Can We Make it New Again?

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
-- 2 Corinthians 5:17

It was hard to tell what was more painful to look at, the shattered toy on the living room floor or the shattered expression on my young daughter’s face. The one gift that she had wanted and longed for at Christmas was now a broken mess thanks to the carelessness of her younger brothers. Once the tears had stopped and the anger subsided, the question came that I was not expecting “Daddy can we make it like new again.” So that afternoon, with tools and superglue in hand, we started to rebuild her shattered dream. The “rebuilt” toy looked nothing like the original, but it was functional and for a little while at least, I was her hero.

As we begin the countdown of the last few days of 2013, take time to celebrate accomplishments, remember dreams that were shattered, loved one’s lost and new creations that took their first breath in the year that is quickly wrapping up. But be also reminded of the incredible opportunity that we have in Christ Jesus that not only on January 1, but everyday He offers us a new beginning. He offers to take our shattered lives and make them new again. He offers to rebuild that which we have destroyed and make it a new creation through Him.

On Youth Sunday the youth of Dacula UMC wrote the following affirmation of faith for the New Year:

“We believe that God is eternal and holy, so that whoever believes in him shall not die, but live forever. We believe that God's existence is a circle, with no definite beginning or end. We also know that our lives are a line, with a start and finish. We must make the best of our lives. We know that time wasted is time taken away, while time spent for God is time earned forever after. We should not live in the past, but continue forward, and strengthen our faith and relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.”

--Bill Martin, North Georgia Annual Conference

God Is Still In Control!

Miss Lladale Carey
Web Content Producer
www.umcgiving.org
lcarey@umcom.org