Are you ready for a brand New Year, a brand new start? Who doesn’t like brand new starts? Who doesn’t like clean slates? Imagine the chance to have a brand new credit score or all your bills wiped away. Imagine having a brand new youthful figure. Well God offers brand new starts, spiritual brand new starts. Baptism is a brand new start because that is when we are born again. Repentance is a brand new start which we can have daily. Today’s sermon is from John chapter 5 about the healing of the man at the pool whom through Jesus got a spiritual brand new start.
#1 We All Need Healing
- To be disabled means something physically is impaired.
- Something is damaged or weakened.
- We all at one time or another are going to be spiritually disabled.
- Two areas include damaged faith and weak convictions.
Damaged Faith
- We all take hits to our faith be it through physical or emotional challenges, self inflicted sin, and life.
- What varies however is our response to these hits.
- Some dig deeper into their Bibles and prayer and some go the other direction.
- You stop trusting God and don’t believe he wants to help you so you take back control of your life.
- The answer is getting in your Bible and rebuilding your faith through God’s word.
Weak Convictions
Psalm 36:1-4
- This is when you flat out stop rejecting what is wrong and don’t get convicted anymore.
- You have been in the same condition for a long time. You are struggling with the same sins every week and don’t feel the need to confess anymore or get help from anyone.
- This cause you to be spiritually disabled (Blind, Lame, Paralyzed).
- Paralyzed=You don’t walk with God.
- Blind=No vision about people becoming Christians or how God can use your life.
- Lame=You have lame excuses about why you can’t change.
#2 Do You Want to Get Well?
- Jesus is asking the man at the pool if he wants to change.
- If your faith is low then the answer is to dig deeper into your Bible. Proverbs 2:1-5
- If you are struggling with purity then you should fast.
- If your marriage is in the same place then you should get on your knees and spend time begging God to show you how to change
- Get off your mat.
- The mat represents comfort. Change will occur when you get out of your comfort zone.
- Jesus also told the man to get up and walk. Start by putting one foot in front of the other.
- We have to exercise our faith and workout our faith muscle.
Hebrews 12:11-13
- Strengthen your arms by doing the prayer flex or reaching out and fellowshipping or handing out invitations to church.
- Strengthen your knees by kneeling in prayer more often.
- Make level paths for your feet by clearing your schedule and making time for your spiritual decisions to help you change.
- What is the result of all this? HEALING
- You will be happy with how you look in the inside even if your new years resolution is to get in shape on the outside.
Philippians 4:13 “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
#3 A New Creation
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!”
- We are new creations everyday.
- What do you want to see new created in you this year or today?
- God will give you a brand new start!