01/04/2026
Had a wonderful time with the church family at Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Great fellowship, and am seeing that congregation encouraged.
This was my message for the church. I trust it encorages you, and gives you renewed insight for 2026.
A Fresh Start and A New Vision
17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!
Common English Bible (Nashville, TN: Common English Bible, 2011), 2 Co 5:17.
13 Brothers and sisters, I myself do not think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. 14 The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus
Common English Bible (Nashville, TN: Common English Bible, 2011), Philippians 3:13,14.
A new year has a way of stirring something inside us. Even people who never make resolutions still feel that quiet pull toward possibility—the sense that maybe, just maybe, life doesn’t have to stay the way it’s been. But Scripture tells us something far more powerful than “new year, new you.” It tells us that in Christ, we are not simply improved versions of our old selves—we are new creations. The old has passed away; the new has already begun.
This is not wishful thinking or motivational optimism. This is the supernatural work of God. It’s the promise that His mercies are new every morning, not just every January. It’s the assurance that we don’t have to drag yesterday’s failures into tomorrow’s calling. And it’s the invitation to step into a fresh start and a new vision—not because we’re strong enough to reinvent ourselves, but because God is faithful enough to transform us from the inside out.
Today, as we open God’s Word, we’re not just talking about resolutions. We’re talking about renewal. We’re talking about the kind of change that only Christ can bring. We’re talking about letting go of what’s behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. We’re talking about stepping into the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Each sunrise reminds us that God’s mercy never runs out—it refreshes us anew every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). When we turn to Christ, we become “new creations” (2 Cor 5:17); the old habits that once held us back dissolve, and fresh possibilities arise.
God offers a continual “beginning-again” ceremony—no interview, just sincere repentance and a plea for forgiveness. From that moment, the past truly becomes history, and a clean slate is laid before us.
Instead of lingering on past failures, let’s fix our eyes on the future God has prepared—a future brimming with hope, peace, and purpose (Jeremiah 29:11; Philippians 3:13-14). By renewing our minds (Romans 12:2) and allowing God’s transformative love to soften our hearts (Ezekiel 36:26), we empower the outward change we long for.
Remember: the Almighty declares, “I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Through Christ’s resurrection, we share in that living hope (1 Peter 1:3) and walk daily in the newness of life (Romans 6:4). As Psalm 103 reminds us, He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west.
May this season be a vibrant invitation to step into transformation—not by sheer willpower, but by trusting the ever-present renewal God offers. Let today be the first step toward the extraordinary future He has set before you.
Let me close with a simple story.
A few years ago, a small town decided to restore its old clock tower. For decades, the clock had been stuck—its hands frozen at the same time, day after day. People walked past it without thinking. It had been broken so long that no one even remembered what it looked like when it worked.
When the restoration team arrived, they discovered the problem wasn’t the hands of the clock at all. The issue was deep inside the mechanism—rusted gears, worn springs, and pieces that no longer responded the way they were designed to. Fixing the outside wouldn’t change anything. The transformation had to begin within.
After weeks of work, the day finally came. The townspeople gathered in the square as the clock tower chimed for the first time in years. The hands began to move again—slowly at first, then steadily, faithfully marking each new moment. The whole town erupted in applause, not because the clock looked different, but because it worked again. It had been restored to its purpose.
Church, that is what God does in us.
He doesn’t just polish the outside. He doesn’t just adjust the hands of our lives. He goes into the deep places—the gears of our thinking, the springs of our desires, the rusted places of our hearts—and He makes us new. And when He does, the hands begin to move again. Hope begins to rise again. Purpose begins to tick again. The future begins to open again.
This year, God is inviting you into that kind of renewal. Not a surface-level reset, but a Spirit-powered restoration. Not a temporary burst of willpower, but a lasting transformation from within. The old things have passed away. New things have arrived. And the God who makes all things new is ready to begin His work in you—today.
May we forget what lies behind, reach forward to what lies ahead, and pursue the upward call of God in Christ Jesus with renewed hearts, renewed minds, and renewed vision.
