At the Gate of a New Year
Steve Brown Download: Audio
Sermon Notes:
In this sermon, Steve invites us to spend some time in the week to come, reflecting deeply on the year past and then looking ahead to the year to come. He has provided a helpful Guide for this time of reflection, which you can find here.
Scripture: James 4:13 – 15
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” Read more…
Looking to Sunday
by Elaine Poproski
My niece reminded the other day that 2020 began with the terrifying possibility of World War III. Do you remember that? I’d totally forgotten. It seems like so long ago. I remember a conversation with my youngest sister, who had a really awful 2019, in which we agreed that we needed 2020 to be a better year. I don’t know what hopes and dreams you were holding onto when we stepped into this year, but I can almost guarantee that none of us expected the year we’ve actually had.
In James 4:13 – 14 we read these words:
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such
a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.”
Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring.
Can you imagine a more timely passage of Scripture?
On Sunday our sermon will begin with this passage from James 4. It’ll be an opportunity for us to pause for a moment at the gates of a new year – a year many of us probably want to rush into as quickly as possible, if only to get out of 2020. But before we move forward, it’s important to pause and look back. That’s what we’ll be doing on Sunday.
On Sunday we’ll be hearing from the Rev. Dr. Steve Brown, president of Arrow Leadership and one of my mentors from a bunch of years ago when I was part of the Arrow Leadership program. He’ll be guiding us through a time of reflection that I hope we’ll all take with us into the week following. In fact, to help with that, he’s provided a printed guide that we can work through on our own or with others after Sunday. I know I’ll be making use of the guide and I hope you will as well.
As you prepare for Sunday, perhaps spend some time reflecting on these questions, asking God to reveal anything inside you that needs to be revealed:
- As you look back at 2020, what disappointments or struggles come to mind?
- As you look back at 2020, where did you see God at work in your life?
- As you look ahead to 2021, what do you need to entrust to God?