What is happiness? This can be a difficult question to answer. In the context of a new year, having an answer probably feels like a key to a good year. Pastor Keith Haney offers a Biblical perspective.

I love watching movies. The experience goes beyond enjoying the story unfold before your eyes. I love the discussion that comes after the movie. Asking your friends or family what they thought can uncover what they discovered about themselves or the world from the way the movie presented its themes. I’ve spent hours in a donut diner dissecting many movies I’ve watched with friends. We usually talk about how what we saw in these movies was mind-blowing, emotional, just okay, or funny. So when my husband told me about the Faith and Film club at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, I knew I wanted to participate. Here are three things I learned while participating in this program.

Today we remember nineteenth-century German pastor Wilhelm Loehe, and we read an excerpt from one of his writings as recorded in The Pastor.

The devotional reading for today is adapted from Concordia Pulpit Resources and focuses on the significance of receiving God’s name.

As we anticipate the beginning of the new year tomorrow, we focus on the Gospel of the day and read a devotion from Reformation Heritage Bible Commentary: Luke.

On the commemoration of David, we read an excerpt from Concordia Commentary: 1 Samuel and remember why God chose David to succeed Saul as king of Israel.

As we mourn the Holy Innocents today, we read a comforting devotion from the book Heaven.

Soon, we will (or perhaps we already have) see and hear what people are resolving to accomplish in the next year. In the past few years, I’ve noticed a new way to make resolutions. Along with resolution statements, some people are selecting a “word for the year.”  Some resolution makers see this word selection as a word from God or some self-proclaiming prophecy.

As we remember the apostle John today, we read a devotion taken from a sermon in Sermons for Feasts, Festivals, and Occasions: Selections from Concordia Pulpit Resources.

The following excerpt is adapted from Philipp Nicolai’s The Joy of Eternal Life, a systematic theology of God’s gift of heaven. Below, the first of Nicolai’s “six properties” is featured.