January

Dear People of faith,
Have you ever wondered why we begin our new calendar year in January? Originally January (named after the Roman god, Janus) was the eleventh month of the year. March was the first month of early Roman calendars; hence September was the 7th month, October the 8th; November the 9th; and December the 10th (corresponding to prefixes we know: septa, octa, nova, and deca); that’s also why we add the extra day every leap year at the end of February (which was originally the end of the year). In 153 B.C. the Roman Senate declared January 1st to be the first day of the calendar year (Not a lot has changed in 2,000 years—the government is still changing our lives!). Janus was a two-faced god, with one face looking in one direction, and the other in the opposite direction. He was a fitting god for the change of years—looking back at the previous one to evaluate the past and looking forward to the next year to plan for the future. For us at Spring Hill UCC 2009 was a wonderful year, blessed by God in many ways: new members, new enthusiasm, new missions, and new visions. The coming year promises to be even more exciting. All our Council Team Leaders have pledged to continue to lead us and we have new financial officers ready to be elected at the Annual Meeting. We have stable finances and many new and creative people helping us to grow. Every Sunday we have new people visiting our worship services for the first time. With so many blessings brought to us by God, we need to pray for the wisdom to use them.
There is something else to be noted about beginning a new year. For us in the church New Year’s Day falls in the midst of the Christmas season (the 12 days from December 25th to January 5th). We Christians start our new year with thoughts of Jesus’ birth on our minds and melodies of Christmas carols in our heads. Christ’s birth sets before us two important truths as we start afresh: (1) the love God made known in the Incarnation (God becoming flesh); and (2) our own sinfulness, which is the reason for Jesus’ birth in the first place—he came as Savior. While others look back over their lives and resolve by sheer willpower to do better in the new year (a promise which often doesn’t work out too well!), we who know Jesus really only have one “resolution” to make—that of yielding our lives to God anew. When we humble ourselves—our thoughts and plans, our attitudes and emotions, our desires and our relationships —even our pain and worry; then we will be able to live fuller and more peaceful lives. Instead of setting yourselves up for failure by making resolutions that you have never been able to keep in the past, why not rely on God’s guidance and the power of the Holy Spirit to help you be what you need to be and do what you need to do? Then you won’t end up feeling guilty and depressed in February because you’ve broken your promises to yourselves made in January!
This New Years may we all pledge to let God’s love woo us to a more beautiful 2010. As Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6: We can be confident that “the One who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” To that end I pray for you and ask your prayers for me.
With affection,
Pastor Carlan