Seminary Viewpoints

Redeeming a Fresh Start in 2025: Get Good – and Get Together – with God’s Agenda

Sam Horn, Stuart Scott | January 6, 2025
Theologically Speaking Blog, Viewpoint Blog

This Viewpoint is a companion piece with the January 6 edition of BJU Seminary’s Theologically Speaking podcast featuring the authors (watch here).

Takeaways:

  1. Fresh starts aren’t always “redemptive.” Sometimes, as in the case of the world after Noah, the brand new world is very much just like the old world as we fall back into old habits, but also when we refuse to let go of the past for something better God has for us.
  2. So as we enter a new year, there are two keys to redeeming the fresh start it offer us. First, as Samuel ultimately did in moving on from Saul, get good with God’s agenda.
  3. And in our most important relationships, especially our marriages and our church bodies, take some time to reflect and get on that path together: determining together, in God’s grace, what good things from the past we’d like to celebrate and take into the new year, and things we would like to take advantage of that new beginning to start.   But at the same time, maintaing those lines of communications for course corrections along the way in keeping with God’s will.

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The Bible is full of new beginnings – including the Resurrection, offering believers the opportunity for a new, redeemed life, and the New Jerusalem where we will joyfully pass that blessed eternity in God’s presence.

But not all new beginnings are that redemptive in nature. Adam and Eve faced a new beginning that reflected what we could call the “severe mercy” of God. They were no longer under wrath, having been forgiven by God and were rescued from eating of the Tree of Life and living forever in their fallen flesh.  And there would be hidden value in the future Descendant who would defeat death. But they and all humankind would have to suffer the consequences of their disobedience.

And while Noah got to experience a fresh start in the form of a brand-new world free of its former sins, that brand new world soon became very much like the old world as men refused to let go of, and fell back into, their old, sinful habits.

So how can Christians redeem the opportunity for a fresh beginning, either at the start of a new year or whenever God wants to bring phase of life to an end and start something new? Because frankly, sometimes that something new isn’t something we would welcome. Maybe it’s the end of a ministry we thought would last for years. A financial difficulty. A death of a loved one. Or a health issue.

Getting Good with God’s Agenda

At the beginning of 1 Samuel 16, Samuel mourned God’s pronouncement that He was tearing leadership of Israel away from Saul, the king the priest-prophet loved and had anointed. Samuel was holding on to the past and his own agenda, instead of the new thing God was promising.

And he put his own agenda first again in his eagerness to anoint one of Jesse’s older, bigger and stronger sons as the new king. Only when he gave in and got good with God’s agenda – asking about another son – was he able to be part of something truly miraculous wonderful: a house and a kingdom that would be established forever in David’s earthly descendant, Christ Jesus.

One of us – Sam – experienced opposite sides of the “new beginning” coin in 2024: a new granddaughter who turned out to be an “intrusion” into our lives far greater and more wonderful than I or my wife Beth had anticipated, as all grandparents understand.

And on the other side: a devastating cancer diagnosis. Cancer was never, ever on my radar. It was a new beginning, a divine interruption, I couldn’t plan for or do anything to prevent, but would radically impact my life and all those around me.

So my wife and my physical and church families got on God’s agenda. Beth and I tried to be careful what prayers to ask for, because the Lord might not choose to heal me. We didn’t want Satan to say to others, “You prayed for your dad or your pastor, and God didn’t hear your prayer. What makes you think He’ll hear you now?”

So beyond prayers for my health, we asked for prayers that God would grant us courage and a bold faith pointing others to the fidelity of Christ, no matter what. And out of that trial, in God’s grace and providence, came both an immense amount of gospel opportunity and the opportunity to merge with another church – and blessedly, healing to the point of being cancer-free. Not because we prayed better than anyone else, but because we aligned with God’s providential plan.

Getting Together with God’s Agenda

The fact that corporate prayer was part of getting good with God’s agenda illustrates a second important aspect of redeeming a new beginning: getting on that path together with those in our most important relationships.

I, Stuart, and my wife Zondra celebrate both her birthday – Christmas Day – and our anniversary – December 27 – at the end of the year. So we have created a tradition over the past 44 years of getting away during that time, and beginning that getaway with a period of reflection and commitment.

Zondra and I look first at areas where we may have gotten distracted – and worse – from God’s best for us, things that we do not want to replicate in the upcoming year. And then we focus on the opportunity for new beginnings: what positive activities and habits, in God’s grace and if He doesn’t return, we’d like to take into the new year, and what good things we would like to start in the new year.

I (Sam), who over the last few years have taken the helm of a growing church, have similarly maintained a custom of a Vision Sunday that forces us to look back on what’s happened over the last year and forward to what we believe God is calling us to. One elder in particular  constantly reminds me of an important aspect of that custom: communicating and celebrating where God has been at work and what He has done in and through the church to set the stage for that forward vision.

Course Corrections Needed

But getting good with God’s agenda isn’t enough: we need to stay on course with Him. Surveys have variously found that most New Year’s resolutions, for example, are abandoned within between one and four months.

One way to prevent that is to engage in course corrections together. Zondra and I (Stuart) don’t wait till the end of a year to address plans and intentions that have gone awry. God has blessed me with a wife who will speak up in a gracious way, i.e., “Honey, we really need to talk about something.”

We’ll slow down and talk about the concerns she’s raised, pray and think through what needs to change and what steps each of us needs to take. It’s a lesson many in ministry in particular, where so many things are happening, should take to heart. Instead of just going with the flow, in our marriages and all important relationships, we should turn to the Lord and ask Him, “Help me to direct some of this flow.”

How to Help Your Congregation Navigate New Beginnings: Trust God

All of us have anxieties and fears as we come to New Years and other new beginnings, and some of which actually come to pass.

But facing these realities and getting good with God’s agenda is, in the end, about one critical attitude adjustment: trusting in and depending on God. So we encourage you to lead your flocks – and loved ones – in taking the following steps:

  1. Remembering and celebrating what He has done in the past. (Romans 8:32)
  2. Knowing that what He is doing in the present – and will do in the future – is for the good. (Romans 8:28)
  3. Covenanting with and continuing to build each other up – in the Body and in our marriages – as we follow His ways and grow into Christ together (Ephesians 4:1-16).

Resources:

More on Getting Good with God’s Agenda in a New Year:

More on Communicating and Staying on Track Together in Marriage: