
Philippians 3:12-16
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” (ESV)
We need to learn to listen to other peoples ideas, if we have been upset with someone, we need to forget it and continue on.
5. Take small steps.
To make your goals more achievable, come up with small goals you know you can meet each day to keep yourself on track and feeling positive. Not everyone takes as big of steps as you do, sometimes we need to allow others to take smaller steps, and sometimes we need to encourage them, mentor them.
Titus 2:3-5
“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” (ESV)
We need to be teaching others, teaching them the way of God.
6. Work as a Team in building the Church!
We need to be working as a team in building up the church.
Psalms 122:1
“I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD." (NIV)
Now I want to look at Nehemiah again.
Nehemiah 2:17-18
“Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision." 18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, "Let us rise up and build." So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” (ESV)
The people had to rise up and build, the people had to decide to do it. It is time for us to rise up and build the church back. It is time that we decide what we want for our church in 2009, what do you want?

NEW YEAR

So now that Christmas is over, what are your plans for the New Year? 2009 will be here in a few days. I will turn 50 in 2009, now while this doesn’t really bother me it is a milestone, a half of a century. If I live this long again I will be 100. What major things do you think will happen in your life this year? We all make plans for a better year than the one we just finished, but do we do anything to make it better? Or do we just keep on doing the same thing the same way and hope that it turns out better. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing, the same way and expect different results. It just doesn’t happen. Something must change in the process in order to obtain different results. So what will we change to make this a better year? Let me ask you, how much time did you spend with the Lord this past year? Can you improve? Yes, we all can. How much time did you spend in His Word? Can you improve? Yes, we all can. How many people did you invite to church this past year, of those that you invited, how many did you go by and pick up and bring to church? How many people did you witness to this past year? Can you tell more people about Jesus? Can we improve? Yes We Can! Let’s use 2009 to build His Kingdom, Let’s spend more time with Him and His Word, let’s invite and bring more people to church and let’s share Jesus with more people who are lost and going to hell. Let’s make 2009 a banner year here at Carey 1st Baptist Church. Are you with me? Let’s do it!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
2009, Wow, can you believe it, what great things will you do this year? Have you made plans for 2009 yet, you know, the plans to improve your life and make it better. All of the self-help books tell you what’s wrong with you and how you can make it better. I always have to wonder about those people that write the self-help books, are their lives that great, or will they be after they make a million off the book. Do you remember who Dr. Spock was? He was the parenting expert who messed up a whole generation of kids by telling the parents how to do their jobs. He didn’t know what he was talking about, but we still see remnants of his expertise today (don’t spank you child, it will damage him later in life, just talk to him...). By the way, Dr. Spock didn’t have any children, he wasn’t such an expert after all. Before you take that self-help book to heart, remember, self is what got you into this mess, your human self, and it will take someone better than yourself to help. That someone is Jesus, that someone is God, and His book, the Bible is the only book that can really help. This year, 2009, when you decide to improve your life, begin by improving your Bible reading habits, prayer habits, sharing your faith habits. Let’s make 2009 the best year ever for our church and for you, let’s truly put Jesus first and everything will improve, everything. Happy New Year!