My sons used to tell their friends how many times that we have moved as a family from one place to another. It had reached mind-boggling status until when we moved to Bloomington. Now we have been here a few years, and I am not looking forward to moving! Someone told me once that ‘three moves equal a burnout’. They meant that so many items are broken, lost, or destroyed in a move.
I do not enjoy moving! I hate boxing everything up and then trying to unpack it and put in a new place. Every time we have moved, we have had to make some decisions. There were some things we took with us, and there was some things that we left behind.
In our text this morning, Lot was instructed to take his wife and his two daughters and get out of Sodom. We would not have to read very far to find out that Lot was to take some things with him and at the same time he was to leave everything else behind.
We are entering into a new year. 1996! As we move into the new year let’s consider what we need to take with us, and what we need to leave behind
I. SOME THINGS TO TAKE WITH US
A. The Spirit of Excitement.
1. There is a great and exciting spirit at this church.
2. It is exciting to have new building, see growth in our ministry, to get to know new staff members, and to see new families come into the church.
3. Many of you have expressed this spirit in different ways and at different times.
4. This spirit is a spirit of excitement
B. The Spirit of Unity.
Acts 2:1, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
Acts 4:32, "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own;.."
1. The spirit of oneness is vital for us to maintain.
2. We must keep others in mind.
3. We must keep the idea of serving and doing for each other foremost and primary in our intentions.
4. Unity is togetherness.
a. When one is ill, we all want to pray and help out.
b. When one hurts, we are all sympathetic and desire to ease their pain.
c. We care about one another, we are a family.
C. The Spirit of Cooperation.
1. Let's keep the attitude of working together.
2. That means that we each will have to be willing to yield our own desires, wants, and wishes, to others.
3. We need the attitude of ‘not what I want, but what will help the church to meet the mission we are commissioned to do?’
D. The Spirit of Concern.
1. Without concern for the lost we will become cold and indifferent.
2. Remember, God has blessed us because we have continued to reach out to others, both here and around the world.
3. We must do all we can to reach our friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors.
4. Who will reach them if we fail?
E. The Spirit of Expectation.
1. Expect God to do the impossible.
a. We have come this far by faith.
b. Everything we continue to do must be by faith in a Big and a Mighty God.
c. We need to believe God for more great and mighty things.
I Sam. 3:11, "And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle."
Luke 1:37, "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
Isa. 59:1, "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save..."
2. Expect the negative.
a. There are always those who say we cannot do something.
b. I don't like to be around those who are negative.
c. Let’s determine to prove them wrong! To God be the Glory!
3. Expect souls to be saved.
a. I am expecting to see a greater number of people coming to Christ.
b. Don’t get me wrong, we should never grow complacent about seeing folks saved.
c. What a wonderful blessing to have a part in bringing someone to Christ!
d. Do yourself a favor!
1) Stay for the invitation!
2) Pray during the invitation!
3) And then encourage those who accept Christ!
4. Expect new members.
a. We will have a large number of visitors in this next year.
b. There will be new members coming into the church.
c. We must expect to see God bless with new people.
F. The Spirit of Faithfulness.
1. It is all too easy to fall into a pattern of unfaithfulness.
2. As we begin a new year, let’s determine that we will be faithful!
3. Faithful in attendance to the services.
4. Faithful in participating in all of the program of this church.
5. If we don't all do our part, our effectiveness is limited.
II. SOME THINGS TO LEAVE BEHIND
A. (Excitement) Discouragement.
B. (Unity) Discord.
C. (Cooperation) Stubbornness.
D. (Concern) Apathy.
E. (Expectation) Unbelief and Doubt.
F. (Faithfulness) Unfaithfulness and Selfishness
If you are not a Christian today, why not come to Christ and leave behind your old life and be born again? Trust in Him today! Christian, what kind of spirit will we bring into the new year? Are there some things we need to leave behind? Why not come today?