you I have a proposed new year's resolutions not because they often battle over cuz they're too difficult and not because I'm bad and evil I mean I've only been gone for four new years now I have a plan with revolutions because people think that that's it is for one time to change now don't get me wrong be destiny morning train I have no idea how to ride a bicycle I know but as you know I do want is for and don't you yeah you probably should get out of the house more fun because surfing Bobby isn't going to do it Zoe so now what social difference down toilet from one mile block on use of course not keep your resolutions not go easy on yourself will change maybe but party work but you want make moment and happening for thousands of little moment Alice honey choose to the give us blow down Oh be quite full or stay calm in your moment if you choose what's what is that what's easy five and self-doubt love instead of hate we're having change happen here if you fell one or two or 30 times it's okay you've got Palin the more little moment ahead of you you'll get better so happy new year called this and after life I got to get a book if they're all Pony bye alright well good morning everyone and Happy New Year and welcome back seems like it's been forever since we've been here on a Sunday and I tell you I don't know about you maybe I'm the only one who thinks this I could be the only one if I am just kind of endure me because I'm up here I get so excited to come to church when I've been in church in a while and and it's not because I'm up here speaking and it's not because you know I'm the guy on the stage or anything yeah but I just miss this I feel like this is where we belong this is home it's like when you have to when you have to travel and you spend a few nights away from your house just coming back home I feel like this is coming back home and I realized the week of after Christmas and snow and ice and a lot of people but I tell you what if there was two people in church that have been here today okay because I miss you guys very much and I just missed this this is where we belong okay so I'm glad that you're here today before I get to today's message as Katie mentioned up here next week as friends and family day and friends and family day is always an exciting day but this time is especially exciting because we're starting a new series and to be a five-week series called I thought it was just me alright and the premise of that series the whole purpose of the series to talk about a subject which we don't like to talk about we don't like to hear about I don't like to think about but it's something that we all deal with which is insecurity and what I realized because I get to talk to people behind the scenes in the office with the door closed when they don't think anyone is when they know no one's going to find out about what I discovered is we all struggle with insecurity and that insecurity takes different forms alright we're going to talk about how sometimes that insecurity manifests itself in a need to control for the control freaks feeling of inadequacy comparison people-pleasing overly sensitive and easily offended we're going to talk about how all those things at the root of them all is some type of insecurity about Who I am and how I do or do not measure up to whatever standard I'm using inside my head I am praying okay that this series will be a real eye-opener because what I've discovered ladies and gentlemen that's why the series is called I thought it was just me is you think it was just you think it's just you but what I want you to know is that your insecurity is not as uncommon as you think okay God's Word speaks directly to us in our insecurities and many people have gone before us have walked so we're going to see how God's Word will speak to it so that we can reach the place that God wants us to reach and is coming here but really in life because I'm convinced that those insecurities that we struggle with and that we live with and that we even like this summer so close to us I feel like a pet that we live with alright that those things will ultimately keep you from achieving the good things that God wants for you that's next Sunday I thought it was just me invite a friend don't just come but invite a friend because as the video said in the earlier video you don't know who's new year resolution was to go to church this year you don't know who's new year's resolution it wasn't I guarantees people all over America in your office in your neighbor who said this year this the AMA get back in church so you take advantage of that you go invite them to church this coming Sunday but that's next week for today confession I have a confession and my confession is going to annoy some of you because I know some of you are the exact opposite of me in this area okay and and what a Scrooge is the Christmas some of you are towards New Year's and towards New Year's resolutions my confession is this I Love New Year's I Love New Year's I Love New Year's I love taking a step back taking inventory on my life I know people say we don't make resolution with all stuff that's the bah humbugs of the New Year's okay I love take a step back I love taking inventory in my life where I've gone and I like to see where I'm going I'd love to set goals I love to come up with plans to implement those goals I love I love I love to come up with spreadsheets to measure my progress on those goals and I love it love it love it love it love it I love the most the check box thing where I can check off the progress of making on my goals I love New Year's I love this time of year and the reason why I love it is not just because I'm a neurotic person but because one time I heard someone say the following sentence and it is stuck in my head because it is the mo true sentence ever said says everyone ends up somewhere but not everyone ends up somewhere on purpose that sentence is in my head all the time and I realize that that sentence is true about just about every area of life everyone ends up somewhere but not everyone ends up somewhere on purpose what that means is you have aspirations in life you may not call them resolutions ok may not call them goals that you have something that you want to achieve in life you say I want my marriage to be stronger I want to get closer to God I want to advance my career I want to get in shape I want to not have to take a half time break when I'm going up the stairs to the bedroom whatever your aspirations may be what I say to you you can get there because everyone ends up somewhere but I don't think you can get there by accident I don't think that you can just randomly show up at the end of your life and discover that you hit all these major goals that you wanted to achieve it's like getting in the car you can get in the car today you go anywhere you want you go anywhere you want you go to a beach you go to a mountain you go to a river and go to a lake you can go north Canada you can go south to Mexico you can go anywhere that you want but I don't think you'll get there by accident the likelihood of you get in your car you just start driving wherever it is and you end up exactly in Tijuana is very slim and I believe that that is a good metaphor for all of life is that everyone ends up somewhere but not everyone ends up somewhere on purpose and what we want to talk about here today I want to share because it's something I'm passionate about how we can end up somewhere on purpose how we can be purpose people not just by accident people imagine that a new Bank opens up in town and this new Bank has a gimmick of how they're going to get customers and the new bank says the following that every Monday morning they're giving away free money every Monday morning to anyone who has an account here every Monday morning at 6 o'clock in the morning they will give away $10,000 to anyone who shows up at 6 o'clock in the morning ten thousand dollars every Monday morning and you can use that money however you want no rules no rules you can use that throw a party take a vacation pay off your deck put a down payment on a house buy a present for your favorite priest like you can use that money however it is that you want there's only one rule and the rule is that you have to spend it all by the following Monday so whatever you don't spend by Monday morning disappears they vanish they take it back and every money you can get another $10,000 but you can't have any left over you can't save it up what would you do with that Bank on if that kind of bank opened next door what'd you do what anyone say oh it's too much effort spend all that money every day that's too much effort I don't want to have to think of ways to spend the money this kind of a bank if it really did exist could change your life forever you'd never be in debt for the rest of your life you can you can pay off your student loans you can put down pit you can do anything you want this kind of a bank only a fool would let an opportunity like this only a fool only a fool would go and take the 10 that out that $10,000 put in his pocket and then show up next Monday and he's got it all in his pocket again didn't spend anybody has to give it all back would you agree only a fool would squander opportunity like this agree well did you know that every week God gives you 10,000 minutes every week 10,000 80 to be exact but let's we'll give him the 80 minutes is tithing or something every week God gives you ten thousand and eighty minutes seven days 24 hours a day 60 hours 60 minutes in an hour and those 10,000 minutes are the currency by which you can change your life forever those 10,000 minutes and what you do with those 10,000 minutes are the currency by which you can buy a home in life a whole new career new relationship and the beautiful thing like the bank you can do whatever you want with those minutes you just do whatever you want you can use those minutes to build your career you can use those minutes invest in your family you use those minutes to read the Bible use the minutes to take a bike ride you can use those minutes to sleep as long as your heart desires you can do it every loaves are 10,000 minutes but at the end of the week all those minutes are gone and you can have them back again afterwards I believe that we all have many aspirations in life and that's fantastic but ultimately your success in life will be based on your ability to translate your aspirations your goals your Reza what ever you want okay and as of you I don't like to say New Year's resolutions okay but you have goals that you're trying to achieve all right call whatever you want your success in life is going to be to be able to translate those goals into these minutes and use these minutes to achieve these goals and I'm telling you some people some people are going to use that 10,000 minutes change the world will never be the same based on how you use those minutes some people use those minutes to cure cancer some people use those minutes say you know what this is the year I'm going to read the Bible in an entire year you're gonna use your 10,000 minutes to read the entire Bible to cover to cover so we can use those minutes to invest in the relationships which are closest to them which are here today but you never know may be gone tomorrow you choose how you want to spend those minutes but I tell you that your life and the world will never be the same based on how you use them st. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 15 he says see then that you walk circumspectly but we can say live circumspectly as well because walk is another way of saying live to them that you walk circumspectly not as fool's but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil what does it mean a walk circumspectly means to walk carefully to walk cautiously to walk intentionally some we all walk through it's like what are you giving the impression of you're walking through a minefield okay we don't just stamp it through a minefield all right we walk intentionally because we realize that the days are evil you know what it means the days are evil means that time is not on your side in this in this life time is not on your side time is not helping you time I know this is not physically true it's impossible to say this but doesn't it seem like time goes faster today than it did when we were kids doesn't it seem it like I know it's not true I know 24 hours 24 hours I know years a year but come on man I'll show you I'll show you how quick time is I remember y2k they remember y2k ok the year 2000 you know I say y2k because that was my first job out of college I was a consultant and I was on y2k project for those you don't know you youngsters are born in y2k whatever that all right you don't realize that in the 1990s we thought the world was going to explode when we hit 2000 we really thought that okay we thought that because all of the computer programs ok back then we didn't have like cell phones or anything like that as much as we just had computers and all the computers in the day thing was 2 characters so you would take 98 99 but then what happened it always meant 1998 99 what happens when we get to 2000 then it's going to be 2000 verse tonight and we thought the world's gonna explode people take the money out of banks hiding under the mattress like getting canned goods like we thought the world's gonna explode explode and banks would just have money shooting right out the top of it okay all the people's money was gonna shoot right at the top I remember he was yesterday I can tell you the name of the people I worked with on the project who sat in a cubicle next door that I haven't seen since then that was just a blink of the eye another important year wonder we can all remember 2012 when we were kids I remember the movie mutt 2012 okay there was a movie - I didn't actually watch it but I remember the premise of it and the premise of the movie was that in 2012 everything explodes okay because the earth cannot sustain itself and the earth will explode in 2012 so this was all about some kind of you know when people start to prepare and again the aliens are going to come because there's no way that the earth could survive until 2012 that's we thought back in the 80s and 90s well here we are ok I got one for all of you back to the future 2015 we looked at 2015 like the Jetsons we made only know what the Jetsons are ok we looked at 2015 if you remember in the movie does move in the main - 80s we thought we'd have flying cars in 2015 that's two years ago we don't have flying cars and we thought that we'd be all on hoverboards and that our jacket we thought everything would be different here we are and 2012 came and went 2015 came and went and I'm telling you the trigger to blink and 2017 is going to be gone as well I don't want at the end of 2017 to look back on the year and say where'd it go because at the beginning of the year I'm saying this is the year this is the year that I finally and then you fill in the blank this is the other I finally get in shape this year I finally invest in those relationships that are closest to me this is then finally work to God 1 this dear finally I get it right this is the year finally and I don't look back at the end of 2017 and say but the year go because everyone ends up somewhere in life but not everyone ends up somewhere on purpose everyone ends up somewhere in life you are going to end up somewhere 2017 you're going to end up somewhere dead or alive you're going to be somewhere because we are eternal beings and either you won't be here you can be somewhere else you're going to be somewhere the question is are you going to take control of where you end up or you're going to let the wind push you wherever it may what we're going to do today is we're going to talk about what I believe are three turning points in order to make the most of 2017 and the rest of your life and when I say turning points and I can talk about anything to do as much I'm talking about mental mindset turning points three ways we're going to approach this year because we need to take those minutes that God gives us every single day and when you take those minutes and we need to use those minutes to get somewhere on purpose and just in case you're wondering how much for 2017 has gone by we're about eleven thousand minutes in okay but the good news is we still have 515 six hundred five hundred fifteen thousand six hundred and twenty minutes left give or take a couple hundred minutes so that's how many minutes you got left to make the most of this coming year three turning points to be able and this applies to everything you say relationally this what I want to be then these are three turning points you need to make intellectually like my career my mind like I want to get in shape whatever it may be I want to finally this is the year that I get in shape spiritually wherever it is you want to be in 2017 three turning points that we all need to do together in order to make the most of it and end up somewhere on purpose turning point number one John went into now turn when into now I'm a big believer in the words that you say impact the way you think in the way you live I'm a big believer now so we're going to change the way we speak but more portly the way we think but it's going to translate today we speak we're going to remove the following sentence more vocabulary when blank happens then I will blank we're going to remove that we're not going to say when this happens because we can live the rest of our year the rest of our life saying and this when it's not a busy season at work when I finally get married when I finally have kids when the kids finally leave the house when this is this this is season of life we can live our whole life and I'll tell you when can never can cut you can live your whole life and one never comes I know this from experience because me and Marianne we used to always say oh it's just a busy season now it's just a busy season so we should say so the first like 9 10 years of marriage it's just a busy season now and we'd say ok you know what it's just the season of the church it's a busy season and that's why we didn't you know that's why we haven't gone out on a date in months it's just a busy season and that season finishes new season well it's just you know it's like it says Easter is just a busy time Lent is a busy time ok then Easter Easter just a busy time okay summer summer suspision or everything happened in summer and the summer finished it all you know when summer gabbro comes it's just a busy and we realize there's no such thing as a busy season it's life is busy a life gets more and more busy so I said you know what I'm gonna stop saying when I'm not busy and I'm gonna say you know what now if I need to go out on the date night with my wife when I'm not busy I need to go on a date with my wife now some of us need to change the way we speak and stop saying when and start saying now is a verse from Ecclesiastes chapter 11 for that explains this picture that you're looking at right here look at that picture then read this verse he who observes the wind will not so he who regards the clouds will not reap may not understand this because we're at an agricultural society but what this verse is saying is the man who goes outside saying I got to plant some seeds in the ground to live off of that's how farmers live and you come outside and say you know what little windy today I'll come back to Marx you don't want to plant when there's wings that wind will scatter so you come back the next day so you know what hmm there's a cloud in the northeast corner I'm not comfortable okay I'll come back the next day he who comes out every day waiting for the perfect conditions for there to be no clouds no wind is the one whose form looks like this guy he who observes the wind will not so he regards the clouds will not reap may ask you a question is that you are you the one who's waiting for everything to line up perfectly to get your life in order I'm telling you life will never get itself perfect and when will never come you need to turn when into now specifically let me let me with each of these turning points I'm gonna give you some advice from my experience the gauges things that I've seen my own life and in lives of people that I that I see in front of me the when now thinking okay me personally y'all know me I tend to be more there's two kinds of people there's task-oriented people and relationship oriented people okay I tend to be by my nature more task oriented but I have discovered that being rich in life is about relationships not about tasks so I can accomplish everything on my to-do list and four years is the way I lived and to do and to do and to do and to do and to do okay and then you know what next day to do even longer you can spend your whole life trying to chase down accomplishments and degrees and career you can find your whole life on accomplishments and never get anywhere other than a feeling of emptiness and loneliness relationships are what make us rich and that was last year to talk about realizing rich relationships are what make us rich specifically not quantity of relationships but quality of relationships depth and that's why for those who here in New Year's that's what we as a church family are focusing on this coming year is going deeper not broader because we all have way too many friends to keep up with but it's about of going deeper and be more intentional in those relationships that's what ultimately makes us rich well if you struggle with that by nature let me give you some advice that worked for me okay this is kind of how I think and it's made a big difference in my life and hopefully it'll help you it's very simple my advice to you is be all there be all there be all there where wherever you are wherever you are at any moment of the day at any moment in time you're with friends be all there with your friends your family the all there with family you're at work be all there with work like I'm not saying do this or this or this or I'm not saying that what I'm saying is when I'm I work I'm focused on work and I'm doing the best that I can at work and then when I leave working on with my family that's it I'm all there I'm with my family I'm not half an in half out and then went out with my friends that's it I'm all there I'm not thinking while I'm with my friends Oh so-and-so texted a picture of what they ate for breakfast yesterday over comment now be all there doctor don't don't be in an Instagram world don't be in facebook world be all there be all there with your children be all there with your wife be all there with your husband be all there with God when you come to church on Sunday morning be all there don't be here thinking they're there we'll have a time like there was another verse from Ecclesiastes they made a song out of this for every season okay for everything under the earth there's a season right Beatles made a song for that right every turn turn turn okay there's a time for work and there's a time for play and there's a time for family and there's a time for a spiritual life there's a time to exercise and there's a time to read like there's a time for everything whatever season whatever activity you're doing be all there let me tell you a specific secret right here okay especially the husband's in the room might appreciate this alright so I ask the ladies to not listen to what I'm about to say give you an advice that worked for me not that work for me in like a sneaky way but it made a difference for me it sounds so like all the ladies I must say this you're gonna be like of course all the guys gonna be like writing it down cooking when it comes to relationships when it comes to relationships guys listen with me follow with me here it applies in everything relationship with God relationship with family relationship with everything quality is more important than quantity specifically this is the one is the guy's right this one one quality hour is greater than five non quantity quality hours am i right ladies what that says is I say in my mind enough time enough time enough time deadhead to take my wife here and today with my kids and in spending time with God not time for all this stuff look again ladies don't listeners guys it doesn't take a lot of time it takes quality time but it doesn't take a lot of quantity and one quality hour with loved ones is greater than five hours and we ate and then we watch TV and then we talked about nonsense and then we uh whatever we did walked around like that that's great you would spend five hours with family and friends and have zero quality I'd be honest with me I got a lot on my plate I personally don't have necessarily that time so I'm will I'm focused on quality and I'm gonna say you know what there's another one that bugs me talking about friendships and going deeper with friendships you can spend four hours five hours six years been an entire Friday night with someone TV in the background music over here all kinds of distraction all around you could spend six hours and at the end of that you feel empty with me as a priest because people respect my time and appreciate my time we cuddle Lester we sit together we go face-to-face were there for 20 minutes and we go deep in 20 minutes and in that 20 minutes I got closer to that person then you got six hours with that same person on Friday night because it's not about quantity it's about quality be all there you're with your friend be with your friend you're with your kids be with your kids be all there be focused one of the things people complain about me I'd like a public confession ratio and I'm sure many people are gonna like I've probably offended people with this I stink two things that I stink it answering the phone I responding to text messages like if I asked you to raise your hand I will not ask you to raise your hands because gonna make me feel bad about how many people have ever texted me not gotten a response in a normal amount of time or waited rather and say oh yeah you know why okay I'm not the best at it okay I'm not the nothing but I'm very good at email you want me to get me an email but texting and phone I'm not good you know why because when I'm with you I'm with you okay and I used to sit with you and then this how do you feel and I'm like oh go ahead continue like you know what I mean like so you know what often times this right here and I just I don't even I just push the off button and if I remember when I get home to see who was the texted me lucky you gave it all the time it just sits there it goes in the pile so you know what I don't remember that's why I'm good with email whose email I make time for so there's a time where I'm all email right there respond that's my little plug to say don't text me email me if you need anything from me okay you're welcome to text and welcome to call me but don't expect necessarily response but you would appreciate that when you're the guy in front of me is my point you say oh I wish father Anthony pick up his phone but you wouldn't say that if you were the guy in front of father Anthony you'd appreciate that and my kids appreciate that and my wife appreciates that and God appreciates that when I'm with God and that people and the church appreciates out when I'm in front of the liturgy right here and everyone appreciates it when they're in front of you be all there make a commitment 2017 be all there it's not as hard as you think it may be st. Paul says in Colossians chapter 3 verse 23 whatever you do do it heartily ask the Lord not to men whatever you do you're working work your hardest and you finish work and finish work you're with family you're with prayer whatever it may be do what you can to be all there because all there the minutes are going to disappear at the end of this week's will be all there when you have them number one turn went into now number two turn intentions into actions turn intentions into actions if I asked you again you may not say it as resolutions but you have something in life that you are aspiring towards you have something that you are driving that you want you want to exercise more you want to read the Bible you want to go to church you want this to be the year that you get your finances start tithing okay in order you want something everyone think in mind right now something they want to accomplish in 2017 everyone put in your mind right now not something you want to count but not something silly something you know God wants you to accomplish that God wants you to be wants you to spend more time with your family wants you to be committed to coming to church on Sunday he wants you to read the Bible he wants you to whatever what does God wants you to accomplish everyone got something in mind and we got something in mind that God wants you to accomplish watch us therefore to him or her to him who knows to do good and does not do it to him it is sin that applies to you you know that God wants you to start a business to him who knows to do good and does not do it him it is sin you know that God wants you to apologize Tim who knows to do good and does not do it to him it is sin you know that God wants you to adopt a child or to put your own child up for adoption instead of a worse option not-not-not if you have your child moms like that meaning like pregnant okay or whatever okay I don't know your children's own - maybe like their the time is whatever okay we can take a survey which ones to put up for adoption if you'd like okay you know God wants you to do that to him who knows to do good and does not do it to him it is sin you know God wants you to go deeper you know God wants you to honor your parents you know God wants you to care for your neighbor you know God wants to him who knows to do good and does not do it to him it is sin you know why this is especially important this is specially important that you turn intention to action today today today because we're turning when to now you know why today because there's this principle that I fully believe in I believe in it so much it's called the law of diminishing intention they've heard this before it means that when I really really really want to do something today and I don't do it that next day my intention or my motivation goes down just a little bit and every day that goes by that I don't take action I'm less likely to do it agree or not agree that's why let me tell you a trick that I do again I'm a checkbox on a spreadsheet kind of a guide when I set my new year's goals the most anyone can set goals lose weight a go to church yeah beat anyone can set goals anyway that's not hard the hard part is translated to action one things that I do the end of the process for me it's a process of setting my goals the end process the last step is coming up with one or two action steps that I can take immediately on a goal immediately I'm not accomplished but I can take an action step immediately I need the ball to start rolling down the hill you know the principle of inertia the law of inertia an object in motion stays in motion object to rest stays at rest I need to create some motion to get me going in the right direction for example one of my goals this year okay I always come up with goals in different categories okay so the fun one like it was always for me is like the physical category like what I'm gonna do - I know I even me I need to yeah it's more maintenance okay when you're at my face okay then thank you so one of my goals don't laugh because I'm you're gonna laugh and you're strong and you're great and I'm a week on that's fine my goal is to do 10 pull-ups by the end of year you say any idiot can do that well I'm an idiot who cannot do that okay and I've never in the history of my life some people asked me how many can you do right now zero okay how many tears you I've never done a pull-up in my life okay but I was sitting with someone a friend of mine and he was he's trying to be a Marine okay so he said that he's got to in order to do this do 20 pull-ups and pass this test so I said yeah I'm strong and this guy can do 20 pull-ups so I got me the pull-up bar and I tried and I couldn't even hang for 20 seconds okay so I cut it down to ten and I don't know how to do any pullets but if I'm not gonna say my goal is by 2017 to do pull-up that's talking about work you know what I do I'll try how I break it down first thing I got to do is I got to buy pull-up bar you'd say that's easy no that's actually not step one there's a step before that I got a research which pull-up bar to buy and you say okay that's easy no you know my first action step was to schedule time to research a pull-up bar to buy so by the time the bar arrived at my house which was like yesterday or the day before I have already accomplished four steps on my action plan I you say that silly I feel good I feel like I'm on track another thing back on track I set a time I fulfilled that time research I bought it I received it I assembled it like I'm halfway there if you ask me I'm rolling right here another one of my goals was like a personal like a quiet time goal like a spiritual spend time with God goal my first things that I did buy a new journal you may say like what's the big deal up like I have a hunch no but when I go and spend $2.99 okay on a new journal I am now financially invested in this goal okay I will not really you know what I mean so what I'm saying to you is turn your intention into an action even a small action even a dumb action but just something that you can check off and say the ball is rolling down the hill because an object in motion stays in motion and an object at rest stays at rest if you don't take action God gives you a goal and you do nothing about it what will happen parents you ask your children to do something and they don't do it what do you do say oh well good try what does God do when we ignore what he tells us you and we do nothing about it I think that if God is like a parent and he we know he's like a parent and God reminds us of those goals but here's the thing about God's reminder they're not as gentle as my reminder to you right now every morning my role in the house on the way cup guy okay I like to wake everyone up this is my funnest part of my day to wake everyone so what happens is first thing I do I turn all the lights alright this is how we start okay I walk in rooms that turn on lights open the blinds bring as much light as possible okay still that up okay then it'll be a wake up usually it's my daughter whose joy was to wake up not my son as much say wake up Lizzy mmm wake up sweetheart rise and shine it's a beautiful day this is the day the Lord has made and oftentimes no ignore so then I gently start to peel the covers off one at a time okay she continues what am I going to do if it's time to wake up but she hasn't woke up well eventually she gets to the end which is what we call the pancake okay which is basically I get a running start night and I pancake her okay and that's ultimately how she gets up most mornings okay that I run you know what I mean and I pancake her and she loves it okay she loves it because she's like a cuddly and stuff whatever it may be well here's my advice to you ladies and gentlemen don't wait for God to pancake you don't wait for God to pancake you because as warm and fuzzy as it sounds it's not that gentle when God does it don't wait for God's reminder you know what God wants you to do he will remind you don't wait for his reminder because all joking aside God's reminders sometimes your difficult don't wait for a heart attacks know you need to get in shape and get your food and eating an order don't wait for serious back problems know you need to lose some weight don't wait to be all by yourself in the middle of that crisis to realize you know what I never invested in relationships my whole life don't wait don't wait for her to walk out the house and throw your stuff on the front lawn to realize you are not doing your job as as but don't wait for the reminder because I'm telling you it's coming you know as a priest and I'm not an emotional compassionate by nature kind of a guy but one things that breaks my hearts is exactly this nothing breaks my heart more than to see someone with god's reminder and find them and saying I don't know why I didn't pay attention earlier you know God's reminder a terminal illness maleness and say you know what why did I live my whole life and care so much about work it took this for me to realize that work was not the purpose of my existence breaks my heart as a priest like I said so many times my wife and my kids they got used to this by now is that sometimes I come home in a different mood let's say I come home and I just give my wife a big hug go give my kids a big hug and I say you know forget about whatever and and they've come to realize that usually nine out of ten times when that happened I just came from somewhere okay where I saw a marriage it's in a bad shape they say you know what I'm thankful for my wife even if we're not perfect together you know what I'm thankful for my we are perfect I'm thankful for my kids because even though yeah they're not perfect but you know what so I get the benefit of this experience to see those regrets in so many people unfortunately it's not a good thing but I can take it in a good way don't wait for God's reminder for you proverbs 3:27 do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it's your Pat when is the power of your hand to do so number one ladies and gentlemen our turning point number one is we are going to turn when into now say it again we're going to when into we're going to turn intentions into actions and number three and please don't skip over this one too quickly number three I will turn my whole heart to Jesus in 2017 now I know I say this and most of you're like yeah yeah fast-forward this one I'm in church I'm in church when it's like four degrees outside so this is me fast-forward this one get to the end and that's it please for my sake just humor me just humor me don't fast-forward this one and let's think about and make sure that this is us before we assume it's us let's say imagine a I'll tell the story from a man's perspective but you can from a woman's perspective equally as well guys you meet the woman of your dreams woman of your dreams most beautiful woman in the whole wide world she's got beauty she got brains she got personality like she's got everything you see her and you say this the girl that I've been dreaming about my whole life now if I could draw a picture what this girl would look like you know just for the sake of you know our discussion right here I would say she probably looks something like this okay like the most perfect you know what I mean right there okay and you meet this perfect perfect perfect person and you marry this person and you have the best honeymoon in the whole wide world and you all are in love and y'all like yeah a little secret text notes and I love you and sweetie and pumpkins and whatever maybe and you guys have the best best best marriage in the whole wide world but then the honeymoon ends and when the honeymoon ends you come back home and things are different when you come back home now all of a sudden okay you are busy at work okay you have a lot going on so you may go a day without even talking to you your wife you still love her and I didn't ask you say yeah she's my wife and I love her but you may not talk to her every single day and you may um you know y'all sleep in the same house okay in the same room but you know what you know she gets up early and makes you breakfast and you may be in such a rush that you just get up and walk out without even eating her breakfast Akane she made it and you just walked out and then she may send you text message by the day and say I love you you or messages or whatever and you ignores cuz you're busy at work like life is busy but when you come home to try to get caught up real quick no can you say you know what I mean like and then you fight cuz you say you tell long stories ok give it to me bullet points alright and you you know what I mean cuz life is busy and then and if anyone says anything you say yeah I'm happily married yeah like I love my wife and I would never cheat on my wife you never cheat on your wife you never cheat on your wife you wear your ring you tell people that you're married but you just you know don't invest as much time as maybe you used to sometimes she may cook dinner or she does cook dinner everyday and sometimes you're in such a rush when you come home and you're so tired you may sit down at the table eat your food without even saying thank you the one who cooked it for you all she asks like the bare minimum that she asked the bear bear bear bear bear bear bear bear minimum she asked is that you to show up for a date one hour a week or sorry one time a week to our date once a week and even that you end up coming late missing half what would you say to this young man who married this beautiful amazing woman I would say to this young man you'd say man was your goal to get married or your goal to live together for the rest of your life you'd say you thought man that the goal was just to get the girl to marry the girl and put her on the Shelf that wasn't the goal that was the beginning the goal is to live together for the rest of your life Matthew chapter 7 verse 21 through 23 Jesus says not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name and I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me you practice lawlessness a lot of us all of us every Christian yo Christian love Jesus of course love Jesus you married him fraud yeah eternity I'm Mary and I wear the sign everywhere going anyone asked me I tell them I married Jesus what kind of marriage is it we only visit each other twice a year on holidays Christmas and Easter kind of marriage that we don't talk to each other in the morning before we go to work kind of marriage is that when we ignore each other's phone calls and texts throughout the day what kind of marriage is it we go to bed at night without saying I love you what kind of marriage is that if we're honest that's the marriage a lot of us have and that's why in 2017 we're going to turn when - now we're intern intentions - action but we are going to make the most this year by turning my whole heart to Jesus 1/2 3/4 my whole heart there's a story which captures this point very nicely in the Gospel according to st. mark chapter 12 in that passage Jesus is preaching to a group of people and some scribes came him scribes were kind of like that like the like the bad guys case scribes and Pharisees they were like the like the Klingons of the New Testament okay like they're like the wicked guys okay and they're just myriads myriads and faceless and they just coming and one scribe comes to Jesus and he asked him what's the greatest commandment ever what's the greatest commandment but there's so many commandments distill it down for his dumb it down until like one or two Jesus says greatest commandment love the Lord God with all your heart soul mind strength love your neighbor as yourself it's all about love and the scribe responded to that with the following verse mark chapter 12 verse 32 after Jesus said the great commandment the scribe said to him well said teacher well said teacher you have spoken the truth for there's one God there is no other but him on the surface it seems like he responded positively he said well said he agreed with what Jesus said but if you dig a little bit deeper there's a coldness in the scribes response to him there's bit of yeah I agree but I'm not a hundred percent sold on you there's a bit of I'm the teacher and I'm kind of quizzing you the student and that's captured when the man calls him teacher say to Christ teacher it seems like a nice thing but with man is really saying when he calls a teacher he's saying okay well done you know what it's like it's like you're married to a doctor okay and then he comes home and you say good afternoon doctor yeah yeah he's a doctor but he's not just a doctor he's hubby okay or she's wifey you don't say you know good evening doctor like this is it that's kind of what the guy did well said teacher like finally he got one right and Jesus says the following to him this is tough verse mark 1234 now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely he said to him you are not far from the kingdom of God you are not far from the kingdom of God again it sounds like a good answer doesn't it sound like a good answer Jesus what encouraged him you're not far from the kingdom of God but is that your goal in life to be not far from the kingdom of God like is your goal in life you're going to leave here right now after we finish you're going to go home is your goal to be not far from home congratulations you're on the same street as your house have a seat I'm saying that being not far from the kingdom is no better than being very far from the kingdom in an eternal sense obviously if it's stepped towards it's better but I'm saying is the goal is not to be not far the goal is to be in the kingdom not to be not far from the kingdom when Jesus said to this man who acknowledged him who was a good guy who acknowledged the commandment he said you know what that's very good that's very good you're very close I don't want to be close so in 2017 I will not settle for being close I will not settle for being close I will not settle for being close I will not settle for being close to the kingdom I will not sail for being close to my father's bosom I will not settle for being close to the loving arms of Christ I will not sell for being close I want to be in there's a huge difference between being close to the beach and being at the beach and I'm saying the same is true times a million of being in the kingdom and being close to the kingdom being close to God and being in God my goal for 2017 is to get to the end and not to hear this you not far from the kingdom would not be scary if we get to the end of the year and we say God in the kingdom God says you were really close you went to a meeting every week where people talked about the kingdom that's really good you had like a book on your desk which give you all the details about the kingdom like okay that's great did you never inside the kingdom don't settle for being close as we start this new year these three turning points remind me again what they are because I have a short-term memory we will turn when into now okay and we will do that turn when into now by being all there number two we will turn intentions which we all have intentions and resolutions whatever will turn intentions to actions and we will not wait for God to remind us we will not wait for that pancake cuz it will not be nice number three I will turn my whole heart to Jesus in 2017 and I will not settle for being close last verse proverbs 29:18 says where there is no vision the people perish where there is no vision the people perish where there is no vision where there is no vision of where I'm trying to get to set another way everyone ends up somewhere what everyone ends up somewhere on purpose we can substitute some different words I hear for people where there is no vision marriages perish where there's no vision friendships perish or they may continue but they may be very superficial at best where there is no vision life significance and purpose perishes I don't wanna be those people I won't be those people I want to be a person where I have no vision for my marriage so my marriage collapse no vision for my physical health my physical health collapses no vision for my spiritual growth where I'm gonna be the end of 2017 so my spiritual life goes down the toilet I don't be that person everyone ends up somewhere but not everyone ends up somewhere on purpose and we will STS a family we will at the end of this year we will get this gonna be a great year have I told you guys this before 2017 this is going to be argue okay and if you're wondering yes to say that it's beginning of every year but hey so far God has kept us we're doing great here 2017 is gonna be a great year for you a great year for me going to be great year 2017 gonna be a great year we get to him 2017 and we are going to be somewhere we're going to be somewhere what we are saying today the first Sunday ish in January 2017 what we are saying today is that we are not just going to be like a leaf that's tossed up into the wind in 2017 and let's see where it ends up we realize that we have a lot more control over we end up not fall control can't say full control but we have a lot more control over where we end up then we realize and we are claiming today we are saying today that we are going to take control and do our best to end up somewhere on purpose in every facet of life okay let's stand together and say a prayer in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit one God amen Heavenly Father we thank you for the start of another new year thank you Lord for a clean slate fresh start chance to start with you all over again and start with so many different areas pray Lord that you would help us to get somewhere this year and that you would give us like a vision of where you want us to go in all these different aspects give us not just like a resolution that we say and is gone tomorrow but like a vision or a goal or a purpose that we're driving towards throughout the year and give us the discipline and the strength and the courage to go after it Lord and to end up somewhere on purpose pray these things in the name of your son Jesus Christ the prayers of all your saints here as Lord as we pray thankfully our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil one in Christ Jesus our Lord for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever [Music]
