Every Good Resolve

amen well good morning church go ahead and have a seat ah it's good to see you it's good to see you I'm proud of you because this is that week of the year that no one knows what day it is nor what they should be doing with their lives uh but you managed to know this was Sunday and you're here and so I'm very proud of you for that and for this week for those um who don't know what they're doing during the week they're just kind of on and Island on their own but there are every once in a while sometimes productive people who

use this week to think about the next year to think about resolutions and so that's what we're going to kind of dive in and talk about a little bit today and what kids kids you can be dismissed forgot about that honestly I didn't know if there was going to be a kids class today or not but kids you can be dismissed to your kids class and uh for the big kids you can as far as the adults you can stay in for the the message but we're going to be talking about resolutions today and um and and as we talk about resolutions we're going to

kind of dive in a little bit to what they are uh why people especially this time of year think about them and is it good to make resolutions is it is it a Biblical thing is it a Godly thing to be able to do that and according to an article in the almanac the origin of kind of new years's or at least how we follow it with January and the start of a new year really dates back to the Julian calendar around 46 BC uh when the Romans instituted this idea of a January of starting the new year and it was actually an OE to

the Roman god Janice uh which was a two-faced God not in like a lying way but a two-faced God that had one face pointing towards the past and one face pointing towards the future and it was a time of looking ahead as well as reflecting and and looking back on resolution s and so that's how they kind of celebrated it and that's how we get our calendar of January and it being the start of our year but the idea of resolutions or the start of a new year actually dates even way further back than the Romans to the Babylonians about around 4,000 years ago and

what the Babylonians did was they celebrated a 12-day festival known as aitu and it was a festival to kick off their new year which was actually more around March they started the year with the beginning of the farming season and what they celebrated was the beginning of the farming season the planting of crops while also possibly crowning a new king if they had one as well as making pledges to this new king to pay off their debts essentially and so that idea also kind of merged its way into Roman culture with the Ides of March um but again ultimately the calendar changed to to January

January but as we continue to discover just the the ancient practices or histories ideologies and and just kind of culture around the idea of resolutions or starting something new or making a pledge to to kind of improve your life in a way really is just continuing to be borrowed from our own history when it comes to the Ancient of Days when it comes to God himself and who created us who bestowed life to us who's marked out our days for us who allows um us to have the opportunity to participate in really his ultimate plan and the resolutions that he has established for all of

us and so our culture is just continuing to do the same thing over and over which is just borrowing truths from God and then kind of repackaging them in their own cultural way but this idea of resolutions is it a good thing is it something that we can participate in is it something that we can make commitments even though God has already planned out our days for us how do those two things work together and and that's my goal for us today that's what I want to show you today that that our greatest goal is ultimately to have our lives formed around God's plan for

us as well as us then participating in that plan by making commitments that align with his commitment to us and so those two two things coming together which is really us marveling in and treasuring Jesus while him being glorified in US is the main goal for our life it's what God intends for us and at the same time it's a good practice and commitment that we have back to him according to lioner Ministries uh just before he turned 20 years old Jonathan Edwards an 18th century preacher he wrote 70 resolutions that he made in order to help keep him sort of in the boundaries of

God's plan for for his life of God's will for his life and which again first of all just to write 70 god- centered resolutions for your life is one thing but it's a whole another thing if you read through his 70 resolutions to see the type of res resolutions that he wrote and that he made for his life as a teenager is a whole another thing and so as I like to think it's not that part of our problem with Society is not that we expect too much out of teenager I think is that we actually expect too little out of teenagers and and Jonathan

Edwards is is a testimony to that but but what should we do with resolutions resolutions are not inherently evil or wrong but rather actually quite the contrary as you'll see in our passage that we're going to look at today in its truest form they are an idea for Good Will they're an idea for Good Will that's even the Greek definition of the term resolve found in the passage of 2 Thessalonians 1 11-12 which is what we're going to look at at the heart of resolve is desire it's the desire for something good and and as we see that and begin to unpack that we're going

to be seeing how God is going to fulfill every good resolve and how we are to go about making those resolutions in light of it and so making resolutions is a good thing and I'm going to show you why turn with me to 2 Thessalonians 1 we're going to be looking through 11 through2 2 Thessalonians 1 11 and 12 Paul to the church in thessalonica he says this to this end we always pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and that he may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of of Faith by his power so that the

name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ now John Piper has a phenomenal B bible study on this especially if you go to desiringgod.org and you just search um kind you can filter the resources but if you search on 2 Thessalonians and see his resources on looking at the book um a lot of the research from this comes from that and so just giving him some some credit for just his study on this passage um but as we walk through this Paul Begins by saying to this end

and so to what end is he referencing when he's talking about to this end and I believe it's a connecting phrase that is connecting both verses 10 the previous verse to verse 12 with the meat of what he's actually praying being verse 11 so I want you to see verse 10 to be able to see what he means when he says to this end because that's essentially him saying this is the goal This is the End Game This Is Why I'm praying what I'm about to pray to this end in verse 10 is referencing the fact that he says when he comes on that day

to be glorified in his Saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed so he's saying two things there one is that when Jesus Christ comes and returns he is going to be glorified in his Saints which means they are going to be uttering worship and declaring praise and glory and honor to him the way in which that is conducted is by them marveling at what he has accomplished who he is and all that he has done so this this context that is happening is them having God glorified in them is in respect them reving or

marveling in and honoring him with their lives another way that John Piper says that is God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him and again that's even why part of our mission and vision as a church is to Simply treasure Jesus and help others follow him treasuring Jesus is marveling in Jesus and as we treasure Jesus and Marvel in Jesus that is how his glory comes down and is bestowed upon the Earth because people are seeing his his goodness not ours because we are marveling at him and we are bringing his goodness here in order for people to see that

and spread that so we're not making a name for ourselves we're making a name for Jesus and so that's what verse 10 is talking about and then if you jump to verse 12 after his prayer this is what he says in verse 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him so everything Paul is praying I believe is connecting when he says to this end I believe he's saying everything that I'm about to show you is about the glory of Jesus and the treasuring of the Saints and so it's all tied into that it's always going

to come back to that so if you were to have one resolution above all resolutions for 2024 it is I want to make sure that I Marvel at the name and Renown and work and personhood of who Jesus Jus Christ is because as I do that with my life that is bringing his glory to Earth and it's spreading his glory to others so that they see him and not us it's marveling in what he is accomplishing and so then what is he accomplishing what is he doing what the very thing that Paul is praying for the people here so let's look at verse 11 to

that end bringing glory down and treasuring Jesus in it to that end Paul is praying for them now before I get into what he is praying I want to answer the question why is Paul praying why is this a prayer for the people well two things one Paul is praying because if every resolve for good and every work of faith is going to be accomplished it's only going to be accomplished as you see at the ver end of verse 11 by his power not Paul's power God's power by his power so it doesn't matter if we set out for every good resolve if we make

good resolutions and we seek to try to accomplish them doesn't even matter if those good ideas turn into works of Faith as I'll talk about here in a moment we carry them out and we complete them none of that matters if it's not executed by his power if it's not done by or according to God's plan God's design God's effort God's energy God's work it's all about him that's why Colossians 1: 28-29 says this him we Proclaim referring to Christ Christ we Proclaim warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ now that is the work of the

church that is why we exist that is what we are doing what we are doing is proclaiming Jesus warning everyone and teaching and that warning is not like you better do this or you're going to hell it's a warning them that like we are declaring and proclaiming to you and I mean I it is a part of that but it is ultimately getting the news and the truth about Jesus Christ out to everyone so that as we are teaching them in Christ and we're bringing that Glory down and we're showing them who he is they are being transformed and then presented as mature in Christ

that is the work of the church that is what discipleship is is teaching and proclaiming the truth of who God God is and it being worked out and executed in your life so that you mature in him that work that is being conducted within the church according to Colossians 1:28 and 29 Paul then says for this for that work I toil so I I that's what I am that's what I'm giving my life over to that's what I'm working that's why I'm studying that's why I'm meditating on the scriptures that's why I'm declaring and preaching and proclaiming this and discipling others and teaching them this

that work I struggle not with my energy but with his energy that he powerfully works within me so so being able to preach and proclaim the gospel being able to present the church as mature in Christ is only done in his energy according to his power and so again Paul is is connecting this this to that goal to that end that the only way in which we get there is if it is by his power that's the first reason why he is praying here the second reason why he is praying is actually just kind of unique because it is because it's through prayer that this

works Paul is praying because God releases his power through prayer so the very means of what he is doing is what is going to ex execute the actual plan of what he is praying in this moment as John Piper says God has ordained that His Highest purposes happen through prayer and that's why when you see New Testament patterns that are walked through especially with the the birth of the new church and then the establishing and spreading of the church is primarily through two means that God institutes the ministry of the the word and the ministry of prayer you cannot have one without the other if

you have just prayer and no word well the power shows up and yet there's nothing for the power to implement because there's no Truth for them to believe at the same time if you have all truth but no prayer no power then the truth Falls flat and so you have to have both and that's why the apostles devoted themselves to the ministry of the word and prayer because it was going to be through both of these things that discipleship is not only an idea but becomes an implementation and then becomes an execution and actually happens and so those have to be kind of the the

bike pedals in order for the church to propel forward in order for the church to grow and expand and for us to be presented as mature there has to be truth and there has to be prayer there has to be prayer and it's through prayer acts 4:31 says when they had prayed this is talking this is right at the beginning of the birth of the church after Christ Resurrection when they when they had prayed the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they continued to speak the word of God with boldness and so

it was through prayer that they're filled with the Holy Spirit and then begin speaking in proclaiming the truth with boldness and so if they lacked the prayer though they had the truth to be able to share they're probably not going to do it in boldness they're not going to do it in confidence they're not going to do it and and and the reason why they are bold and confident to be able to do it is because they know that the prayer is beseeching it is requesting it is inviting the power of God to enter into their work of proclaiming the word for it to be

able to land on successful ears Hearts to be able to hear the message that is ultimately being prayed and so prayed and proclaimed and so those are the two reasons why Paul starting out is saying I'm praying for you I'm praying for you so not only do we need to have a resolution that is to treasure Jesus and to glorify in his name but we also need resolutions that are built around or founded upon first and foremost prayer prayer and that leads into the next thing what then is he praying what is he praying and this is verse 11 three things that Paul is praying

here to this end we always pray for you that our God may do three things that he may um make you worthy of his calling and that he may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of Faith by his power so I want to talk about those three things God may make you worthy of his calling you might want to just kind of naturally jump to the conclusion here well how can I be worthy like that sounds like a tall task that he's asking of Me no one is worthy of this no one is deserving of his calling and you'd be right to think

that which is why we call the gospel a gift of Grace and an act of Mercy by God like we don't deserve it we don't deserve it we we are enemies of God in our sin like there's nothing in us that God would look at us and say okay because you did that I'm going to give you a gift like it it's not conditional on any of those reasons like there's there's nothing that we can do for God to look at us and say Well done now let me reward that so in that regard we would look at this and say well who can who

can fulf fulfill this prayer if if if we have to be worthy of this calling it reminds me of a movie Saving Private Ryan when it's just phenomenal movie at the end of the movie if you haven't if you don't know much about the movie again it's been out for 20 30 years so I'm gonna ruin it for you but you've had time to watch it um Saving Private Ryan Ryan is is um in the military and he's out at War and while he's at War um he's got several brothers that are ALS Al enlisted and so his brothers are ultimately killed in war and

so he's the remaining Survivor and um of his family in that regard and so his mother back home they basically find out that all like her sons are dead except for this one so we need to go get this one and bring him home because we don't want to basically go to her and say you've lost all of your sons and so the idea is they send a a a brigade an army of a group of men who and I think it's like six or seven guys your one task is to save Private Ryan go get him well as it spans out throughout the movie

they essentially all sacrific their lives to save this one man which beautiful imagery of laying your life down for someone else but at the very end of the movie you've got Matt Damon's character who's Private Ryan who's the one getting saved getting rescued and Tom HKS is is going him and and Tom Hanks is like one of the last ones to be able to get to him and to be able to save him but he sacrific his life in the moment and the last word that Tom Hanks says to Private Ryan is earn this earn this and so then at the end of the movie

Matt Damon is this old man and he's coming back and he's revisiting uh the graves and he's like wondering whether or not his life was worthy of their sacrifice whether or not his life earned what they did for him and I'm just thinking in that movement like it's like no like that's not what the gospel message is like it's if we were to go about our entire life wondering whether or not what we've done is good enough for God's for Christ's sacrifice for us well that there's no hope in that like there's absolutely no hope in that I mean that you you you you you

um you lose before you even begin if it were to be that case the beauty of this is is that's not what this word is saying here this idea of being worthy of the calling that he has for you is not whether or not you've earned it but whether or not you are suited or fitted for the calling and that's the actual definition of that word in its original language is that you are suited and fitted and So speaking of looking back because again like new years is one of those times where you look back on your life and whatnot I I went back home

and visited Nashville for the last week and um anytime I go back to White House like White House is like the only thing in White House is football basically and so you know Glory Days looking back um as a football player in White House what they do before every single game is you go to the equipment manager and and they would check us to make sure that our helmet and our pads and our equipment was suited and fitted properly so that we're ready for the game and that's exactly what this is talking about in this is that is god making you suited and fitted ready

for his calling on your life so it's not something that you have to kind of muster up and bring to the table and say how's my equipment because if you're going to come to the table in that regard you're going to look like those little giants in the movie where the helmets are way too big and the shoulder pads are way too big or you just get wrapped up in bubble wrap and your mom sends you out like it's not going to go well for you if you're trying to suit and fit yourself for the calling that God has on your life but rather what

Paul is praying In This Moment is that God would do the work of suiting you and fitting you for the calling that he has on your life so in that regard it's actually God who is getting you to the end rather than you having to get yourself to the end and one of the ways that he talks about this when we say well what then is the calling what is he suiting me for what is he fitting me for is actually in the next chapter if you look at 2 Thessalonians 21 13-14 this is what he says but we ought always to give thanks to

God for you so he's giving thanks to God crediting God for the calling that he is putting on your life beloved by the Lord because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved through sanctification by the spirit and belief in the truth to this he called you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ again the he's matching it up up with the end goal what is the end goal the glory of Christ Jesus in your life that is called through the gospel and the calling is that God Saves you God sanctifies you and is through

the belief in the truth the ministry of the word and the proclamation of that so what God is doing in calling you is saving you first and foremost something that you could not do for yourself and then in Saving you he is setting you apart through sanctification as it's just a fancy word of saying he's pulling you out of the domain of Darkness he's setting you aside from that and he's making you holy so he's separating the unrighteous from the righteous he's pulling you out and he's making you holy which is suiting you and fitting you for what he's called you in in in life

which is salvation so he's making you what you need to be in order to be on his team in order to be in his family so he's setting you apart and he's making you holy and all of this is happening through the belief in the truth the faith that we have in who Jesus is as we understand it and work through it and and and believe it in the spread of the Gospel so we are called to Salvation by sanctification through belief in God's word for the glory of Jesus that's what he called us through the message of the Gospel so God uses the preaching

of the gospel and the praying to God by his power to call men and women to Salvation that's what he's doing as he calls them to Salvation he makes them holy makes them holy suited fitted worthy through belief in the truth and so that's what Paul's praying when he asks God may God make you worthy of his calling then he praise two more things the second one is that God May fulfill every resolve for good as I already alluded to in the introduction Paul mentions the idea of a resolve or a resolution that is for good and the Greek term for this is uh udoka

which means good will kind intentions or benevolence towards others Paul is praying that God would fulfill every desire you have to bring about good to bring about good I mean that's that's ultimately God's plan for the world is it not God is entering into the domain of darkness in order to bring good where there's evil in order to bring light where there's darkness and so think about it naturally here if he is pulling us out of that domain of darkness and he's placing his light within us the spirit of Christ that same desire that God has to enter into the darkness to bring light to

enter into evil to bring bring good is going to become a desire that we have as well and so that desire now flows from not only us just looking at our own intentions of our heart or our own um interests but now we begin considering the interest of others it begins to actually shape and and um in a Godly way transform our desires to go from us towards others so that when we begin making resolutions our resolutions aren't self-centered or self selfish but rather selfless and others focused it begins to become a resolve for good seeking the welfare of the city rather than just seeking

the welfare of ourselves but again this is still right now in a confine of an idea a desire it has not manifested itself into an execution to a work which is why he goes on to the third thing and prays that God May fulfill every work of faith so it's not enough for it to just be a desire a resolve for good but it must move from a desire or resolve for good into a work of Faith which is why I believe James says in 214-1 17 what good is it my brothers if someone says he has Faith but does not have Works can that

Faith save him if a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in Daily food and one of you says to them go in peace be warmed and filled that's actually a resolve for good that that's an idea like they're saying to this person we are praying for you that it works out for you we are praying good for you we have a desire that you go in peace that you be warmed and that you be filled but if you just stay there and as James goes on to say without giving them the things needed for the body then what good is that so also

Faith by itself if it does not have works is dead so we cannot have resolve for good that does not translate into work of faith that does not translate into tangible execution being carried out by ultimately the work of God and so what Paul is wanting you and I to Marvel at to enjoy to treasure Jesus in all things and in turn God is glorified in that what he prays is that to that end to ensure that happens Paul is praying to God for his power to accomplish three things to make you equipped for his calling on your life to fulfill every good resolution and

to bring it to completion by turning the desire into a work of faith and God has given us this this this desire to do what is right and we also must pray for his ability to then carry it out it's got to move Beyond or past just this good intention and so we therefore pray to bring down the power from God through faith to turn a resolve into a work to turn faith into a labor of love completed and ultimately fulfilled through Us by God himself so that Jesus would be marveled at and glorified in us and as the scriptures finish out according to the

grace of God like this is what Paul is praying for in this moment and so that then shapes that gives us a framework for Resolutions because a lot of time when we think about resolutions for the next year what we do is we look back on the last year and we look at our lives and we kind of do a little bit of an audit and we say what went well and let's celebrate it and what didn't go so well let's change that and then we look at 2024 we look at the next year and we say all right whatever those things that that went

really well let's continue implementing those and letting those be rhythms of our life kind of being a rule of life but for those things that didn't go well well let's make a change let's make a resolution I want to start eating healthier I want to work out more or I want to but what tends to happen is we continue to only focus resolutions on ourselves ourselves and what Paul is saying In This Moment is that he's trying to push the church in thessalonica to not make resolutions that are only geared towards you it starts with you in God making you worthy of his calling and

him suiting you and fitting you and and the spiritual work that he is doing and the maturing of you as he talks about but it's got to go beyond that so that every resolve for good and every work of faith is not just about you but it's about those around you and so this gives us a framework I'm going to give you six kind of application points that you can just adapt or add to your process for making resolutions and I think this would also be a good time to not only write these down but also share these with other people whether it's in your

community group um or with your spouse or with a close friend to be able to share and just say hey let's let's have some accountability with this let's have some discipleship with this as we roll into this next year so that we are again declaring the word of God and presenting one another mature in this so that again we are marveling at Jesus he is being glorified in us and in that the ministry that he is conducting through us is actually being executed and so the first thing is make sure that you begin with prayer just like Paul what did Paul begin with Paul begins

with prayer and any of his letters that he writes out to any of the churches before he ever gets to saying this is what you should do he first begins with the grace of God the power of God and he prays that that is manifested within the church because if he just tells them hey stop sinning and start worshiping without the prayer and without the power of God conducting that in their lives then it doesn't matter if he tells them to start worshiping and stop sining they're not going to do it if it's not God working it out in their lives so begin with prayer

if you're sitting down with a sheet of paper and you're saying what are my 2024 resolution is going to look like let's ask God let's pray about it let's talk to the Lord and see what it's going to look like and then make sure that they involve the ongoing equipping and discipleship of your maturity in Christ so then ask the question what does that look like for me what does that look like for me how am I being discipled am I engaging in discipleship with others because I don't want to just be a recipient of discipleship I want to make sure that what has been

entrusted to me is also being entrusted to others and so I want to make sure that I'm in a relationship with somebody that I am receiving discipleship and giving discipleship towards others there's a reason why when and we're going to talk about this in the coming weeks but there's a reason why when Jesus is discipling the 12 that he begin sending them out two by two they did not get sent out in isolation but rather A discipleship Community A discipleship collaboration and we'll actually Trace that as you see the growth of the church you can actually see that it was grow that it grew through

the multiplication of sending out two by two in addition to that make sure that what you are resolving in your life is benefiting others benefiting others make sure that there's a pathway for execution lots of times people have a desire to do something good but never actually Implement any sort of plan to see it through and so we have the these lofty ideas of yeah I want to I want to give more in 2024 okay well have we looked at our finances have we looked at our budget have we looked at a way in which we can rework some things in order to execute that

plan wanting to Steward in such a way to be able to give more I want to have more capacity in my schedule to be able to meet with people for coffee or for dinner or for whatever it looks like well have we looked at our calendar have we looked at how we're structuring our days have we looked at how we are um filling up our evenings with things that might not meet that goal or be able to fulfill that end are we stewarding our lives Liv in such a way that it is helping us have a pathway to execute the resolutions that we believe are

god- centered and what he has called for us in our lives number five make sure that they end with prayer again Paul starts with prayer Paul ends with prayer like everything has to be tied to God I'm asking you is this a good thing is this where I should go is this where I need to be with with how I'm structuring and and and spending and investing my life and then at the same time all right God now that we have a plan together and I believe this plan is according to your will and it fits within the boundaries that you have for me in

my life for my own discipleship and for the discipleship of others now I'm going to continue to pray that this plan gets executed and that by your power you do the work that you help as I struggle through this I'm doing it with your energy with your energy and so that we're saturating this we're frontloading it with prayer and at the same time we're closing it with prayer and then verse six verse six but it's not scripture here okay but point six make sure that as they are being achieved again you give all the glory and honor to God I think lots of times we

have resolutions and as they're being executed we just take them for granted we just continue on moving out in our life again what were uh the the ends of what Paul is praying for In This Moment is that we Marvel at Jesus and that in that process he's being glorified in us and so if there's not some expression of worship as God is working out the resolutions in our lives to mature us in Christ if there's not an expression of worship then then what are we doing we're actually missing the whole point we're robbing ourselves of the joy that we get to receive when we

are living our lives for him and not for ourselves me that's what the whole thing is all about it is about God coming to Earth pulling us out of the domain of Darkness bringing us under his umbrella of righteousness so that we get to enjoy God like we were intended to enjoy him in Eden sin robs us of that God is saving us from that sin so that he brings us back into a relationship with him to enjoy him to enjoy him that's what the whole thing is about God wants us to enjoy him and as we are enjoying him we are worshiping him we

are praising him we are declaring his excellencies to the ends of the Earth we are spreading his glories over the Earth as habac 214 says that's what we are doing when it says you are being presented as mature in Christ it's not just so that others get to look at you and say man what a phenomenal believer you are what a saint you are what an awesome Christian you are no that that's not what it's all about that's that's selfish Christianity which isn't a thing that that you you using Christianity for your own gain the maturing in Christ is for you to be able to

see him more be able to understand him more to be able to relate to him more to be able to abide in him more to be able to get more of him is US maturing in Christ so that the more we see him and know him man the desires of this world fade away as Paul says in Philippians like what I used to long after don't want it anymore I consider it rubbish which in the Greek is dung like he he looks at anything you can gain from this world he sees it as goose poop on a sidewalk I don't want it I hate it

because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and so as we move into making some resolutions use that as a framework adapt it add to it whatever you want but use it as a framework to actually really consider it this year sometimes people are like man I I do resolutions and I lose them by the end of January and so it's not even worth engaging in but I actually believe it is a good thing to engage in when it's engaged in in a Biblical god- centered way and so so do it do it you got about 12 hours to finish it out

for 2024 but no take more time than that and engage in it and actually accomplish it and I want to see you I'm going to close with readings first Thessalonians 2 1-12 to just show you how Paul's resolution and what he engaged in for the church that is there is how he practiced it so that he can then call them to it so I want to show you this 1 Thessalonians 2 1-12 for you yourselves know brothers that our coming to you was not in vain but though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi as you know we had boldness in our

God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict so he's basically just saying like we had boldness and we had a desire to bring the gospel to you we're going to get it to you even though it's coming in the midst of much Conflict for our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel so we speak not to please man but to please God who tests our hearts for we never came with words of flattery as you know nor with

a pretext for greed God is witness so he's saying we we came to you with this gospel that God entrusted to us he fitted them with it and we came to you not to gain anything for ourselves but actually for your gain nor did we seek Glory from people whether from you or from others though we could have made demands as Apostles of Christ but we were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children talk about a a an act of selflessness in a moment a nursing mother taking care of her own children an exhausting reality so being affectionately desirous

of you some translations say having an affection or an affectious desire for you and that term desire is the same word for resolve udoka having an affectionate desire for you we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but our own selves because you had become very dear to us again you were desired by us talk about not only is he he's taking it kind of another step not only were we ready to preach and proclaim the word of God to you and the ministry of the word and prayer to you but we shared everything we had in our lives discipleship

because you become very dear to us and then he gives them this testimony you remember Brothers our labor and toil we worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we Proclaim to you the gospel of God you are witnesses and God also how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you Believers for you know how like a father with his children we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and char charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God again using that same language that he uses in second Thessalonians who calls you into

his own kingdom and Glory it can be done because Paul did it with the people in thessalonica and it can be done here in Indianapolis because the same God who fitted and equipped Paul and the apostles to take the message through Prayer by God's power to execute their resolve hey you've become dear to us we desire you we long for you we love you they went and executed it and brought it to completion by these Thessalon the these Thessalonians receiving the gospel being transformed in in the work of the Gospel so that a church was born spread and grew and began making disciples in a

greater region in that area man that is my ultimate prayer for our church as we look to 2024 and as we start out next week we're going to do a six week series on just the mission and vision of our church and how it all centers around two things treasuring Jesus and in that bringing his glory down to earth and in the way that we do that is by engaging one another with True Discipleship so that the ministry of the word and prayer is working itself out in our lives so that we are presented mature in Christ and therefore God gets all the glory god

gets all the glory and so let's make some resolutions that help us seek that end and let them be saturated in what God is conducting Among Us let's pray together Lord Jesus we thank you so much for your work in our lives we thank you for the work that you are accomplishing in this church in this community God it is a work that begins with you and it ends with you and it is brought to completion because of your power alone we can get up here and we can preach until we are blew in the face we can get out there and we can give

and we can work work and we can do all those things and exhaust all of our energy and resources and means but it means nothing if it is not executed or impacted by your power and so we pray for that Lord we pray that as we preach it lands on hearts and minds and ears and that it is received by your grace and your mercy to us and that by your power we are transform from one degree of glory to the next that we grow in Christ on a daily basis that we mature in him so that we treasure him above all things and we

Marvel at the name of Jesus and that we see him is greater than anything this world would have to offer us may that be our resolve as we look to a New Year may you be made much of in your name spread and lives that are lost come to know you in this next season in the life of our church it's in Jesus name we pray amen if you go ahead and stand with me as I mentioned earlier in that introduction in that opening of the movie Saving Private Ryme there was some truth in that movie we don't have to earn it but Christ did

do something that was similar in that movie he did lay his life down for his friends for the Believers who will have faith in him and trust in him who will become Sons and Daughters of his father and therefore righteous HS along with Christ and he accomplished all of that simply through his death and Resurrection something that we could not do like even if we did go to God and say all right I will offer my life in death I will pay my penalty by dying and if you kill me will you then resurrect me so that I can receive eternal life in heaven I'll

pay my penalty that I owe you well even our sacrifice of death would not be enough because we are not the Spotless lamb we are not perfect sacrifice which is why Jewish culture had to do it over and over and over and over and over and thank God that stopped we're not coming in here on every Sunday and bringing our doves and pigeons and calves and slaughtering them for the sins that you committed this last week there needed to be a perfect sacrifice and it was Jesus Christ the perfect lamb who came and he said I'm going to substitute your life for mine I'm going

to break my body so that you don't have to I'm going to shed my blood yours isn't good enough mine is and I'm gonna die for you in your place and because it satisfies God he's going to resurrect me in three days and he's the first fruit of the Resurrection the first fruit of this new community and it's by that same power that resurrects him is the power that we are praying for for God to bring down Among Us in order to continue resurrecting those who are dead in their transgressions around us that's what we're praying for that's what we're beseeching of the Lord and

this is one of those ways in which we get to recall that and we get to in a resolution type of way we get to always look back on so every Sunday Sunday is an opportunity for us to practice a New Year's Eve ritual in which we look back on what Christ has done so that we can look forward with boldness and confidence in what he has accomplished and that he will continue to accomplish among us and so we celebrate that for those who are believers who trust in his sacrifice for them we celebrate this by remembering what he has accomplished for us and so

if you believe that message that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins to forgive your sins and to remove them for all eternity and that he was buried and that he rose again three days later to guarantee for us a resurrection to God in family with him for eternity with him to enjoy him for all time if you believe that message I invite you to come grab the elements bring them back to your seat and we will partake together