Happy New Year!

  How many times can you mark the start of a New Year?  There are more opportunities than merely at midnight on 31st December, when we sing Auld Lang Syne and pop some corks!

  There is a whole range of other 'New Years'.  For example, 5th April, is the start of the new tax year.

  Interestingly, all of the major faiths mark the start of the New Year at different times.  According to my Almanac for 2007, for Hindus this will be 10th November; for Jews, 13th September; for Muslims, it was 20th January and, for Sikhs, 14th March.  (Please don't assume that these dates will be the same in 2008 because they won't be!)

  Although we do not have an official date, September can feel like the start of a New Year.  It is the month when schools and colleges return and pupils and students progress to the next class level.

  For us at the church, September also feels like the start of a New Year - as activities and programmes start up again after the summer break, and all those things that we had said that we would ‘leave until after the summer' can wait no more and have to be attended to.

  It is important that we mark the passage of time and mark off the coming of each 'New Year'.  It enables us to thank God for his grace and blessing shown to us in the past, while allowing us to celebrate all that he has done in our lives and the lives of those around us through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

  Here in Marshalswick, we can celebrate 40 years since the foundation stone of our present buildings was laid.  We can thank God for the way we have been able to serve him in this community during this time. We can also look forward to celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the opening of the buildings in 2008

  In this 'New Year', we have plans which we believe God has called us to follow.  Some of these new and exciting developments will begin this month: the Small Groups Programme, The Friday Night Project for young people and, soon, the installation of blinds in the chapel.

  Other parts of our Plan of Foundation Stones will come to fruition as the timing becomes right.  The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is always a right time for things to happen within God's purposes (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV).  That time is determined by God and not by the dictates of the human calendar.

  God chose the time for his love to be revealed to us through his son, Jesus - and he will chose the time for us to follow the plans that he has for each one of us.

  It may be that this September will mark a New Year for you in your worship and service of God and in your life of faith. If so, have a happy New Year.

by Graham Clarke.