We’ve celebrated the arrival of the New Year all around the world, but have you ever wondered why we so joyfully do so?
It’s because we hope this New Year will be different. New Year’s Eve brings anticipation and hopefulness. We hope for a better year, a better day, a fresh start, a new lease on life.
We hope that in this New Year politicians will work together for the common good of the people. We hope that race relations will be smoothed and friendly. We hope the economy will continue an upward journey. We hope the Cardinals will find that new franchise quarterback. OK, perhaps that one is just me.
In any case, the New Year brings a sense of excitement and anticipation as we all long for a fresh start, a do-over, a new beginning.
God knows more than anyone just how deeply we have longed for a new beginning. In fact, He is the one who brought that new beginning to you. God gives to you a fresh start, a new lease on life, which is His gift to you each and every day of the year.
When we find ourselves weighed down by the baggage of the years now past, weighed down by the bricks of guilt or shame, sorrow or grief, confusion or despair, fear or doubts, God places before us the same gift day in and day out—a new life. He gives you a new identity.
God does not call your name Shame, nor Broken, nor Hopeless nor Unwanted. Instead, God looks upon you and He sees a child of His family, His heart’s true desire. And He longs to make you new. That is exactly what He does through Christ Jesus, our Savior, our Redeemer and our Friend.
We just celebrated His birth. Now, we celebrate, contemplate and appreciate His life. You see, Jesus lived the perfect life we never could live because we really are broken with this sinful nature within us.
He died to redeem you and set you free from the past. He rose up in new life to give that new life to you, too. He knows how we get weighed down in our sinfulness. But God said, “I make all things new.” In fact, He said, “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.”
Come explore this new life with us at Hosanna Lutheran Church, located at 9601 E. Brown Road.