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Dear Saints of First Lutheran,

At this time of year, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, many reflect on the old year while awaiting the new. Each day signifies the passage of time, but New Year’s Eve and Day are special because of the passing of years … and this year, the decades. To me it’s helpful, every now and then, to take a look back on the past because it helps me see how far I’ve come. Looking back far enough gives me a perspective I often fail to have when I’m so caught up in the “day-to-day.” After all, where was I 10 years ago? I was still on active duty … contemplating a second career in ministry … with no idea where First Lutheran Church and Huntingtown MD even were. My … how things have changed! The journey wasn’t always smooth, but, as I look back, I remember Psalm 111 which opens with “Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart …” (Psalm 111:1)

The psalmist doesn’t say “Praise the Lord when things are going well …” He simply says “Praise the Lord!”  … no matter what!  He’s with us, even when it seems He might be far away.  He is actually very close to us, waiting patiently for us to call on Him in all things … good and bad, beneficial and difficult.  No matter what, God our Father remembers His promises to us, His people, to be with us at all times.

In the prophet Isaiah’s day, God’s people were going through a bad stretch … by their own choosing … as they had turned away from God and turned to their own ways. Isaiah tells them, “They rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit” (Isaiah 63:10) by their unrepentant actions. However, in the same breath, Isaiah calls on God’s people to look back in time … to “Recount the steadfast love of the LORD …” and all He has done for them to include calling them “His people … His children” and bringing them out of slavery in Egypt, leading them safely to the Promised Land (Isaiah 63:7-8, 11-14). Looking back in remembrance of all God has done for them, seeing how far they’ve come by His power, they can see how faithful He is to His promises to be with them, to forgive them, and to remain with them.

God never promises us, that this side of heaven, everything will be easy and trouble-free. After all, until Christ returns, the devil and his co-workers continue to be active … trying to lead people away from God any way they can. However, God does promise us that He will always be by our side (Matthew 28:20). He promises to forgive us when we return to Him after straying from Him (1 John 1:9). He promises to give us the Holy Spirit who will guide us, keep us in faith, and help us to remember His promises to us (John 14:16,26). 

I look forward to a new year and a new decade, 2020, filled with God’s grace and mercy given to us through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  May the true peace of God fill your hearts and lives now and always.

                                                                                        Happy New Year!

                                                                                        Pastor Jim