St. Stephen’s Stories, January 2026

Happy New Year! As we begin 2026, we start with welcoming three young men as members to our church! This is happening on January 4, which is Epiphany Sunday. This is the day we traditionally read the story of the wisemen coming from the East to find “the one who has been born King of the Jews” according to Matthew 2:2. The signs the wisemen saw in the stars were significant enough they were willing to take a months-long journey to worship the one who caused those signs to appear. It is a remarkable sign of faith given the hardship and danger that they faced.

A few years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to star words. At many churches, this is an Epiphany tradition where you receive a star-shaped piece of paper with a word on it that is to be your word for the year. Like the star that pointed the wisemen to Jesus, the idea of a star word is to give you a focus to help you draw closer to God. It is a gift from God that is intended to help you in your spiritual journey. As we say when we present our offering to God, we can only give because God first gave to us. We gave out star words at our service on January 4. If you were not there in person, I would be happy to draw a star word on your behalf. Simply send me an email or give me a call any time in January!

We are having another potluck this month for neighbours and friends. Everyone at St. Stephen’s is welcome too, of course! This is a great way to introduce people to our St. Stephen’s community, especially if they aren’t sure about coming on Sunday morning. We are trying out a Friday night instead of Sunday to see if that makes a difference in who can attend. Check out the calendar for all other activities happening at St. Stephen’s!

As we start 2026, I am looking forward to seeing where God is taking our community. I never know what St. Stephen’s will look like at the end of the year, but I know that God will be with us each step of the way and that God wants our light to shine. I hope to see you soon!

Blessings,
Meg

A Song from my Playlist:

I was surprised to find that I haven’t shared “Offering” by Paul Baloche before. It has been on my playlist for a long time. It reminds us that the worship we offer to God should be unique.

Click below to listen: