Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E43 | Everyday Eurasia | Chad Gibbons

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S1-E43 | Everyday Eurasia | Chad Gibbons · Eurasia Region Podcast

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  Hello and welcome to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Faith for Every Day. Each day we are on a journey
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  with Jesus in our churches, our homes, our workplaces, and in so
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  many different places around the world.
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  Is it beautiful that no matter where we are, we can walk with
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  him every single day? Jesus is the one who connects us
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  all and stands at the very center of our lives day after
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  day. Through this podcast, you'll
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  hear voices from across the region sharing devotionals that
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  reminds us of God's presence in our everyday moments.
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  This week, we'll be journeying together with Chet Gibbons.
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  Chet serves as the Nazarene Discipleship International
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  coordinator for the Eurasia Region.
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  As a missionary, he lives and serves alongside his wife
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  Crystal, from the regional office in Businger, Germany.
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  Today, Chad will be thinking with us about the new year that
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  is in front of us. Hello everyone, My name is Chad
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  Gibbons. I'm the discipleship coordinator
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  here on the Eurasia region. And happy 2026, it's the start
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  of a brand new year. What do we as Christians do
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  differently than the rest of the world at the start of the new
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  year? Do we make more resolutions than
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  everyone else? Is that what we're supposed to
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  do? Maybe we make holier
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  resolutions, make holier promises.
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  One of the things John Wesley taught his churches, John Wesley
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  is one of our theological forerunners.
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  One of the things he encouraged all Christians to do and all of
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  his churches to do is before you make more promises this year,
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  let's renew the promise that we've already made with God.
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  That's the most important thing we can do with the start of the
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  year. And so John Wesley wrote up a
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  covenant renewal service for his churches that his churches have
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  been using for for many years. And I adapted his words.
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  And I thought we would have here at the start of the new year a
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  covenant renewal podcast. And so we're going to
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  participate in that today together.
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  And these are the words of John Wesley that I'll just be reading
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  for us today. He says, My dear friends, we
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  must first settle the most important question we can ask
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  ourselves here at the start of the new year.
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  To put it bluntly, we can either choose Christ in his ways and be
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  blessed forever, or we can refuse Christ and be lost
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  forever. So here, while you're listening
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  to this podcast, the most important thing you can do is
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  make your choice. Christ stands before you with
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  his yoke, his cross, and his crown.
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  But the devil also stands before you with wealth, pleasure, and a
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  curse. If you choose the crown,
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  remember this the very day you take the crown of Christ, you
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  must also accept the cross of Christ and the yoke of Christ,
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  the service and the suffering of Jesus that always comes with it.
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  Don't delay in making this decision.
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  If you think you're undecided today, I want to tell you that
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  you are already decided. If you're undecided about Jesus,
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  if you're undecided about this most important question, I want
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  to tell you that you have decided on indecision.
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  If you remain undecided for Jesus, you have decided against
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  Him. The 1st and most important thing
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  you can do right now is examine your heart.
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  Don't do anything else this year until this is settled once and
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  for all in your heart and in your soul, and see to it that
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  you make the right choice. But make sure you also
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  understand the question whether we already know ourselves to be
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  forgiven or whether we still feel far from God.
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  We all must confess our complete and total dependence on Him.
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  Do you deeply sense your sin and your helplessness without
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  Christ? When someone first becomes aware
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  of their sin and the danger their soul is in, they tend to
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  look for help. But they first look for help
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  everywhere except Christ. We try to quit our sins.
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  We try to. We try praying more, we try
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  listening to sermons, we try taking the sacraments.
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  We look for salvation in these things.
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  And though all of them have their place, none of them can
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  save us. Even our New Year's resolutions
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  and our religious duties and our church duties cannot rescue us.
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  If you're depending on any of them to save you, they would
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  like to tell you instead, you are knocking at the wrong door.
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  Salvation is not found in US. And so I have to ask you this
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  question because I love you. Will you stop trying to save
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  yourself this year? Will you stop putting your trust
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  in anything but Christ? You must let go of your sins.
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  Of course you must. But just as important is to let
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  go of your own righteousness. Christ didn't come to call the
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  righteous, but sinners to repentance.
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  He came to seek and save the lost, not the found.
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  This is what it means to come to Christ as your priest.
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  As your high Priest, you come to Him as the one mediator between
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  you and the Father. When we come before Him, we must
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  renounce all trust in our own righteousness.
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  You can pray to him like this, and please join me if you
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  believe it. Lord Jesus, here I am, a lost
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  Sinner, an enemy to God under His judgment.
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  Will you take me as I am? Will you reconcile me to God and
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  save my soul? Do not refuse me, Lord, for if
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  you refuse me, I have nowhere else to go.
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  God, if I came to you in my own name, you would have every right
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  to ignore me. But I come to you now at your
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  command. Do not reject me, Lord.
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  Help me, Lord. Save me.
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  I come to you, Lord. I believe I cast myself entirely
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  upon Your grace and your mercy. I trust your saving death alone.
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  Do not refuse me. I have nowhere else to turn.
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  I will remain right here. I will trust you.
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  I will rest in you, and I will risk everything in my life on
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  you. On you alone.
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  I place my hope for forgiveness, for life, and for salvation.
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  And if I perish, then I will perish on your shoulders.
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  If I sink, then I will sink in your ship.
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  If I die, then I will die at your door.
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  Do not send me away, Lord, for I will not leave.
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  Thank you for listening to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Fate for everyday. For more Everyday Stories,
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  subscribe on this podcast channel, follow our socials,
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  For our newsletter and further information about the Eurasia
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  region, visit our website, eurasiaregion.org.