"Come Alive in '25!" - January 5, 2025

It is my privilege to invite you to today's sermon podcast.

I have made the Apostle Paul's prayer request my own.

When he states in Ephesians 6, 19, pray also for me, that whenever I open my

mouth, the words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.

May today's sermon come alive to you and aid you in your understanding of God's plan for your life.

Does that song resonate with you today? Hey, you feel free?

Free at last, even. This morning, I want to light the Christ candle.

We haven't kept with our liturgy of doing that post-Advent,

but I want to do this today as we light the Christ candle to introduce to you

the theme of our church for this year, Come Alive in 25.

Pretty simple to remember, right? And there's a theme verse that I'm going to

preach on today, but I light this candle with all of the hopes that it will light. There it goes.

All the hopes that a new year has for us. Looking around, I think of how God has answered prayers.

I see Christina Shire here today. Great to have you. Praise the Lord.

God continues to heal you. She had brain surgery not too long ago and snuck

in here one service and then snuck out, and it's when all the sickness was going around.

So she had a lot of courage to come in to a gathering when that was going on,

but it's great to see you here today.

You know, God is moving. God is on the move, and this candle is the Christ candle.

It represents what Christ has already done for us, what we celebrated through

Advent and Christmas, and what Jesus did.

But Advent was neat because it pointed head to Christ, and it still points to

Christ in His second coming and what He will still do.

You know, over the Christmas break, I began to think too much.

I had taken some time off and spent some days at home watching football in the

recliner at the house and enjoyed myself immensely until New Year's Eve.

I didn't enjoy that game very much.

But there's still some more, I guess, that are going to be played.

And in that time, too much thinking, I got to think, Lord, there's not much time left.

I did the stupid thing and looked at my 403B, which is like a 401K, but it's not a 401K.

And I said, I got this to live on the rest of my life in about 15 years or 20 years, if I'm lucky.

And you know, that depression of the old year starts to sink in.

Oh, you didn't do enough.

Oh, you haven't saved enough money. did you really need to get this or did you really need to do that?

And that kind of creeps in. And then you just push it out of your mind and out

of your head and say, Lord, I'm yours as long as you want to use me and how

you want to use me, so let's go for it.

And in thinking of the theme verse that I want to share with you this morning,

it's just one verse. There's some other verses I'll add to it today.

But 2 Corinthians 5, 17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old is gone, the new is here. When we think about this simple verse,

I think what it speaks to us all is that we still need to come alive.

Some, I think, still need to come alive out of their death of sin and trespasses,

those things that separate them from God.

There's some that got to come alive in their own spirituality,

in their own spiritual life with Jesus.

They might think they just have fire insurance, just enough to keep them out

of hell, but they don't understand that there's so much more life to be lived,

so much more that God wants to do in them and through them and for others.

And folks, I hope that we can just capture the spirit of this,

the Holy Spirit of this that I'm going to talk about today.

When we think about the Scripture, I'd like you to stand, and I'm just going to read it one more time.

I know it's a small verse, but let's honor the Lord today through this verse, 2 Corinthians 5, 17.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come,

the old has gone, the new is here.

Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Even in the smallest portion of it,

even in one verse and the power that it packs for us today, God,

I pray this morning that we will catch the vision of the new life that we can have in you in 2025.

Lord, I know you're outside of time and space, but you interact with us in our space and in our time.

And Lord, even in the way that we count that. And so, God, we just invite you

this morning to help us in our imagination, Lord, to help us in our life to capture what could be.

And Father, it's in all this we just dedicate to you today in Jesus' name. Amen.

What I want to tell you, first of all, and thank you, you can be seated,

is if you have something going on in your life that represents new life, let me know about it.

Preferably let me know before Sunday so I can have you come up and light this

candle. Well, if someone comes to Christ and,

then let's light this candle. Our goal is to make sure this candle gets lit 52 times this year.

So I guess we're down one, so 51 more times, right?

So we can light this and continue just to proclaim to God the goodness of the

newness that he brings to us.

You know, it's interesting in this simple verse, and I just want to break it

down word by word in the short time that I have.

It starts out, therefore.

Now, professors in my Bible college said, anytime the scripture says,

therefore, you need to look back and see what it's there for.

And so let's do that, starting in verse 14 of 2 Corinthians 5.

For Christ's love compels us, it constraineth us, because we are convinced that

one died for all, and therefore all died.

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves,

but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view.

Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

The therefore is therefore, or is there because, Christ did something.

He did something for me. He did something for you. He did something for everyone.

So when we think about the message that's coming after this,

it's based on what Jesus Christ has done.

And it's based on what our new view, our new outlook should be when we consider

people, when we consider God and what God is doing in the world.

So therefore, and then it goes on to say, if anyone, are you an anyone?

I think you fit the bill, don't you?

Romans 10, 13, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

It says, everyone, not just those who are religious who call upon the Lord,

not just those who have a Nazarene heritage or a spiritual heritage,

but again, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord.

If anyone, you are an anyone.

Those people that don't like you, they are in anyone. Those people that might

be considered your enemies, they are in anyone.

If anyone, therefore, because of what Jesus Christ has done,

because of his love, because we are convinced that Christ died one and Christ

died for all, because Christ's love compels us, it constrains us, it pushes us on.

If anyone is in Christ, oh, I love this.

Reminds me of what Jesus said way back in John 15, when he was given a metaphor,

when he was given an illustration of vine and the branches.

And here's a few verses from that.

Jesus said, I am the vine and you are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

Apart from me, you can do nothing.

Then down in verse 9, it says, as the Father has loved me, so I love you.

Now remain in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept

my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

To be in Christ is to follow the will, the desire, the commands of God,

to follow wherever he leads, wherever his spirit leads you.

To be in Christ is just that. You know, you might have come this morning and

said, I don't want to go in that church today.

And I'm just going to sit out here in the parking lot.

And then they could have gone home and could have told their family,

yeah, I went to church today. But did they go to church today?

They went to the church campus. They may have sat in their car during the church

time, but they did not come in to the sanctuary.

They did not come in to worship.

They did not come in to minister, did not come in to fellowship, did not come in to pray.

And so were they really in church? I think we would say no.

The scripture says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ.

If anyone is in Christ. Are you in Christ this morning? Are you part,

are you attached to Jesus?

Are you part of his family? This morning, have you committed yourself to Jesus Christ?

I'm not talking about church membership or any of that stuff.

That's all good, and that stuff

is important, and it comes. But are you in Christ first and foremost?

Have you trusted Christ to be your Savior? Have you trusted Christ for your salvation?

When the Bible says, for all have sin and fallen short of the glory of God.

For all have tried to live up to God's standard and have missed the mark.

It says all is like anyone. It means everybody.

We're all in the same boat. And so all of us are in need of a Savior.

Have you claimed Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Are you trusting him for your salvation?

That's why Jesus died on the cross. That's what these guys have been singing

about, what Jesus has done for us and what Jesus can do for us.

If anyone is in Christ, I hope this morning you're in Christ.

I would say don't leave this building until you know if you're in Christ or not.

And I'm willing to have that conversation with you, but I'm not the only one.

There's others here that are willing to talk to you about what salvation means.

What does it mean to be in Christ, following Christ, experiencing the joy that

comes from Jesus Christ and following him?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto you, No one can see the

kingdom of God unless they are born again.

Not a physical birth, but a spiritual rebirth. Something God has planned for every person.

Every person that has sin in their life. There's a rebirth that happens into

Jesus. A second birth, being born again.

And folks, even though it says He is a new creation...

It means she, too, okay? It's a universal he, just so we can clarify that.

Salvation is not just for men alone.

It's for women, too, boys and

girls. Anyone who's a human being has been provided for by Jesus Christ.

You're a new creation in Jesus.

Yesterday, we did a quick trip down to Winnemucca and back so we could go see my mom.

She lives down outside of Reno at Carson City, and so they drove up,

and we drove down, and we got to meet. I guess she would be our grandniece.

My sister is a grandma now. She has been for about a year, and so whatever that

makes my niece's daughter. And so we got to meet her.

Brand new baby, well, almost a toddler, full of life, and dancing on the table

at the Mexican restaurant.

I mean, she learned how to walk now, and she just wants to go for it.

But babies change things, don't they?

They bring a whole new element to a person's life.

When it says that we are to be new creations, It's a new life with endless possibilities

of what can be, endless possibilities according to what God has.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone.

Did you hear that? Let me say it one more time. The old has gone.

Romans 6 says this, What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace

may increase? By no means.

We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer?

Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were therefore dead through the glory of the Father, and we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with Jesus in a death like His, we will certainly

also be united with Him by a resurrection like His.

For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled

by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because

anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Well, do you get it? The old is gone. done.

Don't let it creep back up into your life like some kind of zombie.

It's not supposed to be in your life. Zombies aren't real. So that old self

that keeps trying to come back, remind it, it's dead.

You have to be dead to sin, to not let sin rule in your mortal bodies.

Folks, that's what we believe when we talk about sanctification,

is we talk about giving everything to God and living into everything that God

has for us, free from sin, free from the encumbrance of it.

I'll say free from the consequences of it through Jesus so that we can truly

live and live out who God wants us to be. The old has gone.

Well, I hope this is the year that there are some Christians that really get that,

that they don't have to go back like a dog goes back to its own vomit and continue

to repeat the same sin time after time when Jesus Christ is there to free them

up from that, to give them freedom and victory over sin.

If Jesus just brought victory and we just think salvation is something down the road.

Well, there's salvation right here and right now and what Jesus can do in your

life. There's a transformation that can happen.

And I pray as we celebrate.

As we come alive in 2025, that we just don't see it as a slogan,

but we see it as, hey, what is the next step I can take to be closer to Jesus?

What is the next step I can take to be free from the death of sin,

to have it totally out of my life, out of my family's life?

What can we do to begin to bring life to others who are trapped in that sin, to show them this?

And so I'll close with this. The new has come, the scripture says. The old is gone.

Nature and your spiritual life, a bore, a vacuum. They can't stand a vacuum.

Something's got to replace it. So what's replacing the old self? Well, it's the new self.

Colossians 3, 5 through 11. Put to death, therefore, whatever brings to your

earthly nature, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality,

impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways

in the life you once lived, but now you must rid yourself of all such things as these.

Anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

Do not lie to others, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge of the image of its creator.

Here, there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised,

barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

There's just one verse in this passage that could probably be preached all year,

but I won't preach it all year, or at least not all day, because we're going

to celebrate life this year.

We're going to live out this verse in our worship.

We're going to live out what it means to celebrate life and new life,

not just by our church members having babies, but by leading others to Christ,

by going out to the highways and byways, the hills and the hedges,

and seeking out those that are lost, continuing the mission of Jesus who came

to seek and save that which was lost. It's our mission now.

Jesus has entrusted us and authorized us to do that.

In our worship, we're going to celebrate that. We're going to celebrate the

new life that Christ brings.

Well, I got to tell you, in our fellowship, we're going to continue to have

a seat at the table for those that don't think they belong anywhere,

that they have a place in here, that they have a place with us to say,

hey, come and to learn about Christ.

Come and let us seek the face of God together.

We think about our discipleship. We're going to take this as a step of faith to grow.

Those of us that maybe even thought we've been in church our whole life,

what more is there to learn? Well, God's got more to teach us.

And so in our discipleship, there's going to be some new ventures that are taking

place, some new things that are going to happen.

We're not doing away with the way we've done things always before.

We might, if it's not working, if it's not bringing us closer to Jesus, why are we doing it?

But in our discipleship, we're going to want to grow into Christ.

We're going to intentionally, on purpose, step out in faith,

study some new things, learn some new things, teach some new things.

And folks, in our evangelism this year, we're going to step out.

We got to step out of this building if we're going to really reach people.

Okay? We're going to go out and we're

going to do some prayer walks in our communities, in our neighborhoods.

Prayer walk is just walking around praying for the houses, praying for the people

in your communities, praying for the businesses.

And as the Lord opens a door to opportunity to ask how we can pray for the individuals,

and then how can we share Christ with them, we've got to step out in faith and

say, Lord, we believe that there are still lost people.

Why do we believe that? Well, look around, our church isn't bustling and overflowing.

So that means there's still people that need Jesus. So in our evangelism,

we want to celebrate new life.

In our ministry, we want to celebrate new life.

Folks, some of you have filled out the shape assessment. Thank you.

And thank you for your patience in doing so to see how God has shaped you.

Well, the next step is going to be implemented here in the next few months.

Now, what do I do with this?

How do I step out in faith now and serve God with how he has shaped me?

And so there's going to be times of equipping this year, at least three or four times this year.

We're going to have a team day on a Saturday, a team day which says,

you are part of the team that ministers to our community.

Come and be equipped with how God has shaped you and created you and made you.

And not just to sit in a seminar or a class, but then to get up and go and go

out and do what God has called you to do.

And finally, we're going to step out in faith in prayer some more.

Our worship, we're going to take a step of faith and say we're going to continue

not only to pray like we have, but if prayer is the key to power,

God, we want this ministry to come alive.

And so there'll be some more days of 24 hours of prayer.

There'll be some more times where we dedicate needs to other people,

to pray for other people, excuse me, so that we can really catch the gist of

how God is moving and what God is doing.

I don't know what's going to happen this year, but I'm excited.

We're going to come alive in 25. That means this guy's standing up here too.

We're all in it together to see, God, what do you want to do with this next?

And so I pray and I hope that you receive this and receive this passage of Scripture.

If you haven't memorized this, memorize it very soon because you're going to hear a lot this year.

If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation, a new creature.

The old is gone, the new has come.

We're going to celebrate some more before we leave here today. Let's pray right now.

Father, I pray, God, as we receive your word today, Lord, that we will take

to heart everything that we've talked about in this short time,

that, God, you would move in us to help point us to new life.

Lord, looking in our life and getting rid of the dead parts,

the old parts, the parts that don't belong anymore, but, God,

trusting you, and, Lord, trusting you in faith of what you're going to do in

us, in our congregation.

And, Father, in the world. And, Lord, as we trust You in this,

as we step out into the new life that You promise us, Lord, we trust what Jesus

said in John 10.10 when He said, the thief comes to kill, to steal, and to destroy.

But Jesus said, I have come to give You life and to give it to You more abundantly

or to its fullest extent.

God, help us to live into that this year. God, we trust You in that.

We trust you in your word.

And so, Lord, we just pray that you begin to reveal to our hearts and minds,

Lord, that you would, to our own wills, help us to speak life so that when these

opportunities are presented, we can step into that.

And, God, we pray that you'll be glorified in all that we do.

Lord, we dedicate this time to you. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.

I want to thank you for joining today's sermon podcast. You can find a copy

of today's sermon, as well as other sermons, and the sermon outline from today

on our church's website,

www.mvcnaz.org.

It is my prayer also that you will seek out a church home that recognizes the authority of the Bible.