You Crown the Year

Psalm 65:5- 13

Every year Time Magazine selects someone as the person of the year.

This year they came up with the idea that the person of the year is YOU.

On their cover, they have a mirror, so every person that looks, sees himself or herself on the cover of the magazine.

Congratulations, CACC. You are chosen by Time magazine to be the person of the year. CONGRATULATIONS.

An good example of ordinary people contributing to web sis the YouTube phenomenon. It is a website on the internet, which started by two college students. They gave the opportunity to anyone anywhere in the world to put their video clips on the internet. Anyone can make his/her voice heard all over the globe. It grew so much that Google bought the company for 1.6 billion dollars.

I like what Time did. Time is saying to us that we can make a difference. We, YOU and I are making a difference by participating in changing the world.

Unfortunately, some of these YouTube videos are garbage. But there are those who are contributing to make their voice heard for better causes.

This made me think. We are a church. We are a community of believers. We are called to be make a difference. Jesus wants us to make a difference in this dark world.

Several days ago we heard the sad news of the passing away the late President Gerald Ford. He was the only president that was not elected. He is the only president that did not seek presidency. Yet life circumstances forced him to accept the role. He is not a very popular president. But in one of his speeches he said something that made me think. He said, “I am not Lincoln, I am Ford.” He knew his limits. He knew he was becoming a president when America was in a bad shape. He wanted to make difference in a modest way.

One of commentators I heard said, “I wish many other presidents had the same attitude when they came to the White House.

This morning we heard stories from our congregation. God is working in each person in a different way. We look back and we thank God for the year 2006.

We look forward to the New Year. Although there is a lot of unrest and turmoil, yet I want to repeat what David is saying in Psalm 65:11

“You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.”

Have you seen the eyes of a newly elected beauty queen?

Have you seen their eyes when they wear the crown?

There is extreme joy.

Brothers and sisters: God is crowning our year. God is crowning your year with His presence. “Your carts overflow with abundance.”

Although there are a lot of uncertainty in the life, there are a lot of unexpected accidents and problems, but since we trust our Lord, we follow Him, we rely on His promise that the New Year is going to be crowned. What does it mean?

In Armenian, the word “crowned” is translated as “Besagel.” Besagel in Armenian means: to wear a crown, to praise, to reward (vartsadrel), to marry, to make something perfect (gadaryal unel).

Indeed, God is going to take your imperfect life and make it perfect according to His will. This does not mean you are perfect. No, God takes me with my shortcomings and crowns my life with His blessing through His grace. I change; I am crowned with blessings; the credit goes to God. Just be an instrument and God is going to take your life and make it an instrument for His glory.

Therefore, my last word to you before the end of the year is the following. Behold, God is crowning our year. Just be available for Him, so he can use you for His glory and kingdom.

Amen