WELCOME TO 2024

“ Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering.” – 2 Thessalonians  1:3-5.

Believe it or not, it is that time. A new year is here right on schedule. This is the time of year so many of us start making resolutions to change a certain area, or multiple areas in our lives. Maybe we have some extra pounds to shed. We might be committed to changing a specific, harmful behavior. New Year’s resolutions range from simple desires to seemingly full-proof plans for extensive life change. What we all have in common is the hope that something will change and life will be different (and better) in the year ahead.

2 Thessalonians is a letter from Paul to the church in Thessalonica. In verses 3-5 of chapter 1, Paul talks about faith. God desires that we grow in faith as we walk with Him. Faith is not merely a one-time event through which we were saved; rather, it’s a continuous way of life from the point of salvation forward.

Our degree of faith in the Lord affects every area of our life—our thoughts, attitudes, prayers, and behavior. Our faith reveals just how much we trust Him. When we face persecutions and hardships as the church at Thessaloniki did, are we focused only on the troubles, or do we see the greatness of our heavenly Father, who controls all these situations?

The reason why many people don’t have faith is that they don’t know the character of God. When you finally glimpse how faithful God is, you can grasp the level of His love, grace, and mercy. If you trust God, you can have faith in Him. And when you have faith in God, you know what He says is true. The more you know God, the more faith will fill your heart. He promises to see you through any situation you find yourself in. Isaiah 54:10 says, “For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.”

So, what will you seek to change in 2024?  One way to approach New Year is to resolve to have personal growth in your faith—growing your relationship with Christ, focusing on prayer, or gaining a greater understanding of the Bible. That may seem like a pretty aggressive goal, but it is not as difficult as you think when you make it a tangible daily goal. Perhaps you want to commit to attending church every Sunday, joining a small group, volunteering with a specific ministry or organization, becoming more knowledgeable on a specific book or section of the Bible, or spending regular quiet time reading the Bible and prayer.

As we begin this new year, let us commit to trusting God to work in our lives in a new and powerful way. So rather than seeing the start of another year as a daunting task to be met or an unknown to be feared, we can trust in God’s sovereignty over every aspect of our lives.

Discussion Questions:

1. How would you rate in knowing and trusting God?
2. What can we do in the new year to increase our knowledge and trust in God?