A New Years Letter from my pastor, Herb Sims

Hello All,

Happy New Year, almost!!!  What are your goals for 2012?  Many begin setting their goals by asking questions like:  What do we do to make the year better than 2011?  What do we do to make our finances stable?  What do we do to protect our health?  What do we do to make our loved ones happy? 

There is nothing wrong with resolutions or goals unless they lead us to be so focused on the past or the future to then, as a result, miss the present.  Often we spend more time measuring our failures and successes than enjoying the present tense moments of life.  Jesus had an answer for approaching life that many of us are very uncomfortable with.  He said, “I do nothing of myself…” and He went on to say, “I can do nothing of My own initiative…”   Jesus defines present tense living. 

I think I want to control the different outcomes of life.  Who wouldn’t?  I want to control my business, control the church, and control my family, maybe even control God.  For me it is in the name of avoiding pain.  Goals could be just another way of control for me. But I’m not!  In control, that is.  So what are my options for 2012?

Option one:  Focus on what you need to do to be in control and set the appropriate goals.  Then manage (motivate) yourself through self-condemnation or pride.  Then as the year progresses you shift the focus from your unmet goals by measuring others. 

Option two: Experience the miraculous life of Jesus Christ.  Approach life in 2012 as Jesus approached life some 2000+ years ago.  What if you did nothing of yourself?   Listen…

I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  John 15:5

When we are faced with all the unknowns of 2012 it seems foolish to not redouble our efforts to make things work out.  But maybe “things” working out is not what life is all about. 
What if 2012 is all about a year of kindness?  Have you heard the phrase "kill them with kindness"?  That is NOT what I'm talking about.  I'm talking about a kindness that draws people to change their messed up perceptions.  What if 2012 is a year of discovering a life of relationship found in truth and grace?  What if 2012 is a year of being with each other without judgment and condemnation?  On the other side of control, judgment and condemnation is kindness.  Though it may appear that this is "anti-responsibility" nothing could be further from the truth ... for it is all about our RESPONSE to Christ who is our life and giving up the control we never had.  This miracle is a response to His kindness.  Kindness is a supernatural walk in the Spirit.  Christ’s kindness is what changes our lives. 

Remember, without Jesus we can do nothing.  But through the first movement of our Creator we see His movement in our life today, right now.  I didn't regard myself as a kind person but I really am, surprise!  God is love and God is kind.  As a fruit of His love and kindness you and I can expect the very REAL working of God in our life.  We are free to be with each other without measuring successes and failures; without being defined as a failure or spending our life defining others as failures.  We will discover the miracle of kindness and love not because we have resolved to be more kind but because God in and through Christ has made us a kind and loving people. This requires the very life of God, Christ in us, the hope of glory… and the hope of a kinder 2012. 

Love,
Herb