january Sermon of the Month:
A New Year, Press On!
Philippians 3:13-3:14
 
We have entered the month of January. Many don’t know it, but the name comes from the Roman god, Janus. It is strange when you look at this god. It has two faces. He’s looking both forward and backwards - at the past and into the future. He was known as the god of doorkeepers, the god of beginnings, and eventually gave his name to the first month of the year. There are several things we can say about his name and his looks.

The first thing to remember about Janus is that there’s something odd about him – he has two faces! He looks back and looks forward at the same time. Although we should always remember the bridges that have brought us over the challenges of life, it is more important to look at the road that leads to the journey ahead. We are not to spend all of our time looking back. In Luke 9:62, we are told, “No one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” There is a reason that the front windshield of your car is much larger than the small rearview mirror. A driver who spends more time looking through the rearview mirror than the front window is bound to have an accident! Some of you have had some painful experiences in 2007. You’ve been hurt, or have experienced the loss of a loved one. Some of you are just glad it’s over, and that’s all right–but don’t spend too much time looking back!

Janus also reminds us of beginnings. A New Year is a good time to make a fresh start. At one point in his life, Paul wrote that he wasn’t satisfied with what he’d done in the past. No matter how many successes you have achieved last year–This Is A New Year with New Challenges Ahead! Paul was determined to look ahead. He said, "Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:13,14). How do we look ahead? How do we move forward? First, change the way you look at your half-filled glass. Instead of looking at it as half-empty, look at it as being half-full! To PRESS ON is to continue going. However you can’t PRESS ON until you make some changes in your attitude! Your attitude will determine your altitude in life! In making life changes, let me give you a few suggestions:

First: DEVELOP A POSITIVE OUTLOOK TOWARD LIFE!
A few years ago a lady committed suicide, leaving behind this note. "I decided that unless life was worth living I would just quit living."

Ask yourself, How do I feel about my life? Is it worthwhile? Or, let’s change the questions: What would it take for me to feel that my life is worthwhile? What would have to happen to make me feel really positive about my life?

If you won the lottery, would that do it? If your marriage suddenly was all patched up, would that do it? If your kids began to make you proud, or if you got a promotion, would that do it? What would it take for you to really feel positive about your life?

Now, if that’s the way you’re thinking, you’ll probably never feel really positive about life, because all the little pieces will probably never come together to make you positive about life. Why? Because if your happiness is based on these things, as soon as they all fall into place, you can be sure that there will be something, or someone who will come along and cause you to be in the same old negative state again.

How you are should never be dictated by your surroundings. Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians–despite the musty, cold, and damp prison where he found himself. In spite of all these negative things, he wrote these wonderfully positive words: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." In order to press on, you must let go of those things behind you that have entangled you!

Now stop for a moment and ask yourself, What is Paul trying to grab hold of? Paul tells us in vs. 10, "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."  Paul’s goal was the resurrection from the dead. His goal was eternal life with Jesus. That is what he was reaching for and striving for every day. His goal was Heaven!

There will be disappointments in life, but every day that passes is one day closer to the time when we will be with Jesus. If that is our goal, then Romans 8:28 is true. "All things" do "work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose." You may not drive the car that you want. You may not live in the house that you want! But thank God that you are blessed with what you have! No matter how bad you think things are in your situation, there is somebody worse off than you! And chances are, if your situation could be exchanged for theirs, you would gladly request yours back!

There was a man who bore a cross. He toiled and toiled with that cross. He complained and thought that he should have a better cross. Finally, he was given an opportunity to exchange it for another one. He entered the room with hundreds and hundreds of crosses. He tried them all on until he could not try on anymore. Some were too tall, some too short, some too big, some too small, many too heavy, many just didn’t feel right–until he found the perfect one. He placed it on his back and proudly walked out of the room carrying his new cross, which was the same cross he had when he entered the room! 

The world says the way to feel good about self is by climbing the ladder of success – by making a lot of money, by having influential friends, by receiving a lot of awards, or by belonging to the right circles. Those are the things that make you feel good about yourself.

But the Bible teaches us that we are to feel good about ourselves because God loves us. Do you know who you are in Christ? You are such a treasured person in God’s sight that He gave His only Begotten Son for you. That makes you valuable, and you can feel good about yourself.

Second, I think we need to have a positive attitude toward the church. I don’t say this in a self-serving way at all, because one thing that is right about the church is that our desire is simply to lift up Jesus, to reach out to a lost and dying world with the message of salvation. Yet, at times, I hear people criticizing the church. And yet the church is still God’s Medical Center for a sin-sick soul! The world may not understand it; but thank God for it!

In the church, sometimes there are ups and downs! And we need to understand that when we risk something for God, we may lose some skirmishes, but we have already won the battle because Jesus went to the cross and died for us.

Finally, we need to display a positive attitude toward others.
Robert Schuller wrote, "It would amaze us how many people we could influence for Christ if we would just treat people nicely." I think he is right. This is a hard world, a world that doesn’t always exercise courtesy. Sometimes it’s a dog-eat-dog world. People are jockeying for positions on the freeways and in their companies, and they’re filled with all kinds of stress and anxiety.

But the church must be a place where we all can come and be accepted and loved and encouraged and built up – a place where there are people to help us carry our burdens and everyone feels welcome. So this New Year, let’s make sure that we display a positive attitude toward others. Then we could decide to say our prayers and to read the Bible. I know that this will not shield you from problems, neither will it make you numb to the heartaches and pains of life. But the best New Year’s resolution you can make is to decide to put our trust in the Lord Jesus as your Savior.

During the New Year, may you have enough happiness to keep you sweet–
Enough trials to keep you strong–
Enough sorrow to keep you human–
Enough hope to keep you happy–
Enough failure to keep you humble–
Enough success to keep you eager–
Enough friends to give you comfort
Enough wealth to meet your needs–
Enough enthusiasm to make you look forward to tomorrow–