New Year; Same Goal

Yesterday I preached Colossians 2:6-7. My primary goal was to encourage Cypress Lake Baptist Church to make 2012 (and beyond) a time to 'walk in Him.' It was part one of two, but I concluded with 6 practical ways to set yourself to grow deeper in Christ and to continually walk in Him.

1. Join a local church - we have several non-members every week. Some are longtime visitors of CLBC, some are winter residents in SWFL, and some are just visiting churches. I believe it is vital for people to be members in a local church where they can be cared for, loved, and strengthened in the faith.

2. Join a Sunday School class - we still have Sunday School at our church. It is our place for small groups, and is where I hope we will genuinely care for and pray for one another. I believe it is important for believers to have that smaller group setting where this can better take place.

3. Be faithful in gathering with the church - many in our day seem to think this isn't all that important, but we are told directly in Hebrews not to neglect gathering together. It is in the gathering of the church where many of God's means of grace take place.

4. Find accountability and prayer with others - I still believe it's important to have those one or two people who will speak into your life and help you grow in grace. We are simply not strong enough on our own and will easily convince ourselves we are fine without such accountability and prayer.

5. Read your Bibles Often - It is God's Word. It is where God has chosen to reveal Himself to man. It is living and active. It is able to save yours souls. Bottom line is, you should read it more and more and more. Having a good plan will help this and there are several good plans out there.

6. Find ways to serve the church - While this one may not seem as significant, I believe that as you serve God's people you are actually following Christ. He did, after all, come not to be served but to serve.

You will quickly see this is nothing new for 2012. I simply want our people to "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

You can download the sermon here.

What would you add to the list?