Sunday Service | Entering the New Year: January 03, 2021
Welcome to 2021! We made it. We’ve been through a lot in 2020, and many of us are wearing new scars from this past year. But together, as a community, we can grow strong and emotionally healthy.
Brain shares today from Psalm 23.
Just like Jesus being brought into this world to bring intimacy as a baby, our spiritual growth is a process; it’s a journey. Psalm 23 may be basic, but the basics bring us into maturity.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, may this psalm both remind & inspire us to follow Jesus this year.
Let’s look at Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Verse 1 -- The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
We have learned the hard way that we need to be led this last year. So the question is:
Who or what is leading us?
Some examples may include: spouse, kids, friends, parents, career, debt, church, government, political party, self-help gurus, social justice activists, social media influencers, or Jesus?
Second question:
What do you lack?
Verse 2 -- He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
This is why who or what we follow matters. Because we often forget to rest in the midst of our busyness. These two things that our true, good Shepherd does for us, makes us present and able to thrive as opposed to just surviving.
Verse 3 -- He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Say these phrases out loud to help you personalize these statements:
The Shepherd refreshes my soul.
My Shepherd refreshes my soul.
Jesus refreshes my soul.
He is our good shepherd. He leads us on the right path. His namesake is love. He is not self-serving by leading us “for his name sake;” he is serving and loving us by leading us.
Verse 4 -- Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
“Even though.” We spent so much time talking about this the last year. Jesus is with us. He meets us in the darkest valley and leads us through.
He does not make us avoid our emotions or dark places; he leads us into them, through our pain, and to the other side. HIs willingness to be with us is a comfort to us, as is the fact that he is prepared to do this, carrying the right tools to help us encounter these areas.
Verse 5 -- You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
The table represents hospitality, a place where we can vulnerably show us and invite others into that same hospitality, even those who are against it.
We too can create hospitality to others--to welcome them to a table, to a home, to a kingdom where they belong, are loved, and affirmed in God. Our enemies become our neighbors, out of the overflow of what we receive at the table from God.
Verse 6 -- Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Jesus is faithful. That’s why his goodness and love follow us, pursue us. He is faithful to his promise.
It’s a declaration as well as a prayer--surely I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever--that we can pursue in 2021. Whatever lies ahead, we will dwell in God’s presence. We will receive the help to dwell in his presence.
2020 rocked us in so many ways. Yet through it we have learned a lot about ourselves, humanity, and God.
2021 is here. What will it be like? Nobody can answer this question.
But we can go through it in a spiritually healthy manner by recognizing Jesus as our good Shepherd, following him, allowing him to tend to us, and tending to others out of HIs overflow in our lives.
Jesus wants to continue to tend to us as well as empower us to tend to others through the overflow of his love in our lives.
So as we start this year off, how are we planning to be spiritually healthy? This won’t just happen; we have to make a plan for it.
I think Psalm 23 makes us confront this question and when answered can lead us into spiritual and emotional health.
3 good questions to ask ourselves from Psalm 23:
1. Who is your shepherd? Who or what are you following?
2. How are you being tended? How does your shepherd refresh you?
3. What do you serve? Where are you spending your energy? Is there purpose and availability to tend to others in the way God tends to you?
All three of these can be a checks and balance to lead us into healthy spirituality in 2021.