David Wright

Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

Keys for an Exceptional New Year

Believe it or not, 2012 is almost history.

However, it's not all over quite the way that the Mayan calendar watchers predicted.

Yes, 2012 was the year that $4.2 billion was spent re-electing our president.

It was this year that we watched the Summer Olympics in London, as Usain Bolt became the first man to secure gold in the Olympic 100 and 200 sprint double in consecutive games, both last time and this time.

We watched as Michael Phelps added 6 more medals to his collection of now 22 Olympic medals from 3 different Olympics.

This year, Felix Baumgardner set the record for the highest skydive at 24 miles up, as well as being the first to break the sound barrier, reaching speeds of 834 miles an hour.

It was this year that the space shuttle retired, and as the Endeavor squeezed through the streets in LA, we watched, some of us.

It was also the year that the Mars rover successfully landed.

It's also the year that Neil Armstrong passed away along with Andy Griffith and Norman Schwarzkopf among others.

It was this past year that a Wisconsin TV anchor fought back against criticism for her weight.

2012 has been the year of the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini.

It's the 100 year anniversary of the Titanic sinking as well as Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane in diameter on record.

It was the year that 28 lost their lives in Newtown, Connecticut.

So how has this year been for you and your family?

What challenges has the Lord brought you through?

As we go online and see the news, everybody has their recap of the year.

Have you sat down in your devotional time early in the morning and said, this is what has taken place this past year and remembered how good God is?

But as we look back, of course, we look forward as well.

What will 2013 hold for us, or our nation, our families?

What will God do in 2013 in our church, in each of our lives?

1 year from today, how will things be different for you?

You ever find yourself asking those questions, wondering about the unknown?

Well, this Sabbath, I want to give cause for thought as we look forward to this new year.

I want to give you 5 keys to unlocking, if you will, the new year.

5 keys that by the grace of God can literally change your physical life, but your spiritual perspective as well.

And I believe that if you use these 5 keys, you will find that your life and spiritual experience will be greatly transformed and enhanced.

And if you use these 5 keys you will literally make 2013 an exceptional year.

But really I believe these 5 are foundational.

And you may come up with 1 or 2 more beyond this and that's fine.

Each of the 5 will have a text that goes along with it.

It will be simple to write down, but I would challenge you this week to spend some time going over these 5, thoughtfully and prayerfully, going over these texts.

But the core of it all, I believe, is the text that Cameron read for us this morning, our springboard text, really.

Matthew 6, 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

That should be at the core, to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

That should be at the core to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Because I want this morning's sermon to be very practical to your daily life.

So let's jump in and get started with the first key.

When life comes down on us, There's family problems, financial problems, interpersonal problems, job problems, emotional problems.

What do you do with all this stuff of life when it comes crashing on you?

Studies tell us 1 of the greatest reasons people get involved in destructive behaviors is because they don't properly deal with the stuff of life.

They have insecurities or problems internally, and because they don't know how to deal with these things, they turn to vices.

Drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, even just peripheral, unguided watching of television or DVD because the pressure has gotten to them and they don't know how to deal with the stress.

So they just put things out of their mind by 1 of these ways.

The text that goes with this key is Ephesians.

I'd invite you to open your Bibles with me to Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians chapter 6, and this is part of the whole armor of God, but 1 that we don't typically bring out.

I'll be reading from the New King James Version.

Ephesians chapter 6 verse 18, Paul encourages us, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance, supplication and supplication for all the saints.

Now if you look at the original, there's no period.

He's going all the way through the armor of God, and he continues on with prayer.

So I think we can say that prayer is certainly part of the armor.

You may be thinking, well, what's new about prayer?

There's nothing new about prayer, but it is if you're not using it.

Let me ask you, is prayer central and significant in your life?

Or do you only pray in church and certain situations?

Because if you are only praying in church, you're not experiencing the power of prayer.

I don't believe Paul here is talking about an occasional prayer, but a life of prayer where you literally love to talk to God and you really believe your prayers go beyond the ceiling.

It's a connection, a cord between you and heaven.

It connects you with the powers of the universe.

And when White says it's the air to the life of the Christian, think about that.

If you can answer yes to those questions, yes, I do enjoy prayer, yes, I'm involved in prayer, I do pray on a regular basis when I rise up, as I drive to work, when I go to bed at night, then you're doing well with this key.

But if you cannot say that, If honestly in your heart, you know that you do not have a vibrant prayer life, then that is a key you need for 2013.

Because if I gave you the other things on the list without first dealing with prayer, you wouldn't have the power to implement it.

Some of the heavy things I'm gonna tell you, you've gotta pray.

It's the opening of the heart to God as to a friend.

And at the core, prayer is giving permission to allow God to come into your heart and your life and to do what He wants to do with you.

He needs your permission and without that permission the devil can accuse Him of forcing you to follow Him.

And if we go back here to Ephesians chapter 6 verse 18 There are 7 points that the text outlines for us on how to pray.

Or your version might say, on all occasions.

New Power For The New Year

Well the illustration goes that a man loved to collect rocks.

He just loved rocks and everywhere he went he seemed to find another treasure, another fantastic, amazing, beautiful, gorgeous rock.

And of his favorite rocks he put them, remember this illustration, he put them in a bucket, a 5 gallon bucket, and he had a bunch at home, rocks everywhere, but his favorite he carried in his 5 gallon bucket.

He took it with him as he went to bed at night and carefully put it by his bed.

Everywhere this man went, you saw him with his bucket of rocks.

Well, 1 day a friend said, hey, come on over.

And so he went over to that man's house, And he came out with a handful of pure gold nuggets.

I mean, all the rocks he had, you know, he just picked up off the trail or whatever.

He ran all the way home and he went into the door of his house and he said, honey, we're rich, we're rich, we're rich.

And he told her this story and as he showed the bucket to her, There was only 2 or 3 nuggets left out of the handful.

Well, he was in such a hurry and his bucket was so full of the other rocks that a lot of the gold, most of the gold, fell out.

He went back to try and find them, but of course they were gone.

And so they went on with life until things started to get a little bit tight.

You know, she said, that friend of yours was so eager to give you that pure gold, maybe if you go back and just simply ask him, he might give you another handful.

So as time went by, he went back to his friend and sure enough, he was just as eager as the first time, brought him a handful of rocks and he put them in his bucket and he ran all the way home, same thing.

Well, in this illustration, this went on.

Every 6 months or so, he'd go back and get more gold nuggets and he'd lose most of them.

And eventually, he came back to his friend after doing this multiple occasion, his friend said, can I level with you?

You know, if you want, you could dump out your bucket of other rocks, and I'd be more than happy to fill your whole bucket with gold.

I mean, they have memories of the past, and this 1 was with me through thick and thin, and this 1 I gathered here and gathered there, and they're just so precious to me.

I don't know if I could sleep at night if I didn't have my rocks." But over time he thought about it and thought about it and thought about it and eventually he decided it's time.

So he went out in some corner of the woods someplace And it was hard, but he dumped out all of his rocks.

And he went back to the man, he says, I have an empty bucket.

And he came with handful after handful of pure gold and filled his bucket and he went home and he had plenty for the family.

Now you understand this is an illustration.

But from that time on, this guy kept, all he could talk about were the incredible bucket of gold that he had been given and that he received, and he never looked back.

I think you probably have an idea of where I'm going.

As Christians who come to church, who pay our tithe, Do we ever hang on to things?

Are there pet sins, pet forms of entertainment, pet forms of music, you know, pet rocks that we hang on to and cling to?

James 4, 7, we claim it often, it says, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Have you ever felt like there was a rock, something in your life that you needed to get rid of, but it was just too precious to you, and you had the hardest time giving it up and you tried over and over and maybe even claimed this verse, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

I know I've tried it many times and it doesn't seem to work.

You see, I thought victory looked like something like listing your bad habits on the chalkboard and picking the worst sin, and that 1 would of course be at the top, and striving to overcome that 1 sin in my life, and then as soon as I got rid of that 1, I'd go to the next 1 and the next 1 and so on.

But it never seemed to work so well for me.

Because I would work on that 1 particular sin while I was picking up 3 or 4 others.

And when I mastered in 1 area, I would have just another right behind it.

I learned very quickly, and maybe you've learned this too, that my promises to God Were like ropes of sand have you ever felt that way?

Like ropes of sand But you know if you take that very simple verse that we quote often resist the devil and he will flee from you We're only quoting half the verse Don't believe me look it up James 4 7.

There's another part of this verse that we don't often quote.

It says, therefore, submit to God, period.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

If you really study the Bible through, it's not about resisting in my own strength and in my own power, but it's about submitting to God first.

And if I don't submit to God first, I'm gonna be hopelessly trying to resist the devil.

You may wanna jot some of these down for later.

I don't know, many of these you already know.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.

It says, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

So if I'm going to stand against the devil, first I have to put on the armor of Christ.

Galatians 5.16 says, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Romans 12, 1 and 2, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, that's the submission piece, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

And then as Ivan read, thank you Ivan, Galatians 2 20, I have been crucified with Christ.

It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Yet over and over, I'm not going to get anywhere if I don't first submit.

Testimonies for the Church, volume 7, page 17.

Testimonies for the church, volume 7, page 17.

Yet really more invincible than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on the merits of the Savior." Isn't that beautiful?

Love Came Down

Where are you going to spend Christmas this year?

Is there that family member that you're dreading?

After 3 days, fish and family start to stink?

No, I'm very blessed and have a wonderful family.

And thank you for your help today, that was wonderful.

This picture doesn't exactly look like Christmas cozy to me.

My son Matthew has this little place under a piece of furniture that he's put Christmas trees and a little cabinet and an old car and some lights I think on the tree.

It was the first lunatic asylum for the city of New York, the first municipal mental hospital in the country.

Now we don't really use that word in titles anymore, lunatic, instead we say things more like mentally ill.

Or, But then it was not mentally ill, it was lunatic or deranged or unpredictable or dangerous.

Something had to be done with these people.

And so the city of New York decided to set up the Blackwell Island Asylum, part of a larger complex of city buildings on the island, including 1 that was a prison there on the island.

So you had all of these people there on the island.

Here is, it was supposed to be, as I said, a state of the art facility.

So it was this nice cathedral or whatever you call this, winding staircase.

I think that's a Christmas tree down there at the bottom is what it looks like to me.

And it may have started with noble intentions, but by the early 1800s, New York City had become the largest urban area in the United States.

The population of the city was heavily bolstered by immigration and industrialization, And so as a result, there was a large number of poor and mentally ill people whose care fell to the responsibility of the city.

So they opened what they called state of the art institution in 1839 with the most progressive treatment methods available.

Well, very soon it was anything but state of the art.

Those running it, I don't know if they had so much funding for each individual that was there, exactly how it went.

Maybe they got more for the number of people that they had there, but very quickly, the quality of the place shifted.

Patients were fed rotting and stinking food.

Some were guarded nearly all day long and they had to sit on these benches from 6 in the morning until 8 at night.

No talking, no getting up, no ideas of what's happening around them.

They simply had to sit there in quiet and in silence and receive this type of treatment day after day after day.

This facility was built to accommodate 630 people, but by 1870 it had doubled to 1, 300 people.

As I mentioned, poor diet, just general uncleanliness.

And so this caused outbreaks of sickness and disease and other forms of abuse.

Sadly, over 80% of those that were here were considered immigrants.

Most of which could not speak the language and so they were labeled as insane and sent to this place.

Charles Dickens got to visit this site at 1 point and this is what he said, everything had a lounging listless madhouse air which was very painful.

The moping idiot cowering down with long disheveled hair.

The gibbering maniac with his hideous laugh and pointed finger.

He goes on, the vacant eye, the fierce wild face, the glooming picking of the hands and lips and munching of the nails.

They were all there without disguise in naked ugliness and horror.

So where are you going to spend Christmas?

Well all of that changed as again more publicity but it was 1 person in particular, Nellie Bly in 1887.

There was even pages and pictures on different periodicals of the time.

The New York Times ran some things, but when Nellie Bly did something that was unheard of, everything changed.

This young girl at 23 years old, a female reporter, decided to go undercover and pretend that she herself was mentally insane.

Some of you out there could probably pull that off too.

So she goes into this place to see what it's like and listen to what she said.

From the moment I entered into the insane ward on the island, I made no attempt to keep up the assumed role of insanity.

I talked and acted just as I do in ordinary life yet strange to say the more Sanely, I talked and acted the crazier.

I was thought to be by all Can you imagine 23 years old being there on that island Talking and acting in the same way and everybody says boy.

This 1 is really a special case They think they know what's going on.

They must really have it bad After a few days she was ready to go But she couldn't find her way out.

She says, what expecting torture would produce insanity quicker than this treatment?

As she tasted the food, as she had to sit on those cold benches, as she perhaps slept on the floor, she said, you can come into this place sane and very quickly become insane.

I imagine there were days she thought that was exactly what was happening.

The expert physicians, she wrote, take a perfectly sane and healthy woman, shut her up and make her sit from 6 a.m.

Do not allow her to talk or move during these hours.

Give her no reading and let her know nothing of the world or of its doings.

Give her bad food and harsh treatment and see how long it will take to make her insane.

Finally, after 10 days, Joseph Pulitzer, the 1 who put her on this assignment, was able to contact, I don't know if it was attorneys or what all, to pull her out.

And she reported, and this hit the news, and it was a big story.

Finally something was going to be done about this place.

Her report got the world's attention and she eventually put it in this book, 10 Days in a Madhouse by Nellie Bly.

And as a result of her reporting, several things happened.

1, the city ordered a grand investigation, if you will, into what was going on.

Secondly, the city of New York invested 1 million into the facility.

Put it into my little calculator of what it would be today, that's about 17 million to try and improve what was going on there.

They released immigrant patients who were admitted simply because they could not be understood very badly needed to be done and they fired numerous staff All because this 1 woman was willing to risk what it was like on the inside, to see things firsthand.

1 could say that Jesus entered the world 2000 years ago into again what we could call a madhouse.

Galilee was ruled by a paranoid tyrant who ordered the execution of every child under the age of 2.

Nazareth had such a poor reputation it said, can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Back to Menu

Presenter

David Wright

All Recordings

Keys for an Exceptional New Year

28m

New Power For The New Year

16m

Love Came Down

21m

Not My Problem

30m

Who Desires Mercy

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How Can We Stir the People

43m

Reformation or Rebellion

45m

What are you Restless About

25m

Adventist Education: Is it Really Worth It?

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When the Truth Stagnates

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The Purpose Of Life

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Will You Be A Fountain Of Life

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