HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and your family!  May you have His favor in 2012 as the Lord draws you closer to Himself.  He knows what we need and He will be our provider. Trust in Him and let not your hearts be troubled.

I believe that 2012 will be a “year of opportunity”.  This is a year when God will do great things for you and for our church.  My prayer is that you and your family experience a deepening understanding of God’s love and care this year.

A verse that I am starting the New Year off with is Eph. 5:15-17 “Be very careful, then, how you live not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.   Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

I believe that God is calling us, as a Church, to move forward in the year 2012.  However, I am strongly convinced that this spiritual advance will not be a result of a new program or a different paradigm of ministry … we must first press forward in a tangible and practical way in surrendering to God and allowing the Holy Spirit more control in our lives.

All of us would like 2012 to be better than 2011!   How will we make this year different from last year?  What is God asking us to do in walking out our faith in 2012?  To help us understand God’s will for our lives and to take this step of faith together in unity, last Sunday and again this Sunday, we will be handing out a pamphlet that will allow us to set goals for the year ahead. 

God’s kingdom is balanced. In His Word is contained a very balanced approach to life. It is not a pick and choose approach to life, where one could say: I will take this into my life, but I refuse that.  I will obey this but I choose not to obey that.  These thoughts lead to imbalance.  The Bible calls for full balance.  Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (NKVJ)

I am asking each member of our church family to set godly goals (make resolutions – a course of action decided upon; a fixed purpose) that will bring God’s blessing upon us as individuals, upon our families, upon our church and upon our valley.  Let God’s will be accomplished in and through your life this year!  You are vital to what God wants to do!

Paul tells us how to do this in Philippians 3:13 “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal.”

Each New Year represents a whole new range of opportunities for each of us.   At the start of the year we can turn a new page and have new personal beginnings in a multitude of areas.   We need to be wise as we step through the door to set these goals.

He calls us to be like a runner in a race whose ceaseless personal exertion and intensity of desire helps to achieve the God ordained victory.  The picture is that of a runner with his body bent over, hand outstretched, eyes fastened on the goal, never giving a backward glance.  In other words, this runner is focused and determined.   He has a plan of action.  He has set goals!

Now is the time to join the other members of this church family in setting goals that will allow God to fulfill His purpose in and through your life for His glory!  We need your response!!