Resolved: Starting a New Year Shaped By The Gospel
Happy New Year! Congratulations, Karis. Whether you skipped, crawled, or were carried by God’s grace across the finish line, here we are in 2026. Before too long, we will embark on our next big sermon series in the book of Genesis. Before that though (and as we wait for all our beloved college students to get back from break), we want to spend a few weeks focusing on how the Good News of Jesus shapes a few important areas of our life.
Many people will use the start of a new calendar year as an opportunity to set goals for themselves – New Years’ resolutions. Maybe you’ve set some for yourself already? According to many surveys, the most common New Years’ resolutions revolve around a few specific things: physical health, emotional/spiritual heath, and financial health. Growing in these different areas of life can yield awesome blessings in our lives, for our families, and even throughout our community. There’s a catch though, isn’t there? And I’m sure you already know what it is…
It always seems impossible to follow through on our New Years’ resolutions! In some respects, it’s true. These goals we set for ourselves are often related to our deeply ingrained habits and the motivations of our hearts. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to see them through to the end in our own strength. We need to have our hearts attuned to the truths of the gospel if we want to experience the growth that the Holy Spirit can bring about in us (the Bible’s word for this is sanctification).
To this end, we’ll start the first few weeks of our year with a brief sermon series called Resolved, thinking about how the gospel shapes the way we see and approach our 1. Physical Health, 2. Spiritual & Emotional Health, and 3. Financial Health. Additionally, your church leaders have identified or crafted several different resources to help you continue thinking through and applying these truths in your day-to-day lives. These books/resources will be available on the Karis resource table and website in the New Year:
A Little Theology of Exercise by David Mathis
Friendship with God by Mike McKinley
Karis Church Guide for At-Home Worship (click for PDF)
Redeeming Money by Paul David Tripp
Karis, I’m excited to see where God will take our church family this year – how he will grow you as an individual and us as a community. I hope you are too.