Happy New Year!!! I hope and pray 2019 is a great year in your life.
Since 1970, the first Sunday in January has been observed liturgically as Epiphany Sunday although January 6th is “The Day of Epiphany.” This year they happen to occur on the same day and date.
In some places, January 6th is called, “Little Christmas” because it’s the 12th and last official day of the Christmas Season. I have often jokingly said that means this first Sunday of the New Year is not too late to give me a Christmas present. However, it might surprise some of you to know that January 6th is the day when most of the world, outside the United States, give and exchange presents, not December 25th.
In some places the day Epiphany is called “Three Kings Day,” because it is believed to be the day the Magi after following a light (star) found the Baby Jesus and brought The Christ Child gifts of gold, incense and myrrh”
The Merriman-Webster dictionary describes “epiphany” as “an intuitive grasp of reality through something simple and striking” or “an illuminating discovery, realization or disclosure.” In our secular language, we say that “an epiphany is a new way of seeing or understanding.” It’s appropriate that we begin this New Year with an epiphany, a new way of seeing what our lives can yet be in 2019. Like the Magi of old, there are unlimited possibilities and opportunities if we will only open our minds, stretch our imaginations and be willing to follow the Light of Christ.
Join us in worship at Covenant on this Day of Epiphany, the First Sunday of the New Year. Isaiah 60:1 says, “Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”
As has become my custom, I will be offering a special anointing as part of the worship experience. My sermon is titled “Epiphany: The Light For Your Life in 2019” based on Isaiah 60:1-6 and Matthew 2:1-12.
About Author
