NOTE FROM PASTOR J R FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 2024
Happy New Year, as I pen my first Pastor’s Note of 2024. I invite you to please join us this first Sunday of 2024 in worship as part of your spiritual journey to begin this New Year.
This Sunday we will observe 2 events on the liturgical church calendar. One is “Baptism of our Lord Sunday,” with the opportunity for renewal of your baptismal vows. The other is “The Epiphany of our Lord.” The day of Epiphany is January 6th, but we observe it on the Sunday closest to that day. We will also offer a Covenant traditional anointing as we begin the New Year for those desiring it.
Isaiah 60:1 says, “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” I believe we each need to spend some time in prayer and thought about what this can mean for our lives moving into this New Year. Let’s not limit our minds to the unlimited ways God is still speaking to us. For if we do, we might miss what God is saying to us.
Being open to whatever way God chooses to speak to us, allows us to move forward in confidence doing what God has purposed for our lives this year. We will be living in God’s will for our lives! And remember God’s will always: (1) enriches your life, (2) blesses and benefits the lives of others, (3) lines up with God’s word, and (4) brings glory to God.
Join us this First Sunday of the New Year, in-person if you can. But if not, then by Zoom, Facebook Livestream, or YouTube. I will be sharing how on New Years Day 2024, God spoke to me in an unusual way saying, “Arise! Shine! For Your Light has Come for 2024.” That is the title of my sermon based on “Isaiah 60:1” and “Mark 1:4, 7-11.”
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