A Word from Pastor Jay

Happy New Year! As we move into the year 2026 (could that really be true?) we go through a time of transition. One year folds into another, and while many things move forward as before, some things cause us pause as we recognize that there is a newness to it all. Even something as simple as writing the correct year on our checks takes a bit of  concentrated forethought to get things correct. Some of us try to live our lives in a new way through New Year’s resolutions or greater resolve to reform or retool how we live. Some of us put behind us the disappointments or trials of the previous year with an outlook that hits a reset button moving forward. Moving from one year to another often brings with it an understanding that we are moving through a time of transition. At least some things become new again.

As I think about this transition and the approach of 2026, my mind moves toward making things new again. On January 11, we will celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, a festival day in the church during which we celebrate the baptism of Jesus and focus on the wonder of baptism as a gift in our lives. The Apostle Paul had some very uplifting things to say about baptism, things which can shape our understanding of our faith and of our relationship with God. Paul shares his thinking that “Therefore we were buried with him (Jesus) by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) Paul’s idea is that in the waters of baptism we are made new by the love and grace of God and refreshed so that we can move forward free from the constraints of sin and death and live fully as God’s children unleashed upon the earth. Martin Luther loved this idea so much that it became a central point of his theology of the Christian life, that in baptism we are set free. Luther wanted everyone to know that, while we are baptized once in water and the Word, baptism itself is a daily event. When we remember that we have been baptized, and trust in the promises of freedom and life that God gives us in the sacrament, we are refreshed and renewed and energized to enter into the world, prepared to serve and to share God’s love wherever we go. We no longer need to fear for ourselves, because God has claimed us and set us free from our bondage to sin and death and has raised us to this new life in which we can focus on service to others. So, for Luther, baptism is a daily event in which we remember and take on its promises as we take on the new day.

January 11 also stands out as a celebration of the new in a different way for us at Apostles. On that day we will celebrate the retirement of our debt. It is set to happen on this day when we celebrate baptism because our debt retirement also serves as a  freeing event in a way. As we celebrate our release from the bondage of a financial debt, we are freed to use our resources to serve, to act in the world in ways that share God’s love with our neighbors, our community and our world. Thank you to all who were able to help us to meet this goal through your contributions, your care and your prayers. To be set free is a wonderful thing. As we enter this new year, we doubly are unleashed and sent into the world as bearers of God’s good news.

Each day provides us with opportunities. The first opportunity is the opportunity to remember that we are baptized and that we are loved by God no matter what. Each day also provides us with the opportunity to shape how we will live actively as a child of God in the world understanding the freedom God has given us. As a congregation, we are blessed with many opportunities to carry God’s love into the world. How we shape our ministries this year, using the freedom we have to serve, using the resources God has given us and using our talents and the possibilities that present themselves becomes our thoughtful response to God’s blessings in our lives. May God guide us in our journey as we move forward, freed to love, freed to serve and freed to live fully in the name of our Lord, Jesus.