Preach for a Year - Happy New

    Happy New Year!

John 3:3; Romans 6:4; Philippians 3:13–14

          I.      Introduction

         A.      The Greeting of the Season

         1.      Countless greeting cards sent through the mails
         2.      Salutations and celebrations

         B.      The New Year is not Really New

         1.      While thousands will shout “Happy New Year,” they will awaken to the same old burdens as before
         2.      Instead of a Happy New Year, for many, it will be a terrible hangover
         3.      There is no magic hour at midnight that suddenly ushers in utopia

         C.      What Makes A New Year Happy?

          II.      Body

         A.      The New Birth (John 3:3–5)

         1.      Necessity of the new birth
         2.      Many have dreamed of the opportunity of starting over again
         3.      What the new birth is not:
           a.      It is not baptism
           b.      It is not reformation
         4.      The new birth takes place upon receiving Christ by faith (John 1:12; 3:16)

         B.      The New Walk (Romans 6:14)

         1.      There is no one more miserable than the believer who doesn’t live right
         2.      Let us see the contrast between the old walk and the new:
           a.      The flesh and the Spirit (Gal. 5:16–23)
           b.      The walk before and after for the Ephesian Christians (Eph. 5:1–16)
         3.      The difference between day and night (Rom. 13:11–14)
         4.      To practice the new walk, you must feed the new man (2 Peter 2:1–3)  
         5.      To practice the new walk, you must reckon yourself dead with Christ and alive with Him (Rom. 6)

         C.      The New Goal (Philippians 3:13–14)

         1.      Paul’s past goals
         2.      Your past goals
         3.      Paul’s past sins and failures
         4.      Paul’s past victories
         5.      Paul willing to forget all that may hinder him in his life for Christ
         6.      Do you have a new goal since becoming a Christian?
           a.      Does that goal have priority in your life?
           b.      Are you willing to forget the past in order to reach your goal?

          III.      Conclusion

         A.      Awful Results of Neglecting this Truth

         1.      No new birth … soul lost
         2.      No new walk … testimony lost
         3.      No new goal … rewards lost

         B.      Practical Results of Acting on this Truth

         1.      Salvation, separation, dedication
         2.      The joy of living in the center of God’s will



Roger F. Campbell, Preach for a Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1997). 13-14.