Healthy New Year – 1 – Spiritual Strength: Unlocking the Power of Faith

 

Welcome to Redemption Church of Plano Tx. My name is Chris Fluitt!

 

Happy New Year!

 

RESET BUTTON!
Big Goals.

Reflect & Align Priorities.

Changes

Go Change the World

Something that will help… GET HEALTHY.

A healthy you can accomplish more…

 

Healthy New Year

 

We want this to be your healthiest year.

It is GOD’S WILL for this to be your healthiest year.

 

Our health focus:

Jan 12 – Mental Mastery – Conquering your Thought Battles  

 

January 19 – Body Blueprint – Finding Your Health Design

 

January 26 – Having the Heart, Eyes, & Voice to change your year.

 

Feb 2 – Soul Food – Discover Heath from the Inside Out

 

BE HERE!
INVITE!
GET HEALTHY!

 

Today – Spiritual Strength: Unlocking the Power of Faith

 

My Life is busy.
I struggle to find time…

  -To go to the gym.

  -Sit back and enjoy life.

  -Do the things I love… hiking, movies,  music

 

I also struggle to find time for faith.

Faith is my day job… but I find myself trapped in…

  -Email, spread sheets, budgets, meetings.

  -Social media pages

  -The car dropping kids off at school.

  -Phone calls – Spam Likely

 

It is easy to go your whole day (or week) without thinking and talking to God.

 

I remember sitting in a Starbucks one day… Staring at my phone as it buzzed…
Multitasking childcare and social media…
Trying to write a sermon…
…feeling completely overwhelmed.

I was doing all the “right” religious things, but something was missing.

 

I wasn’t experiencing the peace that faith was supposed to bring. I was not healthy.

 

Can we relate?

 

We live in a world that’s constantly demanding our attention.

 

Recent studies…

2019 – The average person checks their phone 96 times per day. That’s once every 10 minutes! (Asurion.com)

 

2023 – The average person checks their phone 144 times a day. That’s once every 6.7 minutes! (Exploding Topics)

 

The Trend is Real!
We are too busy to be healthy… too busy to be spiritual.

HONESTY TIME – For many of us, faith feels like one more thing on an already overwhelming to-do list.

 

65 % and 25 %

Studies show that while 65% of Americans identify as Christians, only about 25% actively practice their faith beyond Sunday morning. (Pew Research 2019 & 2020)

 

We might be this statistic?

 

You might be thinking, “I believe in God, but what does that actually mean for my Tuesday afternoon?”

 

“How does faith help me deal with my difficult coworker or my anxiety about the future?”

We have the title of Christian.
Do we have the life of Christ?

 

Here’s what’s fascinating about Jesus – He never intended faith to be a Sunday-only experience.

 

Jesus reframes how we think about spiritual health.

 

Spiritual Health: From Obligation to Passion
Matthew 22

 

The religious teacher (Pharisees) taught obligation… RULES, RULES, RULES.

 

One day a pharisee asks Jesus what religious RULE is the most important.

 

Matthew 22:37-39

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.”

 

Notice: Jesus was asked about the RULES.

613 rules in the Old Testament.

 

Jesus shifts from OBLIGATION to PASSION

Spiritual Health: From Obligation to Passion
Matthew 22

 

Spiritual health is NOT about keeping rules… but about love.

Obligation…

I must NOT murder – thou shalt not murder.
Passion…
I love God and others… out of love I will not murder… instead I love.

 

Obligation…

I must go to church…
I must give…
I must not cuss…

 

Passion…
I love to go to Church… worship God, serve others out of love.

 

I love to Give… Thank you God for my job! I trust you God. I want to help others.

 

Instead of cursing others… I will bless others. The power of life and death are in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21)… I want to speak LIFE AT ALL TIMES.

 

LISTEN – Whatever you seek to accomplish in 2025. Find a way to shift from OBLIGATION to PASSION.

 

Health:
I have to diet and go to the gym… I get to go… be healthier, live longer, enjoy others… healthy food is better.

 

Career/Education:
I have to go to work/school… Thank you God for the opportunity. Boss/Teacher may be a jerk… they probably only know obligation. Help me show them love.

 

Let’s look at another powerful statement from Jesus.

 

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”

 

Spiritual Shift:

– Connection, not perfection

– Daily passion, not religious obligation

– RESULTS! “fruit” from staying connected

 

Connection with Jesus… The Holy Spirit… THIS IS SPIRITUAL HEALTH.

 

How do I Connect?

Does that seem like a tough question?
Let’s simplify.

Belief & Behavior 

 

Jesus’ ministry is about belief & behavior.

 

Jesus highlighted faith and simple belief.

 

BUT JESUS did not just stop with belief.
Jesus insisted that we behave like we believe.

 

Real powerful connection with Jesus – We believe what He says… and we do it.

 

James, the half-brother of Jesus says it this way…

 

James 2:17 “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

 

Health check…

“I have trouble believing at times, but I am trying to forgive others, serve others, and honor God.”

“I have no trouble believing, but I refuse to forgive some people…”

 

If you really want to be healthy Spiritually it will require belief and behavior.

 

Belief & Behavior 

 

I believe You, Jesus.
Because I believe, I will do what You say.

 

Turn your belief into behavior

 

Every time you do this… you are connecting to the vine… he is producing life.

 

So what does this mean for you? Here are three specific ways to build spiritual strength by connecting belief to action:

 

1. Start Your Day With Stillness

   – Before touching your phone

   – Time of silence with God

   – Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God”

 

2. Not from obligation… but from passionate belief

   – Eliminate obligation

   – “Because I believe I will…”

 – Serve, forgive, share faith, pray, give…

   – Quick check-in throughout your day

 – “Jesus, this is me, believing in you.”

 

3. Connect Faith to Action

– Read your Bible. Whatever Jesus tells you to do… you do.

 

Here’s what’s exciting about this room – we’re all at different points in our spiritual journey, but we’re all seeking something real.

 

Studies show that people who actively practice their faith report 30% higher levels of life satisfaction and greater resilience in facing challenges. (Pew Research, BMC Psychology)

 

Imagine… What could happen if we, as a community, started treating spiritual health not as a Sunday obligation but as a daily source of strength.

 

Imagine… What if we supported each other in building these habits?

 

Spiritual strength, like physical strength, grows one rep at a time. You don’t have to revolutionize your entire spiritual life this week. Just start with one small step.

 

Call to Action

1) Connect in Passion

 -Repent of obligation mindset

 -Actively Love God & Others

2) Turn daily belief into daily behavior

–      “Because I believe in you Jesus I will  _______.”

3) Start now

 -Pray & Worship