How to make the most of your New Year

(The following is an outline of the sermon preached by Michael Larsen on January 5, 2019.)

The key to a great new year is having a plan.  You don't just enter 2020 and say, "I hope it's going to be better."  You have to have a plan to make it better.  Proverbs 17:24 "An intelligent person aims at wise actions, but a fool starts off in many directions."  Here are four keys to making the most of 2020.  

A - Assume responsibility for my life.

Galatians 6:5 “Each person must be responsible for himself.”  

B - Believe I can change

Philippians 4:13 “There is nothing I cannot master with the help of Christ who gives me strength.”  

C - Clarify what I really want

You must decide what's important and what isn't important.  Job 34:4: “We can choose the taste we want in food.  We should choose to follow what is right.  But first of all we must define what is good.”

D - Don't wait to begin

Three words that will change your life are, “Do. It. Now.”  Ecclesiastes 11:4 “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” Don’t say, “I’ll do it when...” Do it now. Do it today.

Four personal development goals

If you're a Christian, then your ultimate goal is to become like Jesus Christ.  So how did Jesus develop?  Luke 2:52 tells us four ways: “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and favor with man.”  

He developed in wisdom – that's intellectual development.

He developed in stature – that's physical development.

He developed in favor with God – that's spiritual development.

He developed in favor with man – that's social development.

As you set your goals they need to be S.M.A.R.T. goals. 

            S - Specific.   

            M - Motivational.  

            A - Attainable.

            R - Relevant.   

            T - Trackable.