New Year Message

Posted on by korgrocker

“And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”
Matthew 24:14 NLT

A new year always brings a mixture of emotions—hope, excitement, reflection, and sometimes a little uncertainty. When the calendar turns, we feel the invitation to begin again, to reset our priorities, and to realign our hearts. We even make a “new year’s resolution” or two. But this year, as many Christians look around at world events—wars, moral confusion, economic shakiness, and spiritual darkness—some are quietly wondering, “Are we getting close to the end times?” While Scripture reminds us that only the Father knows the day or the hour, we also recognise that many signs Jesus spoke of seem to be intensifying. Yet here’s the beautiful truth: God never intended end-time awareness to create fear in His people. He intended it to produce readiness, hope, and deeper trust. So as we step into this new year, let’s do so with hearts anchored in God’s promises, strengthened by His presence, and confident in His plan for our lives—no matter what unfolds in the world around us.

“Because of the Lord’s great love
we are not consumed…
His mercies never fail.
They are new every morning”

One of the most encouraging truths we can hold onto is this: every new day—and every new year—arrives wrapped in God’s mercy. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed…His mercies never fail. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22–23). God is not stingy with mercy. He doesn’t ration it out in tiny portions. He gives it freshly, fully, and faithfully. Even if last year held disappointments, failures, or valleys, this year begins with God’s mercy meeting you at the door. Whatever lies ahead, His grace will be enough. We serve a God who steps into the future ahead of us. Calendars, circumstances, or global events do not restrict Him. “You crown the year with Your goodness” (Psalm 65:11). Notice that the psalm doesn’t say some years or only easy years. It says the year. The whole year. Every part of it. Even in a world groaning with end-time signs, God still crowns the year with His goodness. He still guides. He still protects. He still provides. Nothing coming in the next twelve months is unknown or unplanned to Him.

Jesus spoke openly about end-time signs—wars, deception, persecution, natural disasters—but He also said: “See to it that you are not alarmed” (Matthew 24:6). Isn’t that amazing? He didn’t say these things so we would fear the future, but so we would trust Him through it. Prophecy was given not to make God’s people anxious, but to make them anchored. So as we step into this year, we must keep watch, stay prayerful, and remain alert, but we are not shaken. We are held by the One who rules over every era of history. End-time awareness should never lead us into passivity. Instead, it should fill our lives with greater intention and greater urgency. This is not the year to shrink back. Instead, this is the year to shine. Let this be the year we step into our calling more fully than ever before.

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the
God of my salvation!

One truth echoes through Scripture: the people of God are never without hope. Even in the darkest seasons of history, God’s presence shines brightest through His people. Jesus promised: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Not until things get difficult. Not until signs start appearing. But all the way to the end. We carry a hope that inflation cannot touch, that political chaos cannot shake, and that global uncertainty cannot dim. This year’s strength will not come from our plans but from His presence. Regarding the forthcoming invasion from the Babylonians, Habakkuk wrote, “ … I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us. Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!” (Habakkuk 3:16b-18). Habakkuk’s security was not in temporal things but in the Lord Himself. While the world fears the future, believers look forward with expectation. Christ’s return is not a threat to us—it is our joy, our rescue, our victory. The early church greeted one another with the word “Maranatha”, meaning, “Lord, come quickly.” They lived with eyes lifted, hearts ready, and hope unshaken. Let this be our posture in the new year: watchful, hopeful, joyful, expectant.

As this new year unfolds, remember this: We are not stepping into the unknown because we are stepping into God’s known. He has gone before us. He stands beside us. He will carry us. And He will strengthen us for every challenge and every blessing ahead. The world may be trembling—but we are not of this world. We are children of God, chosen for such a time as this. So this year we walk with courage, with purpose, with faith and hope, and in it all we walk with our eyes lifted, knowing that the One who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it.

Maranatha. And Happy New Year in Christ.

Dear Father God, we pray as John did at the end of Revelation, Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

A New Year

Posted on by korgrocker

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT

Strictly speaking these are not Scripture verses specifically about the New Year but they are appropriate none the less. The old year, 2021, has gone. We will never have another year like it (thank goodness I hear you say!). We are today at the start of a New Year, 2022. So what are we going to do with it? Traditionally, people set “New Year’s Resolutions”; a list of good intentions that seem to dissolve into thin air within a few days. But instead do we continue to bumble along in the same old way, tired and weary, trapped in a merry-go-round of drudgery, wishing that some light would penetrate our gloomy lives?

Today’s verses bring the light that we yearn for. For those who don’t know Jesus in a personal way, they highlight the opportunity we have to begin a new life. For those who are Christians, and perhaps have been for a long time, they provide the opportunity to hit the reset button. You see, becoming the “new person” highlighted in verse 17 isn’t a one off occasion that has passed into dimming memories. It is a daily opportunity. Notice the exclamation mark at the end of verse 17. It highlights and emphasises the momentous possibilities that we have when we start a new life in Christ. 

But back to our question – what are we going to do with this New Year? More specifically, what am I going to do with it? I have a few ideas, but are they God-ideas? The amazing thing about this new life in Christ, is that He will help us all as we commit our ways to Him. A life of service to Him is an exciting place to be. The opportunities are endless. Here’s a radical suggestion, which I am going to follow this morning. I’m going to ask Jesus to show me what He wants me to do with this year, 2022. I think I might be surprised at His answer. Try it. He might surprise you as well. But be prepared – God always answers our questioning prayers.