December 28th, 2025
Discernment: Living Wisely in the New Year!
Part 1: Ending the Year with Discernment
1 Corinthians 2
Pastor Ray-Ann Dela Fuente
December 28, 2025
Memory Verse:
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
Introduction:
Welcome to the River of Faith! Today is the last Sunday of 2025. Let's give all the glory to God for allowing us to finish the year with much blessings and overflowing grace!
Some say that it is not about how you start but how you finish. Some may also say that if you start the wrong way that you will also not finish the right way. How are we going to end this year? How are we going to start the brand new one? Today I'd like to start a new series I entitled "Discernment: Living Wisely in the New Year!"
Main Pointers:
“When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
1 Corinthians 2:1-9 NLT
1. Trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
A. The word "discern" comes from the Greek word "anakrino" which means to examine, to separate, or to distinguish. Discernment is the work of the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to make proper determinations.
B. Discernment is directly related to the wisdom from the Word of God. As the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that the wisdom he brings is nothing like the wisdom of the world. (Stephen Hawking)
C. “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.”
1 Corinthians 1:27 NLT
2. A discerning mind can distinguish right from wrong beyond what is seen or heard.
“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.”
1 Corinthians 2:10-14 NLT
A. According to Paul a person who does not have the Spirit of God has no interest whatsoever in the things of God. It is foolishness to them. But it is the Holy Spirit that gives a spiritual person the right discernment.
B. “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:1 NLT
3. Christians can make wise decisions if they have proper discernment.
"Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 NLT
A. As Christians we are called to make wise decisions in life and moral judgements. This is the evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. He is the one that is giving us proper discernment.
B. “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,"
Philippians 1:9-10 NKJV
Conclusion:
We are ending the year in just a few days. What mistakes did we make this year that we can honestly say I will not make again next year. What bad decisions did we make this year that we can honestly say I will not make anymore next year. We cannot keep making the same mistakes and find an excuse for them. We need wisdom from God. We need the right discernment from the Holy Spirit. Let's end the this year with discernment. Let's start the brand new one with discernment. Happy New Year River of Faith!
Part 1: Ending the Year with Discernment
1 Corinthians 2
Pastor Ray-Ann Dela Fuente
December 28, 2025
Memory Verse:
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
Introduction:
Welcome to the River of Faith! Today is the last Sunday of 2025. Let's give all the glory to God for allowing us to finish the year with much blessings and overflowing grace!
Some say that it is not about how you start but how you finish. Some may also say that if you start the wrong way that you will also not finish the right way. How are we going to end this year? How are we going to start the brand new one? Today I'd like to start a new series I entitled "Discernment: Living Wisely in the New Year!"
Main Pointers:
“When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
1 Corinthians 2:1-9 NLT
1. Trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
A. The word "discern" comes from the Greek word "anakrino" which means to examine, to separate, or to distinguish. Discernment is the work of the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to make proper determinations.
B. Discernment is directly related to the wisdom from the Word of God. As the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that the wisdom he brings is nothing like the wisdom of the world. (Stephen Hawking)
C. “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.”
1 Corinthians 1:27 NLT
2. A discerning mind can distinguish right from wrong beyond what is seen or heard.
“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.”
1 Corinthians 2:10-14 NLT
A. According to Paul a person who does not have the Spirit of God has no interest whatsoever in the things of God. It is foolishness to them. But it is the Holy Spirit that gives a spiritual person the right discernment.
B. “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:1 NLT
3. Christians can make wise decisions if they have proper discernment.
"Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 NLT
A. As Christians we are called to make wise decisions in life and moral judgements. This is the evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. He is the one that is giving us proper discernment.
B. “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,"
Philippians 1:9-10 NKJV
Conclusion:
We are ending the year in just a few days. What mistakes did we make this year that we can honestly say I will not make again next year. What bad decisions did we make this year that we can honestly say I will not make anymore next year. We cannot keep making the same mistakes and find an excuse for them. We need wisdom from God. We need the right discernment from the Holy Spirit. Let's end the this year with discernment. Let's start the brand new one with discernment. Happy New Year River of Faith!
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