“Counting It All as Loss: A New Beginning in Christ”

End-of-Year / New Start Sermon (Looking toward 2026)

Opening

As we stand at the edge of a new year, we naturally look back.

We measure gains and losses.

Successes and failures.

What we achieved—and what slipped through our hands.

But Scripture invites us to measure life by a different scale.

“I count everything as loss compared to the surpassing richness of knowing Christ.”

— Paul’s confession, not from weakness, but from clarity.

Tonight, we are not just closing a year.

We are being invited into a new way of valuing life as we step into 2026.

1. Christ Is the Only True Richness

The world tells us richness is found in:

What we possess

What we accomplish

Who knows our name

But the gospel tells us something radically different:

Christ is the treasure.

Not what He gives.

Not what we gain through Him.

Him.

Everything else—status, comfort, recognition, even good things—becomes small when placed beside the greatness of knowing Him.

Paul did not say these things were evil.

He said they were loss in comparison.

When Christ becomes everything, lesser things lose their power to define us.

2. Christ Is Not Distant—He Lives in Us

This is not a call to chase a far-off Savior.

The mystery of the gospel is this:

Christ lives in us.

Not just in churches.

Not just in moments of worship.

But in ordinary lives, ordinary days, ordinary obedience.

The same Christ we treasure is the Christ who:

Strengthens us

Corrects us

Comforts us

Sends us

So as we step into 2026, we are not striving to reach Him.

We are learning to live from Him.

3. We Are Fed by God’s Living Word

Scripture reminds us:

Man does not live by bread alone,

but by every living word that proceeds from God.

Bread sustains the body.

But God’s Word sustains the soul.

In 2025, many of us were fed constantly:

By noise

By opinions

By fear

By endless distraction

And yet we were still hungry.

This new year calls us back to the only voice that truly gives life.

Not just reading Scripture—but receiving it.

Not just hearing God’s Word—but obeying it.

4. A Call to Holy Detachment

As we begin 2026, Christ invites us to a fresh detachment.

Not because the world is evil,

but because it is temporary.

Detachment does not mean abandoning responsibilities.

It means refusing to let worldly cares, pursuits, or even relationships take the place of Christ.

We love people best when we love Christ most.

We handle success wisely when it no longer owns us.

We endure loss faithfully when Christ remains our portion.

Anything that competes with Christ must be laid down.

5. A New Beginning

So tonight, we do not merely make resolutions.

We make a confession:

Christ is enough.

Christ is supreme.

Christ is our life.

As we step into 2026, may we count everything else as loss—not out of bitterness, but out of joy.

Because when we have Christ,

we have already gained everything.

Closing Prayer (optional)

Lord Jesus,

As we leave one year behind and step into another,

we release what has distracted us,

what has ruled us,

what has replaced You in our hearts.

Be our treasure.

Be our life.

Be our daily bread.

We count all else as loss,

for the surpassing richness of knowing You.

Amen.