Sermon illustrations for New Year's Eve/Day (2012/2013)
Illustration
Object:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
Over the holidays Connie lost her watch -- a special gift from her father. She searched everywhere with no success. After the New Year's celebration, she began meticulously putting decorations away and methodically vacuuming. But no watch turned up. Every Christmas thereafter, she realized the source of her frustration.
"That's it," she said. "I give up. A missing watch will not spoil another Christmas."
Her burden lifted as she concentrated on Jesus, the Reason for the Season. That year she played Christmas carols and drank egg nog as she decorated. Family tradition was to "undecorate" on New Year's Day. Stuffing gold garland into a plastic tub, something caught her eye -- her watch! Its clasp must have come undone when she took the tree down so many years ago. What was lost was now found. The time of "searching" was over. Tomorrow she'd go out and by a new battery for her time piece.
Cynthia C.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
What time is it? Maybe it is whatever time we make it to be! Have you ever experienced a year when you could look back and see that nothing bad had happened? Have you ever seen a year that nothing good had happened?
Our days on earth follow a cycle. We have night followed by day. Warm is followed by cool. Dry can be followed by wet. (In the dry southwest, we wish for a bit more wet, and some back east might wish for more dry!) Sometimes we may have longer periods of extremes, but some places seem to have every day just like the other.
We took a course in journal writing once, and the instructor suggested that one reason for keeping a journal is that when we looked back over it, we could see it go up and down in a kind of rhythm. We had good times and not so good, but she said that when we're really down we should look at our journal and see that after every down time there was a better time. That moderated our concern or panic since we knew that things did not continue getting worse. That is not life. It goes without saying that things did not always get better and better either!
Scripture also hints that we have some control over these times. We can reduce the bad times by trying to avoid temptations that could lead to trouble. We can also see how to make the good times even better or last longer by showing love -- even to our enemies! Love can be a moderating influence.
When we have a loving spouse and children it helps modify the down times. When we know that a loving God is watching over us, it gives us hope for a happier future if we trust in Him.
One of the reasons for suicides in the military is that the bad never seems to let up. It seems to get worse. We may cry out to the Lord, but we still see friends die -- and wonder if we will be next. We may not be sure what or who we will come home to.
Uncertainty is a big factor in robbing us of the good or better times. Maybe the Lord gave us a neat place to live and a great wife, but maybe there is the threat of foreclosure if we lose our job or if an illness is taking all our savings -- and an ultimate tragedy for the family if it is breaking up. When these things hang over our head, it may blind us to seeing the good things God is doing for us -- or can do if we look for them and trust in Him to overcome our problems.
Keep a journal to see what God has done in the last year and what He will do for you in this New Year if you will let Him.
Bob O.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
There have been so many ways invented to keep track of time. The Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming (like many similar structures in the western US and Canada) is a prehistoric rock arrangement of 28 spokes emanating out of a hub; Native Americans used it to measure the summer and winter solstice and the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Sundials were invented by ancient Egyptian and Babylonian astronomers to track the passage of daylight. (Moon dials have been invented too, but they are only accurate during a full moon.) The hour glass could keep track of the passage of smaller units of time as grains of sand fell from one chamber to the other. In the 14th century, the 24-hour day was developed and timepieces were created to mark the passing of time. Time was then further broken down to minutes and seconds with sophisticated clocks and wristwatches invented to accurately show them. This is chronos time, linear and measureable. The writer of Ecclesiastes is concerned with kairos time, which is pregnant with substance and meaning.
Mark M.
Revelation 21:1-6a
This is not a text about making New Year's resolutions, but a description of the new reality God has created and the comfort it provides for everyday life. A God so loving that He wipes away every tear from our eyes, taking away all crying and pain (v.4-5). Loving parents wipe the tears of their children, taking away their crying and sometimes their pain. In offering that comfort, parents do not challenge their children to behave differently. Instead their love creates a new reality for the child, a second chance and a new start. This is what our Heavenly Parent has done and is doing. With His love He has created a brand-new reality and a fresh start.
Just as the beloved child has a fresh start, has her whole life ahead of her once her parent has loved away her hurt, so it is with us children of the God Who loves away our hurts. This love and new reality frees Christians to say with Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery that "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." We can echo the sentiments of ethicist Michael Josephson to "Approach the new year with the resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day." Or we might take lessons about New Year celebrations and view of the future from the late 19th-century African-American church. In 2012-2013 we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. And Lincoln decreed in that Proclamation that on January 1 all slaves would be emancipated. Ever since this profound new reality (of freedom) transpired, the African-American church has called New Year's Eve "Watch Night," a commemoration of this day of liberation. But rather than just celebrating freedom this night, black Christians have used New Year's Eve as a time for giving thanks to God for the new reality of freedom, and then the whole community meets to make plans for the new year. Instead of some drinks at a party, with the black church let's welcome the exciting, freeing new reality created by God with thanks and with laying plans for how best to use our new, fresh opportunities God is giving us in 2013.
Mark E.
Revelation 21:1-6a
The word "amen" used by the church was incorporated directly from the Jewish synagogue, with no alteration to its original meaning. In Hebrew the word aman means "to confirm," "to establish," "to support." It expresses full agreement with, or acceptance of, that which has been said or laid down. Historical precedence for this was established when Ezra read the Law to the people of Israel, and as they listened they responded with "Amen." As it is recorded: "Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. He read from it facing the square before the West gate from early morning until midday, and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen,' lifting up their hands" (Nehemiah 8:1-8). The response of the people could be transcribed as "So let it be." Paul adapted this in his letter to the Church of Rome. He wrote a solemn affirmation regarding the mission of Christ, ending it with the word "Amen" (Romans 1:25).
Jesus often introduced an instruction with the word "amen," emphasizing the truth about to be spoken. In the New Testament this has often been translated as "Truly, truly," but in the Aramaic, the native tongue of Jesus, it is actually "Amen, amen." The English biblical passage "Truly, truly, I say to you..." should read from the original manuscript: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). This emphatically bestows upon the listener that Jesus is speaking a truth which cannot be challenged, the same as when Ezra read from the book of Law.
The first-century apologists furthered the meaning of "amen" by applying it as a Christological title. The confession put forth noted Jesus as "the Amen," that is, "the embodiment of truth." The dictum now is Jesus both spoke the truth and is the truth.
This is demonstrated by John the Seer when he scribed: "And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation" (Revelation 3:14). "Amen" refers to Jesus, in essence the one who is faithful and true. This is why he could say that "I saw a new heaven and a new earth."
Ron L.
Matthew 25:31-46
We see so many appeals in magazines and on television for many causes both at home and in other countries that we can get overwhelmed! For years I saw those pictures of starving children or children with cleft palates that I pushed them away and went on to something else. Am I alone? But if you had a child with cleft palate you might put that at the top of your list.
I saw many in need when I served as a missionary in Nepal. If I gave a rupee to each one, I would go broke! Then one day I had one of those firsthand experiences that changed my life.
We had a Bible study every morning in the place I was staying in Nepal. The man who ran the place, Doctor Matern, often brought patients home with him to stay in one of our vacant rooms. One day he brought a father and his starving three-year-old child to stay until the child had recovered enough to go home. They did not speak English, but attended our study anyway. The father, Ganeshwar, sat holding his son, Ranget, in his lap. He was sitting just a foot or two from me. The little fellow kept crying "Ama! Ama!" He was crying for his mother who was home with his siblings. Father cuddled the boy to keep him warm, as it was winter and there was no central heat. All our hearts went out to Ranget and his dad, who had stopped working to take care of him though he couldn't really afford to quit work, but out of love for his child he made the sacrifice.
I glanced over and saw a magazine with one of those pictures I had pushed aside for many years, but here was a real-life case so close I could reach out and touch his head. I even shed a tear. I knew I would never be the same.
Even though the father could understand nothing, he felt the love of those around him. When Ranget had recovered enough to go home, his father told the villagers about that love. I sent one of my seminary students up to tell them about the love of Jesus. In a short time that whole village near the Tibetan boarder had become Christian!
Except for my experience in Nepal, I might have gone on being a goat on Jesus' left hand. You can read about this and more life-changing experiences in my book In the Shadow of Everest.
Look around and see those in need right in your city. Every city has needy. When I served a church in downtown Dayton, they knocked on the church door for help every week. If you open your eyes, you will see them -- even in a magazine! So be a sheep this New Year! Let that be your resolution!
Bob O.
Matthew 25:31-46
In her book God Never Blinks, Regina Brett recounts her upbringing in parochial school. She wrestled with God to understand God's heart, oftentimes misdirected by teachers who instilled shame and fear in her. Then she met Joe, who she mistook for the gardener. He was a hunchback who talked to her about the God whom he knew in Jesus. Joe loved God and knew God loved him. One day after Joe talked with the class about the God of his understanding, Regina cornered him in the hall and asked him all her angry questions about God and the church that had been building up in her life. When her rant was done, Joe smiled at her "like a man in love." He said, "Look, at the end of it all, God is going to ask just one question: Did you love? Eh? That's all that matters. Did you love?" Just as you did it to one of the least of these....
Mark M.
Matthew 25:31-46
When driving through farm country, have you ever seen llamas grazing with horses? How about buffalo eating with cows? Certainly there are differences in eating habits. Although I've seen parrots scarf down canary seed, and dogs gobble up cat food. Then there was little Scotty who even ate his dog's kibbles -- a new dietary sensation.
Today's lesson talks about sheep and goats. While they have the same grazing pasture, they are separated when it comes to shearing. A sheep's fleece produces more usable wool than a goat's. Warm and comfy versus coarse and scratchy. You choose.
Storyteller Jesus compares sheep and goats to believers and non-believers. There is a difference in separation, a difference in beliefs. Art Linkletter's TV show, Kids Say the Darndest Things, reveals children would rather sleep with a snuggly sheep than an itchy, old goat. What a revelation! A simple but provocative thought for today.
Cynthia C.
Over the holidays Connie lost her watch -- a special gift from her father. She searched everywhere with no success. After the New Year's celebration, she began meticulously putting decorations away and methodically vacuuming. But no watch turned up. Every Christmas thereafter, she realized the source of her frustration.
"That's it," she said. "I give up. A missing watch will not spoil another Christmas."
Her burden lifted as she concentrated on Jesus, the Reason for the Season. That year she played Christmas carols and drank egg nog as she decorated. Family tradition was to "undecorate" on New Year's Day. Stuffing gold garland into a plastic tub, something caught her eye -- her watch! Its clasp must have come undone when she took the tree down so many years ago. What was lost was now found. The time of "searching" was over. Tomorrow she'd go out and by a new battery for her time piece.
Cynthia C.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
What time is it? Maybe it is whatever time we make it to be! Have you ever experienced a year when you could look back and see that nothing bad had happened? Have you ever seen a year that nothing good had happened?
Our days on earth follow a cycle. We have night followed by day. Warm is followed by cool. Dry can be followed by wet. (In the dry southwest, we wish for a bit more wet, and some back east might wish for more dry!) Sometimes we may have longer periods of extremes, but some places seem to have every day just like the other.
We took a course in journal writing once, and the instructor suggested that one reason for keeping a journal is that when we looked back over it, we could see it go up and down in a kind of rhythm. We had good times and not so good, but she said that when we're really down we should look at our journal and see that after every down time there was a better time. That moderated our concern or panic since we knew that things did not continue getting worse. That is not life. It goes without saying that things did not always get better and better either!
Scripture also hints that we have some control over these times. We can reduce the bad times by trying to avoid temptations that could lead to trouble. We can also see how to make the good times even better or last longer by showing love -- even to our enemies! Love can be a moderating influence.
When we have a loving spouse and children it helps modify the down times. When we know that a loving God is watching over us, it gives us hope for a happier future if we trust in Him.
One of the reasons for suicides in the military is that the bad never seems to let up. It seems to get worse. We may cry out to the Lord, but we still see friends die -- and wonder if we will be next. We may not be sure what or who we will come home to.
Uncertainty is a big factor in robbing us of the good or better times. Maybe the Lord gave us a neat place to live and a great wife, but maybe there is the threat of foreclosure if we lose our job or if an illness is taking all our savings -- and an ultimate tragedy for the family if it is breaking up. When these things hang over our head, it may blind us to seeing the good things God is doing for us -- or can do if we look for them and trust in Him to overcome our problems.
Keep a journal to see what God has done in the last year and what He will do for you in this New Year if you will let Him.
Bob O.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
There have been so many ways invented to keep track of time. The Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming (like many similar structures in the western US and Canada) is a prehistoric rock arrangement of 28 spokes emanating out of a hub; Native Americans used it to measure the summer and winter solstice and the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Sundials were invented by ancient Egyptian and Babylonian astronomers to track the passage of daylight. (Moon dials have been invented too, but they are only accurate during a full moon.) The hour glass could keep track of the passage of smaller units of time as grains of sand fell from one chamber to the other. In the 14th century, the 24-hour day was developed and timepieces were created to mark the passing of time. Time was then further broken down to minutes and seconds with sophisticated clocks and wristwatches invented to accurately show them. This is chronos time, linear and measureable. The writer of Ecclesiastes is concerned with kairos time, which is pregnant with substance and meaning.
Mark M.
Revelation 21:1-6a
This is not a text about making New Year's resolutions, but a description of the new reality God has created and the comfort it provides for everyday life. A God so loving that He wipes away every tear from our eyes, taking away all crying and pain (v.4-5). Loving parents wipe the tears of their children, taking away their crying and sometimes their pain. In offering that comfort, parents do not challenge their children to behave differently. Instead their love creates a new reality for the child, a second chance and a new start. This is what our Heavenly Parent has done and is doing. With His love He has created a brand-new reality and a fresh start.
Just as the beloved child has a fresh start, has her whole life ahead of her once her parent has loved away her hurt, so it is with us children of the God Who loves away our hurts. This love and new reality frees Christians to say with Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery that "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." We can echo the sentiments of ethicist Michael Josephson to "Approach the new year with the resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day." Or we might take lessons about New Year celebrations and view of the future from the late 19th-century African-American church. In 2012-2013 we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. And Lincoln decreed in that Proclamation that on January 1 all slaves would be emancipated. Ever since this profound new reality (of freedom) transpired, the African-American church has called New Year's Eve "Watch Night," a commemoration of this day of liberation. But rather than just celebrating freedom this night, black Christians have used New Year's Eve as a time for giving thanks to God for the new reality of freedom, and then the whole community meets to make plans for the new year. Instead of some drinks at a party, with the black church let's welcome the exciting, freeing new reality created by God with thanks and with laying plans for how best to use our new, fresh opportunities God is giving us in 2013.
Mark E.
Revelation 21:1-6a
The word "amen" used by the church was incorporated directly from the Jewish synagogue, with no alteration to its original meaning. In Hebrew the word aman means "to confirm," "to establish," "to support." It expresses full agreement with, or acceptance of, that which has been said or laid down. Historical precedence for this was established when Ezra read the Law to the people of Israel, and as they listened they responded with "Amen." As it is recorded: "Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. He read from it facing the square before the West gate from early morning until midday, and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen,' lifting up their hands" (Nehemiah 8:1-8). The response of the people could be transcribed as "So let it be." Paul adapted this in his letter to the Church of Rome. He wrote a solemn affirmation regarding the mission of Christ, ending it with the word "Amen" (Romans 1:25).
Jesus often introduced an instruction with the word "amen," emphasizing the truth about to be spoken. In the New Testament this has often been translated as "Truly, truly," but in the Aramaic, the native tongue of Jesus, it is actually "Amen, amen." The English biblical passage "Truly, truly, I say to you..." should read from the original manuscript: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). This emphatically bestows upon the listener that Jesus is speaking a truth which cannot be challenged, the same as when Ezra read from the book of Law.
The first-century apologists furthered the meaning of "amen" by applying it as a Christological title. The confession put forth noted Jesus as "the Amen," that is, "the embodiment of truth." The dictum now is Jesus both spoke the truth and is the truth.
This is demonstrated by John the Seer when he scribed: "And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation" (Revelation 3:14). "Amen" refers to Jesus, in essence the one who is faithful and true. This is why he could say that "I saw a new heaven and a new earth."
Ron L.
Matthew 25:31-46
We see so many appeals in magazines and on television for many causes both at home and in other countries that we can get overwhelmed! For years I saw those pictures of starving children or children with cleft palates that I pushed them away and went on to something else. Am I alone? But if you had a child with cleft palate you might put that at the top of your list.
I saw many in need when I served as a missionary in Nepal. If I gave a rupee to each one, I would go broke! Then one day I had one of those firsthand experiences that changed my life.
We had a Bible study every morning in the place I was staying in Nepal. The man who ran the place, Doctor Matern, often brought patients home with him to stay in one of our vacant rooms. One day he brought a father and his starving three-year-old child to stay until the child had recovered enough to go home. They did not speak English, but attended our study anyway. The father, Ganeshwar, sat holding his son, Ranget, in his lap. He was sitting just a foot or two from me. The little fellow kept crying "Ama! Ama!" He was crying for his mother who was home with his siblings. Father cuddled the boy to keep him warm, as it was winter and there was no central heat. All our hearts went out to Ranget and his dad, who had stopped working to take care of him though he couldn't really afford to quit work, but out of love for his child he made the sacrifice.
I glanced over and saw a magazine with one of those pictures I had pushed aside for many years, but here was a real-life case so close I could reach out and touch his head. I even shed a tear. I knew I would never be the same.
Even though the father could understand nothing, he felt the love of those around him. When Ranget had recovered enough to go home, his father told the villagers about that love. I sent one of my seminary students up to tell them about the love of Jesus. In a short time that whole village near the Tibetan boarder had become Christian!
Except for my experience in Nepal, I might have gone on being a goat on Jesus' left hand. You can read about this and more life-changing experiences in my book In the Shadow of Everest.
Look around and see those in need right in your city. Every city has needy. When I served a church in downtown Dayton, they knocked on the church door for help every week. If you open your eyes, you will see them -- even in a magazine! So be a sheep this New Year! Let that be your resolution!
Bob O.
Matthew 25:31-46
In her book God Never Blinks, Regina Brett recounts her upbringing in parochial school. She wrestled with God to understand God's heart, oftentimes misdirected by teachers who instilled shame and fear in her. Then she met Joe, who she mistook for the gardener. He was a hunchback who talked to her about the God whom he knew in Jesus. Joe loved God and knew God loved him. One day after Joe talked with the class about the God of his understanding, Regina cornered him in the hall and asked him all her angry questions about God and the church that had been building up in her life. When her rant was done, Joe smiled at her "like a man in love." He said, "Look, at the end of it all, God is going to ask just one question: Did you love? Eh? That's all that matters. Did you love?" Just as you did it to one of the least of these....
Mark M.
Matthew 25:31-46
When driving through farm country, have you ever seen llamas grazing with horses? How about buffalo eating with cows? Certainly there are differences in eating habits. Although I've seen parrots scarf down canary seed, and dogs gobble up cat food. Then there was little Scotty who even ate his dog's kibbles -- a new dietary sensation.
Today's lesson talks about sheep and goats. While they have the same grazing pasture, they are separated when it comes to shearing. A sheep's fleece produces more usable wool than a goat's. Warm and comfy versus coarse and scratchy. You choose.
Storyteller Jesus compares sheep and goats to believers and non-believers. There is a difference in separation, a difference in beliefs. Art Linkletter's TV show, Kids Say the Darndest Things, reveals children would rather sleep with a snuggly sheep than an itchy, old goat. What a revelation! A simple but provocative thought for today.
Cynthia C.
