WHEN LOVE COMES DOWN: COMMIT

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We are on the verge of another year! It is always an exciting and reflective time.  What do you anticipate in 2025?  What do you hope for in 2025?  Hope is such a powerful force as we come to the doorway of a new year.  What are you discouraged about as you climb to the peak of 2024?  All of us have had different experiences in 2024, some have been hopeful, some have been discouraging, and some have been life changing.  What will help you as you cross the threshold to another year?  This week is the end of our Christmas sermon series When Love Comes Down and the final sermon for 2024 is Commit.  Our society is reluctant to make commitments.  Part of our resistance is the question, “What is in it for me?”   This is understandable because we inherently recognize that commitments carry cost.  They cost us time, energy, and effort.  No one wants to be drowning in a sea commitments!  What  if we could find a path to increase our energy as we work through our commitments?  What if there was a path that could empower us for greater commitment without completely overwhelming our souls?  This week we turn to Isaiah 61:1-7.  The first two verses will sound familiar because Jesus reads them in a synagogue at the start of his ministry.  These verses were his commissioning and the core of his ministry.  These words were not simply prophetic for Jesus but they are also empowering for us.  They give us clarity of God’s desire to lift our hearts even amid uncertainty and difficulty.  If you read them closely, you will find the path to transformation that only God can give to his people!  We pray as you read the Word of the Lord through Isaiah that you will feel the power of our living God lifting you in his arms to carry you across the threshold of another year and into eternity! 

Isaiah 61:1-7: The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, ² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. ⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. ⁵ Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. ⁶ And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. ⁷ Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. (NIV)