Welcome on this first Sunday in a new year. Did you know that New Year’s Day is the one holiday that is almost universal? It is the world’s most observed holiday.

I trust you’ve made your New Year’s resolutions one of which is to be in worship each week. Well done for this first Sunday. I won’t ask you if you’ve resolved to lose the weight you gained between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or if you’re planning on joining a health club, or if you’re going to run five miles a day. Five miles, by the way, is my total aggregate of a lifetime of running.

The late Erma Bombeck made some memorable resolutions over the years:

1. I will go to no doctor whose office plants have died.
2. I’m going to follow my husband’s suggestion to put a little excitement into my life by living within our budget.
3…