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A New Beginning...Again |
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Location: Blogs Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 12/19/2007 12:44 PM | Greetings!
I bet you have heard the old brainteaser that asks, “Do Christmas and New Years Day ever fall in the same year?” Our first inclination may be to say no, but of course they do – every year! Still, there is something appealing to me to look at Christmas as happening “this year”, while New Years Day will always be “next year.” And this is not just because I am a baseball fan and “next year” is the eternal cry of everyone who didn’t win the World Series this year. (Although, we Detroit Tigers fans have every reason to believe that “next year” is finally going to be “the year”. Witness the trade that brought Miguel Cabrera AND Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers last week…it has Peter Gammons calling the Tigers “a modern era ‘Murderers Row’…the team to beat in 2008.” But, I digress…)
There is no doubt that the new year offers us a psychological new start in lots of ways. New Years resolutions abound on January 1st as we all try to use this important, if artificial, starting point. In reality, it’s just another day, but still, the possibilities that loom are endless.
Believe me, I am not trying to talk anyone out using the New Year as a new beginning. If it works, great, go for it. But I would like to gently remind you that the more powerful new beginning is celebrated the week before New Years Day. On Christmas we celebrate the fact that we as humans are given an opportunity to have a relationship with God. A relationship built on the fact that Jesus was born, lived, ministered, died and was resurrected for us. A relationship that allows us to bask in the promise of God’s love and God’s presence. A relationship that cannot be broken: no matter how many times we may turn away from God, God will never turn away from us. That, to me, is why it is so great that New Years follows Christmas so closely. In our humanness, we seek to be the best we can be, to put the mistakes of the past behind us, to forge ahead, a new person. Christmas offers us the opportunity to come into the relationship that allows us that new start…and not just once, but twice, three times, as many times as we need. And then, New Years Day comes along and gives us a starting point, a marker for becoming that new person that God would have us be.
As you plan your New Years resolutions, remember that new beginnings are the specialty of our God as revealed to us in Jesus Christ. And don’t get discouraged if your resolutions don’t work out right away. Try again, and again, and again. After all, we are human, right?
As I write what will most likely be the last Midweek Missive of 2007, I wish you a most wonderful Christmas full of new beginnings and possibilities, and the hope that 2008 will see all those possibilities become reality.
For updated prayer list and calendar, go to www.brookhavenchristian.org and follow the appropriate links.
Special prayers:
• Marc Burch came through shoulder surgery well and is recuperating at home.
• Cynthia Freeman got much welcomed positive news from her doctor and from her daughter Laura, who will start a new job after the first of the year.
• David Heaton’s friend Steve Caswell is at M.D. Anderson in Houston seeking treatment for multiple cancers. Please keep Steve and his whole family in your prayer.s.
Announcements:
• Don’t forget the Pot Luck Fellowship Breakfast this Sunday, December 23rd during the Sunday School hour beginning at 9:45 a.m. Bring a breakfast dish to pass and join us for good food and good fellowship.
• Our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service will be held on Monday December 24th at 6:00 p.m. Come join us for one of the most beautiful services of the year.
I hope you can join us for worship this Sunday December 23rd, the fourth Sunday of Advent: Love Sunday. The scripture is Luke 2:1-20 and the sermon is titled, “When Love Came to Town.” Have a great rest of the week.
Be peaceful,
Brad
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