Happy New Year! With a new year comes new beginnings.
John Wesley, founder of Methodism, created a “Covenant Service” in 1755 to guide the faithful in the re-committing of themselves to God and God’s leading. Today, the “Covenant Service” is most commonly held on New Year’s Eve or Day. At the heart of the service is Wesley’s Covenant prayer:
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
Exalted for thee or brought low by thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant, which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
As we begin a new year, I encourage you to commit 2017 to God, commit to deepening your relationship with God and others. We serve a God who makes all things new. Let us commit ourselves to partner with God in God’s acts of new creation. I look forward to seeing you in Church as we lean into God’s new creation in a new year!
Pastor Doug