LOOKING TO 2024 – REFLECTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS

Only Jesus can provide us with abundance and enable us to walk in the light. (John 8:12, Matthew 5:14)  Last week we considered some of the blessings God provided for us in 2023.  Certainly, all His gifts to us will be ever-present until life is over.  How blessed we are!

            Tonight, we turn our attention inward.  We stand at the door of a new year with new beginnings.  We ask a simple question now.  How can I change my life and do more to bring God glory in 2024?  Let’s consider ways to improve our lives and dedicate ourselves to that end. 

SPIRITUAL EXPECTATIONS-NEW BEGINNINGS

What Will We Do for God in 2024?

Song Selection:  Take My Life and Let It Be

Song with Lyrics (click the link): youtu.be/gAOcYrbYHr8 

PRAYER:  “Lord, as we go into the new year, we are thankful for all you have done for us in the past.  We trust in your will for our lives and know our future can be strong and certain.  Help us to always see your plan and remember we are part of it.  Give us faith, hope and love each day.  May we go forward in your Son’s name, to live at our highest spiritual potential.  It is in His name we offer this prayer.”

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)

May God bless your efforts each day in our future together.

LOOKING TO 2024 – REFLECTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS

REACHING OUR POTENTIAL IN 2024

            As we close the door on 2023 and begin 2024, how can we improve our spiritual lives in the future?  As we seek our fullest potential, we should understand what Jesus called “abundant life”.  Jesus wants to convey a life of spiritual blessings with gifts that overflow into our lives.  He laid out His purpose for us in John 10:10.  “I have come that you may have life and that life more abundantly.”  He gives life unlike anything we could have ever enjoyed without Him.

            We should be thankful for such a blessing.  Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world, he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.”  Only He can give you a life better than the world offers.  As you wake to a new year, do so with your eyes opened to His way of thinking.  Tonight, we will reflect on the spiritual blessings God has given us.  Next Sunday night, we will consider some expectations for ourselves in 2024.  We pray this time of devotion will benefit everyone who takes part.

SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS-A YEAR OF BLESSINGS

What Has God Done for Us in 2023?

Song Selection- What the Lord Has Done in Me

Song with Lyrics (click the link): youtu.be/nJDgKrl2gDg

In considering these points, if you found deficiencies, how will you commit to improving them in 2024?

Our second Growth Group meeting is tonight! 

• Leader/Study Guide (Go to Session 2): https://reader.rightnowmedia.org/5/160672
• Lesson 2 Participant Guide is here
• More info at https://www.christiscentral.org/growth-groups/
• Reading for tonight: James 1:13-18

Growth Groups begin tonight! 

• All groups will start at 5, unless your leader has told you otherwise.
• Leader/Study Guide: https://reader.rightnowmedia.org/5/160672
• Lesson 1 Participant Guide is here
• Attendance form for Co-Leader is here
• More info at https://www.christiscentral.org/growth-groups/
• All members have been requested to read James 1:1-12:

This Wednesday the Bloom Ladies will be getting together to clean the Farris’s home that they will be renting. Please meet at the Annex at 10 am if you would like to help. 

This Fall/Winter our Growth Groups will be studying The Book of James. We are getting excited to start our third year of Growth Groups on September 10th, and we hope that you are getting excited too! Below is a short preview of our study of James, with some questions for you and your family to enjoy time discussing together.

The book of James was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, from Jerusalem, to Jewish Christians living outside of Palestine, around 40-60 AD. These are people like us, trying to live out in the world and be a follower of Christ, who need encouragement and wisdom to follow Him. Thus, James is a very practical book, almost like a manual for everyday Christian living, giving it the nickname “the Proverbs of the New Testament.”

Below is a preview of some questions James helps us answer. Please take some time to discuss with your family and friends how you would answer them, and take a look at what James has to say. 

1. How do you react when being a Christian gets hard? (1:1-18)

2. How do you react to temptation? Do you blame God for allowing the temptation? (1:13-18)

3. What is the difference between calling yourself a Christian and being a Christian? (2:14-26)

4. Why do negative words seem to have a greater impact on people than positive ones? (3:1-12)

5. How is the wisdom of the world different from the wisdom of God? (3:13-18)

6. How have you seen the power of prayer work in your life? (5:13-20)