New Year's Day Worship Resources Prayers, Sermons, Children's Messages Scriptures for New Year's Day Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 Psalm 8 Revelation 21:1-6a Matthew 25:31-46 New Year's Prayer Dear Lord, in this new year please give us . . . . . A few friends who understand us and yet remain our friends. . . A work which has real value, without which the world would feel the poorer. . . A mind unafraid to travel the journey ahead of us, even though the trail be not blazed. . . . An understanding heart and a sense of humor. . . Time for quiet, silent meditations and a sense of your assuring presence. . . And the patience to wait for the coming of these things, with the wisdom to know them when they come.   When We See, Matthew 25:31-46  by Rev Randy Quinn         (see below)   Sermon: Sheep and Goats, Mathew 25:31-46, by Rev. Thomas Hall    A Day of New Beginnings, Genesis 1:1-5 (& Mark 1:4-11), by Rev. Randy Quinn     Giving Like God Gives  Matthew 25:31-46, by Rev. Frank Schaefer   Judgment Day’s a Comin’  Mathew 25:31-46, by Rev. Thomas Hall   Meeting Christ's least brothers and sisters Mathew 25:31-46, by Rev. Frank Schaefer   When Vision Is Inadequate, Revelation 21:1-6, by Rev. Jon Tsubi   The Cobbler and His Guest, Mathew 25:31-46, by HW in HI Other New Year's Sermons (off lectionary): The Meaning of Life, Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, Matthew 5:1-6 by Rev. F. Schaefer   Another New Year, Ecclesiastes 1: 1-11 and Luke 2:41-50 by Rev. Frank Schaefer Other Resources: A History of New Year's Day, an informative article ________________________________________________________________   When We See a sermon based on Matthew 25:31-46 by Rev. Randy Quinn There are two kinds of people in the world. There are the people who separate the world into two parts and there are those who do not. In seminary I had a professor who had a word for those who divided the world into two parts. And in almost every lecture he gave, he found a way to use the word. I’ve only seen the word a couple of times since my seminary days, and I’ve often wondered if I would ever use it. In fact, we had an ongoing challenge to find ways to use the word, but I never had an opportunity. Today is my first chance to use the word. Bifurcate. Have any of you ever heard the word before? When you bifurcate something, you divide it into two pieces. We often see that happen in political rhetoric, but it doesn’t just happen there. We have the rich and the poor. We have the educated and the illiterate. We have the immigrant and the native. We have the black and the white. We have the religious and the secular. We have the good and the bad. We have the young and the old. There are Protestants and Catholics There are Christians and Jews People live in the developed world or in a developing country.    [continue]