“The Hope in a Fresh Start”
Theme: New Year
Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:6-10
Things I’d like to remember from today’s sermon
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Family/Community Activity for the week: As we approach the start to another year, we are reminded of the importance of looking back at the events of the previous year and seeing how God has worked through it all, good and bad. At the start of this new year, thank God for the blessings he has given you and your family this past year, and come up with a new tradition for yourself or as a family that you’d like to make a new practice this year.
Meditation Moments for Monday, January 1–Read Genesis 12: 1-9. Abraham was a very wealthy man who had every reason to keep doing what he was doing, and stay where he was. But God called him to do even greater things, promising that in Genesis 12:2 – “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”
Abraham could have stayed where he was and continued on as he was and probably would have been successful, but instead, he chose to risk what he had and take that step of trusting fully in God, not knowing how God would lead him through.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for the resources and blessings you’ve given me. Show me how I can lay those blessings at your feet and follow you, trusting that you will take care of me through everything.
Tuesday, January 2– Read Exodus 2, and Exodus 3:1-18. Moses had a turbulent life growing up. He was the son of a slave who was adopted by the Pharaoh’s family, then fled his home when he murdered a man, then was accepted into a family in a foreign land. When God called him back to Egypt, Moses had finally found a comfortable life where he wasn’t trying to avoid being killed, with a family who loved and cared about him.
Moses even told God in verse 11 – “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” He wasn’t sure where God would take him, but whatever happened he wouldn’t be able to live the same life of peace he had known.
Prayer: Dear God, help me to hear you call me into new things even when I am comfortable and content. Help me find my worth in You and Your promises.
Wednesday, January 3–Read Judges 6:11-23. Almost 300 years after the Israelites fled Egypt under Moses’ leadership, the Bible says that they did evil in the Lord’s sight. God turned them over to the Midianites for seven years, during which time the Israelites were treated horribly. Judges 6:3-4 says “Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys.”
The people of Israel were desperate for God to save them, so He called Gideon to rescue Israel from the Midianites. When we first see Gideon he is threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress in order to hide the grain from the Midianites. He was hiding when the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and called him a “Mighty hero.”
God sees us not as we see ourselves, but as he created us, as we truly are. Gideon went from hiding from the marauders to be a great hero of Israel who fought the Midianites back with only 300 soldiers. Because Gideon trusted that God saw him as he was made to be, Gideon freed Israel from oppression with God leading the way.
Prayer: Dear God, help me see myself as You see me, as an instrument to help the people around me. Help me to see the needs in my community and help to meet them for Your glory.
Thursday, January 4–Read Jeremiah 1.Jeremiah grew up in a turbulent time in Israel’s history – Jeremiah witnessed the downfall of the Assyrian Empire, the death of King Josiah, and the Babylonians taking most Israelites into captivity to Babylon.
When God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet, he says in verse 5: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” To which Jeremiah replied in verse 6: “’O Sovereign Lord,’ I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” as the son of a priest, Jeremiah would have been well-acquainted with what it meant to serve God as a prophet.
Jeremiah considered himself too young to accept the responsibility of being a prophet, but God called him into a new life, to speak to the people of Israel to try to convince them to turn away from their sin and back towards God.God can call us at any time, even when we don’t think we are ready for a change.
Prayer: Dear God, help me be open to hearing your call for my life. Help me to be open and willing to follow you no matter what the circumstances in my life look like.
Friday, January 5–Read Matthew 9:9-13. Before Matthew met Jesus, he was a tax collector, a position that was almost universally despised. Tax collectors at the time were known as being dishonest, greedy, and untrustworthy. But Jesus called Matthew to follow him anyway. Matthew later invited Jesus and the rest of his disciples to his home as dinner guests, alongside some of his other tax collector friends and “disreputable sinners.”
We don’t have to have it all together before Jesus can use us for his glory. When the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these disreputable folks they complained to Jesus, who replied: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
God meets us where we are, and he calls us no matter where we find ourselves. It’s never too late to turn to Christ.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross so I can have a relationship with you. Help me to use each day as a chance to learn from past mistakes so I can become more like you each and every day.
Saturday, January 6–Read Acts 9:1-31. Ananias is simply described as “a believer in Damascus” in Acts 9:10. We don’t know much about him, but God called him to something that Ananias thought would be incredibly dangerous. God called Ananias to go see Saul, who was blinded by the holy spirit on the road to Damascus. Before Saul became the apostle Paul, he was well-known for arresting Christians and imprisoning them. Understandably, Ananias was a little concerned, seeing as Saul was on his way to destroy the very church that Ananias was a part of. But because Ananias listened to God’s call, he was able to give Saul a new beginning as one of the most influential apostles in early Christianity.
God can bring us out of our old habits to help others get a new start as well.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for the people in my life who have encouraged me to connect with you so I can have a fresh start. Help me to be that encouragement for others through the rest of this week and beyond.
(Message Notes and Meditation Moments for December 30-31, 2017) For more, go to