New Year's Day Worship and Sermon Resources Humor | Peace & Justice | NexGen Worship | Clergy Finance Tips  Lent Devotional  | Valentine's Day | MLK Resources   "The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. "   - John 1:9-10   Top 5 Resolutions You Can Actually Keep 5.  Read less. 4. Watch more TV. You've been missing some good stuff. 3. Stop exercising. It's a waste of time. 2. Gain weight. Put on at least 15 pounds. 1. Take up a new habit: maybe smoking! Out of the Mouths of Babes On New Year's Eve Night, we walked down the road talking about the beautiful fireworks we had just seen (the entire country of Holland goes up in fireworks at midnight). My husband pointed at the stars and said to our 4 year old daughter: "Look, Ninon, that's God's firework." After pondering this for a while she said: "Do you know why God made it so high in the sky?" "No," my husband said, "why did he?" She replied with conviction: "Because He's the only one who can reach up there!"  (Kersbergen family, Holland)  click here for more NY humor   Texts & Discussion: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 Psalm 8 Revelation 21:1-6a Matthew 25:31-46     A New Year's Day Prayer Expressing Thankfulness by Ralph I. Tilley O God, my heavenly Father, it is with great gratitude that I, Your unworthy child, surveys the countless tender mercies You have showered upon me this past year. How can I ever adequately express my heart-felt thanks for Your bountiful care? Because of Your sovereign, steadfast love I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus my Lord. You have sustained me in adversity. You have comforted me in trials. You have offered Your gracious hand when I stumbled. You have encouraged my spirit when I was downcast. You have been my ever-present Friend, Strength, Rock, Refuge, Defender, Advocate and Helper. As I look to the coming year, I do so with an unwavering trust in You and Your promises. Whatever Your sovereign providence has planned for me in the days ahead, I am assured of Your infinite goodness, love and wisdom. In the name of Christ my Lord I offer this prayer. Amen.   click here to access all resources Sermons: 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]   Newsletter Article: Good News to the "New Year’s Grouch!" The “birth” of a new year is upon us.  How do you usually experience this event?  I guess it’s not much different from our morning attitudes.  Some people have a hard time getting up in the morning.  They wake up thinking: “do I really have to get up? Not another day of the same old, same old.” Or they may think: “not another day filled with pain or labor!”  This type of people, whom I like to refer to as morning grouches, usually need a couple of cups of hot java and a couple of hours into the day until they start to feel better about their day. Then there is is the morning-type person who can’t wait to get up because they are looking for new opportunities the day may bring. Unlike the morning grouches, they wake up with a feeling of fresh hope.  These are the people that whistle on their way to work.  If you are a morning grouch, you will usually find yourself thoroughly annoyed at the morning-type person, because they just spoil our pity party. I found that these attitudes often carry over when it comes to the start of a new year.  The morning grouch usually looks at a new year with skepticism, concern or even fear.  What sticks out mostly to them is the negative and how it might get worse.  The morning-type people usually also look at the dawn of the new year more optimistically. They are more likely to see the positive and the new opportunities. This year, as always, God is calling on all of us to be “new year-type” people and greet the new year as a gift from our Heavenly Father.  Why? Because we have God on our side! If any book of the bible was written by a morning grouch, it would have to be Lamentations. But even this writer cannot help but acknowledge that there is hope for the future because of God’s faithfulness. He writes: “Yet, this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.”  Lam. 3:22-23. O.K. if Mr. Lamentations himself could see hope at the beginning of every new morning, so should we.  A new year is like a new morning in many respects.  So, if you’re a morning grouch, take comfort in the fact that God is already greeting us in the new year.  God is the same, and God is and remains faithful and good!  Take courage and give thanks to God for his faithfulness even in the new year and beyond! New Year's greetings and best wishes. click here to access all resources