Pastor Rajan

Paul closed his letter in this benediction:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”
‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

This letter is a closing.

God also has a beginning blessing.
As we enter into 2023, there is a beginning blessing for all of us.

In the beginning of the year and for the rest of the days of 2023, God has a blessing for us. They are real. And that’s what we want to intentionally invoke over you today.

“You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭65‬:‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.”
‭‭Job‬ ‭8‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
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“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭6‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The purpose of this message is to start this year with the blessings of God (Eph 1:3)

The Lord will bless you and keep you and no curses will prosper against you. (Job 1:10, Psalm 121: 7-8)

The Lord make His face shine upon you means may the Lord make your life favorable. (Psalm 30:5-7, Psalm 5:12)

The Lord be gracious to you. There is no assurance we will be fully obedient throughout the year but His grace is present even in those situations (Hebrews 4:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 37: 23-24)

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you means the Lord will be mindful of you and hasn’t forgotten you. Rejected by man but accepted by God. Forgotten by man but remembered by God. (Isaiah 49: 15-16, Psalm 115: 12-15)

Knowing God is mindful of you and wants to bless you, our natural response should be to love the Lord with our first love.

Pastor Derrick

There is no better way to respond to His love than to come into His presence.

The one thing we can do is to respond to the love of God. That we would be a man and woman so in love with Jesus.

David was called a man after God’s heart. That we would have a desire to be called the same by God. To go after Jesus with every part of our hearts.

The Word for 2023 is Jesus and for every year on is Jesus. When we make Jesus the main thing, everything else will be added to us.(Matthew 6:33)

God is extending His invitation to return to the first love. We need to say sorry for taking His grace for granted.

Sometimes we get caught up with our successes and growth that we forget about God. But who we are today and where we are is all because of His grace.

Without His grace, we will be nothing. It is unearned and undeserved. (John 3:17)

One touch from the Lord and things can start moving and change and impossibilities bow.

God loves us and even in correction, He loves us.

David always chooses to return to the love of God. He always returns to Jesus. (Psalm 139: 7-10)

We are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)

Can we make a recommitment to Jesus? Make Him the main purpose and direction (Psalm 23:1)

Three Rs Return to The First Love
Receive His love
Respond to His love
Reciprocate His love