Last Sunday morning, we learnt from the wise men following the star that led them to Jesus, and challenged ourselves to be ‘stars’ that point people to him.

Entering another New Year presents us with an opportunity to reflect on the events of 2019 in order to allow God to shape our thinking and actions as we aim to point people to Jesus in 2020.

Pauline occasionally reminds me that knowing our history can prevent us from repeating past mistakes and help us learn from past successes. That principle is no less relevant in personal and church life than it is in national and international relationships!

So, what have we done in 2019 that we need to build on in 2020?

If I had to single out one significant development, it would be our values statement, which reflects something of who we are and who we want to be as a church community. The idea that we want to prioritise God’s Kingdom ways by expressing our faith through acts and attitudes of love, and to do so with integrity, is summarised in our text for 2020, ‘The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.’ (Galatians 5:6)

As we do so, I believe God will lead us further into his vision for our future together. We do not yet have every piece of that vision in place, but 2019 also showed us that God unfolds his vision for us as we worship and serve him through the year. As we realised last week, we did not start 2019 knowing that the single most significant area of growth in our ministry would be Messy Zone. But as we responded to what God was already doing in Messy Church, it became clear that Messy Zone was something that we could offer as a new way to point families in our community to Jesus.

So, as we continue to focus on God’s Kingdom priorities in 2020, may he give us 20:20 vision to see the ways in which he wants us to show love as an expression of our faith in Jesus this year. And may we act with integrity by being true to his calling, by becoming increasingly responsive to God’s leading through the Holy Spirit as he works in us and through us day by day.

With my love and prayers for a happy and peaceful New Year

Matthew Scott