Pastor's Message
January 2026
It's January! Winter has just begun. Happy New Year!
There parties for the new year. People stay up late and watch a big ball drop. Ah, and there is a day off from work for many people!
There is talk about New Year's Resolutions—our goals of what we want to do for the New Year. It's not that on December 31 we had no goals, and the next day we do have new goals. Every day we think of how we want things to be better.
For the new year, we are given a gift from God. That gift is given to us with the words, “In peace …..” With those words, God gives us his peace. Peace flows from God, that peace surrounds us, that peace fills our hearts and comforts our consciences, and lets us rest in that peace.
As we are gathered into church, we bring with us our feelings about what has happened to us in the past week, and we bring what has happened in the world. Some things may cheer us, but usually for a moment. Some things may trouble us, and it is not as easy to get rid of those feelings. And our conscience may worry a little about God's opinion of how we acted during the week. There we are, in church, and we are then invited to pray to God. And the invitation to pray begins with God's gift of peace. We hear the words, “In peace, let us pray to the Lord.”
That is when it happens. Jesus gives us his peace. His peace is offered to us by the words, “In peace,….” It's like Jesus saying, “Here, here is my peace. Here I give you my forgiveness because I died and rose for you. Here, I give you relief from worry, freedom from judgment, release from feeling troubled. For this time, my peace is all around you and in you. It soaks into your heart and into your mind. My peace is my gift to you. Now tell me, how may I be merciful and gracious to you?”
That is how Jesus starts our new year. “Here it is. Here is peace
for you. Whatever you need to do, you have my peace to do it in.”
Those words of peace are sudden, as if coming as a surprise, like
someone dropping a large, wrapped Christmas present right in
front of us at our feet. Plunk, here, this is for you. And it is ours.
We get to hold it, trust it, and rest in it. We did nothing to make that peace. We need to do nothing to gain that peace. It's just given to us, “Here, you are in my peace.”
And we then ask God for things we so really long for. We want mercy and eternal life. Keep us safe as we die. “For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.”
We pray for things we hold most dear, for the things that strengthen us, for the things that would make life so much better. “For the peace of the whole world….,” and for a moment of silence, we send Jesus' peace to all the world and to all our parts in that world—family, a loved one, a neighbor. Plunk, we place peace right into their hearts. “….for the well-being of the church of Christ…,” and for a moment of silence, we put Jesus' peace all around the people we are with in church. We earnestly pray for God's good things to be with and keep them safe and well. We pray that our congregation care for each other, that we keep working together so our congregation can keep going and telling us that Jesus has died and risen to make us good to God. Just keep us going, dear Father in heaven. This place is such a blessing to us. “…and for the unity of all,….” For a moment of silence, we pray that people work together to care for each other, to help each other, instead of bickering, blaming, blustering, or being bombastic to those we disagree with. We pray that simple things like caring for the sick, making sure all have enough to eat, are things we all agree to do. Please. “Let us pray to the Lord.”
“In peace” is Jesus' gift for you to start the year.
Happy New Year!
Peace,
Pastor Hoyer
Transition Pastor
Pastor Timothy Hoyer
