Glorious New Beginnings

For many of us, today is the first day back in the office for the start of the new year.  After two weeks of nearly non-stop rain this day began with beautiful sunshine.  The beginning of this new year is an opportunity to dream about the things the Lord wants to do through us in the coming year and a time to reinforce habits that will allow us to hear his voice.

Prayer

Did you notice that Aaron beautifully crafted yesterday's worship service as one continuous prayer?  What a perfect way to start the new year.  The service began with this prayer (enter into prayer even now as you read these lyrics!):

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee.
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training for holier work above.
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in Heaven, another year for Thee.

Lyrics written like this in second person give us the opportunity to speak to the Lord (i.e. to pray) in song.  Following this, Lauren led us in a beautiful setting of the Lord's prayer set to the tune "Auld Lang Syne."  I can't think of a more appropriate way for us to approach the new near as a staff than with a renewed commitment to prayer.

Are you like me?  Do you constantly fight the temptation to rush into the office, fire up your PC and get right to work?  Why not put an object in front of your monitor...maybe that bottle of oil from last fall's worship time...to remind you to start the day with prayer?

By the way, do you remember this prayer card we used last fall?  I'm keeping mine in the car to remind me to pray for each of you during my drive to work.  I sense that God brought healing and renewal to our staff through this prayer tool a few months ago.  Let's begin 2015 praying for one another, that we would discern God's voice and be vessels of his blessing for others.

The Word

Dr. Youssef did a wonderful job in the worship service reminding us that our daily strength comes from spending time in God's Word and telling us about his habit of prayer and scripture reading.  Vicki and Susan have told me about the wonderful Bible reading plan that many in the Women's Ministry are using this year, and this sounds like a wonderful way to commit to reading the Bible.

I'm doing something a bit different this year, taking an immersion approach to a few key books in the Bible.  Along with a reading from the Psalms and the Gospels, I'm selecting a different book each month and immersing myself in repetitive readings of that book.  My book for January is Galatians.  It has six chapters and I'm reading it through three times a week for a month.  Do you have a plan for spending time in the Word this year?

This can be more than a simple new year's resolution for us.  Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," and I believe that the more we commit to communing with God in prayer and reading of the Word, the more that hunger and thirst for his presence will grow within us.

Here is my prayer for each of you this year (Eph 3:16-19):

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.