At our December Church Council meeting, our Business Administrator, Christina Eddy, observed that our “Believing and Belonging” theme from the Fall should now be extended: “Believing, Belonging…and Becoming!” I love the open-ended, inviting spirit of this—perfect for the beginning of a New Year. John Wesley said something similar in the vernacular of his day, namely that we Methodists must be “moving on to perfection,” meaning that we are confident that God is working in us to perfect us in love, love of God and love of neighbor. We strive to cooperate with the work of grace within us which is God’s gift, forming us into the likeness of Christ. As the New Year begins, I invite us into some moments of reflection: How do I sense God’s grace working in me? Who is God calling me to become? How might I more selflessly and generously love my neighbor? What would it mean to more deeply and unreservedly love God? And for our church community, we might also ponder: How is God growing us? What is God calling us to do and to be? What new witness might we make for God’s love here in our community? Who is God inviting us to become? May God bless our New Year with the wondrous gift of new life and may we find challenge and delight in all that God is inviting us to become.