January 8th, 2026
Hello, church family and friends!
My goal for New Year’s Eve has changed significantly over the years. As a child, I fought my parents for permission to stay up and watch the new year arrive. Later, I’d gather with friends to see the new year in together. Earlier in my pastoral career, we often had “watch night” services or church parties to ring in the new year. Those could be special times, starting the new year praying with other believers.
But all that has changed. I freely confess ringing in the new year is no longer a priority. Angela and I have a new goal for New Year’s Eve. We now make sure we are in bed fast asleep well before the new year begins. We believe we can greet the new year just as well at the breakfast table as by staying up much later than normal. Is this a function of age or wisdom? Guess you will have to make that call!
The Apostle Paul certainly celebrated the new. To the Corinthians he wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!” (II Cor. 5:17). To the Ephesians it was “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). He congratulated the Colossians for having “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col. 3:10). New is good!
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul detailed some of what this new life in Christ demands. He started with “forgetting what is behind” (Phil. 3:13b). Know this is not a denial of the shaping events of my life, nor a repressing of painful memories. Neither are healthy choices for our mental well-being. The best illustration of what this forgetting entails was given in an interview by an Olympic champion.
The gold medalist said he prepared for the next competition by forgetting. He said: “I have to forget every past victory because if I live there, it might lead to complacency, and I would lose my edge. I have to forget every past failure, because if I live there, it might lead to fear which could paralyze me. I forget what is past to focus on what is ahead.” He nailed Paul’s implication. The old can springboard us into the new.
Forgetting sets the stage for straining toward what is ahead (v. 13c). Paul uses the image of a runner, with muscles straining nearing the finish line. The singular focus is the finishing line, “the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (v. 14b). In Paul's words, how we need to "press on (v. 14a)!"
This begs the question: what is God calling you toward in 2026? Read the entire Bible or be more regular in worship attendance? Share your faith more regularly or give more generously? And what might you have to forget in order to pursue this goal? I encourage you to spend time seeking God for his call on you in this new year.
Yes, 2026 began while I was sound asleep. But I plan on being wide awake when the One who is “seated on the throne [says], ‘I am making everything new!’” (Rev. 21:5). That is one turn of the calendar you won’t want to miss. Hallelujah!
Blessings,
Pastor David
My goal for New Year’s Eve has changed significantly over the years. As a child, I fought my parents for permission to stay up and watch the new year arrive. Later, I’d gather with friends to see the new year in together. Earlier in my pastoral career, we often had “watch night” services or church parties to ring in the new year. Those could be special times, starting the new year praying with other believers.
But all that has changed. I freely confess ringing in the new year is no longer a priority. Angela and I have a new goal for New Year’s Eve. We now make sure we are in bed fast asleep well before the new year begins. We believe we can greet the new year just as well at the breakfast table as by staying up much later than normal. Is this a function of age or wisdom? Guess you will have to make that call!
The Apostle Paul certainly celebrated the new. To the Corinthians he wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!” (II Cor. 5:17). To the Ephesians it was “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). He congratulated the Colossians for having “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col. 3:10). New is good!
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul detailed some of what this new life in Christ demands. He started with “forgetting what is behind” (Phil. 3:13b). Know this is not a denial of the shaping events of my life, nor a repressing of painful memories. Neither are healthy choices for our mental well-being. The best illustration of what this forgetting entails was given in an interview by an Olympic champion.
The gold medalist said he prepared for the next competition by forgetting. He said: “I have to forget every past victory because if I live there, it might lead to complacency, and I would lose my edge. I have to forget every past failure, because if I live there, it might lead to fear which could paralyze me. I forget what is past to focus on what is ahead.” He nailed Paul’s implication. The old can springboard us into the new.
Forgetting sets the stage for straining toward what is ahead (v. 13c). Paul uses the image of a runner, with muscles straining nearing the finish line. The singular focus is the finishing line, “the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (v. 14b). In Paul's words, how we need to "press on (v. 14a)!"
This begs the question: what is God calling you toward in 2026? Read the entire Bible or be more regular in worship attendance? Share your faith more regularly or give more generously? And what might you have to forget in order to pursue this goal? I encourage you to spend time seeking God for his call on you in this new year.
Yes, 2026 began while I was sound asleep. But I plan on being wide awake when the One who is “seated on the throne [says], ‘I am making everything new!’” (Rev. 21:5). That is one turn of the calendar you won’t want to miss. Hallelujah!
Blessings,
Pastor David
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