Did you ever wonder why your parents would say, "That's not how we do it in this family?" The reason is because they want you to live to a higher standard that others around you. This is the same thing God wants for us all as well. He wants us to live to a much higher standard so He can provide His blessings over you and your family.

We all have the potential to live up to the worth God see's in us!

What are you most passion about? What drives your passion? Is it material things? Is it sports or hobbies? What about your passion for what God has blessed you with? To afraid to think about that? I say, make sure you look around and realize God has given you everything, both good and bad, so be passionate about God.

What kind of blessing are you to others?

This week we're talking about our daily routines and what routines you may have in your life. From John chapter 4 verse 13 and 14, “Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

You know, our daily routines can condition us into comfortable living. We settle for repeated rhythms and expect our lives to change. Day after day, month after month, year after year, we find our life in the things that satisfy only our immediate needs and desires. Our hearts long for so much more, but we settle for so much less. Too often we live for the temporary, but Christ invites us into the life our souls are longing for. If we allow Jesus to disrupt our daily patterns of living, we can develop the eyes to see the alternative life that Christ offers. A life that satisfies beyond our temporary needs and desires. A life that generates more life. A life that brings light to our work and our play. And a life that spills over into our families and our friends. Allow God to change up your daily routine and see how amazing his grace is for you and what he can do in your life.

Let me finish out for us. God help me to encounter you beyond all my daily routines. Disrupt my comfort so I will be open to receiving the life that you graciously offer. Mold my heart so I will desire the eternal things you place before me. We give you all the glory and the praise, Lord. In your precious name we pray. Amen.

So this week we're talking about creativity. Our church is covering some scriptures from Matthew, and I thought this one would be good for this week. So from Matthew 25 verse 14 through 15, “It will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents to another two and another one to each according to his ability. Then he went away.”

One of the first things we do when we get something new is look for instructions, right? We open the package and find the directions. Instructions are helpful and it is wise to follow the directions. But what do we do when life gives us something without any instructions? How do we fare when we get an opportunity to use our creativity? In Jesus time, it would take a servant nearly 20 years to earn one talent. So the servant who received five talents of his master's property and a heavy responsibility to handle, the servants were given a lot to work with, but the master left them without any instructions. Each servant had an opportunity to exercise his creativity and make his master proud.

By the grace of God, we have received gifts and talents to be used for his glory. God guides us, but he leaves us without any specific instruction. Instead, he gives us opportunities to use our creativity and to come up with ways to make him proud of his investment in us. So finishing up with a prayer for us, God, awaken my creativity, inspire my imagination and help me to be good and faithful steward of the gifts and talents you have bestowed upon me. I give you all the glory and the praise in your precious name we pray. Amen.

This week we're talking about living with new relationships. From John chapter 13 verse 34 and 35. “So now I'm giving you a new commandment. Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

One of the most basic realities of life is that we are made to have relationships with others. From the very beginning, when God said, it is not good for man to be alone, the profound significance of human relationships has been evident. God's word describes Christian believers as the body of Christ. He says that we are connected to one another and dependent on each other. We were made to be in a community and function best when our relationships are harmonious. Because relationships are so fundamental to our existence, the quality of that relationship will have a tremendous impact on the quality of our lives.

If our relationships are good, our lives are good. Regardless of the difficulties of the circumstances, we may be in at any given time. This is the power and significance of good relationships in our lives. Sadly, this is an area of life where we often struggle. Most of us have broken relationships in our lives. These cause us pain, and the emotions related to these relationships affect every aspect of our lives. It is hard to enjoy when the best things of our relationships with people are broken.

Efforts to quote unquote fix our broken relationships end up in our New Year's resolutions list year after year after year. Our relationships can be different. We have the real possibility of new relationships because through Christ, we have a new heart. In Jesus, we have a new life, new attitude, and new access to the one who can help us in our relationships. We are called to live in love with one another, and God always gives us the grace and strength to do what he has called us to do.

Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He then followed by saying there was a second commandment like the first. We should love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus connected these two aspects of relationships, loving God with all we are and loving others with a love that places them and their needs equal with our own. This connection is crucial because a second is only possible through the first. As Christians who love God with all we are, we are in a position to live in the love and acceptance we ever see from God. The Bible says we love because he loved us.

We can love others in ways that we can never do apart from Christ. Jesus told his disciples that he was giving them a new commandment that they should love one another even as I have loved you. Because we have experience with radical unconditional love from God, we have a reservoir of love to direct towards others. We can offer love to those hard to love even if they are our enemies or unlovable. It is not our natural abilities, but in Christ we can offer the love we have received. This will transform our relationships even if the other person is resistant to the love we show. When we forgive love at peace with our relationships, with others are transformed regardless of their response. This offer of love is the best hope of reconciliation. Still, whether that happens or not, we will experience life giving freedom. Make this year the best year ever. A year in which you walk in love by offering others the unconditional love you have received from Jesus.

So this week we're talking about living with a new attitude from Philippians chapter 2. “Don't be selfish. Don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out for only your own interests, but take an interest in others too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges, he took the humble position of a slave, and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.”

One of the best ways to live a better life is to have a better attitude. When we are followers of Jesus Christ, we are new creatures. Therefore, we can have a renewed attitude concerning every aspect of our life. We are also instructed about the kind of attitude that we should have. It's the kind of attitude that will give us a new approach to life and a result in lasting freshness in our lives.

In Philippians chapter 2, Paul writes we should not have an attitude common to fallen humanity, but rather to have the same attitude that Jesus had. We should approach life as Jesus did. Our natural way is to make our own decisions and act out of selfishness and conceit, looking out for our interests and considering ourselves as more important than others. In other words, we have a prideful, selfish attitude that almost always puts our own needs and desires first. This type of attitude is sure to lessen the quality of our lives because it will harm our relationships and leave us discontent and always wanting something more.

We are told to have the same attitude as Jesus. However, this attitude is entirely different from our normal attitude. Jesus had every reason to be proud, to be full of himself, and to reveal in fact that he is God. Jesus, however, did not try to hold on to his status as God. Instead, he emptied himself of his glory. He took on human flesh and came to earth as a baby. He had an attitude of humility demonstrated from the very moment of his birth in an animal stable. His first bed was a feeding trough for animals. He had a humble arrival and grew up in a simple family and a not so special town. Throughout his earthly life, he demonstrated the heart of a servant coming not to be served but to serve. He was totally obedient to the Father, even to the point of sacrificing his life for the sake of humanity. He was selfless, not selfish. Obedient, not self-willed. Not looking to gain all, but willing to give all.

The same Jesus who lived the example of this right attitude every day now lives in the hearts of those who have given their lives to him. The Holy Spirit can empower us to live this out. It's a new year and now it's the time to live out a new attitude of selfless, sacrificial love and to be transformed every day by it.

This is a new Year, and God gives us a new life

Since it's a new year, and everybody's trying out new things and changing their ways, why don't we try living with a new life? Through the prophet Ezekiel, we learn that God offers us a new heart. Unlike a physical heart transplant which prolongs our earthly life, this spiritual transformation that God gives us radically changes our lives. Jesus taught that from the heart proceeds the issues of life. As such, when Jesus gives us a new heart, all aspects of our lives are impacted. Through Christ, we are a new creation, and the old things have passed away, and the new things have come. We have a new life.

Our sin is forgiven, our guilt and shame are washed away. Now our struggles even seem different. Since we are forgiven, we can forgive. We have received mercy, so we can be merciful. The creator of all things has valued us, so we do not have to prove our value to anyone, not even ourselves. Our self-image is transformed as we see ourselves through the eyes of the one who knows us best and deems us worthy of his sacrifice. We have an eternal hope that never changes, even though circumstances may. We have a fundamental joy that supersedes the trials and tribulations of this life. We have a new life.

Even with our newfound value, this does not mean our circumstances are automatically changed. Also, it doesn't mean that other people are changed. For example, our unfair and condescending boss may still be unkind and unreasonable. We, however, are different. We can see things differently, understand things differently, and respond differently to the issues of life. This is because we are new creatures in Christ. What a radical and transformational concept that Jesus described us being born again. We can live new because we are new. We have a new life through Jesus Christ.

What an amazing way to look at this next year. I hope those that have heard this take heart to this and just think about the moment that this is a new year, new beginnings, and a new life. So let me pray, God, I thank you so much for the year that you've given us. And Lord, we ask that you give us the strength and the guidance for the year to come in ahead. Lord, you are giving us new life and new hope. And we know that we give you all the glory and praise and Lord, you provide the strength for us. And I pray, Lord, that you just keep us going track, worshiping you, letting you guide our way and protecting us through anything that faces us. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

This week we're talking about forgiveness from Genesis chapter 45 verse 5. “Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

Sold as a slave, falsely accused, and thrown in prison. This all happened because Joseph's brothers had hated him. Yet here we see Joseph not only forgiving his brothers for this mistreatment, but also asking them to forgive themselves. Imagine how many times Joseph had the opportunity to reflect on the wrongs done to him because his brothers hated him, but he did not become bitter. Instead, by the grace of God, he began to see things through God's eyes.

All this happened so he could later save lives. Joseph granted forgiveness to his brothers because he could see that God was in control and had a plan, even for the pain that he endured. The same is true for us. God has a plan for the wrongs that have been done to us, and we need to forgive knowing that God can yet redeem the pain we have experienced. Just like God forgave you, even if it's family or friends or co-workers, anybody that is wrongs you, give forgiveness to them as God forgave you.

So let me finish out praying for us. Help me to forgive as Joseph forgave. I want to see the things in the light of eternity. Help me to have a heart of forgiveness, regardless of who it is or what has been done. Allow me to be forgiving just as you have forgiven me. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.