Sermon: New Year, Christian Life: Holy Habits

[1Timothy 4:7-8] For better or for worse, we are creatures of habit. I learned this early when I was a newspaper delivery boy. A customer would tell me he was going to be on vacation for a week and not need a paper. Nevertheless, out of sheer habit, I would fling a paper up on his porch each day and have to pay for that paper myself.

Illustration: Priorities, Possessions

Charles Lindbergh became an instant hero in 1927 when he became the first flyer to make a Trans-Atlantic solo flight. A reporter asked him just before take-off why he was taking only five sandwiches and container of water with him. Lindbergh replied, "If I get to Paris, I won't need any more, and if I don't get to Paris I won't need any more."

Illustration: Home, House, Family

A little boy named Danny lived with his family in a trailer. One day, someone asked him, "Don't you wish you had a real home?" Danny's reply was wise beyond his years. He said, "We have a real home. We just don't have a house to put it in."

The Secret of our Confidence

Real thanksgiving, biblical thanksgiving, according to this sermon, is greater and deeper than that feeling we get when everything is going our way. It is based not on our circumstances, but on God's sufficiency; not on our production, but on God's provision; not on our performance, but on God's providence.