Sunday 01/04/26 – Adams Village Baptist Church
Sermon Title: “Do You Have any New Year’s Resolutions?”
Colossians 3:9-17, 2 Corinthians 5:17
Happy
New Year! It is hard for me to believe that it is already 2026! Some of us also
feel this way too, as time just seems to go by so fast sometimes!
Melissa
and I were blessed to spend the last week of 2025 at my mother and stepfather’s
house in Wisconsin. While there, we were blessed to worship at their church and
meet some of the great people in their community.
I
also want to thank Pastor Bud again for leading the worship service last Sunday
while Melissa and I were away. During the service last Sunday, Pastor Bud said that
you all are working to make me a good Baptist, yet he was trying to make you a
little more Methodist. Having the congregation stand for a reading of one of
the four gospels is so Methodist Pastor Bud. However, saying that the bulletin
can change and that an order of worship can be radically altered is very
Baptist.
With
all of this said, for many of us a New Year is often seen by most as a new set
of opportunities. A New Year is often also seen as “clean slate,” as we have
yet another year to try to be more like Jesus. We have another year to try to
grow, to be better, to love more deeply, and to pursue all that God has for us.
Given this, I have a question for us this morning. The question is, “Do we have
any New Years Resolutions?” If we do, what are our New Years Resolutions? Did
we have New Years Resolutions last year and the year before that? If so, did we
do well with our News Years Resolutions from 2024 and 2025? Lastly, are our New
Years Resolutions for this year the same as our New Years Resolutions from 2024
and 2025?
I
ask all this, because I have found that in a secular sense that New Years for
some is like salvation in Christ. What do I mean by this? I mean that when the
ball drops in Times Square, and it is officially midnight on New Years, for
many 2025 with all the good and the bad are gone. As a result, as I said, we
have a “clean slate,” and we get to start over again. For some of us, this new year
is seen as an opportunity to live and love differently. New Years resolutions are
new opportunities in the new year.
In the Apostle’s letter to the church in Colossae or the Colossians, he tells us in Colossians 3:9-11 this:
9 Do not lie to one
another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its
practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new
self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its
creator. 11 In that renewal there is no longer
Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and
free; but Christ is all and in all! (Col. 3:9-11, NRSV).
Do most people see New Years this way? Stripping off the
old self with its practices and clothing ourselves with the new self? Is the
celebration of New Year’s for many people a means of “secular salvation”? Is
New Year’s a means of gaining forgiveness without Christ?
The Apostle Paul goes on again picking up
and finishing in in Colossians 3:12-17 this:
12 As God’s chosen
ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if
anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord
has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above
all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect
harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one
another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns,
and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or
deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him (Col.
3:12-17, NRSV).
For many people at midnight on New Year’s Eve, they sing
part of or all of the song “Auld Lang Syne.” This Scottish says:
(https://genius.com/Robert-burns-auld-lang-syne-annotated).
In this song we are
challenged in a new year, to remember, to reflect, and to move forward. While some
seem to think that everything before New Years is gone, and only the future
lies before us. However, only Christ can take away our sin, our shame, and our
brokenness.
Our New Years Resolutions can certainly make us better,
more generous, and improve us, but where are these New Years Resolutions coming
from? Are these New Years resolutions ones that we created on our own, for us,
or are they New Years resolutions that God has given us to live out? While we
can become better, more generous, and improve on our own, can we become all
that we are called to be without Christ? I do not believe that we can, and as
exciting as New Year’s is, it is different from salvation in Christ. For with
Christ, we can do all things, while left to our own devices, we are doomed to
fail.
Specifically, what percentage of people do you think follow
through with a New Years Resolution? Take a guess. Here is the answer:
·
Recent research has shown that just 9% of Americans
actually keep their resolutions throughout the year (https://www.driveresearch.com/market-research-company-blog/new-years-resolutions-statistics/)
In
another source it says this about New Year’s Resolutions:
“Very few people
keep their New Year's resolutions all year; estimates suggest only 8% to
10% succeed for the full year, with most giving up within the first few weeks
or months, as high as 64% by the end of January. While many people (around
40-50%) make resolutions, high failure rates are common because goals are often
unrealistic, too big, or lack a concrete plan, though those who set specific
resolutions are significantly more likely to succeed” (https://www.google.com/search?q=How+are+New+Year%27s+Resolutions+different+than+salvation+in+Christ).
In the Romans 8:38-39 the Apostle Paul said this about our
faith in Jesus Christ:
38 For I am convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39, NRSV).
If we know Jesus and are
a new creation in Him then our salvation and eternity in Him is 100%. If we
know Jesus, we will be with Him for eternity, and if we are a new creation Him,
our eternal success rate is 100%.
Does this mean that we should no longer get excited about
New Years? Of course we should! Does this mean that we should longer make News
Years Resolutions? No, not necessarily. Make as many New Years Resolutions as
you want, but realize that true hope, salvation, restoration, and
transformation comes only through Jesus Christ. As our second scripture for
this morning which is the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth or the
Corinthians says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 this:
17 So if anyone is in
Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see,
everything has become new! (2 Cor. 5:17, NRSV).
Do I want to be better for Christ in 2026? Sure, I do. I
want to be more like Jesus, be a better person, a better family member, a
better husband, and a better pastor. I can probably try to do all these on my
own, but only with Christ can I truly be more like Him, more sanctified. As
humans when we are left to our own devices we tend to struggle much more,
noting only 8-10% of people achieve a New Year’s resolution.
Friends, brothers and sisters, in this New Year, whatever
resolutions we make, let our first resolution be our renewed hope and love in
Jesus Christ. For if Christ is at the center of our lives, our hope, and our
salvation, God can truly use us. God can take us places that we never imagined
before. For as the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:10:
10 But by the grace
of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain. On the
contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace
of God that is with me (1 Cor. 15:10, NRSV).
In an effort to have this sermon on New Years Resolutions
and being renewed in Christ in 2026 and always, here are some application
points comparing these two things:
New Year's Resolutions are
self-initiated, often temporary human efforts for self-improvement, relying on
willpower and typically failing, whereas salvation in Christ is a divine,
permanent act of God's grace, transforming a person's spiritual state from sin
to righteousness, providing a new identity and power (the Holy Spirit) for
ongoing spiritual growth and a relationship with God, not just behavioral
changes. Resolutions focus on doing for self, but salvation
empowers a new being, enabling true transformation through God's
work within, as seen in 1 Corinthians 15:10, notes.
New Year's
Resolutions (Human Effort)
·
Source: Personal will, self-motivation, desire
for self-improvement.
·
Power: Relies on personal strength, which often
fails (Romans 7 principle).
·
Goal: Often worldly or self-focused (e.g., lose
weight, save money, be "better").
·
Outcome: High failure rate, temporary change, can
lead to guilt.
Salvation in
Christ (Divine Grace)
·
Source: God's initiative and work through Jesus
Christ.
·
Power: Empowered by the Holy Spirit, enabling
true, lasting change (Philippians 2:13).
·
Goal: To be reconciled to God, gain new spiritual
life, and glorify Him (1 Peter 2:9).
·
Outcome: Eternal life, new identity in Christ, a
transformed heart, and the ongoing ability to live righteously.
Key
Differences
·
Origin: Self vs. God.
·
Power Source: Willpower vs. Holy Spirit.
·
Focus: Behavior vs. Being (heart/identity).
·
Duration: Temporary vs. Eternal.
Christian
Perspective on Resolutions
·
Christians can make biblical resolutions
(e.g., read the Bible more, serve others) but they must be rooted in faith, for
God's glory, and depend on Christ's power, not personal resolve.
·
The true "resolution" for a Christian is to
live out the new life Christ provides, empowered by Him, rather than trying to
earn favor or change through sheer effort.
Brothers and sisters,
while New Year’s is fun and New Years Resolutions are not bad intrinsically,
how many of us here have ever sung that song that I mentioned a few minutes ago
called “Auld Lang Syne?”
This Scottish song says
once again:
(https://genius.com/Robert-burns-auld-lang-syne-annotated).
When I worshipped at my mother and stepfather’s church last
Sunday though, a Christian New Years song was song that I had never heard
before. I am going to play it for us, and the lyrics of this song will be on
the television screen, so that we can sing it together. This song is called
“All Glory Be To Christ,” it is set the music of “Auld Lang Syne” and the words
are by Dustin Kensrue. May this message, and this song, bring us new hope in
Christ today and for all of 2026.
Before have Communion, the Lords Supper, let us sing this
Christian New Year’s song together. Happy New Year and Amen!
Play (“All Glory Be To Christ,” -
Set to the music of “Auld Lang Syne,”
- words by Dustin Kensrue).
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