2023-12-31- Sunday School- An Old Challenge for a New Year

The speaker mentions that they have been asked to bring their class to the Sunday service and will be teaching from the book of Colossians. They emphasize the importance of retaining certain things as they enter the new year, such as the foundation of their faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ. They also mention the danger of false teachings and the need to be vigilant in protecting their foundation. The speaker encourages the congregation to hold on to these important aspects of their faith. Well, good morning. Good to see all that is out this morning. I know that Pastor Dunn mentioned we've got so many out that are sick. I've been praying for them. He texted me the other day and asked me would I mind to bring my class out here. And I said, no, not at all. But I had already been preparing something different, so we won't be in the lesson book this morning. We'll be in the book of Colossians if you want to be turning there. Colossians chapter 3 is where we'll be at. And I feel like the Lord just laid this on my heart. And like I said, I prepared it for our class, but I believe it will apply to all of us here today. So I do appreciate this opportunity. I never did claim to be much of a teacher, but I've stepped into that role and it has really helped me. And I do appreciate the opportunity to do that. So the book of Colossians chapter 3 is where we'll be reading from. We're going to read just the first 10 verses here. And I'll just kind of expound on this just a little bit this morning. So I know I probably know my class knows this. We hardly ever get through my entire lesson. It just seems like you don't have enough time, and that's okay. But we'll cover what we can cover anyway. All right, Colossians chapter 3, verse number 1. The Bible said, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members, which are upon the earth, fornication and cleanliness. Someone help me with that word. Thank you. Affection, evil. Yes, thank you again. And covetousness, which is idolatry. For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. And to which ye also walked some time when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Amen. That would be all the reading. I want to talk to us this morning basically just about an old challenge for a new year. An old challenge for a new year. We're fixing to step into a brand new year. He sung that song a while ago there. I'm in a new world. Old things have passed away. And I know a lot of the times when we go into a new year, it's tradition that we'll make resolutions. It's tradition. People, they want to just take that old year. We're getting ready to close out 2023 and go to 2024. And it's just tradition that people want to just... And it's okay. Pray that old year out. Pray the new year in. I know when I lived at home, I was just an old country boy. We'd go outside at midnight, and I'd have the shotgun loaded, and Brother Quentin and we'd shoot up in the air. Just shooting that old year out and blowing it up into the air and all that and everything. And that's just tradition. We've just done those things. But this morning, I want to talk about just a few things if I can. That coming out of 2023 and going into 2024, there are some things that must be retained. There are some things that need to be released. And there are some things that we need to hold on to as a remembrance. I read a short story, and I'll share it with you. Just a very short story. There was a husband and a wife that were cleaning out one of their spare bedrooms. And this particular room had become cluttered with a lot of things that were no longer needed. And, of course, there were a few things in there that just needed to be relocated. And in the process of the cleanup operation, they uncovered a few things that caused them to take a walk down memory lane. But as they were cleaning the room, there were some things that they retained. There were some things that they knew they had to release. And there were some things that brought back memory to them. And as I was reading these verses this morning, I got to kind of studying. And I'm just going to just a quick summary because I'm telling you, when you get to studying this, it can get way deep. And I mean, too much material almost. But just a quick summary on the Church of Colossae. It began during Paul's three-year ministry at Ephesus. It was not founded by Paul, but it was founded by a man by the name of, and if I pronounce his name right, Epaphras. I think that's how you say his name. I may not be getting that right. Okay. If that's how you say it, then that's good. Who apparently was saved during the visitation, during Paul's visitation to Ephesus. And then likely, he started the church at Colossae when he returned home. Now, several years of the Colossian church was founded. And after the several years that it was founded, there was a dangerous heresy that arose there. And it was, and if I pronounce this word right, it was a heresy called narcissistic system. And it basically, it was a teaching that God was good, but neither was evil. That Jesus Christ merely was one of the series of animations descending from God and being less than God. And it caused them to believe less about Jesus and not understand his true identity. And it was a dangerous heresy that come upon them. And so that was kind of a history of the church. And now we find here in the book of Colossians that Paul is writing to this church here. And he's giving them a challenge, if you will. They're stepping into a new world, basically. They're stepping into a new age, if you will. And he's telling them some things that they need to realize, that they need to hold on to. There's some things that they need to retain. There's some things they need to let go. But there's some things that they need to remember. And that's what I want to try to focus on this morning. As I looked at this little story that I read, and it started reminding me that we're getting ready to go into 2024. But let's not forget what God has done for us in 2023. We need to retain some of the things, amen, that God has done for us in all of our lives. Although we're closing out a new year, or closing out an old year, or we're going to a new year, we need to realize that God is still on the throne. We're coming out of an old year going into a new year, but we still need to realize, Brother Ronnie, that there's a foundation that we have to continue to build upon. There is a foundation, amen, that is by God that we have to continue, amen, to build upon. We need to realize that we need to retain the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can never let the gospel of Jesus Christ just be put aside. We can never let it just become just an ornament, if you will, but it's got to be retained. We must take the Word of God and retain it. It's got to go with us, amen, as we leave this old year today. Today is the last day of 2023. It's the very last day. This is the last Sunday school class, the last Sunday school lesson. If we get to the preaching, it will be the last, well, tonight will be the last message if we have service tonight. That will be the last message for this year, is tonight. This day right here is it. This is the last day of 2023, and tomorrow, if we wake up tomorrow, we're going to be in a brand-new year of 2024. But I want all of us here today, as I try to challenge you here, to realize, and I know it's a small congregation this morning. I understand that, and I'm not Brother Michael, and I know he teaches so well. But I want us to all understand today that God has a plan for your life. He has the right plan for your life. And He wants certain things from your life. And that He has the right to demand these things from your life. Notice the challenges contained in these verses to try to teach you this morning about this old challenge for a new year. We're going into a new year, but God's gospel does not change. We're going into a new year. There's things that we're probably fixing to face in the new year that may devastate us. There's things that we may face in the new year coming, amen, that we're not maybe fully prepared for. But God's Word never changes. It is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We must retain, amen, this foundation. As that couple cleaned their room, they found several items that were very important to them. And they did not throw them away, but they kept them so that they might be able to use them later on in the future. And as I was thinking about that in a spiritual sense, Paul was telling us that there's a couple precious spiritual possessions that we must do well to hang on to. Amen. We've got to realize and awareness of our foundation. Amen. Our foundation is built upon the Word of God. Our foundation is built upon worship to the Lord. Our foundation is built upon praise unto Him. Our foundation must be built upon a prayer life. Our foundation, it must be built upon, first and foremost, the salvation of Jesus Christ. Amen. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men. Amen. And we've got to realize that there's a foundation that we must retain. Because if we don't retain it, church, there is an enemy that's coming to destroy the foundation. There is an enemy that will destroy it. Amen. When they started the church of Colossians, they started out good. But there was a heresy that came to them. There was a doctrine that came to them. There was an enemy that came to them and started to destroy them. Amen. And that's the same thing as the enemy's trying to do to us. He's trying to come against us in so many ways. He's trying to destroy the foundation of holiness. He's trying to destroy the foundation of the Gospel. Amen. But he'll never be able to destroy God's Word. Amen. But if we allow him, church, he can come in and destroy our foundation. But we must retain it. We must have a prayer life. We must have a place, amen, where we're getting along with God and saying, Oh my, help me continue to build upon this foundation by the Word of God. Amen. Anytime you want to jump in and say something, feel free. Amen. Paul's discussing our spiritual position when Jesus Christ died on Calvary. Amen. I was reminded, and I'll flip over there just real quick there, and you don't have to turn if you don't want, but you can. Galatians chapter 2 and 20, Paul writes these words. He said, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Hallelujah. We died to the penalty and the power of sin when Jesus died on the cross. Because I am dead, I don't have to worry, amen, about the punishing of sins because it's been taken care of at Calvary. He went to the cross and willingly laid down his life, amen, and died for our sins. Amen. We need to realize, church, that never changes. That never changes. Amen. There may be people coming in, and I'm going to get ahead of myself. I'm not careful here. There's people that will try to preach a doctrine. Amen. My father-in-law was kind of talking about it a little bit this morning. Amen. A predestination. Amen. There's no way I can get into it. It's a deep subject. Amen. But Calvinism, it's a heresy doctrine. It's a damned old doctrine. Amen. Eternal security. Amen. It is a damned old doctrine. Amen. It will lead you to destruction. Amen. But we need to realize there is a firm foundation in God's Holy Word that we've got to keep. Amen. No matter what 2023 has brought, no matter what the past has brought, we have to realize if we're going to go on for God in 2024, we must stay true to His Word. We must build upon the foundation that was made from the beginning of the time. Amen. It was already made. And we must realize it is the only true foundation. Excuse me. Amen. Amen. There is a sense in which every child of God is dead. They are dead to sin. And in this verse, Paul reminds us that if we have also been raised up with Jesus, when He died, we died. When He rose from the dead, we rose from the dead as well. When He got up, amen, we got up as well. We must never forget, amen, Brother Jameson, that we are dead to sin and alive to a new life. Amen. As the song says, old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. I thought about that scripture that Paul writes so well. When you're in Christ Jesus, you're a new creature. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things have become new. Amen. There are some things, church, that we must retain. It is the foundation of Jesus Christ. We must retain that. Amen. We must never let that go aside. We must never lose that. Amen. We must never water that down. Amen. We must have an attention to our focus. Amen. Since we have been raised, amen, to a new life in Jesus, we are told to seek those things which are above. Amen. To seek those things which are above is in the present tense. In other words, we are told to continually be seeking those things which are above. I was reminded, and I know we all have heard her say it many times, I was reminded of the testimony of Sister Wanda Hart. Amen. She'd say many times, I've not made it. I've not made it yet. I've not made it yet. Church, we haven't made it. Amen. We're not there yet. We must continually to be seeking. Amen. Some of you here this morning may say, well, I'm saved. I'm sanctified. I'm Holy Ghost filled, as a few of us called to preach. Amen. But you have not made it to the pinnacle. Amen. We have not made it until we hear Him say those words, well done. We've not made it until we hear that. And until that time comes, we must be continually seeking those things which are above. Amen. Verse number two. Amen. It builds on a thought by telling us to set our affections on things above, not on the things of the earth. That word affections, it refers to the mind. We are told here to focus our thoughts on heavenly things and not earthly things. And if I can turn here quickly to it, I should have marked it. And I didn't, so forgive me. But the book of Romans, chapter number 12, forgive me. I want to read it because I would probably misquote it, but we've read this many times. But the Apostle Paul writes here in the book of Romans chapter 12, he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And listen to what he says. Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. He said what? By renewing your mind. Man, we must retain those things in our mind of the good things that Jesus has done. Amen. I know that things come and things go, and it's easy to get sidetracked in the times in life itself. Things come our way, and it's easy, amen, to get sidetracked and get off in a negative world, if you will. Amen. It would do us good, amen, to think on those good things. Apostle Paul said that also. He said think on the good things, amen, of Christ. Think on the great things that He's done. Amen. I'm telling you, church, He's done some mighty, wonderful things. I could stand up here this morning and give you a doom and gloom, amen, of the things that's come in the last year. Amen. Years before that. Amen. I mean, you know, I don't even have to talk about it. Amen. We have been through some things, church. Amen. We've been through some trials. We've been in the valley. Amen. We've been in some hard times. Amen. But look what God has done for us. Look where we are this morning. Amen. Amen. We're still working. Amen. We're still going on for the Lord. Amen. We're still worshipping. We're still appraising Him. Amen. We're still magnifying Him. Amen. We must continue, amen, to retain the worship of God. We must continue to retain, amen, the praises unto the Lord. We must retain His holy Word. Amen. We must retain of keeping our mind upon Him. Amen. No matter the good times or in the bad times, we must remain holy and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. Amen. Amen. Amen. We're told to set our minds on the things of God, not on the things, amen, not on the things of this earth, but on the things that brings glory to the Lord. That's what we're to keep our minds upon. Amen. Amen. Some of the things, and I just wrote these down, or typed these out quickly. I didn't write them. I typed them out. But some of the things I just wrote down, just a quick look at some of the verses following, amen, this verse, give a little insight into what Paul is talking about here. We're to purpose in our life a deeper knowledge of Jesus. There are men, and I'm not here this morning. Please don't, I'm not here to bash nobody, amen. But I know there are men. I've talked to several of them. I worked with a guy one time there. I've told this before. I worked with a guy there at Performance Plumbing. Brother Ronnie, he was, I'm telling you, an intelligent man. He was an older guy, but he was very intelligent. He had studied so much. He studied psychology. He had studied philosophy. He had studied so much that it just twisted his mind. He got to a place where he didn't know what to believe. He didn't know, you know, he believed in God, but then, again, he would just, you'd have to talk to him. You'd just have to be around him. Amen. But I want to get a deeper knowledge of Jesus. Amen. I want to get a deeper knowledge of His life. I want to know more about my Lord. Amen. I want to know more about Him. I want to retain more of His Gospel. Not more of man's knowledge, but more of God's knowledge. Amen. We must retain a clean and holy life. Amen. We must have godly virtues. Amen. Amen. We must retain holiness in our life, holiness in our walk, in our talk. Amen. We must have an effective prayer life. Amen. We must be a fruitful witness. Well, I believe that we'll be rewarded one day after a while if we allow God to govern our earthly walk, our every decision, our every activity, our every plan and purpose is to be considered in the light of eternity. When I make choices on my own, I'm probably going to mess up. When I do things Anthony's way, it may work out for a little while, but in the end, it's going to be probably a disaster. But when I get to the point, I look to Him and I say, God, not my will, but Thy will be done. Lord, I want to do it Your way. Sometimes His way may not seem right to me. Don't take that the wrong way. Sometimes it may not seem right. You all have heard me tell the story. I didn't think I would tell it this morning, but you all have heard me talk about it before. Amen. I would never have thought that walking away from a $30 an hour job would be a very smart idea. But that's what God called me to do when He called me to Seabury, when I went to pastor a church. I left the best job I guess I ever had in my life, but I went to do a work for the Lord. I knew His calling. I knew what His calling was upon my life. And I had to kill the flesh, walk away from that, and go and do His will. Amen. Jesus makes intercession for us. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He's making intercession for us. He gives us all that we need to live for Him in this world. And this morning, as we prepare to enter into a new year, I pray that we will realize who we are and what we have in Jesus. And realize there are some things that we need to retain. I've got to hurry, it's already 10.30. Some things that will help us in the year to come and what we may face. But not only are there things that we need to retain, but there are some things that we may need to be released. As they cleaned that room, they came across several items that just had to go. They really didn't have room for some of them. And some of that stuff was just plain trash. And it had to go. And it did go. But while they retained a few things, there were some things that they had to be released. And the same thing is true today in our spiritual walk, in our Christian life. There are some things that try to attach themselves to our lives that are just plain trash. There are things that we need to kick to the curb. And other things simply that they don't have a place in our lives. And those things, they need to be let go. The Bible tells us, Let us lay aside every weight and sin that does so easily beset us. Let us run this race with patience that is set before us. Amen. God has a plan for this church. God has a plan for each and every one of you this morning. Amen. He had the plan already made. We didn't know what it was. He already knew this is where we were going to end up. He knew exactly, amen, that we were going to have a gas station, amen, for a church. He already knew that. We didn't, but He did. Amen. We were wandering around, some of us was. What's God going to do with us? Where are we going to go? What's going to take place? Amen. But can I tell you this morning in God's plan, amen, there are some things that you have to set aside, amen, and throw your plans away, throw your desires away. I'm not trying to preach this morning, amen, amen, but I knew when I got to this part, amen, it may get tight. Amen. But I'm telling you, church, there are some things that we do not need in our lives, amen. It's going to cause stumbling blocks. It's going to cause us to have a less prayer life. It'll cause us, amen, to have a less devotional, amen. There are some things when we need to do, amen, some cleaning out, amen, and realize I don't need some of this stuff, some of this trash, amen, that husband and wife where they were cleaning out that room, amen, they found some things that they said we need to hold on to this, amen, it'll help us. But then they come across some things, Brother Ronnie, that they said I don't need it. It's just junk. It's just cluttering up. Amen. I'm telling you, church, there are some things, amen, we need to lay aside, amen, because it's going to hinder us. It's going to make us lose out in the end, amen. Paul tells us we're to focus our thoughts on the heavenly things. While we do that, we are to avoid getting caught up in all the things in this world, amen, that would swamp our minds and hinder our walk. If we allow our mind to be focused upon this world, it's going to have no time to give itself to the things of God. Paul mentions some dangerous distractions that would hinder our walk if we were to allow them to enter into our lives, amen. There is a false doctrine that we need to realize, amen, that is out here in this world. There's many false doctrines. That's why we've got to stay in God's Word, amen. That's why we have to apply it to our lives, amen. I've heard my father-in-law say this, and I'm repeating it because I feel the same way, amen. Here I am, I'm 43 years old, and I've been saved 21 years. I've been preaching, I think, about 17 years, amen. And Brother Ronnie, I'm ashamed this morning, amen, for the little that I do know, amen. I should know more than what I do know, amen. But you know whose fault that is? It's mine. It ain't nobody's fault but mine, amen. Why? Because there were stains, amen, that I would let clutter my mind. There were stains that I would let take the place of devotions. There were stains that I would let take the place, amen, of prayer, amen. And those stains seemed to be more interesting to me. But now that I'm getting closer, amen, I'm telling you, I've just been honest with you this morning, amen. I'm getting older. I'm not getting any younger, amen. I'm getting closer and closer. Amen, to eternity, amen. But I realize, amen, there are some things that I don't need in my life, amen. There are some things, amen, that's just going to clutter my walk with the Lord, amen. I need to lay them down. I know it's hard sometimes, amen, to get rid of things, amen. It just gets attached to us, and we feel like that we need it so bad, amen. I'm telling you, the Lord dealt with me on something just very recently, amen. I don't have to mention it, amen. But I'm telling you, I will. I don't care, amen. But He dealt with me about Facebook, amen. I had it, amen. I talked to my pastor about it. I was using it mainly just for work. But I'm going to tell you, church, amen, when you open the door to the world, amen, when you open the door to things, amen, it will get a hold of you if you're not careful, amen. And the Lord dealt with me about it, amen. And I laid it down, amen. And I'm thankful that I did, amen. It's nothing but a time-consuming. It's nothing but cluttering, amen. But, oh, I realize if I'm going to walk closely to the Lord, if I'm going to draw nigh to Him, if I'm going to keep my mind upon Him, I've got to let the things of the world go. I've got to let these negative things and these worldly things go. Hallelujah. Amen. False doctrine. Paul warns the early believers about those who would carry them off into a false doctrinal belief. At worst, Paul, it means to carry off, to carry someone off as captive. The enemy would love nothing better than for God's people to get themselves trapped in a false system of belief that takes the emphasis off of Jesus. He would love nothing more than for us, a gospel-like, wholeness church, amen, to go out here into a community and just tell them, well, I know that you've got these things and they're precious to you. And you just give your life to the Lord and it'll all work out. Everything will be just fine. And, you know, it'll be alright to keep going to the worldly things and doing this, but you just live your life for the Lord. That would be terrible, terrible, to tell somebody that lie. Because God's Word tells us there has to be a change. There has to be. What did he say? I read it to you a while ago. Let me find my place again. I'm not even at Colossians. I'm in Galatians. Hallelujah. He said there, "...having put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." Having put on the new man. I want to ask you this morning this question. Is that old man dead? Is the old man dead? Or is there still things that's alive in the old man? Are there still things there that comes up every now and then of the old man? And it's not been killed. It's not been crucified. It's not been laid down. He talks about a false doctrine. He talks about vain deceit. He talks about fornication, uncleanliness, inordinate affection. He talks about anger. He talks about blasphemy. So many things that he brings up and talks about. All of the communication. Lying. So much that is not accepted in a child of God's life. I know that I prepared this for my class, which is a teen class. And I know I'm in an adult class. But I said that it would relate to all of us. There's nothing worse, in my opinion, than sowing discord among the brethren. That's right. That's one of the things that God hates. I feel like there's times, and it goes on in all of His churches, and I pray that it doesn't go on here. But I'm telling you, gossip is a trick of Satan. It's a tool of Satan. I told my class, maybe it was last week, I was teaching to them about the characteristics of a true friend. I don't like cliques. I'm not getting out of my role this morning. I'm not trying to be a pastor. I'm just trying to put the Lord's letter in my heart. Cliques will destroy friendship. Cliques will destroy a church. And then when you get to a place where, when you get with this one here, you talk about this one over here. When you get with that one, now you're talking about this one. I heard someone say this one time, and I'm not going to mention who said it, but it spoke volumes to me, and I've kind of tried to hold on to it a little bit. But I heard someone say one time, and I may not get exactly how they said it, but it said if somebody comes to them and wants to talk about somebody else, that person responds and says, well, let's go to them. Let's go ask them. Let's go to them and ask them. Shuts them up real quick. Real quick. These are things. They may not sound like a whole lot. They may not mean like a whole lot. Remember, it's things that Paul was addressing. The filth of communication refers to abusive speech. It speaks of words that are thrown around in an attempt to hurt and wound someone else. It usually happens when people say things that they should not say at a moment of anger. They talk about them behind their back. Things that they would never say to them face to face, but behind their back. Church, if we're going to build upon a foundation, we've got to love one another. If we're going to make it, and I believe this church will. I believe God put it into motion. I believe God has a plan for it. But there's things that we have to do. We've got to keep unity. We've got to keep the church alive. We've got to have a prayer life. We've got to help encourage one another. You know, there's times that I've come in here, you may not know it, there's times that I've come in here as services, Brother Rodney, and I've come in with baggage. I've come in to services in the dumps, if you will. I'm just being honest with you. I've had to push myself to get up here sometime and get on this bass guitar and play. Hey man, what, because I don't want to be here? No, absolutely not. But I've come in with baggage. I've come in with trouble. I've come in with heartaches. I've come in with burdens. Hey man, and I get up here and I wonder sometimes, you know, they're probably expecting me to holler out, spit and sputter with a testimony, and it ain't even there. Is that alright? Molly says it is. But then somebody gets up, maybe a young person, Brother Camden or somebody, anybody, will get up and they'll just say just a few things, and all of a sudden it's exactly what I needed to hear. Church, we're here for one another. We have to encourage one another. We must retain the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must retain the doctrine of Jesus Christ. We must retain our worship, our prayer life, our praise unto Him. But we have to release the anger. We have to release the malice. We have to release the temper. Hey man, we have to release the jealousy. Come on now. Hey man, we have to release those things Hey man, we'll never go on. Hey man, if they're in our lives. Hey man, oh my. I'm telling you church, I hope you don't take this the wrong way. Hey man, because I'm not meaning it the wrong way. Hey man, but I promise you. Hey man, and I'm not saying this arrogantly, so don't thank Him. Hey man, but I'm telling you. Hey man, there's not one jealous bone, Hey man, in my body of any of the preachers in this church. Hey man, we all preach different. Hey man, there's none of us that preaches the same. Hey man, God has called us differently. Hey man, and I'm telling you lay members. Hey man, none of you are the same. Hey man, you're different. Hey man, God's called you. Hey man, to walk a life. Hey man, according unto Him. Oh my. Hey man, you may never sing a song. Hey man, you may never play an instrument. Hey man, but God has called you. Hey man, to be a worker. Hey man, God has called you to be a prayer warrior. Hey man, He's called you to do a work. He has a plan for you. Hey man, there's things we must retain. And there's things that we must release. But also, as we step out of 2023, I've got about five minutes. I'm hurrying. As we step out of 2023 and step into 2024, there are some things that we must remember what God has done for us. I sat here this morning and I didn't know that all the people was going to be out. And I understand. Sickness takes a toll. Hey man. And like I said, I had prepared this for my class. But I'm telling you, Sister Kelsen testified the other night. And I was so thankful to hear the things that she was testifying. But I got to thinking about this when I was studying this. Hey man, what God has just done right here in one year. Just the little things that God has done right here. Hey man. Hey man, how God has healed. Hey man, how God has saved. I know the Durbin family is not here this morning. Hey man, but I remember the morning when Pop got up here. Hey man, and opened up his Bible to get ready and take a text. Hey man, but God dealt with him as he stepped aside. Hey man, and looked at my little daughter. And looked at Haley. Hey man, and called him out. Hey man, and God saved both of them. How could I forget, Brother Ronnie? Hey man, what God has done. Hey man, just in this one little year. Hey man, oh my. Hey man, how that He healed Sister Kelsen. Hey man, He's healed me. Hey man, oh you can go through that book. Hey man, that Sister Andrea. Hey man, spent time and time on. And read the testimonies. Hey man, where are they from? Right here, Brother Ronnie. Hey man, that little Clarkson, Kentucky. That little Gospel Light holiness church. Hey man, God has done so much in 2023. And we're fixing to step out of 2023. And going to 2024. Hey man, but we must realize there are some things I've got to retain. There are some things I've got to release. But there are some things I need to hold on to. And remember what God has done. It'll help me on. It'll help me push through. It'll help me realize He is still for us. Amen. Hey man, as they cleaned up the room. And I'm closing here. They opened a large tote. On top were several things that didn't matter. And they were discarded. Hey man, as they dug deeper, they discovered some things that caused them to take a trip down memory lane. They found pictures of their children when they were young and cute. And some of their old high school belongings were in there as well. And it was a good opportunity for them to stop and remember the blessings of the Lord. The last two verses of our text, it serves as a reminder of some important spiritual truths today that we need to consider them before we leave these things behind. We've got to remember there has been a death. We're reminded again that we have died to sin to the influence of this world. Hey man, we've got to remember what God did for us. The Bible tells us in John 3.16 for God's Son of the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God did that for us. He loved us so much. How could I forget it? How could I forget that night, Brother Ronnie, when I walked down that aisle to the old-fashioned altar at Liberty Holiness Church? How could I forget when I had that first baby boy who's now a 15-year-old preacher and all the precious children that God has given me? How could I forget what God has done? I've got to hold on to it. I know it's a lot to take in, but as we step into a new year, let's take a good look at our spiritual life. Let's take a good look at where we are and where our lives are and where God wants us to be. And let's seek to make 2024 the best year of our lives and have glory to the Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen.