2026 THEME — “SEEING LIFE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE”

You don’t want to miss Sunday—the first Sunday of 2026—because God is calling us to realign our perspective on prayer at the very start of this new year. This is not about praying more out of habit, pressure, or fear. It is about learning to see prayer the way God sees it. Prayer was never designed as a tool to manage life or persuade God to fix what we don’t understand. It is the place where God restores vision, quiets striving, and brings our hearts into agreement with His will. As we step into 2026, the Lord is inviting us to lift our eyes above reaction and anxiety and begin living—and praying—from His perspective. January begins with Prayer from God’s Perspective, because prayer is where clarity is regained and direction is formed. This year is a call to holy realignment—where trust replaces control, listening replaces rushing, and faith grows stronger than fear. What God desires to do among us will require surrendered hearts, clear spiritual sight, and a willingness to let Him shape our thinking before we ask Him to change our circumstances. This Sunday, we will cast vision for 2026, share where God is leading us, introduce a clear and life-giving Bible reading plan, and invite you into a sacred moment that may quietly—but profoundly—transform how you walk with God. As Miss Mae leads us in worship, come ready to listen, to realign, and to step forward together into a year marked by deeper prayer, renewed faith, and holy clarity.

SUNDAY’S SERMON SUMMARY

Good morning, church! As we gather for the final service of 2025—a year of victories and challenges, mountaintops and valleys—we pause to thank God for the profound growth He has produced among us. As we step toward 2026, the Lord is calling us to surrender our perspective and embrace His, because success is not measured merely by what we accomplish, but by how we see—how we interpret God, our circumstances, and ourselves through the lens of His truth. Two people can walk through the same valley and end up in two different places; the difference is rarely the circumstance itself, but the viewpoint through which it is seen. When God is viewed as distant or withholding, trials feel like punishment; but when He is known as faithful, sovereign, and good, even pain becomes purposeful, and trust steadies the heart before clarity arrives.

Many are not lost—they are stuck: repeating patterns, reacting instead of responding, busy yet unproductive, surviving instead of living with vision. God never intended His people to live by instinct, emotion, or worldly thinking, but by a renewed mind anchored in His Word. That is why we are realigning today—learning to “consider the lilies,” to lay down worry and control, and to rest in the Father’s care. When God is seen rightly, problems shrink into proportion, fear loses its voice, and direction returns; breakthrough begins with changed thinking, not changed circumstances. As we close this year in prayer and step into the next, we do so anchored in God’s promises and supplied with new grace—ready to release burdens, renew hearts and covenants, and walk forward into 2026 with trust, surrender, and confidence in a God who cannot lie.

GO TO www.belmontbaptistchurch.com/sermons and listen to Sunday’s message.

Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart

Cross the Threshold With Trust

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” — Proverbs 3:5

Standing Between What Was and What Will Be

A new year is more than a calendar change—it is a spiritual threshold. Thresholds are sacred moments in Scripture: places of decision, surrender, and direction. Israel crossed the Jordan. Ruth stepped out of Moab. The disciples left their nets. Nothing changed because time moved forward; everything changed because hearts did. The real danger of a new year is not uncertainty—it is familiarity. It is stepping into tomorrow with yesterday’s lens, yesterday’s fears, yesterday’s interpretations of God. Many are not defeated by circumstances; they are defeated by how they read those circumstances. God is not asking you to deny reality—He is asking you to anchor reality in who He is.

The Lens You Carry Shapes the Life You Live

Two people can walk through the same valley and arrive at completely different destinations. One grows bitter; the other grows better. The difference is not the terrain—it is the lens. When pain becomes the interpreter of God’s heart, trust erodes. Delay begins to look like denial. Silence begins to feel like neglect. But Scripture never presents God as reactionary or distant. He is sovereign, intentional, and present—even when His purposes are hidden. Faith does not deny the valley; it refuses to let the valley define God. When God is seen rightly—faithful, sovereign, and good—pain becomes purposeful, and the heart steadies before answers arrive.

Prayer Is Not Persuasion, It Is Alignment

Prayer was never designed as an emergency flare to launch only when life is on fire. God chose prayer as communion—an invitation to step out of panic and into perspective. In prayer, you are not dragging God down into your fear; you are being lifted into His wisdom. You are not persuading Him to care; you are agreeing with the One who already cares perfectly. Prayer realigns the soul. It reminds us that we are not seated on the throne. Forward motion rarely begins with changed circumstances; it begins with a changed posture. Trust is the first step because trust admits, “My understanding is not the throne.”

Trust Before Clarity Is the Language of Faith

We often want clarity before obedience, answers before surrender, explanations before peace. But Scripture teaches that trust is frequently exercised before clarity arrives. God does not promise full understanding—He promises faithful direction. He writes from the end back to the beginning, while we try to solve life from the middle of the story. When we insist on understanding first, fear takes the lead. When we choose trust, peace follows. The heart that trusts God learns to stand steady in unanswered seasons, confident that the Author knows exactly where the story is going.

Step Forward, Not Backward

Crossing into a new year requires more than optimism—it requires surrender. You do not move forward by carrying tighter control; you move forward by releasing it. Trust is not weakness; it is worship. As you cross this threshold, refuse to let old interpretations write new chapters. Let prayer become your posture, trust your footing, and God your perspective. He is not reacting—He is writing. And the story He is telling is still good.

Heart Check: What situation have I been interpreting as punishment, when God may be working purpose through it?

Prayer: Father, I surrender my lens. Teach me to see You as You truly are—faithful, sovereign, and good. Align my heart with Heaven before You change anything around me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Daily Breakout Challenge (Do One Thing): Write this sentence on a card and keep it where you’ll see it: “God is not reacting—He is writing.” Read it aloud every time worry rises.

MONDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS

Rose Fuller – Pruitt-Monroe Nursing Home, Forsyth GA

Mandy Martin

Carol Lawhead – Riverside in Conyers

Luther Roach

Cheryl Knight’s Brother Passed on Tuesday

Marsha Layfield

Amy Garner’s Dad

Brando Echarte

Debbie Foskey 

Don Franklin’s Daughter, Darlene, Son, David

Ed Adkins – Friend of Brian Edwards

Gloria Young

Jake Jenkins

June Cronan

Jean Partee’s Sister

Kim McClain’s Daughter, Amanda

Deon Lotter

Doris Loyd

Nancy Brown

Annette Ford

Andrea Nix– Friend of the Shelnutt’s

Angela Bryan’s Sisters

Ann Stanley  

Danny Jarrard   

Darlene Wiggins

Doris Loyd

Dr. and Mrs. Davis

Eric Magnusson’s Mother

Eric Ward

Friend of Linda Hodge

Gayle Sparks

Linda Alexander 

James Burnette

Jessica Headrick  

John McClain’s Mother

June Cronan’s Sister

June Davis

Kailey Bateman

Kim McClain’s Mother 

Kim’s Sisters – Ann & Brenda 

Lee Cronan

Lillianna Magnusson’s Mom

Lonzo Christian 

Lori Blount’s Mother

Mary Williams

Mary Williamson – Dana Jackson’s Mom

Mrs. Franklin 

Nora Allison

Ron And Johnnie Barry – Friends Of Ashton & Glenda Bateman

Scott Lanier 

Scotty Nix

Stephanie Seivers – Friend of the Shelnutt’s

Steve Michaels

Tom Witcher