The Sunday after Christmas brings a perfect question: how do we actually move forward when a year—especially a heavy one like 2024—is behind us? Pastor Josh White walks through Philippians 3 to show that moving forward means intentionally leaving three things in the past: our mistakes, our seasons of spiritual stagnation, and our negative focus.
The Calendar Question
Before diving into the main passage, Pastor Josh offered a quick history lesson: our modern calendar (BC/AD) wasn’t invented until AD 525, and it wasn’t accepted worldwide until 1582. Even the “1” in AD 1 is off by at least four years—King Herod died in 4 BC, and Christ was born before that. Technically, this Wednesday isn’t really 2025—but we’re stuck with it. The point: our calendar is a human invention. What matters is how we approach the year ahead.
Looking back on 2024, it was a heavy year for Grace Bible Church. More deaths, more health crises, more relational struggles than normal. And we all know the feeling—we expect January 1st to be a reset button, as if problems are neatly contained in a calendar year. They aren’t. But the new year still gives us a natural opportunity to reflect on where we’ve been and where God is calling us next.
Our Main Passage: Philippians 3
Paul wrote Philippians from prison—a difficult year by any measure—but the tone is remarkably joyful. That’s because his hope wasn’t in his circumstances. In Philippians 3:1, he writes:
“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.”
Then in Philippians 3:12–16, Paul gives us his mindset for moving forward:
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own… one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on to the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 3:12–14
Here are three things we need to leave behind so we can press on.
1. Forget Our Mistakes
God has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). But sometimes even believers don’t accept that forgiveness—it keeps us in bondage. We dwell on our past mistakes, both sinful ones and merely wasteful ones. We replay them. We let them define us.
Paul certainly had things to regret. He had persecuted the church. He had been blind to who Jesus really was. But in 1 Timothy 1:13–16, he writes:
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life.”
— 1 Timothy 1:15–16
Paul didn’t let his past handicap him. He forgave himself—not because he deserved it, but because Christ had already forgiven him. The same is true for us. Christ has forgiven us so that we can live, pressing forward.
As a fitting illustration, Pastor Josh pointed to the Magi—the wise men who traveled from the East to worship Jesus (Matthew 2). When they went home, they had no idea that Herod would murder all the boys in Bethlehem age two and under. If they had known the cost, would they still have gone? The question is pointless—they didn’t know. But it illustrates a deeper truth: we often play the “if only I had known” game with our past. God doesn’t show us the future, and that’s mercy. Paul refused to be trapped by that game. He chose to move on.
Just as dangerous as forgetting our mistakes is forgetting our successes. When we focus only on past victories, we either become lazy (“I already crossed the finish line”) or discouraged (“I can’t duplicate that”). Either way, it’s debilitating. Paul pressed on—not backward, not stationary, but forward.
2. Forget Seasons of Unproductiveness in Our Faith
A survey of 4,000 people found that 43% give up on their New Year’s resolutions after just one month. After three months, only 10% are still going. We all know how it goes: we start with energy and zeal, we try to serve and mature, and when we don’t see the progress we hoped for, we give up.
The Apostle Peter gives us encouraging words in 2 Peter 1:3–11:
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness… for this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”
— 2 Peter 1:3–7
The key word is practice. Other translations say “do these things.” We have to choose, every day, to put these qualities into practice. When we stop practicing them, we naturally fill the void with the wrong things instead of Christ. Verse 10 makes this clear:
“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fail.”
— 2 Peter 1:10
The answer to an unproductive season isn’t to wallow in guilt—it’s to get back to practice. To put one foot in front of the other. To supplement faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and keep going.
3. Forget Having a Negative Focus
This is convicting because all of us struggle with it. We dwell on negative thoughts, especially during an election year or a difficult season. And the more we focus on negative thoughts, the more unproductive we become in our faith. More importantly, that negativity puts us into a mental prison—and we look for comfort in all the wrong places, often in sin.
Peter’s instruction in 1 Peter 1:13 is direct:
“Prepare your minds for action, and be sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
— 1 Peter 1:13
The battle starts in the mind. When we focus on negative things, it leads to grumbling, complaining, arguing, judging, and criticizing. But when we set our hope fully on Christ—when we focus on the future we have in Him—our thoughts and actions align with that hope.
Ephesians 4:17–24 gives the practical “how”:
“Be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
— Ephesians 4:23–24
We need to be renewed in the spirit of our minds daily. And Colossians 3:1–17 is Pastor Josh’s call to close the year—setting our minds on the realities of heaven, putting to death what is earthly, and clothing ourselves in love.
Closing Challenge
Here’s the good news for everyone who is in Christ: you are forgiven, your future is secure, and it is going to be wonderful—better than we can ever imagine. That is the calling we pursue.
But we pursue it by letting go. We leave behind our mistakes (we’re forgiven). We leave behind seasons of being unproductive (we practice what God calls us to). And we free our minds from negative attitudes (we set our hope fully on Christ).
As we close the chapter on 2024 and enter into 2025, Pastor Josh closed with 2 Peter 3:18:
“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.”
— 2 Peter 3:18
Scripture References
- Philippians 3:1, 12–16 — Forgetting the past and pressing forward
- 1 Timothy 1:13–16 — Paul’s past mistakes and Christ’s forgiveness
- Galatians 1:13–14 — Paul’s former life and his calling
- 2 Peter 1:3–11 — Supplementing faith with virtue and practicing godliness
- 1 Peter 1:13 — Preparing our minds and setting our hope on Christ
- Ephesians 4:17–24 — Being renewed in the spirit of our minds
- Colossians 3:1–17 — Setting our minds on heaven and putting on the new self
- 2 Peter 3:18 — Growing in grace and knowledge