Month: January 2024

2024 is The Year to Restore

There is a season for everything and this year, this season is the time to restore.


                                   “2024 is The Year to Restore”


This is a big Christ Theme, but then again, we have a big God. So where do we start when we start to restore and what should we restore?

This year’s theme is not about anyone but you. It’s time to restore some elements of YOUR life. The Christ Theme for this year is about restoring things for you as a person. The first element we need restore is our relationship with God.

If you have a good relationship with God, kick it up a notch and get in a better relationship with Him. This is the year to do it.  There is so much to be had in life when your relationship with your Heavenly Father is good. He made this very promise in 1 Kings when He said:

1 Kings 9:3-5

The Lord said:

“I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

God’s word is for all of us.  It is His guide so we do the right thing.  Study His Word so you know what is expected of you.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised with the blessings He’ll bestow upon you and your family. God’s Word is timeless and cannot be changed.

I can see things happen in those who’ve met the challenge of having a good relationship with God.  And I can see things happen in those people’s lives who haven’t met the challenge, or don’t want to meet the challenge of having a good, or better relationship with God.

The relationship is not so much about you and God, but about doing what God asks you to do.  Most of what He’s asked is in the Bible.  The other times He asks you its because He needs “boots on the ground” to do His work.  You are that person He may ask.  The real question is are you willing to do what God has, and will ask you to do? 

The hard part is letting go of reality to do the work God asks of you.  It is hard stepping out of this world, letting go to see, hear and do what God asks.  This world entices us to stay a part of it.  The world does not want to let go of you long enough for you to have a good solid relationship with God. It’s not hard to be a Christian. 

There is a step by step guide about what you should be doing as a Christian.  It also tells us how to live our lives to align ourselves with Christ.  The guide is the Bible.  The blueprint is there. 

The hard part is letting go of the world we live in long enough to be the Christian Jesus asks us to be.  It does not happen overnight and is something a person has to work at a little bit at a time. 

What I’ve been writing about is why we need to restore our relationship with God, first, then look at restoring, or upgrading; our love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23).  GB

The 2024 Christ Theme

As I sit here getting ready to write I am overcome with emotion about the number of people who want to keep the Martinwood Christian Church Facebook page open.  We have decided to keep the page open and will support it as best as we can.

That’s the first announcement.  The second is the 2024 Christ Theme.  Christ’s theme did not come to us as soon as usual this year.  For the last seven years we’ve announced it at the Christmas Eve Service, but this year was somehow different.  Christ waited until I could understand His Christ theme, not mine.

The Christ Theme for 2024 is

2024; The Season to Restore

2024 is the season to restore hopes.

2024 is the season to restore dreams.

2024 is the season to restore love.

2024 is the season to restore peace.

2024 is the season to restore your health.

2024 is the season to restore your attitude.

It’s the season to restore your relationship with God!

*****

This year’s theme is based upon Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: there is time for everything, and 2024 is The Season to Restore. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

1There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

Look closely at this year’s Christ Theme and you’ll see a pattern.  The pattern involves you, not others.   This is not meant to offend anyone or sound mean, but I did not mention, nor does Ecclesiastes, restoring relationships.  It is intentionally left out because there are some relationships YOU cannot restore.  They will only bring you down.  Christ is the only one who can restore THOSE types of relationships, but we must restore ourselves first!  We cannot restore something we don’t have control over, but we do have control over ourselves and what we can do for us.

*****

It’s the season to restore hopes and dreams. 

Remember those hopes and dreams you had as a kid.  Remember how much love you had in your teen years and how much you love you had when you got married or had an equally special event happen in your life?

That is what we will restore in 2024.  You will restore you to the person who will reap the benefits of the Lord’s fruits called the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.