Greetings and happy Sabbath!  It's good to be back home and with you all here in Charlotte, Columbia and Hickory.  As a quick reminder, Columbia will be having a potluck tomorrow.  Our Booklet Discussion of 'The New Covenant: Does It Abolish God's Law' will begin on the Sabbath of January 14th for Columbia and on the 21st for Charlotte and Hickory.  Please read the Introduction and the first two chapters, God's Magnificent Series of Covenants and A New Covenant for Transforming the Heart.  We should be able to wrap up or discussion of this booklet by the Spring Holy Days.

A lot happened in 2022

Good, bad or indifferent, a lot of things happened in 2022.  And while we don't celebrate New Year's (for more on the reason why, click here), the turning over of the calendar is a convenient time to reflect on the passage of time.  

A few things of note to consider: Queen Elizabeth died and King Charles took the crown; Inflation reared its ugly head; Russia invaded Ukraine.  Of course, not everything that happened in 2022 was bad.  COVID and the associated restrictions with it eased up a bit and locally, we had a wedding and four baptisms!

What to do, what to do...

Again, we don't celebrate New Year's, nor should we make half-hearted resolutions based on a moment's emotions.  But the new year is a convenient time to set a new goal for yourself.  Many choose this marker in time to start a Bible reading program (an e-mail was sent out earlier today with a couple of different programs).

Maybe you have goals besides those spiritual in nature.  Perhaps you'd like to lose weight, or visit a particular attraction or buy a new car.  All of those are fine goals, but as with any goal, in order to get it accomplished, there needs to be some work put into it.

Git-r-done!

Whatever you might have in mind for the year, take some time to think about it.  Don't let a momentary whim take over the direction of your life for the next 12 months.  But some time into thinking about what you would like to accomplish, and then create a plan to 'Git-R-Done' as they say in these parts...

Beyond our personal goals, always keep in mind that God has goals for you as an individual, and the church collectively.  You could perhaps summarize these as overcoming our carnal nature and taking on the nature of God for us as individuals, and as the body, preparing ourselves to be the bride of Christ.

May God guide an bless you in all you choose to do this coming year!