One of the foundational principles that I live my life by is the belief that how you END something determines how you are able to START something new.

The way you LEAVE a job will determine how you BEGIN your new job. The way you END one relationship has a bearing on your NEXT relationship. How you TRANSITION OUT from one season will impact the seasons that FOLLOW.

If you LEAVE things undone or unsaid, you risk carrying the weight of those mistakes with you as you move forward. However, if you are aware and work to FINISH WELL, you have a better chance of STARTING WELL in your next endeavor.

I have found this to be true either you are TRANSITIONING OUT of a job or role at work, moving from one level of your relationship to another, graduating from school or wrapping up a program, moving away, or even leaving a church body.

How you END something determines how you are able to START something new.

We have come to the last SUNDAY of 2020… and not a moment too soon. Many of us are ready to leave this dumpster fire of a year behind. We are ready to leave behind the virus, the lock-downs, the physical distancing, the emotional/relational distance we have experienced, the tension and anxiety, the confusion… we are ready to say good-bye to all of it.

The only problem is that just because the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve it doesn’t mean that 2020 simply disappears. Your new “Blessings of Jesus” calendar may role over to January 1st but that doesn’t guarantee that you are prepared to make the transition to 2021.

As a pastor, I care deeply about you and your family as well as your hopes and dreams. That’s why I want to encourage you to do what you can to END the year well so that you may BEGIN the new year well. I believe that the effects of this year will continue to haunt you and hold you back from growth in the future if you don’t handle the transition well. I want to help you faithfully and intentionally work to END 2020 well so that you can begin 2021 with confidence knowing you did all you could do to ensure a great start.

I want to share with you today 3 things you must do in order to end 2020 and start 2021 well.

REVIEW
The first thing you must do is REVIEW this past year. Yes, I want you to review what is quite possibly the worst year of your life. I want you to look back on the good, bad, and ugly of 2020 with clear eyes. I want you to try to remember the things your experienced and the major events of this past year. What happened to you? How did you feel? What positive habits were you able to begin? What negative habits may have held you back?

Lamentations 3:19-24 (NIV) says…
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

We just experienced a year like no other – the bitterness and gall of 2020 was enough to knock many of us down. However, one thing remained constant even in the toilet paper shortages and travel restrictions and that is the STEADFAST LOVE OF THE LORD for you. God’s love, care, concern, provision, presence never went away over the last 12 months. You may not have always been aware of it… you may not have “felt” it… you may have forgotten… but Yahweh was and is and is to come.

Besides some of the questions I encouraged you to ask above, take a few moments over the coming days, get alone with God or gather your family in a time of family worship and study to explore your answers to the following:

– Where did you see God in 2020?
– How was my faith challenged this past year?
– In what ways did I grow in my love and trust for Jesus this year?
– What is my favorite memory of 2020? What is my least favorite moment from this past year?
– In what ways were you challenged in 2020?
– What would you like to leave behind in 2020?
– What would you have God help you change or help you grow in during the coming year?

Reviewing your year is important because you need to ACKNOWLEDGE what happened, pay ATTENTION to significant moments, so you can ADDRESS your growth and set backs more clearly moving forward.

REPAIR
The second thing you must do to END 2020 and START 2021 well is to make every effort to REPAIR any relationship that you know needs attention.

There are different levels of REPAIR…
Some relationships need some attention and maintenance. The relationships need a little CARE and concern so that they can remain healthy.

Some relationships need to be pieced back together. Hurts and Mistakes need to be CORRECTED.

Some relationships need to be wrapped up and put away so that you can move forward. These relationships need proper CLOSURE so that you can both move on.

Matthew 5:23–24 (CSB)
23 So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

When we talk about growing UP, IN, and OUT here at Lakeside we are drawing attention to your most important relationships. We believe that every fully engaged disciple needs a growing relationship with JESUS, with THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU, and OTHERS you come in contact with who need Jesus.

RECOMMIT
We were forced to RESPOND…
We had to generate a lot of energy to REOPEN…
Now is the time to RECOMMIT!

I often wonder how the focus, direction, and motivation for my life would change if I woke up and read the Greatest Commands and the Great Commission every morning and before I went to sleep every night.

Matthew 22:37–40 (NIV)
37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 28:18–20 (CSB)
18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What would it look like if my every thought, decision, and action were influenced by just these 2 passages? How would my attitude change? How would it impact my relationships with others? How would is affect my work, my desires, my entire life?

In 2021, I want to ask you to RECOMMIT to being a disciple of Jesus Christ…

6 Habits of Highly Engaged Disciples
WORSHIP PASSIONATELY
GROW DAILY
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
GIVE GENEROUSLY
JOIN THE MISSION
SHARE THEIR FAITH

These HABITS help to FORM US in the way of Jesus and BIND US together as brothers and sisters. As we Worship, Grow, Love, Give, Join, and Share our HEARTS, SOULS, MINDS, and LIVES are oriented toward King Jesus and life in his kingdom.

Romans 13:11-14 (MSG)
But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!

How you END something determines how you are able to START something new… How will you END 2020?… How will you begin 2021?