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The episodes are the weekly sermons from 922 Ministries (St. Peter and The CORE) of Appleton, Wisconsin.
Reset
Week 1 - St. Peter
Pastor Tim Glende
Well, good morning again, welcome to our New sermon series, our first weekend here of a new year, entitled Reset.
It's probably a fitting servant series for this time of year.
Like the odds are pretty good that over the course of the last six weeks or so from that time of Thanksgiving and on through the holidays, with all the parties and celebrations and get together. That you had a whole lot of fun and you probably made. It's choices that were maybe a little bit foolish and fun at the same time.
For example. Like, one more cookie. Yes, please.
Like cheesy potatoes. In seconds. And then for breakfast and lunch, the next day is left overs. Absolutely.
Maybe an extra drink or two here or there because of an extra party here or with them. If we're honest, probably the case.
Maybe overspending to overcrowding our schedules to all the things that take place during the holiday season. We make lots of things and decisions. That can be a lot of fun and are very good, but it's probably not the way that we can afford to live for a whole year.
Like if we ran at the same pace that we run during the holidays, we would get exhausted really quickly in the month of February. If we ate and celebrated and enjoy all those good things that we love to enjoy over the course of the year, we'd all be in a whole lot of hurt and trouble physically probably by the time we get to March.
Like, there's a lot of things that can be fun, but it might be a little bit foolish. January is a great time to reset after a season of a lot of enjoyment and indulgence.
And you probably already thought about that.
There are probably things that a few weeks ago, you started to think about put on a list that you might want to reset. Maybe goals or resolutions are the words that you've attached to it, but in theory, But a lot of people do when the calendar turns is, They desire a fresh start.
A return to the way things are supposed to be. Uh, to start over, or to restart on something that maybe they had in place during the past year and they want to get back to. That's literally what that word means, restart. Uh, as we reset, as we think about this series means to set again.
So maybe you had some goals, you had some resolutions, you were working at a good plan. October hit, or November hit, and the plan kind of got waylaid and you just want to reset it. You want to get back to it, reset. Sometimes means a fresh start, a start over, which happens every year, when we flip a calendar, there's a fresh start a new year, all sorts of opportunities, and maybe that's why you would consider a reset. Sometimes a reset means to get back to its original or intended State.
The company have ever broken a bone.
Have you ever broken a bone? The doctor resets it. They get it back in. Place to get it back to where it's intended to be. So, sometimes we want to fresh start with our schedule and calendar. Because over time, we've gradually shifted away from what's best for our family. And for our lifestyle sometimes, we just need to have a reset to get back to what we were doing. Sometimes after a long week, a hectic week, we just take the weekend to to get back into our regular routine. I'm not sure what it is that that you've put on your list of goals, but, A lot of people are doing that.
But here's the thing about most of the resets that people do, when the calendar turns the fresh start, the back to the original state. They get back to the way things were from a few weeks ago or a month ago and take your plan back up. We think a whole lot about the world. These things, the physical things, the things about our life and goals that we want to get back into place and that's not a bad thing. It forged a survey and actually identified that for most people. Their goals and areas where they want to reset involve. Improve fitness nearly 48 of people which isn't a January shock. If any of you are gym goers, improve finances. We want to get our dollars and our resources in. Check we we maybe need a fresh start or we need to get back to what we were doing from a budget perspective, improvement mental health is obviously something that people desire to be in a better place, mentally, and emotionally to lose weight. To improve one's diet, all those things are on people's lists.
Yeah, one of the things that oftentimes is overlooked on lists of goals and resets or areas of our spiritual life,
Like, we think about the things that we see in the mirror and we want to address them, but For spiritual life, isn't necessarily always so easy to see in the mirror.
It's not like a number on the scale that's measurable by Our eyes, it's something. It's maybe up to our own interpretation, we don't necessarily think about it in the same way.
And I love setting goals. If you like setting goals, you probably have sat down and done it before and it's easy to come up with a lot of them.
I wonder sometimes if as I'm looking at my goals or thinking of the things I want to change or reset in my life financially, leave physically, relationally That God's kind of over the corner going. Maybe something involving me would be good on that list.
And that's really the goal of this series.
Like if resetting is a good thing for us from a physical perspective, a financial perspective, from a relational perspective, Then considering resetting a fresh start, getting things back to the way they were, or getting back to where we had them the regular routine and Cadence that was good and was in place that we just need to dial it back in, it would be a good thing.
To help us do that. Over the course of the next three weeks. We're going to talk about God's goals for your soul.
Like three reset areas that if we consider them from God's perspective, would bless our life, would benefit us spiritually.
The first to ask you, what areas, or what keywords might, God put at the top of the list to consider a reset here and What would it be in our spiritual life? A relationship with him, the world in which you live. If we reset ourselves spiritually, it would be good for us.
We're going to focus in on three areas and I'm going to just give you an outline and a map for the the sermon series ahead of what we're going to do and why we're going to do it. And we'll come back to it over the course of the next few weeks as we add on to week. Number one. But week number one today, we're going to talk about God's goals for your soul. And focus on priorities.
Like in a relationship with God. What would it look like to reset our priorities? In a relationship with him. Will be good for our soul to consider highlighting to have in front of us as we begin a new year and as we Implement things for the year ahead. Week. Number two, we're going to talk about purpose.
Like all of us want to think about our purpose in life. How do I fit in? You know, what, what does God want me to do? We're going to talk about what God's purpose is for you and for me to put that back in front of our eyes, to see the opportunities in front of us. Uh, his purpose for for his people to, to live a life that not only gives him glory but maybe blesses, others and week number three, we're going to talk about our place.
Like, how do I fit into this big puzzle, that is the family of God? What is my unique gifting in place to, to reset that to see that to put that in front of our eyes can bless us for 51, more weeks that this year has in store.
And so as we look at each week, the goal is to help you see these as goals.
To see what God sees, what God lays out for you and for me, and then to implement them, to, to maybe consider what that looks like. What I want to work on.
And before we get into week number one, Priorities. I want you to see them each week is going to come with a unique verse a unique. Reminder priorities is going to be about the Great Commandment Jesus’ words in Matthew 22. Today, we'll get to it. Just a second purpose is going to be about the great commission. What does God call for us to do in our life of Faith to set? And in front of us as our mission to carry out. That and then place the great question. How do I fit in?
And so I'm not sure which category you fit in. Do you need? Just a fresh start last year was tough and challenging in your relationship with God. Spiritually,
Maybe you had a good year going and a few things got out of whack and you just need to, to revisit it, and reset it again. Like put those same things back into place because they just slipped off a little bit or maybe things are completely out of place, like, a broken bone that has to get reset to its original. I don't know what place you're in or what area you are in in your relationship with God, where your spiritual goals are But I pray that these three weeks will help you figure those out. And have a great reset restart and a fresh new year. And bless you for all the weeks that follow.
And if you're still not convinced, Maybe a few questions to get you to think. Do I really need a reset?
Those churches become a chore.
Is it I have to and now to get to do you, you come to check the box so that Pastor Jim, Tim, Bill, Mike and Mike, sending you emails and text messages that you aren't here.
Was God? Become maybe a little bit of an app. In your life.
Like you click on it and open it. When you Are in desperate need of something, or you need to view something, but you can shut it down. And close it really quickly. It's not getting opened as much as it should be.
How are your roots?
Like we talk about those five roots: Gathering, Grouping, Growing, Giving and going over the course of 2023. Did you notice something slipping in one or more of those areas? Where there was serving less because other things became More important, whether it was,
Growing less, because schedule. Got more full but there was gathering less simply because There were things that were distracting. You just set it aside.
Tough look. Be honest with yourself and consider. Are there areas that need a reset, a complete overhaul of Fresh Start? A resetting to the way they should be or just a tweaking. The odds are pretty good if you're like me, there's a little bit of one or another of those in interspiritual life and that's why I pray. This is good.
This leads us to week one the Great Commandment.
The Great Commandments are found in Matthew chapter 22. It's Jesus during Holy Week speaking. Uh but before we get into the the Great Commandment itself and see the priority that God would have a set in our spiritual life, if we need to reset here and what that reset looks like Uh, here's the setting in the stage hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees. The Pharisees got together.
What are them an expert of the law tested him with this great question teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law.
So you consider those words, Matthew chapter 22 verses 34 and 36. I'm listening to the livestream right now, so I'm hearing myself talk about five seconds later.
It's not helping me preach. I need to reset that.
If you said just got done in teaching Tuesday addressing questions. After a question from the Sadducees, one of the groups of religious leaders. Teaching Tuesday was a big day during holy week and Jesus' life a whole lot of important truths were shared but most of them floated out of questions that the religious leaders were giving to try and undermine Jesus and his ministry. Right. So the Sadducees have taken a few shots at him. Each one, he had the right answer. They had been silenced. So now the Pharisees nor conservatives of the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees got together with one of them and experts in the law, someone who knew the law backward and forwards because the Pharisees would have known the law very well. But this one's an expert in them. It's like the top of the list that one of the smartest of the bunch. And he came with, this question teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
And you might not. Look at it and go, I don't know how they were going to trick him with that, but
But when you understand the subtlety of it, you might see the big thing that they were trying to do to Jesus.
Like Jesus, who claimed to be God? Which one of the 613 Commandments of God, in the law, of Moses is the most important is the greatest?
Add to it. That the Pharisees had at about another 1100 or so give or take. A fence. Fence guarding laws to the Old Testament laws, like just to make sure you didn't cross the line with the 613 laws of Moses here, another 1100, just to make sure you, you keep yourself in check.
And now Jesus of these 613 picks the one, that's the most important.
And let's be honest if you and I were to oppose that question. Like which one of the Commandments of God is the most important?
But you and I think of the laws of God and go, “There's definitely some that are more important.”
Like, if you go through the 613 laws of Moses in the Old Testament Torah, like there are some of them that are not that important.
You might look at him about seriously that was a law.
Some of them are really important.
Like aAdventure I guess that if you and I sat down and I said to you, you know, on a rank them, the Ten Commandments one through ten on Uh, their level of importance, you probably would come up with some that are more important in your mind.
Like we've probably all have prioritized them at one time or another like maybe not literally, but we have practically like murdering, adultery.
You know, those prizes are pretty high in our minds of things, but we talk about guarding the reputation of someone else.
You know, keeping God's name, holy every once in a while, a little slip here or there, when I curse or use a bad word, it's not the end of the world.
And here's the thing is: the Pharisees could get Jesus to do it. Then what he would be really doing? Would be saying that some words of God matter, more than others.
And that would undermine him as God.
So, how does one pick?
I just understood what they were doing, which is the Beauty, and the Brilliance of them asking him to give
A specific commandment. Jesus gives a two-part answer.
Jesus’ response: love the Lord your God with all your heart. And with all your soul, and with all your mind,
This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.
All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.
I think Jesus doesn't give them an answer. He gives them a two-part answer.
And yet the two-part answer, and the summary that Jesus gives is, is really centered on one singular command.
Like Jesus takes all of the Ten Commandments that we know by heart the summary of the Mosaic law and look at someone up with those words love. Love God, love others.
In reality, if you took all the Commandments and the Mosaic law, you Jesus would say they would fall under these. They're done out of love for God. Loving God and loving others.
Like Jesus answer is very clear. An important for us to consider when, when Jesus lays out the Commandments of God, what God wants us to do, and not do. And we consider priorities in our relationship with God, that first commandment, the greatest commandment is, the one that God wants us to focus on and elevate and prioritize. Love the Lord. Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.
Versus found in other places in, in the gospels, sometimes it's also included with all your strength, like everything that you have all inclusively, speaking priority. Number one, the greatest and first commandment is loving God, with all that you have. The second one is like it and flows from it. Love your neighbor as yourself.
And we could spend. A whole sermon series on just number two.
And we're going to.
Like in a few weeks, we're going to actually have a sermon series on. Love and relationships. We're going to talk about loving one, another loving others, loving Your neighbor as yourself. Somebody got to spend a whole lot of time on it today because I want to focus in on that verse. If we can go back to the The. The main section, the first commandment, the greatest commandment of love. The Lord, your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
Like there would be a lot of good things to reset, probably in your life in the year ahead.
Maybe it's the amount of sugar you take in, maybe it's the alcohol that and how many drinks you have? Maybe it's a reset. When it comes to Uh, other areas of nutrition or finances. Like all those things can be good.
But Jesus would have you say from a spiritual perspective goals for your souls at the top of the list, prioritizing your relationship with him. The Lord of love. The one who loves you. Love him with all that you have.
Like, for every verse that the Bible contains on physical resilience, or being financially wise, I can show you a hundred that talk about love and the importance of love in our life, as we live for God.
I mean, you just think about the amount of time. Will invest on. On resetting worldly things.
And if that's the case, Jesus is at the top of the list of the greatest of all Commandments if I was to summarize it in one way. Love the Lord your God with all your heart. All your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
And here's why it's so important. Like the devil knows that. He doesn't have to get you to declare unbelief in God, to get to you and to train wreck your year.
He can just get you to love. Godless. It can so undermine so many things in your life of Faith.
Like, if you can get you, to love your job. A little bit more. And love him a little bit less.
If you can get you to love things of this world a little bit more.
So that you spend a little bit less time on him and his word.
Like, if he can get it to be that you don't love God. All your heart, soul, mind, and strength. But 50 of it, 75 of it. Even 90 of it. He can open the door.
To cause so many bad things to happen.
Because we don't love God with our whole heart. Beloved other things, maybe the same as or more than
Then he can affect our identity. How we view who we are?
Which then affects us spiritually and emotionally. When we face the things, and the challenges that this world will bring and when we don't love God with our whole heart, Don't have our identity that's built on him, and when our identity is not built on him, we'll search for love in all the wrong places. And although they can do.
Can hinder and harm us, not just, for a day or two, but perhaps eternally.
See, Jesus understood the importance of loving God?
With this whole heart soul, mind and strength.
He knew it was vital for you and for me, and for our eternity because if he didn't,
We'd be doomed because we haven't.
So, before we get into the how
And what this looks like and what I would want you to keep in mind. As you consider resetting this goals this goal.
I just want you to think about. Where you're at?
Like, to be honest.
The Living God with your whole heart soul, mind and strength.
How did you do last year? How are you doing right now?
He's getting an hour from you right now. Praise God! I'm glad you're here.
But as the Jesus hat come off after you leave church, All the other hands get put on.
So, maybe the best way to consider this priority that Jesus elevates for us is Is to look at it through the lens of Of three things and I think would be helpful for us. And in setting this priority, this goal for our soul three things that will help us in this reset that our vital and important as takeaways to to apply it to to benefit from it to be blessed in it. And so if you're taking notes, here are the three reset takeaways on priorities at the priority that Jesus lays out for us in the Great Commandment is the love God with our whole heart soul, mind, and strength. The first thing when you hear that is that is overwhelming.
If you know, God and, you know, all the things God has called us to do and you know, you and all the things that You struggle with doing, you might be overwhelmed right now to think this reset, this goal is an impossibility, because I don't have the ability.
That's the thing that I love about it. This reset and this goal for our soul.
Like each and every one of you here knows that in the areas of our lives, we want to make changes to our physical resiliency, in our finances or in our relationships. There are usually some very obvious first steps that we get to take right. To make it happen.
Like, if you want to get in better physical shape, Go to the gym. I am membership. Great first step.
If you want. Take care of your body and eat a little bit healthier. You know what you can do?
The Great First Step is look in your cupboards get rid of the junk, go to the store, buy some really good food, check.
Financially. You want to get your finances in order, sit down. Look at your budget. Look at all the things that are on the expense line. Look at the income line, figure out what you have to spend and don't overspend. You can make decisions to stop by in Starbucks every day. Now, use that money for things that you don't need.
In our spiritual relationship with God. Here's the great thing about the first step, it's not your step.
Like what makes loving God possible has nothing to do with you and everything to do with God.
Like if you're looking in this area of your life to say, I want to reset. I need a reset. Celebrate the fact that God is the one who pushed reset.
Like the Lord of Heaven and Earth, prioritized, you in coming to Earth. The Lord of Heaven and Earth as made loving you. It always was is and will be his priority like God loves you.
Like the ability to to love God with your whole heart soul, mind and strength is not because you have a great amount of strength on your own. But you have a God who is strong and a God, who is able? And a God who has always prioritized you if you're looking for the motivation, if you're looking for the reason why if you want to see This new priority in this goal and the reset, don't just think about the need for it but think about the reason it is possible. It is because God has prioritized, you. And has always loved you and always will love you. Remember these words of 1 John chapter 4 we read them earlier. This is God. And this helps us with this goal for our soul. This is how God showed his love Among Us. He sent us what? Only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love. Not that we love God but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice. For our sins.
This is love.
Like when God says, Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love for God starts is possible and ends with love of God, his love for you.
And that is real.
If you want to know how you can do this and make this reset possible,
And if you're searching for the motivation, do this reset. It begins with God's showing his love to us, not that we loved him but that he loved us.
And that's an amazing and powerful truth.
God's goal for your soul was to rescue you from sin and give you eternal life.
He did that reset.
And we live in light of that this reset is possible. And not only that, it changes, our heart and, and how we view it, it's not a half to. But it's a get to.
The Apostle Paul said it this way in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices Like living light of the lens of God if if you want to push reset in this area, Begin by resetting, maybe in your devotional life in your prayer life prioritizing and focusing on the amazing love of God. The mercy of God, the grace of God, that is found in Jesus, who rescued you from sin, and one eternal life for you and all who believe.
Like reminding yourself of that in the morning, at the end of the day would go a long way and be good for your soul.
Because the love of God, for you is front and center.
That's number one. Now, number two is probably the one that most of you are thinking of when we talked about this priority. Loving God, involves not just celebrating his love. That was isn't always will prioritize you and me, but loving God for us, who know, the love of God who've been loved by God. Involves priorities in what God loves.
Like here's where it gets real. You have to, to be in his word, you have to understand God, you have to know the truth about God and some loving God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Prioritize what God loves..
Thank God for God, love is what God would call you and me to to consider in our life that maybe needs to be reset.
And I know what that area is in your life that maybe needs a little more intention and a little more focus, the odds are pretty good. There's a big broad area of things we can focus on and work on and talk about. But loving God, involves prioritizing what God loves first. John chapter 5, a few verses later. John said, these words.
In fact, this is love for God to keep his commands.
So, if we need to reset in this area, maybe one of the best places to go is to
To your Grow root and consider digging a little bit deeper. Regularly thinking about and considering what are the things that God loves maybe it's a review of the Ten Commandments, a simple summary of the things that God loves.
Like a lot of people think of the Commandments as these harsh things from God, that he's keeping us from something. But most of the Commandments, if you view them through this lens, It's God protecting some good thing in love.
He's protecting relationships like marriage. He's protecting life. That is a gift from him. He's protecting reputations that are so important. He's protecting possessions. Up for people that he loves by telling us, not to covet or desire or to steal, he's protecting his reputation, which is so important when we get into next week and our mission, he's protecting your relationship with him. By saying have no other gods. He's there all things that God loves that. He's guarding and protecting because he loves you and me and others. Like to love God is to keep His commands prioritizing what God loves.
And He loves others, He loves Justice, He loves peace, He loves so many different things in our world. Like the Bible is so filled with different examples and reminders. I imagine that anytime you read the Scriptures, if you have a regular Grow root plan, you're going to find something in your daily reading that you could set aside. And say, here's one of the things that God obviously loves. But I can put on my heart and honor and give Him glory by living a life that prioritizes His commands. Here's the thing, when you saw the last part of that verse: His commands are not burdensome.
Like sometimes we thank God. Burdens us with all these things. But God's goal with the commands that he gives is not to overwhelm us but to bless us.
So, I don't know what that looks like in your life. Is there an area where you might write down the day. I want to prioritize this command of God, this action of God, because I know he calls me to do it. It will bless my family. It'll bless my wife. It'll bless my kids. Bless my co-workers, like if I speak words that fill the kindness. If I work on addressing the anger, if I am celebrating find ways that I can carry out acts of kindness and love to my neighbor who lives next door, who might be a need to help? Like what is it that God loves that he would put on your heart. That you might prioritize them your hair because of the God who first loved you?
Which is how I combine the first two.
Great and no. In this priority, in this God goal for your soul. Priorities, loving God, with your whole heart, God always has loved you and prioritized you. Loving God, loves the things that God loves so prioritizing God. If you sum it up this way, this God goal is our joyful response to God who first loved us.
1 John 4:19 a passage as many people know and love: “We love because he first loved us.”
Like this. God goal for your soul flows out of God's goal for your soul. And God's goal for your soul and my soul for you. And for me is to be with him and eternity.
You first loved us. Which changes how we view all those things that we talked about before.
Overflow with love.
And maybe another verse from John would reinforce this as you consider, the reminder of this priority and the great love that God has see what great love the Father has lavished on us. Like he's lavished us with love, he calls us to love, he commands us to love, but he's overwhelmed us with love. He has lavished love on us that we should be called the children of God. That is what we are. That is who you are.
Like in this God goal for your soul, begins with and end with the reality of who you are, as a result of the love of God.
And I know then, as you consider what love for God, looks like this year. And others will be blessed. And it'll be good for your soul.
Because that is what we are.
And maybe the simplest action step for you is to write down these five words.
Like priorities. Loving God with my whole heart, soul, mind and strength. Gather. Group. Give. Go.
Those are the Jesus’ roots that produce the Spirit's fruits.
In what area of those that would reflect love for God. That allows you to celebrate the love of God. Do you want to intentionally invest in this year to reset, maybe get back to reset, have a fresh start to reset, to return, to the way. It should be, maybe it's gathering more regularly, maybe it's growing, as a part of our regular reading plans here at nine to two. Maybe it's grouping so that you can connect with other Christians who can help you In your life of faith and encourage you with your blind spots. Maybe it's giving to spend more time investing in serving others. Maybe it's, we're going to talk about next week going.
Like, pick one. Focus on it. Where's the reset that you need this year? In the area of priorities.
That allows you to celebrate.
The guy who prioritized you and loved you first.
And as you consider that what made the response be and look like in the year ahead?
The goal for your soul to prioritize what God wants us to. Loving him who first loved us.