This is My Year

December 28, 2025

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

In a few days, it’s New Year’s! Who likes to make New Year’s Resolutions? How many of you would say your New Year’s Resolution is to NOT make a New Year’s Resolution? There are two types of people when it comes to the New Year: dreamers, and realists.

As the New Year’s approaches, the dreamers say, “This is my year! It’s gonna be a great year! We’re going to accomplish so much! The realist will reply, “You said the same thing last year!” They ask, “How are you going to do that?” It’s two types of people, it’s not right or wrong. A dreamer or a realist.

But whichever type you are, I hope you will look at the New Year, asking, what is possible this year? Realists are great because they are good at asking questions like, “what are you going to do?” But if you’re a realist, beware of becoming a pessimist. And to the dreamers, it’s okay to dream, but don’t leave it vague, like it’s just a wish. Listen to the realist and come up with a plan!

I hope realists believe in the power of possibility. Jesus said in Matthew 17, “if you have faith the size of a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you.” For a better future to occur, you have to believe it is possible. If you look at breakthroughs in a business, organization or a group of people, breakthroughs happen because a few people believe it is possible.

And if you don’t believe something is possible, you’re right. It won’t be possible. Whether you’re a dreamer or a realist, I want you to look at this year as a time of possibility.

For an example of two people who believed in a possibility, let’s look at Orville and Wilbur Wright, who invented, built and flew the world’s first flying machine! When they were children, their dad gave them a toy helicopter, made of paper, bamboo and cork with a rubber band to twirl its rotor, it was about 1 ft long. They played with the toy until it broke. Then they made their own helicopter toy.  They credited the toy with giving them the idea that flight was possible!

There were other inventors trying to make an airplane at the same time as the Wright brothers. Neither one of the Wrights went to college. Orville had dropped out of high school. They had opened a bicycle shop, made their own brand of bicycles, ran a printing press and fixed motors. They used the money they made at their shop to help them do research on flying and build planes.

One inventor at that time, Samuel Langley, was well-known and influential. He received $70,000 from the Smithsonian to build an airplane. He was unable to succeed at manned flight, where the Wright brothers succeeded with less than $1000!

Jesus said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you.” What do you think is possible for you next year? Do you think you could take steps to be more financially free? If you’re married, do you think it’s possible for your marriage to get better this year? What do you think is possible for your emotional life? What is possible for your spiritual life?

What does God think is possible for you in the New Year? God, who created the universe, thinks something is possible for you in 2026! God believes in you!

In Galatians 5, a book written by the Apostle Paul, he teaches the Christians at the church in Galatia, you’ve got to love your neighbor, so love each other! Paul says live by the Spirit, don’t gratify the desires of the flesh. What does that mean? Don’t do bad things: and Paul gives a list of bad things in verses 19-21: “immoral, filthy, and indecent actions;²⁰… worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups; ²¹they are envious, get drunk, have orgies…” Paul says, don’t do that!

But Paul also offers a list of things TO do, and he calls them the “fruit of the spirit.” In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.” So that’s what Christians call the fruit of the Spirit.

Sometimes we use the Fruit of the Spirit for a kid’s craft. That’s great. I think we don’t know what else to do with this list of 9 things. It’s a powerful list though, it can lead to a positive New Year’s Resolution!

For instance, if you want to improve your finances this year: God may want you to generate the fruit of self-control in your spending. It helps to grow in the fruit of faithfulness, which means you try to direct your money in a way that’s faithful to what God wants. God may want to increase the fruit of patience in you, so you trust your financial plan and believe you’ll see increase over the long term.

It’s called the fruit of the spirit, but don’t think about a fruit basket with an apple, an orange, and a banana. Fruit just means when you lean on God, he produces something beneficial in you. There is fruitfulness that comes from God’s spirit. When you come ever closer in relationship with God, God can produce good change in you. Consider what God will do by Dec. 31, 2026, if you look to him for fruitfulness in the coming year!

A pastor named Tim McCoy decided to take a fruit of the spirit each year and make it his new Year’s Resolution. One year he focused on love: he said this year I want to love people whether they’re for me or against me. I need Jesus’ help in order to do this. I also want to be a better friend, spouse and father. And Pastor Tim saw God do something major as he focused on one fruit for a year.

In the bulletin, where it says, “Today’s Message: Talk it Over,” are the Scripture verses with the fruit of the spirit list. My challenge for you is to choose one to focus on for the year. How do you choose one? You might ask your family, or friends, to look at the Fruits of the Spirit and which do they think you need to focus on? You could ask them a very brave question: “What’s it like to be on the other side of me? What do you think I need more of?” You definitely want to ask God and pray about it. Next you need to have a group that are your cheerleaders! Who praise you when they see you’re growing and making a difference!

What’s my fruit? I’m focusing on joy for 2026. Kevin told me I seem like a joyful person! But I think there could be more joy in my daily routine. Not to be happy all the time, but to be finding joy in each moment. So, my challenge for you is to choose a fruit! And choose a group of people to cheer you on!

Jesus said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you!” Believe in the possibility of God doing a new thing in you in 2026! Stay connected to God, look to him each day, and work with him so that the fruit of the spirit is more and more evident in you this year! Amen.