How To Begin Again: A Powerful Worship Practice for the New Year
Introduction: A New Chapter with God
The beginning of a New Year is a divine opportunity to reflect, renew, and restart.
Worship, at its core, is how we respond to God’s revelation—and what better time than now to realign with His eternal purposes?
In the story of your relationship with God, the New Year is a time to close one chapter by repenting and wiping the slate clean and to open another with renewed spiritual commitment.
Worship isn’t confined to religious services or Christian music playlists; it’s how we show up in the world every day. Worship is our continuous response to God’s invitation to relationship.
God's Grace: Begin Again
“His mercies are new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
God’s constant invitation is to draw near to Him. Yet, shame and regret often drive us away. Even so, every time we fall short, the Holy Spirit lovingly reminds us, “You can begin again.”
No matter what the past year held—failures or successes, sorrows or joys—we can always return to Him and receive His grace. As we align the darkest parts of our hearts with the light of this truth, regret and weariness are transformed into hope and renewal.
Wesley: Building a History with God
Worship is about relationship—it’s a history we build with God. When we trust and obey, surrender all, and lean on His everlasting arms (recognize those hymns?), we’re developing a relational history that sustains us through every storm, illness, heartbreak, and disappointment.
John Wesley understood this rhythm well. Inspired by the Moravian practice of Night Watches, Wesley introduced the first Watchnight Service in 1740. These prayer vigils, focused on confession and intercession, developed into the Covenant Renewal Service, often observed on New Year’s Eve, as an alternative to secular celebrations.
By the end of Wesley’s life, the service was typically held on the Sunday nearest January 1st, marking it as a sacred tradition for welcoming the new year.
At the heart of Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service is a fearless prayer of radical re-commitment:
“I am no longer my own but Yours.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.”
Our Covenant Renewal Service
This year, during our Just Worshipin’ livestream, we entered the sacred space of Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Service. It was a deeply moving time of worship, reflection, and recommitment.
If you’d like to experience our adaptation of this service, you can watch the replay here: [YouTube Link].
Additionally, I encourage you to engage with the liturgy below. Wesley’s words have stood the test of time and remain a meaningful way to realign your heart with God as you begin the New Year.
Closing Prayer:
My friends, my prayer for you is articulated in Wesley's blessing:
May our God, who establishes covenant relationship with those who seek to enter the Kingdom, be with you always. May Jesus Christ, who seals the new covenant with his blood on the cross, bring you peace. May the Holy Spirit guide your life both now and for ever. Go in peace to serve the Lord!
Amen! And that is today’s Divine Perspective.
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The John Wesley Covenant Renewal Service
Text Adaptation: Jonathan Powers [LINK]
Service Editor & Designer: Rob Still
Opening Scripture: Psalm 150
Song: Let Everything That Has Breath Paise The Lord (Still)
The Greeting
Leader: Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations
People: You are the one true God who reigns forever.
Opening prayer
Leader: Almighty God, You search our hearts and you see every part of us. All our desires are known to You, and from you no secrets are hidden. By the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, cleanse our hearts so we may perfectly love you and glorify Your holy name. We pray this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
HYMN: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
The Proclamation
Leader: Dearly loved brothers and sisters, the Christian life is a life found in Christ, redeemed from sin, and consecrated to God. We are those who have entered into this life and have been admitted into the new covenant of Jesus Christ. He is the Mediator of this covenant. He sealed it with His own blood so it would last forever.
On one side of this covenant stands God, who promises to give us new life in Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of our faith. Every day God proves His goodness and grace to us, showing us that His promise still stands firm.
On the other side, we stand as those who promise to no longer live life for ourselves but instead to only live for Jesus Christ because He has loved us and given His life for us.
There are times in our lives when it is important for us to remember and reaffirm our promises and vows. In this same way, we come today to renew our covenant with God. Many generations have done this before us. Today we make the covenant our own, renewing with both joy and sincerity the covenant that binds us all to God.
HYMN: O Jesus I Have Promised
The Confession
Leader: We are those who seek to live as true disciples of Jesus Christ, but sometimes we fall short. Let us now examine ourselves before God, humbly confessing our sins and submitting our hearts so that we do not deceive ourselves and cut ourselves away from God. Let us pray:
People: Father God, You have set forth the way of life through Your Son Jesus Christ, whom You love dearly. We shamefully confess that we have been slow to learn of Him and have been reluctant to follow Him. You have spoken and called to us but we have not listened. You have revealed Your beauty to us, but we have been blind. You have stretched out Your hands to us through our friends, but we have passed by them. We have accepted Your gifts and offered little thanks. We are unworthy of Your unchanging love.
Leader: We now confess to you our sins.
Please forgive us for the poverty of our worship…
for the selfishness of our prayers…
for our inconsistency and unbelief…
for the ways we neglect fellowship and Your grace…
for our hesitation to tell others about Christ….
for the ways we deceive others…
People: Forgive us for when we waste time and when we misuse the gifts you have given us. Forgive us for when we have made excuses for the wrong things we have done and when we have purposefully avoided responsibility.
Leader: Forgive us also for these sins that we silently confess to you now.
SILENCE
Words of Assurance and Pardon
Leader: God, the Father of all mercies, is faithful to cleanse us from our sins and restore us to Christ’s image. Praise and glory be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.
The Invitation
Leader: Let us gathered here before the Lord now in covenant commit ourselves to Christ as his servants. Let us give ourselves to Him so that we may fully belong to Him. Jesus Christ has left us with many services to be done. Some of these services are easy and honorable, but some are difficult and disgraceful. Some line up with our desires and interests, others are contrary to both. In some we please both Christ and ourselves, but then there are other works where we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves.
Jesus Christ, we offer You this prayer:
People: Let me be Your servant. Let me follow your commands. I will no longer follow my own desires. I give myself completely to your will.
Leader: The power and strength to live as true servants is given to us in Christ. We accept the place and work that He gives us, acknowledging that He alone will be our reward.
People: I am not my own. I am Yours alone. Make me into what You will. Rank me with those You will. Put me to use for You. Put me to suffering for You. Let me be employed for You. Let me be laid aside for You. Let me be lifted high for You. Let me be brought low for You. Let me be full or let me be empty. Let me have all things or let me have nothing. With a willing heart, I freely give everything to Your pleasure and disposal.
SONG: Lord I Need You (Maher, et al.)
The Covenant Prayer
Leader: Let us pray together:
People: My righteous God, for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ, see me now as I fall down before You. Forgive my unfaithfulness when I have not done your will. You promise mercy if I turn to You with my whole heart.
People: O God, You know that we have made this covenant today in sincerity, without deceit or reluctance. If You find anything false in us, guide us and help us to set it right. And now, glory be to You, God the Father. From this day forward, I shall look upon You as my God and Father. Glory be to You, God the Son. You have loved me and washed me from my sins in Your own blood. From this day forward, I shall look upon You as my Savior and Redeemer. Glory be to You, O God the Holy Spirit. By Your almighty power, You have turned my heart from sin to God. From this day forward I shall look upon You as my Comforter and Guide. O mighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you have now become my Covenant Friend. And I, through Your infinite grace, have become Your covenant servant. You are mine and I am Yours. So be it. May this covenant that I have made here on earth be ratified in heaven. Amen.
HYMN: Take My Life and Let It Be
Dismissal with Blessing
Leader: May our God, who establishes covenant relationship with those who seek to enter the Kingdom, be with you always. May Jesus Christ, who seals the new covenant with his blood on the cross, bring you peace. May the Holy Spirit guide your life both now and for ever. Go in peace to serve the Lord!
People: Amen.
SONG: The Blessing
