Happy New Year!

For Thursday, January 1, 2026:

Luke 2:7 NLT: “Mary gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”

I’ll go out on a limb and say that Jesus’ arrival was the most important event to happen on earth – EVER! Prophets had been expecting a Messiah, and Jesus was “it!” By forgiving sins and thereby securing believers’ eternal destination, the arrival of Jesus affected countless people. Millions were rescued from Satan. There are currently 2.6 billion Christian believers, the largest religion in the world, and about 1/3 of the earth’s population. All this from a baby born over 2k years ago!

The birth of Jesus inspired the world to adjust their calendars. Jesus’ arrival would be year zero. Pope Gregory started counting forward from the birth of our Savior. It’s currently 2026 years later. Happy New Year! These years are known as AD, Anno Domini in Latin, which means "in the year of the Lord.” Past events count backwards from Jesus’ birthday, like negative numbers, abbreviated as BC or Before Christ.

There has been a trend in non-believing scientific groups to call our current years CE or Current Era. Before Jesus, the dates are BCE, Before Current Era. These titles were made up just so that non-believers could deny the importance of Jesus. But the dividing line of “eras” is still His birth. Each time you write 2026 on a check or on an important document, you’re acknowledging Jesus coming to earth to redeem mankind. It’s real; it actually happened.

The Bible is truth! Jesus is salvation!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church