New Year, Same God

All of us have heard the phrase, “New Year, New Me.” The prospect of a better

year ahead is what excites us and gets us motivated to hit the ground running

once the New Year arrives. And understandably so, because perhaps, this past

year has been a very difficult year for you and you simply cannot wait to start

anew. You set your hopes on the coming year that it will turn out better than this

year has. And let me tell you something, I’ve seen for many of you that 2024 is a

year that has simply drug you through the mud. And so this phrase, “New Year,

New Me” carries with it a different level of meaning to you.

We begin to anticipate all the possibilities that are to come in the coming year,

and so we start entertaining different ideas that we wouldn’t have a few months

ago simply because there is something special to the turning over of a new leaf.

And many of you can compare a new year to that of turning over a new leaf. It’s

like reading a novel and you’re on the last paragraph of a chapter that has just

been terrible for the characters contained within and you peer through the

semitransparent page and see the start of a new chapter is about to begin and

you cannot wait to turn to that next page. Oftentimes we tend to look at our lives

that way. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. I can relate to that

feeling. New year, new me. New year, new goals. New year, new possibilities. We

love this phrase, “Out with the old, in the…new.” Here's where we can go wrong

as a Christian.

Yes, there are some ways a Christian ought to change such as in our sanctification.

We ought to be becoming more and more like Jesus every day. We ought to be

changing our mindset so that our wants and desires are brought into alignment

with God’s desires. However, the life of a Christian is not meant to be like that of

the world, always changing beliefs and thoughts based on what’s popular or

current. We’re not meant to drift from what Scripture teaches no matter how

justified someone makes it out to be. In contrast to the pattern of this world,

Christians ought to be steady, steadfast and faithful, no matter how boring or

yawn inducing it may be to the rest of the world. We know what we stand for andwe do not shift to the left or to the right. Yet we remain on the path set out before

us in faithfulness to God and His word. This is why I’ve entitled this message,

“New Year, Same God.”

Let’s take a look at the book of Hebrews to get a reminder of what the life of a

Christian should look like.

Hebrews 13:1-2

Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for

thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Many of you have the 10 Commandments posted somewhere in your homes and

it serves as a reminder to us what God’s standards for righteousness are. You shall

have no other gods before me. You shall not make idols. You shall not take the

Lord’s name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy. Honor your

father and mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall

not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not

covet.

Of course, none us could ever meet these standards because none of us are

perfect. Most if not all of us have broken these commandments 20 times over.

And before you get to saying, well I’ve never murdered anyone, just let me remind

you that Jesus expounded upon these commandments and said in Matthew 5:21-

22,

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and

whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone

who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment

Romans 3:23

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

This is why we all need Jesus. This is why Jesus had to come to this earth and die

on the cross so that we could be saved from our sins. To have them washed away,

our sins blotted out from our ledgers so that we could be reconciled back to God.In Matthew 22, Jesus is asked this question.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to

him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a

second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two

commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So this is what has been shown to me as I was preparing for this message. The

Apostle Paul, who wrote the book of Hebrews is pointing us to this very thing. Do

not forget to love one another! He says in verse 1, “let brotherly love continue.”

And how do we best love others? We love them best by living according to God’s

statutes and his ways because they are far better than any moral doctrine the

world could come up with. We love others best when we love God with all that we

are. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind.” Then Jesus goes on to say, “You shall love your neighbor

as yourself.” And so we must understand this very basic truth first. It often gets

overlooked. Pay attention to the order. Is it love God first or love people first? We

are to love God first. You cannot love people, as you should ,if you are neglecting

to love God first. How we love people is informed by how we love God. It’s not the

other way around.

I see all too frequently this phrase, “love your neighbor” as a way to get you to

cave into a particular ideology that is in contradiction to God’s Word. We cannot

be endorsing or be taking part in a sexual lifestyle condemned in the Bible and

claim that we love God while doing so. We cannot be in alignment with a position

that supports the abortion of babies and say we love God at the same time. We

cannot be frivolous with our money and then come into Church on Sundays and

nod our heads to songs and sermons about trusting God. These are all examples

of incongruencies that can be found in many Christians’ lives today.

Too many people nowadays put the cart before the horse, loving people over

loving God. Instead we need to have our priorities straight. Love God, then Lovepeople. What’s our mission statement? Love God, Love People, Serve Both. And

so, in loving God first, and letting that inform how we love others, we will love

how were intended to.

And then Paul goes on to say in Hebrews 13:2, to not neglect to show hospitality

to strangers. Again, loving how God would have us love others. I just want to say

one thing, that many non-Christian people do this really well. I was on a road trip

to a Christian conference and our car had broken down in East St. Louis. There was

an issue with the brakes and needed them fixed. It was a Saturday when a lot of

places in the area were closed. We called one place and the guy came from his

house, took the old parts out and put the new ones in and didn’t charge us for the

labor. Here’s the thing, he wasn’t a Christian. How did we know? One of the

ministers I was with was sharing Jesus with him and the man didn’t believe in any

particular God. He just knew there was a higher being out there somewhere. And

so, fellow Christian, how are you doing in showing hospitality to strangers, even

when it’s inconvenient?

Hebrews 13:3

3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those

who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

Paul is saying, look out for the marginalized! They have no one else to look to. It

reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:34-40.

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you

from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I

was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I

was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and

you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did

we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did

we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when

did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them,

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it

to me.’Hebrews 13:4

4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled,

for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Again, this is an example of how to love others as God would have you love them.

I’ve heard many say, oh the marriage certificate is just a piece of paper. No, it’s

much more than that. It is an acknowledgement that God is your witness in such

matters and that he ought to be at the center of it. So take great care in how you

view marriage. It is not to be held in low esteem, but ought to be regarded very

highly in the mind of the Christian. Do not make things trivial that God does not

hold to be trivial.

Hebrews 13:5-6

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for

he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;

I will not fear;

what can man do to me?”

We just went through a series on money not too long ago and I hope it’s still fresh

on your minds. Many of you have set financial goals for 2025 and that’s great.

Make sure that your goals are in alignment with what Scripture says about how

you view and handle your money. One of the goals the leadership has made for

the Church is to start paying down the debt that we have on the remodel of this

building. The debt was acquired prior to my arrival and I’m glad we’re able to have

such a nice facility to meet in. However, this does not mean hold onto the debt

longer than we need to. And that is in keeping with the biblical principle that

Christians should get out of debt as soon as possible.

Hebrews 13:7

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the

outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.Paul isn’t pointing to any one person in your life, because it may have been

multiple people that you can think of or the person you’re thinking of may be

different than that of the person another is thinking. I think of my parents.

They’ve been Christians since before I was born. They brought me up in Christian

values and principles and taught me had to remain steadfast in my convictions

even when they’re not popular. They’ve seen their fair share of trails and

hardships, but they hold fast to their faith despite the challenges. I think of the

things I’ve been taught in Scripture seeing the example of Paul and his courage

amongst many trials, his faithfulness even unto death. And reading about

Stephen, how he was stoned to death for his beliefs. There are many Christian

leaders in my life that met death peacefully without threat of persecution. When I

think about Paul’s words on considering the outcome of their way of life, I think of

the legacy they left behind or will leave behind. The commonality between all of

the examples I gave, is a steadfast faith. And unwavering faith, that says, God, I

trust you even when it seems like I have no reason to. So whether in life or facing

death or under the threat of persecution, I will endure to the end and will remain

faithful until you call me home. That should be the resolve of every Christian here

today. This is a faith worth imitating.

Hebrews 13:8

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Psalm 102:25-27

25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26 They will perish, but you will remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.

New Year, Same GodHebrews 13:9

9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart

to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those

devoted to them.

This word strange here simply means foreign. Don’t be led astray by false

doctrines no matter how beautiful these messages are portrayed. If you are

curious how UCC is striving to put this into practice, I will mention our music that

we choose for our worship is a prime example. We do not use any songs from

Elevation Worship, Bethel Music or Hillsong. Even though they produce some of

the best worship songs out on the radio, we have become aware of the egregious

false doctrines being taught at those Churches and so we want to separate

ourselves from them as much as we can and that includes the songs we choose

for worship. We do not, in any way, want to take part in the spreading of their

false doctrine to the world. If you’d like to know more about this, feel free to set

up a meeting with me and we can discuss this subject further.

When Paul goes on to talk about foods, he is speaking to the Jewish audience who

were overly concerned with the clean and unclean foods. Paul is saying, these are

of no benefit to you. Rather it is how you live your lives unto God and the

condition of your hearts that truly matters. A direct comparison for us would be

the Christian who overly concerns himself with the fact that he doesn’t watch

raunchy movies or get drunk, but overlooks the fact that he is unloving and

uncaring towards the people around him. There was a popular phrase when I was

in high school. “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.”

Piano to play here.

Hebrews 13:10-12

10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the

high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also

suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he

endured.Let’s break down what Paul is saying here. Paul is making a distinction between

Judaism and Christianity. Remember that some of the Jews were concerned about

certain foods they could or could not eat. It is likely they also viewed Christianity

as a joke. They may say, “What kind of religion do you claim?” Where’s your

altar?” “Where’s your temple?” “You don’t have any dietary laws.” And Paul’s

answer is this. We have an altar. And then Paul points to the person of Jesus. That

he was final atoning sacrifice for sins for all time. I can imagine the Christian saying

back in this time, you (the Jews) may have an altar and sacrifices, but we have one

too, a better one.

Hebrews 13:13-16

13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he

endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is,

the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to

share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

And so the challenge for the Christian is this, for the remaining days of 2024 and

the coming year of 2025 and beyond is this. We will continue to face many trials.

Despite this, continue to worship God with your life. Honor him with your lips and

do good to others. This is how we love God. And when we love God, we love

others better than any other way we could have devised on our own. Our lasting

city as Christians is not here, but it is in heaven. And until we pass from this life to

the next or Jesus returns, we remain steadfast in faith to the end. That is a

resolution worth making.

New Year, Same God.