Second Sunday After Christmas Day | Tenth Day of Christmastide
With Christmastide nearing its end and given a new civic year has begun, I offer a few blessings that, prayerfully, will enable you to experience the Presence of God over the course of the next 364 days including today. These proclamations are a reminder that you are special to the Lord. A prefix has been added to each for the purpose of introducing the benediction as a word for 2016.
When difficult moments occur, and they will, I encourage you to return to these good words. They may just help you get through whatever trouble is taking place at the moment.
From John R. Claypool, 1930-2005
Go into 2016 and beyond…
In the fellowship of God your Heavenly Father.
And as you go, remember:
In the goodness of God, you were born into this world;
By the grace of God, you have been kept all the day long,
Even unto this very hour; and
In the love of God, fully revealed in Jesus Christ,
You are being redeemed, now and forever!
From William E. Hull, 1930-2013
As you go into 2016 and beyond…
May Christ go before you to prepare a way of service for you.
May Christ go behind you, to gather up your efforts for His glory.
May Christ go beside you, as your Leader and Guide.
May Christ go within you, as your Comforter and Encourager.
May Christ go beneath you to uphold you with His everlasting arms.
And may Christ go above you to reign as your Lord supreme.
From Jimmy Gentry, b. 1956
Journey into 2016 and beyond knowing that…
You travel in a world that God loves and you do so in partnership
with Him and each other. As you are going, know this for certain:
Christ enlivens you as you persevere in following His Way.
Christ encourages you as you mature in learning His Truth.
Christ empowers you as you strive in living His Life.
Give thanks to God, revealed perfectly in His one and only unique
Son, Jesus Christ, who is with you through the Holy Spirit,
showing you the Way, teaching you the Truth, and giving you
the Life, now and forever.
From the Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6:24-26
Above all, as you move throughout 2016 and beyond…
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up
His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
I pray the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in the power of the same Holy Spirit will bless you in 2016 and beyond. But more importantly, I pray you will bless and be a blessing to God.
Amen and Amen.
Jimmy
Octarium performs “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” It is one minute fifty seconds.
Day before yesterday – Friday, January 1, 2016, New Year’s Day – I became the Senior Pastor of Garden Lakes Baptist Church in Rome, GA. This morning I will be preaching my first sermon and serving as one of the leaders in my first worship gathering in this beloved congregation. My sermon, entitled “And As We Begin Our Journey, Let Us Remember…”, is grounded in the Scripture texts of Isaiah 6:1-8 and Matthew 28:16-20. Bible Study begins at 9:45 a.m. and Worship at 11:00 a.m. on Redmond Circle.
