O God of all beginnings, and God of all middles and endings as well,  we bow in your presence at the start of this new year to confess our dependence on you. Everything good that has ever happened to us, all the good fortune of our days, we owe to you. Without you, we would have been overwhelmed by our difficulties, by all the disasters to which our lives are prone. Only by your grace through Jesus Christ do we understand life as we do, and value those things that give structure and meaning to our existence.

You continually call us to yourself.  In this new year, draw us by the power of your Holy Spirit into warm and binding relationships. Bring people into our lives who will help us faithfully follow you each and every day.  Enrich our lives with each person we meet and associate so that we may become who you created us to be.

By your grace, make us aware of the world around us.  Make us sensitive to the needs in our communities and knowledgeable of the gifts you have given to provide for those needs.

We want to be instruments of your love and peace.  For this new year, we offer ourselves to your disposal in the name of Jesus.  Amen