January 4, 2026 — New Year's Day

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SERMON: A New Beginning With God

Dear beloved, we have entered the New Year 2026, a year that here at Calvin is dedicated to renewal. Just a few days ago, a new year began, and as it does every year, people everywhere speak about new beginnings. We talk about new habits, new resolutions, and new plans. Yet we also know how quickly these promises can fade. A few days pass, work resumes, life rushes in, and what felt deeply important on January 1 can quietly disappear by January 8. Real, lasting change is rare.

God teaches us something crucial today: true renewal does not begin with ourselves; it begins when we decide to begin again with God. That truth stands at the heart of the book of Nehemiah. There we see a nation at a crossroads. After seventy years of exile, the people of Israel were allowed to return to their homeland. They began rebuilding their homes, restoring the walls that protected their cities, and reestablishing worship in Jerusalem. What had been broken and abandoned was slowly being made whole again.

Nehemiah played a central role in this renewal. He gathered the people, read to them the commands of God, and took seriously the question of whether God’s law was being faithfully followed. He was a strong and uncompromising leader, deeply focused on obedience to God as King. It is likely that not everyone appreciated his strictness. Some may have found him too radical, too focused on God’s commands, unwilling to allow even small compromises. Yet under his leadership, the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt with astonishing speed. What once lay in ruins now stood again, strong and visible.

But walls alone do not save a people. As the Law of God was read aloud, something deeper happened. The people realized how far their thinking, their habits, and their daily lives had drifted from God’s Word. There was sorrow, there was repentance, and then something remarkable followed. The leaders and the people together made a solemn commitment. They wrote it down, they signed it, and they sealed it. At the heart of that commitment was a simple but powerful declaration: “We will live according to God’s law.” Not partially, not selectively, but intentionally. This was not emotional enthusiasm or a fleeting resolution. It was a deliberate new beginning made with God.

Before we look at what this commitment involved, we must ask ourselves an honest question: do we truly believe that God’s commandments are for our good? God does not give laws because He loves control. He gives them because He loves His people. His laws are guardrails that protect us, boundaries that keep us from harm, and promises that guide us toward life. The people of Jerusalem finally understood this, and that understanding moved them to action. We must ask ourselves whether we truly understand the same truth today.

The first area of renewal concerned family life. The people committed themselves to God-centered families because they had seen what happens when faith disappears from the home. Children were growing up speaking many languages but not the language of faith. They knew the names of idols but not the name of the Lord. Nehemiah understood that if faith is lost at home, everything else will eventually follow. Renewal had to begin there, and so it must for us as well. God invites us into marriages where He is truly Lord, into relationships shaped by faithfulness rather than convenience, honesty rather than silence, forgiveness rather than resentment, and patient love rather than fear. Parents are called not only to provide food and clothing, but also prayer, Scripture, and example. And for those who live alone, God still calls for faithful living, prayerful support, and holy influence. The question before us is simple and searching: is there something in our family life that is not ordered according to God’s will and needs a new beginning?

The second area of renewal involved God’s Day. Life in Jerusalem was becoming busy again. Commerce was thriving, and the temptation was strong to treat every day the same. Yet God had said that six days are for labor, and the seventh belongs to the Lord. When God’s Day is ignored, something is lost—not only spiritually, but humanly. Rest disappears, listening fades, and worship becomes optional. Nehemiah took this seriously, not as legalism, but as protection. The question for us today is not primarily about rules, but about who rules our time. Is God truly Lord of our calendar? Do we intentionally create space for worship, rest, and renewal? Those who do often discover a quiet miracle: when we entrust our time to God, He multiplies it.

The third commitment addressed forgiveness and release, particularly the cancellation of debts. God had commanded that every seventh year debts be forgiven, protecting the poor from being crushed and relationships from becoming chains. Beyond the economic reality, there is a deeper spiritual truth. Many people enter a new year carrying old resentments, emotional debts, and unresolved bitterness. Forgiveness is costly; it always is. But carrying unforgiveness costs even more. The gospel truth of the New Year is this: those who know how much God has forgiven them can begin to forgive others. Perhaps this is the year when someone finally lays down a burden they were never meant to carry.

The final commitment concerned the house of God. The temple had been neglected, worship had faded, and those who served were forced to leave their ministry simply to survive. The people came to understand that worship is not a service we consume, but a life we share. They gave willingly, participated actively, and took responsibility joyfully. This invites us to ask ourselves honest questions. If everyone prayed as we do, would prayer be heard? If everyone sang as we do, would worship rise? If everyone served as we do, would the church flourish? If everyone gave as we do, would God’s work continue? God asks these questions not to accuse us, but to awaken us, because when worship is renewed, everything else begins to fall into place.

The people of Nehemiah’s day faced uncertainty. Their future was fragile, and their resources were limited. Yet God pointed them toward faithfulness in family, time, forgiveness, and worship, and promised that if these were set right, many other things would follow. So, dear beloved, where is God inviting you to begin again this year? Not with vague resolutions, but with a clear, prayerful decision. May this be the year when we do not simply turn a page, but turn our hearts toward God. And may we discover, as the renewed people of Israel did, that new life truly begins when God is Lord of all. Amen.

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Hymns:

• TBP 814: Morning has broken
• TBP 812: Glory to God
• TBP 674: In the bulb there is a flower
• TBP 810: Now greet the swiftly changing year
• TBP 625: Seek ye first
• TBP 264: Sing amen

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