Monthly Message | January

Happy New Year! Just last month we celebrated a new year for the church with the season of Advent, and now we celebrate a new calendar year with the ringing in of 2024!

Beginning anything new usually brings a mix of excitement and anxiousness. A new year is no different. We can see the next twelve months as ones filled with possibilities, along with some challenging times possibly ahead. 

Many of us may have made goals for what we’d like to do or see happen in our lives during the next twelve months (and we even get an extra day this year to try to achieve those goals since it is a leap year!). To that I would just say to give yourself grace if something doesn’t happen that you were hoping for or you fall short of something you had wanted to achieve.

Along those lines, have you thought about what your goals or hopes are for St. Mark — both individually and also as a congregation — in 2024? I am excited for this year, and I would love to hear your thoughts. 

I know I have mentioned this before, but if you have ideas or interests of any kind that you would like to try and explore as we walk our faith journeys together in 2024 and beyond, you are invited to reach out to me to discuss them. It can be something new to try at the church, a new way for you to become involved, or sharing a gift you have with others in this community. 

I, too, will be trying new things in 2024, and tweaking some things we tried in 2023. Some may go well, some may not. I don’t have specifics to share right now, but those things happen every year, and I am looking forward to seeing where the Holy Spirit leads me and leads us as a community this year. 

That is one thing that isn’t new or that will change — God’s presence with each of you and with us as a congregation and community. Through possibilities and challenges, hills and valleys, God goes with us, guiding us. When we are reminded of that fact, it creates and shows us even more possibilities for each of us in our own lives, and for St. Mark and the life of this community.

I would like to end with a blessing for this new year for you that comes from Sundays and Seasons: “O God, you have been our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. As we welcome this new year, bless us with peace. Fill our days with the light of Christ and lead us on the path of life until we see you in our heavenly home. You live and reign forever and ever. Amen”

Happy New Year to each of you! My family and I look forward in love to a new year of walking together with you.

Go in peace. Jesus loves you!

Pastor David