New Year’s Resolutions

A single shaft of golden light pierces a darkened room, illuminating a worn leather bible resting on a simple wooden desk. the bible is open to a bookmarked passage, and a small potted sapling sits beside it, its tender green leaves brushing against the weathered pages.

Beyond Resolutions: Grounding Spiritual Discipline in the Gospel

The sermon is a well-intentioned, topical message on spiritual disciplines, using Mark 1:35-39 as a proof-text for a New Year's resolution theme. While orthodox in its affirmations, its hermeneutic is fundamentally moralistic, presenting Jesus primarily as an example to imitate rather than grounding the call to discipline in the believer's union with Christ and the power of the gospel. The extremely low ratio of Scripture reading to commentary further weakens its homiletical foundation, resulting in a 'try harder' message that starves the flock of the very grace needed to obey.

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A dense forest, illuminated by shafts of golden sunlight piercing through the canopy. in the distance, a lone structure stands at the edge of the forest, poised to either venture deeper into the woods or turn back towards civilization. the structure is shrouded in shadow, with only the faintest shadow visible.

Beyond Resolutions: Finding the True Power for Spiritual Growth

The sermon uses Matthew 22 (The Great Commandment) as a text to frame a New Year's call for spiritual commitment, using a gym membership as the primary analogy. While well-intentioned, the message functions as moralism, presenting the highest demand of the Law (love God perfectly) as a goal to be achieved through human effort and discipline. It lacks a sufficient grounding in the Gospel, failing to articulate that the power for sanctification comes from Christ's finished work, not human resolve. This results in a 'try harder' message that can lead to either pride or despair.

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