Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever." 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making all things new!"

Story – “I Am New” saw on license plate; knew it was confirmation of the message

Are you new? And if you are, what's new in you? Our growth in Christ is a process. Can you see progress in your Christian walk? We love to say, I'm not where I want to be but I'm not what I used to be! But is that even true! Maybe we are where we used to be; maybe we have become a little comfortable wherever we are! I don't know. It's good to examine ourselves. Is there more fruit in our lives today for Christ than it was last year this time? Today we will look at three areas in our lives – Body, Mind and Spirit.

Body – There are more New Years resolutions about the body than anything else. Why? Because we all want to look good! So sometimes we get caught up in foods, diets and exercise. We think that if we have a new body we will also have a new, “happy' life. The Bible talks about this in 1 Timothy.

1Timothy 4:1 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead. 3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanksgiving by people who know and believe the truth. 4 Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it. We may receive it gladly, with thankful hearts. 5 For we know it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. 6 If you explain this to the brothers and sisters, you will be doing your duty as a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is fed by the message of faith and the true teaching you have followed. 7 Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. 8 Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next.

Let's be New this year in our body. Don't overeat and don't starve yourself either. Eat healthy and exercise as directed by the Lord. Pray and ask God how to maintain your body. After all, He did make it! So commit your body to the Lord for He is making all things new!

Mind – Have you heard any New Year resolutions about the mind? Probably not! How come? Well we might think our thoughts are ok. We usually like the thoughts that we think. They may not always be good, or pure or right, but somehow we seem to think they are ok! But….

Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

That tells us, we need to spend some time working on our minds. Let's begin to ‘ think about what we are thinking about'.

Right now as you are listening to this what are you really thinking about?

I hope revkim ain't going to be long- winded today because my stomach is already growling!

Who cares about that?

I got new shoes on and my feet are killing me!

Who cares about that?

I just want to get out of here in time to get something to eat and get home in time to see the game!

Who cares about that?

I'm bored, have you seen that new Geico commercial with the pig in it?

Now does any of that sound like the mind of Christ?

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Let's think about what we are thinking about!

Romans 12:1 (KJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

And again

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice -- the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 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 know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

Do you want to live in the mind of Christ this year? I mean really. Do you want your thoughts to be changed? Then allow God to transform your mind. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says:

4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Pray and ask God to examine your mind, after all He did make it. Be determined to confess wrong thinking to the Lord and ask Him to replace it with holy thoughts! Commit your mind to the Lord for He is making all things new!

Spirit - What's new in your walk with the Lord? Your faith. What's new spiritually for you in 2012?

1 Corinthian 2:9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 10 But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God's deep secrets. 11 No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. 12 And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13 When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means. 15 We who have the Spirit understand these things, but others can't understand us at all.

Christians have the Spirit of God living inside, that is why we are New creatures, New creations! We are new, fresh, original, unique, yes we have been changed. And yet we are stilling changing and growing more and more in our faith!

2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And let's hear it again

2 Corinthians 5: 14 NLT Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them. 16 So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now! 17 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! 18 All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. 20 We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, "Be reconciled to God!" 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Pray and ask God to examine your spirit, He made that too! Commit your spiritual life to the Lord for He is making all things new!

2012 is not just a new year but a year that should be embraced with great expectation from the Lord Jesus! What new and wonderful doors of opportunity will He open up for His children this year! What new doors will He open up for you this year? We don't know but we do know that Jesus gives new life. Let's be ready for God's plan for us this year by living Ephesians 6:11-18.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. 12 For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. 13 So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground. 14 So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, 15 and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. 16 At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. 17 And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. 18 Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people.

2012 is here. God has blessed you to live to see it. Now what will you do!

I AM NEW! THANK YOU JESUS!!!

Closing Prayer 

This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every fatherhood, in heaven or on earth, takes its name. In the abundance of his glory may he, through his Spirit, enable you to grow firm in power with regard to your inner self, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, with all God's holy people you will have the strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; so that, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge, you may be filled with the utter fullness of God. Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21