The year of 2020 has finally come to an end; the past year had been a year of many challenges, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic and the debilitating effect that the virus has had on the global population, and we want our readers to know that we resonate with you and the many personal challenges that you had faced along the way. While we know that many of you have suffered when it comes to yourself or family members or friends having physical and / or mental issues due to the virus’ ill effects, we want you all to know that we consider each and every one of you as family – and, we are grateful for your faithfulness as well and your kind remarks on how you hope that we and our families stay safe. Though the long year has passed, we can say with a victory cry, “We have made it!”
Now that we are entering into the year of 2021, we have greater hope for humanity – especially when we consider how great and awesome our God, the Father of all creation, is; we are confident that this year will bring us back to normal in the sense of having tranquility and then being able to focus even more on family and friends and / or work. In consideration of all that we have been through and all that we are going to overcome this year, we would like to dedicate this article to talking about what Christians normally do to celebrate New Years’ Eve and New Years’ Day.
Since I, the writer, come from a traditional Catholic family (I have Catholic family members, but I actually am a Christian), we spend New Years like most common Catholic families – though, I follow Christian tradition as well. Speaking from my own experience, as well as from most Catholic’s and Christian’s experiences (my friends and family), ways in which traditional Christians celebrate New Years can be found below (I understand that Catholicism and Christianity are different religions and that certain Catholics can be considered Christians, so I am only going to focus on Christian traditions):
• Church Services
No matter the time of year, church services are a crucial means for Christians to edify and build each other up in the Christian faith; as is said in Hebrews 10:24-25 (English Standard Version), “let us consider how to stir one another [up] to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together [which is] the habit of some, but [instead] encouraging one another and all the more as you see the [Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ] drawing near.” On New Years’ Eve and often times on New Years’ Day, Christians make it an aim to gather together in church services to edify each other and to also prepare their Christian walk for the new year; the main theme of most church services during New Years is the regeneration of the Holy Spirit which prepares Christians for a life devoted to whom should be their principal treasure: the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Bible Studies
Similar to formal church gatherings, some Christians even decide to have private Bible studies in the homes of their fellow Christian family members; most of the time, these studies focus on a variety of Christian themes, but they’re almost always held at night on New Years’ Day. In my own personal case, we normally have the studies around 7:00-7:30pm EST which feature themes like the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or the Second Coming of Christ, etcetera (whatever is taught upon), then whatever I do afterwards depends on the year and what’s going on with my family.
• Family Gatherings
As is normal for all people – regardless of their faith, Christians, too, spend time with family outside of church services; for example, in my family, I normally go to my church service around 7:30pm EST and then get over to my dad’s house around 9:30-10:00pm EST after the service on New Years’ Eve to spend time with my 30+ family members – our grand family – until the drop of the glamorous ball in Times Square, Manhattan, New York at 12:01am EST. On New Years’ Day, I then go to the church service in the morning to enjoy a morning service until around 10:30am, and then I visit my dad’s house again for a family lunch and dinner with our closest family members. While some families enjoy New Years differently, it is true that Christians are no different when it comes to spending New Years with their closest (even their extended) family members.
