Hoping to make a new beginning in 2026?

Many of us look forward to the new year as a time to make a new beginning.  Here are some scriptures that might help in our reflection and prayer, in our determination and resolution to change and grow...

 

Do not despise these small beginnings,    

for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…

 Zechariah 4:10

 

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing! 

Do do you not perceive it? 

Isaiah 43:18-19  

 

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, 

who gives generously to all without finding fault,

and it will be given to you.   

James 1:5 

 

But he said to me, 

“My grace is sufficient for you, 

for my power is made perfect in weakness." 

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly

about my weaknesses, 

so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 

 2 Corinthians 12:9  

 

For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  

2 Timothy 1:7  

 

And we know that in all things     

God works for the good of those who love him,

who have been called according to his purpose.

 Romans 8:28  

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart  

and lean not on your own understanding; 

in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight. 

Proverbs 3:5-6

  

Therefore, if anyone is a new creation. 

The old has passed away;

 behold, the new has come.

 2 Corinthians 5:17 

 

For I know the plans I have for you, 

declares the Lord, 

plans for your welfare and not for evil,

to give you a future and a hope. 

Jeremiah 29:11 

 

To put off your old self,

which belongs to your former manner of life  

and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 

and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

and to put on the new self,

created after the likeness of God

in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

 

Pause for Prayer: WEDNESDAY 12/31

It’s New Year's day, Lord:
    time to think and pray 
        and make some resolutions...
 
Now, no one knows better than you, Lord,
   my track record on resolutions:
        the ones I've made year after year 
            at New Year’s - and so many other times -
    when I've promised and pledged:
        to do this or take care of that,
        or to stop doing things I ought to avoid;
        or to follow through on meeting goals
              I’ve wanted to achieve…

But then just days or weeks later
    - well, you know how that goes, Lord!

So let me begin
    by placing the whole New Year ahead
        entirely in your hands, Lord…
 
I put my heart in your hands, Lord, 
   and I pray you'll 
        mend its broken pieces,
        soften what's grown coarse,
        warm what's chilled and frostbit,
        smooth its jagged edges,
        ease what’s stiff with anger,
        loosen all that's tight with fear,
        undo the knots of worry
            that bind and tie me up 
    - all this for my sake, Lord,
        and for those who count on me,
            wait for me and hold me in their hearts…
 
In the New Year, Lord,
    give me a heart for others
and help me resolve
    to love my neighbor as myself...
 
As a New Year begins, 
I place in your hands, Lord:
    my mind and my will,
   my thoughts and ideas
    and my dreams and my schemes
and I pray you'll help me sort through
    my doubts and my questions,
    my fuzzy, lazy thinking,
    my confusion and my foolishness…
 
In the year ahead, Lord, 
    give me the gift of your wisdom
and help me resolve 
    to seek and rely on your Holy Spirit
        for guidance, direction and counsel...

Sharpen my thoughts 
    with the sword of your truth, Lord, 

and when my thinking narrows, 

    open my mind with surprise and wonder; 

lead me to study what I need to study, 

    and to learn what I need to learn; 

give me a hunger for the naked truth   

    and the grace to resolve  

        to follow and live by its light…    

In the year ahead, Lord, I offer you my body:
    help me respect and care for the frame 
        that gives my soul its form and substance.
Get me out of my bed and off my butt:
    move me, shake me, stretch me; 
walk with me and strengthen me, Lord,  
    to do the work that’s mine to do…
 
And I offer you my spirit, Lord, my soul:
    give me the courage and the strength I need
          to walk each day with you, 
   your arm around my shoulder,
       my hand tight in yours,
            guiding every step I take...

In 2026, Lord, 
    give me the gift of your grace
and help me promise, pledge and resolve
    to trust in your faithful love and care: 
        whatever may befall me,
            whatever comes my way,
        wherever my path may take me,
            wherever your Spirit leads,
        through good times and through bad times,
            in sickness and in health,
        through happiness and sorrow,
            through my laughter and my tears    
        through joy and disappointment,
            through brokenness and healing,
        through sunshine and through darkness,
            through loneliness and friendship,
        in my weakness and my strength,
            in my good deeds and my faults,
        in my prudence and my foolishness
            my selfishness and kindness…
 
In the new year, Lord, 
    help me live each day with you:
        a day at a time,
        an hour at a time,
        moment by moment…

Fill my days with energy
    and resolve to do your will;
fill my nights with restful sleep
    to strengthen and refresh me
to live the year ahead
    as you would have me live it…
 
In the New Year, Lord, 
    I pray you’ll make my thoughts pure, 
    my dreams sweet,
    my intentions just, 
    my speech true, 
    my body healthy,
    my soul pure,
    my path straight,
    my heart generous,
    my love patient,
    my plans firm,
    my goals reachable,
    and my will 
        ever faithful to your own…

I entrust to your care, O Lord,
    all the burdens and sorrows
        the New Year will bring.
Give me the grace to accept your help

    and to shoulder my burdens 
    with a hearty spirit
        and a peaceful soul…

And I offer you, Lord, the New Year’s joys:
    let me miss not a single one
but  rather, delight in them all
    - and share them with my neighbors...
  
In 2026, Lord,
    help me resolve to do for others
        as I'd have them do for me...

In the New Year, Lord,
    help me always
        do the next right thing…

In the 12 months ahead of me, Lord,
    help me trust and believe
        that all shall be well, that all shall be well,
            that all manner of things shall be well…
   
Into your hands, O Lord, my God, 
    I entrust this New Year
and I pray, through your grace, 
    I’ll come to its end 
        in your mercy and peace, 
            held close in your loving arms…

Amen. 

He Who Began A Good Work In You 

    by  Steve Green

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Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 12/30

 

Could be just post-Christmas blues, 

    year-end drowsy doldrums 

        or here-comes-January jitters 

- but whatever it is - 

     it comes my way this time each year
         and leaves me sore in need, Lord, 

            of your blessings and your grace...

 

New Year's now is just ahead

    with resolutions still unmade,
while wise ones push their journey
    toward that westward leading star...

 

I need your grace to get me through,

    a star to lead me to your peace
and if you've got spare angels, Lord
    - send them my way -
to guard and guide me gently
    through these long and cold

        and lonely wintry days...

 

Give me a shepherd's faith, Lord, 

    to seek you out and find the place
        where you are born - right where I live  -
    where my ordinary-everyday 

        still longs to meet your Word made flesh 

            still living, here, among us...

 

The hopes and fears of all the years, 
    once met and healed in Bethlehem,

still crowd the deep and dreamless streets

    crisscrossing through my weary heart

        in search of everlasting light... 

 

Let no clouds shade your glory, Lord,
    when hark-the-herald-angels sing

        of peace on earth and mercy mild,

    of Jesus, born in David's town

        and in my soul:

            O come, Emmanuel...   

Lord, give me all the faith I need

    to trust you're born within me

to make my soul both calm and bright

    with radiant beams from your sweet face,

the dawn of your redeeming grace 

    to shine upon the year ahead

        and fill my heart with hope... 

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Monday 12/29

 

Just two days left in this old year, Lord: 

    December 30 and 31,

so in just about 48 hours

    we'll ring in a brand new year... 

 

Is there any unfinished business

    I might tend to or take care of

        before clock strikes 12?

 

Is there someone 

    I need to call or email or text?

Someone who's been waiting or wanting

    to hear from me?

someone who'd love 

    to hear from me? 

Are there faults I need to acknowledge?

    an apology I need to offer?

        forgiveness I need to seek? 

 

Are there kindnesses I've not recognized?

    thank-yous I need to make?

        gratitude I need to express?

 

Is there anything, Lord, 

    between you and me

        I need to bring to speech?

Something I need to confess?

    something that needs to be reconciled?

Are there mercies I've not accepted

    or blessings you want to give me,

        gifts just mine for the asking?

 

Well, if I can, in just two days, Lord,

    tend to my unfinished business

then give me the grace to follow through

    to end this year in peace...

 

But if the time is just too short 

    then help me now resolve 

to make things right

    in the year ahead

and give me the grace 

    to start again

        to walk close by your side...

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep rest in your peace...

Amen. 

 

The Old Year Now Has Passed Away by

    Johann Steurlein 

and adapted with new music 

    by Stacey Plays Hymns 

 

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All aboard!

One of the great attractions here in Georgetown, CO is the Georgetown Loop Railroad with its interesting history. You can still ride the loop and in the Christmas season, the train makes its way through the beautiful Lighted Forest. The Victorian train cars provide a warm, comfortable ride and there are snacks and hot drinks available - with or without an extra shot of warmth!

I rode the train tonight with my Colorado friends, Alma and Mark; Ruth and Bob, my sister and bro-in-law; and Ruby and Austin my great-niece and nephew. A splendid evening, indeed!

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Pause for Prayer: MONDAY 12/29

One of my favorite Christmas images... 

Artist unknown

(My usual Monday Morning Offering will return on January 5.  I wanted to post this prayer close to Christmas.)

 Study the image above, a tender moment fathers know: cradling a child and wondering,"What will become of this little one, fast asleep in my arms?"

Joseph holds a child not his own, not in the natural sense - yet this child is his to nurture, protect and care for...

 

Isn't all love like this? An invitation to shelter - but not confine; to hold - but not to own; to embrace - and yet set free the heart and soul of another? 

 

Those we love and claim as ours are but '"on loan" to us - until the One who made us  claims us all and frees us to live and be loved forever...

Let us pray...

Joseph, 

you hold a son in your strong arms:

    Mary's newborn boy child,

    entrusted to your care...

 

But Mary's son is not your own

  - and yet he's yours -   

to nurture and protect 

to shelter and to love...

As you hold this child so faithfully,
    so carefully, so gently,
so may we hold each other
    - and let ourselves be held...

Teach us, Joseph, teach us well,

    the love that never fails

to free the hearts we hold so close

    and cherish as our own...

Amen. 

 

Joseph's Lullaby by Mercy Me

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Go to sleep my Son  

This manger for your bed  

You have a long road before 

You rest your little head  

Can you feel the weight of your glory?  

Do you understand the price?  

Or does the Father guard your heart for now  

So you can sleep tonight?  

 

Go to sleep my Son  

Go and chase your dreams  

This world can wait for one more moment  

Go and sleep in peace  

I believe the glory of Heaven  

Is lying in my arms tonight  

But Lord, I ask that he for just this moment  

Simply be my child  

 

Go to sleep my Son  

Baby, close your eyes 

Soon enough you'll save the day 

But for now, dear Child of mine  

Oh my Jesus, sleep tight

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NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 12/28

On Sundays, Night Prayer takes its lead from some element of the day's liturgy: today is the Feast of the Holy Family.  Tonight's prayer is based on a homiletic theme I've often preached on this feast - but since I took a different path for my homily this year, I thought I'd offer my "Holy Family Litany" here this evening...

 

Christmas can bring out the best in families and, sadly, Christmas can bring out the worst in families.  Most of us probably find ourselves in families where the best and the worst mingle together all year ‘round - and so we find ourselves in need of prayer...

 

Let’s pray tonight for our families 

- just as they are -

with the hope they'll become, 

    with the help of God's grace

- all they’re created and called to be…

 

Let us pray: 

for families of origin,  

for nuclear families,

for extended families, 

for abandoned families,

for forgotten families, 

for blended families, 

for biracial families,

for small families, 

for big families, 

for couples hoping to have a family, 

for our nation's family, 

for the global family, 

for families living through war,

for immigrant families, 

for refugee families, 

for migrant families,

for displaced families, 

for families with two parents,

for families with one parent,

for families with gay or lesbian parents,

for families raised by grandparents, 

for families living with illness,

for troubled families,

for happy families,  

for grieving families,

for broken families,  

for families divided by politics,

for struggling families,  

for families who are poor 

   and for families who have too much,

for homeless families,  

for divorced families,  

for separated families, 

for adoptive families,  

for foster families,   

for the Church family,  

for parish families, 

for families of faith, 

for families of all faiths,

for inter-faith families,  

for families of no declared faith, 

for expectant families, 

for new families, 

for old families, 

for growing families, 

for families with only 

    a few members left,

for close families,  

for families separated by distance   

   or dispute or resentment,

for those who feel

   they have no family, 

for families next door, 

for his family,  

for her family,

for my family, 

and for the whole human family, Lord: 

   hold us, help us and heal us 

   'til we're one family, 

   brothers and sisters all,  

   children of one Father, 

   one in spirit, one in faith, 

   one in hope and one in love...

 

Protect us, Lord while we're awake

    and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen. 

 

Holy Familly by Danielle Rose

    performed by Sunday 7PM Choir

 

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