Introduction: Ascribe Glory to the Lord
A passage of Scripture for the New Year—Psalm 96:
Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts.
Worship the Lord in holy attire;
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will judge the peoples with equity.”
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
Before the Lord, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.
As we enter the new year, be reminded that He is not a God who merely caused you to come into existence. He is a God currently causing your sustained existence, moment by moment. And thus we proclaim, with the psalmist, good tidings of His salvation from day to day, moment to moment, for in Him are all things—we move and exist in Him.
We praise the Lord who made the heavens and gave us its lights to govern the seasons, and even the turn of the calendar. So we praise the Lord not only from day to day but from year to year. We praise the Lord, who did come to judge the world 2,025 years ago, and the Lord who, in His divine wisdom, has given the world 2,025 years to repent and come to the knowledge of truth.
The goal of this sermon is celebration: celebration of what has been, celebration of what is, and celebration of what will be … because the Lord has saved, the Lord is saving, and the Lord will save. So we ascribe the glory due His name, in His church, on His day—and every day.
Past Review of 2024
At the beginning of 2024, we at GraceLife Church, as part of our larger series on the Oracles of God,1That sermon series on “Faith Toward God” was the second of six parts in a larger series on the elementary principles of the oracles of God based on Hebrews 5:12–6:2. As of the end of 2024, we have finished discussing our fifth elementary principle, the resurrection from the dead. began discussing what it meant to live by faith: to seek faith and strengthen faith; to return to God if you’ve been faithless (what a merciful God we serve who allows us to return to Him!); and to see with faith.2These sermons begin with this one: “Live by Faith: Seek Faith” (January 8, 2024).
Some in our congregation sought, strengthened, and chose to see with faith by being baptized in 2024—we rejoice with them!3“Baptisms” was our next focus of study, after faith. The first sermon in that series is here.
At one point during the year, we even pulled a desk on-stage and ran out of colors with our highlighters as we studied God’s Word together. We also put a ship on stage and sailed the 7 Cs in our Vacation Bible School.
Our sanctuary has been a study and a ship. It’s also been the scene of the resurrection—we brought members of the congregation up to demonstrate the reliability of the Scriptures in recreating a reasonable and inspiring chronology of Jesus’s resurrection. We showed how the Scripture speaks the truth, even when on a surface glance it may appear to be contradictory. We went from the tomb to a house in Bethany to a house in Emmaus to demonstrate how the Scriptures do indeed tell a complete, coherent, cohesive, and true story.4See “Chronological Credibility” sermon (October 27, 2024).
And let’s not forget the odd topic in our Oracles of God series: laying on of hands.5First sermon in that subseries is here: Laying On of Hands: Why Study It? That study culminated in laying on of hands demonstrated in the ordaining of deacons, a ministry that entered into something of a post-Covid dormancy, partly because we at GraceLife had people serving regardless of whether the title was official. But I’m proud of four deacons and their wives and this first partial year of service.
I’m also proud of the men who have been approved as new elders at GraceLife. So, let’s move on from a review of the past to present praise, as we ordain these two new men in this special service at GraceLife.
Present Praise for Elder Ordination
Note: During the original delivery of this sermon, the two men being added to GraceLife’s elder fellowship were introduced, their biographical profiles read, and invited to the stage by Pastor Michael. For privacy, we refer you to the video of this sermon for those personal details. Here, we will simply say that these two men are serious about the Scriptures and about doing right. They are men willing to sacrifice for others. They have served alongside Pastor Michael in various capacities for a decade at GraceLife.
Following is what was read to the newly approved elders (by Pastor Jerome), who responded to the questions at the appropriate times.
This is an office for which you must be qualified according to the Scriptures.6For qualifications of elders prescribed in Scripture, see Titus 1:6–9 and 1 Timothy 3:1–7. These qualifications are a grace of our God, who will equip you for ministry.
Do you affirm, where applicable, that you are and that you will continue to strive to maintain the following:
- That you are the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to each, not addicted to wine or quarrelsome. If so, say “I do.”
- Furthermore, do you affirm that you are gentle, peaceable, free form the love of money; that you are men who manage their households well, keeping children under control with dignity; that you are not new converts, and have a good reputation with those outside the church? If so say, “I am.”
- You are charged to shepherd the flock of God, not in its entirety, but the one here among you; the one we call GraceLife. Will you exercise this oversight; not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock? If so, say “I will.”
- You are to be on guard for yourselves and for all this flock. Do you accept this responsibility, authority, and strength as coming from the Holy Spirit? If so, say “I do.”
- You are to shepherd the church of God, purchased with His own blood. There will be others who seek blood. The Scripture calls them wolves among the flock and warns us that they will arise, at times, even from within the group of elders. Do you therefore promise to remain alert, entrusting yourself to God and the word of His grace for the purpose of building you up and making you fit for sanctification? If so, say “I do.”
- Finally, will you commit to watching over the souls of the members of GraceLife, knowing that you will give an account? Are you willing to pray for those in need and anoint them in the name of the Lord? If so, say “I will.”
Following is what was then read to the congregation, who responded collectively at the appropriate times:
- GraceLife Church, are these the men that you have deemed to be above reproach? Do you affirm their capabilities in leading, feeding, caring for, and protecting the flock? If so, say “we do.”
- Do you affirm these men in terms of their character and giftedness? If so, say “we do.”
- Do you find them to be hospitable, lovers of good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, and holding fast the faithful word, able to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict? If so, say “we do.”
- Do you support these men in their function within the church to bring about the result of the growth and edification of the body of Christ? If so, say “we do.”
- With these truths in mind, and through the instruction of the Scripture, do you commit to obeying your leaders and submitting to them as ones who watch over your soul? Will you commit to letting them do this with joy and not with grief? If so, say “we do.”
- Scripture tells us that elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. Congregation, will you strive to honor those that rule well and work hard, especially those that preach and teach? Will you promise to protect them from false accusation as well as hold them accountable? If so, say “we will.”
Pastor Jerome concluded this part of the service, saying, “Pastor, on behalf of the congregation, we stand in agreement and declare that we approve these men as fit for the service of elder.” Pastor Michael then invited a fellow elder on stage and highlighted the work of elders before laying hands on the newly approved elders and praying for them. “These men,” he noted, “aspire to a good thing; the Scriptures tell us so. It is work, but it’s a work that is not without joy.”
Looking to the Future
With this elder ordination, you have seen both the present and the future of GraceLife. I am grateful to these men especially, who join our leadership at a necessary time in the life of our church, but also in my life personally. As I have shared with them, the personal life of the elder is tied to the life of our church. They lead after this Sunday not only alongside me, but in my absence.
I am leaving for about 40 days—that’s a good, biblical number. And I’m leaving for a biblical reason. I’m leaving to preach the gospel. By that, I mean I’m leaving to make my life a living example of the gospel—to reach out to the orphan, the alien; to picture and promote that which God has done for us who believe in Him: to adopt us into his family; we are, in the words of our adoption agency, “bringing gospel hope to vulnerable children.”
We leave to adopt fully aware that this is not only a Stewart family endeavor; our spirits are intertwined with those at GraceLife (and others even beyond). We joined this body of believers when my older son was just a babbling baby whom I would hold while standing in the back. It took a while for people to realize Elizabeth and I were even married. They grabbed her right away and put her at the piano. Those were treasured days—standing at the back, worshiping and serving simply as members of the congregation long before we held any staff positions.
Our younger son was born here. The GraceLife family also celebrated with us the life of three others who never saw the light of this world, but see the light of another. And the GraceLife family now celebrates with us the life of two adopted children and gives us the grace to be preachers of grace in this endeavor. I do not take this lightly, and so I am thankful for this opportunity.
Promoting Life
It’s January, and almost every January that I have had the opportunity to preach, I have always reserved at least one Sunday for a sanctity of life message. I’ve done that in seasons in which the law of the land was against life. My commitment was to preach that as long as that was the law of the land. Praise God there was a Sunday that we got to say that the law, at least at the federal level, had been overturned. And then, those Sundays also promoted the alternative to ending lives (by abortion)—that alternative should be what we do: promoting life, taking care of life, and challenging those to enter into perhaps an adoption process if the Lord calls you to such. And the Lord has called my family to do so.
In My Absence
While my family and I are gone, the GraceLife family will be in good hands with the leaders we have in place.
Note: Refer to the video (~28:00) for details on who to call on for needs in Pastor Michael’s absence. These include oversight, counseling, prayer, administrative needs, and needs related to children’s ministry. Pastor Michael also discussed the preaching schedule.
Here’s the goal: I go to Hungary to enlarge my family’s capacity to love, and I expect to return to a church family that has enlarged its capacity to love. What is that going to look like? We’ve been talking about the resurrection from the dead, and how there is a continuity and discontinuity in that next life. There’s something that’s built on the current life, but there’s something different to look forward to.
In that same spirit of continuity/discontinuity, we’re going to build on some things at GraceLife that we’ve been doing well. But we’re also going to be doing something new—something to look forward to.
GraceLife University
One of those things is to continue GraceLife University (GLU), which we started this past fall. For those unfamiliar with GLU, this isn’t some kind of accredited institution—it’s just a chance for us to dig deeper in the Word. There’s only so much you can do on a Sunday morning, and GLU was held on Wednesday nights in the fall and offered an informal classroom-like setting for studying Scripture together.
Our first class was “What Is the Gospel?” About 50–70 GraceLife attenders took part in this course over eight weeks. We discussed justification, sanctification, and glorification—how God has delivered us from the penalty of sin and the power of sin, and He will deliver us from the presence of sin one day (this is the past, present, and future of God’s salvation).
That was course #1 of what will be continued courses. An additional goal for 2025 was to expand home groups. There was a home group that continued meeting even through Covid, and post-Covid it’s time to expand. So, in the spirit of continuity and discontinuity, of the old and the new, of the established and growing, one of the ways in which I’d like you to enlarge your capacity to love in 2025 is by attending GraceLife University at home.
GLU at home means you’ll have an opportunity to gather for six weeks in one another’s homes.7In the video, Pastor Michael gives additional detail on specific home groups and how to sign up for one. The theme is the idea of the “hard yes.” In this time of the calendar changing and people thinking about making resolutions—maybe tackling some things you haven’t done, probably because they’re hard—we’re going to talk about some hard yeses that you should consider. (They’re better than things like gym memberships and diet plans. A hard yes for the Stewarts has been adoption. We’ve been reminded over and over again by our adoption agency that this is going to be a hard endeavor.)
Prior to the six-week study in homes, we’ll have a kickoff potluck on January 15 at GraceLife (plus showing of the film What If You Said Yes? produced by Give Hope Global). Then for weeks 2–7, home groups will gather weekly and, after sharing a meal together, watch a short video on hard yeses. All of them are based on biblical examples (e.g., the first one is Noah). They’ll watch and then discuss what we can learn from these examples and how we can apply them to our own lives. Finally, week 8, we will (Lord willing) be back from Hungary and one or more of us Stewarts will plan to join you for a celebration.
Bible Fellowship for 2025
Something else both new and old for 2025 is Bible Fellowships. We created Bible Fellowship in 2021—inspired by Philemon 6, in which Paul prays for effective fellowship. Some churches have Sunday School, some have cell groups or lifegroups that meet during the week. We wanted to find a way to regularly and eagerly engage the Word together, so we do so in these gatherings after the service each week. There are four or five groups, and each one takes up the sermon as its topic. After all, there’s no way in 30–45 minutes of someone talking to you that you can get all you need spiritually. These fellowships respond to our call to share the Word with one another; we share how we’re applying the Word, and we share our successes and failures.
In 2025, we have some new facilitators in place (the plan is always to rotate these roles).
Note: At this point, Pastor Michael introduces the 2025 Bible Fellowship facilitators. See 39:00 mark in video for details.
If you need a New Year’s resolution, join a fellowship, join a home group.
As I mentioned, in Philemon 6, Paul prays for effective fellowship, and that is my concern. I am unconcerned for the life of the model church. Model church programs come and go. Bible Fellowship and GLU will not be successful because of their design. Paul’s letter to Philemon is about the effective fellowship of faith of the individual in the group. We as individuals are called to effective fellowship; and we cannot do it in isolation; isolation is disobedience. I’m not saying that you’re disobedient if you don’t attend Bible Fellowship or GLU (that would be legalistic), but I am telling you, if you need a place to plug in individually, consider those. The body of Christ needs you. We all need each other.
I leave for 40 days. Pray for me, pray for our family, our growing family, and I will pray for you. The Bible is full of examples of wonderful things that happen at the end of 40 days, and I believe that will be true for all of us.