The Gift - 2025 - 2

The Gift - 2025 - 2

Subject – The Gift of a New Beginning

By Rick Welborne

Isaiah 43:15-19 (NIV)
¹⁵  I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King."
¹⁶  This is what the LORD says-- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,
¹⁷  who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
¹⁸  "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. 

--I hope and pray you are joining with us in fasting and praying for 2025 to be a new beginning for our church, our people, our nation, and your families.

--As we approach the inauguration of President Trump and his cabinet many are hoping for a new day and a more prosperous 2025.

--Please hear your pastor well. If true and lasting change will come to any of these areas, it will happen because God responds to the prayer of His people.

2 Chronicles 7:12-16 (NKJV)
¹²  Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
¹³  When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
¹⁴  if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
¹⁵  Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
¹⁶  For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

--But pastor, we won. It’s okay to be happy about your candidate winning but please realize as a nation that we are still divided, babies are still being aborted, and terrorism is still a reality. 

--And most importantly, we are surrounded by lost people everywhere we go. If we want God to heal our land, that doesn’t mean He is going to redeem dirt, it means He will redeem people.

--A couple of weeks before the new year, Pastor Neftali gave a devotion to our pastors about evangelism. He exhorted us from Paul’s encouragement to young Timothy.

2 Timothy 4:5 (NKJV)
⁵  But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 

--He shared how it is good to have organized events which are aimed at reaching the lost and attempting or compelling people to come into the Kingdom of God.

--He shared how we must take personal responsibility and that we have to be intentional about reaching the lost. I hope and pray we will always be missional but I want us to be soul winners.

--Filling out a Faith Promise and dropping in a check for Missions here can help someone find Christ in another country but it may not help your neighbor find Jesus.

--Today let’s try to tie each of these scriptures together using 2 Tim. 4:5, as our launching pad. Be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

1. Be Watchful.

--Every day when I start the long list of people I pray for, I start the prayer this way. I will lift up my eyes because Jesus is coming soon. Then, I put on the armor of God.

Ephesians 6:13-19 (NKJV)
¹³  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
¹⁴  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
¹⁵  and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
¹⁶  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
¹⁷  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
¹⁸  praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
¹⁹  and for me, 

--To be watchful is to be alert and to always be ready. Ready for what? Christ return? Yes. For the enemy’s attack? Yes. For opportunities for ministry? Yes.

--God has set us up as watchmen on the wall to protect the church and to sound the alarm when the enemy is about to attack His people. 

Isaiah 62:6 (NLT2)
⁶  O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the LORD. 

--As we watch and pray, we can see God do a new thing which, in itself, is a gift from God. 

2. Endure Afflictions.

--It is obvious to me that because we live here in America, we have fewer afflictions than much of the world. That being said, we still have our issues and our challenges.

--Christian maturity has little to do with avoiding these situations because of our great faith, but rather, a willingness to trust God in the middle of the mess. 

Isaiah 43:1-3 (NLT2)
¹  But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.
²  When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
³  For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. 

--The Bible says to each one there is given a measure of faith (a gift from God) to be able to trust God when you go through deep water, rapid rivers, and raging fires.

--You really do not know what kind of faith a person has until they are faced with adversity that is bigger than them and God is truly their only way of escape.

--Paul instructs Timothy to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ but much of what we have produced is spiritual draft dodgers who only want life and the gospel on their terms.

--Read your Bible and read Fox’s Book of Martyrs and see how those who came before us had to endure some stuff. Many gave their lives for their faith. They died in their faith.

 Hebrews 11:35-38 (NLT2)
³⁵ …But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.
³⁶  Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons.
³⁷  Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated.
³⁸  They were too good for this world…

3. Do the Work of an Evangelist. 

--Philip was called Philip the evangelist in Acts 21:8. But he was one of the seven deacons chosen to serve and wait tables in Acts 6. Was he an evangelist or a deacon? Yes!

--No matter what your title is in the church, we are all called to watch and pray, to endure affliction, and to evangelize the lost. Philip was an on fire witness for Christ. A gift to the world.

--Philip went to Samaria and preached (shared) Jesus. Many were saved, demons were cast out, bodies were healed, miracles were done, and many received the power of Holy Spirit. A deacon!

Mark 16:15-18 (NKJV)
¹⁵  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
¹⁶  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
¹⁷  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
¹⁸  they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

4. Fulfill Your Ministry. 

--Fulfill your ministry not fill a pew. Fulfilling your ministry is standing on the promises not just sitting on the premises. It means getting involved. We Need Each Other.

Galatians 6:1-2 (NIV)
¹  Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
²  Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 

--You have the ability to be a gift to someone else who needs a new beginning. Yes, it may be messy and it may take time but it is worth it. If you are spiritual, help people. Our previous verse.

2 Timothy 4:5 (NKJV)
⁵  But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 

--God has mandated all of us to be watchful (to pray), to endure hard times, to do the work of an evangelist (to reach the lost), and to fulfill whatever ministry He has given us to do.

--In 2025, be a gift to the body of Christ and to the world…fulfill your ministry.