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Weekly Devotional

January 5, 2009

God’s Peace be with you all.

Revelation 21:1-7  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."  ⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."  ⁶ He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.  ⁷ He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

2009 has crept up on us.  I still find it hard to believe that we are already several days into the New Year.  Things move so quickly, we get tied up with things, and before we know it, it’s a new year.  At Springs of Grace, we have started the year in a rather sad way.  Many of you have reached out to Carrie with cards, hugs, prayers, and thoughts upon the passing of her grandfather.  At the same time, we hold Marjorie in our prayers as she and her family mourns the loss of her son, James Randall Berkeley, Jr.  It is in times such as this that we can be reminded that in Christ all things will be made new again.  Suffering and pain and tears and mourning will be over, because God himself will be with his people.

I know we are already 4 days into 2009, but it seems that we have lots of people we need to be praying for.  On top of praying for those in our midst who are grieving, we pray for those that are not able to be at church, such as Alma.  We pray for the newborns in our lives (what a joy it was to have all those babies at church yesterday!!!) and for their mothers.  We pray for those who are having surgery in the new future (Tara K. is having gall bladder surgery at Regional today), and we pray for our fellow sisters and brothers in the congregation.  So as we begin this new year at church and at home, I invite you to pray the following prayer.  This is a prayer that comes from the Parish of St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre, NY.  May 2009 be a wonderful year for each of you.

O God of new beginnings and wonderful surprises, thank you for the gift of a new year.  May it be a time of grace for me, a time to grow in faith and love, a time to renew my commitment to following Your Son, Jesus.  May it be a year of blessing for me, a time to cherish my family and friends, a time to renew my efforts at work, a time to embrace my faith more fully.  Walk with me, please, in every day and every hour of this new year, that the light of Christ might shine through me, in spite of my weaknesses and failings.  Above all, may I remember this year that I am a pilgrim on the sacred path to You.    Amen.

In our prayers this week: 

Alma, Ann, Joseph Brady, Tara Kallam, St. Jon's Lutheran, Richard Green, Nancy Gillespie, and Marjorie Berkeley's family.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Judson