It's been said that the New Year is like an empty book waiting to be written...but it's not always easy to know what story you want to write. As a new year begins there are so many possibilities that it's easy to become paralyzed by them.

In this sermon, we'll talk about what our first priority always needs to be as followers of Jesus. And we'll be challenged to focus on this priority as the new year begins.

The story of Jesus' birth has been told for more than 2,000 years. So this is a story we know well. We know who was involved. We know when it took place. We know where it happened.

But because we know this story so well, we take it for granted. In this sermon, we'll take a fresh look at the story of Jesus' birth and we'll be reminded of how Jesus' birth changed everything.

From buying the perfect presents, to putting up the perfect decorations, to baking the perfect cookies...there seem to be a lot of reasons why we want every Christmas to be perfect. But many of these reasons boil down to just one thing: We want to be loved.

In this sermon, we'll be reminded that at Christmas God shows us just how much God loves us all.

From buying the perfect presents, to putting up the perfect decorations, to baking the perfect cookies...there seem to be a lot of reasons why we want every Christmas to be perfect. But many of these reasons boil down to just one thing: We want to be loved.

In this sermon, we'll be reminded that at Christmas God shows us just how much God loves us all.

In the movie Jingle All the Way, Arnold Schwarzenegger's character spends the entire movie trying to find an action figure for his son as a way to make up for missing out on an important moment in his son's life. But no matter how hard he tries, a toy won't make up for his past mistakes.

Having the best Christmas ever won't make up for your past mistakes either. But Christmas can give you the chance for a clean start.

If you've ever tuned into the Hallmark Channel leading up to Christmas, it's easy to feel like everyone is having the best Christmas ever...except you. But no matter how pretty a tree may look, or how happy your holiday guests may seem...there's no such thing as a perfect Christmas.

So instead of wishing that your Christmas could be better, may it's time you start focusing on the blessings you already have.

Jesus was once teaching more than 5,000 people. As he taught, the day drew on and Jesus knew the crowd was getting hungry. But in that moment, it seemed like there was nothing that could be done for the crowd. There were just too many people and not enough resources to go around.

But Jesus fed all of those people with just a few fish and a couple loaves of bread, reminding us that in God's hands even the tiniest resources can accomplish incredible things.

John Lennon famously sung that "Life is what happens when you're busy making plans." The same thing is true when it comes to faith...most of our journey of faith happens on ordinary days.

In this sermon, we'll be reminded how important it is to choose to follow God on ordinary days, and how those oridinary days prepare you to trust in God when the extraordinary happens.

From promising Abraham and Sarah that they'd have a baby when they were both over 90 years old, to telling the people of Israel to march around in circles to defeat the city of Jericho, to having David face a giant with just a sling and a stone; there are times in life when God asks us to do impossible things. But God has a habit of making the impossible possible.

God does this to show how powerful God is and to show us that we should always trust in him.

It's easy to say that the past is in the past, but there are plenty of things that we have all experienced in our past that can continue to hurt us in the present.

In this sermon, we'll talk about how we really can put the past behind us and how God gives us all a clean slate when we commit to follow him.