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Each New Year’s is filled with much anticipation, as many people look forward to a fresh start, placing their hope in new beginnings.
The Bible, in fact, has much to say about new beginnings. Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Likewise, Jesus had much to say about starting over. He frequently spoke about repentance and surrendering one’s life to God. The theme of turning over a new leaf is not unusual in Christianity, for that is exactly what so many experience when they first become Christians: leaving the old ways behind and trading their sins for the new ways of God.
Each New Year’s, many people are ready for a fresh start in their faith—which is why it’s so important your New Year’s sermon series meets them where they’re at.
If you’re looking for New Year’s sermon series ideas, we’ve got a great list for you! Check out all the ways your New Year’s sermon series can inspire your congregation—including your newest visitors as well as your members—and keep the Christmas momentum going in January.
Approximately three in ten U.S. adults make at least one New Year's resolution each year, and half of those make more than one. Typically, many adults make New Year’s resolutions around health and wellness.. Better finances, healthier relationships, and pursuing hobbies also rank highly at the top of Americans' priorities each year.
As a pastor planning your New Year’s sermon series, you can easily align your messaging with this popular theme around spiritual resolutions! Encourage your congregation to make resolutions around prayer, consistency in Bible reading, generosity with tithes and offerings, and serving their church. It’s a great way to play off a popular trend while also encouraging your listeners to take their spiritual health and Christian faith as seriously as they do other areas of their life.
Check out this sermon on New Year’s resolutions from Fellowship Bible Church:
January is the perfect time to launch a new sermon series that resonates with both newcomers and regular attenders. With so many new families walking through the door, these new visitors likely won’t be as familiar with the Christian faith as your members are. In fact, they may need some greater explanations of the foundations of the Bible.
A great New Year’s sermon series idea is to teach the basic tenets of the Christian faith. You may want to consider preaching on foundational topics, such as:
By teaching the foundations of the faith in January, you’re avoiding making your visitors feel like “outsiders” to Christianity. Instead, you’re intentionally helping families and the younger generations understand the teachings of Scripture.
Many churches today launch “21 Days of Prayer & Fasting” at the start of each new year, calling their congregation to churchwide prayer for the new year. Some churches prioritize early morning video calls with encouraging devotionals, while others make their January event a bit more generic and simply encourage their members to faithfully pray every day for their church, their congregation, and the new year.
Whether your church follows a strict structure with ongoing videos, devotionals, and daily worship together, or is more relaxed, your New Year’s sermon series can follow perfectly along with your 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting. Your message series can focus on the theology behind prayer and fasting, amazing breakthroughs from stories in the Bible when people fervently prayed, as well as Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. There’s so much to preach on with this topic!
Here is an example from Calvary Church’s New Year’s sermon series following their 21 Days of Prayer.
Each year brings a new opportunity for your church to cast a new vision. Many church leaders gather together to seek God’s guidance and discernment for the year; their vision for the year ahead comes from this time of collective prayer and seeking God’s will.
What do you feel God laying on your heart? Where is God directing your church in regards to new ministries, finances, evangelism, and outreach? Utilize your New Year’s sermon series for a time of casting a vision for the year ahead, and sharing that God-given vision with your congregation.
Take a look at this excellent sermon example from Pastor Phil Ballmaier at Calvary Chapel Elk Grove, speaking on their vision for the new year.
It’s also popular to launch your church’s new theme in January. For example, one church launched their theme of “The Year of Prayer”, and utilized the New Year’s sermon series for teaching about the importance of prayer. Not only did prayer become the theme for that year, but church leaders continually preached on that theme throughout the year, checking in with their congregation.
Likewise, you can choose an important theme from the Bible and “launch” that theme for the year ahead. It could be around Bible reading consistency, studying Scripture, finances, or any other basic tenets of the Christian faith. Seek the Lord in prayer and ask God what theme to go forward with for the year ahead.
Check out Bold Faith, by Pastor Jerome Gay Jr at Vision Church, launching a New Year’s sermon series based on a special theme for the new year.
Spiritual disciplines are frequently misunderstood by laypersons—and often ignored by the church. But teaching about spiritual disciplines is great for New Year’s sermon series ideas since spiritual disciplines go back hundreds, if not thousands, of years! Spiritual disciplines offer a rich history of meaningful ways to connect with God and the church, making it an ideal topic for New Year’s. From prayer and fasting to keeping the Sabbath, taking time to explain the importance of spiritual disciplines can give your congregation a framework for faithfully engaging with God every day.
Theologically, grace is often misunderstood. Many think of it as simply God overlooking mistakes or an allowance of sin. However, grace is God’s unearned favor, empowering us to live transformed lives as saved sons and daughters of God.
Preaching on grace in a New Year’s sermon series reminds your congregation that God’s love isn’t based on performance or perfection. Instead, God calls believers to extend the same kindness, forgiveness, and generosity to others that they have received from Christ. Starting the year grounded in grace encourages your church to live with freedom, humility, and confidence in God’s ongoing work in their lives.
As mentioned above, new beginnings are a great topic for your New Year’s sermon series. When New Year’s rolls around, some people are struck with guilt, regret, or any number of emotions based on past mistakes.
Yet we know that’s not the end of the story. A huge theme of the Gospel is leaving the old behind for the new, and exchanging a life of sin for a life in Christ. God makes all things new, and preaching on new beginnings will serve as a beautiful reminder to your congregation that God is greater than past mistakes and failures. There is new grace for every day, every moment, and every mistake. Thank the Lord!
Here’s a good example of a New Year’s sermon based on new beginnings from Solid Rock Church.
Building better habits can be a part of someone’s New Year’s resolutions, but what exactly does that look like for a Christian? Do we build habits based on the world’s standards, or on God’s?
Encourage your congregation with a motivational sermon series on the power of building better habits—God’s way. Draw on characters from the Bible, proverbs, and the life of Christ to demonstrate how good habits are the foundation of the Christian faith, as God convicts us to steward our time on earth well for His glory.
Get inspired with this sermon series from Kingdom Faith Fellowship Church focused on building better habits.
Another option for your New Year’s sermon series is to preach on lesser-known characters of the Bible or Bible story. Pastors can often make the mistake of picking only the most famous passages to preach from. However, the Bible is filled with thousands of characters—and each one is there for a reason.
Hundreds of them are spotlighted in detail and share an important truth about God. Surprise your congregation by preaching a New Year’s sermon series on the lesser-known characters of the Bible, the “underdogs”, if you will! Many will learn something new in the process and discover new stories of faith and fortitude.
After the busyness of the holidays, it’s important to slow down and take a breath. Use your New Year’s sermon series to encourage your congregation to be still before the Lord, honor the Sabbath, and detox from social media. Draw from examples of the Bible in stories that demonstrate the importance of slowing down and being still before God.
Your congregation will appreciate your compassionate words and important reminder that slowing down is an important part of life. You may also want to consider timing this series with a churchwide retreat.
Faith is literally one of the most important parts of the Christian faith. There are hundreds of passages on faith. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” Since faith is so important in the Christian life, it’s worth taking the time at the start of a new year to intentionally strengthen it.
A New Year’s sermon series focused on faith encourages believers to trust God in every area of life—whether in relationships, finances, health, or future plans. It reminds your congregation that stepping into the unknown with confidence in God’s promises is transformative. By grounding the year in faith, your church can face challenges with hope, pursue God-sized goals, and grow deeper in their relationship with Christ throughout the year ahead.
Take a look at Faith Lutheran’s sermon series, “Unshakeable,” based on the theme of having unshakeable faith
Your congregation is facing many different seasons of life. Some are in a season of early parenting, while others are college students, single, empty nesters, or anywhere in between. On top of that, there are seasons of grief, seasons of abundance, and seasons of waiting. And when it comes to the Christian faith, there are seasons of maturity. That’s why preaching on the seasons of life can be such a great topic for your New Year’s sermon series!
When a new year begins, people naturally evaluate where they are and where they hope to go. Preaching on the seasons of life helps your congregation identify how God is shaping them in their current chapter—whether it’s joy, transition, hardship, or renewal—and encourages them to trust Him as He leads them into what’s ahead.
In a world of instant everything, contentment is rare. Teaching on contentment is counter-culture, but contentment is another important part of the Christian faith. In 1 Timothy 6:6-7, Paul says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”
A New Year’s focus on contentment invites believers to step off the treadmill of comparison and consumerism. It points them back to the truth that lasting joy comes not from what we accumulate but from living in right relationship with God and recognizing His daily provision.
It’s easy to get caught up in the worldliness of day-to-day life, even as Christians. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Preaching on maintaining an eternal perspective is a powerful way to help your church refocus on what truly matters.
As the New Year begins, it reminds believers that their decisions, priorities, and hopes are shaped not by temporary circumstances but by the everlasting promises of God.
In the new year, many people reevaluate their lives. They think and pray about important decisions, such as locations, relationships, habits, jobs, and health. Yet in a noisy world filled with opinions, pressures, and constant information, discernment is essential.
Preaching on discernment helps your church understand how to recognize God’s voice, apply biblical wisdom, and make decisions rooted in truth rather than emotion or culture. A New Year’s sermon series on discernment encourages believers to seek God’s guidance in every choice—big or small—as they step into the year ahead.
January can be a great time for a New Year’s sermon series that centers around testimonies. Faith-filled testimonies have a powerful way of strengthening the church. Sharing stories of how God has moved in people’s lives builds courage, deepens hope, and reminds the congregation that God is still at work today.
Sharing powerful testimonies at the start of a new year inspires believers to notice God’s faithfulness, speak boldly about His goodness, and expect Him to continue writing new stories in the months to come.
The first few weeks of the year are when people are most open to reflection, reevaluating priorities, and making meaningful changes. That makes it the perfect time for pastors to help their congregations refocus on what truly matters and set the tone for the year ahead.
When your church begins January with a clear vision of who God is calling them to become, it shapes their decisions, deepens their faith, and prepares them to embrace everything God has planned in the year ahead.
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