ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 TUSITE ME 19, 2026

‘ESELA 6-10; SIONE 21:15-17

Our God of unrelenting grace always offers us fresh starts and new beginnings.

Ko hotau ‘Otua mohu kelesi, ‘oku ne ‘omi ma’u pe ‘a e faingamalie ke toe kamata mei mu’a mo e kamata fo’ou.  

You get angry with a coworker; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You are needlessly impatient with one of your children; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You are unlovingly critical of your spouse; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You view internet material that you never should have seen; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. Success has become your functional idol; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You allow yourself to fight with your neighbor; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You cheat on a university exam; you need a fresh start and a new beginning. You are wrongly dismissive of your pastor; you need a fresh start and a new beginning.

It is wonderful to know that, if you are God's child, no sin is spiritually fatal. God's grace is more powerful than any compelling sin. So, in the bounty of his mercy, God offers to each of his children the grace of fresh starts and new beginnings. This is the truth that gets me up in the morning. I am aware that I have never lived a perfect day. My actions are influenced by both my desire to please God and the presence of remaining sin. So it is precious to me that every morning I am greeted with new mercies, and with those new mercies comes the promise of fresh starts and new beginnings. I am not encased in the concrete of my sin, because I am in Christ and his grace lives with power in me.nl to med This theme of fresh starts and new beginnings runs throughout the biblical narrative. The Bible is a record of God's again and again picking up his failing followers, dusting them off, blessing them with forgiving grace, and granting them new beginnings. For every human failure there is plentiful restoring grace. The Bible is honest about the powerful tragedy of sin, but it doesn't leave you there. It consistently points you to restorative grace.

After all of Israel's sin, idolatry, and rebellion, God calls his children back from captivity to participate in the fresh start and new beginning of rebuilding and refurnishing the temple. I find the following words so encouraging: "The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats" (Ezra 6:16-17). When you read of the burning of Jerusalem and the captivity of God's people, it seemed as though the end had come. But it was not the end, because of the loving mercy of the God of Israel. 

God offered his people a brand-new physical and spiritual start in Jerusalem, not because they earned it but because he is a God of grace.

God offers the same to you today. Come to him in confession and hope. He will dust you off with his grace and grant you a new day in which to love and serve him.