WHERE WILL YOU BE ONE YEAR FROM NOW?
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
January 7, 2024
(Revelation 21:1-8 ESV) “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, thesexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
1. EVERYTHING IS BECOMING NEW FOR THE CHILD OF GOD.
(Revelation 21:1-4 NLT) “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
(Matthew 19:26 NLT) “Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
(Psalm 96:11-13 NLT) “Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he is coming! He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth.”
(Romans 8:20-21 NLT) “With eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.”
“All that he saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and ancient as if they had endured for ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for spring. No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth.” – The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. TOLKIEN
(1 Corinthians 15:43-44 NLT) “Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
“The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.” – The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. TODAY GOD IS MAKING EVERYTHING NEW.
(Revelation 21:5 NLT) “Look, I am making everything new!”
(1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NLT) “Few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”
GROWTHWORK
(Proverbs 14:8) The prudent understand where they are going, but fools deceive themselves.
1. WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES GOD GIVES YOU?
2. FOCUS ON GIVING AND NOT GETTING.
3. ENVISION WHERE YOU WANT TO BE AND WRITE IT DOWN.
4. IF IT IS NOT EXCITING IT’S NOT A VISION OR A GOAL.
5. THE ETERNAL VALUE OF ALL YOU DO BEGINS BY SHOWING UP.