Reviewing 2024

Dan Allender writes: “You are a story. You are not merely the possessor and teller of a number of stories; you are a well-written, intentional story that is authored by the greatest Writer of all time, and even before time and after time. The weight of those words, if you believe them even for brief snippets of time, can change the trajectory of your life. If fact, those words will call you to a level of coauthorship that is staggering in hope and meaning.”

I am reading a book by Dan Allender called To Be Told, and this notion of a story that God is weaving in our lives is worth considering as we begin an end-of-the-year sermon today. What elements of your story stood out in 2024? “What characters entered the stage, spoke their lines, and stayed or departed?” How did tension influence your story? “Tension is living in the gap between certainty and uncertainty. We always begin with what we know and are irresistibly drawn to what we don’t know. We are inveterately curious. We are wired to grow, and all growth stretches us beyond our comfort level. Comfort is the absence of tension; growth requires a swim in murky, dangerous waters. We want adventure, but not without assurances that we will suffer no harm when we take risks. We want danger and excitement, but only as long as they come with a money-back guarantee that everything will work out before the game is finished. But life isn’t like that. There are no safe risks. There is no growth that comes with a guarantee of success. Tension is the medium in which we breathe every day.” 

I’m discussing and wording today’s introduction in this way because our lives are moving along these plot points. I wonder how this year contributes to the ending of your story. It’s so easy to go along with the flow of our culture (especially here in the Midwest) and think, well, I’m basically a good person; surely this is all that God wants for me. But I wonder if that is really the ultimate end God envisions. How might His glory be accentuated in your short years on earth? Maybe you look back and see that you’ve lived “less in light of the story of God and more by the inevitabilities of life’s demands… allowing circumstances to write your story.” Again, here’s how Allender puts it: “The ending of my story is how I lived my life toward an aim, a finish that is worth both dying for and living for. If I live my life for me alone, then my story is as dull as my self-absorption, even if I have survived untold adventures. But if I live my life for Someone more important than myself and I have sacrificed, nobly risked, been humbled, learned, grown, and given, then my life is headed toward a glorious ending.” 

As we wrap up 2024, then, I want to take you back to some times we’ve enjoyed in the Scriptures. We are a Bible church, so we take God’s Word seriously. But God’s Word isn’t the aim we’re after; we’re after Jesus. No matter how you look back on 2024, all that we’ve tried to do here in our gatherings has been to serve one purpose: helping you know Jesus and make Him known. If you don’t know Jesus, today would be a great day to trust Him with your story. And, if you do know Him, my purpose this morning is to remind you of the central place He has in all we do. Today, join me as we see 3 effects we aimed for in 2024 to help you know Jesus and make Him known…

Read Luke 1:1-4 (This is God’s Word; thanks be to God)

3 effects we aimed for in 2024 to help you know Jesus and make Him known.

First, we aimed to I. give you confidence in who Jesus is and what He came to do. (Luke)

Right out of the gate in Luke 1, we saw something about Luke’s method, compiling an orderly account of what eyewitnesses and teachers communicated to help people like the most excellent Theophilus. Luke’s aim is seen in v.4 – that we may have certainty concerning things we’ve been taught. In other words, God fully expects that there will come times in the lives of His people when confidence or certainty will wane. Luke was writing so that we would have firm footing to stand. In this Gospel account, the subject matter and focus is on the person and work of our Savior. Pastorally, this book delivered certainty and confidence, which helped us in our mission of helping people know Jesus and make Him known. I’m not sure if you know this, but some people are difficult to love. Luke loves to spotlight people to show us how Jesus loves them. He often dropped the spotlight on poor people, people who usually wouldn’t get attention, and people with significant needs. And Jesus was centering His attention (and ours) in these interactions. 

Like many other books of the Bible, eternal life was in view in Luke's Gospel. People need confidence in looking forward to the life to come. Luke delivers this. Of course, the aim we were after was love, loving Jesus—who He is and what He’s done—more than you do now. We continue to be a church family with hurting and suffering people, and I wanted this book to encourage people. Finally, some among us come week in and week out and don’t have a relationship with God yet but are curious and want to learn more about Jesus. Luke’s Gospel helped to give them a picture of Him. 

Around Easter time, we were in Luke 9. We saw that when it comes to Jesus, a decision is provoked as we focus on what Jesus came to do. And, this is really an invitation into a new life (Read Luke 9:18-27).

That text compelled us to do something with Jesus, who He is, and what He’s done. He invites us into new life. It is that simple: to give up on yourself, turn from all the ways you might get in the way of what is necessary for Jesus, and believe in Him, trusting that His way of going to the cross and rising again leads to eternal life. This way of life provokes a decision for all of us: will we lean into Jesus, who He is, and what He came to do? Or do we find Him boring, so we make the Christian life or church life about other things? This compelling passage shows us that following Him is profiting you more than a slick Bitcoin deal or a strong stock market. So, let’s not be ashamed of Him. 

Toward the end of the book in Luke 18:31-19:27, Jesus was again hammering truth about His mission: telling us that His mission is His death and resurrection, opening blind eyes to see Him truly, seeking and saving the lost and compelling us into lives that faithfully serve Him. This passage urged us to see how central His death and resurrection are. Think about the eyes you need to see Him and don’t ignore Him. He’s on a mission to seek and save the lost. Keep crying out to Him for mercy. And step into faithful service. Don’t be paralyzed. You know your Master is gracious, and He’s given you grace upon grace to serve others. Knowing Jesus and making Him known is our mission because we follow this Savior who lived this way. Might this be part of your story?

Secondly, this Fall, we aimed to II. center you in God’s heart for the local church (a family of families). (Turn to Ephesians)

We began the book of Ephesians and saw some amazing distinctions that set us apart as God’s people. We have His salvation plan, which has come to us in Jesus: God initiates and executes this and invites us to respond. As the church, our existence is a mystery. We showcase in radiant brilliance all that God is as members of the same body who have partaken of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel (3:6). In Jesus, we are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (2:22). We step into God’s vision for us as a people, live it, and need each other in it. This led us to conclude that loving Jesus means loving His bride, the church. God’s plan, rooted in the local church, isn’t some optional plan for those wanting an asterisk in their Christian lives. Being saved as God’s people and put together in His body is the work of God.

In chapters 4 and 5, we saw God’s sanctification plan. (Read Ephesians 4:17-32) Sanctification is a big theological word that means to be made holy, set apart, or distinct. The question in these chapters was: how do we demonstrate that we are set apart for God as individuals and as saved corporate people? How does Christ “pop” through our life together? I like to think of our life as the picture Jesus gave us: we’re a city on a hill that illuminates our world. And what rays of Christ’s glory do they get from us? On one level, we may have as many different actions for this as we do people in this room, but how would the Bible inform this question? Or, what are the practicalities for our lives as we live out God’s plan found in the church? These types of things unfolded for us in chapters 4 and 5.

This Ephesians series also reminded us of the spiritual consequences we face when we go selfish at the expense of other believers. In Ephesians 6:12, we were told that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but against rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers over this present darkness and against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. How do we manage then? How do we keep from being so suspicious of brothers and sisters and focus on our real spiritual enemy? The answer points us back to the good news. We nurture strength in Gospel realities.

We, as a collective whole, not merely as individuals; we, the church, put on the whole armor of God. And, as we find strength in our identity in Him, we can stand firm. Notice how all the armor pieces speak of the good news in Jesus. We fasten a belt of truth around our life together. The precious organs in our body are protected by a breastplate of righteousness, which is fixed because of the perfect life and sin-atoning death of Jesus. Our feet are clothed with a readiness for a Gospel that brings peace to others. Whenever we have challenging circumstances, we pick up the shield of faith, which extinguishes the flaming darts of the evil one by assuring us of who we believe in. Our head is protected with salvation. Our sword has been crafted by the Spirit who dwells within us, and its strength is found in what we know from God’s Word about this good news that clarifies our lives. So, our gatherings are building one another up, not on how resilient, cunning, or marvelous we are, but in how amazing, glorious, and wise our Father is in outfitting us, by His Spirit, in all that God the Son has accomplished for us. Our lives have been changed from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet. And this is what gives us strength to stand in evil days. We are strong in Gospel realities. And this strength, as you can see, is rooted in our more significant aim to help you know Jesus and make Him known. We step into this purpose as a church and get involved in one another’s lives to this end. 

Finally, during Advent, III. We aimed to connect you to Jesus, the Giver of hope, peace, joy, and love. (Isaiah)

We began in Isaiah 40. This year, it was timely to start Advent here because the opening words of Isaiah 40 are what we need: words of comfort. Ray Ortlund set the scene for us: “[Isaiah] is speaking to the Jewish people held in Babylonian exile in the sixth century B.C. The dire prediction of Isaiah 39:5–7 came true. Now, God’s people, in degrading captivity far from their home in the promised land, fear that God has abandoned them, so Isaiah changes the tone of his ministry. His primary emphasis in chapters 1–39 was confrontation (cf. 1:4). Now his primary emphasis is comfort (cf. 40:1). The prophet longs for the people to become confident that God’s gracious purpose for them is deeper than their worst betrayals of him. Their future is still bright—even brighter than before.” And I find myself identifying with these people. Looking back on 2024, unfortunately, many of the mistakes I’ve made at times sound louder than the moments I got it right. I’m tempted to forget how bright my future is. Simply put, I needed hope as I transitioned into a new year. (Read Isaiah 40:1-11 as a way to give hope to those who are far off.)

Many of you shared how elusive this hope was for you, too. We wrap this year with many who may barely be hanging on, thinking they can’t endure much more, wondering why God doesn’t come through and answer their prayers. Some are struggling to find hope amid a situation they are facing. And Isaiah’s message from God, centered on Jesus, pointed us to hope. No matter what you bring into this room today, I hope you lean in for comforting hope.

For the week of joy, I remembered Charles Dickens’s work, The Christmas Carol, which begins with the line, “Marley was dead, to begin with.” And our story is the same. We were dead. We were far gone. We were in the wastelands without hope and God. But, He came near. The King came; this is good news and great joy for all. For some of us, the issue isn’t that we’re selfish, but we’re hurting and being beaten down by this world and its people. The sight of the King coming is joyful news for us because we don’t have to languish in hurt forever. Our King gets the final word. Tears are wiped away. Sin will be no more. We get Him forever. In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. Knowing Jesus and making Him known was the pathway, each of these weeks of Advent, to hope, peace, joy, and love.

In conclusion, today we’ve seen 3 effects we aimed for in 2024 to help you know Jesus and make Him known…

I. We gave you confidence in who Jesus is and what He came to do. (Luke)

II. We centered you in God’s heart for the local church (a family of families). (Ephesians)

III. We connected you to Jesus, the Giver of hope, peace, joy, and love. (Isaiah)

What I want for everyone in this room is for you to go all in with Jesus. Let Him not just be a factor in your story, but let Him be and dictate your story. No one has credentials like Jesus Christ, our Lord. Today, will you center in Him and seek Him so that the coming year will be about knowing Him and making Him known as you live a life to glorify and enjoy Him forever?