New Year’s Eve Devotions 2024

28 December 2024

This New Year’s Eve Devotion is an occasion for you and your family, or you and your spiritual family (e.g. your Action Group) to reflect and review together the past year. It is also a helpful way to usher in the new year by remembering the Lord’s goodness to us in Jesus, and responding as a nuclear and spiritual family in commitment to walk with Him for another year.

A good time to gather for this is on New Year’s Eve, since this activity is specially designed to facilitate an informal gathering of parents with children or others who otherwise cannot make it for the in-person Watchnight Service. It should take around 30 to 45 minutes.

A suggested setting would be around a table at home. It would be helpful to prepare your family or gathered friends for this Devotion by sharing with them the reasons above for having such a devotion. For families, if you have not had the habit of conducting family devotions, this might be a way to kickstart a healthy household gospel habit for 2025.

Things to prepare beforehand:

  1. A copy of the Order of Devotions (for you the leader).
  2. A device to play the songs and video of the homily.
  3. A print out of the activity sheet (download below)

Order:

  1. Word of Greeting and Opening Prayer by leader
  2. Singing to Remember God’s Goodness: Never Once – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzNaPvZdmeo&list=PLGs0pOCaOiNZlcgk2Y8WwoVlWjve4KWxD&index=95
  3. Hear God’s Word: Homily by Danny Chua (https://youtu.be/lN1BknHE_Hg)
  4. Singing and Reflecting on the Truth: I am not my Own https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeEznQWhGdA
  5. Sharing and Praying
  6. Closing Prayer – God our Refuge

Tips for Sharing and Praying Together. The sharing may be framed around the following questions:

  • What are some things in the last year you are thankful for? 
  • What are some things you found difficult or challenging? 
  • What do you look forward to most in the New Year? 
  • How can we continue to grow in getting deep, getting real, and getting sent?

You may want to ask your family or AG to prepare their answers beforehand, or everyone can just be given a piece of paper there and then to write their response down. You should prepare what you want to share beforehand, and lead by example in being the first to share.

1. Word of Greeting and Prayer

This Family Devotion is an occasion for us as a family to reflect and review together the past year. We want to remember how God has been kind to each of us, and also on the whole to our family. It is good for us to thank God together and praise Him for His kindness to us every day!

Let’s pray together as we begin:

Our Father in heaven, as we take this moment to usher in the new year ahead, we also want to begin committing to walk with Christ for another year as a family and community. As we look back on all the bad and good things that have happened to us this year, we can walk ahead into another year trusting that you our God, you are with us.

All our failures and mistakes have been redeemed by Jesus’ finished work on the Cross and resurrection. All our successes we submit to you, our Father humbly, remembering You is the one from whom all good gifts come. We pray that your mighty Spirit brings to mind your goodness and faithfulness in the past year, and that your Spirit makes our hearts humble to confess and ask for the help and grace we need from Jesus in the year ahead. In Christ’s name, amen.

[A more ‘children-friendly’ prayer: Dear Father in heaven, we come together now we to remember how good you have been to us this year. Help us remember Jesus now. Amen]

2. Singing to Remember God’s Goodness – Never Once

3. Hear God’s Word – Psalm 61

Leader: Our Scripture reading for today is taken from Psalm 61

[Read in unison or responsively]

*Appoint someone to read Psalm 61 (English Standard Version) – text below.

Pass printed copies of the worksheet to children. Encourage them to follow along the devotion homily by using it.

61 Hear my cry, O God,
    listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
    when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
    that is higher than I,
3 for you have been my refuge,
    a strong tower against the enemy.

4 Let me dwell in your tent forever!
    Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows;
    you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

6 Prolong the life of the king;
    may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned forever before God;
    appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!

8 So will I ever sing praises to your name,
    as I perform my vows day after day.

Play the YouTube video of Homily

4. Singing and Reflecting on the Truth – I am not my Own

5. Sharing and Praying

The leader facilitates a short 10-15 minutes of sharing and praying together along the line of these questions.

  • What is one way in which the Lord has been good to me this year? How have I received my Father’s help and mercy in 2024?
  • What is one area of my life where I need my God as my refuge for 2025? In what ways do I need King Jesus’ help and strength for the year ahead?

After taking 2-3 minutes to pen down their reflections, each person of the family or community can share as they are led to.

At the end, the leader can either encourage everyone to take turns to pray and speak to the Lord about what they have shared, or close in prayer for the entire family/group.

6. Closing Prayer – God our Refuge

Leader to close in prayer.

Adapted from “A Prayer for the New Year” (Scotty Smith)

Dear heavenly Father, as we near another New Year’s Day, thank you for the gift of a new year. But first of all, thank you for all the grace you lavished on us in the past year. When our hearts were tired and faint, you heard our cries. When we had no strength left for our challenges and difficulties, you were our rock of refuge.

You remained faithful even when we were faithless; you gave us daily mercies, and we needed your mercy on a daily basis; you delighted in us when we tried to find our delight in anything else but you. Your love has not failed us, your love has not run dry, and your love is most clearly seen day after day in what Jesus has done for us at the Cross.

And now, this is our prayer for the upcoming year. May it be a year filled with getting to know you better and better and better. To know you, and your Son, Jesus, is the essence of eternal life (John 17:3). By your grace, take us into deeper intimacy with you Father, Son and Spirit.

With the Apostle Paul, we too declare our desire to know Christ—in fresh and new ways; and the power of his resurrection through your Spirit, and the fellowship born from suffering with Jesus in this world (Phil. 3:10). And we want to cry “Abba Father!”—more often, and with greater joy and confidence. Since it is to your glory that we boast in truly knowing you, grant us many, many reasons to boast in knowing Christ in 2025.

We enter the next year confident of your unfailing love, because your love is not based on anything in us, but everything in Jesus. In Christ our king and refuge, you cannot love us more and you will never love us less. May we enjoy and suffer, work and pray, serve and love, all to your glory in 2025. We ask this in the mighty name of our King and refuge Jesus Christ, amen.  

[A more ‘children-friendly’ prayer: Dear Father in heaven, thank you that we can cry out to you when we are weak and need your help. Help us to learn to cry out to you more in this new year, and receive help from you. In Jesus’ name, Amen]

Recommended Resources for Family Devotions

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