The beginning of a year is a wonderful time to look at the blessings we have received from God in the past twelve months and to look at the blessings which will be ours in the coming years. This past year has given us so many reasons to rejoice. Consider the following blessings which we have.
Thank God for the challenges we faced in 2013. In our personal lives as well as in this church we faced many challenges. What a blessing it was for us to be challenged last year, and what a blessing we have in the way we responded.
Thank God for the challenges facing us in the new year. I immediately think of the challenge of this month’s Mission Sunday contribution. The sacrificial spirit you have manifested has tripled the amount of mission work we were doing a decade ago, and you have given more than $1,000,000 on these special Sundays. In addition to this, we will be presenting several new challenges for 2014.
Thank God for His presence in 2013. The victories which were ours were not ours but His! It is not by our might, but His that there were so many “mountain tops” in the last few months—the gospel meeting with Dan Winkler, the VBS, the seminar on Islam, the amazing Ladies’ Day, the “Stepping Into the Bible” educational program and the lectureship.
Thank God for His presence in the new year. Perhaps Paul said it best, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Thank God that He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). How can a Christian be downtrodden or depressed with these promises to uplift him? The new year will be great because He is great!
Thank God for the unity we shared in 2013. What made the Heart to Heart mail out such a success? What made Laborers Together with God, the new plan to involve every member, such a success? What made SEW and CFBC a force in changing lives? It was the unity of spirit we manifested in working together.
Thank God for the unity we have in the new year. We serve one Lord; we have one goal; we are one family; we are His one body. Because of this unity, think of the Lord’s description of united hearts, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language…now nothing they propose will be withheld from them” (Gen. 11:6). The unity we manifest will insure the triumph we experience.
Thank God for all that He has done and will do. Paul told the church in Corinth, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). Think about how these words apply to the past year and give us hope for the new year!