This New Year’s greeting comes from the poet Na Tae-joo:
“Today is the first day among all the remaining days of my life.
Tomorrow will also be the first day among all the remaining days of my life.
Therefore, you and I are today and tomorrow
the first person and a new person of our lives.”
The times we live in are changing rapidly.
The world has grown more complex, and people’s hearts are more easily exhausted and shaken.
AI and digital environments have brought great convenience, but at the same time they have left behind broken relationships and deep loneliness.
In such an age, we are called to slow down and reexamine the direction of our lives.
This is true for our faith as well.
More than many programs, we need deeper spirituality;
more than many activities, we need a sincere and authentic relationship with God.
If we desire to be “a church that truly believes in Jesus and worships well,”
our priority must not be well-run programs but the formation of Christian character.
To this end, we need spiritual training that matures our words, actions, and even the posture of our hearts to reflect the character of those who follow Christ.
The gospel has the power to transform culture.
In the new year, may genuine change take place in our homes and in our church—
from complaint to gratitude and joy,
from pride to humility,
from hatred to love,
and from conflict to peace.
This year, all of our early morning prayers and Sunday sermons will follow the devotional guide 365 Scripture Meditations for Those Who Wait for Tomorrow.
The purpose of writing this book was spiritual formation for life transformation.
Each day’s meditation is brief, but it seeks to hold together sound theology, healthy faith, and constructive practice.
Unless unexpected circumstances arise, the KCS Senior Welfare Center will move into our Vision Center in the new year.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided from Monday through Friday, along with various programs.
This is a pastoral opportunity God is entrusting to our church.
I hope we will encourage those who live alone to share meals and participate in these programs,
and that our pastoral care team will set a goal of inviting those who find it difficult to leave their homes to join the senior welfare programs.
For the past several years, due to a shortage of ministry staff, one person has had to carry multiple areas of ministry.
If all goes as planned, as early as February, we will welcome a minister dedicated solely to children’s ministry.
What I have consistently emphasized to our children’s and youth ministers is this:
children must grow up drinking from the reservoir of God’s Word from an early age.
We have done our best, but it has not been enough.
With a full-time minister now in place, I hope that families will begin a new discipline of Bible meditation together—parents and children side by side.
Flushing is not considered a preferred school district for families with children.
If our church has any true “competitiveness,” it is found in the promise of Acts:
when the Holy Spirit comes, children will prophesy and young people will see visions.
For children to prophesy means to drink from the reservoir of God’s Word.
For young people to have vision means developing mature character and leadership while learning to live together in one of the most diverse immigrant communities in the world.
If we were to look for the environments in which God prepared Joseph and David in today’s world, Flushing—here in New York—would surely be one of them.
A few days ago, as I was leaving a funeral service, an elderly church member looked at me and said, “I suppose I’m next.”
I replied, “Please live long to send all your beloved friends to heaven.”
My sincere prayer is that our church will be a place that sends people well to heaven.
To do so, may we become a church where relationships are alive and where we truly watch over one another’s lives.
If in 2026 we live each day as the first person and a new person, God will surely walk with us on that path.
When we live today as if it were the first day,
worship with the heart of worshiping for the very first time,
and treat one another with the respect and love of a first encounter,
our everyday lives will already be made new.