Before we move on, let’s look back on 2025. Read Psalm 126. The Psalmist wrote, “God has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” At Wesley Chapel, this year has been a wonderful year. Our prayer has been for positive momentum to continue our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ to transform the world. We are so blessed to have wonderful children who wave palms in the spring and sing for us at Christmas. We have served our community through the Hope Food Pantry, Catylst Rescue Mission, and Salvation Army. We celebrated both Mary Huff and Norma Bierod turning 100. We hosted Bishop Tracy Malone at the installation of our Superintendent, John Hogsett. We took in 18 new members and baptized 14 people. We overcame a fire in our HVAC system. We hosted local families by providing an awesome Vacation Bible School, an Egg Hunt, and Wesley Fall Fest. We were faithful to God in worship by coming together and glorifying Jesus each Sunday. Because of your generosity, we paid every bill, including this year’s mortgage payments. God has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. The great things that God did for the Psalmist and the people of Israel came after years of sorrow and devastation. The Israelites had been exiles in Babylon for 60-70 years, and when they returned to Jerusalem, their sorrow turned to joy. Wesley Chapel went through a rough patch from 2020 to 2024 that brought grief and difficulty. But God has seen us through, and this year was certainly a year to look back on and see the great things that God has done. This gives us hope for positive momentum for next year and beyond.

Prayer: Lord God on high, meet us in our sorrow and take us to a place of joy. Thank you for blessing Wesley Chapel and for the great things you have done. Help us to be faithful to your mission as we move on to 2026. Amen.