New Year, New Season

 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 says: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

When you close your eyes, do you go back there, To a bended knee and a "Lord, I need you" whispered prayer? Remember the moment you let Jesus in Would you give anything to go back there again? You feel like a million mistakes and a million miles Away from the first time faith of a child, But oh, I want you to know

He's making you new, He's making you new, He's healing your heart right where you are If only you knew
He's lifting your shame, He's changing your name And when you look back, The only thing that you'll see is His grace, Has been making you brand new, He is making you brand new, When it just doesn't feel like the old you is gone, The shame keeps telling your heart that you should be further along, You can fix your eyes now on the truth you know That you are held by the hands of a savior that won't let go.

Ezekiel 34 verse 26 says: I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.

We pray for blessings, We pray for peace, Comfort for family, protection while we sleep, We pray for healing, for prosperity, We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering And all the while, You hear each spoken need, Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things, 'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?, What if Your healing comes through tears?, What if a thousand sleepless nights, Are what it takes to know You're near? And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?, We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near, We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love, As if every promise from Your Word is not enough And all the while, You hear each desperate plea And long that we'd have faith to believe.

It's like it was yesterday, I was a praying for a miracle, Scared to have a little hope And now looking back today, Seeing all the things You've done, I can't even add them up, One, two, three up to infinity, I'd run out of numbers, Before I could thank You for everything, God, I'm still counting my blessings, For all that You've done in my life, The more that I look in the details, The more of Your goodness I find, Father on this side of heaven, I know that I'll run out of time, But I will keep counting my blessings, Knowing I can't count that high. 

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing, Letting go and trusting when I cannot see, I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing, Surely every season You are good to me.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;, Count your blessings, see what God hath done;, Count your blessings, name them one by one;, Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

Galatians 6 verse 9 says:  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Well, you got a smile that could light up all New York City, When life comes at you hard, you make it look so easy, No matter what you're facing, You are my inspiration, yeah, That's what you are, You're the fighter that doesn't know how to back down. You-u-u-u-u, Never ever give up, You-u-u-u-u Hold on no matter what, You show the world your face of brave, You-u-u-u-u, Never ever give up, Oh-oh-oh-oh (never ever give up), Oh-oh-oh-oh (never ever give up), You've had your share of life ain't fair, but you won't tap out, My money says you'll still be swinging 'til the last round, When they odds say you should quit, well, you do the opposite, yeah, That's what you are.

Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1:  There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

I will bring praise, I will bring praise, No weapon formed against me shall remain, I will rejoice, I will declare

God is my victory and He is here And this is my prayer in my battle, When triumph is still on its way, I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ, So firm on His promise I'll stand, I will bring praise, I will bring praise

No weapon formed against me shall remain, I will rejoice, I will declare, God is my victory and He is here

All of my life, In every season, You are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship.

Genesis 8 verse 22: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness, To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

What's your impossible? Your "I need a miracle", What's got you barely hanging by a single thread?
What looks so hopeless now? What weighs down your heart with doubt? You beg for a breakthrough, but no sign of breakthrough yet, When you've cried, and you've cried 'til your tears run dry, The answer won't come, and you don't know why And you wonder if you can bow your head even one more time, Don't stop praying, Don't stop calling on Jesus' name, Keep on pounding on Heaven's door And let your knees wear out the floor, Don't stop believing, 'Cause mountains move with just a little faith And your Father's heard every single word you're saying, So, don't stop praying.

Jeremiah 29 verse 11:  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

… Scared, oh, I thought I knew scared, But I'm so filled with fear, I can barely move … Doubt, I've had my share of doubt, But never more than right now, I'm wondering, where are You? … Here on the edge of fall apart, Somehow Your promises, Find my troubled heart … This is the truth I'm standing on, Even when all my strength is gone, You are faithful forever And I know You'll never Let me fall … Right now, I'm choosing to believe, Someday soon, I'll look back and see, All the pain had a purpose, Your plan was perfect all along, This is the truth I'm standing on … Good, I believe You're still good, Even when life's not good, I will not lose this hope, … That the God who parts the sea, Promises He's gonna Make a way for me.

Romans 8 verse 28 says: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

We see in a lot of these scriptures and song lyrics that in this new year that we are in, that there will always be a season that sometimes God can leave us in to just be with Him, we could be having a season of Hope, Joy, a season of Peace that leaves us to know God is in control.

We may have a season where it's a new direction to try new things like food, or an adventure that might be zip lining or learning to ride a bike or drive a car.

Whatever it is, we know who holds tomorrow, our future, and we know who is in control.

If we were to give up, where would we be right now? What would we do if we just gave up?

I want you to think of those reflection questions for a moment, while I share something.

We Look Back And Thank God. We Look Forward And Trust God.

The Lord bless you and keep you, Make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, The Lord turn His face toward you And give you peace, The Lord bless you and keep you, Make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, The Lord turn His face toward you And give you peace.

We see here that no matter what the New Year brings or what New Season we are in, that God will continue to bless us and as we look back at past years, we thank Him and as we look forward, we trust Him. Why do we trust Him? Well, we trust Him because He is ruler of all the Earth and we know we are Christians by His Love and because of that, sure we may not always get it right, but in this New Year and New Season of trying things that take us away from our comfort zone a little, we realize to take a leap of Faith, a leap of Gratitude, a leap of Joy, and first and foremost, we take a leap of Courage to do His Will.

May This New Year be a time of fresh beginnings and renewed spirit.

Our Hope is not in the new year... but in the One who makes all things new.

Let us remember these things as we go about our week, and let us remember all of this as I end on these three scriptures with all of you as I feel it is important to end on this scripture to help motivate us to do well.

2 Timothy 4 verse 2 says:   Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

Acts 1 verse 7: He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

Genesis 1 verse 14: And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,