Happy New Year!

“I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High” (Psalm 9:2).

I am writing this with a genuine attitude of rejoicing! God has truly blessed my church (Immanuel Baptist Church of Hamilton, OH) over the course of this past year! And He topped it off by giving us an amazing Christmas season!

For me personally, this has possibly been the fullest Christmas I have ever had. But I don’t mean that it has merely been a full schedule. Rather, it has been full of meaning and purpose.

Being involved as a cast member of our Christmas musical (“One Bethlehem Night”) was fun but, more than that, it was encouraging to me as a pastor to see people work together to accomplish such a huge challenge and do it with a sincere desire to make the Gospel story known during the holiday season. Then, to have the privilege of sharing in such meaningful worship and fellowship with my church family on Christmas Eve really brought it all together so that I can shout with the psalmist “I will be glad and rejoice in You, O Most High!”

The best part about all this is: it doesn’t stop with the end of the Christmas season! The excitement of Christmas ought to be a catalyst to spur us on to greater participation in the Body of Christ as we pursue a deeper relationship with Christ and with each other.

As I write this, I am also preparing for the first Sunday of 2009. We will begin our year at Immanuel by observing both baptism and communion and rejoicing that God has reached out to us in His love and grace and brought us into His story. I can think of no better way to start the year!

I am excited about this journey that we are experiencing together as brothers and sisters in Christ! I trust that you will personally determine by God’s power to be an active part of all that God is doing in His church. Be involved in the life of the Body in your local church!

We should all strive to do our part to ensure that the Body of Christ is characterized by “an inexpressible and glorious joy” as we labor together in the work of the Gospel.

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Happy New Year!