"See Or Stumble" - A Vision for 2017

"See Or Stumble" - A Vision for 2017

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See or Stumble: A Vision of 2017
  

"See Or Stumble" - A Vision for 2017 - Brian Loveless Sermon on January 1, 2017 at Calvary Baptist Church, Grand Prairie, Texas.

 When I tell you that it is a joy to see you, I mean that quite literally. Many of you have been asking about my eye. For those of you didn't know, a few months back I had a little sports injury. I had it for a while and didn't really even know until had started to get darker in my right eye on the periphery. I came in one morning and James, our youth pastor came in, and his face in my right eye was crunched down like a funhouse mirror and I thought something's off. I went into the doctor and they said that I had a completely torn and detached retina. They had to go in and, not trying to gross you out, but take all the fluid out of my eye, pump it full of gas to hold it in the round while it healed. So for the past number of weeks, actually two months, I've had this gas bubble in my eye that's been getting smaller and smaller. It was down to just a little bitty bubble and on Friday disappeared completely. Thank God it's healing up really, really well. I'm very, very grateful that I'm able to read again. It's not perfect but it's almost there.


Truth is trouble with my vision is nothing new. Like many of you I have what is called myopia. Mine is called malignant myopia, which sounds WAY worse than it is. Essentially that means you're super nearsighted. How many of you in the room are nearsighted? Raise your hand. Yeah, so you have contacts or glasses. The idea is the light that reflects into your retina and the shape of your eye is not quite right. So where as you can see things near, anything out beyond that, [like the congregation] are a complete blur; which for a couple of you is a huge help to me this morning (LOL) but not most of you.

Everything is extremely blurry out beyond [a point] so you're quite literally near-sighted. Here's the thing I've learned through all these years; without my contacts, without my glasses, when you can't see, you stumble, right? When you can't focus, you fall; so you have to make sure you have something to correct your vision. This morning we are standing on the very brink of a brand new year. Here's the deal y'all, we have absolutely no idea what it holds. If you're here this morning and you think you kind of know what 2017 holds, let me remind you that the president of the United States is Donald Trump. You have no idea what's coming, like day after tomorrow, much less six months into 2017. We just don't know. Listen, 2016 for many of you was a pretty good year. For a lot of us it was a tough year, for many of you a devastating year of loss. We just don't know what 2017 holds.

Here's what we all know, I think you'd agree with me on this, what we need going into this mysterious year is wisdom! We need clarity. We need discernment to know what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. We need vision! That's kind of what New Year’s resolutions are really all about. It's the idea that I made some decisions in my past, I put me on a path that I don't want to be on, and I want to correct those. I made some decisions in the past in relation to my marriage that led me to a place that I didn't want to be. Perhaps you’d say I made some decisions with my kids; I was too hands-off or I was so strict and hard, whatever it is, I don't want to do that going forward. I want to be a better, more active, present parent in 2017. For some of us, it’s the year I want to get my finances straight. I want to get my body straight. Somehow I started ‘16 with the best of intentions but I kind of got off those rails and wound up in a spot that I don't want to be in. Listen, 10,000 different scenarios that we say, “this year I need to make better decisions. I desperately need wisdom!”

Here's the thing, someone said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and over and expect a different result. I think a lot of us are beginning to put two and two together in our life; after years of starting a year with resolutions and seeing ourselves get off track, and starting a new year with resolutions and seeing that derail, a lot of us are coming to this conclusion; this kind of two plus two equals four realization. It's when we can't see God clearly that we stumble. It's when we lose our spiritual focus that we fall. It's when we start getting caught up in what's right in front of our face and we lose perspective on what really matters in life that we get into trouble. Y'all, we’re all so prone to do that. The Bible actually talks about this and tells us in no uncertain terms it is possible to have a kind of spiritual myopia. It is possible to have spiritual nearsightedness.
This is not our text this morning but I want to show it to you hopefully on the screen. If you want to turn you can, or I’ll read it to you. Peter is giving this list of things that need to be a part of your life if you're going to walk in wisdom, if you're going to make good decisions, and you're going to have vision in your life. Here's what he says

2 Peter 1
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off [in other words he’s nearsighted; can only see what’s right in front of him], and hath forgotten that he was purged [or forgiven] from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren [brothers and sisters], give diligence to make your calling and election [your salvation] sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

Here's the implication, it is possible to have the spiritual myopia where you lose perspective on your life and eternity and you start making decisions based on the here now that keep getting you in trouble. Peter says, listen there's some things you can do that will make a difference! There are some things you can do that will keep you from falling. There are two things inherent to this passage:

First of all, there is no quick permanent solution for this spiritual myopia. I wish I could tell you differently, because if I had that I would gladly share it with you, and if you had it, I want you to share it with me. Like if there was that spiritual Lasik surgery, right? Hey man it's fixed and now I've got perfect perspective, I don't get caught up in things that don't really matter, and my heart didn't get pulled off in one direction then another. I just live with spiritual perspective all the time and function in wisdom all the time. If there was a one-time fix for that, I’d tell you. The truth is there's not.

Also inherent from this passage is there are some things you can do DAILY to correct the problem. There are some “gospel glasses”, if you will, that you can put on every day that will help you to walk in wisdom. That will help you make the right decisions. It doesn't mean you'll be perfect. You’ll need Jesus every day, but he's given us some Gospel glasses. Thank God! Listen, this year we're going to talk about what some of these are. You already know some of the answers are not going to be these profoundly different things. This book will give you spiritual perspective, it will, when you pump it into your ears and your heart; when you meditate on it; when you take what God says about life instead of how life feels and seems; things start changing. Prayer makes a profound... listen, there's nothing that changes our perspective like prayer and most of us are just clueless as how to do it. And I’m not slamming you; I'm saying all of us struggle with prayer until we're in dire need and then we become like fluent prayers, don't we? Let somebody get sick, or were in danger, we don't know how we're going to make it; nobody has to ask for prayer lessons in that moment! So there's some disconnect but my prayer is in 2017 we as a church are going to become fluent in prayer. Anywhere you cut our ministries it's going to bleed prayer. That's my prayer to God for ’17. Community; doing life together, having somebody close enough to you to speak the truth into you when you're in need and you speak the truth into them can help you put on these glasses and correct your perspective. All those are for another sermon, I want to tell you about something listen that can help correct spiritual nearsightedness and you don't have to wait to do it we're going to do it today it is very simply called the Lord's Supper.

This ceremony, this memorial, they're different views on what we're going to do this morning. There's a view called transubstantiation, there's a view called consubstantiation, some that believe that there's some mystical element to this bread and this juice that transforms into... listen, I just have to tell you I don't believe that's what the Bible teaches. This is a memorial; this bread when you eat it and put in your stomach is still going to stay bread, the grape juice that you sip is going to stay grape juice, but it is a powerful, powerful prospective-giver. This was given; Jesus said make sure you do this, make sure you practice this. There are churches all over our nation to do this every single week because they want to remember, they want to remember some things that he's teaching us. This morning, I want to entitle our time together See or Stumble: A Vision of 2017.

1 Corinthians 11, this is the Apostle Paul:
23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 And when he had given thanks [for the bread], he brake it, and said [to His disciples], Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament [the new covenant, the new agreement] in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew[or literally proclaim] the Lord's death till he come.

Oh y'all, I'm so happy... the first Sunday of a brand new year... for all of us who have some resolutions. We have some areas of our life that are out of whack and we want to correct them. We want to walk in wisdom but we're scared of ourselves because we failed so many times. I love the fact that this morning we're going to put on our “gospel glasses” through this ceremony and remember some things that will change our life by the mere remembering of them. The Supper, listen, is three things that I want to note this morning. First of all, it is a look back. Second of all, it is a look forward. Third of all, it is a look around.

First of all, the supper is a look back to the cross. Jesus said when you take this bread remember, that’s the pivotal word, REMEMBER my body that came down from heaven to earth was born to a virgin mother; lived 33 perfect years like you haven't been able to pull off; then the same body that was nailed to a tree, the same mouth and cried out “my God my God why have you forsaken me”, the same hands that bled, the same spear in the side, remember my body! Remember what I did for you when I came down and died on that cross and came back from the dead three days later! Jesus said remember when you take that juice, that fruit of the vine, and you and you drink it becomes, on a cellular level when it hits your stomach, it becomes a part of you. Remember my blood, remember that I came to do something so powerful and life-changing and eternity impacting in you, it literally killed me! I had to bleed to purchase this gift for you. Remember it! There is unspeakable power that will change your present life in daily putting on the Gospel glasses, and rehearsing in your mind, and rehearsing in your heart what Jesus did for you two thousand years ago on the cross.

Let me tell you two things that this will especially impact because some of you, you are dragging a wagonload of something into 2017. For some of you it is guilt. For some of you it is deception. And both of them my friend, listen; will keep you blind as a bat spiritually. You’ll live just bumping into stuff, just going from one decision to the next and not having peace, and not having joy, and not having perspective. When you look back to the cross however, it starts correcting it.

Let me talk to some of you who are carrying guilt into the New Year. I got to tell you, I know exactly what it feels like to wake up in the morning with that sense that it's almost like somebody has their hands on your shoulders. To wake up with that oppressive feeling, of not just there's something wrong with the world, but there's something wrong with me. I know what it is to have that feeling why, “the other night why did I say that? Why did I do that? Why do I keep messing things up?” To go back in your past with some decisions you made, and you asked forgiveness, but you sure don't feel forgiven. You have that tape recording playing in your mind over and over again of what you did, who you were, who you let down, of how you messed it up, of how it could be different. There's some of you listen every time you start getting a leg up, it feels like those memories, that guilt, is there a shove you back down.

I want to tell you something from the bottom of my heart; I love you this morning that is SATANIC. This'll change your life; it's not you accusing you. Do you understand me? You think the battle is you against you, you against yourself. There are darker things in the world than you. There are devils that have a vested interest in playing that tape recording in your mind of how banged up you are because you will always, always, always stay blind because you’ve got unforgivable sin.

Friend, did you hear the song that we sang a little bit ago? That list that Brandon put together, listen for some of you, we’ve got to get past what C.S. Lewis called chronological snobbery. You know what chronological snobbery is? “I don't like a song unless it’s new.” “I don't like a song unless it's old.” Here's the bottom line - if it's about Jesus Christ and His blood and His gospel, who cares? We sing some songs this morning that were about He's a good, good Father; it’s who He is, it's who He is. We sang some songs that were straight out of the diary of the saints that say when the devil is accusing you, don't try to defend yourself, point him straight to the cross! My righteousness is not my own. I've got a Savior who died to pay for all my sins and He rose from the dead and He gave me His righteousness so the fact is, I'm not depending on me to be good enough. I'm not depending on me to be right enough. I'm depending on Jesus who was good enough, who was right enough, who loves me and a good, good Father who's adopted me into His family! For some of you that’s satanic guilt; if He has forgiven you, live forgiven my friend. And you may have to, multiple times a day, look back to the cross and put on those gospel glasses and point your enemy back to Jesus and say you know what? That's where my righteousness is. I'm not good enough but He is. I couldn't do anything about my sins but He did; looking back to the cross. 

 You know what for some of us, guilt is not the problem, deception is the problem. For some of us we have honestly started to believe, “well I got my ticket to heaven. I'm a Christian so who cares how I live.” I had somebody tell me, y’all it frightened me, it frightened me to hear him say it, “Preacher, I just don't have a whole lot of motivation to live for Jesus. I don't have a whole lot of motivation to do not live in sin, because I already know I’m on my way to heaven. Why does it matter?” and the only thing that I can think was “Friend listen, that's not the language of a Christian.” If that's the feeling in your heart, that the blood of Jesus bought me a ticket to heaven and now I can live however I want, that is not the hallmark of somebody who's been born again. Paul was hearing from people in the book of Romans who were saying “Man if I believe that I was saved purely by grace, purely by Jesus, I’d live however I want to live. Here's what he said,

Romans 6

20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I believe there are some Christians who have taken off their Gospel classes and they're not afraid of themselves anymore and they're just living however they want whenever they want. An occasional conviction rises up, but it's quickly pressed down with, “it really doesn't matter.” Friend, it does! The wages of sin is still death; death to your marriage, death to your thought life, death to your kids that can reap what you sow, death to your testimony, death to the influence of the Holy Spirit pouring out of you, death to your joy, death to your peace. I tell you what, the times I've lived exactly like I wanted to live, I'll tell you one thing they were times where I had no peace, no peace. Many of you have heard me talk about the Tolkien books The Lord of the Rings; that was a metaphor that Tolkien used to describe Christ in His kingdom. Whether you like that, or whether you don't, is immaterial; he described this one ring that all the books center around. One ring that men fight over, and die for, because it has this incredible power; they all think they can possess it. They all think, “I can have the power without the pain” and then they slip it on their finger and find out it always takes over, it always enslaves you, it always wins.

Friends listen, some of us in this room are trifling with things; we are living in sexual immorality, some of the people in this room. By the way, understand that like cohabitation is perfectly acceptable in 2017 throughout the culture, it's never become acceptable with God. Being in a sexual relationship with somebody you're not married to; the Lord of Hosts still says, “Listen no one gets by with that. It is destructive to you; it will cost you in the end.” There’s a slate of things, there's a list of things, but maybe you're here today you're wondering “why do I go through life without seeing God? Why do I go through life and other people lift their hands in the service? They seem like they're getting so much and I seem like I'm getting so little.” Friend, it may be that you are taking very lightly some things you ought to take seriously. Maybe there's something in your life. A look back to the cross can start changing that. I don't want to flirt with anything that nailed my Best Friend to the cross. I don't want anything in my life that grieves Him. I don't want anything in my life that He hates. I don't want anything in my life that's going to keep me from knowing Him like I want to know Him. A look back to the cross can change things for you in 2017.

Then there's a look forward. The text is this 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

I love that! I've been in Lord's Supper services that were so morbid. I've been ones where was almost like when you come in don't you [dare] smile and don't you sing. We're going to sing all songs that are downcast; we're going to be so formal about this. Listen three words change all that! Celebrate His death till He comes back! He's not still in the tomb. He's not still in the grave. He’s seated on the right hand of His Father and one day the One who left this earth as a Lamb is coming back as a Lion! That's Jesus! That's the One we're singing about, that's the one we're worshiping, and so the Bible says “listen, when you take these elements and you remember His body and His blood, don't get in this mode of trying to pity Jesus.” OK? I remember as a kid, such a sensitive kid, like I would sit there and try to feel things; like, “what's wrong with me that I don't feel more?” Right? Some of you are laughing because that's exactly you, and some of you are like “you're a weirdo”. Two different types of people! You sensitive folks, yeah I feel you. You sit there and like “Lord, I want to be more sad than I am for You.”

Listen, the point is not that you're sad for Him; the point is that you are looking back to what He accomplished on that cross! Do you understand that He put the Serpent's head under His heel at the cross? He beat him! He took away the power of death from him. All your life he would accuse you, and accuse you, and accuse you and Jesus said “I'm going to strip away your power to accuse them because I'll be their salvation!” Here's the thing, Jesus is coming back! Unless this book is a lie, unless this is a big pack of mythology and we're all wasting our time this morning. The Bible says there are signs leading up to His coming. Are we seeing some signs leading up to His coming in our culture and in our world? Y'all, read Revelation, read Daniel, read those prophetic books and see if things aren't lining up for the return of the King who will rule and reign over everything.

I'm telling you, two thousand years ago, if you read the Gospels they seem so upside down, what Jesus said and did and I mean that reverently. He came and He was like “you've heard it said eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you love your enemies, do good to them that hate you and despitefully use you.” Jesus said “you've heard it said...” [Paraphrasing] Here's what you think about life, let me tell you how it really is. You know why that is? Because when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden it turned everything upside down. Jesus came and for three years He started preaching right side up! One day this whole thing is going to turn back the way it was meant to be and I'm telling you, that's when it's going to matter what your values were during your lifetime. What does the world value? Power, pleasure, notoriety, money, stuff, and entertainment; what does the culture value? Things that you can see this close up, that you can feel, you can touch, you can taste, you can smell. If my five senses enjoy it, I’m all about it. That's what the culture is all about. What is Jesus value? People. What does He value? The heart and soul, every kind word, every spirit-filled action, everything you did in a body of believers called the local church, every bit of energy you use to build His kingdom, every bit of money you gave to further His cause, every orphan you helped rescue by giving, every mission trip you took when you came out of your comfort zone and made a difference. That's what God values, that's what God sees. Listen that we used to sing songs about it back in the day, and I think we began to lose the meaning of them just a little bit, “I’m kind of homesick for a country to which I've never been before”, right? ” Beulah Land, I'm longing for you.” God says y’all this life is the short, dirty, painful one. The real life, that will last forever, is coming rapidly and everything you did in this short life will matter in the eternal one to come. God says listen put on those Gospel glasses and remember this ain't all there is. There's a life coming, there's a kingdom coming, that's going to put this one in its shadow.

Listen to this, 2 Peter 3, I'm winding down...
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness [in other words, why doesn’t He come back now]; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.[If He'd come back 10 years ago there are some of you who wouldn't be in heaven. He's still bringing people into the kingdom, He's still saving souls, and He’s still changing lives.] 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night [people won’t expect it]; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11 Seeing then that all these things [all the earthly things in front of our faces] shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [convert] and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Y'all we don't think about eternity enough. We need regularly to remember, “This is not my home. This world is not my home, I'm just passing through. I really am a pilgrim down here! Given just a few years to make a difference in lives; given just a few years to walk with God and have him dripping off me to such a degree that it changes the people in my neighborhood, in my school, and in my circle of influence.” This supper, these Gospel glasses we're going to put on here in a few moments, it's a look back to what He did on the cross, it's a look forward to the fact that He's coming again, but this one y’all may be the most neglected of them all - it is a look around at the body of Christ.

I didn't realize this for the longest time; this is pretty new information to me, 1 Corinthians 11

2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances [the ceremonies], as I delivered them to you...


He’s talking to the church in Corinth, “hey good job you are taking the supper, you are putting on those Gospel classes regularly and remembering these things but, then we go down to verse 17
17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not [good job doing it, but you’re doing it wrong], that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.
18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

You know what the basically means? There's always going to be problems and strife in every Church and part of the reason why is to show who the real save people are and who the real save people aren't. That's strong! There's always going to be strife in every Church between human beings and Paul said that part of the reason is no matter what you sing on Sunday morning, or how nice your clothes, or how much Bible you know, the real you will show itself in conflict with other people.

20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. [Apparently they weren’t just using grape juice.]
22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? what shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

Here's the idea, in that day and time it was more of a meal with the same elements rather than the small elements that we put together. They had some of the more well off, wealthy, affluent people showing up with these big elaborate spreads of food; partially to shove it in the face of the guy at the end of the table who didn't have anything. It became a showboat time effectively and some weren't just taking the wine, they were getting drunk on the wine. They were being gluttonous and it wasn't supposed to be about that, right? All sorts of hurt feelings, all sorts of strife.

27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

He said the way you're treating each other in regard to this supper, some of you have been disciplined by God. You're sick because of that, you're physically ill in God's discipline for that, and some of your church died because of it.

31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

Wait on the guy next to you; make sure you're looking out for them. Don't just be concerned with you be concerned with them.

34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

Y'all, we are living in an incredibly individualistic culture. We're living in a culture where it's all about me, and my devotional time, and my little candle that I light, and I read my devotional. I have my private time, my quiet time with the Lord, and I can come into a service and the larger the church the easier it is. I'm going to come into a church service, get everything I want, slip out the side door, and nobody's the wiser. What God is saying, I believe vividly through this ceremony, “This supper is not only a look back to what I did on the cross, and a look forward to the fact that I'm coming, it's a look around to your brothers and sisters.”

How are they doing? Am I investing my life in them? It is increasingly becoming popular in 2017 to take the Lord's Supper wherever and whenever you want. I just want to tell you, five times the words “come together”, “come together”, don't make this private, make it a proclamation! This is something to be done in the church and it is a picture of the fact we are the body of Jesus. Some people are so careless with the body that Christ Jesus says, “You need each other if you're going to walk through this coming year safely. You need people that are close to you. You need to be close to them. You need to speak truth into them. You need to have them speak truth into you. Some of you are visiting our church and you're looking for a church home, and there's an appropriate time to look, and seek, and pray, and find out what you're going to do. But I want to ask a question for those of you that are here, and this is your church body, how plugged-in are you to the members of this church? I tell you what, one thing the Lord's put on me so strong is for me, my connectedness with this body, has got to get better in 17; better than it's ever been before, rather than just the preaching time, the connection with you. I'm not telling anything that I'm not preaching to myself, but are you invested here with other people? Are you serving other people? Are you involved in a small group of people, I'm not just saying a life group, a Sunday-school class? Are you plugged in somewhere? Are you tithing? Are you involved in mission El Arado? Are you using your resources to the furtherance of the kingdom of God? Y'all, let me say and I say it with a tremor my voice, are you dealing with God's people in a casual, flippant, disrespectful way? Are you a gossip? Are you a slanderer? I have two families, two families right now, that I prayed, and prayed, and worked to get into our church, and they were in man. I don't know all the details, all I know is foolish things were said and done to where I can't get them back.

We are a body. Listen if my lower back is an agony, the whole rest of the body is thrown off. Before we take this supper God says, “You better check yourself. How you're treating my people.” Maybe you're not treating them any way at all because you're not vested enough to treat them any way at all. Maybe there's some things that need to be made right, some apologies made, some calls delivered, some Facebook accounts deleted, but I promise you this, you're never going to get far with these Gospel glasses without the people around you.

There are two requirements for partaking of this supper that are crystal clear. There's all sorts of debate, all sorts of sermons, all sorts of teaching all over the place about who should, who should not; let me just tell you what I know, what I can absolutely, certainly say from the scripture, black-and-white, verbatim requirements for partaking of these elements here in a moment:

That the par taker be regenerated by grace; that you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. It’s crystal clear that this means nothing friend if you don't have the Savior who shed His blood, and had His body broken for you, inside your heart. You know what else? That we are living a life consistent with commemorating the death of Jesus; it doesn't mean you're perfect, it does mean if there's something that God has allowed to bubble up from your heart into your mind, “I need to make something right. I need to ask forgiveness. There’s something that needs to change here. I need to be more vested. I need listen.” that you don't let it go. That you deal with it before you ever put these elements to your mouth. I'm going to ask you to stand with me real quick.

This year what an opportunity we have, to start the year with this supper looking back to a Savior that loved us, looking forward to His kingdom come, and looking around to brothers and sisters in Christ, with many of the same pains, the same hurts, the same temptations, the same joys that you've got. We don't have to do this alone. We've got a Savior and we've got a body of believers to do this with. This is the moment to say,” I know in the past I've spent some time blind. I spent some time just so enamored by the things right in front of me, but this year I want things to be different. So Lord, I want to spend my time daily remembering who I am in Christ, and remembering how I'm living counts, where I'm investing matters. I want this year to be the year that I plug in with the body of believers. They're not going to be perfect because they're human, but I want to be a part of the family, part of the body.

What a hopeful message on this first Sunday of 2017!
Brian Loveless

Brian Loveless has been serving as Lead Pastor for Calvary Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, TX since November 2003. Brian shepherds, leads, feeds, and guides Calvary’s congregation, staff, and guests to spiritual growth and service for Jesus Christ. His main goals remain for folks to see God, share life, serve others, and stay connected.

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