January 2, 2026

Happy New Year! I’m going to admit to you right now… most of my New Year’s Eves have been spent at home… with lots of junk food… and me being in bed by 11:15pm (If I make it that far). I feel weird about that sometimes. I have for years. It feels like I should be partying with friends, silly string, noise makers, and raucous celebrations! I guess our culture and media sort of impresses that upon us. As the years pass by, I find myself feeling more content with my New Year’s Eve celebrations. For me, the loud, busy, party-like atmosphere isn’t necessary (though there’s nothing wrong with it). I find that I operate and receive joy best in the slow and quieter things in my life.

I want to pursue God in those spaces. If God is found in the quiet, slow, and uninterrupted spaces, isn’t that where you want to be, too? And if not, why? When we slow down to be still, we feel vulnerable, bored, or even anxious. If we slow down to think and reflect, we can quickly get swept up in fears, worries, or disappointments; either our disappointments with life itself or with the feeling that God might someday be disappointed in us.

But what if God looks forward to the quiet, slow, and uninterrupted times with you? Not because he has to slap the back of your hand with a ruler, but because he simply loves to spend time with you. God looks forward to one-on-one time with you. He longs for it. We see it when Jesus invites us to come to him in Matthew 11. We’re invited to seek, knock, ask. In Luke 13 Jesus cries over Jerusalem longing to gather his people like a mother hen gathers her chicks underneath her wings. God constantly invites Israel to meet with and rest in him but, through the prophets, laments that Israel often never showed up to the meeting.

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. -Matthew 7:7-8

In Luke 15 Jesus tells a famous parable about two sons. One leaves the home of his Father by running away. The other one leaves his Father’s home by staying put. Both believe their Father is holding back on them. The younger son believes more to life is found in rebellion. The older son believes there is more to life by obeying the rules. What we find in the end of Jesus’s story is that the Father simply longs to have his sons present with him! No amount of sin and no number of religious duties swayed the Father’s love either way. He wants his kids at home with him. Period.

³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours...’”

-Luke 15:31

How does that make you feel? What stirs in your heart when you hear that? God is looking forward to slow uninterrupted time with you more than you’ve ever looked forward to a summer vacation, or Christmastime, or a birthday surprise. He’s crazy about you.

As we enter into yet another season asking God to form us more into the likeness of Jesus… for the sake of others, we’re reminded that the first step in spiritual formation is knowing how much we are truly loved.

In this New Year, I invite you to slow down. Come close to the Lord. Rest in him. He’s not disappointed in you. He loves giving his presence and good gifts to his sons and daughters. He’s been looking forward to spending 2026 with you.

Looking forward to it,

Nathan

Nathan Hinkle

Lead Pastor

How Can We Pray For You?