New Year's Message: How the Gospel Resizes Our New Year's Hopes and Fears

https://www.opc.org/sc.html By Simonetta Carr - Posted at Core Christianity: A new year is at our doors, waking up a mixture of hopes and fears. For many, it’s a chance to turn a new leaf and explore a new territory that, from this side of the fence, looks promising and green. For others – especially those who have been suffering or have received unsettling news – it may look like an ominous void. One thing I learned in the course of my long life is that hopes and fears are in constant need of bridling and resizing, to bring them in accord with reality and with the ultimate goal of our lives – a goal that the Shorter Westminster Catechism, a 17th-century summary of the Christian faith, defines as “to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Resizing Our Resolutions School children of my generation used dip-pens and ink. Spills had to be blotted, and mistakes removed with strong erasers that gnawed through the paper. I remember my frequent trips to the teacher’s desk to ask for