A Fresh Start
As we step into a new year, much of the world will be talking about fresh starts, clean slates, and bold resolutions. Some of that language is understandable. We all feel, in one way or another, the weight of time passing. And with that weight, we experience the desire that things might be better, truer, or more whole than they were before. Scripture, however, offers us a quieter and sturdier word.
The Bible does not treat the turning of the calendar as a moment for reinvention, but as another opportunity for faithfulness. God does not wait for January to show mercy, nor does He measure His grace by our ability to “do better this year.” Instead, the Lord meets His people day after day with patience, truth, and steadfast love. This is why the church has long spoken a different word than the surrounding culture, and that word is repentance. And so, on New Years’ Day, it’s good and right that we affirm the truth that today is always the day for repentance.
“ Grace and peace to you in the year ahead.”
Repentance is not a New Year’s resolution; it is a lifelong posture. Repentance is an honest turning away from what leads us toward death, and a hopeful turning toward the God who gives life. Martin Luther famously summarized this with his characteristic clarity when he wrote, “The entirety of the life of believers ought to be a repentance.” That is not a burden, but a mercy. It reminds us that God meets us not once a year with grace, but daily, and as we turn toward Him again and again.
There is much happening inside the walls of our church, to include things that are critically important to the vision and future of our congregation. But we do well to not let those things keep us from hearing the timeless exhortation from John the Baptist: “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).
Scripture assures us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). That promise is not seasonal. It is daily bread. The Lord is, as the psalmist declares, “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Psalm 103:8). His patience is purposeful, and His mercy is not rationed as though He is running low.
As we begin this year together, my prayer for Bethel is not that we would chase novelty, but that we would practice faithfulness. My prayer is that our gathering would learn again the ordinary shape of godly life commended by the prophet Micah: “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). These are not dramatic resolutions, but quiet habits formed over time — habits that shape a people.
The good news as we enter this year is not that we can finally get things right, but that God remains faithful. As we are reminded in Lamentations, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22–23). Not new every year — new every morning. Whatever this year holds, remember that we’re not stepping into it alone. This year will not require us to rely on our own strength, but on the strength of Him on whom the good news of the Gospel is centered.
Grace and peace to you in the year ahead.