Resolutions or Foundations?

A new year has come, and you know what that means: left and right, people are making resolutions for what they want to change and have be different this year. You could probably guess what the most common New Year's Resolutions are in America, not just this year but every year: according to usa.gov, the leading resolutions are

• Lose Weight
• Volunteer to Help Others
• Quit Smoking
• Get a Better Education
• Get a Better Job
• Save Money
• Get Fit
• Eat Healthy Food
• Manage Stress
• Manage Debt
• Take a Trip
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
• Drink Less Alcohol

These things are all well and good. But that list kind of exhausts me. So I've been thinking, as I've been working on the first sermon for our new season of Epiphany, about how the year might have a different feel if, instead of making new resolutions, we made a commitment to return to old foundations. Rather than coming up with something novel to do, what if we made the new year a time to anchor in the things that are most important to us and, as Christians, most important to Jesus?

This is going to be the question we will ask in the coming weeks as we take what I am calling a long, slow walk through the first chapter of Mark's gospel, verse by verse. In this opening chapter of what is likely the most ancient of the four gospels, what foundations do we see Jesus laying or reconnecting with, and how might these things lead to a more solid footing for our lives as we follow Christ?

Join us Sunday as we begin this exploration together, beginning, appropriately, with...the beginning. We'll be reading Genesis 1:1-5 and Mark 1:1-11 and considering the foundations of "Water" and "Word." Hope to see you in worship!