The New Year always holds new hope and promise. As I continue to seek what I call, The Guided Life, a life guided by God, I know that with each new challenge God is guiding me and taking care of me. I have been building up my courage muscles and faith muscles to strengthen my spiritual walk!

My pastor, Dr. Rev. David A. Holyan, gave a sermon entitled, “In the Beginning.” Whenever I need encouragement, I pull out this sermon. It is so fitting for the New Year and I wanted to share the closing paragraph with you.

I wish for God to guide you on your journey and that you will be richly blessed in the New Year!

From: “In the Beginning”

It seems that we promote religion always toward the negative. “You are a bad person, but if you believe in Jesus you will be made better.” But in the beginning of Genesis and the beginning of the Gospel of Mark we hear a different story. We hear about goodness – we hear about changing how we understand the world, and about how God says to all of us – all of us, “I love you and I care for you and you are pleasing in my sight.” I pray for us as a community of faith in this place, that as we go into the year ahead, we can always remember – not the frustrations that are right in front of us – but the goodness that under girds us, the invitation to see things with new imagination and hope, and to always know – no matter what – we are loved by God. May it be so. Amen.

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