Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the first Sunday of this new year, year 2025. Clearly, it is because of the goodness of the Lord that we are alive and well to witness the new year. So, I want you to join me in singing the song that says:
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Lord.
All I have to say is ‘Thank you, Lord.’
Now, as we begin this new year, I want to offer for you too the prayers of Apostle John for a friend of his, which read: “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” (3John 2NIV) What is the first thing John is asking God to do for his friend? It is that He will cause him to enjoy good health.
Why is that important? It is important because without good health, it will be hard, if not impossible, for anybody to do anything tangible for God, for himself or for others. Also, without good health, people cannot enjoy their lives or any good thing they have. And I want you to be able to do all kinds of tangible things for God, for yourself and for others this year. I also want you to be able to enjoy your life, your relationships and whatever good thing God does for you or gives to you in the year. Therefore, just as John prays for good health for his friend, I also pray that you too will enjoy good health all through this new year, so that you will be strong enough to do whatever good thing your heart desires to do and so that you will enjoy your life and everything you have. Amen.
What is the second thing John asks God to do for his friend? It is that He will cause all things to go well with him. Don’t you too want all things to go well with you this year? Don’t you want all things to go well with your family, business, education, ministry and anything else that concerns your life this year? I want all things to go well with me this year. And my prayer is that all things will go well with you too every day of this new year. Amen.
Then the third thing John asks God to do for his friend is that He will make his soul get along well with Him. In other words, John wants God to make this man sound spiritually. He does not want him to be a prosperous healthy man that is living a godless, foolish or meaningless life. I also don’t want you to be a prosperous healthy person that is living a reckless or useless life this year. That is why my prayer for you too is that God will make you sound spiritually in every way this year, so that your health and wealth will be used to honour Him.
Well, those are my prayers for you as we begin this year. And as I look forward to doing all kinds of great things together with you in the year, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forevermore. Amen.
Happy new year.
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