December 28, 2014
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Worship
Theme: New Year
Ecclesiastes
3:1-12 NIV
Revelation
21:1-6 NIV
Read
Revelation, chapter 21:1-6…
I
can’t believe how time has flown this year. Here we are almost at the end of
the year and a new year approaches. I am sure, as we look back, we can see the
good times and the bad times we have been through in the past year. We, as a
congregation, have seen changes within our church. We have seen others step up
when there was help needed from places we may not have expected. We have seen
prayers answered in ways that we never could have imagined. We have seen out attendance
grow as we seek to be that light in the community. We have seen new life being
born in our church…just to name a few.
We have also seen some tough times. We
have seen times when we weren’t quite sure where God was going to lead us. We
have seen times when we were worried about the health of some of our saints
among us. I think one of the biggest is the loss of many of our Saints within
the church.
But through this all, there is one thing
that never changes. We have time and time is a gift from God. There are times
when we feel we have too much and times when we feel we don’t have enough. But
we have the assurance that our God is the God of time and all things happen
within His time frame and not our own. And no matter how we may try to get more
time one thing is for sure…time goes on. What we do with it is our choice to
make.
We can rest assured that as we go
through time our God is always with us. God has a plan for our time and if we
trust and obey our time here on earth will glorify Him and not ourselves. As we
trust Him for our daily bread we live life abundant. As we let go and let God
our lives are transformed into what he intended all along.
Perhaps if we chose His way and not the
highway we will affect a change in the lives around us, not to mention our own
lives. Just think of the possibilities… And when we come to the end of our time
we will know we spent our time wisely and will here that “well done my good and
faithful servant” when we reach our eternal home in the sky. But it takes time…
The scriptures that were read this
morning are all about time. They talk about there being a time for
everything…about a time when God will make all things new… Time is a precious
commodity. As I said, time is a gift from God. We can either work on God’s time
or try and work on humanities time span. Listen to what the scriptures from
this morning tells us and chose which time line is the best for you, for me,
for all of humanity. Which one is a better way to spend our precious time…our
extraordinary gift from God…?
Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time
for everything. Can you imagine what it must have been like to hear the stories
of God’s people from your ancestors? Imagine you are a young child and you are
listening to the stories of your people. There were so many ups and downs it
was like a rollercoaster. There were good kings and bad kings. There was time
of blessings and times of exile and judgment. There were times of weeping and
laughter, morning and dancing, kind of
like the opening of Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities,” it was the worst of
times and the best of times, but within this gift from God the mix of life
happens. Good and bad…light and dark…day and night all happen. God has set a
time for everything under heaven and in heaven. Time is God’s and God’s alone
and our Creator chooses to share it with the created…even within the realities
of life.
Revelations talks about a new time to
come…a time when God will make everything new. Our God is a God of the new.
Life with God never remains the same. It is always moving, changing,
perfecting, and morphing into something new. But…it takes time. It is not as if
we can change our calendars to January 1 and Boom everything has changed. But as we live our lives…as we “do our
time” here on earth…we can believe by faith that God’s word is true and that
little by little things are being made new so that we may know the fullness of
life even though the various season of life that we go through.
We have been given a set amount of time
here on earth. When we show compassion we are feeding the hungry, giving drink
to the thirsty, welcoming that stranger
clothing the naked and visiting those in need. It is the compassion…the
Christ-like compassion that the “King” notices. With compassion comes kindness,
patience, and love for others. What we do with our time has eternal
consequences.
We have all heard the phrases and may have even used them “I have no
time for that…you’re running out of time…you’re wasting my time…you don’t use
your time wisely…thank you for your time”. We are forever trying to have “more
time.” But perhaps we need to change what we do with the time we have. Maybe,
just maybe, what we do with God’s gift of time needs to be “tweaked a little”
in our lives. Perhaps it is not more time that we need and what is needed is to
put more “quality” in our time.
We are coming to the end of one year and
a new year is dawning on the horizon. What will you do with your new beginning?
What will you do with the gift of time shared with you by the Creator? As a
matter of fact, each day is a new beginning…a new day dawning for you and for
me. What will you do with your new day? Will you squander it on the “me” or use
it for the “thee” who gave it to you. To everything there is a season. What
will you do with the season that you are in? Will you focus on the time passed
or look ahead for the future? This new
time we have been given…this New Year…this
gift from God…should be used wisely, in ways that will enhance your
relationship with God. How will you celebrate this new day dawning? Will you
stay looking in the past or will you boldly go forward, with our Risen Lord,
Jesus Christ, into a new frontier? Which will you choose? You never know…like
Ester, you may be called for a time such as this… Maybe…just maybe…when we
choose Christ we will be used to bring glory and honor to the Father. How
AWESOME is that?
Let us pray…
God
of New Beginnings, we thank you for the year that has past. Even with its
rollercoaster ride at times, you were there through it all. Help us to boldly
face our new beginnings with the confidence that you will continue to be with
us, making everything new. May we have hope for each new day as we sojourn on
this journey of life. It is in the name of our Shepherd, Lord Jesus Christ, we
pray.
Amen.
