Psalm 32. Thank you, ladies. It's great. I love it when our college folks come in and they jump right in. Isn't that a blessing? I love that so much. Just a great job on that. Psalm 32. How many of you set New Year's resolutions? Raise your hand if you do New Year's resolutions. Let me see in this section over here. Let me look. You do New Year's resolutions. Well, I'm glad to see some teenagers. I don't know what that means. It means something in my generation. It probably doesn't mean the same in yours. So what does it mean to you? Sometimes. Sometimes. Do you have them this year? I don't know. OK, you don't know. So that would be a no then, probably, if you don't know. But in this case, you do New Year's resolutions. Let me see. Let me see your hands. Here, here, here, here. That's a sad corner back there, nobody out there, I see, okay. How about in here? I do New Year's resolutions, okay? Jack, Jack's doing this. Okay, over here, you got New Year's resolutions, all right? You know. And over here, New Year's resolution, okay, good. Well, someone once said that if you don't set goals, you're sure to hit it. And so I like resolutions as well. When you look at a new year, what you see is a great door of opportunity. And someone said that the trouble with an opportunity is that it's more recognizable going than it is coming. And I don't know how many opportunities, how many opportunities maybe you might have missed in 2004. It's at the end, and we can look back and see those opportunities that, boy, if we had a, boy, I mean, there it was. And many of us are shaking our heads. Yeah, we've experienced that. But we're on the front end of this new year. Did I say something wrong? What did I say? Well, you know, my new year's resolution is to get a church that understands me. Some of this stuff I just want to blame on age, but I wasn't any better when I came in 89. It was just about as bad then. I'm afraid it was. But 2014, there was those opportunities and we missed them. But we've got a great, door before us, and the canvas is clean, and some great opportunities before us. In Psalm 32, verse 1, the Bible says, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Can you say amen to that? I mean, it's a happy man who has his sins forgiven and covered. Now, the word there, blessed, blessed is he, it simply means happy, happy is he. And we always talk about Happy New Year, happy this, happy that. And we know that happiness really depends upon happenings. And whether we can have happiness or not, we can still have the joy of the Lord. And there are I came across five of the top New Year's resolutions. I'll share them with you and there might be some help to you. Those of you who are like this, you might want to adopt some of these. One is set your priorities. Take time to sit down and put your priorities down, including making time for yourself, but set your priorities. Another one is, you know this and what is it? Losing weight or eating better. And the standard for eating better is if it didn't come from the ground or from a mother, don't put it in your mouth. Okay. Number three, what's that? How about chicken? Well, it comes from a mother, doesn't it? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? We'll talk about it later. Number three, remember exercise is crucial. How many of you just love exercise? Let me see your hands. You love it, you love it, you love it, you love it, you love exercise. You just love it, can't get enough of it. Just love it, love it. You're messed up people. You've never had a really good donut. Go with me and I'll show you what life is all about. And then address your mental health. And they mean by that to de-stress. Have a way to come home from work and de-stress and keep your sanity. And then the last one I have is have fun. Smell the roses. to have some fun. Those are the five top that I've come across. Now, we're at the door of opportunity and I said already that the trouble with opportunities is they're more recognizable going than they are coming. But when it came to the Israelites with the great giant Goliath, the Israelites said that Goliath was too big. He's too big of a guy to hit. And David had an opportunity. He says he's too big of a guy to miss. And it all depends on if your cup's half full or half empty. Now, there's a lot of things in life that comes our way that causes us to grow negative and to see the life half full. But the Bible tells us that we can be blessed, we can be happy. Happy is he. And if we have our sins and our transgressions forgiven and covered, there'll be a happiness in us. Dr. John R. Rice used to say that a sad Christian is a poor testimony for the Lord. I believe that. But I want to just take a few minutes, won't be long tonight, about how to have a happy new year. Number one, let me say that if Jesus, making Jesus your Lord, not just your Savior, but the Lord of your life, that will give you a good new year, a happy new year. Jesus needs to be Lord of your life. In Psalm 32 verse one, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Forgiven, our forgiveness here means a clean slate. It's wonderful, it should be a joyous thing to know that we're not accountable for our sin. Does that not make you happy? I mean, for every thought you ever had, for every word you ever said, for every deed that you've ever done is washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ. Isn't that something? Thoughts that we've had, things that we've done, things that we've said. Listen, we are depraved. We are totally depraved. And total depravity simply means that sin has affected every part of man. It doesn't mean that we have the ability to choose good, but it does mean that sin has affected every area of us. And Jesus removes all our sins. Jesus washes away every stain. I don't know, how many of you just enjoy cleaning? You like cleaning something? Yeah. Now, I want to tell you something privately. We're kind of small tonight, so I'm going to share something with you, but this is family talk here. I like to clean certain stuff. Now, Debbie doesn't believe that, but it just depends on what it is. I like cleaning my guns. I'll take them apart. I like to take them apart. and clean them and put them back together. I don't care. I don't care about cleaning my closet. I don't care about cleaning my room. I don't care about making the bed. But I like cleaning my guns. I like polishing my shoes. There's an art to it. And I like it. I like it a lot. I like finding something. And I like simple green. I like that stuff. And I like mother's metal polish. How many of you know what I'm talking about? I love that stuff and I came in the other day. Some years ago the children gave me some bookends and they're duck heads and they were kind of corny over these years but now because of Duck Dynasty they're really hot again, let me tell you. So I got the mother's brass and metal cleaner, and I mean it was effortless. What was green is now a beautiful gold. And I'm sitting there cleaning, and Debbie comes in and says, well, I've seen you got a lot of work done today in your office. I like cleaning shiny things. I like cleaning my keys once in a while. They're nasty and dirty. I clean my cell phone. You know, some things that you just like to do. But I'll tell you what, there's something about being clean, coming in from a hard day's work out in the yard and getting clean, removing all of that. And what's a real problem is when you're trying to clean something and the stain just won't get out. It just won't, it's still tarnished, it's still there. It's still more, it drives me crazy, but I'll tell you something, when Jesus cleans us, he cleanses us. We're cleansed. from all and every sin. You see, Isaiah 118 says, come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, thou shalt be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Our happiness isn't depending upon circumstances, it is based on our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ because that's where the joy of the Lord comes from. Can you remember the happiness that flooded your soul when you received Jesus Christ as your savior? Can you go there? Have you gotten too far removed from there? Someone said never get too far from the foot of the cross. I was 11 years old, but I remember it. And I remember it seemed like at 11 years old, the weight of the world was off of my shoulders. And we should understand that 2015 will be a happy new year if Jesus Christ is Lord. He's our savior, but we have to give him license and make him Lord. Secondly, If you want to have a happy new year, I believe happiness comes not just in making him Lord and Savior, but it comes in serving him, serving the Lord. Now, listen to me. The world has always screamed at us about all the different things that it desires to give us, but the world never, ever, ever fulfills what it says. It never has. And there's material things, there's recreational things, and a way of life to live. And you can say through grace or whatever that you have liberty to do certain things, but I want to tell you this, if it's not pleasing to Jesus, and if it goes contrary to the scripture, it is not what God would have you to do. And there's a joy that comes, there's a happiness. When we're not happy, you know, we'll never find happiness as a child of God living our lives for ourselves instead of living for the Lord. putting God first. God has chosen us to be His servants and we should find some place to serve Him. Happiness comes from fulfilling His purpose in our life and the purpose of creation is glorifying Him and serving Him as one of the means of doing that. You see, you may wonder how can I serve Him But we have opportunities 24-7, I mean 7 days a week to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And time is so precious, don't waste it. Listen, before long 2015 will be gone and we're not sure if we'll be around for 2016. But let's take every opportunity to serve the Lord. Happiness comes from knowing the Lord as our Savior and from finding and doing His will. Finding an area of service. I can't understand Christians who come and sit. I mean, you might have to come and sit a while till you find out what you should do, but I'll tell you, the happiest people I know, the happiest Christians I know, the happiest Christians I know, they run a bus route, they sing in the choir, they teach Sunday school, they cut the church grass, they change the oil or the tires on the bus, they find something to do. You find Christian people who aren't doing anything for God, and I'll tell you something, those are not happy people. If you want to find somebody, if you've got something that needs to be done, go to somebody who's doing something for God. Because if you go to somebody who's not doing anything for the Lord, listen, they won't have time to do anything. That's always the case. But you find somebody who's hip deep up and serving the Lord, and they'll be glad to try to do something else for their Savior. We can have a happy new year. If we get involved in serving the Lord, we get involved by helping others, we get involved by ministering to others. You see, there's a hands-on about ministering and dealing with people. It's fine to do bulletin boards, and it's fine to do bulletins, and it's fine to set up tables, and it's fine to cut grass, and it's fine to change light bulbs, and those are ministries of helps that need to be done, but don't tease them. We need to deal with people. You realize that although the majority of plumbers and painters and policemen have the Christian fish on their trunk lid or tailgate, that there's a large population in Jackson Tennessee and Madison County that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't know the Lord. They couldn't tell you they were born in church and they've gone to church the last 15 years but some of them cannot tell you any more about how to go to heaven than the man in the moon. They don't know. And they'll tell you that they've taken sacraments, that they've been baptized, and they've joined the church, and they've lived a good life, and that they think their goodness is going to outweigh what bad that they've done, and they think they're okay, and that they keep the Ten Commandments. They'll tell you all kinds of things, and none of it is biblical here in this city. None of it. They don't know. I believe we have some that sit right here in our church and they've never grown in love to the Lord. They never have any admiration for God. They never are concerned about God's will for their life. They never want to please the Lord because they never really have a relationship with God. They're more concerned about what they want, thinking that's going to bring happiness. And I'll tell you, it never does, never has. And you're no different. Happiness. Happiness. comes from making the Lord Jesus your Savior and Lord of your life. Happiness will come if you find something to do. Find something that's yours. I think it's very key for children. I think it's key for children to see that mama does this or daddy does that. and find something to be actively involved that is yours, that belongs to you, whether it's the media room. I mean, hey, if you're in the media room, I mean, man, take it seriously. That's the work of the Lord. You know, I mean, if you drive a bus, take it seriously. I mean, that's the work of the Lord. Think about the kids. You know, if you drove yourself to church this morning, you might've driven yourself and another or maybe two or three others, but you might be driving 30, 40 people to hear about the Lord if you drive a bus. I mean, it's amazing, some people who take their Christian responsibility and their service and it's on the back burner, they're not seriously about it, they'll miss it, whether it's the nursery or the media room or whatever it might be, they'll just skip over it, but they would never do that at their Monday job. Why is that? Amen, Brother Savage, that's good preaching. Preach on, Pastor. What's our motivation for serving the Lord? Our motivation is our love for Him because He first loved us. What can we, is there anything too much, too great to do for Him who's given us and done everything for us? Thirdly, happiness comes, I believe, if we are looking for His return. I believe that we have a number of Christians who have forgotten the importance of working, waiting, and watching. You better listen to me. He's coming. He's coming. I'm telling you, he's coming. If you've been married 12 years, this year you might not make 13 years. If you got a child that's eight this year, you may not have a child that makes nine. Do you know that there is not anything prohibiting him from coming tonight? He's coming. And we should live our life sitting on go. Luke 12, 37 says, blessed or happy are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh shall find watching. I'm afraid that there's a lot of Christians, and man, you are asleep. You have, I mean, you know, you've gone into a slumber and you're just kind of just drifting alone, living your life. But you better get this. You better listen to this. He's coming. He's coming soon. And you better be sure you're prepared for his coming if you're a child of God. And you better be sure you get prepared if you're not, because you'll be left behind. I don't have to have some movie, I read the book. And those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will believe a strong delusion and they will willfully receive the mark of the beast. And they will be damned for all eternity because of it. Can you imagine going through the tribulation period, seven year tribulation period? Can you imagine going through that? Can you imagine that when God or when Christ comes and he stops and the trumpet sounds, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and those of us who are alive in Christ shall be called up or raptured. And listen, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the church, I'm not talking about buildings, I'm talking about the church, the saints, and the Holy Spirit will be called up. Can you imagine the lawlessness that's gonna take place here? You haven't seen nothing yet. The restraint that's in this world is because of the saints of God and because of the Holy Spirit. And when they are raptured out of here, I mean, God will give Lucifer free reign for the next seven years over this place. And it will be unimaginable if you read through the book of Revelation, you read the book of Daniel, and you see what takes place there, you better understand this. He is coming in 2015, maybe the year that he comes. Are you expecting him to come? Are you watching for him to come? Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Are you watching? You see, we get our focus on things of the world rather than on the promises of his word. The nation Israel, they were guilty for the same thing. They went through the land of Canaan and they focused on the giants and the walled cities. And the results was that they forgot the promises of God and they forgot the promised land. You see the things that are taking place in our world, We had another airliner go missing, 167 people. That's the third one. Say, where are those airliners at? Look in some country with a stand on the end of it, maybe they're Pakistan, you know. Something's happening. The Bible says in the last days will be perilous days, dangerous days. And it says that men would be fierce and it says they'll be incontinent, they'll have no control over themselves. And it's amazing just in the two malls, one in Germantown and one in Nashville, two policemen sitting in their cars and coming and being just executed there. I'm saying across the world. Things have raveled completely out of control. Don't kid yourself. You listen to me. I think it would be frightening if we knew, if we just knew, how the string our economy's hanging on and just one little niche would collapse everything in this country. Do you know what this world would be in three days without water and food? I sound like a doomsday preacher, don't I? Let me tell you something, I'm talking about opportunity. I'm saying Jesus is coming. I'm saying the child of God doesn't have to go through that. I'm saying this, I'm saying the child of God should be, if they'll be watching for his coming, they'll have a happy year. You see, while we need to serve Christ with our lives here on this earth, we must remember that we have a brighter future somewhere else. One day, Jesus is gonna come. One day, Jesus is gonna take us home. Man, what some of you are fighting and scratching for down here, we'll be walking on up there. We'll be happy if we never forget the soon coming King. He's coming. There are people today, and I think good Christians, and good friends who believe that they'll not see the Lord's return in their lifetime. I'm thinking, how can he even think that way? And I think it gives and lends towards reckless Christian living when we live our life that way. But whether he comes in our lifetime or whether we go meet him, we're gonna face him one way or the other. And to whom much is given, much is required. We'll stand before him. accountable. Now, how can we have a happy 2015? Well, except the gift of salvation, the greatest gift that's ever been given you is forgiveness. And the greatest gift you can give another is forgiveness. We're never more like the Lord Jesus Christ than when we are forgiving. Place your faith in Jesus Christ and be born again. Make him, give him license to be in complete control of your life. I've worked with young people and teenagers for many years and once I had a young person tell me, pastor, I need you to control my life. I need you to come." And I said, you know, that's the Lord's job to do that. I can't do that. And you need to get close to the Lord and let God lead you in those things. But we need to give God license to be the Lord of our life, to lead us and to guide us. And each decision that we make, determine is this pleasing to him? I don't think it's as much as what would Jesus do, but is this what would please him? Secondly, serve God with your life. Make use of every opportunity to minister for him. Live daily for him. Touch the lives of others. Listen to me. Don't give your life to a corporation. Don't give your life to the piling up of things. That's wood, hay, and stubble. Those things are going to burn. Understand, we all have things. I'm not preaching against things. And I don't think poverty is spiritual. Those things take the place of God in our life. And when things become priority, top priority in our lives, then it has become a false God. And we should look to him and have a desire to whatever he would have to live our lives and to serve him with gladness. And then keep looking up. For he is coming. You can take the word joy. J-O-Y. J stands for Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus as you enter into this new world. The O stands for others. Help others. Can I tell you, people are desperate today. People are needed today. People are so lost today. We have a great opportunity to have a tremendous affect on them. And then lastly, the Y stands for yourself, Jesus, others, and yourself. We gotta get rid of this me, myself, and I. That's a death wish. Can I tell you this? It's not about pleasing your boss or pleasing your wife or pleasing your husband or pleasing your children. And I'm not saying that we don't, you know, shouldn't try to to do our part in those areas, but I'm saying we should make sure our God is pleased. And when we have favor with the Lord, we find favor with others. Would you stand with me? I hope that you have your New Year's resolution. I hope you have success. And I would covet your prayers that I'd have success with mine. God knows I need to. But I believe that theology is very simple. And I believe theology is staying in the book, staying on your knees and staying after people. And I believe if you do those three, you'll come out of 2015. And the Lord carries his coming into 2016. Not unscathed because life is life, but okay. God's people said. Father, Help us as we look to you, as we embark upon this new year, that we would be wise, for the opportunities are incredible. But they're a lot easier seen or recognized going than they are coming. So give us your wisdom. Let us Be serious about placing you upon the throne and allowing you to be the Lord of our life. May we be aggressive about serving the Lord. Going to work and going home and coming to church, that's not serving God. But having some area of work of ministry. that can be life-changing to people. Serve the Lord. And then may we continually be watching for your return. For when you come again, all the things that seem to be so important to us, whether it's our work, our possessions, our sports or whatever it could be, they will all quickly pale and only what has been done for Christ will last. Heads bowed and eyes are closed. I make you say tonight, pastor, truly he is He has license. He's the Lord of my life. I consider him. Raise your hand up. I consider him. I want to please him. God bless you. He's the Lord of my life. Amen. How many can say I have a specific area of service? I serve the Lord with gladness, and when I come to church, whether it's on Saturday or Sunday, I mean, I'm a prayer warrior, I turn the lights on, I sing in the choir, but I have some area that I don't just give the tithe of my finance, but I tithe my time and my talents. How many can say that's me? I do that. Praise the Lord. God bless you. Hey, friend, how many can say, yes, I'm looking for his return? I got to tell you, in my heart, wouldn't it, God, he'd come tonight? Dear Lord Jesus, come quickly. But how many can say, hands down, pastor, I look and I pray for the peace of Jerusalem or I look for his return. Would you raise your hand? The happy day that would be. Now, listen to me, neighbors. Those are three attitudes that I believe ensure a wonderful, happy new year. For blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. whose sins it's covered. Father, we love you. And as we still have a few days before we go into the new year, we ask that you would help us to have the right mindset. Help us not to be this kind of person that just drags the same old same old into this new year. Let us feel the excitement and see the opportunity of having a new start, fresh start, a new beginning, to be different and to make a difference with great excitement and fervency. Oh God, use me this year like you've never used before. Forgive me for my weaknesses and for my failures. and in spite of them, fill me and use me in a great way. And dear Lord, may it be your will, your desire to come soon. Meet our needs, speak to our hearts. May we be active and not remain the same, but to step out and make the difference and be different in our own self. Spirit of living God, fill us and fall fresh on us. In thy name I pray. As God speaks to your heart, you come.