CCOG Newsletter

As we close out one year and approach the beginning of another, this is a time to both reflect and plan. We reflect on the good and not so good of 2025. Did you get a new job, car, relationship, haircut?! Has something great happened that you were excited to celebrate? You may look at this year with fond remembrance, feeling as though it was a successful period of time - a few hiccups, but good for the most part. Or you may be glad to wash your hands of 2025! If you experienced a loss or tragedy, if you had poor mental or physical health, if you endured a change for which you felt unprepared, you may be really looking forward to Thursday.

Often the commercials for the gym or various products will exclaim, "New Year, New You!". That will not simply come from joining the gym or buying something new. That comes through purposeful life in Christ. All other things must be an extension of this. If you change your eating or exercise habits, do so because you want to be a good steward of your health and body that God has given you. If you spend more time in the Bible or prayer or another spiritual discipline, do so knowing that your faithfulness will yield results in the coming year. If you commit to building better relationships, do it because God loves unity and peace. Surrender your plans for 2026 to Him. He can make more of this year than we can even imagine.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Things are looking up!”

But what does it mean?

It means the situation is improving. Your problems are decreasing, and your opportunities are increasing.

This Christmas I want you to remember an important truth: Things will start to look up for you when you start looking up.

In other words, your circumstances will improve when you stop looking at them and start looking at God.

Over and over in the Bible, we see this phrase: “Lift up your eyes.” It’s another way to say, “Look up. Get your eyes off yourself and onto God.”

God said it to Moses. He said it to Abraham. Jesus said it to his followers.

There’s an old rhyme that says, “Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw mud, the other saw stars.” In other words, one inmate looked down in despair, but the other one looked up in hope.

You have that same choice, and I hope that you choose to see the stars. God created every one of them. And those stars are the exact same ones that were shining on the night of Jesus’ birth over 2,000 years ago. King David saw the same stars 1,000 years before that, when he wrote these words:

“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? . . . O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!” (Psalm 8:3-4, 9 NLT).

When we look up and see how big God is, it shrinks the size of our problems. They never seem as big or as overwhelming when compared to the greatness of God.

Talk it over

• When facing a problem, why is it easier to focus on the problem instead of focusing on God?
• How does looking at the vastness of creation make your problems feel smaller?
• What can you do this week to take in the beauty of God’s creation and take your eyes off your problems?

Have you trusted Jesus for your salvation?

The Bible says we can only get to heaven by trusting in God through his Son, Jesus Christ. And we don’t have to earn God’s love or work our way into heaven. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (NIV).

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus and committed to following him, why wait any longer? If you’re ready to step across that line and make a decision to believe in Jesus Christ and follow him, pray this prayer:

“Dear Jesus, you have promised that if I believe in you, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.

“I confess my sin, and I believe that you are my Savior. You have promised that if I confess my sin and trust you, I will be saved. I trust you when you say that salvation comes by grace, through faith, and not by anything I do. I receive you into my life as my Lord. Today I’m turning over every part of my life to your management. You have the right to call the shots in my life.

“Jesus, I want to relax in your love. Thank you that I don’t have to earn it or work for it. I want to use the rest of my life to serve you instead of serving myself. I humbly commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In your name I pray. Amen.”