The service opens the new year by reflecting on the phrase “Anno Domini” — “in the year of the Lord” — the reminder built into the Western calendar itself that history is dated from and belongs to Christ. The message traces God’s pattern of marking time around His redemptive acts: Israel’s calendar began with the Passover in Egypt, remembering the night the Lord passed over His people and delivered them from slavery.
That same pattern of redemption anchors the new year for believers: in Christ, they have been qualified to share in the saints’ inheritance, delivered from the domain of darkness, and transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, in whom all things were created and in whom all things hold together. Entering an unknown year, God’s people are called to trust the same faithful God who has ordered history and redeemed His people all along.