resolutions are they go in one year and out the other I won't be making any resolutions for myself and you can do what you want in terms of the sermon instead of giving your resolutions I'll be giving you my classic biblical principles as we have in the past looked at some teachings of scripture really more than tips their biblical guidelines for your life and the trust that they're you find them helpful as we go into the new year there are five of them today I thought about since 2015 I thought hmm 15 tips but I wasn't sure that would go over so well so what it's used is the latter part of the double digit first tip based on James 414 also from Psalm 90 James says 414 what is your life it is even a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away
so you can tuck this into your best pocket your days are like a vapor spend them wisely your days are like a vapor spend them wisely you've already spent like four days already gone this year
you know it seems to me it seems like only yesterday I was 16 years old do I still look like a teenager you don't have to answer that it's okay I hope that take that in the highest form of the words quote and without further ado reports Oxford dictionaries we can exclusively reveal that the Oxford dictionaries word of the year for 2014 is vape v-a-p-e vape there are many contenders for the word of the year but vape is it according to Oxford it says that and I quote as e-cigarettes or e-cigs have become much more common as people are trying to stop smoking so the word vape has grown significantly in popularity you're 30 times more likely to come across the word vape than you were two years ago and eucides has doubled in the past year so what does vape mean well originally vape was an abbreviation for vape are vaporized but it has taken on a new meaning still holding much of the past in august 2014 when it was Oxford dictionaries dot com added the definition to their collection the word means quote to inhale and exhale the vape produce by an electronic cigarette or similar device thus when you you have vape and thus is your life according to the analogy and scripture you are about one vape vape a vapor you know it just seems like yesterday when sometimes a baby comes into the world and a little pat on the butt they say first breath and before you know it exhale and it goes by so fast doesn't it the old you get the more you realize this life is slipping through your fingers as James says you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow you are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away that is not to say your life on earth doesn't matter but it is a call to live 2015 wisely you've heard the list right you've read it for 2014 Philip Seymour Hoffman Mickey Rooney Robin Williams Eli Wallach Joe Cocker Lauren McCall James Garner Shirley Temple Maya Angelou our own Josiah Reeves junior from New Hope on the list the last breath has been taken that's why Moses phrase in soul 90 the years of our life or 70 or even by reason of strength 80 yet they're soon gone we fly away so teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom tip number one your days are like a vapor spend them wisely so that in December 31 comes for 2015 you can say now there was a year well spent secondly treat interruptions as opportunities treat your interruptions as opportunities cover of 169 you know it the Lord for the heart of man plans his way but the Lord established his step his steps the heart of man plans his way but the Lord establishes his steps paraphrased man kind proposes but God disposes you know how it is you're trying to do something the next thing you know somebody barges in the room you're deeply involved the phone rings you're in the middle of deep concentration for a serious project the child cries somebody wants a favor someone needs a ride a neighbor shows up unannounced you're saying oh great all I need for the next two hours in my life you know when I was working for an education degree doing some writing things I learned a couple things in that
period of time one of them was treat obstacles as challenges they didn't say one of the obstacles on this project or on the CC they said one of the challenges so that's a good way to look at it the second was treat interruptions as opportunities according to William Edwards Deming an American educator he says the quote the average American worker has 50 interruptions a day of which 70% have nothing to do with work and the quote so interruptions produce opportunity to practice patience to see if you believe in the sovereign you've got which was our first song today
interruption is an opportunity to show kindness instead of irritability it's an opportunity to test your spirituality I tell you an interruption is a tremendous thermometer and it's very accurate because it shows exactly who you are when the heat's turned up and it might not even be that much heat it's just an interruption a lot of time of heat is just determined by what's in our mind especially if we get better at handling interruptions as opportunities CS Lewis said and I quote the great thing if one can do it is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's own or real life the truth is of course that one calls the interruptions that what one calls interruptions are precisely one's real life the life god is sending you day by day and quote so we're seeing our thinking how this terrible interruptions why does this have to be rather than saying this is the light that god has given me in this three minute period here or whatever it is therefore you and I let us treat interruptions 2015 as god's gift and unwrap the up interruption with patience unwrap it with self-control unwrap it with gentleness with the genuine trust in god knowing that god is in the intrusion and let the interruption especially teach us over and over again that your own world might not be as important as the rest of the world around you treat interruptions as opportunities thirdly as we go into the third one how many of you have an ophthalm you can admit it go ahead hope you turn it off I don't think I did mine but it's in that room so I'm good maybe that room that was occupied the 3rd point high phones will help us on this one and that is remember he is present in every challenge not just interrupt in the interruptions he is present in every challenge so 139.7 addresses you me to think about the god being present in our challenge what is your challenge what is facing you is present in your challenge where shall I go from your spirit where shall I flee from your presence if I send to heaven you're there if I make my bed in shield which is to place the dead you're there if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the outermost parts of the sea even there your hands shall lead me your right hand shall hold me if I say surely the darkness shall cover me and the light about me be night even the darkness is no dark to you the night is brightens the day for darkness is as light with you you know whether we want them or not 2015 is going to bring you challenges that's the way it is down here you may the year may challenge your health it may challenge your career it can challenge a relationship it can challenge your finances your integrity your faith your contentment in life and sometimes it makes us feel like we're lost like there's no one sees what's going on there's certainly no one to help us according to Fred Sirodnik a GPS expert he says quote the Apple iPhone comes with a built-in GPS chip and the ability to determine your location relative to Wi-Fi hotspots for the capability called Wi-Fi positioning in addition to GPS and Wi-Fi positioning your iPhone has a compass and an accelerometer which precisely tracks even the smallest movements anyone who carries an iPhone which of course it means if you have an iPhone of Apple no matter who you are where you are what you've done middle of the day middle of the night doesn't matter there's another set of eyes watching you watching over you fellow believers in a similar way it's another set of eyes watching over you and not just tracking you in the spirit of Psalm 139 he's there his right hand is with you and you know who the right hand is at the right end God it's an infinite personal God keeping watch and carry where shall you go from in spirit just in 2015 in the challenges that come before you where shall you flee from his presence if you go up into the heavens he's there if you go even in the face of death he's there and the scriptures go on to say even in the darkest darkness this is if the lights are all turned on he sees every moment and he's with you in it 24 7 3 65 days of the year as Christ once told his followers I will never leave you nor for safety surely I will be with you to the end of the world so remember he is present in every challenge 2015 he's present believe it fourthly don't forget the healing power of a kind word don't forget the healing power of a kind word for our 1624 teaches us this lesson pleasant word quote pleasant words are a honeycomb sweet to the soul and healing to the bones let me say it again pleasant words are a honeycomb sweet to the soul and healing to the bones somebody has made an observation and put it in a modern park proverb here's what it says quote a small act of kindness done with great love can change someone's world and quote would say it after me a small act of kindness done with great love can change someone's world for example it's surprising what just a little bit beyond will do I mean it's
pleasant a real yawn it's research has shown some interesting things about yawns and I'm just getting tired I've got to get through this point here for a policy seriously no doubt many of you just watching me feel the urge to yawn maybe you did it you know I didn't even have to tell you you just saw me yawn and if we recorded today sermon on video of me just what people watching the video would be doing it's true it's true and they'd be yawning people yawn even when they hear the word yawn that's that's reality it's it it's audibly contagious and researchers tell us that if you take an audible tape somebody yawning
and play it to a blind person you know what they're gonna do they'll yawn that's it and they say just reading the word on a piece of paper that makes ya nod it just does what is this what does this all mean for us Henry in the New Year well it means a small act of kindness done in love can change somebody's world it can affect them and it paused away it somehow gets into them and God can use it to bless the people around you Louis Leo Biscaya inspirational speaker he said quote too often we underestimate the power of a touch the power of a touch a smile a kind word a listening ear and honest compliment or the smallest act of caring all which have the potential to turn a life around and quote William Wordsworth said the best portion of a good person's life is their little nameless unremembered acts kindness and love indeed pleasant acts the quote pleasant words are a honeycoe sweet to the soul and healing to the bones that's what the proverb tells us proverb 1624 so
don't underestimate of a kind donation coming days in 2015 finally this year for the first time you get to choose your own word for your own heart that fits your own need you choose your own word for your own heart and it could be joy if you feel like you really need to boost that up in your life be a little more joyful this year maybe hope is it you seem to be a little pessimistic you'd be more optimistic in life maybe the word exercise organized could be your word I mean we're not saying resolutions here we're just saying pick a word that you'd like to put in your soul deeper it could be the word prompt maybe this year you decide you want to be on time or up in the new word last year you're not making any other resolutions you see but you're putting that word and that's going to become your word 2015 could be the word gracious or graciousness because you want to stop being as judgment or complaining maybe the word growth maybe you're stagnant you feel like you're stuck you're not going anywhere well growth would be a good word for you and write it down on a post it and stick it on the fridge or the bathroom mirror or like maybe put it on a card and put it on your sun visor tuck it in there perhaps in your wall at your desk you see make it your word whatever word you choose choose it hopefully today or this week you're probably not going to do that so choose it and write it down and take it with you and then pray that God would put that word in a bigger way and you're like more joy more love more growth more power or whatever let us pray let us pray
and Father we bow before you we thank you for this new year that's before us and have already begun heavenly Father as we enter the new year we pray that you would grant us much grace to spend our days our passing days wisely as the end of this coming year we would or this year we would say that indeed was a year well done well lit we made some great choices and Lord help us to learn more and more to treat life's interruptions as opportunities and by your grace help us to remember that you are present in every challenge and show yourself in no challenge as we look to you and to make your presence known a special way heart situation and Father we also pray that more and more we wouldn't forget and underestimate the healing power that comes from just saying something kind or being kind in some small way may we bless many people by small acts of kindness through this coming year and Lord in the word we choose for our own hearts may it make our hearts ever closer to yours in Jesus' name we pray on them