So the title that I chose for today's teaching is change based on God's grace.

I chose this title. Again, I'm not that clever, so please don't think that. But I chose this title because here we are on this, our first Sunday in the new year of 2018. And as is oftentimes the case, a new year kind of comes packaged with these resolutions to bring about, you know,

change in our lives and turn over that proverbial new leaf, which for some reason never gets

really turned over or if it does, it doesn't stay turned over that long. Usually for me it's about January

2nd and then everything that I resolved to do and hope to change came to not. Maybe you

do better than I do. But as is often the case, we tend to at a beginning of a new year, want to resolve to,

and well-intentioned, I suppose, to bring about those changes. Have you ever wondered why it is

that those changes never really seem to come to fruition

despite our noblest attempts, our greatest and grandest efforts to bring them about?

Have you ever wondered why it is that those sinful habits seem to persist year in and year out?

Why is it that we can resolve typically at the beginning of a new year to spend more time in God's word and spend more time in prayer.

And for men, we resolve to and desire to be better fathers and better husbands and better Christians and men of God.

And then it seems that we're met with failure.

And it's not long before we fall short.

And then there's the enemy right there, right?

Building this infrastructure of guilt and condemnation, which just serves to take us down even further

into discouragement. And it's such a vicious cycle, isn't it? Where once we fail, we vow to God, you know what, I'm going

to try harder. I will never do that again, or I'm going to do that more, I'm going to

try harder to be better. I just imagine the Lord in his compassion and loving kindness and grace.

Just sort of chuckling, if I can say it that way.

And as if to say,

no you're not,

...