Praying for a brighter 2012

“We’ve come together tonight to thank God for what he has done for us in 2011 and to praise him for what he will do for us in 2012,” the Rev. Ervin Best said. Best, pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in Madison, led more than 100 church members, family and visitors in a special Watch Night service Saturday. After a time of worship in song and testimony, Best challenged those gathered to welcome in the new year to take a quick look back at the previous 12 months. “I know there were times some of us didn’t think we would make it through 2011,” Best said. “But I want you to look over at your neighbor and say, ‘But God ….’ Then ask yourself where you would be right now if it had not been for having the Lord on your side.” Then Best led the congregation in singing a couple verses of “Tell Me, Where Would I Be?” Beulah Baptist, which celebrated its 121st anniversary last June, has a long-standing tradition of observing New Year’s Eve with Watch Night services. But the congregation joined several other churches in 2007 to hold a large area-wide service at the Jacob Dillard Community Center in Stoneville. Best said the church enjoyed meeting with other congregations to welcome in the last few years, but wanted to bring the focus back to the local community. “This service has always been such a blessing to our members and the community,” he said. “We just wanted to bring it back home and hold our own service again this year.” The tradition of watch night services dates back to 1733, when early Moravian believers gathered together at the estate of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf in Hernhut, Germany. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, picked up the idea of the overnight vigil and incorporated it into services calling for renewal of personal commitments from believers. Best said Beulah’s New Year’s Eve service incorporates the same challenge. “We use this time to join together for praise and worship, but we also like to examine our lives for ways we can rededicate ourselves to serving God and being more like Christ in our daily lives,” Best said. “It’s a time of reflection, but also of looking ahead to the unknown while realizing God is always with us in every circumstance.” Best said the watch night tradition holds greater significance for the black community. The New Year’s Eve service recalls the special end-of-year freedom night gatherings by blacks throughout the South on Dec. 31, 1862. That vigil awaited the enactment of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. That history adds another layer of meaning to the service for the black community, according to Best. Just as the slaves waited expectantly for their freedom more than 150 years ago, Best challenged his congregation to seek freedom from things that bound them in 2012. Using the scripture passage concerning Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11, Best focused on Jesus’ words in verse 44: “Loose him and let him go.” “It’s not enough to just be released from things that hold you back, you also have to let go of them and move forward with the Lord as your guide,” Best said.