The New Year is approaching and with it comes the hopeful feeling of newness and possibly much needed change. For many of us there are new habits we want to create and old habits we want to see die.  We look forward to waving goodbye to the disappointments and let downs of 2023 and embracing the opportunities and possible achievements that await us in 2024.

In some sense, we see the New Year as possessing a mystical power to undo or cover up all that was last year and create all that could be this next year… which is why February is such a tough month because statistically it’s usually by February that most of the resolutions have been busted.  Every year at this time I begin to have low grade despair when I realise that it’s a new year but the same me.  I bring the same struggles, sins, and shortcomings into the new year that I so desperately wanted to leave behind with the last chorus of Auld Lang Syne.

And like everyone else I have to embrace the reality that a new year doesn’t create some magical “do over”.  Now… don’t get me wrong, I do think there is something healthy and helpful to evaluating and assessing what was in order to prayerfully consider what could be in your life.  And the New Year does create a perfect time of year to do that. (In fact, Jennie Allen provides an incredibly helpful resource that Julianne and I have been using for years to assess what was and plan for what could be – you can access her “Dream Guide” here.)

We can’t be fooled into thinking that just because the numbers change on our calendar that somehow our life will be radically altered.  Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way.  But there is still good news because even though the year might be different - the powerful gospel message of hope and life transformation is the same.  And that’s what we truly need in this next year to see deep change and lasting growth.

So… as we head into this New Year I am excited for us to start a mini-series entitled “New Year - Same Truth” that will walk us through Romans chapter 8.  As we start off the year, we will be reminded of the never changing truth and immensity of the gospel.  No matter what pains, prayers, or possibilities you carry into the New Year the gospel breathes life into all of it.

Listen to how this chapter opens, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”  

Romans 8 is like a theological MRE.  When I was a kid, one of our friends worked as an Army reserve and occasionally he would drop off some of these Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) at our house.  For some reason I thought they were the coolest thing in the world.  Not only were they ready to eat but they had everything you could possibly need or want in there.  I never grew tired of unpacking, opening, and consuming each element.

That’s Romans 8 for us… it is a treasure trove of truth that seems to have everything we could possibly want or need all right there at our fingertips.  Not only does Paul remind us of what God has done for us (see vv.1-2) but he encourages us in what God is currently doing in us (see vv.10-11) and he gives us an amazing hope for the future (see vv.18-24).

This is the message we want to steep our minds in as we start the year because this is the message that will carry us forward in any and every situation in 2024.  Join us on Sunday, January 8th as we begin this three-part series.  What better way to start the year than to be reminded that we never grow beyond the gospel – we only grow deeper into it.

From the elders at Port City Church, we wish you a very Happy New Year and we can’t wait to see all that God has in store for us in this next year. 

Pastor Jeremy