In this sermon, A Guide to Understanding New Year’s Celebrations, Daniel Deininger, with supporting notes from UCG minister Ken Murray, examines New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day through a biblical lens, urging God’s people to exercise discernment rather than follow tradition uncritically. While New Year’s is widely viewed as a harmless, secular celebration, the sermon emphasizes that its origins, symbolism, and common practices raise serious spiritual questions for disciples of Jesus Christ.

The message begins by establishing the pastor’s responsibility to provide “spiritual meat” from the Word of God, not human opinion or cultural norms. Scripture makes clear that true life comes from living by every word of God, keeping His commandments, and resisting deception from the “god of this age” who actively seeks to mislead the world. The purpose of the sermon is not to dictate behavior, but to equip believers with biblical understanding so they can make informed, God-honoring decisions regarding New Year’s observances.

Point 1 stresses that God alone determines how and when He is worshipped. Scripture repeatedly warns against adopting or adapting pagan customs and attaching God’s name to them. God defines sacred time, including the beginning of the year, which He established in the spring month of Abib—not January 1. Attempts to blend pagan traditions with worship of the true God result in vain worship, condemned by both the prophets and Jesus Christ.

Point 2 addresses the historical roots and observable fruits of New Year’s Eve celebrations. The sermon traces modern customs back to ancient Babylon and Rome, including festivals associated with Saturnalia and the god Janus. These celebrations were characterized by revelry, drunkenness, and moral excess—traits that remain closely associated with New Year’s Eve today. Scripture identifies such behaviors as “works of the flesh,” incompatible with inheriting the Kingdom of God. History repeatedly shows that when God’s people imitate the customs of surrounding nations, spiritual compromise and decline follow.

Point 3 calls believers to separation and faithfulness. God commands His people to “come out of Babylon,” rejecting false religious systems and man-made traditions that contradict His truth. True worship requires obedience, honesty, and a willingness to be different from the world. Rather than participating in New Year’s revelry, Christians are encouraged to treat the evening as any other, using the time for family, prayer, Bible study, and reflection on God’s true plan as revealed through His Holy Days.

The sermon concludes by reframing the central question. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with New Year’s—everyone does it?” believers must ask, “Does this honor God?” The message challenges listeners to reject what God calls vain and deceptive, and to choose the narrow path that leads to life. Drawing on Deuteronomy 30:19, the sermon ends with a call to consciously choose life, obedience, and truth, not only for ourselves, but for future generations.