January 1, 2025
Dear Church,
Happy New Year! I hope that all of your Christmas celebrations have been great this year. At our house, we really like to celebrate Christmas for all the twelve days that lead up to Epiphany. That’s the day the church remembers and celebrates that when Jesus came, he manifested his glory to the whole world (John 2.11). The magi we read about in Matthew’s gospel are on the front lines of that; they worshiped Jesus and then returned to their own countries with news of what they had seen and heard. We’ll observe Epiphany at church this Sunday.
On behalf of the staff, I want to thank you for your generous contributions to the staff gift this year. We’re so grateful for all of you, and we’re honored to serve you.
I always like to write at this time of year because this is usually the time that folks are thinking about resolutions or changes they’d like to make in their lives in the new year. So let me encourage you to take on some essential Christian disciplines this year, or reaffirm your practice of them. They’re some of the most fundamental ways God meets us with his grace.
First, I encourage you to make worship on Sundays a priority. When we worship the Triune God together, we participate in a practice that shapes us into the people God has made us to be. There are lots of things in this world that want our attention and want to shape us in all kinds of lesser ways. Worshiping together on Sunday runs counter to all of that for our good: it strengthens our appetites, imaginations and abilities to live as followers of Jesus. There’s nothing else like it in the Christian life.
Second, I encourage you to take some time each day to read Scripture and pray. These two means of grace have proven themselves again and again to be incredibly beneficial for believers and for the shared life and mission of the church. When we read Scripture and pray, we meet with God and hear from him. He comforts us, instructs us, gives us wisdom and encouragement, and we get a tangible sense of his presence and love for us. It would be impossible to overstate how important prayer and Scripture reading are for us.
There are lots of reading plans available online, and the Read Scripture app has proved useful for lots of folks. We’ll also have printed copies of reading plans available on the Welcome Table for a few weeks. If following a plan doesn’t suit your style, or if it seems intimidating, you could just start reading – a chapter or even a paragraph a day. Start with one of the gospels. If you’d like some help getting started on reading and praying through Scripture, take a look at this simple guide.
I look forward to the coming year of worship, growing and learning, and serving together with all of you.
With love,
Aaron