New Years Day 2023

INTRO: I was going to give you Jan Markell's analysis of the 10 big things that happened in 2022, prophetically speaking. And in light of prophecy, if we then look forward to what will happen in 2023, the picture is bleak. I didn't want a negative message. I had been working on the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount for the German messages. And if you look at those, they might seem negative too, but they give bright hope of the future. The individual that lives these beatitudes is the blessed person. How would you like to be the blessed person of 2023? How would you like to be the person, that if others recognized what you have, they would say, "I wish that was me!"
We went through two very dark times as a church. Twice we left a big building. The last time we left a beautiful library; a baby grand piano; lots of Sunday School rooms. I had a nice office. And the next day it was all gone. Poof! That next Sunday we met in a carport. Today we have a nice small church building but we have been placed on the outer fringe of our community.
The one bright spot in my life has been this, no matter what happened, I always had the joy of sitting down and studying the Bible to write messages. And usually, my studies drowned out everything else and my heart and soul rejoiced in the Word of God. No matter how dark the days got, it was never a drag to try to get a message ready.