2013

The world did not end on December 21, 2012 …

… What kind of year is2013 going to be?

What can you do to improve your expressions of devotion to God in the coming year?

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Making prayer a habit (1 Thess.

5:17)

1 Thessalonians 5:17

“Pray without ceasing.”

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Making prayer a habit (1 Thess.

5:17)• Reading and studying God’s word

(Psa. 1:1-2)

Psalm 1:1-2

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Making prayer a habit (1 Thess.

5:17)• Reading and studying God’s word

(Psa. 1:1-2)• Diligently attending worship

(Heb. 10:24-25)

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Making prayer a habit (1 Thess.

5:17)• Reading and studying God’s word

(Psa. 1:1-2)• Diligently attending worship

(Heb. 10:24-25)• Focus and zeal in worship (John

4:24)

John 4:24

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Making prayer a habit (1 Thess. 5:17)• Reading and studying God’s word

(Psa. 1:1-2)• Diligently attending worship

(Heb. 10:24-25)• Focus and zeal in worship (John 4:24)• Expressing interest in brethren (Phil.

2:4)

Philippians 2:4

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Making prayer a habit (1 Thess. 5:17)• Reading and studying God’s word

(Psa. 1:1-2)• Diligently attending worship

(Heb. 10:24-25)• Focus and zeal in worship (John 4:24)• Expressing interest in brethren (Phil.

2:4)• Walking with Love (1 Cor. 13:4-7)

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Placing Christ first in life (Gal. 2:20)

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Placing Christ first in life (Gal. 2:20)• Sharing the faith with others (1 Pet.

3:15)

1 Peter 3:15

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Placing Christ first in life (Gal. 2:20)• Sharing the faith with others (1 Pet.

3:15)• Living a transformed, holy life

(Rom. 12:1-2)

Romans 12:1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be con-formed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Placing Christ first in life (Gal. 2:20)• Sharing the faith with others (1 Pet.

3:15)• Living a transformed, holy life

(Rom. 12:1-2)• Practicing benevolence (James 1:27)

James 1:27

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Spiritual Resolutions for 2013• Placing Christ first in life (Gal. 2:20)• Sharing the faith with others (1 Pet.

3:15)• Living a transformed, holy life

(Rom. 12:1-2)• Practicing benevolence (James 1:27)• Practicing hospitality

(Heb. 13:2; 1 Pet. 4:9)

Hebrews 13:2

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

1 Peter 4:9

Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

Conclusion

Surely each of us, no matter what efforts we have made in the past, can do better this

next year as we seek to serve our Lord!

Philippians 3:12-14 

Philippians 3:12-14

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.