Dear Christian friends:

A little boy said to his mother, "I cannot get up until I see Jesus' face." He meant that he was afraid of the dark bedroom, but when day light came he could see the picture of Jesus hanging on his bedroom wall and was not afraid to get up. We, like the little boy should be afraid to live without Jesus.

We are about to close the year of 1990 and begin the new year of 1991, and we need to do it with Jesus, in His name.

Our text tells us that when Jesus was eight days old he was circumcised and his name was called Jesus, which was the name the angel gave him before he was conceived in Mary's womb. The angel also told Joseph the meaning of the name when he said to him, "You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)

Since Jesus' name means Savior, and since he has saved us, we can do nothing better than to end the old year and begin the new year in His name.


We close the old year in His name. We need to do this because in some cases we failed our Lord during this past year. Even though we believe in Jesus and love Him, we still sin a lot. Even our best good works during 1990 at times were lacking the proper motivations. We failed to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and we failed to really love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Sometimes as individuals and as a congregation we did not have enough faith and courage to do what our Lord has commanded His followers to do. We acted as if our God was too small; and perhaps in some cases as if our God was dead. But God was not too small and weak; our faith was too weak.

Our God was not dead, but perhaps our faith was. Jesus once told His disciples that if they had faith like a mustard seed, they could move mountains. I don't think we moved any mountains in 1990.

Our Lord has commanded us to help preach the Gospel to all nations. As a congregation we have elected to do this through our District and Synod. We had the goal of giving 5% of our total offerings for this purpose. However, our treasurer was unable to do this for lack of giving in general. As a congregation we failed to do our Lord's work in the area of world missions. No doubt, other examples of failed goals could be given.

So we must close 1990 with some guilt and uneasiness. And the only way this guilt and uneasiness can be relieved is by honest confession of the sins and closing the books in the name of Jesus, our blessed Savior who gave His life's blood on the cross that our sins could all be forgiven.

Rationalizing and making excuses such as, "We lost some members or we're too small," will not really give the peace and renewal that is needed. In Jesus' name we need to put off the old nature and put on the new. With His help we need to commit ourselves to being the church He would have us be.

We need to close the old year in Jesus' name also because in some cases He helped us to do His will in the past year. Where God blessed us and gave success we need to remember that too, and thank Him in Jesus' name.

With His grace and blessing we were able to keep the church open and functioning in spite of severe trials and problems. Not a single worship service had to be canceled. The Gospel has been preached, the Sacraments have been administered. The sick and the shut-ins have been visited. The Sunday School has kept on doing its work. The Day Care program and the kindergarten have remained open and growing.

Confirmation classes and New member classes have continued. Two choirs were started and are serving exceptionally well. The food Pantry is still operating. The Share Program is flourishing. Several Bible Classes are still meeting. All of this, of course requires the love and dedication, gifts, and talents of many volunteers whom the Lord has gifted and inspired.

As we close the old year in Jesus' name we need to remember all His blessings and successes that He gave us in 1990, and thank and praise Him for His grace and mercy in all of this. For Jesus' sake this has all been accomplished!

As we close the old year in Jesus' name, so we also open the new year in His name. We call the new year 1991! That means that Jesus was born about 1991 years ago. We count our years from the time of Jesus' birth, therefore, we call each year, "The Year of Our Lord" or A.D. from the Latin "Anno Domino." This new year which begins tonight at Midnight is The Year of Our Lord, 1991, another year of His grace.

We are not afraid because Jesus will be with us during this new year. He has promised, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Beginning the new year in Jesus' name is like putting the cross on it. The cross reminds us that Jesus is our Savior.

Because Jesus died on the cross and then arose from death on Easter, He can be with us. Jesus shares this new year with us. He is with us to help us do His will. He is with us even when in weakness when we fail to do His will. He is always ready to forgive. That is why we begin the New Year in His name.

We do not know what the new year will bring: war, flood, earthquake, illness, a loved one's death, or our own. But one thing we know: God loves us and forgives us through all the troubles and problems of the new year. It like all the previous years, is a year of our Lord, a year of His grace.

We need only begin in Jesus' name and continue through the year in His name. God and Father, we end the old year and begin the new in Jesus' blessed name.

Amen.