Dear New Life in Christ Church Family,

Happy New Year! Every time we start a new year, we have a window to consider our lives for the coming year. And so, every year I have the chance to send some variation of this same letter.

What is coming? What do we want for the year or the next few years? Most of all, how do we want to grow spiritually this year? How shall we serve God this year?

We really have no clue what is to come in the year ahead. In truth, we never know. Could we have anticipated the things that happened? Some of them, yes. But others, no. And yet, God is still in control.

When I started preaching through the book of Matthew, my plan was to preach chapters 1-7 and then go back to Genesis 26 and finish preaching through that book. If you haven't noticed, I like to jump around a little bit. This is probably a good idea, especially since Matthew 1-7 took me about 18 months to get through!

The Sermon on the Mount has been stunning and challenging to me. I hope it has to you. Throughout Jesus paints a picture of the kingdom of God, of it's humility, kindness, righteousness, and God-centeredness. He addresses the purity of our minds, hearts, and emotions. He confronts our judgmentalism, lusts, anger, and anxieties. He shows us how true motivation for worship and giving is the glory of God, not the approval of others.

It is comprehensive and challenging. It deserves our repeated attention. We want this Sermon, along with the whole Word of God, to shape us. This Word leads to life.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13–14)

This is the character of Jesus, person he wants to make us into. The only way we become like this is by following Jesus and spending time with Him. As Jesus said,

“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19)


While Jesus is in heaven, we can still spend time with Jesus by spending time in the Word and prayer. We do it through the Spirit of God. As we look forward to 2025, we have the opportunity that build up our spiritual habits to grow in our relationship with God.

We must not think that the character of Jesus will grow in us unless we spend time with Him. This takes discipline for sure. We need time to meditate on the Word of God. We need to read the Scripture and have time to think it through and apply it to our lives. We need the time to talk with God in prayer and to bring our lives under God, and the situations that we face.

To do this, we need intentionality. It's something we need to dedicate time toward. Would you do that as you enter into the new year?

Our spiritual goals are essential to our spiritual growth and escaping temptation. We need the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts, and the Spirit does His work as we build our lives on His Word and prayer.

Like many of the goals we might set in the world, things are better if we have someone to do them with. We will find greater success if we talk to others about our goals. This is true in most areas of our life - health and exercise, finances, and family. It is the same thing for our spiritual aims.

The friendships we choose will shape us significantly. When we spend time with people who help us focus on our faith and God's purposes, we will find ourselves challenged to greater godliness. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24–25).


This is central to the life of our church: Our Care Groups, youth groups, and children's ministries are the way we build Spirit-filled, life-shaping, faith-centered relationships that can spur us on.

As we start 2025, would you start (or continue) key spiritual habits that will deepen your walk with God?

I know it takes time, but I believe you will benefit from spending dedicated time in God's Word and praying. I regularly encourage people to spend 30 minutes a day in God's Word - 10 minutes reading, 10 minutes praying, and 10 minutes journaling or memorizing a Bible verse. Try to do it with a paper Bible, not a phone, and focus on what is before you.

Your family also needs this. If you have children in the home, you will find that building warm relationships around God's Word will help tremendously for our children valuing their parents' faith.

To help you with personal and family devotions, I have put together a 2025 Family Worship Guide with daily Bible reading, memory verses, and monthly hymns. Pick one up in the foyer this Sunday.

And for friendships around God's Word, would you consider committing to a Care Group, find a place to serve, or jump into our men's and women's ministries? Again, these are relational lifelines of spiritual growth. Choose friendships that will spur us on.

If you have any questions about your own spiritual growth, let me know, I'd love to talk with you more about these things.

As a church, we also have goals for the new year! We plan to share them on January 19 on our Focus Day Sunday. At the morning service, we will consider God-centered spiritual goals for 2025. In the Sunday school and the Evening service, we will address some key goals as a congregation for the year. I hope you can join us for both those services.

Speaking about prayer, would you join us for prayer on January 8 in Room 100? That day is a day of prayer and fasting for our leaders and staff, and we invite you to join us in fasting, and for a round of prayer from 6 PM to 8 PM that day. Prayer is the most important way to start the year. It helps us see our utter dependence on God and the need for His mercy and kindness for the year to come.

There are other things happening this month. Please take some time to look through this newsletter and the upcoming bulletin to find out what is happening.

Faithfully Yours, 
Pastor Sean