Pastor's Weekly Word

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Do you believe in fresh starts? I admit that I do. I believe in an endless amount of fresh starts. I believe God gives us an endless amount of fresh starts. Grace to me includes that. I don’t deserve it, but I believe it is there. I rely on it, not in the sense that I think I can just go out and do whatever I want because God will let me start again, but because even in my most earnest efforts to do right and be right, I will mess up. The quality of a God who embraces us even when we mess up is something I can’t hear enough. I have to be reminded of it again and again, and I am always deeply grateful of that reminder.

The New Year is one of those times when I am reminded of fresh starts. There is something about turning from one year to the next that feels like a fresh start, like we have been given the gift of looking out at the world with fresh eyes and a newfound hope. As I look at the year ahead, my prayer is that it brings its own wonders, knowing full and well that there will be difficult times ahead for our world. My prayer is that we find ourselves loving where we didn’t think it was possible and hoping where we didn’t think it was merited. My prayer is that God instill us with a fresh faith and a fresh outlook. My prayer is that the God we have come to know in Jesus Christ be fully part of this year to extend the hand of grace. I believe in fresh starts.