“Rooted in Discernment: New Year” by The Rev. Stephanie Kendell

Happy almost new year! I hope your Christmas was wonderful and that you are still celebrating all the joy of Christmas tide. If you missed any of our services last week, you can still experience them on our website, Facebook, or YouTube page. They were incredible times of collaboration, community, and care as we welcomed in the Christ child anew. This Sunday’s worship will be just as God filled as the power of the Holy Spirit does not ebb and flow with the seasons but is a present and constant force of love and God’s will this day and always. So, join us this Sunday for Adult Bible Study at 10am, Children’s at 10 &10:30am, and then Worship at 11!

You may recall last year that I shared with you my practice of Star Words. I don’t do resolutions for the new year (I do them at Easter!) but that doesn’t mean that I don’t start the new year with intention and something new. Every year I get a word, from http://wordoftheyear.me and I carry that word with me through the year letting it inform and guide me as I reflect on my day and life. This past week I have been reflecting on my word from last year and there are places where I see so clearly now, God at work because of this word. So, I invite you into that practice as well. Get your own star word and write it down. See where it shows up for you this year as you discern all of what is yet to come with you and God.

I have also been reading this scripture passage this week in a way that I have found helpful and engaging as the new year approaches and my days are filled with loving reflection. The questions that I am wrestling with are who have I been and who do I want to be? Is the person I am the person God made me to be? How have I used my privilege in ways that were helpful and how have I deconstructed systems of injustice and oppression that I have participated in and benefited from? Perhaps you have your own ponderings about your life. I hope that this message from the book of Wisdom aids in your reflections of the past and helps you cast sustainable visions for the future.

Wisdom 9:1
“O God of my ancestors and Author of mercy,
who have made all things by your word.
2 and by your wisdom have formed humankind
to govern the creatures you have made,
3 and oversee the world in holiness and righteousness,
and render judgment as the soul of righteousness:
Give me the wisdom that sits by your throne,
and do not reject me from among your children.
3 For I am your slave, the child of your slave girl,
one who is weak and short-lived,
with little understanding of judgment and laws;
6 for even one who is perfect among human beings
will be regarded as nothing without the wisdom that comes from you.
9 With you is Wisdom, she who knows your works
and was present when you made the world;
she knows what is pleasing in your sight
and what is right according to your commandments.
do Send her forth from the holy heavens,
and from your throne of glory send her,
that she may labor with me,
and that I may learn what is pleasing to you.
” For she knows and understands all things,
and she will guide me wisely in my actions
and guard me with her glory.

Friends, may this new year bring you new understanding of God’s call in your life and may you discern with God, all the good, just, and sacred things that this new year may hold for you.

Happy New Year!
Rev. Stephanie

Simple Prayer: O Holy One, Give me wisdom for the road ahead.. Amen.