JUNK IN THE TRUNK 12-31-17 By Pastor Rhonda


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JUNK IN THE TRUNK 12-31-17 By Pastor Rhonda Howard OPENER: JOKE: A young wife texted her husband at work, “Don’t forget to bring home another mousetrap.” Her husband texted back, “What’s the matter with the one I bought yesterday?” She wrote back to him. “It’s full!” End of year stuff. Get rid of full mousetraps. No, end of year stuff deals with more than mousetraps. For many, it’s taking down Christmas decorations and Christmas lights and packing them away and cleaning up. ILLUSTRATION: Our house was full of the Christmas aftermath. Wrapping paper, boxes, instructions to that new gadget that someone got as a gift, old Christmas cookies that went stale, etc….Me hauling off trash to the church dumpster - 8 full bags, 2 big boxes and a plastic tote. We had a lot of stuff! A lot of junk! JOKE: A woman walked into the bathroom at home and saw her husband weighing himself on the bathroom scales. As he did he was sucking in his stomach. She said to herself, “He thinks he will weigh less if he holds in his stomach.” So she sarcastically said to him, “That’s not going to help.” But her husband said, “Sure it will. It’s the only way I can see the numbers.” The end of the year is also when we make a commitment to shape up, to eat better, to lose weight, to be more healthy, to exercise.

Sample of our End of Year List: Take down. Pack up. Clean house. Shape up. Eat better. Exercise more. Do better. Be better.

I.WE MUST ATTEND TO THE SPIRITUAL SIDE

These are all good things we are talking about, but end of year stuff should also deal with the spiritual side of life. We are not just flesh and blood beings. We are also spirit. The eternal part of us is spirit. We need to give more attention to the spiritual side of our life even more than the physical. 1 Timothy 4:8 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” godly - devoted to worshiping God; having the divine qualities of God. GIVING ATTENTION TO THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT WILL DO MORE FOR US THAN ANY EXERCISE PROGRAM OR DIET. The healthiest people in the world can’t go to heaven without Christ! The richest people in the world can’t go to heaven without Christ! The cleanest people in the world can’t go to heaven without Christ! The neatest people in the world can’t go to heaven without Christ! WE MUST PAY ATTENTION TO OUR SPIRITUAL NEEDS MORE THAN OUR PHYSICAL.

II. OUR END OF THE YEAR LIST 1. CHANGE YOUR THINKING Proverbs 23:7 As a man thinks in his heart so is he. First on our list should be to address our thinking. IF WE DON’T THINK – WE WON’T DO. WE MUST THINK IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN ORDER TO GO THE RIGHT DIRECTION. Our actions start here (our minds) first, before they ever get here (our hands). So, in order to clean up, shape up, do better you are going to have to think about it and have a change of mind. CALORIES DON’T BURN IF YOUR WHEELS DON’T TURN. EVERY GOOD PROGRESS WE MAKE STARTS IN OUR MIND. Romans 12:1-2 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. THIS SCRIPTURE SAYS WE ARE TRANSFORMED – WE ARE CHANGED – BY CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK.

The mind is the key to the Christian life. What we know in our minds to be true forms a conviction in our hearts, and that conviction in our hearts translates into action. Therefore, we must first renew our minds. Transformation doesn’t happen in our lives with just right actions. Doing right things alone will only get you so far. We think if we just go to church more, attend more meetings, surround ourselves with good friends, be more thankful, work harder at our job, be a better witness and have a better attitude. All these are results of the process of transformation. Transformation starts in our mind. IF YOU WANT TRUE TRANSFORMATION YOU HAVE TO CLEAN UP YOUR MIND. RIGHT ACTIONS ARE THE RESULT OF RIGHT THINKING. As Jesus prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). To be Sanctified means -- we are in a process of clean up in our lives. THE BEST WAY TO CLEAN UP OUR LIVES IS TO TAKE A BATH IN TRUTH. The only way to replace the wrong thinking of the world in our minds is to replace it with God’s truth. The truth is God’s word. Transformation through a renewed mind comes as you give yourself to God’s Word through hearing it each week in church, personal Bible study, and group Bible study. There are no shortcuts. There is no magical formula for renewing your mind. You must fill your mind with God’s Word. Ephesians 5:25-27 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.] 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. WE MUST TAKE A BATH IN THE WORD.

2. THROW AWAY OLD STUFF ILLUSTRATION: Riding in my sister’s car in the back seat. When she hit the footpedal an old crusty chicken nugget rolled over my toe along with a dirty diaper. Sometimes there is stuff under the seats or in the side pockets that we are carrying that needs to be cleaned out. Some of us have some junk in the trunk that we need to clean out. Sometimes we accumulate things in our trunk that when we need to use it it’s already full. Some of us have some extra baggage that we are carrying around that we have picked up this year.

You need to clean out the trunk. It’s weighing you down. Now, no one sees it, but how many know that an old drive thru meal left under the seat will begin to stink. No, you can’t see it, but you can smell it. Sometimes we have things that are hidden that we have gotten so use to carrying them around that we can’t even smell them. Colossians 3:8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. ILLUSTRATION: Just like extra weight will cause you to move slower, put more strain on your heart and make you tired quicker. This junk we carry can weigh you down so that it will slow down your progress in God. It will weaken you and eventually bring you to a total halt.

3. SHAPE UP WITH PRAYER ILLUSTRATION: To shape up and get toned you have to get into the gym. You can tell when someone is diligent in their workout. They look tight and toned. We pat them on the back and say good job! Well, the best way that you can get strong spiritually is to be diligent in your prayer life. Praying on a daily basis will tone you up spiritually quicker than anything else you can do. IF YOU WANT TO BE A STRONG CHRISTIAN LET YOUR WORKOUT BE DONE ON YOUR KNEES. Just like you can tell when someone hits the gym on a regular basis, you can tell when someone has decided to spend time with the Lord. It’s evident. You see the changes in their attitude, their passion toward God, their desires. If you want to be a strong Christian - pray. IF YOU WANT TO SHAPE UP YOU HAVE TO HANG OUT AT THE GYM. IF YOU WANT TO SHAPE UP SPIRITUALLY YOU HAVE TO HANG OUT WITH GOD. Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Be committed to prayer. Pursue prayer. Make it part of your daily life.

4. FIND AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER They say to help you get fit ask someone to work out with you. Get a work out partner. It’s true. I’ve done it. On days that I didn’t want to work out, my friend said, “come on!” On days she didn’t want to go. I said, “I’ll meet you there.”

Accountability is created by God to help us. Accountability just means someone is there to say, “Come one you can do it.” I know you’re tired. I know you’re weak. But get up and keep moving! Someone to say, “Don’t eat those bag of potato chips!” I thought we were on this diet together!” Everyone needs someone that they can open up to. Someone that they can pray with. Someone that they can call on. Someone that will keep them on track with their commitment. With the truth. CLOSING: Let’s do some clean up today. There may be some areas in your life that need to be cleaned out. I want us to throw out some junk that we have picked up this year. Some extra weight we are carrying around.