A Year In Review

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.