New Year's Eve- I have to be honest and tell you that I really never have gotten much into the celebration. A new year is cool and everything but it never has really compelled me to want to go out and shoot off fireworks and watch a ball drop outside in the freezing cold. When I think of New Year's Eve I can't help but remember the way I used to spend it as a child.
Every December 31st we would have a "Watch Night Service" at the little church we attended on the east side of Akron, Ohio. We would sing together and then watch one of those "Left Behind" or "A Distant Thunder" type movies depicting the end times and the return of Christ. We then would all go down to the church fellowship hall in the basement for snacks and then gather back up in the sanctuary just before midnight.
While you could hear all of the hoopla that was taking place outside, we would all form a circle around the pews and join hands. Then the men in the church would each take a turn praying in the New Year. I always waited to hear my dad pray because his prayer would send tingles up and down my spine as he always ended his New Year's Eve prayer this way:
"Father, please let this be the year that Jesus returns and takes us all home!"
I'm not exactly sure what I will be doing come midnight this year on New Year's Eve and the ball drops ushering in 2011. But I am pretty sure of this - just like my dad, I will be whispering a prayer in my heart and the prayer will be this:
"Father, please let this be the year that Jesus returns and takes us all home!"
After all, that was the very last prayer recorded in Scripture. It came from the pen of the Apostle John in the final chapter of the book of Revelation. He prayed it this way:
"Come quickly, Lord Jesus!"
Happy New Year, Everyone!
Every December 31st we would have a "Watch Night Service" at the little church we attended on the east side of Akron, Ohio. We would sing together and then watch one of those "Left Behind" or "A Distant Thunder" type movies depicting the end times and the return of Christ. We then would all go down to the church fellowship hall in the basement for snacks and then gather back up in the sanctuary just before midnight.
While you could hear all of the hoopla that was taking place outside, we would all form a circle around the pews and join hands. Then the men in the church would each take a turn praying in the New Year. I always waited to hear my dad pray because his prayer would send tingles up and down my spine as he always ended his New Year's Eve prayer this way:
"Father, please let this be the year that Jesus returns and takes us all home!"
I'm not exactly sure what I will be doing come midnight this year on New Year's Eve and the ball drops ushering in 2011. But I am pretty sure of this - just like my dad, I will be whispering a prayer in my heart and the prayer will be this:
"Father, please let this be the year that Jesus returns and takes us all home!"
After all, that was the very last prayer recorded in Scripture. It came from the pen of the Apostle John in the final chapter of the book of Revelation. He prayed it this way:
"Come quickly, Lord Jesus!"
Happy New Year, Everyone!
Be sure to read my other blog entitled "Hope For Hurting Pastors" at www.hurtingpastor.blogspot.com or email me at skdistler@gmail.com
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