Most people despise hearing about New Year's resolutions. So, in today's installment of these Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I will not ask you to set goals that you will fail to meet. But I will emphasize the value of utilizing this time of year as a fulcrum.

Don't be discouraged about failures in your past. This weekend is a chance to make a new start. Have you had trouble with keeping your commitments? Maybe you've always wanted to read the Bible through in a year but you've fallen off the wagon somewhere in Leviticus. Yesterday's failures will only drag you down if you let them.

I like to reach forward to things that I don't yet have. Set your eyes on something that is beyond you. Stretch. May this New Year be a really new year for you. January 2008 can be the date you look back on and remember that you took a step up to a new kind of living.

You can live with purpose. You can organize your life to point toward the objectives you set. And as a church we can become what God wants us to be and do here in the Salem region. We represent Jesus Christ to a world in need. Let's get off to a good start this year and grow to a new place, and then grow some more!