Looking Ahead to January 1, 2023

This is our annual "choose what we sing" service. The assembled congregation will get to choose the Carols we sing during the service.

The Scripture Reading's for New Year's are:Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 Revelation 21:1-6

During the service folk will be invited to share Highlights/Lowlights from 2022 and also Hopes/Fears/Resolutions for 2023.

The Reflection title is A New Beginning

Early Thoughts: What is 2023 the time for? Where is God leading us this year? What is beginning to happen in your life? In our communal life?

As we take one calendar down and put the new calendar up it is a time for new beginnings. Something new is on the horizon. What do we hope it will be?

Scripture reminds us that God is at work in the world. The Revelation passage reminds us that God is creating a new heaven and a new earth, that God is living among us, and that all time (the ending and the beginning) is in God. 

As a congregation we launch into a new year, how will we be the church differently in 2023? How will we be the same? God is calling us to be a beacon of loving community here in Grande Prairie, we have to determine how we will continue to shine brightly.

As 2023 begins we are still, as a society, somewhat in recovery mode. Almost 3 years in the era of pandemic continues to leave a mark. Add in the soaring inflation we met in 2022 and ongoing uncertainty both at home and abroad we have to wonder what 2023 will bring. Will it be  a year of recovery or of limping along? 

But God is in the midst of all of it. If 2023 is a year of great recovery or if 2023 brings new hiccups God is in the midst of it. Maybe this year will be a time of dancing. Maybe it will be a time of weeping. (Likely it will bring both.) At any rate, a new year is beginning, with new hopes, new possibilities. May we walk with God into whatever might come out of it.