Baptists Preaching is a column from the Baptist Standard. It is not an effort to advance any one theology or style but to present what a collection of Baptists considers a word from God. Likewise, Baptists Preaching offers a repository of Baptist preaching for future study and research. To recommend a sermon to be featured in Baptists Preaching, please contact eric.black@baptiststandard.com.
Mark Lindsey: Finish
Mark Lindsey, pastor of First Baptist Church in Big Spring, said the real work begins after Christmas with “de-decorating”—putting all the decorations away. This is a chore he doesn’t enjoy. For many, it becomes unfinished business at the end of the year.
“Many of us have unfinished business we’ve yet to take care of from last year,” Lindsey said. He likened this to packing a suitcase and carrying it around every day through the next year. Lindsey exhorted his hearers to take care of their unfinished business today. Ecclesiastes 7 gives counsel for how to do this, he said.
At the start of a new year, Lindsey suggested doing three things to finish the year well: “soothe your regrets,” “calm your fears of the future” and “encourage your faith.” This advice applies to the end of life as much as it applies to the end of this year, he suggested, challenging his hearers to address their unfinished business with God.
This sermon was delivered Jan. 1, 2023, for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Big Spring.
A sermon script is available here.
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