The Sunday Sermonette – Reflections after Christmas.

Greetings. I wrote the following journal entry while visiting Granny when she lived in Jackson, Mississippi, at 214 Boiling Street:

“Christmas ’72 has come and gone. Mom, Dad, I left for Granny’s house early Christmas morning and spent the night with her. She looks well and is in good spirits. I did not feel very Christmassy this year. Don’t know why, just did. Have been very busy with everyone else’s Christmas decorating and festivities; didn’t get any done for myself…”

“Christmas was just different this year. Everything at Granny’s house has changed so much. The houses all around are either torn down or deserted. The many old oaks I once climbed are gone, along with the neighbor’s backyards that I played in. The worn paths through the woods that I ran along are now overgrown. Strange, but everything seemed so big and exciting then. I guess that comes when seeing all those things through the eyes of a child…”

“Seeing it all, I felt as if I was in a movie, locked forever in time and place. But nothing stays locked forever in this old world; everything changes. Trees, houses, and woodsy paths, like childhood, all fade and pass away into memory—memories, sepia-toned, sometimes remembered, sometimes lost forever.”

As Christmas and New Year’s rush by, they leave memories, some warm, some not. As the Holidays end, my friends, please take time to slow down, reflect, and carry the spirit of kindness into each day of the coming year.

There’s something else we should weave into the days to come: the sense of peace and love that comes from keeping Father God and Jesus first in our lives. But let’s be honest, we tried that last January. Right? We promised we’d read our Bibles more, pray more, and love more. But by February, our good intentions got lost in the hectic jumble of daily life—and we wondered why.

In John 15:5, Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” “Nothing” is the keyword in that verse. We can do nothing without Christ, including keeping our New Year’s Resolutions.

When we set goals to read our Bibles, love more, or do good works because we think we should, we assume we can do it on our own strength. But nothing could be further from the truth. When we ask Father God to give us a hunger for His Word, to love, and to do good works, things change. We respond to that hunger by acting according to His will, not our own.

When that hunger comes calling in 2026, it’s not something mystical. It is simply a moment to reset, refocus, and realign our lives with what matters most: our personal relationship with Father God and His Son, Jesus. Our transformation doesn’t happen by trying harder. It happens by abiding in Father God and Jesus, depending on Their strength and Their guidance day after day, even when we struggle to do so. 2026 can be our best year, yet, not through our perfection, but by relying on the Ones who are perfect.

Ponder this and go forth.