On December 28, 2025, I was asked to deliver the sermon at Grace United Methodist Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey.

What follows is the text of my sermon.

God Bless.

***

For my message today, I have a host of small thoughts that I hope will all come together at then end to bring forth a message.

Along the way, you might think I’m getting lost.  Have no fear.  I have a plan.

***

There was a time when we didn’t send photographs of our families as Christmas cards.  Rather, we sent actual cards with hand-written notes and letters.  Often these were personalized for each recipient. 

We would write the perfect letter, or at least a very good one, and then we’d write the next one. 

These musings often recalled the same stories and the same facts, but our wording – the ways in which we told the stories and remembered the past year, or years, would vary differently – even if we were sharing the same memories for multiple people. 

When we write about things that are important, the story stays the same, but we often use different words to convey the same message. 

***

I have shared in the past that I started a new hobby (of sorts) a few years ago.  I began reading the Bible over the course of the calendar year. 

This past year, I read a unique Bible – one I recommend highly:

This Bible is called the One Year Chronological Bible.

I read the New Living Translation, which I also recommend.  It was much easier to read than some other versions. 

I loved that this Bible told the story chronologically.  The books weren’t laid out in the same order as a traditional Bible.  The stories were the same – the order in which they were presented was different making the stories seem original and new. 

I quite liked this approach. 

***

But, I need to be honest and clear here.  I’ve now read the Bible three times, but haven’t always been the most careful daily reader.  The Bible is so thick with words that I don’t always remember all I am reading.  Some of the stories are complex.  Some of the names are impossible to even pronounce or remember.  Some of the details are far too exacting.  Sometimes I find myself skimming.  And sometimes my mind wanders a bit (probably too much) as I read the words. 

Every year I seek to do a little better.  And I think I am doing better each year.  But I’m not there yet.  I’ve read the Bible three times and I still have a lot to learn. 

***

Life is a journey.

So is faith for so many.

The idea of a journey is that it is something that takes time. 

There shouldn’t be a rush to the finish, but I find myself doing that with a lot of things – including reading the Bible.   

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but I think he wants us to continually learn and grow in our faith and our understanding of his message.

***

“In the beginning.”

That’s how the Bible begins.

What most people don’t know as much is the word that end the Bible.

The Bible ends with one word – “Amen.”

***

The other day I gave someone a copy of my novel.  She read the first line and then turned to the last page of the book and read the last line.

I found that approach to be unique.

I never read the last line of a book until I get to the end. 

But, sometimes when I get close to the end of a book, I rush through the pages to see how it all turns out, or sometimes just to finish.

I realize that I have been doing that with the Bible. 

I find that as the days of the year get closer to ending, that I want my task of reading the Bible to also quickly end. It’s a busy time of year – a time when I want to cross things off my “to do” list. 

I think because of this, I have been giving the New Testament, especially everything after the Gospels and the Book of Acts, less focus and less attention than I wish I would. 

It’s probably not a good thing that I know more about the Beatles song Hey Jude than the Book of Jude. 

***

In order to better appreciate the New Testament, I decided that I won’t read the Bible from cover-to-cover in 2026.  Instead, next year, I plan to just read the New Testament.

I want to dwell in those books rather than rushing through them. 

I want to read them as their own things rather than the concluding chapters of a year-long story.

Some people savor fine wine.

I want to savor the New Testament.

***

The more I read the story of Jesus, the more it all makes sense.  At the same time, the more I learn, the more I wish knew.

I don’t dwell much on books or articles that argue against the authenticity of the Bible.  I find a lot of the arguments that people make are tiresome and played out. 

Some people doubt the authenticity of the Jesus story as found in the Gospels because they’re together in the same book. 

“They’re all just in the Bible,” they say.

How wrong they are. 

The Gospels are four different stories that were gathered together in one book over time, much in the same way that anthologies are created. 

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John didn’t write to be published in the Bible. 

Those are four unique and individual recountings of the life of Jesus. 

And they’re the truth. 

***

Other sceptics point to the fact that the stories have differences as a way to prove the stories of Jesus are false.

How wrong they are.

***

Think back to the Christmas letters of years ago, the ones you hand wrote, individually.

They didn’t contain the exact same words.  Each was different, but the letters you wrote contained the truth.  You shared real stories, but you didn’t necessarily tell the same stories in the same way to each person. 

The fact that the books of the Gospel have differences speaks to their authenticity.

***

As I read the New Testament this year, I found a book in the Bible that sort of reads as a rough draft, or maybe a more polished approach, or just, simply, a different way to tell the same story. 

These two different books were both written by John, the apostle.

***

One final aside, I think it is amazing that we have, more than 2,000 years later, words from the exact individuals who lived, traveled, worshiped, and learned from Jesus Christ himself.

***

Here now is the opening to The Book of John (the Gospel):

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcomeit.”

And this from John (the last series of letters before Revelation):

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our^[a] joy complete.

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

***

John is telling the same story in both accounts. 

The imagery, the message, the words, are all similar, the story is just told in a different order and in a slightly different way.

A few quick examples:

The Gospel reads: “The Word was with God,” and 1 John says, “This we proclaim concerning the Word of life…which was with the Father.”

Or… from John, “That life was the light of all mankind,” and from 1 John, “God is light.”

Here is one final example,

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it,” and “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

***

It’s the same message, only told slightly differently, because John was writing what he knew, not to say the same thing in everything he wrote, but to tell the story, the truth story, as he knew it, sincerely, writing from his heart. 

This speaks to the authenticity of the words and message.

***

Finding these connections, these puzzle pieces, if you may, is why I keep going back to the Bible as part of my yearly reading. 

I want to learn more… I need to learn more. 

Just ahead, in 2026, as I dive into the New Testament only, I’ll be reading from a new Bible that I bought myself…

Next year I will read from The New International Version Application Bible – a book that looks more like a textbook in parts.  It is my hope, as the year progresses that this Bible helps to opens up more of God’s word to me and brings me even closer to Jesus.

***

The last sentence (or more than one word) of the New Testament reads:

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

That is my wish of all of all of you, and for everyone.

What better Christmas gift could any of us give than to have and to share and help give the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to each other?

***

Amen.