As a minister, the first Sunday of the New Year is traditionally one of my favorite Sundays of the year. Through the years, I have enjoyed the freshness, excitement and enthusiasm of leading the church in beginning a New Year with new hopes and expectations. The church seems poised and ready for action. The holidays are past, most folks are back in place and ready to settle into meaningful activities and life’s rhythms. Bible studies are easier to set up and teach in January through March than in most other times of the year. While most churches will suffer through a few weeks (or months) of colder weather as the year begins, January introduces the “Golden Season” of the church year. If a church cannot reach out and increase attendance in the freshness of spring and the promise of resurrection which focuses in the Easter season, that church likely has deep-seated problems which may eventually lead to the end of its life cycle.
Thus, for me, the first Sunday of the New Year is right up there with the beginning of the new church year in August or September, Friends Days, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Mother’s Day. Celebrations of special events connect hearts. To encourage such celebrations, a church does well to plan six or eight “super Sundays” during the year, and in most of my ministries, the first Sunday of the New Year was one of those special days.
Since 2000, the church here has participated in a combined area-wide worship on the first Sunday of the New Year. It is a wonderful event, even though attendance has seemingly waned a little over the years. The event has several positive dynamics as it brings together area congregations. It also has several negatives. It occurs away from the church building, and at a little distance from the city. As a result, some members do not attend. The event always uses a guest speaker, and as a result the sermons have not always focused on the specific needs of the local churches as the New Year begins. Through the years, it has not been easy to get visitors to attend and the focus has not been evangelistic. Further, the assembly of Christians from various congregations has made more difficult a celebratory focus–whether on the victories of the past year or the unique and specific challenges of the coming year. Because no contribution is collected, the church begins the new budget year with a deficit.
So here we are on the first Sunday of the New Year. I anticipate that the new beginnings I anticipate today will be personal more than corporate. I am committed to my resolutions (see my December 31 blog). I eagerly anticipate what God has in store in the coming year as we seek to share the gospel and share our lives in serving others. The good news of the gospel is that new beginnings are always possible. I hope someone reminds you of that today as you worship, recognizing and rejoicing in the eternal God who gives us eternal life through his Son, Jesus Chrsit!