A Year Held in His Hands| A New Year Sermon
A Year Held in His Hands| A New Year Sermon
Every time a new year comes close, something in me start feeling that weird mix of excitement and heaviness. Maybe you know the feeling too—like you’re standing at this invisible doorway. One foot in the old year (the stuff you want to forget but somehow still sticks to you like stubborn glue), and the other foot stepping into something you still can’t see clearly. And sometimes you’re hopeful, sometimes you’re scared, sometimes you’re… well, both at the same time.
I was thinking about all that while reading some Scriptures again, and honestly, it hit me harder this year. Maybe because life been kinda loud lately, or maybe because I’m tired of pretending everything always makes sense. But the Bible does this thing, right? It sneaks into the parts of your heart you thought you cleaned up, and suddenly you realize God is trying to talk to you again. Even if it feels like you weren’t exactly listening.
So, let me share what been on my mind. Think of this like a sermon but also like a conversation over a warm cup of tea on a chilly night. A little imperfect, a little emotional, kind of rambling but still meaningful—because real life isn’t tidy, and honestly, neither are real sermons.
1. “Behold, I Make All Things New” (Revelation 21:5)
This verse always shows up around New Year because it feels like the perfect headline for January 1st. But I think sometimes we hear it too fast. We don’t sit with it.
“Behold…”
That means stop. Look. Pay attention.
Almost like God is tapping your shoulder gently and going, “Hey, child, don’t rush past this part.”
“I make all things new…”
Not “you make yourself new.”
Not “you find a way to fix everything you broke.”
Not “you try harder so you finally become enough.”
No—“I make…”
God Himself is the Author of the newness.
And that comforts me, because to be honest, every December I realize how many things I still didn’t fix. Some habits stayed. Some fears stayed. Some prayers still waiting like unopened letters in heaven’s mailbox. And sometimes I feel disappointed in myself. Maybe you do too.
But God isn’t telling us, “Try again, do better this time.”
He’s telling us, “Let Me work. Let Me restore. Let Me guide.”
It’s like the new year isn’t a fresh start because of the calendar flipping. It’s a fresh start because of the presence of the Lord going with us into it.
2. The Smell of Fresh Beginnings (Isaiah 43:18–19)
This one always feels like it got written for people who been through stuff:
“Do not remember the former things…”
You know how sometimes a smell suddenly bring back a memory? Maybe your mother’s old perfume, or the scent of rain hitting hot soil, or the way the kitchen smelled during holidays long before life got complicated. Funny how the senses hold memories stronger than our mind sometimes.
But Isaiah is telling us:
there’s a time to stop re-smelling, re-living, re-feeling old hurts.
“…nor consider the things of old.”
It doesn’t mean forget everything. Life doesn’t work like backspace. It means stop letting old seasons have authority in a new season.
Then the verse says something wild:
“Behold, I will do a new thing…”
Not “maybe.”
Not “if you’re good enough.”
Not “if life finally settles down.”
Just “I will.”
God sounds so certain there. More certain than I ever feel about myself.
Then:
“It shall spring forth…”
The imagery is so alive… like hearing the crack of fresh leaves pushing through soil after a long winter. Sometimes the new thing God is doing makes a sound—not always loud, but gentle, almost like a whisper.
God is doing something new in you.
Even if you don’t feel it yet.
3. A Story From My Life (A Little Embarrassing But True)
Okay so—confession. One New Year’s Eve a few years back, I made this huge list of things I was gonna “change.” It was dramatic, honestly. Like 37 goals. I don’t even know why I picked that number.
I wrote stuff like:
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Wake up early every day
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Be patient all the time
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Read ten chapters of the Bible daily
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Never get anxious
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Don’t eat junk food
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Don’t overspend
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Don’t let people walk all over me
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Don’t skip workouts
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Don’t forget birthdays
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Don’t feel sad
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Etc….
Honestly, it was ridiculous. Even angels reading that list probably sighed deeply.
Then January 4th came and I woke up late, ate cold pizza for breakfast, snapped at someone for something small, got anxious about something dumb, and forgot I even had a list.
I remember sitting on my bed that day feeling like I already failed the year.
But then something came to me—like a quiet sentence dropping gently into my mind:
“Child, transformation is My job. Growth is your journey.”
That changed everything for me.
Because sometimes New Year makes us treat ourselves like broken projects—something to fix fast. But God doesn’t handle us like projects. He handles us like children growing. Slowly. Tenderly. Season by season.
4. Joshua 1:9 – Walking Into the Unknown
This verse stayed with me for weeks:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid… for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The “wherever you go” hits different around New Year.
Because the truth is…
we don’t know what the next 12 months hold.
There will be joys—unexpected ones.
There will be valleys—some deeper than we want.
There will be days where everything feels like sunlight.
And days where everything feels like walking through fog.
But wherever you go… God goes too.
You don’t step into January alone.
You don’t walk into March alone.
You don’t cross the rough months, the weird months, the beautiful months alone.
Your steps may be shaky.
Your hope may flicker sometimes.
Your strength may run thin.
Your plans may collapse.
But His presence doesn’t leave you.
5. Psalm 65:11 – “You Crown the Year With Goodness”
I love this verse for New Year because it sounds like a blessing poured straight from heaven:
“You crown the year with Your goodness…”
Imagine the whole year—365 days—like a head, and God gently placing a crown on it. Not a dull crown, but one glowing with mercy, favor, grace, forgiveness, opportunities, hidden blessings, and small miracles that might not even look like miracles until later.
Sometimes God’s goodness isn’t loud.
It’s not fireworks or big miracles all the time.
Sometimes it’s the quiet things:
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that unexpected peace at 2 AM
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a conversation that healed you without you realizing immediately
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a door that closed that you later realize saved you
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a new friend
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a small answered prayer
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strength you didn’t know you had until life squeezed you
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breath in your lungs on a morning you didn’t want to wake up
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laughter that returned after being gone for too long
These are crowns too, little golden pieces scattered through our year.
6. Why New Year Feels Holy (Even If We Don’t Say It Out Loud)
I think the reason New Year feels spiritual is because deep inside us we crave newness. We’re wired for it because we’re made in the image of a God who creates, restores, transforms, and makes new things all the time.
Every sunrise is like a mini New Year.
Every breath is a second chance.
Every prayer is a doorway.
Maybe that’s why we feel emotional around January 1st. We want to hope again, even if last year bruised us.
And God meets us right there—in that hopeful ache.
7. Philippians 3:13–14 – Forgetting the Past & Pressing Forward
Paul says something so raw here:
“Forgetting those things which are behind…”
Forgetting doesn’t mean erasing.
It means releasing their control.
“…and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.”
That’s what New Year really is:
reaching forward.
Not because you know what’s coming.
Not because you trust yourself.
But because you trust God enough to stretch your hands into tomorrow.
8. A Few Encouragements For the New Year (Not Rules, Just Gentle Reminders)
Since we’re walking into this new year together, here’s some things I want to whisper to your heart:
• You don’t need to have everything figured out by January 1st.
Life doesn’t reset magically at midnight. Growth takes months.
• You’re allowed to start slow.
Some seasons begin quietly, almost invisible.
• God will give you strength for every month as it comes.
Not all at once. Just enough for each step.
• You don’t have to be perfect.
You won’t be. And God never asked that of you.
• Small progress is still real progress.
Tiny steps still move you forward.
• Pray about everything, even the messy stuff.
God cares about things you think are “too small.”
• Grace will meet you again and again.
You won’t run out of it. Because He won’t run out.
9. Ending Prayer
Lord,
as we step into this new year,
take our fears, our disappointments, our broken pieces,
and breathe something new in us.
Make us brave enough to let go,
gentle enough to heal,
patient enough to grow,
and hopeful enough to expect Your goodness.
Walk with us into every month,
every morning,
every hard moment,
and every joyful one too.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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