Have you ever been in a hurry and had to stop at a red light and you were behind someone else and the light turned green and they didn’t move? What do you do? How many seconds do you wait? Do you give them the nice, short, beep? Or friendly 2 beeps? Or do you lay on the horn, until they move?

There have been times when I have felt like laying on the horn, but Michelle, in all her wisdom, will say something like “Todd, they might go to Bridge Church”. And I would be like, “Then I definitely need to TEACH them…”

Have you ever played “Red Light, Green Light”? You are striving towards the goal line whenever the person shouts “GREEN LIGHT” but you have to STOP whenever they shout “RED LIGHT”. If they move when you yell “RED LIGHT”, then they have to go back to the starting line and start over.

At the start of the most anticipated NEW YEAR in my life, outside of the year 2000 perhaps, here is what I want to say to you today… HONK!!! GREEN LIGHT!!! It’s time to move! It’s time to get going! IT’S TIME TO PURSUE God and all that He has for you!

Traditionally each first Sunday of January, I share our theme for the year and it also launches our 21 Days of Prayer and Denial. In 2021, we are also introducing our new MISSION statement.

At BC, our VISION is to “Connect People with others and with God”. VISION is what you exist to do. MISSION is the HOW. Our new MISSION statement lays out how we want people to do that. This was inspired by a Church of the Highlands conference our staff attended virtually last summer.

“At BC, we want everybody to KNOW GOD, FIND FREEDOM, CONNECT WITH OTHERS, MAKE A DIFFERENCE”.

That is a statement that you are going to hear a LOT going forward. Why? Because we want you to KNOW GOD, FIND FREEDOM, EXPERIENCE CONNECTION and MAKE A DIFFERENCE, because if you do THAT, you will get MORE connected with others and with God! The next 4 weeks, we are going to dig into this new MISSION statement. But for today, I want to explore our 2021 THEME WORD.

Our theme word for 2021 is “PURSUE” and our theme verse is a very familiar one to many of us.

One of the synonyms of SEEK is PURSUE. I like that word better. We could read our text this way:

Matthew 6:33 – TPV - “PURSUE JESUS above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.”

One of the definitions of PURSUE is “To chase after someone or something. TO FOLLOW in PURSUIT!!

Too many Christians see the walk of faith as the entry and the end. The entry being that they repent, pray, invite, start a relationship with God. The end being that they go to heaven. But, Jesus didn’t pay the price that He paid…just for you to go to heaven. He wants to make a difference IN YOU…AND…THROUGH YOU…RIGHT NOW! And HOW does THAT happen?

PURSUE JESUS ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE!

That is really what these next 21 days of PRAYER and DENIAL are all about!

GREEN LIGHT….GO! CHASE…PURSUE!

That is what the NEW YEAR is all about! Really, it’s no different than any other month, but in our minds, the transition from one year to the next, is like a fresh start. It’s time to MOVE! It’s time to GO…after GOD!

PURSUE JESUS ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE!

Traditionally, there is a song that we sing on New Years Eve whenever the clock strikes 12. It’s called “Auld Lang Syne” “Should old acquaintance be forgot…” Have you ever paused to think about what it means? Or what you’re singing? “or never brought to mind?” Robert Burns, the writer of the lyrics, was basically challenging us, in old Scottish, he was saying “auld lang syne” or “days gone by”. The song is challenging us to THINK about what should STAY in 2020 and NEVER come into our new year, and what should we bring with us?

I want to use a verse here that I used last week, but it really speaks to this point.

IF you are going to PURSUE JESUS, there are some things that are slowing you down, hindering you, causing you to stumble. It’s time to:

CUT the WEIGHTS so you can PURSUE FASTER

Boxers, wrestlers, people in the MMA world often have to cut weight in order to be where they need to be for the fight they are in. Maybe there’s a parallel there in terms of spiritual warfare and being prepared for whatever our fight looks like. We need to CUT SOME WEIGHT!

Now, please understand that I am NOT talking about the weight on the scale. You may or may not need to cut that weight. It is good for your health to be more fit. But I’m talking about the WEIGHTS of your HISTORY, your HABITS and your HURTS.
You will be able to PURSUE JESUS better IF you LAY DOWN THESE WEIGHTS,

CUT the WEIGHTS so you can PURSUE FASTER

1) Cut the Weight of Old HISTORY
If you have a computer, there is a special space on your hard drive and in RAM memory called the cache (cash). It is a place where your browser saves copies of previously visited web pages. It acts like short-term memory. Over time, your computer may collect a LOT of files you don’t really need. It can be really helpful for the speed of your computer for you to clear the cache.

In your LIFE, it’s time to clear the CACHE! Hit the DELETE button on your history.

I like how the Message puts it:

MSG – “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.”

How long are you going to hold on to the past, to your health history, to your relationship history, to your job history, to THAT EVENT that still…DEFINES you. It’s how you might see yourself, through the lens of THAT history, THAT hard place, THAT painful experience, THAT tragedy. It doesn’t have to be!

Isaiah said “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history…I’m about to do something BRAND NEW”. BUT…

I think God is saying, “You don’t have room for the new, if you are holding onto the old” And I have something NEW FOR YOU,

I pray today that you hear the heart of this pastor. IT’S TIME to MOVE. Hear the horn this morning. Perhaps it’s a gentle beep or maybe you need the full on horn, SO…

CUT the WEIGHT of your HISTORY

You can RUN FASTER when you drop that weight (REMOVE WEIGHT)
Now, the 2nd WEIGHT you need to cut, that you need to say “auld lang syne” to, that you need to LEAVE in 2020 is this:

2) Cut the Weight of Old HABITS

Any addictions – start as a HABIT. Could be…
· Alcohol or drugs
· Pornography
· Entertainment
· Social Media
· Video games
· Shopping
· Language – It started out as something you would just throw in there on occasion, but now it’s slipping out on accident. It’s become a habit.
· Certain foods – For me, it’s sweets. I got really disciplined in the Fall and lost about 30 lbs. Then December got here and my HABITS slipped.

It’s hard to go forward if you are hanging onto some bad HABITS. They will weigh down your walk!

One of the most powerful things about these next 21 days, if you participate, is the DENIAL part. And you don’t have to get super legalistic with it. It doesn’t always have to be centered around food either. It’s really anything in your life that can master you. Denial, fasting, is your “reset” button to tell that thing that YOU are in control, not it. That you CAN SAY NO…because you want your spirit to grow. BREAK the hold that thing has on you!

FASTING is NOT punishing yourself to get God’s attention. That’s BAD RELIGIOUS thinking. Fasting is doing the best I can to separate myself from the world so that I can PURSUE GOD.

These 21 days can set you FREE! They can REMOVE the CHAINS! But know this:

If you give minimal effort, you’ll get minimal results. If you fast easy things, don’t expect spiritual breakthroughs. But if you do THIS:

CUT the WEIGHT of your HABITS

(Take off weight) THAT can change EVERYTHING for you! How much LIGHTER you will be spiritually in 2021 if you lay down the WEIGHT of your OLD HABITS! Lastly,

3) Cut the Weight of Old HURTS
I want to show you something (crack a few eggs into a glass bowl and whisk them). Now, UNSCRAMBLE THEM!

Holding onto old hurts and grudges thinking that is protecting you somehow or that the other person doesn’t deserve your forgiveness is SUCH a WEIGHT that slows you down spiritually and produces nothing good in you. It’s kind of like trying to unscramble eggs. It’s impossible and a total waste of time and energy.

The OLD IS GONE! Why are you still holding on to things that are part of the OLD?

I can’t start the NEXT CHAPTER of my life if I keep RE-READING the LAST ONE

Don’t get stuck in replay mode! When you won’t CUT the WEIGHT of your past hurts, it’s like having a one-song playlist on repeat. You get SO TIRED of that song, but it is STUCK in your head and you keep playing it and you keep singing it to yourself, but also to others. And they tire of that song too, so they might start avoiding you because they don’t want to hear the song again. And you blame others for ‘deserting’ you when it was your choice of SONGS.

It’s time to not only NAME THAT TUNE, but CUT THAT SONG!

Create a new playlist!

Psalm 96:1 – NLT – “Sing a NEW SONG to the Lord!”

Let this be true in you. "The OLD SONG HAS GONE, the NEW SONG IS HERE!”

Learn how to delete the OLD SONGS! Put some NEW SONGS Of praise in your playlist! If you are going to PURSUE God in 2021, then you need to…

CUT the WEIGHT of your HURTS

Listen to what Paul says after “The OLD HAS GONE, the NEW is HERE.”

RECONCILE = bringing the balance to “0”

When you are reconciled with someone, you are saying, “You don’t owe me anything. We’re good!”

When you come to Christ, He RECONCILES you to Himself! Your debt is forgiven. Your balance is “0”! And Paul says that God has given YOU that ministry now! SO…

CUT the WEIGHT of your HURTS

(Remove the weight) IF you continue holding onto the old, you won’t have room for the NEW LIFE that God has FOR YOU!

These next 21 days can be absolutely life transforming as you

PURSUE JESUS ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE!

And you can PURSUE Him better if you will CUT the weights of your history, your old habits and your old hurts… Isn’t it time? Because, if you…
CUT the WEIGHTS, you will be able to PURSUE JESUS FASTER
And you will experience the full weight of:

Have you received His GRACE? His payment for YOUR SIN? Are you RECONCILED with God?

There is no better way to start off 2021 than to be DEBT FREE spiritually. To know that your account is reconciled with God. That happens when we TRUST JESUS, when we have FAITH in Him. We have a CHANGE of MIND. The Bible word for that is REPENTANCE. It means, we turn around. We were going this direction with ourselves as the king of our life, but we turn around, we change our mind, and we follow Jesus as our king.
HONK, HONK – the light is GREEN! It’s TIME TO MOVE. IT’s TIME to PURSUE GOD!

Isaiah 55:6 – NLT – “Seek the Lord while you can find Him. Call on Him now while He is near.”

Hosea 10:12b – NLT – “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for NOW is the time to SEEK the Lord,”

James 4:8 – NLT – “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

HE IS CLOSE! Will you surrender to Him?