A completed year is about to end, and a new year is about to begin. The world seems less unified now than it did a year ago, and it was far from unified then. What went wrong? Why can’t we get together? If the western, Christianized world is to make peace with the easternized, Muslim world, it is incumbent on our side, who feel somewhat less threatened than the Muslims, to take the first steps in the human re-unification process. To ponder what that means, let us, with New Year’s confidence, worship God.

The four Sundays before Christmas are known as the ecclesiastical season of Advent. Advent is a Latin word which means “Coming.” Advent is when we focus on the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. Each year once again we prepare for the astonishing appearance of the one we call the Son of God who was born in a rough shelter for livestock and placed in a feeding trough for animals. God does not do things the way we think He should - - - thank God. Therefore let us, with renewed Advent expectations, worship God.

Today is All Saints Day. On this day each year in the ecclesiastical calendar the Church celebrates all of God’s saints, living and dead, who have magnified God’s name by the way they conducted themselves in life. We thank God for the true saints we see all around us, and especially for those saints we have known or known about who have transferred from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant, and are with God in eternity. Therefore let us worship God, praising Him for all the saints.

Life is an immeasurable gift from God to all of us, and God wants us to live it in a quality that is as full and lengthy as possible. When it comes time for life to end, we hope to give it up gladly, trusting that there is a far better life beyond this one which God has prepared for us, one in which there is not illness or pain or death, but rather eternal life with Him in His celestial kingdom. Therefore, as we reflect on the tenacious and also tenuous nature of physical life, let us, with confidence, worship God.

The Christian life, rightly lived, is a struggle. Should we do this, or should we do that? What does God want from us? No matter what we do, we know that many times we fail to accomplish what we set out to do. God does not require perfection of us, but rather discipleship, not flawless behavior but faithful action. Through everything, God goes with us to guide and uphold us. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God of loving guidance.

The English poet William Wordsworth wrote that the world is too much with us, and in the opening stages of an inevitably long political campaign, already it is starting to feel that way. Today we shall be thinking about ethics in politics, and how we as voters are affected by that very important and complicated subject. God guides us, as He guides all people, through the circuitous political paths of government along which all peoples must pass. Let us therefore, with expectant and eager hearts and minds, worship God.

Time, like Old Man River, just keeps rolling along. Today we look at King David in old age, and we contemplate ourselves as we approach old age in various stages. Do we see ourselves as going it alone, or do trust that God goes with us each step of the way? As we get older, do we feel more or less connected to God and to everyone else? Before we get too old and infirm to act, does it behoove us to decide what actions we should take? God walks beside us. Let us therefore, with the confidence of advancing years, worship God.

When God created the human race, He created us in families. Much of who we are is determined by what we were taught as young children and as youth. In our adulthood, most of us establish families of our own. Today we seek the blessing of God as we contemplate the life of David’s family long ago and of our own families today. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God who established the original and most important of genuine family values.

Two hundred and thirty-nine years ago, on a steamy July day in Philadelphia, a few dozen men gathered to sign a document which declared they had become independent from the empire which had established their existence 169 years earlier. Three thousand years ago a king committed a grievous sin. Today we gather to thank God for the United States of America, and for the wisdom of the king who knew he must move beyond his sin if he was to become the monarch God wanted him to be. Let us, with confidence, worship the God of all hope-filled new beginnings.

All around us we see beauty: the beauty of the ocean and beach and sky, of fairways and trees and lagoons, majestic birds and animals, dainty butterflies and intricate insects. It is God who created most of the beauty we see, but He also gave humanity creative abilities as well. Today we shall ponder how we humans are doing as the sole stewards of God’s terrestrial creation, the planet we call Earth. Therefore let us, with chastened confidence, gather together to give praise and thanks to our Creator-God.

Today is Mother’s Day, and on this day we recall with deep gratitude the love our mothers showed us, and the sacrifices they made on their behalf. We also remember those women for whom motherhood is more of a burden than a blessing, but who struggle as best they can properly to nurture their children. Through it all we remember the God who alone has made possible the institution of the human family, our creator and redeemer. Let us therefore, with confidence, worship God.

Each day of our lives, but especially in all the days in which we worship, we need to be open to the call of God, beckoning us to do what we alone can do to consolidate His kingdom in His world. There is no one incapable of performing service to God, and no one capable of doing everything God needs to be done. Therefore let us today listen for the voice of God moving in our hearts. Let us, with confidence, worship God.

The life of Jesus is a story told by four different men in four different ways almost two millennia ago. Our lives also would be described by us and others in different ways. Today we shall think about the narratives of our existence, and what these narratives mean to us, to others, and to God. We are grateful to God for our lives, and we seek His guidance to lead them as best we can. Therefore let us join together to worship the God who has granted us the gift of life with all its richness, possibilities, and pitfalls.