Here we are at the start of a new year—a new beginning. The holiday parties are over, resolutions have been made, and we start to look ahead to the possibilities that 2014 might hold for each and every one of us.  I, for one, am very excited to see what the coming months will bring in our ministry together. I am grateful for the wonderful leadership you have had, and I’m looking forward to hearing how your history has shaped this congregation into the people of God you are today.

Our Gospel text for this Sunday also centers on this notion of “beginning”. Its words echo that of Genesis and bring to mind images of creation, light, and Jesus, the Word become flesh, breaking into the world to dwell among us. God in Jesus Christ (the Word) was in the beginning, and is in every beginning. God did not come into our world, live, die, and rise just to leave us high and dry today when we face new challenges or start on new adventures.

So I ask: Where do you hope to see the Word living or dwelling among you as individuals, and in the life of Trinity Lutheran Church in the coming year? Where has God already been dwelling in this place, embodied and moving in mission, education, and worship?  How might we, like John the Baptist, be witnesses in the world to the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ?