What is it that gives us the strength and motivation to step into this New Year with any confidence and hope- What can bolster our faith and relieve our fears for the year ahead- John Lennon and Yoko One once wrote, -A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, let's hope it's a good one without any fears.- This kind of hope is in fact resigned to a hopeless fatalism. Others make New Year's resolutions with the dogged determination to stick at them as long as they can. Others still, just 'wait and see' what the year holds for them. But what if there is something more- What if there is a promise to cling to- What if there is grace to receive, such that we can bound into the New Year with great confidence and hope. -Friends, -God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.- -2 Corinthians 9-8-